I'd like to give you all a warm
welcome to our worship here this morning. Let us ask the Lord's
blessing on our worship this morning and for the day. Let
us pray. O Lord God of heaven and of earth,
do grant unto us thy blessing this thy day, the day that thou
didst rise from the dead and appear to thy dear disciples,
make it to be one of the days of the Son of Man upon the earth,
Thy blessing might be here as we gather. Remember those that
join with us online and do bless them and do grant us help to
worship Thee in spirit and in truth. We ask through Thy name,
Lord Jesus. Amen. Hymn, 131. Tune, Grasmere 591. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God, the Acts of the Apostles and Chapter 14.
You have one of our free Bibles, that is page 1025. Acts chapter 14. And it came to pass in Iconium
that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews,
that is Paul and Barnabas, and so spake that a great multitude,
both of the Jews and also of the Greeks, believed. But the
unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and made their minds
evil-affected against the brethren. Long time, therefore, abode they
speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the
word of His grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done
by their hands. But the multitude of the city
was divided, and part held with the Jews and part with the apostles. And when there was an assault
made both of the Gentiles and also of the Jews with their rulers,
to use them despitefully and to stone them, they were aware
of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derby, cities of Lyconia, and
unto the region that lieth round about, and there they preached
the gospel. And there sat a certain man at
Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's
womb, who never had walked. The same heard Paul speak, who
steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith
to be healed, said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leapt and walked, And
when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their
voices, saying in the speech of Lyconia, The gods are come
down to us in the likeness of men. They called Barnabas Jupiter
and Paul Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Then the
priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen
and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice
with the people, which, when the apostles Barnabas and Paul
heard of, they rent their clothes and ran in among the people,
crying out and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also
are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you, that
ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made
heaven and earth and the sea and all things that are therein,
who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own
ways. Nevertheless, he left not himself
without witness, in that he did good and gave us rain from heaven
and fruitful seasons. filling our hearts with food
and gladness. And with these signs scarce restrained
they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them. And there came thither certain
Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and
having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he
had been dead. Albeit, as the disciples stood
round about him, he rose up and came into the city, and the next
day he departed with Barnabas to Darbin. And when they had
preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned
again to Lystra and to Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls
of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith,
and that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom
of God. And when they had ordained them
elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended
them to the Lord on whom they believed, And after they had passed throughout
Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. And when they had preached the
word in Perga, they went down unto Italia, and then sailed
to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace
of God for the work which they fulfilled. And when they were
come and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all
that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door
of faith unto the Gentiles. And there they abode long time
with the disciples. The Lord bless thee, reading
of his holy word, and help us in prayer. Let us pray. O Lord God of heaven and of earth,
we thank thee for thy word. inspired, infallible word of
a triune God, thy word that thou hast said, though heaven and
earth should pass away, that thy words would not pass away. O Lord, we do thank thee for
this word and pray that thy spirit might seal it upon our hearts,
give us faith to receive it, for thou hast said that faith
cometh by hearing and hearing, By the word of the Lord, O Lord,
do grant that as we gather for worship, that thy word might
be central to us, that it might be very precious to us, that
we might hang our all upon what thou hast said, what thou hast
spoken. Forever, O God, thy word is settled
in heaven. And O Lord, do help that each
sinner, each poor soul, each in tribulation, each in trial,
might be given strength and help from the sanctuary this day and
helped out of Zion. We thank Thee for our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ. We thank Thee for Him that came
to this world, that came to do His Father's will and to redeem
His people. And we thank Thee for the record
of Thy life, Thy death, Thy sacrifice, Thy rising from the dead, Thy
commissioning us to go and to preach the gospel to every creature. And we do thank Thee for the
authority that Thou has given us and for that witness of Thy
spirit in the hearts of those that hear. O Lord, do grant unto
us that thankful heart also as we've read that thou hast made
all things, the creation, and given us food and raiment and
every blessing. Thou art good to all, thy tender
mercies are over all thy works. And we do thank thee for those
mercies and for those blessings and seek, Lord, that we might
more realise the goodness and graciousness of our God. Lord, do encourage us in thy
word today and do be pleased to remember the church here and
congregation and build us up and strengthen us and grant,
Lord, that we might see many that come to hear thy word and
many that are brought by thy grace to put thee on in open
profession. We do see, Lord, that thou do
remember this town, Lord, that has brought us here and kept
us here. We do seek, Lord, that thou would
work in the hearts of men, women, and children in this place and
do bring those that are brought to be concerned to come and hear
thy word here. We ask thy blessing, Lord, to
be upon the word and upon the means that are used to reach
out to sinners. We pray that those that see the
notices for the Christian bookshop in the town, that they might
see that and that they might seek to have that good literature
and books that are sound. We do pray that those remember
this town in this way. Lord, as we hope in the new year
to have those meetings of the CMI, Lord, that there might be
many that are drawn to come and attend those meetings and to
hear of thy great creation and of what thou hast done. O Lord,
who shine in this benighted world, may we be as thou hast said,
that thy people should be salt and light. Lord, help us to be
salt and light in this town and before this people. We pray for
the young people, those that attend thee, school here from
many other nations, that those work in their hearts and that
there might be those who have had Bibles and that take them
back to their own families in other nations as they return
perhaps to their homes this end of year. Lord, that there might
be those blessed through thy word here in other lands. Lord,
we do seek thy blessing on each that join with us from other
lands. We pray for our churches in Australia,
in Canada, and in America. We pray Thy blessing upon them.
