The notices for the coming week
are God willing as follows. Pastor will preach here next
Lord's Day at 10.30 and two o'clock. Also on Tuesday evening, I will
be preaching on Tuesday evening this week at seven o'clock. There'll
be a prayer meeting here on Thursday evening at seven o'clock. God willing, there'll be a church
meeting here on Monday, the 4th of December at 7 o'clock. Let us now sing together hymn
number 462. The tune is Kim Wanda, 902. Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land. I am weak, but thou art mighty,
hold me with thy powerful hand, bread of heaven, feed me now
and evermore. Hymn 462, tune Kim Ronda, 902. Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
Pilgrim through this barren land. ? Why have we your power, mighty
? ? For which it is I battle now ? ? Bread of heaven,
bread of heaven ? Take me now and nevermore, nevermore Take
me now and nevermore And now the crystal fountain,
Whence the healing scrolls are found, He's a very cloudy pillar Make me
all my journey's worth Strong deliverer Strong deliverer Hang
thou still my strength and shield, strength and shield. Hang thou still my strength and
shield. When I tread the path of Jordan,
Bid my anxious fears subside. Death of despair tells destruction,
And meet safe on Canyon's side Songs of praises, songs of praises
I will ever give to thee If forgive I will ever give to Thee. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the book of Genesis and chapter 24. The book of Genesis chapter 24. We'll commence our reading at the verse
29. And Rebekah had a brother, and
his name was Laban. And Laban ran out unto the man,
unto the well. And it came to pass, when he
saw the earring and bracelets upon his sister's hands, and
when he heard the words of Rebekah his sister, saying, Thus spake
the man unto me, that he came unto the man, and behold, he
stood by the camels at the well. And he said, Come in, thou blessed
of the Lord. Wherefore standest thou without?
For I have prepared the house, and room for the camels. And
the man came into the house, and he ungirded his camels, and
gave straw and provender for the camels, and water to wash
his feet, and the men's feet that were with him. And there
was set meat before him to eat. But he said, I will not eat until
I have told mine errand. And he said, speak on. And he
said, I am Abraham's servant, and the Lord have blessed my
master greatly, and he has become great. And he hath given him
flocks and herds and silver and gold and menservants and maidservants
and camels and asses. And Sarah, my master's wife,
bear a son to my master when she was old, and unto him hath
he given all that he hath. And my master made me swear,
saying, thou shalt not take a wife to my son of the daughters of
the Canaanites in whose land I dwell, but thou shalt go unto
my father's house and to my kindred and take a wife unto my son. And I said unto my master, peradventure,
the woman will not follow me. And he said unto me, The Lord,
before whom I walk, will send his angel with thee, and prosper
thy way. And thou shalt take a wife for
my son of my kindred, and of my father's house. Then shalt
thou be clear from this my oath, when thou comest to my kindred.
And if they give not thee one, thou shalt be clear from my oath. And I came this day unto the
well, and said, O Lord God of my master Abraham, if now thou
do prosper my way which I go, behold, I stand by the well of
water, and it shall come to pass that when the virgin cometh forth
to draw water, and I say to her, give me, I pray thee, a little
water, of thy pitcher to drink. And she say to me, both drink
thou, and I will also draw for thy camels. Let the same be the
woman whom the Lord hath appointed out for my master's son. And
before I had done speaking in mine heart, behold, Rebecca came
forth with her pitcher on her shoulder And she went down unto
the well, and drew water. And I said unto her, Let me drink,
I pray thee. And she made haste, and let down
her pitcher from her shoulder, and said, Drink, and I will give
thy camels drink also. So I drank, and she made the
camels drink also. And I asked her, and said, Whose
daughter art thou? And she said, The daughter of
Bethuel, Nahal's son, whom Melchah bear unto him. And I put the
earring upon her face and the bracelets upon her hands, and
I bowed down my head and worshipped the Lord, and blessed the Lord
God of my master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to
take my master's brother's daughter unto his son. And now, if ye
will deal kindly and truly with my master, tell me, and if not,
tell me, that I may turn to the right hand or to the left.' Then
Laban and Bethuel answered and said, The thing proceedeth from
the Lord. We cannot speak unto thee bad
or good, Behold, Rebecca is before thee, take her and go, and let
her be thy master's son's wife, as the Lord hath spoken. And
it came to pass that when Abraham's servant heard their words, he
worshipped the Lord, bowing himself to the earth. And the servant
brought forth jewels of silver and jewels of gold, and Raymond,
and gave them to Rebecca. He gave also to her brother and
to her mother's mother precious things. And they did eat and
drink, he and the men that were with him, and tarried all night. And they rose up in the morning,
and he said, send me away unto my master. And her brother and
her mother said, let the damsel abide with us a few days, at
the least hen, after that she shall go.' And he said unto them,
Hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way, and send
me away that I may go to my master. And they said, We will call the
damsel, and inquire at her mouth. And they called Rebecca, and
said unto her, Will thou go with this man? And she said, I will
go. And they sent away Rebekah, their
sister, and her nurse, and Abram's servant, and his men. And they
blessed Rebekah, and said unto her, Thou art our sister, be
thou the mother of thousands of millions, and let thy seed
possess the gate of those which hate them. And Rebekah arose
and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels and followed
the man. And the servant took Rebekah
and went his way. And Isaac came from the way of
the well of the Hiroy, for he dwelt in the south country. And
Isaac went out to meditate in the field at eventide, and he
lifted up his eyes and saw And behold, the camels were coming. And Rebekah lifted up her eyes. When she saw Isaac, she lighted
off the camel. For she had said unto the servant,
What man is this that walketh in the field to meet us? And
the servant had said, It is my master. Therefore she took a
veil and covered herself. And the servant told Isaac all
things that he had done. And Isaac brought her into his
mother's tent, Sarah's tent, and took Rebecca, and she became
his wife, and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after
his mother's death. May the Lord bless that portion
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, we do desire to bow before Thee,
the only true God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. We desire a spirit
of true worship. We desire to come in all our
need as poor sinners, For, O Lord, each one of us is one of the
fallen sons or daughters of Adam, born in sin and shapen in iniquity
and unrighteous altogether. Oh, we pray, most gracious Lord,
for that spirit of true confession. We read in thy word that if you
confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So we pray that this day thou
would bring salvation into each one of our hearts and that thou
would bless us with light and understanding in thy word. And
we pray that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love
of God our Father and the sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit
may rest and abide upon us. We pray, most gracious Lord,
for the divine leading and teaching, the power and grace of the Holy
Ghost. Blessed divine spirit of truth,
we pray for thy heavenly power. We pray for thy divine unction.
We pray that the word of the Lord may be sealed into our hearts. We pray that it may be with us
as it was with the dear apostle when he was at Thessalonica,
and he could say, for our gospel came unto you, not in word only,
but in power, in the Holy Ghost, and with much assurance. O gracious
God, we do pray that we may be led and taught and guided and
directed by thee, for as many as are led, By the Spirit of
God, they are the sons of God. Gracious God, do incline thine
ear, we pray thee. Grant us that witness of thy
Spirit with our spirit, that we are the children of God. We
pray that we may know those divine drawings of our Heavenly Father,
drawing us unto his best beloved and all-glorious Son. For thy
word declares unto us. None come except the Father draw. May we know those sacred drawings
here as we gather together around thy word. Lord, we pray that
the Lord Jesus may come and stand in our midst and say, peace be
unto you. Lord, we pray for thy presence. In thy presence, I am happy.
In thy presence, I'm secure. In thy presence I can easily
all things endure. Gracious God, do grant us then
thy presence and thy blessing. We do humbly beseech of thee. We pray that thou would remember
our brethren, the deacons, and give them needed grace and wisdom
and help. And remember our brother at Tunbridge
Wells, help him there this morning and grant thy blessing upon them
there. We pray for each one of our brethren
and sisters in church fellowship, and that they always be gracious,
O Lord, and have mercy upon us and help us to love each other,
serve each other, bear each other's burdens, thereby fulfilling the
law of Christ. Lord, we pray that we may be
fruitful unto every good work and word and way. While our days
on earth are lengthened, may we give them, Lord, to Thee.
We do humbly beseech of Thee. Remember the little ones and
the children as they're brought into the sanctuary. Do bless
the dear children, Lord. Oh, we think of those lovely
words of grace. Suffer little children to come
unto me, and forbid them not, for as such is the kingdom of
heaven. We do thank Thee for Thy word. the word of thy grace. Remember the young friends in
all their concerns. Graciously bring them to living
faith in Jesus Christ, that they may become true followers of
thee and of those who through faith and patience inherit the
promises. Remember them, O Lord, for good.
Remember them in all the paths of providence. Remember them,
O Lord, in their education and give wisdom and understanding.
Remember them, O Lord, regarding their employment and guide and
direct them. Remember them, O Lord, in regard
to a partner in life's journey. Lord, look down, we pray thee
upon us. We think of that lovely promise.
Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children. whom thou mayest
make princes in all the earth. O, do grant the fulfilment of
that upon us here, as a church and as a congregation. Mighty
let thy gospel be. Set the burdened sinner free.
