The faith of the gospel (Quality: Good)

[0:00] For all needed help, I venture to draw your prayerful attention to the Philippians.

[0:11] Israel to pull to the Philippians, chapter 1, verse 27, and the last five words, the faith of the gospel.

[0:32] The faith of the gospel. The Apostle Paul, in this chapter, speaks much of the gospel.

[0:53] Your fellowship in the gospel, the defense and confirmation of the gospel, the furtherance of the gospel, the faith of the gospel.

[1:13] How can it be when we view, as we do, the great and holy sin-haging God?

[1:36] When we view the solemn scene in Eden's garden, Adam, where are thou?

[1:50] No hiding from God. And there, Adam and Eve, driven out of that garden, swords flaming and red, guarding the way to the tree of life.

[2:12] Communion with God broken. A further solemn display of the holiness and majesty and glory of Almighty God is seen at Sinai.

[2:30] Where if anybody even touched the mount, that they died. Never the display of the holiness of God, that the people trembled and feared.

[2:46] Never the commands given, the commandments given. And the soul that sinneth, it shall die. And man cannot save himself.

[3:01] Man thinks he can. Man thinks that by his good works he'll reach glory. My friend, we need nothing less than the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from our sin.

[3:25] Without the shedding of blood, there can be no remission of sin. But, O my soul, view even in the Old Testament, here and there, there were glimpses of one to come.

[3:49] Even in the Garden of Eden, we read that the seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. Even there, as God provided from the animals killed, skins to cover their body.

[4:10] Setting forth one that would die. And through his death, there would be a robe of righteousness to cover us. Our own righteousnesses are as filthy rags.

[4:29] And so we might go on. The Passover lamb, without blemish and without spot, slain.

[4:40] The blood applied to the lintel and doorposts. So that when the angel passed over, there was no death of the firstborn.

[4:53] It was not because those that lived in that house were Israelites. It was because the blood was there. And there was no salvation outside the precious blood, the invaluable blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[5:16] We must remember that whilst it was the blood of a lamb without blemish and without spot, ceremonially, they preserved the Israelites from death, from the destroying angel.

[5:35] But it never washed away their sin. Very solemn to observe this. That when the Israelites came out, all, as you might say, under the blood, and yet we read of the awful, solemn deaths among them in the wilderness journey.

[5:59] We read, for example, of the sons of Aaron, the high priest. They're offering strange fire before God. And the fire coming down from heaven and consuming them.

[6:13] We read of those in open rebellion and the earth opening up and swallowing them up. We read of the murmuring of the Israelites.

[6:24] And God sent the fiery serpents to bite them. And much people of Israel died. Oh, the solemnity of it.

[6:37] And yet we see that brazen serpent, a type of the Lord Jesus Christ, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.

[6:49] Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.

[7:00] The promise of the Redeemer. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and a name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.

[7:21] And there was the looking forward to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we read in Luke chapter 2, one or two very simple words.

[7:37] And so it was. What simple words they are. But how profound. So it was.

[7:48] The eternal purposes of God in the covenant ordered him for all things and sure should be made manifest. For here, as the shepherds keep watch over their flock by night, there is a message from heaven of this gospel.

[8:08] And this message that unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Oh, my friend, thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift.

[8:24] Here is the way of salvation. Nothing, none less than the eternal Son of God, who is the Saviour of sinners.

[8:38] Nothing. Oh, my friend, how deep the love that the dear Saviour had to his people, that he himself should lay aside his glory and come down be found in fashion as a man and humble himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

[9:05] You see, here we have sin atoning blood that could not be found, as I have often said, in creation.

[9:20] The wonder of creation, God saw it was good, creation could not provide blood, because all creation, through the fall, is stained now with sin.

[9:35] O thou hideous, monstrous sin, what a curse hast thou brought in. All creation, grows through thee, pregnant cause of misery.

