Commence our service this afternoon
by singing hymn number 711. The tune is Walton, number 430. Amidst the sorrows of the way,
Lord Jesus, teach my soul to pray and let me taste thy special
grace and run to Christ, my hiding place. Lord, guide my silly,
wandering feet and draw me to thy mercy seat. I've naught to
trust but sovereign grace. Thou art only art my hiding place. Hymn number 711, tune Walton
number 430. The Prince of Peace shall come
to thee, Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's ? God have mercy on me ? ? And put
me to rest ? ? Thy mercy still ? ? I long to
trust the Son ? ? Who made the world mine ? O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, Oh say does that star spangled
banner yet wave And shine the torrents of thy praises Above
the highly praised. ? God rest thy spirit ? ? Christ
the King ? ? From death's deep ? ? O'er the land of sin ? Hope to see thy presence evermore
so high in praise. My Jesus Christ, how glad I am! His sleep persists from ages
past. O Christmas tree, O Christmas
tree, O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree. This read from God's holy word,
Paul's first epistle to the Thessalonians chapters 4 and 5. 1 Thessalonians chapters 4 and
5. 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5. Furthermore,
then, we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus
Christ, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and
to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what
commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus, for this is the will
of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication,
that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel
in sanctification and honour, not in the lust of concupiscence,
even as the Gentiles which know not God. That no man go beyond
and defraud his brother in any matter, because that the Lord
is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you and
testified. For God hath not called us unto
uncleanness, but unto holiness. He therefore that despiseth,
despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his Holy
Spirit. But as touching brotherly love,
ye need not that I write unto you, for ye yourselves are taught
of God to love one another. And indeed ye do it toward all
the brethren which are in all Macedonia, But we beseech you,
brethren, that ye increase more and more, and that ye study to
be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your
own hands as we commanded you, that ye may walk honestly toward
them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing.
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning
them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which
have no hope, If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even
so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For
this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are
alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent
them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout and with the voice of the archangel
and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise
first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the
Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore
comfort one another with these words. For of the times and the
seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For
yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh
as a thief in the night. For when they shall say peace
and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as prevail
upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye,
brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake
you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light
and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of
the darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as
do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep,
sleep in the night, and they that be drunken, are drunken
in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting
on the breastplate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope
of salvation. For God hath not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us. that whether we wake or sleep,
we should live together with him. Wherefore, comfort yourselves
together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. And we beseech
you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over
you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very
highly, and love for their work's sake, and be at peace among yourselves. Now we exhort you, brethren,
Warn them that are unruly, comfort the feeble-minded, support the
weak, be patient to all men. See that none render evil for
evil unto any man, but ever follow that which is good, both among
yourselves and to all men. Rejoice evermore, pray without
ceasing, in everything give thanks, For this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. Quench not the spirit, despise
not prophesying, prove all things, hold fast that which is good,
abstain from all appearance of evil, and the very God of peace
sanctify you wholly. And I pray God your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth you,
who also will do it. Brethren, pray for us. Greet
all the brethren with an holy kiss. I charge you by the Lord
that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren. The grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. O Lord, do in mercy once more
help us to approach now to Thee in prayer. O Thou knowest how we have to come before Thee
once more, nothing better, but surely grown worse. O Lord, we would come, then confessing
our sin, O pleading Thy precious promises. O Lord, we read in
Thy words, if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just
to forgive us our sin, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
O Lord, what unrighteousness and pollution we find within.
We pray, Lord, to appear for us. Lord, be with us, Lord, this
afternoon. Lord, make us clean. Lord, we
have to say again, woe is me, for I am undone. for I am a man
of unclean lips. O, do come, Lord, and touch our
lips with the live coal from off thine heavenly altar, and
help us, Lord, to speak those things which thou hast given
us to speak. O, Lord, leave us not to ourselves, both in the
pulpit and in the pew, that may there be some real worship this
afternoon. O, Lord, we do need thee. Help us to depend upon
thee. O, may we come unto Thee and
Thee only. O may it truly be my soul wait
Thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him. Do then appear,
Lord, and help us once more. O Lord, we thank Thee for Thy
Word. We pray that Thou bless it to
the good of our never-dying souls. O Lord, that it might be food
for us, that we might go in the strength of it many days. O then
grant, Lord, and to each one a portion. O that our cries,
united together might be, feed me with food convenient for me. O do come, Lord, and grant that
filling by the Holy Spirit. O leave us not to be empty sent
away. May it be said to these people here, they need not depart,
give you them to eat. O yet, Lord, we have nothing.
O Lord, we have only but a lad with five loaves and two small
fishies. Lord thy word is thine to multiply
to the people and we pray lord they'll do it for us. Lord do
work mightily and wondrously amongst us this afternoon. May
there be that done which is of thy holy spirit. May there be
that done which is for our good for eternity. Do save us lord
from a carelessness regarding the worship of thy house and
the hearing of thy word. Oh forbid it lord that should
be a famine of the hearing of the word. Forbid it, Lord, that
any should go away hungry, having come desiring food. O Lord, we
pray, where it is so, may we be able to lay at the heart,
may there be a searching of our hearts, where we have grieved
Thee, Lord, grant that true repentance over that sin. May it be, I hate
the sins that made Thee mourn and drove Thee from my breast.
