Good morning, good to be with you once again. ♪ Hail, sing, glory to the newborn King ♪ ♪ Earth's proud and mercy mild ♪ ♪ God and sinners reconciled ♪ ♪ Joyful, all ye angels rise ♪ Christ is born in Bethlehem. Hark the herald angels sing. ♪ For the King ♪ ♪ Watch as I rise ♪ ♪ With the Lord ♪ ♪ Watch as we e'er ♪ ♪ The Lord behold ♪ ♪ Lift His eyes ♪ ♪ And behold Him come ♪ ♪ Watch as we are ♪ ♪ A virgin's birth ♪ Hail, then, Christ, the Son of Man! Hail, then, God, who reigns here! He that man did well to dwell, Jesus, Lord, He had you well. Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn King! Hail, the heaven-born Prince of Peace! Hail, the Son of Righteousness! Light and life to all he brings, Grace to him, healing in his wings. I'll take this lovely bride, On that magical holiday night. On to Christmas, on to health, On to heaven's second birth, ♪ Of the herald angels sing ♪ ♪ Glory to the newborn King ♪ ♪ Come, ye children of nature's love ♪ ♪ Sing, sing us thy humble song ♪ O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? Now in this state we'll give joy to thy pure heart. Now let's pray together, shall we? Father God, it gives us delight once again to be gathered here on a Lord's Day morning, the first day of another week. We just pray, Our Father, that this might be a time of blessing to us, but more than that, a time when your name will be made much of glorified, when the Lord Jesus Christ will be spoken well of. Our desire of our hearts this morning, Our Father, is to bring praise and worship to you, as we have done in the singing of this lovely hymn together. we do our Father want this morning, a hymn of praise to rise up from this place in honour of the Lord Jesus Christ and to the Father God in heaven. We just ask our Father that whatever is a situation in our lives at the moment, a problem, a difficulty, even something to rejoice in, we just pray our Father that we might for this short time together this morning concentrate our hearts and our minds upon the Lord Jesus Christ. and that we might, Our Father, take great joy, great pleasure in making much of Him together this morning. The world will have celebrated Christmas Day yesterday, but in so many places the Lord Jesus Christ will have been scantily thought of. He will not be part of that celebration at all. The joy of our hearts to think of Christmas this week and, Our Father, is very much centred upon the Christ of Christmas and how we rejoice in Him, our Father, and what He came into this world to do. He came, yes, as the Son of God, for that was who He ever was. He came as Emmanuel to be God with us. And He came, our Father, as Jesus, Saviour of the world. So, our Father, we praise and thank You for Him at the very outset of our gathering together this morning. We just pray, Our Father, that we might together this morning perhaps have a deeper appreciation of Him. For that's the desire of our daily lives, Our Father, that we might know more of Him, might walk more closely with Him. And so this morning, Our Father, we pray that everything said and done this morning here might be in honour of the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour. Pray for those who are not with us for one reason or another this morning, Our Father, There are some who will be tied up with necessary duties. There will be those, Our Father, who have to be at home because of their health and we just pray for them, Our Father. We think particularly of Bev and we do ask for her, Our Father, that you will be good and kind to her this morning. Give her some very sweet thoughts of the Saviour that will rejoice her heart, we pray. We pray for others, Our Father, who are unable to be with us. for one reason or another, that you will draw very close to them this morning, particularly if they are on their own and feeling lonely, Father, and be very good and kind to them, we pray. We pray, Our Father, for the fellowship here. Thank you for maintaining it over these many years. We just pray, Our Father, that it ever might be here, placed in Gordon Road, Halesham, as a beacon of light to the surrounding houses, to the surrounding neighbourhood. We pray, Father, that there might be those living close by who will be constrained to come in amongst the folks here and to hear of a Saviour who loves them, of one who seeks to be their Lord and their Master and to take them in a day to come to be with himself in heaven itself. So, our Father, we pray for the testimony here to encourage the folks that meet. and to encourage them particularly in seeing one and another coming amongst them and being gloriously saved. I pray for the preachers who occupy the pulpit here, that they might be those of the choosing of our Father God himself, as it were, that they might be those who are steeped in the Scriptures and the truth of it, and that the Gospel message is proclaimed from this pulpit in all its fullness. that others might hear and be much blessed. We pray for each other here this morning, Our Father, and just seek that whatever is on our minds at this moment might be satisfied and answered as we look into the Scriptures presently, that there might be a word for each one of us from Yourself. We pray, Father, indeed, that the Speaker might be completely lost aside of this morning, and that the Word of God might be glorified. that the Saviour viewed in all His risen glorified power. So, our Father, we think of the country in which we live in such dire circumstances, it seems, at the moment, and such an apathy towards Yourself and Your Word. We do pray, our Father, that there might even on this day be much done in the salvation of precious souls in this land in which we live, that folks might be turned from the their wicked ways to serve the true and the living God. We pray for the folks of this land, Father, that in all the problems and difficulties, particularly associated with the pandemic, we pray, Father, that