567, the tune is Hilbera, 157. Jesus, the Lord, my saviour is,
my shepherd and my God, my light, my strength, my joy, my bliss,
and I his grace record. Hymn 567, tune Hilbera, 157. Christmas my all, my saviour
is, my shepherd and my own. My night, my sleep, My joy, my bliss, and I its great reward. God there I meet thee, Jesus
Christ, heaven and earth bow before thee. It's right, my brother, let her
be Imprisoned, rich and free Mercy and truth of righteousness,
coming first in which we meet. In Jesus Christ, the name of
grace, He never on this earth conflated. As to the pilgrim, yes, I know.
? Hymns of sweet supper play ?
? And when I shake thee ? ? Raise my cup ? ? I'll stir the cup
? ? Lord His name ? ? Heav'n and earth ? ? Shall be
thee my song ? ? The angels sang ? ? And with it over every heart
? Let us read together from the
holy word of God in the prophecy of Isaiah and chapter 41. Isaiah chapter 41. Keep silence before me, O islands,
and let the people renew their strength. Let them come near,
then let them speak. Let us come near together to
judgment, who raised up the righteous man, that of course is Abraham,
from the east, called him to his foot, and gave the nations
before him, and made him rule over kings. He gave them as dust
to his sword, and as driven stubble to his bow. He pursued them and
passed safely, even by the way that he had not gone with his
feet. Who hath wrought and done it? Calling the generations from
the beginning, I the Lord, the first and with the last, I am
he. The isles saw it and feared. The ends of the earth were afraid
and drew near and came. They helped every one his neighbour
and every one said to his brother, be of good courage. So the carpenter
encouraged the goldsmith and he that smoothest with the hammer,
him that smote the anvil, saying, it is ready for the soldering,
and he fastened it with nails that it should not be moved.
But thou, Israel, art my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the
seed of Abraham my friend, thou whom I have taken from the ends
of the earth, and called thee from the chief men thereof, and
said unto thee, thou art my servant, I have chosen thee and not cast
thee away. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. Behold, all they that were incensed
against thee shall be ashamed and confounded. they shall be
as nothing, and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou
shalt seek them, and shalt not find them, even them that contended
with thee. They that war against thee shall
be as nothing, and as a thing of naught. For I, the Lord thy
God, hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, fear not, I will help
thee, Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and ye men of Israel. I will
help thee, saith the Lord, and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new
sharp threshing instrument, having teeth. And thou shalt thresh
the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills
as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the
wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them,
and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory in the
Holy One of Israel. When the poor and needy seek
water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst,
I, the Lord, will hear them. I, the God of Israel, not forsake
them. I'll open rivers in high places,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys. I will make the
wilderness a pool of water and the dry land springs of water.
I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, the shitter tree and
the myrtle in the oil tree. I will set in the desert the
fir tree and the pine and the box tree together that they may
see and know and consider and understand together that the
hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath
created it. Produce your cause, saith the
Lord. Bring forth your strong reasons,
saith the King of Jacob. Let them bring them forth and
show us what shall happen. Let them show the former things
what they be, that we may consider and know the latter end of them,
or declare us things for to come, show the things that are to come
hereafter, that we may know that ye are gods, yea, do good or
do evil, that we may be dismayed, and behold it together. Behold, ye are of nothing, and
your work of naught, and abomination is he that chooseth you. I have
raised up one from the north, and he shall come from the rising
of the sun, shall he call upon my name, and he shall come, and
he shall call upon my name, and he shall come upon princes as
upon mortar. And as the potter treadeth clay,
who hath declared from the beginning that we may know, and before
time that we may say, he is righteous. Yea, there is none that showeth.
