The notices for the coming week
are God willing as follows. Pastor will preach here next
Lord's Day at 10.30 and 2 o'clock, also on Thursday evening at 7
o'clock. There'll be a church meeting
here on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. The collections taken for February
plus the online giving amounted to £2,355. Donations to the book
fund were £45. We sincerely thank you for your
continued support of this cause of truth. Let us commence our
services today by singing together hymn number 643. The tune is
Hail Martin 713. Again, dear Lord, we would be
fed. We come to seek for living bread
and feast on love divine. Dear Father, let thy presence
be enjoyed by all thy family and make each face to shine. Hymn 643. Hmm. We come to sing for living, and
our days are now divine. Dear Father, let Thy presence
be, let joy now o'er Thy family campaign in Christ's own sight. ♪ In Thee, oh, worship freely ♪
♪ Now and ever, our souls adore Thee ♪ ♪ Now and ever, our souls
adore Thee ♪ A little sanguine, with a key,
And love, and prayer, and praise, and sing, That shall out from
all visions ring. Make thee strong and pitch the
skies, And we with passion realize That glory now we've had. Come ye with Jesus as a friend. Upon him live his love for men,
And God all things be strong. This we granted with adore, The
hand that gives aid, Gives in sore, An o'erless song of praise. In ev'ry time of need we'll cry,
That Thou shalt move from each supply, And love this life, Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the book of Genesis and chapter 28. Genesis chapter 28. And Isaac
called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said unto
him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise,
go to Pandanarum, to the house of Bethuel, thy mother's father,
and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban, thy
mother's brother. And God Almighty bless thee,
and make thee fruitful and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude
of people. and give thee the blessing of
Abraham to thee, and to thy seed with thee, that thou mayest inherit
the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. And Isaac sent away Jacob, and
he went to Pananarum unto Laban, son of Bethuel the Syrian, the
brother of Rebekah, Jacob and Esau's mother. when Esau saw that Isaac had
blessed Jacob and sent him away to Pandanarum to take him a wife
from thence, and that as he blessed him he gave him a charge, saying,
Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. And
Jacob obeyed his father and his mother and was gone to Pandanarum. And Esau seeing that the daughters
of Canaan pleased not Isaac his father, then went Esau unto Ishmael,
and took unto the wives which he had Mahalath the daughter
of Ishmael, Abram's son, the sister of Nebajoth to be his
wife. And Jacob went out from Beersheba
and went toward Haran, and he lighted upon a certain place
and tarried there all night, because the sun was set. And
he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows,
and lay down in that place to sleep. And he dreamed, and behold,
a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to
heaven, and behold, the angels of God ascending and descending
on it. And behold, the Lord stood above
it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the
God of Isaac, the land whereon thou liest, thee will I give
it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the
dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, to
the east, and to the north, and to the south. And in thee, and
in thy seed, shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And
behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither
thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land. For I will
not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee
of.' And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he says, Surely
the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not. And he was afraid,
and said, how dreadful is this place? This is none other but
the house of God. This is the gate of heaven. And
Jacob rose up early in the morning and took the stone that he had
put for his pillows and set it up for a pillar and poured oil
upon the top of it. And he called the name of that
place Bethel. That means the house of God.
And the name of that city was called Luz at the first. And
Jacob vowed a vow, saying, if God will be with me and will
keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat
and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house
in peace, then shall the Lord be my God. And this stone which
I have set for a pillar shall be God's house. And of all that
thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant to us a spirit of real
prayer. Almighty, most merciful and eternal
God, We do desire to bow before thy great majesty and to call
upon thy great and holy name. We come, Lord, as poor sinners.
We come to confess our sins and our wanderings and our backslidings,
to confess, as the dear apostle himself did, 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, an evil is present with
me. And we painfully prove the same
truth, O Lord, and we wander here in this wilderness below.
We pray to be kept and preserved and delivered from all evil.
We pray that the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning
of wisdom, may be given unto us. And we pray that thy word
may be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. And thou
hast instructed us, O Lord, in thy word, that if we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Gracious God, we pray to be cleansed
from all unrighteousness. We pray to be delivered from
the power and the dominion of sin. And we pray that the grace
of God that bringeth salvation may be given unto each one of
us. that we may know thee in thy Son, Jesus Christ, the only
Saviour of sinners. We come to thee in his name.
