Good evening, everyone. Let's
begin our evening's worship service. You can remain sitting if you
want, whatever you want. I always feel kind of bad for
people who are a little tired, maybe. As we remain sitting,
let's sing 39 out of your soft back hymnal, Sovereign Grace,
I Will Proclaim It, sung to what a friend we have in Jesus. 39. Wretched, lost, condemned, and
dying Guilty, I deserve God's wrath Long I fought against my
Master Hell-bent, I was courting death But the blood of Christ
had bought me refused to let me die. This poor sinner loved by Jesus
must be conquered by and by. At the time which was predestined,
? In the covenant of God's grace ? ? God in mercy sent his spirit
? ? Blessed time of love and grace ? ? To reveal his son's
great merit ? ? As the sinner's substitute ? I saw Jesus bleeding, dying,
suffering as my substitute. Precious blood for sin's atonement,
justice could not ask for more. I heard Christ crying, it's finished
And I could resist no more Thanks to God for intervening Grace
that broke my stubborn will Grace that would not let me perish
? Grace that rescued me from hell ? ? Soft and flaming ? ? Irresistible
and free ? ? Grace that chose me and redeemed me ? ? God by
grace alone saved me ? Sinner, now you've heard my story. Now I bid you trust my God. Christ, my all-sufficient Savior,
saves poor sinners by His blood. Thank you. Our scripture reading is Psalm
87. Psalm 87. A Psalm or Song for the Sons
of Korah. His foundation is in the holy
mountains. The Lord loved the gates of Zion
more than all the dwellings of Jacob. Glorious things are spoken
of the O city of God, Sila. I will make mention of Rahab
and Babylon to them. that know me, behold, Philistia
and Tyre with Ethiopia, this man was born there. And of Zion
it shall be said, this and that man was born in her, and the
highest himself shall establish her. The Lord shall count when
he writeth up the people that this man was born there, Selah,
as well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there,
all my springs are in thee. O Lord God Almighty, Thou who
art merciful, Father, we thank you again for allowing us to
assemble this evening in this place. We thank you, Lord, for
giving us this great opportunity to hear the unsearchable riches
of our glorious Savior declared once again Father, we thank you
that you allow us to assemble here. You provided all the necessary
means, whether they are financial, and we have our pastor also.
We thank you, Lord, for Brother Eric. Will you continue to remember
him, Lord? Give him strength and health
and all that he needs, Lord. Pour out your blessed spirit
upon him as he sits in his study preparing these messages, and
remember him this evening, Lord, where he hopes to stand before
us to declare the glorious gospel, which is our Lord Jesus Christ.
Lord, comfort us and give us rest for our souls. Be with those,
Lord, that are listening through the internet. Remember them,
Lord, where they are and bless them richly. And Lord, remember
Brother Eric also, where he hopes to travel and to preach for Brother
Darwin. Lord, remember him, keep him
safe as he travels. Remember Brother Darwin and Lord,
remember also Brother Scott. Give him Lord to health and the
strength that he needs to declare the glorious gospel to us this
coming Sunday. And Lord, remember us in mercy.
We do not know the future for our local assembly here, but
Lord, each week is a gift of grace from from you that we can
come together And Lord, there is much religion. We are surrounded
with much religion here, but it is very difficult to find
that true declaration of a sovereign savior. And Father, we thank
you for it. and remember us this evening
again, Lord, have mercy upon us and be with our loved ones,
our children, our relatives, and our neighbors. Oh Lord, give
us the words to speak to them that we may declare your mercy
and your grace to them also and what great things you have done
for our souls for Jesus' sake alone, amen. Our second hymn will be 118.
