you Let us commence our service this
evening by singing together hymn number 527. The tune is Coventry
119. What a divine, harmonious sound
that the gospel trumpet gives. No music can with it compare. The soul that knows it lives. Hymn 527. ? Which thro' the perilous fight
? ? O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? ? ? Sands and meadows sweetly adorned
? ? Divinely rich and free ? ? O'er the land of the free and the
home of the brave ? ? In love, thou art the light of
dreams ? ? With dreams of love the world can dream ? O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the
brave? ? We'll sing a lullaby ? ? We'll
sing a lullaby ? ? We'll sing a lullaby ? ? We'll sing a lullaby
? ? So great a sight ? ? But not
to be seen ? The Lord delights to hear them
cry, And O Canada, she is old. His stripes of light that fill
the deep, have reign to live for all. ? Noel, he's entering, entering
back, noel ? ? God of Nebuchadnezzar ? ? The
fruit of heaven's beautiful stone ? ? No place is older than here
? Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the Psalms 76 and 77. The book of Psalms numbers 76
and 77. In Judah is God known. His name is great in Israel. In Salem also is his tabernacle,
and his dwelling-place in Zion. There break he the arrows of
the bow, the shield, and the sword, and the battle-sealer. Thou art more glorious and excellent
than the mountains of Cray. The stout-hearted are spoiled,
they have slept their sleep. and none of the men of might
have found their hands. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob,
both the chariot and the horse are cast into a dead sleep. Thou, even thou, art to be feared,
and who may stand in thy sight when once thou art angry? Thou
didst cause judgment to be heard from heaven, the earth feared
and was still. When God arose to judgment to
save all the meek of the earth, seal it. Surely the wrath of
man shall praise thee. The remainder of wrath shalt
thou restrain. Vow and pay unto the Lord your
God. Let all that be round about him
bring presence unto him that ought to be feared. He shall
cut off the spirit of princes. He is terrible to the kings of
the earth. I cried unto God with my voice,
even unto God with my voice, and he gave ear unto me. In the
day of my trouble I sought the Lord. My soul ran in the night,
and ceased not. My soul refused to be comforted. I remembered God and was troubled. I complained and my spirit was
overwhelmed, sealer. Thou holdest mine eyes waking. I am so troubled that I cannot
speak. I have considered the days of
old, the years of ancient times, I call to remembrance my song
in the night, I commune with mine own heart, And at my spirit
made diligent search. Will the Lord cast off forever?
And will he be favourable no more? Is his mercy clean gone
for ever? Doth his promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious? Hath he in anger shut up his
tender mercies, sealer? And I said, This is my infirmity,
but I will remember the years of the right hand of the Most
High. I will remember the works of the Lord. Surely I will remember
thy wonders of old. I will meditate also in all thy
work and talk of thy doings. Thy way, O God, is in the sanctuary. Who is so great a God as our
God? Thou art the God that doest wonders. Thou hast declared thy strength
among the people. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed
thy people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph, Selah. The waters
saw thee, O God, The waters saw thee, they were afraid. The depths
also were troubled. The clouds poured out water.
The skies sent out a sound. Thine arrows also went abroad. The voice of thy thunder was
in the heaven, and the lightning lightened the world. The earth
trembled and shook. Thy way is in the sea, and thy
paths in the great waters, and thy footsteps are not known.
