May the Lord help us to commence
our worship this evening with hymn number 642, the tune St. Godric 556. Once more, dear God
of grace, thy earthly courts we tread. We come to see thy
face and banquet with our head. We long, we fade, we pant for
thee. and hope that with us thou wilt
be. Hymn 642, tunes and Godric 556. O dear God of grace, Thy earthly
heart we pray, We come to see Thy face, And thank Thee with
our head. We long, we pray, we pray for
thee, and hurt thou, with us thou wilt be. Good voice and vow we have, Lord
goodness have to bring, We cannot well despair, while Jesus is
again. He will come to us in the Christ,
upon His praise to Come and feast With Christ we would be fed By
faith upon Him live We wish thou of the bread, and thou the fish
to give. Lord, fill us up with this rich
food, and let us May the Lord help us in reading
Psalm 45 and the Song of Solomon, Chapter 1. Psalm 45, and Song
of Solomon, chapter one. Psalm 45, to the chief musician,
the poncho shanim, for the sons of Korah, maskil, a song of loves. My heart is inditing, or overflowing,
a good matter. I speak of the things which I
have made touching the king. My tongue is the pen of a ready
writer. Thou art fairer than the children
of men. Grace is poured into thy lips. Therefore, God have blessed thee
forever. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh,
O most mighty. with thy glory and thy majesty. And in thy majesty, ride prosperously
because of truth and meekness and righteousness, and thy right
hand shall teach thee terrible things. Thine arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under
thee. Thy throne, O God, is for ever
and ever, The scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness and
hatest wickedness. Therefore God, thy God, hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. All thy garments, melamur and
aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces whereby they have
made thee glad. King's daughters were among the
honorable women. Upon thy right hand did stand
the queen in gold of Ophir. Hearken, O daughter, and consider
and incline thine ear. Forget also thine own people
in thy father's house. So shall the king greatly desire
thy beauty, For he is thy Lord, and worship thou him. And the daughter of Tyre shall
be there with a gift. Even the rich among the people
shall entreat thy favour. The king's daughter is all glorious
within. Her clothing is of wrought gold. She shall be brought unto the
king in raiment of needlework, The virgins, her companions that
follow her, shall be brought unto thee. With gladness and
rejoicing shall they be brought. They shall enter into the king's
palace. Instead of thy fathers shall
be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. I will make thy name to be remembered
in all generations. Therefore shall the people praise
thee forever and ever. And we turn to the Song of Solomon,
chapter one. The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's. Let him kiss me with the kisses
of his mouth. For thy love is better than wine. Because of the savour of thy
good ointments, thy name is as ointment poured forth. Therefore
do the virgins love thee. Draw me, we will run after thee. The king hath brought me into
his chambers. We will be glad and rejoice in
thee. We will remember thy love more
than wine. the upright love thee. I am black, but comely, O ye
daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains
of Solomon. Look not upon me, because I am
black, because the sun hath looked upon me, and my mother's children
were angry with me. They made me keeper of the vineyards,
But mine own vineyard have I not kept. Tell me, O thou whom my
soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou makest thy flock to
rest at noon? For why should I be as one that
turneth aside by the flocks of thy companions? If thou know
not, O thou fairest among women, Go thy way forth by the footsteps
of the flock, And feed thy kids beside the shepherd's tents.
I have compared thee, O my love, To a company of horses in Pharaoh's
chariots. Thy cheeks are comely with rows
of jewels, Thy neck with chains of gold. We will make thee borders
of gold with studs, of silver. While the king sitteth at his
table, my spikenard, sendeth forth the smell thereof. A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved
unto me, he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts. My beloved
is unto me as a cluster of campfire in the vineyards of Angedi. Behold thou art fair, my love,
Behold thou art fair, thou hast dove's eyes. Behold thou art
fair, my beloved, yea, pleasant. Also our bed is green, the beams
of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir. Praise the Lord. Bless us with some understanding
of those words that we have read and help us as we come before
him in prayer. Most holy, almighty, Lord God,
we do come before thee as a few poor sinners this evening, seeking
that thou wouldest bless thy word amongst us. we do pray that thou would look
upon us in mercy. We have nothing to offer thee.
