Samuel chapter 22. I believe there will only be one
or two more messages in this chapter after this one. 2 Samuel
chapter 22. We're going to look at verses
40 to 46 tonight, but I'd like us to read the context of that,
so we'll read verses 37 to 46. The name of the message is Saved
and Secure. Saved and Secure. As we read our text tonight,
let us consider the mercies which the believer has received in
Christ, in and through Him alone. And as we read our text tonight,
we will see that David keeps subscribing all the glory to
God, just like every believer does. We give Him all the glory
for the great things He's done. I was talking to a dear sister
today and she said, it's so wonderful to look back and to see how God's
delivered us, to see that. And in the midst of that trial,
that tribulation we're going through, we don't see it, do
we? But we're being carried through that whole situation. And our
great God will never leave us nor forsake us, He says. Never.
Never, ever, ever. So let's read these scriptures,
give our great God all the glory, all the glory for the deliverances
that He continually takes us through. And the deliverance
is not just from our trials and tribulations, but also from our
enemies, beloved. And we know the truth of the
scriptures, which declare we are more than conquerors through
Him, that being Christ, that loved us. More than conquerors.
Again, I mentioned at Sunday school, folks often, how can
I live the victorious life? We're already victorious in Christ.
Because He did it all. He did it all, beloved. And we
walk in Him. We rest in Him. Now, we struggle
all the time, don't we? But praise God, all our sins
are forgiven in Christ. They're all washed clean. As
far as the East is from the West, do you know if you put a stick
in the ground and bring a string over here like this? I was talking
to Brother Travis about this today. You put a string, and
you keep going this way, right? You'll either always be going
East or always be going West. Right? And if you turn around
the other way, you're always going west. They don't meet. They never meet. And that's how far our sins are
gone. They're gone forever, beloved. Forever. It's wondrous. It's absolutely wondrous, beloved.
That's what it means. As far as the east is from the
west, they never meet. They never, ever meet. Our sins
are gone. They're gone. So with that in mind, let's read
our text here. Verses 37 to 46. Thou hast enlarged my steps under
me, so that my feet did not slip. I have pursued mine enemies and
destroyed them, and turned not again until I had consumed them.
And I have consumed them and wounded them, that they could
not arise, yea, they are fallen under my feet. For thou hast
girded me with strength to battle. Them that rose up against me
hast thou subdued under me. Thou hast also given me the necks
of mine enemies that I might destroy them that hate me. They
looked, but there was none to save, even unto the Lord, but
he answered them not. Then did I beat them as small
as the dust of the earth. I did stamp them as the mire
of the street and did spread them abroad. Thou also hast delivered
me from the strivings of my people. Thou hast kept me to be the head
of the heathen, a people which I knew not shall serve me. Strangers
shall submit themselves unto me. As soon as they hear, they
shall be obedient unto me. Strangers shall fade away, and
they shall be afraid out of their close places. Now again, take
note of how David dwells upon what the Lord has done for him.
and he continuously ascribes to God all the glory. He's bringing
forth what the Lord's done for him. And remember this, it's
all according to the will and purpose of God that these things
come to pass, because he's absolutely sovereign. And the mercy that
David receives is all according to the goodness of God and the
grace of God. Now note in verse 37, David proclaims that it is
the Lord who has kept him. Thou hast enlarged my steps under
me, so that my feet did not slip. You did this, God. You did this. And the believer in Christ is
only safe and secure in Christ. Only in Christ. Because it is
He alone who saves us. And it's He alone who keeps us.
And David here brings forth that it's the Lord who kept him. Did the Lord keep you and I before
we were even saved? Absolutely. He did, didn't he? Can we look back at the times
when we think, man, I should have died? Absolutely. The Lord kept us, didn't he? He kept us. David brings forth here that
it was the Lord who kept him so that his feet did not slip.
Now we fall into sin, don't we? We fall into sin because we're
sinners. We who are God's people are saved sinners, but we fall
into sin because we're but saved sinners. But the true sheep of
God will never fall away. They'll never fall away, ever. Not because of anything in us.
Because left to ourselves, we would fall away. But he keeps us. Look at this.
Thou has enlarged my steps under me so that my feet did not slip.
