The notices for the coming week of winning are as follows. Next day, our pastor is expected to preach at 10.30 and 2 p.m. and Thursday evening at 7 p.m. There will be a prayer meeting on Tuesday at 7 p.m. There will be a church meeting here on Tuesday the 3rd of March at 7 p.m. Commence our services today by singing hymn number 358, the tune is Hull, number 714.

God thus commanded Jacob's seed, when from Egyptian bondage freed, he led them by the way. Remember with a mighty hand, I brought thee forth from Pharaoh's land, then keep my Sabbath day. In six days God made heaven and earth, gave all the various creatures birth, and from his working ceased. These days to labor he applied. The seventh he blessed and sanctified, and called the day of rest.

Hymn number 358, June Hull, 714. O come, O come, O come, O come, O come, Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ When it might serve her good ♪ ♪ In cities golden and fair ♪ ♪ We'll know her fair and gracious more ♪ ♪ Not the miserable things she did see ♪ ♪ Hail, all, hail our pride ♪ ♪ As to thee, Christ, have set it high ♪ ♪ And on thy way, O friend, hast thou gone ♪ ♪ To those people who have remained ♪ ♪ The servants in separation of faith ♪ ♪ And left to perish on earth ♪ ♪ Let earth rejoice ♪ ♪ In her King ♪ ♪ Let all the world ♪ ♪ Celebrate the King ♪ ♪ And sing his praises far and wide ♪ ♪ Is my thinking of riches ♪ ♪ Of rich and fair and glorious ♪ ♪ And it is treasured to me ♪ ♪ So I shall be greater ♪ ♪ On this earth ♪ ♪ Where God's eternal ♪ ♪ Jesus was ♪ ♪ And with my child I'm born ♪ And this I bring, this I bring, To you, dear people, on this day.

♪ Which at that silent night ♪ ♪ All the angels there ♪ ♪ Hushed and silent ♪ ♪ Hushed and silent ♪ ♪ Silent night ♪ The reading, dear friends, from the word of God for our instruction and prophet will be found in the 50th chapter in Jeremiah's prophecy. Chapter 50, the prophet Jeremiah. And we will read the first 34 verses. Chapter 50 in Jeremiah, the word that the Lord spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet.

Declare ye among the nations and publish and set up a standard, publish and conceal not. Say Babylon is taken, Baal is confounded, Merodach is broken in pieces, her idols are confounded, her images are broken in pieces. For out of the North there cometh up a nation against her, which shall make her land desolate, and none shall dwell therein.

They shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast. In those days and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, go in and weep in, they shall go and seek the Lord their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place. All that found them hath devoured them.

And their adversaries said, we offend not, because they have sinned against the Lord. the habitation of justice, even the Lord, the hope of their fathers. Remove out of the midst of Babylon and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans and be as the he goats before the flocks. For lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon and assembly of great nations from the north country. And they shall set themselves in a row against her. From thence she shall be taken. Their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert man. None shall return in vain.

And Chaldea shall be a spoil all that spoiled her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord. Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, O ye destroyers of mine heritage, because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass and bellow as bulls, your mother shall be sore confounded She that bare you shall be ashamed. Behold, the hindermost of the nations shall be a wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. Because of the wrath of the Lord, it shall not be inhabited, but it shall be wholly desolate.

Everyone that goeth by Babylon shall be astonished, and hiss at all her plagues. Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about, all ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spear no arrows, for she hath sinned against the Lord. Shout against her round about, She hath given her hand, her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down, for it is the vengeance of the Lord. Take vengeance upon her, as she hath done. Do unto her, cut off the sour from Babylon, and him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest. For fear of the oppressing sword, they shall turn every one to his people, and they shall flee every one to his own land.

Israel is a scattered sheep. The lions have driven him away, First, the king of Assyria hath devoured him, and last, this nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, hath broken his bones. Therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, as I have punished the king of Assyria and I will bring Israel again to his habitation and he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan and his soul shall be satisfied upon Mount Ephraim and Gilead in those days and in that time saith the Lord the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for and there shall be none. And the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found, for I will pardon them whom I reserve.

