The tune is to God be the glory,
1011. How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord, is laid
for your faith in his excellent word. What more can he say than
to you he has said? You who unto Jesus for refuge
have fled. Hymn 329, tune 1011, to God be
the glory. ? Dear God, hear the voices ? ?
In the strains of the morn ? His aim for your faith in His excellent
work. What more can He say then to
you He has said? You who unto Jesus for refuge
have fled. In every condition, in sickness,
in health, In our country's meadows, abounding with flowers. As purple and golden, the land
of the sea, ? As my days may be long ? ? Shall
thy strength ever be ? ? Here, Lord, I am with thee ? ? Thou King
of this day ? I, I, am thy God, and will still with thee be. A strength, lovely, healthy,
and cozy to stand. How can I, my righteous, only
purge death? When through the waters I call
thee to go, the rivers of ocean, not the earth that flowed. For I will be with thee, thy
troubles to pass, and sanctify to thee thy deepest
distress. When truth are in trials, thy
pathway shall guide, My graceful sufficient shall
be thy supply, The pain shall not have thee, I only desire. Thy trust in God still, and thy
hope to revive. Give down to old age all my pain,
old child, prove Thy suffering eternal, unchangeable now. And where your holy head shall
my temples adore, Thy countenance shall still in my hearth summethore. I will not, I will not desert to his foot. That's on the old Hampshire and
Devon, Disney. I'll never, no never, no never
fall asleep. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Prophet Joel and chapter 2. The second chapter of the Prophet
Joel. Blow ye the trumpet, Isaiah,
and sound an alarm in my holy mountain. that all the inhabitants
of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord cometh, for it
is nigh at hand. A day of darkness and gloominess,
a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread
upon the mountains, a great people and a strong, that hath not been
ever the like, neither be any more after it, even to the years
of many generations. A fire devoureth before them,
and behind them a flame burneth. The land is as the garden of
Eden before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness. Yea,
and nothing shall escape. The appearance of them is as
the appearance of horses, and as horsemen so shall they run.
Like the noise of chariots on the tops of mountains shall they
leap. like the noise of a flame of
fire that devoureth the stubble as a strong people set in battle
array. Before their face the people
shall be much pained. All faces shall gather blackness.
They shall run like mighty men. They shall climb the walls like
men of war and they shall march everyone on his ways and they
shall not break their ranks. Neither shall one thrust another
They shall walk every one in his path, and when they fall
upon the sword, they shall not be wounded. They shall run to
and fro in the city. They shall run upon the wall.
They shall climb up upon the houses. They shall enter in at
the windows like a thief. The earth shall quake before
them. The heavens shall tremble. The sun and the moon shall be
dark. and the stars shall withdraw their shining, and the Lord shall
utter his voice before his army, for his camp is very great, for
he is strong that executed his word, for the day of the Lord
is great and terrible, and who can abide it? Therefore also now saith the
Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart and with fasting,
and with weeping and with mourning, and rend your heart and not your
garments, and turn unto the Lord your God, for he is gracious
and merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, and repenteth
him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will return
and repent and leave a blessing behind him, even a meat offering
and a drink offering unto the Lord your God. Blow the trumpet
in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the
people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the
children and those that suck the breast. Let the bridegroom
go forth of his chamber and the bride out of her closet. Let
the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch
and the altar, and let them say, spare thy people, O Lord, and
give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule
over them. Wherefore should they say among the people, where is
their God? Then will the Lord be jealous
for his land and pity his people. Yea, the Lord will answer and
say unto his people, behold, I will send you corn and wine
and oil and you shall be satisfied therewith, and I will no more
make you a reproach among the heathen. But I will remove far
off from you the northern army, and will drive him into a land
barren and desolate, with his face toward the east sea, and
his hind apart toward the utmost sea, and his stink shall come
up, and his ill savour shall come up, because he hath done
great things. Fear not, O land, be glad and
rejoice, for the Lord will do great things. Be not afraid,
ye beasts of the field, for the pastures of the wilderness do
spring, for the tree beareth her fruit, the fig tree and the
vine do yield their strength. Be glad then, ye children of
Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he hath given you
the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for
you the rain, the former rain and the latter rain in the first
month. And the floors shall be full
of wheat, and the fats shall overflow with wine and oil. And
I will restore to you the years that the locusts have eaten,
and the kangaroo worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer worm,
my great army, which I sent among you. And you shall eat in plenty,
and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God
that which dealt wondrously with you, and my people shall never
be ashamed. And you shall know that I am
in the midst of Israel, and that I am the Lord your God and none
else, and my people shall never be ashamed. And it shall come
to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh,
And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your old
men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.
