the Lord will. Your pastor will
preach next Lord's Day at 10.30 and at two o'clock in the afternoon. Your pastor also will preach
on Thursday evening at seven o'clock. There will be a prayer
meeting on Tuesday evening at seven o'clock. We'll commence the worship of
God with hymn number 90. The tune is 448 Bremar. Now begin the heavenly theme. Sing aloud in Jesus name, ye
who his salvation prove, triumph in redeeming love. Hymn number
90. You. ? Sing the glory of Jesus' name
? ? The angel wings will raise you free ? ? Joyful, we hail thee ? Thee we'll see at the crossroads.
We'll be there. ? Let's sing amen ? ? For the newborn
King ? ? Let's sing amen ? ? For the newborn King ? ? Let's sing
amen ? ? For the newborn King ? O come, let us adore Him, O come,
let us adore Him, Christ, welcome to Thee, safe
and pleasant, and happy, prosperous, ? When returning home ? ? When
returning home ? ? O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? ? ? Let us adore him ? ? Christ,
King of glory evermore ? ? Ever and evermore ? From the Word of God we shall
read part of the second chapter in Paul's epistle to the Ephesians,
reading to the end of chapter 3. The epistle of Paul to the Ephesians,
chapter 2. We shall commence our reading
at verse 8, reading to the end of chapter 3. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained,
that we should walk in them. Therefore remember that ye being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands that
at that time ye were without Christ being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise
having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ
Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath
made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of petition
between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in
himself of twain one new man, so making peace, and that he
might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having
slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace to you
which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him
we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore
ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself
being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord, in
whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through
the Spirit. For this cause I pull the prisoner
of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if ye have heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God which is given me to you would have that
by revelation he may know unto me the mystery as I wrote afore
in few words whereby when ye read ye may understand my knowledge
in the mystery of Christ. which in other ages was not made
known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy
apostles and prophets by the Spirit. That the Gentiles should
be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise
in Christ by the Gospel. whereof I was made a minister
according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by
the effectual working of his power. Unto me, who am less than
the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach
among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, to make all
men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the
beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things
by Jesus Christ, to the intent that now unto the principalities
and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church
the manifold wisdom of God according to the eternal purpose which
he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord in whom we have boldness
and access with confidence by the faith of Him. Wherefore I
desire that ye think not that my tribulation is for you, which
is your glory. For this cause I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family
in heaven and earth is named. that he would grant you, according
to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by
his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
may be able to comprehend with all sense what is the breadth,
and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God. Now unto him that is able to
do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according
to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the
church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. May God bless that portion. of his holy word. May he help
us in prayer. Most gracious God, O that thou
wouldst humble our hearts as we seek to approach unto thee. For Lord, thou dost hate pride
and it dwells in our hearts by nature Lord we plead thy precious
word to this man will I look even to him that is of a broken
and a contrite heart Lord one touch of thy heavenly repentance
will break our hard hearts and humble us before thee. We pray
for these blessings, put us in the Spirit Lord. May we like
dear John of old be found in the Spirit on the Lord's day. We thank thee for the returning
Sabbath, the day of worship, And may we be enabled by the
Spirit to worship Thee in spirit and in truth. We pray for the
clear work of the Spirit in our hearts. We pray for it through
Thy precious Word. We pray that Thou would have
mercy and compassion upon us. Lord Jesus do lead us by thy
spirit, guide us into thy truth. And Lord help us to worship thee
and thee alone. May we know what it is to worship
