Let us commence our service this
evening by singing together hymn number 285. The tune is Blockley
304. O for a heart to seek my God, Encouraged
by his gracious word, To view my Saviour all complete, And
lie submissive at his feet. Hymn 285, Tune Blockley, 304. And for a heart to seek thy God,
Encouraged by his gracious word, To Him, my Saviour, O come ye,
And life shall live, still at His feet. to Thee, O mighty God, to Thee. I walk and pray to Thee, I pray Though
times of sorrow are impine, Thou wilt forever love and shine. ♪ To see thy saints in morning
light ♪ ♪ And close my eyes ♪ ♪ This first midnight hour ♪ ♪ Oh, and
my heart ♪ O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? O sacred Christ, thy saints abide.
Nor can the mighty hand destroy thee. While my dear course is thus
suppressed, My blood and soul can take no rest. Arise, O God, thy cause defend. Heav'n and earth resound thy
silence sing. Arise, arise, ♪ O God of mine
♪ ♪ And all my friends ♪ ♪ In the host tonight ♪ ♪ Give me thy love ♪ dejected youth. Castles, dreamers, how strange
for you. Comets are scattered upon snow, Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in Psalm 132, 133 and 134. Psalm 132. Lord, remember David and all
his afflictions, how he swear unto the Lord and vowed unto
the mighty God of Jacob, surely I will not come into the tabernacle
of my house, nor go up into my bed, I will not give sleep to
mine eyes or slumber to mine eyelids until I find a place
for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Lo, we heard of it at Ephrata. We found it in the fields of
the wood. We will go into his tabernacles. We will worship
at his footstool. Arise, O Lord, into thy rest. Thou and the ark of thy strength,
let thy priests be clothed with righteousness, and let thy saints
shout for joy. For thy servant David's sake,
turn not away the face of thine anointed. The Lord hath sworn
in truth unto David, he will not turn from it. Of the fruit
of thy body will I set upon thy throne. If thy children will
keep my covenant and my testimonies that I shall teach them, their
children shall also sit upon thy throne forevermore. For the Lord hath chosen Zion,
he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever. Here
will I dwell, for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her
provision. I will satisfy her poor with
bread. I will also clothe her priests
with salvation, and her saints shall shout aloud for joy. There
will I make the horn of David to bud. I have ordained a lamp
for mine anointed. His enemies will I clothe with
shame. but upon himself shall his crown
flourish. Behold how good and how pleasant
it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. It is like the precious
ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's
beard that went down to the skirts of his garments, as the dew of
Hermon and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion. For
there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life for evermore. Behold, bless ye the Lord, all
ye servants of the Lord, which stand by night in the house of
the Lord. Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and bless the Lord, the Lord that made heaven and earth bless
thee out of Zion. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word. Grant unto us the spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, we bow before thy glorious majesty
Father, Son and Holy Ghost, the one and only true God, the Lord
Jehovah, in whom there is everlasting strength. O most gracious Lord,
we do pray that we may be enabled to worship Thee at this evening
hour. We've read that exhortation in
Thy Word. Bless ye the Lord, all ye servants
of the Lord, Grant, O Lord, we pray Thee a spirit of true thanksgiving,
a spirit of true worship, a spirit of true adoration and praise
as we come into Thee's sanctuary, as we bow before Thy glorious
majesty. May we have clear views of the
glory of Thy majesty, of Thy holiness, of Thy perfections,
of thy infinite wisdom, power and grace in our Lord Jesus Christ,
so that we may be enabled to bless thee. I will bless the
Lord at all times. His praise shall be continually
in my mouth, for great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
and his greatness is unsearchable. We bless thee that thou art God
over all and blessed forevermore. We bless Thee that Thou art able
to do abundantly more than we could even ask or think. We bless
Thee for the love of our Eternal Father, who so loved the world,
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should be saved. We thank Thee, then, for that
wonderful, eternal covenant that has been sealed with the blood
of Jesus. the blood of the everlasting
covenant. We bless Thee for that glorious and holy and
pure life that was lived by our precious Redeemer Jesus Christ
and thereby fulfilling the holy law of God and bringing in everlasting
righteousness. Oh, we do bless Thee for the
love of our eternal Father and that He laid upon Him the iniquity
of us all. He took away our sins and He found a substitute, the
glorious person of God manifest in the flesh, who became our
sin-bearer, who nailed our sins to His cross, who suffered and
bled and died for the sin and the iniquity of His people. O
most gracious Lord, fill our hearts with gratitude for that
glorious sacrifice, for by one offering He hath perfected forever
all them that are sanctified. We thank Thee for that one offering,
for that glorious salvation. We thank Thee that He loved not
His life unto death, but He gave His life a ransom for all to
be testified in due time. Most gracious Lord, we thank
Thee that divine justice has been satisfied in that holy sacrifice, and sin has been put away, and divine justice, O Lord, is satisfied
with that sacred holy sacrifice. Oh, we do bless thee for the
precious blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, that cleanseth us
from all sin. We thank thee, most gracious
Lord, that he died for our sins. He loved not his life unto death.