We come before thee exactly as we are. But Lord, we do thank
thee that as we present ourselves in thy house and those Lord that
are unable to listen in, that Lord, we come seeking that thou
would grant that portion for seven and also for eight. And it is a great mercy, Lord,
that thou art not restricted to seven or eight. And Lord,
what a wonderful favor it would be if each one could go home
with something tonight. Lord, we plead then that we might
feel and know that the Holy Spirit is amongst us as we gather here. And we do pray, Lord, that thou
will bless that which was attended to in the prayer meeting this
Tuesday evening, both in terms of the address and those prayers
offered up unto thee. Lord, we plead that it may have
been acceptable in thy sight, Lord, as much as poor man's prayer
can be. And that Lord, having been washed
and cleansed, those prayers presented before the Father, in readiness,
Lord, to be answered in night time and way. And now, Lord,
as we come before the friends for their preaching service this
week, we do plead that, Lord, they will be favoured. Lord,
no doubt they are looking forward to the return of their dear pastor. And we do pray, Lord, thou would
be with him. We pray that he may have returned
home safely this day, and Lord, that he may rest and recuperate
for a couple of days before thy day, when thou would send him
here, Lord, with thy word, and Lord, that blessing amongst his
dear flock. We do pray for him, Lord, that
that may have been a season of rest and change, that he would
have benefited in body, In mind and in soul, we pray for him
and lovingly commend him to thee, Lord, in that lonely pathway
that he has, and also, Lord, in that pastoral responsibility
and indeed in preaching the word amongst the dear friends here
and elsewhere. O Lord, we plead that thou would
remember him for good and bless him abundantly. And do grant,
Lord, those signs following his preaching here and those encouragements
yet to him, that thou art with him, thou art using him for the
good of Zion and for the good of this flock here. Lord, thou
knowest how thy servants can so easily become very tried,
very tempted at the enemy that they are, Lord, as it were, beating
the air. But oh, we do pray, Lord, that
there may be an entering of the word. There may be a practicing
of those things that are preached. And Lord, there may be that due
attention given by the dear church and people here to the word spoken,
and Lord, and suffering from time to time, the word of exhortation,
hearing, Lord, the word of support, watching, Lord, and prayerfully
praying for their dear pastor. And Lord, whatever the words
are that he comes with, that Lord, we do plead that thou will
hold him up and hold him on. So Lord, do remember his dear
people and their pastor that thou was placed over them. And
Lord, we do pray for the deacons, one dear friend and his family,
his dear one and family away at this time, we pray for them,
that that will have been a time of rest and change to them that
will refresh them as well. And oh Lord, we pray for our
friend at the desk tonight, that help will be given, Lord. And
Lord, we pray that thou will be with him in all that he attends
to here. And be with them both, Lord,
in the responsibilities of the diaconate, we do pray. And Lord,
we know they are a great support to thy dear servant, and we pray,
Lord, that thou would grant that continuation of the same, and
that strength and help given from above. Do remember the church
here, Lord, be with them, we pray. Again, Lord, we lovingly
commend them to thee, and we do pray, Lord, that yet there
will be that growth in the church. We pray for those, Lord, in Holland,
that thou would remember them. We pray for those, Lord, that
we desire, Lord, those exercised souls amongst the congregation
that, Lord, that we desire to see yet come in to tell the dear
church a little of what the Lord has done. We do pray, Lord, that
the time will come. We do pray, Lord, that the very
stones would cry out at their silence. And oh, we do pray that
it might be like this. Come in, thou blessed of the
Lord. Wherefore standest thou without? Yes, we do beg and plead then,
that thou will give them that gospel invitation. And Lord,
oh Lord, those that have that drawing invitation, draw me,
we will run after thee, we read. Those that have that invitation,
they will come. They will not refuse. that invitation
in the day of thy power, thy people shall be willing in the
day of thy power. Lord, then we pray. Or my people,
it says, shall be willing. Ah, those that are the Lord shall
be willing in the day of thy power. Then Lord, we pray that
that day will yet come, and it will be exhibited amongst the
dear friends here at Lumberhurst. Lord, we do plead that thou wilt
We remember each one. We would pray for Ina in her
old age, to bless her, Lord, and draw near and go with her,
we pray. Pray for those, Lord, that have
gone beyond the three score years and ten, for daily strength and
help, even down to whoreheads, all my people shall prove my
sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love. We plead for those, Lord,
In the middle part of life, we pray for parents, we pray for
grandparents, and we pray for wisdom to be given in training
up their children in the way that they should go. We pray
for help in schooling. We pray for help in homeschooling. We pray, Lord, that they will
be with them in their role as parents. And Lord, we pray for
the children and the young friends. We pray for the young friends
in their work, in their employment, those seeking work perhaps. We
pray for those that are shortly to come to the end of their school
term. We pray for those that are taught
at home as well, that that would help them to learn in that way.
