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 will be a prayer meeting
here on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. Let us commence our services
today by singing together hymn 171 The tune is Salem's Plain, 407. Join all who love the Saviour's
name to sing his everlasting fame. Great God, prepare each
heart and voice in him forever to rejoice. Hymn 171. Tune Salem's
Plains, 407. Thank you. Joyful and proud the Saviour's
name To sing His end, the lost in
pain. Great God, prepare each heart
and voice Send him forever to rejoin Love him, love others, sing the
tone. In Him what love presides above,
For Him I can be put in sleep. Tear in my soul, Jordan, our
king. In Divine treasures full contain,
By Him, I think, thou so shalt stay. From him I nothing now receive,
There in my soul shall rest With Divine Lady of Terror Hold him, my soul, till I turn
cold. On him I cast my every care. I fear a day I shall not fear. Lest, if my soul from day to
day Has been to me the all my faith,
Give him my hope, makes him all mine. where they have never, never
thought. Take me for strength and righteousness, Make him thy friend, Eugene Hickson. Guard him above all persecution. God give thee heaven every day. Praise ye the name of great Thou
art. To Him, O God, let praise be
done. Teach me to touch the heav'nly
hand And hear music forever Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Epistle of Paul to Titus, and we'll read
chapters one and two. The first and second chapters
of the Epistle to Titus. Paul, a servant of God, and an
apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect,
and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness,
in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised
before the world began, and hath in due times manifested his word
through preaching, which is committed unto me, according to the commandment
of God our Saviour, to Titus, mine own son, after the common
faith, grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and the Lord
Jesus Christ our Saviour. For this cause I left I thee
in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that
I wanted and ordain elders in every city as I had appointed
thee. if any be blameless, a husband
of one wife, having faithful children, not accused of riot
or unruly, for a bishop must be blameless, as the steward
of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine,
no striker, not given to filthy lucre, but a lover of hospitality,
a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate. Hold him fast
the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able
by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.
For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially
they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert
whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, poor filthy
Lucas say. One of themselves, even a prophet
of their own, said, the Cretans are all way liars, evil beasts,
slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore,
rebuke them sharply. that they may be sound in the
faith, not giving heed to Jewish fables and commandments of men
that turn from the truth. Under the pure all things are
pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing
pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled. They profess
that they know God, but in works they deny him, being abominable
and disobedient unto every good work reprobate. But speak thou
the things which become sound doctrine, that the aged men be
sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience. the aged women likewise that
they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers,
not given to much wine, teachers of good things, that they may
teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love
their children, to be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good,
obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed. Young men likewise exhort to
be sober-minded, in all things showing thyself a pattern of
good works, in doctrine showing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,
sound speech that cannot be contemned, that he that is of the contrary
part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you. exhorts servants to be obedient
unto their own masters and to please them well in all things,
not answering again, not purloining, but showing all good fidelity
that they may adorn the doctrine of God, our Saviour, in all things. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying
ungodliness and worldliness we should live soberly, righteously
and godly in this present world. Looking for that blessed hope
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour
Jesus Christ who gave himself for us that he might redeem us
from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people,
zealous of good works. These things speak and exhort
and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise 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, for we do pray that Thou wouldst grant unto us now a spirit
of true prayer, the divine aid and blessing of Thy Holy Spirit.
Lord, teach us how to pray and for what to pray, for we know
not what to pray for as we are, but may the Spirit make intercession
for us. May we have that prayer indicted
from within which God will surely answer. Gracious God, we come
as poor sinners before thy great majesty and we come to confess
our sins and our wanderings and our backslidings and we pray
to be washed in the precious blood of Jesus Christ, thine
only begotten son. We pray to be clothed in that
glorious everlasting robe of His righteousness. For, Lord,
we have no righteousness of our own, and we are defiled throughout
by sin. We have a heart which is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. We have a nature, O Lord, that
is turned aside from righteousness and truth. And, O gracious God,
we pray to be delivered from that that we might know the quickening
power and work of thy Holy Spirit in our hearts today, and that
it may be with us here today as it was with the dear Apostle
when he could say, for our gospel came unto you not in word only,
but in power, in the Holy Ghost, and with much assurance. We come,
most gracious Lord, and we seek and confess our sins and our
many many many shortcomings and pray for thy forgiving love and
thy precious mercy in Jesus Christ to be made known unto us. We pray that thou would show
us thy ways and teach us thy path and that thy word may be
a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. Gracious God incline
thine ear we humbly beseech thee set our heart, our mind, our
affections on things above and not on things of the earth. For,
Lord, by nature we are earthbound, we are carnal, sold unto sin.
