The notices for the coming week
are God willing as follows. Mr. Timothy Kingham will preach
here next Lord's Day at 10.30 and two o'clock. Pastor will
preach here on Thursday evening at seven o'clock. There'll be
a prayer meeting here on Tuesday evening at seven o'clock. Let us commence our services
today by singing together Hymn number 208. The tune is Lord 667. Jesus, lover of thy nation, saviour
of thy people free, visit us with thy salvation. Let us, Lord,
thy glory see. O revive us, that we may rejoice
in thee. Hymn 208, Tune Lord, 677. Jesus, Father of creation, Savior
of my people free, It is redoubled thy salvation,
let us glorify thee. God provide us, God provide us,
that we may rejoice in Thee. O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? He did not sin, but He feared.
Thine art, Jesus, Thine art, Jesus, true and strong. ? May we never, never forget thee ? ? May we
never, never forget thee ? We worship thy power mighty, God bless thee. Be a guardian, be a guardian,
till from this day forth we're free. ? Let our sweetness now be Jesus
? ? Let it dwell in sanctified place ? ? Europa of betrayals
? ? We will wear it for the praise
? ? All thy glory ? ? All thy glory ? ? Shall rebound to thy
kingdom come ? Let us read together from the
holy word of God in the second epistle to the Corinthians and
chapter 12. Second epistle to the Corinthians,
chapter 12. It is not expedient for me doubtless
to glory, I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord.
I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, whether in
the body I cannot tell, or whether out of the body I cannot tell,
God knowing, such and one caught up to the third heaven. And I
knew such a man, whether in the body or out of the body I cannot
tell, God knowing, now that how that he was caught up into paradise,
and heard unspeakable, that is, words that could not be expressed,
unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
Of such an one will I glory, yet of myself I will not glory,
but in mine infirmities. For though I would desire to
glory, I shall not be a fool, For I will say the truth, but
now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which
he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. And lest I should
be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations
which were given to me, a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of
Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For
this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might depart from
me. And he said unto me, My grace
is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions
and distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. I am become a fool in glory.
You have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended
of you, but in nothing am I behind the very chiefest apostles, though
I be nothing. Truly, the signs of an apostle
were wrought among you in all patience, in signs and wonders
and mighty deeds. For what is it wherein you were
inferior to other churches, except it be that I myself was not burdensome
to you? Forgive me this wrong. Behold,
the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be
burdensome to you. For I seek not yours, but you. For the children ought to lay
up for the parents. But the parents ought not to
lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. And
I will very gladly spend and be spent for you, though the
more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. But be it so,
I did not burden you, nevertheless being crafty I caught you with
guile. Did I make a gain of you by any
of them whom I sent unto you? I desired Titus, And with him
I send a brother. Did Titus make again of you? Walked we not in the same spirit? Walked we not in these same steps? Again, think ye that we excuse
ourselves unto you. We speak before God in Christ,
but we do all things dearly beloved for your edifying. For I fear
lest when I come, I shall not find you such as I would, and
that I shall be found unto you such as you would not, lest there
be debates, envyings, wraths, strife, backbitings, whisperings,
swellings, tumults. And lest when I come again, my
God will humble me among you, and that I shall bewail many
which have sinned already and have not repented of the uncleanness
and fornication and lasciviousness which they have committed. May the Lord bless that portion
of his holy word and grant to us a spirit of real prayer. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God Almighty, which is an
art, an art to come, we desire to bow before thy great and glorious
majesty. We desire a spirit of real prayer
and the grace of supplication. We desire the spirit of true
worship. They that worship thee must worship
thee in spirit and in truth. We desire 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 as
we gather together around thy precious word on this thy holy
day. Lord we thank thee for the privilege
have been able to meet around thy word upon thy holy day. This is the day that the Lord
hath made. We will be glad and rejoice in
it. And we have loved the habitation of thy house and the place where
thine honour dwelleth. And we can say with the sweet
psalmist of Israel, how amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of
hosts. Lord, they are. Our soul desires,
O Lord, to worship thee in spirit and in truth. We desire to touch
the hem of Jesus' garment and to draw from that sacred fullness
that is in him, that fullness of grace, of love, of mercy that
flows through Jesus Christ our Lord. Lord, we pray that that
will speak to our hearts today, that will unstop the deaf ears,
and open the blind eyes, and loose the tongue of the dumb,
and make the lame to walk. O Lord, come and make bare thine
holy arm in our midst. We do beseech thee. Come and
bless us now. We're not worthy, Lord. We're
sinners. We come as sinners before thee.
