Okay, so we've done two and a
half. Yeah. Yeah. you Let us commence our service this
evening by singing together hymn number 388. The tune is St. Flavian,
220. Approach, my soul, the mercy seat, where Jesus answers prayer. their humbly fall before his
feet, for none can perish there. Hymn 388. Let my soul the mercy sleep,
Let Jesus' presence reign, Let ev'ry hope in glory sleep, O
come, O come, Thou King of Kings! O come, Thou King of Kings! ? It is my anchorman ? ? I'll call
his fallen souls to thee and stand by thee ? Now, now, many pallor of sin
I take and slowly wait, I was without and is within,
I am to Thee, O grace. Keep Thou my shield and guiding
place, And shelter near Thy side. I may my griefs and cares ablaze,
? And tell me thou hast died ?
? Who wanders now to he and I? ? ? To him alone? ? cross and chain, that guilt
may be swept asunder. Condemned, though sin shall be
still, I promise praise to thee. Let us read together from the
holy word of God in the first epistle of John and chapter three. First epistle of John, chapter
three. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the
sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know
that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is. And every man that hath this
hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever
commiteth sin transgresseth also the law, for sin is the transgression
of the law. And ye know that he was manifested
to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. Whosoever abideth
in him sinneth not, whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither
known him. Little children, let not man
deceive you. He that doeth righteousness is
righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of
the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this
purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot
sin because he is born of God. In this the children of God are
manifest, and the children of the devil. Doeth not righteousness is not
of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is
the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should
love one another, not as Cain, who was of that wicked one and
slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because
his own works were evil. and his brothers righteous. Marvel
not, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we are
passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that
loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his
brother is a murderer. And ye know that no murderer
hath eternal life, abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love
of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought
to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this
world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his
bowels of compassion from him, How dwelleth the love of God
in him? My little children, let us not
love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are
of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if
our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart. and knoweth
all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn
us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we
ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and
do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his
commandment, that you should believe on the name of his Son,
Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave us commandment. He
that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth
in us by the spirit which he hath given us. May the Lord bless
that portion of his most precious word and grant unto us a spirit
of real Almighty, most merciful and eternal
God, we do desire to bow before thy great majesty, to call upon
thy great, thy holy and thy eternal name. Thou art in heaven and we upon
earth, and thy word exhorts us, therefore let thy words be few. For in the multitude of words,
a want is not iniquity. We come, most gracious God, before
Thee in that divinely appointed way, in and through the precious
merits of Jesus Christ. We have no merit of our own. We have to say with the psalmist,
I am all unrighteousness. For in me that is in my flesh
there dwelleth no good thing. And Lord, we painfully feel it. To be calmly minded is death.
To be spiritually minded is life and peace. Gracious God, we do
pray that tonight as we gather round the word that we may be
given that spiritual mindedness. Our heart, our affections, may
be set upon things above, upon the glorious person of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that one glorious God, there's one God and one
mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. Lord, and we come to thee in
his name. Plead in his precious merits,
his blood, his righteousness, his glorious sacrifice, his holy
life. Oh Lord, this is our only hope.