118 Fast beyond imagination. Thus beyond imagination is the
host of God's election, more than all the sands of oceans,
more than all the stars of heaven. Here they seem a small assembly,
Weak and poor and never needy. But when all are brought to heaven,
What a mighty congregation! Mighty through the lamb they
conquer, Lord let me be in that number. Fixed in your predestination,
Savior grant me your salvation. Good evening. All right, we're
gonna be in Isaiah chapter 65. Isaiah 65 verses 19 through 25
is our text. Now this last Sunday we saw how
that the Lord doth put a difference between men. And this he does
according to the election of his grace. And we saw that in
that election what the Lord does is he provides for all of our
salvation. He provides everything for his
child in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. And we saw how that we
are the new creation of Christ. He's made all things new. We
don't worship God and come to God according to the old ways,
the former ways, which were dead works, dead religion, things
that couldn't save. Rather, we come in faith, in
newness of life by the Spirit of our God that dwells in us,
that's raised us from the dead, that's given us spiritual life,
whereby, and through the Holy Spirit, which he's given us,
who gives us that regeneration, that new birth by the seed of
Christ. Now, in our passage today, This
is a continuation of that new creation. This is a continuation
of the experience and what the Lord works in His people, in
the heart of every believer. And this is what we experience
in Christ as members of his body, the church, the new Jerusalem,
the seed of promise, the children of Abraham. This is what he does
for his people, the church. Now, I've titled this Comforting
Assurance because these are words of promise, these are words of
assurance, these are words which your God speaks to you who believe
Him. These are words that the Lord
speaks to you to comfort your hearts, to delight your soul
in Him, to glory in God your Savior. Now in verse 19, Isaiah
65 verse 19, The Lord says, and I will rejoice
in Jerusalem. That's you, brethren. He's speaking
about the city of God, the new Jerusalem, the heavenly Jerusalem.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem and joy in my people. And the voice
of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. Now, just let me state this,
that my focus with you this evening for this study, my focus is for
us to see the result of salvation which the believer experiences
here. I know that these passages have
an eye toward that future day when the Lord returns and makes
a new heavens and a new earth. But these truths are also experienced
by us today, the new creation of Christ. If any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. Right now, he's a new creature.
All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. So there is an abundance of things
spoken here that are given to bless our hearts right now, right
now in the Lord. Therefore, what's so marvelous
about this new creation of our Savior is that our God gives
us the revelation, the manifestation of God's love for you. You that believe him. I know
that some of us come from congregations where we're not used to hearing
that. We're not used to hearing words of assurance and affirmation
that your God loves you, you that believe Him. And it's such
a delight, it's such a comfort to just meditate on the love
of my God for me. Almighty, all-knowing God thinks
of me and loves me, whom nothing, whom despised by people, but
He loves me, and rejoices in me." He says there, He says He
delights in His creation, in His people, which His darling
Son made, that New Jerusalem, that blessed people, and He made
us through His redemption, through His blood redemption, through
that sacrifice, that willing sacrifice and giving of Himself. Concerning Christ, because it
all begins in Him, we read in Matthew 3.17 that there was a
voice from heaven, and lo, a voice from heaven spake, saying, This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And just as the
father is well pleased with the son, so he is well pleased with
the works of the son, with the creation of his darling, beloved
son. He delights in that creation
which his son made. You know, you mothers who have
children, you delight in those creations and works that they
made for you. Those little things that they
did in school. Well, to a greater degree, the father delights in
the work of his darling son, because his son made it Perfect. Perfect. Exactly fulfilling all
the will of His Father. Now, notice that I said there,
in whom I am well pleased. In whom. The Lord says that with
great purpose. In whom. In Christ. In the Son. I am well pleased
in Him. Now in Ephesians 1-4 we find
where we are. We are in Christ. We are put
in Christ. It says in Ephesians 1-4 that
it is according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world that we should be holy and without blame before
Him in love. God the Father, we saw this recently,
God the Father first trusted Christ. He first trusted Christ. He trusted Christ with your life. You that now believe in Christ,
it's because God first trusted Christ and entrusted you to his
care. He put you, he chose you in Christ,
putting you in him. And so when he says, in whom
I am well pleased, not only is he speaking of being pleased
with the Son, but he's speaking of being pleased, delighting
in you that are in Christ. He delights in you. He rejoices
in you for Christ's sake, for that blessed redemption, for
that sacrifice which He made to put away all our sin, all
our debts, to reconcile us to the Father. And the Father is
well pleased. He delights in that work which
the Son has done and so he loved his people and therefore he gave
them to Christ he could put us in no more secure place but to
put us in the care of Christ who is the creator of all that
we see and know and understand Christ the Word of God made everything
everything and so we were given to Christ for our salvation the
whole provision of it it says in Hebrews 2 11 and then a little
bit in verse 13 it says, for both he that sanctifies and they
who are sanctified are all of one. If God delights, if the
Father delights in the Son, he delights in those who are in
the Son. They're all of one for which
cause he's not ashamed to call them brethren. Brethren. And again, behold I and the children
which God hath given me. He has no shame to present you
to the Father. He comes into the presence of
