Let us commence our service this
afternoon by singing together hymn number 358, the tune is
Pearly, 721. God thus commanded Jacob's seed,
when from Egyptian bondage freed, he led them by the way. Remember
with a mighty hand, I brought thee forth from Pharaoh's land,
then keep my sabbath day. Hymn 358 to Pearlie 721. The cross commanded Jacob's seed,
When from Egypt's new-bounded fleet He led them by the way. Remember with a mighty hand I
brought thee forth from Pharaoh's hand and keep thyself afair. This life's days doth make heaven
and earth gave all the rich man's richest wealth, and from his
work it ceased. These days to Naples he hath
come, Thus him he blessed, sanctified, And called the day of rest. Live, O God's people, now remain, While sabbatism rends
the grain, And works of slavish harm Winter keeps on coming,
days grow old. The clock's a-clocking, things
have been, and swiftly we should find. ? Till it's time faithfully of
retreats ? ? Come dige and lay her rightful rest ? ? And bid'st
it residue ? I softly give to promise this,
Where kindship's head on Jesus' breast and cross. This hour, this hour may, this
hour may, turn my feet in the Sabbath day, which called us
holy men. ? O keep us light from short of
this ? ? The substance of the separateness and prosperity ? Let's read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Gospel according to Mark and chapter
2. The second chapter in the Gospel
according to Mark. And again he entered into Capernaum
after some days and it was noise that he was in the house. And
straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there
was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the
door. And he preached the word unto
them. And they come unto him and bring one sick of the palsy,
which was born of four. And when they could not come
nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof where
he was, And when they had broken it up, they let down the bed
wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When Jesus saw their faith,
he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven
thee. And there were certain of these
scribes sitting there, and reasoned in their hearts, Why doth this
man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins but God?
And immediately when Jesus perceived in his Spirit that they so reasoned
within themselves, he said unto them, Why reason ye these things
in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say to
the sick of the palsy, Thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say,
Arise, take up thy bed, and walk? but that ye may know that the
Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins. He saith to
the sick of a palsy, I say unto thee, arise, and take up thy
bed, and go thy way into thine house. And immediately he arose,
took up his bed, and went forth before them all, insomuch that
they were all amazed glorified God saying we never saw him on
this fashion and he went forth again by the seaside and all
the multitude resorted unto him and he taught them and as he
passed by he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus that is Matthew of
the gospel according to Matthew his name was Matthew Levi sitting
at the receipt of custom and said unto him follow me and he
arose and followed him and it came to pass that as jesus sat
at me in his house many publicans and sinners sat also together
with jesus and his disciples for there were many and they
followed him and when the scribes and pharisees saw him each with
publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, how is it
that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he said
unto them, they that are whole have no need of physician, but
they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repent. and the disciples of John and
of the Pharisees used to fast. And they come and say unto him,
why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but
thy disciples fast not? And Jesus said unto them, can
the children of the bride chamber fast while the bridegroom is
with them? As long as they have the bridegroom
with them, they cannot fast. But the days will come when the
bridegrooms shall be taken away from them, and then shall they
fast in those days. No man also seweth a piece of
new cloth on an old garment, else the new piece that filled
it up take away from the old and the rent is made worse. No
man putteth new wine into old bottles, else the new wine doth
burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will
be marred, but new wine must be put into new bottles. And
it came to pass that he went through the cornfields on the
Sabbath day, and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck
the ears of corn. And the Pharisees said unto him,
Behold, why do they on the Sabbath day that which is not lawful?
And he said unto them, have you never read that what David did
when he had need and was an hungred, he and they that were with him?
