We're going to look tonight at
the book of Ezekiel chapter 28. Ezekiel chapter 28. And I want to talk to you this
evening on the subject of the victory of God's grace. The victory of God's grace. Now, the message of victory doesn't
really come until the end of this chapter. But in order to
put things in the proper perspective, the Lord gives us a historical
record, the prophecy of God's judgment against the nations.
That's what this section of scripture from these chapters, I think
from chapter 25 all the way over to chapter 32, is a prophecy
of God through the prophet Ezekiel of His wrath and judgment against
the nations that surrounded Israel and some that were far off, like
Egypt, that comes next. And the judgment of God that
comes upon them because of their sin, of their idolatry, their
rebellion, they like all of us by nature, refused to recognize
the honor of God and to seek the glory of the God of Israel.
They despised the nation Israel through whom God would bless
all nations in that the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, would
come through that nation. He had pronounced God's judgment
against the Ammonites, against Moab, against Edom, against Philistia,
and now where we're reading now in these chapters He's pronouncing
God's judgment against Tyrus. The nation Tyrus. Now that's
the nation Tyre. You remember the Lord mentioned
Tyre and Sidon. Those were cities that were close
together. And He mentioned them in Matthew
chapter 11. And this nation of Tyrus, it
was a very, very well-respected, well-beloved, admired city for
one reason. because of its economic prosperity,
money, materials, things like that. It was a very prosperous
city. And when Judah, when Judah fell,
and it's mentioned here in these last chapters, when Judah fell,
the city of Tyre rejoiced over Judah's destruction. And they
sought to take advantage of Judah, of Judah's fall in a material
way. I won't go in to explain all
that because it just makes it too long. But back here in chapter
26 in verse 2, it says, Son of man, because that Tyrus hath
said against Jerusalem, Aha, she is broken. That was the gates
of the people. It was a trade route for them. She's turned unto me and I shall
be replenished. Now she is laid waste. It's going
to be easier for us to get more because Judah is laid waste.
That's what they're saying. So, that was the situation. And then God pronounced His just
wrath against Tyre. And then chapter 27 was a lament,
a sorrow over the fall of Tyre from her admirers. And remember
I told you it reminded me of Revelation. when it speaks of,
I think in chapter 18, of the fall of Babylon, the fall of
the great whore Babylon, and how the merchants and all those
who profited from Babylon, Babylon representing false religion and
false governments against God, against Christ, against the gospel,
and how when she fell, all that were connected to her, all that
were part of her system, how they sorrowed, And that's what
you see in chapter 27 of Ezekiel. Her admirers lamenting over her.
Well, here we come to chapter 28. And chapter 28 is a very
interesting chapter because it presents Tyre in the name of
two individuals. The first one is the Prince of
Tyre. The Prince of Tyre. And the second
is the king of Tyre. Now some commentators say they're
the one and the same, but I don't believe they are, and I'll show
you why as we read through it. But here the prince of Tyre,
I believe is a type of what the Bible later identifies as Antichrist. The spirit of Antichrist. And
we'll look at that. And the spirit of Antichrist
is under the domination of Satan, And that's who the king of Tyre,
I believe, typifies here. Now that's common in the scriptures.
In fact, we saw that in the book of Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter
14, when Isaiah is talking about the future king of Babylon, and
he presents him as being under the domination of Satan, and
really presents him as a type of Satan. You've read that in
Isaiah 14, O Lucifer, how art thou fallen? And you're going
to see the same type of language here in Ezekiel 28. So we have
Antichrist, that spirit. And as you know, some people
think of Antichrist as being one particular individual. And
there's a big argument over that. It really doesn't matter. Whatever
he is, he's Antichrist. And that's what we have to look
out for. Any spirit, any individual, any ruler that is Antichrist,
then we have to stand in opposition to because we're the people of
Christ. We're Christian. We're saved
by the grace of God in Christ. We're disciples of Christ. We're
under the Lordship of Christ, the leadership, the headship
of Christ. So we stand in opposition to any one person, any group
of people, any government, any religion. That is anti-Christ. Am I right? Yes, we're opposed
to that. But anti-Christ is under the
domination of Satan. Now the purpose of this I believe
in chapter 28 is the same thing that Isaiah was teaching in his
prophecy, which took place about a hundred or more years before
this, concerning the king of Babylon, showing this, showing
us this, that we see these earthly kings, these earthly despots,
these earthly tyrants, earthly presidents or prime ministers,
all in power. But the purpose of it is to show
the church, the true people of God, that behind the scenes of
all this earthly sin and all this earthly conflict and all
this destruction, all of this rebellion, there's a heavenly
struggle. Now, the Apostle Paul spoke of
that in the book of Ephesians. Let me just read this to you.
