The notices for the coming week
are God willing as follows. Mr. Timothy Parrish will preach
here next Lord's Day at 10.30 until 2 o'clock. The pastor will
preach here on Thursday evening at 7 o'clock. There will be no
prayer meeting here on Tuesday this week. The collections taken
during April amounted to 1,927 pounds and 75 pence. Donations
to the book fund were 20 pound. We sincerely thank you for your
continued support of this cause of truth. Let us commence our service today
by singing together hymn number 489. The tune is Wave Knee, 864 Next Thursday is Ascension Day.
May the Lord help us to meditate on the sacred truth that is contained
in it. Now for a theme of thankful praise,
to tune the Stammerer's Tongue, Christians your hearts and voices
raise and join the joyful song. Hymn 489, tune Waveney, 864.
? And on a hill of death from grace
? ? To eternal rest come ? Listen to hearts and voices raise and
join the joyful song. The consciousness of the mind
equates with truth. And shouts of victory in the
sky, Echoing loud in the sky. Sleep on the fields of the dead,
Dreadful day, day of pain, The path of darkness, Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave ? Your leaves unfold ? ? Reaching
the covered fields ? ? The angels strike your heart of gold ? ?
And with triumphs ? Sin has rejoiced, he died for
you, for you he passed away. ? And shall be straighter ? ? Guide
you through ? ? Where there be no grace ? ? Peace from which
? Your sins atone, to your salvation give. And take Him on His altar. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Acts of the Apostles and Chapter 1. The Acts of the Apostles, Chapter
1. This Acts of the Apostles was
written by the beloved physician Luke, that is Luke who wrote
the Gospel of Luke. The former treatise have I made,
O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach. until
the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the
Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had
chosen, to whom also he showed himself alive after his passion
by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and
speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. and being
assembled together with them commanded them that they should
not depart from jerusalem but wait for the promise of the father
which saith he ye have heard of me for john truly baptized
with water but ye shall be baptized with the holy ghost not many
days hence when they therefore were come together they asked
of him saying lord Wilt thou at this time restore again the
kingdom of Israel? And he said unto them, It is
not for you to know the times or the seasons which the Father
hath put in his own power. But ye shall receive power after
that the Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses
unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken
these things, while they beheld, he was taken up, and a cloud
received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly
toward heaven, as he went up, behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel, which also said, ye men of Galilee, why
stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken
up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye
have seen him go into heaven. Then return they unto Jerusalem
from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem at a
Sabbath day's journey, and when they will come in, that they
went up into an upper room where abode both Peter and James and
John and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James
the son of Alphaeus and Simon Zelotes and Judas the brother
of James. These all continued with one
accord in prayer and supplication with the women and Mary the mother
of Jesus. and with his brethren. And in
those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and
said the number of the names together were about 120. Men and brethren, this scripture
must needs have been fulfilled which the Holy Ghost by the mouth
of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them
that took Jesus. for he was numbered with us and
had obtained part of this ministry that this man purchased the field
with the reward of iniquity and falling headlong he burst asunder
in the midst and all his bowels gushed down and it was known
unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem insomuch as that the field is
called in their proper tongue al-qadamah that is to say the
field of blood. For it is written in the book
of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell
therein, and his bishopric let another take. Wherefore, of these
men which have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord
Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of
John unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must
one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection.
And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, which was surnamed
Justice, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, Thou,
Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show whether of these
two thou hast chosen. that he may take part of this
ministry, an apostleship, from which Judas by transgression
fell, that he might go to his own place. And they gave forth
their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was numbered
with the eleven apostles. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant to us a spirit of real Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come. We do desire to bow before thy
great majesty. We come as poor sinners, poor
needy sinners, poor empty sinners. Nothing in my hand I bring. Simply
to thy cross I cling. Foul I to the fountain fly. Wash
me, Saviour. or I die. O Lord we do pray for
grace to confess our sins and our wanderings and our backslidings
and this solemn reality that we leave undone those things
that we ought to do and we do those things that we ought not
to do and we find a law within our members that when I would
do good then evil is present with me Gracious God, deliver
us from our sinful nature, from our corrupt heart. Thy word declares unto us that
thy heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. And thou didst say to thy servant
Noah, for I know that the imagination of the heart of man is evil continually. Gracious God, we bow before thee.
