Of being a partaker with Christ (Quality: Very good)

[0:00] In number 571, Tunis Millennium 551. Behold, with wandering eyes, the servant of the Lord.

[0:14] On wings of blood he finds his counsels to unfold. He comes, and counts it through from Christ. And the side shall behold his face.

[0:25] Behold him as your king, your husband, and your friend. Your saviour, and your God, your wife, your life, your king. Behold him as your shepherd, and on him rest when danger is near.

[0:41] In number 571. in number 572.

[0:51] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS

[1:56] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS Thank you.

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[4:27] CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS CHOIR SINGS Thank you.

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[8:11] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[8:23] Thank you. And if he has taught me that everything that I need is of his teaching. There's a wonderful embracing by faith, isn't there?

[8:35] I said this morning, we should never call to understand God. We never shall. He's incomprehensible. We are called by faith to embrace what is revealed of God.

[8:48] So it is with regard to our need. We are called, aren't we, to a sense of sin and a sense of our need.

[9:00] And I would say, blessed are they that know the joyful sound of the gospel. Blessed are they, like Jesus said, that hunger and thirst after righteousness.

[9:13] Blessed are they that go on to hunger for that complete knowledge of Jesus as you've sung to behold him as your head, your husband, and your friend.

[9:23] And what a beautiful expression in that hymn of the completeness of your need. you don't need a few things, do you? You want everything.

[9:37] You want everything that Christ is to his people. You want every knowledge that may be known of him. And you want that just not in the knowledge of it.

[9:47] You're not able to gain knowledge, are you? You want an experimental knowledge of Christ. As I said this morning, faith, when it's begun in the soul, often is first in the judgment that we perceive the things that are revealed in the word of God to be right.

[10:13] Then it comes that acknowledgement by faith to believe that these things are right, that they are true, that they are God revealed.

[10:26] And then as we come to it, we want the blessing of those things that we see by the Spirit's enlightening. You know, godly Jacob, in his fear, he had an actual fear because Esau was coming to meet him, threatening what didn't materialize, threatening vengeance and destruction.

[10:56] And if ever he needed his God, he did then. He sent his people on before the women and the children. He alone was in the rear guard.

[11:08] It would seem cowardly, wouldn't it? But that was his way. And he thought, well, the presents that go before would appease, the family would appease, perhaps Esau at length would be appeased, and he would be spared.

[11:24] But you know, an angel met with Jacob when he was alone. The angel of the covenant appeared to Jacob. And if ever Jacob wanted to know the name of the man that wrestled with him, if ever anyone wanted to know that the God, his God was in it, and that his God was for him, Jacob did.

[11:51] What is thy name, he said. And said the angel, let me go for the day breaketh.

[12:03] Jacob's embracing of the mercy that was toward him in the angel that wrestled with him and prevailed not. The strength that he perceived and the strength he was given to wrestle, Jacob's soul went out, I will not let thee go except thou bless me.

[12:26] You see, so precious was the mercy of God to Jacob, the tokens of his love to Jacob, that he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me.

[12:43] He perceived that it was God in the form, in the form of a man or an angel or the covenant of, the angel of the covenant, Jacob's faith, would embrace these things from his God.

[13:00] Except thou tell thy name to me. Did he really want to, want to know that that was the God of Abraham that appeared to him, the God of the whole earth?

[13:14] Jacob knew in his heart that it was the God of the whole earth. Jacob knew that he was engaged in a struggle, a matter of life and death for his soul as it appeared to him.

[13:28] I will not let thee go except thou bless me. And that blessing came. Oh, Jacob had that blessing in a remarkable way, didn't he?

[13:40] The Lord said, I know thy name. There should no more be called Jacob but Israel. For as a prince thou hast power and hast prevailed with God.

[13:55] You say, why bring that in in the beginning of this subject that Jesus Christ unto you that believe is precious? It shows the believing, doesn't it?

[14:06] It shows what I tried to set out this morning. It doesn't rest in the judgment. It doesn't rest only in the enlightenment but in the blessing or as the good old ministers used to say in the application of it.

[14:22] The cry for application doesn't discount everything else. the application is that spiritual experience in believing that we need to know.

[14:38] You see, there's a carnal experience in believing. When men believe in a carnal way and interpret what they believe according to their own imagination, they're left to it.