And, Lord, the carnal mind is enmity to thee, is not subject
to the law of God, neither indeed can be. And, Lord, we painfully
feel our fallen old nature, when it rises up and lifts its head.
Gracious God, we pray for grace, grace to follow Thee, grace to
serve Thee, grace to look to Thee, grace to cleave to Thee,
even the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that that grace
may fill our hearts and our minds even today, that wonderful favour
of God in His Son, Jesus Christ, that we There may be those, O
Lord, that have come together today, like that dear woman that
we read of in the Gospel, when she said, If I might but touch
a hem of his garment, I shall be made whole. Lord, may there
be many such souls as they've come into the sanctuary today.
Remember our brethren, the deacons, who give grace, wisdom, and help
in all their responsibilities. and graciously undertake for
them, Lord, in their duties among us. Lord, we pray for our brethren
and sisters in church fellowship and seek thy rich blessing to
rest upon us each, and we pray that thou wouldst bless us as
a church and as a congregation, and that thy mighty work appear,
and that thy power be known amongst us as a church and as a congregation. We pray for those not able to
be with us today. Whatever that reason may be,
that we would lovingly commend them to thee and to the word
of thy grace. We pray for our dear beloved
brother and sister in Holland, that thou would bless them and
undertake for them. We pray for dear Ina at home
in her old age and its increasing infirmities. We lovingly commend
her to thee and to the word of thy grace, which is able to build
her up and to grant her an inheritance among them that are sanctified. Lord, bless her indeed. We do
humbly beseech thee. And we pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou would remember the little ones and the children
as they're brought into the sanctuary and that thou would bless them
in their young and tender years with the fear of the Lord which
is the beginning of wisdom. We think of those lovely words,
suffer little children to come unto me and forbid them not.
For of such is the kingdom of heaven. O gracious God, grant
that they may come in all their simplicity and help them to look
to thee and to cleave to thee and to pray to thee in a day
when thou mayest be found. Remember our young friends, in
all their concerns. Bring them, O Lord, to live in
faith in Jesus Christ. Make them true followers of Thee
and of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises
that there may be a generation raised up, a seed that shall
follow Thee and serve Thee in their day and in their generation. Gracious God, grant that we may
see thy work, and thy power, and thy glory,
as thou usest to be in the sanctuary. Lord, we live in very dark days,
and when Zion is minished and brought low, and the boar out
of the wood doth waste, and few come to solemn Zion's solemn
feast, Lord, arise, we do humbly pray thee, and may bear thine
holy arm in the gospel, and may the power that brings salvation
be exerted in the word. Gracious God, incline thine ear,
we do humbly pray thee. We pray, Lord, for any in affliction,
whether young or old, we lovingly commend them to thee, Pray that
thou wouldst be Jehovah Rophi. I am the Lord that healeth thee.
We remember the sorrow in church at Hanover today, and the loss
of dear Mrs. Pond, and we lovingly commend
to thee the family, and pray that thou wouldst draw near to
them. And we thank thee, Lord, that there is that sweet and
certain hope of a glorious resurrection. Hear us, Lord, we pray thee.
And, O Lord, we do pray that thou, in thy great mercy, would
remember the prodigals that have wandered from among us, and that
thou wouldst cause them to be in want, and that thou wouldst
cause them to return to hear us, Lord, we humbly pray thee.
We think of those precious words, from this day will I bless thee.
