Let us commence our service this
afternoon by singing together hymn number 182 to the tune St. Matthias, 794. If ever it could come to pass
that sheep of Christ might fall away, my fickle, feeble soul
alas would fall a thousand times a day, were not thy love as firm
as free, Thou soon wouldst take it, Lord, from me." Hymn 182,
tune St. Matthias, 794. If ever it could come to pass
That she of Christ might hold the way My fickle, feeble, soulless
heart Would ponder thousand times a day Were not Thine o'er best
firmest reign The sun would stay, it glowed from me. I all my promises keep, and at
least I turn in endless song. That Thou wilt love me to the
end, be with me if temptations fall. Will call me work and in
me turn And guide me right and bring me through No other stay I have beside,
If these can alter, I must go. I look to Thee to be supplied
With life, with will, with power, with all Rich souls make glory
in the strong Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Epistle to the Philippians and Chapter
1. Paul's epistle to the Philippians,
chapter one. Paul and Timotheus, the servants
of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus, which are at
Philippi, with the bishops and deacons, grace be unto you and
peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I
thank my God upon every remembrance of you, always in every prayer
of mine for you, all making requests with joy for your fellowship
in the gospel from the first day until now. Being confident
of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. even as it is
meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in
my heart, inasmuch as both in my bonds and in the defence and
confirmation of the gospel, you are all partakers of my grace. For God is my record, how greatly
I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. And this I may
pray that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge
and in all judgment, that you may approve things that are excellent,
that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ,
being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by
Jesus Christ unto the glory and praise of God. But I would ye
should understand, brethren, that the things which happened
unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel,
so that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace and
in all other places. And many of the brethren in the
Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to
speak the word without fear, Some indeed preach Christ even
at envy and strife, and some also of goodwill. The one preached
Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to
my bonds, but the other of love, knowing that I am set for the
defense of the gospel. What then? Notwithstanding, every
way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and
I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. For I know that
this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply
of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, according to my earnest expectation
and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed But that with
all boldness, as always, so now also, Christ shall be magnified
in my body, whether it be by life or by death. For to me,
to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the
flesh, this is the fruit of my labour. Yet what shall I choose,
I want not. For I am in a strain between
two. having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which
is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the
flesh is more needful for you. And having this confidence, I
know that I shall abide and continue with you all for your furtherance
and joy of faith, that your rejoicing may be abundant in Jesus Christ
to me by my coming to you again. only let your conversation be
as it becometh the gospel of Christ, that whether I come and
see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye
stand fast in one spirit, with one mind, striving together for
the faith of the gospel, and in nothing terrified by your
adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition,
but to you of salvation and that of God. For unto you it is given
in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also
to suffer for his sake, having the same conflict which he saw
in me and now here to be in me. May the Lord bless the reading
of his most precious word and grant to us a Spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, the Lord Jehovah, in whom is
everlasting strength. We come, most gracious Lord,
humbly to thy feet, as poor, weak, sinful worms of the earth,
We come, Lord, as poor sinners before thee, and we come, O Lord,
to confess our sins, that are holy and righteous altogether. We come, therefore, to thee in
the name of Jesus Christ, the mediator between God and man,
to come and plead his precious blood that did for sin atone,
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, that cleanseth us from all
sin. For this, O Lord, is our only
hope. It's in the finished work of
Jesus Christ, in that which he has so wonderfully accomplished
in his holy life and suffering and death on the cross of Calvary,
destroying the works of the devil, the power of the devil, Lord,
we do pray that thou wouldst come among us here and work mightily
and powerfully. For, Lord, we can effect nothing
in and of ourselves. We are poor, weak, sinful worms
of the earth. It's only by thy heavenly power,
by thy Spirit, that anything could be accomplished among us.
