Song Sheets & Sermon

All Creatures of our God and King 

Verse 1

 All creatures of our God and King,

 lift up your voice and with us sing

 O praise him, alleluia

 Thou burning sun with golden beam

 Thou silver moon with softer gleam

 O praise him, O praise him

 alleluia, alleluia 

 alleluia

Verse 2

Thou rushing wind that art so strong

Ye clouds that sail in Heav'n along

O praise Him alleluia

Thou rising moon in praise rejoice

Ye lights of evening find a voice

O praise Him O praise Him

      Alleluia alleluia alleluia

Verse 3

Let all things their creator bless

and worship him in humbleness

O praise him, alleluia

Praise, praise the Father 

praise the Son

and praise the Spirit

three in one

O praise him, O praise him

alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Before the Throne of God Above

Verse 1

Before the throne of God above

I have a strong and perfect plea

A great High Priest whose name is Love

Who ever lives and pleads for me

My name is graven on His hands

My name is written on His heart

I know that while in heav'n He stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart

No tongue can bid me thence depart

Verse 2

When Satan tempts me to despair

And tells me of the guilt within

Upward I look and see Him there

Who made an end to all my sin

Because the sinless Saviour died

My sinful soul is counted free

For God the Just is satisfied

To look on Him and pardon me

To look on Him and pardon me

Verse 3

Behold Him there the risen Lamb

My perfect spotless righteousness

The great unchangeable I Am

The King of glory and of grace

One with Himself I cannot die

My soul is purchased with His blood

My life is hid with Christ on high

With Christ my Saviour and my God

With Christ my Saviour and my God

SONGS DURING COMMUNION: (GRACE)

