Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to 1 John chapter 5, and reading
for our text, verse 6. 1 John 5, verse 6. This is He that came by water
and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water
and blood, and it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because
the Spirit is truth. And it is specifically in this
sixth verse, 1 John 5 verse 6, the two words, not by, not by. And I want to speak to you on
not by, highlighting what by. Sometimes we can set forth the
truth and set it forth very, very clearly, but we're only
setting it forth in a positive way and not firmly shutting the
door and repudiating error that is contrary to the truth. that
we have set before us. And so this evening what is on
my spirit and beginning with the text that we have is to clearly
set before you the not by. How salvation, how the way of
God is not in a particular way and then what it is by. The way of salvation made more
clear by what it is not. And on to Lord's help put our
subject under seven points but divide them up into four headings. And first the coming of our Lord
and then secondly the building of God's church. Thirdly, the
justification that is counted free from condemnation, how we
are justified. And then fourthly, how we are
to walk and serve God. I want to begin with our text,
with how the Lord Jesus Christ came. Let us read the verse again. This is He. that came by water
and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water
and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth
witness, because the Spirit is truth. Now we would remember
that John Baptist, he came, and he came preaching the baptism
of repentance and baptism through water baptism. Our Lord also
baptised, or his disciples did. But our Lord did not come just
like John Baptist did. It was not just repentance. Our
Lord came to die. He came to suffer and to bleed,
something that Though John Baptist must die as we all must as sinners,
yet his blood availed nothing. His blood did not atone for any
sin, but the Lord Jesus Christ, it did. Now we have a context
here that follows on. We are told of the witnesses,
witnesses that are in heaven. Verse seven, for there are three
that bear record in heaven. The Father, the Word, and the
Holy Ghost, and these three are one. Here is the Trinity, so
clearly set forth, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in heaven. They bear record, and their record
is one. We must say, really, the record
in all of the earth is also one. But we are told of three witnesses,
three that bear witness in the earth. But before we move to
there in verse 8, the Lord always insisted that whatever He did,
He did with a commandment from His Father. There is no disunion,
there is no clash between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We would
remember that the Word of God is the inspired Word of God. It's God-breathed. It's the work
of the Holy Spirit. The work of the Spirit is to
receive of Jesus and to show it unto us. It is to convict
of sin. But all that the Spirit does
is in complete accordance with the Father and the Son. And there
is no jar whatsoever There is no room for any professing religion
to bring any doctrine, any teaching, any way that jars with the Holy
Word of God, the Word of a triune God. Everything that is brought
forth is tested by that. If some say, well, the Lord Jesus
Christ is loving and kind, but the Father, well, he's more severe,
and set forth as if the Lord was a mediator, pacifying the
Father's wrath, the Lord said very clearly, the Father himself
loveth you. And I very encouraged one of
the schools that we go into, last year's one that we went
into, and I looked up the curriculum before I went in, and they had
a question in RE. How can God be a loving God and
a holy God at the same time? So when I went into that school,
I said to that year 6, I said, have you done your RA? Have you
answered this question? Oh, yes. So I said, well, who
can tell me what you decided is the answer? A lot of hands
went up. And they said, well, because
God is holy and he is loving, then he will chastise and he
will correct us when we sin. And I was so thankful to hear
that from a church of England school. but that they had come
to that, that God's holiness means he must punish, he must
chastise and correct for sin. And so we have the Word of God
coming from the triune God and any who seeks to divide between
the Godhead with an idea to water down the Word of God is going
against that triune God, these three are one, they agree in
one also, they bear record, one record in heaven. And the word
that we have on earth is from heaven. But then the three witnesses,
the three that bear witness in earth, the spirit and the water
and the blood, and these three agree in one. And really what we have here
is the gospel ministry, which is set forth by the Spirit, because
the Word that we preach, preached the Word, is the inspired Word
of God, and it is to be with power the disciples and to tarry
at Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. It is the Spirit that quickeneth
the flesh, profiteth nothing. And so the Gospel ministry bears
a witness on earth. Then there is the water, which
are the two ordinances that our Lord Jesus Christ instituted. May we always remember this,
as much as he has instituted the preaching of the gospel,
he has instituted the ordinances as well. Going into all the world
to preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be
damned, in the same Command is the preaching of the Gospel and
is the ordinance of believers' baptism. And then following that,
as we have in Acts 2, the breaking of bread, the Lord's Supper.
