The notices for the coming week
are God willing as follows. Mr. Joseph Woodhams will preach
here next Lord's Day at 10.30 and two o'clock. Pastor will
preach here on Thursday evening at seven o'clock and there will
be a prayer meeting here on Tuesday evening at seven o'clock. Let us commence our services
today by singing together hymn number 56 to the tune Tottenham
249. Let every open ear attend and
broken heart rejoice, the trumpet of the gospel sounds with an
inviting voice. Hymn number 56, tune Tottenham
249. Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light Broken heart rejoice. The trumpet of the gospel sounds
with an inviting voice. ? The lowly, hungry ? ? Shoving
stones that feed upon the wind ? ? And vainly strife with earthly toys ? To never an empty mind. Angel of wisdom has strengthened
us on divine increase. ? And bid your longing ? ? Have
its light ? ? And its probation take. ? ? So ye have ? ? And on living streams ? ? And
by the rain and tide ? ? May you be blessed, God ? ? May angels
be blessed ? Its strings have never died. Rivers of love and mercy hear And thy redemption
comes, Thy blood shall make new. Like a tall hill and pine Take her raisin, and make it
whole, Her work with might she may. To Him our God and Lord, glory
and praise, Lord, I do sing. Come, naked man, put on your
shorts, in robes prepared by God. Though I were heavy at heart
this hour, And I need His own heart, ? Pick up the precious ? ? Of your
love ? ? Forevermore, sweet love ? ? Deep as a meadow bed ? His wisdom and countless acts
of sin The happy angel must have graced
us both the Lord and I. Let us read together from the
holy word of God in the book of Genesis and chapter
7. The seventh chapter of the book
of Genesis. And the Lord said unto Noah,
Come thou and all thy house into the ark for thee have I seen
righteous before me in this generation. Of every clean beast thou shalt
take to thee by sevens, the male and his female, and of beasts
that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls
also of the air by sevens, the male and the female, to keep
seed alive upon the face of all the earth. for yet seven days,
and I will cause it to rain upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights. And every living substance that
I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. And
Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. And Noah
was 600 years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. And Noah went in, and his sons,
and his wife, and his sons' wives with him, into the ark, because
of the waters of the flood, of clean beasts, and of beasts that
are not clean, and of fowls, and of everything that creepeth
upon the earth. There went in two and two unto
Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded
Noah. And it came to pass after seven
days that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. In the 600th
year of Noah's life, in the second month, the 17th day of the month,
the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up and
the windows of heaven were opened. and the rain was upon the earth
forty days and forty nights. In the south same day entered
Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and
Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, into the
ark. They, and every beast after his
kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping
thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every
fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. And they went
in unto Noah into the ark, two and two of all flesh, where is
the breath of life. And they that went in, went in
male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him, and
the Lord shut him in. And the flood was forty days
upon the earth, and the waters increased and bare up the ark,
and it was lifted up above the earth. And the waters prevailed
and were increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark went upon
the face of the waters. and the waters prevailed exceedingly
upon the earth, and all the high hills that were under the whole
heaven were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the
waters prevail, and the mountains were covered, and all flesh died
that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of
beast, of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth,
and every man. all in whose nostrils was the
breath of life, of all that was in the dry land died. And every
living substance was destroyed, which was upon the face of the
ground, both man and cattle, and the creeping things, and
the fowl of heaven, and they were destroyed from the earth.
and Noah only remained alive and they that were with him in
the ark. And the waters prevailed upon
the earth a hundred and fifty days. May the Lord bless the
reading of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of
real prayer. Almighty most merciful and eternal
God. We do pray for grace to bow before
thee, the only true God. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou would breathe upon us that spirit of true worship,
that thou would send thy blessed spirit among us with heavenly
power, with divine unction, and that the dead may hear thy voice,
that thy quickening power may be known in each heart. May the
power that brings salvation be exerted in the word. Oh, we do
pray, most gracious God, that thou wouldst have mercy upon
us. For, Lord, we're poor sinners, and we're solemnly aware of it,
and thou art holy and righteous altogether, and we, O Lord, are
unholy, and unrighteous altogether. Therefore we come to humble ourselves
before thee. We come in that precious name
of Jesus Christ, the only saviour of sinners. Or we come and plead
what he has done, what he has accomplished, what he has fulfilled.
