Catford Lectures 2010-2011

… Good afternoon, everyone. Could we start, please, with hymn number 170. Low he comes from heaven descending, Once for favoured sinners slain, Thousand, thousand saints attending, Swell the triumph of his train. Hallelujah, hallelujah, Jesus comes and comes to reign. Number 170, please, verses 1 to 3. Thousand, thousand saints attending, Swell the triumph of his train. Hallelujah, hallelujah, Jesus comes and comes to reign. See the Saviour long expected, Now in solemn hope revealed, And his saints by man rejected, All his heavenly glories share. Hallelujah, hallelujah, See the Son of Man appear. Loaded token of his passions, Knowing glory still he bears. Cause of endless exultation To his ransomed worshipers. Hallelujah, hallelujah, Christ the Lamb of God appears. In the name of the Lord Jesus, amen. Could we please also sing the last three verses of hymn number 170. Verses 4 to 6 of hymn number 170. Fierce by heavenly pride and spirit, Jesus, Lord, that didst become, All the glory to inherit And to take thy people home. All creation, all creation, Frozen trial ends till the come. His first grace shall now be holy, Full of grace and majesty. Lo, they stand at sprout and soli, Fist and nail, feet to the tree. They in glory, they in glory, Shall their great desire see. Yea, the men that fall adore thee, High on thine exalted throne. Saviour, take them all and glory, Claim the king and swallow no. Come, Lord Jesus, come, Lord Jesus, Alleluia, come, Lord, come. Let us read together from the first book of Chronicles and chapter 1. First book of Chronicles, chapter 1 and verse 1. Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mehalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The sons of Japheth, verse 8. The sons of Ham, verse 10. And Cush begat Nimrod. He began to be mighty upon the earth. Verse 17. The sons of Shem, verse 24. Shem, Apaxad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Seroch, Nahor, Tira, Abram, this is Abraham. The sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Ishmael. These are their generations. The firstborn of Ishmael, Nebaioth, then Kedah, and Adbel, and Mipsam. Verse 34. And Abraham begat Isaac. The sons of Isaac, Esau, and Israel. The sons of Esau, Eliphaz, Reul, Jeush, and Jealam, and Korah. Verse 43. Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel. Bela, the son of Beor, and the name of his city was Dinabah. And when Bela was dead, Jobab, the son of Zerah of Bozrah, reigned in his stead. And when Jobab was dead, Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his stead. And when Husham was dead, Hadad, the son of Bedad, which smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead. And the name of his city was Abeth. So far for now. The book of Chronicles, and when I say the book, it is simply because the first and second book in the Hebrew Bible are just one book, deals with a number of kings, starting with Saul and then David and Solomon, followed by the kings of Judah after Solomon. Now you may say, why is it necessary to have these books of Chronicles as well? Because I already know about Saul from the first book of Samuel. I already know about David from first and second Samuel. And I already know about Solomon from the first book of Kings. So isn't this kind of duplication? Well, at first sight it might look like it, but only at the very, very first sight. Just to give you one example, the history of Saul in the first book of Samuel takes around, say, more or less 15 chapters. The history of Saul in the first book of Chronicles takes a few verses, and really it doesn't deal with the life of Saul, it only deals with the death of Saul. When you come to David, you find that the historical books of Samuel and Kings report very grave mistakes of David. David, on the one hand, the man after God's heart. On the other hand, there was terrible failure in his life. If you think of the second book of Samuel, the murder of Uriah, adultery with Bathsheba, and these things are related in detail in Samuel. And also you find the same feature in the book of Kings. And the reason is that these books deal with the responsibility side. The books of Chronicles deal with God's plan and with what God did, how he worked in grace in the lives of these kings. You might also say that in Samuel and Kings we receive moral lessons, and in the book of Chronicles we receive typical lessons. Now what do we mean by that, typical lessons? Well, take again Saul, David, and Solomon. Saul is a picture of the man of the flesh, natural man. And in fact, the precursor of the true David is Antichrist, who is characterized by the number 666, which is a man's number. And then you come to David and to Solomon. And the two together give a beautiful picture of Christ. David shows Christ in his rejection and how he then sets up his kingdom and takes the throne. And Solomon completes the picture by showing a reign of peace, how the kingdom is established, giving us a picture of how Christ will reign in peace and righteousness. It does beg a question though, and that is, well, if this is the purpose of the book of Chronicles, why don't the books of Chronicles stop with Solomon? Why does it go on throughout the history of Judah until actually the people is led into captivity? If you bear with me, I won't give you the answer now, but a little later on. But just let's set a little sort of mental marker. There is this open question, why does it go beyond David and Solomon? Now, there are some more characteristics of the books of Chronicles, but perhaps we can come to those as we go through the text. One thing I need to say though is that really what I told you so far about what is in the books of Chronicles started with chapter 9, because that's where you start reading about Saul, his death on Mount Gilboa and then the history of David and Solomon. Now, why do we have chapters 1 to 8? And I'm sure that one or two of you were wondering while we were reading chapter 1, is there really anything in these chapters for us? And I wouldn't be surprised if one or two of you, when you came to the books of Chronicles and you started reading, you cast your eyes down the pages of the first eight chapters and went straight to chapter 9 and said, here is something where I can start reading. And if I may make a confession here, I remember that I once did that as well. However, these first eight chapters were and are extremely important. They contain the genealogies of the people of Israel. In the first instance, they were important for the Jews, very important. For one thing, if you wanted to get an inheritance in the land, you had to be able to demonstrate that you belonged to a tribe that had a right to an inheritance. I'm sure that if you got a letter saying you have been bequeathed a million pounds, all you need to do is show that you are related to your great-great grandfather, I'm sure you would start taking a very keen interest in any document that helps you substantiate that claim. Well, these genealogies were something like that for the Jews. They were also important for the priesthood to function because the priests obviously had to be sons of Aaron. Levite service, again, you had to demonstrate that somebody came from the tribe of Levi. Overall, really the whole claim of the people of Israel to the land of Canaan rests on these genealogies because they allow the Jews to trace their history back to Abraham who received that promise. But I'm conscious that I'm speaking here to a crowd of Christians, and the question you will ask is, why is it that these genealogies are presented or are thought by you to be important for Christians? They contain a host of important moral lessons that want to affect every or many aspects of our daily lives. Now let's look at the verses we read, starting with verse 1, Adam, Sheth, Enosh. Perhaps I can try and propose a little key to you, a key to the book of Chronicles. And I would formulate this key as a question, perhaps I should say as a dilemma. And the dilemma is this. God had a plan. This plan was clearly set out in Genesis, and it was clearly repeated and extended in Ephesians. And all the indications were that this was never going to happen, that everything had gone off the rails, and God's plan would never be fulfilled. Now let me try and show this. In Genesis 1 and verse 27, you read that God had the following plan. He said, Genesis 1, 27, So God created man in his own image. In the image of God created he him. Male and female created he them. And God blessed them. And God said unto them, Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it. And have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. Now what was God's plan? God's plan was to have a man, actually a man and a woman linked to him, having dominion over at least the whole earth. Now let's compare this with God's plan in Ephesians chapter 1. And in Ephesians chapter 1, it says that actually, it speaks about the riches of his grace, verse 8, wherein he has abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence. How? Having made known unto us the mystery of his will. Now we come to the crux of the matter. What was his plan? The mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he has purposed in himself, colon, and now it comes, God's plan, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him, that he might gather together all things in the Christ. Christ described as the head here, having dominion, and it's actually extended now, it says over all things heaven and earth. Now this was the plan. What happened? Man fell. Man was chased, had to be chased from the garden of Eden. The head that was there to have dominion over everything had now become a fallen creature and it looked as though everything was lost. And as you look at the first verse of the book of Chronicles, you find that this actually, this key is contained in the first word, Adam. Adam was the one who was meant to be this head and who tragically had fallen. And this is the puzzle. This is the puzzle this book seems to answer. What now? How is God going to bring about all that blessing that he has purposed within a plan where there is one head reigning over all things? Now we get some very important hints in this first chapter about how God is going to go about doing this. And I dare say the first hint on how he is going to solve the problem is also in verse one. Because verse one continues to say, Adam sheth. How would you have expected the verse to continue? What was next after Adam? There were Cain and Abel, weren't there? Now Abel, of course, was murdered, but there was still Cain. So why doesn't it go, Adam, Cain? But it goes, Adam, Sheth. Well, if you read as far as Genesis 4, in the end, after Abel had been killed by his brother, you find that Eve had another son and his name was Sheth. And the meaning for Sheth is as much as appointed as a substitute. So what you find here, in a nutshell, is this. There is someone who comes along, Cain, naturally the first, and God chooses the second, a substitute, Sheth. Now, we'll see this again later on, just a little indication for now. Now, the next one in the line here is Enosh. Remember that Cain means as much as acquired. Acquired means, you know, something you have obtained in your strength with your own means. And that's exactly the principle that God sets aside. But when you come to Enosh, the name speaks of the weakness and frailty of humankind, like a fleeting breath. And you know, it was at that time that men began to call upon the Lord. Realizing their own weakness and helplessness, they started doing a very good thing, call upon the name of the Lord. Now, you have here an uninterrupted line as far as the sons of Noah. And then secondly, just as a rough overview, you get a second uninterrupted line, and that is from one of the sons of Noah, Shem, down to Esau and Israel, i.e. Jacob. As drawn in these genealogies, sometimes you find that there are gaps and not all generations are mentioned. But in this first chapter, you get a sequence without any gap from Adam as far as Jacob, the start or the father of the people of Israel. Now, when you come to Noah, it says here in verse 4, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Now, if you just go to Genesis 10, there is a verse there which I believe allows us to conclude who of those three was the eldest. In Genesis 10, it says in verse 21, unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, his brother, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him children were born. So Shem is described as a brother of Japheth the elder. Does that remind you of anything, of a principle? It does appear that Japheth was the first son, but you find that the line that God uses to bring about his plan does not go through Japheth, but it goes through Shem. Now, perhaps it's time to read a verse from 1 Corinthians 15, which really tells us about this principle that I'm trying to bring out. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 45, and so it is written, the first man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Do you see this contrast? First Adam and the last Adam. Verse 46, howbeit that was not first, which is spiritual, but that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual. The Apostle Paul tells us here in very plain terms that there is a principle behind those peculiarities we are observing. The principle is that first you have the natural and then the spiritual. Now, have you ever wondered why? I think there's a simple answer to this. The natural has to come first because it first has to be demonstrated that that which is natural will fail. And it's only after this failure has been demonstrated that the spiritual can come and that it becomes clear that God still achieves his purpose. Now, without going into any detail about the sons of Japheth, which you find from verse 5 to 7, and then the sons of Ham from verse 7 to 16, there is one name we should just mention briefly in verse 10, and that is the name of Nimrod. And you know this man from Genesis, again Genesis chapter 10. But what you read here about Nimrod is not the same thing that you read about Nimrod in Genesis chapter 10, and for a good reason. Let's just look at this. In our chapter, verse 10 says, And Cush begat Nimrod, and all it says about him is this, He began to be mighty upon the earth. Now, if you just go back to Genesis 10, maybe you still have your Bible open there, Genesis chapter 10 and verse 8, you read a lot more about Nimrod. It says, He began to be mighty of the earth, and then in verse 9, He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord, at the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Akkad, and Chalni in the land of Shinia. And out of that land went forth Ashur, and he built Nineveh, the city of Rehoboth, and so forth. Genesis 10 tells us a whole story about this man, how he was a mighty hunter. It tells us that he was a king. It tells us that he started his kingdom in Babel and so on. Chronicles doesn't say a word on that. It just says he was mighty. Now, why is that? Well, just think about what we said earlier. The topic of Chronicles is, How is God going to go about fulfilling his plan which is have the man after his heart reign over everything? Well, in order to achieve that plan, Nimrod can't contribute anything. In Genesis 10, the question is, How was the land divided after the flood? And there it is important to understand who Nimrod was and where his kingdom was and what his descendants did. Here, this mighty man disappears from the scene. Why? Because he plays no role in bringing about the counsel of God. But then you come to, in verse 17, to the sons of Shem. And again you get this uninterrupted line, starting verse 24, from Shem down to Abraham. Do you realize how the writer of Chronicles, or should I say the Holy Spirit, is slowly but certainly making progress towards the crux of the matter? How is God going to accomplish his plan? How is he going to bless people? What you find is he always rejects the natural Cain, he takes Sheth. He rejects Japheth and Ham, chooses Shem. And now the line of Shem leads down to Abraham, and Abraham is the one who received the promise. And you know, that tells us really the next thing about how God fulfills his plan, how he will bless. The blessing is going to come, and it's going to come on the basis of free promise. And then it says, and the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael. Pardon me, I thought it was Ishmael and Isaac, wasn't it? It was Ishmael first. And then there was Isaac. But I don't need to explain this now, again, because by now you all understand, maybe you did before, but we've reminded ourselves of the principle, that which is natural comes first, that which is spiritual comes afterwards. And so it is that not Ishmael was chosen, but Isaac was the son who was chosen. Now, then down in verse 34, it says, Abraham begat Isaac, the sons of Isaac, Esau and Israel. And there you have it again. Esau, the firstborn, after the flesh, naturally, but who really in his heart was a carnal man, a man after the flesh. And then you have Jacob, actually called here Israel. Now, again, the first, the natural, passes away, and the second is chosen. And it's interesting that God calls Jacob here Israel. Now, again, the theme is God's plan, God's purpose. And God's purpose was to turn Jacob into Israel and to turn him, to turn this man Israel, into a whole nation of Israel. But before we learn about the descendants of Israel, we first learn about the descendants of Esau. And it's quite interesting what you learn about them. Here, verse 43, these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom before any king reigned over the children of Israel. Now, again, you think something has gone wrong here with God's plan. Why isn't there first someone reigning in Israel? But, again, you find even with kingship, the natural comes first. And in Edom, that is among Esau's descendants, they first had kings. But what was that sort of reign like? If you look at this, you'll notice something very interesting with this succession of kings in Edom. It says here, the first one is Bela, the son of Beor. And then it says, and when, verse 44, when Bela was dead, Jobab, the son of Zerah of Bozrah, reigned in his stead. Now, did you notice something? You would have expected the verse to say, and when Bela was dead, Jobab, the son of Bela, became king. And that's exactly what it doesn't say. It says, the son of someone else. Now, that's not an isolated incident. If you read down the list, you find that there is not a single one amongst the kings of Edom who was succeeded by his son. And in one case that we read about, actually, it is stated explicitly that he took the kingdom with violence. And that is the feature of the kingdoms among the descendants of Esau. Their reign was marked by violence. And every new king who came to reign, he took the reign from the preceding king with violence. Now, I'd like to use the remaining minutes to just make some very quick comments on the next couple of chapters. If you just look at the first verse in chapter 2, it says, these are the sons of Israel, Reuben. Now, does that ring a bell? Remember, we want to learn how after, now we've got from Adam as far down now as Israel, we want to learn how do we get closer to the point where there is this man chosen by God to have dominion. And the first descendant of Israel is Reuben. And what happened to Reuben, just look at chapter 5 for a moment, where his family, his descendants are given. And it says there in chapter 5, verse 1, the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel. And then you have an important sentence in brackets. It says, for he was the firstborn. But for as much as he defiled his father's bed, his birthright was given unto the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after his birthright. For Judah prevailed amongst his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler, but the birthright was Joseph's. Same principle. Reuben was the oldest. Reuben sinned, and his birthright was taken away, and it was eventually given to Joseph. The ruler, though, came out of Judah. And here we have a wonderful, you might say twin picture, double picture of the Lord Jesus in Judah and Joseph. Judah is the prince, speaks of the prince, and Joseph speaks of the true firstborn one, and the Lord Jesus is both. He is the prince, and he is the one whom God sets to be above all as the firstborn. Now, that's why here in chapter 2, although Reuben is recognized as the first one born, and then the other sons of Jacob are mentioned, it then continues in verse 3, not by saying the sons of Reuben, but the sons of Judah. And now, if you were reading this as a faithful Jew, especially, and I mention this now, although we'll come back to this perhaps later, the book of Chronicles was written very late, after the time of the captivity. And you know, that was a time when you would have thought everything is lost, Israel has no king anymore, and there is really no hope that God's plan will be fulfilled. But you come to chapter 2, verse 3, and it says, and the sons of Judah. We now have come to the one of whom Jacob had said in Genesis 49, that the lawgiver, that the ruler must come out of him. Now, but if you think the problem is solved, you need to read the next line. The next line is tragic. Er and Onan and Shelah were the sons of Judah. Those three were born to him of the daughter of Shua. And Er, the firstborn of Judah, was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he slew him. And again you find the firstborn one is set aside. By the way, this is not a topic that I like so very much because I was the second in our family. It is a principle that is extremely important. It's fundamental to the concept of grace, that it is only when man has demonstrated his utter inability, that the way is open for God to act in grace. And so you see that even with Judah, naturally, you know, his first son is killed by the Lord. Actually, it's not mentioned here, but the same happened to the next son, Onan. And you find then in verse four that it gets even worse. And it says, and Tamar, his daughter-in-law, bare him Phares and Zerah. All the sons of Judah were five. And now you wonder, how is God going to continue the story? Which son of Judah is he going to take? Er is gone. Onan is gone. Surely he's going to take the next one, which is mentioned here in verse three, which is Shelah. But he doesn't. And if you look at verse five, you see that the story continues with Phares. And Phares was a son of Tamar. Now you might say, that's bad enough. But does it have to mention here who Tamar was? Shall I read this again? Or were we all sufficiently awake? And Tamar, his daughter-in-law, bare him Phares. You get a glimpse here of the moral state, even within the family of Judah, that was predestinated to bring forth the king. And you might say, at this point, at the latest, God is about to give it all up. Failure is now so evident. There is no way that the plan can be completed. But if we think that, we would have very low thoughts of our God. And it doesn't get much better. Look at verse seven. And the sons of Cami, Achar, the troubler of Israel, who transgressed in the thing of curse. There's no doubt that Achar is Achan, whom you know from Joshua, chapter seven. In the family of Judah, in the family where the ruler was to come. But I don't want to leave you here on this thought. Let's look at verse 13. And Jesse beget his firstborn, Eliab, and Abinadab, the second, and so on. And then it says, in verse 15, and David the seventh. Now, do you remember the story when God said to Samuel, why are you still lamenting after Saul? Go and anoint a king for me. Go to the house of Jesse and anoint a king. And Samuel obeys. He goes. He tells Jesse, one of your sons is going to be king. And Jesse says, all right. Look at my sons. You choose him. And Eliab arrives, the first one. And he's a handsome and tall man. And Samuel thinks, that's the one. I'll go for him. And what does God say? God says, Samuel, don't look at the exterior. Man looks at the external things, but God looks at the heart. And then they go down the whole line. And every time, God says, no, it's not him. And when Samuel says to Jesse, are you sure? Are these all? Isn't there anyone else? He says, well, there's still David. But you know, David is a shepherd boy. He is looking after the sheep. You're not suggesting, are you, that David could be the man? And Samuel says, get him. And when he comes, God says, this is him. This is the man after my own heart. And there you arrive here in chapter 2, verse 15, at this, I would say, this hope, indication of hope, that actually the line led to David. And David was the promised ruler. Now, let's spend the last few minutes just looking very briefly at what we learn about David and his family, starting in chapter 3, verse 1. It says, now, these were the sons of David, which were born unto him in Hebron, the firstborn Amnon. Do you remember Amnon, the firstborn of David, that should have been the successor of the king, you might have said, the one who should have brought glory to his father's house, and he really turned out to bring shame. He raped his sister. That sort of thing, let me put it this way, there is nothing that natural man is not capable of in terms of evil things. But, you know, there's something else to notice here. It says, in verse 1, these were the sons of David, which were born to him in Hebron. Now, do you remember what Hebron was? Let's read verse 4, and it says, these six were born unto him in Hebron, and there he reigned seven years. Now, you find that Hebron is the place where David started to reign. Incidentally, before I come back to Hebron, do you realize the difference here between Chronicles and Samuel? In Samuel, you have a long, long history of how David was chased around by Saul in the wilderness, how he went into hiding, and how he was rejected. You know how that story is rendered in Chronicles? It's rendered in about three words. There he reigned. Chronicles is about the counsel of God, and the counsel of God is that Christ should reign. And so all the rejection here is passed over, and it simply says, and there he reigned. But he started to reign in Hebron. Now, Hebron is the place, Genesis 13, where Abraham built an altar. It was a place of communion. But it's also the place, Genesis 23, where Sarah died. And it's the place, Genesis 25, where Abraham died. And it's the place where they were buried. And it's the place where the other patriarchs were buried. And it's the place where Joseph commanded that his remains should be buried. And so you find that Hebron is not only the place of fellowship, but it's also the place of death. And then you come to Genesis 37, and you find that Joseph is sent to seek his brethren, and it says, and he was sent out of the valley of Hebron. The true Joseph was sent to find his brethren, and he was sent out of the valley of death, of Hebron. But when you come to Joshua, you find that Hebron becomes a city of refuge. And it is the city of refuge, Joshua 21, that is given to the priests. Now put all of these together. It's a place of communion. It's the place of death. It's the place from where Joseph was sent. It's the place that is a city of refuge, and it is a place for the priests. And all of these things apply to the death of Christ. But here we learn that it was in Hebron that David started to reign. You know, when we had the Bible Basics Conference here, a brother, I think it was Brother Hugh actually, spoke about the millennium. And you might have wondered, what's that to do with the death of Christ? And he explained to us that actually the death of Christ is the basis even for the glories of Christ in the millennium for his glorious reign. Well, here you have it in picture form. David first reigned in Hebron. The death of Christ is the basis on which this plan of God will be ultimately fulfilled. But then it goes on to say in verse 5, and they were born unto him in Jerusalem, Shimea and Shobab and Nathan and Solomon. Solomon was the one who was going to continue the royal line. But Solomon was not born in Hebron. Solomon was born in Jerusalem. Now, what does that mean? Well, Jerusalem is a very important place. You know from Deuteronomy 12 that God had chosen one place. And you learn from Psalm 132 that actually Zion is described as the place that God has chosen. And here you find that Solomon is born in Jerusalem. He is the one who is the chosen one after God's counsel to continue this royal line. Now, from verse 10 you find Solomon's sons. And I only want to make one more comment on this because we are running seriously out of time and nobody wants to be late for tea. So just very quickly, the sons of Solomon. And you get this whole list of kings, you know, from reading through Chronicles and some are mentioned in Kings. But the point I want to draw your attention to is that by the time you come to verse 16, there is already Zedekiah. And you would have thought that with Zedekiah the story would end because that was when Judah was led into captivity. But you find that chapter 3, the story of David, doesn't end there. It goes on. And there is also verse 18, Padiah. Then there is Zerubbabel, verse 19. There is Hananiah. There is Shekiniah, verse 22. There is Nehariah. There is Elione, verse 23. And Hodiah, in verse 24. So there are several generations after Zedekiah. Now perhaps you say, well, why is that important? Well, I think it's one of the most encouraging things in this book. What God says, never is notwithstanding the captivity, notwithstanding all the failure of the people, it's not all over with my plan. Even after Zedekiah, the royal line continues. And you read through this book, and you come to the time of Queen Athaliah, and you think now it's really over. It says, and she destroyed all the royal seed. And had she succeeded, it would have been over. But it wasn't. There was one baby that escaped. And God makes sure that this line is continued, and he will make sure that the true David will stand up, and then God's promises will be fulfilled in him. Now I realize it's a very big topic. We can only give a few pointers here. But I would suggest two things that we should try and take home. One is, in a world where everything seems upside down, where everything seems to derail more and more, we can rest assured God's plan will be fulfilled. The other point, and that's a little challenge for every one of us, is this. If your life, if my life was written down, how much of it would you find in the book of Samuel and Kings? And how much of it would you find in the book of Chronicles, if you know what I mean? How many times in my life have I acted in the flesh? Have I done my own will? Have I done something that can only be reported, recorded under the heading of responsibility and failure? And how many times in my life was I really in God's plan, that it would be recorded as in Chronicles, saying this is what God was able to bring about in your and in my life? Could we sing hymn number 179? Actually, I mean hymn number, I think it's 379. Yes. 379. We bless thee, O thou great Amen. God's glorious pledge to sinful men. 379. We bless thee, O thou great Amen. God's glorious pledge to sinful men. Confirming all his word. Doubt, though no promises remain. For all are ye and all are men. Indeed, the faithful know. How great the grace of God to bless. By thee, O Lord, our righteousness. By thee we say again. For to us all things thus are shown. Through life and death and evermore. By thee, the great Amen. O faithful witness of our God. Who came by water and by blood. In need of only one. God's record does forever stand. Of life eternal from his hand. To all in me the sun. Gladly his promises we hear. For God's helmet dispels all fear. His faithfulness it proves. And one such grace from God is shown. To his own we add our own. For a remnant he loves. Secured in Christ their head on high. The saints below may boldly cry. Praise to our God, Amen. To God in Christ all praise begin. Forever more our blessing end. Amen, Amen, Amen. Amen. …

