Christ's Very Own - Part 1 — Ian Paisley

It gives me great pleasure to call upon our moderator to bring to us the word of the Lord, Dr. Peter. I'd like to say how happy I am to be with you on this special historic occasion. I have pleasant memories of this church.

I remember when we had our first mission here and we had a tent, and the tent didn't keep out the rain. The rain went in through the tent. People sat with their umbrellas up in the tent, and all I could see was dark umbrellas, and I had to preach through the umbrellas to reach the hearts of the people.

God's Mysterious Providence and the Growth of the Church

But God moved in a mysterious way. Then, of course, we went into the tin church, and the tin church was a church always enlarging because when they needed more space, they just put on a few more sides of tin, and the next time you came, the church was growing, and then it grew and grew and grew, and the Lord was with us.

And here we have this beautiful building now, the accelerated buildings that have been built, and the outreach. I was glad to hear of that outreach going on here, there, and yonder, and people seeking for souls.

Open-Air Evangelism and People Coming to Christ

We have a gospel open air service at the City Hall every Friday, and last Friday, there was a lady who came down to come to Christ, and she had to wait for almost an hour for the start of the service, and immediately it started.

She approached one of the workers and said, I've come down to come to Christ, and she got gloriously sealed by the grace of God. Sometime ago, a young Roman Catholic lad who came out with his friends to cheer at us, but he jeered a while, and then God touched his heart, and at the end of that open air, I had the joy of pointing him to Jesus Christ.

Prayer for the Gospel's Power in the City

So do pray for us in the center of the city every Friday. Lift your heart to God, that God will bless the preaching of the gospel. God does bless the preaching of the gospel. We had a soul who came through for Christ this morning when my son was preaching for us in the martyrs, and the previous Sunday, we had two souls who came through for the Lord.

And we're looking for signs following the preaching of the gospel. Let's stand to our feet for a word of prayer. I take the promised Holy Ghost, the blessed power of Pentecost, to fill me to the uttermost.

I take, thank God, he undertakes for me. And the people of God said, Amen. That's a pure Amen. The people of God said, Amen. You may be seated. The Holy Scriptures teach us that our blessed Lord was rich.

Christ's Humiliation and His Claims as His Very Own

But by his first advent, born into this world, he became poor. It is therefore essential for us, in our study of the New Testament, to find the things that the Lord Jesus Christ still claimed as his very own, although he had left the glories of the Father's house and the wonders of the kingdom that is above.

He specially marked out, when he was upon this earth, things that he called his own. I have counted in the New Testament twenty-four things which Christ especially mentioned when he was on earth as his very own.

Christ Rejected by His Own Nation

You get one of them in John's Gospel, chapter 1, which our brother read for us. Verse 11, he came unto his own, and his own received him not. This is in reference to his own nation. He came unto his own nation as the king of the Jews, but his own nation received him not.

The nation which was his very own, by the divine decree of God's election and foreordination, they rejected their king. They received him not. What scheme is this? The scheme of sin, vile rebellion, and disengagement.

Christ left all heaven to come for them, but they would not leave the least thing on earth for him. How terrible is the delusion of sin, and how awful is the ungratitude of the sinful soul. The hymn writer wrote the words, Corruptions like vapors shall rise, Light, love, and delight shall be gone,.

The sun shall be dark in the clouds, As hell and its legions come on. And we can see hell and the legions of hell marching on today in this sinful world. Oh, the hardness of hearts produced by the wickedness and rebellion against the king of kings.

The World's Rejection of Christ and the Hardness of Sin

This charge was written by the Holy Spirit here in the first chapter of John. He came unto his own, his own nation, but they received him not. God so loved the world, but the world by wisdom knew not God its creator.

I lay this charge this night solemnly against this world, as it was laid against Israel when Jesus came to it. Christ has come unto his own, and his own received him not. You turn over the leaves of the Holy Word of God, and you will see the acts of love that God made to redeem the race of fallen men.

God's Choice of Abraham

He made choice of Abraham to be the patriarch of the people of God. Abraham was chosen.