Welcome to our service this morning. Let's commence, please, by singing this hymn, Jesus' name that is high over all. We'll stand, please, as we worship the Lord. ♪ ♪ Jesus, you make the sinners fear ♪ ♪ You make the sinners fear ♪ ♪ His hand is on them every day ♪ ♪ He turns them all around ♪ Oh, say does that star-spangled banner yet wave ♪ His holiness is here below to guard me o'er the land ♪ ♪ And here in my life's breath I may one last receive ♪ ♪ Each day to honor my endeavor, behold me o'er the land ♪ Amen. That great declaration that John made, we have on the pulpit wall behind us. Behold the Lamb of God. why it is something that we use to give testimony of what the Lord means to us in our hearts, but certainly it's one that has drawn us to Him when the Holy Spirit opened our understanding and He said to us in our hearts, look, look to Christ. He is the only salvation, the only remedy. And in simple faith, by that gift of God, when we looked upon Him, then we saw And we knew that He is the one who is able to bear all our sins away. And we're thankful for that great truth today. Let's bow, please, before the Lord now in prayer. Father, today we bow our hearts, our minds, our bodies, our wills, everything we have Lord, we come to bow in your most holy presence. We open our hearts, Lord, and lift up our hands in thanksgiving and praise. We come to the one, the creator of all things. And Lord, we know that we have been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, And on that day, when the Spirit of God led us to see our sin and to behold the Lamb of God, who has taken away all our transgression. And so today, Lord, we know it is well, it is well with our soul, and that we have a home in heaven. We have an eternal destination. And nothing and no one and no power can take us out, Lord, of your hand. And so we come this morning to open our souls in thanksgiving and praise. We enter into the presence of our great God and Savior to give thanks. Dear Father, I pray that today our worship would not be held back, would not be hindered by any lacking on our part, by any unconfessed sin. Dear Lord, help us always to keep short accounts with our God. I pray the Holy Spirit would come and work through the Word today in all of our lives, you would bring application, Father, through the Spirit to the Word, revealing our Savior more fully, more completely, more abundantly, and so that our lives would be so conformed to His image. Lord, we read the words of John the Apostle that when we will see our Savior, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And therefore, on that great day, as we are now preparing for it, Lord, may that conforming to the image of our Lord Jesus be seen advancing, taking great leaps and bounds each day. Lord, I pray that we will die daily unto ourselves, that we might live unto righteousness. Father, hear our prayer today. Pour out your Spirit and grace upon us. Remember those in our fellowship that need a special healing touch upon them. Bless them, we pray, and encourage their hearts. We're thankful for your hand upon Mrs. Cawdry. We pray your continued hand upon Serene, Our brother Ron, we pray for brother John Bodnar, that you would continue to bless him and many, many others that we know of and perhaps are not known personally, but we know them, Lord, by connection with the congregation. Father, hear and answer prayer. We think of our brother Steve Kelly today and ask for your kind hand of healing to be upon him. Dear Lord, bless our churches, all of those within our own fellowship across Canada, the United States, our missionaries. Bless them abundantly today. May today be a day of salvation, a day of advancing spiritually, a day, Lord, when we see advancement against the forces of hell, Defeat those who stand against the onward march of Christ. Defeat those, Lord, who put forward their evil agenda in our land. Lord, remove from us time-serving politicians and those that would work behind the scenes to go against everything that is right and pure and biblical, and restrain the evil, Lord, we ask. and promote that which is righteous and true and good. Use us, we pray, in this fellowship. Use us in our congregation. Make us all soul winners for Christ. And Father, bring in more people into our fellowship so that we might be able to encourage them and they us. Bring in souls that will be converted and brought to Jesus. Our Lord, these are all things that are so important, things that are on our hearts. Bless us abundantly today. May your name be honored in all things, we ask in Jesus' precious name. Amen. Psalm 119, the first section. We'll stand, please, as we sing. O say can you see, by the dawn's early light, What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's ♪ His statues are in line ♪ ♪ And who could see the way they go ♪ ♪ With their whole heart and mind? ♪ ♪ Such men his praise to call can do ♪ ♪ The living, the dreaming ♪ Then shall I not be shaped better by the precepts of respect? Then will the integrity of God be filled by grace and blessing, Amen. Would you turn, please, in your Bibles to the little epistle of 1 John. 1 John, chapter five. We're reading the first 19 verses. Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world? But he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God. This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ, not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three agree in one. If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater. For this is the witness of God, which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. and this is the record that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God, that ye may know that ye have eternal life. and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us. And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death. I do not say that he shall pray for it. All unrighteousness is sin. And there is a sin not unto death. We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not, but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. For we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true. even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life. Little children, keep yourselves from idols." We know the Lord will bless His Word to us this morning, as we have read. For clarity, you would not find a better portion of the Word of God And certainly for outreach, for sharing the gospel message with someone who did not know anything about the gospel, or certainly not much, that would be a good area to hone in on, to know it well, and to be able to read it to friends or neighbors, those you are trying to witness to. welcome you this morning to the Lord's house. We're glad that you are here. We pray for you. We pray that if you've come to visit with us for the first time or maybe again, we want you to know you're very, very welcome in the name of the Lord Jesus and certainly those watching our service online. We're happy that you're here with us today. A word of congratulations to our brother Robin, sister Carol Cleland. They became grandparents for the first time this past week. Their daughter Anne gave birth to a little boy, Liam, and mother and child doing well. And we're happy for Robin and for Carol. We rejoice with them today. And it's good to see Debbie and her mom back with us today. They have been sojourning down in the land of Jamaica, down for a couple of weeks. And they were visiting family, friends, doing some important business. And Debbie reports that they had a very, very prosperous trip. Our brother Richard Craig had just been in the United States visiting, well, also attending the week of prayer, presbytery meetings, and so he arrived back just on Tuesday last, as they arrived down there, and they had a good time together with our brother Richard and the people in the congregation. So, glad you folks are back safe and sound, and the Lord's hand has been with you. Remember Brother John Bodnar, Reverend Bodnar? He sent an email report, an update on his cancer treatment. He has come to the conclusion of this stage of that treatment, much appreciating the prayers of God's people, said it was a hard time and not easy, but yet he has known the hand of the Lord upon him. And it's great to see Mrs. Coddry in the service again today. Sister, I know you were here last Lord's Day, though I miss seeing you, but I'm glad you're here, and also her dear husband, and Talu as well, so we're happy. I know that our sister appreciates the prayers of God's people for her as she has come through a time of illness. Let me remind you, please, today of some important ministry and also this week. Last Wednesday night we had a meeting, a Zoom meeting with Reverend John Kelly. Our brother has just graduated from a Geneva Reformed seminary and was licensed at our presbytery meeting just a couple of weeks ago. And he was here on Wednesday evening sharing a burden that he has for the New England states and where he believes God is leading him to start a work. If you were not there on Wednesday night or were not prepared to give a donation, an offering toward that work, you're able to do so today. Please mark your envelope and just put it on it. Reverend Kelly will be sure that it's directed toward the work that he is attempting to do. Also, if you would like to make a donation toward the work that is going on for the Ukraine refugees, and certainly what's happening in the Balaam Money Church in Northern Ireland, how they are housing folks, and they have outreaches whereby they are able to direct funds, then we would encourage you to mark your envelope, and we'll be able to direct that that way as well. So those are important things. Good to see our sister Ria back with us. Ria was also overseas in Holland visiting family. She was over there for a wedding, and we're happy, dear, that you're back with us in the service today as well. Remember, please, this afternoon at 4 p.m., we have a memorial service remembering the life of Mrs. Maslin Campbell. That will be at 4 o'clock. and the family will be here in the Church, and everyone here is also invited and welcome. Our sister passed away back in January the 10th. We had a very, very cold, burial service. The family was gathered on that January afternoon. And we want to... The family wanted to have a memorial service when things were opened up a little bit more. And so, that is going to come to pass today in the will of God. So, please join with us this afternoon if you are able. Then at 5.50, our prayer time before the evening service. And we hope to continue our study in the life and book of Daniel tonight. And then after this, we're going to recommence our fellowship and food times after the evening service, the last Lord's Day of the month. And so, ladies, please let me encourage you to bring along something light for refreshment, and we will look forward to enjoying that time after our evening service tonight. Wednesday