The notices for the coming week
are as follows, God willing. Pastor hopes to preach here next
Lord's Day at 10.30 and 2 p.m. and also on Thursday at 7 p.m. There'll be a prayer meeting
on Tuesday at 7 p.m. There will also be a church meeting
on Tuesday, the 4th of March. We'll commence. worshipped today
by singing hymn number 1129, the tune is Haslingdon, number
544. Jesus, we come to meet with thee,
our Lord and King, to bow before thy feet and hear thy praises
sing. Compassion on us have we pray,
and empty send us not away. May every worldly care be banished
from our mind. May we with profit here and peace
and comfort find. Refresh us from thy word, we
pray, and empty send us not away. Hymn number 1129, Tune Haslingdon,
number 544. ? Jesus, we come to Thee ? ? To God be glory ? ? And heaven
praise and sing ? ? From earth be glory evermore ? God bless you. May thy peace be with us, may
thy peace on earth be with us, ? The present and distant love
of God ? ? In anxious strife I would perish ? ? Heaven takes them as host of
hosts ? ? As darkness in the east ? ? Darkness
on the west ? We pray thee, O God, this day
upon this new birth. you. ? Thy golden promises ? ? Every
good change adore ? ? Thy golden commandments ? ? Ever more glorify
? O come, O come, Emmanuel, ? They make no difference in time
or place ? ? And in all the wars we have fought and won ? ? And
in all the wars we have fought and won ? ? Which didst create the world
? ? Has been and shall be forever ? ? Which hath renewed the world
? May the Lord help us to read
from the infallible Word of God We turn to the Acts of the Apostles
and we read the latter part of chapter 13 together with chapter
14. The latter part of chapter 13
commences to read at verse 44 and then we read at the 14th
chapter also. And the next Sabbath day came
almost the whole city together to hear the Word of God. But when the Jews saw the multitudes,
they were filled with envy and spake against those things which
were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blasphemy. Then Paul and
Barnabas waxed bold and said it was necessary that the word
of God should first have been spoken to you. But seeing ye
put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life,
Lo, we turn to the Gentiles. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that
thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this,
They were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as
many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was
published throughout all the region. But the Jews stirred
up the devout and honorable women and the chief men of the city,
and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled
them out of their coasts. But they shook off the dust of
their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. And the disciples were filled
with joy and with the Holy Ghost. It came to pass in Iconium that
they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews and
so spake that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of
the Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred
up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil-affected against the
brethren. Long time, therefore, abode they,
speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the
word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done
by their hands. But the multitude of the city
was divided, and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles. And when there was an assault
made, both of the Gentiles and also of the Jews, with their
rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them. They were
aware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derby, cities of Lyconia,
and unto the region that loyeth round about. And there they preached
the gospel, And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his
feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had
walked. The same heard Paul speak, who
steadfastly beholding him and perceiving that he had faith
to be healed, said with a loud voice, stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. And when the people saw what
Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech
of Lyconia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of
men. And they called Barnabas Jupiter
and Paul Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest of Jupiter, which
was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates,
and would have done sacrifice with the people. Which when the
apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes,
and ran in among the people, crying out and saying, Sirs,
why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions
with you and preach unto you that ye should turn from these
vanities unto the living God which made heaven and earth and
the sea and all things that are therein. who in times past suffered
all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless, he left
not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave
us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons fill in our hearts with
food and gladness. And with these signs scarce restrain
they the people that they had not done sacrifice unto them. There came there the certain
