the notices for the week. If the Lord will, pastor will
preach next Lord's Day at 10.30 and 2 o'clock. The pastor will also preach on
Thursday evening at 7 o'clock. There will be a prayer meeting
on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. Let us commence our worship this
morning by singing hymn 173, tune Ombudsly 385. Jesus, before thy face I fall,
my Lord, my life, my hope, my all. For I have nowhere else
to flee, no sanctuary, Lord, but thee. Hymn 173, tune Ombudsly
385. My Lord, my life, my world, my
home. I have nowhere else to be No
sanctuary, no home but me with Thee I have rejoined You.
O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave Beloved Saviour, ever be Blessing
to every heart, to every being ? And the earth be tight ? ? In
thy dear bosom let me lie ? ? And while I go my soul to thee ? You have my treasure when I need
you. ? Like that moon, it's shedding
its beams ? ? Like that moon, it's shedding its beams ? ? Like
that moon, it's shedding its beams ? This is a poem I've written for
The devil I sent to bury you abase the soul of man who's life. When I must go, I feel I can't
go. Heart of joy, this spirit is
His. Jesus, my sanctuary, lives. Flee from the grave, my dust
to rest. Die in the place, you'll see
his grace. And when, holy, I appear, You
bring my soul to life again. Hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ according to Saint Luke chapter 24. Luke chapter 24,
and the context is Christ's resurrection is declared by two angels to
the women that came to the sepulchre who reported to others but are
not believed. Peter visiteth the sepulchre,
Christ appeareth to two disciples going to Emmaus and to the apostles
eating before them, explaining the scriptures concerning himself,
he promises them the Holy Ghost and ascendeth into heaven. Luke's
Gospel 24. Now upon the first day of the
week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher,
bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others
with them. And they found the stone rolled
away from the sepulcher, and they entered in and found not
the body of the Lord Jesus. And it came to pass, as they
were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them
in shining garments. And as they were afraid and bowed
down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, why seek
ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how he spake unto you
when he was yet in Galilee, saying, the Son of Man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men and be crucified, and the third
day rise again. And they remembered his words,
and returned from the sepulcher, and told all these things unto
the eleven, and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna
and Mary, the mother of James and other women that were with
them, which told these things unto the apostles. Their words
seemed to them as idle tales and they believed them not. Then
arose Peter and ran unto the sepulchre And stooping down,
he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed,
wondering in himself at that which was come to pass. And behold,
two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which
was from Jerusalem about three score furlongs. And they talked
together of all these things which had happened. And it came
to pass, that while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus
himself drew near and went with them. But their eyes were holden
that they should not know him. And he said unto them, what manner
of communications are these that ye have one to another as ye
walk and are sad? And the one of them whose name
was Cleopas answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger
in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to
pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things? And they said unto him concerning
Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty indeed, and
word before God and all the people, and how the chief priests and
our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have
crucified him. But we trusted that it had been
he which should have redeemed Israel, and beside all this,
today is the third day since these things were done. Yea,
and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which
were early at the sepulcher. And when they found not his body,
They came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels
which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were
with us went to the sepulcher and found it even so as the women
had said, but him they saw not. Then he said unto them, O fools
and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into
his glory. And beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the
things concerning himself. And they drew nigh unto the village,
whither they went. And he made as though he would
have gone further. But they constrained him, saying,
Abide with us, for it is toward evening, and the day is fast
spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass,
as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it,
and break, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and
they knew him, and he vanished out of their sight. And they
said one to another, did not our heart burn within us, while
he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the
scriptures, And they rose up the same hour, and returned to
Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that
were with them, saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared
to Simon. And they told what things were
done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of
bread. And as they spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of
them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you, but they were terrified
and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts
arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself. Handle me, and see, for a spirit
hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have. And when he had
thus spoken, He showed them his hands and his feet. And while
they yet believed not for joy and wondered, he said unto them,
have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of
a broiled fish and of an honeycomb. And he took it and did eat before
them. And he said unto them, these
are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you. that all things must be fulfilled
which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets
and in the Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the Scriptures, and said unto them,
Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer and
to rise from the dead the third day. and that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these
things. And behold, I send the promise
of my Father upon you, that tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until
ye be endued with power from on high. And he led them out
as far as to Bethany, and he lifted up his hands and blessed
them. When he came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted
from them and carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him
and returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually
in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen. May the Lord bless the reading
of his word to us each and help us to now come before him once
more In prayer, let us pray. O thou thrice holy, ever blessed,
almighty Lord God, in whose name we gather on this Sabbath morning,
the first day of the week, We pray thee, O Lord, that thou
will come in and abide with us, as thou didst with thy disciples,
as we have been reading. And, O Lord, as thou didst break
that bread, we pray thee, O Lord, that thou, the living bread,
may be fed to our souls, and may be fed with heavenly food,
and that, Lord, we may feel that full satisfaction. For truly,
Lord, no earthly thing can satisfy the soul, They all subject to
time and to perish. But Lord, him crucified, there
is our provision. We would pray as the hymn writer,
bread of heaven, feed me now and evermore with that living
bread. For his mercy shall unshaken
stay when heaven and earth are fled away. Do, Lord, speak unto
us this morning. in love and kindness and tender
mercy to our souls. Do, O Lord, speak some word of
comfort and encouragement. Thou knowest how we have each
come. Thou knowest well, Lord, the thoughts, the fears, concerns,
and burdens that we carry upon our hearts and minds. And, Lord,
we would pray thee that thou help us to cast them all upon
thee, for thou dost care for thy people. And how often, Lord,
we are slow to do so, Sadly, Lord, long we either slight or
doubt thee, but when all the means we try prove we cannot
do without thee, then at last to thee we cry, O Lord, may we
come unto thee first, and may we come unto thee by faith, with
all our petitions, for both soul and providence, to lay them at
thy dear feet, and to leave them there. For how often, Lord, we,
in our old natures, Phil, we must put our hand to the matter,
and so, Lord, make it worse. Do, O Lord, help us to leave
these things with thyself. Do grant us those peace be still,
that we may, O Lord, while waiting for answers, meditate upon him
who was crucified for sinners and who rose again the third
day. May we this morning, Lord, be found sat at the feet of Jesus,
seeking that one thing needful as Mary was. And may we not become
but about with much serving. May we, O Lord, have our hearts
and minds set upon heavenly things, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. O Lord, hear us in these things,
we pray thee. We have our old natures, they
are most strong. and the pathway, Lord, it is
indeed a battle. And we thank Thee, O Lord, for
the provisions of the shield of faith and the sword of the
word which Thou hast so kindly granted unto us. Do, O Lord,
help us to use them. For often, Lord, in our old natures,
in natural strength, we may fear that we can go on no longer.
But we give Thee thanks, Lord, that in Thy word Thou hast said,
I will strengthen Thee. Yea, I will help Thee. I will
uphold Thee with Thee. right hand of my righteousness.
Oh may we know the everlasting arms underneath this day and
may we hear Lord some word of encouragement to us Lord why
those fears behold tis Jesus holds the helm and guards the
ship. Oh Lord we have no cause for
fear if thou art with us and may that be our comfort and reassurance
this day we do ask. The Lord, we often fall into
slavish fear from time to time of this, that, and the other,
and we ask, O Lord, that thou will release us from those fears
and put us at peace. May we by faith, Lord, offer
up all our requests unto thee by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving, and that the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
may keep our hearts and minds by Christ Jesus, the Saviour,
the altogether lovely one, the blessed one, the Redeemer. And so, Lord, we ask thy blessing
upon this people here at Lamberhurst Chapel. Do, O Lord, be with them
each. Do strengthen and uphold them,
encourage them and keep them. Do help, Lord, thy servant, the
pastor. Today, Lord, as he preaches to
the friends of Hanover, Tunbridge Wells, Do, O Lord, grant him
all needed help. Do, O Lord, open to him the scriptures
and to the congregation also. Do, O Lord, help him in his labours
in the gospel field and in my house. O Lord, his ministry may
be made a blessing to many a soul, and we do ask, Lord, that thou
help the deacons here as they serve thee in thy house, that
thou help them in all their duties. Thou bless them and encourage
them also. And we do pray, Lord, for all
thy people wherever they gather on this thy day up and down our
land. Truly, Lord, we do pray that
thou help thy people to worship thee in spirit and in truth.
For it is a commandment that God is a spirit and they who
worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. We wonder sometimes,
Lord, how often do we really heed that commandment? For, Lord, often our minds wander
to the things of the past week and of the week to come. And,
Lord, we ask that Thou wilt, O Lord, remove all these things
from the minds of Thy people here and elsewhere, that Thou
wilt fix our minds, Lord, upon those things which are eternal
and not on those things which are on the earth. And we ask,
Lord, that Thou wilt help and uphold each and every one of
Thy servants as they minister upon the walls of Zion This day,
truly it is the Lord help me. O Lord, except a man be given
that power from on high, as we have just read of, he cannot
preach the word. He needs Thy Holy Spirit's door
of utterance, do, O Lord, freely grant it. And do grant in each
pulpit, Lord, and thus saith the Lord with signs following,
to be made a blessing and encouragement to the hearers, and indeed to
Thy servants. For Lord, all of us are men.
