We give you a welcome in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ to our service this evening.
We trust the Lord will meet with us. Let us join together in prayer. Our God and our Father, we do
thank thee that on this Sabbath evening we are able to come before
thee, to approach into thy presence, and to come before thee, pleading
that thou wouldst meet with us here in this place. Lord, we
are sinners through and through. And yet, Lord, we pray that thou
wouldst have mercy upon us for Christ's sake, as we meet in
his name. Lord, come down, we pray thee,
meet with us, visit us with thy blessing, and do us good even
this night. Draw near to each one of us,
and bless us in our souls. Lord, forgive us, we pray thee,
of our latest sins. Wash us afresh in the fountain
that flows freely for all sin and uncleanness. and grant that
we may truly worship Thee aright this evening. Draw near, then
we pray Thee, for Christ's sake. Amen. Hymn, 18. Tune, Duke Street 326. We turn in the scriptures this
evening to read a portion from the book of Proverbs chapter
10. The 10th chapter of the book of Proverbs. We shall read the whole chapter. Proverbs chapter 10, commencing
our reading at the first verse. Let us hear the word of the Lord. The Proverbs of Solomon. A wise
son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness
of his mother. Treasures of wickedness profit
nothing, but righteousness delivereth from death. The Lord will not
suffer the soul of the righteous to famish, but he casteth away
the substance of the wicked. He becometh poor that dealeth
with a slack hand, but the hand of the diligent maketh rich.
He that gathereth in summer is a wise son, but he that sleepeth
in harvest is a son that causeth shame. Blessings are upon the
head of the just, but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall
rot. The wise in heart shall receive
commandments, but a prating fool shall fall. He that walketh uprightly
walketh surely, but he that perverted his ways shall be known. He that
winketh with the eye causeth sorrow, but a prating fool shall
fall. The mouth of a righteous man
is a well of life, but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked.
Hatred stirreth up strifes, but love covereth all sins. In the
lips of him that hath understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is
for the back of him that is void of understanding. Wise men lay
up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool is near destruction.
The rich man's wealth is his strong city, the destruction
of the poor is their poverty. The labour of the righteous tendeth
to life, the fruit of the wicked to sin. He is in the way of life
that keepeth instruction, but he that refuteth reproof erreth. He that hideth hatred with lying
lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool. In the multitude of
words there wanteth not sin, but he that refraineth his lips
is wise. The tongue of the just is as
choice silver, the heart of the wicked is little worth. The lips
of the righteous feed many, but fools die for want of wisdom. The blessing of the Lord, it
maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. It is as sport
to a fool to do mischief, but a man of understanding hath wisdom. The fear of the wicked, it shall
come upon him, but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.
As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more, but the
righteous is an everlasting foundation. As vinegar to the teeth, and
as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him.
The fear of the Lord prolongeth days, but the years of the wicked
shall be shortened. The hope of the righteous shall
be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. The
way of the Lord is strength to the upright, but destruction
shall be to the workers of iniquity. The righteous shall never be
removed, but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth. The mouth
of the just bringeth forth wisdom, but the froward tongue shall
be cut out. The lips of the righteous know
what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness. Amen. May the Lord be pleased
to bless to our souls tonight that reading from his word. Let us now join together before
the throne of grace. Let us bow our heads in prayer. O gracious God, our Lord and
our Father, we thank thee that we may come before thee tonight
as those not having our own righteousness, but depending wholly upon the
righteousness of Christ. Lord, we thank thee for that
righteousness, that perfect spotlessness of thy son when he came into
this world and lived upon this earth without any kind of sin,
though he was as much like us, though he was fully man, yet
entirely was he pure and holy and compromised nothing of that
to be here, to dwell on this earth as man. O Lord, we thank
thee indeed and we praise thee that ever such a plan was contrived
in thy wisdom, that such a way should be made, a way back for
lost rebel sinners, a way opened up, a way of salvation provided,
that sinful men and women might call upon the name of the Lord
and find salvation in him. Lord, we thank thee indeed, we
praise thee, that ever this was conceived in thy eternal mind,
that ever thou didst plan this great and wonderful miracle of
grace, which we see now presented to us and set before our eyes,
as the almighty, holy God sets out and provides for man a way
by which he may be made right with his maker. O Lord, it is
a wonder to us. We may but stand and marvel at
it. So great it is, and Lord, thou
art so great. Thou art greater and higher than
any other in heaven or on earth. For there is none that can rival
Thee, none that can challenge Thee, none that can stand before
Thee, but all must fall, all must bow to Thee, for Thou holdest
sway and dominion over all this world, all the earth, and all
that is in it. O Lord, Thou art great, and we
so small. Thou knowest how often we have
puffed up thoughts about ourselves. We may be filled with pride of,
Lord, all that we are and all that we can do. And yet, Father,
we come before Thee and we confess this night, though we have often
perhaps had such thoughts and these things and sentiments have
been our lot, yet, O Lord, Thou knowest and we own it as well,
even tonight. We can do nothing without Thee.
