Service this afternoon by singing
together hymn number 248. The tune is Message 481. Jesus, Lord, we look to thee. Let us in thy name agree. Show
thyself the Prince of Peace. Bid all jars forever cease. Hymn 248. June Message 481 ? Lord we adore to thee ? ? Lift
us in thy name and free ? ? Sure thyself the Prince of Peace ? O'er jubbles, O'er heavenly seas. I'll fly back from sighting thou,
E'en preach the name of our Creator, Each to each unite and bear,
? God shed light on heaven here
? ? Make us of one heart and mind ? Love just fits in good and kind,
Loving in old and grand, Hold together the life of good. Let us each pour out again Each
Lamb of the Spirit's Bed, To Thy Church an atom gave, ? O how truly the angels sing ?
? Let us sing with joy renewed
? Still thy power in me abides. Thou, O Holy, Thou angel's light, Let us read together from the
holy word of God in Paul's epistle to the Ephesians and chapter
4. Ephesians chapter 4. I therefore, the prisoner of
the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith
ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering,
forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace, There is one body and
one spirit, even as you are called, in one hope of your calling. One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all
and in you all. But unto every one of us is given
grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore
he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive
and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is
it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth? He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill
all things. And he gave some apostles, and
some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers,
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come in
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to
and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the
slight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things
which is the head, even Christ. from whom the whole body fitly
joined together and compacted by that which every joint supply,
according to the effectual working in the measure of every part,
maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. This I say therefore, and testify
in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not, as other Gentiles walk,
in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance
that is in them because of the blindness of their heart, who
being past feeling have given themselves unto lasciviousness
and to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so
learned Christ. If so be that ye have heard him
and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that you
put off concerning the former conversation, the old man, which
is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the
spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man, which
after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Wherefore,
putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor,
for we are members one of another. Be angry and sin not. Let not
the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to the devil.
Let him that stole steal no more, but rather let him labour, working
with his hands the thing which is good, that he may have to
give to him that needeth. Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use
of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers, and grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath,
and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you
with all malice. and be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you. 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, We bow before thy glorious majesty. Great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised. And his greatness is unsearchable. And O Lord, who by searching
can find our God? It's beyond, O Lord, our comprehension. We are finite, thou art infinite. We are sinful, thou art holy.
O most gracious Lord, we come to bow before Thee. We own our
sinfulness and the sin of our hearts, the corruption of our
nature, and the truth of Thy Word, the heart of man, is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. Lord, deliver us from
the sinful deceit of our hearts. and grant us grace to follow
Thee and to serve Thee in our day and in our generation. Grant
us the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God our
Father and the sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Grant that
day by day we might know that heavenly power. We might know
what it is daily to repent of sin and daily washing Jesus'
blood. Oh, for a closer walk with Thee,
a calmer heavenly frame, a light that shines upon the road that
leads me to the Lamb. Oh, do grant us, Lord, we humbly
pray Thee, Thy gracious help continually. Dwell therefore
in our hearts, O most blessed Spirit, and grant that Thy heavenly
power and thy divine unction may be known and felt in our
hearts, and that the word of truth may be open to us. For
it is with the heart that man believeth unto righteousness.
So we pray, most blessed Spirit, that thou wouldst instruct us
from the word of God, from the truth of God. Come here this
afternoon and grant us the spirit of Christ the perfect man. Oh, we do thank Thee for that
glorious perfect man, the man Christ Jesus, who did no sin,
neither was guile found in His mouth. We thank Thee for His
holiness, for His perfections. We thank Thee that He lived for
us. Upon a life I did not live, Upon
a death I did not die, hangs my everlasting wall. All we do
pray, most gracious Lord, that thou wouldst grant that we may
cast our all upon thee. Even as we're exhorted in thy
word, cast in all your care upon him, for he careth for you. May we feel that gracious help
here this afternoon, Lord we can only set our affections on
things above as it may please thee to grant us that grace to
do it and we pray that it may please thee this afternoon to
make us more spiritually minded, to help us to concentrate, to
lift us above the carking cares of this life and to take us into
the realms of the spirit. to meditate on Jesus Christ. We thank thee for the glory of
his name, for the fullness of his grace. We thank thee for
the incarnation of the Son of God, for the holy life that he
lived as a man when he was made of a woman and made under the
law, and fulfilled that holy law on our behalf. For this,
Lord, is all our hope, that Jesus lived and died For me, we do
pray that thou wouldst fill our hearts with gratitude that in
that holy life is the bringing in of everlasting righteousness.