[14:49] and God gives them over sometimes if they sin. Those sins which bring the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience and we see it in our day.

[15:04] God gives them over too and we see it in our day to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. None of you trifle with sin.

[15:15] None of you. The Lord keep us from it. It's so easy to say well, I can keep my mind. God can't give me over to a reprobate mind to do those things that are not convenient.

[15:31] Solemn, isn't it? God has given them over to him. They desire no knowledge of God and neither could they find that knowledge of God if they wish to.

[15:42] God has given them over to go their own way and to reap their own reward knowing that the wages of sin at last is death unless grace prevents.

[15:57] But so in Jacob's case you see he had a spiritual experience of the blessing of the Lord unto you therefore which believe.

[16:10] It was a believing experience that was sanctified by God issuing in blessing. Now what's the beginning of saving faith?

[16:23] Why it's in the new birth isn't it? Being quickened into life to pray and what's the end of it? Receiving the end of your faith even the salvation of your souls.

[16:40] What an embracing by faith there is in a believing experience when you feel that this God is your God he will be even unto death.

[16:54] Now this doesn't make you a great believer does it? This doesn't manifest great strength does it? As if you will hold yourself up till that day and are boasting in yourself know it's a wonderful boasting in the Lord isn't it?

[17:09] This God is my God it's his own doing he will be it's his own faithfulness even unto death for he has promised to be with me even unto death.

[17:22] And these things a believing experience makes Christ precious. and as I've already said if we consider then Christ and if we behold Christ we shall find in our souls such a deep need and the older we get the deeper the need that Christ should be everything to us and all in all to us.

[17:51] If anyone had said to me when I was first brought into these things that you'd find him as your prophet your priest your king your husband your friend I'd say well I don't know about that I need Christ but I don't know that I shall find him to be all those things.

[18:14] Now with me my friends have you found him dear to your soul in those things? Prophet knows all about you divinely omniscient the mind the mind and will of the Father he knows the will of the Father for you even you he knows a prophet to speak to your heart to guide you in the ways of truth and of God according to his own heart and will prophet priest Christ and king when you're defiled by sin when you feel that the only remedy is the only ransom was his precious blood when you can come and say and naught have I to plead but that blood that does force in a tone it's precious blood

[19:14] Lord it's full of virtue Lord that alone can wash me clean Lord that alone is precious in the Father's sight the blood of thine own dear son that was shed the just for the unjust or you say if I'd been told that when I was a young believer that I would need Jesus Christ as my prophet priest and king my days man until the day star arise in your heart and the day dawn you say do I need all that or aren't you thankful sometimes have been in a spiritual experience when that day has dawn and the day star has appeared in your heart and the light is precious for it's the light of God's sovereign mercy to your soul the light of truth heavenly truth that adorns the darkness and the day star appear in your heart with its comfort the night is past the winter is over and gone the time of the singing of birds is come now I'm not expressing these well I can only express them as I can express them but come away for a moment

[20:37] I expressed a thought didn't I about our bodies the skeleton of the bones which God has in wisdom set how bare they are connected together but when we consider the sinews and the muscles and the flesh that God has closed them with that the body can now stand upright has strength and energy the marvellous complexity of our natural body now think of a spiritual body with Jesus Christ as its head and we are the members and compacted together by that which every joint supplies being in love with Christ and think of that glorious body of which is the head I saw a spastic lad on the way to here this morning hardly able to control his limbs and I felt as we do pity compassion now the sadness of that is apparent isn't it affects the mind affects the spirit but when we consider the perfect body that God has purposed in his church himself the head the members his body his mystical body and abound by such a divine and heavenly union are brought into the obedience of faith and love so that there is no schism in the body and no jarring note where he works and so you see the figure don't you the joints supplying that which every joint that growing together but there's the truth of the gospel as you know it the growing up into him in all things up into the knowledge and into the grace of our Lord

[22:45] Jesus Christ now you might consider the things that make the church blessed and that is when they are called by grace and enriched by truth now error always has weakened error always has divided error has always met a recompense of just reward which things sakes as the Lord these things come upon the children of disobedience if they encourage gross sins and walk in wicked ways the wrath of God falls upon them says the apostle writing to the Ephesians now I want to just cast a thought with you of Christ and his members why he purposes in sovereign grace to call them effectually with a divine call quicken them into life by the spirit and speak to their hearts to draw them out and believers are those that are drawn out believers are those that find