We are nothing without Thee. We are creatures spending our
time here in vanity and upon vanity. And, Lord, we are vain
creatures at best. And yet, Lord, surely we are
but passing time here, if we know not Christ, just passing
away the time until we are called to that terrible sentence which
shall be pronounced upon us. And yet thou hast provided a
way of mercy. O Lord, we pray Thee, turn in
many souls thither, cause many souls to be brought into this
way, drawn with cords of love which cannot be broken, drawn,
Lord, by the working of Thy Holy Spirit, working to convict and
to convince souls of their sinfulness before Thee, and bringing them
even to bow before Thee, to submit unto Thee, and to yield themselves
unto Thee. O Lord, we pray, bring in many
such, draw in the lost, cause them to hear the words of life,
cause them to see the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ and
their own wretchedness, and cause that they may fall before his
feet, calling upon him to have mercy upon them as sinners before
thee, sinners of the worst die in thy sight, and yet sinners
applying for grace, applying for mercy before their God. O Lord, be pleased, we pray Thee,
to show mercy. Be pleased to keep Thy word,
and cause that all such who come to Thee, so pleading, may find
an encouragement from Thee, may find in their own souls the testimony
of the truth of the promise, that Thou wilt not turn any away
who call upon Thee, but Thou wilt receive them graciously,
who call upon Thee in sincerity and in truth. O Lord, receive
in men, we pray Thee, Even in this day of small things, we
pray that thou wouldst add to thy church daily, such as should
be saved. We thank thee, O Lord, thou art
yet working. Even in this day, we may hear
the testimonies of those who have been brought to faith in
Jesus Christ. We may even hear, Lord, of how
thou art working, how thou art bringing many souls to thyself.
Even sometimes, Lord, we hear in places where there is much
trouble and much difficulty. Lord, we thank Thee even for
how that Thou art using wars and rumours of wars and famines
and distresses and plagues of every kind. And Lord, through
all these difficult outward things, Thou art yet working mightily
to bring souls to Christ, to bring souls to the Saviour, and
causing men and women to be stirred up concerning their eternity
and the state of their souls before their O Lord, continue
this, we pray Thee. May it be that in the coming
days and weeks that we hear of many more who turn unto Thee,
who call upon Thy name. O Lord, revive Thy work, we pray
Thee, in these times. We see, Lord, much darkness,
much superstition, much wickedness abounding. Lord, so few who call
upon Thy name. We might almost cry out with
the prophet how that the righteous are perished out of the land.
O Lord, yet we pray Thee now. Have mercy, yet now look upon
this poor people, the people of this land. Look upon them
with great pity, O Lord. Look upon them with great mercy
and spare, we pray Thee, that which Thy justice demands to
be done to them. Lord, do not with us as we deserve.
Do not it with us according to our deeds. For Thou knowest all
of our wickedness. Lord, the stench of it surely
rises up to Thee. Thou knowest all that happens
in secret places. Thou knowest all that happens
in darkness. Nothing is hidden from Thine eye. Lord, Thou knowest
more than we ever shall. And yet, O Lord, we pray Thee
for all this, for all the great wickedness of this land, as Thou
hast spared nations of its kind before. O Lord, turn it again,
we pray thee. Cause the light of thy gospel
to shine brightly, cause thy church to stand faithful to thee
in these days. Cause it to burn bright as a
light shining for the gospel, a light which is reflecting the
light of the world, Jesus Christ, and causing him to be seen by
all around. O Lord, may thy church stand
fast. May thy church be strengthened. May it be increased. May it be,
Lord, that many turn in, cast in their lot, Father, knowing
that there is no other hope, no other way that they may have
salvation, no other destination for them, save hell, if they
continue on in the way that they go. Father, we pray thee, do
so work in this day. Cause us to see thy goodness
and thy mercy shown to this nation. Cause us to see thy spirit poured
out mightily once again, and many souls falling into great
despair for their lives. Lord, crying out, what must I
do to be saved? Oh, that thou would stir up many
such souls, that thou wouldst even rent the heavens and come
down. Lord, that thou wouldst make a thousand hearts thine
own. So work, we pray thee, in our day. cause us to see thy
blessing upon us. Not, Lord, we do not want any
kind of man-made excitement. We do not just want to stir.
We desire thy spirit, thy spirit to come down, thy spirit to work,
thy spirit to move, thy spirit to bless. O Lord, we pray thee,
if it could be thy will, so do for this nation, for this locality,
cause that many souls may be brought to thee. O Father, we
pray Thee that Thou wouldst yet help Thy people. Thou knowest,
Lord, that we are weak and feeble. Thou knowest, Lord, how so many
places are so frail. And yet, O Father, we trust in
Thee. We stand in Thy strength. Lord,
be a strength to us, every one. Be an encouragement to us. Enable
us to obey that command to be strong in Thee. And Lord, do
thou come down to strengthen us. We cannot strengthen ourselves,
O Lord. Our strength is all from thee,
and so we come before thee and we plead with thee for it. Thou
knowest the circumstances, collectively and personally, of every one.
