Let us turn again to the account
that we have in Acts 2 of the sermon that Peter preached on
the day of Pentecost. And I want us to really complete
our consideration of the content of the sermon as we turn now
to the final part. I'll read here then in Acts chapter
2 from verse 29 through to verse 36. He, seeing this before, spake
of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in
hell, neither his flesh did seek corruption. This Jesus hath God
raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Therefore, being by
the right hand of God exalted, And having received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Ghost, he has shed forth this which
ye now see and hear. For David is not ascended into
the heavens, but is set himself. The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou on my right hand until I make
thy foes thy footstool. Therefore, let all the house
of Israel know assuredly that God hath made that same Jesus,
whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. And then we come, of course,
to the consequence of that preaching. But there, at verse 36, what
we have of the record of what was said by the Apostle on that
day concludes. Now, This morning we were really
looking at the earlier part, the middle section of the sermon
from verse 22 through to verse 28 and I remarked that we see
quite clearly that the great theme of the preaching of Peter
is Christ. We took really for a text those
words at the beginning of verse 22 as he addresses Those who
were present, ye men of Israel, these Jews and proselytes, out
of so many different countries, were hearing these men speak
in their own languages. Ye men of Israel, hear these
words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God. We thought then of the Lord Jesus
as that one who is approved, owned and acknowledged, the man
Christ Jesus. And as we conclude our consideration
of the sermon here at the end, I want tonight to address the
subject really of the exaltation of the man Christ Jesus, His
glory, His glory, the exaltation of the man Christ Jesus. And to center really upon the
words that we have in verse 33, and in particular the first part
of that verse, Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted,
and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost,
he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear. What is being witnessed is the
the activity of the glorified man Christ Jesus this outpouring
of the Spirit it's an act of Jesus of Nazareth now risen and
ascended into heaven therefore being by the right hand of God
exalted and As we take these words for the text then to deal
with some four headings this evening. First of all, we see
how that Christ is that one raised again from the dead. And then
secondly, we see Christ as that one who was ascended on high. Thirdly, Christ is the one who
is the bestower of gifts. And then finally, Christ is the
one who is to come again as the great judge of all. And these are the various parts
of his exaltation and his glory. First of all, his resurrection,
raised again from the dead on the third day, and as is Apostles
are very much aware that this is to be their ministry, this
is what they are to bear witness of, the glorious truth that he
has vanquished not only sin and satan but vanquished death and
the grave. And this resurrection is very
much linked back to his sacrificial death. there's a reference back
as it were to all that he endured in that terrible humiliation
and we can think of the words that the Lord spoke to those
two on the road to Emmaus on the very day of his resurrection
where they couldn't understand what had happened they thought
that this was going to be the Messiah And yet, he'd been crucified. And now they're hearing strange
tales concerning some of the women of their company, saying
that they've seen him again, alive, resurrected. And their
eyes are upholden, and they don't recognize who this person is. He's a stranger to them. And
then the Lord begins to speak. Ought not Christ to have suffered
these things and entered into His glory? How does he enter
into his glory? How is he glorified? He must
first of all suffer these things. It is by his humiliation and
the dreadful humiliation of the death that he died that he begins
to enter into his glory. And when Paul is speaking of the resurrection
in that great 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians. Remember what
he says there at verses 3 and 4 concerning Christ. I delivered unto you first of
all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that
he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Here is his
descent. He dies. in accordance with the
Scriptures. And he's buried. But then he
rises again the third day according to the Scriptures. There's that
reference back then to his death. And how real a death it was.