We thank Thee where we hear that good news, where we hear of those
that are brought to put Thee on in open profession. We do
thank Thee for Thy witness in those lands. We pray for thy
servants that are taking up pastorates in the coming year and those
that are still making arrangements to move closer to the places
where thou hast placed them. Lord, do go before and do help
them. Lord, we do pray that thou send
forth more labourers into the harvest. Remember those that
we know of today that are laid aside, that are sick, that are
unwell, not able to preach. Lord, be with them, be with the
churches that they were due to preach in and do overrule for
good those things that thou and thy wisdom has seen fit to change. Lord, how many times in our lives
we have disposed, we have sought to make plans, but thou hast
overruled them to grant that we might see many times that
has been overruled for good. and to see thy hand to be for
good upon us. O Lord, do wash and cleanse us
of our sin. Lord, we have the tribulation
and the world, the flesh, the devil, but Lord, their flesh
is our nearest enemy and adversary. And we do pray to be delivered
and saved from the temptations that arise from our old nature
and that which the adversary flares up and the world deplores
too. Lord, do save us from that way
that seemeth right unto a man, and do keep us tender in thy
fear, and leave us not in the way that leads to death. Do grant,
Lord, a teachable spirit, the fear of the Lord before our eyes,
a hatred of sin and evil, a love of holiness and uprightness,
And when we are prone, as we feel so often to be, like Martha,
cumbered about with much serving, and have little time for close
fellowship with Thee, sitting at Thy feet and hearing Thy word,
O do hear prayer that Thou wouldst undertake for each one that feels
that battle and that difficulty in finding that time to be with
Thee. O Lord, do incline our hearts
May we have a true love to Thee and a love of coming apart and
resting a while, a love of sitting at Thy feet and hearing Thy word. Lord, make us to know the equivalent
of that here below. Lord, Thou art in heaven, we
upon earth, but we have Thy word. Do grant then that we might have
those quiet times that we sit and we read Thy word and we drink
it in. and we hear thy word and we profit
from it. Lord, do grant unto us that blessing
we pray. O Lord, do grant us that we might
be given thankful hearts for every blessing, eyes to see thy
goodness, hearts to perceive it, those causes that are too
hard for us. And Lord, there are many in our
families and many in the churches That, Lord, we cannot touch with
our own hand. Lord, we'd mar it, we'd make
it even worse. But, Lord, Thou art able to deal
with it. So we do make intercession for
each of the flock in those things that are too hard for them. Help
them to bring them before Thee. And, Lord, do Thou appear and
do Thou for us and help us. Do you see, Lord, that we might
be delivered from walking in a way that is grieving to thy
spirit, that is a wrong way, and do grant that our eyes might
be open, repentance given, turning given, and that we might be walking
in the right way. We pray for all those that do
seek thee, that have been given the new birth, do bring them
to full assurance of faith. Remember those that are still
dead in trespasses and sins, and do pass by them, bid them
to live and bless the word as they may hear it preached today.