Thou knowest the difficulties that we must face, the trials
that we bear. Thou knowest what confusion and
perplexity may sometimes be ours, Thou knowest, O Lord, what troubles
so often before us, what troubles, Lord, stand in the way, seem
to rise up as mountains before us. Lord, thou knowest how often
the enemy stands before us and declares, thou shalt not come
up hither. Thou shalt proceed no further,
but thou shalt be stopped in thy tracks. O Lord, yet we pray
thee, raise the mountains to a place plain, Raise up the valleys
that they may be an highway for thy people to pass through. Cause
a way to be prepared before us. Do thou, O Lord, go before us
in the way? If thou dost not go with us,
if thou dost not go before us, if thou, O Lord, art not present,
lead us not up hence. Thou knowest the way that we
take, O Lord. Thou knowest it in every detail.
Thou knowest all that is before us. in this week to come and
in the days following, as thou sparest us and as thou tarrest
and does not return. O Lord, yet we pray thee, do
go before us and prepare the way. Prepare us for that which
is before us. Cause all things to work for
thy glory and for our good, that we may be prepared and readied
for heaven, our final long home. O Father, we pray, draw near
to every soul, and grant to minister that which is needed. Thou knowest
the needs of every one. Thou knowest even the deepest
fears and concerns and cares of the heart. O Lord, we pray
Thee, grant peace this night, grant comfort to our souls, grant
that we may be able to rest in Thee, to cast our all upon Thee,
and to declare with Habakkuk that though all things fail in
this world, Yet we will trust in Thee. O Lord, help us, we
pray Thee. Increase our faith, which is
so prone to falter and to fail. Thou knowest how often and how
easily we begin to doubt and to question Thee. Forgive us,
Lord, we pray Thee, our sin in this respect. And grant to us
that we may stand firm for Thee. Grant to us, O Lord, that we
may even not be merely comforted in distress. not just merely
helped in perplexity, but, Lord, that we may truly be enabled
to rejoice, that we may stand with joy in our hearts this night,
that as we think upon our dear Saviour, that Thou wouldst bless
our meditations to us, that Thou wouldst cause us to be strengthened,
that Thou wouldst cause us to stand fast and to be helped in
so doing. O Lord, bless, we pray Thee,
help even this night, in all our weakness and all our frailty.
Minister comfort, minister help, minister healing, where it is
needed. And Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
grant that such a rich blessing might be poured out upon us this
night. We are few, but, O Lord, it matters not if thou art near.
Draw near, then, we pray thee. Come down into our midst tonight.
May thy glory be known and felt in this place. and may thy spirit
move in our midst. We pray that thou wouldst then
work, that thou wouldst then bless, that thou wouldst then
forgive us all our sins. O Lord, and even the sins of
this land, pardon them also. Cause that our rulers may grant
to us that we may continue in this glorious freedom we have
enjoyed for so long. Grant, O Lord, that we may be
given continued freedom, that it may no more be eroded. Lord,
we would pray even that thou wouldst work in the hearts of
those that have the rule over us. Yet, Lord, whilst we are
able, whilst we have such freedom as we presently enjoy, Lord,
do help us, we pray. Do cause us to take earnest heed
to that which we hear from thy word. Cause it to go deep into
our hearts. Pierce us by thy spirit. Cause
us to be touched even in our deepest parts. and may a blessing
rest upon each one tonight. So draw near, then we pray thee.
Cleanse us our latest sins. Have thine own way in our midst.
