So, but maybe the congregation will praise me
for it.
So, we're very glad they were able to
sing that beautiful song which is a favourite
of us all.
Thank you very much.
So beautifully done, but no notice at all.
How about that?
Very, very good.
It's been my privilege through the years to
go to various conference centres in different parts
of the world.
And indeed to conduct a conference centre for
about eight years, years ago.
But there's nothing just like part of the
palms.
Kind of unique.
The atmosphere is always beautiful.
And the fellowship is so good that we
are loathe to leave.
But of course we've come to the end
now and we must go.
I was thinking today, I think one of
these years I'm coming for three and a
half months.
So that I can get it all in
and listen to some of the ministry that
we've had.
Now some complaining that their memories are failing.
I hope their memories don't fail them so
much that they can only remember the last
week.
That's the only week I can remember.
But you'll remember them all.
It'll be a bad thing if you can
only remember the last week.
And somebody will probably say to you, well
what did you think of Brother Clifford?
Well he didn't hold me like some of
the other priests did.
They'd be saying things like that.
Somebody will say, well he was all right
but his messages were like the horns of
a spear.
A point here and a point there and
a lot of bull in between.
Well that might be so occasionally but I
do trust there's been something from the Lord
about the Lord to draw us nearer to
the Lord.
And of course our whole idea, as I'm
sure is yours, is that the Lord Jesus
should be exalted in the meeting in talk
of the palms and in our individual hearts
and lives and experiences.
One of your American preachers came to England
some years ago and he thought he would
go and hear two of our famous preachers.
He wanted to hear Dr. Parker and Spurgeon.
So he went on Sunday morning.
I think it was the Metropolitan Tabernacle to
hear Dr. Parker.
And Sunday evening he went to hear Charles
Haddon Spurgeon.
So he said, well what do you think?
Well he said, it's like this.
He said, Dr. Parker is a great preacher.
But Spurgeon has a great preacher.
Well of course I'm sure Dr. Parker was
talking about the praises.
But the thing that impressed him about Spurgeon's
message was he was exalting the Lord Jesus
all the time.
Oh for the tongue of an angel to
do just this thing, to magnify our Lord
Jesus Christ.
Wonderful grace of Jesus, praise his name.
Well it's been a wonderful experience for us
and we should be glad of your prayers,
please.
We should be thinking of you and praying
for you all from time to time.
And if you can share a little prayer
sometimes for the Lord's work in Bermuda.
Bible school, we're starting there this week on
Thursday, God willing.
And the end of September we go back
to the Bahamas to continue where we left
off there.
Maybe a little more difficult, we don't know.
When we get to the Bahamas then, because
they'll have independence then.
It's coming to the Bahamas on July the
10th, as you know.
And we can make some special prayer maybe.
So think of us from time to time.
And if the Lord hasn't come between now
and next September.
We should begin to see the answers to
your many prayers, I'm sure.
Let's bring together a beautiful psalm of worship
and praise.
Psalm 116, Psalm 116.
I love the Lord, because he hath heard
my voice and my supplication.
Because he hath inclined his ear unto me,
therefore will I call upon him as long
as I live.
The sorrows of death compassed me, and the
pains of hell got hold upon me.
I found trouble and sorrow.
Then called I upon the name of the
Lord.
O Lord, I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
Gracious is the Lord, and righteous.
Yea, our God is merciful.
The Lord preserveth the simple, that is the
lowly.
I was brought low, and he helped me.
Return unto thy rest, O my soul.
For the Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.
For thou hast delivered my soul from death,
mine eyes from tears, and my feet from
falling.
I will walk before the Lord in the
land of the living.
I believe, therefore have I spoken.
I was greatly afflicted.
I said in my haste, all men are
liars.
What shall I render unto the Lord for
all his benefits toward me?
I will take the cup of salvation, and
call upon the name of the Lord.
I will pay my vows unto the Lord
now in the presence of all his people.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is
the death of his saints.
O Lord, truly I am thy bond-servant,
thy bond-slave.
I am thy servant and the son of
thine handmaid.
Thou hast loosed my bond.
I will offer to thee the sacrifice of
thanksgiving, and will call upon the name of
the Lord.
I will pay my vows unto the Lord
now in the presence of all his people.
