So you can once again, with the
help of God, I'd like us to turn together to the chapter that
we read, Isaiah 43, and the text you'll find in verse 1. Isaiah 43 and verse 1. But now,
thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed
thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have
called thee by thy name, thou art mine. Those who were here this morning
will remember that we spoke on the the way in which the Lord
Jesus Christ delivered the man from demon possession and how
he spoke to the demon and told that demon to come out of the
man and immediately that took place. those demons spoke to
the Lord Jesus Christ knowing who he was and they said to him,
let us alone what have we to do with thee thou Jesus of Nazareth
art thou come to destroy us I know thee who thou art the Holy One
of God. And so the demons knew who the
Lord Jesus Christ was. He made them tremble. They knew
of his authority and power that he had over them. They knew that
their time was limited and that one day after Satan had been
crushed by Christ's victory on the cross, that one day they
too would be cast into the lake of fire when the Lord Jesus Christ
comes again. And so those demons knew the
Lord Jesus. And here in our text, the Lord
says that he knows his people. The words really that were pressed
upon my mind were just the last part, thou art mine. And what a lovely thought it
is to be found amongst those who have had that spiritual new
birth take place, those who were once in that kingdom of darkness,
once who maybe even had been demon possessed and yet Christ
had come. and he had cast that demon out
and now he reigns within the heart. He has overthrown the
strong man and he now dwells as the stronger man in the heart
of his people. Do you not know, as I said, your
body is a temple of the Holy Ghost who is in you and James
says, greater is he that is in you than he who is in the world.
And so Christ's people are claimed by him. He brought them, he bought
them by the shedding of his precious blood. He purchased them upon
a calvary's tree and he lived and died and rose again for them. And so what a blessed thing it
is to be found amongst that people, those who are owned and loved
and cared for and known by the Lord Jesus Christ. As the demons
knew Jesus, so Jesus knows his people and he came to claim them
for himself. He came to bring them, to carry
them through, to complete the whole law of God for them. and so that they may be justified
of their sins and clothed in a righteousness that was not
their own. But this mindset we can say of
God has always been. The people of God, the Bible
tells us, were chosen before the foundation of the world.
They were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
They have always been loved. They've always been known by
God. And as the prophet Isaiah speaks
to the people of Israel as they are beginning to come out of
Babylon, or they will be coming out of Babylon, he begins to
speak to them regarding their creation in Israel. how God formed them or how God
brought them into being. If you remember that Israel was
taken into Babylon because of their sin, if you read Isaiah
42 you would see the way in which they rebelled against God. The
Lord is from verse 22 but this people has robbed me and spoiled
they are all of them snares snared in holes and they are hid in
prison houses for they are a prey and none delivered them for a
spoil and none saith restore who among you will give ears
to this who will hearken and hear for the time to come who
gave Jacob for a spoil and Israel to the robbers did not the Lord
he against whom we have sinned they would not walk in his ways,
neither were they obedient unto his laws. Therefore he has poured
upon him the fury of his anger and the strength of battle. and
it has set him on fire round about. Yea, he knew not, and
it burned him. Yea, he laid it not to heart. But now thus saith the Lord.
And so you see, the way in which God dealt with them because of
their sin brought them under that discipline, that chastisement,
in which he sought to correct them, yet they did not turn to
him. They were a people who God formed
for himself. They were a people that he expected
to show forth his praise. They were a people who expected
to bring the offerings and the sacrifices that he required,
yet they turned away from him. They were a people that he created
for himself. Of all the people that were upon
the face of the earth, God chose and gave himself to the people
of Israel. I am the Lord, your Holy One,
the creator of Israel, your King. Verse 15. So he is the one who
created them. We know that God created all
things. We know that God created the
heavens and the earth. He created the animals and the
insects and the birds and all things he created for his glory.
