Gather hymn number 35 to the
tune Harlan 524. Come, thou almighty King, help
us thy name to sing, help us to praise, Father all-glorious,
all-victorious, come and reign over us, ancient of Days, Hymn
35, Tune Harlan, 424. Almighty King, help us by name
to sing, help us to praise. Father, O glorious, for all victorious. God of Abraham, angel of Jesus, our Lord, arise! Shun all our enemies, and make
them known. There thy Almighty is, Thou sure
defense be there, Thou sure to make me safe and clear. Thou baptist, holy one, Ever
my mind is calm, Thou preserv'd saint, Love and thy people bless, and give thy words of truth,
Spirit of holiness, on us give Come, holy comforter, Thine save
in Israel, In Israel come. Thou the almighty art, now ruling every heart, and will
from us be God's in return. Let the great love His be, Eternal
praise His be, Thence, evermore, His suffering majesty May we in glory sing and to eternity
remember Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the second and third epistles of John. The second and the third epistle
of John. The elder unto the elect lady
and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not I only,
but also all they that have known the truth, for the truth's sake
which dwelleth in us and shall be with us forever. Grace be
with you, mercy and peace from God the Father and from the Lord
Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoiced greatly that I found
of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment
from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady,
not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we
had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this
is love, that we walk after his commandments, This is the commandment
that, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in
it. For many deceivers are entered
into the world who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in
the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Look to yourselves that we lose
not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive
a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. If there come any unto you, and
bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither
bid him Godspeed. For he that biddeth him God's
speed is partaker of his evil deeds. Having many things to
write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink, but I trust
to come unto you and speak face to face, that our joy may be
full. The children of thy elect sister
greet thee. Amen. The third epistle of John. the Elder unto thee, well beloved
Gaius, whom I love in the truth. Beloved, I wish above all things
that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul
prospereth. For I rejoiced greatly when the
brethren came and testified of the truth that is in thee, even
as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater joy and to
hear that my children walk in truth. Beloved, thou doest faithfully
whatsoever thou doest to the brethren and to strangers, which
have borne witness of thy charity before the church, whom, if thou
bring forward on their journey after a godly sort, thou shalt
do well. Because that for his name's sake
they went forth taken nothing of the Gentiles. We therefore
ought to receive such, that we might be fellow helpers to the
truth. I wrote unto the church, but
diatrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth
us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will
remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious
words, Not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive
the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth
them out of the church. Beloved, follow not that which
is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God,
but he that doeth evil hath not seen God. Demetrius hath good
report of all men, and of the truth itself, yea, and that we
also bear record, and ye know that our record is true. I have
many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto
thee, but I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak
face to face. Peace be to thee, our friends
salute thee, greet the friends by name. 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 the spirit of truth, the spirit of power,
For without his power, his unction, there is nothing in our gathering,
and we worship in vain. Lord, may we not just worship
outwardly, but may we be given that true inward spiritual worship,
union with Jesus Christ, his love shed abroad in our hearts.
May we be led and taught and guided by the Spirit of truth. May he open the word of truth
unto our hearts and to our understanding, and make it a living word, experimentally
so, in our hearts. Gracious God, we come as poor
sinners before thee. Very conscious, O Lord, we are
of our sinfulness, of the corruption of our nature, of the uncleanness
of our nature. And O gracious God, we do pray
to be delivered from sin and from its power. And though sin
lives in us, may we not live in sin, but may we live to him
that died. May we be surrendered to the
crucified one. 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 as
we gather round thy word today. O Lord, we pray that we may know
those divine drawings of a Heavenly Father drawing us unto Jesus
Christ, his only begotten Son. We do thank Thee, most gracious
Lord, for that divine revelation that we have in Thy Word. We pray that Thy Word may be
a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Lord, we do pray
that Thou wouldst deliver us from all error and deliver us
from heresy and those things that are displeasing unto Thee.
and deliver us from sin and from worldliness and carnality. For
Lord, all these things are about us and we're prone to wander. Deliver us from the temptations
of Satan, whether he comes as a roaring lion to devour or an
angel of light to deceive. We pray to be delivered from
his power and from his influence. Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst
come here this afternoon. We read in thy word of one Lydia
whose heart the Lord opened. We pray that it may be with each
one of us here this afternoon that the Lord may open our hearts,
open our eyes, open our ears, loosen our tongue, that we may
be enabled to declare what the Lord has done for us all. that
we may be enabled to come and tell to sinners round what a
dear Saviour I have found and point to thy redeeming blood
and say, behold the way to God, remove all stumbling blocks.
