Knowing the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (Quality: Very good)

[0:00] seeking the Lord's help and we needy grace I'll ask you to turn with me to the second epistle to the Corinthians chapter 8 and at verse 9 second epistle to the Corinthians chapter 8 and at verse 9 for ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich a wonderful thing my friends if it could be said of each one of us here present ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we hear it spoken we read about it the ministers preach it but you know it's to have the witness within to have that living experimental knowledge within one's own soul of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that grace which flows forth and has done and will do till the last elect vessel of mercy is gathered away from this world the grace of the Lord

[1:50] Jesus Christ you know the apostle Paul he speaks doesn't he of that grace in the epistle to the Galatians chapter 1 and verse 15 he says but when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace there was a time wasn't it well there was a time for Paul who was previous to that soul soul of Tarsus there was a time for him to be born into this world there was a time yes there was a time when you were born into this world born into a family parents native place and time all appointed were by him and with the Lord's people there's a time isn't there when they are called by grace

[2:55] I know the apostle Paul could name the day and his journey along that Damascus road but with many of the Lord's people they cannot name a day a time a day can they but you know there's a change this is it a change is wrought in the heart grace makes a change change the heart renew the world and turns the feet to Zion's hill before it was and of course this is according to our old nature what the world has to offer and the heart is taken up with the things of the world time things and there's the spirit of the world the spirit of men be taken up with the time things the things of this world the so called pleasures and their authorities well how much of it can we have and they want more and more but the time comes when yes the hymn writer speaks of it grace makes an empty void in the heart which the world can never fill grace makes an empty void so that the world is an empty place the world is a barren place it's a wilderness you know you read in the 107th psalm that the lord gathers his people from the east and the west and the north and the south yes the redeemed the redeemed it speaks of it let the redeemed of the lord say so whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy they gathered out gathered out of the world gathered unto himself and they wander in the wilderness wandering in the wilderness wandering in that empty place hungry and thirsty their soul fainted in them mark what it says hungry and thirsty their soul fainted in them and then what happened they cried unto the lord in their trouble and he delivered them out of their distresses ordinary away yye know the grace yes where do we begin isn't it like this grace to pray grace that is found in your heart which will draw you to the throne of grace to the mercy seat to the fate of jesus

[6:12] You know the grace Oh to know this Are you a stranger to the throne of grace Is the pathway to the throne of grace Covered in weeds Or is it a well worn track You may say Oh I'm a frequent visitor Visitor to the throne of grace Because I have a need And I feel that need And I cannot stay away You know there were those who walked So far with Jesus They went so far didn't they And there was a time when they were offended And they walked no more with him And Lord Jesus turned To those other disciples and he said Will ye also go away To whom shall we go Lord

[7:15] Said Peter to whom shall we go Thou hast the words of eternal life Ah how sweet that is Now you see it's life Life eternal life Before we were walking in darkness Before we were walking with the world Going down into the world Going down into the Away from God But now subdued by sovereign grace My spirit longs for thy embrace Tell me said the spouse and the son of Solomon Tell me Tell me O thou whom my soul loveth Where thou feedest Where thou feedest thy flock Tell me And I want to be there I want to come there Where

[8:15] Thy Where the sheep are Where the lambs are Where the Lord's people are Because Because He is the Great shepherd of the sheep And Watches over them And cares for them And leads them into Green pastures And beside The still waters Jesus Christ The great shepherd Of the sheep The shepherd and bishop Of our souls Is there a hungering And a thirsting Within your heart I say Is there that Aching void Within Which the world Can never fill It's here isn't it It's here In this sacred volume Ah You know One of old said Thy words were found And I did eat them

[9:15] And thy word was unto me The joy And rejoicing in my soul Thy words The written word Thy word The incarnate word The words written Christ is there In all the scriptures Thy word You know the grace Of Our Lord Jesus Christ And you know The apostle Paul Could use that term He could say Our Lord Jesus Christ Great claim Isn't it For one to make Our Mine The Lord is my shepherd This is my God This is my God This is my Lord This is my saviour This is my friend This is my friend This is my redeemer

