by singing together hymn number
25. The tune is Eagly, 132. Come Holy Spirit, heavenly dove,
with thy all-quickening powers, kindle a flame of sacred love
in these cold hearts of ours. Hymn 25, tune Eagly, 132. you The Holy Spirit carried on With
the new-making past In the left hand of sacred love In this world
far so vast. Look how we cover heaven and earth, Tumble, ye trifling toys! Castles can neither burn or cover
Till it's eternal glory He led me to the promised land,
He made me strive to rise, I shall not languish on a cross, And
my devotion not. Dear Lord, and shall be ever
near, At this, O dying man, and of the nature of their being. Heavens, we're all so great ? Come Holy Spirit, let me die
? ? With Thy own wicked eyes ? ? Come shed Your glory on me
? Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in Psalm 116 Psalm 116. I love the Lord, because he hath
heard my voice and my supplications, because he hath inclined his
ear unto me. Therefore will I call upon him
as long as I live. The sorrows of death compass
me, and the pains of hell get hold upon me. I found trouble
and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of
the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is
the Lord, and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. The Lord
preserveth the simple. I was brought low, and he helped
me. Return unto thy rest, O my soul,
For the Lord art thou bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered
my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from
falling. I will walk before the Lord in
the land of the living. I believe, therefore, have I
spoken. I was greatly afflicted. I said
in my haste, all men are liars. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto
the Lord now in the presence of all his people. Precious in
the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. O Lord,
Truly I am thy servant. I am thy servant and the son
of thine handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bonds. I
will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call
upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord
now, in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the
Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem, praise ye
the Lord. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word 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 great
majesty, to call upon thy great and holy name. We desire 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. For Lord, without thee we can
do nothing. Without thy heavenly power, O
Lord, no sweets the gospel can afford, no drops of heavenly
love will fall, and we pray that it may be so, those drops of
heavenly love, that the love of Christ may be shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. Lord, grant us such a sacred
experience at this evening hour, as we gather together around
thy word, thy precious love, fill in our hearts, our souls,
and grant, O Lord, the real exercise of that faith that worketh by
love, that our affections may be set upon the glorious person
of Jesus Christ, that we may touch the hem of his garment,
that we may draw from that fullness that is in him that we may follow
Him, that we may serve Him, that we may live unto Him. While our
days on earth are lengthened, may we give them, Lord, to Thee,
cheered by hope and daily strengthened. So often, Lord, we feel what
we've sung together in our opening hymn, our love so cold, so faint. O Lord, come and stir up Thy
power by grace in our hearts, we do humbly beseech that there
may be that real, true spiritual exercise and desire and longing
in our hearts, even as it was with the dear apostle, that I
may know him in the power of his resurrection, in the fellowship
of his sufferings. Lord, you grant us that power,
that resurrecting power, that we may know it in our souls,
lifting us up, Lord lift the light of thy countenance upon
us and do us good, guide us into thy truth, holy, blessed, divine
spirit of truth we pray for thy heavenly influence, for thy divine
power, for Lord nothing can be done without thee, so come we
pray thee and bless us with that heavenly power, with that divine
that thou alone canst give, that we may not, O Lord, as it were,
read thy word in just the letter, but we may know its spiritual
power in our hearts by the application of the Holy Ghost and the opening
of the sacred pages of Holy Scripture to our heart and to our understanding. Come and seal thy word into our
hearts, O Lord, we do beseech thee. and that we pray for those
divine and heavenly drawings of our Eternal Father, drawing
us unto Jesus Christ. And Thou, most blessed Spirit,
do take of the things of Jesus and reveal them unto us. And
O most gracious God, may we have that sacred realisation, for
the Father himself loveth you. And may we have that divine and
precious experience. Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn
thee. And Lord thy word instructs us,
none can except the Father draw. Oh to know that sacred spiritual
exercise in our souls, that drawing, leading, guiding and directing.
