Good evening, everyone. Let's
begin our evening service by standing and singing 17, Come
Thou Fount, 17. of thou fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy praise. Streams of mercy never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet
sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount, unfixed upon
it, mount of thy redeeming love. Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither
by thy help am come. and I hope by thy good pleasure
safely to arrive at home. Jesus saw in me when a stranger
wandering from the fold of God, He to rescue me from danger Interposed
His precious blood O to grace how great a debtor Daily I'm
constrained to be Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering
heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it. Prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, oh, take it,
seal it, seal it for thy courts above. Thank you. I would like to read 1 Corinthians
2. 1 Corinthians 2. And I, brethren, when I came
to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know
anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And
I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of
man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. that
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God. How be it we speak wisdom among
them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor
the princes of this world that come to naught, but we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of
the princes of this world knew. For had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory, But as it is written,
I hath not seen nor ear heard, neither had entered into the
heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit, for
the spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God.
For what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man
which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth
no man but the spirit of God. Now we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God,
which things also we speak not in the words, not in the words
with which man's words wisdom teacheth, but with which, but
which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with
spiritual. But the natural man receive it,
not the things of the spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judges
all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath
known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But we have
the mind of Christ. Let's pray. Our heavenly and
merciful Father, we thank you for bringing us together, Lord,
as a local assembly. What a great, great privilege
and blessing it is, Lord, that we have this great opportunity
from week to week to hear the gospel proclaimed for us, Lord,
and that we may come together to assemble as like-minded believers
to praise and worship our great God. who has taken reasons out
of yourself, Lord, to save the lost sinners, the ones that you
have come and shed your blood for. Father, we thank you for
making a difference with us where there was no difference and that
you have Lord saved us from religion, saved us from ourselves and the
dominion of sin and darkness. And you have given us that great
gift of faith, whereby we may lay hold of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Father, we thank you that this salvation is free and full and
complete, and there is nothing left for us to do. For Lord,
we know if there was, we would not be saved. But Father, we
thank you again for all that you have given to us. We deserve
nothing, but yet, Lord, you continue to bless us unspeakably. Remember,
Lord, those that would normally be with us and are ill and struggling. Father, you know their situations
perfectly, and be with them this evening where they are, Lord,
and bless their souls, comfort them, and strengthen them, as
only you can give comfort. Remember our pastor, Lord, we
thank you for him also. It is a great blessing that we
have. Brother Eric, where he can rightly
divide the word to us from week to week and proclaim the glorious
message of the gospel. Father, remember him this evening.
Give him all that he stands in need of. Pour out your spirit
upon him and remember us, Lord, as we sit and listen. Father,
will you increase our faith and give us peace for our souls?
Remember our loved ones, Lord. You know each situation perfectly. And Lord, we do have that great
comfort that if you have shed your blood for any of them, that
you will come for them. And Lord, if it would please
thee, will you call out our loved ones, our children? You know
all things, Lord. Will you call them out of nature's
darkness into your marvelous light? For Jesus' sake alone,
amen. As you remain sitting, let's
sing another hymn. And we're gonna sing 201. He is able to deliver 201. ? Tis the grandest thing through
the ages from ? ? Tis the grandest thing for a mortal tongue ? ?
Tis the grandest thing that the world there sung ? ? Our God
is able to deliver thee ? ? He is able to deliver thee ? He
is able to deliver thee. Though by sin oppressed, go to
Him for rest. Our God is able to deliver thee. Tis the grandest theme in the
earth o'er me, Tis the grandest theme for immortal strength,
Tis the grandest theme till the world again our God is able to
deliver thee, He is able to deliver thee. He is able to deliver thee. Go, by sin oppressed, go to Him
for rest. Our God is able to deliver thee. It's the grandest theme, let
the tidings roll To the guilty heart, to the sinful soul Look
to God in faith, He will make thee whole Our God is able to
deliver thee He is able to deliver thee He is able to deliver thee. Though by sin oppressed, go to
Him for rest. Our God is able to deliver thee. Thank you. Good evening. Turn to Isaiah
51. Isaiah 51, and I want to look
at verses 4 through 6 with you this evening. To begin, I will actually be
quoting from Revelation chapter 5, verses 9 through 10. were led into this glorious scene
of the Lord's people singing the song of redemption to their
Savior, praising their Savior. It says in verse 9, They sung
a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and
to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred. and tongue, and
people, and nation, and has made us unto our God kings and priests,
and we shall reign on the earth. So here's a people that are called
by God, and they are called out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people, and nation, These are people which are born not
of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of
man, but of God. There are people born of God,
John 1 13. And so the Lord, what we see
is that the Lord teaches his people this song of redemption,
and he fills us with the melody of grace. This song is filled
with the melody of grace. Now last week we listened to
three notes that the Lord rehearsed in our ears. And they were three
simple words that make up this melody of the song of redemption.