We are poor, sinful men. We are foolish sheep, and we
need to be fed. We need caring for Lord. Do hear
us in these things this day. And we pray for thy church, Lord,
that thou wilt uphold and strengthen thy church. For Lord, we see
many an empty pew in various causes, and we see, Lord, full
prisons. Lord, what a sad, solemn trend. We, O Lord, would remember the
Philippian jailer, the dying thief, and others, Lord, who
were called out of nature's darkness and into thy most marvellous
light. The vilest is welcome. None can come too filthy. The
vilest sinner out of hell who lives to feel his need is welcome
to the throne of grace, the Saviour's blood to plead. O Lord, may we
see many dying thieves and Philippian jailers and others, Lord, called
out of the darkness of this time state to be brought into that
fold. For, Lord, we believe thy word.
Other sheep I have that are not of this fold, them also I must
bring. Lord, we pray for an in-gathering
of precious souls into thy courts. For, O Lord, there may be a gracious
time of revival and that, O Lord, true God in us may reign once
more in this our land. And we pray for our land, Lord,
we ask that thou wilt have mercy, that thou wilt, O Lord, frustrate
the designs of wicked men, and that thou wilt, O Lord, bring
about a day where the laws of our land are based purely upon
thy word, when our rulers and leaders are considering legislation,
That, O Lord, our nation's first desire may be to honour and glorify
thy name, and to walk in the paths of righteousness and godliness
and peace. That, O Lord, we may be a blessed
nation, blessed is the land whose God is the Lord, whose hope the
Lord is. Do, O Lord, in mercy hear our
prayers for our nation, we plead. And we pray for our leaders,
Lord, do grant wisdom, in high places, grant mercy, could it
please thee? And we ask that thou wilt raise
up in authority over us those who truly do fear thy name, or
are perhaps yet to fear thy name, who will lead Britain unto thyself
in true repentance, as helped of thy Holy Spirit's power, and
that, Lord, we may see the darkness abated from this our land. And
we do pray for the Royal House, Truly, Lord, we do pray, God
save the King. Have mercy upon him, he has a
soul in need of mercy. Do, O Lord, grant him a gracious
exercise in his soul in these what are surely his latter days,
concerning the things of death, judgment, and eternity. We thank
thee for his acknowledgement, Lord, that he only reigns as
long as thou dost grant him. By thee do kings reign and princes
decree justice. Do, O Lord, help him to serve
the people of this nation, and to serve thyself, and prepare
him, Lord, to stand before thy face. Thy spirit must the work
perform, for it is all of grace that he will be made ready to
give an account of his stewardship unto the King of Kings, who hath
raised him to that high office. And, Lord, we ask that thou maintain
a godly succession of kings and queens upon the throne of this
land to the end of time, we plead. We know thou hast Use the throne
for the furtherance of the gospel in days past. And Lord, we would
remember Tyndale's prayer upon the scaffold. Lord, open the
King of England's eyes. Do, O Lord, continue to hear
and answer that prayer we plead for the furtherance of the gospel
and to the honour and glory of thyself. And so, Lord, we pray
for thy people, those in various paths, those in bereavement. Lord, do comfort them. Do, O
Lord, draw near unto them, do sustain them, do uphold them,
and help them through this time of sorrow. And we pray for those
in other pathways, the pathway of affliction. Do, O Lord, grant
all needed strength, and do grant healing mercies could it please
thee, and sweet time meditating upon eternal things also for
the good of their souls. O Lord, do bless them and be
with them, May they have that faith, as did the leper, who
came unto thee, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make
me clean. O Lord, afflictions do abound
in the flesh from time to time, but also, Lord, we are sick in
the soul by nature, and the antidote is thy precious blood. Do freely
bestow it to us poor sinners, we plead. May this day we be
granted faith's eye view, of Christ crucified by sinners to
look upon thee in sweet and blessed simplicity, and to live eternally. But as the woman of the issue
of blood was made whole of her plague by one simple touch of
thy garment, may we, O Lord, by one precious view be made
whole of our plague of sin, to live to life eternal. And we
pray thee, O Lord, that thou wilt visit us We trust we have
had visits in the past of thy love and mercy, and Lord, we
pray that thou will continue to do so and visit us again and
again and again, that we may know that hope of eternal glory
and deeper measure, to not live in a state of uncertainty, to
grant sweet and blessed confirmation unto our souls, Lord, that it
is well, the matter is well with my soul, that we may be prepared
for the solemn realities of death judgment and eternity, for we
know not the hour. In such an hour as ye think not,
shall the Son of Man come. O Lord, the warning is there,
and the need is great. Do, O Lord, prepare us for the