Remember all those that absent themselves from the house of
God, Lord send out thy word to them, remind them of it, grant
them thy spirit to still quicken them. May there be many, we thank
thee where there are those that have had many years away from
the sound of truth, but have been brought back and have been
not brought back just to set us a hearer, but to truly be
blessed and saved, called and made a blessing to the Church
of God. And we pray that those go on
to work that work in our midst and amongst the churches. We
pray for those in authority over us, our members of Parliament,
to give them wisdom, grace and help, to bless them in their
own souls, leave them unashamed of thee and thy word. May they
speak when they speak in Parliament and clearly set forth that their
worldview is a worldview that is governed by the word of God
and not by a humanistic and atheistic mindset. We do seek, Lord, that
thou would strengthen those who know thee to truly be souls and
be light and be useful and not hide their light. under a bushel. Oh Lord, do help us then this
morning to bless us through thy word as we commit the week to
thee. May what we hear today be a strength
and a source of food for our souls through the week. Be not
silent to us, but speak to us through thy word and wash us
and sanctify us and make us made for the master's use. We thank
thee for many mercies in this past week. Thy kindness and goodness
to us. O Lord, help us then, and do
be pleased to bless us as we come before Thee. We ask Thee
these mercies, through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen. The announcements, God willing,
I'm expected to preach here this evening. at 6.30 p.m. on Thursday at seven o'clock
and next Lord's Day at 11 a.m. and 6.30 p.m. Hymn, 747. Tune, Heap 156. Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Acts chapter 14 and verse
22. Confirming the souls of the disciples
and exhorting them to continue in the faith and that we must,
through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. Acts
14 and verse 22. The Apostles Paul and Barnabas,
in their preaching and their ministry, encountered much opposition. They also had a work that was
much blessed. And they prove what the Lord
had said, when they persecute you in one city, then go to the
next. And that is exactly what they
did. Rather than just stay and be
stoned, though Paul was stoned in one instance, when they were
given that forewarning of those that were going to attack them,
in verse 5 we read of that, then they fled. They didn't stay,
they fled. And it's right for us to do that. We think of in Nehemiah's day,
when he had forewarning of what his enemies were to do, that
when they knew he was forewarned, then they left off their designs. We think of in the war years
with England, one of the great blessings that God blessed us
with was the invention of the radar because it gave us forewarning
of the adversary. Well here we have an instance
of that in one case and in the other case where they weren't
forewarned and Paul was stoned and he then rose up again and
blessed with healing, the remarkable miracles that were here. You
think of picturing a child that is learning to walk and how long
that takes and yet we have the miracle of one here that had
been from his mother's womb, lame, never walked in verse 8
and when Paul perceived that God had given him faith to be
healed. He said with a loud voice, stand
up right on my feet, he leapt and walked. It's no wonder the
people were so amazed at such a miracle and such power. But they immediately joined that
to their own gods that they were worshipping, the gods of the
heavens. and ascribed that Barnabas Paul,
that they'd come from these gods and they sought then to worship
them. If ever there is a passage of
which the ministers of the gospel shown clearly to not want worship
or lifting up, they are the messengers. They sent forth and set forth
the true and the living God. And it gave them in one sense,
a real clear opportunity to preach to them repentance, preach to
them a change from those gods that were no gods to the true
and living God. And here we have a clear setting
forth as well of the God of creation. Doesn't just belong to Genesis
1, does it? In verse 15, which made heaven
a living God which made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things
that are therein. And then, speaking of how he
gives, and he has given to all nations, the fruitful fields,
the rain from heaven, done us good with food and gladness.
And they seek to set forth this true and living God. In Acts
17, at Mars Hill, again, the Apostle draws them to the God
that made the heavens and the earth. How central, how vital
it is. In Jeremiah we read, let all
the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth perish
from under the heavens and the earth. Now, they knew what it
was to have blessings as they preached, great blessings. They
had the multitude that was divided Some believe, some believe not. These things we need to expect
today, that when we speak the word, when we bear testimony,
not all will completely oppose. There will be some that believe,
there'll be some that do not believe. Don't ever think that
because the ministry, because the word is faithful and good,
that all will believe it. No, and nor that all will oppose
it. You have a mixture here, and
they still continued to preach until they were forced from one
place to another. We're also really reminded of
the Lord working in these ways, that through the trials that
the servants of the Lord worked through, that his blessing was
commanded to the people. And so, as they had these trials,
as they had these tribulations. So when they went back through
and to the churches that had seen all they'd gone through
and seen all the troubles that they'd endured, then their work
then was to confirm them. There's two parts of the ministry,
isn't there? The first part is they went through
preaching, they were setting forth those things that were
new to them. a God that they did not know
before, a way of salvation that they had not known before, setting
these things before them. Then they'd seen all the tribulations,
the trials, and then they come back through and they confirm,
they strengthen. May we mark that in our path,
in our experience, There'll be those times that the Word is
to teach us new things, open to us the way of salvation, show
us His way, and there'll be times that the ministry is a confirming
ministry. It strengthens what we already
knew, what we'd already been taught. And the reality of the
way, that is, where the apostle is dealing with here in our text,
the troubles and path they'd walk, the tribulation, his ministry
was addressing that. And that should be so with you
and I as well. We don't just have just doctrines,
it is a way of life, it is a new path, it is the path the Lord
would have his people to go. and the ministry addresses that
path and notice the apostle and his hearers and those converted,
they walk this same path, they shared in these same trials and
I hope we find it so often through the ministry here, those things
that I go through as your pastor and minister will have a mirror
effect is what you're going through and the Lord will through the
ministry confirm and strengthen the truth in your own heart and
help you through those things that you are passing through.
