of our lips, say, we who are
the redeemed of the Lord. Hallelujah. What a Savior. Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Isaiah chapter 33. Isaiah chapter 33. The name of
the message is the King in His Beauty. The King in His Beauty. Isaiah 33. Now the setting of
this chapter is one of divine judgment and divine mercies,
as the enemies of God and of His church are threatened, and
His people are comforted. We see the destruction of the
church's enemies brought forth. Look at verse 1. Woe to thee
that spoilest, and thou wast not spoiled, and dealest treacherously. And they dealt not treacherously
with thee. When thou shalt cease to spoil,
thou shalt be spoiled. And when thou shalt make an end
to deal treacherously, they shall deal treacherously with thee.
Next, in verse 2, we see a short prayer of the prophet of God,
praying the Lord would be gracious to Israel. Praying the Lord would
be gracious to Israel each morning. And let us never forget, as I
mentioned this morning, that the Lord's mercies are new to
His people every morning. He's gracious to us all the time,
beloved. And the true people of God in
the time of danger will be preserved. There are people who will display
a humble, patient, present faith in God. We rest and we trust
in the Lord no matter what circumstance comes. Ultimately, we look to
Him. And they reveal their character
in verse 2 when they pray, O Lord, be gracious unto us. We have
waited for Thee. They reveal their character here
in this verse. They're a praying people who
make their appeal to God under a sense of need. They're not
fatalists. They're not fatalists. Neither
are they self-sufficient. No, not at all. They beseech
the Lord to bless them, not according to their merit, because they
don't have any before God, but according to his grace and mercy. They trust God. There are people
who wait on God. We see that in the verse. We
have waited for thee. He's the one we wait upon. He's
the one we trust. And there are people who have
a present faith, a living faith in Christ. And they exercise
it every day by saying, be thou their arm every morning. Do we
not look to Christ every morning when we wake up? Oh my. In every step, every step of
our lives, we're dependent on the Lord, aren't we? We're dependent
on Him. God's people are dependent people. We don't trust in ourselves. We might have before we were
saved, but we don't now. We don't now. We're dependent.
We're dependent upon God. Every morning, they're looking
up to the hills from whence cometh their help. And who does their
help come from? God. Look again at verse two. O Lord, be gracious unto us.
We have waited for thee. Be thou their arm every morning.
Our salvation also in the time of trouble.
He delivers his people constantly. You know he delivers you all
the time? Does He not deliver you from your trials? Does He
not deliver you from anguish that you go through in your life?
From sorrow? He delivers us all the time,
beloved. He delivers us from our enemies, too. But praise
be to God, praise His mighty name. He delivers us from our
sins. He delivers us from our sins.
And God's enemies, never forget that God's enemies and the church's
enemies are scattered by the power of God. are scattered by
the power of God. Look at verse 3. At the noise
of the Talmud, the people fled. At the lifting up of thyself,
the nations were scattered. Were scattered. And then verse
4 speaks of the enemies of God who came upon Israel. And they
were scattered by the Lord. They were scattered by the Lord.
And then the Lord's people picked up the spoil of their enemy.
And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillar.
As to the running to and fro of locusts, shall he run upon
them? Turn, if you would, the second
Kings, second Kings, this very thing happened to the Syrian
host when the Lord scattered them over in second Kings. Second Kings. Chapter seven. Starting in verse 1. Then Elijah said, Hear ye the
word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord to Moro about
this time, shall a measure of fine flour be sold for a shekel,
and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gate of Samaria.
Then the Lord, on whose hand the king leaned, answered the
man of God and said, Behold, if the Lord would make windows
in heaven, might this thing be? They were under siege, beloved.
They were under siege by a Syrian host. And he said, Behold, thou
shalt see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not eat thereof.
Oh, what a statement to that man. And there were four leprous
men at the entering in of the gate, and they said one to another,
Why sit we here until we die? If we say, we will enter into
the city, then the famine is in the city and we shall die
there. And if we sit here, still here, we'll die also. Now therefore
come and let us fall into the hosts of the Syrians. If they
save us alive, we shall live. And if they kill us, we shall
but die. And they rose up in the twilight
to go to the camp of the Syrians. And when they were come to the
outermost part of the camp of Syria, behold, there was no man
there. Now, there was a host of them a few days before that.
