Good evening. All right, for
our first hymn, let's sing number 110. Stand if you're able. So this is Alas and Did My Savior
Bleed. We'll be singing a cappella. Alas, and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die? Would He devote that sacred head
for such a worm as I? Was it for crimes that I have
done? He groaned upon the tree. Amazing pity, grace unknown,
and love beyond degree. Well might the sun in darkness
hide And shut his glories in When Christ the mighty Maker
died For man the creature's sin But drops of grief can ne'er
repay The debt of love I owe Dear Lord, I give myself away. Tis all that I can do. You may be seated. All right,
take your Bibles, and we're going to read from Psalm 102. This is a prayer of the afflicted
when he is overwhelmed and pours out his complaint before the
Lord. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and let
my cry come unto thee. Hide not thy face from me in
the day when I am in trouble. Incline thine ear unto me in
the day when I call, answer me speedily. For my days are consumed
like smoke, and my bones are burned as in hearth. My heart
is smitten and withered like grass, so that I forget to eat
my bread. By reason of the voice of my
groaning, my bones cleave to my skin. I am like a pelican
of the wilderness. I am like an owl of the desert.
I watch and am as a sparrow alone upon the housetop. Mine enemies
reproach me all the day, and they that are mad against me
are sworn against me. For I have eaten ashes like bread
and mingled my drink with weeping because of thine indignation
and thy wrath, for thou hast lifted me up and cast me down. My days are like a shadow that
declineth, and I am withered like grass. But thou, O Lord,
shalt endure for ever, and thy remembrance unto all generations. Thou shalt arise and have mercy
upon Zion. For the time to favor her, yea,
the set time, is come. For thy servants take pleasure
in her stones, and favor the dust thereof. So the heathen
shall fear the name of the Lord, and all the kings of the earth
thy glory. when the Lord shall build up
Zion, he shall appear in his glory. He will regard the prayer
of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. This shall be written
for the generation to come, and the people which shall be created
shall praise the Lord. For he hath looked down from
the height of his sanctuary, from heaven did the Lord behold
the earth, to hear the groaning of the prisoner. to loose those
that are appointed to death, to declare the name of the Lord
in Zion and His praise in Jerusalem, when the people are gathered
together and the kingdoms to serve the Lord. He weakened my
strength in the way. He shortened my days. I said,
oh, my God, take me not away in the midst of my days. Thy
years are throughout all generations. of old hast thou laid the foundation
of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They
shall perish, but thou shalt endure. Yea, all of them shall
wax old like a garment, as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they
shall be changed. But thou art the same, and thy
years shall have no end. The children of thy servants
shall and their seed shall be established before thee. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Our gracious Lord, we thank you, Father, for your grace and your
mercy to your people. Lord, you are the true and living
God and there is none like you. And yet you are pleased to be
merciful to a few people like us, who are small in number,
and weak in stature, and have nothing to boast of in ourselves. But we thank you that by your
Son, Jesus Christ, we are made righteous, bright shining as
the stars of heaven which you've created. And Lord, we thank you
for your mercy your grace, your kindness to us, that you should
give us an inheritance with you, that we should be made partakers
of your joy and your blessedness, that these eyes should see the Holy One, the true and holy
living God, that we should know you, that our lips should Be
blessed to speak of your praise, your honor, your glory, that
we may worship you and rejoice in our God who created us for
his own purpose and who do with all things well. Lord, we thank
you for your mercy upon us. We thank you, Lord, for this
night where we may worship our God and hear your word preached
to us, Lord. We ask that you would bless the
preaching, that you would bless the word to our hearts, and that
you would attend the preaching, and that we would hear the voice
of the Son of God speak to our hearts. Lord, we look to you and depend
upon you to nourish us and to feed us, to keep us, and to bless
us and to keep us ever looking to you. And Lord, we ask that
you would bless all your people here, that you would draw them
out, that you would gather them unto yourself, and that you would
gather your people together as a body united as a church in
this wilderness part of the world, where your name will be glorified
and lifted up among us, and that the glorious good news, the unfolding
of the mystery of God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ would
go forth, and that your people would be called out of darkness
and translated into the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Lord, we pray
that you would bless us now, bless those who hear this word,
and and continue, Lord, to knit our hearts together as one with
our God and as one body, one people. Lord, we pray for those
that are sick. We think of Joe and Joanne and
Johnny and Scott and family members, Lord, who have nothing. Lord, be merciful to them. call them out in your grace,
which you've called us by, and give them of your spirit. If