How he went up into the house of God in the days of Abiathar
the high priest, and did eat the showbread, which is not lawful
to eat, but for the priests, and gave also to them that were
with him. And he said unto them, the Sabbath
was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the
Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath. May the Lord bless the
reading of his own precious word and grant to us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, Holy Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, we bow before thy glorious majesty,
and we desire to worship thee here this afternoon. We come
to thee, O Lord, as poor, wretched sinners, born in sin, shapen
in iniquity, unclean and unrighteous altogether. We have to confess
with the dear apostle For I know that in me, that is in my flesh,
there dwelleth no good thing. And Lord, we painfully feel that
to be so. We pray to be delivered from
sin and from its power. No sin lives in us. May we not
live in sin, but may we live to him that died. We pray 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. We do humbly beseech them. We
pray to be led and taught and guided and directed by the Holy
Ghost as we gather together around thy word this afternoon. Blessed Holy Spirit of truth,
we do pray that we may feel thy sovereign and Thy divine power
in our hearts. We pray that Thou wouldst unstop
the deaf ears, open the blind eyes, and cause the tongue of
the dumb to speak. We do humbly beseech Thee, for
Thou art able to do all these things. Indeed, Thou art able
to do abundantly more than we could even ask or think. We do
pray that Thou wouldst graciously that grant thy presence. And
may we have the presence of the Lord Jesus. May we see his face. May we behold his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. May we behold him as our prophet,
our priest, and our king. May we be favoured with a view
by faith of the glory of his person, And may we be favoured
to see the wonderful glory of the incarnation of the Son of
God and that our hearts may be filled with gratitude for that
wonderful divine mystery of God manifest in the flesh. May we
see in him the law fulfilled and honoured and magnified and
thy name honoured and glorified in that glorious person of our
Lord Jesus Christ, His holiness, His righteousness, His perfection. And may we see that glorious
everlasting robe of the righteousness of Jesus Christ and say with
the hymn writer, my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood
and righteousness. May we behold our suffering Saviour,
who gave his life a ransom for all, who poured out his soul
unto death, who was numbered among the transgressors, who
bear the sin of many. Lead us to Calvary, where the
Lamb was slain, where sin was put away, where divine justice
was satisfied, where the blood of the everlasting covenant was
shed, where a new and living way is made into the holy place.
May we see the empty tomb, the Saviour risen, risen and now
exalted far above all principality and power and every name that
is named, sitting at the right hand of the Father, full of grace
and truth, and sitting there on the behalf of his people.
O gracious God, for such an high priest have we, that he's passed
into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, We desire gratitude,
thanksgiving for that wonderful glory of the exalted Saviour
and of our great High Priest. O Lord, we do pray that we may
behold and know and feel in our Lord Jesus Christ the love and
power and grace of our Heavenly Father. May we have that spirit of adoption
whereby we cry, Abba, Father, For God has sent forth the Spirit
of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father, Lord, may that
be so here this afternoon. My God, my Father, blissful name,
O may I call thee mine. We do thank thee, then, for the
gospel of Jesus Christ, for the fullness of that grace that is
in him, and that in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. Therefore he is able to save
to the uttermost all that come unto God by him, seeing he ever
liveth. O Lord, we do pray that thou
wouldst be gracious unto us, that thou wouldst bless us, that
thou wouldst teach us thy ways, that thou wouldst pour forth
thy Spirit in our midst, that thou wouldst grant signs to follow
the preaching of the word, that thou wouldst grant the pulling
down of the strongholds of Satan and the setting up of the kingdom
of the Lord Jesus in the hearts of sinners, that thou wouldst
grant the return of the prodigals and thy wonderful power and grace
in this, and that thou wouldst graciously arise, arise, O God
of grace, into thy rest descend thou in the ark of thy strength,
and let thy priests be clothed with salvation. and thy saints
shall shout aloud for joy. O Lord, abundantly bless the
provision of thy house and satisfy her poor with bread. We do humbly
beseech thee. And as promised in thy word,
I will bring thy sons from far and thy daughters from the ends
of the earth. That we live in a day, Lord,
when there is much declension, when there is a great falling
away in the church of God, Oh, we do pray that thou wouldst
hear the cries of thy little remnant, that sigh and cry for
the abominations done in the land. And truly, Lord, abominations
are done in our land, and laws are being passed which are contrary
to thy word and to thy truth. And we sink deeper and deeper
into sin. Lord, open the eyes of our leaders
to understand and realise and see this. We do humbly beseech
of thee. Lord, we pray that thou would
remember then the little hills of Zion up and down the land,
and pour forth thy spirit in their midst and return to Jerusalem
with mercies. Oh, do hear us, we humbly pray
thee. Remember all thy servants as
they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion. Remember
those in affliction and those that are laid aside. and those
that through old age are no longer able to preach the word. Remember
them, O Lord, we pray thee. And we pray thee, the great Lord
of the harvest, that thou would send true labourers into the
harvest and that thou would build the walls of Jerusalem, send
a day of real prosperity. We do humbly beseech of thee.
