Good evening, let's begin our
evening service by standing and singing Rock of Ages, 126th Rock
of Ages. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy wounded side which flowed be of sin a double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no longer know? These for sin could not atone. Thou must save, and thou alone. In my hand, oh, price I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyes show close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown,
And behold thee on thy throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let
me hide myself in thee. Thank you. I would like to read Psalm 95.
Psalm 95. O come, let us sing unto the
Lord, let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving and make a
joyful noise unto Him with psalms. For the Lord is a great God and
a great King above all gods. In His hand are the deep places
of the earth. The strength of the hills is
His also. The sea is His, and He made it.
And His hands formed the dry land. O come, let us worship
and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord,
our Maker. For he is our God, and we are the people of his
pasture and the sheep of his hand. Today, if ye will hear
his voice, harden not your heart, as in the provocation, as in
the day of temptation in the wilderness, when your fathers
tempted me and proved me and saw my work. Forty years long
was I grieved with this generation and said, it is a people that
do err in their heart. They have not known my ways,
unto whom I swear in my wrath that they shall not enter into
my rest. Our Heavenly Merciful Father,
we thank you. for all your many blessings,
which we, O Lord, take for granted so often. And we thank you, Lord,
for assembling us together tonight and from week to week. What a
great, great blessing it is, Lord, that you would allow us
to sit and to hear your gospel proclaimed, that we can rejoice. And Father, we thank you for
allowing us, at times by faith, to enter into that true rest
whereby we can rest in the Lord Jesus Christ for that full and
free salvation. Father, will you be with Brother
Eric this evening? Give him, Lord, the words to
speak, and Lord, allow him to declare that wonderful news to
sinners. Father, give us an appetite.
and bless it unto our souls that we may find rest in that rock. Father, remember our loved ones.
You know all things perfectly. And will you, if it pleases you,
Father, will you call them out of nature's darkness into your
marvelous light. And Lord, also with this local
community, you know exactly where all your sheep are. And Lord,
if it would please thee, will you bring them also amongst us
that they may also feed off this gospel that we hear. Father,
remember us in mercy for Jesus' sake alone. Oh, Father, will
you also remember Brother Scott and those that are struggling
with illnesses and difficulties. Father, give them healing mercies
for Jesus' sake alone. Amen. As you remain sitting, let's
sing 282, Hiding in the 282. Go safe to the rock that is higher
than high. My soul in its conflicts and
sorrows would fly. So sinful, so weary, thine, thine
would I be. Thou blessed rock of ages, I'm
hiding in thee. Hiding in thee. ? Hiding in thee ? ? Helpless rock
of ages ? ? I'm hiding in thee ? ? In the calm of the noontide ?
? In sorrows blown out ? ? In times when temptation ? ? Bless
o'er me its power ? In the tempest of life ? On its wide heaving
sea ? Thou blessed rock of ages ? I'm hiding in thee ? Hiding
in thee Hiding in thee, thou blessed
rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee. How often in the conflict, when
pressed by the foe, I have fled to my refuge and breathed out
my woe. How often, when trials like sea
billows roll, Have I hidden in thee, O thou rock of my soul? Hiding in thee, Hiding in thee,
thou blessed rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee. Thank you. Good evening. All right, brethren, turn with
me to Isaiah 51. Isaiah chapter 51, and I want
to look at verses 9 through 16 with you. Our text begins with the cry
of the church, and she lifts up that cry in response to the
exceeding great and precious promises that she's heard the
Lord speak. He's been saying many wonderful
things and she cries that he would hasten to help her. And then the Lord answers her
cry to comfort his bride, to assure her that he has everything
under control that he's doing all things according to his will
and purpose, and he speaks words to comfort her. He speaks words
to comfort her. And I've titled the message,
Six Comforts. Six Comforts. So let's begin
first with the cry of the church, and we'll We'll go through this
looking at what it is that she's saying, but we'll spend the majority
of our time looking at the six words of comfort that our God
gives to his church. So as I've mentioned, our Lord
has been speaking great promises to his church, saying three times,
hearken to me. Hear what I'm saying. And he
