The directing and leading of the Spirit (Quality: Good)

[0:00] As the Lord may be pleased to help me, we would direct you prayerfully to the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 61, and we will read the first three verses.

[0:16] Isaiah chapter 61, the first three verses. Isaiah chapter 62, the first three verses.

[0:52] To comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

[1:17] As you know in your Bibles, it goes to the fourth of Luke, how Jesus was in the temple, and the book was handed to him, and he read this language.

[1:34] And he said, today is this scripture fulfilled. Oh, how vital it is that we know something of this blessed work of the Holy Spirit of the Lord God, to feel it upon you yourselves and oneself in standing up in his name.

[1:58] Because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. If so be we have been anointed by the Holy Spirit, then what can we preach but good tidings unto the meek?

[2:16] And to bind up the broken hearts, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the opening of the prison to them that abound, proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God to comfort all that mourn, and so forth.

[2:35] What a mercy if the Lord hath so, as we sung in our opening hymn, granted us as the breaker to break our hearts.

[2:47] The Lord alone can make his word, which is recorded, whereby it says, is not his word as a hammer to break the hardest heart, to make the stoutest rebel, to resign.

[3:05] To the will of God. Painful is the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing down hearts with labor. You see, you might be a very carefree, unconcerned person about the welfare of your immortal soul because you have not been born again.

[3:26] But yet, let the Lord deal with you as one of his sons by this mysterious working of the Spirit, and he will make you to be meek.

[3:40] He will make you to feel a broken heart. He will make you to feel to be a captive and also to be in prison. The Lord shows us plainly in his word that we are sinners, and our sins shall find us out, and they certainly do and still do, brought to our remembrance.

[4:03] Past offenses. We cannot erase them from the memory, and when God brings them to your remembrance and shows you what you are, there's no longer any hypocritical religion about you, or all that pharisaical self-righteousness and pride, is there?

[4:20] The Lord brings you and me to nothing. He empties us. He breaks our heart. And oh, how we seem to be weakened in our strength in the way.

[4:32] But you see, the Lord has promised to strengthen the weak hands, confirm the feeble knees. You know, we never know how low we are to be diminished and brought before the Lord has mercy upon us and compassion, and comes where we are to preach these good tidings.

[4:51] You see, the Lord God is a sovereign, but if he's anointed us and anointed you and me by that spirit, then we should come with that desire to hear the preaching of good tidings.

[5:10] Good tidings was the forthcoming of the Lord Jesus Christ, made under the law with flesh like air flesh and accepted he must become flesh to satisfy the just demands of God's holy law, which Adam and Eve wrote.

[5:32] Or how they were tempted and allured by the adversary, or the subtlety of the devil. But you see, the Lord spoke to the serpent and said that he should bruise the Lord's heel.

[5:54] There was then that affecting of the Lord Jesus in that he suffered, bled and died, that he might redeem his sheep from the curse of the law.

[6:05] Now the spirit of the Lord God is upon me. I hope it will be tonight, friend. Well, we get very tempted and tried, but if the spirit were not upon us, we might just as well sit down.

[6:19] We trust that the Lord has promised, and we continually depend upon his promises, at least desire to. The promises that he has promised all his servants, as he did his disciples, Lo, I am with you all the way, even unto the end of the world.

[6:40] And so what a great and a solemn weighty matter it is to ever venture, to stand up in the name of the Lord Jesus, always shrink from it. But woe unto us if we preach not the gospel of Christ.

[6:56] And when the spirit of the Lord is upon sinners, he raises them up, he equips them, he opens their mouths wide, he fills that mouth with the good matter of the gospel that will lead a poor, broken-hearted sinner, a meek sinner to Christ.

[7:15] And all he will send you now, his blessed spirit to bind up your broken heart with the application of a precious word, with the word made flesh.

[7:31] Or when you can feed upon the truth of God's word, the word was made flesh, Jesus Christ. You feed upon the broken body of Christ, by faith.

[7:44] And you desire to partake of that precious blood that he shed on Calvary's tree. Except ye eat my flesh and drink my blood, ye have no life in you.