[9:49] And here, my friends, we see the Lamb of God, John Baptist, as he saw Jesus, say, behold, the Lamb of God, here is one, mighty to save, but oh, what a cost to the dear Redeemer.

[10:10] He was even a real man. He suffered in body and pain. He knew what it was to be weary. That staggers me. The creator of the ends of the earth, weary.

[10:24] He that upholds all things by the word of his power, weary. We read also how he was thirsty, said, on the cross I thirst.

[10:35] He who bids the thirsty soul come to him and drink. Again we read of his, and the foxes have hold, and the birds of the air have nest, that the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head.

[10:54] But oh, we see also further the dear Redeemer in agony in the garden of Gethsemane.

[11:06] Being in agony, he prayed the more earnestly, and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground. This is the cough.

[11:18] This is the agony. This is the cup that the dear Savior is about to drink. It's the cup that's filled with the wrath of God for the sin of all his dear people.

[11:34] He said, Father, now the hour has come, now is my soul troubled. What shall I say? Father, save me from this. Now he said that just before the garden.

[11:46] But oh, my friend, here, he said, not my will, but thine be done. The cup that my Father giveth me to drink, shall I not drink it?

[11:57] And sometimes God, people are brought into that path. Sometimes they, they have a cup that seems so filled with bitterness and sorrow.

[12:12] But my friend, in his, there was nothing to comfort him. But in ours, there's something secret, sweetens all. That is the presence of Jesus, the unfailing love of the dear Savior.

[12:27] Oh, beloved, here is our trust, here is our hope. But I say, oh, going forth from the garden, and we do not deal in detail with all the sufferings of Christ, that we see now that same bitter hatred in the world to Jesus Christ as it was then.

[12:55] They hate the name of Jesus. What a mercy, grace that makes us differ. What a mercy that grace has brought us to love this name, that this name, Jesus, is so precious to our souls.

[13:13] But do remember that the sufferings in body were so great, and but now also the hidings of the Father's face.

[13:24] But here, my friends, when that full atonement is made, when that full salvation is wrought out and finished, the Lord could say, it is finished, it's done, and that's sealed where the veil of the temple ran from top to bottom, a way open now for poor sinners to come in.

[13:53] You see, where was the way to God? There's no way to God outside Jesus Christ. But at that hymn you've just sung, it'd been of late very dear to my soul, our dear friend did not know it.

[14:08] Salvation is of God, Jehovah is his name, the Saviour shed his blood, the Lord of life was slain, and by his own atoning blood, he made a precious way to God, a precious way through the precious blood, through the precious Jesus.

[14:32] Here sinners may draw near, how can we approach a God apart from the blood of Christ? My friend, there is a way now to plead for Jesus' sake, to plead that the Father spare the, hear that word, Father, spare the, foul transgressor, see for him what I have done.

[14:57] Here sinners may draw near with all their sin and guilt, nor death, nor danger, fear, since Jesus' blood was spare, for this is it, a door of hope was opened wide in Jesus' bleeding hands and side.

[15:16] It's the blood. And when Jesus Christ is finished, and he laid down his life, man could not take it, he laid it down.

[15:27] But then we read how the soldier took the spear, yes you know it so well, but I repeat it because this gospel, we love it, we're never weary of it, and took the spear and forthwith there flowed that blood of water to wash away our sin and to cleanse us from all our guilt.

[15:49] This is the fountain open for sin and for things filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins and sinners plunge beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains.

[16:10] But then the next question is, how does this, how can this blessing come to me? We're dead in trespasses and sin, we're far from God, there's no good thing in us, we can bring nothing of ourselves except our sin.

[16:41] But oh, blessed be God, there's God's eternal purpose, that all his dear people for whom Christ died, shall come.

[16:54] Well, how shall they come? It's because of the Holy Spirit's work, because of the new birth, that you must be born again, and that new birth is where poor sinners are brought to see their lost state.

