Let us commence our service this
afternoon by singing together hymn number 370 to the tune Meriton,
366. Great God attend while Zion sings,
the joy that from thy presence springs, to spend one day with
thee on earth exceeds a thousand days of mirth. Hymn 370. Oh my god. His trembled hand gave me a hope,
and sweet a thousand days of rest. He's our star, He makes the day,
All is our shield in the Lord's own way. we look and see how good she
hath and good she is. Holy, holy, praise the God of
Israel, And crown thy praise with glory true. ? They pierce us now in temp'red
clothes ? ? And be the wood for our homes. ? ? The God of Kings ? ? Whose sovereign
sway ? ? The glorious powers ? ? In heaven arrayed ? ? O give
us now ? Let us read together from the Holy Word
of God. In the Gospel according to John,
and chapter 4. We will commence our reading
at verse 27. John's Gospel chapter 4. Commence
reading at verse 27. And upon this came his disciples
and marvelled that he talked with the woman. Yet no man said,
What seekest thou? or why talkest thou with her?
The woman then left her waterpot and went her way into the city,
and said to the men, Come, see a man which told me all things
that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Then
they went out of the city and came unto him. In the meanwhile
his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, But he said unto them,
I have meat to eat that ye know not of. Therefore said the disciples
one to another, hath any man brought him ought to eat? Jesus
saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent
me, and to finish his work. Say not ye, there are yet four
months, and then cometh harvest. I say unto you, lift up your
eyes and look on the field, for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth
wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal, that both he that
soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein
is that saying true, one soweth and another reapeth. I sent you
to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour. Other men laboured,
and ye entered into their labours. And many of the Samaritans of
that city believed on him, for the saying of the woman which
testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans
would come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with
and he abode there two days. And many more believed because
of his own word, and said unto the woman, Now we believe, not
because of thy saying, for we have heard him ourselves, and
know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world. Now after two days he departed
thence, and went into Galilee, For Jesus himself testified that
a prophet hath no honour in his own country. Then, when he was
come into Galilee, the Galileans received him, having seen all
things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast, they also went
unto the feast. So Jesus came again into Cana
of Galilee, where he made the water wine, And there was a certain
noble man whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that
Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee, he went unto him and
besought him that he would come down and heal his son, for he
was at the point of death. Then said Jesus unto him, Except
ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. The nobleman
saith unto him, Sir, come down, ere my child die. Jesus saith
unto him, Go thy way, thy son liveth. And the man believed
the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and went his way. And
as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him,
saying, Thy son liveth. inquired he of them the hour
which he began to amend, and they said unto him yesterday,
At the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew
that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said unto him,
Thy son liveth, and himself believed, and his whole house. This is
again the second miracle that Jesus did, when he was come out
of Judea into Galilee. May the Lord bless the reading
of his own precious word and grant unto us a spirit of real
prayer. Gracious, merciful, and eternal
God, we do pray for grace to bow before thee, to call upon
that wonderful name, of Jesus Christ, grant that it may be
with us as it was with that dear woman. Come see a man that told
me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Oh, that
we may see your lovely man, that we may behold his wonderful grace
and power. Even as the dear apostles, we
beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father
full of grace and truth. We pray to be led and taught
and guided and directed by thy spirit. We pray for his quickening
power in our hearts, just as thy servant David quickened me
according to thy word, and grant that lively experience of the
truth of grace in our hearts, lifting us above ourselves, our
sinful self, our wretched self, our corrupt self. Often, Lord, we have to say with
the dear apostle, O wretched man, that I am who shall deliver
me from the body of this death. Gracious God, we truly carry
about with us a body of sin and death. And gracious Lord, we
wait that great day of redemption when we shall be delivered from
this body of sin and death. we pray that we may be like we're
exhorted in the word looking and hasting unto the great day
of the lord when we all shall be changed as the twinkle of
an eye and the trump of god shall sound and the dead in christ
shall rise first gracious god we do pray for grace to wait
for that day and watch for that day may we ever be found watching
May we ever be found walking in a spirit of love and kindness
