Let me remind you that the schedule
for our meeting next weekend is in your bulletin, so please
take notice of that and as the Lord enables you, be in prayer
for that meeting. Isaiah 61, the Lord quoted this
verse when He began His public ministry in the synagogue in
Nazareth, a place where He was very well known. He read these verses. The spirit
of the Lord God is upon me because the Lord hath anointed me to
preach good tidings unto the meek. He has sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and
the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim
the acceptable year of the Lord. That's the year of Jubilee. That's
when all prisoners were set free, all slaves were set free, all
debt was canceled, and all property went back to its original owner.
And that's what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us. He set us
free. He restored that which was lost
by our father Adam. Norm, I like that statement you
made, that every Adam in the universe, A-D-A-M and A-T-O-M,
were affected by the fall. Everything was affected by the
fall. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the day
of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn. When the Lord
does a work of grace in our hearts, he causes us to mourn over our
sin. And then he provides comfort
in the forgiveness of that sin. That's what I hope he'll do for
us this morning. Tom's going to come and lead us. Number 27
in the softback 10. Now let's stand together. Sovereign ruler, Lord of all,
prostrate at your feet I fall. You are holy, wise, and just. I'm a creature of the dust. All things move at your command,
governed by your mighty hand. Heaven, earth, and hell I see,
Fulfill all your wise decree. Dares a man resist his Lord,
Stand against the sovereign God? I will bow before your throne,
Seeking grace in Christ your Son. through his blood and righteousness. Lord, I plead with you for grace. If you will, you can, I know. Grace and mercy to me show. Will you, Lord, my soul forgive? Grant this sinner grace to live. I've no other hope but this,
Jesus' blood and righteousness. Now I'm conquered by your grace. In the dust I hide my face. Give me Christ. I upon your grace rely. ? Oh, for mercy now I plead ?
Grant me, Lord, the grace I need ? Turn, O turn to me and say
? All your sins are washed away ? In my Son your debt is paid
? He for you the ransom made Please be seated. Good morning. Let us go to the
first epistle of John, a very familiar passage, chapter
three. Epistle of 1 John, chapter three. Behold, what manner of love The Father
has bestowed upon us that we should be called sons of God. What a blessing that is. Therefore,
the world knoweth us not because it knew him not. We don't find
it strange that the world is on odds against us, against the
gospel. It's odds against God. It's going
to be in us, against us, in the gospel. Beloved, now we are sons of God,
and though we may not appear Yet up here, watch, we shall
be. But we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."
What a blessing that would be, to see him as he is, and we're
going to be like him. This is our hope. For every man
that hath this hope in him purify himself, even as he is pure."
This is what purifies us, looking to Christ. It's not looking at
us, it's not looking to the law, it's looking to Christ himself,
having that hope. Whosoever committed sin transgresses
also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. And
you know that he was manifested to take away our sins. And in
him there is no sin. Whosoever abideth in him, sin
if not, whosoever sinneth has not seen him, neither known him. Little children, Let no man deceive
you. He that does righteousness is
righteous. Even as he is righteous, we have
the righteousness of Christ. We look to him and him alone. We have his righteousness. He
that committed sin is of the devil and the devil sinneth from
the beginning. From this purpose, this is the
purpose of the son of God was manifested that he might destroy
the works of the devil. Whoever is born of God doth not
commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because
he is born of God. So many times we don't see this.
We see our sin, we see our flesh, and we take our eyes off of Christ. In Christ, we sin if not. That
new man that the Lord Jesus Christ has given us, he is our life.
