I'd like to give you all a warm
welcome to our worship here this evening. Let us ask the Lord's
blessing in prayer. Let us pray. O Lord God of heaven
and of earth, do grant us thy Holy Spirit's aid this evening,
that we might worship thee in spirit and in truth. That thou
hast grant us thy word graciously, and may we see what we have not
seen before, or if we see what we have been, as seen before,
that it might be confirmed and strengthened to us. But above
all, do help us to worship Thee, to put the crown upon Thy head,
to gather in Thy courts, and a little while here below, to
praise our God, our Redeemer. We ask through Thy name, Lord
Jesus. Amen. Hymn, 1072. Tune, Passchendale 204. Let us read together from the
holy word of God, the prophet Micah, and chapter 7. We have one of our free Bibles,
that is page 862 in the Ruby Bible. The Prophet Micah and chapter
7. Woe is me, for I am as when they
have gathered the summer fruits, as the grape gleanings of the
vintage, there is no cluster to eat, my soul desired the first
ripe fruit. The good man is perished out
of the earth and there is none upright among men. They all lie
in wait for blood. They hunt every man his brother
with a net. that they may do evil with both
hands earnestly. The prince asketh, and the judge
asketh for a reward, and the great man he uttereth his mischievous
desire, so they wrap it up. The best of them is as a briar,
the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge. The day of thy
watchman and thy visitation cometh, now shall be their perplexity. Trust ye not in a friend, put
ye not confidence in a guide, keep the doors of thy mouth from
her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonoureth the
father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law, a man's enemies are the men of his own
house. Therefore I will look unto the
Lord. I will wait for the God of my
salvation. My God will hear me. Rejoice
not against me, O mine enemy. When I fall, I shall arise. When
I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me. I will bear
the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against
him. Until he plead my cause and execute
judgment for me, he will bring me forth to the light, and I
shall behold his righteousness. Then she that is my enemy shall
see it. and shame shall cover her which
said unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? Mine eyes shall behold
her, now shall she be trodden down as the mire of the streets. In the day that thy walls are
to be built, in that day shall the decree be far removed. In that day also he shall come,
even to thee from Assyria, and from the fortified cities, and
from the fortress even to the river, and from sea to sea and
mountain to mountain, notwithstanding the land shall be desolate because
of them that dwell therein for the fruit of their doings. Feed
thy people with thy rant, the flock of thine heritage, which
dwell solitary in the wood in the midst of Carmel. Let them
feed in Bashan and Gilead, as in the days of old. According
to the days of thy coming out of the land of Egypt, will I
show unto him marvellous things. The nations shall see and be
confounded at all their might. They shall lay their hand upon
their mouth, their ears shall be deaf, they shall lick the
dust like a serpent, they shall move out of their holes like
worms of the earth, they shall be afraid of the Lord our God
and shall fear because of Thee. Who is a God like unto Thee that
pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant
of his heritage, he retaineth not his anger for ever, because
he delighteth in mercy. He will turn again, he will have
compassion upon us, he will subdue our iniquities, and thou wilt
cast all their sins, into the depths of the sea. Thou wilt
perform the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham, which thou
hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old. The Lord bless
to us that reading of his holy word and help us in prayer. Let us pray. Our loving Heavenly Father, we
do seek to come before Thee through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ,
and that we might know Thee, whom to know is life eternal. We thank Thee for Thy goodness
and mercy and kindness to such sinners as we are, for every
token for good, for every mercy that is shown. We thank thee
for thy sacred word that describes to us thy dealings with us, thy
dealings with the sons of men, how thou dost deal with sin.
Lord, we do thank thee for thy word to grant, Lord, it might
be to us a light to shine, to shine in our dark, benighted
minds, to shine upon thy work. Let thy work appear, and Lord,
may we see it. and may we rejoice to see it.