and compassion, and delivered from ourselves and our wretched
nature. And as thou hast exhorted us
in thy word, be ye kind, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as
God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven you. Oh, we pray most
gracious God, thy rich blessing, to rest upon us here this afternoon,
the light the power, the influence of the gospel in our hearts and
the humble and a teachable spirit. We pray for those that listen
online, especially we think of our dear beloved friends in Holland
and pray that they may be blessed there and that they may indeed
feel to be a part of us. That sacred union that exists
between Christ and his church and between each other. By this
shall they know that ye are my disciples because ye have love
one to another. Lord, increase our faith. Increase
our love. We do humbly beseech thee. Deliver
us from the works of the flesh. Deliver us from the temptations
of Satan. Deliver us from the illumines
of this world that has the deaths and thousands hurled. And Lord,
we pray that thy delivering grace may be known in the preaching
of the gospel again. Precious souls may be gathered
unto Christ. Prodigals may return. May the
power that brings salvation be exerted in the word. May grace
triumphant reign and Christ exalted be. And sinners deserve an endless
pain, thy great salvation see. Grant it, Lord. according to
thy word. May we know and feel the sweet
divine teaching of the Holy Spirit here this afternoon in our hearts,
opening our ears and our eyes and our understanding. Blessed
Spirit of truth, we pray for thy heavenly power, delivering
us from the bondage of sin and corruption and bringing us into
the glorious liberty of the children of God. Lord, this is a a mighty
work of thy grace, and thou art able to do it, we pray to be
lifted into the realms of spiritual things. We pray that the Lord
Jesus may be made exceedingly precious unto us, and that 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. For through him we have access
by one spirit unto the Father. We thank thee for that door of
hope that is open wide in Jesus' bleeding hands and side. We pray
that the word of truth may be opened, that the river of thy
grace may flow, and that the peace of God that passes all
understanding may keep our hearts and minds through Jesus Christ
our Lord. And at these times of great shortage
of water, O that thou wouldst abundantly open the crystal fountain
and let the healing waters flow. We do humbly beseech of thee,
most gracious Lord. We pray that thou wouldst come
and bless us as a church and as a congregation. Remember those
that are away from us at this time seeking rest and change.
Grant thy rich blessing upon them. grant that they, wherever
they may worship today, that they may feel it was good for
us to be there, that their souls may be encouraged. And, O Lord
God, we do pray that many that are pleasure-seeking today, it's
probably the vast majority of the country, we pray that there
was quickened souls, and make them cry, give me Christ or else
I die. And that desire to serve Thee
and follow Thee may be given unto them. Most gracious Lord,
we do beseech of Thee, let Thy work appear unto Thy servants
and Thy glory unto their children for Thy great name's sake. We
pray, O Lord, that Thou wouldst send us a plentiful rain, the
natural rain, for how parched and this heat, O Lord, is heavy
to bear. We pray that Thou wouldst graciously
send us an abundant rain, that the flowers and the trees may
be revived. We do humbly pray Thee, but above
all, we pray that Thy doctrine may drop as the rain and as the
dew upon the mown grass. We pray that there may be those
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. And we
pray, most gracious Lord, for our brethren, the deacons, that
grace, wisdom, and help may be given them in all their responsibilities. We pray, gracious God, for parents,
that they may be given wisdom and grace and help to bring up
their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And
we pray that they was raised up our dear babes and children
may be raised up to a hope in that precious mercy that is in
Christ Jesus, a generation raised up to call thee the Redeemer
blessed. We pray for the young friends
in all their concerns. We pray that thou would bring
them to be deeply concerned about their own souls and about the
matters of eternity and the day of judgment. Gracious God, incline
Thine ear, we do humbly beseech Thee for Thy great namesake. Oh, we pray, most gracious Lord,
that there was here prayer for all in affliction and trouble
and trial, perplexity, bereavement. Gracious God, send healing, send
restoration. Lord Jesus, we've read in Thy
Word of thy wonderful power to heal and to restore, even naturally. But how far greater thou art
able to heal and restore our souls. And a great number, Lord,
of those that were healed and restored in their bodies were
also healed and restored in their souls. May we see such a work
today. O let thy work appear and let
thy power be known. and let thy grace be made manifest. Remember those of us in the evening
time of life's journey. Be gracious unto us, O Lord,
and grant that we may be filled with thy Spirit, that we may
be made more spiritually minded, that our heart and our affections
may be set upon things above, not on things of the earth. Hear
us, Lord. We humbly beseech of thee. Remember
all thy servants as they labour in word and doctrine upon the
walls of Zion. Set them free. Set them at liberty. Mighty, let thy gospel be. Set the burdened sinner free.