The Lord Jesus Christ is our life. And that new man, sin if
not, he is the one that will continue on for eternity. And
we will have a body that will sin not, will be in agreeance
with that new man, and we shall be like him. And this is, and this, the children
of God are manifested in this. And the children of the devil,
whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God. Neither is he
that loveth not his brother. That's, that's how we know that
we are children of God. And according to this passage,
when we love our brother, we love our brain. Father God we
come before you and we come in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
by his righteousness alone and by his sacrificial death we come
before you to first thank you that we have a place here that
we could worship that we can look to Christ father we could
hear about him we pray that your Holy Spirit be with us in this
service father Both with Pastor Greg and with us, we require
your Holy Spirit to point us to Christ so that we might see
more of His glory, that we might see more of Him, Father God. So we are so in need of your
Holy Spirit, Father, and we pray that this may be so, that His
name might be glorified. here that the gospel won't be
preached clearly and power here and in all the churches that
the Lord Jesus Christ is preached to the gospel of grace is preached
father we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Let's stand together again. We'll sing
hymn number one and a little handout. Hymns of Grace handout. 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. send the message from thy word
that may joy and peace afford. The Lord has done that for me
this week in preparing this message from Isaiah 64. And my hope and
prayer is that he will do it for us all here this morning. Isaiah Chapter 64. I want to experience the peace
of God that passes understanding in my heart. I want to have that
experience. I want to know something about
the love of Christ in my heart. I want to be able to rest in
his grace and have true hope in my heart. I want that to be
my experience. I want to feel his presence in
my life. And as soon as I make those things
my goal, I miss it all. I miss it all. I like what Charles Spurgeon
said when he said, If I look to Christ, the dove of peace
flies into my heart. And as soon as I look to the
dove of peace, he flies away. Now Isaiah prays a prayer that
I have on my heart. I hope you have on your heart.
But I remind you that Isaiah is praying this prayer 600 years
before this prayer was answered. I've titled this message, Heaven
Has Been Rent. Heaven Has Been Rent. The prophet
Isaiah is praying, Lord, rend the heavens and come down. I
want that experience. I want to know something about
what John knew in Revelation chapter 4 when he said, Behold,
I looked, and a door was opened into heaven. And then he goes
on to describe what he saw in the glorious person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I want to have that experience.
I want God to open the doors of heaven. Oh, that thou wouldst
rent the heavens, that thou wouldst come down. I need that. I need to know God, and I need
to know that he knows me lovingly and savingly. I want that experience. But I want you to see in the
next few moments that we're not to look for an experience. I've heard people take the story
of Gideon. You remember he took the fleece
and he put the fleece out And he was asking God to show him
a sign, to get a confirmation that the Lord was going to be
with him in the battle that he had been sent to fight. And he puts the fleece of wool
out and he asked the Lord to wet the fleece of wool with the
dew of heaven. and not the ground around the
fleece of wool and the next morning he gets up and the ground around
the fleece of wool is dry and the fleece of wool was soaking
wet with water and he rang out bowl full of water. Not convinced,
he asked the Lord the next night, He said, Lord, if I could just
ask you one more favor. And he put out the fleece of
wool again and he said, this time, Lord, I want the fleece
of wool to be dry and the ground around it to be wet. And he got
up the next morning and that's exactly what happened. And people
read that Old Testament story and they think, well, you know,
we need to put out our fleece. and ask God for a sign. Here's
what the Lord said to the Pharisees when they said, show us a sign. The Lord said to them, a wicked
and perverse generation seeketh after a sign. No sign will be
given to it except for the sign of Jonah. who spent three days
and three nights in the belly. The sign that we have is the
death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
that's what that fleece was all about. The Lord Jesus Christ,
the scripture says, at our Lord's baptism. The scripture makes
it clear, the heavens were rent. and the Spirit of God came down
and anointed the Lord Jesus Christ as the Christ and the voice of
God was heard and that voice said, this is my beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased. So Isaiah is saying, oh that
thou wouldst rent the heavens, that thou wouldst come down. And what I'm saying to you this
morning is that prayer's been answered. That prayer's been
answered. The heavens were rent and the
Lord Jesus Christ was anointed with the power of the Spirit
of God to be the Christ, the Messiah, the one who could not
fail in what God sent him to do, which was the salvation of
his people. He accomplished the salvation
of every one of his people. We see it again on the cross
of Calvary. When the soldiers, the scripture
says, took the garments of the Lord Jesus Christ and divided
them up against the four soldiers that crucified the Lord. And
then they noticed that his robe had no seam in it. And they said,
let us not rent it, but let us rather cast lots for it. And so they did, that the scriptures
might be fulfilled. Listen to this, listen to this
scripture. In Isaiah, Psalm 22, they parted
my raiment among them and for my vesture they cast lots. Now that robe, that outer garment
of the Lord Jesus Christ that was without seam is his righteousness. And the soldier said, let us
not rent it. Let us keep it intact in one
piece. And so they cast lots for it.
