I please God to bless us together
as we've gathered here then this morning for worship and bless
the word which we will meditate upon. Let's turn to the Gospel
of Matthew chapter 4 and we'll read verse 17. The Gospel of
Matthew chapter 4 and reading verse 17. From that time Jesus
began to preach and to say repent for the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. This day in our calendar is known
as Armistice Day and perhaps many of you are not
really aware of what that really means. Well, armistice means
a peace-establishing agreement. And therefore as we think of
today and go back a hundred years to the occasion when this peace-establishing
agreement was signed and realise what a wonderful occasion it
was. It's not surprising, is it? there
was much thanksgiving and much rejoicing and much praising on
that occasion for the deliverance which God had brought about.
And it was of course the work of God and he had brought it
about and we should be very thankful for it and remember it still
today and not recognize it as just something which happened
in history. If it had not been for the goodness
and mercy of God Let's be quite clear, we would not be here today. But the Lord in his great wisdom
and mercy granted this occasion. So it is Armistice day today,
when that peace establishing agreement was signed. And you
might think, well, that's all very well, but how does that
relate to us today? And how does it relate to our
spiritual condition? Well, it has a great reference. Because all of us, by nature,
are at war with God. We were born in sin and shaped
in iniquity. And as such, we were at war with
God. And all of us today would either
be still at war with God or at peace with God. And that's something
we need to ponder. We need to look into our own
hearts. It's very relevant. It's very important that we find
that we are not still at war with God. Because if we remain
at war with God we shall perish in our sins when we come to die
and we shall fall into the abyss of hell. Therefore it's not something
that you and I can trifle with and think of it as of no importance. The same is naturally. It was
a great need that there should be peace, there should be deliverance. and that by the grace of God
it came to pass, and it's the same today in our spiritual situation. We need to know that the grace
of God has come into our hearts. Now, if it has, we will have
been blessed with this wonderful favour of repentance. And that's something that you
and I need to analyse in our minds today. Whether you and
I have repented before God of our sins. The Lord Jesus commenced his
preaching, he commenced his work on the earth by these words. And from that time, Jesus began
to preach. And what did he begin his preaching
with? Repent. For the kingdom of heaven is
at hand. Suppose today people pass over it and think it's not
very relevant. Well, let's be very clear. There's
no unrepentant sinner in heaven. Don't think it's irrelevant.
It's very vital that you and I are blessed with a grace of
repentance. This was the very word that Jesus
began his ministry with. Isn't that significant? Isn't
that important? Is it anything that you and I
can pass over and think when it's not relevant? It is utterly
relevant for every one of us to have been given the grace
to repent of our sins. As I've said, we've all sinned.
Many carry on sinning. Many are not worried about their
sin. It doesn't have any real weight upon them. But if the
Holy Spirit blesses us with the weight of sin, so that we know
that because of it, we are guilty before a holy God, we are condemned because of it, and that we need the blessing
of God to grant us repentance. Well, let us first of all just
realize what the Lord said or rather what the Apostle Paul
was directed by the Lord to say when he wrote to the Corinthians
about preaching. See, people today belittle preaching
and in many places today preaching has gone from the most principal
part of the service to just some, as it were, add-on. They're more
concerned about all this singing and all the dancing and everything
else which doesn't relate principally to the preaching of the gospel. But when the Apostle Paul wrote
to the Corinthians in the beginning, really of this letter, the longest
letter he wrote, and in the first chapter he speaks about it. And just listen to what he said. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? Remember that. Hath not God made
foolish the wisdom of this world? Natural wisdom will never save
our souls. For after this, in the wisdom
of God, The world, by wisdom, knew not God. Naturally, you
and I cannot find out God. We may read about God, but we
need to find God as our personal Saviour. So what does the Apostle
say? For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God. It pleased God. What a mercy for us today, by
the foolishness of preaching. to save them that believe. So
when we come to chapel to hear the preaching of the gospel,
is it very relevant to us? Do we come to hear what's going
to be said? Or do we just come by some tradition
and just sit down and pass the time by scribbling in some book
or writing some notes or just passing the time? Or have we come to listen to
what God's got to say to us? Please God, by the foolishness
of preaching, to save them that believe in, we all need to be
saved, every one of us. I've said we all need to repent,
so we do, but we all need to be saved, every one of us, without
any doubt. And so these are the great words
we have here. By the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. And you know the Apostle, he
went on just to describe most of those people who do not desire
to come and hear the preaching. And he brings together two classes.
Two classes. And those classes were the Jews
and the Greeks. And explains what they wanted.
