Let us turn again to the part of God's Word read. Jeremiah chapter 50. Let us read and consider, as the Lord will be pleased to enable us, the words you will find in verses 4 and 5 of this chapter. Jeremiah chapter 50, verse 4. In those days and in that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come. They and the children of Judah together. and seek the Lord their God, they shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward, saying, come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. this particular day of our communion season is concerned with making a difference between those who are on the way to heaven and those who are not. In the plain parable that Jesus told, he speaks of two ways. That is, the way that is entered by way of the straight or narrow gate, and the way that is entered by way of the wide gate. The narrow way entrance is by way of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Him alone. It's called a straight gate because it requires Christ alone. The straight is narrow. S-T-R-A-I-T, not S-T-R-A-I-G-H-T, straight, a narrow gate, difficult to get through, narrow, a post on both sides, a narrow gate, where faith alone will take us to heaven. The grace of Christ alone will bring us through this gate. And adherence to the word of the truth of the gospel alone will suffice. As we were reading and singing in Psalm 119, by what means shall a young man learn his way to purify? How can we get to heaven? apart from purification, cleansing from our own sins. Our conscience tells us we're sinners. Our life tells us we're sinners. The Word of God tells us we're sinners. It tells us the burden and weight and crimson nature of our sins. For the Word of God tells us Christ must needs come down from heaven, second person of the Godhead, and become a child and a babe, wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger, in order to die upon the acacia tree and shed his blood, his blood, blood of the everlasting covenant, the blood of Christ himself must be shed. Without the shedding of blood is no putting away of sin. You remember that incident in the death of Jesus. His spirit had departed at his own command, the Lord of heaven and earth causing his spirit to depart, so that his body hung lifeless upon the acacia tree. And the Roman soldier was coming around the cross, took a spear, and he plunged it into the side of Jesus. And forthwith, we are told, came blood and water. Because it was said that they shall look upon him, that is, Jesus, whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him. That's the mourning of godly sorrow for sin, and that sin removed and removed alone, and removed entirely by the blood of Christ. That's what your soul needs. That's what my soul needs, to be washed in the fountain-opened forest this fulfilling the work that Christ came to do, to open a fountain. He came down from heaven to open a fountain. for He is God's Lamb, and God's purpose was to provide that fountain among the children of men that would be equal to that great task, that unspeakably great task of removing the offense of sin before a holy God. So that heaven itself, as a holy place, would put its amen open for sin and for uncleanness. And all of heaven would be on your side, my friend, if you came by faith to that fountain open and pray the prayer of David, wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Able to cleanse the soul that lies in sin. able to put a new heart within you. If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. When God created the world, He demonstrated His power, demonstrated His wisdom, demonstrated His authority, so that every star was Christ working among the children of man. He's a God of order. Six days in the creation, each day having its work, and each work having its place in the creation of the world. And by the time God had finished six days into the seventh day, it was all done. It was a day of rest, a day of completion. There was nothing to be added to it. God had done it. Who was to forswear God? Well, take that thought with you down to consider what the Word of God says about a sinner saved by grace. If any man be in Christ, that's in his promises. That's in his work as a prophet to speak a word and season to sinners. And that's in him as priest, as the one offering a sacrifice for the sins of his people to his father, to take away their sins, to wash away their sins, to pay the ransom price for their sins. So that it would be said of this man and that man there, let not that soul go down to the pit, that is to a lost eternity, that's to the flames of the sea of fire and brimstone that is prepared for the devil and his angels. Let not that soul go down to the pit. That's what his sins deserve. That's what he brought upon his own head by his own sins. Maybe you remember a little the true story of the man who was a great sinner and he was a violent man and he had overcome a drink and ruined his life and was active in robbery and had murdered someone during a robbery. where he had been a successful blacksmith