Good evening. Let's begin our
evening service by standing and singing out of your softback
140. Behold the savior of mankind 140. I'm sorry. Behold the Savior of mankind
nailed to the shameful tree. How blessed the love that Him
inclined to bleed and die for me. A cow he groans while nature
shakes, and earth's strong pillars bend. A temple veil in thunder
breaks, and solid marble rends. has done the precious ransoms
paid. Receive my soul, he cries. See how he bows his sacred head. He bows his head and dies. Soon he'll break this iron chain,
and in full glory shine. O Lamb of God, was ever pain,
was ever love like thine? Thank you. I'd like to read Psalm 46. Psalm
46. To the chief musician for the
Sons of Korah, a song upon Elomoth. God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though
the earth be removed and though the mountains be carried into
the midst of the sea, though the waters thereof roar and be
troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof,
Selah. There is a river, the streams thereof shall make glad
the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most
High. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God shall help her and that right
early. The heathen raged. The kingdoms
were moved. He uttered his voice. The earth
melted. The Lord of Hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is
our refuge, Selah. Come, behold the works of the
Lord, what desolations he hath made in the earth. He maketh
wars to cease unto the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow
and cutteth the spear in sunder. He burneth the chariot into fire.
Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the heathen.
I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge sealer. Our heavenly and merciful Father,
we thank you for allowing us to assemble together in this
place again. Father, what a great, great blessing
it is that you continue to provide for us in this manner, whereby
we can continue to hear the glorious, unsearchable riches of the Lord
Jesus Christ, our only hope and our only salvation. Father, We
know there is much religion, but you have, Lord, given us
this pillar of truth in this location. And Lord, if it would
please you, will you add to this assembly as you see fit? You
know exactly where your sheep are and what they stand in need
of. And Father, remember us and strengthen us and give us all
that we stand in need of financially and strength and health to go
forward with this work and this church. And Father, we also think
of those that are ill. There is much sickness and illnesses. And Father, we thank you for
the strength that you do give us. But Father, will you remember
also those that are sick and unable to be here and are struggling
in various ways? And we think of Aunt Marion also,
Lord, who is now home again. and but struggling, Lord, will
you watch over and protect her and be with all those, Lord,
those that listen regularly on the internet. be with them and
bless them where they are. And Lord, remember Brother Scott
and all who are part of this group. Lord, give them strength
and health that they may continue to worship with us and assemble
here. Lord, be with Brother Eric. We
thank you for him. Continue, Lord, to give him the
courage and what he needs, Lord, to prepare these messages And
remember him, Lord, as he stands here this evening before us again.
Each time is a new time. Father, will you pour out your
grace and mercy and spirit upon him and give him, Lord, the words
to speak unto us. And remember us, Lord, as we
listen. Give us, Lord, the alertness and an appetite, Lord, and fill
us, fill our souls with the glory and the grace of the Lord Jesus
Christ. For Jesus' sake alone, amen. Let's grab your loose leaf, Christ
of the Cross. Christ of the Cross. I think
we sang that once before. And it's sung to the old rugged
cross. On a hill far away died the Christ
of the cross. He yielded to suffering and shame. And there in his grace he died
in my place, the purpose of God to fulfill. So I'll cherish the Christ of
the cross, and before his throne I'll bow down. I will cling to
the Christ of the cross. For He is the Picking Us Crown. O the Christ of the Cross, so
despised by the world, has a wondrous attraction to me. He, the dear Lamb of God, left
His glory above to bear all my sin on the tree. So I'll cherish the Christ of
the Cross, and before His throne I'll bow down. I will cling to
the Christ of the Cross, for He is a King most proud. In the Christ of the Cross and
His blood so divine, a marvelous beauty I see. I opened my eyes that long had
been blind, to behold Him now on His throne. So I'll cherish
the Christ of the Cross, and before His throne I'll bow down. I will cling to the Christ of
the Cross, for He is the King I must crown. To the Christ of
the Cross I must be true, His shame and reproach gladly bear. For in love He constrains till
all shall be gained His glory forever I'll share So I'll cherish
the Christ of the Cross And before His throne I'll bow down I will
cling to the Christ of the Cross, for He is the King I trust. Sorry about that, I kept messing
up that last line there, so it wasn't much of a help. Anyway,
it's nice words. Let's take a drink here. Good evening. Take your Bibles
and turn with me to Isaiah chapter 56. We're gonna begin looking
at this chapter 56 here. And the Lord is speaking. He's sending his word to a people
who have no acceptance under the covenant of works. under that law which was given
to the people by Moses. They have no acceptance with
God under that covenant. They won't be received by him.
