And I sing it together, hymn
968. The tune is Elijah 881. Hark, my soul, it is the Lord. It is thy savior, hear his word. Jesus speaks and speaks to thee. Say, poor sinner, lovest thou
me? Hymn 968, tune Elijah 881. Look, my soul, it is the moon Is thy Saviour in this world? Jesus speaks and speaks to thee Stay close enough, love shall
be. I believe that He went out And
when will they hear my root? Softly wandering sadly night,
The night of blessing tonight. Down a world that's end of care,
Sister, what the drought she bear? If she may walk back for
me, Yet I will remember Thee. I listen, unchanging love, Higher
than the heights of the top. See how God the Lord has made
me free and faithful, understand. Thou shalt see my
glories turn, when the work of grace is done. The power of my heart shall be
strength for sinners as I'll be. Lord it is my chief complaint
That my love is cold and faint Yet how I love thee and adore
thee Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in Psalm 66 and Psalm 116. Psalm 66. Make a joyful noise unto God,
all ye lands. Sing forth the honour of his
name. Make his praise glorious. Say
unto God, how terrible art thou in thy works. Through the greatness
of thy power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee.
All the earth shall worship thee, and shall sing unto thee. They
shall sing to thy name, Selah. Come and see the works of God.
He is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. He turned
the sea into dry land. They went through the flood on
foot. There did we rejoice in him. he ruleth by his power for
ever. His eyes behold the nations,
let not the rebellious exhort themselves, sealer. O bless our God, ye people, and
make the voice of his praise to be heard, which holdeth our
soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved. For thou,
O God, hast proved us, Thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
Thou broughtest us into the net. Thou laidst affliction upon our
loins. Thou hast caused men to ride
over our heads. We went through fire and through
water, but Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place. I will go into thy house with
burnt offerings. I will pay thee my vows. which
my lips have uttered and my mouth have spoken when I was in trouble. I will offer unto thee burnt
sacrifices of fatlings with the incense of rams. I will offer
bullocks with goats, sheila. Come and hear, all ye that fear
God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul. I cried
unto him with my mouth, and he was extolled with my tongue.
If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me, but
verily God hath heard me. He hath attended to the voice
of my prayer. Blessed be God, which hath not
turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me. Now Psalm 116. I love the Lord, because he hath
heard my voice and my supplications, because he hath inclined his
ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. The
sorrows of death compass me, the pains of hell hold upon me,
I found trouble and sorrow. Then called I upon the name of
the Lord. O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver
my soul. Gracious is the Lord and righteous. Yea, our God is merciful. The Lord preserveth the simple.
I was brought low and he helped me. Return unto thy rest, O my
soul. For the Lord hath dealt bountifully
with thee. For thou hast delivered my soul
from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. I will
walk before the Lord in the land of the living. I believed, therefore
have I spoken. I was greatly afflicted. I said in my haste, all men are
liars. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto
the Lord now in the presence of all his people. Precious in
the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. O Lord,
truly I am thy servant. I am thy servant and the son
of thine handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bond. I will
offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call upon
the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord
now, in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the
Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Praise ye the Lord. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word. and grant unto us a spirit of
real prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come. We bow before thy glorious majesty. We desire to worship thee. We
pray that we might know those divine drawings of our Heavenly
Father, drawing us unto His Son, Jesus Christ. For, Lord, none come except the
Father draw. We pray that we might know those
divine leadings of the Holy Ghost, for as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Lead us unto the Lord Jesus. Reveal unto us the precious things
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Reveal unto us the wonderful
glory of his person, and the fullness of his grace, and the
wonder of redeeming love. Oh, do hear us, Lord, we pray,
and forgive all our many sins, and take away all iniquity, O
Lord, we beseech thee. We pray. for the presence, the
power, and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to be known and
felt here this afternoon, and his wisdom, love, and power may
be known in our hearts. We pray that we may experience
what we read in thy word, the Holy Ghost shedding abroad his
love, the love of God in our hearts. the love of the Father,
the love of the Son, and the love of the Holy Ghost. May we
feel that love in our hearts, permeate in our very being, leading
us into those green pastures of Thy Word. Come and open Thy
Word to our heart, to our understanding. We come as poor sinners, Lord,
and pray for confession our wanderings, our backslidings. We have to
confess, O Lord, we leave undone things that we ought to do, and
we do things that we ought not to do. We indeed find a law within
our members that when I would do good, that evil is present
with me. And we have to cry with the dear apostle, O wretched
man, that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death. Oh, lead us to that sweet atoning
sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Grant the application of that
precious blood of the Lamb. Grant that we may behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Oh, do
hear us, Lord, we pray, for thy great name's sake. Show us thy
ways. Teach us thy paths, lead us in
thy word. May thy word be a lamp unto our
feet and a light unto our path, as we gather together around
the word of God this Lord's Day, that we may worship thee in spirit
and in truth, and that the word of the Lord may be a living word,
a quickening word, a renewing word, a replenishing word, and
that the word of the Lord may have free course and thy name
be honoured and glorified. May the power that brings salvation
be exerted in the word. We do humbly beseech thee for
thy great name's sake, O Lord. Lord, we do pray that those that
are yet dead may be made alive. Lord, quicken souls and make
them cry. Give me Christ, or else I die.