It's in the Lord Jesus Christ, the saviour of sinners, who himself
said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. Oh Lord, as the dear apostle
himself says, for this cause, that we bow our knees unto the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. And so it is, Lord, for
through him we have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Oh,
to know that access tonight. Oh, to know union and communion
with Jesus Christ. Oh, to know him in the power
of his resurrection, in the fellowship of his sufferings. Oh, to know
him and to follow him and to serve him in our day and in our
generation. O Lord, we do pray that thou
wouldst graciously look upon us as a church and as a congregation
and work mightily, powerfully and effectually among us to the
great glory of thy name. Lord Jesus, In thee there is
a fullness of grace. In thee there is a fullness of
salvation, of redemption. In thee there is an everlasting
righteousness. Oh, we do come to thee, Lord
Jesus, and we plead those wonderful merits of thine, what thou hast
purchased through thy precious blood, thy people, And oh, we
do pray that we may have the witness of thy spirit with our
spirit, that we are thy people, that we are indeed born again,
that we have been brought to living faith in Jesus Christ,
and that our hearts have burned in love toward him. Oh, we do
pray that we may experience what the dear hymn writer says in
union with the Lamb. from condemnation free, the saints
from everlasting are and shall forever be. Oh, to know that
sweet union and precious communion with Jesus Christ, to being able
to say, my beloved is mine, and I am his. Maybe there's one and
another that have come tonight, and the language of the spouse
seeks them. Tell me, O thou whom my soul
loveth where thou feedest, where thou causest thy flock to rest
at noon, for why should I be turned away by the flocks of
thy companions? Cause us to hear thy voice. Lord
Jesus, we do pray thee, send thy spirit forth in heavenly
power, truly convincing us of our sin and lead into Jesus'
blood. and to our wandering eyes reveal
the secret love of God. Hearken, Lord. We do humbly beseech
thee and have mercy upon us. We do pray thee for thy great
name's sake. We desire to be more spiritually
minded. We desire that our affections
may be placed on things above. We desire a closer walk with
thee, a calmer heavenly frame, a light that shines upon the
road that leads me to the Lamb. We desire, dear Lord Jesus, that
thou wouldst come and walk among us. We do humbly beseech thee
that we may see thy countenance, that we may worship in thy holy
hill of Zion, and that the word among us tonight may be in that
full assurance, nothing wavering, There may be a sweet divine reality
in believing, in laying hold of Jesus Christ, in touching
the hem of his garment and draw him from that sacred fullness
that is in him. Lord, this is our desire. This
is the longing of our soul. We pray that thou would bless
us as a church and as a congregation. We thank thee for all thy tender
mercies toward us, thy goodness that has passed before us in
the way. We thank thee, most gracious Lord, for thy word. This is the word by which the
gospel is preached unto us, the word of faith, the word of thy
grace. Oh, we do thank thee for it.
We pray that it may be with us as it was with the dear apostle
at the But Thessalonica, our gospel came unto you, not in
word only, but in power, in the Holy Ghost, and with much assurance. We pray, most gracious God, that
thou, in thy precious mercy, would so bless us as we gather,
each one. Thou knowest the burden, the
concern of each heart, each soul that is present in the sanctuary.
Thou knowest all things. And we often think of that word,
oh Lord, he knew what he would do. And Jesus, knowing their
thoughts, and Lord, thou art that same Jesus, that thou seest
us just as we are. Thou seest our need, our poverty,
our sinfulness, the corruption of our heart, and that we pray
that thou would supply all our needs. according to thy riches
in glory by Christ Jesus. We thank thee that in thy word
there is revealed the eternal word, even our Lord Jesus Christ,
the word that was made flesh and dwelt among us. May we this
night behold his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and truth. We pray, dear Lord, that thou,
in thy precious mercy, would graciously be exalted here tonight. The preacher hasn't power to
do that, O Lord, as much as he would like to. It is only the
blessed Spirit that can truly exalt a precious Christ. Even
as thou hast promised in thy word, he will take of the things
of Jesus and reveal them unto you. And that is our desire tonight,
that thou wouldst take of the things of Jesus and reveal them
unto us, and that we may become true followers of thee and of
those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Pray for
our deacons that grace, wisdom, and help may be given to them
in all their responsibilities. that we pray for each of our
brethren and sisters in church fellowship. Help us to be loving
and kind, forbearing one another, forgiving one another, that we
may walk in love. Oh, grant that sweet spirit. May each one, O Lord, be humble
and sincere, desiring to be the least. As the dear apostle, thou
art less than the least of all saints. Give us that same spirit,
Lord, humility and love. Oh, how they are bound together
in that holy spirit of faith. That we pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou in thy great mercy would remember the little ones
and the children, the young friends. Remember them for good, have
mercy upon them, show them thy ways, teach them thy paths, 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, grant that there may be a generation raised up to
know the Lord and to follow on and know the Lord. Hear us, Lord,
we humbly beseech thee. and let thy work appear unto
thy servants and thy glory unto their children. Remember parents in their responsibilities
and help them to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition
of the Lord. And O Lord God, remember all
in the midst of the journey of life and its many troubles and
trials and perplexities that may come. and grant that from time to time
they may feel, fear not, I am with thee. Be not dismayed, I
am thy God. I will help thee. O gracious
God, we do pray that thy word may have free course, that thy
name may be honoured and glorified. We do pray Most gracious Lord,
for each and every one of us in the evening time of life's
journey, I knowest, O Lord, each one's case. We think of our dear
aged sister in her great age and pray that she may know thy
blessing and help, that at evening time it may be light. Hear us, Lord. We do humbly beseech
thee. And we pray for the prodigals
that have wandered from the sanctuary. I know it's each case. Everything
is so personally known to thee, O Lord. 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. Grant that they may be caused
to return. Let us see Zion's offspring come.