it's only by your spirit are we made alive and born again
of the seed of Christ. Lord, we pray that you would
answer the prayers and the concerns of all your people, even those
things which are not voiced and not made known, that you would
help your people and heal your people and bless your people
it's in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we pray
amen all right let's go to 334 be thou my vision 334 Be Thou my vision, O Lord of
my heart, Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art, Thou
my best thought, by day or by night. Waking or sleeping, Thy presence
my light. Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my
true word. I ever with Thee, and Thou with
me, Lord. Thou my great father, I thy true
son, Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one. Riches I heed not, nor man's
empty praise, Thou mine inheritance, now and always. Thou and Thou only, first in
my heart. High King of Heaven, my treasure
Thou art. High King of heaven, my victory
won. May I reach heaven's joys, O
bright heaven's sun. Heart of my own heart, whatever
befall. Still be my vision, O ruler of
all. Good evening. Take your Bibles and turn to
Isaiah chapter 57. Isaiah 57. Now, in verse 1, we read, the
righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart. and merciful
men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away
from the evil to come. So this verse, it speaks of the
death of those described as the righteous and merciful or kind
or godly persons. And these terms, they account
for all men and all women and young and old and people of every
type and kind from all different parts of the world and backgrounds. These are the people of God who
are saved by grace out of every kindred and tongue and people
and nation. And these have been made righteous. We're not righteous in and of
ourselves. We're made righteous by the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who of God is made unto us righteousness,
our wisdom and righteousness, sanctification and redemption. And they've been made merciful. being touched by the mercy that
God has shown to them, His love affecting them, His love pouring
over them with the light of Christ's countenance, the life of Christ's
life being poured into us, making us alive and revealing to us
the mercy of our God for us. That He doesn't pay us according
to our sins as they deserve, but He richly rewards us for
the sake of his son, the Christ whom he's sent. So these ones
perish, and they are taken away. And it says that no man layeth
it to heart, and none considers why it is. And if we think about
it, it's really not a surprise to us that no man would would
consider these things or lay it to heart because he's ignorant. Man, by nature, is ignorant of
the things of God. Man, by nature, is in darkness. That is, he has no light of God. He has no understanding of the
true and living God. There's no spiritual life dwelling
in him. There's no spark of life in him. He has no sense or feeling for
God. He has no desire for God. Not the true and living God.
Not the true and living God. Paul over in 1 Corinthians 2,
he says a few things on this in 1 Corinthians 2 verse 6. He speaks of our ministry, our
preaching. of the word which our God has
given to us. And he says, how be it? We speak
wisdom. That is, we speak Christ, the
wisdom of God. We speak wisdom among them that
are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes
of this world that come to naught, that come to nothing. But we
speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which
God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of
the princes of this world knew. For had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. They wouldn't have crucified
Christ. And so no man lays it to their
heart when the righteous and the merciful die and are taken
away. They don't consider that judgment
is coming, that the wrath of God is coming upon the inhabitants
of the earth. to take them away, to destroy
them, to bring their hopes of saving their life to an end and
taking away that which they cherish and they prize. And so these
verses that we read here They declare to us this truth that
when Christ the righteous died, they didn't understand what was
going on. They didn't understand what Christ
had come and purpose to do. They didn't understand that he
accomplished the redemption of his people. They didn't see or
know or understand how that God had through Christ obtained our
redemption, had obtained our forgiveness with God, had obtained
our peace, had obtained our inheritance by the Lord Jesus Christ, and
that through his work, what he accomplished, it brought forth
God's will and purpose for his people to be gracious and merciful
to them in our Lord Jesus Christ, by our Lord Jesus Christ. It was all a mystery to them. Now let me describe this mystery
in three points. We'll look at Christ's coming,
Christ's death, and Christ's resurrection. First, Christ's
coming testifies to us of man's sinfulness. The coming of the
Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh testifies to us of our sinfulness,
of our inability to work a righteousness for ourselves, to save ourselves,
to recommend ourselves to God, to earn favor and gain His merit
because of our works. Christ's coming testifies that
all our works are futile. They cannot save us. They do
not work righteousness for us. And the scriptures testify this
very thing. Galatians 2 verse 16, knowing
Paul says that a man is not justified by the works of the law. But
he is justified by the faith of Jesus Christ. That faithful