Jews from Antioch and Iconium who persuaded the people and
having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he
had been dead. Howbeit, as the disciples stood
round about him, he rose up and came into the city, and the next
day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached
the gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again
to Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch, confirming the souls
of the disciples and exhorting them to continue in the faith. and that we must, through much
tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. When they had ordained
them elders in every church and had prayed with fasting, they
commended them to the Lord on whom they believed. And after
they had passed throughout Pisidia, they came to Pamphylia. When
they had preached the word in Perga, they went down to Attilia
and then sailed to Antioch from whence they had been recommended
to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled. And when they were come, and
had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had
done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto
the Gentiles. And there they abode long time
with the disciples, May the Lord grant his divine
blessing on his own word and teach us how to pray. O Lord, our gracious God, Thou
who didst declare that men ought always to pray, and not to faint. Oh, we bow before Thee, Lord,
in true confession for how short we come in this particular exercise
of soul. Oh, how we need, dear Lord, the
power of Thy Holy Spirit to enable us to call upon thy great and
holy name in sincerity and in truth and out of necessity for
how totally dependent we are, Lord, upon thee, the God of all
grace, the God of all mercies, the God of all comfort, who comforteth
all thy dear people in all their divers and different pathways
of tribulation that we are subject to according to the will of God. And now, Lord, through thy great
goodness, we are favoured to be gathered together in this
thy house of prayer, the house of God. This is none other one
third than the house of God. And this is the gate of heaven. O do favour us, dear Lord, to
die, as thou didst dear Jacob of old at Bethel, and he blessed
him there. O what a mercy, Lord, to be delivered
from the curse of the Lord, and to be under the divine blessing
of almighty God who bore the curse for us and turned the curse
that we were under due to a broken law into a blessing. Oh, we come, Lord, praise thy
glorious, holy, sacred, precious name for the way of salvation,
for the decrees of Jehovah, and for the fulfilment of those decrees
and counsels in the salvation of thine elect people. We come, Lord, before thee. We hope and trust thou hast opened
our eyes and our ears and our hearts in measure to understand
and love the deep things of God which must be spiritually discerned. For the natural mind of man receiveth
not the things of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither
can he know them. Lord, it is only by thy divine
Holy Spirit that we know these things as they are revealed and
made known to us. Oh, we thank thee, Lord, for
this, and that we are the humble recipients, Lord, of thy divine
favour, not left in ignorance, or sin, or unbelief, or the vanities
of this world. that brought to know and love
the things of God, the truth of God, those deep things that
couch their name. Now, Lord, again, we are in this
pulpit. We thank thee, Lord, for former
times and seasons of thy great goodness to us here. and pray
that they will be with us today in the absence of their beloved
pastor, a true fellow labourer in the gospel. And pray, Lord,
that the word of thy grace may have free course and be glorified
in the midst of Zion, O thy word, Lord, that liveth and abideth
forever, to grant that ministerial grace, that God-given ability,
to rightly divide the word of truth, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. Help me, Lord,
so to do. I do humbly beseech of thee,
that thy dear people who have come up to thine earthly courts,
seeking a word, Lord, from thee, and some manifestation of thy
favour to them, may not empty, go away. Oh, do apply thy word,
Lord, with divine power, that it may be effectual and efficacious
in each of our hearts. And so we do pray for our dear
friend and brother, their esteemed pastor, as he continues to minister
to them to feed them with the bread of life, to feed the church
of God, which thou, Lord, hath purchased with thine own precious
blood. And we do pray that thou would
be with him as he comes in and out amongst the people here,
whom thou hath given that charge to him, over thy cause and interest
here. Thou knowest, Lord, he labours
under infirmity and affliction to a lesser or greater degree
than has done over the years, that we pray that thou wilt strengthen,
support, uphold, and help him to continue in the work that
thou hath committed to his trust. And may, dear Lord, the dear
people here continue to love him as they did David of old,
because he went in and out among the people. Oh, what a wonderful
favour the ministry is Lord, it's ordained by thee, ordained
