Isaiah chapter 51, and I've had a couple of titles for
the message, but I thought this one would be good. Is God sleeping? Is God sleeping? And I get that
from the prayer that the prophet prays in verse 9 of Isaiah 51.
The prophet says, Awake! Awake! Put on strength, O arm
of the Lord. Here the prophet cries unto God. He cries out in prayer saying,
Awake! Awake! It appears by the repetition
of these two words that the prophet or the people of God are in great
difficulty. They're in great affliction.
And by these words, he uses, it appears. It appears to all
his senses, to all he can feel and know. In the very core of
his being, he is assured of this. God must be asleep. Surely something is wrong. This is God's people. This is
Israel. This is God's chosen and yet
way of fallen into the hands of the Assyrians. They are in
great affliction and trouble. And he says, oh, God surely must
have missed this. God surely must needs awake.
By all outward appearances, God was unaware of their condition.
And so the prophet, in the peril, in the dark, in bleak condition
of his circumstances, he cries out to God, God, are you asleep? Awake! Awake, O arm of the Lord. Why have you closed your eyes
to our troubles? Why are you so far from us? Isaiah 59 11 describes, I believe,
what he's feeling here, what we feel as believers. He says,
We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves. We look for
judgment, but there is none for salvation, but it is far from
us. Believer, is this not the mirror
image of our hearts and minds in our trouble? Is it not the
same? And I'll tell you, if you're
not, you'd say, no, I never thought such. You're not being honest. You're not being honest with
yourself. Because when trouble comes, it
comes swiftly. And when it comes swiftly, what
do we do? Oh my, is God not aware of what's happening to me? Surely,
he must be asleep. In our afflictions, our sorrows,
our sicknesses, we cry to God, Wake up! Please open your eyes
to my troubles and be merciful. Deliver me out of my pains and
afflictions. But believer, no matter what
things appear to us to be, or how we feel about the circumstance
of our life, let us be assured again, Let us be assured of this
truth, that God never sleeps, nor is God ever unaware of what's
happening to you. He is never unaware of your woes
and your griefs. Do you feel God is asleep and
far from you? We know this, God is far off
from the lost, Is He far off from us? Go to
Psalm 121. Let's read this again together,
a very familiar psalm. Is God asleep? This psalm very
plainly answers that question. The psalmist writes, I will lift
up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help. Obviously,
the psalmist is in trouble and needs help. Where does he look?
He looks to God. to heaven. He says, My help cometh
from the Lord which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer
thy foot to be moved. He that keepeth thee will not
slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord
is the shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee
by day, nor the moon by night." Did you get that? The sun is
not going to hit your skin, even in the middle of the day, without
His permission. The moon in the middle of the
night will not strike your flesh unless God give it permission.
He is the shade upon thy right hand. The Lord shall preserve thee
from what? All evil. Is what happened to
you, is that evil? No. The Lord shall preserve me
from all evil. He shall preserve thy soul. The
Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in, how long? From this time forth and even
forevermore. Are you feeling forgotten? Do all thy foes assault thy soul? Does the flesh faint? Does the
world oppress you? Does Satan flood your ears with
accusations? Is heaven silent? Is the book
of God sealed? Is the windows of heaven shut
and sealed from you? Then cry aloud, awake, O God,
awake! And you know what? He's already
awake. He's already awake. Cry out to Him. To Him that never
sleeps. but as ever close to you as the
shade on your right hand. You put your hand up against
the sun and underneath here be a shade. That's how close God
is to you at all times. He is the shade on your right
hand. And nothing has come upon you
or touched you but by His own sovereign decree and purpose. In Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse
15 it says this, that you shall not see evil anymore. Now I have a question for you
that are in trouble. Is that evil? God says it's not. God says to
us, behold, that He works all things together for what? Our
good. God says in Jeremiah 29 and verse
11, He says this, I know my thoughts toward you. Do you know God's
thoughts toward you? You know what they are? He said
they are not of evil, but of peace. I know my thoughts toward
you. Not of evil, but of peace. To
give you, listen, unexpected end. I like that. Unexpected
end. Believer, our middle seems fluid,
doesn't it? It seems kind of shaky. We're
often in trouble. We're often in peril. Everything's
changing around us. It seems fluid. It seems mutable,
uncertain. But with God, all things are
sure from the beginning, in the middle, and at the end. And He
will work all things for an expected end. What's the expected end?