[17:14] You see, when you're physically, well, I use just a simple, plain illustration, you have no need of your doctor, or the surgeon, or the consultant, no, but when you have some trouble, you have need of that help.

[17:33] Now, when a poor sinner had brought, yes, they knew they've sinned, they've said, yes, I've sinned. There are many in hell that have said that, you know.

[17:45] Do you think that's too strong? Let me remind you of one or two. King Pharaoh of Egypt, I have sinned.

[17:58] Achan, I have sinned. Judas Iscariot, I have sinned. You see, then what is the difference?

[18:09] A vital one, where it may be acknowledged by word, but there's no sorrow for sin, no broken heart, no confession of it, a fleeing away from God, God.

[18:28] But where there's a work of grace wrought in the heart, there's a fleeing to God. There is a fleeing from the wrath to come.

[18:41] There's a turning to the dear Redeemer of the cross at Calvary. There's a plea now for the blood. There's a cry for mercy.

[18:52] And oh, my friend, perhaps there's a force you can't get, you can't get much further. God be merciful to be a sinner. Well, how does that mercy come? Where does it come from?

[19:05] We know that we may speak of the mercies of God in providence and goodness to all mankind, but we're now speaking of spiritual blessings. This mercy flows from the blood of Christ.

[19:18] Come, thou fount of every blessing, tune my heart and sing thy praise. Streams of mercy never ceasing, streams of mercy never ceasing.

[19:29] Cheer up, sinner. The devil says, feign repetition, don't you worry about what the devil says. You keep pleading it, keep praying for it. Oh, mercy streams in streams of blood, precious drops my soul be doing, plead and claim my peace with God.

[19:50] Oh, the precious blood of Christ. And this is the way. Now, it is the faith. Here, in the words of our text, the faith of the gospel.

[20:04] This is God's gift. And it is possessed by every born-again sinner. And here, we must be very careful.

[20:17] The devils believe and tremble before God. It is possible to say, yes, I believe in God, and yet be destitute of this precious gift of the Holy Spirit in vital saving faith.

[20:36] But this precious faith is given by God, the Holy Spirit, to all who are born again. Because you will find these two are inseparable in the word of God.

[20:53] You come to those well-known words in John chapter 3. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

[21:13] He is a born-again sinner, here is the precious faith, and here is the precious faith that leads to everlasting life.

[21:24] That is a life in you, a spiritual life that will never die. I know we die naturally, but this is a spiritual life. Oh, my friend, the precious blood of Christ, and that was sealed by his glorious resurrection.

[21:44] Without that, as the apostle says, if Christ be not risen, we're dead, because the grave will hold us. There'll be no rising again, because death will claim us, but because the Lord is risen, so we rise in him.

[22:05] It's a sweet truth that we, in the eternal purposes of God, are in Christ, from eternity past, in him, so much that when he died on the cross, our sin, in us, was laid on him, and he took that sin.

[22:28] He suffered for our sin, so that when his blood is shed, it's the blood that cleanses from all sin, it is the blood that washes us, and makes us whiter than snow, and so it is this precious faith that receives it, and I'd like to think of what I read a long time ago, this faith is, well it is a grace, the grace of God, but it's a hungry grace, it's hungry, but if you're hungry, you need something to eat, and God has provided this faith, he provided the finished work of Christ, the blood, and you see, faith goes out to him, longs for him, seeks after, presses through the crowd, to touch the head of his garment, his activity, it is a lively faith, and lays hold, and can't let go, and oh my friend, how precious this faith is, how we long that we know more and more of it in our soul,

[23:44] Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief, oh the laying hold, and you see my faith, I'm afraid it's gone from my mind, but if we look alone to Jesus, I often, I know, some of you heard me more than once, but I cannot forbear again, for me, speaking of the woman with the issue of blood, because it's such a vivid illustration of faith, here was a woman that got a disease that could not be healed, and it was a sense of the law, she's unclean, she's an outcast from society, she does all she can to get better, she spends all her money on physicians, it gets worse, and my friend, there's no cure, no cleansing, of our sin, outside, Jesus Christ, made known by the Holy Spirit of God, and that was seen when she presses through the crowd, we read of that great crowd, and I'm sure that she just fixed her eyes on that dear

