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. And there'll be a prayer meeting
here on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. Let us commence our services
today by singing together hymn number 731, to the tune Barnard, 107. Heal
us, Emmanuel, here we are, waiting to feel thy touch, deep-wounded
souls to thee repair, and Saviour, we are such. Hymn 731, tune Barnard,
107. Give us, O God, well-given young, They tend to fail by touch Deep-rooted
souls do they repair And save their way from such and shake the knee of such. The fated people we confess,
we faintly trust thy word. The pilgrim came to me past the
gate, He led the wrong way, Lord. He led the wrong way, We thank the King who once of
life With trembling for his King. Lord, I believe with teaching
mind, O help my unbelief! O help my unbelief! She, too, who touch'd thee in
the press, And healing virtue stout, Was once a daughter, now
in peace, Thy faith hath made me whole. Thy faith hath made
me whole. Thy courage, O Lord, has become
to touch the ev'ry land. O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in Psalm 89. Psalm 89. We'll read down to verse 37. I will sing of the mercies of
the Lord forever. With my mouth will I make known
thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, mercy shall
be built up forever. Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish
in the very heavens. I have made a covenant with my
chosen. I have sworn unto David my servant
Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne
to all generations. See them. And the heavens shall
praise thy wonders, O Lord. Thy faithfulness also in the
congregation of the saints. For who in the heaven can be
compared unto the Lord? And who among the sons of the
mighty can be likened unto the Lord? God is greatly to be feared
in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of
all them that are about him. O Lord God of hosts, who is a
strong Lord like unto thee, or to thy faithfulness round about
thee? Thou rulest the raging of the
sea. When the waves, however, rise,
thou stillest them. Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces.
as one that is slain. Thou hast scattered thine enemies
with thy strong arm. The heavens are thine. The earth
also is thine. As for the world and the fullness
thereof, thou hast founded them. The north and the south thou
hast created them. Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice
in thy name. Thou hast a mighty arm, strong
is thy hand. and high is thy right hand. Justice and judgment are the
habitation of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before
thy face. Blessed is the people that know
the joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the
light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice
all the day, and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For thou
art the glory of their strength, and in thy favour our hall shall
be exalted. For the Lord is our defence,
and the Holy One of Israel is our King. Then thou spakest in
vision to thy Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that
is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people, I have found David my servant. With my holy oil
have I anointed him, with whom my hand shall be established.
Mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact
upon him, nor the son of wickedness afflict him. I will beat down
his foes before his face and plague them that hate him. but
my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him, and in my
name shall his horn be exalted. I will set his hand also in the
sea and his right hand in the rivers. He shall cry unto me,
thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation. Also
I'll make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.
My mercy will I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant
shall stand fast with him. His seed also will I make to
endure forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. If his
children forsake my law and walk not in my judgments, if they
break my statutes and keep not my commandments, then will I
visit their transgressions with the rod, and their iniquity with
stripes. Nevertheless, my lovingkindness
will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness
to fail. My covenant will I not break,
nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. Once have I sworn
by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed shall
endure forever. and his throne as the sun before
me. It shall be established forever
as the moon and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah. May the Lord bless the reading
of his holy word. Grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, which is an
art, an art to come, for we do desire to bow before thy glorious
majesty. We desire to worship thee, the
only true God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, that glorious eternal Lord Jehovah,
in whom is everlasting strength. in whom dwell all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge and of understanding. We desire now
to bow before thy great majesty. Lord, thou art holy. We are unholy. Thou art righteous altogether.
We are unrighteous altogether. O most gracious Lord, We come
to thee in that wonderful name and the only name that we can
come to thee, the name of Jesus. O most gracious God, we cannot
come in our own name. All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. We are all as an unclean thing.
We're unrighteous altogether, born in sin and shapen in iniquity. incapable of doing that which
is right and honourable in thy sight. O gracious God, what a
deplorable condition we are found in by nature. As the dear Apostle
himself said, and we would confess the same, O Lord, at this time.
For I know that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good
thing. And Lord, how true that statement
is. And we find, Lord, that the older we get, we seem to get
worse. We seem to feel more deeply the
corruption and sin of our nature, more than ever we did. And we
come, O Lord, and we pray that Thou wouldst look upon the face
of Thine Anointed, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Grant that we may
have that sacred witness of Thy Spirit with our spirit, that
we are the children of God, and that sacred witness that with
our spirit, by thy spirit, that tis he, tis Jesus, is seen instead
of me when I approach to God, that one glorious mediator between
God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave his life, a ransom for
all to be testified in due time. Oh, we do pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou wouldst look upon us as a church and as a
congregation. We thank thee for all thy tender
mercies toward us. We thank thee for our little
house of prayer, the supply of all our many returning needs.
