Let us commence our service this
evening by singing together hymn number 277. The tune is St. Bea's 494. Now I see, what e'er
be tide, all is well if Christ be mine. He has promised to provide,
may he teach me to resign. Hymn 277. Tunes St B's 494. Christ be whate'er betide, All
is well if Christ be nigh. He has promised ne'er will die,
May he teach me to resign. When a sense of sin and trouble ?
Calls me to the sinner's prayer ? ? He enclaves to every door
? ? By the way and to the air ? How sweet said of me thy care,
T'is enough that I am thine, I will all thy purpose bear, Thy will, O God, be done. Lord, I would in Thee submit
and the air my heart still fears. The Lord my rest emcees worship,
as he surely best foreplayed. Only when the plague is gone,
And the Calvary's work's done, Let my promise and my love Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in Psalms 86 and 87. The Book of Psalms, reading Psalms
86 and 87. Bow down thine ear, O Lord, hear
me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul, for I am holy. O thou, my God, save thy servant
that trusteth in thee. Be merciful unto me, O Lord,
for I cry unto thee daily. Rejoice the soul of thy servant,
for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For thou, Lord, art
good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy unto all them
that call upon thee. Give ear, O Lord, unto my prayer,
and attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of
my trouble I will call upon thee, for thou wilt answer me. Among
the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord, neither are there
any works like unto thy works. All nations whom thou hast made
shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify
thy name. for thou art great and doest
wondrous things. Thou art God alone. Teach me
thy way, O Lord. I will walk in thy truth, unite
my heart to fear thy name. I will praise thee, O Lord my
God, with all my heart, and I will glorify thy name forevermore. For great is thy mercy toward
me, and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell. O
God, the proud are risen against me, and the assemblies of violent
men have sought after my soul, and have not set thee before
them. For thou, O Lord, art a God full
of compassion, and gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous
in mercy and truth. O, turn unto me, and have mercy
upon me. Give thy strength unto thy servant,
and save the son of thine handmaid. Show me a token for good, that
they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed, because thou,
Lord, hast helpened me and comforted me. His foundation is in the
holy mountains. The Lord loveth the gates of
Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are
spoken of thee, O city of God, Selah. I will make mention of
Rahab and Babylon to them that know me. Behold, Philistia and
Tyre with Ethiopia, this man, was born there. And of Zion it
shall be said, this and that man was born in her, and the
highest himself shall establish her. The Lord shall count when
he righteth up the people that this man was born there, Selah. As well the singers, as the players
on instruments shall be there, all my springs are in thee. 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 seek to bow before thy glorious
majesty. We seek a spirit of true worship,
We seek the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of
God our Father and the sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit
as we gather together around thy word at this evening hour.
We read, O Lord, in thy word that those occasions in the word
of God, that when thou didst meet with thy people, when they
met together for the evening sacrifice, And we pray that it
may be so with us here as we meet together at this evening
hour to worship our God. We pray that thou wouldst graciously
grant us that spirit of true worship. They that worship thee
must worship thee in spirit and in truth. Holy, blessed, divine
spirit, come and teach us. convince us of our sin, and lead
to Jesus' blood, and to our wandering eyes reveal the secret love of
God. Oh, we do pray that the love
of Christ may be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost,
and that that wonderful grace of our Lord Jesus Christ may
fill our hearts, infinite grace, almighty grace, delivering grace,
enlightening grace. Oh, may that wonderful grace be found in our hearts as we
gather around thy Word. May we know those divine drawings
of our Heavenly Father, for none come except the Father draw.
May we know those sweet drawings unto our Lord Jesus Christ. O Lord, do hear us, we pray.
