The notices for the coming week
are God willing as follows. Pastor will preach here next
Lord's Day at 10.30 and 2 o'clock. Also on Thursday evening at 7
o'clock. There'll be a prayer meeting
here on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. Let us commence our services
today by singing together hymn 357. The tune is La Salle's 843. Welcome, sweet day of rest that
saw the Lord arise. Welcome to this reviving breast
and these rejoicing eyes. Hymn 357, tune LaSalle's 843. We hear your prayers, and so
the Lord is with us. I will come to thee with my good
friends, And in thee, O sweet Christ. Love me, keep self from
fear, ? And his good states be known ? ? Here we raise him
? ? And see him live ? ? And love and praise him be ? ? Lay amidst the prairies ? ? Where
I may look at Thee ? ? This sweet heaven ? ? Ten thousand days
? ? I will in solace stay ? ? In
such a place as this ? ? And sit and sing ? ? Herself the
praise ? Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in Psalms 117 and 118. Psalms 117 and 118.
O praise the Lord, all ye nations. Praise him, all ye people. for his merciful kindness is
great toward us, and the truth of the Lord endureth forever.
Praise ye the Lord. O give thanks unto the Lord,
for he is good, because his mercy endureth forever. Let Israel
now say that his mercy endureth forever. Let the house of Aaron
now say that his mercy endureth forever. Let them now that fear
the Lord say, that his mercy endureth forever. I called upon
the Lord in distress. The Lord answered me and set
me in a large place. The Lord is on my side. I will
not fear what can man do unto me. The Lord taketh my part with
them that help me, therefore shall I see my desire upon them
that hate me. It is better to trust in the
Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in
the Lord than to put confidence in princes. All nations compass
me about, but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them. They compass me about, yea, they
compass me about, but in the name of the Lord will I destroy
them. They compass me about like bees,
they are quenched as the fire of thorns, for in the name of
the Lord I will destroy them. Thou hast thrust sore at me,
that I might fall, but the Lord help me. The Lord is my strength
and song and has become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation
is in the tabernacles of the righteous. The right hand of
the Lord doeth valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is
exalted. The right hand of the Lord doeth
valiantly. I shall not die. but live, and
declare the works of the Lord. The Lord hath chastened me sore,
but he hath not given me over unto death. Open to me the gates
of righteousness. I will go into them, and I will
praise the Lord, this gate of the Lord, into which the righteous
shall enter. I will praise thee, for thou
hast heard me, and art become my salvation. The stone which
the builders refused is become the headstone of the corner. This is the Lord's doing. It
is marvellous in our eyes. This is the day which the Lord
hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it. Save now I beseech thee, O Lord,
O Lord, I beseech thee, send now prosperity. Blessed be he
that cometh in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out
of the house of the Lord. God is the Lord, which has showed
us light. Bind the sacrifice with cords,
even unto the horns of the altar. Thou art my God, I will praise
thee, thou art my God, I will exalt thee. I will give thanks
unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word. Grant to us a spirit of real
prayer. Almighty, most merciful and eternal
God, we do desire to bow before thy great majesty, Father, Son
and Holy Ghost. We desire a spirit of true worship
and we desire that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and
the love of God our Father and the sacred fellowship of the
Holy Spirit may rest and abide upon us. For Lord we need thy
grace and we need it daily and we need it continually and we
need thee to be with us and we pray that thou wouldst be with
us here even today and grant thy sacred presence. As one declares
in thy presence I am happy, in thy presence I am secure, In
thy presence I can easily all things in due. So we pray for
thy presence and that we pray that we may hear thy voice and
that we may see thy countenance. We pray, Lord Jesus, that thou
would speak to us in the power of the Holy Ghost so that the
word spoken may be breathed into our hearts. the word of the Lord
read may be sealed into our souls that we might have a time of
seeing that we read of in thy word whereby you are sealed unto
the day of redemption and sealed by that holy spirit of promise
so lord we do pray to be sealed by the spirit of god and the
word of the lord applied into our hearts and that thou wouldst
change the heart, renew the will, and turn the feet to Zion's hill. Lord, we long to see thy work
and thy power and thy glory as thou usest to be in the sanctuary. We long to feel those sacred
drawings of a heavenly Father drawing us unto his best beloved
and all-glorious Son. Oh, we do pray that that was
then come today, and that thou wouldst make that sacred word
a precious reality in our hearts, in our spiritual experience.
Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with
loving kindness have I drawn thee. Oh, to know those divine
drawings of a Heavenly Father, for none can. accept the father
draw gracious eternal father who are lord of all we do desire
to thank thee for that wonderful gift of thine only begotten son
our lord jesus christ thanks be unto god for his unspeakable
gift and oh lord we do pray that thou wouldst graciously grant
that the Lord Jesus may come and stand in our midst like we
read of in holy scripture and Jesus himself stood in the midst
of them and said peace be unto you grant that today that may
be our blessed portion that we may see by faith the glories
of Christ the wonders of redeeming love and the fullness of that
salvation that is in Christ Jesus. We read O Lord in thy word that
as many as are led by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God.
May we be led of the Spirit of God even today and that the word
of truth may be open to our heart and to our understanding and
that we may delve into that deep that couched beneath in thy holy
word. We pray that thy word today may
be a confirming word, may be a word of assurance breathed
into the heart of some poor sinner. We pray, Lord, it may be a warning
word of the brevity of life and the solemnity of death and of
the judgment day of Jesus Christ. We pray that it may be a quickening
word, those that are yet dead in trespasses
and in sins, may be quickened into life and brought to living
faith in Jesus Christ. Lord, this is thy work. It's
all the work of thy grace. We thank thee, O Lord, for those
precious words, and he giveth more grace. For, Lord, we constantly
feel the need of grace. We feel our lack of it. We pray
that we may be made more spiritually minded and that our heart and
our affections may be set upon things above and not on things
of the earth. Lord we do pray that they will
remember us as a church and as a congregation. Remember our
brethren the deacons and give needed grace wisdom and help
in all their responsibilities both here and elsewhere. And, O Lord, we do pray that
Thou wouldst remember all Thy servants as they labour in word
and doctrine upon the walls of Zion. We think of many of them
that have journeys to travel this day. We pray that Thou wouldst
be with them and bless them, and grant that thus saith the
Lord, and grant that it may be a day to be remembered, one of
the days of the Son of Man, when the Lord Jesus Christ is exalted
as a prince and as a saviour for to give faith, repentance
and remission of sins. Lord, we do pray that thou would
remember each one of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship
and graciously bless each one. And we pray, O Lord, for those
that are not able to meet with us for various reasons We pray
that thou would be with them where they are. We think of our
dear friends in Holland and pray that thou would bless them this
day, strengthen them, help them, help them to look to thee, help
them to cleave to thee. Lord, we pray for that grace
to pray for one another and to bear one another's burdens, thereby
fulfilling the law of Christ. May it please thee to lift up
the downcast and make the crooked things straight and the rough
places plain. And, O Lord, we do pray that
thou wouldst increase our faith and increase our love. By this
shall they know that ye are my disciples because ye have love
one to another. O Lord, we do pray that thou
wouldst graciously bless the little ones and the children
we thank thee for them and pray that they may be blessed of thee.
That the fear of the Lord which is the beginning of wisdom may
be given unto them in their young and tender years. We pray that
thou wouldst give parents wisdom and grace to bring up their children
in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord. And that Lord we
Pray that thou would bless the young friends and knowest their
needs, their concerns. Bring them to living faith in
Jesus Christ. Impress upon their hearts and
minds there is but one thing that is needful. Oh, do hear
us, Lord, we humbly pray thee. Remember the prodigals that have
wandered away and stretch out thy almighty arm and cause them
to return and grant us that great rejoicing here as a church and
as a congregation to see the prodigal's return. We pray that
we may see thy power and thy glory as thou usest to be in
the sanctuary, that thy work may yet appear unto thy servants
and thy glory unto their children, O Lord, we beseech thee. And
O Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst be with all in the midst
of the journey of life, and be gracious unto them. Pray, O Lord,
to be delivered from the temptations of Satan, and whether he comes
to us as an angel of light to deceive us, or whether he comes
as a roaring lion to devour us, we pray to be delivered from
his power, from his influence. We pray to be led and guided
and directed by thee and thy word may be a lamp unto our feet
and a light unto our path. Remember those of us that are
in the evening time of life's journey and graciously guide
us safely unto thy heavenly kingdom. May we be kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed. Pray for
all in trouble or trial or perplexity, sorrow, sadness, bereavement.
