you Let us commence our service this
afternoon by singing together hymn number 1102 to the tune
Handforth, 673. Why those fears? Behold, tis
Jesus, holds the helm and guides the ship, spreads the sails and
caps the breezes, sent to waft us through the deep, to the regions
where the mourners cease to weep. Him 1102. ? Hail, all ye peasants ? ? Brothers
of lamb ? ? And brothers of sheep ? ? Say a little sing ? ? Let
the rose bloom, peasants ? Santa Claus is coming to town.
? To the regions, to the regions
? ? Where the home is sweet to weep ? ? Come to Bethlehem ? ? On the
early night ? ? When all is dead ? ? Yet we feel it ? ? The Lord
is with us ? ? And my wrath will falter not
? ? And with Jesus ? ? And with Jesus ? ? Would that righteousness ? ? As we move on ? ? Then, my friend,
we make thee close to us again ? Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti ? And the Lord is mine ? ? Way
to carry him ? ? Way to make him ? ? And the Lord is mine
? ? Behold him come ? ? End the shame ? ? By his resistance ?
? We shall pass away ? God's gift to his followers'
toleration, we shall and lost. And we wonder, and
we wonder, in God's eyes, that angels Let us read together from the
holy word of God in Paul's epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 10. The epistle to the Hebrews, chapter
10. For the law, having a shadow
of good things to come, and not the very image of the things,
can never With those sacrifices which they offered year by year,
continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would
they not have ceased to be offered, because that the worshippers
once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But
in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins
every year. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore, when
he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering
thou wouldst not, but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt
offering and sacrifice of a sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then
said I, Lo, I come. In the volume of the book it
is written of me, to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said, Sacrifice,
and offering, and burnt offering, and offering for sin, thou wouldst
not, neither has pleasure therein which are offered by the law.
Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that he may establish the second. The first means the
Old Testament, the second means the New Testament. By the which
will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can
never take away sins. But this man after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Whereof the Holy Ghost also is
a witness to us, for after that he had said before, This is the
covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts and in their minds will I write them. And their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. Now where remission of these
is, there is no more offering for sin. having therefore brethren
boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new
and living way which he hath consecrated for us, through the
veil that is to say his flesh, and having a high priest over
the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil
conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold
fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for he is faithful
that promised. And let us consider one another
to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting
one another, and so much the more as we see the day approaching.
For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge
of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but
a certain fearful looking-for of judgment and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died
without mercy under two or three witnesses. Of how much sore a
punishment suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath
trodden underfoot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood
of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing,
and hath done despise unto the Spirit of grace. For we know
him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense,
saith the Lord, and again the Lord shall judge his people.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God. But call to remembrance the former
days in which after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions,
partly whilst ye were made a gazing-stock both by reproaches and afflictions,
and partly whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in
my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing
in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring
substance. Cast not away therefore your
confidence with a great recompense of reward, for ye have need of
patience, that after ye have done the will of God ye might
receive the promise. For yet a little while And he
that shall come will come and will not hurry. Now the just
shall live by faith. But if any man draw back, my
soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who
draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving
of the soul. May the Lord bless that portion
of his own precious word. and grant unto us a spirit of
real prayer. Gracious, merciful, and almighty
God, the God of all grace, the God of all comfort, the God of
all consolation, we bow before thy great majesty. We come as
poor sinners, needy sinners, Gracious God, we come as guilty
sinners and we would confess our sins and our wanderings and
our backslidings. We leave undone things that we
should do. We do things that we should not
do. Great God, we pray for thy forgiving
love, the unchanging love that we've read of in our Lord Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ the same, yesterday
and today and forever, that the eternal rock of ages upon which
we build, upon which we fix our hopes upon, the finished work
of our Lord Jesus Christ. We come to thee now in his name.
