Well, before we come to the consideration of God's Word, let us stand for prayer. O ever-blessed one, the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. We pray, O Lord, that we would desire such even at this time. We pray that as thy word is publicly declared, that we would desire it more than any other desire that we may hold at this time. And we pray, O Lord, that thy spirit would accompany thy word, that not one word would fall to the ground. But as thou art the creator of the mouth, and thou art the creator of the ear, Then our prayer is, O Lord, that thou would be the mouth of the one who speaks and the ear of the one who hears, and that thou, the Lord, would be glorified in all things. Forgive us our sins, O God, we pray, and prepare our hearts to receive thy holy truth for Christ's sake. Amen. Let us turn in the word of God again to Sam 110. And we read again, verse three, and in particular, the first clause, thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Now, Psalm 110 is a most familiar psalm to each and every one of us. It is a psalm that speaks, as I've already said, of the Messiah's dominion. It's known as the psalm of the kingly priest or the priestly king. Jesus Christ, of course, is the king that makes his people willing in the day of his power. What is this willingness that Christ the King gives to his people? What exactly is it? Well, an element of this willingness is that his people, in obedience, will hear his voice and will avail themselves of his priestly work. You see Christ as King over his people, sovereignly subdues them onto himself and applies and bestows grace upon the soul, making them willing in the day of his power. So this willingness then is that we are enabled to avail ourselves of his finished work, of that redemption accomplished for us. The Covenanter, William Symington, he stresses the necessity of the kingly office of Christ, in particular to the perfection of Christ's other offices. What did he mean? Well, I quote, and he says, without regal authority, without the kingship of Christ, The sacrifice, however meritorious, has no power. The intercession, however powerful, has no efficacy. You see, it's Christ as King, as his royal prerogative, to apply to his people the redemption that he has accomplished by his Spirit. So you may be asking, well, what has this doctrine got to do with the marks of grace? What does this doctrine got to do with identifying a mark of a sincere and genuine Christian? Well, the willingness of God's people to avail themselves of Christ and of all of his benefits is a chief mark of grace. Now, we're all well aware, because we're involved in this practice at this moment in time, of the necessity of preparing ourselves for the sacrament, these preparatory services, to enable ourselves to examine ourselves, to, as it were, heighten our affections for our engagement, for our communicating at the Lord's table. And this has been a practice that has been employed by conscientious believers from the time of the New Testament. What does Paul instruct? Let every man examine himself. And the Puritans would have made catechisms for their congregations. preparatory catechisms to help them prepare themselves for the communicating at the Lord's table. And one English Puritan, his name was Arthur Hildersham, published a catechism in the year 1609. And it was a catechism for the worthy communicating at the Lord's supper. And he mentions six special graces that the believer should seek to identify. as they partake at the table. And the first was a right and sincere desire often. Do we have a right and sincere desire to partake? He also detailed knowledge, faith, repentance, newness of life, and love. Now it is this first mark that he identified. a right and a sincere desire for it that I want us to seek to identify in ourselves at this time. We note the suitableness then of our text and the doctrine contained therein. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. So our theme then for our time remaining is a sincere desire for Christ. Do we have a sincere desire for him and for his benefits? Firstly then, do we have a sincere desire for the Christ of the sacrament? Sincere desire for Christ himself, for his person, for who he is, and for what he has done. Now, we note from our text that this sincere desire for Christ is a Christ-given desire. Christ gives it to his people. We have thy people and thy power. And in between that, we have willing. So it is by his power that he makes his people willing. Gives us this sincere desire for himself. He draws us sovereignly to himself. You see, dear friend, a sincere desire for Christ cannot be produced by ourselves. And the reason why it cannot be produced by ourselves is the absence of this willingness that Christ sovereignly bestows upon his people. Christ himself must give it to us, lest our sincerity be insincere. Now this should convince us in and of itself of the necessity of examination. Because what does trouble most Christians is, is my desire for Christ sincere or is it insincere? Am I following Christ out of my own resolve or has he made me willing in the day of his power? So at the very outset, we see the necessity of