I updated the address on Facebook. I have to check all the other
areas. I guess our website's good to
go now. I don't know if Google ever permanently
changed it or not. I don't know, because that's
a process. You've got to have a mail card and everything. Right.
And I never got a mail card, so I never did it, which is good. But I think if you did it, they would
let, they would just let them text you or something like that. Google Maps, which is what I
have to register. OK. The location on the map. Eric, Melinda called yesterday
to check on y'all, see how y'all were doing. And unless I misunderstood
her, but I know I didn't, she said that Todd Nyberg's wife
is waiting for a transplant, a liver transplant, and a kidney
transplant. This guy said he thought Todd
was the one that had the kidney problem. She called and says, and I don't
know them. I've listened to him, but I don't
know him. I've never met him. But she just asked me to pray. And to tell y'all she was thinking
of you. That's why Lynn's belly is so
small. I've never seen her, so I don't
know. You'd love him if you met him. You preached here. Yeah,
I wasn't there. She's on call. I think she's
next up. She's on. Todd doesn't even,
I don't think, really go anywhere because he's just waiting for
when she's up there. So are they going to do both
at the same time? Is she on dialysis now? They do a phone And I thought it was funny, because
he said everyone else had got sick. If I get sick one more
time, I'll tell you. He has not been sick since. If this is going to be ringing
at night, we're going to have to move all the time. We're going
to have to move it to at least over there, and then maybe hang
a blanket or something like that to muffle it. I don't know why
they don't just turn it down on Wednesdays before they walk
out. There's a lot of space under the door, too. They could stuff
something. We can't get in there though.
It's not tied to that. It's a separate phone. Now they're going to be calling
all night. It absolutely doesn't bother
me at all, Eric, that sound. But if it bothers you, you know. I know you had to deal with the
fire department. With Clay, didn't you have to
deal with the fire department? We're just putting things on,
you know, online and everything. And people are hearing this and
then it... I see what you're saying, yeah. No, you should have your firefighters
downstairs throwing out the S word and all the kids are like, ooh,
what's that? So I was able to get that for
a long time. Clay would sometimes have to
stop. Yeah, we would just have to wait. You were in there about
almost 10 years. Almost, like, to the day when
we bought it and moved in to the new location. Oh, we were in the top of the
firehouse. So when they get a fire, and
it was volunteers, so they'd all run in and open it and slam
it in lockers and get it in their boots. And then the doors would
go up and the fire truck would go. And then sometimes on a nice
day, they're like, let's wash the truck on a Sunday morning. And they knew we were there.
Well, there was one particular guy who didn't like it, but I
don't think he realized how much money we were paying on the TV
or so. We were funding their pancake
breakfasts. Not their breakfasts. Their breakfasts
were funded. I don't know. But we funded all
their upgrades and their new wood floor, their TV, their couches,
everything. I don't know. We're going to go live, guys. Good evening. Let's all stand
and sing an opening hymn. 352. Jesus, lover of my soul. 352. Jesus, lover of my soul, lead
me to thy bosom, fly. While the nearer waters roll,
while the tempest still is high, find me, O my Savior, high. ? Till the storm of life is past
? ? Safe into the haven guide ? ? O receive my soul at last
? ? Other refuge have I none ? ? Hangs my helpless soul on
thee ? Leave, ah, leave me not alone, still support and comfort
me. Oh, my trust on thee is staid. Oh, my help from thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head with
the shadow of Thy wing. Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
more than all in Thee I find. Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
heal the sick, and lead the blind. Just and holy is thy name. I am all unrighteousness. False and full of sin I am, Thou
art full of truth and grace. ? Plenteous grace with thee is
found ? ? Grace to cover all my sin ? ? Let the healing streams
abound ? ? Make and keep me pure within ? ? Thou of life the fountain
art ? freely let me take of thee. Spring thou up within my heart,
rise to all eternity. Thank you. Turn to Isaiah 49. I'm going
to pick up in verse 5 and read down to verse 13. Isaiah 49 verse 5. And now saith the Lord that formed
me from the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob again to him.
Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the
eyes of the Lord, and my God shall be my strength. And he
said, it is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant
to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved
of Israel. I will also give thee for a light
to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end
of the earth. Thus saith the Lord, the Redeemer
of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to
him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers. King
shall see and arise. Princes also shall worship because
of the Lord that is faithful and the Holy One of Israel, and
he shall choose thee. Thus saith the Lord, in an acceptable
time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped
thee. And I will preserve thee and
give thee for a covenant of the people to establish the earth
to cause to inherit the desolate heritages, that thou mayest say
to the prisoners, go forth. To them that are in darkness,
show yourselves. They shall feed in the ways,
and their pastors shall be in all high places. They shall not
hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor sun smite them,
for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them. even by the
springs of water shall he guide them. And I will make all my
mountains away, and my highways shall be exalted. Behold, these
shall come from far, and lo, these from the north, and from
the west, and from the land of Sinai. Sing, O heavens, and be
joyful, O earth, and break forth into singing, O mountains. For
the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his
afflicted. Let's pray. Our gracious Lord,
we thank you, Father, for your great mercy, for your grace and
kindness toward us. Lord, we thank you for gathering
us together tonight to hear your word, to hear your gospel preached,
to hear your Son lifted up and exalted before our eyes. And
Lord, flood our hearts with the spiritual blessings of your grace
to us in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Lord, remember us, look upon
us, and help us, Lord, for we are small and few in number. But Lord, we trust and know that
you are God, that you are our God, and Lord, that you promise
to feed your sheep Lord, we trust and believe that you have a people
here whom you love and whom you've chosen in eternity and given
to your son and that you've put a gospel church here for the
purpose of drawing them out and gathering them together and feeding
them with the gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ. Lord, help us. Help us in our patience and experience
and hope, Lord, that we look to you and depend upon you, that
your love would be shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost,
that we would see your hand and your work in all things. Lord, help us, strengthen us,
Lord, protect us from This sickness that is so abundant around us,
heal us as we get sick and help us to recover and to be strong. And Lord, bless us with your
presence. We pray that you would heal your
people, teach your people, comfort your people, bless your people. It's in the name of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ that we pray this and and ask these
things, knowing that you are able, Lord, to do abundantly
above all that we can ask or think. And so, Lord, we look
to you, thankful, glad, joyful in your work and in your will
and in your salvation in Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank you for
this and ask that you would bless this night Bless us with your
presence. Teach us. Help us to hear the
voice of our Savior and to be lifted up and comforted in Him,
nourished and strengthened in Him. It's in the name of our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that we pray this. Amen. As you remain sitting, let's
sing 359. My faith looks up to thee. 359. My faith looks up to Thee, Thou
Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine. Now hear me when I pray, take
all my sin away. Oh, let me from this day be wholly
Thine. May thy rich grace impart strength
to my fainting heart, my zeal inspire. As thou hast died for
me, O may my love to thee, pure, warm, and changeless, be a living
fire. A life's dark maze I tread, And
griefs around me spread, Be Thou my guide. Bid darkness turn to
day, Wipe sorrow's tears away, Nor let me ever stray from Thee
aside. When ends life's transient dream,
When death's cold, sullen stream Shall o'er me roll, Blest Savior,
then in love, Fear and distrust remove, O bear me safe above
A ransomed soul. Good evening. All right, turn
with me to Isaiah 49, and we're gonna pick up in verse eight
and work our way down to verse 13 together. Now, in this chapter,
around verse six, the Lord begins to speak to his son. The father speaks to the son,
because the Son is the one whom He's chosen and prepared and
sent as our mediator to come and represent a people who were
given to Him by the Father before the foundation of the earth. And so this Christ, this Jesus
of Nazareth, This Son of God is the choice mediator of God
who is sent by our God to stand between the people and our Holy
God. And He represents us. He represents
us to the Father and He's reconciled us in holiness. justly, so that
our God is pleased with the work of His Son, and He speaks to
us in His Son. And that word goes forth and
reaches us wherever we may be. Our God is very kind and gracious
to us in his son. And so what he's telling us here
in this passage is that salvation is not just for the Jews who
were people sanctified and set apart by the Lord very early,
very early. But it's not just to those who
looked for redemption in Israel, but our God. has sent forth this
word of salvation to us Gentiles far, far out from the Lord."
