Let us commence our service this
evening by singing together hymn number 187, the tune is Saint
Benedict, 885. Jesus draws the chosen race by
his sweet resistless grace, causing them to hear his call and before
his power to fall. Hymn 187, tune Saint Benedict,
885. Jesus chose the chosen way By
His sweet, resistless way rose in heaven to His foe, and
begone His path to foe. from the blissful realms above. Swift as lightning flies his
love, closer to his tender breast. there reclined the ghost of Christmas. Then the wee candy-makers In the happy paths of love, Thou
may know Him, the Lord, His fictitious, sacred Word. When the Lord appears in view,
All things change, and all is new. Now the eye of clouds, of stars, Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in Paul's epistle to the Ephesians in chapter 5. Ephesians chapter 5. Be ye therefore followers of
God, as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath
loved us, and hath given himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling savour. But fornication and all uncleanness
or covetousness, let it not be once named among you, as become
his saints, nor neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting,
which are not convenient, but rather giving of thanks. For
this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous
man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain
words, for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon
the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers
with them, for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light
in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for
the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness and
truth, proving what is acceptable unto the Lord, and have no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove
them. For it is a shame even to speak
of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things
that are reproved are made manifest by the light, for whatsoever
doth make manifest his life. Wherefore, he saith, awake thou
that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give
thee life. See then that you walk circumspectly,
and not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the
days are evil. Wherefore, be ye not unwise,
but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk
with wine wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit.
Speak into yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving
thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit in yourselves one to another
in the fear of the Lord. Wives, submit yourselves unto
your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the
head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and
he is the saviour of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject
unto Christ, So let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. but that it should
be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord
the Church. For we are members of his body,
of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother shall be joined unto his wife, and they
too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but
I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let
every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself,
and the wife see that she reverence her husband. May the Lord bless
that portion. 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 do desire to bow before thy
great majesty, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. We desire to worship
thee in spirit and in truth. We come, Lord, as poor sinners. We come as the fallen sons and
daughters of Adam, born in sin, shapen in iniquity. And we painfully
feel our sinful condition. And we solemnly realize, as the
dear Apostle did, that which I would, I do not. That which
I would not, I do. find a law within my members
that when I would do good, then evil is present with me. We often have to say with the
dear apostle, O Lord, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death. Oh, we do thank God through Jesus
Christ our Lord. There is a door of hope that
is open wide. in Jesus' bleeding hands and
side. We think of those wonderful words
of grace. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. O Lord Jesus, we come in all
our need, in all our insufficiency and poverty. We come and plead
that blood that did for sin atone, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's
cleanse us from all sin. Oh, that this night we could
feel the cleansing power of the blood of Christ. And 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 for thy great name's sake. May we know those divine
drawings of a heavenly Father. For, Lord, thou hast instructed
us, none come except the Father draw. May we know the divine, inward
and powerful teaching of the Holy Spirit, bringing us under a sense of
our sinfulness unto the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Saviour
of sinners. We think of those precious words,
this man receive his sinners and eateth with them. Lord, what
a mercy, what a great mercy, that this man receive his sinners. And we pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou in thy precious mercy would make us more spiritually
minded, that thou would set our heart and our affections upon
things above and not on things of the earth, that we may be
guided and directed by thee. Hear us, O Lord, we do humbly
beseech thee. Show us thy ways. As many as
are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Lord Jesus, come and stand in
our midst. We are but a little company,
but come and meet with us. We think of those precious words,
when two or three are gathered in my name, there am I, in the
midst, gracious God. May we prove it so tonight, that
Thou art with us, and that Thou art our God, our Saviour, our
Redeemer, our great High Priest, who is passed into the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God. All we do pray, that thou wouldst
bless us as a church and as a congregation, that thou wouldst work mightily,
powerfully, and effectually among us, and that we may yet see thy
goings in the sanctuary. We thank thee for those evidences
that thy spirit yet remaineth among us, and we would be thankful
to thee for that. We're not worthy, Lord, but we
come for Jesus Christ's We come, Lord, to the sanctuary and we
seek and hope to find a portion for our soul. Oh, that it might
be so. Remember our brethren, the deacons. Remember them with the favour
that they'll bear us unto thy people and visit them with thy
great salvation. Give them wisdom and grace and
help in all their responsibilities. Gracious God. undertake for us
as a church and as a congregation and work mightily, powerfully
and effectually among us. Gather in precious souls. Thou
hast promised, Lord. Thou hast promised, I will abundantly
bless her provision. I will satisfy her poor with
bread. O gracious God, may we see thy
goings and thy power and thy glory as though useless to be
in the sanctuary. May we see signs to follow the
preaching of the word and that may we know that what we read
in thy word for our gospel came unto you not in word only but
in power, in the Holy Ghost and with much assurance. Gracious
God, do hear as we pray thee and do have mercy upon us we
beseech thee and do send real prosperity. Remember each one
of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship and remember
them each for good and grant that we may grow in grace and
in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and
grant that we each may be given that grace to follow thee and
to serve thee in our day and in our generation and to do those
things that are right in thy sight. enable us to lay aside
every weight and the sin that does so easily beset us and that
we may run with patience the race that is set before us looking
unto Jesus the author and the 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 on high We think of that wonderful promise.
Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest
make princes in all the earth. Lord, may it be so, for thy great
name's sake. And O gracious God, we do pray
that we may love each other, serve each other, bear each other's
burdens, thereby fulfilling the law of Christ. that we may follow
thee as dear children under that sacred realisation that we each
have the same Heavenly Father, that we are brothers and sisters
in Christ. Lord, give us to feel that sweet
spirit of adoption, whereby we may cry, Abba, Father. Hear us, O Lord, we pray. Grant
us a fuller experience of the spirit of adoption. The love of Christ shed abroad
in our hearts, for God has sent forth the spirit of his Son into
our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Remember our dear brother and
sister in Holland. Remember them with the favour
that thou bearest unto thy people. Visit them with thy great salvation. supply all their returning needs,
we do humbly pray thee. Thou hast been among us as a
church and congregation with the hand of death. We miss our
late dear sister in Christ, but Lord she's now with thee in eternal
glory. May there be others gathered
in to build us up, to strengthen
us, she was a pillar in the church or that we might have more pillars
in the church that we may see an increase among us from this
village from the surrounding villages and hamlets fulfilling
those wonderful promises i will bring thy sons from far and thy
daughters from the ends of the earth lord grant that it may
be so that we may not give up, but we may keep watching and
waiting for thy appearing, for the day of thy power, and that
we read in thy word of concern in the Spirit being poured upon
us from on high. Lord, may it be so. We do humbly
beseech thee. Gather in, open wide the gospel
door, pull down the strongholds of Satan, Set up the kingdom
of our Lord Jesus in the hearts of sinners. O Lord of hosts,
O God of Israel, O Thou that dwellest between the cherubim,
shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, and come and save
us, O Lord, we do beseech Thee. Visit us with Thy great salvation. Fulfill those wonderful promises
in Thy Word concerning Thy Zion. Lord, we are absolutely dependent
upon Thee for these things. May we bow before Thee with one
mind and one spirit and one desire, one life, that we may see Thy
work and Thy power and Thy glory as Thou usest to be in the sanctuary. Return, O Lord, we do beseech
Thee. thy great namesake. And if there
are those things, O Lord, that are among us that offend thee,
we do pray that our eyes may be opened and that we may be
enabled to forsake those things that offend thee, that grieve
thy spirit, that quieten thy spirit. And that, Lord, if there
are those things in our hearts and in our lives which grieve
thee, We do pray for grace to let them go and enable us to
lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset
us, that we might run with patience the race that is set before us,
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 and is now set down at the right hand of the Majesty
on high. Gracious God, we do pray that
Thou in Thy precious mercy would make us a truly spiritually minded
people, a people that love Thee, that desire to serve Thee and
to follow Thee, and to do that which is right in Thy sight.
