Good evening, everyone. While
you remain sitting, let's begin by singing out of your softback,
132, A Refuge for Sinners. A Refuge for Sinners. A refuge for sinners the gospel
makes known, Tis found in the merits of Jesus alone. The weary, the tempted, the burdened
of sin, Are never excluded from entering in. This refuge for
sinners God's love did ordain In Jesus the Lamb from eternity
slain In Christ the Redeemer who lived and who died God's
law and His justice are now satisfied Should conscience accuse us,
as often it may, the blood of our Saviour has put sin away. In Jesus our surety the sinner
can view a city of refuge and righteousness too. Thank you. I would like to read from Psalm
91. Psalm 91. He that dwelleth in the secret
place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the
Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress.
My God in Him will I trust, surely. He shall deliver thee from the
snare of the fowler and from the anoints and pestilence. He
shall cover thee with His feathers and under His wings shall thou
trust. His truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt
not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that
flyeth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor
for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall
fall at thy side and 10,000 at thy right hand, but it shall
not come nigh thee. Only with thine eyes shalt thou
behold and see the reward of the wicked. because thou hast
made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most high thy habitation.
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come
nigh thy dwelling, for he shall give his angels charge over thee
to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their
hands, lest thou dash thy foot against the stone. Thou shalt
tread upon the lion and the adder, and the young lion and the dragon
shalt thou trample under feet. because he had set his love upon
me, therefore will I deliver him. I will set him on high because
he has known my name. He shall call upon me and I will
answer him. I will be with him in trouble.
I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy
him and show him my salvation. Our heavenly merciful father,
we thank you for again allowing us to gather in this little corner
of this building again, Lord, week after week, you show your
mercy and your long suffering towards us. And Father, we stand
amazed that you have allowed us this opportunity again. And
Lord, it is a great privilege to hear your gospel declared
from our pastor. Father, you have sent him here
and you continue to be with him and allow him to prepare these
messages to lift your name up on high. And Father, could it
be that same thing this evening again? Be with him, oh Lord.
Give him words to speak unto us and open up, Lord, pour out
your spirit upon him. and allow him, Lord, to declare
your goodness and your glory, and that we may be found with
hunger in our hearts to hear of our only hope and our only
salvation. Remember those also, Lord, that
listen online and through the internet. Perhaps this very evening,
Lord, will thou be with them, Lord, and comfort their souls
also. Give them rest for their hearts. And we thank also our
brother, Scott, Oh Lord, will you be with him and with Johnny.
Give them strength and comfort for their souls and remember
the doctors and the nurses and all those that care for him.
Give them wisdom, Lord, and that he may once again gather with
us as you see fit. Father, remember our loved ones.
From our side, Lord, we would say it looks bleak and difficult,
but Lord, with you all things are possible, and you still perform
miracles of grace in the hearts of sinners. And Father, if it
would please you, will you call out our loved ones out of darkness
into your marvelous light, and open our mouths also, Lord, that
we may speak of your glory and your goodness. Remember us, Lord,
in this evening. For Jesus' sake alone, amen. Our second hymn will be 107.
107, In His Hand. In the covenant of grace, time
yet not beginning, mercy there included me. long before my sinning. By His grace, by His grace, for
His glory ever, Jesus took me by the hand. From him none can sever. On the cross of Calvary, Wrath
on him there falling, ? Jesus, my redemption boy ? Long
before my calling ? By His grace, by His grace ? For His glory
ever Jesus took me by the hand, from Him none can sever. Then in time when I was come,
Guilty, lost, and dying, Mercy laid me in the dust, Set my heart
to crying. By His haste, By His grace, for
His glory ever. Jesus took me by the hand, from
Him none can sever. When the Spirit gave me life,
then by faith believing, with the gospel of His grace, all
my fears relieving. By His grace, by His grace, for
His glory ever ? Jesus took me by the hand ? ?
From him none can sever ? ? And now I rest in Christ alone ?
