Oh, yes, I was there. Thank you. Hey! No, we're not going to. We're going in now. Thank you. Thank you. Oh. I've heard about my lady. This is what you call What if we could take a picture of that? Oh. I don't know. I don't know. oh oh give you all a very warm welcome to this morning's worship service. We're again grateful to our own pastor who'll be leading this time and bringing to us God's word. Later on today we meet around the table at 5.30. All are welcome who believe in the Lord Jesus and are in good standing with the local church. Our evening service is at six o'clock where our pastor will be again leading that time and bringing to us God's word. Ooh. Ooh. Ooh. he hath done marvelous things, and his right hand and his holy arm have gotten him the victory. The Lord hath made known his salvation, his righteousness hath he opened and showed in the sight of the heathen. He hath remembered his mercy and moved toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth make a loud noise and rejoice and sing praises. Let us turn for prayer. Almighty and ever-blessed God, we come to thee We acknowledge that thou art God, and thou art the all-victorious one, and we will bow our hearts before thee. Thou hast gotten us the victory through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and in his name we come to thee. We bless thee for thy mercy towards us, O Lord, as thy people, and we pray that thou would show us thy mercy again today. Favour us, O Lord, we pray. our latest sin heavenly father and accept us through the love now worship this morning we come to thee have all the glory for christ's sake amen Psalm 118, Psalm 118, we're singing verses 1 to 9, Psalm 118, verses 1 to 9, O praise the Lord for He is good, His mercy lasts forever, let those of Israel now say, His mercy fadeth never. Psalm 118, verses 1 to 9, and the tune is May. O praise the Lord, for he is good, His mercy lasts ever. Let those of Israel now say, His mercy they have never. Now let the house of heaven say, His mercy lasts forever. Let words that fear the Lord now say, His mercy faileth never. I in distress call on the Lord, The Lord did answer me. In the last place did we set, from trouble made me free. The mighty Lord is on my side, I will not be afraid. For anything that man can do, I shall not be his mate. The Lord doth take my part with them that help to succor me. Therefore on those attunement days, I mine ears I shall sing. Better is this to trusting God, and trust in man's defense. Better to trust in God than make with self-uncompetence. And our consecutive meeting this morning in God's Word is to be found in Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2. And we're going to read from verse 1 through to verse 17. Well, sorry, we read that. We're going to read from verse 18 through to verse 25. So Genesis chapter 2, and we're going to read from verse 18 through to verse 25. And the Lord God said, it is not good that the lamb should be alone. I will make him and help me for him. Now to death of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and fell at the end and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them. And whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found and held meat for him. And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept. And he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God hath taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh. And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. Amen. May the Lord bless the reading of his precious word. Well, let's turn to our psalm books to Psalm number 8 in light of what we've just read there. Psalm number 8, we're singing verses 1 to 5. And we consider here the Lord our Creator, but also we're led to consider the Lord Jesus Christ who came into this world in verse 5. There's a reference to the Lord Jesus made a little lower, that the angels, we think of angels not facing death, but our Lord came into this world facing death in order to save men and women, boys and girls. Psalm 8, verses 1 to 5, and we're sent to Winchester, thou excellent in all the earth, Lord our Lord, is thy name. Thou excellent in all the earth, Lord our Lord, is thy name. Who has Thy glory far above, above the starry frames? From infants and from sonnings now, Thou didst take good aim. For thine was most vassal, our might, In avenging foe restrained. When I look up unto the heav'n Which thy good fingers frame, Unto the moon I gaze, that which were by thee ordained. Then say, I, what is man, that he remember it by thee? O God, the Son of Man, that Thou shouldst mind to him shouldst be, For thou, a little lower house, Here hath the angels made, Our New Testament reading is to be found in 1 Peter chapter 1, and this week we're reading from verse 5. Let us hear God's Spirit. Where to get up the loins of your mind? grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the form of lust in your ignorance, but as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation, because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy. And if you call on the Father, who, without respect of persons, judges according to every Past the time of your sojourning here in fear. Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from your vain conversation, received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls and obeying the truth through the Spirit unto you, unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently. Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruption, by the word of God which liveth and abideth forever, For all flesh is as groweth, and all the glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof fadeth away, falleth away. But the word of the Lord endureth forever, and this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. Amen. May the Lord add the blessing to the reading of his precious word. Let us continue now in worship. Let's turn to the Lord. we come to Thee and we thank Thee that Thou art God, Thou art our Maker, not we ourselves. And we have read afresh of creation this morning and we have sung of it and we would with the psalmist wonder at how great Thou art, for we consider the work of Thy hands, Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast made. O Lord, we admire Thee, and who are we, O Lord? What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? Yet Thou hast been mindful of us, for Thou hast sent my beneficent Son, into this world and thou was mindful of him. And what a Redeemer, what a Saviour, we have read of his precious blood there in that reading. What a blessing this morning for those of us who believe that we are covered by his precious blood. Our sins are forgiven and through his whole life-giving, his righteousness, We are on our way to heaven. Oh, we thank thee for him. And as we meet our new Peter, we are mindful of those words, unto you who believe, he is precious. And we who are believing here this morning, oh, may we count him more precious this day. Oh, may he grow in our affection. an estimation of love. May we hold him nearer to our hearts. May we love him no more. Lord, we feel at times our love is so faint, but we can say with Peter of old, hear your down-lowers, that I love thee. Oh, today that our love would grow in this hour of worship and throughout this day as we remember afresh our risen, glorious Saviour, who rose victoriously on this, the first day of the week, the Christian Sabbath day, the Lord's day. O may our love for him increase. We pray for any without Christ here or listening online. We pray yet if it pleases them, they will be found esteeming Christ, holding him as precious, having believed in him. O we thank thee. for faith in Jesus Christ and may we, we who love thee here today, may we exercise faith in him. We do thank thee for thy goodness towards us this evening since last we met. We thank thee for thy mercy towards us yesterday in the time of fellowship and we thank thee for that good time and the profit of it and bless forever We pray. We do pray for those whom we love, O Lord. We commit them unto thee. We do pray for those in our families, those who are strangers to grace. O Lord, we pray open hearts, as thou didst open Lydia's heart, O Lord. We've been reminded this morning of marriage, and we do pray for those of us who are married here this morning. Help us to remember our duties, to be reading often of our duties in thy word. Those of us who are husbands, help us to sow them. Our wives, we pray. Lord, help us bless the marriages here, as the husbands and the wives. We see that thou hast ordained marriages, we have read this morning, for the mutual blessing and mutual help, and the help that is so needed. O Lord, our God, we pray that thou bless the marriages, protect the marriages, in the congregation and help us, we pray. Bless the children here. Oh Lord, we sung that song, we were reminded of the children and we thank you for those who sing thy praise, knowing the Savior. For those that don't love thee here, oh Lord, have it pleasing that the shepherd who picks up lambs in his arms would pick up the little children and bless them in a spiritual way. Would you pray that thou would remember us as thy people here in this place? Bless the preacher of thy breath this day. Speak to us, O Lord. As we think of that love that is put in the heart of the believer, oh may we exercise love, true love, to thee, to others, and to the brethren we beseech thee. Help us with this grace of love, may we act in love, may we pray in love, may we speak in love, may we walk in the footsteps of Christ. Would you pray for this nation? Would you remember our king today? We know that he will be here in scripture, read, and we pray for him in the royal household and others, we do give thanks to thee for thy mercy towards us as a nation in times past and at this present time, through times of blessing, through times of difficulty, through times of peace and through times of war, we give thanks for thy mercy. O Lord, how we need thy mercy at this present time. Oh, we so need Thee as a nation. So many today do not recognise the great need of Thee, but we do. Oh, come to us as a nation. Oh, Lord, there are so many who oppose Thee. May there be peace in the Gospel. Oh, Lord, we pray for a turning of the tide. May many flock to the house of God each and every week to worship Thee, rejoicing in Christ. Oh, have mercy, we pray. Look down from heaven. and show mercy in wrath, remember mercy to this nation. What have we done, O