Good evening, let's all stand
and sing an opening hymn, 265. We have an anchor, 265. Will your anchor hold in the
storms of life, when the clouds unfold their wings of strife? When the strong tides lift and
the cables strain, will your anchor drift or firm remain? We have an anchor that keeps
the soul Steadfast and sure while the billows roll Fastened to
the rock which cannot move Grounded firm and deep in the Savior's
love It is safely mured till the storm withstand, Fort is
well secured by the Saviour's hand. Though the tempest rage
and the wild winds blow, Not an angry wave shall orb her flow. We have an anchor that keeps
us whole, steadfast and sure while the billows roll. Fastened to the rock which cannot
move, grounded firm and deep into Savior's love. And our eyes behold, through
the gathering night, The city of gold, our harbor bright. We shall anchor fast by the heavenly
shore, With the storms all past forevermore. We have an anchor that keeps
us whole, Steadfast and sure while the billows roll, Fastened
to the rock which cannot move, Grounded firm and deep in the
Savior's love. Good evening. I'm going to read
from John chapter 10. Let's begin in verse 1. John
10, 1. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he
that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and
he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when
he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them. And the
sheep follow him, for they know his voice. And a stranger will
they not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the
voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things they were which he
spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All
that ever came before me are thieves and robbers, but the
sheep did not hear them. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter him, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find
pasture. The thief cometh not, but for
to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and
is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the
wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf
catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth,
because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am
the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
As the Father knoweth me, even so I know the Father, and I lay
down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our gracious Lord, Father, we
thank you for your, for your grace, which is poured
out to us abundantly in your son, Jesus Christ, our shepherd,
our savior, our light, our life, our all. Lord, we thank you for
your grace. Lord, the more you grow us, the
more we see our own inadequacy, our own failings, our weaknesses,
all our shortcomings, and all our need of your grace. And Lord, we stand in awe as
we think of these things to see how gracious, how kind, how loving,
how patient, how full, and how free your salvation is to us
in your Son, Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank you for this night. We thank you for this time to
gather together as a body. Lord, we thank you for your mercy
and grace to us that you would give us your word that you would
establish a body here. We're so thankful for that, Lord,
for how few have it, how few want it, how few desire it or
feel a need for it. Lord, we ask that you would be
pleased to bless this body, that you would establish your work
here in this part of the world, that you would plant us here
firmly, anchored in Christ Jesus, For there is no other salvation,
there is no other hope, there is no other righteousness, there
is nothing apart from our Lord whom you've sent to save your
people. And Lord, we know, we believe,
we believe, Lord, that you have other sheep. There are other
sheep here. Lord, please bring them also. We pray that you would be pleased
to establish this work, that you would be pleased to to plant
your light here, and that hungry, needy sinners would hear the
voice of Christ, that they would come to be fed of Him, to be
led of our Lord. Lord, please feed us. Please
continue to nourish us and keep us. You know all things, you
know our needs, you know the sicknesses that we have, you
know the needs that we have, you know our fears, our worries,
our doubts. Lord, you know all, and yet you
love us, and you provide for us, and we thank you for that,
and we pray that you would bless us now, that your spirit would
be in our hearts, and upon us, and with us, and helping us to
rejoice and give thanks to our God, because you are worthy.