And we pray for thy rich provision upon each of whatever age, Lord,
and whatever the need is, that Lord, they will prove that when
the Lord's people have need, His goodness will find out a
way. And Lord, we do plead for those
perhaps that seek thy guidance and direction in a matter, that
thou will show them the way, that Lord, they will hear that
voice behind them saying, this is the way, walk ye in it, when
ye turn to the right or to the left. Lord, we do pray then for
those that are before us tonight and those that are away. Lord,
we pray that, Lord, that thou will be with the weak believers,
the tried believers, the struggling believers. Oh, Lord, thou knowest
the pathway. Lord, thy dear people is not
an easy pathway because they must follow in the footsteps
of Jesus upon earth. And, oh, Lord, that means opposition. That means opposition, Lord,
for the poor sinner from inside as well as outside. Although,
Lord, it was not for the Lord Jesus internally, but because
he was without sin. But, Lord, there was an external
opposition. And, Lord, what a mercy that
thou knowest the frames and thou rememberest that we are as dust. We do pray, Lord, then, that
thou would hold up the weak believers, perhaps those whose faith is
at a low ebb. They can't see the flame of faith
this evening in their soul, and they need a little lift, Lord.
Oh, we do pray thou will come. They might get a glimpse, Lord,
of thee by faith, and they might be strengthened to go on their
way rejoicing. And Lord, those that long for
Thee to come and speak to them again, there's been silence.
There's been silence for a long time. And though they would acknowledge
that Thou dost help them, perhaps in their providential pathway,
and how important that is for us to pray over our daily matters,
but they desire, Lord, a blessing. They desire Thee to come and
favor them in their souls once more. so that they will know
that the Lord is nigh, and draw in nigh unto them. Lord, thou
knowest exactly where each one is, in their thoughts, and in
their feelings, and in their exercises. And it is our desire,
Lord, that thou wilt meet those cases this evening. And Lord,
even if the word does not, but that their ponderings on it thereafter
may. Lord, we sometimes feel that
it doesn't seem something in thy courts that has any effect
upon us, but as we take it home and we beat it out in prayer,
Lord, we talk about it perhaps to another or we ponder these
things as Mary did in our hearts, and then we feel some benefit
under the word. How wonderful that is. Help us
to be ponderers in grace. Help us to be contemplatory Christians
and not just, Lord, those that hear the word and forget that
which was spoken. And Lord, we do pray as it comes
to our mind that there may be a blessing upon those sermons
here that are recorded onto the internet. Lord, it's A great
favor that so many sermons these days are recorded in that way,
not for friends to criticize the articulate way that the minister
expresses the word or to look deeply into their phraseology
and their methodology of preaching, but rather, Lord, that The word
will be blessed because souls are hungry to hear it. Well,
we pray for thy blessing upon it We believe thou hast and we
pray that thou will continue to do so Lord we do pray then
for each one here to remember them whatever they're in and
make a way for those Lord that seem That to have no right. It seems as if they're all shut
up whether in providence or in grace, but Lord that they may
yet see that with God, nothing shall be impossible. Lord, we do plead that thou would
remember us in the land and nation. We have much to mourn over. We
live in a world, Lord, where there are only certain views
that seem to be acceptable these days, and a lot of tradition
seems to be washed under the carpet, traditional views even.
and Lord, particularly those views that pertain to following
the word of God. And oh, how hard it is, Lord,
for us and for those, Lord, the members of Parliament and others
raised into those positions to be able to stand for the word
of God and various aspects of it. But we thank thee that there
were those that are very pro the family, very pro Lord, those
traditional ways, and we pray that they will be honoured and
helped in making us stand as they do. But Lord, do yet come
and turn us as a nation, that Lord, instead of all the turmoil
and the worry and concern about trivial things and keeping the
minority group satisfied, there will be a turning to the Lord. Lord, we pray that it may be
so. And Lord, as our dear friend
prayed, Lord, for the people in this village, we would echo
those prayers. And may there be yet one or two
come in, and we shall rejoice, Lord, that they have come into
thy courts. Lord, we do need those to come
in from outside. And Lord, because we would not
be a closed door, a group of worshipers, but rather, Lord,
that the door is open, because we know this, the door of thy
mercy does stand open all day to the poor and the needy, that
not by the way. Well, Lord, may the door here
be open, and may yet there be those souls come in. We do plead
for it. And indeed, in the hills of Zion,
and Lord, in the villages locally and across this land, Lord, we
do pray that thou would remember thy servants, those that stand
up in thy name this evening. Do help them, Lord, those that
did yesterday and those that will on the coming Lord's day.
