Let's all stand and begin this
evening service by singing Jesus Paid It All, 125. Jesus Paid
It All. I hear the Saviour say, thy strength
indeed is small. Child of weakness, watch and
pray, find in me thine all in all. Jesus paid it all, all to
Him I owe. Sin hath left a crimson stain,
he washed it white as snow. Lord, now indeed I find thy power,
and thine alone can change the leper's spots and melt the heart
of stone. Jesus paid it all, all to Him
I owe. Sin had left the crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow. For nothing good have I Whereby
thy grace to claim I'll wash my garments white In the blood
of Calvary's Lamb Jesus paid it all All to Him I owe Sin hath
left the crimson stain, He washed it white as snow. And when before the throne I
stand in incomplete, Jesus died my soul to save, My lips shall
still repeat, Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin hath left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow. Thank you. playing games. I'm going to read from 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. I'm going to start in verse 18 and
we'll read to the end of the chapter. 1 Corinthians 1. Verse 18, For the preaching of
the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which
are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will bring to nothing the
understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews
require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach
Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the
Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jew and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God
hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty. And base things of the world,
and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not, to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh
should glory in his presence. are ye in Christ Jesus, who of
God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. Amen. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Our gracious Lord, we thank you, Father, for this night. for this
time when we can come together as a body in fellowship with
our God, that we may come and worship your name, for Lord,
you are worthy. And Lord, we desperately need
your grace. We need your salvation. We need
that fellowship of your spirit, of your light, of your life,
We need the salvation which you've given to your people in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we thank you, Lord, for him.
We thank you for this salvation. We ask, Lord, that you would
indeed teach us, that you would meet with us tonight, that you
would give us your spirit, make us partakers of that fellowship
and grace which you give to the saints. Lord, help us to hear. Lord, help me to preach the gospel. Help me to preach this word which
you've laid on my heart and taught me. And Lord, I pray that you
would bless this word to the hearts and minds of your people,
that you would instruct us and comfort us and teach us in the
way of our Lord. And Lord, we think of our brethren
who are sick and struggling, and Lord, who need your help. Lord, you know each one that's
sick and dealing with sicknesses. We think of Brother Scott, we
think of Judy, we think of Ron, dealing with the treatments.
Lord, we think of Alyssa and Abby and Jordan. Lord, we pray
that you would bless your people. Help us who are here tonight.
Give us a heart. Keep us coming and hearing. And
Lord, help your people. Stir them up to desire to be
with your people as often as as possible and lord we pray
that you would send your word out in this part of the country
that you would cause your people who are at home who are in places
where they ought not to be who need the gospel, who are hungering
and thirsting for the truth, Lord, we ask that you would stir
them up, cause them to hear this word, call them, Lord, call them
by your power, that power which is spoken of here in this word,
the power of God, that through the preaching of Christ, your
people would hear and be made alive and come and have fellowship
with us and sit under the sound of the gospel. Lord, help us
to hear it, to be called to the obtaining of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And Lord, all those, the things that are on our hearts that have
not been spoken, the things that you know that we have need of,
Lord, we ask that you would help us, that you would answer our
prayers and the things that we so long for and cry out about
so often. We pray that you would indeed
arise and show us your power and glory Lord, that we would
know that you have done this. It's in Christ's name we pray
and give thanks. Amen. This next hymn, I know we all
know it. I don't know if we ever sang
it as a group. but I did find some better music
to be able to sing it. That's probably why we haven't
sung it yet. And it's 199, Christ Receive Us Sinful Men, 199. Sometimes Wednesday nights are
good ones to trial and get a little bit better at singing them, for
me anyway. Tenors, Jesus will receive. Sound this word of grace to all
who the heavenly pathway lead. All who linger, all who fall,
sing it o'er and o'er again. Christ, receive His sinful men. Make the message clear and plain. Christ, receive His sinful men. Come and He will give you rest. Trust Him for His word is plain. He will take the sinful list. Christ receive His sinful men. Sing it o'er and o'er again. Christ, receive the sinful man. Make the message clear and plain. Christ, receive the sinful man. Now my heart condemns me not. ? Pure before the law I stand