We're very conscious, O Lord, that without Thee we can do nothing. Without Thy heavenly power, O
Lord, no sweets the gospel can afford. No drops of heavenly
love will fall. O, we pray that Thou wouldst
meet with us, that Thou wouldst bless us. We feel, O Lord, our
unworthiness. We feel our sinfulness. We feel
the corruption of our nature. We feel like the dear apostle
he speaks of in the word. When I would do good, then evil
is present with me. We think of the words of the
prophet from the crown of the head to the sole of the foot,
wounds and bruises and putrefying sores. There is no soundness
in my flesh. Lord, we prove that word to be
true. We prove also the words of the
prophet, the heart of man is deceitful above all things and
desperately wicked. Who can tell? And we feel it
to be so, Lord. And we would come in confession
before the, but though sin lives in us, may we not live in sin,
but may we live to him that died. May we be surrendered unto the
crucified one. May we be as clay in the hands
of the heavenly potter and may grace triumphant reign in our
hearts, in our lives, in our circumstances, among us as a
church and a congregation. May it bear thy holy arm among
us and work mightily and work powerfully and work effectually
to the great glory of thy holy name, we do humbly beseech thee. Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
graciously work and that we may see thy work. Let thy work appear
unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children. O Lord,
we do beseech thee. We've read together in thy holy
word concerning Zion that this and that man was born in her.
And we pray that it may be that this little house of prayer may
be the birthplace of many a saint, many a precious soul that shall
come in and their souls quickened and brought to living faith in
Jesus Christ and become true followers of thee and of those
who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Thou hast
said in thy word, I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy
her poor with bread. Lord, may it be so. We do humbly
pray thee, may it please thee in this dark day, when thy power
is withheld, and when there seems to be very little going on, and
yet Lord, we know there are those things that are going on, And
we know that over these past weeks and months that a number
of precious souls have put thee on in an open profession of thy
great and holy name and have become followers of thee and
of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Go on, most mighty God, thy wonders to make known. Put forth thy
spirit with the word. Oh, do hear us, Lord, we pray
thee. Pull down the strongholds of
Satan. Set up the kingdom of the Lord
Jesus in the hearts of sinners. Cause the prodigals to return,
and thy wonderful grace to be seen in this. O Lord, do hear
us, we pray, for thy great namesake, and have mercy upon us, we beseech
thee. Do graciously grant that divine
direction that we need. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. And may we know that divine
leading of the Spirit as we gather for divine worship. And may it
please thee, O Lord, we pray, to bless the little ones and
the children that gather with us. Bless them, O Lord, with
the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. Bless
the young friends and guide and direct them in all matters. Bring
them to living faith in Jesus Christ. Make them true followers
of Thee and of those who through faith and patience inherit the
promises. Be with them in all the paths
of providence. Help them to cast all their cares
upon Thee. Help them to commit their way
unto the Lord and trust also in Him. Be with them, Lord, in
their education. Be with them in their employment.
and be with them regarding a partner in life's journey. Lord, we lovingly
commend them to thee. Thou art that great God that
did bring a Ruth to Bias and a Rebecca to Isaac, and thou
art the same God. Thou art unchangeably the same.
Thou art able to do abundantly more than we can even ask or
think. Lord, we do pray that thou would
remember our brethren, the deacons, and richly bless them. Remember,
Lord, we pray thee, each one of our brethren and sisters in
church fellowship. Remember them with the favour
that thou bearest unto thy people, and graciously grant that we
may be united at the throne of grace, that we may be spiritually
prosperous in our own souls, a closer walk with thee, a calm,
a heavenly frame, a light to shine upon the road that leads
me to the land. Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst
graciously grant us that closer walk. And we do pray that thou
wouldst grant us the spirit and mind of Christ, that we may behave
ourselves rightly, that we may love each other, serve each other,
and bear each other's burdens, thereby fulfilling the law of
Christ, that we may be kind and tender-hearted, forgiving one
another, that even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven
you, let that mind be in us which was also in Christ Jesus. We
do humbly beseech of thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou in thy precious mercy would remember parents as they
seek to bring up their children. May they be enabled to do so
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We pray, most gracious
God, that thou wouldst graciously be with all in the midst of the
journey of life. And have mercy upon us, O Lord,
we pray thee. And graciously Grant us that
gracious separation from the ways of sin and unrighteousness. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it. Prone to leave the God I love.