What is the witness of baptism? Not John's baptism, but the baptism
of our Lord. It is a testimony of dying with
Christ and rising again in newness of life, buried with Him by baptism. and risen again in newness of
life. He's identifying with his death
and with his resurrection. And that is a witness, a public
witness, a confession of faith. Those who have professed their
faith to the Church of God and confess the Lord Jesus Christ,
they, by their obedience, they show forth in that ordinance
what their hope is based on and what they themselves have gone
through. They have died to sin and died to self and alive unto
God. You are new creatures in Christ
Jesus, renewed in the spirit of your mind, a new creature. You are dead, says Paul, and
your life is hid with Christ in God. And then there is the
witness of the Lord's Supper. This do in remembrance of me. As oft as ye eat this bread and
drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death till he come.
I witness to the church constantly set before them that it is the
precious blood of Christ that they are redeemed by. That is
their hope. And that is what is set before
them constantly, to not forget it is Christ that died. His precious
blood's been shed. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission. But with the shedding of blood,
there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. So we have the three record in
heaven, and the three witnesses that bear witness on earth, and
in the word of our text, not by water only, but by water and
blood. Not just a reformation, a change
of life, a change of leave, turning over a new leaf. Not that, but
redemption through the precious blood of Christ, washed in his
precious blood, truly redeemed. The people of God are reminded
of that right from the beginning of the Word of God, when Cain
brought her the fruits of the ground and God was not pleased
with his offering. that Abel brought a blood offering,
a lamb, the precious blood shed. And right through the Old Testament,
this message was there, that precious blood was to be trusted
in. Not in however much reformations
we might do, not in outward works, not in our sanctification, though
our sanctification flows forth from the redemption through the
precious blood of Christ. but it's not by water only, but
by water and blood. All of those that are redeemed
with the precious blood of Christ, God will separate unto himself,
he will sanctify, he will cleanse them, he will by the washing
of water, by the word, make them to be his bride. And so in the
not by, it is emphasizing the need of the blood. If you and
I, we must die, but our blood will not atone for our sin. But
the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, does cleanse from all sin. And we are to be really reminded
of that. Not by water only, but by water
and blood. But secondly, I want to speak
of the building of God's church. If we go back to the prophecy
of Zechariah, we find when the children of Israel were brought
out of Babylonian captivity, and they were to rebuild the
temple again. And Zerubbabel was laying the
foundation, and Joshua, the high priest, Both of them were involved
in the building of that temple. Many of the Jews were very discouraged. They'd seen the former temple,
the foundation of it, and this was not going to be as great.
And the Prophet Haggai, he said that this latter house, the glory
of it, would be greater than the former. It would be because
our Lord Jesus Christ should walk in that latter house. And there he did indeed, he cast
out the buyers and the sellers. And there he taught and walked
in that temple. But how was that church to be
built? How was God's building to be
built, the church of God to be built? And we have that set forth
in Zechariah 4 and verse 6. Then he answered and spake unto
me saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying,
Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord
of hosts. We are reminded in that, that
no efforts of man, no might of man, no armies, except the Lord
build the house, they labour in vain that build it. The Lord
shall build his church by his Spirit. And in gospel days, as
we mentioned, the disciples had to tarry until they were endued
with power from on high. What a difference it was when
the apostles preached and thousands were brought to faith. Thousands
were brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord. Thousands were converted
at a time. Very different. When our Lord,
before He suffered, the thousands they followed Him and He fed
them miraculously. But it was not the conversions,
it was not yet the Kingdom, it was not after Christ had died
and the blood shed. It was not when the Spirit was
given. So when the Spirit was given,
then this is the word to us today. Not all of our efforts Not all our efforts to try and
bring people into the Church of God or to add unto the Church. It won't be by man's might. It
won't be by his efforts. It doesn't mean to say that we're
not obedient and we're not diligent and that we don't spread forth
the Word and preach the Word. But our attention is that it
is not by these things. It is by the Spirit of God. So not by might, nor by power,
but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. And you see how the
emphasis is. We can preach just that it is
by the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit that quickeneth.