Truly, we can echo in our hearts the language of the sweet psalmist,
born in sin, shapen in iniquity. And Lord, we feel it to be so.
And we mourn over it, that inward corruption of our old man. Oh,
we do pray that thou would subdue the old man and subdue that corruption that
is within by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may
be delivered from the bondage, sin and corruption, and be brought
into the glorious liberty of the children of God. So we thank Thee, Lord, for the
privileges that we have in being able to meet freely around Thy
Word. We thank Thee for Thy Word, This
is the word by which the gospel is preached unto us. And we pray
that thy word may be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our
path. Oh, we pray that we may be led
of the spirit of God, holy, blessed, sacred, and glorious spirit of
truth. We pray for thy heavenly power,
for thy divine unction, without thy Heavenly power, O Lord, no
sweeps the gospel can afford, no drops of heavenly love will
fall. O Spirit of holiness and of power,
we pray that thou wouldst descend upon us here in our assembly
this morning. We do beseech thee and open the
word of God and grant the savour and power of the truth in our
hearts. Truly convince us of our sins
and lead to Jesus' blood, and to our wandering eyes reveal
the secret love of God, deliver any of us from legal bondage,
and bring us into that glorious liberty. For where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty. Oh, that we might know that liberty
today. We do pray that we may feel and
know the sacred drawings of our eternal Father, drawing us unto
his best beloved and all-glorious Son, none come except the Father
draw. O Lord, we have known those sweet
drawings and the efficacy and the sweetness that comes with
it. We pray that we may know it this day as we gather together
around thy holy Word. We thank thee for those beautiful
words of grace, for the Father himself loveth you. We pray that
thou, Lord Jesus, would come and stand in our midst and speak
to our hearts, and that we may see thy countenance, that we
may behold thy glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst come and that we may hear thy voice, we may
see thy countenance, that we may worship in thy holy hill
of Zion. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst bless our brethren, the deacons, and give them needed
grace, wisdom, and help in their responsibilities here among us
as a church and congregation. gird them with all sufficient
grace, O Lord, the many responsibilities they have, not only here but
among the churches of God. We pray that thou wouldst help
and support and sustain them. We pray, most gracious Lord,
for each one of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship.
Lord, we do pray that we may truly love each other, serve
each other, and bear each other's burdens, thereby fulfilling the
law of Christ. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst send real prosperity, that thou wouldst make bare thine
holy arm in the gospel, that thou wouldst pull down the strongholds
of Satan, that thou wouldst work mightily, powerfully, and effectually
among us as a church and a congregation, and that thou wouldst send out
the glory and light of the gospel into this village and the surrounding
villages and hamlets, that thou wouldst bring our sons from far
and our daughters from the ends of the earth. O Lord of hosts,
O God of Israel, O thou that dwellest between the cherubim,
shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, and come and save
us, O Lord, we beseech thee. Let thy hand be upon the man
of thy right hand, the son of man, whom thou madest strong
for thyself, so will not we go back from thee. Do hear us, Lord,
we pray thee. Turn us again, O God of hosts,
and cause thy face to shine, and we shall be safe. Send real
prosperity. We pray that thou wouldst cause
the prodigals to return, how we yearn over those prodigals
that have wandered from the ways of God, lay hold of them, Lord,
have mercy upon them, awaken them, and cause them to return. Hear us, Lord, we pray thee.
There is nothing too hard for thee, for thou art God over all
and blessed for evermore. We pray that thou wouldst that
bless the little ones and the children, we love to see them
and hear them in the sanctuary. Bless the dear young friends
and graciously guide and direct, bring them to living faith in
Jesus Christ, that they might know thee and serve thee and
follow thee in their day and in their generation, that we
may see the fulfilling of that precious promise. Instead of
thy father shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes
in all the earth. Hear us, Lord, we humbly beseech
thee. And, O Lord, we do pray that
thou wouldst guide and direct our young friends in all the
things that concern them in providence, whether it be in their education
or any future employment or a partner in life's journey. Oh, that thou
wouldst guide and direct and undertake for them. Remember
all in the midst of the journey of life, and especially parents,
Lord, give them grace and wisdom to bring up their children, the
nurture and admonition of the Lord, and remember each one. They'll notice the burdens and
the concerns of each one. Nothing is hid from thee. Oh
Lord, do graciously help bring each to the feet of Jesus, to
worship thee in spirit and in truth. Lord, this is thy work
alone, and this is thy power alone that can perform this.
