Alright, let's turn to Isaiah
chapter 33. It's very common for us to begin to look at the walls of
the house in which we meet in. which we dwell in. It's very
common for us to begin to look at those coming in and out and begin
to see the battle raging about us And to begin to think that, well, this is not prosperous. This is not in order and everything is in
disarray. That's how the church of God
finds herself very often in this life. There have been very many,
many dark ages. since time began. Many horrible
treatments of the Church of God. Many days in which the walls
were broken down and the fires raged all about and all the ways,
the highways are disrupted and the rivers turned aside and the
people made to starve and to thirst for water so that it appeared
that everything was dried up and that nothing was prospering
whatsoever. There's never been a dark day
in this world that wasn't exactly ordered and sure in all things
by the hand of the omnipotent, sovereign, omniscient God. Never
one. And every dark age that has ever
been has been to make the Church of God look away from what we
think are our walls and what we think are our what we think
the church is in this earth, and look to the church. And behold,
everything is running right on schedule, right on time, exactly
by the order and direction of her King. Her God, her Judge,
and her King. And that's why He sends the dark
ages. That's always why He sends the dark ages. That was the case
in Jerusalem in these days of Hezekiah. The Scripture said, verse 14, the sinners in Zion
are afraid. Fearfulness hath surprised the
hypocrites, that is, those in that earthly mountain. There
were many there. And they were calling on the
name of the Lord and they were drawing near with the mouth and
going through all the motions. And they began to be afraid and
be unsettled. The king Hezekiah didn't appear
to be in charge of anything. The people that were supposed
to be his princes were standing on the wall crying their eyes
out and coming to Hezekiah and saying, The Assyrians are standing
examining our walls, and they're fixing to make a breach therein,
and this whole thing is about to crumble into nothing. And
those who were calling on the Lord, calling on the Lord, calling
on the Lord, all of a sudden began to look at those walls
of Jerusalem, and look at that earthly city of Jerusalem, and
look at those earthly princes and rulers and one another, and
they just became terrified at one another. and said, oh, this
is... But God did it for His people
in their midst for a reason. For a reason. And He says this
to them in Isaiah 30, verse 20. Look upon Zion. Look upon Zion. The city of our solemnities.
Isn't that what those people were doing, that were afraid
and terrified? No, they were looking at the earth. They were
looking at what they thought was the church. He says, now
look at the church. Look upon Zion, the city of our
solemnities. Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem,
a quiet habitation. a tabernacle that shall not be
taken down. Not one of the stakes thereof
shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof
be broken." Hold your place here just a moment. Turn with me over
to Hebrews chapter 12. I'm quite convinced that Paul,
when he was writing this great letter to the Hebrew brethren,
was looking at this passage in Isaiah from 32 all the way over
to 35 or so, and he quotes several things in this, and this is one
of the things that he says here concerning this, looking to Zion. Verse 18, Hebrews 12, 18, "...Ye
are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burn with fire, nor
into blackness, and darkness, and tempest, and the sound of
a trumpet, and the voice of words, which voice they that heard entreated
that the word should not be spoken to them any more. For they couldn't
endure that which was commanded. And so much as a beast touched
a mountain, it should be stoned or thrust through with a dart.
So terrible was the sight that Moses said, I exceedingly fear
and quake." In other words, brethren, you can be in the church, in
this earth, not be in the church of God. But when you're called
into the church of God, you've not come to an earthly mountain.