O Lord, we do pray thee for thy great name's sake. Lord, we pray
that thou would blow with the sovereign wind of thy Holy Spirit
among us here as a church and congregation, and work mightily,
powerfully, and effectually among us. We pray for those away from
us at this time seeking rest and change. Be with them, Lord,
and grant them that rest and change, and grant them safe journeys,
and bring them home in peace and in safety. Lord, we pray
that Thou in Thy precious mercy which go before us as a church
and as a congregation, that we may see thy goings in the sanctuary,
that we may see thy work and thy power and thy glory as thou
usest to be in the sanctuary, that we may see an ingathering,
a reviving, a renewing, a replenishing. Lord, do hear us, we humbly beseech
thee, and have mercy upon us, and graciously build us up, make
us a truly spiritual people. Any in bondage, bring them into
liberty. Any that are far off, make them
nigh by the blood of Christ. And any that are in darkness,
bring them into light. And grant, O Lord, that the word
of the Lord may be light among us here and in this village.
The light and truth of the gospel, the word of the Lord distributed,
may be richly blessed of thee, that we may see an ingathering
from this village and the surrounding villages and hamlets, and the
fulfilling of thy promises, O Lord, I will bring thy sons from far
and thy daughters from the ends of the earth. May we see the
pulling down of the strongholds of Satan and the setting up of
the kingdom of the Lord Jesus in the hearts of sinners. Lord, to hear us, we humbly pray
thee and graciously bless us. Grant that we may be labourers
together, that we may, O Lord, be much in prayer, that we may
be given a spirit of real travail For as soon as Zion travailed,
she brought forth her children. Lord, we pray. Pray for our deacons,
that wisdom and grace may be given to them. Pray for each
one of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship, that rich
blessing may rest upon them. Pray that we may love each other,
serve each other, bear each other's burden. Thy word declares unto
us, by this shall they know that ye are my disciples, because
ye have love one to another. Grant us those gracious evidences,
O Lord, regarding, O Lord, that spirit of love. We know that
we are passed from death unto life because we love the brethren.
Lord, we pray that We may ever seek the good of thy church and
thy people, and we may ever seek the prosperity of Zion, the building
of her walls, the strengthening of her bulwarks, and grant us
that grace and that determination to know nothing among men save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. O Lord, we pray. that thou, in
thy great mercy, wouldst remember us, that thou wouldst send prosperity. Turn us again, O God of hosts,
and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. Let thy
hand be upon the man of thy right hand, the son of man whom thou
madest strong for thyself. Lord, do hear us, we pray. Have
mercy upon us, we beseech thee. May the prodigals return. Lord,
what a rejoicing there would be to see those prodigals returning,
to see thy wonderful power. Oh, do grant it, Lord. We humbly
pray thee for thy great namesake. Lord, we do pray that thou, in
thy precious mercy, would remember the little ones and the children
and bless them. Put thy holy fear in their hearts
in their young and tender years, and graciously remember the young
friends, and bring them to living faith in Jesus Christ, and help
them to follow thee in the sacred ordinances of thy house, and
to come and tell to sinners round what a dear Saviour they have
found, and point to thy redeeming blood and say, behold the way
to God. Lord, so bless our young friends. Be with them in all the paths
of providence and guide and direct them in all matters. And graciously
grant a partner in life's journey. Lord, we often think of thy wonderful
love and mercy in thy word. and when thou didst bring a Rebekah
unto Isaac and a Ruth unto Boaz. And thou art, O Lord, that great
God that is able to do these things. So we 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. Lord, we do pray. Thou in thy
great mercy was to remember all in the midst of the journey of
life. Remember those that could be here but have no desire to
be here. And remember each one. We lovingly commend them to thee
and to the word of thy grace. And those of us, O Lord, that
are in the evening time of life's journey, we pray that thou wouldst
be gracious unto 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. Rock of ages, cleft for
me, let me hide myself in thee. O Lord, do remember all thy servants
as they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion, and graciously
grant the spirit of power and signs to follow the preaching
of the word. Lord, there is nothing too hard
for thee. Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst
yet send out more of thy servants and bless them richly. especially
we would pray for those that have accepted pastorates and
pray that thou would go before them and settle them in those
churches, be with them in the great upheaval there is in family
life and graciously grant thy divine direction and help. We
do humbly beseech thee. Lord, we do pray that thou in
thy precious mercy and that thou would remember the churches and
remember thy people everywhere. We would especially remember
those countries where there is war and bloodshed and hatred
and all manner of iniquity. Put a stop to war. Bring to naught
the counsel of the ungodly. Remember thine own people in
those places where there is such violence. Remember that thy people
also, Lord, in those countries where the name of Christ is hated
and where thy people are persecuted, where darkness seems to prevail,
and yet thou hast thy people there. Maintain them, strengthen
them out of Zion. Send them help from the sanctuary. O Lord, we do beseech of thee
for thy great namesake. O Lord, we do thank Thee for
our little house of prayer. We thank Thee for the open Bible.