of God, that thy word should be preached. And Lord, thou hath
maintained the ministry all down through the ages of time. Nothing
has stopped it. And we pray, Lord, the continuation
of the same as it will be according to thy divine will. And so, Lord,
do bless the gatherings of thy people today. Remember Zion,
the church of the living God. Oh, we pray that thou wilt in
mercy Remember Zion in her lowest state, that little remnant according
to the election of grace. But Lord, we thank thee that
the services are still conducted. The truth is still declared. Thy blessing rests upon the word
preached and is made manifest in one and another, desiring
to put thee on by an open profession. And so, dear Lord, do continue
thy loving kindnesses and tender mercies to us each as we journey
on. Remember each one present here
this morning, and dear ones that may be listening, that Lord online
We thank thee for this facility that we have so that those who
are detained at home are not deprived of hearing the words
of truth and grace. And so do remember each one present
and may Lord thy divine help be afforded them each in their
own particular pathway, whatever that may be, all subject to thy
sovereign will and good pleasure, O Lord. We thank thee for restoring
mercies thus far to our dear friend, Mr. Playford, Lord, like
myself, he has been brought there alone, and thou alone can raise
up and restore and strengthen and heal to enable us to do that
which thou hath decreed that we should do in serving the Lord
in our generation. And do remember our dear friend,
Mrs. Collins. We thank thee, Lord,
that she has now been able to have the operation which was
so needful and necessary. And now, Lord, she is at home,
and we pray for her dear husband and the daughters as they care
for her in this difficult time, the early days, after such a
major operation. O Lord, may she be sustained
and upheld, and thy healing mercies granted. I am the Lord, thou
didst say, that healeth thee. O do heal her, and she shall
be healed. Save her and she shall be saved,
for Thou art our praise. And do help us each Lord with
the health and strength given, that we may serve Thee in our
day and generation, while our days on earth are lengthened. May we give them, Lord, to thee. And now, Lord, do remember all
for whom we should and would pray. Oh, many of thy people
we know not, and we know not their pathways, but, Lord, all
is known to thee. And we pray that thou would suit
thy divine mercy and compassion to all thy dear people according
to their individual and several needs. Oh, how poor and needy,
Lord, we feel to be, and we are. Yet, the Lord thinketh upon thee. Lord, do think upon us now those
thoughts of peace, and not of able to give up unexpected end. And now, Lord, we pray that Thou
would help us today to speak. O grant that door of utterance,
that wise and understanding heart, the divine leading and teaching
of Thy Holy Spirit. For, Lord, without Thee we can
do nothing. But we can do all things through
Christ, who strengtheneth me, who strengtheneth us. Do you remember the different
generations? The children, the parents, the
grandparents? Oh, the different generations,
Lord, have different needs and burdens and concerns. But oh,
we do pray that they would help each one in their daily pathway,
and may it be in their spiritual journey as well. Now, Lord, we
would offer praise unto thy glorious name, for all thy mercies and
all thy truth's sake. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name we would give the glory, for thy mercy
and for thy truth's sake. Do remember us, Lord, as a body
of churches to which we are united in the doctrines of grace and
walking together in union with each other in the Lord. For Lord, we love the same truths,
we love the same doctrines, and we thank Thee for maintaining
Thee, beloved denomination, all these many, many years, and pray
that Thou will preserve us a posterity in this land and in the world. to beserve us a posterity of
following generations. One generation passeth away,
and another cometh. Do bless the singing of the sacred
hymns, and accept our gratitude, Lord, for all thy favours. And do hear us in heaven, thy
dwelling place, And when thou hearest, O Lord, forgive, for
there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. We ask all for Jesus' sake, with
that fervent desire to glorify the name and person of God the
Father, God the Son and God the Holy Ghost. God bless her forevermore. Amen. Continue our service by singing
hymn number 627, the tune is Hope Street, number 745. Poor sinner, dejected with fear,
unbosom thy mind to the Lamb. No wrath on his brow he does
wear, nor will he poor mourners condemn. His arm of omnipotent
grace is able and willing to save, a sweet and a permanent
peace he'll freely and faithfully give. Hymn number 627, tune Hope
Street, number 745. Oh, say can you see by the dawn's
early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last
gleaming? The power of His love we understand,
All living, good, whole, and sound. His arms are filled with grace,
His head crowned with grace, O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? And rest my soul in thy bosom.