We thank thee that on the third day he rose again. He has destroyed
death. And him that had the power of
death, that is the devil, He has brought life and immortality
to life through the Gospel. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? We do bless thee, most gracious
Lord, for the glorious victories of our Lord Jesus Christ. We
thank thee and we adore thee for that glorious, precious truth
that Jesus has bodily ascended into heaven and sitteth at thy
right hand. Such an high priest have we,
who is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. We have
an advocate with the Father, because he instead of me is seen
when I approach to God. Oh, we do bless thee, most gracious
Lord, that in him we know the love, the power, the grace of
our heavenly Father, and through him we receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost. We pray for that heavenly power
of the Holy Ghost at this evening hour, and that we read in thy
word until the Spirit be poured from us from on high. May that
be so tonight, and that from this glad hour we may see a day
of prosperity, a reviving, a renewing, a replenishing, that we may see
poor sinners Come and tell to sinners round what a dear Saviour
they have found, and point to thy redeeming blood, and say,
Behold the way to God. Lord, let thy work appear unto
thy servants, and thy glory unto their children. We do humbly
beseech thee. We pray, most gracious God, that
the wonderful glory and light of the gospel may not only shine
among us here as a congregation, but it may shine into this village
and the surrounding villages and hamlets, and that thou wouldst
bring our sons from far and our daughters from the ends of the
earth. And they shall come from the north and from the south
and from the east and from the west. O Lord of hosts, O God
of Israel, O Thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth
Shine forth, Lord, in this dark day, in this wicked day, when
iniquity abounds on every hand, and the powers of Antichrist
are seen so prevalent. But, Lord, Thou art the same,
to endless years the same, Thy gospel remains the same, the
same power. Oh, we pray that Thou wouldst
return unto Jerusalem with mercies, that thou wouldst pull down the
strongholds of Satan, that thou wouldst set up the kingdom of
the Lord Jesus in the hearts of sinners, that thou wouldst
fill this little house of prayer with hungry, longing souls pressing
into the kingdom of heaven. Oh, do hear us, Lord, we pray
thee. Will thou not revive us again,
O Lord? May it please thee to hear the
cries of thy little remnant, What we pray for us here, O Lord,
we pray, for little causes of truth up and down the land, that
thou wouldst grant a refreshing shower, as promised in thy word,
that thou wouldst grant showers of blessing. O, do hear us, Lord,
we humbly pray thee, and turn us again, O God of hosts, and
cause thy face to shine. Let thy hand be upon the man
of thy right hand, the Son of Man, whom thou madest strong
for thyself, so will not we turn back from thee. O Lord, do hear
us, we humbly beseech thee. Arise, arise, O God of grace,
into thy rest descend, thou and the ark of thy strength, and
let thy priest be clothed with salvation, and thy saints shall
shout aloud for joy, O abundantly bless the provision of thy house,
and satisfy her poor with bread. O Lord, we do beseech of thee. We read, Lord Jesus, of thy ministry
here upon earth. When thou didst send an answer
to thy servant John, go and tell John that the blind see, the
deaf hear, the lame walk, and the poor have the gospel preached
unto them. Oh, do hear us, Lord, we humbly
pray thee. Return, O Lord, how long, and
let it repent thee concerning thy servants. We do humbly beseech
of thee. We pray, most gracious God, that
thou wouldst remember us each for good. Remember us with the
favour that thou barest unto thy people. and visit us with
thy great salvation. Come up with thy servant on the
coming Lord's Day afternoon, and grant that he may dip his
foot in oil, and be made acceptable unto the brethren. Help our dear
brother in the morning, and help him, Lord, to speak a few words
in thy great name, and grant signs to follow. We do humbly
beseech of thee. We pray, most gracious God, that
those who remember our brethren, the deacons, and be with them
and help them. Remember, Lord, we pray that
each one of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship,
we would especially pray for Jacob in this time of affliction
and pray that thou would heal and restore and renew and replenish
him and his dear one. We do humbly beseech thee. We
pray for grace to bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill
the law of Christ. We pray for grace to love one
another, serve one another. Oh, do hear us, Lord, we humbly
pray thee, and grant us these blessings. We pray to be made
fruitful unto every good work and word and way, that we may
do that which is right in thy sight. And like our Lord Jesus
Christ, magnify thy word in our lives. We do humbly pray thee. We mourn over our sinfulness.