And guide us, we humbly beseech thee, into thy truth, and that
we pray that we may see light in thy light, even here this
afternoon, the light of thy word, and the light of the Spirit of
God enlightening us, opening our eyes and our ears and our
hearts to receive thy word. Gracious God, we pray that thou
wouldst remember us then as a church and as a congregation, that thou
wouldst work mightily, powerfully and effectually among us, that
we may see thy work and thy power and thy glory as thou usest to
be in the sanctuary. Lord, we do pray that thou, in
thy precious mercy, wouldst grant thy presence In thy presence
I am happy. In thy presence I am secure.
In thy presence I can easily all things endure. And we pray,
most gracious Lord, then, for thy presence. May we see yon
lovely man. Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
remember those that are away, seek and rest and change at this
time. Remember those, O Lord, that
expect him to be away, that thou wouldst graciously be with them,
take them and bring them home in peace and safety, and remember
each one, any in trouble or trial or perplexity or affliction,
those in the path of bereavement. Lord, we would lovingly commit
and commend each one to thee and to the word of thy grace.
which is able to build them up and to grant them an inheritance
among them that are sanctified. Lord, those in darkness, bring
them into light. Those in bondage, bring them
into liberty. Those that are far off, make
them nigh. Lord, we read in thy word that
thou art able to do these things and we pray that thou wouldst
do these things among us. Those that are lonely, be that
friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Yea, a brother born
for adversity. O do hear us in heaven, thy holy
dwelling place, and remember us for good. O Lord, we do beseech
of thee. We pray that thou would remember
the little ones and the children, that thou would bless them indeed.
that thou wouldst put the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning
of wisdom, into their hearts in their young and tender years.
We pray that thou wouldst remember the young friends and undertake
for them, bless them with living faith in Jesus Christ, that they
may become true followers of thee and of those who through
faith and patience inherit the promises. Remember, Lord, we
pray thee, our young friends in the paths of providence, make
a way for them, whether it be in their education or whether
it's regarding any future employment or regarding a partner in life's
journey. Lord, we lovingly commend them
to Thee and to the word of Thy grace. We pray, most gracious
Lord, to remember parents and give wisdom, grace and help to
bring up their children in the nurture and admission of the
Lord. Remember the families as they gather for divine worship
in the home. Do bless them as they gather
together. And, O Lord, remember we do humbly beseech thee, all
in the midst of the journey of life, bearing, as it were, the
heat and the burden of the day. Remember them with the favour
that thou bearest unto thy people, visitors with thy great salvation. And, O Lord, we pray that there
in thy precious mercy we hear prayer for those of us that are
now in the evening time of life's journey and graciously grant
that at evening time it may be light that the light of the gospel
may shine in our hearts and that we may be prepared for that great
change which must come upon each one of us for it is appointed
unto man once to die and after death the judgment. We pray to
be prepared. Prepare me, gracious God, to
stand before thy face. Thy Spirit must the work perform,
for it is all of grace. In Christ's obedience, clothe
and wash me in his blood. So shall I lift my head with
joy among the sons of God. Gracious God, we Do pray that
thou wouldst be with all thy servants as they labour in word
and doctrine upon the walls of Zion, that thou wouldst set them
free and set them at liberty, and grant her thus saith the
Lord, that thou wouldst graciously touch their lips with the live
coal from of the heavenly altar, and the word spoken may be in
power in the Holy Ghost, and with much assurance that there
may be signs that shall follow the preaching of the word. And,
O Lord, we do pray that Thou, the great Lord of the harvest,
will send true labourers into the harvest and build the walls
of Jerusalem. How we need Thy appearing. How
we need Thee to lift the light of Thy countenance upon us. We
pray that the Lord Jesus may be exalted as a Prince and as
a Saviour, for to give faith and repentance and remission
of sins. We pray that we may behold his
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, the Lord
God, the omnipotent reigneth. Oh, we do pray that we may see
yon lovely man here in this sanctuary this afternoon, and that thou
wouldst unstop the deaf ears and open the blind eyes. To hear
us, Lord, we pray thee. cause the dead to hear. And thou
hast promised to do these things in thy word. We pray, most gracious
Lord, for truly thankful hearts. Thankful, O Lord, for thy holy
day. Thankful for the liberties we
enjoy in being able to meet around thy word. Thankful for our little
house of prayer. Thankful for the word of God.
