Let us commence our service this
evening by singing together hymn number 31. The tune is Dublin
129. I'll read the first two verses
and we'll commence singing at verse three. A form of words,
though e'er so sound, can never save a soul. The Holy Ghost must
give the wound and make the wounded whole. Though God's election
is a truth, small comfort there I see, till I am told by God's
own mouth that He has chosen me. Hymn 31, commence singing
at verse three. so as I may be justified by faith
in Jesus' blood. A friend to me, and lots of light
is there. Does he good. To perseverance I agree The thing
to me is clear Because the Lord that promised me that I shall
love sweetly. Imputed, righteous, best of all,
Adopted, most divine, O Jesus, to My heart makes known that Lord
is very kind. That Christ is God, I cannot
thank, And for all His people cares. have prayed to him as such, and
he has heard my prayer. The sinner's block has fell by
Christ, the sick I know for well. For I His mercy have not missed
And the power of God has held Thus Christians glorify the Lord
This with Him joins with us In her image there's full his
blood, With all God its shaping power. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Epistle to the Philippians, chapter two. Paul's Epistle to the Philippians,
chapter two. If there be therefore any consolation
in Christ, if any comfort of love, If any fellowship of the
Spirit, if any bows and mercies, fulfill ye my joy, that ye be
like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of
one mind. Let nothing be done through strife
or vainglory, but in loneliness of mind, let each esteem other
better than themselves. Look not every man on his own
things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. and being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath
highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every
knee should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth, and
things under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling, For it is God which worketh in you, both to
will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings
and disputings, that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons
of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse
nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world. Holding
forth the word of life, that I may rejoice in the day of Christ,
that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain. Yea,
and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your
faith, I joy and rejoice with you all. For the same cause also
do ye joy and rejoice with me. But I trust in the Lord Jesus
to send Timotheus shortly unto you, that I also may be of good
comfort when I know your state. For I have no man like-minded
who will naturally care for your state. For all seek their own,
not the things which are Jesus Christ's. But ye know the proof
of him that as a son with the Father, he hath served with me
in the gospel. Him, therefore, I hope to send
presently, so soon as I shall see how it will go with me. But I trust in the Lord that
I also myself shall come shortly. Yet I supposed it necessary to
send to you Epaphroditus, my brother and companion in labour
and fellow soldier, but your messenger, and he that ministered
to my wants. For he longed after you all,
and was full of heaviness, because that ye had heard that he had
been sick. For indeed he was sick, nigh
unto death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only,
but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I sent him therefore the more
carefully, that when ye see him again ye may rejoice, and that
I may be the less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the
Lord with all gladness, and hold such in reputation. Because for
the work of Christ he was nigh unto death, not regarding his
life to supply your lack, of service toward me. May the Lord bless that portion
of his most precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, we do desire to bow before thy
great majesty, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and to worship Thee
in spirit and in truth. O do grant us the spirit of truth,
even tonight, in sweet exercise in our hearts, in our souls,
that our hearts may be knit together in love, and that we may know
the truth, and the truth may make us free. Even as Thou hast
said in Thy Word, if the Son shall make you free, then shall
you be free indeed. I do grant, this evening hour,
as we gather round thy word, 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, that we may
truly worship thee. May we know the communion of
saints. May we know the sweet communion
of the Holy Ghost. And may it please thee, Lord,
to soften our hearts, to bring us into subjection to our Lord
Jesus Christ, and enable us to present our bodies, a living
sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto thee, which is our reasonable
self. and that we be not conformed
to this world, but may we be transformed by the renewing of
our mind, that we might know what that good and perfect and
acceptable will of the Lord is. Oh, we pray to be led of the
Spirit of God, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God,
they are the sons of God. We pray to be taught by the Holy
Ghost, and that the word of the Lord, the word of thy grace,
may be written in our hearts, not with pen and ink, but with
the finger of the living God upon the fleshy tables of the
heart. Oh, do heed us, Lord. We humbly
pray thee, grant that this evening hour It may be the sealing of
thy spirit that may be sweetly known in our hearts. We do humbly