Grant it, Lord, to each one of us. We do humbly beseech of thee. Lord, we do pray for the little
ones and the children that are brought into the sanctuary. We
pray that thou wouldst bless them in their young and in their
tender years. Bless them with light and understanding
in their little hearts and minds. and the fear of the Lord, which
is the beginning of wisdom, may be given unto them. Oh, do hear
us, Lord, on their behalf. We do humbly beseech thee. Bless
the young friends in all their concerns. Bless them with that rich grace
that is in Christ Jesus. Bless them with light and understanding
in thy word. Bless them with divine guidance
in their providential pathway. Help them to seek first the kingdom
of heaven and thy righteousness and all these things shall be
added unto you. Bless them with a partner in
life journey, one that fears thy name. Do hear us, Lord, on
the behalf of the young. Lord, we do pray for the return
of the prodigals, that we may see the wonderful work of thy
spirit among us in this. that as it was with the prodigal
son and the father greatly rejoicing, so may it be with us that we
may see those prodigals return. Oh, do hear us, Lord, we pray
Thee for Thy great name's sake. Remember any and any trouble
or trial or perplexity or sorrow or sadness or bereavement or
affliction, undertake for each And, O Lord, we do pray that
Thou, in Thy great mercy, would remember parents, give them wisdom
and grace to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord, and remember all in the midst of the journey of
life. Remember them with the favour that Thou bearest unto
Thy people, and visit them with Thy great salvation. Hear us,
Lord, we humbly beseech Thee. Be with those who are passing
through the temptations of Satan. Graciously bring deliverance,
we do humbly pray thee, for thy great namesake. 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. May
it be so, Lord. We do humbly beseech thee. Remember
those of us in the evening time of life's journey, and graciously prepare us for
that great change which must come. Prepare me, gracious God,
to stand before thy face. Thy Spirit must the work perform,
for it is all of grace. In Christ's obedience clothe
and wash me in his blood. So shall I lift my head with
joy among the sons of O gracious God, do incline Thine ear, we
do humbly beseech Thee. Send us help from The Sanctuary. Strengthen us out of Zion. Remember
the little hills of Zion up and down the nation. Remember, O
Lord, all Thy servants as they labour in word and doctrine.
Grant the fresh anointing of Thy Spirit and grant the establishment
of pastors among the churches. We pray Thee, the great Lord
of the harvest, to send true labourers into the harvest and
to build the walls of Jerusalem. O Lord of hosts, O God of Israel,
O Thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine forth. We do humbly beseech Thee. Lord,
we do thank Thee for the house of prayer, for this little hill
of Zion, for all thy tender mercies to us. Our little house of prayer,
the open Bible, has maintained this cause of truth for over
200 years. And we would bow in thankfulness
before thy great majesty for thy mercy and for thy goodness. We thank thee, O Lord, for thy
loving kindness. Thy mercies are new every morning,
Great is Thy faithfulness. We thank Thee for the love of
God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. We thank Thee for the
incarnation of the Son of God. Oh, we thank Thee for the holy
life He lived as a man here upon earth, bringing in everlasting
righteousness for His people. We thank Thee for Calvary, where
the Lamb was slain, where sin was put away, where divine justice
was satisfied, where God and sinners are reconciled. Oh, we
thank thee that he died for our sins and rose again for our justification,
and has bodily ascended into heaven, and we have a great high
priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. We have an advocate with the
Father. I word, O Lord, exhorts us and be ye thankful, for it
is a good thing to give praise unto Oh, we thank Thee for all
Thy tender mercies. We pray for Thy presence now.
We pray for the holy anointing of the Spirit. We pray for a
door of utterance and a spirit of power. Come and touch one's lips with
the live coal from off the heavenly altar. Come and make up in giving
where we do so fail in asking. as we ask for Jesus Christ's
sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 880. The tune is Rhodes 53. Remember man thy birth, set not on gold
thy heart, naked thou cam'st upon the earth, and naked must
depart, hymn 880, tune Rhodes 53. In the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, May heaven and nature love you And may good thoughts be with
you ? His crowns given in tithe ? ?
Happy is the day ? ? Today the angels sing ? Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave ? If thou wilt fill me, my soul
? ? Give me thy loving hand ? ? And the helping hand too ? ? Alleluia ? ? The praise to thy
kingdom come ? ? Eternal to the world bestows
? ? With God on our kingdom rise ? ? Oh, do you believe ? ? In
heaven and earth and souls ? ? In spirit and in love ? ? All right ? ? He's back into
the pool ? ? He's back into the pool ? In which I saw the dying in Bethlehem. ? Thou didst hear my plea ? ? Now
and at the hour of my death ? ? Thy treasure I shall find ? ?
