Let us commence our service this
evening by singing together hymn number 285. The tune is Winchester
New, 439. O for a heart to seek my God, encouraged by his gracious word
to view my Saviour all-complete and lie submissive at his feet. Hymn 285. I love to see my God
? And thy pictures stand ? ? And
in thy spirit overpower me ? ? And my tongue is with thee and with
me ? ? How great Thou art, how great
Thou art ? ? How great Thou art, how great Thou art ? ? Lamb of God, I come to Thee ?
? I come to Thee, Lamb of God, I come to Thee ? ? Sing with me ? ? The saving grace
that saves the blind, nor can the blind see ? ? Be destroyed ? ? The burning
mosque is the service ? ? My burden's over, take the rest
? ? Arise, O God, thy cause defend
? ? Give thee ransom to Zion's shame ? ? Arise, arise, O God
of Israel ? O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? It is thy good, it is thy will,
That souls may love, that saints may hear. God in Christ, Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in Psalms 61 and 62. Psalms 61 and 62. Hear my cry, O God, attend unto
my prayer. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed lead me to rock
that is higher than I. For thou hast been a shelter
for me and a strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy
tabernacle forever. I will trust in the covert of
thy wings, sealer. For thou, O God, hast heard my
vows. Thou hast given me the heritage
of those that fear thy name. Thou wilt prolong the King's
life and his years as many generations. He shall abide before God forever. O prepare mercy and truth which
may preserve him. So will I sing praise unto thy
name forever that I may daily perform my vows. Truly my soul waiteth upon God. From him cometh my salvation. He is my rock and my salvation. He is my defence. I shall not
be greatly moved. How long will ye imagine mischief
against a man? Ye shall be slain, all of you,
as a bone wall shall ye be, and as a tottering fence. They only
consult to cast him down from his excellency. They delight
in lies. They bless with their mouth,
but they curse inwardly. Sealer, my soul, wait thou only
upon God, for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock
and my salvation. He is my defense, I shall not
be moved. In God is my strength and my
glory. The rock of my strength and my
refuge is in God. Trust in him at all times, ye
people. Pour out your heart before him.
God is a refuge for us. Selah. Surely men of low degree
are vanity, and men of high degree are a lie. to be laid in the
balance they are altogether lighter than vanity. Trust not in oppression,
and become not vain in robbery, if riches increase your heart
upon them. God hath spoken once, twice have
I heard this, that power belongeth unto God. Also unto thee, O Lord,
belongeth mercy. for thou renderest to every man
according to his work. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Almighty, most merciful and eternal
God, we do desire to bow before thy great majesty We desire to
approach unto thee. We desire that thou wouldst set
our affections on things above and not on things of the earth.
We pray to be delivered from the wandering mind, the wandering
heart. O most gracious Lord, we pray
that thou wouldst draw our affections unto thee, draw me, that we will
run after thee. O that we may be led and taught
and guided and directed by thy spirit this night, and that the
word of truth may be open to us. Blessed divine spirit of
truth, thou art the author of the word of God. And holy men
of old spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. And we do
pray that thou would graciously come and grant that thou wouldst
make it a living word in our hearts this night, a seed that
is sown in good ground and that shall bring forth good fruit
to the great glory of thy holy name. Help us each to live in
obedience to thy holy word, to the sacred precepts of thy word. O most gracious Lord, do incline
thine ear We do humbly beseech thee, show us thy ways, teach
us thy paths, help us to humble ourselves under the mighty hand
of God, and thou wilt exalt us in due season. Oh, we do pray
that we may see thy mighty hand among us as a church and as a
congregation. In the things that we have sung
in the hymn, that may we see a fulfilment of them, and that
there was a rise into thy rest, thou and the ark of thy strength.
