The notices for the coming week
are, God willing, as follows. Pastor will preach here next
Lord's Day at 10.30 and 2 o'clock. Matthew Hyde will preach here
on Thursday evening at 7 o'clock. And there'll be a prayer meeting
here on Tuesday evening at 7 o'clock. Next Saturday, there will be
a meeting at Five Ashes Village Hall at 2.30 for the free grace
Evangelistic Association to give an update on their work. Let us commence our services
today by singing together hymn number 199. The tune is Melodious
Sonnet 647. Come thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart
to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never-ceasing
call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet
sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount, O fix me on
it, mount of God's unchanging love. Hymn 199, tune Melodious
Sonnet 647. Oh, bless it! Tear my heart to
sing thy praise. Streams of water, see the sea
sleep. Oh, those songs of love and praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above. Raise them out, the rich we are rich, and of God's unchanging
love. Here I am, We shall be there by thy hand
I promise And I hope by thy compassion Safely to arrive Jesus sought
me when a stranger, calling from the fold of God, he to say, I saw from the angel interposed
his precious blood. Praise him, praise him, praise
the dead man, Daily I'm constrained to fear. Let Thy grace, Lord,
I offer better, Guide my way, Lord, to Thee. ? Road to wonder, Lord, I've been
it ? ? Road to wonder, Lord, I've come ? ? Is my heart o'ertaken
still it? ? Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the General Epistle of James and chapters
3 and 4. The Epistle of James, chapters
3 and 4. My brethren, be not many masters,
knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For
in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word,
the same is a perfect man and able also to bridle the whole
body. Behold, we put bits in the horses'
mouths that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole
body. Behold, also the ships, which,
though they be so great, are driven of fierce winds, yet are
turned about with a very small helm, whithersoever the governor
listed. Even so, the tongue is a little
member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a
little fire kindleth, and the tongue is a fire, a world of
iniquity. So is the tongue among our members,
that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course
of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. For every kind of beast,
and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea is tamed,
and hath been tamed of mankind. But the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil, full of
deadly poison. Therewith bless we God, even
the Father, and therewith curse we men, which are made after
the similitude of God. Out of the same mouth proceedeth
blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought
not to be so. Doth a fountain send forth at
the same place sweet water and bitter? Can the fig tree, my
brethren, bear olive berries, either of vine figs? So can no
fountain both yield salt water and fresh. who is a wise man
and endued with knowledge among you, let him show out of a good
conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter
envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against
the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from
above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and
strife is, there is confusion and every evil work. But the
wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle,
and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without
partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness
is known in peace of them that make peace. From whence come
wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence 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 a
friend of the world is the enemy of God. Do ye think that the scripture
saith in vain, the spirit that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy,
but he giveth more grace? Wherefore, he saith, God resisteth
the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. 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. Speak not evil one of
another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his
brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and
judgeth the law. But if thou judge the law, thou
art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver
who is able to save and to destroy. Who art thou that judges another? Go to now ye that say today or
tomorrow we will go into such a city and continue there a year
and buy and sell and get gain. Whereas ye know not what shall
be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is
even a vapour that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth
away. For that ye ought to say, If
the Lord will, we shall live, and do this or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings,
all such rejoicing as evil. Therefore to him that knoweth
to do good, and doeth it not, To him, it is sin. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Holy, holy, holy. Lord God, almighty, which is
an art, an art to come, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, We bow before
thy glorious majesty. These three are one. One blessed,
infinite, and eternal God of heaven, creator of the heavens
and the earth. We do desire to bow before thy
sovereign majesty. We desire to worship thee, O
Lord, in the person of thy son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot
come to Thee in any other way. We all have sinned and come short
of Thy glory. We are all as an unclean thing.