And we pray that it may be so among us, that from this day
thou wouldst bless us. and send out thy light and thy
truth, and gather precious souls unto Christ, and pull down the
strongholds of Satan, and set up the kingdom of the Lord Jesus
in the hearts of sinners. Send the light and truth of the
gospel into this village, and the surrounding villages and
hamlets, all that thy work may appear. Bring our sons from far,
and our daughters from the ends of the earth, O Lord, we beseech
thee. Remember parents who give them grace and wisdom to bring
up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And
bless the families as they gather for divine worship, for reading
of the word and prayer. And oh gracious God, we do pray. Remember all in the midst of
the journey of life, Lord have mercy upon us and hear our prayers. and graciously arise. Remember
those of us in the evening time of life's journey. We pray that
thou would remember us with the favour that thou barest unto
thy people and visit us with thy great salvation. We pray
most gracious Lord that thou would remember thy servants as
they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion today. That thou would set them free
and set them at liberty. O gracious God, do incline thine
ear, we humbly beseech thee, for thy great namesake, and we
pray thee, the great Lord of the harvest, to send true labourers
into the harvest, and to build the walls of Jerusalem. O gracious
God, we long to see thy work, we long to see thy power, we
long to see thy glory, in the Gospel and the exaltation of
Jesus Christ. O hear us, O Lord, we humbly
beseech thee and bless thy servants and thy people and return to
Jerusalem with mercies. O Lord of hosts, O God of Israel,
we pray for any in darkness and bondage. May those in bondage
be brought into liberty May those that are far off be
made nigh. We do humbly beseech them. Oh,
do visit them with thy great salvation. For thy great name's
sake, O Lord, we do beseech them. And we pray, most gracious Lord,
for our group of churches. And we are very minished and
brought low. And we pray that thou wouldst
arise and that thou wouldst send out thy light and thy truth that
we may see thy power and thy glory in the gospel among us,
that instead of a declension we may see a reviving, a renewing,
a replenishing. Remember those that have much
responsibility among us, the editors of our magazines and
the secretaries of the societies and the various committees as
they gather. Oh, do be the master of assemblies,
O Lord, we pray thee. make the crooked things straight,
and the rough places plain. 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. We thank thee. We thank thee
for our little house of prayer. We thank thee for the open Bible,
We thank Thee for the freedom and liberty that we have to meet
around Thy Word. May we count it a great privilege,
O Lord, to do so. But above all, we thank Thee
for Jesus Christ. We thank Thee that there is a
fullness that resides in Jesus our Head and ever abides to answer
our need. All we do thank Thee for the
incarnation of the Son of God, We thank Thee for the holy life
He lived as a man here upon earth, and in that holy life the bringing
in of everlasting righteousness, that perfect obedience of the
Saviour, the righteousness of Thy people. We thank Thee for
Calvary where the Lamb was slain, where sin was put away, where
divine justice was satisfied, where God and sinners are reconciled. We thank Thee for the precious
blood of the Lamb that cleanses from all sin. We thank Thee that
He died for our sins and rose again for our justification and
has now bodily ascended into heaven and sits at Thy right
hand. We have indeed a great High Priest
who is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Oh, we do thank thee for the
wonderful foundation that thou hast laid in Zion, the eternal
rock of ages. Come and touch one's lips with
a live coal from off the heavenly altar. We do humbly pray thee. Remember, O Lord, our nation. Remember our leaders. Give wisdom,
guidance, direction. Remember our King and grant,
O Lord, thy blessing upon him and thy healing hand, if it is
thy heavenly mind, and the rich blessings of thy grace in our
royal household. Oh, do hear us, Lord, we humbly
beseech thee and graciously hearken for thy great name's sake. We
ask with the forgiveness of all sin for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 201. The tune is Eternal Rest, number
28. graced is a charming sound, harmonious
to the ear. Heaven with the echo shall resound,
and all the earth shall hear. Hymn 201, tune Eternal Rest,
28. ? Come, Lord, let's do it again ? ? And let it begin ?
? For the world is ours ? ? And the world is ours ? This day we gladly celebrate. Let each blessing strive my way,
with God's hidden hand alone. ? Give thanks to the Lamb ? ? Who
was and is still ? ? And on that mountain top ? ?
