Let us commence our service this
afternoon by singing together hymn number 1025 to the tune
Horsley 853. In evil long I took delight,
unawed by shame or fear, till a new object struck my sight
and stopped my wild career. Hymn 1025, tune Horsley shall not my shame or fear, till
a new object from my sight and soul I so long have yearned for a
dream In economics and law Where existence with irony and spin Sure never till my faintest breath
can I forget her. It seemed to churn me with this
death, the love and he spake. My conscience in anger appeared,
and flogged me with misdeed. I saw my sins in a man's hands,
and I fell to them. As the candle gleams, may we
shed thy pretty glow for thee. Praise God is all thy ransomed
pain, Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in Psalm 69. Psalm 69. Save me, O God, for the waters
are come into my soul, I sink in deep mire. The psalmist here,
friends, is speaking in the person of Christ. I sink in deep mire
where there is no standing. I am come into deep waters where
the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying. My throat
is dry. My eyes fail while I wait for
my God. They that hate me without a cause
are more than the hairs of mine head. They that would destroy
me, being mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty. Then I restored that which I
took not away. O God, thou knowest my foolishness,
and my sins are not hid from thee. That, of course, is the
sin that was laid on him by his eternal Father. Let not them
that wait on thee, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake. Let not those that seek thee
be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel. Because for thy sake
I have borne reproach, shame hath covered my face. I am become
a stranger unto my brethren, and an alien unto my mother's
children. For the zeal of thine house hath
eaten me up, and the reproaches of them that reproach thee are
falling upon me. When I wept and chastened my
soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. I made sackcloth
also my garment, and I became a proverb to them. They that
sit in the gate speak against me. I was the song of the drunkards. But as for me, my prayer is unto
thee, O Lord, in an acceptable time. O God, in the multitude
of Thy mercy, hear me in the truth of Thy salvation. Deliver
me out of the mire and let me not sink. Let me be delivered
from them that hate me and out of the deep waters. Let not the
water flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up. and
let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. Hear me, O Lord, for
thy lovingkindness is good. Turn unto me according to the
multitude of thy tender mercies. Hide not thy face from thy servant,
for I am in trouble. Hear me speedily. Draw nigh unto
my soul and redeem me. Deliver me from my enemies. Thou
hast known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor. Mine
adversaries are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart,
and I am full of heaviness. And I looked for some to take
pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me also gall for my
meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Let their
table become a snare before them, and that which should have been
for their welfare let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened
that they see not. Make their loins continually
shake. Pour out thine indignation upon
them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their
habitation be desolate, and let none dwell in their tents. For
they persecute him whom thou hast smitten, and they talk to
the grief of those whom thou hast wounded. Add iniquity unto
their iniquity, and let them not come into thy righteousness.
Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be
written with the righteous. but I am poor and sorrowful.
Let thy salvation, O God, set me up on high. I will praise
the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. This also shall please the Lord
better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hooves. The humble shall see this and
be glad, and your heart shall live that seek God. For the Lord
heareth the poor, and despiseth not his prisoners. Let the heaven
and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moveth therein. For God will save Zion, and will
build the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there, and have
it in possession. The seed also of his servants
shall inherit him, and they that love his name shall dwell therein. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word. Grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Almighty, most merciful and eternal
God, we've read some solemn things in thy word of thee inward sufferings
and sorrows and agonies of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. And that we do pray that we may
lay these things to heart, and that indeed we may see one hanging
on a tree, and that he may fix his languid eye on me. Oh, do
hear us, Lord, we pray thee. Grant us a view by faith of a
crucified Saviour, Grant us a view by faith of sin put away, of
divine justice satisfied, of God and sinners reconciled, we
do humbly beseech Thee. We thank Thee for the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. And above all, Lord, we thank
Thee that it's for sinners. Sinners can say, and none but
They, how precious is the Saviour. And do we come before Thee to
thank Thee for that glorious sacrifice. We thank Thee for
Gethsemane, for the suffering Saviour. We thank Thee that He
nailed our sins to the cross and that He suffered and bled
and died to put away our sin. We thank Thee that He lived a
life of righteousness, of holiness, of perfection. fulfilling and
honouring thy holy law and offering that holy sacrifice on Calvary
where sin has been put away and divine justice has been satisfied
and God and sinners are reconciled. Oh, we do thank thee for Jesus
Christ. We thank thee for the glory of