We are unrighteous altogether. But O gracious God, we do pray
that we may indeed bow in the name of Jesus Christ and plead
with Thee for His namesake. Hast Thou not said in Thy Word, whatsoever ye ask in my name,
I will do it. For there is one God, and one
mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave
his life of ransom for all to be testified in due time. Oh,
we thank thee for that way that has been made unto thee, for
through him we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Oh,
that thou wouldst grant us that free access today, and that the
Blessed Spirit may pour upon us the Spirit of grace and of
supplications with thanksgiving. O Lord, we do thank thee then
for the profound and sacred glories of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby
we can come unto thee. We think of those lovely words
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Come unto me all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and
ye shall find rest for your souls. Lord, we pray that as we gather
together around thy word today as a church and congregation,
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. For Lord, without thee we can
do nothing. None come except the Father draw. And no man can say that Jesus
Christ is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. Blessed Spirit of truth,
fall upon us. the spirit of true worship. Thou
didst say, Lord Jesus, that them that worship thee must worship
thee in spirit and in truth. Oh, that it may be so. We pray
to be led and taught and guided and directed by the Spirit of
God. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. We pray for those divine
drawings of our Eternal Father to draw us unto Christ and for
the Spirit to reveal Christ. None can know Him except that
is the case. Lord, remember us as a church
and congregation, greatly depleted today of those that are away
seeking rest and change. We lovingly commend them to Thee.
pray that they may find rest and change and be brought back
home safely at the appointed time. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that they would speak to our hearts, that they would breathe
thy word into our souls, that they would graciously open the
blind eyes and unstop the deaf ears and loose the tongue of
the Dome. Lord Jesus, thou didst these
things when thou wast here upon earth, and thou canst still do
them now. Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
be gracious unto us as a church and congregation, and have mercy
upon us, and bless us with that rich grace that is in Christ
Jesus, and bless us with light and understanding in thy word,
and Bless the little ones and the children as they're brought
into the sanctuary. Graciously teach them thy ways
and lead them in thy paths in their young and tending years.
Grant them the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom.
We do humbly pray thee for thy great name's sake. Lord, we pray
for parents as they seek to bring up their children, that they
may be enabled to do so. in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord and set a good example unto them. And, O Lord, we do
pray that those remember the young friends on the threshold
of life journey and graciously bless them, bring them to living
faith in Jesus Christ. Make them true followers of thee
and of those who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises. Show them thy ways. Grant the
fulfilling of that excellent word. Instead of thy fathers
shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the
earth. Grant that it may be so. Gracious
God, we do beseech thee. Cause the prodigals to return.
and thy mighty grace to be seen in this. Indeed, Lord, thou art
able to do abundantly more than we can even ask or think. Lord,
send out thy light and thy truth. Work mightily, work powerfully. Fulfill those gracious promises,
O Lord, that are in thy word. I will bring thy sons from far
and thy daughters from the ends of the earth And I will work,
and who shall let it? O gracious God, let us see thy
work. Let us see thine arm made bare
in the gospel. May the light of gospel truth
shine into this village, and the surrounding villages and
hamlets, and many precious souls be gathered in. We do humbly
beseech of thee for thy great names. Oh, we pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou would remember each in the midst of the journey
of life and graciously bless and undertake for each one. Deliver
us from the temptations of Satan, whether he comes as a rolling
lion to devour or whether he comes as an angel of light to
deceive. Only thou canst deliver, gracious
God, to grant thy delivering grace. Pull down the strongholds
of Satan. Set up the kingdom of the Lord
Jesus in the hearts of sinners. We do humbly beseech them. We
pray, most gracious Lord, for our brethren, the deacons, that
thou hast blessed them indeed. And we pray for all in the evening
time of life's journey. Those of us, O Lord, that are
now past the allotted time man upon the earth, and that while
our days on earth are lengthened, may we give them, Lord, to Thee,
we do humbly beseech Thee, remember us for good. And, O Lord God,
we do pray that Thou wouldst remember all Thy servants as
they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion today.
Set them free, set them at liberty, grant the spirit of power, Grant
that divine unction. There may be signs following
the preaching of the Word. Turn our captivity, O Lord, as
the streams in the South. Lord, there's nothing too hard
for Thee. Indeed, Thou art able to do abundantly
more than we can even ask or think. Grant, O Lord, the settlement
of pastors, and grant that Thou, the great Lord of the harvest,
may yet send true labourers into the harvest. Lord, we pray for
the little hills of Zion up and down our nation, that the wind
of the Spirit may blow, that thy power may be seen, precious
souls gathered in, Zion rebuilt and renewed and replenished.