Oh, Lord, be with them, we do pray. Lord, we would pray for
our dear mother-in-law as she stands on the very edge of eternity. Lord, According to man, she shouldn't
still be with us. But Lord, there's a reason. There
is a reason that thou hast spared her those few extra days. We
do pray, Lord, thou will draw near even as we speak. Lord, bless her indeed and take
her to be with thee in thy time. And Lord, may we each be exercised. As Lord, we look upon those that
come down. with such weakness to the end
to realize that death is now upon the road and Lord we must
face it, the last enemy. Oh Lord do come and help us to
cry that we shall be right, made right and kept right so that
we can cross that river in readiness. Oh we read Lord that Christiana
She got the summons and she had a few days, 10 I think, to prepare
herself and how she was prepared to cross that river. And Lord,
we pray then for us each. Prepare me, gracious God, to
stand before thy face. What a mercy, Lord, that it is
not of our word. but it is all of grace, that
work of salvation. Do work in us each, we do pray. Forgive our poor prayers and
help us to proclaim thy word. We plead these things for Jesus
Christ's sake, amen. There's not a man that's born
of God but readily will say, if ever my poor soul be saved,
tis Christ must be the way. The man that's born of God, that
readily will say, With earth, with mind, whole soul, each soul,
this Christ must be the light. This Christ, that song of hope
that heals the plague of sin. And through His countenance I
think it clear He feels the guilt within The old man struggles hard to
gain The confessor of our grace, and God, he sings, When Jesus'
eyes didst close, Of course we can do nothing when
we first meet the Doctor. He came to sin, to sin without,
and you and me alone. May the Lord help us in contemplating
his most holy word. I would ask you friends to turn
with me to Psalm 45, verse 13. Psalm 45, verse 13. The king's
daughter is all glorious within. Her clothing is of wrought gold. The king's daughter is all glorious
within. Her clothing is of wrought gold. May the Lord help us to consider
a little of the background in this psalm and then friends really
to look at this first part of the text, the king's daughter
that is all glorious, how indeed she can be all glorious, what
it means by the king's daughter. And then lastly, to consider
her clothing of wrought gold and what we see that to mean
under the Lord's direction, guidance and leading. It's a wonderful word, friends,
overall, before I start. I hope that you don't mind if
I give you a little personal reference as to how this word
has come about. But three or four months ago,
when my dear mother-in-law was first diagnosed with acute myeloid
leukemia, I had such a burden of prayer
for her one day. And I believe, friends, as I
traveled in the car between Staplehurst and Cranbrook, during that period
of prayer, the Lord sweetly dropped these words in regarding her. And friends, we know when the
Lord has spoken to us, I believe. because our soul is moved, our
heart is moved, and there's that feeling within, and there is
that softness, and there is that realization it is the Lord. Let
him do what seems good. And friends, it's been an encouragement
when I spoke to her when she was more able to hear such things
a couple of weeks ago. And she said to me this, Mr. Tyler gave her own dear mother
the same word that he felt he had regarding her. And I thought,
how wonderful is the work of the Lord. And friends, this is
it, you see, that it means this, in essence, this text, that those
that are saved are as the king's daughters, and they will be presented
all glorious. and they will be presented sound
and whole, as the hymn writer says, in that tremendous day. So friends, having given that
personal note, this word has been much upon me. Let us look
a little at the background then as we said we would. As you know,
it's from Sunday, it's my habit to read the beginning of the
psalms, those various phrases. We spoke of the chief musician
on Sunday, but upon Shoshanim, what does that mean? Now that
word is how the psalm is to be sung. And it means two things. It means, firstly, it's like
a lily, a lily. What that really is tending to
indicate is that in the day that this was sung, there was a lily-type
shaped trumpet that they would accompany the music with. But it also means this, and this
I find beautiful in Hebrew, it means testimony. My friends,
if we're going to heaven, I want to say this, this testimony is
of the king in his glory. This testimony speaks of God
in heaven and Christ indeed. This testimony is full of His
splendor and His power and His might and His majesty. But I
want to ask you, what of your testimony and what of my testimony? In other words, we need to have
a song upon Shoshanna and ourselves. And if we haven't got one in
that great day, when we come down to our final breath, where
will we be friends? Lord, give me a show Shannon,
give me a testimony that I might speak well of what thou hast
done in my poor fallen lost soul, as it would have been without
his interposition. For the sons of Korah, well,
we spoke of that at the Korahites the other day, friends, didn't
we? So we move on, Maskil, which means a psalm of instruction,
as no doubt you know. What instruction there is in
this psalm of the power and the might and the majesty and this
king in his beauty? A song of love. the love that
this king has towards the daughter. Towards the daughter in all her
beauty. The king will desire her for
her beauty. What a remarkable statement when
we think of our blackness and our vileness and our wretchedness
and our distance from God, yet he will desire to save Those
poor, wretched, lost, fallen sinners, because He desires them? Friends, oh, what a mercy it
is that that's God's long-suffering and His way of salvation to such
wretched, lost sinners. And so it is, a song of love. And it's really, friends, it's
summed up in that word, isn't it, in the first epistle of John,
We love him. This is the Song of Laughs. We
love him because he first loved us. A Song of Laughs. Do you love
him then? Can you say with the psalmist
in 116, I love the Lord because he have heard the voice of my
supplications. It's a simple thing, friends.