? Righteousness imputed ? ? Makes for me a garment fine ? ? For
the ages suited ? ? In His hand by His grace ? for His glory
ever. Jesus took me by the hand, from
Him none can send. Good evening. Let's be turning to Isaiah chapter
66. Last time we were in Isaiah,
We saw how that the Lord describes his people as being born into
a holy family. And in that family, they have
many blessed consolations. They have the consolations of
the care and the consolation of a mother. A mother consoles
and takes care of her children and gives them what they have
need of, and that's how the care and the love of the Lord was
described in that passage that we were looking at. I think it
was verses 9 through 14, if I remember, or 10 through 14. This adoptive birth that we have,
it's described as an adoptive birth into the family of God,
it's accomplished for us through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
why we praise him and give him thanks and glory in his name
because it's for Christ's sake that we have these It's for his
sake that we are blessed so richly by the grace and the mercy of
God, caring for us, tending to our needs, providing for us. rather than leaving us to ourselves. And this adoptive birth is described
for us plainly in scripture. If you turn over to Ephesians,
hold your place in Isaiah, we'll come back there a little later,
but in Ephesians chapter one, in verse three is where we'll
pick up. We're familiar with this, but
it's good for us to always be reminded of the generosity, the
giving of love and kindness for the Lord's people here in Christ.
He says in verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places in Christ. And we, it's good for us to be
reminded of that because sometimes we don't feel like we're being
blessed. We don't always feel like we're
being remembered or cared for, but the Lord promises us in his
word, he is doing what is good for us and what is necessary. And he is working his purpose
in all things, in all things. And he says, verse four, that
it's according, as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love. having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to
the good pleasure of his will. We are reminded in this that
this is for his people. When Paul writes us, that is
a defined people. who are given these blessings,
who receive these blessings, who have these blessings in Christ,
and there's many, many who have not these blessings at all. And so he says in verse 6, to
the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein he hath made us
accepted in the Beloved." That being made accepted in the Beloved
means that we are justified. us righteous because that's what
we are we have been made righteous in Christ in whom he says we
have redemption through his blood the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of his grace wherein he hath abounded toward us in
all wisdom and prudence and so what the Lord is telling us what
he's reminding us here is is that Holy God has provided salvation
entirely. Nothing is left undone. There's nothing that we need
to do. Salvation is not in part, but
it's in the whole. It's whole. Our God has provided
everything that we need in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so He
sent His Son as the Savior of His people, as the substitute
of His people. And He provided full atonement
for our sins. Now, why would God do this? Why would He provide such a full,
complete, sufficient salvation in this manner, in His Son? Why
would God do such a thing? Because we cannot save ourselves,
we cannot do this, we cannot provide a righteousness for ourselves. We are born in Adam, dead in
trespasses and sins. In sin did my mother conceive. And we cannot save ourselves
or work ourselves out of that and provide anything necessary
for our salvation. He's provided the whole thing
in grace. And the Lord tells us in his
word, we see in reading his word that, thanks be to God who provided
this salvation because he tells us that he shall judge the world
in righteousness. all men shall stand before the
judgment seat of Christ, where He judges every man according
to perfect righteousness." He is that standard. Had our God
not provided this salvation, His people, as we read, who were
chosen in Him before the foundation of the world, had He not done
this, we all would have perished together with the wicked, with
the inhabitants of this world that shall be judged in their
own works, in what they do, in their sin and their wickedness.