Just a day before, there was a host of Syrians. For the LORD had made the host
of the Syrians to hear a noise of chariots and the noise of
horses, even the noise of a great host. And they said one to another,
Lo, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hittites
and the kings of the Egyptians to come upon us. Wherefore they
arose and fled in the twilight, and look at this, and left their
tents and their horses and their asses, even the camp, as it was,
and fled for their life. They just took right off. But
they left everything behind. They left everything behind.
Look at these lepers. I love this. Look at these lepers. And when these lepers came to
the innermost part of the camp, they went into one tent and did
eat and drink and carried then silver and gold around them and
went and hid it. They went and buried it. They
went and buried it. They found silver and gold and
they went and buried it. And came again and entered into
another tent and carried then also and went and hid it. Boy,
they hit the jackpot. Then they said one to another,
we do not, well, this day is a day of good tidings, and we
hold our peace if we tarry till the morning light, some mischief
will come upon us, now therefore come, that we may go and tell
the king's household. Now the Israelites in the city,
they thought they were still under siege, and there was a
famine, there was atrocious things going on in that city. So they came and called unto
the porter of the city, and told them, saying, We came to the
camp of the Syrians, and behold, there was no man there, neither
voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents
as they were. And he called the porters, and they told it to
the king's house within. And when the king arose in the
night and said unto his servants, I will now show you what the
Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry,
therefore they are gone out of the camp to hide themselves in
the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we'll catch
them alive and get them into the city. They thought that the
Syrians had hatched a trap. They thought the Syrians had
backed off and left all the tents and left everything there. That's
what they thought. And they thought, well, these
two lepers went out there, or these lepers went out there and
they found this stuff. Now they're coming to tell us and they're
trying to draw us out so they can wipe us out. Little did they
know that the Syrian hosts had been scattered by the power of
God. They didn't know that. They didn't know that. And one
of the servants answered and said, let some take, I pray thee,
five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold,
they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it.
Behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites
that are consumed. And let us send and see. They
took, therefore, two chariot horses, and the king sent after
the host of the Syrians, saying, go and see. And they went after
them onto the Jordan, and lo, all the way was full of garments
and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away in haste. They
just dropped everything, beloved. They took off. They were scared.
They took right off. They took right off. And the
messengers returned and told the king. And the people went
out, and look at this, and spoiled the tents of the Syrians. So
a measure of fine flour, just as the prophet has said, a measure
of fine flour was sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for
a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. So God's enemies were scattered. And the Israelites took the spoil,
didn't they? Just like it says in Isaiah chapter 33 here. Let's look at the next two verses
in Isaiah 33. We see God exalted by the prophet and let us always
remember that God's faithfulness is the same now as it was then. His faithfulness does not change
towards his people. And God is exalted by His people,
by His redeemed people today, just as He's been in the past.
Look at verses 5 and 6. The Lord is exalted, for He dwelleth
on high. He hath filled Zion with judgment
and righteousness, and wisdom and knowledge shall be the celibacy
of thy times, and strength of salvation. The fear of the Lord
is His treasure. Salvation's of the Lord. Salvation's
of the Lord. It's in and through Christ in
Him alone. And the fear of the Lord, the reverence of the Lord,
as we looked at this morning, is the beginning of knowledge.
Look at verses 7 and 9. We see the enemies of God, the
so-called valiant ones. They're nothing before the Lord,
beloved. They're nothing. His enemies are nothing before
Him. His enemies are nothing before Him. Absolutely nothing. And they lay waste to the countryside
as they invade, just like any invading army. Behold, the valiant
ones shall cry without, the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly.
The highways lie waste, the wayfaring man seetheth. He hath broken
the covenant. He hath despised the cities.
He regardeth no man. The earth mourneth and languishes.
Lebanon is ashamed and hewn down. Sharon is like a wilderness,
and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits." These invading
armies would just lay waste to whatever was in front of them.
And they would leave behind them a wasted land. The Lord always, though, delivers
His people by His almighty power and strength. We saw that this
morning in the AM message. We saw that. And we see in these
next verses that our great God shows Himself to be above His
enemies. Above the enemies of the church.
He's higher and greater than they. And He reduces them to
a low estate. He reduces them to a low estate.
