Good evening. All right, we're
going to be in Isaiah chapter 10. We're going to be looking
at verses 24 through 27. Now on earth where we yet look through a glass darkly,
it's easy for us to look upon things and to judge a thing in
the flesh. And, you know, we all look at
certain events, we see things that are going on, and we think
things are just out of control, and it's never been like this,
and surely the end is near. However, the preacher tells us
in Ecclesiastes 1.9 that there is no new thing under the sun. And so it is Above the sun in
heaven they still declare, to the Lamb of God 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. So when we look at the things
that are going on here on the earth, we don't need to be afraid
and we don't need to fear because we know that the one who is called
us and drawn our eye to look to him alone for our salvation,
we know that he's in control of all things, and we only need
to keep our eye on him, and he keeps our eyes upon him. Now it's true that in the world,
throughout the world, there's many that claim to love the true
and living God, but they have no heart for him, they have no
fear or love for this God. And those that do love God, they
do so by the grace and the mercy of God. He gives them life and
he gives them his spirit to abide in them and he keeps them. So
the Lord is indeed bringing upon this world various judgments
to warn and to cause the people to consider what they're doing
and to consider that they're going to stand before holy God
one day soon. But even through that punishment
of the wicked, the Lord always has a remnant. He always has
a remnant. And this remnant is now throughout
the world. So these things that are coming
on the wicked are bound to come near to us. But the Lord says
to us in Isaiah 26, 1, we have a strong city. Salvation will
God appoint for walls and bulwarks. So we're all in fellowship, that
the true people of God are in fellowship with one another within
the city of salvation. Salvation is her walls, the city
of our God. And this remnant doesn't need
to fear because the Lord, he protects her. And even while
he's punishing the wicked of the land, he's still working
all things together for the good of his people whom he loves from
all eternity. Now our title is, Be Not Afraid. And we're going to be looking
at the one who says this word to us. We're going to look at
those to whom he says this word, and then we'll see our enemies
destroyed. So let's look at the one who
speaks it. Now first, let me just say, Judah is a picture
of the church. And the Lord, from the beginning
of the world's plunge into sin and death, since that time, he's
been declaring to us that salvation is in another, it's in a substitute.
When you consider that right there in the beginning, in the
garden, after they had sinned, when the Lord God slew beasts,
he took their skins and he clothed the nakedness of Adam and Eve
and that pictured that a substitute died in their place and they
saw that, they witnessed that substitution which the Lord had
said just previously that it would be through the seed of
woman, not the seed of corrupt man but the seed of woman when
the Holy Spirit came upon the Virgin Mary and overshadowed
her and she conceived the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord, what he's done is he's
continued to keep this world in existence. This world has
been sustained and kept all this time, and we understand what
he's doing when we consider that which we read before in 2 Peter
3, 9, that the Lord's not willing that any of us should perish,
any of his children. None of us are going to perish,
but all of us are going to come to repentance, so that the Lord
is bared long with the wicked, until the time when they should
come forth and hear this gospel and be made alive by the Spirit
of Christ. So it's for the elect's sake
till all of us come to repentance. Now in our text, our Lord has
been declaring, as we've been seeing over the last few weeks
through the last few chapters, the Lord's declaring to Judah
their salvation, the one whom they are to look to, but we know
they refused. As we read in Isaiah 8.6, for
as much as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah, that goes
softly. And we saw previously that those
waters are a picture, they're pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ,
who was sent of God to save his people from their sins. Now,
as due to pictures of the church, they shouldn't be refusing Christ. They shouldn't be refusing the
salvation of God. They claim to love God, they
claim to fear Him, but they're refusing His salvation. That is, they're not believing
Him. So something clearly is wrong. And what we see in that
day is something that we still see in our day, that there's
a lot of hypocrites. There's a lot of people who find
it very easy to say, oh yeah, I believe in God and I trust
God and I love the Lord, and they speak very highly of God
and highly of Jesus Christ even, but they really have no fear
of God and there's no love of God in their hearts. It says
in Isaiah 29, 13, wherefore the Lord said, for as much as this
people draw near me with their mouth and with their lips do
honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their
fear toward me is taught by the precept of men." So the Lord
throughout the ages is making known, he's exposing what man-made
religion is and that it cannot save us. So man-made religion
speaks of Christ, they speak of God, they speak of religious
things and doing good things to correct or to make right the
wrongs that we've done in this life. As much as they speak of
Christ and even look to the Bible, the Word of God and His revelation,
they don't see that Christ is salvation. They're still looking
to their works, to their own works that they've done for righteousness,
and they're looking to themselves. Their trust isn't in the salvation
God has provided through Christ. Their trust is in the salvation
that they're working by their own works. their meter and their
monitor of how well they're doing is based on how well they're
living up to whatever standard it is that they've set for themselves
and believe is the truth of God. So, if it's doing certain works,
as long as they're doing those works, they feel good about them.