the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Lord Jesus thou art the beauty
of holiness. We humbly trust we rest on thee
and thee alone. no help in self we find, and
yet have sought it well. The native treasure of our minds
is sin and death and hell. But Lord, as we have read together,
by grace are ye saved through faith, that not of yourselves. We pray for thy grace and the
riches of it. Lord, as our fullness in Thee,
now in heaven and glory. At the right hand of the Father
we look to Thee for fresh supplies of grace and mercy and truth. O shine upon us, we pray, without
Thy divine influence, without the smiles of Thy grace, without
the riches of it. We are but barren sinners, Lord. O come, we pray, and enrich our
hearts, make us lively in the things of God. Our poor carnal
hearts, Lord, can soon become lively in the things of the flesh,
in the things of this world. Lord, how we, like the dear apostle,
have to say that we have no confidence in the flesh. We're a barren
lot by nature, Lord. but oh thy grace how it enriches,
how it lifts us up, how it teaches us the truth. We pray for it
Lord as we gather around thy precious word once more. We thank
thee for it and we seek thy blessing upon it. We pray that thy word
might go forth. May it go forth here, may it
go forth to the very ends of the earth. May the name of Jesus
be precious from the rising of the sun to the going down again
of the same. May thy dear people be blessed
wherever they gather. Oh may thy blessing rest here
and be with dear brother J. Bishop Matfield and wherever
thy dear servants labour to help them and enable them to go forth
in the fullness of the gospel of the dear Lord Jesus Christ. Break thou the bread of life
among the churches, feed the hungry, strengthen the weak,
help the helpless, enrich the poor, O may they have the gospel
preached unto them we beseech thee. Thus grant thy blessing
on thy word, And Lord, may thy name be made precious to thy
dear children. May it be made precious here
in hearts and souls. Oh, to know the love of Christ
shed abroad in our hearts. Do remember each one gathered. The burdens and sorrows, fears
and anxieties of poor sinners here are known unto thee. and
any who have come burdened perhaps with sin or circumstances, trials
and fears, do have mercy, have compassion upon them. Remember
thine aged people, may their last days prove to be their best
days. As the outward man perisheth,
O may the inward man of grace be strengthened and renewed Lord
Jesus. Bless the young, the dear children. Pray for the clear work of thy
spirit in their hearts and ours. Pray to be taught from heaven.
Lord, enrich our hearts, we beseech thee. We do pray for the afflicted. Oh, do grant healing mercies
where it can please thee. And Lord, do encourage any who
have come seeking after Jesus. May they be drawn with the cords
of love. May they know those sacred, blessed
drawings of the Father, bringing his dear children to his beloved
son, causing them to rest on him and him alone. Oh, to be found there. Oh, to
know more of it, Lord. for Lord by nature we can grow
so cold and barren so helpless and unworthy come enrich us we
pray lift up the light of thy countenance upon us and do us
good we beseech thee Lord we pray that for thy dear people
to the ends of the earth we live in a world so full of trouble
and confusion Lord we shouldn't be surprised at it, for thou
hast told it must be so. Lord it has since Adam fell,
and ever will be till thou dost come again. Uphold us in the
midst of it all. May we be found looking unto
Jesus. Teach us daily to look up, to
look to Jesus, to venture quietly on. Leave us not to be tossed
to and fro with every wind of doctrine. For, Lord, there are
many winds of doctrine that blow in this world. Lord, false doctrines
and truths, O keep us in the midst of it all. Fix our hearts
on Thee. For Thou hast said, I am the
way and the truth and the life. We need no more, Lord, no more
than a precious price. Increase our love to Thee, ever
draw our hearts after Thee, keep us in the footsteps of the flock,
the way everlasting. Do be with us now, Lord, as we
turn again to Thy precious Word. Oh, we feel our need of Thy help,
Thy grace, Thy mercy have compassion upon us. Feed our souls with
the bread of life. Do forgive our many, many sins. Lord, sin stains everything. Our best is dyed with sin. Our all is nothing worth. We
cannot serve Thee as we ought. We plead, Lord Jesus, thy precious
blood. Pray to feel its cleansing power,
its sanctifying power, and ask these mercies in thy name. Lord Jesus, amen. will continue the service with
him 1117. The tune is 519 Weber. Lord, dissolve my frozen
heart by the beams of love divine. This alone can warmth impart
to dissolve a heart like mine. in 1117. Thy light is above it all, Jesus,
the Lord, have hope in God. O Lamb of God, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me ? Day and night the Lord be with
us ? ? Grace is coming, can't I be? ? ? When I'm closer, closer to you ? You will find the word on my
spirit this morning in Paul's epistle to the Ephesians, chapter
three. And we shall read verse 19. And to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God. The epistle of Paul to the Ephesians,
chapter 3, verse 19. And to know the love of Christ
which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the