We think of our Lord Jesus Christ and those lovely words of grace.
made of a woman, made under the law, that he might redeem them
that are under the law. We do thank thee for that perfect
obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, we do thank thee for the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the love of our Lord Jesus
Christ. We do Pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst bring us each in confession of our sins and
of our wanderings. And thou hast said in thy word,
if ye confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Help
us, O Lord, to confess and to repent of our sins and to turn
away from our sins and to live unto thee, gracious God. Do incline thine ear, we humbly
pray thee, to grant thee convicting and convincing work of thy spirit
in each one of our hearts, and to grant, as we gather round
thy word, 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. O gracious God, incline thine
ear, we do humbly beseech thee, Show us thy ways and teach us
thy path. May we know the love of our eternal
Father. May we know those sweet drawings
unto Jesus Christ, that are said and none come except the Father
draw. May we know that drawing even
today, unto Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of sinners, all
to be led and taught and guided and directed by the Holy Spirit.
Hear us, O Lord, we do. humbly beseech thee. We do seek,
O Lord, that thou wouldst come and open thy word to our heart
and to our understanding, and that we may delve into the deep
that coucheth beneath in thy word. And we do pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou in thy precious mercy wouldst remember this village
and the surrounding villages and hamlets. Fulfil those wonderful
gospel promises upon us here as a church and congregation.
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, we wait
for thy appearing. We watch for thee in gathering
of souls, for the building of the walls of Jerusalem, We pray
that thou wouldst turn our captivity as the streams in the south. Arise, arise, O God of grace,
into thy restless end, thou and the ark of thy strength, and
let thy priests be clothed with salvation, and thy saints shall
shout aloud for joy. Lord, abundantly bless the provision
of thy house, and satisfy her poor with bread. O Lord, we do
beseech thee. Prepare us each for all thy will
and all thy purposes concerning us, and prepare us for that great
day when heart and flesh shall fail, when we shall soar through
tracks unknown and see thee on thy judgment throne. Gracious
God, oh, to be prepared for that great day. And now, my God, prepare
my soul for that great day, and wash me in thy precious blood,
take all my sins away. We do pray, most gracious Lord,
for our brethren, the deacons, that needed grace, wisdom, and
help may be given in all their responsibilities. We do pray
for each one of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship. And we pray, most gracious Lord,
for the whole of our congregation, all that thou wouldst work mightily
powerfully and effectually among us. We pray that we may love
each other, serve each other, bear each other's burdens, thereby
fulfilling the law of Christ. And we pray that we may be careful
lest any root of bitterness spring in our and many be defiled. We pray that we may see the prodigals
return and their mighty power in this, they are able to do
abundantly more and we can even ask or think, or we do pray for
the little ones and the children. We thank thee for them and pray
that thou wouldst bless them. We pray, O Lord, for those that
are away at this time, that they may find rest and strength and
help, and that thou wouldst graciously bring them home in peace and
safety at the appointed time. Bless the young friends. Bless
them with that rich grace that is in Christ Jesus. less than
with living faith in the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ. For him hath God exalted as a
prince and as a saviour, for to give faith and repentance
and remission of sins. Gracious God, O that he may be
exalted here today, lifted up on the gospel path. We do pray,
most gracious Lord, Parents, that they may be given wisdom
to bring up their children, the nurture and admonition of the
Lord. We pray, most gracious Lord, that thou wouldst graciously
guide and direct each one. We pray for all in the midst
of the journey of life, that thou wouldst undertake for each
one. Deliver us from temptation, whether the enemy comes as a
roaring lion to devour, or as an angel of light to deceive.
