Let us turn to God's word once
again in the portion that we read Deuteronomy and the 32nd
chapter and I want to turn your attention for a while to the
words that we have here in the second verse part of the song of Moses the
servant of the Lord Deuteronomy 32 to my doctrine he says shall
drop us the rain My speech I'll distill as the dew, as the small
rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass. Observe those opening words of
the text where he speaks of my doctrine. What is that doctrine? Well, later he goes on in chapter
33 and the second verse to make mention of a fiery law from his
right hand it says went a fiery law for them are we to equate
the doctrine in chapter 32 with the fiery law that is being spoken
of in that following chapter we know that the law was given
by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. But that doesn't mean that there's
nothing of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ in the writings
of Moses. Obviously there is much. of Christ
here in these opening five books, the books of Moses, because Christ
is to be found in every part of Scripture. And when he speaks
here of his doctrine, we see how he goes on to publish the
name of the Lord. And he says in verse 4, he is
the rock. His work is perfect. Doesn't
this song then speak to us primarily of the Lord Jesus Christ? Surely
he is that one who is the rock in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. We read of that spiritual rock
that followed them in the wilderness. And that rock, says Paul, was
Christ. Moses is speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Christ said to Peter there at
Caesarea Philippi, when he makes his great confession, that the
Christ, the Son of the living God, the Lord says upon this
rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. He is the rock. His work is perfect. And so we see that Moses is is
evidently speaking here, his doctrine being the doctrine of
the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Wasn't Moses there on that Mount
of Transfiguration together with the Prophet Elijah? And Luke
tells us how that as the Lord was so gloriously transfigured
before those watching disciples, so Moses and Elijah spoke with
him concerning that death that he was going to accomplish at
Jerusalem. Moses then speaks to us of the
Lord Jesus again when we come to the end of Luke's Gospel when
we see him appearing to those disciples in the upper room how
we are told beginning at Moses and all the prophets He spoke
unto them concerning all those things that were written in the
Scriptures, and He opens their understanding. He opens their
understanding that they might understand the Scriptures, those
great truths of the Gospel. He begins, does the Lord, by
expounding to them the writings of this man Moses. And so the doctrine that we have
here in this song concerns the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Now,
as you know, there's a previous song of Moses back in Exodus
chapter 15, that song that they sang when God had made a way
for them through the Red Sea having brought them out of the
bondage that was Egypt. We have the song of Moses there.
We have the song of Moses here in Deuteronomy 32 and when we
come to the New Testament in Revelation 15 we're told that
the song that they sang in heaven is that song of Moses and of
the Lamb. So Moses clearly speaks of the
Lamb, he speaks of the Lord Jesus. This then is the doctrine that
we come to consider as we turn to this particular verse as our
text, my doctrine. shall drop as the rain, my speech
shall distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender
herb, and as the showers upon the grass. Two things I want
to observe with you from these words this morning. First of
all, to say something more particular with regards to the doctrine.
And then secondly, to consider the dissents of the doctrine.
The particular figure that is being used, we read of the dropping
and the distilling of this doctrine. First of all, though, to consider
the doctrine. My doctrine, he says. Now, in some quarters, it is
a fact that doctrine is not popular. People are so dismissive of doctrine,
and sometimes they are ready to say, oh well, there's nothing
but doctrine in that man's ministry, and they dismiss it. And yet,
how vital is that doctrinal framework to any man's ministry? It's interesting,
I remember some years ago reading that little book of the ministry
of Mr. Dowse, Mr. Jesse Dowse. the account
of his life and some of his letters and sermons. He was the pastor,
of course, here at Ebenezer Chapel in Clapham and he went out to
preach from Gali Chapel in Brighton and when he went out as a young
man into the ministry, his pastor, Mr. Popham, wrote to him. and
the letter is contained in the memoir, and I was very struck
with the advice that his pastor gave to the young Jesse Dowes
when he first went out to preach. And he makes two particular points.
He says to this young man, he says, as you go forward preaching,
he says, make sure there's always a doctrinal framework to your
sermon. And then secondly, he said to
the young man, and make sure you speak up and speak clearly. Two very practical points were
being made by the aged Mr. Popham there, but that point
is the importance of a doctrinal framework, and there should be
that. Now, we're not saying that there only needs to be doctrine.
