The Joy of Jesus is Transformational

Christ was transfigured before them.
The word “transfigured" means to change, transfigure, transform.

Rom 12:2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

2 Cor 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Christians are changed-renewed from within from glory to glory. Our transformation is a “gradual” experience, and will be completed when Christ appears at the Rapture.

Christians are being inwardly changed day by day. At the Rapture, Christians will be “outwardly changed”—as was Christ on the mount—in the twinkling of an eye.

1 Cor 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

I Jn 3:2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Elijah
Some confusion here. The three apostles believe Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) but why then do the scribers (keepers of the law) say that Elijah must come first? John the Baptist himself said, “I am not Elijah”. (the resurrected Old Testament prophet) This was enough for the unspiritual Jews who were merely looking for signs to reject Jesus as the Messiah, but to the spiritually discerned, John had already come. John the Baptist came in the Spirit and power of Elijah.

The angel speaking to Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist.
Luke 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Sripture for Life: Rev. Dr. James A. Lee

THE PSALMS

Chapter 27

Psalms 27:1 "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?"
When the Lord is your light and salvation, you do not need to fear anyone. The Lord is the strength and power for my eternal life, so why would I be afraid of anyone or any thing. If YHVH Father is my assurance and the strength of my life, I have nothing to fear. We are speaking of your soul, for only God can end the life of your soul; for it is not man's to take or to give.

Psalms 27:2 "When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, They stumbled and fell."

God's truth and His Word can stand the test of time, and just as God's Word can past the test, so also can you, when your light and salvation is in the Lord. Again, it doesn't matter what foe is around you and the numbers against you are so overwhelming, God is your salvation, and He can protect you as you stand firm as a child of the Living God. God is giving you assurance that He loves you that much that He will protect you. You simply do not have to be afraid of anything, including the devil, as long as you use good judgment and common sense.

Psalms 27:3 "Though an host should encamp against me, My heart shall not fear: Though war should arise against me, In this will I be confident."

Though an entire army should surround you, I will not fear. When they come against you with all that they have, be confident that the strength of the Lord will put them down. No matter where you are or what your enemy is, God is there to protect you. Satan is sending his entire army of evil spirits against God's elect in this generation, Yet God will provide the protection we need, when we have armor of the Lord on and in place. That armor is give to us in Ephesians 6:10-20. When you open your mouth to take a stand and do the work of the Lord, then that army of Satan will arise against you. They will attack you, even through the mouths of the ones you love, but with this confidence you can stand because our God loves you.

Psalms 27:4 "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple."

Praise God for this promise that he is giving directly to you and me when we seek after the ways of the Lord. We will see His beauty when we seek the Lord in His temple. Where is His temple? In Christ! Jesus said; "I am the way the truth and the Life, no man cometh to the Father but by Me".

Psalms 27:5 "For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: In the secret of His tabernacle shall He hid me; He shall set me up upon a rock."

So when is this time of trouble? It comes in the end times, the final generation. That secret place where Father shall hide me, is upon a rock. That "pavilion" is a secret dwelling place; that place will be know to you because have eyes to see and ears to hear the truth, but to all others that are not in Christ and in the truths of His Word, they will not know where that place is. They are blinded to it. That Rock spoken of here is God our heavenly Father himself. He will give you all the protection that you need. In fact you are not to even premeditate how that protection will come, for in Mark 13:11 we are told that His Spirit will even give you the words that you are to speak in that hour. It will not be you that speaks, but the Holy Spirit speaking through you.

Psalms 27:6 "And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: Therefore will I offer in His tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord."

It just doesn't matter how many enemies there are, my head will be lifted up above all of them. When you look around you at all the things that are going on in the world today, don't be sad for everything you see is part of God's prophecy, He told you it would happen and now you see coming to pass. That is the time to sing His praises for Our God keeps his Word, and if you can see those things coming to pass, you know He has the power and will to protect you from all your enemies. Now don't forget to sing those praises to the Lord every day for He has given you the eyes to see and ears to hear those truths prophesied within His holy Word.

Psalms 27:7 "Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice: Have mercy also upon me, and answer me."

Prayer: Eternal God of our salvation,We pray for Peace, Hope and Love all in Christ Jesus. We pray for all people. Thank You Jesus for Your Love and Grace in Your name, A-men.

Sermon: The Reason for Our Joy

Scripture:-- 1 Peter 1 -- Next Chapter >
1.Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
2.Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
3.Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4.To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5.Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6.Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7.That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Sermon: The reason for anything is generally why people do and have the things in life that defines ones station in the universe. Our message today is the reason to have joy and why it is important to seek it as well.

The word of God comes from St. Peter. It is the reason for pure joy. God has a plan, that before He created the universe He thought about you and I and our joy. Jesus would come into the world and save us from our sins. Our salvation is based upon our faith in Jesus. This faith is more precious that the finest of gold. It is a promise that God made to you and I.

Moreover, we may be experiencing temptations to divert out attention from our incredible gift from God, we stay focused on the gift of God. In this we rejoice. We find joy in knowing that God is good and loves us in spite of any problems we may face today.

Joy is something that comes from the soul. It is found deep in ones heart. We sing. We jump. We shout of the joy that mo one can take away from us. Joy is a gift from God in Christ Jesus.

The cross is a symbol of pain, suffering and death. Jesus overcame the cross to establish eternal life for all who believe in His name. This is the reason for our joy.

Prayer: Praise God the father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit. We Praise God for His Joy in Christ Jesus. We ask in the name of Jesus that all people may experience such Joy in The Lord. We ask for peace, hope and love rule in our lives. Glory to God in the Highest in Jesus name we pray. A-men

The Power of Prayer

Dear God the Father of our Lord and Savior Christ Jesus. We humble ourselves of all sins and pray for all people to do as Your Will be done. We thank You Lord for all and each spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus. We ask in the name of Jesus to save all people as we pray for the people of Haiti and for all those who are helping in their own way.

Dear Lord, we pray for this ministry and for all of our followers in all special ways. We pray for their families and friends. We ask in Your name that they are blessed in all that they do.

Lord we love you. We praise You today for all that you have done and will do. We Glorify Thy name and blood that takes away the sins of the world. We praise Thee for Your return with all power, honor and glory for your righteousness. Lord we praise Thee for for your peace,hope,love and joy in your name. Praise God all ye land in Christ Jesus we pray for all of your power and glory, A-men.

Walk in the Light of the Lord

Psalms 89:15 Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.

Psalms 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Proverbs 4:18 But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.

Isaiah 2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD.

Isaiah 59:8 The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.
9 Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.

John 8:12 Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

John 11:9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.
10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

John 12:35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

Ephesians 5:8 For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:
9 (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;)
10 Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.
11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.
12 For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.
13 But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

Revelation 21:2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Revelation 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.
24 And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.

The Face of God

We are entering a time of year where everything becomes so overwhelming that it is so easy to lose ones focus. The idea of seeing the face of God is unthinkable. The scriptures gives us some insight to the face of God. We of the faith believe that Jesus is the reflection of God and that we too are made in His image. I pray that you can appreciate these words to understand that we have all power through Christ Jesus. As we draw nearer to Christmas, let us reflect on the Son of God being born in a manger, in the middle of the night, in absolute silence and a star shining brightly in the night. Goodwill and Peace are the gifts from God. This is Face and will of God. That we place our faith in Jesus. God bless you so much. I hope you appreciate this writing:

" The Face of God "
"When You say, Seek My face, my heart has said unto You, Your face, O Jehovah, I will seek. Hide not Your face from me; turn not Your servant away in anger. You have been my help; do not leave me, nor forsake me, O God of my salvation." (Ps27:8-9)
"And He said, I will make all My goodness pass before you, and I will proclaim the name of Jehovah before you. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But He said, You are not able to see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live. And Jehovah said, Here is a place by Me, and you shall stand on the rock. So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen." (Ex33:19-23)

"Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood is not able to inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption." (1Co15:50)

"For now we see through a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall fully know just as I also am fully known." (1Co13:12)

"Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." (1Jn3:2-3)

The 'burden' for each month's topic comes differently from month to month. This time it comes from a question of a visitor to the website.
"How about writing a study on Phil3:10, Psa27:8, stuff like this. If all we do is follow Him, which is a whole lot, believe me, all we see is His back, as Moses saw. I want to see His face. Where do I find His face? The Refiner sees his face reflected in the gold when it is fully refined. Does the "gold," also see His face? Do I need to wait for Heaven before I can see His face? Will I, even there?"
The term "face" is often considered to be synonymous to "presence", and is often translated that way. When Adam and Eve hid from God's "presence" (Gen3:8), the word could equally say "face". Ditto when Cain "went out from the presence of Jehovah" (Gen4:16) In seeking to be more 'literal' the LITV renders Gen3:8 with the word "face".
On the other hand the Hebrew word for "face" is also used of expressions like the "-surface- of the waters" (Gen7:18) Some translations say "face", and others "surface". Even in current English some might speak of the "-face- of the mirror"... referring to its flat shiny surface.

So, when we consider the matter of man's interactions and fellowship with God, we must consider variations and subtle nuances in the meaning of words, and the understanding of concepts.

For instance, if two people are interacting, there are many levels at which they do so. For the topic at hand let's consider two scenarios:

First, a couple are happily married. They are both together in the house, in harmony; one is doing chores over here, another over there. They sit down to eat a meal together. Perhaps they cuddle together while watching a favorite TV show. Through all of this they talk to each other, ask each other questions, respond in actions according to each other's verbal particulars.

