Bye. The notices for the coming week
are God willing as follows. Next Lord's Day, Mr. Timothy
Kingham will preach here at 10.30 and two o'clock. Pastor will
preach here on Thursday evening at seven o'clock, and there will
be a prayer meeting on Tuesday evening at seven o'clock. Let us commence our services
today by singing together hymn number 14, to the tune Orlington,
203. Begin my tongue some heavenly
theme, and speak some boundless theme, the mighty works, almighty
in name, of our eternal King. Hymn number 14. ? And speaks of heaven's peace
? ? The Lord is with us ? ? The Lord is with us ? dear. Dear, all we long for,
memories and sounds ? Stay with us, we love this home
? ? Stay with us, we love this home ? ? God bless the nation, God bless
the state ? ? God bless the nation, God bless the state ? ? His hand hath raised ? ? The
sheep of God ? ? His hand hath raised the sheep of God ? ? Rejoice, rejoice ? ? Rejoice, rejoice
? ? Your care and kindness ? ? Your
kindness, your kindness ? ? We have the power to change the
world ? ? And make the world a happy place
? ? His truth is to the whole wide world to see ? His feet have touched the ground.
? Is there in the world a greater joy ? ? Than
can we feel in this world alone? ? ? Now rise and prosper ? ? Staten
Island ? ? Now rise and prosper ? ? Staten Island ? Let us read together from the
Holy Word of God in the prophecy of Isaiah and chapter 55 and
56. Isaiah's prophecy chapters 55 and 56. O everyone that thirsteth, come
ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and
eat, yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for
that which is not bread? and your labour for that which
satisfies not. Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto
me. Here and your soul shall live,
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for
a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.
Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations
that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord
thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified
thee. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found, call ye upon him while he is near, Let the wicked forsake
his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him
return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him. And
to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not
your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways
higher than your ways. and my thoughts and your thoughts.
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and
returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring
forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to
the eater, so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For you shall go out
with joy and be led forth with peace. The mountains and hills
shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees
of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall
come up the fir tree. Instead of the briar shall come
up the myrtle tree. and it shall be to the Lord for
a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off. Thus
saith the Lord, keep ye judgment and do justice, for my salvation
is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the
man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on
it, that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth
his hand from doing any evil. Neither let the son of the stranger
that hath joined himself to the Lord speak, saying, The Lord
hath utterly separated me from his people. Neither let the eunuch
say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the Lord unto
the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please
me, and take hold of my covenant, Even unto them will I give in
mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than
of sons and of daughters. I will give them an everlasting
name that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger
that join themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love the
name of the Lord to be his servants. Everyone that keepeth the Sabbath
from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant, even them
will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house
of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their
sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar, for mine house
shall be called a house of prayer for all people. The Lord God
which gathers the outcasts of Israel saith, yet will I gather
others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him. All ye
beasts of the field, come to devour, yea, all ye beasts in
the forest. His watchmen are blind, they
are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark,
sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy
dogs which can never have enough and they are shepherds that cannot
understand. They all look to their own way,
every one for his gain from his quarter. Come ye, say they, I
will fetch wine and we will fill ourselves with strong drink and
tomorrow shall be as this day. and much more abundant. 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, We do desire now to bow before
thee, the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose
name is holy. And Lord, we confess before thee
that we are unholy, we are unclean, we are unrighteous altogether.
Oh, do be gracious unto us this day and grant unto us that spirit
of true worship We thank thee for those wonderful words of
grace. There is one God and one mediator between God and man,
the man Christ Jesus, who gave his life for ransom for all to
be testified in due time. Lord Jesus, we do thank thee
that thou art the way, the truth, and the life. And we desire to
come unto our eternal Father in thy blessed name. And we pray
that today the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of
God our Father, and the sacred fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
may rest and abide upon us. And Lord, as we hope soon to
sin, descend from heaven celestial dove, and mountain bearers far
above, the reach of these inferior things, Oh, do show us your lovely
man that rules the courts of bliss, the mighty God, the everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. May we touch the hem of his garment.