Go up against the land of Merothaim, even against it, and against the inhabitants of Peacock. Waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the Lord. and do according to all that I have commanded thee. The sound of battle is in the land, and of great destruction. How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and broken? How has Babylon become a desolation among the nations? I have laid a snare for thee, Thou art also taken, O Babylon, and thou wast not aware. Thou art found and also caught, because thou hast striven against the Lord. The Lord hath opened his armoury, and hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation. For this is the work of the Lord God of hosts, in the land of the Chaldeans. Come against her from the upmost border, open her storehouses, cast her upper seats, and destroy her utterly. Let nothing of her be left. Slay all her bullocks. Let them go down to the slaughter.

Well unto them for their day has come, the time of their visitation, the voice of them that flew and escaped out of the land of Babylon to declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our God, the vengeance of his temple. Call together the archers against Babylon, all ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about, let none thereof escape.

Recompense her according to her work, according to all that she hath done, do unto her. For she hath been proud against the Lord, against the Holy One of Israel, Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, and all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith the Lord. Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, saith the Lord God of hosts, for thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. And the most proud shall stumble and fall, and none shall raise him up. And I will kindle a fire in his cities, and it shall devour all round about him.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the children of Israel and the children of Judah were oppressed together. and all that took them captives held them fast. They refused to let them go. Their Redeemer is strong. The Lord of Hosts is his name. He shall truly plead their cause, that he may give rest to the land and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon.

We'll leave the reading there this morning, dear friends. May the Lord own and bless His own word that we have read together. May the Lord help us now in prayer. Most holy and eternal God, Thou who art from everlasting to everlasting, God only wise. Thou who art almighty, yea, mightier than the mighty waves of the sea. Oh, how great Lord thou art. Thou who knoweth the number of the stars, Thou who calleth them all by their name, Lord, Thy greatness, Thy glory, Thy majesty and power is so great that we cannot fully begin to comprehend how great Thou art.

Oh, to feel upon our spirit a little of that greatness and glory and majesty and power, then we shall be truly humbled, Lord, before Thee. Where our minds will be solemnized, there will be that sobriety of mind and heart and thought. as we come before them in the exercise of prayer, in reading thy word, in the ministry of the same, and in the praise of thy great and holy name.

Oh, grant thee reverence and godly fear to be upon each of our spirits as we now desire to worship the Lord in thy beauty, of holiness and then, Lord, it will be in sincerity and in truth by the power of Thy Holy Spirit leading us to Emmanuel, God with us, the God-man, the man Christ Jesus, one to stand between, in garments died in blood, may He be seen instead of us as we approach to God unitedly.

Oh, we thank Thee that Thou, Lord Jesus, ever liveth to make intercession for us. one to stand between, one to plead our cause and our case and to make it completely good. For if any man sin, Lord, we come before thee as sinners. If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. and He is the propitiation for our sins. We thank Thee, Lord, for the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

We thank Thee for all Thy holy, saving, gracious attributes, Lord, which are Thine. and would desire to ascribe all the honour and the glory unto thy great and holy name for all thy mercies and all thy truths sake. Now Lord we are all here present before the Lord to hear what God the Lord will speak unto us. Lord, do speak to us each through the written and the incarnate word. May thy word be in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance in our hearts and in our souls and upon our spirits. For Lord, we are dying mortals.

And as time has lengthened out, grace is given. So Lord, may thy word be brought with power, efficaciously and sovereignly and graciously in our hearts, that we might have that sweet and blessed assurance of our own personal interest. in that finished work, that work of salvation that was finished at Calvary. For thou, Lord Jesus, didst say, It is finished. And thou didst bow thy sacred head and die. But, Lord, thou art risen a risen Saviour, for to give repentance unto Israel and forgiveness of sin. O the glory of Immanuel.

May it be God with us. Favour us, Lord, today with thy sacred presence. We do beseech of thee for what is the house of God to me, unless the master there I see. Oh, may our hearts be graciously affected today by the sacred presence and the approbation of God resting upon us from above. And now, Lord, we ask In this pulpit once again the absence of their beloved and dear pastor preaching at Chippenham today and Lord we stand in the pulpit in his absence and we pray that there will be unto us all that we need with regard to the declaration of the truth in accordance with thy mind and will that thy word should not only be read, but also preached and be taught and declared in the assemblies of thy saints.