We come to confess our sins, our wanderings, our backsliding,
We come, most gracious Lord, and beseech thee to give us the
spirit of faith and the spirit of repentance, that faith that
worketh by love, that repentance that needeth not to be repented
of, true contrition. Oh, most gracious Lord, we come
and seek to confess. our wanderings, our backslidings,
our ill manners in the wilderness journey. And we pray to be washed,
washed in that precious sin-atoning blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that we may be accepted
in the Beloved, that we may be complete in him, and that this
afternoon as we gather round the Word and then around thy
table, that we pray, O Lord, that thou wouldst draw near to
us, that thou wouldst speak to our hearts, that thou wouldst
calm our fears, that thou wouldst graciously put the arms of thine
everlasting love around us, and help us to look to that glorious
atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may receive the atonement,
that we may receive the end of our faith, even the salvation
of our souls, that we may have that sweet assurance that we
are in Christ and we're in him eternally. Hear us, Lord, we
humbly beseech thee for thy great namesake. We pray that thou wouldst
bless us as a church and as a congregation. Remember our beloved brethren,
the deacons. Give them grace. wisdom and help
in their responsibilities among us and among the churches of
God. Remember each one of our brethren
and sisters in church fellowship and grant thy blessing and thy
favour, O Lord, we do beseech thee. And unite us together in
thy holy fear and love We pray that we may truly love each other,
serve each other, and bear each other's burdens, thereby fulfilling
the law of Christ. Oh, do overcome all the sinfulness
of our hearts, all the corruption of our nature, and graciously
speak to us. Guide us, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrims through this barren land, We are weak, but thou art
mighty. We think of the words of the
dear apostle, when I am weak, then am I strong. Help us to
be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Help
us to cast all our cares upon Jesus Christ and all our sins
thereto. If he confess your sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness, my faith would lay her hand on that dear
head of thine, while like a penitent I stand and there confess my
sin. Oh, we pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst indeed bless the whole of our congregation,
from the youngest unto the eldest. Bless them with that rich and
that free grace that is in Christ Jesus. Bless them with light
and understanding in thy word. Bless them, O Lord, with spiritual
life and light, that they may be guided. The little ones, the
children, may the fear of the Lord be in their hearts. As here
young friends, may they be brought to live in faith in Jesus Christ
and become followers of thee and of those who through faith
and patience inherit the promises. that a generation may be raised
up that shall follow on to know the Lord, we do humbly beseech
of thee. Let thy work and thy power and
thy glory be manifest in the gospel among us, O Lord, we do
beseech thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that we may be led by the Spirit of God, and we pray, that the
word of God may be open to our heart and to our understanding,
and that the peace of God that passeth all understanding. Oh,
it may fill our hearts and our minds. We pray that we may be
still and know that thou art God. And notice, Lord, how times
our hearts and minds are so agitated, and we cannot always discern
at whether it is the spirit and mind of the Lord, or whether
it is the temptations of Satan. We pray to be delivered from
Satan's power. We pray for the fulfilling of
that precious word, when the enemy comes in like a flood,
the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. We pray for all in affliction's
pathway, that they always be gracious unto them, whether young
or whether old, that the arms of thine everlasting love may
surround them, that thy support in mercy and grace may be given
unto them. Oh, do hear us, Lord, we humbly
pray thee, and grant that they may feel in their souls those
beautiful words of grace, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. Lord, it's
one thing to quote it, another thing to read it, and another
thing to feel it. Help us to feel it, Lord. We
do humbly beseech thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that the wonderful light and power of gospel truth may shine
into this village, into the surrounding villages, and hamlets, and farmsteads. Precious, precious souls may
be gathered in I will bring thy sons from far and thy daughters
from the ends of the earth. They shall come from the north
and from the south and from the east and from the west. Gracious
God, and they will beautify the place of thy sanctuary. We long to see them come. We
long to see them gathered in. We long to see a building of
the wall. We long, most gracious Lord,
for that establishment of precious souls in the truth. in the truth
as it is in Jesus. We pray that those that are seeking
souls may find. We pray that they may be encouraged
to ask and to seek and to knock. Gracious God, do incline thine
ear. We do humbly beseech of thee
for thy great namesake. that we pray, most gracious Lord,
for any that have any particular trouble or trial or perplexing
circumstance, that they know not what to do, that we pray
that they may cast their burden upon the Lord and that thou would
sustain them and uphold them and strengthen them. I am with
thee, Israel, passing through the fire. Gracious God, Breathe
a fear not into their hearts, we do humbly pray. And we pray, most gracious Lord,
that the prodigals may return. None are beyond thy power, none
are beyond thy grace, none are beyond thy love or thy mercy. May the appointed time roll on
apace, not to propose but call by grace. to turn their feet
to Zion's hill. O Lord, graciously hear us, we
humbly beseech thee, and grant that those prodigals may indeed
return, and what a rejoicing, O Lord, there would be among
us, to see thy work and thy power and thy glory, as thou usest
to be in the sanctuary. O Lord, we do thank thee for
our little house of prayer, We thank Thee for the open Bible.