Yea, there is none that declareth. Yea, there is none that heareth
your words. The first shall say to Zion,
Behold, behold them, and I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth
good tidings. For I beheld, and there was no
man even among them, and there was no counsellor, that when
I asked of them, could answer a word. Behold they are all vanity,
their works are nothing, their molten images are wind and confusion. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Almighty, most merciful, and
eternal God of heaven, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, we bow before
thy glorious majesty, we call upon thy great and holy name,
we pray for thy sacred presence here in the sanctuary this afternoon,
and we pray that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the
love of God our Father and the sacred fellowship of the Holy
Spirit may rest and abide upon us, that we may know those sacred
divine drawings of our Heavenly Father, for none come except
the Father draw, that we may know the divine leading and teaching
of the Holy Spirit, and that we may feel the presence of our
Lord Jesus Christ, and know something of that word, He it is that goeth
before thee, My sheep, they hear my voice and they follow me.
May we be among those, O Lord, that are true followers of Thee
and of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Oh, we do pray then to be led and taught and guided and directed
by Thee. We pray that those make the crooked
things straight and the rough places plain. We pray that our
heart and our affections may be set upon things above and
not on things of the earth. We pray this afternoon as we
gather around thy word that we may feel thy presence with us, that we may see thy countenance,
that we may worship in thy holy hill of Zion. We pray that the
Lord Jesus Christ may be exalted as a prince and as a saviour
for to give faith and repentance and remission of sins, Lord grant
that it may be so here this afternoon as we gather around thy word.
All we do pray, most gracious Lord, to remember each one that
has gathered from the youngest to the eldest among us here this
afternoon, that each one may be given ears to hear, eyes to
see, hearts to receive thy precious word, and that the crooked things
that they may have in their pathway in their lives may be made straight,
and that the rough places may be made plain, and that those
make a way where there seems no way. Guide us, O thou great
Jehovah, pilgrims through thy barren land, May we be found
searching thy holy word, reading and meditating in thy holy word,
and that we might seek guidance and direction from thee. Make
thy word a living word, a powerful word in our hearts. We do humbly
beseech thee, and that thy word, by its divine power, may change
our lives, may bring us into union and communion with Jesus
Christ, that we may feel and know there is therefore now no
condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. Lord, we do
pray that thou wouldst graciously show us thy ways and lead us
in thy paths. We pray to be delivered from
the temptations of Satan. Lord, how busy he is. Sometimes
he comes to us as a roaring lion, devour us and to frighten us
and sometimes he comes as an angel of light to deceive us.
We pray to be delivered from his power and from his influence
that we may graciously be led by thee as promised in thy word
that no weapon that is formed against you shall prosper and
we pray most gracious lord that we may prove that continually
and continually look to Thee and cleave to Thee and cast all
our cares upon Thee. O Lord, we do thank Thee for
Jesus Christ. We do thank Thee for the wonderful
glory of His name and the fullness of His grace and the law fulfilled
and everlasting righteousness brought in in His glorious person
in His holy life And we pray, O Lord, that we may have that
clear view that He loved not His life unto death, but He gave
His life a ransom for all to be testified in due time. So
we thank Thee for that holy life, and we thank Thee for that holy
sacrifice, and we thank Thee for that precious blood that
He shed that cleanseth us from all sin. We thank Thee that He
rose from the dead, he swallowed up death in victory and brought
life and immortality to light through the gospel. We thank
thee that he has bodily ascended into heaven and that we have
indeed a great high priest sitting on the throne of grace whereby
we can approach unto thy glorious majesty. There is one God and
one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. who
gave his life a ransom for all to be testified in due time. Oh, we do thank thee for the
wonderful glory of the name, the person, the power, and the
grace of our great High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal
Son of the Father. We thank thee for the love of
our Heavenly Father in sending his only begotten Son to suffer,
bleed, and die for his people. Oh, we do thank thee for the
gift of the Holy Ghost. We pray for his heavenly power
and his divine unction to be known and felt in our hearts
this afternoon as we gather around thy precious word. Lord, send
out thy light, send out thy truth, return in thy power and in thy
glory as thou usest to be in the sanctuary. Lord, we thank
thee for the internet and that we're able to broadcast throughout
the nations of the earth. And we pray that it may be to
the great glory of thy name and to the good of precious souls.