And let thy priests be clothed with salvation, and thy saints
shall shout aloud for joy. Oh abundantly bless the provision
of thy house, and satisfy her poor with bread. Oh Lord, we
do beseech of thee, Grant 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, that we may truly
worship Thee. Oh, that we could know that sacred
experience, for God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into
our hearts, crying, Abba Father, Lord, may that be our blessed
experience tonight as we gather around thy word. We pray that that wonderful grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ may fill our hearts. We thank thee
for those lovely words and he give us more grace. For Lord,
we often feel to need him. And we truly have this treasure
in earthen vessels. that the excellency of the power
may be of God and not of us. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that we may feel that power in our hearts at this evening hour,
that power to draw us, that power to guide us, that power to breathe
the word of God into our hearts, the promises, which are all yea
and amen in Christ Jesus, O that those sweet promises may be a
living word for us here, O Lord, we do beseech of Thee. We pray
that Thy word may be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our
path, that we may be guided and directed
by it. We seek, O Lord, Thy blessing
to rest upon us as a church and as a congregation. and grant
that the gospel may have free course, thy name may be honoured
and glorified, the Lord Jesus in all things might have the
preeminence, that he may be lifted high on the gospel pole, and
that poor sinners may look and live. He that is the light of
the world, may that light shine into our hearts tonight. May
the sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings, We
do humbly beseech thee, most gracious Lord, that we read that
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of
God. May we have that clear evidence in our hearts that we are indeed
being led by the Spirit of God. And that thou wilt guide us,
O thou great Jehovah. Pilgrims in this barren land,
We are weak but thou art mighty. Hold us with thy powerful hand. We pray that most gracious Lord
that thou would bless our brethren the deacons and give them grace
and wisdom and help in all their responsibilities here and elsewhere. Remember each one of our brethren
and sisters in church fellowship and that thou would be gracious
unto each one of us. and help us to truly love each
other, serve each other, bear each other's burdens, esteem
in each other better than ourselves to be, or that that spirit may
pervade among us, we do humbly beseech thee. Lord Jesus, we
pray that thou wouldst be unto us that friend that loveth at
all times, but yea, a brother born for adversity. We seek thy
blessing, dearest Lord, to rest upon the whole of our congregation. We think of the little ones and
the children as they're brought into the sanctuary. Oh, that
thou wouldst bless them indeed, that thou wouldst draw them to
thyself, that thou wouldst put thy holy fear in their hearts
and unctuous light to all that's right. Abba, to all that's wrong,
we do humbly pray thee, raise up a generation that shall call
thee the Redeemer blessed, a generation that shall follow on to know
the Lord, fulfil that wonderful promise, instead of thy father
shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the
earth. Gracious God, do hear us, we humbly beseech thee, and
do bless us, we pray thee. Send out thy light and thy truth
into this village. Gather precious souls in, and
from the surrounding villages and hamlets, that we may see
thy work and thy power and thy glory, as thou usest to be in
the sanctuary. Oh, that thou wouldst be gracious
unto us, and have mercy upon us for thy great namesake. Send now prosperity. And for
Lord that prosperity, true prosperity can come alone from thee. True
prosperity comes alone from the divine power of the Holy Ghost. Oh, that thou would gather in
and fulfil the precious promises in thy word. I will bring thy
sons from far and thy daughters from the ends of the earth. They
shall come from the north and from the south, from the east
and from the west. O gracious God, we long for thy
appearing, not only here but among the churches of God. Oh,
we pray that there may be an outpouring of the Spirit, signs
to follow the preaching of the word. We pray thee, the great
Lord of the harvest, to yet send forth true labourers into the
harvest. Many of thy servants are of great
age, and we do pray that thou would raise up others to stand
upon the walls of Zion, faithful witnesses of thine, to thy holy
word. We pray that we may be enabled
to rightly witness in the midst of this crooked and perverse
generation that have rejected thy truth and thy ways and thy
word. And yet, Lord, we think of that
lovely word. Yet have I set my king upon my
holy hill of Zion. We thank thee. Lord Jesus, that
thou art the King eternally, immortal and invisible, the only
true God, and there is nothing too hard for thee. Bless the young and the rising
generation. Work mightily, powerfully, and
effectually in their hearts. Bring them to living faith in
Jesus Christ, and to follow thee, and to serve thee in their day
and in their generation. Lord grant thy help to them in
their education, in any employment, supply all their needs, and regarding
a partner in life's journey. Help them to commit all things
into thy kind and gracious hands. We do humbly beseech of thee.
