Let us turn to God's Word in
the portion that we read in Isaiah chapter 57 and I want to direct
you this evening to the words that we find here at verse 19
Isaiah 57 19 I create the fruit of the lips peace peace to him
that is far off and to him that is near, saith the Lord, and
I will heal him. In Isaiah chapter 57 and verse
19. The subject matter I want to
address is what's declared in the opening clause, the fruit
of the lips. The fruit of the lips. God says,
I create the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace to him that is far
off and to him that is near, saith the Lord, and I will heal
him. What is his fruit of the lips?
We're to understand it in terms of the ministry of the Gospel. That is God's own ordinance. The Apostle Paul says that he
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. What is the foolishness of preaching?
In a sense the reference is to the subject matter that is being
preached. And what is that subject? It's
Christ crucified. And now that message of a crucified
saviour is foolishness to men but also that expression that
he pleases God to save by the foolishness of preaching has
some reference surely to the preaching itself that a man should
stand and declare such a message men ridicule preaching but it
is what God himself as ordained. Faith cometh, he tells us, by
hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. And this, I say, is God's
own appointment, God's own ordinance. I create the fruit of the lips,
and that fruit of the lips, then, is to be understood in terms
of the ministry of the Gospel. Just to remark briefly with regards
to the context here, The main subject matter of this chapter
as we read it through you will have observed is one in which
God is reproving the wicked and their foolish ways from verse
3 right the way through to verse 13. Now the children of Israel
in the main departed from the Lord their God they were those
who themselves were spiritual Adulterers, they multiplied their
gods, they worshipped images, they wanted to be like the nations
round about them. God is reproving them. But then as we come to the end
of the chapter, there is a word of grace to those who will turn
to Him and put their trust in Him. and desire to know the forgiveness
of their sins and acceptance with God. And he says here at
verse 18, I have seen His ways and will heal Him, I will lead
Him also and restore comforts unto Him and to His mourners. Oh, there is hope. And that hope
is to be conveyed through the ministry of the prophets, through
the Word of God. Even when the people were guilty
of many sins and solemn departures from the Lord, yet He would raise
up prophets, faithful men of God who would declare to the
nation the truth of God's works. And that's what we have then
in the words of our text. I create the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace to him that is far
off and to him that is near. says the Lord and I will heal
him. But we can be more specific with
regards to what this Fruit of the Lips is because we find a
key in the New Testament in that passage that we read in Ephesians
chapter 2 You may observe that the vocabulary there in that
17th verse of that chapter in Ephesians is not dissimilar to
what we have here in our text. There in that portion of chapter
2 Paul is speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ and his ministry
and the point the purpose of that ministry to make that great
sin atoning sacrifice the propitiation for our sins and then he says
at verse 17 and we came and preached peace to you which were afar
off and to them that were nigh and the the language the vocabulary
is very much the same as what we have in the text here. And
so this fruit of the lips is to be understood in terms of
the ministry, the ministry of the Word, the ministry of the
Gospel of the grace of God. God in every generation has had
his faithful servants proclaiming the Gospel of his grace. Now, Here in the Old Testament
of course there were also false teachers and false prophets.
And there is certainly some reference to those false teachers in the
previous chapter. There at verse 10 in chapter
56. His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant, they are all
dumb dogs, they cannot bark, sleeping, lying down, loving
to slumber, Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough.