But then, there's the more earnest interaction. Whatever the topic under discussion, they are standing or sitting, -facing- each other, looking each other in the eyes, perhaps holding hands or embracing. Perhaps the topic is so serious that they reach out and touch each other's face or cheek. If the topic is such that there are tears, perhaps the other reaches over to wipe away the tears.
What we speak of, most of the time, is this 'first' scenario. As the reader suggests as "seeing God's -back-". But what is being asked is the 'second' scenario. The person wants it. And in truth, is this not what all True Believers want!
But did you notice the progression of the Scripture passages that opened this article?

Seeking God's face, striving to be pleasing to Him (2Co5:9)... is that not the gist of the Christian life? Please note: we are not speaking of how to be saved. We are assuming this discussion (and article) is -to- [C]hristians, those who already know the Lord from having received Jesus unto Salvation of Eternal Life. (Jn1:12,3:16) We strive to be "holy" before our Holy God. (Eph1:4, 5:27, 1Pet1:14-17, etc) Things that are written to Believers from this ministry: is this not the essential summary of what we address regularly. Yes, many things are also written to the unsaved and pretenders; as well as warnings -about- the 'pretenders' -to- True Believers. But when we forget about others, and look inward, is this not our souls' desire? To be "faithful". (1Co4:2)

However, before Moses was shown God's 'back' parts, what does the passage tell us? What is the background of that incident?

"And Jehovah spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, and his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tent." (Ex33:11)
But why could not Moses see the face of God's glory? Israel had sinned. Moses had been up in the mountain receiving the Law at God's hand, and they were busily breaking the very first two commandments. They were worshiping an idol which they had made. And the context of the 'back' incident is Moses interceding before God on Israel's behalf. (Ex32-33) When Jesus was on the cross bearing the sin of the world, what did the Father do then? He turned His back on the Son, with whom their relationship had been "One" (Jn10:30); whereupon Jesus cries out, "My God, My God, Why have You forsaken Me?" (Mt27:46)
This is why we cannot go to Heaven. Even True Believers, on this earth, in these present bodies of "flesh and blood" ARE NOT ABLE TO go to Heaven. (1Co15:50) Our spirits are saved, and we have the Holy Spirit of 'promise' (Eph1:13); but we have not yet experienced the "redemption of our body" (Rom8:23) Our spirits could go to Heaven, because being saved, we "are the righteousness of God in Christ" (2Co5:21); and at death, that's what happens; the spirits go to be "home with the Lord" (2Co5:8) But you notice, at death, the -bodies- remain on this earth and rot, "dust...to dust" (Gen3:19)

But we have the promise. At the resurrection God will bring those spirits back to be joined up with their resurrected bodies. (1Th4:14-16) And what is the nature of these bodies?

"So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body." (1Co15:42-44)
This is why Paul also speaks of how our present view of God is presently 'dim', but then it will be face-to-face. We don't know it all now, but then we will. (1Co13:12) All we see presently is our physical existence and we have no clue as to the glories of eternity (1Co2:9), but when He comes for us and "transform[s] our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body..." (Php3:21) we will be "like Him" as we have a full view of Him "as He is" (1Jn3:2)
I suspect we -will- see God face-to-face, and look Him in the face. Remember the intimate moment mentioned earlier of the two, face-to-face, looking into each other's eyes, and one wiping the other's tears?

"...for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.... And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." (Rev7:17,21:4)
And so, what is our response to all this happy dreaming? Do we live, la-dee-dah, no cares in the world, running along frolicking, dancing with glee, "praising the Lord", and relishing that God loves us "just as we are", and His 'graaaeeeesss' sustains us because we know that He "knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust" (Ps103:14)? After all: whine whine, sniff sniff... I'm so weak, I just can't help it! Boo hoo!
But what does John exhort? Chin up! Salvation did not make us sissies!!

Get to work:

"And everyone who has this hope in Him -PURIFIES- himself, just as He is pure." (1Jn3:3)
"For this is the love of God, that we -KEEP- His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome." (1Jn5:3)

"For this commandment which I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you to understand, nor is it far off. It is not in the heavens, for you to think: Who shall ascend into the heavens for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? Nor is it beyond the sea, for you to think: Who shall go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it? But the Word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, THAT YOU MAY -DO- IT." (De30:11-14)

Amen!
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Do We Really Appreciate Jesus

Prayer: Eternal God our Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and The Holy Spirit, we humble ourselves of all sin and forgive all in your name. We thank Thee for all blessings in Christ Jesus. We ask that You continue to bless and this ministry. Praise God for whom all blessings flow in the name of Jesus we pray.

Scripture:

Luke 17:11-19 (English Standard Version)

Jesus Cleanses Ten Lepers
11(A) On the way to Jerusalem(B) he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. 12And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers,[a](C) who stood at a distance 13and lifted up their voices, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us." 14When he saw them he said to them, "Go and(D) show yourselves to the priests." And as they went they were cleansed. 15Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back,(E) praising God with a loud voice; 16and(F) he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was(G) a Samaritan. 17Then Jesus answered, "Were not(H) ten cleansed? Where are the nine? 18Was no one found to return and(I) give praise to God except this(J) foreigner?" 19And he said to him, "Rise and go your way;(K) your faith has made you well."[b]


Footnotes:
a.Luke 17:12 Leprosy was a term for several skin diseases; see Leviticus 13
b.Luke 17

Sermon: We see in our scripture that 10 lepers asked Jesus for healing and only one came back to say thank you. The lesson is so clear. Jesus can heal everyone for any reason, yet only one will give thanks. The question today are you the one?

Lepercy is a form of our modern day AIDS. This is a horrible disease. Jesus had compassion on these people and healed them. We need healing today. We also need to give thanks to God that we are able to give thanks for all of the blessings that life has to offer. God is good all the time. His love is beyound our understanding. We love God because He first loved us.

In closing, Jesus did His part by healing the 10, as He heals our sin sick world. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and resurrected on the right hand of the Father in heaven. This is the reason for thanksgiving. We thank God for His Grace and Love until the end of time. Praise God for His goodness and love during these difficult days. Bless us all in the name of Jesus, we give God all of the Power, Honor and Glory. A-men.

Thank God Almighty...

Sermon: We need a Blessing

Prayer: Almighty God, we bless your Holy name and give Thee all the power, honor, glory and praise. We thank Thee for all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus for the His death on the cross, resurrection and return to all glory. Bless us now. We love Thee and magnify Thee. In The Name of Jesus we pray.

Sermon: Our message today is one of the blessings of The Lord in Christ Jesus from one of the greatest preachers of the past. God Bless you today...


Blessing for Blessing

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A Sermon
(No. 2266)
Intended for Reading on Lord's-day, July 24th, 1892,
Delivered by
C. H. SPURGEON,
At the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington
On Lord's-day Evening, October 26th, 1890.


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"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love."—Ephesians 1:3, 4.
od blesses us; let us bless him. I pray that every heart here may take its own part in this service of praise.


"O thou, my soul, bless God the Lord,
And all that in me is,
Be stirred up his holy name
To magnify and bless!"

Sit in your seats, and keep on blessing God from the first word of the sermon to the last; and then go on blessing God till the last hour of life, and enter into heaven into the eternal glory, still blessing God. It should be our life to bless him who gave us our life. It should be our delight to bless him whom give us all our delights. So says the text, and so let us do: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
I. Our first occupation, at this time, will be that of BLESSING GOD.
But how can we bless God? Without doubt the less is blessed of the Greater. Can the Greater be blessed by the less? Yes, but it must be in a modified sense. God blesses us with all spiritual blessings; but we cannot give him any blessings. He needs nothing at our hand; and if he did, we could not give it. "If I were hungry," saith the Lord, "I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof." God has an all-sufficiency within himself, and can never be thought of as dependent upon his creatures, or as receiving anything form his creatures which he needs to receive. He is infinitely blessed already; we cannot add to his blessedness. When he blesses us, he gives us a blessedness that we never had before; but when we bless him, we cannot by one iota increase his absolutely infinite perfectness. David said to the Lord, "My goodness extendeth not to thee." This was as if he had said, Let me be as holy, as devout, and as earnest as I may, I can do nothing for thee; thou art too high, too holy, too great for me to be really able to bless thee in the sense which thou dost bless me.
How, then, do we bless God? Well, I should say, first, that this language is the expression of gratitude. We say with David, "Bless the Lord, O my soul," and we say with Paul, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." We can bless God by praising him, extolling him, desiring all honour for him, ascribing all good to him, magnifying and lauding his holy name. Well, we will do that. Sit still, if you will, and let your heart be silent unto God; for no language can ever express the gratitude that, I trust, we feel to him who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. Praise him also in your speech. Break the silence; speak of his glory. Invite other to cry with you, "Hallelujah!" or "Hallels unto Jah!" "Praise to Jehovah!" Ascribe ye greatness unto our God. Oh, that all flesh would magnify the Lord with us!
This language is also the utterance of assent to all the blessedness that is ascribed to the Lord. After hearing how great he is, how glorious he is, how happy he is, we bless him by saying, "Amen; so let it be! So would we have it! He is none to great for us, none too blessed for us. Let him be great, glorious and blessed, beyond all conception." I think that we bless God when we say concerning the whole of his character, "Amen. This God is our God for ever and ever." Let him be just what the Bible says he is; we accept him as such. Sternly just, he will not spare the guilty. Amen, blessed be his name! Infinitely gracious, ready to forgive. Amen, so let it be! Everywhere present, always omniscient. Amen, so again do we wish him to be! Everlastingly the same, unchanging in his truth, his promise, his nature. We again say that we are glad of it, and we bless him. He is just such a God as we love. He is indeed God to us, because he is really God, and we can see that he is so, and every attribute ascribed to him is a fresh proof to us that Jehovah is the Lord. Thus, we bless him by adoration.
We also bless God in the spreading of his kingdom. We can win hearts to him through his mighty grace blessing our service. We can fight against evil; we can set up a standard for the truth. We can be willing to suffer in repute, and every way else, for his name's sake. We can by his grace do all this, and thus we are blessing God. Surely, dear friends, if it is well-pleasing in God's sight that sinners should repent, if it makes heaven the gladder, and makes joy in the presence of the angels that men should repent, we are in the best and most practical way blessing God when we labour to bring men to repentance through faith in Christ Jesus.
There is also another way of blessing God which, I trust, we shall all endeavour to practise; and that is by the doing good to his children. When they are sick, visit them. When they are downcast, comfort them. When they are poor, relieve them. When they are hard pressed by outward adversaries, stand at their side, and help them. You cannot bless the Head, but you can bless the feet; and when you have refreshed the feet, you have refreshed the Head. He will say, "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." If they be naked, and you clothe them; if they be sick, and you visit them; if they be hungry, and you feed them; you do in this respect bless God. David not only said, "Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;" but added, "but to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent in whom is all my delight." You can be good to them, and in that respect you may be blessing God. He has done so much for us, that we would fain do something for him; and when we have reached the limit of our possibilities, we long to do more. We wish that we had more money to give, more talent to use, more time that we could devote to his cause, we wish that we had more heart and more brain; sometimes we wish that we had more tongue, and we sing,—

"Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer's praise!"

This word "blessed" is an attempt to break the narrow circle of our capacity. It is an earnest endeavour of a burning heart to lay at God's feet crowns of glory which it cannot find: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
II. But now, secondly, we shall spend a little time in VIEWING GOD in the light in which Paul sets him before us: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
We bless the god of nature. What beauties he has strewn around us! We bless the God of providence. How bountifully doth he send us harvests and fruitful seasons! We bless the God of grace who hath redeemed us, and adopted us as his children. But here is a peculiar aspect of God, which should call forth our highest praises; for he is called "the God and Father or our Lord Jesus Christ."
When we see God in connection with Christ, we see God through Christ, when we see God in Christ, then our hearts are all aflame, and we burst out with, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." God apart from Christ—that is a great and glorious theme; but the human mind fails to grasp it. The infinite Jehovah, who can conceive him? "Our God is a consuming fire." Who can draw near to him? But in the Mediator, in the Person of the God, the Man, in whom we find blended human sympathy and divine glory, we can draw nigh to God. There it is that we get our hands upon the golden harp-strings, and resolve that every string shall be struck to the praise of God in Christ Jesus.
But note carefully that God is described here as the God our Lord Jesus Christ. When Jesus knelt in prayer, he prayed to our God. When Jesus leaned in faith upon the promises, he trusted in God that he would deliver him. When our Saviour sang on the passover night, the song was unto God. When he prayed in Gethsemane, with bloody sweat, the prayer was unto our God. Jesus said to Mary at the sepulchre, "Go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." How we ought to bless God when we think that he is the God, whom our Redeemer blesses! This is the God who said of Christ, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Delightful thought! When I approach Jehovah, I approach the God or our Lord Jesus Christ. Surely, when I see his blood-stained footprints there on the ground before me, though I put my shoe off from my foot, for the place is holy ground, yet I follow with confidence where my Friend, my Saviour, my Husband, my Head has been before me; and I rejoice as I worship the God of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He is also called the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is a great mystery. Think not that we shall ever understand the high relationship between the first and second Persons of the blessed Trinity, the Father and the Son. We speak of eternal filiation, which is a term that does not convey to us any great meaning; it simply covers up our ignorance. How God is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as God, we do not know; and perhaps to wish to gaze into this tremendous mystery were as great a folly as to look at the sun, and blind ourselves with its brilliance. It is so; that ought to be enough for us. God the Father is the Father of Jesus Christ as to his divine nature: "Thou art my Son; this day I have begotten thee." He is also his Father as to the human side of his nature. He was begotten of the Holy Ghost. That body of his, that human life, came of God; not of Joseph, not of man. Born of a woman, God sent forth his Son; but he was his Son then. It was God's son that was born at Bethlehem. Gabriel said to the Virgin Mary, "That holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Now take the two natures of their wondrous blending in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and you see how the great God is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Yet, sweet thought, he is my Father, too; my Father is Christ's Father. Jesus Christ's Father is our Father, and he teaches us all to call him, "Our Father, which art in heaven." Often in prayer he said, "Father"; and he bids us say the same, putting the plural pronoun before it, "Our Father." Now will you not bless the Lord, who is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ? Do you not feel a glowing in your hearts, as you think of the near and dear relationship into which you are brought through Jesus Christ? The God of Jesus Christ, the Father of Jesus Christ, is my God, my Father, too. Blessed, blessed, blessed, for ever blessed be that dear name!
III. Our third occupation, at this time, is that of RECOUNTING HIS GREAT MERCIES. I will read the rest of the third verse: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ."
This recapitulation of mercies is written with full assurance; and you will not bless God unless you have a touch of that same experience. Paul does not say, "Who has, we hope and trust, blessed us," but he writes, "Who hath blessed us." Ah, beloved, if you have a full assurance that God has blessed you in Christ, and that now his smile rests upon you, and all the benisons of the covenant are stored there for you, I think that you cannot help saying, "Blessed, blessed be the name of the Most High!" that doubt, that trembling, this it is that empties out the marrow from the bone of our blessedness. If you have suspicions about the truth of this precious Book, if you have questions about the truth of the doctrines of grace, if you have doubts about your own interest in those things. I do not wonder that you do not praise God, for a blessing which is only mine by peradventure, well, peradventure I shall be grateful for it; but peradventure I shall not. But if I know whom I have believed, if I have a firm grip of spiritual mercies, if all heavenly things are mine in Christ my Lord, I can sing, "Wake up, my glory; awake psaltery and harp; I myself will awake right early." "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings."
With this full assurance should come intense delight: "Who hath blessed us." God has blessed us. Come, brethren, he has not done some trifle for us, which we can afford to ignore. He has not merely given us some absolutely necessary boons, which we must have, for we could not live without them; but he has in grace dealt still more abundantly with us. He has gone beyond workhouse fare, and made us a feast with saints and princes. He has given us more than home-spun garments; he has put upon us robes of beauty and of glory, even his own spotless righteousness. He has blessed us; we are blessed; we feel that we are. Each believer can say:—

"I feel like singing all the time,
For my tears are wiped away;
For Jesus is a Friend of mine,
I'll praise him every day.
I'll praise him! Praise him! Praise him all the time!"