fullness of God. Perhaps some of you have noticed
that the apostle, there's a pattern in the epistles, particularly to
the churches, not so much Timothy and Titus by Lehman, the pattern
is this, that first, he would lay the doctrine. And then second, the experience
of it. And then come right to the end,
the practical effects of it. And that seems to me to be the
pattern of Paul's preaching. lay a firm foundation of doctrine,
then the experience of it, and then the effects of it. And that's
ever the same. There must be sound doctrine
first, and then a sacred experience of it. But the point of my spirit
is that our text comes in the experience of the doctrine. and knowledge of it. Not to know all about it. There's
a lot of that sort of knowledge, carnal knowledge, a carnal understanding
of the scripture and people making things fit together in a carnal
way. But what the Apostle Paul is
speaking of is the work of grace. in a poor sinner's heart. As
we read together, the first verse we read, by grace are ye saved,
through faith that not of yourselves. Self cannot save anything, but
it's the gift of God. And surely the point is, if our
religion's real, We should be brought to rest
on Christ and to know his love. That's vital. You'll find this throughout all
the epistles. You take for instance Corinthians
1. There the apostle was faced with all sorts of problems. all
sorts of difficulties. How would he resolve it? What
would he do? Well, constantly you come to
the cross, the love of Christ. You read through it and then
right in the midst of a difficulty he'll lay this foundation, Christ
crucified. Beloved, dear child of God, that's
what we need in our That's God's answer to so many
of our difficulties and problems. That's contrary to the flesh.
Poor man, he has so many answers. But our text this morning is not only beautiful But it is vital to know the love
of Christ which passeth knowledge that ye might be filled with
all the fullness of God. The love of Christ is the central
theme of the Gospel. I could go further. It's the central
theme of this precious book. You can begin in Genesis, and
there you have it. The sacrifice, Cain and Abel,
but even Adam in the garden, when the clothing was provided
by God. There must have been a sacrifice. And it opens up so beautifully
in types and shadows. When we come to the New Testament
we get the whole, the substance of it, what it all means, what
it was pointing to. Pointing to God's eternal Son. God manifests in the flesh. He
who became a real man to redeem his people. He who took their
place. This is love. This is the theme of scripture,
the love of Christ. To take those few words, the
love of Christ. Oh, how he loved his people.
It has no beginning, nor does it have an end. I have loved
thee with an everlasting love, the Lord said to Jeremiah. My love is everlasting. It never had a beginning, nor
can it ever have an end. The love of Christ, to know the
love of Christ. The love of Christ is unchangeable. It's like Christ himself. Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forevermore. An unchangeable love. The love of Christ. Look at verse 18, that we may
be able to comprehend with all saints, not some, all saints. What is the breadth
and length and depth and height? The vastness of the love of Christ. Oh, it's
as deep as the deepest It is as broad as eternity. Its height is unknown. The love of Christ. There is nothing to be compared
to it. This love. It was love that brought
the dear Lord Jesus Christ from heaven to this earth. the love of Christ. He loved
his people. He had become their surety, their
saviour in covenant love. Then we see those covenant engagements
unfold as he came from heaven to earth. Love displayed itself with the most beautiful grace What was that grace? He humbled himself and made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant and was made in the
likeness of sinful flesh. Yes, without sin, but he was
made just like his brethren. I've often said at Manfield and other places that
the greatest grace is humility. That's what made a precious Christ. Remember he created all things
out of nothing. He spoke the word and said let
there be light and there was light. You see his power displayed
in creation. You see his love displayed in
redemption. He humbled himself. Look at Bethlehem. A little babe, yet very God. the humility of Christ. And that
grace, beloved, displayed itself through his whole life. That grace is at the heart of
the love of Christ. I think it was one of the old
preachers, it may have been Martin Luther, and he was once asked
by somebody, could he name the three greatest races? And he said, well, the first
one is humility. The second one is humility. He said, and the last one It's humility. He made himself of no reputation. Can you do that? Can I? I know this. If somebody touches
my reputation The Lord keep our mouths but something can rise
up in your heart. He made himself of no reputation. There's love. Took upon him the form of a servant. He was God. God manifest in the
flesh. Herein is love. Oh, the sacredness of it. To know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge. It was
love that displayed itself constantly through his life. You can see it in miracles, in
his kindness to poor sinners. His love to the truth, his love
