The notices for the coming week
are God willing as follows. Pastor will preach here next
Lord's Day at 10.30 and two o'clock. Also on Thursday evening at seven
o'clock. There'll be a prayer meeting
here on Tuesday evening at seven o'clock. Let us commence our services
today by singing together hymn number 35, the tune is Moscow
526. Come thou almighty King, help
us thy name to sing, help us to praise, Father all-glorious,
all-victorious, come and reign over us, ancient of days. Hymn number 35 to Moscow 526. O Almighty King, Help us thy name to sing, Help
us to praise, God ever glorious, O'er all victorious, Come and
reign over us, Ancient of days. Jesus, the Lord of Light, spread
to the riddled fields, and made them full. Let thy almighty aid Pass from
event to event, Pass out of meekness, Lord, hear our call. Come, Lord, in glory come Let
all thy mighty sword At thy serpent's neck Cover thy meekness, and keep
thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep
thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep thy
meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep
thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep thy
meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep
thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep
thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep
thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep
thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep
thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep thy meekness, and keep
thy meekness ? Of holy comforts rise ? ? Thy sacred bid to bless
them ? ? In this manner ? ? Our new almighty God ? ? Well-taken,
well-beheld ? ? Bended from us before ? ? Spirit of God ? Shepherd with honeydew, Eternal
praises sing, Excellent Lord, His sovereign majesty may we
in glory see, and to eternity abandon joy. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 27. The Acts of the Apostles, Chapter
27. And when it was determined that
we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other
prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustus band. And entering into a ship of Adriomiteum,
we launched, meaning to sail by the coast of Asia, one Aristarchus,
a Macedonian Thessalonica, being with us. And the next day we
touched at Sidon, and Julius courteously entreated Paul and
gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself. And
when we had launched from thence, we soured under Cyprus, because
the winds were contrary. And when we had soured over the
sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra a city of Lycia
and there the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing
into Italy and he put us there in and when we had sailed slowly
many days and scarce or come over against Snidus the wind
not suffing us we sailed under Crete over against Salome and
hardly passing it, came into a place which is called the Fair
Havens, nigh whereunto was the city of La Silla. Now, when much
time was spent, and when sailing was now dangerous, because the
fast was now already passed, Paul admonished them and said
unto them, Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt
and much damage, not only to the lading and ship, but also
of our lives. Nevertheless, the centurion believed
the master and the owner of the ship more than those things which
were spoken by Paul. And because the haven was not
commodious to winter in, the more part advised to depart,
thence also, if by any means there might attain to Phynice,
and there to Winter, which is an haven of Crete, and lieth
toward the south-west and north-west. And when the south wind blew
softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, loose
in thence they sailed close by Crete. But not long after there
arose against it a tempestuous wind called Eurycleidon. And when the ship was caught
and could not bear up into the wind, we let her drive. And running under a certain island,
which is called Clauda, we had much work to come by the bow,
which when they had taken up, they used helps undergirding
the ship and fear unless they should fall into the quicksands,
straight sail and so were driven and we being exceedingly tossed
with a tempest the next day they lightened the ship and the third
day we cast out with our own hands the tackling of the ship
and when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared and no
small tempest lay on us all hope that we should be saved was then
taken away But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst
of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not
have loosed from creep, and to have gained this harm and loss.
