Hebrews

[0:00] In the name of God and by the Holy Ghost, let us direct you this evening to the Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter the 13th, and we read from the 5th verse.

[0:20] The Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter the 13th, from verse the 5th.

[0:33] For he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

[0:46] As the Apostle Paul draws to the close of his Epistle to the Hebrews, by divine inspiration he brings to all the living family of God what may be described as the quintessence or concentration of all the exceeding great and very precious promises of God to his chosen.

[1:31] And it will be my sacred privilege this evening, by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, first to unfold to you the place in the economy of salvation of these wondrous promises.

[1:57] And first we may put a question, namely this.

[2:08] Most men have a treasure. Only the saints of God, however poor in this world, have a divine treasure.

[2:24] A treasure that is imperishable, everlasting, eternal. A treasure that is fadeless, because it is bestowed by the eternal God, through his Son Jesus Christ, by the power and grace of the Holy Ghost.

[2:54] So this would be the form of the question. What is your treasure? The treasure is twofold for the saints of God.

[3:10] God, it is a treasure in heaven. How am I able to spell out the dimensions of that heavenly treasure?

[3:29] You can never comprehend it with human sagacity. The dimensions of that heavenly treasure are no less than these.

[3:44] Jesus Christ himself is yours. The kingdom, his kingdom. But I want you to ponder, as we open this divine service tonight, is Jesus Christ your treasure?

[4:08] Surely this will be fathomless to you, to ever contemplate that he is yours. This is congruous with the whole revelation divine.

[4:23] Certainly it is undoubtedly the highest attainment of any child of grace here below to be able to express their souls in this manner, as in the canticles.

[4:40] My beloved is mine. And I am his. Dear friends, many of us have been in the way these many years.

[5:01] Are you able to claim Christ as your treasure? Then there is a treasure that the saints bear with them in their souls.

[5:20] A treasure of divine grace, of the spirit of holiness, of a new creation, of the love of God, the fear of God, the fruits of the spirit.

[5:41] Amongst those treasures are those exceeding, great, and very precious promises that the Lord speaks that the Lord speaks to every one of his people.

[5:55] What has he given you as your treasure? The heart is like an epistle, a book.

[6:10] That heart that is made tender by the fear of God and in contrition, broken and contrite, he writes upon that book, his new best name of love, his promises.

[6:32] What is your treasure? Examine it tonight. So that all through the rugged pathway of life through this planet, from our birth to the time of our departure, especially from the time of our regeneration to the time when the Lord calls us to himself, what is it that is so precious to you?

[7:10] That which is yours, that which is his pleasure, his wish, that you should claim because he has given it to you.

[7:29] The great proof of the Lord giving a poor sinner, anything, is this. If he gives it, we receive it.

[7:43] There's no such thing as the Lord giving and you not receiving. If he gives you something, you receive it. So what is your treasure? shall I envy then the miser doting on his golden store?

[8:04] Sure I am or should be wiser. I am rich, tis he is poor, having Jesus.

[8:16] Now you know if you have Jesus, his presence, his love, his grace, his abiding presence, having Jesus, I have an immortal store.

[8:33] Very well, I can now take a further step to show in the economy of salvation where these promises stand. let us consider then the revelation in scripture and the revelation to every quickened sinner, every penitent soul concerning the very nature and essence of God that it is love.

[9:12] God is love. You will never fathom love, love divine.

[9:26] It is the sweetest grace to taste. It is unfathomed. It is everlasting, immutable, free, sovereign, complessential love.

[9:46] God is love. You may read in the scriptures of the wrath of God, you never read the other way around.

[9:59] God is wrath. God is love. That is his nature and essence. Now then, where do we see in the revelation of God, which is of course the holy scriptures of divine truth, where do we see this love flowing?

[10:26] First, between the glorious persons of the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

[10:41] How ineffable is the love of the Father to the Son, the Son to the Father, the Father and the Son to the Holy Ghost, the Holy Ghost to the Father and the Son.

[10:57] Hearken to the voice of the Father when our beloved Redeemer came out from the waters of the Jordan.

[11:14] This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. hearken to the voice of the Father on the Mount of Transfiguration.

[11:31] This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. In the Gospels you see the Son glorifying the Father.

[11:52] all that he did was to the glory of the Father. I do always those things that please him. My need is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish the work.

[12:12] In the Acts of the Apostles written by St. Luke you see the Father glorifying the Son as exalted and the pouring out of that peerless gift of the Holy Ghost.

[12:36] Now you may say is this relevant to us? It is. It's the foundation of the text. The ineffable love of the eternal three.

[12:48] The glorious persons in the Trinity. And I want to make this point before I proceed. It is this.