And Lord Jesus, we pray that thou wouldst come and stand in
our midst, that we may hear thy voice, that we may see thy countenance,
that we may worship in thy holy hill of Zion, that we may behold
thy glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth. Oh, to behold thy glory. and
the wonders of redeeming love and the fullness of that salvation
that is in thee. Oh may we know the sacred power
of the blood of Christ in our hearts, in our souls, reconciling
us unto thee, taking away our sins. May we know what it is
to be clothed upon with thy glorious everlasting robe of thy righteousness. Oh, we pray that we may be clothed
upon, that our nakedness may be covered, that our sin and
our shame may be taken away. Gracious God, do hear us, we
pray thee, and forgive us of all our many sins, and graciously
grant thy divine influence and power in this service tonight. Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
bless our brethren, the deacons, and give them grace and wisdom
and help in all their responsibilities. Lord, they have many responsibilities,
not just here, but among the churches of God. And we pray
that thou wouldst grant them thy divine guidance and blessing
and teaching. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou, in thy precious mercy, wouldst remember each one of
our brethren. and sisters in church fellowship we lovingly
commend each one to the and to the word of thy grace which is
able to build them up and to grant them an inheritance among
them that are sanctified. O Lord we do pray to be made
more spiritually minded our heart our affections set upon things
above and not on things of the earth. For, Lord, we prove that
the carnal mind is enmity to Thee, is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be. And, Lord, we solemnly prove
that to be so. We find a law within our members
that when I would do good, that evil is present with me. We experience
day by day that the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit
against the flesh. and the one is the contrary to
the other. And are these not the marks of
the Shulamite? Behold the Shulamite, in whom
there is, as it were, a company of two armies. That which I would,
I do not, and that which I would not, I do. Gracious God! We have to say, O wretched man,
that I am, or we truly are As the prophet himself says, from
the crown of the head to the sole of the foot, wounds and
bruises and putrefying sores, there is no soundness in the
flesh. Gracious God, we do pray that
thou would then come and revive us and renew us and replenish
us and grant that thy word may be a living word in our hearts,
in our souls. Bless each one present in the
sanctuary. Bless those that are listening
online and graciously incline thine ear and send real prosperity. Build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Grant that we may see thy work and thy power and thy glory as
thou usest to be in the sanctuary. Gracious God, we do pray. Let
thy work appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children. We think of all thy servants
as they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion. We think
of all the assemblies of thy saints where thy people gather
and thy servants minister the word. We pray that thou wast
graciously blessed. O Lord, do hear us, we pray thee.
blow with the wind of the Spirit, we do humbly beseech Thee, for,
Lord, nothing can be done without Thee. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that the eyes of our understanding may be opened, that we may behold
wondrous things in Thy law, in Thy holy Word, those wondrous
things of the gospel of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Those
wonderful promises and those promises are all yay and amen
in Christ Jesus. May we know by sweet experience,
fear not I am with thee, be not dismayed I am thy God. I will
help thee, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Gracious God. We do pray that
thou wouldst uphold us, guide us, O thou great Jehovah. Pilgrims in a barren land, we
are weak but thou art mighty. Hold us by thy powerful hand. Bread of heaven, feed us now
and evermore. We pray, most gracious Lord,
for the little ones, the children that are brought into the sanctuary
week by week. We lovingly commend them to thee
and to the word of thy grace. We pray that their ears may be
bored to the doorpost of thy house and the time may come in
their young years when they will be united to thy people in Jesus
Christ. That they may love thee and serve
thee and follow thee in their day and in their generation. We pray for the young friends,
each one of them, that they may be blessed of thee, enlightened,
brought to living faith in Jesus Christ, and brought to follow
thee and serve thee in their day and in their generation,
a generation raised up to call thee the Redeemer blessed. and
the fulfilling of that precious word, instead of thy father shall
be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.
And Lord, we earnestly petition thee for the prodigals that have
wandered from the ways of truth and of righteousness, and we
beseech thee to have mercy upon them, to quicken their souls,
to bring them to living faith in thee, to bring them to return
to the sanctuary. Oh Lord, what a rejoicing there
would be to see the prodigals return. There is nothing too
hard for thee. And we read in thy word, and
such were some of you, but now ye are washed. Oh gracious God,
may we see such a wonderful thing in thee. days in which we live. We pray, O Lord, that thou would
remember parents and give wisdom and grace and help to bring up
their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and
to raise the family altar, that the word of God may be read and
prayer made in the family, that for all things are sanctified
by the word of God and prayer. Gracious God, we pray, that thou
in thy precious mercy would be with each one in the midst of
the journey of life. We pray for those who are struggling
with the temptations of Satan and with the power of sin, indwelling
sin. Lord, that thou hast promised
to deliver from temptation. Thou hast promised that when
the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift
up a standard against him. Do so for us, O Lord, we pray
thee. Grant that we may not be overcome
of the enemy, but we may overcome him through the testimony of
faith in Jesus Christ. We pray, most gracious Lord,
for any and any trouble or trial or perplexity or sorrow or sadness
or bereavement. Lord, undertake for each one.