And this Lord is our only hope, Jehovah Sidkenia, the Lord, our
righteousness. And we do pray that we may be
favoured to have a little insight by faith into the glories of
the crucifixion, the glories of Gethsemane and the taking
of sin upon himself and taking our sins and nailing
them to his cross and suffering and bleeding and dying for our
sins and paying the ultimate price. He gave his life a ransom
for all to be testified in due time. We thank thee then for
the wonderful glory of Calvary, of sin put away, of God and sinners
reconciled, of peace made between God and man. We thank thee, most
gracious Lord, that he died for our sins, or that we might be delivered
from sin and death and Satan. that we might partake of that
glorious resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. He rose again
for our justification to declare that we were without sin and
that we do pray most gracious Lord that we may think on these
things and the wonderful glory of that crucified Saviour of
that resurrection from the dead for he had destroyed death him
that had the power of death that is the devil. Lord Jesus we do
desire to bow in thankfulness and we're thankful that thou
art now at the right hand of the Father, a man there is a
real man with wounds still gaping wide from which which streams
of blood once ran in hands and feet and side. Oh we do thank
thee for our risen and exalted Saviour that such an high priest
have we who is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God,
now to appear in the presence of God for us. Lord, fill our hearts with gratitude
and enable us to think on these things. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou would remember us as a church and as a congregation,
Remember the little ones and the children, and grant that
the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, may
be given to them. Remember our young friends and
grant that each one may be brought to living, vital, saving faith
in Jesus Christ, that they might become true followers of thee,
and of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises,
a generation that shall follow on to call thee the Redeemer
blessed. Lord, so work among us as a congregation. Let us see thy work, let us see
thy power, let us see thy glory. We do humbly beseech thee. Precious
souls may 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, we pray that thou and thy
great mercy would hear us. We think of that wonderful promise,
O Lord, instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou
mayest make princes in all the earth. O Lord, do so work among
us. We do pray, most gracious Lord,
that the glory and light of the gospel 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. We pray for those that have wandered,
that thou wouldst graciously cause them to be in want and
cause them to return. We do humbly beseech thee. fill
their hearts with a love and a longing, just as it was with
that one, I will go to my father's house. O gracious God, grant
that we may see such wonders of redeeming love among us here
as a church and as a congregation. We long to see thy work, we long
to see thy power, we pray For those, O Lord, that are in affliction
and pain, that thou wouldst graciously grant thy relief and thy sustaining
mercy, we do humbly pray thee. And we pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst remember each one. Every heart knoweth its own bitterness. Those in darkness, bring them
into light. Those in bondage bring them into
liberty, those far off make them nigh. O gracious God, do so work
among us, we do humbly beseech thee. And O Lord, we pray that
faith and remission of sins may be preached among us, and that
poor sinners may look and live. We pray thy Blessing upon parents
that they may be given wisdom and grace to bring up their children
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and that we may
not stumble them from wisdom's way. And we pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou in thy precious mercy would remember all in the midst
of the journey of life. Thou knowest where they are.
