42 in the hardback temple. Let's
all stand together. All hail the power of Jesus'
name. Let angels prostrate fall. Bring forth a royal diadem and
crown him Lord of all. Bring forth a royal diadem and
crown him Lord of all. He chosen seed of Israel's race,
he ransomed from the fall. Hail him who saves you by his
grace, and crown him Lord of all. Hail him who saves you by his
grace and crown him Lord of all. let every kindred every tribe
on this terrestrial ball to him all majesty ascribe and crown
him lord of To him all majesty ascribe, and
crown him Lord of all. O that with yonder sacred throng
we at his feet may fall, we'll join the everlasting song and
crown him Lord of all. Please be seated. What a day
that will be. Joining the everlasting throng. Seeing him as he is. being made like him. Let's open
our Bibles to Jeremiah 32 for our scripture reading tonight.
Jeremiah 32. Good evening. We'll begin reading in verse
37. Jeremiah 32, verse 37. Behold, Don't you know, when the Lord
says, behold, he's about to tell us something amazing. Just take
notice. This is extraordinary, miraculous. Someone asked me this week, do
you believe in miracles? Yeah. Salvation is a miracle,
isn't it? Behold, I will gather them out
of all countries. That's a miracle. Whether I have
driven them in mine anger and in my fury. And in great wrath. And I will bring them again onto
this place and I will cause them to dwell safely. That's a miracle. And they shall be my people.
That's a miracle and I'll be there. God. Oh, miracle of miracles. And I will give them one heart
and one way that they may fear me forever for the good of them
and for their children after them. Well, that's a miracle.
There's a promise the Lord's given to us and to our children.
And I will make an everlasting covenant with them. There's no explaining that. That's
a wonder of wonders, isn't it? that I will not turn away from
them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts, and they shall not depart from
me. Can't leave, can you? Prone to wander, but Lord won't
let you depart. Yes, yay, I will rejoice over
them to do them good, And I will plant them in this land, assuredly,
with my whole heart and with my whole soul. I'm not just going
to do this on the side. I'm committing all that I am
to this. For thus saith the Lord, like
as I have brought all this great evil upon this people, all the
trials and troubles that we go through in this world, So will I bring upon them all
the good that I have promised them. Let's pray together. Oh, our merciful heavenly Father,
how thankful we are for thy precious promises. We thank you, Father,
that all the promises that you've made are yea and amen in Christ. that he has satisfied the demands
of your law and put away our sin and made sure the covenant
of grace. We ask father that you would
enable us in this hour to set our affections on him. We pray
for the faith that we need in order to rest our souls on his
glorious person and on his accomplished work. and we ask it for His namesake. Amen. 199, 199. Let's all stand together. StSq3 3.30 (-0.99)" Sinners Jesus will receive. Sound this word of grace to all
who the heavenly pathway leave. All who linger, all who fall,
sing it o'er and o'er again. Christ receiveth sinful men. Make the message clear and plain,
Christ receiveth sinful men. Come, and He will give you rest. Trust Him, for His word is plain. He will take the sinful last. Christ receiveth sinful man. Sing it o'er. and or again. Christ, receive a sinful man. Make the message clear and plain. Christ, receive a sinful man. Now my heart condemns me not,
pure before the law I stand. He who cleansed me from all spot,
satisfied its last demand, sing it o'er and o'er again. Christ receiveth sinful men. Make the message clear and plain. Christ receiveth sinful Christ receiveth sinful man,
even me with all my sin. Purged from every spot and stain,
heaven with him I enter in. Sing it o'er and o'er again,
Christ receiveth sinful man. Make the message clear and plain. Christ receiveth sinful men. Please be seated. And this is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. Even me? Oh, the wonder of salvation when
we think of it concerning us. We're going to continue in Isaiah
chapter 25 tonight. Didn't have a chance to deal
with a very important verse. and one
that has been particularly relevant for me and my family these days. I suppose that preaching is just
taking what God's teaching you and trying to share that with
other believers. This is something the Lord is
dealing with me about right now. having to do with this thing
we call death. Someone has said, there are things
in life worse than death. And I suppose that that may be
true, but there is nothing in life more final than death. There's no coming back. There's
no changing anything once death comes. Solomon put it like this
in Ecclesiastes chapter 11 verse 3, if the tree fall to the south
or toward the north in the place where it falleth, there it shall
be. Death is final. Oh, how I want you and me not
only to be ready for death, but to anticipate it with great joy
because it's coming, it's coming quicker than we think. It's amazing
how, how men live in denial when it comes to the reality of death.