work, the faithfulness of Jesus Christ, his work, what he accomplished,
that is what justifies us with God. Even we have believed in
Jesus Christ. We trust our Lord. We trust His blood has prevailed
and availed for us and made us righteous, has delivered us from
death. We believe Jesus Christ that
we might be justified by the faith of Christ, the faithfulness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. So we see It's Christ who justifies
us and He reveals faith in us which looks to the blood of Christ
and says, there, that's my salvation, that's my hope, that's my peace
with God. And not by the works of the law,
for by the works of the law there shall no flesh be justified. It just won't happen. because
our hands are filthy and polluted. Second, Christ's death, we saw
Christ's coming testify of our sinfulness. Christ's death testifies
that sin must be punished. Sin must be punished even for
those whom God loves and chose and elected unto salvation before
the foundation of the world in and by Jesus Christ. Sin must
be punished and that is witnessed and testified by the death of
Christ. When our Lord died, he died the
death of a substitute. He died our death. He died in
our place, taking our place under the wrath and punishment of the
justice of Holy God that we should go free. He bore that death and
died our death that we should go free. He did this. He laid down his life for his
chosen seed. for the children of promise,
as Isaac was a child of promise. He was the son of promise. And
that's actually a beautiful picture. And we see in that the wisdom
of our God calling Isaac the child of promise, the son of
promise. Notice he didn't say, in Jacob
thy seed shall be called, but in Isaac shall thy seed be called. Because with Abraham, we know
that Abraham had more than just Isaac as a son. He had Ishmael
and Isaac. And when Sarah died, he took
another wife, Keturah, I believe her name was. And he had, I think,
10 sons with her. So it wasn't in Abraham according
to the flesh. but in Isaac. Now Isaac, the
wisdom of God in that is that Isaac also had two sons. So lest
we should think that it's according to the flesh that God blesses
his people and does this for his people, we know that Isaac
had Esau and Jacob. And Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. So that we know when our Savior
came and laid down His life for His people, it was not a people
according to the flesh, but a people according to promise. People
according to promise. If it was in Jacob thy seed shall
be called we might have thought maybe it is according to the
flesh but no it's according to promise. The promise of our God
for us in his son Jesus Christ. So while as yet we were ungodly
sinners whose sin had to be punished our God is justified in that
he put Christ to death for his people. in place of His people,
Him being the sacrifice for our sins to justify us and to set
us free from the wrath of God due to our sin. So Romans 3 verse
24 through 26 declares to us this glorious truth of redemption
in our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 24 says, being justified
freely apart from our works by His grace, through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation,
which we understand to mean that the wrath of God against us for
our sins is turned away from us because it was poured out
upon our substitute, our shorty, Jesus Christ. So He's our propitiation. He's the one who appeases the
wrath of our God toward us, that God is at peace with us through
Christ, through faith in His blood, His blood is that which
justifies us, through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness
for the remission, the forgiveness of sins that are past. through
the forbearance of God. Meaning that when the children
of Israel, for example, were practicing the law and they were
sacrificing bulls and goats, the blood of bulls and goats
never took away sin. It doesn't take away sin. They
were looking unto. Those who did that in faith were
looking unto the promise of God in Christ, in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so God forbear with them
until Christ should come and redeem all his people before
and after. To declare, I say at this time,
his righteousness, that he might be just and the justifier of
him which believeth in Jesus. So we've seen the coming of Christ,
the death of Christ, and third, Christ's resurrection testifies
that God is well pleased with the death of his son. His resurrection
declares that our God declares his son just and all we in Christ
are declared justified by our God because His justice is satisfied
on Him. So all His people, because Christ
has done this, has removed that sin that God may be merciful
and gracious to us. and kind to us, his anger being
turned away from us, because that is done, all the people
of God are sought out by the Spirit of God. who brings them,
who separates them unto this glorious good news in the Lord
Jesus Christ and declares to them the truth of God, this mystery,
making it known to our dark hearts, filled with enmity by nature,
and he scatters that darkness and he drives out that enmity
so that we are born again, born anew not of the seed of Adam,
we've already been born of his seed, we're born again of that
incorruptible seed of the Lord Jesus Christ which cannot sin
and can only believe, can only trust in the blood of our Lord
Jesus Christ. and we confess Him, we hear His
voice and we confess Him, we see that He is the very light
of God. He is the very way of our God
that He's given to us, that we should know Him and that we should
walk before Him in truth and in light, having light of Him.
