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 will be a prayer meeting
here on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. The collections taken during
December amounted to £1,869.25. Donations to the book fund were
£20. We sincerely thank you for your
continued support of this cause of truth. Let us commence our services
today by singing together hymn number 499. The tune is at Swabia
71. Great God before thy throne, we joyfully appear in songs to
make thy glories known and thus begin the year. Hymn 499, Tune
Swabia, 71. O thy crown, rejoice, all ye
that wear It comes to make thy glorious birth And thus begin
the year God made man so divine. What
message shall we share? What message all around us shall
hear? ♪ To our purpose he gives ♪ ♪ In doubt and in distress ♪ ♪
Man still praises our spirit ♪ ♪ And counting all the years I've
lived yet ♪ ♪ Shall I call this new year ♪ ♪ And call this past the year ♪
♪ Our souls divine declare ♪ ♪
And help us, Lord, to return here ♪ ♪ Devoting this new year
♪ Keep them fast, O thy will, So
never may appear. And let thy love be my message,
preserve us through the years. Yonder castles indeed, in twain
have told me clear, Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the book of Psalms, reading Psalms 46,
47 and 48. Psalms 46, 47 and 48. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though
the earth be removed And though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be
troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof,
sealeth. There is a river, the streams
whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the
tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her and that right
early. The heathen raged. The kingdoms
were moved. He uttered his voice. The earth
melted. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge, sealer. Come, behold the works
of the Lord. What desolations he hath made
in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto
the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow and cutteth
the spear asunder, in sunder, and burneth the chariot in the
fire. Be still, and know that I am
God. I will be exalted among the heathen.
I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. O clap your hands, all ye people. Shout unto God with the voice
of triumph, for the Lord Most High is terrible. He is a great
king over all the earth. He shall subdue the people under
us and the nations under our feet. He shall choose our inheritance
for us, the excellency of Jacob, whom he loved, Selah. God is
gone up with a shout. The Lord with the sound of a
trumpet. Sing praises to God. Sing praises. Sing praises unto
our King. Sing praises. For God is the
King of all the earth. Sing ye praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen.
God sits upon the throne of his holiness. The princes of the
people are gathered together. even the people of the God of
Abraham, for the shields of the earth belong unto God. He is
greatly exalted. Great is the Lord, and greatly
to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his
holiness. Beautiful for situation, the
joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion, on the sides of the north,
the city of the great king. God is known in her palaces for
a refuge. For lo, the kings were assembled,
they passed by together, they saw it, and so they marveled.
They were troubled and hasted away. Fear took hold upon them
there, and pain as of a woman in travail. Thou breakest the
ships of Tarsus with an east wind. As we have heard, so have
we seen, in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our
God, God will establish it for ever, Selah. We have thought
of thy lovingkindness, O God, in the midst of thy temple. According
to thy name, O God, so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth.
Thy right hand is full of righteousness. Let Mount Zion rejoice. Let the
daughters of Judah be glad because of thy judgments. Walk about
Zion and go round about her. Tell the towers thereof. Mark
ye well her bulwarks. Consider her palaces. that you
may tell it to the generation following. For this God is our
God forever and ever. He will be our guide even unto
death. May the Lord bless the reading
of his most precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Almighty, most merciful and eternal
God, O that thou wouldst be gracious unto us as we gather together
around thy word on this first Lord's day of another year of
time. What a reminder, O Lord, unto
each one of us of the swift passage of time. And we're all hastening
to a never-ending eternity and to that time appointed by thee
when we shall soar through tracks unknown and see thee on thy judgment
throne. Gracious God, prepare us for
that great day when heart and flesh shall fail, we do humbly
beseech thee. Help us to seek thee, and thou
said in thy word then that seek me early shall find me, and grant,
O Lord, that we may be found continually seeking Thee, seeking
Thy ways and seeking Thy truth, that we may be led and taught
and guided and directed by the Holy Spirit. We come, Lord, as
poor sinners, poor ignorant sinners, poor helpless sinners, poor hopeless
sinners. We come and seek and hope to
find a portion for our souls We come, O Lord, and pray that
thou would send real prosperity into our hearts, into our souls,