And these words were called, blessed, and increased. God has called his people in
grace. He's blessed them. through the
justification of Christ and revealing faith in them, whereby they believe
Christ and know that he is their Savior, and they are increased
by him. We have an inheritance in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And this is what the Lord has
done for all his people, and so all his people learn this
melody of grace. And the Lord's salvation in Christ
really is a simple song. It really is simple. We look
to the Lord Jesus Christ for all our righteousness. He's all
our hope. He's all that is required of
us to stand before holy God is the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's so simple, and that's probably
why so many so easily dismiss it. Just dismiss it. I mean,
they're in darkness. and they don't understand it,
but they just stumble right over the simplicity of the Lord Jesus
Christ. But the Lord is wisdom, and men
are fools. And so the Lord teaches us in
simplicity. And it's no wonder why the melodies
that we know and love are so simple, just simple melodies,
because they're so easy to remember, and they just stand out in our
minds. And so the Lord teaches us this
simple melody of grace so that we always remember our redemption
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever the trial, whatever
the trouble, whatever the joy, whatever it is that we're going
through, we remember the redemption of our God for his people through
the blood of Jesus Christ. And so if those words called,
blessed, and increased don't resonate with you, we also saw
over in Romans 8 verse 30 where Paul uses the words called, justified,
and glorified. But they're the same notes, the
same chords are playing where we see that our blessing is in
the justification of the Lord Jesus Christ. and that our glorification
is in the redemption glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, the resurrection
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and our inheritance in him. Now
my purpose in this review from last week is that the voice of
melody, which is the song of redemption, it continues to be
a source of strength and comfort to the people of God and it's
rehearsed in our ears as we go through this pilgrim journey
homeward to the Lord. And so we see that in tonight's
text here where the Lord is comforting his people again and teaching
us of that doctrine of Christ to see him, to know that he's
all our salvation. and everything necessary to stand
before God excepted of him. Now I've titled the message,
God's Law and Judgment for a Light of the People. God's Law and
Judgment for a Light of the People. And we're gonna get right into
seeing what I mean there because it comes from verse four. So
those with an ear for this melody, let's read verse four. Hearken
unto me, my people. and give ear unto me, O my nation. For a law shall proceed from
me, and I will make my judgment to rest for a light of the people. Now, like in verse one, as we
saw last week, this text begins with hearken unto me. But this word hearken that is
used is actually a little different than the word that was used in
verse one. It has the sense of, Give me your close attention. What I'm about to say is very
important to you, the Lord is saying. Give me your attention.