And he said, for the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after
wisdom. People today come, many charismatics
come to worship, and they want a sign. They want some wonderful
evidence of healing, so they think. And that's their worship. They fall in the category of
those who are classified as Jews that require a sign. And the
Greeks seek after wisdom. They want something which is
palatable to their natural mind. Some great statement that they
can think upon, which will enlarge their natural understanding.
But no, what does the Apostle say? He tells us a difference. And this is a difference in true
preaching. He says this, but we preach Christ crucified. unto the Jews a stumbling block
and unto the Greeks foolishness but unto them which are called
by Jews and Greeks Christ the power of God and the wisdom of
God well this morning have you come here to hear about Christ
crucified that's a big question isn't it it's an important question
Because that's the need that all of us have, to know Christ
crucified. You might say, well, why do I
need to know Christ crucified? We need to know Christ crucified
because of our sinful condition. We need to know Christ crucified
as the only one who can come and save us from our sins. The only one who can satisfy
the demands of the holy law of God, the only one who has come
to deliver the Church of God from that position, Christ crucified. See, if the Lord Jesus had just
come and died the natural death, that would not have been satisfactory.
God in his wonderful wisdom ordained that his son, the Lord Jesus
Christ, part of the Trinity, part of
the Godhead, vital isn't it? Lord Jesus Christ as God, he
came to save the souls of his church. So the Apostle tells the Corinthians
and the Word of God tells us. We preach Christ crucified and
we're told because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and
the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling
brethren, how that not many wise men are to the flesh, not many
mighty, Not many noble are called and all of us today need to hear
the call of God in our hearts. To give us that grace to repent
and to turn away from ourselves. To turn in an opposite direction. To be found those who are called. to know that the Lord has chosen.
Who has he chosen? He tells us the weak things of
the world, the base things of the world, the things which are
despised and things which are not, to bring to naught things
that are that no flesh should glory in his presence. This is great plan of Almighty
God, so that his name should be honoured and glorified. And
if the Holy Spirit today comes and grants us the wonderful favour
of repentance, to hear the call of God, the call of God speaking
to our hearts to repent, again let's look into our hearts and
examine ourselves before God. You and I stand before God. It doesn't matter what other people
think. It does matter what God thinks. It does matter to know
whether you and I are blessed with this wonderful favour and
this wonderful blessing of repentance. What does it mean? Repentance
means really to think differently. To think differently. Has God
caused you and me to think differently? That means as in one situation
we were content with our natural life and we were only content
with what we were going to achieve in our natural life. It was our
great aim, our great concern. But, what a blessing when the
Holy Spirit has enabled us to think differently. You may say,
well what does that mean? It means this. We now think about
the state of our soul more than our natural state. We're more
concerned about where we shall spend eternity than what we shall
do in this life. The blessing of repentance, to
think differently. You will know before God whether
the Holy Spirit has enabled you to think differently or whether
there's been no change Whether there's been no call
from God. Whether he's not come and stirred you up to think differently. You see, if you and I have thought
differently by the Holy Spirit, if we've given us that spirit
of repentance, what it's done to us is this. It's turned us
around. And we're walking in an opposite
direction. You may say, what is that opposite
direction? Well, until that time of repentance,
you and I served ourselves. But when the Lord gives us repentance,
we turn to serve God. What a blessing. And that is,
and that can only be, the work of God. Because by nature, you
and I will not do that. And the Apostle, he clarifies
this really, when he wrote to the church at Rome. The Epistle
of Paul to the Romans is a very wonderful book, a very wonderful
account. And he tells us this in the 11th
chapter and in the 29th verse, he says this. For the gifts and
calling of God are without repentance." What that means is this. It means
that God, in his sovereign grace, calls us to repentance. It's the effect of the blessed
work of the Holy Spirit. But it's an effect which without
doubt occurs. Because without repentance, it's
impossible to please God. And so remember this very simple
statement for the gifts and calling of God. And the gifts, of course,
are the blessing of eternal life. And the calling is when God comes
and speaks to our hearts and makes us aware of our condition
before our holy God. And they come without repentance. But then repentance does come
without any doubt. And let us not therefore think
that, well, we're sailing along safely on the journey of life. But you see, there is this need
to repentance. And again the Apostle Paul speaks
about this in the second chapter of his letter to the Romans. And he tells us this in the fourth
verse in the second chapter, he says this, Or, or perhaps
I ought to read the third verse first. And thinkest thou this,
O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the
same, that thou should escape the judgment of God? Let's remember
that you and I will face Christ, the King of kings, as our judge. And he tells us this, or despisest
thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long-suffering."
