The notices for the week. If the Lord will, pastor will
preach next Lord's Day at 10.30 and 2 o'clock. Pastor will also
preach on Thursday evening at 7 o'clock. There will be a prayer
meeting on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. May the Lord help us to commence
our worship today by singing hymn 199, tune Faban 639. Come
thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing
call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet
sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount, O fix me on
it, mount of God's unchanging love. Oh. Come and replace Him, fill my
heart to sing Thy praise. Streams of blood, stream endlessly
He sings, ? Look for songs of loudest praise
? ? Teach me song in loudest song ? ? And song for heaven in loudest song ?
? Now the rich people live ? ?
Out of God's unchanging love ? ? In the land of Israel ? ? Whatever
reason may supply ? I know, I find the pleasure,
safely to arrive at her. Jesus told me when a stranger Wand'ring from the fold of God
Here to save Isaac from danger Honour to praise Thou greater
treasure Lady, Thou who portrayed to me Let
that grace, Lord, my comforter, Guide my wandering heart to Thee,
And to wonder, Peace my heart, O take and seal
it, seal it from thy foes. From the word of God, we will
read this morning two portions of scripture. Firstly, Psalm
22, followed by the gospel as recorded by John, reading the
15th chapter. But firstly, Psalm 22. Psalm
22. to the chief musician upon I
Jelleth Shehar, a psalm of David. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring? O my God, I cry in the daytime,
but thou hearest not, and in the night season and am not silent. But thou art holy, O thou that
inhabitest the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in thee. They trusted, and thou didst
deliver them. They cried unto thee and were
delivered. They trusted in thee and were
not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man a
reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that
see me laugh me to scorn, for they shoot out the lip, they
shake the head, saying, he trusted on the Lord, that he would deliver
him. Let him deliver him, seeing he
delighted in him. But thou art he that took me
out of the womb. Thou didst make me hope when
I was upon my mother's breasts. I was cast upon thee from the
womb. Thou art my God from my mother's
belly. Be not far from me, for trouble
is near, for there is none to help. Many balls have compassed
me. Strong balls of bastion have
beset me round. They gaped upon me with their
mouths as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is melted
in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like
a pot's herd, and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws. And thou hast brought
me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me, the
assembly of the wicked have enclosed me, they pierced my hands and
my feet. I may tell all my bones, they
look and stare upon me, they part my garments among them and
cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me,
O Lord, O my strength, haste thee to help me. Deliver my soul
from the sword, my darling, from the power of the dog. Save me
from the lion's mouth, for thou hast heard me from the horns
of the unicorns. I will declare thy name unto
my brethren. In the midst of the congregation
will I praise thee. Ye that fear the Lord, praise
him. All ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him and fear him, all
ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor
abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, neither hath he hid
his face from him. But when he cried unto him, he
heard, My praise shall be of thee in the great congregation.
I will pay my vows before them that fear him, The meek shall
eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord that
seek him. Your heart shall live forever. All the ends of the world shall
remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations
shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord's,
and he is the governor among the nations. All they that be
fat upon the earth shall eat and worship. All they that go
down to the dust shall bow before him, and none can keep alive
his own soul. A seed shall serve him. It shall
be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come
and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born,
that he hath done this. Finally, we now turn to the Gospel
as recorded by John, reading chapter 15. The Gospel as recorded by John,
chapter 15. I am the true vine, and my Father
is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit he taketh away, and every branch that beareth fruit
he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are
clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide
in me, and I in you. as the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except
ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches,
he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth
much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide
not in me, He is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and
men gather them and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me and my words
abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done
unto you. Herein is my Father glorified,
that ye bear much fruit. So shall ye be my disciples.