We pray that thou wouldst come and rule and reign in our hearts.
and in our lives so that we may be made more spiritually minded
and our heart and our affections may be set upon things above
and not on things of the earth. For we pray, most gracious Lord,
this afternoon to be led and taught and guided and directed
by the Spirit of God. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. We come and seek and
hope to find a portion for our soul, we do pray then. We pray that the Lord Jesus Christ
may be exalted and set forth in all his suitability as a saviour,
as a redeemer, as a deliverer, as one that is able to save to
the uttermost all that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth. our great High Priest who has
passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Oh, we do thank
Thee for what He is unto us and how He is revealed unto us in
Thy Word. We pray that we may catch a glimpse
of His glory, of His power, of His grace, of His love, of His
mercy, that we may be partakers of that peace which passes all
understanding that it may keep our hearts and minds through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Lord, we do pray that we may
be favoured with the divine and sacred drawings of our eternal
Father. Indeed, as thou hast taught us
to pray, our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread,
O most gracious Lord, help us to forgive those that trespass
against us. We do humbly pray thee, grant
us that spirit of love, of kindness, of compassion, even the spirit
of Christ, who when he was reviled, he reviled not again, he threatened
not. Lord, give us that same spirit
of Christ, that same spirit of love, we do humbly beseech thee. We pray that, most gracious Lord,
that we may be favoured with that sacred and most blessed
spirit of adoption, whereby we may cry, Abba, Father. Hear us,
Lord. We do humbly beseech thee for
thy great name's sake. Remember us for good. Remember
us with the favour that thou bearest unto thy people. Visit
us with thy great salvation. Set our affections, our desires
upon those things that are above, and not on things of the earth.
For, Lord, we are earthbound, and we need thee to grant that
we may be heavenbound, and that our eyes may be found looking
up, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame thereof, is now set down at the right hand of the
majesty on high. We pray that thou would be the
master of assemblies here in the sanctuary. And we pray, most
gracious Lord, that thou would bless our brethren, the deacons,
and graciously help them in all their concerns. in all those
things that they're involved in among the churches. And be
with us here, Lord. Unite us together in the sacred
bonds of Christian love, union, and communion. And remember that,
Lord, we pray thee, each one of our brethren and sisters in
church fellowship, Lord, remember each one. We do humbly beseech
thee. Remember them with the favour
that thou bearest unto thy people. Visit them with thy great salvation. Grant us clearer views of the
glory, majesty, power and love of our Lord Jesus Christ. We
pray, most gracious Lord, that we may bear one another's burdens,
that we may love each other, serve each other, and let each
other esteem each other better than ourselves. Lord, give us
that grace to take the lowest place. We do humbly beseech of
thee. Lord, we pray that thou would
remember the children, the little ones, bless them, put thy fear
in their hearts, in their young and in their tender years, guide
them, O thou great Jehovah, make them pilgrims in a barren land,
We do humbly beseech thee. And may we not fall into that
solemn situation that the ancient people did in longing for the
flesh plots of Egypt and the leeks and the onions. O gracious
God, deliver us from murmuring. We do humbly pray thee and we
pray thy rich blessing It may rest upon the young friends that
they may be brought to live in vital saving faith in Jesus Christ
to become true followers of thee and of those who through faith
and patience inherit the promises. Lord do hear us we pray thee
and graciously grant a generation that shall be raised up to call
thee the Redeemer blessed. Send out thy light and thy truth
into this village and the surrounding villages and hamlets. You look
back, O Lord, and a hundred years ago, and just about every village
in this area had a place of worship where thy servants stood to preach
the gospel. Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
arise again and may bear thine holy arm, graciously send out
thy light and thy truth and return in thy power and in thy glory
as thou usest to be. Bring our sons from far and our
daughters from the ends of the earth. O Lord of hosts, O God
of Israel, let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand, the
son of man, whom thou madest strong for thyself. Gather in
precious souls into the sanctuary, establish them in the truth as
it is in Jesus. Oh, do hear us, Lord, and grant
us a real burden and exercise, for as soon as Zion travailed,
she brought forth her children. Oh, that there might be that
spirit of travel, and that prodigals may return, and thy wonderful
power may be seen in this, for thy great name's sake. And, O
Lord, we do pray that thou, in thy precious mercy, wouldst remember
parents, give them wisdom, give them grace to bring up their
children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. To hear us, Lord,
we humbly pray thee for thy great namesake. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou wouldst indeed bless the little families and
grant that those heads of families may read the word of God and
pray over it in the families. that it may be a means of grace
unto the dear children. Lord, we pray that thou, in thy
great mercy, would remember and hear and bless the families. And gracious God, we earnestly
petition thee to remember those prodigals and hear our prayers
and our entreaties on their behalf. and send answers of peace, O
Lord, we do beseech of thee. We pray that thou would remember
all in the midst of the journey of life and graciously help and
undertake for each one. Thou knowest, O Lord, the case
and the minute circumstances of every soul that is present.
