17th chapter of Jeremiah's prophecy
opens with the following words. The sin of Judah is written with
a pen of iron and with the point of a diamond. It is graven upon
the table of their heart and upon the horns of your altars,
whilst their children remember their altars and their groves
by the green trees upon the high hills. O my mountain in the field,
I will give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil,
and thy high places for sin throughout all thy borders. And thou, even
thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage that I gave thee,
and I will cause thee to serve thine enemies in the land which
thou knowest not. For ye have kindled a fire in
mine anger, which shall burn for ever. Thus saith the Lord,
Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his
arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be
like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh,
but shall inhabit the parts places in the wilderness in a salt land,
and not inhabit it. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a
tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots
by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh. But her leaf
shall be green, and shall not be careful in the year of drought,
neither shall cease from yielding fruit. The heart is deceitful
above all things, And desperately wicked, who can know it? I the Lord search the heart,
I try the reins, Even to give every man according to his ways,
And according to the fruit of his doings. as the partridge
sitteth on eggs and hatcheth them not, so he that getteth
riches and not by right shall leave them in the midst of his
days, and at his end shall be a fool. A glorious high throne
from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. O Lord, the
hope of Israel, all that forsake thee shall be ashamed. And they
that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because
they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters.
Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed. Save me and I shall
be saved, for Thou art my praise. A glorious high throne from the
beginning is the place of our sanctuary. And the Lord is the
hope of Israel. There's a most interesting chapter
if you read from the beginning right to the end we'll consider
the whole chapter so we'll look at the end in a bit but the whole
chapter gives us a very complete picture of the gospel in so many
different respects. It opens with the grave state
of Judah whose sin was written with a pen of iron and with the
point of a diamond that people of God that people with whom
God had had dealings that people who knew of God and knew in the
law and the types and the figures and the oracles of God of the
coming of Christ if they could but see it that people who should
have worshipped God with all their heart and yet that people whose worship
was but outward who conformed in the letter and in the forms
of religion and yet who had hearts which were far off from their
God and whose hearts in reality were
full of sin though outwardly they appeared to follow God. Thus their sin was ridden with
a pen of iron and thus God's anger was kindled against them
and he promises here that I will cause thee to serve thine enemies
in the land which thou knowest not. He hath kindled a fire in
mine anger which shall burn for ever. He promises to take Judah,
Jerusalem, his people into captivity in Babylon which is what came
to pass. This religious people who had
so corrupted the truth of God that they'd served idols and
turned in their hearts far from God. Their worship was outward. It was works. It was in their
own strength for their own glory. There was no reality in it. The true worshipper of God has
a contrite spirit. He's broken. He knows he's nothing. And he knows that all that he
receives from his God is by grace. It's given freely. Though he
is nothing, though he's worthless, God has loved him. Not these. They said we see when
they were blind. They paraded their religion before
others and looked down upon others who didn't live and do as they
did. And yet the God they spake of
was afar off because their hearts bubbled up with sin and self-glory. In the chapter here we have two
men set before us. The man who is cursed of God,
who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart
has departed from the Lord. And the man who trusts in the
Lord, and whose hope the Lord is, whose heart is set upon the
Lord and His mercy and His grace. Two men, who live according to
two different principles, one by law and by works, one by grace
through faith, one who is cursed and one who is blessed, one who
enters into eternal rest and glory by the grace of God who
saves him, who is blessed forever, and one who tries to enter Jerusalem
and God's rest of the Sabbath day but who carries in his hand
a burden and who works for his salvation and who in the end
kindles a fire in God's anger against him which devours and
cannot be quenched. the blessed and the cursed. Oh the deception of religion
in the flesh. Judah here is not the world the
Gentiles outside. And the anger which God has kindled
against them is not just the anger he has against the wicked
outside. But here he speaks of that anger,
a fire kindled in mine anger, which shall burn forever against
those who professed his name. Those who had religion in the
flesh, but those who sought to enter into the eternal salvation,
glory and rest of God by their works. working on the sabbath
day as it were spiritually speaking carrying a burden through the
gates of jerusalem oh the deception of religion
in the flesh is that is that all you have you religious
You who come to the meetings, you who read the word of God,
you who heard the gospel, you who profess Christ's name, are
you amongst the cursed or the blessed, the blessed or the cursed? Are you one who will enter into
