Well, I was teasing you all earlier
on about your electronic Bibles. That'll teach me, won't it? Because
I forgot my Bible this morning. As they say, that's one-one. Turn with me please to that passage
we just read in the epistle to the church at Philippi, but we're
looking particularly at chapter 4. We're really only looking
at one verse in chapter 4. Philippians and chapter 4. If
you can keep your hand in that, your finger in that chapter and
just turn back, turn forward a few pages to Colossians and
chapter 3. Just a brief reading here in
Colossians chapter 3. If you then be risen with Christ,
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things
above, not on things on the earth. for you are dead and your life
is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life,
shall appear, then shall you also appear with him in glory.
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth, fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil, conspicuousness, and covetousness,
which is idolatry, for which things sake the wrath of God
cometh on the children of disobedience, into which you also walked some
time when you lived in them, but now you also put off all
these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your
mouth. Lie not one to another, seeing
that you have put off the old man with his deeds. Now put on the new man, which
is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created
him." And we turn back to Philippians
chapter 4. Before we begin reading that,
I just want to bring greetings and My thanks to you for this
invite to come and proclaim the word of God. It's a delight to
be with you again. It's a delight also to, you know
when you go somewhere for the first time and you first meet
people and then suddenly after you've met them one or two times,
you know everyone and that's wonderful. To know family of
God here by name, not just a distant fellowship there, not quite north
of Watford, are you? You're northerners to us, anyway.
But it's wonderful to know you all by name. Not just to know
the faces, but to know the name. And that's some achievement for
me, actually, to get people's names right. I even got your
name right, Jill, today. I've been coined all sorts of
names. Nice ones, but I keep getting everyone's names wrong.
And I do even remember our distant friend, because she's
never here. She's in Guildford, isn't she?
Your other daughter, she's Lydia, isn't she? So I'm doing well
here. I even remember the ones that
are not here. But I know that your pastor was much blessed
in coming to Merton last time. And even more so, they were blessed
in the ministry they received. In fact, I did jest with them,
perhaps they don't want me back. I think that may well be the
case because so much were they blessed by the preaching of the
word last time and I did remind them of that. Now I wonder, I wonder how you
see, how you see yourself. If you are, if you profess to
be a believer on the Lord Jesus Christ, if you profess to know
this saviour, How you see your life? How you see your life here
below? What is the purpose of your life
here below? You know, there are many people
who have a wrong interpretation of what it means to be a believer
and what part and what role each one plays in the Kingdom of God. People have this view that somehow
it's for those spiritual people in the church. These are the
people who serve God. These are the super spiritual
ones who serve God. Or it's for the pastor, it's
for the elder, it's for the deacons. They loved what actually really
infuriates me the most is they have this viewpoint that the
pastor's wife has so much greater responsibility than anyone else
in the church. And they dump upon the pastor's
wife as if she's been called to the pastorate. When the teaching
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the teaching of the apostles, is
that each and every member of the Kingdom of God, we've been
called for a purpose. We've all been called for a purpose.