We are not sitting here, and groaning, and crying, and fretting, and worrying, and questioning our own salvation. He has blessed us; and therefore we will bless him. If you think little of what God has done for you, you will do very little for him; but if you have a great notion of his great mercy to you, you will be greatly grateful to you gracious God.
Let me also remark, next, that as assurance and delight lead to blessing God, so does a right understanding of his mercies. To help your understanding, notice what Paul says: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings." An enlightened man is grateful to God for temporal blessings; but he is much more grateful to God for spiritual blessings, for temporal blessings do not last long; they are soon gone. Temporal blessings as not definite marks of divine favour, since God gives them to the unworthy, and to the wicked, as well as to the righteous. The corn, and wine, and oil, are for Dives; and Lazarus gets even less than his share. Our thanks are due to God for all temporal blessings; they are more than we deserve. But our thanks ought to go to God in thunders of hallelujahs for spiritual blessings. A new heart is better than a new coat. To feed on Christ is better than to have the best earthly food. To be an heir of God is better than being the heir of the greatest nobleman. To have God for our portion is blessed, infinitely more blessed than to own broad acres of land. God hath blessed us with spiritual blessings. These are the rarest, the richest, the most enduring of all blessings; they are priceless in value. Wherefore, let me beg you to join in blessing the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed you with spiritual blessings.
But did you notice the word "all"? I must bring that out clearly. I must turn the microscope on it. "Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings." Surely, Paul means that we have not a spiritual blessing which God did not give. We have never earned one; we could never create one. All spiritual blessings come from the Father; he has really given us all spiritual blessings. "I have not received them," says one. That is your own fault. He hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ. A new heart, a tender conscience, a submissive will, faith, hope, love, patience, we have all these in Christ. Regeneration, justification, adoption, sanctification, perfection are all in Christ. If we do not take them out, it is the fault of our palsied hand, that has not strength enough to grasp them; but he has given us all spiritual blessings in Christ. Whenever you read your Bible, and see a great promise, do not hesitate to claim it. He hath given us all spiritual blessings in Christ. "I am afraid," says one, "that I should be presuming if I took some of the promises." He hath given us all spiritual blessings in Christ. You are in your Father's house; you cannot steal; for your Father says, "Help yourself to what you like." He has made over his whole estate of spiritual wealth to every believing child of his; wherefore take freely, and you will, by doing so, glorify God. He hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ.
This he has done in the "heavenly places." What does that mean, "Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places"? Does it not mean that he is working upon us all spiritual blessings out of the heaven where he dwells? Or does it mean much more, that his is sending us all these spiritual blessings to bring us to the heaven where he dwells, and where he would have us dwell?
I want to stir up your heart by reminding you that all the spiritual blessings we receive are the richer and rarer because they are given to us "in Christ." Here are the blessings; and Christ is the golden casket that holds them all. When the City of London makes a man a freeman of the city, the document giving him his liberty is usually presented to him enclosed in a golden casket. Christ is that golden casket, in which we find the charter of our eternal liberty. He hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ. If they came to us any other way, we might lose them; or we might not be sure that they were genuine; but when they come to us in Christ, they come to stay, and we know that they are real. If Christ is mine, all blessings in heavenly places are mine.
I seemed, to myself, to be talking very drily of things that ought to be swimming in a sea of joy and delight. Beloved, do not let my faint words rob my Lord of any of his glory. He has done such great things for you; bless his name. We cannot stand up, and ask for instruments of music with which to sound his praise; but we can sit still, and each one say, "Blessed be his name! It is all true; he has blessed me; I know that he has. He has blessed me, with a liberal hand, with all spiritual blessings. He has blessed me, just where I wanted blessing, where I was poorest in spiritual things. I could make my way in business, but I could not make my own way in grace; so he has blessed me with all spiritual blessings; and he has made the garments all the dearer because of the wardrobe in which he has hung them. He has given me these royal things in Christ; and as I look to my dear Lord, and see what there is for me stored up in him, I prize each thing the more because it is in him. Come, Holy Spirit, set our hearts on fire with blessing and praise to God for all the great things that he has done for us!"
IV. I shall close with this fourth remark: Let us bless God, BEHOLDING THE MANNER OF HIS GIFTS. That is described in the fourth verse: "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love."
Now, brethren, we are to praise God because all spiritual blessings have come to us in the same way as our election came, "according as he hath chosen us in him." How did that come? Well, it came of his free, sovereign grace. He loved us because he would love us. He chose us before he chose us. "Ye have not chosen me; but I have chosen you." If there is any virtue, if there be any praise in us now, he put it there. To the bottomless abyss of his own infinite goodness we must trace the election of his grace. Well, now, every blessing comes to us in the same way. God hath not blessed thee, my brother, with usefulness because thou didst deserve it; but because of his grace. He did not redeem thee, or regenerate thee, or sanctify thee, or uphold thee, because of anything in thee. Again and again, by the prophet Ezekiel, did the Lord remind his ancient people that the blessings he bestowed upon them were all gifts of his grace. "Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake." And again, "Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for you own ways, O house of Israel." Every blessing comes to us with the hall-mark of sovereign grace upon it. As the Lord distributed the gifts of his grace, he says, "May I not do as I will with my own?" He does so, and we bless, and praise, and adore the sovereign grace of God, which having chosen us, continues to bless us according as he hath chosen us in Christ.
Next, we have to bless God that all his gifts come to us in Christ. Notice Paul's words, "according as he hath chosen us in him." God called us in Christ. He justified us in Christ. He sanctified us in Christ. He will perfect us in Christ. He will glorify us in Christ. We have everything in Christ, and we have nothing apart from Christ. Let us praise and bless the name of the Lord that this sacred channel of his grace is as glorious as the grace itself. There is as much grace in the gift of Christ to save us as there is in the salvation which Christ has wrought out for us. "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Again, all our blessings come from the divine purpose. Listen: "Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him." No spiritual blessing comes to any man by chance. No man gets a boon from God through his "good luck:; it all comes according to the eternal purpose of God which he purposes or ever the earth was.

"Long e'er the sun's refulgent ray
Primeval shades of darkness drove,
They on his sacred bosom lay,
Loved with an everlasting love."

"Before the foundation of the world", says the text, there was a purpose in the heart of God, and in that purpose we were chosen, and by that same purpose God continues to bless us. Look, beloved, God never gives his people either a gift or a grace without his purpose. Has God given you a brain cleat, quick, capacious? Think for him. Has God given you a tongue fluent, eloquent? Speak for him. He does not give you these gifts without purpose. Has God given you influence among your fellow-men? Use it for him. Your election came according to his purpose; and so have all your gifts, and much more, all your graces. Have you a strong, bright-eyes faith? Have you burning zeal? Have you vehement love? Have you any of these gifts of the covenant? Use them for a purpose. God has given them for a purpose; find out what that purpose is, and glorify God thereby.
Lastly, the text tells us that God blesses us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, "that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." God's choice of us was not because we were holy, by to make us holy; and God's purpose will not be fulfilled unless we are made holy. Some people, when they talk about salvation, mean escaping from hell, and getting into heaven by the skin of their teeth. We never mean any such thing. We mean deliverance from evil, deliverance from sin. Like a dog in the manger, they cannot eat the hay themselves, and they growl at those who can. If you wish to be safe from sin, ask God for that great blessing, and he will give it to you; but if you do not want it, do not complain if God says, "I shall give it to such and such a person, and you that do not even ask for it shall be left without it." If you do not care to be holy, you shall not be holy. If you did not care for it, and wish for it, you might have it, for God denies it to none who seek it at his hands. But if you neither wish for it, nor value it, why do you lift your puny fist against the God of heaven because he hath chosen others, that they should be holy and without blame before him in love?
The object of our election is our holiness, and the object of every spiritual blessing is our holiness. God is aiming at making us holy. Are you not glad of that? May I not say, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because his aim in every gift is to make us holy"? Brothers and sisters, would we not sacrifice everything we have, and count it no sacrifice, if we might be perfectly holy? I said to a young girl, who came to join the church, "Mary, are you perfect?" She looked at me and said, "No, sir." I said, "Would you like to be?" "Oh, that I would! I long for it; I cry for it." Surely, the God who makes us long to be perfect, has already wrought a great work in us; and if we can say that, to be perfect, would be heaven to us, then we are already on the road to heaven, and God is working out in us his eternal purpose, which is, "that we should be holy."
There is one thing more: "That we should be holy and without blame before him in love." Does that mean that we are to be loving, full of love, and without blame in that matter? Well, I am afraid that there are not very many Christians who are without blame on the score of love. I know a man, a noble man intellectually, and, in some respects, spiritually. I believe that he would die at the stake for the grand old Calvinistic faith; but he is as hard as iron; you cannot feel any kind of love to him, for he does not feel any kind of love to anybody else. That man is not without blame before God in love. I have known others; wonderful Christians they appear to be, they could pray for a week; but if you are poor, and ask them for a little help, your asking will all be in vain. I do not think that they are without blame before God in love. O brothers, God has chosen us to be loving, he has ordained us to be loving; and all the innumerable blessings which he has given to us, he sends to win us to a loving spirit, that we may be without blame in that matter. Our dear friend, Mr. William Olney, whom we remember here still, and never can forget, was, I think, without blame in that matter of love. I sometimes thought that he used to shed his love on some who might have been the better for a hard word; for they were deceivers; but he could not bring his mind to think that anybody could be a deceiver; and if anybody was in want of help, no matter though their own misconduct had brought them into poverty, his hand was in his pocket, and out again, very quickly with help for them. He never failed in love; and I pray that you and I, with prudence and wisdom mixed with it, may be without blame before God in the matter of love. Love your fellow-Christians. Love poor sinners to Christ. Love those that despitefully use you. Love those round about you who are strangers to the love of God. It may be that they will see in your love some little image of the love of God, as in a drop of water you may sometimes see the sun and the heavens reflected. God make us to be reflections of the love of God! His purpose is that we may be holy and without blame before him in love.
Now, I have set before you a rare treasury. Does this treasury belong to you? My dear hearers, is Christ yours? Are you trusting him? If not, there is nothing yours. Without Christ, you can do nothing, and you are nothing, and you have nothing. Come to Jesus as you are, and put your trust in him, and then all things are yours. If Christ be yours, beloved, then I charge you bless the Lord, ay, bless the Lord again and again, for you will never bless him as much as he deserves to be blessed. Let us finish this service as we closed our worship this morning, by singing the doxology,—

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow."