We plead his precious blood and merits, his glorious righteousness. This is our only hope for eternal
glory and everlasting happiness. We pray that thou wouldst graciously
guide us this day by thy good spirit, and come and open thy
word to our heart and to our understanding. May the power
that brings salvation be exerted in the word, that it may enter
into the heart of the hearers. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of the Lord. And the dear apostle himself
said, for our gospel came unto you not in word only, but in
power, in the Holy Ghost, and with much assurance. and we pray
that it may be so today and that we read in thy word that the
eyes of your understanding being enlightened and we pray that
it may be so and that we read that then Jesus opened their
understanding that they might understand the scriptures and
we pray that it may be so here today that we may understand
the scriptures that we may lay hold of that hope that is set
before us in the gospel We thank Thee that Jesus Christ is the
way, the truth and the life. We thank Thee that Jesus Christ
has made a new and living way into the holy place. We thank
Thee that He, the eternal Son of God, was made flesh and dwelt
among us. We thank Thee that Jesus is the
Son of God, that He is able to save to the uttermost all that
come unto God by Him. that he was made of a woman and
made under the law that he might redeem them that are under the
law. We do thank thee that in that holy life of Jesus Christ
the law has been fulfilled and honoured and magnified on the
behalf of thy people and everlasting righteousness has been brought
in. We thank thee most gracious Lord for the sacred sacrifice
of the cross of Calvary where sin has been put away, where
God and sinners are reconciled, where peace is made between God
and man. Gracious God, we do pray that
Thou in Thy precious mercy would lead us into these soul-sustaining
truths of our most holy faith. We thank Thee that laid upon
Him was the iniquity of us all. We thank Thee that He died for
our sins rose again for our justification, has now bodily ascended into
heaven and sits at thy right hand. Gracious God, oh we thank
thee for the glories of Christ. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift. We thank thee that after he rose
from the dead, he bodily ascended into heaven and he now sits at
thy right hand. For such an high priest have
we. who is passed into the heavens,
Jesus, the Son of God. O most gracious God, do graciously
bless us as a church and as a congregation. We especially commit and commend
to thee our dear sister, Ina, in her lowest state, and we pray
that it may please thee to take her to thyself to envelop her
with the arms of everlasting love, we do humbly beseech thee. We do pray, most gracious Lord,
for dear Millie, who baptized on the past day, and we lovingly
commend her to thee and pray that she may be blessed of thee
and may be made a blessing in the church of God. We pray, most
gracious Lord, for the fulfilling of that precious word, other
sheep have I, which are not of this fold, them I must bring.
Lord, we long to see Zion's offspring come. We long to see it in gathering. We long to see a building of
the wall of Jerusalem, a strengthening of her bulwark. O Lord of hosts,
O God of Israel, O Thou that dwellest between the cherubims,
shine forth. Let Thy hand be upon the man
of Thy right hand, the Son of Man. whom thou madest strong
for thyself. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou, in thy precious mercy, would bless the dear children,
the little ones, the children, as they come into the sanctuary. May the fear of the Lord, which
is the beginning of wisdom, be given unto them. We pray that
thou would 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 living faith
in Jesus Christ. Guide them by thy counsel and
teach them thy truth. O Lord, we do beseech thee. We
pray that thou wouldst undertake for them in all the matters of
providence, that thou wouldst be with them in their education
and give wisdom and understanding, and that thou wouldst graciously
grant suitable employment And remember them, O Lord, we do
pray Thee regarding a partner in life's journey. Lord, do bless
them, we humbly pray Thee for Thy great namesake. Remember
parents, Lord, as they bring up their children, give them
wisdom and understanding to bring them up in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord. And Lord, we pray for all in
the midst of the journey of life that Thy blessing, Thy favour,
may be granted unto them, and thy divine guidance, we pray,
to be delivered from the temptations of Satan, from the allurement
of this vain world, which has to death ten thousands hurled.
O most gracious Lord, we pray, guide us, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrims in this barren land. We are weak, but thou art mighty. Hold us with thy powerful hand.
Hear us, Lord, we humbly pray thee and grant that this day
the word of the Lord may have free course and that thy name
may be honoured and glorified. We do pray that whether the enemy
comes in as the angel of light or whether he comes to tempt
us as a roaring lion, we pray to be delivered for his power.
We think of that wonderful promise When the enemy comes in like
a flood, the spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against
him. Gracious God, we do pray that thou wouldst remember each
one of us. Remember those of us here, Lord,
that are now in the evening time of life journey. We pray to be
graciously prepared. We pray to be made more spiritually
minded. We pray that the appointed time
thou wilt grant us an abundant entrance into thy heavenly kingdom,
we do humbly beseech thee. We pray for any and any trouble
or trial, perplexity, sorrow, sadness or bereavement. We pray
that the light and glory and power of the gospel may yet shine
into this village and the surrounding villages and hamlets and many,
many precious souls may be gathered in that we may see thy work and
thy power and thy glory in the gospel among us, O Lord, we pray
thee. May we see a godly increase.
