I can't remember. Let us commence our service this
afternoon by singing together hymn number 405. The tune is
Richmond Street, 394, to which Jesus and the chosen race subsist
a bond of sovereign grace, that hell with its infernal train
shall ne'er dissolve nor end in twain. Hymn 405, tune Richmond
Street, three nine four ? Which Jesus hath chosen me ?
? Such is the fullness of great grace ? That you with each infernal train
Shall ne'er be so bore and entwined This sacred home shall it never
break The water is clear, the passenger
safe. Rest Thou, deep safe, at shore
of late. O Lamb of God, Lord of His Holiness. Give us, O God, the hearty gift of
love, How sad to find her in three months Christ was appointed
to repeat Oh, that they might find love
in Him. His sacred youth can confirm
and strong How great Thou, how great Thou, how sweet the sound
That when Thou hast given me of his infinite deity. One in the two hundred million heroes,
One when He trod upon His foot One when in death He took His
seat ? Of seraphim, seraphim ? ? This sacred morn ? ? For all the years there
is ? Lord, all the angels shall have this feast then, with Him
they shall eat. Their life, their sortie, and
their home. The sinner's peace What an ace
man be, Whose blood should set his people free. All memories of affections banished
before relations were began. See the waves, come upon the
waves, each gallop of life in chorus. That in the cross I'll speak
with Him, And He's by God's Spirit still. Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the First Epistle of John, Chapter 1. The First Epistle of John, Chapter
1. 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. And these things write we unto
you, that your joy may be full. This then is the message which
we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light,
And in him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light,
as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another.
And the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanseth us from all
sin. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar and his word is not in us. May the Lord bless
the reading of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit
of real prayer. Almighty, most merciful and eternal
God, we do desire to bow before thy great majesty, to call upon
thy great and holy name. We do pray that thou in thy precious
mercy was draw us to thyself. We come like the spouse of old,
draw me, we will run after thee. Oh, do grant that divine drawing. None come except the Father draw. May we know that sacred drawing
in our hearts this day. We do humbly beseech thee. And
may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God our
Father and the sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest and abide
upon us. That our eyes may be opened,
our ears opened, our hearts opened, that we may be made willing to
walk in thy ways and in thy truth, that we may be enabled to lay
aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us,
and run with patience the race that is set before us, 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, and is now set down at the right hand of the Majesty
on high. Lead us by thy blessed Spirit.
We do humbly beseech thee. Divine and blessed Spirit of
Truth, we pray for thy heavenly power, not only in the pulpit,
but in the congregation too, that there may be given, O Lord,
those ears to hear, those eyes to see, those hearts to receive,
that we may taste and handle and feel of the good word of
life. We do humbly beseech of thee. We thank Thee for those
wonderful truths of our most holy faith, in that the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. May we indeed behold His
glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth. We thank Thee for that wonderful,
precious foundation truth of the incarnation of the Son
of God. We thank Thee for that holy life
He lived as a man here upon earth. We thank Thee, most gracious
Lord, for the bringing in of everlasting righteousness in
that holy life of Jesus, the Son of God. We thank Thee that He is made
unto us Jehovah Sidkenu, the Lord our righteousness. We thank Thee for those precious
words and she shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Oh,
we do pray that we may lay hold of these precious truths of our
most holy faith, that we may taste and handle and feel of
the good word of life. We pray, most blessed spirit
of truth, that those make the word a living word, that it may
be to us the living word of the living God, that it may be with
us, for our gospel came unto you, not in word only, but in
power, in the Holy Ghost, and with much assurance. Lord, we
pray that it may be so. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst open the word open the precious doctrine of
Christ and the wonderful glory of his person and the fullness
of his grace. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily and he is full of grace and truth. May