I will ever trust in Thee ? ? Ever I will be true to Thee ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, direct your attention to the chapter that we read,
the fifth chapter of Paul's epistle to the Ephesians, and we'll read
verses one and two for our text. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children, and walk in love as Christ also hath loved
us. and hath given himself for us
an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children. We have a Heavenly Father And that makes us brethren and
sisters in Christ. To be a brother and sister, there
is a relationship. You share the same Father. And the Lord's people all share
the same Father. And the exhortation here is to
be followers, disciples, Be ye therefore followers of God as
dear children. Just as we've loved and respected
and honoured our own parents, how much more should we love
and respect and honour our Heavenly Father. What a wonderful mercy
to have a Heavenly Father. who sits on no precarious throne,
who has made a wonderful provision for his people in the glorious
person of his Son, Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world, he
gave his only begotten Son, as it says here in our text,
and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to
God for a sweet-smelling savour. You know, are we followers of God? As dear
children? We need to examine ourselves. We do. You know, in the latter
part of the previous chapter, from verse 30, he says, And grieve
not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption. What does he mean? What he means
is the things that he's mentioned before. He says in verse 22 that he put
off concerning the former confirmation of the old man which is corrupt
according to the deceitful lust. That's what we are by nature.
A heart that is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. He says to put it off. It's almost
as if he's speaking about a piece of clothing, to put it off, to discard it and be renewed in the spirit
of your mind. And that you put on the new man,
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. and therefore in the new man
there are righteous desires, longings, prayers, exercises, spiritual exercises and that you put on the new man
which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. The apostle speaks in the epistle
to the Hebrews of Holiness. Be holy as I am holy. And then
he says, without which no man can see the Lord. Holiness. One hymn writer says, doesn't
he, holiness without a stain, we are thirsting to obtain. And he says here, be angry and
sin not. Let not the sun go down upon
your wrath, neither give place to the devil. Let him that stole steal no more,
but rather let him labour, working with his hands a thing which
is good, that he may have to give to him that needeth. Be
ye therefore followers of God. Look at the example that God
has set us. He gave His only begotten Son. He gave You know that so beautifully
illustrated in the Leviticus with the free will offering.
It used to really perplex me for years, what that free will
offering was. But I realized why it perplexed
me once the Lord revealed it to me. It's because I was looking
at the person offering. But of course the free will offering
is Christ. He freely offered himself. And
when we see that, we can see what the free will offering is. And if the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts, or that we might be given that grace
to freely offer ourselves, Just as the Apostle exhorts in Romans
chapter 12, I beseech you therefore brethren by the mercies of God
that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy and acceptable
unto God which is your reasonable service and be not conformed
to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind
that you might know what that good and perfect and acceptable
will of the Lord is. See in these scriptures in here
there's a in the hymn we've just sung together that lovely hymn
of Joseph Hartz. The Christian prospers laying
out. You see notice what he says here
let him that stole steal no more but rather let him labour working
with his hands a thing which is good. that he may have to give to him
that needeth. That's why. We think, and this
is our covetous minds, we think, well, this is mine, I've worked
for it, I will store it up. It's like the man that the Lord
Jesus speaks of in the Gospels, isn't it? That he had much goods,
he built greater barns, I will take my rest, I have plenty. thou fool, this night thy soul
shall be required of thee. What a solemn thought, isn't
it? May that be the whole bent of
our minds, of our spirit, that we may have that desire
to do good unto all men. not just in the little narrow
compass of our own churches, but our neighbours, those that
we see that are in need, those that are in difficult circumstances. You look at the life of Christ,
he loved his neighbour as himself, that's the fulfilling of the
law, he loved his neighbour as himself. We read again and again of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus having compassion on the
people. And we read of it in little individual
cases, Jesus having compassion. He didn't turn them away. Think of the widow woman in the
days of Elijah. And he counseled her. to gather together vessels. Not
a few, he said, many of them. Then there was this oil and she
poured and she poured and she poured and she filled all the
vessels of oil and he said, now go and sell and thou shalt have
for thyself a nice time. You see the Lord, he supplies
the needs of his Look at Elijah when the Lord commanded him after
speaking to Ahab to go and buy the brook Cherith. Many, many
months he stayed there. The ravens came every morning,
every evening to give him to eat. He drank of the brook all
alone for all those months until the word of the Lord came. The
brook dried up and the word of the Lord came. Go to Zarephath."
She said, Lebanon? Was it in Israel? I have commanded a widow woman
there to sustain them. And when he came to the widow
woman, what a strange pathway, wasn't it? She was absolutely
destitute. She said to the prophet, she
said, I have a little oil in a cruise, and a little meal in
a barrow, barrel and I'm going to make a cake and then I and
my son shall die. So great was the famine in the
land. She was brought to that point,
she was starving, her and her son. Then those words of Elijah. You just think how the testing
of her faith Go and make me a cake first. You would think, naturally speaking,
well that's a harsh thing. Here she is with the last thing. And then he speaks that word
of promise. The barrel of meal shall not
waste. The crews of oil shall not fail until the Lord send
rain upon the earth. You see, it says in Psalm, 145,
thou openest thine hand, this is the hand of God, thou openest
thine hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing. He does. With heaven and earth at his
command, he waits to answer prayer. Be ye therefore followers of
God. This great God, this almighty
God, this eternal God. Just consider what this great
God, he says it to each one of his dear children. My God, says
the apostle, my God shall supply all your need according to his
riches in glory by Christ Jesus. All your Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children. The words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Take no thought for the morrow.