Thou leadest thy people like a flock by the hand of Moses
and Aaron. May the Lord bless that portion
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 bow before thy great
majesty. We do seek to call upon thy great
and holy name. For the name of the Lord is a
strong tower, and the righteous runneth into it. Oh, that we
may be favoured this night to run into it, that refuge, that
rock. For here, Lord, we find eternal
stability. Hast thou not said upon this
rock, I build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it? O most gracious Lord, deliver
us from the temptations of Satan, that old serpent, the devil,
whether he comes as a roaring lion to devour or whether he
comes as an angel of light to deceive, we need thee to deliver
us from him. We need the spirit of the Lord
to lift up a standard against him. We need grace to follow
thee and serve thee in our day and in our generation. We need
grace that we turn not to the right hand or to the left, but
that we keep our eyes right on We need grace, O Lord, to lay
aside every weight and the sin that doth so easily beset us,
that we may run with patience the race that is set before us,
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame thereof, and is now set down at the right hand of
the Majesty on high. Gracious God, do incline thine
ear, we do humbly beseech thee, and do meet with us at this evening
hour, and grant that there may be a meeting together, that we
may be made of one heart and one mind and one spirit, and
that the Holy Spirit, in his heavenly power, his divine unction,
may take of the things of Jesus and reveal them unto us, and
that the word of truth may be open. Most blessed spirit, thou
art the author of the holy book of God. Holy men of old spake
as they were moved by the holy ghost. And we read that all scripture
is given by inspiration of God. Blessed spirit, the giver of
this rich blessing of the word of God. We pray that thou would
come and open it to our heart and to our understanding at this
evening hour. And we pray for the divine drawing
of the Eternal Father, that we may be drawn into the truth,
into the gospel, and the gospel may be made known unto us, that
wonderful gospel that is in Jesus Christ. that we may have the
sacred witness, my beloved, that our beloved is ours. And the
witness of that beautiful word, yea, I've loved thee with an
everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn thee. Oh, to be sweetly drawn as we
gather together, O Lord, around thy precious word this evening,
We think of those precious words of grace that where two or three
are gathered in my name, there am I. May we prove it to be so
tonight. Thy presence, in thy presence
I am happy. In thy presence I'm secure. In
thy presence I can easily all things endure. Lord, we pray
for thy presence. that we may see thy countenance,
Lord Jesus. For thy countenance is comely,
for thou art the altogether lovely one, that thou art the chiefest
among 10,000, thou art the centre, the sum, and the substance of
all our hopes and all our desires. In thee there dwells a treasure
all divine, and may we have that sweet assurance to be enabled
to truly say, a matchless grace, has made that treasure mine.
Oh, do hear us, Lord, we humbly beseech thee, and do bless us
now as we gather together. Remember our dear brethren, the
deacons, and give them grace and wisdom, and knowest all the
responsibilities that devolve upon them. And our brother laid
aside at this time, be Jehovah Rophi. I am the Lord that healeth
thee. put forth thy healing hand, and
bless him and his. We do humbly beseech thee, and
we do pray that thou would remember each one of our brethren and
sisters in church fellowship, and that thou would unite us
together more deeply, more fully, in the fear of the Lord, which
is the beginning of wisdom. Love each other, serve each other,
bear each other's burden, when is it brethren all agree, and
let distinctions form when nothing in themselves they see, and Christ
is all in all. Hear us, Lord, we do humbly beseech
thee for thy great name's sake. Oh, we do pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou wouldst bless the little ones and the children
that gather with us, Lord's day by Lord's day, work in their
young hearts, bring them to living faith in Jesus Christ, make them
true followers of thee and of those who, through faith and
patience, inherit the promises a generation may be raised up
to call thee the Redeemer blessed. Our young friends, as they stand
on the threshold of life's journey, we lovingly commend them to thee
and to the word of thy grace, which is able to build them up
and to grant them an inheritance among them that are sanctified.
Oh, that they may be brought to the Lord Jesus, to cast all
their care upon him, and to be found looking unto Jesus. Grant
them that rich blessing, that they may live by faith of the
Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. We pray,
most gracious Lord, that thou wouldst be with them in the paths
of providence. Thou knowest what they stand
in need of, thou knowest what burdens them, what concerns them,
whether it be to do with their education, or whether it be to
do with their work, or whether it be to do with a partner in
life journey. We lovingly commend them to thee,
guide them. O thou great Jehovah, Make them
pilgrims in this barren land. We are weak, but thou art mighty. Hold us by thy powerful hand. We pray, most gracious Lord,
for parents, that they may be given wisdom and grace and help
to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of
the Lord. We pray, most gracious Lord, that the family ought to
might be raised the word of God read and prayer made in the families,
for all things are sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
Oh, do grant thy sanctifying influence in the families that
gather with us. We pray for the prodigals that
have wandered away. They're not too far from thee,
Lord. Thou canst lay hold of them.