that we might know the truth and the truth may set us free,
the truth as it is in Jesus, the truth of salvation, redemption
through the precious blood of the Lamb. Oh, that we might know,
taste, handle of these things. We do humbly, beseech of thee,
bless us as a church, and as a congregation, and work mightily,
powerfully and effectively among us, we do humbly beseech thee. Arise, arise, O God of grace,
into thy rest descend, thou and the ark of thy strength. Lord, we pray for those that
are commencing pastorates today, and we commend them to thee,
and pray that thou wouldst bless them indeed, and that thou wouldst
grant mighty signs and ones to follow the preaching of the word
and a confirmation that they're in the way that thou wouldst
have them to be. Gracious God, all we do pray
thee to be gracious and merciful unto thy Zion and return unto
Jerusalem with mercies. And there are those, O Lord,
that are commencing a period of probation with a view to the
pastoral Do be gracious unto them, and do bless them, and
do grant a confirmation upon thy word, and grant thy divine
direction in the way that they should go. And we pray thee,
the great Lord of the harvest, to send true labourers into the
harvest, and to build the walls of Jerusalem. Come and set free
thy servants, and come and set free the churches, come and Grant
that thy gospel may be mighty and powerful and effectual, that
there may be the pulling down of the strongholds of Satan and
the setting up of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus in the hearts
of sinners. Come and grant, O Lord, a day
of prosperity, and that instead of a decline and a falling away,
we may see a building up, we may see a reviving, a renewing,
a replenishing. and in gathering of precious
souls, a pulling down of the strongholds of Satan, a setting
up of the kingdom of the Lord Jesus in the hearts of sinners.
O Lord of hosts, O God of Israel, O thou that dwellest between
the cherubims, shine forth, as thou not said in thy word, arise
and shine, for thy light is come and the glory of the Lord is
risen upon thee. Lord, grant that it may be so.
that we may see thy work and thy power and thy glory as thou
usest to be in the sanctuary. Lord, let thy hand be upon the
man of thy right hand, the son of man, whom thou madest strong
for thyself, so will not we turn back from thee. O Lord, do hear
us, we humbly beseech thee, and do have mercy upon us even this
day. We pray for all thy servants
as they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion, that
thou wouldst set them free and set them at liberty. Hearken,
O Lord, we do beseech thee. We think of our own little group
of churches and what a declension we see. And we pray that if there
are those things indeed that are displeasing unto thee, that
thou wouldst reveal it unto us that we may turn away from those
things and those ways. and that attitude that is displeasing
to thee. Give us, O Lord, we pray thee,
a right spirit. Create in me a clean heart, O
God, and renew a right spirit within me. For thy great name's
sake, we do humbly beseech thee. We come to confess our sins.
We look, we view the year already past, and see great cause to
be abashed, our wanderings, our backslidings, Gracious God, receive
us graciously. Wash us in the precious blood
of Jesus. Give us real repentance, godly
sorrow for sin, faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may
look to him, that we may cleave to him. And as we pass from this
last year into this present year, that it may be a year of jubilee,
a year when the prisoners are set free, Grant that the Lord
Jesus Christ may be exalted as a Prince and as a Saviour for
to give repentance and remission of sins. Hear us, Lord, we humbly
pray Thee, and let us see Thy glorious arm made bare in the
Gospel shine into this village of Lambethurst. Grant, O Lord,
that many, many precious souls may be gathered in from here
and the surrounding area. that this little house of prayer
may be filled with hungry longing souls pressing into the kingdom
of heaven we do humbly beseech thee for thy great name's sake
come lord we pray thee and bless us then remember our deacons
bless them with wisdom and help and guidance and direction but
remember O Lord, we pray thee, each one of our brethren and
sisters in Christ, in church fellowship, we lovingly commend
each one to thee. Remember, dear Lydia, as we expect
to receive her into membership this afternoon, grant that it
may be a special occasion to her, we do humbly beseech thee. And remember those, O Lord, that
look on, those that yearn after Christ, those that long to hear
his voice and see his countenance. Lord, we pray that thou would
set them free. Remember the prisoners, Lord,
and set them free, those in bondage, those in darkness. Oh, that thy
gospel may be mighty among us. We do humbly beseech thee, and
that we pray that most gracious Lord, that thou in thy precious
mercy graciously remember the dear children. We thank thee
for them, the little ones, the children, they're brought into
the sanctuary. Bless them with that rich grace
that is in Christ Jesus. Bless them with the fear of the
Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. And bless the young
friends, Lord. Bring them to living faith in