All is known to thee. Oh, that thou wouldst be gracious
and that thou wouldst work mightily, powerfully and effectually to
the great glory of thy name. We do humbly beseech of thee. Only thou can soften hard hearts
and we pray that thou wouldst do so. And we pray most gracious
Lord for those of us that are now in the evening time of life
journey. that thou wilt graciously grant us a preparation for that
great change which must come. And Lord, as we know, the young
may die, but the old most certainly will die. We pray to be prepared. Prepare me, gracious God, to
stand before thy face. Thy spirit must the work perform,
for it is all of grace. Oh that we might see the wonderful
work of grace, that strange and that peculiar work. And may we
who profess thy great and holy name be fruitful unto every good
work. That we may be kind and loving
and compassionate one toward another. That those deliver us
from all hardness and graciously give us that spirit of Christ
and the mind of Christ. Thou said in thy word, let this
mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Oh do grant
us humility and love. We do humbly pray for thy great
namesake. We pray Most gracious Lord, that
thou wouldst remember all thy servants as they labour in word
and doctrine upon the walls of Zion, that thou wouldst set them
free and set them at liberty. And grant us thus saith the Lord,
and grant 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. Pray for our brethren, the deacons,
that grace, wisdom, and help may be given to them in all their
responsibilities. Thou knowest their needs and
their concerns. And O Lord, we do pray that Thou
wouldst remember the little causes of truth up and down the land.
Remember the little group of churches that we belong to, but
a part of Thy Zion. And we pray that the wind of
the Spirit may blow Lord, it has been encouraging to see one
and another in these past weeks have come forward to testify
of thy redeeming love and to be baptised in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. We thank thee
for thy wonderful mercy. Go on, most mighty God, thy wonders
to make known. Put forth thy spirit with the
word and cause the dead to hear. Hearken, O Lord, we do humbly
beseech Thee. We thank Thee, O Lord, for the
sacred glories of Christ. We thank Thee for every mercy
of Thy kind providence. We thank Thee that Thou art God
over all and blessed for evermore, and that there is nothing too
hard for Thee. We pray that Thou wouldst 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
number 1082. The tune is McKee, 176. How sweet, how heavenly is the
sign, when those that love the Lord in one another's peace delight,
and so fulfil his word. Hymn 1082, tune McKee, O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? is ? And shone upon the town ? ? When
I awoke the angels sing ? Amen. ? And in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, direct your attention to the chapter that we read,
the fourth chapter of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians, and
we'll read verse 15 for our text. Ephesians chapter four, verse
15. into him in all things, which
is the head, even Christ. But speak in the truth in love. Love is the golden chain that
binds those happy souls above, and he's an ear of heaven that
finds his bosom glow with love. What a mercy it is, my beloved
friends, when we do indeed have the love of Christ shed abroad
in our hearts. It's a very precious thing. It
melts our hearts. It pours love into our soul. As I've often told you, it was
the latter part of Ephesians three that the Lord used to bring
me to the knowledge of Christ and to shed abroad his own love
into my heart and indeed as it says in the 16th verse to be
strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man but it
was really those following verses that the Lord breathed into my
heart by the spirit that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith
that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend
with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that
ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. And this is
what the fullness of God is. God is love, the scriptures declare
to us. He is, the very embodiment of
his person is love. God is love. Infinite love, eternal love,
almighty love. It's those lovely words in Jeremiah
31. Yea, I have loved thee, an everlasting love it's eternal
love I've loved thee with an everlasting love therefore now
this is where you may be able to come in therefore with loving
kindness have I drawn thee what a wonderful thing to be drawn
in love unto the Lord it's something that Doesn't dwell in our hearts
naturally we may know natural love we may know natural affection
But I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about spiritual love
Spiritual affections When your heart is fixed on Christ, you
know when when those words were breathed into my heart I literally
came from darkness into light from bondage into liberty, from
being far off to be made nigh, to know the love of Christ, which
passes knowledge it does. What does he mean when he says
it passes knowledge? You can't express the wonderful
sacred feeling when the love of Christ is shed abroad in your
heart. It is beyond our comprehension. It passeth knowledge. It's to
be taken from the gutter and to be lifted up. Lifted up. That richness that
dwells in Christ, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith. Notice the way he puts it, in
your hearts. Not in your head. The head, this
is used in this way in Holy Scripture, the head is the seat of our intellect. But the heart is the seat of
our affections and love by its very nature is affection. When the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. The wonderful love that fills
our heart. We love the Lord. We love the
Lord Jesus Christ. David, he commences Psalm 116,
doesn't he? I love the Lord because he hath
heard my voice, the voice of my supplications. Do you feel
that? Have you felt that? I love the
Lord because He has heard my voice. He's a prayer hearing. He's a prayer answering God.