We mourn over the corruption of our nature. We mourn over
our worldliness and carnality. And there are times, Lord, when
we're so earthbound, we pray that thou wouldst draw us into
spiritual things. that thou wouldst revive us and
renew us and replenish us for thy great namesake. Lord, remember
the little ones and the children that gather with us. Bless them
indeed. Graciously put the fear of the
Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, into their hearts,
that they may be guided and directed by thee. And, O Lord, we do pray
that thou, in thy precious mercy, was bless the dear young friends,
bring them to living faith in Jesus Christ, constrain them
to follow Thee in these sacred ordinances of Thy house. Constrain them, Lord, to put
Thee on in an open profession of Thy great and holy name. And others also, Lord, that may
be exercised in these matters, do bring them forth, do bless
them indeed, do grant, O Lord, a reviving, a renewing, a replenishing
among us for Thy great name's sake. And, O Lord, we do pray
that Thou, in Thy great mercy, would remove all in the midst
of the journey of life. Each one that gathers with us
in the midst of life, bless them. those that wander hither and
thither, cause them to return. Oh, do hear us, Lord, and grant
us that joy over one sinner that repented, that we may see the
prodigals return, and thy wonderful grace in this, for thy great
namesake. Lord, thou art able to do abundantly
more than we can even ask or think. There is nothing too hard
for thee Oh, we do humbly beseech Thee to arise in this dark day
and to revive and to renew and to replenish us. Lord, we pray
for any and any trouble or trial or perplexity or affliction that
Thou hast graciously drawn near to them. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that Thou hast put forth Thy healing hand and grant Thy
restoring mercy We do humbly beseech thee, if it is thy heavenly
mind. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou would remember parents and give them wisdom and grace
to bring up their children in the nurture and the admonition
of the Lord. Lord, we pray for the fulfilling
of that wonderful word. Instead of thy fathers shall
be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes. in all the earth. God, thy sword upon thy thigh,
O most mighty, and ride prosperously, we do humbly beseech of thee. O Lord, we do pray that thou
in thy great mercy would remember those of us that are now in the
evening time of life's journey. We pray to be prepared for that
great change which must come. And we pray that as the outward
man perishes, the inward man may be renewed day by day. We
do humbly beseech thee. And Lord, we do pray that we
always remember the little causes of truth up and down our land.