his name, for the fullness of his grace. We thank thee that
he died for our sins rose again for our justification has now
bodily ascended into heaven and that we indeed have a great high
priest who has passed into the heavens to see instead of me
is seen when I approach to God. We thank thee that he was tempted
in all points like as we are yet without sin he knows what
sore temptations mean for he has felt the same Oh, we do thank
thee for that saviour that knows his people, that has put away
their sin, that has brought life and immortality to life through
the gospel, has destroyed death, and him that had the power of
death, that is the devil, and has satisfied all the demands
of divine justice. Gracious God, we would enter
into thy gates with praise, and with the voice of thanksgiving
for that fullness that there is in Jesus Christ our Lord. We pray that thou wouldst come
here this afternoon, come and open thy word to our heart and
to our understanding. Come and open the eyes of our
understanding and give us ears to hear, eyes to see, hearts
to receive thy precious word, the word of thy grace, we do
humbly beseech thee. We pray that as we gather round
the table of the Lord, we may feel thy presence and thy blessing
and thy favour, and that we may be enabled to remember the wonderful
things that our Lord Jesus Christ has done, whose name is wonderful. Oh, we do pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou would remember us as a church and as a congregation. O Lord, that thou wouldst send
a day of prosperity, that thou wouldst make bare thine holy
arm in the gospel, that thou wouldst pull down the strongholds
of Satan, that thou wouldst bring our sons from far and our daughters
from the ends of the earth, and that they may come from the north
and from the south and from the east and from the west. O Lord
of hosts, grant that many precious souls may yet be gathered from
this village and the surrounding villages and hamlets. O let us
see thy goings in the sanctuary. Let us see thy power and thy
glory as thou usest to be in the sanctuary. Let us see thy
work. Let thy work appear unto thy
servants and thy glory unto their children. O Lord, we do beseech
thee, grant the fulfilling of that ancient promise. Instead
of thy fathers shall be thy children. whom thou mayest make princes
in all the earth. O send out thy light and thy
truth, O Lord, we do beseech thee, and send a day of real
prosperity, that there may be a turning unto thee. Have we
not heard with our ears, and have not our parents told us
of the wonderful days, O Lord, that there was in days gone by
in the church of God, in the ingathering of precious souls
and the pulling down of the strongholds of Satan, the setting up of the
kingdom of the Lord Jesus in the hearts of poor sinners. Let
us see such a day. O Lord, we do beseech Thee for
Thy great namesake. Remember our brethren the deacons.
Give needed grace, wisdom and help in all their responsibilities.
Remember each one of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship.
Remember us with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people.
Visit us with thy great salvation. Help us to love each other, serve
each other, bear each other's burdens, thereby fulfilling the
law of Christ. And Lord, thou hast visited us
with the hand of death. And our late, dear, beloved sister,
thou hast taken to be with thyself. And we're thankful, Lord, for
that living hope in the living Christ, that she has gone to
be with Christ, which is far better. O Lord, thou hast delivered
her from all this wilderness journey, and now she sees thy
face. And comfort our hearts with these
things in that great loss that we have sustained as a church
and as a congregation. And remember her family. We lovingly
commend them to thee and to the word of thy grace, which is able
to build them up and to grant them an inheritance among them
that are sanctified. Lord, richly bless them and comfort
them at this season. O Lord, we beseech thee. And
O Lord God, we do pray. Pray for our dear brother and
sister in Holland that have lost a close relative. We lovingly
commend them to thee. and pray that thou wouldst undertake
for them and comfort their hearts. We're thankful, Lord, that they
sorrow not as others that are without hope. We pray that thou
wouldst remember the little ones and the children. We thank thee
for them. We love to see them in the sanctuary. Oh, that thou
wouldst bless them in their young and tending years and put the
fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom, into their
hearts. for thy great name's sake, and
that thou, in thy precious mercy, would raise up a seed here to
call thee the Redeemer blessed. Remember, O Lord, each one of
the dear children. Bless them indeed. All suffer
little children to come unto thee, and may we not forbid them,
but may we encourage them. O Lord, we do beseech thee. We
pray, Most gracious God, that thou in thy great mercy would
graciously bless the young friends. Bless them with that rich grace
that is in Christ Jesus. Bless them with light and understanding
in thy word. Bless them with faith in Jesus
Christ, that they may become true followers of thee and of
those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Lord, remember
the prodigals, those that have wandered away from the house
of God, from the ways of God, from the truth of God. We lovingly
commend them to thee and pray that thou would bless them, guide
them, bring them to return. Lord, what rejoicing there would
be among us to see those prodigals return. Oh, do hear us, Lord,
we humbly beseech thee. and help us to give thee no rest,
till thou establish and till thou make Jerusalem a praise
in all the earth. O Lord, we pray, for all in the
midst of the journey of life, we especially think of parents,
that they may be given wisdom to bring up their children in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and that thou wouldst