Oh, do graciously undertake for each one we do humbly beseech
thee. And Lord, we remember all the
little hills of Zion, the little causes of truth up and down our
land, wherever thy servants stand, wherever thy people gather, We
pray that thou would pour forth thy blessed spirit and that thou
would return unto Jerusalem with mercies. We pray that we may
see the fulfilling of those wonderful gospel promises. I will bring
thy sons from far and thy daughters from the ends of the earth and
they shall come from the north and from the south and from the
east and from the west. Lord, do hear us, we humbly pray
thee. and grant thy blessing, and grant
a reviving, a renewing, a replenishing, an ingathering. Oh, do hear us,
Lord, we do beseech thee, this is thy work. We pray that thou
hast let thy work appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto
their children. We do humbly beseech thee that
we may see a day of prosperity. We pray that those that may be
in darkness may be brought into light. Those in bondage may be
brought into liberty. Those that are far off may be
made nigh. Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
remember those that labour in word and doctrine in the various
nations of the earth. We will especially remember those,
O Lord, that labour in the Mombasa mission.
As we understand, O Lord, at this time, it is a time of drought
and they're in danger of running out of water. We pray that thou
wouldst graciously hear prayer and send them help. We do humbly
pray thee and grant thy gospel good success. And we pray thy
blessing upon the Savannah Education Trust and that great work that
they're doing in Ghana. Do bless them indeed, Lord, and
that may it redound to the glory of thy great name. We think of
thy servant, Ian Sadler, as he labours in many countries in
the distribution and exposition of the word of God and the orphanages
that he runs. Lord, we pray that thou would
supply all their needs and that thou would hear prayer and constrain
those to give that have it to give. We do humbly pray thee. Lord, we pray for our nation. We live in a very dark day when
the powers of iniquity and unrighteousness and the powers of antichrist
are so great. And Lord, we thank thee that
thou sittest upon the throne. Alleluia for the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth. May we, Lord, never lose sight
of that, that all things are in thy hand and all events at
thy command. We pray that thou wouldst give
wisdom to our leaders and guidance and direction. We pray that where
there is war, that thou wouldst put a stop to war and bring to
naught the counsels of the ungodly. We do humbly beseech thee for
thy great namesake. We pray for the royal household,
that thou wouldst bless our king and the members of the royal
family. Bless them with that rich grace
that is in Christ Jesus. We do humbly beseech thee. We're
exhorted in thy word to pray for all those in authority over
us. And we would seek, O Lord, to
do that. We do thank thee for thy holy
day. This is the day that the Lord hath made. We will be glad
and rejoice in it. We thank thee for our house of
prayer. We thank thee for the supply
of all our many returning needs. We thank thee for the word of
God that we have in our own language. May we prize it, Lord, and may
we read it and study it. We thank thee the wonderful glories
of Jesus Christ, for the inclination of the Son of God, for the bringing in of everlasting
righteousness in his holy life, his perfect obedience. We thank
thee that he offered a perfect and a holy sacrifice on the cross
of Calvary, We thank Thee that the blood of Jesus Christ God's
Son cleanses us from all sin. We thank Thee that He died for
our sins and He hath put away sin by the offering of Himself.
He rose again for our justification. Oh, we do thank Thee for the
sufferings and death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus
Christ. We thank Thee that He has bodily
ascended into heaven, and sitteth at thy right hand. Tis he instead
of me is seen when I approach to God. Oh, we do thank thee
that we have such an high priest who is passed into the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God. Do hear us, Lord, we humbly pray
thee. We thank thee for every mercy
of thy kind providence. And we pray that the glory, light,
and power of the gospel may shine into this village and the surrounding
villages and hamlets. Oh, do hear us, Lord, we humbly
beseech thee. For thy great name's sake, come
and touch one's lips with a live coal from off the heavenly altar. We ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1124. The tune is Mariton 366. My fame would love the day of
rest, Would still esteem this day the best, But afterlast I've
need to say, How barren is my soul today. Hymn 1124, tune Marathon
366. you. ? I'm here to say ? ? How fair
thy beams, my soul, dear ? ? To thy free will I give ? ? O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? ? ? And the rocket's red glare,
the bombs bursting in air, ? I will sing again. I will sing, I will sing again. ? O give to me ? ? That safe
and dear ? ? A fearless cheer ? ? No mortal dread ? ? And all
my fear ? With it, O God, my fears disperse,
My pain, my fear, pervades my thoughts. O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I direct your attention to Psalm 118, and we
will read verse 24 for our text. Psalm 118, verse 24. This is
the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it. This is a psalm of praise, a
psalm of thanksgiving. And he begins, O give thanks
unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.