Instead, what we see is that they are gathered together under
the covenant of grace. They're called to enter into
the Sabbath rest. Lord's Sabbath rest. That is, that they would rest
from all their labors. They would rest from all their
labors trying to earn satisfaction with God. Instead, they would
rest in Him whom God has sent, whom God has provided to give
the people rest, the Lord Jesus Christ. So I've titled the message,
Rest in Christ. So let's look at verses 1 and
2. Our Lord says, Thus saith the
Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice. For my salvation is
near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the
man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on
it, that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth
his hand from doing any evil. Now these are words which can
only be received in faith. These are words which only can
be heard and received by faith. When these words were spoken,
historically speaking, they were spoken to a people under that
old covenant dispensation of the law. They were spoken to
people under the law at that time. And the covenant of works,
the law which was given, that ruled out many Gentiles. It ruled out all Gentiles as
Gentiles from being included in the assembly of the Lord's
people. And here, those that were left
out, that were outcasts, that had no opportunity of entering
the congregation, is described in verse 3 as the son of the
stranger and the eunuch. The son of the stranger and the
eunuch. Turn over to Deuteronomy 23.
Let's see this. Deuteronomy 23, and we're going
to read verses 1 through 3. These first two descriptions
are a description of a eunuch. A eunuch. And it's described
as he that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member
cut off. That's a eunuch. He shall not
enter into the congregation of the Lord. A bastard, someone
who doesn't know who his father is, a bastard shall not enter
into the congregation of the Lord. Even to his 10th generation
shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord. An Ammonite or Moabite
shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord. Even to their 10th
generation shall they not enter into the congregation of the
Lord forever." So under the law, these were forbidden to enter
into the congregation of the Lord's people. They were cut
off from it. And yet, back in our text, we
read these very gracious, very glorious words which encourages
those that were cast out from Israel's congregation under the
law to have hope, to hear God's word bringing them in to his
congregation under a new covenant. Verse three says, 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. So first, the son of the stranger
and the eunuch, these are typical of every sinner. They're typical of every sinner. And this means all whom the law
cannot save. Everyone whom the law cannot
save. And just to be clear, the law saves no one. No one can
be saved by the works of the law. because we're all sinners. None can keep the law of God
perfectly and come to God in their own righteousness and be
accepted by God, be received by Him, because we are sinners. We've offended God and broken
God's holy law, and we are corrupt, defiled, spiritually dead people. all of us, every one of us. Not
even the Jews could be saved by the law through the ordinances
or the practices of the law, that which was prescribed by
Moses in the law to worship God. No one could be saved by them,
not even the Jews, because the law was a shadow of things to
come. It was a shadow of things to
come. It's not the very substance of Him who is to come. You don't
sit yourself down and rest yourself on the shadow of a chair. You
have to rest in the chair itself. The shadow's not going to hold
you up. The shadow provides no rest for you. The chair itself
is your rest. Well, turn to Hebrews 10. Hebrews
10. And when you get there, put a
marker, because we're going to go to another scripture and then
come back to Hebrews 10. Hebrews 10, verse 1 and 2. For the law, the law having a
shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the
things, can never, with those sacrifices which they offered
year by year continually, make the comers thereunto perfect. The law can never make those
coming in the law perfect. For then, if it did, would they
not have ceased to be offered, because that the worshipers once
purged should have had no more conscience of sins? They wouldn't
have, they would have believed in God and trusted that their
sins were put away, that God was propitiated through their
works in the law, that his wrath was appeased against them, that
it was put away and so they wouldn't have offered more sacrifices
because it would have, their conscience would have, they would
have known in their conscience that God was satisfied. The reason
why believers in Christ, we rest in Christ because we don't continue
looking beyond Him. There's nothing more for us to
do. We trust that Christ has put away all our sins. We're aware of them, but we're
not looking for them. Our conscience isn't screaming
out saying, find something, give me something to soothe the fear
of wrath that I know is coming upon me. No, we don't have that
anymore in Christ because Christ's blood is sufficient. And God
has given that to us, that hope and comfort and peace in our
hearts through the blood of Christ by his spirit. See that? So there's
no more conscience for sin like it was with those in the law.
