Well, in the Bible class, in
the study, we've been looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 15,
which of course is about resurrection and about affirming the resurrection
of Christ. These are matters of life and
of death and of eternity. These are matters which make
the difference as to whether you have what the scriptures
call a good hope in Jesus Christ. Do you have a good hope in him?
or whether you have nothing other than fear. For through the fear
of death, the natural man in his natural state is all through
his lifetime subject to bondage, to that fear of death. Hope or
fear. These things are important. These
things are the matters of life and death, eternity. And the
Scriptures, as I often tell you, the Bible, its purpose is this. Above all else, whatever secondary
purposes and effects it might have, the Bible's purpose is
to call God's people. Who are God's people? His elect.
those that were chosen in him from before the foundation of
the world. It's to call them, it's to show them the poverty
of the flesh and of the world, the poverty of this world, that
even where it glitters most brightly, it's poverty, it's bankrupt,
it has no spiritual abiding value whatsoever. Moth and rust, said
Jesus, corrupt. Moth and rust. It's everything. However, you buy that brand spanking
new sparkly car and what happens? Look at it ten years later. I
know because I've got one that's a bit more than ten years old.
It starts to fall to bits and the rust starts to bubble through
it. Moth and rust corrupts it. However wonderful it seems to
be at that time. It's to show God's people the
poverty of this world. Not just the poverty of material
things, but the poverty of our own souls. The poverty of our
own state before God. The fact that we stand in judgment
before God, bearing our own sins in our own flesh, responsible
for them ourselves. To show us that, and then, the
Bible's purpose, having shown us that, is to show us the sufficiency
of Christ. to show us how He is all-sufficient,
to show us how He has done everything for His people, to secure our
eternal safety in Him in eternity, to show us that He has dealt
with every sin, every every sin. Not to give us license to sin
and live as we want, but he has dealt with every sin that the
believer will ever commit. All our sins in him. He looked
for iniquity in Jacob. He looked for iniquity there,
and he found none. Why? Because Christ has taken
it away. For he who knew no sin He made
him to be sin for us, that we, his people, because of that great
transaction, might be made the righteousness of God in him.
As we read earlier, as in Adam all die, in Christ all his people
are made alive. I've called this message, Naked
in Adam, Clothed in Christ. You may say that's a little bit
blunt for a title, but what I mean is that in the flesh we're just
stripped bare before the judgmental gaze of God. We're just stripped
bare, we're naked. Who told you you were naked,
said God, to Adam and Eve in the garden when they'd sinned
and fallen? Stripped naked before Him, but clothed in the righteousness
of Christ. The prodigal came home, What
did the father say when the prodigal came home? He came to an end
of himself and the first thing the father said was go and get
the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his finger.
He's home, this son that was dead, go and get the best robe
clothed in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is abundant life. I am come
that they might have life and that they might have it more
abundantly. This is what the gospel is about.
Now Psalm 139 I think you'll agree, even if you're only an
aficionado of beautiful English language, you cannot deny that
it is absolutely sublime poetry. Some of these phrases, Whither
shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from
thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there.
If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Listen to this.
If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me and thy right
hand shall hold me. How precious also are thy thoughts
to me, O God. How great is the sum of them.
It's beautiful language, isn't it? Absolutely sublime, beautiful
language. But it exposes our place It exposes
what we're like, heavy laden, and burdened with sin, because
we can never reach to these standards, and in so doing, as all the Scriptures,
points us to Christ. Points us to Him. It finds us
out, and brings us home to Him, if we're His, from all eternity.
Because if you're His, from all eternity, He will find you. He
will find you. He will get you. He will bring
you home. He will. He will. The first thing
I want you to see is that there is no hiding place. There used
to be a TV series, I remember, in the 1960s, a police drama
called No Hiding Place, and it was the police will get you.