And we look for that same blessing that the Thessalonians had, where
they received the Word, not in the Word only, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power. But when we have it the other
way as well, that it is not by our might or power, not by our
efforts, not by that which is of a real demonstrable way. You think of Elijah when the
Lord spoke to him in the Mount Horeb, and the Lord passed by
and the great wind, the great fire, the great earthquake. He
said the Lord was not in them, but then a still small voice.
And we think of the springtime when it comes. It's not a great
commotion and noise and going on, but just gradually the green
appears on the bare twigs and everything greens up, everything
is clothed over without a sound. without anything seemingly to
be done, He's just doing it. And our Lord, when speaking to
Nicodemus on the new birth, He says, Thou hearest the sound
of the wind, but canst not tell from whence it cometh or whither
it goeth, so is every one that is born of the Spirit. And this
is the Spirit that is set forth here. to build the church is
not by might or power, but so gently, so quietly. And this is how you would expect.
If the Lord works in your heart and begins to quicken you, He'll
be gently, but effectively, powerfully, but not in a way you might say
like the Philippine jailer, somehow. converted in a very marked way,
and like the Apostle Paul, and often it's like Lydia, whose
heart the Lord opened, and who are partakers of the Spirit that
works so gently, and the Word distills and drops in. And sometimes
I've heard sermons, and someone's asked me afterwards, how did
you get on? And that particular time, I've thought this for,
you wait a week, let me, ask me in a week's time. Because
I've had those times that I felt it good to be there. I felt it
good to hear the Word. I haven't been particularly blessed,
but there's been that, who can tell, the Spirit will bring to
my remembrance that Word later on in the week. And sometimes
that has been the case, and it's been very precious. Just because
the minister's voice has ceased doesn't mean to say that the
Lord won't bless that word afterwards. If you go home disappointed tonight,
still pray, and still go over that word, and still look to
the Spirit to bless that word, and to make it powerful in your
soul. Well, there's another direction
in the Word of God as to how How not? How the church is not
built and how it is built. And this is if we turn to Paul's
epistle to Titus. And in Titus chapter 3, we have
in verse 5, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us. by the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost, and dovetails in with the work
of the Holy Spirit in renewing. But here we have the not by,
and it's very clear, not by works of righteousness which we have
done. This is what Paul, when writing to the Romans in chapter
10, he says that his own people that he so desired to be saved,
that they had a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
They didn't know this, not by. They were going ignorant of God's
righteousness and were going about to establish their own. No bekindness. If we were directing
someone on a particular path or through the woods near here,
that as well as telling them what was the way to walk, we
gave them very clear signs of what not to walk. and that there
is a clear gate or a bar in that way. Don't go that way, don't
go down that track. And this is what the Word of
God says here. The way of salvation, the way
the church is built up, not by works of righteousness which
we have done. All our works are filthy rags. You know, the very natural way
of those that are convicted by sin by and through the law and
convicted of their sin, is to try and make themselves better. And that's because we are born
under covenant of works. Adam was under the covenant of
works, do and live, transgress the law and die. And when we're
awakened to see what actually the condemnation that we're under,
the first thought is, we'll set this right, we'll put it right.
were remedied. And in one sense that door must
be closed and God will close it in a way of experience as
well. I know it is set forth very clearly
here. You may listen to it. I'm sure
of this, that there's many, if not all the Lord's people have
had to prove it because they've tried to do it by works and they've
got worse and worse and worse. They've added sin to sin. And then they are taught that
it is not. They can't obtain salvation that way. And then
they start to look the right way, another way. I often think
of this in the case of Ruth. When Ruth applied to Boaz that
she would take her for his bride, then it was on the basis that
he was a near kinsman. The law provided that for one
who had lost her husband, her supply, that a near kinsman could
marry her and raise up seed. But Boaz said that there was
a kinsman nearer, nearer to her than what he was, and he had
to consult him first. That had to be dealt with first. And when it came to land, that
other kinsman said, I will redeem it. I will take the land. But
then he said, now, you must marry Ruth as well. And he couldn't
do that. He said, I'll mar my own inheritance. And so then it fell to Boaz.
