Yeah. Okay. The notices for the coming week
are God willing as follows. Pastor will preach here next
Lord's Day at 10.30 and two o'clock. Also on Thursday evening at seven
o'clock. And there'll be a prayer meeting
here on Tuesday evening at seven o'clock. Let us commence our
services today by singing together hymn number 51. The tune is Hillborough
157. what wisdom, majesty and grace
through all the gospel shine. It is God that speaks and we
confess the doctrine most divine. Hymn number 51. Mayst thou my heart kiss thee,
and grace through all the cosmos shine. Teach God that speaks, and we
confess that our heart's remorse divine. His righteous father, our God,
the Almighty Savior. and his bright works of glory
kind, and him of righteousness. The mighty dead with flowers
enshrined, Upon the cross he laid, through the clouds passing
to call His child of glorious grace. ? May he a great height ? ? Bring
his appearance ? ? Before his father's throne ? ? There on
his breast ? Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Gospel according to John, and chapter
three. The third chapter in the gospel
according to John. There was a man of the Pharisees
named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus
by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher
come from God, For no man can do these miracles that thou doest,
except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto
him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him,
How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second
time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus answered, verily,
verily, that is, certainly, certainly, I say unto thee, except a man
be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of
God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which
is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee,
ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. Nicodemus answered and said unto
him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto
him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, we speak that we do know, and
testify that we have seen, and ye receive not our witness. If
I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall
ye believe if I tell you of heavenly things? No man hath ascended
up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son
of Man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of God be lifted up,
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal
life. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son
into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through
him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation,
that light is coming to the world, and men love darkness rather
than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that
doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light,
lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh
to the light, that his deeds might be made manifest, that
they are wrought in God. After these things came Jesus
and his disciples into the land of Judea, and there he tarried
with them and baptized. And John also was baptizing in
Anon near to Salem, because there was much water there. And they
came and were baptized. for John was not yet cast into
prison. Then there arose a question between
some of John's disciples and the Jews of our purifying. And
they came unto John and said unto him, Rabbi, he that was
with thee beyond Jordan, to whom thou bearest witness, behold,
the same baptizeth, and all men come to him. John answered and
said, A man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven.
Ye yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ,
but that I am sent before him. He that hath the bride is the
bridegroom, but the friend of the bridegroom which standeth
and heareth him rejoiceth greatly. because of the bridegroom's voice. This my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase and I must decrease. He that cometh from above is
above all. He that is of the earth is earthly
and speaketh of the earth. He that cometh from heaven is
above all. and what he hath seen and heard,
that he testifieth, and no man receiveth his testimony. He that
hath received his testimony hath set his seal that God is true.
For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God. For God giveth
not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son,
and hath given all things into his hand, He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. 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, we bow before thy great majesty. In thee we live and move and
have our being. Thou art the creator of the heavens
and the earth. There was nothing made but what
thou didst make, and we bow before thy great majesty. Thou art the
sovereign ruler of the skies, ever gracious, ever wise. All
my times are in thy hand, all events at thy command. O Lord
God, we do pray that we may have a right sense and realisation
given to us of who thou art and how great thou art. We read in
the word that thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabited
eternity, whose name is holy. Gracious God, we come with due
reverence and godly fear to bow before thy great majesty and
to call upon thy great and thy holy name. We read in the word,
great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness
is unsearchable. Oh, we do pray that as we gather
round thy word, we may have given to us by thy spirit a sweet sense
of that precious word. Yea, I have loved thee with an
everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn
thee. Lord, there are those of us here
in this chapel that can thankfully say that we have been drawn unto
Jesus Christ. We have seen an attraction, a
beauty, a loveliness in Jesus Christ. To grant that the Lord
Jesus Christ may be exalted here today, lifted up on the pole
of the gospel, and that poor sinners may look and live and
that the souls of thy people may be waters and the bread of
life given, that we may feast upon those fat things of the
kingdom of heaven, a feast of fat things, of wine on the lees
well refined. Grant that it may be so, most
gracious God, even today as we gather round thy word. Grant
that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that the love of God our
Father, the sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit, may rest
and abide upon us. For God has sent forth the Spirit
of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father. We often think
of the hymn writer, my God, my Father, blissful name, O may
I call thee mine, Lord, do grant that it may be so, Lord, even
to death, and that we may have that realisation that the Lord
is with us, the Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob
is our refuge. Selah. Lord, we do thank Thee
for the house of prayer, we thank Thee for the gospel of Thy grace,
we thank Thee for that fullness that is in Christ Jesus, We thank
Thee that in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
We thank Thee that He is full of grace and truth. We thank
Thee, O most gracious Lord, and would bow in adoration and praise
unto Thee for what Thou hast done in sending forth Thy Son,
made of a woman made under the law, that He might redeem them
that are under the law. We thank Thee that He lived as
a man under the law, honoured that law, magnified that law
and thereby bringing in everlasting righteousness for thy people.