We thank thee, O Lord, for the open Bible, for thy word, for
thy gospel, for thy grace. Lord, we would enter thy gates
with praise and with the voice of thanksgiving. We do pray that
thou wouldst graciously bless our brethren, the deacons, and
give them wisdom and grace and help in all their responsibilities,
not only here, but among the churches of God. And O Lord God,
we do pray that thou, in thy precious mercy, would help us
as a church to love each other, to serve each other, to bear
each other's burdens, thereby fulfilling the law of Christ.
We pray for our dear brother and sister in Holland, that thou
wouldst bless them there and bless them this day. And may
our hearts be knit together in love. We pray for our dear sister
Ina in her great age and increasing infirmities, that thou wouldst
bless her, watch over her, keep her, preserve her. O Lord, we
do beseech thee, graciously grant with her that at evening time
it may be light. And O Lord God, we do pray that
thou would remember dear Ellie, where she is, and bless her indeed,
and help us each to love each other, serve each other, bear
each other's burdens, thereby fulfilling the law of Christ. Lord, we do pray that thou in
thy precious mercy would graciously remember us and shine with the
light of thy gospel. Remember the little ones and
the children. We lovingly commend them to thee
and to the word of thy grace which is able to build them up
and to grant them an inheritance among them that are sanctified.
Bless the dear young friends, graciously bless them with living
faith in Jesus Christ. Grant that thou wouldst cause
them by thy spirit and thy grace to follow him and to serve him
in their day and in their generation and give them to realise and
know that there is but one thing that is needful. and help them
to seek first the kingdom of heaven and thy righteousness
and all these things shall be added unto them. Lord, we do
pray that thou wouldst indeed bless them. Bless them in their
providential pathway too. Give them good success in their
education and guide and direct them to suitable employment and
grant them each a partner in life's journey. Thou art that
great God, and we read of Thee in Thy Word, who brought a Rebekah
unto Isaac and a Ruth unto Boaz, and they are able to do the same
even today. And we thank Thee that Thou art
indeed God over all, blessed for evermore. The earth also
is Thine, and the heavens, and Thou art the King of glory. And
that we do pray that thou would remember those in the midst of
the journey of life and bless them. And that we pray that thou
would graciously help and undertake for parents and deliver us, O
Lord, from the temptations of Satan, from the power and dominion
of sin. Whether he comes as an angel
of light to deceive us or whether he comes as a roaring lion to
devour us, we need thee. O Lord, to deliver us. We thank
Thee for 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, do hear us this day. Grant that that glorious
standard may be lifted up, even our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord,
we pray for those, each one of us that is in the evening time
of life journey. and we pray that thou wouldst
graciously undertake for us and grant that
at evening time it may be light. We pray, Lord, we earnestly beseech
thee to cause the prodigals to return and thy mighty grace to
be seen in this. Thou art able to do abundantly
more than we can even ask or think. O Lord of hosts, O God
of Israel, O thou that dwellest between the cherubims, shine
forth, and let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, the
Son of Man, whom thou madest strong for thyself. And O Lord
God, we do pray that thou, in thy precious mercy,
would send the light and power of the gospel into this village,
and the surrounding villages and hamlets, and fulfil thy gracious
promise. I will bring thy sons from far
and thy daughters from the ends of the earth, and they shall
come from the north and from the south and from the east and
from the west. And the place wherein thou dwellest
shall be too straight for thee, and that thou hast lengthened
thy cords and strengthened thy stakes. O Lord of hosts, O God
of Israel, we humbly beseech thee to hear our prayers, and
return unto Jerusalem with mercies and may bear thine holy arm in
the gospel and grant thee pulling down of the strongholds of Satan
and the setting up of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus in the hearts
of sinners. Grant thee mighty power of thy
spirit to attend the word that this little house of prayer may
be filled with hungry longing souls pressing into the kingdom
of heaven. We read, they shall come, O Lord,
let thy work be done, thy power be seen, thy grace made manifest. Pour upon us a spirit of real
travail, for as soon as Zion travail, she brought forth her
children. Remember all thy servants as
they go forth to preach the everlasting gospel. We thank thee, O Lord,
for thy servants, We pray that Thou, the great Lord of the harvest,
may yet send forth more labourers, that there may be a building,
a renewing, a reviving, a replenishing. Let Thy work appear unto Thy
servants and Thy glory unto their children, O Lord, we do beseech
Thee. Remember all the little causes
of truth up and down the land. Remember, O Lord, we pray Thee,
the churches, thy servants, the pastors, all that thou wouldst
pour forth thy blessed spirit, and grant yet further settlement
of pastors, and a renewing and a reviving, and in gathering,
hear us, Lord, we humbly beseech thee. Remember our nation, remember
our leaders, give them wisdom, give them grace. We live in a
dark and solemn time, And we think of the wars going on in
the earth today, thousands and thousands taken from time into
eternity. And we read, O Lord, of man's
inhumanity to man, and it ever has been so. And we beseech you
that thou hast put a stop to war, bring to naught the counsels
of the ungodly, and make bare thine holy arm in the gospel.