As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you. Continue
ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye
shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my Father's commandments,
and abide in his love. These things have I spoken unto
you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might
be full. This is my commandment, that
ye love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath
no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever
I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants,
for the servant knoweth not what his Lord doeth. But I have called
you friends, for all things that I have heard of my Father I have
made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I
have chosen you and ordained you that ye should go and bring
forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatsoever
ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that
ye love one another. If the world hate you, ye know
that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world,
the world would love his own. But because ye are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you. Remember the word that I said
unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they
have persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they have
kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things
will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know
not him that sent you. If I had not come and spoken
unto them, if they had not had sin, but now they have no cloak
for their sin, he that hateth me hateth my father also. If I had not done among them
the works which none other man did, they had not had sin. But now have they both seen and
hated, both me and my father. But this cometh to pass, that
the word might be fulfilled, that is written in their law,
they hated me without a cause. But when the Comforter is come,
whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of
truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify
of me. And ye also shall bear witness,
because ye have been with me from the beginning. May the Lord
bless the reading of his word to us each, and help us to come
before him in prayer. O thou great, ever-merciful,
ever-blessed, and long-suffering Lord God. What a blessed privilege it is
to have thy word so freely before us, and thy Sabbath day, truly,
O Lord, the best day of the week. We do give thee thanks for our
freedom of worship, and thy word in our own tongue for us to understand,
and for the precious truths of which we have been reading. We
do pray, O Lord, that thou would visit us this day and apply thy
word with power to the hearts of each and every one of us.
For, O Lord, none can keep alive his own soul as we have read.
We need thee to come down. May there be many of us here
this morning hour Praying love divine all loves excelling. Joy
of heaven to earth come down. Fix in us thy humble dwelling. All thy faithful mercies crown. Oh Lord to know thy power. To
know thy Holy Spirit's power quickening us within. To view
a precious Christ by faith and to be acquainted well with the
cross. That we may each be able to say does all for me, that
he suffered, bled, and died in my room, place, and stead. O
Lord, we may give thee thanks for thy everlasting love. And O Lord, truly it is an everlasting
love, an immeasurable one which we give thee thanks for. How
often day to day we sin, if not in outward deed, we do in word
and thought. Others may not see, but, O Lord,
thou seest us, thou knowest us altogether. Thou art about our
paths and about our beds, and thou art acquainted with all
our ways. Thou seest us exactly as we are,
poor fallen creatures of the dust needing mercy. And, O Lord,
how good thou art to we poor undeserving, hell-deserving sinners. O Lord, we give thee thanks for
thy many mercies, and that thou dost delight in thy people. Truly,
Lord, thou art good. Thou dost supply our needs from
day to day, our food, our clothing, health, and strength, all that
we have need of, our roofs over our heads, the beds besleeping,
and the means to attend the house of God. Lord, thou art good.
Let us not take these things for granted. There are many,
O Lord, in the earth not blessed in such ways as we are. O Lord,
we are truly blessed, and we give thee thanks for them. May
we not let thy mercies be left forgotten in unthankfulness,
and where thy praises die. Praise be unto thee, O God, from
whom all blessings flow, for thou art worthy of all the honor
and all the glory. We poor fallen worms are not
worthy of anything. We deserve nothing. O Lord, when
thou dost appear, when thou dost hear and answer prayers, may
we know more and more of thy redeeming love. Because the Saviour
suffered in our ruined place instead, thou wilt freely supply
all our needs, according to thy riches in glory by Christ Jesus. That because he came through
that greatest trial of all, that greatest, greatest suffering,
We are, O Lord, ordained to come through our tribulations here
below also. Not as great as his, Lord, we
could never stand such. For, O Lord, that was the punishment
due to us to our sin. But, O Lord, if we are true followers
of Christ, if we are thy people, we must know to some degree that
thou dost see fit to be a partaker of Christ's sufferings, to understand
Truly, O Lord, what it was thou didst go through, that poor fallen
man who ruined the earth in the first place, in the garden of
Eden, that poor sinful man may be redeemed through thine own
sin-atoning sacrifice, the blood of the Lamb. May that precious
sin-atoning blood be our covering, we pray. O Lord, when we come
to our dying hour, We may be told, come in thou blessed of
the Lord, wherefore standest thou without? And O Lord, to
hear the heavenly host sing those blessed words, mercy's full power
I then shall prove, loved with an everlasting love. O Lord, do visit us and make
the things of Jesus precious to us, we pray. And O Lord, do
be with each one here as they have gathered. As we have said,
thou knowest us all together. Thou knowest every thought that
passes through their mind. Thou knowest every care, every
anxious thought, every fear, every need. O Lord, do grant
them a word in season, could it please thee, that there may
be that fruit of the vine, that there may be some encouragement
for them. That they may be told, be still
and know that I am God. Be still, my heart, these anxious
cares. To thee are burdens, thorns and
snares. They cast dishonor on thy Lord
and contradict his gracious word. O Lord, truly, we do often slight
and doubt thee. We are unbelievers by nature,
and O Lord, how terrible that is. what faithless worms we are,
how often we look at the tempest and begin to sink, as Peter did,
though we would not despise him, we know better. O Lord, we pray
that thou give us that faith to look upon a precious Christ,
the author and finisher of our faith, our Alpha and Omega, the
first and the last, our all and in all, to know, O Lord, that
we can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth us. And if there be any this morning
who may feel to be faint in the way, the weight of the cross
bearing them down, wondering however, can they continue? Can they really go on in life's
pathway in the heat of the battle? Oh Lord, can they really continue
walking through Barkersvale as the heat of the day Things they
walk through beats down upon their back. Lord, do strengthen
them. Grant them a precious tie of renewal. Grant them some more
tokens of mercy, could it please thee. That they may know that
thou art with them. That they are journeying to a
heavenly city. A far better country than here
below. One where neither moth nor rust
doth corrupt. A country that is everlasting.