All do return, return, O Lord, we pray. Without Thy Holy Spirit,
Lord, we meet in vain. We pray, then, Lord, to appear
for us this afternoon. Be with those, Lord, who would
be here and cannot. Thou knowest where they are. Lord, be with
thy pastor once more. We pray for him. Bear him always
before thee, Lord. Lord, do help the congregation
here to always bear him before thee at the throne of grace.
We pray, Lord, thou grant him journey mercies. Lord, grant
him a blessing in his own soul today. Lord, we pray, Lord, that
there might be yet more labourers raised up and equipped and sent
by thee to preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. True, Lord,
the labourers are few, and yet, Lord, thy harvest is great, unmeasurable. Lord, we pray, Lord, grant that
help. Oh, Lord, we pray, do appear,
where there are those who have been preaching for many years,
now drawn near to their end. Oh, Lord, yet encourage them
still, May their labours yet not be in vain. Lord, those who
have ceased from preaching, we pray, take them to thyself, or
receive them ingraciously. With those words, well done,
thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord. Oh, we pray for it, Lord. And yet may we know in the heart
that the righteous are taken away, or taken away from the
evil to come. Lord, we pray for this, evil,
terrible land, or we know not what to pray for as we ought,
but may the Spirit indeed help us with groanings which cannot
be uttered. Lord, how can we pray for a land
so sinful as ours, or is mercy we plead for, Lord? We plead
for mercy in the coming general election, guide and direct men's
hearts of right. Might there be some found in
Parliament, Lord, who know and serve Thee, O Lord, what a wondrous
thing it should be if one should be found there. O Lord, we are
so full of unbelief, so hard-hearted, Lord, in the matter. O, we pray,
do soften us. Grant us, Lord, real wrestlings
of prayer, a throne of grace for our country. O, may we not
be careless or presumptuous of any such thing regarding such
great matters. O, may we ever be looking unto
Thee, do direct and guide Thy people to know what to do, or
save us, Lord, from going on in our own wisdom, maybe without
looking unto Thee for that wisdom. So do supply every need of Thy
waiting people, keep us, Lord, watching and waiting upon Thee,
or maybe truly desire that returning to godliness of the country,
or Lord, do Do save us, Lord, from being so overtaken by those
heathen nations. And yet, Lord, we richly deserve
it. Lord, we pray, Lord, do then
preserve us. Do have mercy, Lord, above all these things. Lord,
we do ask that our gospel liberties might yet be still lengthened
out unto us. Lord, thy word might still be
enabled to be read. We thank thee, Lord, for it in
our own language. We pray, Lord, that that liberty
of meeting together openly without fear of man. Lord it might be
truly blessed, Lord it might be continued for the good of
souls. Oh let not thy people grow weak
through affliction. Lord where thy people were afflicted
in Egypt, yet they grew stronger and stronger. Oh may it be so
Lord in days of persecution. Oh that thy people which not
forsake the gathering of themselves together as the manner of some
is, no, but exhorting one another so much the more as we see the
day approaching. O Lord, may there be that right
zeal in us to obey God rather than man. May there be, Lord,
that which is to thine own glory, though it be painful to the flesh.
O help us to stand faithful, Lord, to thy word, to that foundation
on which we stand. And grant, Lord, to thy sent
servants Thou knowest them that are Thine, grant unto them, Lord,
that they might be enabled to preach the whole counsel of God,
and all sons declare any part of it. Also we pray for the help,
Lord, now in the preaching of Thy word. O make be the gospel
that is spoken, the gospel to needy sinners. Help us, Lord,
to preach of Christ. O Thou knowest, Lord, where Thy
sent servants stand this day, even this very hour, this afternoon
in this land, and those in other countries, Lord, whom thou hast
sent to preach thy word. O we pray, stand with them. Be
unto us, Lord, all things, if we have nothing. Be unto us,
mouth, matter, and wisdom. Save us, Lord, from self. O that
thou wouldst open the scriptures up unto us, that we might be
able to truly open them up to the people. Lord, do pour in
that there might be a pouring out, that it might not be stagnant,
that which is being sitting in the tank for all week. O Lord,
that there might be that fresh supply. or there might be that
grace with it, it might be in power by the holy spirit, or
there might be that assurance with the word, and thy word might
not go forth void, it will turn out to be void, it might accomplish
the thing well into that ascending. O Lord so send forth thy word
mightily and powerfully we pray into sinners hearts this day. And even Lord as Ezekiel was
sent to speak unto those dead dry bones, or can these dry bones
leave, or Lord thou knowest, do cause them to stand up upon
their feet, an exceeding great army, and Lord breathe that breath
of life into them, or there might be that new creation in their
souls, that regenerating work of thy Holy Spirit, there might
be a great army, Lord, to praise thy name. So Lord, do appear
this afternoon. Lord, we meet together as a small
company, may we not be satisfied with it? Lord, may we not be
satisfied with just gather together the same few, or may there be
that desire that thou bring in yet others from the highways
and from the hedges that thy house may be filled. Or, Lord,
they might be compelled to come in by thy Holy Spirit. Lord,
do bless the means. Grant them, Lord, that right
exercise of this village, Lord, for the towns throughout this
land. Or thy people might be more exceedingly
zealous. Or so do help thy people to shine
as light set upon a candlestick, not hidden under a bushel, that
it might appear unto all men, that it might glorify their Father
which is in heaven. Help them, Lord, always to speak
of thee. So, Lord, do save us from self.