A real ministry surely will be an all-round ministry in the
sense that there will not only be a doctrinal framework, but
there'll be something experimental with some mention of the necessity
of experiencing the doctrine in our souls, and also the importance
of the practical outworking. If we really embrace the truth
of God, it will affect the manner of our living. That faithful
ministry then will be a practical ministry. And again, if I might
quote one of those old ministers, I think of dear Dr. John Duncan, that great Scots
minister in the 19th century, often referred to as Rabbi Duncan
because of his great Hebrew learning and also his great concern for
the Jews. And Duncan makes the point that
a man with only doctrine in his ministry is all head and he says
that's such a monster just a creature that is nothing but a head but
then he goes on to say that that man whose ministry is only experience
is all heart and that also is such a monster and likewise that
man whose ministry is only a practical ministry is all hands and nothing
but hands doing And that's amongst all the importance you see. The
vital necessity of having those three elements. Doctrine, experience
and practice. But here, this morning in the
text before us, we see quite clearly the great importance
of doctrine. And that doctrine how it centers
in God himself. What is the doctrine that he
is going to declare? My doctrine, he says, shall drop
as the rain and my speech shall distill as the dew. And then
he goes on in verse 3 to say what he is about, because I will
publish the name of the Lord. Oh, this is his doctrine, the
doctrine of God. But we observe that the word
Lord that we have here in verse 3 is spelt in capital letters
as we're so familiar in our Authorized Version, and you know the significance
of that. It's the covenant name. It's
the covenant name of God. And so what is his doctrine?
His doctrine is the great doctrine of the covenant. And that doctrine
of the covenant, how it centers in him who is the mediator of
the covenant. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who comes as that
mediator to reveal those great covenant truths. And as I said,
it's a fact that the Lord can appeal to the writings of Moses
as one who clearly speaks of him. We see it. We see it so
strikingly in the Gospel there at the end of the fifth chapter
of John's Gospel. Look at the language of the Lord
as He speaks to those Jews who are always so ready to be accusing
Him. There at the end of John 5, Do
not think that I will accuse you to the Father, says Christ.
There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had ye believed Moses, ye
would have believed me, for he wrote of me. But if ye believe
not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? All Moses in
here is speaking to us concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the Rock. His work is perfect. All his
ways are judgment, a God of truth and without iniquity, just and
right. You see, this doctrine, my doctrine
Moses is. Oh, it concerns the Lord Jesus
Christ. And remember what Luther says
concerning this doctrine. He says doctrine is heaven. Doctrine is heaven. Why? Because
the doctrine concerns the person and the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And they're in heaven. Why? The Lamb is all the glory in
Immanuel's land. Well, let us consider something
of this doctrine and I want to speak of two particular parts
of this doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thinking of the
particular figure that is being used here in our text, that doctrine
that drops as the rain and distills as the dew the small rain upon
the tender herb and the showers upon the grass. What is this
doctrine that drops? Well, we can think firstly of
the doctrine of the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because
the very same figure really is taken up in the Psalms, in the
72nd Psalm. Psalm 72 is Messianic, it speaks to us of
the Lord Jesus. It bears that title, a psalm
for Solomon. And isn't Solomon a type of the
Lord Jesus? It's a psalm for the Lord Jesus
Christ. Remember how Isaac Watts paraphrases
Psalm 72, Jesus shall reign where'er the sun, that his successive
journeys run. Clearly, Watts understands that
psalm in terms of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
what do we read in Psalm 72 and verse 6 concerning Christ? It says, He shall come down like
rain upon the mown grass and showers that water the earth. Interesting. The figure that
we have there in the psalm is exactly the same figure that
we find here in our text this morning. And what is that verse
in the psalm speaking of? It's speaking of the coming of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall come down. How does
the Lord come down? Why? He comes down, of course,
in the Incarnation. How He comes? To descend. To become a man. to identify
here upon earth with the sinful sons of men and here you see
in the text we read of that Jew that distills my speech says
Moses my speech concerning my doctrine it distills as the Jew
and now the Jew comes and it distills so silently and so secretly
when we wake up on a lovely morning and all the grass is covered
during the night the dew was descending we didn't hear or
we're not aware of any great rainfall and yet everything's
so wet and so fresh oh how strange it is how secret it is And doesn't
it remind us then of that great mystery of the incarnation? Or as Paul says, without controversy,
great is that mystery. Great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. How could it be? Our God contracted