What's the significance of that? Well, in Proverbs chapter 16
verse 33, the scripture says, the lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord. The lot is cast
into the lap. As far as those Roman soldiers
were concerned, this is just a game of chance. Let's cast
the lot and see who it falls to, and we'll get the robe. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the full disposing thereof is of the Lord. This matter of
salvation is not by chance. It's not by chance. The robe
of righteousness that day went to the soldier that God had picked. And so it does today. The righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ cannot be rent. It cannot be torn. It cannot be divided. It's wholly
His, and it's distributed by God to those whom He has chosen. Lord, rend the heavens. If we're
going to experience the presence and the power of God in our lives,
it will not come as a result of looking for an experience. It will come as the result of
the eye of faith looking back 2,000 years ago to an event that
took place completely outside of you, completely outside of
me. It'll come as a result of God giving us the faith to believe
that the heavens were rent, and that the Spirit of God came down,
and that the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ cannot
be rent. And then, when our Lord bowed
His mighty head on Calvary's cross, what did He say? It is
finished. Father, into thy hands I commend
my spirit." And in that very moment, the veil that separated
the holies of holies and the tabernacle, where the Ark of
the Covenant was and the mercy seat was, where God met with
the high priest once a year when he took the blood of the Lamb
on the Day of Atonement and put it in there. The scripture says
that miraculously God took his very fingers and tore that, he
rent that veil from top to bottom. No longer would the sacrificial
lamb be necessary for the people of God. the lamb of God which
taketh away the sins of the world has shed his blood and the scripture
makes it clear that that veil well turn with me to Hebrews
chapter 6 Hebrews chapter 6 Look at verse 18 in Hebrews chapter
6. That by two immutable things
in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong
consolation. Now that's what I want. I want
a strong consolation. I want an experience in my heart
that confirms my salvation to me. Now, I mentioned this a couple
of times maybe here a few weeks ago. There's no question in my
mind that what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished was the salvation
of everyone that God in his sovereign electing grace chose before the
foundation of the world. No question. God established
a covenant of grace, that He chose a particular people, that
He wrote their names in the Lamb's Book of Life, and that what the
Lord Jesus Christ did was He accomplished the salvation of
every one of God's elect. No doubt whatsoever in my mind
about that. But there are times when the
doubts of unbelief creep into my heart, and I wonder, was I
one for whom Christ died? Now that's the question. You
see, the sovereignty of God, the election of God, the atoning work of Christ on
Calvary's cross for all of God's elect, those doctrinal truths,
as true and precious as they are, provide no comfort to my
heart. I need for the Spirit of God
to come down and speak to me. But if I look for an experience,
look what he says, which hope we have, I'm sorry, we're looking
at verse 18, we might have a strong consolation who have fled for
refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. Flee to Christ. Flee to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Don't look for an experience.
Don't look for the dove of peace. Look to Christ. Verse 19, which
hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast,
and which entereth in within the veil. So here's the veil
that was rent. The Lord Jesus Christ entered
within the veil, not in the tabernacle that was built with hands, but
that spiritual tabernacle that is in heaven. The Lord Jesus
Christ entered in. He received, he satisfied the
demands of God's justice. He was received of God. The only
way that I'm going to have the peace of God that passes understanding,
the only way that I'm going to have assurance of salvation is
not by looking for a feeling, not by asking God to open the
windows of heaven and come down and meet me. It's believing that
that prayer has already been answered. that the veil has already
been rent that heaven has been rent that Christ has come down
that he has fulfilled all that's necessary for my salvation everything
if I add to what he's done my feelings or my experience and
I'm robbing him of his glory in salvation look at the next
verse Withered the forerunner is for us entered even Jesus
made a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Looking
unto Jesus the author and the finisher of our faith who for
the hope that was set before him endured the cross. despising its shame, and is now
sat down at the right hand of God. That's the miracle. That's the sign. It's the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's that passage that Hugo read
just a moment ago. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us, that we of all people should
be called the sons of God. Lord, that you would do that
for me? Look at Hebrews chapter 10 at verse 17. And their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. Isaiah said, Lord, would you
rend the heavens and come down? Would you? What else did he say?
that the mountains might flow down at thy presence, you see
that in Isaiah chapter 64, if you've got your fingers still
in that passage, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
and as when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the
water to boil, to make thy name known to thy adversaries, that
the nations may tremble at thy presence, The mountains? The Lord said, if you have faith
as a mustard seed, you can say unto this mountain, be thou removed
and cast into the sea. Now who came with perfect faith?
