We will commence the worship
of God this afternoon by singing hymn 194. The tune is Westminster
865. Hail mighty Jesus, how divine
is thy victorious sword. The stoutest rebel must resign
at thy commanding word. 194. The Almighty Jesus shall define
His Creator and Soul. Thus from this world all must
resign, ? And grace the Lord holds dear ? ? Gave peace
for all who trod ? ? Christ, the Lord, praise the Savior now
? ? And Christ, as He stands now ? O come, O come, Thou King of
glory, O come, Thou King of glory, O come, Thou King of glory, When life it is for all to eat,
When all the truth to taste, Shepherds, what hope do we need,
To see thy God in place? And may thy love, most
holy God, And God made the land, And I live, and my grace will
show, With my shouting and my song. This afternoon we turn to 2 Timothy
and we read chapters one and two. The second epistle of Paul
to Timothy, reading chapters one and two. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
by the will of God, according to the promise of life, which
is in Christ Jesus. To Timothy, my dearly beloved
son, grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus
our Lord. I thank God whom I serve from
my forefathers with pure conscience that without ceasing I have remembrance
of thee in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see
thee being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy
when I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee,
which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois and thy mother Eunice, and
I am persuaded that in thee also. Wherefore, I put thee in remembrance
that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the putting
on of my hands. for God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us and called us with an holy
calling not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of
our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and hath
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
Whereunto I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher
of the Gentiles. For the witch cause I also suffer
these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed,
for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able
to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. Hold fast the form of sound words
which thou hast heard of me in faith and love, which is in Christ
Jesus, that good thing which was committed unto thee by the
Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us. This thou knowest that all
they which are in Asia be turned away from me, of whom are Phygelus
and Homogenes. The Lord give mercy unto the
house of Onesiphorus, for he after refreshed me, and was not
ashamed of my chains, But when he was in Rome, he sought me
out very diligently and found me. The Lord grant unto him that
he may find mercy of the Lord in that day. And in how many
things he ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very
well. Thou therefore, my son, be strong
in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things which thou
hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful
men who shall be able to teach others also. Thou therefore endure
hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that woreth
entangleth himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please
him who hath called, who hath chosen him to be a soldier. And
if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned except
he strive lawfully. The husband man that laboreth
must be first partaker of the fruits. Consider what I say,
and the Lord give the understanding in all things. Remember that
Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according
to my gospel. wherein I suffer trouble as an
evildoer, even unto bonds, but the word of God is not bound.
Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they
may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with
eternal glory. It is a faithful saying, for
if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer,
we shall also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will
deny us. If we believe not, yet he abideth
faithful, he cannot deny himself. Of these things put them in remembrance,
charging them before the Lord, that they strive not about words
to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to show
thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed,
rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain
babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness, and their
word will eat as doth a canker, of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus,
who concerning the truth have erred, saying, that the resurrection
is past already and overthrow the faith of some. Nevertheless,
the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord
knoweth them that are his, and let everyone that nameth the
name of Christ depart from iniquity. But in a great house there are
not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and
of earth, and some to honour, and some to dishonour. If a man
therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto
honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared
unto every good work. Flee also youthful lusts, but
follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that
call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned
questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strife. And the
servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto all
men, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that
oppose themselves. If God perventure will give them
repentance, to the acknowledging of the truth and that they may
recover themselves out of the snare of the devil who are taken
captive by him at his will. So reads the word of God. May
the Lord bless it to us and help us now as we pray. Almighty and ever gracious God,
once again we desire to Commit ourselves to Thee, at the throne
of grace. Help us, O Lord, to come collectively,
as one prays, we trust it may be the desires of the hearts
of the people present, that we may come, as it were, as a body
of people, and that we pray that we may know something of that
holy boldness, that we may come boldly to the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of
need. Lord, this time of worship is
a time of need. We need thy gracious aid and
assistance. We need the function and power
of thy Holy Spirit to be upon us, preacher and hearers. We
pray, Lord, there may be an unction, a dew from heaven resting upon
this worship this afternoon. We pray in the reading of the
word, it may be profitable, and in the preaching of it. And we
pray, O Lord, that the people will be instructed and built
up in their most holy faith and encouraged, though they may experience
discouragements and disappointments and setbacks and hardships in
this life. But Lord, we pray that you'll
draw near to help them to look beyond these things to one who
is seated above on an eternal throne, who is ruling and reigning
and outworking out thy gracious purposes for thy people. For
it is true that at times we come into situations where many things
seem perplexing and mysterious, and we cannot lay them straight.
Help us, O Lord, at such times to trust in thee, though we cannot
trace thee. Help us, Lord, to realise that
Thou art working all things for good, for Thy people who are
called according to Thy purpose. So, Lord, we pray Thou help us
in these things. Help us to trust in Thee at all
times. We realise in ourselves we are
weak and faint, but we need strength from above. We are thankful for
the way in which the preaching of the Word of God is used to
this end. to help us, to give us inward strength, and we pray
this may be the case this afternoon, that comfort may be experienced
from the Word and that we may see afresh the wonders of thy
glorious plan of salvation for all of thy people from the beginning
of human history until Christ comes again, thy one true Church
is secure, Thou'st purposed for Thy people everlasting bliss. Lord, we realise we cannot comprehend
and our minds are so limited in seeking to understand the
glory that is promised hereafter for all of Thy believing people.