We come in the only way that we can come. Plead in the blood
and righteousness of Jesus Christ. For Lord, we have no righteousness
of our own. Plead in that sacred atonement
of Calvary, for this alone is our only hope in what Jesus Christ
has done to save, to redeem, to deliver poor sinners from
the bondage of sin. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst bless us here today, that thou wouldst set
our affections on things above and not on things of the earth.
We pray that thou wouldst revive us, renew us, replenish us. We do humbly beseech thee. Bless
us as a church. Bless each one of our brethren
and sisters in church fellowship. Help us to Love each other, pray
for one another, bear one another's burdens. Give us that grace,
Lord, that the spirit of love and harmony may dwell among us,
that we may each esteem each other better than ourselves to
be. Hear us, O Lord, we humbly beseech thee for thy great namesake. Lord, we pray that this day we
may be led of the spirit of God for as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. We pray for our brethren,
the deacons, that thou would give them needed grace, wisdom
and help in their responsibilities, not only here but among the churches
of God. Thou knowest all their needs
and all their concerns. We pray that most gracious Lord
that thou would remember us as a church and as a congregation.
We think of the little ones, the children they're brought
into the sanctuary, each one of them. 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. May we see the fulfilling of
that wonderful promise, instead of thy fathers shall be thy children
whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. Lord, may we
see thy work and thy power and thy glory in the day in which
we live. Remember the young friends and
we pray that thou would watch over them and keep them. Firstly,
Lord, bring them to faith in Jesus Christ and make them true
followers of thee and of those who through faith and patience
inherit the promises. O Lord, remember them with the
favour that thou bearest unto thy people. Visit them with thy
great salvation. Remember them in all the paths
of providence. Grant them, O Lord, a partner
in life's journey, one that shall fear thy great name. And grant,
O Lord, help and guidance in their education. And graciously
remember them, O Lord, we do beseech of thee. And raise up
a seed to call thee the Redeemer, blessed. Remember the prodigals
that have wandered away. Lord, we earnestly petition thee
to lay hold of them, to bring them to living faith in Jesus
Christ, to cause them to return. Lord, our hearts would rejoice
to see the prodigals returning. Oh, to see thy wonderful power.
We do humbly pray thee. that thou would let thy work
appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children,
we do humbly beseech thee. Lord, we do pray that the glory,
light and power of the gospel may shine into this village and
the surrounding villages and hamlets and we may see an in-gathering
and that this little house of prayer may yet be filled with
hungry longing souls pressing into the kingdom of heaven. Hear
us, O Lord, let thy work appear, let thy power be known, let thy
grace be manifested, we do humbly beseech of thee. O Lord God,
we do pray that thou would deliver us from the temptations of Satan,
who goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour,
and sometimes, Lord, as an angel of light, seeking whom he might
deceive. We pray to be delivered from
his power and from his influence, as 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. Gracious God, incline thine
ear, we do humbly beseech thee, and remember us for good, we
do pray. We pray. For parents, that they
may be given wisdom and grace to bring up their children in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord, that they may be enabled
to lead them forth in that right way. And that thy word may be
a lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path. Lord, we pray
that thou would remember all in the midst of the journey of
life. Lovingly commend each one 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. Remember those of
us in the evening time of life's journey and the longest can't
be long before we soar through tracks unknown and see thee on
thy judgment throne. We pray to be graciously prepared
for that great day. For thou hast said many times
in thy work, behold, I come as a thief. Lord, we pray that we
may be found ready and waiting. When thou dost call us hence,
we do humbly beseech of thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst remember that the churches and thy servants,
as they labour in word and doctrine among the churches, and be with
them and guide them O Thou great Jehovah, we do humbly beseech
Thee, pour Thy Spirit upon them, and bless them with light and
understanding in Thy Word, and with the Spirit of power, with
that unction of the Holy One. Oh, do hear us, Lord, and grant
signs to follow the preaching of the Word, and we pray Thee,
the great Lord of the harvest, to send true labourers into the
harvest, for the harvest is great and the labourers are few. Arise,
arise, O God of grace, into thy rest is end, that thou, in the
ark of thy strength, and that thy priests be clothed with salvation,
and thy saints shall shout aloud for joy, O abundantly bless the
provision of thy house, and satisfy her poor with bread. Fulfill
those ancient promises, O bring thy sons from far, and thy daughters
from the ends of the earth, and I will work, and who shall let
it? And there I said, O Lord, I will yet be inquired of the
house of Israel to do this thing for them. I will increase them
with men like a flock. O Lord of hosts, O God of Israel,
do hear us, we pray thee. And instead of a declension,
may we see a building up, a reviving, a renewing, a replenishing in
the churches of God. Hear us, O Lord, we humbly beseech
thee. We pray for those that go forth
from among us as a group of churches and that labour in word and doctrine
in the other nations of the earth. Guard them with all sufficient
grace and supply all their many returning needs. We think of
thy servant Ian Sadler as he labours in so many different
countries and distributes the word of God. Bless him indeed. Bless the Savannah Education
Trust in Ghana and greatly bless that work that is going on there.