Lord, this is according to thy divine will. And we thank thee that thou hast maintained the ministry all down through the ages and all through our lives. and pray that thou will continue so to do. Lord, it will, for thou hast declared it will. And we ask thy blessing on thy word to be proclaimed God willing today, not only here, but amongst all the individual churches that we are connected to. in the bonds of love and union and in the doctrines of faith that we believe in and love and desire to walk in and how these unite thy dear people together as the heart of one man. And so, Lord, may thy blessing Rest upon thy one church, especially the body of churches to which we in loyalty and in love spend our time and strength serving. And we pray that thou would own and bless the ministry of their dear pastor here as he serves the Lord in feeding the church of God here. which thou hath purchased with thine own precious blood.

Do strengthen him, Lord, and uphold him for this great work as he comes in and out amongst them continually. Oh, may it be as we are sure it is, as it was with David of old. The people loved him as he came in. and out amongst them. And so, Lord, as he comes in and brings thy word, may there be that love to bear him at the throne of Christ. And as he goes forth, Lord, that love for the truth that he has been favoured to proclaim, the doctrines of Christ, the sweet experience experiences of the Lord's people founded on the rock of ages the Lord Jesus Christ to uphold and support him in body mind and soul and comfort him in his great loss and path of bereavement.

We pray for the church each member of the church and congregation, the dear children and the young people, and their two dear brethren in office as deacons. Lord, be with them unitedly. And may, Lord, thy cause and interest here grow and increase spiritually and numerically. There may be others wrought upon by the Spirit and made willing in the day of thy power to put thee on by an open profession of thy holy name. And so, Lord, may thy blessing and thine approbation rest upon thy cause and interest here. We beseech of thee, remember all the causes of truth Lord up and down this land and those in America and Canada and Australia that are affiliated to us and with us in heart and spirit. And Lord we also pray for those ministers who have just now in recent weeks being commissioned to preach the word publicly in Zion.

We pray for them each, that they may be helped in these, their early days. Oh, may they know a little of the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And so Lord, thy work is continuing. It is going on. And we pray that thou wilt own and bless all that is attended to within Zion, the church of the living God.

We would pray for those in various trying dispensations and afflictions and tribulations that overtake the people of God and render us more dependent, Lord, upon Thee, yea, totally dependent upon Thee, the God of all grace, that, Lord, may each one be helped to trust alone in Thee. For it is better, Lord, to trust in Thee in these pathways than to put confidence in man. It is better, Lord, to trust in Thee than to put confidence in princes. And so, Lord, do give much needed grace to thy dear people in those tribulatory pathways, whatever that pathway may consist of. The heart knows its own bitterness. The child of God knows his own burden. May we each be helped to cast it, Lord, upon thee. for thou art the burden-bearer of thy people. Help us each to cast our cares upon thee, knowing that thou carest for us.

And so, Lord, do we pray thee, remember all for whom we should and would pray. We pray for our aged sister at Hanover, Miss Beryl Sayers, and Lord, thou knowest that which took place last Lord's Day, taking her to hospital, requiring an operation. We thank thee for thy mercies thus far and pray that she may be supported and upheld and sustained in the coming weeks and months as she may be spared, God willing, proving the loving kindness of the Lord. and be with our dear friend and brother there this morning and reading the sermon for the friends there and come up with our dear servant this evening as he ministers, Lord, at Hanover tonight. And so, dear Lord, do help us to thank thee for thy great goodness. We have much to thank thee for, much to mourn over. Do you remember, Lord, the dear children here and the young people? Oh, Lord, be with them in their youthful days.

Do keep them from the snares of Satan. Keep them from the beguiling influence of the devil. Save them from this world. Sin has a thousand snares to Entice and trap the feet, especially those who are young. Oh, do keep them, Lord. If sinners entice them, may they never consent. May they keep and walk with those who fear God.

Help them in the workplace, be with the children at school. Oh, in the day in which we live, Lord, when thy word is treated with contempt. Oh, Lord, do be with the dear children and the young and rising generation. May they be helped to seek the Lord in that sincerity and simplicity of heart and those words to come forth from unfamed lips. Lord, do remember them. Remember parents and grandparents. Remember all and suit thy mercies, Lord, unto us according to our great individual needs and circumstances.

