It's time to change gears. Ask the Lord to give us the grace
to turn our attention away from one another and to look to Christ. David said, I was glad when they
said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. And then
in Psalm 42, it says, my soul thirsteth for God, for the living
God. When shall I come? and appear
before God. That's what we've come here to
do this morning, to appear before Him, to ask for Him to be merciful
and gracious, to show His love toward us, and to reveal the
glory of His Son to our hearts. Let's stand together. Tom's going
to come lead us in the hymn on the back of your bulletin. How sovereign is the love of
God To Israel's favored race! Paid is the mighty debt they
owe, Salvation is a grace. ? His love without beginning
new ? ? Each chosen sinner's case ? ? And sent his equal son
to show ? ? Salvation is a bread of life ? Emmanuel had not bled and died,
nor suffered in our place. But for this truth, O sound it
wide, salvation is Peace. We had not known and loved
the Son, Nor sung His worthy praise, But that Himself the
work begun, Salvation is of grace. Please be seated. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Psalm 43. Psalm 43. Our text this morning comes from
Isaiah 26. Thou wilt give him perfect peace,
whose mind is stayed on thee. Oh, to have the peace of God
and to know peace with God. So oftentimes our lives are more the experience of verse 11 of
the previous chapter. Look at the last verse of chapter
42. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? Why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope thou in God. For I shall
yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God. Judge me, O God, and plead my
cause against an ungodly nation. Oh, deliver me from the deceitful
and unjust man. Who's the deceitful and unjust
man in your life that you need to be delivered from? Who is it? Yourself, isn't it? For thou art the God of my strength. Why dost thou cast me off? Why
go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? Oh,
send out thy light and thy truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring
me into thy holy hill and to thy tabernacles. Lord, would
you Would you bless your word to my heart, shine the light
of the gospel in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ in my heart
now, this morning? Give me hope in him. Would you
do that? Then, while I go into the altar
of God, unto God my exceeding joy, yea, upon the harp while
I praise thee, O God, my God. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? And why art thou disquieted within
me? Hope in God, for I shall yet
praise him who is the health of my countenance and my God. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly
Father, we confess to you that we become so disquieted in this
life. And we know that the cause of
our disquiet is unbelief. Oh, how we pray that you would
give us faith to trust in you, to rely upon you, to believe
you. We thank you that the Lord Jesus
Christ has accomplished everything necessary to make us acceptable
in Thy sight. We ask now, Father, that Your
Holy Spirit would enable us to hang the hopes of our immortal
souls completely on Him. For it's in His name we pray.
Amen. Let's stand together once again.
and we'll sing hymn number two from your gospel hymns book.
Hymn number two. Lord, we come before Thee now. At Thy feet we humbly bow. O do not our suit disdain. Shall we seek Thee, Lord, in
vain? Lord, on Thee our souls depend,
In compassion now descend. Fill our hearts with Thy rich
grace, Tune our lips to sing Thy praise. in thine own appointed way. Now we seek thee, here we stay. Lord, we know not how to go till
a blessing thou bestow. Send the message from thy word
that may joy and peace afford. Let thy spirit now impart Christ's
salvation to each heart. Please be seated. Will you open your Bibles with
me to Isaiah chapter 26. Isaiah chapter 26. It has been my own personal experience. and my experience in talking
with people, that folks are more interested in the peace of God
to keep their hearts and minds from their being disquieted than
they are with having peace with God. I have people as a pastor often
ask me to pray for them about things. And I know that what they need
is the gospel. They want the Lord to relieve
them of their troubles, but have no interest in the gospel. The peace of God which passes
understanding is the byproduct of having peace with God. Don't
set your affections on the peace of God. Don't do it. It's just like trying to find
happiness. You're in pursuit of happiness, you're not gonna
find it. Happiness is the byproduct of knowing God. And the peace
of God is the result of having peace with God. Set your heart
on having peace with God. The flesh wants the feeling of
having the peace of God. Here's what the Lord tells us
in Isaiah chapter 26, and this is the church's song. Look what
he says in verse 3, Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose
mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee. Because he trusteth in Thee.