to a span, incomprehensibly made man. It is a wonderful thing
to consider that great event, the coming of the Lord Jesus,
his birth, and that babe that was conceived by the Holy Spirit
in the womb of his virgin mother. Now she was with child, it says,
of the Holy Ghost, and when that child is born, and she takes
that little one and puts that child to her breast that little
child is nothing less than true almighty God he never ceases
to be God the eternal son of the eternal father even when
as a little infant he is so dependent upon his mother we have a child
amongst us, a babe amongst us we think of little Alfie how
dependent, how constantly dependent on his mother he must be cared
for, he must be fed He must do everything for Him. He can do
nothing for Himself. And so it was with the Lord Jesus,
when we think of Him in His human nature, and yet, all the time
that little babe is God. He's holding up heaven and earth,
sustaining all things. It is, I say, such a mystery. Now the hymn writer speaks of
it, Almighty God, sighed human breath, the Lord of life experienced
death. And it was done, we can't discuss. But this we know. It was done
for us. Oh, that's the great thing, is
it not? That's the experience, you see. We know it's done for
us. To have an interest in these
things. Not just to be aware of these great truths doctrinally,
but to know it's all for us. There was a purpose in the coming
of the Lord Jesus Christ into this world. What a mystery! The
mystery of His birth. But not only the mystery of His
birth, the mystery of His death. He experienced death. How could that be? This is God's. God's in human form. How can
He die? Because in everything that he
does, he is God-man. And yet, as we have it unfolded,
think of the language of the Psalmist again in Psalm 22, My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? The prayer of the Lord Jesus
there in all the agonies of the cross. Now he cries out to his
Father, he feels forsaken. How could there be any division
between Father and Son? They are one God. Father, Son
and Holy Spirit are one God, undivided, indivisible, and yet
here is God in human form and He feels deserted, forsaken,
crying out in all the agonies of His soul as He feels the imputation
of all that sin of His people reckoned to His account. when
He comes to die you see the just for the unjust to bring sinners
to God is a mystery here in everything about the Lord Jesus Christ all
but what do we see in all of this is doctrine of the incarnation
of Christ is doctrine of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus
Christ we see the greatness of the love of God it is a manifestation
of love God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son. Here in His love says John in
that first general epistle in the fourth chapter He says here
in His love not that we love God but that He loved us and
sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. We touched on that
propitiation only last Thursday when we were considering those
words at the beginning of the second chapter of that general
first epistle of John the Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the Righteous, He is the propitiation for our sins, and remember the
significance of that word that technical, that theological word
what does it speak of? Propitiation it reminds us of
the Godhood aspect of the work of the Lord Jesus when He comes
to die God is angry with the wicked God is a just God and
a holy God and can by no means clear the guilt of He must be
satisfied and there we see it when He pours
all that wrath upon the person of His only begotten and His
well beloved Son even the Lord Jesus Christ the love of the
Father, you see, that He should give His Son the love of the
Son, that He should so willingly come. Why? He loves those that
the Father had given to Him in that eternal covenant. How He
loves them! Having loved His own which were in the world,
we're told, He loved them unto the end. He loves them to all
the extremity of the cross. Why? For as much as the children
were partakers of flesh and blood, He likewise took part of the
same. Why did He come to this earth? Why did He come descend? To descend and to become a man?
Because He loved all that the Father had given to Him and He
would do all that was necessary in order to their salvation.
He takes not upon Him the nature of the angels. No, He's made
a little lower than the angels. for the sufferings of death."
He comes in to die. All the great doctrine here of
the Lord Jesus, the doctrine of His incarnation is coming
into this world. But not only the doctrine of
the incarnation, when we think of the figure that is used here,
that's what I want to concentrate on, this idea, you see, of doctrine
dropping, distilling, reminds us also of the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus and the imputation of that righteousness of the
Lord Jesus. There's a lovely verse in Isaiah
chapter 45 Isaiah chapter 45 and verse 8 wonderful description of the
coming of the righteousness of the Lord Jesus. And look at the
figure again. Drop down ye heavens from above, and let the skies
pour down righteousness. Let the earth open, let them
bring forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together. I the Lord have created it. This is the description of the
coming of the Lord Jesus, but it's a description of that righteousness
Oh, He doesn't come, you see, simply to die for sinners and
to satisfy all the holy just demands of God's righteous law.