speaks to those who seek or follow after righteousness and who seek
the Lord. And we saw how he told his church
there in the beginning how he gives his church the melody of
grace. reminding her how that she's
been called, how that she's been blessed, how that she's been
increased. And he continues saying, hearken
unto me, my people. He calls them my people and shows
that he's sending out his gospel word to all the ends of the earth
and he says hearken unto me again in verse 7 to you that know righteousness
to you in whose heart I've written my law and he tells them not
to be afraid because those people that are troubling them shall
soon perish they're here today like a vapor and they're gone
immediately and so the church cries out back to her lord seeking
him to to help her to hasten to her help, to hasten to her
aid. And she says there in verse nine,
awake, awake. And she says it two times because
it expresses just how urgent she feels her need is. She feels
herself to be in great danger. And she says, put on strength,
O arm of the Lord, awake as in the ancient days, in the generations
of old. Art thou not it that hath cut
Rahab and wounded the dragon? And so she's crying out to her
champion. She's crying out to the strong
one. the strong arm of the Lord, who
is Jesus Christ. And she means, what she's saying
to him is, arise and fight for us. Do this word, bring this
word to pass that you're speaking of, because I'm in great danger. And now she calls upon the arm
of the Lord, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, and he's called
the arm of the Lord because he's the strength, he's the might
of the Lord. He implements and executes the
will of the Lord in heaven and in earth. He's also called the
hand of God. He's the hand of God that touched
Job in his affliction. He's called the word of the Lord,
and that word commanded Joshua. In the ancient times, he commanded
Joshua when he was taking the land of Canaan when he was taking
possession of it for the people of Israel. He's called the voice
of God who spoke to the people out of the midst of the fire
and they did not perish. He let them live. He's the arm
of the Lord who is revealed to the people. And so the church
cries awake as in the ancient days in the generations of old. We remember how that you appeared
unto Abraham And Abraham saw the day of the Lord, and he was
glad. And we remember how you appeared
to Moses out of the burning bush, and you sent him to deliver your
people out of the bondage that they were in in Egypt. And so then they say the arm
of the Lord, or they call out to the arm of the Lord as the
one they remember who cut Rahab and wounded the dragon. Now that's
literally speaking of Egypt. If you look at Psalm 89, and
you can put a mark there, I know I'm quoting from one other verse
there, but even if you read Psalm 89 later this evening, you'll
see that it's speaking very much, or what Isaiah is speaking of
is very much recorded here in Psalm 89. And in verse 10, The writer tells us, thou hast
broken Rahab in pieces. And if you have a King James
with a margin, and you look there in the margin, you see that Rahab
is Egypt. You broke Rahab in pieces. As
one that is slain, thou hast scattered thine enemies with
thy strong arm. With the strong arm, the might
of the Lord. And so, They cry there in Isaiah
51 verse 10, art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the
waters of the great deep that hath made the depths of the sea
away for the ransomed to pass over? And so the reference there
is we're remembering, the church is remembering how the Lord appeared
mightily and delivered his people when they were let go of Egypt
by the hand of the Lord. by the hand of the Lord, driving
them out from Egypt, delivering them from the captivity of their
bondage in Egypt. Well, when Egypt pursued them
again, they were backed up to the Red Sea. They had nowhere
to go. And there was the Egyptian army
coming down upon them, and the Lord stood between them in the
pillar of cloud and darkness to protect them. And the Lord
sent his ransom safely over the sea. Remember when Moses divided,
when the Lord divided the sea and he dried the land and he
sent them over safely. And then when Egypt pursued,
the Lord brought his judgment back in upon them and destroyed
the army of Egypt. But the people of God, they weren't
destroyed. They passed safely through the
Red Sea there. So they're calling upon the Lord
reminding, they're remembering, and they're reminding him, this
is what you did for your people then in the ancient days. And
they said, if you do this, verse 11, if you do arise and do this
for us, then we'll be delivered from our enemies. Verse 11, therefore
the redeemed of the Lord shall return. and come with singing
unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their head, they
shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and mourning shall
flee away." And so this is the prayer of the Lord's people that