We trust that we have an appetite and a desire for these things.
We pray that we may have that sight of faith to look within
the veil to see Christ enthroned and glorified and interceding,
he who is the mediator and the surety of his people. And Lord,
we pray thou send down thy gracious spirit to stir up our hearts
and to bless us indeed. Let us know the circumstances
and needs of the people here this afternoon. And we would
commend to thee those who may be in particular difficulties
and distress. Perhaps some have decisions to
make and are very unsure as to what they should do or what thy
will is for them. But Lord, thou art able to make
things plain. Thou art thine own interpreter.
And we pray, Lord, thou make things clear for them that they
may walk ahead with sufficient light for the next step. Lord,
guide them, we pray. Thou hast promised to guide thy
people, and we are thankful for the great guidance texts of the
Word of God, and our prayer at times in particular has been,
as it was with Saul of Tarsus, Lord, what wilt thou have me
to do? But the Psalmist David could
testify that thy spirit is good, lead me into the land of uprightness. And so we pray this may be a
happy experience to wait upon thee, to see thy hand, to observe
the pillar of cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night.
And so we pray that we may desire to follow Christ, who is the
master to whom we owe allegiance. Lord, do bless us and be with
us, we pray. Grant us day by day to draw near
to thee, May we do so more feelingly. May we know a greater spirit
of wrestling prayer, a sense of fellowship with Thee. As the
Apostle John expresses it, truly our fellowship is with the Father
and with His Son, Jesus Christ. We pray again, help bless the
children, young people, to open their hearts, we pray. Give them
understanding minds, May they be receptive to the words of
truth that they hear, whether it be at home or whether it be
in the services week by week. May there be things that will
remain with them and may be applied with power from on high. That
they may be awakened to newness of life and given a spiritual
understanding regarding the sinfulness of sin and the preciousness of
Christ. May the theme that we were considering
this morning be true of them, that they may realize their sin
sickness and feel their need of the good physician. And we
are thankful for the wonders of the word of God revealed to
us, the compassion of Christ to sinners in his earthly ministry,
performing miracle after miracle to show forth his kindness towards
those in need. demonstrating to us the miracle
of grace. We pray that amongst these young
people there may be those who truly feel the need to call upon
Thee for Thy so great salvation. May they not, as it were, put
these things off and somehow imagine that some other time
will be better. When they're older, when they
think they might be dying, then will be the time to think about
these things, but may they realise the brevity of life and the uncertainty
of this life, and that they may truly, with heartfelt desire,
call upon Thee. Lord, bless them, we pray, with
true repentance before Thee and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. May they see in Him that which
their soul stands in need of, of cleansing from sin, of being
made righteous in thy sight, through the Saviour's obedience.
Lord, bless them, we pray. And may the love of Christ constrain
hearts to confess thy name, to acknowledge thee before others,
to willingly identify themselves with thy people, though they
may feel to be the least, less than the least, of all saints. willingly, with the love of Christ
motivating them, confess whose they are and whom they serve. Once again we pray for the pastor
of this church, thy blessing may be upon him and his future
ministry. And we pray for the deacons in
their responsibility, help them to use the office of a deacon
wisely. And we pray that bless them in
the commitments that are theirs We pray, Lord, that you bless
every member of the church, and we pray for other like-minded
churches in this county that love the Saviour's name, who
desire to lift up the name of Jesus. We pray thy good hand
may be upon them. We realise we live in a day of
small things, generally speaking, in this country, and they are
so prospered and blessed. The work of the gospel in times
past, our hearts yearn for better days, we long for refreshing
showers upon thy people. And we would bring before thee
the echoes of the psalmist who said regarding the prosperity
of Zion that the Lord will appear in his glory and may that be
our happy experience even in our lifetime. May we see a turning
of the tide, may sinners be convicted, May there be an awakening whereby
sinners realize the futility of life, trusting in earthly
things, and may seek after heavenly treasure. We pray this may be
the experience throughout this nation, this land so favored
of the skies, and yet, in our times, what land more vile? Lord,
we mourn over the inbreds of Satan, We grieve over the departures
from the standards of thy word, the way in which the scriptures
are considered irrelevant to modern man. But we pray that
better times may come, that great preachers may be raised up to
perverse sea and land to proclaim with trumpet voice the unsearchable
riches of Christ, that sinners may be called to repentance,
that lives may be changed by grace. Lord do hear us in these
things we pray, magnify thy grace, make known thy power in these
times. We think of Israel and the valley of dry bones when
all seemed so dead, so hopeless, everything so impossible. But
the wind of the Spirit came and life was imparted and the bones
were brought together and raised up as a great army. May this
be the case in our times that thy people may be strengthened
and go forth as an army with banners. We are thankful for
the spread of the word in other parts of the world and especially
those countries where there is hostility and direct persecution
and yet the people of God are being blessed and numbers added
to them such as should be saved. We especially remember those
in prison for their faith who suffer so much by way of indignity
and loss and pain and even the possibility of an untimely end. Lord, we know that thy people
are safe. May they remain faithful unto death and at last obtain
a crown of life. Lord, do remember them for good,
we pray. And we will pray for persecutors
that they, like solitarsis of old, may realize the sinfulness
of their sin, and they may turn away from these things, and they
may become true supporters of the people of God. Lord, thy
hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is thine
ear heavy that it cannot hear. Do bow down, O Lord, we pray,
to hear the cries of the remnant of thy people. And so, Lord,
do draw near to bless us, to help us, we pray, and look upon
us in all our needs. Bless those who seek to make
known the truths of the Gospel, whether it be in the open air,
whether it be in missionary capacity overseas. Lord, bless Thy people
in these endeavours, those who desire to uphold the honour and
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and to speak faithfully of the
truth. graciously assist them, we pray.