Remember, Lord, all in the midst of the journey of life, and undertake
for each one. Graciously remember parents.
Give them wisdom and help to bring up their children. in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord. Gracious God, do hear us,
we pray thee, and have mercy upon us as a church and as a
congregation. Remember this village. Send out
thy light and thy truth into this village and the surrounding
villages and hamlets. And remember those wonderful
promises in thy word unto thy church, to thy Zion. 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. Gracious God, fulfil thy gracious
promise. Upon us we do beseech thee, and
gather in precious souls, and build the walls of Jerusalem,
and make bare thine holy arm in the gospel, and pull down
the strongholds of Satan, and set up 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 cherubim, shine forth, we
do humbly beseech Thee. Let Thy hand be upon the man
of Thy right hand, the Son of Man, whom Thou madest strong
for Thyself. Gracious God, incline Thine ear,
turn us again, O God of hosts, and cause Thy face to shine,
and we shall be saved. Remember, O Lord, there are those
of us that are now in the evening time of life's journey, and we
pray that at evening time it may be light, that the light
of thy gospel may shine in our hearts, and that thou wouldst
enable us to cleave to thee until we safely arrive at thy heavenly
kingdom. We pray for dear Mrs. Field in her great age, that
thou wouldst bless and be with her, and undertake for her. We pray, most gracious Lord,
for any in trouble or trial or perplexity or sorrow, sadness
or bereavement, that thou wouldst undertake for each one. We do humbly beseech of thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst remember all thy servants as they stand upon
the walls of Zion today, that thou wouldst set them free and
at liberty, that thou wouldst send out thy light and thy truth,
that thou wouldst return in thy power and in thy glory as thou
usest to be in the sanctuary. Gracious God, we do pray that
thou wouldst remember all the little assemblies of thy people
up and down the nation. We pray that thou wouldst remember
Our government, give them wisdom and guidance and direction unto
all those that have authority over us. And that we pray for
our King, that thou wouldst bless him and the royal household with
that rich grace that is in Christ Jesus. Lord, remember us as a
nation. We see the spirit and power of
Antichrist is so prevalent in the day in which we live. Oh,
do arise, O thou mighty God, and send out thy light on thy
truth, we do humbly beseech thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
to be delivered from the temptations of Satan, whether he comes as
a roaring lion to devour us, or whether he comes as an angel
of light to deceive us. We pray to be delivered from
his power, from his temptations, we do humbly beseech of thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
for those that labour in word and doctrine throughout the nations
of the earth. We especially think of those
that go forth from us as a group of churches. We think of thy
servant, Ian Sadler, and the great work that he does in so
many nations of the earth, in Africa and India. Oh, that thou
wouldst help him supply all his needs in the distribution of
thy word, in the exposition of scripture. We pray for the Mombasa
mission, that thou wouldst graciously bless them there, and grant good
success to thy servant that labours there. Remember the Savannah
Education Trust in Ghana, and greatly bless that great work
that they are doing there. Hear us, Lord, we humbly beseech
thee, and have mercy upon us, we pray thee. O Lord God, we
do desire to thank Thee. We thank Thee for our little
house of prayer. We thank Thee for the open Bible.
We thank Thee for every mercy of Thy kind providence. We thank
Thee above all for Jesus Christ, for the glory of His name, for
the fullness of His grace, for the wonder of His redeeming love.
We thank Thee that the Son of God was made flesh and dwelt
among us. O that we may behold his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. We thank thee, most gracious
God, for that holy life he lived, for that holy law he fulfilled
on the behalf of his people, for the bringing of everlasting
righteousness for his people. We thank thee for the wonders
of Calvary, where the Lamb was slain, where sin was put away,
where divine justice was satisfied, where God and sinners are reconciled. We thank Thee that He died for
our sins and rose again for our justification. We thank Thee,
most gracious Lord, that He has now ascended up on high, sitteth
at Thy right hand. Oh, we bless Thee for the glory,
the wonderful glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and by him we have access
unto our Eternal Father, all the wonders and the glories that
dwell in our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, be with us now as we turn
to thy Holy Word. Come and open thy Word to our
heart and to our understanding. Give us hearing ears, hearts
to receive thy Word. We ask all for Jesus Christ's
sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 144. The tune is Angelus 282. Jesus, my all, to heaven
is gone. He whom I fix my hopes upon,
his track I see, and I'll pursue the narrow way till him I view. Hymn 144, Tune Angelus 282. In the twilight of this world, ?
