May it please almighty God to
bless us together this evening. Let us turn to the second epistle
of Paul to the Corinthians, chapter six, and we'll read verse two. The second epistle of Paul to
the Corinthians, chapter six, and we'll read verse two. For he saith, I have heard thee
in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured
thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. These are words which are repeated
really from the prophecy of Isaiah, where the prophet says in the
49th chapter of Isaiah and the 8th verse, he says this, thus
saith the Lord, in an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in
a day of salvation have I helped thee. and I will preserve thee
and give thee for a covenant of the people to establish the
earth to cause to inherit the desolate heritages. So the first part of this verse
is very similar to that which we read in the second verse of
the sixth chapter of the second epistle of Paul to the Corinthians
and it's just helpful really that in the verse that we've
read we're told, where it says I've heard thee in a time accepted
and in the day of salvation have I succored thee and in the verse
in Isaiah it says have I helped thee so we can conclude that
this word succored really means to help and perhaps in the day
and age in which we live it's a helpful position to know that
we have a God who does indeed help us and it's a good for us
to realize that God has helped us. Now the chapter that we read
together in Exodus chapter 15 of course was Moses recounting
the Lord's mercies to Israel and bringing them safely out
of Egypt and safely across the Red Sea and how all their enemy,
all the Egyptians, were destroyed in the Red Sea. None escaped. It was a wonderful deliverance
and it was not surprising at all, was it, that Moses should
therefore come and desire truly to sing that song. It is indeed a wonderful statement
and especially as we think of the blessings which the Lord
granted to Israel, unworthy as they were of the least of them. And in the second verse of that
15th chapter, we read, the Lord is my strength, and so on, and
has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will prepare
him an habitation, my Father's God, and I will exalt him." Well,
it will be a favor and a wonderful blessing for all of us if we
come to that realization that the Lord indeed is our strength
and indeed the Lord is our salvation. Until the Lord comes and touches
our heart and shows us the condition and the situation which we're
in by nature, We don't realize that we need any salvation. We're
happy really to continue with our life. Perhaps we may be aware
of scriptures which direct us to salvation. It doesn't really
touch our hearts until the time when the Holy Spirit brings us
into a time of spiritual need. Now we have the example of course
in the case of Israel and the Egyptians where they had a very
great need naturally and therefore we have a natural picture set
before us which directs us to the spiritual picture of the
soul traveling through life. And of course it is, I often
think, so very significant that there was Israel being brought into Egypt on quite
a wonderful day, the Day of Joseph. And his father and all the family
came down into Egypt and they were therefore delivered from
that extreme famine which existed. And there they lived in the good
of the land of Egypt. And that situation continued
for some 400 years. But over those years, things
became not so beneficial, not so profitable, not so comfortable. And they found themselves in
that situation then, where they were really being worked very
hard by the taskmasters. And their life was really labor,
from morning till night. There wasn't room really for
any rest and they struggled on day by day. But then they cried
unto the Lord. No doubt in their prayers, they
cried that he would have mercy upon them. And the Lord heard
their cries. And as we know, he sent Moses
to graciously and gloriously deliver them. And the deliverance
was so wonderful and so clear that there was no doubt that
it was the hand of Almighty God. It wasn't something that Moses
could have produced himself. No, it was the hand of God. And so in the set time, the time
the Lord has spoken of, it came to pass. that Israel were wonderfully
delivered. Israel were brought out of Egypt
and Israel eventually were brought safely into the Promised Land. But of course there were many
trials and many difficulties. There was much opposition from
their hearts to the way the Lord was leading them. And yet, as
we know, the Word of God tells us, he did lead them forth by
the right way that they might go to a city of habitation. And as we think of that picture
of Israel, all their journeys, all the difficulties, how they
came out of Egypt, what a wonderful picture it is for us today. as
we think perhaps of our souls, as we think of the condition
that we perhaps are in. And they had to cry unto God.