And if they're not doing those works right, well then they feel
bad about their possibility of them going into heaven to be
with the Lord. So, the Lord is going to bring
trouble on the land because that false, man-made religion is throughout
the land, throughout all the lands across this world. But
the Lord says to the remnant, don't you be afraid. Don't be
afraid when I punish these people. We read there in Isaiah 10.24
in our text, Isaiah 10.24, Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts,
O my people that dwellest in Zion, be not afraid of the Assyrians. So God is using all events in
this life, spiritual, for the spiritual and the eternal good
of his saints. Because all the promises of God
in Christ are yea and amen. That's what we know. So all things
work together for our good. And we can be sure that anything
he determines, he's able to bring to pass. Anything he promises,
he's going to do, and he's going to fulfill his promises. And
we can be sure of this because of Him who says these words to
us. It says there in our text, Thus
saith the Lord God of hosts. The Lord God of hosts. And so
it's this name, the Lord God of hosts, that declares to us,
well, what it declares to us when He uses those words, that's
Adonai, Yehovah, Saba. The Lord God of hosts. And what
that's saying to us is that this is the God, the Adonai Yehovah,
is the God who fulfills His covenant promises. He keeps His word. He never goes back on His word. Turn over to Genesis 15. Genesis
15 and go to verse 7. This is Abram, and he's asking
the Lord God, Jehovah he's asking the Lord God about the promise
that he's made to Abram and In Genesis 15 7 he says that well
and the Lord said unto Abram I am the Lord that brought thee
out of earth the Calvies to give thee this land to inherit it
and Abram said Lord God Adonai Jehovah Whereby shall I know
that that that I shall inherit it? And he said unto him, Take
me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years
old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a
young pigeon. And so Abram prepares these pieces
as the Lord instructed him. Go down to verse 12. And when
the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and low
and horror of great darkness fell upon him. So, to this point,
Abram's contributed nothing to the covenant. He's just laid
out the pieces as the Lord said to him to do, but the covenant's
not been established yet, and Abram, we'll see, doesn't do
anything in fulfilling or making this covenant agreement. The
Lord does everything. Verse 13. And he said unto Abram,
as he's sleeping, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger
in a land that is not theirs. and shall serve them, and they
shall afflict them four hundred years. And we know who that was,
that was Egypt. Verse 14, And also that nation
whom they shall serve will I judge. Because God's always going to
judge that tool that he uses that exalts itself, even though
they were doing the purposes of God. You always see pride
rises up, and they always do that which is wicked, and so
the Lord judges them. And afterwards shall they come
out with great substance, and thou shalt go to thy fathers
in peace, thou shalt be buried in a good old age. But in the
fourth generation they shall come hither again, for the iniquity
of the Amorites is not yet full." And here we see that God is,
he's a just God, and so he's working all things together for
the good of his people, according to his purposes, he's a just
God, and he says the Amorites haven't done what they're going
to do that's going to cause me to deliver this land that they're
in to the land of the Israelites. And it came to pass that when
the sun went down and it was dark, behold, a smoking furnace
and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. In the
same day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy
seed have I given this land from the river of Egypt unto the great
river, the river Euphrates. So we see that when this God,
the Lord God, Adonai Jehovah, when he gives his word, he keeps
his word because he did all that he said that he would do for
Abraham. And now our text also adds Saba, T-S-A-B-A, doesn't
matter really, but it means he's the Lord God of hosts, of hosts,
which tells us that this one is mighty to save his people.