And oh Lord, truly, those sweet glimpses of thy glory of that
heavenly country are indeed precious. They are truly wonderful. And,
O Lord, we pray that that may be our chiefest desire, to put
Christ first, to seek first the kingdom of God and thy righteousness,
and that all other things here below will be added unto us.
For, O Lord, truly these things here below pass away, but thy
word will not pass away. O Lord, except we repent, we
shall all likewise perish. May we be found in a spirit of
God, given humble repentance for our sins this morning. For,
O Lord, mercy is our cheapest need. We have a need, Lord, for
something that we cannot get. We will not get it from man,
although we should rightly beg someone's pardon should we wrong
them. But, O Lord, we need the blood of Christ. We need thy
mercy. It's thy sin-atoning pardon that
saves above all other things. We'll never find it here on this
earth amongst earthly things. It is a divine favor that is
bestowed from thee in heaven above. May we know thy grace,
Lord. May we know as the dying thief
knew upon Calvary's cross to be baptized of the Spirit, to
be called by grace and taught his need of a sinner. May we
each be found, O Lord, this morning in a God-given concern for the
state of our sins, praying, Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom, and that we may sweetly hear those words
today and shall be with me in paradise. O Lord, to know that
blessed country, we pray, O Lord, that we may make it our one desire. And, O Lord, Draw near to all
of us, we pray, however young or old we are in the way. Lord,
we pray, draw near to each one of us. Be with the children,
the young people, growing up in this dark and evil day in
which we live, with the powers of Antichrist running high in
many different forms, in many crafty devices. All these secular
schisms and isms and philosophies that would seek to draw as many
as possible out of the way and into the broad way which leadeth
to destruction, on that sweeping tide which leads to everlasting
misery. O Lord, do pluck many a bran
from the burning and do grant all who are young, from the youngest
child to the eldest, that wisdom to seek first thy word. to seek thy guidance and counsel
in the decisions and things they must do, and to blindside that
which is wrong. For, O Lord, the devil and the
things of this world, they often cloak themselves in so-called
innocency. And yet, Lord, we think of how
the Garden of Eden, the forbidden tree, it looked good for fruit,
but what misery it has brought since, ever since our first parents
disobeyed thy commandment and fell. And, O Lord, we pray, help
each of the young to remember Thee, their Creator, in the days
of their youth. And to those in the midst of
life's journey, do, Lord, be with them also. Do help them
and, indeed, all Thy people, young and old, to cast their
care upon Thee, for Thou dost care for them. Matters in business
and church and family and all other things that need to be
attended to, Lord, do draw near to them also and do help them
to cast all upon a precious Christ, to look to Thee and not at the
things which seem impossible. Or maybe not be found this morning
looking at Mount Impossibilities Peak, thinking how can we possibly
climb that? For, O Lord, it is at thy very
presence the mountains flow down. Lord, do help them, strengthen
them and be with them. And for those in the evening
time of life, O Lord, do be with them also. We know not the hour
of our passing. The old must die, the young may
die. And, O Lord, we pray that we
may each know thy blessed preparation for the things of death, judgment,
and eternity. For we must all stand before
the judgment seat of God. And give hand, O Lord, how solemn
and how terrible, if our sins have not gone before us, being
dealt with at Calvary. How solemn, Lord, if we're told,
depart from me, ye cursed, I never knew thee. Lord, we pray. May we here come, ye blessed
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. Do bless all thy aged saints
also. Do reassure them, O Lord, that
they have that good hope through grace of that heavenly country
which is due to thy people. Do bless all in the Thesda and
in Aura homes who would be in thy house if they could. Do bless
them, Lord, in their rooms as they listen in to the services.