They are shepherds that cannot understand. They all look to
their own way, every one for his gain from his quarter." How
he is reproving these men and he refers to them as shepherds,
the shepherds, or the pastors. We immediately think of that
34th chapter in the book of the prophet Ezekiel, that chapter
in which the Lord God, through Ezekiel, is rebuking the false
shepherds. There were those three offices
in the Old Testament that God had given to the people of Israel. There were not only prophets,
there were also priests, and there were princes or kings,
and it was for these men in these various offices to have the oversight,
as it were, to pastor, to shepherd God's ancient people. But how
they failed so so miserably. And in that 34th chapter of Ezekiel
we read of the solemn words that God addresses to those false
shepherds who were not seeking the good of the people but were
only out to seek their own advantage and their own profit. They were
always those who were false prophets and the faithful servants of
the Lord have to expose them And we see for example how Jeremiah
was one who would do this. He speaks against the false prophets. There in Jeremiah chapter 6 verse 13 he says, From the least
of them, even unto the greatest of them, every one is given to
covetousness and from the prophet even unto the priest everyone
dealeth falsely they have healed also the hurt of the daughter
of my people slightly saying peace peace when there is no
peace in a sense they bring the same word as the faithful servants
of God they can speak of peace peace and that's what we have
in our text I create the fruit of the lips peace peace says
God well these these false prophets They deceived the people. In
the context there in Jeremiah 6, of course, he's ministering
at the time when they were to be taken into captivity, into
exile. The Babylonians had come and
laid siege to Jerusalem, destroyed the city, razed the temple to
the ground, removed all the best of the people into exile, But
before that happened there were those false prophets who were
saying to the people, oh we're safe, the temple of the Lord,
the temple of the Lord, we have these things, God will never
allow us to be overrun by the heathen. Peace, peace they were
saying. And yet God was about to visit
a terrible judgment upon them because of their sins, because
of their idolatrous ways. Those things that I say we read
of here at verse 3 following in our chapter tonight. So Jeremiah
speaks of the false prophets, exposes them. And as there were
false prophets in the Old Testament, so in the New Testament we know
there are also false teachers and false apostles. Paul, for
example, will speak against them and expose them, and John likewise,
and their teachings, the teachings of Antichrist and so forth. Where there are the Lord's faithful
prophets then there will also be those who are not the Lord's
those who are false and so as we come to look at this text
tonight to say something with regards to the marks of that
faithful ministry of the Gospel and how it is very much God's
work it's God and only God who can make that faithful servant
and equip that faithful servant. Taking up then this theme of
the ministry of the gospel. And what do we see? Well, first
of all, it is that that comes with authority and with power. God says, I create the fruit
of the lips. It is God's work. It's not for a man to make himself
the Lord's servant, the Lord makes His own servants, gives
them a message to proclaim. And He takes men who in their
very natures are sinners, are the sons of Adam, they sinned
in their father, they have sinned in their own persons, and there
we see it with regards to this prophet. Doesn't Isaiah tell
us something of how he was called to this ministry? He has that
remarkable vision in chapter 6, It's the year in which the
King Uzziah dies. And as it were, the throne is
vacated. I suppose it wasn't really because
one king dies, another king ascends. But he sees another throne. He
sees the throne of God. And that throne is always occupied. That is the throne of the Almighty,
the Great Jehovah, the Lord, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. And he sees those angels round
about the throne of God and their song, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord
God of hosts. All the Holy Father, the Holy
Son, and the Holy Spirit. And now the sight, in a sense,
completely overwhelms the man. As we see it there in chapter
6, verse 5, Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone, because
I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips. For mine eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts. Then threw one of the seraphims
unto me, having a light coal in his hand, which he had taken
with the tongues from off the altar. And he laid it upon my
mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips, and thine iniquity
is taken away, and thy sin purged. And what's the significance of
this vision that he is beholding? Well, of course, the brazen altar
is where they would offer the burnt offerings. And all that
is so typical of the Lord Jesus Christ and that great sacrifice
that Christ would make. And what is it that the angel
is doing? The seraphim takes the living coal, the hot coal,
from that altar, the place of sacrifice, and he puts it to
the lips, as it were, of the prophet. And though he pronounces
woe, because he is of unclean lips, yet his lips are cleansed.
In other words, God is creating the fruit of the lips. He is
making himself a true prophet. It is God, it is the sovereignty
of God that we see here. When Moses is called to be the
deliverer of the children of Israel, there in the early part
of Exodus, he objects, doesn't he? He's not an eloquent man.
But what does God say? Who hath made man's mouth? Who hath made man's mouth? God
makes man's mouth. And God is able to fill the mouth
of all his servants with his truth. He equips them. That was the case with the prophet
Jeremiah in the opening chapter of his book. He tells us the
Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto
me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. I create the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace, says the Lord God."