beseech them. We thank thee for our house of
prayer. We thank thee for supplying all
our many returning needs. But we thank thee, most gracious
Lord, for every mercy of thy kind providence. Oh, we do thank
thee. Most gracious Lord, the abundance
of thy mercy, new every morning. Oh, most gracious Lord, how we
prove it day by day in spite of all our sins, in spite of
all our wanderings, in spite of all our coldness and hardness
and waywardness, in spite of the sinful deceit of our hearts
and the corruption of our nature. Yet thou art the same, thy love
is the same, thy grace is the same, Jesus Christ the same,
yesterday and today and forever. We are instructed, O Lord, in
thy word, none come except the Father draw. So may we sweetly
experience at this evening hour at those divine drawings of our
eternal Father, drawing us unto his best beloved and all-glorious
Son. O, do grant that it may be so,
that we may worship at Emmanuel's feet, that we may see no man
save Jesus only, that we may touch the hem of his garment
and draw from that sacred fullness that is in him. O most gracious
Lord, we do pray that it may be so. We pray, most gracious
God, that thou wouldst bless us together as a church and as
a congregation and work mightily and work powerfully and work
effectually in our midst. We do beseech thee. We would
remember the prodigals that wander that wander abroad, that wander
from the sanctuary, we pray that thou would stretch out thy almighty
arm and cause them to return and to truly worship them. O
Lord, thou art able to do abundantly more than we can even ask or
think. Do be gracious, do have mercy
upon us, Oh, for thy great namesake. We do pray, most gracious Lord,
that we may be led of the Spirit of God. Holy, divine Spirit,
we pray for thy heavenly power, thy divine unction. We pray for
the presence of the Lord Jesus. In thy presence I am happy. In
thy presence I am secure. In thy presence I can easily
all things endure. Lord, how true that is. Oh, that
we could have thy presence, Lord Jesus, here tonight as we gather
around the word, that we read when thou wast here below and
it was noised that Jesus was in the house. May it be so here,
Lord. We do humbly beseech thee and
may the Lord Jesus Christ be exalted among us, as a prince
and as a saviour, for to give repentance and remission of sins. Grant, Lord, we do beseech thee,
that it may be so, that the word of the Lord may have free course,
that thy name may be honoured and glorified, and the gospel
among us may be in power in the Holy Ghost, and with much assurance
we do humbly beseech thee, and that thy people may be built
up in their most holy faith. Lord, grant that it may be so. Make us more spiritually minded,
but set our affections on things above, not on things of the earth. O Lord, we humbly beseech of
thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that where there is division, there may be healing. Where there
is darkness there may be light. Where there is darkness, Lord,
we pray that thou wouldst shine in. God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness has shined into our hearts with the
light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And
hast thou not said that unto you that fear my name shall the
son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings? Come and
arise, Lord Jesus, now. Come and speak to our hearts.
Lord, we pray for those that may be tormented, tempted, tried,
perplexed, or we pray that there was bring peace and pardon and
salvation to their hearts. We pray for those that feel exposed
and naked and unclean. May they be clothed in that glorious
everlasting robe of the righteousness of Christ. Oh Lord, we pray for
those that feel defiled, that echo with the hymn writer, defiled
I am indeed, defiled throughout by sin. Lord Jesus, thy precious
blood shall never lose its power. Oh, that blood that cleanses
from all sin, that blood that reconciles unto God. Fill our
hearts with gratitude for the profound glory of the sacrifice
of Christ, the sacred glory of the life of Christ, the law fulfilled
and honoured and magnified in him. And may we have a sweet
sense of that precious word, ye are complete in him, we are
accepted in the beloved. We pray for our brethren the
deacons that grace, wisdom and help may be given to them in
all their responsibilities. We pray for each one of our brethren
and sisters in church fellowship that thy rich blessing, thy divine
favour, may be known and experienced. We pray for grace to love each
other, serve each other, bear each other's burdens, thereby
fulfilling the law of Christ. Give us that grace of patience
to humbly wait upon the Lord and to watch unto prayer. We
pray, most gracious Lord, that thou in thy great mercy wouldst
remember the little ones and the children, the young people
that gather with us. We thank thee for them. Oh, that
thou wouldst bless them indeed, that thou wouldst graciously
guide them, that there may be a generation that shall be raised
up to call thee the Redeemer. that shall follow on to know
the Lord, be with them in all the paths of providence, but
may they each be brought to living faith in Jesus Christ, and to
follow thee in the way of thy sacred ordinances. O Lord, we
do beseech of thee that we pray, most gracious God, that thou
wouldst remember parents and give them wisdom and grace to
bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord. Oh, that thou wouldst bless the homes, that the word of God
may be read, prayer may be made, the sanctifying influence of
it known in the home. We do humbly beseech of thee.