[13:00] It will be one of the greatest joys of all your life to begin to know this in your own soul.

[13:13] That when the Holy Spirit enters your soul and when you know a filling of the Spirit the Spirit of God will glorify the Father and the Son in your soul.

[13:28] And there's nothing else. There's no ministry without it. If the whole motivation of the ministry is not the exaltation or the glorifying of the Trinity there's nothing in it.

[13:51] And if this is not the very purpose and motivation of your life not once a week but day by day your life is vapid.

[14:05] You'll want to glorify him exalt him. This is the only thing that will satisfy your spirit to feel that he is exalted.

[14:15] now then when the Son of God comes into your soul that is by his spirit he will glorify the Father.

[14:27] As you know the Father he will glorify the Son and the Spirit in your soul. These are some of the deepest things in true vital religion and it is a touchstone.

[14:46] You will know immediately if you experience what really is tantamount to an ecstasy of joy in that adoration.

[14:56] I can now take you I hope to a further step. How amazing is the glorious truth then that although we view this ineffable love of the Trinity that is between the three glorious persons that there was and is an out flowing of that same love to sinners those foreknown predestinated to be conformed to the image of his dear Son an out flowing from the Trinity to poor fallen mortals sinners guilty wretched abject creatures an outflowing of the love of God do you experience it do you know it this of course is the grand seal and the potent and positive proof of their salvation to know the love of God which passes knowledge even a droplet of divine love will kindle in your breast and create within you an assurance of a living hope love so how amazing this is that there should be from the glorious

[16:53] Trinity an outflowing of divine love does he love you his love love is to their persons that is to say their souls and their bodies the complete person salvation covers the person the soul that is to say if we go to our rest before the second advent the soul will depart to be with Christ the precious dust will be embalmed in the atonement and rest in the silent peaceful tone and then partake of the immortal glories of the first resurrection and so soul and body glorified salvation covers the person now this outflowing of love then is to their persons and you will recognize this basic truth obviously the Lord does not condone your sin but he knows that he has separated your sin from you first in his act of atonement

[18:30] I think one of the most remarkable truths that you can ever experience or recognize in your spirit is this namely to know that before you were born your debt was paid when Christ said on Calvary's cross it is finished the debt was paid for the whole election of grace and this is brought into your experience so there is this outflowing of love divine to the elect the chosen those for knowklown theoned and this is well known to those who fear

[19:34] God had not thy choice prevented mine I never had chosen thee now then an outflowing of divine love to those foreknown by him and in pursuance of this the father entered into a cabinet with his dear son in behalf of these chosen people and that covenant is termed in the same epistle a better covenant that is to say it is better because of its efficacy it has power to save the first had not this covenant has power to save also it is unconditional it does not rest upon you at all it is not if thou wilt it is

[20:50] I will God says I will not if thou wilt it is a better covenant then because of its efficacy to save now you may wonder how we shall lead into the text and it is really very blessedly and profoundly simple it is this two things I want to express one is this that the covenant which is a signed sealed ratified bond or agreement contains many things many blessings it contains the gift of the spirit justification forgiveness the spirit of adoption it contains all the blessings that the Lord may be pleased to give you that is in providence and grace to bring you to himself and there are these gifts and then this precious covenant is stored with sacred promises we have this in the hymnal the covenant is stored with precious promises by which the soul is fed now then

[22:43] I want to say something else about the covenant this covenant that is termed the new covenant is a marriage covenant it was made with Jesus for his pride before the sinner fell was signed and sealed and ratified and all things ordered well it is a marriage covenant and the Lord has so constituted holy matrimony to that excellent estate so that he tells you through the apostle for this cause shall a man leave his father and mother and shall be joined unto his wife and they too shall be one flesh this is a great mystery that I speak concerning Christ and his church now it is a marriage covenant and this is where you get the flowing of these promises this is where I can see exactly the place in the economy of salvation of these promises first if the Lord loves you would you not anticipate that he would manifest his love by promising to you his fidelity and faithfulness is not this a basic thing in Christian marriage so

[24:39] I want just for a brief moment to take up this term marriage it is a covenant then till death us do part but what of this covenant there are solemn promises made loving blessed promises that is if it is true promises before God and to each other promises why because of love this is an issue of love if you know love there will be promises so first there are these promises there is a ring this is love this is a promise this is a proof of the promise there is the joining of hands so it is with the blessed Lord do you mind the spot of ground where Jesus got your heart and hand your husband then was sweet there is this coming together this embracing and then of course there is the written covenant or agreement and remember that