Was raised the King of Israel ? ? And worship the Lord ? ? Till
all the earth ? ? Has sinned against thee ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the Epistle
to Titus and the second chapter and we will read verses 11 to
15 for our text. Titus chapter 2 verses 11 to
15 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared
to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly
lusts we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this
present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glorious
appearing of the great God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who
gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity
and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. These things speak and exhort
and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee." It's
an unusually long text for me, but I want to speak from the
whole of it today. Firstly, we will look at the
verse 11, which is so full of gospel truth. For the grace of
God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Hath appeared to all men. You
know, what the Holy Spirit is teaching us here when it says,
hath appeared to all men, The gospel, and it has been ever
since the beginning of the preaching of the gospel, is preached in
a public way to all men. And that is the, we have public
places of worship. And we're exhorted, the apostles
were exhorted going into all the world into all the world preaching
the Gospel, preaching Jesus Christ, because that is the centre of
grace, that is the substance of grace, that is the source
of grace, the glorious person of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men. And the other sense, the
gospel being preached unto all men, and openly and publicly
preached, is to all men, meaning that it doesn't matter where
you live in this world, the gospel was commissioned by the Lord
to his servants going into all the world. It doesn't matter
what tribe, what people, what country that you belong to. The Lord has his people among all
the world. But the point that is being made
in this all is that it doesn't matter where we live, it doesn't
matter what religion we adhere to, there's only one Saviour,
Jesus Christ. He is the Saviour of mankind.
And when We read in John, God so loved the world, he gave his
only begotten son. And the apostles, when they publicly
preached the gospel, they said there is none other name given
unto heaven, whereby he must be saved, but the name of Jesus
Christ unto all men, unto rich, unto poor, unto whoever it is,
and when it says in the in the word of his grace that whosoever
believeth on him there again it's speaking of the whosoever
that there are none excluded because of their race or because
of this or because of that sometimes you find even among the Lord's
people and they would exclude this one and they would exclude
that one and they would exclude another one the Lord doesn't all men, to all men, rich, makes
it abundantly clear, rich, poor, whoever it is, whosoever believes
on him shall be saved for the grace of God that bringeth salvation
hath appeared to all men. Now the source then and the substance
of this grace, it's constantly and continually used in the scriptures
in the New Testament, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When
the Apostle Paul, as he was doing his continually preaching and
touring throughout the various countries, And we are told in the Corinthians
he had many trials, many perplexities, imprisonment, stripes, a thorn
in the flesh. What were those things for? To humble him. He said, lest
I should be exalted above measure, I was given a thorn in the flesh,
a messenger of Satan to buffet me. But what was the remedy that
was prescribed? When the dear man of God asked
the Lord to remove that thorn in the flesh, that messenger
of Satan that was buffeting him, we do not read at all that the
Lord removed him. But what did the Lord say to
him? My grace, that wonderful grace of God, my grace, is sufficient
for thee. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. And you know, friends, that is
how the Lord strengthens His people, by the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ. That is how the Lord supports
His people, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. When they're
in darkness, He reveals Christ, the light of the world. When
there is bondage, he reveals Christ. And if the Son shall
make you free, then shall you be free indeed. This wonderful
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, for
the grace of God that bringeth salvation. There is no other way. Jesus himself said, I am the
way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. I am the way, the truth and the
life. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men. It shines like a beacon
in this world. The glorious person of Jesus
Christ. What do we read in the first
chapter of John's Gospel? Speaking of the glorious person
of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He is full. He is full. What is he full of? He is full of grace and truth. And he's always full of grace
and truth. Even though his people Thousands
of his people throughout the world are drawing constantly
from that wonderful grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And yet
he remains full. And he always will remain full.