The title of the message this morning is this. Called to the
service royal. Called to the service royal. Every believer on the Lord Jesus
Christ has been served, has been called to serve this King Jesus,
the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We don't have a problem
with being, well those who perhaps are royalists don't have a problem
with the idea of being called to the service of the Queen or
called to the service of the King, called to go and receive
an honour at the palace. But I wonder, do we really see,
do we really see what it means to be a believer on the Lord
Jesus Christ, to be called by his matchless grace, is to be
called to the service of the King. That's such a privilege. Here in this fourth chapter of
Philippians, these believers at the church at Philippi were
unusual in the sense that The Apostle Paul has very little
negative to say about them. Very little negative to say about
them. Now you could turn to the epistles to the Corinthians,
you see all manner of things to be rebuked and straightened
out. You see the churches of Galatia,
they've been told that they've been bewitched by those seeking
to lead them back into law, away from grace. The epistle to the Hebrews, we
know not if it was Paul or who wrote this, but we know that
these Hebrew believers were being tempted to go back into the old
Mosaic law. But here, you look through the
pages of this epistle, Philippians, and you'll see very few negative
things here. Much encouragement has been gained
by the Apostle Paul from these believers, and he tells them
so. But yet he still warns them. He warns them in chapter 3 of
those dogs. Those dogs who would seek to
lead them away from the truth. That righteousness is in Christ
Jesus alone. And that we are the true circumcision
who serve Christ by faith. And he tells them to beware of
these people. But here, he does give what's
called an admonition. He does give a plea and perhaps
it could be passed over quite easily without noticing it. You
see here in verse 3, And I entreat thee also, true yoke-fellow,
help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement
also, and with other my fellow labourers, whose names are in
the book of life. I love that when we read this
so often in the New Testament epistles, the others, those not
named, but they're named by God. They're named by God. God remembers
everything they did. God has marked down everything
they did. God values everything they did. They did not gain a
name for themselves in this world, but before God, before God, their
name is in the book of life. And that's you, if you're a believer,
your name is in the Lamb's Book of Life from eternity past. But
the Apostle speaks to fellow believers, true yoke-fellow. Yoke-fellow, this term yoke-fellow
is speaking of what we would say in colloquial language today,
colleagues. Colleagues. We're one. We're
in the same work together. This is the same work. It's amazing
how the prayer was leading along that line this morning. That
we would have opportunity, that God would unstop our mouths to
speak for him this week. Where you are placed this week,
I cannot go. And where I am this week, you
cannot go. We are all specifically and wonderfully
placed in a particular place each day, each week. whether
that be a school, whether that be at home, whether that be in
your neighbourhood where you are, whether that be in a, maybe
it might be in a day centre you go to, it might be helping your
neighbours at work, at college, at university, wherever it is,
that is where God would have us witness for Him to the unsearchable
riches of Christ. And the Apostle says here, You
who know Christ, your fellow yoke, fellow yoke members, your
servants of the King. And you who know Christ here
this morning, you have a part to play, a big part. It's not a small part. Don't
be tempted to think that Because you're not this and you're not
that, which you think is more important, which we think is not important,
don't be tempted to think your part in the Kingdom of God is
not a big part. Your part in the Kingdom is enormous. It's unique. You have a part
to play in the work of spreading this wonderful message of God's
free sovereign grace in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and Him
crucified for His elect ones. That He has redeemed and set
His people free. He has done it. He set His people
free from the condemnation of the law, that is, the law that
condemns sin. that reveals sin. That this Saviour,
the Substitute, has borne in His own body on the tree, His
people's sins. He has borne the condemnation. He has borne all the wrath. He's exhausted all the wrath
of God for His people's sins. And they shall bear it no more.
What a message to proclaim. What a message to proclaim. Who
does not want to be part of proclaiming that message? The scriptures tell us this,
of each and everyone who's been called by the grace of God to
know this salvation, to know this pardon, to know this wonderful
love of God, that is an everlasting love. Behold, I have loved you
with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn
thee, God says. To know this, to know this, each
one have been made alive. that was in the prayers as well,
made alive by the working of God the Holy Spirit, born again
of the Spirit, raised from the deadness of sin. For nobody who's
dead can do anything. And so nobody spiritually dead
can believe, but we who know this saving have been made alive.
Even as Lazarus was commanded, come forth from that tomb. He came forth because he was
made alive. He knew his master's voice. My
sheep, hear my voice. And as we have heard the great
shepherd of the sheep's voice, we're told, we're told that we've
been made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins. By this grace and mercy, giving
you the gift of faith, What a privilege is yours. Not mine, just think about this. What, if this is you, what privilege
is yours? It's yours. And so we're told, we're told
there is an end to this. What is it? What Ephesians 2,
which we've just quoted, is saying, for we are His workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works which God had before ordained
that we should walk in them. And so you see, you are unique in the kingdom
of God. There are works for Christ to
be done that have been ordained for you, for you alone. You may have heard this statement
before, but it helps repeating it this morning. For did you
know, did you know that there is a work for Christ that only,
only you can do. That's just a fact. That's a fact. Otherwise my reading
of God's word is completely all over the place, but I don't believe
it is here. Because God has foreordained works that we should walk in
them. You, the believer on Christ the
Redeemer. I ask you the question right
now. I ask myself the question every day. I ask you this question
right now. You say you love Christ. You
say you have tasted this salvation. I ask you this question. What is your priority? What is your priority? I didn't say what is your priorities? What are your priorities? What
do you envisage yourself doing as the proverbial statement at
an interview is five years time? We've all heard that before,
haven't we? We will do younger ones at some stage or other. I guarantee your words afterwards
will be the first statement. How do you know what's going
to happen in five years time? But now, now is what we're talking
about. What is your priority? Is it
your career? Is it to get a good job? Is it to maintain the job you're
in? Is it to progress in the job
that you're in right now? These things may come about, but is that your priority? Is
it in relationships? Is it in to gain a partner? Is it to gain a husband, a wife? Is it to please That who you're
in relationship with now, whether you're married or otherwise,
is that your aim? Is it money? Is it material blessings? Is it education? Or scourge of
the church? That alone outside, the world
outside is this obsession with getting into the right school.