Arise, arise, O God of grace. Into thy rest descend, thou and
the ark of thy strength, and let thy priests be clothed with
salvation, and thy saints shall shout aloud for joy. Lord, abundantly
bless the provision of thy house, and satisfy her poor with bread. We pray, O Lord, for our nation. We pray for the king and the
royal household, that thou wouldst indeed bless them. We pray for
our political leaders, that guidance and direction may be given unto
them. And that we pray, most gracious
Lord, that the light and truth and power of the gospel may be
known and felt again in the length and breadth of our nation. Lord, we do pray that thou would
put a stop to war, bring to naught the counsels of the ungodly.
We do humbly beseech thee for thy great namesake. Lord, we do pray for those that
go forth from among us as a group of churches into the nations
of the earth. We think of Ian Sadler and that
great work he does in the distribution of thy word and the exposition
of it in many countries and the orphanages that he runs. We pray
that thou wouldst grant good success, thy gracious help and
supply of all his many returning needs. We pray, O Lord God, that
thou wouldst remember the Mombasa mission in Kenya and thy servant
that labours there and do grant good success. We pray for the
Savannah Education Trust in Ghana, and that great work that they
are doing there, may it be down to the great honour, glory and
praise of thy holy name, O Lord, we do beseech thee. We pray,
most gracious God, that thou wouldst come and open thy word
to our heart and to our understanding, that thou wouldst come and touch
one's lips with a live coal from off the heavenly altar. We thank
thee that through our Lord Jesus Christ, We know the love of our
Eternal Father and that through the Lord Jesus Christ we receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. O gracious God, incline thine
ear, have mercy upon us, we ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 909. The tune is Blackwell Hall, number
11. Why, drooping saint dismayed,
does sorrow press thee down? Has God refused to give thee
aid, or does he seem to frown? Hymn 909, tune Blackwell Hall,
number 11. O come, let us adore Him, O come,
let us adore Him, Christ the Lord. His love so saving and dear,
With love divine, ♪ With hope the saviors find ♪
♪ Tis of the lily's full bloom
♪ ♪ Eternal peace of every kind ♪ ♪ In our native land ♪ ♪ Like home
and home again ♪ ♪ Here's a land of hope still to find ♪ greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I'll direct your attention to the chapter that
we read, the book of Genesis chapter 28, and we will read
verse 15 for our text. Genesis chapter 28, verse 15. And behold, I am with thee, and
will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will
bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee until
I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. In these chapters here, the surrounding
chapters, we read of Abraham Isaac and Jacob and each one
of them was given the same promise in thee and in thy seed shall
all the nations of the earth be blessed and the Lord he says
it here to Jacob in verse 13 and behold the Lord stood above
it and said I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the
God of Isaac, the land wherein thou liest, to thee will I give
it, and to thy seed, and thy seed shall be as the dust of
the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the
east, and to the north, and to the south, and in thee, and in
thy seed, shall all the families of the earth And what is the
meaning of that promise that was given and renewed to Abraham,
to Isaac, and to Jacob? And in thy seed shall all the
nations of the earth be blessed. We go right back to the third
chapter of the book of Genesis, where it is recorded of the fall
of man, when Adam and Eve fell into sin and fell away from the
favor of God and came under the curse of God. And then immediately when the
Lord meets with Adam and Eve, he tells them, he gives them
that promise, the seed of the woman. He says to Eve that her
seed, there would come a Messiah. And now he renews this Abraham
in thy seed so it's narrowed down from the whole of the human
race to just the seed of Abraham in thy seed and then in the in
the book of Psalms it's narrowed down again when it's the Lord
says to David that they shall not fail thee a man to sit upon
thy throne forever And so what is in this line that runs through
Holy Scripture is the promise of the coming of the Son of God
to this earth. And that this would be that great
event. And that event did take place when the Son of God came
here upon earth. And as the Apostle Paul puts
it, was made of a woman, made under the law that he might redeem
them that are under the law. And this is the essential meaning
of this promise that was given to Abraham and to Isaac and to
Jacob, you see, and in thy seed shall all the families of the
earth be blessed. And notice how broad this promise
is, all the families of the earth. In the Old Testament, the wonderful
blessing of the Lord was not completely, but it was fairly
confined to the children of Israel. And the true worship of Jehovah
was among the children of Israel. But when we come to the New Testament
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the command to the apostles was going
into all the world, preaching the gospel unto every creature,
all the world, every creature, no longer confined And that is
the meaning of those words in the Gospels, and whosoever will. You see, no longer confined to
the Israelites, to the chosen seed of Israel, but whosoever
will. Whosoever believeth on the name
of the Lord shall be saved. It doesn't matter where they
live, it doesn't matter what colour their skin is. He hath made us all of one flesh. We all have an immortal soul. A soul that will either be eternally