the Father. Behold I and the children whom you gave me. I
have lost none of them. They're all here. Everyone you
chose and put in me and my care, they're all here. and accounted
for. I've paid the full provision for every one of them. And so
God's well pleased with you who believe Christ for Christ's sake. He's well pleased with you for
Christ's sake. And that faith whereby you believe,
and I keep emphasizing this because it's just laid on my heart, for
your faith, you that have faith in Christ, that is a manifestation
of God's love for you. Because the only reason why your
hope is in Christ is because God loved you and gave you to
Christ. That faith is not of this flesh,
it's of the Spirit of God. That gift is given to you because
He loved you and gave you to Christ, whom He loves. Trust
me, it says in 2 Thessalonians 2, I'm going to read verses 16
and 17. Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself,
and God even our Father, which hath loved us, which hath loved
us and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through
grace, comfort your hearts. and establish you in every good
word and work. This word, the reason why we
keep speaking of Christ and declaring what God has done for you in
Christ is because it's a good word. It's a comforting word. It's an assuring word for you
that God, your God, has done everything for you in His Son. Be comforted. Rejoice. Your God
rejoices in you. and gave you all the blessings
of God in Christ His Son. And so this love of God leads
us to salvation. You're here and you believe on
Him because the love of God leads you to salvation. and it's manifested
in you through that faith whereby you believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ and trust the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ because
the Father has given that to you and established your hearts
in the Lord Jesus Christ and the Word of God to you is let
your hearts be comforted in that. Let them be established in that.
Stand firm in what your God has done for you and rejoice in Him
because He rejoices in you. He rejoices in you for Christ's
sake. Be comforted, brethren. Your faith is a manifestation
of that love, and it means that God is rejoicing over you. Now
when it says, and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard
in her, nor the voice of crying, that speaks with the comfort
that we receive in hearing that word of our God and being comforted
and assured that your God loves you. There's difficulties in
this world. There's sicknesses and challenges
and frustrations and all manner of trouble and adversity and
trials that we go through. But we have a comfort that our
God is our God, that He chose me. and stirred life in me, gave
me life, gave me his spirit, gave me a new birth, a spiritual
birth, whereby I hear the call and have come to Christ and believe
on him. And we know that's of your doing,
Lord. That's of your doing. Thank you.
Thank you. The Lord does that. So be comforted
in all the adversity We don't weep at the thought of, well,
one day my God's going to return and raise me from the dead and
bring me to be forever with Him. And that gives us great joy and
comfort. That wipes away the tears and
the fears and the worries and the doubts. And so we see this
in Christ who put away those former things. The former things
are put away by him. It says this in Revelation 21.4,
we saw this last week, but I'll read it again. God shall wipe
away all tears from their eyes and there shall be no more death,
Neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain,
for the former things are passed away." Those former things are
our sin, yes, and it also includes our dead works religion, our
former ways that we went about trying to please God, trying
to make up to God, trying to make up for our sins, to make
up for our shortcomings and failings, All that's put away because now
we look to Christ. Yes, we're troubled by our sin.
Yes, we're grieved by the sin in this flesh and the temptation
of sin. But we don't now try to undo
that by doing other religious works. We're turned and broken
and turn back to the Lord and cry out to him for mercy and
for healing and to turn me, to strengthen me, to keep Lord. Return to Him, because He's the
One that's our strength and our hope and our life and our all.
He's our forgiveness. He's our everything. And so,
this we see, this is speaking of this new creation of Christ
in us right now, just as much as it's speaking of that day
when He returns and brings us to Himself. That new creation
has begun now, by the Spirit in you. He's giving you that
earnest, that down payment whereby we know that He has given us
assurance that we are His. We are His. Amen. Next we're
given the assurance of God's eternal blessing. This is seen
in verse 20 in our text. For those that are in Christ,
it's all about perspective and understanding as a new creature
of what he's done for us, made in grace. So verse 20 says, there
shall be no more thence, or from that time, an infant of days,
nor an old man that hath not filled his days, for the child
shall die in 100 years old, but the sinner, being in 100 years
old, shall be accursed. And so what that's saying is
that you that are in Christ, Even if you were to pass away,
even if you were to die, and you are the youngest among us,
and you die at an early age, but you believe Christ and you
hope Christ, it's okay. You're not cursed because you
had the eternal blessing of God for all eternity. Whereas that
person, though he lives long in the earth, and has figured
out a way to live, I don't know, 300 years, But he's outside of
Christ, though he extends beyond the normal life of another person,
he's not blessed, he's cursed, because he's outside of Christ. The blessing isn't in whether
you live a long life here in the flesh or a short life. That
doesn't determine your salvation. What determines is Are you in
Christ? Has the Lord put you in Christ,
giving you a good hope in the Lord Jesus Christ? Turn over
to John chapter 3. Let's go to John 3 and then we'll
come back to Isaiah 65 after. John 3 verse 35 and 36. Here's that affirmation, that
comforting affirmation of God's love for us. The Father loveth
the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. Those all things
include you. you believer, that hope in him,
that includes you and me. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. Whether you die at a young age
or not, you have everlasting life, you that believe on Christ.