And he closes with exactly the same, O give thanks unto the
Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. What a wonderful thing if you
and I have clear views of the unchanging love, faithfulness
and grace of our God, of our Heavenly Father, of our Lord
Jesus Christ, of the glorious and blessed Spirit of Truth. And their immutability, their
unchangeableness, And that's a very wonderful point
that is made in Malachi, isn't it? I the Lord, capital letters,
so it's Jehovah, I Jehovah, change not. Therefore ye sons of Jacob
are not consumed. He loves his people and having
loved his own, he loves them to the end. And so this is a
theme here in this psalm. This psalm is the last psalm
in what is known as the Great Hallel, which was usually sung
at the Jewish Passover, from Psalm 111 and through to 118. Hallel being short for Hallelujah,
the great song of praise, the great song of thanksgiving. And the psalmist, he expresses
his confidence in the Lord. And he speaks from his own experience
in verse 5, he says, I called upon the Lord in distress. The
Lord answered me and set me in a large place. And he could say,
the Lord is on my side. What about you and I? Do you
have any experience of the Lord's love, of the Lord's mercy, of
the Lord's grace unto you, so that you can say in some little
measure with the psalmist, the Lord is on my side? I will not
fear what man can do unto me. You know, friends, when we get
into trouble and trial and perplexity, we often lose sight of some of
the cardinal and wonderful truths of our most holy faith. And that
is the unchanging faithfulness, love and grace of our God. He
doesn't change. He's immutably the same. And
that's a wonderful doctrine of our most holy faith. And sometimes
we get into various troubles and trials and we lose sight
of how great God is. How great God is. Alleluia for
the Lord God omnipotent reigns. In the book of the Revelation
I've often felt that that word is what you might say the watchword
of the book of the Revelation. Alleluia for the Lord God omnipotent
reigns. He's the eternal God. He's the
almighty God. He's the creator of the heavens
and the earth. The Apostle says in Ephesians
chapter 1, who worketh all things after the counsel of his own
will. The trouble is we come into troubles
and trials and perplexities and sorrows and losses and crosses
and we lose sight of this. That nothing happens by chance. David says doesn't he my times
are in thy hand and even when you're passing
through difficult times doesn't the Apostle Peter say
in his epistle if needs be you are in heaviness through manifold
temptations by that manifold temptations He means many different
trials, many different perplexities that have come into your pathway.
But there was a needs be, if needs be. And sometimes it pleases
the Lord to chasten us. And he does that in various different
ways. But when he does this and we
come into some great trial and perplexity and sorrow and sadness
and then we're all forlorn and we're so cast down and we lose
sight that this is the hand of the Lord. And there was a need to be that
we should walk in this pathway to humble us, to prove us, to
see what was in thine heart. And that's how the Lord deals
with his children. But we lose sight, it says, whom
the Lord loveth, he chasteth. But we lose sight of that word,
whom the Lord loveth. And immediately we think, oh
the Lord is angry with me. But it's actually the opposite.
It's because he loves you. I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. and this chastening in actual fact it speaks of it
in the previous psalm 116 and it says in verse 10 I believe therefore
have I spoken I was greatly afflicted I said in my haste all men are
liars and that's how we look at things we see things and we
lose sight of the loving kindness of God you know the time will
come when the Lord will bring you to see that this pathway
was necessary and was needful to keep us in our right place
to bring us humbly dependent upon the Lord and Also to bring us to see it's
not very nice when we have enemies And of course the lord's people
have one great enemy that's the devil And we read that sometimes the
devil comes to the lord's people as an angel of light To try and
to deceive them and to turn them away from the path of righteousness
and of truth sometimes he comes as a roaring lion to frighten us it's a fearful
thing you know friends when we have really severe temptations but the lord has spoken a word
to such souls that are walking in a path of temptation and great
darkness and sorrow one you wonder where the scene will end But what does the Lord say to
his people? When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of
the Lord, that's the Holy Ghost, will lift up a standard. That
standard is Christ, will lift up a standard against him. It
doesn't say if the enemy comes in, it says when. When the enemy
comes in like a flood. But then there's the way of deliverance. from temptation and trial and
perplexity. And that way of deliverance is
in our Lord Jesus Christ. And then when that deliverance
comes, you'll be able to say what the Psalmist says here.