This was the design of the apostle here for those that he was ministering
to, was to confirm and strengthen them in the path that they were
presently walking. It is a solemn thing. If we're
confirmed in a wrong path, encouraged in a thing that is evil and to
be walking in a wrong way and let be confirmed in that. There
are many that are solemnly confirmed in that, but here the context
is they are taught the truth, the true and living God, and
they are confirming them in that truth and being a help to them. And so I want to look with the
Lord's help and three things, three ways in which the apostles
were to be a help to those in these churches that they had
preached to, those churches in Lystra, Iconium, Antioch, Derby,
and how they were a help to them. The first way that they desired
to be a help was in having their souls confirmed in the doctrines
of the gospel. The second was in exhortation
to continue in the faith. Many times in the word of God,
there are exhortations and encouragements to walk in a certain way, and
that is to be a help to the people of God. And the third help was
to be giving them a true picture of the way into the Kingdom of
God. Our text says that we must, through
much tribulation, enter into the Kingdom of God. So I want
to look at these three helps and may the Spirit bear witness
that they are to be a help to the people of God. It's a good
thing for us to see the Word of God and say, the inspired
Word of God, this is coming from God, this is for poor sinners
that are in the way, and these things are the things that are
to be a help for them. I have their spirit, God has
identified them, and brings them before the people of God as a
help. May that thought be in itself
a real help to us, because you could have those like Job's friends,
and they first came to comfort him, to help him, but he says
miserable comforters are ye all. They weren't a help at all to
him. And some ways of helping are
not really helps at all. But when we have a text like
this, we have the Holy Spirit seal that this is from God, from
God's authority to be a help. And the first thing then is to
confirming them, confirming the souls of the disciples, and it's
confirming their souls in the doctrines of grace. Remember that they are coming
from a position of idolatry. They're coming from a position
of ignorance of the true and living God. They've heard things
that were new to them, that they had not heard before and it's
good for us to try and put ourselves in the picture of what these early new believers
had heard and what then there to be strengthened in. Now we can take as a first thing
the situation where through the miracle that was wrought, that
the people that had been given to idolatry were seeking to exalt
Barnabas and Paul instead of the true and living God. So what he had set before them
is that the God that they were bringing before them and wanted
them to believe in, was the God that had made heaven and earth. Creation, a creating God. It's a blessed thing to be confirmed
and strengthened in that, that our God made the heavens and
the earth. When we have the Word of God
before us and begin to read it, that's the very first statement. Well, if we think of that today,
When our children and the message from the world is of evolution,
that there is no creator God, that everything happened millions
of years ago, you can picture coming to preach or bring the
gospel to those that first hear it, and this is a great challenge
to them, this is a great new concept so opposite from what
the world is setting forth. In a way it's like the apostles
going in and the concept of a God that fills all things, has made
all things, is not like these gods of wood and of stone or
gods of the planets. No, this is the God that made
all things. And to receive that truth in
the first place and then to be strengthened in it. And may we
be really strengthened in it, especially in a day that is so
opposing the ideas of creation. If there is ever a truth that
runs right through the Word of God, is bound up with the Gospel,
and may we be delivered from those that try to begin from
a position, science is right, evolution is right, let's fit
the Bible into it. No, the Bible is true, the word
of God is true, God created the heavens and the earth, and all
that testify opposite to that is wrong. It is a false teaching
entirely. And may we be clear, as this
very instance here, This is New Testament. It is not Old Testament. Our Lord spoke of creation. The
apostles speak of it. It is the gospel. It is what
they used in the preaching. And may we be confirmed in that. And as we look at the creation,
as we see everything that is made, may we see it with fresh
eyes, new eyes, see our God, stamped upon it all and may we
be really confirmed and strengthened in that which is really being
attacked today and if there are those who are really truly converted
they're coming from a position that there is no creation or
no creator to believing that there is one and this God that
made heavens and the earth is also the saviour, the redeemer. And so another thing that they
had set before these people was the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus
of Nazareth, a real man, a man that had walked before them,
had worked the same miracles that they were working now, and
that preached the same gospel. He then suffered, bled, and died
at Calvary, then rose again from the dead, and ascended up into