Let us see the strongholds of Satan pulled down, the kingdom
of our Lord Jesus set up in the hearts of sinners. Let thy work
appear unto thy servants and thy glory unto their children.
O Lord, we do beseech thee. Remember all thy servants as
they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion. Set them
free and set them at liberty and grant mighty signs and wonders
to follow the preaching of the word. And we pray thee, the great
Lord of the harvest, to send true labourers into the harvest,
and to build the walls of Jerusalem, and to grant that gracious determination
to know nothing among men, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. May the light and glory and power
of the gospel shine into this village. May precious souls be
gathered in, May the Lord Jesus be lifted high on the gospel
pole. Oh, do hear us, Lord. And what
we pray for us, Lord, we pray for the causes of truth up and
down the land, that thy blessing, thy favour, thy love and thy
mercy may be seen in thy Zion, that thou would return unto Jerusalem
with mercies. O Lord, we pray in any trouble
or trial or perplexity or sorrow or sadness or bereavement, that
they may be graciously helped of thee and supported and sustained
by thee, and that thou wouldst be Jehovah Rophi. I am the Lord
that healeth thee. O Lord, we do thank thee for
our house of prayer. We do thank thee that thy mercies
to us are new every morning and great is thy faithfulness. We
do thank thee for thy word, thy truth, thy promises, the divine certainty of thy word. Oh, we do thank thee, Lord, that
we can rely on thy word, that it is truth and nothing but the
truth. We thank Thee that revealed in
Thy Word is the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ, the
eternal Word that was made flesh and dwelt among us. We thank
Thee for that profound mystery of godliness, God manifest in
the flesh. We thank Thee, O Lord, for the
sacred glory of His person, made of a woman made under the law,
that he might redeem them that are under the law. We do thank
thee. Lord Jesus, what thou hast done
for thy people, that thou hast fulfilled the law for them, thou
hast brought in everlasting righteousness for them, that thou hast suffered
and bled and died on the cross of Calvary to redeem them. Thy
precious blood cleanses them from all sin. We thank thee. for the precious blood and righteousness
of our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank thee that having risen
from the grave and swallowed up death in victory, he has now
bodily ascended into heaven and sit here at thy right hand. We
have such an high priest, what wonders, what glories there are
in Jesus Christ, the Lord, the Lamb. Gracious God, we do pray
that thou wouldst hear us and have mercy upon us, and come
and touch one's lips with a live coal from off the heavenly altar. Come and speak the word into
our hearts. We ask with the forgiveness of
all sin, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 792. The tune is Nearer Home, number
83. I'll read the first verse and
we will commence singing at verse two. Faith in the bleeding Lamb,
O what a gift is this! Hope of salvation in His name,
how comfortable it is! Hymn 792, commencing at verse
2. O Lord Jesus Christ, O come, let us adore Him, O come,
let us adore Him, Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of I'll soon obey ev'ry one's message,
for I am flesh of Him. They quilted waste in vain, Inside
they outshadowed. For who needs the truth, needs
the art, O come, O come, O come, O come,
O come, O come, to Bethlehem. This future happiness will fade
like heavens in the sky, or drops in the ocean. Adoption still remaineth, For
it cannot be Where are the change now that
sustains them only to increase? Now all that In heav'n forevermore, Thou wast
with saints or angels, Forever ever is now. ? And Christ, great, great construction
store ? ? His hands, his grace, his sacrifice ? ? His power,
he has seen through ? He stands in the snow-covered
mountains With His people at His side He runs and His promise is right Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct you to the chapter that we read,
the third chapter of the first epistle of John, and we'll read
verses 10 and 11 for our text. First Epistle of John, chapter
three, verses 10 and 11. In this, the children of God
are manifest and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth
not righteousness is not of God. neither he that loveth not his
brother. For this is the message that
ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. In this, the children of God
are manifest. There is, of course, what you
might say a dichotomy or a mystery in the true spiritual life of
the living child of God, many things that conflict. And you
know, when it says here, it's an exceedingly solemn thought,
isn't it? In this context here, you look
at verse six and how searching that is. Whosoever abideth in
him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth hath not seen
him, neither known him. It's a solemn thought, isn't it? And yet, here in this same
epistle, the apostle says at the end of the first chapter,
verse eight, if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves. And the truth is not in us. If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar. And his word is not in us. So, with this, what you might
say, almost paradoxical language, He that sinneth not, but then
he that denies he has any sin. How do we marry these two together?