We thank Thee that Thy mercies to us are new every morning and
great is Thy faithfulness. We thank Thee, Lord, that though
we have our down sittings and our uprisings, yet Thou remainest
the same, eternally the same. We thank Thee for Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday
and today. and forever. Lord, this is the
rock upon which we build. We thank thee for what he has
done in the fulfilling of thy holy law, in the bringing in
of everlasting righteousness for his people. We thank thee
for the precious and full sacrifice of Calvary, that the work is
finished, it's done, it's accomplished. We thank thee for those lovely
words, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished.
Lord, we do thank thee that he died for our sins and rose again
for our justification and has now bodily ascended into heaven
and sitteth at thy right hand. Be with us as we turn to thy
word. Come and open thy word to our
heart and to our understanding. We ask with the forgiveness of
all sin for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 121 to the tune Tiltley Abbey 247. Jesus, in thee our eyes behold,
a thousand glories more than the rich gems and polished gold,
the sons of air and war. Hymn 121. everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting
glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory to
thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory to
thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting
glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting
glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting
glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory
to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting
glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory
to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting
glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory to
thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory to
thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee.
Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting glory to thee. Everlasting
? And all who praise God ? ? They
have themselves proxied ? ? Thy life, God's will, without end
? ? And turns the day ? ? For joy
of their loveliest dreams ? ? And the joy of religion ? ? Praise
the Lord ? and crowned with silver banners,
o'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Ever praising, Ever praising,
Ever praising, ? And crown Him with brotherhood
true ? ? That Christ my midst and world to know ?
? And hear the praises of God the
Lord ? ? Jesus, come, sacrifice ? ? Jesus, come, sacrifice ?
? The glory reigns ? ? On China's heavenly hills ? ? The time arrives
? ? The deserts betray ? ? And bless his praise to share
? ? He ever lives to intercede ? Give him, my soul, thy closeness
with no end. Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the epistle
to the Hebrews, chapter 10, and we'll read verse 14 for our text. Hebrews, chapter 10, verse 14. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them are sanctified. Firstly the one offering and
then afterwards them that are sanctified for by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. You know,
Christ says, I think it's in John chapter 10, I give unto
my sheep eternal life. I am come that they might have
life and that they might have it more abundantly. Eternal life. That one glorious offering. You
know, the offering of Christ was perfect. here in the Hebrews, and the
hymn writer takes up the same point through sufferings perfect
now he reigns. What does it mean? I've often
explained to you that the word perfect is sometimes translated
complete. And when it speaks of his perfect
sufferings, it means complete sufferings. But when Christ cried
on Calvary, it is finished. That work was done. It was finished. The perfect offering had been
offered. And as the Lord Jesus said on
the cross, Jesus, knowing therefore that all things were now accomplished. So when it speaks of perfect
sufferings, it means complete suffering. It's sufferings that
have redeemed the church, that have delivered the church from
the condemnation of the law, from the curse of the law. And they are, as it says in our
text, perfected. The apostle, again, we look at
the words complete and perfect, I think it's in the Ephesians,
he says, for you are complete in him. And what he means by
that, you're perfect in him, in Christ, without sin. It's a very sacred precious experience
that the Lord gives to his children. I personally have had that experience
when I looked for my sins and my sins could not be found. They
were swallowed up in the everlasting love of Christ. their sins and
their iniquities will I remember no more. Why? Because of this
glorious sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. For by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Of course,
the apostle here is making a comparison with the Old Testament, with
the Levitical dispensation, And he commences this chapter for
the law having a shadow of good things to come but not the very
image of the things can never with those sacrifices which they
offered year by year continually make the comers there unto perfect. See the sacrifices of bulls and
of goats could not deliver us from sin. They couldn't in the
Old Testament and they can't in the New. He goes on to say
in the fourth verse, for it is not possible that the blood of
bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he,
that is Christ, the Son of God, cometh into the world, he's quoting
here from Psalm 40, sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not,
but a body hast thou prepared me. So it's the Son of God speaking. In burnt offering, in sacrifice
of a sin thou hast had no pleasure. In other words, they couldn't
take away sins. They were typical. They pointed
to the cross of Calvary. That's what they pointed to.
But when Christ comes, and he quotes again in verse 8, sacrifice
and offering and burnt offering and offering for sin thou wouldest
not, neither has pleasure therein which are offered by the law.
Then said he, lo I come. This is Jesus, the Son of God.
Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. The first being the Old Testament
of the law and the prophets. The second being Christ, fulfilling
the law, honoring the law, magnifying the law. That's what Christ has
done for his people. What you can't do, he has done.