Oh, send deliverance unto thy people. Bless the means that
are used. We pray that the light and glory
and power of the gospel may shine into this village and the surrounding
villages and hamlets. And that thou would graciously
gather in and rebuild We read, O Lord, and we pray that it may
be so here that the streets of Jerusalem shall be filled with
boys and girls playing in the streets thereof. Oh, that we
could see the fulfilling of that wonderful prophecy. Do hear us,
O Lord, we pray thee. We pray for the little ones and
the children that gather with us, that they may be blessed
of thee, that the fear of the Lord may be placed in their heart,
the beginning of wisdom, Remember our young friends and bring them
to live in faith in Jesus Christ and bless them in all the paths
of providence, whether it's in their education or whether it's
to do with their employment. In whatever way, Lord, that they
need thee, we pray that thou would graciously go before them. And we pray most gracious Lord
that they may be drawn to thee and have a closer walk with thee. calm a heavenly frame, a light
to shine upon the road that leads me to the Lamb. Oh, do hear us,
Lord, and bless our young friends, those of our friends that would
seek a partner in life's journey. We pray that thou would hear
their prayers and answer their petitions and bring them together
at the appointed time. We lovingly commend them to thee.
We pray Most gracious Lord, that the prodigals may return, and
thy wonderful grace may be seen in this. We pray, O Lord, that
thou, in thy precious mercy, we remember all in the midst
of the journey of life. We especially think of parents
bringing up their children, that they may be given grace and wisdom
so to do. We pray that we may be kept from
being a stumbling block unto any. but that we may live as
we ought to live and do what we ought to do, we do humbly
beseech of thee. And that we pray that our light
may so shine before men that they may see our good works and
glorify our Father which is in heaven. We pray, O Lord, that
thou would remember those of us that are now in the evening
time of life's journey and remember us with the favour that thou
bearest unto thy people. and grant, O Lord, at the appointed
time an abundant entrance into thy heavenly kingdom, to bid
adieu to all those things that would hold us back, to be with
Christ, which is far better. Oh, do hear us, Lord. We humbly
pray thee for thy great namesake. Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
graciously remember all thy servants as they labour in word and doctrine
upon the walls of Zion, that thou would set them free, set
them at liberty, graciously send out thy light and thy truth.
And we pray thee, the great Lord of the harvest, that thou would
send true labourers into the harvest, that thou would raise
up and anoint thy servants and grant them, and thus saith the
Lord, and that ability to preach the word, to be instant in season
and out of season. Oh, do hear us, oh Lord, we pray. For thy great name's sake, we
do beseech thee. We pray for the settlement of
pastors in the churches and that we pray that thou would graciously
go before them and bless them. We think of all the assemblies
of thy saints, not only among our own churches, but among the
churches of God up and down our nation, that the wonderful glory,
light and power of gospel truth may shine forth, we do humbly
beseech of thee. We pray, O Lord, that thou in
thy precious mercy would remember those that are in trouble and
trial and perplexity and sorrow and sadness and bereavement,
those in affliction, through help and undertake for each one.