And that brings us to verse 8 where the Lord gives Christ, our mediator,
for a covenant, to be the covenant for a chosen, beloved people. He is our covenant head, and
he says in verse eight, thus saith the Lord, in an acceptable
time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped
thee, and I will preserve thee and give thee for a covenant
of the people to establish the earth to cause to inherit the
desolate heritages. So that rather than our God,
who is holy, perfect, and just in all his ways, and can do no
evil, no sin, rather than destroy the earth and the inhabitants
of the earth for our sin and our rebellion against him and
Adam, our God instead chose to be gracious. He chose to be gracious
to you. in the Lord Jesus Christ, our
Covenant Head. He chose to be gracious to a
people whom He loved in eternity and put in Christ to preserve
us. to protect us, to meet with us,
and to be kind and gracious to us, so that our God has given
us the Lord Jesus Christ as our covenant for the people, so that
holy God meets with us in His Son and is gracious and gentle,
and kind to his people. He brings us to himself in his
son and speaks peaceably to us, not in wrath, not in anger, not
to destroy us, not to harm us, but for our good, and to bless
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
so that Christ is our covenant head. in whom God the Father
meets with His people. He's meeting with us now in Christ,
our salvation. And in Christ, God the Father
is revealed to us. Christ reveals to us our God,
that we may know Him. and learn of him. He that hath
seen me, Christ said, hath seen the Father. And so the Lord has
brought us under the blood of his Son. His Son shed his blood,
gave his life for our life, that he may meet with us that He may
be gracious to us, and merciful, that He should instruct us, and
correct us, and teach us, and keep us, even embracing us in
His love which is shed upon us in His Son Jesus Christ. So this
text here, it details what Christ our Covenant Head does for His
child when He saves them. We'll see first that he gives
his children eternal life, life in himself. And he gives us light
and understanding of what our God has done for us. And we'll also see as we go through
it how that all provision is made for us in the Lord Jesus
Christ so that the obstacles in this flesh which would keep
us and prevent us from coming to holy God are all removed. There is a way. There's a way
through all the obstacles, and it's the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And so we see, we learn that
all these blessings are accomplished for us in him. It's one covenant
of grace, and so all his children, Jew and Gentile, are saved in
this one way. And so I've titled this message,
Accomplished in the Covenant. And we're going to begin here
with looking at our Savior's deliverance of his people from
death unto life in himself. Now, in the time of Christ's
ministry here on the earth, when he came for his people, he came
as a servant. He came as a servant. He served
His Father, doing the will of the Father, fulfilling the purpose
of the Father, and He came as a servant to us. He served us. He laid down His life for us,
that we might have life in Him. And when He did that, He suffered. Our Savior suffered in the flesh. He suffered for us. It wasn't
easy and He suffered in the flesh. And our gracious God, He heard
the sufferings of our Savior. He heard the sufferings of His
Son. He heard the sufferings of His
servant whom He sent. to lay down His life for us,
and Christ was making intercession for us. He was crying out to
the Father, pleading with the Father for our life, that we
should be healed, that we should be forgiven, that we should be
delivered from death. Christ prayed that for you, brethren,
and He suffered and bore our sin, bore our punishment, bore
the wrath of God for us. and he suffered in it and God
heard his suffering so that this is that acceptable time in which
the Father heard him and thereby in him he hears us. He hears
our cries, our cry for help, our cry for mercy, which is wrought
in us by the Spirit of Christ, which is given to us freely in
the blessings of our God. so that this is the acceptable
time in which our God hears us and he's kind to you and gracious
and merciful. And so in Christ, this covenant,
which is a covenant of grace, meaning it's not our works that
save us. It's not our works that put us
into this covenant. It's not our works that keep
us in this covenant. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ
himself. And this covenant of grace was
all and is all established in Christ himself. by the blood
of Jesus Christ according to the will and purpose of our God,
when our Savior was made for us an offering and a sacrifice
to God for a sweet-smelling Savior, so that we in Him are a sweet-smelling
Savior, coming and covered in the blood of our Savior Jesus
Christ, and His perfect salvation Brethren, it's worthy. It's worthy
of all acceptation. All you that are sinners, that
have no righteousness of your own, and no means of making yourself
righteous, and cleansing yourself of your sin, and purging yourselves
of the stain and guilt of sin, Christ is worthy of all acceptation. Believe Him. Trust Him. Hear
what the Savior says concerning his salvation. He's worthy of
our hearing. He's worthy of us giving him
an ear and saying, Lord, what would you have me to do? Lord,
save me. Cleanse me with your blood. Be
merciful to me because we're helpless sinners in ourselves.
