Let's begin the worship of God
this evening with prayer. Almighty and ever merciful and
eternal Lord God, we bow before thee once more at the throne
of grace, thanking thee for the way of prayer and thanking thee
for this opportunity once more to gather under the authority
of thy word and to worship thee. We pray that thou grant us a
true spirit of worship this night within our hearts, that we may
fall down before thee and humble ourselves in the dust before
thee, the holy, holy, holy God. We pray, Lord, that as we have
come aside for a little while, we ask that thy word may be made
a blessing to our never-dying souls, that we may feed upon
it and be edified and encouraged to press on the narrow way that
leads to life. We pray, Lord, that those who
are still lost in trespasses and sins may realise their dangerous
condition and hear the voice of the Lord Jesus and that they
may come, that they may follow him. We pray that thou bless
those also who will listen online and we ask that. Each one may
be knit together in the unity of the Spirit. Do help us as
we sing, do help us as we pray, as we ask all of these things.
In the name of thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. So may the Lord help us as we
begin by singing from Hymns for Worship number 156. Psalm 23. The Lord's my shepherd,
I'll not want. He makes me down to lie. In pastures
green he leadeth me, the quiet waters by. Hymns Worship 156
to the tune 851. The Lord's my shepherd, I'll
not want. He makes me down to lie. In my heart just breathe, he
leadeth me. ? Where quiet waters lie ? ? My soul need of grace or a day
? ? And me to hope that may ? ? Within the paths of righteousness ? May thy hope in death prevail,
yet will I fear thy will. For thou art with me at thy word,
and shall ? My table has furnished air ?
? In presence of my foes ? ? I help the dust with oil and
wine ? and my companion. Earnest and mercy all my life. Coming once again to the reading
of the Word of God, I would like us to turn to the book of the
Hebrews and reading together chapter 12. Hebrews chapter 12. Wherefore, seeing we also are
compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. Let us
lay aside every weight and the sin which does so easily beset
us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne
of God. For consider him that endured
such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied
and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto
blood, striving against sin. And ye have forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you, as unto children. My son, despise not
thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked
of him. For whom the Lord loveth, he
chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. If ye
endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what
son is he whom the father chasteneth not? But if ye be without chastisement,
wherefore all are partakers, then ye are bastards and not
sons. Furthermore, We have had fathers
of our own flesh which corrected us and we give them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in
subjection unto the father of spirits and live? For they verily
for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure. But he for
our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present
seemeth to be joyous but grievous. Nevertheless afterward it yieldeth
the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto them which are exercised
thereby. Wherefore Lift up the hands which
hang down, and the feeble knees, and make straight paths for your
feet. lest that which is lame be turned
out of the way, but let it rather be healed. Follow peace with
all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Looking diligently, lest any
man fail of the grace of God, lest any root of bitterness springing
up trouble you and thereby many be defiled. lest there be any
fornicator or profane person as Esau, who for one morsel of
meat sold his birthright. For you know how that afterward,
when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected,
for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully
with tears. For you are not come unto the
mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor
unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest. And the sound of
a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that heard entreated
that the word should not be spoken unto them any more. For they
could not endure that which was commanded. And if so much as
a beast touched the mountain, it shall be stoned or thrust
through with a dart. And so terrible was the sight
that Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake. But ye are come
unto Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and to a innumerable company of angels. to the general
assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven,
and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men
made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant,
and to the blood of a sprinkling that speaketh better things than
that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh, for if they escape not to refuse him that spake
on earth much more shall we not we escape if we turn away from