for his people, his compassion. See it manifesting itself. He
came from heaven. And what did love do? He was born in a manger, or laid
in a manger. That's humility, isn't it? When he went to Calvary, what did the Creator ride on? A little donkey. And after he'd finished redemption's
glorious work, where did they lay him? In a borrowed tomb, here in his
lair. the love of Christ. But surely
we see love in all its fullness and sacredness in redemption's work. In all its fullness from his
birth to his death, redemption's work was being performed. For the word of God tells me,
and oh, if you see this by faith, you'll see the wonder of it,
beloved, that he's kept the law and made it honorable. Every
facet of it is kept. Oh, how he loved his people.
Dear child of God, you can't, and nor can I. I'm down at the
first hurdle. You might say, what do you mean?
Well, the first command. Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy
strength and with all thy mind. That's the first one. And that's what everyone that
follows should be careful. in love to God. That's what God requires of man. Love. To love him. Love his word. Love his truth. Love his people. That's what
the word requires. In the Garden of Eden man lost
it totally. Adam, our federal head, he fell,
didn't he? He ceased to love God. He listened to Satan. And that's what we do left to
ourselves. But Jesus has completely pleased God the
Father. His whole life was pleasing to
Him. I often think of those words
on the Mount Transfiguration. This is my beloved Son. Hear ye Him. You think of that
heavenly command. Hear ye Him and nobody else. That's the rub, isn't it? Just hear Him. Just follow Him. The Gospel precepts
are simplicity itself. The complications are in my heart,
in your heart, poor sinner. All this love of Christ, I return
to that thought, how he kept the law and made it honourable
and then he went to Calvary and there he offered up himself without
spot. A spotless sacrifice for sins. But what was love doing? To go
back to the garden, Gethsemane There he saw the cup that he
must drink. Oh, have you seen a little of
what was in that cup concerning you, poor sinner? Are your sins there? That's why he came. To remove, and he has removed,
all the sins of his dear children. every single one. Here's love,
I see the love of the Father, I see the love of Christ, then
we have the love of the Spirit revealing it to us. Where's the
Father's love you might say as we consider these things. The
Father's love is that he gathered up all the sins of his people
and he laid them on Christ. Jesus, he felt the weight of
them, the iniquity of them, the guilt of them, the shame of them. Everything to do with sin was
laid on him and its consequences, here in his love. Oh, what love he has displayed
to his dear children. And he went to Calvary, bearing
all the sins of his dear children, suffering for them. We think
of his outward sufferings, the awful things that the Jews and
the Gentiles did to him. His sufferings were so great,
but oh the inward sufferings of his soul. And the dear Lord, he went to
Calvary and all the sins of his people were laid on him. I don't want to get too personal,
beloved, but I go back many, many years ago. We shall come on to it in a moment,
to know it. And in all our wretchedness and
guilt and blackness and shame and sin, remember those words,
His visage was so marked more than any man. To see our sins
laid on Him and what He suffered for, there's the knowledge. and the consequences. Joy unspeakable. Oh what the dear Lord has done
for His church. Sin was laid on Him and He bore
the burden of them. And then the Father, you go to
the book of Revelations and read about those vials Well he had
a vial in his hand of the wrath of God, the eternal wrath of
God and he poured it, poured it on his beloved son and punished,
punished their sins. Here's Calvary's work, sin born,
sin punished. But punishing sin, beloved, doesn't
remove it. If that were the case, there'd
be hope in hell, and there is none. Then what has removed the sins
of the Church? The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
dear Son, cleansing from all sin. There, the slate is clean. That handwriting
that was written against us is gone. Christ has conquered. And what's the proof of it? The
resurrection He died for our sins and rose again for our justification. In a word on the resurrection
born, the church was declared just and is holy before God,
in Christ, by Christ, through Christ, the love of Christ. And He now reigns at the right
hand of the Father. And he reigns in love to his
dear people. The love of Christ. The subject
is eternal. There's no preacher on this earth
can fully preach what Christ has accomplished. What he has
done to his dear people. Try as we might. You can't exalt
him enough. But here's the Apostle's prayer,
here's his desire, to know the love of Christ which passeth
knowledge. Who is it that wants to know
it? One thing's for sure, by nature
we don't. I speak for myself, by nature
we give it no thought. We're born lost. We come into
this world born in sin, shaken in iniquity. But something takes place in
the heart of every single child of God and it's grace. I always used to go back, you
know, in my experience, to the day that Christ was revealed
to me. I thought that's when it started.