The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man
do unto me? You see, and then, His confidence
here in verses eight and nine, it is better to trust in the
Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in
the Lord than to put confidence in princes. Trust in him at all
times, ye people. I the Lord change not, trust
in him. He that is unchangeably the same,
he that is faithful. It's a beautiful word, isn't
it? Faithful is he that calleth you who also will do it. Sometimes
we prove to be unfaithful, but the Lord never does. Faithful
is he that calleth you who also will do it. See, he speaks here of being encompassed
about in these three verses, 10, 11, and 12. encompassed about
like bees. Now some of the Lord's people,
David in particular, had to walk in a pathway wherein he was so
encompassed about with his enemies. And this is what he's referring
to. But in all these things, especially in the book of Psalms,
there is a reflection there of the pathway of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And in this language, we can
see the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. All nations compass me
about, but in the name of the Lord will I destroy them. They
compass me about, yea, they compass me about. And we know that the
Lord Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And
when he walked here below, he was encompassed with enemies.
And we know also that in Psalm 2, It speaks of why do the heathen
rage and the people imagine a vain thing. And they rise up against the
Lord's anointed, the Lord's anointed is Christ. And they say we will
not have this man to rule over us. But we read in Psalm 2, those
beautiful words, yet have I set my King on my holy hill of Zion. As King Jesus, he sitteth King
forever, yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. And in all your troubles and
trials and temptations, may you be brought to see the glorious
power, wisdom, grace, unfailing faithfulness and love of our
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. You see, he says here in verse
14, the Lord is my strength and song and has become my salvation. He has here this sacred confidence
in the Lord and he expresses it. It's a good
thing, you know friends, to express and confess our faith, it is to speak of the faithfulness,
of the loving kindness, of the goodness of the Lord. You see, he speaks here also
of the Lord's right hand in verses 15 and 16. the voice of rejoicing and salvation
is in the tabernacles of the righteous the right hand of the
lord doeth valiantly the right hand of the lord is exalted the
right hand of the lord doeth valiantly we read in psalm 80
let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand the son of
man whom thou made is strong for thyself that's our lord jesus
christ you look into the Hebrews we often draw your attention
to how often the Apostle says in the Hebrews that Christ is
exalted to the right hand of the father he sitteth at the
right hand of the majesty on high and hence he's called the
the man of my right hand the son of man that that term the
son of man refers to the human nature of the son of God our
Lord Jesus Christ It highlights his human nature, that the eternal
son of God became a man and lived here upon earth as a man. And so when it speaks here of
the right hand of the Lord, it's speaking of Christ. He's the
right hand of Jehovah, doeth valiantly. The right hand of
the Lord is exalted, the right hand of the Lord do it valiantly
and you think of our Lord Jesus Christ how he valiantly overcome
the devil in those temptations in the wilderness and we read
in the first epistle of John that the Son of Man was manifested
to destroy the works of the devil to destroy the works of the devil
and that is what Christ has done He came to destroy death and
him that had the power of death, that is the devil. And the glorious
person of our Lord Jesus Christ has done that and has accomplished
that. And it speaks here, of course,
it's quoted in the New Testament in verse 22, the stone which
the builders refused to become the headstone of the corner. That is Christ. in the building
of the temple. The great foundation stone, it's
a huge stone that was of a peculiar shape. And it was rejected because of
its peculiar shape. What a type that is of Christ.
He was despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and
acquainted with grief. Our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the
stone which the builders refused and has become the headstone
of the corner. He's the foundation. Upon this
rock I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. This is the eternal rock of ages. How beautiful Top Lady opens
up about the rock of ages, isn't it? Rock of ages, cleft for me.
Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy riven side which flow. Be of sin the double cure. Cleanse
me from its guilt and power. The stone which the builders
refused is become the headstone of the corner. This is the Lord's
doing. You think of the dear disciples
when our Lord Jesus Christ was taken by the hands of wicked
men, was condemned to die, was crucified
on the cross of Calvary. Look how sad, look how forlorn
they were. And yet the Lord Jesus had actually
warned them. There's a number of times in
the Gospels when the Lord Jesus spoke to his disciples. and said
that he would be taken by the hands of wicked men and that he would die but he
would rise again on the third day but those dear disciples
they couldn't receive that thing and when he was taken look at
those two disciples on the road to Damascus on the road to Emmaus
rather they walked and were sad The Lord Jesus drew near and
went with them. And when they said what had happened
in Jerusalem, what did the Lord Jesus say to them? Oh fools and
slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things? But their eyes were blinded. And then eventually he met them
all together, didn't he? And he upbraided them for their
unbelief and hard disaffect. Because they wouldn't even believe
those that had witnessed the resurrection of Christ. They
totally rejected it. And yet he had told them about
it. But you know, when we see these
marvellous things by faith, when the Holy Spirit works faith in
our hearts, when Christ is revealed as the way, the truth, and the
life, when we see him as the altogether lovely one, as the
chiefest among 10,000. How precious it is when our clear
views of the glorious person, of Jesus, the Son of God, of
Jesus, the same yesterday and today and forever, wonderful times, you know, friends,
when the Lord gives us. This is the Lord's doing. When
we're able to see that though the Lord Jesus was despised and
rejected of men, though he was a man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief, and though he made himself of no reputation, he
lived as a poor man when he lived here on earth, and yet he's Lord
of all. He's Lord of all. He's King of
kings. He's the God of gods. And yet,
he made himself of no reputation. He took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of man, and being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself. You know, this is our example.