Who came with perfect faith? The Lord Jesus. You see, heaven
has been rent. Christ has come. And all the
mountains. What do those mountains represent?
Mountains are pictures of separation. You can't get over a mountain.
It separates one people from another people. And the Lord
said, your sins have separated you from your God. And He said,
if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, if you're looking
to Christ for all the hope of your salvation, for all your
righteousness. You're not rending His robe.
You believe that the heavens have been rent, that He has come
down, that the mountains have melted away at His presence,
that He has put away our sin once and for all. Now we have
access. We have a forerunner. We have
one. in whom we have access to the
very presence of God. All right, go back with me to
Hebrews chapter 10. Their sins and iniquities will
I remember no more. Now where remission of these
is, there's no more offering for sin. There's nothing for
you to do. It's not of him that willeth.
It is not of him that runneth. It's of God that showeth mercy.
That which is of the flesh is flesh. It's all we can do. If you want to experience the
presence and power of God in your life, don't look for an
experience. Look to Christ. Look to Christ. Having therefore, brethren, boldness
to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus. Where does
our boldness, where does our consolation, where does our confidence
come from? How is it that we can enter into
the very presence of God? By the shed blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And when His precious blood was
shed on Calvary's cross, the veil was ramped. God had come down. by a new and living way which
he hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his
flesh." So Isaiah says, Lord, rend the
heavens and come down, that the mountains might be melted away. And 600 years later, and 200,
2,000 years past, what a glorious thing faith is. Faith is casting all the hope
of your soul on something that took place 2,000 years ago. You weren't there. You're believing the testimony
of God's penman who wrote this book. You're casting all the
hope of your immortal soul on that. You wouldn't do that if
it wasn't for the miracle of grace. You wouldn't do it. For we have a high priest. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 21,
we have a high priest over the house of God. Let us draw near
with a true heart in full assurance of faith. You want full assurance
of faith? Look to Christ. Heaven's been rent. God Almighty
spoke audibly through that tear when the Lord Jesus Christ came
out of the waters of baptism and was anointed as the Christ
to accomplish the salvation of God's people. The veil was rent,
which separated the holies of holies. And His righteousness
is not rent at all. At all. having our hearts sprinkled from
an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water, let us
hold fast the profession of our faith, for He is faithful." Without
wavering. Without wavering. If I'm looking to my experience,
if I'm looking to my feelings, if I'm looking to my... I'm here
to tell you, I'm up and down. I'm up and down. My emotions
are like a roller coaster. And I can be up one day and down
the next day, and if I'm looking to that for the assurance of
my salvation... Go back with me to our text. Scripture says the Jews require
a sign. And the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews, a stumbling block. To the Greeks, foolishness. But to them which are called,
both Jew and Greek, the power of God. Christ Jesus the Lord,
the power of God, and the wisdom of God. You see, if you're looking
for an experience, if you're looking for a feeling, if you're
looking for God to rend the heavens and come down in your own experience,
if you're looking for those things, then you're not looking to Christ.
You're not looking to Christ. You're walking by sight. You're
walking by sight. Can we all agree that a five-year-old
is immature? A five-year-old's immature. Now what is the most outstanding
evidence of that in the life of a five-year-old? Their immaturity. They are completely unable to
have any control whatsoever over their feelings. They'll cry at
the drop of a hat, and you want to make them happy, just give
them a piece of candy. They're driven by their emotions. Is that not true? Is that not
the evidence of immaturity? How does that relate? to our spiritual life. Oh Lord, grow me in your grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, lest I be like
a little child. Paul said, there was a time when
I thought like a child, I acted like a child, I talked like a
child, but now I put away childish things. Oh Lord, don't make me
a slave to my feelings and to my circumstances like I was when
I was five years old. Give me grace to look beyond
my feelings and look beyond my circumstances and to look back
to what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished when the heavens
were rent and you came down and the mountains were melted away. Give me the faith, if it be but
the size of a mustard seed, to believe that. To believe that. Oh, there's so much immaturity
in every one of us, isn't there? driven and controlled by our
feelings and our circumstances. Walking by sight rather than
by faith. Go back with me to Isaiah 64.