heaven, he lives in heaven, that it is through that name that
is preached the forgiveness of sins. Now they were very clear
in preaching that Jesus of Nathreth was the Eternal Son of God and
that is again a vital truth to be confirmed and strengthened
in today. It runs right through the Word
of God It was a truth that was assailed in the early days of
formation of us as a denomination when there were those that denied
the eternal Sonship of our Lord. They said He just began His Sonship
by His being born into this world. No, He is the eternal Son of
God. With the Father, the Holy Ghost,
He is God. God is The Father is God, the
Son is God, the Holy Ghost is God, the Holy Ghost is a person,
the Lord Jesus Christ is God manifest in the flesh, Emmanuel,
God with us, made in the likeness of sinful men, yet without sin,
of the seed of Abraham, according to the Scriptures. He is the
one that is lifted up and exalted as the only name given among
men whereby we must be saved. May that be confirmed and strengthened
in us. We have those that are right
ready to accept any religion or accept any belief, but never
an exclusive Jesus. I've had those that have meant
the door of the chapel here seem to get on all right until you
state that the only way of salvation is through belief and trust in
the Lord Jesus Christ. And then they get very angry
and very upset. And this is something we need
to be really confirmed and strengthened in. God sent his only begotten
son into the world that we might believe on him and be saved through
his name. And there is none other, there
is no other that has the authority of heaven, the blessing of heaven,
that can give the witness of an empty tomb rising from the
dead and being in the presence of God. This then is some of
those things that are vital to be confirmed. Another thing is
that through the Lord Jesus Christ, is preached repentance and forgiveness
of sins. He is exalted to give those gifts. For us, walking this out, knowing
that that gift of repentance is given by God, that we cannot
give ourselves repentance, Yet we are, when the Word of God
is set before us, just like these people here, when we have set
before us a way that is wrong, a way that is the way of death,
then we are called to repent. Repent means to turn. The disciples
were very clear in this. If these people were to be saved,
they were to turn and not be exalting Barnabas and Paul. They
could turn from Jupiter and Mars and worshipping the host of heaven. They'll turn away from those
things and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and to believe in Him
and to trust in Him. And that message is absolutely
central in the preaching of the gospel. Those that hear the word
of God, are called upon to repent, to turn from those things that
are evil and not of God and to turn unto God. And the assurance
is that as the Word is preached and the authority of the Lord,
that the Lord Jesus Christ owns that Word and gives repentance. It is not given to all, we read
of some of these that oppose, that hated the Word. Others,
they did believe. How was there a difference made?
In one place we read, as many as were ordained unto eternal
life believed. The Lord giving to some repentance,
and others it was withheld from, they didn't. But for us, when
we have the Word set before us, we are to seek to turn to it
and to walk in accordance to it, And we can be assured of
this if God gives us that belief, if he gives us that repentance,
if he gives us that willingness and that heart to obey the gospel,
then we have the assurance of forgiveness of sins. Those things
are joined together. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful. And just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us, from all unrighteousness. We are not to walk a path of
saying, I've heard the gospel, I've heard what is the right
way, but until God gives me willingness, until he helps me to do it, then
I'm not going to walk in that way, I'm gonna walk in my own
way. That is blatant rebellion and unbelief. It's a very different
thing to say, I hear the way I should go, But I feel real
evil, rebellious heart, I want to turn, I want to do what is
right, and I pray and seek to the Lord to help me to do it,
but I really struggle, I really find it hard, and in aspects
of it, that's a very different thing. When a soul is troubled
because of unbelief, because they've got a heart that keeps
bending to wickedness, sin, and going away from the Lord. That's
not sinning that grace might abound. A soul that feels that
opposition struggle is to be encouraged and confirmed in that
repentance is not in themselves, but to look to the Lord that
he'd give it to them and grant it to them. But may we never
walk in a way of deliberate sinning, saying that, well, if God means
me to turn and to repent, then He'll make me to do it. No, God's
people are willing in the day of His power. They freely walk
in that way set before them. So, to be confirmed in this,
if you and I are saved, it is absolutely essential that we
repent, we turn from sin to the true and living God, we trust
solely in Him and not in ourselves. and that joined to that repentance
is the blessing of forgiveness of sins. It is vital that we be brought
then to be confirmed in the Word of God as the Word of God. It's one of those things again,
especially today, that is so contested, so sought to be undermined. The very first temptation of