We thank Thee for the liberties that we enjoy in being able to
meet together around Thy Word, to worship Thee, the only true
God and Thy Son, Jesus Christ. We thank Thee, most gracious
Lord, for every mercy of Thy kind providence. Those mercies,
O Lord, are new every morning, and great is Thy faithfulness.
And as we were thinking this morning, may we not be forgetful,
but may we acknowledge Thy loving kindness and Thy great goodness. We would, O Lord, praise and
adore Thee, the only true God, for the gift of Thine only begotten
Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Thee for the incarnation
of the Son of God. He was made of a woman made under
the law that He might redeem them that are under the law. Oh, we do thank Thee that being
a man under the law, He fulfilled it, He honoured it, He magnified
it, He brought in everlasting righteousness for His people.
And we would, O Lord, acknowledge with gratitude and with thanksgiving
for all thy tender mercies and thy loving kindnesses. We thank thee that he suffered
and bled and died for our sins, and that he rose again from the
dead and swallowed up death in victory, and that he has bodily
ascended into heaven, that glorious reality of our great High Priest
sitting at the right hand of the throne of God, we bow in
humble worship before thee for the wonderful glory of his name.
Lord, we would not forget those in trouble and trial, perplexity,
sorrow, affliction, and we pray that thou wouldst graciously
help them and undertake for each Come, Lord, and touch one's lips
with a live coal from off the heavenly altar. We ask for Jesus
Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 16, The tune is McKee 176. The father is a holy God, his
holy son he gave, who freely shed a tolling blood, a guilty
world to save. Hymn number 16, tune McKee 176.
? Heaven and hell are one ? ? There's
no place for fear ? ? When creation runs out of its power ? ? The King of Heaven and Earth
? ? The King of Heaven and Earth ? ? The King of Heaven and Earth
? Where love and faith enshrines,
Where songs of glory ring, ? In worldly affairs ? ? And spiritual
minds ? ? The fear of God ? ? Hath made me fail ? ? I think that
in my soul ? I love you ? O come, O come, Emmanuel ? ?
O come, O come, Emmanuel ? ? And ransom captive Israel ? In Christ's name. ? When I see the face ? ? That
yearns to see me again ? greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, direct your attention to the second epistle of John,
and we'll read verses nine and 10 for our text. The second epistle of John, verses
nine and 10. Whosoever transgresseth, and
abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any
unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into
your house, neither bid him God speed. We notice in the epistles, John's
epistles were most likely the last epistles written. I think you'll find that John
lived to be about 90 years of age. And when Christ was here
on earth, he would have only been a very young man in his
teens. And we notice as you come through the epistles and you
get further away from when Christ was here and then we see how
separating the apostle becomes, distinguishing between those
that have the true faith and those that have a false faith. And this is exactly what John
is doing here by the Holy Ghost He says in verse 7, for many
deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus
Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. You see, my beloved friends,
the Lord lays great store on sound doctrine. doctrine of truth
and what he calls here the doctrine of Christ. The word doctrine means teaching
what the Lord teaches us in his word and you know whatever we
believe it must come from Holy Scripture. It must be totally
consistent with Holy Scripture. We read in the word of God to
the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to
my word, it is because there is no light in them. That's a
very solemn thought, isn't it? And as we're speaking of
doctrine and whether we're sound in the faith or sound doctrine, there's two words that are used. for people that go away from
the truth. One is error. It's to hold to erroneous doctrine. And the other is heresy. And
there is a very clear distinction between those two. And I would
make this point. You can be in error on certain
points of doctrine. but you can still be a child
of God. But according to the word of God, if you're in heresy,
it's an evident token that you're not a child of God. You might say, what is heresy? It's anything to do with the
Godhead. Anything to do with the Godhead.