Here's my heart, Lord, take and seal it. Seal it from thy courts
above. We do humbly beseech thee. We
do pray, most gracious Lord, that thou would remember those
of us that are in the evening time of life's journey. and graciously prepare us for
that great change which must come. And we know not when it
will come. We neither know the day nor the
hour, and we pray to be prepared, to be made ready. Oh, do hear
us, Lord, we humbly beseech thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou would remember this village, and that the glory and
light of the gospel may shine into this village. We pray that
thou would bless the word of the Lord distributed among the
villages and the calendars, the scripture calendars, we pray
that thou would abundantly bless the word of the Lord as it goes
forth. We do humbly pray thee for thy
great namesake that we may see an abundant harvest in due season. And what we pray for us here
as a little church and congregation, we pray for all the little houses
of prayer, that thou would return unto Jerusalem with mercies,
that thou would grant a spirit of power, that thou would grant
signs to follow, the preaching of the word, that thou would
remember thy promises. I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with
bread. Do hear us, O Lord, we pray thee
for thy great namesake. We pray, most gracious Lord,
for truly thankful hearts, nation this day, remembering the deliverance
in the Second World War. We think of the great sacrifices
that were made by so many. And we pray, most gracious Lord,
for truly thankful hearts, for the freedoms and liberties that
we enjoy. Lord, as a nation, we are sunk
deep in the ways of sin and wickedness and evil and unrighteousness.
But, oh Lord, there's none beyond thy power. Thou able to do abundantly
more than we can even ask or think. Oh, do hear us, Lord,
we pray thee. Remember our government. give
wisdom to our leaders, bless our king and the royal household.
And we think of the places where there is war and the bloodshed
and oppression. And we pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou would put a stop to war and bring to naught the counsels
of the ungodly. And graciously remember thy people
in those places, we do humbly pray thee. Thou hast said, O
Lord, in thy word that there shall be wars and rumours of
wars, and these are the beginnings of sorrows. Gracious Lord, we
do pray. Remember those that labour in
word and doctrine among the nations of the earth. Remember Ian Sather
and that great work that he does in the distribution of thy word
and in the exposition of it in so many places here upon earth.
supply all his every need. Remember the Mombasa mission
and thy servant as he labours there. Grant an abundant harvest
in due season, signs to follow the preaching of the word. And
O Lord, remember the Savannah Education Trust and the great
work that they're doing in the Christian schools in Karna. All
that these things may be down to the great honour, glory and
praise of thy great and holy name. We pray for truly thankful
hearts, thankful for every mercy of thy kind providence, thankful
for proving, O Lord, that my God shall supply all your need
according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. We're thankful,
most gracious Lord, for our house of prayer, for the open Bible,
for the witness of truth. We're thankful for our Lord Jesus
Christ, for the wonderful glory of the incarnation of the Son
of God. We thank thee that in him and
through him and his perfect obedience is the bringing in of everlasting
righteousness for thy people. Jehovah said, can you, the Lord
our righteousness. We thank Thee that He suffered
and bled and died for our sins on the cross of Calvary. And
this is all our hope, and this is all our desire, that I may
know Him in the power of His resurrection, in the fellowship
of His sufferings. 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 He has bodily
ascended into heaven and made a new and living way into the
holy place, and those everlasting gates have lifted their heads,
and the King of glory is now in heaven. Oh, we thank thee
that we have a great high priest who is passed into the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God. Come and touch one's lips with
a live coal from off the heavenly altar, Come and breathe thy word
into our hearts. We ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
1109 to the tune Old Chapel 383. Come weary souls with sin distressed,
come and accept the promised rest, the gospel's gracious call
obey, and cast your gloomy fears away. Hymn 1109, tune Old Chapel
384. ? Hark! The herald angels sing
? ? Glory to the newborn King ? ? Glory to the newborn King ? I know so many things of thee.