We pray to be delivered from his power and from his influence. 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. We pray, most gracious
Lord, for all in any trouble, or trial, or perplexity, or sorrow,
or sadness, or bereavement, that thou wouldst undertake for each
one, that thou wouldst have mercy upon each one. For thy great
name's sake. And we pray, most gracious God,
that thou in thy precious mercy would remember those of us that
have now reached the evening time of life journey. We pray
that as the outward man perishes, the inward man may be renewed
day by day, and that we may be ever looking and hasting unto
that great day of the Lord. And may those precious words
be a living reality in our hearts, let not your heart be troubled
you believe in God believe also in me my father's house are many
mansions if it were not so i would have told you i go to prepare
a place for you and if i go to prepare a place for you i will
come again and receive you unto myself lord what wonderful words
of grace and may we look to them and cleave to them and that waiting
for that great day when we shall enter into those heavenly mansions,
into the courts of paradise, to be forever with the Lord.
O gracious God, do hear us, we pray thee. Have mercy upon us
as a church and congregation. O Lord, we pray for all thy servants
as they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion today.
Some with long journeys, we pray that thou wouldst watch over
them, and keep them, and that they may dip their foot in oil
and be made acceptable unto the brethren, and that the word preached
may be in power in the Holy Ghost and with much assurance. May
the power that brings salvation be exerted in the word. May we
see mighty signs and wonders to follow the preaching of the
word. We pray for those of thy servants that in this coming
year have taken up pastorates. Go before them in all that it
means to them in providence as well as in grace, and grant thy
rich blessing and thy divine power to attend the ministry
among those churches that there may be an in-gathering, that
there may be a building up. And we pray thee, the great Lord
of the harvest, that thou would send true labourers into the
harvest and build the walls of Jerusalem. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou wouldst remember those that gather up and down
our nation, some in the twos and the threes, others in much
greater numbers. Wherever thy servants stand and
wherever thy people We pray that it may be a year of jubilee when
the day of liberty shall be proclaimed and that poor sinners may believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ and become followers of thee and
of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
Lord, remember thy Zion throughout the nations of the earth. Lord,
we will especially remember those that worship in those countries
where thy name is hated and thy people are persecuted, imprisoned
and even dead. Lord, we pray that thou would
send them help from the sanctuary and strengthen them out of Zion.
We pray for those that go forth from among our churches and preach
in the gospel throughout the nations of the earth. We especially
think of Ian Sadler and that great work that he does in so
many different places upon the earth and the orphanages that
he runs. Gracious God, supply all his
needs, help him in his many labours. Remember the Mombasa mission
and graciously bless them there and grant thy rich blessing upon
the ministry of the word and an ingathering of precious souls.
We do humbly beseech you, help thy servant There we do humbly
pray thee. We pray for the Savannah Education
Trust in Ghana and that great work that they've been able to
do there. Do bless them indeed. Do supply all their returning
deeds. Do have mercy upon them and grant
that it may redound to the great honour, glory and praise of thy
holy name. We do humbly beseech thee. Look upon us, Lord, as a nation.
Look upon our leaders. raise up in our Parliament men
of God, men of integrity, men of uprightness, we do humbly
pray thee, and that we may live a quiet and a peaceful life.
And, O Lord, we pray that thou wouldst put a stop to war and
bring to naught the counsels of the ungodly. O Lord, we do
beseech thee. Remember our King and the Princess
of Wales at this time of affliction, and be Jehovah and grant them
that healing in their bodies if it is thy heavenly mind. But
above all, O Lord, bless the royal household with thy rich
grace, with that precious grace that is in Christ Jesus. We do
humbly beseech thee. We thank thee for all thy tender
mercies. We thank thee for the liberties
that we have to meet around thy word. We thank thee for thy word
and for every mercy of thy kind providence. Thy mercies to us,
O Lord, are new every morning, and great is Thy faithfulness.
And we thank Thee above all for Jesus Christ, for the incarnation
of the Son of God, for the eternal Word that was made flesh and
dwelt among us. O most gracious Lord, we thank
Thee for the holy life He lived as a man under the law and the
bringing in of everlasting righteousness for His people. Jehovah said,
the Lord our righteousness. We thank thee for Calvary, where
the lamb was slain, where sin was put away, where divine justice
was satisfied, where Jesus offered that perfect sacrifice, or that
sacrifice that was a sweet savour unto our heavenly Father, that
sacrifice that delivers from all sin. We thank thee that he
died for our sins, rose again for our justification, and is
now bodily ascended into heaven, and sitteth at thy right hand.