But Boaz had to rule him out first. And I often think this. Some may disagree with me. The
nearer kinsman is ourselves. No man can redeem his own soul. But we'll try first. We'll try
under the law. We'll try to. obtain salvation
by ourselves, but that must be ruled out. The Apostle says the
law is a schoolmaster unto Christ, and in Romans 8 we read what
the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh,
God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and
for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. How did he know that the
law couldn't do those things? because in Romans 7 we read that
he was alive without the law once, but when the commandment
came, sin revived and I died. The commandment showed him up
as a sinner. It took away his hope of salvation
through works, which as a Pharisee, that's how he lived, trusting
in his own righteousness. Our Lord pictured that with the
Pharisee in the temple, just speaking of his own goodness,
and Paul was one of them. But when the law was truly brought
into his soul, he is brought to condemnation under it. There's nothing wrong with the
law. The law is righteous and holy and good, but it's weak
through the flesh. The flesh is not able to do it.
You might say, well, we're going to get a person to run a race
and we'll set the, these are the marks that start and finish,
you run the race. This poor person's got a broken
leg or a leg in plaster, and they can't do it. There's nothing
wrong with the arrangement of the race or anything like that,
but the person that's running it can't. And so with the law,
we have no ability to fulfill the law, and even if we could
atone or live perfectly from now on, there's still our original
sin in Adam of which we're under condemnation. And there's no
man that doeth good and sinneth not, so there's sin in all that
we do. And so the word here is to clearly
put a stop, to really make it very clear that it's not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy
He saved us. Mercy is never, cannot ever be
earned The nothing that works of mercy just do not go together
at all. And so, it is through the mercy
of God, everyone that is saved. And again, we have the contrast
in the temple, the public, and God be merciful to me, a sinner. One was trusting to his own righteousness,
the other one was pleading mercy. It is the same message that is
here. So when, dear soul, you feel
the sin in your heart, you see your transgressions, you see
the path that you go, you see yourselves as a sinner, the Word
here says, don't you put your attention on making yourself
better, on mending your life, of setting up rules. Don't do
that way. You look to mercy. You look to
Christ. And you plead for mercy. You
say, yeah, but what about my life? Shouldn't I be making that
better? No, you put things in the right order. You find mercy
from Christ first and forgiveness of pardon. We'll come to this
later. Then he will deal with your life. You think of 1 John chapter 1,
verse 9. If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanses us from
all unrighteousness. That is, He is dealing with our
unrighteousness. He is working in us to will and
to do of His own good pleasure. Our works flow from mercy. Not works first to obtain mercy
as if we're going to buy it, but seek the mercy first. And the Lord will deal with the
works when He gives us His mercy. works as a fruit and you'll never
look back and say I've earned salvation. It's been given by
mercy and thou only has wrought all our works in us. So not by
works of righteousness which we have done, the building of
God's church in that way, by the Spirit of God, not by might
or power, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but by mercy,
by the mercy of God. Well, what about justification? Counted free from guilt. That is what justification means. One to be absolved of those things
that have been charged against them. The word has two portions
to say upon that, which seem to be, when you read them independently,
to be completely against each other. So I'm going to bring
them one at a time. Firstly, it is that which is
taught us in Galatians. In Galatians, in chapter 2, in
verse 16. We have there, knowing that a
man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith
of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not
by the works of the law. For by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. So the word here is not by the
works of the law to be justified. It is by faith. By faith in what
Christ has done. Faith trusting that Christ has
paid the debt. You know, if we had a debt, a
local hardware merchant or whatever it was, and we couldn't pay it,
and we had a good friend who said, you know that debt you've
got? I paid that. I settled that the other day. And then they met us going up
to the hardware. What were you going up there
for? You're going to buy something? No, no, no, I'm going to pay
my debt. But I told you I paid the debt. Why are you going up
there? Oh, they saw you laboring to get the money together to
get to pay for it. And I said, but it's already
paid. Now, Lord Jesus Christ has already settled the debt,
already paid, already made atonement. already redeemed, already set
free, not by works, not by the works
of the law, justified by the faith of Christ. And there's two sides to that.
The faith that Christ has given, in Hebrews 12, He is the author
and finisher of our faith, And the other side of it is the faith
in what Christ has actually done. The debt he's paid, what he's
accomplished at Calvary. So the way we are set free from
condemnation and guilt, the apostle says in Romans 8, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit. but there's another side to it.