May we draw from that fullness that is in him. We do humbly
beseech thee. We thank thee for those blessed
words of grace, and he giveth more grace. For, Lord, we feel
to need more grace. We constantly feel to need more
grace, and we need that grace today as we gather together around
thy word, even the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that
thy word may be a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path,
and we pray, most gracious Lord, that the eyes of our understanding
may be enlightened, that we might behold wondrous things in thy
law. We do humbly beseech thee. Oh,
we do pray, most gracious Lord, that thou would bless our beloved
brethren, the deacons, and give them needed grace, wisdom, and
help, not only in the responsibilities here, but also among the churches
of God, that they may be girded with all sufficient grace in
those responsibilities that devolve upon them. We pray, most gracious
Lord, for each one of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship
that thy blessing may rest upon us, that we may be of one mind
and one heart, that we may bear each other's burdens, thereby
fulfilling the law of Christ, that we may love each other,
serve each other, and graciously be enabled to do that which is
right in thy sight, and walk in the fear of the Lord, and
walk in love. Hear us, Lord. We humbly beseech
thee, help us to follow our Lord Jesus Christ. Help us to serve
him in our day and in our generation. Deliver us from sin and its power. Though sin lives in us, may we
not live in sin, but may we live to him that died. May we be surrendered
to the crucified one. May we behold thy glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Full of grace
and truth, O Lord, we do beseech thee. Lord, remember the whole
of our congregation. Remember them for good. Those,
O Lord, that are unable to gather today, we pray that thou wouldst
graciously be with them where they are. And those of us that
have gathered, may we feel thy presence. May we feel thy blessing. May thy light shine into our
hearts. May thy word be a lamp unto our
feet and a light unto our path. Hear us, Lord. We humbly beseech
thee. We have hearts which are deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked, and we need thee to guide
us into thy truth. Lord, we pray for the little
ones and the children as they're brought into the sanctuary, that
the blessing of the Lord that maketh rich and addeth no sorrow
with it may be their portion in their young and in their tender
years. We pray, most gracious Lord, that thou wouldst have
mercy upon them, the dear children, each one of them. Bless them
with that fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom. Our
dear young friends, as they grow up into manhood and womanhood,
we pray that thou wouldst graciously bless them, 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. Open their
eyes and their ears and their hearts to receive thy word and
to behold thee. Gracious God, so bless our young
friends. May there be a generation raised
up that shall follow on to know the Lord and shall serve thee
in their day and generation. We do humbly beseech thee. May
it please thee, Lord, to remember them in all the paths in providence,
in their education, give them wisdom, and graciously grant
them a partner in life journey, and go before them in each ontrodden
step. We pray for the prodigals that
have wandered, wandered from the sanctuary, wandered from
the ways of God, Stretch out thy almighty arm. None, O Lord,
are beyond thy power, and that thou art able to do indeed abundantly
more than we can even ask or think. And we earnestly petition
thee, yea, plead with thee, that thou wouldst have mercy upon
them, that thou wouldst cause them to be in want, that thou
wouldst cause them to return, as thou alone art able to do
that. Lord, we wait and we watch for
thy appearing in these things. Lord, we pray for parents that
they may be given wisdom and grace to bring up their children
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We pray, most gracious
Lord, that the family altar may be raised in the house, the word
of God read, prayer made in the family. for all things are sanctified
by the word of the Lord and prayer. O Lord, do grant that it may
be so in our families, we do humbly beseech thee. We pray
for those, O Lord, that are spiritually burdened and exercise, that today
their souls may be fed with living bread that cometh down from heaven,
that thou wouldst graciously show them thy ways and teach
them thy paths. Make us more spiritually minded. Set our affections on things
above. Deliver us from the allurements
of this vain world that our heart loves. And graciously, deliver
us from the temptations of Satan, whether he comes as an angel
of light to deceive us, or whether he comes as a roaring lion to
devour us. We pray to be delivered from
his power and from his influence. We do humbly beseech thee. And
as we come into the sanctuary, may we truly feel in each one
of our hearts, hear my best friends, my Saviour reigns. O most gracious
Lord, may it please Thee so to bless us. We thank Thee for the
spirit of love, union and communion that is among us. Lord, what
a great blessing. May there be an abundant blessing
upon us. We read in thy word that there
the Lord commanded the blessing, even life evermore. And O Lord,
remember those of us that have reached the evening time of life's
journey and graciously help us. We do humbly beseech thee and
show us thy ways and teach us thy paths, O Lord, we do beseech
thee. And Lord, we do pray that the
arms of thine everlasting love may surround us. We do humbly
pray that at the appointed time we may be given abundant entrance
into thy heavenly kingdom. Be with all in affliction, trouble,
trial, perplexity, sorrow, sadness or bereavement. Help them to
cast all their cares upon thee. For though I said I will not
leave you comfortless, I will come to you. And thou indeed,
O Lord, art Jehovah Rophi. I am the Lord that healeth thee.