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EPHESIANS 1

The Epistle to the Ephesians is a complete Body of Divinity. In the first chapter you have the doctrines of the gospel; in the next, you have the experience of the Christians; and before the Epistle is finished, you have the precepts of the Christian faith. Whosoever would see Christianity in on treatise, let him "read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest" the Epistle to the Ephesians.
1, 2. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus; grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
All down through the ages this benediction comes to us, even to as many of us as are " the faithful in Christ Jesus." "Grace be to you," brethren and sisters, grace in every form of it, the free favour of God, all that active force of grace which comes of his unmerited love. May you have a fresh draught of it at this time! "and peace." May you feel a deep peace with God, with your own conscience, and with all the world! Oh, that you might find an atmosphere of quiet calm about your mind at this very moment! The double blessing of "grace" and "peace" comes "from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ."
3, 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,
One of the first doctrines of our holy faith is that of the union of all believing souls with Christ. We are blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ. Apart from Christ we are nothing; in Christ we have "all spiritual blessings" We are rich as Christ is rich, when we are united to him by the living bond of faith. Another great doctrine of Holy Scripture is that of election. We are blessed in Christ according as the Father "hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world." Why did God choose any unto eternal life? Was it because of any holiness in them then existing, or forseen to exist? No, by no means; for we read that: "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world,"
4. That we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
We are chosen, not because we are holy, but that we may be made holy. The election precedes the character, and is indeed the moving cause in producing the character. Before the foundation of the world, God chose us in Christ, "that we should be holy and without blame before him in love." You see, then, beloved brethren and sisters, the end for which the Lord chose you by his grace.
5. Having predestinated us
Having destined us before we were born,
5. Unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
The chosen ones are adopted; they become the children of God. The universal Fatherhood of God, except in a very special sense, is a doctrine totally unknown to Scripture. God is the Father of those whom he adopts into his family, who are born again into his family, and no man hath any right to believe God to be his Father except through the new birth, and through adoption. And why God thus elects or adopts is declared here: "According to the good pleasure of his will." He does as he pleases. That old word of God is still true: "I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion." Men do not like that doctrine; it galls them terribly; but it is the truth of God for all that. He is Master and King, and he will sit on the throne, and none shall drag him thence.
6. To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
There is another precious doctrine, the acceptance of those who are adopted. We are beloved of God; he has a complacency toward us; he takes a delight in us; we are acceptable in his sight. Oh, what a blessing this is! But remember that it is all in Christ: "Accepted in the beloved." Because Christ is accepted, therefore those who are in him are accepted.
7, 8. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
In the working out of the economy of grace, God has been lavish with his love; but yet there have been wisdom and prudence in it. He did not suffer the full light of the gospel to break in upon our eyes at first, lest we should have been blinded by it. Jesus had many things to say unto his disciples; but they could not bear them all at once; so, by little and little he has led us on, and led us up, abounding always in his grace, and only limiting the display of it by our capacity to receive it.
9, 10. Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself; that in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all thing in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Everything that is in Christ shall be gathered in; all his chosen, all that the Father gave him, all that he hath redeemed by blood, all that he hath effectually brought into union with himself shall be gathered together in one. There shall be one flock under one Shepherd.
11. In whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
Not only shall we have it, but we have it now. We have heaven in the price of it, in the principles of it, in the promise of it, in the foretaste of it.
11, 12. Being predestined according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: that we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
The enmity of men's hearts to this doctrine of predestination was seen in the House of Common, not a fortnight ago, when one who ought to have known better talked about "the gloomy tenets of Calvin." I know nothing of Calvin's gloomy tenets; but I do know that I read here of predestination, and I read here that God hath his own way, and his own will, and that he reigns and rules, and so he will until the world's end; and all who are loyal subjects wish God to rule. He is a traitor who would not have God to be King; for who is infinitely good and kind as God is? Let him have his divine will. Who wishes to restrain him? Whether we wish is or not, however, the Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice, and let his adversaries tremble. Our predestination is "according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will."
13, 14. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
Those who believe in Christ have the Holy Spirit dwelling in them: the Holy Spirit is a part of heaven, "the earnest of our inheritance"; and wherever he dwells, it is not possible that the heart should lose the inheritance. It is entailed upon those in whom the Spirit dwells. Judge, there, dear brethren, whether the Spirit of God dwells in you or no.
15-23. Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and love unto all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him; the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; they ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward, who believe; according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things in the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
How Paul glows as he writes on this great theme! He waxes warm, and rises to an enthusiasm of eloquence. We could not stop to explain his words; that were to spoil their mystic poetry. Oh, to have a heart that can glorify Christ as Paul did! Truly, if we know ourselves to be one with Christ, and know the privileges which come to us through that blessed gate, we may indeed extol him with all our heart and soul.



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HYMNS FROM "OUR OWN HYMN BOOK"—232; Ps. 103, Version I.; 219; and the Doxology.



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Sermon: We need more Prayer

Glory to Good in the highest all in Christ Jesus and The Holy Spirit of God Forever in the Name of Jesus.
We need more prayer today. The question is why? There is so much evil in the world that we must get closer to God to protect our souls. Jesus was born to take away the sins of the world. Jesus died on the cross to give us our salvation to live with He and God for ever. God raised him on the third day, all to the Glory of God. This is what our faith. Glory to God in The Highest. We thank Thee Lord for such a wonderful gift in Christ Jesus.

We need more prayer to acknowledge this all important gift of our salvation that can overcome all the evils of this world. The key is The Lords Prayer:


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Lord's Prayer Commentary
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Matthew chapter 6 verse 13

13. And lead us not into temptation Some people have split this petition into two. This is wrong: for the nature of the subject makes it manifest, that it is one and the same petition. The connection of the words also shows it: for the word but, which is placed between, connects the two clauses together, as Augustine judiciously explains. The sentence ought to be resolved thus, That we may not be led into temptation, deliver us from evil The meaning is: “We are conscious Of our own weakness, and desire to enjoy the protection of God, that we may remain impregnable against all the assaults of Satan.” We showed from the former petition, that no man can be reckoned a Christian, who does not acknowledge himself to be a sinner; and in the same manner, we conclude from this petition, that we have no strength for living a holy life, except so far as we obtain it from God. Whoever implores the assistance of God to overcome temptations, acknowledges that, unless God deliver him, he will be constantly falling. 441 “Afin qu'i! ne trebusche pas a chacun coup;” — “that he may not reel at every blow.”
The word temptation is often used generally for any kind of trial. In this sense God is said to have tempted Abraham, (Genesis 22:1 ,) when he tried his faith. We are tempted both by adversity and by prosperity: because each of them is an occasion of bringing to light feelings which were formerly concealed. But here it denotes inward temptation, which may be fitly called the scourge of the devil, for exciting our lust. It would be foolish to ask, that God would keep us free from every thing which makes trial of our faith. All wicked emotions, which excite us to sin, are included under the name of temptation Though it is not impossible that we may feel such pricks in our minds, (for, during the whole course of our life, we have a constant warfare with the flesh,) yet we ask that the Lord would not cause us to be thrown down, or suffer us to be overwhelmed, by temptations
In order to express this truth more clearly, that we are liable to constant stumbling and ruinous falls, if God does not uphold us with his hand, Christ used this form of expression, (μὴ εἰσενέγκὟς,) Lead us not into temptation: or, as some render it, Bring us not into temptation It is certainly true, that “every man is tempted,” as the Apostle James says, (1:14 ) “by his own lust:” yet, as God not only gives us up to the will of Satan, to kindle the flame of lust, but employs him as the agent of his wrath, when he chooses to drive men headlong to destruction, he may be also said, in a way peculiar to himself, to lead them into temptation In the same sense, “an evil spirit from the Lord” is said to have “seized or troubled Saul,” (1 Samuel 16:14 :) and there are many passages of Scripture to the same purpose. And yet we will not therefore say, that God is the author of evil: because, by giving men over to a reprobate mind,” (Romans 1:28 ,) he does not exercise a confused tyranny, but executes his just, though secret 442 “Combien que la raison nous en soit incognue;” — “though the reason of them may be unknown to us.” judgments.
Deliver us from evil The word evil (πονηροῦ) may either be taken in the neuter gender, as signifying the evil thing, or in the masculine gender, as signifying the evil one Chrysostom refers it to the Devil, who is the contriver of every thing evil, and, as the deadly enemy of our salvation, is continually fighting against us. 443 Chrysostom's words are: — Πονηρὸν ἐνταῦθα τὸν διάζολον καλεῖ Κατ ᾿ ἐξοχὴν δὲ οἱτος ἐκεῖνος καλεῖται διὰ τὴν ὑπερζολὴν τὢς κακίας, καὶ ἐπειδὰν μηδὲν παρ ᾿ ἡμῶν ἀδικηθεὶς ἄσπονδον πρὸς ἡμᾶς ἔχει τὸυ πόλεμον. “He calls the Devil, in this place, THE EVIL ONE. He is, by way of eminence, so called, on account of his superlative wickedness, and because, though he has received no injury from us, he carries on against us an implacable war.” — Ed. But it may, with equal propriety, be explained as referring to sin There is no necessity for raising a debate on this point: for the meaning remains nearly the same, that we are in danger from the devil and from sin, if the Lord does not protect and deliver us.
For thine is the kingdom It is surprising that this clause, which agrees so well with the rest of the prayer, has been left out by the Latins: 444 That part of the Lord's Prayer, which we commonly call the conclusion, is not found in the Gospel by Luke, and its genuineness has been questioned. None of the Latin copies (as Calvin mentions) have it: but even those who have most zealously maintained that it is spurious, admit that it exists in the greater number of the Greek manuscripts. Erasmus, Grotius, Witsius, Griesbach, Matthaei, and Scholz, may be consulted by those who wish to examine the question for themselves, and to hear all that has been said on both sides. Any thing like the summing up of the argument here would exceed the limits of a note. — Ed.
for it was not added merely for the purpose of kindling our hearts to seek the glory of God, and of reminding us what ought to be the object of our prayers; but likewise to teach us, that our prayers, which are here dictated to us, are founded on God alone, that we may not rely on our own merits.

Do continue to pray. Bless this ministry and all our followers. Let us continue to grow and bless others, we pray for Gods' Will for our families.We ASK this in Jesus name....


John Calvin (1509-1564) - Commentary on Matthew, Mark, Luke - Volume 1

Bible Study: At The Feet of Jesus

At the Feet of Jesus

Luke 10:38-42 Luke 10:38-42 (New American Standard Bible)

Martha and Mary
38Now as they were traveling along, He entered a village; and a woman named (A)Martha welcomed Him into her home.
39She had a sister called (B)Mary, who was (C)seated at the Lord's feet, listening to His word.

40But (D)Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me."

41But the Lord answered and said to her, "(E)Martha, Martha, you are (F)worried and bothered about so many things;

42(G)but only one thing is necessary, for (H)Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her."


Cross references:
A.Luke 10:38 : Luke 10:40; John 11:1, 5, 19-ff, 30, 39;

 The heart of worship is to find ourselves at the feet of Jesus in submission.
 How often do we find ourselves there?
o Do I really possess a strong desire for God and His presence in my life?
o Do I go through life largely consumed with secular pursuits and worldly entertainment, while the things of God have little place in my life?

 Every time in the Word that we encounter Mary of Bethany (the sister of Lazarus) we find her at the feet of Jesus.