… Hymn 179, the hundred and seventy-ninth, Brightness of the eternal glory Shall thy praise on uttered blam. Came from Godhead's fullest glory, Down to Calvary's depth of awe, Sing his blessed triumphant rising, Sing him on the Father's throne. Rise to sing 179. Brightness of the eternal glory Shall thy praise on uttered blam. Who hushed the heads in story, All the world would hear him cry. Came from Godhead's fullest glory, Down to Calvary's depth of awe, Now on high we bow before him, String of praise let sinners know. Sing his blessed triumphant rising, Sing him on the Father's throne. Sing till heaven and earth surprise thee, Praise and thanks are given unto thee. In the name of the Lord Jesus, Amen. I want to take a verse tonight in 2nd Timothy. 2 Timothy chapter 1. And the verse I have particularly in mind is verse 10. 2 Timothy 1 verse 10. And for the sake of connection, we'll begin with verse 9. And it says, Who hath saved us? And the antecedent is God. Paul is telling Timothy to be a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. And then it tells us certain things about God. God hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and has brought to light, or has brought certain things to light, brought life, and I'm going to make a slight change in the interest of accuracy here, not life and immortality, but he has brought life and incorruptibility to light through the gospel. We'll come back to that point. We're onto, says Paul, I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles. I want to connect with that also. The first preaching of the gospel by the Lord Jesus in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 4. I look for verse 25. And we have the words of the Lord Jesus here in the synagogue at Nazareth. But I tell you of a truth. Many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah. Elias, for simplicity, it's the Elijah of the Old Testament. Many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah. When the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land, but onto none of them was it Elijah sent, save onto Serapta or Saraphath, a city of Sidon, onto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha, Elisha, the prophet, and none of them were cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian. Now, I believe I can connect those verses. I believe that we can see an illustration there. I'll leave you to work that out in the meantime. Actually, what we are presented with here is things that were not previously revealed, but are now made known. That's the meaning of the opening words of verse 10. It's now made manifest. There were certain hidden things God had his own purpose and grace given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. There were here certain things which were in God's mind from eternity and indeed in eternity. Because if we go back before the foundation of the world, if we go back before the ages of time, if we go back before the world began, we're in eternity and we're presented with God and with God's thoughts. And right down through the centuries, these certain things were not made known, certainly not made known clearly, but Paul says they are now manifested. And it's by the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. We find that he has done certain things. He has abolished death. He has annulled it. He has set it aside. And he has brought to light life and incorruptibility. And that connects exactly with what we were hearing this afternoon, resurrection. I was most encouraged by the speaker's subject this afternoon, because without any prearrangement or collusion between us, we're landed up with the same subject and the platform of resurrection, that which our Lord Jesus has brought to light, a character or quality of life, life and incorruptibility, that which death cannot touch. And in this verse, there are three things that are fundamental to Christianity and three things that are most important for each one of us. Even the youngest should be able to understand it. It's this. God became man. The Lord Jesus died. And he rose again. And that's the gospel. That's what Paul says. These things are brought to light. These things are revealed in the gospel message. And that's why it's important for each one in this room, from the youngest to the oldest, to pay attention to these things. That a divine person entered into manhood, and that the character of his coming, the character of his appearing, was as a Savior God. Not one who came to make demands on us such as the law made. Not one who came into our midst to condemn us. But one who came to save us as a Savior. Our Savior, Jesus Christ. Sometimes in the gospel hymn, there's an appeal made, and we sing, and oh that my Savior were your Savior too. For you I am praying. For you I am praying. I'm praying for you. And there are those in this room who have been the subject, or subjects, of the prayers of the Lord's people. And I just wonder tonight, after attending many meetings, and after being present in the Christian company, and brought up in a Christian land, and having a Christian upbringing and background, can everyone here tonight, can you here tonight dear friend, say my Savior, Jesus Christ. My Savior, Jesus Christ. This is what the verse says. Our Savior, Jesus Christ. In the town where I was brought up once, there was a tragic accident. A little boy had gone somewhere he shouldn't have gone, onto a building site. And somehow or other he'd pulled something down on top of him. And he died. When the rescuers got, when the search party got out and got round and found him, his body was lifeless. But you know, he'd been in a Sunday school, and he'd been taught five things. The Lord is my shepherd. And that's how it was presented to him. The Lord is my shepherd. When they found his body, he was clutching his fourth finger. My. My. My. And you, dear one tonight, you need to make it personal. It's not enough that you know Christian friends, or that you're brought up in a Christian family. You need to know the Lord Jesus as your own and personal Savior. The Lord is my shepherd. This is the Gospel. And this is what Paul tells us he was appointed to do. He was appointed to preach it, to herald it. That's what the word means. It's the public proclamation of the Gospel. There are other occasions where people went abroad, and they announced the word, they preached the word. That was one-to-one. That wasn't personal conversation. That was personal witness. And our personal witness, amongst our friends and work colleagues and school chums, is very important. We need to nail our colors to the mast. We need to be able to say, now I belong to Jesus. Jesus belongs to me. Not for the years of time alone, but for eternity. But this is something distinct from our individual and our daily and our testimony one-on-one with other people. This is not so much personal evangelism here. Paul was called for a purpose. He was appointed a herald. Just to be in the olden days, that the towns and villages of England had a town crier. And this was before the BBC, our public broadcasting, our internet, our mobile phones, or any of these modern appliances. And the way to get the word out was, he would take a bell, I believe, and he would ring the bell, and he would say, hear ye, hear ye. And he would go from place to place, hear ye, hear ye. And he would make the important municipal announcement, or tell the people what they needed to know. See, that's the idea of a herald. One who publicly proclaims something. And Paul says, I'm appointed to publicly announce, to herald, to proclaim this message. And that's something that we still need today. The public proclamation of the word of God. The pulpit. What a blessed thing in that respect, the Protestant Reformation was. And you go into a Protestant place of worship, and very often you'll find, rising above everything else, is the plain pulpit. And very often in that pulpit, the word of God and the word of God open. It's not an altar. It's not a sacrifice. Christ offered one offering for sin forever. But it's the proclamation of a message. I remember the last time, I was in St. Peter's Cathedral in Geneva, and there was a tour guide showing some Japanese tourist round, and he or she was lamenting the fact, oh, you know, they've done away with all these ornaments and idols and images, and all these artistic and cultural things, and what a tragedy it is, and look just how plain it is today. How wrong that person was. How wrong those people are, that go for all the trimmings and all the histrionics and set aside the word of God. And there in Calvin's Geneva, just that pulpit, where he had proclaimed the word of God in such a way that it shook the whole world, and the effects of that message are still being felt today. The public preaching of the word of God, dear brethren, is something most important that we should have and value amongst us, not setting aside other occasions when we come together to pray, or when we come together more particularly in priestly service, around the person of the Lord Jesus, and with the loaf and the cup and the table proclaiming his death. The priestly side of service, and that is what goes up to God. Priestly service is God words, but Levitical service is man words, and this is so necessary. And Paul here says he was a herald, and an apostle. An apostle means someone who is sent. He was a man with a message. Moses was the sent one. Moses was an apostle because he was sent. He had an experience with God at the burning bush, and God sent him on a mission to the children of Israel and to Pharaoh to deliver them from Egypt. We read that in Hebrews, where to consider the apostle and high priest of our confession. Of course there it's pointing us to the Lord Jesus, but the Lord Jesus as the fulfillment of the type of what was true in Moses and Aaron. Moses was the apostle. Moses was the sent one, and Aaron, the high priest, was the high priest of Israel, just as the Lord Jesus is the high priest of our confession. You've got the thought there. An apostle being a sent one. There was a man sent from God whose name was John. Don't you think, dear ones, if we spent more time in the presence of God, if we spent more time with the Lord Jesus, there'd be more power in the preaching of the word of God. We read of one of the Old Testament prophets that he was the Lord's messenger in the Lord's message. I believe it was Haggai. So Paul here says, not only was he the herald who proclaimed it publicly, and I suppose in doing that, it's taking account of his auditors, of those to whom he sent, but he was also the apostle, and that refers to God. It says in Romans, how shall they preach unless they be sent? How shall they preach unless they be sent? May God raise up and send out more servants in the gospel and in the preaching of his word. And then he says he was a teacher of the nations. Bible teaching is something that we need to lay stress on because a lot of Christianity today is simply experiential or experimental. People go for good feelings and nice experiences. But Paul here says that he was a teacher, and not a teacher of the Jews, so to speak. In saying that he was a teacher of the Gentiles, that is saying that he was a teacher of the nations. That means it's for us today because we are of the nations. We are outside the commonwealth of Israel. Paul says he's a teacher of the nations. So Paul's teaching, put another way, Paul's doctrine is relevant. It's for the nations. It's for us, and it is important, and it is as valid today as it was when Paul was writing to Timothy here. So this is truth for the moment. What we are considering tonight is truth for today. What we are considering is truth for ourselves. It's for the nations. We need to bring it home to ourselves. That was Paul. That's what he said about himself. But more importantly, in verse 10, we have what he says about the gospel. We have what he says about our Savior, Jesus Christ. And he sums it up by speaking of his appearing and how he has abolished death and how he has brought to light life and incorruptibility. His coming into this world, his death on the cross, and his glorious bodily resurrection. In other words, the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Life and incorruptibility. We need some background on that. Why are these things necessary? It's because we are in a scene of death and in a scene of corruption. We need to go back to the book of Genesis. We need to read the account of the fall of man. Perhaps we need to say today, the fall of humankind. Because we're all involved in it. Eve took the forbidden fruit and she gave it to her husband. And Adam knowingly received it. And he was in the transgression. And by that one act, by one man, sin entered the world. And death by sin, and so death is passed upon all men for that all have sinned. What was the consequence? Man got his eyes opened. And in that moment, in succumbing to Satan's temptation, you shall be his gods. Oh, this is good for you. What I'm proposing, the devil said then, is something better than God's prepared to give. God's wanting to shut you out from higher attainment, higher knowledge. He's keeping back something better, but I am prepared to give it to you. That's the devil's line. That's the devil's thread. Are the devils still doing it today? He'll offer you anything, everything, that will keep you away from God and away from Christ. And he's plenty of experience. Here he seduced, and he tempted, and he led astray. You could say he destroyed. Right at the beginning of man's history, man became a ruined creature through listening to the serpent. Don't say the devil won't put ideas in your head today. Very definitely he will. All of a sudden they discovered they were naked. That means they were unsuited for God's presence. And they went and they hid themselves behind the trees of the garden. They made themselves clothes, fig leaves, breeches. One of the early English Bibles translated it, breeches. It was known as the breeches Bible as a result. But that's by the way. They tried to cover up for themselves. Ha! Covering up! That sounds a bit like myself, you know. Maybe you do it too sometimes. You cover up for yourself, or you cover up for someone else, or you try to put on an appearance, but actually in God's sight you're naked. I wonder does everyone here realize the full extent of their sinfulness, and of their depravity, and of the fact that they're under the judgment of God. Adam and Eve, they knew they weren't suited for God's presence. They were naked. They went away from God. And of course they exposed their true condition, because God immediately said to them, remember what God said? How do you know you're naked? Did you eat of the fruit of the tree? Oh, Adam had a good excuse. It wasn't me, you know, it was the woman you gave me. Ever made excuses for yourself? In Romans it talks about man's conscience either excusing or accusing. I'm very good at making excuses. I venture to say there are those here who are very good at making excuses sometimes, and covering up, but it won't do with God. God will have realities. All things are naked and open and bare to him with whom we have to do. And what had God warned that couple? That in the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. In dying thou shalt die. And in taking of that fruit and of eating it, the seeds of death were already planted in their bodies. Jeff has referred to that word mortal, meaning subject to death. And if you read in chapter 4, I believe it is of Genesis, you have the generations of Adam. It's actually chapter 5. And you can read down all that chapter about the longevity of all these men, but in regard to each and all it says, and he died, and he died, and he died. There's only one exception, Enoch. Walked with God and was not, for God took him. A type of the believer at this present time in the Lord Jesus, who if the Lord were to come at this moment, the living believers would not pass through the article of death, but they would be caught up. They would be changed. They'd be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Enoch was an exception. And no doubt in God's grace there are exceptions. But apart from those who are alive, the Christian believers alive at the Lord's coming, in regard to every other man or woman on this earth says, and he died. I'm excluding, of course, Elijah from that. So this is the condition. This is the condition that the Lord Jesus came to meet. Death. A great reality, a grand reality. A preacher of the old school, as someone said. Because it preaches everywhere. It preaches in palaces. No one can shut out that preacher, death. Speaks to men's conscience. And the other thing also that God said after Adam and Eve had sinned was that dust thou art, and onto dust thou shalt return. Corruption. How true that is. I was just thinking in the afternoon meeting, I'll say it for the sake of the younger ones. I remember an occasion, a little bird died in our garden or somewhere. So a father did a very Christian thing and set a good example for me. He gave it a burial. And he dug a little patch at the bottom of the garden and put the carcass of the bird down into the ground. Time passed. And I wanted to grow some pansies in those days. Seems like a different world, you know, doesn't it, today? Wanted to grow some flowers. And they said, right, we'll make, father said we'll have the flower bed there. And I said, no, no, but we can't do that because the bird's buried there. But he said, but no, it's no more. Because, of course, it was subject to dissolution. It was subject to corruption. The worms had consumed the body. We heard about that this afternoon. And it had returned to dust. That's corruption. And sure enough, there was very little left in the ground of the carcass. That's man. That's man away from God. That's where we are. Death and corruption. And the Lord Jesus came in to bring an answer to it. And he brought in, in contrast to death, he brought in life. And in contrast to the corruption which besets our mortal bodies, he brings in incorruptibility. Now, these are wonderful things that are brought to light through Christianity. And I just point out that the proper expression in the Greek is incorruptibility. Because the idea of immortality was known. It was known in the Old Testament. It was known even in Greek mythology, the idea that the soul migrates from the body and that the soul has a separate existence even after death. But the idea of resurrection, of incorruption, of a body in a state that is not subject to death was something, and is something here, that is totally new. And that's what I want to focus our minds on. This wonderful condition, this character and quality of life, and this victory over death which is brought about through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, how did he do it? How did he do it? We're brought back to his appearing in this world. God was manifested in the flesh. It's the truth of the incarnation. And it is a stupendous truth. And in the simplest of terms, as I stated earlier on, God became man. While never, of course, ceasing to be God. Because the Word, in John's Gospel, John explains it. And he says the Word became flesh. He tells us that the Word is a divine person because the Word was with God. So there we have the distinct personality of the Word. And it tells us, at John's Gospel, chapter 1, that the Word was there in the beginning. So there we have his eternal existence. One who ever was. And even as a man on earth, he could state this truth before Abraham was, I am. He was with God. And he was God. His essential deity, his distinct personality, and his eternal existence. He's the one who made all things. We have his intrinsic glory. We have his Godhead glory. And it says the Word became flesh. That means he entered the condition of manhood. He was a man here in this world. And this is very important. We can say a number of things. He was truly man. He had a physical body. He had a rational soul. He had a perfect or complete human nature. So that everything that can be predicated of man, we're talking now about man not in a fallen condition, but man in perfection in Christ. Sinless state. Everything that can be said about man can be said about Christ. He lived down here. He wept human tears. He could say, I thirst. He could enter into the circumstances of his people. He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities. He was truly man. We've also said that he was truly God or had a perfect divine nature. So everything that can be predicated of God can be predicated of Christ. So those are two important elements in the manner in which the Lord Jesus came amongst us in regard to this manifestation or in regard to this appearance in this world. He didn't take hold of the nature of angels. He didn't become an angel. He was a real man. He was a true man. Body, soul, and spirit. And he was here in the proper conditions of manhood. But nevertheless, the one who was here as man was the one who ever existed in the deity who was ever God. He was truly God and he became man. So therefore he was truly man. But thirdly, following from those two points, he was one person. He didn't assume another persona. He didn't become another I. What he assumed was a nature. Two natures in one person. He was one person. It was the same person, self, or ego who said, I thirst. Who also said before Abraham was, I am. So it's most important to distinguish between the son of God in his person, in his deity, and in his manhood. To make a distinction between the person and the nature which he assumed. He is of the nature of God. He had a perfect divine nature. But then he took not some additional personality, but he took a nature. He took human nature. And this doctrine of the incarnation lies at the heart of Christianity. Lies at the heart of scriptures in the faith of the church. Last time I was here I spoke about the trinity and the relations of divine persons in the Godhead. And that is a stupendous truth. But so also is the fact that he who was God, God the Son, that he became man. And so profound is this, the word that the theologians use for the union of the two natures in the person of Christ is the hypostatic union. And in this hypostatic union, having become man, he is the son of God, he is a divine human person. The one nature is never distinguished from the other as a distinct person. That's the point. The natures are distinguished, but the natures are not distinguished as if they were a distinct person. There's complete absence of all evidence of a twofold personality in Christ. If it was otherwise, he'd be two persons. That's an impossibility. It's very important to have a clear view of who Christ is. Two distinct natures are substances, but not two distinct eyes. Christ is not one person and another person, but one substance and another substance. He did not unite himself, the Son of God did not unite himself with a human person, but with a human nature. Now, in a certain point of view, I've labored the point on this verse as to what is involved in the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ. But I wanted to make absolutely clear the wonder, the unfathomable mystery that he who is God, he who was and is God should become man and could be found amongst us in the condition of a man, in all that is proper to manhood, in every way a man amongst men, and yet not less and not other than God over all, blessed forever. That is how the subject is introduced here in verse 10, the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ. And it says he's abolished death. Now, in order for our Lord Jesus to die, of necessity he had to become man. And he has completely set aside death by his death on the cross. It's like David slaying Goliath. And if we were looking on at the time, there might have been some doubt in our mind. I think it was said here at the Bible Basics Conference, but when they saw, when the Israelites saw David with Goliath's head in his hand, when he went after he'd slung that stone from the sling and the giant had fallen to the ground, when he went and took Goliath's sword and cut off Goliath's head, and people could see his victory, could see David's triumph. And that's what it says of the Lord Jesus in Hebrews, that through death he destroyed him who had the power of death. That is the devil. Through the very instrumentality of death, through his own atoning sufferings, through what he did on the cross, he has the victory. And then coming out on the other side of death, he brings to life this glorious character of life which is beyond the reach of death and this incorruptible state in which he's entered into. We heard this afternoon how his body did not see corruption and now he's seen in the glory. Well now, I said that there was an illustration of this in Luke's Gospel chapter 4. It's an interesting passage because we have both the sovereignty of God and human responsibility brought together in the compass of a few verses. Because it says of Elijah that he was sent. To none of them was Elijah sent, verse 26, save unto Serapta and that to a widow woman. He was sent. That brings in the sovereignty of God and the sovereignty of God brings in the truth of election. And you know, election is not an exclusive thought. Election is an inclusive thought. Election doesn't shut out anyone but it does determine that there will be those who are included. It's an inclusive thought. And this, in Elijah, we have demonstrated the thought of God's sovereignty. We can say God's election, that God sent Elijah to a particular person and that she and her son were brought into bliss. But on the other hand, we have human responsibility because in regard to Naaman in going to Elisha, Elisha didn't come to him. Naaman went to Elisha. Others had opportunity. That's human responsibility. It says there were many lepers in Israel but they didn't go and they didn't get healed and recovered. Only Naaman went. How did he hear? Through a little servant girl who worked and said, would to God that my Lord would go. There's a prophet in Israel who could heal him and he heeded the message. We can read the story. You can read the story in more detail in 1 Kings. In chapter 17, we read about him going to this widow woman. What was the problem there? What had come to light? What was there? It's this matter of death. There was a famine on and when Elijah went there, the woman says to him, I'm gathering two sticks that I may go in with the meal and the oil and dress it for me and my son that we may eat it and die. You see? They were going to die. I think it's the service of the prayer book says in the midst of life we are in death. But actually here when Elijah came on the scene, in the midst of death they were in life. The two of them said we're getting ready to die. And that's something more important than clearing car, clearing snow off our car. Something more important than anything down here in this life. Confronting death. The close of the book of Genesis. And this is something, this is a result of the fall. This is something that we have to come to terms with. And this is something for which the only answer is in Christ. Thank God if we know him. Thank God for those who know him as their Savior and as their Deliverer. In the book of Genesis we have Jacob leaning on a staff. He blessed his sons and then he gathered up his feet into his bed. And he gave up the ghost. He was ready to go. Ready to die. Why was that? Because he had experience with God in his life. He knew the angel had wrestled with him. He had wrestled with the angel. He had true experience. True soul history with God. And it says we have a living and unique relationship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ that we can be ready for this eventuality. That was Jacob. When we come to the New Testament there was a man called Simeon and he said, Now that is thou thy servant depart in peace for my eyes had seen thy salvation. He was ready to depart in peace. He was ready to pass away out of this scene. How was it? Why was it? It was because he had a knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. A knowledge of the Lord Jesus. And in seeing Christ he had seen God's salvation. So here was this woman and her son and they said we may die. And the consequence was that Elijah brought life. He brought sustainment. He kept him in life. And then of course the day came where the son fell sick and there was no breath left in him. And he was slain. Elijah has to say to the Lord, why have you slain him and brought evil on this widow by slaying her son? Then it says he stretched himself on the child three times and said that this child's soul come into him again. And he revived and Elijah took the child. That's life coming in where there was death. That's the glorious hope for the believer sure and certain hope. That's what we have in 1 Corinthians. Death where is thy sting? Grave where is thy victory? In chapter 15 of 1 Corinthians. It's the victory over death. It's life which will come in. And this life this quality of character of life this eternal life even now has reached us as to our souls. And the spirit of God Paul says in Romans chapter 8 that even our mortal bodies these bodies that are subject to death will be quickened by the spirit of God who dwells in us. So our link with God through the Holy Spirit the fact that we've been sealed with the Holy Spirit and are indwelt by the spirit is the proof or demonstration that in a day to come that selfsame spirit who dwells in us will raise our bodies and we'll have a glorious body and a glorified body and we'll be made like unto our Lord Jesus Christ. So this is the way in which life is introduced life in resurrection through the Lord Jesus Christ. And we know from what we've heard this afternoon that a day is coming when the dead those that are in the grave shall come forth. With Naaman it was something different. He had this loathsome disease this living death, this corruption which affected his flesh the disease of leprosy and it was an unclean thing and it was an evidence and a proof of the working of that corruption even in his body. And Elisha sent him to dip seven times in Jordan speaking of completion of perfection, speaking of of of what is divine also and the result was that his flesh came again as that of a little child. What a glorious hope we have as believers for that moment when the Lord Jesus comes when we shall see him as he is when the graves will be opened when as a servant of God said, not a particle not a particle of the redeemed dust of the saints of God will be left behind. Graves will be emptied. Up from the grave he arose with a mighty triumph over his foes. We heard that this afternoon. Christ the firstfruits, afterwards they that are Christ that is coming. And this is something that we share in, those of us who have life now when the Lord Jesus comes again he'll change us and catch us up to be with himself and the dead in Christ also it says that they shall arise first. Well now, there are wonderful things in the gospel. There are wonderful things brought to Christ, brought to light in Christianity. There are wonderful things even in this verse the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ and the character of that which is true in him. His manifestation here in this world his coming in bodily form, his taking humanity he partook of flesh and blood he was found in fashion as a man took upon him the form of a servant. Word became flesh. So many scriptural expressions and indeed if we go outside the expressions of scripture we can run into danger but what a blessed thing that this one, the man Christ Jesus, who is our saviour, Jesus Christ is God overall blessed forever, eternally divine and through his down-stooping love and through his sacrificial death he has annulled, he's set aside death he's completely pulverized it we might say and he's brought to light these wonderful blessings on the other side of death. May God help us to enjoy them. I think our time is almost gone so we'll just close with a word of prayer. …