In her holy gift the Lord was born ? ? His hand I see, and
all the world see ? you. ? O God, the King of heav'nly splendor
? ? Earth is thy way of holiness ? ? That's all I know, because I
love you so ? ? Like me, I'd rather know that
way ? ? Because I'm blue, I'm blue, I'm blue ? Hail, Hail, Hail, Hail, Hail,
? Come heal the soul, I am coming
? ? Good heav'n, I come and am this way ? ? Shall take me to
the other side of God ? ? I hear God speak, I hear Him speak ?
? Loving the poor, loving the weak ? O tell the tale of God and man,
Of one true love living and dying, Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the chapter
that we read in the book of Genesis, chapter 24, And we will read
verse 58 for our text. Genesis chapter 24, verse 58. And they called Rebekah and said
unto her, will thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. On Thursday evening we spoke
from that word in the Psalms, Psalm 110. Thy people shall be
willing in the day of thy power. And we have a very similar subject
before us this morning. Will thou go with this man? And
she said, I will go. We have a little insight here
into the way they practiced things in the days of the patriarchs,
in the days of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And how Abraham was
concerned for his son Isaac. He was the child of promise.
And the Lord had said to Abraham, in thy seed shall all the nations
of the earth be blessed. And of course, what he meant
by that was that Christ would come by the seed of Abraham,
that the eternal son of God would be born of the seed of Abraham.
And these things follow on, of course, from the Garden of Eden,
when the Lord spoke to Adam and Eve when they fell into sin. And then he gave them that promise
concerning the seed of the woman. The seed of the woman in thy
seed. And of course that is the first
promise that we have in Holy Scripture given to man concerning
the coming of Christ. The coming of the Son of God
as a man here upon earth. It's a profound mystery. It's
what the apostle calls the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh. You know, my beloved friends,
Jesus Christ is not just a man, not just a good man, not just
a righteous man. Some would have us to believe
that. Jesus Christ is the eternal son of the eternal God that was
manifest in the flesh. There's that lovely word in the
first chapter of John, and the word that refers to his divine
nature, of the Son of God and the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. In this narrative
that we have before us here concerning the fetching of Rebecca and bringing
her to Isaac into the land of Canaan, And you know, we have
other illustrations in the word of God concerning this. And it
may concern some of you young friends, concerning a partner
in life's journey. And you know, we have this here
concerning Rebecca being brought to Isaac. And we also have that
in the book of Ruth, when Ruth was brought to Ballas, Ruth was
a Moabitess and she was brought into the land of Israel by the
wonderful providence of God. And we read in the book of Ruth
that a hat was to light up on the field of Boaz to go gleaning
among the sheaves. And Boaz took notice of her and
eventually they were married. And what a beautiful picture
that is Boaz as a type of Christ, Ruth as the type of a poor coming
sinner unto Christ. And they were married. You see the union between Christ
and his church. In Jeremiah we read the Lord
says to the, he says, I am married unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. And of course, the marriage union
is one of the closest union that we could know here upon earth
between a husband and his wife. It's a sacred union, it's ordained
of God. It says in Genesis, doesn't it? For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother and cleave unto his wife and they shall
become one flesh. But the apostate speaks of that
in in the epistle to the Ephesians. And he says, when he's speaking
of the marriage bond, he says, but I speak concerning Christ
and the church. That sacred union, now the reason
that the Lord uses that sacred union, because it's the closest
bond of love that we can know on earth. He therefore uses it
to illustrate that sacred spiritual bond there is between Christ
and His Church. One of the hymn writers, I believe
it's one of William Gadget's hymns, isn't it? In union with
the Lamb, from condemnation free, the saints were everlasting were
and shall forever be. What a wonderful thing to be
in union with Jesus Christ, to have communion with Jesus Christ. Like the Apostle He prays for
it, doesn't he, in the epistle to the Ephesians. He says that
I may know him. What he meant, Paul already knew
Christ. But what does he mean? He wants
to know more of Christ. He wants to know more of his
presence. He wanted more of his blessing. He wants to know more
of his love, more of his grace, in his heart, in his soul. He
wanted union and communion. with Jesus Christ and if you
and I have been born again we will want to know union with
Christ we will want communion with Christ and we shall understand that
prayer of the Apostle that I may know him in the power he didn't
just want to know about it he wanted to know the power of it
in his own heart that I may know him in the power of his resurrection,