Perk up your ears, the way a deer might perk up its head and move
its ears when it hears a noise in a field, because there's something
important. There might be something that
it needs to know and be aware of. And here the Lord is speaking,
and he's saying, give me your attention. Listen to what I'm
about to say. Now, it's spoken to, again, a
particular people. The Lord defines who it is that
he's speaking to here, and he describes them as my people and
my nation. And it's a very important word
to us because he's describing the hope His people. He's describing that which we
hope in. He's declaring the Lord Jesus
Christ here. He's speaking of grace. Grace. And that's what the people
of God need, is the grace of God. Because we have no righteousness,
no goodness, no ability in ourselves to keep the law which Moses gave. And so this is an important word,
describing our hope. as the people of God, our hope
in our God." So this is a forward-looking statement, it's a forward-looking
declaration, at least when Isaiah was writing it, because it's
for the blessing of many people from many nations whom the Lord
here calls my nation, but it's gonna be made up of many, of
people of many different nations. And so it's reaching beyond national
Israel, which even speaking of Israel is always reaching beyond
national Israel because it's looking to the remnant seed of
Israel. And here the Lord is looking
to true spiritual Israel, the remnant seed of his people, Israel,
his nation, Israel made up of every kindred, tongue, tribe,
and nation. And so it includes the Gentiles
as well as the Jews. And the Gentiles here would be
a people who are not yet a people in terms of their knowledge of
the Lord and their standing before God. Paul, writing of this time,
says in Romans 9, verse 24 and 25, he says, even us, whom he hath called not of the
Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. As he saith also in Hosea, I
will call them my people, which were not my people, and her beloved,
which was not beloved. And so the Lord here is saying,
listen up. Listen up, all of you. I've got
a word that you need to hear. It's the hope, it's the good
news, That is for my people, my nation, whom I've called in
my son. So he's saying, give ear to me,
O my nation. And this call, it goes out to
a people who will hear his voice. They shall hear the good news,
as our brother prayed just before I came up here, knowing. that
any for whom our Lord has shed his blood from, what a comfort
to know that those that are his, though they still be lost and
in darkness, he shall find them, and he shall draw them to himself.
He shall call them, he shall bless them, He shall increase
them, because that's what the Lord does for all his people. And this word goes out throughout
all the earth, all the earth. And so here by Isaiah, he says,
for a law shall proceed from me, and I will make my judgment
to rest for a light of the people. This law and the judgment are
His gospel. This is declaring the accomplished
salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ for His people to make them His
nation, His people. These are the peculiar people
of the Lord who are called out and covered with the blood of
our Savior. The law, or the gospel, declares
how man can be just with holy God. For it's God that justifies. God justifies His people. Many of the Jews were wrong in
thinking that keeping the law was going to be their righteousness,
whereby God would say, justified. You've kept the law. You are
justified. But the Lord is showing us throughout
the scriptures that we're all sinners. We're all guilty. We've
all come short of the glory of God. None of us can boast of
having created or kept a righteousness of our own. especially not before
the law of Moses. And so no one's going to be just
in God's sight coming through the law of Moses. But our God
declares that this salvation is accomplished by the death,
burial, and resurrection of our Savior. It's all in Him. Everything
that God requires is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's
why he brings his people to the Lord Jesus Christ, to look to
him, to find everything in Christ, because Christ is all. And his spirit reveals faith
in all his people. He reveals faith in all his people
by which we look to Christ and are given that faith to believe
him and receive the knowledge and the understanding of the
justification which our God wrought for us in His Son, Jesus Christ. That's how we know it. It's by
revelation, through the regeneration of the Spirit of God, giving
us life in the Lord, and making us to know, shining the bright
light of Christ, so that we see Him and behold what He's done
for us. I'm gonna read from Romans 4,
if you wanna turn there, it's a few verses, We read this last
week, but I think this is important to hear again, because it confirms
how a man is just with God. That's what the Lord is teaching
us in his gospel. How is a sinner justified by
God? Romans 4 verse 5, and we'll read
down to verse 8. But to him that worketh not,
but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly. His faith is counted
for righteousness. Even as David also describeth
the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness
without works. Imputation is God declaring something
righteous because it is righteous. So imputation here, the word
impute is to declare, to pronounce something as it is. And we've
been made righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so God imputes
righteousness to us because Christ has made us righteous. And we are made righteous without
works, saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven
and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. He won't impute sin because Christ
has removed all our sin. We're not unclean. We walk our
ways in the Lord, on the highway of the Lord, and no one clean
shall go on it, Isaiah 35, 8, because we're washed in the blood
of Christ. So the law is the gospel declaring
God's justification of his people. in his son. And the Lord is saying,
a law shall proceed from me. He's sending forth this law.