examination, the importance of determining that our desire is sincere for Him. Well, how do we discern? Sincerity from insincerity. Well, the psalmist helps us in Psalm 73. We sung that psalm together. He tells us of his desire. Psalm 73 in the verse 25, whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. You see, the sincerity of the Psalmist is confirmed here by the pronoun used, none. There is none upon earth I desire beside thee. This was how the Psalmist knew after all of his troubles in Psalm 73, that his desire for Christ was a sincere desire. He desired none other. What is your degree of willingness? Is it take him or leave him? Or is it as David? What was David's reaction when he learned that the sword of Goliath was available to him? He said, I will have it. There is none like it. Give it me. And this is the Christian's sincere desire for Christ. I will have him. There is none like him. Give him to me. You see, we will be satisfied with nothing else. This desire for him will smother and overcome every other desire in our lives. If you will have Christ, dear friend, and none else, assure yourself that you have rightly identified this mark. Is he the preeminent desire of your heart? Is it him and none else? You see, we may say to ourselves, well, we seem many a hypocrite. desire after the things of Christ, and they desire the outward benefits on it alone. A hypocrite, dear friends, may assent to the truth that God is the chief good, but that is where they stop. Joseph Alain, in his book, the alarm to the unconverted. Using Psalm 73, 25, he remarks with regards to the hypocrite that some do acknowledge God as the chief good. But he goes on to say, and I quote, but no hypocrite comes so far as to look upon God as the most desirable and suitable good to him. And thereupon, to acquiesce in Him. You see, where the hypocrite will see that God is the chief good, that's where he will stop. God will not become the chief desire. He will not go on and desire God and God alone. Do we find this willingness within ourselves, this sincere desire for Him? Thy people shall be willing. What are we to make of this, thy people? Well, dear congregation, it is out of Christ's given willingness that this sincere desire grows in his people, thy people. This instructs us that we are his possession. We are His eternal possession, and we are His purchased possession. We were given to Him in eternity past, all that the Father giveth to me shall come to me. But we are also His purchased possession. He has purchased our willingness, and He has purchased our willingness with His own blood. He has made us willing. We are his possession. But it also instructs us that we are a distinct people, thy people. You see, not all people are willing. Many people today on this island go about their own business, not giving a second thought for Jesus Christ. Why? Because they know nothing of this willingness, this gracious willingness that Christ gives to his people. So it makes us a distinct people. Not all men are graced with this sincere desire. Therefore, again, we see that it is a badge of the Christian. It is a mark of grace. But dear saints, we must not be ignorant of the fact that all the people of Christ's willingness, they have competing desires in their lives. And while we journey through this pilgrimage on earth, we will have these competing desires. We will have these desires of the flesh that will seek to compete with this sincere desire for Jesus Christ. Some of these desires are lawful desires. We have right and lawful desires for our husband or for our wives, for our children, for our parents, for our children to do well, lawful desires indeed. But we also have unlawful desires, desires of the flesh, the pollution of the mind. They're just as much a part of the Christian's life as they are the part of the one who gives no thought. And yet we are made willing to engage in this irreconcilable conflict of the soul between the flesh and the spirit. You see, at any given time, we mutable creatures, we are changeable. We are blown about, as it were, with every wind of doctrine from time to time. We are mutable creatures. At times we have a waning desire. At times we have a flaming desire. Yet one thing will remain steadfast, dear saints. Just as Christ is preeminent in all things, so he ever does remain the preeminent desire in the believer's life, even if the experience of that life tells them otherwise. You see, it is not based on the mutability of our experience in this world. But our sincere desire is based upon Christ the King, who has made us willing in the day of his power. So that is a sincere desire for the Christ of the sacrament. But secondly, do we have a sincere desire for the sacrament itself? A sincere desire for the sacrament itself. as Christ is freshly discovered in this sacrament. You see, this naturally flows from our sincere desire for Christ. You see, Christ in making us willing draws us to himself by the use of means. Our sincere desire is that He would use such means to draw us. Now we heard of an alluring last evening, of an alluring of the children of Israel into the wilderness. It was an alluring of chastisement. But today we consider his drawing