Lord? So many have forgotten thee, they have forgotten thy day, they have forgotten the truth. Have mercy, O Lord. We pray for the children here. May they yet live in a better day. Lord, there are so many challenges for us today and for children growing up in this country. Oh, we pray, turn the tide, how we long that the children here would live in a better country, that they would live in days of greater awareness of thy words. We pray for this nation. We look to thee, O Lord. We will remember the situations in this world at this present time. We do pray that thou bring the war to an end in Ukraine, and Lord also in the Middle East. We pray for thy true people. We pray, O Lord, that the gospel would sweep through the Middle East. Lord, we thank thee for what thou art doing, even in a day of conflict. But Lord, we pray thou who art the one who brings wars to a conclusion, that thou would bring that war in the Middle East to a conclusion, O Lord. Oh, we pray, we pray that many Jews would be converted, and many in their surrounding countries. Lord, we are thankful for what thou hast done in times past and in this present time. What thou hast done, thou hast saved so many in our arms. The BBC will not make it known, O Lord, but we know what is happening. O Lord, deliver thy people in Iran. We beseech thee, bring peace to that area, and may there be great freedom to worship thee, the living and the true God. O Lord, thou art the God of providence, and we recognize thy hand in regards to the United States of America over this past week. Will you pray that promises will be fulfilled and there will be greater freedom for thy people in that country to worship thee, to live for thee in a way that glorifies thee. Lord, we pray that thou will protect now more unborn children in that country, we pray. O Lord, hear our prayers, bless us, we pray. Help us this coming week, go before us, meet our every need, For those in the school and the home, be with them. For those away at university, we pray for them. For those in the workplace, we commit them to thee. We do pray for Raph in the hospital today. We do pray for her. May she know that peace in her heart. May she be still and know that thou art God. And bring her home this week, we pray. Lord, hear our prayer then. Undertake in every way, have the glory, for Christ's sake. Amen. Amen. Well, let's turn to our first praise, number 16. Number 16, verses 6 through to verse 11. Number 16, verses 6 through to verse 11. the Lord Jesus Christ. You can read this in Acts chapter 2 and in other places. We consider here the Lord is rejoicing as he looked forward, particularly we notice the resurrection of Christ in verse 10. And it's our confidence and peace, because He rose again, we who love Him. We will know life after death and life on that great day. Psalm 16, we're singing verses 6 to 11, and the tune is, Well I Need. Unto me happily align In pleasant places found, Yea, these inheritance I got, In beauty doth excel. I bless the Lord because He doth bind us, though we are dumb. And in the seasons of the light, my reins do be in strife. Before me still, the Lord I said, She did it so that He I shall never stand at my right hand, I shall not move it be. Because of this my heart is glad and joy shall be expressed. In mind my glory and my flesh, In confidence shall rest. Because my soul, in grave to dwell, shall not be left by thee. No will from Him, Thine holy One, corruption to see. Thou wilt me show the path of life, of joys there is no storm. Behold thy face, and thy right hand, of pleasures evermore. Just before we turn to the Word of God, let me just remark that the TBS calendars have arrived, and let's pray for the distribution of them in this area. But also as we think of that, we pray for the distribution of the Wessex auxiliary, particularly from now on to the end of the year, as many calendars will go into the prisons, but also into the military establishments in this area so do pray for that as the word of God goes into the locality but also further afield in this area into the prisons and into the military establishments that the Lord would bless many in those establishments with his word but also in this community. Do pray for that from this time on to the end of the year. Well let's return this morning to our series in Peter and we've arrived at verse 22, 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 22. Dear congregation, The Apostle John wrote in 1 John 3 verse 14, we know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brethren abideth in death. There's an evidence of true love, love in the soul, that we love the brethren. Now genuine true love is a mark of grace. What do I mean by a mark of grace? Well, there are certain marks of grace, certain evidences that one is saved, that there is a saving work, there has been a saving work done within. The evidence that one is a true believer. Now we have that in 1 John 3 verse 14. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. And if you follow that through, one has a new life in Christ. One is not now spiritually dead, living for this world. No, one has a new life in Christ. And a mark of grace there is that they love the brethren. Now it's important to consider these things because there are many who are disciples in name but not in truth, as there was in our Lord's day here upon earth. In John 6 verse 66 we read, from that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. They were disciples in name. We're not thinking of the twelve. We remember that in the twelve there was one who was not a true disciple. But we're not thinking of the twelve there. We're thinking of others who were known as disciples. But there came a day the Lord was ministering and they just couldn't accept what he had said. And so they went away. They were disciples in name but not in truth. They weren't the Lord's. Outwardly, they were following. Outwardly, they prayed. Helpfully they sang praise with our Lord and others, but they didn't know the Lord in their hearts. There was no saving grace within. Disciples in name, but not in truth. Having a profession of faith, but not having saving faith within. And sadly today in the Visible Church, there are a number, many will gather today in churches and chapels of our land, Not all love the Lord by a long way. And there are those who come regularly to services in the country. They go through a time of worship, they're joining with the prayer, but they don't know the Lord. Disciples in name, but not in truth. The true believer, the true disciple, though they may struggle at times with assurance, will bring forth that they are a true believer. Faith, true faith in the Lord, that's an evidence, isn't it? Repentance, that's an evidence. Repent ye and believe the gospel. We read in Mark chapter one, where there is true repentance. A mourning over sin, knowing that sin is offensive to the Lord and seeking forgiveness, that's a mark of grace. We think of a certain lady in Luke seven who came in where our Lord was, she was weeping. Now the Lord speaks about faith, but also she was weeping because she was repenting of her sin. She felt her sin. Well, we can think of faith, repentance, evidences or marks of grace of a work the Lord has done with him, but then also consider love here this morning. What did the Lord Jesus Christ say in John 13, verse 35? By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples. if ye have love one to another. Now it's interesting there. All men shall know, others will look on. There's a believer, there's a follower, because they have love towards the brethren. There's a mark of grace. Is there true love with them? Now we read here in verse 22, seeing ye have purified your souls and obeying the truth through the Spirit unto untrained love of the brethren, seeing that ye love one another with a pure heart, fervently. Now the Apostle Peter here, inviting to the brethren that were scattered abroad, sets forth Christ in this chapter, the precious Redeemer. We read of him this morning in those words. For as much as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from your paying compensation, received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ. Well, Peter, he sets forth Christ, the only Redeemer, the only Savior, with a blessing to have faith in Him and to love Him. Well, he sets forth the precious Redeemer and makes abundantly plain that through him one has true faith. Now notice verse 21. Who by him do believe in God? Without believing, because of him there's true faith within. The apostle Paul speaks of the true faith in the part of Timothy's grandmother and his mother. In 2 Timothy 1 verse 5, when I call to remembrance the unfamed faith, there's no hypocrisy, it's true, the unfamed faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother, Louis, and thy mother, Eunice, and I am persuaded that in thee also, true faith. Now one may say they believe in Jesus, many say that, but they do not look to him, they're not truly believing. Yes, they may believe he was born at Bethlehem, but they haven't got true faith, they're not looking, they're not leaning, they're not looking on him for salvation. But Timothy and his mother and his grandmother, there was faith within, there was a mark of grace. Who by him do believe in God, verse 21, there's true faith, where the Apostle goes on to speak of true love in verse 22. Now just notice these words, seeing ye have purified your souls and obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren. By grace they have been given faith, where they as believers have a new life within. Their sins were covered, they were justified. seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto end-chained love." They had this new life. They were cleansed because of the precious blood of Jesus. In 1 Cor 6, verse 11, we read, and such were some of you, but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. They're covered. their sins, they're justified. And then further, they're sanctified, and further helped in sanctification. And that's what we see in verse 22, seeing as purifying your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, and to unfeigned love the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart, fervently. One's being cleansed, their sins principle what we call of grace within. But now they're concerned to exercise love and as they seek to be more holy, as they consider sanctification, they're to be loving one another with a pure heart, fervent