Help us to bear each other's burdens, thereby fulfilling the
law of Christ. Help us to love each other, serve
each other, and bear each other's burdens. We do humbly beseech
thee. Help us to live as Christians
ought to live. We do humbly pray. And we pray,
most gracious Lord, that thou in thy great mercy wouldst remember
those in those nations of the earth where they suffer persecution,
imprisonment and even death for the name and witness of Jesus
Christ. Lord send them help from the
sanctuary, strengthen them out of Zion we do humbly beseech
thee. We pray O Lord for Israel at
this time and for the Ukraine and the war and bloodshed that
is taking place there and elsewhere in the world. We pray O Lord
that thou wouldst bring to naught the counsels of the ungodly and
graciously hearken unto our prayers and bring peace on the earth
if it could but please. And O Lord we pray that thou
wouldst be with us as we turn to thy holy word that thou hast
come and touched one's lips with a live coal from off the heavenly
altar, that we may be enabled to preach the word, thou knowest
the poverty and the felt insufficiency of the preacher and the great
need of the divine anointing of thy spirit. Do grant it unto
us, O Lord, we beseech thee, as we ask with the forgiveness
of all sin, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 947. The tune is Hope 546. Great God, To thee I'll make my griefs and
sorrows known, And with a humble hope approach thy awful throne. Though by my sins deserve in
hell, I'll not despair, for who can tell? Hymn 947, tune hope
546. ? O come all ye faithful ? ? Joyful
and triumphant ? O come, O come, Emmanuel O come,
O come, Emmanuel Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave I will be so blessed. And I must
give it all. I'm glorious in the end. I wish that you could hear this
song Come, let me sing a new measure. Come, let me sing a new measure. ? Then take them, O Israel ? ?
To the earth of your God ? ? With all thy covenant hand ? ? And help thy foes to fly ? ?
Thine is heaven ? ? Thine rules prevail ? And they should wait for the
winter And they should wait for the winter ? God bless thee, dear God ? ?
And God shed His soul on thee today ? ? And bless thee forevermore
? ? And the rosewoods gleaming bright
? ? Gave proudly bright ? ? The land we love ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the Prophecy
of Isaiah in chapter 41 and we'll read verse 10 for our text Isaiah chapter 41 verse 10 Fear
thou not For I am with thee Be not dismayed For I am thy God
I will strengthen thee Yea, I will help thee. Yea, I will uphold
thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Fear thou not. We've observed before in this
particular verse that it's not just one promise, it's several
promises joined together. that seem to reinforce each other.
And we mustn't forget what the Apostle says in the Epistle to
the Corinthians, that all the promises of God are yea and amen
in Christ Jesus. All the promises of God. These
promises, they are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. And when we
look at these promises and then we consider the Lord Jesus Christ
and the words spoken concerning him in Hebrews 13 verse 8, Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday and today and forever and forever. He's speaking to us here, my
beloved friends, this glorious and this almighty Saviour is
speaking to us here in His Word. And I pray that it may be a word
in season. Fear thou not. There are many
fear nots in the Word of God. We read even in this chapter,
in verse 13, fear not I will help thee. In verse 14, fear
not thou worm, Jacob. And ye men of Israel, I will
help thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer, as Christ, the Holy
One of Israel. Fear thou not. You know, the hymn writer says,
doesn't he, with Christ in the vessel, we smile at the storm. Although that certainly wasn't
the case with those disciples, was it? when they were crossing
over the Sea of Galilee and they were walking in the Lord's will,
we must be very clear on that, Jesus constrained them to go
into the ship and he went in with them. And then as they went
over the sea there came a great storm and the waves were rocking
the boat and the water was coming into the boat. I understand on the Sea of Galilee
It is given to some very fierce storms at different times. And Jesus was asleep in the hindermost
part of the ship. You know, we must ever remember
that the Lord Jesus Christ was a real man. He was a real man. And he still
is a real man in heaven. A man there is, a real man, with
wounds still gaping wide, from which rich streams of blood once
ran in hands and feet and side. A real man. He was tempted in all points,
like as we are yet without sin. That real man, our great high
priest, is still in heaven. He's still in heaven. He's still listening to and answering
the prayers of his poor and afflicted people. In the world you shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. Fear thou not. One says he sits
on no precarious throne, nor borrows leave to be. He sits in that honored position
at the right hand of the Father in Heaven. He does. He sits at the right hand of
the Majesty on High, Jesus Christ. He does. Fear Thou not. Fear Thou not. The other thing we must look
at is the Lord Jesus is in all places at all times. He's the
eternal Son of God. He is omnipresent. He has a universe and a complete
presence. There is nowhere where he is
not. David, he brings that out so clearly, doesn't he, in Psalm
139. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there. If I go up into heaven, thou