What is your expected end? It's good. It's salvation. That's
your expected end. And so what is God doing now?
He is working all things for your good. All things. Now number
two, the prophet says this, he says, awake, he's crying out
to God in his trouble, and he says this, put on strength. Put on strength. Now we know
that God is all-powerful, omnipotent, and yet in our troubles and pains,
God's strength seems to be hidden. We don't feel His presence and
we surely can't see His power. In our grief and sorrow we say,
Lord, I know You're all strength. I know You have all power and
do whatsoever You please. O Lord, if I've found grace in
Your sight, then please use Your power. I know You have it, but
I can't see it. I can't see it. So what is the
psalmist saying? He's saying, put it on. So I
may see thy power. So I might know that you have
all power. Lord, please display your power
and help me. Use it to deliver me. Believer,
are you weak in strength? Does your power fail so that
you cannot endure another moment? Then cry out to thy God and say,
O Lord, awake, put on strength. Show me your power. Show me your
mercy. Cry unto God for his strength. Listen, for he is able to deliver
thee. He is able. Psalm 146 and verse
3 through 5, it tells us, "...to put not your trust in princes,
nor in the Son of Man, in whom there is no help. His breath
goeth forth, He returns to the earth. In that very day His thoughts
perish." How many times have you ever turned to man before
you turn to God? I'm only speaking to myself.
I know that's so. It is our first instinct to turn
to someone else. God said, why would you turn
to someone else who has no power to help you? Don't put your trust
in man. Man is no help, for all men are
only one breath away from the grave. And I'll tell you, when
a man dies, so does his thoughts. So why are you asking the opinion
of other men? What does that really matter? Go to God. Whatever a man thinks
in this life, surely it is torn away from him when he dies, and
reality is made known. What's really true is made known
only in death. And all he thought comes crashing
down on top of his head. The lost man, he says, I thought
God loved everyone without exception. The lost man said, I thought
that I had to make my decision for Jesus. I thought that would
save me. I thought that would help me.
I thought if I should just obey the law of God and do my best,
I thought that would help. I thought that Jesus' work plus
my own righteousness would surely merit me a place in heaven. But
I'll tell you this, when He perishes, His thoughts perish with Him.
All those thoughts become lost. They're gone forever. He finds
out that they were nothing but, as Isaiah said in Isaiah 28,
He finds out that they are a refuge of lies. A refuge of lies. But Christ will say to them,
Depart from Me, you that work iniquity. You trusted in man,
you trusted in the flesh to finish the work. Now shall your thoughts and ways
of salvation perish for you in eternal hell. But David said,
Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help. How opposite
is that from the lost man? The lost man puts his trust in
flesh. The lost man puts his trust in man, in which there
is no help. Puts his trust in himself, in
which there is no help. But we, happy are we who put
our trust in God. If you want to be blessed, if
you want to know true happiness, then you should put your trust
in the only one that can help you. In God. And we are encouraged to joy
and to be happy because we have God in all of His infinite power
engaged to complete our salvation. You not see that? Believer, that
God Himself in the Trinity of His impersons are engaged in
all their strength and power to deliver your soul. That's
what he's doing. You want to know what he's doing?
He's saving his people from their sins. That's what he's doing.
He's calling his people. He is regenerating his people.
He is keeping his people. And he will save his people.