It's our Lord Jesus Christ. It is. And in all those things,
when he was taken by the hands of wicked men and nailed to the
cross of Calvary, this is the salvation of the church. These
are the eternal counsels of the Lord Jehovah being fulfilled. The disciples couldn't see it.
But when you have a view by faith of Jesus In the sinner's place when you're brought to see that
he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities
and the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes
we are healed. How precious that is. The stone
which the builders refused has become the headstone of the corner.
You know, we see in the humiliation of Christ, all the way down to
him entering into death itself. And then after that, we see the
exaltation of Christ. On the third day, he rose again. That's the beginning of his exaltation. He swallowed up death in victory.
He brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. He had destroyed death and him,
the power of death, that is the death. So he rose from the grave. We do not worship a dead Christ,
we worship a living Christ. You think of the words of the
angel to the disciples of the Lord, come, see the place where
the Lord lay. He is not here, he is risen. We worship a living Christ who
has swallowed up death in victory, who is able to save to the uttermost
all that come unto God by him. And not only did he rise from
the dead, but he bodily ascended into heaven and now sits at the
right hand of the Father. And we have such a high priest,
who is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Touched with the sympathy within,
he knows our feeble frame. He knows what sore temptations
mean, for he has felt the same. This is the day which the Lord
hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it. There's so many different ways
of looking at this word that we have before us here. This
is the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be
glad in it. The day, you think of the day
of the incarnation of the Son of God of the birth of Jesus
Christ. I know at this time of the year
we we keep Christmas Day but it's not actually known when
or the month that Christ was born but it's kept as a day to
remember this wonderful fact that on this day the Son of God
became a man. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. This is the day which the Lord
hath made. It's a wonderful day. It's a
day that we should keep in remembrance of our Lord Jesus Christ. In
remembrance of this wonderful act of the Eternal God. God, that is God our Heavenly
Father, God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son. And as the Apostle says, doesn't
he in the Corinthians, thanks be unto God for His unspeakable
gift. This is the gift of gifts. This
is the gift of gifts. Because in this gift is eternal
life. Eternal life at His request to
every soul He's given. It's in Christ. In Him is life. He that hath the Son hath life. And it's in this glorious reality
of the incarnation of the Son of God. This is the day which
the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it. And then we think of the day
of his crucifixion. The day when he came to suffer,
bleed and die. And he said, didn't he, to this
end was I born. For this cause came I into the
world. This is what Christ was born
for. To suffer, to bleed and to die. For the sins of his people. This is the day that the Lord
hath made. It's a solemn day. We usually
keep and we have services at Easter. Now, that's different
to Christmas because we actually know the time and the month when
the Lord Jesus was crucified. It was at the time of the Jewish
Passover. And we keep that as a day to
remember the tremendous cost of our salvation. To remember
what it cost the Son of God to redeem us. He was numbered among
the transgressors, for He bared the sin of many. This is the
day that the Lord hath made. We will be glad and rejoice in
Him. The day when Jesus suffered and
bled and died. You think of the words of Christ
on that day. It says in John, doesn't it,
Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, they were
his words on the cross, said, I thirst. He cried out with a
loud voice, it is finished. Salvation's work is done. This
is the day which the Lord has made. And the thing is with that
holy sacrifice, of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.