we be partakers of that grace and truth that is in Jesus Christ
our Lord. We pray for that oneness of spirit,
of mind, and of soul. We pray, Lord, that those precious
words, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus,
may it be true of each one of us, that we may have the mind
of Christ and the spirit of Christ, and that we pray, most gracious
Lord, that there would still fill our hearts with gratitude
for that precious sacrifice, for that offering for sin and
for uncleanness of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary,
that propitiation for our sins. May we have that realisation
that he was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities
and the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes
we are healed. Be made unto us, O Lord, Jehovah
Rophi, in body and in soul. We do humbly beseech thee. I
am the Lord that healeth thee. Heal us, Emmanuel, here we are,
waiting to feel thy touch. Deep-wounded souls, to thee repair
and save your we ourselves. Oh, we do thank thee for the
blood of Christ that cleanses from all sin, the precious blood
of the Lamb. What is that name that speaks
for me in heaven's high courts above, and from the curse has
set me free, it is Jesus' precious blood. We do thank thee for the
precious blood of the Lamb. We thank thee that he died for
our sins. He poured out his soul unto death,
but he rose again for our justification. And thou hast said, their sins
and their iniquities will I remember no more. As far as the east is
from the west. Lord, what wonderful words of
grace. As far as the east is from the
west, so far. have I removed thy sins from
thee, O Israel. We do pray, most gracious Lord,
fill our hearts with gratitude, not only that death has been
destroyed and swallowed up in victory, but our Lord Jesus Christ
has bodily entered into heaven, and that we have indeed an advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. We do thank thee
that it is so. But we do pray that we might
know these things in their living power in our hearts even today,
and that we may have that fellowship that we've read of in thy word,
union and communion in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the gospel of
his grace, knowing the love of our eternal Father, in his glorious
person, gracious God. So come, here this afternoon,
and bless us. We pray to be made more spiritually
minded, that our heart and our affections may be set upon things
above. Sometimes, Lord, when we're in
the sanctuary, our hearts and minds are everywhere but on the
things of God. And we do pray to be delivered
from a wandering mind, and our hearts may be drawn heavenward,
Godward, and that we may know and taste and handle and feel
of the good word of life, and that we may have that realization,
"'Tis He instead of me is seen when I approach to God." Lord,
these are wonderful, precious truths of our most holy faith,
and we pray that we may truly experience them. We pray that
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the
communion of the Holy Ghost may indeed rest and abide upon us. Pray for our brethren the deacons
that needed grace and wisdom and help may be given them. Pray
for our brethren and sisters in church fellowship. Pray most
gracious Lord that we may be of one mind and of one spirit,
and that we may be delivered from the divisions of the enemy. And when the enemy comes in like
a flood, may the spirit of the Lord lift up a standard against
him. We do humbly beseech thee for
thy great name's sake. And we do pray that we may be
enabled to pray for one another. serve one another, bear one another's
burdens, thereby fulfilling the law of Christ. And we pray that
our love may not be in word only, but in deed and in truth, for
thy great name's sake. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou hast blessed the little ones and the children. We thank
thee for them. We love to see them and hear
them in the sanctuary. Oh, that thou wouldst bless them
indeed in their young and tender years. Put the fear of the Lord,
which is the beginning of wisdom, into their hearts. And, O Lord
God, we pray for the young friends. Oh, that thou wouldst be gracious
unto them and bless them and supply all their many returning
needs. whether it be in their education
or employment, or indeed regarding a partner in life journey. But
above all, bring them to living, vital, saving faith in Jesus
Christ, that they may become true followers of thee and of
those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst
grant a generation may be raised up to call thee the Redeemer
blessed, for thy great name's sake. O Lord God, we do pray
always to remember parents and all and each one in the midst
of the journey of life, and graciously grant, O Lord, that wisdom and
guidance and direction to bring up their children in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord, We pray that we may not stumble,
our children, by our walk or our conduct or our conversation.