saved or eternally lost. I say, do you realize this? That
you have an immortal soul. A soul that will never die. a
soul that will spend an eternity either under the curse of God
in that place which is called Hell or in Heaven, in that place where
Jesus Christ is, the King of Glory, the Lord's people, those
that are born again of the Spirit. Again, look at the, very closely,
what the Lord speaking through the Apostle Paul probably stands
out the clearest in the Romans in the fourth chapter of the
Romans but also he speaks of exactly the same thing in the
Epistle to the Galatians and he says there very clearly and
very plainly that the Christian believer is of the seed of Abraham. You see, in thee shall all the
families of the earth be blessed. And so the spiritual seed of
Abraham is the true Christian believer. And in Romans 4 he
says, what shall we say then that Abraham our father has pertained
as the flesh hath found? For if Abraham were justified
by works, he hath whereof to glory, but not before God. For what saith the scripture,
Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Exactly as the believers today,
when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we receive an everlasting
righteousness to cover our nakedness as a poor guilty sinner. And
when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, that precious sin-atoning
blood that he shed on the cross of Calvary, that washes away
all sin. It washes away all sin. And as
the Apostle says, for you are complete in him. That word complete
is often translated perfect. You're perfect in Christ. The
Lord Jesus Christ himself in Solomon's song, He says to the
church, thou art all fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. There is no spot in thee. All
fair. Why be washed in the precious
blood of the lamb, clothed in his glorious everlasting righteousness? I'm blessed, I'm blessed, forever
blessed. My rags are gone and I am dressed
in garments white as snow. reconciled unto God. As he goes
on here, he speaks then of that righteousness which is of faith,
even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto
whom God imputeth righteousness without works. The imputed righteousness
of Christ. The word imputed means to transfer, and in that eternal covenant
made between the father the son and the holy ghost for the everlasting
salvation of the lord's people the sin of the church is transferred
to christ it's imputed to christ and so that is why christ suffered
and bled and died on the cross of calvary for sin. One of the hymn writers said,
was it for crimes that I had done? He hung and suffered there. Was it for my sins? Were my sins the nails and the
spear? They're vital questions. But
there's another side to imputation. On the one hand we've spoken
of the sin of the church being imputed to Christ as if it was
his own. But then the everlasting righteousness
of Christ, he did no sin, he lived a holy life, a sinless
life, and that perfect obedience of Christ, called in scripture
the righteousness of Christ, is transferred or imputed to
the believer. The church is clothed in that
glorious everlasting robe of His righteousness. Blessed, so
we're looking in Romans here, blessed are they whose iniquities
are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin. You see then, it goes on
here to speak of Abraham, cometh then this blessedness upon the
circumcision only or upon the circumcision or uncircumcision
also. For we say that faith was reckoned
to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? And
he speaks here of circumcision and uncircumcision. The Jews
were circumcised. But he said that Abraham received
that promise by faith the righteousness of Christ while he was uncircumcised. He received the sign of circumcision,
a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had, yet being
uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all them that
believe, though they be not circumcised, that righteousness might be imputed
unto them also, that's to the Gentile believers, the father
of circumcision to them that are not of the circumcision only,
but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham,
which he had being yet uncircumcised. For the promise that he should
be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or his seed through
the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which be
of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made
of none effect. because the law worketh wrath.
You see, therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace to
the end that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not
to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is
of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made
thee a father of many nations before him, whom he believed,
even God, who quickneth the dead, and calleth those things which
be not as though they were. You see, my beloved friends,
the Christian church, then, are of the spiritual seed of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob, in and through the glorious person of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who is God, manifest in the flesh, who was born of
the seed of Abraham, who sat upon the throne of David
and sits upon it now, a throne that is eternal in the heavens. Now, we read here in our narrative
in this chapter, how Jacob went out in verse 10 from Beersheba,
that is where Isaac lived, and went toward Haran, which was
in Syria. and he lied to them on certain
places on his journey. Now as far as we can see, that
this is the first time that the Lord met with Jacob in a spiritual
way. If you want to put it that way,
when he was born again, the Lord met with him and spoke to him.