We are exhorted to pray for king and country, We hardly know, dear Lord, how to order our words before them, in consideration of the state and condition of matters, Lord, in this our land, things that we never considered, never thought of. Oh, Lord, but thy word declares that in the last days perilous times shall come. And Lord, these perilous times are here now. We pray that thou will preserve and protect and defend thy cause on earth, thy church and people. Oh Lord, do preserve us for posterity in the earth and save our lives by a great deliverance. May thy will be done on earth as it is in And so Lord, help us to continue in faith and practice, in word and doctrine. And Lord, do, if it could please Thee, undertake for us in this nation and the nations of the earth.

O Lord, Thou knowest. And now Lord, do bless further All throughout this day the singing of the sacred hymns help me to speak in thy great and holy name. And I do have mercy, Lord, upon us, remembering we are but dust. And like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. We would glorify the name, and person of a God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.

God blesseth forevermore. Amen. A service by a singing hymn number 1048. The tune is Keyball number 357. We've no abiding city here. This may distress the worldling's mind, but should not cost the saint a tear, who hopes a better rest to find. We've no abiding city here. Sad truth were this to be our home, But let the thought our spirits cheer, We seek a city yet to come. In number 1048, June Keeble, number 357.

I. ♪ It's in the church's open sky ♪ ♪ A new and glorious day is here ♪ ♪ With friends of old and friends of young ♪ ♪ In the morning's early light ♪ ♪ Star-spangled banners yet wave above ♪ I never thought that I would see this day. It seems I've seen it before. ♪ Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen ♪ Blessed be ♪ ♪ And eternal rest ♪ ♪ In the world ♪ ♪ It's the English city that I've just found ♪ ♪ It's the only city that I've ever known ♪ ♪ It's the only city that I've ever known ♪ ♪ Hark, the herald angels sing ♪ ♪ Hark, the herald angels sing ♪ Lord of all creation, Son of God, I cry to Thee, that I may hear Thy voice.

As the Lord should be pleased to help me, dear friends, I would ask your prayerful and loving attention for words to be found in chapter 50 in the prophecy by Jeremiah. And the verse is really four and five and six. We cannot really separate them. So may the Lord help us to read them and to speak from them as unable the 4th and 5th and 6th verses in chapter 50 in Jeremiah in those days.

And in that time saith the Lord the children of Israel shall come they and the children of Judah together going and weeping they shall go and seek the Lord their God they shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward saying come and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.

My people have been lost sheep. Their shepherds have caused them to go astray. They have turned them away on the mountains. They have gone from mountain to hill. They have forgotten their resting place. A wonderful and blessed testimony this is concerning the Lord's people who had been in captivity for 70 long years.

To understand the sacred significance of these verses we need to have some gracious understanding of that which went before. And the children of Israel, the children of Judah, had really departed from the Lord. And the Lord had given them many warnings and gracious exhortations with regard to serving Him and obeying Him and walking in the truth, but they were disobedient. they forsook the Lord their God. And the Lord said that if they continued in this way then he would take them into captivity.

And so this is what happened. And the nebuchadreza came and the captain of his host and took them down into Babylon into captivity and caused havoc in Jerusalem and breaking down the sacred wall that had been built and destroying the temple and all that Solomon had done in the building was destroyed. Oh it was a sad and solemn day and took them down into captivity and there they were according to what the Lord had said and the Lord used this heathen land and heathen people to come against God's people.

What a solemn consideration it is, isn't it? The judgment of God. The Lord used Babylon. And in this chapter that we've read, or part of it this morning, it speaks of the destruction of Babylon, and of course it speaks of the redemption of Israel. And there are some beautiful truths, friends, in this 50th chapter concerning the redemption of the Lord's dear people, but the utter overthrow of Babylon.

So let's just ponder for a moment. What's Babylon? Where does it proceed from? What's its beginning? Well, it began with Babel. You go back to the book of Genesis, Babel. Confusion, the confusion of tongues, the separation of people. There they were trying to build a tower to reach heaven. And friends, the Lord came down and spoiled it all and finished it all. It was brought to nothing. Man's work and religion all came to nothing. And Babylon came from Babel. Well, where did Babel come from? Well, it came from Ham.

And Ham was one of the sons of Noah, as you know. And there were three sons that went into the ark, Shem, Ham and Japheth. But Ham dishonored his father. And for that, he came under the curse. Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be. He's under the curse and Ham is the father of Canaan.