Bring deliverance, O Lord, among the congregations. Blow with
the sovereign wind of thy Spirit. Pull down the strongholds of
Satan. Set up the kingdom of our Lord
Jesus in the hearts of sinners. Send out thy light and thy truth
into this village. We do humbly beseech of thee.
Gather in, O Lord, we pray thee, for thy great name's sake. Gather
in the purchase of thy precious blood, that we may see a rebuilding,
a renewing, a reviving, that this little house of prayer may
be too straight for us, that through the abundance of the
blessing that thou hast poured upon us, fulfil those ancient
promises in thy word. When the poor and needy seek
water and there is none, I, the Lord, will hear them. I will
open rivers in high places and streams in the desert. Lord,
there is nothing too hard for thee, for with God nothing shall
be impossible. Gracious God, we pray that thou
wouldst come and open thy word to our heart and to our understanding,
even here this afternoon. and pour forth of that living
water the wine of the kingdom, the sacred bread of life. May
it be broken among us today. May poor sinners eat and may
the hungry be filled. We do humbly beseech Thee. Lord,
Thou alone are able to do these things. Remember all Thy servants
and the churches up and down the land And we pray Thee, the
great Lord of the harvest, that Thou wouldst send true labourers
into the harvest, that Thou wouldst build the walls of Jerusalem,
that Thou wouldst send real true prosperity. Oh, for Thy great
namesake, have mercy upon us, we beseech Thee. We pray, O Lord,
that Thou wouldst graciously hear prayer for those that labour
in the mission field. We would remember the Mombasa
mission, and thy servants there, and the inhospitableness of the
surroundings, and we pray that thou wouldst graciously pour
forth thy living water there in Mombasa. We do humbly beseech
thee. We pray thy blessing upon the
Christian schools in Ghana, that it may redound to the great glory
of thy name. There may be an ingathering of
precious souls into thy heavenly kingdom. We pray for Ian Sadler
as he labours in word and doctrine in Burma and India, Pakistan,
Africa. Lord, he has a great field of
labour. We pray that thou wouldst gird
him with all sufficient grace and supply all his many returning
needs. We do humbly beseech of thee. Lord, we do thank thee for all
thy tender mercies. We thank thee for the throne
of grace. glorious King that sits upon it. We thank thee that
he hears and answers prayer, we're living witnesses of it.
We thank thee most gracious Lord that thy mercies to each one
of us are new every morning and great is thy faithfulness. We
thank thee for the wonderful glory of the incarnation of the
Son of God And in that holy life, the holy law fulfilled and honoured
and magnified on the behalf of thy people. And in that glorious
sacrifice of Calvary, sin has been put away. Divine justice
has been satisfied, God, and sinners are reconciled. We thank
thee for the resurrection mourned. Death is swallowed up in victory.
We bow, O Lord, in humble adoration and thanksgiving. before thy
great majesty for the wonders of redeeming love, a risen saviour,
an exalted saviour, now at thy right hand. Come, Lord, here
this afternoon. Come and speak to our hearts.
Come and open thy word. Come and touch the preacher's
tongue with a live coal from off the heavenly altar. For,
Lord, we feel our poverty and our insufficiency. We need thee
to come to pour in that we may be enabled to pour out, make
up in giving, where we do so fail in asking, as we ask for
Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 723, The tune is Lewisham 678. Come ye sinners, poor and wretched,
weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands to save you. full of pity, joined with power,
he is able, he is willing, doubt no more, hymn 723. He is born and reigneth, reigneth,
reigneth, save and show. Jesus, true, is sent to serve
him, full of grace, ? Lord of all ? ? He is able ?