In the courts of the Lord's house, in
the midst of thee, O Jerusalem, praise ye
the Lord.
My ways, saith the Lord, are not as
your ways.
As the heavens are high above the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
In this psalm we see something of the
ways in which God himself deals with his
creatures, and is quite different from the way
that we deal with one another.
As a matter of fact, the psalm itself
is full of paradoxes.
We were talking a little bit about paradoxes
this morning, and saying that the Christian life
itself is a paradox.
God's ways of gain are seeming lost.
We die to live, but his life comes
after the cross our lives we give.
Now this psalm is full of paradoxes like
that.
For instance, in verse 3 he says, The
pains of hell get hold upon me, I've
found trouble and sorrow.
And then he says in verse 7, Return
unto thy rest, O my soul, for the
Lord hath dealt bountifully with thee.
In verse 5 he says, Greatest is the
Lord, and righteous.
Think of that.
And then he says, Righteous is the Lord,
and merciful.
I'll explain that a little later on, I
hope.
In verse 8 he says, Thou hast delivered
my soul from death, and I'm going to
walk before the Lord in the land of
the living.
And in verse 15 he says, Precious in
the sight of the Lord is the death
of his saints.
And in verse 12, which is the outstanding
one, he says, What shall I render unto
the Lord?
What shall I give to the Lord?
I will take.
What shall I give?
I will take a cup of salvation, and
call upon the name of the Lord.
This, of course, is a divine principle.
Before we can give anything to God at
all which is acceptable to him, we must
take the salvation he is offering through Jesus
Christ our Lord.
And there is a great principle here.
God will not be satisfied with anything we
can do for him or give to him
until first of all we take the salvation
which he at such great cost through his
son at Calvary has procured and purchased for
us.
What shall I render?
I will first of all take thy salvation.
During the war there was a special meeting
being held in Liverpool, and there were 200
merchant seamen there, and all of them had
been rescued from the Atlantic.
Their ships had gone down, had been torpedoed,
and they had been saved.
Some of them had had dreadful experiences.
Now they'd been invited to gather together for
a thanksgiving service as well as a special
kind of banquet meal.
And when the meal was over, they gathered
together in the chapel for a song service
and an informal time.
And they sang, "'For those in peril on
the sea' and they sang, "'Throw out the
lifeline, across the dark waves "'there is a
brother whom someone could save' And they'd all
been saved themselves in the last few days
from the Atlantic Ocean.
And then before the actual meeting began, one
young fellow came up to the preacher and
said to him, "'Excuse me, sir, but are
you the minister?' "'Well,' he said, "'yes, if
you like, I'm preaching here anyway today.' "'Well,'
he said, "'that'll do fine.' They said to
him, "'Now would you mind taking this envelope
here "'for your church funds.
"'It's from five of us.' "'Well,' he said,
"'what do you mean?' "'Well,' he said, "'we
are making a contribution to your church funds.
"'Will you please take that?' "'Well,' he said,
"'I haven't told you what church I belong
to.' "'Well,' he said, "'that doesn't matter at
all.
"'You take that to your church funds.
"'There's money in there.' "'So,' he said, "'well,
what's all this about?' "'Well,' he said, "'in
by this time the others had joined him.
"'There were five young men talking to the
preacher.
"'And they said to him, "'George, who was
speaking for the party, "'they said, "'Well, we
were saved from the Atlantic "'and we promised
to pay God back.
"'So will you please have this envelope "'towards
your church funds?' "'Well,' he said, "'I'm not
sure whether I ought to take it.
"'You see, I'm not quite sure "'whether this
is the way to pay God back.' "'He
said, "'What happened to you anyway?' "'Well,' they
said, "'we were torpedoed, "'and at least our
ship was, "'and we were in an open
boat "'for thirteen days and thirteen nights "'and
were given our hope of ever being saved.'
"'And then,' he said, "'Bill said to me,
"'he said, "'George, we haven't prayed yet.
"'We haven't cried prayer yet.' "'So I said
to Bill, "'Well, you pray then.' "'But he
wouldn't pray "'and none of the others would.
"'They said they didn't know how to.' "'And
I said to them, "'Well, I don't know
how to pray either, "'but I'll tell you
what, "'if you'll close your eyes, "'I'll have
a go.' "'So he said, "'We all closed
our eyes "'and this is what I prayed.