He formed Adam out of the ground and Eve from his rib. And they
were perfect in his sight, yet they sinned against him. Created all things to glorify
him. But out of that whole world,
out of the whole of mankind, God chose to call out a people
for himself. He chose to enter into a covenant
relationship with a people. And that people was started from
Abraham. God entered into a covenant with
Abraham. And from Abraham came the 12
tribes of Israel, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and then all of the sons
that were given to him and how they multiplied in the land of
Egypt. And they became a great nation
and the people of God. And out of that whole world,
that whole of mankind, God chose a remnant to call his own, a
remnant that would show forth his glory, a remnant that he
would be acquainted with. In Genesis chapter 15, we read of the covenant that
was given to Abraham. Think of all the people on the
face of the earth at that time. all the people that God could
have dealt with, yet he chose Abraham, his friend, the man
of faith. And he enters into a special
covenant with him. Genesis 15, 7. From verse 7, and he said unto
him, I am the Lord that brought the out of Ur of Chaldeans to
give thee this land to inherit it.' And he said, Lord God, whereby
shall I know that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take
me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years
old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a
young pigeon. And he took unto him all these,
and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against
another. But the birds he divided not.
When the fowls of the air came down upon the carcasses, Abraham
drove them away. And when the sun was gone down,
a deep sleep fell upon Abraham, and lo, the horror of great darkness
fell upon him. And he said unto Abraham, Know
for a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that
is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict
them for four hundred years. and also that nation whom they
shall serve I would judge and afterwards they shall come out
with great substance and thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace
and thou shalt be buried in a good age but in the fourth generation
they shall come hither and again for the iniquity of the Amorites
is not yet full and it came to pass that when the sun went down
it was dark behold a smoking furnace a burning lamp had passed
between those pieces. In the same day the Lord made
a covenant with Abraham saying unto thy seed have I given this
land from the river of Egypt unto the great river of the river
Euphrates. And so God entered into a covenant
with Abraham and in those days When they made a covenant, when
two people made a covenant with each other, they would divide
an animal in half. And whoever, as they bound each
other to this covenant, whoever broke the covenant, the symbol
would be that they would end up like these two halves of an
animal. They would be dead. And so that
covenant was a binding covenant. And if that covenant was broken,
death would come upon one of those two in our own In our own
time, we have the covenants that are made, especially the covenant
of marriage, that those two people covenant themselves to each other.
They give themselves to each other. They say, this is my body
and I give it. And likewise, they say, until
death do we part. And as a symbol of that covenant,
the rings are worn. And the only way of escaping
or breaking from that covenant is death. Or someone gives their
body to another in adultery. That's a covenant made and the
breaking of the covenant has consequences. So in Abraham's
day there was the severing of the animals in half and the covenant
made. And it was whoever broke that
covenant would die. But notice Abraham fell asleep. A deep sleep fell upon Abraham. And in his deep sleep, he saw
a smoking furnace, a cooking pot with fire, and a burning
lamp passed between those pieces. Abraham himself did not pass
between those pieces this was a covenant made by God and God
alone was a covenant of grace made with Abraham and he said
to Abraham everything that I have said to
you is totally true and is going to rest upon me We know that God's word can never
fall to the ground. God cannot lie. His word is an
eternal word. And he sealed that word with
a covenant that Abraham saw as he passed through those sacrificed
beasts. And he said, you know for sure,
Abraham, because I have done this, that your children Yes,
they will go into captivity. Yes, they will be delivered,
but they will be given the land from the river of Egypt unto
the great sea. That encourages Abraham with
the other word that was given to him when he was called out
of the Ur of the Chaldeans, that he would have children, multitudes
of children as the stars of the sky. In verse five it says, and
he brought him forth abroad and said, look now toward heaven
and tell the stars if they'll be able to number them and he
said unto him so shall thy seed be and he believed in the Lord
and he counted him for righteousness and so we know in Abraham that
all of the world will be blessed. As we follow his line, we come
to the Lord Jesus Christ, that in Christ, this was the fulfilment
of that great covenant that was given to him. As he looked at
the stars and he saw multitudes and multitudes of stars, he is
told that that is going to be like your children. And so Abraham
was able to rest in that covenant that was made between him and
God because every part of that covenant rested
upon God himself. God took the full weight of that
covenant and therefore it could not fail. We go through the scripture and
we come to the covenant of grace in Christ Jesus. Another covenant
that was taken out of man's hands. Covenant between the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit that they would redeem the people that
had been given to the Lord Jesus Christ. That God had chosen,
given to the Lord Jesus Christ. That their salvation would be
taken out of their hands. because their hearts are deceitful
and desperately wicked, unable to save themselves. They have
broken the covenant of works. They've sinned against God. They
are worthy of judgment. And so God makes a covenant with
himself that he will bring about the salvation of his own people. Just as Abraham here didn't have
to do anything. He rested in the covenant of
God that God would achieve it all. All he had to do was walk
it out, walk out in the will of God. He believed God and it
was counted him for righteousness. So everything rested upon God. You imagine, God speaks to you. And he puts you into a deep sleep.