And when the Lord hears and answers your prayers, you feel a love
to Him. You feel a drawing to Him. He's
heard your prayers. This great God, this almighty
God, this eternal God, He hears and He answers prayer. He still
does. It says in Holy Scripture that
he will hear the prayer of the destitute and he will not despise
their prayer. No, he will hear the prayer of
the destitute, he will not despise their prayer. He hears the prayer
of the poor and needy and he doesn't despise the poor and
needy. He doesn't. May the Lord enable you to come
and to look and to watch and to wait upon the Lord in prayer,
day by day. This is not something that you
can conjure up. This is something that the Holy
Spirit gives. He gives you to fill your need,
and then he gives you prayer to ask the Lord to supply your
needs. Oh, that indeed may be the case. with one another and that the
Lord may enable you to continue to look and to watch and to wait. It says here, but speak in the truth
in love. You know, friends, we can sometimes
say the right thing, but we don't say it in love. and that has a very bad effect. It's happened to me on more than
one occasion when perhaps I've got a little bit hasty in my
spirit and I've spoken in perhaps a harsh way. And the wrath of man worketh
not the righteousness of God. Now it may be a right thing that
you said but you didn't say it in a right way. And he didn't
say it in love, in kindness, in compassion. And it has a bad
effect. Speaking the truth in love. Now even the minister, when he
preaches, he is to be found speaking the truth in love. It doesn't do any good if he
preaches in a hard, harsh, unfeeling way. No. That's his flesh. But what it does good is when
the Spirit of Christ is resting upon him, and he speaks in love,
in kindness, in compassion. Now, the way that the Apostle
commences this chapter, 4, I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech
you that ye walk worthy. of the vocation wherewith ye
are called. Now this is the spirit of love
with all lowliness. Love, my beloved friends, with
it comes meekness and lowliness. With all lowliness and meekness
with long-suffering. long-suffering, not easily offended
as we read in the epistle to the Corinthians, the first epistle
to the Corinthians and chapter 13, there's a whole chapter there
on charity. And there are some quite amazing
things that the Spirit of God sets before us there of what
real true charity is. And many have said that that
it would have been better to use the word love instead of
charity. And I beg to differ. I believe
it's just the right word because of the meaning of charity. The
meaning of the word charity is loving action. That's the very
meaning of the word. Like the Apostle John, he says
doesn't he, my brethren let's not love in word only indeed
and in truth and he used an illustration there
and he says if your if thy brother hath need and you have it by you to relieve
that need and you say to him go be warmed and be filled he
said what good is that you should relieve his need that he has
That's the spirit of love. That's the spirit of Christ.