Remember, all of us that are now in the evening time of life
journey, who knowest our needs, our concerns. We specially pray
for dear Ina in her great age. We lovingly commend her to thee
and to the word of thy grace. Lord, remember her, we do humbly
pray thee, and at thee appointed time grant her an abundant entrance
into thy heavenly kingdom. And that we pray, most gracious
Lord, that Thou in Thy great mercy would remember this village
and send out the light and truth and power of gospel grace. Bless
the word of the Lord distributed, grant that it may redound to
Thine honour, glory and praise, and that it may be as a seed
that is sown in the heart, and in due time it may bring forth
fruit. We do humbly beseech Thee, quicken
souls and make them cry, give me Christ or else I die. Pull
down the strongholds of Satan. Set up the kingdom of the Lord
Jesus in the hearts of sinners. O Lord, we do beseech of thee.
Lord, thou seest the low state of Zion and the great declension
in Zion and the falling away in Zion and the continual closing
of chapels. and the diminishing of congregations.
Lord, we do humbly beseech Thee to hear prayer and to grant a
reviving that we may see, O Lord, an in-gathering and that we may
see, O Lord, the planting of new churches. Oh, do hear us,
O Lord. This is Thy sovereign work and
it's Thy sovereign power alone that can accomplish these things. O Lord, we do thank Thee for
all Thy tender mercies. We thank Thee for our little
house of prayer. We thank Thee for every mercy
of Thy kind providence. We thank Thee that Thy mercies
to us are new every morning and great is Thy faithfulness. We
thank Thee, most gracious God, for our Lord Jesus Christ, the
fullness of that salvation that is in him. We thank thee that
he is the way, the truth and the life. We thank thee that
thou hast made a new and living way into the holy place. We thank
thee that he lived on earth on our behalf as a man, Jesus the
son of God. What a profound mystery, what
a wonderful truth. We thank thee that the law has
been fulfilled in the holy God-man, the man Christ Jesus, honoured
and magnified. Everlasting righteousness has
been brought in through that holy life and that perfect obedience
to thy righteous law. We thank thee that he has offered
a perfect, holy, spotless sacrifice, that glorious atonement for sin,
on the cross of Calvary. Sin has been put away. Divine justice has been satisfied. He died for our sins. He rose
again for our justification. Truly, Lord, give us very thankful,
grateful hearts for the wonderful glories of Christ. He has ascended
up on high. We have a great high priest.
who is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Tis he
instead of me is seen when I approach to God. Oh, the wonder and the
glory and the fullness that there is in our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank thee that he is full
of grace and truth and that in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. Come and touch one's lips with
a live from off the heavenly altar, come and open thy word
to our heart and to our understanding. Come and open our hearts to receive
it. Come and open our ears that we
may hear the word of the Lord, that it may reach into our very
souls. We ask for the forgiveness of
all our sins for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1075. The tune is Pater Omnium, 791. Thou hidden love of God, whose
height, whose depths unfathomed no man knows, I see from far
thy beauties lie, and in this I for thy repose My heart is
pain'd, nor can it be, At rest till I find rest in thee. O come all ye faithful joyful
and triumphant O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave I sleep upon thy beauteous eyes,
and in each eye know thy reverence. My heart is pained, nor can it
be. How precious did my heart find
refuge here, E'en the bleak midnight sun,
As twilight breaks, my heart is chained. ? God's heavenly host ? ? From
heaven above ? ? Ever on earth ? ? Ring the angel bells ? ? There to shine your light upon
the world beneath ? ? And in death's final hour be restored ? I wish deep in my heart, dear
child, that I could look at Christ in the evening ? May your light on the vanguards
shine ? ? Your wisdom lead the way ? ? They hold Him still ? ? He may
not shake ? ? Now He lives for all of us ? ? In the King ? For I know forever we may meet
again in heaven like old. Here I am, Christ, come and take
me. I am your Saviour, Lord, I do. Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily,
Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily,
Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily,
Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily,
Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily,
Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily,
Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily,
Merrily, merrily, Merrily, merrily, greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the chapter
that we read, Psalm 116 and verse 1 for our text. Psalm 116, verse
1. I love the Lord because he hath heard my voice, and my supplications. It was really just the first
four words here that have rested on my spirit today to bring before
you tonight. I love the Lord. This is really David's confession
of faith. I love the Lord. Do you? Do I? Do we love the Lord? Has his love been shed abroad
in our hearts? We read in 1 John chapter 4,
I think it's verse 19, we love him because he first loved us. We love Him because He first
loved us. The moving cause of our love
to God comes from Him. It's only as the Holy Spirit
enters the heart, quickens the soul, and brings us to Jesus Christ,
to see Him as the way, the truth and the life. And then, with that revelation
of Christ by the Holy Ghost. We love him. The Apostle, I think
it's in possibly in the Colossians, he says, through faith that worketh
by love. Faith that worketh by love. What
a mercy if we indeed have that faith that worketh by love and
that we can echo in our hearts what the sweet psalmist says
here, I love the Lord. And a little later I want to
try and look at these words because he tells us why he loved the
Lord, because he has heard my voice and my supplications. because he hath inclined his
ear unto me. Therefore will I call upon him
as long as I live. I love the Lord. You know on that point that we've
just touched on, that is spoken of in 1 John chapter 4, we love
him because he first loved us. And there's a lovely word in
Deuteronomy chapter 7 and again it is speaking of God's love
to his people, his love, his kindness, his compassion. We
just look for a moment at Deuteronomy chapter 7 and in verse 7 he's
speaking here to the children of Israel. He says in the previous
verse for Thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God. The Lord
thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself
above all people that are upon the face of the earth. This is true today of the Christian
believer as it was of Israel at that time. The Lord did not
set his love upon you nor choose you because you were more in
number than any people, for you were the fewest of all people,
but because the Lord loved you. That's the only moving cause
of the grace of God in a poor sinner. Grace means the eternal
favour, the free favour of the eternal God, His love. The Lord did not set his love
upon you nor choose you because you were more in number. No,
but because the Lord loved you and because you would keep the
oath which he had sworn unto your fathers. You think of that
oath and we read of it in the apostle extensively deals with
it in the epistle to the Hebrews and how that that the Lord has
sworn and will not repent, thou art a priest forever after the
order of Melchizedek, the infinite love, the eternal grace of the
God of heaven to his people in Christ, but because the Lord
loved you and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn
unto your fathers, has the Lord brought you out. Now, this being
brought out, of Egypt. It's a beautiful description
of a child of God being brought out of the world. Egypt is a
type of the world. And the reason he brought you
out of the world is because he loved you. Because he loved you. And because he made an oath to
save you. And here he says to the children of Israel in Deuteronomy
on a number of occasions, thou shalt remember And that's equally
true to the Christian believer. Thou shalt remember all the way. The Lord thy God hath led thee
to humble thee and to prove thee and to see what was in thine
heart. But because the Lord loved you. No other reason. Loved with
an everlasting love. That lovely word in Jeremiah
chapter 31 in verse 3. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. You know, you may say, but how
do I know that the Lord loves me? Has he drawn you? Is he drawing you? Drawing you
to Christ? Drawing you to the house of God?
drawing you to the people of God, drawing you to His Holy
Word. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. You know, my beloved friends,
we read in the Word of God, though thy beginnings be small, thy
latter end shall greatly increase. You see, the Lord will build
upon that which He is doing in your heart. You're drawn because the Holy
Spirit has entered your heart, quickened your soul, given you
spiritual affection, spiritual desires, spiritual longings.