Now ponder those words in your life and my life to think of
that. Do we despise the riches of the
goodness of God and his forbearance toward us and his long-suffering? He says this then, not knowing
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. What a mercy
that is, when by His grace He enables us to consider what He's
done, how He's called us, and how He's directed us to the only
means of salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. And there our faith
is stretched out to behold the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. There by faith we are viewed
the suffering Saviour, There by faith we have seen him hanging
upon the cross to take away our sins. Every sin, every vile sin,
every wicked sin. When we've fought against God,
when we've rebelled against God, is that true? To realise the
forbearance of God. He hasn't cut us off, as the
Word of God says. a cumber of the ground, something
which of no value. He hasn't cast us off. He's foreborn with us. Amazing,
isn't it? And long-suffering. Long-suffering
with God, as you and I ponder that. It's good to ponder these
things. The Word of God is written here for our encouragement, for
our instruction. the strength in our faith and
to prove whether we are in the faith or not. It doesn't leave
us on the sidelines. And to realise then the goodness
of God leadeth us to repentance. We desire then to be truly sorry
for our sins. We desire to plead with God for
forgiveness. What is that? It's because the
Lord has granted us the blessing of repentance. Oh, you see, the
necessity of it, the great blessing of it, the wonderful favour of
it. Again, in the Romans, the fifth
chapter, in the first verse, and this brings us back really
to the beginning, when I spoke about armistice, peace, establishing
agreement, and how God brings us to this position. And he tells
us in the first verse of the fifth chapter, therefore, therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Do we know the peace of God? If the Lord has granted us true
repentance, then you see it means we look to the Saviour and we
have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also
we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Blessed with this peace. Peace with God. We can look forward
to that inheritance which is incorruptible and undefiled and
which fadeth not away which is reserved for the whole Church
of God. What a blessing it is. Now let
me come back. This first verse commences, therefore. What does it say? Well, it speaks
of God's servant Abraham and it speaks about his situation
who against hope believed in hope that he might become the
father of many nations according to that which was spoken so shall
I see be and being not weak in faith my friends you might see
the mountains before you you may think God will never forgive
you the Lord delivered Manasseh. And if you want an example, you
can read about Manasseh's sins in the Kings, and you can read
about his wonderful deliverance in the Chronicles. If you just
read the one account, you would think there was no hope. But
the Lord turned him to pray to God for forgiveness. The Lord
gave him the blessing of repentance. And so, remember this, who against
hope believed in hope, he might become the father of many nations
according to that which was spoken so shall thy seed be and being
not weak in faith he considered not his own body when he was
about a hundred years old neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb
he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief that's
a great sin unbelief isn't it and it's an evil spoken of the
evil heart of unbelief was the word of God tells us and the
devil will try and produce that unbelief in your heart so that
he will come and say there's no hope for you yes there is yes don't listen to the devil
that's what happened to Eve when she listened to the devil she
said don't listen to the devil listen to God what God has said
but By God's grace, Abraham was strong in faith, giving glory
to God. And this must be the result.
Glory to God in our lives. As he gives us this repentance,
we'll have a heart to praise God for that which he's given
to us. And therefore, he tells us, and
being fully persuaded that what he had promised, he was able
also to perform. And God hasn't changed. God is
the same today. What He's promised. If He's given
you a promise, hold it fast. Don't throw it away. Don't turn
away from it. Hold it fast. Abraham did. It was tried and
tested for many years, the promise that he would have a son. But
it came to pass in God's time. therefore it was imputed to him
for righteousness. Then we have to read these encouraging
words. Now it was not written for his
sake alone that it was imputed to him but for us also to whom
it shall be imputed if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead who was delivered for our offenses is raised again
for our justification. What does it do? It raises up
Christ as our only hope of salvation. There's no hope anywhere else. Don't look anywhere else, but
recollect and realise the truth of these words and therefore
come and be able to bless God for these words, therefore. Because
of this, it's the work of God. It's the grace of God. It's the
blessing of God. And to thank God today that we
have a word like this. Jesus, Jesus, began to preach
and to say, repent, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. You know, you might think, well,
I'm not sure how important this word is. Well, it is a very important
word. And I'll tell you why it's a
very important word. When the Apostle Paul was in
Athens, he did a great work there, and it wasn't an easy work, you
know, he was there, and he was there by himself, you might just
remember this, he was there by himself in Athens, pretty vast
city, and well, what was he going to do? He went every day into
the marketplace, where the people were, and he spoke to them of
the things of God. He didn't sit in his little room
with his feet curled up, taking it easy. The Church of God is
not to do that. Indeed, the Word of God tells
us to go into all the world and preach the Gospel. wonderful
blessing the gospel is, wonderful favour it is. Well Paul here
was in Athens and he came and he preached there and he tells
us now, while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was
stirred in him when he saw the whole city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the
synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons and in the market
daily with them that met with him. And so he preached the gospel
and as he came on further he says, but they should seek the
Lord if happily they might feel after him and find him though
he be not far from every one of us for in him we live and
move and have our being As certain also of your poets have said,
we are also his offspring. For as much then as we are the
offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is
like gold or silver or stone graven by art and man's device. You see, the true God is not
like that. He is the living God. My friends,
God today is alive forevermore. And just think, God is here with
us. He's looking into your heart
right now. What are you thinking? What have you been thinking?