John Gill brings forth this about the repetition of the word now
in verse 10. And note that. Now will I rise,
saith the Lord. Now will I be exalted. Now will
I lift up myself. John Gill brings this forth about
the repetition of the word now. The repetition of the word now
has its emphasis and is designed to observe of God's appearing
in the cause of his people and the fitness and propriety of
it, and to quicken their attention to it, as well as to express
the certainty of it, and the firmness of his resolution to
do it without delay, and the veminence and passion with which
he would set about it. Let's look at that again. Let's
look at the next three verses, 10 to 12. Now will I rise, saith
the Lord. Now will I be exalted. Now will
I lift up myself. Ye shall conceive chaff, ye shall
bring forth stubble, your breath as fire shall devour you, and
the people shall be as a burning of lime, and thorns cut up, shall
they be burned in the fire. Never forget, never forget this.
The Lord will take vengeance upon his enemies. The Lord will
take vengeance upon the enemies of the church. The enemies of his people. People
may mock God now. People may mock God's people.
But they will not mock him when they see him face to face. You
know, their cry for the mountains to fall upon them. Their cry
for the mountains to fall. And there'd be no hiding place
then. There's no hiding place now, although people think that.
There'd be no hiding place. Turn to Nahum. chapter 1 verses
1 and 2 and also put your finger in Romans chapter 12. Nahum chapter
1 and Romans chapter 12. The Lord takes vengeance upon
His adversaries. He takes vengeance upon the enemies
of His people who are therefore His enemies. Nahum chapter 1
verses 2 and 3. God is jealous, and the Lord
revengeth and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance
on His adversaries, and He reserveth wrath for His enemies. Wrath. This is what the Scriptures declare. The wrath of God shall fall upon
His enemies. The Lord is slow to anger, and
great in power, and will not at all quit the wicked. Hear
not wink at the wicked, and what they do, no, no. Hear not acquit the wicked, and
will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord hath his way in the
whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his
feet. That's the God of the Bible. Now turn to Romans chapter 12.
Look what it says in the New Testament. Oh my. You know, you ever have people hate you
without a cause as a believer? You ever have people find out
you're a believer and then they just don't want to have nothing to
do with you? Yeah. It's not you they hate, it's
Christ in you they hate. That's what it is. Look at this in Romans chapter
12, we'll read verses 14 to 19. Bless them which persecute you,
bless and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice,
and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward
another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low
estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for
evil. See, the natural thing for we to do in our natural state
is to recompense evil for evil. That guy got me, I'm going to
get him back. But the believer's not to do
that. The believer's not to do that at all. No recompense evil
for evil. No. As a matter of fact, we're to
heap bowls of blessing on their heads, aren't we? Pray for them.
Pray for them. Recompense to no man evil for
evil. Provide things honest in the sight of men. If it be possible,
as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Now look
at this verse. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves,
but rather give place unto wrath. For it is written, vengeance
is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord.
Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord.
Now here's the cause of most unrest. People taking upon themselves
to avenge a wrong that was done to them. And again, it's in our
nature to be like this. It's totally in our nature to
be like this. But the believer is not to be like that at all.
And what it says there, it says, give place to wrath. That's what it means when it
says give place to wrath, when you render evil free. We're not to do that. We're to resist it. We're not to brood over things.
Someday God will settle all accounts. All accounts. Look at that verse
again. Vengeance is mine. I will repay,
say the Lord. My oh my. Pray for those who despitefully
use you. Lift them up in prayer. Pray the Lord will save them. It's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the mighty God. Do not let evil men and evil
thoughts dictate your course of action. Do not let hatred
and hard feelings get the better of your Christian principles.
Do not let evil revenge displace the divine light of forgiveness. Look at verses 20 and 21 in Romans
chapter 12. Therefore, if thine enemy hunger,
feed him. If he thirst, give him drink.
For in doing so thou shalt heap goals of fire on his head. Be
not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. The exact opposite
of the natural man. Vengeance is mine, saith the
Lord. He takes care of things. And think of this, we don't get
what we deserve. We get mercy. We get grace. We who are the people of God.
My oh my. Let's go back to Isaiah chapter
33. The power and might of the Lord is on display in the destruction
of his enemies and the destruction of the enemies of his church.
It's clearly evident and set forth before God's people so that both far
and near shall be forced to acknowledge his almighty power, his might
and his power. Look at verses, look at verse
14. The sinners in Zion are afraid.
Fear, fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites. Who among us
shall dwell with a devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell
with everlasting burnings? Verse 14 here speaks of false
professors, false professors within the church. They're called
hypocrites in this verse. The verse continues, who shall
dwell with everlasting burnings? The hypocrite will not withstand
the wrath of God. Will not withstand the wrath
of God. They'll perish in their sins. Righteously, and in verse 16,
he shall dwell on high. Look at that. My oh my. Look at verse 15 and 16 here.