they might be caused to reflect on their need of a Saviour, their need of a God in heaven to care for them. So, Father, we pray for our land, for our government, that they might, our Father, be influenced again by the things of your word, we just ask our Father that this might be so. We think across the world, dear friends in Sri Lanka that we have particular contact with, we do ask for them particularly again this morning, our Father. Perhaps suffering more grave difficulties than we ever anticipate to have in this land, We do pray for them, Our Father, to bless them this morning and to be with them and to encourage them as they will have met in like circumstances to bring praise and worship to you. So, Our Father, we return to ourself and just seek a blessing upon us this morning that we might go from this place rejoicing in the joy of your salvation, that we might, Our Father, go from this place rejoicing that once again we have met with the Father God. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus and for his sake. Amen. 180, our second hymn please. 180. Thou who was rich beyond all splendour, all for love's sake becamest poor, thrones for a manger did surrender, sapphire paved courts for stable foot of floor. 180. ♪ Thou who was rich beyond all splendor ♪ ♪ O God of sake, we came and gone ♪ ♪ From your own ancient land ♪ suffered a cost for stable floor. How he was rich beyond all splendor, full of sacred air. Amazing for all our sake we gave it life. You've been so good, mercy has made thick effort, my line eternal path. Thou who art God, beyond all praising, O God of salvation, ♪ Make every pain less mild ♪ ♪ Thou who art love beyond all credit ♪ ♪ Savior and King, we worship thee ♪ ♪ In the new world, you will reign ♪ Faith that thou wouldst have us see, Thou who art love beyond all telling, Savior and King, we worship thee. Now scripture reading this morning, please, is found in John's Gospel and chapter 20. John's Gospel and chapter 20. We'll commence to read, please, at verse 19. John's Gospel, chapter 20, verse 19. Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut and the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst and said unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he showed them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you. As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. And when he hath said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them, and whosoever sins ye retain, they are retained. But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see his hands, the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. After eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side, and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through his name. Who reads God's precious word? He will bless that public reading to us. Before we have a few thoughts on that particular passage, let's sing another hymn together please. 163. 163. Behold the great creator makes himself a house of clay, a robe of human flesh he takes, which he will wear for aye. 163. Beyond the grave the angel makes himself a house of prayer. Let it die, let it dwell forever. eternal birth, like a winged bird glides in hope of silver hills, O Lord, and golden-gray the vines. This wonder struck the Scott Rents a spear, he'll spear it again, then down he droops again. There was a man to build the site, a God of angels' names. And they shall say, the King divine, the Lord is King of kings. Just a brief word of prayer. Father, as we turn to your word, conscious of our own inadequacies in explaining it, in exploring it, we just pray, our Father, that the Holy Spirit might take of the things of Christ this morning from the pages of Holy Scripture and reveal them to our hearts and minds, that we might rejoice together in the Lord Jesus Christ this morning. Be with us in that to bless, Father, for we ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus, and for his sake. Amen. Is there something there when there appears to be nothing there? Well, I suppose we would say yes, that's quite often the case. Certainly at this particular moment. Gazing at you this morning, all wearing your masks very beautifully, because there is indeed something there that doesn't appear to be there. There's something hidden from us. We cannot see this virus that's ramping its way through the country, through the world at this moment. It's impossible to see it. And yet there is no doubt at all that it is there. They give it a name. It doesn't make any difference, does it? It doesn't make any difference at all that they give this virus a particular name. We still cannot see it. They show us pretty pictures of it on our television, round blobs with spikes sticking out of it. We still can't see this virus. Is there something there when there appears to be nothing there? Well, if the answer is yes, it's also no. It could be either yes or no. Because looking with the naked eye only gives us one, one view of a particular thing. I don't understand how a microwave oven works particularly. I dare say somebody can give me a scientific explanation of it, but I'm quite happy to put something into the microwave and press the buttons and it heats it up and cooks it. But I don't know how it works. I cannot see the infrared rays, I'm told, are what make it work. I cannot see them, these microwaves that they do cook. I don't understand how I can pick my mobile phone up and talk to somebody if I want to across the other side of the world. I cannot see the waves that come out of my phone. And yet there's no doubt that it is there. They tell me that astronomers have been putting great efforts recently in trying to understand the cosmos, understand the planets out there, and how far does it stretch. But they cannot. They cannot see that. They can see so far, but no further. There seems to be no end to it. And yet there seems to be something missing, which