? O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave ? ? O'er the land of the free and the
home of the brave ? ? O'er the land of the free and the home
of the brave ? ? In the rain ? ? I'm losing my
reason ? ? I'm losing my reason ? ? I'm losing my reason ? ? In the
land of the free and the home of the brave ? ? Hail, all ye
people of the free and the home of the brave ? ? The blessings that we have received
? ? We come to our great day of faith ? ? O hear the angels
sing ? ? O come, O come, O come, ? Next. As the Lord shall be pleased
to help me, dear friends, I would ask your prayerful and loving
attention for words to be found in the lesson, chapter 14, in
the Acts of the Apostles. And we read by way of text, verses
21 and 22. The 21st and 2nd verses. in chapter 14 in the Acts. And when they had preached the
gospel to that city and had taught many, they returned again to
Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples
and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must,
through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. The ministry of Paul and Barnabas
was a ministry of the Spirit of God. For we read in an earlier
chapter how they were sent forth by the Holy Ghost. And that was the secret of their
success in the ministry. And the society today, dear friends,
there's no profitable ministry apart from the Spirit. And so
may the Lord favour us today with His Holy Spirit to lead
and guide and direct us into the truth and into the hearts
of God's people. For the Lord knows and the Lord
alone knows where you are. Now, in the Acts of the Apostles,
we have a detailed account of the acts of the apostles. That's why it's called, because
it's the actions of the apostles after the ascension of Jesus
Christ in the furtherance of the gospel, following the return
to glory of Jesus Christ. And we have a detailed account
of the places they went to and the success they had and otherwise. And of course this is very profitable
and instructive. And of course it took place in
the Old Testament. In the book of Numbers we have
in one of the chapters I believe it's 33, a detailed account of
every place that the Lord's people went on their way to Canaan from
Egypt. A detailed account of every place. Well did Moses say in Deuteronomy
chapter 8, thou shalt remember all the way the Lord thy God
hath led thee these 40 years in the wilderness. There's a
detailed account, friends. Then, you see, we go to the Gospel,
the four Gospels, and there we have a detailed account of all
that the Lord did, and taught, and all the places he went to,
and all the miracles he performed. A detailed account. It's vital. Absolutely vital. because he
went from place to place meeting his dear people. Friends, where
did the Lord meet you? That's the question, isn't it?
Where did he meet you? Oh, dear friends, you know where
the Lord met you. Well, you may say to me, well,
we attend this chapel, we've lived in the same house for many
years, Is there an application here to us? Yes, dear friends,
there is. What about your spiritual journey? For when the Lord brought you
out of Egyptian bondage and you're going through the wilderness
in your spiritual experience, that the Lord has decreed for
you to teach you His own will and to lead you into the deep
things of God. and to show to you and discover
to you further the glory there is in Christ. This word, friends,
this text, you may say, well, we've read it, we've heard it
preached before. But friends, may there be a further
dimension, a greater depth coming from the words that we desire
to speak from. Because there is such a depth,
friends, it can never be fathomed. Never be fathomed. You can't
measure the eternal word of God. It's immeasurable, immeasurable. The fullness, friends, is so
vast, so great, never be measured. But oh, to know a little that
righteous man hath is better than the riches of many wicked. Well, the apostles then, we read,
as we read in the lesson, There was Antioch, Iconium, Lystra,
Derby. And we really, we know exactly
what took place. When they preached the gospel
to that city and they taught many, they returned again to
Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch. So there was this returning and
that really constituted a great courage, a great strength from
the Lord to return to a place where they had been treated badly. Not all did, no. The disciples received his word,
but they were under persecution due to those that were causing
an assault and causing dissent and speaking and contradicting
what the apostles had said. There were those that received
the word and those that rejected it. And it's the same today,
friends. The truth of God is received
by His dear people, and it's rejected by an ungodly world. And Satan stirs up the minds
of man to make them evil-affected against the true disciples of
Christ, against the Word of His Christ. It's taking place today. You speak to a person ungodly
person, you can speak to them about natural things, but if
you mention the word of God, if you mention the things of
God, immediately the enmity rises in their heart against God and
against his dear people. So it needed great courage to
return to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch. Human nature would say,
well some of those people in those places treated us badly,
I don't think I want to go there again. I'll keep well away, well
away. But no friends, they must go
back to those that they preached to, to see how they do. We read this in another chapter,
if I can light upon it. Paul and Barnabas continued in
Antioch preaching and teaching the word of the Lord with many
others also. And they said let us go into
those cities that we have been preaching and see how the disciples
are getting on and how they do. And so there was this returning
because they had laboured abundantly in the name of the Lord and they
wanted to be graciously confirmed that their words that they'd
spoken, the word of the Lord to his people, did not fall to
the ground. But it fell into their hearts,
prepared of God. to receive it. So in Antioch,
you see, there were those there that received the Word. Paul and Barnabas waxed bold
and said, it was necessary that the Word of God should first
have been spoken to you, that's the Jews, but seeing ye put it
from you. What a solemn thing, friend.