And we pray that they may be richly blessed of thee and delivered
by thee. by thy spirit and by thy grace
that is in Christ Jesus, that they may be brought to know the
great Deliverer as the one that is able to save unto the uttermost
all that come unto God by him. Lord, we pray that thou in thy
precious mercy would remember those of us in the evening time
of life's journey, and Lord, we We pray that as the outward
man perisheth, that the inward man may be renewed day by day. And we pray, dear Lord, that
thou, in thy great mercy, we remember dear Mrs. Field and
bless her indeed in her old age and its increasing infirmities.
Any others, oh Lord, that are not able through affliction,
except to meet together, we pray that thou would be gracious unto
them. Lord, we do pray that thou, in thy great mercy, would remember
thy servants as they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls
of Zion, and set them free and set them at liberty, and revive
thy church and thy people. We do humbly beseech thee. Turn
us again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine. And
we pray thee, the great Lord of the harvest, to send true
labourers into the harvest. There's a good number, O Lord,
of thy servants are now in senior years, and we pray that they
would raise up. We thank thee for what thou hast
done. Go on, most mighty God, thy wonders to make known. Put
forth thy spirit with the word, and cause the dead to hear. Lord,
hear us, we humbly pray thee for thy great namesake. Remember, O Lord, the churches
to which we affiliate. We think of the editors of our
magazines and we commend them to thee and pray that thou wouldst
help and guide and strengthen in all matters. Remember the
committees that gather, O Lord, in the various responsibilities
that they have, in the charities to which we affiliate. Grant
them thy divine direction and blessing and help. and supply
all their many returning needs, we do humbly beseech them. We
pray that they will remember Bethesda and graciously grant
thy divine guidance unto them. We do humbly pray thee for thy
great namesake. And Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
remember the struggling little cause of truth up and down our
land. and that thou wouldst turn us
again, O God of hosts, and cause thy face to shine. Lord, there
is but one thing that is needful. Help us to speak of that one
glorious person, even our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Lord,
we do pray for truly thankful hearts, for all thy tender mercies,
Loving kindness is thy great goodness that has passed before
us in the way. Thy mercies to us, O Lord, are
new every morning, and great is thy faithfulness. We have
a roof over our head and well-spread table, and we would render thanksgiving,
O Lord, for all these providential blessings. But O, do grant us
a fuller experience of thy everlasting love in Jesus Christ, we do humbly
beseech thee to make us more spiritually minded and set our
affections on things above and not on things of this earth,
we do humbly pray thee. We solemnly feel the law within
our members that when we would do good, then evil is present
And O gracious God, we pray to be delivered from all those works
of the flesh which are a great hindrance to Thy people. We do
humbly pray, deliver us from the temptations of Satan, whether
he comes as an angel of light to deceive us, or whether he
comes as a roaring lion to devour us. We need Thee, O Lord, to
grant delivering grace and upholding mercy. We pray that the light
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ may shine into
our hearts. We do humbly beseech thee. We
thank thee, O Lord, for the everlasting love of our eternal Father in
sending his only begotten Son to live and suffer and bleed
and die for the sins of thy people. Oh, we thank thee for what he
has done, and that inexpressible gift. Thanks be unto God for
his unspeakable gift. Oh, who is the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father,
but by our Lord Jesus Christ. We do thank thee for the glory
of his person and the fullness of his grace, and the wonder
of his love, his power, his grace. Oh, most gracious Lord, fill
our hearts with gratitude and thanksgiving for all of thy tender
mercies and thy loving kindnesses that have passed before us in
the way. Be with us now, Lord, as we turn
to thy holy word and come and open thy word to our heart and
to our understanding. and come and touch one's lips
with a live coal from off the heavenly altar. We ask for Jesus
Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 339. to the tune Hannah at 958. O my distrustful heart, how small
thy faith appears, but greater, Lord, thou art than all my doubts
and fears. Did Jesus once upon me shine? Then Jesus is for ever mine. Hymn 339, tune Hannah, O come, O come, O come, O come,
O come, to Bethlehem. ? Hail, Jesus, Lord of all creation
? ? Hail, Lord Jesus, Lord of all creation ? ? Hail, Lord Jesus,
Lord of all creation ? ? Not an eye in the grave ? ? It
shall be there ? ? Love is still eternal in the
sky ? ? Light shall remain there ? ? Jesus, Lord, we praise thee ?