in the fellowship of his sufferings. So, if we look at this narrative
that is before us here, Abraham's servant, Eliezer, he sent him
on that long journey to the house of his family, and we see how
the Lord guided him. You know, that's what led me
to choose our opening hymn, Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah, pilgrim
through this barren land. The Lord's people feel to need
the Lord's guidance. In the beginning, the first chapter
of the Solomon's Song, we have a prayer of the church there,
the spouse of Christ. Tell me, It's a prayer of the
bride of Christ, the spouse of Christ. Tell me, O thou whom
my soul lovest, where thou feedest, where thou causest thy flock
to rest at noon, for why should I be as one that is turned aside
by the flocks of thy companions? Tell me. Is that the desire of
your heart as we've come to chapel this morning? Tell me, O thou
whom my soul lovest, where thou feedest now what what that means
not so much where christ feeds but where he feeds his people
that's the meaning of that where thou feedest there's that desire
to be where your soul is going to be fed where the word of god
is going to be preached and where it's under the divine influence
of the spirit and the power of the holy ghost so that your soul
is fed tell me and you know we we notice here with abraham's
servant that he bowed and worshipped when the lord guided him when
the lord directed him indeed abraham had said to him if we
just look at verse 40 the lord before whom i walk will send
his angel with thee and prosper thy way and thou shalt take a
wife for my son of my kindred and of my father's house. You
see, Abraham was a man of faith. The Lord before whom I walk,
that's the confidence of faith. The Lord before whom I walk will
send his angel with thee and prosper thy way. And indeed,
we find that that's exactly what happened. in verse 42, and I
came this day unto the well and said, O Lord God of my master
Abraham, if now thou do prosper my way which I go behind, I stand
by the well of water, and it shall come to pass that when
the virgin cometh forth to draw water, and I say to her, give
me, I pray thee, a little water of thy pitcher to drink, and
she say to me, both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy
camels. You see, he asked for a sign.
And let me say this, friends, it is not wrong to ask for a
sign. If you want to know what the
will of the Lord is, if you desire to be led and guided and directed
by Him, of course, the Word of God is our guide. David says in Psalm 119, Let
thy word be a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path, the
desire to be led and guided and directed. Maybe you've come to chapel this
morning and that is your desire. Lord, lead me, guide me, direct
me in the way that I should go. Show me thy ways, O Lord, This
is the language of the Lord's people. Show me thy ways, O Lord,
teach me thy paths. There's that desire, that longing
in the heart to be led and taught, guided and directed by the Lord. And that the word of God may
be a living word in our hearts. And so we see that what he asked,
And it says here in verse 45, and before I had done speaking
in mine heart, behold, Rebecca came forth with her pitcher on
her shoulder, and she went down to the well. And it happened
exactly as he had asked the Lord for that sign. And that is exactly
what happened. And then when he asked her name,
and he says, whose daughter art thou? Verse 47, and she said,
the daughter of Bethuel, Nahor's son. who milk our bear unto him,
and then he knew. Then he knew. We have that word in Jeremiah,
when something came to pass in accordance with what he'd asked
for, he said, then I knew that this was the word of the Lord. The Lord confirms his word, then
I knew that this was the word of the Lord. And I put the earring
upon her face and bracelets upon her hand and bowed down my head
and worshipped the Lord." I'm quite sure of this, friends,
that Eliezer, as Abraham speaks of it earlier on in the book
of Genesis, Eliezer of Damascus, that's who he says, is my servant. But there's something that is
very clear that this man was a man of God. There is no doubt
about that. He worshipped the Lord, it says
it earlier in the chapter. He bowed and worshipped the Lord,
the Lord Jehovah. He was a godly man. And everything
that Abraham had was in his hand. And he had such confidence in
him that he sent him to fetch a wife for his own son. And I bowed down my head and
worshipped the Lord. and bless the Lord God of my
master Abraham, which had led me in the right way to take my
master's brother's daughter unto his son. He led me in the right
way. We read in Psalm 107, and he
led them forth by the right way unto a city of habitation. And, well, we read it together,
and they said this thing proceedeth from the Lord. We cannot speak
unto thee bad or good. It's obviously that this is the
Lord's will. But then, in the morning, in verse 55, her brother Laban
and her mother said, let the damsel abide with us a few days,
at least 10. After that, she shall go. and
he said unto them, hinder me not. Hinder me not. There's a beautiful hymn in the
Denim Selection, and the last line of every verse is, hinder
me not, my much loved friends. And that's a hymn on baptism.