Oh, we thank thee that the Lord Jesus Christ is our substitute,
our saviour, our redeemer. We thank thee that he narrowed
our sins to his cross and that he suffered and bled and died
for our sins Oh, the wonderful glory, he rose again for our
justification, and has now ascended into heaven and sitteth at thy
right hand. For such an high priest have
we, who is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. Oh, we do bless thee for Jesus,
the Son of God. We thank thee, most gracious
Lord, that he is our advocate, our great high priest, and tis
he instead of me is seen when I approach to God. Oh, the depths
of the riches of the glory of the grace of God in our Lord
Jesus Christ. A fullness resides in Jesus our
head and ever abides to answer our need. Gracious God, we do
thank thee for Jesus Christ. We thank thee that through him
We have access by one spirit unto the Father. We thank Thee
for the eternal love of our Heavenly Father in the sending forth of
His Son. We thank Thee for that electing
love of our Eternal Father. He chose a people from the ruins
of the Adam fall, or the depths of the riches of His grace. And
that we do thank Thee Most gracious Lord, for the divine and glorious
person of the Holy Ghost, we pray that today we may feel his
power, his influence, his inward teaching, that divine unction
that he alone can give to the Word, that the eyes of our understanding
may be enlightened, that we might know what that good and perfect
and acceptable will of the Lord is. Gracious God, make us more
spiritually minded, set our affections on things above, draw us unto
thyself. We do humbly beseech you this
day and grant us thy presence, the presence of the Father, the
Son and the Holy Ghost in our assembly, that we may worship
thee, the only true God. We pray. Most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst bless the little babes and the children as they're
brought into the sanctuary. That the fear of the Lord, which
is the beginning of wisdom, may be given unto them. And may we
never hinder them, but may we take heed unto thy word. Suffer
little children to come unto me, and forbid them not. For such is the kingdom of heaven. O Lord, we do thank thee then
for the little children, the babes and the young friends.
We think of the young friends, O Lord, in this wicked, sinful
and evil world and we pray that thou wouldst keep them from it
and that thou wouldst open their eyes to the fallacy of all things
here below and the emptiness of this lame world. For we do
pray, most gracious Lord, that thou hast put thy holy fear in
their hearts, an unctuous light to all that's right, a bar to
all that's wrong. And thou didst do the same for
the dear apostle. And it was said of him, it is
hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And as one says,
with pricking thorns to hedge their way, O gracious God, we
do pray that thou wouldst bless our dear young friends with living
faith, that they may become followers of thee, and of those whose faith
and patience inherit the promises, that they may be brought, each
one, to living faith in Jesus Christ. And that we do pray,
most gracious Lord, that thou wouldst deliver them from the
temptations of the enemy, from the allurements of this world,
from the power and the dominion of sin. Be with them in all the
paths of providence. Keep them to the house of God,
to the ways of God, to the truth of God. Graciously open their
eyes, open their hearts. Bless them, Lord, in their pathway.