Oh, that thou wouldst work. Thou hast promised, I will work,
and who shall let it? Lord, we pray for each one of
us that is now in the evening time of life journey, We pass
the allotted time of man upon earth. Oh, we do pray that thou
wouldst make us more spiritually minded and that our heart and
our affections may be set upon things above and not on things
of the earth. Lord, the young may die, but
the old will die. We pray to be prepared for that
great day. that we may be granted an abundant
entrance into the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ at the
appointed time. We do humbly beseech of thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou in thy precious mercy would remember the churches,
remember thy servants as they labour in word and doctrine upon
the walls of Zion, and graciously grant signs to follow the preaching
of the word Grant thee outpouring of thy Holy Spirit. We live in
a day, Lord, of great declension and falling away, and the love
of many waxes cold. O Lord, do hear us, we pray thee,
and pour forth thy blessed Spirit, revive thy people, renew thy
people, and add unto the church such as should be saved. And
we pray thee, the great Lord of the harvest, to send true
labourers into the harvest, and to build the walls of Jerusalem. Hear us, O Lord. We humbly beseech
thee for thy great namesake. We pray for our nation, for our
leaders, our political leaders, judges and magistrates, the king
and the royal household. We commend them all to thee and
pray that thou wilt give wisdom and guidance and direction in
all matters. We pray, Lord, that thou wilt
put a stop to war. We think of the terrible bloodshed
in Ukraine. Bring to naught the counsels
of the ungodly. We think also of the terrible
bloodshed in Israel. We pray that thou wouldst bring
these things, O Lord, to an end, if it could but please thee,
and that thou wouldst work mightily. Truly, Lord, we shall hear of
wars and rumours of wars, and, Lord, is it not so? The inhumanity
of man against man, and, Lord, it ever has been so, and we pray
that thou wouldst hear us. We thank thee that thou art God
over all and blessed for evermore. We pray for those who labour
in word and doctrine among the nations of the earth. We think
of Ian Sadler and that great work he does in so many countries
in the distribution and the exposition of the word of God. Lord, we
pray that thou would supply all his need. Remember the Savannah
Education Trust and that great work that is being done in Ghana
May it redound to thy great honour and glory, to the good of precious
souls and the sacred glory of thy name. Remember the Mombasa
mission and thy servant that labours there. Lord, remember
each for good. We do humbly beseech thee. And
we pray, most gracious Lord, for truly thankful hearts, thankful
for all the tender mercies of thy kind providence, which I
knew every morning. We thank thee, most gracious
Lord, for our little house of prayer. We thank thee, O Lord,
for the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal
Son of the eternal Father that was manifest in the flesh. We
thank thee for that glorious mystery of Godliness, We thank
Thee that He was made of all and made under the law. And we
thank Thee that He has fulfilled and honoured and magnified that
holy law on the behalf of His people and brought in everlasting
righteousness for His people. We thank Thee for the sacred,
sin-atoning sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross
of Calvary. Oh, we do thank Thee. that sin
has been put away, that divine justice has been satisfied, that
God and sinners are reconciled, and that peace is made between
God and man. We thank Thee for the love of
our Eternal Father. We thank Thee for the precious
gift of the Holy Ghost. We pray for all in affliction
and trouble and trial and perplexity, sorrow, sadness and bereavement. Oh, that thou wouldst be gracious,
that thou wouldst have mercy upon each one. Come and touch
one's lips with a live coal from off the heavenly altar. We ask,
with the forgiveness of all our sins, for Jesus Christ's sake,
Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 215. The tune is West Hill 262. Free
grace to every heaven-born soul, will be their constant theme,
long as eternal ages roll, they'll still adore the Lamb. Hymn 215,
tune West Hill 262. We wish to thank the earth for
the sun, where we may all shine in. For a better future, God
made it all. Oh. ? He who makes the morning ever
bright and new ? ? O come, O come, all ye faithful ? ? And praise the sun, the moon, and stars above
? ? We praise thee, Lord God of hosts
? ? We praise thee, Lord God of hosts ? ? The day is taken away ? ? And
slows down gently on the stream ? ? O say can you see by the dawn's
early light ? ? What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last
gleaming ? ? Which shone with the dawn's early
light ? ? O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
? ? I behold the living Son ? ? His