We pray, most gracious Lord, that thou in thy great mercy
Graciously bless each and every one in the midst of the journey
of life and undertake for each one. Cause the prodigals to return
a wonderful mercy and grace in this. Give wisdom and help unto
parents that they may bring up their children in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord. Lord, so bless us here as a church,
as a congregation. raise up a generation to call
thee the Redeemer blessed. Gather precious souls. Lord,
we pray to be delivered from the temptations of Satan, that
old serpent, the devil, who goes about as a roaring lion, seeking
whom he may devour, who also goes about as an angel of light,
seeking whom he may deceive. Lord, we need thee to deliver
us from his power. And yet thou hast given us that
wonderful promise, that when the enemy shall come in like
a flood, the spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against
him. O Lord, we do pray that thou,
in thy great mercy, would remember those of us in the evening time
of life's journey and undertake for us especially when we think
of Mrs. Field in her great age, and pray
that thou wouldst graciously support and sustain her, we do
humbly beseech of thee. Lord, we do pray that thou wouldst
remember all thy servants as they labour in word and doctrine
upon the walls of Zion. Set them free. Set them at liberty. Oh, we long for a day of prosperity. We long for an in-gathering.
We long for a building up. And we grant ministers unto pastoralist
churches. Lord, thy will be done on earth
as it is in heaven. And we do pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou would let thy hand be upon the man of thy right
hand, the Son of Man. whom thou madest strong for thyself. O Lord, so shall not we turn
back from thee. All we do pray that we may be
enabled to keep our eyes right on, that we may be enabled to
lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily beset
us, and that we may run with patience the race that is set
before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame thereof, and is now set down at the right
hand of the Majesty on high. Gracious God, we pray that thou
wouldst come up with thy servant on this coming Lord's Day, that
he may dip his foot in oil and be made acceptable unto thee,
brethren, and it may be a sealing time in the hearts of thy people. Bless the word, O Lord, as it
goes out online. Grant that the name of the Lord
may be glorified. The Lord Jesus lifted high on
the gospel pole. O most gracious Lord, do hear
us, we humbly pray thee. We thank thee for all thy tender
mercies. They are new every morning and
great is thy faithfulness. We thank thee for our little
house of prayer and that as yet we're able to meet around the
world and freely and openly. And we do thank thee for those
privileges. May we highly prize them. May
we use them to the great glory of thy name. And oh Lord God,
we do pray that thou in thy precious mercy would fill our hearts with
gratitude for the sacred and profound glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. We thank thee that he is the
way, the truth and the life. We thank thee that he has made
a new and living way into the holy place. We thank thee that
he's put away sin by the offering of himself that He has perfected
forever all them that are sanctified. Oh, we do thank Thee for His
glorious everlasting righteousness. We thank Thee for that perfect
sacrifice, for His death, His resurrection from the grave,
His bodily ascension into glory. Oh, the glories, the wonders,
the fullness that is in our Lord Jesus Christ. or that we may
partake of that fullness here tonight, and that the word of
God may be opened, and our hearts may be opened. We do humbly beseech
thee. We do pray, most gracious and
most merciful Lord God, that thou wouldst be with us as we
turn to thy holy word. Come and open thy word to our
heart and to our understanding. Grant that we may delve into
the deep that counted beneath in thy word, and that thy word
may be a living word, a powerful word, as we gather together at
this evening hour. Lord, we ask all, with the forgiveness
of all our many sins, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1104. The tune is Chorley Wood, 827. Convinced as a sinner to Jesus
I come, informed by the gospel for such there is room, or while
mid with sorrow for sin will I cry, lead me to the rock that
is higher than I. Hymn 1104. ? To Jesus I come ? ? In humble
abode ? ? To Jesus I come ? ? In humble abode ? ? Give ye to the Lord your desire
and life ? ? Well shall we serve thee, Jesus Christ our Lord ?