In that sacrifice, the church is redeemed because it was a
holy sacrifice. It says in the Luke chapter 2,
that holy thing that shall be born of thee, that holy thing
that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of the Highest. And as it's revealed to us in
Holy Scripture, he lived a holy life. He did no sin. Jesus never sinned
in thought, word, or deed. He was perfect. Spotless, innocent,
and pure, our great Redeemer stood while Satan's fiery dance
he bore and did resist to blood all that wonderful day. when
sin was put away. You think of the wonderful day
and the same time of Gethsemane, when the Father laid upon him
the iniquity of us all. That is what was done in Gethsemane. And as it says in scripture,
he took our sins and he nailed them to his cross. In the Garden
of Gethsemane is where the sin of the church was laid upon the
Lord Jesus Christ by His Heavenly Father. He laid upon Him the
iniquity of us all. What a day that was, wasn't it? It was when the Father took away
from the church their sin. He lifted their sin off of the
church. He found a substitute and that
substitute was His holy spotless Son. He laid upon Him the iniquity
of us all. What a tremendous truth there
is in that, my beloved friends, of our Lord Jesus Christ. I think
our last hymn we sing is what led me to it. The Lord in the
day of his anger did lay our sins on the land. It was in the
day of his anger, his wrath against the sin of the church was visited
on a substitute spotless Son. The point is this friends, it
is that the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ had to be holy. The only sacrifice acceptable
to God was a holy sacrifice. What John Bunyan calls the acceptable
sacrifice and it was acceptable because it was pure, it was holy.
And it was a sacrifice of a sweet savour unto God. And in that
sacrifice, the sin of the church is atoned for. The payment is
made good. The payment is made good. There's
only one person could do it. It's the only sinless man that
has ever lived upon earth. Jesus Christ. Mark the perfect
man, Jesus Christ, and behold the upright, for the end of that
man is peace. This is the day which the Lord
hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it. You know, there is nothing more
sacred, more precious, when we are brought by faith to Calvary,
where the Lamb was slain. where sin was put away, and we're
brought to see that our sins were laid upon Him. You know, friends, and I know
this from personal experience, there is nothing more sanctifying
than a view of Christ by faith on the cross of Calvary, and
a realization that He was wounded for our transgressions. And speaking
again from one's own personal experience, there is more conviction
of sin at Calvary than ever you knew it under the law. I know
that there is conviction of sin under the law, I know that personally
from my own experience. And I know it to this day by
personal experience, that conviction of sin under the law. But you see Christ suffering
and bleeding and dying for your sins, of you by faith, of your
Saviour, suffering and bleeding and dying, the Holy One of Israel
who did no sin, suffering, bleeding and dying for your sins. It will make you hate sin. You
know, conviction under the law does not make you hate sin. It makes you know the solemnity
of it. and that God is offended by it,
and that you're a sinner. But if you come to Calvary and
you get a view of Christ, and you feel a little of the fullness
of that grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in your own heart, and
to realize what it cost Him to redeem you and to deliver you
from sin and Satan's power, then you'll see sin as it really is.
And you'll hate sin when you see how the Lord Jesus suffered
and bled and died for your sins. This is the day which the Lord
hath made, the day when Christ was crucified. This is the day
which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it. And then of course there is the day of his resurrection.
we can say the same there. This is the day which the Lord
hath made. The resurrection is the beginning
of his exaltation. The resurrection is the Lord's
proof to us that the sin of the church has been put away. If one sin of the church had
not been atoned for, Christ would have never Risen from the grave,
but the evidence that the sin of the church is put away Is
in the resurrection of Jesus Christ It is and that that's
why the Apostle says he rose again for our justification And
the word justification means to be declared to be without
sin Therefore we are justified by faith through our Lord Jesus
Christ. Justified, we're declared to
be without sin because Jesus suffered and bled and died for
our sins and rose again. Our sins have been put away. He left those sins in the grave. As far as the east is from the
west, so far have I removed thy sins from thee, O Israel. Their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. And oh, we see this in the glorious
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. Death is swallowed up in victory. This is the day which the Lord
hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it. We keep the first day of the week. The Jews, under the law, kept
the seventh day. That was the first instituted
by God in creation. He hallowed the seventh day.
God did rest from all his labours and he hallowed that seventh
day and the Jews kept the seventh day. But in recognition of two
very particular things, We read in the New Testament
that the Apostles, they kept the first day of the week. You
read it again and again in the Acts and again in the Epistles. And in the first chapter of the
book of the Revelation, John he says, I was in the Spirit
on the Lord's day. The Lord's day is the first day
of the week. Why do we keep the Lord's day? Why is it called the Lord's day? because Jesus rose from the dead
therefore the Christian Church in recognition of the resurrection
of Jesus from the dead keeps the first day of the week the
other thing of course it's also so clear that we're no longer
under the law but under grace therefore we do not keep the
old covenant under the law but we keep the new covenant of grace
and the Lord Jesus rose from the dead. Hence the keeping of
the Lord's day, the first day of the week. This is the day
which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it. We usually sing on the Easter
Sunday, Christ the Lord is risen today. He's risen today. You know in the early church,
when they met together on the first day of the week, they used
to greet one another, the Lord is risen indeed. The Lord is
risen indeed. So we have those two things.
