Oh come, let us adore him. That's what we do every single
time we gather, isn't it? We come here to adore him. That's
a good thing to do. Turn with me to 2 Timothy chapter
2. Second Timothy 2, I told you
a moment ago in the Bible study that we were going to look at
the second half of verse 19 for that Bible study and the first
half of verse 19 for our morning message. And that's what we're
going to do now. In this chapter, the Apostle
Paul is giving exhortations and warnings about different things
to Timothy as he sets out to be the pastor of the Ephesians. Timothy was the pastor of the
church at Ephesus. He warned him of the opposition
that would come to his message. and the trouble that would come
along. But with the warnings and the exhortations, Paul said,
remember this. Remember this for your comfort. For your assurance, for your
stability, remember this. Verse 19 says, nevertheless, The foundation of God standeth
sure. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth
them that are his. That's good, isn't it? That's
a word of comfort, isn't it? The foundation of God standeth
sure. The foundation of his purpose. the foundation of His promise,
the foundation of His covenant, His word, the foundation of His redemption,
His blood, His righteousness, the foundation of His deliverance, the foundation of His forgiveness,
the foundation of His grace, His mercy, His throne, His sovereignty, the foundation of His eternal
glory, it stands sure. That foundation is Christ. Oh, come, let us adore Him. Christ
the Lord. That foundation is Christ. That
rock is Christ. Other foundation can no man lay
than that is laid which is Jesus Christ. He is the rock that we're
standing on. Because he stands firm, we stand
firm. He is the rock that we're standing
on. He is the rock that everything
is standing on. If it is standing, It's standing
on Him. If it's being upheld right now,
it's being upheld by Him. Everything is standing on His
purpose. Everything is standing on His
purpose. Everything is standing on according
to His promise. Everything is standing according
to His covenant. It's all standing on His redemption,
His blood, His righteousness, deliverance, his forgiveness,
his grace, his mercy, his throne, his sovereignty, his glory. Christ is the foundation of God. Christ is the foundation of God. And this is the message that
I have for us this morning. Verse 19 says, the foundation
of God standeth sure. That means it stands strong. It stands firm. It stands immovable, unmovable,
unchangeable. Verse 19 says, having this seal. having this seal. That word seal
refers to back, you know, a long time ago when kings would make
a decree and they would send that decree out or they had something
to say directly to someone to prove that it was indeed the
king's decree, to prove that it was indeed the king's sovereign
word coming in the king's sovereign authority, he would wear a ring
that had a specific signet or inscription or impression in
it and they would fold his letter and drip hot wax on that seal and
he would dip his ring in that hot wax. That was his seal. That was the king's seal. That was a word promised and
proven to be directly from the king himself. That seal proved
it. And as long as that seal had
not been broken, The person it was meant for knew this has not
been altered or changed in any way. This is a sure word from
the king. Well, verse 19 says, nevertheless,
the foundation of God standeth sure having this seal. This is what the Lord's seal
says. When you look at it, this is
how you can know it is the Lord's. When you read it, this is how
you can know it's coming from God Almighty because this is
what it says. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. The Lord knoweth them that are
his. God Almighty has a people. A particular people that he chose
for himself. That he chose for himself. A
people that he chose to redeem. A people that he chose to save
from their sins. It's a people that he chose to
give spiritual life to. A people that he chose to quicken
to himself. A people that he chose to call
to himself, to draw near to himself. It's a people that he chose to
preserve forever. A people that he chose to live
with and to dwell with forever. And they are called them that
are his. Them that are his. And my message
this morning for them that are his is if we are included in
the them that are his. And this is the message for us.
He knows us. He knows us and he doesn't just
know who we are. The sovereign God knows who everybody
is. He knows everything. Known unto God were all his works
from the beginning. In the scripture, the word no
means loves. To some, he is going to say,
depart from me, I never knew you. Meaning I never loved you. But that will never be said to
them that are his. I have a good message this morning
for them that are his. He knows them that are his. He loves every single one of
the them that are his. He always has and he always will. And that's what I want us to
look at for just a second, okay? He always has, he always will. The foundation of God standeth
sure having this seal. The Lord knew and loved them
that were his before the foundation of this world ever even existed.