You did this, God. And he continues to do this for
his people, even today. Even today he does that. The believer in Christ will never
perish. They pass from death Spiritual
death to life eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord and our
foundation Our sure foundation is Christ He's the foundation
He's the foundation stone that we're set upon we're we're living
stones built up into a holy temple in Christ in Christ And notice
that David in verses 40 and 41, he continues to ascribe all his
deliverance and victories to our great God. And he just continues
to give God all the glory. All the glory. Now people might
hear us giving all the glory to God and think, wow, they don't
take no glory to themselves. No, because we don't have anything
to glory in, do we? Except we can, Scott Richardson
said, and I mentioned it this morning, the only thing we own
is our sin. And we can lay claim to that, because that's ours.
But salvation comes from God, it's a gift of God. Faith comes
from God, it's a gift of God. Grace and mercy come from God,
it's a gift of God to the believer. And look here, David again ascribes
all the glory, honor, and praise to our great God. All His deliverances,
and we can say the same thing, all our deliverances and all
the victories that we've had in our life, all come from our
God. He done it all. Now remember who David was too.
He was a great warrior, wasn't he? He was a great warrior. He
knew how to war. He was a man of war. But again,
we're going to see here, even though he's a great man of war,
he's a fighter. He's a warrior. But he gives
God all the glory. He gives God all the glory. All
of it. Look at this. For thou has girded
me, verse 40, for thou, God, you God, has girded me with strength
to battle. So he's saying, all my victories,
Lord. All the strength that I have in the world comes from you,
Lord. Everything. And think of us, all the victories
we have. We have victory over sin through Christ. Again, not
on anything of our own alter Christ. We have victory over
our sin in Christ. We're more than conquerors, the
scripture says. Because of Christ, because of our great God. He says, for thou, being God,
has girded me with strength to battle. Them that rose up against
me, thou hast subdued. You did this, Lord. Think of
how the Lord has subdued our enemies, our sin, the law of
God, which had a claim on us, the wrath of God, which should
have been poured out upon us, but was poured out upon our Savior. He subdued our enemies. He's done it all. For thou has
girded me with strength to battle them that rose up against me,
hast thou subdued unto me. So he's given God all the glory.
And then look what he says in 14. Thou has also given me the
necks of mine enemies. You did this, Lord. And again,
David's a great man of war. What do most great men of war
do? Well, look what I've done. Natural man do that. Even we're prone to pride as
believers. But what did Nebuchadnezzar say before he was eaten dirt?
Look what I've done. The Lord just bought him low,
didn't he? Bought him low, and then at the end he said, Lord,
you're king over everything. Over everything, in heaven and
in earth. God taught him something. God taught him something. Look
at David here, though, and David's a king. He says, thou hast given
me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that
hate me. It's all you, Lord. It's all you. Note again, it's
God who girded him with strength to battle. And we know, just
as David did, that in our weakness, he's strong. In our weakness,
God is strong. Beloved, the battle's the Lord's.
The battle is the Lord's. We saw proof of that, didn't
we today, when the servant of Elijah's eyes were opened up
and he's like, oh my goodness. The Lord's host was there to
do battle. I still chuckle over that, when all he could see was
that Syrian host and Elijah's like, well there's more for us
than against us, oh my goodness. He's looking out there going,
what is he talking about? Well, then the Lord opened his
eyes, didn't he? We saw that, it's wonderful. The Lord opened
his eyes. Oh my. The battle's the Lord's. Scripture
says, not by might nor power, and that's our power or might,
saith the Lord. But by my spirit, says the Lord.