And now I exhort you to be of good cheer, for there shall be
no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. For there
stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom
I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul, for thou must be brought before
Caesar. And though God hath given thee
all them that sail with thee, wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer. For I believe, God, that it shall
be even as it was told me, howe'er we must be cast upon a certain
island. But when the fourteenth night
was come. As we were driven up and down
in Adria, that's the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the shipmen
deemed that they drew near to some country and sounded and
found it twenty fathoms. And when they had gone a little
further they sounded again and found it fifteen fathoms. Them
fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors
out of the stern and that wished for the day. And as the shipmen
were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down
the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have
cast anchor out of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion and
to the soldiers, except these abide in the ship, ye cannot
be saved. Then the soldiers cut off the
ropes of the boat and let her fall off. And while the day was
coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This
day is the fourteenth day that we have tarried and continued
fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I pray you to take
some meat, for this is for your health, for there shall not a
hair fall from the head of any of you. And when he had thus
spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in the presence
of them all. And when he had broken it, he
began to eat. Then were they all of good cheer,
and they also took some meat. And we were in all in the ship,
203 score and 16 souls, that's 276. And when they had eaten
enough, they lightened the ship and cast out the wheat into the
sea. And when it was day, they knew
not the land, but they discovered a certain creek with a shore
into the which they were minded, if it were possible, to thrust
in the ship. And when they had taken up the
anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the
rudder-bands, and hoisted up the main sail to the wind, and
made toward shore, and falling into a place where two seas met,
they ran the ship aground, and the fore part struck fast and
remained unmovable, and the hind part was broken with the violence
of the waves. And the soldier's counsel was
to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim out and escape. but the centurion willing to
save Paul kept them from their purpose and commanded that they
should they could swim they which could swim should cast themselves
first into the sea and get to land and the rest some on boards
and some on broken pieces of ship and it came to pass and
so it came to pass that they escaped all safe to land. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and teach us how to pray. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is and art and art to come, we bow before thy glorious majesty,
desiring to call upon thy great and holy name, Father, Son and
Holy Ghost, grant us this day a spirit of true worship. Grant that we may lay hold of
that hope that is set before us in the Gospel, even our Lord
Jesus Christ. We come before Thee, O Lord,
as poor sinners, poor needy sinners, poor ruined sinners, each one
of us the fallen sons and daughters of Adam, born in sin, shapen
in iniquity. And we often have to come, O
Lord, like the dear apostle, O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death? Gracious God,
we would humble ourselves before thee. We would confess our sins,
and our wanderings and our backslidings. We leave undone those things
that we ought to do, and we do those things that we ought not
to do. We find a law within our members that when I would do
good, then evil is present with me. O most gracious Lord, that
the Apostle himself declares from the crown of the head to
the sole of the foot, wounds and bruises and putrefying sores,
there is no soundness in my flesh. So, Lord, we come to Thee as
poor bankrupt sinners, poor undone sinners, and we plead that precious
blood that did for sin at home, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, that cleanseth us from all sin. Oh, we pray that this day
that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God our
Father, and the sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit may rest and
abide upon us. May we be led of the Spirit of
God this day. May it please thee, O Lord, to
open the word of truth to our heart and to our understanding. May we know those divine leading
and the inward teaching of the Holy Ghost as we meet around
thy word. May we know the divine drawings
of a heavenly Father, for none come except the Father draw.
And may we feel in our midst the presence of our Lord Jesus
Christ. May we behold his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. May we touch the hem of his garment.
May we draw from that sacred fullness that is in him. We come
like the dear apostle, that I might know him in the power of his
resurrection, in the fellowship of his sufferings. Oh, do hear
us, O Lord, we pray thee, and do guide us by thy counsel, and
do grant that thy word may be a lamp unto our feet and a light
unto our path. We do humbly beseech thee. We
pray, most gracious Lord, for our brethren, the deacons, that
thou wouldst bless them indeed, Remember our dear brother helping
the friends at Tunbridge Wells this morning, and graciously
undertake for him. And Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
grant thy healing hand and thy restoring mercy unto those that
are in pain and affliction, and be gracious unto them, and that
be Jehovah Rophi, I am the Lord that healeth thee. And, O Lord,
we pray for those that are away from us today in various places. We lovingly commend them to Thee