What a solemn thing. But seeing you put it from you,
and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn
to the Gentiles. Now you see the Gentiles, Isaiah
spake concerning them. For so hath the Lord commanded
us, saying, and this is recorded in Isaiah, I have set thee to
be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation
unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this,
they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And this
is the secret, friends. This is the blessed secret. And
the secret of the Lord is with them that fear him. And as many
as were ordained to eternal life believed. There's the doctrine
of election. And this is why Paul went and
Barnabas went back to this city, Antioch, because there were those
there that had received his word and they believed. And yet there
were those Jews, you see, that caused, they wanted to stir up
the honourable women and the chief men of the city. And so
there were those that contradicted Paul in his ministry, contradicting. We read in verse 45 in chapter
13, and it didn't just stop there dear friends, it went further
than that. You might say further than that,
oh yes, they blasphemed the God of Heaven. They contradicted
Paul and Barnabas, but they didn't blaspheme Paul and Barnabas. Blasphemy is speech against God. And so, dear friend, it shows
the enmity there is in the heart of man by nature to the truth
of God. So they went back to these people,
these disciples, and you see, The purpose was to confirm them. They had received his word, and
they need to be confirmed. Now, you can't confirm nothing. You can only confirm that which
has taken place by speech, or act and it can be confirmed. These souls had received the
word of God in an honest heart. They were the elect vessels of
mercy. They were brought to believe. They can be confirmed. But you can't confirm one who
has never received anything from the Lord. I was looking at this
yesterday in my meditation and it speaks here. But let him ask in faith nothing
wavering for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven
with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that
he shall receive anything of the Lord." If one hasn't received
anything of the Lord, they can't be confirmed. There's nothing
to confirm. You can only confirm what God has done already. So what a solemn state. to be
in a state of wavering, driven with the wind and tossed, that
man can receive nothing from the Lord. A double-minded man
is unstable in all his ways. How solemn, friends, to receive
nothing of the Lord. No confirmation there, dear friends,
none at all. My mind also went to that word
in Galatians, which is for substance the same, in that solemn vein
of truth. For if a man think himself to
be something, when he is nothing, he deceive it himself. There's no confirmation there,
friends, is there? Man in his pride thinks himself
to be somebody, but if he did but know it, he's nothing. He's
nothing. He's deceived. And so this word confirm opens
up to us such a wonderful exercise of soul that the Lord has gone
before, the Lord has spoken to you, through the ministry of
his word, you've been brought to believe. And then the Lord confirms. Now, what is confirmation? Well, it's to prove the truth
of, to ratify, to prove the truth of that which has taken place
before. to confirm that which is true,
that which is right. And friends, this is a vital
part of the ministry to confirm. Because all that the Lord Jesus
spake, and this is what is preached, we preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord, we preach Christ. And so every word that
the Lord spake is true, Everything he did is recorded
according to the will of God. I know there were other things
that the Lord did which are not recorded, but those things that
are recorded are so that we can believe in the Son of God. And so, dear friends, this is
the wonder. And the Lord Jesus confirmed
his own words. Because he said this, verily,
verily, I say unto you. He didn't just say verily, he
said verily, verily, truth. And then it's confirmed again,
verily. What a blessed confirmation. The Lord confirms his own word. because it's truth, it's life,
it's spirit. And when the Lord Jesus was to
return to glory, he said that when he would return to glory,
then I will give you another comforter that he may abide with
you forever, even the spirit of truth. The Spirit of Truth will testify
of me. What a blessed testimony. Everything
that Christ did, every word that he spoke, the Holy Spirit of
God bears testimony to it. What confirmation, friends, if
the Lord has ever spoken to you, then the Spirit of God will confirm
it, because we are spiritual. I know we are flesh and blood,
but we are spiritual. Grace, the power of God's Holy
Spirit quickening. We are spiritual. And so that
blessed testimony, friends, confirms And these in Antioch that we're
speaking of, they'd received the Word of God. Paul said, for
so hath the Lord commanded us, I have set thee to be a light
of the Gentiles. That's in the Old Testament.