So the law, first we see the law is a shadow. It's a saver
of the peace that we have with God in Jesus Christ. It's looking to Christ. It shows
us pictures, beautiful pictures of what Christ has accomplished
for his people. That's one thing we see with
the law, points to Christ. Now, holding a marker in Hebrews
10, go to Romans 3. Here we see the law's other purpose. Romans 3, 19 and 20. Paul writes, now we know that
what thing soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law. Not you who are not under the
law, but those who are under the law. That every mouth may
be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. The law brings us into guilt
before God. It shows us the exceeding sinfulness
of sin. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in God's sight, for by the law
is the knowledge of sin. The law shows us just how evil
and corrupt we are, how far short of God's glory we fall. The law makes that known to a
man who is otherwise ignorant of the holiness of God. It shows
a person that. So the law can save no one by
the practice of the ordinances and the keeping of the law. Our
God tells us through the Apostle Paul that by the deeds of the
law there shall be no flesh justified in God's sight. That's not how
we're justified. The son of the stranger and the
eunuch, they are typical of every sinner, Jew and Gentile. We're all eunuchs by nature. We're all strangers by nature
from God. So our passage here is speaking
of another covenant. Speaking of the covenant of grace
established in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Go back to
Hebrews 10. This time go to verse 14. Let's
read down. through to verse 18. For by one offering Christ hath
perfected forever them that are sanctified. Set apart by God's
choosing and election before the foundation of the world we
have been set apart to this salvation. and have been sought out by the
Spirit of God, separated unto this work of God's grace to be
brought to a knowledge of it through the life of Christ being
wrought in us by the Holy Spirit. Verse 15, 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." Because Christ is our
propitiation. He removes the wrath and anger
of God against us. Now where remission or forgiveness
of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Our guilt is
put away. Christ has satisfied our God
and our God has made us satisfied with Christ in Christ. We believe
Him, and trust Him, and rejoice in what Christ has done. So,
in our Lord, we cease from our labors, trying to justify ourselves,
and trying to sanctify ourselves, because Christ is made unto us
righteousness. He's our justification, and He's
made unto us sanctification, as well as our wisdom, as well
as our redemption, our purchase by His blood. And so in Isaiah
56 verses 1 and 2 these words they speak of the righteousness
of our Lord Jesus Christ who fulfilled all the law in order
to establish for us the covenant of grace whereby our God receives
us and speaks peaceably to us. It speaks here in these verses
of a people who lay hold of Christ by the grace and power of God
and His righteousness by faith through the gift of the Holy
Ghost. It's all wrought in us by our God, by His grace and
grace. So verse 1, Thus saith the Lord,
Keep ye judgment, and do justice. for my salvation is near to come
and my righteousness to be revealed. So when he says, keep ye judgment,
he's speaking of doing that which is right, doing equity or righteousness. And do justice, he says. Well,
we know that all our righteousnesses are filthy rags. We know that
the works that this flesh does and this flesh tries to produce
amounts to a heaping pile of filthy rags that God is not pleased
with. And so this speaks not of our
righteousness, but the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
His righteousness that we trust and believe, that we come to
our God in. So by His grace, we follow our
Lord's command. We follow Him. We look to Him
for all things. And His instruction to us in
terms of doing what is right to others, we know is Matthew
7, 12, for example. Therefore, he said, all things
whatsoever ye would that men should do to you. Do ye even
so to them, for this is the law and the prophets. And we'll soon
see that the law and the prophets testify of Christ. And so he
says to you and me, we'll do that as you would have others
do unto you. And so when you've done wrong,
to somebody, if you said something wrong about somebody or to them
or made them feel bad or done something against them, well,
and you think to yourself, well, I wish that they would have had
some patience with me. I wish that they would have given me
an opportunity to make it right and that it wouldn't have gone
the way that it went. in that same way that you would,
