Before we get started, let me
make some announcements. Friday night, 6 o'clock, pizza
will be ready. By 6.45, it'll be cleaned up
so we can be ready for service at 7. So if you get here after
6.45 looking for pizza, it's probably going to be gone. So if you want to do that, be
here around 6. I want to ask everybody to take
their personal items home with them today. pillows, blankets,
stools, whatever you've got there in your pulpit, I mean in your
pew, please take that home with you. I know personally of 50
or 60 people that are going to be here from other churches,
not including, you know, people that you may have invited. So
you probably won't be able to sit in your normal place. unless
you get here really early and refuse to move, which I know
you're not going to do. Because if our guests are here,
you treat them as if they were guests in your home and give
them the best seats. OK? We bought some new chairs
this week, so we'll have those set out. We'll probably set those
out on Wednesday night after the service. OK? Is Armita here? No? Oh, she is. Oh, there she
is. Armida is going to be 90 years
old on Tuesday. And I don't think she'd be offended
me telling you that. But we love her so much. And we're just so thankful for
you, Armida. We have changed our service times
in Sarasota on Sunday evenings from 6 to 5. So we leave here
now at 2 o'clock instead of 3. So if you want to go with us,
that's what time we leave. We get back an hour earlier,
so that might help somebody that might want to go with us to Sarasota. So starting today, we're going
to meet at 5 o'clock instead of 6. And most of them will be
here for the conference next weekend. I hope you'll make a special
effort to get to know some of the brethren from other churches.
I know I have an opportunity to meet them in their church,
going to preach there. But what a blessing it is for
believers to meet their brothers and sisters from other places
that they've never known before. I think I told you all this story.
My father was the youngest of 12 kids, and he was born right
before the Depression. When he was two years old, his
father died and his mother was forced to give away all of his
brothers and sisters. So she kept the baby. And my
dad had brothers and sisters he'd never met. And I remember
as about 15 years old, we moved to California and my dad met
a brother that he had never met in his whole life. And what a
bond. he had with my uncle, just instant. And that was just in the flesh.
So you've got brothers and sisters you've never met before, and
a lot of them are going to be here next weekend. And I hope
you'll make an effort to develop a relationship with them. All
right, Tom, we're going to sing the hymn on the back of your
bulletin, so let's stand together. There's a good reminder inside
the bulletin. For our scripture reading, turn
with me, if you will, to 1 John, chapter 5. And I've been thinking of this
now for some weeks now, special verse of Scripture. We're just
going to begin with verse 18. 1 John chapter 5, verse 18. We know that whosoever is born
of God sinneth not. That's that new nature. The old
nature is nothing but sin, as we've heard. But the new nature
sinneth not, but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and the
wicked one touches him not. And we know that we are of God,
and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And this is the verse
of Scripture that I've been thinking about for some time. And we know
that the Son of God is come and hath given us an understanding."
Now you see, now there's grace. He's given us an understanding. For what purpose? That we may
know Him that is true and there is our relationship united with
Christ. That we may know Him that is
true and are in Him that is true, in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. Now you see, now when was all
of this done? It always was. It was done in
eternity. This is eternal life. If you
want to know what Christ is, where He's above, right here
it is. And we know this. And you know who it's to? Well,
look at that last verse there. Little children. Little children,
keep yourselves from idols. This is what did the Lord Jesus
say? I thank Thee, Father, that Thou
hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them unto babes. Revealed them to little children.