Satan was, hath God said? And that remains to be a temptation
with all of the different versions in the English language of the
Bible, the word of God. That question is perpetuated,
hath God said? It is according to this version
or that version, that translation, and it's essential that we staked
to a translation that is a faithful translation of the received texts,
the Hebrew Masoretic, the Greek received texts, the majority
texts, and that which has stood the test of time and in providence
has been proved that God has blessed that word. It is a solemn
thing that the time when the churches have been most lean,
most low, is not been the time when we had an authorized version
mostly used, it's been in the time when there's been all of
these other versions that are used. And that which is set forth
as helpful for the church of God has not proved to be the
case at all, especially in our land has been more and more godless
and more and more further and further from the Lord. And we
need to be very clear, every word of God is pure. The Lord
gave the word, great was the company of them that published
it. And all scripture is given by inspiration of God. It is
not man's word, it is God's word. And we need to be really confirmed
and strengthened in that. Right through the ages, there's
been those that have criticised, higher criticism, lower criticism,
undermined the Word of God, sought to make the Word of God non-effect
because of tradition. And there are those that look
at passages in the Word and they say, oh, that was just custom
at that time, that was just the traditions, and they undermine,
you know, those that are simple in faith, that haven't got doctorates
or theological degrees, They read the Word of God, they're
given the message, they know what it says, they read it. May we be really confirmed and
strengthened that God has hidden these things from the wise and
prudent and revealed them unto babes. We read that there are
those that have immense admiration because of advantage. How many
know what it is to have an argument or disagree with someone on theological
things, and they resort to saying, well, I've got a degree, and
I've done a theological degree. You haven't had any training.
You're ignorant. You don't know. And that sign just settles the
argument in their eyes. No. The blessed thing is if the
Lord has opened their eyes, taught us, all thy children shall be
taught of the Lord. great shall be the peace of thy
children. And so may we be confirmed, strengthened
in the word of God. And if there are passages that
we shy away from because someone has undermined them for us, may
we again turn to them and cleave to the word of God. We think
of the apostle when he spoke to those in the church at Corinth,
They had an error there, and the error was in denying the
resurrection of the dead. Beautiful chapter, 1 Corinthians
15. But we so need to be confirmed
in this. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, we've all been most miserable. No. There is
life beyond the grave. There is the resurrection of
the dead. Christ has rose from the dead.
All shall rise from the dead, some to eternal life, some to
eternal damnation. As we have borne the image of
the earthly, so shall we bear the image of the heavenly. And Job, he was very clear of
this, that though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall
I see God. So may we be confirmed in the
reality of the life to come and the resurrection from the dead
and appearing in the presence of God. May we also be confirmed
in the path of prayer. The Lord would have his people
to pray and may we be confirmed in that wonderful provision for
poor sinners Those that call upon the name of the Lord, they
shall be saved. Those that pray, the Lord will
hear and answer them in his time and his way. He is a God that
hears and answers prayer. He is also a God in control. What a message for those in this
situation with Paul and Barnabas, and maybe in your life and in
mine. You see things you think, well, is man getting his own
way? Other nations, they're controlling the course of this world. No,
God is in control. In the minutest thing, in all
things, he is sovereign and he is in control. All things are
done according to his will. May we be confirmed and strengthened
in that. May we be confirmed. and strengthened
in the preaching of the gospel, it hath pleased God through the
preaching of the gospel to save them that believe, that we gather
and in expectation that the word though set forth in weakness
will be blessed by God as the word is faithful to the word
of God. And may there be many other things
that we find as we listen to the preaching of the word, that
we are confirmed and strengthened in those things that have been
taught us and are in the Word of God. There's been times that
a certain truth had been set forth on the Lord's Day and then
in a workplace I found in the week afterwards that very same
thing has been assailed or questioned and I've been so thankful for
it to have been confirmed and strengthened previous, sometimes
it's the other way around. We may have had a truth assailed
and we come into the house of God and may be with you this
morning and to have that word strengthened and reaffirmed again
in the word of God. And so we obviously there could
be many, many other truths, many other things that would be confirmed,
the apostles here confirming the souls of the disciples, the