before, and people had come to him to have their machines repaired and so on. He used to make chains, and he was so well-known for his work, he became proud, and he said, I'll put my name on them. Every link will have my initials upon them. So they sold these chains, and he was successful in business, but he was overtaken by drink and murdered one of his fellow men. He was apprehended by the police. He was tried. He was found guilty. He was in a cell bound to be hung the next day. But he said in his heart, I'm a strong man. I was a blacksmith. I'll be able to break this chain. As soon as my keepers are asleep or not looking, I'll break the chain and break free. But he couldn't break the chain. And when he came to look, he saw that each link in the chain that bound him had his own initials upon it. There was no escape. He knew it. And that is what sin does. It puts our initials upon all our sins. It sets our sins apart for the judgment of the great day. It is our sins that bring us down to a lost eternity. And it's from the power, the authority, the blood-guilty nature of our sins that we are to be set free. And we have no power in ourselves, and we have no authority in ourselves. We may make what excuses we care, but our own word will not set us free. Only the Word of God in the hands of the Holy Spirit will set us free. You remember how Peter was one of the Lord's people in Jerusalem, and that wicked king Herod put him in prison and decided to have him put to the sword the next day, and he bound him with chains. But the Lord heard the prayers of the church in Jerusalem, and he sent an angel. There are myriads of angels under the authority of Christ, legions of angels, but he just has to send one angel. And this angel came and struck the chains off Peter after awakening him and led him out, opening the doors before him until he stood in the street a free man. That's what the blood of Christ does. It is Christ that sets sinners free. It's the angel of the covenant. It's the one who appeared from time to time in the Old Testament scriptures and said to Abram, Abram, fear not, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. It's the angel who came and taught and encouraged the Lord's people here in this world. and it's Christ who came, for he is the angel of the covenant. By his power sinners are set free, and such is the authority, such the power of the blood of Christ. These words I've already quoted, are quoted in relation to that blood. Let not this soul go down to the pit, for I have found a ransom. That was the promise of setting the children of Israel free. They were burned also by the authority of Pharaoh and by the power of his armies. But when the Lord's time came to set his people free, he had them put the blood of the Passover lamb on the doorposts and the lintels of their homes. And when this promise was over the homes of those who did so, when I see the blood, Such is the blessing of sins forgiven, such the power of the Lamb of God to set free sinners bound over to a lost eternity, that it became known as the Passover. That was a great matter that night. The angel with the drawn sword had passed over that house. And why did it pass over that house? because there was obedience to the Word, and the blood was upon the doorposts and the ventiles. How shall we escape the wrath to come? By what means shall a young man learn his way to purify? He gives heed to the Word. He obeys, believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Well, we have in the Friday of our Communion the consideration and the services are in this great consideration. Are our sins forgiven? Have we a good hope through grace of deliverance from the power and dominion of sin in our hearts? Has that work of creation been done in our souls? If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. who's already speaking of the physical creation of the world, which is a great, profound mystery, that all the exercising of the brains and knowledge of man has not come to the bottom of yet. But the spiritual creation of a sinner made new in Christ Jesus, fallen in his first covenant head in Adam, that's raised again in the second covenant head, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's a mystery that the whole of eternity will not bring an end to it. It will still be a mystery. After a thousand years have passed in heaven, After a million years have passed in heaven, after one eternity, if that is not an entire contradiction in terms, after one eternity has passed, there'll be another eternity waiting, and there will still be an inquiry in the minds of those that are around the throne of God and of the Lamb. What depths? Oh, the depths. Oh, the profundity. Oh, the brightness that makes it above comprehension or understanding. A one sinner saved by grace, created anew in Christ Jesus. The world was without form and void, and God created that which was entirely orderly and beautiful, and reflected his mind and creation. The soul of man is lost, and there is confusion on every side. What is bad is termed good, and