And O Lord, we do pray that thou would remember the Mombasa mission
and thy servant that labours there. Lord, grant good success. Let thy work appear unto thy
servants and thy glory unto their children. O Lord, we do humbly
beseech thee. Remember those that live in those
nations of the earth where thy people are hated and persecuted,
imprisoned and even unto death. Lord, we lovingly commend them
to thee and pray that thou would send them help from the sanctuary
and strengthen them out of Zion. And Lord, there are wars and
rumours of wars and many, many thousands being launched from
time into eternity. Gracious God, We do pray that
thou wouldst bring a stop to war, bring to naught the counsels
of the ungodly. We do humbly beseech of thee.
We pray, most gracious Lord, for a truly thankful heart, for
all thy tender mercies. Remember, Lord, our government.
Give wisdom to our leaders. Remember, O Lord, our King, and
the Princess of Wales, If it is thy heavenly mind, put forth
thy healing hand, and be Jehovah Rophi. I am the Lord that healeth
thee. May they know, both of them,
that healing in body and in soul, the healing grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, we commend to thee the whole of the royal house.
We thank thee, O Lord, for thy holy day. We thank thee for thy
holy word. We thank Thee for our little
house of prayer. We thank Thee for every mercy
of Thy kind providence. But above all, we thank Thee
for Jesus Christ and the fullness of that salvation that is in
Him. We thank Thee that He has done all things well. We thank
Thee for His holy life as a man here upon earth. And that we
thank Thee for the holy law fulfilled in that holy life. and everlasting
righteousness brought in for thy 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. We thank thee for those wonderful
words of grace, for the Son of Man is come to seek and to save
that which was lost. O Lord, we do thank thee. that
he died for our sins and rose again for our justification,
and then bodily ascended into heaven and now sits at thy right
hand. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
Gracious God, do incline thine ear, do have mercy upon us, and
do bless us, and do come and touch one's lips, with a live
call from of the heavenly altar and forgive all our many sins
for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 23. The tune is Strasbourg, 244. A man there is, a real man, with
wounds still gaping wide, from which rich streams of blood once
ran, in hands and feet and side. you. ? From which streams of water ?
? He left and began ? ? Eternal rest befall thee ? O come, let us adore him, O come,
let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let
us adore him, ? The land of the free and the
home of the brave ? ? The land of the free and the home of the
brave ? ? The bright children of tonight
? ? Let children of this day arise ? O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, ? We praise thee, children of the
free ? ? Come home, brave ? ? Land of the free ? ? Land of the free
? ? Land of the free ? ? His blood can wash away the sins
of the world ? He who presents us, Son of God,
Shaper, Shaper, I'm really feeling to need the
Lord's gracious help and direct your attention to the book of
Psalms, reading Psalm 24. Psalm 24. We'll look at the whole
Psalm. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein. For
he hath founded it upon the seas. and established it upon the floods.
Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, but who shall stand
in his holy place? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart, or hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor
sworn deceitfully, he shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and
righteousness from the God of his salvation. This is the generation
of them that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob, Cedar. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, Lift up your
heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors,
and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts. He is the
King of glory, Selah. This psalm seemed to settle upon my spirit
early on Friday morning. I'd set aside Friday to get ready
for today and it was particularly the last part, lift up your head
through your gates and when you lift up you have a last indoors
and it seemed to just abide with me. And it was then that I looked
into my diary and I found that next Thursday is Ascension Day,
when we remember the ascension of our Lord Jesus Christ into
eternal glory. Easter Sunday we remember the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now we don't confine our remembrances
just to those days, but they are days in the Christian calendar
that are set aside for that purpose, to remember these wonderful,
significant events that took place in the glorious person
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This is what he came
to do. He came to save his people from
their sins. The angel said unto Mary, And
ye shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. Jesus is exactly the same as
Joshua. One is from the Greek and the
other is from the Hebrew. And they mean exactly the same
thing, the Saviour. Joshua, of course, is a beautiful
type of our Lord Jesus Christ as he led the children of Israel
into the land of Canaan. Now, we read here, I say it was
the last part of the psalm, but as I was looking at the psalm,
I thought, what a wonderful way it opens. The earth is the Lord's.