And that side is introduced by James, the epistle of James. And there we have in the second
chapter really what seems to be an opposite
statement. It says in verse 24, you see
then how that by works of man is justified and not by faith
only. The word not by is faith only,
not by faith only. And you say Paul has said that
it's not by the works of the law. Is it works and faith? But you've got to see what James
is setting forth. And he says, A man will say,
Thou hast faith, and I have works. Show me thy faith without thy
works, and I will show thee my faith by my works. He says, Even so faith, if it
hath not works, is dead, being alone. And the way he's described
this is in a very simple way. And he says, What doth it profit
My brethren, though man say he hath faith and have not works,
can faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked
and destitute of daily food, and one of you say unto them,
Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye
give them not those things which are needful to the body, what
doth it profit? Even so faith, if it hath not
works, is dead, being alone. Wherever there is the true faith
of Jesus Christ, it will resolve in works of righteousness wrought
by God. The Lord says, without me ye
can do nothing, from me is thy fruit found. Remember the parable
that our Lord told of the sower, where the seed was sown into
four types of ground. And it was only the last time,
the last ground, which was good ground, that brought forth fruit. The whole message of that, the
first one, was on the wayside, the fowls came, took it up, like
Satan snatching the word away. Then there was that which was
sown upon the stones, which was no depth of earth, And as soon
as persecution came, and then they were offended because of
the word, and they went back no more, and they brought forth
no fruit to perfection. And then we have the one thrown
amongst thorns, and the thorns sprang up and choked it. It's
like the cares of this world and the things of this world
choked the word, that it become unfruitful. And every time, no
fruit, no fruit, no fruit. And then in the good ground,
And it brought forth fruit, some 30, some 60, some 100 fold. And all the time was the measure
of its fruitfulness. And it was in good ground. And
this is what James is so insistent upon. Where God's work is, then
there'll be a fruit. I think some of you have heard
me say what Gatsby was accosted once, walking down the street.
Someone called unto him, said, hey, look at that drunk lying
in the gutter, that's one of your converts. And Gatsby looked,
he said, yes, he said, it looks like one of mine. He said, if
it had been God's work, he wouldn't be lying in the gutter. And wherever
God's work is, it will make a change. A new creature in Christ. It
will change the heart, renew the will, and turn the feet to
wisdom's way. And so, James is right, so is
Peter right. It is one author, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit showing in those
two ways, not by works of the law, not by faith only, but by
faith that has a fruitful outcome, faith that draws from the Lord
Jesus Christ those works that are answerable to His work in
the heart. And this is what I said before,
look for mercy first, look for His work and grace in your soul
and the blessing that flows from the Lord first. If you get that
truly, He will deal. He will deal with your heart.
He will change your heart. He will change your life. You
will do those things that you didn't do before and won't do
those things that you did before. It will be an instant thing.
And I proved it. I proved it so many times. When
the Lord first worked in my heart, And I hated, I didn't like chapel.
I was planning to get away from the house of God. And then when
the Lord touched my heart, and it was an immediate thing, an
immediate difference. Not only was there an aching
void, a sense of utter ignorance, and a need as a sinner, but I
suddenly was going to every service I could, and the week evenings,
and whenever I could hear the word of God. It wasn't a conscious
effort, oh now if I'm going to be a Christmas Christian, I must
do this and this and this. That faith that he had given
him immediately had that effect and that fruitfulness. Like another
time later on, before I was baptised, very exercised, and I'd just
changed my job, and I felt I wanted at the meal table, at the common
room, lunch room, to bow my head and ask a word in prayer. And
I couldn't. Each time I came, I was frightened
of the man I was working with. I was ashamed to do it. And I
went home and made resolutions. Tomorrow I am. And I went three
months. And I couldn't get above that
at all. And then the Lord was pleased
to come and bless my soul, favoured my soul. And I went the next
day to work. I didn't even think about it.
The man was nothing. And I just bowed my head and
asked the blessing. And they didn't say anything.