Like that is what all life is about. We've got to move house,
we've got to move away from the church that we're in because
we've got to get our kids into that right school. There's no
decent church nearby though. They give no second thought to
the kingdom of God. Is it education? Is it family? gets close to the home here,
to all of us. Is that our priority? The Bible
never teaches us to not be concerned about any of these things. But
we're told about our priority. What is first? What is first? Is Christ first and foremost? All these things will fall into
place. The admonition from the Apostle
Paul here to support and help those who are labouring in the
Gospel already. It's to all. It's to each and
everyone who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for
salvation. And I hope briefly tonight, today. I thought it was the 12th, 10th. You got me. I looked in horror
last time it was 12.10 and I'd gone over. But anyway, I hopefully
will give you briefly three reasons, three reasons, three reasons
why this work of the gospel is a work that you, you the believer
are called to. Now it's not meant as a a badgering
of you, it's not meant of a condemnation of you. Surely, if you are loving
this Saviour, you'll receive it as a wonderful, a wonderful,
a wonderful admonition from the Lord. A call, an encouragement
to see, as I said earlier on, you have a big part to play. For what will we leave behind
for the next generation, each one of us? Even the youngest. If you come to know the Lord
Jesus Christ, and the Lord Jesus Christ has not come again to
judge the living and the dead, you will be the age of this old
man at some stage, and you will ask yourself, what will I leave
behind for the generations in the church to come? What will
be said of us? Well hopefully what will be said
of each and every one of God's people is just something simple.
We were faithful. We were faithful, that's all.
That's all. I heard someone say, quite rightly,
something about leaving things behind. Eric Bristow, the the
former world champion darts player. Some people believe he was perhaps
the best darts player ever, until he got what's called the yips.
We found that he paused in between every time throwing the first
shot, which meant his game just went downhill. But he, at one
stage, he was like on top of the world as a darts player.
Just when money was coming into darts, the prize funds was going
up, and this interviewer said to him, on this TV program, looking
back at his life, said, you had quite a lot of money, but you
seem to have whittled it away, you've blown most of this money.
And Eric Bristow said, in only the way he could say it, in his
slurred way, he said, well I didn't want to be the richest man in
the cemetery. There's a lot of wisdom in that
statement, you know. For the Lord Jesus talks much about,
can we take it with us? That which we leave behind, that
which is physical, that which is worldly, it will just be left. It will just be left for the
world. What will we take? What will be of use to the Kingdom
of God? Firstly, because you belong to
Christ, That is one reason, above all else. Because you belong
to Christ, this is why you have a part to play in the Kingdom
of God. To support and be active in that
support of proclaiming this Gospel, whatever that active nature is. People have this view, as I said,
that it's standing at the front. that it's praying, that it's
leading this and leading that. You may be involved in some of
these things, but do you know some of the most faithful people,
if not the most faithful people in the kingdom, are those who
turn up faithfully, week after week after week after week, and
they go and they clean the toilets. And I say that deliberately. Anything you lay your hand to
faithfully to serve God and His church is important. The Holy Spirit says here in
verse 3, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel
with Clement also and with other my fellow labourers whose names
are in the book of life. Surely there's no other motivation
than to serve Christ, than to know that your name is in the
Book of Life. It cannot be taken out. It's
there from eternity. It's the Lamb's Book of Life. The church at Philippi have been
already encouraged to this unity, to a unity in the truth of the
Gospel. In chapter 2 verse 2 we read,
fulfill my joy that you be like-minded, having the same love, being of
one accord, of one mind. And now they are told of the
importance, of the utmost importance of playing their own part in
the work of the kingdom. He says firstly to them, I entreat
you, I entreat you, Now what does this word intrigue mean?