they're still searching for. The best they've come up with is that they can call it dark matter, whatever that is, out there. Something to do with the mass of gravitational forces generated by solid objects in space. Got it? That's what they tell me. I was thinking about it again recently, as recently actually as yesterday, because we had a large family gathering. And the folks were there and Christmas was on their thoughts and in their minds and on their lips. And they all had different ideas about it, no doubt. There were different facets of Christmas that interested them. And I guess if I went round the room here this morning and asked each of you to give me one word, one thing, that to you spoke of Christmas, we'd get perhaps nearly as many different answers as there are people here. Think of one thing this morning, will you? Think of one thing that speaks of Christmas. Now, in this august congregation I'm sure that most of you will be thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, that's good. But if we were to think of one other thing, if we were to go out there in the street and stop people and ask them, do a survey Give us one word that means Christmas. Somebody might say angels, another might say shepherds, another might say wise men, an angry king perhaps, animals, Mary, Joseph, the babe in the manger, a star. All these things might be answers to that particular question. Only one person hardly ever mentions In fact, at first glance, you would think that as we think of Christmas, and as folks think of Christmas, if you listen to the Christmas story, one person is overlooked so often, and that's the Holy Spirit. I wonder how many people this morning here, as we thought of Christmas, thought of the Holy Spirit. You see, the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is what is the major distinctive, is it not, of the Christian faith. It marks the Christian faith out as being completely unique that we have a triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is three persons in one. All are necessary. Now I don't want to major on a dissertation this morning about the Holy Spirit. Just simply to say this, that we believe from the pages of scripture that God is three persons in one. Just one small illustration. Think of prayer. The scriptures tell us quite strongly that we are to pray to the Father God. We offer those prayers through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we pray in the Spirit, in the Holy Spirit. three persons of the Trinity, three persons in one, all necessary to come together when we seek to pray to our Father God in heaven. It's a conception that many people find difficult perhaps to understand, particularly as we might talk to folks out there in the street. How can something be three in one. It just doesn't, it defies our human intellect perhaps. And yet, I know I've shared this thought with you before, but I'll do it again. We do that every day of our lives virtually, because we take water. The chemical symbol for water of course is H2O. Here it is in this glass, it's liquid. We can drink it, and it helps us to slake our thirst. But if we put it into a refrigerator or into a freezer, it will turn it into a block of ice. And you can't drink it then. You can certainly put a cube of ice into your mouth, but you can't drink it. It's changed completely into something completely different. And then again, if we put it on a heat and we heat it up and we boil it, it turns into a vapor and it disappears into the air. You certainly don't want to be trying to drink steam. But you get the thought that this H2O never changes in its composition. It is always H2O. And yet it can be three different forms, each doing something different. And yet it's still H2O. And that's my simple explanation of the Trinity, of God, three persons in one, all absolutely in harmony, reverently, the same chemical makeup, but doing separate jobs, having different functions in our lives. We have the Father God, Sovereign Lord of all. who rules the heavens and the earth. Go back to Psalm 18, if we had the time we'd read through that lovely psalm and we'd see David's appreciation of the Father God in heaven. Tremendous words David uses there and descriptions to describe the almighty God of heaven itself. Go into John 1 verse 4, chapter 4 and verse 14 and we read there that the Father sent the Son, the Saviour, of the world. The Lord Jesus Christ came to be the saviour of the world. We thought about him in our prayer as being Emmanuel God with us and yet being Jesus who came to save his people from their sins. We think then of the Holy Spirit. If we had time we'd go into John 14 and we'd read there of the Lord Jesus promising this comfort to come that will be with his people. And so you get the feeling of the triune God, three persons acting completely in union together, and each having his own particular function, his own particular action. And you say, well, that Holy Spirit, what does it have to do with me? Well, of course, We read there how the Lord Jesus Christ breathed on those disciples. They received the Holy Spirit. God breathed, Genesis tells us, God breathed and man became a living soul. Now the Lord Jesus Christ has come. He's lived that perfect sinless life. which enabled him, qualified him, and I say that reverently, to go to the cross at Calvary and give that perfect sinless life, the once for all sacrifice for sins. That was what he did when he went to the cross at Calvary. Now he's come back from the dead, raised from the dead on the third, the appointed day, and now he's going to go away from the folks of the world, but he wants to leave with them a comforter, the Holy Spirit. He breathes onto them and asks that they receive new life in the person of the Holy Spirit. Paul in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 2 tells us that received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. In