Even when it's knocking at the door, I hear people say, Oh,
she's going to get better. No, she's not. No, that's not
going to happen. This is the, this is, this is
death. Genesis chapter five. Verse five, and all the days
that Adam lived were 930 years. Well, that's a long time. And he died. And then in verse eight, it says,
and all the days of Seth were 912 years. That's a long life.
And the next phrase says, and he died. And all the days of Enos were
905 years, and he died. And all the days of Canaan were
910 years, and he died. And all the days of Mahalil were
895 years, and he died. And all the days of Jared were
960 and two years, and he died. Even these who were before the
flood, who lived an incredibly long time by our standard, still
had to face death. And I love John chapter 11 when
the Lord's talking to Mary and Martha. when he said, when he
told her, let's turn there just a moment, John chapter 11. Because
here's our hope. It's amazing how the natural
man is so consumed with the temporal
things of this world that they have no interest nor time to
consider the eternal. And the child of God lives their
life thinking about death and that which we have to look forward
to on the other side. And here's what the Lord said
in John chapter 11. Martha the Lord said in verse
23 to Martha thy brother shall rise again and Martha said unto
him I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at
the last day and Jesus said unto her I Am the resurrection and
the life he that believeth in me though He were dead yet shall
he live and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never
die Believest thou this Now that's what I want to have hope for.
I don't want to be like the people of this world. They just keep
putting off death. They keep denying it. They can
be right there at their doorstep and they still speak foolishly
about the things of God. measuring everything by the standards
of the flesh. And the Lord said, that which
is of the flesh is flesh, the flesh profiteth nothing. Nothing. The child of God believes
that. We're going to become most keenly
aware of that when we stand at the door of death. And we realize,
more keenly than ever before, we've got nothing to offer God
that would force His hand in our salvation. Nothing. It is the Spirit quickeneth the
words that I speak unto thee they are spirit and Life now,
that's what I want to hear. I want to hear words of spirit
the words of life Religion is so consumed with the things of
the flesh they just they're consumed with trying to help people learn
how to live a better life in this world and and speaking peace,
peace to men when there is no peace. And people are leaving
this world without any hope of salvation. In that day, in that day, the
only thing that will matter is if the Lord has spoken, and if
we have Christ standing in our stead, representing us before
God, the promises of God, fulfilled in Christ. Some of our young people just
started college and I was thinking about how religion is a lot like
a college campus. College students encouraged by
their professors have a tendency to pride themselves
in their pseudo-intellectual pursuits of theory. And they
sit around and they have the luxury of debating theory. And then the reality of the world
comes crashing in when they get out of college and they find
out what real life is about. That's the way religion is. Religion,
men in religion, they just sit around and discuss theory. And
in their own self-righteousness, they think they've got all the
answers. But the day is gonna come when the reality of death
will meet them. And then all that theory will
be what it is, foolishness. Jeremiah chapter 12, if thou
hast run with the footmen and they have wearied thee, what
will thou do against the horsemen? And if in this land of peace,
in which you trust, And we do, the Lord's saying this life is
a life of peace. And if in this land of peace
in which you trust, you're trusting certain things to get you through
another day. They weary thee, how wilt thou
do in the swelling of the Jordan? Men spend all their time trying
to figure out how to live life. And they miss the most important
thing. The most important thing. And the glory of the whole truth
of the gospel is that you don't know how to live until you know
how to die. If the Lord gives you peace in death, and not just