Work out thine own will for the glory of thy great name. For
we ask all these petitions in the name of the Lord and mighty
Saviour, Jesus Christ, and for his sake. Amen. The announcements before we come
to the second hymn. God willing, your pastor hopes
to preach here on Thursday evening at 7pm and next Lord's Day at
11am and 6.30pm. Let us continue our worship by
taking our second hymn, Hymn, 242. Tune, Evening Hymn 709. I would like to direct your attention
this evening to the words which we find in the 28th verse of
the 10th chapter of the book of Proverbs, from that portion
that we read together earlier. The 28th verse of the 10th chapter
of Proverbs. The hope of the righteous shall
be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. This comes, of course, as one
of the many proverbs of Solomon, some of which we have read in
this chapter, many of which are contained in this book. And no
doubt, there are many other wise things which King Solomon said
and wrote, which are not contained in Holy Scripture, as being not
inspired of God. But we have in this book, in
general, many principles, many sentences of much wisdom, And
indeed we have much to teach us, how we ought to conduct ourselves
in this world, what we ought to do and how we ought to live
our lives. And this very much, if we just
read it on the surface level, in a sense of the outward performance,
the things that we ought to do outwardly, how we ought to live
our lives, how we may prosper in business and so forth in this
world, how we may go about and have prosperity. But my friends,
if we read it merely like that, if we read through the book of
Proverbs and we have only an eye to what we may learn to see
how we may prosper in this world, then we lose the sense of the
book altogether, I fear. There is much more here than
merely outward ideas of how we may obtain prosperity and how
we may gain success in this world, because these matters relate
mainly, in the first place, to the soul. They touch heaven,
they touch Christ himself, and we find even though there is
no explicit mention of Christ, yet Christ is present in this
book. We find him everywhere if you
begin to look. Just turning back a couple of
chapters, we find in chapter eight how that Christ is presented
to view, Christ personified as wisdom. Do we not find it there? Does not wisdom cry? Is not this
Christ? here that we see, I love them
that love me. Those that seek me early shall
find me. Is not this speaking of Christ
Jesus, the Saviour, here in the book of Proverbs? Do we not find
continually such passages as these? And it is precious for
us to look through, always, as we read the Scriptures and certainly
in Proverbs, to have an eye, a view, to see Christ there.
We might see our Saviour. know that the Lord would grant
us grace, that as we read in the Scriptures, wherever we read
from, yet we might be affected, that we might have such a love
for Christ, that we see him in the Scriptures. Surely it would
be a bad problem if it was that we saw Christ where Christ was
not to be seen. Yet surely, my friends, it is
to be feared. We do not see Christ half the
time where he is plainly to be found. If we had the eye of faith,
to see him. So may the Lord grant to us tonight,
as we come to this text and as we come to this portion of Scripture,
that we may see Christ here, that we may see the blessed Saviour
himself, and that he may draw near, not only by virtue of being
spoken of, not merely by virtue of being found in the text or
in the passage of Scripture, but may he truly draw near to
our souls and touch our hearts tonight. This chapter in particular,
this 10th chapter, deals very much with a man's speech, what
he talks about. It speaks very much here of that
which is spoken by the wise and that which is spoken by the foolish.
But it comes here now, some, there are various ideas about
how the Proverbs are ordered, I will not be sidetracked by
that tonight, but he comes at the end of this chapter to come
down to some very particular matters concerning the difference
between the righteous and the wicked, and it seems to me that
there is some cohesion between the verses 27 and 30 here. We see how that the fear of the
Lord is proclaimed as prolonging days, but then to the contrast,
those who commit wickedness, having their days to be shortened
by their wickedness, Often it is so that their wickedness causes
them to be weakened in the flesh. It causes them to become strengthless. And so sometimes it is that those
who permit themselves to run riot and to fulfil all the lusts
of the flesh, find themselves soonest carried away. Again,
the Lord may call them away whilst they are young. These general
things. Again in verse 29, we find how
the way of the Lord Following the Lord's commands, walking
in His ways, obeying Him and seeking Him is strength to the
outright. But destruction shall be to the
workers of iniquity. Those who follow after the ways
of evil, those who reject the commands of God, will have nothing
to do with them and will follow their own way and their own inventions.
And then in verse 30, the righteous never being removed, but the
wicked shall not inhabit. the earth, the righteous set
up and established, given a firm grounding, but the wicked, not
having such, having no inheritance, save fiery torment. But we come
then to the words of the text, the hope of the righteous shall
be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. We
have here a very great contrast There's a very stark contrast,
as in all of these. On the one hand, we have the
righteous, who have a great hope, and that hope will bring for
them gladness. On the other hand, we have the
wicked, set up against them. They have great expectations.
It is not hope, notice, but it is an expectation. And that shall
surely perish. How shall it be? Why is it that
there is such a difference between them? Some in this world, perhaps,
would say that all things fall out equally to all men alike.
Some good people seem to prosper in the world. Some good people
in the world never seem to make any progress at all, but always
remain in great poverty. Again, they would say it is the
same with the wicked. Some who are wicked, they are
very weak and very poor, and so forth. But some very wicked
men are exalted into high stature. Many wicked men have great power
and wealth and riches in this world. Do we not find it so to
the present day? But my friends, see here. This
great difference does not lie in a man's natural goodness in
this world. He does not rely on his merit
that is spoken of here. Because elsewise there should
be no righteous man alive. There is none good. None, save
one, that is God. And therefore, by that standard
of sinlessness, by a standard of righteousness inherent to
a man, there is none righteous. It cannot be, then, that kind
of righteousness that is spoken. For elsewise, by this metric,
we should all be wicked. We should all be condemned as
a wicked. And what should then be our lot? We should find The
expectations of the wicked shall perish, not only their expectations,
but scripture tells us quite plainly that the wicked themselves
shall perish eternally. All their hopes shall be scattered.