He's bringing it forth now again. And then those who were ordained
to eternal life believed. What a blessed confirmation.
Well, dear friends, has the Lord confirmed you? He confirms His
own work, His own word, His own ways. He confirms it. Oh, I'd never really seen the
virtue and the wonder of those words that Jesus spoke until
yesterday, really. It so came upon my spirit, the
truth to be confirmed and verified and ratified And then it so came
upon my spirit what the Lord said, verily, verily, I say unto
you. Oh, the wonder, friends, the
wonder of this. And this is a sure and certain
manifestation that we are the people of God. Because the Lord
only confirms his own work. He only confirms his own work.
He only confirms his own word. And this is the sacred operation
of the Spirit of God in the heart of a true believer. And also,
of course, we realize that his dear apostles were witnesses
and they could bear testimony to what the Lord said because,
you see, they were with the Lord for 40 days after his resurrection,
until the day in which he was taken up. After that, he threw
the Holy Ghost, a given commandment, unto the apostles whom he had
chosen. Now what was this commandment?
What were these commandments? Well, one you see is declared
here, the last thing that Jesus said. He said, but ye shall receive
power. Power belongeth to God, dear
friends. Ye shall receive power, after
that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses
unto me. Witnesses, they could be a witness. Why? Because they've been with
the Lord. They'd been with him because he showed himself alive
after his passion by many infallible proofs. And so the apostles,
you see, could bear witness unto those things that they had seen
and heard of the Lord Jesus. Witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem
and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of
the earth. And when he had spoken these
things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud received
him out of their sight." Witnesses. And so the ministry, the apostles,
the Lord's servants today, bear witness to the truth. We bear witness. And friends,
don't you bear witness to the truth? It's a wonderful thing,
isn't it? If you know the truth, you can
bear witness to it. The Lord has spoken to you, you
can bear witness to it. And so dear friends, you see,
they'd been with the Lord. They'd seen the miracles. They'd
heard his ministry. They'd heard his preaching and
his teaching. They'd been with him. He chose
12 to be with him. And so he sent them forth to
preach. Then after his death and resurrection,
then we read that he enlarged their hearts. That is not the exact word, I
don't think, but the substance is the same. But let me just
turn to it in the last chapter of Luke. And this is what we
read. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the Scriptures. Well, they've been
preaching for three years. then open to their understanding. What that means is, I believe,
a further opening, a further understanding, a further dimension
to the ministry. Because they could testify and
bear witness to the sufferings and death and resurrection of
Christ and His ascension. And His ascension. This is the opened heart, this
is the further dimension. This is what Jabez prayed, O
that thou wouldest bless me indeed, that thou wouldest enlarge my
coast. Well this is it, an open understanding,
a further understanding of the things of God. That was the desire
of dear godly Jabez. Now we don't know much about
Jabez, do we? As recorded in the Word, but
what we do know is very beautiful and blessed. If ever there was
a man of God, Jabez was, more honorable than his brethren.