You've not come to a mountain that you can tangibly walk up
and touch and see and say, but we have come to something far
greater than that. Look at this. You've come unto
Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem. to an innumerable company of
angels." Remember the battle was in Array
and the young man was so fearful and opened his eyes and he opened
his eyes and there was round about them, encamped round about
them, a host. A host. This is what Isaiah is
being taught and what the people in his day were being taught,
what we're being taught in our day. Look. Look at this. See this. This is where we've
come. This is where we're surrounded
by. An innumerable company of angels. We've come to the General
Assembly and Church of the Firstborn. We're not talking about a local
assembly. We're not talking about the church
at Rome. We're not talking about one particular
denomination. We're talking about the general
assembly in church of Christ Jesus the firstborn. His church. His bride. Who is that? It's written in heaven. We've
come to God the judge of all. He's the judge of all. He's the
one. We're going to see this in a
moment in our text. That's who we've come to. That's who we've
come to. We're not without a king. We're not. We're not without
a bishop. We're not without a head. We're
not without one who is governing everything. Everything. And to the spirits of just men
made perfect. This church is made up of men
like Abraham who was called out of darkness in a land of idolatry
and wasn't told where he was going. He was told he was going
to a land that God would give him. And he went out literally
into an earthly land that he didn't know where he was going
into. But he knew where he was going and he saw the city to
which he was going the whole time because he was looking at
this city which builder and maker is God. And so he was able to go. And now he says, now look at
where he is now. Look at where Abraham is now.
These are spirits of just men made perfect. Men like Jacob,
who was a supplanter, who was just as rotten and despicable
as Esau, if not worse, and yet God loved him, and God called
him, and God came to him and wrestled him and pinned him,
and said, your name's not Jacob anymore. He made him cry unto
God. He made him say, Lord, don't
leave me until you bless me. And that's how he prospered with
God. God pinned him and made him cry out, don't leave me!
And he prospered with God then because he was weak as a piece
of dust. And God said, now your name shall
be no more called Jacob, but Israel, for as a prince you've
prevailed with God. It's called casting all your
care on Him. That's where we've come to. Look at Jacob now. Is he fighting? Is he struggling?
No. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, we've come to to
ones like Moses and Noah. Men like David. Oh, but he was
such a powerful king. He was anointed king when he
was in a pasture herding sheep. What on earth did he know about
being a king? Not a thing. But he had a king
to teach him and make him a king. That's right. That's right. We've come to these ones who
make up the church. Now he says, look at them. Look
at them where they are now. Look at them. We've come to Jesus,
the mediator of the new covenant, the everlasting covenant. We've
come to this covenant, this one who is, he is the covenant. He is the one who is the messenger
of the covenant. He is the one who has completely
ratified the covenant, ordered and sure in all things so that
all the promises of God that He comes and freely makes known
in our hearts are sure in this one Jesus Christ. He is the one
who represents us to the Father. To the blood of sprinkling that
speaks better things than that of Abel. Don't look at Abel in
the earth, and that blood speaks some great things. That blood
speaks of Abel who was trusting in this one, in Christ, and therefore
his own brother killed him because he did, slew him because he did,
but this blood speaks better things. Look where Abel is now.
Huh? Look, see that you refuse not
him that speaketh. For if they escape not who refused
Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape if we
turn away from Him from heaven. He is speaking from heaven. He
really is. He really is. Whose voice then
shook the earth, but now He is promising yet once more, I shake
not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word yet once
more signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken,
meaning those things that are made, those things that are earthy,
that are temporary, even the mountains. Oh, let's don't look at the walls
here. Let's don't look at these childish things here and think,
well, this is church. This is what makes church church.
No, no, no, no, no, no. This is not church. The church
is our God. The church is our heavenly city.
The church is the spirits of just men made perfect. The church
is Jesus Christ. And He says, now look to Him.
Look upon Zion. And He says here, wherefore we
are signalling a kingdom which cannot be moved. This church
can't be moved. This kingdom can't be moved.
Let us have grace. Let us hold fast. whereby we
may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." What
does that mean? For our God's a consuming fire.
That's good news for us, brethren. That's very good news for us.