evening, our Bible study and prayer time, and we'll be recommencing our study in Psalm 63. And if you have been committing that psalm to your memory, as we've been challenging you, it's a review of the first five verses. So look over those again. It'll be a refresher for all of us, and as we continue in that study. Then on Saturday evening, this coming Saturday, it will be the next Connect Fellowship, and that will be at 7 p.m. on Zoom. And so if you would like to join in, we encourage all of the youth in our own church to join in for that one. You can get the connection through our brother McAnally. and then on the Lord's Day, our regular services next weekend. Let me give you an advance announcement. On July the 1st, Canada Day, we'll be having a church barbecue, and that will be at 5 p.m. to dark, and then there will be also some fireworks out in the field. And don't have to bring anything except yourselves, and if you would like to invite a family member, maybe a neighbor, come along, well, they'd be welcome. We just need to know how many folks will be attending, so when a sign-up sheet goes up there, you can write down your name and how many you'll be expecting from your family. While we're on that, you will also find out on the foyer today a sign-up sheet for the Highland Creek Festival. That's where we have a table, an outreach table. We've done it for, well, a few times now, but, of course, shut down the last number of years. but it will be commencing on June... recommencing on June 18th. That's a Saturday. And if you would like to be a part of that outreach, then you can sign up there, and we put you on for an hour or a couple of hours, and we rotate people in, and you might enjoy coming along. And it's just an opportunity to share the gospel with the community, neighborhood, and we ask your prayers to that end. Let's sing again, please, to the Lord's praise. Well, this is a Sunday school chorus, and I know the boys and girls will know this well. Obedience is the very best way to show that you believe. We'll sing through that chorus twice. Remain seated. ♪ This our Lord commands ♪ ♪ To give and not to leave ♪ ♪ Actions complete immediately ♪ ♪ Joy you will receive ♪ ♪ Obedience is the very best thing ♪ ♪ To show that you believe ♪ ♪ Obediently ♪ We ask thee to show them humility. We want to give thee more. We want to give thee more. We want to do our best. Sing this praise into propriety. We give to thee. O B-E-D, I-E-N-C, E-N-C is the better best way. Well, that's a good chorus, and one that not just boys and girls need, but every adult also needs. Speaking with the Simans recently, and they were noting that when they were doing the Behind the Wall program, the one that was on Obey, that was the one that was viewed more times than any other one. And I have a feeling that the parents had put that on repeat, and so it just kept playing over and over again. Maybe there was some good truth there that they wanted to get into the minds and hearts of their little ones. Let's not think it's only for the boys and girls though. I ask you to turn now in your Bibles to John 14. John 14, the first 15 verses. Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. If he had known me, he should have known my Father also, and from henceforth ye know him and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you? And yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. And how sayest thou then, show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwelleth in me. He doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the very work's sake Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do, because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask anything in my name, I will do it. If you love me, keep my commandments. We'll bow, please, for prayer. Father, as we have your holy and precious word open, come near to us now in our service. Please shut away every distracting thing. Take away from our minds bodily weakness, those things that would rise up, sometimes intrude even into a sacred time as this. Lord, shut them out and draw our attention to the scripture now. and let the Lord Jesus be magnified in our gathering. And I pray that these words will be applied powerfully to our hearts. Hear our prayer today. Give me strength, Lord, I ask in Jesus' holy and precious name. Amen. I want us to think today on verse 15 of this chapter, where the Lord Jesus said, if you love me, keep my commandments. Perhaps you noticed in our reading the repeated use of this conditional word, if. The Savior said, if I go and prepare a place. If ye had known me, Philip, if ye ask anything in my name, I will do it. And then in our text now, if ye love me, keep my commandments. The use of the word if in these cases It has the meaning of certainty and not so much of questioning. It is really stating the positive, affirming the outcome of an action that is stated. It often means that the idea presented is known in part and needs to be more fully comprehended. So when our Lord Jesus said, if I go and prepare a place for you, He was actually saying that in order to fulfill the greater plan of eternal union with His people, He must go away for a time. And also when Philip was confronted "'If ye had known me,' Jesus said." It was not that Philip did not know Jesus as his Savior. He most definitely did, but that knowledge was incomplete. There needed to be more learning of the person and of the work of his Lord. And Jesus said, "'If ye