Remember the ministers as they pastor the churches and grant
the fresh anointing of thy spirit. signs to follow the preaching
of the word. And we pray Thee, the great Lord
of the harvest, to send true labourers into the harvest. O do hear us, Lord, we pray Thee. Few run with trumpets in their
hand to sound alarm by sea and land. O gracious God, incline
Thine ear, we do humbly beseech Thee, for Thy great namesake,
that it may be to the great glory of thy name and to the increase
of thy kingdom here upon earth. And, O Lord, we do pray that
thou wouldst remember our nation. We live in deeply solemn days,
iniquity abounding on every hand, and those laws in our parliament
opposite to thy holy word, to the truth of God, O Lord, we
do pray that thou wouldst graciously hear the cries of thy little
remnant. We think of the bill to come
before Parliament tomorrow, and we pray that it is thy heavenly
mind to overthrow and to bring to naught the counsels of the
ungodly. We have, Lord, a government that
cares not for thy word, for thy truth, for thy way. O most gracious
Lord, we pray that thou wouldst hear us. We have the government
that thou hast given us and the government that we deserve. O
Lord, hear the cries of thy little remnant and remember us for good. We do humbly beseech thee. Bless
our king with that rich grace that is in Christ Jesus. Bless
our royal household We do humbly pray thee, grant wisdom and guidance
unto our judges and magistrates, and for all that are in authority
over us. Hear us, Lord, in heaven, thy
holy dwelling place. Thou art God over all, and blessed
for evermore, and there is nothing too hard for thee. We do not
deserve thy mercies. We all have sinned and come short
of thy glory. and we desire to humble ourselves
before thee. We are part of the sins of the
nation and we do desire to humble ourselves before thee in confession
of our sins and of our wickedness and of our unrighteousness and
pray to be washed in that precious blood of Jesus Christ to be cleansed
from all our sin. We do humbly beseech of thee. Be with us now, Lord, as we turn
to thy holy word. Open thy word to our heart and
to our understanding. We ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 365. to the tune Alice, 279, where
shall we go to seek and find a habitation for our God, a dwelling
for the eternal mind amongst the sons of flesh and blood?
Hymn 365, tune Alice, 279. It shall come to thee, Lord,
on Thursday, June 5, ♪ Help, help this nation on the
cross ♪ ♪ Let every poor man see the light of day ♪ ♪ Heav'n's the sound of church
bells ♪ ♪ And on holy day the church bells ring ♪ ♪ God shine upon this angel breast
♪ ♪ And on thy heav'nly heav'nly still ♪ ♪ Each tragedy is worth to trust
♪ ♪ In Him I place my gracious trust ♪ And may forever stay
shepherds, Here shall thy father and thy people ♪ And blessed
children in thy birth ♪ ♪ In thy will be done, O people of
Israel ♪ ♪ And fill the souls with living praise ♪ ♪ Savior
shall reign thee, O my God ♪ ♪ This we pray, nations, shall
be blest ♪ ♪ Let it return, and
love of Christ be blest ♪ ♪ And I preach thy goodness ♪ ♪
That shall be mine ♪ ♪ Lord, hear my plea ♪ ♪ Oh, speak with
me ♪ ♪ Make an eye to me ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner
yet wave ♪ The early bird boys shall gently sing ♪ ♪ The sound
of evening is sure to ring ♪ Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, direct our attention to Psalm 132 and We will read verses 6 and 7 for
our text. Psalm 132 verses 6 and 7. Lo, we heard of it at Ephrata. We found it in the fields of
the wood. We will go into his tabernacle.
we will worship at his footstool. We see in this psalm David when
he was settled as king in Jerusalem. And as he says here, His desire
was the worship of the true Jehovah in Jerusalem. And his desire was that the Ark
of the Covenant of the Lord of the whole Earth should be found
in its rightful place in Jerusalem. We see here a man of purpose
a man with an object in view, a man who was determined that these
things should be rightly done in the house of God. The Ark
of the Covenant was at Kerjah Jirim which is called the City
of Woods. It was taken in the days of Eli. and by the Philistines into the
land of the Philistines and then the Lord so visited them and
so afflicted them they sent it back into Israel they put it
upon a new cart put two milk kine on it and they took them
they took the Ark of the Covenant into the land of Israel. It was removed from the place
where they first had it because they looked into the ark and
the Lord smoked 50,000 of them. And then it was taken to its
resting place in Kyrgyzstan. And there it remained for 66
years. It's a long time. 66 years. You think of that. All the days Samuel when Eli died and that
was when the Ark was taken and it's when they told him that
the Ark had been taken by the Philistines that he fell backwards
and break his neck and then Samuel then became the
high priest in Israel and all the days of Samuel All the days
of Saul, Saul reigned 40 years. All those days, the Ark of the
Covenant was hid. Now, what is the significance
of it, this Ark of the Covenant? It's the visible presence of
the Lord Jehovah with the Israelites here upon Earth. It was appointed
in the wilderness by Moses as the point of divine worship.