And so we're born again by the Spirit of God. Now Colossians
1 verse 12 and 13 confirms this saying, that we give thanks unto
the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers. He has
provided for us so that we are sufficient in Christ to be partakers
of this glory, of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath
delivered us from the power of darkness that bondage that we
were in by nature, that veil over our face that we could not
see the glory of our God, he's delivered us from the power of
darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son. He took us from the kingdom of
darkness and death and brought us over to the kingdom of Jesus
Christ, all by his grace. Without you performing a work
in the law, without your will saving you first and believing
on God, God did everything necessary in the Lord Jesus Christ for
you, his people, and brought you to life and light in the
Lord himself. So no man knows the mystery of
God or any of the wonderful works of God in Christ except the Lord
is merciful to him, except he's gracious to him in giving him
life in Christ. And so verse 1 in Isaiah 57 verse
1 it says, the righteous perisheth, they're made righteous by Christ,
and no man layeth it to heart. They don't think about it. And
merciful men, kind godly people, are taken away, none considering
that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come." So this
is true physically and it is true spiritually. It's true spiritually. Just as righteous men are removed
from the earth to deliver them from the wrath of God which comes
upon the inhabitants of the earth, so also blood-bought souls by
our Lord are delivered. They're delivered from the wrath
of God, the judgment of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's delivered
us. You that believe on him are delivered
from the wrath of the judgment of God coming upon the earth. We're sanctified by God. You
that believe him are sanctified by God for better things, for
better things, for honorable things, for the purposes of God
to use you in his kingdom as He sees fit, to do good, to be
profitable unto your brethren, all by the works and kindness
of our God. Hebrews 7.19 says, For the law
made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope
did, that hope of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the which we draw
nigh unto God. We don't draw an eye to God in
the law. The law breathes out threatenings and wrath because
we don't keep it perfectly. But in Christ, who kept the law
perfectly and loved his God with heart, mind, body, and soul perfectly,
and his neighbor as himself, you that trust him, trust the
blood of Christ, we are brought near unto our God in peace, and
in full assurance of acceptance and life in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so speaking of our death,
we see a picture how that we die in the old man. That old man is crucified with
Christ. That old man is put to death. That old man is beat down and
put low when we are chastened that we may live in and by Christ. Paul said it this way in 2 Corinthians
4 verse 11. He said, we which live are always
delivered unto death for Jesus' sake. We're always. You that trust Christ are always
delivered unto death for the sake of your Lord, that the life
also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. Not that
this flesh is improved, but that the life of Christ in the new
man shines forth. You've seen the fruits of our
Lord in your brethren and what he's done for his people. And so the sense here that the
apostle is making is that while we're weakened in these earthen
vessels of clay, which can do nothing, and and are weak and
broken and weary and brought low. While we're made weaker
in these vessels through troubles, through perplexities, through
persecutions, and we're humbled in this flesh, we're made strong
by the Lord. We're encouraged by the Lord.