Oh, it's the work of God. It's God then who makes His minister,
and as was the case here in the Old Testament with the prophets,
so when we come to the New Testament, it's Christ who chooses his apostles,
appoints them, sends them forth. And remember how Paul, when he
writes in that 10th chapter of Romans, makes it clear that the
ministry of the gospel and the preaching of that gospel is the
ordinance of God. He makes that so plain in Romans
chapter 10. Romans chapter 10 verse 14 How then shall they call on Him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, How beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace. and bring
glad tidings of good things. I create the fruit of the lips,
says God. Peace, peace. These are those
who preach the gospel of preach. How shall they preach except
they be sent? It is the work of God. It is God who makes these ministers. As Joseph Hart says in the hymn,
Behold the gospel plan, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit and the
Spirit sends the man. The man is constrained. He must preach. And what happens
in preaching? Why in the preaching God comes
so very close to us. This is your authority. You see,
God is in it. It's God's ordinance. It's God's appointment. Again
in that 10th chapter of Romans, verse 6, the righteousness which
is of faith, says Paul, speaks on this wise, saying, Not in
thine heart who shall ascend into heaven, that is, to bring
Christ down from above, or who shall descend into the deep,
that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead. But what saith
it? The word is neither even in thy mouth and in thy heart,
that is, the word of faith which we preach. Oh, it's neither. It's the Word of Faith, it's
the preaching. God comes very close in preaching. Faith cometh
by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. And it is that ordinance
in which the Lord Jesus Christ Himself does indeed come close
to us, draws near to us. As that was the case in the ministry
there at Ephesus, in Asia Minor, Turkey. far, far from the land
of Palestine. The Lord Jesus Christ was never
in those quarters. But when Paul writes to that
church at Ephesus, what does he say? You have not so learned
Christ. If so be ye have heard him and
been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus. How did they hear
the Lord Jesus? How were they taught by the Lord
Jesus? Through the preaching. Through the ministry of the Word.
Isn't that what we are to look for? that the Lord would come,
it's his own appointment I create the fruit of the lips, he says,
my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I
give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish all these are his sheep, you
see he goes before those sheep they follow him they know his
voice, a stranger will they not follow they know another voice
of a stranger. And these people are to discern,
here in the Old Testament, the truth from the false, the false
from the truth. How does the Gospel come? When
there is that faithful proclamation of the doctrines of the sovereign
grace of God, why the Lord is in that? Paul can say to the
Thessalonians, our gospel came not unto you in word only but
in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. Oh, it
was Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester, noble martyr at the time of the
Protestant Reformation. The great preacher himself who
said concerning preaching this is the only office that God has
ordained to save us by. Let us maintain this. The importance
of the preaching then and the authority of the preaching and
the power of that preaching when the Lord is in His own ordinance. And who are those who are being
addressed here? It is peace, peace to him that
is far off and to him that is near. Certain particular people
are being spoken of. There are those who are near
and those who are far off. Now, who are those that are near? Well, it was the privilege of
Israel in the Old Testament. You only have I known says God. You only have I known of all
the families of the earth. It was to Israel that God gave
his laws. The Psalmist reminds us of that
truth there at the end of the 147th Psalm. He showeth His words unto Jacob,
His statutes and His judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt
so with any nation as for His judgments, they have not known
them. Praise ye the Lord. Well, these are those who are
near. Peace, peace to him that is near. They're near. you are Israelites
to whom pertaineth the giving of the law and the service of
God and the covenants and the promises and all those great
blessings but then on the other hand we read of those who are
far off you are those who are far off well the reference is to those
other nations, those Gentile nations. And remember what we
read there in Ephesians 2 concerning the ministry of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It says He came and preached to you which were afar off. Paul
is writing there in Ephesus to the church that was found in that city. It was a Gentile city. And doubtless
the church was principally made up of Gentiles. Those who were once afar off.
And they were the very ones that the Lord Jesus came and preached
to. To you which were afar off. In
fact, of course that whole portion of scripture that we were looking
at speaks of the mystery of the calling of the Gentiles. We started reading there at verse
11 in Ephesians 2. Wherefore remember that ye being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh, which are caught on circumcision
by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that
at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens, from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenant of promise,
having no hope and without God in the world. But now, in Christ
Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, are made nigh by the
blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath
made both one, and hath broken down the middle ward of partition
between us." That ancient division between Jew and Gentile is gone.
God's Word is as much for the Gentile as it is for the Jew. It's the calling of the Gentiles.