Grant us that healing in body and in soul. O Lord, we do beseech
of thee. Remember this village, the surrounding
villages and hamlets. Lord, send out thy light and
thy truth. Bless the word of the Lord distributed. Abundant harvest we've read together
in thy word, my word shall not return unto me void. Let us see
thy work, let us see thy power, O Lord, we do beseech thee in
the gospel. Let us see the pulling down of
the strongholds of Satan, the setting up of the kingdom of
the Lord Jesus in the hearts of sinners. Bless the little
causes of truth up and down the land. Bless thy servants as they
labour in word and doctrine, upon the walls of Zion. Grant
mighty signs and wonders to follow the preaching of the word. Bring
our sons from far and our daughters from the ends of the earth. They
shall come, they shall come from the north and from the south,
from the east and from the west. Lord, thou hast promised these
things in thy word. Fulfill thy gracious promise,
Lord, on us assembled here. We pray, O Lord, that thou would
abundantly bless the provision of thy house and satisfy her
poor with bread. We pray that the light and glory
and power of the gospel may shine forth in the length and breadth
of our nation. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou, the great Lord of the harvest, would send true
labourers into the harvest. We do humbly beseech thee. Remember,
O Lord, our government, and give wisdom and guidance and direction
and grant stability. Oh, do hear us, Lord. We are
exhorted in thy word to pray for all in authority over us,
and we would so seek to do that wisdom may be given and guidance
and direction. We pray for our King, that thy
rich blessing may rest upon him, that he may be given wisdom,
that he may be given thy grace, And we pray, most gracious Lord,
for the whole of the royal household, that thy blessing may be given
unto them. O Lord, we do pray that thou
wouldst graciously bless thy word throughout the nations of
the earth, especially in those places where thy name is hated
and thy people are persecuted. May it please thee, Lord, to
send out thy light and thy truth and deliver thy people and send
them help from the sanctuary. Remember those that labour in
word and doctrine among the nations of the earth, those that go forth
from us. Lord, bless thy word. Bless thy
people everywhere. We thank thee, O Lord, for our
house of prayer. We thank thee that thy mercies
to us are new every morning and great is thy faithfulness. We
thank thee for the word of God. We thank thee for the glories
of Christ. We thank thee for the wonders
of redeeming love. The love of our eternal Father
in our Lord Jesus Christ, we do bless thee. God so loved the
world, he gave his only begotten son. Oh, what blessings are in
him. What wonders and glories we behold
in him. We thank thee for the holy life
he lived and the holy law he fulfilled. We thank thee for
Calvary where the lamb was slain, where sin was put away and God
and sinners are reconciled. We thank thee that he died for
our sins and rose again for our justification and is now bodily
ascended into heaven. Fill our hearts with gratitude,
with thanksgiving. Be with us as we turn to thy
word and come and touch one's lips with a live coal from off
the heavenly altar. We ask all with the forgiveness
of all our many sins for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 29. The tune is Rubin, 725. Descend from heaven celestial
dove, with flames of pure seraphic love, our ravished hot breaths
inspire, fountain of joy bless paraclete, warm our cold hearts
with heavenly heat, and set our souls on fire. Hymn number 29. O come, let us adore Him, O come,
let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O'er the land of the free ? Reconciliated ? ? Thy faithful
servants ? ? We worship thee ? ? In your holy house ? The place where grace o'erflows,
Where love finds new happiness, O come all ye faithful joyful
and triumphant ? On the west side thy shields
hang ? ? King of the earth and heav'n above ? ? Savior, deliver
us from evil ? ? What so proudly we hailed at
the twilight's last gleaming? ? ? And near the age-old red shore
? ? Come winter, come take me with
you ? ? What a differential from before ? ? And what a change
from before ? O say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave ? That's what we say ? ? When in
God's love we're near ? ? Give us more water, pray and tell
? ? And since my love is gone with
the wind ? ? Let my love remain with thee forevermore ? ? For us that we trust them ? ?
