John

[0:00] words resting on my mind you will find in the chapter we read the 14th chapter of the gospel according to john verses 18 19 and 20 14th chapter of the gospel of john verses 18 19 and 20 i will not leave you comfortless i will come to you yet a little while and the world seeth me no more but ye see me because i live ye shall live also at that day ye shall know that i am in my father and ye in me and i in you i will not leave you comfortless i will come to you yet a little while and the world seeth me no more but ye see me because i live ye shall live also that day ye shall know that i am in my father and ye in me and i in you the lord was conscious of the needs the pathway of his dear people and uh we gather somewhat of the character of the pathway from his remarks here it was to be a lonely pathway it was to be a pathway of sorrow and suffering equally we see here the blessed truth that we have not an high priest who cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin the incarnation brought christ here into this world and we really behoved him to be made like unto his brethren i've proved it it over the journey that he does understand and that this blessed word has been fulfilled fulfilled in my pathway i will not leave you comfortless the footsteps of his dear people are ordered oh to have a sight i've had it at times powerfully had it to never forget sometimes in the deep waters and the fires of the journey the blessed comfort of the words the government is upon his shoulders it may seem to be a storm and a tempest and we are alone in it it is our burden our sorrow our suffering our wounds but the government i've seen it is upon his shoulders and dear job under a realization of that could truly say he knoweth the way that i take and there's something in this you know the lord would isolate his dear church he would take them apart that they suffer alone they look to none for help none for comfort except him he would do business with them spiritually that is in deep waters and he would commune with them alone husband apart wife apart children apart the lord works in their souls and this text here before us tonight speaks of the lonely pathway i will not leave you comfortless it says the margin read orphans beautiful word isolated i will not leave you comfortless and that tells us you know that there are parts of the journey some of them when we are utterly alone and he comes in precious comfort sometimes perhaps the hospital bed i've known it utterly alone to go to the theater bow down under many temptations fiery temptation weak and trembling he's come oh the peace the comfort his presence this beautiful word i will come to you and he does witness he comes in the pathway and he speaks with almighty power and there is strength in his presence we have to go as it were to rock bottom and staggered to and fro as the 107th psalm says like a drunken man at our wits end and they cried unto the lord it may only be the upward advancing of an eye but he hears he knows he watches over his dear people and he has brought them into these places given them some solemn thorns in the flesh messengers of satan to buffet them and it has been the means of them crying to the lord thrice says the apostle i besought him and the lord drew near i will not leave you comfort us i will come to you and he came to his dear servant he said to him my grace is sufficient for thee it is you know we shan't need anything else we shan't my grace is sufficient for thee my strength is made perfect in weakness and the apostle under the dealing of god with his soul could truly say most gladly therefore will i glory in mine infirmity the bitter cup the sorrow the suffering the power of christ may rest upon me and when the power of christ rests upon us and he comes in this lovely verse i will come to you dear friends there's not a cloud between our souls and him the darkness is removed and the sun of righteousness arises with healing in our his wings and we know the strength of the truth when most when most are under the darkest clouds when his face is hidden from us when our hearts are full of fear and temptation when we feel orphans alone then when most we need his helping hand this friend is always near with heaven and earth at his command he waits to answer prayer and what a blessing there is in it i will come to you and what teaching there is in it and what the revelation of his faithfulness what sweet comfort there lies here the children of god in the pathway come many times to this place comfortless they come into some barren solemn places where the heavens are as iron and brass and where as we read in the last two verses of the 50th of

