It's, yeah, this latest one that
we use is very sturdy, so it doesn't move much. Right. But now that we have that
marker trace, it's nice. The tree did that. As long as
it doesn't grow, it'll be fine. It hides the... It's a safety
violation. We're hiding the fire extinguisher. The fireman just grabbed it here
and cut that tree down. It's up to you. It just doesn't
count. Yeah, I guess we'll do, um...
What time is it? It's right on the nose right
now. Let's give it one minute. Okay. It's right here. I'm hanging on this chair, but
it's got a little sharp corner or something. I'm sitting there
kind of fragile. My other one on a rose bush before
the school. I don't know. A rose bush? Yeah, I'm getting out of my car.
Oh. I was in fencing, you know, for a good achievement. And I
caught it on. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. 10 minutes now? Yeah. I had a little break in the morning,
so I think someone must have just started. Another one must
have just started, right? Yeah. So I have, I'd say I have
at least three. Potentially four. That's a lot. Potentially four to go. I'm getting about two a day.
Yeah. I mean, it's probably every other day, right? Most likely,
but this time it's different. I mean, they're good players.
They're good players. And then you roll them in? Yeah. Yeah, so you have probably
not many to roll. Oh, you just started playing
up. You'll be going soon. It'll take
about three years. No, not even. You don't get three
years out of it? Oh, no. No, you didn't do it
yet, but I thought you said three years until you did it. No, no,
no. They didn't tell me when I was
told they were going to do so. I took the ones out of the box
when they existed. Yes, sir. Good evening. Let's stand and
begin our evening worship by standing and singing. Let me
check here, 44 possibly. Let's sing 201. he is able to deliver the 201.
? Tis the grandest theme through
the ages rung ? ? Tis the grandest theme for a mortal tongue ? ?
Tis the grandest theme that the world e'er sung ? ? Our God is
able to deliver thee ? ? He is able to deliver thee ? He is
able to deliver thee. Though by sin oppressed, go to
Him for rest. Our God is able to deliver thee. ? Tis the grandest theme in the
earth or main ? ? Tis the grandest theme for a mortal strain ? ?
Tis the grandest theme tell the world again ? ? Our God is able
to deliver thee ? ? He is able to deliver thee ? to deliver thee. Though by sin
oppressed, go to him for rest, our God is able to deliver thee. To grand esteem let the tidings
roll, to the guilty heart, to the sinful soul. Look to God
in faith, ? He will make thee whole ? Our God is able to deliver
thee ? He is able to deliver thee ? He is able to deliver
thee ? Though by sin oppressed go to him for rest ? Our God
is able to deliver thee 290. Be still my soul. 290. ? Be still, my soul, the Lord is
on thy side ? ? Bear patiently the cross of grief or pain ?
? Leave it thy God to order and provide ? In every change ye
faithful will remain. Be still, my soul, thy best,
thy heavenly friend. Through thorny ways it leads
to a joyful end. Be still, my soul, thy God doth
undertake To guide the future as He has the past. Thy hope, thy confidence let
nothing shake. All now mysterious shall be bright
at last. Be still, my soul, the waves
and winds still know His voice to rule them while He dwelt below. Be still, my soul, the hour is
hastening on, when we shall be forever with the Lord. When disappointment, grief, and
fear are gone, Sorrow forgot, love's purest joys restored. Be still, my soul, when change
and tears are past. All safe and blessed, wishing
well be. I would like to read Psalm 111.
Psalm 111. Praise ye the Lord. I will praise
the Lord with my whole heart in the assembly of the upright
and in the congregation. The works of the Lord are great
sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. His work is
honorable and glorious, and his righteousness endures forever.
He hath made his wonderful works to be remembered. The Lord is
gracious and full of compassion. He hath given meat unto them
that fear him. He will ever be mindful of his
covenant. He hath showed his people the
power of his works, that he may give them the heritage of the
heathen. The works of his hands are verity
and judgment. All his commandments are sure.
They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.
He sent redemption unto his people. He hath commanded his covenant
forever. Holy and reverent is his name. The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all
they that do his commandments. His praise endureth forever. Our heavenly and merciful Father,
we thank you for allowing us to come together as a local assembly. What a great, great blessing
it is. And Lord, how rare it is also in this location to be
able to hear your the pure gospel to be proclaimed from this pulpit.