When I saw him, yes, I was brought to feel my sin and my guilt and
shame, but oh, the wonder of Christ revealed to the soul.
You know, I'm going back now, must be getting off 45 years,
I went to preach somewhere, a young preacher, and I felt so helped. I got the broad sword out, like
a young preacher does, and began to cut and slash about. I don't
say there's anything wrong with that in its right place, but
driving home, a long journey, and I thought I'd got on nicely.
Other boys and girls listening, driving along in my car a scene
that took place when I was a boy and I'd given it no thought at
all from the time it happened till that journey home many many
years later and I used to go to earn a bit
of pocket money at an old ministry as a farmer E.J. Woodcraft He
said, I'll give you half a crown, boy. He said, you come and clean
my chickens out. I used to go and earn that half
a crown on a Saturday morning. I got there one Saturday morning,
I had a toothache. And I feared the dentist. We
do, don't we? And I was so troubled. I thought,
I'll have to go to the dentist tomorrow. They'll have to take
this tooth out. and things were a bit different in those days
to what they are today and this is what, almost like
a picture in my mind as I drove along I crept behind a chicken
house and I got on my knees as a boy and I prayed and then these words came, deny
that that was not grace and then these words came the wind bloweth where it listeth
thou canst not tell the sound from whence it cometh or whither
it cometh the Lord teaching Nathanael and then this came Paul it's
hard for thee to kick against the bricks And there was something
happening before Damascus Road, wasn't there? This was Jesus
speaking. Oh, you're kicking against something
poor. I wonder if some of the young
people here are kicking against something. Coming to chapel,
reading the Bible. Perhaps other things, kicking. You see, we don't know when the
work begins. I've had to come to that. Yes,
it increases, but you can't put your finger on it quite. Or at
least I have to say I can't, I thought I could. It brought
me off that high horse. God knows when he begins the
work. And God knows when he'll finish it. But the point is,
when God begins the work, He'll finish it. God never begins to
do something and leaves it. He begins it. He who hath begun
a good work in you will perform it to the day of Jesus Christ. But that good work will lead
to the place, the only place, the only place where a poor sinner
can be forgiven and cleansed and made ready for heaven. And
that's the cross. And to know the love of Christ
which passes knowledge. Now how is it We can't rest on
a conviction of sin. Yes, we shall know that we're
sinners. God will teach us that. We should never want to save
if we don't feel we're lost. Ever. But brought to feel a lost condition. That takes place in every saved
sinner. Be it a deep work or not so deep. Her conviction may go on for
a number of years and it can be short, like the dying thief
on the cross. With the poor wretched sinner
this morning, I was convicted of sin and I immediately tried
the most foolish thing a man can do, but I tried. to please God. How can fallen man do that? I
should never forget a sermon by my old pastor Mr Ramsbottom. I can hear him saying it now.