It's in the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that
we pray this. And Lord, hear all our other
groans and prayers and things that we don't even know how to
pray for and express. We trust you and know that you're
perfect in every way, Lord. Thank you. It's in Christ's name
we pray. Amen. Let's sing 269 under his wings,
269. Under His wings I am safely abiding,
Though the night deepens and tempests are wild, Still I can
trust Him, I know He will keep me, He has redeemed me, and I
am His child. Under his wings, under his wings,
Who from his love can sever? Under his wings my soul shall
abide, Safely abide forever. Under his wings, what a refuge
and sorrow, how the heart yearningly turns to his rest. Often when earth has no balm
for my healing, there I find comfort and there I am blessed. Under his wings, under his wings,
Who from his love can sever? Under his wings my soul shall
abide, Safely abide forever. Under his wings, oh, what a precious
enjoyment! There will I hide till life's
trials are o'er. Sheltered, protected, no evil
can harm me. Resting in Jesus, I'm safe evermore. Under His wings, under His wings,
who from His love can sever? Under his wings my soul shall
abide, Safely abide forever. Good evening. Take your Bibles
and turn to Isaiah chapter 56. Isaiah 56. Our text here tonight, it shows
the grace of our God in gathering his chosen people to himself. He does this under the covenant
of grace. He does this in the Lord Jesus
Christ, whom he has sent to gather his people and to provide for
his people. The Lord's people are not a mighty
people. And if they are a mighty people
in man's estimation, it won't be long before the Lord graciously
teaches them and lays them low and humbles them by his grace
for their good and for the benefit of his kingdom and it all works
and redounds to the glory of God. He said to Israel, Israel
being a picture, a type of the church. The church isn't a type
of Israel. Israel is a type of the church. And he said to them, the Lord
did not set his love upon you nor choose you because you were
more in number than any people for ye were the fewest of all
people. And that applies to everything
about us. We're weak and low and simple
in ourselves. And it's not because we're great,
mighty, holy men of renown. It's we're weak, we're needy. And we're nothing without the
Lord Jesus Christ. We're nothing without our God.
And so God receives all the glory and the praise. And so we don't
look to the flesh. We learn by the grace of God
not to look to the flesh to find any reason or hope for God's
love for us. We look to the One whom He points
us to, the One whom He directs us to look to, the Lord whom
He sent, our Savior, our Christ, our Shorty, our God, our Father,
our Husband, our Friend, our Shepherd, our All. We look to
Him. The Lord's people in this passage,
in verse 8, they're called the outcasts of Israel. The outcasts of Israel. And that's whom the Lord, if
you notice when you read this chapter, that's whom the Lord
speaks graciously to. That's whom the Lord speaks comfortably
to. He speaks words of peace to the
outcasts of Israel. But God has nothing kind to say
to the wicked watchmen, who are also talked about later in this
chapter, as we'll see. He's going to destroy the false
teachers. But to the needy sinner, the
Lord speaks graciously to them, and he gathers them, the shepherd
gathers them, our Savior, our Lord, gathers them and loves
them. I've titled this message, The
Outcasts Gathered. The Outcasts Gathered. Now the
first verse I want us to look at is verse 9. Let's begin in
verse 9. It says, They're all ye beasts of
the field. Come to devour. Yea, all ye beasts
in the forest. Now most commentators that I
read, they agree that it's not really clear who the beasts of
the field are or who the beasts in the forest are. But the context
where they lay in this chapter is between the outcasts of Israel,
whom the Lord loves, and the false teachers of religion, whom
our God hates. So these come to destroy, to
take away. Not to take away from the outcasts. They have nothing. They have
nothing to take. But they come and they take from
the watchmen those dogs, those blind dogs of vain, dead, fleshly,
carnal religion. And that's because the watchmen,
they refuse the word of the Lord. They refuse to acknowledge what
our God declares and teaches in his word and what he shows
them. They don't acknowledge it. Instead,
they say, peace, peace, when there is no peace, meaning they're
preaching a righteousness by the works of the law. and saying to people, this is
how you will establish and find peace with God, by keeping the
law, by looking to the law, by making the law your rule of life. And they lie to men, saying,
this will be your peace, because no man can keep the law. If he hears what the law says,
he'll be troubled, and he'll know no peace. He won't know
any peace. And so in addition to that, they
say nothing concerning true righteousness. They say nothing concerning the
righteousness of God. who is Jesus Christ, whom God
has sent, Jesus the righteous. He's the righteousness of God.
And they say nothing of God's righteousness, nothing of Christ
who is revealed in the gospel. who's revealed in that mystery
of God, hidden from men from the foundation of the world,
but revealed now to us in the face of Christ by his apostles,
guided and led by the Spirit, writing this word and still teaching
men by this word to this day. Revealing Christ to us and revealing
Christ in us, in our need of him. So in Isaiah 56, verse 10,
then we read, His watchmen are blind. They are all ignorant.