And the Lord, he said to Aaron that, or he said to Moses and
Moses said to Aaron that they were only to go into the holy
place once a year on the day of atonement. The holy place
was the holy of holies in the tabernacle. And then it said not without
blood. He had to take the blood of a
sacrifice. He had to sprinkle it seven times before the golden
mercy seat. And the Lord said, there will
I meet with thee, there will I commune with thee. That precious
blood of the sacrifice, representing the precious blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, as the only way of communion with God. That was
a typical representation of the blood of Christ. And it was the only way that
they were permitted to approach unto God. But then, for all those 66 years,
those services were not kept. And David, this gives us the
context of the psalm. Lord, remember David and all
his afflictions. And how many afflictions he had
before he became king. Saul, pursuing him. At times he felt like a sparrow
alone. He did. He said that one day
I shall fall by the hand of Saul. Another time he said there is
but a step between me and death. And yet the Lord brought him
through. You know we read that when David
was in the house of Saul and when he used to play to him when
He had an evil spirit come upon him and David used to play the
harp. He was a very cunning player
of the harp and it soothed his feelings. But then Saul turned
right against him. He hated him. Eventually he saw
and he said so that David would be the one that would be king
in his place. You see my beloved friends and
that was to come to pass. But Saul hated him. Saul tried
to kill him again and again. He fled into the wilderness. But now his enemies are subdued. Now he's on the throne in Jerusalem. Now listen to what he desires. Lord, remember David and all
his afflictions, how he swore unto the Lord, unto Jehovah,
and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob, surely I will not come
into the tabernacle of my house nor go up into my bed. I will
not give sleep to mine eyes or slumber to mine eyelids, until
I find out a place for the Lord and habitation for the mighty
God of Jacob. The Lord intended blessing Israel. Therefore the Lord raised up
a man that was zealous for the Lord God, zealous for
his house, zealous for the ways of truth. So what David did he prepared
an area in Jerusalem for the tabernacle and it was in his
heart and his desire to go down to Kirjachevin and to bring the
Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of the whole Earth and to place
it in Jerusalem. Now we know that the first time
that he went there the Lord smote Azadet It's the
Ark of the Covenant, the Lord of the whole Earth. It rocked
in the threshing floor of Uzzah and he put forth his hand to
steady the Ark and the Lord smote him dead. And we're told there
in Samuel and in the Chronicles that the reason the Lord smote
him dead because they were moving the Ark not according to the
Word of God. very clearly laid down in the
Levitical law. Number one, that the Levite should
carry the Ark and it should be on staves and it should be carried
like that. Instead, David, he did what the
Philistines did. He made a new car. Carried on
a cart, not according to the Word of God. The Lord, it says,
He made a breach upon us. It was not done after the due
order. There is a due order in the Word
of God, my beloved friends. And we should do things according
to that due order in the Word of God. David never forgot that. And so, then after some time,
David, he returned. And at this time, he'd sanctified
the Levites and They were to carry the Ark on their shoulders
up into Jerusalem. 30,000 gathered together with him to
carry the Ark up into Jerusalem. But this was his desire. Now,
look at the Ark. Again, we've often told you,
but we need to repeat it. The Ark is typical of Christ,
our Lord Jesus Christ. that should be the center of
our worship. Is it the center of our worship?
It should be the center of our preaching. Is it the center of
our preaching? The Apostle, when he writes to
the Corinthians, he says, for I determined to know nothing
among men save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. When you come
up to the house of God, what do you want to hear? Do you want
to hear about Jesus Christ? Do you want to hear about the
glory of His name, the wonder of His grace, the fullness of
His salvation, the preciousness of His blood, the glory of His
righteousness, the wonderful glory of the ascension of Christ
into heaven, making a new and living way into the holy place?