O gracious God, do incline thine ear, we do humbly beseech thee,
and do have mercy upon us this day, and do come and open thy
precious word. Come and touch one's lips with
a live coal from off the heavenly altar, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 685 to the tune Mary Smith, 183. When Noah, with his favoured
few, was ordered to embark, eight human souls, a little crew, entered
on board his ark. Hymn 685, tune Mary Smith, Oh ? With hope for freedom ? ? America
? ? United we are ? ? With hope for freedom ? O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? ? The home of the brave ? ? The
home of the brave ? ? Your will shall be done ? ? On
earth as it is in heaven above ? ? And then by night or day
? ? Eternal night ? ? The crowd shall see ? ? And heaven shall
hear ? Is the Lord, the Christian Christ,
The just and the just are. ? And you can trust ? ? And trust
in Him alone ? ? In Christ Jesus ? ? And when my death approaches
? ? I'll be searching ? ? Searching her eyes ? ? And I'll hold her
hand ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help or direct your attention to the chapter that
we read, the seventh chapter of the book of Genesis, and we
will read verse one for our text. Genesis chapter seven, verse
one. And the Lord said unto Noah,
come thou, and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I
seen righteous before me in this generation. The wonderful grace of God in preserving man on the earth. We see in this what we've read
together of the terrible flood in the days of Noah. We see the
justice and the solemnity of the holiness of God in that he
destroyed all flesh from off the face of the earth. And in the words of our Lord
Jesus Christ, when he speaks of the second coming of Christ,
he says, as in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of
the coming of the Son of Man. So this solemn act of God, We're told why in the previous
chapter. The why that God did it in chapter
six. And it says there, and it came
to pass when men began to multiply on the face of the earth and
daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the
daughters of men that were fair and they took them wise of all
that they chose. Now that was a mark against man. God created Adam and Eve, and
it's very clear in the teachings of scripture that one man and
one wife, the Bible does not countenance multiple wives. One husband, one wife, that is
the scriptural order. And in response to that, the
Lord says, my spirit shall not always strive with man. for that
he also is flesh, yet his days shall be in 120 years. And there
were giants in the earth in those days. And also after that, when
the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, they bare
children to them. The same became mighty men, which
were of old men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness
of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of
the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And he
repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it
grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy
man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man
and beast, and the creeping thing and the fowls of the air, for
it repented me that I had made them. And then we have these
wonderful words, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. What a mercy that is, isn't it?
It's instructive too, because this is the, and it's always
instructed to see the first thing mentioned in Holy Scripture,
and this is the first time we read the word grace in Holy Scripture. Grace, what does grace mean? What does the grace of God mean? It means the free, unmerited
favor of the Eternal God. And Noah found grace. What a wonderful thing in the
eyes of the Lord. And we need to examine our hearts. Have you, have I found grace
in the eyes of the Lord? Grace is centered in the glorious
person of our Lord Jesus Christ. As we read so many times in the
New Testament, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the favor
of God, in the person of his only begotten son, our Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, did Noah find grace because
he was better than anyone else? No. The reason he became a preacher
of righteousness, and we're instructed in the Word of God that that
is what he was, is because the Lord gave him grace. And he commanded
him to build an ark of gopher wood. And the Lord said to Noah that
he would preserve him, alive, and his family. And it says Noah was a just man
in verse 9, and perfect in his generation. And Noah walked with
God. He was obviously a very godly
man. He walked with God. Do we walk with God? What is
it to walk with God? It's to be reconciled by the
grace of God, unto God. It's to be truly convinced of
our sin and our helplessness and our hopelessness and then
to find mercy in Jesus Christ. That's what it is to find grace.