He's going to protect his people. He's not going to fail. If you go back to Isaiah 1, Isaiah
1 9, we see this reference and it says, except the Lord of hosts
had left unto us a very small remnant We should have been as
Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah." So it's
the Lord of Hosts that takes care of and preserves his people. He's not going to let us fall
and go back the way of the wicked. He's going to keep that which
he's taken out, which he's sanctified, and what he's preserving for
himself. He's not going to let his people fall so that we're
not going to come under the punishment with all the wicked and the unjust. Now, turn over to John 8. John 8. Because what we find
is that all this pictures our covenant head, the Lord Jesus
Christ, who he fulfilled all the things necessary for the
covenant of grace that we are under. God is gracious to us
because Christ fulfilled all things necessary for God to be
gracious and merciful and just to us. So John 8, verse 56. This is Christ here, and he's
speaking to those Jews that are Jews in the outward appearance
only. And they were, as it were, they
were but a body to bring forth the Son, to bring forth Christ,
the people there who came to save the church. Christ would
come from this people. And he says in verse 56, your
father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was
glad. Then said the Jews unto him,
Thou art not yet fifty years old, and hast thou seen Abraham? Probably a picture referencing
just how aged and old he looked from all the beating that he
took just in his body, just ignoring his own well-being and his own
care and always serving and going and going and going and taking
care of the people who needed him. Anyway, verse 58, Jesus
said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abram,
before Abraham was, I am. So he's clearly referencing that
he is the Godhead in bodily form. This is God standing before you.
Then took they up stones to cast to them, but Jesus hid himself,
just like when the sun went down upon Abram and there was nothing
to see. The Lord hid himself, just as
when Abram was in a deep sleep, and he went out of the temple,
going through the midst of them, and so passed by. Do you remember what we read
there in Genesis 15? Behold, the Christ, a smoking
furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces. He just passed right on through
those people and they couldn't see him. They were in darkness. And that's because he must be
crucified. They didn't see him. They didn't
know who he was. They were in darkness to these
things because he must be crucified. He must die. He must perish. He must be sacrificed for his
people to put away their sins that all things in that covenant
of grace must be fulfilled, and it's Christ who fulfilled every
part of that. So in Christ we see the eternal,
immutable, that is, unchanging, and the faithfulness of God who
forgives us and shows us mercy all because of His Son, Jesus
Christ. The Father chose Him a people,
and Christ came to fulfill all that the Father laid on Him to
do. He came and did all that perfectly
for His people. So, you who hope in the Lord,
you who hear His Word and look to Him and have laid down all
your works, and are looking to him alone who says, this is my
righteousness, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look to him. In him you
shall be preserved. In him is your rest. In him is
your deliverance and your protection, your sanctification, your justification. You who've heard his word and
you've laid down all your works, you have nothing to fear. The
punishment and the judgment of God shall never fall upon you. He'll always preserve you and
keep you for Himself, because that's His promise in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Those of us who look to Him will
never be ashamed. Now next in our text, we look
at to whom He speaks it. He says in Isaiah 10.24, back
there in our text, Isaiah 1024, therefore, thus
saith the Lord God of hosts, O my people, O my people. So here we see that we've no
reason to fear because of to whom he says this word to. These
are his people. Remember, our Savior's name,
they called him Jesus. The angel said in Matthew 121,
thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sins. So when he calls you his people,
you're saved, you're protected, he's not going to let you come
into what are ruins. So the Lord is speaking kindly
to his peculiar people. Now we know that the Lord God,
he's the God and he's God and he's Lord of all people in all
the earth. In Romans 1, 18 through 20, Paul
reveals to us that there's one God, and this God is over all
the people. In Romans 1, 18, we read, For
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, for God hath showed it unto them.
for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. So these that are left in darkness
These are of the many that hear the truth of God, they hear the
word preached perhaps, they hear various truths, they look at
their Bible, they read it, maybe they go to church, maybe they
don't go at all, but all of them together are part of this dark
fallen world, but they all know that there's a God. And yet none
of them have a heart to seek the true and the living God.