[10:43] Isaiah and it is the place that the church of god walks in feelingly that she comes here and who is among you that feareth the lord that obeys the voice of his servant that walketh in darkness and has no light i will not leave you comfortless i will come to you and we see in the case of the lord's dear servant joe how the lord came i believe there lies in this truth when christ comes oh i have passed through some bitter sorrows at time heavy crosses deep wounds and he's led me to this consider him it is not just that he comes it's more than that he gives to us a precious understanding of all that he suffered for us how he himself walked the pathway alone they all forsook him and flair his own dear disciples he has walked that way himself oh i remember one night in the heat of a deep affliction dreading to enter the pulpit feeling unable to preach when as i put my foot on the first step of the pulpit the lord said with such savour consider him then i understood he knoweth the way that i take he passed that way consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself lest he be wearied and faint in your mind we are wearied we do faint in our mind we have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin and the lord brings his dear people as he did rutherford when he said the hedge of thorns was sharp it was a solemn tortuous path the lord called him to walk in but when he came oh how he had the blessed sight of the sufferings of christ for him of the lonely isolated path he walked of the deep sorrows he walked in of the wounds he received and of that cup that he spoke of in gethsemane this cup the hymn writer says we do at best but taste the cup but it is a divine favour to be brought into those crucifying sorrows and sufferings for we shall never taste the cup he tasted otherwise and

[14:57] I believe the dear church of God has to come there thinking not strange we do think it's strange I have always thought it's strange when brought into solemn crucifying fiery past thinking not strange oh how we have to learn concerning the fiery trial that is to try you as though some strange thing had happened unto you but rejoice oh what a divine work that is when the Lord comes I will come when he draws near there is a little sweet rejoicing it's heaven the Lord gives in the hearts of his dear people nothing this world could ever do rejoice in as much as you may partake of the sufferings of

[16:01] Christ the dear church of God in her sorrows and sufferings as in his dear hand when sweetly led of the spirit to consider him then she has a blessed sight of his sufferings for her and here is the comfort it is what John the apostle speaks of John the divine in his letters truly he says our fellowship is with the father and with his son Jesus Christ and all the fellowship is the sacred fellowship of those who have walked out that same pathway and have a sweet union in the way and the

[17:09] Lord will bring his dear people into crucifying sorrow that they might have a little sweet fellowship with him in his suffering and walk with him commune with him I'll come to you all he draws near and grants them such a sight of what he passed through for them dear friends it fills their heart with love to him there is in the deepest most sacred sense of that word that is so abused but there is a reality in it a death he grants to them fellowship fellowship with him in his suffering in his sorrow in all the paths that he walked we read of him in the first order of the

[18:25] Hebrews in that second chapter it became him for whom are all things that is God the father and by whom are all things and bringing many sons unto glory to make the captain of their salvation perfect through suffering for both he that sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren for verily he took not on him the nature of angels but he took on him the seed of Abraham for in all things he behold him to be made like unto his brethren that he might be a merciful and a faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make reconciliation for the sins of the people for in that he himself hath suffered being tempted he is able to succor that is comfort them that are tempted

[19:32] I will not leave you comfortless it is a precious word of promise to his people I will come to you and he does he comes and draws near he speaks into the souls of his church by his spirit with almighty power he leads them into the truth and in that leading into the truth he comforts them he opens their eyes and gives them understanding in the way we see the sanctified affliction of Job bearing precious fruit

[20:32] I have heard of thee he said by the hearing of the ear but now mine eyes see thee there has been precious union a sight by faith as we read of it here yes little while and the world seeth me no more but ye see me precious truth revelation of the spirit ye see me oh what have we seen of Christ Job said but now mine eyes seeth thee wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes we read of dear Abraham Abraham saw my day you know it was in a deep isolated trial of faith as alone he took

[21:42] Isaac to raise the knife over him on Mount Moriah oh the path Christ said Abraham saw oh he passed through a bitter path of the fiery trial of his faith thine only son whom thou lovest we cannot comprehend what it meant to him to raise the knife not only over the only son whom he loved but over the promises God had given him and the apostle Paul as he meditated on that he spoke of how he received him in a figure from the dead counting that God was able to raise him up even from the dead whereof he received him in a figure he was led into the deepest fiery furnace here is the wood and so on but where is the sacrifice and all the depths to which he went down