But death was unable to hold him. Or we have the words here,
don't we? Back in verses 23 and 24 which
we were considering earlier. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain. There is his death, whom God
hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it
was not possible that he should have been holden of it." When
we think of his resurrection we must always go back to What
was that previous experience of the Lord? It was one of great
humiliation. He humbled himself. He became
obedient to the death of the cross. Wherefore God also was
highly exalted him. Here is the way to his exaltation
then. It is by the death, the cruel
death of the cross where he dies as the great sin bearer. But
then, there's not only that backward look in the resurrection, but
there's also a forward look. There's a connection between
the resurrection and his exaltation. And Peter is clearly here speaking
of the resurrection as part of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the glory that would follow. He refers to David, and the words
of David there in the 16th Psalm, the Psalm that we read this morning. We have these words in verse
31 concerning David. He's seen this before, spake
of the resurrection of Christ. What is it that Peter has been
reading? He's been reading the words of
David. Back in verse 25, David speaketh
concerning him. I foresaw the Lord always before
me. And we have that great long quotation
taken from the end of Psalm 16. And these are words, you see
the Psalm is messianic. That's what Peter is saying to
them. Let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that
he is both dead and buried. His sepulcher is with us unto
this day. But David is a prophet, and God
has sworn an oath to him concerning the fruit of his loins. David
was aware, you see, that the Messiah would come from his loins. He would be descended from David. according to the flesh. And seeing
this before, what is David doing in Psalm 16? He is speaking of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He is speaking of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And as we said this morning,
oh there was such a perfection, such an impeccability with regards
to that human nature. that there was no possibility
that he would ever sin. It's that holy thing spoken of
by the angel to Mary, his virgin mother. That holy thing that
shall be called the Son of God, she was told. And that holy thing,
that human nature joined to the eternal Son of God was impeccable. He would never sin, he could
not sin. And that very human nature was
in a sense immortal. He could never die. He could
never die. There was no sin in him. There could be no corruption
in him. It's an immortal human nature
as we said this morning. How could he die then? He could
only die by a voluntary act. No man taketh it from them. I
lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down.
I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. And so the resurrection you see
is very much a vindication of him. He had been crucified as
a common criminal. The Jews had obtained what they
desired. They wanted him dead because
they said he was a blasphemer, making himself the Son of God.
Here he is vindicated. All that he said is true. And
though that centurion at the cross is made to confess it,
surely, surely this man was the Son of God. That hardened Roman
centurion, that Gentile, see so clearly what was blinded to
those of the Jews. He comes to His own, they receive
Him not, they reject Him, but He was the Son of God. And this
is part of His glorification, His resurrection now from the
dead. And as I said, how these men
are such witnesses to this blessed truth. Verse 32, this Jesus as
God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. Oh, had he not
shown himself to them. Back in chapter 1 verse 3, To
whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible
proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of things
pertaining to the kingdom of God. They had seen him, he had
been before them, in the upper room. He had partaken of food
with them. He'd eaten broiled fish and honey.
This was a real man. This was a real physical resurrection.
They were witnesses of this glorious and this blessed truth. And now
they will bear their continual testimony. It's the mark, as
I said this morning, it's the mark of an apostle. Paul doesn't
make that claim when he defends himself before the church at
Corinth who had been infiltrated by false teachers
who despised the apostle brought in their erroneous doctrines
When he defends himself there in the opening words of the ninth
chapter in that first epistle, Am I not an apostle? Have I not
seen Jesus Christ our Lord? Oh, we had seen Him. There at
the very gate of Damascus. And like Peter, Paul also preaches
the resurrection as we said this morning. He does it there in
chapter 13. and verses 30 and 31. He does
it again in chapter 17 when we see him at Athens in the 18th
verse. How those great minds, those
philosophers of the Greeks, they can't understand what this man
is saying. He's preaching Jesus and the
resurrection. All the resurrection is linked
very much then to his exaltation, his glory. But as he is resurrected,
so here we also read of him ascending. He ascends, verse 33, therefore
being by the right hand of God exalted. David says, verse 34, or I should
say Peter says concerning David, David is not ascended, David
is not ascended into the heavens but he said himself the Lord
said unto my Lord sit thou on my right hand Peter is preaching this man vindicated
in the resurrection but also in the ascension why Peter was
there of course at the ascension and again we said this morning
The author, the human author of the Acts of the Apostles is
Luke, who of course is also the author of the third gospel. And what do we have there at
the end of that gospel in Luke 24? He speaks so plainly of Christ's
ascension. the very last words of the chapter
how the Lord led them out that is the disciples as far as to
Bethany and he lifted up his hands and blessed them and he
came to pass while he blessed them he was parted from them
and carried up into heaven and they worshipped him and returned
to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple
praising and blessing God Amen how wonderful it is here is the
Lord now parting from them how necessary
it was that he part from them if he went not away the spirit
would not come but if he went away he would send the spirit
onto them and what does he do as he as he ascends to heaven
and leaves them until he is going to return of course in like manner
at the end of time but in parting with told he blessed them while
he blessed them he was parted from them and carried up into
heaven his very final act to his disciples was to pronounce
God's blessing upon them and so as Luke makes mention of it
there he also makes mention of it here in the opening chapter
of the Acts There is the Lord speaking with
them. Verse 9 When He had spoken these things, while they beheld
He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up,
behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, which also
said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven?