and to the word of Thy grace and pray that Thou wouldst bless
them where they are. We pray for our Dutch friends
here with us today, that they may feel at home with us, that
they may feel at union with us, and that Thou wouldst bless them
indeed. with those rich blessings that
are in Christ Jesus. Remember the little ones and
the children. Bless them indeed. Put thy holy
fear in their hearts in their young and tender years. Fulfill
that wonderful promise, instead of thy fathers shall be thy children,
whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. Lord, we pray
that thou wouldst raise up a generation to follow Thee and to serve Thee
in their day and in their generation. We pray for our young friends
that they may be blessed of Thee, taught of Thee, guided by Thee. Oh do bless them Lord, we humbly
pray Thee. We pray for parents that they
may be given wisdom and grace to bring up their children in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord and that we may not
do anything or have anything, O Lord, that is a stumbling block
to our children, we do humbly beseech them. We pray, most gracious
Lord, to be made more spiritually minded and that our heart and
our affections may be set upon things above and not on things
of the earth. We pray, O Lord, that thou in
thy great mercy remember all in the midst of the journey of
life Graciously undertake for them, we do humbly beseech thee,
for thy great name's sake. Show them thy ways, teach them
thy paths, open their hearts to receive thy word. O Lord,
we do beseech of thee. We pray for prodigals that have
wandered away and have no desire to be with us. We pray that thou
wouldst cause them to be in want, and cause them to return. Lord,
Thou art able to do these things. Indeed, Thou art able to do abundantly
more than we can even ask or think. And O Lord, we do pray
that Thou, in Thy precious mercy, wouldst remember those of us
that are now in the evening time of life's journey We pray to
be led and taught and guided and directed by thee unto thy
heavenly kingdom. Deliver us from the temptations
of Satan, whether he comes as an angel of light to deceive,
or whether he comes as a roaring lion to devour. We pray to be
delivered from his power. I was promised in thy word that
when the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord
will lift up a standard against him. O Lord, do hear us, we pray
thee. Send the glory and light of the
gospel into this village and the surrounding villages and
hamlets, that we may see precious souls gathered in, that we may
see the pulling down of the strongholds of Satan, the setting up of the
kingdom of the Lord Jesus in the hearts of sinners. Let thy hand be upon the man
of thy right hand, the son of man whom thou madest strong for
thyself. Thou hast said in thy word, I
have laid help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one
chosen out of the people to grant that the Lord Jesus Christ may
be exalted this day, lifted high on the gospel pole, and that
poor sinners may look and live. Remember all thy servants as
they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion. Set them
free, set them at liberty, grant that they may dip their foot
in oil and be made acceptable unto thee, brethren, and that
the word preached may be in power in the Holy Ghost and with much
assurance that there may be signs that shall follow the preaching
of the word. Lord, we do pray And for those
that go forth from among us that labour in word and doctrine among
the nations of the earth, we especially think of thy servant
Ian Sadler, as he labours in so many different countries in
the distribution of thy word and the exposition of it, and
the orphanages that he runs, we pray that thou wouldst graciously
supply all his many returning needs. Remember thy servant at
the Mombasa mission and grant thy rich blessing upon them there
in Kenya, that there may continue to be signs to follow the preaching
of the word. Remember the Savannah Education
Trust and that great work that they are doing in Ghana. Do graciously
bless their work, grant that it may redound to the great glory
of thy holy name. Lord, remember the little causes
of truth up and down the land, but graciously return to Jerusalem
with mercies. Make bare thine holy arm in the
gospel. Lord, we pray for our government. We live in very solemn days when
iniquity abounds on every hand, when evil is promoted in high
places. Lord, bring to naught the counsels
of the wicked. Give wisdom to our leaders and
bless our King and the royal household with that rich grace
that is in Christ Jesus. Oh, do hear us, Lord. We thank
thee for the throne of grace. We thank thee for the house of
prayer. We thank thee for all thy tender mercies that have
passed before us in the way. We thank Thee above all for Jesus
Christ, for the glory of His name, for the fullness of His
grace, that He has power to save, that He's able to save to the
uttermost all that come unto God by Him. We thank Thee for
the incarnation of the Son of God, for the holy life He lived
and the holy law He fulfilled and honoured and magnified. bringing
in everlasting righteousness for His people. We thank Thee
for Calvary, where the Lamb was slain, where sin was put away,
where divine justice was satisfied, where God and sinners are reconciled. We thank Thee that He died for
our sins and rose again for our justification. And as bodily
ascended into heaven and sitteth at Thy right hand, O Thou great
God, We bow in humble thankfulness to Thee. We thank Thee that in
Him we know the love of our Heavenly Father, and through Him we receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. Come and touch one's lips with
a live coal from off the heavenly altar. We ask for Jesus Christ's
sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 212. The tune is Strasbourg, 244. Why does your face, ye humble