We would have all been judged in that same way. And that's
why God provided perfect salvation, in grace, in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so only Christ can provide
a complete righteousness that atones for every stain of sin. His blood purges us of our sin,
purges us of the stain of sin, purges us of the guilt of sin,
so that we are in Christ without stain, without blot, without
blemish. We are perfect in Him. We are perfectly righteous in
Christ. And so Christ's blood is the
consolation of the just. We are consoled, we are quieted,
we are comforted by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're
justified not by our works of righteousness, which we have
done, but by the Lord Jesus Christ. And so this passage that we have
before us today is telling us the means the means by which
Holy God divides the people and separates his people out unto
himself, bringing them into the family, adopting them into the
family of God, where we continue to be blessed and consoled in
these blessings that we have been given in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he does this through the
preaching of the gospel. That's what we see in these verses,
through the preaching of the gospel. Now before we go there,
let me just say a few things. Concerning that illustration
that the Lord divides his people through the preaching of the
gospel, John tells us that when Christ was here, there was a
division among the people because of him. There was a division
among the people, the Jews that were hearing him, there was a
division among them because of Christ, because of the things
that he said, because of what he did and came to do. And to
this day, the Lord's Word divides the people. There are those who
hear the Word gladly, and there are those who despise the Word
of God and separate from the Word of God. Now he tells us
in John chapter 10, In John chapter 10, in verse 2, we're told that
Christ is the shepherd of the sheep. He's the shepherd of the
sheep. And in verse 3, he says, to him
the porter openeth. Now the porter is the Holy Ghost. He's the one that opens the door
to Christ. He's the one that opens the door
of this hard, darkened, wicked heart to Christ. to hear Him,
to seek Him, to look to Him, to ask Him, Lord, help me, save
me. And the sheep, we're told in
John 10 3, the sheep hear Christ's voice. They hear His voice. And He calleth His own sheep
by name and leadeth them out. Out of what? Out of the body
of death in Adam. He brings his sheep out of their
standing in Adam, in dead works that cannot save, and brings
them out of that into the pasture of Christ. to hear him, to feed
upon him, to rejoice in him. And we saw on Sunday how that
Christ leaves the others. He left the 99 other sheep, which
were no sheep, but he left the 99 others in the wilderness,
in the wilderness where there's beasts and animals to tear and
rend them and rip them apart. He left them for the one lost
sheep. And that's what he does for his
people. He'll leave, he forsakes the world. He leaves the world
and those who are not lost to themselves, but he goes seeking
after that one lost sheep who has no righteousness, who has
no defense, who has nothing to recommend them to holy God. And so Christ leaves them, but
his own sheep, he leadeth them out and that by his voice, by
the preaching of the gospel. And a division is made between
the others that are there, in that verse, that are spoken of
there. He leads them out. A division is made by the others
and Christ's sheep. His voice is made effectual to
them by the regeneration of the porter, the Holy Spirit, who
enables them to hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And so listen to John 10, verse
26 and 27. where we see this division when
he says to the Jews who were standing there listening to him,
he said, but ye believe not because ye are not my sheep. And that's the order. He doesn't
say, because you don't believe you're not my sheep. He says,
you believe not because you're not my sheep. As I said unto
you, my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And that's what's being illustrated
for us now in Isaiah 66. Let's read this. We're gonna
pick up in verse 14. because the back half of that
verse, the second half of verse 14, shows us the division, and
then 15 and 16 declares that it's through the preaching of
the word. I'll read all of 14. And when ye see this, your heart
shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb,
and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants. and his indignation, his expressed
anger and indignation toward his enemies. So salvation is
going to be known or manifested to the Lord's servants, to the
Lord's people. He manifests His salvation, what
He's done, what He's accomplished for them in the Lord Jesus Christ. He makes you to hear His voice,
to believe the promise of God made unto you in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And His indignation is expressed
or manifested to His enemies who are left to themselves, who
hear that word and it does nothing for them. It manifests no salvation,
no faith in their hearts. They don't hear it. They don't
hear it as the sheep of Christ hear it, believing Him, trusting
Him for everything. And this is how this division
is made known, verse 15 and 16. For behold, the Lord will come
with fire and with His chariots like a whirlwind to render His
anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire
and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, and the
slain of the Lord shall be many." It's like what Christ said to
us in John 16 when he said, when I send the Holy Spirit, he will
reprove. He's going to speak to the people
and convince them, convict them, of sin and of righteousness and
of judgment. That's what he does. And the
Lord will plead with all flesh, and that through the preaching
of the gospel, made effectual unto the hearts of his people
by the new birth, by the Lord Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, sent
of the Son and of the Father. And so this power, this power
and glory of the Lord is described in these verses as fire, as chariots
like a whirlwind, and as a sword." That's how he's describing his
word, as fire, as chariots like a whirlwind, and by his sword.