But we pray. Most gracious Lord that thou
would remember those of us in the evening time of life's journey. Oh that thou would remember us
for good, support and sustain, strengthen and uphold, prepare
us each for all thy will. We know not how soon it will
be when we shall soar through tracks unknown and see thee on
thy judgment throne, but oh to be ready. that great day. We pray for our dear aged sister
in her old age and its weaknesses that they will sustain her, uphold
her and strengthen her. We pray for this village that
the glory and light of the gospel may shine. We pray for thy servants
as they labour in word and doctrine up and down the country that
they may dip their foot in oil and be made acceptable unto the
brethren. that there may be mighty signs
and wonders that shall follow the preaching of the word, that
there may be the pulling down of the strongholds of Satan,
and the setting up of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus in the hearts
of sinners, that we may see a reviving. Lord, thou hast promised in thy
word, I will bring thy sons from far and thy daughters from the
ends of the earth, and they shall come from the north and from
the south and from the east and from the west, Gracious God,
hast thou not promised I will work, and who shall let it? O Lord of hosts, O God of Israel,
O thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth before
Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh. Come and save us, O Lord, we
beseech thee. Come and touch one's lips with
the live coal from off the heavenly altar. Come and speak to our
hearts. Come and bless our souls. For
Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 29. The tune is Rubin, 725. Descend from heaven's celestial
dark With flames of pure seraphic love Our ravished breasts inspire
fountain of joy, bless Paraclete, warm our cold hearts with heavenly
heat, and set our souls on fire. Hymn number 29. ? In the wonder of the universe inside
? ? And in the wonder of the universe inside ? O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, Rain, how it rushes on and on
and on, Light, sweetest, strongest rain, What shall I wear? O come all ye faithful joyful
and triumphant O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave In excelsis Deo Nobis Deo Nobis
? O'er all the place I watch thee
go today ? ? Deep and great where thou lay ? ? O'er all the sky
and earth ? ? With earth, water, and air ? ? Let us adore him, with hymns
of praise ? ? Let us adore him, with hymns of praise ? ? And in it his word excelled ?
? How each reverend David controlled him ? ? Looked at him friendship ? and to the realm of sin. O tremble at the thought of faith
and fear, And God shall make us all His
own, And me, the host of prairie, ? Teach us, O Lord, to pray and
tell ? ? And teach, by God, each earthly thing ? ? Of heaven and
earth and of your love ? ? With them for us ? ? As we through
faith ? ? We build in faith ? ? Our Jesus Church ? ? Who made the heavens ? ? And
the earth ? ? I will ever love and worship you ? ? All that
is in you ? Oh. O come ye, O come ye, O come
ye, O come ye to Bethlehem. Greatly failing to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the second
chapter of Paul's epistle to the Philippians, and we will
read verses 12 and 13 for our text. Philippians chapter two,
verses 12 and 13. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, Work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling for it is God which worketh in you both to will and
to do of his good pleasure. I always feel it's a very sweet
thing in the first verse of the chapter three Finally, my brethren,
rejoicing the Lord to write the same things to you, to me indeed
is not grievous, but for you it is safe. The apostle had great
love and wonderful communion with the saints at Philippi. We know, of course, of the beginning
of that church. And also the bringing forth of
the Philippian jailer. Probably the most unlikely man
in that city that you would expect to become a believer in Jesus
Christ and a follower of Jesus Christ. But that is how the Lord
works. He caused by divine grace, his
own people. The Apostle Paul himself, he
ministered for over two years in Rome and he could say that
there were those of Caesar's house that were the followers
of Christ, the believers in Jesus Christ. Some of the most unusual
people that we find of in Holy Scripture. You have a Mary Magdalene,
You have Matthew the publican, and yet called by divine grace,
brought to living faith in Jesus Christ, brought to leave their
old ways and to follow the Lord, to repent of their sins. And
you know the apostle, he speaks by way of exhortation here unto
the brethren, at Philippi. He exhorts them to be followers
of Christ. And in the beginning of chapter
2 he said, If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if
any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels
and mercies, for fill ye my joy, let ye be like-minded having
the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. It reminds us of
those lovely words in Romans chapter 12. I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God. What it means is that wonderful
mercy that you have received through Christ Jesus. And by
that mercy, that ye present your bodies, live in sacrifice, holy
and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service, and
be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing
of your mind, that you might know what that good and perfect
and acceptable will of the Lord is. He exhorts, let nothing be
done through strife or vain glory, but then he speaks of this mind
of Christ, But in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better