pain. So that's a little of the background of our text this morning. What a blessing to have our sins forgiven because of the precious blood of Jesus. To have a new life, And now to live for Him, to be more like Christ, to seek to be holy, we're having this new life, having Christ within. Oh, to exercise love with a pure heart, fervently. Well, for the remainder of the time this morning, I'd like us to consider just two things. First of all, true love. And then secondly, love in operation. And we have that here, don't we? seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the Brethren." There's love within. Remember how we looked at John 1, Robert 1, John 3, verse 14? You know that he had passed from death unto life because he loved the Brethren. Well, here's true love here in our church. And then we'll see the operation, or the exercise of love. See that ye love one another with a pure heart, fervently. Now just before we consider this, sadly in this country there is so much hatred. And the reality is this, that so few have this precious grace of love with them. Yes, we'll consider in a moment there's a natural love, but also there's a sinful love. and there is absent in the hearts of so many this grace of love. So few love the Lord, and so few love the Brethren. No wonder we see great difficulties in our nation. Well, let's consider first of all true love. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfamed love of the Brethren. His true love, this spiritual grace of love within. When we do have this true love, it's a mark of grace, isn't it? We're loving the Lord, we love the brethren. Let's love the brethren. Let's exercise love. See that ye love one another with a pure heart, fervently. The Holy Spirit puts this grace of love within. In Galatians 5, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. The first part or the first fruit, individual fruit, is love. It's of the Holy Spirit. Let me ask you, has the Holy Spirit come to your soul? Has he put life within? Has he put faith within? Has he put love within? Now we think of a spiritual grace or fruit and it's only found in the hearts of true believers. 1 John 3 verse 14 again. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. There is love, love in the soul, love to God, and love to the brethren. Now as we think of this love, this grace of love, which is different from a natural love, it's there in the soul because of God. We love him because he first loved us. It began on his side. By nature, we wouldn't be found loving the Lord or the brethren with this spiritual grace within. It begins with God. It's because of his grace and the covenant of grace. It's because of Christ who came into the world and gave his life. Remember those words, greater love hath no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends. What a blessing, what a blessing to be a friend of Jesus. Are you a friend of Jesus? He's the great Redeemer, He's the Saviour. Can you say with the church and the believer, in the Song of Solomon, 5 in verse 16, yea, He is altogether lovely, this is my beloved, and this is my friend. I can tell you this morning. Can you say of Jesus, this is my friend. What greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend. It began with him. If there's love in your soul for Jesus, If there's love in your heart for the prophet, it's because of him. It began on his side. Do you love God? The Lord Jesus Christ is here in a spiritual way. Where two or three are gathered together, there I am in the midst of them. Yes, he's with his people all the time, but in a very spiritual way and a very special way. He is with his people in the gatherings of the saints. He's listening. to you, speaking of your love to them. Just turn to Psalm 116 verse 1, I love the Lord. Can you say that to Jesus this morning, right now? Is there this evidence of grace that you are born again, you have a new life, you're believing, because there's love in your heart for Jesus and you have love for the brethren. Yes, we're all different. And we've all got our strong points and our weak points. And believers can be difficult at times, but the true believer loves the brethren. Oh, as the Lord looks on this morning, does he know there is love in your heart? Does he see the exercise of true love? Now, you remember those words of Peter on that day when the Lord met with him and questioned him concerning his love? Three times Peter denied the Lord Christ. Our Lord questions Peter concerning his love three times. And Peter responds on the day of resurrection. Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. Can you say that from the bottom of your heart this morning? Yes, your love may not be strong at times. At times my love for the Lord is so weak and faint. But can you say, yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee. Can you say it to Jesus now? Are you responding to Jesus? I love the Lord, Sister Solomon, in Psalm 116. And in Psalm 18, I will love thee. What does that mean? I'm going to exercise more love for Jesus. Because there's true love in my heart. Can you say that to the Lord this morning? I love thee now. Do my love seem so faint at times? And I will love thee. I'm going to love thee. That is, I'm going to exercise more love. I'm going to tell thee often that I love thee. One desires to know more of the love of Christ. Turn with me to the Son of Solomon, chapter one. The Son of Solomon, chapter one. Here's the believer, here's the church, desiring to know more of the love, more of the love of Christ. Chapter one, verse two. Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for thy love is better than wine. Think of kiss as a sign of love and affection, isn't it? Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. It's more precious. Then wine, wine is lasting and refreshing. Consider the love of Christ. It's more lasting and it's more refreshing. Oh, we desire to know more of His love. Oh, let's show Him more of our love to Him. I love the Lord. Love to someone beloved. Now, we've heard the children at times, haven't we? In an affection, affectionate way, say, I love you, mum. I love you, dad. And you children here this morning, you say that to your mum and your dad, don't you? I love you. I love you, grandfather. I love you, granny. I love you. Can you say to the Lord now, I love you, Lord. Thou knowest that It may be you haven't said it for a while before this service, but you're saying it now. What a blessing. I love thee, she in Smirgin wrote, a blessed declaration. Every believer ought to be able to declare without the slightest hesitation, I love the Lord. It was required under the law, but was never produced in the heart of man except by the grace of God and upon gospel principles. It is a great thing to say, I love the Lord, for the sweetest of all graces and the surest of all evidences of salvation. some believe a struggle of assurance. Sometimes they may be strong, but the situation comes and they so struggle. There was a certain minister in Scotland, the Reverend John J. Murray, he's with the Lord now. He did so much good for the church in this country. He was such a lovely, gracious man who preached Christ, but after his second daughter died, He was so depressed. And after many years of walking with the Lord, he began to question, was he really the Lord? He was. And I remember saying to him on one occasion, you may not feel you have love in your heart, but the Lord knows because he put it there. Some believers struggle. It can be greatly used, but then there comes a situation and doubts arise. The devil fires his dart. But all this love in the soul. You may struggle at times, but the Lord has put love in your heart, dear child of God, and you can say, I love the Lord. You may say, I fail thee, Lord. I do. I let thee down, Lord. I do. I don't love thee as I ought to. I do. I don't love the Lord as I ought to. But you can say, I love the Lord. for you to say to the Lord this morning, the Maker, we consider Him this morning, to say to the Lord, the Saviour, I love Thee. To say to the Holy Spirit, who so loves the souls of believers, Romans chapter 15, I love Thee. Can you say to the Triune God this morning, I love Thee, and I want to love Thee again and again. I want to show more love to Thee. Oh, keep renewing your love. You husbands, you tell your wives often, don't you? That you love them. And you wives, you do the same. You children, you speak of love. Speak of love. Can you speak of love for the Lord Jesus? I love the Lord. True love in the soul. Notice these words here. Through the spirit unto unfeigned love. True love. Let me say this. How amazing it is. for a sinner to love the Lord. How amazing it is that I'm a fan of loving the Lord, and you who love the Lord here this morning. It's an amazing thing, isn't it? To be loving the Lord, all that's loving, and be thankful for Him. Now we're thinking of the true grace of love. Now that was a natural love. That's plain, isn't it? In Genesis 24 verse 67 we're told Isaac brought her, that is Rebekah, into his mother Sarah's tent and took Rebekah and she became his wife and he loved her. And Isaac was comforted after his mother's death. There's a natural love. And we meet unconverted people, don't we? And we can tell they have a natural love within. We who love the Lord here this morning, we have love, don't we? But we meet others, they have a natural love. There's many a husband who doesn't love the Lord, but loves their wife with a natural love. Then think of children. You children here this morning, you love your mum and dad. You love your brothers and sisters, don't you? You may not always want to give them a kiss, but you love them, don't you? It's a natural love, isn't it? That's true. We meet some very loving people. And in this village nearby, I can think of some very loving people who have a natural love within. You can think of some friends. They love you. They care for you. We read in Proverbs 18 verse 24, there is a friend that's taken closer than a brother. Before we consider the Lord Jesus Christ there, we can consider a close friend, a loving friend. In times of disaster, natural disasters, in times of war, a natural love has been revealed. You think of those husbands who went off to war. recently and down through the years and at this present time. Out of love to their lives, love to their family. You think of those on the battlefield who had a love towards their comrades and helped them. Others buried the dead