And look at verse 19 with me
please. Romans chapter 3 and verse 19. Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God." That's the purpose of the law, that's the
reason why it was given, to shut men up. Not that they might boast
in it, not that they might find reason and occasion to glory
in it, but that it might shut their mouths. Now we know that what thingsoever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before
God. Therefore by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for by the law
is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. For there
is no difference. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. And God hath set forth to be
a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His
righteousness for the remission of sins that are passed through
the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at this time
his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of
him which believeth in Jesus. Amen. May God bless to us this
reading from his word. Let's have a wee word of prayer. Almighty God, we approach thee
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we give thee thanks
that this opportunity is afforded to us, that we might gather around
thy word and worship thee. We come as a ragbag of individuals. We come as a needy people. We
come as those who have been sullied by this earth and the things
of the world once again this week. And thou knowest the troubles
we've had and the challenges we've faced, the failures that
we have encountered. Thou knowest the doubts that
we harbour in our souls and all the questions that rest upon
our hearts. And yet, our God, we thank thee
that this place is made available for us. not simply this room,
not simply this congregation, not simply this juncture in our
week, but this altar, this tabernacle, this place of
rest and peace, this oasis in the desert. And we thank thee
that we can come here and be refreshed at thy hand. We pray
that thou would speak to us this morning and we ask our God be
merciful to us that not men be heard, but that God be heard. Show us thyself, speak to us
in thy goodness, in thy grace. And we ask our God that we will
be helped and encouraged and comforted in our beings and in
our souls. and that we may go from this
place rejoicing that the Lord has been pleased to meet with
us. As we turn to thy word, we pray that the things that will
be said and done will be to thy glory and the lifting up of the
Lord Jesus Christ and that his name will be magnified amongst
us this day. For Jesus' sake we ask it. Amen. Our Lord Jesus Christ is wonderfully
described in the book of Hebrews in the most excellent of terms. We are told there that he has
been given a name that is above every name. The Lord Jesus Christ
has a name that is above every name. Names are important in
the Bible because they tell us something about the character
of the person so named. and Christ's name is above every
name. He is God the Son. He is the incarnate God. God come in the flesh and he
has been glorified and he has been lifted up by God his Father
to a place of prominence, priority and prestige. Philippians chapter
2 verse 10 says, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should
bow. Every knee will bow. Every knee shall bow before the
Lord Jesus Christ. Of things in heaven, of things
in the earth, and of things under the earth. There will not be
one mouth left unstopped. There will not be one challenge
to his person or his glory. There will not be one ah but.
to be declared on that day. Let men rant as they will today. Let the devils and the demons
conspire all they will to do as much damage as they can to
the Lord's people, to his church. Let the powers of this world
wriggle and squirm as they will. They will be shut up and they
will bend the knee before the Lord Jesus Christ. Majesty belongs to Him. Excellence is His name. He is supreme. He is superior. He is preeminent. He is all-glorious,
above all and beyond all. And all these words are fittingly
used of the Lord Jesus Christ. For every knee will bow to Him,
and our knee will bow in time, and our knee will bow in that
place of judgment, and our knee will bow through all eternity,
for He is the One who is God the Son. And it does not matter
what men say now, today, in this world. It does not matter what
religion says. It doesn't matter what the popular
opinions of our society dictate and impose as far as God the
Son is concerned. All these things will be shut
up. All these things will be closed
down. All these things will be rendered
silent. And His name will be heard peeling
and re-echoing through the eternal ages. The Lord Jesus Christ. What these verses are telling
us from Hebrews, is that what matters, what really matters,
is not what the world says, and what religion says, and what
popular opinion says, or what some theologian says, or what
some church minister says, or what I say. It doesn't matter. What matters is what God says. What matters is what the Lord
Jesus Christ has said. Romans chapter 3, verse 4. We didn't read it, but it's there
in the same chapter. The apostle writes, let God be
true, but every man a liar. As it is written, that thou mightest
be justified in thy sayings and mightest overcome when thou art
judged. And judging God is what every
single sinner does in their natural flesh. That is what is happening
all around us today. That is what is going on in the
world today. Men are wrestling against, unable
to accept, unwilling to bend the knee before a holy God, and
they are putting themselves upon the throne of judgment and they
are judging God and they are saying, now God you answer to
us, you explain yourself, you tell us what it is that you are
doing here because we don't agree that you've got it right and
we think there's a better way of doing it. And God is judged
