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 will be a prayer meeting
here on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. The collections taken during
January amounted to £2,339.87. This includes online giving from
our chapel website. Donations to the book fund amounted
to £70. We sincerely thank you for your
continued support of this cause of truth. Let us commence our
service today by singing together hymn number 703 to the tune Yorkshire
780 We sing six lines to each verse
to this tune. Ye souls redeemed with Jesus'
precious blood, proclaim the grace of your incarnate God.
Sing that amazing boundless matchless love which brought the Lord of
glory from above. The eternal word who built the
earth and skies takes on him flesh and in a manger lies. Hymn 703, tune Yorkshire 780
and we sing six lines to each verse. ♪ Gently on a tissue's precious
cloth ♪ ♪ Proclaim the praise of Unicorn King! ♪ Shepherds, amazing! their heifers
you saw, which brought the Lord of glory from the Eternal wealth of which fill
the earth and skies, takes on image within a page of lies. In the fear that I see, Already
there I see, I got contracted to a spell for me. Where is this
bond ♪ Was born in a valley far off
♪ ♪ In a desert far away ♪ ♪ Where the birds were sung ♪ ♪ Now like
the angels ♪ We're married to her, to share
in her joy, glory, love, sorrow. Glory to God in the heav'nly
highs! Star of the day, ♪ God's glory in the highest ♪
♪ In the heav'nly host ♪ ♪ God's glory in the highest ♪ ♪ God's glory in
the highest ♪ ♪ Of His grace ♪ ♪ And to take
my place ♪ ♪ By earth remain ♪ ♪ Good God, how great Thou art
♪ ♪ Relate us with thy love ♪ ♪ And set a golden light ♪ ♪ On things
of old ♪ ♪ Which from thy beauty ♪ ♪ With the Lord our King ♪ ♪ Day
by day ♪ ♪ Such day will be adorned ♪ ♪ And crowned with the colors of glory ♪ Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Gospel according to John, chapter 1. The first chapter in John's Gospel,
and we'll read down to verse 34. In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same
was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him,
and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was
life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shineth
in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. There was
a man sent from God whose name was John, The same came for a
witness to bear witness of the light, that all men through him
might believe. He was not that light, but was
sent to bear witness of that light, that was the true light,
which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was
in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew
him not. He came unto his own, and his
own received him not. But as many as received him,
to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the
only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John
bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I
speak. He that cometh after me is preferred
before me, for he was before me. And of his fullness of all
we receive, grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses,
but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at
any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. And this
is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites
from Jerusalem to ask him, who are they? And he confessed and
denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked
him, what then? Are thou Elias? He said, I am
not. Art thou that prophet? And he
answered, no. Then said they unto him, who
art thou? That we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Make
straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. And they which were sent were
of the Pharisees. And they asked him and said unto
him, why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor
Elias, neither that prophet? John answered them, saying, I
baptize with water. But there standeth one among
you, whom ye know not. He it is that coming after me
is preferred before me, whose shoes latch it I am not worthy
to unloose. These things were done in Bethabara
beyond Jordan, where John was baptizing. The next day John
seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of
God. which taketh away the sin of
the world. This is he of whom I said, after
me cometh a man which is preferred before me, for he was before
me. And I knew him not, but that
he should be made manifest to Israel, therefore am I come baptizing
with water. And John bare record saying,
I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode
upon him. And I knew him not, but he that
sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, upon whom
thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, the same
is he which baptizes with the Holy Ghost. And I saw and bear
record that this is the Son of God. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, we do desire to bow before thy
great majesty, to call upon thy great and holy name. We do desire
this day that our affections may be set upon things above
and not on things of the earth. We do pray to be kept from a
wandering mind as we gather around the word under the ministry.
May our hearts and our minds be, O Lord, enabled to concentrate
upon thee. and upon thy wonderful grace
and mercy in Jesus Christ. We pray to be delivered from
sin and from its power and from its influence, for we know, O
Lord, that in me that is in my flesh dwelleth no good thing.