And so, these are words that describe how the Lord manifests
this glory and power in your heart, and divides you out from
among the people. That's how he describes it. So
first we see this language used in scripture that speaks to the
word of our God. Turn over to Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah
23. First we see this comparison
to fire. Verse 29. Jeremiah 23, 29, he
asks, is not my word like as a fire, saith the Lord, and like
a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? God, by his word,
through the preaching of the gospel, is able to melt the hard
heart. God, through the preaching of
the gospel, is able to melt the hard heart. He's able to burn
up those works that we trusted Him, that our flesh did, and
what we did for the Lord, thinking that was our righteousness. He's
able to burn up that which is wood, hay, and stubble, and set
it on fire so that we see this is but ash, this is but dust. These things cannot save us.
He does that through the fire of His Word, burning up those
things that we hoped in and trusted in, so that we can't run to those
things anymore. And that hard, stiff heart, that
hard mind of ours, He melts it. He mounts it, brings us to see,
Lord, I need you. And in this same verse, this
wasn't back in Isaiah, but he describes his word as a hammer
that breaks the rock in pieces, right? He breaks the hard heart. He breaks the heart of man. He
breaks the pride and the arrogance that we have by nature in Adam,
thinking that we are something when we are nothing. By His Word,
by the Gospel, we are broken, brought to nothing in ourselves
to see our need of Him. And while the flesh doesn't like
that, and the old man doesn't care for that, we see the wisdom
of our God in humbling us and bringing us low, and bringing
us to have no other hope or confidence but the Lord Jesus Christ. And
while that is hard on the flesh, We know that in the new man,
we rejoice. Though this flesh is made weak,
though we have great needs in this flesh, and brought to various
miseries and challenges and difficulties and hardships and afflictions,
yet, being at the feet of Christ, because where else can we go,
we see, Lord, that's a mercy. Thank you. Thank you. And only
the new man rejoices in that. The flesh doesn't give thanks
for that, but the new man does. The new man does. Next, God's
word is likened to a sword that's able to get to the heart of the
matter. You know, the Lord's, you can turn over to Hebrews
4. Let's go to Hebrews 4, verse 11. You know, you think of a
sword and a master swordsman who's able to just pick apart
the armor of his enemy. that's able to strip us down
of trusting in our strength, that's able to unbuckle and unsnap
and just remove that which was our confidence before the Lord. Because we're not gonna come
confidently to the Lord. We're not going to come confident
with our heads up, boasting of what we've done for the Lord.
We're going to be made to know what God has done for us. Unworthy,
unjust, vile sinners. We're going to know that. And
we're gonna know he's done it all in grace and in mercy. I didn't earn it. And we know
how tricky and conniving our flesh is. And we do think we
are something and we do puff up and we do think I deserve
a little smile now. I deserve a little kindness today
because I've done this. And the Lord shows us, no, you
don't. Look to my Savior, which I've
given in grace. We haven't earned it. He's given
it freely in grace. And so Hebrews 4, 11 through
13 shows us that he's able to strip us down and to expose to
us what we are. He says, Paul says, let us labor
therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after
the same example of unbelief. Now that labor here is not speaking
of works of righteousness that we do, but rather let us be looking
unto Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. Let
us be opposed to this flesh, which looks to what He does,
that He might have something to hold up before God and boast
of Himself. Let us be looking to the Savior. Let us labor to look to Him. Lord, keep me looking to your
salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me look to Him, because then
the fruits will follow. You'll bear the fruits, because
they come of the Spirit, not of our focus, not of our works.