Jesus Christ, to follow thee, to serve thee in their day and
in their generation. We do humbly pray thee. O Lord
of hosts, do hear our prayers. We do beseech Thee and may bear
Thine holy arm in the gospel. Go forth conquering and to conquer. Remember, O Lord, those in the
midst of the journey of life, parents especially, as they bring
up their children. Give wisdom, give guidance, give
direction. O Lord, we do beseech Thee for
Thy great namesake. and that those wandering prodigals,
we pray that they may return, that we may see thy wonderful
grace in this. Lord, may we have that joy and
that pleasure of seeing Zion's offspring come, of seeing them
return. Hear us, Lord, we humbly pray
thee for thy great namesake. Lord, we pray to be delivered
from the temptations of Satan, from the power and dominion of
sin. For we have to say and that we prove, O Lord, for I know
that in me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. And Lord,
we painfully feel it and pray that thou wouldst make us more
spiritual and set our affections on things apart and enable us
to lay aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset
us. and that we might run with patience
the race that is set before us, while our days on earth are lengthened. May we give them law to thee,
we do humbly beseech thee. Help us to present our bodies
a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto thee, which is
our reasonable service. And that we be not conformed
to this world, but may we be transformed by the renewing of
our minds, that we might prove what that good and perfect and
acceptable will of the Lord is, we do humbly beseech of thee. We pray, most gracious God, that
thou, in thy precious mercy, remember those of us in the evening
time of life journey. We pray that thou would be with
us and guide us safely unto thy heavenly kingdom, We pray for
dear Enu in her great age, that thou wouldst undertake for her
and strengthen her and help her. We do humbly beseech thee. And
we pray, O Lord, that thou in thy great mercy wouldst remember
the churches of God up and down our nation, wherever thy gospel
is preached, wherever thy people gather, wherever thy servants
stand, let thy work appear. Let Thy power be known, let Thy
grace be made manifest. Lord, we do pray that Thou in
Thy great mercy would give wisdom to our leaders and guidance and
direction to all in authority over us. Oh, to hear us, O Lord,
we pray Thee. We live in such a godless day
and even in the church the love of many waxes cold. Oh, we do
pray that thou wouldst enliven us and renew us and blow with
the wind of the Spirit in the churches up and down the land.
Give our senators wisdom, O Lord, we beseech thee. Bless, Lord,
we pray thee, our King and the royal household. And that, Lord,
remember that those that go forth from among us as a group of churches
We think of the Mombasa mission and thy servant that labours
there. We pray that thou would gird him with all sufficient
grace and wisdom and help. And O gracious God, we do pray
that thou in thy precious mercy would grant good success to his
labours and grant thy blessing upon the Free Grace Evangelistic
Association and thy servant as he travels throughout the nations
of the earth in the distribution of Holy Scripture and the exposition
of the Word of God. May it be to the glory of thy
name and to the good of thy people in those various nations to which
he ministers. Remember the Savannah Education
Trust and that great work that they've been enabled to do in
Africa. To grant, we pray, the rich blessing
to rest upon them And in all these instances, Lord, we pray
that thou would supply their many returning needs. O Lord,
we do beseech of them. O Lord, we do desire thy blessing
upon those in the nations of the earth that live where the
name of Christ is hated, where thy people are persecuted. Gracious
God, we do pray that thou would be with thy people in those places. Send them help from the sanctuary,
strengthen them out of Zion, O Lord, we beseech them. And
may thy living gospel spread throughout all the nations of
the earth. Jesus shall reign where'er the sun does his successive
journeys run. O Lord, we do thank thee for
Jesus Christ. We thank thee for that profound
mystery of godliness of God manifest in the flesh. We thank thee that
holy life he lived as a man here upon earth and we thank thee
for that holy sacrifice of Calvary that he offered to redeem his
people from their sins we thank thee for the precious blood of
the lamb that cleanseth us from all sin that reconciles us unto
God we thank thee that he died for our sins that he loved not
his life unto death and that he rose again on the third day
and destroyed death and him that had the power of death and put
away the sin of his people and is now bodily ascended into heaven
and sitteth at thy right hand. Gracious God, all the wonders
and glories of thy Son, Jesus Christ, through him we know thy
heavenly love and thy eternal favours and through him we receive
that wonderful gift of the Holy Ghost. We thank Thee for every
mercy of Thy kind providence. We thank Thee for our house of
prayer. We thank Thee for the open Bible. We thank Thee that
Thou art God over all and blessed for evermore. Come and touch
one's lips with the live coal from off the heavenly altar.