Thankful above all for the incarnation of the Son of God and the holy
life he lived as a man under the law, fulfilling and honouring
its holy commandments and precepts on the behalf of thy people.
We're thankful, Lord, that he has put away sin, that by that
one glorious offering on the cross of Calvary, Oh, we do thank
Thee, most gracious Lord, for our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank
Thee that He died for our sins and rose again for our justification. We thank Thee that He has swallowed
up death in victory and brought life and immortality to light
through the Gospel. We thank Thee that the blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin We thank Thee
that He has bodily ascended into heaven, a man there is, a real
man, with wounds still gaping wide. O most gracious Lord, we
do thank Thee for the wonderful glories of our Lord and Saviour,
Jesus Christ. We thank Thee that we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. We pray
that as we turn to Thy holy word, that was open thy word to our
heart and to our understanding, and that thou wouldst graciously
grant a spirit of power that may be with us here this afternoon,
as the dear apostle could testify, our gospel came unto you not
in word only, but in power, in the Holy Ghost, and with much
assurance. We ask all, with the forgiveness
of all our sins, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 639. The tune is St Clement's, 813. Return to thy rest, my soul,
and rejoice. Let Christ be thy boast, for
thou art his choice. And those sinning Satan and their
hellish guests, divex and dishearten Jehovah's thy rest. Hymns 639, Tunes and Clements
813. ? Oh, say can you see by the dawn's
early light ? ? What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last
gleaming? ? ? God save our saviour, and let
him rest ? ? Till earth shall be salted beyond the time past
? Bless the earth, sing praises,
Jesus, to Thee, The fullness of praise, praise so great and
free! ? God save the Queen ? ? Send her
to Bethlehem ? ? The Christ is my freedom ? ? From all corruption
? Rest your knee in Christ, His
promises show, He's Jesus, thy Prince. ? And by thy returnment ? ? Thy
secrets confess ? ? And by himself spoken ? ? Will God tell thee ? And then I told to Jesus my rest,
I came home here from where he loved his rest. ? We have all been seeking his
faithfulness well ? ? He never has been late to call his own
home ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I direct your attention to Psalm 116, and we'll
read the last two verses, verses 18 and 19. Psalm 116, verses
18 and 19. I will pay my vows unto the Lord
now, in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the
Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem, praise ye
the Lord. I suppose we would say that the
root of this psalm is in that first little clause,
I love the Lord. Indeed friends that's the root
of all real religion, I love the Lord. When the Spirit of God begins
the work of grace in the heart of a poor sinner, and they are eventually brought
to faith in Jesus Christ, It's a faith that worketh by love.
And then you can say, I love the Lord. Indeed in the first epistle of
John, we love him because he first
loved us. That's the moving cause of our
love to Him, because He loved us. He loved us from all eternity. As we read in Jeremiah chapter
31, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore,
with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. Loved with an everlasting
love. Jesus said, If ye love me, keep
my commandment. And Jesus also said, by this
shall they know that ye are my disciples because ye have love
one to another. Love is, you know like you think
of an internal combustion engine, if there's no oil in it, it will
seize up completely. And love is like that in the
life of the true believer. It's love that oils the wheels. Oils the cogs in the engine.