gospel, the good news of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ,
that Christ lived a perfect life, that he died a perfect sacrificial
death for the sins of his people, that he has put away those sins,
is redeemed and set free his people from the condemnation
due to them, that he has purchased for them eternal life, that he
will give to them that life, that they might, through preaching,
believe on his name, and that in believing, that he will give
them his righteousness, and that he will preserve them and keep
them and bring them at last to his eternal kingdom. Salvation
is of God, it is God's work, and may we be confirmed and strengthened. He which hath begun a good work
in you will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. Well, I
want to look secondly at the help that was given in exhortation. Confirming the souls of the disciples
and exhorting them to continue in the faith. Having set forth
the faith and confirmed the faith and the doctrines of the faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ, the way of salvation through him
alone, they were exhorted to continue in it." It's easy to perhaps overlook
and maybe even think, well, if this is the real work of God,
Why do men need to be exhorted? Why do they need to be persuaded
and convinced and encouraged to continue in it? If it's the irresistible work
of God, they shouldn't need that. That should automatically be
given them. They should automatically continue
in that way. No. Remember, this is the inspired
word of God. God's chosen, People, they do
need exhorting. They do have times when they're
discouraged, when they think that they're going to walk back
and go no more with the Lord. And one comes to them and says,
no, don't do that. Don't. Don't be discouraged.
Continue on. Still read your Bible. Still
pray. still attend the means of grace,
still look to the Lord, still hope in Him. It is true, it is
the way of salvation. Exhort the people of God, persuade,
as it were, to continue in the way that the Lord has set them
in. And the Lord has been pleased
to use such persuasion, such exhorting, and may we be helped
to as the Word says, exhort one another daily and so much the
more as you see the day approaching. We are exhorted to exhort, to
encourage one another in the things of God, to strengthen
each other, to not undermine the Word, but to be an encourager
of the brethren. I think that there is a great
title to have and a great thing to be, an encourager of the brethren. It's very easy to be the opposite,
to be a discourager of the brethren. Sometimes some might not even
realize that they are, just by some of the things that they
say or that they do is like a wet damp upon another believer that
may be encourages and not discourages. Careful what we say and what
we do that might have the effect of discouraging. Here, the exhortation
is continue. Continue in the faith, continue
now. What a blessed thing that that
word could be said to us. Because it implies this, there
has been a beginning. There has been a beginning. If
we are exhorted to continue, the Lord has already begun. He
already set us in the right way. And Satan's work, the world,
all the time will try to stop us, to cause us to not continue. But here is the word of exhortation. Continue thou, may it be a word
in season, perhaps to some poor and tempted, and tried one this
morning. Continue thou, continue in the
faith, continue to trust, continue to believe, continue to pray,
continue to look to the Lord, continue in the path the Lord
has chosen and appointed for you. I want to look then at the
third help that is chosen for us, appointed for us, set for
us here, and that is giving a true picture of the way of entry into
the kingdom of God. No doubt Paul and Barnabas, they
remembered what the Lord himself had said, in me ye shall have
peace, in the world ye shall have tribulation. be of good
cheer, I have overcome the world and the Lord's commission. But
when they persecute from one city, then go to the next. That
these things are to be expected, they are foretold. But it's a picture, a real picture. What if The apostles was to bring
a different picture. And they say to the believers,
look, if you're a real believer, then you won't have any trouble.
Everything will go smoothly. What is there to say? You're
going to have health and strength. You'll have a good bank balance.
You'll have everyone praising you. You'll have a nice, smooth
life. And all their hearers said, that's
not like my life. That's not what I'm seeing. I
can't be a child of God. I can't be in the right way. But the picture wouldn't be a
true picture at all. It wouldn't be a right witness. And so very important that the
true picture is actually given. That the way into the kingdom
of God, that is to be as a believer, Those who had gone from darkness
to light in this chapter, from not being in God's church and
kingdom on earth and being in it, the way that was through
tribulation, our Lord spoke of the opposition from father, mother,
the foes of this own household, when he begins a work of grace
and then he puts a difference. And we'd expect that there will
be that difference, there will be that tribulation. And this is to be a help to realise
this is the truth, this is the way. Tribulation is great trouble. And notice it doesn't say we
must have much tribulation, it is that we must through much
tribulation. And there's several ways in this.