? He who cleansed me from all spell ? Satisfies its last demand
? Sing it o'er and o'er again ? Christ, receive His sinful
man ? Make the message clear and plain Christ, receive the
sinful man. Christ, receive the sinful man. Even me with all my sin. Purged from every spot and stain. Heaven with him I enter in. Sing it over and over again. Christ, receive us, sinful men. Make the message clear and plain. Christ, receive us, sinful men. Thank you. Broadcast tonight looks rough
because of the maybe the weather or something but keeps going
in and out. I did like the hymns. I remember
that one. It's been a while since I sang that one. A long, long
time. I don't know if it was here, but, but did we? Okay. So Lynn's got the good
memory there. I can't go below, but there's
something there. All right, brethren. Let's go
to Isaiah 64. Isaiah 64, I want to look at
verses 7 through 12. Now in this text, we're reading
the prayer of the prophet, and he's praying for the people of
Israel. Now, the Lord had said to Israel
that he wasn't going to hear them. Turn over, actually, while
you're in Isaiah, go to chapter one real quick. Isaiah one, and
let's look at verse 15. The Lord said to Israel, back here he said, and when ye
spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you. Yea,
when ye make many prayers, I will not hear. And so here the prophet
is praying for the people. In Isaiah 64, 7 now it says,
And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth
up himself to take hold of thee. For thou hast hid thy face from
us, and hast consumed us because of our iniquities. Looking first
at this phrase, thou hast hid thy face from us. the Scriptures
throughout, and this Scripture here is teaching us just how
dependent we are on the grace of God. We are absolutely wholly
dependent on God to be gracious to us. Otherwise, we all will
perish in our sins, and the Scriptures are showing us that. They're
showing us that we are sinners, that we cannot save ourselves. calling us to hear, to listen,
to know that we need God, to call out upon him. We need God
to save us, to be gracious to us. Now, the sense here is that
God has hid his face from the people, and as a result, they
began to waste away in their sin. And in wasting away, they
didn't even give thought of God. They weren't even thinking of
God. And, sadly, I can relate to that. I know what it is to
be in a pickle. And I know what it is to be in
hard times and difficult times and not think of the Lord. It sounds absurd. It sounds crazy. But it's true. It's true. It's like the mind is just blanked. of Him who alone is all our help. He is God. He is the Savior. We need Him. We need His grace. And if we're honest, we know
that in this flesh there have been times when you'd think the
first one we would turn to is the Lord, and yet we don't even
think of Him. We don't even think of Him and
we whittle away and we wither away and things get worse and
worse. Now, the scriptures also here
in this text say, Thou hast consumed us because of our iniquities. which words can also be translated
and hast melted us. Thou hast consumed us, thou hast
melted us by the hand of our iniquities. Our sins have melted
us away. They're withering us away. Another
thing which the scriptures teach us is that our God is holy. That's
one of his characteristics. Many say it's his primary characteristic. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God. He is holy. He's perfect. He hates sin. And if he hides
his face from us, if God were to hide his face from us, The
next time we saw his face would be in judgment and in wrath. If God hides his face, the next
time we see him will be in wrath and in judgment. We need God's
grace. We need his countenance to look
upon us to be gracious to us, to be gracious to us, to deliver
us from ourselves, to deliver us from our sin and our folly. The man who's left to himself,
according to the scriptures, is going to abound in sin and
iniquity. He's not going to get better
and better. It's like dropping something
fragile off a building. When it hits the ground, it's
going to break and be worse, and you're not going to put it
back together again and so it is left to ourselves we fall
and we're just gonna fall into sin we're not going to get better
we get worse and worse and so God here takes from these Jews
their comforts and that which they rejoiced in and were joyful
about and those things which they look to and were proud of
and rejoiced in Those things were consumed and destroyed before
their eyes. Look at verses 10 through 12.
So in Isaiah 64, 10 through 12, thy holy cities are wilderness. Zion is a wilderness. Jerusalem
is a desolation. Our holy and beautiful house
and our beautiful house where our fathers praised thee is burned
up with fire and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou
refrain thyself for these things, O Lord? Wilt thou hold thy peace
and afflict us very sore?" So we see here the sad result of
man's sin. We see the sad result of our
sin. We know what it is to be in sin
and in folly and to see the things we enjoyed and loved and hoped
him be consumed and burned up and just taken away. And so we
see that their land here has become a wilderness and it's
a desolation. and everything that they once
boasted in was taken from them. As it says in verse 11, our holy
and our beautiful house where our fathers praised thee is burned
up with fire. There's history here. There's
history and these were beautiful things and wonderful things.