grant thy divine guidance and direction and wisdom to them
to do that which is right in thy sight. And O Lord God, we
do pray that thou in thy precious mercy would remember all, remember
those not only in bereavement, but those that are passing through
temptation, trouble and sorrow and affliction. We lovingly commend
them all to thee. We pray that when the enemy comes
in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard
against him. whether he comes as a roaring
lion to devour, or whether he comes as an angel of light to
deceive, we pray that thou wouldst deliver us from his hand and
from his power and from his influence. Lord, remember that those of
us that are now in the evening time of life journey, prepare
me, gracious God, to stand before thy face. Thy spirit must the
work perform, for it is all of grace. Hearken, O Lord, we do
humbly beseech Thee and have mercy upon us, we do pray Thee. And most gracious Lord, we pray
that Thou wouldst be with us as we turn to Thy holy word,
that Thou wouldst come and touch one's lips with a live coal from
off the heavenly altar, that Thou wouldst speak to our hearts,
that Thou wouldst touch one's lips with a live coal from off
the heavenly altar, Hear our prayers, hear our praises. O
Lord, we do beseech Thee. We ask with the forgiveness of
all our many sins, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1052, And the tune is Shadow Time,
795. Redeemer, whither should I flee? Or how escape the wrath to come?
The weary sinner flies to thee, For shelter from impending doom.
Smile on me, gracious Lord, and show Thyself the friend of sinners
now. June Shadow Time, 795. O come all ye faithful joyful
and triumphant O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave ? And rise to thee ? ? O shelter
warm ? ? In mankind's womb ? ? Holy, gracious Lord and Child ? I shall command all strangers
now. In the shadow of thy cross, ? My God and King above the clouds
? ? Star of the year of righteousness ? God be with you, my love, with
you I am pleased. ? I have come to thee ? ? I have
come to thee ? ? I have come to thee ? Yes, I shall go where I will
be, Where the angels of God have led me. I will reach, I'll reach tonight,
Living and dying to be loved. I am the earth's meditation,
I am the earth's meditation, I am the earth's meditation O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I direct your attention to the chapter that
we read, Psalm 69. We'll read verses 20 and 21 for
our text. Psalm 69, verses 20 and 21. Reproach
hath broken my heart. and I am full of heaviness, and
I looked for some to take pity, but there was none, and for comforters,
but I found none. They gave me also gall for my
meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. The psalmist here, is speaking
in what we call the Spirit of Christ. And in this way that we find
in the Old Testament, it's spoken in a prophetic way, so that we
have an insight given to us, as the other psalm that is so
prominent is Psalm 22, and we are given an insight into the
sufferings of Christ, into his innermost feelings, as he was
passing through those terrible, awful sufferings. We cannot even
begin to enter into those sufferings. Firstly, we must remember that
he was holy. He was absolutely holy. He was
pure. He was righteous. He did no sin. Neither was any
gall found in his mouth. He's here in a state of intense
suffering and sorrow and sadness and grief. And to understand the language
here and the things that he passed through, we must remember those
words which I quote to you so regularly. He laid upon him the
iniquity of us all. The sin of the whole church was
laid on Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Now we cannot
begin to comprehend the tremendous weight and burden of that sin
on the Cross of Calvary in the Garden of Gethsemane. We read
in Luke chapter 22, he being in an agony, Sweat as it were,
great drops of blood falling down to the ground. In the commencement of this psalm,
he says, save me, oh God, for the waters that come into my
soul. There's another, such a clear,
beautiful evidence that our Lord Jesus Christ had a human soul. He had a real true human soul. And the greatest part of his
sufferings was in his soul. Not that we would seek in any
way to diminish the sufferings of his body, but the deeper part
of his sufferings were in his holy soul. My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? The waters are come into my soul,
I sink in deep mire. He suffered, he bled, he died
for the sin of his people. What a mercy if you and I have
a hope that he suffered and bled and died for our sins, that he
was wounded for our transgressions, that he was bruised for our And
you know, often with the Lord's living family, in that work of
the Spirit in their hearts, they're given the desires after Christ. And that is often the very longing
of their soul, that they might be favoured to know their Jesus crucified. To know that He was crucified
for me. to know that my sins were the
nails and the spear. They want to know that, that
he suffered and bled. You know, friends, if the Lord
has brought you into concern, if you are spiritually exercised,
it won't do you any good to hear of other people. You want the blessing. In actual
fact, it excites in your heart such a deeper desire when you
hear of somebody else being favoured and blessed. And there'll be
that deeper desire in your soul. See, I sink in deep mire where
there is no standing. I'm coming to deep waters where
the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying, my throat
is dry, my eyes fail while I wait for my God. This is the language
of Christ. They that hate me without a cause
are more than the hairs of my head. They that would destroy
me, be in mine enemies wrongfully, are mighty." And then we have this beautiful
word, it's like a beacon in the middle of all these sufferings.