So this work of Christ is made acceptable to us. by a personal
work of grace by the Spirit of God who works in us this life
that Christ has wrought for us. He reveals Christ to us so that
we see and know He is all. He's everything my God requires
of me. The Spirit makes you to know
that. The Spirit gives you faith to look to Christ. The Spirit
is the one who gives you that hope that in Him, You've nothing
to fear, nothing to worry about. God is pleased, well pleased
with you because he's well pleased with the Son. And this is all
done by the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, in our text, we
see our Savior comes to his people. He comes as our deliverer. And by the word of his command
and power, we see there in verse nine, the beginning phrase there,
that thou, this is the father speaking to the son, that thou
may say to the prisoners, go forth. Why are we in prison? Well, before our God gave us
eternal life, when we came forth of our fathers and we came forth
in Adam and we came forth in this flesh, we are sinners. We're sinners, dead in trespasses. and sins and we have no righteousness. We have no heart for the righteousness
of God. We have no light and understanding
of our God and the holiness of our God, the perfection of our
God. We may have thought that by religion
and by good works that we could earn favor of God, but it was
all a lie. We were deceived. And we gladly
embrace that lie, thinking that we were something in ourselves
until the Lord struck that righteousness down, showed us it was self-righteousness,
showed us that by these works and by these hands we cannot
save ourselves. And so he sends the Savior forth. to deliver us who are bound under
the dominion and the power of sin, bound under the guilt of
our sin, bound to suffer the punishment of that sin. We're guilty of breaking the
law of God, we're guilty of being transgressors of it, and we were
ensnared by the devil, taken captive by him at his will. We thought that we were free
and doing that which we would do, but even in that, all we
did was sin. All we did was fill up the lusts
of this flesh and didn't even understand how we were under
bondage to sin. and the works of death and the
works of the devil. But by the blood of Christ, he
declares his gospel to his chosen people, and he declares liberty
to us, saying, you, in that prison, go forth. You're free. I've delivered you by my blood. And he declares to us that in
him we are forgiven. and our debts are paid by him. We are purchased, redeemed by
the blood of Christ. And then our Lord removes the
ignorance that's in us by nature, saying to them that are in darkness,
show yourselves." We were in darkness, meaning we were spiritually
without understanding of God. We thought that we were pretty
good. We thought that God was pleased with us. to some measure,
and we thought that we could improve that standing before
God, until the Lord showed us that, no, our hearts are blind,
they're willfully ignorant, We don't know the true and living
God until he reveals him to us. And he does this by giving us
his Holy Spirit, and by his Spirit he draws his people out of that
dark prison and out of that death so that we hear his voice, that
we come into the light, that it may be revealed in us that
the works that are wrought in us are of God. It's by His power,
to the glory and praise of His name. He delivers us from death,
from superstition, from fear and worrying that God is going
to get us because of what we've done. He delivers us from that
by putting us in the Lord Jesus Christ. by giving us rest and
peace in Him. And so we see the light of God
in Christ who is all our hope and all our salvation. Paul said
in 1 Corinthians 2.12, he says, now we have received not the
spirit of the world. The spirit of the world is what
caused us, on one side, to think that we were good or could work
a righteousness, and the spirit of the world was the thing that
drove us in fear to try and improve our standing before God. We were
just on a cycle of death. And we were always looking to
ourselves, always looking to our religion, always looking
to some feeling or something in us to find some hope and some
comfort. But our God in Christ has delivered
us from that trap of just that death wheel of just running and
running and running in circles getting nowhere. so that now
we look to our Savior Jesus Christ alone. We've received not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God."
Meaning, that grace that He shows us in His Son, Jesus Christ. That's what this world doesn't
know. They don't know Him. They don't know the Savior. They
know a lot about religion. They know a lot about doctrine.