Bless all who listen online, also who are not able to gather
with us. Do remember them and reach them also, and touch their
hearts and apply thy word with power, could it please thee?
And do help all thy people this day to worship thee. Truly, O
Lord, the things of this life distract our minds. We may be
here in body, but sadly we fear we are often elsewhere in spirit. Lord, thou hast said in thy word,
God is a spirit, and he must be worshipped in spirit, and
in truth. Do help us to do so, Lord. Grant
us hearts open to receive thy word, to quicken us from within,
to come down and bless us each. Help all thy servants who minister
upon the walls of Zion this day. We think of the pastor of this
place, preaching not far away to the people of Tunbridge Wells.
Do be with him also in his pathway, and do bless the word thou hast
given him to take to the people there. Do endue him and all thy
servants with that power from on high, as the Spirit gives
them utterance. And, O Lord, do bless thy people,
we do humbly pray. So do be with us each then, be
merciful and gracious to us. Make up in giving where we have
so failed in our asking. Pardon our poor prayers, anything
said or asked to miss in a wrong spirit thus far and do be with
us this day. Help us to worship thee we pray
for truly without thee we can do nothing. We ask these things
for the pardon of all our many sins for Jesus Christ's sake
alone. Amen. Hymn 397, tune Carlyle Street
451. In themselves, as weak as worms,
how can poor believers stand, when temptations, foes and storms
press them close on every hand? Hymn 397, June Carlisle Street 451. In themselves as weak as worms
How can I prove believers can be? In themselves and bodies and souls, precious
temples of every kind. We believe, they feel, they love,
But who may know the trial of greatness? The God where all
souls pray, and then when they see be saved. Lord and order, why our delay? Suffer pain and make amends. We're here to tell us to pray
We'll never let them cry in vain rest in heaven while I'm lost
to dream of thee in deepest slumber. I am God and praise Him then. Let us now our praises give. Heaven and I sing excellent songs. Seeking the board's very much
needed help and your very prayerful attention, I direct your thoughts
this morning hour to the chapter that we read. The gospel is recorded
by John chapter 15 and reading particularly the
latter part of verse five. John chapter 15, the last part
of verse five. For without me ye can do nothing. For without me ye can do nothing. What a true and solemn word this
is. Without me ye can do nothing. The whole verse reads, I am the
vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye
can do nothing. These are the words of our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. To the natural human mind, to
the natural man in his old nature, These words perhaps may be offensive
to him. And why is that so? It's because
you and I in our poor fallen natures are born as very proud
creatures. We are full of self-confidence
by nature. And oh how we need that humbling
grace to be taught what sinners we are by nature, to be quickened
by the Holy Spirit to view a precious Christ by faith, that we may
grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus
Christ. You know, John Flavel, a godly
Puritan, once said, grace is but a sap in the root and soon
it will find itself in the branches. A child of God grows in grace
as they go on in the way. How so? things that he has to
walk through, the things which he experiences. He may not desire
these things and indeed the natural man desires an easy pathway. He desires the things of this
life. But ask yourselves this, if we had an easy time of it
here below, if it was a very pleasant ride for us so to speak,
if we had so many things to enjoy and reveled in them. Would we
have a reward of the Father which is in heaven? Really? No, we would not. And you know,
especially to those of us that are young, remember this. Growing
up in this dark and evil day, you'll hear the worldlings at
school and as you grow up saying many things such as, you have
one life, live it. Live every moment as though it
were your last. Dangerous thinking, very dangerous
thinking indeed. For all the things of this earth
shall pass away. They must pass away, they are
not eternal. How solemn, if at the last great
day of the resurrection, having lived our lives wallowing in
the things of this life, that we are instead told, depart from
me ye cursed. I never knew thee. Dear friends,
none can keep alive his own soul. If we do not experience the grace
of God in our hearts, if we do not experience that blessed intervention
of the Good Shepherd, who goes out to retrieve his lost sheep
and bring them into his fold, then I fear we are on that broad
pathway to destruction. Without me, ye can do nothing,
it's by grace are we saved through faith and that not of ourselves. And in ourselves we often look
through the natural eye of faith, natural eye do we not, it's not
the eye of faith which looks upon a precious Christ, oh no. The natural eye brings us nothing
but misery. You think of how Adam and Eve
in the Garden of Eden, when the tempter came, Eve, she looked
upon the tree, didn't she, and saw that it was good for food. She ate of it. And oh, what sadness
and misery has been poured out upon the earth since. And now
we are, all of us, in this life here below, all of us have a
need for something which we cannot get, mercy, grace. We need it from God himself.