? And praise Him, I sure will,
now and all the ages. ? May it be tomorrow that is mine. ? Make our love the refuge, our
shelter in the wind. ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to Psalm 61 and
verse 2. Psalm 61, verse 2. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me to the rock that is higher than I. from the end of the earth will
I cry unto them. You know, it's a place that the
Lord's people come to. In the various trials, temptations,
troubles, afflictions that come in their pathway, that they feel
to be overwhelmed or they feel to be at the end of the earth. And there's that lovely word
in Isaiah chapter 45, look unto me, it's Christ that is speaking,
look unto me, all ye ends of the earth and be ye saved, for
I am God and there is none else. He's able to save, he's able
to deliver, that we read in the Word of God,
great is the Lord and greatly to be praised and His greatness
is unsearchable, He's great in power, He's great in wisdom,
He's great in holiness, He's great in grace, in love, in mercy,
He's a great God. Whichever way you look at God,
whether it's in His holiness or in his hatred of sin, in his
holy law, whichever way you look at God, in his grace, in his
love, in his mercy in Christ, he's a great God. Great is the
Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. There's a looking up to him,
from the end of the earth, will I cry unto thee? This word cry,
it's a sense of need. It comes from the very depths
of your soul, in a sense of need, that you need something, you
need the Lord's delivering grace. In whatever way that may be.
The woman that came to the Lord Jesus, Lord help me. She had
a sick daughter. Lord help me. The ruler, of the
synagogue. He came, didn't he? You see,
they came from all quarters. The centurion, he sent for Jesus. And when he was yet a way off,
he sent and said, speak the word only and my servant shall be
healed. There was an overwhelming sense
that he was going to die. Look at the faith that the Lord
Jesus said of the centurion, I've not seen so great faith,
no, not in all Israel. They were looking to that great
God. It's like I often say to you
about Lady Lucy Smith, when somebody said, oh, you're that woman of
great faith. Oh no, she said, I have a little
faith in a great God. What a good way of putting it.
I have a little faith in a great God. A God who is almighty. A God who is able to save to
the uttermost all that come unto God by him. A God who has promised
to hear and answer prayer. A God who has said that he will
hear the prayer of the destitute. He will not despise their prayer. Think of what it says in Isaiah
chapter 41. When the poor and needy seek
water, and there is none, and their tongue failing 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. In other words, he will answer
all their needs. in his appointed time, when the
children of Israel came to the Red Sea, and they were murmuring
against Moses, surely we've been brought here into the wilderness
to perish, to die. The sea is before us, the mountains
are beside us, and Pharaoh's army is coming behind us. They
were completely hemmed in. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me to the rock that is higher than I. So Moses, he continued
to cry unto the Lord and the Lord answered him, why cryest
thou unto me? Say unto the children of Israel
that they go forward into the depths, into the sea. And as they went forward, and
so the waters parted, walked by faith. The waters parted and
the children of Israel went over as on dry land. You see but what
an overwhelming how that must have felt to be at the ends of
the earth with Pharaoh's armies with their chariots and soldiers
were pursuing behind them. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed. Maybe there's
one and another here tonight, and in your feelings you're overwhelmed. When my heart is overwhelmed. Jonah, he knew what it was to
be overwhelmed, didn't he? I agree it was because of his
own foolishness, but can you cast stones at Jonah? And when he went his own way,
the Lord had told him to go to Nineveh. He went in the opposite
direction to Tarshish. And the Lord caused a great storm.
The Lord caused it. Why? To discipline his servant,
to humble his servant. It didn't just stop there though,
did it? The mariners Jonah said to them, unless you cast me out
of the ship, the sea will not be calm. And then when he was cast out
into the depths, the Lord had prepared a great fish. And I always think that is the
operative word, the Lord had prepared. Naturally speaking,
it is not possible for a man to live for three days and three
nights in the belly of a great fish. There's no oxygen there,
but the Lord had prepared. There was a place of refuge in
the whale's belly. God had prepared it. And what did Jonah say when he
was there in the belly of that great fish? There was utter darkness.