Father, we thank you for this opportunity. And will you will
you please remember us as we go forward into the unknown future?
All things are perfectly in your hand and that we may humbly rest
and have confidence in you and not ourselves. Father, continue
to provide for us in this location, the financial wherewithal, and
also we remember Brother Eric. Will you continue to be with
him and allow him to stand before us to proclaim the glorious gospel
to us. Father, remember us in this evening.
Be with him, Lord, as he has his prepared message. Will you
give him the words to speak and the liberty and the unction of
your spirit and remember us as hearers. Lord, give us an appetite
for a few moments that we may sit here without distraction.
Remember those that are listening online and that are unable to
be with us. Lord, you know all things perfectly.
We think also of sister Johnny and brother Scott with their
difficulties and their health concerns, Lord, continue to be
with them. We are encouraged when we hear
that they are becoming better, Lord, continue to be with them,
that they may once again be with us. Lord, remember those that
are traveling and remember us, Lord, and all your servants wherever
they are. Lord, we also think of our loved
ones wherever they are. Some of them are far away, but
still they are in touch You are in touch with them, and You know
all things perfectly. Father, remember them, for their
souls' welfare also. For Jesus' sake alone, amen. It's good to see you all, especially
you that were traveling. Glad you're back safely. Okay, brethren, we're gonna be
in Isaiah tonight. Isaiah 43, and I'm gonna look
at verses 14 through 21. Isaiah 43, 14 through 21. And
here the Lord is continuing his his promise to reveal himself
to his people. And he's revealing himself tenderly
as their God and their savior. And what he does here in this
text tonight is he shifts our view, our focus from physical
deliverances and reveals or speaks to our spiritual salvation, his
redemption of us in Christ and the giving of his Holy Spirit,
whereby we now have fellowship and we're brought into union
and communion with our God to know Him and to rejoice in Him
and worship Him in gladness and with understanding and knowledge
of what He's done for us. And so the Lord speaks of doing
a new thing, a new thing, and that new thing is the blessing,
the coming, of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, so that we
are delivered from spiritual darkness, because he saved us
from the bondage of our sin and death and iniquity, and delivered
us from that, that we might know him and rejoice in him. So, I've
titled this, Your God Speaks. Your God Speaks. And so that's
really our first point, and then we'll look at this former and
new thing that he gets into in our text here. Now, it's important
for us to remember what's going on here. Isaiah is speaking to
the people who are going into captivity, and then those who
are in captivity are going to read these words down, you know,
in the future from when he's speaking these things. And the
captivity that they're going into, this is Jerusalem and Judah,
so this is, they're going into Babylonian captivity, right? They're gonna be physically taken
into captivity and going to Babylon. And that's gotta be a frightening
thing, if you think about it. that you would suddenly have
to give up everything that you know, everything that you have,
everything, all your neighbors and friends that are around you
that you're familiar with, all that's going to change. You might
even be separated from family. They're going way far away from
everything that they know into captivity. And now we know that
Babylon It's a picture of spiritual captivity. It's a picture of
spiritual darkness. When the scriptures speak of
Babylon, spiritual Babylon, she's the harlot, the mother of every
false way, every false way. and every dark and evil way that
men approach unto God. And that's not just, you know,
we don't look at that being just the weird and off the beaten
path of mainstream religion, that that's the Babylon, that
that's the false way. But Babylon encompasses even
mainstream religion. The major religions of the world
are taken up in Babylon. It's every false way. It's every
way that man approaches God in his own works and in his own
wisdom and in his own understanding. And so Israel here is going into
captivity. And it's a picture, it reminds
us of what we are in Adam, how we fell in Adam in the garden. That when he sinned, we were
in his loins. All his posterity was yet in
him. So when he fell, we fell. And when he sinned, he died in
that very day. and was corrupted, and fellowship
with God was severed, and he fell in sin and death and darkness,
and so did we. We were all in him, and we come
forth in that same spiritual darkness, in that oppression
and depravity and sin and evil, having no knowledge of God. All right? Our God has saved
us from that. He's delivered his people out
of that. And I want to begin looking at
this verse 14. With that as the background of
what we are in Adam, listen to how our God speaks to us in Christ. And he's speaking to you that
believe him. you that have no confidence in
the flesh, you that have faith revealed in your hearts, which
looks, ever looks to the Lord Jesus Christ and has confidence
in him and trusts him to do as he said, and knowing that he's
accomplished your salvation, right? So verse 14, Isaiah 43,
14, thus sayeth the Lord, your Redeemer. your Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel, for your sake I have sent to Babylon and have brought
down all their nobles and the Chaldeans whose cry is in the
ships." Now, what I really want to focus on here with you is
that the Lord is speaking to you whom he's gathered to hear
his word. He's gathered you and brought
you here to hear his word to you. And he's addressing you
in all the troubles, all the trials, all the tribulations
that you're going through. He's speaking to you tonight. He's addressing you. And he calls
himself your Redeemer. your Redeemer, and it's a reminder
of what this whole chapter's theme really is. If you remember
in Isaiah, verse one, Isaiah 43, one, what did he say there?
