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. Our week evening preaching service
will be on Tuesday this week, and there will be a prayer meeting
on Thursday evening. The collections taken during
January amounted to £1,997. Donations to the book fund was
£20. We sincerely thank you for your continued support of this
cause of truth. Let us commence our services
today by singing together hymn number 194. The tune is Lydia
177. How mighty Jesus, how divine,
is thy victorious sword. The stoutest rebel must resign
at thy commanding word. Hymn 194. Almighty Jesus, how divinely pure! And the stoutest rebel must resign
At thy commanding word At thy commanding word ♪ Alleluia, heroes dear ♪ ♪ That
in this land our love is strong ♪ ♪ High stars of praise the same
remind ♪ ♪ And joys of saints do smile ♪ ♪ And joys of saints
do smile ♪ Till then thy soul may rest in peace. Ride, ride, ride, ride, ride, ride, ride, ride, ride, ride,
Go, thou sweet, rich, triumphant King, And make thy foes obey,
And make thy When thy vict'ries around me,
When in all Thy chosen graces ♪ Shall foundeth crown of glory
be ♪ ♪ Blessing and honouring praise be to thee ♪ May my love for shall be found
♪ Among thy favorite plants ♪ ♪
Then fly with them, my gracious child ♪ ♪ Till out in the groves
now ♪ Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the book of Joshua and chapter 5. Joshua chapter 5 heart melted neither was their
spirit in them anymore because of the children of israel at
that time the lord said unto joshua make these sharp knives
and circumcise again the children of israel the second time and
joshua made him sharp knives and circumcised the children
of israel at the hill of the foreskins And this is the cause
why Joshua did circumcise all the people that came out of Egypt
that were males, even all the men of war died in the wilderness
by the way, after they came out of Egypt. Now all the people
that came out were circumcised. But all the people that were
born in the wilderness by the way, as they came forth out of
Egypt, them they had not circumcised. For the children of Israel walked
forty years in the wilderness, till all the people that were
men of war, which came out of Egypt, were consumed, because
they obeyed not the voice of the Lord, unto whom the Lord
sware that he would not show them the land which the Lord
sware unto their fathers, that he would give us a land that
floweth with milk and honey. And their children who raised
up in their stead, when them Joshua circumcised, for they
were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them by the
way. And it came to pass when they
had done circumcising all the people, that they abode in their
place in the camp till they were whole. And the Lord said unto
Joshua, This day have I rolled away the reproach of Egypt from
off you. Wherefore the name of the place
is called Gilgal unto this day. And the children of Israel encamped
in Gilgal, and kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the
month, are even in the plains of Jericho. And they did eat
of the old corn of the land on the morrow after the Passover,
unleavened cakes and parched corn in the south same day. And the manna ceased on the morrow
after they had eaten of the old corn of the land. Neither had
the children of Israel manna any more. they did eat of the fruit of
the land of Canaan that year. And it came to pass, when Joshua
was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold,
there stood a man over against him, with his sword drawn in
his hand. And Joshua went unto him, and
said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And he
said, nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now
come. And Joshua fell on his face to
the earth and did worship and said unto him, what saith my
Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's
host said unto Joshua, loose thy shoe from off thy foot. for the place whereon thou standest
is holy, and Joshua did so. 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, Oh, we do desire to bow before
thy great majesty, to call upon thy great and holy name. We desire,
O Lord, to worship thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. We pray for thy Holy Spirit.
We pray for his heavenly power, his divine unction, that the
word may be a living word, that will reach into our very souls
and that we may see no man save Jesus only. For we come, Lord,
as poor sinners before thy great majesty. We come to confess our
sins. And thou hast said in thy word,
if ye confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Gracious
God, we pray. that thou wouldst forgive us
all our sins, that thou wouldst grant us real repentance and
godly sorrow for our sin, and that thou wouldst graciously
grant us that spirit of faith that lays hold of a precious
Christ, that looks alone to Jesus Christ, that cleaves to him,
feeds on him, is strengthened by him, Gracious God, grant that
it may be so. O Thou blessed, divine Spirit
of truth, without Thy heavenly power, O Lord, no sweets the
gospel can afford. We pray for Thy heavenly power.
O we pray to be led and guided and directed by Thee, and that
Thy word would be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our
path. We do humbly beseech Thee. O Most Blessed Spirit, we do
pray that Thou wouldst graciously come and that Thou wouldst enlighten
us and enliven us and renew us and replenish us. We read in
Holy Scripture that until the Spirit be poured upon us from
on high, O Most Blessed Spirit, nothing can be done without Thee.