Do we read of Christ turning people away? Do we read of Christ
refusing to help someone in need? Do we read of Christ refusing
to heal and to restore? We don't, friends. And the apostle says, and we
have the mind of Christ. How much do you and I know of
the mind of Christ? Now, he says here then in 1 Corinthians
13, though I speak with the tongues of men and angels and have not
charity, I am become a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. Though I have the gift of prophecy
and understand all mysteries and knowledge, and all knowledge
and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains
and have not charity, I am nothing. You see, in scripture, I think
it's in the Colossians, it says, and faith that worketh by love. If we have real true faith in
Jesus Christ, love accompanies that faith. It does. And though I bestow all my goods,
I've always found this quite astounding. And though I bestow
all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to
be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. It is
what motivates us, what moves us. Charity suffereth long. This is the spirit of love that
is in our text and in our chapter. Charity suffereth long and is
kind. The last verse in Ephesians 4
is, and be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. Kindness and compassion
are all part of the spirit of love. charity suffereth long in his
kind charity envieth not that envy comes from our flesh charity
vaunteth not itself is not puffed up she not lifted up in pride
but just as it says in our chapter humility and love does not behave
itself unseemly seeketh not her own is not easily provoked, thinketh
no evil, rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth
all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all
things, charity never failing. But whether there be prophecies
they shall fail, whether there be tongues they shall cease,
whether there be knowledge it shall vanish away, for we know
in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect
is come and that which is in part shall be done away. You
see my beloved friends, this spirit coming from the spirit
of Christ that is in us. In Philippians chapter 2, again
the exhortation there of the dear apostle, let this mind be
in you which was also in Christ Jesus. What was the mind that was in
Christ Jesus? What motivated him? What was
his guiding principle? It says in Philippians 2, who
being in the form of God, this is Christ himself, though he
thought it not robbery to be equal with God, because he's
the eternal son of God, but made himself. This is This is love. It's accompanied with humility.
When we're lifted up in pride, that's not love. But made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and yet he's Lord
of all. And yet he's the mighty God,
the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. was made in the likeness
of men. See he was made in the likeness
and being found in fashion as a man and this is even as a man
not just as the eternal son of God but as a man he humbled himself
and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross.
He submitted himself to the will of his heavenly father Wherefore
God also hath highly exalted him and given him a name which
is above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow. Of things in heaven and things
in earth and things under the earth. And that every tongue
should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the
Father. but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things,
which is the head, even Christ. Even Christ. You know, the beginning
of the chapter, in verse 3, he uses that word
endeavouring. Now I understand in the original
Greek, It comes from a very strong word, endeavouring, which means
to strive, endeavouring to keep the unity of the spirit in the
bond of peace. Oh that the Lord would give us
more of this spirit, endeavouring, striving to keep the unity of
the spirit in the bond of peace. not to raise difficult questions, not to raise difficulties just
for the sake of being difficult, but to leave it and pray about
it, endeavouring, striving to keep the unity of the spirit.
If you think it's going to cause a division, separation you need,
we need to be very careful that we don't introduce an issue,
a point. Sometimes we can dress it all
up and you say it's a principle, but is it a principle or is it
the pride of your heart? That's what you have to ask yourself. There is one body and one spirit
even as ye are called in one hope of your calling, one Lord,
one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is above
all and through all and in you all, saying how we need this
grace, but unto us, every one of us is given grace according
to the measure of the gift of Christ. And where there is this
gift of Christ, where there is this faith that worketh by love, there will be that desire to
walk in love and to grow up into Him, into
Christ. The Apostle speaks in the Corinthians
of the babes in Christ and those babes in Christ They drink the
sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby, he says.
Peter says it in his epistle, doesn't he? That you may grow. Are we growing? Are we being
strengthened? Are we growing in love, in kindness,
in compassion? Because these are the things,
you know, and the way that we grow is when we come into great
trials and troubles and perplexities and sorrows. And it's through
those that we feel our need of the Lord's grace. To walk the
pathway that the Lord has caused us to walk in. It's then that
we have to ask for grace. We have to ask for patience.