[22:56] God will provide a sacrifice the sufferings of dear Abraham bitter carp I've always looked at the remarkable words of the Lord as he left Mount Mariah beautiful words in blessing I will bless thee as far as his God was concerned that pathway was a blessing Abraham saw my die as he saw the blood shed on that altar of the ram cause in the thicket in all his suffering sorrow sacrifice of the path though was eaten with bitter hurt the pathway of God's dear church will contain the reality of that bitterness will indeed we have to walk through bitter paths we do indeed to come into fellowship with him it is in the deep paths of sorrow and the wounds of life's journey and all its solemn afflictions that we shall learn the blessed nature of this truth happy is he that hath the

[24:29] God of Jacob for his refuge we shall never learn it anywhere else then we shall know the sweetness of these words I will not leave you he won't oh how we see in the path of his dear people that he has spoken as he did to Joseph I will not leave thee nor forsake thee we doubt him so often we tremble in the way I will never leave thee nor forsake thee and here

[25:31] I will not leave you comfortless I will come to you and in the nature of this truth that was laid in the hearts of his dear disciples ye see me oh when he comes we shall see him by the eye of faith my my peace

[26:32] I leave with you my peace I give unto you he comes and he roars near and there's peace faith is in sweet exercise I think of Elijah on Carmel you know the child was vast he was alone none to help him what good were they oh his guard was with him and he knew stood alone before the priests of Baal and his guard was with him the fire descended all the command he gave the water that was to be poured on the sacrifice and fill the trenches but his guard came justified him he did indeed appeared on his behalf and the rain descended all the precious nature of

[28:03] Carmel I will not leave your comfort I will come to you when most we need his helping hands God's dear servant knew something of the nature of this truth and he see me not with our natural eyes shall we behold the Lord but he saw him and you know the day came when that same Jesus stood with him on the maim of the transfiguration and he viewed him there as he viewed him on Carmel his God ever present hell in time of need and he knew the sweetness of his presence as he knew it then when he ran before the chariot of Abraham oh the liberty in his heart the sweet peace in his soul the presence of his

[29:14] God why he was before his eyes as that one who would never leave him nor forsaken at ever present hell and he walked in the sweet liberty ran in the sweet liberty of the gospel and yet you see he mustn't leave him suddenly he took his eyes off his guard when Jezebel spoke he fled yet we see there as he lay down at night in bitter sorrow and felt he desired to die so faithless so unbelieving yet I will not leave you comfortless

[30:16] I will come to you and the Lord did come beautiful beautiful opening of that psalm his mercy endures forever coming in every other verse how Elijah knew it the Lord drew near and said arise and eat the journey is too great for thee very precious word arise and eat the journey is too great for thee in the depths of his sorrows and in his darkness and in his utter unworthiness and the condemnation he felt in his near heart the Lord drew near and proved to him that he was that same Jesus yesterday today and forever the dear man knew it Carmel as he lay that night in the cave and when the

[31:23] Lord took him to heaven in a chariot of fire he was the same Jesus unalterable unchangeable he see me oh what a precious truth it is his dear people do see him just as Daniel did in the lion's den as the three men did in the fire they saw him they knew his presence he was with them as the apostle did in the storm in the Mediterranean he was there and he does he comes in the path of his dear people I've proved it in the deepest darkest hours the deepest waters the most fiery temptations he see me

[32:23] I do believe that there's something very special about his visits they coincide with the darkest hours of life's journey they do indeed they're never to be forgotten we don't walk in the sweetness of it every day and yet those precious moments and the Lord has drawn near as his dear prophets have known in times past and his dear apostles they have such a sight of him they're conscious they feel him present they know him near they hear his voice the sweet promises are applied to their hearts and they're to be used and pleaded why

[33:26] Jacob when the Lord blessed him at Jabbok ye see me and he blessed him there when he took Abraham to Memoriah Abraham saw my day or can we look back in the journey to sweet moments when we have seen him known his presence and come to where Job came he know it the way that I take and when he has tried me I shall come forth as gold but ye see me and all the truth lies here the world seeth me no more but ye see me the disciples did see him blessedly and all

[34:29] Harry's church sees him she does and then he adds this because I live ye shall live also oh the truth that lies here I see here tonight just one aspect and that is there spiritually work of grace in his dear people's heart indestructible cannot be touched oh we see him speaking here of that resurrection and ascension and ascension to glory because I live that eternal life never to be touched because I live that is eternally in heaven he shall live also precious truth that lies here that divine work of grace and that eternal life in glory to come all spoken of here in the word of

