Yeah. Let us commence our service this
afternoon by singing together hymn number 241. The tune is
BALERMA 92. Repentance is a gift bestowed
to save a soul from death. Gospel repentance toward God
is always joined to faith. Hymn 241. Repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus,
repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus,
repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent,
O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent,
O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent,
O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus,
repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus,
repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus,
repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent,
O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent,
O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O Jesus, repent, O ? It's always joy to play ? ? Not
for an hour or day or year ? ? Do you change me when I'm near you
? ? That still my feet may crave
? ? O praise the sun that gives no name ? ? That gives no name
? Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice! It's not the fear of death, Nor
having will, it's strength, Dependent strength, Thus may we welcome
and make your evening bliss. Immanent in our dream, Remember
this, my friend, Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Acts of the Apostles and chapter 20. the Acts of the Apostles, Chapter
20. And after the uproar was ceased,
Paul called unto him the disciples, and he braced them, and departed
for to go into Macedonia. And when he had gone over those
parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece,
and there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait for
him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return
through Macedonia. And there accompanied him into
Asia, Sopater of Berea, and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus
of Secundus, and Gaius of Derby, and Timotheus, and of Asia, Tychicus,
and Trophimus. These going before tarried for
us at Troas, and we sowed away from Philippi after the days
of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days,
where we abode seven days. And upon the first day of the
week, When the disciples came together to break bread, Paul
preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow, and continued
his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in
the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. And there
sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen
into a deep And as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with
sleep and fell from the third loft and was taken up dead. And Paul went down and fell on
him, and embracing him said, trouble not yourselves, for his
life is in him. When he therefore was come up
again and had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while,
even till break of day, so he departed. And they brought the
young man alive, and were not a little comforted. And we went
before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take
in Paul, for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot. And when he met with us at Assos,
We took him in and came to Mytilene. We sailed thence and came the
next day over against Chios, and the next day we arrived at
Samos, and tarried at Trogilium, and the next day we came to Miletus. For Paul had determined to sail
by Ephesus, because he could not spend the time in Asia. For
he hasted, if it were possible for him, to be at Jerusalem the
day of Pentecost. And from Miletus, he sent to
Ephesus and called the elders of the church. And when they
were come to him, he said unto them, ye know from the first
day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with
you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind
and with many tears and temptations, which befell me by the lying
in weight of the Jews, and how I kept back nothing that was
profitable unto you, but have showed you and have taught you
publicly and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and also
to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord
Jesus Christ. And now behold, I go bound in
the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every
city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things
move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might
finish my course with joy and the ministry which I have received
of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now behold I know that ye
all among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God shall see
my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record
this day that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have
not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take
heed therefore unto yourselves and to all the flock over the
which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers to feed the church
of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know
this, After my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among
you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall
men arise, speaking perverse things to draw away disciples
after them. Therefore watch and remember
that by the space of three years I cease not to warn everyone
night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend
you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build
you up and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. I have coveted no man's silver
or gold or apparel. Yea, ye yourselves know that
these hands have ministered unto my necessities and to them that
were with me. I have showed you all things,
how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember
the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, it is more blessed
to give than to receive. And when he had thus spoken,
he kneeled down and prayed with them all, and they all wept sore,
and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him, sorry most of all for the
words which he spake, that they should see his face no more.
