May 26^th 2024

9:30 am ----------------------The Righteous Lord & His Righteous Judgments – Exodus 23:1-13

10:00 am --------------------------------------------- Lord Save Me – Matthew 14:30

Spiritual Depression

Mr. Spurgeon, in a message preached when he was 54 years old, confessed to times of great depression of spirit. “I felt a great heaviness of spirit. I knew that I believed, but somehow I could not get comfort from the truth I preached. I even began to wonder whether I was really saved. Being on holiday, I went to hear a brother preach. While he preached a sermon full of gospel, tears flowed from my eyes, and I was in such joy on hearing the gospel that I said, ‘O yes, there is spiritual life within me, for I hear the gospel, love the gospel, and the gospel can touch my heart and stir my soul.’” What a grand evidence to every believer—nothing moves us, stirs us, or comforts us like the gospel of our Lord Jesus!

A Good Place to Rest And Raise Our Young

“Yea, the sparrow hath found a house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even Thine altars, O Lord of hosts, my King, and my God.” – Psalm 84:3

For several years I have watched a bird, a swallow, build a nest in a vine that clung to the church-house wall. Every year, in the same place, that bird built her nest on that wall. And every time I saw her I though of this scripture: “the sparrow hath found a house . . .” The saints are like that bird.

By God’s grace, we have “found a house.” We have found a place “which God hath chosen to cause His Name to dwell there” (Deut.12:11). By God’s grace, we have found the house of God, the church of God, the assembly of the saints, the temple of God, where Christ and His people dwell together; where we behold the beauty of the Lord and inquire in His temple.” In our Lord’s sovereign providence and mercy we have found “a nest for ourselves.” The church of the living God, where Christ is worshipped, preached, and dwells in the midst of His people, is a nest; a place of comfort and safety, a haven of rest for the weary and heavy laden sinner.

After that bird labors to build that nest, she herself rests in that nest. Are we not ‘laborers together’, ‘building up one another on this most holy faith’ (which is Christ!)? And do not we ourselves, rest in that very faith, that very One, Whom we want our young to rest in? Yes, we have found a good place to rest, where Christ, our Altar, our Refuge, our Bread and Water of life is found. And this is a good place to lay our young.

The Lord blesses some of you ladies to have children and you lay your young in the nursery, and in time put them in classrooms with our teachers, then bring them into the auditorium to hear the preacher preach the gospel. I say to you, this is a good place to lay your young. We are living in the last days, a corrupt generation, where parents fear for the safety of their children. Is there no one who can be trusted? Is there any place where our children can be safe from evil men and women. Yes, I say, in the church of the living God, where the Truth is truly preached, you can be confident that those who care for your babes and children truly care for your babies. You can be confident that those who teach your young, do truly teach your young the ‘scriptures which are able to make them wise unto salvation.” And yes, you can be confident that when they come to hear the preacher, they will hear the Truth proclaimed, God’s Word declared, Christ set forth, and One Name honored and glorified! You can rest assured that your children will not be coerced into making false professions, they will not be abused nor deceived, they will not be evilly influenced, they will not be herded like cattle, counted as numbers, entertained like campers, pacified, pampered or led astray. But they will be loved, cared for, and pointed to the pure and holy, infallible and trustworthy, Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. They will all be taught, reproved, rebuked, corrected, instructed and learning from the authentic and infallible Word of God.

The apostle wrote to the churches, “Therefore seeing we have this ministry”; the ministry of the Gospel. This is our one ministry, the ministry of the true church. We have the same ministry for our ‘singles’ as we do for our doubles. We have the same ministry for our children as our adults. We have the same ministry for our women as for our men. We do one thing, Worship! We use one means, the preaching of the Word! We have one aim, God’s glory!

“How amiable are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! Ours is not the only place. The Lord hath at least seven thousand that have not bowed the knee to Baal. There are several sister churches which are amiable tabernacles.