? He is able ? ? He is willing ? ? Down the road ? ? In our fathers' name we'll remember
? ? Our home in this growing age ? ? O'er the fields we'll
see our home again ? Christ the Lord is born in Bethlehem. Here in every cradle, lost and
wounded, I have hoped. It is a reason for us to be grateful for God's love. From the righteous, from the
righteous, save us, Jesus, Jesus. Greatly feeling to need the Lord's
gracious help, I would direct your attention to the fourth
chapter in the Gospel according to John, and we will read from
our text, verse 50. John, chapter 4, verse 50. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy
way, Thy son liveth. And the man believed the word
that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy
way. Some very wonderful things in
this chapter, some things that we looked at even this morning
concerning the living water that Christ gives. Whosoever drinketh
of the water I shall give him shall never thirst. It's a precious
gospel. But the water that I shall give
him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life. And you know that dear woman,
she drank of that water I mean, she was a notorious woman, the
Lord Jesus himself. He questioned her. The woman
answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said unto her,
thou hast well said I have no husband, for thou hast had five
husbands. And he whom thou now hast is
not thy husband. In that saidst thou truly. She says, Sir, I perceive that
thou art a prophet. This woman, my beloved friends,
was a vessel of mercy, aforeordained unto eternal glory. We need to
be exceedingly careful about cutting people off because of
this or because of that. The Lord Jesus never did. This
woman was a most notorious woman, yet She was a vessel of mercy. And the time had come when the
Lord met with her. And she says, I perceive that
thou art a prophet. And then, of course, the other
thing, she was a Samaritan, greatly despised by the Jews. And yet
here is the Lord Jesus dealing in a most loving, kind, and merciful
manner with him. And she said, our fathers worshipped
in this mountain, and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place
where men ought to worship. Jesus said unto her, Woman, believe
me, the hour cometh when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor
yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. What he's speaking of
here is that the Gospel was to be spread throughout all nations.
And even in the life of Jesus this was beginning. The Jews
had no dealings with the Samaritans, but here, the Lord Jesus, he
deals with this Samaritan woman. He deals with her in love, he
deals with her in mercy. You worship you know not what
we know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. You see, but
the hour cometh and now is. What a statement, I've no doubt
that the disciples never really understood this statement until
after the resurrection of Christ and their eyes were opened. The
hour cometh and now is when the true worshippers shall worship
the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to
worship him. God is a spirit, and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. This
is not just at Jerusalem. that the Jews believed that it
was just at Jerusalem. And of course they were directed
in Solomon's prayer. He directs them to pray toward
Jerusalem. Whosoever prayeth toward this
place, then hear thou in heaven thy holy dwelling place. But
what Christ is saying here, it won't be in a geographical way,
not in this city or that city or another city, but God is a
spirit. And they that worship Him, wherever
they are, must worship Him in spirit, not in temples, not with
rites and sacrifices, but the New Testament worship is a spiritual
worship. True spiritual worship. Then
just listen to what this woman, I know that Messiah cometh, which
is called Christ, when He is come, He will tell us all things. And this is one of the only two
occasions that the Lord Jesus directly reveals himself. Jesus
saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. I that speak unto thee am he.
And then her testimony in verse 29. Come see a man that told
me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Then
they went out of the city and came unto him. See the testimony
of this dear woman, whom the Lord had wrought mercy and grace
in her heart, enlightened her eyes, shown her her sin, and
then revealed himself to her. She had drunk of that living
water. Come see a man, that told me
all things that ever I did is not this the Christ. And that
was her witness. It reminds me of Lesion when
the Lord Jesus so blessed him, cast out the devils. And when
they came out of the city they found him sitting at the feet
of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And he wanted to
go with the Lord Jesus. But the Lord Jesus said to him,
go home to thy friends. and tell them what great things
the Lord had done for them. You see, the same with this woman. She went home to her city and
she told them what things he had spoken of. Come see a man
which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ?
What a witness. My dear beloved friends, the
Lord says in his word, ye are my witnesses. anybody that has
been wrought upon by divine grace, anybody that has been quickened
by the Holy Spirit, anybody brought to living faith in Jesus Christ,
ye are my witnesses. My dear beloved friends, are
we ashamed to witness? You got something to speak of? This woman had something to speak
of. Come see a man that told me all things that ever I did.
