The notices for the coming week
are God willing as follows. Pastor will preach here next
Lord's Day at 10.30 and two o'clock. It is our Thanksgiving services
on Friday when Mr. Timothy Parrish is expected to
preach at 3.30 and 6.30. There will be a collection at
those services in support of the Christian Institute There'll
be no service here on Thursday and no prayer meeting on Tuesday
this week. There will be a church meeting
here on Tuesday the 6th of September at 7 o'clock. Let us commence our services
today by singing together hymn number 633 and the tune is Roscommon
401. The love of Christ is rich and
free, Fix on his own eternally, Nor earth nor hell can it remove,
Long as he lives his own, he'll love him ? Peace for all our reason eternally
? ? Lord of all help and deliverance ? ? Lord as He lives, His word will
go on ? ? His coming of day breaks to me
? There were two of us each, charming, T'was love that took
their frozen breath, ? And all are painted to the end
? ? From its hurts withdrawn ? ?
Lord, have mercy no more ? ? Have mercy no more ? ? And turn the
shoulders ? God's own way. Live long, all
ye souls, to heaven's blessed day. A vassal he is she with love
and God with witness say to God Love goes their own from winter
light, And love of truth in each of their strife. ? In us to every changing sea ?
? Nor o'er to him from Zion's wing ? ? That made this world a better
place ? ? That death beyond the grave ? ? In heav'nly space His birth shall
prove ? ? The place in glory of God above ? Let us read together from the
holy word of God in the first epistle of Peter and the first
chapter. The first chapter of the first
epistle of Peter. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia, elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ, grace unto you
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. to an inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven
for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye
greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, Ye are
in heaviness through manifold temptations, that the trial of
your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and
honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having
not seen ye love, in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believe
in, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory, receiving
the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls, of which
salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who
prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching
what or what manner of time The Spirit of Christ which was in
them did signify when he testified beforehand the sufferings of
Christ and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was revealed
that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister the
things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached
the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven
which things the angels desire to look into. Wherefore, gird
up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end for
the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of
Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not fashioning
yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance, but
as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner
of conversation. Because it is written, be ye
holy, for I am holy. And if you call on the Father,
who without respect of person judges according to every man's
work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear. For as much as
you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver
and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb
without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you, 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. Seeing ye have purified your
souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, unto unfeigned love
of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure
heart, fervently. Being born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible, 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
for ever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached
unto you. May the Lord bless that portion
of his precious word, and grant unto us a spirit of real prayer. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty,
which is an art, an art to come, we bow before thy great and glorious
majesty. We desire a spirit of real prayer,
with the grace of supplication and thanksgiving, as we bow before
thy great and holy majesty. We desire to worship Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. We desire that Thou wouldst be
present with us here today by Thy blessed Spirit. Dwell therefore
in our hearts. We do humbly beseech Thee, most
blessed Spirit of truth, grant that we may feel Thy presence
and Thy power, and the savour and the unction of the Word,
under thy heavenly power, as it may please thee that the word
may penetrate our hearts, we do humbly beseech thee, for it
is with the heart that man believeth unto righteousness. And we pray
that we may have clear believing views of our Lord Jesus Christ,
that we may lay hold of him, that we may touch the hem of
his garment, that we may draw from that sacred fullness that
there is in him, that fullness of salvation, of redemption,
that fullness of love and of mercy. O most gracious Lord,
O love beyond conception great, O how great is thy love, how
great is thy mercy, how great is thy lovingkindness, how great
is thy grace. Gracious God, O do grant that
we may come and worship thee, For Lord, we need great grace
because we're great sinners and we desire to come in confession
of our sins and of our wanderings and of our backslidings, of our
ill manners in this wilderness journey. We come, most gracious
Lord, and we would humbly beseech you to forgive us our sins and
grant that we may forgive those that trespass against us. we
do humbly beseech of thee, that we may love thee and serve thee
and follow thee in our day and in our generation. Dear Lord
Jesus, we pray that thou wouldst come and stand in our midst here
today, that we may behold thy glory, the glory as of the only
begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. Oh, that
we may so behold thee that we may behold the Lamb of God that
taketh away the sin of the world, that we may behold him as our
prophet, priest, and king, that we may be favoured, O Lord, with
thy sacred presence. In thy presence I am happy. In
thy presence I am secure. O Lord, in thy presence I can
easily all things endure. O grant then thy sacred presence
and thy blessing. and that we may know that nearness
and union and communion with thee this day, as we gather around
thy word, we do humbly beseech of thee. We pray that we may
be favoured with that sacred spirit of adoption, whereby we
cry, Abba, Father. O Lord, we pray that it may be
our sacred experience as the Apostle himself speaks of it,
For God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. My God, my Father, blissful name. O may I call thee mine. We do pray that then, most gracious
Lord, that that wonderful 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, we do humbly beseech
thee, even today, as we gather in thy courts around thy word,
that may thy word be a living word, that may it be, O Lord,
a convicting word, and may it be a word of comfort, a word
of consolation, a word of direction. O do grant that thou wouldst
make thy word very precious unto our souls, We do humbly beseech
of thee. We pray to be made more spiritually
minded. We mourn because we're so carnally
minded. We mourn because we're so earthbound. We pray to be more heavenly minded,
more spiritually minded. We do humbly beseech thee, and
that we may delve into thy word, and that thy word may be a lamp
unto our feet and a light unto our path. Hear us, Lord, we do
humbly beseech thee. For without Thee we can do nothing,
we are nothing, and we have nothing. Our all is bound up in the Lamb.