him that speaketh from heaven whose voice then shook the earth
But now, he hath promised saying, yet once more I shake not the
earth only, but also heaven. And this word, yet once more
signifying the removing of those things that are shaken. and of
things that are made, and those things which cannot be shaken
may remain. Wherefore, we are receiving a
kingdom which cannot be moved. Let us have grace, whereby we
may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. for our God is a consuming fire. May the Lord add his blessing
to the reading of his word. Amen. Our next hymn is from Gadsby's
hymn number 397. 397. In themselves as weak as
worms, how can poor believers stand when temptations, foes,
and storms press them close on every hand? Hymn 397, tune 511. In themselves, as weak as ones,
how can poor believers stand, where temptations, foes, and
storms press and press on every hand? We indeed may feel they
are, But they know the throne of grace, And the God who answers
prayer, Helps them when they seek his face. ? What they hate ? ? Slaughtered
they at length of day ? ? He who told their hearts to pray
? ? Will not let them die in vain ? I am birds and brazen gays. Let us now of praises give, and
by sweet experience told, call upon Him while we live. May we be taught once more how
to pray. O Lord, our God, we come again
before Thee, acknowledging, O Lord, that we are not deserving of
the least of Thy mercies, but we thank Thee that Thou art indeed
a merciful God We do thank Thee that Thou art long-suffering,
Thou art patient and kind, and ever ready to hear the cries
of Thy people. We thank Thee that the door of
mercy stands open all day. We thank Thee that we are able
to approach unto Thee through the finished work of Thy Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, at any time. and obtain help and strength
in our time of need. We do thank Thee, O Lord, that
Thou art willing to hear our requests and our petitions in
accordance with Thine own will. and that thou hast promised to
grant the Holy Spirit to those who ask of thee. And we pray
as we come to the throne of grace once more that we may be taught
how to pray, that we may be given a greater measure of thy Holy
Spirit, that he may intercede on our behalf with groanings
which cannot be uttered with the human lips. We do acknowledge,
O Lord, that Thou dost know the things that we have need of before
we even ask of Thee. Thou dost know us better than
we know ourselves. The very hairs of the heads of
Thy people are numbered, and we are of more value than many
sparrows. We do thank Thee, Lord, that
we can come unto Thee through Thy Son as our Father which art
in heaven. Hallowed be Thy name. We do thank
thee that through the finished work of Christ thou art able
to adopt us into thy family and we are able to be heirs of the
kingdom of God. And we do acknowledge that there
is no limit to thy power and to thy ability. Our lives, minutest
circumstances laid open before thee and our greatest difficulty
is nothing compared to thy ability. And we do pray that as we come
to present our requests at thy feet, that thou would hear us
in heaven, thy dwelling place. We thank thee for thy word and
for the record of thy dealings with the children of Israel.
And we thank thee that we can look at the many wonderful things
which thou didst do. And when Solomon lifted up his
hands to heaven to ask that thou would come and manifest thyself
and present thyself into the temple, thou didst hear him in
heaven thy dwelling place. And we thank thee for that record
that thou didst descend upon the holy place. And we would
ask that thou would also manifest thyself to us as we meet together
as a company, that we may know thy presence, that it may be
felt amongst us. We ask, Lord, that our hearts
our souls may be ignited by thy spirit, that we may be given
that holy zeal of the Lord Jesus Christ to drive out all worldliness
and ungodliness that is found harbouring itself within our
minds and hearts. We pray, Lord, that we may be
granted a glimpse of thy holiness and thy greatness, that we know
we will see ourselves as mere worms of this earth, an unclean
thing. We pray, Lord, that as Peter
had a glimpse of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he said, depart from
me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord, And we pray, Lord, that we may
see in a greater measure our own sinfulness and our greater
need of the Lord Jesus Christ and thy spirit's help to enable
us to continue walking on the narrow way that leads to life. We ask, Lord, that we may be
granted that ability to shine as lights in a dark place. We
pray that we may be able to be faithful ambassadors of the Lord
Jesus, faithful witnesses of him, those strangers and pilgrims
in a foreign land. We ask that we may remain faithful
in the midst of great opposition and satanic attacks seeking to
draw us aside. We pray that we may be helped
not to be conformed to the image and likeness of this world, but
help us to take up our cross daily and to deny ourselves and
to follow the Lord Jesus. We pray, Lord, for our families,
for each and every one that is gathered with us this evening.