And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days
will I pour out my Spirit. And I will show wonders in the
heavens and in the earth, blood and fire and pillars of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood. before the great and terrible
day of the Lord come. And it shall come to pass that
whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered.
For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the
Lord has said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call. May the Lord bless thee. reading
of his own precious work, and grant to us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, we desire to bow before thy glorious
majesty. We desire to enter thy gates
with the spirit of confession, of our sins, of our wanderings,
of our backslidings. We pray to be washed in the precious
blood of Jesus, to cleanse us from all our sin, to restore
our soul, to renew us and to replenish us, that we may be
strengthened with might in the spirit of the inner man. We read,
O Lord, in thy word, of thy children in thee, in Israel, and the amount
of times, O Lord, we read that thou didst meet with them at
the time of the evening sacrifice. And we pray, Lord, it may be
so today, as we gather together round thy word, we desire to
worship thee, we desire to hear thy voice, to see thy countenance,
and to worship in my holy hill of Zion. We have known thy presence,
we have felt thy presence, we have experienced it here, Lord,
in the sanctuary. We pray that we may know it again.
We pray that the power of the Holy Ghost may be present with
us tonight, that the word of the Lord may be breathed into
our hearts, that we may hear the word of the Lord that we
may receive it in our hearts, that we may lay hold of that
hope that is set before us in the gospel, that we may touch
the hem of Jesus' garment, that we may behold your lovely man
and worship at Emmanuel's feet. We pray, most blessed Spirit,
that thou wouldst take of the things of Jesus and reveal them
unto us, and that thou wouldst guide us,
O thou great Jehovah, Pilgrims in a barren land, we are weak,
but thou art mighty, hold us with thy mighty hand. We do pray that we may be fed
with the bread of heaven, and that our souls may be nourished
and renewed in the gospel. We pray, O Lord, that that spirit
that was in Christ Jesus may be found in us. Thy word solemnly
declares, if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none
of his. And yet, Lord, we read, but we
have the mind of Christ. And we pray that this evening
hour, as we gather for worship, we may indeed have the mind of
Christ, and 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. Lord, we do thank thee for
those lovely words, where two or three are gathered in my name,
there am I. Oh, most gracious Lord, we do
pray that we may feel thy presence. In thy presence, I am happy.
In thy presence, I am secure. In thy presence, I can easily
all things in due. Grant us enduring grace. Grant
us renewing grace. Grant us upholding grace. Grant
us enlightening grace. Oh, do grant that wonderful grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, for without Thee we can do nothing. We are nothing and we have nothing.
My all is bound up in the Lamb. Everything we stand in need of
is in Thee, Lord Jesus. Do come this night. Do come and
speak to our hearts. Do come and guide us into thy
truth. Do come and open thy holy word.
Remember us as a church and as a congregation. Remember us with
the favour that thou bearest unto thy people, and visit us
with thy great salvation. Remember us, O Lord, with that
sacred spirit of adoption, whereby we may cry, Abba, Father, For
God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. May that be our blessed experience
tonight, that we may feel and know that we are the sons and
daughters of the Lord God Almighty. A wonder of wonders for poor,
wretched, ruined sinners to know and to feel that we are indeed
the children of the living God. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou would remember our brethren, the deacons, and give
grace, wisdom, and help in all their responsibilities. We pray
that thou would remember each one of our brethren and sisters
in church fellowship. We pray, most gracious Lord, that thou would remember the
little ones and the children. We're thankful for them, we pray
that thou wouldst bless them. A generation may be raised up
to call thee the Redeemer, bless it. Do hear us, Lord, we humbly
beseech thee, and have mercy upon us, we pray thee. And O
Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst remember our young friends. Remember
them with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people. Visit
them with thy great salvation. Bring them to living faith in
Jesus Christ. Make them true followers of thee
and of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Cause the prodigals to return and thy wonderful grace to be
seen in this. Lord, thou art able to do abundantly
more than we can even ask or think. And Lord, We do not just
want their physical presence, but we long for a spiritual presence. Oh, to hear as we humbly pray
they send out the glory, light and power of the gospel into
this village and the surrounding villages and hamlets and return
to Jerusalem with mercies and may bear thine holy arm in the
gospel and bless the distribution of thy word We do humbly beseech
thee that it may be down to thee, honour, glory and praise of thy
great name. Truly, Lord, in the day in which
we live, the spirit of Antichrist is so great. There is an anti-Christian
spirit that pervades among us as a nation. Oh, we pray that
thou wouldst arise, that thou wouldst make bare thine holy
arm, that thou wouldst grant thy gospel good success, that
thou wouldst take away the heart of stone and give a heart of
flesh. Oh, do be gracious unto us as a church and congregation
and grant an ingathering, a rebuilding, a renewing, a reviving. We think of those wonderful promises,
Lord, I will bring thy sons from far. and thy daughters from the
ends of the earth. And they shall come from the
north and from the south, and from the east and from the west.