With heaven and earth shall we trust them ? Help me, then, O Lamb of God,
to come, Come, that I may O come, O come, O come, O come,
O come, O come, Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help I would direct your attention to the prophecy
of Isaiah chapter 55 and we'll read verses 10 and 11 for our text. The prophecy of Isaiah chapter
55 verses 10 and 11. For as the rain cometh down and
the snow from heaven and returneth not thither but watereth the
earth and maketh it bring forth and bud that it may give seed
to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that
goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. The Apostle Paul, he speaks of
the Word of God and he says, in which are exceeding great
and precious promises. Exceeding great and precious
promises. And this is one of those exceeding
great and precious promises that we have before us now in God's
Holy Word concerning the word of God. Before we come particularly
to the words of our text, I want to, as it were, just look at
my word. So shall my word be. I'm just
to look for a moment at God's word. This book, the Holy Scriptures,
we firmly believe that the most accurate translation of the holy
scriptures in the English language is found in the authorised version. The men that translated this
authorised version were totally committed to it as being the
literal word of God in the Hebrew and the Greek from which they
translated it. And so they sought to give the
exact meaning of what was in the original. So we have a Bible,
we've had it for over 400 years, and the Lord has greatly blessed
it. And so we have the Lord's divine approbation that rests
on this particular version of the holy scriptures of truth.
And may we ever respect the word of God Joseph Hart, speaking of the
Word of God, he says, join prayer with each inspection that we
may be given to prayerfully read the Word of God, not just read
it parrot fashion, and just as a thing to do, but to read it
and to seek to understand it. To read it and to seek the grace
from the Lord to open that word to you. And we are instructed in God's
word in the epistle of Timothy all scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable for rebuke and for instruction etc. And in the epistle of Peter we're
also instructed there how the scriptures were written by holy
men of God, that the Lord guided them to write the holy scriptures. What is so often said nowadays,
especially with the proliferation of so many different versions
of the Bible, it's often said by those academics that do these
things, they say, well, We believe it contains the Word of God. What a nonsense that is. It doesn't
contain the Word of God. It is the Word of God. And this
is where they run into error. And it's much better for them,
if they can say that, because then they can take out the little
bits that they don't like. And the doctrines that they don't
like, they can leave them out. They can ignore them, but that's
not part of the Word of God, they would say. No, my beloved
friends, it doesn't just contain the Word of God, it is the Word
of God. It's God's Holy Word, and He's
preserved it for us. And the wonderful thing, He's
given it to us and preserved it for us in our own language.
And He's blessed the Word abundantly throughout the nations of the
earth. So we look back, you see, over the history of this particular
version of the Bible and we see what God has wrought. And my
dear beloved friends, he can still work and he does still
work in the day in which we live. And he speaks of Zion, the church
of the living God. He says, I will abundantly bless
her provision. I will satisfy her poor with
bread. And he says here, so shall my
word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, it shall not return
unto me void, but it shall accomplish that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it. So we have God's word. And the
New Testament makes very clear that it is through the foolishness
of preaching that men and women will be gathered unto Christ? See, the Lord has promised, but
what are we to preach? Well, we're to preach the word. You think of what the apostle
Paul, when he writes to Timothy, that exhortation, preach the
word. That's this Bible, the word of
God. Be instant in season and out
of season. preach the word. When also of
course in the Corinthians he says, we preach Christ crucified
to the Jews a stumbling block, to the Greeks foolishness, but
unto them that are called the power of God, the wisdom of God,
preach the word. You see, my beloved friends,
we are given these divine directions. The sweet psalmist of Israel,
If you read Psalm 119, I think you'll find there are ten different
ways or words that the Psalmist uses to speak of the Word of
God. He calls them, he says, thy judgments,
thy statutes, thy precepts, thy word, thy law, and so on. But each time he's referring
to the Word of God. He says, let thy word, let thy word be a lamp unto my
feet and a light unto my path. Do you and I desire divine guidance,
divine light? Let thy word. Have you come to
chapel today with that desire that you might have some light
shine into your heart that the word of the Lord may
be made precious to your soul. Just like Jeremiah the prophet,
he says, thy words were sweet and I did eat them and they were
the joy and rejoicing of my heart. It's a very precious thing when
the word of God is made a living word. The apostle Paul, he says,
all the promises of God And those promises, of course, are contained
in the Word of God. All the promises of God are yea
and amen in Christ Jesus. They're all fulfilled in Him.