That's where we find peace with God. Trusting in Christ. looking to the Lord Jesus Christ
for all the hope of our salvation. Oh, how we need to have our minds
stayed on Him. This song stands in stark contrast
to the philosophy of the world. I mentioned in the previous hour,
I don't often do this. I've never done this. quote some
lines from a Pink Floyd song to introduce a message. But some
of you will remember the song, We Don't Need No Education, We
Don't Need No Mind Control. All in all, it's just another
brick on the wall. And the philosophy of the world
was summarized in that song. Don't tell me what to believe.
I'll do what's right in my own eyes. Don't try to control my
mind and don't wall me in. Don't shut me in to your expectations. I want to be free. Well, I'm here to tell you, I
need to be taught of God. I do. Come unto me all ye that
labor and are heavy laden and learn of me. Learn of me, I'll
give you rest. My yoke is easy, my burden is
light. I'll give you rest for your soul. I'm disquieted. I
need to be taught of God, and they shall all be taught of God,
and when you're taught of God, nobody can unteach you that.
I need some mind control, that's my problem. That's my problem,
I can't control my mind. And I need the mind of Christ. And I need to be shut into a
wall. I need to be walled in. I need to be restrained. And that's what this song, this
song stands in stark contrast to the words of that song that
summarize, you know, the irony of it is, when have men been
less free than they are now? Their pursuit of freedom has led them to more bondage. I mean, you just, you know, how
many people do you know that are, that are, that are having
to take all sorts of prescriptions in order to control their minds
because they've tried to be free. If the sun shall make you free,
you should be free indeed. It's the only, the only freedom
that there is in this world is to be in Christ. And if you're
in Christ, you'll be taught of Christ. Your mind will be bound
up in Christ. You won't be able to get away
from him. And he'll wall you in to the gospel. Look what he
says in verse one. In that day shall this song be
sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. We have a strong city. Why is
she strong? For salvation will God appoint
for walls and bulwarks. What does a wall do? Wall keeps
out the enemy, doesn't it? You remember when Nehemiah came
back from the Babylonian captivity and started rebuilding the wall
of Jerusalem and Samballot and Tobiah, the enemies of Israel,
came and tried to get him to come down off the wall. Come
on and meet us in the plane of oh no. It's interesting, oh no
translated means common. Let's find some common ground.
Just quit building that wall. And what did Nehemiah say? We
can't stop building this wall. God commissioned us to build
this wall. Why would I stop the work that God's given me to come
down and talk to you? Nothing's changed. Nothing's
changed. Men say, don't wall yourself
in. You know, don't be so narrow-minded
about things. Now this wall's got gates. It's
got gates. And Revelation tells us that
those gates are all of one pearl, the pearl of great price. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the gate into the city. He made that clear
when he said, I'm the gate into the sheepfold. No man can come
to the father except by me. Look what he says in the next
verse. Open ye the gates that the righteous nation which
keepeth the truth may enter in. The spirit and the bride say,
come. Oh, you can come into this city.
There's freedom in this city. There's no freedom outside the
city. Outside the city is the enemy, but the wall, the wall
is the wall of salvation. It's the wall of the gospel.
It's the thing that protects us. What is it that makes this
city strong? What is it that makes this city
strong? Is it our political influence in our society, in our culture,
in our community? Is it our size? Is it our intelligence? Is it our wealth? Is it the number
of people that we have coming? Is it the quality of our members?
Is that what makes the city strong? What is it that makes the city
of God strong? It's the walls. And what does
he say the wall is? The wall is the salvation that
God has provided in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the wall. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 4. Look at verse one. Let us therefore
fear, lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest,
any of you should come short of it. For unto us was the gospel
preached. The gospel. That's the wall. It's the message of salvation. The Lord said, here's the song
that this strong city is going to build. The Lord has given
us a wall and bulwarks and it is salvation. It is the gospel. It is the good news that God
all by himself has done everything necessary to accomplish the salvation
of his people. He elected them in the covenant
of grace before time ever began. He entered into a everlasting
covenant, a covenant that could not be changed. Who entered into
it? God the Father, with God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And God the Son, who is the Lamb
slain before the foundation of the world, agreed with the Father
to do what was necessary in order to redeem those whom the Father
had chosen for the bride of His Son. And the Holy Spirit entered
into that covenant and said, I'll go. And in the day of my
power, I'll make them willing. I'll issue for them the irresistible
call, and they will believe, and every one of them will be
saved. Oh, what a glorious gospel. This is good news. The good news
of the gospel is that God's done it all. He's done it all. There's nothing for you to add
to it, and you can't take away from it. It's finished when the
Lord Jesus Christ said it is finished. It's finished. Everything
necessary. It's not of will. It's not by
man's free will. It's not by man's works. It's
of God that show mercy. This is the gospel. There's no
gospel apart from election. There's no gospel apart from
sovereign grace. There's no gospel apart from
limited atonement. I think I mentioned this this
past Wednesday night. Some people have a problem with the term
limited atonement. Because they say, well that just
sounds negative. To call the work that Christ
did on the cross limited. Let's don't use that word. Everybody
limits the atonement unless they believe, as I spoke with someone
this week, Someone this week who's dying. Nobody's going to
hell. There is no hell. Everybody, God's going to show
mercy towards everybody. Well, if that's what you believe,
then I guess the atonement is universal, but most folks don't
believe that. People either limit the atonement
by the will of man or they limit the atonement by the will of
God. We say that the atonement is limited by the will of God,
not by the will of man. When the Lord Jesus Christ offered
up his body, he bore in that body the sins of his people and
satisfied the demands of God's justice once and for all. That's
my hope. That's the wall. That's the strength
of the church. That's going to be the strength
of this church and every church where the gospel is preached.