Let us know the intimate details of every single person's life. Let us know, Lord, the things
that concern, the things that worry, the things that perplex,
the things that bring fear and anxiety. And we would pray that
those needs may be comforted according to thy will and through
thy word. That we may be granted a greater
measure of faith to press on this road to glory. We pray for
those that are struggling at this time. We think especially
of the family of Joshua Jemson. We thank thee, Lord, for the
meeting this afternoon and for the many who are so concerned
regarding the child. We would ask, Lord, that thou
hear the cries of those and, Lord, we ask that thou do wonderful
things. We pray that thou use this as
a means for the good of many souls. We ask, Lord, that if
it could please thee, that it may have an effect upon one and
another, that it may cause them to seek after eternal things
and to realise the frailty and the finality of our bodies and
death. We pray, Lord, for the church
which they attend. Do be with them, we pray, and
bless them. Do help the pastor there to know how to deal with
such an event. We pray, Lord, that he may be
granted a special measure of wisdom and strength. Lord, do
guide him and help him to be thy messenger with thy message
and to know how to rightly shepherd in that very fragile and difficult
situation. We pray for the other extended
family, the Jemson family also. still recovering from the death
of George Jemson. And we pray, Lord, for them and
maybe the many perplexing questions in which they have. We ask that
they may be able to be comforted and rest in thy sovereign will
and rule over all things. We ask that we may be made ready
for every event that may take place unexpectedly in our lives. We pray, Lord, that help make
us ready, especially in the realm of salvation, that each of us
here at this place of worship may be ready to stand before
Thee on that great and final day. That we may have our lamps
burning, that, Lord, we will be ready to meet thee when thou
dost come as a thief in the night, that we may be made ready to
stand before thee. We pray that thy spirit then
may work amongst us, that many may be born again, and the saints
may be revived and edified and encouraged to persevere. We pray, Lord, that as the harvest
is so truly great, yet the labourers are so few, we would ask that
thou would send forth labourers into the harvest, that there
may be a gathering into the sheepfold of the Lord Jesus Christ. I do
assist those, Lord, we pray, this evening who are ministering.
I do grant them freedom and liberty, and we ask that thy word may
not return unto thee void, but it will accomplish that wherewith
thou wilt ascend it. We pray, Lord, that thou remember our nation also,
remember those suffering throughout this world, Do you remember the
ongoing conflicts and those who have lost loved ones and who
are struggling to comprehend all that is taking
place? We pray, Lord, that they may
be moved to seek Thee and to find Thee. We would ask that
Thou would come now once more and help me in speaking Do, Lord,
pour in that I may be able to pour out, and that it may be
proved that thy strength is perfected in weakness. Do draw near to
us, we pray, and bless each and every one this night, that we
may go on our way rejoicing what thou hast done. Do forgive us,
Lord, of our many sins. Make up where we fail, as we
ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. our notice for the coming week,
God willing. Chair members are reminded that
there is a meeting tomorrow evening. On Wednesday, James will lead
the prayer meeting at 7.15 in the evening and also James will
preach the next Lord's Day at 11 and 3 o'clock with the Sunday
school at 2 o'clock. Now we'll turn to our next hymn
in Gadsby's 471. 471. Prepare me, gracious God,
to stand before thy face. Thy spirit must thee work perform,
for it is all of grace. Hymn 471, tune 61. Give heavy, gracious God to stand
before thy face. Thy saving must and work perform,
for it is all of grace. In Christ's obedience flow, and
wash me in his blood. So shall I lift my head with
joy among the sons of God. Let me attest thy power Let me the goodness live, Till
my full soul can hold no more Of everlasting love. Seeking once more the Lord's
gracious help to grant me the words to speak to you this evening,
I'd like you to turn to the chapter that we read together, Hebrews
chapter 12, and the text you'll find in verse 14. Follow peace
with all the men and holiness, without which no man shall see
the Lord. Follow peace with all the men
and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Chapter 12 obviously comes after
chapter 11 where we are given a list of the faithful who have
persevered under much opposition. They have walked the pathway
of life, the pilgrimage, and they have made it safe to glory. And chapter 11 is written for
the encouragement of the Lord's people, that great variety of