"'Oh God, "'get us out of this strife
"'and we'll pray your best.
"'Amen.' "'Now,' he said, "'it was a miracle.'
"'We all think it was a miracle "'because
we opened our eyes "'and we saw the
Spanish ship on the horizon.
"'Now we've seen ships on the horizon before,
"'none of them had ever come anywhere near
us, "'but this one did, "'came right to
where we were.
"'And of course we were picked up "'and
we are here today "'and we promised to
pay God back.' "'And God answered our prayer.'
"'So they said, "'Now you'll take that "'towards
your church, son.' "'Wasn't it half a minute
before, "'I must explain to you "'the way
to pay God back.' "'And just as it
was about to start, "'the bell rang "'and
it was time for the service to begin.'
"'So they took their seats "'and they had
a prayer and another hymn, "'one of those
peace songs "'that we all love so very
much.
"'And then my friend started to preach "'and
I'm sure that in his sermon "'here came
the way of paying God back, "'of really
showing thanksgiving "'and gratitude to God "'for his
deliverance from a watery grave "'and for all
the blessings of this life.' "'And I'm not
sure whether he used this text "'but this
was his idea anyway.
"'What shall I render unto the Lord "'for
all his benefits toward me?
"'I will take thy salvation "'and call upon
the name of the Lord.'" And so towards
the end he said, "'Now is there anybody
here "'who would like to pay God back
like that?
"'Instead of offering him something, "'take what he's
offering to you.
"'Don't despise his overtures of mercy "'and love
and salvation in Christ.
"'Take his salvation.
"'Take his son "'to be your own personal
saviour.
"'Is there anybody here "'like to pay God
back like that?' "'And George stood up.
"'He said, I will, sir.' "'He said, come
out.
"'Come to the front.
"'Is there anybody else "'like to pay God
back like that?
"'Take his salvation.' "'And Bill stood up.
"'He said, I will, sir.' "'He said, you
come out as well.' "'And they sat around
a round table "'just in the front of
the portrait.
"'Now he said, wait a minute.
"'Anybody else?' "'And the other three came out.
"'That made five of them.
"'The five who were in that boat "'for
thirteen days and thirteen nights "'and prayed that
prayer together.
"'And now they were going to pay God
back "'in God's way.' "'And he stopped the
meeting "'while he led them to the saviour.
"'And they each for themselves "'received Christ Jesus,
"'who is God's salvation for anybody and everybody,
"'received him into their hearts and lives "'as
their own personal saviour.
"'I will take my salvation,' they said.
"'And they received Jesus.
"'And then the meeting was concluded "'in a
proper and orderly manner.
"'What shall I render?
"'I will take.'" Imagine a young fellow being
caught in the grounds of Lord Snowdon, shall
we say.
The grounds of his home.
He's evidently out to see what he can
steal.
But he's caught red-handed by Lord Snowdon
himself.
He takes him inside.
And of course the young fellow is trembling
from head to foot.
And he said to him, "'Now what were
you doing?' And the boy is speechless.
And he says, "'Why were you trying to
steal something from me?' And the boy is
speechless.
And finally Lord Snowdon gets it out of
this chap that he's unemployed, he hasn't got
a job, he has certain commitments.
And that's why he's doing this.
And so Lord Snowdon says, "'Well now, I'm
going to give you a new start.
"'I'm not going to condemn you,' he said.
"'I'm going to buy you a kit of
tools.
"'And I'm going to introduce you to a
friend of mine.
"'I'm going to give you a real new
start in life.'" And this young fellow said,
"'Oh well, sir, very, very kind of you,
"'but I'll have to do something for that.
"'What can I do?
"'I'll come round tomorrow morning and mow your
lawn for you.'" Lord Snowdon says, "'Now look
here, I don't want you to mow my
lawn for me.
"'I've got a better lawn mower than you
are.
"'Now I want you to take what I'm
offering and be thankful.
"'Nothing that you can do for me "'will
be acceptable to me "'until you first take
the salvation that I'm offering.'" God has procured
for us a wonderful salvation from all our
sins, and from the consequences of our sins
in the person of his dear son.
Let us receive them, and take God's salvation
by faith.