The earth is Jehovah's. As we read, it is he that hath
made us. and not we ourselves. The earth
is the Lord and the fullness thereof, the world and they that
dwell therein. You are not your own. And that
can be spoken of every person of the human race, not just of
the Lord's people. He is God over all. He is blessed
forevermore. this world was created by him. I always think it is very sublime
the way that the Gospel according to John opens that first chapter,
that first five verses of the Gospel according to John speak
so beautifully of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the beginning was
the Word. Written with a capital W. Why? Because it refers to the fact
that He is the Son of God. And He is the Son of God from
all eternity. He is the only begotten Son of
the Father. As the hymn writer says, begotten
not created. In the beginning was the Word.
And the Word was with God. So the Son of God, from all eternity
with the Father, He's of the same eternal nature. And the Word was God. He is a
divine person. There are those three divine
persons in the Godhead. When it says here, the earth
is the Lord, it's speaking of the glorious Godhead, Jehovah. Jehovah the Father, Jehovah the
Son, Jehovah the Holy Ghost. Each one is referred to as Jehovah. Says, doesn't it, that now the
Lord is that spirit. And where the spirit of the Lord
is, there is liberty. And then we read in the first
epistle of John, chapter five, verse seven. These three, who
Father, Son, Holy Ghost, these three are one. One blessed, infinite,
almighty and eternal God. The same was in the beginning
with God. This is particularly what I wanted
to draw your attention to. All things were made by him and
without him was not anything made that was made. In him was
life and the life was the light of men and the light shineth
in darkness. and the darkness comprehended
it not. And then we look at verse 14
and he says, and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us
and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. The earth is the Lord's
and the fullness thereof. Apostle Paul in the epistle to
the Colossians, he speaks there of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. And he says in Colossians 1 verse
15, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature,
for by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are
in earth, visible and invisible. whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers all things were created by him and
for him and he is before all things and by him all things
consist he is the head of the body the church who is the beginning
the firstborn from the dead that in all things he might have the
pre-eminence for it pleased the father in him should all fullness
dwell. There's a wonderful fullness
in our Lord Jesus Christ. The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell therein, the
whole world. And in that thinking of that
fact that God is a universal God, there's only one God, the
scriptures are absolutely abundantly clear, then One God and one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave his life
of ransom for all. And the apostles, they tell us
very, very clearly that there is none other name given under
heaven whereby you must be saved. So wherever we live, wherever
we are in the world, whatever tribe, whatever people we belong
to, whatever color our skin, there's only one God. There's
only one Savior. There's only one Deliverer, there's
only one that has power to save, and that is the only begotten
Son of the Father, even our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And each one of us must appear
at the judgment seat of Jesus Christ, to give account of the
deeds done in the body, as it is appointed unto man, once to
die, so after death, the judgment, the earth is the Lord's. He created us, and it is the
Lord's. And we're beholden to Him, whether
we like it or we don't like it. Whether we believe it or whether
we don't believe it, this is a fact, this is a solemn reality. He is God over all. And as it
is appointed unto man once to die, so after death, the judgment,
the judgment seat. It says the Lord Jesus in his
teachings that all nations shall appear before him. Why? Because
each one of us are accountable to him. It has become the widespread
practice in the evangelical churches. And some of them very sound.
And they hammer home the message that you are responsible. And
they call it the doctrine of man's responsibility. I don't
really read once in holy scripture of the doctrine of man's responsibility. That's not a scriptural word.
I do read of the doctrine of man's accountability. And that's
a totally different thing. And that is very clearly set
before us in God's holy word. That every one of us is accountable
to God. Every one of us must answer unto
God. because it was he that hath made
us, and not we ourselves. God spake and it was done. The
earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the world,
and they that dwell therein, for he hath founded it upon the
seas, and established it upon the floods. God did. in the Psalm 33. Very beautifully, in such sublime
language, the dear Psalmist of Israel, he speaks of the creation
of the world. Psalm 33 verse 6, By the word
of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them
by the breath of his mouth. He gathereth the waters of the
sea together as a heap. He layeth up the depths in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord.