We cannot give ourselves mercy We cannot give ourselves grace.
We need to be baptized and taught of the spirit as every child
of God is. For without him, we can do nothing. And we read, didn't we, in Psalm
22, which begins with those very familiar words, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? Spoken here in that Psalm by
David himself. a well-renowned and truly a great
king of Israel. And then, of course, of his seed,
the tribe of Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ would utter these
words upon Calvary's cross, crying, my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? He'd served the Lord all, he'd
served his Heavenly Father throughout his whole time on earth, but
now he was bearing the punishment for our sins. the greatest punishment
that any sinner can suffer, the forsaking of God. And oh, may
you be found this morning crying, my God, my God, why has they
forsaken me? A cry of help. May you be found
realizing that without Him truly, you can do nothing as I can do
nothing. Indeed, dear friends, we need
the Lord to come to us. We need to be taught of Him.
And you know, as Martin Luther said, No man can understand the
scriptures until he be acquainted with the cross. And if we are
given that acquaintance with the cross, to know Christ crucified
for our sin, to know the shedding of the blood for our sin, then
the Lord Jesus himself, through the Holy Spirit, will teach us
all things in scripture, in the prophets and in the Psalms, the
things concerning himself. of the things concerning himself,
the preaching of the cross of Christ. May it not be foolishness
to us, because to them which perish it is foolishness, but
unto us that are saved it is the power of God himself, the
power of God almighty. And it's that almighty power
that we need to know with him, for without him we can do nothing. I often think from time to time,
you know, of the poor Roman Catholics, so terribly deceived. They're
told so many things, go to this shrine, go to that shrine, pay
so much to the abbeys, do this and do that, and oh, you may
have a good hope of heaven. But as we've said, by grace,
i.e. saved through faith and that
not of yourselves. They have those crucifixes, don't
they, depicting the Savior upon the cross. But friends, we do
not worship a currently crucified Christ. We worship a risen Christ
who has borne the punishment, who has made the ultimate sacrifice
for our sin, the Lamb of God. We need that quickening of the
Spirit. We don't want color. We don't
want imagination. We don't want the natural eye. We want faith, faith in a precious
Christ. For without the Holy Spirit's
power, you and I are no different to the people outside this place
who go about their daily business. We need to know the love of Christ
within our hearts constraineth us, shed abroad in our hearts
by the Holy Spirit itself, himself. for without him we can do nothing
and you know the word nothing means an entirety
nothing it doesn't just mean the things in providence which
of course we should rightly lay before the lord in prayer be
in no doubt about that but you know all that we have all the
way down to the most basic simple things in our lives such as the
ability to even so much as move our arms and our legs our limbs
it's all God given all God given without him we can do nothing
and perish the thought we should let his mercies be left forgotten
in unthankfulness and without praises die give him all the
glory dear soul this sabbath morning every day when we Come
before him, give him all the glory for what we have. He is
worthy of all the glory and thanksgiving. He is sovereign, almighty God,
and therefore he must have a people for his honor and glory. We sing
the baptizing doxology of praise God from whom all blessings flow,
do we not? And indeed, that is something
which should be continually on our lips, as it was indeed the
lips of David. Praise God. from whom all blessings
flow, though the pathway be heavy, though the cross be heavy, and
many things stand in the way, many temptations, thorns and
snares, many cares hindering us, yet we have this one thing,
this one precious thing, if we're a child of God, we have our Redeemer,
we have a precious Christ. He never takes away our all you
know, himself he gives us still. He is ever near. He is ever willing
to be gracious. He upholds his people in the
times of trouble. Though they endure tribulation
here below, he abides with them. And as we read in the chapter
of our text, abide in me and I in you, as the branch cannot
bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, No more
can ye except ye abide in me. Abide in him. And you know, if
we're children of God, if we're chosen vessels of mercy, if we're
called by his grace, we will often long to abide in him. And a child of God does come
into certain dark places in their lives where the scene may be
frightening. The scene before them may be
truly difficult. May you pray that well-known
part of a hymn which is not in our hymn book, help of the helpless. Oh, abide with me. To know him walking with you
in the faith is surely the most blessed thing you can ever know.