And then of course we can live for
his praise and for his glory, and render
unto the Lord.
And although we can offer nothing to God
for our salvation, when once we are saved,
there are many present day sacrifices that we
can make to God.
We never sacrifice to get salvation because of
Christ's once for all sacrifice.
Sufficient sacrifice on the cross of Calvary.
If you can work your salvation today, why
did Jesus die?
And he died because you couldn't save yourself.
You must accept God's salvation.
But then you will work like any slave
for love of God's dear son, I'm quite
sure.
And there's quite a list of scriptural present
day sacrifices that we believers can make to
God for all that he's done for us
in his son, and the salvation he's given
to us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Now there are really three special main ideas
in this psalm that I wanted to bring
before you this evening.
First of all, notice how this man David,
in his experience recited here, was condemned and
convicted.
But the result of it was his soul
was saved.
And then notice how he was defeated and
brought very low.
But the result of it was he was
lifted up and blessed abundantly.
And then notice later on how that he
was bound in a certain way.
But in that bondage he found real liberty
and freedom.
Now this is where these paradoxes come in.
Applying it to ourselves, this is the message
tonight.
From the first part of the psalm, God
condemns us that he might save us.
And a few verses lower down, God defeats
us that he might deliver us.
And then finally, I think it's verse 16
he says, God binds us that he might
set us free.
My ways are not your ways, saith the
Lord.
Now God condemns us first of all.
Now we must do this of course, as
he did in the case of the psalmist.
He comes to say we are guilty sinners
and he's a holy God and he knows
exactly what we are and how we've come
short in his glory.
In his holiness he must condemn us.
But his whole idea is that he might
save us.
He condemns us to save us.
The psalmist says here, the sorrows of death
comfort me, the pains of hell get hold
upon me, I've found trouble and sorrow.
There he is under the condemning hand of
God, brought very low with conviction of sin.
And God has done it.
He's shown me his knees as a saviour.
Remember he says, Save us, I call upon
the name of the Lord.
O Lord I beseech thee, deliver my soul.
He was under conviction of sin.
The pains of hell get hold upon him.
This conviction of sin is a working of
the Holy Spirit in the human heart.
When a man is not born again, is
not a committed Christian, is not really the
Lord, the Holy Spirit often from time to
time moves in the heart, very often through
the preaching of the gospel, showing the man
what a guilty sinner he is and how
he needs a saviour.
I remember Jim Boswell and I were conducting
a mission in Eversham in Worcester a few
years ago.
It was a tent crusade and there was
a certain lady, Mrs. Tender, who came to
every meeting.
But she was not saved.
As a matter of fact, all through the
crusade she was under deep conviction of sin.
She was quite a student in many ways.
She studied many of the arts and sciences,
was a worshipper of the sun god Ra,
and was genuinely mixed up with philosophy.
But she was really under conviction during these
meetings.
She told me, she said, I'm not sleeping
at night.
She said, I'm so concerned, I'm praying all
night long.
She said, at five o'clock I stop
and I go to bed for an hour,
then I have to get up to get
the breakfast to get the others off to
work.
We had talk after talk and argument after
argument and debate after debate and she seemed
to be no nearer.
But she was really troubled in her soul.
The pains of hell got hold upon her.
She found trouble and she found sorrow.
And I remember her coming the last morning
prayer meeting at ten o'clock in the
morning to the martyr.
When it was over I went to her
and I said, Mrs. Tender, how are you
feeling today?
Well, she said, I'm no nearer.
I said, listen, give up all your sciences
and all your philosophies and all your reasonings
and debates and tell me this, you do
not project in your heart and life Jesus
Christ, the Son of God as your own
saviour, do you?
She said, no I don't.
I said, he's the one you need, he
is your only saviour.
Now I said, don't pray anything wonderful but
something very simple.
Ask him to come into your heart and
life now.
And she closed her eyes and said, Lord
Jesus, Son of God, come into my life.
Amen.
And the burden went, the conviction departed and
she was the Lord.
If you feel tonight or any time that
the Holy Spirit of God is cutting your
heart, pulling at your heartstrings, telling you you
need a saviour, suggesting to you that you
ought to get right with God, reminding you
you're not going to last on this earth
forever and there's eternity beyond.