We see, O Lord, so much in our nation and in the nations of
the earth, the spirit and power of Antichrist. Lord, overcome
it, we humbly beseech thee. We wait upon thee. We watch unto
prayer. We pray for our king and the
royal household, that thy blessing may rest upon the royal household
and also upon our political leaders give wisdom and understanding,
guidance and direction to judges and magistrates, and all in authority
over us. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that if it could please thee, thou hast put a stop to war,
and graciously hear the cries of thy remnant. We do humbly
beseech thee, be with thy people. And Lord, there are many of thy
people in Ukraine. And we pray that thou wouldst
graciously watch over them and keep them. And bless thy church
there, we do humbly beseech thee. We pray for those that labour
in word and doctrine among the nations of the earth. We think
especially of those that go forth from us, thy servant in the Mombasa
mission in Kenya. We pray that thy blessing, thy
favour may rest upon them there. We think of the Savannah Education
Trust in Ghana, oh that thy blessing may rest upon them. We think
of Ian Sadler and his labours in India and Pakistan and Burma
and Africa. Lord, supply all their needs.
Grant good success to their endeavours, that it may redound to the great
honour and glory and praise of thy great and holy name. We thank
thee most gracious Lord, for the throne of grace. We thank
Thee for the glorious King that sits upon it. We have an Advocate
with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. We thank Thee
that we have a great High Priest who has passed into the heavens,
Jesus the Son of God. Therefore, we can come with boldness
unto Thee, dear Lord Jesus. We thank Thee for thy holy life
as a man here upon earth, the holy law fulfilled and everlasting
righteousness brought in. We thank thee for Calvary where
the Lamb was slain, where sin was put away, where divine justice
is satisfied, where God and sinners are reconciled. We thank thee
for the precious blood of the Lamb that cleanses from all sin. We thank thee for the empty tomb
He died for our sins and rose again for our justification.
Gracious God, we would render thanksgiving and praise unto
Thee for the wonders of redeeming love, for the fullness of that
glorious salvation that is in Christ Jesus. Come and touch
one's lips with a live coal from off the heavenly altar. We ask
for Jesus Christ's Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 410. The tune is Walton 430. I will
read the First two verses, and we'll commence
singing at verse three. O for a heart prepared to sing
to God my Saviour and my King, while with His saints I join
to tell, my Jesus has done all things well. All worlds His glorious
power confess, His wisdom all His works express, but O His
love What tongue can tell, my Jesus has done all things well? Hymn 410, comment singing at
verse 3, tune Walton 430. For in the world I am free His Lord is come to save the
weak. He died with you as a child, On earth as it is in heaven,
and on earth as it is in heaven. ? God shed his light ? ? On earth
as it were ? ? On earth as it were ? ? God shed his light ? ? On earth as it were ? O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last
gleaming? I love you. ? Ever mighty as the sun ? ? O'er
all things bright ? ? And as the rising sun ? O say can you see, by the dawn's
early light, ? Thy lead has heard from holy
ground ? ? Still shall I close my eyes to thee ? ? And in this house shall be his
holy grail ? ? Let there be light everywhere ? Thou shalt sever Jesus' heart
from all his love. I see the light at my cross,
and I O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the fourth
chapter of the epistle of James and we will read verse six for
our text. The epistle of James, chapter
four, verse 6, But he giveth more grace, wherefore he saith,
God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. What a wonderful word this is. It's a word that has been exceedingly
sweet and encouraging to me personally over the years, especially this
first clause, but he giveth more grace. Isn't that what we feel
to need? Isn't that what we feel to lack?