First, the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that's why we keep the
Lord's Day the first day of the week, and not the old Jewish
Sabbath. And secondly, we are delivered,
every Christian believer is delivered from the law and from its curse. You are not under law, you are
under grace. Now, does that mean that we completely
throw away the law and say it's finished? No. No. Christ said, I come not to destroy
the law, but to fulfil it. And that is what he did in his
holy life. He fulfilled, He honoured, He
magnified the holy law of God and thereby bring it in everlasting
righteousness for His people. And then He offered His holy,
pure and spotless body as a sinatonic sacrifice unto His Father and
He shed His precious blood. And we meet together on the first
day of the week. You see, it says here Verse 19,
open to me the gates of righteousness. I will go into them and I will
praise the Lord, the gate of the Lord into which the righteous
shall enter. You know we could speak of that
initially, firstly in the Lord Jesus Christ after rising from
the dead ascending into heaven and entering into glory. those
everlasting gates lifted up their heads and the King of glory entered
in. He's made a new and a living
way into the holy place. What a wonderful day that was
when Christ ascended into glory, when he made that new and living
way, that way that had been shut. When Adam fell, the way to the
tree of life was shut. Man could no not no longer approach
to God because of his sin. But lo, the second Adam comes,
the Lord from heaven, and he opens a new and a living way
into the holy place. I am the way, the truth and the
life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. You know, this is the Lord's
doing, that new and living way into the holy place. This is
the day which the Lord hath made. We will rejoice and be glad in
it. My late pastor, Mr. John, he
often used to speak when he was a young man. He was brought up
at Black Boys Chapel. And he often used to say, the
old men in the church, you know, it was a time when people didn't
have a lot of holidays but they had the odd day off work and
he remembers he said that there were several of those older men
the day of their conversion the day when Christ was first revealed
the day when Christ was made precious once a year on that
day they would take a day off work and that would be kept as
a holy day. That's where the name holiday
comes from, holy day. It was kept as a holy day. This
is the day. You know, it's a wonderful thing
to do that. To remember. To remember the Lord's wonderful
blessing. To remember the Lord's delivering
grace to you personally. If a man keep a day, Let him
keep it as unto the Lord. Oh, my beloved friends, and sometimes
I feel when you hear things like that of these people that used
to have a day off work to remember the wonderful fact
that they were born again, that the Lord Jesus was made precious
to them. Wonderful, precious times, you
know, friends. And you can say, this is the
day that the Lord hath made. We will be glad and rejoice in
him. Now, to the believer, there's
another day. The day of your death. You might
say, well, that's a terrible, solemn day. To the believer,
it's a wonderful day. To the believer, when they die,
they go to eternal glory, to be forever with the Lord. The
Apostle says, wherefore comfort yourselves with these words,
to be forever with the Lord. What a day that is, isn't it?
When you leave this world of sin and woe, leave this body
of affliction and death, and go into eternal life. and launch
forth into heaven. What a wonderful day that is
to the believer. Now to the wicked and to those
that know not God, it's a terrible day. It's the worst day of their
life. They're losing everything, but
the believer is gaining everything. The day of their death is the
day of their release from sin and Satan's power, and they enter
into the glorious liberty of the people of God. You know,
I never forget reading Bishop Leighton, one of the old Puritan
bishops in the Church of England and he said about the joy of
the Lord, he says the joy of the Lord enters into the heart
of the believer but he said when they leave this world they enter
into the joy of the Lord. You see while we're here on earth
we taste it but in heaven we enter into eternal glory, everlasting
And then we should be able to truly say, this is the day that
the Lord hath made, will we be glad and rejoice in it. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 161, to the tune Chorleywood 827.
The Lord in the day of his anger
did lay our sins on the land, and he bore them away. He died
to atone for our sins, not his own. The Father has punished
for us his dear son. Hymn 161. Tune Chorley Wood 827. O come, all ye faithful joyful
and triumphant O come, all ye faithful joyful and triumphant They died to autumn, for it seemed
to be done. The mother had spied me, across
the deep snow. Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice! ? O come, O come, O come, O come,
O come, O come, to Bethlehem. ? He came from above, the Lord's
trust to rebuild. He loved, he has loved us, because he And when time is no more, we
still shall adore. Never shall our love with you
outpour. Offered Him to die, and on this
we rely, That Jesus, as far as we can not tell why, All this we can tell, the freedom
of surrender, As to lay down his life, in the arms of 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. Amen. Thank you. Thank you.