And when the Holy Spirit through the words,
through the teacher or on his own, apart
from anything at all sometimes, he speaks to
your heart that you'll need a saviour.
Respond to the Holy Spirit of God and
the conviction will depart and the joy of
the Lord will be your strength and Christ
will be your saviour.
God always condemns us first because he's holy
and he saves us next because he is
love.
What's the good of me teaching the love
of Christ, the love of God and his
son if I don't preach to you your
sinnership and need of a saviour?
And God that always condemns us first, he
sent the law to condemn people.
God's law, God's pandem, it came to none,
it never saved a thing.
But it showed many people, many souls that
they needed a saviour.
When they saw God's standards and they said,
oh wretched man that I am, I've come
short of all this.
I'm a guilty sinner, I am, I'm a
transgressor of God's law.
So God condemns us first that he might
save us next.
I think in one sense it's true to
say that God sent his son to condemn
us as well as to save us.
You know that he was the standard of
righteousness, God's standard, when he appeared upon earth.
And people in his presence were condemned very
often.
Peter said, depart from me for I am
a sinful man, O Lord.
You are the most holy one.
Now he said, I'm going to the Father
when the Holy Spirit comes, he will convince
you of sin of righteousness and of judgment
of righteousness because I go to the Father.
The Holy Spirit will tell you what God's
standard of righteousness is when I go but
while I am here I am God's standard
of righteousness.
And when they were in his presence they
shriveled up and they got away and they
walked away.
One by one they departed.
They felt their sinfulness in the presence of
God's standard of righteousness, the holy, holy spotless
son of God.
So in one sense it's true that Jesus
came to condemn men because of his absolute
holiness and their lack of it.
But of course he came to save men
from their lack of holiness and to impart
to them his own.
Blessed be his name.
On the cross he died to take away
us and today he lives to give us
his own personal holiness the moment we trust
him as our savior.
And so he says here, the pains of
hell got hold upon me.
I found trouble and sorrow.
God always condemns us first.
That's what he sent the Holy Spirit for.
He will convince you of your sins and
of God's standard of righteousness and of judgment
as well.
Thank God for the work of the Holy
Spirit in the world today, condemning men to
our sinners.
But of course he doesn't leave his work
finished at that point.
He goes on to reveal to men the
law of Jesus Christ and to unite them
to him in a wonderful union.
Now faith is the marriage bond between Christ
and the believer or the other way around,
the believer and Christ.
And when I say I will to the
Lord Jesus Christ, then all his blessings and
his full salvation become my personal possession.
And of course all my debts were chargeable
to him as well.
When I say that, I'm thinking of an
old English law an old English law where
two people, when they were joined in matrimony,
the moment he said I will, then legally
at that moment, all her debts became chargeable
to him and all his possessions became hers
to share.
Now the men didn't like this because they
had the law changed.
So it's not like that today ladies, I'm
sorry to say.
But it is like that in the spiritual
sense.
Because the moment I say I will to
the Saviour and trust him, then all his
blessings become mine.
Blessed with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.
And of course all my debts become his
responsibility.
That he with his fierce vision and prophets
I foresaw this, and he came a long
time ago to pay my debt.
And it cost him so much to do
it as well.
His life he gave, his precious blood he
shed, that my debt might be cleared her
forever.
The old account was settled, praise God, long
ago.
Well now here in verse 5, the psalmist
says, gracious is the Lord and righteous.
And then he says, righteous is the Lord
and merciful.
Now in God's grace he gives to us
what we don't deserve.
In his mercy he withholds from us what
we do deserve because of our sin.
That's gentleness.
You see the difference don't you?
In his grace he gives us what we
don't deserve.
In his mercy he keeps from us what
we do deserve.
Doesn't he?
And it says here that God is gracious
and God is merciful.
Now in between the two God is righteous.
Now how on earth can God be gracious
and righteous at the same time?
How can he on a righteous correct basis
give to us what we do not deserve?
And the same question arises, how on earth
can almighty God who is righteous in all
his works and ways keep from us the
judgment that we do deserve because of our
sin?
How can he do it?
Now your judges in this country can't do
that.
They might attempt to do it occasionally, but
they're not supposed to do that.
They have to dispense righteous judgment.