And the scripture says a horror and the great darkness fell upon
him and they saw a fire. The fire symbolizes the holiness
of God. Remember when the law was given
and the flames descended upon the mountain? The holiness of
God, the people trembled. Abraham is filled with a great
horror. And he sees this flame passing
between these animals. God accepts his sacrifice. And God enters into a covenant
with him and says, I'm going to make your ancestors as the
sand of the sea and as the stars of the sky. And all that I have
said to you is not going to fail. Your people are going to obtain
this land. And although Abraham died and
never saw that take place, he was able to rest in that promise
completely because God covenanted it to him. So God created the people of
Israel. and also he entered into a covenant
with the people of Israel. They were his. He formed them. He redeemed them. He knew them
by name and they belonged to him. And he tells them, now they're
in captivity because of disobedience, he tells them, they are not to
fear. We know by nature that we are
people of fear, that we are slaves to fear, but there is no fear
in Christ. We have been redeemed from the
curse of the law. It's the law that brings fear.
It is a A worry that makes us fear when
we're unsure about something we fear. It's an insecurity,
an insecure feeling when we are afraid. We're not in control
of the situation. So we are afraid. But the Bible tells us time and
time again not to be afraid. And here it gives a reason why
the people of God, the people of Israel and the children of
God shouldn't be afraid. It is because they have been
redeemed. They have been purchased with
a price. The people of Israel, the Lord
tells them, I gave Egypt for thee and Sheba and Ethiopia. God delivered them, gave these
lands, wasted these lands so that they may be redeemed. There
was nothing that he didn't do to protect them and to bring
them to himself and to bring them to that place where he wanted
them to be. And the people of God, they are
redeemed with a great price. They are redeemed with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the scriptures, that word
redemption can be used in many cases. Sometimes it is that someone
has been redeemed from an enemy, they've been delivered, the Lord
has worked on their behalf and rescued them. Or it can mean
that they've been redeemed from slavery, that someone has paid
the price to set them free. Or it can be like with Ruth and
Boaz with that kingship redeemer where a price is paid and that
wife becomes the wife of the kinsman. In the book of Ruth
we have that with Ruth and Boaz. So you know as Ruth's husband
dies Naomi's husband dies and Ruth's husband dies and they
take her and they go back to Bethlehem and how the Lord intervenes
in that life of Naomi and Ruth and she is led to the field of
Boaz Ruth the Moabitess is led to the field of Boaz and Boaz is a near kinsman or a relation
to Ruth and Naomi. And their custom was that if
there was no person to marry a widow then some near kinsman
could take on that care of a husband and raise up a child in the name
of the man who had died. And so as Ruth and Naomi return
to Bethlehem the Lord works in a marvellous way and brings Boaz
and Ruth together. And Boaz steps in as this kinsman
redeemer and he purchases Ruth and all that she has, and even
her mother-in-law, to raise up a child for her husband that
had passed away. In Ruth chapter four, from verse
nine, as they were at the gate, there was a kinsman that was
nearer than Boaz, but this man refuses to take on the responsibility
of a kinsman's redeemer, but Boaz He has that love for Ruth. He has the ability to take her
and to look after her and to purchase all that she has. And
so he steps in and becomes her husband. And Boaz said, chapter four and
verse nine, and Boaz said unto the elders and unto the people,
you are witnesses this day that I have brought all that was Elimelech's
and all that was Chilion's and Marlon's of the hand of Naomi. Moreover, Ruth, the Moabitess,
the wife of Marlon, have I purchased to be my wife, to raise up the
name of the dead upon the inheritance, that the name of the dead be
not cut off from among his brethren, and from the gate of his place.