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For
he spake, and it was done. What does it mean? He created
the world. He spake, and it was done. He commanded, and it stood
fast. The Lord bringeth the counsel
of the heathen to naught. he maketh the devices of the
people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth
forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. You see, it says in verse 13,
that the Lord looketh from heaven, he beholdeth all the sons of
men from the place of his habitation. He looketh upon all the inhabitants
of the earth, he fashioneth their hearts alike, He considereth
all their works. You see, my beloved friends,
these things are written for our instruction. Instruct us
that the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof, the
world and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the
seas and established it upon the floods. And now the language
changes. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy
place? The hill of the Lord, we can look at it in a twofold
sense, there is the church of God on earth, which is called Zion, and the
little houses of prayer are called the hills of Zion, and the Lord is said to dwell
there, in the hills of Zion, among his people, But, you know, Scriptures again are
abundantly clear. I often point out to you and
I find it a very deep instruction. The Apostle, when he writes the
Epistle to the Romans in the third chapter, he speaks so clearly
there of our utter, complete, lost condition. And he's quoting from the book
of Psalms, Romans 3 and from verse 10, as it is written. What he means there is written
in the Old Testament, as it is written. This is speaking of
the whole of the human race. There is none righteous, no,
not one. See, who shall ascend into the
hill of the Lord? There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of
the way. They are together become unprofitable.
There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is
an open sepulchre. With their tongues they have
used deceit. The poison of Asp is under their
lips, whose mouth is full of cursing. and bitterness, their
feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery in their
ways, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear
of God before their eyes. That is your and my solemn condition
before a holy God. We're dead in trespasses and
in sins. Who shall ascend into the hill
of the Lord? He that hath clean hands. We
can't say that, can we? We don't have clean hands. We
certainly don't. We're unclean. We're like the
lepers that we read of in the days of Christ and what they
were told to do in the Levitical dispensation. When they went
forward, they cried, unclean, unclean. Leprosy is a very infectious
disease. In other words, keep away from
me. We're unclean. shall ascend into
the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in his holy place?
He that hath clean hands and a pure heart. You might say,
but there's no hope for me. Do you feel you're unpleased?
Do you feel that you're unrighteous? Do you feel there's no hope for
you? When you read words like this, he that hath clean hands
and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
nor sworn deceitfully, do you feel condemned under that? You see, but there is one, this
is what is found in our text, and that one is the glorious
person of our Lord Jesus Christ, the word that was made flesh
and dwelt among us. He had clean hands. As the Word
of God declares, concerning him he did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. He had clean hands. He did. And a pure heart. I often quote
to you that lovely verse in Psalm 37, verse 37. Mark the perfect
man and behold the upright For the end of that man is peace.
That man is Christ. He's the only perfect man that
ever lived upon this earth. You and I are born in sin. We
are shaped in iniquity. We're unrighteous by our very
birth. We are. We're born in sin. Do you know it? Do you feel it?
Do you realize it? Do you understand it? Born in
sin. And the word of God is abundantly
clear, the soul that sinneth it shall die. You die, we've
each one got to die. And we must each appear at the
judgment seat of Jesus Christ when we die, every one of us. You see, my beloved friends,
the Lord has made a way. whereby poor guilty sinners can
approach unto God, whereby poor guilty sinners can find mercy
and grace in the sight of God. Moses said to him, let me find
grace in thy sight. How many of us here in this chapel
this morning are saying that? Let me find grace in thy sight. By grace are ye saved. that not
of yourselves, it is the gift of God. What a wonderful thing
to have that gift of grace. And it's the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And where it says here, he that
hath clean hands and a pure heart, hath not lifted up his soul unto
vanity, nor sworn deceitfully, that's glorious person of Christ. He shall receive the blessing
from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.