O thou great God, let us see thy goings in the sanctuary.
Let us see thy power and thy glory as thou usest to be in
the sanctuary. And help us to watch unto prayer
continually. Men are always to pray and not
to faint. We live, O Lord, in a day when
Zion is minished and brought low. Few come to her solemn feast. Arise, arise, O God of grace. Into thy rest descend thou and
the ark of thy strength. And let thy priests be clothed
with salvation. And thy saints shall shout aloud
for joy. Bless parents who give wisdom
and grace to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord. Bless the families as they gather
for worship in the home. Bless all in the midst of the
journey of life. Remember them where they are.
Some are far off from thee. And we pray that thou would work
mightily and work powerfully and work effectually in this
day in which we live. We do humbly beseech thee, wilt
thou not revive us again, grant us that renewing and reviving
in our own souls. Then they that feared the Lord
spake often one to another, O that that spirit may pervade among
us and among thy people. We do humbly beseech thee and
how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together
in unity. O do grant an increase of faith
and love and every grace we do humbly beseech them, help us
to love each other, help us to serve each other, help us to
bear each other's burdens, thereby fulfilling the law of Christ. Remember those of us that are
now in the evening time of life journey, prepare us for that
great change which must come, we do humbly beseech them. And
O Lord, we pray that those of us that expect to travel up to
Clifton tomorrow we may know thy presence and thy blessing
and those that take part in the services may know that anointing
of the Spirit and that we may be united together in the fear
of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom and we may feel that
love flowing from heart to heart O grant then thy blessing to
rest upon us. We do humbly beseech of thee.
We thank thee, O Lord, for all thy tender mercies. We thank
thee that thou art God over all and blessed for evermore. We
thank thee that thou art able to do abundantly more than we
can even ask or think. We thank thee that there is nothing
too hard for thee. We thank thee, most gracious
Lord, for the sending forth of thy son, made of a woman made
under the law, that he might redeem them that are under the
law. Oh, we do thank thee then for
the glory of the holy God man, the man Christ Jesus. We thank
thee for that holy life and that glorious everlasting robe of
his righteousness, which he has wrought out for his people. We
thank Thee for that holy sacrifice where sin has been put away and
divine justice has been satisfied. We thank Thee that He died for
our sins and rose again for our justification and that such a
high priest have we who is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the
Son of God. We have a great high priest Lord,
what a fullness, what a completeness there is in our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Thee that in Him we
know the love of our eternal Father. And we thank Thee that
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. for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 333. The tune is Requiem 685 O my soul, what means this sadness? Wherefore art thou thus cast
down? Let thy griefs be turned to gladness. Bid thy restless fears be gone. Look to Jesus and rejoice in
his dear name. Hymn 333, tune Requiem 685. ? It's true so To find me in trouble and pain,
In thy presence will see me now. ? Through the years of mortal dangers
? ? Can rejoicing be to thee? ? O'er whose broad stripes and
bright stars, through the perilous fight O'er the ramparts we watched, were so
gallantly streaming? ? The virgin born in creation ?