love me, It's a way of drawing out a deeper understanding and experience of what it truly means to love Christ. We would do well to pray as the disciples did, Lord, increase our faith. Most definitely we need to have an understanding in this matter When we would pray, Lord, increase our faith, dispel unbelief, and in so doing, we're saying, Lord, help me to know more of the love of God in my heart and how I can reflect and know a deeper love. for my Savior in my own soul. So I pray the Holy Spirit today will take this word and write it on our hearts. Don't we often pray that? I often say it as a pastor, I say it, but I hope it doesn't go right over your head. I hope it doesn't go in one ear and out the other when we say, Lord, write your word upon our hearts. We're simply saying, Lord, we need to learn We need to have it stamped on very firmly in our souls so that we would come to love our God with our hearts and souls and minds and strength, and to demonstrate — isn't that important? — to demonstrate that love in holiness of life. Would you please notice in the first place today, well, The starting place, the starting place, it is to love the Son. Jesus said, if ye love me. The Apostle Paul concluded the first letter that he wrote to the Corinthian church with these very solemn words. If any man love not the Lord Jesus, let him be anathema meranatha." An unusual expression, and the translators kept it in the original languages, anathema being a Greek phrase and meranatha actually being from an Aramaic background. The word anathema, it is used in the Scripture in Galatians chapter 1, where it said, if any man comes to you and preaches another gospel, let him be anathema. Let him be judged of God. Let Him be separated from your fellowship, because He is not qualified, not able, not warranted to come and preach the gospel of saving grace. He is preaching another Jesus, another gospel, and therefore He must be removed from your fellowship. Have nothing to do with Him. Let Him be anathema. And some have translated that even more firmly. Let Him be judged and damned in hell." So when Paul uses this same Greek word and combines it with another word in 1 Corinthians, he is saying, as he was unfolding that truth to the Corinthian people, how that they had been in ignorance, they had been allowing people in their fellowship, which were doing sinful practices and teaching wrong theology, And now he's coming to the point of summarizing it all. This is almost, well, it's the second last verse of 1 Corinthians. If any person does not love Jesus Christ, it's the telltale sign of a true believer. Let them be anathema. Let them be judged of God. And the word maranatha means at the coming of Jesus. So when Christ comes back to this world again, the great Judge of all, He will do that final assessment of the great Assiz in glory. And there will be a day when every false teacher and every person that's put forward bad theology, corrupted doctrine, and are doing the devil's work, coming out and being so bold and so brazen to say that they are teaching the Word of God, and yet their lifestyle is abominable before the Lord, and their practices are openly against the Scripture, Paul says, let them be set apart, removed from your fellowship. God Christ will deal with them when He comes. And my dear friends, that dealing will be most solemn. That dealing will be in righteousness and in justice and in truth. If a person does not love Christ, they have no part in the fellowship of God's people. It is very serious. It's very, very important. Love for the Lord, it is a test of fellowship. It's a test of fellowship. It's the proof that we have been changed by the grace of God, and we've been given the gift of repentance For when we know that we have been forgiven of such a mountainous pile of our sin, we will love the one who has gone to the cross and suffered there for us and brought us forgiveness of sin, and he has paid that price and released us from condemnation. Would you not love? such a one who has done that for you. You'll know that woman in the Scripture that wept as she washed the feet of Jesus with her tears, and it was because she had been forgiven so much that she loved much And she expressed that thankful heart with her very deep devotion to God. She loved the Lord, and she expressed that love in the only way she could. And you who love the Lord, you will express that love to the Lord Jesus in the way in which you know you can. and maybe how feeble you often think it is. But do all men love the Lord? Well, the answer is obvious. No, they do not. It hardly needs to be stated because the actions tell the story. John Newton wrote in his hymn, What Think ye of Christ? is the test to try both your state and your scheme. You cannot be right in the rest unless you think rightly of him. I spoke with a man a couple of days ago, a very nice man, brought up as a Roman Catholic, He knew about the Bible. He knew about Jesus and God. And yet, by his own admission, he knew very little about the details of the Scripture. I would say a relatively clean living man, at least on the surface, and someone who was very easy to like, a nice guy. He would treat others fairly. But he does not know the Lord. And my dear friends, today I can tell you he certainly does not love the Savior. How could that be? How can you love someone who you do not know? It makes sense, really, because this is the very description that fits so many people that are in the