Well it simply means, I beg you, I ask, I request, or I beseech
you. As we've already seen, all the
works of God's people, all the works that we lay our hand to,
if they are in Christ, if they are faithfully in Him, if they
are as He looks upon the heart, He alone who looks upon the heart.
We judge by the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. God
knows your heart. It doesn't matter what other
people think. If God looks at your heart and sees a heart that
is on fire for Him, and is doing this that you do in His service,
He knows. He knows. We've seen indeed that the works
that God's people do in His service are not only done now, they have
already been predestined. God purposed them from eternity
past. They're God's work. Philippians 2 says, for it is
God who worketh in you both to will and to do all his good pleasure. We're his, we're his peculiar
special workmanship. And yet, and yet, and yet, we
out of love, gratitude, and a zeal, we don't just work in such a
fashion as if we are some kind of a zombie. We work out of this
zeal for God to serve Him out of gratitude that our name is
in the Book of Life. God had before ordained that
we should walk in them. That's what Stephen prayed earlier,
is it not? In the week to come, that God
would cause us to walk faithfully Whatever that faithfulness is,
to walk faithfully where He's placed us. The church is not
just meeting once a week, twice a week. The church is meeting
where there are one and two and three scattered, where we've
been scattered until we can meet together and we are there particularly
serving the Lord Jesus Christ. And do you know, perhaps you're
the only one You who are called by the grace
of God to serve His cause, His cause, and His cause alone. It is not out of compulsion.
It is not out of compulsion. It's not out of fear. Do this
or else. It's not out of duty. Well, I
suppose I'd better do it. If that's your motivation to
serve Christ, if that's even your motivation to be here this
morning, please do not come. We don't do anything out of legalism
and law. It's not out of compulsion, fear,
duty, or an unwilling heart. It is not because you were pressured
by your pastor. It was advised to me some time
ago by an elderly pastor with much wisdom and experience, and
he said, a shepherd never runs after the sheep and chases them. If he's leading a rite and they
be the sheep, they will follow after the word that he proclaims. It's not for the pastor to say,
where are you? Why were you not here? Why do
you not want to do this and do that? It's not out of pressure. No,
as with all things done for the blessed Redeemer, everything,
it is, as the Word of God says, the love of Christ constraineth
us. It constraineth us. If you don't
feel that love of Christ, you'll never serve Him. And if you've never known that
love of Christ, you cannot serve him. We can pretend to serve
him, but if we do not know this Christ, we have nothing to say. We have nothing to share with
the world around. Do you know this Christ? Do you
know this love? Have you known this call? What greater motivation, as I
said, to obey and serve someone than that that one loves you
so much. I know, I know we're told, we're
told to, by the Lord himself, to not just love those who love
us back. We're told to love our enemies,
we are told to love our enemies. But in this world, in this world
in which we live, in our daily lives, in our workplaces, perhaps
a teacher you may respond to at school, you'll respond better,
you'll be better motivated by somebody who shows greater care,
greater nurturing to you, and indeed inspires you that bit
more. That's just fact, isn't it? That's
just fact. If you're in a workplace where
your manager just He's just got nothing positive to say about
his stuff. The morale of that place will
go down and down and down. That's just fact, isn't it? How much more so in the Kingdom
of God? For we love him because he first
loved us and gave himself for us. And if your name be in the
book of life, your names written in heaven, as the Lord Jesus
told his apostles, rejoice if your names, rejoice that your
names are written in heaven. If this be you, according to
the Saviour, this will cause you to want, to want to serve
Him. How can I serve Him and obey
Him? For does the Lord Jesus not say,
if you love me, you will obey my commands? Because it's the work of God
in you, if you know this Savior. It is Him who works in you. It is Him who's begun this good
work in you. See from the closing words of
the previous chapter 3, verse 20, for our conversation is in
heaven. I've jumped somewhat. This is our second point. We serve the Lord Jesus because