Oh my. Think of our great God. Think
of our mighty Savior. It is He who has saved us. It's
He who has redeemed us with His precious blood. He did it all. He did it all. This is a work
of our great God, and we ascribe all the power, glory, and honor
to Him. All of it. All of it. There was a time when
some of us were in religion, and we used to ascribe the glory
to myself. That's what I used to do. Oh, I made a decision. I used
to tell people this and all to my shame. Oh my goodness. Oh,
I pray the Lord will let me speak to each person that I said this
to. And there's a couple that I know for sure. I said, I used
to say, well, the devil's cast a vote for you and God's cast
a vote for you. Now the rest is up to you. What
a lie. It doesn't work that way. God's not begging people. He
saves people by his grace and mercy. People that his love has
been set upon. And we who are the believers
born again in Christ, we marvel, don't we? That he saved us by
his grace. He is absolutely sovereign. And
if you're saved, again, I've said this many times, but if
you're saved and you're sitting here tonight, it's by the will
of God, beloved, rejoice. It was God's will to save you
from eternity. From eternity. I just don't think
we'll ever get over that, will we? Never. I don't want to. I don't want to. So it's Christ who's delivered
us from our enemies. It's Christ who delivered us
from the captivity of our sin. It's Christ who delivered us
from the power of darkness, from Satan, and from the law of God
that had a legal claim upon us. The handwriting of ordinances
were against us, beloved. And Christ blotted them all out.
Gone for His people. Paid in full. It is finished. And the believer in Christ, we
just look to Christ, don't we? That's all. We look to Him. Because
He's given us spiritual eyes to look to Him. And we'll never
stop looking to Him. And in eternity, we'll just keep
looking to Him. It's Him who we're going to behold in heaven.
It's Him who we're going to worship in Heaven. It's Him who we're
going to glorify forever. And this is all a work of our
Almighty God. Salvation is of the Lord. Period. It's all Him. It's all Him. The Author and the Finisher.
The Alpha and the Omega. A to Z. And everything in between.
It's our Lord. Salvation's all of Him. It is
He who is the builder of the church. Remember, we're stones
being made ready. We're stones being made ready.
It's Christ and Christ alone who's the foundation. He's the
headstone. And the church is built up in all generations through
the conversion of sinners. And that is done not by carnal
weapons or by moral persuasion. No, it's the sword of the spirit.
It's the word of God that penetrates. Remember, today we looked at
it. It's quick and powerful. It's sharper than any two-edged sword.
And it pierces to the soul. It pierces to the soul. And this
deliverance of God's people is not accomplished by man's supposed
free will, because our will is bound to our nature. And when we are dead in trespasses
and sins, our will is bound to a dead nature, which will always
choose sin. But when we're born again, well
now the battle begins. Because you have a new nature
now, governing the will. Now you battle things you never
battled before. It's true, isn't it? It's like a civil war within
us. It really is. And we have to carry around this
body of flesh until the Lord takes us home. And then we will
not ever struggle with sin again. Ever. Ever. And it's all the work of God.
This deliverance is all accomplished by God. All by the mighty power
of God the Holy Spirit. It's he who regenerates us. Work
of the divine spirit. All by his power and might. Not
a man. We can't do anything. We lack
the ability, we lack the power. But the one who regenerates us,
the one who saves us is the one who has all power. And this is all accomplished
according to God's will. All accomplished according to
God's will. I ask this. Can you regenerate
yourself? Well, religion says, well, if
you just make a decision, how can a dead man make a decision?
He's dead. We've never in the history of
man seen a dead man do anything once they're dead. The only one
who's risen from the grave is our great King. He's the only
one. And we rose in Him, beloved. Ask a dead man a question, he
won't answer you. Ask him to walk an aisle. He can't walk an aisle. Ask him to pray a prayer. He
can't pray a prayer. But when God says, Lazarus, come
forth! What happens? Well, the dead
rise. And that's what happened to us,
beloved, when God called us by his grace, with an effectual
call. And we came out of, we were passed
from death to life. Right there. And it's all a miracle
of God, beloved. It's all according to his almighty
power. And all by his grace and mercy.
Oh my. We have no power to do anything
spiritually good, none, in our natural state. Everything we
do is tainted with sin. And neither do we have really
any understanding of who God is. We may have heard things,
but it's up here, but not here. We're hopeless, helpless, bankrupt
sinners in our natural state. Our understanding is darkened,
the scripture says. Again, our will is ruled by a
dead nature, one which is dead to the things of God. And it's
in this state that the Lord finds his lost sheep. I mentioned that
this morning. That's the state that God finds
us in. And he finds us, like I said
this morning, he finds us. He comes to us. God does a mighty work, regenerating
us and giving us faith to believe. We're regenerated, we're born
again to the Holy Spirit of God, and then we believe, because
it's a gift from God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. Faith is a gift. Repentance is
a gift. I remember what Brother Henry
said. He said, faith and repentance is like a piece of paper. On
one side is faith and on one side is repentance. And the Lord
gives it to us. At the same time. And then we keep trusting the
Lord. We keep crying out to Him for the rest of our days. It's a miracle. It's a total
miracle. Turn, if you would, to 1 John
3. 1 John 3. We looked at these
words on Wednesday night in our study of 1 John. And look at
this, it ties right in with us, having passed from death, spiritual
death, dead and trespasses as sins, to life, life eternal in
Christ. 1 John 3, verses 14 to 16. Marvel at these words, marvel
at these words. John's writing this blessed book
to God's saints, to his born-again, blood-washed people, and he says
this. We know, this is something we know, God's people know this.