They're more than happy to just get caught right up at their
man-made religion and do those things that they think they ought
to be doing. So they don't know Him, and yet
the Scriptures reveal in Acts 5.31, Him, this Son, hath God
exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for
to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. So this
God, this One who sent His Son to be the salvation of His people,
He did not leave himself without witness, but he sent his apostles,
and he sends the Holy Ghost, whereby they declare, they make
known to us that this one, this Christ, this Jesus of Nazareth,
he is Shiloh. He is the sent one. He is the
one sent of God to wash away the sins of his people. And the Holy Spirit takes that
word of Christ, this gospel word, and he calls out his people to
himself. He draws them near. to himself,
and he delivers them of that yoke of the bondage that all
people are under by nature. Turn over to 1 Peter 2. 1 Peter
2, go to verse 6. 1 Peter 2, 6. 1 Peter 2, 6, Wherefore also it
is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, he's chosen, he's precious, and he that believeth
on him shall not be confounded, or shall not be ashamed. You're
not going to be ashamed for believing on Christ. unto you therefore
which believe he is precious but unto them which be disobedient
right those that refuse him the stone which the builders disallowed
which they they refused and rejected and cast aside the same is made
the head of the corner that is god has built all his work of
salvation upon Christ. It all rests upon Him. And a
stone of stumbling and a rock of offense even to them which
stumble at the word being disobedient whereunto also they were appointed."
So that's the many. They are bound in nature's yoke
of bondage. They're bound in that darkness.
They can't see. They don't understand that it's
in Christ. Christ is the very salvation
of God provided to save His people. So they're stumbling over Him
because they can't see. They're in darkness. They can't
see Him. They don't understand who He is. They don't understand
that He's their very righteousness. They don't understand that in
Christ, in Christ alone, God is pleased with his people, and
that's where he receives and that's where he meets his people,
that's where God is reconciled to his people. It's in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the very righteousness
which holy God requires to stand before him. So that by Christ's
righteousness, verse 9, ye are a chosen generation, a royal
priesthood and holy nation of peculiar people, that ye should
show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light, which in time past were not a people,
but are now the people of God, which had not obtained mercy,
but now have obtained mercy. So that's no small thing, brethren. The Lord speaks to you very kindly,
very sweetly, very peaceably, in Christ. All those terrors,
He's not whipping you and beating you and threatening you to get
your act together. None of that has fallen upon
you. He's provided sweetness and rest and peace in the Lord
Jesus Christ. He speaks to you comfortably
now and peaceably. He's not stirring you up to fear
and to worry, but says, just keep looking to me. I'll protect
you. I'll provide for you. I'm going
to deal with this world and it may come near and you're going
to see things, but don't you be afraid. You just keep looking
to me. When our eyes behold the sights
of terrors and the certain destruction which is coming upon the earth
and her inhabitants, even when we forget, even when we forget,
the Scriptures show us that the Lord remembers. He remembers. He remembers you, and He knows
you. He knows each of your names,
and you need not fear Him. He remembers His covenant promise
fulfilled by Christ. It says, Therefore, thus saith
the Lord God of hosts, O my people that dwellest in Zion, that dwellest
in Zion. He knows you. He knows where
you are. You're in Christ. Turn over to
Revelation 14. Revelation 14. Look down at, well, verse 1.
Revelation 14, 1. Here we read, And I looked, and
lo, a lamb stood on the mount Zion. And with him 144,000 having
his father's name written in their foreheads. Look at verse
3. And they sung as it were a new
song before the throne and before the four beasts and the elders
and no man could learn that song but the 144,000 which were redeemed
from the earth. That song is the song of redemption. We sing the praises of the Lord
Jesus Christ who's redeemed us by purchasing us with his own
blood. He's done the work. That's the
song that we're singing. No man knows it on the earth.
That is, those that are in darkness, those that aren't his chosen,
those that haven't been called out of that darkness and brought
to hear this gospel, So you who know what Christ has done, you
know that song that they're singing because you're part of that 144,000.