Well, it is opened in the word of God. There is a conflict. What the
apostle in his epistles, he calls it the old man, which is corrupt,
and the new man, One hymn writer says, in every
believer two armies are seen, the old man of grace and the
new man of sin. The old man will always be the
old man. The old man is corrupt and sinful. The new man, as it says here,
sinneth not. That new man of grace loves Christ. loves his commandments. David,
he says, doesn't he? He's speaking of the whole word
of God when he says, oh, how I love thy law. It is my delight
all the day long. And, you know, there is that
love in the heart, in that new man that loves holiness, that
loves righteousness, that loves truth, that loves Christ, that
desires to follow Christ, to know Christ. The Apostle in the Epistle to
the Romans, he says very plainly, the carnal mind, that is our
old man, the carnal mind is enmity to God. It is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. Because he's corrupt,
he's sinful. But the new man, something completely
different. In the Ephesians, the apostle,
he speaks of it as though taking off and putting on a garment. He speaks of taking off those
filthy clothes of the flesh and putting on, putting on the new
man, clothed in righteousness and true holiness. It's the way
that the Holy Spirit conveys it to our hearts and to our minds. But the point that is being emphasized
here is, little children, let no man
deceive you. Verse seven, he that doeth righteousness
is righteous, even as he is righteous, and that is Christ. He that commiteth
sin is of the devil, for the devil sinneth from the beginning.
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might
destroy the works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God, sheer
that new man, doth not commit sin. For his seed, that is the
seed of the Word, remaineth in him. And he cannot sin because
he is born of God. And that is the new man of grace
that loves our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and in truth. And yet still there is this battle.
As Paul says in Romans chapter 7, that which I would, that's
the new man, I do not. That which I would not, the old
man, I do. I find a law within my members
that when I would do good, then evil is present with me. And
this is a great burden and trial of the living child of God. This
paradox that is within them. the one hand that love to Christ
to his ways on the other hand that love to the world and the
things of the world the attraction there is in it to the old man and that is the great conflict
in every believer to arm as a slave The Apostle Paul when he writes
to the Galatians he speaks said that the flesh lusteth against
the spirit that's the Holy Ghost the flesh lusteth against the
spirit and The spirit that's the Holy Ghost against the flesh
for the one is the contrary to the other And this is a great paradox in
the life of every true believer That is something of the meaning
of that word in the book of Psalms. They that have no changes fear
not God. The true believer has a lot of
changes. And he has a lot of conflict. He finds that there are things
in this world that he still loves. That are still a temptation to
him. that still draw him aside. But then there's within him that
resistance from the new man of grace. The carnal mind, that's
the old man, is enmity to God. He's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. Do you know something of this
conflict? In some little way in your heart,
in your life? This battle that goes on, Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot
sin because he is born of God. In this the children of God are
manifest. The word manifest means revealed. In this the children of God are
revealed, and the children of the devil. There's quite an emphasis here,
though, which seemed to stand out to me this morning as I was
thinking of this service. Whosoever doeth not righteousness
is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. This
is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should
love one another. Whosoever doeth not righteousness. There's just some strange view
around that a Christian believer lives like a monastic existence,
he doesn't have anything to do with anyone else etc. and just
keeps themselves to themselves and has nothing to do with anyone
else. That's not the Christianity of the Bible. And there's something here that
is done. Whosoever doeth not righteousness,
is to do righteousness, is to live righteously. That's what's being said here.
To live righteously. Not this idea that we just sit
back and fold our arms and have nothing to do with anyone else,
just like It's no different to a monastic life where the monk,
he goes into a monastery and he stays there the rest of his
life because he believes that he can keep away from sin and
the world. But of course, it's nothing of
the sort. We have the world within us. We have sin within us. We can
never get away from that. That'll always be with us even
if we shut ourselves away. But the point is this, my beloved
friends, is to do that which is righteous. To do that which
is righteous. To live out in your life that
which is righteous. And that which is good in the
eyes of God. You see, it says here in verse
14, something I quote very often, we know that We have passed from
death unto life because we love the brethren. That's something
you do. You love the brethren. When we have this notion, which
some people have, of just shutting yourself away and having nothing
to do with anyone else, it's no different to the Pharisee.