They know a lot about works. They know a lot about this world
and themselves and this flesh, but they don't know the Savior. And they're still looking for
something else because they don't see life in Him. But our Lord
teaches us that He is the word of life. He is the way in which
we walk as we travel to Zion as we travel home to be with
Him. We're told there at the end of
verse 9, is finished in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so we feed upon this gospel
as we go through the way, as we travel home, knowing and expecting,
hoping, a good hope that our God has done everything necessary
for our salvation. All right, now this brings us
to our second point where we see the obstacles that are overcome. You see, there's obstacles that
stand opposed to our fellowship and peace with God. There's obstacles
that stand opposed to our coming, that stand opposed to our comfort,
that stand opposed to our peace and our safe entrance into glory. But he gives us his word in verse
10. They shall not hunger nor thirst. You know, when I was sick recently,
I wasn't that hungry, but I made sure that I ate as much as I
could and I tried to eat healthy things and drink lots of clear
fluids, water and teas and things like that to flush out my system,
to give me strength, to keep me from feeling faint and to
get better. I want it to get better and to
be healthy. Well, Christ is our provision. He is our nourishment that we
need spiritually so that our Savior is the one that's providing
everything we need. When we see the darkness of our
hearts, when we see the weakness of this flesh, the sinful thoughts
that we have, the sinful deeds that we do, when we see these
things, there's a temptation to be afraid and to fear and
to worry. Lord, do I even know you? And our comfort is taken and
our peace and joy is removed. it stands as an obstacle and
we see just how incompetent, how impossible it is in this
flesh to please God by the works of this flesh. But our Savior
is the one that brings us to His Word, to hear His Word, to
know that my salvation is not in me, it's not of me, It's in
my Savior and it's by Him and He's the one that causes us to
pray so that we call out to Him and we seek Him and we behold
Him and remember what He's done for us by Himself. He's our spiritual
meat and He's our spiritual drink and He's the one that we're ever
going to be sustained by and comforted by. You know, he said
over in John 6, 55, my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood
is drink indeed. Meaning he's everything we need
for our sustenance. He's everything that God has
given to us that we need, that we should have fellowship and
the comfort and peace and joy that we have life in him. And so when we speak of these
things, what do we mean by this? We know we're talking of faith,
believing that Christ is all. And what the Spirit does is He
gives it to you to look to Christ, to believe Him, so that when
it's of the Lord in Christ, you shall never look for another
Savior. He gives it to His children to
know that He is the Savior God has provided. He is our salvation. And that soul that cries out
to Him by the Spirit's work and power is never going to look
beyond Christ, is never going to look for another righteousness. It really is that simple. In
Christ you cease looking for some other Savior or some other
salvation. With Christ's righteousness you
seek looking for some other righteousness. You're always brought back to,
it's Christ. I'm forgiven in Christ. I'm healed
by Christ's blood. I'm accepted with the Father
because of Christ. He's all I need. That's what
he's teaching us. That's what he continues to confirm
to us, that he's everything. He is all. He's everything that
we need. And so Christ is all to his people,
and he's the one that ever sustains us for the difficult journey
ahead. In the flesh, it's impossible. It's like a camel going through
the eye of a needle, impossible for man. But it's all very much
possible with God, who's blessed us with His Son, Jesus Christ.
And He says there in the middle of verse 10, neither shall the
heat nor sun smite them. And what that means is this new
man in you that's looking to Christ and looking no further
than Christ for everything you need, that new man that believes
will not be withered, will not be destroyed, will not be melted
and brought to nothing by these obstacles and these troubles
and these difficulties that we feel so that our Savior is our
covering. He's worked righteousness in
our hearts. He says over in 2 Corinthians
6, verse 7, he says, by the word
of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness,
on the right hand and on the left, so that our God has fitted
us with a breastplate of righteousness that's not of this flesh, but
of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And he's put that helmet
of salvation upon your head so that you know by his power that
you are Christ's, you are his, you're his child so that we're
kept and protected by our Lord as we go through these various
trials and afflictions and difficulties and hardships that weaken us,
that bring us low in ourselves. You know, these trials that prove
to us the work that God has done in us, it's not proving to God. God knows His work is complete,
but He proves that faith which He's given to us. And they weaken
something, but it's not the new man. It weakens this flesh. It strips this flesh and brings
us low in ourselves so that we stop having confidence in this
flesh, that we stop looking to this flesh to deliver us, to
fix things, to heal ourselves. And we cry out to the Lord. That's
a mercy. The more and more you're driven
to your knees and begging the Lord, there's nothing wrong in
that. It's a good thing. It's a good
thing. The flesh doesn't like it. We don't like feeling powerless
and out of control or like we've destroyed things or ruined things.