hour of our death, and for thy second coming we plead. For by
nature we hasten for this world which is foolishness, but if,
Lord, we are granted the fear of the Lord which is the beginning
of wisdom, then truly, Lord, we shall be seeking thee while
thou mayst be found. and calling upon thee whilst
thou art near, for they that seek do surely find. So, Lord, we give thee thanks
for all that thou hast given us, our food, our clothing, health
and strength, our religious liberties, thy word in our own tongue, our
Protestant constitution and heritage. We ask that thou maintain these
things in thy mercy, unworthy though we are, O Lord, we are
so prone to take things for granted, and, O Lord, we deserve not one
good thing. We, O Lord, are unworthy of the
least of Thy mercies. Do maintain them, we pray Thee,
and do hear prayers, Lord, for various things which we have
need of. For, Lord, we feel we grow weak in faith from time
to time, but, Lord, we know that as Thy One of thy late servants
in from days gone by once said, the best way to forget our miseries
is to remember the God of our mercies, to remember mercies
past. Answers to prayer in the past,
doors opened and in some cases doors shut to prevent us going
through in the wrong way. And we pray, oh Lord, that we
may meditate upon these things for we deserve not one good thing
And Lord, we do not deserve the things we seek, let alone the
things we have. May we remember this, Lord, and
be granted that sweet peace of mind of thy faithfulness to provide
all the needs of thy people. And so, Lord, we ask that thou
be with us this morning. Help us to worship thee in spirit
and in truth. Do come down, O Holy Spirit,
come down. Reveal to us the things of God.
Make salvation known that we may witness with the blood, and
Lord, may we be well taught this morning. May we know thy teaching
power in our hearts to grant all needed light upon the word,
and we ask that thou would educate us in thy word, for by nature
we have poor, finite minds, and we need thee to reveal to us
the scriptures. May we go away from this place
at the end of this service, Lord, as the two on the road to Emmaus
saying, did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with
us by the way, and opened to us the scriptures. Cause the fire of grace to burn
within our hearts, Lord, and do heap coals of love and mercy
upon it, that we, O Lord, may know the warmth of that love
divine, all love's excelling toward us, and that love to thyself.
For, Lord, we Do not love Thee by nature, but only love Thee
because Thou didst first love us, open to us by word we plead. And so now, Lord, do help us
in worship. Make up in giving where we do
so fail, in our asking. We ask these things with the
forgiveness of our every sin. For Jesus Christ's sake alone. Amen. We'll sing hymn 202, tune Bishop
Thought 104. Now may the Lord reveal his face
and teach our stammering tongues to make his sovereign reign in
grace the subject of our songs. Hymn 202, tune Bishop Thought
104. Oh, say does that star spangled fill his face, and teach us humbling
toils, to make him soft and plain in grace, ? The subject of our songs ? ? Our sweetest songs ever sung
? O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag
was still there. ? Of our exalted King ? ? And straight
to God ? ? The prince of sins ? ? Amen, amen, hallelujah ?
? Amen, amen, hallelujah ? It comes deep in me. It never
comes deep enough. The world and Satan strive in
vain against the chosen few. Satan O say can you see, by the dawn's early light, ? And hold
the souls at rest ? ? Thy gracious power in hand ? ? And praise
to you ? And to the cross, and be the
saving cross. Seeking the Lord's most merciful,
gracious, and very much needed help, and your prayerful and
loving attention, I direct your thoughts this morning out of
the chapter that we read, St. Luke's Gospel, chapter 24, and
by way of text, the 45th verse. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the scriptures. Then opened he their
understanding that they might understand the scriptures. We are all of course familiar
with the context of this chapter of our text. It is of course
the chapter that we read of our Lord's resurrection three days
after having been crucified upon Calvary's cross for sinners.
And in this verse, verse 45, Christ is speaking to his disciples
who have accompanied him throughout his public ministry on earth. And still, strangely enough,
they did not seem to understand what he meant to them when he
told them in Mark's Gospel 9 verses 31 and 32, for he taught his disciples
and said unto them, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands
of men, and they shall kill him. And after that he is killed,
he shall rise the third day. But they understood not that
saying, and were afraid to ask him." You know, dear friends,
our natural minds are so finite by nature, they're so limited
And I remember years ago when I was a child, I had a child's
story Bible. There was, of course, a picture
of the crucifixion on one particular page. But still, my understanding
was not really opened at all. It was only a story back then.