He said, I went down to the depths of the earth, to the foundations
of the mountains. All thy waves and thy billows
are gone over me. But where did it bring him? Yet
will I look again to thy holy temple from the end of the earth. If anyone ever came literally
to the end of the earth, it was Jonah. from the end of the earth
will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed and it was
wasn't it lead me to the rock that is higher than I what did
Jonah see it in the temple at Jerusalem he saw the sacrifice
he saw the precious blood Jonah was one of the Lord's servants
he knew what significance there was in the sacrifice in the blood
He knew that it pointed to Christ, the rock that is higher than
I. Yet will I look again, oh, in the depths of his trouble,
feeling to come to the end of everything. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me. to the rock that is higher than
I. He felt to be in a very low place,
didn't he? And here, David, he feels to
be in a very low place. But, you see, there's that desire. The rock, of course, is Christ.
This is the rock upon which the church is built. This is the
rock of which Peter speaks, or rather the Lord speaks to
Peter when he said, thou art the Christ, the son of the living
God. And the Lord Jesus said, upon
this rock I build my church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against me, upon this rock. this eternal rock of ages,
lead me. That was the desire, lead me
to the rock that is higher than I. You desire the Lord to lead you,
to guide you, to direct you. You need the Lord to do everything
for you. You need him to give you faith,
to look, to claim, to trust. Casting all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. It speaks in the 62nd Psalm that
we read together. In verse two, he only is my rock
and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be greatly moved. See, he only is my rock. Again
in verse 6. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be moved In God is my salvation and my glory the rock of my strength
and my refuge is in God Trust in him This is a place that can
never fail There's that lovely word my beloved friends in Isaiah
chapter 42 behold my servant mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth,
that's Christ, his servant, his elect, whom his soul delighteth,
it's Christ. Looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before
him endured the cross, despising the shame thereof, and is now
set down at the right hand of the majesty on high from the
end of the earth will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed. You know there's that, those
beautiful words that we find in Psalm 139 and how beautifully does David speak
there of thee omnipresence of God, that wherever he was, God
was. God was. He had such a view that
God was everywhere, that God was in all places at all times.
That is the meaning of the word omnipresent. He's present in
all places, at all times. David, he was given some meditation
here on it. Oh Lord, thou hast searched me
and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting
and mine up-rising. There's a prayer, you find it
in Jeremiah, and you'll find exactly the same prayer in Ezekiel. Oh Lord, thou knowest. And do you know friends, in some
of our troubles and trials, and some of the deep places where
we have been. That has been a good prayer.
O Lord, thou knowest. Christ knew. He said to the children
of Israel, I know thy sorrows. I know thy sorrows. God, Christ
knows our sorrows. Christ was tempted in all points
like as we are, yet without sin. It's a profound word that is.
It doesn't matter where you come. It doesn't matter the path you're
walking in. The Lord Jesus, He knows. O Lord, thou hast searched me
and known me. Thou knowest my down city and
mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. Thou compassest my path and my
lying down and art acquainted with all my ways. He had this
perception given to him that there's not a word in my tongue,
but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it all together. That's illustrated
in the life of Christ, isn't it? When the people, especially
when they opposed him and set themselves against him. It says
that Jesus, knowing their thoughts, he knew their thoughts. How understand
is my thought afar off? It's quite a thought, isn't it? For there is not a word in my
tongue, but lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it all together. Thou
hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high, I cannot
attain unto it. Why couldn't he attain unto it?
He couldn't grasp the enormity, the greatness of what he was
saying, that God sees everything, that God knows everything. My
life's minutest circumstance is subject to thy will, and it
is. The very hairs of your head are
numbered, not one falleth without your heavenly Father's leave.