[24:54] Lord Jesus, I don't think I'm exaggerating, because you know what it is as a crowd, and you see someone you love, and you want to get to them, you meet them at station perhaps, and you don't start looking around on the notice boards, or what's going on, your eyes fixed on that one you love, and so it was with her, and then you know she touched, and as she bent down, stooped down so low, to touch the hem of his garment, I've read, or heard it said, that the hem of the garment is the last part of the work of the garment, and so, my friend, are laying hold on the finished work of Christ, and that shed blood on the cross at Calvary, that washes away our sin, and there this issue of blood is cleansed, and then she thinks she'll go away, but no, and I've told you before, it must come again, because I can't stop it, and that word, when it was made such a blessing to my soul, when a dear old deacon, who was near the end of his life, he asked me to see at the place

[26:01] I was going to preach, he could no longer go to Chapa, and he turned to me suddenly and said, have you ever thought of that word, somebody? Well, I had to do quite a thing, because we use the word somebody, if I'm a somebody, that means full of pride, no, not that, it was the word that Jesus said, he said, who touched my clothes?

[26:24] Well, everybody touching me, somebody, there was a poor, wretched, needy soul, in that crown, after Christ, and are you after Christ, my friend, hear you pressing through, oh, you say, Lord, oh, if only he will come, if only I could touch that garment, if only I could, how can you touch that garment?

[26:53] I believe praying earnestly for it, praying that the Holy Spirit may bear witness in your soul of an interest in his precious sin, atoning blood, oh, pray on, dear soul, pray on, so we have the faith of the gospel, the faith that feeds on the blood, the faith that looks on that robe of righteousness, that glorious dress, the faith that rests upon the Holy Word of God, the faith that loves the glorious gospel, and loves to hear that word, come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest, oh, how precious the faith of the gospel, but this is a faith that is tried, you see, without enlarging too much on the doctrine of faith, but faith, we have, it can fluctuate, it can never be destroyed, it will last till we turn to sight when we reach glory, but it can get very, very low, now I don't know why I should make quite a diversion here for a moment, there are times when two things come to a minister's mind, and right in the early days of my ministry, many years ago now,

[28:17] I speak to Mr. Tyler of the Dicker, and he gave me this advice, he said, pray over him, and you'll feel perhaps one is laid perhaps a bit more, but don't leave the other one out, bring it in, it may be a purpose of God, that somebody is looking for something else, and that will come in with your subject, well what I'm coming to now is this, that you're Rockland and Tempest, Paul was on the way to Rome, and you remember that God said, thou must witness for me in Rome, Paul, and you remember how Paul, having witnessed before Gripper and others, the way he put on this boat, and they said, sail, I won't go to all the details, and a great storm arose, the Euroclan and Tempest, neither sun, nor stars, nor moon appearing, until the Lord came to Paul, and the angel came and said, fear not

[29:24] Paul, look at it, Paul, with all the God has said, had fears, it looked like the bottom of the ocean, but when God came to him by the angel, Paul said, I believe God, this is it, faith in action, faith moving out, faith laying hold upon the word of God, I believe God, it will be even as it was told me, and there you see the difference, that dear man, then stood boldly, and told them to eat, and for their sake, and so forth, and said, not a hair of your head should perish, because God has spoken it, and faith laid hold upon it, wasn't presumption, and my friend, there we have, so you had the trial of your faith, now I just want to refer very briefly,