And this is where Babylon comes in as well. You can read of this in the 10th chapter in the book of, in the Genesis. And so you see Babylon was heathen, ungodly, powerful, glorying in themselves. Proud, arrogant, yet the Lord permitted them to come and take his people into captivity. There's some great depths, friends, in the scriptures, tremendous depths, that human reason can never fathom. We need divine teaching and leading.

Now, the promise was given in chapter 25. and it shall come to pass when seventy years are accomplished that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation saith the Lord for their iniquity and the land of the Chaldeans and will make it perpetual desolation and I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it even all that is written in this book, which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations. For many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of them also. And I will recompense them according to their deeds and according to the work of their own hands. The Lord will recompense, a recompense. They took the Lord's people into captivity.

Now the Lord will recompense Babylon and destroy it. You can read of this in Isaiah, the burden of Babylon that dear Isaiah had. And you can read of the desolation there was in that place, in Babylon. Well, it's not my province to preach about Babylon, dear friends, but just to give you the background.

Because when that 70 years was accomplished and fulfilled, then our text says, in those days, what blessed days these were. Because you see, the word that the Lord spoke against Babylon and against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the prophet. Declare ye among the nations and publish and set up a standard. Publish and conceal not.

Say Babylon is taken. Bel is confounded. Now Bel was one of the idols that they worshipped. Merodach is another idol. It's broken in pieces. Her idols are confounded. Her images are broken in pieces. So you see, the Lord will deal with Babylon. And when those 70 years were complete, the Lord destroyed Babylon. But His dear people, in those days, the Lord's time had come for the judgment to be lifted from them and their captivity to be ended. And then they were to return. Where to? Zion, Zion. We read in the Psalms in their captivity, by the rivers of Babylon we sat down, we wept. When we remembered Zion, they wept. But there they were friends, and this brings me to this point really. We must be completely clear and honest and sincere on these things. Indeed we did. We must. Because I have to give an account of my ministry.

But the Lord's dear people, the Lord will always deal with his people according to his sovereign will, according to his sovereign word. We live in a day of grace, friends. Let's bless God for that. But let us never abuse that day of grace. Let us walk humbly before our God. Let us walk according to truth. Let us walk pleasing God.

Oh, friends, then all will be well. But if we go astray, if we act contrary to his word, then the Lord will always deal with his dear people. God does it, not man. And he will, dear friends, as it's according to his sovereign will, You see, if we be without chastisement, we have all our partakers. The Lord's people are partakers of that chastening hand.

But the glory is, friends, in those days when that chastening had been completed, then, and in that time, saith the Lord, The children of Israel shall come, thy and the children of Judah together. Oh, friends, what a depth there is here. The United Kingdom had been separated. The 12 tribes, the United Kingdom. David was the king of the United Kingdom.

And so was Solomon. But sadly, due to Solomon's sin, God said that there would be a separation. And then when Solomon died, Rehoboam took the throne, and he acted in an unwise way. And the fulfillment of prophecy was then done. The 10 tribes of Israel And the two tribes of Judah, separation. Separation. You see, friends, sin separates. Sin separates. And it separated the Lord's people for a time.

You see, friends, these are sobering considerations, but they're all in the Word of God. And we must have an understanding of them, otherwise we shall never know the glory of such words in our text. And there are some most beautiful truths in this 50th chapter, friend. Oh, sacred. Read verse 20. And read those two last verses that I read in 33 and 34, what sacred gospel truths they are.

Friends, you see the Lord brought his dear people and they came back, and they came back together. They came back together. The Lord brought them together. in repentance, in coming down. They were divided through the pride of their heart and sin. But they were united in returning to the Lord.

Oh friends, the Lord knows how to unite totally His dear people. In those days and in that time, and friends, it's the same experimentally with every child of God. There will be that day and that time when the Lord enables you to return to Him in heart and affection.

Now, you may say to me, well, of course, we haven't done the things that the Lord's people did here as recorded in Jeremiah because they did some very grievous sins. Villainy, licentiousness, idolatry, worship in the queen of heaven, burning incense on their rooftops at their houses to bail. All these things that were against the commands of God. You might say, well, we haven't done these things.

No, dear friends, and that's a mercy to be kept outwardly. It's a great mercy. But you see, it comes closer than that, friends. Much closer. God deals with the heart. The heart. Not the outward form. We all see the outward form of each other. But God sees the heart. Now, God requires, dear friends, complete worship Total worship, your whole heart. And we may depart from the Lord in heart, not in practice. It's not that total commitment to the cause of Christ. There may be some dull in sin, some idle in the heart, and it's robbing us. It's robbing God of His glory.