We know that we have passed from life unto death. I'm sorry, I
got that backwards. We know we have passed from death,
spiritual death, unto life. We have. We've passed from the
power of darkness to the kingdom of God's dear son. because we
love the brethren. And loving the brethren, again,
as I brought out on Wednesday, is a fruit, just a fruit, of
the Holy Spirit of God. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother
is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life
abide in him. Look at this. Hereby perceive we the love of
God, God's people, because he laid down his life for us. That's
what he did. He laid down his life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But look
at that, Christ, God himself. And that love there is agape
in the Greek. Hereby perceive we the love, agape, it's unconditional
love of God. Because he laid down his life
for us. That's what Christ did. He died on Calvary's cross for
his people. Redeeming us with his precious,
precious blood. So let's go back to 2 Samuel,
chapter 22. And we see here in verse 44 as
well that David continues to give God all the glory for his
deliverances. Thou also has delivered me from
the strivings of my people. Thou has kept me to be the head
of the heathen, the people which I knew not shall serve me. So
we have seen David bring forth that it's the Lord who has enabled
him to do these things, and we see here that David just keeps
dwelling on the Lord himself, dwelling on the great things
that the Lord had done for him. And we can learn a lot from David
here. We can learn a lot, so let us be quick to do as we see
David here do, by giving God all the preeminence and giving
him all the glory, because he alone is worthy of our praise,
no one else, only God. He's the one worthy of all our
praise. And let us never forget that the Lord God in covenant
engagements is forever doing great things for His people.
Forever. He continually delivers us. He continually takes care of
us. Continually guiding us. Continually directing our steps.
Keeping us. Carrying us. Strengthening us.
And all these things are done to show us how infinitely more
precious the Lord is Himself. He's precious. He's precious
to his people. Now, carnal men do not see these
truths. They have no care in the scribe
what they do to their own strength. I was there before the Lord saved
me, so we don't look at people that way and look at them in
a condescending way, because that's where we were. That's
where we were. But men and women who've been
transformed by the grace of God in Christ, what do we proclaim?
We just keep proclaiming the wonderful works that Christ has
done for us, don't we? He's the only one we can boast
in. He's the only one. And marvel at the mercy and grace
that you've received in and through Christ. Let's go back to 2 Samuel
chapter 22 again. So we've seen that it is God
who delivered David's enemies into his hands. Let's read verses
41 and 42 again. Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies,
that I might destroy them that hate me. They looked, but there
was none to save, even unto the Lord, but he answered them not.
So we see here in verse 42 that they cried out and there was
none to save them. And note when it says there they
looked, this means that they looked round about here and there
to see if there were any near to help to deliver them. They
cried out in their distress because of the anguish of their
spirits. They cried for help and assistance, but, beloved,
they cried in vain because their false gods couldn't help them
at all. They were idol worshipers. Their
false gods couldn't help them at all. Nothing. Turn, if you would, to Jonah,
chapter 1. Think of this in light of the mariners who were with
Jonah. They cried everyone to their own God, little G. They
cried to their own God. And there was what? No help from
them. There was no help from them. So the same folks here
that are in 2 Samuel 22, 42, they cried to their little G's,
their little gods. There's no help. They're just
dumb idols. No help at all. These are gods of people's imagination,
not the God of the Bible. Look here in Jonah chapter 1,
we read verses 3 all the way to verse 16 in chapter 1. But
Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord,
and went down to Joppa, and he found a ship going to Tarshish.
