you. Okay. um wow The notices for the coming week
are God willing as follows. The pastor will preach here next
Lord's Day at 10.30 and two o'clock, also on Thursday evening at seven
o'clock. There'll be no prayer meeting
this week. Let us commence our services
today by singing together hymn number 76. The tune is Saxby
409. There is a period known to God when all his sheep, redeemed
by blood, shall leave the hateful ways of sin, turn to the fold
and enter in. Hymn number 76, tune Saxby 409. Who is that thing, with the angelic
glow? When all he sees, Leading by
love, shall we pave the ways of sin, turn to the foe and enter
in. The feast will come with joy
and hope, With ships of praise they wondered far. In those eras, And children born,
as far from home as she can run. Lord, see how heav'n, in thousands
gay, Attempts them all, quick here and there, I hear the rovers cryin' With
bright wings, home to better land. When wisdom calls, they shall
carry. And if our help shall ever fail, Such friends from earth since
then have strayed, Ever in need to wisdom's way. Glory to God in the heav'nly
King of the heav'nly King of the heavens God's great Jehovah shows and
wills, everlasting everlasting wills. Ill-appointed time rolls on apace. Not impromptu, but full by grace. To change the heart, Let us read
together from the Holy Word of God in Psalm 119. Psalm 119, we'll commence reading
at verse 153, reading to the end of the Psalm. Consider mine affliction, and
deliver me, for I do not forget thy law. Plead my cause and deliver
me, quicken me, according to thy word. Salvation is far from
the wicked, for they seek not thy statutes. Great are thy tender
mercies, O Lord, quicken me according to thy judgments. Many are my
persecutors and my enemies, yet do I not decline from thy testimonies. I held thee I beheld the transgressors
and was grieved because they kept not thy word. Consider how
I love thy precepts. Quicken me, O Lord, according
to thy lovingkindness. Thy word is true from the beginning,
and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth forever. Princes
are persecuting me without a cause, But my heart standeth in awe
of thy word. I rejoice at thy word as one
that findeth great spoil. I hate and abhor lying, but thy
law do I love. Seven times a day do I praise
thee because of thy righteous judgments. Great peace have they
which love thy law, and nothing shall offend them. Lord, I have
hoped for thy salvation and done thy commandments. My soul hath
kept thy testimonies, and I love them exceedingly. I have kept
thy precepts and thy testimonies, for all my ways are before thee. Let my cry come near before thee,
O Lord, give me understanding according to thy word. Let my
supplication come before thee, deliver me according to thy word. My lips shall utter praise when
thou hast taught me thy statutes. My tongue shall speak of thy
word, for all thy commandments are righteousness. Let thine
hand help me, for I have chosen thy precepts. I have longed for
thy salvation, O Lord, and thy law is my delight. Let my soul
live, and it shall praise thee, and let thy judgments help me.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant, for
I do not forget thy commandments. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant unto us now a spirit of
real prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, we bow before thy glorious eternal
majesty, and we desire to worship thee this day in the sanctuary. As we read in thy word, let us
go up unto the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy
gates, O Jerusalem. Lord, we can echo the words of
the psalmist, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the
place where thine honour dwelleth. And with David also, I love the
Lord, because he has heard my voice, the voice of my supplications. So we come to thee, O Lord, as
poor sinners, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave
the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord, take and
seal it, seal it from thy courts above. to grant most gracious
God that our sins may be washed away, that we may be clothed
in the everlasting robe of the righteousness of Jesus Christ
to cover our nakedness. Lord, we find so true as the
apostle says, I find a law within my members that when I would
do good, then evil is present with me. and that which I would,
I do not, and that which I would not, I do. Gracious God, we pray
for thy forgiving love. We leave undone those things
that we should do, and we do those things that we should not
do. And we come before thee this
morning hour of thy holy day in a spirit of confession of
our sins and of our wandering, Lord, so evident in our own hearts
that we were born in sin and shaped in iniquity. Oh, we pray
for thy forgiving love and mercy in Jesus Christ to be known and
felt in our hearts today that we may be reconciled unto God. For him hath God exalted as a
prince and as a saviour. Oh, to give repentance and remission
of sins We do come to thee in the name of Jesus. We cannot
come in our own name, but in his name. We cannot plead for
our own sake, O Lord, but for his name's sake. So we come in
his name. We thank thee for the glory of
his name and the fullness of his grace. And we pray that that