in their education, give them wisdom and understanding, and
give them that help to apply themselves to their studies. Regarding, oh Lord, any future
employment, may they be guided and directed by thee. And regarding
a partner in life journey, oh, we do pray that thou would supply
their needs. We thank thee for what is revealed
in thy word, how thou didst bring a Rebekah unto Isaac and a Ruth
unto Boaz, and thou art the same God. Therefore we lovingly commend
them to thee, grant that a generation may be raised up to call thee
the Redeemer blessed. We pray for those that have wandered
from wisdom's way and that thou wouldst graciously awaken them
and cause them to return and that may we be waiting for them
and watching for them and praying for them to receive them. We do humbly beseech them. We
pray that the glory, light and power of the gospel may shine
into this village, the surrounding villages and hamlets, that there
was a rise for our help and may bear thine holy arm in the gospel
and gather in precious souls and build the walls of Jerusalem
O Lord of hosts, O God of Israel, O Thou that dwellest between
the cherubim, shine forth before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
and come and save us, O Lord, we beseech Thee. Let Thy hand
be upon the man of Thy right hand, the Son of Man, whom Thou
madest strong for Thyself. Lord, hear us, send prosperity. Turn again our captivity as the
streams in the south. We do humbly beseech them. Fulfill
thine ancient promises. I will bring thy sons from far
and thy daughters from the ends of the earth. And they shall
come from the north and from the south and from the east and
from the west. O gracious God, we long to see
Zion's offspring come. We long to see a building of
the walls of Jerusalem. We long for the spirit of power,
for that divine unction to be upon us in our gatherings together. We pray thy blessing upon parents. Lord, they'll know us the difficulty,
and we pray that thou would give them wisdom, guidance, and direction,
and help them to do that which is right in thine eyes, and train
the child up in the way that it should go, and it will continue
in that path. May we see that, Lord. We do
humbly beseech them. We pray to be delivered from
the temptations of Satan. Sometimes, Lord, he comes as
a roaring lion to devour. Sometimes he comes as an angel
of light to deceive. Deliver us from his power, from
his anger. Lord, we pray that thou wouldst
Bless each and every one in the midst of the journey of life,
and graciously undertake. We do humbly beseech them. Remember
those of us in the evening time of life journey, and graciously
guide us safely unto thy heavenly kingdom. We pray especially for
dear Mrs. Field, that thou would be with
her in her great age, and grant her thy divine support and help
and blessing. And, O Lord, we do pray that
thou wouldst graciously bless our families, each one of us,
wherever our families are, our siblings, our nephews, our nieces. Lord, hear us, we humbly pray
thee for thy great namesake. Bless all in the path of bereavement
and sorrow and sadness. Remember, that all thy servants,
as they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion today,
set them free and at liberty, grant mighty signs and wonders
to follow the preaching of the word. Lord, remember the hills
of Zion up and down the nation. Wherever thy servants stand,
wherever thy people gather, let us see thy work and thy power
and thy glory. Remember our nation. Give wisdom
to our leaders, guidance and direction. we read in thy word
and we thank thee for that word by me king's reign and prince's
decree justice we thank thee lord that it is so raise up those
that are godly those that fear the lord and to be in the corridors
of power remember our queen our king and graciously bless him
and each one of the royal household Grant thy rich blessing, O Lord,
we do beseech of thee, for thy great namesake. Remember those
that labour in word and doctrine in the nations of the earth.
We think of thy servant Ian Satter, that great work that he's doing
in the exposition of Holy Scripture in India and Pakistan and Burma
and Africa. Lord, supply all his many returning
these. we do humbly beseech of them.
Remember, O Lord God, the Savannah Education Trust and that great
work that they are entrusted with in Ghana. Grant thy blessing,
grant that it may redound to the great honour, glory and praise
of thy name, to the good of many precious souls in bringing them
unto Christ. Remember the Mombasa mission
and that work that they are doing in Kenya, Oh, do hear us, Lord,
on their behalf. Supply all their many returning
needs. Be with us now as we turn to
thy holy word. Come and open thy word to our
heart and to our understanding. Come and bless us with light
and understanding in thy word. Come and touch one's lips with
a live coal from off the heavenly altar. We ask, with the forgiveness
of all sins, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 536. The tune is Rockingham 398. Behold a scene of matchless grace,
Tis' Jesus in the sinner's place, Heaven's brightest glory sunk
in shame, That rebel's mind adore his name. Hymn 536. Jesus did it, the sinner's best,
and like a fool, a heart filled with shame, that
careless mind hath o'er his name. ? Our God and King ? ? In heav'nly
host ? ? Above the heav'nly host ? ? Ten thousand sorrows divided
strong ? ? And faithful counted none again ? He shall find me well. He swears me right. Through the wrath of God, he
must have died. ? Of thee the Lord ? ? Desired
you ? ? In right and justice ? ? Come in truth ? ? And from the dead ? ? Justice
declared ? ? The dead was paid ? ? Then Christ with me ? ? The angel
flew ? ? And turned His crown ? ? In glory ? so Thee, Lord, we adore, dear old
Albuquerque, That here thy door is closed. greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the third chapter
of John's Gospel, and we will read verses 16 and 17 for our
text. The Gospel according to John,
chapter three, verses 16 and 17. For God so loved the world
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God
sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through him might be saved. Beautiful, sacred, gospel text. setting before us here in this
text the way of salvation, the way of redemption, the way
of deliverance from sin and Satan's power. It's in and through the
person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And firstly, it is God
the Father here that is speaking. Or it's speaking of God the Father. For God so loved the world. God so loved the world. You know
it's a unfathomable depth. The love of God. It's so great. It's so high. It's so profound. God would have been absolutely
just if he'd have left this world to perish in its sins. It would
have been to the honor, glory of his divine justice, of the
holiness of his person, if he'd have left the world to perish
in its sins. Man is in a state of rebellion
against God. We see that probably more prominent
today, as we look around us in society today, that man is in
rebellion against God. And we see it in so many different
ways, and it seems to magnify itself more prominently now.