Thou knowest where they are. We pray that thou wouldst cause
them to be in want, convince them of their sin, turn them
around, Lord, give them real repentance and godly sorrow and
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, that they may become followers
of thee, that they may let all fruitless searches go which perplex
and tease us, but desiring naught to know but a bleeding Jesus.
Sometimes, naturally, Lord, seem to be beyond us, and in one sense,
O Lord, they are beyond us, but they're not beyond Thee. O Lord,
do hear prayer for them. We do humbly beseech Thee for
Thy great namesake. Turn us again, O God of hosts,
and cause Thy face to shine, and that we shall be saved. We
pray, most gracious Lord, Thou wouldst remember those of us
in the evening time of life's journey. And Lord, a number of
us, O Lord, have passed the allotted time of man upon the earth. Remember
our dear sister Ina, in her old age, in its attendant infirmities
and weakness, put the arms of thine everlasting love around
her, and grant her thy divine support. We pray, most gracious
Lord, for grace to pray for each other and to truly bear each
other's burdens. And that we pray for that grace
to be kind and tender-hearted, forgiving one another, that even
as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven us. And we pray Most
gracious Lord, that thou wouldst be with us in the pathway that
thou hast placed us. Preserve and keep us from all
evil. Deliver us from a wicked, sinful,
corrupt nature. That we trust we do not live
in sin, but we know that sin lives in us. And Lord, it's a
great burden. And we do desire that thou wouldst
come and deliver us from it. set our affections on things
above and not on things of the earth we do humbly beseech of
thee and that we pray most gracious God that thou in thy precious
mercy would remember this village send out thy light and thy truth
into this village into the surrounding villages and hamlets that bring
thy sons from far and our daughters from the ends of the earth Lord,
there's nothing too hard for thee. Indeed, O Lord, thou art
able to do abundantly more than we can even ask or think. And
thou hast promised in thy word, open thy mouth wide, and I will
fill it. Oh, we pray that thou would send
real prosperity. 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 go back from thee. Lord, remember
those in darkness and bring them into light. Those in bondage,
bring them into liberty. Those far off, make them nigh.
O Lord, we do beseech thee. Let thy work appear unto thy
servants and thy glory unto their children. and grant that the
word of the Lord may have free course and thy name be honoured
and glorified, and the strongholds of Satan pulled down, and the
kingdom of our Lord Jesus set up in the hearts of sinners. Hearken, O Lord, we do beseech
thee, that for thy great name's sake we pray that thou wouldst
be with us now as we turn to thy holy word, and come and open
thy word to our heart and to our understanding, and come and
touch our lips with a live coal from off the heavenly altar,
we ask for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 509. The tune is Eastport 133. Come,
come my soul with boldness come, unto the throne of grace, there
Jesus sits to answer prayer and shows a smiling face. Hymn 509. We bow our heads in
awe ? And we'll never walk alone again
? ? When you lead us in to watch and pray
? ? Let your voice resound far and wide ? ? Showed His hand before the world
? ? And He turned His face away ?
? And smiled at the person cheering
Him on ? ? Thou we praise ? ? Praise the
mountain high ? ? Glorious high ? ? The way he treats his guests
? ? In the courts of shame ? ? The pen shall twist ? ? The rules
of the world shall twist ? ? And fill the world with its hope
? ? And fill the world with its hope ? ? And fill the world with
its hope ? ? Implements in his approval. ? ? The outpouring of strength
at home, ? ? Remains a fortress strong ? ? From dawn and cloud and mountain range
? ? Proudly we've watched her rise ? of truth, renouncing the traces
of our ignorance, which taught us all to seek his love. Greatly feeling the need, the
Lord's gracious help, direct your attention to Psalm 76 and
we'll read verse 11 for our text. Psalm 76 verse 11. Vow and pay unto the Lord your
God that all that be round about him bring presence unto him that
ought to be feared. Vow and pay unto the Lord your
God It was particularly the first clause that rested in my spirit
to bring before you. Have you made a vow? Have you said to the Lord that
if the Lord does this or that or something else, then you will
do something, whatever that something is? And you've made a vow, you've
made a promise before God. You know, and we need to keep
our vows. We do indeed. Asap, who wrote
these psalms here, in this context here in the 70s, and he begins
this psalm in Judah, is God known? His name is great in Israel,
in Salem also is Tabernacles, and his dwelling place in Zion. In Judah is God known. In the
house of God, among the people of God, in Judah is God known. His name is great in Israel. We read here in the book of Psalms,
great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, that his greatness
is unsearchable. We read in another place, who
by searching can find out God. The Psalmist here, Asaph, he
has some clear and beautiful views. He says in verse four,
thou art more glorious and excellent than the mountains of praise.