When he spoke to the church at Ephesus and he said in Ephesians
6 and verse 10, finally, my brethren be strong in the Lord and in
the power of his might. And then he said, put on the
whole armor of God that you may be able to withstand against
the wiles of the devil. And then he defined the battlefield.
Here's the real battlefield. He says for we, verse 12, he
says for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness
of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Now that's what the world doesn't
see. That's what we know is true because
God reveals it. Throughout these prophecies of
the destruction of these nations, God is showing us that the real
struggle has already been won. And we'll see that. But throughout
these prophecies of destruction, God sets forth intermittently
the hope of salvation. And the eternal life which comes
through His grace in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Look back
at chapter 26 just for a moment. When we study this, I didn't
mention it in the message, but I underlined it in my Bible here.
Chapter 26, here He is pronouncing the destruction upon Tyre, Tyrus. And if you'll look over at verse
17, the end of the chapter, listen to what he says. He says, they
shall take up a lamentation for thee, a sorrow. It's like a funeral
dirge. And say to thee, how art thou
destroyed? Thou was inhabited of seafaring men, the renowned
city. How is Tyre destroyed? It was so strong, so rich, so
prosperous. You know, when I read things
like that, I think about our own nation. Do, are we really,
do we, and I love my, I love our country. I'm a patriot. I
really am. But are we really so foolish
as to think that this nation is going to last forever? That
it's the be all and the end all? I mean, is this utopia? Is this
heaven? No. You know better than that.
And this, this is what's happening here. These people put their
trust in Tyre. in their prosperity, in their
lives here on earth. That's the earth dwellers, the
scripture calls them. That's why Christ says, we're
not of the world. We're not earth dwellers. We're
pilgrims. Isn't that right? We're strangers
in a strange land. And so they say, how art thou
destroyed? You were so inhabited of seafaring
men. That means prosperity. It was
a shipping area. The renowned city, well known
throughout the world, which was strong in the sea, she and her
habitants, which caused their terror to be on all that haunted. Anyone who would even say anything
against it, this city, this nation, Now shall the isles tremble in
the day of thy fall, yea, the isles that are in the sea shall
be troubled at thy departure. For thus saith the Lord God when
I shall make thee a desolate city. like the cities that are
not inhabited, when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great
waters shall cover thee, when I shall bring thee down with
them that descend into the pit with the people of old time,
and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth in places
desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit that thou
shalt not be inhabited." Now look at the next line, isn't
this something? You'd think this is out of place.
You would think some quote, positive thinker, unquote, just jammed
this in here. But that's not what happened. Listen to what he says. He says,
and I shall set glory in the land of the living. Now that's
our home, the land of the living. Many commentators will tell you,
well, that's talking about Israel. Now let me tell you something
now. At that point in time, Israel was not the land of the living.
We've already read about all the destruction that comes upon
Israel and Judah. Some people say, well, that's
talking about their future. Well, it is talking about the
future. And it's talking about glory. Now whose glory is it
talking about? God's glory. What does the Bible
teach us about God's glory? Where does it dwell? It dwells
in the person and finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that's what he's talking about there. You say, well preacher,
it doesn't say it. Yes, it does. Read the rest of
the scripture. That's what the Lord meant when
he said, these scriptures are they which testify of me. My
friend, the only glory that God set in the land of the living
as far as any earthly land was when Christ came to this earth.
Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and goodwill
toward men. But see, that's where we live, the land of the living,
because we have a living Lord, a living Savior. We serve a risen
Savior. We serve one who put away our
sin and established righteousness that demands life. The sin that
brought death upon us was laid to his charge and he drank damnation
dry. The death of death and the death
of Christ. And he was buried and rose the
third day and he lives. Christ Jesus lives today. And
what are we? We are citizens of the land of
the living. Not of the world, not of the
dead world, not of the desolate, not of the land of the lost.