Is not this the Christ? And the people came in great
numbers because she witnessed. And there's no doubt that when
that man witnessed in Decapolis of the great things that the
Lord had done for him, the Lord blessed that witness. to the
honor and glory of his name and the good of many precious souls. May we lay these things to heart. They're written in God's word
for our instruction as to the way that we should behave ourselves
and the way that we should witness to others. You may say, well, they'll laugh
at me. So what? You're telling them of the words
of life. They laughed at the Lord Jesus,
they laughed at the disciples. They've always done that. But
then the Lord blesses that witness. And precious souls are gathered
unto Christ. If they laugh at Christ, how
much more they will laugh at you. If they call the master
of the house Beelzebub, how much more you. You know friends, ashamed
of Jesus, that dear man, Are we ashamed of Him? Are we ashamed
to witness of Him? Are we ashamed to stand up and
be counted as a disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ? You know, these
things are very pertinent questions for each one of us. Whoever we
come into contact with, we should be witnesses to the Lord. Of
course, that's not just to speak. It is One of the principle things
is to speak, but also to live. People watch how you live. They
watch your conversation, they watch your dealings, whether
it's in business or in whatever way it is, they will watch it.
That's evidence from throughout Holy Scripture. And they'll soon
pick you up if you're not consistent with what you say you believe. See, The Lord Jesus here then says
in verse 39, and many of the Samaritans of that city believed
on him for the saying of the woman which testified, he told
me all that ever I did. A simple testimony. It's a very simple testimony.
It's not great long, long words. It's not great long, long conversations. It was a very simple testimony. Come, see a man that told me
all things that ever I did. And this is something that we
should remember. These Samaritans, greatly despised
by the Jews, they besought him that he would tarry with them
and he abode there two days. See, they besought him. These
people so despised by the Jews. They besought the Lord Jesus
to remain. He remained. It reminds us of
that, the blind man, isn't it? As he sat by the wayside begging.
And the people were saying to him, be quiet, man. Be quiet. He kept crying out, Jesus, thou
son of David, have mercy upon me. And then there's that wonderful,
precious truth. and Jesus stood still at the
cry of a poor beggar and Jesus stood still. He still does today
friends, it's the same Jesus, it's the same grace, the same
power and Jesus stood still at the cry of a poor beggar. They
couldn't quieten him, they couldn't stop him. See, and after two days he departed
and went into Galilee. Of course, that was his native
place. For Jesus himself testified that
a prophet had no honor in his own country. And that was proved
to be so. Then when he was coming to Galilee,
the Galileans received him. Having seen all things that he
did at Jerusalem, at the feast, for they also went unto the feast. You see, so Jesus came again
into Cana of Galilee where he made water wine. You see, my
beloved friends, his fame went wherever he went. His fame went
before him. There were those that were sick
of various diseases and his fame was such that take him to Jesus,
take him to Jesus. Oh, my beloved friends, that
there could be such a reviving in the day in which we live,
such an outpouring of the Spirit, like we spoke of this morning,
that precious river flowing into the Church of God, and that we
might be so lively in the things of God that we might witness
from village to village, from place to place, everyone that
we come into contact with, we may be so lively in the things
of God and willing to tell. The hymn writer says, doesn't
he? Then shall I tell to sinners round, what a dear Saviour I
have found. I'll point to thy redeeming blood
and say, behold, the way to God. You see, and this noble man heard,
verse 46. And there was a certain noble
man, whose son was sick at Capernaum. You know, it's both small and
great. a noble man of probably high rank in society, he'd heard
of Jesus. Now, he was in great straits. He was in great trouble. You'd
probably find that this man wouldn't normally have come anywhere near
Jesus Christ. But, because he was in great
trouble, When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judea into Galilee
he went unto him and besought him that he would come down and
heal his son for he was at the point of death. We have it recorded
here also in the Gospels of that dear woman that came unto the
Lord Jesus Christ. And she had a daughter that was
sick. And the Lord Jesus healed her
daughter. He tested her. She was a Syro-Phoenician
woman, again similar to this Samaritan woman. Not an Israelite. Not a true Israelite. And the Lord Jesus, he heard
her cry. Her daughter was healed. This
man, when the Lord Jesus speaks to him, then said, Jesus unto
him, except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe.