You see, this is the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ. He wasn't born by natural generation. He was born by a supernatural
act of God. When the Holy Ghost overshadowed
the womb of the Virgin Mary, And the angel said to them, that
holy thing that shall be born of thee shall be called the Son
of God. That holy thing. You see, he
had no sin. He was born without sin. You
and I sin because we're sinners. We are. We sin because we're
sinners. Oh, my beloved friends, may these
things sink deep into our hearts. he shall receive the blessing
from the Lord, that's Christ, and righteousness from the God
of his salvation. You know, the hymn writer always
puts it in a beautiful way, good men there are, but be it known
that goodness dwells in Christ their head. that every soul truly born again
of the Spirit and brought to saving faith in Jesus Christ,
they all acknowledge that they're a sinner. And they will all acknowledge,
even as they get older and come down toward the grave, they all
acknowledge, I'm nothing. I'm a sinner. I have a heart
which is deceitful above all things. desperately with no help
himself I find, yet oft have sought it well. That's the language
of the true child of God. That which I would I do not,
that which I would not I do. I find a law within my members
that when I would do good that evil is present with me. That's
a description of the true child of God, the conflict that goes
on within. I am all unrighteousness. Doesn't the Word of God say? And this is what the true child
of God knows by the inward teaching and power of the Holy Ghost. From the crown of the head to
the sole of the foot, wounds and bruises and putrefying sores,
there is no soundness in my flesh. In my early spiritual days, I
ran away with the idea that As we got older we'd get more godly,
more gracious. But you know friends, to your
feelings, inwardly in those spiritual exercises and concerns of your
soul, you may actually feel to get worse. I certainly do. It's a awful fountain of iniquity
that is in your heart. That's a solemn word in Jeremiah,
isn't it? The heart of man is evil. Evil. And the Lord said to Noah, didn't
he? That he would no longer flood
the earth. For I know, he said, that the imagination of the heart
of man is evil continually. You may say, and your reaction
may be, we are painting a pretty black view of human nature. You
know, friends, I really cannot paint it black enough. Our condition is deplorable. God is holy and righteous, and
we're not at all equipped to guilty. No, God is holy. We are unholy. God is pure, we are unpure. And like the Apostle says, we
already quoted it in Romans 7, of that great conflict that there
is in the heart of a true believer. And he says when he writes to
the Galatians for, he said, the flesh, that's our flesh, lusteth
against the Spirit. That's the Holy Spirit that dwells
in the heart. of the true believer. Flesh lusteth
against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and the one
is the contrary to the other. So my beloved friends, we have
to come to this solemn conclusion that we're sinners, and that
we always will be sinners. I should never forget the time
just before I was brought into gospel liberty, a few months
before, and those words, and Ezekiel walked up and down in
my soul, turn again, O son of man, and thou shalt see greater
abominations than these. And you know, it came to a point
one particular morning when I could see so clearly, I believe the
Holy Spirit showed me that every sin that was in this world was in my heart. The immorality,
the wickedness, the unrighteousness, the uncleanness was all in my heart. It was. And it was that line of a hymn
that really sealed that teaching. I shall never forget it because
it was with great power. Nor can I promise future good
to bring. And in a moment the Holy Spirit
revealed to me, I always would be a sinner. And he revealed
to me that I kept trying to make myself better. I'd been in the
way many years then, but I kept trying to make myself better.
I kept trying to make myself more acceptable to God, more
holy, more righteous. But the more I strove against
sin's power, I sinned and stumbled but the more. Till late I heard
my Saviour say, Come hither soul, I am the way. Jesus is the way
to God. Jesus is the way to bless. Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest
for your souls. He shall receive the blessing
of the Lord, and every blessing that you and I need is found
in Christ. You'll never find it in yourself.
Never forget years ago hearing a minister say from the pulpit,
now I want to come down into your hearts, he said, and find
some good things there. I sat in my seat, I couldn't
hardly believe what I was hearing, man, What are you talking about? The only thing you'll find in
your heart is sin, corruption. The heart of man is deceitful
above all things. It's desperately wicked. It is. The only hope is in the glorious
person of our Lord Jesus Christ. He shall receive the blessing
from the Lord. and righteousness from the God
of his salvation. Just look at Christ. He was born
holy. He lived holy. He did no sin. Neither was guile found in his
mouth. He was righteous altogether. The apostle puts it so beautifully,
doesn't he? You are complete in him. We are
accepted in the beloved. That's where acceptance is. Our
completenesses, that word complete is often translated perfect. It's as much as saying you're
perfect in Christ. In that glorious everlasting
robe of his righteousness. This is the generation of them
that seek him, that seek thy face, O Jacob, see them. Now, when man fell into sin,
When Adam and Eve fell into sin, the Lord put a flaming sword
of divine justice to keep the way of the tree of life so that
man could not approach unto God. There was a complete separation
between God and man. What a terrible situation, wasn't
it? But then, in that same chapter where it speaks of the curse
that was put upon man, and woman, and the devil, then there's a revelation, the
seed of the woman. So in that terrible situation,
utter lost condition, the terrible bondage of sin and
corruption that man had fallen into. What a fall it was, wasn't
it? Let us not minimize the fall
of man. Since Adam, by transgression,
fell, he ruined all his future race. The seeds of evil once
brought in increased and filled the world with sin. But lo, the second Adam comes.