That is what the Lord does to those he has chosen, to those
he has redeemed. and delivered from sin and Satan's
power. He meets with them. Has the Lord
met with you? You know, when Abraham was called
out of Ur of the Chaldeans, we read in the Word of God, he
went out not knowing whether he went. There's an important
point there though, he was called. And here in this, where we are
with Jacob here, it was when Jacob was called, spiritually
called. By the Lord, the Lord met with
him and the Lord spoke to him. And the Lord gave these promises
to him. You know that these things, they
have an application to us today. Has the Lord met with you? Has
he met with me? Do we know the Lord? Our Lord Jesus Christ said, except
a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the
kingdom of heaven. you been born? You must be born
again and the record that we have here of Jacob is when he
was born again. As far as I can see in the whole
of Scripture the only evidence that we're a child of God and
that we're going to eternal glory is if we're called if the word
of the Lord enters our heart. The apostle says when he writes
to the brethren at Thessalonica, for our gospel came unto you,
not in word only. What does he mean? Not just in
the intellect, just in the head. Most of us in this chapel have
been brought up under the sound of the truth. But that doesn't make you a Christian.
You must be born again. The word of God must enter your
heart. Your soul must be quickened. The Holy Spirit must enter your
soul. You hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and in
sins. That is what happened to Abraham
when he was called out of Ur of the Chaldees. The Lord called
him. He followed that call. He left
the place of his nativity. We read when Isaac, when the
Lord spoke to him and breathed his word into his heart. And
now we read here of Jacob, how the Lord breathed into his heart. The breath of life. Has he breathed
it into your heart? The spirit of life in Christ
Jesus. That's what it's called in the
Romans, isn't it? he lighted on a certain place and tarried
there all night because the sun was set and he took of the stones
of that place and put them for his pillows and lay down in that
place to sleep and he dreamed and behold a ladder set up on
the earth and the top of it reached to heaven and behold the angels
of God ascending and descending on it. So in that dream that
Jacob had, there was this ladder from earth to heaven. What does it mean? Christ, I
am the way, the truth, and the life. The angels of God, the
messengers of God, because that's what an angel means, the messengers
of God ascending and descending upon that ladder. So that ladder
typifies Christ. Set up on the earth and the top
of it reached to heaven and behold the angels of God ascending and
descending on it and behold the Lord stood above it. Stood above that ladder at the
top of it and he communicated with Jacob in that dream through
that ladder and the messenger of God up and down that ladder
and he spoke to Jacob and he says and behold the Lord stood
above it and said I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father and
the God of Isaac the land whereon thou liest to thee will I give
it and to thy seed. These wonderful promises of God
and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth. The true seed, Abraham had other
seed, but the seed of promise was Isaac, born to Sarah, his
wife. That was the seed of promise.
Isaac had twins, Jacob and Esau. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. It's a very solemn, searching
word, isn't it? Jacob have I loved. Esau have
I hated. Oh, my beloved friends, does
the Lord love you? Does he love me? And you want
to know that, don't you? You want the love of Christ to
be shed abroad in your heart. and you want to see this communication
as we read of here in this ladder, between your soul and God. And
then in our text, and behold I am with thee. It's the Lord
Jehovah, you notice it says Lord God, capital letters, which is
translated from the name Jehovah. That wonderful, sacred, incommunicable
name, it cannot be given to any other because of the meaning
of it. It means the Eternal God. As
it says in the book of Psalms, from everlasting to everlasting,
thou art God. The Eternal God. The Lord God,
Jehovah. paraphrased in the New Testament
by our Lord Jesus Christ. I am he which is. This is a direct
interpretation to us of exactly what the name Jehovah means. I am he which is and which was
and which is to come. And when it says is it means
the present and when it says was it means eternity past. And when it says to come, it
means all eternity to come. In other words, I am the eternal
and the self-existent God. We read in the word of God, it
is he that hath made us and not we ourselves. He's the creator
of the heavens and the earth. God made us. God created us. The Apostle puts it this way
in the Acts of the Apostles, in him we live and move and have
our being in God. In God. Behold I am with thee. The Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the ending, the first and the last. The Apostle
again, he gives us a paraphrase of the name Jehovah Hebrews chapter
13. Jesus Christ the same yesterday
and today and forever. Jesus Christ is the eternal son