That's what he's doing in all things. God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Spirit are engaged in the full power
of their might to bring about our eternal salvation. Remember,
it was the Father in sovereign will and power that chose us. You who believe, you were chosen
of God. He was the strength. The strength
of our election was not in the power of our will, but rather
in the free choice of our Father, who alone had the right to decree
it. And not only did He decree our
salvation, not only did He say, I'm going to save you, not only
did He purpose to save you, but He also predestinated all of
the things that should happen in order to save you. He predestinated us to the adoption
of sons by Jesus Christ, predestinated us to be conformed to the image
of Christ, and in the perfect righteousness and true holiness. Now I ask you, can God who chose
a people to salvation, can he perform it? Can he? How will he perform it? Look at your text. Notice to
whom he's speaking. Now awake, he's in trouble. He's
asking God to put on his strength. And notice to whom he's speaking
to. Awake, O arm of the Lord. Put on your strength, O arm of
the Lord. See then the prayer of the prophet,
the prayer of the prophet, where the strength of God in salvation
is manifest, it is in the arm of the Lord, which is Jesus Christ. Now look over a couple of chapters
to Isaiah 53. Is this not the same words he
uses? Same description in verse 1.
He said, "...who hath believed our report, and to whom is the
arm of the Lord revealed." The arm of the Lord. And then he
begins to describe the arm of the Lord. He said He's that tender
plant that comes out of a dry ground. Speaking out of Jesse's
line, he should come. That he should be despised and
rejected. That he should bear our griefs
and our sorrows. That he was wounded for our transgression
and bruised for our iniquities. The prophet describes him as
a willing A willing offering. It says, "...he was like a lamb
before his shears, his tongue, so he opened not his mouth."
This arm of the Lord was to offer Himself willingly for the transgression
of His people. Without protest. And that this
arm of the Lord, He should satisfy God's justice. Look at that in
verse 11. "...he shall see of the travail of his soul, and
be satisfied." Who else is this but Christ? Where else is the
arm of the Lord or the strength of God in salvation revealed? It is revealed only in the Son
of God, Jesus Christ. Are you troubled, saint? Then behold your assurance in
your trouble. Behold your hope that your God,
who chose you to salvation, has put on the garment of His strength
and made bare the arm of His salvation, even His holy and
beloved Son. How is God going to save the
arm of the Lord? That's how. By Jesus Christ.
Sinners, every sinner in this building, you should listen to
me very carefully right now. Look to Christ. Look to Christ. Look to the Savior. Look to Him
who is only the strong arm of the Lord. Look to Him who is
God manifest in the flesh and the only one able to save sinners. There is no other help in man.
You won't find it. There's no help to save you and
me. And you, there's no help for my salvation in you. It is
only in Christ. Look now. Look now to Christ. For He is able to save the lowest
and the greatest of sinners. Now look at the argument. Go
back and look at the argument of this. The struggling prophet
here. He's crying out to the arm of
the Lord and he says, Awake, as in the ancient days in the
generations of old. Art thou not He that cut Rahab
and wounded the dragon? Art thou not He that hath dried
the seas, the waters of the great deep, that hath made the depths
of the sea away for the ransom to pass over? Are you not God? That's what he's asking. Are you not God who saved Israel? Are you not he? His argument of the prophet as
he cries in his trouble, are you not the same God that displayed
your power in ancient times? Then please, Lord, show me the
same power. Show me your salvation. Isn't that what he's asking?
He's asking God to display again the salvation of his soul. Surely this is the prayer of
God's saints in this generation. Lord, show your power and strength.
Isn't that our prayer? That many would come? That we would not see a great
awakening in the church? That we would not see a great
revival that the Lord would send? It's my hope and prayer that
God would. Surely, if a generation needs
it, it's this one. May God even do so in my heart. It is a prayer of God's people.
The prayer of his people, the prayer of his saints. As it is
pictured in our text, even so now, Lord, come in power and
reveal your salvation to lost sinners. Show again your gospel. And that's what he's going to
do here. I want you to see the gospel in this. If you want some
comfort in your trouble, then you need to see the gospel. You
need to hear it again. You need to hear it again. Because
it's the only thing that's going to give you any comfort. Any
assurance? Now, the first is, look at this.
He says, Are you not he that cut Rahab and wounded the dragon?