You've prayed and the Lord's heard and answered and that makes
you to love him because he's a prayer here and an answer in
God. Yes, it's a wonderful thing to have that love to the Lord
whom we cannot see and yet we love. Why? Because of his redeeming
love. And so the psalm itself, We don't
know who wrote this psalm, but it's a psalm which is overflowing. Indicting it overflows with the
goodness of speaking of the kid. And friends, I believe there
are those occasions when the child of God knows what it is
to overflow in love, to speak of Jesus, to speak of God, to
speak of the mercies, to speak a little of what he has done.
Oh, in wonderment, in wonderment, friends, why to such a wretch
as I? I felt a little concerned when
your dear deacon spoke in prayer, started in prayer, virtually
saying, may we see a little of the King and his beauty. Friends,
oh, how we felt that seemed to soften our heart. We felt this,
the King's daughter's all glorious within. Why? Because of the beauty
of the king she will see the beauty in the king Oh that we
might have the king's daughters here and those listening tonight
Make me as one of thy daughters And Friends that will be such
a desire in the heart of the believer to be amongst them but
you say here the And I will speak of the things I've made, touching
the king. My tongue's the pen of a ready
writer. In other words, there's that
fluency in it, friends. Thou art fairer than the children
of men. Grace is poured into thy lips.
God have blessed thee forever. I believe this speaks of Jesus
as well, Jesus Christ, who, of course, this was 7,000 years,
if it was in the time of David. this psalm, but certainly it
would have been many years before the birth of Christ. And then
it speaks of the power and strength, girding thy sword upon thy fire,
O most mighty God, with thy glory and thy majesty. First for thy
majesty, ride prosperously because of truth and meekness and righteousness,
and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible things. That's
the child of God, that it will teach terrible things in righteousness.
we read of elsewhere, and the arrows that are sharp in the
king's enemies. Yes, oh, friends, that we would
not be amongst the king's enemies, but I tell you what, in nature,
you and I are. We need those sharp arrows of
conviction fired by the king of king and lord of lords, whereby
the people fall under thee. Thy throne, O Lord, is forever,
we go on and read. So it builds this picture of
the power of the throne and the might and the majesty of God. Thou lovest righteousness, verse
seven, and thy garments smell of these sweet-smelling myrrh
and aloes and cassia, et cetera. And then it starts to talk of
the king's daughters. They were among the honorable
women. Upon thy right hand, the queen
stood, This was a queen of another land. And then it starts to talk
about this wedding that's due. Harken, O daughter, consider
incline thine ear in this wonderful word that I believe happens to
each of the Lord's people, children, those daughters, daughters of
Zion, daughters of God, daughters, and it uses the female version,
of course, here, but that does include, I just want to be simple
for the young people, that those daughters includes All of the
dear Lord's children, it includes the sons as well. You are sons
and daughters of God. And the word there covers both. So it says here, thou shalt forget
also thine own people and thy father's house. What does that
mean? It means this friends, you will
forget the house that you have been brought up in, the house
of sin, the ways of evil. Because friends, we will forget
upbringing and all those things in terms of, if you will, they
are not saving, but we will remember or we will be brought to remember
the house of the king and the king of kings, the house of the
mansions above. And that's what we will set our
eyes on and not upon our affections upon things below. But we will
have to forsake those old ways of sin. Now you might say to
me, well, how can we? How do we, friends? It's a pathway
of following the Lord. But you know, we will ever have. We sung of it. We sung of it,
the old man and the new man fighting against one another. We will
ever have that. The new man of grace desires
to leave the old ways The old man of grace wants to forget
thine own people, that is the world that they live in, and
the things of the world, and the Father's house, the upbringing
in the ways of the world, and I'm not saying you've been brought
up in the world. What I mean is friends, we're all placed
in the world. We're all worldly minded in a way, in a natural
man, as we are born I'm saying. Now friends, it's a wonderful
mercy to be found in God's courts, It's a wonderful thing as an
outward act and we're so glad to see the young friends here
in the week as well as on the Lord's day. But we need more
than just attendance upon God's house. We need to leave those
things because if you're anything like I was as a young person,
sometimes my mind would wander into how often it would wander
and I would watch that clock and the hand moving round, friends,
We need to be stirred up even as a young age to seek the Lord. And I hope that you do. And I
hope you will be encouraged to. And I know you are by your dear
pastor. You see, to forget thine own
people and thy father's house, all of this, and to look to Jesus
and to look to him alone. And you see friends, this is
a lifetime's work of salvation. And I think it has been brought
home to me in the last few weeks as I've watched my dear mother-in-law
and friend, she's ever so near to the end now, but we know not
hours or days, but ever so near and you see it and you watch
them coming down and yet you see even there that work of grace,
that robe of righteousness being brought out and that readiness,
that, as it were, even as we go back, that you can see the