Lord, we do pray that we remember all in affliction, trouble, trial,
perplexity, bereavement. Help and undertake for each one.
O Lord, we do beseech of thee. We do pray, most gracious God,
for those that labour among the nations of the earth. We think,
O Lord, of the Savannah Education Trust and that great work that
they are doing in Ghana. in the education of a Christian
education to those poor people. We pray that thou with abundantly
bless. We pray for Ian Sadler as he
travels among the nations of the earth, distributing the word
of God and expounding the scriptures of truth. Bless him indeed. Oh Lord, we do beseech thee.
and supply all their needs. Remember the Mombasa mission
and thy servant there, fill him with thy spirit and his dear
one too, and grant good success to their labours, we do humbly
beseech of thee. We thank thee, most gracious
God, for all thy tender mercies, but above all for the glories
of Christ, for the wonders of redeeming love, the fullness
of that salvation that is in him. We thank thee for the incarnation
of the Son of God and the everlasting robe of righteousness that he
has wrought out for his people, the law fulfilled and honoured
and magnified, thy name glorified. We thank thee for Calvary, where
the Lamb was slain, where he shed his precious blood, where
he redeemed his people, where he put away sin by that one glorious
offering of himself. Oh, we thank thee, most gracious
God, for all thy tender mercies. Forgive all our many sins. Come
and touch one's lips with a live coal from of the heavenly altar.
Come and bless us with light and understanding in thy word.
We ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 87, part one. The tune is Arncliffe, 529. With David's Lord and ours, a
covenant once was made, whose bonds are firm and sure, whose
glories ne'er shall fade. Signed by the sacred three in
one, in mutual love, air time began. Hymn 87 Part 1 Tune Arncliffe
529 Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the ramparts we watched
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, Helelujah! Helelujah! Helelujah!
? In the seat of grace ? ? From
peace and mercy coming ? ? Let all the world ? ? O praise your
name for me ? Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave ? Here where thy feet are lowed
? ? Here the angels now sing ? ? Praise to thee, Lord Christ,
our own and only King ? ? Be with me, I shall not be moved
? ? And with you in time and joy ? ? Where'er we go ? My God shall be with you. His hope shall be with you. And I will share with you. Greatly feeling today the Lord's
Gracious help, I would direct your attention to Psalm 89, and
we'll read verses 20 and 21. Sorry, verses 19, 20, and 21. Then thou spakest in vision to
thy Holy One, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty,
I have exalted one chosen out of the people. I have found David
my servant. With my holy oil have I anointed
him, with whom my hand shall be established. Mine arm also
shall strengthen him. This psalm is often known as
the Covenant Psalm because it speaks of that eternal covenant
ordered in all things and sure. And we notice in verse three,
I have made a covenant with my chosen. I have sworn unto David
my servant. Now friends, there is a far,
far greater than David here. This is David's greatest son,
our Lord Jesus Christ. It cannot mean David because
the wonderful blessings that are pronounced are eternal. And
as we know, and we've spoken on often, that the Lord Jesus
Christ is called the son of David. And often in the Psalms, you
know the Psalms, there is some of the richest most sacred prophecies
concerning the coming of Christ are found in the book of Psalms
and the psalmist is often speaking in the spirit of Christ as if
Christ himself is speaking which in fact he is, David you know
he was called a prophet and whether this psalm was written by David
I seem to doubt it was somebody else that wrote this psalm But
whoever wrote it saw clearly, in the spirit of prophecy, the
person of Christ in David. And it's a psalm of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving for the eternal
covenant, ordered in all things and sure, which is sung together
with David's Lord and hour. A covenant once was made. You
know the word covenant means an agreement. A solemn agreement
has been made. And this covenant is an eternal
covenant. David, he said before he died,
though my house be not so with God, yet hath he made with me
an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things. And sure, an everlasting
covenant. In the epistles of the Hebrews
in the last chapter, The Apostle speaking of the blood of Christ. He speaks of it as the blood