peace but hope and anticipation if the Lord enables you to say
with the Apostle Paul, for me to live is Christ and to die
is gain. I would prefer to go be with
the Lord but for your sakes, he said, I'd rather stay here. Oh, and only then, when the Lord
enables us to have that hope in Christ, then life's not really... You see, if you can run with
a horseman, then the footmen are no trouble. If you can deal
with the swelling of the Jordan, then the circumstances of this
life are no trouble. There's no trouble. There's one
enemy yet to come. And the Lord Jesus Christ has
conquered that enemy. That enemy is death. 1 Corinthians
chapter 15, verse 26. The final enemy. You and I haven't
met him yet. But I've seen enough of it to
know that the flesh is hard to die. And it's hard. You have your Bibles open to
Isaiah chapter 25. Verse six, and in this mountain, in
this mountain, this is Mount Zion. This is where the promises
experienced. This is where we, this is where
we, where we experienced the promise that was one on that
mountain, Mount Calvary. So, the Lord's making a promise
and he says, in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make
unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the
leaves, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the leaves,
well refined. Oh, the Lord's describing this
glorious feast. It's the wedding feast of the
lamb. And it's what he's prepared for
us. He said, let not your heart be
troubled. John chapter 14, don't fret death,
I've conquered it. Let not your heart be troubled.
Do you believe in God? Believe also in me, for in my Father's
house are sufficient..." The King James, I don't know why
the translators put the word mansion there. The word is not
mansion. The word is abide. A place to
abide. It's an abode. It's a resting
place. I guess the old translator just
had this glorious thought of some mansion. Christ is, we're
not looking for a mansion, we're looking for the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's our abode. He said, if you abide in me,
and I abide in you. We're resting in Christ. And he says, in my Father's house
are many dwelling places, many places of abode, many resting
places in Christ. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I'd go and prepare a place for you. Now I will come
again and receive you unto myself, so that where I am, there you
may be also. Believest thou this? I am the
resurrection and the life." Oh, we just get so bound up in the
things of this world, don't we? They're passing, they're fleeting.
And I won't be here much longer. We just get so bound up in them. Lord, give us spiritual eyes
to look beyond the temporal. Don't let me be like everybody
else in this world. That which is of the flesh is
flesh. The flesh profiteth nothing.
It is the spirit that quickeneth. And these words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit and they are life. Life, that's what
I want. I've come that you might have
life and have it more abundantly. Now the religious interpret that
to mean, oh, we're just going to have a life full of abundance,
abundant blessings in this life. Well, if that be true, if that's
what that verse means, then the believers that were tied to the
stake and burned at the stake and those that were fed to lions,
what kind of abundant life did they have? He's not talking about
giving you lots of blessings in this world in terms of temporal
comforts. He's talking about that life
in Christ. That's abundant. That's our hope. And Thomas said, Lord, we don't
know where you're going, and we don't know how to get there.
In John chapter 14, after the Lord said, I go and prepare a
place for you, I'll come again, and I'll receive you unto myself,
so that where I am there you may be also. And that place is
prepared. As soon as the Lord Jesus Christ
ascended back into glory, he presented himself before the
Father for the righteousness of all of his people. And he's
interceding on our behalf right now. We have an advocate with
the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. And Thomas, confused,
he said, Lord, we don't know where you're going, and we don't
know how to get there. And what'd the Lord say to Thomas?
Oh, Thomas. He said, you know where I'm going.
I'm going to the Father. And you know how to get there.