Our fathers worshiped you, Lord, and now they are burned up. Well, that which is holy, is
set apart for the Lord's use, right? What is holiness? That
which is holy is set apart for the Lord's use, and all that
they set apart means they were sanctifying it. They were setting
it apart as holy, as something special, and something dedicated
to the Lord. And we see there that those things
were consumed with fire. And so what this speaks of is
what will become of the good works that man does in his flesh,
that he sets apart and thinks that this is what God would have
him to do. These are the precious things
for the Lord, and he sets them apart for him, and that which
man does in his flesh is going to be consumed with fire. It's going to burn up like the
wood, the hay, and the stubble. What we do in this flesh is wood,
hay, and stubble. What God does is gold compared
to gold and silver and precious stones. Things that don't burn
up in the fire. Things that endure the heat of
the flame. But that which man does is burned
up and consumed in the fire. Turn over to Matthew 7. Let's
go to Matthew 7. And here we see a picture of
man's strength, of his fleshly works that He counts as good,
that He counts as sanctified works, holy works that God is
pleased with. Matthew 7, and we're going to
go to verses 21 through 23. Here our Lord said, Not everyone that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.
But he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in
thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. So we see that there are things
that man counts as holy that he counts as sanctified or even
sanctifying works. He counts them as sanctifying
works and yet God counts them as unprofitable, dumb. He counts
them as dumb. And so according to this, there
are many that will come to the Lord boasting of their works
that are not going to be accepted by the Lord. What the scriptures teach us
about this is that they that are in the flesh cannot please
God. Those fruits that this flesh
bears, that which we do in this flesh, is not pleasing to our
God. Why? Because the carnal mind
is enmity against God. It's not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. Everything we touch, everything
we do is polluted with our sin and our iniquities and it's not
pleasing to the Lord. Turn once more to another scripture
in Revelation. Let's go to Revelation 20. We're
going to pick up in verse 11 and read down through verse 15.
Revelation 20 11 and I saw a great white throne and him that sat
on it From whose face the earth and the heaven fled away and
there was found no place for them We see their picture that
all the things that we do trust in look to have confidence in
all those things are will flee away and it's just going to be
you standing before holy God. Just you and the Lord on his
throne. Verse 12 and I saw the dead small
and great stand before God. They were all the same. The lowest
person on the earth and the greatest person on the earth. They all
stood before the throne of God and the books were opened and
another book was opened which is the book of life. and the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it, and death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them, and they were judged every man according
to their works. and death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. And so we see here that out of
the book which had the works of men recorded in them, none
of those things were able to cover man's nakedness. God saw
right through it. He saw right through it all and
man stood before him. Everyone, small and great, stood
before God naked in their own works and the scriptures tell
us they were cast into the lake of fire. But there's mention
in verses 12 and 15, a book, another book, the Book of Life. The Book of Life. And anyone
whose name was written in that book, they were delivered. They
were delivered from being cast into the lake of fire. Now, this
book is titled in Revelation 13, 8, it's called the Book of
Life. of the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Anyone whose name was written
in that book, the Book of the Lamb, who was slain for them,
whose blood was shed for them, their names were written in that
book with His blood. They were His purchased possession. When you looked at the works
If that's all you looked at, there would be nothing there
to deliver them, but their name being in that book. He is their
deliverer, their salvation. and anyone whose name was written
in that book, not for anything they did, but for what he did. They were delivered from that
lake of fire. And so I bring you through that
path to say, there's good news. In Isaiah 64, there's good news
to be seen here in these verses, and that's what I wanna look
at with you now. Let's go back to Isaiah 64, and in verse seven,
where we're going to start in verse seven. It's there in the
beginning when it says, and there is none that calleth upon thy
name. There's none that calleth upon
your name, God. And yet, here's the prophet calling
upon the name of God. He's saying there's none that
are calling upon you. There's none praying to you,
God. And yet, he's praying. He's praying to the Lord. And that's a witness of the grace
of God that gives that urgency to our understanding, to know
that we're in trouble. We're in trouble. We're sinners. We cannot save ourselves. Lord,
save us. Lord, have mercy upon your people. Something has caused them to
recognize their desperate need. And it's not found in them. It's
attributed only to the grace of God. Only God can do this. We're perishing sinners. But
at the same time, the Lord stirs up the heart of His child so
that they cry out for grace and mercy from the only one who can
give grace and mercy. From the only one who can put
their name in that book. and who did put their name in
that book before the foundation of the world, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so surely the prophet here is moved. None are seeking
the Lord, but the Lord has moved this prophet as a mediator to
cry out on behalf of the people. He has been moved by the grace
of God to plead and intercede for the life of his people. This prophet is being led by
the Spirit of the Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ first
prayed, saying, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them whom thou hast given me, for they are thine." Christ
prayed for his people. He interceded for his people.