We ask for Jesus Christ's sake, Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1097. The tune is Rest 833. A refuge
for sinners the gospel makes known. it is found in the merits of
Jesus alone. The weary, the tempted, and burdened
by sin were never exempted from entering therein. Hymn number
1097, tune Rest 833. Oh. O my soul, this I confess, O
my soul, this I confess, O my soul, ♪ With the angels' hymn of praise
♪ ♪ We praise thee ♪ ♪ Each word we postpone as it stands
♪ His praise shall evermore resound Jai Jai Jai Jai Jai ♪ In freedom land ♪ ♪ That's where
I'll go ♪ ♪ And I'll go straight into the land ♪ ♪ In my holy land ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? O come, O come, Emmanuel, O come,
O come, Emmanuel, ♪ This I confess before the world
♪ ♪ In each my tears shed, in each my tears shed ♪ Great, the feeling to need the
Lord's gracious help, a direct retention to Psalm 48 and we'll
read the third verse for our text. Psalm 48 verse 3 God is known in her palaces
for a refuge. God is known in her palaces for
a refuge. How beautifully does the Sweet
Psalmist of Israel speak here of Mount Zion. Now we know that
when this was penned it was referring to Mount Zion literally in Jerusalem. But in the word of God, in the
spiritual sense of the word, that represents the spiritual
church of God. And in these New Testament days,
from every nation, kindred, tongue and tribe and people, and where
there is a gathering together of the Lord's people, whether
it be in two or three, or whether it be in much greater numbers,
there is a little hill of Zion. And that God is the God of Zion. He's great. Great is the Lord.
You notice it's the capital letters. Jehovah. Great is Jehovah. I'm
he which is and which was and which is to come. Jesus Christ
the same yesterday and today and forever. The eternal God. Great is the Lord. and greatly
to be praised in the city. Notice the emphasis here, in
the city of our God. We read in one Psalm, praise
waiteth for thee, O God, in Zion, and unto thee shall the vow be
performed. Praise waiteth for thee. How many of us have come up on
this first Lord's Day of a new year, and we've come up with
that desire in our hearts to sing praises, to be thankful. We're exhorted and be ye thankful. May the Lord grant us this day
a thankful heart for his goodness and for his mercy and for his
loving kindness in Jesus Christ our Lord. And then we shall begin
to explore and know just a little of what is spoken here. Great
is the Lord. Greatly to be praised in the
city of our God. This city of God, this Mount
Zion, as it says here, in the mountain of His holiness. Beautiful
for situation. We just think of this great city,
the wonderful city. of God and the foundation of that city and the words of our Lord Jesus
Christ to us here of course today but they were spoken directly
to the Lord's servant Peter upon this rock when Peter He said,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Christ
answered him, upon this rock I build my church and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it. You see, my beloved friends,
it's built on the eternal rock of Ages. And I felt very much drawn, especially
to Psalm 46, It speaks so beautifully there that God is our refuge
and strength, a very present help in trouble. Our refuge,
our strength is in the Lord. The Psalmist, he says, doesn't
he, when my heart is overwhelmed within me, lead me to the rock
that is higher than I. That rock is Christ. That rock
is Christ. It's immovable. It's eternal. It will never be moved. The gates
of hell shall never prevail against it. Oh, my beloved friends. You know, we read of course in
the prophecy of Isaiah, that beautiful and well-known word
in the chapter 28, where again it speaks of this glorious rock. Verse 16, Isaiah chapter 28,
therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for
a foundation, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not Make
haste, ashore foundation, upon the rock of ages build it. What
shall shake our shorey ploughs? Top lady speaks so beautifully
of this rock, doesn't it? Rock of ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy riven side which flowed, be of sin a double cure, cleanse
me. from its guilt and power, not
the labour of my hands. No. Can thy laws demand fulfilled? Christ has fulfilled it. Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness unto them that are exercised
thereby. I am the way, the truth and the
life. God is our refuge and strength,
the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal rock
of ages, our refuge. Is he your refuge? Is he my refuge? Have you entered into that refuge?