souls, those mournful colours wear? What doubts are these that
try your faith and nourish your despair? Hymn 212. June Strasbourg
244. A house of peace and joy for
me And a rich old minister And I will love thee ever, till
death near us part, And I will love thee ever, till death near
us part, Ever in earth, eternal throne,
Thine ointment well may shine. The final night in Euboea, the
night creation spoke. ? Ever was this world so gracious
to me ? ? That I had such peace of mind ? O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? Behold the blinding, shaken face,
The sacred, longing face. He who is with one and two together
has neither sorrow nor pain. Now if we turn to find God's
face, As it had been before, where people from shadow or grace
and marriage all have come, ? May God in heaven shelter her
? ? And love eternal flow. ? greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I direct your attention to the chapter that
we read, the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 27, and we'll read verse
44 for our text. The Acts of the Apostles, chapter
27, verse 44, and the rest, some on boards and some on broken
pieces of the ship and so it came to pass that they escaped
all safe to land. It may seem rather a strange
text to take but there is some very beautiful
spiritual lessons did be found in it. We see the great trouble that
the Apostle came into. The Lord Jesus himself said, as well
as the Apostle, it is through much tribulation that you shall
enter the kingdom. And the Lord's people prove it
to be so. It's in those tribulations that
the Lord reveals himself to his own people. It's when we are brought, as
the apostle was, and we've read it together in this chapter,
how they were without hope. And that great storm that came
upon them. But the thing is, my beloved
friends, the Lord had revealed unto Paul that he must appear
before Caesar and you know we read in the holy
scriptures of the apostles when they were with the Lord Jesus
Christ and he constrained them to go in a ship and to cross
over onto the other side and it was a great storm that
came and the Lord Jesus was asleep in the sides of the ship and the disciples when they saw
the water coming into the ship they were so troubled they woke
up the Lord Jesus and they said Lord save us or we perish but the point there is is that
the Lord Jesus was with them And of course the point here
is, is that the Lord was with the Apostle and with all those
that were with him, the Lord promised him that he must be saved. And not only that, the Lord promised
him that all those in the ship would be saved as well, not one
would be lost. You see, we see the fulfilling
of those wonderful promises that the Lord gives in his word. Fear
not, I am with thee. Be not dismayed, I am thy God. I will help thee, I will uphold
thee with the right hand of my righteousness. And we see that
this in the experience of the dear apostle, as it had happened
many times before, that the Lord was with him, that the Lord would
not fail him. I often think of that word in
Isaiah chapter 42. It's speaking of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He will not fail. My beloved friends, the Lord
Jesus will never fail. He will never fail. He will uphold
His people. He will guide and direct His
people. He will deliver His people. It
says in the Word of God, in Ecclesiastes, I will deliver thee in six troubles,
yea, in seven also. Seven is the number of perfection.
The Lord will always deliver His people. though it looked
completely and utterly impossible that it can be so and as it was
here with the dear apostle and it says here in the what we've
just read together and verse 18 and we've been exceedingly
tossed with the tempest the next day they lighten the ship and
the third day we're cast out with our own hands the tackling
the ship And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared,
and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved
was then taken away. Is there anybody here this morning? And that's how you feel. All hope is taken away. Your pathway seems utterly, completely
impossible. But not with God. It is with
you, but not with God. For with God, nothing shall be
impossible. Just think of those disciples
in that ship. And the water coming into the
ship. And they were fishermen. They were well used to the sea,
but they thought they were going to sink. There's two things that we notice
in that lovely narrative. Firstly, that Jesus, the son
of God, was a real man. You might say, how do you explain
that? He was asleep. He was tired. He was weary. He had a real true
human nature. He was a real man. It says in
Hebrews, he was tempted in all points like as we are yet without
sin. He knew what it was to be weary. He knew what it was to
be hungry. He knew what it was to be thirsty. He had a real true human nature. And that is revealed in that
ship, when he lay asleep. He used to spend whole nights
in prayer, but here he lay asleep. And the disciples came, did master
save us or we perish? And Jesus arose, and he rebuked
the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the disciples
said, What manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea
obey him? You see, this man is the holy
God man. This man is the eternal son of
God. This man is able to save to the
uttermost all that come unto God by him. He has power to save,
power to redeem, power to deliver. when the Lord Jesus was about
to ascend into heaven and he blessed his disciples and in
Matthew chapter 28 he said unto them all power is given unto
me in heaven and in earth. My beloved friends never forget
that. All power, not some power. One hymn writer says with heaven
and earth at His command, He waits to answer prayer. Oh, that may indeed sink deep
into our hearts. He's eternally the same. He's
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. And because He's eternally the
same, because He changes not, It's impossible for him to change.