These are all evidences of spiritual life in the heart. Do you have
those evidences? Do you know what it is to be
drawn to Jesus Christ, the King of glory, but because the Lord loved you. Know therefore that the Lord
thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and
mercy with them that love him, and keep his commandments to
a thousand generations. You see, he loves his people. He's loved them with an everlasting
love, a love that is without beginning, It's as God is, without
beginning and without ending. It's eternal love. I know it's
difficult to comprehend, but there has never been a time when
the Lord did not love his people. No. Not from all eternity. We often speak in seeking to
expound the word of God about the time When that covenant was
made between the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that's from all
eternity. And don't we have to say, when
we see all the mass of mankind, and you consider that the Lord
has drawn you to himself, and you have to say, why me? I do,
why me? O blessed God, why me? Why such
a wretch as me, that must forever lie in hell, were not salvation
free? I love the Lord. I love the Lord. You know, as
I was meditating earlier today, and my mind was much drawn to
the Gospel according to John, And in the last chapter, the
words of Christ unto Peter, when he saw the disciples after
his resurrection from the dead, and they caught a great draft
of fishes, After these things Jesus showed
himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, that's
the Sea of Galilee, and he revealed himself. Now, it says, because
they cooked the fish to eat it, and the Lord said in verse 15,
so when they had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon,
son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? He saith unto
him, Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto
him, Feed my lambs. He saith to him again the second
time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my sheep.
He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me? Peter was grieved because he
said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me? And he said unto
him, Lord, thou knowest all things thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, feed my
sheep. See how he spoke so certainly
unto Peter. It was only a short time before
that Peter, he so boldly said to his Lord and Master, I will
follow thee even unto death. Nothing will stop me following
the oh lord and within a very short time within hours he denied
his lord with oaths and with curses that he did not know him
he totally disowned his lord and master when he was put to
the test Peter was a strong character yet he had a strong character,
a very forthright character. He was often the spokesman for
the disciples. And the Lord warned him. He said before the cock crow,
thou shalt deny me thrice. And he did. He denied his Lord
and he had to be taught. that strength to stand was not
in himself and the Lord Jesus said unto him but I have prayed
for thee that thy faith fail not in actual fact after he denied
Christ on the third time we read because Christ was then in the
judgment we read that the Lord Jesus turned and looked upon
Peter and you know my beloved friends
that wasn't a look of anger That was a look of infinite love
to his servant Peter, who just denied him with oaths and with
curses. And we read this, and Peter went
out and wept bitterly. You see, and the Lord said to
him, when thou art converted, what he means by that is when
thou art restored. You see, strengthen thy brethren. But he had to learn his own weakness.
And we have to learn our own weakness. We have to learn through
besetting sins our weakness. And it's a very painful thing. It's part of that, what the Lord
says, whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth. He chastens his people to humble
them. and to bring them to the end
of themselves. So we find in the experience
here of the Lord's servant David, I love the Lord because he has
heard my voice and my supplications. He has inclined his ear unto
me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. And then he tells us the things
that he came into in his personal experience. The sorrows of death
compassed me. You know, the Lord's people know
this. By painful experience, the sorrows
of death compassed me. The pains of hell got hold upon
me. I found trouble and sorrow. And
the Lord's living family in some lesser or greater degree, they
know this experience. They know what it is to be convicted
of sin. They know what it is to feel
their weakness and their proneness to wander. They can echo in their
hearts what the hymn writer says, prone to wander Lord I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love. But where it brought the psalmist
and so it is with the living child of God, then called I upon
the name of the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. How we need the Lord's delivering
grace. How we need the Lord's love to
be shed abroad in our hearts. How we need the Lord to subdue
our sinful nature, our corrupt nature, our corrupt desires and
longings and lusts. But you know the Lord will crucify
us. It was Hezekiah that said, when
he was brought into that great trouble, that great trial. He
said, by these things men live, and in them is the life of my
spirit. He found trouble and sorrow, didn't he? He had the sentence of death.
The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians chapter 1, he speaks, he says
we have the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should
not trust in ourselves, You know, it's a great mercy if the Lord,
by His Spirit and grace, so teaches us that we realize that we cannot
trust in ourselves. No. We have to trust in Him. I beseech
thee, deliver my soul. And He received, gracious is
the Lord, and righteous, yea, Our God is merciful. The Lord preserveth the simple.
I was brought low and he helped me. Do we know this? What it is to
be brought low and for the Lord to help you, to uphold you, to
strengthen you? And he speaks here of that spirit
of faith. Return unto thy rest. In the
epistles of the Hebrews, I think it's chapter four, the apostle
speaks there of the rest that remaineth for the people of God.
What is this rest? It's resting on Christ, resting
on his precious blood, resting on his glorious righteousness.