And they accompanied him unto the ship. 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. Thou art the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the ending, the first and the last, Father,
Son, and Holy Ghost. For we come to thee, most gracious
Lord, as our heavenly Father. We think of the words of our
Lord Jesus Christ, whatsoever ye ask in my name, I will do,
I will give it. Oh, we come to thee then in the
name of thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, our only hope of salvation. We come to thee to plead his
precious blood and righteousness as ours. For Lord, this is our
only hope. in the blood and righteousness
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, we do desire, most gracious
Lord, to worship thee, for through him we have access by one spirit
unto the Father. Oh, that we may feel the divine
power, the heavenly unction of the Holy Spirit, enlightening
us, renewing us, reviving us, here this afternoon. Blessed
divine spirit of truth, we pray for thy heavenly power. We pray
that it may be with us. Our gospel came unto you not
in word only, but in power, in the Holy Ghost, and with much
assurance. Oh, that it may be so here this
afternoon, that sweet assurance of faith that lay in all hold
of the hope that is set before us in the gospel, touching the
hem of Jesus' garment, hearing his voice, seeing his countenance,
worshipping in his holy hill of Zion. Oh, gracious God. We read, the Father seeketh such
to worship him in spirit and in truth. Holy, divine spirit,
give us that real spiritual worship. Give us, O Lord, more faith,
more precious faith, that confidence in our Lord Jesus Christ, and
that sight by faith of the glory of his person, and the fullness
of his grace, and the wonder of redeeming love in Jesus Christ. Holy divine spirit of truth,
We read of thee in the word, he will take of the things of
Jesus and reveal them unto you. He will testify of me. Lord,
we pray that it may be so here this afternoon, that thou wouldst
testify of Jesus Christ, that thou wouldst reveal him unto
us. As we read this morning in thy word, but God hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit, for the Spirit searcheth all things,
yea, the deep things of God. We pray for the graces of the
Spirit to be an exercise in our hearts, faith in our Lord Jesus
Christ, the gift of God, that faith which is of the operation
of God, that faith which looks alone and builds alone on Jesus
Christ, his finished work, his glorious person, Oh, give us
that faith. Oh, that I had a stronger faith
to look within the veil. Oh, that will strengthen our
faith here this afternoon, that we may feel thy divine power
and thy heavenly unction. Give us real repentance. It's
thy precious gift, most blessed spirit. Grant it to each one
of us. We do humbly beseech thee. Give
us humility. Give us love, O these are thy
precious graces, which thou alone canst keep alive in our hearts.
For as we read in thy word and we prove it experimentally, no
man can keep alive his own soul. And Lord, we realise that. We're
not able to do that, but thou art. And we pray, most blessed
Spirit, that thou wouldst enliven our hearts. by faith, living
faith, in the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ. May
that be the language of our souls, give me Christ or else I die.
Hear us, Lord. We humbly beseech you. And we pray that we may know
and we may feel this sweet spirit of adoption, that we might be
able to say, our Father, feelingly sensibly in our hearts experimentally
in our souls our father which art in heaven hallowed be thy
name that we may prove the very truth of thy word for god has
sent forth the spirit of his son into our hearts cry in abba
father oh that we may sweetly experience that here this afternoon. We want to know the power, Lord,
the power of the everlasting love of the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost. We want to see no man save Jesus
only. We want to behold his glorious
person, the Son of God, manifest in the flesh, power to save,
power to redeem, power to deliver. Oh, most gracious Lord, may we
see, may we feel that power in our hearts. May we know the liberty
of the people of God. May we know the assurance of
faith. May we know the peace of God that passeth all understanding
through Jesus Christ and all. May we be made more spiritually
minded and our affections set upon things above and not on
things of the How soon, Lord, we get earthbound with earthly
things, but, oh, to know those heavenly things. We do humbly
beseech them. Those heavenly places in Christ
Jesus, may we be led into them here this afternoon in the sweet
power of thy grace and of thy love. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou wouldst fill our hearts with gratitude for
the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, for his wonderful redeeming
love, mercy and grace. We thank thee that he is full
of grace and truth. We thank thee that in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. We thank thee that faith
feeds on him, looks to him, cleaves to him. We thank thee for the
incarnation of the Son of God, that profound mystery of godliness,
God manifest in the flesh. We thank thee for that holy life
he lived as a man here upon earth, made of a woman, made under the
law, that he might redeem them that are under the law. Oh, we
do thank thee for that holy life. We thank thee for the bringing
in of everlasting righteousness in Jesus Christ. For Lord, that
is our only hope, the glorious righteousness of Christ. We have
no righteousness of our own. We are unclean and unrighteous
altogether. We have no good works to plead.