This is the Lord's doing and is marvellous in our eyes. We
thank thee that thou art exalted, a prince and a saviour, and that
thou art the only name given among men. whereby we must be
saved. We need none other, we would
look for none other but Thee. And do grant that we might truly
love Thee, and serve Thee and follow Thee. That Thou hast granted
us to hate sin and evil, and grant that we might love holiness
and righteousness. O save us from ourselves and
from our sins. And Lord, do save us unto thy
heavenly kingdom. Lord, we do seek that we might
endure unto the end and be found at last with thee. Do grant that
here below we might walk with thee and thy people in fellowship
and communion. Do grant us a tender conscience,
a teachable spirit, who grant us that we might be what Thou
wouldst have us to be, here below, and deliver us from those things
that hold back Thy blessings, that grieve Thy Spirit, that
put a difference and a separation between brethren. And O do bless
us personally and as a people here, reviving us, strengthening
us, building us up, and making a blessing to this town. O Lord,
we look to Thee to perform thy word that has been spoken from
this bullpen many a time. Lord, that thou hast granted
us, thou hast given us an open door and none has shut in, that
we might also know that thou hast done great things for us,
whereof we are glad. and that even the heathen might
say, the Lord hath done great things for them. And Lord, do
be pleased to grant us to be as a vineyard of red wine, grant
us to be Lord of those that are made by thy grace to shine forth
and show forth thy praise here below. Thou hast said, this people
have I formed for myself, they shall show forth my praise. O Lord, we do seek of Thee that
Thy blessing might be upon Thy Word that goes forth in preaching,
in reading of it, in sending forth the Bibles in this locality
and throughout this land. O Lord, bless each one who has
a copy of Thy Word. To cause, Lord, it might be read,
it might be blessed. Those that we speak to, directing
them, to the means of grace and to thy word and to their need
of their souls, Lord, do bless that which is spoken in weakness
and raise it up in power. We lay a petition for thy day
that we might know thy blessing to be upon it. Lord, we do pray
for those that are sick and unwell, a dear sister in faith receiving
The further treatment yesterday, we do pray thy blessing upon
it. Do grant her that strength and
do help with the side effects. We do commit her unto thee. We
pray also for one brought safely through an operation on a Tuesday. We thank thee for thy care in
bringing her safely through. Be pleased to grant full healing
to her. We seek, Lord, that thou remember
those in bereavement, several at this time. Do comfort them
and help them be with them in their path. Lord, do be with
our young people. Lord, thou knowest their path
and so many snares and so many trials that they walk through.
Lord, be pleased to keep them and raise up from amongst them
those that shall be clearly called and be a blessing to their own
generation. To raise up those that shall
be ministers and deacons, that shall bear office in the Church
of God. Lord, we do pray for this blessing. Lord, do be with those of thy
servants taking up pastorate soon, and go before them in the
final preparations, whether it be moving home, or moving country,
and Lord, may their pastures be settled and blessed. And do
be with each of thy people and those that gather as we do tonight. May thy blessing be on each assembly. We now say, Lord, that thou hast
grant a real turning unto thee in our nation. O pour out thy
spirit. May we hear witness to thy word
in our parliaments. Do we please to overcome the
assisted dying bill that it might not come into law, and O Lord,
to raise up those who shall unashamedly declare that what they, wisdom
that they have, they get it from thee, they get it from thy word.