Whatever you do, and you think you've got away with it, they'll
get you because there's no hiding place. Well, look, this is talking
about eternally. There is no hiding place. You
know how children love to play hide and seek? I know two little
boys that always love to play hide and seek when they come
to us. And having started playing hide-and-seek, of course, they
get so excited that they want to stop playing it because they're
frightened that they're going to be found out in their hiding
place and they don't stay there for any length of time. Great
fun, but great excitement. Think about CCTV in these days. You know, apparently in this
country we've got more CCTV per head of population than anywhere
else in the world. You go around bits of London
and for those of you that are up to no good, that would be
a very worrying thing, wouldn't it? Almost everywhere there's
a CCTV camera looking at you. For those of you that are not
up to evil, well, it's very comforting to know that if somebody mugs
you, they'll probably get caught for it, because they'll be caught
on a camera. You know, you watch the crime
watch things, and the cameras have captured all sorts of things.
What about those court cases that are going on, those very
disturbing court cases now, where people's secrets are being exposed? Things that they thought they
did and got away with years ago seem to be coming out in court
and being exposed. It seems like there's two or
three on the go all of the time of celebrities and important
people from the past, and some of them are being found not guilty,
quite rightly, and others of them are quite rightly being
found guilty. You cannot hide from these things.
Eventually things catch up. Do you have secret things known
only to you? Do I have secret things known
only to me? Think of it. Think of it. Think
of this. Look at verses one to five. Think
of this. As you go through your life with
your own little private thoughts and schemes and intentions and
plans. Think of this. Oh Lord. Oh Lord,
thou hast searched me and known me. No hiding place. Thou knowest
my down sitting and mine up rising. Whatever you do, you're under
the gaze of God. Thou understandest my thought. Not just what I say, not just
where I go, you understand my thought afar off. you compass
my path and my lying down and are acquainted, God is acquainted
with all my ways. Think of this, oh wouldn't it
be good, read the articles on the bulletin, read what Robert
Hawker says, oh what it would preserve us from if only we would
realize, if only we would realize that God sees everything. For
listen, there is not a word in my tongue but lo, O Lord, thou
know'st it altogether. thou hast beset me behind and
before and laid thine hand upon me in him said Paul to the Athenians
we live and move and have our being I don't believe in God
Paul said we live and move and have our being every one of us
you all of you me we all have live and move and have our being
in God this God who sees all things look at verses 7 to 12
I'm going to try and get away from this. I don't like the idea
of God seeing everything that I am and everything I do. I'm
going to find a place I can hide from him where he can't see me.
But whither shall I go from thy spirit? Where can I go? Or where
shall I flee from thy presence? Surely there's somewhere I can
go where God can't see me. If I ascend up into heaven. Can
you get any higher than that? No, you can't. If I ascend up
into heaven, are there. Of course he's there. No, I can't
go there. Oh, I'll make my bed in hell
if I go there. No, behold, thou art there. Hell is God's hell. Do you know
that? It's his. It's all his creation. If I take the wings of the morning
You know, I struggle to move too quickly at times. But if
I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right
hand shall hold me. I'll turn the light off. You
know, I'll turn the light off. I can't be seen in the darkness.
Let's turn the light off. If I say, surely the darkness
shall cover me, even the night, even the blackest night, when
God sees you, which he does all the time, even the blackest night
shall be glaring, blinding daylight about me. The darkness hideth
not from thee, but the night shineth as the day. The darkness
and the light are both alike to thee, for thou hast possessed
my reins. You see, there is no hiding place
from God. This is saying what Hagar, You
know the mother of Ishmael, the one with whom Abraham, who couldn't
wait for God to fulfill his purpose to have a child by Sarah, she
gave him her maid Hagar, and they had a child, and Hagar fled
from there, and God found her, and she said, God, thou God seest
me. God knows everything about us. God keeps records. God keeps
books. Do you know there are books in
heaven? The Bible speaks of books. Revelation 20 verse 12. And I
saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. This is a vision
of what will be. The day will come when you'll
be amongst them. I'll be amongst them. I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God. And the books were opened. That's
the day of judgment. The books were opened. And another
book was opened, which is the book of life. But regarding those
first books, the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books according to their works. God sees everything. There's nowhere we can go to
flee from him. Everything is seen by him. It is appointed
to man, Hebrews 9.27, to die once and then the judgment. There's
a roadside sign that we saw driving up north a couple of weeks ago,
huge great thing on the side of a trailer in a field and it
was Amos chapter 4 verse 12. Prepare to meet thy God. Prepare, are you prepared to
meet God? It's saying get yourself ready
to meet God. Get yourself, if you read the
bulletin, you'll see Donny Bell's article, which I thought was
very good. Just think on those things. You know, I don't put
those things there to fill up white space. I put them there
because I think they might give you something to chew over. Think
of it. Donny Bell says he saw a sign. which said, and it was
outside a church, and it said, when it comes to the end, the
only thing that will matter is what you've done for Christ.