He spoke of himself as the Lord that created thee, right? He said, I'm the Lord that created
thee, that formed thee, redeemed thee, and called thee. Right? This is he described himself. He makes it known to us what
he has done for us. And here in his word, he's calling
us your redeemer. So we're his people. He is our
God. and He is our King. We have fellowship
with the God who created us, who created this world, and the
heavens, and the seas, and all that in them is, all right? Now, if you look back in verse
one, when He mentions that He's the Redeemer, He said, fear not,
for I have redeemed thee. So don't be afraid. And that's
relevant to these people going into captivity. He's saying,
don't be afraid. Fear not. Don't be troubled by
these things. When our Lord was about to leave
in that physical presence, he was about to leave his disciples
and go to the cross to redeem them, to purchase them with his
own precious blood. He was laying down his life to
save them, to deliver them from their sins. And he said in John
14, 27, and the beginning of 28, he said, peace, I leave with
you. My peace, I give unto you, not
as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid. And he says, for ye have heard
how I said unto you, I go away and come again unto you. And so, yeah, there's times of
difficulty, even captivity, even times where we're led, like Peter,
to a place where we don't want to go. When Peter was going to
be crucified, as his Lord showed him, he didn't want to go there.
The Lord said, you're not going to want to go there. But he tells
us, I'm with you. And he assures us, I'm coming
again. If you've ever had something
precious on your person and you're extra aware of that and you're
more careful, I know there's times where I put something in
my pocket and then I take my hand out and I think, uh-oh,
did I pull it out and did it drop on the floor? And so then
I check it again. Then I know that I have something of that's
precious to me, so I'm going to remember it and I'm going
to return for it. And that's what the Lord does.
He says, you're precious. He laid down his own life and
spilled his blood for your life. And so he promises, I'm going
to return again. I'm going to come back and redeem,
reclaim that which I've purchased with my own blood, right? This is the one who is speaking
to us, the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. And when
he says the Holy One of Israel, he is speaking of his righteousness,
which is now your righteousness, made your righteousness, so that
the righteousness of Jesus Christ is made unto you righteousness,
by which you stand whole and complete before holy God. And what we see here is that
this purchase, when we're speaking of the purchase that Christ made
of us, and he says, I'm your redeemer, he's speaking of his
particular redemption. He redeemed a particular people. Not all peoples, but his people. He purchased them. And that's
what the scriptures speak of, right? He didn't die for all
men. He died for his people. As the
word says, Matthew 121, thou shalt call his name Jesus, for
he shall save his people from their sins. He shall save his
people. He has a people. and the scriptures
speak of the Lord's people for whom he sent his son into the
world to save. Romans 8, 29. Romans 8, 29 and
30 says, for whom he, for whom God did foreknow. And that word
foreknow is the same word used in the Old Testament when God
is speaking to Israel and he says, I knew you, I knew you. I loved you. Out of all the peoples,
I knew you." And so that word for know here is that same word. He says, for whom he loved, those
whom he knew of all the peoples on the earth, he knew a particular
people. And he tells us he also did predestine
to be conformed to the image of his son so that he might be
the firstborn among many brethren. So far, that foreknew is what
led to God creating us. And he predestinated us of how
we would be formed in Christ. And he says, moreover, verse
30, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And our
God says that he called us. And whom he called, them he also
justified. which is redeemed, right? We're
redeemed, purchased by Christ so that his blood is our righteousness. And when God looks at us, he's
not looking at our works of righteousness, which we've done. He's looking
at the righteousness of his darling son, Jesus Christ, and being
covered in his blood, we have no sin. And so he looks at us
and because we are righteous, he justifies us. He pronounces
us justified before him standing faultless before holy God's throne
and he adds them he also glorified whom he justified them he also
glorified all right and so You know, many in this world don't
like that. Many who are trusting in their
own profession, right, and what they've done for the Lord and
think, you know, they think they're in control and that they make
the decision whether or not God is going to be able to save them
or not. They cast that deciding vote. But that's not what the
scriptures teach. They reveal that it's God who
saves his people in grace. Grace meaning in Christ, because
Christ made all this work of grace possible. that God could
be gracious to us. It's all because of his son,
Jesus Christ. And he goes on, you know, man
likes to speak of his choosing, but Ephesians 1 verses 4 and
5 tells us that it's according as God hath chosen us in Christ
before the foundation of the world, before we've done any
good or evil, that we should be holy and without blame before
him in love. God chose a people for his son
and he calls the church the church and he calls the church his bride
the bride of Christ and having predestinated us into the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good
pleasure of his will. God made that decision all on
his own Apart from anything we did or didn't do or said or didn't
say, the Lord did it all in His own mind, in His own good pleasure,
according to His own choosing. That's why we are the people
that we are and why we know Him and believe Him and trust Him
and call upon His name. All right, so with that in mind,
the Lord said in John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise
cast out. Everyone whom God chose and gave
to Christ, they will come. We're going to hear the gospel.