what is good is termed bad. And what is white is just black, and what is black is white. There's an utter confusion in the heart of man following the fall of man. but the good order of grace, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear, the good order of grace, light coming into the sky instead of the darkness, the morning light chasing away the night, a little knowledge concerning spiritual things. The heart opened by the Lord, as it was in the case of Lydia. She gave ear to the things spoken of by the Apostle Paul. These things revealed to us by the Word of God concerning the work of God in the matter of salvation. are not revealed merely as a matter of interest, although they're an intense and eternal interest in the church in heaven. And to him that loved us and washed us from our sins, that's what he did. That's what he does to all sinners and to him that loved us and washed us from our sins. He's the creator God, but they're praising him for the creation of a new creation in Christ Jesus. That's what's first and foremost. That's what outshines every other glorious act of the glorious God himself, that he created us and washed us. He washed us. He cleansed us. He cleansed us. He washed us in his own blood. There's a phrase in the Song of Solomon where the church is speaking of their beloved, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and in one part it says that the beloved of the Lord in this world is as a flock of sheep. Sheared sheep coming up from the washing. Coming up from the washing. Sheared sheep coming up from the washing. As the sinner saved by grace, as the pride of man removed from the heart. himself to God, not lifting up so much as his eyes to heaven. That's where the holiness of God is eminently present. And who am I, as an unholy sinner, having a sense of the unholiness of my unholy heart, who am I to lift up my eyes to heaven? Standing afar off, who am I to draw near to that place that is the temple where the holiness of God was demonstrated in the Shekinah glory, and the requirements of a holy law demanded without the shedding of blood, there's no remission of sins, no profit in going to the temple. and going through a form of religion and denying the power of it, and coming away without the conscience sprinkled from dead works to serve the living God. So he stands afar off, and he beats upon his own breast. That's where the trouble is. That's where the stains arise from. That's where the offense is generated. There is a fountain of every evil beast that ever entered the heart of man. It's in my own heart. I look in the mirror, I see my own face. I say what a sinner I am. I deserve no mercy at the hand of God. But I'll cry, and I'll trust, and I'll cast myself at the feet of Christ. And I will say for his sake, and for his sake alone, have mercy on me. Have mercy on me. It's a prayer for yourself, my friend. A suitable prayer. A suitable prayer for yourself and myself. Have mercy. the mercy of a covenant God, the mercy of a sin-forgiving God, the mercy of a God who is a God of all grace, the Father of all mercies. Well, we have here a day when we're asking this question. What are the signs? What are the evidences of the new creature, the sinner saved by grace? What are the evidences? It ought to be a thing that your own heart is inquiring into. Or if you're not a new creature in Christ Jesus, you're the old creature, the old unforgiven creature of the first Adam who rebelled against God when he took the forbidden fruit. Are there any of the signs of grace in our hearts? As we would look at our children and we would say, why, he looks like his grandfather. He looks like a photograph we had of his great-grandfather. or he walks like his father. There's a family resemblance. Well, my friend, there's a family in this present evil world, under the family of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And where that family exists, there's a likeness. There's a Old or New Testament. Don't let that stand in your way to understanding this. It's all the one family. Sacrifices in the Old Testament. Fulfillment of the sacrifice and the coming of Christ. Worshipping in the temple in the Old Testament. No temple now. No sacrifices, no priesthood. but Christ having come as the prophet, priest, and king, and the worship of the living God continuing. What are the signs? Well, we have some of them here in Jeremiah chapter 50. There was much to be sorry about, and Jeremiah was the prophet of tears. He wept over Jerusalem. something of the Master about him, something about his Master, something of his alikeness to Jesus here, alikeness to Christ. He was a man of sorrows. He was acquainted with grief. He shed tears over Jerusalem. that this privileged Jerusalem, city of the great king, city of peace, city of Melchizedek, the city of Christ himself, who was without beginning of days or end of years. She was the eternal Son of God in our nature. But how it had gone to sin and to far-offness from God, satisfying itself with a form of religion that denied the power