It's not the quantity or the quality of its members that give
it strength. It's the simplicity, the clarity
of the uncompromised truth of the gospel. That's the wall.
And every city that's got that, its members can sing, we've got
a strong city. We've got a strong city. Because
we've got an impenetrable wall. And the enemy can't come through
that wall. When the wall begins to break down, and the gospel
begins to be compromised, then the city is no longer strong.
It's not strong by its government. It's not strong by its members.
It's not strong by its possessions. It's strong by the wall that
God has built around it to keep out the enemy. And the gospel
filters out everything contrary to grace. Anything contrary to
grace is filtered out by the gospel. The wall stands firm. Oh, what a strong city. You have
your Bibles open to Hebrews chapter 4. For unto us was the gospel
preached as well as unto them, but the word preached did not
profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard
it. So this gospel message is of no benefit to anybody without
faith. God has appointed to this city
walls and bulwarks for salvation. He's the one that builds the
wall. He's the one who gives us the gospel. He's the one who
gives us the faith to believe the gospel. It's of the Lord. For we which have believed do
enter into his rest. That's where peace comes. Peace
comes from resting in Christ. You can be going through the
most difficult circumstances that this world knows about and
have peace with God and experience the peace of God. Don't look for the peace of God. Thou wilt give them perfect peace
whose mind is stayed on thee because they trusteth in thee. Now those, they had the gospel
in the Old Testament. Those Jews that were wandering
the wilderness, they had the gospel, but they didn't have
faith. They didn't believe the gospel. They rejected the gospel. So look at the next verse. For
we which have believed do enter into his rest, as he said, as
I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest,
although the works were finished from the foundation of the world. Before God fashioned the body
of Adam from the dust of the ground and breathed life into
his nostrils, the work of the gospel was finished. It was finished. It's an everlasting
gospel. What God has ordained is done. Now, in time, it had to be carried
out through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, but the
fact that God had purposed it and decreed it, He calls it finished. It's done. Go back with me to our text. Verse 1, In that day shall this
song be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. We're
not singing, we don't need no education. We don't need no mind
control. We don't need a wall. We want
to be free. Each man doing what's right in
his own eyes leads to bondage. No. We want to be bound up in
the gospel and we want to be walled up in the protection of
God's free grace in the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what we need. That's where rest is. That's
where freedom is. We have a strong city salvation.
Salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Did Jonah say, salvation's of
the Lord? It's of God. It's all of God. I will have mercy upon whom I
will have mercy, and whom I will I hardeneth. I'm the potter,
you're the clay. I've got the sovereign right
to make out of the same lump of clay some vessels of honor
and some of dishonor. And we get shut up to that, then
we find ourselves becoming mercy beggars, don't we? And then and
only then do we see ourselves in the city of God. Lord, this
is my place of rest. This is my only hope. We have
salvation for our walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates. And you remember when the Lord
began His public ministry and when He concluded His public
ministry, He did something very profound. He cleansed the temple. And, I mean, you think about
it, this is the meek and mild Savior who is Himself the love
of God. And He makes a whip? and he goes
into the temple, and he turns over the money changers, and
he chases out the animals, and in rage, in rage, I shouldn't
use that word speaking of the Lord, but in wrath, in wrath,
it wasn't uncontrolled rage, it was holy wrath, he said, you've
turned the house of prayer into a den of thieves. What were they
doing? They were making salvation something
to be bought. That's what they were doing.