because of love within. So there's a natural love, isn't there? Sadly, there's a sinful love. A sinful love. The love of money. Money is useful. It's helpful, isn't it? But if money gets into the heart, if one lives for money, that's not good, isn't it? The Puritan Thomas Watson uses an illustration of a ship. The water is useful for the sailing of the ship, but the danger is when the water gets into the ship. And money, wealth, is useful, isn't it? It's useful as we live in this world, but the danger is, when we love it, and we're living for it, and we're not loving the Lord and living for Him, there's a sinful love, where we fall to the natural love, a sinful love sadly. But here we're considering the special grace of love that's only found in the hearts of the believer. We know that we are passed from death unto life because we love the Brethren. We're born again. We're believing in Jesus. We have this love in our hearts. Love to the Lord. It's played, isn't it, so many. Lully may have a natural love, don't love the Lord. But the believer has love to the Lord and has love to the brethren. Our time has passed and we must draw to a close. But let's just very briefly consider now love in operation. See that ye love one another with a pure heart, fair and clean. There's love within. There's to be this exercise of love. Let me use an example. Think of a husband who loves his wife. He has love in his heart. He exercises that love. He cares. He helps. He treats his wife at times. There's the operation of love. Think of parents. They have love in their heart for their children. So sometimes when they're away, they call them, they message them, they see how they're doing. There's the operation of love. And where there's the operation of love, there's the evidence of true love within. We have it here. Seeing you purify your souls in obeying the truth, through the Spirit unto unfamed love of the brethren, seeing that ye love one another with a pure heart, fervently. Love in operation. First of all, it's not a famed love. We read in verse 22, unfamed love. There's true love, and the love in exercise is to be true, without hypocrisy. When one speaks a word, I love you, What do you say? Psalm 55 verse 21, the words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil, yet were drawn so outwardly. His words smoother than butter, but there was war in the heart. When we speak of love, it must be true. hypocrisy, unfeigned love, true love, and unfeigned love in operation. A cleansed man, their sins forgiven, a new life is to love with a pure heart, verse 22, with a pure heart fervently. and how we need to exercise love, and how we need to focus on loving one another in sincerity. There's the old matter within, there's indwelling sin, and there's a battle. Pride can arise, bitterness can arise. All we need to do with these things, and we need to act in love with a pure heart. Now notice these words here, pure, clean, clear, no hypocrisy, no pretending. not half-hearted, not slack when we think of fervently, earnestly, clear, earnest. Such a love, a pure heart, fervently, clear, genuine. You know when one isn't being genuine, don't you? Let us always be genuine as believers in the way we speak and act. But not just genuine, clean, clear, but earnest. Not half-hearted. I remember when I was a boy, my chore was to get the coal in. I was hardly fervent about that. Often half-hearted. I didn't want to get the coal in. Yes, I enjoyed sitting next to the fire when the fire was going, but getting the coal in. I wasn't earnest. Let us always be earnest in our love. Such love in operation. We need to deal with seven. We need to exercise love. For some it may be a kiss. Not all brothers like to give their sisters a kiss. But some it is a kiss, isn't it? What do we read in 2 Corinthians 13, verse 12? Greet one another with a holy kiss. 1 Peter 5, verse 14. Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with all that are in Christ Jesus. A kiss. Operation. For some it's not a kiss. For some they know an embarrassment. That's understandable. But in some other way. We're to show our love. For some in certain circumstances it may be a kiss of love, but not in other circumstances. But love in operation. Now at this point turn with me to 1 Corinthians 13 verse four through to verse seven. And here we see these evidences of love. Charity or love. Charity suffereth long and is kind. Charity envieth not. Charity, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, does not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, rejoiceeth not in iniquity, but rejoiceeth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. There's love in operation. Oh, there's so many sermons there, perhaps we'll look at that in the near future. It's good for A couple to consider those words. Often those words have been read at a wedding. Love charity in operation. See that ye love one another with a pure heart for everything. Humbly acting for the Lord's glory. Being sincere. This is what the Lord exhorts us here to do. Now, if we consider love, sadly, there was sin in our hearts and there was sin in the hearts of others. And we mustn't condone sin or excuse sin. But in love, forgiveness is intimated where there is repentance. Sadly, there