Grace. And the true child of God longs
for more grace. Firstly, we want to look at grace,
at where it comes from. And indeed, right throughout
the New Testament, there's a constant emphasis, the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ. That is where grace comes from. He is the fountain the fountain
of all grace he came the eternal son of the eternal father came
to this world to redeem sinful man to deliver sinful man from
the curse of the law from the power of sin it's only he that
can do that must ever remember who he is the Son of God. He is declared to be the Son
of God with power. He's the foundation of the church. He said to Peter, when Peter
said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, Christ
answered him, upon this rock I build my church and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it. You see, It's a solid rock. In Him there is safety. There
is security. There is. There's deliverance
from sin. And from Satan's power. How did the Son of God do this? It was all decreed in that eternal
covenant of grace. Again, the word grace. The covenant
of grace. It was made before the foundation
of the world, before man had a being. In eternity
past, it was purposed and decreed that the Son of God would come
to this earth and live as a man upon earth. Something very unique
in the person of Jesus Christ He's God and man in one person.
It's a profound mystery. As the Apostle Paul says, when
he writes to Timothy, great is the mystery of godliness. God
was manifest in the flesh. That's what we see in Jesus Christ,
the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father. And the apostles in their
witness in the preaching in the early church after the ascension
of Christ into heaven. They said there is none other
name given unto heaven whereby ye must be saved but the name
of Jesus Christ. I am the way. They are the words
of Christ. I am the way, the truth and the
life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. Only in Christ. I love that word in Ephesians
chapter 2 verse 18. For through Him. Through who? Jesus Christ. The Eternal Son
of the Eternal Father. For through Him we have access
by one Spirit unto the Father. Free access by one Spirit unto
the Father. I am the way. Upon this rock
I build my church. You know, if you look at the
life of Christ, he lived as a man here upon earth. The Son of God
lived as a man here upon earth, under the law. It's that wonderful
emphasis in Galatians 4, made of a woman, made under the law.
that He might redeem them that are under the law, that law that
curses you, that law that condemns you, that law that damns you
forever. The Son of God was made under
that law and He fulfilled that law. I come not to destroy the
law but to fulfill it. That is what Christ has done.
He's fulfilled the law. This is the grace that is in
our text. but He giveth more grace. In the fulfilling of God's holy
law on the behalf of His people, it's known as the righteousness
of Jesus Christ. That holy life He lived as a
man, when He did no sin, sin is any transgression of the law
of God, He did no sin. He lived a righteous life, a
perfect life, on the behalf of His people. And that The perfect
obedience of Christ is called the righteousness of Christ.
And he gives it to his people. It's the free gift of God in
Christ to poor, wretched, naked sinners. It covers their nakedness. Nothing else will. He also suffered and bled and
died on Calvary. In the Garden of Gethsemane,
We read of Christ, we have a picture of Him in Luke 22. He sweat as
it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. Why
was He in such agony? It says, and He being in an agony.
Why? What was done in the Garden of
Gethsemane? Our Eternal Father took the sin
of the Church and He laid it on His Son. That's why He was
suffering. It speaks in Isaiah 53, doesn't
it? He laid upon Him the iniquity
of us all. It was all laid on cross. And
He suffered and bled and died for the sins of His people. And
in that holy sacrifice of Calvary, He put away sin. He put away
sin. He himself took our infirmities,
it says in Holy Scripture. And he suffered. And he bled. And he died. And that precious
blood of Christ cleanses the church from all sin. The blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. But it doesn't
stop there, does it? He didn't stay in the grave.
We don't worship a dead Christ. We worship a living Christ, who
has the power of an endless life. He rose from the dead. He rose
again for our justification. The word justification is a declaration
that that person is without sin. Christ died for our sins and
rose again for our justification. Their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. Why? Because Jesus suffered and
bled and died. Think of those words, those words
in Isaiah 53, so exceedingly precious to me on one occasion.
He was wounded for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him. And with His stripes, we are
healed. Oh, how precious a fullness there
is in Jesus Christ. You know, talking about this
grace, but He giveth more grace. John in the first chapter of
his Gospel. He says, and the Word, written
with a capital W, because it refers to the Son of God, and
the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father.
Now listen, full of grace and truth. He's full of grace and
truth. And you know, He's as full now
as ever He has been. And He will be to all eternity. He's full of grace and truth.