The mountains fled at his presence. All the sins of all God's people
of every generation were put away once and for all by the
sacrifice that he made of himself. Once and for all. And when the melting fire burneth,
the fire cause the waters to boil to make thy name known to
thine adversaries. We come into this world in an
adversarial relationship with God. As the children of Adam,
we come into this world spiritually dead. We come into this world
with our fist clenched. We come into this world not believing
God. And when the fire of God fell
from heaven on the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross, then
God's wrath, well, the Lord Jesus Christ is called the propitiation
He's the one who makes God propitious. He's the one who put away the
wrath of God through the sacrifice of himself. Just like Elijah
when he was on Mount Carmel and he built that altar and the fire
of God fell and consumed the sacrifice. And as soon as the
sacrifice was consumed, the fire was quenched. So it was on Calvary's
cross 2,000 years ago. The fire of God's wrath fell
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven was rent. God had come
down. And God's justice was satisfied
through the sacrifice that the Lord Jesus Christ made for all
his people. Can you believe that? Can you? Only by God's grace
you can. You say, well, yeah, but... No, there's no buts to it. Don't
rend the robe of the Lord Jesus Christ. The lot falls into the lap, but
the full disposing thereof is of the Lord. Salvation is of
the Lord. It's who He wills to save. It's who He purposed to save. Can you believe that? Completely,
totally dependent upon His grace for all your salvation. Look at verse 3. When thou didst
terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, and
the mountains flowed down at thy presence, Again, I want the windows of
heaven to be open for me. I want the Lord to come down
and speak peace to my heart. I want Him to convince me that
my sins have been put away. But it's only going to be as
He gives me faith to look to what was accomplished. when the
heavens were rent 2,000 years ago and the mountains were cast
into the sea. Does that make sense? We didn't look for it. Look at verse 1 of chapter 65
of Isaiah. I am sought of them that ask
not for me, I found in them that sought me not. No man seeketh after God at any
time. If we're going to know him in
his saving grace and mercy, he's going to have to seek us out. Verse 4, in Isaiah 64, for since
the beginning of the world, men have not heard nor perceived
by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God beside thee,
what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. This is
not natural. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the spirit. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. Look at verse 9, but as it is
written, now Paul is quoting from Isaiah 64 in 1 Corinthians
chapter 2, but as it is written, I hath not seen nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him. Now sometimes we pull
that verse out of its context and use it to describe the experience
that we have to look forward to in glory. And surely it's
true. The eye has not seen, nor has
ear heard, nor has it entered into the imagination of man the
things that he has prepared for us. But that's not what he's
talking about here. Look at the next verse. But God
hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth
all things, yea, the deep things of God. And what man knoweth
the things of man, save the spirit of the man which is in him? Even
so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. He's talking about when the heavens
were rent. He's talking about when the mountains
melted away. He's talking about when the Lord
Jesus Christ came into this world and accomplished the salvation
of God's people. He's talking about your ability
and my ability to believe the gospel. That's what he's talking
about. It's impossible. unless we have
the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the
Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given us of God. Freely! Which things also we speak, not
in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. And that's
what we're doing right now. Now, comparing spiritual things
to spiritual is confirming what God says in one place of His
Word by what God says in another place in His Word. And it's all
one word. It's all consistent. Look at
the next verse. But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit, for they are foolishness unto
him, neither can he know them. He can't know them. He can't
know the gospel. The natural man can't believe
the gospel. Oh, he might learn some doctrine.
If you're an unbeliever, you can become a Calvinist and figure
out some doctrinal things, but to know the hope that is within
us, to know Christ, to have His peace and His joy in our hearts,
that's a work of the Spirit of God. But he that is spiritual judgeth
all things, yet he is judged of no man. For who hath known
the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have
the mind of Christ. If we have the mind of Christ, then we believe. that the heavens
have already been rent, that the Spirit of God has come, that
He has anointed Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ to accomplish the
salvation of God's elect, that His righteousness cannot be rent. and that the veil of separation
that once kept us from knowing God and being in His presence
has been rent. And the Lord has said, the spirit
and the bride say, come. Come. Just come to Christ. Come to Christ. Don't come to
an experience. Don't come to a feeling. Come
to Christ. The experiences will come. But
they'll come and go along with our maturity and immaturity.