… I will begin the meeting this afternoon by singing together number 364. Have I an object, Lord below, which would divide my heart from thee, Which would divert its even flow in answer to thy constancy, Or teach me quickly to return, and cause my heart afresh to burn? Have I a hope, however dear, which would defer thy coming, Lord, Which would detain my spirit here, where naught can lasting joy afford? From it, my Saviour, set me free to look and long and wait for thee. Can we stand and sing number 364. Lord above, Lord below, which would divide my heart from thee, Which would divert its even flow in answer to thy constancy, Or teach me quickly to return, and cause my heart afresh to burn? Or teach me quickly to return, and cause my heart afresh to burn? Have I a hope, however dear, which would defer thy coming, Lord, Which would detain my spirit here, where naught can lasting joy afford? From it, my Saviour, set me free to look and long and wait for thee. From it, my Saviour, set me free to look and long and wait for thee. Be thou the object right and fair to fill and satisfy the heart. My hope to be thee in the air, and never move from thee to part. That I may undistracted be to follow, serve, and wait for thee. That I may undistracted be to follow, serve, and wait for thee. Giving thanks. Amen. Will you turn please to the First Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians. I'm going to begin reading from the middle of verse 8 of chapter 1. In every place your faith to God is spread abroad, so that we need not to speak anything. For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turn to God from idols to serve the living and true God. And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come. And now in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 24. Matthew 24 verse 48. But, and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming, and shall begin to smite his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunken, the Lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And now back into First Thessalonians again. First Thessalonians again. Chapter 2 verse 19. For what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming. For ye are our glory and joy. Chapter 3 verse 12. And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you. To the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints. Chapter 4 verse 13. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness that the day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light and the children of day. We are not of the night nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and fore in helmet the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another even as also ye do. Second Thessalonians chapter 2. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand, the authorised version says, the Derby translation says, is present. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except their comer falling away first. The man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Are ye not, when I was with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time. The mystery of iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. It will be apparent to you from the hymn that we've sung and from the scriptures that we have read that I have on my heart to speak this evening about the coming of the Lord Jesus. And it is remarkable that the fullest development that we have of this subject perhaps is brought to us in two epistles that were written to Christians who were newly converted. And it shows us immediately how relevant the truth of the second coming of the Lord Jesus is for young believers, for all believers. We have read those verses at the end of chapter one that show us that the saints at Thessalonica were converted to God, and they were converted to this hope also, that the Lord Jesus is coming again. They turned to God from idols to serve the living and the true God and to wait for his son from heaven, Jesus, whom he raised from the dead. So that this is a hope that God puts before the Christian from the moment that he or she is converted. It is what we are to wait for, what we are to look for. And we can see in the context of this first chapter of the first Thessalonian epistle how this hope sustained the Thessalonians in the persecution that they were suffering. It gave impetus to their service for the Lord. There was a work of faith and a labor of love. But these things were sustained because of their endurance of hope in the Lord Jesus. And I read the verses in Matthew 24 really to show how vital the holding of this hope is. And how vital it is that we hold it in our hearts. It is something so real to us that it has an impact upon the way we live our lives and upon the way that we serve the Lord. And we see in Matthew 24 that this wicked servant, when for all practical purposes he lost sight of the coming of the Lord, went astray precisely in these two areas. He began to live an abandoned life. He began to eat and to drink with the drunken. And instead of serving the Lord in the way that the Lord intends and makes so clear in his word. And as the very verses in the parable immediately preceding this one show that the good and faithful servant is to provide food for the saints of God. Instead of doing that, this evil servant begins to smite his fellow servants. He gets out of his place as a servant altogether. And he begins to behave towards the saints as if he was their Lord. That's what flows from saying in one's heart not that the Lord is not coming. It's not what he says. He says in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming. So the exercise is today and every day of 2011, if the Lord leaves us here, that we might hold this hope in our hearts and be on the tiptoe of expectation that the coming of the Lord is about to be fulfilled. In chapters two and three of the First Thessalonian Epistle, Paul picks up on exactly these two points that we've seen in Matthew chapter 24. The matter of service in chapter two and in chapter three, how we live our lives. At the end of chapter two, Paul can speak with confidence of that time when his work in the Lord will be made manifest. And we know from another chapter that came from the pen of Paul, from First Corinthians chapter three, that the work of every man is to be tried. It's going to be tested to see whether the work attains to the divine standard or is the work merely of a human character, a combustible character like wood, hay and stubble that must be burnt up. Well, Paul can speak with confidence about his work. First of all, because of the manner of life that he lived. And he refers to this in verse 10 of chapter two, when he says, You are witnesses, and God also, how wholly and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe. And he can speak about the character of his service. What was seen in Paul's service for the Lord and verses three to six of chapter two speak of this. Our exhortation was not of deceit. That is to say, the message that they brought to the Thessalonians, they didn't bring because they were deceived persons themselves. But what they brought was the word of God, which is made clear all through this letter. It was not of uncleanness nor inguile. The message that they brought was not a message that they intended to mislead the Thessalonians by to meet their own ends. As he goes on to tell us, But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts for neither at any time used we flattering words, as you know, nor a cloak of covetousness, God is witness, nor of men sought we glory, neither of you nor yet of others, when we might have been burdensome as the apostles of Christ. And the impact of the life and service of Paul and of those that were with him left its impression upon the saints at Thessalonica. In chapter one, he says, He became followers of us and of the Lord. And we know that from them the word of the Lord sounded out. They were examples to all the saints in Macedonia and Achaia. And from them the word of the Lord sounded out beyond those regions. Because of the manner of the entering in that Paul and those with him had so far as the Thessalonians were concerned. And so Paul sees in the Thessalonians the stamp of what had been seen in him. And so he can speak with confidence that when his work is tested in that day, all in fact will be to his joy and crown of rejoicing in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ at his coming. In the third epistle, in the third chapter of the epistle, we've seen that there is an emphasis in verse 13 upon holiness. In chapter four, in the section before we came to the verses that I read there, Paul says, this is the will of God, your sanctification. And the sanctification that is the will of God for us there is practical sanctification. We have a statement like the statement here in chapter three, verse 13 in Ephesians one. But in Ephesians one, the statement is made and is absolute and rests wholly upon the work of the Lord Jesus. And consequently, when we appear before the judgment seat of Christ as to our persons, we shall be unblameable in holiness before God. But here, it's a practical matter. And at the beginning of chapter four, Paul fastens on one aspect of holiness in particular and that is fornication. And he exhorts these new believers in the Lord Jesus to abstain from fornication. And he goes on to speak about the most serious consequences of not heeding this exhortation. But what will sustain us in our desire to answer to these verses is the fact that the Lord is coming. And it says in verse 13 that he's coming with all his saints. And this coming of the Lord Jesus with all his saints is what ushers in what we call the world to come, whereof we speak. So that then the measure in which we have been faithful to God and to the Lord Jesus while we have been left in this scene will be made manifest. So here is a tremendous encouragement to us, a tremendous motive for us to maintain holiness in our lives for as long as we are left in this scene. I read the portions from chapter four and five and the verses from chapter two of the second epistle because they address two particular difficulties that had arisen amongst the saints at Thessalonica. And the first was the question whether the Lord Jesus is coming for all his saints or not. And the second is the question whether the saints will be on earth at the time of what is called the day of the Lord. And these two questions and the way that Paul addresses them are of vital importance, particularly today, because one ventures to suggest that not a few Christians are in a muddle. About the second coming of the Lord Jesus. And we have saints taking all kinds of different positions, having different views in relation to it. And it's a tragedy, an absolute tragedy, because the way that Paul meets these questions, properly understood, leaves no room for any doubt whatsoever as to what the truth of the matter is. I said the first question was whether or not the Lord Jesus is coming for all his saints. The question at that time was, well, what would happen to those believers who had died? And some had the notion that those who had died had missed out on the kingdom. We've spoken about the world to come. We sometimes speak about it as the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus. We're talking about the fact that he is to reign over the earth for a thousand years. And some at Thessalonica had the idea that whilst the Lord Jesus was coming for those who were alive and remain at that time, that the resurrection of those that had died in faith was something that would not take place until the end of that 1,000-year reign of the Lord Jesus. But in this they were very much mistaken. And that's precisely what Paul shows us in verses 13 to 18. In verse 13 of chapter 3, we've read that the Lord Jesus is to come with all his saints. And the question then arises if that is so, if the Lord Jesus is going to come from heaven with all his saints, and Revelation 19 shows exactly that, how is it that they get there? How is it that they get to be with the Lord when he comes from heaven, with all his saints? There's some of his saints. Scripture couldn't be plainer. We have it not only at the end of chapter 3, but elsewhere in the verses that we have read. When he comes with all his saints, he comes with them because he has already come for them. And 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verse 13 to the end of the chapter show that coming for them. I don't intend to speak in detail on the verses because time is of the essence. And generally their content is quite well known. But one might say that in 1 Corinthians 15, we have verses that speak about the raising of the dead and the changing of the bodies of the living. And that is something that takes place on earth when the Lord comes again for his own. Here in the second part of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, we go one step further because the dead raised and the living changed, and we go up to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. And if we wanted to complete the picture, we could turn to John's Gospel chapter 14 that presents the Lord Jesus as coming for us, receiving us unto himself, that where he is, there we may be also, in order that we might be with the Lord in the Father's house in heaven. And this work is all of grace. Verses 13 to 18 of chapter 4 are the contrast in every possible way with verses 1 to 11 of chapter 5. You know, by grace we are saved, through faith, and even the faith is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God. And when God undertakes to save us, he undertakes to save us completely. We have by faith received already the end of that faith, the salvation of our souls, Peter tells us in 1 Peter chapter 1, and the only thing that remains is for that same salvation to touch our bodies. And that's what's happening in 1 Corinthians 15 and in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. It is all of grace. And we are taken from the earth, as we have seen, to be with the Lord in heaven. It's the consummation of the work of grace and our responsibility does not enter into it at all. But responsibility is very much part and parcel of verses 1 to 11 of chapter 5. Here we are concerned, as the opening verse tells us, with times and with seasons. And immediately we think of times and seasons, we're no longer thinking of heaven, we're thinking of earth. And chapter 5 verses 1 to 11 is speaking about the day of the law. And of that day coming as a thief in the night, coming as something wholly unlooked for, wholly unprepared for. It is a day of judgment, a day of destruction, as verse 3 tells us. For when they shall say peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But the Apostle Paul goes on to show the contrast between what their portion will be and what our portion is. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day should overtake you as a thief. You are all the children of light and the children of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. And he goes on to speak about the importance of our being watchful and being sober. We are to be those who are continually looking for the coming of the Lord. And we are not to allow ourselves to be spiritually intoxicated in any way. And this spiritual intoxication, I believe, can be identified with embracing the thoughts of men as if they were the thoughts of God. There is the wild notion in Christendom that the millennium will arrive because all the world will be converted. That through the preaching of the glad tidings, the time will come when the earth is a fit place to which the Lord can return. But Scripture is dead against any such notion as that and shows that the kingdom, the millennium, will be introduced by judgment. And that was the question that Paul addressed in the second letter. Because the Thessalonian saints were suffering. They were in tribulation. And there were those at Thessalonica who were saying, these persecutions that we are enduring, these sufferings that we are enduring are persecutions and sufferings that are connected with the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord has come. That terrible day when God's judgment will be in the earth. And that's why we are suffering these things. And Paul refutes that idea completely and shows that whilst absolutely nothing has to happen on earth before the Lord comes again, he shows in the verses that we've read in chapter 2, 1 to 12, that five things have to happen before the day of the Lord will come. And the very first thing he refers to in chapter 1 is the gathering together of the saints unto the Lord Jesus Christ. He's talking about the rapture. How can you imagine that the day of the Lord has come when the saints of God, before that day will break upon this world, the saints of God, every Christian, will have been taken up at the coming of the Lord Jesus for his saints to be with him in heaven. Be not soon shaken in mind, he says in verse 2, or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is present. The translation should be the word, the underlying Greek word occurs seven times in the New Testament and on every occasion it should be translated present. For example, in Romans chapter 8 when Paul asks the question can anything separate us from the love of God? He speaks about things present and he contrasts things present with things to come. And the whole point was that the saints at Thessalonica were thinking that the day of the Lord was present, that they were actually living at that time when God's judgments will be on the earth, but first of all the Lord will come and take his saints to be with him in heaven. Secondly, verse 6 refers to what withholdeth and now ye know that which restrains that he should be revealed in his own time and there is there is that which keeps in check this progress of evil and will keep it in check until the saints of God are with the Lord, until Christians are with the Lord and then this check, a check which the government of God maintains will be taken away. He speaks about in verse 7 he who now restrains until he be taken out of the way and this is a reference to the presence on earth of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit too keeps this evil in check and it is impossible for it to progress to its final stages until the Spirit of God too is taken from this scene as he will be at the coming of the Lord Jesus for his own because the Spirit of God dwells in the saints of God of this dispensation. He dwells in Christians, he dwells in every Christian and then he speaks in verse 3 about their coming of falling away first and this falling away the word is really apostasy. Actually I think the apostasy when all belief in God will be abandoned whether by professing Christians or whether by Jews because true Christians have been taken out from the scene those who profess the name of the Lord Jesus but aren't real believers will be the only ones who are left behind and very quickly there will be a falling away from all revealed truth and abandoning of every vestige of Judaism on the part of the Jews and Christianity on the part of Christians or professing Christians and this opens the way for the manifestation of the man of sin. Now my time is running out. The man of sin that is being referred to is the Antichrist. He's spoken of in Daniel 11 verses 36 to 39 and what characterizes him is that he does his own will he exalts himself above everything that is divine and he speaks monstrous words against the God of gods. He is the man. Man energized by Satan and in him Satan will have what he has always wanted the place of God. Men will give the Antichrist this place. He appears in the temple of God in that temple that will have been rebuilt and shows signs and wonders with all power. If we were to read the verses about the Antichrist in the second half of Revelation chapter 13 he has horns like a lamb he speaks like a dragon which is to say the horns represent the power that he displays and men will be taken in by this. It's extraordinary, isn't it? And they'll think that this is a proof that he's God's man on earth. But immediately he speaks. He shows what is in his heart with gracious words proceeding out of his mouth. He speaks like a dragon. He speaks like that old serpent which is the dragon and Satan which is the devil and Satan. I'm not quoting that quite correctly, am I? But the Lord Jesus will deal with him. The Lord shall consume him with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy him with the brightness of his coming which I think is really a quotation from Isaiah chapter 11 the latter part of verse 4. So there is no question. There is no question firstly that at the coming of the Lord every Christian whether having died or whether being alive and remaining until that coming will go to be with the Lord Jesus. And secondly there is no question that the saints of God or any part of the saints of God are going to be left on earth to go through this period this day of the Lord the time of that great tribulation when God's judgments will be in the earth. Well may we be helped today and every day to hold the hope of our Lord's coming for us in our hearts and to find that this gives character to our lives and walk here to find that this energises our service for the Lord because the Lord is coming and we stand on the very threshold of his coming. May the Lord help us until he comes. Now my time has come he's gone we won't sing a hymn I fear the ex-bank manager so I'll close in prayer. …

… Well, good evening. I wonder if we could begin by singing the hymn number 250. From various cares our hearts retire, Though deep and boundless their desire be now to please but one. Hymn, before whom each knee shall bow, With him is all our business now, And those that are his own. Two hundred and fifty. From various cares our hearts retire, Though deep and boundless their desire be now to please but one. Hymn, before whom each knee shall bow, With him is all our business now, And those that are his own. With thee our happy lot is crowned, Through the vast deserts broad and plain, Through the vast deserts broad and plain, Through the vast deserts broad and plain, Where the earth was found of troubles free, Our holy men so heartlessly Took us beyond our care. O'er all the way the truth abide, And all its sorrow, doubt, and strife And all its sorrow, doubt, and strife, And all its sorrow, doubt, and strife, Still, O'er all this that e'er be, The song weighs to be pleased. Let us of ye oldest reply, Of that eternal love of thine, And human faults forget. Turn, like a dame, what thou wilt say, Hopeful as thou in what didst play, Lo, here our sweet praise to thee. In his precious name, say amen. Now, I would like, first of all, to read in the Old Testament, in the book of Numbers, in chapter 12. Numbers, chapter 12, in verse 1. And Miriam and Darian spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married. For he had married an Ethiopian woman. And they said, Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek above all the men which were upon the face of the earth. And the Lord spake suddenly unto Moses, and unto Aaron, and unto Miriam, Come out ye three unto the tabernacle of the congregation, and they three came out. And the Lord came down in the pillar of the cloud, and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forth. And he said, Hear now my words. Hear now my words. If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all thine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches. And in the similitude of the Lord shall he behold. Wherefore then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses? And the anger of the Lord was kindled against him, and he departed. And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle, and behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow. Aaron looked upon Miriam, and behold, she was leprous. And Aaron said unto Moses, Alas, my Lord, I beseech thee, lay not this the sin upon us, wherein we have done foolishly, and wherein we have sinned. Let her not be as one dead, of whom the flesh is half consumed, when he cometh out of his mother's womb. And Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee. And the Lord said unto Moses, If her father had but spit in her face, should she not be ashamed seven days? Let her be shut out from the camp seven days, and after that let her be received again. And Miriam was shut out from the camp seven days, and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again. And afterward the people were removed from Hezroth and pitched in the wilderness of Paran. Now a verse or two in 1 Samuel chapter 2. 1 Samuel chapter 2 and verse 30. Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house and the house of thy father should walk before me forever, but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me, for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed. Behold, the days come that I will cut cut off thine arm and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thine house. And thou shalt see an enemy in my habitation, in all the wealth which God shall give Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thine house forever. And the man of thine whom I shall not cut off from mine altar shall be to consume thine eyes and to grieve thine heart, and all the increase of thine house shall die in the flower of their age. And this shall be a sign unto thee that shall come upon thy two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, in one day they shall die, both of them. And I will raise me up a faithful priest that shall do according to that which is in mine heart and in my mind, and I will build him a sure house, and he shall walk before mine anointed forever. Now into the New Testament in Revelation chapter 2. And we'll begin at verse 12. Revelation 2 verse 12. And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, these things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges. I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is. And thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith. Even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth. Now in Acts chapter 18. Acts 18 and verse 24. And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. And when he was disposed to pass into Caia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him, who when he was come helped him much which had believed through grace. For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly shown by the scriptures, that Jesus was Christ. Now last of all, in 2 Corinthians chapter 10. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and we'll read from verse 12. For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves, but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves are not wise. But we will not boast of things without our measure, according to the without our measure, according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reach not unto you. For we are come as far as unto us to you, also in preaching the gospel of Christ. Not boasting of things without our measure, that is of other men's labors, but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you, according to our rule abundantly. To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man's line of things, made ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. And that should be enough for the moment. But I want really to take from what we've read tonight, is this thought of commendation. And I think from verse 18 of 2 Corinthians 10, would really show us what is the most important commendation, and that's when the Lord commends. There's others in Acts 18, we probably see the commendation of the brethren, we probably see the commendation of the brethren, of fellow believers, when they witness certain things in our lives, as seen in Apollos. But there's another commendation that's mentioned in 2 Corinthians chapter 10, and we'll go on to mention this as well, but it's those that commend themselves. So we have the Lord's commendation, the brethren's commendation, and self-commendation. And Paul says of this, it's not wise. We used to hear years ago, that if you, your ears would save from jeers, save from jeers, these things keep meekly hid, myself and I, and me and my, and what I do and did. But what we should have really before us, to get the Lord's appreciation, the Lord's approval on our lives. And Lord, if he approves, he will certainly commend. And so that's the most important, the most important one tonight, is to seek in our lives, what we do, what we say, has the Lord's approval, and he'll be readily willing to commend us. It may be that we have to wait to the coming day, to the time of review, the judgment seat, when we trust he'll be able to say of every one of us, well done, good and faithful servant. But just to seek even now in our lives, and in what we engage in, and what we are desirous of, is really commended of the Lord, and it will bring glory to him, and encouragement to others. Now, I'm sure through the years, the Lord would gladly acknowledge of his servants, from Old Testament saints through to New Testament times, and from then on to now, the Lord would gladly acknowledge that many men and women, servants of his, have been faithful, and ready to commend them. But you know, but you know, there's only a few places where the Lord personally says of a person that they were faithful. One is Moses, Numbers 12. The one in 1 Samuel is really a prophetic utterance. It may be seen in type in the Lord, it will certainly be seen in a coming day, but he speaks about there, about a faithful priest. And last of all, where we read in Revelation, in relation to that, he speaks about Antipas. His name means against all. Here was a man who stood against everything that was contrary to God, and he paid for that desire to represent God, we might say, represent the Lord, he paid with his life, because it speaks about him being a faithful martyr or witness. And so there's three where the Lord uses the expression that they were faithful. But as I'm saying, it doesn't mean if the word's missing from other people in their testimony in the scriptures, it doesn't mean that the Lord didn't hold them to be faithful. Paul said the Lord counted him faithful. Now some might say, well, that's self-commendation. But when you read about Paul's life, and what he suffered, mentioned this afternoon, mentioned the stoning, and the lashing, mentioned the shipwreck, and so on. And still this man continued on. And he, despite all the opposition that he faced, he had this testimony, and I'm sure he had the right to be able to say that the Lord had counted him faithful. The Lord knows his servants. He knows why he picks them. He knows why he chose Moses, and Paul, and others. And I'm sure the word faithful could be put alongside their names. Trust that in my life, that the Lord would see something that's of value to him, and be able to say, maybe in a coming day, at the time of the judgment seat, he'll be able to say of me, as others, well done, good and faithful servant. So it was just really along these lines that I wanted to speak in relation to being commended. We have in Numbers 12, the most wonderful occasion, at least it was wonderful for Moses, not so for Aaron and Miriam. But this man, Moses, distinctive, he was often called in the scriptures, the man of God. He was called here a servant, but not only a servant, a faithful servant. So despite what others were saying about him, as we saw what Moses, Aaron and Miriam were saying, despite what they were saying, the Lord comes out and he takes Moses, and he shows that here's one that I can commend. He's faithful in all mine house as a servant, and that servant there takes the usual word that's often used, a servant as a bond slave. Here's this man, Moses, my bond slave. When we go to the New Testament, it's almost quoted again, just slightly I think different, but it says in Hebrews 3 and 5, I think the verse says, speaking again about Moses, my faithful servant Moses. Moses was faithful, but the word servant in that portion doesn't take the usual word for servant, which is bond slave. In fact, the word for servant there is only used once in the New Testament, and it's in relation, obviously in relation to Moses. But there it was an opportunity for God, for the Lord to speak about Moses as one who was of real value to him, Moses. And yet these people here were speaking against him, and the thing it said that the Lord heard it. Now it may be that you and I were maybe attacked from without, and maybe attacked from within. I'm very sad if it is, but if there's things in our lives that the Lord will commend, we can surely rejoice in the fact he's shown approval to our lives. And despite what others say about us, just to make sure that they have no ground for speaking about us and doing things that, well, they have right to speak because I'm wrong in this, wrong in that. But if we have a conscience, a clear conscience of how we live and how we want to serve the Lord, then the Lord will bless us and will certainly commend us. It's often been said that if, that we should look after our conscience and leave God to look after our character. Leave it in the Lord's hands. And so we have this brought before us in relation to Moses. Now as it says, the Lord heard it, and of course he was going to come out and he was going to show in this simple, this way of his confidence in this man, Moses. And despite what Miriam and Aaron were saying. Now Moses as a servant, as I said, very distinct, very distinguished. And the Lord came out, you might say on his side, and he showed just of what value Moses was to him. Now Moses as a servant, you know, we often hear the expression, a modern day, I suppose, expression that they have little baggage or anything that would hinder them. And I've often thought about Moses. I may be wrong, maybe someone will keep me right. But I've been trying, racking my memory. Sometimes it's not very good, my memory, but I don't think you ever read of anything that Moses possessed as his own. When he was in the palace in the first 40 years of his life, he was in someone else's house. When he was in the backside of the desert for his second 40 years, it was his father-in-law's flocks. And when he was 40 years in the wilderness, it was the people of God. He couldn't say, although God did say to him, the people you've brought out. But Moses reminded the Lord that it was his people. And so in that way, Moses had nothing really to hinder him, except his lack of faith. We know the story, how the Lord said what he was going to do. Well, I'm not very eloquent. Nobody will listen to me, so on, so on. But the Lord would have none of it. But here was a man who was distinct, and it may be that some here today might think that there's, as regards the testament, they might feel that they are nothings, non-entities. But you know, the Lord might have his eye upon you and me, but have his eye upon us so that we can be of real service to him. And if we feel we have the Lord's mind, and we have the Lord's things at heart to promote him, to glorify him, then the Lord will make sure that we have the ability in the spirit to be of service to him, to be a real servant, and a servant that the Lord could say of us, faithful. And so this man, Moses, he was got at by Aaron and Miriam, but when the Lord comes out and says, my faithful Moses, he's not so who is faithful in all mine house. And so it was really this point where the Lord was commending him. Not him that commends himself is approved, but here was the Lord showing his approval of Moses in what he was saying about him. So if we have the most important one, the Lord's commendation, we have the one that shouldn't be in our mouths, self-commendation. And of course, Miriam and Aaron were really commending themselves. Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? Hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it. The Lord heard it. You know, Israel in the wilderness, they were affected by their memories. As I said, sometimes I forget names. I even forgot my daughter-in-law's name at one time until her mother put me right. But anyway, in the wilderness, Israel were marked by this, that they forgot things that they should have remembered and they remembered things that they should have forgotten. They remembered the food of Egypt. They forgot they were under a taskmaster in Egypt. They forgot God's promise. Excuse me on the decline of throat here. They forgot God's promise when he could say, if I take you out, I will bring you in. Three days into the journey after the Red Sea, they murmured at the waters of Mara. That's how quickly they forgot the deliverance that God gave them. They forgot God's promise. But one of the saddest things it said about them in Psalm 106, that they forgot that God was their saviour. Now imagine that. Imagine you and I forgetting all that God has done for us. Imagine forgetting the grace that has been showed towards us. Forgetting the value of the death of Christ, whereby we are brought into blessing. Imagine forgetting that. Well, Israel in the wilderness had problems with their memory. Now Aaron, he had obviously taken on this feature, a bad memory. A bad memory. Here he's saying, has God not spoken by us as well? When a year before, or maybe just under a year, Aaron gave instruction to the children of Israel when they wanted something tangible and seeable. They didn't want anything to do with a hidden God or a hidden Moses. And so Aaron gave instruction what to do with the golden ear rings. And from the golden ear rings came a calf, golden calf. And the word from the children of Israel saying that these be thy gods, O Israel. Aaron did that. And without saying, right, get rid of the golden calf, he mentioned that they should be celebrating the feasts. And this is one of the most horrendous things in Christianity today, is the mixture of what's false and what's real. And Aaron was behind this. So he should have remembered what he did to the children of Israel. He caused them by his instruction to build this golden calf. And so again, he is one who set himself up. And so in Moses and Aaron and Miriam too, we have one hand, we have the Lord's commendation, faithful, and we have and we have two that really promoted themselves. They spoke about themselves. Hath the Lord not spoken by us? Well, I don't think the Lord was going to speak through Aaron or Miriam. And the very fact what took place, the Lord departed, Miriam was stricken down by leprosy and Aaron really had to go cap in hand to Moses, the man of God, and plead for his sister. But you see, there's the point. It's one on one hand, the Lord's commendation. The Lord stood by Moses. Now Moses wasn't perfect by any means. We know that. And it was an act of anger that kept him from the promised land. But yet he was a servant that the Holy Spirit was pleased to announce time and time again, Moses, the man of God. He was one that shone out. He was one that set the Lord before his own things. He was one that chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for a season. Here he pleads for Miriam and the Lord gives the instruction and eventually she's healed and received back into the thing. But the sad thing here is, and we're really just passing on, the sad thing because of what they were saying and because of what happened and because of the judgment upon them, it says in verse 15, she was shut out of the camp seven days and the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again. You know, we may try and promote ourselves. We may try and promote someone else who's very friendly with us. But you know, at the end of the day, whether it's strife, jockeying for position, whether it's this kind of thing, the people of God suffer. And it's for seven days. You might say, well, it's not too long, seven days out of 40. They should have been across the wilderness in about 11 days. It took them 40 years to get over the wilderness and there's another hindrance. Seven days maybe, but it was still a hindrance. The minute we try and promote ourselves and commend ourselves, no matter what way it will be, will only serve to be a hindrance to the people of God. So it's really a judgment on our lives and on our attitude to things. Pass on to first Samuel, I want to watch the time. First Samuel, they said it's a really prophetic statement here. And I will raise me up a faithful priest. I shall do according to that which is in my heart, I shall do according to that which is in my heart and in my mind, and I will build him a sure house and he shall walk before mine anointed forever. When I think of this verse, I often think about what we have again in Hebrews in chapter two, speaking about our high priest above. It speaks about him, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God. Now you and I have someone above that represents us. He knows your trials. He knows your tribulation. The hymn writer penned the words, the hymn writer penned the words for he has felt the same. And just to remember that we have one here who, as I said, he knows all about the journey. He knows all about the aches and the pains and it knows all about the old age and infirmities and the isolation. The Lord knows all about these things. And again, he can administer that grace necessary for the pathway. And so on the one hand, I may be taking too much liberty here, but on the one hand, referring to our Lord Jesus Christ, because we can see a type of the Lord Jesus there as the one who now fills the presence of God. And he's there for us. And again, in chapter three of Hebrews, maybe we better find it. It speaks about to consider. I'm going to find a place. Chapter three, verse one, it says, wherefore, holy brethren partakers of the heavenly calling, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus was faithful to him that appointed him as also Moses was faithful in all his house. And then the verse I mentioned and Moses verse five was verily was faithful in all his house as a servant for a testimony of those things which should, which were to be spoken after. And so on, but just to have our eyes fixed on the one above the Lord Jesus Christ himself. If you feel sorrow, if you feel sorrow for yourself, keep your eye on him, who fills the presence of God. And that in the consideration is not a fleeting glance or a fleeting moment reading the verse and then passing on. It's to contemplate the verse. It's to really dig it up and make it good to ourselves and to go in the strength of the one who now sits there as our great high priest. It says there, in all things that behold him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Now, where we have in the first Samuel chapter two, where we read, he speaks about a faithful priest, but before that, he tells us all about the house of Eli and his sons, so evil, it says they caused the children of Israel to transgress. That's what the priesthood done. That's what happened when evil men were in that position. But you know, the contrast is getting our eye on the one who fills the presence of God. And we know that all secure there. And that's why he's saying, we'll consider him as the apostle and high priest of our profession as a puzzle. We've often been told this when he brings God to us, the messenger of God to us, the Lord Jesus. But as high priest, he takes us to God in all our weakness and all our shortcomings and failures. And if we are before him, we can certainly prove that he was a faithful, a compassionate and faithful high priest in things relating to God. And it says there that he made a reconciliation for the sins of the people or propitiation. He paid the price of our salvation. And he made a reconciliation and that's where he sits now. And that's where he would have us to want to be engaged with, with himself and to realize that we are there because of what he has done. But when we go back into first Samuel two, I believe it, as I said, it was a prophetic utterance and I believe in a way it's still to be fulfilled, but not now a priesthood in the likeness of Aaron or Eli marked by failure, but the Lord was going to raise up another priest. And again, this is, if I can understand it right, a faithful priest who shall do according to that, which is in my heart and in my mind. And so really looking at this prophetic utterance, I think he's going to come about in a millennial scene. And I think you have to go to Ezekiel, which we've had no time to read tonight. Ezekiel 48, and it speaks about priests of the sons of Zadok. And why I think is, I'm almost certain what it's meaning here, because it says he shall walk before my anointed. Now I looked up all the books I had in it and all I think said that the anointed here is not an anointed priest, but an anointed King. And only one could fill that place and that's Christ himself. And so this priest will, and I will build him a sure, and he shall walk before my anointed forever. And so it's taking a millennial picture here. And God is going to make sure there'll be those there who will be for his glory and for the honor of our Lord Jesus Christ when he speaks about his anointed. And the contrast comes in, as we mentioned the house of Eli and it says about them that they caused the people to transgress. But when we see Christ as our high priest above, faithful high priest, if we look at it in that way as a type, we see one who had made reconciliation for the sins of the people. Christ met us in our need. The people, the sons of Eli, they caused the people to transgress. What a contrast, what a difference. But then also it says of these priests in Ezekiel 48, but the priest that are sanctified of the sons of Zeruk, it says, they kept my charge, which went not astray when the children of Israel went astray, as the Levites went astray. So here's a priestly family that's going to be for God's glory in a coming millennial scene. And walking before his anointed, the anointed King, the Lord Jesus Christ. We've often been told that Brother Frank Wallace used to, some of us knew obviously, but he used to tell us that the priesthood in a coming day will look back to what was accomplished at the cross. Whereas the priesthood in the Old Testament was looking forward. But here's a coming day that is going to be displayed in this world. And there's going to be faithful men in the priesthood, bringing glory to God and exalting Christ. And Christ having that preeminent place, everything will be settled. No thought of failure, no thought of sin entering in. These people will be there for God's pleasure and glory and exalting the one who now is rejected, but one day will take up the reins of government. And the one who was so treated at Calvary's cross, despicably by the hands of men, it says in another place that he shall bear the glory and he shall sit and rule upon his throne. So the thing today, dear brother and sister, is to have your eye on the man above. Keep your eye there. Keep Christ before you. And despite what you experience in this world today, I'm sure there's saints who are agitated because of what's happening in the Middle East. Frank Wallace again used to say, he wants a proof that the Lord's almost here. He says, you look at the banks and look at the money market. Now that was 10, 15 years ago he said that to us. See what's happened in the last year or two. We're on the verge of the Lord's coming. It's assured to us. The Lord himself said, I will come again. That's a promise. And that's what we rest on. Not only is that assured to us, it's certain. It says, and it's imminent as well. The coming of the Lord's drawing nigh. The believer can say, the believer can say, as the apostle Paul can say, that he that shall come will come and will not tarry. So despite all the agitation that's going around about, if we keep our eye on the man above, he'll take us through many a storm, many a doubt, just to have our eyes there, fixed there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Man, ourselves marked by failure. The man above never failed. Everything that he did down here, everything that he said, every act, every thought in his head brought glory to God. And so we should really have the vision of our souls filled with the man above, the one compassionate, merciful, the one who's faithful and never fails. And he would have us to be occupied with himself. We read also in Revelation chapter two, Antipas was my faithful martyr who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. It must have been some terrible place this, Bergamos. It says that Satan's seat was there. And that is, his power was there. His power was evident. It may have been in the idolatry that was seen. It may be in those politicians of the time, their corruption and so on. But it says there was a special man there called Antipas. As I said, his name means against all. He stood against all. He wouldn't compromise. He wouldn't give over to accommodate those who were bringing in wrong doctrine. We didn't read the verse, but it speaks about the doctrine of Balaam and so on. He never compromised and he paid with his life. No wonder the Lord says about this man, he was faithful, faithful. What a commendation and what a commendation he will receive in that coming day. I'm sure the commendations will come thick and fast for Antipas. What he stood for and what he stood against. As I said, I don't really want to go into all the details there. If you want to read more about the details or go in for the details, I would commend you to come to Kilkeel in May, because there's going to be the seven churches for the subject arenas. I'm inviting you on behalf of the Kilkeel brethren. Two years ago, I asked you if you'd been to Scotland and there was a lot of no's and it's still a lot of no's. Please, if you want to be encouraged, Kilkeel and Findochty in Scotland, take the opportunity. You'll be made very welcome. And if you want to read more about Pergamos, come because the readings in, as I say, in Kilkeel is going to be in the seven churches. But however, this man stands out as a true servant of the Lord. Didn't say enough a lot about him. He just said that he was faithful, a faithful martyr, faithful witness. He was going to speak up for the Lord and for his truth. I remember years ago, I got a phone call at work from someone who said to me, you know, I think we should compromise a little. I said, compromise the truth? What are you talking about? Well, maybe not compromise, maybe bend a little. I said, that's compromise. Well, maybe not bend, give and take. I said, that's compromise. Everything you read in the dictionary about compromise is what he was saying. You can't compromise the truth. And this is what happened with Antipas. So despite what others were saying, some might be saying, well, we've really got to live safe here. We'll keep quiet. No, Antipas spoke out. And the problem with Pergamos at that time was seduction and greed seen in Balaam. But what marks us in a day when we need to stand for the Lord, what marks us? With what we say and what we do, how we live, does it mark us out as those who will stand faithful for the Lord? Well, we need grace for it, as we heard about today. In every aspect of our lives, it's grace from start to finish. Grace, indeed, met us in our need. Grace brought the Lord Grace brought the Lord Jesus Christ down to where we were, caused him to give himself for our sins. And grace will see us home. As one of the other hymn writers put it, he'll see us safely home. But in the day of difficulty, of danger, let us be marked by that which marked Antipas. Stand out for the Lord. Now, I don't think we're in any danger in this country at the moment of dying for our faith, but you never know what the future holds. But the past, I should say, in this country, in England and Scotland, Wales, I better bring the Welsh in as well, and Ireland, many perished because they were not prepared to compromise the truth. They stood for the Lord in an evil time and they paid with their life. So let's be like Antipas and stand out and labour for the Lord. And the time is just about away and so it's really just to finish in relation to Acts 18. Now, if we have had in Moses one who was commended with the Lord and the future priest and also Antipas had the Lord's commendation, if we have in Aaron and Miriam self-commendation, we have one here in Acts 18 who was commended by the brethren. Others saw this man. Just let's quickly go over what it says in verse 24 of Acts 18. First of all, it says he was mighty in the scriptures. Keep these things in your mind. He was instructed in the way of the Lord. So he had obviously the wisdom to apply the scriptures to his way down here for the Lord's interest here. He was fervent in the spirit. He spoke and taught diligently the things of the Lord and he spoke boldly in the synagogue. Now, when it goes down to verse 27, it's obviously a letter of commendation. It says because they wrote when he was going to go to Achaia, the brethren wrote exhorting the disciples to receive him who when he was come helped him much which had believed through grace. Now, when he arrived there, this letter obviously had come with them and they said that this brother is of real value. He's of real value and I've no doubt they would mention some of these things. He was real value and really what I wanted to take out of it was that when he did come, he helped them much or he contributed much. We've had some who've come to where I used to be and they caused nothing but havoc. Taking young brothers and sisters with them and these young brothers and sisters now are nowhere. Absolutely nowhere. They were being nurtured in the truth. They were sitting under the ministry of a teacher, Frank Wallace again, a local man, but when they went against Frank's advice to stay where they were, be established in the truth here and the Lord will bless you, but they were taken away by someone else. They're nowhere now, but this man when he came, he says he helped them much and so it's a challenge to us all. Are we a helper or are we a hinderer? Do we contribute to the local assembly or do we withhold? You might say like Moses, well, I really just can't speak or pray or the Lord, the Lord will see you through. He gives us strength as long as you have the desire for it, but the scriptures are open to us all, not just a book to be taken up like a novel and set aside. It's to be established in the truth and to be of real value to the saints. Now, this man had a wonderful testimony and he was a help to all these believers. He was a helper. Remember our brother John Blackburn when he had to locate to another place? After he had gone, someone says to him, well, how did you get on and where you are now? He says, you know, he says, I really just wanted to fit in. I just wanted to be a help there and he was. Like this, I'd say Apollos. Now, Apollos, his name means destroyer, but Apollos didn't live according to the meaning of his name. He lived according to his desire to be of service to the Lord. And you think about these different things and it's just a little point there that where they said, well, receive him. We commend them to you. He'll be of real value to you. He'll be a helper. At the end of the day, would they say that about you or me? I trust it will be something that I could say. I trust even more importantly that the Lord would commend it because remember, it's not him that commends himself that's approved, but whom the Lord commends. If we commend ourselves, Paul says, it's not wise. It's not wise. It's whom the Lord commends. But if the other thing is to show in a letter of commendation, can the brethren with confidence be able to say about us, yes, well, he's a great help. He's gone in for the Lord's things. He'll be a helper to you. He'll be a contributor in your meetings. And the only thing that I would think that Paul has destroyed would be the against those who were saying different things about the Lord and that he showed by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ. I wonder if what we say will convince others because that's what it said. He might have convinced the Jews whether they bowed and were saved. I'm sure some would be saved, but at least he was going to speak out for the Lord and be a testimony and be a help at Achaia. And he was commended to the local brethren by the saints of what they witnessed in this man Apollos. I wonder if we could close by singing the hymn one hundred and eighty two. Oh Lord, how blessed this day by day we pass along our pilgrim way to know that we are thine, thine through redemption's precious blood, which cleanse, which brought us now to God thine through redemption's precious blood, which cleanse, which brought us now to God in righteousness divine. One hundred and eighty two. Thine through redemption's precious blood, which cleanse, which brought us now to God in righteousness divine. Thine ever thine to be with thee, forever of thine own must be. Thou will hold me alone from thrusting place to devotion. Oh Lord, in me can God be feared, to follow and to serve thee here. Through the walls to climb, to be folded everlasting until we reach thee in that sea where thou wilt hold us nigh. Lord, may we always own thy claim and overcoming in thy name from earthliness be free. And by the day may one of them with you be straight, the path be fled which leads us now to thee. Amen. …

… Good afternoon. Okay, let's start with hymn number 10. Let's not make it a dirge, because it's not a dirge hymn. So whoever's got the gift of starting hymns, if they'd like to start it for us, number 10, grace is the sweetest sound that ever reached our ears. When conscience charged and justice frowned, it was grace removed our fears. Number 10. Grace is the sweetest sound that ever reached our ears. When conscience charged and justice frowned, it was grace removed our fears. This we owe to the slave, today's light and liberty. It takes its terror from the grave, from death its victory. Grace is the vine of wealth, laid open to the poor. Grace is the sovereign spring of health, if thy forever hold. All grace then let us sing, and joyful wondrously. When grace hath brought shall glory bring, and we shall reign with him. When shall we see his face, with all the saints above. And sing forever of his grace, forever of his love. Amen. One of the aims of the Catford lectures, I believe, is to teach fundamental Bible truths. And I'd like to try to do so this afternoon by essentially taking one of the books of the Bible, and going through it and summarizing. See why it was written, and try to draw out some themes. I want us to get a feel for the book as a whole, the overall picture it gives, how it fits together. I appreciate that, of course, many here are familiar with it, and are very conversant with the lessons it teaches. But I would like us all to be reminded of its importance and implications. Now, of course, there's much that will have to be omitted because of time. And I accept that you may judge that I've emphasized some thoughts over others. I should have done it differently. But what I present to you comes after prayerful consideration. Now, before we come to the book, I'd like to spend a little time on the background. This is a book that was written in a great hurry. Really, we could say the author was desperate. He'd had a great shock. And he was desperate to do something about the situation. And that meant writing a letter. This is one of the New Testament letters, almost certainly the first one written. It comes from Paul's pen. Now, it seems that Paul had serious eye problems. He usually dictated his letters to a secretary. But here he has no one. And so he writes it himself. And he actually remarks on that in this particular letter. And it's Paul's letter to the Galatians that I refer to. There's one thing I want us to particularly think about as we look at the book. And that is God's grace. Now, oddly enough, the word grace doesn't appear very often in the book. But the theme flows through it. Everything Paul writes about in this letter links somehow to grace. I want to review the book, summarize it, and try and see sort of flow of thought. Now, I want to spend a bit of time on the background, as it's important to our understanding of what Paul writes in this letter as a whole. Galatia was a Roman province in the middle of what is now Turkey. Ankara, the capital of Turkey, is located in Galatia. And Paul visited southern Galatia on his first missionary journey. Pisidian, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe are all in Galatia. We also read that he passed through Galatia on his second missionary journey as he traveled west. And he also traveled through Galatia on his third journey, establishing the disciples. In Acts 14, we read of Paul's first visit to these cities. In Iconium, his preaching had such an effect that the city seems to have been in uproar, with many threatening to stone him and a great number of Jews and Greeks believing. Paul and Barnabas fled to Lystra, where they healed a lame man and were fated as gods, until with great difficulty they managed to put a stop to it. But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, turned the people against them, and they stoned Paul. They thought they killed him. The scriptures tell us that the disciples, those I assume who had just been saved through the preaching of Paul and Barnabas, showed great courage. They took their place with him and stood round what they might well themselves thought was his dead body. And Paul gets up and goes back into the city. These courageous disciples are some of those that Paul is writing to in this letter. Paul and Barnabas then go on to Derbe where many are saved, and then they return to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening disciples and encouraging them to remain true to the faith. So these Galatian believers, the very ones he's writing to in this letter, had heard Paul, they'd welcomed him, they'd accepted the message. In fact, they were so delighted with Paul coming to give them the good news of Jesus and were, it seems, so concerned about his eye problems that they would, if they could, have torn out their own eyes to give to him. Now that sounds a bit extreme, but Paul writes it, and I'm sure that it's literally true. If they could have done, and it would have helped Paul, they'd have given him their own eyes. That's how much they appreciated Paul and what he taught them of the Lord Jesus. But things changed. Some men came from Judea with a worrying story. Paul hadn't told them everything. Yes, Christianity is wonderful, I'm sure they said, but Paul has it a bit wrong. What he's presented is too simple. He's watered down the message. Those who know the true gospel are the apostles, the twelve who were with Jesus all the time, specially chosen by him, saw his miracles, heard his teaching, they're the ones. And who is this Paul? He wasn't in Palestine at the time when Jesus was there. In fact, the first we know of him is that he's trying to kill Christians. And then he suddenly changes his mind and starts preaching Jesus. But can we trust what he's preaching? And where did they maintain Paul had gone wrong? Paul had said that all could be acceptable to God. Any could be saved by simply trusting in Jesus. He taught them that Jesus' death on the cross was all that was necessary for salvation. There was nothing for them to do except accept it by faith. It was purely grace on God's part, grace, unmerited favor. God gives blessings that are completely deserved just because he chooses to. That's what Paul had told them. What they maintained that he had failed to tell them was that actually they couldn't be saved unless they kept the law of Moses as well. Keeping the law was necessary for salvation. So that's what they were told. And the Galatians believed this. The whole issue of salvation of the Gentiles had caused much problems and debate already. Could Gentiles be saved? If they could, was it necessary for them to essentially become Jews in order to be saved? Did they have to go through the rite of circumcision? For Jews, these were difficult issues. They knew from their scriptures that there would be blessing for the Gentiles, but they struggled to understand how this could be. Gentiles were not God's chosen people. Outside of the circle of blessing, they're unclean. When we go through Acts, we see that Philip was a pioneer in taking the gospel to the Gentiles. In Acts 8, we read of him bringing the good news to the Samaritans, proclaiming Christ in the cities of Samaria. The Samaritans were descended from Gentiles planted there some 700 years earlier by the Assyrians, and over the years come mixed with the Israelites. Many Samaritans believed, and the apostles sent Peter and John to check it all out. Meanwhile, Philip leads a Gentile, the treasurer of the Ethiopian queen to Christ, and baptizes him. A little later, Peter has to be clearly shown that Gentiles could be acceptable to God as Gentiles. God told him in a, I suppose you'd say, a triple vision, that he should not consider anything that God had cleansed as unclean. At that very moment, messengers came from a Roman centurion, Cornelius, an unclean Gentile, saying that Cornelius had had a vision of angels telling him to go where Peter was staying and fetch him. And to give extra confirmation that God was speaking to him through all this, the Holy Spirit specifically told Peter to go with the men. Peter had needed a lot of convincing, but he went with Cornelius, and when the Holy Spirit fell on Cornelius and those with him, this made it completely clear that God accepts Gentiles. And the scriptures say that the Jewish believers who'd gone with Peter were astonished that the Holy Spirit should have been poured out even on Gentiles. And when Peter got back to Jerusalem, he became the object of criticism. You went to the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them, was the accusation. Peter explained to them his great reluctance and how God had had to convince him, and the results of Gentile acceptance of the gospel. And the criticisers heard what Peter had to say and accepted it. It says, offering praise to God that Gentiles could have repentance unto life. A very positive way to react to correction. Persecution of believers in Judea forced many to flee. Some went to Antioch, a city in what is now southern Turkey, and witnessed the Gentiles, and many were saved. And when they heard of this in Jerusalem, they sent a godly and reliable man to see what was what. A man full of the Holy Spirit and faith, we're told. That was Barnabas. And when he saw for himself how God was acting among the Gentiles, he was glad, it says, and encouraged them to remain true to the Lord. And I'm sure he must have reported back to those at Jerusalem. Well, we might have thought that the issue of Gentile believers had been sorted out after all this, but not for some. An element of the church in Judea continued to hold that obedience to the law was necessary for salvation. And Acts chapter 15 describes a meeting of Paul and Barnabas with the apostles and leaders in the church to settle the issue. And the agreement to the meeting was that not only was law keeping unnecessary for salvation, but it should not be imposed on Gentiles as a rule of life for those who are saved. But there are still some determined to persist in this pernicious error. And these teachers arrived in Galatia with their criticisms of Paul and the gospel he preached, and the Galatians were taken in. Paul had said they could be saved through faith in Christ who died for their sins. You cannot be saved unless you keep God's law as well, they said. What a terrible insult this is, isn't it, to our God. How demeaning to Christ to suggest that his work is not complete. How pleasing to our egos to think that we can do a bit towards our salvation. Now, of course, we all know that this is clearly demonstrated, not only in this letter, but throughout the New Testament, that this teaching is wrong. But it's extraordinary how similar teachings are prevalent in major parts of Christendom today. Let's look at the book. Paul's letter to the Galatians. After brief introductory words, he gets the main point. Verse six, chapter one, verse six. I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel. Which is not another, but there will be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. I marvel, I'm astonished, he writes. And what the teachers have presented was another gospel. It was another because it wasn't what they'd learned from Paul. And yet it was not another. It was not another gospel. It wasn't good news. The word gospel, of course, means good news. It wasn't good news. In fact, it would be terrible news if it were true. The worst news imaginable. And what does Paul write about those preaching this appalling message? I don't think Paul could find any, any stronger words to show his abhorrence of the teaching. Verse eight. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so I say now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than what you've received, let him be accursed. Let him be accursed. Or let him be eternally condemned. Is that serious? I don't, for time's sake, intend to dwell on the first two chapters. But briefly, the false teachers had questioned the source of Paul's teaching. Who is Paul? He wasn't in Palestine when Jesus was on earth. He didn't see his miracles and hear his teaching. He wasn't one of the twelve. Where did he get all this about Gentiles being acceptable to God as Gentiles? So how does Paul answer? Verse eleven. But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. No, it's true that I didn't get what I teach from man. He didn't even get it from the apostles. In fact, he got it by direct revelation from God. So does that mean it went against what the apostles taught? No, Paul notes. In fact, he did check it out. He says that after three years, he went to Jerusalem and stayed a fortnight with Peter and met James too. Verse eighteen. I'll read that verse. Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none save James, the Lord's brother. And then sometime later, in fact, after fourteen years, he and Barnabas came to Jerusalem and met with those who seemed to be leaders, Paul writes. And this is what we have at the beginning of chapter two. I take it here that he refers to the meeting we mentioned described in Acts 15. The leaders confirmed the message that was preached. Verse six. Chapter two, verse six. But of these who seem to be somewhat, whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me. God accepteth no man's person. For they who seem to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me. But contrary wise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter. For he wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision. The same was mighty in me to all the Gentiles. And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. And Paul and Barnabas took Titus, a Greek, with them. Note that's in verse three. But Titus was not compelled to be circumcised. He wasn't forced to submit to Jewish rights. That's proving the point in practice. And Paul also mentions an incident at Antioch where even the apostle Peter had to be publicly corrected. When Peter arrived at Antioch, he ate with Gentiles, so going against Jewish customs. But when Jews came from Jerusalem, he withdrew and would only eat with the Jews. So Paul tells the Galatians about Peter's inconsistency and what he had told him in reproof. So in these first two chapters, Paul essentially defends himself and his teaching from accusations of an incomplete and man-made gospel. And he closes the section by making a fundamental point. Verse 21. Second part. If righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. If what these teachers said were true, then Christ died for nothing. If we get right with God through teaching the law, through keeping the law, then Christ's death has no point. Paul then brings them back to the issue. Is being right with God simply through faith in Christ or is something more required? Observance of Jewish law. So Paul asks them a comprehensive set of questions and answers them. These are the issues he raises. First of all, how did they receive the Holy Spirit? Secondly, how did Abraham become right with God? Thirdly, by what channel would salvation come to the Gentiles? Fourthly, what does scripture say about those who try to keep the law? And fifthly, what does scripture say about how not just Abraham, but people in general can be acceptable to God? Now there's a very comprehensive set of questions. First asked about their experience. How did they receive the Holy Spirit? The other four ask about what God had said in the scriptures. How Abraham became right with God? By what channel salvation would come to Gentiles? What the scripture says about those who try to keep the law? And what the scriptures say about how people in general can be acceptable to God? So verse 2 of chapter 3. He writes, this only would I learn of you. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? How did they receive the Holy Spirit? By believing what God taught them or by observing the law? Receiving God's Spirit was a demonstration that God accepted them. How did they get this experience? Well, the answer's clear from verse 3. Are you so foolish having begun in the Spirit? Are you now made perfect in the flesh? Receiving the Spirit was associated with the beginning of their Christian experience when they came to Christ by faith. So his next question is, what do the scriptures say about the father of the Jews, Abraham? Here's a man whose faith and practice would uphold the teaching of these Jews, surely. How did he get right with God? Verse 6, it says, even as Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Abraham himself got right with God through faith. This is not speculation. The scriptures specifically say so. Abraham believed God and it was credited him for righteousness. You can't get much clearer than that. Not obedience to any law, but believing God. And following on from this, he notes that it's those who believe who are like Abraham. Verse 7, know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. The Jews like to make so much of Abraham and that they were descended from him. But actually those who had his characteristics, those who are really children of Abraham, were actually those who accepted God in faith. So my third question was, by what channel would salvation come to the Gentiles? Verse 8, and the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham saying, in thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. Salvation for the Gentiles was actually announced to Abraham himself, announced in fact as coming through him. And this was of course many years before the law was given to Moses. So not only was Abraham the man on whom they relied so much, himself accepted by God because of his faith, but also that blessing for the Gentiles would come through him. My fourth question was, what do the scriptures say about those who try to keep the law? Verse 10, for as many as under the works of the law are under the curse, for it's written, cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. They're under a curse. The scripture is clear. Cursed is everyone who doesn't continue to do everything. Unless they did everything, as in the law, they're under a curse. And Paul doesn't take this point further as it's not necessary. Only a small reflection would have told him that they couldn't do everything in the law. And fifthly, what does the scripture say about how people can be acceptable to God? Verse 11, but that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident for the just shall live by faith. This is a quote from Habakkuk in the Old Testament. The just will live by faith. The scripture is telling us that being acceptable to God is not by keeping the law. As the law is not based on faith, it's simply rules. Do the rules and you'll live, but no one could. The just, those right with God, will live by faith. And Paul then brings these points together in Christ. Verse 13, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it's written, cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree, that the blessings of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. The curse of the law is dealt with in Christ. Cursed is everyone who's hung on a tree. He became a curse for us. The blessing given to Abraham for us Gentiles is fulfilled in Christ. And by faith in Christ, we receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. At this point, Paul anticipates an objection to his arguments. Yes, God made promises to Abraham and promised blessing to the Gentiles. But surely these promises were superseded by the law. The law came later, much later. Therefore, Gentiles should be required to keep the law. So how does Paul answer this? In verse 8, Paul had quoted God's promise to Abraham that all nations will be blessed through him. But now he expands on this. If we look back to where this promise was made to Abraham in Genesis, it says the promise is, says to him, and to your seed, singular. And Paul tells us here what this means. All blessings come through Christ. Verse 16. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not unto seeds as of many, but as of one. And to thy seed, which is Christ. Does the law replace God's promise to Abraham? Verse 17. And this I say, that the covenant which was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was 430 years after, cannot disannul. That it should make the promise of none effect. Now God's promises are not put aside. They remain. The giving of the law doesn't change anything as far as God's promises is concerned. God promised and so he will fulfill his promises. Specifically the blessing, the inheritance, can't depend on the law because God promised it. In contrast, the law has a conditional element. Do it and you will live. And so this leads on to a further question. Why then did God give the law? What was the purpose of the law? If the law wasn't given to provide a means for blessing, why did God give the Israelites the law? Verse 19. Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions till the seed should come to whom the promise was made. And then down to verse 24. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith. God gave it to point to Christ. It points us to Christ because it reminds us that we're sinners. No one who tried to live under the law could avoid that conclusion. We therefore need a saviour and that's where Christ comes in. So the law does perform a most valuable function. It points to Christ. In verses 24 and 25 here, the law is described as a schoolmaster or a child trainer. This was a person, often a slave in fact, who trained and disciplined a child until he was old enough to take on his responsibilities. And Paul is presenting the law as this child trainer. At this point, Paul really seems to have completed his argument about salvation by faith alone. He's reminded of them of their experience of receiving the Holy Spirit. He's pointed out what the scriptures say about how Abraham got right with God. He's pointed out the general Old Testament principle that the just shall live by faith. And he's noted that Gentiles will be blessed through Abraham's seed. And he brings these together in Christ. Finally, he answers the question regarding the purpose of the law to lead us to Christ. It all focuses on the Lord Jesus Christ. And then in verse 25, the main issue that Paul is addressing seems to change. There's no longer argument about how we get right with God. There's no longer issues of whether Jews and Gentiles are different before God. Now it's about who we are and how we live. Now I'm very aware, as we note, some practical issues that I fail. And that exhortations apply to myself as much as, probably more than, to others. So who are we? Let's look at verse 26. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptised into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek. There's neither bond nor free. There's neither male nor female. For ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. We're all children of God. This privilege is so utterly astonishing. God brings us into his family. And the differences and distinctions that pull us apart, Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free, these no longer exist. And God's unconditional promises to Abraham are ours through Christ. We're considered as Abraham's real seed. And it goes on. We're sons. And this leads to truth that we're also heirs. Of course, being sons and heirs is a most wonderful subject in and of itself. We don't have time to dwell on it apart from reminding ourselves that these privileges are undeserved. Purely through God's grace. So having proved, as we noted, that justification is by faith alone and not by works of the law, and having presented these astonishing privileges of sonship and being heirs that God gives to those who come through Christ in faith, Paul returns in chapter 4 to the Galatians themselves. Given all this, how can the Galatians be regressing to try to be trying to keep the law? He calls it slavery. And that's what it was. The one trying to keep the law was never free from the law's demands. It was always there insisting on what he did. And in chapter 4, verses 8 to 20, he wonders about them. He's perplexed about their behavior. He reminds them of the wonderful welcome that they gave to him. And he compares himself to those who are trying to lead them astray. And then he brings out another picture from scripture. Now, when we read the accounts of Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar in Genesis, it's striking how Sarah and Abraham show a lack of faith in God's promise of a son. Yes, it was very difficult for them. God had kept Sarah from having children, and she was now 75 years old. Abraham was even older. He was 85. And humanly speaking, a natural son to be the fulfillment of God's promise seemed well-nigh impossible. Their faith wavered, and they agreed on an alternative solution. They tried to get an heir through the slave girl, Hagar. But although faithless behavior is exhibited on their part, God is there. And he uses this actually to provide a wonderful picture for the Galatians and for us through what happened. Let's read these verses. Chapter 4, verse 21. Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law? For it is written that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a free woman. But he who was born of the bondwoman was born after the flesh. But he of the free woman was by promise, which things are an allegory. For these are the two covenants, the one from the Mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Hagar. For this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem, which now is, and is in bondage with her children. But Jerusalem, which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all. For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren, that bearest not. Break forth and cry, thou that travailest not. For the desolate hath many more children than she which hath them husband. Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. But as then, he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. Nevertheless, what saith the Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman will not be heir with the son of the free woman. So then, brethren, we're not children of the bondwoman, but of the free. So, Paul presents a contrast between the slave woman, Hagar, and the free woman, Sarah, and between their children, Ishmael and Isaac. Isaac being, of course, the child that God promised, who was born 14 years after Ishmael. Hagar is a picture of the old covenant confirmed at Mount Sinai, the covenant of law, and her son, Ishmael, pictures those under the law. Isaac was a child of promise, promised to Abraham and Sarah. In fact, provided miraculously. We who trust in Jesus are, like Isaac, the children of promise. And then an instant occurs, slightly later, that's brought out here, where Ishmael is mocking young Isaac, persecuting, as it says here. And Hagar and Ishmael are sent away. They're not in the family circle. Ishmael, although he's older than Isaac, will not inherit, providing a picture showing that the children of the slave system, the law, will not share in the inheritance. That's just for the children of the free woman. We who are sons of God, who believe in Jesus. So, where are we so far? In the early chapters, Paul defends the gospel of salvation by faith alone, and shows how it fitted with what the scriptures taught. That faith alone, and not the keeping of the law, was the way of salvation. He explains the purpose of the law, then he leads on to the truth that God has brought those with faith into close relationship with himself, as his sons, in fact. And he wonders how it could possibly be that these Galatian believers could abandon all this, and submit themselves to the slavery of the law system, with its demanding regulations. Chapter 5, verse 1. Stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again in the yoke of bondage. Don't be burdened again by a yoke of bondage, a yoke of slavery, he writes. Now the question becomes, how should we live our lives? Well, Paul essentially writes, if you're trying to use the law either for justification, getting right with God, or as our standard for living, you're in trouble. Because you're obligated to obey the whole law, something that's impossible. And if it isn't the law that should drive our conduct, what is it? We get an idea from verse 6 of chapter 5, the end of the verse. Faith which worketh by love. And then Paul anticipates the next question. So if we're not under the law, if we don't have to keep the law as our standard for living, if we're not beholden to it, we can do what we like, can't we? Certainly not. Paul writes very strongly against this thought in several of his letters. Verse 13 here. For brethren, ye have been called unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. Do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh, the sinful nature. Freedom, yes. License, no. Do not choose to gratify the flesh and its selfish desires. The flesh, the odd nature, is very much part of us as sinful humans. Instead, it exalts us to serve one another by love. Verse 14. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. And strange as it may seem, after all that Paul writes about those who insist on keeping the law, serving one another in love fits in beautifully with what the law says. Because a good summary of what the law demands, he's saying, is to love your neighbour as yourself. No selfishness there. Verse 6 said again, faith which worketh by love. When we consider our conduct as based on regulation and try to keep it as law, it's impossible and that brings condemnation for us. When we approach it as forgiven people, yes, sadly, we'll still fail. Some of us more badly than others. But there is the spirit and the power given to us and forgiveness for when we do fail. Verse 16. This I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Walk in the spirit. Paul has already reminded the Galatians that trying to keep the law did not give them the Holy Spirit, but faith in Christ did. And the spirit is the new power within. The only way we can keep the flesh in subjection is to be under the control of the spirit. And Paul then presents contrasts between the flesh and the spirit. To start with, they have contrasting desires. In fact, there's a conflict between the two. And then we have in verses 19 to 21, the works of the flesh. I won't bother to read those. But it's contrasted with the fruit of the spirit. Verse 22. But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. What the sinful nature produces contrasted with what the spirit produces. And we notice it is the fruit of the spirit. Not a lot of separate, unconnected fruits, but an integrated whole. One fruit. And we see in verse 24 here. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. In Colossians chapter 3, we're told to mortify our members which are here on earth. And there Paul presents a shorter but similar list as we have here, describing the works of the flesh. As we all know, the flesh, our sinful nature, remains with us. And vigilance to the flesh and its desires and works is essential. Mortify, it says. Chapter 6 sees this new life in the spirit shown out in practice. The Lord's work for us is purely grace on his part. We do nothing. It's based on God's unmerited favour to each of us individually. And we've been reminded that although we're not under the law system, this cannot be made an excuse for license. In fact, we have a higher standard than the law. Christ himself, and we're responsible to him for what we do. And we have a new power within us, God's spirit. We'll just very quickly look at these practical issues that Paul brings out here at the beginning of chapter 6. Notice how we have behind them a combination of grace and personal responsibility. If one was caught in a sin, the law was clear. There were clearly defined punishments. But the position taken by grace is restoration. Verse 1. Brethren, if a man is overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. How self-righteous we can be, can't we? In condemning another who sinned. Well, that's not the way of grace. And there's the vital reminder that, but for God's grace, that's me. Grace expects us to carry one another's burdens. Verse 2. Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. That's what grace would do, to help, support, encourage one another. And in verse 5, each should carry his own burden. That's what grace would do. Grace would not unnecessarily load one's burden onto another. Verse 3. For if a man thinks himself to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. God's grace has made us what we are. Our skills, qualities, everything that we have come from him, given to us through his grace alone. The moment that we begin to think of ourselves as something, we deny this. The legalistic Jews felt they had merit because of who they were and what they felt they could achieve. In the law system, merit depends on one's own effort. But under grace, it's different. We are given it all. Verse 7. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. These verses point out that although we are in grace, given the Spirit, we still have the flesh. And we have the choice. Are we to please the flesh or the Spirit? The choice is ours. And there will be consequences from our choices. And perhaps in summary of these verses on practical behavior here, as governed by grace, we have verse 10. And as we therefore have opportunity, let's do good unto all men, especially unto those who are of the household of faith. Paul tells us to do good to all, especially to other believers. At the end of chapter 2, and I didn't refer to this verse, Paul mentions his being crucified with Christ and that he himself no longer lives. It's Christ who lives in him. That's verse 20 of chapter 2. At the end of chapter 5, we noted briefly that they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. And now he brings the cross in again. Verse 14. But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. The world has been crucified to him and he to the world. This stark, sharp, appalling imagery here. Christ was crucified by a world that hated and rejected him. A terrible, painful, humiliating death. And Paul sees himself there with him. Not, of course, sharing in the work of redemption. That can only be Christ's work. But hated and rejected by the world, sharing in a sense, is humiliation and rejection. The world and its system doesn't want Christ, nor does it want those who want to be true to him. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. But the effect, Paul notes, is that the world has been crucified to him and he to the world. And Paul uses this stark picture to indicate the relationship he has to the world system. Crucified to me and I to it. And we are a new creation, he writes. Verse 15. Let's behave consistently with this. I want to finish by expressing just some general thoughts on this. No one can keep the law. Do this and you will live, it says. But none did and none can. We need real favour from God if we're going to be acceptable to him in any way. Favour we don't deserve. God's grace. And that's what he gives us. It's, I think it's astonishing to think of the grace of the holy God in accepting us. Poor lost sinners with no hope in this world, who've deliberately rebelled against the one who made us and to whom we're responsible. And think of God. God is absolutely holy. There's no way he can tolerate sin in any form. And yet he accepts us. And think of the price the Lord Jesus paid. The holy and just one made sin. Made sin for us. Now that's amazing love, isn't it? Amazing grace. And then wonderful as salvation is to undeserving sinners, his grace takes it to another level. He makes us his children. We're sons of God. And we've seen how his grace should characterise our dealings with others. We fail in many ways. But the outworking of the fruit of the spirit in relating to others is grace. Grace should characterise our relationships. I think many problems among Christians will be lessened if we were to remember the grace that God has shown to us and show it ourselves in our relationships. At the same time, our relationship to the world system is one of death and we are responsible to live in the light of this. I'd like to finish with a hymn which I can't actually remember ever having sung before. I probably have, but I don't remember having done so. It's 479. 479. Verse 2 says, Grace we sing, God's grace through Jesus, grace the spring of peace to man, grace that from each sorrow frees us, grace too high for thought to scan, grace the theme of God's own love, grace the theme or themes above. 479. Verse 2. Grace of the 600, sweetest music to the ear, grace abounds where sin abounded, it is the word that soothes our fear. Grace, the sweetest that we know, grace to sin and sin below. Grace we sing, God's grace through Jesus, grace the spring of peace to man, grace that from each sorrow frees us, grace too high for thought to scan, grace the theme of God's own love, grace the theme or themes above. …

… Guten Abend. Could we open our meeting tonight with hymn number 20. Blessed Lord, our hallelujah is now to Thee we raise, never could we fully utter all Thy worth and praise. Praise the Lamb, yes, Thou art worthy who didst shed Thy blood to redeem Thy saints and make us kings and priests to God. Hymn number 20. Blessed Lord, our hallelujah is now to Thee we raise, never could we fully utter all Thy words, and praise, praise the Lamb, yes, Thou art worthy, Thou didst shed Thy blood, Thou didst give Thy saints and make us kings and priests to God. Yes, we praise Thee for Thou lovest us, and we husk Thee, Lord, all Thy peace and joy and gladness, which Thou dost afford. Alleluia, love of Jesus, as our since true love, Thine we are and are forever, one with Thee above. Praise the Lord, yes, alleluia, who would hush the song, Thine we're safe from every nation, every tribe and tongue. Praise the Lamb for He is worthy, sweet eternal strength. Alleluia, alleluia, praise the Lord, Amen. We praise Thy name, Amen. Could we turn to the Epistle to the Philippians and read chapter 4 together. Philippians chapter 4 from verse 1. Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved. I beseech, Jordias, and beseech, Senteci, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. And I entreat thee also, true yoke fellow, help those women which labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow laborers whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men, the Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me do. And the God of peace shall be with you. But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at the last your care of me has flourished again, wherein ye were also careful, but ye lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in respect of want, for I have learned in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I am instructed, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strangles me. Notwithstanding, ye have well done that ye did communicate with my affliction. Now ye Philippians, know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. For even in Thessalonica ye sent once and again unto my necessity, not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all and abound, I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. Salute every saint in Christ Jesus. The brethren which are with me greet you. All the saints salute you, chiefly they that are of Caesar's household. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Let me just give you an outline of the exercise that is on my heart. First of all, I would like to give a short introduction into the epistle to the Philippians. And then I would like to speak about three subjects in connection with chapter four. First, about spiritual stability. Secondly, about contentment. And thirdly, about Christian giving. These are all basic, practical subjects which we all need to know what the Lord, what scripture says about them. The epistle to the Philippians is in some way a very special epistle because the relationship of the Apostle Paul to the believers in this city was very special. They belonged to the two assemblies of the Philippians. They belonged to the two assemblies of which he could speak that they were his joy and his crown, the Philippians and the Thessalonians. But there was a difference between them. The Thessalonians were, so to say, new converts that just found the Lord. They were at the beginning of their way. The Philippians, when he wrote to them, they had already some years of Christian faith. Behind them. And this helps us to understand that a good Christian conduct, a spiritual way of life, is possible independent of the fact if we are young in the faith or if we are longer on our way. We normally try to excuse ourselves with pointing to the other situation. When we are young in the faith, we may say, well, if I'm as old and as mature and as experienced as brother so-and-so or sister so-and-so, then I would be probably as faithful as they are. Then the Apostle Paul would say, look at the Thessalonians. They were just young converts and they were faithful and they were a joy and a crown to me. The other way around, we could say, well, when I was young, when I was just got saved, I was so energetic in my faith and I was faithful following the Lord. But now, after all these years and all the failure and disappointments along the way, then Paul would say, look at the Philippians. They are still there on this way of faithfulness, following the Lord, his joy and his crown. Why did he write this epistle? I think there was two reasons, at least we could mention, why Paul wrote this epistle to the Philippians. One was a very practical one that we have read about it in chapter 4. He wanted to thank the Philippians for some practical gift they had sent to him in Rome in prison. But there was also another thing. He saw the Philippians who were so dear to his heart. He saw that they were faithful. He saw they were fighting for the truth and for the gospel. But he had the impression, and some information as well, that there was a lack of unity among them. A lack of unity not on principle doctrine or assembly practice or something like that, but a lack of unity in working together harmoniously, unitedly for the Lord. And you will find, if you read this epistle carefully, in every chapter Paul mentions this subject of the lack of unity, encourages them to be of the same mind and other things. What is the answer to all our problems in our practical Christian life? The answer is Christ. And so the Apostle Paul puts before the Philippians Christ in every chapter of this epistle in a different way. In chapter 1, he speaks about Christ as the main thing in his life. Paul could say in verse 21 of chapter 1, For me to live is Christ. Mr. Darby once said that the epistle to the Philippians is the epistle of Christian experience. But we must understand what he means by that. It may not necessarily be your experience or mine. My experience probably may be that I fail and I am restored, that I fall and get up again. But this is not the normal Christian experience. Paul is giving us in this epistle some of these experiences. And one is this one. For me, for to me to live is Christ. He doesn't say that Christ is our life, which is true of every believer. But he says for me to live is Christ, not for us. It is not something that is true of every believer. But it is something where we must challenge our hearts if we really could say this, that in our life, everything centers around Christ. Paul could say that faithfully for me to live is Christ. In chapter 2, and we have been dealing with chapter 2 a little bit today when we spoke about the valley gate. In chapter 2, Christ is our example. In verse 5, he says, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And that is Christ as man here on earth. How he walked here on earth, he is our example. Not in what he did, but in the way he did it. As his mind, as one of the hymn writers says, Let the mind of Christ my savior live in me from day to day. In chapter 3, when we come to chapter 3 of Philippians, we find that Christ is our aim. He is at the end of, in heaven. We are going there, and the apostle Paul could say, I, in verse 14, I press toward the mark for the price of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. There was this person in glory that drew him there and gave him the energy to press on. And now in chapter 4, we will find that Christ is our strength. The apostle says in verse 13, I can do all things through Christ, which strengthened me. He is the strength for all the different circumstances we are in. We will deal with that a bit later. He starts this chapter in saying, Therefore, my brethren, dearly beloved, and longed for. The apostle in prison wrote to his Philippians, and he does not only tell them that they were his beloved Philippians, but also he longed for them. He wanted to see them. He couldn't because he was in prison, but his heart yearned for them. He wanted to see them. And we may ask ourselves the question, how is it with us and the brothers and sisters we are with together in our local place? When we are separated for some reason, because we are on a journey, because business is preventing us or illness, do we long to see them again? Do we say, well, I'm missing something because the brothers and sisters are not with me. I cannot have fellowship with them and exchange my ideas. Paul was longing for these brothers. And he says again here, My joy and crown. That they were his joy and crown, in one sense, is something of a future reward. That's what he says to the Thessalonians. I mentioned already he uses the same terms in 1 Thessalonians 2, verse, yeah, 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 19. For what is our hope or joy or crown of rejoicing are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming. So that his future at his coming, they will be his joy, his crown, his reward to these faithful believers in Thessalonica. But when he calls them his joy, this also has a present application for the apostle. For example, the apostle John says in his third letter, third John, in verse, third epistle of John, verse four, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. For him as a spiritual father, to realize that his spiritual children walk in the truth, he said, it's a joy for me. And so it was a joy for the apostle to see the Philippians or the Thessalonians going on in faithfulness to the Lord. And then he says to them, If you study the epistles of the New Testament, you will find out that nearly all the writers, Paul, Peter, James, John, and Jude, that all the writers of the epistles tell the brethren in one sense or another to stand fast, to be stable in their spiritual life, not being tossed to and fro from all kinds of influences around them, but to stand fast. And so that was the thing I wanted to speak about, first of all, a little bit on spiritual stability. What are the things that help us to stand fast? And have a condition of spiritual stability? And from the following verses, I would like to mention seven things that Paul speaks about. I'm not going to make too much about the number because it's not in the Bible. It's the thing I found out. And if you take other epistles, we will find more than seven. So it's not so important that it has seven, but just points to keep in mind that help us to be in a state of spiritual stability personally in our life and as a local assembly. And the first thing he mentions is the harmony or unity among the brothers and sisters at the local place. We already said there was this lack of unity which worried him a bit. And he had written about it in all these letters. But now at the last chapter, again, he takes it up and he even mentions names of two sisters who probably were a prominent case in this lack of unity and harmony among them. I think this second verse in chapter four is quite a remarkable verse. We must remember how these early Christians got to know this letter. We today, we take our Bibles, open Philippians and read a few verses or maybe we read a chapter and then we close it again and go on reading it tomorrow, the next chapter. But these Philippians, they were sitting in the assembly and somebody, when they received this epistle of Paul, somebody was reading that epistle as a whole to the congregation. By the way, it would be a good thing for you, young people, if you study God's word and you begin with a new subject, just to read the book as a whole. Just read it