Very hairs of your head. You see, it's a knowledge that
is almost beyond our comprehension. The Apostle Paul, he speaks with
a similar language in the Epistle to the Corinthians. And there
in the Epistle to the Corinthians, he speaks there of the Lord He
saw things in heaven. He said I was carried up in this
spirit into the third heaven. And I saw things that was not
lawful for me to speak. What it means is, I saw things
that I'm not capable of putting into words what I saw. And this
was so with David when he was given this perception and this
realization that God could see him, he knew exactly where he
was, he knew the thoughts of his mind. And he exclaims here,
whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from
thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou
art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold
thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there. You just think of that. The uttermost
parts of the sea. Nothing else. Like a desolate
wilderness. You go to the middle of the Atlantic
and it's a vast area of hundreds and hundreds of miles wherever
you look of just ocean. You see, even there, you know
the large people they sometimes come in their experience to places
like that where it's absolutely desolate even there shall thy hand lead me as i was
meditating yesterday here in this psalm in the psalm of our
text and it came to my mind quite forcibly even there shall thy
hand lead me But this is the wonderful thing, and thy right
hand shall hold me. I will not let thee go. The Lord
says that concerning his people. You see, Jacob said it, I will
not let thee go except thou bless me. But the Lord will never let
his people go. He won't. None shall pluck them
out of my Father's hand. I am my Father alone. I give
unto my sheep eternal life. Now in these places where the
Lord's people come, in the temptations, maybe you're subject to the temptations
of Satan. And it's a very distressing place
when we are. When we feel the power of those
temptations. And we feel our own weakness,
our own insufficiency, our own inability to keep ourselves. And it's like it says in our
text, it's overwhelming. When my heart is overwhelmed,
and sometimes in the path of temptation, our heart is overwhelmed
with the temptations. And when we have to say, with
Jonah all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Even there. You see, the Lord will not let
his people go. No. Even there shall thy hand
lead me and thy right hand shall hold me. It may be that you've
come into a very dark Darkness in your soul, darkness within,
darkness without. It all seems so dark. But here
in Psalm 139, it says in verse 11, surely the darkness shall
cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness
hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The
darkness and the light are both alike to thee. You see, my beloved
friends, These things are written for our instruction. They are. But when you come into these
dark places, and this darkness envelops your mind, it envelops
your heart, it envelops your very soul, it's an overwhelming
place to come. You know, at this time also,
when the Spirit, the Divine Spirit, convinces us in, convicts and
convinces us of sin. When my heart is overwhelmed,
there's an overwhelming sense of guilt when the Holy Spirit
convicts us of sin. And we then know what it is to
come into our text. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me. to the rock that is higher than
I when my heart is overwhelmed. This rock, this rock of ages,
rock of ages cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let
the water and the blood from thy riven side which flow be
of sin the double cure. Cleanse me from its guilt and
power. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, Cleanseth us from all sin lead me to the rock that is higher
than I It's where those Where those waves and those billows
they cannot come on that rock That is higher than I You see
that rock is Christ Upon this rock I build my church And the
devil will be defeated when you're brought to rest upon that rock
of ages. When your feet rest upon him.
And you feel the strength and the stability of that eternal
covenant sealed with the blood of Jesus. That then you'll know
what it is, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. When you
feel the sweetness and power of those precious words. The
blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanseth us from all sin.
Or it may be those precious words of the Passover, when I see the
blood, oh yes, that was the blood of the Lamb, but behold the Lamb
of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Lead me to the rock that is higher
than I. Look unto me, O ye ends of the
earth, and be ye saved from God, and there is none else. There's none other name that
is given unto heaven whereby ye must be saved, but the name
of Jesus Christ. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto thee. You see, this crying, It's because
there's a great need. There's a great longing. Will I cry unto thee? Crying unto the Lord, looking
unto Jesus. It's like the publican, isn't
it? God be merciful to me, a sinner. God be merciful to me, a sinner.
It's like the Philippian jailer, serves what must I do to be saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. You see, this is the rock that
is higher than I. His precious blood, his glorious
righteousness. You consider that virtue that
there is in Jesus Christ. Thou art coming to a king. Large
petitions would they bring for His grace and power such none
can ever ask too much. Large petitions would they bring.
Why? Because Jesus, He's the Son of
God. He has all power given unto Him
in heaven and in earth. Look at the overwhelming sense
of helplessness that the disciples felt when they were in that ship
going across the Sea of Galilee. And a great storm blew up and
the Lord Jesus was asleep in the hindermost part of the ship. They came to him and said, Lord,
save us or we perish. Master, save us or we perish. And Jesus arose. and rebuked
the wind and the sea. And there was a great calm. And
the disciples said, what manner of man is this that even the
wind and the sea obey him? And they do. And they do. They obey him. You think of legion.