that others would do to you, you show that same grace to them. That's what the Lord is saying
when he speaks of doing that which is right in terms of what
we do. It's not for our justification,
but we're not looking to hurt or harm anyone, but to glorify
our God and to praise his name. And so by the indwelling of the
Holy Spirit, we walk by faith. in the new man, trusting him,
showing grace to others, even as our God has shown grace to
us. We looked at this a few months
back, but in Ephesians 4.29 it said, let no corrupt communication
proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use
of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. And how do we minister grace
unto others? We're simply blessed by the Lord
and how gracious He is to us and by our words and deeds we
show and display that same grace that He's shown to us in the
hopes that they too would hear the voice of Him who speaks graciously,
peaceably to His people. and that he would call others
out of darkness into his glorious light. So that's how we minister
grace unto others. Now he says, my salvation is
near to come and my righteousness to be revealed. It's revealed
because it's a work already accomplished in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
speaking of the mystery of the gospel revealed in Christ crucified
and what he's accomplished for his people, the will and purpose
of God that he would be gracious to you who now trust him and
believe on him It is revealed as a work which is already accomplished
because our Lord is called the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. We are told that the works were
finished in Hebrews 4. So this revelation of God's righteousness
is the declaration of Christ who has justified his people
by the death of himself. Our Lord then is perfectly described
in verse 2. Look at verse 2. Blessed is the
man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on
it, that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth
his hand from doing any evil. Our Lord Jesus Christ, He is
the blessed man. He's the blessed man. He's the
one who came in the flesh doing the will of God perfectly. He
laid hold on righteousness. He fulfilled all the law of God
perfectly. He kept the Sabbath. He did not
pollute it. His hand did only that which
is good and right. When he was here, he fulfilled
the law of God perfectly because he himself is perfect, righteous,
just in all his ways. Turn over to Psalm 1. Go to Psalm
1 and we're going to look at the first three verses there.
Psalm 1 says, blessed is the man Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners,
nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." That is because with
Christ there is no agreement between our Lord and dead religion. He doesn't speak their language.
He doesn't talk like them. He doesn't walk in darkness.
He doesn't speak falsehood and lies. He speaks the truth. He glorifies God. in the hearts
of his people. But his delight is in the law
of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. He delights to do the will of
God. It says in Psalm 40, verse eight,
just stay there with me in Psalm one, but it says in Psalm 40,
I delight to do thy will, O God, yea, thy law is within my heart. That's speaking of Christ. And
when the Hebrew writer, Hebrews 10, He says there in verse 7,
well verse 9 speaks of what Christ came to do, thy will O God. He
take it the way the first that he may establish the second,
the second covenant by which we are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And it says
in verse 7 in that same context, then said I lo, I come in the
volume of the book it is written of me. to do thy will, O God."
The volume of the book means from the very beginning of the
book it's written of the Lord Jesus Christ. All this word speaks
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And back in Psalm 1, In verse
3 it says, He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water,
that bringeth forth his fruit in a season. His leaves also
shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
tree of life. He's the tree of life spoken
of in the Garden of Eden. He's the one who gives life to
his people, health, strength, and sustains his people. It's
all of him that we have eternal life. And he prospered in that
work that the Father sent him to accomplish. So all the scriptures
speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's everything, everything that
a sinner needs. He's everything that you need
to come to God. He's provided it all in himself. He fulfilled the law. He put
away our sin by the death of himself. And having died, being
made a sacrifice unto God to atone for our sins, they took
his lifeless body. They buried him in the tomb.