Not because they were seeking the Lord. Not because we were
crying out for the Lord to save us. We were happy in our dead
works. We were fine in our blindness.
So we thought. We were content there. But Christ
interceded. Christ pleaded. for his people. He interceded for his people. And so now we pray because a
mediator prayed for us. The mediator, the Lord Jesus
Christ. We see now because Christ came
and opened our blind eyes and made us to see. We live because
he died our death. He bore the death that was our
due. He took the curse that was ours
and took it to himself and put it away for us by the death of
himself to give us life. that God would be just to forgive
us of our sins because all our sins were paid. Jesus paid it
all. He paid it all. And now he gives
his Holy Spirit to his people to help them in their time of
need, to give them life, and to teach them, and to instruct
them, and to lead them in the way of truth. Romans 8, 26 and
27 says, Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities. For we know not what we should
pray for, as we all, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession
for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth
the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he
maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. And so the people are helped,
helped by their God first, long before we ever seek Him. The
Lord helps. It's not because we called out,
not because we repented or stopped doing something and started doing
something else. We're helped long before that by the grace
of our God who's purposed and ordered all things for our good. All right, it says, our Lord
said, your father knoweth what things ye have need of before
ye ask him. Matthew 6, 8. He knows what we
have need of even before we ask him. He already knows and He's
working. He's working because He's a merciful
and gracious God to His people because we have a mediator who
prayed for us when we were not seeking Him, when we weren't
looking for Him or crying out to Him. Now, that's not an excuse
not to pray, but it's an assurance and a comfort for us to pray
more earnestly, especially when the Lord does burden our hearts
to pray. When we do realize, Lord, I need you, let us pray
to him. Let us pray. When our hearts
are burning and burdened, pray. Stop what you're doing and pray
to him because he's merciful. I think of the prodigal son when
I was preparing this message. I was thinking of what we read
concerning that son who went off to spend his inheritance,
to just give it away on worthless things that have no value, no
lasting value. And it says, and when he came
to himself. You know, I was saying there's
times where our minds are just blank to the Lord and we're not
thinking of the Lord. But then we come to ourselves
and we realize, what am I doing? I haven't even thought about
the Lord. He's the one who saves, he's the one that can help. I
can't believe I haven't thought of him, but now we do. Just like
we read in the Prodigal Son, when he came to himself, he said,
how many hired servants of my father's have bread enough in
despair? And here I am perishing with
hunger. Here I am, just in a mess. And that's where we are. But
by the grace of God, it said a little later, and he arose
and came to his father. And that's what the Lord does
when he stirs us up. And we see how thick and how
dark and cold we are. But then he stirs us up and we
arise and we go to the Father. And we cry out to him, Lord,
help. Help me, Lord. Save me. Have
mercy, Lord. And that's what's said in verse
eight. So back in Isaiah 64, eight. But now, Lord, thou art
our Father. you're our father, we are the
clay, and thou our potter, and we all are the work of thy hand. Isn't that true? God is the potter, our father
is the potter, and we are the clay, and we're his work. He
works his workmanship in us. This is sovereign God doing what
sovereign God does. And when he's turned your heart
and delivered you from what you would do, you're thankful that
God is sovereign. You're thankful that he's not
waiting idly by. for you to give him permission,
but rather he's unfolding and doing all things according to
his good purpose and according to his power and turning us back
to see and to know, Lord, I need you. I need you, Lord. I can
do nothing without you. That's a good thing. That's a
good thing when the Lord shows us I can do nothing without you. And so the Lord here in grace,
by grace, He's our Father not only by creation but also by
adoption. He's our Father by adoption.