eternal rest Or are you one whose works will shut you out forevermore? Are you one who rests and hopes
in God and God alone? Or do you trust in man? And do you
make the flesh your arm, your strength? Do you trust yourself? Where is your heart? Is it set
upon Christ and His glory? Or has it departed from the Lord? What have you? Verse five, we read of this man
who's cursed. And in verses seven and eight,
we read of the man who's blessed. What a contrast between the two. What a contrast. This chapter
is showing us the contrast. It shows us God's judgment upon
man, religious man, who walks in the flesh. It shows us the
contrast between those whom he curses and those whom he blesses. It shows us the hope of those
whom he blesses. And the rest that they enter
in. And it shows us in the description
in the latter part of those who would enter into Jerusalem on
the Sabbath day in rest to enter into the rest of Jerusalem carrying
a burden and working and seeking to get in by their own strength
and merit and how they'll be shut out forevermore. How do
you think that you will enter Jerusalem's gates? How do you
think that you will enter into God's presence? How do you think
you will stand before God when you pass from this world to the
next and seek to enter into His presence? What will you carry
in your hands? What are you trusting in? Cursed be the man that trusteth
in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth
from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath
in a desert, and shall not see when good cometh. but shall inhabit the parts,
places in the wilderness, in a salt land, and not inhabit
it. Just like the Jews when Christ
came unto them in this world. Like a heath, but in a desert. And when good came to them, when
the greatest of good came to them, when their Saviour, the
hope of Israel, stood in their midst, These religious turned
their faces from him. They would not receive him. They
saw nothing in him to love, nothing in him to rejoice. His coming
was a threat to their system. His coming was a threat to all
that they trusted in. His coming was a threat to what
they gloried in. Though they professed the name
of His God and Father, they hated the one that His Father sent
unto them. You may profess to believe in
God, but do you receive His Son? When He comes in His gospel in
power, when He comes as the hope of Israel, when He comes with
salvation, salvation by grace alone, without the works of man,
without the will of man, when He comes saying, I will be merciful
to whom I will be merciful, and the rest I will harden in
their sins. When he comes unto you saying
Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated I will lay down my life for the
sheep. Do you receive his words or do
you reject? Do you trust in him? Or do you
trust in man and in your gospel of works? Do you say I will choose
whether I am saved by this man or not? Or do you bow down your
knees before him as a sinner owning that he is sent of God
unto you? Are you as a heath in the desert
And do you not see when good cometh? When the Gospels preach,
do you see it or do you close your eyes? The cursed man shuts his eyes. But the blessed man is he who
trusts in the Lord and whose hope the Lord is. He has no hope
in himself and he knows he has no hope in himself. He has no
hope in other men and he knows he has no hope in other men.
He doesn't trust his own works and he doesn't trust his own
will because all that he has done and all that he has sought
to do he knows was to run away from God. but there came that
time when God came under him and changed the heart and changed
his will and made him willing and turned him unto God and showed
him that he is nothing but showed him that salvation is of God
and when good came his way he was made to see it and to receive
it and to rejoice in it not to resist. When good came his way
God as it were took him as a tree and planted him by the waters. He didn't plant himself he was
planted and because he was planted he spread out his roots by the
river and his leaves grew forth. and
he yielded fruit. The child of God is God's planting. The child of God is that one
under whom God comes in his gospel and comes unto one who was dead
in their sins, just like you and I, dead in their sins, unable
to see, unable to believe, unable to decide, unable to follow,
and yet he comes, the gospel comes unto him, Christ comes
unto him in the gospel and says unto him, touches his eyes and
says, see. touches his ears and says hear,
lifts him up and says walk, says under him look, behold and
live, believe on me the Son of God, the Saviour of sinners. Where are you cursed or blessed? Where's your trust in man or
in God? Where's your hope in your strength
or in the Lord alone? Are you as a heath in a desert
barren for all the profession, for all the religion? Do you
know in reality within that you're barren? There's no life. Oh how many religious there are. who when you talk to them of
their walk with the Lord they throw up their hands in despair
and say I have to confess that spiritually I'm so cold. Oh I know about Christ I know
about the gospel I've been in this church for 20 years everyone
knows I was baptized I'm at every meeting but I'm cold. I come and I go, I hear and I
hear nothing. I read and I see but I feel nothing. Outwardly they might try to appear
before others, you may try to appear before others like you're
walking the walk, like you're following the Lord but you know
it's all barren. you're in a desert there's no
reality you know you haven't heard the voice of Jesus Christ
this day you know you haven't had the comfort of his gospel
you know that your hope and trust is in yourself and in your diligence
and in your religion it's all outward Are you blessed or are you cursed? Jeremiah moves on to record these