And he says in verse 21, I'll make thee a tare and thou shalt
be no more. Talking about Tyre. So right in the middle of all
this destruction. So you see, that's what this
is all about. You know, you could talk about
the living coming back to Israel at the end of the 70 year captivity.
But that's very limited. It was temporary. And they were
still under foreign domination. They weren't under the headship
of Christ as far as salvation is concerned. I know all things
are under the headship of Christ and His sovereign authority,
even Tyre's, even Egypt. Listen, He's the ruler of this
world. He is. And He's never given up that
rulership. That's Him. The eternal fulfillment
of this comes through Jesus Christ. And that's what this is all about. Before I get to this, I am going
to get to Ezekiel 28, believe me. And I'm not going to keep
you here all night. But look at Colossians chapter
2. I want to show you this. We've already read it. Brother
Joe read it in Colossians 1. How that we who are citizens
of the land of the living, that sinner saved by grace, how we
give thanks to the Father who made us meat to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints. You know what meat means? It
means we're qualified. How are we qualified? He made
us that way. How did He do it? He washed us
in the blood of the Lamb. He put away our sins. He clothed
us in the righteousness of the Lamb. That's how He made us meat
to be partakers. of the saints in light, delivered
us from the power of darkness. But look here in verse 15 of chapter 2, talking
about the death of Christ and how when Christ died, we died. When he was buried, we were buried. When he rose, we arose. What
did he do? Verse 15, having spoiled principalities
and powers. Now that's what we're talking
about in Ezekiel 28, principalities and powers. Here's the prince
of Tyre. Here's the king of Tyre. There's
somebody, somebody who is called, even by the Lord himself, the
God of this world, who's behind all of that. But my friend, make
no mistake about it, there's somebody much higher than him
who's in control of it all. And Christ having spoiled principalities
in power, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them
in it. Read your concordance on that
in it. You know what it says there? In what? In himself. In himself. Now when did he do
that? When he died on that cross, put away sin, was buried and
rose the third day. Now go back to Ezekiel 28. I'll
just read through some of this, and we'll look at some other
scripture along with it. But here's this prophecy, the
destruction of the prince of Tyre, and a lamentation for the
king of Tyre. And then you have a denunciation
of the judgments on Zidon, it's Z-I-D-O-N here, but it's Sidon
in the New Testament, Tyre and Sidon, remember Christ mentioned
that? and a promise of peace and safety to Israel. Verse one,
the Lord of the Lord came again unto me, saying, Son of man,
say unto the Prince of Tyrus, thus saith the Lord God, because
thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am, it says
here, I am a God, the am is in italics, it would read literally,
I God. I God. That's what this Prince
of Tyrus says. I sit, The seat of God. I sit, the seat of God. And in the midst of the seas,
yet, yet, God says now, yet, thou a man. No, I a God, no,
thou a man. You claim to be God, you're just
a man. And not God, he says. You see
that? Though thou set thine heart as
the heart of God. You think that when you speak,
God speaks. Behold, thou art wiser than Daniel.
Ezekiel knew who Daniel was. Daniel was the prime minister.
Daniel was a wise man. Daniel's name means God's judge. God is judge. You think you're
wiser than Daniel. God's prophet. There's no secret
that they can hide from thee. That's what you think, see? Verse
4, with thy wisdom and with thy understanding that has gotten
thee riches and has gotten gold and silver into thy treasures.
He's been very prosperous this prince. He's not a poor man. He appears outwardly blessed. He appears outwardly righteous.