through and then get back and study all the details. But to get an impression of these books, when I was at university, I had to travel a lot by train and that's when I started to read books of the Bible just to, and I got impressions you never get if you just read a chapter or two. And so this was read and Paul was writing about all the lovely things he had experienced among the Philippians and what they had done. He was writing about Christ, all these things, and they all got encouraged, I'm sure, and suddenly, bang, he mentions two names and exhorts them. He says, I beseech you, Odias, and beseech Syntyche, that they be of the same mind in the Lord. There were these two sisters who were not of the same mind in the Lord and Paul speaks to them and he speaks to them both individually. He does not say, well, the one sister here is wrong and the other is right. And he does not speak to them collectively. There are two sisters I would like to exhort, but he approaches one and the other individually, which in most situations like that, the pastor will do. Speaking to both individually and approaching both in this matter. And he said, they are not of the same mind in the Lord. And this was such an important subject for him because spiritual stability will be gone in a local meeting if that is not there, this unity. And probably Paul, he knew the Philippians, and probably Paul knew these two sisters quite well. And he got the impression, the situation is so complicated, I don't think that these two sisters will ever come together on their own. And therefore, he publicly asks somebody else to help them. He says, I entreat thee also to your fellow, help those women, which labored with me in the gospel. He entreats a brother to your fellow. He doesn't mention a name. We don't know 100% who it was, but I think it was Epaphroditus. Obviously, it was somebody who knew that he was meant because there is no name mentioned. And there is somebody whom he approaches, probably this man who brought the letter had told Paul about the situation. And now he says, if you go back and bring this letter to the Philippians, and then they will read that, and you need to help them. I entreat you to your fellow, help those women, which labored with me in the gospel. Paul did not forget what these two sisters had done for the Lord's work. It's very easy for us, when a problem comes up that has to be addressed in a local meeting, that we forget what the brothers or sisters have done for the Lord. And we're so occupied with the problem that we could no longer see what they had done. And Paul says, the Lord has not forgotten what they have done, and I have not forgotten it. They have worked or labored with me in the gospel. And he says, that this your fellow should help them or assist them who have contended along with me in the glad tidings. And this word assist them is the same Greek word that is used for the Holy Spirit, the parakletos. Of course, it's a verb here, but it means to come to the side of somebody, stand next to him and help him in this problem because it was so important. He wanted him to help them. Those sisters that had worked together with Paul, not only with Paul, but also with others whose names are in the book of life. They were all believers. Their name was in the book of life. And so they couldn't be careless about this matter. They should go into it and try to find a way to help them so that spiritual stability could come back to that local place and to these two sisters and maybe others. The next point is in verse four, the joy of the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice. Joy is also one of the key words in Philippians. Paul writes about joy in Philippians more than once. And there is a development in this. First, he speaks about in the first two chapters, he speaks about joy when there was a reason for that joy among the saints. He said, I'm praying for your Philippians with joy because they were in such a good state. And he mentions this fellow worker whom he sends back and says they should receive such a man, such a laborer with joy because he was such a faithful worker. In that case, there was a reason for that joy. And of course, the Lord sends us situations or persons into our life that may be a joy for us as the Philippians were for Paul. But in chapter three, verse one, he says, finally, my brethren rejoice in the Lord. This is a joy that does not depend on the circumstances, on people that may be a reason for that joy. If we could only have joy because the situation is joyful or people are encouraging us, that's not very special. Even an unbeliever can rejoice if the situation is very positive and things are encouraging him. But how is it when this situation changes and when the situation is a problem? Paul said, rejoice in the Lord. He was not writing this from a holiday resort, but from a prison. Rejoice in the Lord always. And prisons in those days were not very joyful places. But he said, my joy has its source in the Lord. And here in chapter 40 says, rejoice in the Lord always. And again, I say rejoice always, not only in some situations. He is in principle saying, let the enemy not rob you your joy in the Lord. That's what he wants to do, of course. And we know from the book we had before us this afternoon, from Nehemiah, we know that the joy in the Lord is our strength. And if he can take that away out of our lives, we will get unstable and we will not go on for the Lord in the way we should. Of course, when there is sin in our life as believers, the joy cannot be there. That's what David says in the Psalms, that he asked the Lord to restore to him the joy of salvation. He had not lost his salvation through his sin, but the joy of it. And so things have to be cleared and then the joy may come back. But he says, let no one rob you of this joy in the Lord in every circumstances and always, because it has its origin in the Lord and what he has given us, which nobody can rob us and it's independent from circumstances. And the next point he mentions is in verse five, let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Or in the new translation, let your gentleness be known to all men. And there's a note in the margin, not insisting on your rights. This humility is also necessary as a matter you need for spiritual stability. In the world, people would say, if you insist on your rights and nobody's going to rob you your rights, then you are strong. If you do not do that, it might be considered as a sign of weakness, but that is not so in the spiritual realm. It is an attitude, a sign of strength that you can be gentle to other people, not insisting on your rights, but just giving them a gentle or a moderate response. And he said, let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. When he comes, he will judge everything correctly. You don't have to fight for your own rights, but be gentle to other people. And that is a sign of your stability. If we try to fight for our own rights, this is a sign of weakness for a believer. At the same thing, we find, and that is the next point then, faith, a faith that trusts in God and leaves everything to him. Verse 6, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. There is somebody who is not overwhelmed by all the problems he has, by all the questions there are, but he leaves things to the Lord and says he is going to take care of it. Everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be made known unto God. Our gentleness, our moderation should be made known unto all men, but our requests should be made known unto God, not the other way around. Maybe we tell people all the problems we have and make them known to everybody. That's not what he wants us to do, but make them known unto God. In everything, in prayer, supplication, yes, it may be an earnest kind of prayer, not just mention it once. We may be praying on a special thing for more than one or two days, supplication. We may let our requests be made known unto God. And the next point is in the same verse with thanksgiving. Gratitude, thanksgiving is also a sign of spiritual stability, that we are thankful for what the Lord has given us. Even if there are things that burden us, if there are things that do not go the way we want them to go, but if we think about it, what we can thank the Lord for, we will realize how many things there are to thank the Lord for. And it was so typical of the apostle Paul, except in his epistle to the Galatians, in all the other epistles, when he writes to an assembly, he thanked God for what he could thank him for in that particular meeting before addressing things that were some problem in that particular meeting. Thanksgiving should be a part of our prayers when we let our requests be made known unto God to thank him. I think we all know situations where we are so burdened by our sorrows that we just rush into prayer and tell everything to God. We may do that, but we forget to thank him for things we could thank him for, in the first place, for what he has done on the cross of Calvary, that he saved us, and that he has taken our place in the judgment of God, and all the blessings we have through that. This is different here, this prayer, from what we find, I think, in John 14. In John 14, John 14, verse 13, the Lord said, And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. There is a kind of prayer the Lord speaks about, a prayer in his name, where we would, so to say, pray representatively for him. He could ask the same thing. We are in accordance with his will and ideas. And he says, Well, then you get the promise that your prayer will be heard. Not all our prayers, strictly speaking, are prayers in the Lord's name, just because we mention this. But nevertheless, this passage in Philippians makes it quite clear we can put everything before him. And every request we have, we bring to our God and Father with thanksgiving. But the promise then is not that he will do it and that he will do what we ask him for. But the promise is, And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ. The peace of God will fill our hearts, even if he does not ask our prayers in the way we might have expected him to do. There is this inner peace we have that he knows about it. We've told him he knows about it. He's going to take care of it. And we leave it with him. And he can give us this peace of God into our hearts. I'm thinking about one or two examples in the Bible. We have this well-known situation in 1 Samuel, where you get 1 Samuel 1, where you have Samuel's mother, Hannah, going into the presence of the Lord to pray before him. And it says about her in 1 Samuel 1, verse 10, And she was in bitterness of soul and prayed unto the Lord and wept sore. And in verse 15, she says to Eli, I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the Lord. That's what Philippians 4 is. She has poured out her soul before the Lord. And then it says in verse 18, in the middle, So the woman went her way and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. Her personal situation hadn't changed a bit at that moment. But she had poured her heart out to the Lord. And when she went, there was this peace of God in her heart. Something had changed in her heart, even if the situation did not change. And I'm thinking about David as he says in Psalm 3. We find a similar thing. Psalm 3, verse 4. Psalm 3, verse 4. It was David when he fled from Absalom his son. And he says in verse 4, I cried unto the Lord with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. I laid me down and slept. He was in a really difficult situation. His son was persecuting him. And he says, I cried unto the Lord. I told everything to him, and then he laid down and slept. Obviously, there was this peace of God in his heart that he could sleep. We all know probably about sleepless nights when we toss about in our beds and couldn't sleep and things go through our heads and we worry about things. But here was a man in a very difficult situation. He told it to the Lord and he laid down and slept. Maybe we could also mention Mary of Bethany. The two sisters went to the Lord and told him that their brother, the one whom the Lord loved, was ill. And in the rest of the story, we find that Mary sat at home. She didn't run to meet the Lord like Martha did. She obviously was in a state of peace just to wait what was going to happen. She stayed at her place and waited for the Lord to happen. I think we all realize how often we are far away from such a situation, but that is what will help us to be spiritually stable if we put things to the Lord with thanksgiving, leave it to him and the peace of God may fill our hearts. But there's another thing then. The next one in verse eight, we find another thing. We may call it, which is necessary for spiritual stability, we may call it godly thinking. Our thought life influences us more than we may think. And Paul says, finally, brethren, what are you thinking about? What is occupying your thoughts? And he says, this should be on a positive line. He said, whatsoever things are true and honest and just and pure and lovely and good report and a virtue and praise, think on these things. That are the things you should be occupied with. There's so much around us, which is not true. Which is a lie or which is error. But he says, be occupied with the two things. There is no, it doesn't help you to be spiritually stable if you go on and study all the errors and false teachings that are around in the world. But he says, be occupied with things that are true and the things that are honest and just. All these things, which are the opposite just of what we find in the world around us, that should occupy our thoughts. Whatsoever things are pure. We are living in an immoral world and everything around us is characterized by impurity. And it's so easy that these things occupy us to be occupied with them. He said, no, think about those things which are pure. I think brothers who had the responsibility to be occupied with things in an assembly or in believer's life that had to do dealing with matters of immoral behavior know what a burden that is. And that it is not something you would like to do. But as far as we find, he said, be occupied with the things that are pure and with the things that are lovely. And if there is a virtue and praise, think on these things. Generally speaking, we may be occupied with things that are strengthening us and not with all the things that we find around in the world around us. This will influence our stability if we are really occupied with these things. And the last point is, in verse nine, that then we have to be obedient. That then we have to do what we find out when we are occupied with the word of God. Paul says, those things which ye have both learned and received and heard and seen in me do. Here we find in this short description of Paul, we find that Paul was teaching in doctrine and practice and he was an example in word and deed for the believers. He said, there are things you have learned. He says to Timothy, what you have learned and are fully convinced of. And I think most of us have learned a lot of biblical truth. The question now is, are we living according to that? He says, do these things. You have learned and received. Probably he is now thinking especially on those revelations he had given on to them, to the Galatians. He says, if anybody comes and brings you another gospel than that which you have received from me, he is accursed. On in other scriptures, he speaks about things the believers had received from him. He had them from the Lord had given them over to the saints and heard. Maybe he thinks about what he told them and they had heard it or it may also mean what they heard about Paul, about his way of life. And he said, you have seen it in me. It's not only a secondhand report you heard. You have also seen it in me. I've left these things in your midst and now you shall do these things. This is a very challenging word for all of us who minister the word that the Lord expects us to be examples to those we teach. It's not enough simply to teach the truth, but Paul could say, I have shown you. The believers should be able to see in our lives what we teach them, first in our own family, in our local assembly and further on how the Lord leads. But it is so important. We all know that we are all failing in this and that we are weak, but this is the challenge we have and we couldn't escape it that God says, what you teach, you should also do. Paul could say to Timothy, you know my doctrine, my behavior. And this was both the same with him. There was no contradiction between his doctrine and his behavior. He was not saying one thing and doing another. But here he says, what you've seen in me, what you've learned from me, this do. And the God of peace shall be with you. Before he said in verse seven, the peace of God shall fill your hearts. But when you now in practical obedience to the word of God, you fulfill the biblical principles you've learned, then the God of peace shall be with you. And that is so to round up this subject of spiritual stability. If the God of peace is at your site, then you are really stable. Then you are not shaken by all kinds of things because you have done things that helped you to be, to stand fast in the Lord. From verse 10, Paul now speaks on a subject which has to do with the matter of contentment, of being content in the situations we are in. We find verses on that in other scriptures. For example, Paul writes to Timothy in first Timothy six, verse six, but godliness with contentment is great gain for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment, let us be there with content. And the writer of Hebrews says something similar in Hebrews 13, in verse five, let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as ye have. For he has said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper. I will not fear what man shall do unto me. There's of course subject which is quite problematic to speak about in our Western societies where everything around us tries to convince us that we need a lot of other things that we do not have. That's how the marketing works. We should buy things and so they have to tell us we need all these things. Paul said, I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that now at the last your care for me has flourished again when you were also careful but he lacked opportunity. If we find out what Paul is saying in these verses about this, then in this verse he says, I am trusting in God for my provision. And now he is using you Philippians and I rejoice on that. They hadn't sent him something for a long time. Some say it was 10 years but it was quite a long time they hadn't sent something to him and now they did and he rejoiced. But Paul said, I'm not looking on the person to do that. I wait for the Lord. He is taking care of my provision and he may use different situations and people to do that. And so I am rejoicing on that. And in verse 11 onwards, he says that he was, the apostle was content with less. He says, not that I speak in respect of want for I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content. Paul was independent of the circumstances. He could say, I have learned. Well, even Paul didn't have this from his birth. He says, I have had to learn that through experience. It's not something we could talk about theoretically but he had learned it in his life. And he said, I have learned in whatever state I am therewith be to be content. Probably we all are still in the process of learning that. But Paul could say, I've learned that. I'm independent of circumstances. They may be positive or they may be negative. I may have at some time I have more or I have less. I know both how to be abased and I know how to be abound. Everywhere and in all things, I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. Well, I would say most of us were not in a situation where we really had to suffer hunger. There was something in the fridge we could go to and eat something. I need something. But Paul, it was different. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 4, something about his life. 1 Corinthians 4, verse 11. Even unto this present hour, we both hunger and thirst and are naked and are buffeted and have no certain dwelling place. That was the situation in Paul's life, in some of his time of his life. He really knew what that meant. And so I know how to be abased. I know how to have enough to be full. I often wonder if we could have asked Paul, when was that in your life? When you had enough and more than enough and when you were full. In the light of 1 Corinthians 4, I could hear Paul say, well, when I had three meals a day and a roof over my head, a place to stay and to sleep, I was full, I had enough. And very often I had less than that when going on his work. Well, probably most of us are not in such a situation than he was in, but nevertheless, it challenges us to ask ourselves, are we content with what we have? Do we really need all these new mobile phones every other month? Because they have developed so quickly or whatever it may be. What is your problem? This may be different. You know, and I know what is the thing that we find so interesting. We all need these things and our children have to learn these things to be content with what they have. And we have to learn it because it is some Christian virtue which should be something we know about. Paul says, I know about these things. I've learned this. And he also knew the divine source of his power for that. He says in verse 13, I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me. Very often we take this verse out of context so that it means, oh, well, we can do everything because Christ gives us the strength for that. But in the context, Paul is speaking about his being content, living through circumstances when he had enough and when he did not have enough. And he says, I can do all this, not because I'm a superman or something, but because there is a divine source of strength which is outside of me. I only can do that through Christ which strengthened me. He gives me the power for that, to go through different circumstances and trust on the Lord. We cannot, well, this is something we have to learn in our personal lives. We cannot copy that. We cannot say, well, I have read stories about people who were living in such a situation, and I'm going to do the same thing now. This will not work. There was a brother in Germany in the last century. He lost his job because he had left the church to gather to the Lord's name, and it was very difficult in his family. And they were sitting at a table where the children had nothing to eat. And then he thanked God for the food that he had provided for them. And after he had finished that prayer, it was a knock at the door, and somebody came and brought them something to eat. But if I would do that, nobody would knock at the door. If I would just say, well, I'm doing it like that. I'm not going to buy anything anymore. I just pray and sang, and then somebody's coming, and nobody will be coming. Because it's not a matter of faith in your life. You're just trying to copy other people. But we can learn from them and through our own life to be content in a situation in which we are, however that may be. And then when going on to write to them, in verse 14, he gives us another very important point. Notwithstanding, he's well done that he communicated with my affliction. He says, I am thinking of you, and it is something that is for your benefit. Paul was taking care of others. When we are only occupied with our own situation, how we are going on, we will never be content. But if we also look at others, if we have an interest in other souls and other people, thinking about them, then the Lord can help us to be content in the situation we are in. And he says to the Philippians, notwithstanding he have well done that he did communicate with my affliction or that he took part in my affliction. You have well done. The word here translates one of the two Greek words for good. And it is the one that speaks about something that is good as a virtue in the eyes of God, not so much something that is beneficial for others. It was beneficial for Paul, of course. But that's not the thing he's thinking about. But he's thinking about that what they did was good in the eyes of God, not only good for him. Of course it was. And he thanked them for that. But it was really something where he could say, you've well done. Now, ye Philippians. As far as I found out, if I haven't overseen something, three times Paul in his letters starts to speak to those he writes to, mentioning them by this collective name. Here, he says, now, ye Philippians. And here it is a sign of his appreciation for them for what they had done. He does the same thing, for example, in 2 Corinthians 6, in verse 11. Oh, ye Corinthians, our mouth is open unto you. Our heart is enlarged. Ye are not straightened in us, but ye are straightened in your own bowels. There it is a kind of appeal to them. Because there were some in Corinth who were saying, well, Paul is not really an open heart for us. And so, and he said, oh, ye Corinthians, if you really knew my heart is open to you, it's on your side. And then the third time is in Galatians, where it is a sign of all his sorrow for them. And he also edits an adjective. Oh, foolish Galatians, he says, who has bewitched you. So if he expresses them, he expresses their name once again and says, oh, ye Philippians, you know also that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed from Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but ye only. He said, you Philippians, you were the ones that have supported me in the beginning of the gospel. Even if now there was a long time where they had no opportunity, he said, you were the ones that did. So he says about it, speaks about it in 2 Corinthians 8, when he writes to the Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 8, verse two, he speaks about the churches in Macedonia. Philippians were among them. How that in a great trial of affliction, the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. He says, they were even poor, these assemblies. They were not the rich assemblies, but out of their poverty, they had given him. And we find similar things that he says about this assemblies. He even speaks about that he robbed them because he did not take anything from the Corinthians for obvious reasons. And he took it from them. And he called it, he robbed them. But he says, oh, you have been thinking about me. And not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. The relationship of Paul to the Philippians was really a very good one. So that he could write in such a way to them. Writing about financial matters is always delicate. But Paul could write to them knowing they would not misunderstand him. Which so easily could be the case. He said, I'm not writing that because I want you to give me something more. But he says, I am doing that. I desire fruit that may abound to your account. That is a principle in scripture that we always find that if somebody is giving something for the Lord, it will always have a return on the spiritual realm. There are verses, you may all know them from Proverbs, that speak about this principle in Proverbs 11, 24. There is that scattereth and yet increase. And there is that withholdeth more than is made, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. It's always a mutual thing that Paul is talking about here. And so we may now, when we have these verses before us, shortly say, what do these verses tell us? What principles are about Christian giving? The first is what we had in verse 10, that it comes from the heart. It's not some mechanical thing they did. But as Paul said, they flourished again. Their hearts were burning for Paul. He said, well, he is there in prison and he has needs and we want to help him because we love him and we have him on our hearts. But it also is, as he says in verse 10, according to opportunity, as they had opportunity. There was a time when they had no opportunity. As God gives the opportunity. It is not very intelligent and useful if you or I were sitting in our comfortable chair and thinking about what we could do for the Lord's service if we were a millionaire. But he wants us to use the opportunities we have. And when this woman, the widow, put the two mites in the treasury, the Lord got really excited about that. And he said, she has done in more than all the others. And before that, he said that the rich Pharisees and scribes and all the rich one put much, a lot of money in it. And now the Lord says, she has done in more than all the others. Strange mathematics. But he saw what the problem was. The others had done from all their abundance enough. But she had given all she had. When I was talking to a group of children in Sunday school about this story, they were quite clever to realize what the problem was. I showed them one coin, which was two pence, a two pence coin. I said, yeah, that's two pence. And then I showed them two one pence coins. And I said, what's that? And they said, well, two pence. Yeah, what's the difference? Well, one said, if I had two coins, I could keep one for myself and could put one into the treasury. If I had only one and I had to put it in. Yeah, certainly. And the scripture definitely says that this widow had two pieces, two coins. And she put both of them in. So she gave everything she had. And the Bible doesn't tell us anything more. But I'm sure that this widow is not starved to death afterwards. The Lord will have cared for her in a special way. So that is one thing that we are giving according to the opportunity we have. And in verse 14, we have seen that we are giving in general for the Lord's work in general. Paul says, taking part in my affliction. They were having fellowship. They were having communion with the Lord's work somewhere else in supporting that kind of work that was done through the apostle Paul. Then we find in verse 16 that it was also a consistent way of giving because Paul says, well, you have sent to me in Thessalonica once and again unto my necessity. They had this on their heart and there was a kind of consistency. It is quite easy when we read a glossy magazine about something that's going on in the Lord's work and lovely pictures and then we say, well, yeah, we have to support that. But let me forget about it as soon as we finish this article because other things come in. But the Philippians had Paul in his heart and there was a kind of consistent supporting of that work he was doing. And in verse 17, we've seen that it was for a spiritual blessing for the giver. Paul says, there is a fruit to your account. There is something spiritually blessing you receive for that. And so this is something that we should keep in mind. It's not only a material matter. It's there is a spiritual answer for that kind of Christian virtue. And in verse 18, we also find that they were giving generously because it says, but I have all and abound I'm full having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you. And Paul was not a man who was exaggerating just to make a nice verse. He really felt that what they had given him was a generous gift and he had more than enough and he was really full of what they had given him. And we also find another point here in the same verse that it is a spiritual sacrifice. He says an odor of sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well-pleasing to God. That's what we find in Hebrews as well, where the sacrifices of praise that go up to God are connected with the sacrifice of giving. And he says, this is something that is well-pleasing to God. We may not consider it because we may consider it a small matter and probably it is only a small amount that we have at our hand. But God says, this is a sacrifice. This is something that is acceptable and well-pleasing to God. And the last thing in verse 19 is that God will be no man's debtor. Now, there were the Philippians. They had given generously to Paul, but they were also poor. They had also their own needs. And then Paul says, but my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. He will not let you down now because you have given something to him. You will realize that he will supply all your needs. And this again is something of Paul's Christian experience because he says in verse 19, but my God, Paul in some of his epistles gets very personal. He does not say our God, which is of course true. But he says, my God, that's the God I have experienced in my life. That's how I learned him, that he is the one who supplies all our needs. And so he will also supply all your needs and in such a way that is worthy to his name because he does not say, which would be great. He does not say, my God shall supply all your needs according to your needs, which would be great if he did that. But it says according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. It is worthy of this great God that when he gives something, he does so according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. And so the apostle Paul, when speaking about this, can only close this more or less with doxology. Now unto God and our father be glory for ever and ever, amen. We have a great God and we can trust him for all the situations in our lives and he will reward everything that is done for him. And I'm sure when we thought a bit about these three things, about spiritual stability, contentment, and Christian giving, there's a lot of things that the Lord teaches us which we could think about and ask him to show us how our practical life could be more in accordance with his will to glorify his name. Now unto God and our father be glory for ever and ever. Could we sing in closing hymn 166. Lord thou has drawn us after thee, now let us run and never tire. Thy presence shall our comfort be, thyself our hope, our soul desire. 166. Lord thou has drawn us after thee, now let us run and never tire. Thy presence shall our comfort be, thyself our hope, our soul desire. 167. Our present saviour, O our loving, our saviour coming, our dear, our saviour coming, our dear. All think I love, all stress me, all thought, all soul, thine kind, all sun, my day, all spring of life, when past with drought, how kind to fear, how brave to stay, how strength of shield, our safer home, our holy forest, the home of God, our holy forest, the home of God. Unchanging love, thy gracious love, our ev'ry power, our ceaseless youth, ev'ry spirit, thy heart, good nor old, thy temper, mercy, still pursued, ever with us may it ever hide, and close us in on ev'ry side, and close us in on ev'ry side. …