are being made afraid by their enemies. The Lord is showing his church
that he has some better thing for them. He doesn't always rush
right in and deliver his people in the way that we think that
the Lord should or the way that we would want to see the Lord
do it. But the Lord always has a greater
purpose. And he makes this known to his
people by his spirit, by his spirit. by His Spirit reconciling
for us to be glad, to want to see the will of our God implemented
in the earth for His people. Paul, when writing to the Corinthians,
said in 1 Corinthians 2, verses 9 and 10, he said, it's written,
I hath not seen nor ear heard, neither I've entered into the
heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
love Him. but God hath revealed them unto
us by his spirit. So the Lord does teach his people. He does make us to know that
our God has a will and purpose in the earth. He has a people
whom he loved and chose and put in Christ before the foundation
of the world, and he's determined to save them. He saved them in
the sending of Christ, and he saves them in the sanctification
and calling of the Holy Spirit who separates us out unto the
gospel, to hear it, to behold the obedience of our Lord and
Savior, to believe him. to believe in being made alive
by the spirit. And so the Lord here in this
passage is addressing his people saying, don't be afraid. Don't
be afraid of man that shall die. He's going to perish like grass
in a season, where it comes up initially all bright and vibrant
and healthy and strong looking, and then it withers and dies
and fades away. And that's what man is. And so
he says there in verse 14 of our text, Isaiah 51, 14, he's
letting them know, I know that you're anxious. I know that you
want to be free. I know that you want to experience
the redemption and the restoration of all things. You would, that
I would return and deliver you out. from this, the sin and the
corruption and the pain and the sorrow and the trials that you
feel. But I have a purpose. And verse
14, he says, the captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed,
and that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should
fail. He's saying, you're worried.
You're worried that the promises that I've made to you are somehow
going to be undone, that the enemy is going to come in and
surprise you and steal you away or destroy that which God has
promised to you. and that which gives you joy.
And there's fear, there's worry that somehow that's going to
be undone. But he says in verse 15 and 16,
but I am the Lord thy God that divided the sea, whose ways roared. The Lord of hosts is his name.
Just as you noted to me in your prayer, just as you said in your
prayer, I am the Lord that did all these things. And I have
put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow
of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations
of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people." So here
in verse 15 and 16 the Lord has declared six things to comfort
and to settle His people. And He does this, He comforts
them while He's establishing the Kingdom of Heaven in the
earth, in the heart. He's establishing His covenant
of grace in the heart of His people. So, I want to look at
these six comforts for the children of God that the Lord gives to
His people. You that are troubled, you that
are worried, you that would see the Lord hasten his coming and
wrap this up and redeem our bodies and bring this thing to an end
and let's just get on with the new heavens and the new earth.
The Lord says, here's six things to comfort you and to settle
you while you're waiting for the Lord's return. All right,
so let's look at these six things from verse 15 and 16. Now, as
we begin, I want to remind you, I want you to remember to believe
this and to seek to understand this more and more to know that
any comfort, any comfort that our Lord, that our God shows
to us, that he gives to his children, it's always in the Lord Jesus
Christ. There is not a blessing we have
that falls outside of Christ. All the blessings He pours out
upon His church are always in the Lord Jesus Christ. God is a Spirit and He reveals
Himself to us through a mediator. through a mediator, and there's
one mediator between God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. He is our mediator. That's exactly
how and where God deals with his people. That's where he deals
with his people in grace and mercy so that by Christ, we have
knowledge and understanding of our God. We have knowledge and
understanding of our God, and he increases that knowledge and
understanding. through the blessing of the preaching
of the gospel, which is declaring to us the glory of God and the
salvation of his people in Christ, in Christ Jesus. In him, we are
reconciled to our God by his precious blood. And he makes
known to us the will and the purpose of God by his spirit,
which God has determined from the foundation of the world.