And the end of each verse, it says, hinder me not, my much
loved friends. And what a word that is here,
hinder me not. You know, the hymn writer says,
doesn't he, what various hindrances we meet in coming to the mercy
seat. But he that knows the worth of
prayer but wishes to be often there, hinder me not. There are many hindrances that
the Lord's people meet with. There are many hindrances that
Lord's servants meet with. Hinder me not. The Apostle Paul
in his his journeys in preaching the gospel. And he speaks in
one place that he wanted to go to a certain place, but he says,
but Satan hindered me. Hinder me not. Or that may be
a word in Caesar. Hinder me not, seeing the Lord
hath prospered my way. Send me away, that I may go to
my master. And they said, we will call the
damsel, and inquire at her mouth. And they called Rebekah and said
unto her, will thou go with this man? And she said, I will go,
I will go. Now, and we know that eventually
as it speaks here, she came to Isaac. I want to look at this
though in a spiritual light. this beautiful narrative, there
is a spiritual experience here that is being spoken of. If we look at Eliezer, the servant
of Abraham, as a type of Christ, and you look at Rebecca as a
type of the church, you know, and she was to go with
him, She was to go with him. And we see fulfilled, thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. She went. I will go. There was that willingness
wrought in her heart. Will thou go with this man? And
she said, I will go. Now, I want then to speak of
this in the spiritual light, but I want to speak of this man. And I want to speak of this man,
the man Christ Jesus. Will thou go with this man? The
man Christ Jesus. The eternal son of the eternal
father that was manifest in the flesh. And this man, it says he did
no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. We read in the Word of God in
the first epistle of John that sin is any transgression of the
law of God. That holy law of God of the Ten
Commandments. So the definition that we have
in Holy Scripture of what sin is, it's a transgression when
we break God's holy righteous law. And the Word of God is very clear,
the soul that sinneth it shall die. We're all going to die. Why are we all going to die?
Because we're sinners. The wages of sin is death. But this man, this man, the man
Christ Jesus, he was born holy. He had a virgin birth. He wasn't
tainted or died with the sin of Adam. Every single one of
us is. tainted and dying. It says in
Romans chapter 5, as in Adam all die. Because of Adam's sin, every
one of us is born in sin and we receive that sin by natural
generation from our parents. We're born in sin, we're shapen
in iniquity, we're unrighteous. It says in Psalm 51, doesn't
it? In sin did my mother conceive
me. We all have sinned, all my beloved
friends, and when the Holy Spirit truly teaches us, we're brought
to feel that we're sinners, we're brought to know that we're sinners.
But this man, it says in Luke chapter 1 concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ. That holy thing. It's the angel
speaking to Mary, the Virgin Mary. That holy thing that she'll
be born of thee. She'll be called the Son of God.
That holy thing. That shows us that Jesus was
born holy and righteous and pure. And that he lived a life that
was holy, righteous and pure. He did no sin. Neither was guile
found in his mouth. He was righteous. He was sinless. He did no sin. He didn't break
God's holy law. You think of, he himself sort
of encapsulates the law of God. He condenses it. that thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy mind,
and thy neighbour as thyself. That is the whole of the law
of God. That is what Jesus Christ did in his life. This man, he
did no sin. Neither was guile found in his
mouth. He lived a life that was pure and holy and righteous altogether. Now that holy life of Christ
is called the obedience of Christ we read and if we theologians
they speak of the passive obedience of Christ and the active obedience
of Christ and what they mean in that active obedience of Christ
is that he actively fulfilled the ten commandments of the whole
law of God not only in fulfilling those laws relating to God, but
his neighbor. Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. That's exactly what Christ did.
You read in the New Testament of the life of Jesus Christ.
He loved the people. It says in Deuteronomy, yea he
loved the people, Christ did. He came to redeem His people. He came to redeem His people.
The Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. That which was lost. And that's
every one of us by nature. We're lost. We're lost sinners.
By nature. We're born in sin. We're shaped
in iniquity. We go forth in the womb speaking
lies and hypocrisy. The Prophet Isaiah, he says in
the first chapter, from the crown of the head, and this is describing
man's condition. From the crown of the head to
the sole of the foot, wounds and bruises and putrefying sores,
there is no soundness in my flesh. That's asked by nature, but this
man, the man Christ Jesus, he was without sin. And he lived
without sin. And he lived a life of love.
And you think of the amount of times that we read in the Gospels,
and Jesus having compassion on the multitude. And we read of
many instances of the Lord Jesus' compassion in making the blind
to see and the deaf to hear. The dumb to speak. We read of the wonderful compassion
of Christ in casting out devils out of men and women. It's fashionable
today, even in some Christian churches, to deny that there
is such a thing as the devil, even though the word of God clearly
teaches there is. Cast out those evil spirits. Wonderful grace of God. Look
at, I've often looked at it, case of Legion and when Christ
went over the Sea of Galilee and they came ashore and there
was this man, this madman, running among the tombs, naked, cutting
himself. He was possessed of many devils
and He said to the Lord Jesus, that is the devil speaking in
him, said, My name is Legion for we are many. And the Lord
Jesus cast those devils out. And the Lord Jesus did these
things many times. We have illustrations of these
things that were done. But it says at the end of the
Gospel of John that these things are just a few things that were
written. He said that The whole world would not fill the books
if you spoke of the wonderful things that Christ did when he
was here upon earth. And he cast out those devils.