We are members of the Kingdom of Heaven. And not only that,
we are representatives of Christ here on Earth. Forget about that
stupid man in Rome wearing a dress who's supposed to be Christ's
representative on Earth. He's the representative of Antichrist
on Earth. But each one of God's chosen
elect ones, redeemed by the blood of Christ, we are representatives,
each one, of the King here on earth, wherever he places us. For our conversation is in heaven,
from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now when we read here of this
word conversation, It is quite literally meaning
our community or our citizenship. It is meaning that our citizenship
belongs there. That's why we read from Colossians
3 earlier on. Our life is hidden Christ. Our
citizenship's in heaven. As Abraham looked to a city,
whose maker was God, with foundations. He looked, he looked beyond this
present world. And so as we see our citizenship
in heaven, we then see the purpose of our being here below, as long
as God lends us breath. An ambassador you see, an ambassador If you be an ambassador for any
group of people, you represent them as if they
were there. As if they were there. The Lord
Jesus Christ says to his people, does he not, you are the light
of the world. He's the light of the world,
but he says also to his people, you are the light of the world. Our light is to not be hid under
a bushel. It's to be there. for all to
see. This is a daily struggle, this
is a daily walk. But we strive and we look to
the Lord to indeed to enable us to be such lights in this
world. You are an ambassador if you
are trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. What an amazing statement. You are an ambassador. You have
a special job. a special job to represent the
king here on earth. Chosen to be witnesses, we're
told elsewhere in the scriptures. Philippians 2.15 says, in the
midst of a crooked and perverse nation or generation. Among whom
you shine as lights in the world. This light is speaking of luminaries
in the sky that twinkle. They shine in the darkness. They
light the way. When someone is given the task
of being a diplomat or ambassador for a group of people or a country,
and especially thinking in context here of the narrative here of
being directly sent from a king, what a privilege it is. It's
a privilege that indeed is not granted, this honour is not granted
to all. You don't see all people from
worldly kingdoms granted this honour of being an ambassador.
But yet, every member of the Kingdom of God is granted this
honour. But yet, not everyone is granted
membership of the Kingdom of God. And so we see the two go
hand in hand. It truly is a privilege. And
this honour, you see, is granted to the elect of God. Chosen in
Christ from before the world began. How true, and more so for you,
this privilege is, you see. If, as 1 Peter 2 says, if you
have tasted, tasted, Have you tasted that the Lord
is gracious? Have you tasted that? Have you
tasted that grace? Have you tasted it? You know
if you've tasted something good, someone tells you something's
good and then you taste it for yourself and you say, ah, yes,
I've tasted that now. Have you tasted? Have you tasted
this grace? If you have, you know you have. If you have tasted that the Lord
is gracious, you are His chosen one to display His grace where
you are placed right now. It's not to display ourselves.
It's not to get a name for ourselves. No, we aim to be one of those
people who are just referred to here as the others who declare the grace of God,
what He has done. You don't want to remember the
name of this foolish man, you want to remember what he's saying
if he says the word of God this morning, that God get all the
glory as was already prayed. You are the chosen one to display
the grace of God. You who trust the Saviour, you
are a true citizen of heaven from birth. I will clarify that. You are
a true citizen of heaven from birth. Born again of God. Born again of God and through
faith translated. translated to the kingdom of
his dear son. You see, God's word speaks of
you, you who know Christ, you the citizen of heaven, you the
chosen vessel, the chosen one that he will use to serve him
now. He speaks of you in Psalm 87,
5-6. And of Zion, speaking of the
church, it shall be said, This and that man was born in her,
and the highest himself shall establish her. The Lord shall
count when he writeth up the people that this man was born
there. Born, born in the kingdom of
God, of God, of God, through the preaching of God's word.
Born again of the spirit of God, by this Word of Truth. This is you, if you know Christ.