There's a familial relationship there because of the blood of
Christ. God has predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself according to
the good pleasure of His will. Not because I stirred myself
up, not because you stirred yourself up and turned things around,
but because Christ the Mediator pleaded for you. and interceded
for you, and shed his blood for you, and delivered you from death,
that in the appointed hour, in the predestination of God, you
came to hear by the grace of God. He led you to hear the word,
and to believe the word, to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
all of his power, all of his grace. He gave it. He bore the
fruit in us. We are his workmanship. There's
many who perish in their sins and who are going to stand before
God naked as we read in those earlier scriptures from Revelation
20 and from Matthew 7. There's many that think they're
fine and think their works are great and dandy. But they're
going to stand before God naked and perish in their sins. But
we've been given a good hope. It's the hope of the redeemed
of the Lord. And it's given to us by our God. It's given to those for whom
Christ died. And they are blessed of him.
Blessed of him because they're delivered from death. He's provided
everything that we need. Anything that we need, Christ
has provided. Everything that was necessary,
Christ provided. It's not like he's just making
up for the things that we lack. He provided it all. He's a gracious
God, gracious to his people, and he's done everything for
them. And so we're delivered from death
by the death of Christ, and we're given faith to believe him. And that faith is not of this
flesh. Those are empty works. Those
are the works that man trusts in and hopes in, as faith which
is born in us is of his grace. grace are you saved through faith
in that not of yourselves it is the gift of God he's the one
who bears that in his children and so he sent the son and the
father made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him He came as the sin-bearing
sacrifice for His people, taking that which was theirs, which
they were to be punished for, and put it on Himself, bearing
our sin, and put it away by the death of Himself perfectly, satisfying
God wholly, so that we have no sin. We are delivered from that
sin. We are delivered from the guilt
of it. We're delivered from the dominion of it. We're delivered
from the condemnation of sin. And we stand whole in the Lord
Jesus Christ, with those redeemed souls, thanking and praising
God. And we're gonna know this. We're
gonna know this. People wonder, like, they think, like, well,
what do you mean? Man has to believe. If man doesn't believe,
he's not gonna be saved. Have you forgotten the power
of God who causes his child to believe, who causes his child
to hear, who causes his child to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ? He gives that faith. We preach Christ, we hold Him
up, we lift Him up, exalting Him and what He's accomplished
for His people. And the Spirit reveals life and
faith in His people. That's how we know who they are. The Father reveals in the heart
of His child faith, which looks to the Lord Jesus Christ. And
they'll sing that redemption. They'll sing of that redemption.
They'll be turned. And that'll be their boast. It
won't be what they've done for the Lord, but what the Lord has
done for them. And that's what they'll go and
tell others, what Christ has done for them. What Christ has
done for me. Paul said it this way, it's personal
and it's sweet. And it's what every child of
God cries out and says the same thing. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me. And I bear His fruits, that faith,
which looks to Him and believes Him, not by something I did in
my flesh, but by His power and glory, revealing that faith in
me. That faith, that hope, that look
to Christ cannot be said of everybody. There's many, countless millions
that hear and do not believe. and could care less about Christ.
But you that are sinners, who have been shown by the grace
of God that your works leave you naked and empty and don't
profit you at all, that God isn't pleased or impressed with those
things, but you've heard that He's pleased with the Son, well
pleased with the Son, and that in Him is forgiveness, in Him
is salvation, in Him is eternal life, because He Himself is life. And you believe. By the grace
of God, you believe. And others don't believe because
they don't have that grace. Turn over to Romans 9. Romans
9. We see this detailed for us here. We'll pick up in verse 13. Romans
9, 13. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. Like Paul, God loved Jacob and
did a blessed work for Jacob, something that he did not do
for Esau. And Jacob believed. Jacob heard
because of what God did for him. and giving him faith and revealing
himself to him. He didn't do that for Esau, but
he did it for Jacob. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? Absolutely not. They translate
it, God forbid. Paul's saying, no, absolutely
not. There's nothing wrong with what
God's done. For he sayeth to Moses, I will have mercy on whom
I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will
have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. He's detailing the works of the
flesh. It's not of the will of man's
flesh. It's not his free will. That's
in bondage. That's in darkness. He's dead
in trespasses and sins. It's not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth. It's not of his good works, but
of God that showeth mercy. Mercy through the Lord Jesus
Christ. And now we see what was spoken
of by the prophet concerning our father who is the potter.
Let's move on to verse 17. where the potter makes some things
to dishonor and some to honor. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. He hardeneth them. Thou wilt
say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath
resisted his will? Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? That's the
first thing man wants to do. Rather than falling down before
God, he starts wiggling and looking for an excuse. That's what we
do in the flesh. He doesn't bow before God, he
wiggles and tries to get out of it. He asks in verse 21, hath
not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make
one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? All right, can't
I take a lump of clay and make a basin to wash my feet in and
then another vase that I carry my cooking water in? Can I do
that if I want to? Well, can God do the same thing?