He's establishing the covenant of grace in his blessed son. Now the judgment here is God's
verdict. We saw this a few weeks back
in Isaiah 49.4. It's God's verdict. It's God's
judgment. Did Christ accomplish the will
of his father when he came? Did Christ accomplish the salvation
of his people, which is the will of his father? The one who determines
whether or not Christ accomplished the will of God, it's not man. It's not man. God is the one
who pronounces the verdict. God is the one who declares his
judgment on the matter and that Christ has prevailed. He raised
him from the dead. justified him in the spirit before
all so that we know that Christ has accomplished what he came
to do for his people. Surely my judgment is with the
Lord and my work with my God, Isaiah 49.5. So this law and
judgment goes forth. It's the good news of salvation
shining as a light to the people. Now God says his gospel is a
shining light in a dark place. It's a shining light in a dark
place. Now, we've been seeing the last few weeks, we've been
speaking of the gospel as the doctrine of Christ. The doctrine
of Christ, which declares God's redemption for his people, the
purchase with the blood redemption, the purchase with Christ's blood
for his people. And it's declaring what God has
done for His people in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the doctrine
of Christ. And you that believe Christ know
that doctrine. And he that has the doctrine
and believes Christ and abides in that has the Father and the
Son. You have everything. You have
everything. You could have nothing in this
world but have the Father and the Son and you have everything,
brethren. Everything. because you have
eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ. So this whole book is
concerned with communicating that salvation to us. It's not
about just teaching us religion. It's not about teaching us new
practices and how to be moral and be people of high character. It's declaring to us the Lord
Jesus Christ is the salvation that God has provided. It's going
out into the darkness to a people who are lost, scattered, wayfaring
men out there not knowing what's going on. They don't even know
that they're under the wrath of God, but God calls out to
his people in darkness. and he draws them into the light
of his son, this glorious good news. That's what this gospel
is. Turn over to Isaiah chapter two. Let's go to Isaiah chapter
two. And it speaks here of this law and how it goes forth shining
in the darkness. So Isaiah 2 verse 2 is where
we'll pick up and we're gonna slowly work our way down to verse
5. It shall come to pass in the
last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established
in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills
and all nations shall flow unto it. So we have this glorious
picture. where we see the Lord building
his house. He's fitly framing this building
together. And here's the church, the church
universal, being described as a city set upon a high mountain
above all the other hills. And that's because it's a city
that is set on a hill that cannot be hit. Okay, Matthew 5, 14.
It's a city set on a hill that cannot be hid, and so the purpose
for God putting it up there is so that all would see it. And
you have this picture of us being in utter darkness, and you can
imagine that that one shining bright light there on the hill,
the city of God, is declaring for all, here's where the light
is. Here's where the light is, so that all who are in darkness
can see, there's the city of God. There's the gospel. There's the good news that I
keep hearing about. And so the purpose of Christ
is putting it up so that it will not be hidden, but that it'll
draw his people out of darkness, out of ignorance, out of having
no understanding of who the true and living God is, and bringing
them under the blood of Christ, bringing them under the sound
of the gospel, causing them to hear that melodious sound of
grace being played in their ears of what God has done in choosing
a people for himself, and then calling them out, and blessing
them, how he's justified them in Christ, covered them in his
blood, and delivered them from their sins, and reveals faith
in their heart to hear it and believe him. And He blesses them
with the regeneration of the Spirit to believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and know that they have an inheritance in the Son. And so this is what it's declaring. And I always find it interesting,
every time it talks about us flowing unto the city of God,
which is set on a mountain, things flow down from mountaintops.