A fullness resides in Jesus our head and ever abides to answer
our need. Oh, my beloved friends, never
even begin to think that you'll exhaust this grace, this wonderful
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's that lovely word in the
epistle of James, and he giveth more grace. And he giveth more
grace. That wonderful grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. You know, it's very sweet and
precious in the second chapter of the Ephesians, where the apostle
himself speaks of this wonderful grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he says to the Ephesians,
he says to us that by grace are ye saved. Indeed in the beginning
of that second chapter he speaks of the wonderful sovereignty
of grace and you hath he quickened. That's an old English word which
means to give life. And you hath he given life. And
you hath he quickened who were dead. You know, my beloved friends,
what a word that is to us. Where the Lord found us, dead,
spiritually dead. That's where the Lord finds every
one of his people. He does. The dead know not anything. That's the word of God. And you
and I, in our unregeneracy, we knew anything. You know, when we hear of preachers
standing and commanding people to repent and to do this and
to do that and to do something else, how ridiculous. It's like standing above a coffin
and say, rise up, speak, do this, do that, do something else. If
you saw somebody doing that, you'd think they were quite mad. But that is what so many preachers
do. Of course it's right that we
preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and the vital need of being saved,
but it's by grace, by grace are ye saved. That not of yourselves,
it is the gift of God. And until that divine person,
power and grace of the Holy Ghost enters the heart of a poor sinner,
they're dead. The Holy Spirit is called the
Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. The Spirit of Life in Christ
Jesus. He gives life. The Holy Ghost
It is portrayed to us in Holy Scripture as proceeding from
the Father and the Son. And in that economy of grace
that we read of in Holy Scripture, the Father chose a people from
the ruins of the Adam fall. He chose them in Christ. And
He gave them, before the foundation of the world, He gave them to
Christ. And He gave them to Christ to
redeem. That Christ might redeem them
from sin and Satan's power. And it's only Christ that can
do that. The name Jesus means Saviour. The name Christ means Messiah.
The Anointed One. And that is what Christ was anointed
to do. Christ has anointed the Prophet,
the Priest and the King of His people. And there's that word
in the Epistle to Timothy. The foundation of God standeth
sure. It standeth sure. The Lord knoweth them that are
His. The Lord knoweth them that are His. And at the appointed
time, He sends His Holy Spirit into their heart. It's a sovereign
work of divine grace. And when He sends the Holy Spirit
into their heart, by grace He quickens their souls, by grace
He opens their eyes and their ears, their understanding. It's
all the divine work of the Spirit. you hath he quickened who were
dead in trespasses and in sins my
beloved friends that is where we were and it speaks here in
Ephesians 2 where in time past you walked according to the course
of this world according to the prince of the power of the air
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience
You see that's where we were. With the Apostle in writing to
the Corinthians, he speaks of that whole list of the sins of
the people and of man and he says immediately afterwards,
speaking to the church at Corinth, and such were some of you. And such were some of you, but
now you're washed. See, it's a divine act of grace,
my beloved friends. The wonderful grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, that's Satan, the spirit that now worketh
in the children of disobedience. among whom also we all had our
conversation in times past, in the lusts of the flesh. This
is where we were. That's what it means when it
says, and such were some of you, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and were by the nature of the children
of wrath, even as others. It's a humbling thought, isn't
it? We're no better than anyone else, and if the Holy Spirit
truly teaches you and I just how sinful we are. Christ speaks of the Spirit of
Grace, doesn't He? What did He say? When He, the
Spirit of Truth, is come, He will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. When the Holy Spirit enters the
heart, He improves, or the margin reads for reproved, convince,
I prefer that word, convince the world of sin, of righteousness. Convince the sinner that they
are sinners. And convince the sinner that
God is righteous and holy. And convince the sinner that
there is a day of judgment. When He, the Spirit of truth,
is come. And that's what He does. when
he quickens a poor sinner. Gradually, there's an opening
of the heart and the mind, the soul, and bringing us to see that we're
lost and ruined. And that these precious souls
that are truly born of the Spirit and convinced of their sin, they