I look back to when I was a child and a young man, and the things
that are now being spoken of were completely unacceptable.
that it was considered to be completely wrong. But you know
it's in accordance with what is prophesied in Holy Scripture.
They shall seek to change laws. And that's exactly, they're even
trying to change the law of nature. What is natural to man? What
is natural to the man? What is natural to the woman?
And they're trying to change it. And say well these things
are fluid. They can change. You can decide
what you like. And they're asking us to believe
a lie. What is an absolute lie? That
a man can be a woman. That a woman can be a man. And
you just decide what you're going to do. What utter nonsense. It's an absolute lie. It's totally
contrary to Holy Scripture. And it's spoken of against most
forcefully in Holy Scripture. Now my beloved friends, God would
have been eternally just to damn man forever. But look at the
love of God. You look back in the Old Testament,
you look at the great anger of God against man. In the days
of Noah, the earth was full of violence and wickedness and evil. And God caused Noah's solemn
judgment to come down upon the world. He flooded the world. There's one thing that shines
in the middle of all that, as we read in the book of Genesis,
and Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. It's the same grace
that we have in our text, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That is what saved Noah. What saved Noah was God so loved
the world. He brought his terrible judgments.
There was only eight souls that were saved from the whole of
mankind at that time. An ark was built. That ark beautifully
typifies our Lord Jesus Christ. That ark was the only refuge.
Anyone found outside that ark was going to be destroyed. The
solemn judgment of God was to fall upon them. Our Lord Jesus
Christ then is likened to that ark that Noah entered into. And
the Lord shut him in. You know, when the judgments
come upon the world, which they will come, Christ is coming a
second time without sin unto salvation. When those judgments
come, if we're out of Christ, we shall be lost forever. All
those that were outside the ark were destroyed, every one of
them. And it will be the same in the
great day, when Jesus comes a second time without sin unto salvation. There'll be destruction, eternal
destruction. These things are recorded in
God's holy word for our instruction. The only refuge then, my beloved
friends, is Jesus Christ, the Saviour of sins, the Son of God
manifest in the flesh. He's the only one that is able,
and it's because He is the Son of God that He's able to save
to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him, because of who
He is, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. We quoted in our prayer, by me,
King's reign, who's speaking? by me, King's reign, and Prince's
decree justice. He's the sovereign ruler of the
skies. He is indeed. You see, my beloved
friends, each one of us is born in sin, shapen in iniquity. We're unclean and unrighteous
all together, each one of us. Before a holy God, We are unholy. We are unrighteous. David, when
he confesses his sins in Psalm 51, and he says in his confession,
we can see what a full confession it was, against thee and thee
only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight, that
thou mightest be clear when thou judgest. David was convinced
of his sins. And what he goes on to say enlightens
us to our condition. David knew it by the inward experience. I was born in sin, shaped in
iniquity. In sin did my mother conceive
me. So was you. So was I. We're all born in sin. We're all shaped in iniquity.