They don't flow up to mountaintops, and yet it's a a great picture
of us because contrary to our nature, which is enmity against
God, yet he draws us, flowing up to the mountain, up to the
city of God. And so it's just a beautiful
picture of how the Lord overcomes his people in grace and in mercy
and in love. So the Lord sends forth his witness
out there into the darkness declaring it so that the people know where
to come, where his light is. Isaiah 2, 3, and many people
shall go and say, come ye, and let us go up to the mountain
of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will
teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. We have heard that this is so,
right? These are the people going out
and declaring, this is what the Lord is declaring to us, and
we're telling it to you and He teaches us and He causes us to
walk in His ways. So those people that might be
insulted or offended or upset that we don't preach the law
of Moses, it's because Christ is salvation and He tells us
right here in His Word that He teaches us by His Spirit. We're not lawless and just doing
anything that the flesh wants. We're led of the Spirit. And
we desire Him and feed upon the Lord and He teaches us. For out
of Zion shall go forth the law and the word of the Lord from
Jerusalem. And so what we see here, our
God is sending out that word of the doctrine of Christ. He's
declaring to the people the word of reconciliation. And that's
what What Paul says, if you turn over to 2 Corinthians 5, 2 Corinthians 5 and you look at
verses 18 and 19, Verse 18, And all things are
of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and
hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to it or as
that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing
their trespasses unto them, and hath committed unto us the word
of reconciliation. That is, that we have peace with
God through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's made
his people righteous, accepted, holy in himself. And so this
word goes forth by the mouth of his witnesses, and we see
here that our God is pleased to separate out the people who
are hearing the word. And those with an ear to hear
it, they're being separated unto the Lord, and they're being brought
into this nation from many into one. You know, Peter was speaking
of that over in 1 Peter 1, 2. He describes that we are sanctified
by the Spirit of God. The Spirit sanctifies people,
takes them from the whole of the nations and separates them
out because they were chosen by God before the foundation
of the world, the elect whom he chose, whom he foreknew and
loved. And the Spirit in a time of love separates his people
out unto this, unto this word. And the Spirit takes them unto
the obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.
That's not our obedience. We do obey, we believe, but it's
speaking there, that obedience that we're led to is to behold
what Christ has done in laying down His life for the people,
that He satisfied God perfectly. and that in him we're righteous
and accepted with the Lord. So we're brought to that obedience
where Christ accomplished our salvation and God justified him. The judgment of God is he has
accomplished that work which I sent him to do for my people. Now verse four, and he shall
judge among the nations. This is Isaiah two, verse four.
He shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people. That's because the hope of Christ
condemns all other hopes. The salvation of the Lord Jesus
Christ declares there is salvation in no other. There's no other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And so the hope of Jesus Christ
condemns all other hopes that man has. And he says that he
rebukes the people. All of us are rebuked. Even the
people of God are rebuked. That word is reproved, corrected,
rebuked. We're turned from dead works. We're turned from trusting in
those things which cannot save. He works repentance in our hearts
so that we realize the things that we're trusting in, they
fail us. They won't stand up before the
holy fire of God. But Christ has already been proved.
He's already been tried in the fire and He's prevailed for His
people. We are righteous in Him. All
right, now it says, continuing in verse four, and they shall
beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning
hooks, right? They're being turned from being
fierce warriors against one another and against God. into that which
brings in the fruit, plowshares and pruning hooks, because the
harvest is great and the Lord is bringing in the harvest of
His people. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come
ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord. And that's because
Christ, His blood is effectual. in removing the enmity between
God and men, that enmity that was in our flesh, hating God
and hating one another. And he's removed that enmity
between the nations of people because he's bringing in all
these different people with cultures and ideas and different upbringings
and thinking this is right or that's right and that's wrong
and this is wrong. And he's bringing us into one
family, one body under the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that's how He makes us one nation with one hope, one Savior, one
head, and we're one body, one faith, one spirit, one Lord,
one baptism. It's all of Him. It's all of
His glory and power, and He makes us to see the light of Christ,
the light of Christ, and trust Him. Paul speaks of this over
in Ephesians. Go to Ephesians 2. He speaks
of this removing of the enmity. and this oneness accomplished
by Christ in bringing many people, warring people together in the
peace of his blood. Over in Ephesians 2 verse 13,
13 through 16. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ,
you're brought near. For he is our peace, who hath
made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition
between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even
the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for to make in
himself of two one new man, so making peace, and that he might
reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain
the enmity thereby. So there Christ has put away
the enmity, and it's obvious. It's declared to us there is
but one way unto the Father. and it's through Jesus Christ,
His Son. So why stand ye there any longer,
you that are fearful and you that think ye won't receive me?