[10:16] Do you know Do you know these things Do you know them In your own hearts As the Lord Shown to you Yourself Your great need And reveal to you That in him Is That Which will Make your need My every need He richly will supply Nor will his mercy Ever let me die In him There dwells A treasure All divine And much less grace Has made that treasure Mine Are you found Among Those That seek The Lord And seek Seeking him While he may be found And calling upon him While he Is near You know The grace That grace Which comes Yes

[11:17] Illuminating grace Before it was dark Before you couldn't see Nature's darkness Oh yes You had eyes You could see Around you You could see There's things About you But Like the blind man That we read of The man who was born Blind in the gospel And the Lord Opened his eyes There were those Who came Asking him Question How were thine eyes Opened Who did it Is this the one That was blind Is this the one We knew That was blind Yes Said he One thing I know That whereas I was blind

[12:18] Now I see His eyes were opened And he saw Jesus Think of those Those in the gospel Who were Drawn to him Or brought to him And they came Didn't they And cast themselves Down At his feet There was mercy They saw The grace The grace Of our Lord Jesus Christ That mercy That flows forth From the throne Of grace The mercy seat It's grace Isn't it We cannot say We deserve it We cannot Earn it We cannot merit it We cannot buy it It's grace

[13:20] Beautiful term You know Beautiful term And it Free grace Free and sovereign grace You know The grace How do you know This This illuminating grace Grace That shines Within That grace Which shines From The Lord Jesus Himself And reveals To us What we are And shows us What he is I am the light Of the world He that followeth Me Shall not walk In darkness So You see One is brought up Out of that Dark place Into the light And into the liberty Of the gospel And there is A walking For A going forward Isn't there A going forward That grace Which

[14:20] Will Work In the Heart And Will enable One To Venture Unto the Throne of grace And there To Tell him All the truth All about One's self Confess There Oh isn't it The grace Of the Lord Jesus That brings The poor Sinner To that place Of repentance Well the apostle I know the apostle Paul In the His letter To the Romans He said This It's the Goodness of God Isn't it That bringeth The sinner To that place His goodness His goodness Toward The poor sinner Raising him up And bringing him To his footstool As a Repenting Sinner There

[15:21] To tell him All the truth All about One's self Will he Will he Receive me You only think Of Esther Of old And the Jews Were in great Trouble When Esther Tell him And she Was one Of them And she Must Go She must Go before The king If I stay Away I know I shall forever Die And if I If I Go You see She was She went Uninvited But she Must go But you And I We come To the king Of kings And oh What a mercy When the King reached Forth a golden Scepter And received Esther What is thy

[16:22] Request What is thy Petition Thou art Coming To a king Large petitions With thee Bring For his Grace And power Such None Can ever Ask Too much Saving Grace Saving Grace Oh How sweet That is Without Money Without Price For Sinner Can draw Near Until The footstool Of mercy And seek That mercy The Plain The blood Of jesus I believe It was Phil Who Spoke Like this Concerning Redemption Was the Price of Redemption And the Power of It And how They go Together The price And the Power

[17:22] Now you Think of The Children of Israel And the Old Dispensation How They Ground In Egypt How They Cried In Egypt How They Laboured There In Egypt And their Cry went Up To their God in Heaven I've Heard Their Cry Today The Time Came When they Must Bring A Sacrifice Or Kill That Sacrifice Kill The Lamb And Pour Out The Blood Into A Basin And The Blood Applied To The Door Post And The Lintel And The Sweet Promise When I See The Blood I Will Pass Over You When The Destroying Angel Passed Over The Lamb And Those Who Were Sheltering Beneath The Blood Were Saved

[18:23] Were They The Price The Price Paid A Lamb And The Power When Those People Were Brought For From The Land Of Bondage The Lord Went Before Them Led Them Out Brought Them Set Them At Liberty And The Gospel Day The Lord Jesus Christ The Lamb The Lamb Of God Laid Down His Life Made Himself A Sacrifice Then The Laying Down Of His Life And His Sufferings And His Death He Opened A Fountain For Sin And For Uncleanness The Price Paid The Power Why