Can he make one vessel for honor and another one for dishonor?
Sure he can. What if God willing to show his
wrath and to make his power known endured with much long suffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? And that he might
make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy,
which he had aforeprepared unto glory. Now who might these be
that were prepared before unto glory? It says in verse 24, even
us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of
the Gentiles. And that calling is not an empty
calling. I like the way Paul worded it
to the Thessalonians when he said in 2 Thessalonians 2.14
where unto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining. of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the calling we're talking about here. When God calls his child,
it is to the obtaining of the Lord Jesus Christ. Or another
way to understand it, it's when Christ obtains you in delivering
you out of darkness. He's already obtained you in
the death of himself, but he delivers you now and gives you
life and understanding and washes you in the blood of Christ, and
that new man is born again, is born in you, formed of the seed
of Christ by the regeneration of the Holy Spirit whom he sends. Now by the grace of God in Christ,
we weren't hardened like Pharaoh, were we? We weren't hardened
like Pharaoh, but like it said back in Isaiah 64, we were melted
by the hands of our iniquities. God used that sin, he used our
rebellion and melted our hearts and showed us what sinners we
are, and our need of Him, and the sufficiency of Him to save. And the prayer of the church
for the Lord's people, it's recorded in verse nine, Isaiah 64, nine. Be not wroth or angry, very sore,
O Lord, neither remember iniquity forever. Behold, see, we beseech
thee, we are all thy people. All for whom Christ died and
gave His life for. They are his people. And that's
their prayer. And they pray because the mediator
prayed for them. And you that believe, it's because
the mediator prayed for you. In spite of your rebellion, in
spite of your sin and darkness, Christ prayed for you and delivered
you. And that's why you believe. And
we give God all the thanks, all the glory, all the honor, all
the praise. Amen. Let's go to the Lord in
prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your grace. Lord, we see what we deserve
in this flesh, what sinners we are. And Lord, we read of those books
in the judgment before your throne. And we shudder to think of what
would happen to us if we stood before you in our own works of
righteousness, which we have done. Lord, we don't want to
be found in our own righteousness. We want to be found in the righteousness
of Christ. And Lord, we confess that even
that hope, that this prayer, this desire that you've given
to us, this hunger and thirst for righteousness is because
of the mediator whom you sent, who faithfully did everything
necessary in fulfilling the law, who prayed for us as our high
priest, and who gave his life for us to ransom us and deliver
us from death, and to deliver us safe into your kingdom, in
your arms, that we might know you and have fellowship with
the true and living God, and be blessed with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus our Lord. Lord,
help us, teach us, keep us. Indeed, Lord, encourage us in
this way. Keep us ever looking to Christ.
Deliver us from falling, deliver us from death. Keep us, Lord,
in the light and life of our Savior Jesus Christ, even as
he promised that all who follow him shall not walk in darkness,
but have the light of life. Lord, we believe you. Help us,
keep us. Remember our brethren. who are
sick and unwell and struggling, Lord, have mercy upon them. Intercede
for them as well. And bless your people. Establish
this work here and feed your sheep. It's in Christ's name
we pray and give thanks. Amen. Let's just all stay sitting,
if you like. Our closing hymn will be 112,
Blessed Redeemer, 112. Calvary's mountain, wond'reth,
O morn, All Christ thy Saviour weary and morn, Facing for sinners
death on the cross, That he shall save them from endless loss. Blessed Redeemer, Precious Redeemer,
Seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree, Wounded and bleeding, For
sinners pleading, Blind and unheeding, Dying for me. Father forgive
them, thus did he pray And while his lifeblood flowed fast away
Pray for sinners while in such woe No one but Jesus ever loved
so Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer, Saints, now I see Him
on Calvary's tree. Wounded and bleeding, for sinners
pleading, whining, unheeding, dying for me. O how I love Him,
Savior and Friend! How can my praises ever find
end? Through years unnumbered on heaven's
shore, My tongue shall praise Him forevermore. Blessed Redeemer, precious Redeemer,
seems now I see Him on Calvary's tree. Wounded and bleeding, for
sinners pleading, blind and unheeding, dying for me. Thank you.