flee to Jesus Christ. They flee to Jesus Christ as
the only Savior of sinners. It says, it goes on here in Ephesians
2, but God, that's where all religion starts, my beloved friends,
but God. But God who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us. Rich in mercy. That mercy flows
through the grace of our Lord Jesus That mercy flows from the
cross of Christ, from the blood of Christ, from the righteousness
of Christ. But God who is rich in mercy,
for his great love, wherewith he loved us. Oh, what a wonderful,
precious thing is the love of God. Infinite love, eternal love,
almighty love. It is. The love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. But God, who is rich in mercy
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins,
has quickened us together with Christ by grace are ye saved. So what a wonderful thing grace
is. It literally means, the word
grace literally means the free, unmerited favour of the eternal
God. We cannot merit it, we cannot
earn it, it's given. It's the gift of God in Jesus
Christ. But God who is rich in mercy
for his great love. Think of that great love. The
love of the Father, the love of the Son, the love of the Holy
Ghost. That love of the Father is seen
in His Son, Jesus Christ. God so loved the world, He gave
His only begotten Son a free gift. For God who is rich in
mercy, for His great love, wherewith He loved us. It's an eternal
love. This grace is eternal. It's as
God is, from everlasting to everlasting. You just think of those beautiful
words in Jeremiah. Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. All the evidence of the everlasting
love of God to us. is when we feel drawn, drawn
to Christ, drawn to the people of God, drawn to the Word of
God. What wonderful love, even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved. What precious grace. How precious
did that grace appear, the hour I first believed. Ah, when we
believe. You know, my beloved friends,
and I know this from my own personal experience, when Christ is revealed,
when Christ is revealed, all the light and the life that flows
into the heart into the soul, from Christ, and peace, and peace. That measure of reconciliation
that is known and felt, the sweetness of it. You see, by grace are you saved,
and hath raised us up together. When he's speaking there of raising
us up, he's raising us from the dead. raised us up together and
the Lord's people they united together in the wonderful grace
of God he's raised us up together raised us up to a hope it makes
me think of that word in Revelation chapter 20 blessed and holy is
he that hath part in the first resurrection upon such the second
death no power and has raised us up together. Oh my beloved
friends, has the Lord quickened your soul? Has the Lord given
you spiritual life and light and love? Because the faith that
he gives to his people is a faith that worketh by love. It's a faith that brings it in
love into subjection unto Christ. And it's love that brings to
complying our will. It's when we have Christ revealed,
Christ made precious, Christ seen as the way, the truth and
the life, our heart is drawn in love to Christ. Think of those lovely words of
John Sinek, Jesus my all to heaven is God, he whom I fix my hopes
upon, his track I see, and I'll pursue the narrow way, till in
my view Christ is the object, and that wonderful grace that
is in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus for by grace are ye saved through faith
and that not of yourselves. No, not of yourselves. See what
I mean when these preachers say, they try to say that you have
power to believe and you're going to be damned forever if you don't
believe and this is going to happen to you if you don't believe
and their emphasis is constantly you've got to believe, you must
believe My beloved friends, when faith is given, you will
believe. And until faith is given, you
cannot believe. What one in the gospel says,
oh that I could believe, then all would easy be. It would,
wouldn't it? If you could just switch off
your faith, on and off like a tap. But you see, It is the gift of
God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Oh, my beloved
friends, do I have this precious gift of faith? This faith, the
grace of faith. Faith is a grace of the Holy
Ghost. Some try to lay a great emphasis
that it's a duty. It's your duty to believe, my
beloved friends. How and since when has a grace
been a duty? It's given. It's the free gift
of God. He gives it freely to his people. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works which God had before ordained
that we should walk in them. Oh my dear beloved friends, may
we indeed know this wonderful gift of grace, even the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ. This gift of grace which enlightens
us. Because we are the children of
darkness by nature, We are. But by grace we are the
children of light. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men. To all men. Teaching us. So grace teaches us. The Holy Spirit teaches us. The Holy Spirit is that great
teacher. There's none that can teach like
him. He dwells in the heart. And he gives the grace to believe.