We all have sinned and that includes Noah. He wasn't better than anyone
else. But he found grace. Oh, my beloved
friends, have you found grace? Have I found grace? This is a
vital question. The only way that you and I will
ever be saved or delivered from the rock which is to come is
by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only way that
we shall ever be delivered. And we read, verse 11 of chapter
6, and the earth also was corrupt before God and the earth was
filled with violence. The Lord Jesus in his teachings,
he teaches us exactly the same thing in the gospels, speaking
of as it was in the days of Noah. It's more than once it's mentioned
in the gospels. The earth was full of violence
and it means this as it was in the days of Noah. And we see
the wickedness and the corruption that pervades in the world today. What is it? It's an evidence
that the end of time is coming. The earth also was corrupt before
God and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth
and behold it was corrupt for all flesh had corrupted his way
upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, the end
of all flesh has come before me, for the earth is filled with
violence through them. And behold, I will destroy them
with the earth. But then he instructs Noah to
make a place of refuge, the ark, the ark. make an ark of gopher
wood, etc. We know all the dimensions of
the ark. But the thing is, it was a place
of refuge, a place of safety. It was a type of our Lord and
Saviour, Jesus Christ. The place of refuge. A refuge
for sinners the Gospel makes known. It is found in the merits
of Jesus alone. The weary, the tempted, the burdened
by sin were never exempted from entering therein. There's a place
of safety, there's a place of refuge. There's a place of deliverance from sin and Satan's power. And that place is Jesus Christ. And that is what the Ark typifies,
Jesus Christ. You know, it was the Lord that
called all those animals in. He called Noah in, and it says
in our text, come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee
have I seen righteous before me in this generation. He was
righteous in the eyes of God. Righteous by faith. You know,
that's very beautifully set before us in the Hebrews chapter 11. And in Hebrews chapter 11 it
speaks of Noah. It speaks of the vital need of
faith. Faith is the gift of God. Now
we read in Hebrews 11, now faith is the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen. By it, the elders obtained a
good report. And this is what, and you young
friends, this is what we should always remember, you know, when
we're constantly being told about evolution and that the world
came out of nothing. What does it say here in Hebrews
11? Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by
the word of God. So that the things which are
seen were not made of things which do appear. we believe we
know from from God's Word in in Genesis chapter 1 there are
11 times when we read and God said and God said in the beginning
God that speaks of the eternity of God doesn't mean God had a
beginning it means that God is before all things in the beginning
God from all eternity in the beginning God created. And the proper meaning of the
word create is used in a very loose way today, but the proper
meaning of the word create is to make something out of nothing. And we read in Genesis chapter
one, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness was
upon the face of the deep, and the spirit of the Lord moved
upon the face of the water. and brought order out of that
chaos God created. He made the world out of nothing by just speaking it into existence
and God said, let there be light and there was light. It was a
divine act of the eternal God through faith. We understand
that the world was framed by the word of God so that things
which are seen were not made of things which do appear. And now in that same chapter,
verse 6, it says, but without faith. What is faith? We're told in Ephesians chapter
2, faith is the gift of God. By grace are ye saved, that not
of yourselves, it is the gift of God. And that's exactly the
same with Noah. It was the gift of God. He was
given faith to believe. But without faith, it is impossible
to please Him. Faith is to believe. That's the
meaning of the word faith. It's to believe. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. That's faith. and he that cometh to God must
believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. Do you have faith? Do you come
to God? Do you pray? The evidence of
the faith that was found in Saul of Tarsus, behold he prayeth. Assure if you've got faith you'll
pray. Because you believe there is
a God. Because you believe that he's the creator of the heavens
and the earth. And because you believe that
you're a sinner and that God is holy. And you pray unto him. Take away the love of sinning. Pray to God. The evidence and
mark of divine life in the soul. You pray to God. I'm not now
talking about the prayers that you were, and I hope you were,
taught to pray when you were a child. It's a good thing to
teach our children to pray. But, you know, we need the Lord
to indict prayer in our hearts. It comes from the life of God
in the soul. And you're brought to pray to
the God of heaven. For mercy. You're brought to
know that you need mercy. You're brought to know and to
feel that you need grace. Therefore you pray to the Lord
for grace. You look to Him, you believe
that He can give it. We know from His Word. And the
Lord Jesus Christ Himself said, men are always to pray and not
to faint. The Lord Jesus Christ Himself
said, seek, ask, knock. divine direction that he gives
us. Ask and you shall receive. Seek
and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened
unto you. What an encouragement that is
to pray. Men are always to pray and not
to faint. And that true prayer is the evidence
of faith. It is. but without faith it is
impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must
believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him." Are you diligently seeking the Lord? Have mercy if you are diligently
seeking the Lord. diligent in prayer, diligent
in reading Holy Scripture, or that the Lord would grant this
spiritual life in each one of our hearts. And then in verse
seven, in Hebrews 11, we read, by faith, Noah, being warned
of God of things not seen as yet. There's no evidence whatsoever
when Noah commanded when God commanded Noah to build
the ark. And it seems to intimate it that
he was 120 years building that ark. It was a huge thing. Never been seen anything like
it on the earth. And we're told in the epistle
of Peter that he was a preacher of righteousness. He went mourning,
warning men and women that God was going to flood the world,
that God was going to destroy the world. What did they do? They laughed
at him. They laughed at him. They mocked
him. That he was probably treated
as a madman. We read in the prophet Micah,
the spiritual man is called mad. There's no doubt that Noah had
to put up with all manner of mockery because he warned men
and women. He warned them that God was going
to destroy the earth because of their wickedness. And if Noah
had to put up with such mocking, we must expect the same. When we warn men and women that
Christ is coming again, that this world is going to depart
on fire, It's Peter in his epistle that speaks of it. By faith Noah,
being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear,
prepared an ark to the saving of his house by which he condemned
the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by
faith. Heir of the righteousness which
is by faith. That's why the Lord pronounces
Noah righteous because he was justified by faith. By faith
he built the ark and by faith he preached by which he condemned
the world and became the heir of the righteousness which is
by faith. If God, now we need to be very careful speaking hypothetically,
But sometimes it illustrates a point. If God had destroyed
the whole earth and Noah also, there would be no Jesus Christ. There'd be no Jesus Christ. The
promise in Genesis 3, the seed of the woman, if Noah had been
destroyed, there'd have been no Jesus Christ. And this is
what the apostle means here, and became the heir of the righteousness
which is by faith. And those that went before him,
it speaks of it here. Verse four, by faith Abel offered
unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained
witness that he was righteous. God testifying of his gifts,
and by it he in being dead yet speaketh. It was by faith. By
faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death and was
found because God had translated him. For before his translation he
had this testimony that he pleased God. Why did he please God? By faith. How can you and I please
God? Only by faith. Without faith
it is impossible to please Him. Do you have faith? That precious
gift of the Spirit, wrought in the heart by the Holy Ghost.
Faith is the gift of God. We hear many saying today, it's
your duty to believe. Friends, a grace is not a duty. It's a grace, it's given. It's
divinely given. Oh, that the Lord may truly exercise
our hearts that we might indeed be found living by faith. You
know the Apostle Peter in his second epistle he speaks very
solemnly of the second coming of Christ and when the world
would depart on fire in the third chapter in particular and he
speaks of Noah, he speaks of the end of time
of course and he says in verse 2 of chapter 3 that you may be
mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets
and of the commandment of us the apostles of our lord and
savior knowing this first that there shall come in the last
days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying where is
the promise of his coming how many say that today You Christians,
you keep saying that Christ is coming again. They say, where
is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Now listen to what the word of God says, for this they willingly
are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were
of old and the earth standing out of the water in the water,
whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water,
perished. But the heavens and the earth,
which are now by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto
fire against the day of judgment and the perdition of ungodly
men. Christ is coming again. Christ is coming again. In the
parable of the 10 virgins, we read so solemnly there, of those
that were ready. We actually read in that parable
of the ten virgins that they were all outwardly Christian
people. They had a lamp that burned and
they all had a lamp which is the profession of the name of
Christ. A profession of faith in Jesus
Christ. But the Lord Jesus, he tells
us that five were wise and five were foolish. What was the distinguishing mark
between the wise and the foolish? Faith. Oil. The wise had oil in their lamps. Oil represents grace. had oil
in their lamps, had grace in their hearts. The foolish had no oil in their
lamps. They had a profession of religion,
they had all the outward trappings of religion but no grace in their
hearts. It's a solemn thought isn't it? They asked the wise for their
oil when the bridegroom came. they said not so lest we have
not enough of thee but go and to them that buy and sell and
they went and while they'd gone to them that buy and sell the
bridegroom came that's the second coming of Christ and they that
were ready went in see the door was open and they that were ready
went in and when they'd gone in those five wise virgins the
door was shut the door was shut That's the door of heaven. They
went into the marriage supper of the Lamb. And then when the
foolish virgins came back and they came and knocked the door
and said, Lord, Lord, open to us. He said, depart from me,
I never knew you. You see, they weren't ready.