Bless that which is spoken. It may be as arrows that are
sharpened, that reach the heart of the king's enemies. They may
fall under the truth and are cut down by it. They may be raised
up by faith in Christ and healed and pardoned. So, Lord, do receive
us now, we pray, and bless us as we turn to the scriptures
Give us light upon the sacred page, we ask, and bless the word
to us. Honor and glory to thy great
name, we pray, as we ask these things with forgiveness of our
latest sins. For Christ's sake, amen. We now sing together the hymn
1104, Juni's Foundation, 829. Convinced as a sinner to Jesus
I come, informed by the gospel for such is there is room, overwhelmed
with sorrow for sin will I cry, lead me to the rock that is higher
than I, 1104. I'm. Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O come, let us adore Him O come,
let us adore Him O come, let us adore Him O come, let us adore
Him May there be time to remember
thy pride. May we taste the promise in time. The story of the earth and the
living God. Please turn with me to the second
letter of Paul to Timothy and chapter two. The second letter
of the apostle Paul to Timothy, chapter two, and I direct your
particular attention to the words of verse 19. Nevertheless, the
foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth
them that are his, and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ
depart from iniquity. It may have been somewhat of
a puzzle to the Lord's people in New Testament times to find
that this very useful man, his servant of God, the Apostle Paul,
shut up in prison. At the time of writing this epistle,
this was his second imprisonment, and he was persuaded that he
soon would face the executioner's sword. and in view of this he
wrote to Timothy under divine inspiration and sought to instruct
him and to encourage him. He had a particular concern for
him as his son in the faith. We understand that when Paul
first went to Lystra it's quite possible that Timothy was called
by grace under Paul's ministry on that occasion. We do know
for sure that the second time Paul went to Lystra He enlisted
this young man, Timothy, to be his fellow labourer in the gospel. So they travelled together and
he learnt many things from the Apostle Paul, by his whole department
and by his words and his ministry. So he was being prepared for
future usefulness. And it's generally agreed that
Timothy was the first pastor at the church at Ephesus. But
Paul, now being in prison, he reviews his past experiences. He reflects upon his own ministry
and upon the situation that Timothy was facing. A new wave of persecution
was unleashed against the early New Testament church and he's
anxious to encourage Timothy and to exhort him and to warn
him of false teachers. And he names some of them, doesn't
he? As a general rule, I think it's
not wise for a minister to name names of false teachers, but
sometimes that may be necessary. Certainly the Apostle Paul believed
that was appropriate here. So he names in chapter one, in
verse 15, Phygelus and Hermogenes. And here in the second chapter,
he mentions the names of two others. I can't just see them
at the moment, They're there for us, for our instruction to
realize. Verse 17, Hymenaeus and Philetus. Chapter 3, he mentions
Janis and Jambres, they're the names of the magicians of Egypt,
but the spirit, the ungodly spirits of those Egyptian magicians were
still alive, you might say, and working through ungodly people
even in Timothy's ministry and opposing the truth. And in the
last chapter, Alexander the coppersmith is particularly mentioned who
did much evil to the apostle Paul. So these were wolves in
sheep's clothing, posing themselves as believers. It would appear
in some cases at least that their influence was ungodly, turning
people away from the truth, confusing people's minds. Now what was
the particular error that was being promoted by at least some
of these people? Verse 17 mentions Thymineus and
Thylitis, and their word will eat as doth a canker, which means
a gangrene. Perhaps some of you children
will know what gangrene is. It's a serious disease that may
affect initially perhaps just a toe, but if it's not dealt
with, the poison will infect the foot and the leg and may
cause death. So sometimes drastic action has
to be taken to amputate a limb to prevent further spread of
this disease and that was the influence of these ungodly teachers. It was like a canker or a gangrene
affecting the body of Christ and drastic action needed to
be taken and sometimes it has to be taken even amongst the
Lord's people when people fall into error, maybe promoting that
which is Contrary to the doctrine of Christ, in a particular church,
and the church, if they're faithful, may have to take action against
them to dismiss them from fellowship. Well, these things are sad and
distressing, but sometimes necessary. But the particular doctrine that
was being broached was regarding the resurrection of Christ. It would appear that they weren't
denying that Christ rose from the dead, but denying there's
going to be a future resurrection, verse 18, who concerning the
truth have heard, saying that the resurrection is past already,
and overthrow the faith of some. Those that were unstable, those
that didn't have a genuine saving faith, but just a notional faith,
they were soon overthrown by these things and made shipwreck
concerning faith. So, quite a dark context, you
might say, but in the midst of this darkness, there's a bright
shining light, you might say, in our text. Nevertheless, the
foundation of our God stand is sure. Having this seal, the Lord
knoweth them that are his. So, with this darkness surrounding
this verse, all these uncertainties, there is this sure truth concerning
Christ and his people. True believers will never be
lost. Some may appear and pose as Christians, but when testing
times come, they may fall into error, they may fall into sin,
and expose themselves as being ungodly people. But those who
are in possession of genuine faith, they are safe in the Lord. Their faith is a permanent saving
faith, and they will be brought safely through. So we notice
first of all the foundation. Nevertheless the foundation of
God standeth sure. It's the foundation of God what
could be more sure or more certain. All the truths that God has revealed
regarding himself in the scriptures, it's part of this foundation.