tremendous words of the state of man by nature. The heart is
deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know
it? I the Lord search the heart,
I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways
and according to the fruit of his doings. as the partridge
sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not. So he that getteth
riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his
days, and at his end shall be a fool. The heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. Now many will quote this verse
from time to time, but this verse isn't just an isolated scripture
to be quoted. It sits in the middle of this
chapter and it's put here for a reason. Because this is the
reason that Judah, having heard so much from God, having had
so many blessings from his hand, having the priesthood, having
the law, having the oracles of God, having the worship, having
the blessings, having the Sabbath, having all these things from
God, having the temple. This is the reason why such a
people could be so religious on the outside and so barren
within. Have a form of godliness but
deny the power thereof. Have the profession but be like
a heath in a desert land, in a wilderness. Why? Because of their heart and because
of the deceitfulness of the heart. Because the heart can tell us
that we are right with God when we are afar off. And the heart
can tell us that we are serving God when we are serving ourselves. The heart can tell us that what
we do is of merit and is pleasing unto
God. that what we do is religious
and right and zealous when in reality it is all filthy rags
of deception. It's all utter unrighteousness. It's all sin through and through. And it's all written down by
God with a pen of iron and with the point of a diamond. in his records which are graven
upon the table of our heart of what we truly are. The heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can
know it? Do you know it? Believer, do you know it? Professor
of Christ, do you know it? Unbeliever, Do you know your
heart? Do you know it? For this heart
is true of all men by nature. We're all born with hearts like
this, desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. And
the reality of this heart is that it can be hidden from others. by the veneer of our religion,
and of our worship, and of our chapel going, and of our prayers,
and of our scripture readings, and of our profession, and of
our baptism, and of our taking of the Lord's table, and of our
witnessing, and even of our preaching, and our declaration and witnessing
to others of what we believe, and our defense of the faith.
It can be hidden from others by all these religious activities. And yet God, who tries the reins
and searches the hearts, sees within with perfect sight, with
the seven eyes of God, the perfect sight of God, He sees all. and all is laid bare before him
and what we can hide from every other man even our nearest and
dearest from everyone else we cannot hide from him he searches
the heart and tries the reins and he will as a consequence
with a certainty give every man according to his ways and according
to the fruit of his doings. Do you hear it? What you hide
from others each and every day you cannot hide from Almighty
God. and you may spend seventy years
upon this earth with a profession of religion, fought well of by
all men, how godly so and so is, and yet God sees within what
you are, and he knows that you should confess that you are barren
and you are cold and he is remembering all that you have done and if
you pass from this world to the next in that state you will stand
before him and your end shall be a fool for you can get riches
but you will leave them in the midst of your days when you pass
from this world to the next. You can get riches in this world
by business and by cunning and by whatever means you can get
earthly riches but you can also get riches in the things of God. which you leave behind and your
end shall be as a fool. You can get a name amongst the
people of God. You can get a name amongst preachers. You can get a name in the churches
and be nothing and have nothing to take beyond the grave and
your end shall be as a fool. Well, where are you? cursed or
blessed? Are you but outwardly religious
or do you have the root of the matter within? Judah was outward,
it was zealous, it had the form of godliness, it went to worship,
it kept the feasts, it kept the sacrifices, it kept the Sabbaths
diligently but what of their hearts within? What of their hearts? As it said
in Romans 8, the carnal mind is enmity against God. Their
heart and their mind warred against God, whatever the outward appearance. whatever the outward appearance
and whatever the deception because we're deceived by our own hearts
that's the deception of this heart it deceives us into thinking
that we are doing good when we do evil. It deceives us into
thinking that we serve God when we're really serving our own
glory. We say I'm doing this because
I love God when we're not. I'm in chapel because I love
God. I'm keeping the Sabbath because
I love God. I'm keeping his holy law because
I love God. I'm witnessing to others because
I love God. No. We've been deceived. We're doing it for our own glory,
in our own strength, for our own pride. And that's what we need saving
from. Our deceitful and desperately
wicked hearts. Ourselves. We need to be saved
from ourselves because we can paint the outside how we will. But we can't cleanse our filthy
hearts within. Religion won't cleanse them. zeal won't cleanse the heart,
your efforts to be holy won't cleanse your heart, your observance
of all the forms won't cleanse your heart. Nothing that you
do, can do, determine to do, will do, strive to do, nothing
will cleanse your heart. You were born with a heart which
is deceitful and wicked and that's how it is. Religion or not. Then you may cry out. Well what