You've got to bring something to the table in order for God
to have mercy upon you. And the Lord said, you've taken
the house of prayer, the place where God has appointed His people
to come and beg for mercy. What that publican do? He would not so much as even
look up but smote himself upon the breast and said, God, have
mercy upon me, the sinner. Which one went to his house justified?
The publican went justified, not the Pharisee who said, Father,
God, I thank thee that I'm not like other men and gave his reasons
why God should have mercy upon him, why God should save him.
You've taken the house of prayer and you've turned it into a den
of thieves. Now that's man-made religion. Saying to the poor and the needy,
you've got to bring something. You've got to do something. Whether
it be your will, or whether it be your works, or whether it
be your wisdom, you've got to bring something to the table.
No, the Lord said, don't do that. Open the gates. Tell them the
work is finished and cry for them to come. Come to Christ. He is everything in salvation. He's done it all. We don't make
church membership. We don't make submission to elders.
We don't make a bowing to a creed or covenant. We don't make anything. A requirement
for salvation. Isaiah 55, turn with me there,
you're there in Isaiah, turn over a few pages to Isaiah chapter
55. Verse 1, Oh, everyone that thirsteth. Come ye to the waters,
and ye that have no money, come ye, buy and eat, yea, buy wine
and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend
money for that which is not bread, and labor for that which satisfieth
not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto
me, and hear, Faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by
the Word of God. The Lord has put up for this
strong city walls and bulwarks with gates, and the gates are
open. And God says, come, open ye the
gates. call for men to come the spirit
and the bride say come incline your ear and come unto me here
and your soul shall live and I will make an everlasting covenant
with you even the sure mercies of David now the free will it
will read that and they'll say well if I come then God will
make a covenant with me don't lose that word everlasting You didn't make the covenant
start when you believed. The covenant was everlasting.
The covenant was before you believed. You believed because of the covenant. Your faith is evidence that you
were in the covenant before you ever believed. Behold, I have given him for
a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. Behold, thou shalt call a nation
that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run
unto thee, because the Lord thy God am for the Holy One of Israel,
for he hath glorified thee. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found." Oh, come to Christ. Come to Christ now. Right now,
in your heart, come to Christ. Now, I know if you have come
to Christ, you're still coming, aren't you? To whom? Coming. Never tire of coming to Christ,
do we? All right, go back with me to our text. Men put all sorts
of restrictions on coming into the city, and in doing so, They
turn the house of prayer into a den of thieves, and they require
things of the poor and needy that they're not able to give.
Come without money and without price. Don't barter with God. It's free. It's all finished. Table's set. Everything's done. So I need
to clean my life up before, I need to get some new clothes before
I can come to the banquet. Go down to one of these homeless
places. We've got one not far from our
house, a homeless camp on the woods between me and you, Phil. Go down there and tell them that
you've got this beautiful banquet house set up and you want them
to come and all they gotta do is clean themselves up and get
some acceptable clothing and they're welcome to come. You're gonna shut them out. They're
not gonna be able to come. They've got nothing. They can't
get that. When you tell them we've got
this banquet set, it's beautiful and everything's provided. Come
just like you are in all your filth. Come just like you are
and you're welcome. And see how many of them come.
I bet you every one of them will be there. You're going to come
to Christ. You have to come just like you
are. All your filth, all your sin,
all your unworthiness, open ye the gates. That's what I'm doing. I'm trying
to do that right now. I'm trying to open those gates
as wide as we can open them. We're not putting any restrictions.
We're not saying you gotta get anything fixed or anything straightened
out or anything cleaned up. Come just like you are. Just
like you are. The banquet table is set. And
you're gonna find that when you walk through that front door,
the king is gonna put a robe of righteousness on you that's
gonna make you acceptable. Open ye the gates, that the righteous
nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. I'm the truth. I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man can come unto me. No man
can come to the Father except by me. The Lord Jesus Christ
is our truth. For this cause came unto the
world, and for this reason was I born, to bear witness unto
the truth. Truth. I need to be shut up to
the truth, don't you? I need to have my mind controlled.