? Now and ever we will be seen ? ? Christ the Lord is born in heaven ? O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? O come, let us adore Him, O come,
let us adore Him, is This is how I can be found in
the Holy Ghost. Rejoice, then, and still be gladly,
Still be free, still be glad. Therefore praise ye, therefore
praise ye, praise and thank in the same. God and glory. ? Of the heav'nly
host I come ? ? With the Lord my God before me ? ? Heaven and
earth sing this hymn of joy ? God be with us, and with thy
spirit. Amen. Greatly feeling the need, the
Lord's gracious help, direct your attention to the chapter
that we read, the Prophet Joel, chapter two, and we'll read verses
26 and 27 for our text. The Prophet Joel, chapter two,
verses 26 and 27. And ye shall eat in plenty and
be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord your God that I have
dealt wondrously with you and my people shall never be ashamed
and you shall know that I am in the midst of Israel and that
I am the Lord your God and none else and my people shall never
be ashamed. We never find in God's word,
vain repetition. When something is mentioned twice
or even more, it is because the Holy Spirit is laying an emphasis on that word. And here in these
two verses, the last clause of both verses, and that is really
what has rested on my spirit and my people, shall never be
ashamed. My people, the Lord's people. Joel lived in very troublous
times. Joel lived in a time just before
the Babylonian captivity and he is prophesying of course of
that Babylonian captivity, of the Lord visiting the children
of Israel with solemn judgment. speaks
of the army of the Babylonians. It says in verse two, a great
people and a strong. They have not been ever the like,
neither shall be any more after it. A great strong army. Indeed here the Lord calls them
my army. It's the army of the heathen
of course. the armies of Nebuchadnezzar. The fire devouring before them,
and behind them a flame burning, the land as the Garden of Eden
before them, and behind them a desolate wilderness, and nothing
shall escape them. Very solemn prophecy, isn't it? And it says in verse 7, they
shall run like mighty men. They shall climb the wall like
men of war, and they shall march every one on his ways, and they
shall not break their ranks. What a fearsome prophecy the
Lord gave. And yet, you know, friends, by
and large, these prophecies fell upon deaf ears. These solemn
warnings fell upon deaf ears. It's like when the gospel is
preached today, it's as if there's a resistance against him, an
antipathy towards him. That's the spirit of Antichrist. And then it says in verse 11,
and the Lord shall utter his voice before his army, for his
camp is very great, for he is strong that executed his word. For the day of the Lord is great
and very terrible, And who can abide it? Now you might say well
that was historical and that was when the Babylonian army
overran Jerusalem. It is but no scripture is only
private interpretation. There's an application for this
for the second coming of Christ. For the day of the Lord is great
and very terrible and who can abide it? But then we have some instruction
here. given us by the Spirit of the
living God. Therefore also now, saith the
Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting,
and with weeping, and with mourning. And rend your heart, and not
your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God. For he is
gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness,
and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth? Who knoweth if he
will return and repent and leave a blessing behind him? You know,
friends, and we do, as we look at the churches, and I think
of when I was a little boy, and some chapels you went to, they
were full. But where do we find full chapels today? Not many. Indeed, I think when I was a
little boy, there was 300 churches on the list, and now there's
under a hundred. But we mustn't give up. The Lord
is able to turn our captivity as the streams in the South.
And he is gracious and merciful and slow to anger. Now, where
is that grace and mercy? Found. It's found in Jesus Christ. Yet have I set my king upon my
holy hell of Zion. That remains true today, my beloved
friends. You look back through the history
of the church, right back to the time that had Adam. And there
were times when the church was so small. Look in the days of
Noah. There was only eight souls saved
in that great flood that flooded the whole earth. Thousands were
swept from time into eternity. And yet there was a remnant according
to the election of grace. Moses, rather Noah, heeded the
word of the Lord. He built an ark to the saving
of his soul and of his family. He rent his heart and not his
garment. The Lord is not interested, my
beloved friends, in an outward reformation. It's that inward
work of the Spirit in the heart, bringing a poor sinner to repent. Who knoweth, it says in verse
14, who knoweth if he will return and repent and leave a blessing
behind him, even a meat offering and a drink offering unto the
Lord your God. Who knows? Who can tell? Who can tell? There's always
a who can tell. He will not keep his anger forever. No. He's a God of love. He's a God of compassion. And
that love and that compassion is in Jesus Christ, God so loved
the world, he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Where? In Jesus Christ. In the glorious
person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, manifest in the flesh.