Now he says, verse 12, for the word of God is quick and powerful
and sharper than any two-edged sword. We're seeing how his word
is likened to a sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder
of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Would you want any
one of your brethren here to know the things that go through
your heart and your mind? Absolutely not. But the Lord
knows, He knows our thoughts, He knows our heart, He knows
that we are but dust. And He knows what we are. And
yet, He loves us, and cares for us, and has provided full free
salvation, and grace and mercy. Neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in His sight, but all things are naked and
open unto the eyes of Him with Him with whom we have to do. And thanks be to God for Christ
who laid down His life to provide a covering for my nakedness and
the nakedness of my brethren because we are all exposed to
the Lord and yet He covers our nakedness with the death of His
Son, His life for your life. Finally, we see God's word compared
to wind and the new birth of the Lord. Go to John 3. We know that the new birth by
the Spirit of God is likened to wind in the sense that You
know, today you can go on the weather channel and get a sense
of where the wind's supposed to be coming from, but when you're
out there in the yard, and all of a sudden, it whips up, you
don't know when it's gonna whip up, and suddenly, you know, your
hat goes flying off or something, you just set up, a pot flips
over and goes flying down, you know, the other side of the yard,
because it's the wind. And we can't stop it or prevent
it or tell it where to go, it goes where it will. And that's
how the spirit of God works. That's what he does. He falls
upon whom he will. He seeks out diligently the lost,
sweeping up the place, shining the light of the gospel candle
into the darkness of our hearts, and he finds them that are lost,
that he might be merciful and gracious to them to save them. And so in John 3, verse 7 and
8, we read, marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again. And the Lord Jesus Christ doesn't
say that only to Nicodemus. He says that to every one of
his children. Ye must be born again. None of us are born into this
by natural birth. None of us are born into this
by our works. None of us have anything to boast
in of a natural birth. This is a spiritual birth that
we have no power or ability to effect. The wind bloweth where
it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst
not tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth. So is everyone
that is born of the Spirit." And so, just as we saw earlier
in John 10, with the porter opening the door, which is the Spirit
of God, this is speaking about the Holy Spirit, the porter opening
the child of God, their heart through the new birth to hear
the voice of the Son of God, to hear His words, to hear His
gospel, to hear His words speak to us, to give us life and salvation
and hope in Him and follow Him. And so the Spirit blows this
life of the new birth where the Father wills according to the
good pleasure His will and it moves in a manner like the wind
as far as we can tell we don't know who he's gonna save usually
it's almost always if you have a bunch of people and And you
knew someone the Lord was gonna save someone it would be the
last person you would think Because the Lord is like that. It doesn't
come by observation It doesn't come by what we think or see
or what we think should happen. It comes by the grace of God
and who saves sinners, who saves the chief of sinners, who saves
the most unworthy, wretched, vile creatures. And if we're
honest, we have only to ourselves to look to and say, yep, that's
true, because there's none more vile than me. And every one of
his people say that when they're made honest, and when they're
made to see what they are in themselves, they know, Lord,
I don't know how you could do this, but thank you for doing
it for me. And so building off of this comparison
to wind and fire, let's look at an example of this in Acts. Go to Acts 2. Acts 2, verses
1 through 4, and this is like chariots like a whirlwind. Coming
in, his word coming in like the chariot of a whirlwind. Acts
2, verse 1. We're told that when the day
of Pentecost was fully come, They were all with one accord
in one place. And suddenly there came a sound
from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind. It was loud. It came rushing in like a chariot
of a whirlwind. And it filled all the house where
they were sitting. And there appeared unto them
cloven tongues. So that would be like an animal
with a cloven hoof. So a cloven tongue rested on
them like as a fire. And it sat upon each of them.
And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to do
what? To speak with other tongues as
the Spirit gave them utterance. And that's what we're seeing.
These men began to preach the gospel. And we're seeing here
how that the Lord is telling us back in Isaiah 66. He's telling
us there's a day coming. when my gospel shall be declared. I shall have accomplished salvation
in my Son, and I will send forth my gospel out to call my people."