[7:56] These things are spiritually deserved. Now when the Lord so anoints a poor sinner to preach good tidings, he will be a messenger in God's message.

[8:08] And if your heart is so broken, and you're so meek, and so humbled in the dust, with regard to religion, grace won't make you a doormat.

[8:20] No, you'll earnestly contend for right things, and stand for your rights, I believe. As the Lord Jesus Christ, you know, was not ashamed to offend those Jews, because there was no love in their heart, was there?

[8:36] And we meet those that there's no love in their heart but to God and his truth and his ways. Therefore, you'll withstand the wiles of the devil as grace is given in your battle, in fighting that good fight of faith that you might lay hold on eternal life, and you'll see grace to be steadfast, to be unmovable, unmovable in your beliefs, which are founded upon God's word.

[9:06] You know, we do need the Lord to grant us that steadfastness, don't we? To be steadfast, to be unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord in this sense, not to wear your religion on your sleeve, not to go about trying to convert the world, but seeking to walk honestly and uprightly before men.

[9:31] Whether they undermine you, deceive you, or mock you, laugh you, discord, you know this is the battle. This is the battle for a preacher, for the believer, and for the preacher.

[9:45] The battle is not ours. What a mercy that is so, friends. The battle is not ours, but the Lord will have you and me to wait upon him daily to anoint you, to anoint you with that oil that is needful to be unable to answer anybody in the fear of God.

[10:10] Anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. This is what you need as a poor, guilty, weak, and helpless worm. This will make you to feel your weakness.

[10:24] When you feel yourself to be a worm delivered from that pride, dear friends, of the flesh, from that religious pride, from that come not nigh me, for I am holy than thou.

[10:38] Or when you're brought there, I believe you'll know something of what it is as a guilty, weak, and helpless worm to fall upon the arm of the Lord Jesus, to look to him that these good tidings might be preached unto your soul.

[10:54] For him hath God exhorted to give repentance to Israel and remission for sins. Now he has sent me. See, here the Spirit of the Lord God sends poor sinners, sent Isaiah to preach good tidings unto the meek, sends all his servants to preach these good tidings.

[11:17] We don't want topical preaching, do we? We don't want all those ditties that come from the invention of man's mind, but we want to show sinners what they are, strip them of all their fancied meekness, and the preacher himself too will have to pass this way to be an older priest to others.

[11:39] He'll empty us as he does. We come feeling our nothingness and our poverty, but dependent. Well, we've been singing concerning repentance and faith.

[11:53] They go hand in glove as we've sung, and as you will appreciate, repentance and faith go together. When the Lord grants you repentance, you'll be a meek sinner, you'll be a broken hearted sinner, you'll have godly sorrow, you'll be a mourner in Zion.

[12:12] And as it goes on to say here, to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, give unto them beauty for ashes. You see, all the religions burnt out, all this dressing up, this paraphernalia that we witness in the national churches.

[12:33] You know, what profit is there in it? You know, it's the humble that are going to hear thereof and be glad. We should come then as beggars pour at mercy's door, pleading that he might bind up our broken heart.

[12:48] Jesus, you know, summon substance of your hope to good tidings. Jesus heals the broken hearted. Oh, how sweet that sound of me.

[13:00] Once beneath my sins he smarted, groaned and bled to set me free. There's your very hope, dear friends, for eternal bliss.

[13:12] Jesus himself to heal you, to restore you. He has sent me. Here we have then this prophetic language of Jesus Christ through the scriptures.

[13:24] Here we see Isaiah under the influence of the Spirit speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord hath anointed me Jesus Christ then the friend of sinners, the one that is able to be formed in your heart and mine as the hope of glory.

[13:45] He has sent me to bind up or he binds up your broken heart. You may have many sorrows, many difficulties, many mysterious things in your life that you cannot fit together.

[14:00] I don't believe the Lord intends you to but if they are so sanctified in your trials they will bring you as a guilty sinner before the Lord. They'll bring you as a begging sinner, as a mourning sinner and you'll feel to have but all your religion burnt up.

[14:21] All that beauty burnt up. All those perhaps beautiful phrases that you thought the Lord had given to you. All that religion that you've acquired over the years through familiarity with God's Word.