That is, they're not out there fornicating with the whore of
Babylon. They're not fornicating with
man-made, dead, false, wicked religion. They're trusting in
Christ. They have one husband, one love,
one Lord, whom they worship and rejoice in and sing the praises
of His song always. These are they which follow the
Lamb whithersoever He goeth. As they hear the voice of the
shepherd, and another one's voice, they will not follow. They won't
hear that other voice. They're not going to hear when
a man stands up and tells you, you need to be doing this better,
and you need to start doing this and stop doing that. You know,
that's not the voice of my Lord. That's not the voice of the Savior.
He's the one who fulfilled everything for me. And we keep following
Him. We keep looking to Him and trusting
Him. These were redeemed from among
men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb, and in their
mouth was found no guile, for they are without fault before
the throne of God. they are without fault before
the throne of God. When religion, I know when I
was in religion, but what religion is teaching there, when they
see without fault before God, well, you better get straightened
up things now. You better go home and start
examining everything, and your conscience is either going to
accuse or else excuse you for what you're doing, and anything
that it's accusing you for, you better straighten up and get
that straight, because before His throne, He ain't going to
have anybody there that has a fault and has sin, and you know as
you were being awakened, you were fearful, because you know,
what am I going to do? Everything I try fails. Every
time I try to stick to something and do what's right, something
else always pops up, and there's always wickedness, and there's
always an evil thought, and there's always something that I'm stumbling
over and falling over, and that was Christ that you're falling
over, because Christ alone is the righteousness of God. Because they refuse Christ and
to rest in His covenant promise head, the Lord Jesus Christ,
they're afraid. And when you do that, when you
turn to your religion and you turn to your own works of sanctification,
because it never stops there, right? It always goes on to justification,
because you have no confidence in Christ. When you're looking
to the law and what you need to be doing better, there's no
confidence. And you don't feel saved anymore. This has nothing
to do with sanctification. It goes right on over to justification. and trusting in those things.
But that is what it is to fornicate with the whore of Babylon. You've
just forsaken Christ, who alone is the husband of his church,
and you're now out there with false, vain works of religion,
and not trusting in Christ. And Paul wrote of them, saying,
They, being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about
to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the
law for righteousness to everyone that believe it. And so the child
of God is blessed and comforted to know that we stand faultless
before the throne of God because of Christ. He is our righteousness. So when we stand in Christ, there
is no fault. Christ paid all the price. He
took care of everything. He fulfilled all the obligations
that were upon us to fulfill that we can never do, Christ
did it all. It was all written of Him, and
He did that which the Father gave Him to do, that work, and
He did it perfectly. So we rejoice in Him, brethren. Turn over to Ephesians 5. Ephesians
5. And look at the end of verse
25. Ephesians 5, 25. He's talking
about husbands and wives, but it's
a picture of Christ and what he did for his bride, the church. So Ephesians 5, 25b, Christ loved
the church and gave himself for it. Verse 26, that he might sanctify
and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he
might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle
or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So that's how Christ has made
us faultless. We have no blemish because he's
washed us and cleansed us so that we can stand before the
throne of God in righteousness. All right, now the last point,
our enemies destroyed. It's this one, the Lord God of
hosts, who says to his people that dwell on Mount Zion, be
not afraid of the Assyrians. being not afraid of the Assyrians.
So, first he's told us that the Assyrian, he's a tool in the
hands of God. Look over at verse 5 in Isaiah
10 verse 5. Isaiah 10 verse 5, O Assyrian, the rod of mine anger,
and the staff in their hand is mine in indignation. And then
he tells us why he's using this tool of Assyria, verse 6. I will
send him against an hypocritical nation and against the people
of Myrath will I give him a charge to take the spoil and to take
the prey and to tread them down like the mire of the streets.
So he calls those that are pointed to destruction, the people of
my wrath. Now Paul used the term children
of wrath, right? He did use the term children
of wrath and he says, we all were once children of wrath.
The Lord took us out from among them. Because by nature, we all
come forth in darkness. We don't know God. We're not
the children of God because we're righteous. We're not the children
of God because we know anything or knew something or were special
or had some special privileges, we're only the children of God
because of the mercy and the grace of God. Nothing that we
did. So that's why Paul made a point
to make sure we understood that we were all part of the children
of wrath when we were there by nature in darkness and dead to
the things of God. But the Lord sent the gospel
and called us out of those things. And that's because Though we
were dead, Christ loved us, and his blood, he shed his blood
to make that payment for our sins, and he promised to send
the Holy Ghost so that by the Holy Ghost, we would be made
alive, and that new birth, which is necessary to even see the
King of God, he gives us life, he forms Christ in us, whereby
we have all the gifts, all things necessary for life and godliness
in him, even our very faith and hope in him, It's all of him. It's all by the Lord Jesus Christ.