And so, dear friends, this opened understanding, bearing witness
to the truth. Now you may say, or someone on
a human level, they might say, well, how do you know what took
place 2,000 years ago? You weren't there. You weren't
alive. This is what the Pharisees said
to the Lord Jesus. How do you know anything about
Abraham? You are not yet 50 years of age. How do you know anything about
Abraham? Before Abraham was, I am. The eternal Son of God. You see, he knew Abraham from
all eternity. Now, you see the same goes to
the Lord's servants and the Lord's people. One might say, well,
how do you know these truths? How do you know it's truth? How
do you know these things happened? You weren't there. How can you
bear witness? We bear witness to the truth
recorded. And it is in spirit, being led
by the Spirit of God, that we were there in spirit. when the Lord Jesus was here
on earth because we bear the testimony of the Spirit of God
in our hearts as if it's now. Because the Word of God covers
past, present and to come. The Lord Jesus is eternally the
same from everlasting to everlasting there. Our God. And so this blessed testimony,
friends, is received by us as if we were there. If you are
called upon to bear witness to some incident, perhaps the so-called
accident on the road, and you witnessed, you saw it, then you
may be called to court and Swear on oath that you will tell the
truth and bear witness to what exactly you saw concerning that
matter because you were there, you saw it. Well friends, we
were here in spirit. Spirit reveals and makes known
and we receive it because it's truth. You see, live in faith
and in our text it speaks of faith Living faith will always
receive the truth. Always receives the truth. And it does more than that. It
rejects lies. Satan's a liar. And he speaks
lies to deceive. If it were possible, the very
elect That faith never receives a lie from Satan. It rejects
it. Rejects it. That faith receives every word
that the Lord spoke. Because it's truth. And of course
truth is very wonderful. In this particular, it is self-confirming. It confirms itself. Because it's
truth. And the Word of God liveth and
abideth forever. It can never change, never alter. And if one tries to change the
Word of God, how solemn it is. If they try and add to it, the
Lord will add to them the plagues that are written therein. If
anyone tries to take away from the Scriptures the Holy Word
of God, the Lord will take away their name out of the Lamb's
Book of Life. Nothing to be added, nothing
to be taken away. It's eternally the same. And these truths are being preached
from generation to generation. It's the same gospel, friend.
It's the same gospel. Year after year, generation after
generation. In our youth, we remember some
of the old ministers. Remember them well. And we love
them for the truth's sake. What do they preach? Christ.
They preach the truth. And what do we do in the sign?
We do in the sign to die. No changes friend. No change
at all. Exactly the same. We love the
same truths that they love. We preach the same truths that
they preach. Truth is wonderful. And so Paul
and Barnabas, you see, they go back to Antioch. to confirm. Blessed confirmation. And it
was confirmed also by signs following. We read concerning this in Mark's
Gospel. They went forth after the Lord
had ascended to glory. They went forth and preached
everywhere The Lord working with them and confirming the Word
with signs following. Yes, there it is dear friends. The Lord has ascended and they
are going into all the world to preach the Gospel. The Lord
working with them and confirming the Word because they speak. The truth is divinely... This is another beautiful aspect,
isn't it? The Word of God is written, holy
men of God wrote as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. It's the inspired Word of God,
inspired by the Spirit. And the Spirit of God bears witness
to our spirit that we are the children of God. What a blessed
confirmation. Oh, it's a beautiful word, confirm. When I looked at this yesterday,
oh, I felt what a wonderful word it is, confirm. It sets before
us that we are the people of God. As I said a little earlier,
you can't confirm nothing. You can only confirm that which
has gone before. Oh, to possess in ourselves that
which the Lord has spoken. that which He has given. Oh,
that we have heard with the hearing of faith. Faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. This is the ordained means the
Lord uses to bring His dear people to a saving knowledge of Christ. It's through the Word of God. And the Lord has ordained, as
I said in prayer, God has ordained that His Word should be Preached. Read? Yes. Taught? Yes. Preached? Yes. There's to be a public declaration. Because the Lord is God and there
is none else. And God has a witness. He'll
always have a witness to the truth because He's God and there's
none else. Down in At Lystra, when Paul
had healed, or that man had faith to be healed, and Paul perceived
that he had, he said with a loud voice, stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. And
when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their
voices, saying in the speech of Lyconia, the gods are come
down to us in the likeness of man. What vanity. What vanity. And the priest of Jupiter was to bring oxen and garlands
under the gates and to do sacrifice to the people. What a solemn
thing. This is why Paul reproved him.