We have nothing to bring before thee. May we truly know the Sweet
power of what top lady writes, Nothing in my hand I bring, Simply
to thy cross I cling, Foul I to the fountain fly, Wash me, Saviour,
or I die. Oh, we do thank thee for that
holy sacrifice of Christ, the acceptable sacrifice. We thank
thee for the holy life he lived, His sufferings, having received
our sins, laid upon Him. He took our sins and He nailed
them to His cross. We thank Thee for that sacrifice,
perfect, pure, spotless and undefiled, acceptable to our Heavenly Father. O most gracious God, we thank
Thee that he died for our sins. He shed his precious blood to
cleanse us from all unrighteousness and offered that holy sacrifice
and that precious blood. And on the third day he rose
again for our justification. We thank thee that he is risen
from the dead, that he has ascended up on high. He has the power
of an endless life and that such an high priest have we who is
passed into the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God. O the
wonder and the glory and thou hast said unto them that look
for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation
ready to be revealed at the last day. O we thank thee for that
anticipation of that eternal life to be revealed when we shall
soar through tracks unknown and see thee on thy judgment Rock
of ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee. We pray that thou wouldst bless
us together as a church and as a congregation. Remember each
one of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship. Help us
to truly love each other, serve each other, bear each other's
burdens. Lord, may it be so. May we esteem
each other better than ourselves to be. When is it brethren all
agree and let distinctions fall when nothing in themselves they
see and Christ is all in all? O Lord God, we do thank thee
for our brethren and sisters in Christ. We thank thee for
our brethren the deacons. Pray that thou would richly bless
them. those things that have been done at Tunbridge Wells
this morning, and we pray that thy blessing may rest upon the
sermon read and the service, that it may redound to the glory
of thy great name. Pray that thou will bless our
brother Andrew at home and be Jehovah Rophi. I am the Lord
that healeth thee. May he know that healing both
in body and in soul, we do humbly beseech and bless him and his. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou would bless us together as a congregation. We thank the
dear Lord for the little ones and the children that are brought
into the sanctuary. We thank the most gracious Lord
for precious souls that gather Gather others also. Thou art
able, Lord. We thank thee for those that
we have. But thou hast said, open thy mouth wide and I will
fill it. Bring our sons from far and our daughters from the
ends of the earth. Come and build the walls of Jerusalem.
Come and grant a godly increase. O gracious God, let thy work
appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children.
Fulfil that precious word instead of thy fathers shall be thy children. All the promises of God are yea
and amen in Christ Jesus. Send out thy light and thy truth
into this village, into the surrounding villages and hamlets. Bring our
sons from far and our daughters from the ends of the earth. Thou
hast promised and they shall come. Thou hast promised and
I, the Lord, will hasten it in his time. let us wait for thee,
let us watch for thee, bless the word of God distributed,
grant that it may redound to the great honor, glory, and praise
of thy holy name, the increase of thy kingdom, we do humbly
beseech thee. Oh, let thy work appear unto
thy servants and thy glory unto their children, oh Lord, we do
humbly beseech thee. Arise, arise, oh God of grace,
into thy rest descend thou in 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 them lord it's thy
work and it's thy work we desire to see We pray, most gracious
Lord, for any among us in affliction and trouble and trial and bereavement,
that thy support, thy sustaining mercy, thy upholding grace may
be given. We do humbly beseech thee. We
pray for dear Ina, not able to gather with us today, and pray
that she may be blessed of thee, and that thou wouldst be with
her in her declining days, and strengthen her. We do humbly
beseech thee. Lord, we pray that Thou wouldst
bless each one of the dear children, bring them to Thee, to fear Thee,
to serve Thee, to follow Thee. Bless the dear young friends
and graciously give them living faith in Jesus Christ, that they
may follow Thee and serve Thee, that they may follow on to know
the Lord, that they may feel constrained to put Thee on in
an open profession, to come and tell to sinners round what a
dear Saviour they have found, to point to thy redeeming blood
and say, behold the way to God. Oh, do bless then the dear young
friends. Be with them in all the paths
of providence and guide them, O thou great Jehovah, in all
matters. Remember parents and give them
grace, wisdom and help to bring up their children, to raise the
family order, Read and pray in the family. O do grant thy blessing,
thy favour. O Lord, we do beseech thee. Remember all in the midst of
the journey of life. Remember those that have wandered
from wisdom's way. Stretch out thy almighty arm.
Cause them to return. None are too far away for thee,
Lord. Thy arm is almighty. O that thou
wouldst come, that thou wouldst rescue precious souls from the
bondage of sin and corruption, and bring them into the glorious
liberty of the people of God. O Lord of hosts, O God of Israel,
O thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth, shine forth with the gospel of
thy grace. Let thy hand be upon the man
of thy right hand, the son of man, whom thou madest strong
for thyself, so will not we turn back from thee. Hearken, O Lord,
we do humbly beseech thee, but we do thank thee for every mercy
of thy kind providence, and for all thy goodness that has passed
before us in the way. Do come now, Lord, and touch
one's lips with a live coal from off the heavenly altar. Make up in giving where we do
so fail in asking, as we ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1099. The tune is Sorely 231. Jesus, omnipotent to save, exalted
Prince of grace, light, life and love thou dost bestow on
men of vilest race. and ninety-nine. ? The new and the young ? ? And
the host we disturb ? ? The name of God is great ? ? In our hearts
of shame ? in us give. We are the world,
we pray. The truth is brave, O'er all
and near. And I am in love, I'm as he cares. Let holy sorrow die. Let tears of reddening tears
show pain. Amen. God of the night, in whose tender
light Thy gracious hand prevails, and Thy good spirit ? That gracious power of sin ?