and men imagine that they have a right to stand and accuse Almighty
God. In the corrupt wisdom of fallen
nature, in the imaginations of our own minds, Men and women
presumptuously hold God accountable to themselves. They demand an
answer. They call upon Him to explain
Himself. But let me suggest to you that
that is not the mark of a true sinner. Now there's a contradiction
in terms, right? A true sinner. And yet a true
sinner is a sinner who has been made to see just how sinful he
is. Such a sinner has been brought
to that place of self-awareness. He's been brought down. He's
been brought under conviction. He's been brought to that place
where he looks at his own life and he says, shame, shame. And what on earth am I going
to do? Look at me. Look at my thoughts. Look at my words. Look at my
works. Look at my deeds. Look at the
mess that I have made of this life. What on earth am I going
to do? Such a one does not need to stand
in judgment against God. Such a one cannot, for he knows
his own heart and he knows his own soul. He has been brought
to that place where he recognizes that he is an unholy thing. There is a truth in such an understanding,
a truth that the deceitful heart cannot ever grasp, but such a
heart that has been touched with an illumination of grace sees
and understands and trembles before. My only real value to you, my
only real value to you this morning, is that I rehearse and repeat
and restate the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to you. Because
I have nothing else to offer you. Not this man. Not this heart. Not this experience. I can't
tell you what you should be doing, what you should be thinking,
how you should be living. I can't do that because I've
made such a mess of my own pathway that I am in no position to try
and advise someone else. But I believe I can do you good
this morning by pointing you to the Lord Jesus Christ once
again. By lifting up the Lord Jesus
Christ, and His excellence and His name and saying to you, look
to Him. What the Lord Jesus Christ has
said and what the Lord Jesus Christ has done, what He has
committed to His apostles, to His preachers, to those who declare
faithfully after those things which He has revealed. That will
do your soul good. And if you are a true sinner
this morning, If you have been knocked off that pedestal of
your own self-righteousness, if you have been made to see
your true condition before a holy God, I tell you this, I believe
with all my heart that these things concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ will do your soul good. These things that we speak of,
these things that we rehearse and repeat, These are the foundation stones
of the body of Christ, the building of the temple of the Lord's people,
the Zion of God. The Lord Jesus Christ has spoken
in these last days, and this is God's final word to sinners. Stop looking everywhere that
the world suggests a new revelation might be found. Here, in God's
Word, is the true and final revelation. He has been appointed, the Lord
Jesus Christ, as heir of all things, and everything must defer
to him. If he says something, then that's
how it is. If he speaks, then we need to
listen. If he pronounces what is guilty,
or if he justifies, then that's what guilt is, or that's what
innocence is. He it is who says what is right
and what is wrong, what is acceptable and what is not, what is true
and what is false. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who
tells it as it is. Now why is this important? Why
is it important that we emphasize this excellence of Christ, this
judgment that is vested in him, this position that he takes where
every knee will bow to him. Why is it important? Because
it doesn't matter what other people say to you. It doesn't
matter what your peer group says to you. It doesn't matter whether
they say, you'll be fine, you'll be all right, you're okay, you're
a good person. You might tell your own heart
that, but that doesn't matter. What really matters is what God
says of you, and whether or not he holds you guilty or he justifies
you in his sight and declares you acceptable and righteous
and holy before him. What the judge of all the earth
says is what matters, is what goes. Lord Jesus Christ made
a comment to some men during the time of his earthly ministry
here. He spoke to them in Luke chapter
16 and verse 15 and he said to them, Ye are they which justify
yourselves before men. Ye are they who justify themselves
before men. Now what's that worth? What is
that worth if you justify yourselves before men? If the world around
about you applauds and says, you're good. We all like to be
accepted, but it's not going to matter a whit. On that day,
in the final analysis, when the judge of all the earth does right,
it won't matter whether we've justified ourselves or whether
we've been justified of others. What matters is whether or not
God has justified us in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's an important
point. God knows your heart. better than you know it yourself,
and certainly better than anyone around about you knows it. God
knows your heart. For that, said the Lord Jesus
Christ in the same verse, that which is highly esteemed among
men is abomination in the sight of God. Now, chew on that for
a minute. That which is highly esteemed
amongst men is an abomination in the sight of God. Why is that? Because the heart of man is deceitful
and desperately wicked. Who can know it? And what we
think is a high moral position, what we think is a good way of
living, what we think is an important principle to uphold and maintain,
it's an abomination before God. For it cannot come out of that
which is impure with any righteousness of itself. It's always going
to be fallen. It's always going to be filthy. It's always going to be fleshy.