That's how we can serve Him with reverence and godly fear, knowing
He's the consuming fire. All right, let's go back to our
text and let's see this. The church of God is forever. Look upon Zion. Look not at the
enemy. Don't look here below. But look
to this city whose builder and maker is God. This church made
up of God's saints, chosen of God the Father, redeemed by the
blood of Christ, called by the Spirit of God's grace, preserved
forever, raised again to be with Him in heavenly places. This
is the church of God to whom He tells us here below. who make
up this church, who are the call of God to those who have been
called and made perfect in Christ. He says, now look there, look
there, look. The strength of this city is
God our salvation. Look back at Isaiah 26 in verse
1. In that day, this song shall
be sung in the land of Judah, It will be sung right here, right
now, if God gives us an eye to see this. We have a strong city. Salvation will... And you can take out the italicized
words here. Salvation will appoint walls
and bulwarks. Salvation will appoint walls
and bulwarks. That salvation is our God. Isaiah
60 and verse 18. Look at Isaiah 60 and verse 18. Violence shall no more be heard
in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders, but thou
shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates praise. This is
the city of the living God who will remain because she is the
city of our solemnities. You see, the church of God is
where Christ our altar is, the perfection of the saints. It's
where our worship comes up to Him, perfect in Him. It's the place where our Lord
will always have, He's always had kings and priests to worship
Him, to serve Him in song and prayer and praise, and He shall
always have it. He's never left Himself without
a witness. Never. And He'll have it. He'll
act why? Because He's the consuming fire. Salvation has appointed walls
and bulwarks. He's the walls. Salvation is
our walls and our praise. He'll provide pastors to feed
them with knowledge and understanding. He always has. He will. He is
the shepherd and bishop of our souls. This is the one who, He
says, He's speaking from heaven. All those who were baptized or
baptized into the death of our Lord Jesus Christ when He died
and went into that grave, when they were purged with Him and
plunged into death with Him when He died, they'll be called, they'll
be made willing to profess Him in water baptism, to go into
a pool of water and be submerged immersed, which is the word baptized,
under that watery grave, showing that I died in Him. I've died
to death. Death is dead to me. I've died death when I died in
Christ. and I'm risen with Him to newness
of life. I'm no longer looking to a baptismal
pool to be my righteousness. I'm looking to Him who's my righteousness.
I'm no longer looking to a church affiliation to be my righteousness.
My name's written in glory. He wrote it. It is on blood. It can't be removed. It's been
there since before the foundation of the world. I'm no longer looking
to what I've built in this earth or what men have built in this
earth and call it a so-called church and everybody flock to
it and think there's some kind of safety, just like a superstition
in going there or going to some... I've come to Jesus Christ, the
mediator of the everlasting covenant, the church and general assembly
of the firstborn. Oh! Oh, there'll always be those
that He loved and everlastingly drew by His grace who shall come
and sit down at His table right now with Him as we partake of
the bread and the wine and remember His broken body and His shed
blood. Even as right now, look there at Zion, and they're sitting
at the table with Him, drinking the fruit of the vine and eating
with Him and beholding Him face to face. And He's coming. He's coming again. For thus saith
the Lord, I'll be under her a wall of fire round about, and I'll
be the glory in the midst of her. You know what His name is?
Jehovah Shammah. Believe that? The name of the city from that
day shall be, the Lord is there. The Lord is there. He says, look
there. He's there. He's where He's gathered
His children. That's where He is. That's where
He is. Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem,
a quiet habitation. You know, if you look there right
now, And you look, you know, go back and you can read Hebrews
11 and you see the spirits of just men made perfect. That's
who we're looking, we're looking there now. We're seeing this
city. We're seeing this quiet habitation, this quiet dwelling
place. Are they fighting? Are they striving
to be saved? Are they wrestling? Are they doing anything there
to try to save themselves? No, they are saved. What He's telling us. It's the
same holds true for His church right now. You who are His chosen,
redeemed children. That's what He was saying to
them in that day in Jerusalem when they're looking around and
they're all in a panic and a tizzy over looking at the walls about
to be overcome. He said, look, look at that city. Are they fighting? You see a
quiet habitation. Just be quiet. Rest. Same Lord that brought them there,
He's about to deliver you out of this mess you're in. That's
what He was telling. That's what He's saying now to
me and you here. Same Lord. You know why? Because in Christ you are built
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. If any
enemy of God can make that cease to be, you got something to be
worried about. That can't cease to be. It just can't cease to be. The
word habitation means a fold. It means Christ is the shepherd. He said, they'll hear my voice
and there'll be one fold and there'll be one shepherd. And
we are one fold and one shepherd. The church of God is a secure
habitation. She's a secure dwelling place,
a habitation of peace. And therefore, being justified
by faith, we have peace with God. I tell you, whoever God
has wrought peace for, and given His peace, and is commanding
peace for, can be assured, we're going to have peace. We're going
to have peace. You see a quiet habitation when
you look there? Peace is what we desire, isn't
it? That's what we long for, that's what we want. We want
peace. We want ease, or we want peace with God. Peace with God. With God, that's what we want.