We don't like that. But the Lord is allowing things
to come to pass that strip this flesh and make us weak in ourselves
that the strength and the completeness and the fullness of Christ should
be revealed in us, so that we're looking to Him. Turn over to
Romans 5. Romans 5, and we'll pick up in
verse 3. The apostle says, Romans 5, 3,
and not only so, But we glory in tribulations also, knowing
that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and
experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed. Because in all these
things, where we have to just be patient and sit silently,
it's teaching us. And it's giving us experience
because we see, we shall see the hand of God doing what He
wills to do and to perform. And that experience feeds hope
and gives us hope because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us. And so
it's the Lord that's keeping all those whom He's given life
to whom he's brought salvation to, whom he's released from prison,
telling us, go forth. Telling us, show yourselves. He gives us light to our understanding
so that we know him. And so, yeah, there's difficulties. Yeah, there's oppositions. Yeah,
there's many trials and things that we don't understand in the
flesh. The apostles went through them.
They faced much opposition. but it was always the Lord Jesus
Christ. As they were weakened in the
flesh, they saw the strength and the power and the glory of
Christ so that he comforts our hearts with words of peace and
reconciliation and comfort to know that we're his, we're his. Weak little flock, though we
may be, we're the Lord's sheep. and he delivers on those promises.
Now he says there at the end of verse 10 in Isaiah 49, verse
10, he says, for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them,
even by the springs of water shall he guide them. And so it's
our Lord. These are the things that our
Lord has accomplished for us in his covenant of grace. Now, this next verse here in
verse 11, it's meant to comfort you that are weak and struggling
with sin, struggling with doubts, struggling with fears within
and without. It's meant to comfort us. And
it gives us blessed assurance in Christ of Christ. And he tells us, and I will make
all my mountains away, and my highways shall be exalted. Well, what are these mountains?
And what is the way that he makes through these mountains? Well,
these mountains are His perfection. They're His holiness. They're
His righteousness. They declare the glory, the light,
the unapproachable God who is perfect and just and righteous
in all His ways so that that stands as an obstacle to this
weak puny, sinful, insufficient flesh. It's an obstacle to this
flesh. It's impossible for me to please
God in this flesh. And it's impossible for you all
to please God in the flesh. No one shall please God in the
flesh. We're by nature locked up in
prison. We're ignorant of the things
of God. We don't have the light and understanding
of our God. But what is the way through that
obstacle? You that believe Him already
know. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the way. through those
mountains. He is the provision of God that
leads us through every obstacle so that nothing prevents us and
keeps us from our God. He's that highway raised before
our eyes on whom we travel unto Zion. in whom we go, he is the
way. You know, that rich man who is
tormented in hell and he's crying out to Abraham, give me just
a little relief, have some little mercy on me. And he heard these
words and reply in Luke 16, 26, where Abraham said, between us
and you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would
pass from here to you cannot, neither can they pass to us that
would come from thence, or from there. That is, all our sins,
all our iniquity, our foolishness and unbelief, all of it is opposed
by the mountains of God's holiness and righteousness. It stands
as a way, a great goal fixed that we cannot cross over or
bring ourselves over. We stand in need of holiness
without which no man shall see the Lord. We need holiness. You know, Paul, turn over to
Romans 7, 721. Paul tells us just where we see
what we are in the flesh. And he says, I find then a law
that when I would do good, when I know what the commandment is,
I know what the law says, I know that it's perfect and right and
just, but when I would do good, evil is present with me. He's
speaking of this flesh, the natural heart, the natural thoughts of
man, the spirit of this world. He saw law in his members warring
against the law of his mind and bringing him into captivity to
the law of sin which is in his members. So what's Paul to do? Because he's standing opposite
of God with a great mountain range between them that he cannot
cross over. And by the Spirit of God, which
is obtained for us in grace and mercy, in this covenant of grace
by the Lord Jesus Christ, he cries out to the only one who
can help him, the only one that can bring him through that mountain
range that he cannot cross over. He said, verse 24, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. He's my way through
the mountains. So then with the mind I myself
serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. So that Christ is declared to
us to be the way, the only way through the obstacle of mountains,
that divides us and separates us from our God. He's the one
that brings us through. And our Savior has removed the
obstacle of this flesh so that this flesh isn't trying to work
a righteousness for itself. We're delivered from that bondage.