O Lord, we do pray for this and Lord that those grant that we
might see a difference in the attitude of many instead of carelessness,
instead of indifference, instead of apathy, instead of a love
of this world that there might be those that begin to really
be concerned and asking for the ways of the Lord and seeking
after Thee. O Lord, do be pleased to direct
every copy of Thy word, that it might go just where Thou didst
mean it to go, and that it might bear fruit to Thine honour and
glory. Do forgive and pardon our many
sins. We pray our iniquities might
be subdued, that their strength, their power, their influence
might be taken away. that we might notice that and
see thy work in our hearts. O Lord, do save us from the power
and dominion of sin, for thy name is called Jesus, for he
shall save his people from their sins. And for this we make intercession
to thee, that thou hast granted us life, spiritual life. Lord,
we are dead without thee. Thou hast said, without me he
can do nothing. and ye will not come unto me
that ye might have life. Lord, do grant us the life of
God in our souls, in spite of all that does oppose. Lord, use
these gatherings in the midweek, use our gatherings for worship
of thy great and holy name, to deal a blow to sin and Satan,
and to strengthen the new man of grace. Lord, we do seek then
thy help as we go on. and revive our spirits this evening,
and bless us with thy felt help as we hear thy word. Lord, to
speak to us be not silent, but to make the face of thy feet
glorious. Lord, may thou draw us after
thee. and attract us. And Lord, may
we see those things that thy people see. Thou didst say to
thy dear disciples that their eyes were blessed because they
saw what they saw. Lord, do grant us also to realise
the blessing of seeing and hearing and knowing those things that
are hid from the wise and prudent and revealed unto babes. Lord, do grant us those true
tokens of Thy work within that we might be able to say, and
others looking on, that this is the work of God. Oh Lord,
we too seek then that Thou'st guide our footsteps in Thy word
at this time and help us in our worship. We be with each of our
dear aged friends. Bless them, be with those that
bear the burden and heat of the day. and the young people and
the children, the little ones, work in their hearts while they
are young. So Lord, we commit each other
into thy kind hand, and we ask thee these things, giving thanks
for thy salvation, for temporal blessings, and for that done
at Calvary, and for what is being done by thy grace, in and through
thy word and in the churches. We ask thee these things through
thy name, Lord Jesus. Amen. Hymn, 471. Tune, Sylchester 66. Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayer for attention to Micah chapter 7 and reading
for our text verse 19. He will turn again, he will have
compassion upon us, he will subdue our iniquities and they will
cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. Micah chapter
7 and verse 19. Iniquities subdued and what is
joined to that. Micah, he was a prophet that
was contemporary with Isaiah. However, his activities were
more to do with Israel, the Ten Triumphs, and also Judah, rather
than with Isaiah, who was mainly at Jerusalem. The Book of Micah,
he shows a real clear understanding of the things that were happening
at that time. We have very clear prophecies
of foreseeing the invasion of Sennacherib, and the dispersion
of the ten tribes, and later on the destruction of Jerusalem. And he is the only prophet that
points to the place where our Lord should be born. In the fifth chapter, in verse
two, but thou Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the
thousands of Judah, Yet out of these shall he come forth unto
me, that is to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been
from old, from everlasting." And he is unique in that. There's no other prophecy that
points so clear as he does there. He heralds the future judgment,
and yet in the chapter that is before us here, We've seen the
first part of it, the great depravity of the people, the great sins,
and then it changes and we have the triumph of mercy from verse
14, and the Lord's dealing in mercy with his people. The verse that is prior to our
text is a beautiful verse, that gives a description of our God. It describes Him as being unique. Who is a God like unto thee? None other God. Of course, there
are many gods worshipped in the world that are no gods at all.
But our Lord is set forth and magnified as being unique, who
is a God like unto thee, and then is described the things
that make him to be unique, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth
by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage. He retaineth
not his anger forever, because he delighteth in mercy. Of course, one of those unique
things of our God is his dealing with sin. All other gods, they,
well, because they're idols, they're work of man's hands,
a man likes it like that because they allow him to do what he
wants to do. They don't reprove, they can't
pardon, they can't forgive. But our God is unique in this,
that he has given righteous and good laws. Man has broken those
laws. The Lord has made a way that
he can pardon and forgive those sins and that he can show mercy. He delighteth in mercy. And really
it is summed up in the verse after our text, the promise of
what the Lord would do in bringing his beloved son. Thou wilt perform
the truth to Jacob and the mercy to Abraham, which thou hast sworn
unto our fathers from the days of old. the seed of the woman
that should bruise the serpent's head. Abraham saw my day and
rejoiced at it. God will provide himself a lamb
for a burnt offering. God is a God that deals with
sin and rather than have it go unpunished, rather than turn
a blind eye to it, he'd send his only begotten son into this
world. to suffer, bleed and die in the
place of sinners so that they can receive the mercy of God
justly and righteously and have imparted to them the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ as if it was theirs. But it is in verse
19 that we have things that are linked together Those things
that what the Lord will do. And really, if our religion is
real, it is what the Lord has done for us. He hath done great
things for us, is what we want to be able to say. And so when
we have a text of what he will do, he will turn again. He will have compassion upon
us. He will subdue our iniquities. Thou will cast all their sins
into the depths of the sea. It is what the Lord will do.
