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Listen to the Audio Sermon Below
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The topic suggested for consideration at this day’s Conference was,_ -“The mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.” -Ps. lxxii. 7; Isa. ix. 6; John xvi. 33.
All who are acquainted, by God’s grace, with our Lord Jesus Christ, have not a particle of doubt that the two verses read to us (Isa. ix. 6, 7), refer to Him. We have in them brought before us both the humanity and the divinity of our adorable Lord JesusChrist; and we, the disciples of the Lord Jesus, should hold fast both the true humanity and the true divinity of our adorable Lord. We have to seek practically, day by day, to enter into the truth, that He who is at the right hand of the Father -the ascended living Lord Jesus Christ -is, in the presence of God, still the God-Man. He is our Brother in the presence of God.
But that blessed One, who is our Saviour, at the same time is not only truly man, but is really and truly God, as fully as is the Father; and of this truth, that He is very Man and very God -the God-Man -we have to seek to remind ourselves continually. For there will come a time when we shall need to remember the truth in both these aspects -His true humanity and His true divinity. I would say to any who are not aware of it, that about 750 years before the incarnation of our adorable Lord, the Holy Ghost, by Isaiah, made the statement contained in the two verses referred to. How this in itself is calculated to refresh our hearts, and strengthen us in the belief that this blessed Book, the Bible, is the Word of the living God! Who declared on the first of July, 1870, that in a very short time Napoleon Ill would be a prisoner? Who wrote it? Who said it? Who was assured about it? But God knew it. And so with regard to the incarnation of our adorable Lord Jesus.
It was clearly and distinctly revealed by the Holy Ghost hundreds of years before it took place. How full of comfort is the word “Counsellor,” as applied to our Lord. We shall find ourselves, in our course heavenwards, again and again in positions when we particularly need counsel and advice. Now the blessed Lord Jesus, -our Brother, our Friend, our Saviour, our Lord, our God, -sustains the office of the Counsellor to His Church, and to His individual disciples. To myself, I ought to say, when in perplexing circumstances, “Oh! let me lie on the bosom of the Lord Jesus.” To Him let me pray, “Thy poor servant knows not how to act, knows not what to do, but Thou art the Counsellor of Thy people, now prove Thyself in my own happy experience my Counsellor!” What would be the result? As assuredly as we exercise faith in the Lord Jesus Christ with regard to this His office, and as assuredly as we give ourselves to prayer, and seek, by the Spirit of God, through the instrumentality of the written word, to obtain counsel of Him, so assuredly we shall obtain it. Then, when in weakness as to the outward man, or in weakness spiritually, in any difficulty, in any trial,or any sorrow, when we are in the hour of temptation, needing special help, how blessed to remember “the Mighty God,” to remember He is the mighty God.
There is no question as to this being the meaning of it. Every word is here honestly translated. Thegreatest Hebrew scholars, though rationalists, were constrained to acknowledge that that was the meaning, and they have translated the words thus. How full they are of comfort! He, my Friend, my Lord, my Saviour, my Bridegroom, is the mighty God. Iam perfect weakness,Icannot stand against my enemies,Iam helpless. Oh, how weak, how extremely weak am I in myself! But if I cling to the mighty God, if I exercise faith in my precious Redeemer, the mighty God, He is able and willing to help me. He proved the depth of His love to me by laying down His life for me, a miserable guilty sinner. He, our best Friend, our bosom Friend, is at the same time the mighty God. Oh! let us cling to the mighty God.