of the everlasting covenant. It's a beautiful expression,
isn't it? The blood of the everlasting covenant. Why does he speak like
that? Because it was through this means
that God has redeemed his people. Redeemed them from sin and Satan's
power. redeem them from the power and
dominion of sin, save them with an everlasting salvation. And hence he commences the psalm,
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. With my mouth
will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations. One godly old commentator on
this psalm, he wondered if it was written when Rehoboam became
king. He said there was in the days
of David and Solomon, Ethan. And if you look at the title
on this psalm, Masculine Ethan, the Ezraite. and he was a great musician of
course we read of that in holy scripture and the reason that
the commentator felt that was so because after verse 37 it
is obvious that he lived in a time when there was great trouble
he speaks here of these wonderful covenant blessings but then from
verse 38 he says but thou hast cast off and aboard thou hast
been wroth with thine anointing, thou hast made void the covenant
of thy servant." So did he live to see that great division that
was made in the days of Rehoboam when the ten tribes broke away? These things we cannot exactly
say but it was certainly a time when there was a great falling
away because he speaks of but I want to look as we possibly
can at this greater than David, even our Lord Jesus Christ. If
you remember when blind Bartimaeus was sitting by the roadside and
what did he cry out? Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. And he kept crying out, Jesus,
thou son of David, have mercy on me. Why did he cry like that? Why did he pray like that? Because
he'd heard that this Jesus wrought wonderful miracles. And not only
that, it was a common saying among the Jews concerning the
coming of the Messiah. He was called the son of David,
the son of David. And so it shows us that Bartimaeus,
in his great need and poverty, he knew and he believed that
this man was the Messiah. He'd no doubt heard that he caused
the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, the dumb
to speak. And Jesus did all those things.
And we read that faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the
word of the Lord, and so it was with Bartimaeus and he kept crying
Jesus our son of David have mercy on me the people they said to him be
quiet why do you keep making such a noise but we read that
he cried the more vehemently Jesus our son of David why because
he had a knee What a wonderful mercy if there's people here
in this chapel this morning that have come with a need. You need
something, you're looking for something, you're waiting for
something, you're seeking something. Something for your soul. What
a mercy if there are those here that are indeed seeking something. And the psalmist, as he dwells
upon the glories of Jehovah. He says, I will sing of the mercies
of the Lord. You know, there's only one place,
my beloved friend, where the mercy of the Lord comes from.
It's from Jesus Christ. That's the sacred channel where
the mercy of the Lord Jehovah comes from. Those eternal blessings
of salvation of deliverance from sin and Satan's power. They come
through Jesus Christ, our Lord. And they come alone through Jesus
Christ, our Lord. Oh, the Lord would open our eyes
to see. We've just spoken of the blood
of the everlasting covenant. That's where mercy flows from. I've often said to you, and these
things, I believe the Lord gives us to experience them, And so
that we're able to speak of these things. A time when I was greatly
blessed, in fact, when I was brought into gospel liberty.
And you know the devil so tempted me, it was the following day
after I was brought into gospel liberty. And Satan so tempted
me. He said, all this is just religious
flesh, emotions. And this was the temptation,
you've never had the blood applied. You've never had the blood applied.
That was a very real temptation to me. As I was going about my work
and considering these things, Him beautifully opened to my
soul every blessing. Every favour freely flows through
Jesus' precious blood, the blood of the everlasting covenant.
And what the Lord in a moment showed me, and opened to my heart,
that whatever blessing I'd ever had, it came through the precious
blood of Christ. You know, we have a very wily,
cunning enemy who will try to as it were upset our minds. But when the Lord opens it is
exceedingly simple. This covenant that we read of
here in this psalm is the everlasting covenant. It's an unbreakable
covenant. It's an eternal covenant. It's
a covenant of salvation. It's a covenant of redemption.