Verse 1

Your grace that leads this sinner home

From death to life forever

And sings the song of righteousness

By blood and not by merit

Verse 2

Your grace that reaches far and wide

To every tribe and nation

Has called my heart to enter in

The joy of Your salvation

Chorus

By grace I am redeemed

By grace I am restored

And now I freely walk

Into the arms of Christ my Lord

Verse 3

Your grace that I cannot explain

Not by my earthly wisdom

The prince of life without a stain

Was traded for this sinner

Chorus

By grace I am redeemed

By grace I am restored

And now I freely walk

Into the arms of Christ my Lord

Verse 4

Let praise rise up and overflow

My song resound forever

For grace will see me welcomed home

To walk beside my Saviour

Chorus

By grace I am redeemed

By grace I am restored

And now I freely walk

Into the arms of Christ my Lord

 In Christ Alone

Verse 1

In Christ alone my hope is found

He is my light my strength my song

This Cornerstone this solid Ground

Firm through the fiercest drought and storm

What heights of love what depths of peace

When fears are stilled when strivings cease

My Comforter my All in All

Here in the love of Christ I stand

Verse 2

In Christ alone who took on flesh

Fullness of God in helpless babe

This gift of love and righteousness

Scorned by the ones He came to save

Till on that cross as Jesus died

The wrath of God was satisfied

For every sin on Him was laid

Here in the death of Christ I live

Verse 3

There in the ground His body lay

Light of the world by darkness slain

Then bursting forth in glorious Day

Up from the grave He rose again

And as He stands in victory

Sin's curse has lost its grip on me

For I am His and He is mine

Bought with the precious blood of Christ

Verse 4

No guilt in life no fear in death

This is the power of Christ in me

From life's first cry to final breath

Jesus commands my destiny

No power of hell no scheme of man

Can ever pluck me from His hand

Till He returns or calls me home

Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me

Verse 1

What gift of grace is Jesus my redeemer

There is no more for heaven now to give

He is my joy my righteousness and freedom

My steadfast love my deep and boundless peace

To this I hold my hope is only Jesus

For my life is wholly bound to his

Oh how strange and divine I can sing all is mine

Yet not I but through Christ in me

Verse 4

With every breath I long to follow Jesus

For he has said that he will bring me home

And day by day I know he will renew me

Until I stand with joy before the throne

To this I hold my hope is only Jesus

All the glory evermore to him

When the race is complete still my lips shall repeat

Yet not I but through Christ in me

Sunday, May 24, 2026

Ebenezer CRC, Trenton, ON

Scripture: Psalm 32:8-10

Message: Led by the Spirit Within

[Slide 1] – Title Slide

         Most of us have had those days where we wish God would simply write his will in the sky for us.  We’ve been wrestling with trying to understand his will and we’ve thought, “Wouldn’t it be nice to have a burning bush experience like Moses?” [Slide 2] God left no guess-work for Moses.  His instructions were clear; his voice was direct: “Moses: you’re to lead my people out of Egypt.”  Wouldn’t you love to hear God speak so plainly?

         Moses had his bush, but there were others too. Gideon had his fleece, for instance.  Abraham had his three angelic visitors who came to his tent.  Ezekiel had his spinning wheels that sparkled like chrysolite.  Israel had their pillar of cloud by day and their pillar of fire by night.  Even Balaam had his donkey!

         We think, “Wow! [Slide 3] “Why won’t God reveal his will to me in the same way he did with so many in the Old Testament?

         We’ve ALL probably found ourselves thinking that way at times.  But here’s the irony: I’m convinced that not a single saint in the Old Testament would ever keep their experience of God if they could trade it in for OUR experience.  In fact, they LONGED for our experience of God.  [Slide 4]

They longed for the experience Isaiah described: that God would one day pour out his Spirit on their offspring, and his blessing upon their descendants (Is 44:3). 

They longed for the experience that Ezekiel described: that God was going to put a new heart and a new Spirit in his people (Ez 36:26-27). 

They desperately wanted to experience the promise God had given them through the prophet Joel: “I will pour out my Spirit on all people.   Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.   Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days.” 

And, of course, all of those prophecies – all of those longings were fulfilled – with the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost.

         You see: what the OT saints prophesied and longed for was what we have received: the Spirit WITHIN. [Slide 5]  They longed for the day that they wouldn’t have to rely on theophanies – that’s the theological term for those physical manifestations of God in the Old Testament – they longed for the day when they wouldn’t have to rely on theophanies to be led by God, but when they would have his Spirit living within them day-by-day, leading, guiding, and revealing the will of God. 

         Time and again in the Old Testament we read how the Spirit of God “came upon” someone.  [Slide 6] But that was always episodic.  It was always temporary, given for a specific situation to meet at a specific need.   They wanted what we have – not the Spirit “upon” (not a temporary filling), but the Spirit living “within.”

         What a remarkable gift you and I have!  The Apostle Paul wrote to the New Testament believers in Corinth and asked them, “Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?” “Don’t you get it?” he seemed to be asking. [Slide 7] Miracle of miracles!  God living IN his people!  Daily!  Hourly!  Moment by moment, the God of the universe is available to you and to me as our Teacher and Guide.

         The Apostle John put it this way in his first letter: “The Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth …. [that] you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you….[He] teaches you everything you need to know…” (2:20,27).

         The difference THAT made to the early church is remarkable.  In the book of Acts, rather than waiting for dramatic signs and theophanies, we find God’s people time and again being led by the indwelling Holy Spirit.  [Slide 8]

The Spirit led Philip to speak to the Ethiopian official in Acts 8:29, for instance. 

In Acts 10:19-20, the Spirit instructed Peter to go to Joppa with the men who had arrived at his house where he would then be introduced to Cornelius. 

In Acts 13, we read that the Holy Spirit prompted the church to set apart Barnabas and Saul and to send them out on their first missionary journey. 

In Acts 15, the church wrestled with how to embrace Gentiles into the family of faith.  After their deliberations, they introduced their final decision beginning with the words, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us…”

 In Acts 16, at several points, the Holy Spirit persuades Paul to make a change to his travel itinerary.  We could go on!