And we pray for the the divine presence, power, and grace of
our Eternal Father, that we may truly worship Thee. For through
our Lord Jesus Christ, we have access by one Spirit unto the
Father. We pray for that access today,
that it may please Thee, most gracious Lord, to send Thy Spirit
into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. And like the hymn writer says,
my God, my Father, blissful name. Oh, may I call thee mine. May
we know that sweet spirit of adoption, union, and communion
through Christ with our eternal Father. Oh, gracious God, do
hear us. We think of the infinite love
of our eternal Father. God so loved the world. He gave
His only begotten Son. Oh, we thank Thee for that wonderful
gift. Lord Jesus, come and stand in
our midst. Come, we pray Thee, and speak
to our hearts. Come and reveal Thyself, for
we desire a sight of Thee. As a spouse, rejoice to see Thy
countenance. We pray that we may see Thy countenance
today. that we may behold thy glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and truth. Oh, do hear us, Lord. Do 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. We pray, O Lord, that thou wouldst
graciously remember Our beloved brethren, the deacons, do richly
bless them, do grant them thy divine support and blessing and
help among us here, but also in their many responsibilities
among the churches. Do help, O Lord, we do beseech
thee, for thy great name's sake. Each one of our brethren and
sisters in church fellowship or we pray thy blessing. Those
here, those not able to be here, oh, that thou wouldst bless them
indeed, and that thou wouldst unite us together, increase our
faith and increase our love, and that that may be known continually
among us. By this shall they know that
ye are my disciples because ye have love one to another. Gracious
God, we do pray for the sacred fruits of the Spirit personally
in our lives. Help us to present our bodies
a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto thee, which is
our reasonable service. And that we be not conformed
to this world, but may we be transformed. We pray to be delivered
from the temptations of Satan, from the power and dominion of
sin. For Lord's sin lives in us, and it causes us much grief
and much sorrow, much grieving of heart, when we feel it rising
within, the old man of sin. And we have to say, O Lord, with
the dear apostle, O wretched man, that I am who shall deliver
me from the body of this death. Oh, but we thank thee for our
Lord Jesus Christ, the only one that is able to deliver from
sin and Satan's Oh, that thou would come this day and set the
captives free and cause the blind to see and the deaf to hear and
the lame to walk. Hear us, Lord. We humbly pray
thee for thy great namesake. We pray for the whole of our
congregation. Oh, that thou would graciously
bless each one. We pray, Lord, for the little
ones and the children that they may have the fear of the Lord,
which is the beginning of wisdom in their young and in their tender
years. And we think of that word of exhortation, suffer little
children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for if such
is the kingdom of heaven. Remember our young friends and
what is known, O Lord, as the slippery paths of youth. And
Lord, we pray that thou would graciously preserve and keep
them from all evil, that thou would bring them to living faith
in Jesus Christ, that thou would make them true followers of thee
and of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. And be with them, Lord, in all
the paths of providence, whether it's in their education or any
future employment or regarding a partner in life journey. We
would lovingly commend them to thee. Pray that thou wouldst
unfold thy will and grant thy divine guidance and blessing.
Oh, we pray most gracious Lord that thou wouldst graciously
send out the light and glory and power of the gospel into
this village, into the surrounding villages and hamlets, and that
thy gospel may have good success, precious souls may be gathered
in, O hearken, Lord, we do beseech thee. We long to see thy work
and thy power and thy glory as thou usest to be in the sanctuary. Let thy work appear unto thy
servants and thy glory unto their children. Let thy hand be upon
the man of thy right hand, the Son of Man, whom thou madest
strong for thyself. O gracious God, incline thine
ear. We do. humbly beseech thee and
work mightily among us and work mightily in these villages and
fulfil those sacred promises to Zion. I will bring thy sons
from far and thy daughters from the ends of the earth. We pray
for the prodigals that they may be gathered. Let thy work, thy
power, thy glory and the gospel be seen in causing them to return
Lord, there's nothing too hard for thee. None are beyond thy
power. O gracious God, incline thine
ear, we do humbly beseech of thee. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou would remember parents and give them wisdom
and grace and help to bring up their children in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord. The family altar may be raised,
the word of God read, prayer made in the families. that there
may be that sanctifying influence of thy spirit among the families.
Remember, Lord, any in the path of affliction, sorrow, sadness,
bereavement, grant them thy divine help. Remember our dear sister,
Ina, in her great age, we lovingly commend her to thee and to the
word of thy grace, which is able to build her up and to grant
her an inheritance among them that are sanctified. Lord, remember
her for good. Be with her in her lonely hours.