Deliver us from sin, Lord, and from its power. Graciously bless
us as a church and as a congregation. Work mightily, powerfully, and
effectually among us to the great glory of thy name. Let us see
thy goings in the sanctuary. Let us see thy power and thy
glory as thou usest to be in the sanctuary. And let us see
the wonderful power of gospel truth shining into this village
and the surrounding villages and hamlets and farmsteads. Many,
many, many precious souls may be constrained by thy grace.
to come and worship here, that this little house of prayer may
be filled with hungry, longing souls, pressing into the kingdom
of heaven. Gracious God, we long to see
a day of prosperity. We long to see the prodigals
returning, and we long to see thy work among us as a church
and congregation. Lord, remember us for good. Remember
our brethren, the deacons, and give grace, wisdom, and help
in all their needs and their responsibilities here and elsewhere. Remember, O Lord, each one of
our brethren and sisters in church fellowship, and grant, Lord,
we pray thee that we may love each other, serve each other,
bear each other's burdens, thereby fulfilling the law of Christ.
O gracious God, we do pray. that thou would guide us in all
matters, and that thou would lead us by thy good spirit, and
that thy word declares as many as are led by the spirit of God,
they are the sons of God. And may we have that witness
with our spirit that we are indeed being led by the spirit of God. And we pray, most blessed spirit
of truth, that thou wouldst take of the things of Jesus and reveal
them unto us today. And we pray that thou wouldst
truly convince us of our sin. And if any here in this chapel
are yet dead in trespasses and in sins, we pray that today might
be the day when their souls will be quickened into life. Hear
us, O Lord, we humbly beseech thee, and grant that we may see
many precious souls born again and brought to saving faith in
Jesus Christ. Oh, we do pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou wouldst bless the dear children, bless them
indeed with those rich blessings, with the fear of the Lord, which
is the beginning of wisdom, and guide them and direct them in
all the matters of providence. Our dear young friends, bring
them to living faith in Jesus Christ and grant that they may
become followers of thee and of those who, through faith and
patience, inherit the promises. Lord, do bless them, we humbly
pray thee, and guide and direct them in all matters. Remember,
parents, give wisdom, grace, and help to bring up their children
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and that the word
of God and prayer may be made in the families for all things
are sanctified by the word of God and prayer, and may there
be that sanctifying influence in the home. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou wouldst undertake for any and any trouble or trial
or perplexity or sorrow, sadness or bereavement. Remember, O Lord,
we pray thee, all in the midst of the journey of life, and grant
that thou wouldst graciously meet with them, speak to them. Hear us, Lord, we humbly beseech
and let thy work appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto
their children, we do humbly pray thee. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou would remember those of us in the evening time
of life's journey, especially dear Ina in her great age, remember
her for good, bless her indeed. O Lord, we do beseech thee. And
we pray thee, graciously hear prayer for the family in those
tragic circumstances in this past week, having lost a young
son. We lovingly commend them to thee
and to the word of thy grace, which is able to build them up.
Gracious God, draw them close to thyself at this time of great
loss, we do humbly beseech of thee. And, O Lord, we do pray
that thou, in thy great mercy, wouldst graciously remember all
thy servants as they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls
of Zion today. Grant that they may dip their
foot in oil and be made acceptable unto the brethren, that the word
preached may be in power in the Holy Ghost and with much assurance. And we pray Thee, the great Lord
of the harvest, to send true labourers into the harvest and
to build the walls of Jerusalem. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that Thou wouldst arise, arise, arise, O God of grace. Into Thy
rest descend Thou and the ark of Thy strength. Let Thy priests
be clothed with salvation and Thy saints shall shout aloud
for joy. Thou hast promised, O Lord, I
have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, that shall never
hold their peace, day nor night. 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. And, O Lord, we do pray that
thou and thy great mercy was to remember our nation. We truly live in solemn days.