No, that law He will also honor and magnify in the life that
He lives. He is made of a woman, He is
made under the law. And the life that he lives is
a life of absolute obedience, perfect obedience to every commandment
of God. Here is righteousness coming
down from heaven, pouring forth. And it's all the creation of
the Lord. I the Lord have created it. It's all the doing of the
Lord. All that righteousness that justifies the sinner. It's the Lord's righteousness.
Remember Paul's great desire, that man who was one such a self-righteous
pharisee. Or when he was a pharisee, he
was a son of a pharisee. He lived the life of a pharisee.
He imagined touching the righteousness of the Lord, that he was a blameless
man. He didn't understand the Lord of God until the Lord took
him in hand and taught him. And then, he saw that he had
no righteousness at all. he saw that his heart was full
of all evil concupiscence, all evil desire he was a foul sinner
when the Lord taught him that the Lord is spiritual and he
was but a carnal man sold on the sin undone but then when the Lord meets
with him and that righteousness is brought into his very soul
or how he speaks there in Philippians chapter 3, his great desire to
be found in the Lord Jesus Christ, He says, not having mine own
righteousness which is of the law, but that which is through
the faith of Christ. The righteousness which is of
God by faith. All the Lord Jesus, He has fulfilled
all righteousness. We read earlier, here in this
book of Deuteronomy, the end of chapter 6, the righteousness
of God requires It shall be our righteousness, Moses says, if
we observe to do all the commandments before the Lord our God which
He has commanded us. All the commandments have to
be done. And the Lord Jesus Christ has done them all. By the heavens
have poured forth righteousness with His coming into the world.
Oh, what wondrous love! what mysteries in this appointment
shine my breaches of the law were his and his obedience mine
says good John Newton what a truth is that friends all the elect
sinners breaking of the law all those breaches of the law the
multitude of that sinners transgressions taken away by the Lord Jesus
Christ, and in exchange, all that obedience of Christ, imputed
to the sinner. For this is the doctrine, you
see. My doctrine says Moses shall drop as the rain, my speech I'll
distill as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and
as the showers upon the grass. It's the doctrine of Christ.
Christ in His person, Christ in His incarnation, Christ in
His great work, His obedience, His obedience in life, His obedience
unto death, all that He accomplished and all for the salvation of
sinners. But let us turn secondly to say
something more particular with regards to this figure that we
have here, the descending, the dropping of the rain, the distilling
of the dew. Again, it's something that we
see throughout the Scriptures, the figure used several times,
the language of Hosea, the prophet Hosea in chapter 6 and verse
3, he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former
rain unto the earth. or how the Lord comes, you see,
to refresh His people. And we're not to overlook, of
course, that gracious minute of the Spirit when He comes.