And Lord, we pray that thou wouldst remember each one of us in the
evening time of life's journey. And as we've been so much reminded
of of late, suddenly we could be taken from time into eternity. Gracious God, grant a gracious
preparation for that day. And now, my God, prepare my soul
for that great day, and wash me in thy precious blood. Take
all my sins away. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou would remember all thy servants as they labour in
word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion today, that thou would
set them free and at liberty, that they may be enabled to preach
the word, be instant in season and out of season, and grant
us that gracious determination to know nothing among men, save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
return to Jerusalem with mercies, that thou wouldst make bare thine
holy arm in the gospel, turn us again, O God of hosts, and
cause thy face to shine, and we shall be saved. We pray, most
gracious Lord, that thou wouldst Grant the sending forth of yet
labourers, to stand upon the walls of Zion, to preach the
everlasting gospel, with feet to run where thou dost send.
O do hear us, Lord, and send real prosperity unto the churches,
wherever thy servants stand, wherever thy people gather, O
that thy blessing, thy favour, might be upon them. We do humbly
beseech of thee, that for thy great names We pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou, in thy precious mercy, would remember our nation,
give wisdom to our leaders, guidance and direction in these dark and
solemn days when the spirit of Antichrist is seen so much. Oh, we pray that thou wouldst
arise, that thou wouldst hear the cries of thy little remnant,
that thou wouldst return to Jerusalem with mercy. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou would remember our king and the royal household
and grant thy blessing upon them and all that rule over us. Truly,
we live in very perverse days, O Lord, when good is called evil
and evil is called good. Hear the cries of thy people.
Send out the light of thy word, we humbly pray thee. Remember
those who labor in other countries. We would especially remember
those that go forth from us as a group of churches. We think
of Ian Sadler and the great labors that he does in India and Pakistan
and Burma and Africa. Lord, help him, we humbly pray
thee. Support him, supply all his many
returning needs. Remember the Savannah Education
Trust in Ghana, and grant that those things that are done there
may be down to the great honour, glory and praise of thy holy
name. And O Lord God, remember we do
humbly pray thee the Mombasa mission and grant thy rich blessing
there. O Lord, we do thank thee for
all thy tender mercies. We thank thee that thou art God
over all and blessed forevermore. We thank thee that with thee
nothing is impossible, and that thou art able to do abundantly
more than we can even ask or think. We thank thee for every
mercy then, Lord, of thy kind providence and of all thy goodness
that has passed before us in the way. We thank thee for the
sacred glory of the incarnation of the Son of God, the holy life
he lived, the holy law he fulfilled, bringing in everlasting righteousness. We thank Thee for Calvary, where
the Lamb was slain, where sin was put away, where divine justice
has been satisfied, where God and sinners are reconciled. Oh,
we thank Thee, most gracious Lord, for the glories of Christ,
who died for our sins and rose again for our justification. We thank Thee that He's bodily
ascended into heaven and that we have a great high priest who
is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. O most gracious
Lord, come and touch one's lips with a live cob from off the
heavenly altar. We do humbly beseech thee as
we ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 197. The tune is St. Patrick, 814.
How mighty thou art O Lord to convert, thou only
couldst conquer so stubborn a heart, for thy love to lost man alone
could constrain, so stiff-necked a rebel to love thee again. Hymn 197. O'er the ramparts we watched
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, ♪ Of the earth ♪ ♪ Early I awake
♪ ♪ The rhapsody plays ♪ ♪ Of heaven's love ♪ ♪ And I'm in
my place ♪ ♪ The Lord to this time
♪ ♪ The Most High Godhead ♪ ♪ My spirit of hope ♪ ♪ And my hope
♪ ♪ In faith I was born, and have
now I borne ♪ ♪ The mercy, mercy, mercy of God. ♪ ♪ I felt it, the light of my life
falling bright ♪ ♪ Thy mercy is free ♪ ♪ Ever and
evermore ♪ ♪ So richly shall I be ♪ ♪ Forevermore ♪ Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the chapter
that we read, the fifth chapter in the book of Joshua, reading
verses 13 to 15. Joshua chapter 5, verses 13 to
15. And it came to pass, when Joshua
was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold,
there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his
hand. And Joshua went unto him and
said unto him, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? And he
said, Nay, but as captain of the hosts of the Lord am I now
come. And Joshua fell on his face to
the earth and did worship and said unto him, What saith my
Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's
host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for
the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. Joshua is one of those remarkable
characters in Holy Scripture And what I'm saying is not that
he didn't have sin, he was like all of us, but not once do we
read that the Lord had to rebuke him. He was a very obedient man
to the word of God, to the truth of God. A very lovely character,
a faithful character. One that loved his God and followed
his God. And those characters, my beloved
friends, are quite few and far between, that are so faithful,
but they have a tremendous influence in their day and in their generation. As you come to the close of the
book of Joshua, it says there that the children of Israel followed
the Lord all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders
that outlived Joshua. That was a tremendous influence
that this man had on the children of Israel. And in another sense,
as it's recorded here, the children of Israel, they came out of Egypt
into the wilderness. That was at the command of God
and led by Moses, the servant of God. as we know that Joshua
was very close to Moses. He had much teaching in those
40 years in the wilderness. But I believe we can see a very
clear difference between the children of Israel that crossed
over the Red Sea on dry land and into the wilderness with
Moses and the children of Israel that crossed over Jordan into
the promised land. You might say, what is that difference?