There are those that deny the doctrine of the Trinity. There are those that deny the
divinity of Christ or as we have in our text, they deny the doctrine
of the Son of God manifest in the flesh. They deny that he was a real
man. Some deny that he had a holy
human soul and yet the Word of God is abundantly clear. And
the word, it's a term that is given to Jesus Christ, but it
refers to his divine nature, that he is the Son of God. He is declared to be the Son
of God with power. He's the Eternal Son. What it
means is, he has the same nature as his Father, which is eternal,
infinite. So Christ is eternal, infinite. He's the eternal son of the eternal
father. This is the doctrine of Christ,
who he is. He became a real man. The scriptures
put it, he became bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. Then we read also in scripture
when they'll make his soul an offering for sin. That's the
doctrine of Christ. His soul. His holy human soul. He had a holy human nature. Now,
the people that detract from this, they will say, well, you
shouldn't really separate between the divine and the human. you
shouldn't make any distinguishing mark the holy scriptures do they
clearly define to us that he is the son of god but he's also
the son of man and both of those um terms are used relative to
the person of jesus christ when it says he's the son of god it's
highlighting his divine nature that he is the son of god in
reality And when it actually says the Son of Man, and the
person that uses that term the most is the Lord Jesus Christ,
it's referring specifically to his human nature. Now, you cannot
separate between those two. You know, to say that you're
dividing the person of Christ, no, we're not. We're making the
clear distinction that Holy Scripture makes. that he is, or is put
very simply in the Athanasian Creed, and very beautifully actually,
very God, very man. That's Christ. Verily God, and
verily man. Now it's a mystery. And we know
it's a mystery. You can't work it out in some
intellectual way. It's a profound mystery. How
could the infinite almighty and eternal son of the father become
a man? How can that be? And so we read
in the epistle to Timothy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. God was manifest in the flesh.
And that is what we see in the glorious person of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And that is what the Holy Spirit
reveals unto the people of God, this glorious person of Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday
and today and forever. That's who he is. When he speaks to his servant
John on the Isle of Patmos, he says, I am Alpha and Omega. It's the first and last letters
of the Greek alphabet. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the ending, the first and the last. I am he which is, and
this is a paraphrase of the name Jehovah, I am he which is, and
which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. You see, he's Jehovah
Jesus. Jesus Christ the same yesterday
You just look at that threefold sense yesterday today and forever
I Am he which is and which was and which is to come in other
words eternal Christ himself speaks in Proverbs chapter 8
and it says this I was set up from everlasting or ever the
earth was from everlasting the wonderful glory of the eternity
of Jesus, the Son of God. And that term, the Word, refers
to his divine nature. And then we read in the first
chapter of John, and the Word was made flesh. In other words,
he became a real man, a real man. What a mystery, isn't it? man by his very nature is a created
being and he's finite. God by his very nature is uncreated
and he's infinite and yet in the person of Christ we see the
infinite and the finite united in one person. What a mystery
isn't it? When the Holy Spirit overshadowed
the womb of the Virgin Mary as we read in Luke chapter 1, the Holy Ghost shall overshadow
thee, therefore that holy thing that shall be born of thee shall
be called the Son of God. So the Holy Spirit taking of
the seed of Mary, no doubt sanctifying it, making
it holy, and the Son of God assumed that seed. in the womb of the
Virgin. It never had any existence. The human nature of Christ never
had any existence separate to Christ. Immediately that seed
was formed, the Son of God assumed that holy seed and He's declared
to be the Son of God with power. whosoever transgresseth. I've often explained to you the
word transgress. It means to break a boundary. The idea behind the word transgress. It normally refers to the law
and a transgressor is a person that breaks the holy law of God.