Have you laid hold of that refuge? That glorious refuge for poor
sinners? Christ himself said, I come not
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Sinners can say,
and none but they, how precious is the Saviour. God is our refuge. You see, beautiful
for situation, the joy of the whole earth is Mount Zion. You notice here that of course
this was written in the times of the Old Testament, but those
that were truly taught and led by the Spirit, they were brought
to see the universal nature of Zion. Beautiful for situation, the
joy of the whole earth. Christ is the joy of the nations. He's the glory of the nations.
He's the eternal God. He's the almighty Savior. He's
the great Redeemer. See, my beloved friends, God
is known in her palaces for a refuge. There's this wonderful refuge
in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Wonderful refuge in the Lord Jesus Christ. in
and through His precious blood and righteousness. That precious
blood and righteousness of Christ, it's what He has done. His holy
life. It's the righteousness of His
people. His holy sacrifice. It's the redemption of His people. His precious silatoling blood.
The Apostle says when he writes in the Acts of the Apostles and
he speaks to the elders of Ephesus and he speaks of the Church of
God and he says, which he had purchased with his own blood.
God has purchased it with his own blood. And that blood of
Jesus Christ is of infinite worth and power to save the blackest
and the vilest of sinners. It's a wonderful refuge. God is known in her palaces. God is known in His Son Jesus
Christ. There is one God and one mediator
between God and man. The man Christ Jesus who gave
His life a ransom for all to be testified in due time. This
is a ransom for all of every nation, every tongue, every tribe
and every people. The joy of the whole earth is
Mount Zion. In the mountain of His holiness,
the joy of the whole earth, on the sides of the north, the city
of the great King. You know, in Psalm 2, we read,
do we not, a beautiful messianic prophecy concerning Christ? Yet,
have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. See, it says here, the city of
the great king. Why is Jesus Christ called the
great king? Because he is the king of kings
and the lord of lords. The king of kings and the lord
of lords. God is known in her palaces. These wonderful palaces that
are in the city of Zion. and if the Lord will enable us
we want to look a little bit at these palaces that are in
the city of Zion and that the Lord brings his children into. If you look just at verse 15
in Psalm 45 and it says there with gladness
and rejoicing shall they be brought they shall enter into the king's
palace. We read in Solomon's song, he
brought me into the banqueting house and his banner over me
was love. You think of that wonderful palace
of love. That wonderful palace of love.
God is known in her palaces for a refuge. God so loved the world,
God the Father God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, God so loved
the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should be saved, should be saved, eternally saved, in the King
eternal, immortal and invisible, and even our Lord Jesus Christ. That wonderful palace of His
love, the banqueting house, that feast of fat things and wine
on the lees, well refined. The prophet Isaiah, he was given
a wonderful view of that, wasn't he? Of this banqueting house
and the banner over being loved. and he speaks of it so beautifully
of a feast of fat things of wine on the leaves it says in in Isaiah
chapter 25 and in verse 6 and in this mountain shall the
lord of hosts what mountain the mountain of zion the City of
the Living God, the City of the King Eternally, Immortal and
Invisible, and in this mountain shall the Lord of Hosts make
unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the
lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees, well refined. This afternoon, God willing,
we meet around the Lord's Table what we commonly call the Lord's
Supper. And that is a feast of fat things. What is that feast of fat things?
It's the sacred sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The shedding of
his precious blood. The offering of that perfect
sacrifice. For by one offering. if the eternal
love of God brings you into this palace and you're enabled to
see that crucified Saviour, wounded for our transgressions, bruised
for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him and
with His stripes we are healed, if you are brought to see what
a palace that is that the Lord brings you into. and His banner
over you is love. Think of that word, yea, our
eyes are opened, Jeremiah, it speaks in Jeremiah, yea, I've
loved thee. Jeremiah 31 verse 3, yea, I've
loved thee with an everlasting love. His banner over him was
love, an everlasting love. Therefore, You may be sitting
in your seat and you're thinking to yourself this morning, well,
you know, loved with an everlasting love, I would love to think that. Think of this first. Therefore,
with loving kindness, have I drawn thee? Can you come in there? You may
find that language so great when it says, Yea, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love. But has the Lord drawn you? Have you been drawn to Christ?