[35:51] Christ to his dear disciples the world seeth me no more but ye see me by faith they viewed him oh the sight the dear men on the road to Emmaus had of him when their eyes were opened as he broke bread he vanished out of their sight they went on their way rejoicing why they saw him they knew he was alive have you known that believe I have oh to know that he is listening hearing present with us and to feel his mighty power to feel those everlasting arms underneath to know that precious balm of Gilead flow into our hearts to have fellowship with the man of sorrows we have to go into some deep valleys to understand it and to enter into it and I believe

[37:07] God's dear servants must inevitably if the Lord will as he does use them in Zion then they must go through peculiar paths deeper waters than the church of God is often asked to go through peculiar sorrows and sufferings that they may be used of God to reach down into the footsteps of the flock for their ministry to be such as have dipped their foot in oil and that includes the wounds for the oil is the healing oh to dip their foot in the sorrows of their master and to know little of that precious balm in their hearts and its sorrow they are orphans in this sense that is spoken of here if the

[38:13] Lord is ever to use them they must walk alone and they must speak and preach as John the divine spoke and preached in that beautiful opening chapter of his letters that which was from the beginning which we have heard which we have seen with our eyes which we have looked upon and our hands have handled lovely words that's where the ministry lies profitably when God's servants are passed that way things they've actually handled and have been burnt into their souls in bitter sorrows and they can preach of them and then their ministry carries a savor and an authority and often we've not when we sat in the pure and listened to those godly men that are gone to glory now not understood all they've passed through until perhaps later on we read their biography and then we realised

[39:23] I remember when I wrote the life of my late father Alfred Level told me that Leatherhead on a particular I think Easter Monday my father's ministry had been used to trace out the whole of his case he couldn't understand the detail in which it had traced his case out until he read the biography Alfred lost his father in the first world war and suffered greatly then he realised that my own father had lost his father at the age of five and walked through bitter sorrows in the loss of a brother and a sister then he realised what lay at the root of all the ministry that entered his soul that day and touched his case God's servants have passed a particular way the things they handled that's theirs and they can preach of them it doesn't come out so much in them speaking in detail of it it comes out in the hearts of the hearers as they feel the savour of it sanctified in their souls and they realise the servants of God have passed a deep way beautiful words the life was manifested and we have seen it and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye may have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the father and with his son jesus christ because i live ye shall live also oh how it is his life his intercession in heaven above which is the life of his church here below and finally at that day ye shall know that i am in my father and ye in me and i in you the union that he prayed for as he concluded the last supper with a prayer recorded in the 17th of john before he entered gethsemane i in them and thou in me that they may be made one in us oh the only way to that union is the path of suffering sorrow it is the cup that my father giveth me think it not strange it is ordained of god the way has to be walked out the sorrows must be crucifying it is to be a pathway alone we have to learn apart we have to walk with him apart beautiful word in the song of

[42:35] Solomon who is this that cometh up out of the wilderness leaning on her beloved it is the bride of Christ a heart full of sorrows but she is leaning on the man of sorrow surely he has borne our grief and carried our sorrows yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God and afflicted it was true he was but he equally came that he might be a merciful and a faithful high priest and enter in feelingly into the footsteps of the flock and as we read in a later chapter in the Hebrews we have not an high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmity that was in all points tempted like as we are yet without the sin beautiful words some would not take them literally but they are to be taken literally tempted in all points all like as we are yet without sin he knoweth the way that

[44:02] I take I will not leave you comfortless I will come to you yet little while and the world seeth me no more but ye see me because I live ye shall live also that day ye shall know that I am in my father and he in me and I in you and this last verse is the fellowship that the Lord's dear people have with their Redeemer the path has to be walked out to have that fellowship with him then one day at that day it will be to sing that glorious anthem recorded in the opening book the opening chapter of the book of the revelation unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood

[45:12] Amen