And it's always going to fall short, for all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. And all that is not just, and
all that is not pure, and all that is not holy in the sight
of God is an abomination to his soul. There's an important question
asked in the Old Testament. A man called Bildad the Shuhite
And he said this, how then can a man or a woman be justified
with God? How can a man be justified with
God? That's a good question. And it's a question that we all
ought to ask ourselves. And in the simplicity of this
little room this morning, It's a question that you and I should
ask. How is a man going to be justified
before God? Now you can try and live by God's
rules. There are plenty of them. You can try and live by that
standard and there are many places that will systemize and explain,
set them out so that we all get a good understanding of what
these rules are. But you'll break them. You must break them because you're
a sinner. And the rules were never intended,
never meant to enable you to fulfil them and thereby be holy
and just before God. They were intended, designed,
purposely revealed in order that they might shut our mouths and
show us just how far short of the standard of God's holiness
we truly are. We can try and live by the rules.
But the reality is that after a while, sooner or later, when
the midst of our own self-delusion has been blown away by some incident
or other, we will have to give testimony to the truth of God's
Word, that by the works of the law, shall no flesh be justified."
Not in what we do, not by what we do. Be we ever so assiduous
to fulfill the laws of God as they are revealed to us in Scripture,
we will not ever be justified before God, for it is an impossibility. And the Apostle Paul, throughout
his epistles, is emphatic and explicit that this is the case.
Look at verse 19 and 20 again of our passage, Romans chapter
3. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith
to them who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped
and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore
by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. So you can try and follow God's
laws. Go on, have a go, see how it
works for you. Or, what is more common these
days is that you can make up your own laws. I know, you see
that's easier. That works. If you get into a
little group and you say, look, let's agree what's acceptable
and what's not. Let's set in order some rules
here, some rules of the club, some rules of the society, and
let's live by these rules. Let's call it Islam. or let's call it Buddhism, or
let's call it materialism, or let's call it morality. It really doesn't matter what
you call it. It can be any kind of rules and system and procedures
that you like. And boy, in Christianity, have
we been good at setting up these rules. We call that A new law. Sometimes you'll hear the phrase,
Neo-Nomianism. Now that's a cracker, isn't it?
But it just means a new law. You're making up a new law. A
law that you think you can live by. A law that you say, this
is all... And you know what they say nowadays?
It's very clever, it's very subtle. You know what? Love is the fulfillment
of the law. So if we love one another, then
we've fulfilled the law. So the whole emphasis now is
loving one another, not judging one another, not speaking against
one another, not trying to put one another, but just loving
one another. And it's just Neo-Nomianism, it's just a new law, it's just
a new standard that men make for themselves, by which they
imagine that they can be just, or that they might justify themselves. But that's not what really matters. What really matters is that God
justifies us. How can a man be justified before
God? That's the question. Self-justification. It's always interesting, I think,
when you're speaking. You see it perhaps most in young
children. Something's gone wrong. Something's
been knocked over. Something's been damaged. And
you go in and you say, well, what happened here? It moved. Well, how did it move? It just
moved. And it wasn't my fault. Well, what were you doing? I
was just up there, but it wasn't my fault. And we laugh. But we're doing it all the time.