And what do we read? What happened to Legion? He was
found sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right
mind. What wonderful grace, isn't it?
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, this man. This glorious, holy
God, man. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. His love, His mercy, His compassion. His kindness. His kindness. You think of that instance when
the blind Bartimaeus was sitting by the wayside, begging. Jesus,
thou son of David, have mercy on me. And the people around
him said, be quiet, man, be quiet. that was getting on their nerves
because he so needed Jesus. Jesus, thou son of David. Something
had been revealed to him because he knew he was the son of David
and the son of David means the Messiah. He knew that this was
the Messiah, the Christ of God. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. And what do we read? And Jesus
stood still. but the cry of a poor beggar.
It's the same Jesus we worship, friends. He stopped, he stood
still, and he commanded them to bring him, and he opened his
eyes. Oh, the wonderful grace, kindness,
love, and compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ as he walked here
upon earth. This man, this glorious, holy
God man, the man Christ Jesus. We read of him that he is able
to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth. He's able to save to the uttermost,
completely, absolutely. He delivers from sin and Satan's
power. He delivers from the curse of
the law. He delivers us from the bondage
of sin and corruption. This man, this glorious holy
God man, he's able to say to the uttermost all that come unto
God by him, seeing he ever liveth. You know, when Ruth came into
the land of Israel and the Moabitess damsel, and she was a stranger,
she was a foreigner, she came there and She came to the field
of Boaz and she gleaned in the fields and he dealt very kindly
with her. You know, Boaz is a beautiful
type of Christ. He dealt very kindly with her. And her mother-in-law. And what
do we read of Boaz? He was a mighty man of wealth,
but this man, this glorious holy God man, the man Christ Jesus,
with heaven and earth at his command, he waits to answer prayer. He does. He waits to answer prayer. This man, this glorious, holy
God-man, the man Christ Jesus, he has power to save. He has
power to redeem. He has power to deliver. I love
those words of Joseph Hart in his hymn, come then, repenting
sinner, come and trust upon his grace. So what their will, the
total sum is, You see, the total sun is cancelled by his death. He's dealt with sin. He's dealt
with divine justice. Divine justice declared, the
soul that sinneth it shall die. The Lord Jesus himself, he speaks
of those that are cast into outer darkness. What's he speaking of? He's speaking
of hell. the place of damnation, of the
eternal wrath of God. My beloved friends, there is
only one escape from that place of eternal damnation and the
eternal wrath of God, and that way of escape is in Christ. He's
able to save to the uttermost. But this man, this glorious,
holy God man, able to save. Not only did Christ in his holy
life fulfill the law for his people, that fulfilling of the
law for his people is called the righteousness of Christ.
So he makes his people righteous in his righteousness. As it says
in Ezekiel chapter 16, comely in my comeliness. Comely in my
comeliness. That's what the child of God
is. Comely in the comeliness of Christ. righteous in the righteousness
of Christ. That's the only way that you
and I can ever be made righteous, is in the glorious everlasting
robe of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Won't thou go with
this man? And she said, I will go. This
man Christ Jesus. You think of those beautiful,
compassionate, loving words of Christ in Matthew chapter 11.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden. Is there
such an one here today that is labouring under their sinfulness,
over their lost condition, over their emptiness and their poverty?
And what does Jesus say? Come unto me. Will thou go with
this man? 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 for your souls. For my yoke is easy and
my burden is light. This glorious holy God, man.
And then there's the cross of Calvary, where Jesus, the spotless
lamb of God, suffered and bled and died for the sins of his
people. We read in Isaiah, he laid upon
him the iniquity of us all. All the sin of the church in
the garden of Gethsemane was laid on Christ. He laid upon
him the iniquity of us all. And that is why he suffered and
bled and died. It was for the sins of his people. It says in Corinthians, he that
knew no sin was made sin for us. He that knew no sin was made
sin for us. Our eternal father laid upon
his only begotten son, manifest in the flesh, he laid upon him
the iniquity of us all. And that is why he went to Calvary. The apostles In one of the epistles,
he says he took our sins and nailed them to his cross. He
suffered, he bled, he died for the sins of his people. Will
they go with this man? And she said, I will go. I will
go. Willing to follow the despised
Nazarene. Willing to leave everything.
If any man will follow me, Let him deny himself, take up his
cross and follow me. It's a path of self-denial. And
follow me. You know, and the wonderful power.