Everything that we stand in need of is in Him. All that we may
draw from that sacred treasury, even today, we do humbly beseech
of Thee. Bless our beloved brethren, the
deacons, and give them needed grace, wisdom, and help in all
their responsibilities. not only among us, but among
the churches, and gird them with all sufficient grace day by day. And, O Lord, remember each one
of our brethren and sisters in church fellowship, those with
us and those not present. We lovingly commend them all
to Thee, to the word of Thy grace, which is able to build them up
and to grant them an inheritance among them that are sanctified.
Help us to love each other, serve each other, bear each other's
burdens, thereby fulfilling the law of Christ. We pray, most
gracious Lord, that thou, in thy precious mercy, would hear
prayer for the whole of our congregation, and that thou wouldst have mercy
upon each one. Thou knowest the concerns, the
burdens, the trials, the perplexities, the sorrows, the losses, the
crosses. O Lord, it's all known to thee,
and we lovingly commend them to thee, and beseech thee to
graciously bless them this day, that thou would relieve them
of their burdens, and help them to cast their burden upon the
Lord, for he shall sustain thee. O Lord, we do beseech thee that
it may be so, even today, that the weary may find rest, that
the thirsty may drink of living water, that the hungry may eat
of the bread of life. Oh, do grant that it may be so,
Lord, even today. And we pray that the prodigals
may return. Nothing is too hard for thee.
None are beyond thy power. Thou art able, O Lord, to do
abundantly more than we can even ask or think. And so we come
to Thee and beseech Thee that those prodigals may return, that
Thou wouldst have mercy upon them, that Thou wouldst cause
them to be in want, so they have to return. Lord, hear us. We humbly beseech Thee for Thy
great namesake. O knowest where they are, O Lord,
and at the appointed time they will come by Thy divine power. Oh, we do pray, most gracious
Lord, that thou wouldst fulfil that precious promise, I will
bring thy sons from far and thy daughters from the ends of the
earth. Lord, hear us, we humbly beseech thee. Have mercy upon
them, we pray thee. Lord, we do pray that the light
and glory and power of the gospel may shine into this village and
into the surrounding villages and hamlets. and that many precious
souls may yet be gathered in, gathered unto Christ, that this
little house of prayer may yet be filled with hungry, longing
souls, pressing into the kingdom of heaven, that there may be
a fulfilling of that precious word, that the place wherein
thou dwellest shall be too straight for thee. O most gracious Lord,
we do pray that thou wouldst graciously work As promised in
thy word I will work, and who shall let it? Lord, abundantly
bless the provision of thy house, and satisfy her poor with bread. We do humbly beseech of thee,
grant that the Lord Jesus may be exalted among us as a prince
and as a saviour, for to give faith and repentance and remission
of sins. O Lord of hosts, O God of Israel,
O thou that dwellest between the cherubim, shine forth before
Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh, and come and save us, O Lord,
we beseech thee. Let thy hand be upon the man
of thy right hand, the son of man, whom thou madest strong
for thyself, so will not we go back from thee. Oh, we pray,
most gracious Lord, that thou wouldst hear us in heaven, thy
holy dwelling place. And when thou hearest, O Lord,
forgive. But we pray that thou wouldst
bless the little ones and the children, O that thou wouldst
bless them indeed, and bore their ears to the doorposts of thy
house, put thy holy fear in their hearts in their young and tender
years, that it may be with them as it was with Nehemiah. So did
not I, because of the fear of the Lord, do richly bless them. Lord, we beseech thee. We pray that Thou wouldst especially
be with those in their teenage years, and we pray that Thou
wouldst graciously bring them to living faith in Jesus Christ,
to become followers of Thee, and of those who through faith
and patience inherit the promises. And be with them, O Lord, in
every untrodden step in life's journey. Guide them, O Thou great
Jehovah. Grant, O Lord, we pray Thee,
that thou wouldst graciously guide them in their education,
in future employment, and that, Lord, a partner in life's journey,
we lovingly commend them to thee. We pray most gracious, Lord,
that thou wouldst, in thy precious mercy, bless those that are parents,
those in the midst of the journey of life, O that thou wouldst
be gracious unto each one, But we pray that thou would deliver
us each from the temptations of Satan, from the power and
dominion of sin. Oh, do hear us, Lord, as promised
in thy word, that when the enemy comes in like a flood, the spirit
of the Lord will lift up a standard against him. Be gracious, Lord,