So he paid the fare thereof and went down into it to go with
them unto Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord sent out a great
wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea,
so that the ship was like to be broken. Then the mariners
were afraid, and look at this, and cried every man unto his
God, and cast forth the wares that
were in the ship into the sea to lighten it of them. But Jonah
was gone down into the sides of the ship, and he lay and was
fast asleep. Well, Jonah knows who's in charge. Look at that, they prayed to
their God, each man, their false idol, and that sea still raged. Just
raged. The gods that the mariners cried
out to could not save them or deliver them. And just as the
enemies in our text, the enemies of God in our text, they looked,
but there was none to save, even unto the Lord, but he answered
them not. So these mariners cried out to
their false gods, and they could not save, and they couldn't do
nothing. Look, it continues, so the ship master came to him,
Jonah, and said unto him, what meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, call upon thy God. If so be that God will think
upon us that we perish not. And they said, everyone to his
fellow come and let us cast lots that we may know for whose cause
this evil is upon us. And we know that even the casting
of lots is determined by the Lord, isn't it? Yeah, it is. Look at this, so
they cast lots, and the lot fell upon who? Jonah. Fell upon Jonah. Then said they unto him, Tell
us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us. What is thine occupation? And
whence comest thou? What is thy country? And of what
people art thou? And he said unto them, I am in
Hebrew, and I fear the Lord. That's Jehovah, the God of heaven. which hath made the sea and the
dry land, the one who controls everything. That's why Jonah was asleep.
He'd pillow his head knowing the Lord's in full control. And he said unto them, again,
I'll read that. I am in Hebrew and I fear the
Lord, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry
land. Then were the men exceedingly
afraid and said unto him, why hast thou done this? For the
men knew that he fled from the presence of the Lord, because
he had told them. And he said unto them, take me
up and cast me forth into the sea, so shall the sea be calm
unto you. For I know that for my sake this
great tempest is upon you. Nevertheless, the men rolled.
They kept trying, right? They kept, well, we're going
to get out of this on our own. Oh, right? What does man do in
religion? I'm just going to keep rolling. You remember that? I remember
that in religion. Oh, I'm going to get out of this mess. My goodness. Says there, they
kept rowing. Oh my. Nevertheless, the man rode hard
to bring it to the land, but they could not. They just, they
couldn't do it. See, man by his own strength
can't save himself. and are women, no one can save
themselves. For the sea wrought and was temperous
against them. Wherefore they cried unto the
Lord, and said, We beseech thee, O Lord, we beseech thee, let
us not perish for this man's life, and lay not upon us innocent
blood. For thou, O Lord, hast done it as it pleased thee. Well, now they're crying out
to the one true God now. So they took up Jonah and cast
him into the sea, and the sea ceased from her raging. Look
at that. That's the power of God. Then
the man feared the Lord exceedingly and offered a sacrifice unto
the Lord and made vows. Oh. Back in our text there, the enemies
of David could not save themselves, and their comrades could not
save them. And they cried out to God, but
He answered them not. It says this one about Saul,
and when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord answered him not,
neither by dreams, nor by Urim, nor by the prophets. So just
like the enemies of God in our text, The Lord didn't answer them. The wicked and the religious
people cry out this way to God, they're not born again, they
just want help out of a situation that they're in. Again, I used
to do that, did you? And then go right back to the
wicked ways. Guilty. Now the love of Christ constrains
us, doesn't it? Now we battle sin and we hate
sin. Oh my. Turn if you would to Proverbs
chapter 1. Proverbs chapter 1. I'll read verse 42 over here
again. They looked, but there was none to save, even unto the
Lord. But he answered them not. Look
at this over here in Proverbs chapter 1. Look at this. Oh my. Proverbs chapter 1 verses 24
to 30. Look at this. "'cause I have called and ye
refused,' verse 24, "'I have stretched out my hand and no
man regardeth, "'but ye have sought not all my counsel, "'and
with none of my reproof, "'I will also laugh at your calamity. "'I will mock when your fear
cometh.'" These are chilling words. Sobering words. When your fear
cometh is desolation. and your destruction cometh as
a whirlwind, when destruction and anguish cometh upon you.