Now, this has reference to God's destruction of Egypt and the
killing of Pharaoh in the Red Sea. He said, Are you not he
who delivered Israel from Egypt? That's what he's asking. Lord,
did you not promise our father Abraham that his seed should
be in bondage 400 years Lord, did you not at that exact time
send Moses to deliver and bring your people out of bondage? Even
so now, do so in our generation. Show us these things. Listen,
Israel is a type of God's elect people. If you want to know the Scriptures
and the Gospel and the Old Testament, you must understand this. Israel
is a type of you. It's a picture of me. God's elect. Those who are believers in Christ.
And as Israel was in bondage to Egypt, even so were we in
bondage to sin. We were in bondage to sin and
could by no means escape the corruption of our nature. Which
is enmity against God? You want to know your nature
in a nutshell? It hates God. It hates God. Man by nature hates God. I know that's offensive to most,
not to those of us who know anything about our nature, because we
have to say, in shame, amen. God says that man, the carnal
mind, is hatred, enmity against God. For it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. 1 Corinthians chapter
2 verse 14 tells us that we by nature receive not the things
that be of God because we are spiritually judged, condemned
by nature to death. We are dead in trespasses and
sin, Ephesians 2 verse 1 tells us. And listen, all modern freewill
works religion is completely opposed to what I just said.
They're just completely opposed to it. They think there's got
to be something good in you. No, not one, God says. So that just does away with all
their thoughts. Easy. That's what God says. But here
in the gospel, here is the gospel to the captives, a word to those
dead sinners who can by no means give themselves life or freedom. Behold, Jesus has cut Egypt and
destroyed Pharaoh. How was this done? How did God
deliver His people from Egypt? Two things, two things. They both picture the same thing,
but God uses two illustrations, two big events by which he delivered
Israel from Egypt, which is a picture of our salvation. First, he delivered
them by blood, and second, he delivered them by water. Blood
and water. First of all, let's look at this
blood. Remember the Lord sent nine plagues
over the land of Egypt. He sent those horrible things
upon Egypt and Pharaoh. The Nile turned to blood. Frogs
covered the land. Lice, flies, locusts, hail mixed
with fire, darkness, and pestilence destroying all of their livestock.
Boils upon their flesh. Horrible, horrible thing. Yet, after nine plagues, what
happened? Nothing. Nothing happened. He still would not let them go. There was none of these that
moved Pharaoh to release Israel. Even so, will no man ever be
freed from sin by his own suffering in the flesh. That's what that
picture. By no amount of pain or labor
or religion will free you from the yoke of guilt and condemnation
before God. So then how is a man freed? The same way Israel was freed
by that 10th plague. What was the 10th plague? It
was the Passover, wasn't it? It was the Passover. It was by
blood. That's how they were delivered.
You remember that night? God says, I'll pass over Egypt
and I'll kill the firstborn in every house. Yet God, purposing
to save Israel, also predestinated a means by which they should
be saved, even the blood of the Lamb. And so they took, or to
take, a spotless Lamb, and they were to set it aside for fourteen
days. Then they were to take that spotless
lamb in the midst of the congregation and publicly kill it, publicly
put it to death, publicly slit its throat, drain its blood. Then they were to take that blood
and they were to strike the doorpost and the upper doorpost of the
house. And then they were to go in the
house and when God passed over Egypt, Every firstborn was killed
except those who had the blood. And they were to eat that lamb,
roasted, and they were to have their shoes on their feet and
their loins girded, ready to go. Behold, in this same way the
Lord Jesus Christ has delivered His people from the bondage of
sin and Satan. God will surely come in judgment
upon all flesh. This is without question. As
God said, I'll pass over Egypt and kill the firstborn. I tell
you this, God will pass over all this world, all humanity
that has ever been, and God will judge it in strict, holy justice. Now, we've never seen anything
like that before in our life. Do you realize that, that even
our justice system, which is arguably one of the best, do
you not consider that even our justice system has emotion involved in justice? Isn't that
right? You look at a guy and, man, he looks kind of penitent,
and the judge says, well, I'm going to give him a lesser sentence
because he looks this way, or because his mother's crying over
here, or because this. I'll tell you, when God judges,
he will have no emotion about it. It will be strict, it will be
fair, and it will be concise. All you that sin, depart from
me. All you righteous, you go into
heaven. That's just how simple it'll
be. You righteous, you that are without sin, come into glory
with me. You that have sin, depart from
me into hell. That's how strict God's justice
will be. But how then shall any be saved seeing all have sinned?