Through it, if you're going through like the children of Israel,
they went through the wilderness. They weren't to stay in it. They
were strangers. They were pilgrims. They were
heading to heaven. This is not our rest. It won't
be tribulation all the time. The other aspect is, through
tribulation, In troubles and in trials, that is how the Lord
teaches his people. The very cross, the very thing
that the Lord did at Calvary was through great tribulation.
His blood was shed, the redemption of the church was made through
great trouble in the Lord Jesus Christ and to the church of God.
It wasn't done peaceably, quietly, it was done Away with him, crucify
him, crucify him. And the things that when the
church has prospered, how often it has been in persecution, in
tribulation, in opposition. I've heard it said of those in
other lands that we are those that have had persecution, those
that have got trial, those that are poor and have poverty. They
said, we are praying for you in Great Britain because you
are in greater danger than us because you have prosperity and
you have ease and those are greater danger to your soul and all the
tribulations and all the troubles that we have. How often the more
the people of God have been persecuted and more troubles and tribulations
they've had, the more they have been strengthened and prospered. and grow, and the more, and the
children of Israel were like this, and the Lord warned them
that when they had ease and when they had vineyards and all the
prosperity, lest they should forget the Lord their God, and
that's what they did. But here, the help is to have
a true picture, and a true picture as well concerning our own heart. We think of the picture that
Paul gives in Romans 7. The good that I would, I do not.
The evil that I would not, that I do. A wretched man that I am.
Who shall deliver me from this body of death? He's giving a
true picture of the wrestles, the struggles he has with his
old nature. I keep under my body. My body
keeps rising up, lest I be cast away. He's giving this true picture. And, you know, we speak about
the The trials that he went through in the deep, three times in the
deep. Suffered shipwreck, false brethren,
troubles with the Jews, troubles with the Gentiles. And you might
say, yeah, I have troubles. I have troubles with the world,
but I have troubles from those within the church. I have troubles
with brethren. I have these things as well. Poor and falling out. with Barnabas later on. And we
have these things set before us in the Word as the real pathway
of a child of God. The Lord chooses out our tribulation. We do not choose out our own.
And we might look around, brethren, and we see some and they say,
well, their great trial in their life is their own sickness. Another might be, well, it is
their wife or husband's sickness. Another it might be it's their
child's trouble. Another it might be their circumstances. Another it might be some other
aspect. It's easy for us to think ours
is the worst past, but the Lord has matched the tribulation with
what we need and what he will use and what you'll make for
our good. May we really realize that word
in Romans 8, 28, that we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them that are called according
to his purpose. And one of those things is the
troubles, the tribulations that we are to walk through. So may we notice through the
word of God these true pictures of the trials, of the path, the
life way of the people of God, you might say with this verse,
we have in the first part, confirming the souls, we might have the
doctrine set forth, and then we have the exhorting to continue,
the encouragement, the exhort, exhorting, and then at last,
We have the picture of the life, not just the doctrine, but the
life of the people of God. Sometimes just a verse like this
can be so strengthening. You know, this verse, whenever
I come to it, I always think of Gerald Buss's father. He preached
from this verse, and I heard him preach at Amptill in Bedfordshire
many years ago. He's in glory now. But I can't
remember how he divided the word, how he preached, all I remember
is the text, the word, that through much tribulation, and it is confirming
the disciples. And often just the remembrance
of this verse has been a real strength and encouragement to
me. You know, sometimes we might be blessed through a service,
And you tell someone you've been blessed, they say, what was the
text? You say, I can't remember the text. Well, you can't have
been blessed if you can't remember the text. You know, I'd much
rather remember the help, remember the sweetness, the savour, than
even remember the preaching or the text. Than just to be able
to say, I was blessed under this text, but you can't remember
the savour, and you can't remember the help that you'd actually
received. It's a blessed thing to have
parts of the Word of God that you associate with being really
helped, encouraged and strengthened. And in that case with the preaching
at Amtel, it's just remembering that occasion, the Lord's servant,
the messenger, the Word that he preached from, and how I felt
it's such a help and strengthening through the years. confirming
the souls of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in
the faith and that we must, through much tribulation, enter into
the kingdom of God. What a blessed thing to enter
at last into that everlasting kingdom, to be part of it here
in all tribulation, but to know that at last we shall be with
the Lord No tribulation there, no trouble, no sorrow, forever
with the Lord. May the Lord bless us in this
path that we walk here and be confirmed and strengthened this
morning. Amen. Hymn, 305. Tune, Jacksons 163. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Spirit
be with you all now and evermore. Amen.