Good evening, everyone. Let's
begin our evening service by standing and singing 118 when
I survey the wondrous cross. 118. When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of Glory died, My richest gain I count
but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride. ? Forbid it, Lord, that I should
boast ? ? Save in the death of Christ my God ? ? All the vain
things that charm me most ? ? I sacrifice them to His blood ? ? See from
his head, his hands, his feet ? ? Sorrow and love flow mingled
now ? ? Did e'er such love and sorrow meet ? ? O'er thorns composed
so rich a crown ? ? Were the whole realm of nature mine ?
? That were a present far too small ? ? Love so amazing, so
divine ? ? Demands my soul, my life, my all ? I think you may
be seated. I would like to read Psalm 43.
Psalm 43. Judge me, O God, and plead my
cause against an ungodly nation. O deliver me from the deceitful
and unjust man, for thou art the God of my strength. Why dost
thou cast me off? Why go I mourning because of
the oppression of the enemy? O send out thy light and thy
truth. Let them lead me. Let them bring me unto thy holy
hill and to thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar
of God, unto God my exceeding joy. Yea, upon the harp will
I praise thee, O God, my God. Why art thou cast down, O my
soul? And why art thou disquieted within me, hoping God? For I
shall yet praise him who is the health of my countenance and
my God. Let's pray. Our heavenly and merciful Father,
we thank you for allowing us to assemble together in this
evening. Father, what a great, great blessing
it is that you have taken reasons out of yourself, and you have
given us this opportunity to hear the declaration of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the good news for sinners. And Father, we do not
deserve anything, but yet you continue, Lord, to allow us to
assemble together, although a little flock. And Father, you know where
all your sheep are in this location. And if it pleases you, Father,
will you call them out and that they also may gather together
with us. Remember Lord Brother Eric, who
hopes to stand once again before us in this evening. Father, we
thank you for him. Continue, Lord, to give him strength
and health and allow him, Lord, this evening, to have freedom
to deliver his message, which is your message. Father, continue
to remember him and Michelle also give them what they stand
in need of. And remember us also, Lord, as a local assembly. Will
you continue, Lord, to bind us together in the love of the gospel,
in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Father, remember
those among us and some that are not gathered here that perhaps
are suffering with illnesses Continue, Lord, to give strength
where it is needed, and allow us, Lord, to help where it is
necessary. Father, remember our loved ones, our children. You
know all things perfectly, and everything with you, it's all
possible with you. And Father, will you call them
out of nature's darkness into your marvelous light, that they
may also receive a hunger and a thirst after the Lord Jesus
Christ. Father, remember us in mercy,
for Jesus' sake alone, amen. As you remain sitting, let's
sing another hymn. Now, I've given you this white
paper. I got this from Tim James, and he told me that Walter Grover
had written it, and it's to the tune of the old rugged cross
okay so I'll do my best and we'll see how it goes I'll need your
help but it's it's very nice I had heard him singing in a
sermon so I called him up and he sent me a copy so I just gotta
change the setting on my speed 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 King
I must crown. Oh, 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 the king I must crown ?