So the word transgress, the idea behind it is like a fence or
a hedge round a field and if the cattle or sheep in that field
break through that boundary then they transgress and God has put a head or a boundary
around us and it's his holy righteous law and anybody that breaks that
holy law transgresses God's holy law But here, we have it relative
to the doctrine of Christ. Of who he is. His glorious person. Jesus, the son of God. Right at the beginning of this
second epistle. He speaks there, doesn't he?
Of our Lord Jesus Christ. He says, grace, verse three,
grace be with you mercy and peace from God the Father and from
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. In truth and love. What a wonderful,
then, profound mystery that we see in the person of Christ. Now when the disciples, the Lord
Jesus asked them, who say men that I am? And they said some
say Jeremiah, some say Elias or Elijah, some say this, some
say that. And then he says to them, but
whom say he that I am? And it was Peter as he so often
did, he answered for all the apostles, thou art the Christ,
the son of the living God, the son of the living God. They'll
just listen to the answer that the Lord Jesus gave to that confession
of Peter, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. He
said, upon this rock, who? Christ, the son of the living
God. Upon this rock, I build my church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. A glorious person. of Jesus,
the Son of God. Behold, I lay in Zion a foundation
as Christ. He's the eternal rock of ages
upon which the church is built. He is the eternal rock of ages. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God hath not God. You know, it's a very solemn
search in thought, isn't it? To be in heresy, to deny the divinity of the Father,
the Son, or the Holy Ghost. And there are those, of course,
that do that. because they can't work out in their minds how that
three can be one and one can be three so therefore they leave
themselves with just the father and they worship the father and
they will say to you that the son is not divine and the holy
spirit is not divine person but the the scriptures are very clear
and there's always been a great dispute and and it's because
it's such a clear scripture in the fifth chapter of the first
epistle of john and the verse seven and we read for there are
three that bear record in heaven the father the word and the holy
ghost and these three are one now the dispute is of that what
is called the yohannes comma which is there after the holy
ghost and it says and these three are one And many of these scholars, they
look at false manuscripts and they say, well that's not in
the original. They're always arguing that that
wasn't in the original. You see that's the devil's work
trying to destroy the doctrine of the truth, the doctrine of
the Trinity, the oneness of the Trinity. And a denial that there
are three divine persons within the Godhead. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Ghost. You know, it speaks and I often
feel it's such a beautiful, clear teaching in Colossians chapter
2, in the beginning of that chapter. He says there in verse 2 of Colossians
2, that their hearts might be comforted, be knit together in
love unto all riches, of the full assurance of understanding.
What is that? It's when the Holy Spirit reveals
something to us. The full assurance of understanding. I've often explained it to you
how the Lord revealed that to me. Now I was brought up in a
godly home. My father was a godly minister
and we received instruction in the home and at chapel. concerning
the truth of God. And I can say that I never really
doubted the doctrine of the Trinity. It was something that we were
brought up to understand, that that was the truth. And it was
a fundamental truth too. But you know, when the Lord brought
me into Gospel Liberty, I shall never forget one afternoon revelation
that was given to me. I was so blessed in my soul and
I've often told you I went into a little chestnut cops knelt
down and it was if there was nothing visionary I was kneeling
down with my eyes shut but in it felt as if a light shone all
around me and I had such a view My Heavenly Father. My Heavenly Father. He loved
me with an everlasting love. He sent his Spirit into my heart
to quicken my soul. He sent his Son to suffer, bleed,
and die for my sins. What a sense I had there of the
love of my Heavenly Father, an everlasting love, an almighty
love. overwhelming love and I felt
it at that time and then this all happened as I knelt there
oh what a view I had of the glorious person of Jesus the Son of God
who left heaven who became a man who was made of a woman and made
under the law He came to fulfill that holy
law that I had broken. He came to fulfill it and in
fulfilling it he brought in everlasting righteousness for his people.