We want peace with God and with each other. We're going to have
it, though, and God's going to make it known in the face of
any trials. This is the paradox of the believer. He's poor, but he's full. He's persecuted, but he's happy. That's right. He's cast down,
but he's lifted up. He's surrounded by the enemy,
but he's surrounded by God. He appears to be utterly helpless
and a weakling and unable to do anything, but all his strength
is God. And He keeps His saint united
in this quietness and this peace of redemption and reconciliation
and grace. He's the God of all grace. That's
right. He lifts our eyes above and He
says, Thine eyes shall see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation. And we see
it by faith now. But He says to us, Thine eyes
shall see Jerusalem. this quiet habitation and it
will be. You're gonna be raised and with those eyes made new,
just as these eyes, these fleshed eyes, we're gonna see him. We're
gonna see this city. He's bringing out one over here,
he's bringing out one over there, he's bringing out one over here,
two of a household, three of a household. He's bringing them
from the east, from the west, from the north, from the south.
He's bringing them together and he's bringing them out of, out
of darkness into his marvelous light. Translating us out of
the kingdom of this world into the kingdom of his dear son.
Out of the bondage and and kingdom of Egypt under the taskmasters
of this world and this false religion and this false way and
our false understanding and our falsehood of flesh. And He's
translated us into that light and easy yoke of His Son. And
we're going to see Him. And when He's done, He's going
to have them all gathered to Him. And then the rest of this? They can have it. They can have
it. We got the city. We are the city. The New Jerusalem is a people
redeemed of God, blessed of God, called of God, gathered of God,
preserved of God, brought together in resurrection glory by God. This is the Jerusalem. This is
the New Jerusalem. And here's the peace and security
which He promises us. Look at verse 20. Thine eyes
shall see Jerusalem, a quiet habitation, a tabernacle that
shall not be taken down. Not one of the stakes thereof
shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof
be broken. Now, that's a good... You think
about the tabernacle in the wilderness. It was a tabernacle. It didn't
look like much and it was fragile. It was a tent in a waste, howling
wilderness. That's right. But you know, the
fragileness, the weakness of the tent manifests the very glory of the
one who builds it and keeps it and is the wall around it. And
that's our Savior. Look here, he says in Isaiah
33, we look there and he says, He says in verse 18, you don't
see any scribe there. You don't see receivers there.
You don't see He that counted the towers. You don't see a fierce
people, a people of a deeper speech than thou canst perceive,
of a stammering tongue than thou canst not understand. We're not
going to be saved by a fierce people. That's not what's there.
There's not a fierce people there when we look inside. There's
not a bunch of carnal weapons. There's not a bunch of mighty
and noble There? There's not a bunch of worldly
riches and man's wisdom and man's strength? No, none of those things. None of those things. But God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise. God hath chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things which are mighty. base
things of the world, things which are despised hath God chosen,
yea, things which are nothing to bring to nothing things that
are, that no flesh should glory in his presence, but of God,
of God, but of God. That's what we see when we look
there. He does this on purpose, brethren, so that the feebleness
of this tent magnifies the power and wisdom of God, our salvation. And so it is that our salvation,
capital S, and our walls, capital W, and our protection, capital
P, and our provider, capital P, promises that this tabernacle
shall not be taken down. Not one of the stakes thereof
shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords be broken.
Brothers and sisters, get this. Just think on this. Not one of
you shall ever be removed because Christ is our nail in a sure
place. A few chapters before we saw
that, He removed the mighty men and those things and He replaced
them with Goliath and He said, He's going to be a nail in a
sure place and all the vessels, big and small, Those honorable,
those dishonorable, they all hung on that nail in a sure place. And he's that nail in a sure
place. He's that stake whereby not one of the stakes of this
tabernacle will ever be removed. Not one cord will ever be broken.