I need to be taught of God. I need to be walled in to a strong
city to be protected from the enemy. Don't buy into the philosophy
of this world. They're not free. They're not
free. There's no freedom except in
this city. Thou will keep him in peace,
peace. That's the literal translation. You probably have it in the margin
of your Bible. See that word perfect? It's the word peace. Shalom,
shalom. Thou will keep him, shalom, shalom,
whose mind is stayed on thee. Perfect peace. Full peace. That means not only will they
enjoy peace with God, but they will also enjoy the peace of
God, whose mind is stayed on Thee, because He trusteth in
Thee. All the hope of His salvation is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Turn with me to Philippians chapter 4. Rejoice verse 4 in the Lord Rejoice
in the Lord. Well, you've got to be found
in him not having your own righteousness, which is of your law-keeping
You've got to be found in him who is the end of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believeth before you can rejoice
in him and How do I know I'm in Him? I'm trusting Him. That's
all I can do. Trust Him. And mine shall be
stated unto you, let your moderation be known unto all men. Don't
be given to extremes. The Lord's at hand. He's in control. He hath done whatsoever He wills.
With the armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth.
Whatever He does is right. Be careful for nothing. Don't
fret. But in everything. My prayer
and supplication. Let the Lord know that you're
in need of Him to supply you with everything. With thanksgiving. Lord, I thank
you for this. Let your requests be known unto
God. And the peace of God which passes understanding will keep
your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus. And he says, finally,
my brethren, whatsoever things are true. Whatsoever things are
true. The world doesn't have the truth. The only thing that's true, absolutely
true, is the Word of God. We've got the truth. And we know
that this book, which is the Word of God, is a revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He is the truth. If you know
the truth, the truth will set you free. I am the truth. Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honest. Only he can fit the description
of being without guile, honest. Everything he spoke was true
and honest. You and I, when we have choices
to make in life, we have to consider what's right and what's wrong,
and we hopefully try to make a good decision to do what's
right. The Lord never was confronted
with that dilemma. Never. It was right because He
did it. Everything He did, every thought
He had, every word He spoke, every action He performed, He
didn't have to sit there and try to figure out what the right
thing was to do. The fact that He did it made
it right. Oh, how different He is. Look
what he says. Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever
things are honest, whatsoever things are just. Just. That's a legal term. That means
the law has been met. The requirements of God's standard
have been fulfilled. These terms, these words can
only describe the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatsoever things are
pure. Pure. The wisdom that is from
above, James tells us, is first pure. Pure, holy, harmless, undefiled,
and separate from sinners, higher than the heavens. Here the Lord
Jesus Christ is. Thou. Who keeps us in peace? God keeps us in peace. How does
he keep us in peace? By walling us into a strong city.
And opening the gate. This is our song, come into the
city. The walls are there to set protection
for you. And the only freedom is in this
city. And the Lord will give perfect peace to them whose mind
is stayed on thee, for they trusteth in thee. And what Paul's telling
us now in Philippians is how we keep our minds on Christ.
You see, I need mind control, don't you? When your mind's free
to wander from Christ, where does it go? It goes into the
gutter every time or it becomes disquieted, doesn't it? Doesn't
it? Whatsoever things are lovely. Oh, how lovely he is. You get
a chance to read Psalms, Solomon, chapter 5, and the daughter of
Jerusalem describes her beloved when the watchman say, what is
your beloved above our beloved? How is he any better a husband
than the husband we have? Isn't that what men in religion
say? How is your Jesus better than ours? Oh, he's altogether
lovely. And she describes his beauty,
how beautiful he is, how glorious he is, how righteous he is, how
holy he is, how different he is from everything and everybody
else. Whatsoever things are lovely,
whatsoever things are of good report, good report, You ever talk to folks that want
to tell you about what they're doing for God? You know, we're doing
this and we're doing that. And that's their good report. Don't tell me what you're doing
for God. Tell me what He's done for me. That's the good report. What has He done for me? He laid
down His life for the sheep. He satisfied the demands of God's
law. He shed his precious blood as
a covering for my sin. And when God sees the blood,
he passes over me. There's my hope. I need a good
report. I'm not impressed with what I'm
doing, and I'm certainly not impressed with what you're doing.