Then, I restored that which I took not away. Christ in his sufferings. He restored his people into a
state of reconciliation and peace with God. He did not sin. It was Adam that
sinned and we have sinned and we all have come short of the
glory of God but this man, this man, the glorious holy God man,
he knew no sin. and in his sufferings. He was pure and holy, but he
suffered for his people. He suffered for their sins. Then
I restored that which I took not away. He restored. He gave
salvation. He restored his people into a
state of union and communion with God. I restored that which
I took not away. It was we that have taken it
away. It's we that have sinned, but
it's the Holy Sinless One that restored it. You see, divine
justice of God demanded a perfect sacrifice, a holy sacrifice,
a complete sacrifice. And that is what Jesus gave,
a holy, complete sacrifice. And no mere man on earth could
ever do that. because we all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. You could have 10,000 of the
finest of the specimens of the sons of men. None of them could offer a sacrifice
that was acceptable to God. Why? Because we all have sinned. John Bunyan calls the sacrifice
of Christ the acceptable sacrifice. It was acceptable because it
was pure, because it was holy, because it was righteous. And
that is what divine justice demanded, a pure, holy, righteous sacrifice. I restored that which I took
not away. And that is what Christ did in
his sufferings. Let not them that wait on thee,
O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed for my sake. Let not those that
seek thee to be confounded for my sake, O God of Israel, because
for thy sake, what a wonderful thing, for thy sake, I have borne
reproach. Shame hath covered my face. I am become a stranger unto my
mother's brethren and an alien to my mother's children. And here in verse 9 it's quoted
in the New Testament when Christ was in the temple of Jerusalem
and he drove out the money changers, the zeal of thine house that
eat me up, and the reproaches of them that reproach thee are
fallen upon thee. When I wept and chastened my
soul with fasting, that was to my reproach. I made sackcloth
also my garment and I became a proverb to them. You see, how they all speak against
him. They that sit in the gate, that
was the elders of the people, speak against me. And I was the
song of the drunkards. But as for me, my prayer is unto
thee, O Lord. This is the prayer of the Eternal
Son to the Eternal Father. You know, I know it's a deep
mystery, friends, but when Christ was here on earth, he lived by
faith. And he prayed unto his father.