He had a sight of the glory of God. And it did him good. You find Asaph, as we found here
in number 77, how he often was in a dark place. He was often
very tried, very perplexed. He says in Psalm 77, I cried
unto the Lord with my voice, even unto God with my voice,
and he gave ear unto me. What a mercy it is that when
we are in the Spirit, when we are enabled to pray, we're enabled
with some liberty to call upon the Lord's name. You have a realization
given to you that you have the Lord's ear. As Asaph says here,
and he gave ear unto me. He knew that the Lord heard him. He had the witness with his own
spirit that the Lord had heard him. He speaks of a day of trouble. I sought the Lord, my soul running
the night, and ceased not, my soul refused to be comforted.
I remembered God and was troubled, you see, and my spirit was overwhelmed. So he came into some very dark
places, thou holdest mine eyes waking, I am so troubled I cannot
speak. I have considered the days of
old and the years of ancient times, I call to remembrance
my song in the night, when he rejoiced. You see, with mine own heart,
I commune with mine own heart, And my spirit made diligent search. Are you making diligent search?
And do you have to pray with the sweet Psalmist of Israel?
Search me, O God, and try my ways, and see if there be any
wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Asaph here, he comes into this
dark place, and he says, will the Lord cast off forever? Will
he be favourable no more? Hath God forgotten to be gracious?
Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercies, sealer? Friends,
God doesn't change. The gifts and calling of God
are without repentance. God doesn't change his mind.
If once the love of Christ I feel impressed upon my breast, the
mark of that celestial seal can never be erased. and I said he
says here when he he complains like it does is his mercy clean
gone forever does this promise fail forevermore and I said this
is my infirmity this is my infirmity you know friends one of the the
great infirmities of the living child of God is unbelief it's
a great infirmity in Isaiah in chapter 40, why
sayest thou, O Jacob, my way is from the Lord? My judgment is passed over from
my God. In other words, God can't see. And there is an, excuse me, there
is an immediate answer from the Lord in Psalm 40, hast thou not
known Hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord,
the Creator of the heavens and the earth, He doesn't slumber,
He doesn't sleep, He doesn't forget. He's perfect, He's glorious. He's almighty and He's all-powerful.
He knows the end from the beginning. But you know, friends, when we
get tied up with this spirit of unbelief, we have such low
views of God and of who God is. and of His power and His wisdom,
His grace, His immutability, His kindness. We forget those
beautiful scriptures, Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today
and forever. We forget, I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee. These things are written in God's
word for our instruction. I, the Lord, change not. Therefore
your ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. I the Lord change not. He doesn't change. He doesn't
change his mind. We change. We change continually. But the Lord never changes. Our
feelings change. I think it was Martin Luther
that wrote, feelings come and feelings go. It's quite a long
piece of poetry. And how true it is. Feelings
come and feelings go. Your feelings, my feelings. They
change from, sometimes from minute to minute. From hour to hour,
from day to day. Sometimes we can be on the mountain,
enjoying the precious glory of God in Christ. And in the next
moment we can be down in the depths. So cast out with such
a sense of our own sinfulness and helplessness hopelessness
and we can get like Asaph where the Lord cast off forever you
see the Lord will never cast off his people and Asaph he says
this is my infirmity but I will remember the years of the right
hand at the most high you think of those right hand blessings
I know we've we've often explained to you is illustrated probably
most beautifully in Solomon's Song. His left hand is under
my head, his right hand does embrace me. Of course we have
the picture there of Christ and his church, his bride, his loved
one with an everlasting love. So when it says his left hand
is under my head, it's speaking of the Providential blessings
in this the life that we have here below his left hand is under
my head supporting me My God shall supply all your need according
to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus All your need not some
of it And He remains eternally faithful
to his words There may be those things that
lay in your heart that the Lord has put there. And you look at them and you
feel very fretful. We're told here in Psalm 37,
fret not thyself. I think four times in Psalm 37,
it says fret not thyself. We get very fretful. But may
the Lord enable us to consider that I will remember the years
of the right hand of the Most High. Those right hand blessings
which are those rich spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. That's what right hand blessings
are. And this is what he says, I will remember the right hand
of the Most High. I will remember those times when
Christ was revealed, when Christ was made precious, when my heart
was drawn out in love to Jesus Christ, when I had desire to
follow him and to serve him in my day and in my generation.