Let the morrow take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient
unto the day is the evil thereof. So take no thought. That's not
to be careless. Don't get over-anxious about
tomorrow. The Lord will supply your needs.
He's the God of all grace. He's the God of all comfort.
And he will supply your needs. He says to us, doesn't he, in
his word, open thy mouth wide and I will fill it. And I will
fill it. Oh, that we may be enabled to
open our mouth And then this exhortation in
verse 31 of chapter 4, let all bitterness and wrath and anger
and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all
malice and be ye kind. This is the spirit and mind of
Christ. And be ye kind one to another,
tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you. Oh that the Lord would grant
us this sacred spirit and then we shall know what it says in
the following verse, be ye therefore followers of God as dear children
and walk in love as Christ also has loved us and has given himself
for offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. What a wonderful sacred offering
of our Lord Jesus Christ. An offering unto God. My mind it just goes to those
lovely words in the second chapter of Paul's epistle to the Galatians
and in that second chapter he says in verse 20 and 21 I
am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth
in me and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith
of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me, I do
not frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness come by
the law, then Christ is dead in vain." Followers of God, followers of
Christ. And the Apostle Paul, you know,
in the 11th chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians, He
begins that chapter, be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ. Followers of me, even as I am
also of Christ. All that we may be enabled to
follow the Lord. Be ye therefore followers of
God, as dear children, and walk in What a wonderful thing. It's lovely the way the Apostle
John puts it in his first epistle. We love him because he first
loved us. It's a wonderful thing when the
love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. We love him because he first
loved us. and walk in love. Love is the principal grace. It is. The principal grace. And doesn't the apostle in that
first epistle to the Corinthians, he speaks of this spirit of love,
of this spirit of charity. In 1 Corinthians chapter 13,
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have
not charity, I am become as a sounding brass or as a tinkling cymbal. Charity means love. It means
love in action. Not just love, but love in action.
And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries
and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could
remove mountains and have not charity, I am nothing. I've always found this an amazing
statement, and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,
and though I give my body to be burned and have not charity,
it profiteth me nothing. Charity suffereth long, and is
kind. Charity envieth not. Charity
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not her own. See, by nature we're covetous.
And we seek our own. We do. That is just the way our
sinful nature is. It's covetous. Seeketh not her own. Is not easily
provoked. Thinketh no evil. Rejoices not
in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. The spirit of love
beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things,
endureth all things, charity never faileth. Oh my beloved
friends, how we need this spirit of love and walk in love. Charity is love in action and
here and walk in love. Love in action. Love in everything
we do. and walk in love. In the church we need that grace
to walk in love, that grace to love one another, to serve one
another, to bear one another's burdens thereby fulfilling the
law of Christ. You see, living in the Spirit,
it's what the Apostle calls it in Galatians chapter 5. It says about the works of the
flesh in verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are
manifest which are these adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, envians, murders, drunkenness,
revelings and such like. of the which I tell you before,
as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit
of the Spirit is love, that's the first thing mentioned, but
the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance, against such there is no law,
And they, our Christ, have crucified the flesh with the affections
and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let
us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain
glory, provoking one another, envying one another, and walk
in love as Christ also has loved us. This is the wonderful example
that is given us here as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us
an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour,
walking love. The example Joseph Hart in that beautiful
hymn on Gethsemane speaks of Christ coming to this
earth full of love to man's lost race. That's what moved him,
that's what motivated him to come to this sin-cursed world.
It says in Proverbs, my delights were with the sons of men. He
delighted to come and redeem and deliver his people from sin
and Satan's power. God the Father, delighted God
the Father, so loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son. He gave himself. He freely gave
himself. This is our example. He freely gave himself. Everything he had, he gave it
for the Church. This is our example, friends.
This is the point that is being made here. This is our example.