And in our nation, the church of God, the true church of God
is exceedingly small. And we see the powers of Antichrist
and unrighteousness and wickedness in power. But Lord, our God over
all, We pray that thou would raise up in high places in our
nation those that truly fear thy name and love thee, that
they may have a good influence upon the affairs of state. Remember
our ministers and give them wisdom and understanding. And we live
in a dark day, Lord, when there is war on every hand, and the
storm clouds of war are building, and we know what all We do not
know what all this means, but we're thankful, O Lord, that
it's all in thy hand. With heaven and earth at his
command, he waits to answer prayer. We thank thee, Lord, that it
is so. Lord, we pray for our king and
the royal household, that thy healing hand may be there, but
above all, the wonderful power of thy grace in the royal household. to bring them to truth and righteousness. And, O Lord, we pray for those
of our brethren that labour in the gospel in the nations of
the earth. We pray, O Lord, that thou wouldst
bless them and supply all their many returning needs. We think
of thy servant and his wife in the Mombasa mission, that
thou wouldst guard him with all sufficient grace, and help in
all those labours that he undertakes. Think of Ian Sadler as he travels
to so many different nations in the distribution of the word
and the exposition of it. Help him Lord and sustain him,
we do humbly beseech them. Remember the Savannah Education
Trust and that great work that is being done in the Christian
schools in Ghana. Lord, graciously supply their
every need. We do humbly beseech of thee
and grant thy rich blessing upon the endeavours of thy servants.
We do humbly pray thee and grant that thou would be returned unto
Jerusalem with mercies and may bear thine holy arm in the gospel. We thank thee for our little
house of prayer. We thank thee for the open Bible.
We thank thee for the freedoms we have to preach the word. We thank thee, O Lord, for every
mercy of thy kind providence. We thank thee for the glorious
person, power and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We've sung
together in our hymn of the wonderful glory of the incarnation of the
Son of God and the blessings that flow through him. We thank
Thee for His holy life and the law fulfilled and honoured and
magnified. We thank Thee for His holy sacrifice
and sin put away and God and sinners reconciled. We thank
Thee for that sin atoning blood that cleanses from all sin. We
thank Thee for a Saviour that died for our sins and rose again
for our justification. We thank Thee that he has bodily
ascended into heaven, and that we have a great high priest that
is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Oh, fill our
hearts with thanksgiving and gratitude for all thy tender
mercies and thy loving kindnesses. Come and touch one's lips with
a live coal from off the heavenly altar. We ask for Jesus Christ's
sake, Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 20 to the tune Cary's 314. Ere the blue heavens were
stretched abroad for everlasting was the word With God he was,
the Word was God, and must divinely be adored. Hymn number 20, tune
Caries 314. O come, O come, Lord Jesus Christ,
O come, O come, Lord Jesus Christ, O come, Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. I wish to come and grow old with
you, Thy gifts, O Lord, yet o'er all
things stand. In the hour of creation's end,
♪ The king of China is our God
♪ ♪ And he is our God forevermore ♪ ♪ Gave proof through the night
♪ ♪ That our flag was still there ♪ ♪ O come, O come, O come, O come,
O come, O come, O come, O come, O come, to Bethlehem. ♪ The world be changed ♪ ♪ And
my help take place ♪ ♪ Let me carry on ♪ ♪ From past to present
♪ rest ye, rest ye, rest ye, rest
ye, ♪ Close your eyes with joy in the
Lord this day ♪ ♪ In heaven on high as the early sun ♪ ♪ How full of youth, how full of
grace ♪ ♪ When through His eyes have found their joy ♪ ♪ We are the living ♪ ♪ Since we've
been sent ♪ ♪ From far and wide ♪ ♪ We shall be known ♪ greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, direct your attention to the chapter that we read,
the first chapter in the Gospel according to John, and we'll
read the first five verses of the chapter. John's Gospel, chapter
1, verses 1 to 5. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, And the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him.
And without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was
life. And the life was the light of
man. And the light shineth in darkness. And the darkness comprehended
Him. I believe it was J.C. Ryle that
said if you alter a full stop or a comma in the first five
verses of John's Gospel, you introduce a terrible heresy or
error into the church of God. He said the words are so finely
balanced and they have such an exact and complete meaning in
and of themselves. so you will notice we have the
person in the here is called the word and word is written
with a capital letter because it is speaking of a divine
person in the beginning was the word and that the person it is
speaking of is the son of god the Eternal Son of the Eternal
Father in the beginning. Now there's a far deeper meaning
to that word beginning than when we look at it superficially.
It's the same in the commencement of Holy Scripture and it says
there, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In
the beginning. So what is the deeper meaning?