He says in verse 5, but thy great wisdom, by thy traffic, that's
the comings and goings of the prosperous city, the merchants
coming and going, the ships coming and going, hast thou increased
thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches. You think you're God because
of your riches. Oh, he must be doing something
right. Isn't that the way the world thinks? The power of prosperity. Used to be an old boy down in
Macon, Georgia, who'd come on TV. And he called his ministry,
The Prosperity Way of Living. And all you had to do now was
just send him a check. And you, God'll bless you ten
times over. See, that's the kind of thinking
that the world's involved in. If you're blessed of God, you're
prosperous. If you're hurting or if you're
poor, I have a fellow call me on the phone every now and then,
and he's got a disease and he's just convinced that he's condemned
to hell because he's got this disease. And I tell him, I say,
well, I've got one too. You all have a disease, don't
you? Some of you may not know it yet. But it's there. This body is dead because of
sin. Where's our hope? The Spirit
is life because of righteousness. I said, well, according to you,
Lazarus was a goner, wasn't he? Laying out there with the dogs
licking his sores. And that rich man, he should
have walked right into heaven with a shout of hallelujahs. But that's not what the Bible
teaches. We don't walk by sight, we walk by faith. That's the
issue. And hear this, fellow, because
thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God. Look at it,
verse 6. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, because thou hast
set thine heart as the heart of God, behold, therefore, I
will bring strangers, foreigners upon thee, the terrible of the
nations, and they shall draw their swords against the beauty
of thy wisdom. Your wisdom is gone. And they
shall defile thy brightness. Everything that's beautiful about
you is going to turn into ugliness. They shall bring thee down to
the pit. Thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the
midst of the seas. Wilt thou yet say before him
that slayeth thee, I am God? The very one that slays you,
you going to tell him you are God? You think that will protect
you? But thou a man, he says, and
no God in the hand of him that slayeth thee. You can't kill
God. That's right. So it's useless
to stand in front of your slayer and say, I'm God. What's that
going to do for you? He says in verse 10, thou shalt
die the deaths of the uncircumcised. Now that's a way of referring
to the heathen in the Jewish culture, an ungodly person. The death of the uncircumcised
by the hand of strangers, for I have spoken it, saith the Lord
God. Turn to 2 Thessalonians 2. You remember what the Apostle
Paul says about the last days here? Just prior to the second
coming of Christ? He speaks of the spirit of Antichrist. Now again, and I'm not dogmatic
on this one. I've got my own opinion on this.
Alan, you probably have yours too on this, don't you brother,
on what, you know, is it going to be one Man or a political
religious figure whatever or is a spirit now John talked about
the spirit of Antichrist didn't he in first John chapter 2 there
many Antichrist I believe there are many today There are many
today But listen to what he says in verse 3 of 2nd Thessalonians
2 he says that no man deceived you by any means For that day
shall not come. That's the day of Christ return
his second coming except there come a falling away first. That's
an apostasy. Now you can't fall away from
something that you've never been to. And what he's talking about
is that those who claim to be Christian or the general atmosphere
of what is known as Christianity will be Christian in name only.
They'll claim to be Christian, but they'll fall away from Christ. Now understand, that doesn't
mean they'll lose their salvation. No. John took care of that in
1 John 2, and we could go to other scriptures too. But they'll
deny Christ in their doctrine, in their living. And they'll
fall away. And he says, and that man of
sin be revealed. Now that may be one individual. That may be a way of referring
to the spirit of Antichrist. Either way, he's the son of perdition,
destruction. And listen to what it says about
him. Here's how he describes it. And you'll see it sounds
just like the Prince of Tyre. He says, who opposeth and exalteth
himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so
that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself
that he is God. Making a show. Alright? And he says, remember you not
that when I was yet with you, I told you these things. And
then he speaks of how God is Holding things back in check
everything working to his time scale to where all this will
be revealed now We'll come back there a second Thessalonians
2, but that's Antichrist and That's anyone the spirit. I'll
just put it to you this way the spirit of Antichrist is any one
or any group or any religion or any denomination that claims
to be Christian, but denies the doctrine of Christ and denies
the gospel of Christ. You know, there are people who
claim to be Christian who preach salvation by works. Now I'm telling
you, that's the spirit of Antichrist. That's the spirit of Antichrist.