grace may be poured forth upon us today as we gather around
the word of God. Indeed, may the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God our Father, and the sacred
fellowship of the Holy Spirit rest and abide upon us. We do
humbly beseech of thee. Show us thy ways, O Lord. Lead
us in thy paths. Grant that thy word may be a
lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. O Lord God, we
do humbly beseech thee. We pray for the divine and heavenly
power of the Holy Ghost, that it may be known and felt in the
pulpit and in the pew. Most blessed spirit of truth,
it is within thy province alone to take of the things of Jesus
and reveal them unto us. And it is within thy province
alone to convict and convince of sin. We pray that this day
thy mighty work may be seen, ears may be unstopped, eyes may
be made to see, hearts to receive thy word. Holy Spirit of truth,
we pray for thy heavenly power, for thy divine unction, for thy
inward teaching. Quicken souls and make them cry,
give me Christ or else I die. Convict and convince of sin lead
to Jesus' blood, we do humbly beseech of thee. How dependent
we are upon thee to give us wisdom and understanding. And that we
pray that it may be today the Spirit of the Lord God is upon
me, for he has anointed me to preach the gospel. Oh, to know
that fresh anointing of the Spirit, that divine unction and power
of the Holy Ghost, as we gather around thy word today. We pray
for the divine drawings of our eternal Father, drawing us unto
his best beloved Son. May we know that sacred experience
that we read of in the word of God, for God has sent forth the
spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. May we feel and know that for
the Father himself loveth you. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst bless our deacons. We thank thee for them and pray
that thou wouldst bless them indeed. Give them wisdom and
grace and help in all their responsibilities, not only among us as a church,
but also among the churches in the various responsibilities
that they have. Lord, we pray for each one of
our brethren and sisters in Christ in church fellowship. that thou
wouldst graciously bless each one, that thou wouldst unite
us together in that spirit of love and union and communion,
that we may serve one another, that we may esteem each other
better than ourselves to be. Gracious God, do bless us. Thou hast said in thy word, Lord
Jesus, By this shall they know that ye are my disciples, because
ye have love one to another. Lord, increase our faith, increase
our love. Pour upon us the spirit of real
travail, for as soon as I am travailed, she brought forth
her children. And thou hast said concerning
thy church, I will abundantly bless her provision. I will satisfy
her poor with bread. O gracious God, we pray that
it may be so today, that the bread of life, the Gospel table
may be spread, and those delicious dainties of the Gospel may be
placed upon it, and that poor sinners may come and eat and
live, and know the power of divine truth in their hearts, and that
the Lord Jesus Christ may be exalted as a Prince and as a
Saviour. We do humbly besiege of thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst bless the young and the rising generation, the
little children. We love to see them and hear
them in the sanctuary. Lord, put thy holy fear in their
hearts, in their young and in their tender years. Bless each
of the children and graciously undertake for them. Thou knowest
each of their concerns. And we pray that thou wouldst
hear their prayers. Thou hast said, suffer little
children to come unto me and forbid them not. We thank thee
for those wonderful words of grace. We pray thy blessing upon
the young friends as they stand upon the threshold of life journey. We pray that thou wouldst bless
them indeed. That thou wouldst bring them
to living faith in Jesus Christ. Show them thy ways. Teach them
thy paths, O Lord, we do humbly beseech thee. Graciously guide
and direct them in all the paths of life's journey, and give them
wisdom and help in their education. Grant, O Lord, the door open
in employment, and graciously grant them a partner in life's
journey, that they might be heirs together of the grace of life.
Hear us, Lord, we humbly beseech thee on their behalf. Remember
the prodigals that have wandered. We pray that thou wouldst stretch
out thy almighty arm, that thou wouldst cause them to be in want,
to return. Let us see thy work. Lord, it
would rejoice our hearts to see the prodigals return. We pray
most gracious Lord that thou, in thy great mercy, Let's remember
all in the midst of the journey of life. Remember parents in
bringing up their children. Deliver us from the temptations
of Satan, whether he comes as a roaring lion to devour or an
angel of light to deceive. We pray to be delivered from
him and from his power. We pray that when the enemy comes
in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord may lift up a standard
against him. Lord, we pray that thou in thy
great mercy would remember each one of us who have now in the
evening time of life's journey. And we pray that thou would be
with us and help us. We especially think of dear Mrs.