we do beseech thee for thy great name's sake. And we pray, most
gracious Lord, that thou would Mercifully look upon those of
us in the evening time of life's journey and graciously bless
us. As the outward man perishes may
the inward man be renewed day by day. Prepare us for that great
change which must come. We do humbly beseech thee and
at the appointed time give an abundant entrance into thy heavenly
kingdom. any among us, O Lord, that know
Thee not. We pray that this day they may
be awakened, and they may be brought to know Thee, and to
serve Thee, and to follow Thee. Hear us, Lord, we humbly beseech
Thee, that for Thy great name's sake we pray for all Thy servants
as they labour in word and doctrine upon the walls of Zion. We pray
for Thy servant expected among us on the coming Friday, that
he may come up in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel
of Jesus Christ, that he may dip his foot in oil and be made
acceptable unto thee, brethren, that the word preached may be
in power in the Holy Ghost, and with much assurance we do humbly
beseech thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that thou wouldst make us fruitful unto every good work and word
and way, that we may do good unto all men, especially unto
the household of faith. We pray, most gracious God, that
thou, in thy precious mercy, would remember thy Zion, and
that thou, the great Lord of the harvest, would send forth
true labourers into the harvest, and grant the settlement of pastors
among the churches, and grant a reviving and a renewing and
a replenishing. We do humbly beseech of thee. We pray, most gracious Lord,
that those that go out from us, that labour in other lands, that
thou wouldst graciously bless them, supply all their many returning
needs. We would especially commend to
thee the Free Grace Evangelistic Association and thy dear servant
as he labours in those countries in the Far East and also in Africa,
that thou wouldst gird him help him and support him and strengthen
him and grant good success to his many labours. And remember
the Mombasa mission in Kenya, that thy rich blessing may rest
upon them there, that there may be an abundant harvest of souls. And remember the Savannah Education
Trust and that great work that they are doing in Ghana. We do
humbly pray thee, O Lord, we beseech thee. Remember O Lord,
we pray thee our government and those that lead us. We thank
thee that all things are in thy hand, and by thee kings reign
and princes decree justice. Gracious God, we pray that we
may be enabled to leave it in thy hands and that thou wouldst
look upon us at this time in crisis in the nations of the
earth and give wisdom and guidance to our leaders. We think of the
poor people of Ukraine and their terrible war and destruction
and loss of life. We pray that thou would overcome
their enemies and bring to naught the counsels of the wicked, O
Lord, we beseech thee. Remember our beloved Queen and
the royal household and grant thy richest blessing to rest
upon them, we do humbly beseech of thee. And O Lord God, We thank
Thee for all Thy tender mercies, which I knew every morning, and
great is Thy faithfulness. We thank Thee for our house of
prayer. We thank Thee for the supply of all our many returning
needs. We thank Thee for the open Bible.
We thank Thee, most gracious Lord, for the glories of Christ,
for the wonders of redeeming love, for the fullness of that
salvation that is in Him. We thank Thee that in him we
know the love of our Heavenly Father, and through him we receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. We thank thee for the holy life
he lived as a man here upon earth. The law has been fulfilled and
honoured and magnified. Oh, we do bless thee. Everlasting
righteousness has been brought in. We thank thee for Calvary
where the Lamb was slain. where sin has been put away,
where divine justice has been satisfied. We thank Thee that
He died for our sins and rose again for our justification.
We thank Thee that He's now ascended into glory. Sit at Thy right
hand, tis He instead of me is seen when I approach to God. Oh, the wonders and the glories,
the beauty and the loveliness that we see in our Lord Jesus
Christ. the altogether lovely one, the
chiefest among 10,000. Come and touch one's lips with
a live coal from off the heavenly altar. Come and open the word
of truth to our heart and to our understanding. Come and seal
it into our souls. We ask with the forgiveness of
all sin, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1024. The tune is Jackson's 163. O
for a heart to praise the Lord, a heart from sin set free, A heart that's sprinkled with
the blood, so freely shed for me, hymn 1024. Sir, free! The heart that sprang
forth with the bough, Sir, free! Is dead for me. God of grace, I shall beseech
thee, that faith may deepest know, that earning my soul's
purpose be, ? Where Jesus Christ was born ?