He's God. He's God. He's the eternal God. You see, my beloved friends,
we build upon an eternal rock. When Peter was to be tried, wasn't
he? But what did the Lord Jesus say
to Peter, you know, when He confessed his faith in the Lord Jesus in
Matthew chapter 16, and he says there, and Christ said to him,
whom do men say I, the Son of Man am? And they said, some say
Jeremiah, some say John the Baptist risen from the dead, some say
this, some say that. And then he said, but whom say
ye that I am? And it was Peter that answered
for all the disciples. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. And what did Jesus answer? Upon
this rock I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. It's impossible. He's the eternal
Son of God. He has all power in heaven and
in earth. We sing the hymn, don't we? Lovely
hymn, hymn number 64. Sovereign ruler of the skies,
ever gracious, ever wise, all my times are in thy hand, all
events at thy command. All events, everything. Yes, and what we mustn't forget
is those times of darkness, those times of great weakness, Those
times of great insufficiency, those times when we feel our
sinfulness, when we feel the corruption of our heart. I tell
you, friends, I used to think in my early spiritual days as
a young man that I knew a lot about conviction of sin, but
I had to prove I knew hardly anything. I know more now of
the deep root of sin and iniquity and corruption that is in my
heart that ever I knew when I was a young man. You see, that is the divine work
of the Spirit of God in the heart. When He, the Spirit of Truth,
is come, He will reprove, the margin says, convince the world
of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. when the Spirit
of God comes into the heart of a poor sinner. They don't think they're sinners,
they know, they know, by the inward power of the Holy Ghost. They have to hang their heads
in shame. They understand the language in the Word of God,
shame and confusion of faith belongeth unto us as at this
day, for we have sinned, You know friends, these things
are known by experience by the living family of God. They experience
the fact that they're sinners by the inward work of the Holy
Ghost in the heart. And then that same blessed spirit
that convinces them of sin leads them to Jesus Christ. He will
take of the things of Jesus and reveal them unto you. Does the Holy Spirit dwell in
your heart? Something, my beloved friends,
that is absolutely vital. We read in Romans chapter 8,
if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. That's a very solemn word, isn't
it? You know, friends, we can have a lot of religion. Most
of us have been brought up to the house of God. And we can understand in our
heads, religion, doctrine. You can tell when the minister's
preaching error. You can have all of that. and not be a child of God. There is such a thing as natural
discernment and we need more than natural
discernment. We need a religion which is of
the heart. We read in Romans 10, it is with
the heart that man believeth unto righteousness. Do you, do
I, of a heart religion. Does the Spirit of God dwell
in our hearts? You see my beloved friends, so
when those disciples in that ship, they came into that great
storm, it was the Lord Jesus, showing his mighty power, rebuked
the winds and the sea. and there was a great calm. What manner of man is this that
even the winds and the sin obey him? And so we see the dear apostle
here then in this time of great trouble. All hope that we should
be saved was then taken away. What a dark What a dark place
that was, wasn't it? But then the Lord appeared to
Paul. It says in verse 22, and now I exhort you to be of good
cheer, for there shall be no loss of any man's life among
you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night
the angel of God, whose I am and whom I serve. The apostle was not ashamed of
his Saviour. Not before wicked men, whose
I am, whom I serve. Oh, that the Lord would give
us that same grace. For there stood by me this night
the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, fear
not, Paul, for they must be brought before Caesar, and though God
hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wonderful preservation
of life. You know, I was thinking of our
text and how unusual the text is. And the rest, some on boards,
and some on broken pieces of ship. And so it came to pass
that they escaped all safe to land. In the previous verse it
says, and the soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, lest
any of them should swim out and escape. But the centurion, willing
to save Paul, kept them from their purpose and commanded that
they which could swim should cast themselves first into the
sea and get to land. And the rest, some on boards,
and some on broken pieces of ship. And so it came to pass,
they all escaped, they escaped all safe to land. There's a spiritual
meaning here, and that is the final perseverance of the saints. Says in the Prophet Amos, not
a hoof shall be left behind. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Him that cometh unto me I will
in no wise cast out. Every single soul that was given
by the Father to Christ, every single one will be saved with
an everlasting salvation. In the Prophet Joel, chapter
2, two verses following each other, My people shall never
be ashamed. And then the next verse, My people
shall never be ashamed. When we read something twice
in scripture, there's an emphasis. My people shall never be ashamed.