There can never be any diminishing of that infinite grace that is
in Christ Jesus. It's His grace. It's the grace
of the Eternal Son of God manifest in the flesh. The actual meaning
of the word grace is the free, unmerited favour of God. That's the meaning of the word
grace. The free, unmerited favour of God. We cannot merit God's
favour. We all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. We're all born in sin and shaped
in iniquity. We're all unrighteous altogether.
That is our state and that is our condition by nature. But
God has made a provision in His Son, Jesus Christ, that He might
have mercy upon poor sinners, poor lost sinners, poor ruined
sinners. And that love and that mercy
and that grace is in Jesus Christ, the great King and Head of the
Church. But He giveth more grace. Maybe those of you here and you
feel to be such sinners, you feel to be so undone, you may feel that you sin so
greatly against God, not only His holy law, but His love, His
mercy, His grace. The Apostle speaks of it in the
Hebrews, doesn't he? Done despite unto the spirit
of grace. And you may labor under that
temptation that because you've so sinned against light and knowledge,
against grace and glory, and against God's holy law, there can be no mercy. for such
an one. You feel you're too great a sinner.
But may this word be a word in season. But he giveth more grace. But he giveth more grace. That
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is a constant river that flows
into Zion. In Psalm 46 it says, there is
a river The streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the
dwelling places of the Most High." That river is the eternal love
and grace of God in Christ. Now it's called a river because
it's constantly flowing, because it's constantly flesh, and it's
constantly full. It really is. It never diminishes. It never will. Not eternally.
It's that wonderful river of the eternal love of God. Now,
God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. But have
eternal... How? You might say, how? How
can it be when I've sinned so? He's full of grace. But, he giveth more grace. Whereof he saith, God resisteth
the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. It's a quotation
from the Book of Proverbs and also from the Book of Job. God
resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. When the Spirit of God enters
the heart of a poor sinner, quickens their soul into life. He convinces them of sin. He shows them they're a sinner.
He shows them they've got no hope in themselves. He shows
them that they're cursed by God's holy law. When He, the Spirit of Truth,
is come, He will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness. And when the Spirit of God truly
enters the heart and convinces of sin, you don't think you're
a sinner, you know. You know. That's really the meaning
of the word convince. I know that's not in the text
of scripture it said he will reprove, but if you have a marginal
reference the alternative rendering is convince. And what that means
is, is that you know, you feel you're a sinner before a holy
God. A sinner before a holy God. You
don't deserve his mercy or his grace. One hymn writer says And this
is the language of a truly convinced sinner. And if my soul were sent
to hell, thy righteous law approves it well. God would be just and
righteous if he was to damn my soul forever. This is what it is to be humble. Isaiah chapter 66. The Holy Spirit
is left on record there. To this man will I look, to him
that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at
my word. Poor. You know yourself to be
a poor sinner. Contrition. You own that God
is just to condemn you forever. That's what contrition is. Again,
the spirit of contrition is seen in our Lord Jesus Christ in the
Garden of Gethsemane. And this is what real true contrition
is. Father, if it be possible, let
this cup pass from me. but not my will, but thine be
done. That's contrition. To this man
will I look, to him that is poor. When John the Baptist sent a
messenger to Jesus when he was in prison, are thou he that should come
or look we for another? Christ, he said to John's disciples,
go and tell John the poor have the gospel preached unto them.
The gospel of Jesus Christ is for the poor and the needy, the
wretched and the undone. We read in Isaiah chapter 41,
when the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and
their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them. I
the God of Jacob will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high
places and streams in the desert. Those rivers are the rivers of
His everlasting love in Jesus Christ. That's what those rivers
of love are. They're rivers of grace. They're
rivers of peace. They're rivers of salvation.