But are you one of those spoken of here? Are you one of those
spoken of here? Is this you? Would it be said that indeed,
as the Gospel of God's grace was proclaimed at Datchworth,
that you were born again of the Spirit of God, As God spoke through
his word preached, would it be said that you were
born, that you were born here? Rejoice that your names are written
in heaven, you who know Christ. You are called to salvation. Called to salvation to declare
God's praise. Not just with our lips. There's
far too many who praise quickly with their lips and yet the next
sentence is something which is of bitter taste. Just read the
epistle of James. Sometimes, and quite often, a
word is not needed. Yet, our lives are to indeed
declare the praises of Him who called us. And your very life
shows God's grace. It cannot deny it. We look at
ourselves, we know ourselves through and through. We prayed
this earlier on as well. We know ourselves through and
through, we know our sins. We know that in our flesh dwelleth
no good thing. We know that we fail every minute
of every day. But there is something that cannot
be hid. There is something that cannot
be hid. The people of God, God causes them to shine forth in
this world. For indeed, we have a new nature,
that which is made after the image of Christ. And that, that,
that which is born of Christ cannot sin. God's praise will always be seen
in his people, walking in the spirit. 1 Peter 2, 9-10 says, but you are
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
peculiar people, a special people. That you should show forth the
praises of Him who have called you out of darkness into His
marvellous light. Oh, how that word marvellous
is inadequate, isn't it? Marvellous light? Does that do
justice to God's light? To the light of the gospel, to
the light of the glory of God shining in our hearts in the
face of Jesus Christ? The God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, shining in our hearts. That's exactly what has happened
to the child of God, which in time past were not a people. There was a time, you who know
Christ, there was a time when indeed you knew nothing of Christ. He knew you from eternity, but
you knew nothing of Him, to be a people, to be the people of
God. But now, but now, but now, are
the people of God, which had not obtained mercy, but now have
obtained mercy. Thirdly and lastly, not leastly,
the time to serve Christ is right now. Not 10 minutes ago. If only we got a grasp of this,
if only this man got a grasp of this, what time really means.
When you get to this age, Stephen's getting there. I don't think
you're quite at my age. Actually, you're older than me,
aren't you? That's good. But when you get to this age and
you see the big 5-0 approaching, you get what's called the midlife
crisis. Anyway, I've got a problem because
most men who have a midlife crisis You know they're going for it
because they spend a lot of money. Well, I ain't got a lot of money
for a start, but that's... Anyway, you could do it on credit, I
suppose. But they normally get a flash card, ain't they? I can't
drive. So I can only get a remote-controlled
one, or a MaxBox one, or one of those little ride-on ones
that the kids have. But, seriously, I've been walking
around, I walk around the streets, the church because I grew up
around that area and the problem is for me, it's not the fact
that I'm getting older, although that's bad enough, it's the fact
of if I had moved away from the area I could deal with it a bit
better. But everything that's facing
me are all the places where everyone used to live, where your mates
used to live, the schools you went to. Even if the schools
have closed down, most of them are listed buildings, so they
don't knock the building down at all. So it's there, facing
you. And then you have to try and work out what year you started
at that school. And it just, oh dear, we're getting
old. Because time flies by so quickly. It's just, it flies by, doesn't
it? And so, we need to value time. The scripture tells us to redeem
the time. Why? Because the days are evil. Redeem the time. Value it wisely. Oh, if only we could learn this.
You see, the time to serve Christ is right now, not tomorrow. Not tomorrow. We know nothing about tomorrow.
We're never taught in the scriptures to ever look to tomorrow. I don't
think that you'll find a verse in scripture that tells you to
look to tomorrow. Yes, we're taught about things
that are going to take place. Christ is coming. We don't know
if it's tomorrow. We're told in the Old Testament
to look to the coming Saviour who surely has come and he's
fulfilled all the law and all the prophets. But what I mean
is we're never taught as believers to look specifically too much
worrying about tomorrow. We're always taught about today. For we know nothing about tomorrow.
And this service for Christ and his kingdom here below will not
be long. We don't know how long. Verse 20 of chapter 3, from whence
also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 3 we read earlier
on, where we are told to indeed not look to the things on earth
but the things which are above, People get that mixed up as well.