than themselves. That's the spirit and mind of
Christ. Let each esteem other better
than themselves. You know that the hymn writer,
he says, doesn't he, when is it brethren all agree? And let
distinctions fall when nothing in themselves they see. and Christ
is all in all. And then he exhorts us to look
not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things
of others. We're to bear one another's burdens. We're to exhort one another,
to rebuke one another, to edify one another. The apostle in the
Ephesians in particular exhorts unto this and he says to one
church that you are strong enough to exhort one another and to
to guide one another by the Spirit. But then here in this from verse
5 through to verse 11 there is this exhortation Let
this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And then he describes to us what
the mind of Christ was. And the exhortation is that we
might have the same mind. In the epistle to the Corinthians,
the apostle says, but we have the mind of Christ. the Romans he says that us having
them the mind of the spirit and if any man have not the spirit
of Christ he is none of his and then now listen to how he
describes what Christ was when he became a man he says who being in the form
of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God You know,
Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is co-eternal with the
Father and with the Holy Ghost. These three are one, one blessed
infinite and eternal Lord Jehovah, in whom dwell all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge and of understanding. And we're exhorted to be as Christ
was, to have the mind of God, but made himself of no reputation. You know, friends, I'm speaking
now naturally. The last thing that we will let
go is our reputation. If someone besmirches our reputation,
we're up in arms. But think of your Lord and Master, who but made himself of no reputation. He didn't mean anything to you. And took upon Him the form of
a servant and was made in the likeness of men. Jesus, the King
of kings, the Lord of lords, co-equal and co-eternal with
His eternal Father, from everlasting to everlasting thou art God.
Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever. That's
who he is, the eternal son of the eternal father, but made
himself of no reputation. Don't forget how this passage
starts, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. You know, oh that we could have
more of the mind of Christ, and more of the spirit of Christ, but made himself of no reputation
and took upon him the form of a servant. In the beginning of
Isaiah chapter 42, behold my servant. It's a beautiful sacred
prophecy of Christ. Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth. That's who Christ is. See, it says there in Isaiah
that his visage was so marred more than any man's. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the man
of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were
our faces from him. It goes on, he was wounded for
our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. You think
of this in the light of this word, no reputation. He was made sin for us. There was one thing that Christ
did, there was one desire that he had, to fulfil the will of
my Father, which is in heaven. to do that which is right in
his sight, to redeem his church, his people, his bride, whom he
loved with an everlasting love, whom the Father had given to
him before the foundation of the world. And to do so, he made
himself of no reputation. There was nothing too hard, nothing
too great, nothing too humiliating that he should do. to redeem
his church, his people. What do we see in this mind and
spirit of Christ? Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. And you know, we have to walk
the path the Master trod. He was made in the likeness of
men, though he's Lord of all. And then it goes on, and being
found in fashion as a man, just as a man, he humbled himself
as a man. He humbled himself as the eternal
God in assuming human nature. But then he humbles himself as
a man. He didn't come to the palaces
of the great, He didn't come to the wealthy, the powerful
people that were on earth at that time. Mary and Joseph were in poor
circumstances. They were. That's where he came
to. When he was actually born, it
was in the inn at Bethlehem. There was no room in the inn,
so he was born in a stable. wrapped in swaddling clothes
and laid in a manger where the cattle ate. That's where Jesus,
that's how he lived. Let us come back to what is at
the beginning. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. Being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. See, the mind of Christ. The
mind of Christ. The spirit of Christ. You know, this is what and how
we measure ourselves. We've often said the law is like
a plumb line. you know a builder use a plumb
line he hangs it down because it will hang straight as a weight
on the bottom of it and he builds his wall straight because of
the plumb line in a straight line and in a sense the law is
like a plumb line and the Lord and the Lord brings us up against
that plumb line and we see just how warped and crooked and wretched
and sinful we are but here We have another plumb
line, the spirit and person of Jesus Christ. Who being found in fashion as
a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross. Cursed death. Just as it says
in the Levitical law, it's what we call a typical law, The only
way that we can explain it is in Christ. It says, cursed is
every man that hangeth upon a tree. Why should a man hanging on a
tree or hanging wherever it was to die? But there was a special point
made here. It was pointing to the cross
of Christ, hanging on a tree, bearing the curse of his people.