Galatians, again, he says to them in chapter 4, and because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Pentecost was still to come beyond the reading that we had here in John's Gospel, chapter 20, when the Holy Spirit would descend from heaven and enter into each of those believers there on that particular day, filled they were with the Holy Spirit, filled to capacity No need for second blessings. They were entirely filled with the Holy Spirit. And that's what happens when folks believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit comes to live within each truly born-again believer. Comes to live within that believer in full measure. No need for second blessings. Or we can quench the Spirit. Or we can refuse to be filled with the Spirit day by day. but he's there in full measure available to us in that respect. And so we come back to Christmas and we think about the Holy Spirit being there active in Christmas. And we just need to go back to Luke's gospel in chapter one and verse 35. What does it say there? that the angel said unto Mary answered her and said the Holy Spirit shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. How important the Holy Spirit was in the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ into this world. the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world, born into this world in a completely different fashion from any person who had ever been born before and any person who has ever been born since. There was no communion between a man and a woman to bring the Lord Jesus Christ into this world. For that would have necessarily mean, and again I say it reverently, that the Lord Jesus Christ would have been born in sin. shaper than iniquity as David tells us. The Lord Jesus Christ was placed into Mary's womb by the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the angel tells Mary, that thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God and be holy. And I say, I know I keep using it, the thought that I'm saying these things reverently, but it is an absolute fact, isn't it, that the Lord Jesus Christ could be nothing but sinless, because he had nothing to do with a man and a woman coming together to produce a human being. Placed there by the Holy Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ would be nothing other than holy in his life, in his death and in his resurrection, holy in every respect. I know nothing about gardening particularly. I tried to name a plant this morning and was told I was wrong. It's not unusual in my experience. But I do know that if I buy a packet of bulbs and it says it's a daffodil on it and I put it in the ground, It's going to grow as a daffodil. It's not going to come up as a rose or a hyacinth or something. It can only be what it is, which is a daffodil bulb. It can't be anything other than that. So it was with the Lord Jesus Christ. Born of Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit, He was holy in every respect and could be nothing but holy. This reading we had just gave us some lovely thoughts which I just want to leave with you as we draw these thoughts to a conclusion. That the Lord Jesus Christ, as he breathed on these disciples and imparted to them the Holy Spirit, he was doing more than that, if you can imagine it. For what he says first of all, he says, peace I bring to you. When he had so said, he showed them his hands and his feet aside. Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord. And here it is. Then said Jesus to them again, peace be unto you. First recorded words of the Lord Jesus Christ since his crucifixion to a group of people. I know he had conversations with individuals, Mary at the tomb, for argument's sake. the two on the road to him. But here are a group of people, and the first words that they hear from the mouth of the risen Lord Jesus Christ, peace be unto you. Peace. Receive the Holy Spirit, but first, he says, I want you to have peace. And I thought about that recently, and I thought how unusual that was. There's no criticism from the Lord Jesus Christ of these disciples. There's no fault-finding. There's no rebuke. And yet, they treated him quite badly, hadn't they, at the cross, most of them. John was the only one who stood with Mary at the cross. The other disciples, it tells us, had all dispersed, had run away. Peter was to say to them, let's go fishing. You know, Jesus is dead, let's go. The Lord Jesus Christ could have come amongst them that morning, couldn't he, and criticised them. He could have blamed them for the way they behaved. He could have found fault with them. He could have reduced them, rebuked them, but no. Peace, he says, to you. Why could he say that to them? Why would they have peace? Because simply this, that through his death they received pardon. The Lord Jesus Christ knew that they could have pardoned for their sins through his death on that cross at Calvary. That death that he died there for the Father God was the way back to God for those who were sinners. It was the way they could come back to God. You see, he stood there before them that day bearing the marks of Calvary. Later in our reading we read how Thomas was challenged to put his finger in the print of the nails and thrust his hand in the side of the Lord Jesus. The Lord Jesus Christ bore those marks of Calvary. And those marks of Calvary spoke to those disciples on that day, peace and pardon for their sin. And if they spoke of peace and pardon, then incredibly the Lord Jesus Christ says, there's going to be a purpose for you now. There's going to be a purpose for you. In verse 21, Jesus said unto them again, Peace be unto you. As the Father has sent me, and the word sent there in the original text is a word of authority. As the Father has sent me with authority, he says, I'm going to send you. I send you. And that word send when he's speaking of us or of his disciples is the word that means under authority. The