They are all dumb dogs. They cannot bark, sleeping, lying
down, loving to slumber. For they love and prize and value
their ease. Now the term watchman is used
to describe pastors. It's used to describe a prophet
and sometimes even shepherds. And so these are men who are
supposed to be guides of the people, but they're blind. They're blind. Our Lord said
that they are blind leaders of the blind. Blind leaders of the
blind. And then in Matthew 23, 25, 26,
he gives us an example of what we're to see. about dead religion. He says
in Matthew 23 verse 25 and 26, he said, Whoa unto you scribes
and Pharisees hypocrites, for ye may clean the outside of the
cup and the end of the platter, but within they are full of extortion
and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse
first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside
of them may be clean also. What does he mean? Lord, what
do you mean saying these things? Well, through their religion,
they taught men how to dress up the outward appearance through
religious works, through religious deeds, through religious service,
in trying to obtain favor with God, to obtain forgiveness with
God, to obtain a righteousness before God. And the problem was
they looked good, but their heart was full of corruption. It was
full of death. It had no life. It had no light,
because Christ didn't dwell there. And Christ tells us in John 8,
12, I am the light of the world. He that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. So if Christ
dwelt in them, they would have light and they would know that
we in our flesh are filthy, vile, dead sinners who have no righteousness
and no merit and no standing before God. We need salvation. We need Christ whom God has sent. And so they were spiritually
dead and their hearers were just as dead as they were, being deceived
by them. He says these watchmen are all
ignorant. They're all ignorant of the salvation
of God revealed in Christ. This is why Christ came. because
we are sinners, because we cannot save ourselves by the law. The law, when heard rightly,
when heard correctly, says that all men are sinners, all are
defiled, all are corrupt. It shuts our mouths of boasting.
It humbles us. It lays us low before our God
and shows us our need of Him. Christ reveals the righteousness
of God, the perfection of God, the holiness of God, the provision
of God for His people and His love for them. In providing a
Savior, not just yoking us with the law so that we're just doomed
from the start, We're doomed in the flesh from the start,
but it's for the good of His people to see nothing in themselves
and to behold all righteousness, all provision, everything fully,
freely given by our God in His Son, Jesus Christ. Romans 10.3,
they being ignorant. That's what he calls them in
our text, our ignorant watchmen. They being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. He says they're all dumb dogs.
They cannot bark. And that's what dumb means, not
stupid, but unable to speak. They don't bark. And one of the
primary purposes of having a dog is to bark, to alert you, to
warn you, to let you know there's danger. There's danger. Watch
out. And they're not barking. And
then they called the Gentiles dogs, but here our God calls
them dogs. They're the dogs. Romans 2, 28
and 29. This is because he is not a Jew,
which is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision, which is
outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the
heart, in the spirit, and not of the letter, whose praise is
not of men, but of God. Man doesn't praise this work
because he doesn't see it. He doesn't understand it. He
doesn't know what faith is. He doesn't boast. He doesn't
boast in things that he can't see or that he hasn't done himself. And circumcision They despise
the circumcision of God because it cannot be done with the hands. It can't be done by our works
and something that we do. Now back in our text it says
further in verses 11 and 12, yea they are greedy dogs which
can never have enough. And they are shepherds that cannot
understand. They all look to their own way,
every one for his gain from his quarter. All right, they're not
gonna stick around when the going gets tough because they're out
for themselves. They're looking out for their
own gain and what they can get from it. And they say things
like, come ye, say they, I will fetch wine and we will fill ourselves
with strong drink and tomorrow shall be as this day and much
more abundant. Their strong drink is typical
of a lying spirit. And the fact that they're speaking
of just drinking, it shows that they have no cares, no worries. The Lord's not coming. We have
plenty of time. Let's just live our lives and
do what we want, fill up ourselves with pleasures, and they're not
watching for the coming of the Lord. So regarding verse nine,
sometimes the beasts of the field and the beasts in the forest,
whom the Lord commanded to come and devour, we see them throughout
history, throughout the Word of God, we see them in the nations,
that came against Israel, such as Babylon, who came against
Israel and took away all that was precious to them, took away
the best of the city and took it to themselves and carried
them away captive because the people did not hear the law and
the prophets. As we saw last week, the law
and the prophets testify that Christ is the salvation of God. They all pointed to, and wrote
of, and spoke of, and declared Jesus Christ. And the people
wouldn't hear that. And so God took them away because
they were content in the letter of the law. They were content
in empty, dead-letter religion. Later on it would be Rome who
would destroy Israel in 70 AD because they refused to hear
Christ. They rejected the Messiah. They
wanted nothing to do with him. If you remember We didn't get
there yet in our study in John, but when our Lord raised Lazarus
from the dead, and some went and told the Pharisees what had
been done, we hear what their talk was, what they communed
about. And some of them said, if we let him thus alone, if
we don't do something about this Jesus of Nazareth, all men will
believe on him. They'll recognize that he is
the Christ. And what's going to happen then?