? O come all ye faithful ? ? Joyful
and triumphant ? They shine the night,
golden mem'rals, of Him that dwells within. I am ? Come with me through the dark
? ? By thine immaculate hand ? ? I'm lost, I'm lost, I'm lost
? Rightly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the first epistle
of Peter in chapter one, and we will read the first clause
of verse eight for our text. First epistle of Peter, chapter
one. The first clause of verse eight. Whom having not seen, ye love. The whole verse reads, whom having
not seen ye love, in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing,
ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. Whom having not seen ye love. When I got up this morning, as
is normal, first thoughts are toward the Lord, I should say
yesterday morning, and toward the services of today. And you
know, the enemy came in with such power, and he said to me,
he said, you don't even know if there is a God, And that it
was such a powerful temptation. You don't even know if there
is a God. All this could be a complete myth. And I sat there pondering it. And it was a tremendous attack
of the enemy. If you haven't known it, you
won't fully understand what I mean. But he comes sometimes with such
great power. And he puts thoughts into your
mind. that can be quite overwhelming. But as I sat pondering what the
enemy had said, these words dropped with such sweetness onto my spirit,
whom having not seen ye love. What a beautiful word, isn't
it? And sometimes it's a strange way that the Lord brings us to
a text. It came with such sweetness into
my heart, I was absolutely sure that that was the Lord's direction
for this morning's service. Whom, having not seen, ye love. In whom, though know ye see him
not, yet believe in, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory. You see, though ye see him not,
What he means of course is with the natural eye. And the word
of God is very clear to us. No man has seen God at any time. No man has seen God at any time.
God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him
in spirit and in truth. And the manifestation of God
to his people is in Christ. Just as that lovely word, I often
quote it to you in Timothy. There is one God and one mediator
between God and man, the man, Christ Jesus, who gave his life
of ransom for all to be testified in due time. That one glorious person of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the mediator. I just quoted it in prayer, "'Tis
He instead of me is seen when I approach to God." And just
before I came out, my mind was very much drawn to the Psalm
19. The heavens declare the glory
of God. Day unto day uttereth speech.
Night unto night uttereth knowledge. Creation that is around us speaks
to us of God. The wonders of creation, the
glories of creation. It speaks to us of the eternal
God, it utters speech, day unto day, night unto night. It speaks to us of a great God,
an almighty God, whom, having not seen, ye love. It's like the divine work of
the Spirit, of the Holy Ghost. It's likened in Holy Scripture
to the wind, You can't see the Holy Ghost. He's a spirit. But you can see his work. You
can see his power. You can feel his work in your
own heart. And you can feel the power of
that work in your own soul. You can't see him. I've often
likened it to the great storm that we had back in 1987 when
across the southeast of England some 10,000 trees were uprooted. and terrible damage was done.
Now you couldn't see the wind, but you'd have been a very foolish
man if you'd have said, there isn't any wind, I can't see it,
because you can see the effect of it, the power of it, in the
uprooting of all the trees and the terrible destruction. You
see it's like that with the Holy Spirit, he's likened to the wind.
The wind bloweth where it listeth, we know not whence it cometh
nor whither it goeth, So is everyone that is born of the Spirit. Have you been born of the Spirit?
Have you been given spiritual life and light? Vital questions. Absolutely vital. Except a man
be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom of
Heaven. It's utterly impossible for you to enter the Kingdom
of Heaven unless you're born again. Hence the Lord Jesus says
ye must be born again. And when we're born again, the Holy
Spirit dwells in our hearts. And he works in our hearts and
he works in our lives. And he works in our circumstances. Whom, having not seen, ye love. It's the Holy Spirit that gives
us the spirit of faith. And the spirit of faith looks
alone to Jesus Christ. And as we read, I think it's
in the Colossians, a faith which worketh by love. By love. Just like it says in our text,
who have we not seen ye love? It's a faith that worketh by
love. Faith is attracted to Jesus Christ. Faith sees something
needful and necessary in Jesus Christ. And it looks to Jesus
Christ and it cleaves to Jesus Christ, but it's a faith that
worketh by love. You love him. As John says, we
love him because he first loved us. Whom, having not seen, ye love. I think it's in the first epistle
of John and chapter 4 and it says in verse 20 if a man say
I love God and hated his brother he is a liar for he that loveth
not his brother whom he has seen how can he love God whom he hath
not seen and this is it and this commandment have we from him
that he who loveth God, love his brother also. There's so
much instruction in this particular chapter, the fourth chapter of
John's Gospel. If you look at verse 7, And beloved,
let us love one another. For love is of God, and everyone
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not,
knoweth not God. It's fundamental to faith. God
is love. And this was manifested, the
love of God toward us because that God sent his only begotten
son into the world that we might live through him. He is the living
one. He is the one that gives life.