Under Joshua, they were a very obedient, disciplined people.
When they first came out of Egypt under Moses, they were very disobedient,
murmuring continually. And as we've read here in this
chapter together, The children of Israel spent 40 years in the
wilderness. And Moses, he said to them, didn't
he, thou shalt remember all the way the Lord thy God has led
thee, to humble thee, to prove thee, to see what was in thine
heart, these 40 years in the wilderness. Thou shalt remember. Remember how ill-disciplined
they were. how they murmured against God,
against Moses, against Aaron, how they rebelled, how the Lord
disciplined them, how he sent fiery serpents among them, how
they made a molten calf. You see, what a difference there
is. And as I sat down reading yesterday,
it seemed to stand out so clearly to me how the children of Israel
under Joshua were a disciplined fighting force prepared for the
battle that was to come. But those ill-disciplined ones
under Moses, there was only Joshua and Caleb that were what we call
today majority age that came out of Egypt 20 years old and
upward. All the rest of the men of war
perished in the wilderness. They rebelled against God. You
see, but how different was it then when they passed over Jordan
and how they listened and hearkened unto Joshua the son of Nun. So what was the secret of Joshua's
success. It truly was, friends, his obedience
to the Lord his God. He claimed unto the Lord his
God. In the first chapter, when the Lord speaks to Joshua concerning
bringing the children of Israel across the River Jordan. Now after the death of Moses,
the servant of the Lord, It came to pass that the Lord spake unto
Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses, my servant
is dead. Now therefore arise, go over
this Jordan. Thou and all this people unto
the land which I do give to them, even to the children of Israel. And the promise that he gave
him, every place that the sole of your foot shall tread upon,
that have I given unto you. as I said unto Moses. Again, he says in verse 5, There
shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days
of thy life, as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. I will
not fail thee, nor forsake thee. And then he goes on and he says
in verse 7, Be thou strong and very courageous that thou mayest
observe to do according to all the law which Moses my servant
commanded thee. And by that term, the law is
not confined just to the 10 commandments. The first five books of the Bible,
the five books of Moses are often referred to as the law. And that
is what is being referred to here with Joshua. He had those
first five books of the word of God. turn not from it to the
right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever
thou goest. David, the man after God's own
heart, in Psalm 119, he says, let thy word be a lamp unto my
feet and a light unto my path. And that was the secret of David's
success, and that was the secret of Joshua's success. to continue. He says here, verse
8, this book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth,
but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest
observe to do according to all that is written therein. For
then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt
have good success. Have not I commanded thee, be
strong and of a good courage, Be not afraid, neither be thou
dismayed, for the Lord thy God is with thee, whithersoever thou
goest. That was the secret of the success
of Joshua. He was obedient. He lived by
faith. He lived according to the word
of God. And he led the children of Israel
over the river Jordan. It's recorded here. I've been
reading it these past days. and how the Lord commanded them
to cross over Jordan. And you know, friends, these
things are written in God's word to teach us. It was a time of
the year, which was harvest time, when Jordan always burst its
banks. So instead of being that comparatively
small river, it was overflowing all its banks. So it became a
wide and a broad river. And that was the time the Lord
chose to send the children of Israel across the river Jordan,
when it burst its banks, when it was flooded, when the water
was pouring down. And when Joshua commanded the priests
that carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord of the whole Earth, He commanded them to go through
Jordan, and we read that when the feet of the priests touched
the water, it parted. It didn't part, and I believe
there's teaching here, it did not part until they put their
feet in it, and then it parted. Then it parted. You think of
Moses when he was by the Red Sea, And they were hemmed in
completely. They had the, at Paya Hayroth,
they had the mountains on one side and mountains on the other
side, the Red Sea in front, and behind them was Pharaoh and the
whole Egyptian army coming and vowing to destroy them. They
were completely hemmed in. And Moses was praying unto the
Lord. And what did the Lord say to
Moses? He was speaking about, here, walking by faith. Why prayest
thou unto me? Why cryest thou unto me? Say
unto the children of Israel that they go forward. What, into that
sea? Yes. And as they went into the
sea, the waters parted. And the children of Israel went
over on dry land. And as they were crossing over,
the Egyptian army decided that they too would follow them. to destroy them. And it's the
only time it happened. But on that occasion, the fiery,
cloudy pillar that guided the children of Israel all through
their 40 years in the wilderness, it went behind them. It became
what is called their rear reward. And so it stood between them. In a sense, that was a very visible
thing that the lord was with them that fiery cloudy pillar
it was a it was a pillar of cloud by day and it was a pillar of