And except you come as a little child, you cannot say this. And
you know what the little children says? Amen. Amen. Let us pray. Our holy and
gracious Father, how we do come before you. And we truly thank
you that there are a merciful God. We can't fully comprehend
everything that you've done. except that portion that you
have revealed to us in this short amount of time, Lord. And we
just ask now that you would continue to encourage us and strengthen
us through this glorious gospel, that truly we only know a small
portion, but one day we'll know as we are known. And Father,
that's our hope. of what the Lord Jesus Christ
has done and is doing in His people, and He never leaves us
to ourselves. And we thank You for that, Lord. So now we just ask that You would
continue to bless us with Your Word and reveal Yourself unto
us, for we ask it in Jesus' precious name. Amen. There's nothing like the gospel
and God's Word as it relates to that hymn we just sang. I
mean, what else can we, what other words can we look to that
are 3,000, 3,200 years old, the words we looked at in Ezra, and
they're as relevant to your life as they are to Ezra's life? We're
going to be in the book of Isaiah now, in chapter 22. 2,600 years ago, the prophet Isaiah
wrote these words under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and the gospel
is exactly the same today as it was then. It really is the
old, old story. We're not here to try to peddle
pop psychology and we're not here to try to make the Word
of God relevant to the headlines of current events. We're not
here to do that. Truth is that you and I are exactly
like the prophet Isaiah. Donald Wynne and I were talking
the other day, and he was talking about how many things he's seen
in his life, how many changes. And no generation has seen as
many changes as our generation and generation before us, between
the Industrial Revolution and the advent of electricity and
computers. I mean, the world has changed
in the last hundred years. Not that you're that old, Donald. We're the same. We're exactly
the same. You're no different. We're sons
of Adam. We're in need of forgiveness. We're in need of a Savior. And
God has given us His Word that is timeless. It's timeless. There's no place else you can
go. and find truth that doesn't change. And the promises that
he made for sinners is exactly the same now as it was 2,600
years ago. Exactly the same. And what glorious
promises they are, The writer of Hebrews wrote in Hebrews chapter
6 comparing the covenant of grace to the covenant of works and
he says we have a better covenant established upon better promises. Now when God makes a promise
you can be sure that that promise is going to be kept. Scripture
says that we serve a God who can not lie. Sometimes our promises
are somewhat of a stretch of the truth. And sometimes we make
promises and we can't anticipate circumstances that might arise
that keep us from being able to fulfill our promises. That's
never been the case with our God. When He makes a promise,
He knows all the details necessary to fulfill that promise. And
he never lacks the power, he never lacks the insight, he never
lacks the integrity of keeping his promises. If you're a sinner,
you're going to be encouraged this morning to see a glorious
promise that God has made for sinners. It's right here in Isaiah
chapter 22, beginning at verse 20. And it shall come to pass in
that day that I will call my servant Eliakim." Now, Eliakim
means God has raised up or God has exalted. or God has given
preeminence to. Eliakim in this Old Testament
prophecy is certainly a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
all the promises that God's about to make relating to Eliakim are
seen and understood and believed by believers through the eye
of faith as they are fulfilled in Christ. And I want you to
not look over that little word, S-H-A-L-L. I'm gonna do this. You can be sure of it. What are
you sure of? What are you sure of? Truth is,
you're not, you cannot be sure that you're gonna take your next
breath. You can't be sure that sitting there, your heart's gonna
beat again. You can't be sure of anything.
But when God says, I will and I shall, you can hang your soul
on that. I mean, you can trust everything
you've got and everything you are on the promises of God. He is going to do what he said
he's going to do. You shall call his name Jesus
for he shall save his people. He's going to do it. Just with
all the uncertainties and all the things that we don't know
about this world and about life, when God speaks, faith says amen. Faith believes. Faith trusts. It shall come to pass. Not only was that true in 600
BC when Isaiah wrote these words, but it came to pass 2,000 years
ago when the Lord Jesus Christ as the one whom God raised up,
not only in the bodily resurrection, but gave him a name that is above
every name and gave him preeminence above all principalities and
powers in this world. God raised up the Lord Jesus
Christ and made Him to be our King, our Eliakim. It shall come to pass and it
has come to pass. It has come to pass. This is
a glorious promise. If you're a sinner, this is what
you're hanging on to. This is what you're believing.
It shall come to pass in that day that I will call my servant."