We have to ask for humility. We have to ask for love. Because
we find it doesn't grow in our hearts. fact just the opposite
we get stirred up, we get angry. It says here in this chapter
be angry and sin not. Trouble is when we do get angry
we speak out of turn and we sin in the words we say because we
get angry. You see and we need the grace
given, the grace of love. The hymn writer says, doesn't
he, when is it brethren all agree and let distinctions fall when
nothing in themselves they see. And Christ is all in all. The
sad thing is, my beloved friends, sometimes our flesh just wants
its own way. Just wants its own way. And that
will cause division. If you're left to yourself, and
that will cause division among the Lord's people, when all you
want is your own way. Oh, that the Lord would give
us that love and that kindness and that compassion, not to cause
dissension. Indeed, according to what we
read here in this chapter, we read of our Lord Jesus Christ,
ascending upon high, leading captivity captive, that's the
whole church, and gave gifts unto men. And then he tells us
in verse 11 the gifts that he gave. He gave some apostles and
some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers. And then he tells us what they
were given for, for the perfecting of the saints. the work of the
ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ. Now look
at the effect of a true gospel ministry under the power of the
Holy Ghost till we all come, verse 13, till we all come in
the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God
unto a perfect man just as we have at the close of our text,
even Christ. I often quote to you Psalm 37,
verse 37. Mark the perfect man. And behold the upright, for the
end of that man is peace. There's only one perfect man,
my beloved friends. That's our Lord Jesus Christ.
Mark the perfect man. And behold the upright, That's
where we need to be looking. And that is what we need is the
spirit and mind of Christ. We do. To walk with humility
and love till we all come in the unity of the faith and of
the knowledge. See, with this love and this
union comes knowledge. Which is where we grow. In grace
and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Now in some of these trials and
these perplexing circumstances we're brought just to feel how
much we lack of the spirit and mind of Christ. When our flesh
gets the upper hand, when pride rises, when there's a lack of
love and kindness and compassion and then we have manifested the
spirit of the flesh. And here we read in verse 22
that you put off concerning the former conversation, the old
man, that's our old man. And that is the great trial to
every Christian believer, the old man. The old man will always be sinful. The old man will always be corrupt. And that is the great tension
and the great conflict there is in the heart of every true
believer. The apostle says in the epistle
to the Galatians, the flesh, that's our old man, the flesh
lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh
for the one is the contrary to the other. That ye put off. concerning the
former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according
to the deceitful us that we put off those things. And be renewed
in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man,
verse 24, and that you put on the new man, which after God
is created in righteousness and true holiness. The new man of
grace. The hymn writer says, doesn't
he, the new man and the old by no means can a view. One in sin is bold, the other's
from sin set free. How many of us in this chapel
know this conflict between the new man and the old? I mean, it's a great mercy if
we do know this conflict because it shows there's spiritual life
in our heart. But it's very trying and very
perplexing when the old man gets in the ascendancy and that you put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. Oh, that we might know more of
this spirit of Christ, this spirit of love, but speak in the truth
in love may grow up into Him, that's into Christ, in all things,
which is the head, even Christ. That our life may centre in the
glorious person of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. That we may be taken up with
the wonderful glory of His person, of who He is, and that our heart
and our affections may be set upon our Lord Jesus Christ, or
that we could know more of these spirits, that we might know more
of what the Apostle speaks of in Colossians chapter 1, verse
12, given thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. who hath
delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated
us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption
through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of
the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature, that's Christ.
For by him were all things created that are in heaven and in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him
and for him and he is before all things he's before all things
and by him were all things all things consist by our lord jesus
christ he's the head of the body the church who is the beginning
the firstborn from the dead in all things he might have the
preeminence or that this spirit of Christ may dwell in us that
in all things he might have the preeminence. You know perhaps
when we're thinking what we should do and the particular path we
should take it's a very poignant question
that we should ask ourselves What would Jesus do? If you've got something particular
on your mind, something perhaps you've been very agitated about,
very troubled about, what would Jesus do? It's a poignant question,
isn't it? How would Jesus deal with this
particular problem? But speaking the truth, in love
may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ,
from whom the whole body is speaking of the church as being one body,
from whom the whole body, fitly joined together and compacted
by that which every joint supplieth according to the effectual working
in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto
the edifying of itself, in love. The body, the church, edifying
itself in love. You know, we look at the spirit
of charity in 1 Corinthians 13. Do we have this spirit of love,
this spirit of charity, this spirit of kindness, of compassion? It says in verse 26, be ye angry
and sin not. Let not the sun go down on your
wrath. My mother died when I was very
young, but that is one thing that very distinctly remains
on my mind, the advice she often gave us. And she often said this
to us as children. Let not the sun go down on your
wrath. And you know, it's good scriptural
advice. neither give place to the devil.