Or we pray to be more spiritually minded, more loving, more kind,
more compassionate, even as our Lord Jesus Christ was. We pray
to be delivered from the temptations of Satan, from the power and
dominion of sin, and that thou wouldst graciously grant that
when the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord
may lift up the standard against him. Lord, we pray that the light
and truth and power of gospel grace may shine forth into this
village and the surrounding villages and hamlets. The strongholds
of Satan may be pulled down the kingdom of our Lord Jesus set
up in the hearts of sinners. Let thy work appear unto thy
servants and thy glory unto their children, O Lord, we do beseech
thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou in thy precious mercy wouldst grant thy healing hand,
thy supporting mercy, thy sustaining grace, for we need it day by
day. Remember each one of us in the
evening time of life's journey. Lord, we pray that as the outward
man perishes, the inward man may be renewed day by day. Grant
that it may be so, Lord. May thy word be a lamp unto our
feet and a light unto our path. We pray for those that listen
on the internet, that thy blessing may rest upon thy word, that
it may be to the good of their precious immortal souls, we do
humbly beseech of thee. Lord, we do pray that thou, in
thy great mercy, would remember all thy servants as they labour
in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion. Set them free,
set them at liberty, graciously grant them, and thus saith the
Lord, Help them to preach the word, be instant in season and
out of season. And we pray thee, the great Lord
of the harvest, that thou would yet send true labourers into
the harvest. Pray for our young friend who
was recently sent forth into the ministry, that thy grace
all sufficient may be his supply. We do humbly beseech of thee. O Lord, we do pray that thou
wouldst be with us now as we turn to thy holy word. Come and
open thy word to our heart and to our understanding. Grant that
we may delve into the deep that couches beneath in thy word,
and that our hearts may be sweetly touched, and that one's lips
may be touched with a live call. from off the heavenly altar.
We ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 264. The tune is Unity. 427. Far from my thoughts, vain world,
be gone. Let my religious hours alone.
Fain would my eyes, my Saviour see. I wait a visit, Lord, from
Thee. Hymn 264, tune Unity, 427. Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? My eyes are the Savior's king,
And He will take all from me. ? And the birds go in early night
? ? And the birds go in early night ? ? And the birds go in
early night ? ? Come, my Jesus, from heaven above
? ? And fill my soul with thanksgiving now. ? Earth is wide in ocean, with
verdant plain, and on high in heaven, ? And his cheek covers by the shine
of the sun ? Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave ? My praise to thee ? ? Thou that
takest away the sins of the world ? ? Give them a new life ? ?
Give them a new life ? Blessed is the fount in which
thou shalt dwell, Thou seed of Israel, God's reign and joy,
? And all the angels ? ? Hush the
world ? ? Pray to His praise ? ? And all His love ? ? Hail, hail, hail, hail, hail,
hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail, hail,
hail. ? How can you speak of salvation
? ? When God's love is in all creatures? ? greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, direct your attention to the chapter that we read,
the first chapter of the first epistle of John, and we'll read
the last clause of verse three. First epistle of John, chapter
one, and the last clause of verse three. And truly, our fellowship
is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. What a great mercy,
my beloved friends, if we know what this fellowship is. I felt
in singing that hymn we just sung together and considering
trying to speak on these words, it seemed to come to my mind,
the place where I'm now standing is holy ground, to enter experimentally into
that spiritual-mindedness, union and communion with Jesus Christ. Like the Apostle Paul, he so
longed for that. He says in Philippians chapter
3, that I may know him in the power of his resurrection. You want to know the Lord Jesus
Christ, to know my Jesus crucified, by far excels all things beside. To know and truly our fellowship,
our union, our communion, Fellowship is a two-sided thing. It's the love of Christ to be
shed abroad in our hearts, and our love to burn towards Him.