You were drawn out after Christ. You saw something and you felt
something of the preciousness of his grace, of his gospel,
of his love, of his mercy. It's a precious thing to feel
that. I will remember the works of the Lord. Surely I will remember
thy wonders of old. I will meditate also on all thy
work. No, this is the antidote to what
he was saying before and what he felt in his own soul before.
He said, will the Lord cast off forever? And will he be favourable
no more? Is his mercy clean gone for ever?
Doth this promise fail for evermore? Hath God forgotten to be gracious?
Hath he in anger shut up his tender mercy? This is my infirmity. All those thoughts that he'd
had, this is my infirmity. I will meditate also on all thy
work and talk of thy doings. thy work, the Lord's work. I will meditate also of all thy
work and talk of thy doings. You think of the work of redemption. You think of the work of the
everlasting love of the Eternal Father in sending his Son to
suffer, bleed and die for the sins of his people. You think
of just how suitable the only begotten Son of God was, to redeem
the people of God and to deliver the people of God. He's able to save to the uttermost
all that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth. I will
meditate also on all thy work and talk of thy doings. Oh, that
we might be able to talk of what Christ has done What Christ has
done in living as a man here upon earth, the Son of God, the
Almighty, the only begotten Son of the Father, lived upon earth
as a man. What a mystery, what a profound
mystery. And when Asaph says, I will meditate
also on all thy work, it includes this and talk of thy doings.
The Son of God assumed human nature. He lived as a man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief here upon earth. I will meditate also on all thy
work and talk of thy doing. God's doings. Christ has brought
in everlasting righteousness. Christ has fulfilled and honored
and magnified the holy law of God. In the garden of Gethsemane,
Christ, he took the sin of his church. It was laid on him there. It's lovely, that hymn, isn't
it? My sins, not in part, but the whole, were laid on him there. The whole, all of it. That's
why you're redeemed. That's why you have an everlasting
hope. Because Jesus loved you with an everlasting love. because
Jesus lived for you, fulfilled and magnified the law for you,
that law that you have despised and dishonored. He has magnified
on your behalf. He's done it for you. It's a
finished work of redemption. Christ has done that work. He's
fulfilled that law. He's honored that law on your
behalf. and he took your sins and he
nailed them to his cross. He became our sin-bearer. He
was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities
and the chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes
we are healed. Our sin-bearer. I will meditate
also on all thy works and talk of thy doings. Thy way, O God,
is in the sanctuary. Who is so great a God as our
God? Thou art the God that doest wonders. Thou hast declared thy strength
among the people. Thou hast with thine arm redeemed
thy people. You see, my beloved friends,
what Christ has done. He's redeemed his people. Christ
is the end of the law for righteousness. You and I can never produce a
righteousness acceptable to God. Everything we touch and everything
we do is stained and dyed with sin. And we have to, by the Spirit's
power, be brought to know that. We're sinners. And we have to know that. We're
fallen. We're unclean, we're unrighteous,
and we have to be brought to feel it. It's a very painful
thing. But sinners can say, and none
but they, how precious is the Saviour. The Son of Man is come
to seek and to save that which was lost. That which was lost. Christ has come to redeem that
which was lost. That which was without hope.