art there. If I take the wings of the morning, go to the uttermost
parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy
right hand shall hold me. Even there. He's in all places, at all times. He's Jehovah, Jesus. He's the same yesterday, and
today, and forever. I, the Lord, change not, therefore
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. This is why we're not to fear,
because of this glorious truth, I am with thee. Doesn't matter what your circumstances
are. Doesn't matter what lies before you. No. I am with you. The Lord is with you. And he
says in Hebrews chapter 13, I will never leave thee, nor forsake
thee. I will never leave thee. You may fear that because of
your sins and your sinfulness, and because of the corruption
of your nature, and because of the things that you have done,
you fear that the Lord will forsake you. That he won't want anything to
do with you. My people shall never be ashamed. Now the whole foundation and
basis of that word And it's mentioned in two verses, one after the
other, in the Prophet Joel. My people shall never be ashamed. Never. You may fear. And this is what this promise
is to allow, your fears. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed. We do. get dismayed. We have many fears
and many troubles and many trials and many perplexities and many
sins. And those sins trouble you, they
perplex you. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. I am with thee. You think of
those disciples then in the ship. Jesus asleep in the hindmost
part of the ship. They were in great fear, weren't
they? Yet the Lord was with them. But then, that's what we're like. We can't throw any stones at
those disciples, can we? We're just the same. Jesus was
asleep. What stands out so beautifully
there, in that little narrative with the Lord Jesus asleep in
the ship, is that we know that he spent whole nights in prayer. And he was constantly and continually
healing the sick, preaching the word. It was a constant and continual
labor all the time. And what we see with the Lord
Jesus asleep in that ship is that he was no different to what
we are. He was tempted in all points
like as we are. He knew what it was to be tired.
He knew what it was to be weary. He knew what it was to be hungry.
He did. He knew what it was to be thirsty. The Lord Jesus did. That's part of the meaning of
that word. He was tempted in all points
like we are. That doesn't just mean the temptations
of Satan. It does mean them. does mean
them. And we know that the Lord Jesus
was sorely tempted of the devil. He was. But it also means all
the other things. Touched with the sympathy within,
He knows, though He's sitting at the right hand of the Father,
He knows what sore temptations mean. for he has felt the same. He knows, he understands, he
sympathises, he empathises. The Lord Jesus does. You know,
we mustn't run away with the idea those things are written,
though he is Lord of all, though he is the mighty God, the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace, and we would tend to think, well
he's way above all the things that I'm passing through. No
he isn't, He was tempted in all points,
like as we are, yet without sin. All points. What a profound word,
isn't it? Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. I am with thee. Now, when we
feel the weight of our sins, willfully sinning against God,
against his holy word, against his commandments, that that can
have a very oppressive effect on the spirit of the Lord's people. But this word is spoken to help
you, to support you, to strengthen you, fear thou not, for I am
with thee. Be not dismayed. You've got that
first promise, for I am with thee, and then there's another
promise, be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I am thy God. I, the Lord, change not. Therefore,
ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. If once the love of Christ I
feel, it impressed upon my breast the mark of that celestial seal
can never be removed, can never be erased. And you can look back
at that time in your espousals when you felt such a love to
the Lord, when you followed the Lord, when you walked closely
with the Lord. But what this word is saying
is that the Lord doesn't change, we change. Our circumstances
change. We do. We live in a changing
world. We have changing circumstances. The hymn writer says, O thou
who changes not, abide with me. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed. You know, sometimes
in some things and especially in the temptations of satan and
especially when that deep sense of your own sinfulness and your
own willful sinfulness and you feel that the lord would be utterly
just if he was to cut you off but he won't he won't he never
has cut any of his people off and he never will he never will you know in that beautiful word
in the Lord Jesus Christ in John chapter 10 he speaks to concerning
his sheep and how they hear his voice my sheep they know my voice
and they follow me and you can probably look back to that time
when you heard his voice when you followed him and It says in verse 4 of chapter
10 in John, and when he put forth his own sheep, he goeth before
them. And the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. And a stranger will they not
follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of
strangers. You see, he goeth before them. And the point is, He still is
going before you. He still is with you. And He
will support you. He says in verse 14, I am the
good shepherd, and knoweth my sheep, and am known of mine.