And if a man is guilty they just
stand in their mercy, keep them back.
But God can.
God can give us a full salvation and
we don't deserve it, and he can do
it righteously.
You know why?
Because Christ died to pay for it for
us.
And he can save us from our sin.
And we don't deserve to be saved eternally
from our sin, but God can do it
righteously.
You know why?
Because Christ paid the debt on the cross
itself.
And now through this man is preached unto
you the forgiveness of sin.
You see Romans 1 16 is the favorite
verse of ours which says, I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it
is the power of God unto salvation to
those that believe.
But there's another reason why Paul was not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ and it's
in the next verse.
And it's the most important reason, it's the
subject of the whole of his epistle to
Romans, the righteousness of God.
Because he says in verse 17, I am
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ because
in it is the righteousness of God unto
you.
And God he gives us the whole salvation
righteously.
And he keeps us from the consequences of
our sin when we pass his son on
the righteous way.
He is merciful.
Therefore if ever you are saved by the
grace of God and you are delivered from
hell you will owe it all to the
Lord Jesus to die to pay the price
and to bring to you eternal blessings.
And that's why tonight we're inviting you to
put your faith and trust in the Lord
Jesus Christ for he is your only salvation
with him there is no hope.
Without him there is no hope.
Now imagine in Britain one of our magistrates
or judges having a young fellow there in
front of him in the dock.
And the crime according to the book here
is that this man has been caught entering
and stealing whatever is the correct term for
that.
And when the judge comes and sees this
young man he recognizes him.
He knows his father.
As a matter of fact this young fellow's
father is the judge's personal friend in the
city.
And he has a great desire to let
him off because of his friendship with his
father.
But he can't.
He says I'm a righteous judge.
I have to dispense righteousness I can't let
him off.
And the young fellow is found guilty.
And the judge he pronounces the verdict and
he tells him what the fine is to
do.
The fine or else so many months down
below.
And then he himself when the case is
over he goes round the back gets out
the car drives home or as a chauffeur
to drive him home.
And then he gets to his desk and
he writes out a cheque for the amount
that he has imposed on this young fellow.
And he sends his son back to the
court office to pay the fine.
And so the man is free.
And thank God for all that he has
done.
We have sinned against him.
This young fellow had we should have said,
broken into the judge's home itself.
And we've sinned against God himself.
He himself in his righteousness has imposed the
fine.
Yes.
But he himself has sent his son to
pay the fine by his death and the
shedding of his blood.
And now we receiving what has been done
find a full salvation.
You see God condemns us first because he's
righteous.
And then he saves us next because he
is loved.
God hates the sinner.
God hates the sin because he's righteous.
But he loves the sinner because he is
loved.
And for God so loved the world he
gave his only begotten son.
But whosoever believeth in him in him should
not perish but have everlasting life.
Not only does God condemn us for slavery
but God defeats us to deliver us.
Notice in verse six he said, the Lord
preserveth the lowly.
I was brought low and he helped me.
Now God cannot bring a man into the
blessings which he has for him until he
has first of all defeated him.
Until he has first of all conquered him.
The psalmist says here, I was brought low
and then it was he helped me.
Now there are many examples of this in
the word.
Jacob Princeton was touched and crippled by God
at the brook Javok and it was in
that very attitude that he became a prince
with God.
Saul the passer on the way to Damascus
was blinded and broken and bent.
And in that very attitude he became a
chosen vessel for the Lord to declare his
word among the Gentiles.
Asaph in experience.
It is my heart and my flesh faileth.
And when you read it up the first
time you say what a shame.
Asaph must have been in a bad way.
But there he goes on to say, my
heart and my flesh faileth but now God
is the strength of my heart and my
portion forever.
God defeats us, God brings us low, God
makes us weak, God robs us of our
own self will so that he might bring
up his blessings and lift us up.
God defeats us to deliver us.
Why does he do this?
Well I suppose we are so self-willed.
We think we can do it ourselves.
I suppose that we feel sometimes of ourselves
we are strong enough we are too strong
for God to bless us.
I was brought low and then he helped
me.
And that is often the case.
Look at Gideon for instance.
The Lord tells Gideon and Gideon said how
can I deliver Israel?
He said listen my father's house is the
poorest house in the whole of the tribe
of Manasseh.