justifying ourselves, justifying ourselves in what we do, justifying
ourselves in the positions that we hold, in the actions. There is none righteous, no,
not one. There is none that understandeth. You can go to your college and
get your university degree, you can go through your theological
training and you can come out the other side with first class
honors. You can excel at the wisdom and
the philosophies of men, but ultimately there's none that
understand it. There is none that seeketh after
God. They are all gone out of the
way. They are together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good. No, not one. How can a man be
just before God if the Bible emphatically declares that there
is none that doeth good? No, not one. That none is emphatic. And your church might say that
you're a good person. or your priest might say that
you're a good person, your peers, your family, and maybe even in
your own estimation. But the Word of God says, all
have sinned and come short of the glory of God. To be justified
before God must be a justification on God's terms. nor in your terms,
nor in your peers' terms, nor in your church's terms, on God's
terms. It is a possessing of a righteousness
that is acceptable to God. It is the possession of a righteousness
that is acceptable to God. A righteousness which is perfect. holiness with God. And that's what the Gospel is
about. That's why the Gospel is so important. That's why we engage as we do
in these things that Paul is here revealing, that the Apostles
have taught us, that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to them and
delivered to them. That's what the Gospel is all
about. It is a message of hope for the hopeless. It is a message
of grace for those who are abandoned and lost and fallen and true
sinners. It tells us that what no man
can do for themselves God has done for us. That God has done
in Jesus Christ all that is needful for a man to be justified before
Him. Justification by grace is a beautiful
phrase. Some people might struggle if
you just let it trip off your tongue in casual conversation. They might think, what are these
people talking about? Justification by grace. But after
we get to see something of what Christ has done, of what God
has accomplished in this covenant plan, what He has secured in
the salvation of sinners, that righteousness, that acceptance,
that justification, and to see that it comes not of works, not
of effort, not of labours, but by grace, freely, given as a
gift. Justification by grace is a wonderful,
wonderful truth. And it is writ large on every
page of our Bible, either pointing forward to it or testifying of
it. And it is found in the person
of Jesus Christ. Justification by grace speaks
of the ground, the foundation, the substance of a sinner's acceptance
with God. Righteousness made holy and the
means by which that position is obtained. the grace of God,
the goodness of God, the free gift of God towards us. And I want to just touch upon
a couple of things in these verses. The righteousness of God is a
statement which we see much of in this context. Because it is
not a righteousness that we can work up, it is not a human righteousness,
the righteousness of a man or a woman, but the righteousness
of God that is necessary for the sinner. And in these verses
that we read, 19 through 26, I think four times, we are given
direction to consider the righteousness of God. Verse 21, He tells us,
that the righteousness of God without the law is manifest. That is a righteousness that
comes from something, somewhere, let's better say someone, outside
of the law. It's the righteousness of God
without the law, outside of the law, a righteousness that comes
not by the law, not through the law, not under the law, Not an
obedience to the law, but a righteousness that comes from without the law.
The righteousness of God. Verse 22. The righteousness of God which
is by faith of Jesus Christ. Which comes to us through those things which Jesus Christ
has willingly submitted to. Those things which Jesus Christ
has followed in an obedient plan and pattern and purpose. That
here is a righteousness of God that flows to us because of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 25. His righteousness,
that is God's righteousness, declared for the remission of
sins. that sins might be taken away,
that sins might be removed. I used to work in an office and
sometimes you would have bills to pay and you would have to
write out a cheque and put it in the post and somebody would
phone up and they'd say, have you sent that cheque yet? Have
you sent your remittance? Have you remitted your cheque? for the remission of sins, that
they might be sent away, that they might be taken away, that
they might be lifted from the shoulders of the sinner and taken
away. How did that happen? Because
the Lord Jesus Christ as the substitute for sinners, took
our sins, laid them on his own shoulders and carried them as
the Lamb of God into that place of suffering and death. He became
the sacrifice for his people. Verse 26 says that God might
be just and the justifier of believing sinners. This just
God has bestowed his righteousness upon a guilty people, taking
away their sins, declaring them once innocent of any culpability
for those sins, and bestowing a suitableness for his presence,
a righteousness from above. How can a man be justified with
God? Only by receiving God's own righteousness,
only being made holy, perfect and just by God himself. What might a man do to obtain
such righteousness of God? What work might we do? What price might we pay? What
qualification might merit this gift from God? Well, men have
tried to do and to buy and to earn God's righteousness in every
way that you can imagine. But it is not a righteousness
that is for sale. It's just not for sale. It's not for the earning. It's
not to be worked for. It comes as a gift. It comes
as a gift. Indeed, if any precondition is
required, then it isn't grace at all. That's the whole point
about what grace is. That's what distinguishes grace
from merit, grace from earning. Paul says in Romans 11, if it
is by grace, then it is no more of works. Otherwise, grace is
no more grace. If there's any works in this,
it isn't grace. And if it's of grace, then it
can't be of works. If it be of works, then it is
no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work.
