And left. you The notices for the week. If the Lord will, next Lord's
Day there will be a prayer meeting at 10.30 and Mr. Charles Warboys will preach in
the afternoon at 2 o'clock. As the chapel windows are to
be replaced this week, the weeknight services will both be held at
Cave Pits House. Mr. John Rosier will preach on
Thursday evening at seven o'clock, and our prayer meeting will be
on Tuesday evening at seven o'clock. In connection with the window
work, kindly remember to take your books home after the services
today. On the notice board there is
a letter of appreciation from the Christian Institute for the
recent collection. May the Lord help us to commence
our worship today with hymn number 736, tune Brookfield 310. Show me some token, Lord, for
good, some token of thy special love. Show me that I am born
of God and that my treasure is above. Hymn 736. O'er the land of the free and
the home of the brave? Sound true, fellow, thy special
call. Journey in and out, and home, oh, come. ? And left my treasure ? ? In the
dust ? ? My salvation ? ? Lord is this ? That all my sins may be subdued,
That all my precious promises ? They bleed to me and for my good
? ? Mercy of my Father to my soul ? And ever may my peace with thee
Thou stay my wounded, tortured soul and perhaps we'll be all good
to be. ? And I will sing it through my
heart ? ? And cover all my words and praise ? Let grace abound in every heart,
and teach thy child to sing thy praise. Thus may I sing that I am benign,
and fill my heart to thee assent. Neptune, I love thee. And at that time I called my father
and my friend. May we be helped to read in the
holy word of God, firstly from the book of the prophet Isaiah
in the 54th chapter, and afterwards a short portion from the 31st
chapter of the prophecy of Jeremiah. Firstly then, in the book of
the prophet Isaiah, reading chapter 54, Sing, O barren, thou that didst
not bear. Break forth into singing, and
cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child. For more
are the children of the desolate than the children of the married
wife, saith the Lord. Enlarge the place of thy tent,
and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy inhabitations.
Spare not, lengthen thy cords and strengthen thy stakes, for
thou shalt break forth on the right hand and on the left, and
thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities
to be inhabited. Fear not, For thou shalt not
be ashamed, neither be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to
shame, for thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt
not remember the reproach of thy widowhood anymore. For thy
maker is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is his name. and thy
Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth, shall
he be called. For the Lord hath called thee
as a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth,
when thou wast refused, saith thy God. For a small moment have
I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face
from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have
mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. For this is as
the waters of Noah unto me, for as I have sworn that the waters
of Noah should no more go over the earth. So have I sworn that
I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee. For the mountains
shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall
not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace
be removed. Saith the Lord that hath mercy
on thee, O thou afflicted, tossed with
tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair
colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires, and I will make
thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all
thy borders of pleasant stones, and all thy children shall be
taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children. In righteousness shalt thou be
established. Thou shalt be far from oppression,
for thou shalt not fear, and from terror, for it shall not
come near thee. Behold, they shall surely gather
together, but not by me, Whosoever shall gather together against
thee shall fall for thy sake. Behold, I have created the smith
that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth
an instrument for his work. And I have created the waster
to destroy. No weapon that is formed against
thee shall prosper. And every tongue that shall rise
against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage
of the servants of the Lord. And their righteousness is of
me, saith the Lord. And turning in the book of the
prophet Jeremiah, in the 31st chapter, The passage between verses 31
and 37. Jeremiah chapter 31, commencing
to read at verse 31. Behold, the day is come, saith
the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah. not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by
the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, which my covenant
they break, although I was an husband unto them, saith the
Lord. But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel, After those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and
write it in their hearts, and will be their God, and they shall
be my people. They shall teach no more every
man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord. For they shall all know me, From
the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sin no more. Thus saith the Lord,
which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of
the moon and of the stars for a light by night. which divideth
the sea when the waves thereof roar, the Lord of hosts is his
name. If those ordinances depart from
before me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall
cease from being a nation before me forever. Thus saith the Lord,
if heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth
searched out beneath. I will also cast off all the
seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the Lord. Amen. May the Lord bless his
word to us each and teach us now to pray. thou most gracious and ever-blessed
Lord God. Thou who didst create all things
by the word of thy power. Thou who dost sustain them by
that same word. Thou who art from everlasting
to everlasting. Condescend we beseech thee in
mercy to bow down thine ear and to hear speedily the cries and
petitions of thy poor waiting people. We desire thy presence. We desire thy spirit in the midst,
that blessed unction, that anointing, that will grant us to come unto
thee, the one living and true God, through the divine Son of
God, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And we bless thee that
he is described as Jesus Christ the righteous, for it is his
righteousness that is the ground and the confidence of his dear
saints. They are taught not to trust
in any merits of their own, no good deeds or performances, but
they must and shall flee to Christ and to plead his precious blood
and his merits, and the one who liveth after the power of an
endless life, their great high priest and heavenly intercessor. Oh, so help us to come, for we
need thy working. We need the energies of a divine
Holy Spirit. We need his illumining, that
light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of
Jesus Christ. Grant us truly to come. Yea,
thou hast favored us to be found within this house of prayer.