What Christ did for us, that is how we should live. I beseech
you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, what Christ
has done. You present your bodies, a living
sacrifice. What that means is everything
you have, It is to be presented as a sacrifice unto God. What have thee that we have not
received? It was given to us by God, it's
His. Oh that the Lord would give us
grace to live in this sacrificial way and walk in love as Christ also
has loved us. In Philippians chapter 2, he
says, let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. This mind, the mind of Christ. Though he was equal with God.
He says he thought it not robbery. In Philippians chapter 2, let this mind, verse 5, let this
mind be new which was also in Christ Jesus who being in the
form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God but made
himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant
and was made in the likeness of men and being found in fashion
as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even
the death of the cross Wherefore God also hath highly exalted
him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven
and things in earth and things under the earth, and that every
tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory
of God the Father. Oh that the Lord would give us
the mind of Christ. would give us the spirit of charity,
of love, a love that moves us, a love that constrains us. We
read in Holy Scripture that for the love of Christ constrains
us. It's a mercy, you know friends,
when the love of Christ constrains us. Be ye therefore followers
of God, as dear children, walk in love, as Christ also has loved
us and has given himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling savour. He's given himself. He gave everything
he had. There's nothing more that he
could do. He gave his life. He gave his life. A ransom for all. 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 gave himself. Oh, my beloved
friends, this is our example. This is what we are to follow.
Be ye therefore followers of God. Jesus is the Son of God. Be ye therefore followers of
God. as dear children. And these things,
there's only one way, my beloved friends, to fulfill these gospel
precepts and commandments, and that is love. Christ himself
said, if you love me, keep my commandments. And that is the
effect of divine love. He lists a whole lot of things
here, but fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness,
let it not be once named among you as becoming saints. Neither
filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor jesting, which are not convenient,
but rather giving of thanks. For this ye know, solemn words
these are, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous
man, which is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom
of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain
words, For because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon
the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers
with them? For ye were sometimes in darkness,
but now are ye light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. For the fruit of the Spirit is
in all goodness and righteousness and truth, proving what is acceptable
unto the Lord. and have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. How
are they reproved by your life? Why the Pharisees and those here
on earth hated Christ so much is because his life, his walk,
his conduct reproved them. It was a witness against them.
the way that he lived in love, in holiness, in compassion, he
was a witness against them. And they hated him for it. That is why the world hates a
godly man, a gracious man. They do, because it shows up
their own way that they live, in selfishness and covetousness. For all things that are reproved
are made manifest by the light. Christ came as a light. I am the light of the world.
Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from
the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye
walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time,
because the days are evil. See these exhortations, my beloved
friends. He goes on, he says in verse
19, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving
thanks always for all things unto God and the Father, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ. submitting yourselves one to
another in the fear of the Lord. Oh that the Lord would give us
this this mind, this spirit, this love, that our hearts may
flow in love one to another and that we may walk in love one
to another. It says here in in this beautiful
latter part of this chapter he speaks of the church and he says
in verse 25 husbands love your wives even as Christ also loved
the church and gave himself for it that he might sanctify and
cleanse it with the washing of water by the word that he might
present it to himself a glorious church not having spot or wrinkle
or any such thing but that it should be holy and without blemish. How can that be? We're poor,
sinful, wretched sons and daughters of Adam. How can that be? Because the church is washed
in the blood of Christ, cleansed from all her sins. because the
church is clothed in the glorious everlasting robe of the righteousness
of Christ. She is. We are complete in Him. We are accepted in the Beloved.
It's in that precious blood and righteousness of Christ that
He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having
spot or wrinkle or any such thing but they should be holy and without
blemish. We're in Christ. That's the secret,
it's in Christ. Oh, that the Lord would enable
us to be followers of him and of those who through faith and
patience inherit the promises. Be ye therefore followers of
God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also hath loved
us and has given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling savour. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 461 The tune is Calverdon, 676. Lord, dismiss us with thy blessing. Fill our hearts with joy and
peace. Let us each thy love possessing,
triumph in redeeming grace. Oh, refresh us, travelling through
this wilderness. Hymn 461, tune Calverdon, ? Come unto the Lord your King
? ? Let earth receive her King ? ? Come, let earth receive her King ? Trust us, love and truth is well
done itself. Faith we give and adoration,
O God, who spells joyful sound, May the fruit of thy salvation
In our hearts and lives be found. May thy presence fill us ever more abound. So whenever signals given As
from the tip of a bay. Hold on, angels, reach to heaven,
Where to need a compass play. 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 forever. Amen.