Just what I wanted for this.
And he says and I'm the most insignificant
in the whole.
Just what I want said the Lord.
How can I save Israel?
I will be with thee.
Go and this I might have not I
send through.
And then you remember he blew his trumpet
and he sounded who is on the Lord's
side.
And various tribes came and stood with him
to fight the Lord's battles against the Midianites.
And then it was that God said there's
too many people there to fight my battles.
Let Israel go and tell them so.
Mine own hand has saved me.
You see no flesh of glory in God's
presence.
That is eternal principle.
If it's going to be glorified through mankind
it will be by its own mighty power
and not by the struggling of their flesh.
So it wasn't God said send them home.
Just a mere 300 left.
And 300 and Gideon against the hosts of
Midian was just nothing at all.
And God said that's what I want just
nothing at all.
And nothing at all plus almighty God always
fails this way.
I was brought low and then he helped
me.
We're too strong sometimes.
Because you see his strength is only made
perfect in weakness.
When we come to an end of ourselves.
To which end corner?
When we get right to the limit and
give up.
Then God can come in with his all
mightiness and do a new thing in us
and for us and for us.
God not only condemns us to favour but
he he hates us to deliver us.
I was telling a crusade Dr Alan Redpath
in a Birmingham town hall some years ago
during the war.
And I remember on a Sunday afternoon we
had a mass women's rally.
And there were hundreds and hundreds and hundreds
of women there.
Very very good meeting.
And at the end Alan Redpath made an
invitation.
And there was a lady sitting not far
from me who was responding to the invitation
with others.
And I had a little conversation with her
afterwards.
And I said glad to see you responded
to the invitation.
Can I help you?
I said how far have you got?
How do you feel about things?
Well she said young man I'd like you
to know that I've lost everything in the
recent blitz on Birmingham.
Well I said I'm very sorry to hear
that.
I said did you lose everything?
She said listen I've lost everything in the
blitz.
I said well now tell me madam you've
lost everything in the blitz.
What do you want now?
She said now I feel I want to
save you.
And I never felt that before.
And sometimes God has to defeat us to
deliver us.
As well as condemn us to save us.
And not only so but God binds us
to set us free.
This is toward the end of the Psalm
where he says Oh Lord truly I am
thy bond slave.
I am thy bond slave and the son
of thine hand made.
Thou hast loosed my bonds.
What is the interpretation of this lovely verse?
It may be this Lord you have loosed
my bonds and set me free and given
me liberty.
So now I am binding myself up again
to you to be your slave all my
days.
Now that would be good wouldn't it?
And I think it's a very scriptural idea
and it's a very happy thought.
Lord you set me free so I'll be
your slave all my days.
Like the slave girl in the auction mart
in the Middle East.
She was being auctioned and there was a
British colleague who was standing watching this because
he'd never seen one of these auctions before.
And he thought it was rather sad.
And before he knew what he was doing
he started bidding for this girl.
She was only about 17 or 18.
And the hammer went down and he'd bid
the highest price.
So we went down to the office and
paid the money and then he didn't know
what to do.
But they gave him the girl.
So he said now look he said I've
paid for you to set you free.
But she didn't understand she'd been a slave
for years and she didn't understand what freedom
was.
He said now you're free to do what
you like.
Go where you go.
Try and find your mum and dad.
You're free to do what you like.
You're free.
He said I've paid the money so that
you can be free.
And when the truth dawned upon her poor
benighted brain she flung herself at his feet
and said oh sir if you've brought me
to set me free I'll be your slave
forever.
Now is that the idea here?
Maybe.
Well it was Peter's idea anyway.
He says now use your liberty which you
Christians have got in Christ use your liberty
not for your own selfish ends as a
cloak of maliciousness but as the bondmen, the
bond slaves of God.
Thou hast loose bonds I am thy bond
slave.
Well I prefer to take the the correct
way as it's stated here and not the
other way around.
Oh Lord truly I am thy bond slave.
Thou hast loose my bonds.
In other words Lord I am binding myself
to you your will for my life my
service for you all my days.
I am your bond slave Lord.
I bind myself of my own volition to
you and to your perfect will and in
so doing I am beginning to find glorious
spiritual liberty.
There is no freedom like the freedom that
is in Christ.