He said the Lord will sometimes teach you by opposites. And that's true isn't it? Would
he save a sinner? Then he'll show that sinner their
loss. Would he show you the holiness
of the Lord, then he'll show you you can't keep it. There's a great difference between
God teaching us and man teaching. Man cannot do it. It's the Holy
Spirit's work. But it troubles the sinner. It troubles our hearts. Again, I don't want to get too
personal, beloved, but such a long time ago now, way over 50 years,
but I wondered what was happening to me. I was full of the world. Loved it. That's where I sought my happiness.
Yes, I had godly parents. That's what I thought then. All of a sudden, I began to feel
guilty. I couldn't understand what was
happening to me. Are you like that? Do you feel guilty sometimes? Do your sins trouble you? Does
eternity trouble you? Does your deathbed trouble you? It will if God begins all that. You realize I'm not ready. I'm
not ready. Does eternity trouble you? The vastness of it. Where each
of us will spend our eternity. Do these things trouble you? If it's grace working in the
soul, you'll be brought to this. This is the point. I'm trying
to get to, perhaps wandering about a bit, is this beloved. I'm a sinner and I cannot change myself. I'm a sinner. I would be different
but I can't make myself different. The more I strive against sin's
power, I sin and stumble, not them all. And in those days, beloved, there
was two words in the epistles. Oh, how they searched me out.
I used to try and read them. I didn't get any comfort from
them. But these two words were this.
In Christ Jesus. What troubled me? You're out. And I knew it. Out. Where are you? It's one or the
other. But the apostate will say, but
now, in Christ Jesus. in Christ Jesus, I'm out, I'm
out of the secret, I'm lost. Then a time came when, oh, the
dear Lord Jesus Christ was made precious in the want of him. Precious in the want of him. The gospel began to, as it were,
the veil taken away and the poor sinner begins to see the loveliness
of Jesus and the work of Christ and what he came from heaven
to earth to do and yet your heart was moved as a poor wretched guilty sinner
under the law of feeling it and yet at the same time in that
desperate state to see, begin to see a loveliness in Christ.
And the things that meant nothing to us were made precious. Oh, we can remember one or two
words. This one. Christ died for the
ungodly. Why? That's me. Ungodly. An ungodly wretch I was. But
he died for them. And a little hope could spring
up in you. Well, was it for me the Saviour died? Did he take
my place? And as the Lord graciously teaches
the sinner is turned to Jesus. And you begin to see a sacredness
and a glory in salvation's work. And I might say a loveliness.
Behold a scene of matchless grace, there's Jesus in the sinner's
place. The loveliness of Christ in all
its beauty is Calvary. The loveliness of his work and the beauty and the glory
of it. The putting away of sin. He closed the very gates of hell
for his dear people and opened the gates of heaven. The old hymn says he only could
unlock the gates of heaven to let us in. And he did it. How? Through redeeming love and
blood. Through his finished work. All
those words on the cross, it is finished. And a seeking soul
says, for me? Is it finished for me? Is it all done for me? Has Christ
opened paradise? Were my sins laid on Him? How
may I know? Here it is, poor sinner. Here
it is. To know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge. To know the love of Christ, which
passeth knowledge. In other words, there is a love,
and there's only one love. It's the love of Christ. And
it completely passes all the knowledge of man It's greater. Why? It's divine.