saints and saints above ? ? And their mercy beholds me now ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I direct your attention to the second epistle
to the Corinthians in chapter 12, reading the first part of
verse nine for our text. 2 Corinthians chapter 12, the
first part of verse nine. And he said unto me, My grace
is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. The apostle had a very chequered,
tried pathway. He was greatly blessed with the spirit of power. there were those at Corinth that
despised him. And this was one of the reasons
why he writes in the way that he does to them. They despised
who he was and they despised that he was a man who they thought
wasn't eloquent enough. He says himself in another place
that he lacked eloquence. But where he lacked eloquence,
he had the Spirit of Power. And you know, my friends, that
is the great thing that we need, the Spirit of Power. And that
is what the Apostle had. He was blessed with a great measure
of the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of Power. There were great signs
and wonders that followed his preaching. especially among the
Gentiles. And as he says here, he had wonderful
visions. And he's speaking of himself
when he says here in the beginning of the chapter, I will come to
visions and revelations. I knew a man in Christ and he's
speaking here of himself above 14 years ago. and so great was
that wonderful things that he saw he says how that he was caught
up into paradise and heard unspeakable words which is not lawful that
means not possible for a man to utter he saw such wonderful
glories and then the dear man he had
a temptation of Satan constantly with him. It says in verse 7,
And lest I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance
of revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet
me, lest I should be exalted above measure. And that was It
appears to be something that was with him constantly. He calls it an infirmity in his
flesh. And it, he says in the verse
eight, for this thing I besought the Lord thrice that it might
depart from me. There's no doubt it hindered
him. There's no doubt it humbled him. And there's no doubt that
it brought him constantly on his knees in prayer. Our Lord
Jesus Christ in his teachings, he said, for it is through much
tribulation that you shall enter the kingdom. And the apostle
knew this tribulation. Now, you know, it's very wisely
hidden exactly what this thorn in the flesh was. And I say very wisely because,
you know, we each may have a thorn in the flesh. It's not the same
as what everybody else is. You have a thorn in the flesh
that is peculiar to you. Peculiar to your character, to
your person. And the Lord knows how to humble
us. And what may humble you may not humble me. And equally the
other way round. the Lord fits our troubles, our
trials, our temptations. He allows and permits. In the
Word of God, in the life of Christ, this is so clearly illustrated
in the case of Legion, who was possessed with many devils. What I mean, what is illustrated
is the power of Christ. When Legion came running, and
he cried out, and it was the devil speaking in him, Jesus
thou son of the most high God, torment me not. It was the devil
speaking in Legion. And then those devils asked,
send us not out of the country, but into thee spies. What does
it illustrate to us? It illustrates that those evil
spirits could do nothing but what God allowed them to do,
what Jesus allowed them to do. They actually asked for permission
from Him not to be sent out of the country, but into this one. You see, It displays the wonderful
power of Jesus, the Son of God. It does. Wonderful power. Wonderful grace. He is able to
do abundantly more than we can even ask or think. And that's
what we see that is illustrated there. And we read in that case
of Legion, that he then permitted them. They couldn't go where
they wanted to go. They had to go where he sent
them. May we ever remember that, friends? The devil with his temptations. He's on a leash. He's not a free
agent. He's on a leash. and the Lord
can tighten that lease or loosen that lease. We read in the Word of God that
when the enemy comes in like a flood, Satan, the spirit of
the Lord will lift up a standard against him. And the standard
is Christ, the glorious person of our crucified Saviour. That
is the standard that is lifted up. for a poor sinner to look
to. Just like the children of Israel
when they were bitten with those fiery serpents and many thousands
of them died. And Moses was directed of God
to make a brazen serpent and set it up in the middle of the
camp of Israel. And whoever looked to that brazen
serpent lived, lived. Surely We see a picture there
of the Son of God becoming man. And whoever looks to Him, lives. In John's Gospel it says, as
the serpent was raised up in the wilderness, so shall the
Son of Man be. You see, it's a beautiful type
of Christ. And whoever looked, lived. wonderful grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Look unto me, all ye ends of
the earth, and be ye saved, for I am God, and there is none else.