And in the ministry, this is what we desire to do, is to not
lift up what man will do or what we have done, but what the Lord
will do and what the Lord has done. And when the Lord says
he will do these things, then we are to expect it and look
in our lives and in our experience to see the Lord doing these things
and where they are joined together then to notice those things that
are joined with it, and that which is upon my spirit this
evening, is the subduing of our iniquities, where that is realised,
where we realise we've had that blessing, then the other things
that go before it and after it, they are assured, they are joined
to it. And so that is what I desire
to bring before you, this evening. And in order to do it in an orderly
way, I want to look first at those tokens or things that are
joined together, to be very clear that we can do this. We can see
one thing that we realise the Lord has done for us, and then
realise that there are other things bound up with that. It doesn't stand alone. And then secondly, what the Lord
will do to our iniquities, it is stated here in our text, He
will subdue our iniquities. And then I want to look lastly
at what is joined to this, those three main things that are set
forth further in this verse. But firstly, what is actually
join together. The Lord does this throughout
the scriptures, he joins things together, he gives a token, and
the token is quite distinct from the thing that it is a token
of, but the Lord does join it together. We think of the rainbow
after the flood, and the Lord saying that he sets his bow in
the cloud, when shall it come? It shall come when There is a
cloud. When rain is threatened, when
it's going to rain, that is when the bow is going to be set there.
What is it a token of? That the Lord will not destroy
the world again with a worldwide flood. And every time we see
that bow set in the cloud, we are sure the Lord looks upon
it. He says, I will look upon it.
I will remember my covenant with all flesh. And so though we see
the rainbow, we don't just say, well, that's a beautiful bow.
Yes, we do. But we remember what God has
said concerning to it, what he has joined with that rainbow
as a token of a covenant that he has made with us and with
the earth. The prophet Micah, we've said,
was contemporary with Isaiah, and he had spoken of Sennacherib
and his coming. Well, in Isaiah 38, we have Hezekiah
and his sick unto death in those days, those days that Assyria
was coming against Judah, the days that they took away the
ten tribes. And Isaiah was the one that was
to give him the message from God to set his house in order
because he should die and not live. And Hezekiah then prayed
unto the Lord and Isaiah was caused to go back and tell him
that he would add to his days 15 years. And also he said that
he would deliver Hezekiah and this city out of the hand of
the king of Assyria. And then the Lord gave him a
sign. We read this in Isaiah 38 verse
7, This shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the
Lord will do the thing that he hath spoken. Behold, I will bring
again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sundial
of Ahaz ten degrees backward, so the sun returned ten degrees
backward by which degrees it was gone down. So when Hezekiah
saw that, when he saw really the clock wound back, then he
knew that what the Lord had said about adding to his days fifteen
years, and that he'd deliver him out of Assyria, he knew that
the Lord would do those things. Why? Because the Lord himself
had joined them together. He had given this as a token
that he would do that thing. And so this is just another instance
of those things that are joined together. We think of the empty
tomb. When our Lord Jesus Christ rose
from the dead, he hath given assurance unto all men, in that
he hath raised him from the dead. Our Lord said, I have power to
lay down my life and to take it again. This commandment have
I received of my Father. So when it was done, we have
this verification that God was his Father. The commandment was
fulfilled. The sins that he bore were put
away. The assurance is given to all
men that that sacrifice was accepted. The empty tomb is the unique
token, that which none other can provide, one that has conquered
death. one that is died of his own free
will and raised again by his power, by the Father's power,
by the power of the Holy Spirit, a triune God is set forth in
the Word of God. And that assurance is set as
a seal as we preach the gospel of that which the Lord Jesus
Christ finished and accomplished at Calvary. Remember on the Mount
of Transfiguration, It was Moses and Elijah speaking with our
Lord of what he should accomplish at Jerusalem. May we never forget
there was that which was to be accomplished or done at Calvary
and the seal of that is the empty tomb. We think then also of the
gift of the Holy Spirit. Our Lord had said, tarry at Jerusalem
until ye be endued with power from on high. I will pray the
Father, He will give you another Comforter which shall abide with
you forever. Our Lord said He was to be the
Advocate with the Father. He is to appear in the presence