They're rivers of redemption. They're rivers of complete deliverance. The Apostle Paul, when he writes
to the Corinthians, He speaks of God and of his deliverance. He that hath delivered and doth
deliver and we trust will yet deliver. He will. It's in the
threefold sense, past, present and future. Just as it said,
Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever. He that hath delivered and doth
deliver and will yet deliver. and he giveth more grace. There's a constant fullness there,
my beloved friends. You know, sometimes, sometimes
we're too proud to come. Too proud to bow in complete
confession of our sin, of our unrighteousness, of those things
that we have done and do do. We're too proud. And as it says in our text, God
resisteth the proud. God resisteth the proud. Too
proud to come as a poor, guilty, wretched sinner. And to completely submit yourself. In the following verses, 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." James was writing probably 60
years after Christ. And the spirit of Antichrist
was already working in the Christian church. and hence he gives much
warning here about wars among them. He's talking here to a
church, to believers that were warring among themselves. You see, but if you have bitter
envy and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against
the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from
above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envy and
strife is, there is confusion and every evil work, but that
wisdom which is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy
to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality
and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness
is sown in peace of them that make peace. Are we among them
that make peace? There's a solemn warning, I think
it's in Titus. Mark them that cause divisions
among you. Are we peacemakers or are we
troublemakers? Do we seek to unite or do we
seek to divide? You know, friends, if we're given
to a hasty spirit, a bad temper, we need to be very careful. Such
a spirit wreaks havoc in the Church of God. It does. The very
nature of that union that is in the Church is a union of love. There's union and communion.
in love, in Christ. We know that we have passed from
death unto life because we love the brethren. One of the marks
and evidences of true spiritual life. You may feel to lack love,
you may feel you don't have enough love, you may feel to lack faith
and you don't feel you have enough faith. But remember this word,
But He giveth more grace. But He giveth more grace. Remember
there's a fullness in Christ. A fullness of salvation. A fullness
of redemption. A fullness of grace. He's always
full of grace and truth. You can ever come to Him. Listen to His words. Those gracious
words of our Lord Jesus Christ, come unto me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. You see, He giveth
more grace. Come unto me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke,
that is to be united to Christ. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me, for I and meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest
for your souls. My yoke is easy, my burden is
light. Why? Because it's carried by
Him. It's to be yoked to Christ. It's to be in union with Jesus
Christ by faith. In union with the Lamb, from
condemnation free, The saints from everlasting were and shall
forever be, but he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God
resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Humility and love are two of
the most precious graces of the Holy Ghost. And he gives these
to the children of God. Humility and love. Humility to own our sinfulness,
to own our wretchedness, to own our poverty, our insufficiency,
our helplessness. Myself I cannot keep, myself
I cannot save, but faith in thee I fain would have whose eyelids
never sleep. Humility. The humility to acknowledge
and to confess our sins. To acknowledge and confess that
we were wrong. We were wrong. There was a godly member of Black
Boys, Mr Jim Funnell. He was the father of Eric Funnell.
And there was a lot of trouble. And he was in the middle of it.
And eventually, my late pastor, he called a church meeting. He
outlined what the problem was. And Mr. Funnell had been causing
a lot of trouble. And I remember Mr. Artry passed. He often used to repeat it from
the book. All Mr. Funnell did in that church
meeting was he got up and he said, I am sorry. And there was
never any trouble after that. He said it was so genuine, it
came right from his heart. And there was never any more
trouble. You see, the point that he was making, my late pastor,
they're three of the hardest words that we can say. that the Lord would bring us
there and give us that grace to humble us and to realize and
you know we take a lot of humbling whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth
that word chasten it means to discipline he disciplines his
children whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth and they're painful things and the Lord's
people They need these painful things to chasten, to humble,
to bring us into subjection to the will of God. And so that
our flesh is crucified. And when our flesh is crucified,
it is very, very painful. Mortify therefore your bodies. What does it mean to mortify?