And dear friends, it's the work of the Holy Spirit granting sovereign
grace into the heart of a believer that opens the believer's eyes
to behold Christ crucified by faith, then opened he their understanding. And indeed, some of the children
and young people here may not altogether understand when at
Christmas, the minister in the pulpit may read from another
part of scripture, why not the birth of Christ itself? Why not
that chapter? Well, dear friends, Christ here
is speaking to his disciples he says in the previous verse
to that of our text in verse 44 and he said unto them these
are the words which i spake unto you he's speaking he's referring
to his crucifixion resurrection while i was yet with you that
all things must be fulfilled which were written in the law
of moses and in the prophets and in the psalms concerning
me there is a profound essence to our text here this morning
and it's this, you may find it in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 18,
the preaching of the cross which is to them that perish foolishness
but unto them that are saved it is the power of God and it
is this infinite holy divine power that opens a man's eyes
his spiritual eyes, not his natural, but his spiritual eyes, to see
Christ crucified by faith and to hear his voice by faith. And dear friends, it's the power
of the Holy Spirit. We may read in John's Gospel
14 and in, I believe, the 26th verse, but the Comforter, which
is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, will bring
to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you. The theme
here is teaching. It is to be taught of the Holy
Spirit which makes the matter well with the soul when prepared
for the hour of our death when we must pass from this time state
into a never-ending eternity to be with Christ which is far
better. And it struck me of recent that
we are very favoured these days to have all the resources, all
the concordances and all these things available and of course
above all the Word of God in our own tongue. But we must know
that application of the Spirit, the teaching of the Spirit. I
heard, I read of an account recently, I don't know if you may know
of this particular man, is in the 1800s a man called Henry
Fraser in the United States, Henry Ironside, sorry. He was
a young minister, and he went in to visit an aged servant of
the Lord who was dying of tuberculosis. He went into his tent, and Andrew
Fraser, the man who was dying of tuberculosis, said to him,
do you preach Christ? To which he said, yes, I am. Mr. Fraser then said, sit with
me then, and let us talk together on the word of God. And mustering
all the strength he had, he opened his worn Bible and opened to
him the things which had been revealed to him in the Scriptures.
And as he did so, young Ironside had tears flowing down his face.
And he said to him, where did you get all these things? Did
you learn them in seminary? To which the old dear godly man
said to him, my dear young man, I learnt these truths on the
mud floor of a little sod cottage in the north of Ireland. There
with my open Bible before me, I prayed to the Lord on my knees
to open my heart to his word. I learnt more on that mud floor
than all the colleges and seminaries in the world. Oh dear friends,
to be taught of the Holy Spirit, there's a divine sweetness to
it, there's real blessing Some of, I believe, if memory serves
me correctly, some of the Reformationaries in the early days would say they
were drunk on the Word of God, once able to read it in their
own tongue, because of course it was only allowed in Latin
by then. And dear friends, it's that value,
to value the Word of God. If we are taught of the Spirit,
we will hold it in high esteem, we will view it as the jewel
of jewels. Indeed, we most certainly shall,
for many riches are contained within, many precious truths
for encouragement to the soul of a believer as they journey
toward the heavenly city, which is their eternal rest. And so,
dear friends, may it be with you this morning that the Holy
Spirit may come unto you and open your spiritual eyes and
ears, that you may understand the scriptures and be well taught
in them. Now, we said that this verse,
the theme, the essence of it is the preaching of the cross.
And it is important for us to remember that the preaching of
the cross does not begin purely only at the very beginning of
Matthew's gospel. It begins all the way back in
the Garden of Eden when man had so sorely fallen, when the promise
was given to Adam and Eve, the seed of the woman should bruise
the serpent's head and that he should and that his heel would
be so sorely bruised. And we also read in Psalm 22,
David says words which Christ would say himself upon the cross.
There would be a description of the sufferings of Christ as
we may read in the accounts of the crucifixion in the Gospels
where he is mocked of the chief priests and of the Roman soldiers
and of members of the public saying he trusted in God that
he would deliver him Let him do so if he, let him deliver
him, if he be Christ the King of Israel. Let him come down
from the cross. And of course, we have another
description of the sufferings of Christ in Isaiah's prophecy
53, where we read of him being despised and rejected of men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, numbered among the
transgressors. Dear friends, my favorite quote
from the Puritan writer John Owen, we shall not benefit in
reading the Old Testament, unless we are seeking to and to meditate
upon the glory of Christ, which is contained within its pages.