? In the Christ of the cross and his blood so divine ? ? A
marvelous beauty I see ? For He 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 must crown. Thank you. Good evening. All right, brethren, turn to
Isaiah 50. I want to look at verses 10 and
11 with you. We're going to spend the majority
of our time in verse 10. I would like to begin by reading
verses 10 and 11. Who is among you that feareth
the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh
in darkness, and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of
the Lord, and stay upon his God. Behold, all ye that kindle a
fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks, walk in the
light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand. Ye shall lie down in sorrow. Our Lord here is giving a word
to two different groups of people. These are two very distinct groups
of people and they're acknowledged as either walking in darkness
and having no light or as having made a fire and walking in the
light of the fire that they have made. And if we had just those
two descriptions, we might conclude that the first people spoken
of, walking in darkness and having no light, are fools. They're
looking for trouble. We might even think that they
are the cursed of God. And then the second, who have
made a fire so that they have light and are walking in the
light of that fire, we might conclude that, well, they sound
pretty wise. They're being diligent, they're
getting things done and doing what needs to be done, and you
know what the world says, that God helps those who help themselves. And so we might conclude that
they are blessed of God. But is that true? Would we be
right if that was our conclusion about these two people? Those
people who walk in darkness and have no light are given a further
description. They are those that are fearing
the Lord. They are described as those that
are obeying the voice of His servant. And then the other is
given no such description, only that they have a fire that they've
built and are walking by the light that they have kindled
or made by their own works. Those who walketh in darkness
and hath no light, we find that they are encouraged by the Lord
to trust in the name of the Lord and to stay upon his God. Whereas those that have made
a fire and are walking by the light of that fire, they're told
that they shall lie down in sorrow by the hand of God. And so one group are the children
of God. And it's those that are walking
in darkness, those that are described here as walking in darkness.
And the other group are the children of the devil. They're walking
by their own light. And so I want to go through these
verses with you, especially staying on verse 10 and looking at scriptures
that you would know, well, what group am I in? And do you have
a desire to be in one group or the other? Because if you are
the elect of God, he's going to put in you, as he does for
all his children, a hunger and a thirst for righteousness, especially
that righteousness which is wrought for the child of God by the Son
of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ, who in grace and mercy cleanses
us from sin, gives us light and life in Himself, that we may
know and enjoy the fellowship of God, having our inheritance
and eternal life with Him. And it's that we may have a saving
knowledge of him. He does this that we may know
him and experience his grace. I've titled this message, The
Children of God Walking in Darkness. And we're gonna begin with this
group that's described as being fearful and obedient. So let's
look again at this first verse, verse 10. Who is among you? that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth
the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, and hath
no light, let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon
his God. This is a description of every
child of God. Every one of you that believes
God, this is a description of you without exception. Every
child of God alive this hour, looking to Christ, believing
Him, this is a description of you. And every description that's
used here describes the child of God perfectly. And so we're
going to take each one of these phrases, these descriptions,
and we'll go through the scriptures together and see that these are
indeed descriptions of every child of God. Now to begin, let
me just say here that every verb that we see in this verse, it's
what I call a continuous action verb. I'm sure it has a proper
description in English, but I like to just see it as a continuous
action verb when you see that E-T-H at the end of the verb
in the King James Bible. And what it means is once it's
started, it never stops. It never stops. They feareth. It's a continual action. They
feareth. They obeyeth. They walketh. So that once they feareth in
the Lord, they continue to feareth in the Lord. And once they obeyeth
in the Lord, they continue to obeyeth in the Lord. And once
they walketh in the Lord, they continue to walketh in the Lord. And they do these things, they
bear these fruits because they're quickened. They're made alive
by Christ. He's given them life in himself,
and they now bear these fruits by his spirit and by his grace,
which is freely given to all his children apart from their
works, apart from any merit and any achievement of themselves. And we're told who they fear,
who they obey, and how they walk. So let's first look at who they
fear. The Lord asks, who is among you
that feareth the Lord? Now the Lord gives many blessings. He speaks of the blessings, the
many blessings that he gives to those that fear him. And I'll just read a few of them
from the Psalms. We're told, Behold, the eye of
the Lord is upon them that fear him. We're told that there is