Why? Because you've got no righteousness
of your own. His blood cleanses from all sin,
and you desire that your sins may be taken away. Return unto
thy rest, O my soul. What a mercy, if we indeed in
some little measure know this rest of faith. Just think of those lovely words
of our Lord Jesus Christ, come unto me, all ye that labour and
are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you
and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. And ye shall
find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden
is light." You shall find rest. That's the rest of faith in the
glorious person of Jesus, the Son of God. What a resting place. And it was Christ that said to
Peter, wasn't it? Upon this rock, as Christ is
the rock of ages, upon this rock I build my church, and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it. You know, here in the book
of Psalms, David, it says when the Lord had given him rest from
all his enemies, in Psalm 18, and when the Lord had settled
him in Jerusalem, and beautiful in Psalm 18 how David expresses
his confidence and his faith in God. It says at the beginning
that Psalm of David the servant of the Lord who spake unto the
Lord the words of this song in the day that the Lord delivered
him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of
Saul and he said I will love the Lord It's the first thing
he said. I will love the Lord. Oh Lord,
my strength. You see, it's his confession
of faith. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer. He knew it by experience. My
God, my strength in whom I would trust, my buckler and the horn
of my salvation and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who
is worthy to be praised, so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
Again he confesses what he confesses here in Psalm 116. The sorrows
of death compassed me. The floods of ungodly men made
me afraid. The sorrows of hell compassed
me about. The snares of death prevented
me. In my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried unto
my God. He heard my voice out of his
temple and my cry came before him, even into his ears. I will love the Lord. I will love the Lord. When you're brought to count
your blessings, when you're brought to recount what the Lord has
done, Same here with the psalmist in
this psalm, that when we're brought to see what we've done, and how
sinful we are, and how corrupt we are, and how unrighteous we
are, and then the Lord brings us to see what He has done, what
Christ has done, and He leads us to see how He has delivered
us from our sins, how He's crucified in our ruined place instead,
how He's shed His precious blood and that blood cleanses from
all sin. And in that holy life, he wrought
out the everlasting righteousness of his people. Return unto thy rest, O my soul,
for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. He took our sins and he nailed
them to his cross. He suffered, he bled and died
for the sins of his people. For thou hast delivered my soul
from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. What
a wonderful thing when we see the Lord's delivering hand. And
it will make you love the Lord.
When you see his sovereign, free grace. when you're brought to
see what you really deserve, but what He has given you. You
deserve eternal death, but He gives you eternal life. You deserve
eternal darkness, but He gives you eternal light. You deserve eternal bondage,
but He gives you eternal liberty. The glorious liberty of the people
of God. Now, this had an effect. on the
sweet Psalmist of Israel. We read in the teachings of Christ
in the Gospel according to John. If ye love me, keep my commandments. If ye love me. What a wonderful
thing. If we love the Lord. If we are
drawn to the Lord. It says here from verse 9, I
will walk before the Lord in the land of the living. I believed,
therefore have I spoken. I was greatly afflicted. I said
in my haste, all men are liars. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? If ye love me, keep my commandments. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me. You know, really friends,
there's only one right way that we walk in the Lord's holy commandments
in his house and that is in love. That's in love. We follow the
Lord in love. We desire him, we desire to follow
him, we desire to serve him. I will walk before the Lord in
the land of the living. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? May this be a word in Caesar
to one here tonight. I will take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto
the Lord now what I suppose is called an imperative
word, now. I will pay my vows on the Lord
now, in the presence of all his people. You know, there is a
tendency for us to prevaricate. Because of this, because of that,
because of something else, I can't. We prevaricate. Now the direction
that we have here, and we have it twice, In this passage, verse
14 and verse 18, I will pay my vows on the Lord now, in the
presence of all his people. And you see, it says, which his
lips had uttered. All that the Lord would graciously
enable you to follow him. The Apostle, he speaks of the
ordinances of God's house, especially on the ordinance of baptism. And he speaks of it and he says,
not the washing away of the filthiness of the flesh, but the answer
of a good conscience before God. It's the answer of a good conscience
before God. And you know, friends, that is
something very special. I do remember when I was baptized.