Field in her great age and pray that thou would grant her thy
divine support and blessing and help. We pray that at evening
time it may be light, that the glorious light of the gospel
may shine into our hearts, that sweet assurance of faith. Lord,
grant it to each one of us. We do humbly beseech thee. We pray to be made more spiritually
minded and our heart and our affection set upon things above. We pray for this village of Lamberhurst
and the surrounding villages and hamlets Many, many, many
precious souls may yet be gathered in. The strongholds of Satan
pulled down. The kingdom of our Lord Jesus
set up in the hearts of sinners. O Lord of hosts, O God of Israel,
O Thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth. Let
Thy hand be upon the man of Thy right hand. The Son of Man, whom
Thou madest strong for Thyself, we do humbly beseech Thee. O
Lord, we pray for any in any trouble or trial or perplexity
or sorrow that Thou wouldst graciously undertake for each one. And O
Lord, we do pray that Thou wouldst remember all Thy servants as
they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion today,
that they may dip their foot in oil and be made acceptable
unto Thee, brethren, and that the word preached may be in power
in the Holy Ghost, and with much assurance, we do humbly beseech
of thee. O Lord God, we do pray that thou
wouldst bless our nation, bless our king and the royal household,
bless our leaders with wisdom and understanding. Be gracious,
O Lord, we do beseech thee. For thy great namesake, we live
in days of great declension. Zion is minched and brought low.
The spirit of Antichrist is so prevalent. Gracious God, incline
thine ear. Hear the cries of thy little
remnant. Turn our captivity as the streams
in the south. O Lord, we do beseech thee. There's
nothing too hard for thee. We cry, O Lord God, that instead
of seeing the closure of churches, we may see the opening of churches.
Instead of a falling away, may there be a building up. O Lord,
we do humbly beseech of thee. We pray for those that labour
in word and doctrine among the nations of the earth that go
forth from us. Remember the Mombasa mission
and thy servant there. Grant good success to his labours.
Remember, O Lord, we pray thee, Savannah Education Trust. and
that great work that they're doing in Ghana. And remember
Ian Sadler and that great work that he does in the various nations
of the earth, in the distribution of thy word and the teaching
of the doctrine of truth. Lord, do supply all their needs,
we do humbly beseech of thee. And oh Lord God, we do thank
thee. We thank thee for the house of
prayer, We thank thee for thy holy day in that we're freely
able to meet together around thy word. And we thank thee,
most gracious Lord, for thy word. This is the word by which the
gospel is preached unto you. Oh, we do thank thee for the
sacred glories of Jesus Christ, the incarnation of the Son of
God, his holy life, the holy law fulfilled and honoured in
him, on the behalf of his people, the bringing in of everlasting
righteousness. Fill our hearts with praise,
O Lord, and with thanksgiving for Calvary, where the lamb was
slain, where sin was put away, where divine justice was satisfied,
where God and sinners are reconciled. We thank thee for the precious
blood of the lamb that was shed on Calvary's tree. that blood
that cleanses from all sin. We thank thee that there is a
new and living way made into the holy place. He died for our
sins and rose again for our justification and has bodily ascended into
heaven and sitteth at thy right hand. O gracious God, fill our
hearts with thanksgiving on this Lord's day. Come and touch one's
lips with a live coal. From off the heavenly altar,
we ask with the forgiveness of all sin, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 944. The tune is Buckland 450. Tell me, Saviour from above,
dearest object of my love, where thy little flocks abide, shouted
near thy bleeding side, hymn 944, tune Buckland 450. ? From the earth ? ? It is founded
on my God ? ? That I may come once again ? ? Shelter me in
his arms ? Straight now check the loading
line, When I make my story line. ? Where o'er heav'nly shed I cry
? ? Our God and King shine his light ? ? Heaven and earth adore
him ? day. Hail, Calvary, hail the
day. Hail, all of the star-shined heart. Hear the ? Make my tortured heart at home
? ? Gave to me a wretched sinner's foe ? ? He that hath everlasting hope ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to Psalm 119,
and we'll read for our text, verse 176. Psalm 119, verse 176.
I have gone astray, like a lost sheep. Seek thy servant,
for I do not forget thy commandments. It's the longest chapter in Holy Scripture. It is the most prominent of what
are called the alphabetical Psalms. The most prominent because at
the top of each section, which are called stanzas, there's eight
verses, each stanza is eight verses, and you'll notice there
is a Hebrew letter above every one of those sections. And in
the Hebrew alphabet there are 22 letters. And there are 22
sections here. in Psalm 119. And in the Hebrew,
each verse begins with the letter at the top, hence it's called
an alphabetical psalm. It was a particular, I think
there are seven alphabetical psalms and this is the most prominent
of them, written in the Hebrew like an acrostic. And One of the most prominent
features of this psalm is its constant and continual reference
to the Word of God. And there are 10 different names
that are used here for the Word of God. And it's pretty well
in every single verse, especially in the section we are. If you
look here, 169, and it says, let my cry come near before thee,
O Lord, give me understanding according to thy word. So the
constant emphasis is in my word. Let my supplication come before
thee, deliver me according to thy word. Then my lips shall
utter praise when thou hast taught me thy statutes. Statutes is
another name for the word of God, his statutes, his commandments. It says in verse 172, my tongue
shall speak of thy word, for all thy commandments are righteousness. And then in 173, let thine hand
help me, for I have chosen thy precepts, the precepts in the
word of God. So this constant referring to
the word of God is one of the most prominent things in this
psalm. 174, I have longed for thy salvation,
O Lord, and thy law is my delight. It doesn't just mean the literal
Ten Commandments. And if you look at Psalm 119,
it says about the law of the Lord, and in the margin, It says,
the word of God, the doctrine of truth, that is what is meant
by the law of the law. It's God's holy word. So this
is the great emphasis, that this blessed book, the Bible, is God's
holy word. Not as so many of the academics
will tell us today, is that it contains the word of God. My
beloved friends, It is the Word of God, it doesn't just contain
it. The only reason they take that position is because then
they can choose what they want and leave what they don't want.