And then we shall know true fellowship, true union, true communion, and
truly. You know this word truly is a
very similar word Dr. Owen, he speaks on this and he
says it's like it says verily, verily or certainly, certainly,
truly, truly. It's a word that is very strong
and truly our fellowship. It's something that is beyond
our conception. How can the eternal the almighty,
the holy God of heaven. Hold converse with poor worms
of the earth, and to know union and communion with the poor sinner
here upon earth. God is holy, we are unholy. God is love, we are full of enmity. That's our state and that's our
condition by nature. There is that enmity in our hearts
by nature. And what needs to happen for
this true fellowship is for the Holy Ghost to work in our hearts. He dwells there. He's the spirit
of truth. He makes known truth. And His
indwelling in the soul makes the believer spiritually
minded. It flows entirely from that divine
person, power and grace of the Holy Ghost. The only place that we can have
converse and communion with God is in Jesus Christ. There is one God, and one mediated
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. That's the only
place that you and I can ever converse with God, can ever know
union and communion with God. As Jesus said, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me, but by me. It's the only place. The only
way that this can happen and truly our fellowship, our union. William Gadsby has one of those
beautiful hymns, In union with the Lamb, from condemnation free,
the saints from everlasting were and shall forever be in union. My beloved friends, what do you
and what do I know of this union and this communion with our God
in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, who He has appointed
to reconcile. I'm thinking that one of our
hymns this morning, it spoke of the daysman. Christ is our
daysman. It's a term that is used in the
book of Job, a daisman. But what a beautiful illustration
that name is of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, the daisman. In the ancient world, it was
the daisman would reconcile two people together. He would put
his hand on the shoulder of one and his hand on the shoulder
of the other and he would seek to reconcile and bring them together
when there were those that were opposed. And our Lord Jesus Christ
is a glorious day's man. We all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And The Lord Jesus Christ is
that perfect days man in this sense, that he is God and man
in one person. He's the eternal son of the eternal
father. He was manifest in the flesh
to redeem his people. And he is our great mediator,
the mediator between God and man. The Apostle Paul in the
Epistle to the Hebrews, he says, for such an high priest have
we, who is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Our great high priest, one that
stands between, one that reconciles, one that brings peace and salvation
and redemption. but he's God and man in one person. And just as the ancient office
of the daisman, he can put his hand upon the shoulder of his
eternal father, and he can put his hand on the shoulder of a
poor sinner. Being a man, he can reconcile
them together. And that is what he does. He
brings a poor sinner into union, into communion, You think of
that emphasis in the Epistle to the Corinthians, that well-known
doxology, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God,
the communion of the Holy Ghost. At the very heart of this communion
is the Holy Ghost. He reveals the things of Jesus. He brings us into union with
Jesus Christ. He works faith in our hearts.
He gives real repentance and godly sorrow for sin. And he sheds abroad, just as
the Apostle says, I think it's in the Romans, the love of Christ
is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. And when he
does that, there's union, there's communion, one with another. what appeared to be utterly impossible
because we are poor, wretched, sinful worms of the earth. We
are the fallen sons and daughters of Adam. We go forth from the
womb speaking lies and hypocrisy. We are not spiritually minded.
God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him
in spirit and in truth. And the natural man cannot do
that. It's beyond his capacity. You
might say, why? Because he's spiritually dead.
You and I, by nature, are spiritually dead. We're dead in trespasses
and in sins. And God is a spirit. We must
be worshipped in spirit. We cannot do that. It's utterly
impossible that we could do it. You know, in the The Apostle
lays it out so clearly in the first epistle to the Corinthians
in chapter 2. How clearly he opens up to us
the divine work of the Spirit in the heart. He quotes from Isaiah in verse
9, But as it is written, I have not seen nor heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared
for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man, save the Spirit of man which is in him?
Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the
spirit of the world but the spirit which is of God that we might
know the things that are freely given to us of God which things
also we speak not in the words which man's wisdom teaches but
which the Holy Ghost teaches comparing spiritual things with
spiritual but the natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto Neither can he know them
because they are spiritually discerned. And man, by nature, has no spiritual
discernment. We're dead. Spiritually dead. We cannot see by reason of darkness. But he that is spiritual, that
is he that is born again, he in whom the Holy Ghost dwells,
that's what makes true believer. The Apostle here, he says in
the third chapter of the first epistle and it says in verse
16, know ye not that ye are the temple of God and that the Spirit
of God dwelleth in you? That's what makes a believer,
the Spirit of God dwelling in you and truly awakening you. to your lost condition, to your
hopeless condition, to your sinful condition. All the time that
we're upon this earth, the Holy Spirit, if we're truly born of
God, he will be constantly convincing us or reproving us and he will
witness in our hearts that we're sinners. And that will bring
you again and again on your knees because the Holy Spirit will
give you to feel your need then you'll have a spiritual
discernment, you'll have a spiritual judgment, given to you by the
Holy Ghost and is dwelling in your heart. Are you spiritually minded? Am
I spiritually minded? Does the Holy Ghost dwell in
your heart and my heart? Vital friends, I'm sure this
morning we quoted that word from Romans 8. If any man have not
the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. It's very searchy, isn't
it? But he that is spiritual judgeth
all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For hath known
the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him, but we, that
is, believers in whom is the Spirit of Christ, but we have
the mind of Christ. And what is so exceedingly trying
to the living child of God is that so often they have an earthly,
fleshly, carnal mind that seems to take control of them. You see, my beloved friends,
What a trial that is. The apostle in Romans 8, he says,
that which I would, I do not. That which I would not, I do.