of it. Oh, the Pharisees would teach Jesus how to act in a holy manner. Why do your disciples not wash their hands properly? Why do they not wash their hands? Why do they not cleanse their hands before they eat? They're not attending to the law. They're not acting in a holy, obedient manner. They're not giving a holy example. though they declare themselves never to have tasted that the Lord is gracious, never to have been taught by the Spirit of God, the Spirit and urgency and truth of Psalm 51, wash me, do thou wash me, the Lord of heaven and earth wash me, the Lamb of Calvary wash me, the crucified Savior of a soul, I shall look upon him whom I have pierced, and I shall mourn for him. So the Pharisees mocked Jesus, that at last counted him worthy of being crucified between two malefactors. They were so far from holiness themselves, those who counted themselves. Why are they judging others to holiness? They were so far from that holiness themselves. Well, my friend, we have these two families in the earth, the family of sin and Satan. The one who darkens the heart is the Prince of Darkness, lest sinners should believe, lest any of his family, lest any of the family of humanity, fallen man, would believe in the Gospel. Darkens the heart. He's the Prince of Darkness. He's got plenty of darkness under his hand. He's a love for the darkness. The evil prospers in the dark, the unknown, so that it would darken the hearts of sinners, and they wouldn't know that they were being darkened. See the subtlety and power of it. He commends himself to our first parents. As though he was light itself, you shall not surely die. You shall become as gods, it's the promise. It's in Genesis' account, you shall become as gods. You can act according to your own mind and thought and wisdom and life. It's a lie, he repeats. Apart from the Word of God, the Word of Satan tells us we can be as gods. We can live our own life in our own way, according to our own wisdom, to our own prophet, and to our own ends, and with our own aims. We can be as gods. No death, but a life worth living, they say. Be your own man. Why bow before any other word in your own? It's a word of darkness that has brought many We ought to pray against the darkness of our hearts and come to the Lamb of God, who is the light of the world. I am the light of the world. He that believes in me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. It's a promise for you, a promise for me if we will have it. Put your hand or face upon it and say, Lord, I believe. Help thou. Lord, I believe that thou art the light of the world. I believe that he that believeth in thee shall not walk in darkness, shall have the light of life. Help thou mine unbelief. Well, there are two families, and there's to be a separation between them. And we find some of these marks of separation here, way back in Jeremiah's time. It's not a secret kept from the foundation of the world. It's not a secret. It's something to be inquired after. It's in the Word of God. If we would arise, we're open to see it. If our hearts were open to receive it. It says here in those days, and at that time, saith the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, a united family, bearing likeness to our great and glorious head. Any man be in Christ, he is the glorious head. Any man be in Christ, that is by faith trusting in the Lord. Any man be in Christ, he is a new creation, a new creation. Old things are passed away. all things have become new. The times in which Jeremiah lived were low times of the Gospel. Here were those who had been brought out of the land of Egypt by the kindness of God and brought through the wilderness and warned faithfully by Joshua and Moses to be afraid of idolatry, because that's what characterized the Promised Land, and they were to fight against all idolaters, but they were to be aware of it in their own hearts, and to pray against it, seek the blessing of the world such that they would hate every evil way, especially idolatry, and worship God in spirit and in truth. But they had gone after idols. And the Lord, in punishing them, had allowed the powers of the heathen city Babylon to come upon them and overtake the city and take them away captive into Babylon for 70 years' punishment. Justice meant a 70 years' separation from the church, the temple itself, and without priest or prophet To spiritual deprivation it ought to be our concern. A great deal is written about physical deprivation, lack of money, lack of opportunities, lack of friendship, lack of leading, lack of a proper government. But here is the lack of spiritual blessings. That's a great lack, my friend. not to know Christ, not to know the way of salvation. And here we have one sign of that family of Christ. There is a unity as far as the way of salvation is concerned. A unity as far as the way of salvation is concerned. Whether it is Abram in the Old Testament, called out of Ur of the Chaldees, made a new creature in Christ Jesus, he's very clear about the way. It's God's word. It's God's calling. And there