… Good afternoon, can we start our meeting this afternoon with a hymn, hymn number 20. Blessed Lord, our hallelujahs now to thee we raise. Never could we fully utter all thy worth and praise, praise the Lamb, yes, thou art worthy who did shed thy blood to redeem thy saints and make us kings and priests to God. Hymn number 20. Blessed Lord, our hallelujahs now to thee we raise. Never could we fully utter all thy worth and praise, praise the Lamb, yes, thou art worthy who did shed thy blood to redeem thy saints and make us kings and priests to God. Yes, we praise thee for thou loves us and we bless thee, Lord, for the peace and joy and gladness which thou dost afford. Alleluia, thou, Lord Jesus, canst not cease to love. Thine we are and thine forever, one with thee above. Praise the Lord, yes, alleluia, who would hush the song. Join with saints from every nation, every tribe and tongue. Praise the Lamb for he is worthy, sweet eternal strain. Alleluia, alleluia, praise the Lord, amen. Precious name of our Lord Jesus, amen. I'd like us to turn firstly to Colossians chapter three. Chapter three. Colossians chapter three and verse 16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. I desire this afternoon to say a little about the subject of singing. Singing is something which we as believers are very often occupied with. It forms very much part of our coming together and I wonder whether perhaps we give any thought as to the importance of what we do when we sing as believers and the scriptures do have quite a bit to say about the matter of singing and psalms and hymns and spiritual songs and I desire with the Lord's help just to have a look at some scriptures and see if together we can't learn something of what the Lord would have us understand as to the importance of and the privilege that we have as believers of being able to sing. So a number of verses. The first mention I think chronologically in the scriptures, I'm not talking about the first mention as we might open our Bibles and start in Genesis, but the first we might say of occurrence is in Job and if we might look up Job chapter 38. Job chapter 38, this is the Lord answering Job out of the whirlwind and he says in verse 4, this is the Lord to Job, where was thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? Declare if thou hast understanding. So that establishes the time frame of our verse. And then in verse 6, whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened or who laid the cornerstone thereof when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy. This I suggest is the first reference to singing that we find in scripture in regard to the passage of time, if I can express it in that way. Now it seems that there was an angelic host. We have this expression, the sons of God. The sons of God, this expression in different contexts may mean a different thing, but I think here we would agree that it refers to the or an angelic host. And it says that they shouted for joy, not exactly singing, but there was an expression of joy. But there was these morning stars. The morning stars sang together. Now whether these morning stars refer to another company of angelic hosts or whether it's pictorial language speaking of the response of creation, I don't know. But this is the first introduction that we have to singing. And note that they sang together, and note that it's accompanied by the sons of God shouting for joy. So having introduced the idea of angels, can we turn now to the Gospel of Luke? The beginning of Luke. Now I think it's true to say that we're very familiar, we're in Christmas carols with references to angels. We have hark the herald angels sing, and we have sing choirs of angels. And perhaps we're so familiar with these things that we've come to a certain assumption which may not be tested by scripture. Because if we look to chapter 2 of Luke, the announcement to Mary, verse 12, Luke 2 verse 12, this shall be a sign unto you, you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and note this word saying, not singing exactly, but saying glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men. Now I say that because I want us to realize that as men and women, boys and girls, and especially as believers on the Lord Jesus, it is a special privilege that we have of being able to sing. So far we've not read really of angels singing. Now that may, you may not agree with it, you may, and it may be somewhat surprising to hear me say that. But I want us to count it as a special privilege of men, men and women, boys and girls, that we have the capacity and the privilege of singing. And I trust as the Lord helps, as our time unfolds, that we'll see just how that is the case. Now if we go back to the beginning of our Bibles in Genesis, we'll see the beginning of some other aspect connected with singing by way really of contrast. And Genesis chapter 4, we have the account of the descendants of Cain. So already we understand that this is not the godly line. And there was a descendant of Cain, his brother's name was Jubal, and he was the father of all such as handled the harp and organ. And Zillah, she also bared Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every artifice in brass and iron, and the sister of Tubal-Cain was Nama. So we see that those who took up a line of rebellion against God were skilled, not only in the use of the harp and the organ, but in, we might say, the use of metalwork and that sort of thing. So I bring this out just to show that what we have before us, there are two courses. We can either take up what we have for God or for our own pleasure and our own will. And I lay this out just as a word of warning that we have this twofold possibility before us. The first mention of the making of music is here in connection with the line of Cain. And we can assume that the use to which these things were put were not for God. And the end of the chapter, we read in verse 26, and to Seth, to him also there was born a son, and he called his name Enos, then began men to call upon the name of the Lord. So we have these two lines, these two races of men. One, we can assume, are occupied with themselves, and the other, the line of Seth, they began to call upon the name of the Lord. Well, moving on to the godly line, the next, in fact, the first mention of singing as such, we find in Exodus in regard to Moses. And we can read about that in Exodus 15. And this is after the Lord has rescued the children of Israel. Chapter 15 of Exodus, we read, Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. So we have here a song being sung in response to something God has done, a wonderful work of salvation, a wonderful matter of triumph to which Moses attributes it all to the hand of God. And as a natural response, a right and proper response, we see there's this singing to God, and we have this song of Moses. And then there are many other such references, and really just to pick one or two, 1 Samuel chapter 18. Now, this is David having triumphed over his meeting with Goliath, 1 Samuel 18 and verse 6. We read, It came to pass, as they came, when David was returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the woman came out of all cities of Israel, the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and dancing to meet King Saul with tabrets, with joy, and with instruments of music. And the women answered one another as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 2 Chronicles chapter 23. 2 Chronicles 23 and verse 18. And Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the Lord by the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David. So, we have now a verse which shows that by this time, singing had been rightly linked with worship, with approach to God. We have the burnt offering being offered in accordance with the law of Moses, and with rejoicing and singing, it seems, as ordained by David. So there was, by this time, a very strong link established between singing and with the offering of worship to God. And really, for the purposes of our little study this afternoon, we can leave it there. There are many other Old Testament scriptures that we could look at to see how singing is linked with praise, response to God. And we've seen how, quite understandably, it is a response following something to sing about. Moses and the children of Israel were saved, were rescued from captivity, and as a result, in overwhelming thanksgiving and relief, Moses sang a song unto the Lord. And it's the normal response we see when we see a triumph like David triumphing over the Philistine, Goliath. But of course, both these incidents are typical, aren't they? They're a picture to us of the work of the Lord Jesus triumphing over sin, over Satan, over all those that come up against God. And I hope that we might see this very clearly, that this is the strongest reason we have for taking up a song, that we recognise in the person and the work of the Lord Jesus that he has the victory, he has triumphed. And what then is the response of our hearts? Well, we respond with a song, but not just something that we express with our vocal cords, our lips, our tongues. It goes beyond that, as we shall see in due course. Singing, it seems clear, is a matter that goes hand in hand with rejoicing. But is that the only motive? Is that the only thing which causes us to sing? Well, the wonderful thing about the believer is that he or she is in a position to sing in other circumstances as well. And if we turn to Job again, this time Job chapter 35. This is Job chapter 35 and verse 10. But none saith, where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night? None say, where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night? And I wonder, do we know anything about this matter of a God who gives songs in the night? What does it mean, the God who gives songs in the night? Well, the children of Israel, as we've seen, they were very keen in responding to some wonderful work of God when there was some matter of triumph to sing about. But in Psalm 137, a very well-known Psalm, Psalm 137, we read there, By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there, they that carried us away captive required of us a song, and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land? So it seems as if, naturally speaking, in an earthly sense, it's very, it's a completely different matter of singing when in circumstances of sorrow. Certainly, it's, Israel found it almost impossible to sing glad songs. They couldn't sing about Zion, matters of glory and triumph when they were in a strange land. There wasn't the motivation, the motivation, they didn't have the cause for such singing. Is that how we feel sometimes? Is that us? As it were, hanging our harps on the willows, nothing to sing about, no joy, no gladness because of our circumstances. What about the God that giveth songs in the night? What does it mean? It's not, I think, a reference to those who have sleepless nights. It's not what we think of doing when we can't sleep and we get up in the middle of the night. That's not really the thought. I think it's a, it's a moral thought. Perhaps we might turn to a very solemn verse in John's Gospel, John chapter 13. This is in regard to Judas. There with the Lord and his disciples, the institution of the Lord's Supper. Well, prior to that, we would say this is the last Passover and having celebrated the Passover with his disciples, the Lord is now going to take up something new. And he speaks to, to Judas. We might take it up, John 13 from verse 26. Jesus answered, he it is to whom I shall give a sop when I have dipped it. And when he had dipped the sop, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon. And after the sop, Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, that thou doest do quickly. Now, no man at the table knew for what intent he spake this unto him. For some of them thought, because Judas had the bag, that Jesus had said unto him, buy those things that we have need of against the feast, or that he should give something to the poor. He then, having received the sop, went immediately out and it was night. It was night. Very, very solemn verse. Not just speaking of what was true of the time of day. It's a moral description. Judas went out from the presence of the Lord to betray him. He went out into the night. He went out morally into what characterizes this world. Night in scripture often speaks of often speaks of what is characteristic of this world. Very, very solemn thing to go out of the presence of God into the night. And Judas went into the night in circumstances which would not be a course of praise and joy in his own heart and there is nothing that God can receive from those who live in the night, morally speaking. There's nothing that God values in, we might say, the singing or the music that has its source in the night. The line of Cain produces nothing that God rejoices in. The line of Seth, however, when men call upon the name of the Lord, well, if there's a proper response to God in the form of song, then there's something that he takes account of and takes delight in. Judas is an extreme example of someone that was in the night. He could know nothing of a God who gives songs in the night. He'd gone out from the presence of that God, of the person of the Lord Jesus. But there was another one, Paul, in Acts 16. Paul and Silas, in fact. Yes, verse 25, Acts 16, verse 25. And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God and the prisoners heard them. Now, this is an example of singing in the night. Now, I don't mean just because it's a song. It's a prayer. It's a song. It's a prayer. It's a song. It's a in the night. Now, I don't mean just because it tells us it was at midnight. Paul and Silas were in prison. Morally speaking, they were in a place which would initiate sorrow, feeling sorry for oneself, despair. All these things naturally would be true of us, wouldn't they, if we were manacled one to another or to a soldier or to a wall in the dark in a prison for something that we hadn't done. Or at least, you know, we're imprisoned injustly. This, naturally speaking, would produce in us maybe feelings of bitterness, of hatred. But the difference is in Paul and Silas, we have a much better example for the believer. These dear brothers, these men, they knew the Lord Jesus out of whose presence Judas had gone. These knew the Lord Jesus as their Lord and Savior. They had come to know a God who gives songs in the night, morally speaking, and so they were able to praise and these praises were heard. And we can be sure these praises were a wonderful testimony to the consequences of the gospel. A wonderful thing, Paul and Silas singing praises at midnight. And that's what I believe is meant by this term, this expression, a God who gives songs in the night. Now, do we know anything of this? Do we know what it is when we're conscious of being in circumstances of the night, and it may be in the middle of the day, but outwardly the circumstances are such that we feel that it's the night. We're oppressed, we're going through difficulties, through sorrows. There's not a matter now for joyful praise as such. Nevertheless, the believer can at such times can at such times have peace in his or her heart. There may indeed be aspects of joy. Maybe we've lost a loved one. Well, we can be full of joy because that loved one is with Christ, for instance, but that doesn't do away with the fact that there's sorrow. Maybe other circumstances, naturally speaking, would cause sadness. Nevertheless, if we know God, we know a God who gives songs in the night. So, are we beginning to see something of what I have in my heart? That this matter of singing is a wonderful privilege. The believer knows something that the unbeliever knows nothing of. Sure, we can praise God in times of joy and triumph. We're occupied with the victory that he has won. But even when that's not the case, when we're going through difficult circumstances, these things are a reality, aren't they? That we can know what it is to know a God who gives songs in the night. Well, having looked at the practice of those in the Old Testament and Paul and Silas, perhaps we need to look at one or two other verses to see the wonderful breadth and extent of singing. We turn now to the last book of the Bible, Revelation and chapter 5. Revelation chapter 5, read from verse 8. When he had taken the book, the four beasts, four twenty elders, fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof. For thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests or kingdom of priests, and we shall reign over the earth. These verses, I believe, bring us forward into a coming day. Remember, Revelation is a book full of symbolic language, symbolic pictures, and these four twenty-four elders, they represent a company. We believe the twenty-four is two sets of twelve, representing both the Old Testament and the New Testament saints. We can say this is a little glimpse ahead to the day when every believer, you and me, will be with the Lord Jesus, he having come for us. And at that time, we're told we shall be forever with the Lord. Now, what we see here is there's a response. It's a new song, and there's a reference to the worthiness of the Lord Jesus. There's a reference to his being entitled, worthy to open the seals. These are the seals of judgment, which are to be poured out upon those on earth. And there's an understanding that he, the Lord Jesus, has made us, unto our God, a kingdom of priests. So this is really, I suppose, the verse on which the writer of our opening hymn, Mr. Champney, penned the words of Hymn 20. He had this in view. What I desire that we might see of this is the necessity of singing a new song. It's said to be a new song. And this is true also of a reference we find towards the end of the book in Revelation 14. Revelation 14, verse 1, we read, And I looked, and lo, a lamb stood on Mount Zion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of many waters, And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder, and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps. And they sung, as it were, a new song before the throne, before the four beasts and the elders, and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty-four thousand which were redeemed from the earth. So, again, a necessity here of singing a new song. And we're told who are the singers. These are the hundred and forty-four thousand. And not only that, it says that no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty-four. In other words, what they were singing of, they had experience of. It wasn't a third party matter. It wasn't borrowed truth. These hundred and forty-four thousand were singing about something of which they knew, something that they'd gone through, something that they were fully identified with. And this, I believe, is the importance of what we have in these passages in Revelation when it talks about singing a new song. And while we're here in Revelation, chapter 15, verse 3, they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. As believers on the Lord Jesus, in order to sing aright, we have to know what we're singing about. We have to know the one to whom we're singing. And this is a vital matter. This is really what's on my heart, that we, when we're occupied with singing, that we realise the wonderful privilege that we have of being able to sing as believers on the Lord Jesus. The angels, as we've seen thus far, certainly they can shout for joy, they can say, they can announce the greatness of God, but they don't know the Lord as Saviour. That's a privilege unique to you and to me, if the Lord Jesus is your Lord and Saviour. And you alone can then raise a song of response to your Lord and Saviour. It's not something that another can do unless he or she also knows the Lord in that way. And so we have a wonderful, unique privilege as believers of being able to take up a song to our Lord Jesus and to our God and our Father. So we come back now to our own present day, the dispensation in which we live. We're not living in Moses' day, we're not living in David's day, we're not living in the day of the Psalms, the Psalmists, and we're not yet in Revelation 5. What then have we before us? What privilege, what opportunity do we have in this day of taking up a song? Well, it's not left to our imagination. The Scriptures tell us, and we can turn 1 Corinthians chapter 14, brings in a very important point. 1 Corinthians 14 and verse 15. What is it then? I will pray with the Spirit and I will pray with the understanding also. I will sing with the Spirit and I will sing with the understanding also. When the Lord Jesus was with that woman at the well, he told her a very wonderful thing. He said to her that the time now is that the Father seeks such true worshippers who will worship him in spirit and in truth. And we have these two aspects, these two important aspects brought out here. The matter of singing in spirit and in truth. And so it's a matter not of what's natural. If we relied on natural things, we couldn't sing songs in the night, morally speaking. But it's a wonderful spiritual privilege that we have. As believers, we are sealed with, we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We have therefore a capacity to sing in the Spirit, to be prompted, to be motivated by the Spirit. And that's a very important, a very wonderful thing to know that is true of you and me, that we have, we are able to sing with and in the Spirit. But also it says here, we should sing with the understanding. And that ties in with what I have said already in regard to the new song. It's something that we should know about. We should know the one of whom we're singing. We should know the one to whom we're singing. The things we sing, we should know and experience them. They should be already something that our minds understand in order to be a true and proper response. And that's a challenge, isn't it? It's a challenge I suggest to us as to how far we are singing with the understanding. Very easy to take up a book and just to read the words, but do we mean, can we sing truly what we're singing? Is it a true and real expression of what we're singing? Is it true of us what we're singing? If it's not, then is that something that should concern us when we're addressing God and telling him things about ourselves which may or may not be true? I just challenge my own heart, as well as your own. Ephesians chapter 5, and verse 19, speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here, we learn that in taking up a song, we're not only addressing God. In other words, addressing God is not the only matter connected with singing. Here, we're told that we're speaking to ourselves also, and that's very important then to see that when we are to sing with the understanding that we are singing what is true, because we're teaching ourselves, we're rehearsing matters when we sing. That's what this verse tells us, speaking to ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Now, that is something which takes place even at the same time that we may be directing our song to the Lord Jesus or to God the Father, and that's important to take note of because if we are constantly singing something that's not true, and by that I mean it's not glaring error, not fundamental error, but it may not be substantiated by scripture. It may be that being so familiar with such a hymn that we place it on equal terms with the scripture, and that's obviously a danger if what we're singing is not according to God's word. And so we must be very thankful where brothers and sisters have composed hymns that we could sing together who were very familiar with the word. They were spiritual men and women, and they were able to set down words that we can follow in confidence that those words can be substantiated by scripture. It takes us back to my opening remarks. We often sing about seeing choirs of angels and hark the herald angels sing. You see, we may be so familiar with these things that we think little of it. Well, it's important that when we take up something to sing that it should be in accord with the truth. And the way we know that is by taking account of the scripture we first read in Colossians 3, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. So that comes first, the word of God, we must be occupied with the word of God, and then in response we can be occupied with singing. But what is meant by these three descriptions? We have speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. Many years ago I heard it suggested that this leaves room for a wide variety of musical tastes. It was suggested, here you are, you see, if you like one sort of song and you like another, well, it's permitted. And there's room for a wide variety of musical style and taste. I don't really think that's what the scripture means, and we don't need to go into that aspect in any case. But it's always important to see that the scripture sets out what God demands, what God finds important in the first case. It's not what's of interest to us. God sets his standard and it's up to us to respond and to supply what God asks of us. So are these three descriptions just different ways of expressing the same thing, or is there a slight distinction? Some, of course, have said, some Christians, they insist only on singing inspired psalms. They'll only sing from the book of Psalms, set out in a metrical way, of course, and for many years, hundreds of years ago, that was what many Christians were limited to. Is that what is referred to here? Well, I suggest not. And one quick example will help establish this, Psalm 69. For instance, a very wonderful prophetic psalm. The opening verse is clearly a reference to the suffering of the Lord Jesus. But imagine that we were to take up Psalm 69 as a Christian hymn, a hymn that we are to sing in our current dispensation in this day of grace. Do you think this would be an appropriate psalm to sing when we get, for instance, to verse 23? Let their eyes be darkened that they see not, and make their loins continually to shake. Pour out thine indignation upon them, and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. Let their habitation be desolate, and let none dwell in their tents. And so on. The Christian day is not a day of vengeance. That lies in the hands of God. That's for a coming day. We live in a day of grace. And I suggest that that's just a little example of where to take up literally the words of a psalm, the inspired psalm, it would not be appropriate or suitable for the Christian dispensation. Now, I think the scripture, what is meant by this word psalm here, is quite simply what we get in James. Exhortation in James chapter 5 verse 13. Is any among you afflicted? Let him Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms. Psalms, or a psalm, is quite simply an expression of feeling. An expression of feeling. And in fact, if we think about that, that is confirmed really by the whole book of Psalms. It's often said that in the book of Psalms, what we find are the feelings of the Lord Jesus, set out prophetically. The feelings of the Lord Jesus. And so a psalm is an expression of feeling. A real deep-seated feeling. Now, that fits in, doesn't it, surely, with many of the hymns that we sing. We use the word hymns generically. You take many of our hymns in our hymn book. They're an expression of feeling. An expression of what we've come to know. This new song, appropriate to our own circumstances, appropriate to our dispensation, when we know the Lord Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, when we can address God as Abba, Father. When we're occupied with the things of himself, we can say, yes, there's a real expression of feeling. And this scripture exhorts us to be occupied with such things. Psalms and hymns. Well, a hymn, I suppose, strictly speaking, is addressed to God. And it's a hymn of praise or worship, addressed to the Lord Jesus or to God. And many of our hymns are, they're exactly that. They are hymns because they're addressed directly to God. They're not just an expression of feeling. Many of our hymns have all these different aspects. One verse, one line, maybe one characteristic, one another. But the scripture gives us this wide variety to be occupied with the things of God. And then we have this third category, spiritual songs. It's not, it doesn't leave the door wide open. It's a spiritual song, has to be occupied with things regarding godly things, something which the Holy Spirit can occupy us with. And we have many such hymns, songs that we sing on a regular basis. Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. These three general characteristics would sum up what we can be occupied with. Well, you know, it's a wonderful thing to read as we did when we read of Judas going out into the night. A very, very solemn matter to read the counterpoint of that. And in Matthew 26, verse 30, we can read, and when they had sung a hymn, they went out into the Mount of Olives. The Lord Jesus had been with his own. They were with him there and they sung a hymn together and they went out. But the difference is, unlike Judas, they didn't go out and it was night. No, but they went out. They were with the Lord. And what did they do? What followed this going out with the Lord? Well, if you want to know a little about it, you can read the middle chapters of John and see there what the Lord Jesus occupied his disciples with. The Father's house, the Holy Spirit, another comforter, all these wonderful things. And I suggest that what we see here is an example of what it is for the believer to be able to sing. The Lord Jesus has occupied us with the things of himself, with his Father, with his Father's house. He brought his disciples into a great store of wonderful truth. And that's what we have in God's Word. And so when we're occupied with the Lord Jesus, as they were, we suddenly realise, we look up and we realise that we have before us so much wonderful truth. What can our response be other than to be occupied with the singing of psalms and hymns and spiritual songs? That, to me, seems to be what the scriptures with exhort us, encourage us to do. That we have a wonderful privilege as believers living in this current dispensation, something the angels know nothing of. They might know about it, but like the 144,000, they don't know it for themselves. They can never know the Lord Jesus as their saviour. That is a privilege that's unique to you and me in this current dispensation. And so we have a wonderful privilege, dear brethren, of being able to address our Lord and Saviour, being able to address God as Abba Father, being able to take up and express the deep-seated feelings that we have of believers in this scene, knowing that the Lord Jesus has gone before, knowing where we're going. All these things surely would result in a wonderful feeling welling up in our hearts. But take note, the scripture says to sing with the spirit, and I believe it's much more important that we have firstly this deep appreciation of these truths, that they're real feelings, that it's a spiritual response. Those two things are much more important than the quality of our singing. Well that's important, I'm not setting that aside, but we're not here to provide beautiful music. The descendants of Cain can do that, and they're very good at it, but that's not the most important object of our coming together and singing. Maybe we can't sing, maybe we're tone deaf, maybe our voices aren't as good as they were. Sometimes some of us lose our voices. Does that mean we can't sing with the spirit? Of course it doesn't. It's God hears the singing of our hearts, and this is the wonderful thing, making melody in your hearts. I trust that the Lord will encourage us to be occupied with himself, and as we're occupied with him, that there's that appropriate response in our hearts. And we're going to sing in closing a hymn which touches on this. Hymn 206. 206. 207. 208. 209. 200. 201. 202. 203. 204. 205. 206. …