Eternity. In the beginning God. It says
here he is before all things. God is before all things. He's eternal. So this word beginning
in this context is speaking of the eternity of God the same
as it is in the opening words of the Holy Bible in the beginning
God from all eternity God has been there we read in in the
book of Psalms from everlasting to everlasting thou art God from
everlasting to everlasting in the beginning was the Word the
Son of God from all eternity. And it's something, as I've often
told you, that has been made exceedingly precious to me, and
that is the eighth chapter of the book of the Proverbs. And
the reason it is so precious to me is because there was an
occasion under deep temptation when the Lord Jesus Christ, in
all his eternity and glory, revealed himself unto me. And I was under
a temptation of Satan. Little did I realize it was Satan.
It was in my very early spiritual days, just after I was baptized.
I was very ignorant of many things, and certainly of Satan. But he tempted me. And you say,
well, what did he tempt you? He tempted me that Jesus was
not the Son of God. and you know friends I searched
and I searched and I searched and I couldn't find it and I
was so troubled about it I was sitting up until the early hours
in the morning in my bed reading I was single then and I came
to this eighth chapter of the Proverbs and as I read through
I came to verse 22 and especially verse 23 and it was as if the
scales fell off my eyes And I had such a revelation of Christ in
his eternal nature. It says here, verse 22, the Lord
possessed me. Again, we have this word in the
beginning of his way. Before his works of old. Now
we have the explanation of what he means by the beginning of
his way. In verse 23, I was set up from everlasting. And as I read that, I had such
a view of Christ, such a view of His eternal nature, that He
is the eternal Son of the eternal Father. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, wherever the earth was. In other words,
in eternity past. He is of the same nature of His
Father, and that is eternal. And the Holy Ghost is of the
same nature as the Father and the Son and that is eternal.
There has never been a time when there has not been a God. There's never been a time where
there's not been the Son of God. You might say, why do you emphasize
that? Because there are many that introduce
terrible errors and heresies into the church. And they deny
the divinity of Christ. Jehovah's Witnesses deny the
divinity of Christ. The Mormons deny the divinity
of Christ. Some people professing to be
reformed Christians deny the divinity of Christ. They deny
the doctrine of the Trinity. So we need to highlight, as the
Lord gives grace to do so, these wonderful truths of our most
holy faith. I was set up from everlasting
from the beginning or ever the earth was and we won't read through
it all but you see it goes through the creation of the world that
he was there before it and then in verse 30 then I was by him
as one brought up with him that is the father and the son and
I was daily his delight Rejoicing always before him and I've always
found a particular sweetness in verse 31 Rejoicing in the
habitable part of his earth and my delights were with the sons
of men that is Christ Considering what he was to do for his people
To deliver them from the fall to deliver them from sin and
Satan's power and it was his delight. He says, Lo, I come,
in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to
do thy will, O God, yea, thy law is within my heart. I delight
to do thy will. See rejoicing in the habitable
world of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of men. He's loved them with an everlasting
love. What does that mean? It means
from all eternity. And not only from all eternity,
but to all eternity. He's Jesus Christ, the same.
Yesterday. That's yesterday eternal. And
today. And forever. Glorious, wonderful person of
our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, in the beginning, was the Word. And the Word with God and the
Word was God that is stating so emphatically that the Son
of God is God. I often quote to you the Athanasian
Creed and the reason I quote it is because it is so simple
and so beautiful when it speaks of the person of Christ very
God very man in that one Profound mystery of godliness is God and
man if you look here in the chapter here verse 14 I'll probably quote
it more than any other verse and the word was made flesh and
Dwelt among us and we beheld his glory the glory as if the
only begotten of the father full of grace and truth full of grace
and truth My beloved friends, the fullness that is in Christ
is infinite. It is. It's beyond our comprehension. And that fullness of grace in
Him is infinite grace. It's eternal grace. It's almighty
grace. It is. The grace of God that
bringeth salvation has appeared unto all men. that wonderful
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. What an emphasis,
isn't it? We have the theories of evolution, They come from the very pit of
hell, my beloved friends. From the hearts of wicked men,
deceived. You think of this glorious person
of our Lord Jesus Christ. All things were made by Him. And without Him wasn't anything
made that was made. There's that well-known and beautiful
word in Isaiah chapter 54. And what do we read there in
Isaiah chapter 54 verse 5? For thy maker, written with a
capital M. And I understand in the original
Hebrew, it is actually in the plural. For thy makers is thine
husband. The Lord of hosts is his name. And thy Redeemer, the Holy One
of Israel. God of the whole earth, shall
he be called. Thy maker is thine husband. This wonderful, sacred, intimate
union between Christ and his church. Thy maker is thy husband. The Lord of hosts is his name.