He's the rock upon which the church is built. It's a wonderful thing, my beloved
friends, if we are given a great respect, a love, to reverence
the Word of God. And may we ever do so. Of course,
within the Word of God, there is the law, the prophets, and
the New Testament of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We have the record given to us
in God's Word of the creation of the world. How the Lord spake and it was
done. You see, we've just sung in our
hymn, in the first hymn, and it's what really drew me to it.
The voice that rolls the stars along speaks all the promises. That almighty voice of God that
created the heavens and the earth. Here in the prophecy of Isaiah,
he speaks of the heavens and he's speaking of all the planets,
the sun, the moon, the stars. And there are tens of thousands
of them. And what does Isaiah say? not
one of them faileth. Why? Because there's a God in
heaven. He's put them there, and they stay there. And the
other thing is, and these things are challenged in the day in
which we live, we hear so much about climate change, and I'd
like to just say that we shouldn't pollute the earth, and destroy
the earth and do those things that are damaging to the earth.
That is very obvious from holy scripture that we shouldn't do
that. But we hear these scientists and man likes to think he's in
charge. We've got to do this because
there's climate change. Because we're going to come to
a place where the world will be a desert. God in his holy word tells us
just the opposite. Who do we believe? Do we believe
these men that are supposed to be so learned and they seem to
think they know everything and they can control things and change
everything so that the climate doesn't change? Or do we believe
what God simply says in his word? Seed time and harvest, summer
and heat, cold and heat, shall not fail while the earth remains. God has promised us that. His
Word. So we know that all these forecasts
that they give us are not right because they're contrary to God's
Word. See the Lord has given us that
light in His Word. We wouldn't know these things
if there wasn't the Word of God but we do have the Word of God
and it's been given to us. Now that's just by the way of
course. We read Both in Psalm 19 and
in the epistle to the Romans, the heavens declared the glory
of God, day unto day utterance speech, night unto night utterance
knowledge. Their word is gone throughout
all the earth. That's God's creation. Speaks
to each one of us day by day that it is God's creation. And
it remains, and it will remain until the end of the time is
come. So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth. But of course then there is the
word of his grace. The word of his grace. Twofold sense that this can be
spoken of. We have the written word, which
we have before us now, which of course is the word of his
grace. But then we have the Incarnate Word, which is the Divine Person
of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He is called the Eternal
Word. The Eternal Word, the Word that
was made flesh and dwelt among us. The Word that was made flesh
and dwelt among us. My mind, it just goes to those
The solemn but sacred words that are found in Hebrews chapter
4 and in verse 12, for the word of God is quick and powerful
and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and
is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Now,
of course, We have the word of the Lord, the written word, and
under the power of the Holy Ghost, it's made a powerful and sharper
than any two-edged sword. And it pierces right into the
very heart and soul of man. I understand that in this verse,
it's illustrating the apostles writing to the Hebrews who were
very familiar with the sacrifices and offerings that were offered
continually day by day under the Levitical dispensation. And
I think it's Dr. Owen that says what we have here
is a sacrifice on the altar and it's opened right up and you
can see right into its inward parts. And that, he said, is the illustration
that is being set before us here. You see, right into the inward
parts, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of
joints and marrow. And it's a discerner. So, on
the one hand, yes, it can mean the Word of God, and the Word
of God can do that under the divine influence of the Spirit.
But I believe here, actually means the person of Christ just
as John says and the word was made flesh and dwelt among us
and we beheld his glory the glory as of the only begotten of the
father full of grace and truth now the reason I believe that
because if you look here it's actually speaking of a person
it says and is a discerner it's a person It goes on in the 13th
verse, neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight.
So it's speaking of a person, it's speaking of the person of
the divine word, the son of God. The son of God. Neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things
are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do. You see the word, of the Lord,
the divine person of the Son of God manifest in the flesh.