? Heaven and earth are full of thy glory ? God has given me the gift of
love. I still love you. I'm greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help I would direct your attention to the first chapter
in the epistle to the Philippians and we'll read verse 6 for our
text. Paul's epistle to the Philippians
chapter 1 verse 6. Being confident of this very
thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform
it until the day of Jesus Christ. What a wonderful thing that these
portions of scripture are there to help, to enable, to uphold
the Lord's living family, who are a fearful people. They liken
to sheep. And, you know, sheep need a shepherd
to guide, to direct, to good pastures, to keep them from the
slips and the falls and the mountains and the cliffs. You know the Lord has promised
to do that for his children. He's promised to keep them. We
read in the first epistle of Peter, kept by the power of God,
through faith, unto salvation, ready to be revealed, that the
last day, kept. How each one of us needs keeping. We need the Lord to keep us,
to keep us from fleshly confidences. This confidence that the Apostle
speaks of here is the confidence of faith, of what he proved. You will remember the Corinthians
how that the Apostle had a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of
Satan to profit him, to triumph. day by day and how he needed those words that
were spoken so sweetly to him when he asked the Lord three
times to remove that thorn in the flesh. What was the answer
that he got? Well we do not read that the
Lord removed that thorn in the flesh but we do read this My
grace, that is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. My grace is
sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. Now that's just the opposite
to what we would expect, you see. You would think, would Job,
he'd say, I know what he was saying to me who would put strength
in me. Look how poor Job was so tried and tempted in every
possible way. He went from great riches to
abject poverty. And he went from being a man
that was a leader and looked up to, to a man that was sitting
in dust and ashes. Everything around him had been
destroyed. And yet you know the enemy couldn't
destroy his life. The Lord actually said, didn't
he, when Satan tempted him in Job 1 and 2, and how Satan entered
in among the sons of men as they came to worship. And the Lord
said, hast thou considered my servant Job? You see, and he
said to Satan to touch everything that he has. but preserve his
life. He had a hedge about him. Satan
did. Preserve his life. And it was
true, wasn't it, of Legion. How the Lord preserved and kept
him. Though he was so sorely tempted,
he was actually many devils that dwelt in him. He was devil possessed.
run among the tombs, cutting himself. There's no doubt whatsoever,
my beloved friends, that the devil was trying to destroy him.
But he couldn't. You might say, why? He was a
chosen vessel of mercy. Chosen by God the Father, redeemed
by God the Son. The hymn writer says, doesn't
he, preserved In Jesus when my feet made haste to hell, and
such there had I been, were not salvation free. Preserved, kept,
delivered. You see, my beloved friends,
the Lord knows how to keep his people. He knows how to keep
us from pride. Our flesh is proud, it is. And the Lord knows how to keep
us. from pride. He knows how to hide pride from
man. He knows how to humble us. And that's what we need. And
it may be that at this time you're walking in something that you're
so tried and perplexed about. And you wonder why. Because left
to ourselves we've become self-confident. We become confident in ourselves
and in what we can do and in what we can accomplish. And we become proud. How proud
we become if we're left to ourselves. Now the Lord knows how to deal
with our pride. He does. He knows how to deliver
us from self-confidence. He knows how to humble us. You see, the apostle here, he
says, being confident of this very thing, that he which hath
begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus
Christ. He that has begun that good work
in you will perform it. It's he that will perform it.