1. At His Feet to Listen to His Words.
a. While Martha was busy, Mary was at the feet of Jesus listening to Him.
b. She was open to what He had to say.
c. She was hungry to know Him and hear from Him.
d. Jesus declared that Mary had chosen the good part.
e. Sometimes we get so caught up like Martha in trying to do the work and service of Christianity that we forfeit what is really important.
f. We can get so busy in the doing that we forget the being.
g. The most important thing a Christian will ever do is worship Jesus, and the best place to do that is at His feet.

2. At His Feet to Bless and Anoint Him.
a. John 12:3 – Mary anoints the feet of Jesus and wipes them with her hair.
b. So often people are looking to receive an anointing or blessing from God rather than looking for opportunities to anoint and bless Him.
c. The highest degree or form of devotion is to give to someone without the motivation of getting anything in return.
d. Mary’s act was motivated purely by love.
e. A note in the Full Life Study Bible declares, “(Mary’s) faith in and devotion to the Lord is the highest example of what God desires in believers.”

3. At His Feet When He Didn’t Do Things they Way She Wanted or Expected.
a. John 11:32 – Lazarus was in a tomb. Surely Jesus could have prevented that.
b. Even though Jesus had not acted in the way Mary had desired, she still laid at His feet in devotion, submission and worship.
c. The true character of a person’s heart will be revealed when God acts differently from their desires or expectations.
d. Whenever God is doing things that are beneficial or going your way, it is real easy to worship Him and be at His feet.
e. True worship that is genuine and from the heart comes regardless of the circumstances in which we find ours at the feet of Jesus.

Great God Almighty

We Praise God for all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior and The Holy Spirit of God all in Christ Jesus.

GREAT GOD ALMIGHTY There is a time for war and there is a time for peace. The time has come to lay down your weapons and to turn them into plowshares. It is time now to give food to the widows, go and tend to your orphans, heal the wounded, give comfort the aged, and bring peace upon your night and day. I gave my creation as a gift so that mankind could become fruitful and to multiply. The division and subtraction are the making of the evil that lies in a mans heart and soul. Behold, I am watching you, and I alone know you well.

It was I, the Alpha and the Omega, who created the Heavens and the Earth. It was I, the Creator, who breathed eternal air into the lungs of man and woman whom I also created. Because of my love for you, you and you alone were given domain over all that lives in the seas, that which soars through the skies, and all things, great and small, that move upon the land. I am he, the Beginning and the End.

I know what is hidden in your heart. I know every thought that has entered your mind. Do you not remember, it is I who knows the number of hairs upon your head. There will come a time when you will stand before me, and like an open book, I will read the balance of good and evil within your soul. It is then, in a twinkling of the eye, that I will measure the reward of your eternal salvation. Woe to those who follow in the path of that devil, known as Satan.

Sermon: The Importance of Prayer

Our message today is one of great importance in the life of the believer. We want to direct our attention on exactly how important prayer is in our walk of faith. Let us pray:

Dear God in Heaven;

We pray that your word be magnified through out the universe. We love You so much today. We Bless Your Holy name. Let those who read these words are moved in new directions in Your perfect will.

We thank you Lord and give you all the praise in the name of Jesus Christ A-men.

Sermon: The Importance of Prayer: "Hallowed be Thy name"

Matthew 6:9

Our source of scripture is simply and clear. "Hallow be Thy name" is the main focus of the Lord's prayer. God is the most important person of all prayer. This is not as easy as it sounds. People are under tremendous pressure today. The problems of the world are overwhelming at best. People are so troubled that they do not know what to do. The question is, who is most important in the universe?

The answer to our question is one of profound meaning. God is the creator and heavenly father, there is no other force in the universe. When we pray it is our deepest desires. Our prayers represent the depths of our heart and soul. To whom to we direct our petitions of help, mercy and thanksgiving? Who gave us life, love and the pursuit of happiness? Who must we turn to when the world has done what it can do?

In conclusion, our prayer life reflects our eternal soul. We pray to live. God is still on the throne and loves us more than we can ever imagine. Hallow be Thy name means that God alone is Holy. We understand the Goodness and Power of God and His name is to be Blessed. Jesus Christ is our main source of joy. God so loved the world that He gave us Jesus for our sin debt. Jesus dead on the cross for our sins, conquered death, and rose to be with God for our salvation. Our prayer is to acknowledge God for all that has done.Let us pray:

We praise God, Hallow be Thy name. Thank you for being our God. The joy of our salvation is all found in Christ Jesus We thank you Lord for all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. We pray for all people in all places. We ask for a special prayer for our ministry and followers to be blessed beyound measure. Touch all in need in the Name of Jesus, we give you all the Power, Glory and Honor A-men.

Prayer Time

Dear Heavenly Father:

We humble ourselves of all sin through confession and repentance in the blood of Jesus. We forgive all and pray for all people for all reasons.

We thank you Lord for spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus. Lord we love you so much today. We pray for all those who took the time to pray with us and for us.

We ask in the name of Jesus for the power of healing. There are so many people sick mentally and physically that need your divine help.

Lord we ask for this power in absolute faith in Thee.

Great God almighty ,we give you all the power, glory and honor forever in the name of Jesus we pray. Dear God ,thank for our ministry and let us continue to grow, bless and deliver your perfect will A-men....

Scripture for Life: Healing

Our Scripture of Life is designed to bring enlightenment to the heart, mind and soul. We encourage you to read, pray and meditate on these words of eternal life. Pray ye the Holy Spirit will lead ,guide and direct your life in the faith. God Bless you for your reading and following this new form of ministry online, thank you.

Three Prophets and Jesus’ Healings

First Isaiah

Isaiah gave us the prophecy in present tense. He said we are healed with His stripes. In other words, when Isaiah saw the events of Isaiah 53 unfolding, he saw it in present time to himself.

This is even more remarkable since these events would not occur for hundreds of years in the future. Nevertheless, Isaiah saw prophetic events that were so real to him they were recorded by him as happening then.

Isa 53:5
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. (KJV)

When the Apostle Peter came on the scene, he remembered Isaiah’s prophecy. He remembered that Isaiah saw it present to himself. But Peter knew that what Isaiah saw was still in existence.

Then Peter

1 Pet 2:24
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (KJV)

Sermon: Glory to Glory

Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;
Praise Him, all creatures here below;
Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Sermon: We bring this message to you all for The Joy of Jesus to Bless you and keep you all to the The Glory of God. Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world, rose on the third day and return with all power, honor and glory. We ask in Jesus name to bless us all and we pray for all people to pray and bless this ministry.

A View of God's Glory

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A Sermon
(No. 3120)
Published on Thursday, November 26th, 1908.
Delivered by
C. H. SPURGEON,
At New Park Street Chapel, Southwark.


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"And he said, I beseech thee, show me thy glory."—Exodus 33:18.
HAT WAS A large request to make. He could not have asked for more: "I beseech thee, show me thy glory." Why, it is the greatest petition that man ever asked of God. It seems to me the greatest stretch of faith that I have either heard or read of. It was great faith which made Abraham go into the plain to offer up intercession for a guilty city like Sodom. It was vast faith which enabled Jacob to grasp the angel; it was mighty faith which enabled Elijah to rend the heavens and fetch down rain from skies which had been like brass before; but it appears to me that this prayer contains a greater amount of faith than all the others put together. It is the greatest request that man could make to God: "I beseech thee, show me thy glory." Had he requested a fiery chariot to whirl him up to heaven; had he asked to cleave the water-floods and drown the chivalry of a nation; had he prayed the Almighty to send fire from heaven to consume whole armies, I could have found a parallel to his prayer; but when he offers this petition, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory," he stands alone, a giant among giants; a Colossus even in those days of mighty men. His request surpasses that of any other man: "I beseech thee, show me thy glory." Among the lofty peaks and summits of man's prayers that rise like mountains to the skies, this is the culminating point; this is the highest elevation that faith ever gained: it is the loftiest place to which the great ambition of faith could climb; it is the topmost pillar of all the towering structures that confidence ever piled. I am astonished that Moses himself should have been bold enough to supplicate so wondrous a favor. Surely after he had uttered the desire, his bones must have trembled, his blood curdled in his veins, and his hair must have stood on end. Did he not wonder at himself? Did he not tremble at his own hardihood? We believe that such would have been the case had not the faith which prompted the prayer sustained him in the review of it.
Whence, then, came faith like this? How did Moses obtain so eminent a degree of this virtue? Ah, beloved, it was by communion with God. Had he not been for forty days in the council-chamber with his God? Had he not tarried in the secret pavilion of burning fire? Had not Jehovah spoken to him as a man speaketh with his friend, he would not have had courage enough to ask so large a boon. Yea, more, I doubt whether all this communion would have been sufficient if he had not also received a fresh testimony to the grace of God, in sparing a nation through his intercession. Moses had argued with God, he had pleaded the covenant, and although God had said, "Let me alone that I may destroy them," he had still maintained his hold; he had even ventured to say, "If not, blot my name out of the book of life," let me die as well as the rest; he had wrestled hard with justice, and had prevailed. The strength gained by this victory, joined with his former communion with the Lord, made him mighty in prayer; but had he not received grace by these means, I think the petition was too large even for Moses to venture to carry to the throne. Would you, my brethren, have like faith, then walk in the same path. Be much in secret prayer. Hold constant fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ; so shall you soar aloft on wings of confidence, so shall you also open your mouth wide and have it filled with divine favors, and if you do not offer the same request, yet you may have equal faith to that which bade Moses say, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory."
Allow me to refer you to the 13th verse of this chapter, where Moses speaks unto his God—"Now therefore, I pray thee, if I have found grace in thy sight, show me now thy way." Moses asked a less favor before he requested the greater. He asked to see God's way before he prayed to see his glory. Mark you, my friends, this is the true mode of prayer. Rest not content with past answers, but double your request and go again. Look upon your past petitions as the small end of the wedge opening the way for larger ones. The best way to repay God, and the way he loves best, is to take and ask him ten times as much each time. Nothing pleases God so much as when a sinner comes again very soon with twice as large a petition—"Lord thou didst hear me last time, and now I am come again." Faith is a mighty grace, and always grows upon that which it feeds. When God has heard prayer for one thing, faith comes and asks for two things, and when God has given those two things, faith asks for six. Faith can scale the walls of heaven. She is a giant grace. She takes mountains by their roots, and puts them on other mountains, and so climbs to the throne in confidence with large petitions, knowing that she shall not be refused. We are most of us too slow to go to God. We are not like the beggars who come to the door twenty times if you do not give them anything. But if we have been heard once, we go away, instead of coming time after time, and each time with a larger prayer. Make your petitions longer and longer. Ask for ten, and if God gives them, then for a thousand, and keep going on until at last you will positively get faith enough to ask, if it were proper, as great a favor as Moses did—"I beseech thee, show me thy glory."
Now, my friends, we have just spoken a word or two on the prayer itself; we shall have to see how it was received at the throne. It was answered, first, by a gracious manifestation; secondly, by a gracious concealment; and, thirdly, by a gracious shielding.
I. First of all this prayer which Moses offered was heard by God, and he gave him A GRACIOUS MANIFESTATION: "And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee; and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy."
I think that, when Moses put up this prayer to God, he was very much like Peter, when, on the mountain top, he wist not what he said. I do think that Moses himself hardly understood the petition that he offered to God. With all the clearness of his ideas; however pure his conception of the divinity might be, I do think that even Moses himself had not adequate views of the Godhead. He did not then know so much of God as he now has learned where he stands before the throne of the Most High. I believe that Moses knew that God is a Spirit. I think he must have been sensible that the mind of man can never conceive an idea of the incomprehensible Jehovah. He must have learned that the God of Mount Sinai, the King whose feet glowed like a furnace, and made the mountain smoke, could never be grasped by the senses of a mortal. Yet it is likely with all this knowledge, the great lawgiver had a vague and indistinct idea that it might be possible for divinity to be seen. My friends, it is hard for creatures encumbered with flesh and blood to gain a just conception of a spirit. We are so linked with the material, that the spiritual is above our reach. Surely then, if a mere spirit is above our comprehension, much more "the Father of Spirits, the Eternal, Immortal, Invisible."
The poet sings most truly—