The Romans will come and shall take away both our place and
nation." They feared that, and they tried to save that. They
tried to save their life, what they thought was life, what they
valued. And what happened? Rome came and destroyed their
city and destroyed them. And they lost it all anyway.
That was they tried to save. And anytime the watchmen of the
so-called church become as these blind, ignorant dogs who just
preach a dead letter religion rather than the word of God,
and they turn you to the law for righteousness, and they turn
you to just empty religion for righteousness rather than speaking
of whom Moses and the prophets wrote, Christ. The Lord will
destroy them too. Our Lord said we'll turn over
to Luke, Luke 12. Go to Luke 12 and we'll pick
up in verse 39. Luke 12.39 Our Lord gives this
parable, And this know, that if the good man of the house
had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched,
and not have suffered his house to be broken through. Be therefore
ready also for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think
not. If you knew when someone was
going to come to your house and rob it, you would prepare yourself
for that, to defend against that and to protect against that. And he's saying, well, the Son
of Man, the Lord Jesus Christ is coming. He's coming again.
He came the first time and they didn't even know it and he's
coming again and men aren't even going to know it. Well, I mean,
they'll know when he comes, but They're not looking for him.
They're not prepared. They're not trusting him or seeking
him. And Christ described, well, Peter
asked him, he said, Lord, tell us, what does this parable mean?
describe this parable to us. And Christ in this parable describes
to them who the faithful wise steward is and he compares it
to the likes of these ignorant blind watchmen that we see in
our text. He says in verse 43, Luke 12,
43, Blessed is that servant whom his Lord, when he cometh, shall
find so doing. of a truth I say unto you, that
he will make him ruler over all that he hath. But and if that
servant say in his heart, my Lord delayeth his coming, and
shall begin to beat menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink,
and to be drunken, just like we see They are whipping them
with the law and things that cannot save. The Lord of that
servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at
an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder. and
will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers and that
servant which knew knew his lord's will and prepared not himself
neither did according to his will shall be beaten with many
stripes and so the lord in his word calls to the fowls of the
air and to the beasts of the field and the beasts of the forest
to come and devour the slain, those who are dead in their trespasses
and sins, and shall not know the salvation of God, because
they count themselves unworthy of eternal life. Okay, then now
let's turn our focus in the text to behold the gracious words
of our Lord, which he speaks to his people that are called
the outcasts of Israel. We saw last time that the Lord
was speaking to a people who had no place in the Lord's congregation,
in the congregation of the people under the covenant of the law. They were put out by the law. They had no inheritance. They
weren't welcome because they were defiled. They were sinners. And in Isaiah 56.3 he describes
them as the son of the stranger and the eunuch. Look at verse
three there. Neither let the son of the stranger
that hath joined himself to the Lord speak, saying, the Lord
hath utterly separated me from his people. Neither let the eunuch
say, behold, I am a dry tree. I have no fruit. I produce no
fruit. Don't fear, because by Christ,
that's how we produce fruit. By our husband, the Lord Jesus
Christ. So that man who looks to the
law of Moses to save him, and he takes up the law as a rule
of his life, and he tries to obey it for his righteousness,
he will die in his sins. That one who looks to the law
for their righteousness, that one will die in their sins because
He finds no life, no need, no hope, no justification, no sanctification
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And our Lord said to the Jews,
if ye believe not that I am, you shall die in your sins. You shall die in your sins. And
they were looking to the law. They were trusting in the law.