fire by night so that whenever they were traveling day or night
they could see it but it went before them so when the children
of israel knew they'd got to move on in the wilderness when
the fiery cloudy pillar lifted off the tabernacle and then they
gathered all their things together and they followed But on this
occasion, it went behind. It stood between the Egyptian
army and the children of Israel. And the Lord, we read that he
looked upon the Egyptian army out of that fiery, cloudy pillar
and their axles begun to break and their wheels begun to break. The children of Israel went out
onto dry land The sea returned. The army was destroyed. I never
forget reading that learned Puritan, Thomas Goodwin. Thomas Goodwin, on commenting
on the children of Israel crossing over the Red Sea, he said, in
history, we do not read anything of Egypt for 300 years after
that great defeat at the Red Sea. utterly destroyed their
army. And he said, you hear nothing
about Egypt for 300 years. So great was that overthrow when
they were pursuing the children of Israel and the Lord overthrew
them. See God is a God of wonders, is a God of power, is a God of
grace, is a God of love, is a God of mercy. And what the Lord was doing here
with Joshua was showing him Revealing himself to him This
this captain of the Lord of hosts is Christ It's the glorious person
of the Son of God We read in Holy Scripture that God is a
God of war All power the Lord Jesus said
to me all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth by me king's reign and prince's
decree justice. That's Christ that is speaking.
And it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted
up his eyes and looked and behold there stood a man over against
him with his sword drawn in his hand and Joshua went unto him. Notice friends how fearless Joshua
was. Here was this great captain His
sword drawn and Joshua without any hesitation he goes up to
him. Joshua went unto him and said
unto him, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? Who are
you? He didn't realise initially who
it was. Isn't that the case often with
our Lord Jesus Christ? You think of Mary Magdalene when
she was by the sepulcher And she, supposing him to be
the gardener, it was Christ, she didn't recognize him until
he spoke. Then he said to her, Mary, and
she said, Rabboni, which is being interpreted, master. She knew
his voice. And here with Joshua, when the
Lord spoke to Joshua, Nay, but as captain of the host of the
Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to
the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my
Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's
host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for
the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so. And Joshua did so. He was in
awe of the captain of the Lord of Hosts. And he realized who
he was. You know, he's the great captain
of our salvation, the apostle says, doesn't he? If you have
a marginal reference in your Bible, you will see for captain,
it says, or prince, and that we read of Christ in Revelation
chapter one, the prince of the kings of the earth. That's what
Christ is. He's God over all and blessed
forevermore. He's the eternal son of the eternal
father. He's God manifest in the flesh.
That's who Christ is. He's the eternal God. That's
who the captain of the Lord of hosts is. It's our Lord and saviour
Jesus Christ. He fights the battles of his
people. He does indeed. And what an encouragement it
must have been to the Lord's servant Joshua. This tremendous
mission that he had, that was committed to him, not just to
cross over Jordan, but overcome the seven nations of Kenya. It
was a huge and massive task that he was given. And Christ reveals himself. Not
only what we've read together in chapter one, be strong and
have a good courage, but he reveals himself personally to Joshua,
just as he crosses over Jordan, just as the children of Israel
are over Jordan, they were right by the city of Jericho, ready
to encircle the city of Jericho. And the Lord reveals himself
to his servant. What strength? Job says, doesn't
he? I know what he would say unto
me. He would put strength in me. I say, what strength must
have Joshua been given by this revelation that the captain of
the Lord of hosts is with him? And we read it in chapter one,
I am with thee. I am with thee. I will not fail
thee. It makes you think of other,
revelations of Christ in the Word of God. And my mind, it
just goes to that beautiful revelation of Christ in the Isaiah chapter
42. In the beginning of that chapter,
how beautifully is Christ set before us. Behold my servant,
that's Christ. Behold my servant whom I uphold,
mine elect in whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit upon him,
He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not
cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flack shall he
not quench. He shall bring forth judgment
unto truth. These words in verse 4 have been
made very sweet to me. He shall not fail. We fail. He will not fail. He'll never
fail. He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till I have set
judgment in the earth, and the isle shall wait for my law. He
shall not fail. Oh, that may be something, my
beloved friends, that abides in our hearts, that whenever
we think of our Lord Jesus Christ, that whenever we feel that our
pathway is difficult and sometimes nigh impossible, He will not
fail you. I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee. He will not fail you. I am with
you. And he remains with his people. He will never leave his people,
never forsake his people. In spite of all our, what we
might say, provocations, all our wanderings in this wilderness.