Dear friends, Christ is found throughout the Old Testament
and in the New. We cannot have the New Testament without the
Old. You think of when Abraham, when he was about to offer up
Isaac to sacrifice his only beloved son. Suddenly, Abraham, Abraham,
pause, stop. Abraham replies, here I am. Lay
not thine hand upon the lad, for I know that thou dost fear
God, if I have quoted that correctly. And behind him was the ram caught
in the thicket. Of course, a ram starts out its
life as a little lamb. And that was a foreshadowing,
a foretelling of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ to be crucified
and offered up on that public altar, a cross. as the sacrifice
for our sin, that divine wrath would be poured out upon him
and not on us poor, wretched sinners who are so worthy of
the wrath of God, having sinned and come short of the glory of
God, and have sinned in both in thought, word, and in deed. The glory of Christ contained
within the Old Testament pages may it be revealed to us by the
power of the Holy Spirit. And dear friends, to be taught
of the Spirit, it is to know hope, hope of eternal glory. It is to know that hope in deeper
measure, because you know, dear friends, the Lord does not wish
for his people to live in a state of uncertainty. They must know
confirmation. They must know the work of the
Spirit within them, that yes, Jesus has died for them, There
is their hope, their joy, their rest in the crucified Lamb of
God, and that through him they have life eternal. But not long
after there's blessing, thoughts and feelings and imaginations
begin to rise. It's the work of the devil through
the old man of sin. It's certainly a warfare, dear
friends, while we journey here below toward the heavenly city,
being no doubt about it. The devil also tries to put his
own teaching into the heart of a believer. And it's a false
teaching, it's a wicked teaching, it's an appalling teaching. You
and I, we need those eyes of faith to discern, those ears
of faith to discern the spirit of the voice of Almighty God
and the subtle evil voice of the devil. That as he said in
the wilderness, get thee hence Satan, for it is written, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore, with loving-kindness
have I drawn thee, drawn thee by the power of the Holy Spirit. And so, dear friends, it is important
for you and I that we have that hungering and thirsting after
righteousness that we may be filled. If we do so, then we
shall certainly continue to find him. If we are hungering and
thirsting, we are seeking for something. What are we seeking
for this morning in Lambethurst Chapel? I hope we are seeking
for Christ the living bread to be made food to our souls. Though
we may say with the hymn writer, we broke his body, spilt his
blood, and both became our heavenly food. And dear friends, if we're
after this teaching, if we're seeking, we shall surely find
as the Lord Jesus Christ himself promised to us in Matthew 7 verse
8, they that seek shall find. Is there anyone here this morning
feels perhaps it's been some time since they had any encouragement,
it's been some time since they had a tithe renewal, and they
fear that they have a gone cold religion, they feel as though
they fear nothing, have they any real religion at all? Fear
not. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found, call upon him while he is near, that you may know
hope of glory in deeper measure, that you may be given faith's
glimpse of you, not only of Christ crucified, but those eternal
joys which are above, that are to come to the believer, to the
child of God. And it is a wonderful thing that
he continues to do this to his people, to continue in teaching
them throughout their lives here below. It's been said that while
we are here below, we are in Christ's hospital, being treated,
being washed and cleansed from our sin, given the antidote for
the disease of sin, which does so plague our souls. But we're
also in his classroom. We are here below to be taught
of the spirit, to be taught by him of what is to come. taught
by him as to what we are by nature, how filthy, ruined and undone
we are by the Adam fall. But also that if we seek Christ,
if we have any concern for our soul, then if we seek him, we
shall be made whole of our plague. Are any of you this morning perhaps
like the woman with the issue of blood? You just think of that
disease, the issue of blood, the fountain of blood which she
tried to have dried up, been to many physicians over 12 years,
but nothing bettered rather grew worse. Well, in the end, she
heeded the words of Proverbs 3, verse 5, trusting in the Lord
with all her heart for her healing, and no longer leaning unto her
own understanding. Where had her own understanding
got her? Nowhere. And dear friends, it is the devil
and the spiritual wolves who would have us lean unto own understanding,
who would have us bound to the law through circumcision, as
Paul warns us of in his epistle to the Galatians, chapter five.