no want to them that fear him. And surely his salvation is near
them that fear him. He's going to teach them the
way that He shall choose, He tells us. And He tells us that
those that fear Him, He'll show them His covenant. His covenant
of grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so by these blessings, and
there's many, many more in the scriptures, if you just look
up the word fear, you'll see how the Lord blesses them that
fear Him. And you understand when you read
this that the Lord is well pleased with those that fear So, what
kind of fear is this, and do believers continually have this
fear of the Lord? First of all, this is a fear
that's not of terror. It's not a fear of guilt and
condemnation. John tells us plainly that perfect
love casteth out that kind of fear. of terror and just waiting
to be overthrown and destroyed by God. But this is a fear that,
speaking of the respect, the reverence that we have for our
God, that we honor His name. He's wonderful to us. He's our
creator. He's the Lord. He has a will
and a purpose, and He's doing that will and purpose, and He's
good. faithful, kind, just. He's abundantly merciful to us. And so in his child, they believe
him. We believe him. We trust him. And we're learning more and more
that he's worthy of that trust. He's very gracious to us. And
we are his creature, subject to his good pleasure. And we know that, and we respect
that. And we know that he's the Lord, and we look to him and
cry out to him because he is the Lord. We're told in Revelation
4.11, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and
power. For thou hast created all things,
and for thy pleasure they are and were created. And so we are trusting the triune
God in everything. One good example is seen in Paul's
writing to the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 5, 18, and he
says, in everything give thanks. In everything give thanks for
this is the will of God for you. And it's true that it is the
will of God that we give thanks in everything, but what he's
saying is whatever it is that we're going through, whatever
we're experiencing, whatever happy time or dark time, it's
the will of God for you. So you can give God thanks for
it and should give God thanks for it because it's all working
together for our good according to the purpose of our God. So we give Him thanks. Whether
we understand it or not, we can trust Him. We reverence his name. We revere and highly esteem our
God. It's what he's given to us and
worked in us by his grace. And a great example of this,
of a believer in scriptures, is seen in Abraham. Abraham,
who is told that in his seed, in Isaac, that that the seed,
the seed would be called in Isaac, and he believed God, and he believed
the promise of God, and God told him, take your son, your only
son, and slay him. Sacrifice him to me. And when
Abraham was just about to do that in Genesis 22, in verse
12, the angel stopped him and said, don't lay your hand upon
the lad, upon the child, neither do thou anything unto him. For
now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld
thy son, thine only son, from me. And so we see that the fear
he had was in respect to the Lord, that he is the Lord, and
he can ask or do whatever he desires. And he believed him
and trusted him, accounting, as Hebrews 11.9 says, that God
was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from whence also
he received him in a figure, or in a manner of speaking. Because
Abraham was already resigned that his son was sacrificed to
the Lord. And that was it. He believed
God and he resigned to that. And so he really did receive
his son again from the dead. And like Abraham, every child
of God feareth the Lord. Even though when we put our eye
to things, especially in ourselves. And we examine the things. We
see gaps and doubts and fears and worries all the time. But
His grace is sufficient for us in Christ. And by His Spirit,
we are conformed and being conformed to the will of our God, believing
Him. And we do fear God perfectly
in the Lord Jesus Christ. who perfectly fulfilled the law
of God for his people and satisfied our God perfectly for us. Proverbs 9 10 says, the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of
the holy is understanding. And so every child of God fears
the Lord. We revere his name and trust
him. Second then, He asks, who is
among you that obeyeth the voice of his servant? Who obeys the
voice, obeyeth the voice of his servant? The servant here is
Christ. This is Christ, the Messiah sent
of the Father for the redemption of His people. This is why Christ
came, to redeem, to purchase a people that God had elected
and chosen out for Himself as the Bride of Christ, as the Bride
of the Son. And so when Christ came as our
mediator, He came as the servant of God, and as the servant he
obeyed his Father in all things." And so, we'll turn to John 8. Turn to John 8. And we're told there in John
8 at the end of verse 28, we see his obedience. We see his obedience. Well, let me just read 20 and
29. Then said Jesus unto them, when ye have lifted up the Son
of Man, then shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing
of myself. But as my Father hath taught
me, I speak these things. I speak what my Father hath taught
me. Verse 29, he that sent me is with me. The Father hath not
left me alone. for I do always those things
that please Him." And so Christ is declaring that He is obedient
to the Father and He must be obedient to the Father in order
to redeem His people, to save them perfectly, to fulfill all
righteousness. And so, He that obeyed the Father
perfectly in all things, and pleased Him well, you can be
sure that He works obedience in us, in His people, that we