And my friends, you and I will have to cry unto God. And it
would be a great blessing if we have cried unto God. As they cried, they might be
delivered from Egypt. And perhaps as we may have cried,
the Lord will deliver us from all our sinful condition and
bring us out of that place of bondage. Now the Israelites were
brought out in a very remarkable way, a very wonderful way, because
it set before them in such a clear way that the Lord was that one
who was preserving them And the Lord was that one who brought
all those miracles to pass upon the Egyptians. And of course,
the last miracle was the death of the firstborn. And again,
that was a glorious picture, which the children of Israel
were able to remember right down to the time of the gracious and
glorious fulfillment of that picture, in the person, the life
and death and resurrection and ascension and intercession of
the blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. And today what
a mercy it is for us to therefore have the insight through the
wonderful Word of God in the New Testament to set before us
that which was set forth in the Old Testament dispensation But
really, there was not that clarity. It was in types, and it was in
shadows. And of course, the great type
was the Lord Jesus Christ as a slain lamb on that wonderful
Passover night. And that figure of that slain
lamb really has not left the Church of God. Because we still
have the picture today, we still have the consideration today,
as the Lord Jesus Christ was described as the Lamb of God
by John the Baptist, as he was described as the Lamb of God
by the Apostle John in the Revelation. So we have there the continuing
picture of this lamb slain and of course the significance was
that death occurred and also blood was shed and so we see
the necessity of death occurring and blood being shed. The picture
in that Passover shows to us the glorious scene of the Saviour
dying upon that cross at Calvary, giving His life so that the Church
of God could be set free, just like that Passover lamb that
shed blood placed upon the doorposts of the lintels set forth for
freedom from that death when the avenging angel passed over
Egypt. on that never-to-be-forgotten
night. It was death to one, and it was
life to the other. Well, tonight, may it be life
to our souls. And as we read these words, the
apostle says, for he says, I have heard thee in a time accepted,
and in the day of salvation have I succored thee. It really sets
before us the glorious scene of the Lord Jesus Christ as that
one indeed who was accepted, that one who was heard, and that
one who did bring this wonderful day of salvation. And so may
we rejoice tonight if the Holy Spirit, and it is only the Holy
Spirit, has caused us to realize that we have a need of salvation. And I believe if the Holy Spirit
has shown to us that we have a need of salvation, that means
that we have a need that our soul will be eternally saved,
that our soul will be eternally safe. that we shall spend eternity
in glory with the Lord Jesus Christ, that will show to us
our need and it will cause us to cry to God. And often in those
very simple words, those very beautiful words that the Lord
Jesus showed to the disciples in that parable of the publican
and the sinner, And we read in that publican's prayer, God,
be merciful to me a sinner. It'll be a great blessing for
all of us tonight, if that has truly been our prayer. We truly come before our God,
pleading for mercy, acknowledging we are a sinner. knowledge and
we need therefore salvation. God be merciful to me a sinner. Well you see God was merciful
to Israel of old. He brought them out of natural
bondage. It's a great blessing for us
today if God comes and brings us out of spiritual bondage. He brings us out of spiritual
bondage when we by the grace of God see the wonderful light
of the gospel the wonderful light of salvation israel were brought
to realize the light and the value of that shed blood and
of course it wasn't something which just passed by every year
every year they had to remember the passover in other words sometimes
when it was forgotten, but that was no excuse. Every year, they
were told to remember the Passover. They were told to remember the
deliverance from Egypt. They were told to remember how
it occurred and why it occurred. And so,
it would be good for us today, in our little lives, if we have
reason to remember in our spiritual life what we can describe so
clearly put before us here, the day of salvation, the day of
the saving us of our souls, the day when we were delivered from
the bondage of our sin, the day when we were led to the Lord
Jesus Christ as that Lamb of God that taketh away the sin
of the world. These may be familiar things,
but you know to the born-again sinner, it's good news from a
far country. It's that which rejoices our
soul. It's that which we love to hear
about. And indeed we have examples in
the Word of God how precious it was We can think of that well-known
character, Jonah. Well, God was merciful to Jonah,
and Jonah didn't deserve to receive any mercy, did he? God had told
him what to do, and he turned his back upon God. Well, perhaps
God's told us what to do. And we've turned our back upon
God. Well, Jonah, as we know, thought
that he'd escaped, got into a boat and paid them fair and was so
comfortable. And he went to sleep in the hold.