It's He alone that will preserve and keep you and deliver you. One hymn writer says, and you'll
prove it to be true, Myself I cannot keep. Myself I cannot save. But faith in Him, you see, I
would have whose eyelids never sleep. You can't keep yourself. You may think you can, And you
know sometimes the Lord permits us to fall to teach us that we
cannot keep ourselves. And it's very humbling, especially
when you've made a profession of religion and you reckon you're
so strong, the Lord knows how to humble. And sometimes he'll
permit us to fall, to humble us, to make us realise you cannot
keep yourself. But only, you see, there's that
word isn't there, no man can keep alive his own soul. And
you have to prove this. You can't keep alive your soul.
You may do all manner of exercises, et cetera. I'm now speaking of
spiritual exercises. And I hope you do continually
read the word of God and study the word of God and pray over
the word of God. I surely hope you do that. But
you cannot keep yourself. You cannot keep yourself in spiritual
exercise and concern in a right spiritual way unless the Lord,
the Spirit, truly leads you on. When He, the Spirit of Truth
has come, He will convince the world of sin, of righteousness
and of judgment. It's not just in the initial
stages of of Christian experience, it's right the way through the
Christian's life. Right the way through. The Holy
Ghost will be convincing us of our inadequacy, of our emptiness,
of our inability, of our hopelessness. So much so that, you see, this
teaching is crucifying to us, to our flesh. The Apostle speaks
of it in the epistles, he speaks of being, I am crucified with
Christ. Nevertheless, I live. And the
life I now live, not what he used to live, the life I now
live, now he has faith. I live by faith of the Son of
God who loved me and gave himself for me. You know, friends, we
have to be brought to trust absolutely only Christ, nothing else, nothing
on what we can do, nothing on what we can accomplish or fulfill. We have to be taught it's only
by the grace of God. The Apostle could say couldn't
I, I am what I am by the grace of God and entirely by the grace
of God and he could write to the Titus isn't it when he says
that? Concerning that not by works
of righteousness that I have done we have to be taught We
think we can do this. We think we can do that We think
we can do something else and we say look what I've done for
the Lord. Well, my beloved friends. You'll have to be taught that
We can't do anything In and of ourselves But only as the Lord
helps us and the fruit of the Spirit in our lives. The Apostle
speaks of it here in the Philippians about the fruits of the Spirit
in our lives. But they're not from our flesh. Our flesh is rather a hindrance. It hinders us in the heavenly
journey. Our flesh desires the things of this life. Our flesh
by its very nature is covetous of the themes of this life. That's
what we're like by nature. We're covetous. And the Apostle,
he warns us here in the Epistles and covetous which is idolatry. You may look at these people
that bow down to other gods and say, oh, I wouldn't, I wouldn't
have been idolater like that. Yeah, you may not be like that,
but you may be in other ways, in your walk, in your conduct,
in your very thoughts of your mind. And covetousness, which
is idolatry, which is idolatry. You know, friends, may the Lord
preserve and keep and deliver us. And if indeed these things
are in our hearts, may the Holy Spirit convince us of it, and
make us to realise just how sinful and corrupt our nature is. Being confident of this very
thing, that He which has begun a good work in you, will perform
it, until the day of Jesus Christ. He that has begun a good work. You know, that's a point, isn't
it? Has the Lord begun that good
work of grace in your hearts? Has the Holy Spirit entered into
your soul? Have you been regenerated? It's a very precious doctrine,
the doctrine of regeneration. And it's put in various ways
in Holy Scripture, and the one way it's put, you must be born
again. To be regenerated, for the Holy
Spirit to give life. And the evidences of that life
is spiritual exercise in the heart. And a sense of light and
darkness, these are things that attend regeneration. There's
a sense of light and darkness where something you didn't have
before. There's a sense of need, something
you didn't have before. The sense of sin, that's something
you didn't have before. This comes from regeneration.
This sense of need, a sense of emptiness. Maybe you're like
the hymn writer says, an aching void. You have an aching void
in your heart that the world can never fill. And you prove that the more you
strive to lay hold of worldly things that you've still got
that empty void. You've still got that felt need
that comes from regeneration. It does. There's an evidence
of spiritual life in the heart when there is spiritual exercise
in the soul, when there is this sense of need. And arising from
that sense of need is prayer. It's one of the first marks and
evidences of regeneration. It's said of Saul of Tarsus,
behold he prayeth. Of no doubt in an outward sense,
He prayed many times. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees.