of God for us. We have in John 17 a beautiful
illustration of His intercession for His people On earth I pray
for them, he says, not only for them, but for them who shall
believe on me through their word. And so when the Holy Spirit was
given, it is a token the Lord was with the Father. He had made
intercession. The Father had sent the Holy
Spirit. The power had come. And the effect
of that power upon the apostles and through the preaching of
their word was very evident for everyone to hear. And so with
that power again, and then 10 years later, the apostle Paul
with the Gentiles in Cornelius' household, when he preached and
that power came, and when he reported the matter to the Church
of Jerusalem, They said, then hath God granted to the Gentiles
repentance unto life. Why? Because they had received
the Holy Spirit in the same way as what they had ten years before. We have instances like our Lord
speaking to the man that was let down in front of him that
was sick of the palsy, born of four, let down through the roof,
The first thing that he said to him, that his sins were forgiven. And those that were round about,
they couldn't see forgiveness of sins. All they could hear
was Jesus of Nazareth speaking what they felt to be blasphemy. How can this man forgive sins? They were offended. They felt
this was a terrible thing for him to say. So our Lord added
to it, he said, that ye may know that the Son of God hath power
on earth to forgive sins. He saith to the sick of the palsy,
Arise, take up thy bed, and go to thine house. And he immediately
did so before them all. And that taking up his bed, you
might say, well, how was that a token of his sins forgiven? It was because the Lord had said
it was. He said it was an evidence of
his power on earth that he had power to forgive sins, the same
as he had power to do this miracle and make this man to walk. So we have those things joined
together. Another beautiful illustration
of the joining together is in Romans 8, where we have the beautiful
chain towards the end of that chapter, from verse 28, we know
that all things work together for good. And here we have immediately
introduced the thought of things that are not in isolation, not
on their own, but they're working together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. And then we have the beautiful
chain, those whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate, to
be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the
firstborn among many brethren, Moreover, whom he did predestinate
them he also called, and whom he called them he also justified,
and whom he justified them he also glorified." So we have this
link, this chain of foreknowledge, predestination, we have the calling,
we have the justification, we have the glorification, and where
you get one link, and the link there, the special link is calling,
where one is called, then we know that that person has been
foreknown and predestinated, and we know that they are justified
and will be glorified. So just one point, taken in the
middle of that, that we know our election by calling, and
we know our foreknowledge of God by a calling, we know our
future glorification. This is the The whole idea in
our text where we have, in the middle of these things that the
Lord is doing, we have, He will subdue our iniquities. Because in the first part, He
will turn again. How do we see that? How do we
know that? He will have compassion upon
us. How do we know that? How can we see that? and our
sins into the depths of the sea, how can we see that? But the
middle one, subduing of iniquities, that is felt and known by the
people of God. And so I want to then look then
at what the Lord will do, that subduing of our iniquities. Firstly, what is iniquity? Iniquity is in some ways different
than sin, though you might say comparable words are corruption,
evil, sin, lust, bad things. But often it is aggravated behavior. It is sin in the presence of
the Lord's kindness and goodness, when we should know better which
of course does apply very much to Micah's day and the children
of Israel, but applies to us and all the people of God as
well. Sinning against light, against
knowledge, but it is immoral or grossly unfair behavior. It is really the spring forth
of the evil corruptions and evils of our heart. What does it mean
then to subdue these? What does the word subdue mean? If something is subdued, it's
not eradicated, it's not got rid of altogether, but something
has lost some of its strength or its intensity. Maybe you remember that. Something
that's subdued is lost something of its strength and of its intensity. He will subdue our iniquities. The people of God are the only
people really on earth that know and feel their sin that feel
like the Apostle Paul, when I would do good, evil is present with
me, that cry out, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from this body of death, that feel the working of sin in their
members, and feel especially iniquity rising up. Now, perhaps to give some illustrations
of that, If we had a propensity to anger, we think of dear Jonah. Doest thou well to be angry?