Lubricates it so it moves. That is what love is like in
the heart of the true believer. In their personal exercises and
concerns. They're motivated by love. And that love is to Jesus Christ.
And then we have that word in the first epistle of John, we
know that we have passed from death unto life because we love
the brethren. And that everything flows from
that. There's love to Christ, there's
love to the brethren. The Apostle speaks of the love
of God being shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. What
a wonderful thing then if we know something experimental in
our hearts. It says here, I love the Lord
because he hath heard my voice and my supplications, because
he hath inclined his ear unto me. will I call upon him as long
as I live. I love the Lord." What a mercy
then, if you and I can really truly say that, I love the Lord. He says here also of some of
the things that he passed through in his own heart. in his own
spiritual experience. The sorrows of death compassed
me and the pains of hell got hold upon me. I found trouble
and sorrow. It's often in a time of trouble,
it may be soul trouble, it may be providential trouble, it may
be trouble in affliction, trouble in the family, trouble in the
business, Trouble in your life in some place. You may be brought like that
godly king. Now know we not what to do? But
our eyes are up unto the Lord. That omnipotent Jehovah that
we spoke of this morning. Our eyes are up unto the Lord. So the sorrows of death compassed
me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me. I found trouble
and sorrow, then, then called I upon the name of the Lord."
And that trouble and sorrow and grief and pain that you came
into was used of God to bring you in prayer unto Him. And that
is what we call sanctification. Something that brings us nearer
to the Lord. That's what sanctification is.
Something that makes Christ precious. Something that makes us feel
our need of Jesus Christ. Something that makes us feel
our need of salvation, of redemption. Then, called I upon the name
of the Lord. O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver
my soul. See, sometimes, friends, providential
trouble, by the power and grace of God, is turned into soul trouble. It does. It brings you to the
feet of Jesus. It's a good thing when it does.
It may be a painful thing, it may be a very trying thing, but
it brings you to feet of Jesus. It brings you to pray. It brings
you to seek the Lord. Then called I upon the name of
the Lord. And what does the Lord himself
say when he was here upon earth? Ask and you shall receive. Seek and you shall find. and
it shall be opened unto you. See these are gracious gospel
promises. I've often pointed out to you,
it doesn't say maybe or could be or perhaps, there's no ambiguity
whatsoever. It says shall, ask and you shall
receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened
unto you. Abraham was given a promise when
the Lord called him out of the Caldees and that promise was
that he would have a son. And through that son he would
have a multitude of seed. One place it says a sand by the
seashore. And yet he walked for 25 years and didn't
see that seed until 25 years afterwards. And it says in the
Hebrews, and he was as good as dead and his wife was past the
age of childbearing. So it looked utterly impossible. But what is impossible with man
is possible with God. I am the Lord that performeth
all things to thee. He's a promise giving and he's
a promise fulfilling God. If he's promised you something
he would do it but he would do it in his own time and his own
way. With Abraham it was in a way
that looked impossible, that it couldn't possibly happen.
We read at one point that Abraham laughed. It's really the laugh of unbelief,
you know, friends. He said, how can it be? But you see, my beloved friends,
the Lord will perform His work. I am the Lord that performeth
all things for thee. The Lord will perform his promises.
I love that word in the Corinthians, all the promises of God are yay
and amen in Christ Jesus. They are. They're fulfilled in
Christ and by Christ and in Christ. Everything that the Lord has
promised you, he will perform it. And this is what the psalmist
proved as he goes on in verse 5 to say, Gracious is the Lord,
and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. Because he proved it. The Lord preserveth the simple,
I was brought low, and he helped me, and he helped me. What a
mercy. If we've proved in some little
way the truth, of these words. And then the Psalmist could say,
return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully
with thee. Return unto thy rest. We read
in the Hebrews, isn't it, there is a rest that remaineth for
the people of God. And what that's referring to
is the rest of faith. the rest of faith. Resting in
the finished work of Christ. Resting by faith in the precious
blood of Christ. Resting by faith in the glorious
righteousness of Christ. Because under the Lord's teaching
He will convince you of your sin and your great need as a
sinner of the blood of Christ. When you feel the defilement
of sin you desire the blood of Christ to wash away that sin.