is a way set before him even at the very beginning of the foundation of that family. for he's the father of the faithful. And that is that he saw the day of Christ afar off. And he was glad. A joy in the way of salvation. So he knew the practicalities of Psalm 119 before ever David sat down and wrote them. Why? Because he was of the one family and taught by the one spirit concerning the one Savior. God, by the One Spirit concerning the One who is the Word Himself, and by the Word and the truth of the Gospel. All God's children are taught of the Lord, and great is the peace of His children. That's a prayer for yourself, my friend. Lord, that which I know not, teach thou me. The Lord is able to teach, and the Lord is willing to teach. you don't know or cannot understand about the way of salvation. Maybe you simply say, but oh, none of it makes sense to my poor adult brain, because spiritually there is confusion in my heart. Well, you go to the right person if you go to God for good order in your heart, for he is the God of order, and the Spirit, the Spirit of order. Just remember that the creation, the spirit, found the world in confusion and brooded over the world like a hen sitting over her eggs and brooded over, brooding over them until they all hatch out and it has chickens from the eggs. So the spirit of God brooded and every blade of grass was in its place, and every star in the heavens was set in its place, to the glory of God. So it is in the new creation of a sinner saved by grace, the spirit brooding over the heart, finding it in confusion altogether, or confusion in a lost soul, which is fighting against himself, and which is resisting the good word of God, and which barricades the door of the heart against the knock of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, saying, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. What confusion! What self-inflicted confusion! What darkness! What self-destructive confusion! until there is order, a good order of grace. We have it here in the Word of God. Israel had destroyed itself. O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help found. And that is what we find here in those days, in that time, says the Lord. The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah. They've been at war with each other, but now they're together. They're at the same plan and desire. They both of them wish to return to God, the only living and true God. They wish his service, they wish his grace, they wish his spirit, they wish his forgiveness. Judah and Israel together go out. Come, let us return unto the Lord, for he has smitten, and he will bind us up. There's a unity. There's a unity of Old Testament and New Testament. They're speaking the same language. Well, of course, in one sense the Old Testament is in Hebrew and the New Testament in Greek, but they're speaking the are following the same spiritual path. Their way is enlightened with the light of a divine word upon it, the word of the truth of the gospel. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. So to come by way of the one experience, Why are they weeping? Why are they weeping? Well, there's a godly sorrow for sin. And weeping and going go together. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to deliver us from all unrighteousness. Weeping. Godly sorrow for sin. It is a peculiar gift of the Holy Ghost, a peculiar work of the Holy Ghost to work a spirit of repentance within us. The broken and the contrite heart the Lord will not despise. Many tears in Psalm 51. Much godly sorrow and Psalm 32, I will confess, that's what they're saying as they go and weep, and weep and go. There's no progress apart from a broken and a contrite heart. The broken and a contrite heart the Lord will not despise. That's what going is. It's not despise because it's the heart that heaven, heaven itself honors. A sorrowful sinner. A sinner moved with godly sorrow. Do you remember Bunyan's Holy War and how the heart was taken over by the Diabolians? and how another spirit possessed him and he began to think of King Shaddai. Where was he? Was it not better to be under him? Was his rule not better? These Diabolians did not satisfy godly desire in the heart. So they sent emissaries to King Shaddai, whose pavilion was pitched outside the walls. They sent someone who had an aim for good deeds. He wasn't heard. King Shaddai wouldn't give him an audience. He turned back and said to the leaders of Mansoul, you wouldn't listen to me. He's not going to accept us for any good deeds of ourselves, for our good deeds are filthy rags before God. They appointed one who was known for his tears. They appointed one who was known for his confession of sin. They sent these two gentlemen to entreat And they put halters around their necks. And they came humbly to seek an audience with King Shaddai. And King Shaddai said to them, why have you halters around your necks? Oh, they said, that's what our sins deserve. The wrath and curse of God. And that is what our rebellion deserves. that we would die as if we were