weaning from the things of this world. You see, friends, that's
what we need, that our eyes are fixed upon Him and upon His righteousness,
upon the King and His beauty. We desire Him. Yes. And so it is that that is
a lifetime's work. Now for some, The Lifetime's
work was done in a matter of seconds to the dying thief, wasn't
it? In that sense, it wasn't a Lifetime
work, it was a media. But friends, oh, we can't leave
it till then, can we? Oh, that we might make our calling
and our election, sure. But you see, the daughter of
Tyre should be there at this wedding feast with a gift. Even
the rich among the people shall entreat thy favor, the favor
of the king. Then we come to our text, then,
the king's daughter is all glorious within. She is in the waiting
room. She is waiting for the king. She is waiting to be married. She's waiting for the bridegroom
of souls. She is waiting and she's adorned
as a bride is adorned. And friends, in the Eastern lands,
as I understand it, through the wedding day, the bride starts
with the fairly modest apparel, and as the day goes on, or used
to in these days, as the day would go on, so they would put
on, as it were, the smarter wear, and to the point that at the
end, when she's ready to go in to the bridegroom, She would
then have the wedding garment on, which would have the gold
in it. And she would be looking splendid,
beautiful in that garment. And friends, doesn't that way
that they did it naturally? And doesn't it speak to us of
the way that the Lord Jesus prepares his people for glory? We read
in Isaiah of the robe of righteousness. I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed
me with the garments of salvation. Friends, it takes a lot, it takes
the work of salvation can take milliseconds to put this robe
of righteousness and to prepare you for glory, or it can take
a whole lifetime. But I know this, that he hath
clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered
me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels,
to be ready to go in to meet the bridegroom. Yes. Now, friends, How can the king's
daughter, she's rotten to the core. If you know what you are,
you will come into our reading in the song of Solomon. Yes,
it's a song of loves and it sets forth the church's love to Christ. But what does she say in verse
five? I am black but comely. I'm black. I'm black. You see, that's a
grace that she knows herself. Friends, have you been shown
a little of your blackness and foulness? Foul I to the fountain
fly. Wash me, Saviour, or I die. Black but comely. When I was in my early twenties, friends,
I believe in one particular way the Lord so deeply convicted
me of sin. I, well, we knew what it was
to weep over sin. And you know, I remember this
word was such a comfort to me. I felt it. I felt my blackness,
friends. And we often don't, if we're
honest. And it does come back at times.
But it was those lovely words that made me weep. But comely?
How can I be comely? I'm black. But the King's daughter's
comely. She's beautiful because she's
been prepared. Because she's got this robe of
righteousness on. And friends, that robe Once applied,
it is always on. Yes, I know you and I backslide. Yes, I know that you and I walk
contrary to the ways of God sometimes. Yes, I know that you and I sin,
but our desire is that we might know that robe and that it's
upon us. That's the thing, friends. And
then when we do sin again, I believe this, we are not just convicted
of sin, we are reconvicted. And again and again. We feel
it, friends, don't we? But then the robe is on. Once
applied. What a beautiful word. Has it
been applied? Have you felt the dear Saviour
put that robe? You know, friends, I want to
speak rightly. But that robe of righteousness
is made to fit you. It's made to fit you whether
you're a size 10, 12, 14 or whatever. It's made to fit you. Gentleman
whether you're a 30-inch waist or 32 or 34 It's made to fit
you for and I'm I can only speak simply in that way It's a perfect
perfect work now for some They have to go deeper into the way
of conviction and see more of their violence and blackness
and others It's an individual work, but I believe each will
know the way of conviction each will know the way of of desiring
of repentance over sin and desiring that the Lord would show them
the way of salvation through the application of his precious
blood for them, for them. You see, that blood, it washes
away all that filth. And so friends, that robe is
on, that robe of righteousness. Now you might say to me, well,
are we really that bad that we're black? Yes, friends, we are. We could have considered tonight,
as we read the word, Joshua the high priest, you know, about
510 years before the birth of Christ, when they able to build
a Jerusalem temple again, and he was the first high priest
in that rebuilt Jerusalem temple. What a wonderful thing it was
for Joshua, a favored man. You can't be a high priest, couldn't
in that day, without those favors upon him, particularly as he
got that calling. And yet we read this, Satan standing
at his right hand. Yes. Joshua was clothed with
filthy garments. Yes, friends, our dark suits
and our dark ties. Yes, we wish to be sober. But
they're filthy, aren't they? They're full of filthiness. And
it's what's inside. You see, this is the thing. The
king's daughter is all glorious within, in the heart, in her
feelings. She's in glorious there. It's
our inward sins that are so vile. Because we look alright from
the external, friends. Although we do need the robe
of righteousness, but really that robe is to cover the sins
of the heart. Your inward sins. Would you want
the thoughts of this day on this wall that have gone through your
mind for the others to see? Or would that show you and me
a little of our blackness? I don't want mine up there, friends.