even how Israel is saved by the sacrifice of a Passover lamb. See that He was sent, that Christ
was sent in the flesh to be the representative of His people,
that He was set aside like that Lamb was for 33 years. He was
set aside. And you know what? He was judged
of Satan, He was judged of men, and He was judged of God. And
you know what Satan found? Satan fleeth from Him because
he found nothing in Him. Pilate said, I find no fault
in this man. And God said, this is my beloved
Son in whom I am well pleased. Do you not see He set aside that
He was tried, tested to be righteous, the Lamb of God? And yet He was
offered as that Lamb publicly. Publicly. I like that the apostle
said this thing this thing was not done in a corner I love that
it's not done in a corner everybody knows about it this is not hidden
under a rock they slew that spotless man in public for everyone to
see yet why was he slain He was wounded
for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquity. The chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. God hath laid on him the iniquity
of us all. And behold, thereupon that cross
Jesus made to bear the sins of his people in his own body. And
God, having made Christ to bear our sins, punished sin in the
flesh of the Son of God. Therefore, his blood was shed,
and the atonement for sin was Made! It was made! It was done! That's the glory of the cross,
is that sin was forever put away by the blood of the Son of God.
Israel did not escape the judgment of God, even because the Lamb
endured it for them. You now see that? You and I do
not escape the judgment of God. We are free from it because the
Lamb paid it. You not see that? We're not circumventing
God's judgment. Matter of fact, God has made
us just by the blood of the Lamb. Now, you in trouble, you are
in trouble. I want you to consider this,
that that blood of the Lamb, it was applied to the doorpost,
and even the Spirit of God has applied the blood of Christ to
our hearts. Why is it that the Spirit of
God has come to you and applied the blood of Christ so that God
should pass over you? Why is that? Why is it that you
have the blood of Christ and others do not? Listen, for your
comfort, I want you to understand this. Because you are sons, that's
why. You are sons. Take the man in
Israel. He's got a son, a firstborn. God says, I'm going to kill that
boy, except I see the blood. So the man makes haste, prepares
the lamb, slays the lamb, applies the blood on the doorpost and
the lintel, and puts his son inside. Now then, did his application
of the blood make that child his son? No. He did it because
he was his son. Do you not see that the blood
is applied to your heart because you are the sons of God? Go to Galatians. Galatians chapter
4. Oh, this is such a precious truth. Galatians 4. Listen why the Spirit
of God has come and applied that blood to your heart. Galatians
4 and verse 6. He says in verse five, to redeem
them. This is why God sent his son made under law, made of a
woman, made under law that he may receive the adoption of sons.
Because you are sons, God sent forth his spirit of his son into
your heart, crying, Abba, Father. Now, why did he send that spirit
to you? Because you're sons. Because you are his sons. Therefore, he has sent this spirit. and the grace and love of the
eldest Son which has bought us." Has bought us. We sold ourselves
for what? What did you sell yourself for? Nothing. You sold yourselves
for nothing. And yet the Son of God, because
you are sons, came and paid the adoption price. He bought you. And now the Holy Ghost has come
in power to reveal His arm to you and apply that blood and
give you a new heart. And now you are not only purpose
sons, you're not only bought sons, but now you're newborn
sons. Born again of the Spirit of God
in the new birth. He applies that to our hearts. And as Israel was sent away from
Egypt, and the firstborn saved, even so that is how we are saved. Now what was the difference between
Israel and the Egyptian firstborn? The blood. What's the difference
between you and anyone else outside of Christ? The blood. The blood. What's redeemed you? The blood.
The blood. I remember reading an article,
is the blood important? What kind of question is that?
He was arguing that the blood's not that important. No blood,
no life. No blood, no redemption. Without
the shedding of blood is no redemption. So how is it that we are redeemed?