That's exactly what the Pharisee did. And he felt he was so righteous
because he was high, head and shoulders above everybody else.
And Christ upbraided him. You think you're so righteous
and so holy and so pure, and yet you don't live it. You think
you are. He said you laid men with heavy
burdens and you wouldn't lift a finger to help them. You see,
not doing righteousness. That's the Pharisees. They thought
they were very righteous. You see, whoso hateth his brother is a
murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding
in him. And then he gives us that beautiful
example in verse 16, and then followed, of course, immediately
by 17. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid
down his life for us. That's our wonderful example. Christ laid down his life for
us. And we ought to lay down our lives, we should do that,
we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. It's something
that we do. And then he gives us an illustration. But whoso hath this world's good,
and seeth his brother have need, and shut it up his bowels of
compassion from him. Solemn searching word, how dwelleth
the love of God in him? How do you live? How do I live? How do you live? What do we do? You know, I get really weary
of it. The amount of times it comes
back, you know, when the minister speaks about the fruits of good
works, flowing from the grace of God in the heart. Almost the immediate retort you
get is, can't get to heaven on good works. You won't get there if you have
none. You won't. It's true you can't get together
to heaven on good works, but you won't be there if you have
none. If you have the life of God in your heart, if you're
a true believer in Jesus Christ, you'll lay out things for the
Lord and you'll look upon it as not yours but the Lord's and
what he's given to you and using it to his honour and to his glory. Whoso hath this world's good
and seeth his brother have need and shut it up his bowels of
compassion from him how dwelleth the love of God in him in the
in the epistle of james he speaks there in the second chapter of
james concerning faith and works it says in chapter 2 of james
verse 13 for he shall have judgment without mercy that has showed
no mercy Do you see, doing righteousness, showing mercy, showing compassion,
showing kindness and humility, they're the fruits of the Spirit
in the life of the believer. And mercy rejoices against judgment. So the point is, is that we should
be merciful to others. Because we have received the
mercy of God. You just think of what the Apostle
Paul says, I quite often quote it, in the 12th chapter of the
Romans. I beseech you therefore brethren
by the mercies of God. That means that wonderful mercy
that you have received in Jesus Christ by the mercies of God
that you present your bodies, this body, present this body a living sacrifice. Everything you've got offered
unto the Lord for His holy use and purpose. And be not conformed to this
world. The world live to themselves. Completely. It's mine. I've worked
for it. That's a worldly way of living. I've done this, I've got this,
I've got that. I've prospered. And that's mine. That's worldly.
That's carnal. him that steals, steal no more,
but let him labour with his hands that he may have to give to him
that needeth. That should be the whole bent
of our minds, that we should have to give to him that needeth. You may sit in your pew and you
may be saying, well this is rather a legal sermon. It's not. It's
the fruits of the Spirit. This is not the works of the
law. It's not legal. I'm not telling you to do things
to get salvation. What I am saying is if you truly
have the grace of God, there'll be fruit that will be brought
forth in your life. And this is the very thing that
the Apostle is saying. We go back here to James chapter
2. And verse 14. What doth it profit
my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and hath not works,
Can faith save him? Now look at, I've heard it said
that that is entirely a spiritual word. Look at the next verse,
and it shows you how practical that verse, that word is. If
a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,
and one of you say unto them, depart in peace, be ye warmed
and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not those things which
are needful to the body, what? Doth it profit? Even so, faith,
if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. My dear beloved friends, I say
these things lovingly, kindly, and I preach as much to myself
as I do to you. How do we match up to the word
of God in these Acts of love and of kindness and compassion.