I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. We have again another beautiful
revelation of Christ in Psalm 110. And that is one of the most prominent
of the Messianic Psalms and probably quoted more in the New Testament
than any other psalm. The Lord said unto my Lord. First
Lord is capital letters Jehovah said unto My Lord Adonijah, that
is the mighty God, sit thou at my right hand until I make thine
enemies thy footstool. This is Christ, when Christ ascended
into glory. That's what the prophecy is.
When our Lord Jesus Christ ascended up into glory, until I make thine
enemies thy footstool, the Lord shall send the rod of thy strength
out of Zion. You see, this is the captain
of the Lord of Hosts. Roar thou in the midst of thine
enemies. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the
womb of the morning. Thou hast the dew of thy youth.
This is beautifully speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
captain of the Lord of Hosts. The Lord has sworn, Jehovah has
sworn, and will not repent, he will not change his mind thou
art a priest forever this is the great captain of the lord
of hosts who reveals himself to his servant joshua thou art
a priest forever after the order of melchizedek his eternal priesthood
the apostle quotes this text again and again in hebrews is
quoted by the apostles in the acts of the apostles the lord
has sworn and will not repent, thou art a priest forever after
the order of Melchizedek. Now he speaks of our great high
priest at his right hand. The Lord at thy right hand shall
strike through kings in the day of his wrath. You see, such a
high priest have we who is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the
Son of God. He's the King of kings. He's
the Lord of Lords, he's the mighty God, he's the everlasting Father.
He says, look unto me, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye
saved, for I am God and there is none else. This is the captain
of the Lord of hosts. The Lord at thy right hand shall
strike through kings in the day of his wrath. Just think of what
we just quoted from Revelation chapter one, the prince of the
kings of the earth, that's who Christ is. He's God of all and
blessed forevermore. He has a name written on his
vesture, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. That's who he is. That's who he is. The captain
of the Lord of hosts. Again, in Psalm 2, when we read
there of the enemies of the Lord surrounding the people of God. And it says there, and surely,
what a picture Psalm 2 is of today. When we see the wickedness
and the evil and the awful powers of Antichrist. When they pass
laws in our Parliament that are absolutely contrary to the Word
of God. They oppose the Word of God and
anyone that believes in the Word of God. Why do the heathen rage? When it says heathen, it means
those that do not believe in the Lord our God. They're heathen. Why do the heathen rage? We see
it today. If you stand up and you oppose
them, you're shouted down. Why do the heathen rage and the
people imagine a vain thing? What is the vain thing that they
imagine? That they can overcome the Lord. They can change the
laws, the laws of nature and the law of the world of God.
They say, no, we don't want these things. The kings of the earth
set themselves. And this is exactly what we're
living in today. The kings of the earth set themselves
and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against
his anointed. His anointed is Christ. Saying, let us break their bands
asunder. and cast away their cords from
us. We don't want God's laws. We
don't want the word of God. We don't believe in the word
of God. Away with God and away with the word of God. That's
the language of today. It's rebellion against almighty
God and against the truth of God. Let us break their bands
asunder. I've often spoken to you about
the meaning of the word transgression all these different words given
for sin in the word of God. To transgress it's the idea behind
the word it's a boundary it's like a field that has a hedge
or a fence so you put livestock in it not only can other not
get into hurt the lifestyle, but they can't get out, they're
constrained within that boundary. Now if one of the animals in
that field breaks the boundary, it transgresses the boundary. So God has put a holy law, a
righteous law, that surrounds mankind. It's still there today,
my beloved friends, that holy righteous law of God. anyone that breaks through that
boundary they transgress the boundary when you break God's
holy law you transgress the definition of sin in the first epistle of
John is sin is any transgression of the law of God that law is
the boundary that God has put round man And this is really an idea here,
the same sort of thing, the kings of the earth and the rulers,
they say, let us break their bands asunder. We want nothing
more to do with their law or their word or their God or their
savior. Let us break it asunder. We will
not hear of these things. We will change laws. Exactly
what is prophesied in Holy Scripture, the time will come when they
will change the laws of God. But listen to what it says here
in Psalm 2. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. You see, my beloved friends, we must ever remember that our
God is God over all, blessed for evermore. Then shall he speak
unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
And here's something, and this is written for our instruction
and for our encouragement, yet, yet have I set my king upon my
holy hill of Zion. That's Christ. And the heathen
may rage, they may imagine a vain thing, yet have I set my king
Nothing can alter that. He's the King of Kings. He's
the Lord of Lords. He's the Prince of the Kings
of the Earth. He's the Captain of the Lord of Hosts. You see, here again, there's
a beautiful prophecy of the coming of Christ. I will declare the
decree. The Lord has said unto me, Thou