But you see that dear man had faith to believe and Paul perceived
it. And Paul under the divine influence
of the Spirit said, stand up, stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. Divine
power, the power of God, friends. Well, how wonderful then there
were those in Antioch who lovingly received the Word. It's the most
sacred truth in this 13th chapter. Oh, there are. David, after he'd served his
own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep and was laid
unto his fathers and saw corruption. But he whom God raised again
saw no corruption. Now, through Jesus Christ, Be
it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through
this man, the man Christ Jesus, is preached unto you the forgiveness
of sins, preached a public declaration, and by him all that believe are
justified from all things. from which he could not be justified
by the law of Moses. What a blessed confirmation,
friends. Justified from all things. Justified. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. There is no charge, friends,
that can be levelled at the charge of God. because God justifies. That means he's delivered them
from the condemning sentence of the law. Every voice raised
against the sinner is silenced. Silenced. Jesus died to justify
their souls and he was delivered for He was delivered unto death
due to our sins and he was raised again for our justification. Glorious doctrine, friends, to
be completely delivered from the condemning sentence and the
curse of the law of God. That is it, to be justified.
Glorious doctrine. So we have Justification, we
have election. And friends, we love these doctrines
to die, the same as they did here 2,000 years ago. We love these doctrines. It's
salvation. It's Christ. It's revealed and
made known by the Spirit. The carnal mind of man cannot
understand the deep things of God. He can't receive the things
of God. They must be spiritually deserved. And under the divine influence
of the Spirit of God we deserve godly discernment. Now godly
discernment, friends, you see, will be in company with confirmation. Blessed confirmation. So confirm
it. Then, you see, they went to Iconium
and The unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and made their
minds evil against the brethren. But before that, you see, Paul
and Barnabas were expelled out of their coast, out of Antioch. When you think, dear friends,
of this, that all that the Lord accomplished by the apostles,
through the power of the Holy Ghost, those that believed in
Antioch and yet the unbelievers cast them out, expelled them
out of their coast, didn't want them anymore. You see man can do what he likes
friends, man can do what he likes, but they had another place to
go to. They shook off the dust of their
feet against them and came unto Iconium. and the disciples were
filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost. It doesn't matter
what man does for him, they had somewhere else to go, the Lord's
leading them. And that's exactly the same with
the Lord Jesus. No prophet is acceptable in his
own country. Now the Lord went to Nazareth,
where he was brought up, preached there. What do they do? They
led him to the brow of the hill to cast him down headlong. He
passed him through the midst of them, went his way, and came
down to Capernaum. There it was. He could leave
Nazareth. He could forget them. They rejected
him. He's going to some other place
where the Lord's people are waiting for him and yearning for him.
He didn't get involved in any, if I could so reverently expressed
it. He didn't get involved in any
conflict with those in Nazareth. Leave them, there's somewhere
else to go. And we don't want to spend our
life friends in conflict, there's always somewhere else to go.
And the Lord will use us where he sends us, according to his
sovereign decree. It's all before us, the authority
of God's Word, and that'll stand. What God says will stand. What man says, well, naturally
speaking, is vain. God's Word is true. Oh, to be
led by the Spirit, friends, led into the truth as it is in Jesus. You shall know the truth, the
Lord said to his disciples, and the truth shall make you free. Then are ye free. Indeed. Well, we must draw to a close
this morning, dear friends. May the Lord bless His own word
and help us to continue this afternoon. God willing. Amen. You humble souls, complain no
more. Let faith survey your future store. How happy, how divinely
blessed these sacred words of truth attest. In vain these sons
of wealth and pride despise your your hope deride. In vain they
boast their little stores. Trifles are theirs, a kingdom
yours. Hymn number 257, tune Riveau,
number 396. ? In un sanso vivito ? ? Venesto
mio, venesto ? ? Della tua vita ? Nirmala Nirmala Nirmala Nirmala
Nirmala He is the Son of the Father,
and the Son of the Holy Ghost. He made me first, and made me
last. I was the best, and he made me
last. God in the world, in him be kind,
tender and decent to him that They are divine angels, and their
grace has found some. I'll give away everything I've
found and returned. O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's Christ the Lord is born in Bethlehem
The Lord is came and died for you ? And I'll be back soon, I'll be
back ? ? Here comes the blind man's solemn song ? Since I've seen thee, I've been,
I'm glad. Here before love, my nature's glad. Now may thy grace Lord Jesus, the Father's love,
the communion of thy Holy Spirit be with us all now and forevermore. Amen.