I AM the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come to
the Father except by me. I am the Father One. Show us
the Father, and it sufficeth us. Oh, do you not know that
if you've seen me, you've seen the Father? The Lord Jesus Christ
is the everlasting Father. He's the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. Everything we're ever going to
know about God, we're going to discover it in the person of
the Lord Jesus Christ, now and then. Oh, how glorious is that? What do
we have in this life, in this world, compared to that? Death is coming. I don't want
you to fear it. There's nothing sadder. There's
nothing more heart-wrenching than to watch someone die fearful. I mean terrorized by death. Nothing they've ever done in
this world matters in this moment. Gripped with absolute terror
and have no interest in the gospel I Want you to have peace Look what the Lord says in verse
7 and he will you see that word destroy and It's the same word
translated swallow up in the next verse. He will destroy in
this mountain the face of the covering cast over all people
and the veil that is spread over all the nations. Now you know
what that veil was. Hebrews chapter 10 tells us that
that veil was the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. He entered
into the holies of holies once. The veil was rent, which is his
body. and access into the very presence
of God was made through the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ made
on that mountain and he makes it our experience in this mountain,
Mount Zion. This is precious promises. All
the promises of God are yea and amen in Christ. What a glorious
hope. I will destroy the veil. That veil being His body is also
a picture. What is it that separates us
from God? What is it? It's our sin. He said, your sin has separated
you from Me. And where is our sin? It's in
our flesh. So the Lord Jesus Christ had to offer up His flesh
and be rent by the wrath of God in order to satisfy the demands
of God's justice against your flesh and my flesh. And now the veil's been removed.
Sin's been put away. Look what he says. He says, I'm
going to, I'm going to swallow it up. I love that analogy, that
picture that the Lord gives us of putting something away. The
first time we see it is in is in Genesis chapter 41 when Pharaoh
dreamed a dream you remember in Joseph was in the prison house
having been falsely accused and the baker tells Pharaoh there's
a Hebrew in the jail and God enables him to interpret dreams
and none of the none of the soothsayers or the magicians of Pharaoh could
interpret his dream and And so they bring Joseph in and he tells
him the dream and remember what Joseph said? He said, oh, he
said, the dream is one. So the seven fat cows are seven
years of plenty. And they're going to be swallowed
up by the seven years of famine. And the seven full ears of corn
are going to be swallowed up. They're going to be devoured
by the seven thin ears of famine. And it did. The seven years of
famine swallowed up everything that they put in the storehouses
during those seven years of plenty. The Lord said, and more, and
more, didn't he? By the end of the seven years
of famine, everything belonged to Pharaoh. All the people were
his slaves, all the land was given to him just for what? For bread from the storehouses,
and who had the key to that? Joseph did. He swallowed up everything,
didn't he? And the Lord told that rich young
ruler, sell all that you have, and follow me, and he went away
sad. When the Lord's pleased to make
himself known to one of his people, everything they've got is swallowed
up by his grace. Lord, it's all yours. I've got
to have Christ. I've got to have Christ, lest
I die. For what does it profit me if
I gain the whole world and lose my own soul? Oh, Lord, give me
life. Give me salvation. Death is coming. I don't want to meet it in terror.
I don't want to meet it in fear. I want to have hope. And I want to think about it
with great anticipation and joy. Knowing that in that day, I'll
see him as he is and be made like him. Right now we look through
a glass darkly, don't we? But then, face to face. Oh Lord,
give me that hope. So the seven, all the fatness
of those seven years of plenty were swallowed up, devoured,
eaten up by the seven years of famine. And then in Exodus chapter
seven, when Aaron and Moses went before Pharaoh and the Lord told
Moses to tell Aaron to throw down his rod. And Aaron's rod
turned into a serpent. And the magicians of Pharaoh
said, oh, we can do that. And so they had some sort of
trick where they had serpents bound up in a thing that looked
like a staff and threw it down. It wasn't supernatural what happened. It was just magic on their part. And so the serpents came out
of their staffs and they said, well, we can do what you did.