[24:18] Christ precious the preciousness they find is that they look to him depend upon him love to hear his voice love to please and fear to offend love his ways love his people because the Lord has spoken comfortably to Zion's heart speak she comfortably unto Jerusalem tell her that her warfare is accomplished that her sin is pardon for she has received double at the Lord's hand for all her sin tell her though she come into these difficulties and face these things in the way of judgment that I love her that I have pardoned her that I will blot out her iniquities for she is mine that's the language now do you hear the

[25:21] Lord's voice how does the Lord speak to his children that believe to the natural ear well all men could hear that can't they if you love me keep my commandments that could fall on deaf ears as we say it would not be speaking to those that did not love him it would be speaking to those who had no quickened conscience but if the Lord speak to those that have that are quickened into spiritual life that have a spiritual ear that ear is of conscience now the Lord speaks to his people by way of conscience and to you that believe he is precious you esteem him regard his words he is precious to you in what he makes known of his will and purpose of love for you he calls and you respond because you love him a dead conscience is sad that's a sad condition by nature and it's awful but a quickened conscience how tender in the fear of the Lord many of you are troubled with doubts and sins and unbelief now don't you feel this is because the Lord has quickened our conscience isn't that the touchstone by which the word of God and moreover the spirit of God in his word affects you're all sitting before me now if my words come as the words of men that will fall to the ground if the

[27:23] Holy Spirit is in this word today your conscience will be saying if only Christ were more precious some of you would say well I don't know that he is precious your conscience will accuse you and accuse you rightly and a tender conscience in the fear of God often accuses you wrongly it doesn't really but it often gives you to think well how far short I come of these things you take our dear friend at home here a man of God of faith and resting on the Lord but how mean in his own feeling how conscious he is of sin and self and pride left to himself how little he thinks of his own attainment how precious Christ is to him in his desire but what's the right feeling shall we take him at his face value shall we demean him and belittle him because he has such a low opinion of himself no my friend and to you that believe he is precious we sense don't we and can sound out the preciousness in a man and woman's heart by the spiritual expressions they give so many time there's a believing there's a clinging to there's a cleaving to his word and to his ways hanging on to his righteousness well now what a tender fear there is in those that believe that tenderness of conscience now let the

[29:19] Lord speak oh I know I'm speaking to some of you you say I can look back on to perhaps six or so times in my life when the Lord has spoken to my heart through my conscience I know it's the Lord speaking and what the Lord is bidding me to do I know is his will I know it is right and I know it is because of that exceeding love and kindness that he has toward my soul now could you deny it could you deny that he has drawn you with loving kindness tender mercies that he hasn't been faithful to you or mindful of you you couldn't deny it why there's some here that would say I can't deny that the

[30:22] Lord has been gracious to me that the Lord's been mindful of me that he's restored my soul with his tender mercy that he's restored my soul from its wandering that he's watched over my path that he's heard my prayers that he's delivered my soul this makes him precious to me I hope in him I have comfort in this hope he will never leave me nor forsake me why because you believe that his mercy is in times past well we sing of it don't we his love in times past forbid me to think he'll leave me at last in trouble to sink and that love is a personal love a personal experience an application of that love when he's drawn you with it you've known it was the love of God it's sealed with a holy and divine seal in your soul that it was the love of Christ why does such language attract you let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth what does that mean special seasons of divine favour that's what that means let him draw me into his banqueting house his banner over me was love why are you speaking in this language it's because he is precious in believing you believe it was the

[31:49] Lord that so drew you drew forth these desires out of your soul why we attribute everything in spiritual life our sense of need our sense of sin our sense of shortcoming we attribute it all don't we to the teaching and leading and of the Holy Spirit and every desire that we have that's good we attribute to the Spirit of God now doesn't the Lord draw forth out of your heart tokens expressions of your love to him the Song of Solemn is so profoundly known for its response mutual response it's not all one sided is it it's not all the language and invitations of your beloved is it it's a response of a living soul that is in love with her beloved what is thy beloved more than another beloved my beloved she went on and she described all his perfections of deity and glory and beauty as she knew them and perceived them and child of God you can find your heart going out with her oh that I could express the beauties and glories of Christ in that same way but you follow along you follow along and you hope and you breathe your desires there and find your pleasure there and you find your hope there this is my beloved and this is my friend oh ye daughters of