Listen, anyone who strays from the simplicity of Christ, as
Paul described it in 2 Corinthians 11, is Antichrist. They preach another gospel. and
again it's salvation by the works of the will of men now go back
to ezekiel twenty eight now look at verse eleven here comes the
king of tyre here's the prophecy against the king of tyre verse
eleven now listen to this you'll find this interesting moreover
the word of the lord came unto me saying son of man take up
a lamentation upon the king of tyrus now what he's telling him
is don't cry for him but Pronounce sorrow to him. That's what he
means there. Pronounce sorrow to him. And
he says, Say to him, Thus saith the Lord God, Thou sealest up
the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast
been in Eden, the garden of God. Now that cannot be said of the
actual physical king of Tyrus. He was never in Eden, the garden
of God. Robert Hawker, who I read quite
often now and I like him real well, he says that this is talking
about man, fallen man in general. And certainly these things could
be said of man. Adam, he was sealed up, he sealed
up the sum, he was the fullness of wisdom and perfect in beauty. He was that. And he sealed up
the sum, that means that he is the best quality of individual
or human being that he was. In other words, he was the fullness
of man. It's kind of like, you know, when they say, be all you
can be, Adam was all he could be, in that sense. So he sealed
up the sun, full of wisdom. And he was in Eden, the garden
of God. And he says, every precious stone
was thy covering, the sardineus, sardius rather, topaz, the diamond,
the barrel, onyx, the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, the
carbuncle, and gold. The workmanship of thy tabrets
and of thy pipes were prepared in thee in the day that thou
wast created. There's nine gems mentioned there
and they correspond to nine of the gems that was found on the
priest's breastplate. There were twelve on the priest's
breastplate. Why were there nine here and not twelve? Well, he's
talking about fallen man And I believe he's specifically talking
about Satan, Lucifer, who before the world was created, as far
as we know. Now some people claim that this
comes in the gap theory. I'm not going to get into all
that stuff. Because it wouldn't do us any good. Wouldn't edify
us. It didn't edify me anyway. So anyway, I believe he's talking
about Satan who was created as an angelic being in perfection
and beauty. and he was in the garden of Eden.
Now he was fallen when he was in the garden of Eden. Why does
it mention nine stones instead of twelve? Well, twelve on the
priest's breastplate is the complete number of the people of God. Twelve tribes of Israel. But
here there's only nine. The number nine is a symbol of
judgment. And what he's talking about is
God's judgment coming down. And so what we have here is a
fallen being. But look at verse 14, now this
is why I believe he's talking about Satan specifically and
using the king of Tyrus as a type. Verse 14, thou art the anointed
cherub. Now what is a cherub? A cherub
is an angel, not a human being. Now again, certainly what's described
here could apply to fallen man, fallen in Adam. But I believe
he's talking about an angelic being here who fell just like
Isaiah did back in chapter 14 when he was using the king of
Babylon as a type of saint. Ezekiel's using the king of Tyre
as a type of saint. He's a cherub. A cherub was the
highest form of an angel. And he fell. So thou art the
anointed cherub that covereth, that is, that covers the earth,
And I have set thee so, thou wast upon the holy mountain of
God, thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones
of fire. Remember how Christ described
Satan as walking up and down to and fro on the earth? Thou
was perfect in thy ways from the day that thou was created
till iniquity was found in thee. Now there you go. Iniquity was found in thee. And he said in verse 16, By the
multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of
thee with violence, and thou hast sinned. Therefore I will
cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God, the mountain
of God meaning the presence of God, and I will destroy thee,
O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine
heart was lifted up because of thy beauty. Thou hast corrupted
thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness. O Lucifer, how art thou fallen,
angel of light? I will cast thee to the ground.
He was cast down. I will lay thee before kings
that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries
by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic.
Therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee.
It shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the
earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. I believe that
can only apply to Satan. A lake of fire. The bottomless
pit made for the devil and his angels. And they that know thee
among the people shall be astonished at thee. Thou shalt be a terror
and never shalt thou be anymore. Total, total destruction. And
now, you have the fall of Satan. You have the power behind the
power of sin and rebellion. You know, our Lord taught this.
Look over at John chapter 8. Let me hurry here. Here's the Pharisees and their
religion. And they were prosperous in religion. Well respected. Men to be marveled
at. And listen to what he says to
them in verse 44 of John chapter 8. John 8, verse 44. You are of your father the devil,
the adversary. And the lust of your father you
will do. He was a murderer from the beginning. Now how was he
a murderer from the beginning? A lot of commentators say, well
that's Cain and Abel. No, it goes all the way back
to Adam. When Satan sought to murder the whole human race by
bringing about the fall of Adam. The fall of man in Adam. And
that's what he did, he brought about death. Sin and death, that's
what's marked the human race ever since. I thought about this,
you know, I was reading where this lady poet died. And one
of the famous, I can't remember her name, but one of the famous
sayings that she had was, I think it says, listen to the voice
inside yourself and you'll hear the voice of God. And I thought
about it, I said, well, let's talk to Adolf Hitler about that.