And so our God is not going to be going to be put off from doing
that which pleases him well, what he pleases, what he's pleased
to do. And so through Christ, he speaks
comfortably to us now. And he shows us grace and mercy
in the Lord Jesus Christ, whom he sent to redeem his people
and to make them his own. We are told in Ephesians 1, 3,
blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. That means everything, all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ. And so we can't emphasize
that enough. Nothing, no blessing. comes to
the church, to you the people of God, except through and by
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's our mediator. Okay, so with
that understanding that all these blessings are through Christ,
the first thing that our Lord says here in verse 15 is, I am
the Lord thy God that divided the sea whose waves roared. Our Lord gave this picture of
salvation there in Israel When he delivered his people from
the wrath of God, he parted those waters. Picturing the sea of
God's judgment, he parted those waters and made a way for those
people to travel safely through those waters. They could never
have gone through those waters and made it out alive. But they
were given a way through the waters and they were delivered
from all their enemies, and the judgment of God never fell upon
them. And so this pictures what Christ
has accomplished for all his church, old and new. All those from back then and
all of us to this day, it pictures what Christ did for his people
in making a way, a way for the people of God that we might come
unto God and to know him. and be blessed of Him, to be
delivered from all our enemies that would destroy us, and to
be delivered from the judgment of God. It shall never crash
in and fall upon you that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ." That's
because our Lord, our husband, our friend, Our Savior, our surety,
our substitute, took that cup of God's wrath and drank it dry
so that not a single drop will fall upon your head. Nothing. Christ drank it all so that we
have a way in Christ, who is the way, the truth, and the life. All who believe on him shall
come to the Father. having life in Christ, having
life before Him, and we are delivered from all our enemies and are
received by holy God in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, as it
says in verse 11, Isaiah 51, 11, therefore the redeemed of
the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting
joy shall be upon their head. They shall obtain gladness and
joy and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. That's the first. God has provided a way in his
son for us. The second thing the Lord does
here is he declares his name to us. He says, the Lord of hosts,
at the end of verse 15, the Lord of hosts is his name. And that very literally means
he is the commander of the armies of heaven and earth. That means
all powers, all principalities, are all under His authority and
power and control. And His name is Jesus Christ. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. And He said,
All power is given unto Me in heaven and earth. And so all
who believe the Son have everlasting life. He that hath the Son is
not condemned because he believes on the One whom God has sent. Those who do not believe, they're
condemned already. They're condemned already because
they do not believe on Him in whom alone is eternal life. The third thing that the Lord
says here is that He gives us His Word. Verse 16, I have put
my words in thy mouth. I've put my words in thy mouth. Now, knowing that our God blesses
us in Christ, well then, it's Christ that must fix this word
in our hearts. He's the one who sets us free.
He's the one who delivers us. He's the one that makes us to
know the word of God, to know the will of our God. And so our Lord has to fix this
word in our hearts. He has to deliver us from death
and bondage and give us light and life and liberty in himself. And so Christ, who is himself
the word of God, right? We're told the word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. And at the end of that verse,
he's full of grace and truth. So Christ the Word, He came and
therefore He, being the very Word of God, reveals God to us
and makes us to know all things that we have need of knowing,
all that He's purposed and pleased to reveal to us. Now the Father,
we're told, spoke His Word, His will, His mind, His purpose to
the Son. to Christ. He gave him all his
word, made him to know all things, because Christ is anointed with
the Holy Ghost without measure, without measure. So he knows
the full counsel, mystery, will, purpose of God, of God his Father. John 3.34 says, For he whom God
hath sent speaketh the words of God. For God giveth not the
Spirit by measure unto him. And then our Lord took that word
which God made known to him as Christ, as our mediator, and
he spoke that word and taught that word and gave it to his
apostles so that they heard and understood and received that
word. And then they took that word and they spoke that word
to the people. They gave that word to the people
which was given to them by Christ, which was given to Him by the
Father, to give to the people. Look there at Isaiah 59. Isaiah
59, verse 21, and you'll see there what I just said to you.