Nothing seemed to trouble his conscience. But the Lord knew
Jonah was there. The Lord knew all about Jonah. And the Lord knew what he would
do with Jonah. My friends, the Lord knows what he will do with
all of his people. What a blessing it is in our
little lives if there's the evidence that God is dealing with us. Now he dealt with Jonah in a
very outstanding way. A way in which Jonah could never
doubt. It was the hand of God upon him,
and it was the deliverance of God upon him. You know, it's
a great blessing when we have the evidence of God's hand being
upon us to convince us of our position, perhaps convince us
of our disobedience, convince us of our sinful position, and cause us to look to the Lord. That's what happened in the case
of Jonah. As you may well remember, there
was that great storm which arose, and eventually Jonah confessed
the storm had arisen because of him. And he said the only
solution was to thrive overboard into the sea. Of course, the
sailors didn't want to do that, and they tried hard to avoid
it. eventually they couldn't. Therefore Jonah was thrown into
the sea. But God had prepared a great
fish, a whale, to swallow Jonah. God had prepared. And in our
lives God has prepared for us indeed the time, the day of salvation. And it would seem that in the
case of Jonah, He was still really unmoved for
some three days. And then we're told after three
days, he said, I will look again unto thy holy temple. Once again,
he returned to pray unto God. Did God turn away from him? Oh,
no. God heard his cries. appointed
time had come, the appointed time had come to deliver Jonah
and the result was Jonah came to that position where he confessed
salvation is of the Lord. No other way and I believe that's
true in the lives of all his people one way or another not
so dramatic, no doubt, as Jonah's case was. But nonetheless, the
end is the same. We come to say, not of works,
not of what I've done, not because of my virtues, but salvation
is of the Lord. The saving of my soul, the deliverance
of my soul, is the blessed work of the Holy Spirit. oh what a
mercy it is when that comes, oh what a mercy that is when
we come to that position and we can praise God, praise God
indeed from whom all blessings flow. Now having said that the
apostle says in the day of salvation have I suffered thee and then
he says two statements both beginning with the word behold And that
means that you and I should take notice of it. So take careful
notice of it and not ignore it. And so he says, behold, now is
the accepted time. And then behold, now is the day
of salvation. Firstly, the accepted time. We are still in time. There is still time for that
deliverance. There's still time for the mercy
of God to be known and to receive and to praise God for. An accepted
time. Behold now. It doesn't say tomorrow. It says now. The Lord has spoken in this very
clear way, because the devil will tell us, you needn't bother
about that. Don't listen to that such a word. You can ignore now, because God
knows there'll be a time to come. And you can ignore this little
word now. I believe you and I ignore it
at our peril because we don't know how much longer you and
I will live on this earth. We don't know how much longer
the day of salvation will be before us. We don't know how
much longer it will be for us to receive mercy, to receive
deliverance, So let us not pass over such a statement as this. Behold, we are to remember, we
are to note, we are to observe. Behold, now is the accepted time. And then as he goes on to say,
behold again, now is the day of salvation. What a blessing
for you and me. We're in a day of salvation.
Once we are at a time, we are not in a day of salvation. The day of salvation will have
passed us by and passed us by forever. Oh, my friends, it's a very solemn
consideration, isn't it? It's a very solemn realization
to think of this, but now, but now, is the day of salvation. It's a blessed thing and a solemn
thing. And my friends, may we not pass
it by, but may we be concerned to know that our cry comes unto
our God. Jonah's cry came up to his God. Israel's cry came up to almighty
God. And my friends, down through
the ages, The cry of God's people has come up to him in heaven,
seeking for his mercy, seeking for his blessing. You know, in
the Revelation, there's a very powerful statement in the 12th
chapter and the 10th verse, and this is what we read. And I heard
a loud voice saying, in heaven, my friends, when God's voice
comes to us, It may be a still small voice, but it will
have a powerful effect, like it did in the life of Jonah.
And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now is come salvation,
now is come, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the
power of his Christ, for the accuser of our brethren, is cast
down, which accuse them before our God day and night. You see
the accuser of the brethren, the devil may indeed accuse you
and me and say, there's no hope. There's no point in repenting.
There's no point in confessing your sin. There's no point in
praying to God. But my friends, he'll tell you,
day of salvation is past, but you can tell him from the word
of God, but now is the day of salvation. You see he can't disprove
that. He is a vanquished foe. He'll
do all he can to turn us away from the great and glorious truths
of the gospel. But oh may we recognize the glory
of such words for us today. Behold now is the accepted time,
behold now is the day of salvation, and may we all know the blessing
of it, the blessing in knowing that we are saved from all our
sins, delivered from our sins, and it's only through the way
of salvation which is through that glorious sin atoning sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a cost to save our souls. Rebellious men, rebellious women,
rebellious children. And yet what a merciful God.
What a gracious God. Oh, may we come tonight rejoicing
in this great salvation. Because what does it do? It sets us free. It frees us
from the condemnation of the law, and it sets us free into
that glorious kingdom of our God. And we can then look forward
with a gracious and blessed anticipation of that inheritance, which is
incorruptible and undefiled, and which is reserved in heaven
for you who are kept by the power of God, through grace, unto salvation. Amen.