And outwardly, intellectually, he'd been brought up to pray. Maybe you have been brought up
to pray. But the time came when he had
a deep need and then it was said, behold he prayeth. That means
he truly prayeth. He truly prayeth. Out of a sense
need. The Lord Jesus said to him from
heaven, it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Only
just before that we read of the Apostle Paul or rather Saul of
Tarsus standing as they were stoning Stephen the first martyr
to death. And they laid their clothes at
the feet of one Saul of Tarsus. And when the Lord stopped him
he said it's hard for thee He was hailing men and women to
prison because they believed in and followed Jesus Christ.
He thought he was doing God's service. But the time came when
the Lord, the Spirit, entered his heart. He was regenerated. He then had pricks of conscience. He knew in his conscience that
what he was doing was wrong. And it was hard to kick against
those pricks of conscience. Maybe you have those evidences
of divine life in your heart. What is called regeneration. You know this regeneration and
the revelation of Christ are quite distinct things. A person can have life in their
soul and not have light in their heart and not know Jesus Christ personally. They can be regenerated but they
have a deep sense of sin, of wretchedness, of emptiness, of
poverty, of an aching void and they long for that aching void
to be healed. The time eventually comes when
the Holy Spirit will work faith in their heart. This regeneration,
this spiritual life in the soul, and then he gives faith. Who does the Holy Spirit? He
works faith in the heart. It's a precious gift. It says in Ephesians chapter
2 that faith is the gift of God. And when he gives faith, then
Christ is revealed. And the depth of that revelation is entirely
of the Lord. Some have a little glimmering
light. I often think of Pilgrim in the
Pilgrim's Progress, Christian. And he had that spiritual light
that was given to him to realize that he was lost and ruined.
And he was running away from the city of destruction that
he knew was appointed to eternal destruction. And he met with evangelists.
Of course evangelists in the Pilgrims' Programme means John
Bunyan's minister, Mr Clifford of Bedford. And he pointed him
to Christ. And he said to him, see, see
young Wicketgate? No, he said. No. He couldn't
have seen the wicket game. Then he said to him, see yon
shining light? I think so, I think so. The light that was shining. And
evangelists, his pastor, he pointed him to Christ, where that light
was shining. I am the light of the world.
I am the light of the world. You see, up till then he He had
life, there's no doubt whatsoever as he wouldn't have been striving
and struggling like he was. That was the evidence of the
spiritual life within him. He was regenerated. But then faith was given and
gradually that shining light became brighter and brighter
and the nearer he got to it became brighter and brighter. The pathway
of the just is as a shining light that shineth more and more unto
the perfect day. Till you see more clearly, more
fully, you may have only got this far in your spiritual journey. If ever my poor soul be saved,
tis Christ must be the way. And that's as far as you've got.
But you're in the way. You're looking for Christ, you're
searching for Christ. Why? Because the Holy Spirit
has given you spiritual life. You feel your need of Christ. Whereas at one time you felt
a poor, wretched sinner, now you feel your need of Christ.
Why? Because he's begun that good
work in you. And the Apostle says he had been
confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. He won't
let you go. The Lord won't let you go. He's
begun that good work in you. He won't let you go. He'll preserve you. He'll keep
you. He'll deliver you. He'll be drawing you, drawing
you to Christ. None come except the Father draw,
and there'll be something within you that is drawn to Christ.
You so long to lay hold of Christ. You don't feel as though you
have laid hold of Christ, but you long to lay hold of Christ.
You're like that woman that we read of in the Gospels, and as
she approached the Lord Jesus, she heard about Him. Now listen,
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of the Lord.
She'd heard of him, that this man could, she'd spent
all her money on physicians, and she was no better. And when
she approached him, she said, if I might but touch the hem
of his garment, I shall be made whole. And she pressed through
that great crowd that was round Christ and she touched the hem
of his garment and immediately she was made whole. You see,
my beloved friends, the good work of grace. And that maybe
you've come to chapel like that this afternoon, if I may but
touch the hem of his garment. Oh, to feel that virtue come
forth from Jesus Christ into my heart. You know, you know
what you need, in a sense. You see, my beloved friends,
you don't feel that you have it, but you know what you need.