Save us, Lord, from everything we ask wrongly. Save us mostly
from our sin, all the unbelief within. Lord, the hardness of
heart, we pray, do crush us, soften us. Lord, the sense of
thy love and mercy. Oh, Lord, do prepare us for eternity.
Grant thy people strong desires to be with thee. O Lord, thou
knowest what we have failed to ask for. Do make up in giving. O, we plead, Lord, with thee,
fill up merciful and gracious, longsuffering. O, do love us
freely, and even receive us graciously, even through that one great,
all-prevailing name, in the name of Jesus, and for his sake. Amen. Continue our service by singing
hymn number 806, the first part. The tune is Grasmere, number
591. Christ is the friend of sinners. Be that forgotten never. A wounded
soul and not a whole becomes a true believer. To see sin smarts
but slightly. to own with lip confession is
easier still, but O to feel cuts deep beyond expression. Trust
not to joyous fancies, light hearts or smooth behaviour. Sinners
can say, and none but they, how precious is the Saviour. Then
hail ye happy mourners, how blessed your state to come is. Ye soon
will meet with comfort sweet, it is the Lord's own promise.
Hymn number 860, first part, tune Grasmere, number 591. ? I sing the praises of God the
Father ? ? The Lord is risen from the dead ? ? To Jesus, Lord God's child and
King ? ? To all men give congratulation ? ? Praise Jesus to the top of the world ? ? God's giving arm has found me
? ? Christ died in Zion's houses
? ? For Christ was born in Bethlehem ? ? Savior, Savior of the world
? Oh say does that star spangled
banner yet wave ? It is the Lord's almighty will
? ? It is the Lord's almighty will ? ? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air ? ? It shepherds in all its might
? ? A-list'ning spirit to bring ? ? When they are in arduous
? ? From past to day, new creation
? ? Still, still, all men give thanks in their hearts ? ? Faith,
love, love greater than all ? My God, in heaven or to the earth,
my dear Lord, the Savior, the Shepherd, and in His breath, nearer, nearer, Proudly to hail, dear Georgetown,
Hail, hail, hail, hail, all of us. ? Together, God keep our land glorious
? ? Thy kingdom come, the world to see ? ? Your records and songs sing ? May the Lord's help once more. Let's turn his word in this first
epistle to Thessalonians chapter 5 and read verses 23 and 24. 1 Thessalonians 5 verses 23 and
24. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly and I pray
God your whole spirit and soul and body
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. The words which I you'll have to come and
venture with this afternoon of these in 24 faithful as he that
calleth you who also will do it. They are words to a tried
child of God. They're words to one that is
troubled. They're words to those who feel
their own strength to be vain. morning we try to speak of those
who feel to lack wisdom. It's not just at the beginning
of the pathway that the Lord's people feel to lack wisdom and
every other grace which is given by God. It is throughout the
pathway that this faith that the Lord gives them will be tried.
The faith of the smallest must surely be tried. This is the
way God works. It is to keep the sin alive.
It is to exalt a precious saviour. Without the work of the Holy
Spirit in such a way, we will very soon be worshipping the
God of self, and not the very God of peace in our text. We're going to those words at
the end of John 16. These things have I spoken unto
you, that in me ye might have peace. We tried to speak with
them at Grove a few weeks back. Referring to those other words,
the words of the Lord are pure words, tried in the fairness
of silver seven times. The way the Lord brings his people
finally to glory is that place where they are as a shock of
corn fully ripe, a simian entering in by the spirit to the temple.
Now let us thou thy servant depart in peace. The way he brings his
people there is by bringing them through the furnace seven times. And by bringing them through
the furnace it will burn up Everything is of the flesh. It will burn
up all the religion which is of the flesh. It will burn up
all the, speak carefully, the words of scripture which we have
applied to our own cases. Those words which we have applied,
not the Holy Spirit. It will take away all that religion.
It will take away every false prop. But what's left will be
that precious silver. Those words which the Lord has
applied to the heart and conscience. and to the very soul of the believer,
that they shall remain. They cannot be taken away, for
the word of the Lord endureth forever. The grass withereth,
and the flower fadeth, but the word of the Lord endureth forever."
What a great and precious truth that is. It is the truth that
these words here are built on. It is that the Lord endureth
forever. For His mercy endureth forever.
Psalm 136, I believe. Each verse ends, For His mercy
endureth forever. Or we may also say, He's not
cut us off as our sins deserve. For His mercy endureth forever.