Then shall they call upon me, just like we see in that verse,
but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but
they shall not find me, for that they hated knowledge and did
not choose the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel,
they despised all my reproach. Let's go back to our text now,
in 2 Samuel 22, and let's read, look at this, the enemies of
God, the enemies of his people are destroyed. And their helpless
state is bought forth. It says, then, in verse 43, then
did I beat them as small as the dust of the earth, I did stamp
them as the mire of the street, and did spread them abroad. And look at verses 44 and 45. Thou also has delivered me from
the strivings of my people. Thou has kept me to be the head
of the heathen, a people which I knew not shall serve me. Strangers
shall submit themselves unto me. As soon as they hear, they
shall be obedient unto me. Now look, it says, Thou has also
delivered me from the strivings of my people. Now this historically
speaks of those who were in league with Saul. and his men who contended
with David. They sought to slay him. And
also the tribes of Israel who after Saul's death refused to
acknowledge David as their king, but then afterwards they came
and anointed him in Hebron. But let us keep an eye to Christ.
Let us keep an eye to Christ who faced much opposition, He
faced much opposition from the scribes and the Pharisees. Christ
faced opposition from sinners, which he for a while endured,
but now he's delivered. Now he's seated at the right
hand of the Father. Again, let's read the latter
part of verse 44 and 45 together. Thou hast kept me to be the head
of the heathen. A people which I knew not shall
serve me. Strangers shall submit themselves
unto Me. As soon as they hear, they shall
be obedient unto Me. Beloved, the Lord is King over
all the earth. And Christ was made the head
of the heathen by the appointment and will of God the Father. And multitudes have been saved
by Him from among the Gentiles. Multitudes. They're born again
by the Holy Spirit of God, and now what? They're obedient unto
Him. They're obedient unto Him. Thou hast kept me to be the head
of the heathen, a people which I know not shall serve me. Strangers
shall submit themselves unto me. As soon as they hear, they
shall be obedient unto me. And in Isaiah 9.7 it says this,
listen to this wonderful verse. Of the increase of His, Christ's
government and peace, there shall be no end. None. No end. No one
will take over the throne of our great God. No one can. Upon the throne of David and
upon His being Christ's kingdom, to order it and to establish
it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever,
the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. It's a work
of God. Isaiah chapter 9, verse 7. So
think of the stability there. The security that the believer
has in Christ. And the scriptures declare there
be no end to his kingdom and we're people of his kingdom,
beloved. This is marvelous to we who have
been saved from our sins. What safety and security we have
in Christ. And note again the words in verse
44 and 45. A people which I knew not shall serve me. Strangers
shall submit themselves unto me. As soon as they hear, they
shall be obedient unto me. Now look into Christ again. The
Gentiles were not the people of God because the people of
God at that time were Israel. And Paul writes what they were
without Christ. We were without God and without
hope in the world. Turn, if you would, to Ephesians
chapter two. That was our natural state as Gentiles. Look at this
wonderful portion of scripture in Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. And remember
that Paul writes all these words by the inspiration of the Holy
Spirit of God. Ephesians chapter 2 starting in verse 11. Wherefore
remember that ye being in times past Gentiles in the flesh. Well,
all of us in this room are Gentiles. All we who are saved would be
considered Gentiles. Anyone outside the Jewish nation
would be considered a Gentile. Wherefore, remember that ye being
in times past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcised
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, so
the Jews called Gentiles the uncircumcision. That at that
time, ye were without Christ. Our ancestors were idol worshippers. And really, outside of Christ,
we were idol worshippers. And we either worshipped self
or we had a god of our imagination who we worshipped, if we were
religious. Look at this, though. that at
that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise, having
no hope, and without God in the world. No hope. We had no hope,
did we, before the Lord saved us? I love this. But now in Christ Jesus, now,
ye who were sometimes, were far off, Gentiles, far off from the
commonwealth of Israel, Now remember too, this is talking about spiritual
Israel too. We were far off. Far off, but now we're made nigh
by how? The blood of Christ. The blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does Paul write up to the
Colossians that we're one in Christ? There's neither Jew nor
Gentile. We're one in Christ. One head
and one body. We're one in Him, Jew and Gentile. For He is our peace, Christ is
our peace, who hath made both one, one body, and hath broken
down the middle wall partitioned between us. There used to be
a wall where the Gentiles couldn't go past, in the temple. It's
gone! The veil to go into the Holy
of Holies has been torn apart! We have access to God in and
through Christ Jesus, our Lord, beloved. He's 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 twain, Jew and Gentile, one new man,
so make in peace. And that he might reconcile both
unto God, Jew and Gentile, who are the body of Christ, his elect, in one body by the cross, having
slayed the enmity thereby. He paid for all our sins. The justice of God is satisfied.