can I do then? It's hopeless. I've got this heart, I confess
it. I know I'm cold and barren within. and all my religion you say is
of nothing worth, then what else can I do? What a state I'm in,
it's hopeless. How can we cleanse our hearts? How can I save myself? How can
I put this right? It's hopeless. How can I cleanse my heart? We
can't. But there is a hope. And there
is a cleansing. And there is a man who is blessed. And there is a man who is planted
as a tree by the waters. And he hasn't cleansed his own
heart. And his hope isn't in his own
strength. And his trust isn't in self. And his pride isn't in what he
has done. There is a man with a hope. And
that hope is seen from verse 12. Because there is a glorious
high throne from the beginning, which is the place of our sanctuary. Not an earthly sanctuary, not
an earthly worship. not the things that we see and
do here below shall save us but that which is above shall save
us there is a glorious high throne from the beginning and there
is one sat upon that throne who can deliver sinners from the
state of their hearts who can cleanse their hearts who can
wash them clean and deliver them There is one sat upon that throne
who is described as the Lord, the hope of Israel, the hope
of Israel, the hope yes our hearts are in that state by nature and
yes we can do nothing to cleanse them and yes it appears hopeless
but there is a hope and that hope is in Christ and Christ
alone that hope is in God and in his son whom he sent into
this world to deliver sinners from their sin, to cleanse them
from their filthy hearts, to make them free. And that hope
is sat upon a glorious high throne which was his from the beginning. And there around that throne
is our place of sanctuary. There is the place we must go
to worship. There is the hope of our salvation. There we shall find rest. There. And in the one upon that
throne alone, the Lord, the hope of Israel. Have you fled to this one upon
this throne? for all that forsake him shall
be ashamed and ashamed you have been or should be because your
heart is filthy and ashamed you should be of all the religion
you have in the flesh because it's filthy rags of unrighteousness
before a holy God even though you called it righteousness he
called it filthy rags yes you should be ashamed your religion
and ashamed of the works you do to merit salvation from God's
hands. Ashamed of that which you bring
unto God to seek his pleasure. Ashamed of it all that forsake
him shall be ashamed. You say I didn't forsake him
I tried to seek him. But you forsook him in going
unto him, carrying your works and your good deeds in your hands,
and thinking he be pleased with them. You forsook the message
of his salvation by grace alone. You forsook the scriptural account
of who Christ is and the account in the gospel of who he is and
what he's done, that he came to save sinners freely by grace. He you wouldn't receive. When
good came to you in the desert, you shut your eyes and you shut
your ears. You forsook him. and all that
forsake him shall be ashamed. They that depart from him shall
be written in the earth because they have forsaken the Lord,
the fountain of living waters. There is salvation, there is
hope, and it's in Christ alone, He who is the fountain of living
waters. But you went to drink elsewhere. You sat there in the desert.
need in water and refuse in it, you'd stand in your own strength. You hope he'll trust in man or
in your strength, you'll find that hope comes to nothing. But
there is one whose hope bring salvation, one who is the fountain
of living waters, one of whom if you drink you will never thirst,
one who when you drink of his salvation you will be like a
tree planted by the waters, who spreads out her roots by the
river, by this river which flows from the fountain of living waters,
and you will bring forth fruit forevermore. You will not have
a cold heart. You will not be barren within
because He will bring forth the fruit, not you. Heal me is the cry here. Heal
me, O Lord, and I shall be healed. Save me, and I shall be saved,
for Thou art my praise. Have You been brought to cry
out that cry unto Him? Heal me, O Lord, and I shall
be healed. Save me. and I shall be saved. I am lost, I'm barren. My heart has deceived me, my
wicked heart within. And I've come to see that all
my religion is of nothing worth. I need one to come unto me and
to heal me, one who can take my sins away, one who can cleanse
me. Heal me, O Lord, and I shall
be healed. Save me and I shall be saved. Have you cried that to Him? Do
you know that you're healed? Do you know that you're saved? Is He your praise? For years
it's because you've heard that He, the Son of God, that hope
of Israel, that one with the high throne he came into this
world for a people that he loved for a people that his father
chose before the world was made for a people like you and I sinners
he came into this world to seek them and to save them He came
to go to a cross, that He might take their sins upon Himself,
that He might be crucified and slain, sacrificed in their place
because of what they have done, because of their hearts and because
of their sin. Their sin. that they committed
against him, though oh so religious. He came to take all their sin,
the sins before they ever heard the gospel, the sins when they
heard the gospel, the sins after they heard the gospel, the sins
when they knew nothing of God, the sins when they were zealous
for God in their own strength, all their sins, He took all their
sins upon Him and God poured out His wrath and fires of judgment
upon Him. Fires which if poured out upon
them will never be quenched, but fires which in grace God
poured out upon His Son. The same fires of which He says,
this has kindled a fire in mine anger which shall burn forever.
That burning forever was burnt out upon His own Son for this
people whom He said, I will save. For this people whom He would
bless. For this people whom He would
deliver. For this people who are brought
to the foot of the cross by the Spirit of God in the Gospel,
to fall down upon their knees, confessing their evil hearts,
confessing their sin, and who are brought to look up unto Christ
crucified for them, and brought to cry out unto Him and unto
His God, Heal me, O Lord! and I shall be healed. Save me
and I shall be saved. Take thy blood and wash my heart
within. Cleanse me, O God, for I have
no hope but in thee and in thee alone. Have you been there? He must heal us. He must save
us for we can't do it. Well, has he? Has he healed and
saved you? From verse 15 to verse 18, we
read the reaction of others to the prophet here, where he says,
Behold, they say unto me, where is the word of the Lord? Let
it come now. They doubt him. They doubt Him,
they scorn Him, they mock Him. They say, you promised that these
things will come. You speak of the Gospel, you
speak of salvation, you speak of judgment, you speak of a Savior. Well where are these things?
We're just here as we always were. And they mock and they
deride. And this lone man, this lone
spokesman for the things of God, this lone preacher and prophet
knows their derision and their scorn. Where's the word of the
Lord? Where's the fulfilment of it?
And he cries out unto his God under such persecution, let them
be confounded that persecute me. But let not me be confounded. Let them be dismayed but let
not me be dismayed. Bring upon them the day of evil
and destroy them with double destruction. He holds on. He
holds on by faith alone. They cast doubt on his gospel. They mock and scorn him. They
mock it. They say nothing will come of
it. Nothing will come, Jeremiah,
unless you do this or you do that. You must be up and about
and doing like us. The inclination of man with the
deceit of his heart is never to wait on God, but to up and
to do, to make something happen by his own will and his own strength. If we don't, then nothing will. But salvation does not, never
has and never will come that way. It comes to those that wait
upon the Lord. Those who wait upon the Lord
and fear His name. Those who will mount up with
eagle's wings. Those who wait. And the Prophet
here waits. He holds on, he clings on, not
in his strength but by the strength of God. They wait for they can
do nothing else. They've come to an end of their
own strength, an end of their own will. They know that they
can do nothing. God must work. They know that
salvation will come in the end, that the promise of God will
come in the end, that the rest of God will come in the end.
Well, what of you? Are you up and active? Are you
doing what you will do? Or are you waiting? upon the Lord, looking under
Him, resting in faith, believing His promise. Are you waiting,
waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting? The months, the weeks, the years
go by and nothing but you wait, to the point of fainting. to
the point of just about giving up. Are you there waiting? When
will the Lord hear me? When will I hear the answers
to my prayers? Well, wait on. Wait on. for all that truly wait on him
and all that truly call upon his name shall be heard and they
shall be saved and they shall know his rest in the end eternal
rest everlasting rest everlasting salvation rest Rest from all
their works and all their will and all their ways. Rest from
their deceitful hearts and the sin and the judgment against
their sin. Delivered from it all. Resting
from all works. Nothing to do, for Christ has
done it all. Rest is theirs to come. and rest
is theirs to be enjoyed now as they by faith come unto him in
the gospel, resting in what Christ has done by grace for their souls.
Well where are you? Are you in this rest? For this
is what the prophet is called upon to preach unto these gainsayers
in response. They come unto him crying out,
where's the word of the Lord? And he's told in verse 19, Then
said the Lord unto me, Go and stand in the gate of the children
of the people, whereby the kings of Judah come in, and by the
which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, and say
unto them, Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye kings of Judah,
and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by
these gates. Thus saith the Lord, take heed
to yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath day. nor bring
it in by the gates of Jerusalem. Neither carry forth a burden
out of your houses on the Sabbath day, neither do ye any work,
but hallow ye the Sabbath day as I commanded your fathers.
But they obeyed not, neither did they incline their ears,
but they made their necks stiff, that they might not hear nor
receive instruction. And it shall come to pass, if
ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord. to bring in no
burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but
hallow the Sabbath day to do no work therein. Then shall enter
into the gates of this city kings and princes, sitting upon the
throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their
princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
and this city shall remain forever. And they shall come from the
cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and from
the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from the mountains,
and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, and sacrifices,
and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing sacrifices of praise
unto the house of the Lord. But if ye will not hearken unto
me to hallow the Sabbath day this rest, and not to bear a
burden, even entering in at the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath
day. Then will I kindle a fire in
the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem,
and it shall not be quenched. What is Jeremiah told to preach
unto this people, this religious people who mocked him and scoffed
him with his gospel? He was told to go and preach
unto them of the rest of God the Sabbath day. Now they under
the law as Jews were told to keep the Sabbath and not to work
thereon. But this is a picture and a figure
of that eternal rest of God and the glory of the gospel. Because the rest of the Sabbath
and the command not to work is a command not to bring any works
of yours into the salvation of Almighty God. God will save by
grace and grace alone and have no works mixed with
anything that he has done either Christ will save or you will
be lost And yet they were continually in all their days and in all
their practice adding to the works of God. They would not
rest in His salvation. They worked and they willed and
they sought to be approved by their own strength. They trusted
in man, they trusted in self. But the child of God and Jeremiah
here picture of Christ, trusted in God and his grace alone. He knew that no works would save
and he could do nothing on the Sabbath day, nothing in rest. Any carrying of any burdens,
any work in that rest will bring about a shore and a certain destruction
by fire which cannot be quenched. We'll only enter into that city,
Jerusalem, into the rest of that city, into the rest of eternal
heavenly Jerusalem, that heavenly kingdom to come. We'll only enter
in when we've ceased from all our works. We can carry no burden
in there, none whatsoever. The hymn writer says, nothing
in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. No burden,
no works. This Sabbath here isn't a day,
it's a day in the old covenant, picture in this eternal rest. It's the gospel age. This day
in which we live, this gospel age, this day of grace. If you
will enter into this kingdom, It will be by grace alone. You
cannot enter into this rest of this kingdom in this gospel day
with anything in your hands, with any burden or any works.
Leave it all at the door, all at the gate. That gate of course, that door
of course, which is Christ. When you come to Christ, if you
will enter into his salvation your burden like bunions must
roll from your back and the works that you cling to in your hands
must be dropped down and cast aside. For straight is the gate
and narrow is the way which leadeth unto everlasting life and few
there be that find it because most will try to get in through
a gate and a way which is broad through which they can carry
their burdens and carry their works in their hands. Well how
are you trying to get in? Through a narrow gate or a broad
gate? On a narrow way or a broad way? by grace alone or by works. See who enters into this glorious
rest, then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings
and princes. Kings and princes sitting upon
the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses. They
and their princes, the men of Judah. Look at the description
of this people. Kings and princes not of their
own making, not in their own strength. but of God by grace. If you enter this kingdom by
grace you will be called a king and a prince who sits upon the
throne of David, one with Christ your Saviour, washed by his blood,
having tasted of life in him. But if you will bring a burden
If you will hearken not unto Him in His Gospel, hearken not
unto His elect in salvation, His sovereign will, His free
and sovereign grace. If you will hold on to your Arminian
works and your Arminian will and your self-righteousness and
not hallow His rest, not hallow the Sabbath day, and carry a
burden or works in your hands into that gate of Jerusalem. Then he says, I will kindle a
fire in the gates thereof and it shall devour the palaces of
Jerusalem and it shall not be quenched. That, my friend, is
your end, the cursing and the judgment of God against you and
your deceitful wicked heart and your religious works and zeal
in which you take pride. Well, where is your pride? Where
is your hope? Where is your faith? Where is
your salvation? And where is your rest. O will you? know the grace of
God and the favour and the mercy and the love of God to have your
eyes opened to see the one sat upon a glorious high throne that
hope of Israel your only hope and to see him as your hope the
one who you cried unto. Heal me, O Lord, and I shall
be healed. Save me, and I shall be saved. And in whom you entered into
Jerusalem's gates, glorying in his free grace and salvation,
with a heart which has been washed and cleansed and changed by him
by grace alone, will you then enter in to that city? as a king and a prince, sitting
upon the throne of David, riding in a chariot and on horses, praising
his name and his gospel and his grace forevermore. Will you? Amen.