I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed of many things, of
my worldliness, of my distance from God, of my lack of prayer. And so you see, there was Joshua
clothed in filthy garments. The Lord has rebuked Satan already
and he said, is not this a brand plucked out of the fire? We hope
to come to talk about the gold in a minute. and what that means. But you see, friends, we'd be
a brand. Let them set a fair mitre upon his head and clothe
him with garments and the angel of the Lord stood by and they
clothed him with those fresh garments. Friends, it's what
we need, isn't it? Yes, the garment of praise, to
be clothed with that. that robe, that hymn's been on
my mind. Of all the creatures God has
made, there is but man alone that stands in need to be arrayed
in coverings, not his own. Friends, I was looking at my
daughter's little dog and I had quite a little feeling
of love towards that little dog on Sunday morning. It seemed to suffer. I said,
you, the Lord's created you. I saw creation in that animal.
But I also saw this. You've got no soul. You've got
no soul. No God to be answerable to. What
a solemn thing it is, friends. It goes on to say, the hymn does,
by nature, bears and bulls and swine with thousands of every
wing are much more warm, more safe, more fine than man. their
fallen king? Yes, O friends, it is called
a robe, perhaps to mean man has by nature none. It grows not
native like our skin, but is by faith put on. Lord, give me
this robe, this belief in thee. A sinner clothed in this rich
vest and garments washed in blood is rendered fit with Christ to
feast, to be the guest of God. Friends, this robe, do you desire
it? You know, I'd say this so often,
friends, but religion, so much of our religion is desires. You see, there was a king and
he called them, this is Jesus speaking in parables, but he
called them to the marriage supper. The marriage, the wedding was
ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. But he said,
go into the highways and as many as he find bid to the marriage.
And so they bid as many, both bad and good, it says, and the
wedding was furnished with gas. But when the king came, he saw
a man which had not on a wedding garment. Friend, how came is
thou in heaven not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. The king said to the servants,
bind him hand and foot, take him away, cast him into outer
darkness. Friends, we need to have the
wedding garment on for the marriage supper of the lamb. Lord, make
that garment to fit me, my size of my religion that I need. Oh Lord, work in me the way of
salvation. What a prayer to have. It is
a prayer we need for the King's daughter. He's all glorious.
All glorious. Glorious of course means beautiful. It means wonderful. Perfectly
presented. Yes. Perfectly presented. So
within that heart of vileness, that heart of evil is changed
by that that he's put on. And oh, the gift of the King
of Kings, his love through his dear son. You see friends, you
know that the kingdom of heaven is likened to the virgins and
five were wise and five were foolish. And we need to be under the work
of the Lord to be ready, don't we? and that we might have oil
in our lamps. You know, friends, it's not a
hymn we sing, but I sang it at primary school and it stayed
with me. Give me oil in my lamp. Keep it burning, burning till
the light of day. What a prayer. As a little child,
and it stayed with me all my life, friends. Oh, what a prayer
to pray. give me oil in my lamp, that
I might be ready when the bridegroom comes. And you see, you see that he
would come, that when some went to buy the bridegroom came, those
five that are not ready. And the door was shut. They couldn't
enter into the marriage. But you see this virgin here,
this king's daughter here, she's been made ready. She's all glorious within. Well, friends, the time's moving
on, so let us come to this last part that we said her clothing
is a wrought gold. Now, again, wrought gold means
worked gold, gold that's worked upon, and it's brought to be
stitched into this garment. And gold to be worked on, friends,
can only be worked on at a great heat. I understand that the boiling
heat or the heat, gold is one of the, has to be heated to the
hottest of all the metals to get to the point where you can
work on it. And you're talking about 1,064
degrees centigrade. The heat to get this gold wrought
properly. Gold in the furnace tried, now
loses all but dross. So is the Christian purified
and bettered by the cross. And it is so, friends, the pathway,
the cross you have to walk, those afflictions, those troubles,
those trials, those day-to-day things that are so impossible,
that bring you so often in prayer, so often in desperation, before
him at the throne of grace, on account of your sins, on account
of the pathway, the impossibility of those matters that you have
in your life, all of these things. Yes, they are bringing forth
this wrought gold. Now it's not ready, this document,
this robe that you put on, it's not ready right until the time
just before going in to see the King. But it's being fashioned
right through the work of grace from the beginning to the end.
But you see, there has to be the burning off of the dross.