Oh, this man had such a pressing case. He immediately answers
the Lord. He says, Sir, come down ere my
child die. That was his pressing case. There's
no doubt that a nobleman would have had physicians to look at
his child, but his child was at the point of death and none
of the physicians could heal him. But so he comes to Jesus. It's a lovely what the hymn writer
says, few if any come to Jesus till reduced to self despair.
And that is so true. We have to be brought to the
end of ourself, to the end of everything that we can do, until
we're desperate. And this man, this dear man was
desperate that the Lord should help him. You know, the Lord Jesus didn't need to
go down to this boy. It's the great faith of the centurion
we think of. His servant was sick. And he says, I'm not worthy that
they should come under my roof, but speak the word. Just speak
the word and it will be done. What faith? The Lord Jesus said,
I've not seen such great faith. No, not in all Israel. He was
an Italian. He was one of the Roman occupiers,
and here the Lord deals with him. And he was brought to Jesus. To trust in Jesus, to look to
Jesus. These things are written, my
beloved friends, for our instruction. The Jews thought they were the
only right people. The Jews thought that when Messiah
came it would just deal with them, and them only, and them
entirely. They would cut off everyone else.
We're Israelites, we're of the seed of Abraham. Oh, my beloved friends, Jesus
listens to all, from every nation, every kindred, every tribe, every
tongue, every people. It does not cut you off who you
are. No. The nobleman said unto him, Sir,
come down, ere my child dies. Jesus saith unto him, wonderful
words of grace, go thy way, thy son liveth. Go thy way, thy son
liveth. It's only Christ that can do
this. If you look at the end of the previous chapter of John, in chapter three, He says, for
he, verse 34, for he whom God hath sent speaketh the words
of God. And these were the words of God
to this man. Thy son liveth. The father loveth
the son and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth
on the son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
son shall not see life. but the wrath of God abideth
on him." But we have the testimony of this noble man and the man
believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him and he went
his way, he believed. David in the Psalms he says,
I believe therefore have I spoken. The Apostle Paul he takes up
on that point in one of his epistles, I believe therefore Have I spoken? What is it to believe? It's to exercise faith, to believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Faith is a gift. It's given by
God. Some would have us to believe
it's a duty. My beloved friends, it's a gift,
it's not a duty. It's a wonderful gift of God. Him hath God exalted as a Prince
and as a Saviour for to give repentance and remission of sins. It's a gift. It's given. When
the Lord Jesus speaks to him, he gives him faith to believe
and to lay whole. That word of Jesus went into
his heart. He believed it. He knew it was
right. Because it entered into his very
soul. And when the Lord speaks to his children, it enters into
their very soul. And they believe. They believe. You know, if you just think of
that sweet psalm, Psalm 116, and how beautifully the psalm
is there, speaks of believing. He says, I love the Lord. I've
often explained to you that it's a faith that worketh by love.
I love the Lord. And if Jesus speaks to you, and
if the power of his grace reaches your heart and in your family,
I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications. Faith that worketh by love. I
love the Lord. Are there times when you feel
that? I love the Lord. And then he tells us why. He
has heard my voice and my supplications, just like this dear man. The
Lord heard his voice and his supplications. You see, that
is the point, my beloved friends, in this man. His son was at the
point of death. And He besought him. In other
words, he supplicated, he pleaded that the Lord would have mercy,
but my son is at the point of death, he's about to die. We
read of the ruler of the synagogue that came to the Lord Jesus,
and his son was at the point of death. You see, but the Lord,
he can heal wherever he is, whatever your circumstances are. But I
was thinking of that word as I was coming to chapel this afternoon,
for with God, nothing shall be impossible. Nothing should be
impossible. He's able to do abundantly more
than we can even ask or think. Looking unto Jesus. We've just
sung that lovely hymn. Come ye sinners poor and wretched,
weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands to save you. It says in there, doubt no more.