Christ is our provision. It is to trust in him with all
our heart for our salvation and not to lean unto our own understanding,
not of works, lest any man should boast. It is the gift of God. Now, how does this teaching come? The Holy Spirit, by the grace
of God, is stowed into the heart of a believer. As we said at
the beginning, our minds are often finite and cannot understand
these things. We hear of grace from week by
week in chapel, but do we really know what it is? Dear friends,
if you are one of the Lord's, you shall surely be taught what
grace is. There'll be a change wrought
within the heart. There'll be a coming off of those
things of old, of the old nature of the old man and sin, and a
going on to the things of the new. Seeking to understand the
scriptures, seeking to know Christ for yourself by faith, that to
know him as your heavenly father, as your redeemer and savior and
friend, and to know the heavenly father who sent him to this earth
here below to redeem us from our sins and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness by his own shed blood. Then opened he their
understanding. Note the word then. There was
a time, a specific time that came, appointed for them to understand
the scriptures. And it's important to note that
he does this because the apostles, they have a work to do. They
are to go forth and preach the gospel to every nation, kindred,
tribe, and tongue. The Lord does open their understanding. They could not understand at
first what he meant when he said unto them, the Son of Man is
to be betrayed into the hands of sinful men. and be crucified. And from their perspective, if
that was so, they could not understand the purpose of it. Rather like
how when we start out in life as little children, we may not
understand what is being spoken to us week by week of the crucifixion
of Christ. But there comes that time, the
hour the believer first believes. And they say with the hymn writer,
amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like
me. I once was lost in sin's wild,
mad career. Now I'm found. Was once blind,
but now, by the power of the Holy Spirit, I see. We're not blessed, of course,
with the earthly presence of our Lord Jesus Christ as the
disciples, the apostles were in those days. Of course, we
read him later on, towards the end of the chapter, ascending
into glory. But we have the comforter. And
that's a promise which shall never be withdrawn from his people.
The power of the Holy Ghost. The value of it cannot be emphasized
enough. He says to his disciples in verse
49, And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you, that tarry
ye in the city of Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from
on high. And the time appointed came.
Then opened here their understanding, and then at the time appointed,
at the day of Pentecost, they were given the gift of the Holy
Spirit to preach the gospel to all his people. The gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ, of his kingdom, of his power, of his
glory, of his crucifixion, of his resurrection. Then opened
he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures.
You think of the resurrection, friends. What a tremendous and
powerful event it was. No man had ever raised themselves
from the dead, and it seemed foolishness in the eyes of many,
including the disciples for a time, that any man should rise again
from the dead. We read of, I believe it's in
John chapter two, where Christ says to the Jews, destroy this
temple and in three days I will build it again. He speaks of
his death. He speaks of his body to be raised again in three days.
And of course we know from the chapter of our text, the time
came when he was raised from the dead. What did that symbolize?
that symbolized that death had been conquered and his sacrifice
accepted. That he, that the poor sinful
worms may not perish because of their sins, but because of
his redeeming love and work and blood, they may now live unto
life eternal. There's a, I think it's in Philippians
2, made himself of no reputation, that ye through his poverty might
be made rich. If we're taught of the Spirit,
we will understand this, to understand that our earthly riches are subject
to decay with time and sense, but we have an inheritance among
the saints which is immortal, in glory above, where our real
riches lie. What does Jesus say to us in
Matthew 6? Lay not up for yourselves treasures
upon earth, where north nor rust doth corrupt, for lay up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through, nor steal. These are all wondrous and marvellous
truths, friends, and all the riches of Christ. The word, you
know, you know the word riches. It is a word used by the apostle
again and again in his epistles to emphasize the excellency and
abundance of these riches in glory. His mercy, His grace,
His love, which is immeasurable, and shall unshaken stay, which
can never run out. There's a hymn that goes, here
is love vast as the ocean, His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus,
the Saviour in meekness, the Saviour of sins. Oh, my dear
friends, may you and I have our understanding open to these things,
that they may not be just things we hear week by week, that they
may be made saving to us, to know the new nature given to
us. We hear from time to time of a new nature given from week
by week. May you and I know what that
new nature is, to seek after heavenly things and not after
things of the earth. Because as Paul says, the preaching
of the cross, which is to them that perish foolishness, hastened
after the things of this world of time and sense, they've laughed
into scorn, they've continued in mocking, but to them that
are saved, which includes the disciples, Mary Magdalene, the
Philippian jailer, and others, it is the power of God, and it
is the teaching of the Holy Spirit unto our souls. Then opens here
their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures,
and said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behove Christ
to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day. All these
things were foretold in the prophets, and in the Psalms, and the law
of Moses. And now to the disciples their commission, that repentance,