And he, by the power of God, rose again the third day. And
then he ascended. and now to heaven, and now sits
in session at the right hand of the throne of God, ruling
and reigning, implementing the will of God in all things, because
the Father hath committed all things to the hands of the Son
as the Christ mediator between God and men. Everything is in
His hands. Everything is accomplished successfully
in the Lord Jesus Christ. So the Law, the Prophets, and
the Psalms, they all speak of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do unto
others, because this is the Law and the Prophets. We look to
the Lord Jesus Christ by whose grace and power By in the new
man in us, he teaches us and instructs us and causes us to
walk following after him. And he said, whosoever cometh
after me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now while Christ, when he was
speaking with Moses and Elijah on the mountain, what's that
picture? He was speaking with the law and the prophets, Moses
and Elijah. We're told that there came a
voice out of the cloud saying, this is my beloved son, hear
him. hear him. Don't keep looking
back to the law for your instruction. Christ will tell you everything
you need to hear. He'll instruct you and direct you. Don't keep
looking to the prophets to know what to do. They speak of Christ. When you read the prophets, when
you read the law, it's all speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. Philip said to Nathanael, we
found him of whom Moses in the law and the prophets did write,
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph. Peter, when speaking
to Cornelius, said to him, give all the prophets witness that
through his name, whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission
of sins. We're not just good religionists.
I believe the Bible. If you believe the Bible, you
believe Christ. You look to Him. You trust Him
because that's who the Bible speaks of. It writes of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Acts 13, 38 and 39. Be it known unto you, therefore,
men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you
the forgiveness of sins. Not the law for the forgiveness
of sins, not the study of the prophets for the forgiveness
of sins, not for the ordinances and the practices for the forgiveness
of sins, through this man, Jesus Christ, whom God hath sent, and
by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which he
could not be justified by the law of Moses. You know, Paul could say in Acts
24, 14, When he was speaking to the Jews, he says, I worship
the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written
in the law and in the prophets. He could say that because it
all speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, I believe all
things that they wrote, because it all points to the Lord Jesus
Christ. If you want more, there's Luke
24. Luke 24, when the Lord came after
he rose from the dead, says, And beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, he, Christ, expounded unto them in all the scriptures
the things concerning himself. He said, this is what I said,
this is what I spoke to you while I was yet with you, that all
things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses
and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me. Then opened
he their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures.
You have an understanding of the Scriptures when you see Christ
in the Scriptures. It's because the Spirit has opened
your understanding and shown you exactly what the Scriptures
are declaring, of whom they write. They write of Christ. And then
it says in verse 47 there, Luke 24, 47, and that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations
beginning at Jerusalem. Jew and Gentile all need to hear
the same word because all are saved by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ and verse 48 says, and ye are witnesses of these
things. That's what the church is gathered
together to do, to be a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's everything that a sinner
needs to come before God and stand before Him whole and accepted
of God. It's all in the Lord Jesus Christ. So flee, flee to the Lord. He says, my righteousness, back
in Isaiah 56, 1, he said, my salvation is near to come and
my righteousness to be revealed. And then what do we read in Romans
3, 21? But now the righteousness of
God without the law is manifested. It's revealed in the Lord Jesus
Christ being witnessed by the law and the prophets. So flee to him, he is the rest
whom God has provided for every outcast sinner who has no place
before God and his congregation under the law of works. But in
Christ we are received and brought into the fellowship and beloved
family of God, all by Christ for his sake. Flee to the Lord
Jesus Christ. The one who had no place in the
law, he has an inheritance. given to him freely, graciously
by the Lord through Christ. He says in Isaiah 56, 3 and 4, 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. For thus saith the Lord unto
the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please
me, and take hold of my covenant, that new covenant established
in the blood of Christ. Now like the eunuch, in our flesh
we bear no fruit. We bear no fruit of righteousness
unto our God by this flesh. But in Christ, we are made fruitful. We believe God. We trust him. We rest in the Sabbath rest,
the Lord Jesus Christ, as we'll soon see. But it's because our
God gives us spiritual life. He's, because of the work of
Christ who put away our sin, God sends his spirit graciously
under the covenant of grace, sends his spirit who separates
us unto this work of God and bears fruit, gives us life, washes
us in the blood of Christ, regenerates us, making us alive spiritually