[14:37] What a danger that is. familiarity of God's Word. Familiarity through many sermons that you've sat under and many sermons you've read and many portions you've read many magazines accounts in our gospel standard those things that are very interesting to read and yet you've read hundreds I was going to say perhaps nearly thousands you've got familiarity with certain phrases the phraseology of a denomination oh you see you want more than that the Lord's going to burn it all up all that you've acquired by a good memory and he's going to make you to mourn and you do mourn the further you go on the more darksome seems to be your poor soul and your pathway when you so long for the

[15:41] Lord to shine upon you and revive you and bless you with his spirit well the devil you know is very active ever ready isn't he to undermine any little work that the Lord has performed in yourself you see the Lord's going to burn up all the dross gold in the furnace tried now loses all but grass so is the Christian purified and bettered by the grass what is your grass what is mine well I believe we shall prove one of the crosses that we have to bear is our foul ignorance and foolishness or it may be something in your environment someone perhaps may be a stumbling block to you in Zion some difficulty you encounter in your family circle which can be quite large or some affliction and some mysterious thing or event that's taken place it's a cross to carry and oh you would delight to have it removed or as I have said already your sins our sins in the light of

[17:05] God's truth sometimes you want to turn the page over I don't want to read that it reads me shows me up shows me what I am you want something nicer for the Lord to show you you want him to tell you more of his love wait a minute wait a minute dear friends there are plenty talk of love all they can talk about is loving one another but you know they don't know anything about what real sin is what the work of the spirit is and they presume that the Lord loves them you know when the Lord really deals with the poor sinner and make him feel so cold and so hard and so dead I wonder if they know anything of this this will make you mourn if you have a desire as a sinner to love the Lord you'll be a real mourner all wretched man that I am not be standing up upon the mountaintop praising the

[18:14] Lord from the rooftop you're not seeing will you in God's house with real melody in your heart until the Lord comes and grant you a thankful heart for some blessed deliverance you'll be a mourner I know you sing with a humble hope in your heart and desire to his honor and glory you might have been able to sing these truths when you sing them in the language we sing sometimes oh that I might have that religion to be mine well the mercy is dear friends to be a mourner in Zion because there's going to be a blessed exchange one day for such sinners and to give unto them beauty for ashes the oil of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness and so for the most part I believe the believer in Christ will be very much a mourner he'll be on the spirit of heaviness and you know what it is to feel ashes through those many years he's brought to realize that the trials have burnt up all that he thought he had and all you're so tried as to the reality of your religion lord you say do grant me that real religion you know these high flyers for want of a better word these that are full of praise and full of self confidence and full of love in their head you know if they only knew a little of the sufferings of Christ and know something of what their sins have done we should never get very high we should not get very high friends but we should be mourners we should only get high when we get to heaven but there be touches there be touches

[20:16] I wouldn't cast any down but I wouldn't put you on any false foundation there be touches I believe by the way that will encourage you and me to believe as Paul was unable to speak a little even before King Agrippa his testimony we've been reading at home through the Acts and all wonderful really the Acts of the Apostles and the Lord's dealings with his disciples there his apostles and all you say in your own heart all that that religion were mine that I might have such a testimony and not be ashamed to declare as Paul was not ashamed to declare his testimony which was a living experience he'd been a Pharisee he'd been full of self-righteousness and pride he'd been hailing men and women to prison that believed in God and were humble mourners he had to come that way himself in the end he had to be led into Damascus and he had to have one come as a messenger of God's message and from there on he consulted not with flesh but preached the unsearchable riches of Christ oh what an acceptable year of the

[21:46] Lord it was for him and what of an acceptable year you know it has been for some of us here you witness wonders God has done for you in providence there's been an acceptable year a time when the Lord has so answered your many groanings and prayers over many years he set you at liberty in some providential deliverance and you bless God for it now you want something more oh yes you're not satisfied with that are you because you know you have an immortal soul and you want that blessed assurance that you're a son or a daughter of God and but until that time comes you'll be a mourner in Zion and you'll be pleading the love and the blood and the righteousness of Christ and you'll be looking for that grace and faith to view the king in his beauty beauty for ashes a revelation of Christ a promise unto your soul oil of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of prabbiness you see heaviness first mourning and also ashes you know there's nothing in that is that religion but it's the way the Lord will have you and me to come as he empties whom you feel he casts you down and you're in the very depths and your soul is overwhelmed and you say Lord lead me to the rock lead me to the rock you can't run yourself there can you you can't do anything in and of yourself but lead me to the rock that is higher than I that rock is Christ you want a sure found foundation you want to dig deep you want the