What a husband, isn't he? The glory of his divine person. I was for my breakfast reading
this morning, I purposely read Colossians chapter one. And there in Colossians chapter
one, we read of the wonderful glory the apostle expounds to
us, the sacred glory of Jesus, the son of God. He says in the
Colossians one and verse 12, giving thanks unto the father,
which have made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness." He's not only delivered us from darkness, he's delivered
us from the power of darkness. In Holy Scripture, the devil
is called the Prince of Darkness, and Christ is called the Prince
of Light. And these two metaphors are used,
they are in our text and they are throughout the Word of God.
Light and darkness. Light represents righteousness,
holiness and truth. Darkness represents wickedness,
evil and malice and all the things that proceed from the pit of
hell and from the heart of man. What a difference there is between
light and darkness. who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness, that's the power of Satan, and hath translated
us. Oh my dear beloved friends, has
he translated you? He's translated us into the kingdom
of his dear Son. Wonderful thing to be translated.
You say, what do you mean? to be brought from death into
life, to be brought from darkness into light, to be translated,
to be delivered from the kingdom of darkness and brought into
the kingdom of light. It's a precious, precious truth.
It really is. To be born again of the Holy
Ghost, to become a seeker after Jesus Christ, to see Him as the
light of the world, and have translated us into the
kingdom of His dear Son, in whom we have redemption through His
blood. You see, the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin, in whom we have redemption
through His blood. And what is the effect of that
redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins?
Oh my beloved friends and we need to be careful of Satan's
work here because he will tempt you even though you may have
the Lord's blessing he will tempt you that you've never known the
blood of Christ. I remember a time when I was
sorely tempted on that point and it was when Just at the time
when I was brought into gospel liberty, that wonderful blessing
that the Lord poured into my very soul, I was like napped
alive, satisfied with favour, full of the blessing of the Lord,
and that fullness that filled my heart of joy and peace and
believing, and yet the enemy came in. And what did he say? You've never had the blood applied.
None of these things that you're experiencing at this time are
right or true because you've never had the blood applied.
And you know friends, it was a line of a hymn that completely
delivered me from that snare. I was so troubled about it as
I was going about my daily work and those That line of the hymn,
every blessing, every favour freely flows through Jesus' precious
blood. Don't let the enemy get hold
of you and make a handle that you've never felt the blood apply.
If you've had the Lord's blessing, there's only one source of the
Lord's blessing, and that is the blood of Christ. And that
is where your blessings come from. the blood of Christ. The
blood of Christ, a precious blood, cleanses from all sin, doubt
it not. Oh, my beloved friends, we may
have sweet, sacred experience and precious views of the preciousness
of the blood of Jesus, the Son of God. Notice the emphasis that
the Apostle John puts it there in the first chapter of his first
epistle. The blood of Jesus Christ. He
doesn't leave it there, does he? The blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. And that is what gives
the power and the efficacy of the precious blood of Christ
It's in this that he is the Son of God. He is declared to be
the Son of God with power. And his blood cleanses from all
sin. There's power, my beloved friends,
in the blood of Christ. Power to purge away all our sins
and all our iniquities. In whom we have redemption through
his blood. even the forgiveness of sins. Now he speaks of the glorious
person of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of every creature. The image of the invisible God,
the firstborn of every creature, Christ is. For by him were all
things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible
and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, notice
this, thrones, that's kings and queens, or dominions, they may
be a dominion without a king and a queen, or principality,
a place where there's just a prince in control, or powers, all things,
You know, we often complain about the government and probably rightly
so. I'm not saying anything about
that and about the people that rule over us. They're there by
God's permission. They are. The Apostle says in the Romans,
the powers that be are ordained of God. And when he wrote that,
the powers were heathen powers who mercilessly persecuted the
Church of God. he saw so clearly that Jesus
Christ was the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and that
they ruled by his permission and that is what he means when
he says that the powers that be are ordained of God for by
him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth visible and invisible so all the material things we see
upon the earth were created by Christ But the invisible things,