Christ himself says a number of times, doesn't he? Be ye also
ready, for at such a time as ye think not the Son of Man coming. Be ye also ready. Oh my dear
beloved friends, and these things are written for our instruction.
And he says here, but the heavens and the earth which are now by
the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the
day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But beloved,
be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord
as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. With God, time
is nothing. God lives in eternity. Thus saith
the high and lofty one that inhabited eternity. He doesn't live in
time. He lives in eternity. And a thousand
years. But of one day. And the Lord
is not slack concerning his promises. Some men count slackness. But
is long-suffering to usward. Now he's speaking here to the
Christian church. He's long-suffering to usward,
not willing that any should perish. What does he mean by that? He
means that he's not willing that any of those that were chosen
by the Father and redeemed by the Son will ever be lost. He's not willing that any of
them should perish. But that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will
come as a thief in the night, in the which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
a fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein
shall be burned up. Sinner, this is written for your
warning. There's coming a day of judgment,
as it is appointed unto man once to die, so after death, the judgment. The day of the Lord will come
as a thief in the night, suddenly, in the which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
a fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein
shall be burned up, seeing then that all these things shall be
dissolved. What manner of persons ought
ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and
hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for a new heavens and a new earth. You see, my
beloved friends, how the word of God solemnly sets these things
before us, and how the Lord Jesus himself says, as in the days
of Noah, so shall it be. in the days of the coming of
the Son of Man. The Son of Man is our Lord Jesus
Christ when he comes to judge the world in righteousness. And the Lord said unto Noah,
come thou. This is a divine call. Come thou. He was invited into the ark that
he built. Come thou and all thy house into
the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Come thou. It was a wonderful
thing, my beloved friends, that the Lord still invites poor sinners
to come. We think of those lovely words
of grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. What does he say there? 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, learn of Christ. Come unto me. The Lord Jesus
is the Son of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
great intercessor for his people. There is one God and one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave his life
of ransom for all to be testified in due time. Jesus is the way
to God. Jesus is the way to bliss. It
is. Come thou and all thy house into
the earth. for thee have I seen righteous
before me in this generation. The only people out of the whole
of that generation, just those eight souls were saved. It's just those eight souls that
were found in the ark and that God invited them into the ark
Oh, I would that the Lord would show you that this ark is Christ. This place of refuge is Christ.
Who is Christ? He's the Eternal Son of the Eternal
Father. He's God manifest in the flesh.
Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is able to save to the
uttermost all that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth. Come unto me. All ye that labour
and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. What does it mean? It means to
be united. A yoke unites together. The picture is of a pair of oxen
pulling a plough and they have a yoke across them to unite them
together. And Christ is using the same
illustration. Come unto me, all ye that labour
and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke, be united
to me. That's the vital thing. You know,
we read in Romans chapter 8, there is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. Why? Because Jesus has saved his people
with an everlasting salvation. Jesus has fulfilled the law for
his people. That law that curses. Cursed
is every man that doeth not all things that is written in the
book of the law to do them. And if you live and die having
never been born again and brought to faith in Jesus Christ, you'll
die under that curse. It's an eternal curse. But there's a place of refuge.
Come thou and all thy house into the ark. For thee have I had
an righteous before me. Now we've already established
that he was righteous in Christ. He was a man of faith. He was
righteous in Christ. Are you? Am I? Are we united
to Christ? Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me. for I am meek and lowly in heart,
and ye shall find rest." What does he mean? He means the rest
of faith. We read in Hebrews, there is
a rest that remaineth for the people of God. That rest is Christ. When a poor sinner is brought
to rest in Christ, when faith is wrought in the heart and they're
united to Christ, they rest in what Christ has done. His precious
blood, it cleanses from all sin. That's where the child of God
rests, his faith rests upon the precious blood of Jesus Christ,
God's only begotten son. That blood that he shed at Calvary,
that blood that cleanses from all sin. What a resting place
it is, isn't it? Come thou, and all thy house
into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Come thou. that the Lord may
enable you to come, may enable you to look. Again we go back
to Hebrews and Hebrews chapter 12 and the Apostle there he speaks
of the great cloud of witnesses we've been referring to them.