Behold my servant, Isaiah said, the one whom I uphold, the Lord
Jesus Christ, first and foremost, came into this world as a servant
of God. How many times the Lord said,
these are not my words, these are the words the Father gave
me. This is not my work, this is the work the Father gave me.
The Lord Jesus Christ came to serve the Father. He came to
do the Father's bidding and to do the Father's will. Did you
not know that I must be about my Father's business? And what
was the last thing He said? It is finished. What the Father
sent me to do, as the Christ, the Messiah, I accomplished.
It shall. I'm gonna call my servant, I
like him, and this is what he's gonna look like. Look at the description that
God gives to the Lord Jesus Christ, beginning in verse 21. And I will clothe him with thy
robe. Now, who's the Lord speaking
to? Isaiah. What was Isaiah? He was the prophet of God. He
was the one sent of God with the Word of God to declare the
promises of God. And all the promises of God,
the scripture says, are yea and amen. They are sure and steadfast
in Christ. So God's promises are accomplished
by the Lord Jesus Christ. And now God says he's going to
be clothed with thy robe. Isaiah wore a special robe. He wore an ephod, he wore a robe,
he wore certain garments that identified him as what? As the
prophet of God. The one that God spoke through
in order to bring the word of God to the people of God. And
the Lord Jesus Christ came with that robe. He came with the prophet's
garment. He came with the mantle of Elijah. He came with the full power,
not only bringing the Word of God, but as the Word of God. He came in order to speak truth
to His people, didn't He? He's the Word. In the beginning
was the Word. The Word was with God. was God. And the Word became flesh, and
He dwelt among us as the only begotten of the Father, full
of grace and full of truth. And we beheld His glory. We beheld
His glory. Here He is, the prophet of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ, coming clothed in the priestly robe. Look at the next thing the scripture
tells us in verse 21, and strengthened him with thy girdle. Now the girdle is used in two
ways in the scriptures. Once it was in one way it's used
to describe a belt that a warrior wore in order to hold his sword. And here we have a picture of
the Lord Jesus Christ coming in this world with the girdle
of truth, holding the sword, which is the Word of God. And
He'll be strengthened by that. What power there is in God's
Word. And the second imagery that we
see of the girdle in the scriptures is that of a workman. Now the
normal garment would have been more like a flowing robe. They didn't wear pants like we
wear today. And so they used this girdle
to strap up the robe around their loins so that the robe wouldn't
get in the way while they were laboring. It's a picture of a
laborer strengthening himself and getting ready for work. And
what a glorious picture of the Lord. He's going to be strengthened
with his girdle. He's going to be a workman sent
by God to accomplish the work of salvation, to establish a
righteousness, to justify his people, to make of himself a
sacrifice for sinners. So God's going to do it. He's
going to do it. He's going to do it through Eliakim,
the one that he's raised up. And he has done it. And he came. He came in verse 21 clothed with
the robe of the prophet and girdled, girded about with the strength
of a warrior and the strength of a workman. This is my hope. This is my hope
that the Lord Jesus Christ, as the Word of God, accomplished
what God sent Him to do. That His Word is, in fact, sharper
than any two-edged sword, and that it is able to divide asunder
the thoughts and the intents of the heart. That God will accomplish
by His sword, by His Word. And James put it like this, By
His truth He begat us. By the Word of Truth. Faith comes by what? Hearing. And hearing comes by what? The
Word of God. So the Word of God has to speak
to our hearts. He's got to reveal Himself to
us in order for us to believe the promises that God's made.
Oh Lord, would you be pleased? Would you be pleased to show
me your girdle? To show me your belt of truth?
To show me your priestly robe? I need a priest. I need a prophet. I need one who's able to speak
to me and one who's able to intercede before God on my behalf. Look at the next phrase in verse
21, and I will commit thy government into his hand. He's going to govern. He said,
my kingdom's not of this world. If my kingdom was of this world,
my disciples would fight. We don't engage ourselves in
political rhetoric in order to try to Christianize the world
through politics. That's never going to happen.