He is the one that maintains that life in the heart. It's
by union to Christ. that we are delivered from sin
and Satan's power. The less union we have with Christ,
the more worldly we become, the more carnal we become. It's only
as we have that loving union with Christ that has a sanctifying
effect in our heart, on our very being. It separates us. It separates
us. Whom having not seen, ye love. love. How many of you does this
find an echo in your heart? David he says I love the Lord
because he has heard my voice the voice of my supplications
in this was manifested the love of God toward us because that
God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might
live through Him, that we might live through Him in Christ. Here in His love, not that we
loved God, but that He loved us. There's the source of our
love. You see the source of love in
the Eternal Father. It's spoken of in John chapter
3, that God so loved the world, He gave His only begotten Son. The infinite love of God is seen
in the person of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. God was manifest
in the flesh. The eternal 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. We see the love of God in His
Son, Jesus Christ. when he lived as a man here upon
earth, fulfilling and magnifying and honoring that holy law of
God. He did it for love's sake. Full
of love to man's lost race. He magnified the law. Something
you and I can never do. You might say, why? Because you're
born in sin. You're shaped in iniquity. Sin
is in everything we do, in thought, word and deed. We're born that
way. We have a heart which is deceitful
above all things and desperately wicked. But this man, the holy
God man, the man Christ Jesus, he did no sin. Neither was guile
found in his mouth. Spotless, innocent and pure,
our great Redeemer stood while Satan's fiery darts he bore,
and did resist to blood. Look at the love of our father
and the love of his only begotten son when in the garden of Gethsemane
our eternal father laid upon him his only begotten son manifest
in the flesh. He laid upon him the iniquity
of us all. On such love my heart still ponders. Love so rich, so full, so free. the eternal love of God in Christ,
our sins swallowed up in Christ, our sins forgiven in Christ. You know, friends, if the Holy
Spirit truly softens our hearts, we shall be so overwhelmed with
that love of what Christ has done for us. Yea, I have loved
thee, can be said of thee, Trinity, in unity, Father, Son and Holy
Ghost. We've spoken of the love of the
Father, we've spoken of the love of the Son, but don't forget
the love of the Holy Spirit. It's He that proceeded forth
from the Father and the Son, that enters your sinful, wretched,
wicked heart, and that sanctifies it, and that gives you spiritual
life, And then by his grace brings you into union with Christ. He
convinces of sin and then he shows the wonderful glorious
of our Lord Jesus Christ and his gracious ability to take
away sin and to forgive sin. As David says in Psalm 130, but
there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared. And
all this my beloved friends flows from the glorious, eternal God
of Heaven, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, here in His love. Not that we love God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. That word propitiation, it's
a similar word to atonement. It actually means the wrath-ending
sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ that has atoned for the sins
of his church, of his bride, of his people. Their sins and
their iniquities will I remember no more. Why? Because they're
eternally swallowed up in Christ. The Father took away our sins
from us and he laid them on his Son, Jesus Christ. and he paid
the redemption price. Beloved, if God so loved us,
we are also to love one another. To love one another. These things,
they go together, notice it. You know, we could just dwell
on the eternal love of God and just look entirely at that, but
we must look at what is connected to it and in the word of God.
If this eternal love of God reaches your heart, you'll walk in love. Not only to your brethren, but
to them that are without. You'll walk in love. You'll love your neighbor as
yourself. Just as Christ did. And this love in your heart will
enable you to do that. It will enable you to do that.