And in praying unto his father, his faith was strengthened. It's a very deep mystery, isn't
it? The sacred incarnation of the Son of God and the life that
he lived here as a man upon earth. He cries to be delivered, verse
14, deliver me out of the mire and let me not sink. This is
a language of Christ, let me be delivered from them that hate
me and out of the deep waters. What deep waters he came into,
let not the water flood, overflow me. That means to overwhelm me,
neither let the deep swallow me up. and let not the pit shut
her mouth upon me. See this inward soul exercise
of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and of course the pit
did not shut her mouth upon thee. I believe what he means here
with the pit is his grave. He was to enter into death itself
but he entered into death itself that he might destroy it. that
he might swallow it up in victory, having offered that perfect sacrifice. I've often explained to you,
he rose again for our justification. The evidence that sin has been
put away is in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He entered into death itself in that lifeless body In the
tomb was the Son of God. The hymn writer comes close to
it when he says, the Lord of Life experienced death. He experienced
death. What a tremendous thought that
is, isn't it? The Lord of Life, the Almighty,
the Living One, experienced death. In Hebrew chapter 2, The apostle
there, he speaks so clearly on these doctrinal points that we're
bringing out here. And in verse 7 it says, Thou
madest him, this is man, this is man as in Adam, the head of
the human race. Thou madest him a little lower
than the angels. Thou crownest him with glory
and honor. and it set him over the works of thy hands thou hast
put all things in subjection under his feet for in that he
put all in subjection under him he left nothing that is not put
under him but now we see not yet all things put under him
but we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels
that's when he became bone of our bone flesh of our flesh he
was made a little lower than the angels and then the reason
for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor that he
by the grace of God should taste death for every man for it became
him speaking of his divinity for whom are all things and by
whom are all things in bringing many sons unto glory to make
the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering He
goes on and he continues, he says in verse 14, for as much
then as the children, that's the children that the father
had given him, for as much then as the children are partakers
of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same. That's through death. You know,
the point being made, the son of God couldn't suffer death.
God cannot die. The Son of God could not be tempted
of evil. It's very clear in the Word of
God. God cannot be tempted of evil
so the Son of God in his divine nature couldn't be tempted of
evil and he couldn't die. But the Son of God in that sacred
profound mystery of godliness of God manifest in the flesh
in that sacred holy human nature that he assumed we spoke of this
morning. He then could suffer temptation,
trouble, trial, perplexity. He was tempted in all points
like as we are, yet without sin. That's a deep word, isn't it? There's nothing that the child
of God can come into that Jesus hasn't been there before. He
knows what sore temptations mean, for he has felt the same. For
as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
he also himself likewise took part of the same that through
death he might destroy him that had the power of death that is
the devil and deliver them who through fear of death were all
their lifetime subject to bondage and then as if to emphasize the
fact that he had a holy human nature he says For verily he
took not on him the nature of angels, but he took on him the
seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved
him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a
merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God,
to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that
he himself hath suffered being tempted he is able to succor
them that are tempted. He himself was tempted and yet without sin. Tempted
in all points like as we are. You know some of us have to pass
through some very deep temptations and very profound temptations
Realising the iniquity and sin of our hearts, the Lord Jesus, he did no sin. He says, didn't he, that when
the enemy is near and he has found nothing in me, there was
nothing in Christ. In us there is much, much sin,
much iniquity, much unrighteousness, but not in Christ. But he still
was sorely tempted in all points, like as we are, yet without sin. Deliver me out of the mire, and
let me not sink. Let me be delivered from them
that hate me, and out of the deep waters. What deep waters? Let not the water flood overflow
me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut
her mouth upon me. Hear me, O Lord, thy loving kindness
is good turn unto me according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies and hide not thy face from thy servant for i am in
trouble hear me speedily draw nigh unto my soul there's such
a breathing here a wrestling isn't there with his eternal
father and then we have our text reproach hath broken my heart
the reproaches that he suffered. He says in verse 7, for because
for thy sake I have borne reproach, shame hath covered my face. He was falsely accused on every
hand and the chief accusation against our Lord Jesus Christ,
he made himself the son of And that is the principal reason
they crucified him. Oh, my beloved friends, he is
the Son of God. They didn't believe he was the
Son of God. He was despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. All manner of reproach was put
upon him and it broke his heart. Reproach hath broken my heart. and I am full of heaviness. And he being in agony, you think
of Christ in the garden of Gethsemane, under the tremendous weight and
sin of the church, and he being in agony, sweat as it were, great
drops of blood falling down to the ground, reproach hath broken
my heart, and I am full of heaviness, and I looked for some to take
pity, But there was none. And for comforters, but I found
none. What a lonely place, wasn't it?