And O Lord God, we do pray that thou in thy precious mercy would
graciously hear the cries of their little remnant, and that
they would send answers of peace, and that they would send real
prosperity. We think of those wonderful promises.
I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with
bread. Lord, let us see such a day. Let us see her bringing forth
her precious souls into the light of the gospel, we do humbly beseech
thee. And O Lord, we do pray that thou
would remember us here as a church, as a congregation. Remember our
brethren, the deacons, and give wisdom and grace in all their
responsibilities. Remember our brother this day
at Staplehurst and be with him and gird him with a grace to
do those things there and to lead the services. And O Lord,
we do pray that thou, in thy great mercy, would remember each
one of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship. Help us
to truly love each other, serve each other, and bear each other's
burdens, thereby fulfilling the law of Christ. Lord, help us
to live as we ought to live and do as we ought to do. We do humbly
beseech thee for thy great namesake. deliver us from temptation, deliver
us from the power and dominion of sin, we do humbly beseech
them. Deliver us from our own corrupt
hearts, our own unclean natures, we do pray thee. Help us to esteem
each other better than ourselves to be, we do humbly pray thee. And help us to remember all the
way the Lord our God has led us. to humble us and to prove
us and to see what was in thy heart. Gracious God, we do pray
that thou in thy great mercy would hear us. Remember the little
babes and the children that are brought into the sanctuary and
bless them indeed in their young and tending years. Raise up a
seed to call thee the Redeemer blessed. Sinners can say, and
none but they, How precious is the Saviour. Oh, we do pray that
thou wouldst be gracious and that thou wouldst fulfil that
wonderful promise. Instead of thy father shall be
thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth.
Lord, we do pray that thou, in thy great mercy, wouldst remember
the young friends, remember them with the favour that thou bearest
unto thy people, and visit them with thy great salvation, and
graciously bring them to living faith in Jesus Christ, and to
become true followers of thee, and of those who through faith
and patience inherit the promises. Remember them, Lord, in all the
paths of providence. Remember them with a partner
in life's journey. one that they can walk together
with in love. Lord, we thus lovingly commend
them to Thee and to the word of Thy grace, which is able to
build them up and to grant them an inheritance among them that
are sanctified. And O Lord, we do pray that Thou
would remember all in the midst of the journey of life, each
and every one, and deliver us from temptation. For Thine is
the kingdom, the power, and the glory, and we need thee to deliver
us from temptation. For the enemy, Lord, is a great
foe, and he comes with such subtlety and sometimes with such power.
And thou hast promised in thy word that when the enemy comes
in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard
against him. Lord, we pray that it may be
so, for thy great namesake. to make us more spiritually minded,
to set our affections on things above and not on things of the
earth. And oh gracious God, remember
those of us that are in the evening time of life's journey and prepare
us for that great change which must come. We do humbly beseech
thee. Remember all at this time that
walk in the path of bereavement. Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
comfort every grieving and every sorrowing heart, and that thou
wouldst draw near to them. We do humbly beseech thee, in
the midst of their sorrow, in the midst of their loss, and
those that walk in the paths of affliction, O do graciously
put thy healing hand, and grant thy supporting mercy, and grant
strengthening grace. We do humbly pray. for thy great
name's sake. We thank thee for every mercy
of thy kind providence. We thank thee for all thy goodness
that has passed before us in the way. And we ask for the forgiveness
of all sin, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 642. The tune is Waverton 565. Once more, dear God of grace,
thy earthly courts we tread. We come to see thy face and banquet
with our head. We long, we faint, we pant for
thee and hope that with us thou wilt be. Hymn 642, Tune Waverton
565. We come to sing the praise of
our holy Father. We come to thank Him for O come, O come, Emmanuel, O come,
Emmanuel, ? We pray, O God, this day ? ?