This same Jesus which is taken up from you into heaven shall
so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven."
Or the one who has ascended is the one who is going to come
the second time without sin unto salvation. He will then come
as that one who is the Great Judge. Well, we'll come to that
presently. But here we see part of His glorification
is His ascension. His ascension. And two things
to observe. There's the place of Christ's
ascension. On the right hand of God. That's
where He has ascended. That's what it says there in
Mark's Gospel, Mark 16, 19. He's on the right hand of God.
What is the right hand? It's that hand that speaks of
honour and authority. And here in verse 33, being by
or to the right hand of God exalted. It's interesting, Dr. Gill, in
his exposition, points to both of these things. He's exalted
by the right hand of God. God has raised him up. It's a
mighty act of God, the resurrection. But he's also exalted beside or to the right hand of
God. It's that place, you see. It's
that blessed place of power and authority. And again, Paul speaks
of it when he addresses the Ephesians there at the end of chapter 1
of Ephesians. We read of that that God wrought
in Christ when he raised him up from the dead and set him
at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above all
principality and power and might and dominion and every name that
is named not only in this world but also in that which is to
come and that put all things under his feet and gave him to
be the head over all things to the church. which is his body,
the fullness of him that filleth all in all." Oh, this is a wondrous
part of the glorifying of the Lord Jesus. He's not only risen
from the dead, He's ascended on high, and He occupies His
blessed position. Here is the place where to He
has ascended. The right hand of God's in the
heavenly places, far above all principality and power. He's in that place of authority. And he knew it, of course. At the end of Matthew's Gospel,
as he gives that great commission to his Apostles, before He is
going to leave them and go to heaven, what does He say? All
power, literally all authority is given unto me in heaven and
in earth. Go ye therefore, make disciples
of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always.
even unto the end of the world. Oh, he has all authority. But besides the idea of authority
being at the Father's right hand doesn't the right hand also indicate
something more to us? It speaks of power power to perform, to accomplish
things the right hand of God. The psalmist says thou hast a
mighty arm strong is thy hand and high is thy right hand. All
the psalmist time and again will make mention of that right hand
of God. Psalm 118 and verses 15 and 16
the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly the right hand of the
Lord is exalted the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly And
this is where Christ is, you see. He's at the Father's right
hand. That is the place where to His
ascendance. That is the position that He
is now occupying. He has all authority in heaven
and in earth and He's the head over all things to His church.
Lord, we said this morning that God's decree. God's decree centers
in the Lord Jesus Christ. At 23rd verse, Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, He hath
taken them by wicked hands and crucified and slain. They were
culpable. They had sinned most grievously.
They had killed an innocent man, a righteous man. God manifest
in the flesh. But it was all in accordance
with God's determinate counsel. Or it was what God himself had
foreordained. And I said there now that Christ
stands at the very heart of God's decree. He is God's first elect. And all the elect of course are
chosen in Him, as we are told in Ephesians, Chapter 1, and
now Christ. Exalted to the Father's right
hand in all His dealings with this world and the men of this
world His eye is ever upon the church. He's the head over all
things to the church. Why? It's His body. He is the
head of the body, the church. The church is His body and now
He cares for her. He watches over her. from that
place or the position then that the Lord occupies even as we
are gathered here just a few and yet the Lord is mindful of
us in all his dealings in this city in this country in this
world mindful of his people but there's not only the place where
he is ascended but what of his posture What of his posture? The ascended Christ. Verse 34,
The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at, or sit thou on my right
hand. Sit thou on my right hand. Of course the quotation is from
the Psalm, Psalm 110. But it's not so much the position,
the right hand, it's his posture. Sit. He is seated. He is seated. And what does that
mean? Well, it means that his work
is a finished work. It's a work that's been completed.