True religion, friends, is not an outward matter. The Pharisees, they were very religious in a formal ceremonial way. It was all exterior, what could be seen by men. They loved the praise of men. But true religion, friends, goes deeper than that. It's the very heart. It's the affection. It's the desire. It's the longing. And the Lord sees the heart. He knows the heart, and we may depart from the Lord in heart, in affection, in desire. And there may be some idol there, friends, in your heart, and your flesh so likes it and loves it and desires it.

And Satan, friends, is very subtle. He said to our first parents he should be as gods. And Satan comes with his temptation today and he says to one, well you have a difficult life, you have a hard life, now just have a little pleasure, have one little idol, you need something to compensate for all your tribulations. This is Satan, friends, under temptation.

He's a liar. He's a liar. And he'll tell you, you can have a little of this and a little of that, it won't matter. Friends, it does matter, because God sees. Oh, the devil, friends, is such a liar. And he knows in his subtle ways to come and even try and tempt the people of God to have a little of the world, a little of this, just as a matter of a compensation for all the tribulations of this life.

Friend, resist the devil. He'll flee from you. Don't take any notice of Satan, friend. to the tenor of truth, in those days, when that time as the Lord will turn your captivity, and at that very time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, thy and the children of Israel, of Judah, together, a united front, a united people, returning God. Come, let us return.

Oh friends, this of course was spoken of earlier by the Prophet Jeremiah to the Lord's dear people in the early chapters of this prophecy and let us just call over what he says. The Lord is speaking through Jeremiah. Go and proclaim these words toward the north and say, return thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you, for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger forever. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord, for I am married unto you. and I will take you one of a city and two of a family and I will bring you to Zion.

The exhortation there earlier was to return but they continued in their disobedience. Return again, he says, ye backsliding children and I will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee, for thou art the Lord. Our God. So you see, dear friends, this time then came, a blessed time, to return. Where does it find you, friends? Where do these truths find you? Where is your heart today as before God? Have you got rest in your soul?

Because you see, in our text it speaks they had forgotten their resting place. Oh friends, the return to your rest, the rest of your soul, return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee, bountifully. And so the Lord's dear people returned, unitedly together. And how did they go? They came back, friends, different than they went out. And a sinner to die will return in a different way than when they came out. They came back weeping, going and weeping. They shall go and seek the Lord their God.

Yeah. Oh friends, you see, these things, the reality of them, it comes to mind when I was a lad and there was a man who used to attend the chapel where I was brought up and he would have been in his early eighties and he used to walk with a stick, I can remember him well, but in the weeks He was with his worldly friends. And going there, why?

He'd come into chapel on a Sunday. Well, one day in the summer, he went off with his worldly friends. They left Helsham to go to home to have a day at the cricket ground. He's in his eighties. And off they went. And on the way he took ill in the car. They got to Ringmoor and took him to Ringmoor, into the Ringmoor Hotel and called the ambulance. And he went off to take to Brighton Hospital. And he died. He died. There's a lad that impressed me. Chapel on Sunday, and he went the world in the week, and all what they wanted, he would join with them. And there he was, going off to cricket. What an idol in his heart. Never got there. The Lord took him. He died.

No, I'm not the judge. God is the judge. But friends, the word of God is very clear. Love not the world. Neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, that is, loves the pleasures of this world, the love of the Father is not in him. You see, dear friends, these things, sobering considerations and especially as we grow older and the infirmities come upon us and different trials and we realize that we're dying mortals and we live the major part of our days and death is before us the judgment seat is before us We need friends to be right in the sight of God. We don't want an idol to rob us of the presence of God, of the blessing of God, of the favour of God.

Well, the mercy is, they were the Lord's people and they returned. They returned, they went, they were going. They were going. They had somewhere to go, friends, that's why. To go back to Jerusalem, to go back to Zion, to go back to the city of truth. They were going. No, they weren't just sitting, they weren't standing. There was a movement, there was an activity of limb and there was an activity in their soul, the Lord's favour, drawing them by the cause of His love. taking them back to the promised land that he gave to their fathers, taking them back to Jerusalem, the city of truth, taking them back to Zion, where the Lord rides, where the Lord is. Now, I know the Lord is everywhere. He's omnipresent. He's everywhere in the world. And Jeremiah said, none can go in secret places and hide themselves from the Lord, For the eyes of the Lord go to and fro the whole earth. But the Lord dwells in Zion, especially and particularly. That's where he rides, that's where he blesses his people, that's where we meet together, in the house of God. Zion its name, the Lord is there.