Of Jesus' misery ? ? We pray, O God, save thy people ? ? To preach praise and love around
thee ? ? Give thanks before thee heaven and earth ? ? Give thanks to God the King ?
? And all of our sisters and friends ? ? Who in those times
of great strife ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, direct your attention to the chapter that we read,
the second chapter in the gospel according to Mark, and we'll
read verses 27 and 28 for our text. Mark's gospel, chapter two, verses
27 and 28. And he said unto them, the Sabbath, was made for man and not man
for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is Lord
also of the Sabbath. We read in this chapter some
of the wonderful acts of love and of compassion of our Lord
Jesus Christ. We also see the wonderful faith
that was given to those that brought their sick unto the Lord
Jesus. And that we read, do we not,
that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of the
Lord. In the first verse here of this
chapter, and again he entered into Capernaum. after some days,
and it was noised that he was in the house." What a wonderful
theme. For any cause of truth, and it
was noised that he was in the house. It makes me think of Ruth
the Moabitess and Naomi, her mother-in-law. And they heard
that the Lord had visited his people and given them bread.
So they determined to return unto Bethlehem and it was at
the time of barley harvest and it was noised that he was in
the house. And what a solemn thing it is
if we are in the house of God and he isn't there. We read, do we not, in the time
of Eli when the Ark of the Covenant was taken by the Philistines
In that solemn word we read Ichabod, for the Lord is departed. What
a solemn thought that is, isn't it? The Lord is departed. We
sing in the hymn sometimes, don't we? What is the house, O Lord,
to me, unless the Master I can see? How many of us here have
come with that longing desire to see the Master? That was so
wonderful, wasn't it? On the Mount of Transfiguration.
And they saw no man save Jesus only. It would be a day, it would be
a service that you'd never forget. I've had such services and you
never forget them. The wonderful seasons when the
Lord himself drew near Christ was made precious and he becomes
the altogether lovely one, the chiefest among 10,000. And it
was noised that he was in the house. And straightway, look back, especially
in the beginning of our churches, our own churches back in the
around about 1830 and there was a wonderful outpouring of the
Spirit. Many precious souls were gathered unto Christ, many of
the Lord's servants sent to preach, many chapels were built, wonderful
seasons, the overflowing goodness of God, the outpouring of the
Spirit, the setting forth of Christ in all his suitability
to poor sinners and many it was said of J.C. Philpott, now
I know it's a small chapel and it's still there at Allington,
right tiny little hamlet right in Wiltshire in the Downs and
they said that when J.C. Philpott preached there, there
would literally be horses and buggies coming along every road
and every bridle path And the people, they would open the windows
and the people would stand by the windows so they could hear
the Lord's servant preach. They were indeed very wonderful
days in a straight way. Many were gathered together.
Why? Because it was noise, that Jesus was in the house. That
is why they gathered together. In so much that there was no
room to receive them. No, not so much as about the
door, and he preached the word unto them. You think of the commission, the divine commission
that the Lord through the Apostle Paul gave unto Timothy. Preach
the word. Be instant, in season, and out
of season. Preach the word. What a commission
that is, isn't it? and he preached the word unto
them. There was no preacher like this preacher.