I've looked at it several times and there's a couple of instances
in particular of publicans. Zacchaeus. Nicodemus. And Matthew, of the
Gospel of Matthew, Matthew Levi as he was called. And the wonderful
power of Christ, he was sitting at the receipt of custom. And
they received huge amounts of money, often fraudulently. They were very rich men because
they fraudulently took from the people. And just to Matthew, he said,
Follow me. He left everything and he followed
Christ. Oh, the wonderful power of the
voice of Jesus Christ. Follow me. And they leave everything
and follow him. Oh, my beloved friends, will
thou go with this man? And she said, I will go. I will go. And he that has done so much
for you, in taking your sins, in suffering,
bleeding and dying for your sins. He poured out his soul unto death.
He entered into death itself to deliver his people from death
and from the power of death. We read in scripture that one
of the reasons that Christ was manifested was to destroy the
works of the devil. And that is what Christ has done
when he suffered and bled and died for the sins of his people. We read that on the third day
he rose again. He swallowed up death in victory.
He's opened the way to heaven. Jesus said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. I am the way, the truth, and the
life. This glorious Savior. How willing
was Jesus to die. He paid the utmost cost. He said,
I have power to lay my life down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my father. And that's exactly
what he did. He entered into death in that
holy human nature that he assumed in the womb of the Virgin. He
suffered and bled and died for the sins of his people. But then on the third day, he
rose again. those lovely words of the angel
unto the disciples when they came to the sepulcher. He is not here. He is risen. Come, see the place where the
Lord lay. He's not here. He's risen from
the dead. He swallowed up death in victory.
He brought life and immortality to life through the gospel. The
evidence, my beloved friends, that divine justice has been
satisfied and God and sinners are reconciled is in a risen
Christ. He has put away sin by the offering
of himself, for by one offering, one glorious offering on the
cross of Calvary, He has put away sin. Oh, He is the way to
God. Jesus is the living way. He is. He has the power of an endless
life, they'll go with this man, and she said, I will go, I will
go. You know, Joseph, not Joseph Hart, Isaac
Watts, in that lovely hymn of his, he's speaking of the gospel
ordinances. Two gospel ordinances, isn't
there? Baptism and the Lord's Supper. two very simple ordinances. That's the only two ordinances
that we read of in scripture that are for the New Testament
church. They both represent the same
thing. Jesus Christ and him crucified. The baptismal pool represents
the grave of Christ. The grave of Christ. The believer,
when they're taken into the waters of baptism, they're professing
that they humbly hope that Jesus suffered and bled and died for
their sins. And then when they come up out
of the water, they are professing that they are risen with Christ
from the dead. Just as Christ suffered, bled,
and died, and rose again. That's what baptism represents. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And then the other ordinance
is the Lord suffered And it's exactly the same thing, the precious
blood of Christ that he shed on Calvary. This cup is the New
Testament in my blood. And then, you see, this is my
body broken for you, this doing remembrance of me. And they called Rebecca and said
unto her, will thou go with this man? And she said, I will go,
I will go. What a wonderful thing to be
made willing in the day of his power, willing to follow him. But what does Watts say in his
hymn? He speaks of the wonderful things that were done on the
Old Testament, but how, what a burden it was, three times
a year that to travel all the way from the places to Jerusalem,
long journey and that they had to have sacrifices and offerings
and blood and various things that he had to do, a vast amount
of things, laborious to human nature. So what does he say in that hymn? But we have no such lengths to
go, nor wander far abroad. No. We have those simple, sacred,
gospel things to follow the Lord. All my beloved friends, may it
please the Lord. And you know, the other thing
that seemed to lay hold of me was in what we read together
when Laban came, in verse 31, and he said, come in, thou blessed
of the Lord, Wherefore standest thou without? Come in, thou blessed
of the Lord. Wherefore standest thou without?
May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 428. The tune is Shamuni. 631. Humble souls who seek salvation
through the Lamb's redeeming blood, hear the voice of revelation,
tread the path that Jesus trod, flee to Him your only Saviour,
in His mighty name confide, in the whole of your behaviour,
own Him for your sovereign guide. Hymn 428, tune Shimuni 631. O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, In His great love, In His mighty
name combine, ? In the home of the brave ? ?
God guard the home of the brave ? ? God guard the home of the
brave ? Listen to His gracious voice.
Tremble, ye heavens, and behold Him Falling away in His gracious
joys. Jesus shed His blood in Judea
He left a high stand in the valley He is come ? In Jordan's river ? ? Floats
the earth beneath the stream ? ? Every year we stood astray each
day ? Following Him without delay, And He lives, no other question. Where your God, there is your
way. In the right way, understand
it. In His way, there for you rest. 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.