such as principalities, powers, all things were created by him
and for him. And he is before all things. And by him all things consist. How the dear apostle under the
divine inspiration of the Spirit exalts the glorious person of
Jesus Christ. to his rightful position as the
King of Kings, of the Lord of Lords, as the mighty God, as
the everlasting Father, as the Prince of Peace. All these titles
belong unto Christ. You know, we shouldn't be surprised
that Christ is called in that well-known text in Isaiah chapter
9 He's called the Everlasting Father. We shouldn't be surprised at
that. You might say, why? Because in the Epistle to the
Romans, the Holy Ghost is called the Spirit of Christ. You see,
these three are one. Christ said, I and my Father
are one. And Christ said to Philip, have I been so long time with
you, Philip, and yet hast thou not known me? Because Philip
had said, show us the Father. He that has seen me has seen
the Father. How the devil seeks to cause
confusion in our minds on these very fundamental, sacred doctrines
of our most holy faith. And he tries to say I remember
again when I was a young man and not long after I was baptized
again tempted of satan you might say what did he tempt you you
can't pray to the father because the son will be jealous
you can't pray to the holy ghost because the father would be jealous
you might say well surely but you see friends when the enemy
comes in like a flood and he tempts these things. I'll never forget it, we used
to have Mr. Warshaw from Bradford preach
the August bank holiday services at Weston at that time and in
his sermon he suddenly said, and I had all this crowding in
on my mind that you couldn't pray to the father or the son
would be jealous and he said I would just like to say this,
there is no jealousy in the Godhead. None whatsoever between the Father,
the Son and the Holy Ghost. And he said the devil may tempt
you, that you cannot pray to the Father, you cannot pray to
the Son, you cannot pray to the Holy Ghost. That's the devil's
work. In Holy Scripture, the Lord's
people pray to all three persons of the Trinity. and the child
of God has that sacred liberty to pray unto the Father, unto
the Son, unto the Holy Ghost, as led and taught and directed
by the Spirit of God. That lovely word that we find
in the second chapter of the Ephesians, for through him, who
is he speaking of? Christ. eternal Son of God that
was manifest in the flesh for through him we have access by
one Spirit unto the Father. See how these scriptures so beautifully
blend the truth and these wonderful truths of our most holy faith
and what the devil is trying to do is to stop your praying. He was a liar from the beginning He is before all things, and
by Him, all things consist. And He is the head of the body,
the church. Now listen to this, who is the
beginning? See this wonderful name given
to Christ, who is the beginning? The firstborn from the dead,
that in all things, He might have the preeminence. and have
him made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile
all things unto himself. By him I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven. And you that were sometime
alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh. This is the body
of Jesus, the Son of God, the body of his flesh. to present you holy and unblameable
and unreprovable in his sight. Never shall I forget that time.
I've often mentioned it to you when I, we lived in the little
cottage, chapel cottage at Mayfield, one evening reading here in the
Colossians and I came to that verse and it arrested me. that he will present you holy. And I remember sitting there
in amazement. How can a poor sinner like me be presented holy? How can I be holy? I'm so unholy. And yet he will present you holy. Why? His precious blood. The
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. His precious blood. Oh, my beloved
friends, these things are written for our instruction in the Holy
Word of God, in the body of His flesh, through death, to present
you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. What a wonderful grace is the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It's all mighty grace. It's a grace that reconciles. It's a grace that brings peace.
The peace of God that passes all understanding shall keep
your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's
what we find in Christ. Peace by his cross as Jesus made. The church is ever living God. is broken down, that middle wall
of partition that was between us. In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same
was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was
life, and the life was the light of man. And the light shineth
in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. My mind, it just goes to Psalm
33. And I believe there, again, we
have a revelation of the Word, the divine person of the Word,
of the Son of God. And that revelation is relative
to the creation of the world. In verse 6 of Psalm 33, by the
word of the Lord, I believe that means Christ. By the word of
the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the
breath of his mouth. He gathers the waters of the
sea together as an heap. He layeth up the depths in storehouses. Let all the earth fear the Lord.