He's the prince of preachers. It's said here in the Gospels,
no man spake like this man. He preached under the divine
power of the Holy Ghost. He cast out devils. He healed
the afflicted. He made the blind to see, the
deaf to hear, the dumb to speak. And he preached the word unto
them, the word of his grace. You know, those two disciples
on the road to Emmaus, when they walked and were sad, that was
after the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. And they went out into
the country eight furlongs I think from Jerusalem to Emmaus and
it's a beautiful part of the country and the Lord Jesus himself drew
near and went with them and their eyes were holding so they didn't
see who he was and they said that the terrible things that
happened that wicked men had taken the Lord Jesus Christ and
they crucified him And we trusted that it was he that should have
redeemed Israel. They didn't see the wonderful
glory of the cross. They saw the terrible side of
it and the loss of their savior. And then they said that some
had been to the sepulcher and they found that he wasn't there,
but they were told that he was risen from the dead. And we read this. and he opened
to them the scriptures in all the prophets and the psalms
I say what a sermon that must have been to those two people as they walked and were sad and
they said afterwards did not our heart burn within us as you
walked and talked with by the way Does it ever happen to you
in the house of God when the minister is preaching that your
heart burns within you? You feel the preciousness of
Christ and you long to lay hold of him? And he preached the word unto
them, the word of his grace. You know, the reason that our
chapels are so plain, we actually follow what is really the Puritan
form of worship. It was from Roman Catholicism,
there was crosses and there was altars and there was lots of
different things that they did and things that you could visualize,
etc. And even as they do today, they
always made a mark when they stood by the cross and they went
like that, worshipping almost the cross. But the Puritans wanted
to go back to Biblical worship. and central to biblical worship
was the Word of God. And hence we have a pulpit and
on it the Word of God and that is the centre of our divine worship. And he preached the Word unto
them. We don't need other things and
there's a tendency in human nature when there's other things that
we begin to worship then, something physical. And in the book of
the law, he says, thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not bow down unto them. And that is the reason
why we have plain places of worship, central is the word of God and
the preaching of the word, without any other hindrances to it. And he preached the word unto
them. Now we have this wonderful case
here, the man sick of the palsy, which means he was paralyzed. We don't know, but it possibly
could have been a stroke. But the man was paralyzed, that
is what is meant by palsy, the sick of palsy. And so bad that
he had to be carried by four people. And when they come, When they
could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered
the roof where he was. And when they had broken up,
they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When
Jesus saw their face, he said unto the sick of the
palsy, Son, thy sins be forgiven thee. What a wonderful thing. And this offended the scribes
and the Pharisees. And there were certain of the
scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, why does this
man thus speak blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God
only? They didn't know who he was.
They didn't realize who he was. Even though he was doing these
wonderful miracles and healing people, making the blind to see
and the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak and yet they didn't
know who he was they were completely blinded to the fact that this
is the son of god that was manifest in the flesh and immediately when jesus perceived
in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves he said unto
them why reason these things in your heart now we should take
notice of this friends Whether is it easier to say, to the sick
of the paucy, thy sins be forgiven thee, or to say, arise and take
up thy bed and walk. The wonderful power of Jesus,
not only to heal their bodily afflictions, but also to forgive
sins. We read, do we not, in Psalm
130, but there is forgiveness with thee. that thou mayest be feared. Oh,
my beloved friends, there is forgiveness with our Lord Jesus
Christ. His precious blood, it cleanses
from all sin. There is forgiveness with thee. And there still is. This same
Lord Jesus now reigns in heaven, sits at the right hand of the
Father, hears and answers the prayers of poor sinners. He says
unto them, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest
for yourselves. He could forgive sins. but that you may know that the
Son of Man, we have that same title in our text, the Son of
Man, says it, doesn't it? Therefore the Son of Man is Lord
also of the Sabbath. What does that term mean, the
Son of Man? We also find that he's called
the Son of God. So when we have that term, the
Son of God, Jesus the Son of God, it's highlighting his divine
nature, that he is the eternal Son of the eternal Father. But I think you'll find that
there are 72 occasions in Holy Scripture when the Lord Jesus,
most of them by himself, when the Lord Jesus terms himself
as being the Son of Man, we find it also in a number of places
in the Old Testament, the Son of Man. And that highlights to
us that he became a real man, a true man. It's highlighting
his human nature when it says the Son of Man. Precious term. If the Son of God had never been
the Son of Man, there'd be no salvation. There'd be no salvation. The
reason that the Son of God became the Son of Man, that the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. The term, the Word, almost peculiar
to the Apostle John, is highlighting the divine nature of the Son
of God. And if you notice the way that
is worded, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father. When the apostle writes to his
son Timothy in the faith, He says, great is the mystery of
godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. God was manifest. And that is
the profound mystery of the person of Christ. He is God, manifest
in the flesh. The Pharisees, by and large,
absolutely rejected that. Absolutely rejected. when Christ
was in the judgment hall and he said to the leaders of the
Jews, you shall see the Son of Man coming in power and great
glory. And they said, what further witness
need we? He made himself the Son of God.