would obey the voice of His servant. Turn over to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter 2, and put a marker because
we'll come back there two more times. Sorry, 1 Peter 1, verse 2. We read there that we are, well,
Peter's writing to the elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, as God chose a people before the foundation
of the world. It's according to his choosing
through sanctification of the spirit. So the Holy Spirit of
God has separated us and set us apart for this salvation. And look what it says there,
unto obedience. That's not speaking of our obedience,
but it's speaking of the obedience of Christ. And the Holy Spirit
has separated us and brought us unto the obedience of Christ. Because it's His work, it's His
salvation work which has saved us, which has purchased us and
delivered us from death. And so we're brought unto that
obedience of our Savior, the Lord. Jesus Christ. And so we're brought unto his
obedience, and that means everything that he's accomplished for our
salvation shall be wrought in us, including our perfect obedience,
that is, our believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we
see here that there's many that claim to believe on Christ. If
you're there in John 8 still, I should have had you hold your
place there. John 8, verse 30, he continues saying, well, we're told that as he was
speaking to the people in John 8, 30, that many believed on
him. Many believed on him. And then
said Jesus to those Jews in verse 31, which believed on him, he
says, if ye continue in my word, Then are ye my disciples indeed. And notice the similarity there.
Don't leave John 8, but notice the similarity there of the fruit
that we read of in Isaiah 50, verse 10, which says that they
obeyeth the voice of his servant. And here he's speaking of that
continuity, that continuousness of us continuing in his word. That is, we continue in Christ. We continue to believe on Christ. And then he proves of what sort
their faith was, their believing was. He proves what it is just
simply by asking them, and you shall know the truth and the
truth will make you free. And that offended them. They
were offended and began to argue with Christ, argue against it. and say, what do you mean we'll
be made free? We're Abraham's sons. We weren't
born in iniquity. We're Abraham's children. We're
children of God, they would go on to say. But brethren, when
Christ reveals himself to his child. We know what we are by
nature. He makes us to see that we are
sinners, that it's not our righteousness. He hasn't turned his eye upon
us for good because of something good that we've done. It's not
the things that we do and laboring under the law or laboring in
religion, it's not our righteousness. It's not our works that earn
the favor of God. But Christ comes to sinners who
cannot save themselves and delivers his people out of the bondage
of sin, out of eternal death, out of the darkness and brings
us into the light. Now, opposed to those Jews, who
would not hear the voice of Christ, who were disobedient to the voice
of Christ. We see back in 1 Peter, if you
turn to 1 Peter again, chapter one, and this time go to verse
21. Verse 21 says, who by him, who
by Christ's obedient death, whereby we now believe, who by him do
believe in God that raised him up from the dead, and gave him
glory that your faith and hope might be in God, seeing ye have
purified your souls in obeying the truth. We believe. We have faith in Christ. We are given the gift of faith
by the Spirit of God to look to Christ and believe all that
the Father has said concerning Him, all that He has said concerning
Himself, all His Word here in the Scriptures, which is the
Word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. It speaks of Him and glorifies
Him. We believe. That's obeying the
truth. calling God true, calling God
true and saying, Lord, you're just, you sent the salvation
because I could not save myself. And that's done through the Spirit
unto unfeigned love of the brethren. Verse 23, being born again, not
of corruptible seed, not of this flesh, but of incorruptible,
by the word of God, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, which
liveth and abideth forever." So brethren, our obedience is
the work of God and that's how we obeyeth the voice of his servant
continually and aren't turned away and offended and angered
as these Jews were, who didn't continue, and shortly after that,
as Christ continued to speak, turned on him and would have
crucified him right then and there. They would have put him
to death if they could have, but it wasn't his time yet. And so
we obeyeth the voice of his servant because he's worked disobedience
in every child. There's no children of God who
are disobedient to Christ. They believe him. They believe
him and trust him. And he tells us in verse 24,
all flesh is as grass. The flesh can't produce this
fruit of righteousness. It's of the Lord. And all the
glory of man is the flower of grass, which withers and the
flower falls off. But the word of the Lord endureth
forever. His voice endures forever. And
this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you. And so your God has faithfully
called you and revealed faith in you, looking to, believing
the voice of his servant. And you believe, and you believe
him. All right, now third, in our text there, he says in Isaiah
50 verse 10, Who is among you that walketh
in darkness and hath no light? And that seems like a contradiction
from what we had seen described of the child of God, that feareth
the Lord and that obeyeth the voice of his servant. And you
know, if I walk down a dark path, and it's night, and say it's
a new moon, and there's no moonlight reflecting the sun, there's no
light, it's dark, there's no light, I don't have a light.