Without God, doesn't the Apostle Paul, doesn't he touch on this,
I think it's in the epistle to the Ephesians, and he says how
we were aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and from the covenants
of promise. But how Christ has wrought for
us, it begins at chapter two. Uethy quickened who were dead
in trespasses and sins just remember that just meditate on that Uethy
quickened he's giving you life who were dead in trespasses and
sins where in time past you walked according to the course of this
world according to the prince of the power of the air the spirit
that now worketh in the spirit in the children of disobedience
among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in
the lusts of the flesh fulfilling the desires of the flesh and
of the mind and were by nature the children of wrath even as
others but God oh what a beautiful word that is in it but God that's
where real religion begins my beloved friends but God just
as it says at the beginning you hath he quickened You can't give
yourself life, it's the life that he has given you. But God,
who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ. By grace are ye saved, hath raised
us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in
Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding
riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through christ jesus
for by grace are ye saved by grace are you say look he goes
on in in verse 12 that at that time you were without christ
aliens from the commonwealth of israel strangers from the
covenants of promise having no hope and without god in the world
But now, what a wonderful thing, but now, in Christ Jesus, ye
who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath
made us, made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of
partition between us. See, this is what Christ has
done for his people, verse 16, and that he might reconcile both
unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. See in verse 18, for through
him we have access by one spirit unto the Father. Now therefore,
ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens
with the saints, and of the household of God, and are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself,
be in the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly
frame together unto an holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also
are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. I will meditate on all thy works,
and talk of thy doings. Vow and pay unto the Lord your
God. Let all that be round about him
bring presence unto him that ought to be feared. You see,
to bring presence. You think of that word of the
dear apostle in the beginning of Romans 12, I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies,
you present your bodies, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable
unto God, which is your reasonable service. It's not unreasonable.
I want to speak of it in this sense, presenting your bodies. The ordinances of the Lord's
house, that you present your bodies, for baptism. You present your
bodies before all the people. In that lovely Psalm 116, how
he speaks there of vowing and paying the vows. I love the Lord. You see there, this is the faith
that worketh by love. I love the Lord. because he has
heard my voice and my supplications, because he hath inclined his
ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live. That
was the experience of the psalmist. But then listen to what else
he came into. The sorrows of death compass
me, and the pains of hell hold upon me. I found trouble and
sorrow. Then called I upon the name of
the Lord, O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul. And the Lord
did. Ask, and ye shall receive. Seek,
and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened
unto you. The Lord heard. Gracious is the Lord, and righteous,
yea, our God is merciful. The Lord preserveth the simple.
You see, he says, return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the
Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee. for thou hast delivered
my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from
falling. And what does he say? I will
walk before the Lord in the land of the living. I believe, therefore,
have I spoken. I was greatly afflicted. She
then goes on, verse 12, what shall I render unto the Lord
for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto
the Lord now in the presence of all his people. Then again
in verse 18, I will pay my vows unto the Lord now. It's what
you might say is an imperative word. I will do it now. I will
pay my vows unto the Lord now. in the presence of all his people,
in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of the old Jerusalem,
praise ye the Lord. Vow and pay that thou hast vowed. You know, in the Ecclesiastes,
we have some instruction that is given us there in the fifth
chapter of Ecclesiastes concerning making a vow. concerning going
to the house of God. He says, keep thy foot when thou
goest to the house of God and be more ready to hear than to
give the sacrifice of fools. For they consider not that they
do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth. Jephthah
was rash with his mouth in the book of Judges. He vowed unto
the Lord and he said whatever came over the threshold of his
house when he returned, it would be sacrificed unto the Lord.
His only daughter ran over the threshold when he came. You see
it was a rash vow. We must be very careful that
we do not make rash vows. Be more ready to hear than to
give the sacrifice of thoughts. for they consider not that they
do evil. Be not rash with thy mouth, and
let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God.