Not a who shall be left behind. Again in the Prophet Amos, it
speaks of the Lord Sivan. But not a grain of wheat shall
be lost. All the dirt, etc. will be shaken
out of the sieve, but none of the wheat shall go through the
sieve, not a grain. It's a very striking illustration,
isn't it? The Lord's people are eternally
secure. Not a grain shall go through
that sieve. Now my mind was very much drawn
to those beautiful words that we find in the in the epistle
of Jude. And there in the epistle of Jude
and verses 24 and 25, we read this. Now unto him that is able
to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before
the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise
God our savior, be glory and majesty Dominion and power both
now and ever. Amen. Now unto him that is able
to keep you from falling. He is. You know, we read in the book
of Job, Job, it's something through the authorized version of the
holy scriptures that has come into our language and job says
that by the skin of his teeth what an unusual expression isn't
it by the skin of his teeth and in other words he felt as
though it only just be saved it was by the skin of his teeth
You think of the trouble that Job came into and the trial that
Job came into and the storm, the tempest. He was the greatest man of the
East and in one day lost all his flocks and all his herds
and in another day the whole of his family was killed in what
we call an accident. He was, as it were, he had boils
from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot. And the dear man of God, he was
brought into some extremely dark places. You know, sometimes I've
heard people quite glibly speak about Job's ditch. Do you know
anybody that has been in Job's ditch? Do you know anybody that,
of the great wealth that that man had, he lost it all. Of the big family he had, he'd
lost it all. And even his wife said, curse
God and die. What a place Job's ditch is,
isn't it? It says in chapter 19, he has stripped me of my
glory. This is Job speaking. He has
stripped me of my glory and taken the crown from my head. He hath
destroyed me on every side, and I am gone, and my hope hath He
removed like a tree. He hath also killed His wrath
against me, and He counteth me unto Him as one of His enemies.
That's how Job fell. Job was a man that feared God
above many. He did. He feared God above many. when it says there in verse 20
of Job 19, my bone cleaveth my skin unto my flesh, and I am
escaped with the skin of my teeth. And as I was thinking of this
text, some on boards, some on pieces of ship, by the skin of
my teeth. But not one was lost, according
to God's promise. according to God's Word. Man may condemn you, but if you're
one of the Lord's children, you will prove, and I can absolutely
say this, just as we read in Romans 8, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. And there
never can be. Why? because Jesus suffered,
bled and died for their sins. That's why. There's no condemnation. And so we read here of Job, I
am escaped with the skin of my teeth. Have pity upon me, have
pity upon me, O ye my friends, for the hand of God hath touched
me. But when you look what he goes
on to say in that chapter 19 by the skin of his teeth and
you see what it was that he was hanging on to, what it was that
he couldn't let go. He says in verse 25 of Job 19, for
I know that my Redeemer lives. For I know that my Redeemer liveth. That's all he needed. It might
have been by the skin of his teeth, but that's all he needed.
And to his feelings, it was by the skin of his teeth. But in
God, there was an absolute certainty in his salvation. Why? Because Jesus suffered and bled
and died for him. For I know that my Redeemer liveth. and that he shall stand at the
latter day upon the earth, and though after my skin worms destroy
this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for
myself. And mine eyes shall behold and
shall not another, though my reins be consumed within me.
You see, I know that my Redeemer. He has the power of an endless
life. Once in him, in him forever,
thus the eternal covenant stands. His honour and his name's at
stake to save thee from the burning lake, it is. The Father chose
a people from the ruins of the Adam Fall. He chose them in His
Son, Jesus Christ. He chose to redeem them and to
deliver them from the curse of the law and from the bondage
of sin and corruption and to bring them into the glorious
liberty of the people of God. And that liberty is found in
Christ. It is. You don't find it anywhere else.