We are all unrighteous altogether. We are. That's our condition
by nature. And we need a saviour. We need
a redeemer, someone to redeem us from the curse of the law. God has put a fence around man,
a boundary. That's the meaning of the word
transgression. The word transgression, the idea
behind the word, is a fence or a boundary. That fence and that
boundary that he's spoken of is the holy law of God. The holy
law of the Ten Commandments. The soul that sinneth it shall
die. We're given a definition in 1
John. Of what sin is. Sin is any transgression
of the law of God. We break through that boundary
that God has put around us. And we become the subject of
God's wrath. God hates sin, he does. And he's declared in his holy
word, the soul that sinneth it shall die. He's declared in his
word, cursed is every man that doeth not all things that is
written in the book of the law to do them. It's a solemn thought,
isn't it? That's our state by nature. You see, God so loved the world
that he gave. It's a wonderful gift that God
has given to the world. He gave his only begotten son. Oh, the infinite love of our
eternal Father. His Son from all eternity. That
is what the meaning of our Only Begotten is. There wasn't a time when there
wasn't the Son of God. And the term Only Begotten means
He is the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father. He always has
been and He always will be. He is that second person in that
glorious trinity of persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy
Ghost. And what is being spoken of here
is the eternal son of the eternal God. There's a profound glory in his
person. I always think it's put so simply
in that well-known Christmas carol, O come all ye faithful. And it's very simple in there,
begotten, not created. That's the meaning of it, begotten,
not created he always has been he always will be he always has
been jesus christ the same yesterday and today and forever and what
this does is magnify his glorious person unto us of who jesus christ
is the eternal son of the eternal father and uh full of dignity
and it says about the sending of his son forth into the world
and it speaks of him as a king the lord jesus christ as a king
doesn't the apostle paul when he writes to his son timothy
in the flesh and he says now unto the king eternal immortal
and invisible the only true god he's speaking of jesus christ
the king eternal immortal, unchangeable, immutable, that's Jesus Christ. He's the Almighty God in those
beautiful names given in Isaiah chapter 9, and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. So he's the Almighty and he's
an Almighty Saviour. He's an almighty redeemer of
who he is. You know, some people get very
tied up as to whether they're chosen. Am I among the elect
of God? Am I chosen? Am I in the covenant?
And their mind gets very agitated concerning this matter. Am I
chosen? Am I in the covenant? The only way that you and I can
ever know that we're in the covenant is if Christ reveals himself
to us. And he's revealed to us as the
way, the truth, and the life. We need, rather than looking
at am I elect, am I chosen, am I in Christ? Am I in Christ? You think of the words of Christ
and the encouragement he gives for little children, for adults
to come to him, to look to him. He says concerning little children,
doesn't he? That they're blessed. Suffer,
little children. It's written for our instruction.
This is Christ speaking. Suffer little children to come
unto me and forbid them not. You know, we must never forbid
our children from praying. We must never forbid our children
from seeking the Lord. Let's never do that. That's the
meaning of that word. Suffer little children to come
unto me. We should encourage them to pray, to look unto Jesus. To come unto Jesus. Some people
don't like the expression, but you know it's a beautiful expression.
I like it very much. The old Puritans used to use
it a lot. Closing with Christ. To close with Christ. To come
into union with Christ. To look to Christ, to cleave
to Christ. Casting all your care upon him,
for he careth for you. Think of what the Lord Jesus
Christ says, come unto me. These are the words of Jesus,
the Son of God, the only begotten Son of the Father. They are words
of truth and grace. Come unto me, all ye that labour
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. You may, of course,
be so laboured like the things I've already spoken to you of.
Am I chosen? Am I in the covenant? Was I chosen
by the Father? Was I redeemed by the Son? Do
I have the Holy Ghost? Has my soul been quickened into
life? These things may really burden
you and really trouble you. Also, you may be really burdened
and troubled because you're a sinner. Because you know you're separated
from God. You may be burdened and troubled
because you're in darkness spiritually. You may be burdened and troubled
because you're in bondage spiritually and you can't seem to get free
from that bondage that is within you. And that darkness that is
within you. And you really labour and you're
really burdened because of that. It troubles you. Think of the words of Jesus.
May they enter into your heart with divine power. May they enlighten
you. Come unto me. That's the call
of the gospel. Come unto me. The gospel is centred
in the glorious person of Jesus, the son of God. Hence he says,
come unto me. All ye that labour. It's a most
comprehensive Invitation. It's to them that labour. All
ye that labour. You see, my beloved friends,
they're the words of Jesus. We have various exhortations.
Let us lay aside every weight and the sin that does so easily
beset us. Let us run with patience the
race that is set before us. looking on to Jesus. That's a
divine direction from the word of God, looking on to Jesus.
We read in Isaiah chapter 45 and it's Jesus that is speaking.