And this is where they were going, and they were weeping. Friends, can you go back in your life to a time when you literally wept before the Lord on account of your sinnership and the Lord entered the chamber of your heart and you wept tears of repentance before him? You won't live there, friends, but you'll know that in your life if you're a child of God.

Hezekiah, the king of Judah. One of his burdens was the sin of his own heart. And he turned his face to the wall. He turned his face to the wall, turned his back on the world. turn his face to the wall and prayed unto the Lord and wept so. Tears of repentance friends, have you never shed them? When was the last time friends the Lord entered the chamber of your heart and you wept in secret before the Lord? Hezekiah wept so. Friends, you see, these are the spiritual experiences of God's people, weeping.

Due to their sin, weeping at the Lord's goodness and bringing them back. Five months it took to get back from Babylon to Jerusalem. Five months, friends, weeping as they went. that the Lord's goodness to them, that the Lord had not cut them off as cumbers of the ground. But they had delivered them from their oppressor, from their captivity, from their servitude.

Oh friend, what a solemn state and what a reality it is, you know. What a reality it is to be in spiritual captivity. You feel to be shut up, you can't come forth, you're embonded. The hymn writer took it up when he said this, when the poor prisoner, through a grate, sees others walk at large, how does he mourn his lonely state and long for it is charged? Seeing others walk at large, and you're banned in a prison cell. Not literally, but spiritually. You have not got that liberty. that you enjoyed before.

It's gone, until the Lord restores it again. You see, dear friends, the prison house is a very solemn place for a child of God. You can't deliver yourself, friends, in these experiences. Only the Lord can deliver, but He's the great deliverer. And that beautiful word that we read in the last chapter of our reading this morning, Oh, friends, this is the secret. Their Redeemer is strong. And He can deliver you, friends, from the prison hands. Our Deliverer is strong, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, go in and weep. And he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. bringing it here, we come back rejoicing, weeping at the goodness of God. They shall go, they shall go and seek the Lord, their God, a true seeker. Well, dear friends, some of the Lord's dear people have wept, haven't they? We mentioned Hezekiah, it comes to mind concerning Peter, when he denied the Lord, when he realised and felt upon his spirit that denial, what was the affair? He went out and he wept bitterly. He wept bitterly. Oh, those tears, friend, that left his eyes, that came from his heart. It's a wonderful provision, friends, that God has given to enable us to weep. It's a wonderful blessing. Naturally speaking, it's a wonderful blessing. Spiritually, it's a wonderful blessing.

And some of the Lord's dear saints, look at dear Joseph. Oh, when he could not refrain His bowels moved with him, and he sought where to weep. Look at the dear Redeemer, at the grave of Lazarus. Jesus wept. The wonderful providence, the wonderful blessings. The dear Redeemer wept, friends, and the Lord's dear people wept. And here they were returning, And in that exercise of soul, weeping before the Lord, and seeking the Lord their God.

Well, dear friends, you see, this may be something that you came short in. Something in our heart by nature robs us of that seeking unto God, that real seeking. Seek and ye shall find. An earnest seeking. You see, dear friends, spiritual experience, spiritual activity, will take all the grace and the strength that God gives you. We can't do these things on our own, in our own strength, but God gives us grace and strength and enables us to do it. And you'll use all that grace and all that strength accordingly to seek unto God.

And friends, These things are an effect. It's labor. And we feel the effect upon our earthly tabernacle. The ministry, friends, I can assure you, the effect felt upon one's earthly tabernacle. You may say to me, well, you look all right and strong in the pulpit. Friends, if you saw me tomorrow, spent, done. The effect of labour. The effect of labour.

We've got to continue. And we need all the grace and all the strength that God gives. This enables us to seek the Lord. There's no other way to live. There's no other way to continue. Seeking the Lord, our God. And that, friends, will take all of your spiritual activity All the grace, all the strength the Lord gives you will be devoted in seeking God. There is no place for idolatry. There's no place for that which is displeasing to God. There's no room or place or time for it. You're devoted to the cause of Christ.