They can say, well that's not the Word of God, but this is.
Poor, sinful, wretched man. Deciding what he considers to
be the Word of God. Now this book, from Genesis to
Revelation, is God's holy, righteous word. And as I say, all these
different names, testimonies, commandments, look at 1-7-5,
let my soul live and it shall praise thee, let thy judgments
help me. Again, it's a reference to the
word of God, thy judgments, in the judgment of God. We can come
to God's word and we can find his mind on any subject in God's
word And the what that means is it's in the judgment of God
In the judgment of God you you think of that solemn word the
soul that sinneth it shall die That's in the judgment of God That's what God has purposed
the soul that sinneth it shall die You think of the definition
given in God's word for sin. Sin is any transgression of the
law of God. We transgress God's holy law. We break it. I've often explained
to you that the word transgression, it actually means in the original
A boundary that God has set. That boundary is God's Holy Law,
the Ten Commandments. And if you and I break one of
those commandments, we transgress. That's the meaning, the boundary
God has put around us. We transgress His Holy Law. We sin. That's the meaning of sin. You see, my beloved friends,
these things are written in God's Word for our instruction. Now, the other thing we find
in God's Word is we all have sinned. We all have sinned. And again, just think of this
word, judgment, in the judgment of God. We all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. the Lord may impress upon our
hearts, our minds. It says here in the Book of Psalms,
we go forth from the womb speaking lies and hypocrisy. That's our
state and our condition by nature. You see, these judgments and
these testimonies and these commandments are found in God's Word. And
then of course, not only do we find the law of the Lord, and
the condemnation of sin, but then we find also in this word
the gospel of Jesus Christ. The way of salvation, the way
of redemption, the way of deliverance from sin, the way of deliverance
from the power of sin and the dominion of sin in Jesus Christ,
central to the understanding of the whole of the Word of God.
is to understand that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, the Son of God was manifest in the flesh,
made of a woman, made under the law, that he might redeem them
that are under the law. Jesus himself said, I am the
way. That means the way to God. Man
has lost his way. Man has lost his way. But there
is a way back to God. And that's in his son, Jesus
Christ. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. But by me. This is the gospel,
the testimony of Almighty God. The testimony of Almighty God.
Or that we might have that testimony in our hearts, powerfully written
there by the Holy Ghost, so that we might know the truth, and
the truth might set us free, know the truth that we're poor
sinners, that we're lost and we're undone. Now, speaking of
the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, just listen to these
words in 1 John chapter 3, verse 21, Beloved, if our hearts condemn
us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we
ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and
do those things that are pleasing in his sight. He's now speaking
to Christian believers that believe in Jesus Christ. And this is
his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his son,
Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. And
he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth
in us by the Spirit which he hath given us. So this is another
fundamental doctrine that is found in the Word of God. We need the Holy Ghost. to bring us from spiritual death
into spiritual life. We've just sung that lovely hymn,
there is a period known to God when all his sheep redeemed by
blood shall leave the hateful ways of sin, turn to the fold
and enter in the spirit that he has given us. The apostle
Paul, he says, you hath he quickened who were dead. in trespasses
and in sins. That's where the Lord finds each
one of his children, dead, in trespasses and in sins. And that word quickened is a
very old English word which means to give life. You hath he given
life who were dead. It may be true of each one of
us here, young and old, that we may be quickened by the Holy
Ghost. Paul, when he writes his epistle
to the Romans, he says there, if any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of this. The Spirit of Christ is the Holy
Ghost. If any man have not the Spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. And those wonderful words again,
this is the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of
God. You must be born again. Except
a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the
Kingdom of Heaven. All that these things may as
it were, find and abide in place in our hearts. And that we may
have those evidences given to us that we are indeed born again. We do have spiritual life. We
have spiritual feelings, a spiritual sight, a spiritual hearing, a
spiritual speaking. comes from that inward work of
the Holy Ghost in the heart. We know ourselves to be sinners.