those who looked for salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ as they
viewed by faith that one day the Lord would send the promised
Messiah to be that perfect sacrifice for sin. And chapter 12 begins
with verse 1, wherefore, or because of this, Seeing we also are compassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us
run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. And so he presents to us a comparison
regarding the Lord Jesus Christ and ourselves, that the way to
life or the way to eternal life is not through an easy pathway. It's not a road in which there
is no trouble and no difficulty. We are to look at the various
clouds clouds of witnesses that have gone before us and seen
the pathway in which they walked and the many difficulties and
obstacles and personal sins they had to battle with in order to
gain a victory, to accomplish or come to the finish line of
their life. and it's described as a race
and as the person running a race lays aside all those garments
that would hinder them and to prove difficult to run. He says that we are to lay aside
those sins which so easily beset us. Those who were here this
morning We remember the Lord Jesus Christ as he went into
the temple. And as we know, the temple was
the dwelling place of God and the place was holy. It was set
aside and dedicated for the worship of God. And when the Lord Jesus
Christ went there, he found the buyers and the sellers. He found
the money changers. He found the animals and the
birds. And he found people doing business
and that the holy sanctuary, the court of the Gentiles had
become a place of business. And he says that they had made
it a den of thieves, a place of merchandise. And we likened it to our own
lives, our own bodies. That as someone comes by faith
to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, that work that has been
done in them is done by the Holy Spirit of God. And he enters
into that person and he cracks open their hard heart and he
gives them a heart of flesh. And he cleanses them from the
inside out and removes all sin and that person becomes a dwelling
place of God. the temple of the Holy Spirit. And that person now is in a battleground,
a battle which they never knew before, before their heart and
body was knit together in one aim, and that is rebellion against
God. But now there is a battle that
is taking place as the Spirit of God enters and as eternal
life is granted and spiritual life is given. an awareness of
sin, an awareness of indwelling sin, an awareness of habitual
sin, an awareness of deep-rooted sin, an awareness of the corrupted
mind. We have been made alive and made
sensitive to see ourself as God sees us. And as Christ chased out the
buyers and the sellers, so it is now a continual warfare between
indwelling sin and righteousness, a continued battleground of chasing
out the buyers and the sellers, a war against self, a war against
Satan, and a war against this world of ours. And so chapter 12 is written
for an encouragement. Because we look at ourselves
and we may think, well, I'm never going to make it. I'm going to
stumble. I'm going to fall. I'm going
to bring shame upon the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to be
overcome by this ongoing sin. He says, well, look at chapter
11. and then seek to go day by day,
running the race that is set before you, looking unto the
Lord Jesus Christ, laying aside every sin which does so easily
beset us. looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ,
the author and the finisher, the captain of our salvation,
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is sat down at the right hand of God. And if you are weary of the battle,
He says, consider then him that endured such contradiction of
sinners against himself, lest you be weary and faint in your
mind, ye have not resisted unto blood, striving against sin. You have not had to lose your
life in your battle against sin. because the Lord Jesus Christ
has lost his life in his victory over sin and he has granted each
and every believer his spirit to enable them to be more than
conquerors in Christ Jesus. But that does not mean it is
going to be a walk in the park. It is through much tribulation
that you and I must enter the kingdom of God. And it is an
ongoing battle until the day that we die to resist and to
overcome the sin which so easily besets us. Christ has saved us from our sins but he has also
saved us from the power of sin. Sin no longer has dominion over
the life of a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are
able by the power of the Spirit to overcome besetting sins and
to be more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. And our ongoing Christian pathway
is a continued lesson about self and about Christ. If you look
at Peter, sorry, look at the life of Peter in the gospel according
to John. Peter had a lesson to learn.