But to those who refuse the salvation that God has provided in Christ,
they are but the children of wrath. And their end, we see
in the scripture, their end, the children of wrath, their
end is always destruction. He's going to punish them. He's
going to destroy them and be done with them. In Ephesians
5, 6, Paul said, let no man deceive you with vain words, for because
of these things, all the wicked works that men in nature do,
that have not the Lord Jesus Christ, that have not His Spirit
in them, cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. And again, in Colossians 3.6,
for which things sake, what things, all those wicked things that
wicked men do to either please God or just to please their own
flesh, that the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience."
So here's Assyria, and they're the great superpower of the day.
They were the great superpower economically, politically, militarily,
and they're great, and that is until the Lord is done with them,
and then the Lord removes them out of their place. And He did
that throughout the ages, and even right after Assyria, we
see how He did that with Babylon, And then he brought the Medes
and the Persians, and then he brought, I guess, the Greeks
and the Romans and various other civilizations. You had Genghis
Khan in there at some point, and all these other things. And
even today you have America. You have Russia, and you have
America now, and you have China rising, and you have all these
superpowers. But though to us it seems like
nothing could ever change about that. When the Lord's done, when
he determines it, he just changes it, and it happens swiftly and
quickly. That's because these nations,
they get proud, and they think that they're something, that
they're the ones who decide, and they're so great and mighty
and powerful, and the Lord then shows them, you're not great
and mighty and powerful, and I'm done with you, and then he
removes them. The wicked, when they're destroyed,
the righteous may be affected in the flesh because now we're
scattered throughout the world. We're all around. There's no
one nation that can be as insulated. It seems like, to me anyway,
it seems like everything can be reached in some manner and
there's no really place where you can run and hide. But look
at verses 24 and 25. He says, Be not afraid of the
Assyrian, Isaiah 10. end of 24. Be not afraid of the
Assyrian, he shall smite thee with a rod and shall lift up
his staff against thee after the manner of Egypt for yet a
very little while and the indignation shall cease and mine anger in
their destruction. And you know I was thinking about
Daniel and Daniel when it was time for Babylon to come and
and take away Judah, because they exiled many people in Judah,
they came in waves. And Daniel was in that first
wave when they took the artisans and the skilled laborers and
the learned people and the people of royalty, and Daniel went with
them. And that had to be a terrifying
thing But you see how the Lord preserved Daniel through all
that. And the Lord used Daniel mightily to do his work. And
we have the word that the Lord revealed to Daniel through all
that. And so you could see how here's a righteous man, but the
Lord, when he went, the punishment that came upon the nation there
affected him, but it didn't touch him. It didn't destroy him. He
was kept and protected and preserved of the Lord. So our Lord says
that the destruction of our enemies shall be after the manner of
Egypt. And you know with Egypt, he destroyed
them basically in one day. When they pursued the people
going through the Red Sea, the Lord brought the sea upon them
and the whole army was wiped out. And then with the Assyrians,
you know that Assyria, they were basically wiped out in one day
as we saw in Isaiah 37. where the angel of the Lord slew
185,000, so they had nothing to fight with, and so they returned
home, and then the Lord killed the king there. And with Babylon,
we know that was overthrown in a night. They're there partying
and drinking, the royalty, they're partying and drinking with their
friends, and having no clue that the Medes and the Persians were
coming up through the walls, over the walls, and that one
night, and the king went to bed, and he didn't wake up. He was
killed that night, and that was the end of that empire. And so
the Lord is able to destroy these kingdoms in one night, as it
pleases Him. So you can see this. And He says
to the people, to His people, take heed and be quiet, fear
not, neither be faint-hearted. That's in Isaiah 7-4. Don't be
afraid. And that's because we rest in
Christ and he conquered all our foes. So he saved us, you know,
you think about it, he saved us when we were completely naive
and just dead to the things of God. We weren't doing anything
worthy of salvation and worthy of deliverance and yet he saved
you and had mercy upon you, and we were unaware of all our enemies,
and yet he delivered us of all our enemies, when we were yet
his enemy. It says in Colossians 2.13, And
you being dead, and your sins, and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you