It's never going to happen. The only thing Christian in this
world is Christians. And the only place you're going
to find them is where the gospel of God's free grace is preached.
It's the only place you're going to find them. Right here. And God said, I'm going to make
him sovereign, ruler, and reigner over his government. Pilate tried
to make him a king, didn't he? Are you a king? Oh, for this
cause was I born, and for this reason came I into the world,
that I might bear witness unto the truth. They that are of the
truth, they hear my voice. My kingdom's not of this world.
I've got a spiritual kingdom, and I'm going to reign in the
hearts of my people, and I'm going to reign over the assembly
of my people. I'm going to get the preeminence.
I'm going to be like Eliakim. I'm going to be raised up by
God and set upon a throne. And they're going to bow, and
they're going to worship, and they're going to rejoice in my
position of reigning with authority. They're not going to rebel against
me. They're going to be made willing. They're going to sit
at my feet and hear my words. I will commit thy government
into his hand and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Now the world says, well,
God's the father of everybody. No, he's not. Not in this sense.
He's the creator of all men. But notice he said, I will be
the father of those who are of the house of Jerusalem and Judah.
Now what does a father do? Three things a father does. The
father is the progenitor. In other words, you can't have
a child without a father. Without the seed of the man,
there's no child's going to be born. And so he's the creator
of life in that sense, isn't he? The father also is the provider,
isn't he? He's the provider of his children.
He provides them with everything necessary for their salvation.
And so he's done for us. He's birthed us into his family
and made himself our father and he's provided us with everything
necessary to be princes. He's made us to be kings and
priests. He's provided all our righteousness. All our righteousness
is his filthy rags. David said, I'll speak of none
other righteousness than thy righteousness. Lord, he's provided
us. He's the Lord our righteousness
and we're called the Lord our righteousness. He provides our
justification before God through His shed blood on Calvary's cross.
And only by His shed blood on Calvary's cross can we have our
sins taken away. Only then can we have them covered. God said, when I see the blood,
I'll pass by you. He provides everything we need
in grace for the salvation of our souls. He provides everything
that we... He's our provider. He's our father.
He birthed us, and he provides for us. He's not an absentee
father. He's not birthed children and
failed to pay child support. No, he's taking care of his children
perfectly, isn't he? What a glorious father he is. He provides everything we need. He said, the birds of the air? They don't fret over their next
meal. He said the flowers of the field,
Solomon in all of his glory wasn't arrayed as one of them. They
don't fret. Now if your Heavenly Father provides
for them, how much more does He love you?
Is He not going to provide for you? Sure he is. I'm going to make him to be your
father, your progenitor, your provider, and your protector. Father's responsibility is not
only to provide for his family and his children, but to protect
them. I'm going to protect you from the evil one. I'm going
to enable you to... Satan is like a roaring lion
seeking whom he may devour, but he won't be able to devour you.
Why? Because you've got a father that's
going to protect you. Oh, and he's going to tell lies,
and if it were possible, even the elect would be deceived,
but it's not possible. Why? Because you've got a father
that's going to protect you. He's going to keep you from falling
and present you faultless before the throne of God. You've got
a faithful father. What a glorious promise for sinners. Look at the rest of this verse. And the key of the house of David
will I lay upon his shoulder, so he shall open and none shall
shut, and he shall shut and none shall open." He's the one that's got the keys
to the house. He's the only one that's got
the keys to the house. He's the one who lets you in.
And He's the one who keeps you out. And who He lets in, no one
can stop from coming in. And who He shuts out, no one
can convince to come in. Why? Because His will is sovereign. His will is sovereign. He only shows His mercy toward
His children. It's not of Him that willeth.
It's not of Him that runneth. It's of God that showeth mercy.