? I hate my sins, I love myself ? ? Adorned the Savior Christ
? ? The world by love's golden hands behold ? ? We praise Christ
the Lord ? Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, direct your attention to the Acts of the Apostles in
chapter 20, and we will read verse 21 for our text. Acts of the Apostles, chapter
20, verse 21. Testifying both to Jews and also
to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord
Jesus Christ. It's true what the dear apostle
himself declares, how his zeal for the salvation of souls, his
longing, his yearning, constant and continual, for the ingathering
of precious souls into the church. And as you read through this
chapter and you get the feel of the man's spirit, his desires,
his longings, his yearnings. And he was constantly testifying,
preaching. That was testifying by preaching. It says in the previous verse,
and how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you. But
I've showed you and I've taught you publicly and from house to
house, not just in the public means of grace, but he went from
house to house and he taught them, clearly teaching them that
Jesus is the way to God, that Jesus is the way to bliss, that
Jesus only is the way of salvation, the way of redemption, the way
of peace, is only found in our Lord Jesus Christ. You know,
friends, all that we could have that same zeal given to us. It says in the prophecy of Isaiah,
and you see it experimentally in the Apostle Paul, as soon
as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. You know,
friends, I'd like to try and convey to you that, yes, it is
the Lord's servants, they're called labourers and they labour
just as the apostle did night and day for the salvation of
yourselves. But he had churches that laboured
with him. He speaks of those that were
labourers together. How often I speak to those of
you that are spiritual Those of you that know the Lord, those
of you to whom Christ has been made precious, how often do you
pray for the peace of Jerusalem? How often do you pray for the
salvation of souls? I had a message from somebody,
it was last Monday, and I was sitting last Monday morning thinking
of the services last Lord's Day. and sometimes on a Monday I'm
very tired I get very tried and very perplexed as to the reality
of one's preaching as the longing for to see fruits and sometimes
the enemy gets around you and he sorely tries you but last Monday it was different
I felt such a sweetness of the Spirit on my spirit and such
a longing to see the work of the Spirit among us as a church
and as a congregation. And thinking of you as a flock,
I so longed that the Lord would bless you, you dear young friends. I often pray for you. I often
look to the Lord for you. I often seek that the Lord may
bless you, may open your eyes, may open your heart. to receive
the word of God, that is what burdens me. Not that you just
might be in the house of God, not that you just might be there
listening, but that the word may be applied into your hearts,
into your souls, that you may be brought, like it speaks of
in our text, to faith and repentance in Jesus Christ, faith toward
God. And repentance toward God and
faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. So we long and we pray. And I believe there are those
of you here that long and pray and that we can say that we are
labourers together. We want the same thing. We spiritually
desire the prosperity of Zion. We long to see you grow up those
of you that are spiritual we long to see you grow in grace
and we watch we watch for that growth in grace for that spiritual
mindedness so that the things of this world they may be lawful
they may be proper but they don't take all your mind and then you
know that's what the pastor looks for that you might have time
for the Lord that you might be more spiritually minded Your
affection set upon things above and not on things of the earth. And a longing desire for the
prosperity of Zion, of the house of God, of the people of God. Waiting and watching for signs
to follow the preaching of the word. The apostle Paul, when
he speaks here in the Acts and he says concerning him and the
other apostles, And it was very true. He wasn't boasting when
he said it. He was speaking something that
was very factual. I laboured more than them all.
The Apostle did. He laboured, he was burdened,
he was pressed for the salvation of souls, for the building of
the walls of Jerusalem, for the divine work of the Spirit to
be made manifest in the congregations and signs that follow the preaching
of the word. What a mercy if there is a spiritual
appetite. You dear young friends, do you
have a spiritual appetite? Do you have spiritual desires?