We could have read through into chapter 3. Paul there speaks
of his own particular ministry. He's the apostle to the Gentiles.
And look at what he says there in verse 8 of chapter 3. Unto
me who am less than the least of all saints is this grace given
that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches
of Christ, and to make all men see what is the fellowship of
the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hidden,
God, who created all things, by Jesus Christ, to the intent
that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places
might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God."
What a statement he's making here. the principalities and
powers in heavenly places, the angelic beings, when they look
at the church, and what God is doing in the salvation of Gentiles,
they see the manifold wisdom of God. Or they have that revelation
of God's eternal purpose, which He purposed in Christ Jesus. that he was going to call out
many sinners, multitudes of sinners the calling of the Gentiles those
that were once afar off made nigh by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ well that's something of the prophetic fulfillment really
our text I suppose is a prophecy of what would come in the day
of the gospel and that greater light that we have in Ephesians
chapter 2 helps us to understand these words I create the fruit
of the lips, peace, peace to him that is far off and to him
that is near saith the Lord and I will heal him but isn't there
some spiritual significance also when we look at these words who
are those who are near were to hear this message of salvation.
Well, that's the Jerusalem sinner. The Jerusalem sinner. And there's that remarkable book,
sermon I suppose really, developed into something more than a sermon
in Bunyan's works, The Jerusalem Sinner Saved. The Jerusalem sinner
is a great sinner. But where does the gospel begin?
He comes first to great sinners. When the Lord gives that commission
to His disciples at the end of Luke, what does He say? Repentance
and remission of sins is to be preached in His name among all
nations beginning at Jerusalem. Oh, this is where the Gospel
begins, at Jerusalem. And what is the significance
of Jerusalem? Well, that was the very place
where the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. And crucified, of
course, at the demand of the Jew. Crucify Him! Crucify Him was their cry. And
when the Holy Spirit is poured forth on the day of Pentecost,
we have the record there in Acts chapter 2 of the preaching of
Peter and the other disciples. And what is the message? We're
familiar with the chapter, I'm sure. Verse 14. Peter, standing
up with the eleven, lifted up his voice and said unto them,
Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known
unto you, and hearken to my words. Oh, he's preaching, you see,
first at Jerusalem. What does he say? Verse 22, Ye
men of Israel, hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did by him in the midst of you. As ye yourselves also know, him
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.
Oh, he tells them plainly. They're culpable. You took Him,
and with your wicked hands you crucified the Lord of Glory.
It's all God's purpose, yes. It's a fulfillment of God's determinate
counsel. But they are the ones who did
it. And He tells them then in no uncertain terms what sinners
they were, the crucifiers of the Lord of Glory. And what's the outcome? Verse
37, When they heard this, they were pricked in their hearts,
and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and
brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent,
and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ
for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of
the Holy Ghost. For the promises unto you and
to your children and to all that are afar off will mark it again,
all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall
call. And with many other words did He testify and exhort, saying,
Save yourselves from this untoward generation." Beginning at Jerusalem,
what privileged people they were. Jerusalem, the Holy City, the Temple of
the Lord, and all that that spoke concerning
Christ. Oh, what privileged people! You
know, great privileges bring great accountability. Spiritual favours, if we have
them and we neglect them, amount to great sins. Very solemn, isn't
it? born into a godly family, you
see, all the advantages of believing parents. Very solemn. But the amazing thing is, you
see, that God says, unto whomsoever much is given, of the same shall
much be required. There is that. And yet, such
is the grace of God, it comes even to those who maybe have
kicked over the traces, been willful, in their sins, wanting
to be free of all the restrictions of a godly home. And yet, in His grace, in His
mercy, God sends His gospel even to those, to them that are near,
but also He sends that gospel to them that are far off, far
off the ends of the earth who fear that there can be no hope
of them they've only ever known sin and they've wandered so very
very far from God but what does he say look unto me and be ye
saved all the ends of the earth for I am God's and there is none
else however they are sometimes at their wit's end They seem so very far from God,
there's no hope for them. But how remarkable are the words
of the psalmist. Do we not see the psalmist, do
we not see David in such a place as that, Psalm 61? He says, Hear
my cry, O gods, attend unto my prayer from the end of the earth,
when I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed, lead me
to the rock that is higher than I." Isn't this a man who's at
the ends of the earth, far off, his heart overwhelmed, and yet
he can breathe out that cry that the Lord would set him on the
rock. And what is that rock higher
than I? Is it not Christ, that rock upon
which he will build his church and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it? Oh, the message there. It's for
certain people, but it's for sinners. Sinners of all sorts,
sinners of all stripes. I create the fruit of the lips.