He's the potter. We're the clay. He has the sovereign
right to make out of the same lump of clay some vessels of
honor and some of dishonor. He's the one who cuts off the
remnant from the roll, sets it aside for His glory. He's got the keys. You want to
get in? You've got to come to Him. He's
the only one that can unlock the door. Look at verse 23. Have you noticed how many times
in these verses God says, I will. I will. Not, I'm going to try. Not, I'm going to make a stab
at it. Not, I'm going to try to help you or I'm going to provide
something you got to do. No, I'm going to do it. I'm going
to do every bit of it. And I'm going to get all the
glory for it. Look what he says in verse 24. and they shall hang upon him,
I'm sorry, verse 23, and I will fasten him as a nail in a sure
place. Oh, what a glorious promise that
is. When God fastens this nail in
a sure place, it's fastened. And whatever he hangs on it is
going to be sure and steadfast. He's the anchor of our soul. He's the one who is sure and
steadfast, placed by God. I will fasten him as a nail in
a sure place. First time this word, nail, is
used in the Scripture. It's used several times to describe
the Lord Jesus Christ. But in Judges chapter 4, you
remember Deborah was a judge of Israel. and the commander
of the army's name was Barak, and he was afraid to go against
the Sisera, the commander of the Canaanites. And Deborah said,
I'll go with you, but the woman's going to get all the glory. And
sure enough, the Israelites routed the Canaanites, and Sisera, running
from the battle, went into a woman's name by the name of Jael, and
ran into her tent and said, hide me, hide me. and he asked for
water and she gave him milk and he fell asleep and the scripture
says she took a nail from her tent and a hammer and she fastened
his head through his temple to the ground he wasn't getting
up I mean he was pinned to the ground right in one temple and
out the other right into the ground I will fasten Him as a
nail in a sure place." What a picture of what God has done for us in
Christ. He's nailed Him to the cross. Colossians 2.14, turn with me
there. Verse 13, And you being dead
in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened
together with Him, having forgiven you all your trespasses." And look at the next verse, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which were
contrary to us. Speaking of the law, The law
stood in condemnation of us. The law judged us as guilty.
The law judged us as lawbreakers and took it out of the way, doing
what? Nailing it to the cross. I'm
going to fasten him as a nail in a sure place. Hang all your
hopes on him. He's not going to be moved. Trust
him. Trust Him. Look at the rest of this verse. The offspring and the issue and
all vessels of small quantity and the vessels of cups even
unto the vessels of flagons. They're going to be nailed with
Him. little cups. You feel like a
little cup. Lord, not much to me. Not much
in me. Lord, some people just look like
they've got it all. I'm just a little cup. A little flagon. A little thimble. A little sip of water. They're
going to be nailed with Him. And all their issues are going
to be nailed with Him. That's what Paul said when he
said, I am crucified with Christ. That's my hope that when he died
on Calvary's cross, I was in him. That's what he says here. Look, this is what I'm going
to do. I'm going to hang. I'm going to fasten him as a
nail in a sure place. And he shall be for a glorious
throne to his father's house. This Christ that we believe in,
this one who's so gloriously portrayed in the Word of God,
He's hated by men. He really is. Oh, they call Him
Jesus, but the one, they hate Him. Strips Him of their glory,
and they hate Him. but to his father's house. What's his father's house? This
is his father's house. This is the house of prayer.
They had turned it into a den of thieves, didn't they? Nothing's
changed. Places of religious worship today,
religious activity, are nothing more than a den of thieves. Money
changers, selling salvation, Well, if you'll do this, or if
you'll do that, or if you'll abstain from this, or abstain
from that, or if you'll pray this prayer, if you'll support
this ministry, God will have mercy upon you. And they're nothing
more than merchandisers of men's souls. That's all religion is. And that's what the Pharisees
had done with the temple, didn't they? And the Lord went in at
the beginning of His public ministry and at the end of His public
ministry and He cleansed the temple, symbolizing what He was
going to do with religion. And what a difference it was
going to be when His people gathered as people of prayer. Right now,
as the gospel is being preached, our hearts are being lifted up
in prayer. Oh, Lord, have mercy upon me.