He makes his people righteous by his perfect obedience. And
then he offered that perfect holy sacred humanity. He offered
it as a sin atoning sacrifice unto his father. He did. What a sacred sense I had of
the infinite love of my precious Redeemer. And then I felt such
a love to the Holy Ghost. It was He that had left the Father
and the Son and entered into my dead, sinful, wretched heart. And He quickened me into life. I was born again by that Holy
Spirit. He convinced me of my sin. He
showed me that I was lost and ruined. And then he revealed
unto me by faith the glorious person of Jesus, the Son of God,
the only Savior of sinners. What a wonderful, and you know,
friends, the overwhelming sense I had. These three are one. I shall never forget it. the
unity of the Godhead, three distinct divine persons, yet these three
are one. One blessed, infinite, almighty
Lord Jehovah. You know, it's one thing to know
intellectually the doctrine of the Trinity. It's another thing
to know it spiritually by revelation. and then it's sealed into your
very soul. Nobody can shake you on it, no. You have a sacred realization,
you know. You know, John, he says in his
epistles, we know, we know. Often pointed out to you in the
book of Genesis in chapter one, and God said, let us. Well, we're
absolutely clear on this, friends, and the scripture is, There's
only one God. There's only one God. But he says, let us. It's referring
to the Trinity. Let us make man in our own image. And then when the sons of men
built the Tower of Babel in Genesis chapter six, and they were going
to build up right up onto heaven. And we read this, and the Lord
said, let us go down. Let us go down and see this thing. Now, of course, that's the way
the Holy Spirit puts it in the Holy Scripture. God knew he could
see. God is in all places at all times. Let us go down. But again, it's a reference to
the doctrine of the Trinity, the plurality of persons within
the Godhead. And this is all contained in
the doctrine of Christ. Whosoever transgresses and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. It's a solemn thought. I think it's in the epistle of
Titus. He that is an heretic after the
first and second admonition rejects because he is subverted. It's a very solemn word, isn't
it? Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. You know, that
sacrifice that Christ offered was of infinite value and worth. It was holy, and divine justice
demanded a holy sacrifice. That's why the Son of God became
flesh because the whole of mankind was ruined in the fall. So the Son of God became flesh. He dwelt among us. He dwelt among
us. And he lived as a man under the
law. He humbled himself and became
obedient unto death. even the death of the cross,
wherefore God also hath highly exalted him." You think, my beloved
friends, the whole salvation of the Church is there, in that
crucified Saviour. He was made a curse for us. He
that knew no sin, that did no sin, was made sin for us. Was made sin for us. What profound
mysteries we find in the doctrine of Christ, in the glory of his
person. He did no sin. Sin is any transgression
of the law of God. He did no sin. He did not sin
in thought, in word, in deed. In other words, he was perfect.
Like I often draw your attention to Verse 37 of Psalm 37, mark
the perfect man. Friends, there's only one perfect
man that has ever lived on this earth, the man Christ Jesus. Mark the perfect man and behold
the upright, for the end of that man is peace. That man, that
glorious, holy God man, a man shall be in hiding place, we
read in the prophet Isaiah. A man shall be in hiding place.
And the apostle takes up that very point, doesn't he, in the
first epistle to Timothy. There is one God and one mediator
between God and man. The man, Christ Jesus, who gave
his life a ransom for all to be testified in due time. He paid the ransom price. We read the words of Elihu in
the book of Job, deliver him from going down into the pit
for I have found a ransom. That ransom was the sacred sacrifice
of Christ. He paid the ransom price to deliver
his people from sin and Satan's power. He brought life and immortality
to life. In His glorious person, God,
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined into
our hearts with the light of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. That life of Christ was absolutely
essential to the life of the church. That life of Christ,
that perfect life of Christ is the righteousness of the church. They are made righteous in the
righteousness of Christ. Or as it says in Ezekiel chapter
16, comely in my comeliness. These are fundamental doctrines
of our most holy faith. Comely in my comeliness. This is all part of the doctrine
of Christ, comely in my comeliness, and the fact that it was the
Son of God that offered that holy sacrifice. It was essential,
it was an infinite word. His righteousness is an everlasting
righteousness. His precious blood, which was
holy, cleanseth from all sin. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. This is the doctrine of Christ.