He's declared plainly His salvation in His Son. Our God has established
the covenant of grace in Jesus Christ so that guilty, ruined
sinners who are poor and have nothing to bring to Him, that
we might be accepted and received by Him through the grace, through
the blood, of Jesus Christ. We're not to bring anything in
our hands. We're not to trust in any work of this flesh. Trust
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's delivered his people from
eternal death, which we did justly deserve, and he's given us life
in Christ. He said that they might have
life and have it more abundantly. Our Savior has done this work
for us. So the Son of God, He became flesh and He fulfilled
all the law and commandments, which was contrary to us, which
we couldn't keep because of the weakness of this flesh. Christ
came and He fulfilled all righteousness for His people. And we fulfilled
all righteousness in Christ, in Him, looking to Him, trusting
Him. And so They who found no fault
in him led him to be crucified, which was all according to the
determinate will and counsel of God in order to work that
redemption, that he might be gracious to his people. He's done everything, provided
everything for us in the Son, and so Christ was was put to
death, that He might put to death the law. It says in Colossians
2.14 that the handwriting and ordinances that was against us,
which was contrary to us, He took it out of the way, nailing
it to His cross. And so it's, we're dead to the
law, and the law has nothing more to say to us. Christ is
our head. He is our husband. He is our
authority. We answer to Him. We look to
Him. We trust and believe Him. Believe
Him, brethren. belief. And what a kind, gracious,
faithful Savior. What a shepherd to provide everything
for you, His sheep. And so, He did the work. He came and He severed, He destroyed
death, He destroyed the body of sin, He destroyed its power
that was held over us through fear and sin and death. He put
it He put it all to death. He put it away for His people
and made us righteous through faith, through that faith that
He reveals and sent His Spirit, whereby the Spirit gives us life
and reveals that salvation in us of what Christ has accomplished. And we believe it. We hear it
and rejoice. We see the light. Our blind eyes
see. Our deaf ears, which could not
hear, are now opened and hear Him. These lame feet and legs
and this lame body that had no movement in it now leaps for
joy under Christ. And this tongue, which was still
called dumb in the scriptures, now is loosed and sings the song
of redemption, tuned to the melody of grace, of how he's redeemed
his people. And so he did this for his people,
His nation whom He loves. And the call goes forth by His
power. We hear it and live. And so,
is there a sinner who has nothing in need of His mercy and grace? Look to Christ. Look to the Son. He is the salvation that God
has freely provided. And all who look to Him have
life. If it's of Him, they continue
in Christ and abide in Christ and stay upon Him, feeding upon
Him through this gospel. On Christ who said, my flesh
is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed. And his people
feed upon him in this gospel, this law, rejoicing in this judgment
of God, which shall rest, he said, for a light to the people. And his people abide in him and
continue in him, walking in him. And so this is the doctrine of
Christ. This is the song of redemption
that we sing and declare every time we come together. We speak
of how he's called us and blessed us. or as Paul said, justified
us, and how He's increased or glorified us. Because we are
made partakers in His redemptive glory, in His resurrection glory,
in the inheritance with the saints, having eternal life with the
Son and with the Father in Him. So our Lord then graciously says
now in verse 5, My righteousness is near, and my salvation is
gone forth. And mine arms shall judge the
people, the isles, those far off lands of which the Gentiles
dwell, they shall wait upon me, and on mine arms shall they trust. You know, men labor to work a
righteousness for themselves. They strive in vain, doing dead
works in religion, thinking that this is their acceptance with
God. Paul says of them, they're ever learning and ever able to
come to a knowledge of the truth, because they cannot receive the
simplicity of Christ. They cannot receive that simple
word of grace that His Son has prevailed. It is finished. He's
done everything for His people. And so they don't hear His voice. They don't care for the melody.