unto our God to know these things, to understand this great mystery. which was hidden before but is
now made known in the face of Jesus Christ through the preaching
of the gospel. So in that new man of Christ's
creation, that's where we bear fruits of righteousness, by the
Lord Jesus Christ himself. So turn over to Romans 7. Let's look at Romans 7 and go
to verse 4. And we're going to read down
through verse 7. Romans 7, 4, Wherefore, my brethren,
ye also are become dead to the law, dead to the law, by the
body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to
him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit
unto God. For when we were in the flesh
under the ministration of death, under the law, the old covenant,
the motions of sins which were by the law did work in our members
to bring forth fruit unto death. this fruit unto death. It did
nothing for us in recommending us to God. But now we are delivered
from the law that being dead wherein we were held that we
should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the
letter. So the believer is no longer
under the old covenant. We've been translated out of
that kingdom of darkness and brought into the kingdom of light,
the kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, our King. We are
received of God under this covenant of grace established in Christ's
blood. And that's where Christ has made
all things to us. why we rejoice in Him, why we
speak of Him, why we glory in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now adding
these blessings from our text, adding to these, let's look at
verses five and six back in our text. Isaiah 56, even unto them,
to the stranger in the unit, will I give in mine house and
within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters.
I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off. Also the sons of the stranger
that join themselves to the Lord to serve him, and to love the
name of the Lord to be his servants, everyone that keepeth the Sabbath
from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant, Even them
will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house
of prayer. Their burnt offerings and their
sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar, for mine house
shall be called a house of prayer for all people, Jew and Gentile,
so that we now, in this new covenant, being brought under the blood
of Christ, we are marked with his blood, we are given his name,
we are his people, the people of the Lord. We're His congregation
gathered together under Him. He's our shepherd. We are the
people of God under the Lord Jesus Christ. That's where all
the people of God are gathered, under Christ. In verses two,
four, and six, you notice that there's a word there, Sabbath,
the Sabbath rest. And we read in verse two about
the man that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it. In verse four,
he says unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths. In verse six,
he speaks to everyone that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it
and taketh hold of my covenant. So it's clear from these verses
that we must keep the Sabbath. We must enter that Sabbath rest
and we shall keep it. We that are the people, the Lord's
people, we shall keep it. So how do we keep the Sabbath
without polluting it? How is this accomplished? It's
accomplished in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Sabbath rest
of his people. By Christ, through Christ, in
Christ, we rest from all our labors. We keep the Sabbath without
polluting it at all, by and in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Don't look to the oldness of
the letter. That was but a shadow pointing to that sweet, acceptable
savor that God receives and is pleased with, the Lord Jesus
Christ. We don't look to the shadow,
we look to Him who is the very substance of that which it pointed
unto. We walk in Him and are kept by
His Spirit so that we keep that Sabbath. We rest. We're not looking
for other ways of salvation. We're not looking for other works
to justify ourselves and sanctify ourselves. We bring forth fruit
of the seed of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And so we rest
in Him whom the prophets and the law speak of, Christ. Christ, Christ, we rest in Christ
our Sabbath because he's finished the work of God that God sent
him to do for his people. And being justified by his blood,
by his sacrifice, we rest, we have peace with God. We're reconciled
unto God by the death of his son. As we've said recently,
in Isaiah 55 where we see that reconciliation that Christ came
and put away the sin of his people that God may be just and justifier
of them which he brings to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And
in addition to putting away our sin, He sends the Spirit to scatter
our darkness, to drive away the enmity that's in our hearts by
nature, that we might be reconciled to God and have fellowship and
friendship with our God, have peace with God in the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's so glorious. He's so glorious. Isaiah 1110, and in that day,
there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign
of the people, to it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest shall
be glorious." Glorious. Let's close with Colossians 2. Go to Colossians 2. We're going to pick up in verse
8. It's a little lengthy, but I
think it'll drive home the comfort, the peace that we have in Christ,
trusting in Him, resting in Him. Let's start in Colossians 2.8. Beware, lest any man spoil you
through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after
the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. I'm pointing
you to Christ. Other men are pointing you to
the traditions of man, causing you to look to the oldness of
the letter and trust in fleshly things, the shadow of things.