art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And then these lovely words
of gospel grace ask of me. And I shall give thee the heathen
for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth
for thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a
rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces
like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore, O ye
kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the
earth, serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss
the Son, lest he be angry with thee, and you perish from the
world. when his wrath is kindled, what
a little blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Oh, that those words may abide
in our hearts, yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of
Zion. That remains the truth today,
just as it ever has been. Nothing can ever change it. He
sitteth King forever. Now unto the King eternal, immortal
and invisible, the only true God, be honor and glory everlasting. Amen. He said his King forever. Nothing can change that. Again,
there's a revelation of the captain of the Lord of hosts in the book
of the Revelation. In my mind it really just goes
to the Revelation chapter 6. And in Revelation chapter 6,
and we must ever remember that what it is in the book of the
revelation is Christ. People go into the book of the
revelation, they want to see what this has happened, that's
happened, something else has happened. Just think of the first
clause of the book. The revelation of Jesus Christ. And you'll see, if the Lord opens
your eyes, you'll see far clearer then what revelation is. It's
a series of snapshots of the period of time between the first
coming and the second coming of Christ. But what is revealed
is Christ. And here in this sixth chapter. And I saw when the Lamb opened
one of the seals. This is the opening of the seals
of the book. And I heard, as it were, the
noise of thunder and one of the four beasts saying, come and
see. Now just look at this revelation of Christ. these gospel days
and I saw and behold a white horse and he that sat on him
had a bow and a crown was given unto him and he went forth conquering
and to conquer that's Christ it's Christ in the gospel the
weapons of our warfare they are not carnal they are spiritual
they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds
And Christ is the great king and head of the church. And it's
Christ that we follow, and it's Christ that we look to. And it's
Christ that invites poor, wretched sinners to come unto Him, the
glorious person of God. He will conquer in the hearts
of His people. He will conquer in Zion, in the
church of God. He will gather His people unto
Himself, even in troublous times, even when the enemy is so rampant,
You look at the time of the Puritans. The Puritans were great men of
God, very learned, very gracious, but they were sorely persecuted
by the powers that be. Several of them lost all their
lands, everything that they had for Christ's sake, for Christ's
sake. Because the Lord Jesus had conquered
in their heart by his almighty and his rich grace, And he brought
them to saving faith in him and they became followers of him.
And just as he was despised, they were despised. And just
as he was set at naught, they were set at naught. But he conquered not only in
their hearts. You know, some of those Puritans,
they preached to thousands of people. Thousands of people. There were some churches in London
at that time and they were what are called independent churches,
they were sort of known as underground churches because legally they
shouldn't worship only in the Church of England. But some of
those congregations had 3,000 to 4,000 people in them. It was
a time when there was an outpouring of the Spirit. There was much
trouble, but the Lord Jesus, he conquered for them and on
their behalf. And I saw and behold a white
horse You know, friends, as we look at these things, as we look
at Christ revealed in Holy Scripture, you know, we should consider
David in Psalm 45. It's a wonderful pattern for
us to follow because David, he asked the Lord to go forth. It's
a lovely Psalm, a Messianic Psalm, Psalm 45. Again, a revelation
of Christ. My heart is inditing good matter. I speak of the things which I've
made touching the King. My tongue is the pen of a ready
writer. And now he's speaking of Christ,
thou art fairer than the children of men. Grace is poured into
thy lips, therefore God hath blessed thee forever. But now
look how the language changed. He's the captain of the Lord
of hosts. So what does David cry? This
is David's God, this is David's saviour. gird thy sword upon
thy thigh, O most mighty, and with thy glory and thy majesty,
and in thy majesty ride prosperously, because of truth and meekness
and righteousness, and thy right hand shall teach thee terrible
things. Thine arrows are sharp in the
heart of the king's enemies, whereby the people fall under
thee. Thy throne, O God, is for ever
and ever the scepter of thy kingdom is a right scepter, that's a
righteous scepter. Thou lovest righteousness and
hatest wickedness. Therefore God, thy God hath anointed
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. You know,
friends, and I know it's true, it's true of me and I know it's
true of many of you, you long to see prosperity in Zion. You
long to see the people come into this chapel. I know you do because
I hear you in prayer. And that's what I long for. that
the glory and light of the gospel may shine into Lambethurst, into
the surrounding villages and hamlets. But look at the pattern
that David gives us when he prays to Christ, gird thy sword upon
thy thigh. It's only Christ that can bring
sinners into subjection unto himself. So therefore, he prays
unto Christ to do it. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh. You know, again, there's a revelation
of Christ in Revelation chapter 19. And there in Revelation chapter
19, it's speaking of the second coming of Christ, of course.