He seemed to not be able to get over his anger. He was so soon
angry. We think of if there was an impatient
spirit, that all the time the Lord said to his disciples, your
time is already, my time is not yet, And yet, how often it can
be said, you have need of patience, and we can be very impatient
and fretful in the Lord's hand. Or it can be that we just lack
submission, and one thing after another, we are not submissive
to the Lord at all, and there rises up this lack of submission. Or it may be that the lusts of
the flesh, evil, desires, affections, that they rise up and so often
consume our thoughts and affections. Himmleiter says that the affections,
while by sin defiled, oft carry me away. We think of if there
is covetousness and that desire after those things of this world,
Those that have fallen in that way, those who have been corrupted
by that, even amongst people of God, and we could have perhaps
a propensity to that and a liability all the time to fight against
it, to seek not to be overtaken by that. No, the people of God,
they know what are their besetting sins. They know what they are
having battle with, day by day by day, and that they are striving
against, in Hebrews 12, ye have not yet resisted unto blood,
striving against sin. Now picture this. If we have
had a daily striving against these things that have had such
strength, such intensity with us. And then suddenly we realize
that that intensity is gone, that strength is gone. It's like
there being a great big storm and then those waves are still. It's like seeing a horse bucking
and kicking and not being submissive to its rider or bridler or anything. And then suddenly you see it
quiet and meek and mild and submissive. That contrast, that difference,
that which the disciples saw with the Lord rising, rebuke
the winds and the waves, when that is something, that's our
lust, our pride, our anger, and we're mindful of this. that,
and it may not last long, it may be for a specific time, that
we realise that those iniquities have been subdued. And where
especially it is to be noted is when we're brought into situations
where those iniquities could be our complete downfall. if
our trouble is covetousness with money and we're brought into
a situation where we're tempted and we could so easy take advantage. Gehazi, he did take advantage,
he did fall by it. But what if at that time the
Lord had subdued that iniquity with Gehazi so that all the love
of money and attractiveness was just taken away? One of the prayers that often
I pray is that the temptation to something within might never
meet and come at the same time when the opportunity is without. And often through life I've noticed
this, the Lord's care and keeping, that sometimes I've had the terrible
temptation to sin within but no opportunity without. and other
times that had the opportunity without, but the temptation to
do so within has been subdued or taken away so that it hasn't
been any attraction at all. And so when we realize that subduing
of iniquity, it is especially when we are in a position and
think, this is something I have battled day by day and night
by night with, and now I'm in a position that maybe I could
fall and this iniquity is subdued, is laid low, is no longer a temptation,
it has just been taken its strength all away. And you realise that
the Lord has done that. He will subdue Our iniquities. How much have we realized? How
much have we known times like that? A lull in the storm. A subduing of the iniquities. And you say, well it's not me.
I have, I've been trying to deal with it. I've been trying to
resist it. I've tried to strive against
it. Those thoughts by sin defile
that carry me away. I've tried to restrain them.
When the Lord comes and the Lord subdues them, they are restrained
and they do stop. And there is a great calm. Those
are sacred, blessed times. After one such time many years
ago, and ask the Lord, Lord, what is this? Why is this? If
the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. And
the Lord dropped that in. And it was such a contrast from
Three days of intense temptations and battle and fighting against
the evils of the heart, suddenly all gone. And the Lord knows
how to do this. And it's something that is recognized
and felt by those who have a constant adversary in their old nature,
their old ways, their iniquities. They know what they are. They
know what the strength of them is. They know the intensity sometimes. And to have those things subdued. Now there's a real encouragement
here. Here is the Lord able to do this
which we could not do. Here is also an indication of
the Lord's will. If the Lord will, He could take
away those iniquities altogether. But He doesn't. but he subdues
them. Many a child of God have thought
that they could be a lot better Christian if they weren't a sinner. If they didn't have sinful propensities,
if they didn't have an old nature that loved evil and wickedness
and sin, they'd be so much better. But the Lord says, no, that thorn
in the flesh, that messenger of Satan, my grace is sufficient
for thee. For the most part, it is a battle. You have not yet resisted unto
blood, striving against sin. Mortify through the Spirit the
deeds of the body. You shall live. Walk after the
Spirit, not after the flesh." And Paul says, I keep under my
body, lest after I preach to others, I become a castaway. And all the time, We have this
picture of the evil there and it's been battled with, it's
to be kept under and dealt with by grace. The child of God consciously
saying that this shall not reign over me, I shall reign over it. Fight the good fight of faith,
lay hold upon eternal life. But then the Lord gives these
times and especially at times that it could have been our downfall,
it could be when that very sin takes the mastery of us and he
comes and he subdues it and he lays it low and we notice the
calm and notice the difference. Well that is what is here, that
is what is in the central of the text, that is what is known
and felt and when that is known and felt When the Lord does subdue
our iniquities, then we have a beautiful joining together. And I want to look at this in
our last point. What is joined to this? What
is joined to it? You know, with Israel of old,
many times the Lord turned his back upon them, hid himself from
them, let them go their own way, reap
what they had sown. But you know, the beginning of
our text, it says he will turn again. He will turn again. Maybe we've known in our lives
many times the Lord has turned and left a blessing behind. He's
not just departed from us, he's returned to us. He's visited
us again. He's blessed us again. It may
be the longing of your soul, longing of my soul, Lord, turn
again, come again, visit my soul again. You know, one of the dear
brethren, they were thinking of subjects at a minister's fraternal. And one of the suggestions was
that we could speak one to another of the Lord's more recent dealings
with us and his blessings. And I said to the brethren, that
is a great challenge. Because many of us in the ministry,
and you hear us may say yes, you hear us tell of blessings
we've had years ago, but not much recent. It's a real test, isn't it? When did the Lord last visit
us? Did He last soften our heart?
Did He last subdue our iniquities? Did He bring us into the banqueting
house, His banner over us, a banner of love? Give us those tokens
for good and sweet communion, one with another, appeared in
Providence, that we were able to say in this matter, the Lord
has appeared for us and delivered us and blessed us. He's turned
again, he's visited us again, not cast us off. How much do we know day by day? Or how far do we have to go back
to be able to speak of something recent to one another of what
the Lord has done for us? He will turn again, that's bound
up with this abjuring our iniquities. How the heart leaps when he gives
one token, like this middle one, and then is joined with it, he
will have compassion on us. Compassion on us, we pray. Send us not empty away, says
the hymn writer. The Lord looking upon his people.
seeing their toiling and rowing, seeing their sins, besetting
them and troubling them and having compassion and coming and subduing
them. Giving us a touch of his power,
of his ability to save. How many times the devil has
said, I'll have you yet. How many times our poor fears
have said that at some time I'll be tempted, I'll fall. I'll be
a cause of grief to the people of God, I'll be cast away, I'm
not really one of the Lords, and all of these fears. Then
you get a little touch of what the Lord is able to do and His
power in us, and then what is joined to that. So if I have
a God that is able to do this, and when we think of the name
of our Lord, His name shall be called Jesus, For he shall save
his people from their sins. This is one way, by subduing
our iniquities. And then what follows after that?