It's very clear, it's two sides of the same thing. You can't
have a mix of grace and works. If it isn't grace, then it's
works. And if it isn't works, then it's grace. And we can't
meld these two things together. You can't take a little bit of
grace and make up the difference with your works. or have a little
bit of goodness and just take the bit that's left undone from
God. He won't have that. No one will glory in the presence
of God. No one's going to be able to
say, well, you know, I did my bit and he did his. By grace are ye saved. says Paul
to the Ephesians, it is the gift of God. Lots of people say it,
but it seems that there are so few who truly understand or accept
that grace is the gift of God. And note, too, what Paul says
in verse 24. He says that sinners are justified
freely. They are made righteous freely
by His grace. Freely. It couldn't be any clearer. Salvation in its entirety, as
it comprises all of the benefits, all of the blessings, all of
the spiritual gifts of God, is freely given and bestowed by
his grace without any merit, effort, or works on the part
of the sinner. Ephesians 2 says, God who is
rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even
when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace ye are saved, and hath
raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. He has made us fit for the presence
of his glory. He has justified us freely by
placing us in Christ and by holding Christ accountable for all of
our sin. which see the gift of God, it
isn't arbitrary. And though it is founded on mercy,
and though it is given by grace, to be both just and the justifier,
God has made a plan of salvation. And that's the plan, that's the
means, that's the way. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
am the way. That's the way of approach to
Him. Being justified freely by His
grace through redemption that is in Christ Jesus. to be seated
together in heavenly places in Christ means that we have been
redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. Redemption is a purchasing. It's a commercial term. It's
something that happens by transaction. Something is given up for something
else. But what have we got to offer
to God? What have we got? We're bankrupt.
The mercy of God, the goodness of God, the graces of God is
that he has proved himself to be just in his detestation of
sin by making the payment by someone else, the Lord himself. It comes through the redemption
in Christ Jesus. And certainly grace is free in
the experience of it in the life of the recipient. But grace came at a terrible
price. A terrible price. And we can
only be grateful that it wasn't laid to our account, but laid
to the account of another. Redemption was bought by the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter, in his epistle, calls
it the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb without blemish and
without spot, the perfect Son of God, coming into the world,
coming as a man, taking upon himself though without guilt,
though without sin, that perfect holy child, that perfect man
whom no one could lay any charge against, took our sin upon his
shoulders and went to the cross for us, precious blood shed. And here we see the two great
sides of propitiation, Christ made in his suffering, made in
his death, a sacrifice, a peacemaking sacrifice for his people. He made atonement in his death
for those whose sins he bore. He carried by taking their sins,
their judgment, and He secured a redemption and a salvation
for them. Colossians 1.20 says, having
made peace through the blood of His cross, He reconciled all
things to Himself. By Him, I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven. God willingly, graciously, out
of the great love wherewith he loved us, sent forth his beloved
Son, that this unique, exclusive way of salvation might be opened
up for sinners like you and me. So Romans 3.25 declares, whom
God has set forth to be a propitiation, to be a sacrifice, to be an atonement
through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for
the remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance,
the patient love of God towards his dear people. Sinner, friend, I ask you to
think seriously upon these matters. Have you ever felt a need for
a righteousness beyond that which you have of yourself? Have you ever felt an inadequacy? Have you ever seen the grandeur,
the majesty, the holiness of God and trembled at the prospect
of standing before him in your own strength? Have you ever been
in that place where you have confessed yourself to truly be
a sinner? Well, I tell you this morning,
there is a righteousness available for men and women like you. Have you ever felt yourself to
be an enemy of God? and under conviction of sin,
to be there saying, whatever he does to me is right, for I
deserve nothing. Then there is a peace for such
as you this morning through the propitiation for sin that the
Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished. Have you ever tried, and that