They shut themselves away in nunneries and monasteries and
try to make themselves super spiritual people and they'll
live in some kind of a commune. They'll never mix with the great
unwashed outside. Somehow it's just the church.
Their sun will go to such extremes they won't even share the same
pipework with people. plumbing, the Plymouth Brethren
are such a group. It's not talking about this.
You see, we're not to be so heavenly minded that we're of no earthly
good. We're called to serve the Lord
here below, with our eye on the clouds. With our eye on Christ,
expectant. Do you expect his return? Do
I expect him to return? Am I expecting the Lord Jesus
to return? Or am I sleeping? Someone a few years ago called
Keith Green wrote these words and it always draws me tears
from my eyes. And it's this song that he wrote
called, Asleep in the Light. And I'll tell you why it makes
me cry, because it speaks to me. I see these traits in me. And he says, he's talking about
the people of God, they're not fighting the darkness because
they're asleep in the light. And he said, how can you, how
can you be so dead when you've been so well fed? Jesus rose
from the grave, and you, you can't even get out of bed. That
speaks to me even now. But that's us, isn't it? Spiritually,
we're so often slumbering in our spiritual bed. We should
be expectant that the Lord is coming. And he's coming, he's
coming indeed for us. and we should be found about
his work when he comes. It is a truth that you who know
the Redeemer, your time is now. Others who've gone and passed
to the glory, their time, their time was then. Dear Bill Clock, his time was
then. He's had his well done good faithful
servant Our time is now. Our time is
right now. Christ is coming soon. How soon
we know not. And so let us work the works
of day while it is called day. Before the night comes when no
one can work. Do we not want to hear those
words? Well done, good and faithful
servant. Now to close, you who hear the
gospel, you who hear the gospel week after week after week after
week after week here at Datcherth, have you known the call of God's
grace? Where is your citizenship? If you know not your citizenship,
in heaven, you really are not going to think of the things
beyond this earth. But because the things of this
earth will distract you away from thinking of that awful consequence
of not being one whose name is in the Lamb's Book of Life. For
indeed that which awaits those whose names are not in the Lamb's
Book of Life is the second death, the lake of fire. and you do
well to be distracted. And I was one of those. Fearful,
fearful of passing this life, fearful of dying, I put it from
my mind as much as I could, put so many things in the way. But
you know, God, when he speaks by his grace, God, when he comes
into your heart and makes his throne, he makes you sit up and
listen. Have you heard the call of God's
grace? Where is your citizenship? I mean, are you a true member
of the Church of Christ? Not a member, in a sense, an
attender of the church at Datchworth. Are you a member of the Church
of Christ? Perhaps you think you are. but merely based upon something
you think you did or chose to do, or something that makes you
good enough. This message is for you, that
all these things were prayed earlier on. In this world, in this world
you can apply, you can do, You can gain access to any group
you like. You can even become a citizen
of a country you never were a citizen of before. You can apply after
a period of time. You can do a test. Not so the
Kingdom of God. You can do nothing to gain access
to the Kingdom of God. The only true members of the
Kingdom of Heaven the kingdom of God, truly saved and having
rights of citizenship in heaven, heirs of God, and yes, heirs,
joint heirs with Christ, are such as have the right by birth,
born of God, given this right to be called children of God.
John says in his gospel, but as many as received him, to them
gave the power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believed on his name. Do you believe on the son of
God? Then you know it is because you
are born of God. which were born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God. Do you have citizenship? Do you
believe on this Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ? Simply believe
on Him. Do you believe on Him, Him the
crucified? Then you know. then you know
you're right, your privilege and joy as a member of heaven
is to live for him right now. Proudly. Not boasting in yourself,
but making your boast in Christ. And you know that unlike anything
you achieve for this present temporary world, which will be
left behind for others, nothing for you to enjoy. God promises,
on the contrary, anything you do for Him. Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labour is not
vain, it's not in vain, in the Lord. May we know what it means to
love this Lord, to believe this Saviour and serve this Saviour
right now. Amen. Lord God and Heavenly Father,
we thank you for your word to us now, and we do pray that you
will help us to keep it in our minds this week, and as we have
heard, to walk with you and serve you, we pray. In Jesus' name,
Amen.