We're going to believe it. We're going to hear it and faith
is going to be revealed in us by the work of the Spirit flowing
into us and giving us light and life and delivering us from the
darkness and the bondage of sin. All right, and this is the Father's
will, Christ said, 639. which hath sent me that of all
which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day." As we've said, he's coming again.
He's returning to bring you to be with him forever. So this
doctrine, this understanding of particular redemption, it
informs our understanding as we read other verses in the scriptures,
right? I encourage you, read scriptures
and as you read them behold what the Lord is revealing to you
in those moments when you're reading look for Christ and so
even in in Isaiah 53 verse 5 right it's even found in these little
pronouns of our and us and and we it's speaking to you God speaking
to you as your Redeemer your Redeemer He says, but he was
wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him. And with his stripes, we are
healed. And so he uses those words on
purpose. And when you realize he's my
redeemer, he's revealing to you what he's done for you. And you
can just put your name right in there. You that believe him
and have no confidence in the flesh, put your name right in
there, knowing God has done this for you. And so the scriptures
say, as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. The reason why they believe is
because they were ordained to eternal life. That's Acts 13,
48. All right. Our Lord did this work, and He's
the Holy One of Israel, and He even makes that very personal
to us. If you look down in Isaiah 43,
verse 15, He says, I am the Lord, your Holy One. That's verse 15
there. Your Holy One, the Creator of
Israel, your King. And so our husband came and did
this work for us. He purchased us. He paid all
our debt, there's nothing we owe to God. He's done all the
work, and so He draws us in cords of love, and by His Spirit, He
works in us those works which He has us to walk in. We're not
seeking to obtain or earn His salvation, we already have his
grace and mercy and kindness to us in Christ. And so he works
these according to his goodwill. All right, so now we see here,
well, we see even in the midst of our trouble, right? These people are going into captivity.