And he said, is that right? No, it's not. The only thing
that will matter is not what you've done for Christ. It's
what Christ has done for you. Prepare to meet thy God. Are
you prepared? Look what it says in verses 23
and 24 of this psalm. Search me, O God, and know my
heart. Are you ready to have God search
you, and know your heart, and to have it exposed? For God to
try you, and to know your thoughts, and to see if there be any wicked
way in me? Can you say that? Try me. See
if you can find any wicked... Of course he can. Even you and
I know that your heart is full of wickedness in respect of the
law of God, and lead me in the way of everlasting. No, we come
short of those things. Search me and try me. Job, that
man who was so righteous, have you considered my servant Job,
perfect in all his ways, one who eschews evil? And when he
saw what he was really like before God, he said, I abhor myself
and repent in dust and ashes. He said, I've heard of you with
the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. I'm vile, was
his description. This man, whose testimony amongst
other men was perfection, this man says, I am vile when I look
at what I'm like. What about Peter? The one who
became the apostle Peter, Peter the fisherman, Peter, when the
Lord Jesus Christ came to him. Here's a man, no comeliness that
we should desire him, comes to him and calls him and he walks
with him and then there's an incident on the lake and Peter
sees the power of God in the Lord Jesus Christ and you know
what Peter says? You know Peter that, this fictitious Peter that
so many revere as the first Pope, nothing of the sort, but this
fictitious Peter, do you know what he said? Depart from me
Lord, for I am a sinful man. Does that equate with that title,
the Holy Father? that they call the man in Rome,
doesn't in the slightest, does it? Peter said, depart from me,
Lord, for I am a sinful man. Search me and try me, I know
I'm a sinful man, and if you search me and try me you will
only expose yet more of my sinfulness and wretchedness. The Apostle
Paul, the Apostle Paul, blameless regarding the law of the Pharisees,
but he comes to know that in his flesh there dwells no good
thing. He comes to regard himself not
just as a sinner, but as the chief of sinners. Can you prepare
yourself to meet God? No, these things are too high
for me. Look at verse 6, such knowledge that God sees me is
too wonderful for me. It is high, I cannot attain unto
it. Look at verse 17, is this your
testimony? How precious also are thy thoughts
unto me, O God. Really? Did you honestly think
that's where you are? How great is the sum of them?
If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand.
When I awake, I am still with... Is that your experience? I think
the best of us will have to say, that is not me. I cannot come
close to that. Verses 21 and 22. Search me,
O God, and know my heart. Try me, and know my thoughts.
See if you can find anything wrong with me. Of course he can.
all the time. Can any sinner say these things
with any honesty and integrity? No, you can't. I can't. This psalm, as many of the psalms,
are the words of David in his experience, but by Holy Spirit
inspiration. They're much more than that.
We cannot say these things. We cannot say that I can be tried.
Man David, think of what he did, the things that are recorded
that are not hidden in scripture. He couldn't say these things,
but by God's Spirit, by God's Spirit he wrote these things.
You see, this is designed by the Spirit of God to bring us
to an end of all our self-reliance and all our self-confidence.
You know, people, people before they come to the knowledge of
Christ and to experience salvation, they come to an end of themselves.