[23:54] Lord to grant you that digging deep to examine yourself in the light of scripture under the influence of the spirit to see whether you be in the faith of God's elect Lord I am oppressed Lord I go mourning all my days but oh Lord do grant me to be a mourner that my days of mourning might one day end when the Lord might be unto me an everlasting light to shine into yourself to give you that light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus and so this is the work of the spirit to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes oh what a favour this is when the Lord so favours you to behold him to look upon him whom you are pierced as humble followers of the Lord

[25:02] Jesus Christ by faith to look upon him whom you are pierced it won't make you go to sing upon the mountain tops will it but it will make you and me to go as a mourner and a desire and a pleading and a begging that Jesus Christ would send down the blessing would show you a token of his love really me I wonder sometimes where all these people are that keep speaking of love we know that he's a God of love he's also a God of justice and there is a way that seemeth right unto a man but the end there are or what are the end of the way but the ways there are or where do they go to down into hell they lead to destruction or how we need then the Lord to grant us that grace and faith to prove all things to hold fast to that that's good or then this acceptable year is a set time when

[26:12] Zion is to be favored a set time when the day of vengeance of our God and so he says strengthen ye your weak hands confirm the people need say to them with a fearful heart fear not thy God will come with vengeance where is he coming to with vengeance to drive out the buyers the sellers from your heart and mine that you might be favored to be at peace with your God that peace of God that passeth all knowledge of understanding my peace I leave with you my peace I leave with you not as the world giveth give unto you let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid now this binding up of the broken hearted is the work of the Lord Jesus and to grant you that liberty to captives your soul might be bound in many fetters you seem to be compassed about with so many things that fence you in bound down with twice ten thousand times oh let me hear thy call

[27:30] Lord do come and cause me to hear thy loving kindness in the morning for I lift up my soul and they cause me to know the way wherein thou would have me to walk for in thee do I put my trust you trust him don't you because he's given you living faith to trust in him know that he's the only source and giver of all good without him you'll perish in your sins and you pray that you might be able to proclaim an acceptable year that set time when he favors Zion when he visits your soul and mind when he confirms yourself when he says to you son thy sins are forgiven day or you know Paul was bidden wasn't he to arise and be baptized and wash away all thy sins when the blessed

[28:31] Holy Spirit baptizes a man when he's under the influence of this spirit of the Lord God upon him you know he'll have things brought to his remembrance what the Lord has spoken to him of and he'll make him willing in the day of his power it'll be a comforting day to all that mourn blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted Jesus said I will not leave you comfortless but I will come to you yet a little while thou should not see me and yet in a little while thou shalt see me you see the time that time dear friends when the Lord seems to be absent he's exercised your heart and drawn you he's brought you out of the world he's exercised your soul with a broken heart and feel to be led captive by your sins by your sins the Lord has shown you what a sinner you are and oh you wait for him to bring your soul out of prison well what a mercy that he's ascended on high he's led captivity captive he's received gifts of men yea for the rebellious also that the

[29:51] Lord God might dwell among them though he dwell with him who is of a humble and a contrite spirit and tremble at my word as I said earlier sometimes you want to turn the page over because you may tremble at the word or you don't want there it's a judgment against yourself it's something that you don't want to come to pass perhaps in your life but is not the Lord in it has he not caused it to come for correction and you know no matter how you turn the page over if the Lord so lays that word in your heart you know it'll be like a fiery dart it'll be like a fiery dart the arrow of conviction that the Lord sends permits the devil to bring you into some pathway of darkness and bondage and you're brought into many fears but like