When you feel to be naked and undone, you desire that glorious
everlasting righteousness of Jesus the Son of God to cover
your nakedness and you're brought to feel the need of it. And when those things are revealed
to you and made precious to you, you will understand the language
of the Psalmist here, return unto thy rest O my soul. for
the Lord hath dealt bountifully with them. When Christ is made
precious, when Christ becomes the altogether lovely one, when
Christ is the chiefest among 10,000, when Christ is the scent
of the sum and the substance of all your hopes and desires. For thou hast delivered my soul
from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. It's a great thing, you know,
friends, when the Lord does that for us. Have you known it? Have you experienced it? That
I've delivered my soul from death when Christ has been made precious?
My eyes from tears when Christ has been revealed? My feet from
falling? Kept by the power of God through
faith unto salvation ready to be revealed at the last day. Faith where? Faith in Jesus.
Faith in his glorious person. Faith in his glorious power.
Faith in his precious blood. I believed, therefore have I
spoken. I was greatly afflicted and the
effect that that great affliction had upon him I said in my haste,
all men are liars. You may have said things in haste
about yourself and about others. I, the Lord, change not. Therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not conceived. No, because the Lord doesn't
change. He never has and He never will. And then the effect of all this
on the psalmist, what shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits
toward me? What shall I render unto the
Lord? All his benefits. You think of
those benefits. It's not only spiritual blessings
but earthly blessings, providential blessings. Every blessing, every
favour freely comes through Jesus' precious blood to the child of
God. Everything comes through the
blood of Christ. And Christ made precious and
your heart softened and the spirit of love in your soul and that desire What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? I would take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord. That cup of salvation. We drink at the Lord's Supper,
the cup. representing the blood of Jesus
Christ, I will take the cup of salvation, call upon the name
of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord
now in the presence of all His people. My vows. What have you promised unto the
Lord? What did you vow? when you was
in trouble, did you vow a vow unto the Lord and said Lord I
will do this if you bless me? You made a vow before God. Vow unto the Lord. In the Psalm 66 that we read
together it says in verse 16 Come and hear, all ye that fear
God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul." A
declaration of what the Lord has done for my soul. What did
that poor blind man say in the 9th chapter of John? This one
thing I know, that whereas I was blind, but now I see. Come and hear, all ye that fear
God, and I will declare what ye have done for my soul. I mean
that man could literally see, he was blind from birth, and
now he could literally see. But it may be with you, not physically
blind, but spiritually blind. And can you say with that, dear
man, this one thing I know, whereas I was blind, but now I see. Now
I see. You were blind to the glories
of Christ at one time, but now you see. You were blind to the
precious blood of Christ, but now I see. You were blind to
the glorious righteousness of Christ, but now I see. because
the Lord has shown you your need of that precious blood, your
defilement with sin, and the Lord has shown you that you're
naked and undone and therefore you need that glorious everlasting
robe of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. I was blind, but
now I see. Come and hear, all ye that fear
God. and I will declare what he has
done for my soul. It's a vow made. I will declare. You know we read
in the book of Ecclesiastes how that the, it speaks there in chapter 5
of making a vow Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house
of God. There's a, as it were, an admonition
here of not making a rash vow. Keep thy
foot when thou goest to the house of God and be more ready to hear
than to give the sacrifice of fools. for they consider not
that they do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and
let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God.
For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth, therefore let thy
words be few. For a dream cometh through the
multitude of business, and a fool's voice is known by the multitude
of words. When thou vowest a vow unto God,
defer not to pay it. For he hath no pleasure in fools
pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldst
not vow than that thou shouldst vow and not pay. Suffer not thy
mouth to cause thy flesh to sin, neither say thou before the angel
that it was an error. Wherefore God should be angry
at thy voice and destroy the work of thine hands. For in the
multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities,
but fear thou God. You see, when thou vowest a vow
unto God, defer not to pay it. And so we have here in our text
before us these vows unto God. I will pay my vows unto the Lord
now. You know that's what we call
an imperative word, isn't it? Now. You keep putting it away. You know what you've got to do,
you know what you vowed to do, but you keep putting it away.