We're delivered from the fear that, uh-oh, I've done it again.
I've got to now clean this up and make amends for what I've
done to my God. No, we can never do that. We
can never make things right before our God. We'll never purge ourselves
and work off that stain of sin. Rest in Christ. He is provided
by God for that very purpose, to deliver us from our sin and
the just punishment of it because he bore it. In Christ, the law
is honored. God's justice is satisfied. His wrath is appeased in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Our sins and iniquities have
all been put away by the Lord. The children are made righteous.
and none of them is lost. He said, behold, I and the children
which God hath given me. He's provided everyone that the
father chose and gave to his son. Believe him with the whole
heart. Cry out to him. If you do, it's
the work of the Spirit in you that gives you that faith to
look to our Savior, rejoice in His gospel, believe the Lord
Jesus Christ. And you'll find it's all of His
work, all of His mercy, it's by His strength, and by Him we
overcome those obstacles that stand in our way. The natural
man can't bring himself to God. He can't believe on Christ. He
doesn't see Christ as all, but the work of God in you shows
you he's everything. He's everything we need. All
right, and this brings us now to our final point where we see
all these spiritual blessings and sing and declare them because
they're all accomplished in Christ for all his people, both Jew
and Gentile. Look at verse 12. Behold, these
shall come from far, and lo, these from the north and from
the west, and these from the land of Sinai. That is, every
direction, our Savior's gospel spreads in every direction, going
out to every prison house, wherever it may be, far, far away, so
that his prisoners, wherever they are, they hear those words,
go forth, show yourselves. Wherever they're scattered, they
hear his voice. I challenge you. Declare this
gospel, share this word, tell others of it, because his word
is what's gonna go forth and call the prisoner out and deliver
them from their bondage, just as his word delivered you from
your bondage. And so he pours out his covenant
blessings, giving life, sending his word to set his people free
and his people flow unto the Lord. were drawn to him by his
power, by his spirit, joined to his people, that we may feast
upon the fat things in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ himself. All right, verse 13, sing, O
heavens, and be joyful, O earth, and break forth into singing,
O mountains, for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will
have mercy upon his afflicted. so that all the righteousness
of God is pleased and satisfied. And we sing praises to his name
for what he has done for us in fulfilling this covenant of grace. This is the song of the redeemed
that Christ has accomplished all my salvation. I need no other
righteousness. Everything is of him and provided
by him. He's delivered you, His people,
from your prison of death. He's your light and your understanding
of God. And He's everything that we need. And nothing can remove us from
His hand, from this salvation freely given to us by grace. Brethren, Christ is all. God
is pleased with him, and I pray that you be pleased with him
as your God is pleased with him, that you find everything in the
Lord Jesus Christ. I pray he bless that word. Amen. Let's close in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Father, for your mercy, your power, and your glory. Lord,
keep us. We're so thankful for what you've
done for us in your son, Jesus Christ. Lord, that in him we
have life and we have light and understanding. And Lord, he is
the way that you've given to us so that there's no obstacle
that can stand in our way and prevent us from coming to you
in that glorious day. For you hear us in your son.
Father, thank you for your grace and mercy. Lord, bless your people. Feed us, teach us, cause this
word to go out, and that sinners would hear it and be delivered
from the prison of death, that we may be gathered together and
rejoice in what our Savior has done for us. It's in Christ's
name that we pray and give thanks. Amen. Let's all stand and sing a closing
hymn of 291, Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah, 291. Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,
pilgrim through this barren land. I am weak, but thou art strong. Hold me with thy powerful hand. Bread of heaven, bread of heaven,
feed me till I want no more. Feed me till I want no more. Open now the crystal fountain
whence the healing streams doth flow. Let the fire and cloudy
pillar lead me all my journey through. Strong deliver, strong
deliver, be thou still my strength and shield. Be thou still my
strength and shield. And I tread the verge of Jordan,
bid my anxious fear subside. Bear me through the swelling
current. Thank you.