out of hand. And King Shaddai, examining them further, acceded to their request and sought and came to Mansoul and set up his rule and reign, a comfortable rule, a profitable reign, setting up his own rule and reign in the heart of Mansoul. It was a picture of what your heart and mine has need of, my friend. Christ to rule, Christ to reign, said Christ King. The world put a crown of thorns upon his head, but faith puts a crown upon his head. And says with David in Psalm 132, let his enemies be covered with shame, but upon his head let the crown flourish. They are together in this, and the progress they make is by confession of sin and godly sorrow for sin. Going and weeping together. One other point, and we'll finish, and that is that they were asking their way to Zion. They were asking their way to Zion. Why, no wonder they were asking their way to Zion. Had their hearts not deceived them already? Had their hearts not deceived them every day of their life outside of Christ? Had their hearts not grasped as both hands the lie, and held the lie in their right hand, until the truth as it was in Jesus came? And the Word of God came with divine, irresistible power into their hearts, and the Spirit took the lie out of their right hands and put the truth as it was in Jesus in their hands. So why would they trust their hearts? Why would they trust their hearts for a moment? So this new creature in Christ Jesus setting their face to the wood, asking the way, am I on the right road? Am I ripe for eternity? Am I in the family of Christ himself? Is Christ my king? Is he my advocate with the Father? If any man sinned, the family of Christ say, we have an advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the righteous. We have an advocate. We have him now. We'll never lose him. The gifts of God are without repentance. He's not going to take them back. He has taken the case of his people into his heart and into the court of heaven above. He obtains a ready release in the view of his own suffering and death. The gifts and qualities of God are without repentance. Thy sins are forgiven. Go in peace. Go in peace. Come back time and again and ask the way. Come back time and again at our communion in Aberdeen and ask for grace. Ask if you're in the right road. Ask if your feet are upon the rock, if your feet are in the Word of Psalm 119. Am I with the Church of God in the way of salvation, trusting wholly in the finished work of the Redeemer, choosing the Lord Jesus Christ for myself, choosing the way of faith and repentance and new obedience? Am I with Abraham? Am I with David? And I was the repentant Israel who returned unto the Lord and sought the Lord with all their hearts. Going and weeping, they shall go and seek the Lord. They shall ask their way to Zion with their faces thitherward." Their faces thitherward, what does that mean? They're making an outward profession. They're saying, My desire is after things unseen and eternal. My eye is upon the Lamb in the midst of the throne. He's my hope. He's in the praise of heaven above. He's in the hopes and desires of the Lord's people below. And to you, therefore, that believe, He is precious. Which hope we have, the Apostle says, as an anchor for the soul, entering into that which is within the veil where Christ sitteth." A finished work, he's sitting. He's finished the work of salvation. He cried, it is finished upon the cross. And when he rose the third day according to the scriptures, he subsequently ascended to the right hand of God to sit down. The priest in the Old Testament in all his business never sat There was always something to be done. They were to remain standing. There was a sermon in their standing, and it was this, that only Christ can do the work of salvation, and satisfy the law, and make it honorable. Only Christ. And when he has done it, he sits down, a finished work. That's the hope of the church militant. Church in this world, which hope we have presently in the wilderness, entering into that which is within the veil where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God. Well, my friend, these are a few matters, a few points we trust of some relevance to this great matter. Are you for Christ or against him? Are you on the way, the way of holiness, the way of the Holy Word, the way of the holy hope, the way of the holy desire? Is that your way? Is that your path? In those days and at that time, says the Lord, the children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together, Go and seek the Lord, their God. May the Lord add His blessing. Let us pray. O eternal and ever-blessed One, King of kings and Lord of lords, take us by the hand and lead us, we pray, in the way of our nastyk, and give us a good hope through grace in heaven above, that anchor that will hold whatever storms the ship passes through, and bring us to the desired haven, so to the haven that they desire to see. Come out with thy servant tomorrow and speak the truth as it is in Jesus. Take us to our homes in safety and pardon our sins for Jesus' sake. Amen.