Isaiah 59, verse 21. As for me, this is our God, as
for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord. My spirit
that is upon thee, speaking to Christ, that is upon thee and
my words, which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out
of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of
the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth
and forever. And so we see there how the Lord
came with the Word of God and He gave that Word to His apostles
and they spoke that Word and gave it to the people and we
continue to go out preaching that Word. Turn over to John
17. John 17. And we'll look at verses 6 through
8. This is our Lord's High Testament.
Priestly prayer which he prayed for us as our high priest when
he was going to the cross To sacrifice himself to offer himself
up to the father to atone for the sins of the people And he
prayed Confirming this which I'm saying he said I had verse
6. I have manifested thy name Unto
the men which thou gavest me out of the world thine they were
and thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word. Now
they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me
are of thee. They know I am of you, that I
am sent of God. that I am sent to the Father.
For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me, and
they have received them, and have known surely that I came
out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send
me." And so the apostles, they believed Christ. They received
it. Christ fixed that word in their heart. He made them alive
by His Spirit. They were born of the seed of
Christ. They're his children. They're
his people. And they went and faithfully
preached that word. As Christ said at the end of
Luke 24, we're not going to turn there, but we know that at the
end of Luke there, Christ, when he arose again, he went and taught
the people. And he showed them out of these
scriptures, from the Psalms, and from Moses, and from the
prophets, he showed them the things concerning him. and declared,
this is what I told you I came to do. These are all the things
which speak of me as Christ your mediator, as your salvation.
And I went to the cross to redeem my people exactly as it says
throughout my word. Because that's what God is revealing
to us. That is the whole mystery that
God is making known to his church, that God has a people whom he
loves, whom he chose in Christ, and gave to Him and sent Christ
to redeem His people. It's all about the redemption
of God's people in Christ, in Christ, to the glory and praise
of His name. And so Christ showed them this
and reminded them how the whole purpose of Him coming was to
go to the cross, to sacrifice Himself, to shed His blood, to
make an atonement, which means a covering. So that we are covered
now by the blood of Christ. So that we, standing before God,
have no sin. No sin. The blood has washed
it away. And Christ has made us free and
righteous in Him. We're perfectly righteous and
accepted with God. And how that He died and was
buried and rose again. And then He tells the apostles,
and you are witnesses of these things. of these things. I've
made you witnesses of these things." And so they went out and told
the church, the people whom the Lord gathered and obviously blessed
to hear it. And they heard it and they went
out and spread that same word which they were given. And so
that's what we do as the church. We preach that word, which God
has revealed to us by his spirit, making us to know that that is
the whole will and purpose of God, the redemption of his people
and the Lord Jesus Christ. And so he gives us a new heart
and he fills that heart with good treasure, good treasure,
so that we speak of that which is in our heart. I believe, therefore
I spoke. And he says in Luke 645, a good
man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that
which is good. And at the end, he says, for
out of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaketh. So he fills
us with that good gospel treasure, because then that's what we speak
of. And he also says in there that an evil man is going to
speak of the evil treasure that's in his heart. That's why we don't
want to fill our hearts and our minds with the trash of this
world. Be careful what you're filling
it with, because we want it to be full, overflowing with the
gospel, with the gospel, because then we're gonna speak of those
things that are overflowing in our heart. All right, so we look
to Christ. So it's our Lord that fixes his
word in our hearts, which he does for every one of his children,
because every one of his children are born, born again of his seed,
regenerated by the Holy Spirit. made alive unto the things of
God by our Savior who accomplished this salvation for us. That's
what he does for his people, and then that word is put in
our mouths by him. The fourth comfort the Lord gives
to his people is, once again, found in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says in the middle of verse 16, I have covered thee in the
shadow of mine hand. Now, this language we saw recently
in Isaiah, back in chapter 49, verse 2. Let's look there. Isaiah
49, 2. And he hath made my mouth like
a sharp sword. This is Christ speaking. In the
shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft. In his quiver hath he hid me. This is speaking of the Son of
God. the Christ who came for his people
who humbled himself and became flesh in whom the Lord God would
be glorified in our Savior's accomplished redemption for his
people just as the Lord promised back in the garden he would do
in sending his son to crush the the head of of the serpent. And
so, Christ is the salvation of God. He's the one of whom we
read back there in Psalm 89, where I referred to it earlier,
verse 13 says, Thou hast a mighty arm, strong is thy hand, and
high is thy right hand. That's Jesus Christ, the arm,
the strength, the might of the Lord. who delivers his people
from the strong man whom they cannot deliver themselves from.