Look at the life of Jesus Christ. Look at how he lived. He is our
pattern. Christ is our pattern. It says
here in the first epistle of John. And you look at the second
chapter. My little children, these things
write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And
he is the propitiation for our sins, and not ours only, but
also for the sins of the whole world. And what does it mean
when it says, for the sins of the whole world? It means it
doesn't matter where you live in the world, there's only one
Savior, there's only one Redeemer, there's only one Deliverer. And
that is Jesus Christ, the Lord, the Lamb. It's one God and one mediated
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And hereby we do know that we
know him if we keep his commandments. And you see, and those commandments
are not grievous. The commandments of the gospel. He that saith I know him, And
keepeth not his commandments as a lion, the truth is not in
him. These are very searching, separating words. But whoso keepeth
his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected. Hereby
know we that we are in him, how? By the fruits that are brought
forth in our life, in our walk, in our conduct. Whoso keepeth his word, in him
verily is the love of God perfected. hereby know that we are in him.
He that saith he abideth in him, or himself, also so to walk,
even as he walked. That is, even as Christ walked.
That's our pattern. It's like Paul when he writes
his epistle to the Philippians. He says, let this mine be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Let this mind be in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ, he fulfilled
the holy, righteous law of God. He lived a perfectly pure and
holy life, a sinless life. He lived that on the behalf of
his people, that they may be made righteous in him. That law
that you have broken, that I have broken, that we still break.
That law Christ has fulfilled. And that fulfilling of the law
by Christ is our righteousness. It's what is called the active
obedience of Christ to the law. It's spoken of in a two-fold
way. That there's the passive obedience
of Christ, and that is when he bowed before his Holy Father,
he submitted to that awful wrathful sentence against the sin of the
church he was wounded for our transgressions he said didn't
he father if it be possible let this cut pass from me but not
my will but thine be done that's the passive obedience of Christ
but then when he lived here upon earth there's the active obedience
of Christ in fulfilling the law You know, he did it day by day,
every day of his life. You know, we read about the earthly
ministry of Christ, but constantly he was healing the sick. He was
casting out devils. He was making the lame to walk
and the deaf to hear and the blind to see. And he did it in
love, in kindness, in compassion. That the exhortation to us is
let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. that we may have that same mind.
Paul, when he writes to the Corinthians, he says, but we have the mind
of Christ, do we? Do you, do I have the mind of
Christ? So that we live like he did. Because this is what the word
of God is very clearly setting forth. Christ lived a righteous
life. And in this the children of God
are manifest or revealed the children the devil whosoever
doeth not righteousness is not of God neither he that loveth
not his brother for this is the message that he heard from the
beginning that we should love one another that we should love
one another and in love I think we just looked at it says doesn't
it brethren Let us not love in word only, but indeed and in
truth. We show our love in what we do.
And this seems to me to be the emphasis here. Doing righteousness. Living righteously. Acts of love,
kindness, compassion. As ye have received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk ye in him. He's our example. We profess to follow him, we
profess to serve him. Is our body a living sacrifice? I take that to mean, when he
says our body, it's everything that we have. Everything that
the Lord has given to us here in this life. Do we spread it
out to the honour, to the glory, and to the praise of his grace. You know, friends, in the second
epistle of Peter, in the first chapter, the dear apostle, he says, grace
and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of
God and of Jesus our Lord. According as his divine power,
hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness,
through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory
and virtue. That's what we're called to.
And it's through the knowledge of Christ, whereby, and here
he's speaking of the wonderful promises of the gospel in Christ,
whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises.