To kill. To kill. And that is that divine
work of the Spirit in the heart, life, experience of the true
child of God. If ye be without chastisement,
whereof all are partakers, that means all the children of God,
then are ye bastards and not sons. Illegitimate. You're not a true child of God
if you're not chastened by God. And that chastening takes many
different forms. It does. Some people have the
Lord's chastening and you can see it. Others have the Lord's
chastening and you can't see it. But they have some secret
thing that deeply troubles them and perplexes them. It's like
the Apostle Paul we mentioned the other day. He had a thorn
in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet him. We're wisely
not told what that was. But we know it was exceedingly
painful. But what did the Lord say to
Paul? And it goes with our text here,
but He gave us more grace. When Paul asked the Lord to take
away that thorn in the flesh because he thought he would be
a better preacher, a better evangelist, if he didn't have that thorn
in the flesh. We're not told that the Lord took it away. But
He gave him this most wonderful promise. My grace. My grace is sufficient for thee. My strength is made perfect in
weakness. You may have something constantly
and continually that troubles you. Perhaps nobody else sees
it, but it troubles you. And you think that you'd be such
a better Christian if you didn't have it. You wouldn't. You wouldn't. That's the Lord's chasteness.
And it's in this way He'll give you grace to bear it. My grace,
that is that glorious grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient
for thee. There's a sufficiency in the
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ to uphold, to strengthen, to
guide, to direct, to humble and to bring you constantly to His
footstool in prayer. It is. One of the ways, of course,
that the Lord does it, is the conviction of sin. It's not just
in the early stages of Christian experience, it's something that
goes on, conviction of sin. And it's something that is a
great burden to the child of God. You're convicted of it, you know,
you feel, but he giveth more grace. He giveth more grace. And you
need it, don't you? And then, as we've already mentioned,
Paul the Apostle and his thorn in the flesh, but he giveth more
grace. My grace is sufficient for thee.
And then, some of the Lord's people, some in a greater, some
in a lesser degree, have to have the temptations of Satan. They are very painful things,
especially in my early years, after Christ was first revealed
to me. I had to walk in some really,
really deep and painful temptations, to the point where I thought
I was losing my mind. But you see, we have to prove,
experimentally, but it gives us more grace. You may say to
the Lord, I can't go on. I can't resist this temptation. But the Lord, that wonderful
promise in Isaiah 59, when the enemy comes in like a flood,
the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. The
enemy is Satan. The Spirit of the Lord is the
Holy Ghost. The standard He lifts up is Christ. It's salvation in none other.
It's redemption in none other. It's in the glorious, sacred
person of our Lord Jesus Christ. And you keep coming, you keep
looking, you keep watching. He's always full of grace and
full of truth. But He gives us more grace. He
gives us more grace. He does. You may feel and you
will feel so unworthy of it. especially when you slip and
fall in the ways of sin and the flesh and you become so worldly. You see, it says here in verse 4,
the 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. but it gives us more
grace, more grace. You can keep coming back for
more grace. You know, when we look in Holy
Scripture, we look right back at the beginning of time when
the grace of God was first manifested. In the fall of man in the third
chapter of Genesis, when Eve took of the fruit of the tree
of the knowledge of good and of evil, and she gave unto her
husband, and their eyes were opened. The tree that the Lord
had said, the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. The Lord slew an animal. They knew that they were naked.
The Lord slew an animal. and clothe them with the skin
of the animal. It's a beautiful type of Jesus
Christ who was slain for the sins of his people. All those
sacrifices and offerings and that is the beginning of them
right in the Garden of Eden. Without the shedding of blood
there can be no remission of sins. It's the sacred blood of
Jesus Christ alone that cleanses from all sins. It does. And that animal that was slain
and the skins were taken by God and given for a covering unto
Adam and unto Eve, to cover their nakedness, they knew nothing
of nakedness, they knew nothing of sin before that. Of all the creatures God has
made, there is but man alone that needs a covering, not his
own. How true that is. How true that
is. But that beautifully typifies
the crucifixion of Christ. The shed blood of Christ. To
cover their nakedness. And the seed of the woman. It's the promise given by God,
speaking to Satan. Thou shalt bruise his heel. The
seed of the woman is Christ. Satan will bruise his heel, but
thou shalt bruise his head. Thou shalt completely destroy
him. When they drive those nails through the feet to crucify someone,
it goes right through the heel, right through the most painful
part, to hold them tight to the cross. And that's the meaning
of that. You see, but through that crucifixion,
Satan thought he gained a great victory. Instead of that, Christ
gained the victory. Christ suffered and bled and
died for the sins of his people. And on the third day, he rose
again. He had destroyed death. And him that had the power of
death, that is the devil. You see, and grace continues.