And as the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and
I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring. and they shall
hear my voice and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Therefore doth my father love
me because I lay down my life that I might take it again. That holy human life that the
Son of God assumed in the womb of the Virgin Mary. He took that life and he lived
as a man here upon earth. The Son of God lived as a man
here upon earth. It's a profound mystery, isn't
it? And he says here that he will
lay that life down. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. It's the Son of God laying down
that holy human life that was his own personal human nature. I have power to lay it down. and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. He died for our sins. I have power to lay it down.
He died for our sins. He took our sins and he nailed
them to his cross. And that can never change. All
our sins. I love that comprehensive word
in the first epistle of John, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's
son, cleanseth us from all sin. From all sin. He took our sins. He nailed them
to his cross. It's a lovely word in the hymn,
isn't it? Payment he cannot twice demand. first at my bleeding
shortest hand and then again at mine. In the last few verses
of the Prophet Micah in the chapter 7 and we read from verse 18,
who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth
by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage He retaineth
not his anger for ever because he delighteth in mercy. He does. He will turn again. He will have
compassion upon us. He will subdue our iniquities
and they will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea. They will perform the truth to
Jacob and the mercy to Abraham which thou hast sworn unto our
fathers from the days of old. You see the Lord will perform
his word. He doesn't change. It's not like
we are. We're sometimes hot, we're sometimes
cold. We are. An earthly brother drops
his hold. He does. But Jesus is the same. And there in the 10th chapter
of John, And that we read in verse 27, my sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand I and my Father are one. None shall pluck them
out of my Father's hand. We're safe, my beloved friends,
safe in Jesus Christ. His blood cleanses us from all
sin and we have an unchangeable priesthood in the glorious person
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, we change. We change continually. We change in our circumstance.
We change in our feelings. We change because of the temptations
of Satan. But here is one that does not
change, never changes his mind. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, For I am thy
God. Now we have a promise for that
which is to come. I will strengthen thee. We read in the book of Samuel where Samuel is speaking to Saul and he speaks of the strength
of Israel. It's with a capital S, the strength
of Israel. Christ is the strength of his
people. He is. He doesn't change. He's Jesus
Christ the same. Yesterday, today and forever. One hymn writer says then, mine
is an unchanging love. It's unchanging love. It's unchanging
compassion, unchanging kindness. It is. Fear thou not, for I am
with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God. I will strengthen thee. Do you see what I mean now by
the multitude of promises and that these are the I wills of
the Lord Jehovah? eternal God. I will. His will will prevail. And it's
what He does, not what you do, nor what you can do, nor what
you have done. It's His will. I will strengthen
thee. Yea, that's like an affirmative
word. Yes, I will help thee. I will
help thee. The Lord has promised to help
you. I don't know what it is that so troubles you, burdens
you, perplexes you, but the Lord is promising to help you. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. Not your righteousness, What
you'll prove is all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. All our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. But this is the Lord's righteousness,
the right hand of my righteousness. The Lord Jesus is the right hand
of the Father. We read in that lovely word,
that prayer in Psalm 80, let thy hand Let thy hand be upon
the man of thy right hand, that's Christ, the Son of Man, whom
thou madest strong for thyself. O poor, tempted, tried, perplexed
believer, remember that His is an unchanging love. It
is. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. Yea, I will uphold thee. Yea, I will uphold thee with
the right hand of my righteousness. The righteousness of Christ. Jehovah Sifkenu, the Lord our
righteousness. That's what Christ is. One hymn writer, I think it's
John Berridge, they all declare, this is the Lord's people, they
all declare, I nothing am. My all is bound up in the Lamb. I'm nothing but a poor, needy,
wretched, helpless sinner. You know, my beloved friends,
the gospel is for sinners. Sinners can say, and none but
they, how precious is the Saviour. Those lovely words in the Gospel
according to Luke, I believe it's chapter 18, verse 10. The Son of Man is come as Christ
to seek and to save that which was lost. Fear thou not, fear
thou not, for I am with thee. You think of Manasseh, King Manasseh. He had a most godly father, Hezekiah. Yet he ran to such great lengths
in sin, in wickedness, in evil. There's no other word for it.