I didn't particularly feel any great blessing, not on the actual
baptism, but after I was baptized, I most pointedly felt the answer
of a good conscience before God. It's a very precious thing. You see, I will offer to thee
the sacrifice of thanksgiving and I will call upon the name
of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord
now, in the presence of all his people. In the very early church,
I'm talking now about the time of Constantine, so it would be
about 400 years after Christ. And that is when the Christian
religion in the Roman Empire became the official religion
because supposedly Constantine was converted to Christianity. But he prevaricated. He wouldn't
be baptised. He'd got this very strange notion
that by being baptised his sins would be all taken away. And
so while he was emperor and he did some very terrible things
and he said that he wouldn't be baptised
until he came right to the end under that notion that his sins
would be washed away and that was a really wrong thing. It
seems quite obvious to me that though through his being emperor
the Christian religion became the official religion, and yet
there doesn't seem to be any evidence that he was a real child
of God. These things have happened right
the way down through the ages. Henry VIII was the king that
brought about the Protestant religion into this country. Henry
VIII was the most wicked, vile king. I remember reading that
in the reign of Henry VIII, 72,000 people were executed in this
country during his reign. And there's no evidence whatsoever
that he was a godly man, and yet the Lord used him to facilitate
the establishment of the Protestant religion in this country. It
wasn't because he loved the Lord, it was for his own advantage.
that he wanted to be the ruler over his nation. He didn't want
the Pope to be the head of the church. He merely wanted to have
everything in his power. And you see, my beloved friends,
the Lord permits these things. And yet under his gracious hand,
the Lord's hand, the true religion was established in this country.
and the Lord's people, we heard their cries, their prayers, delivering
them from the persecution. I love the Lord because he has
heard my voice and my supplications, or that our love might burn greater and clearer
and fuller. that Christ may be made so precious
to us that we might be prepared to leave everything, everything,
for Jesus Christ's sake, to follow Him, to serve Him, to obey Him. And He will watch over you, He
will keep you, He will deliver you, He will uphold you, He will
strengthen you, It is the clear evidence in the Word of God of
the Lord's people that were enabled to follow Him. How the Lord upheld them and
strengthened them. Some of them very weak people
and yet He upheld them and strengthened them, guided them and directed
them in the way. And He promises, I will never
leave thee nor forsake thee. It may be that you have these
things You desire to walk in a path of obedience, but you
fear lest you should fall away. My beloved friends, the Lord
will keep you. The Lord will keep you. He's
promised to. He will uphold you. He will strengthen you. He will
guide you. I will guide thee with my counsel
and afterward receive thee unto glory. He's loved you with an
everlasting love. And that everlasting love has
brought you thus far. And that everlasting love will
take you to eternal glory. It will. And so that you're able
to serve Him. Of course you'll always feel
your weakness. Of course you'll always feel
your emptiness, your poverty, your insufficiency. But the Lord
has promised to help and to uphold and to strengthen. We read in
1 John chapter 4 from verse 7 Beloved, let us love one another for love
is of God and everyone that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God for God is love. In this was manifested the love
of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten son
into the world that we might live through him. Hearing his
love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent
his son to be the propitiation for our sins, that is to make
an atonement for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us,
we are also to love one another. No man has seen God at any time
If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected
in us. His love is perfected in us.
All my beloved friends, may we be made perfect in love. May the love of Christ be so
shed abroad in our hearts, that we might know that perfection
of love in Christ, the eternal love of God in Christ and being
able to follow Christ. I love the Lord because he has
heard my voice and my supplications. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 10. The tune is Church Triumphant,
868. Twas with an everlasting love
that God his own elect embraced before he made the world to bow
or earth on her huge columns placed. Hymn number 10, tune
Church Triumphant, And all is calm, and all is bright. O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? ? And repulsion play ? ? By evil
ways of darkness play ? ? Lay on His sacred bosom lay ? ? Loved
with human heart ? ? Lost in love ? ? Then in the clouds of his deep
grief ? ? I stand beside the kid that's gone ? Passing by
imputation is How she in sparkless splendour shone. Learn of them, Thy, Thy glories
swell, And praise Him eternal and free. Ten thousand sinners lackest
Thou, has swallowed a whole lot of wind in. But when a wretch
deep out comes in, and come in heavenly with them, a slave to
every lust of sin. Who did mainly part to prevail. Redeemer, may thy comfort stand, And still more salvation's free,
And everlasting love demands, And everlasting songs 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.