[26:36] Christ Christ has already sealed that covenant with his own blood now I think you can see the place of the promises when you are brought into conjugal union with Christ when you taste his divine love immediately you begin to know some enjoyment of the spirit of the promises I will never leave thee nor forsake thee that is the very essence of divine love and when the soul is betrothed unto him in righteousness and especially when you know deliverance in your soul oh your husband gives you and I can speak from experience

[27:40] I trust your husband will give you all the promises of the new covenant they're yours I remember in the year 1930 when I believe I was delivered that that so wonderfully unfolded to my soul I said Jesus is mine and then this blessedly followed that all the promises were yea and amen in him and I said they're all mine because he is mine now specifically you may have a promise or one or two outstanding promises but it is the outflowing of conjugal love to your soul love to so before we go any further how far do you think you have come on the road do you hope you know the love of his espousals has he not given to you a pledge of his fidelity to you do you hope you are married to the lord the lamb then you have your wedding garment you have your ring and you know what it is to be one one united this is a great mystery as I quoted just now that I speak concerning christ and his church and is it not obvious that those who love each other in that exclusive and unique way will pledge their fidelity and promise their love now this is how it is between christ and the soul

[29:55] I fully recognize that I am leading you into perhaps heights that you may feel are at present above your head but the very taste of the love of God in your soul and you all know the lord pledging his fidelity to you promises that's just where they stand in the economy of salvation it's I can use two forms here first the conjugal the bridegroom his office character his bridegroom and his chosen bride and the other he as your heavenly father and you his adopted sons and daughters but you'll have this pledge of his fidelity his love love does it in fact is the very essence of love even if no word was spoken one moment of the enjoyment of his love and you have the blessed understanding of the lord pledging his faithfulness to you you'll know it for instance whatever you may be walking in trial difficulty anxiety if the lord draws near you will taste his love and that very taste of his love will pledge his faithfulness to you you'll know that he will appear you will know that he will provide that he will deliver you because you have tasted his love this is it now as to the purpose of these promises well the purpose is twofold first on god's part in the promises he greatly conveys and displays before his dear children his glorious character he'll say he speaks a promise to you he will display all his character to you in the fulfilling of that promise his love his faithfulness his eternity his immutability he will convey the whole of his character to you in one promise through your life you'll see shining forth sometimes in a blaze of glory the character of your husband and so he displays his name his character and his promises chiefly of course in the work of our redemption but in these promises he displays his character he displays all his attributes his perfections now so wonderful to me because as I feel now to be going on towards the banks of the river it is this that is so fundamental to establish our souls that I find so exceedingly precious

[33:42] I can rest my soul on this on him because I know his character now you take that home and just ponder if you have one promise and the coverage of a promise is not localized it's not just for one month in a certain year or one day the coverage of a promise is complete if you would understand this language one promise God in that promise carries you right through into heaven and he'll display all his character to you in it now that's on his part now what on your part the promises the purpose of the promises well the Lord knows not only because of his prescience but because of the incarnation of the

[34:46] Son of God walking this earth and his path was so much rougher and darker than ours now knowing all this and knowing it in this further deeper sense he knows that his dear people here below in their days of affliction tribulation and sorrow need the strong consolation of his promises promises and so this is on our part it is for us to taste his love and his promises so I want briefly to spell out this a little the promises of God have relation largely to several things for instance the people of God let me mention this initially the people of God in what we have now named the miseries of this life tribulation tribulation of course means that trouble that the love of God is in to sanctify it to the good of our souls no curse in it but love in it that is tribulation to give a very simple definition and it is unique to the people of

[36:29] God in this sense now you well know I well know that every day more or less and you can say sometimes every day brings something new Zion's troubles to renew you get the things that are so heavy on your heart you get the things that so distress and pain and grievous torment you you get the things that you can see no end in trials where it looks as if you'll never come out of them and so on now the Lord knows you need promises he he he knows that you need him to convey himself to you and his promises and so if you will please take this back with you and examine it you will see the glorious truth of it the

[37:37] Lord has never once in the whole of his book to his dear people put trouble in the abstract not once whenever he speaks of trouble or whatever form of trouble it is there is always his promise there his love there his goodness there it's never left in the abstract he may speak to you about passing through the waters but he doesn't leave it there I will be with thee see so first of all the efficacy of the promises as we are favored to know them one promise can deliver you because sweet is his speech and you'll know his speech you'll know the efficacy and the power of his speech it will produce the effect you may be up to your neck in trouble to use a cliche and if the

[38:52] Lord stands by you and speaks a promise into your soul all your troubles have gone in the sense that you feel sweet peace and you're unable to cast all your care upon him I know it so the Lord knowing the dark trying path of his people and it is his own purpose that through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom he will give you the cordial of his promises to sustain and comfort and cheer you and assure you of your deliverance I might of course well stay in that section but I want just to name another part of application of the promises it is this when I spoke about tribulation it includes obviously the hostility of the world the power of