It was a typical law. And the Lord Jesus, he became
obedient unto death. I love the way that this is written. Obedient unto death. No man taketh
my life from me. I have power to lay my life down. I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my Father. and became obedient unto death. He submitted himself. Why did
he die? Because we read in Holy Scripture,
the wages of sin is death. And we read also concerning Christ,
he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. Why did he die? It's answered
in Isaiah 53, isn't it? He was wounded for our transgressions,
not his own, our transgressions, bruised our iniquities. You see,
the Father laid upon him the iniquity of us all. That's why
he suffered. That's why he bled. That's why
he died. To redeem his people, to suffer
what they should have suffered forever, under the pains of eternal
damnation. He suffered it in Gethsemane,
on Calvary. In fact, the whole of his life,
he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. But there in the
garden of Gethsemane, under the tremendous weight of the sin
of the whole church, he sweat as it were, great drops of blood
falling down to the ground. And that's where he took our
sins. And as the apostle says elsewhere,
he nailed them to his cross. He went from Gethsemane to the
Judgment Hall, from the Judgment Hall to Calvary. You see, and he suffered and
bled and died for our sins and being found in fashion as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross, wherefore God also has highly exalted him,
and given him a name which is above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and
things in earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God
the Father. That every tongue should confess,
you know, Doesn't the prophet Isaiah, he speaks there, look
unto me all ye ends of the earth and be ye saved. For I am God
and there is none else. Look unto me. Who is speaking? It's Christ. Look unto me, all
ye ends of the earth and be ye saved. For I am God and there
is none else. There is none else. And it says
there in that context, unto me every knee shall bow. And this
is what the apostle here is building on in this epistle. Wherefore
God also has highly exalted him. When the dear Redeemer had paid
the redemption price of his people, had laid down his life for his
people, had become obedient unto death, then on the third day
he rose again. and he swallowed up death in
victory, and he brought life and immortality to light through
the gospel. What a precious saviour, what
a great redeemer. Now, having said these things,
in our text it says, wherefore my beloved, as she have always
obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence, Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in
you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. It is God
which worketh in you. He says, work out your salvation. You know, The Holy Spirit dwelling
in the heart of each true believer, that's what makes them a believer.
It's the Holy Spirit that makes a believer. It's the Holy Spirit
that gives them life. It's the Holy Spirit that convinces
of sin. It's the Holy Spirit that reveals
Christ, takes of the things of Jesus and reveals them unto you.
And it's the Holy Spirit that maintains spiritual life in the
heart, in the soul, of every true believer, it is the divine
person of the Holy Ghost that does that. And this is what the Apostle
here is pointing to. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye
have always obeyed, this is what I mean when in the beginning
of that chapter three, to write the same things to you to me
indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe. You see, work out your own salvation. I've often pointed out to you
that real religion is something that is very personal. It's essentially
what goes on between your soul and God. And most of what goes
on between your soul and God is literally between your soul
and God, not between anyone else. Your private devotions are between
your soul and God. When you're sitting in the house
of God and under the sweet influence of the Spirit, receiving the
word, it's what's going on between your soul and God. And what we
need to ask, my beloved friends, What is going on between your
soul and God? Here, there is all included is
spiritual exercises. If you and I have spiritual life,
we will have spiritual exercises, we will have spiritual concerns,
we will have spiritual burdens. But with it, you see, come these
longing desires in the life of every true believer, that there
is a sense of sin, a sense of helplessness, a sense of insufficiency, that the Apostle, he speaks of
it in Romans chapter seven, that which I would, I do not, that
which I would not, I do, I find a law within my members that
when I would do good, then evil is present with me. And this
will cause much deep spiritual exercise. Sometimes under a sense
of the Spirit's teaching, you'll realize your sinfulness. And
in some measure, you'll realize the corruption of your heart. And it will make you cry out.