We are redeemed by the blood and listen, your sins because
of the blood are cast as far as the east is from the west. How far did God sever us from
Egypt? How far did He cut Rahab? He
cut it so far that the east, as the east is from the west,
so hath He removed our transgressions from us. After Israel was delivered to
the blood, the second thing is this. Israel was not only delivered
by blood, but by water. Look at this in verse 10. Art
thou not He? which hath dried the sea, the
waters of the great deep, and hath made the depths of the sea
away for the ransom to pass over." After the Lord delivered Israel
by blood, what did Pharaoh do? This thing that he calls a dragon
in verse 9, he says he wounded the dragon. He wounded the dragon
in the the redemption by the Passover. He wounded him. And Pharaoh's heart is hardened
and he starts to pursue after Israel. And God leads Israel
to a very strange place. He leads Israel to a place like
a funnel, a bottleneck, a trap, if you will. On the left hand there are mountains.
On the right hand is nothing but a desert. In front of them
is only the Red Sea, and here it is Satan or Pharaoh coming
in behind them. They are trapped. They are trapped. And so what does God tell Moses?
Go forward. Go into the sea. Go into the
sea. And God parted the sea, and He
made a way in the deep, and Israel walked on dry land. And Pharaoh,
when he tried to do the same, was not only wounded, he was
crushed forever. Destroyed. Now behold, believer
in Christ, this is our experience. This is our experience. Surely
Christ died for our sins, and by grace we've had the blood
of the Lamb applied to our hearts, and we are free. Yet see, there
is someone still pursuing us, isn't there? Believer, don't
you know the pursuit of Satan? Isn't he still pursuing God's
people? He still pursues and seeks to
enslave us again. And God leads His people and
shuts us in. Behold, the mountain of the law
is on our left hand, who we cannot scale. Sinai's law. Behold, the desert and barren
works of religion to our right hand. Surely we would be slain
if we were to follow in that way. And behold, Satan behind
us trying to press us into the sea and perish forever. What
then is the sea? If the mountains on the left
are Sinai and the desert on the right is our barren righteousness,
which is a desert, and Satan is behind us, what is the sea?
The sea vision is a picture of God's infinite justice. His infinite
judgment. Behold the depth and the height
and the weight of the sea. It's a picture of God's judgment. It's justice, and yet God tells
Moses, who is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, He says, go
forward into the sea. He goes forward into the sea.
Isn't that what Jesus did by His death? Did He not go before
us into the judgment of God? Was He not crushed by the judgment
of God for our sins? And what did His death do? It
did exactly what the sea did. It parted the sea of God's judgment
for us, so that we should walk through on dry ground. Solid ground. Firm ground. Jesus died, and by His death,
God has parted the sea and made a way for the ransom. Therefore,
he says to us, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. And the mighty sea was parted,
even so was the justice of God parted. Behold the power of the
blood and righteousness of Christ to part even the justice of God
and let us walk through into glory. David confessed, though
my house be not so with God, yet he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and what? Sure, sure. Do you not suppose that as the
Israelites began to walk forward that there was some fear? You bet there was. Was there any real danger Not
one bit. Not one bit. Believer, do you
fear? You bet you do. Is there any
real danger? No way. No way. You see, because Jesus Christ
made a way through the sea, not around it. This is altogether
important for your comfort. That Jesus Christ actually went
through the law to obtain our salvation. He went through the law as Moses
went through the sea. Are you troubled? And consider
that we are surely saved by the grace through faith in Christ
alone, and we are free from the law of God. Free! Free from the
judgment of God. Paul in Galatians, they were
teaching some mixture of man's work and Christ's righteousness. And Paul says that our justification
was not by works, but by the faith of Christ alone. By the
faith of Christ alone, which faith obeyed the law of God as
our representative. And if we are to try to mix anything,
surely we would defile His work And Christ would be a minister
of sin, but God forbid such a thing. God forbid we should ever try
to build again the law and destroy the gospel. But stand fast on this, believer,
that the law cannot condemn us even because we are dead to the
law. How are we dead to the law? Remember
the law demanded your death. Okay, I'm dead. If I'm dead,
what further power has the law over me? None. None. Why? I'm dead. I'm dead. And you see, how is it that we