And this covenant, my beloved friends, was between the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost. It was this eternal covenant. And as it's so clearly laid out
in Holy Scripture, the Father chose a people from the ruins
of the Adam 4. He sent his only begotten Son
to redeem that people. Jesus Christ is the only begotten
Son of the Father. And he sent him to redeem his
people. And then he sends the Holy Ghost
to seal that salvation into the heart of his people. He sends
the Holy Ghost to give them life through Christ. When the Holy
Ghost enters into the heart, You hath he quickened who were
dead? That's what the Word of God says. Oh my dear beloved friends, has
he quickened you? Has he quickened me? These are
vital questions. Am I made a real Christian? Washed
in the Redeemer's blood? Has the Holy Spirit entered my
heart? Do you feel and know yourself a needy sinner? And has the Holy
Spirit wrought faith in your heart that you're unable to believe
on Jesus Christ? And to lay hold of Christ, and
to lay hold of His precious blood, and His glorious righteousness.
This is the longing desire of the living soul, that I might
know Him in the power And you want to know the power of His
truth in your heart. Not just to read it in the bare
letter of scripture, nor just to hear it preached, but to feel
it. To feel it. To feel its power. To know that your sins are forgiven. To know that your sins are all
put away. To know that Jesus is the way
to God. Jesus is the way to bliss. As
he himself said, I am the way, the truth and the life. Speaks here in this psalm of
the greatness of this God. He says in verse 6, Who in the
heaven can be compared unto the Lord? Who among the sons of the
mighty can be likened unto the Lord? God is greatly to be feared. in the assembly of the saints,
and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.
O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? Or to thy
faithfulness round about thee? The rulest, the raging of the
sea. Now David here then in this psalm
is Christ. There is no doubt whatsoever
that David here in this psalm is Christ. You look at verse 8, O Lord God
of hosts, who is a strong Lord? And then verse 9, Thou rulest
the raging of the sea. And you think of our Lord Jesus
Christ when he was here upon earth. When he was asleep in
the hindermost part of the ship. There we see the reality of the
sacred human nature of the Son of God. You might say, what do
you mean the sacred human nature of the Son of God? He was asleep. He needed sleep. He needed rest. He used to spend whole nights
in prayer. He knew what weakness was. He
did. But then there came a great storm
and there's no doubt that the disciples, something was very
clearly revealed to them there. Firstly, he was asleep. They
had to go and wake him up. the midst of this great storm
they thought the boat was going to sink and they said master
save us or we perish and Jesus stood and rebuked the winds and
the sea and there was a great calm thou rulest the raging of
the sea when the waves thereof rise thou stillest them and that's
what Christ has done it was witnessed by the disciples and they stood
in awe of him and they said what manner of man is this that even
the wind and the sea obey him, there's his divinity. So on the
one hand in that boat is revealed the sacred holy humanity of the
son of God and on the other hand when he rises and rebukes the
wind and the sea is revealed divinity that he is indeed the
Son of God. The heavens are thine, the earth
also is thine. As for the world and the fullness
thereof thou hast founded them. It says here in the book of Psalms
the cattle upon a thousand hills are mine and all the gold and
silver they belong to God. My dear beloved friends, thou
art coming to a king. Large petitions with thee bring,
for his grace and power are such. None can ever ask too much. He's able to do abundantly more. Why, he's God over all. Hence,
he says in Jeremiah, the eternal God is thy refuge. And underneath
are the everlasting arms The Eternal God is thy refuge, and
underneath are the everlasting arms. And you know, friends,
it's when we come into those deep and dark places, in our
soul's experience or in our circumstances, it's then that we feel the support
of those everlasting arms. They've always been there, but
it's only when you come into these dark and try in places
that you actually fall into those everlasting arms and you feel
the safety and the security of those everlasting arms. He says
here in verse 13 that thou hast a mighty arm strong is thy hand
and high is thy right hand strong is thy hand We read in Solomon's
song, his left hand is under my head, his right hand does
embrace me. And as we have often pointed
out to you, the teaching that there is there. Left hand blessings
are providential blessings. Right hand blessings are those
rich sacred spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. So when it says his left hand
is under my head, his right hand does embrace me. It's a picture of two lovers,
right hand embracing me. So his left hand supplying all,
my God supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. all you'll need. The Lord Jesus, he said to the
disciples, seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and my righteousness
and all these things, that's providential things, shall be
added unto you. Sometimes we get so focused perhaps
on a particular providential thing and sometimes we may be
in such deep circumstances and difficulties that you can't seem
to get your mind on anything else but the difficulties that
you're in. But the Lord Jesus says, seek ye first the kingdom
of heaven and my righteousness and all these things, providential
things, shall be added unto you. Thou hast a mighty arm, strong
is thy hand and high is thy right hand. So we read here, then thou spakest
in vision in verse 19 to thy Holy One and saidst, I have laid
help upon one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. Of course, We know that David
was chosen out of the people. But as we're saying here, there's
a greater than David here. I have laid help upon one that
is mighty. This is the Lord Christ. When
chosen of his father to come and redeem his people, chosen
of his father to come and live here as a servant, to live here
upon earth, as a man. It's called my servant, isn't
it? In my mind it just goes to that lovely word in Isaiah 42,
behold my servant. This is Christ. You may say,
but he's the King of Kings, he's the Lord of Lords. Yes, but he
humbled himself. came in the likeness of man.