God the Holy Spirit. Does He not come now as the Spirit
of the Lord Jesus Christ? We have the record in Acts chapter
2 of the great day of Pentecost. that coming of the Spirit just
as the Lord Jesus Christ had promised to his disciples and
in the course of his preaching on that momentous occasion Peter
is quoting there from the second chapter in the book of Joel it
shall come to pass in the last days saith God I will pour out
of my spirit upon all flesh always supporting out of the Spirit
of the Lord Jesus. And when the Spirit comes, what
a gracious work! He is that one who must apply
all that doctrine of the Lord Jesus. He must make those precious
truths such a reality in the soul of the sinner. Now, here
in this verse we have a fourfold figure. We read of what we might
say is the real rain, the dropping of the rain, prolonged rain,
heavy rain then we have that mention of the dew as I said
it comes so silently and so secretly then we read of small rain I
suppose small rain we might say is that sort of weather where
it's constant drizzle so fine, scotch mist we sometimes call
it it's hardly raining, everything is soaking wet the whole atmosphere
is full of water the small rain and then the fourth figure is
that of the showers at that time of the year, springtime,
April, April showers how they come so often to to refresh and
to revive the fourfold figure that is being employed here but
as we think of the the effect of the descents and the the coming
of this doctrine as he said before us in this verse I just want
to mention two particular effects two particular effects here first
of all when the spirit comes he comes
as that one who is the convincer he comes to a conviction in the
soul he comes to to break up as he were the soul of that sinner
he might be at peace with himself but all of a sudden there's an
awakening in his soul and he has a sense of his need before
God he's brought to feel that he can do nothing to help himself
nothing to save himself now it's interesting to see how rain is spoken of in the scriptures
and spoken of in terms of God's work of judgment well we certainly
have that with regards to the universal flood spoken of remember
back in the opening chapters of Genesis there in Genesis chapter
7 we read of the coming of the
flood within the 600th year of Noah's life In the second month,
the seventeenth day of the month, a specific date is spoken of,
a particular day. It's an historic event that is
being described clearly. The same day, he says, were all
the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of
heaven were opened, and the rain was upon the earth forty days
and forty nights. What a great breaking up this
was, not just the heavens opened and the rains falling over 40
days and 40 nights, but the breaking up of the fountains of the great
day. It was a great calamity that came. It's God's work of
judgment. And we read also about when God
comes to judge those false teachers, those false prophets in the days
of Jeremiah and Ezekiel again, it's a work of judgment that
God performs we read of the overflowing shower and the great hailstones
that come to destroy the work of those false teachers look
at the language that we have in Ezekiel chapter 13 how that
God doesn't wink at their false teaching how they gave the people
such a false assurance no God will confound those men with
their false teachings Ezekiel 13 verse 10 because even because
they have seduced my people saying peace and there was no peace
and one built up a wall and though others daub it with untempered
mortar, say unto them which daub it with untempered mortar, that
it shall fall, and there shall be an overflowing shower, and
ye, O great hailstones, shall fall, and a stormy wind shall
rend it. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, I will even rend it with a stormy wind in my fury and
there shall be an overflowing shower in mine anger and great
hailstones in my fury to consume." What a work this is that is being
spoken of. When the destruction comes, it is spoken
of in terms of a figure so similar to what we have here in our text. In fact, all false religion,
all false religion, God says, He will destroy after this very
fashion. Isaiah chapter 28 and verse 17. Judgment also will I lay to the
lion, says God, and righteousness to the plummet, and the hail
shall sweep away the refuge of lies. and the water shall overflow
the hiding place that's the false teaching that's the false doctrine
Moses is speaking of that doctrine that is the true doctrine the
doctrine of God, the doctrine of Christ but there are those
false teachers and God will come and judge them we see it when we come to the
ministry of the Lord Jesus all remember what we're told at the
end of the Sermon on the Mount concerning those who do not heed
the words of the Lord Jesus. 21 Everyone that heareth these sayings
of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish
man, which built his house upon the sand. 22 And the rain descended,
and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that
house, and it fell. 23 And great was the fall of
it. There's the false there's a destruction of all
that is false but there's a contrast as you know there not only the
man who built his house upon the sand the foolish man but
we read also of the wise man who built his house upon a rock
and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew
and beat upon that house and it fell not for it was founded
upon a rock oh where God's work is real you see and true and
genuine when God comes to convict a sinner, it won't be the destruction
of that sinner. It will be salvation for that
sinner. All the elect sinner must be convinced of his sin.