Now let us come more closely here then to the verse 10. For as the rain cometh down,
and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth
the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give
seed to the sower, Bread to the eater So shall my word be that
goeth forth out of my mouth You know, there's those lovely beautiful
words that are found in the Deuteronomy chapter 32 and Really opens up
this particular portion of God's Word Give ear O ye heavens and I will
speak and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth. My doctrine
shall drop as the rain, and my speech shall distill as the dew,
as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon
the grass. Because I will publish the name
of the Lord, ascribe ye greatness unto our God. He is the rock,
His work is perfect. That rock is Christ. He is the
rock. His work is perfect and all His
ways are judgment. A God of truth and without iniquity,
just and right is He. My doctrine. Now, this doctrine,
which means teaching, my doctrine shall drop as the rain and my
speech shall distill as the dew. as the small rain upon the tender
herb, and as the showers upon the grass. But we come back to
the words of our text. For as the rain cometh down,
and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth
the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give
seed to the sower, and bread to the eater, so shall my word
be. My doctrine shall be as the rain. look at the connection between
these two verses the word of the lord some some just understand
it in the letter in the intellectual understanding of the word of
god they have a with their natural understanding they receive and
accept it as the word of god but you know my beloved friends
we need something far deeper than that We've often explained to you
that water in Holy Scripture represents the divine person
of the Holy Ghost. And it's only as the Holy Ghost
seals the word into our hearts, or as Christ puts it in the parable
of the sower, the sower went forth to sow, and of course he's
speaking of the Lord's ministers as they go forth to preach the
gospel, so and forth to sow, and where that seed fell. Now,
what does the minister sow? The word of the Lord, the divine
word of the eternal God. And the Apostle Paul, when he
writes to the Thessalonians, he says, for our gospel came
not unto you in word only, that means just intellectually, but
in power in the Holy Ghost and with much assurance. And you
know, my beloved friends, we need to ask ourselves here this
morning as we gather around God's Word, has God's Word entered
your heart? Has it entered your very soul?
Has your soul been quickened into life? Has the Spirit of
God applied the Word to your heart? You see, these things,
They're absolutely vital, in fact. They're essential unto
salvation. And this is why these two things
are joined together. And the Apostle Peter, in the
first epistle, in the first chapter, and he says there, from verse
21, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from
the dead and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might
be in God. That, of course, is in Christ.
He's previously said in verse 19, but with the precious blood
of Christ as of a lamb, without blemish and without spot, who
very was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
who was manifested in these last times for you. Now, he says,
seeing you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through
the Spirit, through the Holy Ghost and the unfeigned love
of the brethren. See that you love one another
with a pure heart, fervently, being born again. How vital is
the new birth, being born again, not a corruptible seed, but incorruptible
by the word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. David in
Psalm 119, he says, Thy word, O Lord, is settled
in heaven forever, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever. For all flesh is as grass, and
all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth,
and the flower thereof falleth away, but the word of the Lord
endureth forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. You see, Paul, as he writes to
the Hebrews, he says about the preaching, he says, not being
mixed with faith in them that heard it. You see, we have to be given
faith to believe. And then we believe his word.
We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the eternal word. It's
by faith in Him. Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. For he that cometh unto God must
believe that he is God, and he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. In chapter 2 of 1 Peter, he goes
on. Wherefore, laying aside all malice,
and all guile, and hypocrisy, and envies, and all evil speakings
as newborn babes, Desire the sincere milk of the Word, that
ye may grow thereby. It is through the Word of the
Lord that your soul is nourished. It is through the preaching of
the Word that you are instructed in the way of righteousness and
of truth. If so be that ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious
to whom coming as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men,
but chosen of God. precious you see my beloved friends
it's by the Word of the Lord and by the Word of the Lord enter
in the heart and the soul is quickened and brought from spiritual
death into spiritual life by the Holy Ghost by the Holy Ghost
for as the rain cometh down from and the snow from heaven, and
return it not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring
forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread
to the eater. Now, you think of the word of
the law, the holy righteous law of God, sets before us what we the way that we should
live and the things that we should do and our relationship with
God. That's what is set forth in the
holy law of God and how that God is holy and righteous and
he will not at all acquit the guilty. Sin is any transgression
of the law of God. That's a definition of sin. And
when you and I break God's holy righteous law, we sin against
God. I've often explained to you the
word transgression, it means like a fence or a hedge around
a field and you put the livestock in there and they're kept together
within the field. But if one of those animals breaks
through the boundary or the hedge, then they transgress, that's
the meaning of it. Now God has set a boundary around
all of us, each one of us. God's holy, righteous law. And
if we break those holy laws, we transgress the boundary that
God has set around us. We break God's holy, righteous
law. See, my beloved friends, these
things are written in the word of God for our instruction. That's
what transgression means. You think of what the apostle
says, we all have sinned. and come short of thy glory.