… Again, I say good evening and very welcome to this, the final Catford Lecture of this session. We're going to begin, and I trust we all can sing heartily after the address this afternoon, with hymn number 115, 1-1-5. Head of the Church, Thy Body, O Christ, the Great Salvation, sweet to the saints it is to think of all thine exaltation. All power to thee committed, all power on earth in heaven, to thee a name of widest fame, above all glory given. 115. Head of the Church, Thy Body, O Christ, the Great Salvation, sweet to the saints it is to think of all thine exaltation. All power to thee committed, all power on earth in heaven, to thee a name of widest fame, above all glory given. With thee believers raised, in thee, O night unseated, O guilty ones, but cleared by thee, redemption's toil completed. And when thou, Lord and Saviour, shalt come again in glory, thereby thy sight, thy spotless pride, shall drown the wondrous story. At length the final kingdom, no budge, no end possessing, when heaven and earth, God all in all, shall fill with luscious blessing. All root of evil banished, no breath nor sin to quiver, on earth, on high, no tells for joy, and blissful peace for ever. Lord Jesus, Amen. I wonder if we could turn to our Bibles, to the Gospel of Matthew and chapter 16. Matthew 16. I have four scriptures I would like to read, and we'll read them at the beginning. In Matthew 16 and verse 13. When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. He said unto them, But whom say ye that I am? Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou Simon bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. To the book of the Acts, chapter 2. Acts chapter 2, verse 1. And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And they appeared unto them, clothed in tongues, like as of fire, And they appeared unto them, clothed in tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Now to the first letter to the Corinthians. Paul's letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11. Let me read verse 17 and 18. Now this is that I declare unto you, I praise you not, that ye come together, not for the better, but for the worse. First of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and I partly believe it. We'll turn into the 14th chapter, and verse 37. Chapter 14, verse 37. If any man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. And finally, in the book of Revelation, chapter 21. Chapter 21, verse 1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adored for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. I have four simple thoughts to bring out this evening in relation to the church. The first one, in Matthew 16, I would like to talk a bit about the foundation of the church. In Acts chapter 2, the formation of the church. In 1 Corinthians, the functioning of the church. And finally, in Revelation, the future of the church. Perhaps it's not needed, but perhaps it's worth saying. What is the church? I suppose if you were to go out this evening into the streets of Catford, and ask the people you met what the church is, there may be those who would say the church is at the end of the road. It's always been there. It's the local parish church. There may be others that would say, well, there is a church, it's the Baptist church, or the Congregationalist church, or the Methodist church. And we know what they mean. They mean the building that people meet in. And in the English usage of the language, the word church, normally we would think of a building. And many of us have been interested in the churches of our country, and there are many books written on the churches in Suffolk, the churches in Norfolk, the churches wherever you are. But when we are here tonight and we are talking about the church as seen in the New Testament, we want to forget the idea of a building. The only references that we have to the church as a building are spiritual references. We find in Ephesians, a reference there at the end of chapter 2. In 1 Peter 2, we get there, we are built a spiritual house. And so the idea of the church, according to the Greek word, which I don't know Greek, but I can read a concordance, is the word ecclesia, and it means a called out company. And I think that Peter got near the point when he said in Acts chapter 15, God is visiting the Gentiles to take out from them a people for himself. And that's the idea. The church is a called out company. That God at this very moment is calling out from amongst the nations and from amongst the Jews, a people for himself. And so when Mr. Darby translated his New Testament, instead of putting the word church, which we get confused with the building, he used the term the assembly. And perhaps that would be a more accurate word to use as we think about the church. When we talk about the church, and we will find out if we get a good concordance, if you're young, you get a young's concordance. If you're strong, you can get a strong's concordance. But whatever concordance you get, you will find that the word church does not appear in the Old Testament. And there's a good reason for that. The reason why the word church is not in the Old Testament is because it's not there. And you can search through it from Genesis to Malachi and you will not find the church. What you will find is pictures. You will find types. There's many in those Old Testament books. And it is important to see that the church was not something that was introduced because the Jewish nation failed. The Jews and Judaism had failed. And the proof of their failure is seen at the cross of Christ where they nailed the Son of God to the cross. But that wasn't the reason why the church was introduced. Because in Ephesians chapter 1, we read there, we, the church, was chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. So if we go back to Genesis 1, 1, we will find that the church was in the thoughts of God. And if we go beyond Genesis 1, 1, into that past eternity, before there was anything, the church was there in the thoughts of God. And the wonderful thing is, is that that church, which was in the thoughts of God in the past eternity, is brought into fruition in time through the coming into this scene of the Lord Jesus and is seen in eternity going on to the future. And so if we do not have the church in the Old Testament, it's interesting to see that the first mention of the word church, and here again is a principle that we were taught when, certainly I was taught when I was young, that if we want to understand a particular word or a particular statement, we look for the first mention in Scripture. Now many of us have had profitable times looking at first mentions of the word. We look at the first mention of the word love, and we find that it is in Genesis 22, the father's Abraham's love for Isaac. If we look for the second mention, it is in chapter 24, and there we find Isaac's love for Rebekah. A wonderful picture of God's love for his son and the son's love for the church. But the first mention is here. The first mention of the church in the New Testament is in Matthew chapter 16. The second mention of the church is in Matthew 18, and the third mention is in Matthew 18. But the fourth mention is in the book of Acts. And you may wonder why, and certainly we can wonder why, why is it that Matthew, and only Matthew, speaks about the church? It is not John who we might have thought would have spoke about the church. It is Matthew. Now most of us will know that Matthew's gospel presents to us the Lord Jesus as the king. Mark the servant, John the son of man, Luke the son of man, and John the son of God. Now most of us here would have heard that saying time after time, but I wonder how many of us has stopped and said, Mr. Preacher, how do you know that Matthew presents the Lord Jesus as the king? How do you know that Mark presents him as a servant? And we ought to challenge the speakers as to where they get their information from. Because there is not a verse which says Matthew presents the Lord as the king. But in order to understand these sayings, we need to read the scriptures. And if we read through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we will get the idea that Matthew presents him as a king. For simply, let us look at Matthew's gospel in relation to the birth of the Lord Jesus. He mentions the wise men. He mentions Herod. He mentions the fact that Jerusalem was troubled. He mentions that which is suitable to a king. In Mark's gospel, there is no mention made of the birth of the Lord Jesus. Because you don't need to know the birth of a servant. In Luke's gospel, he's the son of man. And there we find more details in relation to his birth. Because that is absolutely vital. Born of a virgin. Born in the stable. That is Luke's gospel. And when we come to John, he's the son of God. There is no need to mention his birth. He is the one that was the self-existing one. And so John begins his gospel, in the beginning was the Word. So Matthew is the gospel that presents the Lord Jesus as the king. But why then is it Matthew who is left to introduce the subject of the church? I believe if we know what Matthew has already spoken to us about, it will help us. Because in chapter 5, 6 and 7, we have what we know as the Sermon on the Mount. And in those three chapters, we are introduced to what we might say, the laws and the principle of the kingdom. The kingdom that would have been set up had they received the Lord Jesus. In Matthew 5, 6 and 7, we get the principles. We get the law. In Matthew chapter 8 and 9, we find that the Lord Jesus goes out and there are ten miracles. There are more miracles in Matthew 9 and 10 than in any other two chapters in the Bible. They're brought together. He heals the sick. He cleanses the leper. He stills the storm. He raises the dead. They're all in that chapter. We see the power of the king. And in chapter 10, they go out. He sends out the twelve to tell the gospel of the kingdom. But in chapter 11 and chapter 12, we find that not only does Israel reject the king, but the king rejects Israel. And so we come to chapter 13 and we get the going out of the Lord Jesus from the house to the seaside. And there he gave the parable of the sower. He sends out the seed that he might produce fruit. And in the end of those, or in the middle of those parables of the kingdom, we find there the one of the pearl of great price. A wonderful picture of the church. Chapter 14 and 15. Brother Edwin Cross once gave an address on these chapters, bringing out the dispensational points. And it is amazing how that both of these chapters, we see a complete dispensational view. But in chapter 16 and in verse 4, the Lord Jesus says, he left them and departed. And I believe at this point, we find that the Lord Jesus is leaving the nation of Israel. We know he comes back. But here we find that the nation of Israel has been tried, been presented, and they've rejected him. And so the Lord Jesus moves outside of the coast of Israel or very into the north of Israel to this place called Caesarea Philippi. And he raises a question. And this is a very important question. The first question is, is who do men say that I am? Again, if we were to go out and ask people, who do you, what do people say about Jesus? We would have all sorts of answers. There are some that says, well, Jesus is just like John the Baptist. He's a person that is speaking about repentance. Others said, I think he's like Elijah. He's a person that is speaking about judgment. And Elijah, you know, the first act that he did, he brought down fire from heaven on Mount Carmel. The last act he did, he brought down fire from heaven. He's the prophet of judgment. Some saw the Lord Jesus as a prophet of judgment. Others said he's like Jeremiah. He's known as the weeping prophet. Their ideas of the Lord Jesus were mixed. But you know, the Lord Jesus says, very important. He turns to Peter and he says, but who do you say that I am? And I want to ask you that question tonight. Who do you say Jesus is? If you give me the answer, I can tell you on your answer to that question, whether you're on your way to heaven or on your way to a lost eternity. Because if you can tell me from your heart that Jesus is the son of the living God. I believe you are saved. And you know, we find this through the Gospels. The attitude of people towards the Lord Jesus had a great mark upon them. I often like the story. I love the story of Bartimaeus. As the Lord Jesus was going out of Jericho, there was Bartimaeus sitting beside the roadside. And he called to the people and he said, who's passing? And they said, it's Jesus, the Nazarene. In other words, it's Jesus from Nazareth. And you know what Nazareth is? That's that horrible place up in the north that nobody likes. And that's where this man was coming from. It was the despised Jesus. But Bartimaeus said, he didn't turn around and say, Jesus of Nazareth. He says, Jesus, you're the son of David. He had an appreciation of who the Lord Jesus was. And as a result, he got the blessing. Simply, I put it towards you, each one here tonight. Who do you say the Lord Jesus is? Can you say with absolutely conviction, this man is the eternal son of God? This is the one that came into this world to save us from our sins. And Peter, as the spokesman, as he very often is, says, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. And again, we have a wonderful little picture of what we've already said about the four Gospels. Because it is Mark that says, he's speaking about the servant. And Mark simply records the statement, thou art the Christ. Luke says, the Christ of God. But Matthew says, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God. We may ask ourselves the question, why is it that Matthew introduces the Lord Jesus, not just as the Christ. Not just as the Christ of God, but as the son of the living God. And I believe it is because he is about to introduce the subject of the church. And the church is intimately linked with the revelation of Jesus Christ as the son of God. And so the Lord Jesus answers to Peter. And he says, blessed or happy art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood hasn't revealed it to you. Sometimes it's very hard to learn this lesson. That if we are to understand the Word of God, if we are to know what the Spirit of God is saying within the Word, we will never do it according to our own mind. It is not according to what we think, because God's ways are not my ways. If we are to understand the things of God, it is as the Spirit of God will bring them before us. And so let us not think that we can go to theological college and learn the truth of the Bible. We may learn the Greek, we may learn the Hebrew, but if we are to understand the person of the Lord Jesus, we have to have the Spirit. And it is only as the Lord reveals these things to us, will we understand this. And here the Lord Jesus says, flesh and blood is not revealed unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And here again we have another very important point. In John chapter 7, the Lord Jesus speaking to the Pharisees, he could say, my Father. And as soon as he said that, they got up in arms. John 5 verse 17. And they interpreted and said, in saying that, you are making yourself equal with God. Actually they were exactly right. When the Lord Jesus spoke and he spoke about God and he said he is my Father, he was making himself equal with God. Further along in John, in chapter 8 and verse 59, or in chapter 8 and verse 58, the Lord Jesus speaks, he says, before Abraham was, I am. And the Jews knew exactly what he meant. He meant that he was equal with God. And they took up stones to stone him. And then in chapter 10 and verse 30, the Lord Jesus could speak about, I and my Father are one. And again the Jews took up stones to stone him. And so throughout the Gospel of John, where he is presented as the Son of God, time after time, we get these references to the Lord Jesus as God and his deity is clearly seen. And here his deity is clearly seen in the statement, my Father. But we also get it in the next verse. Because he speaks to Peter and he says, my Father, flesh and blood does not reveal it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I also say unto you. There's nobody on this earth could say the same. Nobody here could say, God has said something and I also can say something on the same level. But the Lord Jesus could because he was equal with God. In John 14, verses that we probably all know, the Lord Jesus says, let not your hearts be troubled. Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In exactly the same way as you believe in God, believe in me. Why? Because he was God. And here we get another wonderful proof of the deity of the Lord Jesus that he could say, my Father say this and I also say unto you. And then he says to Peter, thou art Peter. And upon this rock, I will build my church. There are those who say that Peter is the rock. To them, I will say, what a poor rock you're built on. Because in the next few verses, particularly we look at verse 21, the Lord Jesus speaks about the fact that he is going to go into death and it is Peter who say, not so Lord. Peter is the person who would have had the Lord down here, but not the cross. In John 13, it is Peter who says when the Lord would wash his feet, not so Lord. You're never going to wash my feet. And it's Peter who says in Acts 10, when the net was let down, I've never eaten anything unclean. If it was left to Peter, there would be no cross. There would be no redemption. If it was left to Peter, there would be no daily walking with the Lord and there would be no evangelism to the Gentiles and we wouldn't be saved here tonight. But we are thankful that Peter is not the rock because Peter means a stone and Peter was a stone. And the Lord Jesus says upon this rock and this rock is the fact that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. That's the rock. The Apostle Paul says a very similar thing. Other foundations can no man lay than that which is laid, which is Christ Jesus. He is the foundation on which the church is built. And the Lord Jesus says, I will build my church. Two things here. First of all, he says, I will build it. He didn't say, I'm going to keep on building it. He says, I'm going to build it. As we said already, the church is not in the Old Testament. And this verse confirms it, that the church was not in existence when the Lord Jesus spoke here. He says, I will build it. And he calls it my church. We very often use the term as we do, I'm going to my church today. Well, actually, it's not your church at all. It is the Lord's church. He is the builder and he is at this moment building his church. And here he says, I will build my church. It belongs to him. And you belong to him. And you belong to him at this very moment. Because according to 1 Corinthians 6 verse 20, you are bought with a price. And that price was his precious blood upon Calvary's cross. And the apostle goes on to say, you cannot please yourself. And none of us here can please ourselves because we belong to the Lord Jesus. We're part of that company that is called the church. And that company, the gates of hell will never prevail against it. Let us never be disheartened. Let us never think that because things are getting bad, because the Christians seem to be smaller and smaller, that there's going to come a time when there won't be any. No, there will always be a church on this earth until the Lord comes and calls it to be with himself. The gates of hell will not prevail against it. And so we see that the foundation of the church is the son of the living God. The Lord Jesus is the foundation. So when was this church formed? Well, we go into Acts chapter 2. When the day of Pentecost was fully come. If we only had Acts 2, or if we only had the book of Acts, we may wonder why he begins to speak about the day of Pentecost. What is this day of Pentecost? It simply means 50. And in order to understand it, we need to go back in the Old Testament to the 23rd of Leviticus. Now you young people here, when I was your age, I used to sit in meetings, and there used to be a brother come to Lowestoft, and he used to very often read from the Old Testament. And Leviticus 23 was one of his favorite chapters. And to be honest, I used to be bored. But there came a time when I stopped being bored and started to listen. And I came to the conclusion that Leviticus 23 was one of the most interesting chapters in the whole of the Old Testament. Because here we find that God gives Moses seven feasts. The first one is the Passover. And we know from 1 Corinthians chapter 5, that that feast, the Passover, spoke of the Lord Jesus. Because in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 7 it says, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. And so we clearly see that this Old Testament feast speaks of the Lord Jesus. The next feast is the feast of unleavened bread. And in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 again, we read there about the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. And so we know that that would speak of our life after receiving the Lord Jesus. The next one is the firstfruits. And in 1 Corinthians 15 verse 23, we read these words, Christ the firstfruits. Afterwards, they that are his it is coming. And so we see that these feasts in the Old Testament have a wonderful fulfillment in the New Testament. In the death of Christ in the Passover. In the life of the believer in the unleavened bread. And in the firstfruits Christ has risen from among the dead. And then we come to this feast of weeks or of 50 days. What does this feast speak about? Well, quite clearly, if we go back to the days of Acts, the 50 days or the days of Pentecost was 50 days after the Lord's resurrection. And if we go into Leviticus 23, we find there that the feast of weeks was 50 days after the feast of the firstfruits. And so clearly, here was something which was given in the Old Testament. And here we see it being fulfilled at the exact time the day of Pentecost was fully come. The company of disciples were in one place. And then the Spirit of God came suddenly upon them. The church began suddenly. And it will end suddenly. 1 Corinthians 15, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. Don't put off being a Christian because this church will end suddenly. And here, on this day, the church was formed. If we want to know the doctrine, we turn to 1 Corinthians. And there, in 1 Corinthians 12, we read, We were all baptized into one body by one Spirit. And that's what took place on the day of Pentecost. There was formed, from all individuals, from that group of disciples and others, was formed this one church. And I should have said, who is in this church? Everybody that goes to church? Not quite right. Everybody who comes along to the meetings? That wouldn't be right. Who is in this church? It's everybody that is a Christian. It is every born-again person is part of this church. It is everybody that has put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus. And it doesn't matter if you go to a Catholic church, or you go to a Baptist church, or you go to the Brethren. You are part of the one body of Christ because your faith and trust in Him. And here, in the second chapter of Acts, we get the formation of the church. How is this church then going to function? How is it going to carry on in the interval years? We look back on Acts 2 and we would think that this was nearly 2,000 years ago that this took place. How is the church going to carry on? Perhaps I could give an illustration. And often the young people like illustrations. There was a particular school with a headmaster and he had gone to the bother of writing out the timetable for the whole of the school. And on the first day back to school, he gave the timetable to every pupil. And for the first few days, they obeyed the timetable. But soon some of them realised that they didn't like this particular lesson, so they went to another lesson. And in process of time, there were a lot of children in the sports department, very few in the maths department. However, there were some that were stickers and they stuck to the timetable. And they went to the sports when they were told to, and they went to the maths when they were told to. There was only a few of them. And they would sit there and they would say to themselves, are we right? There's only a few of us here. But they were doing what the timetable said. And when the headmaster came back, the ones that had obeyed the timetable were the ones that got the high marks. You see the point. The Apostle Paul said, in that wonderful chapter, the 27th of Acts, where I believe we get a picture of the voyage of the Christian church. He said to those shipmen that had been in the boat, he said, you should have hearkened unto me. And if only we had hearkened to the words of the Apostle Paul, we wouldn't be in the state that we're in at this moment. And in the illustration, if the pupils had hearkened to the timetable, they wouldn't be in the confused state. And so where is our timetable? Where is our timetable? How do we know how we function? It was good to hear Nick this afternoon when he wanted to speak about the question of singing in the present dispensation. He took us right to the point. He took us into 1 Corinthians chapter 14. But I began in chapter 11, where there the Apostle Paul says, when ye come together. If we want to know how we function as a church, wouldn't God have given us it? Wouldn't he have told us? And here it is. It is in 1 Corinthians. We get clearly laid out how we should function as a church. And it's interesting to see that the first thing that the Apostle Paul draws their attention to is the Lord's Supper. Verse 23. Here we have what we know as the breaking of bread. Here we have the words of it as given by the Holy Spirit, given by the Lord to the Apostle Paul. And what he is saying here is something that is absolutely vital. Because this is what will keep us going in this scene of Christ's rejection. And this, what we read about here, will keep going until the Lord comes. And so I question everybody here, are we all remembering the Lord? Are we all responding to what the Apostle Paul, through the Spirit, through the Lord himself, said? Are we fulfilling this? Because this is how the church should function. To be gathered together to remember him in his death. And you know what I want to bring out of this? It's not particularly the details of the Supper. But simply to say that in chapter 12 verse 1, the Paul goes to a different subject. And he says, spiritual gifts. The Supper is not a place for exercising of gift. The Supper is where our affections are touched. Doesn't that meet our affections when the Paul says, in the night in which he was betrayed. Think of that night. Judas had gone out to betray him. It was dark. It was a horrible night. And it was in that night that the Lord Jesus said those words which we all ought to remember. Do this in remembrance of me. So one of the functionings of the church should be that we gather together to remember him. And so we go on and at the end of chapter 14 we find there these words. If a man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord. There are things that we don't like. Or some of us don't like. But they are the Lord's commands. And these are the things that if we want the assembly to function, we have to read the teaching of the Apostle Paul. If we want to know how to function in relation to the open meeting, it is given in these verses. As Nick said, it is not a question of giving out the favourite hymn. It's as the Spirit leads. It's not just praying because you always do at a particular time. It's as the Spirit leads. Very practical things. But if we want to act in this scene, according to the timetable, it's here in the teachings of the Apostle Paul. He was the Apostle to the church. And what will it be? What will this result be? Well, in chapter 14, verse 3, we never read the verse, but it says there, But he that prophesy speaketh unto men to edification, to exaltation, and to comfort. You know, when brethren stand up to speak, the first thing that Paul says, if you're speaking from the word of God, number one thing is to build up people. And we're seeking to build us up. And why we come to the Catford lectures is that we're built up. But we also exhort in one another. We're stirring you up. But not only do we build you up and stir you up, we're trying to comfort, to lift you up. And we're living in a terrible day. And each one of us need lifting up. And if there's one thing that will lift us up, it's when we refer to the future of the church. First, we could ask the question, is there a future? Is there a future to this church? Is there a future to the assembly? In 2 Peter, chapter 3, verse 4, they could say, Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continued as they always have done. And you know, Satan sometimes gets into our minds and says, Why for hundreds of years they've been talking about the coming of the Lord Jesus. He's not come yet. Is he going to come? The question that is often put into our minds by Satan. The Apostle Peter answers the question. He says, God is long suffering. God is waiting over this world. And the day will come when he will come. The Lord Jesus will come. Others are like the servant in Matthew 24, verse 48. He says, My Lord, delayeth his coming. They think, well, the Lord is not coming in my lifetime. Therefore, I can do what I want. I can enjoy myself. I want to tell you tonight, if you haven't realized the Lord Jesus could come this very moment. The Lord Jesus could come before the end of this meeting. There is nothing to stop the Lord Jesus coming. And I'm going to give you three reasons why he's going to come. I'm going to give you three reasons why the Lord Jesus must come. There's not a question that he might or he could. He must come. The first reason is, is that the Old Testament prophets said he was going to come. If you read through Isaiah, you will find that Isaiah chapter 7 tells us that a virgin was going to have a child. And it was going to be called Emmanuel. What happened? The virgin had a child and it was called Emmanuel. Malachi 5, he prophesies that there was going to be a, the prince was going to be born in Bethlehem. Where was Jesus born? Bethlehem. The Old Testament prophesied that the Lord Jesus would die upon the cross. We think of, they pierced his hands and his feet from Psalm 22. The Old Testament has prophesied that there would be one that would come and there would be one that would die. But the same Old Testament prophets go on to say that he is going to come back. You think of Zachariah who could say, they shall look upon him whom they have pierced. And the nation of Israel have never looked upon Jesus and mourned. But they will do because Zachariah's prophecy has to be fulfilled. And the Lord Jesus has to return to fulfill that prophecy. Another reason, and not in order, why the Lord Jesus has to come is because he said it. John 14, in my father's house there are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to repair a place for you and I will come again. On his words and on his words only, if they were the only words that we had, we could hang the fact that the Lord Jesus was going to come back. And he is going to come back for you and for me. And the third reason is his love demands it. In John 17, the Lord Jesus says, Father I will, that they whom thou hast given me. In John 17, is it verse 6, the Lord Jesus speaks to the disciples and he says, these which thou hast given me. And in a further verse he says, not only unto these, but unto those that will believe on me. That's you and that's me. And in verse 24 he says, those thou hast given me. And what does the Lord Jesus want? He wanted them to be with him. It's the desire of his heart that his church is with him. It's the desire of his heart that the bride that he loved and that he died upon Calvary's cross is with him. Ephesians chapter 5 says, Christ loved the church and he gave himself for it. He loved you so much that he shed his precious blood and he died on Calvary's cross and he's not going to leave you here. He's going to come and he's going to take you to be with himself because that's where he wants you, to be with him. You know when we come to Revelation 22, 21, we get even probably a more wonderful thought. Because in the 21st chapter of Genesis, of Revelation, we have one of the very few pictures of what the eternal state is going to be like. He says, I saw a new heaven and a new earth. The first heaven and the first earth is passed away. There's no more sea. We're in the eternal state. And what did John see? He saw a bride adorned for her husband. The wonderful fact is, dear beloved friends, dear beloved saints, we are going to be in that eternal state as the bride for the Lord Jesus. Yes, it will be a wonderful time for us. Yes, it will be a time when we won't have to get up and work. We won't have to do things that we don't like to do. We often look at the Lord's coming and we say, I wish the Lord would come because we're in so much problems. But when we get to this place here, let us not think of what it will be for ourselves, but let us think what it will be for the satisfaction of the heart of the Lord Jesus. We will be there as his bride for all eternity. What a joy it is, what a prospect is before us, that there is a future for the church. That church which was based upon his death, based upon Jesus Christ as the son of the living God. That church which was formed in Acts 2, which should function according to what we find in 1 Corinthians. That church is seen in glory as the bride for Christ, for his glory and for his benefit. And you know, if that is so, there's a practical outcome that the Apostle Paul says when writing again to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 2. He says, I espoused you as chaste virgins for Christ. Are we living lives that are commensurate with the wonderful fact that the day is coming when we will be taken out of this scene to be with him for all eternity, as his bride, at his side, for his joy and for his pleasure. And even now in the scene of his rejection, let us live lives that are in keeping with the wonderful fact that we are going to be with him for all eternity. We're going to close with singing the hymn of Mr. Wigram, number 330. What weighs the wondrous thought? Or who did it suggest that we the church to glory brought should with the sun be blessed? O God, the thought was thine, thine only it could be. Fruit of the wisdom, love divine, peculiar unto thee. 330. What weighs the wondrous thought? Or who did it suggest that we the church to glory brought should with the sun be blessed? O God, the thought was thine, thine only it could be. Fruit of the wisdom, love divine, peculiar unto thee. For sure no other mine, for thought so bold, so free. Greatness or strength could ever find, thine only it could be. The motives to thine own, the plan, the counsel thine. Made for thy son, born of this birth, in glory bright to shine. O God with great delight, thy wondrous thoughts we see. Upon this throne, in glory bright, the bride of Christ shall be. Sealed with the Holy Ghost, we triumph in thy love. Thy wondrous thought has made of us glory with Christ above. …