It's dangerous, because I don't know what's in front of me. I
don't know what I might trip over, or what edge I might fall
off, or what trouble I might come into. So it's not a good
thing. And yet here, the child of God
is described as one that walketh in darkness and hath no light. Why is that? a description of
every child of God, that they walk in darkness and hath no
light." Well, I was thinking about that, and I remembered
that when I was around 10, 11, and 12, I would go to a camp,
a boys' camp, and they would have us After supper, we would
go to the lodge, the central lodge, all the different age
groups and cabins. We all went there. And we'd sing
songs. And they'd talk. I don't know.
Maybe it was a message or something like that. And they would do
what they did there at the camp. And by the time we all left,
it was dark. And we had to get to our cabins.
And the older you were, the further away your walk was and the more
dangerous your walk was. And so it was wise to make sure
that you had a flashlight. And inevitably, by the end of
the week, someone's flashlight would have died because they
left it on too long or you grabbed the wrong flashlight at home
and it was that one that always began to flicker and you had
to shake it to get the batteries to reconnect and it would light
up again dimly and then go out eventually. And eventually it
would just stop. And so you, if you were that
boy, you were left to have to buddy up with someone else who
had a working flashlight. And you had this long walk back
to the cabin and you had to trust that they weren't going to be
silly with it and just shining it under their face or up in
the trees, but that they were going to use it wisely. on the
path and point out the rocks and the roots and the weird combinations
that could trip you up and cause you to fall and get hurt. And so it's in that sense that
we understand what this verse is saying. We don't have any
light. We walk in darkness trusting
our Savior. We're trusting the light of Christ. We're trusting him in all things. We're not trying to make a light
of our own. We have no light of our own,
but he is the light and we believe him and trust him. He that walketh
in darkness and hath no light is he that walks by faith. He that walketh in darkness and
hath no light is he that walks by faith." We're trusting that
Christ will lead us and guide us and help us and point out
the things that He'll point out and lead us through the things
that He'll lead us through till He bring us safely to heavenly
Canaan. We're trusting Him for all things. Now I know that this passage
has some meaning to those who are in dark times. And the children
of God do go through afflictions and dark times and tribulations
and sorrows. And it seems that the providence
of God is against them. But the reality is, because this
is true of every child of God all the time. Remember, it's
a continual action Once it's started, it never stops. And so whether it's happy times
or sad, whether it's bountiful times or barren times, whether
it's peaceful or restless, the child of God continually walketh
in darkness and hath no light. That means all the time we're
walking, it's not according to our strength, It's not by our
wisdom, it's not by our works of righteousness, but we walketh
by faith. We're continually walking by
faith. We never have a light of our
own. Our light is the light of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It's not of our making. It's
of him and him alone, as Paul would say, for we are the circumcision,
which worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and
his light and have no confidence in the flesh. That's what the
Lord is teaching us. And that's what this passage
is saying, that we walk in darkness and hath no light. We're walking
by faith, ever trusting. and the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ, alone, knowing, believing him who said, I'll
never leave you, nor forsake you. I'm with you. I'm not going
to leave you alone to fall and perish. But I'll bring you safely
to heavenly Canaan. And we believe him, because that's
the faith that he gives his people. All right, then he says, who
is among you that bears all these fruits, that feareth, obeyeth,
and walketh? Let him trust in the name of
the Lord and stay upon his God. So you that trust in the Lord
Jesus Christ for all your salvation, righteousness, and acceptance
with God, you have nothing to fear. You shall never be ashamed
for trusting in Christ alone. Acts 10 43 to him give all the