world, and they might be nice people and good citizens and kind neighbors, but they don't know Christ, and therefore they cannot love Him. Because, my dear friends, this is the very starting point. If you do not love Christ, then you do not know Him. And I say to you today, maybe you're listening online, tuned in today for the first time, perhaps you've come here or back again in our service, or maybe you've been brought up as a child in the church, and now the Lord is pressing this point to your own heart. My friends, do you know Christ as your Savior? Are you saved by His grace? Do you love Christ in your heart? But I say to the believers here that you love him because he has first loved you. And you remember back to the time when you called upon Jesus as your Savior? and the joy that flooded your heart because you knew that he had forgiven your sin, he had heard your prayer. You knew in your heart that it was well with you now and you had been delivered from eternal destruction. And you love him today, the one who died in your place and who died for you. And yes, we know the command in the Scripture to love God with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. But when once this was foreign to us, to the darkened mind, but now it is not foreign to you because you know the light. It has come into your mind, and you know who Christ is, and your heart has been redeemed by sovereign grace. You've tasted that the Lord is gracious. You've tasted the joy of forgiveness of sins. And today you say in your heart, Lord Jesus, I love you. And you're not ashamed to say it because you know it in your soul. Horatius Bonner wrote, my love is oft times low. My joy still ebbs and flows, but peace with Him remains the same. No change. Jehovah knows. I'm thankful about that today, because my love is so imperfect. But my Lord's love for me is absolutely perfect, and it never alters. It never diminishes. And I'll tell you something, it doesn't increase, because it cannot increase He loves us with a perfect love, an everlasting love. But when we grieve the Lord by our oft failings, We know exactly what Mr. Bonner meant when he wrote that hymn. My joy still ebbs and flows. My love still ebbs and flows. It's inconsistent. It's back and forth. But my connection with him, my union with Jesus, it does not change, friend. If you are in Jesus today, then you are in him for time and for all eternity. We're often drawn to pray, as Elizabeth Elliot did, more love to thee, Charlotte Elliot, more love to thee, O God, more love to thee. This is my earnest plea. More love to thee." When a wife asks her husband, do you love me? If the husband replies, so why are you asking if I love you? That would be the wrong question to reply, by the way. Men, just think about that for a moment. If the husband would say, well, do you have some doubts about this, that I love you? Like, why would, you know? She's wanting to have maybe some reaffirmation of the thing that she knows is true. You know, when the Lord asked Peter three times if he loved him, what was Jesus doing? Was Jesus questioning the love of Peter? He was giving to his servant a very gracious opportunity to show that he genuinely loved. He was giving him an opportunity of reaffirming that, and to publicly declare it, because we know that Peter denied the Lord publicly three times, and the Lord gave him. Isn't it precious that he did that? Because Jesus knew the heart of Peter, and Peter's heart was broken for his failure, no doubt, he wept bitterly, but he comes to declare, Lord, you know all things, and you know my heart, you know that I love you. Because Peter knew that his Lord Jesus had died on the cross to bear his sin. This is a sure test of faith, you know, in Christ, that if our hearts, in our hearts, we affirm that we love Him, we're not trying to convince anyone else, then it is a clear indication that we are truly saved. We know the Lord. If you say today, friend, in your heart, I love the Saviour, He belongs to me, and I belong to Him, Because you were not born that way. You were actually born an enemy of God. Paul says in Romans that we are at enmity with God. That means we are actually His enemies, and we hate Him. We have hatred toward the Lord. That's what all men are born in sin and shaped in iniquity. But it was that day, that time, when we were subdued by sovereign grace. We were subdued by sovereign love. And the Lord came down, and he arrested us, and he convicted us of our sin, and he has put within us now a new heart. And many of you here today have, I know, that new heart. This is the very starting place but it's also that for the believer, which is the continuing place. We don't want to ever come to the point where we say, well, we did start out loving the Lord, but we sort of stayed the same in our life. No, no. We want to have our love increasing every day. We want to be advancing and growing, because the Lord has given to us so much. And we don't want to have any natural barriers. We don't want to have the world creeping into our life, because when that happens, it blocks the window of faith. We cannot see as clearly as once we did. No, we don't want the world to obscure the Lord. We don't want to have our love cool down. You know what I mean by that. When we have straight away from the Savior when we have cooled off in our devotions toward Him, then our love seems to be just a bit icy. Well, we don't want to have that. We want to have a true heart on fire, bursting