[33:44] Jerusalem and you find your heart oh that I could go out with that I hope you won't think I have failed today if I can't express what there is to be expressed concerning the preciousness of Christ I tried to show this morning that he is as he is divine equal with the father in divine perfections of glory and of grace and of eternal love he is in himself as the son of God and the son of man he's precious isn't he because he took a nature like ours to redeem us he's precious says the believer in that he lives now we who believe in Jesus Christ believe that he died at Calvary and rose again and ever lives because

[34:47] I live said Jesus ye shall live not just live as we do by waking up every morning and going to bed every night and finding all blessings in between that's natural life but spiritual life because I live ye shall live you say what a poor life mine is what a dying rate this is is it is this the language that the Lord loves to hear you when you mourn and complain like a dove on the one hand and contentedly purr like a dove on the other there's the dove we spoke of this morning there's the mourning and the chattering like Job felt so did I chatter like a dove like a sparrow upon a house I was agitated fearful mourning complaining fearful and unbelieving that's on the one hand and on the other there's the contentment of the dove when her beloved is near and her mate is near that safety and protection that sense of it is conveyed in that illustration and so it is when Christ is near you don't always mourn and chatter like a dove do you you purr sometimes with that contentment that only

[36:15] Christ can do you good but if Christ is near I need not fear what man can do unto me I need not fear the death the valley of the shadow of death how precious on a dying bed we sung today didn't we some of us have defined that haven't we our loved ones have found it they found his preciousness on a dying bed they've died in faith many of them in the comfort of his love some without it but we've yet to find it for ourselves haven't we he's precious in a dying bed the yielding up of our spirits you've got to face it my friend you and I have got to face the yielding up of our spirit into thy hand oh lord I commit my spirit that's how Jesus left us an example that's how

[37:17] Stephen followed in that example and that's how I hope to die in the lord of no other way I've got nothing else to plead I can't plead my ministry I can't plead my righteousness but I can plead the saviour's blood and righteousness how precious you've sung today is he in that heavenly dress that heavenly dress it's from heaven it's in that covenant of grace the righteousness which clothes and beautifies all sinners who believe into Jesus Christ the imputation by the holy ghost that's a strong doctrine that is the backbone of the body of Christ it's the holy doctrine that proceeds from the father the lord knoweth them that are his that everyone that seeth the son and believeth on him may have eternal life the truths of god in the scriptures are so solid so firm and they are like the bones in our body the body can stand upright the body can stand against all attacks from without and from within the holy doctrines of scripture fortify the mind it's a heavenly dress it's from heaven men poo poo it men despise your speaking of it but sinner do you know what it is to have the lord the blessed spirit whisper pardon and righteousness yours to have christ whisper in your soul i love thee well my child i died for thee he speaks to our conscience he gives the troubled conscience peace he gives the sorrow in troubled conscience rest by his sorrows he doesn't speak by word he speaks by the truth to your conscience by the word of the scriptures word spoken by the spirit's power you know it are you able to recognize what is of the devil what is of your own sinful heart and what is of the lord the imputing of righteousness yours that heavenly dress he's precious in his precious blood we sing that soul pardoning and soul cleansing flood it hasn't just flowed away at calvary it's in the covenant of grace it's in the eternal purposes of god it's a pardoning and soul cleansing flood and it's precious still it has precious virtue still it cleanses still it cancels guilt and sin and shame and if you're called to believe into

[40:40] Jesus Christ it's to feel an application of that blessing to your soul that the blood of Christ has washed you clean and cancelled your guilt and restored your soul now that makes Christ precious little wonder the church said he is altogether lovely I said this morning too that dear old Newton and I'll refer to his character in just a moment he wrote that hymn how precious did that grace appear the hour I first believe now there is an hour when we first believe when our eyes are opened and illuminated and the blessing of God is in it to see how great that blessing is how precious that grace of Christ is proceeding from such a precious saviour as Christ is now dear old Newton