It will make you pray. One says, it's a hymn writer,
isn't it? Can ever God dwell here? Have
you ever felt that? Have you ever really felt that?
You feel yourself to be such a sinner. Can ever God dwell
here? Can I really be a child of God
when I have such sinful thoughts and such sinful inclinations? Such sinful desires? Or can I
really be a child of God that when the world attracts me so
much, and the things in the world attract me so much, and sometimes
in a moment I'm just taken. We spoke on Lord's Day morning
of King David, how in a moment he was attracted, perilously
attracted, to the point of committing adultery. You see my beloved
friends, when these things happen, it will shake you to your very
roots. Can ever God dwell here? Can I really be a child of God?
When I have such a worldly mind, when I have such carnal desires,
when I'm led away in a moment, when my eye is taken with something
and immediately it's gone, and you say, can ever God dwell here? Wherefore, my beloved, as ye
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence. Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you, both
to will and to do of his good pleasure. It's God that worketh
in you. And when the Holy Spirit works
within, that we've spoken of the world, of carnal desires,
and then there are the temptations of Satan. And as the apostles make clear
in the New Testament epistles, it speaks of the devil coming
sometimes as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, and then on the other hand it
speaks of him coming as an angel of light although sadly in that
context he's actually speaking of ministers as angels of light
that appear to be the true ministers of the gospel but they prove
that they're not they're angels of light and they are deceivers
what a solemn thought that is isn't it But we have that lovely word
in Isaiah chapter 59, when the enemy comes in like a flood,
the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. When
the enemy comes in like a flood, as a roaring lion, to devour
you, to destroy you, and you fear that you will be destroyed. won't be but you fear that you
will be or when he comes in as an angel of light to deceive
you to to lead you aside in some error may the Lord give us each spiritual
discernment that we may be enabled to discern between good and evil
between righteousness and unrighteousness between that which is good and
that which is evil and they come pretty close sometimes. That's
why it's spoken of as an angel of light. It appears to be so
right. It appears to be so good. But
it's not. It's deadly poison. Any error,
any heresy brought into the church by these angels of light is deadly
poison to the living family of God. It is. and hence this exhortation
wherefore my beloved brethren as you have always obeyed not
as in my presence only but now much more in my absence work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God which
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure it's
God that worketh in The apostle, when he writes his
epistle to the Corinthians, he says, know ye not that ye are
the temple of the Holy Ghost? If so be that the Spirit of God
dwelleth in you. The temple of the Holy Ghost.
The Spirit of God dwelling in you. And he that hath begun a
good work in you shall perform it. unto the day of Jesus Christ. He will deliver you. I love those
words in the psalmist. He will deliver thee from the
snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. The snare
of the fowler is Satan's temptations. The noisome pestilence is the
world. He will deliver thee from the
snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. You may
have to go through some very dark, some very painful things
to bring you into a state of complete dependence on Christ,
looking alone to Christ. You may have to go into deep
temptations in your soul, in your circumstances, deep things
where you fear that you're going to be destroyed. You fear that
you're going to be lost. You fear that you're going to
lose the battle so great are those powers against you. Wherefore, my beloved, as ye
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much
more in my absence, work out your own salvation. That's the vital thing, is that
you might be right now and at last. Now and at last. Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling. What makes you fear or what makes
you tremble is on the one hand the sinful deceit of your heart. We touched on it on Tuesday evening,
didn't we, in the prophecy of Jeremiah. The heart is deceitful
above all things, desperately wicked. Each one of our hearts
deceitful above all things. The Word of God does not exaggerate.
You might say, well, Satan was the arch deceiver. Yeah, your
heart is even worse than him. You might say, what do you mean?