Thou hast brought our feet to this place in peace and safety. But we desire, gracious God,
more than this. We would come in that solemn
prayer, humbly bowing beneath thy feet, seeking to come boldly
under a throne of grace to obtain mercy and to find grace to help
in this our time of need. But we would acknowledge thy
faithfulness, thy goodness, thy covenant mercies, and we bless
thee that thou hast kept us in life, that thou hast granted
us our breath, thou hast sustained us through another Thou hast
granted us to know this, that Thou art the God who giveth Thy
people, yea, and all upon the earth, all things richly to enjoy. But it is especially Thy people,
Thy dear saints, who are enabled to acknowledge Thee as the source
and giver of all things. And if we have been favored in
days past Perhaps years pass to taste of thy rich mercies. The Lord Jesus Christ made precious
to the soul. In sins pardoned, thy mercy made
sweet to us. And our prayer is this, that
those former mercies might be renewed. For once we have experienced
these things, the smiles of a covenant God those words of comfort. Son, be of good cheer. Daughter, go in faith. Thy sins
be forgiven thee. And we shall desire continually
to know these things renewed and made precious to our souls.
But we desire that thou wilt look in mercy. And have we not
read in thy words that it was for a moment that in a little
wrath thou didst hide thy face from thy dear child. But he saith
with everlasting kindness, will I have mercy on thee? Perhaps
we have come into that place of thy people of old. And as
this same prophet did say to them, the Lord's arm is not shortened
that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that it cannot
hear. But your iniquities have separated
between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from
you. Know those times of darkness,
times of coldness, times when it is a midnight with the soul. And that little rock, those times
of justiceness, But if we are in such a state and case, wilt
thou not give the desire that we might taste again of thy pardoning
love? Oh, to be granted confession
of sin, repentance from sin, and granted those everlasting
kindnesses, those mercies, those drawings, those restorings of
souls. We would pray with the prophet
of old, revive thy work in the midst of the years. In wrath,
remember mercy. And how we need thee to grant
that reviving in the heart. How we need those fresh operations
of thy spirit. How we need those leadings. Some
word or promise made precious. A word that cometh with power
and unction. Oh, to taste again of those blessed
things, a precious and most needful savior. And that word, son, thy
sins be forgiven thee. And again, neither do I condemn
thee. Go and sin no more. Grant it,
we beseech thee, to some poor soul here this day, those who
feel those desires, those longings for a reviving in the heart.
I grant that once more, one or another might know the shining
of Thy face, might know that sunshine, that warmth, might
know those quickenings. Lord, we would think of all Thy
dear people, those in this place of worship, in this house of
prayer, those further afield, up and down our land, Thy small
causes are true, meeting under that blessed name of the Lord
Jesus Christ and in his authority. Those overseas also. We will
think of the dear pastor of this cause and commend unto thee his
labors this day in Grand Rapids. Help him as later we trust he
shall stand. to preach the unsearchable riches
of Christ. Oh, may there be a blessing attending
thy word. May there be signs following.
We desire that thou wilt encourage thy people, those little flocks,
those who perhaps know what it is, the feeble knees, the hands
that hang down, that grant strengthening, and encouragement we beseech
thee. We pray that thy words might
go forth in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. We desire that thou wilt be with
thy dear servant and help him in his difficult pathway. Those
hard things which thou hast shown him over this past year, the
sorrows and the loneliness of it, But, O, hold him up, and
undertake for him, we pray. And if it please thee, bring
him back safely to this dear flock and congregation. We are concerned, gracious Lord,
for the honour of thy name, for that preaching of thy gospel,
for it is the everlasting gospel, and it is the gospel of Christ,
the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth.