You say, what do you mean? Abel and Cain, the sons of Adam
and Eve. Abel found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. It was revealed unto him the
coming of Christ. He took a lamb of his flock and
he offered it. It says in Hebrews 11, by faith
Abel offered a more acceptable sacrifice. Cain brought the work
of his hands and he was rejected. Abel brought the lamb and he
was accepted. You see, it speaks to us of Christ. and He giveth more grace. But
so, you see, in that promise that the Lord gave and spoke
to Satan and man of the curse, He spoke of two seeds. The seed
of the devil, the seed of the woman. And there you see it so
clearly in Cain and Abel. Cain, the seed of the devil.
Abel, the seed of Christ, a child of God. He was given faith He
found grace in the eyes of the Lord. And afterwards, after Cain
slew Abel, his brother Seth was born. And he became in the lineage
of Christ. See, grace runs right the way
through Holy Scripture, right down to the coming of Christ
here upon Earth. There was a whole line there.
Enoch walked with God. They used to meet together. You
can read it in Genesis when you read through all those pieces.
They used to meet together for worship. The sons of God, it
says, met together. There was divine worship. Then we come down to Noah. And
it's the first mention of grace in Holy Scripture. And what do
we find there in Genesis? And Noah found grace. in the eyes of the Lord. That He was righteous. And it's
made clear, you look at the Hebrews, He was righteous by faith. He
was given faith. Faith in Jesus Christ. Faith
in His precious sacrifice. When He came out of the ark,
He offered those clean beasts as a sacrifice unto God. A sacrifice
of thanksgiving. What was He thinking of? Christ!
That's what he's looking to, by faith. He saw the day of Christ
in those sacrifices. So, we see it right through scripture. And after the flood, we see the
coming of Abraham and the call of Abraham out of the Chaldees. Abraham found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. Grace is a sovereign thing. Grace
is the gift of God. It's the gift of God. we might have more grace. And
all that we may ever remember, He giveth more grace. In spite of all our sins, in
spite of all our wanderings. You see, He speaks what it says
here about being humbled. We will be humbled under a sense
of our sin, our wretchedness, the corruption of our heart.
the sinfulness of our nature, that the Spirit of God will humble
you under a sense of it. 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 this humbling,
this divine work of the Spirit to humble. Every true child of
God knows what it is to be humble. Every true child of God knows
what it is to be a sinner. And every true child of God knows
what it is to slip and to fall. You know, you think of the Apostle
Paul when he writes Romans 7. That which I would, I do not. You look at the last verse of
this chapter 4. Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and
doeth it not, to him it is a sin. It's a sin. It's a sin of omission. That you do not do the things
that God requires you to do. as a child of God, loving, kind,
merciful, compassionate. Give in to Him that hath need,
as ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord. You've received that
grace as a poor, wretched, ruined, helpless sinner. As ye have received
that grace, so walk ye in Him, just as He's been gracious to
you. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Oh, that we might have more of
the mind of Christ. But he giveth more grace. Wherefore, he saith, God resisteth
the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. May the Lord add
his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 198. The tune is St. Fulbert, 221. Amazing grace,
how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was
lost, but now am found. Was blind, but now I see. Hymn 198. Tune St. Fulbert, 221. In the misty embrace of your
sweet love's light ? God's plan under my feet ? ?
God's great plan for man has been made ? ? And made by his
people ? How precious did that grace appear, the hour I first
believed. Till many came as good as this,
I have already come. This grace that brought me shape
has gone, ? And grace will lead me home ?
? Yes, when this flesh ? ? Have not sheltered ? ? And mortal
life shall cease ? I shall possess within the bill
a life of joy and peace. O my soul, the sun for Bethlehem
shines. That God should hold me in heaven, will be forever. Now, may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each. Amen.