And as our king, he says, oh, I'm going to do for you. I'm
going to arise for you and deliver you. I'm going to be your provider
and your all. In Isaiah 59 verse 19, at the
end there it says, when the enemy shall come in like a flood, the
spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. A standard being the flag or
the banner under which the army of our king marches. And our
king says, I'll lift up the standard and I'll turn back that enemy
that's flowing in upon you. I'll turn them back. I'll deliver
you and I'll save you because he's our king. He's our king. He's our provider and does all
these things for us. All right. So now let's look
at this, these former things and new that he speaks of. And
what the Lord does now is he reminds us of important former
things which he has done for his people. And what he speaks
of here in verses 16 and 17 is his deliverance of the people
out of Egypt, right, when he made them, the Israelites, to
go over the Red Sea. He brought them through the Red
Sea on dry land and then lured in the Egyptians and destroyed
them all. That's what he speaks of here
in verse 16 and 17. Thus saith the Lord, which maketh a way
in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters, which bringeth
forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power, they
shall lie down together, they shall not rise, they are extinct. they are quenched as toe, right? Or so like an ember, a lit ember
is quenched and put out, snuffed out, never to light again, right? And so he's speaking of what
he did for Israel there in the Red Sea when he delivered them
and brought them out of Egypt. He's the one who did that. Some
of what Exodus 14 says where it speaks of it says, that the
children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the
dry ground, and the waters were a wall unto them on their right
hand and on their left. and the Egyptians pursued and
went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh's
horses, his chariots and his horsemen." And then towards the
end of 14, it says, and the waters returned and covered the chariots,
right? He caused them to get stuck and
the wheels to fall off in some cases, and it wasn't dry land
for them. And the horsemen and all the
host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them, there remained
not so much as one of them. And Israel saw that great work,
which the Lord did upon the Egyptians and the people fear the Lord
and believed the Lord and his servant Moses. And so we see
there how our God has, has a people that he preserved and protected
them and performed as their King and their savior and the rest
were destroyed. He didn't do that for them. He
did it for his people. The Egyptians, they didn't look
upon the dead bodies and the slain bodies of the Israelites,
but the Israelites looked upon the dead bodies and the slain
and the dead horses and the busted up chariots of the Egyptians. They beheld the work of their
God for them and providing for them. And so what the Lord is
saying to us as our Redeemer, He's saying, I'm in total control. He was in control of the Babylonian
army, right? Which came and troubled many
in the land there. But the Lord's people, the seed,
the remnant seed, though they went into that captivity with
their people, they were provided for by the Lord. He protected
them and cared for them and kept them. and preserve them because
he had a purpose for them. And he's their God. He's their
Redeemer. And so he provided for them. And so that's a good
encouragement for us. in whatever troubles we're going
through, that our God is in control and we can believe him. I was talking to Marvin Stomacher
and he was saying Romans 8.28 is still Romans 8.28. All things
work together for good to them that love the Lord, to them who
are the called according to his purpose. It doesn't change. No
matter what the circumstance, Romans 8.28 is always Romans
8.28. So that's a good a good comfort. And so he even
says, concerning the enemy, he said, he's the one that bringeth
forth the chariot and horse, the army and the power. He brings
them forth and he leads them. And in that purpose of time,
when he's purposed to destroy them, he destroys them and brings
them to nothing. So our Lord has a peculiar people
whom he foreknew. Jacob I loved, but Esau have
I hated. And so he has that peculiar people
that he is their Redeemer, their God, their King, their Holy One,
all right? Now the Lord tells them, forget
about those things. Forget about those past deliverance,
because I'm going to show you something new, he says. So verse
18 says, remember ye not the former things, neither consider
the things of old. It's not that they're not important.
It's not that we can't read them and see how the Lord deals in
kindness and in providence with his people, all right? But these
former things, they have a form of glory, but there's a greater
glory that surpasses their glory. Just as Paul said to the Corinthians
when he was speaking of the covenant of works, versus the covenant
of redemption, of grace, the covenant of grace. He said in
2 Corinthians 3, 9, for if the ministration of condemnation,
because that's what the covenant of works does, it ministers to
us condemnation. We are crushed under the yoke
of the law. We can't keep the law perfectly
and fulfill the demands of the law. Our hope, our deliverance
is Christ delivered us in grace and we're under his blood and
his righteousness in the covenant of grace and led by his spirit
and we walk on paths of righteousness being led of him who said my
yoke is easy and my burden is light look to me and trust me
all right so he said if the ministration of condemnation be glory much
more does the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory."
That's because our God is ministering through the preaching of the
everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. He's ministering that righteousness
to you, comforting your hearts to know and be assured and comforted
that Christ is my all. He's my Redeemer. He says, I'm
your Redeemer, and he ministers that faith to us. These former
things, their types and pictures and shadows, but the substance,
he who fulfilled all righteousness and all things for his people,
he has come. that physical deliverance from
Babylon, but rather that we've been delivered from mystery Babylon. We've been delivered from the
evil and the wickedness of false religion in every false way.