Hebrews 1 is a great chapter, isn't it? It speaks so much of
the glories of Christ, the deity of Christ. So many references
to Old Testament scriptures in that short opening chapter of
the Hebrew epistle. But look at what we have here
in the third verse. Who being the brightness of his
glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself
purged our sins sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on
high." Now mark the juxtaposition of the words, when he had by
himself purged our sins sat down on the right hand of the Majesty
on high. And what is the significance
of that position of those clauses? Well, the work of purging was
done finished and so he sat down he sits down oh he is that one
you see who has accomplished salvation he came to to finish
the transgression and to make an end of sin and to make reconciliation
for iniquity and to bring in everlasting righteousness and
to seal the vision and the prophecy Isn't that how he's spoken of
there in Daniel 9.24? He's finished the work that the
Father has given him to do. And he says that, doesn't he,
in his great prayer, his high priestly prayer, I have glorified
thee on the earth, I have finished the work that thou gavest me
to do. And now, O Father, glorify thou
me with thine own self, with that glory that I had with thee
before the world was. All the glories have belonged
to this man, as he's finished the work, the great work of redemption. And there upon the cross that
tremendous cry of triumph, it is finished. And he bows the
head and gives up the ghost. No one can take his life, you
see, he gives it. He bows his head, he yields up
the ghost. into thy hand I commend my spirit
all the very posture now that he occupies in heaven at the
father's right hand he's seated the work is done and he has shed
abroad the Holy Spirit and in the outworking you see of the
covenant it is the Spirit who comes as the Spirit of Christ
to apply to poor sinners like you and me all that great work
all that fullness of the salvation that is in Christ. And so what
do we see as another part of his exaltation here? He is the
bestower of gifts. He is the bestower of gifts.
And there are two principal gifts that we see. There is the gift of the Holy
Spirit. The gift of the Holy Spirit.
And we have it, don't we, here in this 33rd verse? By the right
hand of God exalted, having received of the Father the promise of
the Holy Ghost, He has set forth this which ye now see and hear. I love verses like this because
they're Trinitarian verses, aren't they? There's all the persons
of the Godhead here. All the persons of the Godhead.
there's the Father, there's the Son and there's the Holy Ghost.
But who is that one who has bestowed the Holy Ghost? It is God the Son. Having received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Ghost that was the covenantal engagement He, that is the Son, hath set
forth this which ye now see and hear. This is the gift of Christ. He says, doesn't he, when the
Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit of truth which proceedeth from the Father, ye
shall testify of me. And again there in John 15, 26,
it's one of those great Trinitarian verses. in the outworking of
the Covenant, that inter-Trinitarian Covenant, the Covenant of Redemption,
before the foundation of the world, what God had purposed, a Trinitarian salvation. When
the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father,
even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, will testify of me is the Spirit
of Christ. The three are of course co-eternal
and they're co-equal. There's no superiority, no inferiority
in the Godhead. We mention these things only
on Thursday evening. Look at those words in Colossians
chapter 2 and verses 2 and 3. We speak in terms of God the
Father being the first person, God the Son being the second
person, God the Holy Ghost being the third person. But we're not to think that the
Son is any less God than the Father or the Spirit is any less
God than the Father and the Son. They are co-equal as they are
co-eternal. But there is an order in the
outworking of the covenant. Who is the one who sends the
son? The father sent the son. And what an amazing demonstration
is that of the love of the father. Why the son was daily his delight. and we love the Son, daily His
delights, rejoicing always before Him. There's a relationship of
love in the Godhead, isn't there? God is love, and God is love
without any reference to anything outside of Himself. The Father
loves the Son, the Son loves the Father, the Father and the
Son love the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit loves the Father
and the Son. There's a relationship of love.