Foundational matters are here in the Word of God. It's true
that we may learn certain things regarding God from creation,
that there is a God, that he is wise and all-powerful. Romans chapter 1 makes it very
clear that on judgment day those who have lived in this world
with a rational mind will be without excuse because from the
creation itself they could see that there is a maker, a designer
of all these things. The heavens declare the glory
of God and the firmament showeth his handiwork. So those who deny
that there is a God They are suppressing this knowledge that
they have. It's a willful suppression of
the truth. They're holding the truth in
unrighteousness, the Apostle Paul tells us. But there's so
much more we need to know regarding the true God of Heaven that creation
doesn't reveal. A God in His kindness and grace.
He's given us a special revelation in this precious volume, the
Word of God. He has revealed Himself. Man
by searching cannot find out God. God must reveal himself. So here we have God's self-disclosure. He's made himself known. It becomes
us to search the scriptures that we may discern the truth concerning
the true God of heaven and to learn of his glorious attributes,
that he is immutable, unchanging. He cannot change. He is eternally
the same. He's a God of truth and righteousness
and justice and power and majesty and glory, and yet a God of grace
and love and mercy and compassion and forbearance. And we see all
of these truths demonstrated in the Word of God, the character
of the Most High. And His throne is secure. This foundation then is the glorious
truths concerning the God of heaven. But in particular, the
foundation draws our attention to that which had been provided
in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. The foundation of the
one true Church. The everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things and sure. King David in his last days was
especially led to speak about this covenant and his own personal
interest in that covenant. He realized his own personal
failings. He realized what a godly leader
really should be like, and he had come so far short. There
were things wrong in his family. He had to confess that though
my house be not so with God, not as it ought to be, yet he
hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things
and sure, for this is all my salvation and all my desire. Can you say that that is where
your desire is? in all the covenant provisions
found in this glorious covenant of God's grace. That's where
David took his stand. That was his hope. That was his
dying testimony. And so here's the foundation
set before us this afternoon. And let me be more particular
regarding this foundation. First of all, we remind ourselves
of the foundation of the person of Christ. It should never be
the delight of gospel preachers to lift up the name of Jesus
Christ. Whatever else must be preached,
Christ must be the central theme. So we speak of his person, the
second person of the glorious trinity, the eternal son of the
eternal father. We must be clear regarding these
truths because Christ's honor and glory is involved in these
things. He who was willing to leave the glory of heaven and
to take our nature into union with his divine nature, a permanent
union. And though our hearts and minds
cannot fully grasp or comprehend the incarnation, yet we rejoice
in the truth that Christ was willing to come and humble himself. And the womb of Mary was overshadowed
by the Holy Ghost and that holy thing within her was to be called
the Son of God. Emmanuel, God with us. This wonderful truth, this condescending
grace of Christ coming down to this lower world, this sinful
world, and to live as a man amongst men, to be rejected, despised
and forsaken, at last to suffer, to bleed and to die. So the person
of Christ is foundational regarding the one true Church, and Paul
delighted to speak of Christ. When he spoke of his ministry,
regarding his time spent in Corinth, he could look back and say, I
determined to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and him
glorified. I mentioned in the vestry before
the service, regarding Edward Mote, the author of that well-known
hymn, My Hope is Built on Nothing Less. He was the pastor of Herberth
Chapel Horseshoe in Sussex. And on the memorial tablet, it
says this, he preached Christ crucified as all the sinner could
need, and all the saint could desire. And it makes you feel
you wish you sat under such a ministry, because this must be the central
theme, surely, of every gospel ministry, Christ and Him crucified. So we speak of His person, which
is foundational, but we almost speak of His work as well, that
which He came to perform. A life of perfect obedience from
the cradled to the cross. It was an active righteousness
that he was obeying in every point and every obligation on
behalf of his people. He magnified the law and made
it honorable. In an exam, a person might pass
at 55 or 60 percent, 80 percent, they might get a distinction
But regarding God's high requirements, it must be 100% and Christ and
Christ alone could perform all things necessary to obtain that
perfect righteousness, a justifying righteousness for his people. But he must make atonement, he
must make amends for the injured honour of God through the broken
law. God's wrath is revealed. Wrath of God is revealed against
all unrighteousness, the Apostle Paul tells us, writing to the
Romans, and Christ must satisfy the demands of the law. He must suffer in his own person
the guilt of his people's sin. And so we bring these things
forward because these are foundational truths, the foundation of the
Church of Christ. Now this foundation cannot be
bettered Better foundation can no man lay than is laid. That
is Jesus Christ, Paul says to the Corinthians. This is the
rock of ages. On the rock of ages, who can
shape thy sure repose? On this rock shall I build my
church, says Christ, and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. Remember in that context, Simon
Peter had made a noble confession. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. Upon this rock, says Christ,
I will build my church. And the Lord is building his
church. He's gathering his people one by one to himself. He's calling
still, as the good shepherds will be thinking this morning,
sinners being called to come to Christ, to find the healing
virtue he supplies. And the Lord is working throughout
the nations of the earth. And we'd love to see much more
happening in our own country. We'd love to see more people
under the sound of the word, wouldn't we? And we are to pray
to that end. But nevertheless, the Lord is
working according to his gracious will and purpose. And all who
are building their hopes of heaven upon this good foundation of
Jesus Christ will not be disappointed. This is the stone, the despised
stone that is laid in Zion, a chief cornerstone, and he that believeth
on him shall not be confounded. You find the apostle writing
to the Ephesians and saying this, in Ephesians chapter two and
verse 20, and I've built upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone.