And if we have been taught of our personal need of that so
great salvation, then we shall be anxious to hear the word,
yea, the reconciling word, for that words that speaketh of those
things which shall make for our peace. My dear people are taught
concerning their need, and they thus desire to seek after those
things that shall supply their need, blood to atone for their
sins, the blood of cleansing, that they might be washed and
made white, and that righteousness which is of God, that righteousness
which Christ hath wrought, his spotless robe, the garments of
salvation. And we desire, gracious Lord,
that every teacher Thy word might go forth, but thou wilt prepare
hearts to receive it. And yea, prepare our hearts,
our poor, cold, stony hearts. But grant a little warmth, grant
those soft, reviving, refreshing dews. Grant that work of thy
spirit, that the seed might be received into good ground, that
it might germinate and grow. and look in mercy upon thy churches,
we pray. And may each one know that comforting
word of the Saviour, fear not, little flock, for it is my Father's
good pleasure to give thee the kingdom. So bless all thy little
flocks this day, and may there be prosperity within thy courts. We would, gracious Lord, bring
before thee the many needs of this land and nation in this
time of sorrow and of mourning the loss of a beloved sovereign,
one who hath served for many years. We would commend this
nation. Oh, may there be such a sorrow,
not only for this loss, but over sin. May there yet be repentance
granted, contrition on account of the many wickednesses and
sins of the land. We desire that thou wilt grant
a humbling, that thou wilt silence the blaspheming tongue, that
thou wilt fend the haughty spirit. May there yet again be an acknowledging
that thou art the one true and living God, that all other pretended
gods are but idols. May there be reverence unto thy
great name. We pray that thou wilt call thy
dear elect children out of this world's darkness into thy marvelous
light. Truly it is a wondrous thing
so to be called. And it is a wonderful thing not
only outwardly to be called, but to have those tokens of thine
electing mercy. For as thou didst say, O Lord,
many are called, but few are chosen. But we desire that there
may yet be some plucked as brands from the burning, some brought
out of this darkness, this idolatry, these things that have come upon
our land. May there be those taught concerning
thy truth, thy ways, thy ordinances. And yet have mercy, we pray,
and grant an inquiry And we desire that in all these things the
Lord Jesus Christ might be known as the King of kings and the
Lord of lords. May he be exalted and extolled
and very high. May we afresh each be taught
to look unto him for pardon and cleansing and for acceptance
even in him the beloved. What a mercy to be granted that
plea in the great day of judgment, even His blood, His blood to
avail, to atone, to redeem us from all iniquity, and to plead
His merits and His righteousness alone. And bring us off to Calvary. May we behold the Lamb of God,
slain from the foundation of the world, the Lamb of God which
taketh away the sin of the world. And it shall be an unspeakable
mercy if it shall be our sin also taken away, borne upon his
dear shoulders, and our guilt removed. Oh, to look unto a crucified,
and a risen, and a coming Lord Jesus, and to know him as the
captain of our salvation. To refresh us, we beseech Thee,
and grant us much help as presently we turn again to Thy Word. Bless
this dear congregation, be with those absent from us, and watch
over them in their pathways also. But oh, that it might be true
that a great door ineffectual is opened, and that Thy Word
might have free cause and be glorified even this day. Hear us, we beseech thee, as
we would present these things in and through that all-prevailing
Name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and for His dear
sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 129, the tune Ferndale 806. ye souls that are weak and helpless
and poor, who know not to speak, much less to do more. Lo, here's
a foundation for comfort and peace. In Christ is salvation,
the kingdom is his. Hymn 129. ? Sons of King and help us adore
? ? Heaven and earth do speak our thanks to you all ? O come, O come, all ye faithful,
O come, O come, all ye faithful, It hath lying roots, that have
lost their roots. It shall not take root, that
can take root. Visit my sore fingers, where
mouths have quivered. I need them so dearly, and their names don't seem. In the awesome way, for ever
His will. May Jesus our King, in earth and heaven Where'er we have wandered, there
might be its place. The canton is stronger than all
other place. ? His power over all ? ? Irreplicable
in all ? ? Sir, grace is all ? ? Sir, gender is all ? ? Within these blessed memories
? ? We'll worship this night ? ? Remember this, dear days ? ? We've had along with the night ? Thy grace we adore, Thy reigns
our delight, Earth, heaven and earth, and glory ever. ? His words are heavenly ? ? And
the song of angels ? ? Stronger than the heav'nly ? ? And the song of angels ?
? May the roses be ? ? And the
bush thy will ? ? And the holly be ? ? The castle drawn for thee
? ? There glowing, there floating
? ? With all kind of friends ? ? E'er striving, e'er growing
? ? Till the end of the world ? May the Lord, the Spirit, be
pleased to lead us into all truth, into those precious things concerning
the Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. As we return to a verse in the
chapter that we read from the prophecy of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter
54. Those things that we read in
the 13th verse of the chapter. Isaiah chapter 54. We shall read again from verse
11 to verse 13. O thou afflicted, tossed with
tempers, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair
colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires, and I will make
thy windows of agate and thy gates of carbuncles, and all
thy borders of pleasant stones. And all thy children shall be
taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children."