The Holy One of Israel? Have you been drawn to see a
beauty in Him? A loveliness in Him? A desire
after Him? Have you come to chapel this
morning with that desire to worship the Lord? that he might reveal himself
unto you. Wonderful, precious, sacred seed. You see, but though you may not
be able to reach the language and it seems too high, yea, I
have loved thee with an everlasting love, the evidence that you're
loved with an everlasting love is because with loving kindness
he has drawn you. You're drawn to Christ. But there
in Isaiah chapter 25, you see, and he says in verse seven, and
he will destroy in this mountain the face of the covering cast
over all people, the vow that is spread over all nations. What
is that? Death. The wages of sin is death. Jesus Christ is the living one.
Jesus Christ has destroyed death and him that had the power of
death, that is the devil. destroyed his works, he's destroyed
his power, he's destroyed his kingdom in that glorious work
of salvation. He will swallow up death in victory. This is the feast of fat things. He will swallow up death in victory
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces and
the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the
earth for the Lord hath spoken see my beloved friend, he brought
me into the banqueting house, his banner over me was love. He swallowed up death in victory. If you look at the following
chapter in Isaiah chapter 26 and it says in verse 19, speaking
here of the resurrection of Christ, thy dead men shall live Together
with my dead body shall they arise, for thy due is as the
due of hers, and the earth shall cast out her dead. It's the resurrection. The resurrection of the Lord's
people is something that is very certain. This is another of those
rooms in this palace. Sacrifice of Christ. our only
hope of salvation. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, our only hope of salvation. The death and the resurrection
of Christ, the only hope of our salvation. You know friends,
some of you have perhaps been, but if you go into Windsor Castle,
that's a palace isn't it? You walk in the great hall of
Windsor Castle, Beautiful. How much more beautiful are the
palaces of Zion, of the Church, of the Living God. Wonderful. As we've said, that wonderful
everlasting love of God in Christ. God so loved the world as God
our Eternal Father. You think of that lovely word,
the Father himself loves you and he gave you to Christ. and
He has redeemed you because you were given to Him by the Father. Therefore with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. What a wonderful thing to be
drawn in love to Christ. We love Him because He first
loved us. We loved Him because He first
loved us. You know that Ezekiel chapter
3, sorry, Ephesians chapter 3, and very beautifully there, it
speaks of the wonderful love of God in Christ. It does. And it says there that in the
16th verse that he would grant unto you, who? The whole family
in heaven and earth. He says here in verse 14, for
this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. You know, friends, what is the
common denominator of a family? You have the same father. You
have the same father. So you're all of one family.
So you're all brothers and sisters. That is naturally speaking. They
are your family. They're your brothers, they're
your sisters. And so it is in the family of
the Church on Earth, of whom the whole family in Heaven and
Earth is named. It's named. We have the same
Father. We're brethren. We're sisters
in Christ because we have the same Father. What a banqueting house that
is, isn't it? If you and I feel that love of
Christ shed abroad in our hearts, and you feel that love to your
brethren and to your sisters in Christ, that he will grant you according
to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by
His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith, that ye be enrooted and grounded in love. Oh my beloved
friends, the gospel of Christ is a gospel of love. It's the
eternal love of God in Christ. That's where we see the love
of God, in Christ. may be able to comprehend with
all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that
you might be filled with all the fullness of God. See the love of Christ is all
the fullness of God. See and he says here now unto
him that is able to do Maybe there are some of you here
and you don't seem as though you've entered into that secret. But just may this word abide
with you to encourage you to keep seeking. Now unto him that
is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,
according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the
church by Jesus Christ throughout all ages. without end. Amen. And to know the love of
Christ. Doesn't the Apostle say in the
Romans about the love of Christ being shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Ghost. What wonderful love. A love without
beginning. A love without ending. A love that is infinite and almighty
and eternal. God is known in her palaces for
a refuge, a love that sweeps away all our sins. A heavenly father took our sins
and he laid them on his side. He suffered and bled and died
under the weight of those sins. What we should have suffered,
he suffered. He was wounded for our transgressions. What a banqueting house, what
a feast of fat things, wounded for our transgressions. God is
known in her palaces for a refuge. I think it's Gadsby in one of
his hymns, he says, doesn't he, the vilest sinner, out of hell,
but lives to feel his need. He's welcomed to the throne of
grace, the Saviour's blood to please. It's the vilest, the
blackest, the most helpless, the most hopeless. Welcome to
Jesus Christ. Indeed, the Lord Jesus speaks
to those poor, black, wretched, helpless souls that feel completely
undone and feel so sinful and so wretched and so way out of
the secret. What does he say to them? Come
unto me. Come unto me. all ye that labour
and are heavy laden and I will give you rest take my yoke upon
you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye
shall find rest precious rest of faith where in the blood and
righteousness of Jesus Christ my beloved is white and ruddy
that's the blood and righteousness of Christ my beloved is white
and ruddy He's loved me with an everlasting love. He suffered,
He bled, He died for me. He rose again for my justification. God is known in her palaces for
a refuge. What a refuge, isn't it? That
risen Saviour. The empty tomb. What a refuge. Come, see the place where the
Lord lives. He is not here. He has risen. He swallowed up death in victory.