The Philippian jailer cried out. He who had such a position of
power, you know, he must have thought he'd got the best job
in Philippi, you know, being that jailer and able to do what
he wanted with all those prisoners. And when God came in, and spoke
and revealed himself and revealed his justice, the man can only
cry out, what must I do to be saved? Because I know I'm dangled
over eternity with nothing other than judgment before me. What
must I do? The answer? The answer that was
given? believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
In other words, you can do nothing, you can do nothing other than
trust the one who has done all. Who is that? Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth. Him, the Christ
of God, come in the flesh to save his people from their sins,
for that's why he was to be called Jesus. In Mark's Gospel chapter
10, in verses 46 to 52 don't turn to it now but we see the
account of blind Bartimaeus as Jesus was going along the road
there's blind Bartimaeus who's been blind all his life and he's
sitting there and he hears that Jesus of Nazareth is coming and
he's heard about him and he knows about him and he cries out at
the top of his voice Jesus thou son of David great David's greatest
son Jesus thou son of David have mercy on me And Jesus comes to
him. They told him to shut up, to
hold his peace. And he cried out all the more, Jesus, thou
son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus says, what do you want
from me? That I might receive my sight. And he gives him his
sight. He gives him his sight. Not just
his physical sight, which is the outward symbol, but that
soul sight. That sight of the soul, which
is faith. He gives him faith to believe
who this is, to see that in the Lord Jesus Christ his sins are
forgiven. And so Christ says to him, your
sins are forgiven you. You've got your sight, but your
sins are forgiven you. The rich young ruler in the same
chapter of Mark, but earlier on, he comes to him. He comes
to Jesus because he's heard he's a good teacher. Good teacher,
master, what must I do to inherit eternal life? What must I do?
And his thoughts are on law works. Because he thinks he's done a
pretty good job of law works. And Jesus says to him, I know
your heart. What does the scripture say?
Do all the law. And he says, I've done it all
from my youth. What else do I lack? He says,
go and sell. Because he's a man of much wealth
and much goods. Go and sell what you have and
give to the poor. Let's expose your heart for what it is in
its covetousness before God. And he went away sorrowful. What you can do, all that you
can do, at the very best of it, will leave you lacking. Because
as the scripture says there is none righteous, no not one. It
says by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified in
his sight. It says we must all stand before
the judgment seat of Christ and be judged out of the records
of God when those books are opened. And this is all designed of God's
spirit to turn the eyes of his elect to the Savior. And so now
I want you to see a fitting substitute. A fitting substitute. You see,
there's no hiding place, and these things are too high for
me, but there's a fitting substitute revealed here. These words were
penned by David under the Holy Spirit's inspiration, but a greater
than David is here. He says, Jesus in his ministry
says, you've heard about Jonah, but he says there's a greater
than Jonah here. He himself, there's a greater
than David here. How does this psalm show us Christ
and salvation that's in him? And there are two points, and
this is it, this is all I'll say, that he is uniquely made
He's uniquely made and his members are written in his book. He's
uniquely made. Look at verses 13 to 16. For thou has possessed my reins. That means your inner being,
your inner organs, your kidneys I think are actually your reins.
But thou has possessed my inner being. Thou has covered me in
my mother's womb. I will praise thee. for I am
fearfully and wonderfully made, marvellous are thy works, and
that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from
thee when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the
lowest parts of the earth. He was uniquely made. How does
this fit my case? How does this fit my needs as
a sinner before the God who is just? I need perfection in the
flesh under the law and I don't have it in myself. I need to
be without the corruption of Adam's sin. I need to be one,
I need to be one in the one who is my head, who himself is perfect
and not like Adam. I need to be in him who is the
second Adam, the man from heaven. I need to be in him. How does
this, how does this fit? How does this fit? Well you see,
all birth is a wonderful thing. All birth is a wonderful thing.