He was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and a follower of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet he had his natural character. Each of us have our own natural
characters that have been given to us as God knit us together
in our mother's wombs. Some people are naturally humble. Some people are naturally outgoing. Some people are naturally angry. Some are passive. Some are confident. Some are meek. And Peter, the
Apostle Peter, had an outgoing character. He was always the
first one to speak. Maybe he would call himself confident. But that was the nature that
God gave him. But that nature that God gave
him often got the better of him. And so Jesus had to teach him
a lesson of personal holiness, to humble him, to refine him,
to sanctify him in a greater measure. We read of gold, don't
we, in the furnace, how it is purified in the heat. And as
the dross comes to the top and is scraped off. And so God does
the same to his people. And Peter needed to be put into
the fire to humble him and to prove him. John 13. And verse 36, Simon Peter said
unto him, Lord, Where to goest thou? Jesus answered
him, Whither I go thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt
follow me afterwards. Peter said unto him, Lord, why
cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life for thy
sake. There he was, speaking under
his own strength. Yes, naturally he probably believed,
I am able to do this. I love the Lord Jesus and I'm
going to lay down my life. I'm not afraid of anything. But
Jesus saw some self-confidence there. Jesus saw some pride there,
some maybe selfish ambition, wanting to be something. Will
you? lay down thy life for my sake. Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
the cock shall not crow till thou hast denied me three times,
thrice. Jesus knew that this man, he
needs a lesson. And Jesus knew exactly what Peter
was going to do. And Jesus knew exactly the lesson
that he was going to teach him and the way that lesson was going
to be taught. In chapter 18, as you all will
know, how Peter was left to deny the Lord Jesus Christ, the very
words that he said, I will go with you even unto death. Yet he is put to shame before the little maid, the damsel. Art thou not one of this man's
disciples? He says, I am not. Peter stood and warmed himself.
They said unto him, Art thou not also one of this man's disciples?
He denied it and said, I am not. one of the servants of the high
priest being his kinsman, whose ear Peter cut off, saith, did
not I see thee in the garden with him? Peter then denied him
again, and immediately the cock crew. There it was. All of his pride,
all of his self-confidence came crashing down. But Jesus had
done a work in him. He had knocked off some of his
edges. He had shown himself in a greater
measure and Peter would never be the same again. That edge,
that self-confidence and boldness was now humbled because of the
lesson that the Lord Jesus Christ taught him. Let us lay aside
every sin and every weight which does so easily beset us, and
let us run with patience the race that is before us, looking
unto the Lord Jesus Christ. Follow peace with all men and
holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. You see,
once Peter had been converted, once the Spirit of God had begun
that work within him, the Holy Spirit of God was not an inactive
part in Peter's life. It was not passive. And the Christian
life, it is not a passive life. It is a life of active warfare
against self, sin, and the world. And it is a pursuit, a pursuit
of Christ's likeness and holiness. Follow peace. That's not passive. That is actively thinking about
how you are to behave in certain situations. That is not a warfare
with your neighbor. It is to actively look for peaceful
situations, peaceful ways of escape and doing things with all men, not just our Christian
friends. When we leave the watchful eye
of the church and we have to go and we have to deal with our
neighbours in secret, There is that active pursuit of a right
way of Christian living in the way that we act and in the way
that we talk and in the way that we deal with people. And this
following piece is actively connected to holiness. And if you don't have holiness,
it says you won't see the Lord. Follow peace with all men and
holiness. Holiness, we know, is not an
attribute of man. Holiness is the characteristic
of God. There is nobody that is holy
by nature. We read in Isaiah that the angels of God sing about
God's holiness. Isaiah, as he is given a glimpse
into heaven, he says, I saw the Lord, Isaiah 6, I saw the Lord
sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and his train filled
the temple. Above it stood the seraphims. Each one had six wings, with
twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet,
and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto the other
and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole
earth is full of his glory and the post of the door moved at
the voice of him that cried and the house was filled with smoke. And so holiness is an attribute
of God and the reason why it is written holy holy holy is
because the language cannot describe the holiness of God and so it
has to just add words upon words upon words to express the true
greatness and the separation in which God, how God exists
from us. That is holy, holy, holy is completely
separate from sin. We read this morning, in Isaiah 57, in verse 15, for
thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabits eternity, whose
name is holy. I dwell in the high and holy
place. and with him also that is of
a contrite and a humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble
and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. His name is holy
and his dwelling place is holy. And we saw, didn't we, when he
came and he met with Moses there at the bush that the very presence
of God became holy, undefiled. and separate from sin. The scripture tells us that we
are children of Adam. We are the creation of God's
hands. The word Adam, the name Adam
means from the soil or red soil. And we know that because Adam
rebelled against God, all of his seed, all of his children
fell and became unholy and unrighteous in the sight of a holy God. So how can it be then that we who are sinful are able to pursue after something
which is called holiness, which is totally beyond our reach because that which is corrupted
can never become holy. Holiness is beyond our grasp and it says if we don't have
holiness we will never see God. And that's the wonder of salvation,
that that which is defiled is able to be made undefiled by the finished work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we were in Kenya, the water
that came down from the clouds, went into the gutters and into
the tanks. And after a heavy downpour, that
water would be all churned up and it would be brown. But it needed to go through some
filters. It went through four filters
plus a UV light. But after a heavy downpour, that
water would still come out brown. After going through all of those
filters, it would be still classed as contaminated. Yet when Christ has finished
with a contaminated sinner, he is able to present them faultless
before God. They are set apart. He cleanses them from all sin. 1 Peter chapter 2, it says, But
you, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a peculiar people. that you should show forth the
praises of him who called you. out of darkness into his most
marvellous light. He calls them a holy nation,
those who were once separated from himself because of their
sin, those who are once walking in the darkness, those who were
once on the broad road that leads to destruction, aliens and separated
from God because of the finished work of Christ and the revelation
and the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit They are brought
into the family of Christ and they are made or they are called
a chosen people. They are adopted into the family
of God, they are no more orphans, but they are children of the
living God, part of the royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
peculiar or a particular people who have been set aside for God. And they are to walk and live,
showing forth the praises of him who called them from darkness
into his most marvellous light. Romans tells us something of
the greatness of the accomplished work that
the Lord Jesus Christ has given to his people. Romans 4, it says,
verse 25, who was delivered for our offences and was raised again
for our justification. Because of this, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And so Christ, having lived his
perfect life, having worked a work of righteousness that can be
credited to the accounts of his people, takes the punishment
for the sins of his people. He who was made sin, he who knew
no sin was made sin for us. And through the finished work
of Christ, as God punished him for the sins of his people, he
wipes out the debt that they owe to God. Therefore there is
no more to be charged. There is nothing that God can
charge them for because Christ has paid the penalty for their
sin. They are justified. Their sin
is cancelled. It is cast behind the back of
Almighty God into the depths of the sea and it is remembered
no more forever. Romans 8. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh
but after the spirit. There is no condemnation. God
views them as in Christ Jesus having completed his law and
they stand righteous before him, therefore he pronounces them
as holy. A holy people before a holy God. Now this is
one of the great mysteries, that a person, one of the Lord Jesus
Christ's people, can be in one hand holy and in the other hand
sinful. They can be righteous and unrighteous
at the same time. In God's eyes, on God's, in God's court, there's no sin. Because Christ
has paid every single drop, every single fine in full. Yet, as they walk this earth,
They are both righteous and unrighteous at the same time. They are both
holy and defiled at the same time. And there is a constant
warfare between the righteous and the unrighteousness that
is within every single believer. And that is one of the signs
that you are a true child of God, that you have been born
again of the Spirit of God, is because you wake up every single
morning and you go to war with yourself. And you understand
that this day I've got to fight with myself. This day I've got
to fight with Satan. And this day I've got to fight
with the world. And I can only accomplish this
by the power of God given to me by his spirit. An interesting account is found
in the book of Job. You see, God, who we read of,
is holy. Holy, holy. And nothing that
defiles can enter into his presence. He is separate from sin. And yet in the book of Job, we
read that the sons of God presented themselves before the Lord and
Satan also came among them. You see, it's a great mystery. It is a great mystery that righteousness
and unrighteousness can dwell together in the life of a believer. That holiness and defiledness
can dwell together in the life of a believer and that God and
Satan can commune together in heaven itself is a great mystery. And it is here written as a fact
that that is what takes place. And it is a fact that every single
believer is at war with righteousness and unrighteousness, the old
nature and the new nature within themselves. And they constantly