of the eternal father. He's from everlasting to everlasting. And he's promised to be with
his people. But we read, do we not? And thou shalt call his
name Immanuel, we read it in Isaiah, behold a virgin shall
be with child. Thou shalt call his name Immanuel,
which by interpretation is God with us. Jesus Christ is God
with us and these wonderful promises in thee and in thy seed shall
all the families of the earth be blessed. These promises are
centered in the glorious person. of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,
promises of eternal salvation, promises of redemption and deliverance
from sin and Satan's power and behold, I am with thee. I am
with thee. What a special place this was
to Jacob, wasn't it? When the Lord met with him. I
am with thee. And we read here in verse 16,
and Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and it is surely the Lord is
in this place, and I knew it not. What did he feel? The holiness of God. Now that's one of the things
that the Holy Spirit teaches us. the Lord Jesus Christ in
that discourse in John's gospel where he says, when he the spirit
of truth has come, what does it mean when he comes to your
heart? When he quickens your soul, he will reprove, the margin
says, convince the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. The spirit of God may not be
in that direct order, I've known a number of very godly people,
the first thing they ever knew of the God of Heaven and of Jesus
Christ was that the love of Christ was shed abroad in their heart. And then each one of them confessed,
afterwards they knew much conviction of sin. But the first thing they
ever knew was the love of Christ. As ministers we need to be very
careful that we don't stumble some of the Lord's little ones
by emphatically laying down that you must have first conviction
of sin and then the revelation of Christ because it's not always
that way. Sometimes it's the love of Christ
that is first felt. Afterward by the same spirit
that revealed Christ there's a sense of sin and a sense of
the holiness of God. He will convince the world of
sin, that's your own sin, of righteousness, that is the righteousness
of God, and of judgment, judgment to come. We must all appear at
the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. Now, Jacob here, when he awoke,
he said, surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not,
and he felt something of the holiness of God. And he was afraid and said, how
dreadful is this place? This is none other but the house
of God. This is the gate of heaven. And
he called the name of that place Bethel, which means the house
of God. This is the gate of heaven. And
that's what he saw. in those angels ascending and
descending on that ladder. The ladder represents Christ. I am the way, the truth and the
life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me, but by me. Jesus is the way to God. Jesus
is the way to bliss. In this way the saints have trod
down from Adam's day to this. And behold, you know, we When
we read this word, behold, it's drawing our attention to what
follows. And behold, I am with thee. What a sacred promise. What the
Lord gives unto his people. You know, the Lord's servant,
Isaiah, he was led much into these wonderful promises of God. My mind in particular just goes
to Isaiah chapter 43. And it says there at the beginning
of the chapter, but now, thus saith the Lord that created thee,
O Jacob. We're reading of Jacob, aren't
we? The Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee,
O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called
thee by thy name, thou art mine. It just reminds us, doesn't it,
of our text on Thursday evening, and they shall be mine, they
shall be mine, thou art mine. Maybe there are those of you
here and that is what you desire, that the Lord would discover
to you that Thou art mine, that you belong to Him, that you're
among that chosen generation, that royal priesthood, that you
have an everlasting Father, you have a glorious Redeemer in the
person of Jesus, the Son of God, manifest in the flesh, that He's
loved you with an everlasting love. God so loved the world,
He gave His only begotten Son. And you say, that's what I want
to know. Did he live for me? Did he die for me? Did he suffer
for me? I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine, thou art mine. What a wonderful thing to know
that, thou art mine. But what drew me particularly
to this is the second verse of that Isaiah 43, when thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee. and through the rivers
they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour." You see, I am the Lord thy God,
the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. When thou passest through the
waters, these waters can be spoken of in many, many different ways. We read in scripture of the waters
of affliction, waters of trouble, of trial, of perplexity, of sorrow, of temptation, when thou passest
through the waters. We spoke last week of the trial
of Abraham's faith when he went to offer up his son, his only
son Isaac, the trial of his faith. What a deep waters that was.
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. The children of Israel, they
proved this in a very dramatic and wonderful way when they were
traveling through the wilderness. And they came to the Red Sea.