He that walketh righteously and speaketh uprightly, he that despises
the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding
of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and
shutteth his eyes from seeing evil, he shall dwell on high. His place of defense shall be
the munitions of rocks. Bread shall be given him, and
waters shall be sure. Know it righteously and dwell
on high. Remember this morning's message,
he's the one who's brought us out of the bondage of sin to
bring us in, into his presence. We've been delivered from our
sins and are now clothed in the righteousness of Christ and one
day we're going to dwell on high. We're going to dwell on high
forever, only because of what Christ has done. Brother Roy
and I were doing a devotional tonight I love what the writer
wrote. He said, he was talking about
the saints going home with glory, and he said, when they're released.
I like that. When we're released. Released
from this body of sin. Oh my. Isn't that wonderful? What a wonderful way to look
at receiving your promotion, as Brother Norm says, to be with
the Lord. Graduating as brother norm says to I like he always
says the believer receives their promotion and they graduate to
be with the Lord And that wonderful you're released from this body
of sin. It's beautiful Absolutely, beautiful and and the believer
gonna dwell on high forever. They're gonna be in the presence
of the king of glory forever note in verse 15 He that walketh
righteously, you know, the only way that we walk righteously
is in Christ That's the only way clothed in His righteousness. That's the only way. That's the
only way. Clothed in the perfect spotless
righteousness of Christ. And He is the only one who walked
righteously before God. And He did that for us. He did
that as our substitute. And He is our Redeemer. He is
the Redeemer of all the elect of all the ages. He is the one
we look to. And by faith we walk, looking
to Him, don't we? Every day. Look at verse 16. He shall dwell on high. His place
of defense shall be the munitions of rocks. Bread shall be given
him, and his waters shall be sure. The true believer in Christ
dwells in safety. Absolute safety. Doesn't always
feel that way, does it? But we do. and contrast that to the hypocrite
who we looked at earlier who's built themselves a refuge of
lies. Contrast the hypocrite with the
believer. They have a refuge of lies, and
the believer is safe in the place of defense, and that's Christ.
That's Christ. He shall be as the munitions
of rocks. Well, this speaks of the safety
and security that the believer has in Christ. He's our high
tower, beloved. We're safe in the rock of ages.
In the old days they used to build places of safety on high rock
outcrops so that the enemy would have to climb up or somehow scale
up and usually they couldn't even make it up. And all who
were up there in that high tower area were safe. That's what this
is speaking of. The munitions are rocks, safe,
above, looking down upon the enemies. God's people are safe in the
rock ages, aren't we? The Lord Jesus Christ, we're
safe in Him. We're safe in Him, beloved. He's our defense and
we're safe in Him. Our defense is Christ. He's our
strong tower. He's our high tower. He alone
is our refuge. He alone is our place of defense.
And look at the end of the verse 16 here, and how we know this
is true. Christ is the bread of life for us, isn't He? He's
the bread of life for us. He's living water for the believer. Bread shall be given him, his
water shall be sure. John Gale brings forth that this
speaks of Christ in His fullness and the spirit of His grace.
The gospel doctrines and ordinances of it. The believer may be assured
of a supply from Christ's fullness, the grace of the spirit is never
failing, never failing and is preserving in gospel doctrines
and ordinances are not deceitful brooks, not deceitful streams,
but they yield comfort and refreshment. Does not the gospel is the gospel,
not a stream of refreshment for us who hear it. We come to drink
and feast on the word of God every week, don't we? And we're
refreshed by the word of God. We're refreshed by the preaching
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the bread of life
for us. He's the bread of life, and he's
the water of life. God's people is born again, blood
washed saints by faith. See Christ the king in all his
beauty, all his beauty. Oh, my. The scriptures proclaim
this. And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. John 6.35. Turn if you would to Revelation chapter
7. We'll read verses 13 and 17 in light of verse 16 here. I'll read verse 16 again. He
shall dwell on high, his place of defense shall be munitions
of rocks, bread shall be given him, his water shall be sure. And look at this over in Revelation
7, verses 13 to 17. And one of the elders answered,
saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes,
and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou
knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of the
great tribulation and have washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb. Beloved, this life is the great
tribulation. Oh my. Is it not for us? It is, isn't it? It's a time
of tribulation and trouble. Brother Norm brought that out
in his study on Revelation. I thought it was magnificent.