Let's talk to Jeffrey Dahmer about that. Because they listened
to the voice. And I know God has given man
a conscience, don't get me wrong. The only way you're going to
listen to a voice inside yourself and hear the voice of God is
as the Holy Spirit works through the Word of God written on your
heart. Isn't that right? That's the
only way. Just listening to yourself is
not going to do it. Somebody says, well, we're not
all like Adolf Hitler. No, but we're all sinners. And
we all have deceptive hearts by nature. uncircumcised hearts,
dead in trespasses and sins, and we all deserve nothing but
damnation, and we're all in need of the mercy and the grace and
the power of God, and if we don't have it, the only voice we're
going to hear is the voice of pride and unbelief and rebellion,
even in religion. That's what comes from this fall,
this murder. He was a murderer from the beginning.
He abode not in the truth. That's how he murdered people,
by telling a lie. It's like a false preacher preaching
a false gospel. He's a soul murderer. That's
what a lie does. It's not an innocent white lie.
My friend, it leads people to the broad road that leads to
destruction. He says, because there is no truth in him. And
when he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own. What it means is,
when Satan speaks a lie, he is only saying what is natural to
him. When false preachers preach a false gospel, they are only
preaching what is natural to them. The natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God. For he is a liar and
the father of it. Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter
4. Here's a portion we read quite
often. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Now, we're
talking about the victory of God's grace. Well, here it is,
right here. Now look at it. Verse 3 of 2 Corinthians chapter
4. He says, But if our gospel be
hid, it's hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this
world have blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of
God, should shine unto them. Now notice what he says right
after that. Satan's goal is to keep you from hearing and believing
the gospel. He didn't want you to hear about
your sinfulness, and hear about God's judgment, and hear about
the glorious person and finished work of Christ. When a preacher
preaches the blood and righteousness of Christ, Satan cringes. How do we turn him back? Revelation
12. By pleading the blood of the Lamb. And so what does Paul
say right after this? He says, we preach not ourselves.
Now that's key. I'm not up here preaching myself.
I'm preaching Christ. The Christ, Jesus, the Lord,
and ourselves, your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who
commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shone in
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And we could go on. And I'm running
out of time. But look back at Ezekiel 28.
And then I'll quit. That's the victory. He brings
judgment against Zidon because they're connected with Tyre.
But look at verse 24. He says, There shall be no more
pricking brier unto the house of Israel, nor any grieving thorn
of all that are round about them, that despise them, and they shall
know that I am the Lord. In other words, the house of
Israel. Now that's the whole family of
God. And he said they're not going to be bothered anymore.
Verse 25, Thus saith the Lord God, when I shall have gathered
the house of Israel from the people among whom they are scattered,
that's God's elect, and shall be sanctified in them in the
sight of the heathen. In other words, they're going
to be a living testimony to the glory of God in Christ among
the heathen. That's how God is set apart.
As they preach and worship and serve him. Then they shall dwell
in their land that I have given to my servant Jacob. Now there
was, again, a limited fulfillment of this in their return from
Babylon, but that was only limited. But look at verse 26. I think
this settles it, what he's talking about. They shall dwell safely. In your concordance, it says
with confidence therein. They'll build houses. That's
how confident they'll be. This is a permanent dwelling
place. They'll plant vineyards. Yea,
they shall dwell with confidence when I have executed judgments
upon all those that despise them, round about them, and they shall
know that I am the Lord their God. Now, many say, well, that's
still yet future to come. Well, I believe it's talking
about the coming of Christ to save his people from their sins
in the new covenant. But certainly Israel has a part
of that. How? God has a people out of
every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. And whoever he's
calling, whether it's now or in the future, it's going to
be under the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it?
And that's how we're going to dwell safely. That's how we're
going to have a permanent abiding citizenship and living in the
land of the living through Jesus Christ, the Lord our righteousness.
All right. Let's sing hymn number 58. It's
our closing hymn. Jesus, the very thought of thee.
Hymn number 58.