? We're built to make the world
new ? ? And God has made the good and the good ? ? Give us your
passion and give us your truth ? Wee-oo wee-oo wee-oo ? Give us this day our daily bread
? ? Give us this day our daily bread ? ? God and I have endless years
? ? Our mission is everywhere ? O come let us adore Him, O come
let us adore Him, Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I direct your attention to Psalm 86, And we'll
read the first clause of verse 17. Psalm 86 verse 17. Just the first clause. Show me a token for good. The whole verse reads, show me
a token for good that they which hate me may see it. and be ashamed, because thou,
Lord, hast opened me and comforted me. It's really just that first clause
that has so rested with me today, show me a token for good. The psalmist was in trouble,
and yet though he was in trouble, And yet he rejoices in the greatness
of God, in the wisdom and power of God, in the unchanging love
of God. He commences the psalm, bow down
thine ear, O Lord, hear me, for I am poor and needy. You know, that condition of being
poor and needy, is peculiar to the living child of God. Of course
it's not speaking of natural poverty and natural need. It's
speaking of spiritual poverty and spiritual need. I am poor
and needy. King David in natural things
was not poor and needy. No, but in spiritual things He was. There are times when the
Lord's people know much blessing and much favour and are greatly
blessed. But for the most part, there
is always that sense of our poverty. I am poor and needy. with that lovely promise in Isaiah
chapter 41, when the poor and needy seek water. I like the
way it's worded, when, not if, when the poor and needy seek
water and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst,
I the Lord will hear them. I'll open rivers in high places
and streams in the desert. You see, I am poor and needy. How many of us here, as we come
together around the Word of God, we have to confess that we're
poor and needy. Poor in myself, in Him, I'm strong. There's no good in us. There
isn't any good in us. And the Lord makes us feel it. Feel our poverty, feel our insufficiency,
feel our helplessness, feel our hopelessness. You know, Paul the Apostle, writing in
the second epistle to the Corinthians, he speaks there of the wonderful
visions he had. He said he was taken up into
the third heaven. and he saw things that it was
not lawful what he means is he saw things that he couldn't express
he couldn't set them forth they were so glorious and wonderful
the visions he had but then he goes on to say lest I should
be exalted above measure the Lord gave me a thorn in the flesh
a messenger of Satan to buffet me that there's no doubt that
that thorn in the flesh, that messenger of Satan, it's wisely
hidden exactly what it was. You know if you've got a messenger
of Satan buffeting you. And Satan comes in many different
ways and in many different guises to afflict the Lord's people.
But there was a reason, the apostle says. lest I should be exalted
above measure. For the visions and wonders that
he saw, he was given something to balance. We read in the book
of Job, thus they'll not know the balancings of the clouds
of him that is perfect in knowledge. One of the hymn writer takes
up that point, doesn't he? Eternal wisdom ne'er designed
to give thee always joy, Have you got those things in your
life, in your family, in the church, that cause you many errands
to the throne of grace, that bring you down in your feelings
so that you can echo the words of what David speaks here, for
I am poor and needy. Mercy, you know friends, if we're
poor and needy. We didn't know this teaching
we'd be lifted up in pride. We would. And we'd walk in pride. And that is the most unprofitable
place to be spiritually. It's a mercy when the Lord touches
us, humbles us, So he prays for preservation, preserve
my soul for I am holy. Understand in the original Hebrew,
the way that this has been translated, David is not saying that he was
a holy man. What he means in this context
is that he was godly. The grace of God was in his heart.
His hope was built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. But he says in verse three, be
merciful unto me, O Lord, for I cry unto thee daily. Now that was just the position
of Paul the apostle, wasn't it? I cry unto thee daily. he went forward to preach in
his abundant labors he had this messenger of satan this thorn
in the flesh it rankled constantly and where did it bring him in
prayer he said i besought the lord thrice to deliver me from
this thorn in the flesh from this messenger of satan that
was buffeting him in paul's opinion He thought it'd be much better
off without that messenger of Satan, without that thorn in
the flesh. And so he asked the Lord three
times to take it away. Lord, take it away. He felt it
would be a much better preacher, it would be a much better apostle.