He lived here upon earth as a man. He took into union with his divine
nature, a sacred holy human nature. He became bone of our bone. It
says in Hebrews chapter 2 that it behoved him to be made like
unto his brethren. His brethren is the church chosen
in him. It's his bride, his spouse, He's
loved her with an everlasting love. She was given to him before
the foundation of the world. And here in Isaiah 42, it speaks
of Christ as the servant of the Lord. It says in Philippians
2 that he took upon him the form of a servant who was made in
the likeness of men. Behold my servant. Who's speaking? The Eternal Father. Behold my
servant. whom I uphold, mine elect, you
see, chosen in Christ, mine elect, in whom my soul delighted. When
Jesus was here upon earth, when he became a man, the Father delighted
in him. When he lived as a man here upon
earth in a life that was so holy and so pure and so loving and
so kind, the Father loved him. when he
was baptised in the River Jordan by John the Baptist. John the Baptist, it was revealed
to him, upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending like
a dove upon that this was the Messiah, this was the Son of
David. And John bare witness and said,
I beheld the Spirit of God coming upon Christ in the form
of a dove as he was being baptised. And then there was that voice
that came from eternal glory, the voice of our eternal father.
This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased. Mine elect,
in whom my soul delighteth. Then he says, I put my spirit
upon him. The Lord Jesus Christ was anointed
the prophet, the priest and the king of his people. under the
Levitical dispensation, those three offices, the prophet, the
priest and the king, required anointing with oil. Why was that
so? Why did those three very distinct
offices, the prophet, priest and king, require the anointing? Well the anointing represents
the pouring forth of the Holy Ghost, that anointing oil, it
typifies the Holy Ghost. And Christ was anointed without
measure by the Holy Ghost. I put my Spirit upon Him, He
shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. This glorious person
of Jesus, the Son of God, when He assumed human nature, when
He was anointed with the Spirit, He assumed those offices. of
the prophet, of the priest, and of the king. He did. Behold my
servant, the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall not cry, nor lift up,
nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. Now this is something
very wonderful and precious. A bruised reed shall he not break,
and the smoking flat shall he not quench. shall bring forth
judgment unto truth. In the New Testament when that's
quoted it says he shall bring forth judgment unto victory.
He shall not fail. But just look at this for a moment,
this glorious person that we have in our text, this one that
is mighty, a bruised reed, shall he not break? You know, the Lord's
people are under the teaching and leading of the Holy Ghost.
They know what it is to be like a bruised reed. Now if you have
a bruised reed, it bows itself down and it cannot lift itself
up again. What a picture that is of the
Lord's living family when they're passing through this wilderness.