Maybe there's someone here, you're trying to do it. You're trying
to make yourself better, you're trying to make yourself more
acceptable to God. You can't do it. It's an utter
impossibility. You've got a sinful nature, you've
got a corrupt heart. There's only one person that's
ever fulfilled the law, and that is Christ. And he's done it for
his people. He's done it for his people.
Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that
he may establish the second. The first be in the Old Testament,
the second be in the New Testament. By the which will we are sanctified,
that is, separated. It was the will of God, the will
of our Eternal Father that we should be redeemed. And in eternity
past, he gave the Church to Christ. He gave the church to Christ. And having given the church to
Christ, this is in the eternal decrees of God, that means they
are sanctified. It means to be separated. And
in the eternal decrees and purposes of God, they were separated. They were given to Christ. And
that is why Christ came here upon earth. and he fulfilled the law on behalf
of all those that the father had given him and then he was
made a curse for them you see cursed is everyone that hangeth
upon a tree that that is what we might call a levitical law
a typical law you might say what do you mean a typical law well
why should there be curse on he that hangeth on a tree it
was merely pointing to Christ and how he would redeem the church
on the cross of Calvary he would hang upon the tree and the curse of the father would
lay upon him because he was made a curse for us he was made a
curse for us the curse was taken away from us and it was laid
on his son our sins were taken away from us and laid on his
son. See this tremendous precious
truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ by the which will we are
sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. That sacred body of Christ was
offered. We often pointed out to you how
that the apostle being so well-versed in the Levitical dispensation
and the types and shadows of the law. He tells us in chapter
9, but Christ being coming, high priest of good things to come,
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,
that is to say, not of this building. I believe he's speaking of his
human nature there. Not made with hands, that it
was a divine act of God. the Holy Spirit overshadowing
the womb of the Virgin Mary. And so he said that holy thing
that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. A greater
and more perfect tabernacle. A tabernacle means a dwelling
place. And we read, do we not, in John chapter one, and the
word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Tabernacled among us. we beheld his glory the glory
as of the only begotten of the father full of grace and truth
but he goes on and he says in chapter 9 neither by the blood
of goats and of calves but by his own blood he ended in once
into the holy place having obtained eternal redemption for us eternal
redemption For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes
of an heifer sprinkleth the unclean sanctified to the purifying of
the flesh, there was a sense that the Jews under the old dispensation,
that there was a purifying of the flesh in an outward way,
not inwardly. How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal spirit, that's his own divine
nature, offered himself without spot to God purge your conscience
from dead work to serve the living God now I believe that in that
verse the Apostle has a view to the sacrifices of the Old
Testament and in the typical sense of the word the altar represents
the divine nature of the Son of God and The sacrifice on the
altar represents or typifies the human nature of the Son of
God. And so what he's saying here,
how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
spirit, that's his own divine nature, offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience and dead works to serve the living
God, that glorious, sin atoning sacrifice of Christ. Their sins
and their iniquities will I remember no more. As far as the east is
from the west, so far have I removed thy sins from thee, O Israel.
On the night of the Passover, when they took the blood of the
paschal lamb and they painted on the side posts and the lintel
of their doors and they went indoors and roast the lamb with
fire, that lamb being roast with fire, It typifies Christ being
roast with the fire of the judgment of God against his people. He
was their substitute. But the blood of that same sacrifice
was painted. And the Lord said that when the
destroying angel came through the land of Egypt that night,
when I see the blood. Notice that. When I see the blood. I will pass over you. You see, in every other place
there would be death. In every other house in Egypt
there was death. But wherever the blood was, the
blood of the Paschal Lamb, there was no death. There was salvation,
there was deliverance through the blood of the Lamb. How beautifully
the Passover typifies our Lord Jesus Christ. That lamb had to
be without spot and without blemish, it was perfect. And so, behold
the Lamb of God, he was perfect. He did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. Mark the perfect man and behold
the upright, for the end of that man is peace, and that man is
our Lord Jesus Christ. By the witch will we are sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all,
and every priest and his daily ministry and oftentimes the same
sacrifice which can never take away sins but this man this glorious
holy god man the man christ jesus but this man after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever sat down at the right hand of
god it's an eternal sacrifice it's of eternal worth It has
redeemed the church. It has delivered the church.
When he says their sins and their iniquities will I remember no
more, it's because they're taken away. I will cast all their sins
into the depths of the sea. All their sins. Never to be seen
again. And we read in Psalm 103, as
far as the east is from the west. Remember, that's an infinite
distance. As far as the east is from the west. So far have
I removed thy sins from thee, O Israel. They're removed. They're put away. What a precious
truth then. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand And
you know, my beloved friends, he's there now. This same Jesus
is there now. He's at the right hand of the
Father. We have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. It's a divine reality. He's there. He's there as a mediator. He's there as an advocate. He's
there as our great high priest. Such a high priest have we. who
is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. And the Himraja
says, "'Tis he instead of me is seen when I approach to God."