Everything that they wished for will be taken away from them.
All shall be left to their lot will be eternal torment. This
their great expectation, all their hope perhaps even some
who had hopes of heaven, some who have hoped, perhaps, to win
their way there, to make their own way there, to get in by their
own works, yet shall find themselves miserably humbled, miserably
brought low at the end. And there shall be many, no doubt,
at the last, who stand and say all throughout their lives, I
will be fine at the last. There'll be nothing wrong that
will happen to me. I'll be able to bluff my way through. I'll
be able to make excuses for myself. I'll be all right at the end.
No need to worry for me. It'll all be fine. It'll all
work out. Again, there may be some who very firmly hold to
the belief, well, there is nothing. I will die and then nothing will
happen. That will be it. That will be
the end. It'll all be over and there'll be nothing more to come.
Oh, what a shock will be to these. when they find that all these
expectations of theirs are nothing. It was all a figment of their
own imagination. It was all an invention of their
own minds. And what will come to them then? Oh, what ruin. What desolation. What destruction. What disappointment. And how
much worse than this, knowing as they stand there. Oh, there
was, there was salvation. There was a way of salvation.
There was an appointed saviour. And yet, I never called upon
him. I never sought his face. I know
surely how this will pierce the hearts of those who are sent
to hell. In addition to all their present distresses, and griefs,
and complaints, and troubles, agonies. Surely this, there was
salvation. And yet, they ignored it. They
would have nothing of it. They boldly declared all their
days, I will not have this man to reign over me. And so now
finding themselves, all their expectations perished, all blasted,
all hope gone. Surely that is the worst about
hell. Now, whilst we are in this world,
when we go through much trial and tribulation, we know this
much. It is only for a time. It is
for a brief while, and then it is past. It may seem, whilst
we are passing through it, as though it goes on for ages. It may seem sometimes for us
as though it is unbearable. It is almost too much. It drags
on and on and on. And yet, in the grand scheme
of life, it is but for a short while. Our lives are but for
a short while on the earth. And we have a hope that one day
these things will be passed. If there is something, perhaps,
that we are dreading, something coming up that we must go through,
whether it be an examination or an appointment or various
ailments or troubles, surely these things come to an end.
The time comes. The event passes. The fear is
no more. We are relieved of it. We are
set free from it. There is a hope of better things.
But my friends, in hell there is nothing of this. There is
no expectation of anything. And this surely, the worst of
it. Them, passing from life to eternal
death. Then, at that moment of death,
when that man without Christ breathes his last, he has no
hope anymore. It is all taken from him. After
that last expiring breath, after the soul has departed from the
body and the body has just left as lifeless clay, all hope is
gone for that man. All is lost. He is ruined. He is doomed. His fate is sealed. Nothing now can change it. But
justice must be served for all eternity. Oh, be not found as
those tonight. Be not found with such workers
of iniquity tonight. Your expectations shall surely
perish who continue in this way, and there shall be no hope. There
will be nothing but death for such a one as this. Surely it
has been the testimony of so many, so many atheists on their
deathbed. They have had nothing to hold
on to. They have had nothing, because
for all their grand schemes, for all their plans, for all
the inventions of their mind, for all their theories, which
are so great and so elaborate, yet it gives them no comfort.
It brings them no hope. It gives them nothing to hold
on to. I heard once an anecdote. I know
not I can tell it properly, but enough to give the sense of it.
There was an atheist who was lying on a hospital bed. Life
was slowly ebbing away. And his unbelieving friend came
to visit him. And he said to him, as we might
suppose we might do even sometimes, he said, hang on in there, my
friend, hang on in there. And he replied and he said, yes,
but I have nothing to hang on to. I have nothing to hold on
to. His hope was going, his life
was ebbing away, and he had nothing. It had no comfort in his death. Be not as such a man as this.
Fall not into this same trap as all these wicked. But, O my
friends, there is a better way. It is not all men who are concluded
to eternally continue in this state, because the text does
not merely speak of those who have expectations being wicked
persons and their expectations perishing and their own souls
perishing with them. But there is better than this.
But you say it is unattainable. I've declared it to be so already.
It is impossible that a man could be righteous before God. Impossible
that a man could stand before God by himself and be clear. You suppose it. What would have
to be if you now decided that from this moment onwards, you
are going to be a changed person. You're going to do things differently.
You're going to do everything right. You are determined that
you are now going to become a morally upright person. You are also
going to pay careful heed to the worship, going to listen
intently, sing as well as you could, listen and engage with
the prayers as well as you could, and so forth, to do all these
things. which of themselves, of course,
are very right and proper and very good and must be encouraged.