We go through so much in this world. Do you know that this
world is the only tribulation we're going to face? The only
tribulation we'll face. As I said this morning, the only
sorrow we're going to face is here in this world. There'll
be no tribulation in glory. None at all. None at all. And
have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb. Oh, the robes, they're clothed in the perfect spotless
righteousness of Christ. And it's His precious blood that
was shed to redeem our souls. Therefore, are they before the
throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. And
he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them. They
shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall
the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the lamb which is in
the midst of the throne shall feed them, he's the bread of
life, he's the water of life, and shall lead them into living
fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes. Now let's look at verse 17 in
Isaiah 33, and this is our main text for this message. Look at
this. Thine eyes shall see the king
in his beauty. They shall behold the land that
is very far off. Thine eyes shall see the king
in his beauty. They shall behold the land that
is very far off. This does not speak, beloved,
this text does not speak of the earthly King of Israel. No, no,
this speaks of a greater than He. This text speaks of a greater
than He. This is a proclamation of King
Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, in the glory of His person in
office, especially as King reigning gloriously before all the universe.
Isaiah, remember, got a glimpse of King Messiah of the Lord Jesus
Christ in his glory before he came in Isaiah 6. When he saw him high and lifted
up. And what did Isaiah proclaim
as a result of that? He said, I'm a man of unclean
lips. And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.
He saw the holiness of God. And he saw his sinfulness. He
saw the king. He saw the king. God's people,
His born-again, blood-washed saints. By faith, we see Christ
the King, don't we? We look to Him. We look to Him. And we see Him in all His beauty.
We see Him crowned with glory and honor, don't we? Oh, by faith,
we do. We see Him as the only suitable
Savior for sinners, which He is. Which He is. We see Him triumphing over all
His enemies. He's a conquering King, victorious.
Victorious. Remember the demons said, we
know who thou art, thou holy one of God. They knew who he
was. He rules with righteousness,
beloved. He's beautiful to his bride.
He's beautiful to his bride. She's enamored with him. And consider him in his beauty. Consider him in his perfect righteousness. Consider that he's full of grace
and mercy. Consider that our Lord is full
of compassion. Consider that he is perfectly
holy and yet rich in mercy. Consider that He is supreme in
majesty and yet infinitely gracious. Consider that He's full of wisdom,
full of power, and that He's ever faithful to His people.
He's always faithful to us, isn't He? Always. And marvel, marvel
at who He is. And is it any wonder then? that
He's beautiful to His people? Is it any wonder? No. When we
consider who He is and what He's done for us, oh, we see the King in His beauty,
don't we? Is it any wonder that the believer
sees Him in His beauty when He has saved us from all our sins? by the shedding of His own precious
blood? Is it any wonder that the believer sees Him in His
beauty when He's all our justification before God? Is it any wonder that the believer
sees Him in His beauty when we have the forgiveness of all our
sins? How? By the substitutionary life and death of our great King. dying in our place on Calvary's
cross? Is it any wonder that He's beautiful
to us? Is it any wonder that the believer
sees Him in His beauty when He, the sinless, spotless Lamb of
God, satisfied the law and justice of God in our place? For we who
are sinners. For we who justly deserve the
punishment that fell upon Him in our place. Is it any wonder
that we see him in his beauty? Is it any wonder that the believer
sees him in his beauty when he has bought us out of the bondage
of our sin so that we can be in glory with him forever? With that in mind, look at this
verse again. Then I shall see the king in his beauty. They
shall behold the land that is very far off. My, we seek a better country,
don't we? We seek a better country, beloved. Oh, is it any wonder that the
people of God see Christ in His beauty, the King in His beauty?
No, beloved. The bride of Christ, the elect
of God proclaim, my beloved is white and ruddy, the cheapest
among 10,000. No one even compares to Him. And by faith we see Him in His
beauty, don't we? But there'll be a day when we
will see Him in His beauty face to face. Our time's coming. Our time's coming for every believer. Listen to what the Scriptures
declare in Isaiah 32, verses 1 and 2. Behold, a king shall
reign in righteousness. Behold, a king shall reign in
righteousness. And princes shall rule in judgment.