And then what happened? Serpent that came out of Aaron's
staff swallowed up the serpents that came out of the magician's
staffs. No repeating that. Swallowed
it up. Couldn't be returned. What was swallowed up was gone. The seven years of plenty were
swallowed up by the seven years of famine. It was gone. The serpents
were swallowed up. And then in Exodus chapter 15,
when Moses sings that song of praise to God for having delivered
the children of Israel out of Egypt, he says, thou stretched
out thy right hand and swallowed them up. You remember that? When
the Egyptians tried to follow the children of Israel through
the Red Sea and the waters collapsed on them and swallowed them up.
Never to be found again. And then in Numbers chapter 16,
you remember Korah? Korah's rebellion. Korah and
250 men stood up against Moses and Aaron and said, we don't
need you, we can do it ourselves. They rebelled against God and
Moses told the people, he said, stand back and watch the hand
of the Lord. And what happened? What happened?
The earth opened up and fire came out of the crevice and Korah
and 250 men were swallowed up by the earth, never to be found
again. So this imagery where the Lord
is telling us, look what he says in our text, and he will swallow
up in this mountain, the face of the covering cast over all
people and the veil that is spread over all the nations, and he
will swallow up death in victory. He's gonna swallow it up. And
when he swallows up, it can't be found again. Now there's one
other reference to being swallowed up in the scriptures. Can you
think of what it was? When Jonah was cast into the
sea, the scripture says that he was swallowed up by the great
fish. And what is the difference between
Jonah being swallowed up and all those other references of
being swallowed up in those other references? What was swallowed
up never came back. A picture of our sin being put
away once and for all. But in the picture of Jonah,
that which was swallowed up, spent three days and three nights
in the belly of the whale, and then was brought forth. The resurrection. I am the resurrection
and the life. The Lord said, I'm going to swallow
up death in victory. Now, He accomplished that for
his church and for himself on Calvary's cross and through the
resurrection. But in our experience, death
has not yet been swallowed up. Turn with me to first Corinthians
chapter 15. Verse 26. Well, verse 25 says, for he must
reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 1 Corinthians
15, verse 26. And the last enemy that shall
be destroyed is death. Death's not yet been destroyed
for you and for me. Not in our experience. It has
been. in our faith, we've still got
to experience it. Let me show you that. Look over
in verse 54 of this same chapter. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruptible, incorruption, and this mortal shall put on
immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,
death is swallowed up in victory. That's the quote from Isaiah
chapter 25. When this corruptible is made
incorruptible, when this mortal is made immortal, then shall
the promise that death has been swallowed up in victory shall
be our experience. Right now we wait for it. We
wait for it believing. that what the Lord Jesus Christ
accomplished, He destroyed the works of the devil. We're going
to read some more from that in just a moment. Hold your finger
there in 1 Corinthians 15 and turn with me to Hebrews chapter
2. Verse 13, and again, I will put
my trust in him. And again, behold, I and the
children which thou hast given me. So the Lord Jesus Christ
is speaking. He said, I'm gonna put my trust
in the Father. And not only am I gonna do it, but all the children
that God has given me in the covenant of grace, everyone that
he elected, everyone that he chose in me before the foundation
of the world, they're gonna trust you too. You know what we just
read in the prophet where he said that I will do this for
them and they will? Look at verse 14. For as much
then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself
likewise took part of the same, that through death he might destroy
him that had the power of death, that is the devil, and deliver
them, who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject
to bondage. No reason to be in bondage to
the fear of death. No reason to be in bondage. The
only reason men fear death is because they don't believe Christ.