We know what it is to confess our sins. And we know what it
is in our darkness to find light in Jesus Christ and in our bondage
to find liberty in Jesus Christ. Or that it may be so that we
might know these things by experience in our hearts. But you know,
even after we've come to a knowledge of these things, we can go astray. One hymn writer says, doesn't
he, prone to wander. Lord, I feel it, prone to leave
the God I love. Here's my heart, Lord, take and
seal it. Seal it from thy courts above.
Maybe there's one here today. And you've come in that sense
of loss and emptiness and poverty and insufficiency. You've wandered. I have gone astray. This is our
text. I have gone astray like a lost
sheep. Seek thy servant, for I do not
forget thy commandments. I have gone astray. In that lovely
Beautiful chapter of Isaiah, chapter 53, speaks of the sufferings
of Christ and the solemn yet sacred humiliation of the Son
of God when he was here below, the man of sorrows and acquainted
with grief. What does it say there? All we
like she have gone astray. We have turned every one to his
own All we like she have gone astray. I have gone astray like
a lost sheep. It's a confession. It's what
we have in our text, a confession. I've gone astray like a lost
sheep. And I believe it's something that every one of the Lord's
living family knows something of. of what it is to go astray,
like a lost sheep. You know, the wonderful thing
is that we read in the Gospels, the Lord Jesus Christ, speaking
of himself, he says, the Son of Man, it is come to save that
which was lost. This is Matthew chapter 18, verse
11. For the Son of Man, is come to
save that which was lost. Have you gone away like a lost
sheep? Wandering. Wandering from the ways of God.
How think ye, this is the words of Christ here in Matthew 18.
How think ye if a man have an hundred sheep and one of them
be gone astray? Doth he not leave the ninety
and nine and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone
astray. And if so be that ye find it,
verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the
ninety and nine which went not astray. Even so, it is not the
will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these
little ones should perish. One of these little ones should
perish. One for whom Jesus died, suffered
and bled and died to redeem them. You see the 99 are left in the
wilderness. He goes to seek for that one
which was lost. I have gone astray like a lost
sheep. We read of the apostle, Paul,
or as he was then, Saul of Tarsus, on the road to Damascus to persecute
the Christian church in Damascus. One of the words that the Lord
Jesus said, it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. It is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. Is there one here this morning
kicking against the pricks? The hymn writer says, don't they
prick in thorns to hedge their way? But you kick against it,
you rebel against it. The way of the transgressor is
hard, and it is hard. And when the spirit of truth
truly convinces us of our sin, it's hard. The way of the transgressor,
I've gone astray, like a lost sheep. that the Lord would indeed lay
his hand on these straying sheep. You know, sheep have a tendency
to wander. It seems to be in their very
nature. And it's often said it's silly
sheep. They have a tendency to wander.
If one of them finds a hole in a hedge or a fence and it gets
through, the others will follow. They follow each other. And they seem to lack that sort
of wisdom. What an emblem this is of the
church that's likened continually to sheep. It is. Wandering sheep. There's a tendency
for us to wander, to get carried away with this or carried away
with that or carried away with something else. And we wander
away. And we wonder from that good
pasture that the Lord has put us in. I have gone astray, like
a lost sheep. And they're very defenseless
sheep. It's just like the church of
God. Very defenseless. I have gone astray, like a lost
sheep. You know, Ezekiel. He speaks
of the wanderings of the sheep in Ezekiel chapter 34, and the
whole of that section there in chapter 34. And it says in the
closing verse of that Ezekiel 34, and ye my flock, the flock
of my pastor are men, and I am your God, saith the Lord God. So, here in this chapter 34,
look for instance at verse 11. For thus saith the Lord God,
Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep and seek them
out. What a mercy, isn't it? I will
search my sheep. Notice how it's put. I will search
my sheep. There's an intimation there the
Lord will search our hearts. And maybe that is what the Lord
is doing with you at this moment. He's searching your heart. He's
convincing you of your sin, of your wrongness, of your wandering
away from that which is according to his word. You see, this wandering. Behold,
I, even I will go search Maishi says in Zachariah, I will search
Jerusalem with candles. I will search Jerusalem. Jerusalem's
the church of God. He will search it with candles. Candles give off light and he
will shine into those darkest recesses. He will find what he's
looking for. Behold, I, even I, will besearch
my sheep and seek them out. This is an act of divine grace
by the Almighty God. As a shepherd seeketh out his
flock in the day that is among his sheep that are scattered,
so will I seek out my sheep and I will deliver them out of all
places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. The sheep get scattered. I will
bring them out from the people and gather them from the countries
and will bring them to their own land and feed them upon the
mountains of Israel by the rivers and in all the inhabited places
of the country. I will feed them in a good pasture. And of course this good pasture
is in the house of God among the people of God with the Word
of God central to it all and the ministry of the Word, a good
pastor. Just like when Ruth went gleaning,
she found a good pastor, didn't she? Gatsby puts it in his hymn,
to Boer's field he led her straight. To glean in the field. You see,
when Elimelech and Naomi went down into the land of Moab, they
were straying. They were straying. They went away from the house
of God and the people of God into a foreign land. There was
a famine in the land. They went away. They strayed.