That was their rule of life. Every tithe, every mint leaf,
everything that had to be weighed, they weighed it out perfectly
and did whatever they could to justify themselves. And Christ
told them, if you believe not that I am, that I'm the Christ,
that I am the salvation of God, you shall die in your sins. Christ is the light. Christ is
the life. Christ is righteousness, the
righteousness of his people. He's the sinner's salvation. Christ is sent of God to be the
needy sinner's savior. He saves his people. That man
who looks to the law for righteousness shall perish by the law, for
he has not the life of Christ in him, and he still looking
to his flesh for righteousness, to stand before God whole and
accepted of Him. He's not resting. In Christ,
the believers Sabbath rest. In Christ, we rest from all our
labors, and all our doing, and all our striving to try and work
a righteousness for ourselves. That one looking to the law is
spending money for that which is not bread. And he's laboring
in that which satisfieth not. It doesn't satisfy the Lord's
people. Isaiah 55 verse 2. He's not delighting
himself in the fatness of the Lord. Christ is the fatness of
the Lord. He's that marrow. He's everything
that we need our God has given to us. Yet for his people the
Lord says this, I will put my law into their hearts and in
their minds will I write them. We won't be looking to tablets
of stone because we have the Spirit of God dwelling in us. His seed remaineth in us so that
he leads us and he guides us and he teaches us and he keeps
us and preserves us and protects He gives us everything that we
need. Our Lord says, He taketh away
the first that He may establish the second. He took away the
old covenant, all of the law, not just the ceremonial law,
what men call the moral law, those 10 commandments. It's on
your heart, stop looking to the stones. We have the Spirit of
God teaching us and keeping us. Christ is all. Turn over to Hebrews
10. We saw this last week, but let's
see it again, because we forget so quickly. Hebrews 10, verse
14. For by one offering, Christ, Christ
our high priest, hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Sanctified by our own works,
looking to the law? No, sanctified by Christ, whereof
the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us. For after that he had
said before, this is the covenant that I will make with them after
those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
hearts, and in their minds will I write them. And their sins
and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission
of these is, there is no more offering for sin. What can we
give to God that Christ himself has not already given for his
people? He paid it all. He paid it all
with his own blood to redeem his people, to make us his own,
his own beloved bride accepted by our God. So the son of the
stranger and the eunuch, which are typical of every sinner who
had no place under the old covenant, They've now a place in Christ
under the covenant of grace established in the blood of our Savior. The watchmen in Israel, they
didn't tell the people this. They didn't reveal Christ in
the law. They didn't reveal Christ in
the prophets. They didn't reveal Christ in
the Psalms. They preached the oldness of
the letter, beating the men servants and maidens with the whip of
the law. turning them away from light,
turning them away from Christ. And while they did the whole
thing, they wouldn't even lift a finger to ease men's burden. They just left them under the
yoke. But Christ, he's come to deliver his people from the yoking
law, to give light to him that sits in darkness. And the prisoner,
he opens the gate and sets them free. Everything we need, Christ
provides. He came in the flesh. He fulfilled
the law of God perfectly. He went about doing all that
the Father sent him to do. declaring the truth, healing
the sick, and doing those things which testified that he is the
very Christ spoken of in the Word of God. And as our faithful
shepherd, our faithful high priest, he offered up himself as the
Lamb of God, a perfect, spotless, holy offering to the Father,
to pay for the sins of his people, to propitiate God, meaning to
turn God's anger away from us because his anger is satisfied
in Christ. That's how Christ is the propitiation
for our sins. He's turned away God's wrath
and anger from us because Christ bore that wrath and anger when