And yes, here is the love of the Father when the fullness
of the time was come. God sent forth His Son, made
of a woman, made under the law. All what the Father has done,
He's given the gift of His Son. That's the unspeakable gift that
God has given His Son. and giving his son for sinners
to save sinners the father then sends the son
but here we see that it is the son who gives the spirit again
those words back in John, John 16 and verse 7 it is expedient
for you that I go away for if I go not away the Comforter will
not come, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. That's what
the Lord says, if I depart, I will send him unto you. Or the Spirit
sends the Son, and the Son willingly comes,
you see, and comes not to draw any attention
to himself, He doesn't speak of himself, he comes to speak
of the things of Christ. He comes to reveal Christ to
sinners, he comes to to exalt Christ in the salvation of sinners. But this is the gift, oh it's
the best of all donations. What greater blessing could the
Lord Jesus bestow upon his church than the gift of God. He has
given us God. God the Holy Ghost, and every
believer, every child of God is a temple of the Holy Spirit.
And that's why we're living stones, lively stones, built up a spiritual
house. That's what the Church is. But
I said two gifts. Christ is the bestower of two
gifts. There's the gift of the Holy Spirit, there's also the
gift of salvation. And of course, this is the whole
point and purpose of the message that is being preached here by
the Apostle. He's preaching salvation in the
Lord Jesus Christ. What does he say to these people?
Well, he says much more than what we have recorded here in
the sermon. This is only a summary of his
sermon. Verse 40 we're told, with many other words, did he
testify and exhort saying, save yourselves from this untoward
generation. He's preaching salvation. He's
preaching salvation. And isn't salvation ultimately
the gift of the Lord Jesus Christ? We have those words in Ephesians,
Ephesians 4 verse 8, when he ascended on high he led captivity
to captive and received gifts for men. Now there in that portion
in Ephesians 4 the Apostle is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ
but he's quoting of course from the Old Testament. He's quoting
the language that we have back in that Psalm that we read, Psalm
68. And there we see that there's
more than what Paul actually quotes. He ascended upon high,
he led captivity captive, he received gifts for men, yea,
for the rebellious also, that the Lord God may dwell amongst
them. Oh, there's gifts for great sinners. And we said again this
morning, where is it that this Gospel begins is to be preached
first of all at Jerusalem. And here we are at Jerusalem.
And it's just 50 days after the Passover, 50 days after the crucifixion
of Christ. It's the Feast of Weeks. Seven Weeks, a week of weeks, 49 days,
and then the 50th day, Pentecost. And the Holy Spirit is there. And what a gift, what a gift
is that that He's brought by and through the ministry of the
Holy Spirit, when He comes as the Spirit of Christ. and brings
into the soul of the sinner that salvation. Oh, to know, friends,
that effectual call. We sit under the ministry. I
had that privilege this afternoon of sitting in the pew and hearing
the preaching of the Word of God. It did my soul good. Oh,
it did my soul much good. I felt that. But when it's more
than just hearing with our natural ear, when we feel something,
when there's that efficacious work of the Spirit, when we know
that irresistible grace of God, when we're moved to believe the
message that's being proclaimed, that's the work of the Spirit.
That's the work of the Spirit. It's a gift of Christ. Again, what do we read later?
We read the words this morning there in chapter 5 at verse 31,
concerning Christ, him hath God exalted with his right hand.
Always exalted with the right hand, the all-powerful hand of
God, to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel
and the forgiveness of sins. He gives repentance and the forgiveness of sins.
No forgiveness, no forgiveness without repentance, remember.
But how does the Lord do this? How does he bring the sinner
to that place of repentance? Well, is he not by the Spirit? Christ says, doesn't he, when
he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, of righteousness
and of judgment. before there can be any repentance
there must be that reproving, that convincing, that convicting
work of the spirit of sin, because they believe
not on earth. Oh, that awful sin, unbelief. The sin which does so easily
beset us, the root of all our sinning, unbelief. And it clings
and it cleaves to our fallen nature. We have to wrestle with
unbelief all our days. If we know anything of saving
faith, we'll know what unbelief is. But when the spirit comes,
you'll see convincing and reproving. Oh, then there's repentance.