And he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the
wrath of God abideth on him. And so our perspective in all
things is viewed through the lens of life and liberty and
salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how we see all things. That's the perspective that's
revealed in us in Christ. Next, back in our text, we're
given more pictures of what is wrought in the believer in Christ.
And there's pictures of what is established by God in them
by the Spirit of grace. as opposed to what's wrought
in and by this flesh. All right, so verse 21. And they
shall build houses and inhabit them, and they shall plant vineyards
and eat the fruit of them. So these are blessed promises
made by your God to you in the Lord Jesus Christ. Because it's
speaking of what we are, what we have, what we are given and
blessed in the Lord Jesus Christ. We read in Ephesians 1 verse
3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ, in Christ, all the blessings of God. That's
where you find, that's where you meet God, and that fellowship
with Him is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so these houses and
vineyards that are described in our text, they picture the
work of grace done by God for us in the Lord Jesus Christ.
What is a house? A house is a dwelling place. A house is a place where we lay
our head and rest our souls. A house is our house. It's our
dwelling place. It's where we live and have many
joyful, wonderful times. And so this dwelling in Christ
is speaking to the one in whom we dwell. and live and move and
have our being and fellowship with our God and meet with Him
and feed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the one whom we've
committed everything to. All our salvation is committed
to Christ. I like how the psalmist wrote
it in Psalm 18, 2. The Lord is my rock and my fortress
and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom I will trust,
my buckler, which is like a belt or a girdle that kind of holds
all that armor and protection together, and the horn or strength
of my salvation, and my high tower. He's my defense. He's
everything. He's everything. And that's what
we're saying. That's my house. We dwell in
Christ. He's my all. Paul said to Timothy,
I've committed everything to him against that day, and I'm
at perfect peace with it. I don't want to stand before
God in my own righteousness. I am absolutely confident that
all the righteousness I need has been freely given to me in
grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's our dwelling. He's our
everything. Even as our brother read in Psalm
87, verse seven, all my springs are in thee. Amen, all my springs,
everything, all my joy, all my blessing, everything I have is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we rejoice in that as the
Lord brings that to our hearts and shows us what he's done for
us, delighting our hearts because he delighteth in you. And that's
why he reveals this comforting word of assurance to you. Showing
you, declaring to you, I love you. I love you. For Christ's
sake, you are the bride I've chosen for my son. You're mine
and you shall be with me for all eternity. And that wipes
away the tears that are brought on by this flesh and the troubles
of this flesh when we see with that new perspective, that new
creation, and see through all past, all this fleshly things,
and behold our Savior, and trust Him, and rest in Him, dwell in
Him, bear fruit in Him, and so all you that hope in Christ this
day, you shall never be ashamed, And your dwelling place shall
never be taken from you. And your vineyard that you plant
shall never be taken from you. Another will not eat it. Another
will not dwell in your house. It's yours in the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's yours. You have all of it,
brethren. Turn over to John 10. We'll see
the words of Christ declaring this. John 10, we're gonna go
to verse 26, and just read down to verse 30 for the context. First we see the wicked, and
then we'll see this blessed word to the sheep. In verse 26, he
says, but ye believe not, because you're not my sheep, as I said
unto you. All right, there's the people who don't believe,
but you do believe. He is your hope. He is your hope. And what does that mean? It means
that you're his sheep. God's not playing games with
you. You either believe him or you don't. And you that believe
him, it's because God gave that to you. You that have no other
hope but Christ, it's because God, the Spirit, has given that
to you. It's his work, it's his work
of grace, it's his manifestation of love for you. 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. Neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. Your dwelling place isn't going
to be taken from you. Your vineyard of fruit is never
going to be removed from you. It's not going to be taken and
given to another. it's yours in Christ and nothing's going
to remove you from him in whom you dwell. Verse 29 my father
which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to
pluck them out of my father's hand I and my father are one. And so These promises, because
of these promises, because of this love, because Christ has
established this covenant of grace whereby God may be merciful
and gracious to you because all the former things have been put
away. by the death of Christ. His blood has washed that away. Your sins and everything that
stood opposed to you, having fellowship with God, has been
dealt with and put away by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And so therefore now He calls
you. It delights Him to make known
to you what He has done for you, whom He loved in all eternity. And he's now bringing it to you.