You might say, what right have you got to say that? Well, because
Naomi's own confession. Went out full and come home again
empty. strayed from wisdom's way. They
went out among the children of Moab and lived there for 10 years.
And what happened there? We know there's an overruling
providence in it all, but their sons married Moabitess damsels. Not sure whether that was a normal
thing to do. A Jew was forbidden to do that. A Jew was forbidden
to marry a Gentile. You see what happens when you
go astray. You do things that are not right and not according
to God's word. You stray from his commandments,
his word and his ways. You see, but though they went away,
the Lord still watched over them. And in the wonderful providence
of God, Ruth the Moabitess was brought back or brought into
the land of Israel, not back, but into the land of Israel.
And she's found in the lineage of Christ. And Boaz is a beautiful
type of Christ. And she married Boaz. You see
the wonderful providences of God. But we need to consider that
word of the apostle, shall we sin that grace might abound? God forbid, God forbid. You see,
my beloved friends, we need to study these things in God's Word.
I have gone astray like a lost sheep. It carries on in that. Ezekiel 34, verse 16, I will
seek that which was lost and bring again that which was driven
away. and will bind up that which was broken and will strengthen
that which was sick. This is what the Lord would do
for His wandering sheep. But I will destroy the fat and
the strong. I will feed them with judgment.
But as for you, O my flock, thus saith the Lord God. Behold, I
will judge between cattle and cattle, between rams and he-goats. You see, these are the things
that God has promised to do to His flock. Listen to those lovely
words of our Lord Jesus Christ. Fear not, little flock. It is your Father's good pleasure
to give you a kingdom. Fear not, little flock. Now, in Ezekiel 34, and look
at verse 22. But therefore will I save my
flock, and they shall no more be a prey, and I will judge between
cattle and cattle, And I will set up one shepherd, that's Christ,
the glorious person of the Son of God, manifest in the flesh,
and I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed
them, even my servant David, he shall feed them. Christ, according
to the flesh, was born of the seed of David, and that's what
it means, my servant David. He shall feed them, and he shall
be their shepherd. She said, I am the Good Shepherd,
and I, the Lord, will be their God. And my servant David, a
prince among them, I, the Lord, have spoken it. I will make with
them a covenant of peace and will cause the evil beasts to
cease out of the land, and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness
and shall sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the
places round about my hill a blessing. Why? King Jesus is there. The great shepherd of Israel
is there. I will make them and the places
around them at my hill a blessing. And I will cause the showers
to come down in his season. There shall be showers of blessing.
You see these wonderful promises that the God has given. It says
in verse 29, and I will raise up then for them a plant of renown. What is that plant of renown?
It's Christ. It's the glorious person, the
bread of life, the water of life. I'll raise up for them a plant
of renown, and they shall no more be consumed with hunger
in the land, neither bear the shame of the heathen anymore.
Thus shall they know that I, the Lord, their God, am with
them, and that they, even the house of Israel, are my people,
saith the Lord God, and ye my flock, the flock of my pastor,
amen, and I am the Lord your God. And he will never cease
to be the Lord your God. You may wander, you may stray,
but he has promised, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. I have gone astray like A lost
sheep, seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy commandments. You know, there's that beautiful
passage in John chapter 10. The Lord Jesus, he reveals himself
as the good shepherd, the shepherd of the sheep. Verily, verily,
in the original, Verily, verily. It's sometimes translated, amen,
amen. What it means is certainly, certainly. Verily, verily. I say unto you,
he that entereth by the door into the sheepfold, not by the
door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the
same as a thief and a robber, but he that entereth in by the
door, is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth,
and the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep
by name, and leadeth them out. The sheep hear his voice. Have
you heard his voice? Think of that lovely word, my
beloved spake, and said unto me, and he calleth his own sheep
by name. They know the shepherd's voice,
And he says here, when he put forth his own sheep, he goes
before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice,
and a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him,
for they know not the voice of strangers. I read a piece by
a man that visited the Holy Land, and as he was coming over a hill,
he was out walking, this is back in the 1800s, and he came over
a hill and there in the bottom of the hill there was a spring
of water. And he said there were shepherds
sitting around under a tree and there were literally hundreds
of sheep all around that watering hole. The shepherds had brought
them there to drink. And he said as I watched it,
it was such a beautiful pastoral scene. and he said it was so
biblical and these sheep and he said but what made it so amazing
was one of those shepherds got on and he decided to go. Now there was hundreds of sheep.