Peace, peace to him that is far off and to him that is near,
saith the Lord, and I will heal him. Well, finally tonight, let
me just say something with regards to the actual content of the
message. What is the message? Two words. Peace. Peace. We know we need that because
by nature we're all alienated from God. Whoever we are, I don't
care who your parents, what your lineage might be, we're all by
nature enemies of God. The carnal mind, Paul says, is
enmity against God. It is not subject to the law
of God, neither indeed can be. That's our natural mind. We're
enemies. We don't want this man to rule
over us. And yet, here is the message
of the Gospel. And thank God for the repetition.
Peace. Peace. Oh, thank God there are
repetitions. Sometimes we feel to need that,
to be told again and again. That's the Gospel, isn't it?
We see it previously here in chapter 40. Repetition again. Comfort ye. Comfort ye, my people,
saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
and cry unto her that all warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. Her warfare is accomplished.
Oh, there was that state of alienation, but the Gospel comes with a message
of peace, of reconciliation. Oh, the consolations of the Gospel
when it comes. And what is this peace? It's
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Peace. When we think of the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is he? One of the names given
to him is that of the Prince of Peace. The Prince of Peace. We have it earlier in this book
of the Prophet in chapter 9 unto us a child is born, unto us a
son is given and the government shall be upon his shoulder and
his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the
Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace oh think of his person
who he is he's the Prince of Peace there is a child born But
the son isn't born, is he? He says, unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given. He's already the son. He's the
eternal son. When the fullness of the time
has come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman. All the childs He's born of the
woman. Now, there we see the natures,
the two natures, you see. He is God. He's the Son of God. He's very God of very gods. He's
the Son of the Father in truth and love. There's that divine
nature. But what does the angel say to
Mary the virgin? The Holy Ghost shall come upon
thee, the power of the higher shall overshadow thee, therefore
also that holy thing that shall be born of thee. That holy thing,
that's the human nature which he receives from his virgin
mother, the seed of the woman, that holy thing. And that human
nature joined to the eternal Son of God. That holy thing shall
be called the Son of God. all the mystery of the incarnation
the miracle of that birth in his very person he is peace because
he is God and man he brings God and man together he is the mediator
and the days man that stands between heaven and earth that
comes between God and man Did we not read it there in Ephesians
chapter 2? He is our peace. He, in his very
person. He is our peace. You have made both one. Reconciling
Jew and Gentile, taking down that middle wall of partition.
No more partitions. He is our peace. And again in
prophecy in Micah 5 and verse 5 we're told this man shall be
the peace. Who is this man? Well the first
man is of the earth, earthly. The second man is the Lord from
heaven. Oh he's the last Adam. He's a new Adam as it were. Through
that first Adam sin came into the world. But through the last
Adam salvation comes, or the man. And how we do well to think
upon these things, to read God's words, to search God's words,
to meditate upon these things, the great mystery of godliness. That's what Paul calls it. The
mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Do we ever stop to think? We can't fathom it really. We
can't understand it. It's mystery. But here is peace. It's peace in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. But it's also peace in the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's peace and peace. There's the work. Again there
in what we read in Ephesians 2, it mentions Him making peace. He makes peace. Now how is it
that the Lord Jesus makes peace? Well, it's by His work. And what is His work? His work
culminates in dying. That's the great work that He
came to do, to die. He was born to die, this man.