It's the words of Christ to poor dying sinners. Look unto me. As the apostle himself says in
the Hebrews, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith, who for the joy that was set before me endured the cross,
despising the shame thereof, and is now set down at the right
hand of the Majesty on high. Look unto me, all ye ends of
the earth. You know, when we experience
what the Apostle is speaking of here, a messenger of Satan,
to buffet me. It buffets you. It does. And it brings you to the ends
of the earth. And it brings you to the end
of your own wisdom. It brings you to the end of self. I think of what the hymn writer
says when he speaks of self. and of the sinfulness of self
and the weakness of self. No help in self I find, yet oft
has sought it well. The native treasure of my mind
is sin and death and hell. And you know the dear apostle,
great as he was, as a great preacher and a great apostle, he laboured
more than them all. the abundance of fruit that came
from his ministry and still does to this day through the epistles
that he wrote to the churches. I would have felt, you know,
that the disciples after the ascension of Christ they chose
Matthias to take the place of Judas. I've often felt, was that their
choice? And that the choice of the 12th
Apostle was Saul of Tarsus. That's God's choice. That's God's
choice. Look how wonderfully he was anointed
with the Spirit. But having had these wonderful
visions, having seen into the third heaven, You might say,
what does it mean by the third heaven? Well, there is a heaven
immediately above us, the atmosphere in which we live. And then there
is the universe beyond that. That's the second heaven. And
then there is the third heaven, and that is the dwelling place
of God, where God is. And what Saul or Paul knew was
being caught up into paradise. and hearing unspeakable things,
things that he was not able to speak of. So glorious was the
sight that he saw in heaven. No doubt he would have seen the
center of heaven and the substance of heaven is Christ. Emmanuel's
all the glory in Emmanuel's land. I will not gaze on glory, but
on my King of grace, not on the crown he giveth, but on those
bleeding hands. You see, not to gaze on glory,
but to gaze on Christ. Some people speak very feelingly
of heaven and how they'll meet their wife and their friends
and their family and their mother and their father, but you know
friends, heaven is Christ. It's meeting Christ, it's being
with Christ. That is what heaven is. They shall neither be married
nor given in marriage in heaven. But Christ, they're married to
Christ. They go to the marriage supper
of the Lamb and they glory in Christ and in Christ alone. Emmanuel's
all the glory. Man, there is a real man with
wounds still gaping wide from which rich streams of blood once
ran in hands and feet and sigh. No metaphor, no, there's a sweet
reality in that glorious, risen and now exalted Saviour, our
great High Priest, sitting at the right hand of the Father.
That's all the glory in Emmanuel's land. In Revelation chapter 5
it speaks of heaven and John he beheld a lamb in the midst
of the throne as it had been slain and then they sung a new
song unto the lamb and they gloried in the lamb worthy as the lamb.
That's the glory of heaven. Whether we should know each other
in heaven I cannot definitively say, but I do know this, is that we
will glory alone in Christ. Not in earthly connections, family
connections, but in our connection, our union with Christ. Emmanuel's,
all the glory in Emmanuel's land. And what a wonderful thing. What
a wonderful thing that was, when Stephen, the first martyr, was
stoned to death, and he said he beheld Christ, standing, ready
to receive him. There's only two occasions that
are in the New Testament that speak of Christ standing in heaven.
All other times, he's sitting at the right hand of the Father.