"The more of wonderful
Is heard in him, the more we should assent.
Could we conceive him, God he could not be;
Or he not God, or we could not be men.
A God alone can comprehend a God."

These eyes are but organs to convey to me the knowledge of material substances; they can not discern spirits; it is not their duty; it is beyond their province. Purer than celestial ether of the most refined nature; subtler than the secret power of electricity; infinitely above the most rarified forms of matter is the existence we call a spirit. As well might we expect to bind the winds with cords, or smite them with a sword, as to behold spirits with eyes which were only made to see gross solid materialism.
We find that Moses saw no similitude; no form passed before him. He had an audience; he had a vision; but it was an audience from behind a covering, and a vision, not of a person, but an attribute. Behold then the scene. There stands Moses about to be honored with visions of God. The Lord is about to answer thee. O Moses, God is come. Dost thou not tremble; do not thy knees knock together; are not thy bones loosened; are not thy sinews broken? Canst thou bear the thought of God coming to thee? O, I can picture Moses as he stood in that cleft of the rock with the hand of God before his eyes, and I can see him look as man never looked before, confident in faith, yet more than confounded at himself that he could have asked such a petition.
Now, what attribute is God about to show to Moses? His petition is, "Show me thy glory." Will he show him his justice? Will he show him his holiness? Will he show his wrath? Will he show him his power? Will he break yon cedar and show him he is almighty? Will he rend yonder mountain and show him that he can be angry? Will he bring his sins to remembrance, and show that he is omniscient? No; hear the still small voice—"I will make all my goodness pass before thee." Ah! the goodness of God is God's glory. God's greatest glory is that he is good. The brightest gem in the crown of God is his goodness. "I will make all my goodness pass before thee." There is a panorama such as time would not be long enough for you to see.
Consider the goodness of God in creation. Who could ever tell all God's goodness there? Why, every creek that runs up into the shore is full of it where the fry dance in the water. Why, every tree and every forest rings with it; where the feathered songsters sit and make their wings quiver with delight and ecstasy. Why, every atom of this air, which is dense with animalculae, is full of God's goodness. The cattle on a thousand hills he feeds; the ravens come and peck their food from his liberal hands. The fishes leap out of their element, and he supplies them; every insect is nourished by him. The lion roars in the forest for his prey, and he sendeth it to him. Ten thousand thousand creatures are all fed by him. Can you tell, then, what God's goodness is? If you knew all the myriad works of God, would your life be long enough to make all God's creative goodness pass before you?
Then think of his goodness to the children of men. Think how many of our race have come into this world and died. We are of yesterday, and we know nothing. Man is as a flower; he lives, he dies; he is the infant of a day, and he is gone to-morrow, but yet the Lord doth not forget him. O, my God! if thou shouldst make all thy goodness pass before me—all thy goodness to the children of men—I must sit me down on an adamantine rock forever and look throughout eternity; I should wear these eyes out, and must have eyes of fire, or else I should never be able to see all thy goodness toward the sons of men.
But then rise higher still, and think of his sovereign goodness toward his chosen people. O, my soul, go thou back into eternity and see thy name in God's book of predestinating, unchanging grace! And then come down to the time of redemption, and see there thy Saviour bleeding and agonizing. O my soul, there were drops of goodness before, but O, rivers of goodness roll before thee now! When thou sawest the Son of God groaning, agonizing, shrieking, dying, buried in his grave, and then rising again, thou sawest the goodness of God. "I will make all my goodness pass before thee." I say again, what a panorama! What a series of dissolving views! What sight upon sight, each one melting into the other! Could I stand here this morning, and borrow the eloquence of an angel; could I speak to you as I might wish—but, alas! I cannot break these bonds that hold my stammering tongue—could I loose these lips and speak as angels speak, then could I tell you something, but not much, of the goodness of God; for it is "past finding out." Since I cannot utter it myself, I would invoke all creation to be vocal in his praise. Ye hills, lift up your voices; let the shaggy woods upon your summits wave with adoration. Ye valleys, fill the air with the bleatings of your sheep and the lowing of your cattle. Ye that have life, if ye have voices, tune his praise; and if ye walk in silence, let your joyful motions show the thanks ye cannot speak. O, ye trees of the field, clap your hands; ye winds, in solemn harmony chant to his glory. Thou ocean, with thy myriad waves, in all thy solemn pomp, thy motion to and fro, forget not him who bids a thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain, and write no furrow on thy ever youthful brow. And you, ye storms, howl out his greatness; let your thunders roll like drums in the march of the God of armies; let your lightnings write his name in fire upon the midnight darkness; let the illimitable void of space become one mouth for song; and let the unnavigated ether, through its shoreless depths, bear through the infinite remote the name of him who is ever good and doeth good.
I can say no more concerning God's goodness. But this is not all that Moses saw. If you look to the words which follow my text, you will see that God said, "I will make all my goodness pass before thee;" but there was something more. No one attribute of God sets God out to perfection; there must always be another. He said, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will snow mercy," there is another attribute of God. There is his sovereignty. God's goodness without his sovereignty does not completely set forth his nature. I think of the man who, when he was dying, called me to see him. He said, "I am going to heaven." "Well," I replied. "what makes you think you are going there, for you never thought of it before?" Said he, "God is good." "Yes." I answered. "but God is just." "No," said he, "God is merciful and good." Now that poor creature was dying, and being lost forever; for he had not a right conception of God. He had only one idea of God, that God is good; but that is not enough. If you only see one attribute you only have half a God. God is good, and he is a sovereign, and doeth what he pleases; and though good to all in the sense of benevolence, he is not obliged to be good to any. "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and show mercy on whom I will show mercy."
Do not you be alarmed, my friends, because I am going to preach about sovereignty. I know some people, when they hear about sovereignty, say, "O, we are going to have some terrible high doctrine." Well, if it is in the Bible, that is enough for you. Is not that all you want to know? If God says, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy," it is not for you to say it is high doctrine. Who told you it was high doctrine? It is good doctrine. What right have you to call one doctrine high and one low? Would you like me to have a Bible with "H" against high, and "L" against low, so that I could leave the high doctrine out and please you? My Bible has no mark of that kind; it says, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious." There is divine sovereignty. I believe some are afraid to say any thing about this great doctrine lest they should offend some of their people; but. my friends, it is true, and you shall hear it. God is a sovereign. He was a sovereign ere he made this world. He lived alone, and this was in his mind: Shall I make any thing or shall I not? I have a right to make creatures or not to make any. He resolved that he would fashion a world. When he made it, he had a right to form the world in what shape and size he pleased; and he had a right, if he chose, to leave the globe untenanted by a single creature. When he had resolved to make man, he had a right to make him whatever kind of creature he liked. If he wished to make him a worm or a serpent, he had a right to do it. When he made him. he had a right to put any command on him that he pleased; and God had a right to say to Adam. Thou shalt not touch that forbidden tree. And when Adam offended, God had a right to punish him and all the race forever in the bottomless pit.
God is so far sovereign, that he has a right, if he likes, to save any one in this chapel, or to crush all who are here. He has a right to take us all to heaven if he pleases, or to destroy us. He has a right to do just as he pleases with us. We are as much in his hands as prisoners in the hands of her majesty when they are condemned for a capital offense against the law of the land; yea, as much as clay in the hands of the potter. This is what he asserted, when he said, "I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. and I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy." This stirs up your carnal pride, does it not? Men want to be somebody. They do not like to lie down before God, and have it preached to them that God can do just as he wills with them. Ah! you may hate it, but it is what the Scripture tells us. Surely it is self-evident that God may do as he will with his own. We all like to do what we will with our own property. God has said, that if you go to his throne he will hear you; but he has a right not to do it if he likes. He has a right to do just as he pleases. If he chooses to let you go on in the error of your ways, that is his right; and if he says, as he does, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest," it is his right to do so. That is the high and awful doctrine of DIVINE SOVEREIGNTY.*
Put the two together, goodness and sovereignty, and you see God's glory. If you take sovereignty alone, you will not understand God. Some people only have an idea of God's sovereignty, and not of his goodness; such are usually gloomy, harsh, and ill-humored. You must put the two together; that God is good, and that God is a sovereign. You must speak of sovereign grace. God is not grace alone, he is sovereign grace. He is not sovereign alone, but he is graciously sovereign. That is the best idea of God. When Moses said, "I beseech thee, show me thy glory," God made him see that he was glorious, and that his glory was his sovereign goodness. Surely, beloved, we cannot be wrong in loving the doctrine of free, unmerited, distinguishing grace, when we see it thus mentioned as the brightest jewel in the crown of our covenant God. Do not be afraid of election and sovereignty. The time is come when our ministers must tell us more about them; or, if not, our souls will be so lean and starved that we shall mutiny for the bread of life. O, may God send us more thorough gospel men who will preach sovereign grace as the glory of the gospel.
II. The second point is—there was A GRACIOUS CONCEALMENT.
Read the next verse. "He said, thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man see me and live." There was a gracious concealment. There was as much grace in that concealment as there was in the manifestation. Mark you, beloved, when God does not tell us any thing, there is as much grace in his withholding it as there is in any of his revelations. Did you ever hear or read the sentiment, that there is as much to be learned from what is not in the Bible, as from what there is in the Bible? Some people read the Scriptures, and they say, "I wish I knew so-and-so." Now you ought not to wish such a thing; for if it was good for you, it would be there; and there is as much grace in what God has not put in the Bible, as in what he has put there. If he had put more in it, it would have been our destruction. There is just enough and no more. Do you know how Robert of Normandy lost his sight? His brother passed a red-hot copper bowl before his face, and burned the eyes out of their sockets; and there are some doctrines that men want to know, which, if they could understand them, it would be like passing a red-hot bowl before their eyes. They would scorch men's eyes out, and their understandings would be completely crushed. We have seen this in some ministers, who have studied so much that they have gone out of their minds. They have gone further than they ought to have ventured. There is a point to which we may go, and no further; and happy is the man who goes as near to it as possible without overstepping it. God said to Moses—"Thou canst not see my face and live." There are two senses in which this is true. No man can see God's face as a sinner; and no man can see God's face even as a saint.
First, no man can see God's face as a sinner. There comes a wretch before the throne of God. God has spread his books, and set his seat of judgment. There comes a man before the throne of God. Look at him! He is wearing a robe of his own righteousness. "Wretch, how comest thou in hither?" And the creature tries to look at God; he cries that he may live! But, no! God saith, "he cannot see my face and live." Thus saith the Judge. "Executioners of my vengeance, come forth!" Angels come with crowns on their brows; they grasp their swords and stand ready—"Bind him hand and foot; cast him into the lake that burneth." The wretch is cast away into the fire of hell. He sees written in letters of fire—"No man can see my face and live." Clothed in his own righteousness, he must perish.
Then, again, it is true that no man, even as a saint, can see God's face and live; not because of moral disability, but because of physical inability. The body is not strong enough to bear the sight or vision of God. I cannot tell whether even the saints in heaven see God. God dwells among them; but I do not know whether they ever behold him. That is a speculation. We can leave that till we get there. We will decide it when we get to heaven. I hardly know whether finite beings when immortalized would be capable of seeing God. This much is certain—that on earth, no man, however holy, can ever see God's face, and yet live. Why, Manoah, when he saw an angel, thought he should die. He said—"I have seen an angel of the Lord; I shall die." If you and I were to meet an angel, or a troop of angels, as Jacob did at Mahanaim, we should say—"We shall die." The blaze of splendor would overwhelm us. We could not endure it. We "cannot see God and live." All that we can ever see of God, is what Moses called his "back parts." The words, I think, signify "regal train." You have seen kings have trains hanging behind them; and all that we can ever see of God is his train that floats behind. Yon sun that burns in the heavens with all his effulgence, you think he is bright; you look upon him, and he dazzles you; but all his splendor is but a single thread in the regal skirts of the robe of Deity. You have seen night wrapped in her sable mantle woven with gems and stars—there they shine as ornaments worked by the needle of God in that brilliant piece of tapestry which is spread over our heads, like a tent for the inhabitants of the earth to dwell in: you have said, "O! how majestic! That star, that comet, that silver moon, How splendid!" They are nothing, but just a tiny portion of the skirts of God that drag in the dust. But what are the shoulders—what the girdle of divinity—what the bracelets of Godhead—what the crown that girdles his lofty brow, man cannot conceive; I could imagine that all the stars and constellations of stars might be put together and threaded into a string—made into a bracelet for the arm, or a ring for the finger of Jehovah—but I cannot conceive what God is himself. All I can ever learn—all that the thunder ever spake—all that the boistrous ocean ever could teach me—all that the heaven above, or the earth beneath can ever open to my mind, is nothing but the "back parts" of God. I can never see; nor can I understand what he is.
III. Now, beloved, we go to the third point; and that is THE GRACIOUS SHIELDING.
Moses had to be put in the cleft of a rock before he could see God. There was a rock in the wilderness once; Moses smote it, and water gushed out. The apostle tells us "that Rock was Christ." Very well, Paul, I believe it was. There is another thing I believe—I believe this rock was Christ. I know it was not Christ literally; but Moses stood on a literal rock. Moses stood on the top of a high mountain, hidden in the cleft of a real rock. But, O, my soul, what is the cleft of the rock where thou must stand; if thou wouldst ever see God's face and live. O, it is the "Rock of ages cleft for me," where I must hide my head! O, what a cleaving that was when Jesus died! O, my soul, enter into the hole in Jesus' side. That is the cleft of the rock where thou must abide and see God.