They say that knowledge is power. This knowledge is more powerful
than any knowledge. The knowledge of the love of
Christ for your soul. to know that what he went through
upon Calvary's cross was indeed for poor, needy, wretched, ruined
sinners. That blessed secret of secrets.
Oh, there's no more blessed secret to be in than to know that the
Redeemer died for you. I'm sure I'm not alone. As I've
said to the friends at Ripley, I pray this will not be a vain
repetition, but I'm sure I'm not alone when,
as a young child thinking, how can I have a relationship with
someone who I cannot physically see, whose voice I cannot physically
hear? Well, friends, the things which
are physical are viewed through the natural eye. They are not
viewed through the eye of faith. Real faith is to lay hold upon
a precious Christ, And if we have that faith, we will hear
his voice. There will be those words of
the Spirit speaking through his word. Fear not, I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. Thou art mine. Is there someone
here this morning feeling their need of a poor, of a saviour? Feeling their emptiness and poverty? You can be sure of this. Blessed
are they which do feel their emptiness and poverty, because
if they do, you know they'll hunger and thirst after righteousness,
as those multitudes did on the Sermon on the Mount, as the Savior
told them himself. Blessed are they which hunger
and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. Oh,
to know that your soul is hungry, hungry for the Word. Is there
someone here, perhaps, Feeling that it's been a long, been some
time since they had a tie of renewal from the Lord. Feeling
that their religion has gone cold. Feeling that they have,
their old nature seems to be overpowering them. That they
just do not know if they have much religion left. Oh, the Lord
will come. The Lord will refresh. He will
strengthen and uphold his people. For you and I cannot fight the
good fight of faith. We cannot walk in the way of
faith without a precious Christ. Or we cannot fight that good
fight of faith without him. It's a Church of England hymn.
It's not sung from our hymn book, but it's called For All the Saints
Who From Their Labors Rest. And a particular verse reads,
Though the warfare be long, steals on that ear the distant triumph
song, and hearts are brave again and arms are strong. They go
on in the battle, they go on in the warfare, which is a daily
warfare against the foe, the foe being the devil and all his
hellish hosts. They go out against him, for
they can do all things. You and I, if we know Christ,
we can do all things through Christ, which strengtheneth us. You know, in the days of the
Roman Empire, when the gladiators fought in the Colosseum, the
crowd would often cry out with their thumbs down, kill, kill,
if a gladiator had not fought very well. Or they'd cry out
with their thumbs up, live, live, if he'd fought well. You know,
the hellish host, when the believer comes to his dying bed and is
physically down, and death, of course, being a fruit of sin,
but, you know, whilst the devil looks on at the king of kings
with an eager, desperate look, wanting to kill and finish off
the child of God, the king of kings, he does not give them
the thumbs down. No, he gives them the thumbs
up to live, because they may inherit eternal life through
the shedding of the blood, through his sin-atoning sacrifice. They
have fought a good fight, They have kept the faith. He does
not listen to the hellish crowd that cries out, destroy, destroy. No, he can wipe them out in a
moment. And he will do so at the last
great day of the resurrection when Christ, the lion of the
tribe of Judah, shall come and destroy the devil and all his
hellish hosts. When he gathers up his sheep
to be with him in glory, to be with Christ, which is far better. For without me ye can do nothing. How these words hit home to the
heart of a believer and how humbling they are. As we said at the beginning
of this sermon, we are very proud creatures by nature, full of
self-confidence, full of pride. You know, I remember hearing
a few years ago some she was an actor and she cried out on
a stage that everybody thanks Christ for help and she said
that she didn't need Christ or any God or anyone to help her
accomplish what she'd done. I thought that poor sinful woman,
if only she knew her need of a precious Christ, if only she
knew her need of mercy. how really weak and helpless
she is, because you know the strength, the natural strength
that we have to do this, that, and the other, it's all God given. All God given. And it can be taken away in a
moment. We need to know Christ for ourselves. If we are called of the Spirit,
we will know that humbling power with that humbling. We will know
that hand of rebuke. The Lord will not have his people
become proud. We are not entitled to mercy.
We are not entitled to glory. We are not entitled to the things
we seek, let alone the things we have. We must know the love
of Christ. We must know that without him,
truly we are poor, weak, worthless worms, poor sinners of the dust,
and to dust we shall return. For without him, we can do nothing. nothing whatsoever. Oh, may we not be found this
morning feeling in a state of self-confidence and pride. May
we not be arrogant like the world, though we must not despise them.