When Stephen was martyred, Christ was there, ready to welcome him
into eternal glory and give him an abundant entrance into eternal
glory. He was standing, as Stephen testified. And then that lamb in the midst
of the throne as if it had been slain, standing in the midst
of the throne. That's the only two times we
read of Christ standing. All other times, He's sitting
at the right hand of the Father. For such an high priest have
we, who is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Oh, that we may behold his glory. For this thing, I besought the
Lord thrice, that it might depart from me. Now, you know, friends,
we do not read that the Lord took away that messenger of Satan. He gave him grace to bear it. And the purpose of that messenger
of Satan on this man that was so greatly blessed, the purpose
is that he should not be exalted in himself. And you know, friends,
the troubles, the trials, the afflictions, the perplexities
that come into the life of the Lord's people, it is to humble
us. Humble yourselves, therefore,
under the mighty hand of God, or that we may be brought indeed
to that place. lest I should be exalted above
measure. Through the abundance of the
revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the
messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted
above measure. And three times he asked the
Lord to take it away. Paul, you know, he felt that
it'd be so much better without this Thorn in the flesh. He would
be a better preacher, more fluent preacher, a more able preacher. But you know, divine wisdom saw
otherwise. Divine wisdom saw the need of
the flesh of Saul of Tarsus to be truly humbled. He did. And he sees your needs
too. and what you and I need to humble
us. And he knows how to humble us,
how to bring us down to nothing in ourselves. And he said unto
me, oh, that this may be a word in season, and he, that is the
eternal God, and he said unto me, my grace is sufficient for
thee. for my strength is made perfect
in weakness. What a paradox, isn't it? What
a mystery. That the strength of God is made
perfect in our weakness. And it's these things that come,
trials, may press of every sort You each know, every heart knows
its own bitterness. You know the things that truly
bring you to nothing and humble you and empty you. You know what
they are. I don't. You know, the Lord knows. And you may have been asking
the Lord to remove these things. But you see, do not read that
he did. because it was necessary. And
he was to prove day by day, my grace, that is the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength
is made perfect in weakness. When we feel our weakness, when
we feel our poverty, We would love to feel strong. But you
know the exhortation the apostle gives is be strong in the Lord,
not in yourself. Be strong in the Lord and in
the power of his mind. Father, we may know this strength
in the inner man. Joe, he said, I know what he
would sound to me. He would put strength into me. My grace. You think of the fullness
of grace that is in Jesus Christ. It's a fullness. It says in the first chapter
of John's Gospel, doesn't it? Concerning our Lord Jesus Christ,
and we beheld his glory. The glory as of the only begotten
of the Father. Full. Full. grace and truth. And he's as full now as he was
these 2,000 years ago. It's an undiminished supply of
grace that flows through Jesus Christ to the church. We have
that illustration given to us in the prophecy of Zachariah
when Zachariah was shown those two anointed ones beside the
Lord of the whole earth, and the oil of grace flowing from
those two anointed ones. Who are those two anointed ones?
They are Christ and the Holy Ghost. And it's through them
that the grace of God flows into the church, feeding the lamp
that keeps the church alive. It's the grace of God. in Christ. And the word of the Lord that
Zechariah spoke to Zerubbabel, not by might nor by power, but
by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts. By my spirit. And whether it's
in your personal troubles or whether it's in your church,
in your exercises in the church, we have to prove that it's entirely
by grace. By grace are ye saved, that not
of yourselves, it is the gift of God, the wonderful grace of
God in Christ. And oh, my beloved friends, that
inexhaustible supply of grace that is in him and that flows
into the church. My mind was much drawn to the
epistle of James and how James so beautifully speaks there of
that wonderful grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he says in
James chapter 4 and verse 6, But he giveth more grace. Whereof he saith, God resisteth
the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves
therefore to God, Maybe that's the message here for you this
morning. Submit yourselves, therefore,
to God. Resist the devil and he will
flee from you. Draw nigh to God and he will
draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners,
and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn and weep.
Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight
of the Lord, and He shall lift you up. You see, in the beginning
of this chapter four, there was much trouble in the church to
whom James was writing. It's a general epistle. From
whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence
for you? even of your lusts that war in
your members, ye lust and have not, ye kill and desire to have
and cannot obtain, ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because
ye ask not. Ye ask and receive not, because
ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers
and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world
is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be the
friend of the world is the enemy of God. You see, do you think
that the scripture said, in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us
lusteth to envy? But he giveth more grace. But he giveth more grace. And
as you've come to the house of God today, has this been your
desire? for more grace. You need more
grace. Even the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Indeed, in the first epistle
of the Corinthians, the apostle, he says there, ye know the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he were rich, yet for
our sakes, he became poor. That's the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And that's the grace that we
need. And he says here, my grace. You know, right the way through
the New Testament, it speaks of the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Of course, it does in the Old
Testament. It says in Genesis, concerning Noah, but Noah found
grace in the eyes of the Lord. that was in him that caused that
grace to come? Of course it wasn't. It was entirely
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that saved Noah and his family
from the flood and directed him to build the ark and that his
life may be preserved. And that ark is a beautiful type
of Christ. The hiding place, the refuge.