And it's fundamental to our belief of who he is. We must be, you
know, you read the Revelation chapter two and three, and you'll
see in those letters that Christ sent to those seven churches,
the vital need of soundness in doctrine. and he held the minister
responsible in those churches for the doctrine that was taught
in his church. And some solemn words are spoken
against those that deviated from the way of truth and of righteousness. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. Now he rose from
the dead. He rose from the dead, our Lord
Jesus Christ. He died for our sins. He rose
again for our justification. That word justification means
to be declared to be without sin. Christ rose again for our
justification. It's the evidence that sin has
been atoned for, that the redemption price or the ransom price has
been paid. That ransom was the precious
blood of Christ. When he died for our sins, the
Son of God entered into death itself. And when he rose, he swallowed
up death in victory. He did. He brought life and immortality
to life, therefore being justified by faith. we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. What a wonderful, profound and
fundamental doctrine that is, of the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. And he says, because I live,
ye shall live also. Because I live, the glorious
person of Christ, ye, shall live also. My mind it just goes to
the prophet Hosea and in the chapter 13 of the prophet Hosea
we read in verse 14 I will ransom them from the power of the grave
I will redeem them from death O death I will be thy plagues
O grave I will be thy destruction repentance shall be hid from
mine eyes. That means he will not change
his mind. He set his face as a flint to redeem and to deliver
his people, to fulfill the law for them, to offer a holy, pure
and sacred sacrifice that satisfied all the demands of divine justice
and then to enter into death itself and then to rise from
the dead. Oh, the fundamental nature of
the doctrine of Christ. And then he led them out, that
is the disciples, as far as unto Bethany. He lifted up his hands
and blessed them and they beheld as he was received up into heaven
in a cloud. He has ascended up on high. He
has led captivity captive. Oh, my beloved friends, This
is the doctrine of Christ. We noticed in the Hebrews, and
several times in the Hebrews, the apostle emphasizes this,
that he is at the right hand of the Father. John says, we
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Paul
says in Hebrews chapter four, for such a high priest have we,
who is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. So the
disciples beheld as the glorious person of Christ ascended into
heaven, the holy God man, that union that was made in the womb
of the Virgin was never to be dissolved. And it never will
be dissolved for a never ending eternity. And it's in there,
in that glorious union between God and man, that our Lord Jesus
Christ suffered and bled and died for the sins of his people.
shed every drop of his precious blood and rose from the grave
and ascended into glory and he now sits at the right hand of
the Father, our great High Priest who is passed into the heavens. Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ he hath both the Father and I often
point it out to you. You cannot have one without the
other. You can't have the son and not have the father. It's
not possible. These three are one. And as it
says here, he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath
both the father and the son. I am the way, the truth and the
life. No man cometh under the father
but by me. Now, we have a solemn admonition
here. If there come any unto you and
bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither
bid him Godspeed. For he that biddeth him Godspeed
is partaker of his evil deed. It's a very solemn searching
word, isn't it? It's a very sacred. This is the
foundation upon which we build. We fix our eternal hopes upon
this almighty saviour, who's able to save to the uttermost
all that come unto God by him, who says to poor, needy, guilty,
wretched sinners, come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy
laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. In other
words, be united to me. take my yoke upon you and learn
of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest
for your souls if there come any unto you and bring not this
doctrine receive him not into your houses neither bid him godspeed
oh that the lord would add his blessing to these few remarks Let us now sing together hymn
number 525. The tune is Alice, 279. What joyful news the gospel is
to guilty sinners in distress. It speaks of mercy rich and free
for such polluted worms as we. 525, tune Alice, 279. O come, O come, Emmanuel, O come, O come, Emmanuel,
and ransom captive Israel. It is your mercy we can bring,
Cross and mountain, road and stream. Jesus, my Shepherd, lived and
died, Rose and the winter in the sea. He is my King, ? From this world ? ? Nor will
we ever ? ? With it part ? ? To make it whole ? Slowly in the wine-breast cup,
He held me by the throat of Him, and set me free. In love we care, in love we care Nor did my Saviour love again.
The Spirit handed down the joy, That's when He heard ? In emperors hall ? ? Mother needs
reign ? ? O blessed friendship ? ? Give for me ? O girl that dwelt in Bethlehem,
Glory in Jesus Christ, her Son. God, glory, name, God, matchless
grace, Earth is divided, heavens face, 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
for evermore. Amen.