And just remember, there was a vast company of people there
that came out of Egypt. many have actually calculated
it was probably in the region of two million people. So it
was a vast amount of people and they came to the Red Sea. Now
Pharaoh decided that he should not have let them go and so pursued
them with the whole of his army. And at that point where they
came to the Red Sea and they are the Pyre Hieroth I believe
is named, and each side there was mountains. In front was the
Red Sea. Behind them was the Egyptian
army. They were completely hemmed in. And the Lord, he said unto Moses,
why cryest thou unto me? Say unto the children of Israel
that they go forward. What, into the deep sea? He said, cast thy rod over the
waters. And the waters of the sea parted. And the children of Israel passed
over on dry land. And as it says in the Hebrews,
the Egyptians are saying to do so, that is the Egyptian soldiers,
the army, are saying to do so, were drowned. So what was the
salvation of the children of Israel became the death of the
children of Egypt. And you know, friends, that overthrow
at the Red Sea of the Egyptians, of the Egyptian army, that godly Puritan Thomas Goodwin,
a very learned man, he makes this comment, he said, you do
not read anything of Egypt after that Dead Sea, that Red Sea. He said you do not read anything
of Egypt for 300 years. He said there was a massive overthrow
of the whole of the Egyptian army at that time. A complete
upheaval in the land of Egypt. But what was the destruction
of the Egyptian, which is a type of the world, was the salvation
of the children of Israel. That sea that parted for them
when they were on the other side and we read that the fiery cloudy
pillar that went before the children of Israel and led them to that
place it was unusual because that fiery
cloudy pillar went before the children of Israel and they followed
it but in that path in the Red Sea but they went over on dry
land and the fiery cloudy pillar which is a type of Christ went
behind the children of Israel It went behind them. It stood
between them and the Egyptian army that were pursuing them. And we read that God was looking
down from that fiery cloudy pillar upon the Egyptians and he caused
the wheels to come off of their chariots. And then as soon as
Israel was over the Red Sea came back together and the Egyptians
were drowned. were drowned. So Israel then
proved, as we read here, when thou passest through the waters,
I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall not overflow
thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. And of course the other time,
again a remarkable event, is when the children of Israel were
to leave the shores of the River Jordan and cross over into the
promised land. And the Lord arranged it that
it was in the summer. And in summer the River Jordan
becomes a torrent of a river. Normally it's actually quite
a small river. But in the summer it floods its
banks. And right at that time, when the river Jordan had flooded
its banks, the Lord said to Joshua, rise
and go over this Jordan. Right in the middle of that time,
when it was a torrent of a river, and overflowing its banks, and
the Lord commanded the children of Israel to go over. And the
Ark of the Covenant was taken by the priests, the Levite priests,
upon their shoulders and we read this that they had to walk right
to the brim of the river under the command of God and what happened
as soon as the feet of the priest touched the water the waters
parted and the children of Israel crossed over Jordan on dry land. What is the teaching? Well sometimes
you know friends we come into great difficulties And everything
seems to be utterly impossible. Utterly impossible. And you think,
well, however can I go forward? That's exactly how Moses felt
at the Red Sea. And the Lord said, why cryest
thou unto me? Say unto the children of Israel
that they go forward. And you may feel like, like Samuel
when he was sent to anoint David to be the king. How can I go? Maybe that's how you feel this
morning. How can I go? When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers they shall
not overflow thee. Now these rivers It can, as I've
said, be the rivers of affliction, of trouble, of trial. Or, as
often we read of it in scripture, the river Jordan is likened to
death. Likened to death. And passing over that river.
What did Christian say in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress when he came
into the river? The bottom is good. The bottom
is good. passed over into the land that
floweth with milk and with honey. Eternal glory, everlasting happiness. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. When Elijah came to the river that
he was to cross over, he smote it twice with a mantle and the
waters parted and he crossed over the river. He did and Elisha
said, Lord give me a double portion of thy spirit that thou hast
given unto thy servant Elisha. And when he returned he smoked
the waters once with the mantle and the waters parted, a double
portion of the Lord's when thou passest through the waters, I
will be with thee. I will be with thee. You know,
the hymn writer says suddenly, with Christ in the vessel, we
smile at the storm and behold, I am with thee and will keep
thee in all places whither thou goest. Maybe there's a pathway
that has been set before you. And you're so fearful, so tried,
so perplexed. And you say, what can I do? There's a promise here. You know,
and the promises of God. I love what the apostle says
in the Corinthians. All the promises of God are yea
and amen in Christ Jesus. In other words, they're all fulfilled
in Christ. All the doctrines of grace are
all in Christ. They all center in Christ. Everything centers in Christ.
So there's everything in this world. He's Emmanuel, God with
us. He'll take us by the hand. He'll
guide us through. Or there's another place in Malachi
where it says he sits as a refiner. Never shall I forget that word.
in hospital at one time feeling so ill and my wife brought in
the Zion's Witness and I could read just a few paragraphs for
a little while and then I had to rest. But it was that text,
he sits as a refiner. Oh how beautifully opened up
Christ's city as a refiner. And you know friends it was so
palpable, so real, it was such a reality to me It was just as
if the Lord Jesus Christ was sitting right next to my bed.
It was. He sits as a refiner to purify
the sons of Levi. It was such a sacred experience. I am with thee. Behold, I am
with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest.