[19:23] It's Here Isn't It In This Text The Price And The Power You Know The Grace Of Our Lord Jesus Christ That Though He Was Rich Yet For Your Sakes Became Poor That You Through His Poverty Might Be Rich He Was Rich He The Creator The Earth Is The Lord's And The Fullness Are Of The Cuttle Upon A Thousand Hills The Silver And The Gold All Things Are His What You Have And What I Have My Friends In This Life Is Lent To Us Is Lent And One Day We Will Have To Part With Everything But

[20:25] You Know The Lord Has Promised The Lord Has Promised To Provide For His People Those Things That They You Know We Live In A Day When There's So Much Discontentment I Remember Some Years Ago In Conversation With A Woman And She Lived Not Far From Here At One Time I Believe She Came To This Chapel Once I Said To Her Once In Conversation And You Know Yes When The Words Come You Know We Got To Tell Them We Got To Speak Have We Not To Preach A Sermon But Perhaps A Word In Season And I Said To Her One Day I Said You Know God With Contemper Is Great Gain What A Beautiful Quotation

[21:26] She Said Where Is That Found Who Wrote That It Just Opened Up A Little Conversation And I Told Her God With Contentment Is Great Day Again Be Content With Such Things As He Have For He Hath Said Yes What Is The Verse Let Your Conversation Be Without Covetousness Be Content With Such Things As He Have For He Hath Said I Will Never Leave The No Forsythe The Impressions In The Present Day Is This Isn't It How Much Can One Take And One May Be A Millionaire And Have Millions You Know And It Can All Go In A Moment A Little That A Righteous Man Hath Is Better Than The Riches Of Many Wicked A Little

[22:26] Grace What A Little Grace Can We Have A Little Grace If You Have Grace And I Have Grace If You Have Christ Then You Have All Things Not A Little Is It It's An Abundance Why If You Have Christ You Have Safety On Earth And After Death The Planet Of Heaven If You Have Him Then He Will See To It That Your Need Is Supplied My God Said The Apostle But My God Shall Supply All Your Need According To His Riches In Glory By Christ Jesus All You Need Not Some But All You Look Back Over The Perhaps You Look Back Over The Past Year Or The Years And You Remember Those Times When You Were In Great Need Great

[23:28] Need Then They Cried Unto The Lord In Their Trouble They Did In That 107th Psalm You Know You Read Of Those Different Experiences Of The People Of God They Cried Unto The Lord In Their Trouble And He Delivered Them Out Of Their Distresses And It Goes On Doesn't It Oh That Men Would Praise The Lord For His Goodness And For His Wonderful Works To The Children Of Men You Know The Grace Of Our Lord Jesus Christ Who Though That Though He Was Rich Yet For Your Sakes He Became Poor Yeah You Think Of The Poverty To Which He Came My Friends The Extreme Poverty To Which He Came Foxes

[24:34] Have Holes The Birds Of The Air Have Nests For The Son Of Man Hath Not Where To Lay His Head Things And And You Have A Home You Have A Comfortable Bed You Have Provisions you have enough for today you've had enough for each day up to the present time the Lord will see to it that you have sufficient for the morrow and the day after I thought you know dear Elijah in his day a day of famine and there was a very ungodly king a monarch on the throne with an ungodly wife the Lord sealed up the heavens and there was no rain no rain for over three years oh what disaster the Lord had his servant

[25:50] Elijah and he was to go and dwell by the brook Cherith and he had the promise I've commanded the ravens to feed thee there more likely to rod than to feed were the ravens which live upon prey but when the Lord's people have need his goodness will find out a way his goodness and Elijah dwelt by the brook you know you know the account and the brook tried and then you know he was sent to a place called Zarephath and there was a widow woman there she had a little a little provision and he you know was directed to her there was yeah there were many widows said the Lord Jesus many widows in Israel in that day but there was one one whom Elijah was sent and she had a little provision enough enough for herself and her son for one meal that's what she said that was her thought we'll have this meal and then we shall die you know when Elijah came to her he said make me a little cake and as she was going he called to her he said fetch me some water and she did ah the Lord blessed her and the Lord provided for her and her son and Elijah you know