Ye are witnesses this day, and all the people that were in the
gate, and all the elders said, we are witnesses. The Lord make
the woman that is come into thine house like Rachel and like Leah,
which too did build the house of Israel and do thou worthily
to and be famous in Bethlehem. And so Boaz, he redeems this
destitute woman. He purchases her, all of her
and her mother-in-law's farmland and they become his and he raises
up a seed to Marlon. And so that his line would not
be cut off. And so he purchases at a cost. And just like the Lord Jesus
Christ purchases his people at a cost. He becomes their kinsman's
redeemer and he buys them. He brings them from a destitute
state where they are lost like orphans without hope. And he purchases them. He buys
them and he brings them to himself and they become his and they
are freed. When I was in Kenya we used to
go to the market and there was selling all manner of animals
but often they would be selling chickens or cockerels. And it
was a pretty horrendous sight to see. Some would have their
heads hanging out the side panting, no water out in the sun. I used to say to the people, you
know, this is how we are outside of Christ. We are slaves. We are entrapped by Satan. He's a cruel, he's a cruel master. But Christ comes and he pays
the price. And he takes all of those that
are his and he brings them to himself and he doesn't encase
them, incarcerate them anymore, but he sets them free. You could
go and buy all of those chickens and they would belong to you.
And he could set them free. And that's what the Lord Jesus
Christ has done. The hymn says, he saw us ruined
in the fall and loved us notwithstanding all. And he comes and he purchases
his people. He redeems them and he sets them
free. And so in Christ. He brings them from the curse
of the law and enters into another covenant. They belong to his.
They are his own people, his church. The scripture tells us,
I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. As God entered into a covenant with Abraham, he became
his servant, Abraham. And Abraham became the father
of the faithful. And as he entered into that covenant
and he promised him that his ancestors or his descendants
would become as the sand of the sea and the stars of the sky.
And as we read through the Old Testament we see how that takes
place and Israel multiplies and multiplies and multiplies and
how they end up in the promised land as God has said. God built him up from one man. And so it is with Christ. God
will build his church and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. He entered into a covenant with
Christ and that Christ would secure the salvation of his people. He would redeem them, an innumerable
number. He would redeem them for himself. God took the life of his son as a payment for the lives of all those that
were in him. As Christ gave up the ghost upon
the cross, God was pleased, was satisfied with the life and death
of his of his son. He became their redeemer by pouring
out his blood upon the cross, by giving his life as a ransom
for sinners. Everything rested upon him. As in the covenant of Abraham,
everything rested upon God. And the covenant made with Father,
Son and Holy Spirit all rested upon the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ, which is why we saw this morning Satan seeking to sow
those seeds of doubt into the mind of Christ. If thou be the
son of man, if, if, if. And if Christ had succumbed to
those temptations, if Christ had deviated from the will of
God, if Christ had sinned, Then as the whole of all of those
millions of people that were given to him, the whole lot would have plunged
into hell. But he didn't fail. How do we
know that he didn't fail? Because he rose again on the
third day, proving that God was pleased,
that the grave could not hold him, there was no sin in him,
and that the punishment that he received was enough to extinguish
the wrath of God for the sins of the people of God. Just as God knew Abraham by name,
Just as God knew Jacob and Isaac by name, so God knows every single
one of his people by name. And he tells them, fear not,
for I have redeemed you. That is the basis for the no
fear. You have been redeemed. You have
been set free. You are found in the Lord Jesus
Christ. You have no need to fear anymore
because Christ is your saviour. God is your heavenly father. There is no need to fear. Although
a whole host of hell come and surround you, there is no need
to fear. Now I talk about that John Payton
but if you read his life, if you read the things that he had
to go through, and the experiences that he had of God in the midst
of savages seeking for his life and the protection that God gave
him. Yes, others were taken round
about him. It doesn't mean that they were
not believers, it's just that their time had come. But the
Lord had a greater work for this young man and how the Lord preserved
him. in so much opposition and such
danger, took away his fear, even though his life was constantly
under attack. And so for us as people of God,
although we may fear, the scripture says we shouldn't fear. Why?