And you long for what you need, and you pray for it. You keep praying, you keep looking,
you keep watching, you keep waiting. We read in the scriptures, he
that shall come will come. He that shall come will come.
And we read also in the minor prophets, and if the vision tarry,
and that maybe is what you're waiting for, a revelation of
Christ. You may have heard ministers
speak of it. You say, that's what I need. I need a revelation
of Christ. And it is what you need. But
it's the Lord that has taught you that. that that is what you
need and that is what you long for. The apostle here in the
Philippians in chapter 3 says that I may know him who Christ
that I may know him in the power and that's just what you need
isn't it the power I may know him in the power of the resurrection
the power of his grace the power of his love the power of his
mercy that's what you want to know that's what you want to
feel And the Apostle John, you know,
in his first epistle, he speaks so beautifully there, right in
the first chapter of his first epistle. And he says, verse 1
of chapter 1 in the first epistle of John, that which was from
the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with
our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled
of the word of life. For the life was manifested and
we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal
life which was with the Father and was manifested unto us. That
which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also
may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with his son, Jesus Christ, our fellowship,
our longing, our yearning. You know, if you're yearning
and longing for Christ, it's because he has begun that good
work in your heart. And you know, you will not be
satisfied with just longing and yearning. You will not be satisfied
until Christ is revealed. No. You hear about his precious
blood, and oh, you so long for the application of that precious
blood to your own soul. You hear of the glorious righteousness
of Christ, and you feel in yourself that you're so unrighteous, but
he is an everlasting righteousness that covers the children of God. And it's the blood and righteousness.
Now, if you're that far as being led along by the Spirit, you
won't be able to rest satisfied until that precious blood and
righteousness and there's some intimation in your own soul that
indeed, that it's yours. It's yours. His blood has washed
away all sin. And His righteousness covers
our nakedness. And this is what you'll be longing
for, seeking for. You know, we often speak of a
seeking soul, and generally it's a person whose soul has been
quickened and they're seeking for further revelation, for further
things in their life. But, you know, every single child
of God is a seeking soul. I think it was J. H. Gosden,
I read it in his life, And he made this statement, the religion
of the living child of God is found more in desire than in
possession. How true that is. But you know,
Christ can be made so exceedingly precious to your soul in desire.
Oh, you so long to lay hold of him. You so long to say my beloved
is mine and I am his. That's your desire, that's the
very longing of your soul. and you can echo in your heart
what Paul said how that he longed he longed
for that well look at it we're here in the Philippians and in
chapter 3 and he says in verse 8 Yea, doubtless, I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them but done that I may win Christ. This is what in your
heart, that I may win Christ? and be found in him, not having
mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which
is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith, that I may know him, and the power." You see,
that's the thing, isn't it? It's one thing to know about
Jesus Christ and his holy life and his righteousness and his
suffering and his death, but what he says here, it's not just
to know it intellectually in the mind. but to know Him, that
I have suffered the loss of all things into account, that, but
done, that I may win Christ and be found in Him, not having mine
own righteousness. And he goes on in verse 10, that
I may know Him in the power of His resurrection and the fellowship
of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death, if
by any means I may attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Then he says here, and this is
what I mean, every one of the Lord's people is a seeking soul,
but the Apostle had been in the way many years, and he says,
not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect,
but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also
I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I cannot myself have
apprehended, but this one thing I do, oh my beloved friends,
But what a great mercy, what a clear evidence of regenerating
grace. This one thing, that's what you
become focused on, one thing. There's one desire, there's one
longing. But this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind and reaching forth onto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark. for the prize
of the high call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many
as be perfect, be thus minded. You see, my beloved friends,
that we may truly know what it is to seek and to search for
Jesus Christ, and something in Him that is so attractive, that
you so long for, to truly spiritually know Him, by faith to lay hold
of Him, so that you know He is yours, being confident of this
very thing, that He, which hath begun a good work in you, will