And that's broad, right? The system of Antichrist, the
whole body of Antichrist is very broad, and we see the trappings
of this world in many forms it manifests. When Paul was speaking
to Timothy, what did he say? He said in both letters, but
in the first letter, He said in 1 Timothy 6, 10, he tells
them the love of money is the root of all evil. And oftentimes
when we look at what's going on, we can trace, all you have
to do is just look at where the money's flowing and you can see
the root of it. Sure, there's the desire for
power and just corruption all over the place. but they're all
swarming around money because to man, money is power and authority,
right? But the love of money is the
root of all evil, which while some coveted after, they have
erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many
sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee
these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith,
love, patience, meekness. So the Lord delivers us from
mystery Babylon and reveals to us, don't be sucked in to the
love of money. Back to that example of thinking,
going into physical captivity, what if we were presented with
having to choose between everything we've acquired and accumulated
And keep those things to just go along with the whole system
of antichrist or give that up. Give up your home and have to
forsake all those things for your love for Christ. As the
early church, many then, their possessions were seized and taken
unjustly. Unjustly, they were taken from
them. And by the spirit of grace, they were able to let those things
go. And so, you know, whatever that captivity is, the
Lord says, you know, don't attach yourself to those things, flee
those things, because the one who loves the things of this
world is setting themselves up for a great trial if it ever
comes to having to forsake those things, all right? They can take
all the things that we've prepared for that day, but they can't
take Christ. Rather, they can't take us from
Christ. They can't take us out of His
hand if indeed we are His, and He's called us and formed us
for Himself. This deliverance is accomplished
by the power of Christ. He says, verse 19, behold, I
will do a new thing. Now it shall spring forth, shall
ye not know it? I will even make a way in the
wilderness and rivers in the desert. Right? And so, naturally,
that's where we are. We were in the wilderness. We
were born into the wilderness, cut off from God, cut off from
the knowledge of His people and knowing who they are. But He
drew us. He formed us. He called us to
Himself, having redeemed us and done all things necessary for
us. In the flesh, we're as that desert,
dry and lifeless and have nothing in us. Christ being the way,
whom the Father sent to save his people, he having purchased
us and saved us, sends his Holy Spirit to dwell within us, which
regenerates us, gives us life in Christ, a new birth whereby
we know him. And he comforts us with his word
and restores, renews us and restores our faith and hope in him under
the preaching of the gospel, under the hearing of the gospel,
right? So that even when we're dazzled
by the false gems of this world, our eyes are set again upon Christ. And we know, Lord, you're my
all, my hope, my comfort, my friend, my redeemer, my God,
my savior, my husband. He's made everything to us and
so He flows in that dry, corrupt land and overcomes the flesh. Not that the flesh is any better,
but He fills us with the Spirit and fills us again with that
hope and joy in Him in which this dry land is saturated and
we're restored in His grace. And the Lord, he said in John
4.14, the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well
of water springing up into everlasting life. And again, in John 7.38
and 39, he said, he that believeth on me, as the scripture hath
said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. And this he spake of the spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive. And so it's our
Savior filling us, creating that new man in us whereby we walk
in faith and ever look to Him knowing that we are already in
Him and have all things in Christ. And we're awaiting His return.
And while we're waiting, we're serving Him and our brethren,
trusting Him. All right, and this is what he
says in verse 20, Isaiah 43, 20, the beast of the field shall
honor me. the dragons and the owls, right?
Those are largely the Gentiles, but Jew and Gentiles who he's
speaking of, because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers
in the desert to give drink to my people, my chosen, my chosen. And so we have this faith because
he's promised it to us and he's the one causing us to believe
and live in him by his grace and power. And it's not because
of us, it's because of Christ who is the way, the truth, and
the life. All right, it's all of him. And
we walk in his spirit by his grace. And in verse 21, this
people, he says, have I formed for myself, they shall show forth
my praise. They shall show forth my praise. And that's exactly what we do
in the Lord. Even in the midst of trials,
I can't think of, I think it's Peter, but we show forth the
praise in him. I'm gonna have to look it up
later, but under the trial, that's what's being revealed in us,
the praise and glory of God. Because rather than being overcome
by the enemy, he overcomes the enemy and destroys him and we
stand in Christ and remain faithful to Him even in the face of our
enemies and going into things hard for the flesh, but we go
there in the hope and confidence of Christ, whatever the trial
or the form it takes. All right, so just thinking about