Pay thy vows now. May the Lord grant that that
may be a prompt. The word of the Lord may indeed
be a living word to you. Pay thy vows now. They're in
the early church. Constantine, the Emperor Constantine,
he was turned to Christianity. We wonder how valid that so-called
conversion was but he procrastinated he wouldn't be baptized because
he wanted his sins washed away he had a very funny view so he
kept putting off baptism because he wanted his sins washed away
but he kept sinning so therefore he kept putting away It's what
they called at that time procrastinated baptism, just putting it away,
putting it away, putting it away. Of course, as the apostle says
in his epistle, not the washing away of the filthiness of the
flesh. Baptism doesn't wash away the filthiness of the flesh.
No. Baptism is a sign given by God. his children. Christ himself
said, didn't he, when he was baptised in the River Jordan,
suffer it to be so now for, and notice again that imperative
word, suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us, to fulfil
all righteousness. And so the Lord Jesus there clearly
teaches us that baptism is a righteous thing. in the sight of God. I will pay my vows unto the Lord
now in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the
Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem, praise ye
the Lord. Jerusalem. And there seems to
be a special emphasis here, in the midst of thee, it's sort
of a personal not just on abstract city, but in the midst of Thee,
O Jerusalem. It was a very special place. You see, we go back through to
verse 10, I believed, therefore have I spoken, I was greatly
afflicted. You see, it says in verse 9,
I walk before the Lord in the land of the living. And it speaks
elsewhere, in the word of God of the living in Jerusalem. The
living in Jerusalem. Are you among the living in Jerusalem? Have mercy if you are. What a
mercy if as we read in Revelation chapter 20, blessed and holy
are they that have part in the first resurrection. Upon such
a second death hath no power. What is the first resurrection? It's a sinner brought from spiritual
death into spiritual life. You are the quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sins. You're raised from the dead,
spiritual death, into spiritual life. And I've often looked at
that beautiful Psalm, Psalm 145, and it speaks there of the living. He says, openest thine hand and
satisfyeth the desire of every living thing, in verse 16. Openest
thine hand and satisfyeth the desire of every living thing.
Now I believe the psalmist there, he was speaking about every living
thing here upon earth. The Lord feeds every living thing
here upon earth. But let us look at it spiritually. Every living thing. Thou openest
thine hand. The living in Jerusalem, those
that have been born again, those that have been raised up to a
hope in the finished work of Jesus Christ, those in whom the
light of truth is shone, the truth of the gospel of Jesus
Christ, the living in Jerusalem. Thou openest thine hand and satisfied
the desire of every living thing. Are we among the living in Jerusalem? Are you alive spiritually? Can it be said of you, you at
the quickened who were dead, Have you been brought from death
into life? You at it quickened who were dead in trespasses and
in sins. You know, my beloved friends,
your chapel going will never save you. Your moral uprightness will never
save you. They're all good things in their
place. But it will never save your soul. You need the Holy Ghost to enter
your heart, the living spirit of the living God to enter into
your soul and to bring you from spiritual death into spiritual
life. You need what we read in the
Genesis chapter 1, in the creation of the world, and we read, and
the spirit of the Lord moved upon the face of the waters.
And he brought order out of chaos. You and I need that in our hearts.
That same mighty spirit of God in the creation of the world,
we need that same power put forth in our heart to bring you and
I from spiritual death into spiritual life. Now my beloved friends,
have you been brought from spiritual death into spiritual life? The Lord Jesus, he speaks to
us in the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst. He's not speaking of a natural
hunger and thirst. He's speaking of a spiritual
hunger and a spiritual thirst. He satisfies the longing soul
and filleth the hungry soul with goodness. A spiritual hunger. Have you come to chapel this
afternoon with a spiritual need? Have you come with a spiritual
longing? Have you come with a spiritual appetite? You need something. And let me tell you, that something
is Christ. That will satisfy all the desires
of your soul. Why? Because in Him is life.