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. Now, it speaks of how he made
the world. See, as he said already, by the
word of the Lord, Christ is the eternal word. For he spake and
it was done. He commanded and it stood fast. I think there were 11 times in
Genesis chapter one when we read, and God said, and God said. Now where the word of a king
is, there is power. And this is King Jesus, the King
of kings and the Lord of lords. The power to create. Now the
meaning of the word create essentially is often used today in a very
loose, liberal way. And so when somebody makes something
in art and that, they say, oh he created this or created that.
But in the scriptures, the word create means to make something
out of nothing. No man can do that. Only God. Only God. He created the world. It says in the holy scriptures
he made the world out of nothing. He spake and it was done. He
commanded and it stood fast. He spake and the heavens were
filled with the sun, the moon, the stars and billions of stars
all around. He spake and it was done. It
stood fast. It says in Isaiah concerning
the planets and the stars, the moon and the stars, not one of
them faileth. Why? Because God made it by his
great power. Not one of them faileth. The
counsel of the Lord standeth forever and the thoughts of his
heart to all generations. To all generations. Just look for a moment at Isaiah
40 and what beautiful things we see of the eternal God there
in Isaiah 40. It says in verse 12, who hath
measured the waters in the hollow of his hand and meted out heaven
with the span and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure
and weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance. who hath directed the Spirit
of the Lord, or be in his counsel, hath taught him, with whom took
he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path
of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed him the way of understanding.
You see, nobody. Because God is before all things. Look at verse 17. All nations
before him are as nothing. They are accounted to him less
than nothing and vanity. He speaks of idolatry and setting
up a tree that will not rot and bowing down and worshipping it.
Have you not known, verse 21, have you not heard, has it not
been told you from the beginning, have you not understood from
the foundations of the earth, it is he that sitteth upon the
circle of the earth and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers,
that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them
out as a tent to dwell in. That bringeth the princes to
nothing, he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. You see,
this is that great God, verse 25, to whom then will he liken
me? Or shall I be equal, saith the
Holy One? Lift up your eyes on high, and
behold, who hath created these things? No, it's beautiful. We've got no street lights just
round where we are. And if you go out in the garden
of the night and you see the view of the stars and the moon,
it is so beautiful. The heavens declare the glory
of God. Day unto day uttereth speech.
Night unto night uttereth knowledge. Their line is gone through all
the earth. see lift up your eyes on high
and behold who hath created these things that bringeth out that
host by number he calleth them all by names by the greatness
of his mind for that he is strong in power not one faileth. We know where the sun is going
to rise and if you study these things you know when the moon
is going to come and what quarter it is, because it happens exactly
the same, exactly the same, year after year, year after year.
And what the Lord is saying here, for that he is strong in power,
that is God. Not one failures. Now he speaks to his people.
And may this be a word in season to you. Why sayest thou, O Jacob,
and speakest thou Israel, my way is hid from the Lord, and
my judgment is passed over from my God. You say the Lord can't
see. The Lord don't see where I am,
don't see the darkness in me, don't see the bondage in me,
doesn't see the terrible trouble of it. That's what Jacob was
saying. Have you ever been in that place?
But there's a gracious word of rebuke here. Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard that the
everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth,
fainteth not, neither is weary, there is no searching of his
understanding. He giveth power to the faint,
and to them that have no might he increases strength, even the
youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly
fall. But, what a wonderful but that is, isn't it? But, they
that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall
mount up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary,
they shall walk and not faint. You see, the Lord is our strength,
in the Lord is our wisdom, in the Lord is our grace. It's that
lovely word in James and he gives more grace. Have you come to
chapel this morning? You mourn of your lack of grace,
of your lack of wisdom. In him dwell all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge and of understanding. They do. In Proverbs chapter 8, Christ
is speaking and he says, I am understanding. He doesn't say
I have understanding, I am understanding. There is nothing that I do not
understand. I am God over all and blessed
forevermore. And this is what we have in our
text, you see my beloved friends. It is the glory of the divinity
of Christ. It's a wonderful glory, it's
a profound glory. In the beginning was the Word.