He literally made the streets of Jerusalem run with blood. And yet the Lord calls an enemy
to come and to take him captive. And when he was taken among the
thorns, he saw his God. And the Lord heard. In spite
of all his wickedness, idolatry, sin, iniquity, and yet the Lord
heard his prayer. It's for sinners, the gospel,
my beloved friends. Poor, wretched, needy sinners.
The whole need not a physician, but they that are sick, I do,
fear thou not, for I am with thee, be not dismayed, for I
am thy God, I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee,
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. Christ is the right hand of the
Father, and here it says the right hand
of my righteousness. Righteousness is holiness. The hymn writer says, righteousness
within thee rooted may appear to take thy part. But you know,
we've got no real true righteousness in ourselves. We're sinners. And the hymn writer says, but
let righteousness imputed be the breastplate of thy heart.
You see, our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood
and righteousness. You think of that glorious and
precious transaction when the Father took our sins, the whole
election of grace, the whole church of God, he took our sins
and he lifted them off the church and he laid them on his Son.
Jesus Christ. That's called the doctrine of
imputation. He imputed the sin of the church
onto his only begotten son that was manifest in the flesh. And
that was done in the Garden of Gethsemane. It's prophesied in
Isaiah 53. He laid upon him the iniquity
of us all. The father laid upon his son
the iniquity of the church. then he took that perfect obedience
of Jesus the Son of God manifest in the flesh that perfect holy
life which is called the righteousness of Christ he took that and he
gave it to the church so he takes away her sin and the Lord Jesus
Christ suffered and bled and died for the sin of the church And then he takes the perfect
obedience of Christ, the righteousness of Christ, and he gives it to
the church. What an exchange, isn't it? How
true, we have to exclaim with John Newton, amazing grace, how
sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but
now I'm found, was blind, but now I see. Now I say, oh, I would,
my beloved friends, that the Holy Spirit would take this precious
promise and make it a sweet reality in your heart and that you may
not forget that all these promises are yay and amen in Christ Jesus. Fear thou not. Why? Because Jesus
suffered and bled and died and rose again for our sins and ascended
into glory. He died for our sins, He rose
again for our justification, and He's now bodily ascended
into heaven. He sits at the right hand of
the Father. He's unchangeably the same. He
is our great High Priest. For such a High Priest have we. Jesus, the Son of God. He's passed
into the heavens. He sits at the right hand of
the Father. Fear thou not. Why? Because Jesus is in heaven. Because Jesus suffered and bled
and died for your sins. Once in Him, in Him forever,
thus the eternal covenant stands. It goes on here. and these sweet
promises. Behold, all they that were incensed
against thee shall be ashamed and confounded. They shall be
as nothing, and they that strive with thee shall perish. Thou
shalt seek them and shalt not find them, even them that contended
with thee. They that war against thee shall
be as nothing. It says in Isaiah 54, no weapon
that is formed against thee shall prosper. Every tongue that shall
rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. Wonderful
promises that the Lord gives to his people. For I, verse 13,
here in this chapter, for I the Lord thy God will hold thy right
hand, saying, fear not, I will help thee. Fear not, thou worm
Jacob, You know, we have to come into
places like that. Worm, a worm, a little lowly
worm that crawls around in the earth and we have to be brought
to feel that. But let me tell you this, there's
somebody else that felt it before you and we read it in some 22. It's a language of Christ. I am worm and no man. A Christ. Do you see this so
opens that word. He was tempted in all points
like as we are yet without sin. I am a worm and no man. Fear not thou worm Jacob and
ye men of Israel I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy
Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make thee a new
sharp threshing instrument having teeth. Thou shalt thresh the
mountains and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. What is this new sharp threshing
instrument having teeth? I believe it's prayer. and supplication. And that's what He gives to His
people. The Lord by His Spirit gives us prayer and supplication. I will make thee a new sharp
threshing instrument, having teeth thou shalt thresh the mountains,
those mountains of sin, those mountains of impossibility, those
mountains of hopelessness. Thou shalt thresh the mountains
and beat them small shall make the hills as chaff. You see again in verse 17 speaking to
the Lord's poor, needy, wretched family. They feel themselves
to be poor and needy and he says here, when the poor and needy
seek water and there is none and their tongue faileth for
thirst, I the Lord, I Jehovah will hear them. I the God of Israel will not
forsake them. The Lord will not forsake his
people. However bad you feel you are, however wretched you
feel you are, however undone you feel you are. I do like what the hymn writer
says. Rebellious thou hast been, and art rebellious still, but
since in love I took thee in, my promise I'll fulfilled the
promise of God that his people, he says here in verse 18, I will
open rivers in high places and fountains in the midst of the
valleys, I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land
springs of water, I will plant, he's speaking now of planting
his church, I will plant in the wilderness, that's the wilderness
of this world, The cedar, these are all different types of the
Lord's people. The cedar, the shitter tree,
the myrtle and the oil tree. I will set in the desert the
fir tree and the pine and the box tree together that they may
see and know and consider and understand together that the
hand of the Lord hath done this and the Holy One of Israel hath
created. The very last place that you
plant a tree is in a wilderness, in a desert, because that's what
it means. but then the Lord will plant his trees in the desert
of this wilderness and he'll open rivers in high places. Those
rivers, it's the Holy Spirit. There is a river, the streams
are of, shall make glad the city of God, the dwelling places of
the most high. I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. Fear thou not, for I am with
thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy
God, I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I
will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 329, the tune is Promise 832. How firm a foundation, ye
saints of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent word. What more can he say? Unto you
he has said, you who unto Jesus for refuge have fled. Hymn 329, tune Promise 832. ? This day we celebrate ? ? This
day we celebrate thee ? ? This day we celebrate thee ? ? God watch on Mary's side ? ?
That she will be blessed ? ? Evermore on earth peace restore ? In ev'ry condition, in sickness,
in health, In hope, in wisdom, above fear, in love, ? That Thou, Lord, hath brought
on the land of the sea ? ? That Thy days may keep on ? ?
Shall Thy strength ever be ? In all quiet relief, O be not
dismayed, I am thy pardon, will still faith remain. I'll strengthen thee, help thee,
and cause thee to stand. I'll provide thy righteousness
for thee both now and then. When through the deep waters
I call Thee to bow, The ripples of flow'r shall not lift Thou
from Thou. Oh, I will be with Thee, Thine
all day long. Accept, if I to Thee, Thy peace,
it's true. And through all the trials my pathway shall
fly. Thy grace, O sufficient, shall
be my supply. The flame shall not hurt thee,
I've found thee designed. Thy trust will come soon, And
thy gold will be found. Implanted away to my feeble shadow,
my sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love. And then, glorious, shall
thy temples adorn, Like them they shall still in Bibles soon
be born. The soul that on Jesus had before
it was, I will not, I will not deter
to His word. That's all I hope hell should
live ever to change. I'll never, no never, no never forsake 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 forevermore. Amen.