Then there's repentance. Not the sorrow of the world,
but that godly sorrow that works repentance to salvation not to
be repented of. But the Spirit doesn't just come
to bring that conviction. He also comes, of course, to
bring comfort into the soul of the sinner. All the consolations
that he ministers when he makes Christ so real. when he bears
testimony to Christ, when he takes of the things of Christ,
he shall take of mine, says the Savior, and show it unto you. Or when the Lord opens our eyes
and we see the wonder of it all, the great purpose of salvation,
and all to the glory of God. That's what we're considering,
isn't it? The glory of this man, the man Christ Jesus. And we see him here then as that
one who is the bestower of gifts. And these two great gifts, the
gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of salvation. But then finally,
in the fourth place, He is also exalted to be the Judge. What do we read in verse 34, verse 35? The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit
thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. until I make thy foes thy footstool. He is to come as a judge. The Father judges no man, but
hath committed all judgment to the Son, and hath given him authority
also to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Oh, the
Man is to return you, the Son of Man, as well as the
Son of God. Our God has highly exalted Him,
given Him a name above every name, that at the name of Jesus
every knee is to bow and every tongue to confess of things in
heaven and things in earth and things under the earth. All to
confess that He is Lord to the glory of God the Father. That's the day that is yet to
come. the great consummation of this
day. Oh, this day of grace. That's
where we began. Wasn't it only last Lord's Day
evening? It shall come to pass in the
last days. That's the day of grace. Our
day. The Gospel day. The dispensation
of the Holy Ghost. The last days I will pour out
of my spirit upon all flesh ye shall come to pass that whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved how vital
friends to know the Holy Spirit to die and to know him as that
one who is the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ coming in the
gospel you know I was looking back I do try to keep a record
of what I try to preach and I realize that earlier in this year we
did look at the closing part of this second chapter and I
sought to take a theme then which I call the Apostolic Gospel.
We were looking at those verses from verse 36 through to verse
14. You see, when they heard this
they were pricked in their hearts and said unto Peter and to the
rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then
Peter said unto them, Repent and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and
ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise
is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off,
even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And with many
other words did He testify, and exhort, saying, Save yourselves
from this untoward generation. And what an effect! They that
gladly received the word were baptized. and the same day there
were added unto them about three thousand souls and they continued
steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship and breaking of
bread and in prayers all the blessed effect you see of the
preaching of this gospel this apostolic gospel and it's still
our privilege to hear that message in this day of grace or to know
something then of such a blessed Pentecost, to experience Pentecost
in our own souls as the Spirit himself is there and is preaching
on to us the person and the work of Christ, this man or this man,
that's where we began in the morning hour looking at those
words in verse 22, the men of Israel hear these words Jesus
of Nazareth a man a man approved of God among you we thought of
the man and we sought to say something of the same man now
the glorified man risen ascended bestowed of great gifts the one
who is to return as the great judge now as I said this afternoon
I had that privilege of sitting and hearing the Word of God and
I was quite struck really. I felt favoured in some respect
hearing. I can't say I'm always a good
hearer. I think I'm a poor hearer really of the Word of God. I
was touched, you see. It was Timothy Field who was
preaching at Hedge End and in the course of his sermon he referred
to a hymn that we'd sung back on the 1st of October, the anniversary
service at Hedge End. I'd chosen the hymns and I'd
forgotten really, I'd not kept a record of what hymns we had,
but he had obviously marked, certainly the opening hymn was
476. And in the course of speaking,
he actually quoted some of the verses. And he came to this verse. This is why I changed the hymn. This is why I changed the hymn.
I'd chosen a 471, but I changed it to 476. And this seventh verse. We're
going to sing this hymn presently. But I close now with this seventh
verse of 476. This is the man, the exalted
man, whom we unseen adore, but when our eyes behold his face,
our hearts shall love him more. The Lord bless his word to us.
Amen.