out with our love for the Savior. I want you to notice, secondly this morning, the evidence of true love for Christ. It says in our text, very simply, If ye love me, keep my commandments." A corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit. When the Lord Jesus said that, he followed it up with this statement, By their fruit ye shall know them." He was talking about the Pharisees. He was speaking about those who had the appearances of good and right, but it was not true in their hearts. And he said that the outcome of such a life, it will be very clear eventually, when the harvest is there, when the fruit is growing, and you come to that tree, and you will find out what type of tree it is. This is the law of nature. It's true from insects to animals. It's true from plants to trees. We can identify the parent from the child. Now, in the case of one who claims love for Christ, my dear friends, it's very simple. The fruit of obedience to his commands will be evident. And equally, willful disobedience will show no genuine love. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments, and his commandments are not grievous. We read that in 1 John 5, 3. So the word grievous in that text, it means something that's heavy. or weighty, or burdensome. So we could read it this way, for this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not heavy. They are not weighty. Ah, but here's the one. They are not burdensome. They are not those which are going to grieve our spirits. Because if we love the Lord Jesus, we will love His Word. We will love His commandments and His law. And they are not something that we have to say, oh, not this again. Oh, I don't have to do this as well, do I? No, because the Spirit of God that dwells within us reveals the mind of Jesus to us. and we can say from our hearts that we love him. Surely when John wrote this in his epistle, did he not have in mind the words Jesus spoke to them in the upper room? And the truth is that the commands of Christ, the word of God for the Christian, are the words of life. My dear friends, they're the words of direction, of safety, and of delight. It's joy within our hearts to walk in the light of truth. And when we trust and obey, as the hymn writer said, there is no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. For obedience is the very best way to show that you believe. Why is it important for us to emphasize this truth in the hearts of Christians and believers now? You'd think that, well, we don't need to say that over again. Ah, but we do, because it's so necessary to be reminded. It's important to have this reinforced in our hearts. When we find, dear friends, the commands of God to be burdensome to us, when we find them heavy upon us, then there is a serious problem in our hearts. And if we don't get that serious problem addressed, it will develop into something more serious Absolutely, if you are asking yourself if your conviction or conscience inside is that, I don't really enjoy doing these things, I don't really want to come to the house of God, I don't really enjoy this time of worship or listening to the preaching of the Word, then there is a question that you must ask yourself. For the Lord is the one who said, if you love Him, you'll want to keep His Word, His commandments. There are so many variations of these commandments in the Scripture. Think of the book of Hebrews chapter 10, where it speaks about not forsaking the fellowshipping together with believers, as is the manner of some The Apostle, when he was writing that to the Hebrews, he was obviously addressing a concern at that time where, well, we don't know all the details to it, but perhaps some thought that it was not necessary to join with other Christians in fellowship. Maybe they thought they could sort of just live their life themselves and go about their business and not be engaged with other Christians in a local fellowship. You know, it's been, in some sense, a very sad outcome of what has happened on COVID, because there are some folks who had attended church before that, but when it came to everything going online, and you didn't have to come to church for, well, a long period of time, not quite two years, but it almost seemed it presented and provided an excuse All right, I've been out of church for so long now, and they haven't come back to the Lord's house again. I'm not talking about those for health reasons. Please don't misunderstand me. I'm not talking about those who have legitimate reasons for not being able to be here. But I'm talking about those folks who have just kind of said, you know what? I can just go on my life, and I don't have to. Friends, carefully think about the Lord's commands, and bring yourself under submission to this. and not to forsake the fellowshipping of yourselves together. And let me say a word about folks who are joining our services online today. And we are so happy that you're able to be here. And maybe, because you're living at a distance, you don't have a local church, and you're joining in, and we're happy to have you. But beware, friends, that you are not using the Zoom meetings or the webcasting services as something of a replacement for being in the presence of God's people in the house of the Lord, if you can. If you're bodily unable, that's justifiable. If you have legitimate reason, that's good. But don't use it as a crutch. Don't use it as something that we just, well, it's easier to stay home because I just don't