For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth, therefore let thy
words be few. You see, in verse four, when
thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it. For he hath no
pleasure in false pay, that which thou hast vowed. Better is it
that thou shouldest not vow than that thou shouldest vow and not
pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause
thy flesh to sin, neither say thou before the angel that it
was an error. Wherefore should God be angry
at thy voice and destroy the work of thine hands? You see,
my beloved friends, these things are written for our instruction. in the way of righteousness and
of truth. And the admonitions and warnings are given to us,
not to be rash with our mouth. Vow and pray unto the Lord your
God, that all that be round about him bring presence unto him that
ought to be feared. You see, we have that deeply
solid case of Ananias and Sapphira, his wife. in the fifth chapter
of the Acts of the Apostles. And how that they had all things
in common. And they sold lands and they
sold houses and they laid at the Apostles' feet. But something was revealed unto
Peter. And when he questioned them concerning
what they had vowed unto the Lord to give him, They'd kept
back part of the price. They promised the Lord that if
they sold this, they would give it to the Lord. It was a deeply solemn thing.
And when Peter spoke to him, he dropped down dead. And the
brethren came and carried him away. Three hours later, his
wife comes along, and Peter questions her, and she dropped down dead. and they come and take her away.
The solemn, awful judgment of God that fell upon them. They promised to give something. And then they reneged on that
promise. Vow and pay unto the Lord your
God. You see, and the same, my beloved
friends, in different ways with us. It's between you and the
Lord what you have vowed The Lord knows what you vowed. The
Lord knows what you promised to do. And it may be as it was
with the Psalmist. We've read it in Psalm 116. You
see, we need to fulfill what we vowed. It may be that you promised the
Lord that if he did a certain thing for you, you'd be baptized. Have you been baptized? That's
the thing. You might say, but I don't feel
like that now. No, because you've been disobedient.
Because you haven't honored the Lord in what you vowed to do.
And that is disobedient. And when we walk disobediently,
we bring ourselves into doubts and fears and troubles and trials.
We grieve the Holy Spirit of promise. whereby we are sealed
unto the day of redemption. And when you grieve the Holy
Spirit of promise, it's like the hymn writer says, when you
grieve the Spirit, no longer burns our love. Our faith and
patience fail. Why? Because you grieve the Spirit.
It's the Holy Ghost that gives faith and keeps alive your soul.
But when we grieve the Holy Spirit, then He withholds His sweet influence
and power in our hearts. He'll never leave you, He'll
never forsake you. May we lay these things to heart,
vow and pay unto the Lord your God. This particular verse was
made very special to me. In a solemn word of rebuke, The time came when I was to be
sent into the ministry. It was the end of December and
we'd just got the January Gospel Standard. And that Sunday evening
I was sitting reading it, and in it was the obituary of Vernon
Farley. And as I was reading through
it, I was so burdened about the ministry I cannot tell you the
tremendous weight that that was on me at that time. But I'd always
said to the Lord, I would never put my hand to it. Somebody would
have to come and speak to me. I felt I couldn't do that. But
as I read his obituary, he came, he said the burden of the ministry
became so great, became such a burden, I had to go and see
my pastor, that was at Providence Chapel, Cranbrook. I had to go
and see my pastor and tell him of my burden and exercise to
the ministry. And you know, friends, it came
so forcibly to me, that is what you've got to do. And my reaction
was immediately, no. I said, Lord, I've always said
I can never put my hand to him. I daren't touch him. couldn't
move it. My wife went off to bed and the
children and I was up and it must have been about midnight
and I was in such a state and eventually I opened the scriptures
in Samuel and the account of Hannah how she gave Samuel under
the law and then the account of Samuel when he was taken up
to be with Eli and the Lord spoke to him in the night and he arose
and went to Eli and it was like an arrow in my heart that he
went to Eli that's what you've got to do you've got to go and
see your pastor you've got to go to Eli it was as clear as
that three times it happened with Samuel you have to go to
Eli and eventually I Went down on my knees and I promised the
Lord that I would go and see my pastor the next morning. And
you know, there came such a peace on my spirit. I went to bed and