Adam is the federal head of the human race. Christ, the second
Adam, and he's called the second Adam in Holy Scripture. He's
the great king and head of the church, even our Lord Jesus Christ. And he's the way to God. And
he in that when he came, born of the seed of David, as promised
in the Old Testament, when he came, he came to redeem, he came
to deliver. When he was coming towards the
end of his life and he said to the disciples, he said, to this
end was I born. For this cause came I into the
world. For this end was I born. For this cause came I into the
world. Christ, the Son of God, manifest
in the flesh. He lived a holy life. He lived
a life without sin. He lived a life that was perfect.
And why did he do that? You know, the glorious robe of
the righteousness of Christ What it is, is the sacred obedience
of the holy God-man to the law. He lived a life that was pure
and holy and righteous. He did no sin. Not only that,
did he keep the commandments of God as contained in the Ten
Commandments, but he also fulfilled the law in this way, that thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. And our Lord Jesus Christ did
that. He loved his neighbours himself.
How many times do we read in the life of Christ, Jesus having
compassion? You know, if we have the spirit
and mind of Christ, it's a spirit and mind of love. Love, kindness,
compassion. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. That love, that kindness, that
compassion that is in Christ Jesus. And then, having lived
that perfect life, that holy life, and in that glorious righteousness
of Christ, He clothes His people to cover our nakedness. That
royal robe to cover thee, the hymn writer says. Jesus thy blood
and righteousness my beauty are my glorious dress in these arrayed
that glorious everlasting robe of the righteousness of Christ
of the perfections of Christ this is grace by grace are ye
saved and then he entered into death itself He suffered and
bled and died for the sins of his people. The Lord, the Heavenly
Father, laid upon him the iniquity of us all and he took our sins
and he now them to his cross. He has. Sins of the church. He lived
for the church. He suffered for the church. He
died for the church. I lay down my life. No man has
power to take it. I lay down my life. That holy
human life that he took in the womb of the Virgin, he laid it
down. He said, Father, into thy hands
I commend my spirit. And in so doing, he entered into
death itself. What was the purpose of that?
To redeem his people. He suffered to redeem them from
their sins. He entered into death to redeem
them from the curse of the law. He was made a curse for them. He that knew no sin was made a curse. And on the
third day he rose again. The purpose of entering into
death? To destroy it. To swallow it up in victory.
On the third day he rose again. And then he led them out. We've read in the Acts of the
Apostles how the Lord, the disciples witnessed him being taken in
a cloud up into heaven. And the angel speaking, why gaze
ye up into heaven? This same Jesus shall come again
in like manner. The psalmist, he says, thou hast
to send it up on high. It's the ascension of Christ.
Thou hast ascended up on high. Thou hast received gifts for
men, yea for the rebellious also. These wonderful gifts that our
Lord Jesus Christ has for his church and for his people. And
then, as it says in Luke, he led them out as far as unto Bethany,
that is the disciples. He lifted up his hands and blessed
them. and they beheld him as he ascended in a cloud into heaven. He ascended in a cloud into heaven. And those gates of heaven that
were shut when Adam fell, and this is the second Adam, having
satisfied all the demands of divine justice, having swallowed
up death in victory, having put away the sin of the church forever,
he ascends into eternal glory. Because I live, ye shall live
also. And those gates of heaven that
were shut when Adam fell, they're now opened by the second Adam.
The apostle says in the Hebrews, he hath made a new and living
way into the holy place. and this prophecy here in these
four verses in the close of this psalm and they're these psalms
and we must understand the language properly we must realize that
these psalms were made for singing they were written for that purpose
and it's well recorded in holy scripture how that the israelites
sang the psalms and Just as it is today, sometimes
we sing repeater hymns, and sometimes the bass comes in, or the tenor
comes in, or the alto comes in, or the treble, and they come
in at different times. And this, if you look at these
four verses, they were meant to be sung. And as they were
singing, so you'd have one singing one part, one singing another
part. Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye
everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is
this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the
Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The
Lord of hosts. He is the King of glory. sealer. Who is it? It's King Jesus. It's the mighty God, the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. He led them out as far as Antipathy,
lift up his hands and bless them and he ascended into heaven and
he opened those gates that had been shut. He made a new and
living way into the holy place. What did he say to his disciples
before he suffered? Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house on
many mountains, 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, that
where I am, there ye may be also. Oh, those eternal gates lifted
up there, everlasting heavens. I believe the right understanding
of this is like if you go to we have around here several old
castles and usually they had a portcullis on the entrance
to the castle generally over a moat there was a bridge and
the portcullis would it was on ropes and it would be pulled
up and it could easily be dropped very quickly if an enemy was
coming so it was lifting it up above the gate into the stonework.