We see the grace and the power of our God all by the Lord because
there's nothing in us, there's no strength of us, there's nothing
that we have done that makes a difference, but Christ makes
all the difference. And he shines in his people that
they serve the Lord and they serve his people in joy and in
gladness because they live. not to obtain life, but because
we live by Him, we serve Him, we walk in Him, we walk in faith,
and we walk looking to Him. Alright now, let's look at verse
2. Isaiah 57 verse 2. He shall enter into peace, and
they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness. So here are three described blessings
or gifts that our Lord gives to his chosen people in the salvation
that we've received in Christ. One, that one who's made righteous
by Christ, he shall enter into peace. He shall enter into peace. Christ, having put away our sin,
seeks His own by the Spirit to make us to know what He's done,
to hear His words of grace, to receive that life which He's
obtained for us, to deliver us from darkness and bondage, and
to bring us into light, having faith in Him. It says in Ephesians
2, verse 1 and 8, hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sins. For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that, not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. So we
shall enter into peace. Second, that one who is made
righteous, they shall rest in their beds. They shall rest in
their beds. We find rest. in the Lord Jesus
Christ. We find rest in Christ. That
is, we find rest in him from all our labors under the law
and all our strivings and workings and spending of our flesh in
order to obtain righteousness. We rest from all that in religion
and under the law and trying to save ourselves under fear
of wrath and threat of punishment. Christ delivers us from all that. He delivers us from all that
fear and doubt and worry and being afraid of our God. Because
He's delivered us from that death, from that hamster wheel of death
in religion. Just working and working and
working and working. and never getting anywhere, never
finding peace, never having any rest, Christ translates us, takes
us from that hamster wheel of religious death and brings us
into the bed which Christ has made. And that's where we lay
down. Some people say, when you speak
of somebody who's made a mess of things and you say, well,
that's the bed you've made, lie down in it. Well, Christ has
made our bed. And He brings us to lay down
in the rest which He's given to us of Himself. Isaiah 40 verse
1 and 2, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem. Jerusalem being the city of God,
the church of God, the heavenly Jerusalem whom Christ has delivered
unto himself, a bride adorned by his grace, a bride adorned
with his spirit, having all the fruits of love and joy and peace
and patience and kindness which he works in his people by his
power and glory. It says, cry unto her that her
warfare, your strivings, your warring in religion, it's accomplished. The battle's won. The war is
won. All by your Lord, the man of
war, Jesus Christ. That her iniquity is pardoned. for she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sin." Meaning he's been gracious
to her, more than sufficiently gracious to her in providing
everything because her sin has been put away by Christ and she
now receives pardon from the Lord. So Christ is the righteousness
of God for his people who are made righteous by him, meaning
that we are accepted and received into the beloved family of God
by our Savior, by our God. And his people lay down in their
beds made for them by Christ and rest, find rest unto their
souls so that we're not troubled anymore. We're thankful. We're
at peace with our God in Christ. We trust Him. We trust His blood.
Believe Him. Believe Him. His words here,
which speak peace, are meant to speak peace to the troubled
soul, the needy sinner, who isn't trusting in their righteousness,
but believes that Christ's blood is sufficient to save unto the
uttermost, just as God has said. And third, that one who's made
righteous, it says, each one walking in his uprightness so
that our Lord gives his people his spirit, whereby the new man
is created by the spirit, by the seed of Christ, and we abide
now in Christ. He is our Lord. Christ dwelleth
in our hearts by faith. In John 8, 12, Jesus said to
those Jews about him, he said, I am the light of the world.