[30:53] Job you can't destroy yourself you can't destroy that good work of grace you see the Lord visits you and me for those sins and you feel to be punished by those sins but they're all to make you and me sick of self and more attracted to him and there's a time appointed a time appointed for the Lord to perform those things for you he performed the thing that is appointed for me and many such things are with him providential things adverse things in your providential path you know we don't seem to go far do we by what something but what something comes to suddenly stop us bring us to a hold exercise our minds concerning the thing concerning our lives here below and how it's full of tribulation but as grace is given it'll work patience and patience experienced by these things men live in these things is the life of my spirit when he the spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth a time appointed a time he has set then to heal up your woes a season most fit his love to disclose to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion to give unto them beauty for ashes the oil of joy for mourning the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness they might be called trees of righteousness the planting of the

[32:41] Lord you see when this good seed of the sower was sown into good ground it certainly flourished and bore fruit so there's breaking up the fallow ground of your heart and it is by these things that the Lord breaks up the fallow ground of your heart he brings you into those situations where you're made to be a real mourner heart you say Lord yes my sins deserve it all but through mercy if thou shouldest mark my iniquities or any others who amongst us could ever hope to stand but you see it is Jesus himself that has borne the curse for his dear people and in him all blessed mercy as grace and faith is given in him we live and move and have him be and he will favor you as a poor sinner ever

[33:45] I believe to go again those seven times until that perfect time comes the appointed time to give you beauty for ashes it's without money it's without money he's given you a thirst what does he speak of in some of these earlier chapters here ho everyone that thirst come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money without price you see here we come without money it's without money isn't it and without price it's to come like this acknowledging that you will be a debtor to mercy a debtor to mercy because you've got nothing to pay and when they had nothing to pay and you have nothing to pay with regard to your religion he frankly forgave them both both you're a debtor 500 or 50 pence whatever you're made to feel that you've got nothing to pay but you come because he's given you a thirst he's implanted his grace in your soul and all you say when you read in the word of

[35:18] God that be holy as I am holy Lord what me what me Lord holy why they've never had such a great wretch and a vile sinner that cannot think one thought a right you see you're made there aren't you to feel so unholy so unclean but you see it is making you me to feel a beggar in religion Lord I've got nothing but what thou dost condescend to give me and so Lord do give me do give me thy grace do give me thy mercy do give me thy peace do give me a calm and thankful heart from every murmur free oh Lord do grant me those blessings that shall enrich myself you come then guilty you come filthy you come just as you are the

[36:23] Lord will take you with all your filthy rags only impute to you his righteousness that you might be one of the plants of the Lord it's these right hand plantings of the Lord these plantings in his courts that shall be called trees of righteousness they shall flourish and bear fruit in the courts of their Lord you say well I don't seem to be flourishing and I don't seem to be bringing forth any real fruit no maybe you don't but you're coming aren't you you're a thirsting sinner you're a hungering sinner for the righteousness of Christ you know the Lord will not tarry long he won't tarry long because he knows your fearful heart he reads it he knows the way you take but he will perform a thing that is appointed for you and if so be he brought you thus far he had not put you to shame was it not

[37:30] Manoah's wife said if the Lord had seen fit to destroy us would he have shown us these things escape made so he made so he made so it was impossible you may feel at times that your soul could ever be saved well with

[44:23] God all things are possible and all this is our great favor and mercy isn't it that the Lord has not forsaken us or forgotten us you won't get very high will you if you're a heaven born soul and a heaven bound soul you'll be tempest tossed but you'll know this that there is one able to do far more exceeding abundantly for you above all that you can ask or think the spirit of the Lord God and when he the spirit of truth is come he will guide you into all truth and he has set your soul at liberty for he ascended on high he has led captivity captive he received for the rebellious also the Lord God might dwell among them or may he favour you and me with those visits or frequent let thy visits be and all you have to pray

[45:24] Lord make haste oh God make haste you want the Lord to shine into your heart to bless you with that light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus or may the Lord then in his sovereign mercy bless us with that living faith that lives and labours under load though damned it never dies but I must leave it there the Lord add his blessing and forgive all amiss amen to he to save to heal by could h you learn to?" about the inner Border哪 impact the related feet when you will.

[46:17] Continue to deal forНе twice