And that's really what the illustration is here. And what Christ has
done at that gate of heaven that dropped down and barred the way
into heaven because of man's sin, the Lord Christ, he has
ascended. And because of his holy life,
his glorious everlasting righteousness, because of his holy sacrifice,
sufferings and sorrows, because of his death, because of his
resurrection. He has ascended into heaven.
He's ascended into heaven. And what a rejoicing, what you
seem to read of here in this language here of these four last
verses of the psalm, it's a song of rejoicing. Lift up your heads
O ye gates, but ye lift up ye everlasting doors, and the King
of Glory shall come in, as our Lord Jesus Christ, as he enters
heaven itself. Who is this King of Glory? The
Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle, as our Lord
Jesus Christ, the great King and Head of the Church. He shall
go forth conquering and to conquer. Who is this King of Glory? The
Lord of Hosts. Speaking here, of course, of
the divinity of Christ. The Lord of Hosts. He is the
King of Glory. I say, what wonderful, sacred
anthems must have rang through the courts of paradise when the
holy God-man ascended into heaven and entered into the holy place.
You see, the Apostle, he uses those illustrations, especially
in the epistle to the Hebrews of how that Christ is now entered
into heaven for us, he says, for his church. He's redeemed
his church. He's washed them in his precious
blood. He's clothed them in his everlasting righteousness. You see, it says in Hebrews 9,
Verse 11, but Christ being come and high priest of good things
to come by greater and more perfect tabernacle. That's the tabernacle
that was in the wilderness and now the apostle is referring
to the sacred human nature of the Son of God. A greater and
more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say
not of this building, not of the seed of Adam, neither by
the blood of goats. cast but by his own blood he
entered in once into the holy place having obtained eternal
redemption for us the holy place and it says in verse 24 for Christ
is not entered into the holy places made with hands which
are the figures of the true but into heaven itself now to appear
in the presence of God for us. There's something so sacred and
beautiful there. Now to appear in the presence
of God for us. For, he says again in the Hebrews,
for such a high priest have we, who is passed into the heavens.
Jesus, the son of God. Now, because he's opened those
wonderful gates, he's opened them to the whole church of Christ.
And when they die, they will enter into the eternal place. You think we've lost our late
beloved sister, Ina Field, but she has now entered into the
holy place. That word that was so special
to her, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God,
believe also in me. She now experiences that place
of eternal glory when she beholds the beloved. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
she sees him face to face, a man, we've just sung it in the hymn,
a man there is, a real man, with wounds still gaping wide, from
which rich streams of blood once ran in hands and feet and side. This glorious man, this glorious
holy God man, this almighty redeemer who's able to save to the uttermost
all that come unto God by him, We read in the beginning of Psalm
110, a beautiful messianic psalm. The Lord said unto my Lord, sit
thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool.
That's Christ. The Lord, the Father said, sit
thou at my right hand. Oh, we have a great high priest.
We have an advocate with the Father. Come then, repent in
synagogue and trust upon his grace. O what thou wilt, the
total sum is cancelled by his death. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 481. The tune is Justification 360. descend from heaven, immortal
dark, stoop down and take us on thy wings, and mount and bear
us far above the reach of these inferior things. Hymn 481, tune
Justification 360. ? To earth as it were the home
of the brave ? ? The rich are made in various
ways ? ? The rich are made in various ways ? ? Of peace in heavenly peace ?
? Eternally come ? ? Eternally come ? ? A very humble naked soul ? ?
Then shall it rest at heaven's door ? ? And heard them talk of Jesus
Christ ? ? And heard them talk of Jesus Christ ? ? Light the ways in strife ? ?
On that almighty Father's birth ? ? Heaven's victors we have
crowned ? O come, O come, Emmanuel ? Holy, holy, Lord God of hosts
? ? Hark! the herald angels sing ? ? Glory
to the newborn King! ? ? And the people in awe ? ? Echoed
the praises to the Lord ? ? And gently pour it on them ?
? And gently pour it on them ?
? And those that hate me ? ? Joy
take me ? ? And to them all ? ? Empathy take me ? ? Every, every day. ? ? That's when we find ourselves
back here. ? And spread the chalice of Bethlehem. that shall make it good again.
And I shall come to the temple of God ? God sent a man from heaven to
earth ? ? And to the nations he gave his blood ? 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.