But my friends, if you were to decide today that you were going
to change and to do all of those things, to live morally and upright
and so forth, still, you will find yourself, I will guarantee
you this, you will still find yourself sinning against God. Even a believer will stand and
say that. I can say that tonight. If I try and resolve, as I trust
I do, that I will not sin against God, what do I find? I still find sin is with me. Sin is in what I do. Sin is still
accompanying me and attending me. There are wrong motives,
wrong thoughts that come in. There is all manner of trouble
that besets one, temptations that come to one, and one does
yet fall. This is what the Apostle speaks
of in Romans chapter 7, when he speaks of the great struggle
that is within him. He cannot be righteous. Even
a believer cannot be perfect. And if a believer cannot be perfect,
then an unbeliever cannot at all. Well, for all this, who are these
righteous then? We can observe two things, really,
here. The righteous, surely in the first place, must be those
who are righteous by Jesus Christ. They must be those who are not
righteous of themselves, but who are righteous by the righteousness
of another. They're not perfect, but they
stand before God with the debt of sin, that great mountain of
sins which they have committed, that great long list, which is
to their account. Yet in Christ, those who stand
in him have that cleared before God. Therefore, in so standing,
what do we find? They are righteous, and they
may be declared righteous. And so many times we find the
scriptures using terms like this, especially in Proverbs, But in
so many other places, the scriptures speaking of those who are righteous,
who are they? They are those who are justified
by Christ. The debt has been paid. It has
been cleared off because Christ has paid it for them, paid it
on their behalf. And now they stand cleared in
him. That is their righteousness.
Oh, do you stand as one righteous tonight? Do you stand as one
who is in the Lord Jesus Christ? or are you yet standing in the
filthy rags of your own righteousness? These righteous then, made righteous
by Jesus Christ, and this is the second sense as to how they
are righteous. They are righteous because in
Christ, as being cleared before God, they are now striving for
righteousness. This is their desire. Once, their
desire had been all to satisfy themselves. Once it had been
that their hope was, their desire was, merely that the lust of
the flesh might be satisfied. They had what they wanted. They
had their way. They had whatever comfort and
whatever pleasure they wanted. And it came to them as much as
they were able and were in their power to obtain it. And then
they were satisfied momentarily. They were happy just in the moment
and for a moment. soon passed from them. But so
they lived their lives, constantly going from one thing to another,
trying to find happiness, trying to find for themselves satisfaction. But these now have changed. They
haven't got an eye anymore for what they want. They haven't
got an eye now to determine what they do by what they feel like
doing or what they want to do or what they think is right.
No. They have another law. The Lord
Jesus Christ said, did he not, if ye love me, keep my commandments. So it is with them. Now, they
have been redeemed. They have been ransomed. One
has stood as a mediator between them and God. He has come down
into this world. He has taken their place. He
has suffered for them. That punishment that they deserved.
Oh, what love should fill their hearts. What a people these should
be! How much should they be on fire
for their Lord, who has saved them, who has done all this for
them? Is it not right, then, if ye love me, if such souls
are fired with love? Keep my commandments. Will they
not look to this? Is not this one of the marks
of a believer? No longer does he seek to serve
himself, but he stands. And he declares with the Apostle
Paul, we serve the Lord Christ. That is now our master. That
is now whence our eyes are turned. It is not, what shall I do now? But rather, it is now turned.
What wilt thou have me to do? And so they stand now. Their
eyes are fixed upon the Lord. They are turned heavenwards.
That standard, heaven's standard, is now their standard of living.
Heaven's holiness is what they aspire to. And so they stand
again with the Apostle Paul and they say, I have not yet attained
to this. I have not attained perfection.
I am not a perfect man by any means. I am still a fallen creature. But, note this, I press toward
the mark. I'm filled with love for my Saviour.
He has first loved me, and so I now love Him. He has given
to me such love, and now I go on in this way. I press towards
the mark of the calling, that holiness which is in Jesus Christ.
And so they are righteous in this respect. They are longing
for it. They are reaching for it. They are stretching for it,
as it were, because they desire it. Why? Because they love Christ. There is no legalism in this.
There is no sense that they have to do it. There is no fear of
condemnation, no fear of punishment. It is not this that principally
drives them to it. They're not just doing things
because they feel them to be the right things to do, or because
they've always done them. There is nothing of this in the
service of Christ. There is nothing of this in real
religion, true Christianity. It is a religion. which is fired
from the heart, which goes forth from thence, and which, being
so filled and enthused with and thrilled with the Saviour, longs
to follow after Him, presses hard after Him, and follows in
His footsteps. These are such righteous ones,
as are spoken of here and so many times in the Scriptures.
What then, we might say, what then, is their hope. You have
spoken about the expectation of the wicked, what shall come
to them at death, what they expected entirely perishing. We have spoken
even very briefly of how the expectation of the wicked in
this world is but perishing, it is all vanity. But what of
the hope of the righteous? What of this great matter? These
believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, in the first place, we
should properly consider the hope of the righteous must be
Jesus Christ himself. How can it be any otherwise?