He gives that spirit of faith. And you know, friends, it's not
just an intellectual thing. There are those that run away
with the idea That you just have to read the Word of God as long
as you accept what it says then you have grace. Well, that's
not the case You can be very familiar with the Word of God
Very familiar with the doctrines of grace because you've been
brought up in them, but not actually possess that grace yourself Grace teaches us and the great
teacher is the Holy Ghost And there is none that teacheth like
him. His word is a living word. It's not the dead letter. It's
the living word of the grace of God in the heart. He will
convince of sin. There's none who can convince
like he convinces of sin. And of judgment. You don't think,
you know, when you're under the divine teaching of the Spirit,
You don't just think you're a sinner, you know that you're a sinner.
You don't just think that God is righteous, you know that God
is righteous. You don't just think that there's
a day of judgment, you know that there's a day of judgment. Because
the Holy Spirit, deep in your very soul, convinces you that
this is the truth. That this is the truth teaching
us. No, but what does this grace teach us? Even the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ denying ungodliness and worldliness. This is what
it teaches us. It teaches us that God is holy
and righteous altogether. It teaches us that Jesus is a
holy righteous saviour. It teaches us that we're sinners
and we're not capable of fulfilling God's holy law and living according
to its solemn and sacred precepts. It teaches us that we cannot
do that. But it teaches us that Jesus
has done that. When Christ is revealed by the
Holy Ghost to a poor sinner, he's the lawful and he becomes
their law-fulfiller. They're brought to see that they
cannot do it themselves. It's an utter impossibility.
But Jesus has done it for them. That holy righteous law that
condemns them, that curses them, they find that in Christ the
curse is taken away. That Jesus lived a life that
was pure and holy and righteous. He did no sin, neither was guile
found in his mouth. He fulfilled and honoured and
magnified the law of God, teaching us. Now, as it teaches us that
Christ is the way, the truth and the life, and Christ is the
light of the world, in a living vital way, you see that light. And it teaches us denying ungodliness. Denying ungodliness. He that
will follow me, said Jesus, let him deny himself, take up his
cross and follow me. The path the Christian walks
is a path of self-denial. And how is this self-denial brought
about? by Christ being revealed to you
personally as the way, the truth and the life. Christ being revealed
to you as the altogether lovely one, as the chiefest among 10,000. Christ revealed to you on the
cross of Calvary, putting away sin by the offering of himself.
Suffering and bleeding and dying on behalf of his people. This
is where the Holy Ghost leads a poor sinner to. He will take
of the things of Jesus and reveal them unto you, teaching us. But
as it teaches us, and as Christ is made precious, and we see
the holiness of God and the holiness of Christ denying ungodliness, it's as
Christ is made precious to the soul. The Apostle says in the
Corinthians that he is made unto us sanctification. What does
sanctification mean? Separation from the world and
the things of the world and the ways of the world and the fashion
of the world and the spirit of the world. There's a separation. But that separation cannot happen
unless Christ is made precious. It's the only way that we can
be truly sanctified. A lot of people have some very
fancy ideas about the word sanctification. But sanctification is in Christ. It is. He becomes our example. He gives us an example that we
should live godly. teaching us that denying ungodliness, the word godliness actually means
god-likeness, god-likeness. And whenever I think of that,
I think of what we have in 1 John chapter 2 and in the verse 6,
he that abides, he that saith he abideth in him that is in
Christ, ought himself also so to walk even as he walked. So Christ is our example and
that we're to walk as he walked. And it says in that same chapter,
if you look down the chapter to the verse 14, I've written
unto you fathers because you have known him that is from the
beginning. I've written unto you young men because you are
strong and the word of God abideth in you and you have overcome
the wicked one. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the father is not in him for all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride
of life is not of the father but is of the world. and the
world passeth away, and the lust thereof. But he that doeth the
will of God abideth forever. You see, he that saith he abideth
in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. How did Jesus walk? In love,
in love. Think of how many times you read
in the Gospels, Jesus having compassion. Love. Joseph Hart, in that lovely
hymn on Gethsemane, he says, concerning Christ, full of love
to man's lost race. My dear beloved friends, do we
love each other? Do we truly love each other?
serve each other, bear each other's burdens. This is the spirit and
mind of Christ. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously
and godly in this present world. This is the standard, my beloved
friends, of the Word of God. The standard of the Word of God.