He walked through the middle of all those sheep and as he
walked he called and his sheep separated themselves from all
the other sheep and they followed him. They walked off up the hill
And his sheep followed him, separating from all. You see the illustration.
My sheep, they know my voice. And they follow me. Do you know
the voice of the Good Shepherd? Do you know the voice of Jesus
Christ? You see, my beloved friends,
these wonderful illustrations. And a stranger will they not
follow, but will flee from him. And they, for they know not the
voice of strangers. I've told you before, we used
to have a lot of sheep kept in the paddocks near where I used
to live in East Hothley. In the wintertime, they used
to bring the sheep from Romney Marsh up into those paddocks.
And I used to, the shepherd, I was always walking early in
the morning, and the shepherd would come round, checking his
sheep when I was there. And I would watch and they would
all run to the gate when he came there. And I was thinking of
this scripture. This was another morning when
there was nobody there. It says, for they know not the
voice of strangers. And I stood up on the gate and
I called. They ran to the other corner
of the field, as far away from me as they possibly could. You
see the illustration. They know not the voice of strangers. And this is so with the Lord
Jesus and his children. He's the great shepherd of Israel.
He's the shepherd of the sheep. See, in verse seven, he says,
Jesus said unto them again, verily, verily, I say unto you, I am
the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. I am the door. See, in verse
11, he says, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giving his
life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, verse
14, and know my sheep and am known mine. You see, it speaks
in the previous verse 12 of a hireling. That's a hired man to look after
the sheep. He's called a hireling. They're
not his sheep, he's a hireling. But he that is an hireling and
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf
coming and leaveth the sheep and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth
them and scattereth the sheep. To me, I find these teachings
very, very searching. I am the under-shepherd here
at Lamberhurst. And the Lord holds me accountable.
You've only got to look at the letters to the seven churches
in Asia. And every letter is addressed
to the angel of the church, which is the minister of the church.
And the Lord held that shepherd, or that minister, or angel as
it's called there, which is a pastor of the, he held him responsible
for all those under his care. You see, it's a very weighty
thing. The Highland fleeth because he
is an Highland, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good
shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of them. And then these lovely, beautiful
words which we often quote. And verse 16. and other sheep
I have, how we long for that day. Here as a church, as a congregation,
other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring. And they shall hear my voice,
and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd. Therefore doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again. No
man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power
to lay it down." What's he speaking of when he says, my life? Well,
as the son of God, he couldn't die. But in that profound mystery
of godliness, of God manifest in the flesh, Christ born of
the Virgin, He's speaking of that life. That
human life that he took into union with his divine nature.
He took a human nature into union with his divine nature. It's
a profound mystery, as the Apostle says, great is the mystery of
godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
In the person of Jesus Christ, we see something profoundly unique. We see God and man in one person. God and man in one person. The
eternal person of the Son took into union with the divine nature,
human nature, became bone of our bone. And he says, I have
power to lay my life down. And I might take it again. And we see how Christ laid his
life down. When he came out of the Garden
of Gethsemane, they came with swords and staves to take him.
We read in John that they fell backwards. Why? They beheld his
glory. They fell backwards. We read
also that Peter took a sword and he cut off the ear of Malchus,
the servant of the high priest. And then the Lord said to him,
put thy sword up in its sheath, the cup that my father had given
me, shall I not drink it? Why is it recorded to show us
that he voluntarily went to Calvary to suffer, bleed, and die for
his own people? He loved them with an everlasting
love. You see, no man taketh it from
me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. So there we read of the death
and of the resurrection of Jesus Christ that it was a voluntary
act. Now here in this chapter 10 in
John we read of the eternal safety of the sheep. Verse 27, my sheep
hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give
unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. Neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them
me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out
of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. None of the sheep of Jesus' fold
can ever be lost. I have gone astray like A lost
sheep seek thy servant, for I do not forget thy commandment. It's really just this first clause
that particularly laid upon my spirit, I've gone astray like
a lost sheep. Maybe you come into the sanctuary
this morning and I've known what it is to be there myself. You're
guilty. You've sinned. You've known His mercy before.