And so they began to preach the gospel to the multitudes that
had come there for Pentecost to Jerusalem from many different
countries. Jews that lived in many different
countries, Phoenicians, and Greeks, and from Crete, and all over
the place. These men, they knew Hebrew,
but they also knew their language, the language of that land. And
some said, when they heard it, we do hear them speak in our
tongues the wonderful works of God. These are Galilean fishermen. They never studied. other languages
but they're speaking these languages and these people there are hearing
them speak the wonderful works of God but others mocking said
these men are filled with new wine they're drunk it's morning
they're drunk already And so what the Lord's saying here is
that by the prophet Isaiah back there, you don't have to go back
there, but that this word comes in and there is a dividing. This is how the Lord divides
his people. how he makes known himself to
his people. And so this is the day, this
is the day wherein we stand and are blessed to know what Christ
has done. He has come and obtained, accomplished
our redemption. He is the very promise of God
made all the way back in the garden that He should come and
save His people, redeem all that was lost in Adam, and conquer
every enemy, every foe. Our Lord died on the cross for
His people as their substitute in order to reconcile us to God,
to restore us to God, to adopt us into the family of God. You know, sometimes when we're
young and we have difficulties in our family and we may think,
you know, we go to a friend's house or someone that we know
and we think, man, I wish I was their kid, you know, and you
think, boy, you know, they let them do this or that or whatever.
It seems happy. Usually, you know, it seems happy
like it's happier over there. But is there any family that
you could want to be in that is greater than the family of
God? in which every need you have
is provided for. Every tear you cry shall be wiped
away, and you shall be comforted all the days of your life, and
you won't have those feelings of depression, of sadness, of
doubt, of worry, because you have everything in Christ. Your
Father is God. Your husband is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Your comfort is the Holy Spirit
and you have the whole family of God that rejoices with you
and speaks like you and is comforted by the same consolations that
you're comforted in. And that taste in your mouth
in Christ shall never change. It shall never change. It shall
never come to an end. And so Christ reconciled his
people to God through his death, through the shedding of his blood,
and he was buried, and it says there in Acts 2, drop down to
verse 23 and 24, that he was being, that he was delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. These men
took him and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. He
went to that cross bearing the sin of you who this day hope
in Him. whom God hath raised up, having
loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that he should
beholden of it." And so this is the message of our consolation
as it was consoling in the comfort of the people then, it's our
comfort today. This is the message which turned
the whole known world upside down. God by this message turned
the entire world upside down and dividing and separating out
for himself from Jew and Gentile a people for himself. Dividing
them out and giving them to the son as his bride. And so this word to this day
rages in the hearts of men. Some to everlasting life and
some to everlasting destruction and misery. Christ isn't your
hope of salvation. And what is your hope? If he's
not the hope of salvation and your hope, your personal hope,
what is your hope? Your works of righteousness?
You think that they shall stand for you and provide a righteousness
and an acceptance with holy God in that day? If the Pharisees
weren't accepted by their righteousness, then you and I won't. They kept
the law as seemingly perfect as a man could keep it, and yet
they had no heart, no love for God in them. They were just cold,
dead sinners who didn't know the truth, and who hated and
despised men, and despised their neighbor, and did all that they
could do for their own gain. And so God says that salvation
is accomplished. It's not still an undone thing.
It's not a thing that is waiting for you. He declares this word.
He proclaims this word, this gospel word, and he causes his
people to hear it. The porter openeth the door of
their heart, and they open it unto Christ, hearing his voice,
and they follow him. They are led out of him. Salvation is accomplished by
the Son. Why will ye die in your sins? Why would anyone continue
in their own confidences, in their own way, in their own works? Why would you die in your sins?
The scriptures confirm that the Lord, He tells us, But look to
Christ, because the Lord cometh out of his place, to punish the
inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The scriptures
tell us how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation,
which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed
unto us by them that heard him. Those witnesses saw Christ. and they were obedient to the
Great Commission to preach this Word, to record this Gospel,
to write these letters, and to maintain this Word so that it
continues to this day through His Word and through the preaching
of the Gospel. Christ is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed
from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live
by faith, by faith. So God shall effect this salvation
in the hearts of his people. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. believe him and you shall be
saved. Continuing in your own works
to save you is not only negligent of what you hear, it's calling
God a liar. It's despising the chief cornerstone,
the one whom he prizes. It's despising that chief cornerstone
and putting it aside in favor of your own works. You may think
you're doing God a favor. All you're doing is heaping curses
upon your own head. And so that rejection does happen. It happens to this day. The Lord
tells us why over in 2 Corinthians 2. Go to 2 Corinthians 2 verses
14 through 16. Paul says, Now thanks be to God,
be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and
maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every
place. He is talking about through the preaching of the Gospel.