It's deceitful above all things. It's desperately wicked. And
it's a great mercy if the Holy Spirit is teaching you that,
is showing you that. It is part of the teaching of
the Spirit of God, as he leads the living child of God along,
to teach you that you're a sinner, to teach you that you're undone.
Don't fall into that deceitful way whereby people, because of
their wickedness and evil in their heart, they blame everything
onto the devil. Well, that's the devil's work,
and that's the devil's work. No, sometimes it's your heart. Sometimes it's my heart. It's
deceitful above all things. It really is. It will lead you
astray. It will lead you astray. Work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling for it is God. Now this is the wonderful thing.
It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his
good Then we come back to what we
quoted from Romans. I beseech you therefore brethren,
by the mercies of God that you present your bodies, this body,
a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. How can
we do that when we're such sinners? In Christ. It's when we're accepted
in the beloved. That's why the apostle says,
by the mercies of God, that wonderful mercy that you have received
in Christ, that wonderful love that you've received in Christ.
When that love is shed abroad in your heart, when your heart
is all on fire for Jesus Christ, when His love is shed abroad
there, and you feel such a love to Christ, and such a longing
to follow Christ, and such a longing to serve Him, and to do that
which is right in His sight. You see, to will. It's when that
love of Christ is shed abroad in the heart to will and to do
of His good pleasure. I could, from all things parted
be, but never, never lord from thee. Christ becomes so precious. Christ becomes absolutely essential
for your salvation. And the exercises of your heart
as the spirit teaches you your lost condition, as he permits
the devil to come in like a flood and to tempt you. There's a purpose
to bring you to the end of self, to bring you to see your weakness,
your insufficiency, your poverty, your helplessness. One of the
hymn writers says, he that trusts to his own heart acts a raw and
foolish part. That's what he'll teach you. So that you dare not trust in
yourselves. You dare not trust in yourselves.
Doesn't the Apostle Paul in the second epistle to the Corinthians,
I believe he actually dwells on these things. In the second
epistle to the Corinthians in chapter one. And he says there,
verse eight, for we would not brethren Have you ignorant of
our trouble, which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed
out of measure, above strength, in so much that we despaired
even of life, but we had the sentence of death in ourselves?
Then he tells us why, that we should not trust in ourselves,
but in the living God, which raises the dead. You see, The
purpose of these trials, these perplexities that the Lord allows
to come in your life, in your heart, in your circumstances,
in your family, in the Church of God, what is the purpose?
That you should not trust in yourself. He that trusts in his own heart
acts a raw and foolish part. But we have the sentence of death
in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves but in God
which raiseth the dead, who delivered us from so great a death, and
doth deliver, in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us. You see that wonderful delivering
hand of God. When you come to a spot and a
place where everything looks utterly impossible, where you
feel that you cannot continue, where you feel that you've come
to the end. And then the Lord Jesus appears. Then the Lord
Jesus shines into your heart. Then the precious grace of faith
is brought into exercise in your soul by the Holy Ghost. And your
great deliverer, Jesus Christ, the same yesterday and today
and forever, delivers your soul. You see, this is all part of
this inward teaching Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always
obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For
it is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his
good pleasure. He that hath begun a good work
in you will perform it. unto the day of Jesus Christ. I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 674, but the tune is Samuel 2, 561.
How sinners vaunt of power, a ruined soul to save, and count the fulsome
store of worth they seem to have, and by such visionary props build
up and bolster sandy hopes, hymn 674. The road is short and strenuous,
and the path of service Christ was born in Bethlehem. God's blood must bathe the wind,
and curse to run the rage. And though through the sea still
Thou work of greatest ways, His own good pleasure not our own,
? Is all the women are at home
? ? They cycle to the tombs ? ? And at night to bed ? ? Memories
of you to remember ? O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? They fill a daily need Of Jesus'
gracious store, And on His bountiful throne ? That will always hold ? ? The
land of the free ? ? And the home of the brave ? ? The home
of the brave ? Renew, O Lord, my strength, and
vigour every day. For I shall tower at length,
and faint at heart, the rain. No star will keep up
on my path, my goal is in 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 forevermore. Amen.