Not after Christ, they don't do, but that's where we're being
pointed to Christ. For in Christ dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily, and ye are complete in him, which
is the head of all principality and power. whom also ye are circumcised
with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ all things
in the law are fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ in his people
you're all circumcised in the heart by the operation of the
Spirit of God by the Lord Jesus Jesus Christ, we have no confidence
in the flesh, being buried with him in baptism, wherein also
ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of
God who hath raised him from the dead. you being dead in your
sins, and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened,
hath he made alive, together with him having forgiven you
all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to his cross. and having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. Let no man therefore judge you
in meat or in drink or in respect of an holy day or of the new
moon or of the Sabbath. That word days isn't even there.
It's of the Sabbath. Which are a shadow of things
to come, but the body is of Christ. This is the rest which all the
law and the prophets speak of. Rest in the Lord Jesus Christ
whom God has sent. Believe him and you shall find
rest for your souls and deliverance from the guilt of a sin-stained
conscience, because the blood of Christ prevails over all our
enemies and all our foes. You are the Lord, so believe
Him, trust Him. God has given it to you by His
grace, by His Spirit. Thank God and praise Him for
the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. All right, brethren, let's
close in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank You,
Father, for Your grace. We thank You, Lord, for making
known to us That mystery which confused so many for many ages,
of whom the law and the prophets, the patriarchs, the fathers,
the Psalms, of whom all that they spoke, they spoke of Christ.
Lord, thank you for showing us Him. Thank you for causing us
to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and drawing us out of
darkness, delivering us from that prison of confusion and
mist of darkness. Lord, thank you for accomplishing
your righteousness, your work in us by Christ and in Christ,
and turning our eyes upon him whom you love, him whom you've
sent for this very purpose, to establish peace between us and
our God, all in the one whom you've glorified, your son, Jesus
Christ. We thank you, Lord. Father, we
ask that you would bless your people, that you would cause
your people here around us to hear your glorious word, and
that they would be pricked in their hearts, stirred in their
hearts, and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, that they would
glory in him whom you love and whom you sent for this very purpose
of salvation. It's in his name that we pray
and give thanks. Amen. Okay, brother. I handed this one out. Here is
Love Vast as the Ocean. If we can sing that one. That's
a new one for us. Hopefully I'll do a little bit
better job with this one? Is that one I sent you? This is the one we worked on
a little bit with the words? Yeah. It's not that hard to sing,
I think. It was really nice. Here is love, vast as the ocean,
Loving kindness as the flood, When the Prince of life, our
ransom, Shed for us his precious blood. will not remember who can cease
to sing his praise. He can never be forgotten throughout
heaven's eternal days. On the mount of crucifixion,
fountains open deep and wide. Through the floodgates of God's
mercy, flowed a vast and gracious tide. Grace and love, like mighty
rivers, poured incessant from above. In heaven's peace and
perfect justice, saved poor sinners by His blood. thy truth thou
dost instruct me by thy spirit through thy word and thy grace
is all sufficient oh how sweet to rest in thee of thy fullness
now art pouring, thy great love and power on me, without measure,
full and boundless, drying out my heart to thee. Thank you.