"Till God in human flesh I see,
My thoughts no comfort find;
The holy, just, and sacred Three,
Are terrors to my mind."

But when I get into the cleft of that rock, O, my soul, when I get into that cleft whose massive roof is the well ordered everlasting covenant, whose solid golden floor is made of the solemn decrees of the predestination of the Most High; and whose sides are called Jachin and Boaz, that is establishment and strength, a cleft in a rock which is so enduring that time can never dissolve it. Precious Christ! may I be found in thee amid the concussion of the elements when the world shall melt away, and the heavens shall be dissolved! O, may I stand in thee, thou precious cleft of the Rock; thou art all-in-all to my soul.
Some of you, I know, are in that cleft of the Rock. But let me ask others, where are you? Let it be a personal question. I have preached a long while about God; I have tried to mount the height of this great argument and speak of the wondrous things of God. I may have failed, but let me say to each of you—Are you in that cleft of the rock? Can you sing this—

"Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress;
'Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head."

In closing, I want one practical inference, and what shall it be? Draw it yourselves. Let it be this—there is an hour coming, when we must all, in a certain sense, see God. We must see him as a Judge. It becomes us, then, to think seriously whether we shall stand in the cleft of the Rock when he comes. There is a passage we would mention before closing—"I saw death on a pale horse, and hell followed him." There was death on the pale horse; and the original says—"hades followed him." You know the word hades comprises both heaven and hell. It means the state of spirits. Yes, death is after me and thee. Ah, run! run! run! but run as thou wilt, the rider on the white horse shall overtake thee. If thou canst escape him seventy years, he will overtake thee at last. Death is riding! Here his horse comes—I hear his snortings, I feel his hot breath; he comes! he comes! and thou must die! BUT, WICKED MAN, WHAT COMES AFTERWARDS? Will it be heaven or hell? O, if it be hell that is after thee, where art thou when thou art cast away from God? Ah, I pray God deliver you from hell; he is coming after you, sure enough; and if you have no hiding-place. woe unto you. See you that cleft in the rock, see that cross, see that blood. There is security, and only there. Thy works are but a useless incumbrance; cast them away, and with all thy might flee to the mountain with

"Nothing in my hands I bring,
Simply to thy cross I cling."

Yea, more than this, you will need divine aid, even in coming to Christ—

"O, for this no strength have I,
My strength is at thy feet to lie."

But, poor helpless one, if thou art but hidden in Christ. all is secure. Storms may arise, but you cannot be overwhelmed; old Boreas may blow until his cheeks do burst, but not a breath of wind can injure you; for in the cleft of the Rock you shall be hidden until the vengeance is overpast.


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* This subject is further discussed in the following Sermons by Mr. Spurgeon:—The New Park Street Pulpit, No. 77, "Divine Sovereignty;" and Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, No. 442, "God's Will and Man's Will;" and No. 553, "Election no Discouragement to Seeking Souls."



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