Maybe there are perhaps certain difficulties, trials, perplexities,
that are before you in the way that you are going to go, in
the way that you feel the Lord is leading you to go. And you
wonder however you're going to cope with those troubles and
those trials as they arise. The just shall live by his faith. And what does the Apostle say
in Hebrews 11 about faith? Faith is the substance of things
hopeful, The evidence of things not seen. It's what you hope
for. Abraham, when he left Ur of the
Chaldees, he went out not knowing whether he went. In other words,
he went by faith. And that's what you've got to
do, and that's what I have to do. The just shall live by his
faith. The substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen. So we walk by faith and
not by sight. Behold, I am with thee, and will
keep thee. In all places whither thou goest,
I will keep thee. We read in the first epistle
of Peter, kept by the power of God, through faith, unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last day. What is faith? Believing
on Jesus Christ. Believing that he's the eternal
son of God. Believing that all power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth. That's what faith does. It lays
hold of the glorious person of Jesus, the son of God. It believes
that his precious blood cleanses from all sin. It believes that
his glorious everlasting righteousness covers our nakedness. It does. Faith believes. It's the substance
of things hoped for yet not seen. And behold, I am with thee and
will keep thee. in all places, whither thou goest,
and I will bring thee again into this land." I will bring thee
again into this land. Now we have something exceeding
precious. For I will not leave thee. I will not leave thee. Jacob,
after these chapters, he had some exceedingly great trials. Jacob means the deceiver, the
supplanter. What an apt name it was, wasn't
it? He deceived his own father. He took the blessing of Esau.
He took Esau's birthright. What brother would do that? You
know, if you look at things, naturally speaking, Esau was
a much nicer character than what Jacob was. He was. Jacob was not a very nice man.
And he proved it in the way that he carried on. The deceiver,
the supplanter. But he was a child of God. He
was loved with an everlasting love. And the Lord dealt with
him. The Lord humbled him. He did
it again and again. He went and worked for Laban. His mother's brother. He changed
his wages ten times. He deceived him, first giving
him Leah instead of Rachel. What do we see in him? As ye
sow, so shall ye also reap. And that's what we see in Jacob. He had sown, he reaped it when
he went to work for labour. He was deceived, his wages were
changed, etc. He wasn't dealt with in a very
kind or a gracious way. But the Lord was still with him.
The Lord preserved him, the Lord kept him, the Lord prospered
him. Laban, he said on several occasions, how the Lord had blessed
him because Jacob was there. When Jacob went there, he had
a small flock of sheep. When Jacob had been there for
20 years, he had a vast flock of sheep. Because everything
Jacob touched prospered. You look at the life of Abraham.
everything Abraham touched in providence and in grace it prospered
everything Isaac touched Abimelech the king he asked Isaac to leave
the land because he had such vast herds and such great wealth
that he was a threat to the king because he had such vast wealth
and the king asked him to leave and it was the same with Jacob
see the Lord was with the The Lord helped them. Behold, I am
with thee. You see, for I will not leave
thee. When he was returning from labor,
and the Lord had promised, it says here, I will not leave thee
until I've done that which I've spoken of. He came to Peniel,
and it was told him that Esau was coming with 400 armed men,
vowing to destroy Jacob. See, but the Lord was with him.
He wrestled with God at Peniel. He sent his herds and his flocks
before him in droves so that he could pacify Esau. When Esau
did come, he fell upon his neck and kissed him. See, why? Because the Lord was with him.
Esau was going to destroy him, but the Lord didn't allow him
to do so. He reconciled them instead. For
I am with thee. There may be things in your path
and you think this is going to happen or that's going to happen
but the Lord doesn't permit it to happen. Why? Because I will
not leave thee until I've done that which I have spoken to thee
of. What has the Lord spoken to you
of? This is the thing. What has the Lord spoken to you
of? And you know we need a word from the Lord. We do, to go in
that right way. What promise has the Lord given
you? He'll fulfil it. He's a promise given and a promise
performing God. And behold, I am with thee and
will keep thee in all places whither thou goest. And I will
bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee until
I've done that which I have spoken to thee of. May the Lord add
his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 329. The tune is Promise 832. How firm a foundation, ye saints
of the Lord, is laid for your faith in his excellent work.
What more can he say than to you he has said, you who unto
Jesus for refuge have fled? Hymn 329, tune Promise 832. Sorry. O come all ye faithful joyful
and triumphant O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave in every condition, in sickness,
in health, in poverty, in famine, abounding in health. the land of the sea. As thy days may be long, shall
thy strength and power Beloved, I am with thee, Thou
beloved Israel. I am thy God, and will still
be thee. All strength that may help thee,
and cause thee to stand. God help thy, thy kindness, all
people and land. I call thee to know. The rivers of motion are playing o'er my love. With thee thy troubles to rest,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress. Where'er triumph I may die Those
by and while they may shall die Thy grace, O Self-wisdom, shall
be thyself mine. No place shall not pertain thy
holy design. Thy cross to console, and thy
altar revive. Be thou O my people shall prove My sovereign,
eternal, untainted O'er all. like temples adored, like mountains
shall still in my bosom I will not, I will not desert
you. 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.