[30:26] I've got just time, to the word fellowship in the gospel, that's in verse, how strong was the love bond between Paul and the Philippians, Paul would never forget seeing that vision, a man from Macedonia come over and help us, and he was assured God would send him, but at first, as I would gather, there was little evidence of it, women pray, suddenly pray, and then we know there was a Lydia, but then we see an amazing work of God's grace, how that, although first of all we observe wherever there's a work of God and the word of God, the devil will work, and so it was there, and these men, instead of going on preaching, they're put into prison, in the darkest place in that prison, their backs bleeding from their stripes, and their feet in chains, but my friend, there you see faith, they're praying, and praising, they are singing, oh my dear, and you say I can't do that, no, neither can

[31:46] I, but you can sometimes, you can sing, like the bird sings in the rain, in the storm, just another little aside, two men were asked to, you know, give the painters, artists, to paint a picture of peace, one picture, a picture of a stream, and everything placid and quiet, the other was a scene of a tree, you could see that the evident of the wind was blowing, and in the midst of it, the bird was singing, he said, that's it, peace, perfect peace, in this dark world of sin, the blood of Jesus whispers, peace within, more affinity, so true, is a precious peace, and a precious gift, so here we come on with this word, your fellowship in the gospel, and here, my friend, was an evidence in the sudden conversion of that man, that hated those men, and did, now instead you see, instead of putting them in, training them, and not helping them, now tenderly, he washes their backs, tenderly he falls before them, he hears the gospel, and we read it that same night, he professed faith in the Lord, and there, and he and his were baptized, my friend, the power of the

[33:18] God, but the further and so, what I see there further and so, you see a Lydia, who was a lady, if you might put it that way, you see the jailer, but they're one, brought together, there's a story years ago down in Wiltshire, I'm not sure which chapel it was, I believe, I'm not certain, it doesn't matter, but there was a swoyer, and there was his gardener, and they both attended the same chapel, but they both were blessed, and as they went down, they said, I love you, John, and the other man said, I love you, master, too, union, my friend, union, and a bond, that you could meet and it's a wonderful mercy to feel it, such a flowing, as we're flowing together, as the union, and the devil will do all he can to describe, and he will do his best to raise up some bitters, put a wrong word in your mouth, a wrong spirit, oh, my friend, imagination, and so forth, do all he can to break the bond, watch and pray, and as the word of

[34:25] God says here in our text, only let your conversation be as if we come at the gospel of Christ, and he says, I may hear your face as you stand fast in one spirit, pray for it, the devil would all he can to break into it, but I say, we have this fellowship in the gospel, do you have, I want to be very careful here, but I think I can say fellowship, it's through the Lord Jesus Christ, but fellowship with some in the Bible, for example, how about the publican, do you say, yes, I love that man, what about Blambartimeus, yes, I love that man, what about dear David, and you go through, well, you love all God's sake, but you have a special, why do you feel that, because you say, I walk in the same path, that what they pray, I'm praying myself, just what I want for my soul, oh, take courage then, friend, the fellowship of the gospel, the flowing together, and then, there was just another one here, there are others, but the one I would touch, the furtherance of the gospel, that's what we pray for for the trinitarian

[35:40] Bible society, and we pray for it here, we seem to find very little furtherance, that's in the hand of God, but when we say that's in the hand of God, that doesn't mean to say you go to sleep, also be will be, you say, no, I know it will be in a way, but be careful, that doesn't mean you go to sleep, enchanted ground was one of the dangerous spots on the way to the gates of the celestial city, and my friend is to rise up and pray, and may that we be happy, and that sometimes comes when things seem so dark, so hopeless, and things going wrong, so the early church, the stirring up of the opposition, and men put into prison, and Stephen is stoned, what happened, then there were other ministers, then, oh, look at another awful thing, that Paul and Barnabas, great friends, they fall out, their bitterness is so great, that they power company, was that a victory to

[37:01] Satan? God, not that we excuse that, but God overruled it, because there were two ministers going out in two different ways, and doubtless God blessed their ministry, look at John, the apostle John, if ever a man could speak about Christ like the others, he could, but there is his old age, I think he outlived all the others, and in his old age, he's in the isle of the good back mass, he's silent, he can't preach, write the things that thou hast seen, write the things that are, and the things that shall be hereafter, God gave them a ministry, they should be in the word of God, they should stand to the end of time, and bring blessings and comfort to, oh, the dear people of God, this glorious gospel, what is this faith?