us for blessing. Song of Solomon. Chapter 1, verse 4, and it was quoted last night in contrast to this alluring. Draw me, we will run after thee. The king hath brought me into his chamber. We will be glad and rejoice in thee. We will remember thy love more than wine. The upright love thee. See the upright, the willing ones, love Christ, Because by his means, these ordinary means, bread and wine, he draws us onto himself. We find ourselves desiring then this sacrament in obedience to Christ. What does he say? Do this in remembrance of me, in reverence for his name, reverence for the worship of Christ. But also he draws us onto the sacrament as a renewal of that covenant, that covenant of grace with us, renews it afresh, sustains us in it, enlivens us to it and to its privileges. Dear friends, have you located your sincere desire? for this instituted sacrament of the Lord Jesus Christ. Such he has ordained for a communicating, for a fellowshipping with his willing ones. For what purpose? Why has it been ordained? Why has it been instituted? Well, dear friends, simply for the glory of his name, and for the work of his spirit in his people, the maintaining of his cause. He has made us willing, and he will keep us willing in the day of his power, that he may be discovered by them anew in his death for them. What have we got? In the sacrament, we have the passion of Christ, the death of Christ, that which we remember, that which purchased this willingness for his people, a pouring out of a soul unto death, even the death of the cross. Well, let us consider then this desiring of the sacrament in obedience, in new obedience to Christ. In new obedience, you see the Christian desires to please God and knows that God alone is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. That's why we desire these means that have been employed for our good, because we know that God rewards them that diligently seek Him. And in whom do we seek God? Well, we seek God in Christ. And where do we have Christ? Well, we have him, don't we, in this visible gospel of the bread and the wine. It's where we feed on him. It's where he meets with his people, a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. You see, in the sacrament, further opportunity is afforded to us to please God. Without faith, It is impossible to please Him. And this opportunity is going to be afforded to us afresh, that we may partake worthily of the sacrament, partake by faith, with a sincere desire for Him. This is the obeying of the command of Christ, isn't it? Do this. in remembrance of me." You see, dear saints, an evident mark of grace within the Christian is a sincere desire to honor Christ, to honor his name in this special remembrance of him. Dear Christian, a sincere desire is to do it as oft As the session of this church affords you the opportunity, we ought never to allow an opportunity to pass us by. Our desire must be there as David's was for Goliath's sword. Give it to me. I will have none else. Rightly observing the table is a demonstration of reverence, reverence of worship. Acknowledgement of Christ's kingship over us. Acknowledgement of his priestly work for us. An acknowledgement that by his word and spirit he has revealed unto us our salvation, the will of God for our salvation. This reverence that we have for his worship It is born out of a sense of the unwillingness that we once possessed. Do you remember those days of unwillingness? Those days where there was no sincere desire for Christ? There may have been an outward adherence to holy things. Do you remember those days? Well, this reverence is born out of a sense of this unwillingness that we possessed in our natural state. And we give thanks for the grace of Christ, the grace of our King. Where the word of the King is, there is power. He has made us willing in the day of his power. So is there a holy appetite for this holy thing? Can you locate this Holy Appetite in your spiritual life and spiritual walk? You see, this Holy Appetite, it accompanies this sincere desire for the sacrament. It is a love meal. It's where we learn afresh of the love of God for us and giving His only Son that we may live and live in Him. Do we hunger and thirst for it? You know, we can illustrate this with temporal hunger and a temporal appetite. We all know the pangs of hunger, and we all know with what desire we have to get to the next meal. It is as if the hunger overtakes us, our appetite consumes us, and we go hastily to the meal. Well, dear friends, it ought to be the same spiritually. We ought to have a holy appetite for the right things. We ought to have a stable Christian diet. And where do we find it? We find it in holy things. We find it in the word and in the sacraments. We want to be satisfied, don't we? We sang from Psalm 73 that God was the portion of the psalmist forever. And God is the best portion. And where do we avail ourselves of this best portion? It is in the person and in the work of Jesus Christ. He has made us willing. And again, we have a note of caution because we are not ignorant of our tendency for fleshly appetite. I don't mean the appetite of our temporal needs, but our fleshly appetite. Very often this appetite