In Him we see the law fulfilled and magnified and honored. In Him is life. He that hath
the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not life. These are very clear and emphatic
words of scripture written for our instruction. Who knoweth
if he will return and repent and leave a blessing? Don't give
up. Keep looking up. Keep pressing
on. Keep praying. men are always
to pray and not to faint, who knoweth if he will return and
repent and leave a blessing behind him, even a meat offering and
a drink offering unto the Lord your God, who knoweth? And then it goes on in verse
15, blow the trumpet in Zion, Zion is the church of the living
God. Blow the trumpet in Zion. A trumpet
was usually used for warning. The children of Israel in the
wilderness, at the sound of a trumpet, they all gathered together. The hymn writer takes up that
very point, doesn't he? The trumpet of the gospel sound. Blow the trumpet in Zion. Sanctify
a fast. Call a solemn assembly. Gather the people. Sanctify the
congregation. Assemble the elders. Gather the
children and those that suck the breast. Let the bridegroom
go forth of his chamber and the bride out of her closet. Let
the priests and ministers of the Lord weep between the porch
and the altar. Let them say, spare thy people,
O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen
should rule over them. Wherefore should they say among
the people, where is their God? And then we have this wonderful
word of the Lord in verse 18, then when there's a turning unto
the Lord, then will the Lord be jealous for his land. and
piteous people. Yea, the Lord will answer and
say unto his people, Behold, I will send you corn and wine
and oil. You see, in the previous chapters,
it speaks of the years that the caterpillar has eaten. It says in chapter 1, verse 4,
That which the palmer worm hath left hath the locust eaten, and
that which the locust hath left hath the canker-worm eaten, and
that which the canker-worm hath left the caterpillar eaten. Awake,
ye drunkers, and weep, and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because
of the new wine, for it is cut off from your mouth. For a nation
is come up upon my land." You see, the solemn judgments of
God. Now, we can know it collectively
as a church, we can know it as a group of churches and the Lord
can make it known in the nation that he is displeased, that his
arm is lifted up in displeasure. But then it says in Micah that
he delighteth in mercy. Who does the Lord? He delighteth
in mercy. And in the book of Exodus, where
it speaks of the name of the Lord, the first thing it says,
merciful and gracious. That's the first thing it says,
merciful and gracious. You see, who knoweth if he will
return and repent and leave a blessing behind him, even a meat offering
and a drink offering, unto the Lord your God. And he says here in verse 20
concerning the Babylonians, this would happen a long time after
this prophecy, but I will remove far off from you the northern
army, as Nebuchadnezzar, and will drive them into land barren
and desolate. The Lords would turn their captivity. And then we have these wonderful
promises from verse 21, fear not, O land, Be glad and rejoice,
for the Lord will do great things. Look unto me, O ye ends of the
earth, and be ye saved, for I am God, and there is none else.
Look unto me. What an invitation from the eternal
God to pour wretched, backsliding sinners. Look unto me. See these exhortations are written
in holy scripture to instruct us as to the way that we are
to take. He says in verse 22, be not afraid
ye beasts of the field for the pastures of the wilderness do
spring. There's going to come a day of prosperity. There's
going to come a time when there is a reviving, a renewing, a
replenishing. You know, we have that, those
wonderful promises that are found, my mind in particular, because
it's been made so special to me, goes to Isaiah 60. Arise,
shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is
risen upon thee. For behold, the darkness shall
cover the earth, and gross darkness the people, but the Lord shall
arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. We see the arising of the Lord
and the glory of the Lord in the face of Jesus Christ. God
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined into
our hearts with the light of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Jesus said, I am the light of
the world. And it speaks here of the effects
Lift up thine eyes round about and see all they gather themselves
together. They come to thee, thy sons shall
come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
Then shalt thou see and flow together that spirit of love
and union and communion in the gospel. And thy heart shall fear
and be enlarged, because the abundance of the sea shall be
converted unto thee. And the forces of the Gentiles
shall come unto thee. See these wonderful promises of the future prosperity of Zion. Look at verse 10. And the sons
of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their king shall minister
unto thee. For in my wrath I smote thee,
but in my favor have I had mercy on thee. The Lord God merciful. Gracious Therefore this is speaking
to Zion. Therefore thy gates shall be
open continually They shall not be shut day nor night that men
may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles and That their
kings may be brought See these wonderful promises. Look at verse
13. The glory of Lebanon shall come
unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, the box together to
beautify the place of my sanctuary and I will make the place of
my feet glorious. The heaven is my throne, the
earth is my footstool. I will make the place of my feet
glorious. Glorious in the shining forth
of gospel light. Glorious in the pulling down
of the strongholds of Satan and the setting up of the kingdom
of the Lord Jesus. Glorious in the sending forth
of his servants to preach the everlasting gospel and to be
determined to know nothing among men, save Jesus Christ and him
crucified, who made the place of my feet. Glorious. Wonderful promises. and so we have in our text these
wonderful days look at verse 25 just before our text and i
will restore to you the years that the locusts have eaten the
canker worm and the caterpillar and the palmer were my great
army which i sent among you and you shall eat in plenty These,
my beloved friends, are the sure and certain promises of the eternal
God unto Zion, the church of the living God. And you shall
eat in plenty and be satisfied and praise the name of the Lord
your God that hath dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall
never be ashamed. And you shall know I am in the
midst of Israel that I am the Lord your God, and none else,
and my people shall never be ashamed. They'll never be ashamed. World without end. So the Lord
Jesus said, Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of
the earth. I am with you always. what he
said to his servants and that same word he speaks to his children.