Look unto me all ye ends of the earth and be ye saved for I am
God and there is none else. He's the only begotten son of
the father hence he's able to save to the uttermost. You know
Gadsby in one of his hymns he says the vilest sinner out of
hell, that lives to feel his need is welcome to the throne
of grace, the Saviour's blood to plead for God. So love the
world, the fact that Jesus Christ came into this world, that the
Son of God was made a man, was found in the likeness of man,
lived here on earth as a man. Why? It's the evidence of the
eternal love of God, the eternal love of our eternal Father. for
God so loved the world that he gave it. It's a divine gift,
my beloved friends. The apostle says, doesn't he,
thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift. What does he mean when
he says unspeakable? You can't explain. That fullness that is in Christ,
it's unspeakable. The everlasting love of God that
is in Christ, it's unspeakable. You know, there are some wonderful
words in the Gospel spoken of Christ when he was here upon
earth. This man, speaking of the Holy God, man, the only begotten
Son of the Father, this man receiveth sinners and eateth with them. Hallelujah. He does. He still does. Sinners can say,
and none but they, how precious is the Savior. Think of the words
of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of Man. You know, he's called
the Son of God and he's called the Son of Man. Both of those
names are written with a capital S. The Son of God, the Son of
Man. Why? Because of the important
person he is. He's the only saviour of sinners.
He's the eternal son of the eternal God. He has power to save. God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten
son, that whosoever, whosoever, this is what we need to think
on, not am I chosen, not am I elect, whosoever, Believeth in him,
should not perish, but have everlasting life. Whosoever. None are barred. None are left out. They're not. And it's purposely couched in
those words in Holy Scripture. Whosoever. Believeth in him. To believe, it's an act of faith. is an act
of faith, believing. I want to speak of that this
afternoon so I don't want to go too much into that side of
it now. But to believe. When the Philippine
jailer was about to fall on his sword because he thought all
the prisoners escaped and Paul cried out loudly, do
thyself no harm. And what was the response of
the Philippian jailer? Sirs, what must I do to be saved? What must I do to be saved? What
was the apostle's response? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Thou shalt be saved. There is
salvation in none other. but in the glorious person of
our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, what was so rested
on my spirit, especially this morning, I was reading just before
I came out, it's the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know,
we've often spoken here, I don't want to get too complicated,
but there's precious doctrine. It's the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, who is the Lord Jesus Christ? Who is the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ? He's the Son of God. Who assumed
human nature. He assumed that human nature
in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Now this is an important point
of doctrine. There are not two persons in
Christ. There's not a divine person and a human person. That would be utter confusion
if that was the case. There is a divine person, the
Son of God, that assumed human nature. Now that human nature
that the Son of God assumed in the womb of the Virgin Mary never
had any existence separate to the Son of God. No sooner had
the Holy Ghost overshadowed the womb of the Virgin Mary, the
Son of God assumed that seed. And it became bone of our bone,
flesh of our flesh. As in Adam all die, so in Christ
shall all be made alive. We receive from our parents a
sinful nature. We do. We're born in sin. It doesn't mean to say that our
parents were sinful in having us, that's not the point. The
point is, is that we have the same nature as our parents, which
is sinful and corrupt and unrighteous. And there's only one way of being
delivered from that. It's in Jesus Christ. It's in
Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world. that
He gave His only begotten Son. In the previous verses it says,
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have eternal life. The serpent. What happened when that serpent
was lifted up in the wilderness? What happened is the children
of Israel had grievously sinned against God. And God sent fiery
vipers or serpents in the midst of the camp of Israel. Thousands
of them died literally from these venomous snakes. They were bitten. What it says in that narrative
there, in the history of the Jews, in
the wilderness journey, is that whoever was bitten if they looked
to the serpent, they would live. It says in Romans chapter 5,
by man came sin. And it goes on to say about Christ,
the son of God that became man, who has made sin for us. By man
came sin, by man came the deliverance from sin. And these children
of Israel were bitten by fiery serpents. And they were deadly
poisonous. They would die within a very
short time. So what the Lord commanded Moses was lift up one
of those serpents. A bronze serpent lifted up in
the midst of the camp of Israel. And he said to the children of
Israel, whosoever looks to this brazen serpent shall live. And
they did. They lived. The poison didn't kill them.
But notice what it says. It's those that were bitten.
They felt the venom. They felt the venom in themselves.