He makes known the savour of his knowledge, the Lord Jesus
Christ, through the preaching of the Gospel. For we are unto
God a sweet savour of Christ in them that are saved, and in
them that perish. To the one we are the saver of
death unto death, and to the other the saver of life unto
life. And who is sufficient for these
things? For the preaching of the cross
is foolishness to them that perish, but unto us which are saved it
is the power of God. It's the power of God. We see
here how the Lord back in Isaiah is telling us, I'm sending my
word like a fire, like a chariot of the whirlwind, like a sword.
and it's gonna divide. And you're gonna see the hand
of the Lord to his servants, to his people, being merciful
and gracious to them, to hear that word and rejoicing in that
word, being divided out and separated unto the family of God and obtained
by him. And then you see the others left
to themselves. who shall receive the wrath of
God when he comes out of his place to judge the inhabitants
of the earth for their sin and their iniquity." And so he tells
us, we see in this, that God has determined his people through
the election of Christ before the foundation of the world.
And he tells us also that as many as were ordained to eternal
life, they believed. He works this effectually in
the hearts. The porter opens, they hear the
voice of Christ, and they follow Him. How am I to know if God
has ordained me to eternal life? How do I know if I am ordained
to eternal life? The answer is, you believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. You hear this word and you cannot
but believe the Lord Jesus Christ. All you can do is hope in Him
and believe that He is the Savior, the Salvation of God, Lord, save
me. I'm the sinner who needs salvation.
Have mercy on me. That's how you know, because
he manifests faith and hope and the cry of the believer out to
the Savior, help me. Save me, Lord. I cannot save
myself. And so He calls us, we hear,
we follow, and we continue to the end, all by His grace and
mercy manifesting that salvation in us. So I close with belief
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Amen. Our gracious Lord, we thank you. for your grace. Lord we see in
your word how that you say that you shall divide your people
from among the inhabitants of the earth and you deliver them
in the blood of your son Jesus Christ so that they shall not
endure that wrath of God which comes upon the iniquity of men.
For Lord, you poured it out on our Savior, on your Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope, who is our righteousness,
who is our all. Lord, we thank you for this grace.
We thank you for your salvation. Lord, help us to hear it. Help
us always to hear it and to follow our Lord evermore. Keep us ever
looking to Him. And Lord, we thank you for this
salvation. We know that we don't deserve
it. We know that We're nothing in ourselves. And so Lord, it
just makes it all the more glorious to see how wonderful, how kind,
how loving, how patient, how long-suffering, how gracious
you are in your son and what you've done for us, Lord. Thank
you. Lord, we pray that you would
bless our brethren, those of us here, those who could not
be with us here tonight. We pray that you would bless
them richly by by your spirit of comfort to console their hearts,
to help them in their hour of need. And we pray this, especially
for our brother Scott, that you would heal him and restore him
to us quickly. Help him, Lord. Help him. You know every need that he has.
And help our sister Johnny as well. Bless them, Lord, richly. It's in Christ's name we pray
and give thanks. Amen. We have a new hymn tonight. It's
your loose leaf one on Jordan Stormy Banks. I think most of
us know it. I just changed one sentence,
but it's a really nice hymn. On Jordan's stormy banks I stand
and cast a wishful eye To Canaan's fair and happy land where my
possessions lie I am bound for the promised land. I'm bound for the promised land. Oh, Christ will ever be with
me. I am bound for the promised land. For all those wide extended plains
shines one eternal day. There God the sun forever reigns
and scatters night away. I am bound for the promised land. I'm bound for the promised land. Oh, Christ will ever be with
me. I am bound for the promised land. No chilling winds or poisonous
breath can reach that healthful shore. Sickness and sorrow, pain
and death are felt and feared no more. I am bound for the promised
land, I'm bound for the promised land. Oh, Christ will ever be
with me, I am bound for the promised land. When I shall reach that
happy place, I'll be forever blessed. For I shall see my father's
face and in his bosom rest. I am bound for the promised land. I'm bound for the promised land. O Christ will ever be with me,
I am bound for the promised land.