What the Lord will do? Thou wilt cast all their sins
into the depths of the sea. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. The way the Lord deals with sin. He has dealt with it at Calvary. He has shed his precious blood. He has settled the debt. And
that which he'll do with them, you know, we can't forget our
sins. The psalmist speaks of the sins
of his youth. Many of us, we can remember with
great clarity sometimes the situations The things that we've said and
done in unregeneracy, but things that we've said and done after
we've been called as well. Hymn writer says, past offences,
pain, mine eyes. And to read in the word that
God will cast those sins into the land of forgetfulness or
into the depths of the sea Those that are before the throne, they're
as virgins. It's impossible for someone who
is not a virgin to be made a virgin on earth, but in God's way of
dealing with sin, it's as if his people had never sinned. We could never do that. God only
can do that. We have sinned, but when the
Lord deals with that, It's as if we have never. He says, there
is no spot in me. Thou art all pure, my love. You
say, how can that be to the church of God? How can that be me? The
spouse also says, I am black, yet comely. Found in Christ, found washed
in his blood, found clothed in his righteousness. This is the
name. wherewith he shall be called
the Lord our righteousness. This is the name wherewith she,
the Church of God, shall be called the Lord our righteousness. The Lord only is able to deal
with sin. We are called to resist it, to
fight against it, to cry unto God on account of it, to look
unto the Lord to be saved, even from the ends of the earth. But
the Lord alone has power and authority to be able to deal
with sin, both subduing it and also its consequences and sentence
and death. Remember, sin entered into the
world and death by sin. And you think of in Romans 8,
if we walk after the flesh we shall die, to be kindly minded
is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace all
the time. Joined with sin, joined with
the following a path of sin is death, but in the Lord there
is life. And the work of faith constantly
is to look to the Lord. and to strive against sin, but
to trust in what the Lord has done and will be able to do and
has done for his people in dealing with sin. In this verse, may
we have a very clear picture of the mercy of God and his dealing
with his people's sin. It's not as if they haven't sinned,
they have. It's not as if they don't have
iniquities, they do have. but he knows how to deal with
them and to subdue them and to give them those tokens on what
he has also done by turning to them, having compassion and blotting
out their transgressions and their sins. And this is all bound
up in the Lord Jesus Christ, in that truth that we know in
these gospel days has been performed. The Lord has come, he has suffered,
he was made sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. Those two things are joined together
as well. That is why the Church of God
has been given the ordinances that it has, buried with him
by baptism into death, risen again in newness of life. Those
two things joined together, Christ's death, His resurrection, in the
Lord's Supper, His broken body, His shed blood, is always to
be remembered by the Church of God. That is what the Lord suffered
in putting away sin, in enduring the wrath of God, that propitiation,
the wrath-ending sacrifice. And where the Lord has done that,
In this time-state, He gives those clear tokens of Him by
calling those that He's died for, by subduing their iniquities
that He's died for, by showing them mercy, by turning to them
again, by having compassion on them. These things the Lord does
for His people and doesn't cast them away. In spite of all the
things spoken of in the earlier part of this chapter, and the
abomination and sins of Israel, the Lord showed them mercy. May
we be encouraged, may we notice those times that the Lord has
maybe for a little while subdued our iniquities. There's been
a lull in the storm. We've been thankful for his timely
help and the strength that he's given and thankful especially
for that sweet token the Lord is mindful of us. and that he's
appeared for us. May the Lord then grant us to
have our iniquities subdued and to see what is joined to that
in this verse here before us. Amen. Hymn, 212. Tune, Strasburg 244. 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.