Because that's what we do when we let the sun go down on our
wrath. And then let him that stole, steal no more, but rather
let him labour, working with his hands the thing which is
good, and then the reason for it, that he may have to give
to him that needeth. You know, we tend, and this is
natural to our covetous sinful nature, We tend to say, well,
I've worked for it, I've worked hard for it, and I can do what
I like with my own money. Well, that's true from the flesh
point of view, but not from the spiritual point
of view. Not when you think of what Jesus
suffered and bled and died for your sins. He gave his life a ransom. What more, my friends, could
Jesus do? You think of what he's done for
you. He gave his life. He died. He suffered, he bled, he died
for your sins. What more could Jesus do? There
isn't any more that he could do. He gave his life and ransom
for all to be testified in due time. And when we, the Lord does prosper
us by our hard work, working with his hands the thing which
is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. And
that's the way the Christian should live. Not to ourselves,
but to give to him that needeth. Oh that the Lord would give us
this grace, Then in verse 30, a very important doctrine is
set before us there, and grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby
ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. The Spirit of God
dwells in the heart of every believer. I would recommend to
every one of you to read John Bunyan's Holy War. I personally
always found it more profitable to read than Pilgrim's Progress
in the Holy War. He speaks of what it is to grieve
the Holy Spirit of promise that you have the city of man's soul and he says when the Holy Spirit
is grieved he goes into the inner keep of the city of Mansoul and
he shuts the doors. He doesn't leave, he doesn't
forsake. And the Holy Spirit would never leave nor forsake
the children of God. But Bunyan says he goes into
the inner keep and he shuts the doors. And it's like that, you
know friends, when we grieve the Holy Spirit of God by our
wrong spirit and by our carnal mindedness and by causing division, See, it says in verse 29, let
no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which
is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto
the hearers. And if we don't, and we behave
in a way different to that, it's grieving to the Spirit. Grieve
not. The Holy Spirit of God, whereby
ye are sealed unto the day redemption. And then he goes on, let all
bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking
be put away from you with all malice. Why? Because those things
grieve the Holy Spirit of promise. When we have a wrong spirit,
an angry spirit, an unkind spirit, but the exhortation here is,
and be ye kind. That's the Spirit of Christ.
That's the life of Christ. And be ye kind one to another,
tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you. Oh, that the Lord would then
give us this spirit of love, this spirit of Christ. But speak in the truth, in love,
may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. May the Lord have his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
219, The tune is St Giles number 60. Now for a wondrous song, keep
distance, ye profane, be silent each on hallowed tongue, or turn
the truth to bane. Hymn 219, tune St Giles number
60. ? How poor a father's son ? ? He
visits in the day ? ? In silent eternity ? ? God and
nature unite ? ? And our glory goes with her ? ? And let the fallen face ? ? That
on his shoulders crowned shall stand ? ? And on the happy lips
which wait. ? ? The trademan's sins he paid ?
? The pain that he expressed ? ? The world is broken by his
shame ? the best of every kind. Nature, the stubborn spring,
sweet music chants its hymns, Deflute the beauteous costly
ring, The beckon's finger bends. May Elgar's songs be still, ?
Give no advertisement ? ? My prayer brings this your father's
will ? ? And you must be content ? All that he has is yours, Rejoice
and not repine, The cloud that has altered my
way. Dear Lord, while these high waves Give bread, Lord, stars of greece,
And faith, Lord, with mercurial grace, Grace must be giv'n thee. 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.