he bore our sins on the tree to put it away, and God is satisfied. And so, God's anger is appeased
toward us. God is pleased with us, covered
in the blood of Christ. We're a sweet-smelling savor
unto the Lord, and He receives us because He loves His Son,
and the scent of His Son. And so, we are well favored by
our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And so having accomplished our
redemption by the death of himself, he was taken down, his dead body
was taken down from the tree, laid in the grave, and he rose
again. Because death could not hold
him. He conquered all our foes, all
our enemies. And in rising from the dead,
he justified us. He justified us. So that there
is no more offering for sin. And not only are we justified
of him, we're sanctified of him set apart, unto this work, unto
this work, flee to Christ for rest, flee to Christ for rest. He's the Sabbath rest of the
son of the stranger and the Sabbath rest of the eunuch. And when
he says, everyone that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it
and taketh hold of my covenant, when he says that there, verse
six, it's speaking of Christ, our Sabbath rest. You that lay
hold of Christ, you that flee to Christ, you cannot pollute
that Sabbath. It's perfect rest in your God. There is no polluting it. Try
to take up the law. Try to do it yourself in some
work of the flesh, thinking that that's going to save you, that
that's going to help you, that that's going to sanctify you,
add some meritorious weight to your favor. No, no, no. That's polluting it. You rest
in Christ. That one who rests in Christ
isn't polluting it. But that one who doesn't rest
in Christ and keeps working and working and laboring and trying
to separate himself and deliver himself from a guilty conscience,
he's polluting it. He's polluting it in the law,
trying to work it through the law. But our Lord makes Christ
a joy to us. He's a wonderful husband. He's
not like that law that's mean, that demands of us perfection,
which we cannot do. The law is perfect. The law is
holy and just and right and good. We're the weakness. And so the
law to us in this flesh is hard and impossible to please. And
that's why we cannot come to God in the law, we come to God
in the Savior whom he sent. So the outcast sinner, to that
one he says in verse 8, the Lord God which gathereth the outcasts
of Israel saith, yet will I gather others to him, to the Christ,
to my Christ, to my servant, behold my servant, I'll gather
others to him beside those that are gathered unto him. And so, these outcasts are sought
by the Lord. I said first that Christ justified
us. He was delivered for our offenses,
raised again for our justification. Romans 4.25. Well, that put away
the anger of God towards us. That put away, that removed the
sin that God may be just to us. that God may be justified in
justifying us because we're perfect. We're perfect in Christ. And
he sends the spirit to seek out his lost sheep who comes and
us being sanctified by Christ, set apart by Christ, by the Spirit,
unto Christ, we are given life, regenerated by the Spirit, and
that darkness and enmity that is in our nature, that hatred
in our flesh against God, He drives that out. And so there's
a perfect reconciliation, the whole of reconciliation. The
sin had to be put away, God loved us in Christ, that's why he gave
us to Christ, but the sin had to be put away, Christ put it
away. And the enmity which is in us,
being born of Adam's corrupt seed, being dead spiritually,
Christ then comes with his spirit and he delivers us from that
enmity and that darkness and that bondage and sets us free
in his Son. In Isaiah 40 verse 11 it says,
he shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the
lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and gently
lead those that are with young. to such as are castaways from
men's fleshly religion." We're broken down, we're weak, we're
worn out, and we're weary by jumping through the hoops of
religion. But the Lord says in Psalm 147,
verse two and three, he says, the Lord doth build up Jerusalem. He gathereth together the outcasts
of Israel. He healeth the broken in heart
and bindeth up their wounds. And so you whose sin is grievous,
who cannot look to God in the law, look to Christ. He's a comfort
to his people. He is the comfort. He is the
rest of his people. He is the deliverer and the savior
of his people. God will be gracious to you.