They had the sentence of death in themselves because of that
poisonous venom that was entering into them from those fiery serpents. But if they looked to that serpent
that was lifted up, they lived. The death was taken away as a
beautiful type of Christ. A beautiful type of Christ. As
Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. By man came sin into the world,
and by man was sin removed from the world. So that's why they
looked to that serpent. You might have thought it a strange
thing. It was the serpent that had bitten them. But he was told
to raise up a serpent of the same nature, and there they would
be delivered. By man came sin, and by man was
sin removed. by the holy God man, the man
Christ Jesus. And it's looking to Jesus. Look
unto me, all ye ends of the earth and be ye saved, for I am God
and there is none else. That crucified Savior, that Savior
that bore our sins, that Savior that lived for us, suffered for
us, died for us, rose again for us. He's Jesus, the Son of God,
all the infinite worth, and power and grace is in this, that he's
the son of God. He's able to save to the uttermost.
If you have a marginal reference to the uttermost, that word uttermost
means forever. He's able to save forever. Whosoever believeth on him, in
him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. Everlasting
life. Jesus. live for his people he was made of a woman made under
the law who the eternal son of god you think of this matchless
condescension the eternal son of god was it was made in the
likeness of sinful flesh lived here upon earth he was without
sin but he was made the whole of mankind is under sin And therefore
he took our nature. That he might be under the law.
Made of a woman, made under the law. That he might live under
the law. A life that you can't live, a
life that I can't live, a life that any of the sinful sons and
daughters of Adam cannot live. Jesus has lived. He did no sin. How lovely those words are, how
full of grace. He did no sin. He fulfilled God's holy law,
God's righteous law. Christ did, on the behalf of
his people. All the time he lived here upon
earth, for 33 years as a man, he did no sin. Not in thought,
not in word, not in deed. He did no sin. That's our righteousness. That is how he becomes Jehovah
Sidkenu, the Lord, our righteousness. By that perfect obedience of
Jesus, the Son of God, to the law of God, that law that you
are under, that law that I'm under, that curse that you are
under, that curse that I'm under by nature. Jesus lived a perfect
life. It's what the Apostle means when
he says Christ is the end of the law for righteousness. You and I can never produce a
righteousness of our own, a righteousness acceptable to God, but Jesus
has done it. When he said it is finished,
he means that everlasting robe of his righteousness has been
completed. A royal robe to cover our nakedness. Oh, that glorious everlasting
robe of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It's perfect obedience
to the law. I always feel that it's such a
beautiful expression that Daniel uses. He's speaking of the coming
of Christ and the fulfilling of the law. And what does he
say? To the bringing in of everlasting
righteousness. Because he is the son of God,
because he's the only begotten son of the Father, That righteousness
that he has wrought out is an everlasting righteousness. It
will cover the nakedness of his people forever. It will. It doesn't stop there though,
does it? Just the righteousness of Christ, that in itself is
absolutely glorious and wonderful. But he then offered a perfect
righteous sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. That is what divine
justice demanded, a perfect, righteous sacrifice. And that
is what Jesus gave. John Bunyan, there's a book of
his, it's called The Acceptable Sacrifice. And of course, he
speaks of the person of Christ, of the sacrifice of Christ on
Calvary, the perfect sacrifice. You may then ask me, If he did
no sin, why did he die? The soul that sinneth it shall
die. He did no sin. So, naturally speaking, death
had no claim on Jesus Christ. None whatsoever. He never broke
God's holy law. He never sinned. Spotless, innocent
and pure, our great Redeemer stood. He did. So then that question, why did
he die? He died for the sins of his people. The father, you know we have
here, the father's Lord God so loved the world. The father in
infinite love. Banish from your mind those thoughts
that are often introduced by the devil, that the father is
some angry, austere, high, lofty person, completely separate from
us. I and my Father are one. Sometimes
there's a portrayal of Christ as being the one that is kind
and compassionate, loving, and the Father as being angry and
severe and austere. That's completely wrong. Our
eternal Father is just as loving, just as kind, just as compassionate
as his son. I love those words of our Lord
Jesus in John 16, the Father himself loveth you. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son a divine gift from the Father. He gave His only begotten Son,
that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. You see, where it says in the
previous verses that we've already mentioned, as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. That the Lord Jesus would be
crucified on the cross of Calvary. That's what it means, lifted
up. crucified, a spectacle of injured
love. We've just sung in our hymn,
all penal wrath, to Zion due, in finite justice on him through. All the wrath of God against
the sin of the church, against his own people, were taken by
our loving, gracious father, and they were laid on his son.