We've all broken God's holy law. We're all born in sin, shaped
in iniquity. We all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. You think of what is set before
us in the third chapter of the book of Genesis of the fall of
Adam and of Eve. And how that man chose the way
of sin and unrighteousness. and offended God because he sinned
against God. There's a multitude of sins in
the Fall in the Garden of Eden. But we all have sins and as in
Adam all die. We're born that way because we
are the sons and daughters of Adam who himself sinned and he
ruined all his future race. The seeds of evil once brought
in increased and filled the world with sin. These are the things
that are taught in God's holy word. And if the Holy Spirit,
applying that word of the law into your hearts, revealing to
you your lost and ruined state and condition. And As the Lord Jesus Christ
himself says concerning the Holy Spirit when he has come he will
reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment.
When the Holy Spirit enters the heart and through the word of
God he will convince the sinner that they have sinned. And he will reprove them for
that sin. He will reprove the world or
convince that God is holy. If the Spirit of God enters your
heart, you'll know that you're unholy and He is holy. And you'll
be brought to see there's a great distance between you and a holy
God. End of judgment to come. It says
end of judgment. That's what the Holy Spirit will
do. He will convince you that when you die, you must appear
at the judgment seat of Jesus Christ. The wise woman of Tekoa,
she says in the book of Samuel, for we must need to die and be
as water spilt upon the ground that cannot be gathered again,
as it is a poison and a man wants to die. We wouldn't know these
things if they weren't revealed in His Word, but they are revealed
in His Word. It's appointed unto man once
to die, and after death the judgment. For we must all appear at the
judgment seat of Jesus Christ to receive of the deeds done
in the body. We must all appear. And this
is what is revealed in God's Word. This is how we know it,
because it's in God's Word. And when we read the holy law
of God, attached to that holy law is these unspeakably solemn
words, cursed is every man that doeth not all things that is
written in the book of the law to do them. Under the curse of
almighty God, you are, I am, if we're left in our natural
state. And we've got to appear at his judgment seat and answer. at the bar of divine judgment. You see, my beloved friends,
the Word of the Lord. And then we read in the New Testament,
of course, of the Word of His grace. The Word of His grace. Even the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Grace means the free unmerited
favor of God. We can't earn it, we can't buy
it. It's freely given in our Lord Jesus Christ, that wonderful
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. We constantly read of it, don't
we? In the closure of virtually every
epistle that we have, it's the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
both in the introduction and in the close of those epistles,
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the favour, the loving kindness
of the Lord, to poor, needy, wretched sinners. Look at the
beginning of our chapter. How everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. It's speaking of a poor sinner,
feeling their sinfulness, their wretchedness, their helplessness,
their hopelessness. How everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. It describes those that are to
come. Him that thirsteth. Everyone
that thirsteth, and he that hath no money. That means he that
is bankrupt and has nothing. Come ye by and eat, ye come by
wine and milk without money and without price. Verse three, incline
your ear and come unto me. The person speaking is Christ,
the mediator, the redeemer, the savior of sinners. Incline your
ear and come unto me. Here in your soul shall live
and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David. For I have given him, that's
Christ, for a witness to the people, and a leader and a commander
to the people. These exhortations come. Look at verse 6. Seek ye the
Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts,
and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him,
and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. It may be that there
is one here and you feel that you've so broken God's holy law,
you've so offended divine majesty, you're such an awful lump of
sin and uncleanness that you cannot come to him. You say,
and you're trying your hardest to make yourself better, you've
set yourself a task that you could never do. You cannot make
yourself better Like the hymn writer says, if you tarry till
you're better, you will never come at all. You will never come
at all. You'll never get better. You'll
never make yourself better. The only thing that will make
you better is by coming in faith to Jesus Christ and his precious
blood that cleanses from all sin and his glorious righteousness
that clothes a poor sinner to stand perfect in the presence
of Almighty God, clothes in the everlasting robe of the righteousness
of Christ, your sins all forgiven, your sins all washed away, the
blood of Jesus Christ, this is the word of his grace, the blood
of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanseth us from all sin, from all sin,
it does. Even our Lord Jesus Christ, you
just listen to the word of his grace, those wonderful words
that come from the lips of Jesus, the son of God, Come unto me,
all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. You may be seeking to find rest
in so many different ways, but the Lord Jesus Christ, he instructs
us, he says, come unto me. This is where you'll find rest.