Not one. His cords of His everlasting
love, the cords of His sovereign grace, the cords of His everlasting
covenant, the cords of His unchanging word of truth, the cords of His
eternal redemption, the cords of His everlasting salvation.
Not one shall ever be broken. Look at this next thing. But
there, the glorious Lord. The glorious Lord, that Lord
who is glorified. But there the glorious Lord,
verse 21, will be unto us a place of broad rivers and streams wherein
shall go no galley with oars, neither shall gallant ship pass
thereby. Now, you know, in Isaiah's day, the city upon city was consumed
by the Assyrian army. And this was two things they
did. One, they came and the city was surrounded by a river or
had a river running nearby that they needed for water. They took
that river and they diverted away from the city. And that
way, no water means you're going to die. And if the river ran
right up next to the walls of it, they would come in a galley
with oars and come right up to it and put the ladder up on the
walls and they would scale the walls and make a breach in the
city and come into the city. Well, all Jerusalem had around
it was an old, dirty, filthy, stinking brook called Ketron. And that's the brook our Lord
drank dry. And because He drank of that
brook, because He crossed that brook willingly and went out
of the garden of Gethsemane and went to the cross of Calvary,
and because He was the just, died in the place of the unjust,
because He bore the sins of every elect child of God and His own
body on the tree, because He wouldn't go out free, and He
went and served and redeemed His church unto Himself that
He might present it to Himself spotless and without wrinkle.
Because He did that, brethren, the glorious Lord, the glorified,
resurrected Lord of heaven and earth shall be to us a place
of broad rivers and streams. And there won't be any galley
with oars going that river. Not at all. We don't have to
worry about it. Now two things are meant there. Look back at
Isaiah 32. He said, Behold, a king shall
reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment, and a
man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from
the tempest, and as rivers of water in a dry place. Rivers of water in a dry place. Rivers meant fertile lands and
a lot of fruit. By His blood, His children are
born again of the Spirit of God. By Jesus Christ Himself, through
the Spirit, they're filled with the fruits of righteousness,
and they're going to be a fruitful people. A living, fruitful, thriving
people. because He's the glorious Lord
as our rivers. A man shall be as the rivers.
Isn't it our desire to be filled with the fruit of the Spirit?
Isn't it our desire to walk in the works He's foreordained for
us to walk in? Isn't it our desire to be like
trees planted by the rivers of water, bringing forth fruit in
its season? He says here, He's the place
of broad rivers and streams, never ending abounding supply.
You've not come to, you've come to Jesus Christ, the mediator
of the new covenant, to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better
things than that of Abel. Oh, this is the glory, better
things than Abel's, the blood of his lamb that he brought.
This is the lamb, Christ Jesus the Lord. laden with the unsearchable
riches of Christ, the pearl of great price, joint heirs with
Christ. Out of His fullness have all
we received, grace for grace. This is broad-read, never-ending
supply, never-ending. Lack ye anything, He said? They
said nothing, nothing, nothing. All that we need, He is, and
He provides. The river also meant protection.
protection. No galley with oars, neither
should gallant ship pass thereby. This weak tent's got a lot of
enemies. This weak tent's got a lot of
people that's trying to bring her down and trying to come up
against her, just like that king of Assyria was standing outside
the walls and they were just looking, trying to figure out
how we're going to bring this city down. He said to all of
them, verse 23, thy tacklings are loose, they couldn't well
strengthen their masts, they couldn't spread the sail. He
said this, the gates of hell won't prevail against this church,
my church. Think of those rocks on the shoreline,
when you're coming in, in the boat, seeing those rocks crash
against the shoreline. There's been a lot of boats crash
against those rocks. A lot of boats hit those treacherous
rocks and they sank. This is our rock. Christ is our
rock. Any galley that comes near this
one is going to hit this rock and they are going to be broken,
broken, broken. Verse 23, he says, Then is the
prey of a great spoil divided. And the lame, those un-fierce people, those
not mighty, not noble, not wise, not fierce people, those lame
weaklings, They take the prey. They take the prey. Turn over
to Romans 8.35. Romans 8.35. Who shall separate us from the
love of Christ? Tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? That is as
it is written, for thy sake were killed all the day long were
counted as sheep for the slaughter. No, and all these things were
more than conquerors through him that loved us. Now, why is
all this so? Now look to Zion now. I can assure
you if those people in Jerusalem, when they looked at King Hezekiah,
they were troubled. When they looked at the shape
that Jerusalem was in, they were in trouble. They were troubled.