Yes, great is thy faithfulness, and thy mercies are new every
morning. Oh, this is the God of peace. The God of peace, which
shall bring his people through the fire. Wherefore glory the
Lord in the fires, in those fires of tribulation. Read in the prophets,
the glory of the Lord in the fires. All these fires, the Lord
permits them to try his people as part of those manifold temptations. Whichever way, whichever means
that he might use to purify his people. And it will all be to
this end that the people of God might see the Lord to be their
peace. And the very God of peace sanctify
you wholly. Yes, when the Assyrians shall
come into the land, this man shall be the peace. What other
peace do you have when the devil comes in like a flood? Or you
try to lift up your good works against him You try to lift up
your chapel going as some sort of standard to save you from
it. But what good will that do in
that great and terrible day of the Lord? Or when the coming
of the Lord, Jesus Christ, we read in these two chapters which
we've read, the coming of the Lord, or that day draweth near,
the judge standeth before the door, or how will we do then? Will we be able to lift up the
same things that we try to lift up against the day of trouble
whilst we're here below? Will we be able to try to read
our word of God more? Will we try to then pray more? All to no avail. There can't
be anything of the works of the flesh that will gain or merit
our salvation. This man and this man alone shall
be the peace, and the very God of peace, sanctify you wholly. We read before these verses,
rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks,
quench not the spirit, despise not prophesying, prove all things,
hold fast that which is good, abstain from all appearance of
evil, all their exhortations, for those things that the Lord's
people are to do. Not that they should do them
as those good works. Not that they should do them,
it's not that they're gaining any merit in God's eyes by doing
them of themselves. No, these are the things that
as God enables them to do, they will do. These are those things
they are to seek as we found walking in. Oh, but can any preserve
their own soul, blameless unto the coming of the Lord? Can any
sanctify himself wholly? No. Oh, how we need the work
of the Lord, how we need that which Jonah knew, even in the
depths of the sea, in the belly of the wild, where he had to
cry out to the belly of hell, can I die? Yes, the Lord heard
his voice to prove salvation is of the Lord. Or if the Lord
Jehovah is not your salvation, then you have no salvation at
all. Or if the Eternal God is not your refuge, then underneath
there are no everlasting arms. Or if we should rest short on
anything other than the work of God, there can only be eternal
condemnation. we read of those who mourn sorrow,
which have no hope, or how real these things are. The word of
God is very plain, there is that second death, and after death
the judgment, as it is appointed unto man once a day to die, and
after death the judgment, or how terrible it should be after
that judgment, the second death, they shall depart into that bottomless
pit, that pit of fire, that burneth with brimstone and fire, and
where their worm dieth not, nor can any, for without the Holy
Spirit helping them, can any dwell upon those things in their
mind, so terrible are the sufferings of the wicked. For that day comes,
for the Lord's people, Oh how great that day shall be. That
day shall be that deliverance from the earth, a deliverance
from self. That day shall be a deliverance
for those who through this wilderness journey here below cry out daily,
O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body
of this sin and death? Oh then it shall be I thank God
through Christ Jesus our Lord. and the very God of peace, sanctify
you wholly. And I pray God, your whole spirit
and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of
our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord, when he works, he works
effectually, he works for good, he works eternally. We see it
here in this first part of the verse. And the very God of peace,
sanctify you wholly. It was man's work. Or there may
be a partial coming out from the world. But when God works,
it is this. Wherefore come out from among
them and be ye separate. And touch not the unclean thing.
For it is the work of God that can sanctify and separate his
people wholly from the world. And he will do it. He will do
it. For he has decreed to do it.
He has covenanted to do it in eternity past. Those souls who
we read of are elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father. He has decreed that people should be separated and saved
by grace. Then Paul writing to the Thessalonians
of it. He says that the Lord will,
God will sanctify them wholly. and he prays that their whole
spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless as the coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He prays it in faith as taught
by the Holy Spirit and therefore it must come to pass. As we read
of it this morning in the Epistle of James, he will do it. He will answer those prayers
of faith. So we come to verse 24. that
seal, as it were, of the prayers gone before. Faithful is he that
calleth you, who also will do it. If it was not for the faithfulness
of God, where would we be? Oh, the Lord, he is faithful
entirely. Oh, not one fault can be found
with him. That which he he decrees forever. The Lord is not a man that he
should repent. We cannot turn from that which he said he would
do. Do we not see it so beautifully in the God-man, the Lord Jesus
Christ, that which was spoken of him in prophecy in Isaiah,
in the 50th chapter, the 5th and 6th verse and also
the 7th, or how the Lord there knowing from an eternity past
that the Church and the price of redeeming the Church from
sin and from death with his own life, his own heart's blood or
having decreed to do it, having covenanted with the Father and
with the Spirit to save that people by grace or he could not
turn back from it So the prophecy of the Lord God hath opened my
ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. Oh,
surely this is the Lord Jesus Christ, can be none other. If
a man return back, a man flees from trouble. Oh, but see the
spirit, see the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ in salvation
for his people. The Lord Jehovah Jesus, We have
it at the beginning of verse 5 there, the Lord God, the Lord
Jehovah, Jesus Jehovah, hath opened my ear, and I was not
rebellious, nor had I turned away back. Or a prophecy here
of that which is in the judgment hall, that which he bore for
his people. So often we turn to those words
in Isaiah 53, and perhaps these words are less well known. Oh,
but how remarkable, beyond human comprehension. And I was not
rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters,
and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face
from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help me,
therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face
like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed. face
like a flint to save his people, such is the faithfulness of God
to his people. Well, nothing that could turn
him. No, not the shame, not the reproach of bearing the indignation
of the Lord, not the wrath of God that the Father poured out
upon him, or the shame of their hanging upon Calvary for his
people's sins. No, it could not turn him back.
Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Oh, that everlasting
love held him there as a saviour upon the tree. Oh, having loved
his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. Oh,
such is the love here from the Lord Jesus. Oh, he saw it coming. He saw it before him. He wondered that there was none
to save, none to help. Therefore his own arm brought
salvation. It's the way the Lord Jehovah Jesus went, truly God
and truly man, the Saviour's people. All such is the faithfulness
of God. All those who have once known
the blessing, their sins washed away, forgiven. That application of it by the Holy
Spirit on how we need to know something of the power, that
brings salvation, the power of God in it, or not just to be
found suddenly careless that our sin is taken away, no, but
the Lord forgiving sin, or when they know something of
the Lord in all that he bore for them, his faithfulness in
salvation, or why Why doubt we, then, the smaller matters, as
it were? Do we not sing? And what call
we small things? Sin's whole counsel to some,
which is greater than all things except those to come. Oh, yes,
the Lord, having loved his own, he loved them to the end. Oh,
sinner, having loved you in eternity past, loved you through Gethsemane,
loved you through the cruel mocking and scourging of the judgment
hall, loved you when being stripped and nailed to that cross. Oh and yet there he hath, if
thou be the Christ, come down from the cross and save thyself.
Oh no he couldn't, love would hold him there, there he would
stay. I lay down my life for the sheep. Oh how great a God Jehovah Jesus
is to his people or without it where would we be? Lord's servants, I believe know
in just a measure there's something of what Jesus must have felt
or the burden of the flock, the burden of the flock of God and
yet how poor and weak they are, another reason for you here to
be found praying for your pastor, as he often surely must feel
to be out of season, as well as in season, not just on the
Lord's day to be praying for him, but throughout the week,
or how the Lord's servants feel like turning back, or is it any
surprise that the Lord said, will you also go away? There
were those who turned back and walked no more with him. Or to whom else shall we go?
Thou hast the words of eternal life. No, but this is what the
Lord Jesus says regarding those who turn back. The Highling fleeth,
because he is an Highling, and careth not for the sheep. Or
those who are pastors, those whom the Lord has set over the
flock. They are as well those under shepherds. What a great care they have for
the sheep. Yeah, we read the verse before it. Well, in the
verse before that, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth
his life for the sheep. But he that is in hireling and
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf
coming, and leaveth the sheep and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth
them and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth because he
is in hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good
shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the
Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. And he concludes
this little piece with this, And I lay down my life for the
sheep. What a lay down of life the Lord's
servants know in a measure, for all is considerate of far greater,
the Lord Jesus Christ. I lay down my life for the sheep. Oh, is that not faithfulness
to the very end? faithful, the faithful lord,
the one who was faithful from the beginning, the one who cannot
cease to be faithful, the faithfulness of God being one of his very
attributes, or the eternal God, faithful from eternity past,
faithful throughout time, faithful even down to death, in the resurrection,
faithful to his people in raising himself up again. They might also be justified,
faithful in ascending up to heaven where there are those prepared
places for the prepared people. Faithful is he that calleth you,
who also will do it. Faithful in eternity past and
faithful for eternity to come. it were not so i would not have
told you if it were not so regarding the mansions which are in his
father's house or what what ground have we to believe any of the
others of the words of the lord oh but no this is a faithful
god he who once chose the people in eternity past he also the
lord jehovah called effectually, by grace, sinners from death
to life, from darkness to light. Faithful, what a faithful God. No, none of the elect people
of God can ever be left unregenerate before the coming of the Lord
Jesus. Yes, when the last soul is brought from death unto life,
then the earth shall be wrapped up, but until then, not one soul
chosen, written in the last book of life, can ever be left out,
or is that an encouragement to one or another here, praying
that the souls, those near and dear to them, might be quickened
into life by the work of the Holy Spirit, Or has there been
that praying that they might be found amongst the election
of grace? Or if the prayer should be answered, well, it must be answered before
it's too late. If your Lord has given you that
prayer, if the Lord has given you that desire and that burden,
if it's truly of the Lord, there will be the answer to it. The
one encouragement that is, the one who's feeling ready to give
up, ready to give up praying, Oh, and it's the same with every
exercise that the Lord gives his people. If the Lord has begun
it, he will finish it. Faithful is he that calleth you,
who also will do it. The Lord faithfully calls his
people from death unto life. Yes, not one left out. The time
of love shall come, when we shall clearly see not only that he
shed his blood, but each shall say for me, Would we know anything of the
calling of the Lord? Do we know anything of the work
of grace within? We found amongst this number, the epistles are
very searching. Although we read them to the whole congregation, as
it were, from the pulpit, it is right to do so. They are only
addressed to those that are believers. We see often in the the first
few verses he's writing to the church and in chapter 5 verse
4 and 5 but ye brethren are not in darkness that that day should
overtake you as a thief ye are all the children of light and
the children of the day we are not of the night nor the darkness
oh he speaks here to the children of light what are those tokens
what are those signs that indeed we have passed from death unto
life, from darkness unto light. We know we have passed from death
unto life because we love the brethren. Now there's a change,
now there's a different desire in our heart. We do not longer
have those desires for the things of the world as we used to once
have. Yes the old man is still there, the old Nature is still
persistent. Yes, our hearts still would go
after the things of the world. Or there's that internal warfare.