But the Lord knew otherwise. His wisdom is perfect. He knew
otherwise. He knew that Paul needed this
messenger of Satan. And the other thing is, friends,
though the apostle asked the Lord three times to remove that
thorn in the flesh, we actually never read that the Lord did. But he gave him a most sweet
and precious promise. My grace is made perfect in which
See, my grace is sufficient for thee. It's sufficient. And this, he had to prove day
by day. We prove that we have this treasure
in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power might
be of God and not of us. Now when it speaks of earthen
vessels, it means leaky vessels. Earthen vessels that leak. So we can't retain. We can't
retain. You see, it says here, be merciful unto me,
O Lord, for I cry unto thee daily. Rejoice the soul of thy servant,
for unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. And he leans back
here, he remembers all the way the Lord God has led him. For
thou, Lord, art good. He'd proved it. And ready to
forgive and plenties in mercy unto all them that call upon
thee. The Lord is. Unto all them that
call upon thee. What do we read here in the book
of Psalms? Call upon me in the day of trouble and I will deliver
thee. I will deliver thee. cast thy
burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. There again,
I understand that in the original Hebrew, it says roll, the alternative
interpretation of the word, roll thy burden upon the Lord, and
He shall sustain thee. He shall sustain thee, for thou,
Lord, art good and ready to forgive. Why did he need this forgiveness? Because of sin. You know, John,
he says in his first epistle when he's speaking to the children
of God, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves
and the life of God is not in us. That is one of the afflictions
of every true child of God. Not necessarily that you're living
in sin, but the great trial is that sin lives in you. The apostate
came to that conclusion, didn't he, in the seventh chapter of
the Romans. For I know that in me, that is
in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing. It's a painful thing
when day by day the Lord teaches us that in our flesh there dwelleth
no good thing he says in verse six give ear oh lord unto my
prayer and attend to the voice of my supplications he was in
trouble he was in trial and the lord's people are often in trouble
and often in trial one hymn writer says and we can echo what he
means tis more The treacherous calm I dread, than billows burst
in all my head. The treacherous calm, when we're
left to ourselves, when we're left to our own heart, our own
corruptions, our own sinful desires. It's a solemn thing, you know,
friends, to be left in that place. but he was in trouble. Therefore,
he was in prayer. Therefore, he knew what supplication
was, to supplicate the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. Let us
therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain
mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Have you come
to chapel tonight and it's a time of need. And you feel like David, I am
poor and needy, a time of need. In the day of my trouble, I will
call upon thee for thou wilt answer me. And now he remembers. Among the gods there is none
like unto thee. He expresses his confidence of
the things that he'd experienced previously in his life. Among
the gods there is none like unto thee, O Lord, neither are there
any works like unto thy works. You see, and then he speaks of
the sovereignty of God. all nations whom thou hast made
shall come and worship before thee, O Lord, and shall glorify
thy name for thou art great. We read in Psalm 145, a beautiful
psalm of praise, great is the Lord and greatly to be praised
and his greatness is unsearchable. And it's when we prove these
things and experience these things, when we pass through these troubles
and trials and perplexities, when the Lord permits the enemy
to tempt us, just like he did Paul, a messenger of Satan to
buffet him. It is tribulations pathway, which
then we prove for thou art great and doest wondrous things. Our
God alone. This verse was made so exceedingly
precious to me when I was in the A&E department at Eastbourne
Hospital. If I remember rightly, I had
to wait three or four hours before they could find a bed for me.
And we were in great trouble, providentially. And now affliction. And it seems so awful. But it was the last clause of
verse 10 that the Lord breathed into my soul there in that hospital.