Everything that's divine passes the knowledge of man. All the
works of God pass the knowledge of man. I'd warn the young too, that
their people today, they're trying to unravel the knowledge of God. I don't want to digress, but
this is creation, this is how it happened. There's only one
witness to creation. It's the Creator. That's it. That's where I stand
anyway. And he tells us in this book
how he did it. Glory be to God. The Redeemer, his work was done
in public. openly before man. And many witnesses there are
to it. What took place. What Christ
has accomplished. What he has finished. And he's
completely finished redemption's work. Sin is put away. Completely. But it's to know
it. That's the thing. Guilty sinner. Oh, guilty sinner. Lost sinner. Despairing sinner. Fallen sinner. Ye who know it, there's only one way out of your
desperate plight, and it's Christ. And it's to know it. To know my Jesus crucified by
far excels all things bestowed. I've quoted you a text. It's the best way I can explain
it. And I make no excuse for speaking of myself. The Apostle
often used to. But I can remember the day. when walking in the blackness
of my sin and guilt, desiring to be relieved of it. And the text I've already quoted
to you dropped from heaven into my heart with power. His visage
was so marked more than any man. It was the power and it was the
love. Beloved, in a moment, my guilt, sin, shame was gone. In a moment. Yes, the miracles in the New
Testament, many of them in a moment, no word. And so it can be with
redemptions were. I don't say to all but I speak
of myself. In a moment I was happy, happy
beyond belief. I remember driving out of Luton where I
lived and I was so full of the love
of Christ and I cannot explain it because it cannot be explained. But so full that I lifted my
arms up and asked my Jesus to take me to heaven. I could have gone to heaven.
I had a good job I had a loving wife and family. I had so many
things that many people on this earth would long for. But I found
something better. The love of Christ. That's what
takes sinners to heaven. The love of Christ. This is the outward workings
of it. This, if you will, the precious
blood and love of a glorious Saviour is the way to glory. And there is no other way. No
other way. It's through the cross we see
the crown. That's the way to glory. To know
it. It passeth knowledge. And you're
filled with all the fullness of God. In other words, beloved,
it's beyond poor man to describe the love and glory felt in the
soul at the time. That's happiness for me. Once the world was. Once all that it has to offer
was. Oh, once it's money and all that we sought after was.
One's ambition and all the rest of it was that the love of Christ
cures you. You found something better. And
I don't know of anything more sacred, more sweet, more glorious
than that heavenly gift. I walked round the streets of
Luton where I live And wherever I went, I kept saying, Lord,
why me? Why me? Why me? I didn't deserve
what I received. I kept telling the Lord I didn't. And one day, in those days, reading
my Bible, I think, I rather think it's 1 Chronicles chapter 17,
I'm not too sure, but it doesn't matter, but in that chapter,
as I was reading it, these words, oh, they're so beautiful. Why
Lord, I was saying, why Lord? Because I love you. Because I love you. That's the
foundation of redemption. That's the foundation of election. That's the foundation of all
the saints going to heaven. because I love you. And that
love is manifested in all its beauty and glory on the cross. To know the love of Christ. Oh, I believe with all my heart
it's the greatest blessing that God can bestow upon a poor sinner. The dying love of Jesus. We're
undeserving of It cannot be bought, it cannot be purchased, it's
without money, it's without price. But known and felt in the soul,
it gives the man the greatest happiness that God can give a
sinner this side of glory, to know the love of Christ. I couldn't pray like the Apostle,
I couldn't pray for more. I believe I know why he prayed
for it. It's the most wonderful blessing. It's a glorious blessing. Why? He opens it. For this cause I bow my knees
unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And of course our text
is part of that prayer. Do you pray for it? Can you join
with the Apostle? Is this your desire? Or are you
content with yourself? and this gruffling world that
will soon all be finished and over. Oh, wherefore, sinner,
do you stand? On what ground? On what foundation? For other foundations can no
man lay than that which is laid. What is it Christ and Him crucified? There God displays all His glory
and his love, to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Our closing hymn this morning
is 579. The tune is Sheffield 235. Salvation, O my soul, rejoice. Salvation is of God. He speaks,
and that almighty voice proclaims His grace abroad. in 579. In spirit and in blood, Lord
of angels, give us this day our daily bread. you. You shall never walk alone. ? Of the living Godhead ? ? That
shall live eternally ? ? And on it all ? ? Its glory by and
by ? O'er the land of Israel. Thee have we honored today. In my house they sleep, and I'll
sleep in my castle at night. ? And all the nations in glory
hear thee ? ? Hark the herald angels sing ? Now may thy love, dear Lord Jesus,
and the love of God, the love of God the Spirit, rest and abide
with us each, should it please thee, now and for evermore, Amen.