These words of promise, words of exhortation. Though at present
the state of the church be very low, and be very low perhaps
in her own eyes. Yet the Lord has a word of promise,
and he says, all thy children shall be taught of the Lord,
and great shall be the peace of thy children. For the picture that is given
in the earlier parts of this chapter is of a barren woman
But he saith, there will be prosperity. There will be fruitfulness. And
in her latter end, more shall be the children of the desolate
than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord. And he continues with this picture. And he says, enlarge the place
of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy inhabitation. And he says, thou shalt break
forth on the right hand and on the left, and thy seed shall
inherit the Gentiles and make the desolate cities to be inhabited. And Isaiah prophesied to a people
who were shortly to go into captivity. He prophesied in various times
and in various circumstances but in the main to a people who
were steeped in idolatry and thus a people who were brought
low and would be brought much lower. But there are these gracious
promises and especially in this portion of Isaiah. After all,
this is the chapter after chapter 53 that speaks of the sufferings
and the labor of the Lord Jesus in the redemption of his people.
In the 55th chapter that follows, the insistence that the Lord's
purpose must be brought to pass. That word that shall go forth
out of his mouth. He says, it shall not return
unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please. It shall
prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. Contrary, perhaps,
to all expectations. Contrary to the outward appearance
of things. But he says, as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts. And so there are these promises.
Promises for a time that is yet to come. And that is why in verse
13, the promise is respecting the children, those of the succeeding
generation. He says, all thy children shall
be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children. And it speaks of better things,
a more gracious provision. And so in one sense, it is a
prophecy given to the Jews of old. But we know that the prophecies
were made to those who believed, to those who looked for the coming
Messiah, for those who waited for the Christ of God. And so
it is a promise that the Lord's ancient people would, at his
coming, come into these better things. But we also know that
the promises that were made to his Old Testament people were
made on the basis of faith in Christ. And because the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ encompasses those from every nation and kindred
and tribe and people. And those things that were written
aforetime are for their learning, for their comfort, for their
encouragement also. The gospel was firstly to the
Jew, but it is also to the Greek or to the Gentile. And so these
things speak of a work of God in all his dear people, whether
Gentile or Jew. And he says, all thy children
shall be taught of the Lord. Or as we might read it, taught
of Jehovah. And just dipping into the next
verse, verse 14, in righteousness shalt thou be established. Thou
shalt be far from oppression. And doubtless the godly in Israel
or Judah would have asked, what is it to be taught of Jehovah? And our thoughts thus go to that
passage that we read in Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 31, and especially
the promise given there in verse 34. Speaking of something very closely
connected, our text mentions how all thy children shall be
taught of the Lord. But to Jeremiah he says this,
They shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man
his brother, saying, know the Lord. For they shall all know
me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the
Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sin no more. Well, one might have said, there
is a teaching concerning God. It was the ministry after all
of the Levites, the priests. And we know that sometimes they
went from place to place instructing the people, doubtless in the
synagogues. And speaking of the Jewish synagogue,
was that not the place where the word of God was kept? Those
scrolls that were entrusted to the minister in the synagogue
and they would be read on the Sabbath days. So there was a
teaching. There was an instruction. But
surely God is saying something else here. Well, to Jeremiah,
he gave this prophecy. They shall teach no more every
man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, know the
Lord. Which is to say that there is
prophet in that instruction, in the laying down of line upon
line and precept upon precept, in the study and reading of God's
holy word. But that is only the means, because
the Lord's dear people desire something much more than that.
They desire this, that, as God said through Jeremiah, they shall
all know me. Yea, from the least of them unto
the greatest of them. And they desire this also, that
they shall be taught, not merely of men, but of the Lord. And do we not know it for ourselves
that it is that teaching of the Holy Spirit, applying the sacred
truth of Holy Scripture to the heart It is that which is truly
profitable. It is that which shall make even
for our peace. And the Jews of old, if they
had faith in the coming Messiah, looked for it, and they desired
it, to be taught not merely by the words of their human instructors,
but to be taught by the blessed influence of the Holy Spirit
of God. Well blessed be God for his dear
son, who came in the fullness of time, made of a woman, made
under the law. For the Lord Jesus in his teaching,
in his instruction, and when we are considering this particular
text in Isaiah, we cannot but turn to that which the Lord himself
spoke concerning him. No doubt many of you will know
the passage, John chapter six, and particularly verse 45. Now the Lord Jesus had been teaching
the unbelieving Jews that he was the bread of God.