There is none other name that is given under heaven whereby
you must be saved but the name of Jesus Christ. That's where
salvation is. That's where redemption is. But in the experience of the
Lord's family, they come into it. You may have had times when
You've been brought into sweet liberty and a lively hope in
the person, power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. But now
you're in darkness. Now you're in bondage. Now you
feel to be far off. Now you feel the inward corruption
of your heart. Now you're surrounded with difficulties,
troubles, trials, perplexities. Now you're walking a path of
temptation. You know the Lord's people, they
are the peculiar objects of Satan's temptations. They are. Sometimes the enemy comes in
like a flood. Maybe as an angel of light. It's a solemn thought, you know,
where the apostle speaks of that in the epistle to the Corinthians.
When he's speaking of an angel of light, he's speaking of a
minister. He says marvel not, for even
Satan himself is turned into an angel of light. There are
many warnings in scripture against false prophets. against false
preachers, against false teachers. Many wars. And that is what the
Apostle is alluding to in Corinthians about a false minister. You know, if the devil sends
you a minister, he won't come in a bright suit and a light
tie. He'll come in a black suit and he'll be all heavy. The devil
doesn't do it in half measures. He doesn't. how we need to be
on our watchtower. When the devil comes as angel
of light to deceive us, to turn us aside from that true and right
way, which is Jesus Christ. But then it also says that in
the epistle of Peter that the devil comes as a roaring lion.
seeking whom he may devour. A roaring life. I'll tell you something friends
that I have proved personally myself. The devil knows your
peculiar besetting sins. He does. He knows what they are
and he'll keep bringing them before you to tempt you, to draw
you aside, And there's something in your heart is besetting. It's
besetting, it besets you. You see, but we read in scripture
mercifully, when the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of
the Lord will lift up a standard against him. That standard is
Christ. And that's who the Holy Spirit
lifts up. It's very striking in the epistles when the apostles
write in the epistles and it stands out I think perhaps
mostly in the epistle to the Ephesians. Whatever he's dealing with, whether
it's doctrine, experience or practice, he constantly uses
these terms, in him, through him, by him, Unto him who's him
Christ the glorious eternal person of Jesus the son of God that
was manifest in the flesh That's what he's speaking of In him through him by him You
know friends when when we look at ourselves When we feel the
corruption of our heart When we feel the worldliness and the
carnality that is within us Our heart sinks. It does, doesn't
it? It sinks. And one hymn writer says, doesn't
he, and they, and can ever God dwell here? And do you sometimes
feel that? When you feel the wickedness
and the temptations and the trials that you come into? Can ever
God dwell here? Can I really be a child of God? When I feel such corruption and
sin, in my very nature, what the apostle calls the old man,
which is corrupt. And every child of God has an
old man, which is corrupt. And it's a great trial to every
child of God. The apostle, he speaks of it
in Romans chapter seven, doesn't he? That which I would, I do
not. That which I would not, I do.
I find a law within my members that when I would do good, then
evil is present with me. You see, there is this great
tension in every child of God. There's the old man of sin, and
there's the new man of grace. The new man of grace desires
to follow Christ. The apostle says, I delight in
the law of the Lord after the inward man. That's the inward
man of grace. You see, but there's this great
conflict so that You wonder sometimes if ever you're going to reach
eternal glory. Shall I ever reach then? And
the rest, some on boards and some on broken pieces of shit.