And we're told there in Colossians 1.20, having made peace. through
the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto
himself by him i say whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven and you that were sometime alienated and enemies in your
mind by wicked works oh that's what we are alienated enemies
wicked yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight." How has he made peace? He's reconciled those
who were in a state of alienation, those who were once enemies of
God, they are brought nigh by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, he is the propitiation for
our sins. Here in his love, not the will
of God, but that God loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation. What does that mean? All God's
wrath, all God's righteous anger, all God's justice has been satisfied
because Christ has died and died just for the unjust to bring
sinners to God. This is the message. I create
the fruit of the lips. Peace. peace to him that is far
off and to him that is near saith the lord and i will heal him
and then finally there's this there's the word of christ the
person of christ the work of christ but also the word you
know there in ephesians 2 who is the one who is preaching peace
In that portion that we read, he's not speaking of those who
are called to be preachers, he's speaking of the great preacher,
the prince of all preachers. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
is the one who came and preached peace. What was the legacy that he left?
When he speaks to his disciples there in John 14, he says, Peace
I leave with you. my peace give I unto you not
as the world giveth give I unto you let not your heart be afraid
let not your heart be troubled neither be afraid oh it's a legacy
it's a legacy of peace it's the great message of the gospel here
at verse 18 God says I have seen his ways
and will heal him I will lead him also and restore comforts
unto him and to his mourners. I create the fruit of the lips,
peace, peace to him that is far off and to him that is near,
saith the Lord, and I will heal him. There's healing you see,
the beginning of verse 18, the end of verse 19, I will heal. Oh, it's a healing balm of the
everlasting gospel. The hymn writer says the gospel's
a message of peace. We are, by experience, have felt
it is filled with Emmanuel's grace and sweeps away mountains of
guilt. That's the gospel. That's the
gospel, is it not? It's the grace of God and the
removal of all sin, enmity, all alienation. This is what the
Lord God does for his people. Cast you up, cast you up, prepare
the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ
himself has done. All the fruit of the lips, the
gospel, the preaching of the Word of God. But then As we conclude,
can we not think of the fruit of the lips also in terms of
prayer? What is to be our response to
this? Are we just to be passive? Is
there nothing? No, we're to pray. We're to pray
over the Word of God. We're to pray over God's Word
surely before we come to the house of God in anticipation
of the service of God's house. We're to pray after the preaching.
We want to know that God's word is for us. We don't want just
to hear the voice of some preacher, be him some great preacher, maybe
our favorite preacher. But do we really want to hear
the voice of man or do we want to hear the voice of the Lord,
the voice of Christ? Oh my sheep, hear my voice, he
says. And we need to pray. But what
does God say? I will pour upon the house of
David, upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace
and supplications. All we've got comes by His Spirit
in His Word. We'll know that Spirit of grace
and that Spirit of supplications. And they shall look upon me whom
they have pierced and shall mourn for him, he says, as one mourner
for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one
that is in bitterness for his firstborn. The language. An only son taken. Oh, what bitterness, what sorrow,
what grief. The firstborn child taken. And
it's all speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't it? They
shall look upon me. Oh, if we would but behold Christ,
surely we must then come and and pray and plead with God that
he might grant that we should have an interest in that person
and that great work that he accomplished. And God bids us. He says, take
with you words, turn to the Lord, say, take away all iniquity.
Receive us graciously. Where do we find the forgiveness
of sin? Where do we find acceptance with God? It's only here in the
Gospel. The Gospel of the grace of God.
It's God's own ordinance. And He has said, Faith cometh
by hearing or by the foolishness of preaching. He pleases the
Lord God to save them that believe. I create the fruit of the lips. Peace, peace to him that is far
off. And to him that is near saith
the Lord, and I will heal him. O God, grant that we might know
then something of that healing balm, of the gospel, of the grace
of God. Amen. Well, let us conclude our
worship today as we sing hymn number 925. And the tune is Whitburn
435. peace by his cross as Jesus made
the church's everlasting head or hell and sin as victory won
and with a shout to glory gone 925 tune 435 Peace by His cross, as Jesus
made, The churches ever lost in hate, For heaven's sin has
victory won, And with a shout of glory gone. When o'er thy head the billows
roll, And shades of sin obscure thy soul, When thou canst no
deliverance see, Yet still this man thy peace shall be. In tribulation's gloomy mace,
Or on the mount of sovereign grace, Or in the fire, or through
the sea, This glorious man thy peace shall be. Yea, when thy eye of faith is
dim, Rest thou on Jesus, sink or swim, And at his footstool
bow the knee, For Israel's God thy peace shall be.