They don't know it. They're all out of tune. And
they can't sing it and rejoice in that which He's made your
heart to rejoice in, in the Lord. But those who have nothing to
offer to God, the foolish, the weak, the poor, the base, those
that are despised by men of renown, the Lord says, my great, my righteousness
is near. brought His righteousness near
to you, brethren, that you might hear it, and know it, and see
Him who is our glory and our salvation. He says, My salvation
is gone forth. That's because Christ, He came
for the poor beggar. He came for the needy sinner. And you that need Him, He's provided
everything for you. You that have no righteousness,
no light, who walk in darkness, He is salvation. He is your light. And He's giving you this faith
whereby you do behold Him and trust Him. Cry out. Cry out every time you see your
need. Just cry out, help Lord. And
know that He is the helper of the helpless. He is the Lord
and Savior of His people. So all who call on Christ, they
shall be saved. Though man is dead in sins, he
shall live in the Lord Jesus Christ. Like Abraham who believed
God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness, so the
Lord imputes righteousness unto all who believe Him. Because
it's by His grace that we do believe Him and trust Him. Our Lord says, Mine arms shall
judge the people. His arms are there to receive
those who run to Him, and those same arms will judge those who
refuse Him and reject Him and do not believe and have no need
of Him. He says, The isles shall wait
upon Me, and on Mine arms shall they trust. those Gentiles. We know this because we are those
Gentiles that sat in darkness have seen a great light and seen
that He is the light and the salvation of God. And so We preach
this knowing, as the Lord says, on my arms, they shall trust. They shall trust on my arm, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And so he's ruling. Our Savior
is ruling and reigning. He's in session at the right
hand of the throne of God, implementing the will of God in the earth
until every sheep, every last sheep is brought into the fold. Now when that last sheep is brought
in, he says there in verse 6, lift up your eyes to the heavens
and look upon the earth beneath. For the heavens shall vanish
away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment.
And they that dwell therein shall die in like manner. But my salvation
shall be forever, and my righteousness shall not be abolished. The Lord showing that those things
which men counted as stable and constant, heavens and the heavenly
bodies, and this earth beneath our feet, shall soon dissolve
away and be removed. And as Peter says, wherein the
heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements
shall melt with fervent heat. But though this earth pass away,
the Lord says, all this will pass away. The fashion of this
earth passeth away. But He says, My salvation, you
that are My people and My nation, which are brought under the salvation
for My people and My Son, that never ends. You have eternal
life, eternal glory with the Son. He's done that for you whom
he loves. He says right there, but my salvation
shall be forever, at the end of verse six, and my righteousness
shall not be abolished. That will never come to an end. We might have trials and troubles
for a little while here on this earth. but it's a vapor, it's
a smoke, it's nothing compared to the salvation of our Lord,
the eternal life in Him. And Peter concludes in verse
13, nevertheless we are, this is 2 Peter 3.13, nevertheless
we according to His promise look for new heavens and a new earth
wherein dwelleth righteousness. So bless and rejoice in your
God, you that have been called. blessed, or justified, and increased,
or glorified in the Lord. Bless Him. That is the melody
of His grace, whereby we sing the song of redemption, glorifying
and worshiping our Savior, who did all this for us, in mercy. Though we have nothing to give
Him, yet He did this for us in mercy. So, I pray He bless that
word, and comfort your hearts in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. All right, brethren, let's close
in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your mercy and grace. We thank you, Lord, for your
word of salvation, this melody of grace. Lord, keep rehearsing
it in our ears. Keep us ever hearing it, especially
in times of darkness, especially in times of trial and affliction
and controversy. Lord, help us to just delight
in your salvation, in your son. Lord, thank you for your mercy. Thank you for everything that
you're doing in us and around us, Lord, we thank you. For we
know that you are God. And your purpose and your will
is ever being done. We pray for your people, that
you would bless them, that you would unite our hearts as one
in Christ. We would indeed enjoy these blessings
of being of one nation, partakers of one blood, and one salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. May your love and your power
prevail over all other things, Lord. It's in the name of our
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray this. Amen. All right, brother. Close us
in a hymn. Let's stand and sing a closing
hymn, 488, My Redeemer. I will sing of my Redeemer. O sing of my Redeemer, and His
wondrous love to me. On the cruel cross He suffered,
from the curse to set me free. Sing, O sing of my Redeemer,
With His blood He purchased me. On the cross He sealed my pardon,
paid the debt, and made me free. I will tell the wondrous story,
How my lost estate you saved, In His boundless love and mercy,
For the ransom freely gave. of my Redeemer. With His love He purchased me. On the cross He sealed my pardon,
paid the debt, and made me free. I will praise my dear Redeemer,
His triumphant power I'll tell, How the victory He giveth over
sin and death and hell. With His blood He purchased me. On the cross He sealed my pardon,
paid the debt, and made me free. I will sing of my Redeemer and
His heavenly love to me. He from death to life hath brought
me, Son of God, with Him to be. Sing, oh sing! of my Redeemer, with His blood
He purchased me. On the cross He sealed my pardon,
paid the debt, and made me free.