But again, it's what we have in our text, the captain of the
Lord of hosts. Revelation 19 verse 11. This is what was revealed to
John, and this is what I mean. You miss so much when you don't
look at the first verse of Revelation. The revelation of Jesus Christ,
because that's what this book is about. It's the revelation
of Jesus Christ. And what's he say? And I saw
heaven opened and behold a white horse. And it's the same as what
we read in chapter six. And he that sat upon him was
called faithful and true. And in righteousness he doth
judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire. And on his head were many crowns,
and he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. He
was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called
the Word of God. And the armies which were in
heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean. And out of his mouth goes a sharp
sword, that with it he shall smite the nations, and he shall
rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads the winepress of
the fierceness and wrath almighty God and he hath on his vesture
and on his thigh a name written King of Kings and Lord of Lords
King of Kings and Lord of Lords now look what we have here in
Joshua and what was revealed to Joshua and it came to pass
when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted up his eyes and looked
and behold there stood a man over against him with his sword
drawn in his hand. And Joshua went unto him and
said unto him, Art thou for us or for our adversaries? And he
said, Nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord am I now
come. And Joshua fell on his face to
the earth and did worship and said unto him, What saith my
Lord unto his servant? What a mercy, my beloved friends,
when we are brought into submission unto Jesus Christ. How are we
brought into submission unto Jesus Christ? When the Holy Spirit
enters the heart, when the Holy Spirit quickens the soul, when
the Holy Spirit convinces of sin, when the Holy Spirit reveals
the things of Jesus, By his inward teaching of our sinfulness, our
wretchedness, our emptiness, our poverty, our insufficiency. And then he reveals Christ. Jesus,
the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. Jesus, who is able to save to
the uttermost all that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth. That's what the Holy Ghost reveals.
He shall testify of me. He shall testify of me. You know
these things are revealed by the Holy Ghost. Christ is revealed
by the Holy Ghost. Christ becomes precious. And
as we've looked here through scripture this morning, see what
are the different revelations of Christ. And the different ways that he
comes. But what is always revealed, he's the mighty God. With him
there's nothing impossible. I don't know the things that
are in your life at this time. There may be things that greatly
perplex you, things that seem impossible, things that you wonder
if you'll never get through. I love what Joseph Hart says,
pour not on thyself too long. You know, that's what we tend
to do, you know. Pour not on thyself too long,
else to sink thee lower. Look to Jesus, firm and strong,
mercy, joined with power. He's able. He's an able saviour. He's an almighty saviour. He's
able to save to the uttermost, that means completely, absolutely. He's able to overcome all your
enemies. He's able to overcome all impossibilities. Listen to the words of Jesus.
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. The rest of faith. In the epistle
to the Hebrews, in the fourth chapter, that the Apostle speaks
Jesus. But if you look into the margin,
it says Joshua. And they are exactly the same
name. It means the Savior. You might say, well then why
are they different? Because one is translated from
the Hebrew, Joshua, And the other is translated from the Greek,
Jesus. They're exactly the same word.
And the Apostle Paul, he said, if Jesus had given them rest,
it means Joshua. If Joshua had given them rest.
You see, my beloved friends, we need instruction in the way
of righteousness and of truth. I do hope and pray that the Lord
will grant that these things will abide in our hearts. that
we may have clear views of this captain of the Lord of hosts
as the apostle says the great captain of our salvation he that
is able to save to the uttermost completely absolutely and it
came to pass when joshua was by jericho that he lifted up
his eyes and looked and behold there stood a man over against
him with his sword drawn in his hand and joshua went unto him,
and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? And
he said, Nay, but as captain of the host of the Lord am I
now come. And Joshua fell down on his face
to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith
my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the Lord's
host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, For
the place whereon thou standest is holy, and Joshua did so. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 126. The tune is Warwick, 258. I'll speak the honours of my
King, his form divinely fair. None of the sons of mortal race
may with the Lord compare. Hymn 126. Christ, Lord, have mercy. Sweet is thy speech, MacDowell, O come, all ye faithful joyful
and triumphant O come, all ye faithful joyful and triumphant His crown, His sacred head. God of my soul, Riding majestic swell, Thy terrors
shall strike through thy foes, ♪ And make the world her way
♪ ♪ God is her own God forevermore ♪ ♪ Grace shall brew ♪ ♪ A mistletoe
♪ ♪ In thy hands ♪ ♪ And through thy saints ♪ Justice and truth constantly
still, but mercy is my choice. 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.