Because Christ is stronger and mightier than all our foes. And
so Christ was sent by the Lord, he was upheld by him. In Isaiah,
he speaks of that numerous times where he says, I'll send you
and I'll be with you, I'll uphold you, I'll be your strength. and
you'll do my will." And so we see how Christ, as the Son of
God, humbled as the Christ did in flesh, He leaned upon the
Father, looked to the Father for all things, and the Father
upheld Him and justified Him in the Spirit. Anything the Son
asked for was done. Anything. Because the Spirit
was anointed on Him without measure, and so He came and was obedient
unto the Father in all things, even unto death, even unto the
death of the cross, He was obedient, and was under the protection,
under the protective hand of His Father. And so we now, just
as He was under the shadow of His Father's hand, we now are
under the shadow of His hand. He's our provider. He's our protector. He's done all things for us to
make us righteous before our God. And being covered by his
blood, we're under the shadow of his hand. And what that means
is we're safely protected. There's nothing that's gonna
come and take us out of his hand. There's nothing that's gonna
get in there and hurt us or do any harm to us. We're under the
protection of our God. Anything that he allows to come
near us is according to his will and purpose because it's for
our good. It's for our good, but nothing's
gonna take us out of his hand. As our Lord says in John chapter
10, Verse 27 through 30. My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal
life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. I and my Father are one. And so you could see the picture
there is, there's the father's, or there's the son's hand, there's
the father's hand, and you're under it. And nothing's going
to take you out of your God's hand. You're safe and protected
and provided for. So we see how our Lord has abundantly
provided for us in his son. There's no one greater that he
could have given us to for all our protection, for all our needs,
for all our sustenance. Everything we need is given to
us in the Son. But we do see there that there's
an urgency in this text. There's great urgency. She's
saying, awake, awake, Lord. I need deliverance now. I need
your help now. I need you to come now and to
deliver me out of this. But the Lord here, he assures
his church not to worry, but to trust him. He's saying, I've
not forgotten you. I've not forgotten you, and I've
provided richly for you and my son. You're well provided for. You're well provided for. Trust
me. I am the Lord. Everything's under my control. And so we see a picture of his
provision for us in Christ. And turn over to Revelation 6. We see how the church is very
much ready for the Lord, right? She cries out, come Lord Jesus. She's ready for her Lord to come. But over in Revelation 6 verse
9 and 11, we see those that have gone on before us and they're
anxious for the redemption of their bodies. They're ready for
the redemption of all things. And so it says there in verse
9, Revelation 6, 9. And when he had opened the fifth
seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain
for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And
they cried with a loud voice, saying, how long, O Lord, holy
and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them
that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto
every one of them. And it was said unto them, they
should rest yet for a little season until their fellow servants
also and their brethren that should be killed as they were
should be fulfilled." And so we see there that the Lord always
provides, they were given white robes, a picture that the Lord
provides for his church, gives her everything that she needs
to be patient, to trust the Lord because he's implementing his
will and purpose in the earth. While you're there in Revelation,
turn over to 12, chapter 12, verse 11, and here we see a picture
of them which do believe and will lay down their lives 12
verse 11, yeah. And they overcame him, the enemy,
by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony,
and they loved not their lives unto death. All right, because
we have no fear, no worry. Now the Lord has defeated our
foes. To die is to be with the Lord. So we have no fear or worry about
that now. So the Lord's provided and he's
establishing his kingdom. You know, Romans 14, verse seven
through nine, it says, none of us liveth to himself and no man
dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live
unto the Lord and whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether we live, therefore die,
we are the Lord's. For to this end, Christ both
died and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the
dead and living." Now, compare this back in our text over in
Isaiah 51. Look at verse 12. And what he says there, Isaiah
51, 12, I, even I, am he that comforteth you. Who art thou
that thou shouldest be afraid of a man that shall die, and
of the son of man which shall be made as grass? It's like what
our Lord said in Luke. He said, my friends, don't be
afraid of them that can kill the body, and after that can
do nothing more. You don't need to be afraid of
them. That's all they can do. That's
all they can do is take the life from this body, but they can't.