Thou art God alone. You might say, well, we all know
that. Yes, but my beloved friends,
When the Lord breathes it into your heart, it becomes a living
word, and the eyes of your understanding are enlightened. What meditation the Lord gave
me there, upon the infinity and the greatness and the wisdom
and the love and the mercy and the grace of God in Christ, that
He reigned omnipotent. And you know, friends, as I lay
there and meditated on these things, Everything changed. Nothing had changed in my circumstances,
but everything changed in my thoughts. As I meditated on the
greatness of God and the omnipotence of God and the power of God and
the love of God and the grace of God in our Lord Jesus Christ,
infinite grace, infinite mercy, instead of turmoil, there was
peace. Perfect peace. The Lord will keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on him. Perfect peace. Thou art
God alone. If I remember correctly, I was
in hospital at that time about 10 days. And owing to my affliction,
I wasn't able to concentrate. But every day I came to this
song. And every day I seem to draw
more sweetness out of those words, Thou art God alone. Oh, the loveliness of Christ,
the love and power of that Heavenly Father. As a father pitieth children,
his children, so the Lord God pitieth his people. It's a wonderful
thing when we have a sense of the Lord's greatness, for thou
art great and doest wondrous things, thou art God alone. Now, this brings us, he desires
the Lord to teach him. You know, when the Lord reveals
himself to us, when the Lord humbles us under a sense of our
emptiness and brings us into a place of helplessness and felt
insufficiency, then We're humbled. He says, doesn't
he, in one place, humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand
of God. If we're left to ourselves and
to our flesh, we fight. We rebel. We do. But when the Lord humbles us,
we fall as clay into the hands of the heavenly potter. We do. Teach me thy way. O Lord, I will
walk in thy truth, unite my heart to fear thy name. I will praise
thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart. I will glorify thy
name forevermore. Show me a token for good. You see, and he speaks here in
verse 15, But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, gracious,
long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth. It's when
we drink from those wells of salvation that bubble up, that
fresh living water, the wells of salvation. Thou, O Lord, But thou, O Lord,
art a God full of compassion. When we know that love and that
mercy that flows from Calvary, when the love of Christ is shed
abroad in our hearts, and then the desire here, O turn
unto me and have mercy upon me. Give thy strength unto thy servant
and save the son of thine handmaid. it says here at the top of the
psalm a prayer of David and apparently there is no poetic
form to this prayer it is a prayer literally a prayer of David as
he records it in the things that he was passing through you think
of some of the things that he passed through think of the time
when Absalom rose up against him and drove him from his throne
at Jerusalem and he had to flee his own son and we don't know he could have
been written at that time. Show me a token for good. How
he needed a token from the Lord then. The Lord Indeed did deliver
him you think of David when the Amalekites come and took all
his family his wives and his children a ziklag Show me a token
for good He needed the Lord to show him a token for good, but
we read this He pursued after the Amalekites And what do you
read and David recovered all? He pursued after them and recovered
all show me a token for good. You need the Lord. Is that how
you've come? Maybe there's one here that has
come and that is the desire of their heart that the Lord might
show them a token for good. You come tonight with that desire
that the Lord would show you a token for good. My mind in meditation this morning
seem to be much drawn to the Lord's servant Moses in Exodus
chapter 34 and the wonderful mercy of God
that was revealed unto Moses at this time. The children of Israel in the
previous chapter it is recorded that when Moses went up into
Mount Sinai with the tablets of stone, how that the Lord said
unto him, get thee down, make haste, for they have turned unto
idols. That's the children of Israel.
And when Moses came down from the mount with those two tablets
of stone, with the law of God written upon it, and he saw the
molten calf, he saw the children of Israel dancing naked and he
cast down those stones and they break. Those stones of the law
written by the finger of the living God, they break before
the children of Israel. Moses was in great distress and the anger of the Lord was
kindled against the children of Israel. Indeed, Moses said to the Lord
that he should blot his out his name out not the name of the
children of Israel. He interceded for the children
of Israel at that time the Lord had said he would destroy them. But then in the infinite love
and mercy of God we find in chapter 34 and the Lord said unto Moses
hew thee out two tables of stone like unto the first And I will
write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables,
which thou breakest. What a picture of man, the broken
law. And be ready in the morning and
come up in the morning unto Mount Sinai and present thyself there
to me in the top of the mountain. He was to come alone and he hewed
out those tables of stone and it says in the fifth verse and
the Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and
proclaimed the name of the Lord. Show me a token for good. This was the token that the Lord
gave him. The Lord descended in the cloud
and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. We read in Proverbs, the name
of the Lord is a strong tower and the righteous runneth into
it. The name of the Lord and the
Lord passed by before him and proclaimed, the Lord, the Lord
God, merciful and gracious, long suffering and abundant in goodness
and truth, keeping mercy for thousands forgiving iniquity
and transgression and sin, and that will by no means acquit
the guilty, visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children
upon the children's children unto the third and to the fourth
generation. And Moses made haste. What a
token that was, wasn't it? And Moses made haste and bowed
his head toward the earth and worshipped. And he said, if now
I found grace in thy sight, O Lord. Let my Lord, I pray thee, go
among us, for he is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity
and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance. You see, the Lord merciful and
gracious. And the Lord indeed did write
out that holy law again, engraven with the finger of God upon those
tables of stone, the Ten Commandments. And then Moses came back down
the mount and as the Lord had commanded him, he put the two completed tablets of stone of
the law into the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of the whole Earth.