He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have
the light of life. Because we walk in him, and we
walk in his way. which is Christ, and we don't
have darkness, and we're not confused how God saves his people,
how that God can be merciful to us, a sinner. We see it, we
know that we're sinners, but we understand that our God is
merciful to us because of Christ, because Christ cannot be denied
by the Father. He has entrance unto the Father,
He intercedes for His people, and He prevails for everyone
for whom He laid down His life. We believe Him, and we walk by
faith in Him, rejoicing, ever rejoicing. So these are gracious
words of our Lord for His chosen people. You that are manifestly
His people because you have faith in Christ. You believe Him, which
is the work of God. You don't trust your faith. You
trust Christ, whom your faith looks to. You believe Him. But the language then, once we
get to verse 3, it changes very sharply. It changes sharply,
because when the Lord's people die, or when they are humbled
by the Lord and brought low, you can think of Paul who was
imprisoned, and was put in chains and beaten and mistreated very
often. You could think of that. And
how the enemies of Paul would rejoice and think, ah, God is
smiting him. God's bringing him low, and he's
putting him in his place. But the Lord speaks to this people
as an idolatrous people, as a people who don't know the Lord and don't
have light of the Lord. He says to them, draw near hither,
ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer, and the
whore. These are a picture of those
in Revelation, for example, being children of Jezebel, the witch,
or of the whore of Babylon, all that false, vile, wicked, vain
religion of man's flesh. those who fornicated with the
kings of the earth and brought forth a corrupt seed, a false
religion, a false religious seed, a false people of God. And these
are people who are slinging stones and shooting arrows at the Lord's
people. They are mocking them who preach
the Gospel of Christ. They question where is the promise
of His coming? Where is this Lord of whom you
speak? And they deny the Lord who bought
us. and who declares these words
of comfort to us. Verse four, our Lord says to
them, against whom do ye sport yourselves? Who are you making
fun of? Who are you delighting in when
they are removed from before you? Against whom make ye a wide
mouth and draw out the tongue? Who are you teasing and mocking
in this manner? In Revelation 11.10 it says,
They that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and
make merry, and shall send gifts one to another, because these
two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. Whether those
prophets be the Word of God and the Spirit, or it's the Gospel,
the Word of God and the Gospel, and the Church who declares,
who lifts up the ensign of Christ, the banner of Christ, and declares
this, If that witness is removed, the world may think that they're
merry and rejoice for a moment, but it'll be very, very short-lived. Because it's a blessing in the
earth when the testimony of God goeth forth declaring salvation
by the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a day of grace. May it never
be taken away in our day. May it never be taken away. The
Lord asks, He says, Are you not children of transgression, a
seed of falsehood? You're mocking my people and
you yourselves are born of lies and falsehood. You're a people
of transgression. So they think that they're children
of God by their religious practices, by the things that they're doing
and their hope is built on their works. But it's all they're all
born of falsehood. They're born of of lies. Paul
said to the Thessalonians in 2 Thessalonians 2 in the middle
of verse 10 and verse 11, he says it's because they received
not the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for
this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should
believe a lie. And so these people, laboring
in religion, striving and working hard in the name of religion,
thinking that they're the people of God are deceiving themselves. They're believing a lie. All
right, Isaiah 57 verse 5 and 6. and flaming yourselves, getting
yourselves all worked up and giddy with idols under every
green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the cliffs
of the rocks. Among the smooth stones of the
stream is thy portion. They, they are thy lot. Even to them hast thou poured
a drink offering. Thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort? these
and so the Lord is describing their various idolatrous acts
and that those things that they're committing in the forest those
things that they're doing in the streams and and all their
vain practices and he says should my wrath be appeased for these
sacrifices and these services that that you're performing should
I be turned away from my wrath against you because of these
things that that you do and And so they were religious people. They professed, he's speaking
to people who professed to be children of Israel, that these
were people who had a form of the law, a form of the practice
of their religion, and they were bringing in other idolatrous
practices and trusting those things and just blending the
whole of it and thinking that they were serving the true and
living God. But notice in verse 7 the rest
that they sought for. It was founded upon their labors
and their works. Verse 7, upon a lofty and high
mountain hast thou set thy bed. Even thither wentest thou up
to offer sacrifice. So the language is one that takes
great exertion and strength to climb up that lofty high mountain
to reach the bed of your rest. And that's what men and women
are doing in religion. They're straining, they're striving,
they're putting forth great effort to try and please God and gain
His favor by their works that they might find some rest in
the bed which they've created on that high place that took
all that work. all that mountain of labor and
works. And so that's where their rest
comes from, from hard work and labor in religion that cannot
save. And there's a sense even that
they're getting more bold so that they took those practices
from under the cover of the woods and down in the valley and they've
brought it up to the heights because they're arrogant and
bold. and what they're doing and what they think prevails
for them. But the Lord declares them adulterers,
adulterers against them. They're going after another God. In verse 8, behind the doors
also in the posts hast thou set up thy remembrance, for thou
hast discovered thyself to another than me. And art gone up, thou
hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them. Thou
lovet'st their bed where thou sawest it. And so it's just like
when you meet people who claim to be religious, they'll take
anything into their bed, thinking that it gives them some peace.