The new man of grace warring against the old man of sin. Are we called? If we're called,
we're those that the Lord will bring holy out from the world.
That which we mentioned just briefly, this morning in Romans
8, those verses, those in whom he once began, he completes that
work. For whom he did foreknow, in
a time as he passed, he did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, then he also called, and whom
he called, then he also justified, and whom he justified, then he
also glorified. Oh, if God before us, who can
be against us? Oh, when God once begins the
work, he doesn't cease. Faithful is he that calleth you.
Oh, we know that we have been called from death unto life because
we love the brethren. Oh, there's that love for the
Lord. Oh, what does the Lord call his people to do? Wherefore,
come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not
the unclean thing, and I will receive be a father unto you
and ye shall be my sons and daughters says the Lord Almighty. Yes there
is a to be a coming out from among them. What is a coming
out from among the world? Yes it is an outward coming out
from the world and how we need to be given that God-given strength
to do it. God-given strength to make a
stand for what we believe. God-given strength to walk in
his ways, to walk worthy of the vocation we're with you called.
and it will be, as we've already mentioned, it's a work of God,
must be the work of God and the very God of peace sanctify you
wholly, it's his work. There is to be the outward walking
with him in newness of life. When the Lord works, it is not
that the saved sinner can settle down on their knees, can sit
down and do nothing. No, there is to be a walking
There's a walking in a new way, that coming out from among them.
Yes, it will be as that one coming up out of the wilderness, leaning
or reclining upon their beloved. Yes, the Lord, he's fighting
all the battles, and yet there's the outward walking too. I'll
be before men. Those in the world will see.
They will see you depart from them. Yes, they think it's strange
that you run not to the same excess of riot with them. But is it just enough not to
run to the same excess of riot? Is it just enough to stand separately,
perhaps like the Pharisee and say, I thank God I'm not as other
men are? No. That is not being faithful
to the God who calleth you. You can't then say we love him
because he first loved us. Or there is that in love which
reciprocates, it goes backward and forward. We love him because
he first loved us. We can never really say he loves
us because we love him. Sadly we have to say we have
grieved him because we have left off our first love. we have grieved him because we're
not found walking in the way of his commandments or when the
lord he calls his people they'll find this that his commandments
are not grievous what has the lord commanded yes
we read it at the beginning of this chapter in that outward
way for you know what commandments we gave you by the lord jesus
this is the will of god in your sanctification that you should
abstain from fornication possess your vest in sanctification and
honour, but there are those, that way which the Lord has set
out for that New Testament church order. Is that open profession
of that which He has done? Or why is it that many would
yet wait and wait before making known what the Lord has done?
Or is that being faithful to the cause of Christ? Is it being
faithful to hide that which the Lord has done, in that there
is no encouragement for the church, there is no glory to God a given? No, think of the ten lepers that
were cleansed. There is no return to give thanks
or to give glory to God, save this leper, save this Samaritan. Oh, the Lord working graciously
in him, he was given. to give thanks, to give glory
to God. He gave thanks on the day. He made it known on the
day when he had been healed. The same with the four lepers
in the gate of Samaria. There they sat. This is a day
of good tidings and we hold our peace. Let's go and tell the
king's household. When we leave it, some mischief
shall befall us. or how God dishonouring it is,
to not speak without which the Lord has done. It doesn't just
finish after you've passed through the water of baptism. No, the
Lord's people are to speak often one to another. That is the way
the Lord has pointed, that is the way that God is glorified.
That is the way that the churches thrive, when there is that fellowship
together. when they know that fellowship
together. And truly our fellowship is with God and with Jesus Christ,
his son. Yes, then there is that dwelling
of the blessed Trinity amongst the Church. Then there is that
prospering. Them that honour me, I will honour.
Them that despise me, I will lightly esteem. The Lord knows. Who is it that touched me? The
Lord knows. Faithful is he that calleth you. He's called you from death unto
life. He's made known that you're a sinner. He's shown you your
lack of wisdom. He's shown you your lack of everything
you have. You're coming short of the glory of God. Coming short
of his holy law. But the Holy Spirit, blessed
be his name, has drawn you. then leaves the Jesus blood, the precious blood of Jesus Christ
which cleanseth from all sins, where it has been made precious,
there's been a making known of it, but the fear of man bringeth
a snare. It's only generally the fear
of man, the fear of the devil that keeps his people in bondage.