Do you feel you need something? Are you looking for something?
Are you praying for something? You may not even know what that
something is, but you need something. The hymn writer puts it in a
nutshell, an aching void that the world can never fill. And
you know that to be so. And you long for that to be filled.
And in due time, the Lord will fill that aching void. What you
need, what you're looking for, what you're praying for, the
Lord will give it. And there'll be a sense of satisfaction
in your soul when he gives it. when Christ is made precious
to you, when Christ becomes the altogether lovely one, when Christ
becomes the chiefest among 10,000. And then you'll run to the house
of God. You'll long to be in the house
of God. Not just on a Sunday, but you'll long to be there in
the week as well. Because you need something. You
need something. May the Lord grant the fulfilling
of your desires. Doesn't the Psalmist say, the
Lord fulfill all thy petitions. May the Lord grant the fulfilling
of those longings and yearnings of your soul. Testifying both
to Jews also to Greeks repentance toward God and faith toward our
Lord Jesus Christ in a sense here in this verse as we read
elsewhere in the Church of God and of course this was something
very new to the Jewish people they were the right people they
were the only right people and they were the people of God and
so therefore the Gentiles were completely out of the secret
but we have the truth that was the Jews But what the Apostle
establishes so emphatically and so clearly, and remember he was
preaching to Jews and Gentiles, Jews and Greeks, he puts them
completely on the same footing, no distinction whatsoever, testifying
both to Jews and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, this faith and this
repentance. Sometimes the Apostle, in the
way the Holy Spirit speaks in the Word, sometimes faith is
spoken of in a very broad sense of the Word, having faith. Sometimes it's spoken in a very
narrow sense of the Word, and it's speaking of the faith that
is within you, within the individual believer. And just remember that
without faith, you might say to me, what is faith? What is
faith? It's the gift of God. It says
so in Ephesians, faith is the gift of God. And repentance equally
is the same, the gift of God. It's by faith that we believe.
by faith that we lay hold of Christ. It's by faith that Christ
is revealed. When I was a young man and what
we would say under the teaching of the law, the Lord had begun
to work in my heart. I felt I knew myself to be a
poor sinner. I felt I needed something. I
was hungering for something. I felt myself a sinner. I felt
myself out of the secret. And at that time, I was engaged
to a young lady in the Brethren churches. And I used to go to
the gospel hall in Luton on a Sunday evening when they have what they
call a gospel service. In the morning, they have the
breaking of bread and the preaching of the word. In the evening,
they have the preaching of the gospel. It's very stated among
their churches. After the service, one Sunday
evening, one of the elders, he came and spoke to me. He said,
are you a believer in Jesus Christ? Well, you know, friends, I was brought up to chapel. I
was brought up in a godly home. And of course, in a natural sense,
I was brought up to believe in Jesus Christ. And he said, do
you believe in Jesus Christ? I said, I do. Hallelujah, brother,
you're going to heaven. Do you know, friends, as I had to
go on a train journey home that night, and on that train journey,
you could not have met a more miserable man on the earth. And
the Lord opened my eyes, even though I didn't yet know Christ,
the fallacy of that religion, a free will religion. No experience
of the truth. No inward deliverance of the
soul. Experimental. I longed and I
yearned. I knew that I wasn't a believer
in Jesus Christ. I knew I wasn't a follower of
Jesus Christ. Just like any of us brought up
to chapel, of course I believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Of
course I believed in the doctrine of the Trinity. If anyone had asked me, I'd have
said yes. But I didn't believe to the saving of my soul, and
that is the difference. I believed it intellectually
in my head. That's how I was brought up. I knew I needed something more
than that, just an intellectual understanding of the truth. And
I believe that night the Lord opened my eyes to the fallacy
of a free world religion. Not of him that willeth, nor
of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. And you know,
friends, it wasn't too long after that we had to come to a mutual
agreement I couldn't go to the brethren and she could not come
to the Strip Baptist. I needed something. I longed
for something. And so that engagement come to
an end. We were only six months from
being married. I loved her dearly. It was literally like tearing
the skin off my back. But it had to go. It had to go. The separation had to come, painful
and trying as it was. And after that happened, you
know, there was such a longing in my heart for something. And the devil, I started going
to chapel all the time, week evenings and Lord's Days. And
the devil so tempted me. You've given up what you loved
and you've got nothing. And that was so real. I hadn't
got anything. And yet I'd given up the very
thing I loved so dearly. But you see, it was through that
experience that brought me to utterly nothing in myself. I've often told you, when I came
home from my work, so utterly finished. I stood
in the lounge at our home in Westinny. I was absolutely finished. and Christ was revealed to me,
reading one of Philpott's sermons. Never, I'd never felt the desire
to read a sermon before, and I'd never read one. I say that
to my shame, I never have. I picked that book off my father's
bookshelf, and as I read, Christ was revealed. It was as if scowls
fell off my eyes. Light shined into my soul. Peace,
I felt peace. Instead of what had been, for
the last two years, utter bondage and darkness, now there was light. Now there was a measure of liberty.