Is that what you want to hear? That the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin? Is that what you want
to hear? Sadly, you know, friends in the
day in which we live among our own churches, there's a great
lack of preaching of the person of Christ. There is. There's a lot of preaching
experience and experience and experience and experience. And
if you've ever sat under the supply ministry, you'll know
that that is true. Instead of the preaching being
centred in the glorious person of Jesus Christ, of God manifest
in the flesh on the cross of Calvary, it's centred in our
experience. And there's a preacher more of
the creature than of the creator. And I'm quite sure of this, friends,
that the Lord is displeased with that. We preach Christ crucified. to the Jews a stumbling block,
to the Greeks foolishness, but unto them that are called the
power of God, the wisdom of God, Christ crucified. And this is what is represented
in the Ark of the Covenant, in the tabernacle worship. As we've
often explained, the outward adornments were badger skins,
nothing gorgeous in those badger skins, but inside was gold, pure
gold. The golden mercy seat, the golden
cherubims. Those badger skins represent
the sacred humanity that the Son of God assumed in the womb
of the Virgin Mary. They typify that. There is no
form nor comeliness that we should desire, that is as a man. But the gold inside represents
deity. It represents, in a typical way,
that Jesus is the eternal Son of God. He's the eternal Son
of the Father. You see, my beloved friends,
this is what we see in the tabernacle. That blood that was sprinkled,
the blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus. That sacrifice
that was offered. You think of their in the tabernacle
worship and the altar and the sacrifice on the altar and that
beautifully represents the glorious person of the Son of God manifest
in the flesh. You might say, how is that? The
altar represents his divine nature. The sacrifice on the altar represents
his human nature. He offered himself He offered
himself on the altar of his divinity, a Sinatorian sacrifice unto his
eternal Father. He offered a sacrifice that was
pure, that was holy. He lived a life that was pure
and that was holy. He did. Jesus did. And the object of faith is Christ. Faith is the substance of things
hoped for yet not seen. The object of faith is Christ.
The Lord Jesus Christ. The way, the truth and the life.
It is. Now David, he desired then to
restore what had been taken away. To restore the tabernacle worship.
So he brought up the Ark into Jerusalem to the place that he
had prepared. He prepared the priests, the
Levites, to attend upon the altar and upon the sacrifices there.
There was a reformation that was wrought when David became
king. And that reformation was that
the centre of divine worship in Jerusalem was in the tabernacle,
as it was set up in the wilderness by Moses. Now you think the other
thing is the golden mercy seat beneath it there was a box all
covered in gold Aaron's rod that budded was in
that underneath the mercy seat but the important thing was this
the two tablets of the covenant of the law were placed by Moses
in the ark and there again a beautiful type of Christ. The law fulfilled
and honoured and magnified in his glorious person. In his holy
life, his pure and holy life, he fulfilled the law and that
is why those two tablets of stone with the law written by God upon
them is in the Ark because it typifies the glorious person
of Christ. It typifies the law fulfilled
and honoured and magnified. and the blood of the sacrifice
typifies the blood of Christ. This is what David desired to
come back into the centre of the spiritual life of the children
of Israel. I will not give sleep to mine
eyes or slumber to mine eyelids until I find out a place for
the Lord and habitation for the mighty God of Jacob. Now we have in our text, though
we heard of it at Ephrata, that means Kyrgyz, and it's called
the City of Woods, we found it in the fields of the wood, we
will go into his tabernacles, we will worship at his footstool. I wonder if this psalm was written
at the consecration, the re-consecration of the tabernacle worship when
David gathered all the children of Israel together and they offered
sacrifices and offerings. And the high priest would go
into the holy place. And I wonder if this psalm was
written at that time. You see, lo, we heard of it at
Ephratas. We found it. They found it in
the fields of the wood. We will go into his tabernacles.
We will worship at his footstool. Now, we have here, friends, what
you might say, a divine order in the gospel. we heard of it at Ephrata. In Romans chapter 10 we read
that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of the
Lord. And how shall they hear except
they have a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? There's a hearing. Faith cometh
by hearing. Hearing the word of the Lord.
Hearing the lively oracles of God, the glory of the Gospel. Faith cometh by hearing. Lo,
we heard of it. There's a hearing of faith. This
is what this means. The hearing of faith. We heard
of it at Ephrata. Have you heard of Jesus Christ?