But I think we all have to admit, you know, people say, oh, it's
a miracle. Well, strictly speaking, a miracle is something that doesn't
happen according to the natural course of events. And birth isn't
like that, because it's very common. Isn't it? Isn't birth
very common? You know, I mean, there are probably
seven billion people alive on the planet today who were born
in the common way of conception and growth and of birth and of
development. But Christ is unique as a man. There's no one else quite like
him. He's the head of his people. He is fearfully and wonderfully
made. We can all say of ourselves,
in a sense we're fearfully and wonderfully made, but no, we're
made in the common way of all men. He alone is fearfully and
wonderfully made. Wonderfully here, the word wonderfully
is the word differently, distinctly, uniquely made. He is uniquely
made. Verse 13, covered me in my mother's
womb. He was covered in his mother's
womb. That embryo, he grew in his mother's
womb. Luke chapter 1 verse 35 how shall
this be says Mary the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee says the
angel to Mary and the power of the highest shall overshadow
thee therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of
thee shall be called the Son of God fearfully and wonderfully
made he's coming to do that which I cannot do for myself." John
1 verse 14, this Word of God was made flesh and dwelt among
us and we beheld His glory, the glory as the only begotten of
the Father, full of grace and truth. Psalm 40, Psalm 40 verse
7, the Psalmist says, sacrifice and offering gave you no pleasure. God had no, he had no satisfaction
for justice in the sacrifices and offerings of the Old Testament. For the blood of bulls and goats
could never take away sin. Then I said, lo, I come. In the
volume of the book it is written of me. Who is coming? Look at
Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews 10. You don't have to
turn to it, I'll read it out for you, because in verse 4,
the writer who I believe is Paul says, For it is not possible
that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
That's why God had no pleasure in sacrifice and offering. Wherefore,
when he cometh into the world, speaking of Christ, he saith,
Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared
me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come. In the
volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God.
Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings
and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein
which are offered by the law. Then said he, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that's
the Old Testament types, that he may establish the second,
the reality. By the which will, now listen,
this is the important thing, what's the point of his coming?
By the which will, we are sanctified, his people are made holy through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ. He must have a body.
You know, the law says the soul that sins, it shall die. And
the life is in the blood. The life is in the blood. The
blood must be shed. The infinite life of the infinite
perfect Son of God must be shed in the place of His people, if
His people are to be found holy in Him. Truly, that holy humanity
of Christ was fearfully and wonderfully made. Even in Jeremiah, we read
in 31 verse 22, a woman shall compass a man. This is speaking
of the Son of God. The Son of God coming from a
woman, made of a woman. Galatians 4 verse 4, when the
fullness of time was come, God sent forth his Son. made of a
woman, not born of a woman, as the modern translations say,
made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem those who are
under the law, that we might be made, that we might receive
the adoption of sons, made of a woman. Mary was completely
passive in this. You know, in normal human birth,
you know, as the saying goes, it takes two to tango, but Mary
was completely passive in the birth of Christ. God's Spirit
did all that was necessary. God's Spirit made of a woman,
not begotten of a woman, without the aid of man, without the aid
in any way. God's Son was made flesh that
He might make His people holy. He was made flesh that he might
make his people the righteousness of God in him, because in his
flesh and in his flesh alone could he be made the sin of his
people, and bear their sins in his own body on the tree. He
is the second man, the Lord from heaven. Adam is that first man,
the federal head of all the human race, who died in him when he
sinned. But the second man is the man
from heaven, in whom all the elect of God are made righteous
and made holy. And all of Psalm 139, now read
it, go back and read it, in the light of this, this is Christ,
this is the Son of God, this is the Word of God coming as
a man. And in everything that he did,
being in perfect communion, with his Heavenly Father. Everywhere
he went, everything he did, the presence of God was there with
him. And then secondly, secondly, he perfectly fits our case, because
he came to be our federal head as the man from heaven. And then
his members are written in his book. Look at verse 16. Thine
eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect. And in thy book
all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned,
when as yet there was none of them. His members were written
in his book. What's he speaking of? What's
he speaking of when he's talking about his members being written
in his book? It's speaking about his church. My substance is his church, his
body. The church is the body of Christ.
We're in union with him. His people are betrothed to him,
betrothed to him, promised to him from all eternity. Because
as Romans 8 says, God foreknew his people, which means he foreordained
his people to eternal life in Christ. He predestinated his
people to be conformed to the image of his Son. He called his
people in that marriage union naming with the name of Christ. He called them with the name
of his son. He justified, you know, of which
marriage is such a picture. He justified them in his son
who is the lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He justified
his people from all eternity. This is what the scriptures teach.