All right, go back with me to Isaiah 64. Verse 5, thou meetest him that
rejoiceth. The scripture on many occasions
tells us to rejoice in the Lord. This isn't a, this isn't a, you
know, don't worry, be happy philosophy of life. This is rejoicing in
Christ. In another place, the scripture
says, we are the true circumcision which worship God in the spirit
and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in the flesh. If you're looking to your feelings,
if you're looking to your experience, then you're putting your confidence
in your flesh. You're looking to Christ. Heaven's
already been rent. It's already been rent. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth
and worketh righteousness. Now how are you and I going to
work righteousness? Look at verse 6. Let's just continue
in this verse. Verse 5. God meets him that rejoices
in Christ and works righteousness those that remember thee in thy
ways. That's the only way you're going
to work righteousness. is to remember Christ in His ways. What did He do? He satisfied
the demands of God's law. He's the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believeth. Faith is the evidence of things
hoped for. Faith is the substance of things
not seen. It's looking outside of yourself
to the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how you do righteousness.
Behold, thou art wroth, for we have sinned, and in those is
continuance. Do you believe that about yourself?
Do you believe that you are incapable of doing anything other than
sinning? Most folks don't believe that.
Oh, but if he's pleased to rend the heavens for you and to make
himself known, your comeliness will be turned into corruption.
You'll say with the prophet Isaiah, woe is me, for I am undone. You'll say with Job, behold,
I see something I never saw before. I am vile. Lord, all I'd ever do is sin. Look at the last phrase of verse
5. I love it. And we shall be saved. Not, I
hope to be saved, but we shall be saved. You shall call his
name Jesus for he shall save his people. God's not trying
to save anybody. He's already done it. He's already
done it. The heavens have been rent. God
has come down. The mountains have flowed out
of the way. And the only hope that we have
is that God would give us the faith to believe that for ourselves. But we are all as an unclean
thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and we do
all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken hold
upon us. Does that describe you? All we like sheep have gone astray,
every one to his own way. God has laid on him the iniquity
of us all. Heaven's already been rent. The
mountains have already flowed out of the way. They've been
buried in the depths of the sea. Christ has accomplished our salvation.
His physical clothing wasn't even rent. The veil was rent. God says, come. The blood's been
put on the mercy seat. You have boldness and access
and confidence with God. Come before the throne of grace
through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, there's one
other place in the New Testament where it speaks of something
being rent. You don't have to turn there.
I don't even know the verse. It's Acts chapter 14, but it's when
Paul went to Iconium and he preached the gospel. And there were many that rejoiced.
And then the self-righteous religionist, after some time, heard the gospel. and they rebelled against it.
And a riot broke out. And here's what the scripture
says, but the multitude, but the multitude of the city was
rent. Part held with the Jews and part
with the disciples. This gospel divides men. It rents people. The Lord said that your enemies
will be of your own household. God's pleased to give you faith
to hear the gospel and to cast all the hope of your immortal
soul on the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ and
not bring anything to the altar. Don't bring a thing. Don't bring
a thing. Don't bring your feelings. Don't
bring your experiences. That's just, that's immaturity. That's immaturity. Ask God to give you the faith
to rest all your hope on what's already been done. The heavens
have already been rent. Let's pray. Our merciful Heavenly Father,
we do pray that you would rend the heavens for us, that you
would come down and cause us, Lord, to find all our
hope in what was done when you left
glory, came into this world, laid your life down for the sheep, Oh, Lord, we're we're like little
Children so often controlled by our emotions and our feelings
and our circumstances. Give us faith, Lord. Give us
faith to look to Christ and then bless us with that spirit of
peace and joy, hope and comfort as we're enabled by thy spirit
to have the mind of Christ to look to Christ. For it's in his
name we pray, amen. Brother Tom, number 42 in the
Sopac Temple, let's stand together. In myself I have no merit, Nothing
good have I to give, That a holy, just, and perfect God could ever
let me live. Sin defiles my best performance
Guilty, vile, and ruined I am Yet my heart breaks in repentance
By God's grace I see the Lamb See the Lamb of God, our Savior,
bearing all our sin and shame. By eternal love and favor, Jesus
died bearing our blame. Bruised and wounded and forsaken,
as our substitute he died. It is finished, sin's forgiven,
justice now is satisfied. Here's my hope and consolation,
Jesus died for sinners' sake. Trusting Him, I have salvation
and the cup of blessing take. All is well, I cannot doubt it,
His Son for me, rules this world and all things in it, for my
good eternally. So I'll trust my God and Savior,
Though my joy is mixed with pain. He is worthy, worthy ever, That
in me His peace should reign. Faith in such a great Redeemer
Gives my soul a blessed calm Christ is near, He's my protector Thank you very much.