Oh, a cross? Yeah, I'll put that on. Oh, some
Koran? Yeah, I'll read that too. And
I'll do this prayer, and I'll do that meditation, and I'll
go to this place, and I'll go to that place. Because they think
that by enlarging their bed, it gives them more rest, more
of a chance that they will find rest and peace with God. But it's not a bed made by Jesus
Christ. It's not going to save. Christ
has made a perfect bed for his people in which we have rest
for our souls in him. Be turned away from all your
dead, false, vain, religious works and services. They cannot
save you. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Behold the servant of God, whom he has sent, Jesus Christ, who
came in the flesh, which declares to us that all our works are
vain and worthless and cannot save. Our sin required that Christ
be put to death for his people and his resurrection
declares that God is satisfied. There's nothing more to do. Christ
has obtained eternal redemption for them who are sanctified by
his blood. by his blood. The warfare is
over for the people of God. He says, thou wentest to the
king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, all idolatrous
practices and works, and didst send thy messengers far off,
and didst debase thyself even unto hell. And he's saying, you
feared these idle gods more than you feared me. You didn't trust
me. You wouldn't hear my word. You
feared them and you humbled yourself before them. And so the Lord
will not hear those people because they will not hear his Christ. They will not hear his word,
his mystery being declared through the gospel that Christ has made
his people righteous and accepted with God. So, brethren, we have
interest in Christ by the grace of our God who has been so merciful. We see what we are in these idolaters
by nature. We know exactly who they are
because that was us when we were yet walking in darkness, when
we were yet under the the spell, if you will, of the evil one.
when we yet were partakers of this vain foolish world and things
dead things that couldn't save afraid and worried and fearful
and doubting and upset and going up and down and up and down in
our emotions before God because we didn't know what to believe
they were speaking confusion the mist of darkness and confusion
and black spots coming into the place where God says that his
word, his house is a house of prayer, that we speak of Christ,
that we lift up the Lord Jesus Christ who saves his people. Thank God for his mercy to you
who believe Christ and have strong confidence by the grace of God
giving you that strong confidence in the blood of Christ. Stay
right there. Look to Christ. Look to Him.
Trust Him. So while others debase themselves
in worshiping the works of men's hands, you have a good hope,
the Lord Jesus Christ. You've been delivered from this
death. And we see here described tone-deaf
worshipers, tone-deaf idolaters who don't hear and understand
that the righteous are taken away, that the righteous are
humble, that the righteous are brought low, and no man lays
it to heart. And the merciful, those who have
received mercy and are merciful because of the mercy of God shown
to them, they don't consider when they're taken away. And
no man knoweth it or layeth it to heart, seeing what the Lord
is doing to deliver us from the wrath of God." All right, brethren,
we'll stop there. I pray that's a blessing and
a comfort to you who trust Christ. You keep looking to Him. You
keep trusting Him. Let's sing a hymn and then we'll
close in prayer. Let's sing 300. More secure is
no one ever. More secure is no one ever Than
the loved ones of the Savior, Not yon star on high abiding,
Nor the bird in home nest hiding. God His own doth tend and nourish,
In His holy courts they flourish, Like a Father kind He spares
them, In His loving arms He bears them. Neither life nor death
can ever From the Lord His children sever For His love and deep compassion
Comforts them in tribulation Little flock, to joy then yield
thee, Jacob's God will ever shield thee. Rest secure with this defender,
At his will all foes surrender. What he takes or what he gives
us shows the Father's love so precious. We may trust his purpose
wholly, tis his children's welfare solely. Our gracious God, we thank you,
Lord, for your word. We thank you, Lord, for your
grace in attending this service with us. Lord, that you would
bless your word to our hearts, that you would comfort us and
fill us, Lord, with joy and peace in our Savior, in the bed which
he has made for us, that we may lay down in him in rest and in
peace. Lord, thank you. For we are unworthy
in ourselves, but we thank you for the worth of your son Jesus
Christ in us, in whom, by whom you are well pleased with us,
even in him. Lord, thank you so much for your
grace. We pray that you bless your people.
Comfort those who are sorrowful, are worried, are afraid, Lord. Let us all, let all thy people
find peace and joy and grace and our Savior. It's in His name
we pray and give thanks. Amen.