A refuge of sinners the gospel makes known. It is found in the
merits of Jesus alone, the weary, the tempted, the burdened by
sin were never exempted from entering therein. My grace is
sufficient for they. That wonderful grace of Christ. In all your circumstances, in
all your troubles, in all your trials, in all your temptations,
in all your perplexities, There is a sufficiency in our Lord
Jesus Christ. My God shall supply all your
need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. My grace is sufficient for thee. You don't need anything else.
You only need this wonderful grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. There may be things that exercise
your heart, burdens that burden your soul about things that are
to come. Maybe the Lord is exercising
you about certain things and you say, well I can't do that.
You're like Moses when the Lord sent him to Pharaoh, I am not
eloquent enough. I'm not eloquent enough. And
you know, friends, but this word answers what you're saying. You
say I'm not eloquent enough. My grace is sufficient for thee,
for my strength is made perfect in weakness. your weakness, your
insufficiency, your helplessness, your hopelessness, my grace,
even the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. It may be you have things
in your heart, maybe the ordinances of God's house, believers' baptism,
the Lord's Supper, those sacred precious ordinances of the sanctuary,
which our Lord Jesus Christ has given the church. And the disciples and the Lord's
servants are exhorted to fulfill those things as baptizing believers. And you say, but ah, how can
I go? You think of Samuel. When the
Lord had rejected Saul and Samuel said to the Lord, how can I go?
When the Lord directed him to go down to Bethlehem to the house
of Jesse. He said, how can I go? And whatever
it is that lays in your heart and you're saying now, how can
I go? My grace, my grace, not yours. My grace is sufficient
for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. You see, my beloved friends,
what a mystery, isn't it? What a paradox the Christian
life is. It has to be hanging upon Christ. looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. That's what it has to be. I am
the way, the truth and the life. It's to follow Christ. If any man will follow me, let
him deny himself, tape up his cross and follow me. And when you say, but I feel
to be such a poor sinner, my grace. We go back, we spoke from it
recently, didn't we? Those lovely words, spoken in
a derogatory way concerning Christ. How full of truth they are though.
This man, this holy God man, the man Christ Jesus, this man
receiveth sinners and eateth with them. Sinners can say, and
none but they, how precious is the Saviour. My grace is sufficient. You don't need anything else. You may think that to walk this
pathway that the Lord has laid in your heart, I need this, I
need that, I need something else. No. My grace is sufficient. You don't need anything else.
My grace is sufficient for thee, my strength. For my strength
is made perfect in weakness. There are those precious words. It's a mercy if we know anything
of what it is to walk in them. In Isaiah chapter 40, And we
read there in the latter part of Isaiah 40. We see the condition of Jacob
in verse 27. Jacob here and Israel represents
the whole church of God. In verse 27 it says, Why sayest
thou, O Jacob, and speakest thou Israel? My way is hid from the
Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God. Maybe that's
how you've come up. to the house of God today, my
way is hid from the Lord and my judgment is passed over from
my God. Hast thou not known, hast thou
not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of
the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary, there
is no searching of his understandings, in my grace is sufficient for
thee. He gave His power to the faint.
And to them that have no might, He increases strength. See, when I am weak, then am
I strong. Even the youth shall faint and
be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But, and here's
the secret, is living by faith. But they that wait upon the Lord
shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. And they shall walk and not faint. These are God's sacred promises
to his people. And all the promises of God are
yea and amen in Christ Jesus. Oh, that the Lord will enable
us to wait upon Him, to look to Him, to cleave to Him, to
cast all our care upon Him. My grace is sufficient for thee,
for my strength is made perfect in weakness. You see, they that
wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They that wait upon the Lord
are those that know their weakness, their insufficiency. They know
something of the awful iniquity of their heart, the corruption
of their nature. And these are great infirmities
too, They know their weakness to temptation. And it greatly
troubles them that one day they will be overwhelmed by those
temptations. You see, my grace, the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ, He knew what temptation was. He did. He knew what weakness was. There
appeared an angel from heaven strengthening him. He's the eternal
son of the Father in that holy human nature. He knew weakness. He knew all the sinless infirmities
of our nature. He knew what it was to be weak
and insufficient. He knows what sore temptations
mean, for he has felt the same. sympathized with you, touched
with the sympathy within. He knows our feeble frame. He
knows what sore temptations mean, for he has felt the same. My
grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in
infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions,
in distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. The apostle had learnt this lesson,
this painful lesson, And they had to go on learning it, and
so do you and I. We have to be brought to feel
our weakness and our insufficiency. And the path that the Lord leads
us in, and guides us through, will give us strength. He will
help us. He will support us. You see,
He's promised Christ in the The book of Samuel, Christ is called
the strength of Israel. It's written with a capital S.