They need mercy just as much as we do. But oh, dear friends,
we are sinners. What right have we to be proud
with nothing to be proud of? Not really. Friends, all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God. You think of those
proud Pharisees, you think of that particular one in the temple
thus praying thus with himself, I do this, I do that, I give
tithes to all that I possess, I fast twice in the week. And
then there's this publican, just afar off. Is he looking up and
feeling ever so good in himself? No. He knows he's got a need
for something that he cannot get in and of himself. He needs
mercy. He pleads, God, be merciful to
me, a sinner. He feels his emptiness and poverty. He feels his need of mercy. He does not pray with himself.
He knows that a real religion is God-given, God-given. It's not a physical religion
of doing this, that, and the other, not of works. Oh no, a
religion is not of works. We need grace, and grace will
make our works good as we go on in life. We need grace, that
precious gift of God, for without him we can do nothing. And you
know, as the godly Puritans once said, I forget, I think it was
Thomas Perkins, who said, Christ went more willingly to the cross
and the sinner goes to the throne of grace. And how do we go to
the throne of grace? It's by the Holy Spirit's almighty
quickening power, to view Christ by faith, to pray, God be merciful
to me. On thy grace I rest my plea.
Plenty is in compassion now, blot out my transgression now. Wash me, make me pure within.
Cleanse, O cleanse me from my sin, for I have no way of entering
heaven except I shed pardoning blood. Wash all my sin away. Without me ye can do nothing. We cannot give ourselves forgiveness.
Our own self-forgiveness will not do. No, we need a precious
Christ. We need the loving kindness of
God. And you know, we will experience
all the more of mercy, all the more of the everlasting kindness
of God through the things which we experience in this time state
here below. The providential trials and tribulations
and difficulties we have, they're all to teach us our status as
sinners, our need of mercy. You know, The path of way of
tribulation is the Lord's way of teaching His people their
pleases and their thank yous, to humble them, to bring them
to realize without Him, they can do nothing. They need a precious
Christ. They must come unto Him and plead
with Him, to plead their cause with Him, to submit their petition
unto the King of kings, from whom cometh their help. And that
when they receive the answer in due season, they may give
him all the glory, that they may be taught as sinners that
they do not deserve the things they seek, let alone the things
they have. It's a beloved good God they
have to go to and who supplies all their need according to his
riches in glory by Christ Jesus. For without me, he can do nothing. He can do nothing. I do remember
when I was at college, I think probably five years ago now,
we were sat around the table in the cafeteria, me and a couple
of friends, and we were discussing the duties for the animal unit,
which I couldn't do at the weekend, although it would be a lawful
labor on the Sabbath, because it made me late for the afternoon
service. And one of them said, that's
fine, I've always grown up with Christian principles, I've always
been taught about this, that and the other, but she then went
on to say that at a funeral, when she heard that it's by Christ
we need, it's Christ we need to be saved, she said, it made
her very angry. She said, my dad's a good enough
person, he's very kind, he's very generous, why can't he be
saved, why can't he go to glory? Why can't he enter heaven? Friends,
as we have said, a real religion is not of works. You can do nothing
without a precious Christ. You need to be taught of the
Spirit. You need to be humbled. We are
not entitled to heaven. We are not entitled to glory.
I'm sure the worldlings would often tell you in their day-to-day
lives that they expect to go on to the next life when they
passed from this time state. Well, you could ask them this,
upon what ground is that hope built upon? What ground? Is it upon your own righteousness?