There's that extremely well-known promise in Isaiah 41 verse 10,
fear thou not for I am with thee, be not dismayed. Why does he
say that? Because sometimes we are. Sometimes we can't always feel
the Lord's presence. Sometimes we get dismayed because
of the way that we walk, because of the trials that we pass through.
Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I
am the Lord. I am thy God. I will strengthen
thee. Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. There's a multitude of promises
in that one verse but what a wonderful thought that is, fear not for
I am with thee, I am with thee and my people shall never be
ashamed. Now let us come to what we might
say something more personal The Lord's people are the subject
of temptations. The Lord's people are sometimes
subject to an evil heart of unbelief. The Lord's people sometimes become
very worldly and carnal. And that brings them into darkness
and bondage in their souls. And when That happens when we
become worldly and carnal, and we all do at different times. No longer, you see, when we do
that, we grieve the Holy Spirit of promise. And we're exhorted
in Ephesians chapter 4, grieve not the Holy Spirit of promise
whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. You might say, what is it to
grieve the Holy Spirit? He withdraws his heavenly power.
He doesn't leave his people, he never would. They would never
be ashamed. I would never leave thee nor
forsake thee. But the Holy Spirit withdraws
his sweet influence in the soul. And I always think the hymn writer
puts it so clearly and so beautifully, when the Holy Spirit does that,
and he says, no longer burns our love. Our faith and patience
fail. Why? Because we grieve the Holy
Spirit of promise, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. We grieved him. Therefore, he
withholds his sweet influence. You remember the times when the
love of Christ so burnt in your heart, so filled your soul, so
sanctified your life? You felt such a love to the Lord
Jesus. You felt such a love to his people.
You felt such a love to his ways, to his ordinances, to his commandments. You could really say when you
came up to the house of God, here my best friends, my kindred
dwell, here God, my saviour reigns. But now you don't feel that. There's a withholding of
those rich spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. rich spiritual
blessings and the Lord withholds them. What happens? Well we're
by nature we're carnally minded and when the Holy Spirit withdraws
his sweet influence we're no longer spiritually minded we're
carnally minded and that is very distressing These things happen sometimes
over a period of time. You think of how earnest you
were when Christ was first made precious. Think of how often
you turned to the Word of God and read the Word of God and
felt a sweetness in it and felt a longing desire to read it.
You know in my early spiritual days I used to work for a large
meat company in Luton and Our shift started at four o'clock
every morning. And so sweet was the love of
Christ in my heart that I would get up at about quarter to three
so that I could read the Word before I went to work. There
was that desire, that longing, that yearning. But then when we'd become carnal
and that lack of spiritual mindedness, that lack of spiritual desire,
then we forsake reading the Word of God so much. Sometimes we
do it just routinely because it's the duty to do it and we
should read it at least twice a day. But sometimes you read
it and you don't even remember what you've read. It's just a
dead round of service. see but you remember the time
when you read it and it was a living word in your heart it fed your
soul and now you you feel to be and
you know the child of god does know this you feel to be spiritually
dead you feel there's no spiritual life because of your backsliding behavior,
because of that lack of spiritual mindedness, that lack of desire.