that arises from the flesh, those besetting sins, will seek to satisfy us. These fleshly appetites will seek to quench our thirst, satisfy our hunger for holy things. You see, the flesh is always seeking to usurp the spirit, that we may seek after those things that are of no spiritual good and will bring us on but to death. But we must not allow ourselves to feed on ashes. We have that, don't we, Isaiah 44, verse 20. The idolater, one who desired something other than God, and that by which he made his idols, he also made his food in the fire. Isaiah describes it as one who feeds on ashes. Why would you be satisfied? in allowing your fleshly appetite to smother and consume your spiritual appetite? Why would you be satisfied to feed on ashes when you can feed on Christ? To the good of your soul, for eternal life. A sincere desire for Christ will not permit us because it is Christ alone that satisfies our spiritual thirst and hunger. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled. The certainty of the matter, they shall be filled. They shall be satisfied. There's no doubt about it. Christ who makes his people willing satisfies his people to the uttermost. One writer remarked with regards to the sacrament, that the receiving of this sacrament is ordained of God to be as a solemn seal and vow. A solemn seal and vow. A vow of what? Well, of the covenant of grace. That gracious covenant wherein God's people find themselves. That gracious covenant wherein God's people are made willing in the day of the power of Christ, the King of the covenant. Covenant renewal is the constant desire of the Christian. Why? Because our tendency is to go out of the way of the covenant. Our tendency is to be covenant breakers. But this willingness that Christ gives us, the desire is to renew covenant with him. It is a public demonstration of the Christians aligning oneself with Christ, with this kingly priest, with his kingdom over which he sits. This is what it is, a public confessing. of the one in whom we are in covenant with. Do you desire that? Do you desire to make this known that you are in covenant with God in Christ? A sincere desire for the sacrament itself. But thirdly, we should note a sincere desire for the benefits received in the sacrament. A sincere desire for the benefits received in the sacrament. You see, Christ in making us willing doesn't just stop at that. You see, every day is the day of his power. and he continues to foster this willingness within his people, he doesn't just make us willing and then leave us to ourselves. Christ, in making us willing, will produce in us by his Spirit this sincere desire to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth. Do you desire to grow in grace, in the knowledge of the truth, to learn more of Christ, the one who has purchased you, the one who has made you willing? You see, dear saints, I suggest to you that as we exercise our senses in beholding the bread and in the wine, in our tasting of those things that are good. We are beholding with the eyes of faith. We are tasting as one of old remarked with the mouth of the soul. It is chiefly a spiritual exercise. It is exercising ourselves in our pursuit of Christ. seeking the blessings that he has procured for us, purchased for us, and freely gives us. Why? Because we are his people. And he has made us willing in the day of his power. The desired benefit is then a fatness in the soul. It is an enlargement of the heart with affections to Christ. You know, in spiritual things, the fatter the soul, the healthier the soul is. The fatter the soul is in spiritual things, the healthier it becomes, the more enlivened that it is. And so greater will our love be to Christ. You see, there's always a health warning with carrying weight in our everyday lives and our physical bodies. But there is an encouragement here to taste and see that the Lord is good. To eat that which is good, that your soul may delight itself in fatness. Why? That you may continue to be more conformed onto the image of Christ the King, the one who has made you willing. Do we desire such benefits as this? You see, the benefit of the sacrament is the double portion of Christ. What do I mean? The double portion of Christ. Well, we have Christ in word and in sacrament. We have Christ in the visible elements. It's the visible gospel. It's a picture gospel. It's a means of grace. We have the word that accompanies the sacrament. We have this double portion of Christ. Great benefit to us, a help to us. It's for the reviving of our spiritual life. It's for the strengthening thereof. It's for the increasing of our faith. That's why it is called a means of grace. The sacrament conveys grace to the partaker. The one who has been made willing and comes by faith, grace is conveyed. Renewing grace, sustaining grace. A grace for the increasing of our holy and sincere desire to pursue Christ in the Christian life. You see, it's not a sincere desire for the benefits in and off of themselves. What a foolish thing it would be for a man to desire the benefits without the one who gives the benefits. We cannot have the benefits separate from Christ. Christ himself is the chief benefit, and from him do all other