But oh, he's a good report. Good report. If there be any
virtue, moral excellence, moral excellence. Who's virtuous? Let those people
over there in Rome declare whoever they want to be a saint. I see
they're all bound up with Mother Teresa right now. Saints are those who are found
in Christ. And the church doesn't make you a saint, God makes you
a saint. They that are sanctified and
he that is sanctified, they are all of one, whereby he's not
ashamed to call you his brethren. Why? Because you're holy in his
sight, found in Christ. If there be any virtue, any virtue
and any praise who gets the glory to the praise of the glory of
his grace. If there be any praise, if there
be any glory, these words can only describe Christ. And what's
he say? Think on these things. Think on these things. In conclusion, go back with me
if you will, please, to our text. In that day shall this song, it's not the song of the world,
it says I want to be free, I want to be free, don't put any restrictions
on me, don't put any walls around me, don't try to control my mind,
don't tell me what to do, I'm free, I'll do what I want. They're not free. We have a strong city. It's got
salvation for its walls and bulwarks. That salvation is the finished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the gates are open. And we
say to the righteous nation, come in. Come in and find rest
for your souls and find peace. For He will give perfect peace
to them whose mind is stayed on Him, for they trusteth in
Thee. And look at the next verse. Trust
ye the Lord forever. Forever. Don't stop trusting
Him. Trust Him. For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Now here's the interpretation
of that last verse. For in God Christ is the rock
of ages. That's the literal translation.
For in Jah, the Lord is Jehovah, that's Christ, everlasting strength. Look it up, the word, it's the
rock of ages. So, here's the message. In God
is Christ. And He is the rock of ages. He's that rock that followed
the children of Israel through the wilderness. He's the rock
that Moses' rod smote And picturing what the rod of God's wrath did
to the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross. And he's the rock from
which flowed rivers of living water to satisfy the thirst of
God's people. And the Lord said, if you drink
of this water, you'll never thirst again. You'll have peace, peace. Don't spend your life trying
to figure out how to get the peace of God in your life. It'll be just like the pursuit
of the American dream. When Thomas Jefferson wrote that
all men are created equal and have been endowed by their creator
with certain unalienable rights, among which are life, liberty,
and the pursuit of happiness. And Americans have been pursuing
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness all their lives,
and they don't have it. They don't have it because they're
in the pursuit of the wrong thing. Life, liberty, and happiness
come from being found in Christ. Ask yourself this, do I have
peace with God? Do I have peace with God? And
if the Lord's pleased to teach you that, then you will enjoy the peace
of God in whatever circumstances He's ordained for you in your
life. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we're thankful for the strong city that You've given us. Oh,
we pray that You would enable us to open the doors wide, and
we ask, Lord, that the wall The wall that we are in such desperate
need of to protect us from the wisdom of this world, from the
lies and the deceit of Satan, would be built strong. Oh Lord,
put another brick on the wall. Keep us safe. Keep us in Christ. Enable us, Lord, to think on
those things that are true and lovely and a virtue and praise
and a good report. Those things that relate to Christ.
There be any praise. Think on these things. For in God. Christ is. The rock of ages. Or might we drink from that rock?
Might we stand upon that rock? We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. And I ask the men if they'll
come and distribute the bread. And the wine, I think, is back
here. Let's remain seated and we'll
sing Hymn 17 in the Gospel Hymns book. Yeah. 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 never 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 Lord told the disciples to
beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. For a little leaven, leaveneth
a whole lump. He was talking about trying to
put works into grace. Helping God out with your salvation. He's done it all. This is unleavened
bread. representing the life that the
Lord Jesus Christ lived sinless before God. His life is our life. Do this in remembrance of me. Righteousness had to be established
and that was established by his obedience to the father. But
justice also had to be met. Sin had to be paid for. And the
only thing that God was going to be satisfied with was the
shed blood of his son. And so when the Lord shed his
blood on Calvary's cross, it became the covering for our sin. Never since. Has the priest gone
into the holies of holies and put the blood on the mercy seat
anymore? For he went in once and for all through the veil,
wet as his flesh, and he made the sacrifice. And God said,
here, I will meet with you. Here, I will meet with you. We
do this in remembrance of him. And all God's people said, amen,
amen. Jeff and Laura and Jeffrey and
Sarah, it's great to have you all with us. Jimmy, you just
seem like you're supposed to be here. Let's stand together. I want
to ask Jeff Vandal if he will close our service in a word of
prayer, please. Dear Father, we come today to
support you. remembering you and thanking
you for remembering us. Lord, we acknowledge that we
are unworthy, at least of your blessings and your mercy to the
Lord. Seeing the gate, we beg that we may enter it.