And a man shall be as in a hiding place from the wind, and a covert
from the tempest as rivers of water in a dry place, as the
shadows of a great rock in a weary land. Behold, a king shall reign
in righteousness. Behold the Lord Jesus Christ,
the king who reigns in righteousness. Now look down at verses 21 and
22 of chapter 33. And we see again the Lord proclaimed
by the prophet Isaiah as King, as King. Look at verses 21 and
22. But there the glorious Lord will
be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams wherein shall go
no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass thereby. For the Lord is our Judge, the
Lord is our Lawgiver, the Lord is our King, He will save us. Oh, my. He's the law giver, and
remember, he's the law fulfiller. The very one who gave the law
fulfilled the law for his people. The Lord's our king, isn't he?
He is. He will save us. He did at Calvary's
cross, beloved. Oh, he did. Never forget that
our Lord is King. He's King of His people, beloved.
He's King of the universe. He alone is King of the saints.
At one time, the people of God in our natural state were rebels
against this King. But we who are born again by
the Holy Spirit of God and washed in the precious blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ, we gladly own Him as King, don't we? We
gladly own him as king. We who were rebels, now we bow
to him and we bow to his sovereignty and we gladly, gladly own him
as our king. It is he who has saved us. It is he who has saved his people
from their sins. Let's close looking at the last
verse in this chapter, verse 24. And the inhabitant shall
not say, I am sick. The people that dwell therein
shall be forgiven their iniquity. The inhabitant here, spoken of, is the inhabitant
of Zion, or Jerusalem, which pictures the church. We see that
spoken of in verse 20. Look upon Zion, the city of Somalia,
Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tabernacle
that shall not be taken down. Not one of the stakes thereof
shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof
be broken. The Church of of God, the elect
of God, those who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God are
made free. Made free by the Lord Jesus Christ. We who were far off. are bought
nigh by the blood of Christ. Wonder of wonders. Again, we
who were rebels in our natural state are made servants of the
king. We're willing servants too, aren't
we? We are. Oh my. And we gladly, as I said, we
gladly own him as our king. We've been bought nigh. We've
been bought nigh to God, beloved. in and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. And we're cured from the leprosy of sin, beloved.
We're cured from the leprosy of sin. How? By Jesus Christ,
the righteous. By Jesus Christ, the righteous,
who has healing in his wings through his precious blood. Look
at the verse again. And the inhabitants shall not
say, I am sick. The people that dwell therein
shall be forgiven their iniquity. Sin is the sickness brought forth
here and again is cured by Christ and Christ alone. By forgiveness
in and through Christ alone. Now we still have the presence
of sin with us now while we're here on this earth. But marvel
at this. Right now the believer in Christ
has full forgiveness of all our sins. Full forgiveness of all
our sins. We've been shown mercy and grace
in Christ. God says your sins are forgiven
you for His name's sake in the Scriptures. For Christ's sake. In and through Him. The Scriptures
declare that this is the people, in light of the latter part of
verse 24, the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their
iniquity. Think of this, I'll put my laws into their hearts
and in their minds and I'll write them And their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. That's what the Lord says about
all his blood-washed people. Their sins and iniquities I'll
remember no more. Why? Because they're bought and
paid for by the Lord Jesus Christ. He's purchased us with the shedding
of his precious blood. And we have a full, complete
atonement and redemption and salvation in and through Christ
alone. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he hath saved us. Mercy, beloved. We get mercy. And the king mentioned in our
text is the very one who came to this world to redeem those
who are his bride. Could you imagine that? A king
dying for his servants, for his people. That's what he did. Isn't that
incredible? Absolutely incredible. He died
for his bride. And he purchased us, beloved,
with his own blood. He purchased his bride. He purchased
those he's loved from eternity. Called in the scripture the elect
of God. Chosen by God in Christ before
the foundation of the world, based upon absolutely nothing
in us, all by the grace and mercy of God. Wonder of wonders. Let us leave here and ponder
this wonder salvation that the believer has in Christ. It's
truly wondrous. It's truly wondrous. It's of
God's. Remember, too, it's of God's planning. And by his purpose. And by his
power. That were delivered. Salvation
is of the Lord. Heavenly Father, we thank you
again for your goodness and mercy and grace toward we who are your
people in Christ Jesus. O Lord, we thank Thee. You are
so beautiful in our eyes, O Lord, our great King, our great God. And is it any wonder that we
love Thee, O Lord, for all You've done for us, for all You've done
for us. You who are King came to this
world and died in our place. paid everything that your own
justice and your own law demanded for us. You, the sinless, spotless
Lamb of God, glory to your name, O Lord. May we think upon these
things, we who are your people. May we think upon these things
this week, and may it just cause us to be carried away in awe
and wonder at the greatness of who you are and what you've done
for us. In Jesus' name, amen.