And of course, in verse 21, we read exactly of what was done
to him on the cross of Calvary. They gave me also gall for my
meat, exceedingly bitter. And in my thirst, they gave me
vinegar to drink. The last thing that you would
drink you were thirsty, his vinegar. Yet they gave him vinegar, all
adding to his sufferings, his pain and his sorrow. Reproach hath broken my heart,
my heart. You know they gathered around
didn't they, even when he was on the cross of Calvary. They
mocked him and said himself he cannot save, he saved others
but himself he cannot save. What a reproach, wasn't it? They
didn't, and neither would you and I unless the Lord showed
us, didn't realise that he was suffering, bleeding and dying
for the sins of his people. They didn't realise that he was
offering a glorious, perfect, holy sacrifice unto his Father. No. They were completely blinded
to that. Even the disciples couldn't really
lay hold of that until after the resurrection of Christ. When
he says, doesn't he, then opened their understanding that they
might understand the scriptures and then they began to understand. And that they began to understand
his discourses when he told them again and again that the son
of man must be taken by the hands of wicked men and must suffer,
bleed and die and rise again. but they couldn't understand,
they couldn't seem to receive that truth until afterwards and
their eyes were opened. You think of those two disciples
on the road to Emmaus and they walked and were sad and Jesus
himself drew near and went with them and they said to the Lord
Jesus Christ about the things that had happened in Jerusalem
and what did Christ answer them? O fools, and slow of heart to
believe all that the prophets have spoken. And then they said, didn't they,
afterwards, did not our heart burn within us as he walked and
talked with us by the way? And he opened their eyes in the
breaking of bread. Then were their eyes opened and
he vanished out of their sight. You see, my beloved friends,
We cannot see into these profound truths of our most holy faith
unless the Lord opens our eyes. Unless the Lord opens our eyes.
Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness, and
I looked for some to take pity, but there was none, and for comforters,
but I found none. They gave me also gall for my
means, And in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink in the
midst of all those awful sufferings. And the terrible weakness, the
Lord Jesus Christ, He knows what weakness is. He knew what profound
weakness was. He knew it in the temptation
in the wilderness. But when there appeared an angel
from heaven strengthening Him, How those temptations weakened
his sacred humanity. His holy human nature was greatly
weakened under the temptations of Satan. And if you and I have
known much about the temptations of Satan, you'll know how it
weakens you spiritually. It does. It empties you. You feel you've got no strength.
The Apostle Paul, he knew it, didn't he? He experienced it
himself when he had a messenger of Satan to buffet him day by
day. He said, I've been taught the
Lord thrives to remove it. We do not read that the Lord
ever did remove it. But he gave him those sacred
promises. My grace is sufficient for thee. That's the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. My grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect. in weakness what what a paradox
isn't it we have to be made weak to be made strong our flesh has
to be weakened and then we're made strong in faith when our
flesh is weakened when we realize that we cannot walk this pathway
but then we're given faith in the lord jesus christ faith in
his strength in his wisdom in his grace And that strengthens
us. That strengthens us. Reproach
has broken my heart. You know, nobody has ever walked
a path so deep in reproach as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. You think of when they came and
took him after he was in the Garden of Gethsemane. That band
of soldiers with swords and staves Judas betrayed him. Reproach
has broken my heart. And how they abused him. How Herod's soldiers mocked him
and abused him. How the Roman soldiers did too. He was brought before Herod,
he was brought before Pilate, he was brought before the elders
of the Jews and he was set at naught. By all of them. They
mocked him. They mocked him. And reproached him constantly
and continually. You know, when you really look
at it, friends, the whole of the life of Christ was a life
of reproach. He was a man of sorrows. He was
reproached. The man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. He says in verse 19, Thou hast
known my reproach, and my shame, and my dishonor. Mine adversaries
are all before thee. Reproach hath broken my heart. You know, some of the Lord's
people have had to walk in these paths. You think in so many different
ways. You look back at the martyrs,
the godly martyrs, and the reproach that they had to bear. when they
were burnt at stake. The Lord helped them, and supported
them, and sustained them, and strengthened them. He was tempted
at all points. He knew exactly what that reproach
was like. You think of the terrible inhuman
punishments they had to undergo. The rack. In the Tower of London
there was a rack, and you had to stretch their bodies until
every bone was out of joint. the terrible pain that they had
to pass through. But the suffering and pain of
our Lord Jesus Christ, there's no comparison to that. His way was much rougher, much
darker than mine. Did Christ my Lord suffer? And
shall I repine? Reproach hath broken my heart.
and I am full of heaviness, and I look for some to take pity,
but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me
also gall for my meat, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar
to drink. May the Lord add his blessing.