What a sacred palace. Here we have a refuge. A hiding place. That's what Christ
is to his people. A hiding place. You think of
his righteousness. You know that is the great trial
and trouble to every born again, believer, every follower of Christ. You might say, what is the great
trial? Indwelling sin. That's the great trial. The apostle
expresses it in Romans 7, that which I would, I do not. That
which I would not, I do. I find a law within my members
that when I would do good, then evil is present with me. That's
the great trial of the living child of God. What does the apostle go on to
say? But I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord, that there
is a place of refuge for poor sinners. You know, our flesh will always
be our flesh. I'm speaking now to the child
of God, to those of you that are born again. Our flesh will
always be our flesh, which is sinful. And that is the great
trial, and that is the great conflict. It says in Solomon's
song, Behold the Shulamite, in whom there is as it were a company
of two armies. Is that what you find? A company
of two armies? The Apostle says in Galatians,
the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against
the flesh, and the one is the contrary to the other. One is contrary to the other.
But my beloved friends, the refuge is Christ. The refuge is Christ. The banquet in house is Christ.
His precious blood, His glorious righteousness, His blood cleanses
from all sin. His righteousness clothes the
poor naked sinner to stand in the presence of God. I'm blessed
for I'm blessed, forever blessed, my rags are gone and I am dressed
in garments whiter snow, clothed in that glorious everlasting
robe of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. God is known in
her palaces for a refuge. This saviour that died for our
sins and rose again for our justification. You know we read in the 8th chapter
of the Romans how the dear apostle there, he speaks so beautifully
of the risen saviour. And he says in verse 31 of Romans
8, What shall we say to these things if God before us, who
can be against us, he that spared not his own son, but delivered
him up for us all. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? What a banquet in house, isn't
it? If you look at verse 28, and we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them that are called
according to purpose. His eternal purpose is of salvation. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? What a banqueting house, isn't
it? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long.
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For
I am persuaded This, my beloved friends, is another room in this
palace of the eternal love of God. For I am persuaded that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor
depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. God is known in her palaces for
a refuge. There's another palace, my beloved
friends, or place of refuge that the Lord Jesus Christ himself
speaks of. The very hairs of your head are
numbered. Are not five sparrows sold for
a father year, and not one of them fall without your heavenly
father's leave? He watches over you every moment.
He does. He watches over you every moment. Not a single shaft can hit till
the God of love sees fit. We do not believe in fictitious
chance. We believe that God is in control. You know when sometimes we look
at the declension in Zion in the church of God here upon earth
and sometimes we get the very downcast I wonder whether the
scene is going to end. But you know, friends, God is
watching. God knows. He does. It's right that we should be
burdened. It's right that we should be concerned. But the
Lord is in control. He loves his people with an everlasting
love. He loves his Zion. He does. And it says here in verse eight,
As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord
of hosts, in the city of our God. God will establish it forever,
sealer. And then there's that lovely
verse 9, it seemed to stand out to me yesterday when I was meditating.
We have thought of thy loving kindness, O God, in the midst
of thy temple. The loving kindness of God in
Christ. the eternal safety and security
of the church in Christ. Upon this rock I build my church
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. They'll try,
but they will not prevail. Says that lovely word in Revelation
12, how that the devil encompassed the camp of the saints of hell. And then it says this, and prevailed
not, and prevailed not. Sometimes we fear that he will
prevail, but he never will. Why? Because of God's loving
kindness in Christ. His eternal love to his people
in Christ. They're built upon this eternal
rock of ages. According to thy name, O God,
so is thy praise unto the ends of the earth. Thy right hand
is full of righteousness. Oh, that glorious righteousness
of Christ. Righteous are the works of God.