You see, love we whosoever shall confess that jesus is the son
of god god dwelleth in him and he in god and we have known and
believed the love that god hath to us god is love infinite love
eternal love almighty love overwhelming love that's what flows through
jesus christ our lord the love of christ is rich and free blessed
to his own eternally There's a beautiful hymn that we opened
with, lovely hymn of William Gatsby's. How we knew that love. And we have known and believed
the love that God had to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth
in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him, and God in him. Friends, do we? Do we bring forth
these fruits of love? The Apostle James, he says, love
is a fulfilling of the law. The spirit of love, this eternal
love, is a fulfilling of the law, as enabled by divine grace,
by the love of Christ shed abroad in your heart. You're able to
walk. You're able to follow the Lord
Jesus Christ. You speak as he used to speak. You love as he loved. It's an
infinite love, it's an eternal love. Whom, having not seen,
ye love. In whom, though now ye see him
not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory. These believing views these believing
views of our Lord Jesus Christ. They expand our understanding
of God, of his love, of Christ. When we have those enlarged thoughts
regarding our Lord Jesus Christ, we have a greater understanding
of God, of his loving heart, of His everlasting kindness. That love that could never be
removed from us, in spite of all our sins, in spite of all
our backslidings, in spite of all our rebellions, that love
can never remove. It remains. It always will remain. Yea, I have loved Thee with an
everlasting love. Therefore, With loving kindness
have I drawn thee. It's an everlasting love, an
eternal love, a love that can never change. It can never change
in spite of anything that we do. It can never change, it remains
the same. It's that beautiful word in Ephesians
chapter three and from verse 17, it was the words that the
Lord used to first enlighten my soul and to bring me to Christ. That Christ may dwell in your
hearts by faith. That ye, notice again the connection
between faith and love. That ye being rooted and grounded
in love. You see it's a faith that worketh
by love. May be able to comprehend with
all saints. What is the breadth and length
and depth and height? And to know the love of Christ,
which passes knowledge. What does it mean? It passes
anything that we can speak of. You can't express fully. It's
a similar thing to what the spouse in Solomon's Song, Chapter 5,
and she goes through that beautiful description of the Lord Jesus
Christ, my beloved is white and ruddy, And then when she comes
to the end, she says, yay, he is altogether lovely. She's lost
for words. She cannot speak any more fully
than she has done. He's altogether lovely. This glorious savior, this precious
redeemer, who's loved me with an everlasting love, who will
not let me go. Who will not let me go in spite
of all my sin and all my rebellion. But he won't let you go. He never
will. He'd never let one of his children
go to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge that you
might be filled with all the fullness of God. You see this
fullness of God is his love. It's infinite love. It's eternal
love. It's an overcoming love and it
fills the heart of the believer. It also at times fills their
hearts with shame. when they realize the infinite
love of God to them and their poor returns to Him. You see,
this love, to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now
unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think. You see, these things to your
mind, perhaps at this present time, may seem to be far away. able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh
in us. You may have some impossible
things, you may have some hopeless things, you think well I can't
get beyond these things that stand in the way. My dear beloved
friends the love of God in Christ will overcome those things and
He will overcome them in your heart, and He will overcome them
in your circumstances. He will give you an overcoming
faith, a faith that worketh by love. Believing. Believing in our last hymn, the
last verse, particularly drew me to it. Believing we rejoice. Oh, it's a precious thing, but
when that gift of faith is so brought into exercising the soul
by the Holy Ghost and love to Christ, to his people, to his
word. It's an overwhelming love, it
will overcome you, it will overcome all opposition, it will overcome
all sin, it'll overcome all helplessness, it'll overcome all felt uselessness. This glorious love of Christ,
shed abroad in the heart, Now unto him that is able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the
power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the church
by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Amen. Oh that the Lord
would grant us more of this love and discover more of this love
in our heart and in our life. and in our temperament, that
it may have such an effect upon us that we will love our neighbour
as ourselves, that we'll love the Lord our God with all our
heart, and we'll love our neighbour as ourselves. This is the effect
of the love of Christ in the heart when it's shed abroad in
the soul, whom having not seen, ye love, ye love. It'll help
you to forsake those besetting sins, the love of God in Christ,
It will overcome all the opposition within you. It's a precious thing,
my beloved friends. It's the driving force in the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. Love. Faith that worketh by love. It's abundant. It's almighty
love. It is. It'll make you willing
to do anything for Christ's sake. Whatever that may be, it'll make
you willing. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. And this divine love of Christ
shed abroad in the heart. What did Christ himself say?