Lord, speak to me. Lord, show me. Lord, make these
promises for me. Lord, take my sin away. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
in His rightful place in the hearts of His people. He's seated
upon His throne. He's high and lifted up. God
has given him a name that is above every name, so that every
knee shall bow and every tongue confess. And that's what we're
doing right now in our hearts. We're bowing and we're confessing
that Jesus is the Christ to the glory of God the Father. Look
at verse 24, And they shall hang upon Him all the glory of His
Father's house. Here's that nail fastened in
a sure place and God's people are hanging on Him all the glory. And the offspring and the issue all of God's people,
and all their sin, even those of small quantity, the vessels
of cups, even all the vessels of flagons. Verse 25, And in that day saith the Lord of
hosts, this is what God says, Let the politicians make their
promises all they want. We know that they're liars. Let the world put their hopes
in whatever. There's nothing there. No substance
is there. And in that day, saith the Lord
of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in a sure place be
removed. and be cut down and fall." Now that's a picture of the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It pleased the Lord to bruise
Him. The fullness of the wrath of
God fell upon the Lord Jesus Christ as the sinner's sacrifice
and substitute on Calvary's cross. God cut him off from among the
land of the living. When he made his soul to be a
sacrifice for sin, the Lord Jesus Christ cried out, my God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? Something very glorious took
place on Calvary's cross that you and I can't enter into. We
just can't. Only through faith we believe
it. But we're so accustomed, we're so accustomed to living
moments and day and hours and days without giving much thought
to God. But it wasn't so with the Lord
Jesus Christ. He was in perfect fellowship
with the Father, and when He cried in the Garden of Gethsemane,
Father, if there be any way this cup can pass from Me, He knew
that when He drank the bitter dregs of the cup of God's wrath,
that a separation was going to exist between Him and the Father.
And when that sky blackened, There was a real separation between
God the Father and God the Son. Something we just, we can't,
we can't understand it. Except to know that He did it
for His people. He was separated from God so
that we could be united to God. Look at verse 25 again. And in
that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened
in the sure place be removed and be cut down and fall, and
the burden that was upon it. I want you to give special attention
to that phrase. The burden that was upon it shall
be cut off. What was the burden that was
placed upon the Lord Jesus Christ? What was it? It was the sins
of His people. That's the reason that He was
cut off. God made Him who knew no sin
to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of
God in Him. The burden that was placed upon
the Lord Jesus Christ, the reason why this prophecy and this promise
carries so much hope for the child of God is to know that
what Christ did satisfied the demands of God for all their
sins. All their sins were put away.
The Lord Jesus Christ didn't die for all the sins of all men. He died for all the sins of His
people. And He put them away once and
for all. Oh, sinner! Child of God, what
a glorious promise this is. Eliakim, the one who is high
and lifted up, the one who's got the robe of a prophet and
a priest, the one who's strengthened with his girdle, the one to whom
the government is committed to his hand, the one who is like
a father to his children. place and he's been cut off,
that the burden that nailed him there would be put away and that
we would no longer have to fear the wrath of God for our sin. We have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous one. That's hope, amen? Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we thank Thee for the promise of Thy Word. We thank Thee for
the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ and for the
way in which You have fulfilled that which You purposed. We thank
You for the picture that we have now of the of the bread and the
wine, reminding us of the sinless sacrifice of the body of Christ,
the only one who is without leaven, and how his precious blood has
bought us, and how you are pleased knowing
that that nail that was fastened in a sure place was cut off for
us. We ask that you would enable
us now to receive the bread and the wine in faith, trusting Christ
for all our salvation. For it's in his name we pray.
Amen. We'll ask the men if they'll
come, please, and distribute. 191 in the hardbacked hymnal,
just remain seated. 191.