[40:04] Satan and the awful recognition of the depravity of our nature which has been much in your hymns now how wonderful to have a promise but I want now just to touch this other part of ground where the promises are so beautifully applied namely where the Lord gives as he will his people assignments in life and directives as to his will concerning them an assignment an assignment that is why I read the lesson where I did the time came when

[41:04] Moses was 80 and the Lord gave him the assignment to go and be the deliverer and leader of his people that he should bring them out of Egypt now that was his assignment and he said certainly I will be with thee this is the promise to carry you through Moses now do you see what I mean what assignment has he given you the same applies to his directives after twenty years in Paddan Aram he said to Jacob return return to thy country and thy kindred and it meant meeting Esau return you might say well there's nothing much in that saying return well you don't understand if you say that to go back he knew that that brother had threatened to kill him it would be the most impossible thing to do but the

[42:24] Lord said return unto thy country and thy kindred and he said and I will be with thee now do you see this is where the promises stand it gives you a directive but it gives you a promise with it let me demonstrate and illustrate again the case of an assignment take Joshua succeeding Moses as I was with Moses so will I be with thee I will not fail thee nor forsake thee here's the promise to carry him through now how wonderful then is the efficacy of the promises it will enable you to take steps in the fear of

[43:25] God certainly I will be with thee it will enable you to fulfill this directive return I will be with thee to do something you could never do without him you have a promise for it and the promises if we look at the blessed consummate glory of the promises we shall see this that as the Lord speaks to his people in a promise that he carries them through the wilderness and they don't they don't die in the wilderness he carries them into glory this is it take that beautiful word thou shalt guide me by thy counsel and afterward receive me to glory you see the blessedness of it with long life will

[44:53] I satisfy him and show him my salvation you may say excellent I would like to live a long life you have missed it it may well mean that the Lord will spare you some have received an application of that word when they were in a frail state and when they really feared that they were rapidly coming to the close of their days and the Lord has given them a word and that word is conveyed to them or the Lord is conveyed to them in it that he will spare them but of course the wondrous ultimate of that means with long life it means everlasting life in heaven bliss now this is the divine efficacy of the promises the covenant is stored with them they are ratified by the blood of

[46:01] Christ and they are spoken by the spirit to our souls they are received they are a divine treasure and their function and efficacy will be most wonderful to you those promises will often deliver you from fear temptation distress and excessive anxiety the promise of the Lord now here then as I have said is the quintessence of them all for he hath said he has said it now this covers all contingencies all vicissitudes all emergencies all needs all phases of life it covers everything for he hath said times when you think you are sinking times when you feel you cannot go on another air times when the enemy seems to be closing around you times when it seems impossible for you to ever entertain any hope of deliverance for he hath said

[47:36] I will never leave thee I have had times when I thought I was going to the grave in trouble my friends and that's no exaggeration dear old Jacob felt that when he saw the blood stained coat I will go to the grave to my son mourning now for he hath said I will never leave thee and you will prove it whatever you're in whatever you're passing through whatever trial whatever difficulty whatever emergency for he hath said I will never leave thee he is there he cannot leave his people why because this would sulley his character which is impossible what would he do with his great name if he left one of his people the whole of true religion would have to sink if he left one of his people he never does now

[48:58] I hope this may be a blessed cordial to your soul for he hath said I will never leave thee he cannot he cannot leave you as the spirit of regeneration and sanctification he is there he cannot be unfaithful to you as your father friend and husband for he hath said I will never leave thee now bring forth your testimony and witness witness to his praise has he ever left you I know you may come back to me and say yes I felt sometimes that I been left to my own spirit or left to my sinful nature and I have fallen and has he left you no did he leave

[49:59] Peter who followed afar off slept when his lord was in his agony in the garden thrice denied him did he leave him did he abandon him no he turned and looked upon him and Peter went out and wept bitterly did he leave him has he ever left you you may have left him in the sense that you may have grieved him that he has never left you he has chastened you that's the proof that he hasn't left you for he hath said I will never leave thee so in sorrow sickness and death he will never leave thee nor forsake thee abandon thee and you'll feel that you deserve it so worthless and so wretched and so guilty that he will never forsake thee no why because he loves you because you are the purchase of his agony you are the gift of his father to him you cost him wounds and blood and snark

[51:30] I will never leave thee nor forsake thee and his glory in the earth is largely vested in his dear saints where shall we see the proof of God of his character of his perfections of his grace we shall see this in his dear people we shall see the fruits of the spirit we shall see a conformity to Christ and we shall see them carried through all their trials and landed safe in glory and this will be to the glory of his everlasting name amen