My beloved friends, he is, he ever has been the Son of God
and he ever will be the Son of God. He's Jesus Christ, the same
yesterday and today and forever. He's the eternal Son. of the
Eternal Father. Indeed, we see how the Lord Jesus
healed the sick, how he called his disciples. And he went, this is verse 13,
and he went forth again by the seaside, and all the multitude
resorted unto him and taught them. And he taught them. And
as he passed by, literally walking past, he saw Levi, the son of
Alphaeus, at the receipt of custom. He was a publican, he was a tax
collector. The Pharisees particularly despised
the tax collectors. They were notoriously fraudulent. They took lots more money than
was necessary and they kept it to themselves. And they were
very rich people. So Matthew, the gospel according
to Matthew, was a very rich man. And we see the power of Christ.
And he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting
at the receipt of custom and said unto him, follow me. And
he arose and followed him. We read in the John's Gospel,
at the beginning of John's Gospel, how he spake unto his disciples
in Galilee, and he said to them, follow me. And they left their
nets and they followed him. There's wonderful power, my beloved
friends, in the voice of Jesus Christ when he calls his children. And though Matthew gave up everything,
he arose and followed him. And as we know from others of
the Gospels, He immediately went to his house where he laid on
a banquet for the Lord Jesus Christ. And it came to pass that,
this is verse 15, and it came to pass that as Jesus sat at
meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together
with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many and they
followed him. Publicans and sinners. and we
see the reaction the self-righteous reaction of the scribes and pharisees
and when the scribes and pharisees saw him eat with publicans and
sinners they said unto his disciples how is it that he eateth and
drinketh with publicans and sinners you know so there's a wonderful
glory of christ here and he still does eat with publicans and sinners
it's us This is the wonderful glory of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ, that sinners can say, and none but they, how precious
is the Saviour. When Jesus heard it, he said
unto them, they that are whole need not a physician, but they
that are sick. The publicans and sinners, they
were sick. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. I came not to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Repentance is something that
is given by God. It's the gift of God. Faith is
the gift of God. If we're given real repentance,
godly sorrow for our sins, It means we turn away from the ways
of sin, and we follow the Lord Jesus
Christ by faith. The appointed time rolls on apace,
not to propose, but call by grace to turn the feet to Zion's hill. What a mercy when the Lord does
that. Turns your feet to the house of God, to the ways of
God, Now he says here, and it was
in response to the Pharisees, verse 23, and it came to pass
that he went through the cornfields on the Sabbath day and his disciples
began as they went to pluck the ears of corn. They were hungry,
so they were passing through the field and they plucked the
ears of corn. One thing we notice with the
scribes and Pharisees, they always add to the word of God. They
make it more strict than the word of God. And they think that
they're being more righteous by doing so. Christ said unto
them, he upbraided them because they added to the law of God.
They added to the word of God with their own traditions. So
that their own traditions became far more important than what
the word of God was. And the Lord Jesus Christ, he
upbraided them because of that. And that is the spirit of the
Pharisees, the scribes and the Pharisees. We read here in the Pharisees
said unto him, Behold, why do they on the Sabbath day that
which is not lawful? And of course, it's very lawful
to eat on the Sabbath day. But they added to it, you mustn't
take of the corn in the field. They were in themselves more
righteous than everybody else. A self-righteousness. And the
Lord Jesus, he answered them, he says, have you not read, never
read what David did when he had need and was unhungry? and they
that were with him. How he went into the house of
God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the
showbread, which it is not lawful to eat, but for the priests,
and gave also to them that were with him. You see, they have
need. When the Lord Jesus was healing
people on the Sabbath day, the Pharisees were up in arms. In
fact, they took stones to kill him because they said he was
breaking the holy law of God. And he turned and he said to
them, you hypocrites. Does not one of you, if an animal
falls into a ditch, one of your own animals, you set about even
on the Sabbath day to get it out of the ditch, you know that
you'd lose it if you didn't. And yet he said, here are these
poor people bound in affliction and you forbid me to heal their
afflictions on the Sabbath day and yet you would get down into
a ditch and rescue your animals on the Sabbath day. Are not these
people more precious than the animal that you would rescue
on a Sabbath day? And he said unto them, the Sabbath
was made for man. and not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for man.