The legion came running unto the Lord Jesus and he was filled
with devils, with evil spirits. And those devils cried out, Jesus,
thou son of the most high God, torment me not. For he had said
unto them, come out of the man, torment me not. And they besought him that he
wouldn't send them out of the country, but they cast them into
the deep, into the swine that were on the mountainside. What
do we see there? We see the power of Christ. The
devil comes into the presence of the Son of God. And he couldn't
do anything but what the Son of God allowed him to do. It
is the same today. Those things are written for
our instruction. Jesus is an almighty Savior. Jesus is able to save to the
uttermost all that come unto God. Jesus is the eternal Son
of God. All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. The hymn writer says, with heaven
and earth at his command, he waits to answer prayer from the
end of the earth. Will I cry unto thee? Look at
his wonderful power in casting out the devils out of poor legion. And they came from the city to
see him, this wonderful thing that happened. And he was sitting
at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind, oh the
power of divine grace, how overwhelming must that have been, that poor
man filled with those many devils, and yet here comes deliverance,
here comes one that is able to say, this is the rock of ages,
this is the rock that is higher than I, from the end of the earth,
Will I cry unto thee when my heart is overwhelmed? Lead me
to the rock that is higher than I. Ah, what a prayer, my beloved
friends, isn't it? Lead me to the rock, the rock
of ages, the rock and refuge of his people, the hiding place. There's a very beautiful word
Isaiah chapter 32 and It speaks there of our Lord and our Savior
Jesus Christ And it says in the beginning of Isaiah 32 Behold
a king shall reign in righteousness And princes shall rule in judgment
What is it? It's Christ a king it King Jesus
a king shall reign in righteousness He's called the King of Righteousness.
He's called the King of Salem. A king shall, and a man, wonderful
truth of the incarnation of the Son of God, and a man shall be
in hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest,
as rivers of water in a dry place, as a shadow of a great rock in
a weary, The eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the
ears of them that hear shall hearken. You see, my beloved
friends, this is a power of divine grace in the heart, when the
Holy Spirit works faith in the heart. Think of the dear woman
who pressed through the crowd saying, if I might but touch
the hem of his garment, the Holy Spirit was working in her heart.
The Holy Spirit revealed to her that there was virtue in Jesus.
She'd heard how that he healed diseases. He made the blind to
see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk. This poor woman had
spent everything that she had on physicians. And she came behind
him and she touched the hem of his garment. As she was coming
she said, if I might but touch. It's faith. It's faith. If I
might but touch the hem of his garment. And as soon as she touched,
virtue came from Christ. Healing. The Lord Jesus is Jehovah
Rofi. I am the Lord that healeth thee. Jehovah Rofi. Oh, what a beautiful
name. It's what Jesus is. Jehovah Rofi. I am the Lord that healeth thee. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto thee. When my heart is overwhelmed,
lead me to the rock that is higher than I. This is the rock that
is higher than I. This is the eternal rock of ages,
the refuge of his people, a refuge for sinners, Gospel makes known,
it is found in the merits of Jesus alone. It says here in
verse three, for thou hast been a shelter for me and a strong
tower from the enemy. I will abide in thy tabernacle
forever. It's like David in Psalm 23,
isn't it? And I shall abide in the house of the Lord forever. The Apostle says, doesn't he,
looking and hasting unto the great day of the Lord. You know,
we're to look to the person of Christ. His person, who he is, mighty
to save, mighty to redeem. His person, who was sent by the
Father to redeem the church, who lived for the church, who
died for the church, suffered for the church, rose again for
their justification. The person of Jesus Christ. Whose person? It's the Son of
God. It's the Son of God. Jesus, the
Son of God. Oh, my beloved friends, look
at this almighty Saviour. Look unto me, he says. Come unto
me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. It's the rest of faith. For my yoke is easy. What a wonderful
thing to be yoked to Christ, to be united to Christ, the Almighty
Saviour, the Almighty Redeemer. Yes, in yourselves you feel weak,
sinful, wretched, poor, undeserving of the least of the Lord's mercy. And that is a right and proper
feeling. It is. Because you are weak,
poor, needy, wretched and undone. We all are by nature. But here's
an almighty saviour who's able to save. But this man, because
he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. It's beautiful how
the apostle In the epistle to the Hebrews sets Christ before
us and the glory of his person the person of the Son of God
manifest in the flesh I Think it's a very beautifully put in
the seventh chapter of Paul's epistle to the Hebrews and there
how he speaks so beautifully of the person of Christ Just
look at the latter part of the sixth chapter of the Hebrews.