And the apostles and prophets, that's the New Testament prophets,
are spoken of as the foundation here because they were in a ministerial
sense. They were laying the foundation
as they went around preaching Christ and churches were established.
Those who loved the Lord were gathered together in the bonds
of Christian fellowship. But Jesus Christ himself being
the chief cornerstone. I think of one of the elderly
ministers on the island of Guernsey and he first went to Guernsey
to become a pastor in the 1970s and the church was quite small
and couldn't support him financially full time so he was employed
as a building surveyor and he said often times he would go
to the cellars, some of these large Guernsey homes built out
of the local pink and blue granite and he would notice that there'd
be a chief cornerstone set up in a certain place and everything
else would be tied in to that chief cornerstone. That was the
foundation and those homes have stood for 200 years or more.
And so it is regarding the one true church, Jesus Christ is
the great cornerstone and all of his people are bound to him
with everlasting bonds. Well this is the foundation then
for the Lord's people. And these things are revealed
to us in the word of God. Now, what is your foundation? Do you have a hope of heaven?
If you have a hope of heaven, then the foundation needs to
be tested. What is your hope of heaven?
Is it upon your regular chapel attendance? Is it upon your knowledge
of the things of God? Are you resting upon your outward
conformity to Christian standards? Or are you resting solely upon
Christ and what He has done, His finished work of salvation? So then we've noticed a few things
regarding the foundation, but we notice secondly its permanence. Nevertheless, the foundation
of God standeth sure We are reminded in the book of
Psalms that if the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous
do? In another psalm, Psalm 85, the
psalmist says the foundations of the earth are out of joint
or something along those lines. I can't recall the exact words.
But we feel like that today, don't we? We feel like the foundations
in society are crumbling because many have turned away from the
word of God and the standards that were set by our forefathers.
and even basic morality has gone and a sense of integrity and
honesty are not there where they used to be. I don't want to digress,
but it's true to say that a democracy cannot work properly unless there's
a certain level of integrity and honesty and people accepting
responsibility. Without these things, society
starts to crumble and things fall apart in confusion is result
and we're starting to see the effects of these things in our
nation at such a time as this. But the wonderful thing is this,
there's a foundation which will never be destroyed, which will
never, never move. Yes, we need, by God's help,
that that men and women may turn back to the Word of God as a
foundation, as a foundation for family life, for marriage, and
for society in general, and for the churches. Dare I say it,
there are churches today that have turned away from the Word
of God. There needs to be a rediscovery
of these things, as there was in Josiah's day. The Word of
God was discovered in the temple, and it had a great effect upon
Josiah and upon the people of Jerusalem. But that is needed
in these days, isn't it? The rediscovery of God's Holy
Word. Well, there are things that,
in spite of the situation in our times, there are things that
cannot be shaken, that will remain. Yes, many things are being shaken
around us, but there are those things that cannot be shaken
because they will remain. Well how valuable these things
should be to us, this one true foundation, because we come into
difficulties sometimes in our lives, disappointments and heartaches
and unexpected dark providences and sometimes these things come
together and we hardly know what to do or what to say sometimes
when these things happen. We need a foundation We need
one to whom we can go in our troubles and our difficulties.