         [Slide 9] On page after page, the story of the early church makes it clear that the indwelling presence of the Spirit that has been given to every genuine believer since the day of Pentecost is a gift of God by which he leads, counsels, teaches, prompts, and directs us.

         Are you with me so far?

         [Slide 10] “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you” is the way our psalm this morning puts it.  I will instruct you – I will teach you – personally!! – I will counsel you in the way you should go was the promise we read.  But that begs the question, HOW?  How does the Spirit do that?  How do we allow him to take charge and lead us day-by-day?

         Well, according to v.9 in the psalm: It’s “NOT by bit and bridle.”  [Slide 11] God doesn’t put us on a leash and drag us around.  That’s how you treat horses and mules, the psalm says – animals with no understanding.  They won’t come to you unless you yank their lead.  “That’s not how I want it to be between you and I,” God says to us.  He wants something deeper, richer, and more mature for us.

         That’s NOT to say, of course, that God will never suddenly pull us up short.  The bit and bridle sometimes become his only option.  When we walk around with cotton in our ears, holding God at bay, we sometimes don’t give God much choice.  When God keeps whispering – keeps convicting us – keeps calling us – keeps nudging us with His Spirit and we refuse to respond to his gentle urgings, eventually we force his hand.  If he wants our attention, it’s got to be the bit and bridle.  We’ve given him no other option.

But that’s not Plan A.  That’s Plan B.  God’s Plan A is to speak and to work quietly within us, and for us to respond to those promptings with joy and obedience, day by day. [Slide 12]  When that’s the case, he doesn’t need a bit and bridle.  When that’s the case – when we’re working daily to listen and then obey immediately, our relationship with God grows in depth and maturity. 

That’s his desire for you and for me: not a relationship where we have to depend on him to discipline us, or display dramatic signs, or use drastic means to point us in the right direction, but rather a relationship where we learn to lean on the divine guidance he provides us through his Word and the gentle promptings of his Spirit. 

So, if it’s NOT through the bit and bridle that God would first choose to lead us, then how DOES He?  In the words of the psalm, it’s through the eye. [Slide 13]  The New American Standard Bible gives us a more literal translation of v.8: “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”  Or in the words of the KJV, “I will guide thee with mine eye.”

The movement of the eye is a silent movement.  It’s a subtle movement.  But we can discipline ourselves to watch for it; we can learn to see it.

Over the years, married couples who have worked hard at their relationship, at truly knowing one another, learn to read one another’s face.  They often know simply from looking into one another’s eyes what the other wants or needs.  A single glance or a single expression can say volumes.  No one else may even notice it – and if they do, they might not understand what it means – but through love and through practice, couples can come to appreciate much about what the other is thinking simply by a glance at the eyes. 

That’s how God wants to lead us.  By the eyes, so to speak.  But, of course, that kind of leading requires us to slow down regularly to listen for Him, to study Him, and to simply be in his presence.  (In fact, let me say it this way, that kind of leading requires us to REST in Him). [Slide 14]  When we order our day and our priorities in such a way that God is always at the periphery, we’ll never learn to read the movement of His eyes.  You can’t learn that from a distance! He may be nodding in this direction, or he may be glancing in that direction, but we’ll never notice if we’re not seeking His face.  But when I’m living with Him at the centre – when I’m learning to be in His Word – when I’m deliberately, intentionally, gazing on His face (learning to lock eyes with Him) – then I’m also in the position where I can be learning the subtleties of his glance.

We live in a world that’s FAST – a world that’s looking for the quick fix, and the immediate answer.  But learning the movement of God’s eye takes discipline.  It takes work.  It takes practice.  But the dividend (the pay-off) is, well, everything.   “Seek first my Kingdom and my Righteousness, and all these thing will be added to you as well,” God says.

         It’s natural to long for the Spirit “upon.”  It seems so dramatic.  [Slide 15] But we’ve been blessed with the gift every OT believer longed for: the Spirit “within.”  That’s where relationship is found – relationship with the One who delights to lead us by His eye.