prophets witness that through his name whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins which is shall receive
forgiveness of sins. Christ has paid the price in
full the debt is satisfied. we have eternal life with Christ. And we shall never be ashamed
for trusting in Him. So happy is that man and that
woman that leans on Him, that doesn't try to kick up their
own fire and their own light, but rests in the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. All right now, that's the majority
of our message. We're just gonna finish up here
with verse 11. This word here is given to those
who do not bear these fruits. They do not fear God and they
are disobedient. They don't believe the servant
of God. And they walk, but not by faith. Do not walk by faith. Verse 11,
behold all ye that kindle a fire, that make a fire, that compass
yourselves about with sparks, walk in the light of your fire.
And in the sparks that ye have kindled, this shall ye have of
mine hand. Here it is. Ye shall lie down
in sorrow. And so this fire is the dead
sinner's own light. It's their works. And it says
that they compass themselves about with sparks. And to compass
oneself is to gird oneself up. And I've never used any kind
of girdle. It was used, especially back,
I think men and women used it for purposes to strengthen. to
shore up a thing, to make a thing firm. And so here these people
are. They've made a fire, and they're
kicking it up. I mean, they're stoking that
fire, and they're getting it raging so that the sparks are
all going around to get a bright light so that they can feel strong
and secure in themselves. That's what they're using this
light and this fire for. They're not fearing God. They're
not hearing the voice of His servant, let alone obeying it. They're not listening to Him.
And they either reject Christ outright, not believing Him at
all, or it's Christ plus. It's Christ plus because Christ's
righteousness, there's just something about it for them that isn't
sufficient. They're not hearing and so they think that I'm supposed
to believe on Jesus and then I'm supposed to go and do all
these works and then God will be pleased with me." And so they're
not hearing the righteousness of God. They're not hearing that
their works are polluted and vile and cannot save them. And
they're insulting God and rejecting His righteousness. As Paul said
in Romans 10, 3 and 4, they being ignorant. of God's righteousness,
and going about to establish their own righteousness, kicking
up and working up a fire of their own righteousness, have not submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end
of the law. to everyone that believe it. And so our God has provided full
satisfaction, full salvation in the Son. We're not to be turned
back to the law for righteousness, to shore up anything that isn't
quite clear or done by the Lord. He's our justification. He's
our sanctification. We don't need any additional
light or righteousness. That's what we saw back there. We walk in darkness and hath
no light. We're walking by faith, looking
to the light of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. There's nothing
to me I'm trusting. There's nothing to me I want
God to see but the Lord Jesus Christ. in the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. Hebrews 10, 10 and 14 say, by
the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once for all. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. He's sanctified every one of
his children whom he's justified. And so God in wisdoms purposed
all things. We're told in Proverbs that the
Lord hath made all things from self, yea, even the wicked for
the day of evil. And so here these evil ones are. And he says to them that are
self-righteous and confident in their works, he says, this
shall ye have of mine hand. Ye shall lie down in sorrow. You shall be left. in that nature's
darkness. And it'll never trouble you. I mean, you'll be troubled because
you're constantly working and working and working and working,
never resting in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn back to 1 Peter. 1 Peter,
and this time go to chapter 2. 1 Peter 2 verse 6 through 8, Wherefore
also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious. And he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded, which is, shall not be ashamed. Unto
you, therefore, which believe, he is precious. But unto them
which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed
the same as made the head of the corner. When the Lord God
sent his son, he sent the most precious, glorious, perfect stone,
the most important stone of the whole building. And the Jewish
religious leaders took that stone and cast it aside. They rejected
it. And it became to them, verse
8, a stone of stumbling. As they're coming and going in
their religion, doing their religious things, they're tripping over
him. continue. They keep tripping
over him and what happens? He's a rock of offense. They're
getting angry because they keep tripping over him because he's
there right in the way, right in the way of what they're trying
to achieve for themselves. And all the while he's being
gracious to his people and kind and merciful to them. And so
even to them which stumble at the word being disobedient, as
people who are stumbling over Christ. They are disobedient
whereunto also they were appointed. They were appointed unto that
disobedience. So which group are you in? Is your confidence in your works
under the law for righteousness and sanctification? Or are you
one who walks in darkness and hath no light and knows that
any light you make is just wickedness and cannot help you, because
God has provided perfection. He's provided His Son, Jesus
Christ. All who believe Christ for all
their righteousness, look only to the Lord Jesus Christ. He
is your rule of life. Christ is our rule of life. His grace and his spirit guide
us and lead us and keep us, and all who hope in him shall have
perfect peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. In Ephesians 2, 3
it says, we by nature all were children of wrath even as others,
but God who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith
he loved us, he made us alive in the Lord. Jesus Christ. So trust, believe, forsake all
other lights, forsake all other righteousnesses, rest in the
Lord Jesus Christ because He's the only one that can keep you
and keep me and keep our hearts. in Him and in His grace. So I
pray He bless you, give you that hunger and thirst only for Him,
and that He keep us ever fearing our God, obeying the voice of
His servant, and walking in that darkness, having no light, because
it's all of Him. We're trusting His light alone.
So I pray He bless that word to your heart today. Okay, let's
close in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your grace and your mercy. Lord, for pouring out
your grace in Christ upon us abundantly, that we should be,
that our hands should be emptied, made empty by your spirit, that
we are not looking to or trusting in the dead vain works of man
and dead religion, but looking to and trusting in the Lord Jesus
Christ alone. Lord, keep us ever bearing these
fruits because we know it's not of us, but it's of you. And Lord,
we also pray again, even as our brother prayed earlier tonight,
Lord, you know your people, call them, Lord, bring them bring
them out and bring them here and that you would be pleased
to fill this house and bless this house to be able to feed
your sheep. And Lord, we know that you can
do all things and that which is impossible with us is certainly
possible with you. And Lord, any among us and or
even not currently with us that are sick or ill, bless them,
protect them. heal their bodies, give them
strength, Lord. We pray that you would indeed
heal this body. It's in the name of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ, that we pray. Amen. Let's stand and sing a closing
hymn, 511, face to face, 511. Face to face with Christ my Savior. Face to face with Christ my Saviour,
face to face what will it be? When with rapture I behold Him,
Jesus Christ who died for me. Face to face I shall behold Him,
far beyond the starry sky. Face to face in all his glory,
I shall see him by and by. Only faintly now I see him with
the darkling veil between. But a blessed day is coming when
his glory shall be seen. Face to face I shall behold him
far beyond the starry sky. Face to face in all his glory
I shall see him by and by. but rejoicing in his presence
when our banished grief and pain When the crooked ways are straightened,
and the dark things shall be plain, face to face I shall behold
Him, far beyond the starry sky. Face to face in all His glory,
I shall see Him by and by. Face to face, oh blissful moment. Face to face to see and know. Face to face with my Redeemer,
Jesus Christ who loves me so. Face to face I shall behold Him,
far beyond the starry sky. Face to face in all His glory,
I shall see Him by Thank you. Thank you very much.