He glorified his people in eternity. I tell you, if you're his child
now, in time, as a sinner, in this time-state experience, knowing
that you believed Him, in actual fact, out of this time-state,
you are glorified with Christ. This is why the Scriptures say,
He has seated us in heavenly places, in Christ. Doesn't say
He is going to seat us in heaven. He says He has seated us in heavenly
places in Christ. We're espoused to Him. We're
united with Him in all the legal accountability and responsibility
of true marriage, scriptural marriage. We're united with Him.
We're the bride of Christ, His church, His people. And it's
particular. It's not subject to the will
and the chance of sinful flesh. We're written in God's book.
And in thy book all my members were written. His people are
written in his book. Which book? The book of judgment
records? No, no, no. Revelation 20 verse
12. And I saw the dead, small and
great, stand before God, and the books were opened, and another
book was opened, which is the book of life. The book of life. The Lamb's book of life. Separate
books. This book of God in which all
Christ's members were written is the Lamb's Book of Life. And
Christ is united with his church completely. Philippians chapter
4 and verse 3 speaks about the ordinary believers who had helped
Paul in his ministry. He's commending them. His names,
individuals. Ordinary believers who had helped
him in his ministry. And this is how he describes
them. Whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. Ephesians
5 verse 30, for we are members of his body, his church. We are
members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. Do you know
this is a great mystery, but this is what is revealed to the
saints of God. how much we, his people, are
united with Christ. So that in coming, and all of
these things that are written here applying to Christ, they
apply to his people in him, hiding in him. In all of this Psalm
139, we see Christ, the man from heaven, and his church made holy
in him. His church is made holy in Him,
made acceptable before God. So how can we read this? We read
it as the words of Christ and of His people in Him. Who can
search? When can I say to the judgment
of God, search me, O God, and know my heart, and try me, and
know my thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting? I'll tell you when, and only
when, when you're hiding in Christ. Because there, for his people
hiding in Christ, he looks, let me remind you, for iniquity in
Judah. He looks for iniquity in Jacob
and Israel. And he finds none. God finds
none. You know that there's sin in
your heart, but when you're in Christ, he looks for iniquity
and he finds none. Is that salvation or is that
not? That is salvation to the uttermost,
isn't it? to them that believe. He is able
to save to the uttermost those that come to God by Him, by the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's salvation to the uttermost. That's eternal peace. That's
the confidence and hope of eternal life. That's knowing that you
have peace with God. In Christ, all his people stand
perfect before God. That's why Paul wanted to be
found in Christ. He wrote to the Philippians that he wanted
to be found in him, in Christ. Not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law. Which righteousness then? Because
I can never do that. That which is through the faith
of Jesus Christ. That which Christ has done. The
faithfulness. faithfulness to the commission
his father gave him in saving his people from their sins. That
which is through faith of Jesus Christ. It's not my work of faith
in Christ for which God rewards me with righteousness. He says,
I've said to you often, it's not Abraham's believing that
was counted to him for righteousness, but what Abraham believed in
was counted to him for righteousness. What Christ has done, the faithfulness
of Christ, that was counted to him for righteousness. Are you
in him? Do you have hope of eternity
or a fear of death? Are you waiting for judgment?
You know, like Hebrews describes humanity, all their lifetime,
subject to bondage through the fear of death, waiting for judgment,
waiting for that judgment seat, waiting for the books to be open,
or written in the Lamb's Book of Life, to be judged in Him,
to be found perfect. You can't hide from Him. You
cannot. Psalm 139 verse 7, where can
I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? There is no hiding place. But,
if you are His, the Scripture assures us of this, that all
of His members are sheep. And like lost sheep, fleeing,
stupidly wandering, Trying to hide, you know like they do,
you go up the Lake District and you see them on the mountains
and they get themselves lost, but the Good Shepherd goes out
after them. Luke chapter 15, 3 to 7, Jesus
says this, What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose
one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness
and go after that which is lost until he find it? And when he
hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And
when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbors,
saying to them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep
which was lost. I say unto you that likewise
joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth more than
over the ninety and nine just persons in their own judgment,
which need no repentance or think they don't. Oh that he might
move your soul, all of us, to seek him. It says, isn't that
him? He moved my soul to seek him,
seeking me. He comes out on the trail of
his lost sheep to find us where we are. Amen.