I walked up in the fields near where we lived in the country, and all the trees of the field
clapped their hands. It was a complete change. Instead
of darkness, there was light. Instead of bondage, there was
liberty. Instead of being far off, I was made known. Oh, the
preciousness of Christ at that time. But you see, we have to
prove experimentally, it's not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. And if the Lord
gives you faith, you'll wait, you'll wait. And the apostle says when he
describes faith, In the Hebrews, faith is the substance of things
hoped for, yet not seen. Hoped for. And there's a little
hope raised up in your heart. Things hoped for, yet not seen. That's what faith is. It's a
hope in Christ. Which hope we have as an anchor
for the soul, both sure and steadfast. Faith looks alone to Jesus. Faith
casts all her care upon Jesus. Oh, it's a precious grace, it's
the grace of faith. And with it, with it is always
repentance. Testifying both to Jews and also
to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord
Jesus Christ. And these two precious graces
always go together. and that these precious graces
of the Spirit, the Holy Ghost gives. And when he gives faith,
Christ is revealed as the way, the truth, and the life. A door
of hope is opened wide in Jesus' bleeding hands and sides. Now,
when you first have that revelation of Christ, when light flows into
your soul and Christ is made precious, you don't know all
the things the great things of doctrine etc but you know Christ
you know where salvation is you know where you found peace you
know when that light shone into your heart you pass from death
unto life and as the Apostle says it's
faith that works by love faith that works by It's a precious thing. Now, there
are degrees of faith. There's little faith. There's
great faith. There are degrees of faith. Some
have a little faith. Some have a great faith. It's
very much like that. I've often used it as an illustration. Lady Lucy Smith of the Countess
of Huntington's Connection. and she was known as a woman
of great face. But how beautiful it is when
somebody said to her one day, oh you're that lady of great
face. What did she answer? Oh no, she
said, I have a little face in a great garden. Now that's a
beautiful way of putting it. I have a little face in a great
garden. Believing in this great God.
Believing in this God that can do wonders. Believing in this
God that can make the crooked things straight and the rough
places plain. Believing in the holy God, man,
the Lord Jesus Christ, faith toward God, toward Christ. You know, and repentance comes
with it. You might say, what is repentance? Well, literally the word Repentance
means to turn right round and face the opposite direction. And as it says in our text, it's
toward God. So you turn away from the world
and the things of the world and the ways of the world and you
face God. That's why it says in our text,
toward God. It turns a sinner toward God.
It does. Now the fruit of repentance is
godly sorrow for sin. Godly sorrow for sin. But the actual act of repentance
is turned right round toward God. You're turned away from
your own will and your own purposes and to go in your own way and
do your own thing, the Lord turns you right round. He stops you
in your mad career and he turns you right round. Do we know, do you know, do I
know what real repentance is? You know our Lord Jesus Christ, he speaks of repentance in his
teachings and of repentance toward God and in Luke chapter 13 in
those first five verses we have the clear teaching of our Lord
Jesus Christ concerning the doctrine of repentance the grace because
that's what it is the grace of repentance there were present
at that season some that told him of the Galileans whose blood
Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices and Jesus answering
said unto them suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners
above all the Galileans because they suffered such things I tell
you nay but except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish
What the Lord Jesus is speaking of here is the vital need and
necessity of repentance. Except ye repent, ye shall all
likewise perish. Of those eighteen upon whom the
tower in Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that they were
sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, nay,
but except ye repent, He shall all likewise perish. Doesn't this teach us how vital,
how necessary, how needful is real repentance? The hymn writer says, doesn't
he, to leave the hateful ways of sin, turn to the fold and
enter in. How does that happen? By repentance
being given. You turn away from all your own
ways, Repentance toward God and faith in our Lord, towards our
Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we have in our text. It's very instructive also. If
we just look at the preaching in the New Testament. Firstly,
look at John the Baptist and we read that he came preaching.