They are. And all His dealings with you
and I, they're righteous dealings. Sometimes you may have hard thoughts
of God. But they're misplaced. One speaks of the trials of the
child of God and he says, all are most needful. Not one is
in vain. No. They're necessary. You think
of the perplexing things that come into your pathway. They're
necessary. Why? To humble us. Our flesh. It's always been our flesh, always
will be our flesh and therefore it has to be humble. But it's
in loving kindness. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. He does. And in those chastening times
when we're brought to the end of self, we're then brought to
the feet of Jesus. That glorious palace of refuge. A door of hope is open wide in
Jesus' bleeding hands and side. We have thought of thy loving
kindness, O God, in the midst of thy According to thy name,
the name of Jesus, wonderful name, for he shall save his people
from their sins. According to thy name, Jehovah
Jesus, the Lord, our righteousness. According to thy name, O God,
so as thy praise unto the ends of the earth, thy right hand
is full. of righteousness and then this
exhortation, let Mount Zion rejoice, let the daughters of Judah be
glad because of thy judgments. And then this walk about Zion. Do you walk about Zion? Walk about Zion, go round about
her, tell the towers they're on. Mark ye where her ball works. What a glorious city it is. And then of course there is the,
we've spoken of the things that the people of God receive in
Christ, in their own personal experience. And the Lord's blessing
upon them here in this life, raising them up to a hope of
eternal life, in and through our Lord Jesus Christ. And then
in the book of the Revelation, that we read of the New Jerusalem,
the City of God, that is the Heavenly Jerusalem. Just think for a moment of those
beautiful words of our Lord Jesus Christ, let not your heart be
troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions, many mansions, if it were not so, I would have told
i go to prepare a place for you and if i go to prepare a place
for you i will come again and receive you unto myself that
where i am there he may be also in in revelation 21 and we read
and i saw a new heaven and a new earth wherein for the For the
first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was
no more sea. You just think of that. No more
sea. What does the sea represent? It's never still. It's always
moving. Waves, currents, undercurrents. It's a constant moving. But in
the new Jerusalem, the new heavens and new earth, there is no more
sea. No more waves, no more storms. No. There is no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband. This is the church of Christ.
Prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Heaven is a prepared
place for a prepared people. Hell is a prepared place for
an unprepared people, it is. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men
and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and
God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain, for the former things are passed away. You see, the new
Jerusalem, the city of the living God, prepared by the Lord Jesus
Christ. I go to prepare a place for you,
my beloved friends. What a wonderful thing that there
is a hope beyond the grave. There is a hope in our death.
The Christian's hope shall never fail. No. It will end in eternal
glory and everlasting happiness. It will. And it goes on in that chapter, speaking of this
great city and the twelve gates and If you look at the dimensions
of this city that it gives us, this is the New Jerusalem. It's
vast. It's about half the size of America. And it's the same square, literally. I think it's been calculated
that it's about 1,400 miles square. Of course, It speaks of a city because it's
speaking of the city of God. But it's a vast city. It's full
of palaces. Resting places. And in the centre of it all is
Christ. And it says here in verse 22
of chapter 21 in the Revelation. And I saw no temple therein for
the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. and
the city hath no need of the sun neither of the moon to shine
in it for the glory of God did light in it and the lamb is the
light thereof and the nations of them that are saved shall
walk in the light of it and the kings of the earth do bring their
glory and honor into it and the gates of it shall not be shut
at all by day for there shall be no night there and they shall
bring the glory and honor of the nations into it And there
shall in no wise enter into anything that defileth neither whatsoever
worketh abomination or maketh a lie, but they which are written
in the Lamb's book of life. God is known in her palaces for
a refuge. May the Lord at his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 934. The tune is Jerusalem 162. Jerusalem, my happy home, name
ever dear to me, when shall my labours have an end in joy and
peace in thee. Hymn 934, tune Jerusalem 162. so In joy and peace there'll be,
In joy and peace there'll be, In joy In joy that we shall win. Where shall these eyes,
like heaven above, And now he takes me home. Let all the world
stand, Salvation strong, And streets of shining gold, And
streets of shining gold, and streams, and streams of shining
gold. Why should I shrink God made
all of us, all with an empty slate. Life came and stood me
down in you. and realms of endless day, and
realms, and realms of endless day. Jerusalem, my family home My
soul still yearns for thee It shall one day bestow heaven When I thy joy shall see When
I thy joy shall see When I, when I 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. Q. Sir, can I ask a question?