So he calls his sheep. He sends that gospel word out,
calling his sheep to himself and giving them, leading them
to himself with irresistible grace, thankfully, so that we
are overcome. Our hearts are conquered by his
grace and we come fleeing to Christ and make our abode in
him where we are kept safe. Now this is a little off topic,
but maybe it isn't. I'll read from Isaiah 26. Isaiah 26, verse
20, and a little bit of verse 21. The Lord says it this way. This is in Isaiah 26, verse 20. He says, come my people, enter
into thy chambers. You enter into the house. dwelling
into Christ. You enter into your chambers
and shut thy doors about thee, hide thyself as it were for a
little moment until the indignation be overpassed." The wrath of
God now dwells against the children of wrath. It's against them. And he says, The Lord cometh
out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for
their iniquity, but you, he's called you to the Savior. He's called you to Christ, our
dwelling place, our help, our hope, our home, our everything. He's called you to him and hid
you in him, and his wrath will come out against the wicked,
but you shall be safe and provided for, and it shall never, ever,
ever be taken away from you. It's yours in Christ for all
eternity because of the love of God for you. What a comfort,
what an assuring word. Now, back in Isaiah 65, verse
22 and 23, the Lord continues. saying, they shall not build
in another habit, they shall not plant in another eat, for
as the days of a tree are the days of my people, and mine elect
shall long enjoy the work of their hands, they shall not labor
in vain, nor bring forth for trouble, for they are the seed
of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And
so this blessing that he's describing here, saying you're not gonna
have this taken from you, It's yours. You're my people. It's
not going to be removed from you. It's not going anywhere.
You're mine. And that's the opposite of what
he told the wicked who tried to come to God in the law. When
he said in Deuteronomy 2830, he told those Jews under that
covenant of works, when they rebelled against him, he said,
this is what's going to happen. Thou shalt betroth a wife. and
another man shall lie with her. Thou shalt build an house, and
thou shalt not dwell therein. Thou shalt plant a vineyard,
and shalt not gather the grapes thereof. What he's saying there
is if your salvation, if your righteousness is built upon your
obedience to the law, or you're keeping your religious ways and
practices to come to God in your own righteousness, then you're
under the curse of the law. That curse that was pronounced
there, all those things that you're hoping in and thinking
that you're laying up for yourselves will be taken from you because
you're coming in the works of the law. And there isn't one
of us who keeps the law of God perfectly. If we try to come
to God in the law, we'll suffer the curses of the law. There
will be no wedding day for you. There will be no lasting habitation
for you. There will be no vineyard, no
partaking of the tree of life that bears its fruit in its season.
There will be no partaking of those things for you that come
to God in the law. But the grace of God for you
is that he's put you in Christ. And He's delivered you from having
to work a righteousness for yourselves. And He's shown you that Christ
has provided everything. That He is salvation. And He's
given Him freely, not because you deserve it, not because you've
earned it, not because you're so special and so wonderful,
but rather for His love's sake. He gave you to Christ and betrothed
you to Him, and you're His. And He's revealed that in you
through the faith which He's given to you. You that believe
him, it's because it's a manifestation of God's love, of his grace,
of his regenerating power through the spirit which he gives freely
to whom he will. Now turn over to Isaiah 32. Isaiah 32, let's see this again
repeated for us in verses 15 through 18. Isaiah picks up there in verse
15 saying, until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high,
and the wilderness be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field
be counted for a forest. Verse 16, then judgment shall
dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful
field, and the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect
of righteousness quietness and assurance forever. and my people
shall dwell in a peaceable habitation in shore dwellings and in quiet
resting places. Brethren, that's been done for
you by the pouring out of the Holy Spirit whom the Father and
the Son sent to deliver you from darkness and death, to raise
you up in spiritual life through the regenerating power of his
grace and mercy and gift in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're new
creatures. All things have been put away.
Behold, all things are made new by Christ, our Savior, our Lord,
our God, our buckler, our high tower, our strength, our all. He's everything to us, brethren.