slept. But you know, friends, when I
got up in the morning, I wasn't so keen. I was so willing the
night before. I wasn't so keen, I felt such
a reticence and I couldn't really go and do it. It was a tremendous
thing to do anyway, but I vowed. And you know, it's not a practice
that I normally follow, but at the breakfast time, I literally
just opened the Bible and read the first chapter. It was Psalm
76. And as we read together through
that chapter, I came to this verse 11. And it went like an
arrow into my heart. Vow and pay unto the Lord your
God. It went like an arrow into my
heart. And I knew I'd got to go. And I did go. I went to see
my pastor. You see, friends, the word of
the Lord becomes a living word. Vow and pay unto the Lord your
God that all that be round about him bring presence unto him that
ought to be feared. In my mind it went, I remember
the late Mr. Tyler of the Dicker preaching
from the book of Genesis on one occasion of black boys and it
was such a extra extra special day and the spirit of the Lord
was there and the dear man of God he was so full he was so
full he preached three services from this text there was no repetition
there was such a sweetness a savor and a power you see and jacob
he said unto his sons carry the man down a present they were
going down to joseph and of course joseph is a beautiful type of
christ a beautiful type of christ carry the man down a present and uh they did says in verse 15 of
genesis 43 And the men took that present,
and they took double money in their hand, and Benjamin, and
rose up and went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph. Carry the man down a present.
I've never forgotten that text. And it was so sweet. The word is in the 11th verse. And their father Israel said
unto them, it must be so now, do this, take of the best fruits
in the land, in your vessels, and carry down the man a present,
and a little balm, a little honey, spices and myrrh, nuts and almonds."
And Mr. Tyler so ably opened that spices
and myrrh, and the sacred gifts of the Spirit, and the faith,
and love, and repentance, and carried the man down a present.
You see, and that's what you've got to do. carry the man down
a present. Vow and pay unto the Lord your
God that all that be round about him bring presents unto him that
ought to be feared. You know the children of Israel
when they were in the wilderness and the tabernacle worship, when
the tabernacle rested, then the children of Israel literally
spread all around it each one had their place the 12 tribes
and they literally spread right around that tabernacle and of
course that that tabernacle was beautifully typical of Christ
it was it represented the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord had said
there will I meet with the Let all that be round about him.
That's all the children of Israel there in the world. That's all
the Lord's people. Let all that be round about him.
Bring presence unto him that ought to be feared. Oh, my beloved
friends, may we be enabled to do that. Then you think of the
throne in heaven, and the four and 20 elders, and the four beasts,
they surround the throne in heaven. Those four and twenty elders,
they represent the Old Testament Church and the New Testament
Church. They represent the twelve tribes
of Israel and the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and they're around
the throne. And they worship him that liveth
forever and ever. Vow and pay unto the Lord your
God. Let all that be round about him
bring presence unto him that ought to be feared. May the Lord
add his blessing to these few remarks. Let us now sing together hymn
number 427. The tune is Whitburn, 435. Jesus, and shall it ever be,
a mortal man ashamed of thee, ashamed of thee whom angels praise,
whose glory shine to endless days. Hymn 427. ? It can never be ? ? The Lord's
our God ? ? The King of Kings ? ? The King of Kings ? ? The
King of Kings ? ? To reach your hands in every
space ? ? And shake your knees and serve the Father ? ? As in
the old days ? He sheds his beams of light in
you, O this big lighted star of mine. The shamed old Jesus just passed
through Let midnight be a shade of new ? Tis midnight with my soul to
me ? ? The falling star is darkness' gleam ? Ashamed of Jesus' love, dear
friend, On whom thy hopes of life depend, know when I'm lost beneath my
shame, that I know only Him is name. Ashamed of Jesus, yes, I may
When I've no guilt to wash away No tea to wipe, no good to pray,
no feast to bear a song to. Till then, O peace, my pursed
refrain, Till then I boast the Savior's fame, And o'er man this my glory be
That Christ is not ashamed of me His institutions were my prize. Take up my cross, the shame despise. Dare to defend his noble cause
And give up allegiance to his cause 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.