Now the beauty of that is, in a typical sense, is the Ark of
the Covenant of the Lord represents Jesus Christ. We've often pointed
out it was covered with badger skins. But inside was the golden
mercy seat and the golden cherubims. And the Lord had said, there
will I meet with them. The badger skins represent the
sacred humanity of Jesus, the son of God. The gold, the golden
cherubims, the golden mercy seat represent the divinity of Christ. He's the eternal son of the eternal
father. And he's the one that kept the
holy, righteous law of God, completely. He did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. He kept the law of God. I come
not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it, and that is what
Christ has done. And so when Moses brings down
that completed law, and he places it in the Ark of the Covenant,
and so in Christ, typically, the Old Testament but in reality
in the New Testament in Christ we see the law fulfilled, honored
and magnified. I come not to destroy the law
but to fulfill it. So in these things that happened
unto Moses, in these tokens that the Lord gave him, that there
is a revelation given. If Now I have found grace in
thy sight. See, Moses pleads that the Lord
will accept the children of Israel. O Lord, let my Lord, I pray thee,
go among us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity
and our sin, and take us for thine inheritance. You see, my
beloved friends, the Lord gave him a token. and the Lord gives
us a token in that typical way in the law fulfilled and honoured
in the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you know we read also concerning
the harlot Rahab, how in the book of Joshua when she came
and help the two spies that came to spy out the land and the city
of Jericho. And she said to the spies, give
me a true token. Give me a true token. We read that she took them in,
she hid them on the rooftop beneath the flax so that they could not
be found. and before they were laid down
she came up unto them upon the roof and she said unto the men
I know that the Lord has given you the land and that your terror
is fallen upon us and that all the inhabitants of the land faint
because of you for you have heard how the Lord dried up the water
of the Red Sea for you when you came out of Egypt and what he
did unto the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other
side of Jordan, Sion and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And
as soon as ye had heard these things, our hearts did melt,
neither did there remain any more courage in any man because
of you, for the Lord your God is God. He is God in heaven above
and in earth beneath. They saw these wonderful things
that the God of heaven, they greatly feared. whole of the
city greatly feared. And she says in verse 12, now
therefore I pray you swear unto me by the Lord since I have showed
you kindness that ye will also show kindness unto my father's
house and give me a true token. And the spies, she put the scarlet
cord that she let the men down out of her room she lived on
the walls of the city and she let the men down and they escaped
from the city of Jericho and the token was that they would
put that scarlet cord in the window and when the children
of Israel came that they were that would be the token that
they would spare all in her house all of her family you see give
me a true token as if someone come here tonight and that has
been your prayer lord give me a true token show me a token
lord for good a token of thy special love show me that i am
born of god and that my treasure is a bath give me a a true token maybe there's something laying
in your heart And for one last time, you desire a token from
the Lord as to whether you should proceed in this matter. Show me a token. Become praying
for a token, for a word of direction. You think of the Lord's servant
Gideon in the book of Judges. How that he asked for a sign,
for a token, token from the Lord as to whether he should go against
the Midianites. It was a huge thing to do. And so the Lord gave him a token.