God so loved the world. He laid upon Him the iniquity
of us all. That is why Jesus was crucified. So beautifully opened in Isaiah
chapter 53, He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised
for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. Oh the infinite
love of our eternal Father in laying our sins upon Christ.
That's lovely that hymn. My sins not in part but the whole
was laid on Him there. My sins not in part but the whole.
He has put away our sins by that glorious acceptable sacrifice. That sacrifice just as when Noah
Came out of the ark and he offered those Sacrifices of clean beasts
upon the altar and the Lord smelled a sweet savour how much more
what those Sacrifices typified when Noah offered them was Christ
and that is when the father smells a sweet savour The sweet savour
of salvation of deliverance a door of hope is open wide in Jesus
bleeding hands and sighs I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man cometh unto the Father but by me. I am the sin bearer
of my people. He took our sins and he nailed
them to his cross. He did. In infinite love to our
souls. He suffered, he bled, and he
died for our sins. Oh, the sufferings of Christ.
I've often told you, not far from here, just near Wadhurst,
when those words were breathed into my heart, I was in great
distress in my soul because of sin. And the Lord, he poured
those words into my heart like a heavenly balm. He was wounded
for our transgressions. What a view I had of Christ suffering
for me. You know, friends, it broke my
heart. It really did. I had to stop the vehicle I was
driving. I wept so much. My sins were the nails and the
spear. It was my sins that crucified
him. That's why he suffered and bled
and died. It was for my sins. It becomes very personal. And
you know, friends, we need a personal religion. It's not just knowing
about Jesus and reading about Jesus Hearing about Jesus is
a personal union and communion with Christ. That is what we
need. You may know from what you've
been taught all about Jesus Christ, as you might say, but what do
you know in your heart? It's with the heart that man
believeth unto righteousness. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. He suffered and He bled
and He died for our sins, and it's written in the Word, their
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Justified
in Christ. Your sins never to be remembered
again. It says, I have cast thy sins
into the depths of the sea. For God sent not his son into
the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him
might be saved. Surely the Lord Jesus, emphasizing
here in this context, the personal nature of real religion. When
he speaks to Nicodemus, and Nicodemus, a master in Israel, Verily, verily,
I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see
the kingdom of God, except a man be born again. So this is a vital
thing, my beloved friends. Am I quickened by his spirit?
Live a life of faith and prayer. It's a question, isn't it? See,
it's a very personal thing. In the 1 Corinthians chapter
2, and we read from verse 9, a quotation from Isaiah, But
as it is written, I hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have
entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared
for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit. That's the divine person of the
Holy Ghost. For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things
of God. And the deep things of God, there's
nothing more profound than the life and the death and the sufferings
of Christ. Tis a deep that knows, now sounding,
the unfathomable love of God. High beyond imagination is the
love of God to man. But God hath revealed the mantras
by His Spirit For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the
deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things
of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so
the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the
spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things of God that are freely given to us. The natural man Receive it not
the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto
him, neither can he know them, neither can he know them because
they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth
all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. O that these
things may be a living word that will abide in our hearts for
God. so love the world that he gave
his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish
but have everlasting life for god sent not his son into the
world to condemn the world but that the world through him might
be saved may the lord add his blessings Let us now sing together hymn
number 59. The tune is Haslingdon, 544. Blow ye the trumpet blow, The
gladly solemn sound, Let poor insolvents know to earth's remotest
bound, the year of Jubilee is come. Return, ye ransomed sinners
home. Hymn number 59. O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? eternally ransomed sinner. Extol the Lamb of God, ? The
Spirit turning back ? ? Tapered and so frail ? The faith is in thy hands, O
God of men. The year of truth, the day is
come. Return, ye ransomed sinners,
home. Ye saints, inside thyself, ?
Your penalty received ? ? And saved in Jesus' blood ? ? And
blessed in Jesus' name ? The year of truth, then is come,
return ye then, sir, sinners found. The gospel trumpet fill, The
news of God be praised, New and peaceful story, ? Behold your Saviour's grace ?
? The year of truth ? ? In thee is come ? ? Return ye ransomed
? ? Jesus, how great Thy reach ?
? Has brought us down at last ? ? In ev'ry spirit transformed
? Thee, Lord, thou shalt be glad. The year of Judah is done, 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.