There's no liberty like the liberty of the
sons of God and there's nothing like being
bound to the Lord and to his perfect
will for our lives.
He not only condemns us to slavery but
defeats us to deliver us but he binds
us to his perfect will.
You know we're finding this in England in
our smaller towns now that a one-way
system has been forced upon us.
Because we've been trying to get through some
of these little towns with our cars you
know he's coming this way and I'm going
that way and we get stuck and somebody
wants to park and it's an absolute impossibility.
So they have developed in most of the
towns a one-way system you know you
can't go through that way but if you
come back that way you have to go
round that way to get to the other
side.
And we have seen the sense and the
wisdom of accepting the discipline of one-way
traffic so that we can keep moving.
It's a kind of bondage which gives us
perfect liberty and liberty in Christ is like
that by being bound to his perfect will.
My freedom says the hymn writer is thy
grand control.
Make me a captive Lord and then I
shall be free.
May the Lord keep us the way of
blessings.
If you're going to be really free you
must be bound to God and Christ in
his will.
And if you're going to be exalted then
you must allow the Lord to bring you
low and then he will lift you up.
He defeats us but he might deliver us.
And if you're going to be saved you
must accept his condemnation because we're all sinners
in his sight.
Thank God for his natural salvation he sent
his son to deliver us off ruin not
only by the poor but by our own
sinners.
Well and he loved us not withstanding all
our guilt and shame the Saviour died for
us blessed be his name and as though
there was no one else to save he
came in his love to die to save
you.
I suggest that you tonight respond to his
love and say from the heart Lord Jesus
I receive you.
And say oh God I receive your salvation
indeed.
I own my sins and I own Jesus
as my saviour and let us let us
take a moment of silent prayer.
Not only have we come to the end
of this meeting we've come to the end
of this conference and I think we should
be making some spiritual decisions before the Lord.
The Holy Spirit is tugging at our heartstrings
now.
Shall I yield?
Shall I respond?
Will I yield to Christ and his will?
Will I humble myself before him that he
might exalt me in due time?
Will I make the decision now to receive
God's salvation?
Oh God work on and on and on
in our hearts.
Give us the grace at this moment to
yield.
And as we yield to thee and thy
holiest time to be our saviour our hearts
are finding peace long before.
Search our hearts see if there be any
wicked way in us and lead us in
the way of peace everlasting.
Let thy salvation come to this house tonight.
May there be decisions spiritual decisions for time
and final decisions for eternity as we trust
the saviour now.
Let us continue in prayer for one moment.
While we are praying you pray for yourself
and something like this from your heart to
the Lord Jesus.
Lord Jesus Son of God thank you very
much indeed for dying for my sin to
take it away.
Thank you Lord Jesus very much indeed for
taking my place.
Thank you for dying to save me from
sin.
Lord Jesus I thank you.
Lord Jesus I trust you.
Lord Jesus I love you.
Lord Jesus I receive you as my Lord
and my saviour now.
At this very moment Lord Jesus I receive
you as my saviour.
Pray that prayer.
At this very moment Lord Jesus I receive
you as my own personal saviour.
So Lord Jesus hear our many prayers in
heaven thy dwelling place.
Accept of our thanks for all thy goodness
to us during these three months and more.
For whatever has been to thy servants who
conduct this place.
And to all the helpers and all the
grace given.
And all the ministries of thy servant whom
thou hast sent from time to time.
We acknowledge thy good hands O God.
Make us very thankful and very responsive to
thy call.
Let thy benediction and blessing rest upon this
work in the coming days.
We pray that those tonight who've made a
spiritual decision will be able to make a
confession of it openly to the glory of
thy name.
Those who tonight have decided to receive the
Lord Jesus help them to make it known
and witness a good confession.
So we come to thee with our evening
worship and praise for Christ Jesus.
The one that thou hast insulted in whom
thou art well pleased.
The one that thou delightest to honour.
We thank thee thou hast honoured him during
these conferences.
Now honour him in every single life before
thee.
Now unto him who is able to keep
us from falling.
To present us faultless before thy presence with
exceeding joy.
To the only wise God our Saviour.
To all the honour and the glory and
the might and the majesty and power and
dominion and blessings both now tonight and evermore.
In his name Amen.