It's never that the Lord has commanded his people to stay
quiet, No, those children cried Hosanna to the son of David out of the mouth of bait and
sucklings. Now as perfected praise, the way the Lord works is causing
his people to speak of that which he has done. Yes, but you say if I was to
make a profession of that which the Lord has done for me, the
devil, he'll be at me. And there'll be all those trials
and afflictions which the Lord's people know. And it'll be easier
for me to keep quiet. And it'll be easier for me to
get along in life, because I'll have more friends. And if I do
this or that, if I make known what the Lord has done, I can
see that all my worldly goods, all those, that love of sin,
inwardly and outwardly, it will have to go to. And you feel most of all, perhaps
the biggest fear, I've spoken of the fear of man and the fear
of the devil, but the fear of the Lord, that right fear of
the Lord, a tender conscience, that it is right to have it. You fear this, you fear making
a shipwreck of faith. It is a very real thing. Sadly,
solemnly, there are those in our churches like Judas Iscariot
who know not the love of the Lord Jesus. There are those who
turn back and walk no more with him. May we truly be able to
search our hearts. Here's a word for such a one
as you. Faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. If it was of your own, to use
the expression, if it was going to be that you would get to heaven
under your own steam, then you would make a shipwreck of faith.
Then you would come off the rails, then you would sink to the bottom
of the ocean. But no, the Lord is faithful that is promised.
Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. Yes, the
Lord he shall preserve, body and soul, be preserved blameless
unto the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, what a precious seal
to the prayer of Paul here for the Thessalonians, that the Lord
will do it. Everything I've tried to say
today, it seems to be that it's because it is the Lord. Yes,
were it to be in our own strength, we fail. And at times the Lord, has to bring his people through
those places, where like Peter they see that he has denied his
Lord three times. Oh yes, he may say, I will never
leave thee. I will go to prison and to death. And yes, there
will be those times. For the Lord's people have to
pass through affliction. It's not in your own strength. It's the Lord that preserves.
It's the Lord that grants the continuing. Yes, the same God
who begun, the work will finish. There is a good fight, the laying
hold of eternal life. Was it Paul who had managed to
fight the good fight? Was it in his own strength? No,
it was as the Lord gave unto him and as he gives unto each
of the Lord's quickened, called people, that whole armour of
God. you may be able to stand in the
evil day or he fought as he was given strength. Oh the Lord was
his strength, the Lord has been the strength of his own people
throughout all time and will be throughout all time to come. Yes it shall be Jesus Christ
the same yesterday and today and forever. Those words just
before in that verse Remember them which have the
rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God, whose
faith follow, considering the end of their conversation, Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever. Or you consider
those who have gone before, whether it's godly parents and grandparents,
or whether it's those who have been in a church, or they've
all known one thing, they've all known their own weakness,
Those who are in the church have all known what it is to come
and sit before the Lord's people and to perhaps feel like they're
just about to be judged and cut off forever. Or where they find
that the Lord graciously moves his people to see their testimony,
perhaps so similar to their own. And when they're received in,
it's not in their own strength they can come. They come this
way. My grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. Yes, the Lord's people, while
travelling here below, they can often say, boldly, the Lord is
my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. He has said, I will never leave
thee, nor forsake thee. You speak to any of the older
saints. What is it that they will tell you? The same God that
begun the work, continued it, There's been that growing in
grace. It's all been of Him. Yes, they're still crying out,
Lord, help me. Yes, they haven't got any better.
But they can testify to this fact. Faithful is He that calleth
you, who also will do it. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth thee. Yes, though I walk in the midst
of trouble, thou wilt revive me. Thou walk in the midst of
trouble, thou wilt revive me. Thou shalt stretch forth thine
hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall
save me. The Lord. Oh, and it's the same
for all of the Lord's people. Oh, how sweet it is. We cannot
speak of it enough. The Lord's work from beginning
to end. The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord, endureth forever.
Forsake not the work of thine own hand. O dear child of God,
the Lord cannot forsake thee, no, he's engraven thee upon the
palms of my hands. All those promises throughout
Isaiah, the 40th chapters onward. I've loved thee with an everlasting
love, O fear not thy worm Jacob. How precious. The Lord is gracious still. He's
unchanging. He's faithful. He's faithful. to begin with. He's still faithful
even when we leave him. What a solemn thing to say. The
true tempted child of God will know what it is to have left
him. And yet his spirit, although
grieved, is not forsaken us entirely. No, he brings his people back.
Yes, he chastises us. That loving father who is all
in love. It draws the that chastising
of a father, where there is that right exercise in the child.
It draws that love closer, or the bond is greater. And so it
is with the Lord's people. He has called them once, and
yes, he may continually call them. We see in this word, calleth. Faithful is he that calleth you.
Continually calling. Come hear the soul, I am the
way. Or they should hear a voice behind them saying, this is the
way. Walk ye in it, this is the way,
I am the way, the truth and the life, I am the door. That voice
continually, how we need it, for the Lord continually to speak
those words, to continue to bring us back. I've gone astray like
a lost sheep, seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy commandments.
Oh how the Lord's people desire that, that the Lord would draw
them closer unto him again, they might feel his love once more.