That's a precious truth. It's Christ that is seen when
the poor sinner comes to approach unto God. "'Tis he, "'tis Christ,
is seen when I approach to God. "'From henceforth expect him
"'till his enemies be made his footstool four by one offering. There was only ever the need
of this one offering. Four by one offering. And he's
comparing it with the offerings of the Old Testament, which went
on for hundreds of years. Constant, continual shedding
of blood for hundreds of years. And as he's already said, they
could never take away sins. But this man, by one offering,
this one single offering, for by one offering he hath perfected. He's washed away their sins,
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified, sanctified
by the Father, redeemed by the Son. You know, I rather like the opening
passage of the first epistle of Peter in chapter one there
and he says in verses two and three elect according to the
foreknowledge of God the father through sanctification of the
spirit under obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ
grace unto you and peace be multiplied you see the foreknowledge of
God the Father, the sanctification of the Spirit, that is when the
Holy Ghost enters into a sinner's heart, quickens their soul into
life, convinces them of their sin and their need of a Saviour,
and brings them to Jesus Christ and reveals Christ unto them
through sanctification of the Spirit, under obedience and sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace, unto you and peace be
multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively, that's a living hope, by the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. A living hope
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. You think
of the words of Jesus, because I live, ye shall live also. Not
by works of righteousness that I have done, but according to
his abundant mercy. His abundant mercy. To an inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
you. You just think for a moment of
the building of the Solomon's Temple. And it was commanded
by God that not a hammer or a chisel was to be heard in the precincts
of the temple when it was being built. Every one of those stones were
ordered by the architect the exact size that it should be.
So when it was brought from the quarry it was ready. All the
squaring up of the stone was done in the quarry. And when
it was brought to the temple, it literally had to be put into
place. What a beautiful illustration, my beloved friends, that here
on this earth, the Lord's people are prepared. They're being prepared. They're being knocked into shape.
They're like the stone out of the quarry. They're being squared
up. that they'll be ready for the
heavenly Jerusalem. Heaven is a prepared place for
a prepared people. Are you being prepared for heaven,
for glory, for eternal happiness, to be with Christ, which is far
better, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not
away, reserved It's reserved, you see, in heaven for you, who
are kept by the power of God through faith, unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last time. Kept by the power of God. The hymn writer says, doesn't
he, Myself I cannot see, so keep Myself I cannot save, but faith
in Thee I feign with, whose eyelids never sleep, I cannot keep myself. You see, to be prepared. And there are those times, as
it says in verse 6, wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for
a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious
than of gold that perishes, that it may be tried with fire, might
be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of
Jesus Christ. Isn't that what we wait for?
Whom, having not seen ye love, in whom, though now ye see him
not yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation
of your souls. For by one offering he has perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Them in whom the spirit dwells. Them whose soul has been quickened
into life. That's what it means to be sanctified. And sometimes that work is very
gentle so that it's almost imperceptible even to the person who is the
subject of it. But it's a sure work. They'll
reach glory. They'll reach eternal glory.
Others have a much clearer experience of the truth. And Christ is revealed
to them as the way, the truth, and the life. And they follow
him and they serve him. Others, the work is much, much
more gentle. And as we often quote to you,
Isaiah, hear a little. There a little, line upon line,
precept upon precept. So gradually, the Lord opens
the truth unto you. The truth that you're a sinner,
the truth that you're undone, the truth that you cannot save
yourself, the truth that you cannot redeem yourself, the truth
that you cannot reconcile yourself to God, the truth that you're
lost and ruined under the curse of the law. He opens it, gradually. Here a little, there a little.
And then the truth that this one sacrifice of Christ has redeemed
you. The door of hope is open wide
in Jesus' bleeding hands and side. Look unto me, all ye ends
of the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God and there is none
else. That's Christ speaking. Look unto me, all ye ends of
the earth. Do you feel you come to the ends
of the earth? He says, look unto me, all ye
ends of the earth. and be ye saved for I am God
and there is none else I am able to save to the uttermost all
that come unto God by me. I have offered this glorious
sacrifice that has redeemed my people, that has delivered them
from all sin, that has delivered them from the curse. They're in Christ. They're saved
with an everlasting salvation for by one offering. He has perfected forever them
that are sanctified, perfected forever, complete in Him. May the Lord add His blessing.