I started bringing my Bible, bringing the gospel standard,
bringing the cheering words. And the Lord blessed me in those
lunch hours with the people around me. But you know, it was not
by my effort. I'd proved that for months of
inability. But one blessing in the soul,
and immediately it's done. And that is what He spoke of
first. There will be the works that
flow from faith, but seek that from the Lord. first, justified
by faith, and then works flowing forth from that. Well, how are
we to walk then in the last place? How are we to walk and serve
God? Then Paul writes to the Corinthians,
his second epistle, in chapter five and verse seven. And he says this, for we walk
by faith, not by sight. He says, therefore we are always
confident knowing that whilst we are at home in the body we
are absent from the Lord for we walk by faith not by sight. Later on it shall be that we
do appear before God and we shall know even as we are known that
here below our walk is by faith and that faith It is described
in the epistle to the Hebrews and how the apostle sets it forth
in Hebrews 11. That faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It is by
faith the elders obtained a good report, And right through Hebrews
it gives examples of what they did by faith. Noah building the
ark, that each one was in a different way. But from verses 13 to 16,
you have a summary, you can read it at your leisure, of those
that all died in faith. And it gives how they walked,
which was common to them all, saw the promises, have far off
embraced them. They confess that they are strangers
and pilgrims in the earth, and those that say such things declare
plainly they seek a country. They are living here below with
the reality of heaven, the reality in the Word of God. Faith cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And he is walking,
believing the Word of God to be true. And all that is seen
outside, all that is realized, that is of sight, is another
aspect as well. We can speak of walking by sight
when we have the blessing of the Lord in our soul, as I spoke
before, the effects of that. But those are not everyday blessings
the people of God have. Now if you looked at the blessings
Jacob had in his long life, you'd probably Two hands, you might
be able to. The great blessings I've had,
again, in my life, ten or so. But the helps that we have regularly,
the feeding, the strengthening, is through faith in the Word
of God. The children of Israel, they
despised the manna because it was small, it was little, and
they had it every day. Never despise the constant blessing
of the washing of water by the word and the feeding day by day. You and I usually have to bless
with three meals a day, naturally. And we don't say, well, because
it's so regular, then we don't need it. We can just leave it
off. But also, you couldn't point to a certain meal or vegetable
what you had. and say, I was strengthened,
or my leg grew a bit by that, or my arm by that. You can't,
but you know if you didn't have that regular food, you wouldn't
live. And God's children, they live,
they walk by faith, and they live upon the Lord by faith,
day by day. And so not only is there the
walk by faith and not by sight, Not by those things seen, and
not by sweet savours, blessings every day, but by faith in the
Word of God. That's how we walk. It's how
we serve the Lord as well. We're told that in Peter's epistle,
in 1 Peter chapter 5, verse 2. Not by constraint. Feed the flock
of God, which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by
constraint, but willingly. Not for filthy lucre, but of
a ready mind. Speaking of the Lord's servants,
taking the oversight of a flock, but really it applies to everything,
the path of a Christian. It's a freewill offering the
children of Israel had to do in the wilderness, not by constraint. It was freely, willingly offered. And so our walk here below, our
serving the Lord is willingly, not by constraint, but willingly. We should not have, if we are
called by the Lord to be said, well, Better wait until my pastor
says, help in this or that or the other, or makes me to walk
in these ways. It should be as you see there
is a need, as you see the people of God, like dear Lydia who,
when Paul came, she received him into the house. Those that ministered to the
Lord in a willing way, not by constraint at all. And that's
a beautiful sign, a beautiful way. You know, if we were to
give, like a servant, a whole list of duties, and all they
did was to do these duties. Sometimes we hear of people,
they go the second mile. They do far over and above what
is actually needed. With the Lord's dear people,
it is the love of Christ constraineth us. There's a sweet constraining
of love. Those of you who are children
or young people, and you're parents, where you love your parents,
you won't need laws and regulations to do this or that. You see there's
a need, you'll help them. A love will perform that. You're
not all the time counting, well, have I got my payment, and is
it fair or whatever like that? There'll be that love that constrains. And so it will be how we are
to serve We think of the walking in the
Lord's ordinances and in his house, obedience to his will,
not by constraint. Thy people shall be made willing
in the day of thy power. And that's a beautiful thing.
I will run the way of thy commandments when thou hast enlarged my heart. We have the way of the Lord's
commandments. And when the Lord enlarges our
heart, when the Lord blesses us, and makes us willing, and
makes us desirous, then that is the way we are to walk. And
it's a blessed way, a sweet way. You might have been asking, Lord,
how will I know? How will I know when to go? How
will I know when to act? The Lord enlarges your heart,
and you can do it without constraint, but willingly, because The Lord
has put love to him in your hearts. So we have these, not by, seven
of them. Way that we're not to walk, and
it contrasts and emphasizes the way that we are. May that then
be, help to us this evening, not by, not by water only, but
by water and blood. Lord, at his blessing, amen.