all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to his cross. and having spoiled principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in it. So he publicly shamed all our
enemies, and he put them down when he went there to the cross
in his weakness, yet in his weakness he destroyed all the strength
of man and all our enemies. So this is Christ who has the
heart of kings in his hand and is able to turn them whithersoever
He will, and he rules the governments of the world, and all that they
do or think to do, he controls all those things, and he triumphed
over all of our enemies. He delivered us out of the accuser's
bondage, out of that house, because he's a stronger man than the
strong man, and he came and he plundered him of all his riches,
of all those precious ones that are the Lord God's from eternity. He plundered his house and took
them to himself, and he delivered us from the grave's death grip,
wherein we shall be raised. And that day, when the Lord determines
when he comes again, he'll raise us up from the grave, and he's
destroyed the power of death, which is sin, so that death is
destroyed, and sin's dominion is destroyed over us, and the
law has nothing to say to us anymore, because the law doesn't
say anything to a righteous man. It's got nothing to say to those
who are made righteous, by the Lord Jesus Christ. In Isaiah
10, 26 and 27, and the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge
for him, that is, your enemies, according to the slaughter of
Midian at the Rock of Oreb. And as his rod was upon the sea,
so shall he lift it up after the manner of Egypt. Right? There's
swift destruction. And one night, even with Midian
there, it was that, I can't, now his name has escaped me.
Gideon in one night came with a little tiny army and just overthrew
that whole army there in one night. You see it constantly.
And it shall come to pass in that day that his burden shall
be taken away from off thy shoulder and his yoke from off thy neck
and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. That
is Christ our Anointed so our Lord says to all of us all of
us and we'll close with this passage He says to us in Matthew
11 you who are fearful you who Know that you can't carry this
burden that you can't meet the right the righteous requirements
of the Lord God Christ says in Matthew 11 27 all things are
delivered unto me of my father And no man knoweth the Son, but
the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son,
and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me,
all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn
of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest
unto your souls, for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. I pray the Lord will bless that
to your comfort and just trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. He
provides for his people and keeps us. Let's pray. Our gracious
Lord, we thank you for your mercy, for the kindness in sending your
Son, Jesus Christ. And Lord, that you made a difference,
that we did not refuse those gentle waters of Shiloh. that
You've made us alive and made us to hear Your voice, to hear
Your Word, and to see and to hear that Christ is all, that
You receive Your people who come to You in the blood of the Lamb,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, we thank You so much
for our Savior. Lord, keep us, keep our hearts.
May we never depart and go off into this world's dead, vain
religion, that whore of Babylon. Lord, keep us looking to you
and trusting you alone. We do pray for our brethren that
are sick and not well, that you would heal them. We pray for
those that are traveling, that you'd bring them back to us safely
as well. And Lord, we pray for Stephen,
that you would keep him healthy and well, that this procedure
may go forth. And Lord, that you would give
the doctors wisdom and that they would know the right steps to
take next. And Lord, again, we lift up Darvin
and his daughters and his son. Lord, that you would comfort
them and the people there, the congregation, and especially
your people would know your presence, that they would feel your comfort
and the warmth that you have for your people in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, that they would know your
love and your peace and your joy, and that they would even
Be blessed as they think of the joy that Sister Kathy is experiencing
even now in the presence of her Savior and her Lord, who has
done all things well for her. Lord, we look forward to that
day when we shall awake and see you face to face. Lord, until
that time, keep us faithful. Keep us looking to you, working
diligently according to your spirit and your power to do your
will, Lord, in the church here now. Lord, that your gospel would
go forth and that you would deliver your people that are yet in darkness
and bondage. Deliver them out of it, Lord.
Save them, wash them in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
help us to be faithful to push that message out, to send it
out in faithfulness and in boldness. We pray this in Jesus' name,
our Lord and Savior.