I find a law within my members that when I would do good, that
evil is present with me. You see, and that causes much
consternation in the heart of the true believer. It's this
battle that goes on within their soul, within their very person.
You see the apostle here writing to the Corinthians, a truly Christian
church, and he says in the very next chapter, and I brethren
could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal,
even as unto babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with
meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it, neither yet
now are ye able. And it grieved him much that
that was the case. They knew so little of the mind
of the Spirit and of the Spirit of Christ among them. What is
the outstanding thing of the church at Corinth is that they
had a great many spiritual gifts. It's very clear when you read
through both the epistles that they were given great spiritual
gifts. But you know, those spiritual gifts, though they come from
the grace of God, They were not grace itself. They were very
fluent in speaking tongues, etc. But they were also very carnal.
I mean, Corinth was a trading city. It was a seaport. And full of all manner of uncleanness
and unrighteousness. It does appear that in the church
at Corinth, though they professed the name of Christ, they were
very carnally minded. And the Apostle had to reprove
them, because they were so carnally minded, because they didn't have
the mind of Christ. You see, and he had to deal with
them in that way, he said, I can only feed you with milk because
you do not have the senses that discern them, to discern that
which is strong meat. You see, and it grieved him that
it was like that. And truly, our fellowship is
with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. You see, it begins here in this
epistle, that which was from the beginning, which we have
heard, says the Apostle John, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the
word of life. Christ is the Word of Life. What
have you tasted, and I, of the Word of Life? What do we know
of Christ? John Newton, in his hymn, he
says, what think ye of Christ is the test. What do we know of Christ? What
we experienced of the love of Christ. And to be made spiritually
minded, to be drawn unto Christ and see such a loveliness in
Christ and such a beauty in Christ. And say, feelingly, I could from
all things parted be, but never, never, Lord, from Thee. Union
and communion. See, for the life was manifested
and we have seen it and bear witness and shown to you that
eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested, that
means shown, unto us. It was shown unto us. It was
revealed. When it says was manifested,
it was revealed. When Simeon came into the temple,
when Joseph and Mary brought the Holy Child, Jesus, to be
done according to the law, we read he was brought by the Spirit
at that moment into the temple. And he took that child in his
arms. And he knew who that child was,
that little babe, was the Son of God manifest in the flesh.
Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for thine eyes
have seen thy salvation. He says it was revealed unto
him by the Holy Ghost. There was Anna the prophetess,
It was revealed unto her, they were waiting for the consolation
of Israel. They saw a beauty and a loveliness
in Christ. What beauty, what loveliness
do you and I see in Christ? Do you long for that union and
communion with Christ? That which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us. See this union, this communion
between brethren, this spirit of love. And he says that you, that ye
also may have fellowship with us. Do you know that oneness, that
union, that communion that there is in Jesus Christ? I love that. Just to quote it correctly, John
17, in that beautiful prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ, he
speaks there of this oneness, this union, this communion. And he says in verse 21, he's
praying here for his church, that they all may be one, as
thou, Father, art in me and I in thee, that they also may be one
in us. that the world may believe that
thou hast sent me, that they may be one, and the glory which
thou gavest me I have given them, that they may be one even as
we are one. You think of that oneness, that
perfect oneness in the Trinity of persons, that one true God,
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost in that one true God. And this is what he's referring
to. that they may be one, even as we are one, I in them, and
thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that
the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved
them, as thou hast loved me. That wonderful love of Christ. You see, that wonderful spirit
of love, that spirit of kindness, that spirit of compassion. We
see it displayed in Jesus Christ continually, that spirit of love,
that spirit of compassion. It's wonderful, my beloved friends,
when our hearts are truly melted in love. And you view the Lord's people,
they are the Lord's people, and you love them as the Lord's people. You feel a union to them. And
there are times when you have communion with them. You see, and, as thou hast loved
me, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me
be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory, which thou
hast given me. For thou lovest me before the
foundation of the world. You know, this love, which is
the Really, the foundation of communion is love, one to another,
in Christ. This bringing together in Christ,
in union with the Lamb, and truly our fellowship is with the Father
and with His Son, Jesus Christ. You know, He says here some very
searching things. He immediately follows on here,
verse 5, this then is the message which we have heard of him and
declare unto you that God is light and in him is no darkness
at all. If we say we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. To walk in darkness is to walk
in sin, in unrighteousness, that's what he means by that. But if
we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
his Son, cleanseth us from all sin. What beautiful words, what
comprehensive words, from all This is not a partial salvation. This is a complete salvation. We are complete in Him. We are
accepted in the Beloved. It's a full salvation. You see, in the blood of Jesus
Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin. What a beautiful
word. from all sin, not some sin. In a sense, I know it's poetic
license, but the hymn writer says, unless the shadow of a
spot should on my soul be found, he took the garment he had wrought
and cast it all around. You know, the fact of the matter
is that the blood of Jesus cleanses from all sin. There'll be no
shadow of a spot found on the believer. His blood has cleansed
them from all sin. And his everlasting righteousness
clothes them, covers their nakedness. What a complete salvation, isn't
it? Not only we spoke of it this
morning in the Psalm 45, the king's daughter is all glories
within. Her clothing is of wrought gold. She's all glorious within
because she's washed in the blood of Christ. Because He was wounded for our
transgressions and bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement
of our peace was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed. That's where salvation is. It's
in a crucified Saviour. That glorious holy God, Man.
who died for our sins, who rose again for our justification.
To declare that we are without sin, that's what justification
means. To declare that we are without
sin. However can that be? A poor,
vile, wretched sinner, a fallen son or daughter of Adam, and
yet to declare them innocent and without sin. But that is
the gospel of the grace of God in Jesus Christ. therefore being
justified by faith, declared without sin by faith, we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, my beloved
friends, what do you know? Really, experimentally, what
have you handled? What have you seen, as it says
here? What has the Lord revealed to you? of Jesus Christ? What do you
know of Jesus Christ? Do you know His love shed abroad
in your heart? Do you know what it is to weep?
To weep over Him when He suffered and bled and died for your sins? For your heart to be broken because
of that dear Saviour? who took our sins and nailed
them to His cross. He was numbered among the transgressors,
for He bared the sin of many. Now, He has something to say
here about sin. In this latter part of this chapter
1, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. and the truth is not in us. It's
a solemn thought, isn't it? I often use that expression. I couldn't give you anything
for your religion if it doesn't have sin in it. And what I mean
is exactly what it says here. If we say we have no sin, we
deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If the Holy Spirit truly dwells
in our hearts, think of those words of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and when He has come, He is the Holy Ghost. And when He has come,
He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness, and of
judgment. So, if you have a real religion,
if the Holy Spirit dwells in the heart, if you've truly been
convinced of your sin, You'll know what sin is. And you'll
know how sin defiles. And you will not say that we
have no sin. Because you know that you have
sin. You feel that you have sin. To see sin smarts but lightly. To own with lip confession is
easier still. But oh, to feel cuts deep beyond
expression. feel yourself a sinner, to feel
yourself undone, or make you haste to kiss the sun, to be
delivered from that sin and from the power of that sin, if we
say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not
in us. I take that to mean in this sense
of the word, the truth, the spirit of truth. If we say that we have
no sins, the spirit of truth doesn't dwell in our hearts.