And that's what the old man does not like. But it will be burnt
off. You know, I read that some time
ago in the book that Mr. Buss wrote on housing at Dawson
and her husband, who was pastor at Beverston. But Elsie Dawson,
you know, was much blessed under this verse that we've got as
our text tonight. She was much blessed in the year
1907, I think it was, when a young person of 17 or 18. And she said,
she heard a servant preach from it at Wantage Chapel. And she
said, there's my desire from then onwards, that I would be
made ready at the end of my life, for verse 14, she shall be brought
into the king in raiment of needlework. The virgins, her companions that
follow her, shall be brought unto thee, that she might be
presented before the king. Yes, friends. Oh, you know what
a desire that was. And she lived into her 80s, I
believe. All those years of her life.
You see, that was the beginning in her. That was the beginning
of that robe of righteousness being placed upon her. And the
work of salvation was starting then. Friends, I know it started
before we were born. It's a complete work. That word,
ye are complete in Him, was complete before ever we were born. He
knew who were His. But you know what I mean. That
work in the soul, that work in the heart, was begun in her at
that time, and so she went back to her beginnings. But the king's
daughter is all glorious within her clothing. These are her externals,
gold that shines, a gold that you can look in and you can see
the shining nature of it. Friends, has there been any gold
on your robe of righteousness? Any gold yet? Is the Lord working
in you? Burning off that dross? So does
the odd gold here and there? Yes, he brought me through this
deep trial and oh, I had to learn submission. You know, friends,
I'll tell you what it is. In Galatians, it speaks, and
I'm sure you know this, of the various fruits of the Spirit.
Each of these is, as it were, an element of gold in that robe. The fruit of the spirit is love. Well, we've talked of love, joy,
peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. And he says this, Paul does,
right into the church at the Galatia, against such there is
no law. Now that's a change from the
black vileness that is mentioned in the previous, the works of
the flesh. And you could read them adultery,
fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred,
variance, so on and so forth. And we've all got them, friends. And that's where the blackness
is made, as it were, into this guile. What opposites? The work of salvation, all in
the Lord. Yes. And there's another hymn
that comes to mind as we think of this glorious theme of this
righteousness. You see, Jesus, thy blood and
righteousness, my beauty are, my glorious dress, Mids flaming
worlds in these arrayed, With joy shall I lift up my head. Yes friends, you see, the beauty
that is in the king that our dear friend spoke of will be
what attracts the king to his daughter. But she also is beautiful,
as the bride and the bridegroom have that love one to another. You see, coming back again to
the Song of Solomon, that first chapter, I believe that despite
this blackness, despite this blackness, that the church feels
and confesses her deformity, she will be brought to pray,
tell me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest. Because,
you see, where thou makest I flock to rest at noon. She wishes to
be at rest and at peace with the one that she loves. And in
the last part of that chapter we're at the church and Christ
that congratulate one another that what they're, thou art all
fair my beloved, yea, thou art all fair, thou hast dove's eyes,
my beloved is unto me as a cluster of campfire and so on and so
forth. You see, we will desire this
king that sitth at his table, because of the smell of the spikenard. That's the daughter, she's coming
to the marriage, you see, and she will be made ready. She must
be, it's his work from beginning to end. Friends, we feel we've
scratched around, but there are some thoughts here for you and
I to take home. The king's daughter, is all glorious
within and then externally her clothing is of raw gold. Yes, you see, she's being prepared
for those white robes that she will wear in eternity. So whose
are these and whence came they? These are they that have come
up out of a great tribulation, out of great tribulation and
washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Friends, may we be amongst them. Let us close by singing hymn
125, tune Boylston 12. Not all the blood of beasts on
Jewish altars slain could give the guilty conscience peace or
wash away the stain. Hymn 125, tune Boylston 12. to the blood of Jesus, unto his
mortals slain. ? Church, give the guilty conscience
peace ? ? Oh, worship in that state ? ? Lord, Christ, the heavenly Lamb
? takes the sins away. The sacrifice of the body, mind,
flesh, and blood that live. I think that I will land on that
dear land of thine, where, like a planet, I stand and they confess
my sin. My soul looks back to thee, not
the burdens that dispel, And hanging on you as a tree
and a tap you to sleep. Here within we rejoice, To see
the castaway birth. We pledge the glamour, Cheerful
voice, and Dear Lord, we do thank thee for the
hymn that we have just sung, which summarises that difference,
Lord, the blood of Christ, that we need as a covering robe. Lord, we pray then that thou
will take us home in peace and safety. Remember the dear friends
here and be mindful of them and their dear pastor. Lord, do go
before them in all things and do remember us, Lord, for good. Forgive anything that thou hast
seen and missed. Now may the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the love of God and the communion of the
Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.