If ye love me, keep my commandments. If ye love me, keep my commandments. You know, We often speak of it
relative to the sacred ordinances of God's house. But it means
it in a much broader sense than that as well. It does mean that. And the only right and proper
way of entering into the sacred ordinances of the gospel in the
New Testament church is by love. I remember years ago hearing
a man preach and he was speaking so ferociously of what the Lord
would do to you if you didn't walk and follow him in his ways. And when he was saying it, I
thought, man, what are you talking about? The Lord doesn't make
you be baptised, he doesn't whip you, he doesn't drive you, he'll
draw you in love. That's the only right way, to
be drawn in love. Love to Christ, love to his word,
love to his people, love to his ways. desire to follow him. Love brings to compliance the
will. It does. You'll do it in love. You do it and you have to do
it because of love. And that will, in this right
sense, it will force you to do it. In love. Because, you know,
that's how the gospel works. whom having not seen ye love,
in whom though now we see him not, yet believe he, we rejoice
with joy unspeakable and full of glory. He says in the next
verse, receive in the end of your faith even the salvation
of your souls. The end of your faith, even the
salvation of your souls, and you'll rejoice. You'll see, I
should never forget when I was brought into Gospel Liberty,
it was actually this third verse of this first epistle, this first
chapter of Peter, and it was the third verse that the Lord
breathed with such sweetness and power into my very soul. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again under a lively hope by the Resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead. And you know, friends, that was
such a wonderful season of blessing to me. The forgiveness of sins, the
righteousness of Christ, the perfections of Christ were made
so precious to me. And I can honestly say I rejoiced
with joy unspeakable and full of glory. I remember driving
one day and my, truck across I've never forgotten it I think
of it now when I drive through Cobra across what is called Cobra
cross and I was singing yes I shall soon be landed on yonder shores
of bliss and there with all my powers expanded shall dwell where
Jesus is and you know friends I felt if I lived even another
hundred years it would be so quick and so soon compared with
eternity to be with Christ, which is far better, which is far better. It's a wonderful thing. Another time after that, when
in affliction's pathway, and Psalm 23 was made so exceedingly
precious to my soul, I could say, and melted under the sense
and feeling of it, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. And yeah, I really thought at
that time, with that affliction, that I was going to die. The
Lord so blessed my soul. I really thought I was going
to die. You know, I'd been exercised
about the ministry for years, and it was as if it was all gone.
And now I was going to glory. I felt willing. And I could honestly
say with the psalmist, yeah, though I walked through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear no Fear no evil for thou
art with me thy rod and thy staff they comfort me How precious
it is who having not seen you love receiving the end of your
faith You receive it by faith heaven eternal glory You know it reminds you with
those lovely words in John 14 Let not your heart be troubled
You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go to prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there you may be also. Whom having not seen ye
thus, You see, following that third verse and that lively,
that living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled. This is what he
means when he says receive in the end of your faith to an inheritance. Let us look at that word first.
What is an inheritance? It's not purchased. It cannot
be purchased. It's something that is freely
given. It's freely given, an inheritance incorruptible and
undefiled. You see, heaven, eternal glory,
everlasting blessedness to be with Christ which is far better,
an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that fadeth
not away reserved in heaven for you. It's reserved in heaven
for you. There is a place in heaven for
you. It's reserved. The Lord, your
eternal Father has reserved it. Christ has gone to prepare a
place for you. And he will come again. He will
come again. You see, and the other thing
here is that under the fierce temptations of Satan, and also
in your own heart, an evil spirit of unbelief, We begin to doubt. We begin to
doubt. We say, but I'm such a sinner,
I'm so vile, I'm so wretched. And Satan will come in and say,
well, you are. You'll never get to heaven. Look at the wickedness
and evil in your life. Look at what you've done. You'll
never get to heaven. That's the language of the devil. What does the Lord say to his
chosen people who are kept? Who are kept? by the power of God through faith. It doesn't depend on you, it
depends on God who are kept by the power of God through faith
unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Ready to be
revealed. That eternal salvation that is
in our Lord Jesus Christ, ready to be revealed. It's a precious
thought, isn't it? You know, on this point, whom
having not seen ye love, you think of how the Lord dealt with
Thomas, with his doubts and with his fears. He said he would not
believe. He would not believe. He actually was very defiant. He said he would not believe. and in John chapter 20 and verse 26 and after eight
days again his disciples were over the inn and Thomas with
them. See when Christ appeared before
Thomas wasn't there and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus the doors being
shut and stood in the midst and said, peace be unto you. Now
immediately he speaks to Thomas. Thomas said, unless I can touch
those wounds on his hands, unless I can thrust my hand into his
side, I will not believe. He was hardened in the unbelief. Then saith he to Thomas, reach
hither thy finger and behold my hands and reach hither thy
hand and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing.'
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord, and my God,
Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, how
relevant this is to our text, whom having not seen ye love.
Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed, Blessed
are they that have not seen, yet have believed. You see, what he means there
is not seen with the natural eye. Thomas would not believe
unless he saw it with the natural eye. Blessed are they that believe. They've not seen, yet they believe.