are actively fighting to promote godliness in their lives. And so Paul writes, or the writer
to the Hebrews writes, follow peace with all men and holiness,
without which no man will see the Lord. So that is the fight of the believer. I mean, where in Kenya, I used
to say to the ladies used to use an example. On Sunday all
the ladies would come in their nice dresses and you would look
at them and you would wonder how have you walked from your
home through all of the mud and arrived here without a splatter
of mud on your dress. And if you were to watch them
walking you would see that they take great care to avoid the
puddles and the mud opposite to the children who jump in all
of the puddles, walk through all of the mud and come to church
covered in mud. Yet the ladies take great care
in arriving at the place of worship looking as though they've just
stepped out of their houses. And if they take such a great
care of looking after their dresses, not to get them spotted and defiled,
how much more care should you and I take in walking the narrow
way that leads to life, pursuing after holiness? How much more
care should we be taking, like the Lord Jesus Christ, driving
out the buyers and the sellers, so that the Lord's temple should
not be defiled? How easy it is to allow everything
just to come in and to be conformed to the image and likeness of
the world, but how hard it is to fight and to resist the temptation
and to resist the conformity to the image and the likeness
of this world. We are called not to, we are called to follow
Christ. We are called to be a separate
and a particular people. We are different. You cannot
be a Christian and live in the world at the same time. The two
can't go together. Yes, we have to live in the world,
but I mean to be worldly. If we have the spirit of God
living within us, then we have to almost suppress the desires that we have. Let me put it this way. If we
have the spirit of God in us and we go into a disco, the Holy
Spirit of God is going to prompt us that we are doing something
that is sinful and displeasing to the Lord. Now you can suppress, maybe for
a time, the spirit of God. But God will, if you are his
people, chasten you as a son to bring you back to the conformity
of his will, which is not to go to places of worldliness. But if you can enter into places
of worldliness and sinfulness and it not have any effect upon
you whatsoever, and you are allowed by God to continue in those things,
you can be totally sure that you are outside of Christ and
you are still walking on the broad road that goes to destruction. The Holy Spirit of God works
in us to produce holiness and Christ-likeness, crucifying the
lust of the flesh and the desired nature of the old man. And so it is a holiness that
is to be guarded and a holiness which is to be pursued after. As the Kenyan ladies try to keep
their dresses clean, so you and I, as believers, seek to follow
after Christ on the narrow way that leads to life, keeping ourselves
unspotted from the world. And in our own strength, yes,
we cannot do it. But we don't walk in our own
strength. I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me. May we be enabled then to drive
out the buyers and the sellers. May we be enabled to follow peace
with all men and holiness that one day we will see the Lord
face to face and we will hear those words. Well done, my good
and faithful servant, wherefore seeing also your compass about
with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight
and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us, looking unto the Lord,
the author, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen. Our final hymn this evening is
Hymns for Worship, number 176. 176. Abide with me, fast falls the
even tide. The darkness deepens, Lord, with
me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts
flee, help of the helpless, O abide with me. Hymns for Worship, 176,
tune 758. Abide with me, fast falls the
eventide, that darkness sleepers, Lord, with me abide. When all the helpers, pain and
comforts flee, Help of the helpless, so am I, wailing. Sway to his word, tender night,
little day, as joys from dear His glory pass away. Change and decay in all around
I see. O Thou who changest not, abide
with me. I need thy presence every hour
to come. All that I praise come, all that
enters come. You, like thyself, like I, am,
stay, can be. through hell and sunshine or
abiding with me. I've been a foe with thee, ? There is no bitterness ? ? Where
is death's sting ? ? Where, grave, thy victory ? ? Thy triumph still, if thou abide
with me ? yourself before my cloudy eyes. Shine through the blue and point
me to the skies. As morning breaks and as Mighty God, we do pray that each
of us here may be granted that true holiness granted to us by
the finished work of Thy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray,
Lord, that each of us on that great day of judgment may be
presented to Thee holy and undefiled through faith in Thy Son. And we do thank Thee for the
gift of Thy Holy Spirit who enables Thy people to persevere on the
narrow way that leads to life. And we pray, Lord, that as we
begin another week, and as we tomorrow go out to battle against
ourselves, against Satan and against the world, we ask that
tomorrow we may be more than conquerors in Christ Jesus, that
we may gain the victory over self, sin and the devil. Do, Lord, then take us home in
peace and in safety, and do grant us that desire to be here on
Wednesday according to thine own will. Now may the grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with
the fellowship and the communion of the Holy Spirit, to abide
with us each now and for evermore. Amen.