It's all symptomatic of a spiritual condition. And we're carnally minded. The
apostle in Romans, he tells us that to be carnally minded is
death. To be spiritually minded is life
and peace. It's a wonderful thing, you know,
when the Lord gives us a reviving. And it may be that at this time
you feel very tried, very perplexed. But you know, we have a message
here tonight in these two verses. And my people, that's the people
of God. And my people shall never be
ashamed. Twice, my people shall never
be ashamed. that they cannot be eternally
lost. We believe in that sacred doctrine
of the final perseverance of the saints. We believe most firmly
that all those that the Father chose and gave by a gift of love
unto his Son before the world began. We believe
that the Lord Jesus has redeemed every one of them. He saved them with an everlasting
salvation. He has. And they can never be
lost. You may have these periods of
darkness, of bondage, and I don't know the reason for it. You probably
know yourself. You have these periods of darkness
and bondage when you're far off, worldly and carnal. And you fear sometimes that you're
out of the secret. You know, doesn't the apostle
Paul, he deals with this particular type of condition in the epistle
to the Hebrews, and he speaks there to the people of God, I
think it's in the 10th chapter, where he speaks so beautifully
of that one offering of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And
he speaks of these wonderful days, verse 16 of Hebrews 10. This is the covenant I will make
with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws
into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them, and
their sins and iniquities I remember no more. Now where remission
of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore,
brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,
by new and living wine, which he hath consecrated for us through
the veil that is to say his flesh, and having a high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near, just as the exhortation
here is in Joel 2. Let us draw near with a true
heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, that's
the water of regeneration. Let us hold fast to the profession
of our faith without wavering for it is faith for the promised. And these exhortations which
are to our spiritual benefit, not forsaking the assembly of
yourselves together, of ourselves together as the man of summons,
but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the
day approaching. For if ye sin willfully after
ye have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins. But a certain fearful looking
for a judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries.
He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three
witnesses. of how much sore a punishment
spose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath trod on underfoot
the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith
he was sanctified an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the
Spirit of grace. For we know him that hath said,
Vengeance belonging to me, I will recompense saith the Lord, and
again, the Lord shall judge his people. But then he says here,
verse 32, but call to remembrance the former days. May it be a
word in season, but call to remembrance the former days, in which after
ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions. Partly whilst ye were made a
gazing stock, by reproaches and afflictions, and partly while
she became companions of them that were soldiers. You see,
and then he says in verse 35, cast not away therefore your
confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For you
have need of patience, that after you have done the will of God,
you might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he
that shall come will come and will not tarry. That's a quotation from one of
the minor prophets. He that shall come will come
and will not tarry. The apostle uses it as a word
of exhortation. Now the just shall live by faith
but if any man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him
but we are not of them. that draw back unto petition,
but of them that believe unto the saving of the soul, but not
of them that draw back unto petition. You know the Lord Jesus Christ
in the Gospel according to John, chapter 10, he speaks so beautifully
there of the eternal perseverance of the saints. He says in verse 27 of John 10,
My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and
I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father which
gave them Me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck
them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one. None shall pluck them out of
my hand. You know, my beloved friends,
that speaks of the eternal safety and the eternal security of the
living family of God. And it bears out what we have
in our text, and my people shall never be ashamed. Everyone who was redeemed in Christ, will
reach eternal glory. They are saved with an everlasting
salvation. They cannot be lost. And this
is the meaning of the words in our text, and my people shall
never be ashamed. Think of those wonderful words
of our Lord Jesus Christ, let not your heart be troubled. You
believe in God, believe also In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you,
and if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be
also, and my people shall never be ashamed. May the Lord add
His blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
539 to the tune St. Godric, 556. Christians, rejoice
and sing. your Maker's lovely praise. He
is your God and King, ancient of endless days. He lives, He
reigns and sits above, the King of kings, the God of love. Hymn 539, Tune St. Godric, 556.
? Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave ? ? O'er the land of the free and the home
of the brave? ? ? Angel from heav'n descends
? ? Gives the angels their song ? ? And the angels their song
? ? Alleluia ? ? O nation incontinent ? ? In excelsis
Deo ? ? In excelsis Deo ? ? In excelsis Deo ? ? In excelsis
Deo ? ? In excelsis Deo ? In heav'n He reigns, O God and
King, And with You to His glory sing. He saves you by His grace, Courageous
grace indeed, Yet such terrible grace. God's name and Satan free. It must be true and must be joined
to make a grateful corporation. ? The time will surely come ? ?
When your wisdom shall come ? ? You'll find yourself at home ? ? With
Christ the Lamb ? with Him to reign, with Him to
reign, and never, never fall away. 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,
both now and for evermore. Amen.