Under the teaching of the Spirit, when they're convicted and convinced
of their sin, they're like a bruised reed. They cannot lift themselves
up. But here it's speaking of this
glorious servant of the Lord, a bruised reed shall he not break? The smoking flax shall he not
quench? You know smoking flax, can't
see any fire burning, just smoke. We know there's a fire there
because there's smoke, but you can't see the fire. You will not quench that within
your heart. Prayer is likened in Holy Scripture
to fire burning in the soul. Is there a fire burning in your
soul? A fire of desire? A fire of longing? A fire of seeking? Watching? Waiting? Pleading? It's like
a fire burns within you. But sometimes It's so low, it's
just like smoking flax. He will not quench smoking flax. As the hymn writer says, but
raise it to a flame. And then we have these lovely
words, and this is King Jesus. He shall not fail, nor be discouraged. And where it says here, till
he hath set judgment in the earth, he brings forth judgment unto
victory, it says. Unto victory. And that's what
Christ did. The judgment, the solemn judgment,
the awful judgment of our Eternal Father fell upon Him in the Garden
of Gethsemane. When He took our sins, when He
bowed before His Holy Father. Speaks of it here, it was shown
to me, my Father. In verse 27, it calls Christ
the firstborn, also I will make Him my firstborn, higher than
the kings of the earth. He is the firstborn of every
creature, the Word of God declares. Then spakest thou in vision to
thy Holy One, And saidst I, I have laid help upon one that is mighty,
I have exalted one chosen out of the people. This is Christ. I found David my servant, with
my holy oil have I anointed him, with whom my hand shall be established,
mine arm also shall strengthen him. So these are the wonderful promises
of God unto the church, unto his people. The unfailing mercy
of God. Verse 28, my mercy will I keep
for him, for Christ. My mercy will I keep for him
forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him. We
can see here how this is way beyond King David, who was but
a mere man. But this is David's greatest
son, the eternal son of the eternal father. My mercy will I keep
for him. You know, my beloved friends,
all the mercy, love and grace of God is stored in Christ. And
it's stored there for his people. Isn't it Huntingdon that calls
it the bank of faith? Where faith draws from the bank
of faith. Poor, wretched, bankrupt sinners
draw from this fullness that there is in Christ, his precious
blood that cleanses from all sin, his glorious righteousness
that covers our nakedness. That all that wonderful grace,
even the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that flows through him,
Unto the church I have laid help upon one that
is mighty. Jesus, my beloved friends, is
mighty to save. He is indeed mighty to save. He's the almighty King. And if
I can turn to it, I think we have something in the, if I remember
correctly, prophet Zephaniah, where it speaks of this almighty
savior. And in the third chapter of Zephaniah's
prophecy, verse 14, saying, O daughter of Zion, shout, O Israel, be
glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.
The Lord has taken away thy judgment. So that's what Christ has done
when he bore our sins and he nailed them to his cross. The
Lord has taken away thy judgment. He hath cast out thine enemy.
The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee.
This is in Zion, the church of the living God. Thou shalt not
see evil any more. In that day it shall be said
to Jerusalem, fear thou not, and to Zion, let not thine hands
be slack. The Lord thy God in the midst
of thee is mighty. He will save. He will rejoice
over thee with joy. He will rest in His love, He
will joy over thee with singing. Oh my dear beloved friends, oh
that you may be enabled to come to this dear Saviour, and to
look to this dear Saviour, and to cast all your care upon this
dear Saviour. Just as Isaiah says, looking
unto Jesus the author, not Isaiah, look unto me all ye ends of the
earth and be ye saved. for I am God and there is none
else. Look unto me, this is that Almighty Saviour. He's able to
save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him, seen in
the ever living. Come unto me, all ye that labour,
and are heavy laden. It's the words of our precious
Redeemer that we have here in our text, this one that is mighty. He says, come unto me, all ye
that labour, and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. The rest spoken of here is the
rest of faith. Resting in the precious blood
of Christ that cleanses us from all sin. What He has done. You know friends, we can't rest
in anything that we have done, nor anything that we think we
can do. We can only rest in the glorious
person, power, grace, love, mercy, peace of God that is in Jesus
Christ and the Father has laid hold of this one, he sent him,
God so loved the world, he gave his only begotten son. I have laid help upon one that
is mighty, I have exalted one chosen out of the people, I have
found David my servant, with my holy oil have I anointed him,
with whom my hand shall be established, mine arm also shall strengthen
him. You know, there are those occasions
in the Word of God when our Lord Jesus Christ was travailing here
upon earth. He spent 40 days and 40 nights
in the wilderness after he was baptized. And under the intense temptations
of Satan. You know friends, if you and
I know anything about temptation, there's one thing it does, especially
persistent temptation, it weakens us, it weakens us, it does. And in those intense temptations
that Christ passed through, You know, we must be clear on this. It was his holy human nature
that could endure temptation. We read concerning his divine
nature that God cannot be tempted of evil. But in that profound
mystery of godliness, of God manifest in the flesh, in that
human nature, the Son of God knew what temptation was. He
did. He knew what weakness was in
that holy human nature. He could never know that in his
divine, because he's Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and
forever. But he knew it in the human nature. When he suffered on Calvary, when he offered himself a sin-atoning
sacrifice, see he knew what weakness was
and there we read in the in the day of temptation and there appeared
an angel strengthening him look at the depths that the son of
god went to to redeem us and then again not only in the temptation
but in the garden of Gethsemane and we've often explained to
you that It was in the garden of Gethsemane that the father
laid upon him the iniquity of us all. Hence he sweat as it
were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. And again
we see the depths that the son of God came into in those terrible
sufferings in his holy human nature. In the garden there appeared
an angel from heaven strengthening all my beloved friends. He was
tempted at all points, like as we are, yet without sin. This mighty one, mighty to save,
mighty to redeem, mighty to deliver. I've laid help upon one that
is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. The Apostle, he says in the Acts
doesn't he, in preaching, him hath God exalted as a prince
and as a saviour for to give faith and repentance and remission
of sins. That's what he's exalted for.