Don't trifle with God. For as much then as we are the
offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is
like gold or silver and sewn, graven by the art of man's device
and the times of this ignorance God winked at. Perhaps You might
think, what does that mean? Well, God passed it by at that
time. Perhaps in our life, in your
life, perhaps today, you're ignoring the truth of God. You're following
your own way. You're saying, in effect, we
will not have this man to reign over us. I want to live my life. I don't want to be fettered by
the truth of God. I don't want the word of God
to dictate to me. I want to please myself. What does the Apostle tell us
when he was speaking here to all these Athenians? And at the
times of this ignorance God winked at, but now, but now, today,
God commandeth all men everywhere to repent. There's no option. No, as I said earlier, no unrepentant
sinner gets to heaven. Be quite clear about that. You
might say, well, I can't produce it myself. Well, we've read to
you and we spoke about how the Lord does give grace. And if
you're concerned, and I hope you are, you don't know repentance,
what are you to do? Pray to God. Pray to God. And if you want a short prayer,
There's no better prayer and shorter prayer in the Word of
God recorded for you. God, be merciful to me, a sinner. God hears and answers. The Word of God tells us, they
that seek shall find. And if we confess our sins, he
is faithful and just to forgive us our sins. and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. And to think, and this is the
real, the central theme, the blessed Lord Jesus Christ, who
spoke these words, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
And Lord Jesus Christ spoke this at the beginning of his ministry.
And he fulfilled the work that his father gave him to do. He
spent three years then, from that time until that wonderful
day when Almighty God, in that human form of the Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ, gave his life as a sacrifice to satisfy the
holy demands of the Holy God. And my friends today, through
his death. The Church of God have hope. We look to the Lord Jesus Christ. We praise God for what he's done
because he gave his life that you and I might live to atone
to take away our sins. You know that word atonement,
you young people might know perhaps what it means. It really means
this, and it's very easy to understand, at one meant. We were separated
from God. We are. Until the Lord comes
and blesses us with this repentance, we are made at one with God through
His shed blood. He died to atone for our sins. Now when the Holy Spirit comes
and applies the word to our hearts, what's the result? We say, what
a saviour. Praise God for his wonderful
grace. Praise God for his mercy toward
me, who is the chiefest sinner. The Apostle Paul said that. My
friends, don't think you're a little sinner. Because when the Holy
Spirit convinces you and convinces me, we stand before God, in our
own estimation, as the greatest sinner. And therefore we're thankful
for a great salvation. We're thankful for a great Saviour. We're thankful for the sin atoning
death of such a blessed God. And to realise the great truth. the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth
from all sin. What a truth that is. Oh my friends
rejoice in it. Go home today praising God for
the gospel and thank him for the great plan of salvation.
And so my friends this morning on this Remembrance Sunday in
this armistice day, may you and I know that this peace establishing
agreement was made between God the Father and God the Son in
eternity past. And that agreement was that the
Lord Jesus Christ would come and die upon Calvary's cross
pay the price that all his church might have their sins washed
away, might be atoned for. And my friends that agreement
was completed when the Blessed Saviour on that cross uttered
those wonderful words, it is finished. It was established. There was no failure. Bless God. And so this morning, do we not
have much cause to praise God? Well we do, and I hope we all
do. And I hope if you don't, you
will do. And remember, a statement or
a word like this, armistice, relevant to our individual spiritual
life, and to be able to rejoice in that peace. As the hymn writer
said, peace by his cross has Jesus made. Oh, bless God for
it. Rejoice in it. And may he have
all the honor and all the glory. Amen.