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the will and purpose of
God in sending Christ, that He may be gracious to you who come
to Him, having nothing of your hands, nothing of your works,
trusting only in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is
what He says He'll do for them in verse 7. even then will I
bring to my holy mountain." The holy mountain is the church,
the body of Christ. And he says, I'll make them joyful
in my house of prayer. We're made joyful. It's not a
chore. It's not a labor to seek the
Lord. It's a joy to worship our God. Being born again, being taught
of His Spirit, He makes us to love Him and to rejoice in Him
and to seek Him because Christ, His blood washes away the guilt
and the shame which we couldn't free ourselves of or get rid
of by our works. Never being satisfied because
God wasn't satisfied. But being alive in the spirit,
we know that God is satisfied. He's pleased with Christ. Their burnt offerings and their
sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar, the altar is
Christ, who was sacrificed for us. And everything that His seed
in us produces, all the fruit that is produced in us according
to the ordained will and purpose of God, it's sanctified by the
blood of Christ. He is the incense by which our
prayers ascend up to the throne of God and are heard of Him.
It's all in Christ. And he says, for mine house shall
be called a house of prayer for all people. That means no lawmonger
No hater of the weak and the simple and the outcasts can throw
you out. You have a place. They have no
place before the throne of God, but you have a place provided
for you and prepared for you by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And the Lord saith at the end
of verse eight, yet will I gather others to him beside those that
are gathered unto him. And we see how our Lord fulfilled
that. He accomplished everything necessary
to make that happen. He's speaking of all the Gentiles
of the church, all who come in. now are outcasts and had no place
under the law, but now we have a place in Christ. John 10, 16,
other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring and they shall hear my voice and there shall be one
fold and one shepherd. And so the outcasts are the sheep
who are gathered by Christ himself. So the dogs, they're cast out
from his presence. Turn over to Revelation 22. Revelation
22, this is the last passage we'll turn to. Let's look at
verse 13 through 15. Our Lord says, Verse 13, I am the Alpha and
Omega, the beginning and the end. That's what Alpha and Omega
means. He's the first and the last. He's everything to us. Blessed
are they that do His commandments. What are His commandments? to
believe on him whom God has sent, and to love your brethren, to
love your brethren in Christ, that they may have right to the
tree of life. You outcasts, sinners, you who
are imperfect in your flesh, who are defiled and corrupt in
your flesh, you in Christ have the right to the tree of life,
because Christ himself is the tree of life. And you may enter
in through the gates into the city. You can come in through
the main entrance. That's the only entrance. The
gate is Christ. I am the door, he said. And we
enter through faith, through faith in him, which he reveals
in us by his spirit, trusting and believing him. For without
our dogs, there's those blind, dumb, non-barking watchmen. There's dogs, and sorcerers,
and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever
loveth and maketh a lie. Those are the watchmen who despised
Christ, and all those people who were deceived by them, who
didn't trust and rest in Christ. Christ is all. You try to come
to God in the law for your worthiness and you shall die in your sins.
But he that believes in Christ has in his belly a river flowing
eternal. You have life eternal because
Christ is everlasting life for his people. He is our very hope,
our very confidence, our peace with God. Amen. Let's close in
prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your grace. We thank you for your full, free provision in
your Son. Lord, in this flesh, we're not
worthy, but in Christ, in the new man, Lord, you have provided
everything for us. Lord, we thank you. We thank
you for the peace and the pardon that we have in our Savior. Lord,
help us to ever rejoice in him and keep looking to him and trust,
trust you, trust your word, trust all that you've done for us in
your son. Keep teaching us, Lord, growing us in grace and in knowledge
of our Lord and Savior and what he's accomplished for us. and
preserve us, Lord. Keep us ever looking to Christ.
It's in His name we pray and give thanks. Amen. If you would, let's have a closing
hymn of 125, Jesus Paid it All. 125. I hear the Saviour say, Thy strength
indeed is small, Child of weakness, watch and pray, Kind 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. Only You indeed I find,
Thy power and Thine alone. And change the leper's spots,
And melt the heart of stone. Jesus paid it all, All to Him
I owe. Sin hath left a 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 a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow, And
when before the throne I stand in Him complete, 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.