They don't believe on Him. They think that God's requiring
something from them and they don't know if they've done enough. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
destroy the works of the devil and deliver them. That's what
I want for you and for me. I want us to be delivered from
the fear of death. From the terror of death. Not
to have a false hope, but to have a sure hope. Resting our
souls on the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ who swallowed
up death in victory. Swallowed up the swallowed up
all our sin put it away once and for all oh What a blessing it is for
believers to be able to think about the day of death when the
flesh dies and We are ushered in to our eternal reward in glory. What a day that'll be. And as we grow older, the Lord
tarries and allows us to get old. I can tell you from my experience
that the Lord is going to pry our fingers loose from the things
of this world. They say getting old is not for
wimps. It's hard. It's hard. But it's good. It's good to let go of the things
of this world. It's good to set our affections
not on the things of the world, but on things above where Christ
is seated at the right hand of God. It's the only thing that
matters. It's the only thing that matters.
I remember Marvin Stoniker telling us from this pulpit one time,
speaking of Linda, his wife, that the Lord took in, I guess
she was probably 45, 42, something like that. And her last words
to Marvin as they lied there together on the bed before she
passed away was, Marvin, I realize now I've got nothing but Christ. I don't have you. I don't have
the children. I don't have any accomplishments.
I don't have anything that I've ever... I've got nothing but
Christ. It was the last thing she said.
The Lord took her home. That's true. The reality of that is that it's
true now. It's just that it becomes so
much more clear then. Because we're so easily deceived
in the flesh. We look at things through the
eyes of our flesh now, don't we? We think, well, we've got
some things right now. No, we don't. We've got nothing. We've got Christ. If you've got
Christ, you've got everything. And if you don't have Christ,
you can possess the whole world and have nothing. Nothing. What a joy it is. Revelation
chapter 22, when the Lord Jesus Christ speaks at the very end
of his word and says, surely, surely, surely I come quickly. So we spoke that to John on the
Isle of Patmos 2000 years ago. How quick is quick? Well, first
of all, a day to the Lord is a thousand years, a thousand
years as a day. So it's only been two days since
the Lord spoke those words in his reckoning of time. But the
second thing to realize is that this life is a vapor. It is. Surely I come quickly. And what
did John say? Come Lord Jesus, even now come. I'm ready. I want you to come.
I want you to take me home. Comfort ye one another is what
Paul said in Thessalonians when he talked about the coming of
the Lord and those who are dead in Christ being raised and those
of us that remain being caught up together with them in the
air. And he's talking about that end time when the Lord Jesus
Christ comes and he concludes that whole thing by saying, Comfort
ye one another with these words. Encourage one another with the
reality and the hope that we have in the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I've swallowed up death in victory. And it's going to be swallowed
up for you. Turn back with me to our text
in Isaiah chapter 25. He will, and he did. 600 plus years after this prophecy
was made, the Lord Jesus Christ swallowed up death. He drank
damnation dry. He swallowed up our sin and he
swallowed up death. And just like Jonah, he came
forth out of the tomb. I am the resurrection. I have
conquered death. I've conquered sin. I've conquered
hell. I've conquered the devil. You have nothing to fear. Look
to me. Look to me. He will swallow up death in victory,
and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off our faces, off
all faces, and the rebuke of his people shall he take away
from off all the earth, for the Lord hath spoken it. He's the nail set in a sure place. Hang everything you've got on
him. He is faithful and true. The Lord hath spoken it. I'm gonna swallow up death. Now
turn back with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We were there a moment
ago. Verse 51. Behold, Behold. Behold. God says behold. I want to take
notice, don't you? Yeah, in a sense, this is what
preaching is, isn't it? Just saying to God's people,
behold, look. Look here what the Lord says.
Behold, I show you a mystery. This is hidden to the natural
man. He can't see it. All he can see
is that which he sees with his natural eyes. The lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, all that
is in the world and the things of the world, that's all he's
got. It's a mystery. It's completely shut off from
him. If he thinks about heaven, it doesn't have to do with the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ in his glory and in his accomplished
work. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and
we shall be changed. Well, for me to be incorruptible,
I'm going to have to be changed, aren't you? Aren't you? Oh, we're so corrupted. For this corruptible, must put
on incorruption. And this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall
have put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death
is swallowed up in victory. In our experience, in the gospel,
In faith, we believe the Lord Jesus Christ swallowed up death
and got the victory. But in our experience, it hadn't
happened yet, has it? This corruptible has got to put
on incorruption. We got to be changed. We've got
to have done for us what Enoch had done for him. Enoch walked
with God, and he was translated. He was changed. He was caught
up in the glory, but for him to go to heaven, he had to be
changed. O death, where is your sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, and
the strength of sin is the law. If sin's been swallowed up and
the law's been satisfied, then death's got no power over me.