In Him is life and that's what you yearn after, spiritual life. I am the light of the world,
he is the light of the world and when you find Christ there'll
be light in your heart, in your soul. You'll then come from darkness
into light. Darkness into light. I do like the way the Apostle
Paul puts it in the epistle to the Thessalonians he speaks there
I think it's in the first epistle in the fifth chapter he speaks
there of the coming from spiritual darkness verse 4 1 Thessalonians
5 verse 4 but ye brethren are not in darkness that that day
should overtake you as a thief yet all the children of light
and the children of the day we are not of the night nor of darkness
therefore let us not sleep as do others but let us watch and
be sober for they that sleep sleep in the night and they that
be drunken are drunken in the night but let us who are of the
day be sober putting on the breastplate of faith and love and a helmet
the hope of salvation for God hath not appointed us to rot
but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for
us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with
Him. To live together with Him. I
give unto my sheep eternal life. I have come that they might have
life and they might have it more abundantly. And what he means
by that more abundantly is that it's eternal life. eternal life. He that has begun a good work
in you shall perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. He will. He will perform it unto the day
of Jesus Christ. He said, I will never leave thee
nor forsake thee. If Christ has been made precious
to your soul, He will never leave you nor forsake you. Now, so we have this This desire, I will pay my vows
unto the Lord now, now, in the presence of all his people. When you come to chapel and come
among the Lord's people, do you feel in your heart, hear my best
friends, my kindred dwell, hear God, my Saviour reign? One hymn writer says, doesn't
he, I love to meet among them now, before thy gracious feet
to bow, though vilest of them all, I love to meet among them
now. I will pay my vows unto the Lord,
now in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the
Lord's house, in the midst of them, O Jerusalem, praise ye
the Lord. song of praise, there's a song
of thanksgiving and there is a walking in obedience to the
Lord's holy commandments in love. I want to emphasise that, it's
in love. Love that moves and love that
motivates and love that, as the hymn writer put it, sweetly forced
us in. One says, doesn't he, where is
the blessedness I knew when first I knew the Lord? Where is the
soul refreshing view of Jesus in his word? I never forget the late Mrs Ruth
Hickman at Black Boys. She came forward and she went
right back 50 years to the ministry of my grandfather
at Black Boys Chapel. And she was blessed when she
was a young woman. And she kept waiting and she
kept waiting and she kept waiting. And what struck me was in her
testimony, she said, I haven't got any more to say now than
I would have then. You see, she was disobedient. I haven't got any more now. that
I had then. You know, perhaps you're looking
for some great, wonderful, dramatic blessing that the Lord will give
you. Or perhaps you're looking for some wonderful word that
the Lord will breathe into your heart to constrain you to be
baptised. But maybe the Lord is not willing
to give you that. Because it's clear, it's clear
in the Word of God that you should be baptised. If the Lord Jesus
had been made precious to your soul, if the Lord Jesus You're
in love with Him, and you should be baptised. It's very clear.
If ye love me, keep mine commandments. I will pay my vows unto the Lord
now, in the presence of all His people, in the courts of the
Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem, praise ye
the Lord. And it's not just baptism, is
it? That is a divine act of worship, But the other, there's only two
gospel ordinances, one is baptism, believers baptism and then the
Lord's Supper. Both divine ordinances established
by our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord's Supper, baptism represents
the grave of Christ and the believer when they're baptized They are
professing that they believe that Jesus was baptised in all
those awful sufferings and in death itself. And then when they
come up out of the water, it speaks of the resurrection, rising
up in newness of life. And then the Lord's Supper. Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. The precious blood of Christ.
So often as ye eat this bread, that's the body of Christ, and
drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death, till he comes. I will pay my vows unto the Lord,
now in the presence of all his people, in the courts of the
Lord's house, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem, praise ye
the Lord. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 95. The tune is Oakworth, 198. And did the holy and the just, the
sovereign of the sky, Stoop down to wretchedness and dust, That
guilty worms might rise. Hymn 95 Tune Oakworth 198 And in my heart, I have lost
each one of the stars. Together, is the Redeemer, left His throne,
His raven throne on high. The surprising blessing of wonder
? Flesh of all being and light
? ? He took the dying to his place ? ? And suffered in his
death ? O man, O man, the earn of righteousness, O man, the
shape of men. ? In Lord God's heavenly ? ? Wondrous
work ? ? In wondrous work ? ? In wondrous work ? ? In wondrous
work ? ? In wondrous work ? ? In wondrous work ? ? In wondrous
work ? ? In wondrous work ? ? In wondrous work ? ? In wondrous
work ? ? In wondrous work ? ? In wondrous work ? ? In wondrous
work ? ? In wondrous work ? ? In wondrous work ? ? In wondrous
work ? ? In wondrous work ? ? In wondrous work ? ? And Bethel's water flows. ? ? How can I reach out? ? ? Can I impart? ? ? How can I impart? ? ? How can I impart? ? ? How can I impart? ? Now may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each, both now
and for evermore. Amen.