[27:52] I'd have loved to have heard Elijah returning thanks we say grace don't we is it just a formality when you come to the table and say grace just a formality you say it every meal time but either of those times my friends when you come to the table and your heart is softened you see the provision there the Lord has provided for you though he was rich yet for your sake became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich he had no way to call his home did he he had no home here there were those who ministered to him and they were favored they were blessed you think of that little home in Bethany Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus and he was a visitor to that home how you know they ministered to him the favored family weren't they very favored

[29:08] Jesus loved them we read Jesus loved Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus he loved them and he loves his people loves them with an everlasting love and he will not leave them leave them to want for any good thing having food and raiment let us be content with such things that we have for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee ye know the grace grace of the Lord Jesus Christ I think thought comes that grace grace which enables one to endure to continue the Lord

[30:08] Jesus said didn't he before entering into that pathway of suffering and death to his disciples ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations and I point unto you a kingdom ye are they and they you know they they walked with him didn't they they yes they followed him in his footsteps and they continued they endured he that shall endure unto the end shall be saved perhaps sometimes if we shall we continue shall we be able to endure shall we endure this something comes into the into our pathway into our life something we look not for unexpected how can we continue has everything gone against us

[31:25] Jacob felt it didn't he he had trouble trouble much trouble and you know he said didn't he to his son Joseph is not Simeon is not now Benjamin he said you bring down my grey hairs to the grave in sorrow all these things are against me but you know they weren't against him no when we left like that you know we prove this that it's not against us he's not against us if God before us who can be against us but you know the Lord chastens his people the Lord corrects them as a father corrects his family so the

[32:26] Lord corrects his people and no chastening for the present seem to be joyous but grievous nevertheless afterwards it yielded the peaceable fruit of righteousness enduring grace oh to continue to continue do you pray like this Lord help me to endure help me to endure unto the end hold up my goings in thy paths and my foot slip not keep me Lord in the way and another thought you know comes to the mind and it's this we read it didn't we in that chapter the second chapter of the philippians where the apostle speaking of Christ and he said let this mind be in you which was also in

[33:28] Christ Jesus made himself of no reputation took upon him the form of a servant made in the likeness of man being found in fashion as a man he humbled himself and became obedient unto death even the death of the cross humbled himself and he walked in that way didn't he in that way in which the Lord his father would have him walk I delight to do thy will oh my God and to humble ourselves to see that humble place to walk with Christ he humbled himself and his people must be humbled and held by grace we read he resisted the proud but giveth grace to the humble well if they're humble they've already got grace but you know we need grace we need that grace to flow forth unto us we cannot store up grace can we if the

[34:58] Lord gave us grace yesterday and has been pleased to give us grace today we shall need it again tomorrow and each day you pray for grace when you commence in the morning he giveth more grace we read more grace ye know the grace you know these things ah yes but I want to know more the apostle Paul was favoured and he knew many things but he desired to know more didn't he I might know him yes and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death why the Lord said to Paul my grace is sufficient for thee for my strength is made perfect in weakness my grace sufficient my grace and what a strength that has been to the church of God down through the years and what a strength that is to you and to me if we have an interest in these things my grace sufficient you know the grace of our

[36:25] Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that ye through his poverty might be rich oh the riches of grace the riches of grace the abundant riches that flow forth from himself and he's not impoverished does he they flow continually and he's not impoverished I think men if they give of their possessions if they keep on giving then they become impoverished don't they but the Lord Jesus gives and continues to give and so you see this is a sweet encouragement isn't it to draw near unto the throne of grace and say

[37:32] Lord do bless me do enrich me oh that my heart may be enriched by thy grace oh that I might be helped Lord as I continue as spared go forth into another year it doesn't change does it thou remainest we read thou remainest Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and forever it does not change and this is a great mercy a great mercy set his love upon his people and continues to love them and will love them unto the end may the Lord bless these few thoughts pardon that which is pure I see amiss amen amen to cover no so love