If so, then your house is built upon the sand that shall be washed
away. But if you have hope of eternal
life, if you're called by God, by his grace, for again, without
me, you can do nothing, If you're called by the Spirit, you'll
be brought to be able to say, now I have found the ground wherein
my anchor hope shall firm remain, the wounds of Jesus for my sin
before the world's foundations slain, whose mercy shall unshaken
stay when heaven and earth are fled away. That is the ground,
friends, the rock Christ Jesus, Though the devil tried to move
it and remove it as much as he can, because you know he's never
forgotten his defeat at Calvary. He's tried ever since to try
and reverse the work of salvation. But if, if we are found upon that ground,
the rock Christ Jesus, it shall never be taken from underneath
us. It shall never be removed. It shall stand forever. It shall
fill the whole earth, for the kingdom of God consisteth of
every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. The kingdom of God,
it standeth sure. It is worldwide, as Daniel said
to King Nebuchadnezzar in those days of Babylon. It shall stand
forever. None shall move it. Only Christ
can maintain it, and he will maintain it, for the honor and
glory of his name. that he may be glorified, and
that you and I may sing his praises to all eternity, for without
me ye can do nothing. Oh, again, how true these words
are. As we sang in that hymn, in themselves as weak as worms,
how can poor believers stand? Temptations foes on every hand. We surely experience them here
below. You know, temptations, they come
in many different forms. They're very subtle, very crafty. They're cloaked in so-called
innocency to draw the child of God away from the narrow way
which leadeth them to everlasting life. We need the eye of faith
to be granted that discernment by God himself, to discard those
things which are tempting, that we may resist, that the devil
may flee from us, as we are told in scripture. And, you know,
Christ in the wilderness resisted all those temptations, did he
not? If any of you here are feeling tried and tempted in your pathway,
take comfort from this. He was tried and tempted in all
points like as we are, yet without sin, without sin. We'll never
resist every temptation, sadly, being sinners, we often fall
short. And this is no excuse to fall
to temptations, perish the thought that any should think of such
a thing. There is no license for sin, never will be. A sin is abominable in the eyes
of Almighty God. But when you and I fall short,
when we fall into temptation, when we sin, in whatever form,
and we suddenly feel the guilt of whatever it is we have fallen
into, you can be certain of this. There is a fountain filled with
blood, drawn from Immanuel's veins, where sinners plunge beneath
that flood, lose all their guilty stains. The Lamb of God, who
for sinners was slain, that you and I may inherit eternal glory. The world sadly don't feel their
need of sin, nor do you and I by nature, unless we are called
of the Spirit. Without me, he can do nothing, says the Saviour.
But the Lord Jesus Christ, he loves his people. He calls them
by his grace. And when they walk in the pathway
of tribulation, when they walk through Bacchus Vale, through
the Valley of Bacchus, And the sun, like that of a desert sun,
beats hard upon their back. They wonder, can they ever go
on? The Lord gives them strength to continue. For grace, though
the smallest, must surely be tried. Now, we don't like the
idea of tribulation, naturally, do we? We don't like that at
all. We want it to be easy. We want
things to be just as we would like to have them. And to the
natural mind, these are uncomfortable truths, but to the mind of a
child of God, he will straightway flee unto his God, realizing
that without Christ, he can do nothing. He will seek the help
of Almighty God to help him carry the cross. To be a true child
of God is to take up the cross and to follow him in the way
by which we must go. the straight and the narrow way,
the straight and the narrow, which leadeth unto everlasting
life. Though there be much tribulation,
although the Lord knows how much we can stand, not forgetting,
but although there be tribulation, although there be temptation,
you and I, we have a good God to go to, who will gladly help
us all our journey through, may it be our earnest prayer to the
Lord. Lead us to heaven that we may
share, fullness of joy forever there. Lead us to God, our heart's
true rest, to dwell with him forever blessed, among his saints
in glory forevermore, for without him we can do nothing. I feel unprofitable, but may
the Lord But it is the work of the Lord, not my own. May he
bless the word to us each, forgive anything I've said amiss, and
add his blessing. Amen. Hymn 396, tune Westbourne 662. Could the creatures help or ease
us? Seldom should we think of prayer. Few, if any, come to Jesus, till
reduced to self-despair. Long we either slight or doubt
him, But when all the means we try prove we cannot do without
Him, then at last to Him we cry. Hymn 396, tune Westbourne 662. Who can preach the self of Jesus? Seldom should we think of prayer. You give many a truth, Jesus,
till reduced to selfless self. Long we hide the sight or doubt
within, but when over me we cry, To me there's no two without
Him, Then add God to Him, we cry. In love or distress, it's
deeper, and trample his mighty name. He is able to deliver, and his
love is still the same. And His pity, O His power, Softly
to pray in vain. When the disappointed hour In thy infinite love and mercy,
O Lord, do pardon and forgive all that thy pure and holy eyes
have seen amiss in our worship this morning. Anything said amiss,
Lord, do forgive Bless all that has been of thyself, anything
that should have been said that's not been, do make up for in due
season. Do bless the friends who now
depart for their homes, do bless them in the interval, and gather
us around thy word again in the afternoon hour. Lord, do bless
and be with us each, and forgive all our many, many sins, we humbly
pray. And now may the love of God the
Father, the grace of Christ the Son, fellowship and communion
of the Holy Spirit. Rest and abide with us each,
both now and forevermore.