The law of God is being appeased by Christ. He rose for our justification
to prove that God was absolutely satisfied with the sacrifice
of Christ. And came and preached peace to
you, peace to God's people. God ordained that we would be
in a place where we'd hear the Gospel. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God, granted faith to believe on Christ. Look at
that, and came and preached peace to you. Who's our peace? Christ. Christ and Him alone. Which were
far off, and to them that were nigh. For through Him we both
have access by one Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore ye
are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints and of the household of God. We are one in Christ. One
in Christ, complete in him. And are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone. He's the one who we're all built
upon. Him. Look at this, I love this. In whom all the building fitly
framed together, every stone where it's supposed to be. Brother
Henry used to say, what's the mortar that holds the stones
together? The blood of Christ. The blood of Christ, fitly framed
right where we're supposed to be. Groweth unto an holy temple
in the Lord, in whom ye also are built together for an habitation
of God through the spirit. This is wonderful. Absolutely
wonderful. Look at that text again. Strangers
shall submit themselves unto me. As soon as they hear, they
shall be obedient unto me. Strangers shall fade away and
they shall be afraid out of their close places. Does this mean
that they were unknown to Christ? No, he's the all-knowing God.
Doesn't mean that. This speaks of those who were
God's chosen people among the heathen. They shall be bought
to serve the Lord. They shall be born again. Christ
is their delight. and weeping His delight from
eternity. His everlasting love is being
said upon us, beloved. It's the Lord who made us, and
it's the Lord who bought us with His precious blood. He redeemed
us. And it's He who laid down His
life for us. And He knows every one of His
sheep, and He calls us by name. Isn't that amazing? It's absolutely
amazing. So we see then the gospel comes among those who are strangers
to God in the sense that we don't want nothing to do with Him.
And we're made one in Christ. We're born again. And then we
serve the Lord with reverence and godly fear from a principle
of love. And we give Him all the glory,
don't we? We give Him all the honor and all the praise for
what He's done. Look at verse 46, it says, Strangers shall
fade away and they shall be afraid out of their closed places. Strangers
shall fade away like the leaves of trees in autumn, they fall. So shall the hypocrites and nominal
professors, they shall fade away and perish in their sins. Jude says, these are spots in
your feasts of charity when they feast with you, feeding themselves
without fear. Clouds they are without water,
carried about of winds, trees whose fruit withereth without
fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots. And then it says,
strangers shall fade away and they shall be afraid out of their
close places. They shall be afraid out of their
close places. Well, this brings forth that
the very thing they take refuge in will prove to be a refuge
of lies. It'll prove to be a refuge of
lies. Whether it's in themselves or in a false god, it'll prove
to be a refuge of lies. Men trust in their strength sometimes,
don't they? But strength fades away as we
get older. And some men trust in their intellect,
but we grow old and forgetful, don't we? We do. And some men trust in their own
self-righteousness, thinking that they can gain merit and
favor with God by their works, and this will also prove to be
a refuge of lies. There's only one safe and secure
place for sinners, and that's in Christ. That's in Christ. He alone is the appointed Savior. He alone is the God sent Savior,
Savior of sinners. Oh, may God grant you faith.
To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, if you do not know him. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for your goodness and mercy and grace. We thank you for the scriptures
and how we as God's people can look and see how we're continuously
safe and secure in you and you alone, Lord, not by might nor
power or nothing we can do, Lord, but all by thy spirit and by
thy grace and by thy strength and power. We are kept by the
power of God. And oh, Lord, we long for that
day when we will see you face to face. What a glorious day
that'll be to never have sin again, to never be battling this
body of flesh, to be forever with all your blood bought people,
in glory beholding you who has redeemed us with your precious
precious blood glory to you and honor and praise in Jesus name.