It is exalted far above all principality of power and every name that
is named. The glorious person of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the Apostle Paul, he speaks of it in the first
chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians. He speaks of our glorified
Redeemer. And verse 17, that the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the
spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the
eyes of your understanding being enlightened. You know, friends,
That's something that remains with me all the time. And the
desire, when I'm praying for all you dear friends, sometimes
I pray individually for you. And the burden of my heart is
just what the Apostle says here. The God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom
and revelation in the knowledge of Him. Who? The knowledge of
Christ. that's what we would labor for
that you might have that knowledge of Christ of his salvation and
the eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may
know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of
the glory of his inheritance in the saints and what is the
exceeding greatness of his power to us lord who believe according
to the work and of his mighty power which he wrought in Christ,
when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right
hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and
power, and might and dominion, and every name that is named,
not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And
hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the
head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness
of him that filleth all in all. I have laid help upon one that
is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. I have found David my servant
with my holy oil have I anointed him, with whom my hand shall
be established and mine arm also shall strengthen him. It goes on here speaking of this
eternal covenant it says here in verse 24 but my faithfulness
and my mercy shall be with him and you know this my beloved
friends is our only hope we feel painfully at times our
faithlessness how weak our faith is how little we trust the Lord. But our salvation does not depend
on the strength of our faith. It depends on the person, power
and grace and love of our Lord Jesus Christ. It does. It doesn't depend on us. But
my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with you and in my name
his horn, that is his power, shall be exalted. And he says
here in verse 26, and of course it's recorded in the New Testament,
he shall cry unto me. You think of John 17. Thou art my father, my God, and
the rock of my salvation. This language, it is the language
of Christ. It is. But what I wanted to come
to was this. He says, my mercy will I keep
for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him, not
with you, not with anyone else, but with Christ. Upon this rock
I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
him. If his children forsake my law
and walk not in my judgments, if they break my statutes and
keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgressions
with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes. Nevertheless, that
is such a beautiful word, nevertheless, my loving kindness will I not
utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail. In spite
of all our sins, in spite of all our failings, all our wanderings,
all our backsliders, his covenant in Christ remains the same. Nevertheless, my loving kindness
will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness
to fail. My covenant will I not break,
nor alter the thing that has gone out of my lips. Once have
I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David. His seed
shall endure forever. This is the eternal safety and
security of the living child of God. It is in Christ. It's not in what you can do,
not in what you have done. It's in what Christ has done.
It's in his precious blood, in his glorious righteousness, in
his sacred divine person. His seed shall endure forever
and his throne as the sun before me. It shall be established forever
as the moon and as a faithful witness in heaven. Then spake
his own vision to thy holy one, and said, I have laid help upon
one that is mighty. I have exhorted one chosen out
of the people. I have found David my servant,
and with my holy oil have I anointed him, with whom my hand shall
be established. Mine arm also shall strengthen
him. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 572. The tune is St Jude 726. Before the earth or seas
were made, Jesus was chosen as our father's first edict. In him
the church was chosen to, and he engaged to bring them through,
nor will he them neglect. Hymn 572, tune St Jude 726. you In church, in church, in church
A weary lamb did cry He crowned her pure, pious, fair,
and true, and brought her such joy forever, ever made them ne'er fear. Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? Behold Him now, the Father bright,
Behold Him showing of pure light, The pure Lord's Saviour here. ? Give him, my soul, delighteth
well ? ? I will, my heart, worship for you ? ? Apparish on your
feet ? He died, He came, Death's Son
of God, To my inner core I'll return, To rest from human blood. in Him I never, never, never,
never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never,
never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never,
never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never,
never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never,
never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never,
never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never,
never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never,
never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never,
never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never,
never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never Never leave your frame of mind
You never will forget your pride Fall in the Lord alone ? There stood the grave where my
father stayed ? ? There my mother laid her grave for me and me
alone ? 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.