When in chapter 11 he goes right through those Old Testament saints
that all died in faith. And what does he say in Hebrews
12? Let us lay aside every weight
and the sin that doth so easily beset us. Let us run with patience
the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. You cannot
run this race in any other way. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame thereof, and is now
set down at the right hand of the majesty high. There's a hymn
that we sung together and it says here, doesn't it, how the
Lord shut him in into the ark. The Lord shut him in. And that's what the Lord does
with his people. He shuts them into Christ. He unites them to
Christ. It's Gadsby's lovely little hymn,
isn't it? In union with the Lamb, from
condemnation free, the saints were everlasting were and shall
forever be. It's a place of eternal security,
a place of everlasting happiness. It's a place where you can rest
your all upon, on the finished work of Christ, on the blood
and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Come thou, and all thy house
into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. The psalmist, he says, to whom,
or rather Peter says, doesn't he, to whom coming, as unto a
living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and
precious. This living stone is the eternal
rock of ages. It's Christ. Upon this rock,
I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. The eternal rock of ages. Oh,
that the Lord may give you and me a clear, believing view of
the glorious person of Jesus, the Son of God, manifest in the
flesh. may give you a view of that perfect
obedience, the holy sinless life of our Lord Jesus Christ, where
he fulfilled the law, he honored and magnified the law. He said
himself, didn't he, I come not to destroy the law, but to fulfill
it. That is what Christ has done.
And he's done it for his people. And this is what the child of
God receives by faith, the fulfilled law in the glorious person our
Lord Jesus Christ. When Moses went up into the mount
and received the two tablets of stone and when he came back
down the Lord said to him that the people have gone a-whoring
after other gods and he came down and he threw down those
two tablets of stone when he saw the idolatry and the golden
calf and they break. That's what we've done to God's
holy law, we've broken it. know the wonderful thing is is
that Lord invited Moses again to come up into the Mount of
the Lord and those two tablets of stone again the Lord wrote
his holy law upon him. The ten commandments Moses brought
them back down from Mount Sinai and as the Lord commanded him
he put them in the ark that the Lord had commanded him to make.
That ark is beautifully typical of Christ, and contained in that
ark is the perfect holy law of God. You see, that's Christ. When he put it into the ark,
it's in Christ. It was showing the Israelites
it was only in Christ. That tabernacle represented Christ. It's the ark of God. And the
children of Israel, the Lord, he said to them, that when they
were to come into the ark and the high priest once again sprinkled
the blood before the golden mercy seat and the Lord said there
will I meet with thee, there will I commune with thee from
off the golden mercy seat. It's Christ. The sacrifice on
the altar is Christ. The blood they sprinkled is Christ.
But what was it teaching them without the shedding of blood?
There can be no remission of sin. It was pointing them to
the blood of Christ, and every sacrifice they offered pointed
them to the blood of Christ. Come thou and all thy house into
the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. Sinner, this is the only way
that you'll ever be made righteous. is the only way that you'll ever
be made pure and holy. It's in and through the precious
blood and righteousness of Jesus Christ. As the Apostle himself
says, that I might be found in him, not having mine own righteousness
which is of the flesh, but that righteousness which is by faith
of the Son of God. Come thou and all thy house into
the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 725 to the tune Keswick 38. The sinner born of God to God
will pour his prayer in sighs or groans or words expressed
or in a falling tear. Hymn 725, tune Keswick 38. O come, O come, O come, O come,
O come, O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, Thou sent to the North Star, Shine thou
purple, purple, fair, Mercy till hills and valleys,
Therefore God has made thee, ? God's people get in tune ? ?
God's people sing and come to pray ? ? And come to love with
Him ? ? Of the rivers in flight ? ? Open
a vital well ? ? And pray with light and pride ? 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.