Because we're in Christ, we've been purchased, we belong to
him. He created us. He entered into a covenant with
us. He formed us for himself. And we're not to fear. He called
us by our name. We see Jesus. He says, I know
their name. He knows the names of his sheep. As the great high priest, as
he entered into the holy place, he had the names of the children
of Israel written upon his breast and written upon his shoulders. So Christ, as the greater high
priest, the true high priest, knows every single child of God
that he lived for and died for and now intercedes for. each
were called by name. Sometimes in the military in
training because they want to get the recruits to lose sight
of themselves they're given a number and they're just referred to
as number 5, number 10, number 15. Sometimes it's said like that,
isn't it, with big companies that you work for. Well, the
boss doesn't really know who I am. I'm just a number. But
not with the Lord Jesus Christ. Although his host is as the stars
of the sky, yet he knows their name. I have called thee by thy
name, thou art mine. You see, as he redeems his people,
he brings them from belonging to Satan, from out of the kingdom
of darkness, and he brings them into his own kingdom. They're
no longer orphans without a father. No, they are children. They are sons and daughters of
God. They belong to the father. For he gave his son for them
to redeem them from the consequences of their sin. And now they are
gods. Thou art mine. To who do we belong? Tonight? Does Satan say over us, you are
mine? Or does the Lord Jesus Christ
say over us, you are mine? If we are the Lord Jesus's, then
we have nothing to fear for time or for eternity. But if Satan has claimed to us
then we ought to be afraid. We ought to be afraid not of
him but of God. If we are in the kingdom of darkness then
we're still under the curse of the law of God. And when we die,
we will be judged according to that law, according to the works
that we have done in this world and we will be found guilty.
But in Christ, Christ has completed the works of the law. Christ
came to redeem them from under the curse of the law. And we'll
be able to claim that he is our righteousness, that he is the
one that lived and died on our behalf. He is the one that has
redeemed us and set us free. And God will say, when I see
the blood, only when I see the blood, I will pass. over you. And so as Abraham was known by
God and chosen by God and entered into a covenant with God, that
covenant was resting solely upon God himself. And we know that
God cannot fail and that is proved by the fact that we can read
through the Old Testament and see God adhered to his word. So the believers in Christ, their
salvation is secure in the Lord Jesus Christ. because it is based
solely upon that covenant made with Father, Son and Holy Spirit
that Christ would come to live and die to redeem a people for
himself, that they would belong to God as he brought them through
his own son's blood. May the Lord add his blessing.
Amen. The final hymn this evening is
from Gatsby's 1,105 to the tune 423, 1,105. Jesus engrave it
on my heart, that thou, the one thing needful art, I could from
all things parted be, but never, never, Lord, from thee. 1105. me, but there were never more
from thee. Me, full of love to make thee
live, me, full of love, all praise to give, me, full to Needful to help me every day. Needful is our most precious
blood. Needful is our compassionate
God. Make for my home remaining breath. Be for thy presence, dearest
Lord, True peace and comfort to afford. Fresh life will be built to my
heart. In all of them, my soul can say,
Through all night's darkness, be, when I yield up my soul to
Thee. If all of Thou didst raise my
dust in shining glory with the Dear Lord and almighty God, we
thank thee for the security of thy people in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We thank thee that our salvation does not rest upon
our own ability, our own goodness, and we thank thee that it is
secure for time and for eternity in thy beloved Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we pray, Lord, then that
thou move amongst us, enable us to trust and to rest upon
the Lord Jesus. We do remember Anna, Lord, also
still unable to be with us. We pray for her and for thy healing
hand to be granted unto her and do grant her, Lord, that strength
to continue. Do help the family also, we pray,
as they pass through this another difficult time. Do dismiss us,
we pray, with thy blessing. And may the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, the fellowship
and communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with us each now and forevermore.
Amen.