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In the first
chapter of the book of the Revelation, Jesus Christ comes to John on
the Isle of Patmos. What does he say to John? I am
Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending. Again, that word
beginning, the beginning and the ending, the first and the
last. I am he which is. and which was, and which is to
come, the Almighty. That's who Jesus Christ is. It
goes on in that same chapter, and it says, of Christ, the Prince
of the Kings of the Earth. That's what Christ is, the Prince
of the Kings of the Earth. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning, with God. All things were made by him and
without him was not anything made that was made. Everything
that we see in this creation that surrounds us was made by
God. In the first chapter of the epistle
to the Romans, the apostle speaks of this, of the glory of God
in creation. But what does he say of man? and the God of creation. He says
that man is willfully, notice the solemn words he uses, man
is willfully ignorant. He doesn't want the knowledge
of God nor of his ways. He'll deny that God created the
heavens and the earth because he doesn't want to believe in
a God. He is willfully ignorant. a solemn thing to be left, to
be willfully ignorant of God and especially of his son Jesus
Christ. All things were made by him and
without him was not anything made that was made, in him was
life. Notice the metaphors here, and
the life was the light of man and the light shineth in darkness,
and the darkness comprehended it not. He came unto his own,
and his own received him not. He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. But in that rejection and humiliation
and the crucifixion of Jesus, the Son of God, it must be patently
obvious to my beloved friends that This couldn't have been
done without the permission of God. Christ said to Peter, when he
took his sword and cut the ear of the servant, a high priest,
he said, put the sword up in its sheath. The cup that my father
had given me, shall I not drink it? Could I not have called on
12 legions of angels and destroyed all these men? But no. He had to suffer, he had to bleed,
he had to die, he had to pass through that terrible humiliation. Here upon earth, on the behalf
of his people, in the Garden of Gethsemane, our Eternal Father
laid upon his only begotten Son the iniquity of us all. God so
loved the world, he gave his only begotten Son and he laid
upon the holy God-man, the man Christ Jesus, he laid upon him
the iniquity of us all. And he took those sins, who Jesus,
the Son of God, he took those sins and he nailed them to his
cross and he poured out his soul unto death. He poured out every
drop of his precious sin-atoning blood on the behalf of his people,
And in that glorious sacrifice, as the Apostle says in Hebrews
chapter 10, for by one sacrifice, he hath perfected forever. He's
perfected forever. All them that are sanctified,
all them that were chosen by the Father were redeemed by the
Son. They were given to him by deed
of gift. see in him was life and the life
was the light of men and the light shineth in darkness and
the darkness comprehended it not my dear beloved friends as
the light of divine truth penetrated into your heart and into my heart
and if it does if that light penetrates as the psalmist says
we see light in thy light and when that light by the Holy Ghost
penetrates into the heart, we see what we are. Something we've
never seen before. We see that we're a sinner. We've
broken God's holy laws. And we see that God is holy and
righteous. This is what the Holy Spirit
brings us to see. And we see that we need salvation. We need deliverance from sin
and from its power. Oh, that that light may penetrate
into our hearts, in him was life, and the life was the light of
men, and the light shineth in darkness. And generally, the
darkness comprehended it not. Have you, have I, have we, has
the Holy Spirit opened our hearts? We read of Lydia, the seller
of purple, whose heart the Lord opened. as He opened your heart,
as He opened my heart. These are very vital things. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was
life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shineth
in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. May the
Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 726 to the tune Noricum 887. Christ, whose glory fills the
skies. Christ, the true, the only light. Son of righteousness, arise.
Triumph, all the shades of night. Dayspring, from on high be near. Daystar, in my heart appear. Hymn 726, tune Norricum 887. I smell the fruit of the earth.
♪ Long as Jesus lives above ♪ ♪
Heaven and earth are full of your name ♪ ♪ Joyous hymns of
rejoicing rise ♪ Still I watch the wings of sin,
still I hear the rising of the sun. ♪ Oh my God ♪ ♪ Visit then this
home of mine ♪ ♪ It's a river of still and breathing ♪ Tell
me where you keep it all, treasure of my heart. 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, both now
and forevermore. Amen.