He is all their hope and stay. How so? Because they have trusted
in him. They have cast all on Him. They
have given up on themselves, cast themselves away as it were,
declared, I will have nothing more to myself, crucified the
flesh and all the affections and lusts thereof. Now they have
given over all to Christ and having done such, now He is all
their hope. They have no hope beyond Him
or beside Him. They have no hope that they shall
have deliverance from any other quarter, because they know very
well that they might look the whole world over, and they should
never find any deliverance, no help from anyone else. Sometimes
we may obtain some kind of temporal help from another. We may obtain
a certain measure of spiritual help from the counsel of another,
and so forth. But my friends, we shall have
no saving help from any other place. There is none other name
unto heaven given among men whereby we must be saved, except the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In him alone is salvation to
be found. We might look to all the religions
of the world. We might look to all of their
gods and all their powerful figures, all their leaders and so forth.
And what should we find? Weakness, frailty, We should
find legalism. We should find vain hopes. We
should never anywhere find so great a God as this. Never anywhere
find such a wonderful plan as this. A plan for the salvation
of sinners. Nowhere should we ever find such
mercy as this. Such grace. Such compassion. Such tenderness. It is to be
found nowhere. Here alone is mercy to be found. And here is mercy to be found
in its finest form, in its fullest form, in its freest form. There
is nothing that a man can do, nothing that a man can give,
nothing that he can do for himself. But it is all of the Lord his
God. And so when a man is brought
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, he gives up on all the
rest of these things. There are some who take a very
circuitous route to this. There are some who even go about
and they almost experiment and try every religion under the
sun. There are those who try to bring about happiness by every
way possible. Solomon has tried this himself.
Read of it in Ecclesiastes. He gets for himself everything
he wanted, everything he could temporarily, provides for himself
in so many ways. He has. Almost everything the
heart could desire. And what does he find? He still
declares vanity of vanities. All is vanity. There was nothing
of substance to it. Nothing that would last in it.
But soon enough, if it was not taken away from him, he would
be taken away from it. And therefore there was nothing
in it for him. And all these things came to
nothing. And so it is. A man may search in every religion
under the sun, and yet he will not find such a hope as the Christian's
hope. What a hope! The Lord Jesus Christ,
the very Son of God himself. What a one to be dependent upon!
What a one to trust upon! More, what a one to have as a
friend! And such the Saviour is to those
who believe on his name. He draws near to us in all our
distresses. He comforts us in all our afflictions.
He draws near and does good to his people. He is for them their
strength, their tower, their shelter, their buckler and their
shield. He is for them their wisdom and
their righteousness and their help. He is their aid. He is their refuge. He alone
is surely their hope. The Son of God, Nothing beyond
his ability. Nothing that is too much for
him. All things possible for him. All things visible to him. Nothing
that can be hidden from him. Even the very deepest thoughts
and intents of our hearts. Those things that we would not
share with another human in this planet. Even those who we were
closest to. Things that we can't even work
out for ourselves. Perhaps you know something of
this. When you are so confused, perplexed perhaps, you scarcely
know what to think or what to do, scarcely know what you feel,
scarcely can fathom your own heart. And yet, such a man, turning
his eyes to Jesus Christ, fixing them thence, will find one who
knows him through and through, who knows his heart, who knows
all about him, And at such a time it does us well if we stand before
the Lord. When he came to Peter, after
he had done that great sin and questioned him, lovest thou me?
He stands and says, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that
I love thee. The Lord knows our hearts, and
when all else seems to be askew, when all else seems perhaps to
be awry, and we cannot fathom it, Yet let us rest confident
and sure in this, the Lord knows. And so as I am faithful to him,
so as I do that which comes under my hand to do, yet surely then,
through all the storms of life, with all its raging billows passing
over us, when it feels as though the waves have even come into
our souls, come over us, and though we are as we're almost
drowning in troubles and afflictions and trials, yet, we may look
to Jesus, and he shall save us. He shall secure us. Our eternity
is secure in him. And if we have entrusted our
eternity to him, as one who is worthy to be so entrusted, shall
he not then have mercy upon us in this life? Shall he not work
all things for our good now, who has worked them all well
for eternity? Shall it not be so with us? The
Son of God who came into this world, who became man for us,
who believe, came into this world, lived in great poverty and trouble,
lived and was hated by many, lived and was wanted to be killed
on so many occasions by those about him, was plotted and conspired
against, and eventually was brought to the cross. The Son of God
who hung upon a cross, as one entirely innocent, one wholly
pure, one who had not done any sin. One who came and on that cross
bore not merely physical suffering, but spiritual suffering also.
He suffered in his body that our bodies might be ransomed
from the grave and resurrected at the last. He suffered spiritually
for our souls what we ought to have suffered in hell. and there
delivered us, bearing our sin away on that cross. What a glorious hope we have.