And what did he preach? Repent ye, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand. And then our Lord Jesus Christ,
he followed him, and he commenced his preaching. And how did he
commence his preaching? Repent ye, for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand. And then when the apostles came
preaching, as is recorded here in the Acts of the Apostles,
and what was the burden of their message? Repent ye, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. How vital then is this change
of life? This repentance toward God, this
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ is something that is absolutely
vital. As Christ has said in his teachings
there in Luke, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Oh, that the Lord would grant
us this real repentance, testifying both to Jews and also to the
Greeks, repentance toward God Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, there are several graces
of the Spirit. With this spirit of faith, sometimes
faith is spoken of as being the essential and needful thing,
quite rightly so. But contained within that term,
faith, repentance, humility, love, faith that works by love,
with it accompanying is humility, contrition, these are all the
precious graces of the Spirit that he works in the heart. He
gives you real contrition, a real humbling under the mighty hand
of God and yes There is a sense of humbling under the law when
we're convinced of sin, but more when Christ is revealed. And there's a very humbling sense
of our unworthiness. True contrition. You're not worthy. You feel it, you know it, you
experience it. And what we read in the word
of God, you think of Isaiah 66, to this man will I look. God
is speaking, to this man will I look, to him that is poor and
of a contrite spirit and that trembleth at my word. Poor and
of a contrite spirit and that trembleth at my word. Oh, my beloved friends, these
graces are given in some measure when Christ is revealed. Even before Christ is revealed,
and we need to be clear on this, there is life in the soul even
when there's conviction of sin. Now that person under conviction
of sin, they feel they've got no life, they feel dead, they
feel sinful, they feel corrupt, they feel unrighteous, they feel
totally unprepared, but there's life there. You'd never feel
that if there wasn't life. That is one of the evidences
of the work of the Spirit in the heart. Jesus speaks of it,
doesn't he? It's very clear and very emphatic.
When he, the Spirit of truth, is come. Now you may say that
means the day of Pentecost. Well, in one sense it does, but
in another sense it's a very personal word. When the Holy
Ghost comes to your heart. When he, the Spirit of truth,
is come. He will reprove, the margin says
convince, the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment. This divine work of the Holy
Ghost. Now that word convince is a very
strong word. I actually prefer it to reprove. It's a very strong word. You think we've been speaking
about degrees faith etc there are degrees of experience there is a with some a very gentle
work of the spirit i always think of that when it speaks of lydia
the seller of purple whose heart the lord opened it's a wonderful
thing to have your heart opened whose heart the lord opened to
me it conveys that to the mind that gentle work of the Spirit
in the heart, opening the heart, opening the understanding, convicting
and convincing of sin. Now there are those like the
Saul of Tarsus, what deep conviction of sin he had when the Lord stopped
him in his mad career. Oh that deep sense of his own
wretchedness, he was blinded and then Christ was revealed.
That was a very clear, very dramatic call by grace, and there are
some that that happens to, but with others it's a very gentle
work. But the point I want to make,
and I've made it to you many times, is this, that whether
you have a very gentle work of the Spirit and a very gentle
experience of like the scripture says, here a little, there a
little, line upon line, precept upon precept, it may be a very
gentle work. But that person that is convinced
of sin, even though it's gentle, is just as convinced of sin as
that one which is more dramatic. They are just as convinced of
sin. They know. They don't think they're sinners,
they know they're sinners. They feel it within. That's what
the word convinced means. Now, even though that work may
be gentle, you still know. You don't need anyone else to
tell you, you know that you're a sinner. You know that God is
holy and righteous. And what it says there, he will
prove the world of sin, of righteousness, what he means by that is that
God is righteous, that God is holy, that God will not at all
acquit the guilty. That's what it means. Now the
person led gently, even though it may be very gentle, they still
know it. They're still convinced. Equally as much as someone that
is led very dramatically. Their experience may not be so
dramatic and not so deep, but they still know. They're still
convinced. They don't need anyone else to
tell them that they're a sinner. They feel it. And that God is
righteous, they feel it. God is righteous, God is holy.