The only reason I need to fear death is if I'm carrying my sin
into the grave. If I've got to stand before God
with one sin left on me, then I need to be afraid. Because
if he should mark one iniquity on any one of us, he will have
no choice, according to his holy, holy nature, he'll have no choice
but to condemn us to a devil's hell for all eternity for one
iniquity, one sin. But if sin's been swallowed up, If the law has been satisfied,
the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He got the victory. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone. He kept the law of God perfectly. And then he bore in his body
upon that tree all the sins of all of God's elect and suffered
the full wrath of God's justice and put away our sin. The law's
been satisfied, sin's been swallowed up. We don't need to fear death. Look to Christ and anticipate
seeing him in the fullness of his glory. I know the flesh. We have a brush with death. Maybe
we have a near car accident or something and we fear, don't
we? That's the flesh. We're talking
about something spiritual here. That which is of the flesh is
flesh. The flesh profiteth nothing. It is the spirit that quickeneth.
The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are
life. Can you hear them? Can you hear
them? This is the new man. This is
the mystery that the flesh can't comprehend. Therefore, my beloved
brethren. Be steadfast. Abiding Christ,
don't don't. Don't compromise the gospel,
don't change any, just just keep looking to Christ, keep looking
to Christ. Steadfast. Unmovable. I can't be moved away from Christ. I can't be moved away from His
accomplished work. I can't be moved away from the
fact that God sovereignly chose a people and Christ is the lamb
that was slain before the foundation of the world, that the Lord Jesus
Christ swallowed up death in victory on Calvary's cross, fulfilled
the law. I'm not going to be moved away
from that. Christ is my only hope before God, not my love
for him. You ever watch someone dying
and they're begging with God to not let them die. And the reason that they give
God for not letting them die is because of how much they love
Jesus. It's sad. Oh, Lord, you know, I love you,
I love you, I love you, I love you. Is that going to be your defense? Lord, I love you. I love you. Hearing his love, not that we
love God, but that he loved us and gave his son as a propitiation
for our sins. You can't present your love to
God to obligate him to save you. Oh, but Christ's love for us.
That's... My beloved brethren, be you steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Oh, Lord. Faith works. Believers follow after Christ,
seek to honor Him and serve Him and obey Him. That's not the
hope of our salvation, but here's what the Lord's saying in light
of what he has done. Stay steadfast, always abounding
in the work of the Lord for as much as you know that your labor
is not in vain in the Lord. It's not in vain. It's not empty. Death is swallowed up. I'm so glad. Come to Christ. Just look to Christ. Rest your
soul on Him. It's coming. I don't mean that in a fearful
way. I don't want anybody to feel
like, well, you know, I need to come to Christ so I can I
want you to come to Christ and anticipate the day in which he
comes to take you home. Let's pray together. Our heavenly
father, we're thankful for your precious promise. We're thankful
for the accomplished work of thy dear son, for the fulfillment
that you gave in death, being swallowed up in victory. Oh,
how we pray that your Holy Spirit do a work of grace in our hearts,
causing us to not only rest, but rejoice in Christ. For it's in his name we pray.
Amen. Let's stand together. Number
126. 126. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy wounded side which flow be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no longer know? These for sin could not atone,
Thou must save and Thou alone. In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling. While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown,
And behold Thee on Thy throne, Rock of Ages cleft for me, Let
me hide myself in Thee. You know, to not be afraid to die. I'm the people you're
trying to control.