is a sinful covering of sin, which is the opposite of forgiveness. Turn with me to Proverbs 10, verse 12. Hatred stirreth up strife. but love covereth all sins. In another place we read in Proverbs 28, he that covereth his sins shall not prosper. That's a sinful covering. But the opposite to that is forgiveness. Well, there's much we could say here. How important it is that we love one another. We've thought of a holy kiss. There's other ways we can show love to one another. There's forgiveness, where there's true repentance. And then there's support, prayerful support. Remember those words in Acts 12 verse 5, Peter therefore was kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. Peter, he's in prison, but the church in love of prayer. And in love we pray for one another, don't we? Maybe in some difficult situation, when our hearts go out to them, our love is stirred, we make our prayer unto the Lord. We can support one another in prayer, that's exercising love. And then in other ways, 1 John 3 verse 16, hereby we perceive we the love of God because he laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives to the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brotherhood need, and shutteth up his vows of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and truth. What does that mean? Well, some people say they love one, But that's as far as it goes. Let there be the evidence of true love within, where we can serve one another in different ways. It's a sign of love. We haven't got time. Time has gone now. But you read through Matthew 25, helping, serving, visiting, as unto Christ. It's done unto Christ, isn't it? when we serve the brethren, when we're to serve the Lord in love. Galatians 5 verse 13, for brethren, ye have been called unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. We're to serve one another in love. We're to love as the people of God. 1 Peter 3 verse 8, Finally, be of all one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous. Love as brethren. I see much love in this church. And this church is known for its love towards the brethren. Let's continue to love one another. It's good to be reminded of this because we've all got sin within. Let's not point the finger at anyone else. Let's remind ourselves we've all got sin within, and our sin can be a hindrance in the fellowship of the church. Let us love as brethren. Let these good things in this church be strengthened and continued. Why do we love the brethren? William Tyndale questioned this. Why we love the brethren is because of Christ. Oh, we love Christ, don't we? And so we love the Brethren. He's our great example. I close with these words from Ephesians 5, verse 1 and 2. Be ye therefore followers of God as their children, and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us, and have given himself for us an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling Saviour. Walk in love as Christ also hath loved us. You children, Do you sometimes act like your mum and dad? Do you try to copy them? I used to. I used to try and copy my dad and my mother in the things they said and the things they did. Oh, let's seek to walk in Christ's ways. Let's seek to follow his example. What an example He has left us. John 15 verse 13, greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend. What a sacrifice! Christ came into the world and died on the cross. What love! Let us have a sacrificial love. You husbands here, you have a sacrificial love, don't you? To your wife. Let's all have this sacrificial love to one another. What a blessing! to be loving the Lord. Let's love one another for his glory. Amen. Let's turn to our final praise, Psalm 122. Psalm 122, verses 6 to 9, to the tune of Southwell. Pray that Jerusalem may have peace and felicity. Let them that love thee and thy peace have still prosperity. Therefore I wish that peace may still within thy walls remain, and ever may thy palaces' prosperity retain. Now for my friends and brethren's sake, Psalm 127. Pray that Shavuot shall ever bring us peace and finished duty. Let them that love Thee have Thy peace and still prosperity. Therefore I wish that peace may still Within thy courts remain, And never may thy palaces Prosperity retain. Now for my friends and brethren's sakes, meet thee in me, I'll say. And for the last of God, our Lord, I'll seek thy good away. O gracious God, how amazed we are to be able to say to Thee now, I love Thee. O may it be that we who love Thee, we would love Thee no more. And for any here who are without Christ and listening online, if it pleased Thee, yet they would be able to join in in declaring love to Thee with a heart of faith. Having love within, help us to love one another with a pure heart, fervently. Help us to deal with our own sin and to exercise great love for thy glory, we pray. We thank thee for the things that remain in this place, the love that is so evident. May it just continue to flourish and increase. May more in this community, more in other places, know of the love of the congregation here in Israel. Hear us, O Lord, help us, we pray, for Christ's sake. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the keeping of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen.