Scott read this in the study
with the men earlier this morning. You don't have to look it up,
but it's from Jeremiah chapter 31. For there shall be a day
that the watchman upon the Mount of Ephraim shall cry, Arise ye,
and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God. Arise ye, let
us go up to Zion unto the Lord our God. Um, if you like front
of the bulletin, you can thank Laura grace. She's been working
on that. So thank you, Laura grace. We appreciate it. Uh,
Bert's going to come lead us in number 17 on in the hardback
terminal. Let's stand together. Number 17. you On thou fount of every blessing,
tune my heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet
sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount, I'm fixed upon
it, Mount of Thy redeeming love. Here I raise my heaven-easer,
Hither by Thy help I'm come, And I hope by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home. Jesus sought me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God, He to rescue me from danger interposed
His precious blood. ? O to grace how great a debtor
? Daily I'm constrained to be ? Let thy goodness like a fetter
? Bind my wandering heart to thee ? Prone to wander, Lord,
I feel it ? Prone to leave the God I love Here's my heart, oh,
take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above. Our scripture reading this morning
will come from Zechariah chapter 12. If you'd like to turn with
me there in your Bibles. Robert is still recovering from
his knee replacement. Robert and Deanna are dear brother
and sister who would say as we talked about in the first hour,
oh how I miss being there. Hopefully they'll be back in
the week or so. Zechariah chapter 12 verse 9,
and it shall come to pass in that day that I will seek to
destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I
will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
the spirit of grace and of supplications. And they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced and they shall mourn for him as one mourneth
for his only son and shall be in bitterness for him as one
that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall
there be a great mourning in Jerusalem as the mourning of
Hadad Rimon in the valley of Megiddon. And the land shall
mourn every family apart The family of the house of David
apart, and their wives apart. The family of the house of Nathan
apart, and their wives apart. The family of the house of Levi
apart, and their wives apart. And the family of Shemai apart,
and their wives apart. All the families that remain,
every family apart, and their wives apart. That means that although we are
engaging together in corporate worship, that for this promise
to be experienced it has to happen in the heart of each one of us.
Each one of us. In that day, verse 1 of chapter
13, there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. Sinners rejoice and being in
place where the fountain is opened That they might be made clean
Let's pray our Heavenly Father How hopeful we are that today
will be that day That you will Put the spirit
of mourning in each of our hearts and For you said, Lord, blessed are
they who mourn. Who mourn. For they. Shall be filled. Lord, we pray that you would.
Send that spirit of grace and supplication. The cleansing of
our sin. That the fountain will be open
at the water would flow freely and that we would drink freely. Lord, bless us with thy presence
as you've promised. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. We're going to sing to him in
the back of the bulletin now. If you could please stand. Jesus, thy blood and righteousness,
my beauty art, my glorious dress, misflaming worlds in this array,
with joy shall I lift up my head. This spotless robe, the same
appears when ruined nature sinks in years. No age can change its
glorious hue, the robe of Christ is ever new. Went from the dust of death I
rise, to join the ransomed in the skies. Even now this be all
my plea, that Christ has lived and died for me. Oh, let the dead now hear thy
voice. Now bid thy people to rejoice. Our beauty, this our glorious
dress. Jesus, the Lord, our righteousness. May be seated. We open your Bibles with me again
to Zachariah, please. Zachariah Chapter 6. By way of
introduction, if you'd like to mark that passage and then turn
over quickly to Isaiah Chapter 46. Isaiah Chapter 46. I'd like to read a verse a few
verses in Isaiah 46 to introduce this message. From Zachariah
Chapter 6. I was telling the men this morning
that the word plan or any form of the word plan is not to be
found anywhere in the Bible. That was amazing to me. I can
remember in religion that we used to discuss and talk about
the plan of salvation. We would talk about God's plans
for doing this and for doing the other. A plan, according
to the dictionary, is a scheme. It is a procedure. It is a system
or an idea. We have, on the back wall this
morning, some plans. Preliminary plans of our new
building. I'd encourage you to take a look
at them. But that's what they are. They're just plans. Those
plans, I'm sure, between now and the time the building is
up, will be adjusted and changed. Contrary to that, when God gave
Moses instructions on how to build the tabernacle, it wasn't
a plan. It was a blueprint. He said,
you build it exactly like I said to build it. We're not going
to make any changes in it. And when the Lord instructed
David later through Solomon to build the tabernacle, he gave
him exact, exact blueprints for that tabernacle. I've titled this message, A God
of Purpose. Contrary to the fact that the
word plan or any form of it is not to be found in the Word of
God, we're going to see this morning that the word purpose,
purpose is found many, many times. Our God is a God of purpose. Everything he does is on purpose. He doesn't have a plan. that
he has to revert to a plan B or a plan C. He has a designed purpose
and everything happens according to his purpose. You have your Bibles open to
Isaiah chapter 46. Look with me at verse 9. Remember
the former things of old. Remember how I have done things
in the past. That's what the Lord's saying.
For I am the same today as I was yesterday and will be forever. I change not. That's your hope,
sons of Jacob. The fact that I'm immutable. I do not change. It's the only
reason you're not being consumed. Because I had a purpose. A purpose
that I established in the covenant of grace. Remember the former things of old, for
I am God and there is none else. I am God and there is none like
me. I had someone ask me this week,
do you believe that God is real? I said, I believe God is God. Yes, He's real. And he's absolutely
sovereign. And that's what the Lord's saying
to here, there is none like me. Now that's a good definition
of holiness. There is none like me. I am other
than anything you know anything about, I'm God. declaring the
end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that
are not yet done saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do all
my pleasure. My counsel, my will, my purpose,
that which is in my heart shall stand. I will accomplish all
my pleasure. Pleasure and counsel. I want
you to take note of that because we're going to look at another
passage of scripture in Hebrews chapter 4, but take notice of
the fact that pleasure and counsel are the same thing here. It's
what's in the heart of God. calling a ravenous bird from
the east, the man that executed my counsel from a far country,
yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass, I have
purposed it, and I will do it. Oh, What encouragement, what
comfort, what hope the child of God has in knowing that our
God is God and that he is a God of purpose and everything that's
happening is happening according to his purpose. A purpose has an end. A purpose
has an end, doesn't it? I know the thoughts that I have
for you. That's my pleasure. That's my
counsel. I know the thoughts that I have
for you, thoughts of good and not of evil, to bring you to
your expected end. I have an expectation for your
end, and I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it. And your
expectation can be that I'm going to accomplish my purpose. Just
like I've done in the past, I'm going to fulfill everything I've
purposed, all my counsel, and all my pleasure. I'm going to
do it. Believe me. Rest in me. I'm God, and there's none like
unto me. No man can stay his hand. And no man can say unto him,
what doest thou? He reigns sovereign over the
armies of heaven and over all the inhabitants of this earth. Our God is a God of purpose. He's not trying to get something
done. He purposed everything he did. Alright, turn me to Zechariah
now, chapter 6. Open your Bibles there, please.
I want to read the first eight verses. Another prophecy that
God gave to Zechariah. There's two brass mountains in
this prophecy. There's four chariots in this
prophecy, drawn by four sets of horses in this prophecy. What do they represent? What
do they mean? And I turned and lifted up my
eyes and looked, and behold, once again, might the Lord turn
us. The prophet said, turn me, Lord,
and I shall be turned. We get so consumed and focused
in the things of this world. We get so concerned with trying
to control our circumstances, don't we? And the Lord says,
I'm going to turn you. And you're going to behold something
that's going to be glorious. That's my hope this morning that
we would behold our God as a God of purpose. And behold, there came four chariots
out from between two mountains and the mountains were mountains
of brass. now often times on the mountains
are made reference to in the scriptures there speaking of
arson that which creates a barrier between us and god and the lord
said if you have faith as the seed of a mustard seed you can
say into this mountain be cast into the sea to be removed and
uh... but that's not the point here
these are mountains of brass these mountains cannot be moved
and there's two of them And out from between these two mountains
comes four chariots. And these four chariots are being
drawn by four teams of horses. What are the two mountains? Turn
with me to Hebrews chapter 6. Don't you love comparing the
spiritual to the spiritual? Scripture to scripture? The Bible
interprets itself. We don't go outside of the Bible
in order to get understanding as to what the Bible means. God
confirms His Word with His Word. And He has done so here in Hebrews
chapter 6, verse 16. For men verily swear
by the greater and an oath for confirmation is to them an end
of all strife. In other words, you have a purpose
in your heart, you end all controversy by taking an oath to that promise. wherein God willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel
confirmed it with an oath. What was the counsel of God?
That's his purpose, that's his pleasure, that's his will, that's
what's in the heart of God. And what the Lord is telling
us is that God has confirmed what's in his heart with an oath,
with a promise. For what reason? To show the
immutability of his counsel, the immutability of his purpose,
the immutability of his pleasure. God is revealing to us what's
in his own heart and saying to us, by this confirmation of an
oath, it cannot be changed. what's in my heart will be accomplished
will be fulfilled because it's my purpose and I'm doing this
in order that look that by two immutable things the purpose
of God and the oath of God, the will of God, and the promise
of God by these two immutable things in which it is impossible
for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation. That's
what I need. I need a strong consolation. I need to be sure of these things.
How am I going to be sure? I'm going to be sure by the fact
that God has revealed his heart by his word. He's revealed his
purpose with his oath of promise. Who have fled for refuge to lay
hope upon, to lay hold upon the hope set before us. The will of God, the purpose
of God, the pleasure of God, that which is in the heart of
God has been confirmed to us by the oath of God in order that
we might have consolation and hope. You see, we don't get our
consolation and hope for looking to something that we've done.
a decision that we've made, a work that we performed, some improvement
that we might think is taking place in our lives, we get our
hope and consolation by looking at the purpose of God confirmed
by the oath of God. Which hope we have. as an anchor of the soul, both
sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the
veil." Now the veil was the body of
Christ, which was rent from top to bottom. When the Lord Jesus
Christ bowed his head on Calvary's cross and cried, it is finished. He bore in His flesh, in His
body, all the sins of God's people and suffered the full wrath of
God's justice in order that the holies of holies would be opened,
the mercy seat we would now have access to. And so we can come
with confidence, come before the throne of grace with boldness
that you might find help in your time of need, With the forerunner
for us entered even Jesus, made a high priest forever after the
order of Melchizedek. So the Lord Jesus Christ is our
forerunner. He's called the anchor of our
soul. Now back before motorized vessels,
if a ship was going to get into the harbor safely, A dinghy would take the anchor,
a smaller ship, a smaller boat would take the anchor and carry
it ahead of the ship and plan it in the harbor. with a rope
tied to the ship, and then the men would grab a hold of that
rope and pull that rope safely into the harbor. That's the Lord
Jesus Christ is our forerunner. He's gone before us. He's entered
into the holies of holies. He's put his blood on the mercy
seat. The veil has been rent. His body
has been torn. It's been opened, and God now,
contrary to what he said under the law, Even the priest had
to be careful going into the Holies of Holies on the Day of
Atonement under the law. They had to tie a rope to his
ankle and put bells upon his in case he did something wrong
while he was in there. God might kill him and they'd
have to pull his dead body out because they couldn't go in there
after him. And the other priest would stand outside and warn
the people to stay away. And now what happens? The spirit
and the bride say, what? Calm. The veil's been rent. The forerunner's gone before
us. He's planted the anchor of his soul. And he's done it according
to the counsel and the oath. And that's the two brass mountains. The purpose of God and the oath,
the promise that God has made to fulfill his purpose. Those are the two brass mountains.
Those are the two immutable things that cannot be moved. We have
a God of purpose that we might find consolation and hope and
assurance for our salvation based on these two brass mountains
that cannot be moved. Go back with me to Zachariah. Angels are spoken of in the scriptures
as God's chariots. The first chariot, verse two. There's four chariots now between
these two brass mountains. What are the brass mountains?
The council. That's the will. That's the purpose,
that's the pleasure of God. How do we know the will, the
purpose, and the pleasure of God? Well, we know what's in
God's heart because he's confirmed it with an oath. He's promised
it in his word. And by these two immutable things,
which it is impossible for God to lie, we take strong consolation. In the first chariot were red
horses, and the second chariot black horses, and the third chariot
white horses, and the fourth chariot gristled and bay horses. And I answered and said unto
the angel that talked with me, what are these, my lord? Oh, Zechariah didn't understand.
What are these chariots and what are these horses? Well, chariots
in the scriptures are spoken of as angels. The chariot of
God are 20,000, Psalm 68, 17, even thousands of angels. The
Lord is among them. You remember when Elisha was being threatened with his
life by the king of Syria when he was in Dothan. And the young
man, the Elisha's servant, came into the house and said, Master,
Master, what should we do? We're surrounded by the enemy.
What did Elisha say? They that are with us are more
than they that be with them. What's he talking about? Lord
opened his eyes that he might see, and Elisha's servant went
back out and looked, and surrounding the house that Elisha was in
was flaming chariots. Now we're not going to delve
into something that we don't understand, but there are some
things that we know to be true about angels. They are ministering
spirits. They come in the purpose and
bidding of God. They are powerful. We also know
that the children of God in glory are superior to them. We know
things about God that the angels will never understand. We know
things about His grace and about His mercy and about His love
and about His forgiveness that they could never enter into.
And the Lord's made it clear that right now, according to
Hebrews chapter 1, they are ministering to us. But in that day of glory,
they'll be, well, they'll remain our servants, won't they? We know things that they can't
possibly comprehend. And also in the book of Revelation,
those who carry the gospel are called angels, aren't they? Ministering
spirits, those who take the gospel and carry it into the world. So the Lord sees these seven
angels, which are the seven elders of the seven churches. And it
just means the angel is a messenger, a messenger. Here we have these chariots which
are carrying a message from between these two mountains, the counsel
and the oath of God, which cannot be moved. And the message is
being drawn by horses. This immutability of God's counsel is seen so clear in the scriptures. God is immutable in the counsel
or purpose or pleasure of predestination that he has. In Ephesians chapter
1 verse 11, being predestinated according to the purpose of him
who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will. So there's the mountains. The
purpose of God in election must stand. The children being not
yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand not of him that worketh,
but of God that calleth. God has a purpose, doesn't he?
He elected a people. Nothing is going to change that
purpose. These are the two mountains.
These are the angels that are coming out of the two mountains
carrying the message of the purpose, the immutability of God for the
counsel and for the encouragement and consolation of God's people. The anchor's been set. The veil's
been rent. The holies of holies has been
opened. We are here to worship our God of purpose. He chose a people according to
his own will and purpose before the world ever began. What great
hope we have in knowing that our salvation is determined by
his choice, not ours. Lord, if you waited for me to
choose you before you chose me, I would die and go to hell. I would never choose you unless
you chose me. Election is the only door to
heaven that there is. If God doesn't elect us, heaven
will be shut up to us. And the Lord says, I have purposed
a people. When the Lord Jesus Christ went
to Calvary's cross, he went according to the purpose of God. Father,
I've come to do thy will. It is finished. When Peter preached
on Pentecost, he said that the Lord Jesus Christ was delivered
by the determinant counsel and for knowledge of God. He laid down his life on purpose. He bore our sins on purpose to
accomplish His will, His counsel. He wasn't making an offer of
salvation to the world. He purposed to make Himself an
offering to the Father to atone for the sins of His people. And
that purpose was fulfilled. We're not worshiping a God. who
has a plan. We're worshiping a God of purpose. The resurrection was on purpose.
The Father said, I will not, I will not allow my Holy One
to seek corruption. I will raise Him from the dead. He has fulfilled all that I sent
Him to do, and I have purposed that he should be ascended back
into glory and take his rightful seat at the right hand of the
majesty on high. I purpose that. Listen to what Nebuchadnezzar
said when he put Daniel into the lion's den, which is a picture
of Christ going into the tomb. The stone was put on the mouth
of the den. The king sealed it with his signet
that the purpose concerning Daniel could not be changed. The purpose
concerning Daniel. And you remember that story.
The king had written a decree. Anybody that doesn't bow is going
to... and he couldn't change his decree.
And he put Daniel into the lion's den, and he sealed it with a
signet, put a stone over it, that the purpose of the king
could not be changed. So it is with the Lord Jesus
Christ. He went into the grave according
to God's purpose. Our calling is on purpose, isn't
it? You know that all things work together for good to them
who love God, those that are thee called according to his
purpose. When God purposes to call one
of his people to himself, that call is effectual, that call
is irresistible. God's not trying to get anybody
saved. He accomplished their salvation on the cross, and when
He's ready to call them to Himself, they come. They come. He fetches His Spirit and draws
them to Himself. Listen to what the Lord said
in 2 Timothy chapter 1. who hath saved us and called
us with a holy calling not according to our works but according to
his own purpose and grace which he was which was given unto us
in Christ Jesus before the world ever began. Oh brethren we serve a God of
purpose These brass mountains cannot
be moved. The messengers are carrying the
message. We're going to look at those
horses in just a moment. The messengers are carrying the
message. Our calling is a calling of purpose. Our election is an
election of purpose. The death of the Lord Jesus Christ
was the accomplishment of God's purpose. It was the confirmation
of the will and purpose of God. Revelation, the revelation of
the gospel is given by the purpose of God. Listen to what the Lord
says in Ephesians chapter 1, having made known unto us the
mystery of His will according to His own good pleasure which
He purposed in Himself. Oh Lord, what is our prayer? The Lord purposed Purpose to
reveal yourself to me. Purpose to call me. Turn me,
Lord, and I'll be turned. Lord, I can't do anything according
to my will. The providence of God all happens according to God's
purpose. Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verse
1, to everything there is a season and a time for every purpose
under the sun. Everything that's happening is
happening according to the purpose of God right on time. Do you believe that? I'm talking about the little
stuff in your life and my life and the big stuff and between
that it's all right on schedule. Why is it happening? You remember
when Ruth went to glean from Boaz's field and Boaz saw her
and Boaz, I mean he was love at first sight. Boaz saw her
and he loved her. Boaz is the kinsman redeemer.
He's the Lord Jesus Christ. Ruth is the church. And although
Ruth didn't know Boaz, Boaz knew her and Ruth did not fall in
love with Boaz until he fell. We love him because he first
loved us. And what did Boaz say to his reapers? He said to his
reapers, cause a handful of purpose to fall from your bag that she
might glean. and leave them that she may glean
them and rebuke her not." Boaz said, he told his reapers, the
men that are reaping the harvest, as you're reaping just take a
handful on purpose and leave them on the ground behind you. And don't rebuke her for picking
them up because that's why you're leaving them. All the providence of God. given
to us in Christ Jesus, and He's going to provide a handful of
purpose. We won't have to glean. We won't
have to glean. But you can be sure that when
you glean, the fruit's going to be there. It's going to be
there. The judgment of God is according
to His purpose. This is the purpose that He purposed
upon the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched
out upon all the nations. For the Lord of hosts hath purposed,
and who shall disannul it? His hand is stretched out, and
who shall turn it back? The Lord shall The land, I'm
sorry, shall tremble and with sorrow for every purpose of the
Lord shall be performed upon Babylon. The judgment of God
shall be exercised upon Babylon. Now, what about these horses? Again, we compare scripture with
scripture. You know what red represents,
don't you? By the way, these horses are
almost exactly the same horses in Revelation chapter 6 as the
four horsemen of the apocalypse, but there's a very, very significant
difference. In the four horsemen of the apocalypse,
which is the destruction of the earth, we have the red horse,
we have the black horse, and we have the white horse. And
then there's a gray horse. And the scripture says, or a
pale horse, the scripture says, and behind the pale horse is
death and hell. So, in the destruction of the
earth, these four horsemen come out and The red, the black, and
the white are the same as what we have here. But here, we have
spotted horses and strong horses, whereas in the apocalypse we
have the pale horse, which brings death and destruction, which
is the purpose of God. We just read it. The purpose
of God is to destroy Babylon and all the earth. But here's
our hope, brethren. That purpose has not been fulfilled
yet. The pale horse has not yet come
out. Here's our hope. In place of the pale horse is
the spotted horse and the strong horse. One day, the spotted horse and
the strong horse would be replaced by the pale horse. And at that
day, it'll be too late. The first, verse 2 of our text
in Zechariah chapter 6. The first chariot were the red
horses. When the bride of Christ is asked
by the gainsayers, what makes thy beloved better than our beloved? What does she say? What's the
first thing out of her mouth? Oh, he is white and he is red. Ready. More to be favored about 10,000.
My husband is not like anybody else's. And my beloved is not
like anybody else's beloved. He's white and he's ready. He's
red. Children of Israel were brought
through the Red Sea. Turn to me to Isaiah chapter
63. This passage will clear this up as well as any. What does
the red horse represent? It represents the Lord Jesus
Christ and His work of redemption. It's the color of blood, isn't
it? When I see the blood, I will pass by you. The first horse
that comes out is the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
that horse came out before time began. Before time began, the
Lord Jesus Christ is called the lamb that was slain before the
foundation of the world. So the spilt blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ, that's the will, that's the purpose, and that's
the oath, that's the confirmation. Those are the two brass mountains
from which these decrees are carried out by the chariots drawn
up by first a red horse. In Isaiah chapter 63, At verse
one, who is this that cometh from Eden, with dyed garments
from Basra, this that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in
the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness,
mighty to say, wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and
thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine fat. I have trodden
the wine press alone. The Lord Jesus Christ went into
the wine press of God's wrath when he went to Calvary's cross
all by himself and he trotted it alone. And now he's come out
with stained garments. That's the red horse. It's the
atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's redemption. It's the hope of salvation in
the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. There was none with me, for I
will tread them in mine anger and trample them in my fury,
and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will
stain all my garments. All my garments. The garments
of the Lord Jesus. That's the red horse. It's justice. It's redemption. It's the decree of God being
carried out through the oath that was accomplished by the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ, being brought forth from these
two brass mountains, which cannot be changed. We have a God of
purpose. When he redeemed his people,
he accomplished his purpose. Secondly, What is the black horse? Well, again, in the Song of Solomon,
when she describes her husband, she says that his hair is black
like a raven. When the Lord plagued the Egyptians
in the 10 plagues, he sent, the scripture says, a blackness that
could be felt. A darkness. When the earth was
blackened between the 6th and the 9th hour on that day when
Christ hung on Calvary's cross, the scripture says it was blacker
than it had ever been before. Darker. Darker. What is the significance
of this black horse? It's the mystery. What's in the
head of God is mysterious to man. He can't understand it.
His hair is black like a raven. Unless God parts the heavens
and comes down and reveals the gospel to us, we are left in
the dark. We are left in the dark in terms
of any hope of understanding the gospel. Lord, you're going
to have to rend the heavens. You're going to have to shine
that light from glory just like you did for Saul of Tarsus. You're
going to have to knock me off my high horse, and you're going
to have to reveal yourself to me because I can't get to you.
They tried that. I've tried that. In the Tower
of Babel, putting together bricks with slime and it doesn't work.
God, you've got to shine the light of the Gospel in my heart,
in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're going to do that
through the Gospel. It's the mystery of the Gospel. And when He does, what do we
have? We have a white horse. When the Lord Jesus Christ, when
the veil of his humanity was taken away, and that's what had
to happen for us on on on the Mount of Transfiguration, when
Peter, James and John were there and the veil of his humanity
was taken away and the scripture says that the radiance of his
glory shine forth like the noonday sun wider than any fuller could
make it. Oh, the brightness of the gospel
lights up the darkness. That's its redemption, its mystery
and its light. Now what about the last chariot? What about the last chariot?
The Lord said, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be
made, what, white as snow. And when that bride answers her,
the other women, when they ask her, what makes your beloved
better than my beloved? She said, he is white and he
is ruddy. He's holy and he's red. He's
the brightness of the glory of God. the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. Now those three horses are carrying,
that's the message. The message is in the horses.
That's coming from the immutable counsel and oath of God on these
brass mountains being carried by the messengers of chariots
to the hearts of God's people. There's one more horse. Look
at it. Verse 3, and in the third chariot
white horses and the fourth chariot gristled and bay horses. Now
gristled means spotted and bay means strong. What is the spotted horses? What
do the strong horses represent? Is anything too hard for God?