Lord Jesus Christ says the Father sent me with authority to go to the cross at Calvary and to secure peace for pardoned sinners through my death on that cross. Now he says I want to send you under my authority to go and to preach the gospel, to tell folks of this wonderful salvation that has been secured there. Peace, pardon, purpose. You say purpose? Me? What power have I got to be able to go out in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and to preach him as saviour of the world. What authority have I got? What authority has he given me? Simply this, the power of the Holy Spirit. In verse 22 he says, receive ye the Holy Spirit. What a wonderful God we have. What a wonderful saviour we have. that we recognize immediately our own inadequacies, our own impotence in seeking to promote the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. But God says, through Jesus, I know you don't have the power of yourselves. You're human beings. You are the product of man and woman coming together. But here's a holy person. Here is the holy Lord Jesus Christ. and he is going to breathe into you the Holy Spirit to give you the power and the courage and the authority to preach salvation in my name, the Holy Spirit name. Genesis 2 chapter 7 it says that God breathed and man became a living soul. Humanity was born. Now, now into that humanity is going to be breathed new life. new power. In six weeks time after this particular incident, it would be Pentecost and the Holy Spirit would fill, as we thought, the believers on that particular occasion. And ever since that day, every believer has been filled, as we have said, with the power of the Holy Spirit. A power that's available to all believers to enable them to carry out the purposes of God, the preaching of the Gospel. a spirit, a holy spirit. The holy spirit which speaks with authority, verse 23, can be so easily misconstrued. It's not that we can forgive sins, but that we can, through the preaching of the gospel, encourage folks to have their sins forgiven. Their soul's salvation depends on their accepting their sinful state and accepting that God can forgive their sins through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and fill them with the power of the Holy Spirit. A spirit of authority, a spirit of understanding. It is the Holy Spirit that enables us to understand the need of salvation and the way of salvation. A spirit too of cleansing and of power in the believers lives. You go into Acts chapter 2 and you read that lovely passage there of the early church and how that church is full of praise for their God. Praise with a new fervor because they're filled with the Holy Spirit. Preaching with a new power because they're filled with the Holy Spirit. Relating to one another in new love because they are filled with the power of the Holy Spirit. The challenge for us surely is this. Are we going to allow the Holy Spirit who came to us in full measure on our conversion, on our acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour. Are we going to live that, allow that same Holy Spirit to fill our lives every day, to cleanse us daily. and release from our redeemed hearts praise and worship to our Father God, to increase our understanding of the Word of God and all the things concerning Christ, allowing the Holy Spirit to become a power in our lives and to carry out the commission of our Saviour, to continue His work in the preaching of the Gospel. I send you under authority, Jesus says, to us today. What a wonderful gift it is, isn't it, to be given the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Our minds perhaps yesterday and those around us were much taken up with gifts, with presents that were being received. And to pretty much, as I noticed, People were very happy with the gifts they were given. They were something that they were going to enjoy. But I guess that some of those gifts might be hidden away and forgotten about. Perhaps not quite what the recipient wanted. You know, we need to pray daily, don't we? that the power of the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and dwells within each other, each of us, that it might be first and foremost used to the power, to the praise and glory of our Father God, and then also to the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, and then to the benefit of those who we seek to reach. Is there something there? we cannot see, and yet it is very much there, is it evident in our lives. Might it be so, for the glory of God and the honour of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 189, please. Thou Son of God and Son of Man, beloved, adored Emmanuel, who didst before all time began in glory with thy Father dwell. And the last verse says, blessed Savior, we are wholly thine, so freely loved, so dearly bought. Our souls to thee we would resign, to thee would subject every thought. 189. Our son of God and son of man, Moon is reborn, all thine be glad, in glory with thee. to answer all the sinner's cry. They suffer in the sin. ♪ Church, thy glory sings ♪ ♪ World, so firm thy will obey ♪ ♪ And Lord of lords and King of kings ♪ ♪ We tell the praise of thee ♪ And with delight the Lord obeyed. And then, in pure unhating faith, I saw a star. Saviour, we are all Thine. So bravely loved, so dearly loved. Our souls with Thee we would resign. So then, our Father, we return thanks to you for this time we've been able to spend together this morning. Blessed to us, we pray, that above all might it have brought honour to the name of the Lord Jesus, and glory and praise and worship to the Father God, in heaven himself. So we pray as we go on our way presently to be with us and to bless us through the rest of this day. Our Father, make us a blessing to those with whom we meet, we pray. And our Father, we just ask that it might be that we go with your blessing. We ask it in the name of the Lord Jesus and for his sake. Amen.