this passage here for a moment to wrap it up, Our God, who is
perfectly content in himself and needs nothing outside of
himself, says to you, whom he's gathered here, that he's your
redeemer. He's your redeemer. Therefore,
be not afraid, he says. He says that he's your holy one. He is your righteousness. He's
given you everything necessary to stand and dwell in him. Then he says that he's the creator
of Israel so that we are made to be part of that mystical body
of Christ, his holy bride whom he loves and has adorned her
in his grace for a bride from self spotless and pure and holy. And you're a part of that, you're
in that body. And that he's your king who conquers all your foes. He does not fail. He does not
fail and he's your king. And so he says this to you in
the midst of your trials, right? This whole Isaiah 40, all of
it is just full of sweet chapters, right? And this is what the Lord
has sent me to say to you in the midst of your trials. He
says, Comfort ye my people, speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem,
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for
all her sins. So he's speaking these words
of comfort to you, brethren. Even in the beginning of chapter
43, verse 2, he said, when thou passest through the waters, I
will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel. So the church, they were going
into physical bondage and captivity but the Lord always delivered
them. He did it He delivered them from Egypt, he delivered
them from Babylon, and brought forth his church through the
wilderness until the promised seed should come, and he's come
now, and this gospel has come to us way out in darkness, who
sat in darkness, far out in the wilderness, and so spiritually
now, he dwells in our hearts by faith, brethren, and he speaks
to you, gathering you together for this very message, and whatever
the trial is, and be comforted. So I know that the day is long
and it's been probably a tough week for many, especially getting
back to normalcy after Thanksgiving. But when you lay your head down
on the pillow tonight, let that be a comfort to you, remembering
His word to you. I'm your Redeemer, the Holy One
of Israel. I'm your holiness, He says, your
King. And so let that dwell in your
hearts and be glad in Him and that oh, and let me just encourage
you remember that when when you pray pray to him pray to him
every day right when you seek him in prayer and Because he's
he's making himself known to you right in the hereafter I
was talking to clay and he was talking about what he's gonna
be preaching from John and There I think it's the last verse it
speaks of hereafter Christ said hereafter you shall see the angels
ascending and descending upon the Son of Man. And every day
that we are in Christ is the hereafter, and we see and know
him more and more. And so take that with you when
you pray to him, whatever it is, whatever prayer he gives
you, you pray and you thank him. And as you read his word, as
you come here and sit under the preaching of the gospel, and
in your hour of need, remember his word to you, that he's your
God and your Redeemer. I pray you comfort your hearts
with that word, brethren. All right, let's close in prayer,
and then Joe will close us in hymn. Our gracious Lord, we thank
you, Father, for your tender, gracious, kind words to us, and
your Son, Jesus Christ, will you say to us that you are our
Redeemer, our King, our Savior, our God, You are our holiness,
the Holy One of Israel. And you've gathered us together
each week, Lord, especially even this week, to hear your word
and to be reminded of your comfort and grace and peace to us in
Christ. Lord, we ask that you would minister
to each of us, Lord, as we have various needs and concerns and
cares But Lord, you call us to look to you and to trust you.
And we ask that you would hear the prayers of your people, that
you would even direct our prayers and help us to pray in accordance
with your will and to be satisfied and comforted by your revealed
will to us, Lord. And Lord, we ask that you would
indeed unite us together again with all our brethren. We think
of Johnny and Scott, that you would heal Scott and enable them
to be able to come out. I know Scott is just itching
to get out here and be with us again. And so we ask that you
would hear his prayer and help him, Lord, to heal and to have
enough comfort to come and be with us. And we pray for all
those, Lord, who would be with us and are struggling, that you
would make a way for us to be here together and to hear this
word. It's in Christ's name that we pray and give thanks. Amen. Let's stand and sing a closing
hymn, 262, trusting Jesus. 262. Simply trusting every day, trusting
through a stormy way. Even when my faith is small,
trusting Jesus, that is all. Trusting as the moments fly,
trusting as the days go by, trusting Him whate'er befall, trusting
Jesus, that is all. Brightly doth his spirit shine
into this poor heart of mine. While he bleeds, I cannot fall,
trusting Jesus, that is all. Trusting as the moments fly,
trusting as the days go by, trusting Him whate'er befall, trusting
Jesus, that is all. Singing if my way is clear, praying
if the path be drear, if in danger for him call, ? Trusting Jesus
that is all ? ? Trusting as the moments fly ? ? Trusting as the
days go by ? ? Trusting Him whate'er befall ? ? Trusting Jesus that
is all ? Trusting Him while life shall last, trusting Him till
earth be past, till within the Jasper wall. ? Trusting Jesus,
that is all ? ? Trusting as the moments fly ? ? Trusting as the
days go by ? ? Trusting Him whate'er befall ? ? Trusting Jesus, that
is all ?