He's a willing saviour. He's a willing Saviour. I love
the Lord because He has heard my voice and my supplication,
because He has inclined His ear unto me, therefore will I call
upon Him as long as I live. The sorrows of... He tells us
where He was, the sorrows of death. That's exactly where this
dear man was in our text. The sorrows of death compassed
me, and the pains of hell got hold upon me. I found trouble
and sorrow, then called I upon the name of the Lord. O Lord,
I beseech Thee, deliver my soul. Gracious is the Lord. This was
the experience of the sweet Psalmist of Israel. Gracious is the Lord,
and righteous, yea, our God is merciful. You see, and just like
this man, verse 7, he says, Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for
the Lord art thou bountifully with thee. For thou hast delivered
my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from
falling. I will walk before the Lord in
the land of the living." And then he says, I believed. What a wonderful thing when precious
faith is given. I believed. Wonderful thing, you know, when
we can believe. Abraham believed God and it was
counted unto him for righteousness. He hoped against hope. When everything
looked utterly impossible, he still hoped. He hoped against
hope that the Lord would do what he had promised and the Lord
did do what he had promised. He had to wait a long time. There
were many errands to the throne of grace, there were many wrestlings.
In those 25 years between the time that the Lord gave him the
promise and before Isaac was born, when it looked utterly
impossible, we're told in the Hebrews that His wife was past
the age of childbearing. You see my beloved friends, it
says Abraham was as good as dead, but not with God. For with God
nothing shall be impossible. You may have impossible circumstances
and things may look absolutely impossible, but there's nothing impossible
with God. It's that word the cause that is too hard for thee,
bring it unto me. Bring it unto me. Have you prayed
about it? Have you laid it before the Lord?
Bring it unto me. That's the invitation, we spoke
of it this morning, of our Lord Jesus Christ, come unto me, all
ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart. shall find rest for
your souls. I believed, therefore have I
spoken. I was greatly afflicted. I said
in my haste, all men are liars. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? All his benefits. You know, it's a wonderful thing. What does David say? I will pay my vows unto the Lord
now. in the presence of all his people,
in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of the old Jerusalem,
praise ye the Lord. I will pay my vows, which my
lips have uttered when I was in trouble. Have you paid your
vows? How often? How often? You know, I look back to just
before I was sent into the ministry and It was such a tremendous
burden. And however I could go and preach,
I didn't know. I thought it seemed utterly impossible. Here I was, so burdened and oppressed
with the exercise to the ministry. I knew I'd got to go, the Lord
had directed me to go, but how to go was something completely
different. And, you know, I know I've often
told you that it was a Sunday evening and I was reading the
Gospel Standard, it was at Christmas time actually and the January
Standard had come and Mr Farley had died and his obituary was
in the Gospel Standard and in it he spoke of when he had to
go and see his pastor at Cranbrook to tell him of his exercise to
the ministry. And do you know, it was almost
as if that voice, it spoke to me. That's exactly what you've
got to do. And do you know, friends, I'd
laid down so emphatically that I would never ever put my hand
to it. It would have to be somebody
come to me and ask me. I would never put my hand to
it. And you know, friends, and that
would not let me go. And my wife, she went off to
bed and the family went to bed and I stayed downstairs. I was in such soul trouble. And
I opened in Samuel. First chapter of Samuel. And
when Samuel heard the voice of the Lord, he went to Eli. And
you know, three times. And every single time as I read
it, It's exactly what you've got to do. You've got to go and
see Eli. It was such a speaking voice
to me. And eventually I fell on my knees before the Lord.
I said, Lord, I will go in the morning. And you know, friends,
such peace came into my heart. But, and this is the point here,
pay thy vows, when I got up in the morning, I didn't feel willing
to go at all. I was going to push it to one
side and it's not my usual practice and wasn't then but I just opened
the scriptures at breakfast time and read the first thing that
I opened to. I think it's Psalm 76 and the last but one verse. Thou and pay what thou hast vowed. It went like an arrow into my
heart. I knew I'd got to go. I knew I'd got to go. You see
my beloved friends, I will pay and pay my vows now unto the
Lord in the courts of the Lord's house, or that the Lord would
give us that willingness. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy
way, thy son liveth. And the man believed the word
that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. He believed. I believe, therefore
have I spoken. And as he was going down, his
servant met him and told him, saying, thy son liveth. He knew already. He knew already. Thy son liveth. Then inquired
he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto
him, yesterday At the seventh hour the fever left him. So the
father knew that it was at this same hour in which Jesus said
unto him, Thy son liveth. And himself believed on his whole
house. This is again the second miracle
that Jesus did when he was come out of Judea into Galilee. What a wonderful miracle that
was, wasn't it? There's other instances. I think
of the widow of Nain that had lost her son and along comes
the Lord Jesus and here they were with the coffin and the
mourners and the dear widow, her only son and the Lord Jesus
comes and he speaks to that man and he arises. He arises from
the dead. You see, with God, nothing shall
be impossible. He arises from the dead. You
think of the young maiden of 12 years old. And he took with
him Peter, James and John. And she had died already. She had a disease and by the
time he got there, she had died already. And he said unto her,
Maid, arise. made arise and she arose. You
see, my beloved friends, with God, nothing is impossible. And it says here in John's Gospel
that if all the things that you had done were written, that there
would not be a book in the world that would contain everything
that you had done. The wonderful acts of mercy and
of grace. The kindness, the compassion.