You know the Sabbath, which means a day of rest, it was what is
called a creation ordinance. It was instituted by God at the
time of creation. It was what you might say confirmed
in the holy law of God in the law of Moses but we read in the beginning
of the second chapter of Genesis thus the heavens and the earth
were finished and all the host of them and on the seventh day
God ended his work which he had made and he rested on the seventh
day from all his work which he had made And God blessed the
seventh day and sanctified it, I mean separated it, because
in it he had rested from all his work, which God created and
made. God rested from his labors and
he sanctified the seventh day. As we say, it's a creation ordinance. and then in the holy law of God
he confirmed that and he confirmed it very pointedly and he refers
back to these six days of creation so we read in the law in exodus
chapter 20 and from verse 8 remember the
sabbath day to keep it holy six days shalt thou labour and do
all thy work but the seventh day is the sabbath of the lord
thy god in it thou shalt not do any work thou nor thy son
nor thy daughter thy manservant nor thy maid servant nor thy
cattle nor thy stranger that is within thy gates then there's
a confirmation here for in six days the lord made heaven and
earth and the sin and all that in them is. And he rested the
seventh day. Wherefore the Lord blessed the
Sabbath day and hallowed him. And that is carried on in through
the law of God the seventh day, which of course is our Saturday. It's our Saturday. And what you
might say in a more gospel sense of the word, the prophet Isaiah
he speaks very beautifully of the Sabbath day in Isaiah chapter
58 and gives us what you might say a more gospel view of it
in verses 13 and 14 of Isaiah 58 if thou turn away thy foot
from the Sabbath from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight,
the holy of the Lord, honorable, and shall honor him, not doing
thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure. We see in the day
in which we live, the vast amount of people they treat Sunday as
a day of pleasure. And here the Lord, he says, not
do in thine own ways, nor find in thine own pleasure, nor speak
in thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord,
and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth,
and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father, for the
mouth of the Lord hath spoken. You see, my beloved friends,
these things are written for our instruction sabbath means
a day of rest and in our opening hymn today it spoke of the sabbath
being a day of rest and how it was a type of christ it was typical
of the rest that christ brings to his people the rest of faith
and it was made for man man wasn't made for this As he says here
in our text, he said unto them, the Sabbath was made for man
and not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for man
and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is Lord
also of the Sabbath. He is Lord of all. He is King
of kings. He is the mighty God and this
is a day set apart to worship God. That's the purpose of the
day. It's set apart. It's good for
man in the sense that he needs rest from his labours. So therefore
God hallowed the seventh day. But immediately you will say,
why do we keep the first day of the week? Not the seventh
day of the week. There are several reasons for
that. And it's very clear in the New Testament in the epistles
and in the book of the Revelation, how the apostles met together
for the breaking of bread. We read it in the Acts of the
Apostles on the first day of the week, not the seventh. And I believe that the purpose
of that was, firstly, Christ rose from the dead. on the first
day of the week. Hence, in the first chapter of
the book of the Revelation, John says, I was in the spirit on
the Lord's day. It's called the Lord's day because
it's the day that Jesus rose from the dead. It's the day that
Jesus swallowed up death in victory. It's the day that life and light
and immortality come to light through the gospel. Hence, we
keep the first day of the week Not the old seventh day, which
is under the law. Christian believers are not under
the law. They're under Christ. Christ
has delivered us from the curse of the law. And we keep this
first day of the week because we love the Lord. Because we
love the Lord. And we desire on this day to
meet together on the Lord's day. to recognize that we're delivered
from the curse of the law, and to recognize that Jesus rose
from the dead. Christ the Lord is risen today.
And that's why we keep the first day of the week. We keep it,
as they kept, not in a legal sense of the word, when there
were terrible curses against those that broke the Sabbath
day. We don't keep it in the legal sense of the word, we keep
it in the gospel sense of the word. Not doing our pleasure,
but meeting together in the house of God, to worship the Lord,
our God. For the Sabbath was made for
man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is Lord
also of the Sabbath. This is that day set apart. that we can meet together for
the breaking of bread, we can meet together for the preaching
of the word, and it's a Christian ordinance that we should do so.