want to be bothered going out. No, no. No, the Lord says we are to come together. And of course, the meaning of that is very, very clear. I'd like you to turn, please, in your Bibles to Romans chapter 7. Romans 7. A very important part of the teaching of the Apostle Paul to do with the balance and how you understand the new man that is in Christ compared with the battle of the old nature. Paul deals with this very directly. Look what it says, chapter 7 of Romans, verses 21 to 25. Paul said, I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. For he said, I delight in the law of God after the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin. For I delight, he said, in the law of God, after the inward man. I suggest to you that the Apostle had some Old Testament verses in view as he wrote this. In Psalm 1, verse 2, it speaks about the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the way of sinners, but verse 2 of Psalm 1 says, he delights in the law of God, He delights and meditates in that law day and night. So this is the spiritual man. This is the godly man. This is the saved man. A person who loves the law of God because he loves the Christ and the God of the law. And in his heart he finds great delight. That's what Paul was meaning. I delight in the inward man after the law of God. But I wonder if he also had in view Psalm 119, verse 16. For David prayed, I will delight myself in thy statutes. I will not forget thy word. Delighting, not forgetting, having the word written on our hearts, There is a phrase found in Romans 16 in verse 14 that says, we are not under the law but under grace. I know you all know that verse. Many times this has been misunderstood and misapplied. Sometimes it's been used as a reason for license of people to say, well, we're not under the law of God anymore, and therefore I have liberty. I can go about my life because I just am led by the Spirit. I'm just going to live my life as I feel just directed to do. They need to very clearly compare what Paul just said in Romans 7, said, I'm wrestling in war, there's a warfare going on inside me. This idea I'm not under the law anymore, but under grace. This means, my dear friends, that we are not under the law for redemption, for salvation. Fact is, we never have been and never could be. But does that mean we are not under the law as a pattern of our lives? Of course it means that we are under the moral law of God, and we are governed by that, that we might honor and glorify and live for Christ. Now, there are situations where we could say there is no specific command in the Scripture, but in each case, what do we find? We will find, if we are desirous to know the answer, there are principles laid down in the Scripture which will cover, I say to you, every situation that you will find in this life. The Bible covers that circumstance. Every one. There's not one that's missed out. And you say, well, if there's not a clear command, how will I know what is the answer? And I will say to you, you will know, my dear friends, as you come and seek the Lord and search His Word and are praying for the mind of Christ to be in you and the mind of Jesus to be revealed to you through the Scripture, you will find He will direct you unmistakably so that our attitudes and our habits will be directed and in line with the Scripture by the leading of the Holy Spirit. When we come to acknowledge this before the Lord, And with this I conclude. When our conscience is captive to the Word of Christ, then our actions will reflect our deep love for Him. And as Luther said so many years ago, My conscience is captive to the word of God. And when you, believer, in your life and heart will say, Lord, that's what I want. I want that my conscience, my inner man, that I will be subject to the word of God because I love my Lord Jesus and I do not want to dishonor him. I do not want to bring any reproach upon the gospel by a life that is not in tune with my God. And so, dear friends, as we pray this prayer, and we ask the Lord to do this in our hearts, you can be certain you are praying in the will of God. And such a prayer will be answered. You can be certain about it. And friend, if you're not a believer today, then I challenge you and say, open your mind and heart to Christ. Confess your sin before him. and call out and say, Lord Jesus, save me, I perish. And at the sound of your voice, as he hears the cry of your heart, he will hear, he will heal, he will forgive, he will save you from your sin. Let's bow, please, before the Lord. Father, we are so weak in ourselves, and sometimes we know it, and sometimes we have to be reminded. And those gracious reminders, Lord, that cause us to maybe fall on our faces, they are precious they are blessings from your hand, because they bring us back to a total dependence on the Spirit's power and not on ourselves. Lord, I pray that we will in every step of our lives, that we will keep your word, your commandments, your statutes, that we will do that which is pleasing in your sight. Give us all, I pray, the true spirit of Jesus, the mind of our Lord, that we will walk before you in truth. Hear our prayers. Part us now in your fear with your rich blessing. Bless us this afternoon in the memorial service the afternoon prayer, the evening meeting. May this whole day be a day of great rejoicing and our fellowship time after. May it be a full day in your house, Lord. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. Yeah. you