And he says, verse 16, for men verily swear by the greater,
and an oath of confirmation is to them an end of all strife,
wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise
the immutability, the unchangeableness of his counsel, confirmed it
by an oath, that by two immutable things in which it was impossible
for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation who have
fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us, which
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,
and which entereth into that within the veil, whither the
forerunner is for us entered even Jesus. By within the veil,
he means in heaven, Christ is now in heaven, wither the forerunner
is for us entered, even Jesus made an high priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. For this Melchizedek, and it
gives us an interpretation of it, it says in verse two, first
being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after that
also king of Salem, which is king of peace, without father,
without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days
nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, abideth
a priest continually. Jesus, the unchangeable High
Priest, the Almighty High Priest, sitting
now at the right hand of his Father, welcoming poor sinners
to come. Come unto me, all ye that labour,
and a heavy laden or Peter he says to whom coming as unto a
living stone disallowed indeed of men but chosen of God and
precious goes on in that chapter 7 in the Hebrews and it says
verse 22 by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament
and they truly were many priests because they were not suffered
to continue by reason of death, but this man, this holy God man,
the man Christ Jesus, but this man, because he continues ever,
has an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able. Oh my beloved
friends, he's the almighty son of God. Wherefore he is able. also to save them to the uttermost,
that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession
for them. For such an High Priest became
us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher
than the heavens. You see, this glorious, this
almighty High Priest, even Our Lord and our Saviour, Jesus Christ,
who is this King of Glory, the Lord Strong and Mighty. This
is the King of Glory. It's King Jesus. He's King of
Glory now. He sits on no precarious throne,
nor borrows leave to be. It is said in Psalm 2, Yet have
I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. From the end of the
earth, will I cry unto thee. The Son of God assumed a holy
human nature, lived in that human nature here upon earth, fulfilled
and honored and magnified God's holy righteous law for his people. Then he took our sins and he
nailed them to his cross and he suffered and bled and died
on the cross of Calvary for his people. There is therefore now
no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. What a refuge. Lead me to the rock that is higher
than I. He suffered and bled and died.
But on the third day, he rose again. He hath destroyed death,
and him that hath the power of death, that is the devil. My mind, it just goes to Hosea.
Hosea chapter 13 and verse 14. And these are the words of Christ.
I will ransom them from the power of the grave. I will redeem them
from death. O death, I will be thy plagues. O grave, I will be thy destruction. Repentance shall be hid from
mine eyes. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the
rock that is higher than I. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 668 and the tune is Eventide 758. Jehovah God, Eternal Lord Most
High, permit a worm to bow before thy throne, a worm deserving
endless misery, but pleads the blood that did for sin atone. Hymn 668. ? God bless America ? ? God bless
America ? ? In my soul ? ? I'll recollect
and love you ? ? From head to toe ? ? As your chink and gale
? ? Look by my trail ? ? Come, my
little dear ? ? Up, read the book and watch ? ? The sailor
most fair ? Thou face of grateful, Mom, still
I left thee, And now, with shame, I'm filled and only Thou. I cannot tell from my heart to
flee. Ah, bring the blood that did
forsake us to Oh, dare I promise future good
to bring? I know my hope, dear Savior,
is in thee. God-fear'd I am, I'm Christ alone to bear,
And redeemed of the burden when the
Church is free. If thou didst know, sir, who
a spirit will take, Then all the glory shall be down to thee. Round here and where I reach
beyond the grave My soul shall sing salvation full and brave Now, may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each, both now
and for evermore. Amen.