Touch what God has done what Christ has accomplished for you
that are his in verse 13 He asked in verse 13 and forget us the
Lord thy maker that hath stretched forth the heavens and laid the
foundations of the earth and has feared continually every
day because of the fury of the oppressor as if he were ready
to destroy and Where is the fury of the oppressor? Right we hear
so many people they're so They're so worried and so anxious about
so many things. And we hear all the time, I was
talking to a family member, and they're so worked up about just
things that are going on. And I could just say to them,
but the Lord is still in control. He's in control of all things.
Everything's going exactly according to plan. And people have been
saying this thing's gonna happen and that thing's gonna happen
for decades. Decades, and even longer than that, hundreds of
years, I'm sure, because it's always this worry. And the Lord
says, where is the oppressor? Where are they? Where are they?
I've provided for you. You be comforted. You be comforted
and don't fear and worry. Rejoice in the Lord. He's adopted
you as sons and daughters. under the blood of Christ. There's
nothing that's going to change that. All right, the fifth thing
the Lord comforts his people with is an understanding therefore
out of that of what he's doing here upon the earth and why he's
not yet returned. He says that I may plant the
heavens and lay the foundations of the earth. Now you might ask,
well didn't he already stretched forth the heavens and laid the
foundations of the earth? Yes, he did. But this isn't talking
about the physical, the first creation, but rather his spiritual
creation, that which cannot be shaken. The Lord is saying he's
going to establish his kingdom, the kingdom of heaven and the
earth in the hearts of his people. He has a people whom he loves,
a people whom he saving. He's building His church, establishing
us in the earth, filling our mouths with that gospel Word
whereby we declare the deliverance from our enemies, the salvation
and provision of our God under the shadow of His hand which
is Christ. And He's doing this in order
that He might bring in all His lost sheep into His kingdom. That's what he's doing. That's
why he hasn't returned yet. He still has a people whom he's
calling out of darkness and bringing under the blood of Christ. Then the sixth comfort that he
gives us, the sixth and final, is the result of Christ's work,
where we see that our God is justified. He justified Christ
in raising Him from the dead, and God is just to forgive His
people and to show us mercy and grace and kindness because we
fulfilled all the law in Christ. We are righteous in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Our Savior has made us sons and
daughters of God, that the Lord may say unto Zion, thou art my
people. And that's his comforting word
to you. You're the people of God. Rejoice in him and be glad. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable
gift, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. All right, let's close in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your great mercy that you've provided for us and
your son. We thank you for your comforting
words. as you reveal to us everything
you've provided for us in your son. Lord, help us to be settled
in him, to see how you bless us in all things in Christ your
son, that we would rejoice in him, be patient in him, wait
upon our Lord. Lord, we trust you. We know that
you're wise and do all things well. Thank you, Lord. Thank
you for your son. Thank you for your mercy. Thank
you for brethren. Thank you for one another. Lord,
we thank you just how you provide for us in all things. It's in
the name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, that we pray these
things. Amen. All right, Brother Joe. We'll
close this in a hymn. Let's stand and sing Standing
on the Promises, 175. 175. Standing on the promises of Christ
my King, through eternal ages let his praises ring. Glory in the highest I will shout
and sing, standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, standing
on the promises of God my Savior. Standing, standing, I'm standing
on the promises of God. Standing on the promises that
cannot fail, When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail, Standing on the promises
of God. Standing, standing, standing
on the promises of God, my Savior. Standing, standing, I'm standing
on the promises of God. Standing on the promises of Christ
the Lord, Bound to Him eternally by love's strong cord, Overcoming
daily with the spirit's sword, Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, standing
on the promises of God, my Savior. Standing, standing, standing
on the promises of God. Standing on the promises I cannot
fall, Listening every moment to the Spirit's call, Resting
in my Saviour as my all in all, Standing on the promises of God. Standing, standing, standing
on the promises of God, my Savior. Standing, standing, I'm standing
on the promises of God. Thank you. Thought I fixed that pause there,
but I guess I didn't.