that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust, having
escaped that. And beside this, given all diligence,
add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge
temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience, godliness,
and to godliness, brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness, charity. For if these things be in you
and abound, they make you that you shall be neither barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But then
look at this solemnity of verse nine. But he that lacketh these
things is blind and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten
that he was purged from his old sins. You see, these things,
my beloved friends, are written for our instruction in the way
of righteousness and in the way of truth. And, you know, the
dear apostle Paul, he lays a great emphasis on these things in my
mind it just goes to that is again another beautiful and very
sacred and practical epistle with his epistle to Titus and
in that second chapter of Titus and he says verse 11 for the
grace of God that bring his salvation hath appeared to all men teaching
us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking
for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great
God and our Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that
he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar
people And this is what makes them peculiar, zealous of good
works. That is one of the peculiar things
about the living family of God. Is it peculiar about you and
about me? These things speak and exhort
and rebuke with all authority. Let no man despise thee. You see, my beloved friends,
these things are written for our instruction. How practically
do we live? I remember somebody telling me
about the late Mr. Brough, Leonard Brough, of Southampton. And he used to go around different
places, people's houses and stay. And apparently, if he got hold
of the family Bible, or the Bible of the person who owned the house,
he always used to check the epistle of James. And he said if it was
well-thumbed and well-used, he knew that that person was a practical
Christian that sought to live their life according to the Word
of God. Faith without works is dead,
being alone. See, Teaching us This is what
the gospel does. This is what the grace of God
does Says in the previous verses there in Titus 2 He says it to
young men in verse 7 and in all things showing thyself a pattern
of good works in doctrine showing uncorruptness gravity sincerity,
you know we tend to get There's an order that is put down there
Now the first thing that we would say is there must be sound in
doctrine. It does say there must be sound
in doctrine, but that's not the most important. The first thing
it says, in all things showing thyself a pattern of good works. In doctrine showing uncorruptness,
gravity, sincerity, sound speech that cannot be condemned. That
he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed having no evil
thing to say of you. You see, and he goes on, exhorts
servants to be obedient unto their own masters and to please
them well in all things, not answering again, not polloying,
but showing all good fidelity that they may adorn the doctrine
of God our Savior in all things for the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared unto all men. Teaching us, teaching
us. Oh, friends, do we know this
teaching? Do we know these fruits? The apostle in one of his epistles,
I think it's to the Philippians, he says, not that I desire the
gift, but fruit, fruit that will redound to their honor and to
their glory. in what they did for the apostle.
He said, I don't desire a gift, I desire to see you bringing
forth fruit to the honour, glory and praise of the name of your
saviour, Jesus Christ. And to do these acts of kindness
and compassion and love. This is just a little instance.
When was the last time you put something in a food bag? You
know, if you go into virtually all the supermarkets, they have
a big box just as you come out, and it's for those that have
need, that live locally. And you buy something and you
put it in there to give to those that have need. How often do
we do that? In that act of kindness. You
see, there are some others that run away with the idea that the
acts of kindness you show must only be to the Lord's people.
Now, to them first, but to others, thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. And if you see someone have need,
you should do all in your power to help them in their need. Just
like the example that is given us of the Good Samaritan, when
the man was taken among thieves. And the priest come along, you'd
have thought the priest would have compassion on him. No, he
walked by on the other side of the road. The Levite came along, you thought
he would have compassion. No, he walked by on the other
side of the road, left the poor man in all his wounds and didn't
even go to look at him. They were self-righteous. That's
the point that Christ is making. They were self-righteous. They
didn't want to near to this man that was taken among thieves.
But then the Samaritan, who those very men absolutely despised,
when he came along, he bound up his wounds, he poured oil
in his wounds, he took him to an inn, he gave the innkeeper
the money to keep him, so that when he returned and
he said, whatever loss they have, I'll give you the money for it
when I come back. Who, says Christ, had compassion
upon that man? And of course they said the Samaritan.
There's a lesson there, my beloved friends, for us. We should not
walk by on the other side. But we should, and now, I want
to emphasize this, this shouldn't be done to be seen of men. Let
not your right hand know what your left hand doing. It should
be done secretly, and your father which seeth in secret shall reward
thee openly. In this the children of God are
manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not
righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his
brother. For this is the message that ye have heard from the beginning,
that we should love one another, not as Cain, who was of that
wicked one and slew his brother, and wherefore slew he him because
his own works were even his brother's righteous. Marvel not, my brethren,
if the world hates you. We know that we are passed from
death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth
not his brother abideth. in death. May the Lord be pleased
to add his blessing to these few remarks that we have made. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1135. The tune is Whitehaven 695. In thy name, O Lord, assembling
we thy people now draw near. Teach us to rejoice with trembling. Speak and let thy servants hear. Hear with meekness, hear thy
word with godly fear. In 1135. Jai Jai Jai Jai Jai Jai Jai ? And shepherds quake ? ? At their
king's birth ? ? Their king's birth ? ? Till earth and heaven
ring ? ? Ring, ring, ring ? Paravesha, the collector, may
we give them gold to thee. ? Till I have that day expected
? ? Maybe we'll know where we've been ? ? Still I'm longing to
see you again ? Hail thy glory, Hail, thou countenance
from the sea. There in the shade, in the sweet
air, O'er the creeper, shadowed door, ? Taste it now and joy and praise
her ? ? And make her who once she'd been for ? ? Come and join her, come
and join her ? 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.