He'll have your heart. He'll have your affection. He'll have your desires. He'll have you all, because we're His. We're His. Oh, friends, seek Him, the Lord, their God. Have you sought Him today, friends? Have you? That fervency in prayer and seeking unto God, committing everything to Him, Well, dear friends, this is the sweet and blessed experience of the Lord's dear people. And because you see the Lord's people in their neglect of God's and walking in obedience, one of the first signs is a prayerless state and condition, not that seeking unto God. Because the heart, you see, is divided. There's something there to take your interest, to take your time, Instead of a total commitment, what is the total commitment, dear friends?

It says, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul, with all thy mind, with all thy strength. That's what God requires, friends. And let me tell you this, friend. He'll accomplish it. He'll have your heart. He'll have your affections. He'll have your desires. He wouldn't do. Well, what a blessed, Sacred truth this is, isn't it, in this chapter.

We've come to the end of Jeremiah. When you read the five chapters of the Lamentations, if you've read all through the Jeremiah prophecy, then you read the Lamentations, you'll understand those Lamentations so much better. You'll understand them because of all what you've read in the prophecy. And those Lamentations are as a result of And what did Jeremiah say in those lamentations?

The waves of Zion do mourn. Mourning. Are the waves of Zion mourning today, friends? Well, bless God, they're returning. They're going back. The Lord took them back. They were his dear people. They were his covenanted people. He loved them. And that's why he chased them. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth."

Oh, these are spiritual realities and experiences of the Lord's dear people. So, seeking unto God. And you know, as I pondered this, then my mind went to, in the Chronicles, and the kings there, were brought to seek unto God. Yes, kings, dear friends.

And Asa came to mind, and he was a good king. He did that which was good and right in the eyes of the Lord his God. And yet, you see, we read this. He said, because we have sought the Lord, our God, we have sought him, and he has given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered. So there's one of the kings of Judah, Asa, and the secret of his success was that he sought the Lord and commended the kingdom, so to do. Because he said, we have sought the Lord our God, and the Lord has given us rest on every side.

Well, dear friends, a good king and a good advice, sound advice, seeking unto God, well, our text, and seek the Lord our God. And of course, they prospered. They didn't save them from troubles, but in their trouble they sought the Lord continually, and the Lord delivered them. Because he's the great deliverer in Zion, and he's strong. And so we see these accounts where the Lord permitted enemies to come, They called upon God, they sought the Lord, and he delivered them.

Well, in those days, may it be a day of grace, friends, with us all. And in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come. They and the children of Judah together, going and weeping, they shall go and seek the Lord. their God. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces, their reward.

We are closed this morning. May the Lord help us to continue. This afternoon, God willing. Amen. through our service this morning by singing hymn number 1060. The tune is Eben Lied, number 905. Weary of wandering from the Lord, and now made willing to return, I hear and bow me to the rod. For now, not without hope I mourn, there is an advocate above. a friend before the throne of love. Thou knowest the way to bring me back, my fallen spirit to restore. O for thy truth and mercy's sake, forgive and abid me sin no more, the ruins of my soul repair, and make my heart a house of prayer. Hymn number 1060, tune Abel Light, number 905. Thank you.

♪ O come, O come, Emmanuel ♪ ♪ O come, O come, Emmanuel ♪ O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, ♪ We shall have a place before the sun and the moon ♪ O say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ And God my God still ♪ ♪ And always again ♪ ♪ I sing thy praise ♪ ♪ Forever and always ♪ O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, ♪ Christ the heav'nly King ♪ ♪ Bring me back my true love again ♪ ♪ With spirit and with soul ♪ ♪ And all my dreams have vanished into thin air ♪ ♪ For in your name we stand alone ♪ ♪ A new day dawns by sunny day ♪ And bring my wounds to pass away. Come, take me on, and take me home, and take me home where I will rest to sleep.

♪ And God be praised ♪ ♪ God's children watch ♪ ♪ With heart and mind ♪ ♪ With ears and ears ♪ That's why we love thy gracious hand, And ever, ever, ever, ever be true. And now may thy grace, Lord Jesus, the Father's love, the communion of thy Holy Spirit, be with us all now and forevermore. Amen.