Can God not raise a man from the dead? Lord, who then can
be saved with man? It is impossible with God. All
things are possible. Oh, we serve an omnipotent God
who is able to put away our sin and save us from the wrath that
is to come. Our God lacks no ability in saving. That's the Bay horse. What's
the spotted horse? What's the spotted horse? Well,
there is a variety of means. I'm not talking about the means
of the gospel or the means of faith. I'm talking about the
means of circumstances and providence. I'm talking about the fact that
we are, we make up the spotted horse, the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ. There are different circumstances
that the Lord takes each one of his children through in order
to bring them to Christ. Encouragement here is don't force
your circumstances off on somebody else. The Lord takes each one
of his children through a variety of circumstances before and after
their salvation. We're tempted to compare ourselves
to one another, aren't we? The truth is the only thing we
have in common is the gospel. This congregation given our backgrounds,
given our experiences, given our personalities, given our
interests, would never ever come together for any other reason. What would we have in common
in terms of the things of this world that would cause this group
of people to come together? We're a gristled group, aren't
we? We're a spotted group, and yet, and yet, when the gospel
brings us together, we have everything in common. We have everything. The gospel puts away all those
other things, all those other differences. Now that's the spotted
horse, and that's the strong horse. God is exercising his
strength as he sends out his spirit and makes his people from
whatever varied circumstances they might come from or they
might be in. He makes them willing in the
day of his power and reveals to each one of them the same
truth about who Christ is and what he's accomplished. And that
spotted horse And that Bay horse is going to be replaced in the
day of judgment with a pale horse. Read it. Revelation chapter six,
a pale horse, which followeth after him death and hell. Our merciful Heavenly Father. We rejoice in knowing that you
are a God of purpose. And that these brass mountains.
Your counsel and your oath cannot be moved. We thank you for the
ministering spirits. The messengers, the angels that
you've sent forth as chariots. Being pulled by these horses
of redemption. And holiness. The horse of mystery. And the various horses of circumstances
and. The power of God to save. Lord,
make us not ashamed of the Gospel, for we know that it is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Lord, enable
us to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ now. That we would know
nothing of that pale horse. In the day of wrath. We thank you for this table.
We thank you for what it. Represents. Lord, how we pray
that you would Put in our hearts. A hope. A hope in Christ. For his sinless
body and his shed blood. For the forgiveness of our sins.
We ask it in Christ name. Amen. Ask the men if they'll
come and distribute the bread and the wine, but we're going
to sing number 17 in the spiral hymnal. We're going to sing this a cappella
prayerfully. Number 17. See the table spread before you. See the feast of bread and wine. These are symbols of our Savior,
tokens of his love divine. Bread that's broken is his body,
crushed beneath the wrath of God. Wine poured out is a reminder
of our Savior's precious blood. Children of our God, remember
how he bought your soul and mine. In remembrance of our Savior,
eat the bread and drink the wine. Jesus came, the God incarnate,
to fulfill God's holy law. On the cross he made atonement
and retrieved us from the fall. Let us ne'er forget the promise
Jesus made to come again. Soon he comes, our King, to call
us home to glory. Praise his name. With this hope and expectation,
we rejoice to keep this feast, celebrating our redemption till
we lean on Jesus' breast. the glory and the power of the
gospel truly is seen in its simplicity. It's all about the body and blood
of Christ, the life and the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Perfect,
sinless life that pleased the father. He said, as often as
you do this, do it in remembrance of me. I was the white horse and the black horse and the red
horse. When I see the blood, I'll pass
by you. The body of Christ is made up
of many members, each differing one from another. But that bay
horse, that strong horse is powerful to save, to save everyone to
the utmost coming to God by Him. God give us grace to come to
Christ. Mountains aren't going to be moved. Everything in this
world And everything in your life and my life is changing.
Constant change, isn't there? One of the things that causes
our fears is we don't know what to expect. You know, it's the
fear of the unknown, isn't it? The Lord said things are changing.
Those mountains are not going to change. The purpose and the
oath of God fulfilled. in the life, death, and resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our hope. He's not going
to change. I'm so thankful for that. Let's
stand together. Brother Michael, would you dismiss
us please in prayer? We ask that you would enable
us to worship you.