What a glorious hope all those made righteous in him have. And
now he draws near to us. But again, Christ must be principally
taken as our hope. But we have other hopes besides
this now, hopes which flow, as it were, from Christ, yet which
are equally ours, but which are ours by virtue of Christ. We have a sure and certain hope
of heaven in Christ. We have a sure and certain hope
that all things will work for our good in this world because
of Christ. We have a sure and certain hope
that all of our needs will be supplied, that we will be given
strength and grace according to the measure of the need. We
have a sure and certain hope that through all the troubles
and trials of this life, yet the Lord Jesus Christ will never
fail us and he will never forsake us, but he will remain continually
with us all the days of our life until we are called home to be
with him. There are so many further things
I could speak of. The blessings that flow from
knowing Christ are so great, so many, so vast, so deep, so
boundless, so great even that we can scarcely begin to fathom
them all. We might go through and see so
many promises in Scripture which are made out to believe us in
the Lord Jesus Christ. So many wonderful encouragements,
so many blessings which come to them through Him. And yet
at the end of it all, when all is said and done, all of these
hopes are all secondary. Because without Christ, that
one great hope of the believer, there should be none. But all
a man's expectations should perish. Well, see what the reaction to
this is. See what the response is to this. The hope of the righteous
shall be gladness. Having such a hope, my friends,
we should be filled with joy and gladness and thankfulness
and praise and worship before our great God. Such a way need
not have been provided. Such a hope need not have been
made. And yet by the wisdom of God, in mercy, that his grace
might be magnified and glorified and set forth plainly and clearly
before all, to all the world. God ordained that there should
be a way by which a fallen man could be made right with his
God, by which one who was so debased and defiled should be
exalted to be sons and daughters of the Most High. What good does
it then for us all to hold long faces, if such a salvation is
ours? What good does it then, if we
are of all men most miserable, who have the greatest cause to
be of all men the most joyful? What does the Scripture say?
Those who are the most miserable are those surely who do not believe
that Christ rose again from the dead, who do not believe God's
acceptance of Christ's sacrifice upon the cross, and who therefore
cast a stone against the very foundation of it all. Yet, if
we hold to these things, if we believe God, the maker of the
world, who has been pleased to communicate to us through his
word, and that is a mercy in itself, then surely, Believing
God, believing his word, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, we
shall find ourselves surely to have great cause for joy. It
is not to say, of course, that we do not sometimes become discouraged,
downcast, disconcerted, and very much oppressed with doubts and
fears. Sure, to varying degrees, this is the experience, I suppose,
of everyone. We all from time to time have
such troubles, and yet we have such cause to rejoice. We have
such cause to be glad in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, that we
might have these things constantly before us. How prone we are to
forget them. How quickly these things just
slip from our minds, and we fall back into an old way of We fall
back into a carnal way of thinking. We look at things very practically
and we think not of the God who is overseeing them all, who watches
over all things, whose hand is governing and providing and preserving
all things in this world and causing them all so to be. Sure,
we may be cast down. We may even be in the midst of
great trials and troubles. We may have every reason to be
so discount, downcast, and yet. These things may be compatible
to a point, though we may have everything turned against us
in the world. Temporally, we may be in the
worst of positions. It may be that our case may be
worse than anyone else's. Yet, a man who has lost all in
this world, a man who has been set down so low so humbled in
this world's eyes, so devoid of temporal things, temporal
comforts, temporal benefits, a man, even in prison, yet may
have joy in his heart, such a joy that no man can take away, such
a joy that no man can affect, such a joy that no affliction
can mar, because he has Christ, and that settles him. A man who
has Christ may be settled. Distress may often be our lot,
trouble in this world, and it may be even sometimes that sinfully
we are distressed and perplexed in our minds and we are caused
to doubt our God. But if we would but turn our
eyes again to the Saviour, if we looked upon Christ again,
if we took in could focus our minds for a moment to take it
in, a fresh view of Calvary. How our attitude would be so
different. How we would look at the world with different eyes,
if these things were pressed upon us the more. How we should
be all the more cheerful for this, knowing that a saviour
has died for me, a saviour shed his blood for me, that I might
be brought to live with him for eternity, and having done such,
now that he is seated in heaven, watching over all things, making
intercession for us with his Father, God Almighty, being as
omnipotent, omniscient, and as much king now as he ever has
been, and ever shall be, it are entirely, unquestionably, king
of kings, Lord of Lords. And if God be for us, who can
be against us? Though troubles assail and dangers
affright, yet let this be our confidence, the Lord will surely
provide. The Lord will draw near. The
Lord will not permit the hope of the righteous to fail. But
in his time, according to his will, and his way, the hope of
the righteous, shall surely be gladness. Well, may the Lord
bless these things to our souls tonight, cause that we may see
the goodness of the Lord. We may be blessed in our souls
with his salvation for Christ's sake. Amen. Hymn, 917. Tune, Hull 714. Now may the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the
Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.