All right, now back in Isaiah 65, verse 24, And it shall come to pass that
before they call, I will answer. And while they are yet speaking,
I will hear." God is assuring you that he is sovereign. He
has control of everything and all things are working according
to the glory of his name and the good of his people. It says
in Romans 8, 31 and 32, if God be for us, who can be against
us? See, he's done all these things.
If God's for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own
son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with
him also freely give us all things? Everything is given to you in
Christ, not the law. Don't come to God in the law.
Don't come to God thinking that your religion and your religious
practices is what saves you. What saves a sinner is Christ
and He reveals that salvation to them by revealing faith in
them that rests in Him, that trusts in Him, that believes
Him against themselves. They trust Him and side with
Him in all things. Now finally, it says in verse
25, The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall
eat straw like the bullock, or like a bull, ox and dust shall
be the serpents me they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my
holy mountain saith the Lord and so the Lord saying I'm gonna
do this for all peoples I'm gonna pour this my spirit out upon
all the people all my people scattered throughout the world
all my people whether it's a kindred tribe tongue or nation, people
or nation, he's doing it for all his people, Jew and Gentile,
so that the natural enmity that exists between men will be put
away. Those people that are natural
enemies will be put at peace with one another in the Lord
Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote of this,
turn over to Ephesians 2, Ephesians 2, He speaks to this there. He speaks to it in many places,
including Galatians, but let's go to Ephesians 2 verses 12 through
16. Paul writing to a Gentile church
in Ephesus, said that at that time ye were
without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,
and strangers from the covenants 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 wall of partition between us. the ox and the lion
have laid down together, having abolished in his flesh the enmity,
even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for
to make in himself of two one new man, so making peace, and
that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby." So by that one sacrifice, Christ
didn't come in many different forms to different people, one
Savior. one name under heaven given among
men whereby we must be saved. And that one sacrifice obtained
eternal redemption for all peoples, all whom the Lord loves and calls
to his Son and reveals, manifests that faith in them, that life
in them, revealing to them that they are his and he is theirs.
Then it says, and dust shall be the serpent's meat. All that
the enemy can do is trouble this flesh. He can't touch that which
is eternal. He can only touch that which
is but dust, this flesh, and it's passing away quickly. That's
all that He has, but we have the Spirit of Christ. We are
born again. We have spiritual life by the
seed of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The enemy can't touch
you there. Your house isn't going to someone
else. Your vineyard isn't going to someone else. It is safe and
secure, and you're Lord and Savior. You're His, and that'll never
change. You rejoice in Him, for your
God rejoices in you. He loves you. He loves you. and He's revealed His love to
you by the faith which He's given you that trusts in Christ and
has no other hope of righteousness but Him and Him alone. All your
foes are defeated by our Lord and Savior, and He commands that
they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, which
we know as Zion, Mount Zion, that mountain of grace in Christ,
saith the Lord. Amen. Be comforted, brethren. Amen. Let's go to the Lord in
prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your grace. We thank you for your word of
comfort and assurance, the peace which you establish in our hearts,
and this new creation which you have made, turning us, giving
us repentance from dead works and dead things that cannot save,
turning us from the flesh, turning us from our enemies, and turning
us to your son, our Savior, our wonderful God and Savior, our
Lord, our husband, our faithful friend who did everything for
us. Lord, we thank you. We thank
you just to hear of how you delight in our hearts and we pray that
you would keep bringing these truths, these blessed truths
to our minds in the night season. Let us think of you when we are
troubled, Lord. Let us be turned from this flesh
and see the love and the blessings of our God given to us freely
in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's in his name we pray and
give thanks. Amen. Let's all stand and sing a closing
hymn. 103. Glory, glory, I'm forgiven. 103. ? Glory, glory, I'm forgiven ?
? All my sins are washed away ? ? Christ by his great blood
atonement ? ? All my sin has put away ? Sin imputed to my
Saviour when He died upon a tree. As the substitute for sinners,
God will not impute to me. Glory, glory, I'm accepted, Robed
in Christ's own righteousness. I'm a child, an heir of heaven,
Saved by God's almighty grace. Christ's obedience to the Father
is imputed now to me. In God's sight I'm pure and holy. He declares me so to be. Glory, glory, I'll not perish. In Christ's hands I am secure. Ye who save me sure will keep
me. By God's grace I shall endure. This is not a vain presumption. I'll just take him at his word. Christ has sworn they shall not
perish who believe on me their Lord. Thank you.