How full of comfort are the words, “The Everlasting Father.” As they have been referred to by previous speakers, I need not enlarge. Yet how full of comfort! While all things change here below, the precious Jesus, our Friend, is “the same yesterday, and today, and for ever.” What He was millions of years since, He is now. What He was when He walked through Judea, Samaria, and Galilee, He is now -His heart full of tenderness, of pity, of compassion. Oh, how patient, how loving, how gracious! Oh, what a lovely Being Jesus is! When I saw the notice of these Conference meetings, I was particularly refreshed by the remembrance of this, -that Jesus will be the theme again of our meetings. I have been privileged to attend everyone of these evening meetings during the eight years they have been held,and Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, has been the theme of every meeting. Well, now, beloved fellow-disciples, it should be Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, more practically and experimentally in our closets, in our walk, in our labour, in our service, and day by day our heartsshould be occupied with Jesus, and especially the friendship of Jesus should be cultivated by us increasingly. When trials, difficulties, and sorrows come, we should remember we have the self-same Jesus now as ready to comfort and encourage us as He did the disciples more than 1800 years since; and quite as ready as He was then to prove Himself our Friend, our Helper, our Comforter. We should say, “Now, Lord Jesus, since Thou art ‘the same yesterday, and today, and for ever,’ and since it is written, Thou hast ‘the tongue of the learned’ to ‘know how to speak a word in season to him that is weary:’ give me a word in season to comfort me; Thou art willing, now comfort me, Thy poor servant, for I am weary; Thou art ever the same, and since Thou art as willing to comfort now as Thou wast when in Judea, in Samaria, and Galilee, now comfort me Thy poor servant.” Thus should we prove Jesus practically and experimentally to be our bosom Friend. And we should seek to couple with the experience, that He is our bosom Friend, the fact that He is the Mighty God, and ever the same. If all my friends fail, this precious Jesus remains, and He will never forsake, He will never grow weary, He will ever care for me. How full of comfort is this! Let us enter into what God, in the riches of His grace, has been pleased to provide for us in Jesus. There is reality in these things. God brings this precious truth before us, that we may be sustained and comforted. And if practically and experimentally we lean on the arm of Christ, it shall be yet seen in these last days how happy the disciples of the Lord Jesus may be, though everything may be dark and gloomy, though they are in the midst of difficulties and trial. Not only this -we may even be strong in the Lord; and whilst we cannot be apostles, we may aim after the grace of apostles. Though we never attain to it, it would be a holy aim, and God would be pleased with it. In ourselves we are perfect weakness; yet the Holy Ghost is in the Church, and dwells in every individual believer, and we have the written word, and Jesus our bosom Friend; and therefore if we pour out our hearts before God, in the midst of all our difficulties and trials, what strength may we not get to our souls? Let us live on Jesus, beloved in Christ.
Further: Jesus is “the Prince of Peace.” I do not dwell on those points of this subject on which the brethren have already spoken; but there is one aspect I will refer to, and that is the bright and blessed prospect with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, when Himself shall put aside war, Himself shall take the power and reign, and all the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of the Christ of God; when the blessed Jesus will come, not in the character in which He came before,but “as the King in His beauty.” How the heart, with joyful anticipation, should look forward to the day when He will come and reign, and take the power to Himself, and subdue everything that is contrary to Himself. This is the bright and blessed prospect before us, and most blessed with regard to our own hearts now. He will subdue in us individually everything contrary to His own blessed mind. The Lord Jesus will have His own blessed mind to the full seen in us. Precious, bright, glorious the prospect! After waiting yet a little while, we shall see Jesus as He is, and be made like Him.
But are we regenerated? There is no such thing as being made like Jesus, unless we are first born again, by believing the gospel, by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. There is no such thing as making progress in the heavenly life, except we first believe the truth of the gospel and rest our souls for salvation on the Lord Jesus Christ. As there may be a few here present who are not yet believers inthe Lord Jesus Christ, let me affectionately ask such, -Do you know Jesus? Do you believe in Him? Do you simply, solely, entirely, rest on what He did to save sinners? Every other foundation is a sandy foundation. You cannot be saved unless you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is one name alone given, -through Jesus our Lord, by faith in His name, alone is there salvation. Therefore, if any here present do not believe, let me entreat and beseech them to lay these things to heart. Forsake the false ways, do not seek to work out your own salvation by trusting in your own merit or works, or by supposing that reading the Bible or going to a place of worship will save your souls. I commend the one way of salvation to you -trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Pass sentence upon yourselves as sinners; condemn yourselves; and as guilty sinners, deserving nothing but punishment, put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. If you do this, then assuredly God, for Christ’s sake, will forgive you. Though you be the greatest, the oldest, the most hardened sinner; though you have sinned again and again against light and knowledge; if you now trust in Christ, you will, for His sake, be forgiven; for there is power in the blood of Christ to take away the greatest sins. The most hardened sinner, instantly when he believes, by God, for Christ’s sake, is accepted, and treated as if he had never sinned at all. He who believes, obtains full, free, and eternal forgiveness for all his numberless transgressions. Then begins love to God who gave Jesus, and love to Jesus who gave Himself. And then the soul says, “What can I render to God for His unspeakable gift, and to my precious Lord Jesus for giving Himself?” Then the soul begins to seek to be more like Jesus Christ. The more we become acquainted with Jesus and with ourselves, the more we seek to be like that blessed One. After this, let us, fellow-believers, more and more aim. “The world is passing away, and the fashion thereof.” We have but onelife to spend here, and that a very brief one; and after our conversion our one great object in this evil world should be to seek to manifest the mind of Jesus. And then, with regard to our fellow-believers, we are to love one another. Disciples shouldlove one another, notwithstanding all the weaknesses and infirmities we see in one another. For Christ’s sake should we do it, because it is the will of that blessed One. Therefore let us aim after this; and the more we can thus manifest the mind of Jesus, the greater will be the honour which we obtain for Him.