We need to go to the Lord and we need to commit our way to
Him. He is kind, He is gracious to those who appeal to Him, who
look to Him, who trust in Him and commit all their cares and
all their concerns into His hands. Our troubles and our trials are
safe with Him. He is still on the throne, He
is working all things according to His divine plan. Sometimes
friends fail us, perhaps. It would seem to be like that
for the psalmist when he said in Psalm 116, all men are liars. I said in my haste, all men are
liars. Maybe those he was trusting,
but he found them to be false. But he said it in his haste,
he tells us. No doubt he really had some who were genuine friends,
who could be trusted, people of integrity. We're living in
a day when love grows cold. But let us not forget our own
sins and our own failures. I remember reading the obituary
of J.K. Popham's wife, and what struck
me was this, that if ever it came up in conversation regarding
other people's sins, it wasn't long before she would say, but
then what about my sins? And that's how we have to view
these things. Sometimes we cannot help but speak about other people's
sins. It's unavoidable. But then, what about our sins?
It's easy to become self-righteous or complacent. What about our
sins? We need this foundation. One day we must die. One day
there'll be the return of Christ and the judgment throne will
be set and the books will be opened and we will have to stand
before the judgment seat of Christ to receive of the deeds done
in the body, whether good or bad. Yes, it's true, the moon
and stars shall lose their light. The sun shall sink in endless
night. Both heaven and earth shall pass
away. The works of nature all decay. But, it's a precious but,
isn't it? But they in the Lord confide,
and shelter in his wounded side, shall see the danger over past,
stand every storm, and live at last. Well, what a wonderful
truth this is. The foundation of God standeth
sure. You may have heard the story
of the person who fell overboard, I think it may have been a shipwreck
perhaps, but managed to swim to a small rock and at last was
rescued. And somebody said, did you feel
afraid? Yes. Yes, I trembled, but the
rock didn't. And that's the wonder, you may
feel you tremble sometimes, your faith is weak and you tremble,
but the rock doesn't tremble, the rock Christ Jesus will ever
remain. But then we have to notice thirdly,
having thought about the foundation and the permanence of the foundation,
we notice the authority with which these things come. Having
this seal, the Lord knoweth then that are his. Now, you remember regarding the
tomb of Christ, we told in Matthew's Gospel that there was a stone
rolled in front and there was a seal upon the stone with the
authority of the Roman governor to ensure no one tampered with
that sepulcher. And these great truths come with
authority, with a seal as it were, security, And it's this,
the Lord knoweth them that are his. See, the Lord knows his
people. And there are three things to
say here. The first is this, regarding the Lord's people,
they are his by choice. This introduces us to the doctrine
of election, a doctrine which has been terribly despised by
many down through the years. People have risen up with great
resentment against the very mention of the doctrine of election.
I remember being told of Mr. Tyler who was the pastor at the
Dicker the first time he went into Bedfordshire to preach and
he was only then a young man and mentioned the doctrine of
election in his sermon and there was one man who was so enraged
by what he heard he felt he could have pulled this man out of the
pulpit. But God dealt with that man and humbled his heart. the
doctrine of election. Now some people say we don't
want to hear about this doctrine. It's that terrible doctrine that
shuts people out of heaven. It's not the doctrine of election
that shuts people out of heaven, it shuts people in and makes
them eternally safe. What is it then you say that
shuts people out of heaven? It's sin. Your sin and my sin
if it's not repented of, if it's not forgiven. And in particular
the Word of God identifies the sin of unbelief. What was it
that kept the majority of Israel out of the land of Canaan? The
sin of unbelief. And we're told at the end of
chapter 3 of the epistle to the Hebrews, so then we see they
could not enter in because of unbelief. Unbelief will shut
you out of heaven unless the Lord intervenes. Unless the Lord
blessed you with saving faith, unbelief will shut you out of
heaven. The doctrine of election is presented in the Scriptures
in a positive light. It's what the Lord is doing through
His gracious purposes in the lives of His people, gathering
of people to Himself. Well, we need to understand these
things rightly in the sight of the Scriptures as the Lord has
revealed these things to us. You see, election is the good
news that God has chosen to save. Now if a person's about to build
a house, an architect will draw up the plans in considerable
detail. Again and again, the builder
will be consulting the plans and erecting the building according
to the architect's design. Adopt an election is the plan. God is working according to this
plan. He's building his church one
stone at a time, living stones. making up a spiritual temple,
and that work is still going on. The Lord is adding to his
church by his grace such as should be saved. So God's people are
his by choice. Maybe another illustration may
not be out of place, you think the landscape gardener. He may
not necessarily have a written plan on paper, but he has a plan
in his mind. He knows where the lake is going
to be, and where the grassieras are going to be, and where the
trees and the shrubs are going to be placed, and he works according
to that plan. And so it is the Lord is working
then according to his wise purposes. Amongst the nations of the earth,
throughout the generations, century after century, he is building
his church. And the doctrine of election
ensures the fulfillment of that plan. So it's to be seen in a
positive light according to the scriptures. It's Satan who dresses
these things up in horrible colors to try and discourage people
and sometimes use as a stumbling stone to the seeking soul. How
do you know whether you are elected? He may whisper in your ear. There's
no point you seeking and looking for salvation if you're not elected.
And that's how Satan tries to stumble the coming sinner. But
you're not to listen to Satan's voices. God has given you every
possible encouragement in his word. to seek him that you may
find him. Ask, and it shall be given you.
Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. So God's people, they're His
by choice. Secondly, they're His by purchase. Oh, the cost of this so great
salvation. The cost to God's only beloved
Son. He must take our humanity, because
he must suffer and die in that humanity, in our nature, on the
sinner's behalf. He must shed that precious blood
to make an atonement for sin, and in doing so he paid the ransom
price, redemption being paid in full. And so we speak of not
a general redemption, but we speak of a particular redemption. Sometimes people misunderstand
the term particular Baptist. is to distinguish between the
general Baptists, which preach general redemption, whereas the
Bible speaks of particular redemption. Christ said, I lay down my life
for the sheep, not for the goats, but for the sheep. John Owen,
who has often been referred to as the Prince of the Puritans,
in his famous book, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ,
he puts it in this way, regarding the purpose of Christ's death.
he says first of all there's this if Christ died for all the
sins of all men then all would be saved but that is not the
case secondly you could say Christ died for some of the sins of
all men if that was the case then none would be saved but
then there's the third position Christ died for all the sins
of some men And that is particular redemption. That is the truth
of the gospel. Christ died for his people. He
laid down his life for the one true church. He gave himself
for it. So his people are his by purchase. He has paid the price in full
for all of the sins of all of his people. That's the wonder
of the gospel. There's nothing left to pay.
Christ has performed all things necessary. that guilty sinners
who live to feel their need, they're welcome to the throne
of grace, the Saviour's blood to plead. So they're His by election,
by choice, they're His by purchase, but thirdly, they're His by right
of conquest. If you read in the book of Revelation,
you come across these words regarding A man on a white horse, depicting
Christ, with a crown upon his head, he goes forth with a bow
in his hand. Conquering and to conquer. It's a reminder to us of the
victory of Christ over the hearts of sinners. You see, as I mentioned
this morning, we're rebellious, the enmity now minds by wicked
works, we're self-righteous, self-content and complacent,
left to ourselves. Christ must break all those things
down. He must send forth his arrows
of conviction in our hearts. As the psalmist declared, the
arrows are sharp in the hearts of the king's enemies and he
has to bring us down to make us to feel our need of salvation. They are his by right of conquest. Are you able to say the Lord
has done that for you? He has humbled you? He has made
you submissive to the truth? He has gained conquest over your
heart? and brought you saliently to
himself. I like the way John Newton expresses
it in one of his hymns, where he speaks about the human heart
being like a castle. And he describes the way in which
Thor comes to deliver his people. The castle of the human heart,
strong in its native sin, is guarded well in every part by
him who dwells within. For Satan there in arms resides
and calls the place his own, with care against assaults, provides
and rules as on a throne. But Jesus, stronger far than
he, in his appointed hour appears to set his people free from the
usurper's power. This heart I bought with blood,
he says, and now it shall be mine. His voice the strong one
armed dismays. He knows he must resign. In spite
of unbelief and pride and self and Satan's art, the gates of
broths fly open wide and Jesus wins their hearts. Can you understand
that? Do you know something of that
gracious experience, the Lord winning your heart? You know
it wasn't just a case of you giving your heart to the Lord,
as some people say. It was the Lord giving you a
new heart. The Lord making known his power
in your heart and giving you desire us to know him, that you
might experience this so great salvation. We sang earlier, didn't
we? How almighty Jesus, how divine
is thy victorious sword, the stoutest rebel must resign at
thy commanding word. It makes me think of Samuel Medley,
who was brought up in a godly home, but he wanted nothing to
do with these things. and he went to sea, his ambition
was to become an admiral, and his task on one occasion when
he's involved in the heat of the battle, his task was to take
the minutes of the battle. And such was the noise and commotion
that he didn't realize initially that he was wounded. Someone
shouted to him, Medley, you're wounded! And he looked down and
noticed part of his lower leg was blown away. He was carried
off to the ship's surgeon. The surgeon did all that he could
to help him, but infections started to set in. And the surgeon said
one day, there's nothing that can be done. Tomorrow you must
have an amputation. And Medley was horrified at the
very thought of amputation in those days without anesthetic.
He started to think that night about the home he had left. And
he started to think about the Bible. that his mother had placed
in his trunk, which had been neglected all this time. And
so that night he started to read the Bible, he started to pray
the Lord might intervene in some way for his deliverance. When
the morning came, the surgeon came to see him and threw up
his arms in astonishment, said it's a miracle the infection
has gone. Well Medley still needed to take rest, so he was sent home.
to London and on one Sunday evening, his grandfather decided to read
a sermon to him. Now, this young man, he didn't
want to hear a sermon. Yes, he'd experienced a remarkable
providential deliverance, but his heart was still hard regarding
spiritual things. But out of respect to his grandfather,
he didn't show his feelings. But he was resenting the truths
that he was hearing. But little by little, the defences
and the barriers started to fall down. His heart was opened, and
the Lord gained conquest over this proud young man. The Lord
raised him up to be a great preacher of the gospel, and as you know,
a great hymn writer. You see, the Lord's people are
his by choice, they're his by purchase, and they're his by
right of conquest. Has the Lord come to gain possession
of your heart in this way? It may not be as dramatic as
some, but the point is he gains an entrance like it was with
Lydia, whose heart the Lord opened, so that she attended unto those
things that were spoken of Paul. It was a quiet work, you might
say. Paul was just sitting down amongst
them. It wasn't a formal sermon, it
doesn't appear. He simply enunciated the truths
of the gospel, no doubt, and as he spoke, The Lord worked
by his spirit and power so that she began to receive the truth
in her heart. It changed her life completely.