[38:02] well, I sum it up in this way, nothing in my hand I bring, I don't plead anything of myself except I'm a sinner, nothing in my hand I bring but simply, to thy cross I think I cannot let go, Lord, my hope is there, I look to thee, save me or as I perish, I feel to begin to sing sometimes, Lord, but help me out, oh, the devil gets hold of me, and then I go and sin, then I do this, and I try to fight against something, then I start it all over again, I feel such a wretch sometimes, Lord, I do, I know what it is, but my dear friends, here is the way of salvation, and here is something to die on, I don't know if I've named this before, I have one or two places, but, it's very crude, but it was ever so many years ago,

[39:08] I mean, go back 200 years ago, probably, or more, there was a man from the country, that by the sea, and he didn't know much about the sea, then he goes in the sea and starts to drown, well, mercifully, somebody gets hold of him and brings him out, well, he says, see, there's a funny place, a strange place, he says, there's nothing to hold on to, well, I thought of that, when I come to die, nothing to hold on to, oh, oh, my friend, faith lays a hand on that dear head of man, like a penitent in our state, and there we confess our sin, looking alone unto Jesus, pleading all that he has done, oh, my friends, what a word, this is the faith of the gospel, it is a faithful, faithful, saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ

[40:19] Jesus died, for sinners, and Paul says, at home, I am chief, and God's dear children at times, without mock humility, sometimes feel themselves to be the vilest of the vile, but my friend, blessed be God, this Jesus saves the worst of sinners, this Jesus saves the most respectable of sinners, too, not that there's a terrible barrier to be broken down, oh, I remember hearing, knock all that, someone in the door, that, oh, she wouldn't be baptized, she would be too respectable for that, and so forth, until God broke the barrier down, my friend, she could be, all, can barriers to be covered, always, want a thing that they need to be baptized, may be a good question to ask, may God lead you forth, and may God help us, give us strength, to fight the good fight of faith, to endure to the end of seeing him who is invisible, to hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering for his faithful, that promise, so, my friend, this is a gospel, and I've only just touched it,

[41:37] I hope I've done that, that there's such a fullness of it, may we be brought to the end and be able to say, in peace let me resign my breath, and thy salvation see, my sins deserve eternal death, that Jesus died for me, unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins, in his own blood, amen.

[42:09] Amen. Let us conclude with hymn 460, 460, to the tune Auburn, 734.

[42:34] The gospel's a message of peace, we often experience a found, it is filled with Emmanuel's grace, and sweeps away mountains of guilt, oh sweet revelation divided, we heard its contents, for through it our Jesus does shine, a lover of all his dear saints, through various scenes of distress, perplexed with sin, guilt, and fear, this glorious message of grace, has frequently yielded good cheer.

[43:34] Dear Lord, may we prize the rich peace, the peace so abundantly given, it flows through the word of thy grace, and makes us anticipate heaven.

[43:51] Hymn 460. time... room, time, Jane, attend, to h心 yang in hine� in hineas, and Ireland, Lord, ming another, and sae get there with your ch справ, the 지 may be with only Let us live within the eternal grace And speak the way of the earth Let us live within the eternal grace

[45:10] Let us live within the eternal grace And speak the way of the earth Let us live within the eternal grace Let us live within the eternal grace Let us live within the eternal grace Let us live within the eternal grace

[46:20] Let us live within the eternal grace Let us live within the eternal grace Let us live within the eternal grace Let us live within the eternal grace Lord, do bless thy own word Pardon and remove from memory every wrong word Take us each under thy safe care

[47:24] Bless the dear people here Bless the dear people here The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ The love of God The communion of the Holy Ghost Be with you all Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen Amen