without success, to calm your own troubled heart by indulging
yourself in those things that the world offers by chasing hither
and thither after this notion or that idea or this advice or
that sensual experience? And have you ever found that
at the end of trying all the different ways that there really
wasn't any satisfaction at all? There is one whose blood can
purge your conscience clean. There is one whose blood can
purge your conscience clean. How much more says the writer
to the Hebrews, shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal
spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God. Finally, let me say this. How is such a gift of grace to
be received? How is it to be enjoyed and experienced
by men and women like you and like me? Well, what does the
Apostle say? It's no good me giving you my
advice. What does the Apostle say? What
has the Lord said? By the faith of Jesus Christ
unto all and upon all them that believe. Believe. Friend, I'm not going to ask
you if you can believe the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, because
I know that without grace and the quickening power of God the
Holy Spirit, you can't. I know that it is not within
your natural capacity or ability to do that. Nor do I ask if you will believe,
because I know that salvation is not a matter of the will of
the human, the will of the natural man. It is the gift of God, freely
bestowed, freely given. Paul says in Romans 9, verse
16, So then, salvation is not of him that willeth, nor of him
that runneth. but of God that showeth mercy. But I will ask you this. I will
ask you this. Do you believe that Jesus is
the Christ? The only way of peace with God? Try every other way you can.
Go ahead, do it. Take another five years. Take
another 10 years. Take another 40 years wandering
in the wilderness of this world. Go ahead, if you're not there
yet, there's nothing I can do to make you be there. Nothing
you can do to make yourself be there. But ask yourself the question,
is there another way that you want to try yet to gain this
acceptance with God? Is there another route that you
want to... Just give it a go. Do you believe that Christ's
blood alone can release from sin and cleanse a guilty soul? Do you trust him when he declares,
come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will
give you rest? or that all that the Father giveth
me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no
wise cast out. In a few moments we are going to
share in the communion, what sometimes is called the Lord's
Supper. We're going to take a little
bit of bread and a little cup of wine And we're going to share
in that service as a public testimony to the fact that we do believe
that the body of Christ broken and the blood of Christ shed
is the only way of acceptance with God. I don't want you to
take this service this morning if you don't believe that. I
don't want you to condemn your own soul if you don't believe
that. But if you believe it, then share in this service, for
this is the comfort to the souls of those who are truly sinners
and see that their only justification is the righteousness of God by
faith of Jesus Christ. Come, come, ye sinners, poor
and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus, ready, stands to save
you, full of pity, love and power. Come, ye thirsty, come and welcome. God's free bounty glorify. True belief and true repentance,
every grace that brings you nigh. Come, ye weary, heavy laden,
lost and ruined by the fall. If you tarry till you're better,
you will never come at all. View him, prostate, in the garden. On the ground your maker lies. on the bloody tree behold him. Sinner, will not this suffice? Lo, the incarnate God ascended,
pleads the merit of his blood. Venture on him, venture wholly,
let no other trust intrude. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requireth
is to feel your need of him. Let's pray together. Gracious God, we thank thee for
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, for the opening up before
us of the way of salvation, for that great accomplishment secured
on the cross at Calvary. And we thank thee for this service
of remembrance that thou hast called us to even now. These
emblems which will pass from person to person. God we ask
that even in the quietness and stillness of this little place
this morning, this may be of such significance to our never-dying
soul, that as we take this bread and drink this cup, as we show
forth the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, it will be a personal
declaration from each one of us that we believe this to be
true. and this is the faith of the
Lord Jesus Christ in us. We need a righteousness, O God,
which we cannot produce ourselves. We need that righteousness which
comes from thee. We pray that this morning we
shall go from this place justified in thy sight, the just God, and
rejoicing in our hearts that thou hast done all things well.
For Jesus' sake we ask it. Amen.