When they looked at the shape Zion was in, they were troubled.
And God put it in the shape it was in. He put it exactly in
the shape it was in. God has put this... Oh, He's
put us right where He's put us. He has. Why? Because then He
said, now you look to Zion and tell me what you see. Why is
all this ordered and sure and running right on track and it
will come to pass exactly how God has ordered it. When He's
ordered it, in the time He's ordered it, exactly how He's
ordered it and you can just rest and be sure it's going to be
that way. I can rest towards you and you can rest towards
me and we can esteem other better than ourselves and just know
the greatest in the kingdom of heaven is going to do it. How?
How so? Isaiah 33, 22. This is what you see now. For
the Lord is our judge. The Lord is our lawgiver. The
Lord is our King. He will save us. All judgment has been committed
to Christ. Look over at 1 Peter. We get a bit out of shape sometimes.
We get distracted and we get a little bit concerned when we
start thinking about government and civil government and all
these different Peter's word, if you want to
sum up his epistle here in 1 Peter is submission. Submission. And
here's a glorious word of hope right here. How can we be at
peace to submit to the ordinances of men and to employers and in
the midst of trials and husbands, wives to their husbands and husbands
considering their wives, respecting her as the weaker vessel, and
loving her and cherishing her, and us here as brethren together,
and me as your pastor, and this is the church of God. How can
we do this? You know, at the time that Peter wrote this, Nero
had burned down Rome, and he was blaming the church for it.
And everybody was saying, yeah, they did it. and anarchy was
coming about. And Peter came forth and said,
just submit yourself to every ordinance of man, to the King
as Supreme. How can I do that? Verse 22,
because 1 Peter 3.22, By the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
who is gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels
and authorities and powers are all submitted to Him. Whether
they like it or not, or know it or not, they are. That's what
He's telling us in Isaiah 30, 22. The Lord is our judge, the
Lord's our lawgiver, and the Lord's our King. He's ruling
in the hearts of His people. He's the one lawgiver who's able
to make His servants stand, by His grace. And I can't make you
do that, and you can't make me do that. But He can. He can. And He is. He is. And He's our
King. He commands deliverance for Jacob. God, our King of old, working
salvation in the midst of the earth, the King of kings and
Lord of lords. He will save us. But Hezekiah But Peter, do you see Nero? I see him. Look past him. Look past him. Look to Zion and
see who's handling Nero. See whose puppet Nero is. And
you can find rest. You can find rest. The glorious
good news is ours right now. He's our husband and we're his
bride. We're inseparably one in him. So let's cast all our
care on Him. All our care on Him. He is the
great all in all and He careth for us. He's our sure dwelling
place. Every trial, He sent it and it's
ministering to our growth. Let's in everything give thanks. Lord,
thank You for the trial. What should I say? Father, deliver
me from this hour. For this cause, I came unto this
hour. Father, glorify Thy name. If we find ourselves, even in this whole trial of life,
He's re-enriching us together by His divine grace. This is
how He builds His church. It's how He unites the hearts
of His people. It's how He creates submissive
hearts. It's how He creates esteem for
others better than ourselves. That's how He does it. It's not
pleasant while it's going on. Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm like what
Art said the other day. I just, oh, I thought, never,
truer words have ever been spoken. I'm so sorry y'all had to suffer,
have to suffer through it with me. I wish, I wish I could learn
it without others having to suffer through it too. Don't you? But that's what unites
our hearts together is to suffer through it together. Oh, we got a good God. Do you
see the King in His beauty? Rejoice. Amen.