[41:41] I was reading an account of him by another minister perhaps some of us wouldn't approve of the minister but he was speaking about change and giving up and he said you older men do not give up don't give way to that temptation to let the younger ones take over and do because you feel unfit to do it he said don't give way to it he said poor old Newton was tempted in this same way don't you think it's time he gave up he said when that godly minister was literally pushed up into the pulpit just to lean across the bible and preach his heart out that a poor slave trader had nothing else but to exalt the amazing and sovereign grace of god he said you want that changed see my friends we get some precious truths don't we from these hymns that we sing and from those who wrote them and the grace of god you imagine being pushed up into the pulpit so weak and frail as just to lean across and tell you of the exceeding grace of god to sinner that's preaching isn't it the spirit is the same as ever for want and change let's have something a little lighter something a little more to tickle the fancy to interest their mind but Newton gave them something that would be blessed of god to touch their hearts something that the spirit would attest to that made christ precious his blood precious his righteousness precious

[43:32] Newton was a favoured minister unto you therefore which believe he is precious so we might continue but I want to seek to bring our worship today to a close are you concerned then to grow up into him the knowledge of him it wants to be a good knowledge doesn't it not an erroneous knowledge there will be many today that say well he was a man he was a good example but he wasn't divine he was a good influence ah you wouldn't agree with that would you so I want a divine saviour I want a saviour that is able to save unto the uttermost I want a saviour that like our great high priest has somewhat to offer who has entered into the sanctuary with his own sin atoning blood and has made peace with God and pleads for me

[44:41] I want a saviour who has a righteousness to impute and saving health I want a saviour who can convey grace to my soul exalted to give repentance and remission of sins and is a prince and a saviour to speak peace and is my king of grace and that will overcome my sinful self I want someone that can deal with me as Jesus can he has made us kings and priests unto God it's a beautiful expression just for me to bring before you at the close of this service you say how can I be a king over self we sing to reign as king grace given to us to bring self into subjection no more to say

[45:43] I but Christ no more to dwell upon the great self that ought to be ashamed but as kings to reign over self and as priests his solemn praises each for a thank offering bring so I don't want to be a priest we do in a spiritual sense not to mediate not to bring the blood of bulls and goats but to plead the blood of Christ and to pay that debt of gratitude we owe in a little measure as kings over self and priests to offer those sacrifices to God that are acceptable if you and I have children and know what it is to rejoice in their innocence their innocent thanks and their tender love and the expressions of their love to their parents you say but that's simple oh but it's beautiful it's refreshing said Jesus except ye be come as little children in that same childlike simplistic way of saying as they do to their mother sometimes oh mummy

[47:02] I do love you it's so simple isn't it isn't that what God wants in his children and purposes to bring out he wants that simple sincere heartfelt love of his children those children don't understand all about life of course do they they don't know much of the evils of life and it's shielded from them wisely and blessedly they'll come into it but they've embraced the love of their parents haven't they they trust a mother or father so we want to be childlike in our trust and faith now unto you therefore which believe he is precious I could go into the other side and speak of the disobedient what a stumbling block it is to stumble at Christ well you know why they stumble at Christ the heart's never been humble prayed self has never been humble the spirit of

[48:04] God has never quickened them into life all they do exhibits death all child of God you do exhibits life you're crying you're groaning you're sighing you're mourning you're longings you're desires after Christ oh you say that just shows my unbelief well in one sense but in another sense it shows your deepening love it shows faith it shows what you cannot see yourself marks of grace but it's a love which pleases your heavenly friend he loves to hear your praise what he loves really is that you've no eyes for anyone else do not I love thee dearest Lord behold my heart and see and take each hated idol that durst resemble thee for now the Lord add his blessing

[49:05] Amen amen amen Amen. Amen.

[50:08] Amen. Amen.

[51:08] Amen. Amen.

[52:08] Amen. Amen.

[53:08] Amen. Amen.

[53:40] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[53:52] Lord, we pray that thou wilt crown the day with thy mercy and with thy rich blessing, for indeed we are blessed with that.

[54:07] Amen. And now thy benediction, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, the communion of God the Holy Ghost, be with us now and evermore.

[54:25] Amen. Amen.

[54:39] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[54:51] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[55:03] Amen.

[55:23] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.