This do in remembrance of me, for as often as ye eat this bread and drink this wine, ye do show
the Lord's death till he come. That's a remembrance. And that
was set apart on the first day of the week. And when the apostles
wrote the epistles, it seems to me very clear that this was
the practice that was followed by them. We read in the 16th
chapter of the first epistle of the Corinthians, in the first
two verses, now concerning the collections for saints, as I
have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do, upon
the first day of the week, that every one of you lay by him in
store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings
when I come." So he was exhorting them to have a collection on
the Lord's Day, on the first day of the week. And again and
again we read, they met together for the breaking of bread on
the first day of the week. And then that seems to be crowned
and made clear in the revelation. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
Day, which is the first day of the week. For the Sabbath was
made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son
of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath. He's Lord also of the Sabbath. Saviour, this great Redeemer,
and we keep this day as unto the Lord, as unto the Lord, just
as the Jews did not work on the Sabbath day, so we don't work
on the first day of the week, because it's set apart for divine
worship. We do not do our own pleasure
on this day, but we meet together doing the Lord's pleasure, Forsake
not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some
is. We're not to forsake the assembling
of ourselves together. And this is how we keep the Lord's
Day. And this has been the practice
in the Christian church. To keep the first day of the
week. To recognise that Jesus rose
from the dead. For the Sabbath was made for
man. not man for the sabbath therefore
the son of man is lord also of the sabbath he is lord of all
he is king of kings he is the god of gods our lord jesus christ
he's unique in his glorious person he's the son of god he's declared
to be the son of god with power Our Lord Jesus Christ. He now
sits at the right hand of his eternal Father in heaven, still
clothed in human nature. When the disciples, when he led
them out as far as Unto Bethany and they beheld him as he ascended
in a cloud into heaven. A man. That's very beautiful
the way that Joseph Hart puts it in hymn number 23. Speaking of the glorious person
of Christ, a man there is, a real man, with wounds still gaping
wide, from which rich streams of blood once ran in hands and
feet and sign. Tis no wild fancy of our brains,
no metaphor we speak, the same dear man in heaven now reigns
that suffered for our sake. This wondrous man of whom we
tell is true almighty God he bought our souls from death and
hell the price his own heart's blood a man there is for such an high priest have
we who is passed into the heavens Jesus the son of God. It's very clear my beloved friends
in scripture that what was exalted It says, doesn't it, in the Word
of God, wherefore God also highly exalted him. He's highly exalted
him. The Son of God in his divine
nature couldn't be any more glorified than he ever was. He's been the
Son of God from all eternity, and he will be the Son of God
for all eternity to come. So when it speaks of the exaltation
of Christ, it's his holy human nature. United to the divine. that has
ascended into heaven and he sits at the right hand of the majesty
on high. He does. Oh that the Lord might
give us a little view by faith of our great high priest who
is passed into the heavens and give us that spirit of true worship for the Sabbath. He said unto
them, the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is Lord
also, also of the Sabbath. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 636. 636. The tune is Colwyn Bay 903. The Sabbath was a day of rest, the
day the Lord Jehovah blessed, a lively type of Christ. The
laboring poor may venture here, the guilty banish all their fear
and lean on Jesus' breast. Hymn number 636, tune Colwyn
Bay, 903. The. In the way of Jesus Christ. When close without, and close
within, The thought of Satan Let us share the joy of God's
goodness. The deepest sin, the stress within,
In the center of his temple, He finds a center of rest. Jesus is our only rest. Christ
and his Son have the best of inter-member days. In six days' time it's finished
then, It's finished before evermore, I've lived in prime secret. How precious was the grace he
gave, O dear, the weary, the weary, His little children gave. In spirit and manner, come ye
before the Lord, Lord of the heav'nly host, Lord to whom all
angels sing. Away I'll go, lost in dream,
I'll never, never stray again, For I'll love the stranger's
love. ? Till truth is as it were ? ?
Thee we know forever ? ? And before this love ? ? The world
shall take me home ? Now may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each, both now
and forevermore. Amen.