So that your heart is changed? so that you desire to hear his
voice, you desire to see his countenance, you desire to worship
up his holy footstool, because you've heard, not just with the
outward ear, but with the hearing of faith. Hearing of faith. Jesus said in the parable of
the sower, take heed how ye hear. Lo, we heard of it at Ephrata. And this hearing of Jesus Christ,
hearing of the glory of his name, hearing of salvation by grace
alone, hearing of the law fulfilled, hearing of the holy sacrifice,
hearing of the precious blood of Jesus Christ, hearing of the
death, the wages of sin is death, He died for our sins. The wages
of sin is death. Our sins and our iniquities were
laid upon Him. They were. This is the cross. This is the very heart of salvation. We heard of it. Have you heard
it? So there's these four points
in these two verses. Lo, we heard of it. then the
second part of the verse we found it in the fields of the wood
then verse seven we will go we will go into his tabernacles
we will worship at his footstool though we have what a mercy when
you hear the word of the lord for the first time You may have sat under the preaching
of the word all your life, but there comes a time when you hear
it for the first time, when it has an effect on your heart,
when it changes your life, when you've been born again by the
Spirit of God, and when you have a spiritual appetite and spiritual
desires and spiritual longings. It may be in those first period of that spiritual life, you don't know exactly what you're
seeking for. But you know you need something.
You're hungering and you're thirsting. Hymn writer Olsen puts it beautifully,
you have an aching void. that the world can never fill.
No, we heard of it at Ephrata. We heard of our Lord Jesus Christ
and then it says we found it. And these steps here, the steps
of faith, we heard of it, we found it in the fields of the
world. What a mercy if we find or we
have found Christ. We read, do we not, in the word
of God, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened
unto you. Seek and you shall find, knock
and it shall be opened unto you. It's a wonderful encouragement.
We read in the Book of Proverbs, them that seek me early shall
find me. They shall find me. Our Lord
Jesus Christ in his teachings, in the Gospels, he speaks so
clearly and so beautifully unto poor sinners. In my mind it just
goes to the 11th chapter of the Gospel according to Luke and
there in that 11th chapter the Lord Jesus Christ, he speaks
so beautifully, and it says in verse 9, And I say unto you,
Ask, and it shall be given you. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. What the Lord Jesus is speaking
of here is a spiritual seeking. a spiritual seeking. Seek and
you shall find. Knock, it's knocking at his door,
the door of his love, the door of his mercy, the door of his
grace. Christ said I am the door. Are you knocking that door? He
says knock and it shall be opened unto you. And then there's this
wonderful encouragement for everyone that asketh receive it. And he
that seeketh findeth, and him that knocketh, it shall be opened. All that the Lord would enable
you to keep seeking, to keep knocking, to keep watching, to
keep praying. He that shall come will come. The time of love will come, when
thou shalt surely see, not only that he shed his blood, but it
shall say for me, the time of love. And then he gives us an illustration. He that seeketh findeth, him
that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any
of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he
ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? If he ask
an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, And this is a wonderful
encouragement. How much more shall your Heavenly
Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? Ask Him. I remember Mr Ranspotten speaking
of a story of a young man that had joined a church up in Lancashire
many years ago now and He got up at the prayer meeting
and he was just thanking the Lord for this and thanking the
Lord for that. And a lot to say, but there was
no real substance of prayer there. An old lady, a godly old lady
sitting just by, she said, ask him for something. He wasn't asking for anything.
He obviously didn't need anything. Ask him for something. Just as
the Lord Jesus has promised, ask and ye shall receive. For
that the Lord will enable you to keep asking, to keep looking,
to keep watching, to keep waiting. The Word of God says, he that
shall come will come. He will. For that the Lord will
enable us to press on and to press forward. Though we heard
of it at Ephrata, We found Him. To those that seek
shall find. We found Him. There are those
of us here that have found Christ. And I believe there are those
of you here that have not yet professed His name and yet you've
found Christ. Christ has been precious to your
soul. We found Him. Have you found him? Have there
been times when you run to the house of God, when your soul
is on fire, and you're full of longings, hungering, thirstings
after Christ? You can recognise that language,
give me Christ or else I die. You long to lay hold of Christ. No, you will find. Seek and you
shall find. Keep seeking. We found it in
the fields over the wood. Now, this finding it and then
we will go. We will go. This is the walk
of faith. We will go. My sheep, they know
my voice and they follow me. And they follow me. We will go. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. We will go, made willing in the
day of his power. When the love of Christ is shed
abroad in your heart, we will go. We will go. These words may be a living word
in your hearts and there may be that willingness brought in
your soul by the Spirit to follow. the Lord Jesus Christ, we will
go. In Solomon's Song, we've often
spoken to you of it, of the spouse there in Solomon's
Song and the advice that the Lord
Jesus gives her. If thou know not, O thou fairest
among women, Go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock.