That we should live as Christ lived. We should walk as Christ
walked. Or that the Lord would give us
clearer views of Christ. A deeper love to Christ. And
that will lead to a sanctified life. The nearer we are to Christ,
the more we love Christ, the more we know of his love, the
more that we shall walk in the way that he walked. And it's
only by that union to Christ, I cannot emphasise that enough,
it's only by union to Christ that we have true sanctification. true godliness is as we are united
by faith unto Christ teaching us that denying ungodliness. We speak of denying and then
you think of those words of the apostle when he writes to the
Hebrews and he says they're laying aside every weight and the sin
that does so easily beset us Let us run with patience the
race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. It's the only way
you can run this race. It's looking unto Jesus. It's
casting all your care upon Him, upon Christ. You know, in the
in the epistle to the Ephesians I believe the apostle he speaks
there of the putting away of the things of the flesh and he
exhorts us to put on so we're exhorted to put away and we're
exhorted to put on and you know friends how we need this grace
continually to be wrought in our hearts He says in the Ephesians
chapter 4, he speaks there of the world and the things of the
world. It says in verse 17, This I say
therefore and testify in the Lord that ye henceforth walk
not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having
the understanding darkened, alienated from the life of God through
the ignorance that is in them because of the blindness of their
heart, who being past feeling have given themselves over unto
lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have
not so learned Christ. If so be that ye have heard him
and been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus, that ye put
off You put off concerning the former conversation, the old
man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be
renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on. You see there's a putting off
and there's a putting on. There's the old man, he speaks
of here, and then that you put on the new man, that's the new
man of grace, which after God is created in righteousness and
true holiness. Wherefore, putting away lying,
speak every man truth with his neighbor, for we are members
one of another. Be ye angry and sin not, let
not the sun go down upon your wrath, neither give place to
the devil. So he exhorts us. And you know
in that same chapter in Ephesians 4, It speaks of corrupt communications
etc. Let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth but that which is good to the use
of edifying that it may minister grace unto the hearers. But if
we're not doing that, what does it say? And grieve not the Holy
Spirit of promise. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of
God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. If we
If we walk in a way that is ungodly, unrighteous, following the lusts
of the flesh, covetously, then we will grieve
the Holy Spirit. We will grieve the Holy Spirit
of promise, that Holy Spirit that quickens your soul. That
Holy Spirit that sanctified you, that Holy Spirit that gave you
faith to believe. That Holy Spirit that brought
through Jesus Christ the grace of God into your very soul. And
if we grieve the Holy Spirit, what happens? Well, I always
think the hymn writer puts it very beautifully. If we grieve
the Holy Spirit, it says, no longer burns our love. Our faith
and patience fail. Why? Because we've grieved the
Holy Spirit. Now the Holy Spirit will never
leave God's people. I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee. He will dwell with you forever.
But he will discipline you, he will chastise you. For the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us, as a constant
teaching by the Holy Ghost, that denying ungodliness, and worldly
lusts we should live soberly, righteously and godly in this
present world. Well I hope this afternoon, if
the Lord enables, we'll look at the after part of this text
that is before us. May the Lord add his blessings. Let us now sing together hymn
number 192. The tune is Staying Forth, 243. As newborn babes desire the breast
to feed and grow and thrive, so saints rejoice the gospel
taste and by the gospel live. Hymn 192. the tune Stainforth, 243. Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? ? Where are the ghosts of old? ? ? Is there a ghost
of old? ? ? Is there a ghost of old? ? ? Is there a ghost
of old? ? ? They know to Him the
Father comes ? ? And angels on high sing praise to Him ? ? Not
all the days and nights are gone ? ? To the finest hopes devised
? ? They find their comfort and refuge at last ? Where is my fellow now, till
jade of white and grey to sit in? In aught of winter, what will
give The charms of autumn? Nor by the devil's power, but
by the power of his hand. ? O give the world its proud splendor
? ? Each week the waltz of joy ? Lord, by your grace the heav'nly
triumph of the Church of God Send down the Spirit of my Son
to fill all my heart. They share thy joys and sorrows,
The robe of faith thy comforts show. 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.