benefits flow by the spirit of Christ into the soul of his people. You see, the believer in desiring the benefits, they are brought full circle. back to Christ. They desire the benefits of the sacrament for the sake of Christ, for the sake of his work in them, for the sake of his name. Remember, he is central. We cannot lose focus of this. Christ is preeminent in all things. He is preeminent in a sincere desire. So the chief benefit of partaking in the communion is Christ himself. What a glorious benefit that is, that we partake of Christ himself. As we feed on him by faith, he meets with us in the sacrament. He communicates with us and he desires to do so. Dear friend, have you located this desire? In the examination of yourself, have you identified this desire? Can you say, yes, I have a sincere desire for the Christ of the sacrament. Yes, I have a sincere desire for the sacrament itself, as it is a fresh disclosure of the passion of Christ. Yes, I have a sincere desire. for the benefits of this sacrament. If you have identified by grace, this mark of grace, this desire, then Christ bids you come, but not in your own strength. You see, his bidding you is in his making you willing in the day of his power. If you have this desire for Christ, question it not, apart from this, is there any other desire that I set above this desire? And if you can answer that by no, Him alone do I desire, then you can be assured that in the day of His power, He has made you willing And he bids you in making you willing to come and to avail yourself of his priestly work and the benefits thereof. He has made you willing in the day of his power. Now there are two further uses that I would like to leave with you before we close. And firstly, it's one is for your exhortation. Christ must be first. Christ is foundational in this sincere desire. Keep your eyes upon Christ. He has made us willing in the day of his power to avail of his priestly work that was performed and perfectly accomplished on behalf of the people of his willingness. Let us then resolve not only to discover this sincere desire for him, but in our preparation to come, let us nurture this sincere desire. Let us seek to use every means to promote this sincere desire within us, that we may have this enlargement of heart, that we may be blessed as we come to feed upon him. Dear saints, let it be the chief desire. Let it be the preeminent desire. What does Christ himself instruct us to do? Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Where do we seek first the kingdom of God? Well, it is in the king of that kingdom. It's in Jesus Christ alone. But secondly, for your encouragement, for your encouragement. Desire for communion is a mutual desire. It is a mutual desire between Christ and his people, his willing ones. Remember, he first loved us. You see, dear saints, We are one with Christ. The people of his willingness have been united to him. United to him and to one another in the bond of the spirit. You see, in this union of Christ with his people, there are no disinterested parties. No disinterested parties, but only desire for communion. What does Christ say in his high priestly prayer? I in them and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one. This mutual desire for fellowship, for communing one with another. You may say to me, well, Can we be certain? Can we be sure of this mutual desire? Does Christ really desire to fellowship and commune with me? Well, if he has made you willing in the day of his power, yes, he does. Is this not the purpose of the day of his power? Let the word of Christ encourage you further. Let the word of Christ to his disciples enliven you to avail yourself of this means. What did Christ say to his disciples on the night of the Passover? Luke 22 and verse 15. And he said unto them, with desire, I have desire to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. And this desire that Christ had to fellowship and commune with his disciples was a perfect desire in his estate of humiliation. How much more now in his estate of exaltation? How large is the heart of Christ in heaven towards his willing ones? He desired fellowship with his willing ones then. How much more now? And so in our remembrance of his suffering, the desire of Christ remains still. He desires fellowship with his people. He desires the blessing and the fellowship of his people. I in them, thou in me, that they may be perfect, made perfect in one. Well, may we be enabled by God's grace to locate, to identify and to nurture this sincere desire for Christ. Let us pray. Oh, ever blessed one. We draw an eye on to thee and we pray for grace. We pray, O Lord, that grace would accompany the word that we have just heard. We pray that it would enable us to nurture and promote a desire for Christ, for the one who loved us and gave himself for us, for the one that while we were yet sinners, died for us, who possesses us in his willingness, to make us willing in the day of his power. Lord, grant us then thy favor, that we may identify this desire, and that we may close in afresh with Christ, and that we may be blessed afresh of him. Bless thy word to each one of us, we pray, for the Redeemer's sake. Amen.