and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And he says, and ye
are witnesses of these things. You know, there's much ignorance
abounding in the world today. Yes, indeed, there is also wisdom
which has come a long way from years gone by, but, dear friends,
we still live in a dark world where there is much, much ignorance,
and many need their understanding opened. Having been to Kenya
a few years ago in 2019, we saw the effects of the fears of witch
doctors upon the community in Mombasa. and who live in bondage
and fear of idols and put their trust in natural means to be
cured of this illness or that of the other. But oh the light,
the light of Christ. He says, I am the light of the
world. And when one's eyes are opened,
there is light. Not just in a natural sense,
but spiritually, released from darkness. and ignorance is destroyed. Given spiritual intelligence
by the power of the Holy Spirit, to see Christ by faith, the sanctity
of those wounds of hands and feet and side, the blood came,
comes mingling down. Is there such love or sorrow
meet, or thorns compose so rich a crown? There is my Redeemer. There is my Saviour, He was crucified
for me. I am a poor, wretched, undone
sinner. But Christ came to save, not
the righteous, but sinners. To call them to repentance, that
our sins may be blotted out. Though your sins be red whites,
white crimson, they shall be as white as snow. I think I've got that the wrong
way round, but I trust you know what I mean. Dear friends, when
our understanding is opened, there are three vital things
we are given. We're given faith, we're given
love, and we're given repentance. By nature we have no faith in
the power of God. We may claim to week by week
in our heads, but do we truly in our hearts have faith in the
atoning sacrifice of Christ? Do we in our hearts love Christ
because by nature when we see Him there is no beauty that we
should desire from Him? And by nature, repentance, we may often
just simply say, I am a sinner. For yes, dear friends, that is
indeed without question true. The Puritan writer Thomas Watson
puts it in his book, and it's a book well worth reading, The
Doctrine of Repentance, It is one thing to say I am a sinner,
but another thing altogether to truly know your unworthy fallen
slave before Almighty God. In repentance there are six vital
key ingredients. Sight of sin, shame for sin,
sorrow for sin, confession of sin, naming, turning from sin,
and hatred of sin. If one is opened in their understanding
and taught of the Holy Ghost, the Scriptures concerning Jesus
Christ, they will be brought to a state of true repentance.
They will see themselves as sinners. They will have shame for their
sins, there will be that guilt which they cannot bear. And they
will confess those sins, name the sins, to almighty God in
prayer. that they have sinned and done
wickedly. They did this, that or the other
in thought or word or deed. And then because as they have
that new love to Christ given to them by the power of the Holy
Spirit, they will turn away from sin and they will hate sin. You know, another one of the
Puritan writers once said that our tears of repentance they're
reserved in God's body. If we are brought to those tears
of true repentance, we will heed the words of the hymn writer,
Rest thou on Jesus, sing or swim. Swim to those, swim in those
tears of repentance, to heaven, upheld and supported by the everlasting
palms which are underneath, having been opened to understand in
the scriptures the purposes of the law, of Moses, and the things
in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning the sacrifice and
righteousness of Christ, blessed wondrous truths. May you and
I be brought to true repentance, to experience all six ingredients
in truth. And Lord and dear friends, that
we may have that faith and love to the Lord Jesus Christ, because
he has opened our understanding that we might understand the
Scriptures, that we may be seeking a better country, which is immortal,
in heaven's high court above, and that we may seek those things
which shall never be corrupted, those things which are eternal,
and be crowned with glory within which is far better, and to be
arrayed in white around the throne of grace. May the Lord bless
all that has been of himself this morning, and forgive anything
that I have said in this. Amen. Hymn 205 to the tune Mannheim 679. Jesus is our great salvation,
worthy of our best esteem. He has saved his favorite nation. Join to sing aloud of him. He has saved us. Christ alone
could us redeem. Hymn 205 to Mannheim 679. ? Jesus is our great God ? He has saved his favorite nation
Joy to sing the honor of Him He has saved us ? He has made us ? ? Christ the
Lord ? ? Who was with thee ? ? When in old Virginia ? God's love. He shall come in
trespassing, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come,
let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us
adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him, We lift you up, Lord God of hosts. Oh, the glory, Oh, the glory, May God's grace be, may God's grace
be, and rejoice with happy reign. Action, known by calling, Is
a privilege divine. Saints are kept from final calling, All the glory, all the glory,
all the glory, Lord, is Thine. O Lord, in thy infinite love
and mercy, pardon and forgive all that has been amiss in our
worship this morning. O Lord, do bless all that has
been of thyself. Truly, Lord, all the glory, Lord
be thine, for thy work of salvation, thy work of redeeming sins from
sin. and Lord, for opening sinners'
hearts to understand the Scriptures. May that be so with us each this
morning, Lord, we beg. Do help us and bless us, and
do, Lord, gather us around thy word again in the afternoon hour.
Do, O Lord, help this stammering tongue to continue in thy magnus,
but it please thee, Lord, yet further a little on this thy
day. that, Lord, thy Word may be blessed in the hearts of each
and every one of us by the power of thy Holy Spirit. Do, Lord,
abide with us this day, we plead. And so, Lord, may the love of
God the Father, the grace of Christ the Son, the fellowship
and communion of the Holy Ghost, rest and abide with us each,
both now and for evermore, Amen.