This is where you'll find hope. This is where you'll find mercy.
This is where you'll find grace. Come unto me, all ye that labour. You may have come to chapel,
you may have come many times in your labouring, you want to
find God, you want to know God, you want to follow Him, and you
can't seem to find Him. You see, there's a lovely word
in the Acts of the Apostles. The Apostle Paul, he says about
feeling after God. Feeling after God. Who, in this
chapel this morning, is feeling after God. You long to hear his
voice, you long to find him. Maybe even like that dear woman,
when she pressed through the crowd, if I might but touch the
hem of his garment, I should be made whole. Where did that thought come from?
The Holy Spirit had quickened her soul. The Holy Spirit had
given her faith. And she believed that if she
could but touch the hem of Jesus' garment, she would be made whole. You see, this is, for as the
rain cometh down and the snow from heaven and returneth not
thither, but watereth the earth and maketh it to bring forth
and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the
eater, so shall my word be. that goes forth out of my mouth,
it shall not return unto me void. It shall not return unto me void.
No, but it will accomplish that which I pleased and it shall
prosper in the thing where to I sent it. The word of the Lord. under the
divine influence and power of the Holy Ghost. It's that lovely
word, it's a beautiful word, very instructive. In the first
epistle to the Corinthians, and the dear apostle, he speaks of
the divine work of the Holy Ghost in the heart of a poor sinner
in the second chapter in verse 9. But as it is written, this
is a quotation from Isaiah, I hath not seen nor ear heard, neither
ventured 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. 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 that
are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not
in the word which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the
natural man, Receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually deserved. But he that is spiritual
judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who
hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But
we have the mind of Christ. But God hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit, by the Word of the Lord. The Holy Spirit
is the author of Holy Scripture. Holy men of God spake as they
were inspired by the Holy Ghost. And the Holy Spirit alone is
able to apply that Scripture into the heart of a poor sinner.
Whether it be the Word of the Lord to convince him of sin,
or whether it be the word of his grace to deliver them from
sin and Satan's bondage and to bring them to Christ. He reveals
them. He reveals the things of Jesus
unto us. Oh, my beloved friends, may it
be that those of you that are truly hungry and in thirsting
after righteousness, you long to know these things, and you
long to feel the word of the Lord and its power in your heart.
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall
not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which
I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Now, what is so beautiful in
these words is the divine certainty of it. All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh unto me I will in
no wise cast out." Beautiful words of grace, aren't they? Chosen by the Father, redeemed
by the Son, sanctified by the Holy Ghost, salvation. The Apostle, touching on these
things when he writes to the Corinthians, he says that the
word of the gospel, the word of his grace, is not some uncertainty. He says all the promises of God
are yea and amen in Christ Jesus. It's nothing uncertain in it.
It's divinely certain. The word of the Lord will have
free course. And those that were chosen by
the Father and redeemed by the Son will be sanctified by the
Holy Ghost and the word of his grace will be sealed into their
hearts. and this this is the rain my
doctrine shall drop us the rain when the word is made a living
word and the doctrine of truth is made a living word in your
heart and you're brought to seek and to lay hold of christ you're
brought to feel your need of a savior i come not to save the
righteous but to bring sinners to repentance May it be, my beloved
friends, that the word of the Lord may have free course among
us. So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth.
It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it. May the Lord add his blessings. Let us sing together hymn number
1147. The tune is Niagara 877. The
heavens declare thy glory, Lord. In every star thy wisdom shines. But when our eyes behold thy
word, we read thy name in fairer lines. Hymn 1147. But then I said, O my brother,
we shall find him in paradise. ? Thou only child of God ? ? King
in Christ ? ? And I tell thee, son of God of men ? ? I will
pledge for thee my life ? ? He builds my justice on high
and great ? ? Shalom and shalom, divine praise ? ? Round yon virgin
mother and child ? Star-made like to me, early days
Designed to spread to ev'ry heart ? What shall I give thee, prosperous?
? ? Give to the world thy truth and power. ? ? Great shepherds ? ? That feed
the night ? ? All weary and strong ? ? Great star of brightness
? ? Yes, thou dost ? ? Blessed of love with every blight ? ?
Thy gospel reigns now, sing hallelujah ? Thy laws, O God, thy judgments
write. Thine own best wonders will reveal, It's our tribute, sing for him.
Offense I say, I'm sure in him. 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.