He must be brought to feel his utter wretchedness. He must be
stripped of all his self-confidence. Isn't that part of the ministry
of the Spirit, as the Lord speaks of that ministry? in John's Gospel,
when he is calm and says Christ he will reprove, he will convince
the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment all that is that work to be done
you see, the work of conviction the breaking up as it were of
the great deeps in the soul of a man the man being brought to
see that he has nothing of himself that he cannot save himself He has to be brought to the end
of himself. His hopelessness, his impotence,
his only hope then is in the Lord his God. He has to look
to the Lord. He has to embrace this great doctrine of the Lord
Jesus. He is the rock. All to be built
upon that rock. Of the foundation can no man
lie than that which is lie. which is Jesus Christ the Lord. Oh, where there is, you see,
the descending, there will be that work of conviction. But
there's not only that dark side of the Spirit coming when He
comes to reprove and to convince. There's also that work of comfort. There's also that gracious work
of the Spirit. The guy I want to emphasize here,
this lovely figure of the Jew that's spoken of here in the
text, that Jew that comes so silently, such a mystery. How these figures are used and
they remind us, do they not, of the sovereignty of God when
the Lord Jesus is speaking of the great necessity of regeneration,
the importance of the new birth, that discourse that he has with
Nicodemus in John chapter 3. We see there how Christ uses
another figure concerning the coming of the Spirit. Again he's taken from nature,
but he speaks of the wind. There in John 3 verse 8, the
wind, he says, bloweth where it listeth. And thou hearest
the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor
whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. All those strange and mysterious
circuits of the wind. The preacher speaks of that in
the opening chapter of Ecclesiastes, the wind. goeth toward the south,
and turneth about unto the north, it whirleth about continually,
and the wind returneth again according to his surface." What
does it remind us? It reminds us of God's sovereignty.
It reminds us of God who works so sovereignly. And how God works
sovereignly when he comes to the matter of the rain. It is
spoken of again in Amos chapter 4 how the rain is sent and caused
to fall upon one sitter, but it doesn't fall upon another
sitter. It's God's work you see. It's God's sovereign work. And
so too here with regards to the mysteries of the Jew. How we
have to call upon God and cry to God to work. that He might
come into our souls that there might be that blessed application
of the great doctrines and we need that work of the Holy Spirit
that He would come to us and work in us and mightily refresh
us. Look at the language that we
find again in the book of Isaiah in that 35th chapter this time. And there at verse 7 it says, "...the parched ground
shall become a pool, the thirsty land springs of water, in the
habitation of dragons, where each lay shall be grass with
reeds and rushes, and a highway shall be there, and it shall
be called the way of holiness." The unclean shall not pass over
it, but it shall be for those The wayfaring men, the fools,
shall not hear their ears." Why aren't these things written?
Why aren't these things written in the Old Testament? Well, they're
written for our learning process. That we, through patience and
comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope. We have to plead these
words. That's why God gives us His Word.
Not just to set it before us on the page of Scripture. but
that we might take hold of it by His Spirit or when the Spirit
applies the Word then we please the Word and here is the promise
you'll see the parched ground shall become a pool and the thirsty
land springs of water and we need God to come and to revive
and to refresh us in our souls or He says there shall be showers
of blessing, I will be as a Jew unto Israel he shall grow as
a lily and cast forth his roots as Lebanon this is the work that
the Lord does do but if we know anything of the
truth of the doctrine we'll be those who are praying over the
doctrine and pleading the doctrine then it's not dry doctrine not
just a letter of truth before us or we want it to come and
take hold of our very souls and how God deals, He deals so graciously
and so tenderly, look at what it says concerning the small rain, it's
upon the tender herb or the tender herb again we think of the ministry
of the Lord Jesus, the brooded reed shall he not break, nor
quench the smoking flames? Though it be but a small beginning,
you see, in your soul this morning, though you fail to be so ignorant
concerning the great doctrines that Moses is speaking of, how
the Lord, you see, so tender with those little plants, how
He watches over them, those of you gardeners, I'm sure you watch
over your plants at this time, probably you're putting out bedding
plants and so forth, and you watch them to see them grow,
and that's how the Lord is, you see. He sends the small rain,
it says, upon the tender herb, showers upon the grass, or that
we might know, friends, something of the coming then of the doctrine,
into our very soul, and coming as such refreshment to us even
today or Moses can speak of my doctrine what language is that? that's the language of appropriation
not just the doctrine my doctrine same with Paul there in Romans
2.16 he says my gospel or can we say that my doctrine my gospel
Or the language of dear Thomas, poor Thomas, often we speak of
him doubting Thomas, but what does he say? My Lord and my God. Or the Lord grant that we might
be those then who know a blessed application of the doctrine,
that we might feed upon it, even to eat the flesh and drink the
blood. by faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. My doctrine shall drop as the
rain, my speech shall distill as the dew, as the small rain
upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass. Because I will publish the name
of the Lord, the scribe be greatness unto our God. He is the Rock.
His work is perfect. Amen.