Because his divine work is to truly convince of sin. If we confess our sins, now this
is the grace of God in Jesus Christ. If we confess, our sins
is to come to Him in confession of sin, if we confess our sins. If we hide our sins, David says
something of it in the Psalms, doesn't he? That if we hide our
sins, oh, that we may be brought to
confess our sins and be brought to Jesus Christ. If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And that, of course, is in verse
seven. And the blood of Jesus Christ,
his son, cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar. Why? Because in his word he said,
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And if we
say that we have no sin, we make him a liar. And his word is not
in us. So there's one thing very clear,
my beloved friends here, that where the spirit of God dwells
and works, in the heart of a poor sinner, there's a sense and a
realization of their sinfulness. And there's a sense and a realization
of God's holiness. It's what Christ means when he
says, when he, the spirit of truth, is come, he will reprove
the world of sin. That is of our own sin. And of
righteousness, that is of God's righteousness and God's holiness. He will convince us of sin, of
righteousness, and of judgment. He will convince us that God,
who is the judge of all the earth, that one day we must appear at
the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. Sinner, are you ready to appear
at the judgment of Jesus Christ? We all must appear there, for
we must all appear there. The apostle says it in the Hebrews,
as it is appointed unto man once to die. Why? The wages of sin is death. It's
appointed unto man once to die, so after death the judgment.
If we say, we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word
is not in us. My little children, these things
write I unto you, that ye sin not, and if any man sin, We have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. What a wonderful revelation,
isn't it? An advocate, one that stands between, one that pleads
our cause. That's what an advocate does,
doesn't it? It's what Jesus does for his people. He shows his
sacred atonement for sin before his heavenly Father. and that
sinner is absolved from all their sins and their iniquities and
he is the propitiation for our sins and not ours only but also
for the sins of the whole world. What does it mean when it says
here for the sins of the whole world? It means that the only
saviour in the whole world is Jesus Christ. Doesn't matter
where you live, doesn't matter what tribe you belong to, what
people you belong to, what religion you belong to, there's only one
place whereby a poor sinner can be reconciled to the only true
God and that is in his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. And truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. My mind Keeps going
to those beautiful words in Paul's epistle to the Ephesians in chapter
three. And these were the words that
the Lord used to bring me out of darkness and bondage into
light and liberty. In Ephesians three, verse 17. That Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith. That ye, being rooted and grounded
in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth
and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ
which passeth knowledge. It means it passes all understanding
that you might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now
unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto
him be glory in the church, by Jesus Christ throughout all ages,
world without end. You see that fellowship, that
love, that union, that communion between Christ and the true believer. Oh that we could know more of
this union, more of this communion. and truly our fellowship is with
the Father. You think of those lovely words
of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the Father himself loveth you.
The Father himself loveth you. I always feel, we know it's from
the three persons of the Trinity, but I always feel there's an
emphasis in that word in Jeremiah, I feel it's the, by the very
words that are spoken, it's our eternal Father that is speaking
there. Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love and therefore with loving kindness have I drawn
thee and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his
Son, Jesus Christ, to be drawn to be drawn to Christ, to be
drawn to our Eternal Father. You see, Lord Jesus himself teaches
us, Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Our Father. It's a wonderful
thing, you know, my beloved friends, when we can feelingly say, Our
Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, to feel
it in our hearts. Loved with an everlasting love
and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son,
Jesus Christ. May the Lord have his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 960. The tune is Hope, 350. By faith in Christ I walk with
God. With heaven my journey's end
in view. Supported by his staff and rod,
my road is safe and pleasant true. Hymn 960, tune Hope, 350.
? O great and true ? ? Thy holy
cross ? ? With heaven and earth ? ? Is held in view ? ? Star-spangled
banner ? ? I look to see him as I do ? ?
I travel through the desert wide ? Heav'nly Lord, we adore Thee
still God in our shame, to Him I call,
and world without end. Cruises and dangers strong I
come, And earth and heaven my cross withstand. ? Thy triumph over all thy foes
? ? Now declare this, O mighty men ? With him sweet comforts I may
return, Great as he is, I can be free. I tell Him all my grief
and pain, and He reveals His love to me. Some cordials draw, His word
He brings, Whene'er my need of fear replenish, At once my soul 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 for evermore. Amen.