It's a name given to Christ. The strength of Israel. He is
the strength of his people. His almighty strength. All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. All power, not some power, but
all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore
into all nations preaching the gospel unto every creature. Why? Because all power is the God
of all flesh. He's the God with whom nothing
is impossible. You know, when Moses protested
to the Lord that he was not eloquent enough, the Lord said, who made
man's mouth? The Lord could give words to
speak. Who made man's mouth? He could
give words to speak. You see, my beloved friends,
we mustn't underestimate how great this God is. Mustn't underestimate,
or as it says in the Psalms, it puts it this way, limiting
the Holy One of Israel. Limiting the Holy One of Israel.
It's a solemn thing to do that. There's an all-sufficiency in
the Almighty God of Israel. Fullness resides in Jesus, our
Head, and ever abides to answer our need. It does. There's a
wonderful fullness in Christ. There's a completeness in Christ. Oh, that the Lord would, by His
grace, teach us, humble us, Bring us to depend upon Him. Bring us to cast all our care
upon Him. Bring us to that place, and this
is the purpose of these troubles and trials, to bring us to wait
upon the Lord, to cast all our cares upon Him. You see, when
we come to the end of ourselves and what we can do, You see,
my beloved friends, by nature, we are full of ourselves. We're
full of what we can do. But it's a mercy if we're brought
to that place where we realize what we can't do. And lest I should be exalted
above measure through the abundance of the revelations that was given
to me, a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet
me, lest I should be exalted above measure. And he said unto
me, my grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made
perfect in weakness. To wait and to watch and to pray
is to pray your way along. That's the right way, is to pray
your way along. If the Lord didn't allow these
perplexing things to come into your pathway, he would hardly
ever hear from you in true prayer. It's when the Lord brings these
things into our pathway and makes us feel our weakness and our
insufficiency, it's then that we pray. It's then that we look
to It's then that we cleave to Him. It's then that we cast all
our care upon Him. Oh, that the Lord would enable
us to do that, constantly, to cast all our care. And in doing
that, you will then understand what the apostle means when he
says, when I am weak, then am I strong. my grace, all that wonderful
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that inexhaustible supply
of grace that there is in Jesus Christ, an undiminished supply,
an infinite supply. And he giveth more grace. He
giveth grace unto the humble. These words are written, my beloved
friends, for our instruction. He giveth more grace. You know,
there may be a particular temptation that you're subject to and there's
a great weakness in you to that temptation and you may have fallen
into it several times and then you say, I can't go back to the
Lord. That's pride. I can't go back
to the Lord, that's pride. There's only one way back for
you. That is in the Lord. Looking again, yet will I look
again to thy holy temple at Jerusalem. Christ, the precious blood of
sprinkling, yet will I look again. Oh, my beloved friends, may these
words remain with us. My grace is sufficient for thee,
for my strength is made perfect in weakness. May the Lord add
his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 184. The tune is City Road Chapel
805. A fullness resides in Jesus our
head, and ever abides to answer our need. The Father's good pleasure
has laid up in store a plentiful treasure to give to the poor. Hymn 184. June City Road Chapel,
805. Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free A beautiful treasure to give
to the poor. O tell the apostles, we need
not to fear, A new birth from pain, Jesus shall appear. ? His promise shall cheer us
? ? Through fire, death, and night ? ? His love shall cheer
us ? ? When angels arise ? The fountain of life, a voice
to redress, still more He bestows a praise of praise. His gifts in abundance we daily
receive. He bears a redundance for all
that we leave. His grace, all angels do know. From that dim old grave, will
Jesus this know? God still The portals and silence have
faded, For nothing can part us now, Jesus is here. ? When troubles attend ? ? The
danger of strife ? ? It's not every man ? ? That can ask to
die ? Conquered with your painting,
and ready to die. Whatever is forgotten is traced
back 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.