God will not at all acquit the guilty. And you're convinced
in your mind that that is true. And of judgment. What does that
mean? He will convince you, just as
he's convinced you of your sin and convinced you that God is
holy, and that God will not at all acquit the guilty, that one
day, You and I must appear at the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. And you're convinced of it. You
don't need anyone else to tell you. You know inwardly in your
own soul that that is the case. You see, my beloved friends,
that we could know these things in our hearts, testifying both
to Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, Faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ, you know the language of these
souls who come on to the teaching of the spirit There as I say
whether led deeply or whether led gently they come to the same
point Him writer expresses it beautifully. Give me Christ or
else I die That's the language of a living soul. Give me Christ
or else I die I must perish without Jesus Christ. I must perish without
the precious blood of Christ. You know, it's very beautiful
in this chapter, and I've often quoted it to you in verse 28,
and it says, to the elders at Ephesus
to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own
blood. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanseth us from
all sin. You know, such a word of that.
It's something so precious to faith. It cleanses us from all
sin. Faith looks to Christ, looks
to the blood of Christ, looks to the person of Christ, looks
to the righteousness of Christ, because you know you've got no
righteousness of your own. So you're compelled to fly to
Christ for his righteousness. You know that you cannot save
yourself, so you're compelled to flee to Jesus Christ, the
Son of Man, who's come to seek and to save that which was lost.
You see, that's where we're compelled to flee to, to look to, casting
all your care upon Him, for He careth for you. What a mercy. if we are indeed brought to that
place, cast in all our care on Jesus Christ. It's like Queen
Esther when she came before the king. The law of the Medes and
Persians was that if somebody was to come before the king uninvited, if he didn't hold out the golden
scepter to welcome them, The sentence was that they would
be put to death. They were not welcome in the
presence of the king, and they were to be put to death. Queen Esther, her people, the
Jews, were in great distress. Haman had decreed that he would
slay the Jews throughout the Babylon. He built a gallows to hang Mordecai
the Jew. That was Esther's uncle. She
brought him up. He brought her up. They built
a gallows to hang Mordecai, Haman had. You know, there's so much
hangs on little things. But one little thing that night
could not the king sleep. One little thing, that night,
could not the king sleep. You see, he was awake. But let
us not diverge too much from that. Esther, Mordecai had said
to her, to think that she'd come to the kingdom for such a time
as this. It was a desperate time. The
Jews were in peril from that encounter. They were threatening
to destroy them. And so Esther, she said to Mordecai
that she would go in unto the king, but she said, you know
the penalty, that if I'm not welcomed and the golden scepter
is not placed out, then I must die. So she went in unto the
king. We read that she put on her royal
apparel, She dressed herself to make her pleasing to the king.
She knew what the king liked. She wore those things that he
liked so that she was very attractive to him. And he held out the golden scepter.
She said, if I perish, I perish, but she didn't. He held out the
golden scepter. You know, it's a lovely illustration
of our Lord Jesus When a poor, wretched sinner comes before
him, he holds out the golden scepter of his mercy. They come
and they say, if I perish, I perish, but he held out the golden scepter
of his mercy. He looked on her beauty. Think
of what Christ says concerning his church, his spouse, his bride.
Thou art all fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. He
held out the golden scepter. She's clothed in the everlasting
robe of His righteousness, and that's how He sees her. She's
washed in His precious blood, and that's how He sees her. You
are complete in Him. You are accepted in the Beloved. Testifying both to the Jews and
also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our
Lord Jesus Christ. May the Lord add His blessings. Let us now sing together hymn
number 234. The tune is Arabia 617. He that believeth Christ
the Lord, who shed for man his blood, by giving credence to his word
exhorts the truth of God. So far he's right, but let him
know farther than this he yet must go. Hymn 234. ? In earth as on high ? ? As in
heaven is my God ? ? I will be great as to this world ? So far beside, I'll never know.
I'll never forget that smile. He that believeth the Christ,
the Christ, Has a much better faith His prophet now Becomes
His case, And saves them from His death. And Christ He finds, His sins for
Him, ? And Christ made a wreck of them ? ? But in that enterprise
he lived ? ? Of the rich faith he has ? His
prophets love ? Becomes his praise ? And saves them from his death Thy grace defines the saints
of heaven and earth, and heaven and earth. Not a tear this rich lake, Though
safe we are not sad, Though we are saved from guilt and wrath,
perfection is confound. Lord, make a union closer yet,
and may the marriage be found 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 forevermore. Amen.