are dead? We are dead because of our union with Christ, because
we were one with Christ. And Paul said, I am crucified
with Christ, nevertheless I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life I now live, I live
by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself
for me. Hence Christ and his people are one under God's righteous
law. And so when Christ was righteous,
even so were we. When Christ suffered under the
law, so did we. And as surely as Christ was accepted
and received into heaven, so are we. So as these Israelites were saved
through water, even so are we baptized, immersed into the death
of Christ and risen to life. And this life we now live is
the life by the faith of who? By whose faith do you live? Not by yours. His faith, the faith of the Son
of God. Therefore, seeing our God never
sleeps. Well, first of all, believer,
I don't want you to think little of your faith. Not trying to make little of
your faith. I'm just trying to show you the author of your faith
and the finisher of your faith. And that's not you. It's Christ. Your faith is a gift and work
of God, and our faith lives because of His faith. Therefore,
seeing God never sleeps, seeing in Him all power, especially
the power to save sinners, then behold the Savior, the arm of
the Lord that God has made bare, Behold, as He was the Savior
of Israel by blood and by water, even so is He our Savior by blood
and righteousness, and has severed us from the dominion and power
and guilt of sin, not around the law, but through the law.
And now look at the last part of the prophet's prayer, verse
11. I'll close. Here it is. This is the result. Seeing then the arm of the Lord,
what does he say? Therefore, the redeemed of the
Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing. As the prophet recalls the deliverance
of Israel, he is made to see by the Holy Spirit the sure success
of all God's redeemed, that they shall return. Jesus said, All
that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh
to me I will in no wise cast out. This is the will of him
that sent me, that of all he hath given me I should lose nothing. We could not and would not come
to Christ except the Father draws. And how irresistible was that
draw. Can you recall? Do you know the
irresistible grace of God? Then we know this for sure that
all he has chosen and redeemed shall come to him and none will
ever be lost. All who come to faith in Jesus
Christ and repentance from sin, just as Israel was through the
blood and the water, saved even so shall they be forever redeemed
and cleansed from all unrighteousness. And behold the joy, he said,
and everlasting joy shall be upon their head. Who's your head? That word means chief. Everlasting
joy shall be upon the chief." Who is that? Christ. He endured
the cross, despising the shame for what? The joy set before
Him. What is that joy? If you want
to know what the joy of Christ is, He said, My delight is among
the sons of men. It is your Father's good pleasure. to give you the kingdom. Is that not something you can't
wrap your mind around? I can't get around it. I just
can't get my mind around it. My kid does something bad, and
then I just feel love for him and compassion. I still have
that in the back of my head. Man, I can't believe I'm having
to give this away. We just do it begrudgingly, don't
we? He's not begrudging you the kingdom. Therefore, believer, if God hath
given you the kingdom, which is his Son, in the midst of your
trouble, consider, how shall he not with him freely give you
all things? You feel God's asleep? I tell
you he's not. He's purposed your salvation.
He's accomplished it. And I'll tell you what He's doing
right now. He is going to finish the work. He's going to bring
you to Himself. And if that means you must needs
go through trouble, then you will go through trouble. But
He will deliver you out of all your trouble. We should always look at the
greater and reason from the greater to
the lesser. A lot of times we like to try
to reason from earthly things upward. No. Start with God, and
then you'll see that all things are for your good, even that
trouble. And God's not unaware of it.
He's not asleep. He purposed it for your benefit. And so what should you do? Trust
Him. Trust Him. How many Israelites did not make
it to the other side? Every one of them made it. even
the weakest and most frail. And I tell you, one day God is
going to crush your enemies. And they will be standing on
the other side singing just like Moses. Just like Moses. May God even be gracious to comfort
you. And you know what that, down
in the, further in the verse, you can read it, it says, I,
even I am he that comforteth you. I'm the one that said all
this. I'm the one that did all this.
Shall I not comfort you with it? Oh, how little we think of
our God. May God even comfort you with
this. I pray you will. Let's stand.
We'll be dismissed in prayer.