He laid the sheepskin on the ground and it was covered in
dew and all the earth was dry. And he laid the sheepskin on
the ground the next night and the earth was all covered in
dew, but the sheepskin was dry. The Lord gave him a sign, gave
him a token that he was with him. Show me a token for good. Show me a token for good. You know, it's the word of the
Lord. There can be no greater token that the Lord can give
you but to breathe the word of his grace into your heart and to soften your heart under
a sense of the love of Christ. What a token that is. And then
what willingness. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. And when you feel the power of
the love of Christ in your heart, you're made willing, willing
to follow him. willing to serve him, willing
to be obedient unto him, made willing. But you have this token. You can say with David in Psalm
116, I love the Lord because he has heard my voice, the voice
of my supplication, show me a token for good. the Lord's goodness. Surely goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will
dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Surely goodness and
mercy shall follow me. My late brother Timothy, he was taken into Luton and Dunstville
Hospital. He'd had cancer for some time. My brother Joe called him on
the Saturday night, he heard he wasn't well at all. And he
rang him and the ambulance apparently had just arrived to take him
to hospital. And he said to Joe, and Joe said,
how are you? And he said, I can only get one
word, Joe. Depart from me, he said, into
everlasting fire. And you can imagine the turmoil
in his heart at that time. Joe and I went to see him on
the Monday morning in the Luton Hospital and during that weekend
they told him that his cancer was terminal and they couldn't
do any more for him. But he said in the early hours
of Sunday morning, he said Psalm 23 was exceedingly precious to
him when he was in his early spiritual days and baptised by
Mr Clark at Barton. But he said, I could never understand
that word. They'll prepare us the table
before me in the presence of mine enemies. But he said, I
understand it now. He said, I'm in the presence
of my enemy death and the Lord has spread the gospel table and
Christ was so precious to his soul. Christ was the altogether
lovely one and the chiefest among 10,000. He said, I understand
it now. I'd never seen it in that light.
But how beautiful that was. The Lord gave him a token. Show
me a token for good. You know, these tokens. Now the great exercise in my
own soul in my early spiritual days was that I might know the
forgiveness of sins. Christ had been made very precious
to me. Indeed, Christ was the altogether
lovely one. And yet I couldn't really say
that I had the assurance of faith. Couldn't really say my sins were
forgiven. I couldn't really say my beloved
is mine and I am his. I loved him and I followed him
and I was baptized. But I felt I needed something
more. And for some eight years, I earnestly
prayed unto the Lord for that token, the forgiveness of sins,
the assurance of faith. It's very precious when it did
come, very, very sacred. One Monday morning, those words
from Peter were dropped into my heart with such a sweetness
and a power. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively, that's a living hope, through
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Oh, the sacred
meditation that I was given that morning as I went about my work,
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be his
holy name. Oh, Christ was so precious. And
the next morning, as I was again about my daily work and those
words, the Lord breathed into my heart with such sweetness
and savour and power, rise up, my love, my fair one, and come
away. For, lo, the winter is over and
gone, the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice
of the turtle is heard in our land. Oh, I cannot express to
you the way that my soul rose up. The wonderful power of that
word, rise up my love, my fair one, and come away. I remember
the effect it had on me when he first spoke it. I bowed, I
couldn't get low enough before the Lord. I said, what, me Lord?
And now I said, my love, my fair one. It was almost too tremendous
for me to realize. When he spoke it again with such
power, And I rose up. And do you know, friends, that
ushered in, I was two years in gospel liberty. It was the most
sacred, precious season, token after token. I'd go to bed some
nights weeping, weeping because of the love of Christ, because
of the Lord's great goodness. And I'd wake up in the morning,
and the same sweetness and the same power. And I would think
of those words, he lay all night betwixt my breast. Oh, the wonderful
sacredness when the Lord gives you these spiritual tokens. May it please him to give you
an appetite that you might have these tokens. Show me a token
for good. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 736. The tune is Brookfield 310. Show me some token, Lord, for
good. some token of thy special love,
show me that I am born of God and that my treasure is above. Hymn 736 to the tune Brookfield
310. ? It's sunshine all around me ?
? Sunshine all around me ? ? Sunshine all around me ? ? Sunshine all
around me ? As I lay my head upon the rock. I saw the creation of His face,
That all my sins may be subdued, That all my wretched promises May peace be with thee and all thy people. You still my brother, still my
soul, and then proclaim thy peace with God. Thou'lt claim thy world,
eternal song, and that will be a birth to me. If I could fear it, do I doubt
And guard them, O my world, and praise. And praise abound in
every heart, And teach my tongue to sing thy
praise. Cross me not, see that I am thine,
? And fill my heart to the ashes ? ? Then shall I know that thou
art mine ? ? My God, my God, my God, my God, my God, my God, my God ? 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.