Yes, they feel no love, they feel no sweetness when they're
in the world. We're not seeing that in the
middle him, or first him, sorry. That is, then I want a hiding
place. There is no hiding place when
we're out in the world. There is no hiding place when
we're following after the things of the world. Then is to find
sweetness in salvation's plan, is to find sweetness the fact
that the God of Jacob still loves sinners. Yes, he commands deliverances
for Jacob. Fear not thou word, Jacob, or
we go off. But the Lord draws his people
again, he draws them, he calls them unto himself and he will
finish the work. He finishes the work, he'll make
a short work upon the earth, but his own people he shall finally
bring to glory, to be with himself. It cannot be otherwise. Go and
read John chapter 17. Father, I will that they also,
whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am. Oh, how can it
be otherwise, if the Lord has asked for it? Oh, and if we are
to plead the promises in such a way. Oh, what a precious thing
that is. has be found pleading the promises
at the throne of grace, whether providentially or spiritually.
The Lord cannot go back from the word which he has spoken.
The Lord has said, call upon me in the day of trouble. I will
deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. And the Lord has
he not also said, I will also, that them whom thou hast given
me be with me where I am. or you feel the Lord has called
you, or now there's that doubting of whether you'll make that right
end, or perhaps the assurance that at one time was given, those
clear views of that Christ being that way made into heaven at
last, or now it seems to be growing dim, or now the adversary is
at you, and you pray for dying grace and a dying hour, the Lord
will surely appear, the Lord will take his own people in,
or the final perseverance of the saints. It's bound up in
this verse, faithful is he that calleth you who also will do
it. Oh we cannot of ourselves pass
that gloomy veil, no we cannot of ourselves walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, yea though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, For thou
art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. It's
the Lord's people's only hope that the Lord will do it. That
the Lord will do it. All the deliverance the Lord's
people need. There's a lovely word, command
deliverance is for Jacob. Oh, because poor Jacob, poor
deceiver, wanderer. Yes, thou a chosen child of God.
Oh, how the Lord has to command that deliverance. you're completely
helpless, you're completely bound up with the things of the world,
you're completely seemingly unfit to die, or if the Lord should
take us in some unguided moment, how terrible, or how you need
to be delivered from sin, if you desire to be delivered from
this present evil world, or the Lord he will answer that cry,
where the Lord's people are crying that in faith, command deliverance
is for Jacob, or they desire to be delivered this present
evil world. Paul, he was given, and we read
of it in the first chapter of Philippians, that desire to depart
to be with Christ which is far better and yet nevertheless for
me to abide in the flesh was more needful for them. That's
the way the Lord's people had to walk until at last he, that
silver cord be loosed and the golden bowl be broken and the
spirit returned to him that gave it. Oh we know not when the time
or the hour shall be. That time is as one as that thief in the night. Oh and we know the times and
the seasons. Oh what a terrible evil day we
live in. And I often feel and wonder whether the Lord will
come again before we're laid in the grave. Only the Lord knows
that day. But may our prayers still be,
prepare me, gracious God, to stand before thy face. Where
is that point I was trying to come to? The exhortation at the
beginning of Ecclesiastes 12. Remember now thy creator in the
days of thy youth, that before, that wherever the silver cord
be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, and the spirit return
unto God who gave it, or that the spirit cannot return as a
God who gave it, until that work of grace is completed, in that
last child of God, or when they are all called home to glory,
then the work of grace on earth is done, or then the earth should
be wrapped up with that fervent heat, or where are we found? Are we found amongst the sheep
or amongst the goats? Will we be found on the right
hand or the left hand? Will we be found in heaven or
in hell? The Lord knows if he has begun
that work or plead this word, faithful is he that calleth you
who also will do it. Amen. Conclude our service today by
singing hymn number 795. The tune is St Ursula, number
606. Mighty enemies without, much
mightier within. Thoughts we cannot quell or rout,
blasphemously obscene. coldness, unbelief and pride,
hell and all its murderous train, threaten death on every side
and have their thousands slain. If today we be sincere and can
both watch and pray, watchfulness, perhaps, and prayer, tomorrow
may decay. If we now believe aright, faithfulness
is God's alone. We are feeble, fickle, light,
changes ever grown. In number 795, tune St Ursula
number 606. ? Mighty and holy heaven ? ? Hush,
hush, little baby ? ? Good night, little baby ? ? Good night, little
baby ? O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, ? For every time I've come before
you ? ? Come to save us, mistress ? ?
Our marriage shall be mine ? ? Till the day of our mistress ? ? Our marriage shall be mine ? O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? ? Give me love, give me the light
? ? Give the rest, it's all I want ? ? Give me hope, give me hope ? ? Give the light to my shame ? ? God be with you all the days
? ? And with you all the days ? ? And with you all the days
? ? And with you all the days ? ? Lift me up, Lord at last ? ?
Resurrect me and lift me high ? O Lord, who forgives everything
that has been wronged in the worship of thy house this day,
who grant there might be that which has been gleaned, a threshing
up of it by prayer, O look, there might be something which remains
some good ground and brings forth fruit. O Lord, it is Thy Word
to bless, commit it into Thy hands. We pray, O Lord, that
Thou be with us throughout the remainder of Thy day. Keep our
hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. O Lord, may we know, throughout
our lives and even unto the end, the grace of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ. In the love of God the Father,
in the leading and teaching of the Holy Spirit, now and for
evermore. Amen.