You've known His grace before. But you've sinned. You've come
into darkness in your soul. You've come into bondage in your
very spirit. Why? Because you've sinned. Because
you've sinned. You know, we read that word in
Ephesians chapter 4, grieve not the Holy Spirit of promise whereby
you are sealed unto the day of redemption. When we sin, especially
when we willfully sin, we grieve the Holy Ghost. And he dwells
in the heart of each believer and when we grieve him, he withdraws
his sweet influences in the heart. So that whereas they used to
come up to the house of God with a certain sense of anticipation,
desire, longing, to hear the word of the Lord, to hear of
Jesus Christ, to meet with the Lord's people. I love to meet
among them now before their, thy gracious feet to bow, though
vilest of them all, but now that's gone. You no longer feel that
love. The hymn writer puts it in this
sense of the grieving of the spirit, when he withdraws his
sweet influences in our heart, no longer burns our love, our
faith and patience fail. That's what happens when we grieve
the Holy Ghost. So you no longer feel that yearning,
that longing, that desire. You no longer feel that love
towards Jesus Christ. There's coldness, there's hardness.
There's a sense of distance between your soul and God. And when you
come to the sanctuary, it's like the door upon its hinges. There's
nothing seems to go on between your soul and God. And maybe
you're saying this morning, I've gone astray like a lost sheep. You see, my beloved friends,
We need the Lord to put his hand again to the work, don't we? We need the Holy Spirit to give
repentance, godly sorrow for sin. Godly sorrow, some people
mix up repentance and godly sorrow. They are joined together, but
some people think that because someone's weeping, they're repentant.
That is not true. That is not true. It's true that
a person is truly repentant, will weep. But repentance literally
means to turn right round and face the opposite direction.
It's called repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ. And when that real repentance
is given by the Holy Ghost and repentance toward God and faith
in our Lord Jesus Christ, then the tears will flow. You'll weep
because of your wanderings, your backslidings, your coldness,
your hardness, but you'll weep because of your unthankfulness. And you'll weep because of the
mercy that you found. You'll weep. Oh, your heart will
be so full. Why me? Oh, blessed God, why
me? I've sinned. I've come short. wandered from the way, why me? Oh blessed God, why me? You can't
answer that, can you? He's all of sovereign grace,
just like we read in Ezekiel. I will both search, and you know
this searching within the heart, I will search and seek out my
sheep, my sheep. But he will always bring to repentance,
And that repentance is to leave the ways of sin. Leave the ways
of sin. And then, when Christ has made
precious to you, you'll weep. You'll weep at his mercy, at
his love, his kindness, at such a wretched, unthankful, hell-deserving
sinner. You will. I have gone astray,
like a lost sheep. You see, what a mercy that he
doesn't leave you where you are. He doesn't leave you where you
are. He seeks out. He finds his sheep. He brings
them to real repentance. He gives them faith, repentance,
godly sorrow, forsaking of the ways of sin and then embracing
of Jesus Christ. You know, friends, you will never
know repentance more than at the Cross of Calvary. That's where repentance is really
found. When you see that Saviour suffering,
dying, bleeding for you, then you'll see what sin really is.
When the Holy Spotless, Undefiled Son of the Father, suffered and
bled and died for your sins, a view of him in your room place
instead will literally break your heart. It will. You'll weep
tears of great sorrow when you see that he was wounded for our
transgressions. My sins were the nails and the
spear. My sins crucified. Oh my beloved
friends, it is my prayer that the Lord may bring you there
again to see that suffering saviour and to see that he suffered and
he bled and he died for you. I have gone astray like a lost
sheep. May the Lord add his blessings. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1071. The tune is Ingham 473. Happy soul that's free from harms,
rest within his shepherd's arms. Who is quiet shall molest, who
shall violate his rest. Hymn 1071, tune Ingham 473. ? And it's true that He loves us
? ? As we live each day of our lives ? ? He is our God and King
forevermore ? Jesus loves his spirit full, Holy Lord, be gracious to me.
Lead me now, my God, with Thee. Now turn still, be nice to me. Oh, but for my soul, dearly, Steadfast
be, to Jesus be. Holy, holy, son of God, ? Reconstruct and serve our fear
? ? Build a safe shelter for this year ? All is fair in Christ
the Lord, All that lives in love is love. Shepherd, sheep, thy lov'ring
sheep, Bring me love, and lead and keep, Stay lonely, my every love, Bear
me in thy bosom, love. Let me know thy gentle voice,
for and for may they rejoice. 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.