25 ... ... ... 97 ... 129 No. 10. I WILL CARRY YOU. "Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are borne by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb; and even to your old age I am he, and even to hoar hairs I will carry PREFACE. THIS Small Volume contains the Sixth Series of Twelve The aim of the Preacher has Sermons preached in London. been to set forth "The Riches of God's Glory on the Vessels of Mercy which He had afore prepared unto Glory." The attention of the Reader is especially directed to Sermon No. 4, "Leaven which a Woman took," and to Sermon No. 8, "A Little Leaven Leaveneth the Whole Lump." These two Sermons have been both "condemned" and "commended by persons who profess to be well informed upon the subject. Let the candid and impartial Reader carefully compare the contents of these Sermons with the infallible standard of "God's Word," "try the things that differ, and then approve the things that are excellent." 66 Magna est Veritas, et Prævalebit." ST. JAMES'S VICARAGE, SHEFfield, October, 1881. J. B. "THE SERIES VI. No. 1. PROMISES OF GOD." A SERMON PREACHED BY THE Rev. J. BATTERSBY AT VERULAM MISSION CHURCH, KENNINGTON ROAD, LAMBETH, LONDON. THURSDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER, 4th, 1880. In the 2nd Epistle to the Corinthians the 1st chapter and the 20th verse :· "FOR ALL THE PROMISES OF GOD IN HIM ARE YEA, AND IN HIM AMEN, UNTO THE GLORY OF GOD BY US." The Apostle previously to writing this Epistle to the Corinthians had resolved to repeat his visit to them, and so give them a second benefit or grace in preaching the Gospel to them. "When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness?" Or did I make a rash resolution, and act with levity ? "Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh ?" Do I seek my own gratification and advantage, "that with me there may be yea, yea, and nay, nay?" Not so. Whatever resolution, determination, or promise I may have made to come to you, I made it subject to the Lord's will. He calls God as a witness in the 18th verse. "But as God is true." He is the faithful and true witness, and with Him there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. "Our word," or our preaching, "was not yea and nay. There was as absolute a certainty about it as there is about God Himself. It was not "yea" in the morning, and "nay" in the evening. And when I promised to come to you, I did not say one thing and mean another, but hitherto I have been hindered from one cause or other. My purpose was subjected to the will of God. The Gospel preached to the Corinthians was not a contradictory one. It was all of a piece. "For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached unto you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in Him was yea.' It is as if he had said, there is no uncertainty in our preaching Jesus Christ. We do not say to you one thing to-day and another to-morrow. There is a consistency in what we say, "for if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?" If a minister preach a Gospel which is full of contradictions "yeas and "nays," who shall understand the way of Salvation, and gird himself for the Christian conflict? The Gospel of the Grace of God is a Gospel of truth and certainty in Christ Jesus. "For all the promises of God in Him are yea, and in Him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.' Let us now consider our text:-First, "the Promises of God;" Secondly, their certainty, "In Him yea, and in Him Amen; and Thirdly, the end in preaching them. "Unto the Glory of God by us." If I have time, I shall conclude by pointing out to you the difference between an absolute and a conditional promise as contained in the Scriptures. Consider first," the Promises of God." What are we to understand by God's promises? I shall tell you what I understand by them. They are God's gracious declarations to bestow abundantly upon His people His manifold blessings. These promises often include temporal, spiritual, and eternal blessings. If we desire to have clear views of the promises we must search the Scriptures for therein are they contained. This is the only way of becoming intelligently acquainted with the promises. Christ has been set up as the Head of the Church from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. |