She now came to love the people of God and desire to serve them. You see this is the right of
conquest of Christ who goes forth conquering and to conquer. So the wonders of these things.
Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure. Having
this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. Those that are
his are those who are brought to trust in him alone. The Lord is good, a stronghold
in the day of trouble. He knoweth them that trust in
him. The Lord knows. We don't always
know who precisely are the Lord's people sometimes. I think of a preacher who at
a particular funeral spoke from these words because he wasn't
sure concerning the person who had passed away whether they
were one of the Lords or not. But he knew the Lord knows who
are his. It's true to say that our late
Queen knew the British people well, but comparatively few people
could say they knew the Queen or she knew them personally. But the point is this, do we
know the Lord? Are we in possession of this
saving grace whereby we know the Lord knows us, he knows our
hearts, he knows our needs, he's shown himself gracious to us,
and he's given us, in some measure at least, the witness of the
spirit in the heart that we are the children of the Lord, by
his grace and grace alone. But then we notice briefly the
call to purity, and let everyone that nameth the name of Christ
depart from iniquity." This may be, by implication, what was
happening regarding the false teachers. They weren't living
godly and upright lives. Maybe they're excusing their
sins. But the point is this, if we
are the laws, we are to give demonstration of this truth by
the way we live. We are to seek to walk in newness
of life. We are to walk in the Spirit.
We are to walk with the Lord in the light of his word. And
to turn away from known evil and known error. We are sinners
still and it's a grief to our hearts every day of our lives.
But the point is, do we desire holiness? Do we desire godliness? Do we pray, Lord, make me more
godly? Give me more grace? me to walk
in wisdom's way, keep me lest I fall. It's said of William
Gatsby as an old man that he feared that in some way he might
fall and bring discredit to the cause of Christ. Now he was a
popular preacher, known throughout the country. Forty churches have
been established through his ministry in Lancashire and Cheshire
and Derbyshire. And he was widely respected by
the people of Manchester. He gathered a large congregation,
something in the region of a thousand people. And yet he feared that
in some way he might fall. In a sense, you could say that
was a good fear. You said of sailors who can't swim, they
make the best sailors. They're not going to take any
unnecessary risks. And if we fear falling, in a sense, it's
a good fear because it makes us depend upon the Lord. Lord,
keep me. Lord, uphold me. leave me not
to go astray, make me to know my weakness and my danger. And
we do live in a wicked age and the way in which evil can be
accessed so easily in these days is alarming. We each need to
be kept by the power of God. We need grace day by day that
we may hold on our way. So then the foundation of God
standeth sure, having this seal the Lord knoweth them that are
his, and let him that everyone that nameth the name of Christ
depart from iniquity. At last the church of Jesus Christ
will be seen in all its completeness and its glory. It is said concerning
the completion of St. Paul's Cathedral that in the
year 1710 the final stone was put in place, I think it was
in the presence of the son of the great architect Sir Christopher
Wren. It was done after all those years. And the Church of Christ is still
being built. It's not yet complete, but the
day will come when it will be finished. Grace, all the work
shall crown to everlasting days. In heaven it lays the topmost
stone and well deserves the praise. And God's people be gathered
all together in one. perfectly sanctified, holy in
the Lord, and all their sinful nature will be gone forever,
and all offences will be purged away, and the righteous shall
shine forth as the sun. Oh, the Lord may deal graciously
with those of you who, as yet, are outside of the secret of
these things. May he open your heart. May he give you a felt
desire to be one of God's people, to be safe in the law with an
everlasting salvation. Amen. Let us conclude by singing hymn
372. The tune is Salvator 652. Glorious
things of thee are spoken, Zion city of our God, He whose word cannot be broken,
form thee for his own abode. On the rock of ages founded,
what can shake thy sure repose? With salvation's walls surrounded,
thou mayst smile at all thy foes. 372. O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? ? Lord, the Lord of Israel ? ?
God to see thy glory come to thee ? ? Resurrected, O Israel
? We have seen the living light,
living light of God. You can face the storm, there
is a way. ? Which makes my heart whole again
? ? Ever grateful and true ? ? And each time it breaks my heart
again ? All the glory of the Lord, share
in the gladness here. Thus delighting from the garden,
Night by night and day by day, Straying here from the light,
Reaching there Oh, say does that star-spangled banner
yet wave ? Each of us should, each of us
should be kinder ? ? Than to live in self-pity at
all ? ? To give each other gifts of equal graciousness ? Lord we bless thee for the sure
foundation stone laid in Zion that is precious to a believing
heart. Lord, you encourage the people we pray. Grant faith in
believing. May there be an application to
Christ, a fleeing to him for refuge. Lord, bless thy people. And now may the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, our heavenly Father,
and the fellowship and communion of the Holy Spirit be with you
all, now and evermore. Amen.