I've often said to you, my beloved friends, and I don't think perhaps
we think of it enough, but the Lord Jesus in fulfilling the
law for us. And as he says, thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, and
thy neighbour as thyself. That's exactly what Christ did,
wherever he went. Kindness, compassion, love. Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus. Kindness, compassion and love. All that the Lord would give
us the Spirit of Christ. The Apostle says in the Hebrew,
in the Corinthians, but we have the Spirit of Christ. Do you
have the Spirit of Christ? Do I have the Spirit of Christ? Do we live like Christ? Do we
follow Christ? Are we kind? But what, the point
I was going to make was this. Not only did he fulfill the righteous
law of God, of the Ten Commandments absolutely and perfectly, but
in so doing, he loved his neighbor as himself. Do you? Do I? Do you pray for your neighbor? Are you burdened for your neighbor's
souls? Does it concern you? and I've told you before that
wonderful account in Kershaw's day when there was a couple of
members of Kershaw's church and they used to help an old couple
that lived next door to them who'd got old and enfeebled and
so they would do the jobs around the garden and such like for
them and they were so thankful to them And when they asked what
they could do, they said there's only one thing we'd like you
to do and that is we want you to come and hear our minister
preach. And immediately, we can't do
that, we're church people. We don't go to chapels and non-conformists,
we're church people. But they pressed the matter.
And they said, well that's the one thing that we would like
you to do. We'd like you to come and hear our minister preach.
And do you know, friends, Because of their love and kindness to
them, they went. And the Lord began the work of
grace. And the Lord blessed Kershaw's
ministry to their soul. You see my beloved friends, it's
through these acts of kindness and love that we have the opportunity
given to us to speak to people about the matters of their soul.
We're far too hesitant to do this. May the Lord enable us,
that's what it means, and ye are my witnesses. Ye are my witnesses. Jesus saith
unto him, Go thy way, thy son liveth. And the man believed
the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way. or that we might take heart as
we read the Word of God and the Lord enable us to witness as
there were so many that witnessed in the Church of God in the days
of our Lord Jesus Christ. They witnessed to the glory of
the name of Christ. They were persecuted, they were
tried, they were tempted, they had all manner of opposition,
far more than we ever do. and yet still they witnessed
when there was that great persecution and the church was scattered
abroad throughout the nations of the earth and it says they
took the word of God with them witnessing wherever they went
and the Lord blessed that witness so the enemies of truth the desire
was to completely shut out the name of Jesus and the gospel
of Jesus Christ but instead of that by their actions they spread
it and they spread it throughout the nations of the earth. May
the Lord add his blessing to these few remarks. Let us now sing together hymn
number 160 to the tune Barnard 107. There is a fountain filled with
blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that
flood lose all their guilty stains. Hymn 160. O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs
bursting in air, ? Heav'nly herald, let us pray ? ? Those who by
sins have prayed ? ? Those who by sins have prayed ? O come, O come, Emmanuel, O come,
Emmanuel, He sent his children home He
sent his children home Wash me to make thy shores clean,
Like the ripples of mine. Every day of freedom I'll be
fighting, ? And shall be till I die ? ? And shall be till I
die ? ? And when this day is spent ? ? And shone a dimmer flame ? ?
Where'er I go the street goes on ? ? How long till I'm home
to stay ? Now may the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the sacred fellowship
of the Holy Spirit, rest and abide with us each both now and
forevermore. Amen.