perform it. God will. He will perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ. That's the appearing of Jesus
Christ. That is the coming to Jesus Christ
and eternal glory and everlasting happiness is in Christ. To know him as the way, the truth
and the life. To know him as the altogether
lovely one, as the chiefest among 10,000. That's what you long
for. to see him. You know, if you look at that
description in Solomon's Song, that the spouse gives us of her
beloved, in Solomon's Song, chapter 5, that lovely picture of Jesus
Christ, that the spouse, looking to him, from verse 10, my beloved
is white, to the very centre of what the
spouse desires, the blood and the righteousness of Jesus Christ. That white represents his holiness,
his righteousness, and the ruddy represents his precious blood,
his sin-atoning blood. and this is what she sees so
attractive in him my beloved is white and ruddy the chiefest
among ten thousand his head is as most fine gold see divinity
gold represents divinity he's not just a man he's not just
a good man he's the eternal son of the eternal father that was
manifest in the flesh that suffered and bled and died for his people
And the spouse, she said, I may know him in the power of it. And she sees a beauty and a loveliness
in him. His eyes, in verse 12, his eyes
are as the eyes of doves by the rivers of waters washed with
milk. Fitly said, she saw something so beautiful in the eyes of Christ. He did. Eyes of love. When Christ comes
to judge the world, and we read of it in Revelation chapter 19,
it says his eyes are as flames of fire. He comes to judge the
world in righteousness. But here, the spouse, his eyes
are as the eyes of doves. Peace, love, kindness, mercy. That's what she sees in Christ. His cheeks are as a bed of spices,
as sweet flowers. His lips like lilies dropping
sweet-smelling myrrh. How soft the words my Saviour
speaks, how kind the promises He makes, and there's something
so sweet and sacred in those promises that He gives. Come
unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden. These are the
words of Christ, the words of the Beloved. 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. His hands are as gold rings set
with the bearer, again gold, everlasting love. Gold representing
divinity. From everlasting to everlasting
thou art God, so Christ is. and his hands, his fingers are
gold rings. A ring doesn't have a beginning
or an ending, does it? Neither does the love of God
in Christ. It has neither beginning nor
ending. It's from everlasting to everlasting. You think of
those lovely words, yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn them. The very evidence
that the Lord has begun that good work in you is because you're
drawn to Christ. You see a beauty in Christ. You
see a loveliness in Christ. And you can't be satisfied until
you see him clearly, until you know, my beloved is mine. You
see, his legs, verse 15, his legs are as pillars of marble.
That represents the strength and stability, but listen to
what it says, set upon sockets of fine gold, his divinity, the
divinity of Jesus, the son of God. Again, he's not just a man,
he's the God-man. He's that one that is able to
save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him, seeing
he ever liveth. His mouth is most sweet. And then it's almost as if the
spouse here is lost for words. Yea, he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved. And this
is my friend. O daughters of Jerusalem. This is my beloved. This is my
friend. Being confident of this very
thing. that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it. You think of that wonderful promise
and it's a promise to every single child of God. I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. And you think of the Holy Spirit
having begun that good work in the heart of a poor sinner and
dwells in their heart. And what does Christ say of the
Holy Spirit He will dwell with you forever. He'd begun that
good work in you, and He will dwell with you forever, He will. These precious truths, my beloved
friends, are written for the encouragement of the Lord's poor,
needy, empty, tried, tempted people. that these things are written
in very clear language, being confident of this very thing,
that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 224, the tune is Church Triumphant, 886. Grace is Jehovah's sovereign
will, in an eternal covenant sure, which for his seed he will
fulfil, longer than sun and moon, Endure. Hymn 224, tune Church
Triumphant, 868. ? O come all ye faithful joyful
and triumphant ? ? O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem ? ? From the hands of the burdened
girl ? ? Raise me, son, to the bending
hand of God ? ? That God may go to save His own ? ? And by
that grace through faith we stand ? ? And hope in heaven upon the
throne ? ? That grace in faithful scepter
gives ? ? In blighted souls to enter in ? ? That Christ is saving,
Spirit heals ? ? To love's innocent teenager fair
? Lord, help us on this great stitch-land,
and every trial perfected. ? Praise heaven by thy ? ? Sovereign
hand ? ? And I will walk on that shore ? ? I'm weary ? Blest her safe I
see, His cross they stand in Christ their Head. direct thy grace, and supersede
all thy passivity. and everlasting thanks be due
to God, to Christ, who purchased grace, and to the darkened sea,
whose poor care Now may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each both now and
forevermore. Amen.