And so it came to pass that they escaped all safe to land. Maybe you get really tried and
tempted because of this inward conflict that is within you. The Apostle, he speaks a very
precious word in Philippians chapter 3 and he gives a solemn warning He says here, speaking of believers
in verse 18, Philippians 3 verse 18, for many walk of whom I have
told you often and now tell you even weeping that they're enemies
of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose God
is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly
things. Then listen to what he says,
for our conversation now, That's quite a difficult word,
really. If you have a marginal reference, it says our citizenship. For conversation, it says citizenship. For our citizenship is in heaven,
from whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall change our vile body. that it may be fashioned like
unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is
able even to subdue all things unto himself." Our vile body. How many of us that know what
Solomon speaks in that prayer of dedication to the temple,
every man shall know the plague of his own heart. Every man shall know the plague
of his own heart. How many of us here know the
plague of our own heart? How many of us here know what
the Apostle says there in Romans 7? O wretched man that I am,
who shall deliver me? from the body of this death. That's how you feel, isn't it? Can I ever reach heaven? Can
I ever be in eternal glory? But then we have these lovely
words of grace. For our citizenship is in heaven
from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. who shall change our vile body. He calls it what it is, our vile
body. You know the plague of your own
heart, you know the corruption of your own nature, our vile
body. And what is the amazing thing,
my beloved friends, is that it may be fashioned like unto his
glorious body. It will be. This body of sin
and death must lie in the grave. It must. It must lie in the grave. It must die. Our redeemed soul
shall ascend into heaven. And then on the resurrection
morn, our body and our soul will be reunited together. Who shall
change our vile body that it may be fashioned like unto his
glorious body according to the working whereby he is able. He
is able. It's a wonderful thing, isn't
it? All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. He is
able to subdue all things unto himself,
even this poor wretched sinful body. redeemed, washed, cleansed,
clothed, washed in the precious blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, preserved in Him. There's another beautiful word
actually which we find in the first epistle of Peter and in
the first chapter of the first epistle of Peter. He speaks of
the divine work of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. He says
in verse two, elect according to the full knowledge of God
the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, under obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you
and peace be multiplied. But this verse three, was the
verse that the Lord used to bring me into gospel liberty. And he
breathed it into my heart. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively, that's a living hope, by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He rose again
for our justification, we read in the Romans. To be justified
is to be declared to be without sin. When Christ rose from the
dead is the evidence that the sin of the whole church has been
put away. As in that, resurrecting Saviour,
a lively, a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the dead. Now, to an inheritance. An inheritance
You can't buy it, you can't purchase it. It's freely given to an inheritance
incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth not away reserved
in heaven for you who are kept, who are kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation. ready to be revealed in the last
time. This is the final perseverance
of the saints. You may feel at times, like Joe,
by the skin of my teeth. You may feel like another says
all these things. Jacob, when he was in the midst
of all his troubles, he said, all these things are against
me. They weren't. He thought they were. But they
weren't. Poor sinner, if you get to heaven,
it is through the precious blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ
alone. The apostle says in the epistle
to Titus, not by works of righteousness that I have done, but according
to his abundant mercy. That's the only reason you'll
reach heaven. because of the blood and righteousness of Jesus
Christ. The Apostle says in the Hebrews,
which hope we have, an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,
anchored within the veil, that is in the person of Jesus, the
Son of God. That's the anchor of the soul.
It cannot, it cannot be lost. You may fear, you may greatly
fear, And some of the Lord's people have greatly feared on
their deathbed. And the enemy has been allowed
to tempt them and try them. And they wonder if ever they'll
reach heaven. The enemy magnifies your sins
and your unbelief and your wickedness and your corruption. And you
say, can ever I reach heaven? Yes, poor sinner, how? By Jesus
Christ, by his precious blood, by his glorious righteousness,
nothing else, nothing else. and the rest some on boards and
some on broken pieces of ship and so it came to pass that they
escaped all safe to land. May the Lord add his blessings. Let us now sing together hymn
number 732. The tune is Indulgence, 547. Indulgent God, how kind are all
thy ways to me, whose dark benighted mind was enmity with thee, yet
now, subdued by sovereign grace, My spirit longs for thy embrace. Hymn 732, tune indulgence 547.
? And the land of the free and
the home of the brave ? ? And the home of the brave ? To Thou, so dear, by so great
grace, My spirit longs for, I embrace. How precious are thy thoughts,
Which all my births have brought! Grace will be on my path, and
captivate my soul. Thou gravest of all, I lay right, Can there be no living in that
sight? Is earth in Jesus' way? I became late to bed, And what
should I have done, But now God's hope is dead? I now portray thy mercy great,
Which on earth did it never meet. ? Let all humans of grace ? ? Have
sinners made by God ? ? Have streams of love like streams
of tiller ? And give His humblest mercy,
see, Eternal force of love to you. Now may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each. Amen.