What are the footsteps of the flock? The footsteps of the shepherd. And the shepherd is Christ. He's
to walk in his footsteps. He's to follow the Lord Jesus
Christ. To walk in the way of those holy gospel commandments. To follow our Lord Jesus Christ.
we will go into his tabernacles. And there in Solomon's Song,
when she feels the love of her beloved and she says, I will
lead thee into my mother's house, I will lead thee into my mother's
house, into the chamber of her that bear me, I will lead thee. Take in Christ. You so feel the
love of Christ shed abroad in your heart and you go up onto
the house of God with that that expectation and that desire after
Christ. But there's more than just coming
up to the house of God and that's a very wonderful thing when we're
so constrained to come up to the house of God and desire to
worship. You know, when such persons are
in the congregation, the minister feels it, he knows. because he
feels those things drawn out of his heart in the ministry
and he knows there's somebody feeding, somebody following,
somebody hearing. We will go into his tabernacles,
into the house of God. We will worship, we will worship. You know in this term worship
it comes down to a very low place in the word of God. We read of
the Syrophoenician woman that came to the Lord Jesus Christ,
she had a very sick daughter and she said to the Lord Jesus,
Lord help me, Lord help me. But what does it say in scripture?
And she worshipped him saying, Lord help me. In all her need, in all her emptiness,
in all her sinfulness, in all her wretchedness, she had only
one place to go, Lord help me. And the Lord did help her. He
doesn't turn away poor needy sinners, no. He helps, he supports,
he sustains. We will go into his tabernacles,
we will worship at his footstool. We've often pointed out to you,
and I believe appropriately so, that there are two gospel ordinances,
and only two. One is believers' baptism and
the other is the Lord's The Lord Jesus Christ says of
believers' baptism, thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.
It's a righteous thing. It's a right thing for a believer
to be baptised. Doesn't matter how young you
are, doesn't matter how old you are, it's a right thing for a
believer to fulfil this righteous, sacred ordinance of the Lord,
of the baptism. we found it in the fields of
the wood, we will go into his tabernacles, we will worship
at his footstool. You know, when we have the ordinance
of believer's baptism, that is an act of divine worship. It
is. It's very precious too. I wondered when I was baptized,
I was still very young, that if I would have some special
blessing, being baptised, but I didn't. But one thing I had
which was very sacred, the answer of a good conscience before God.
And that was a very sacred thing, to feel that answer of a good
conscience before God. Others have great blessings when
they're baptised. denigrate that in any way. It's
a wonderful thing if that is the case. But it's actually an act of divine
worship, of submission to our Lord Jesus Christ. And then the
Lord's Supper of course, that's an act of divine worship. It
was divinely ordained of Jesus Christ. It was. As often as you eat this bread
and drink this cup ye do show the Lord's death till he come. We will worship. May these four points remain
with you from this sermon. We heard of it and remember it's
Jesus Christ that we heard of. Lo we heard of it, we found it,
we will go we will worship at his footstool. May the Lord add
his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 366. The tune is Celestial 111. The Lord in Zion placed his name,
his ark was settled there. To Zion the whole nation came
to worship Thrice a year. Hymn 366, tune Celestial 111.
♪ He is the Lamb of God, the Son
of Man ♪ ♪ He is the Lamb of God, the Son of Man ♪ As we have found such nature
her, Nor the fount of her report, Where'er thy saints assemble
now There is a house for God Arise, O King of Grace, Arise,
And repent of tither thy wretches, Though thy children I take one in hand, but to me,
home comes first. Kingdom, with Thy might, glory,
and strength, Thy spirit, and Thy blood, O'er the cliffs of Trompe-l'Ès
and Chantilly, could no such grace afford. Hear my Take now the temple stone,
Fill the path by which your eyes reach heaven. There's a proof it is true. Call my house and fill my home
with praise. Amen. The sound of David's praise
Echoed far to old Friendly Town Justice and truth it all contains
With love and love divine Here let the power of fasting
grow. One cup passes, it may come close. Press on and 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.