They believe. Whom having not seen, ye love. in whom though now ye see him
not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy, unspeakable and full
of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation
of your souls. You see, my beloved friends,
faith cleaves to Christ, it looks to Christ, it builds on Christ,
it loves Christ, it follows Christ, it serves Christ, it does. That's the spirit of faith. And
it works by love. It's not a slavish. It's a loving. It's a most gracious way of walking. It's not forced. It's drawn. You love him. He draws you. He draws you to follow him. He
draws you to serve him. He draws you to look unto him.
Maybe You've got something before you, something that's laid in
your heart. And you think, well, I can't because of this, because
of that, because of something else. Just think of this word,
who are kept. The Lord will keep you. He knows
how to keep his people. He knows how to humble his people.
He knows what things to bring in your pathway, to humble you,
to bring you to nothing in yourself. so that you live a life that
is dependent upon Him, looking unto Jesus. That's the life of
faith, looking unto Jesus. The author and finisher of our
faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross,
despising the shame thereof, and is now set down at the right
hand of the Majesty on high. He endured We read in the Hebrews,
don't we, of those that endured as seeing him that is invisible.
They endured as seeing him that is invisible. In that great list
of witnesses that is in Hebrews chapter 11, he says, what shall
I more say? This is Hebrews 11, 32. for the
time would fail me to tell of Gideon, of Barak, of Samson,
of Jephthah, of David, and Samuel, and of the prophets, who through
faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises,
stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped
the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed
valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women
received their dead, raised to life again. and others were tortured,
not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Others had trial of cruel mockings
and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They
were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with
the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins
and goatskins, being destitute and afflicted, of whom the world
was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and
in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. All these,
having obtained a good report through faith, received not the
promise, whom having not seen ye love, God having provided
some better thing for us, that they without us should not be
made perfect. You see, they died in faith. May we die in faith, faith in
the bleeding lamb, faith in his glorious person, Jesus, the son
of God, who's able to do abundantly more than we can even ask or
think, who's able to save to the uttermost all that come unto
God by him, seeing he ever liveth. This glorious person of Jesus,
the son of God. Sometimes we concentrate very
specifically and particularly on his cross and on his righteousness,
and there's nothing wrong in that, but sometimes what has
been made so exceedingly precious to me is his person. He's the
Son of God, manifest in the flesh. There's something very glorious
and very mysterious in that glorious person, our great high priest
who is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God. who sits
on no precarious throne. He says, wherefore let us come
boldly unto the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and
find grace to help in time of need. Because he sits there. I love that. I often quote it,
that beautiful hymn. Tis he, it's Christ. You come
as a poor, wretched, filthy sinner. Tis he, instead of me you see. when I approach to God. You have
an advocate with the Father. It's He that is seen instead
of you. When we, I can no denial take when I plead for Jesus'
sake. It's when we plead for Jesus
Christ's sake, whom having not seen ye love, in whom though
now ye see him not, yet believing ye rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory. Joy unspeakable. It goes on here,
you know, speaking of receiving the salvation of your souls,
of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently,
who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you, searching
what or what manner of time the spirit of Christ which was in
them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of
Christ and the glory which shall should follow unto whom it was
revealed that not unto themselves but unto us they did minister
the things which are now reported unto you by them that have preached
the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven
which things the angels desire to look into and I'm absolutely
sure that that is a reference to the cherubims overshadowing
the mercy seat in the tabernacle worship You had the golden mercy
seat, you had the golden cherubins which are angels, their wings
touched each other and their faces were looking down at the
golden mercy seat. And the Lord had said to Moses,
there will I meet with thee, there will I commune with thee.
Which things the angels desire to look into. They have neither
part nor lot in that eternal salvation which Christ has wrought
for his people. But they look into it, they desire
to look into it, the wonderful glory of salvation by grace alone
through Jesus Christ our Lord whom having not seen ye love. May the Lord add his blessing. Let us now sing together hymn
number 125 The tune is St. Michael, 61. Not all the blood of beasts on
Jewish altar slain could give the guilty conscience peace or
wash away the stain. Hymn 125. O come, O come, O come, O come,
O come, O come, ? Through the gilded hymns in collegiate
peace ? ? Thou o'er all shalt reign and stay ? ? But Christ
the Lord is born in Bethlehem ? ? Grace to the world sings your
name ? ? A sacrifice of the fleeting ? ? And redemption of the dying
? ? My faithful way of life ? ? Long
and difficult life ? ? All I've learned in it as I stand ? I think of you every day, every
day of each day. ? Where'er we go ? ? Hail, present
day ? ? And the star-spangled banner yet wave ? ? Hail, ye
hail ? ? Do you see the first rainbow?
? ? We bless the land with gentle voice ? ? And cheerfully it flows.
? 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. Okay.