In eternity past, all the way back in never beginning eternity. Turn with me over to Ephesians
1. Ephesians 1 verse 3, it says, Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us. Who are the
us? Them that are his. It's them
that are his, specifically. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ According as He hath
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. He chose us in love. He chose us in love. Do you all
have any idea? Any thought on the matter, any
idea why I chose Hannah for my own? Love. Love. He chose us in love. He chose all of his people before
God ever made this world, before he made the people of this world,
before he made the world itself, before he made the heavens, before
he made anything. Before God ever made anything,
he knew and loved them that were his. This sure foundation goes
a long way back. It goes a long way back. David
said, Lord, if I could count the number of thoughts that you've
had concerning me, Your thoughts toward me would be more thoughts
than there are grains of sand on the earth. That's true. If God's word says it, that's
true. David said, you've been thinking
about me for all of eternity past. The Lord told Jeremiah before
I ever even formed you in the belly, I knew you. I loved you." He said concerning Jacob and
Esau before they were ever born or had done any good or evil
that the purpose of God according to election might stand. He said,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Why is that? Why is that? It's because Jacob
was his, Esau was not. The foundation of God stands
firm having this seal. The Lord knows them that are
His. He knew them before this world
ever was. He knew them after this world
was and they fell into sin against Him. Look with me at Genesis
chapter 3. Genesis 3 verse 6, And when the woman saw that the
tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree to be desired, to make one wise, she took of the
fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with
her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were
opened and they knew that they were naked and they sewed fig
leaves together and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice
of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord
God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called
unto Adam and said unto him, where art thou? And he said,
I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was
naked and I hid myself. And he said, who told thee that
thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof
I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, the
woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree
and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the
woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said,
The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat. And the Lord God said
unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed
above all cattle, and above every beast of the field. Upon thy
belly shalt thou go, and thou shalt thou eat all the days,
and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life. And I will
put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and
her seed. And it shall bruise thy head,
but thou shalt bruise his heel." What woman's seed is he talking
about? What child is he talking about? Everyone is talking this morning
about the birth of a child. Everyone is expecting a Christmas
message. Everywhere. Everyone is talking
about the birth of a child. Do we know who the child was
and why the child came? That child was the woman's seed. meaning not man's seed, but God's. This would not be a sinful man,
but a holy man. This would be a perfect spotless
man sent for the redemption of them that were his. Specifically,
the Lord made a covenant with Abraham concerning this seed. which the scripture specifically
tells us this seed is Christ. And them that are his in Christ.
That's why he came. That's why he was born of a virgin. Jesus Christ came into this world
for them that are his. He was born of a virgin. He laid
in a manger. He was made in the likeness of
sinful flesh for them that are his. Turn with
me to Luke chapter one. Luke 1 verse 26. And in the sixth month the angel
Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth
to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the
house of David and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel
came in unto her and said, Hail thou that art highly favored
The Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women. And when
she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her
mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel
said unto her, fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with
God. And behold, thou shalt conceive
in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
Jesus. He shall be great and shall be
called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David and he shall reign over
the house of Jacob. He will reign over the house
of Jacob. Why Jacob? Jacob was a wretched
lying trickster. Why not Esau? It's because that sinner Jacob
was one of them that are his. Amazingly, this is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into this world
to save sinners. Sinners like Jacob, sinners like
you, sinners like me. He came all of this way to save
us because we were the chiefs. The chief of sinners, the fact
that he was born into this world proves to us that the foundation
of God stands sure. How do you know it stands sure?
Christ came into the world. Jesus Christ came into this world.
Verse 33, he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and
of his kingdom, there shall be no end. That's why he came into
this world. The foundation of God stands
sure having this seal, the Lord knew them that were his before
the foundation of the world. He knew them that were his in
their fall, their fall into sin. He knew them that were his in
his covenant that he made concerning them. He knew them that were
his in his birth when he came into this world. He came for
the house of Jacob. He knew exactly who he was coming
for, exactly who he was coming to. And he knew them that were
his on the cross of Calvary. In his death, when he died in
this world, he was dying for them. He knew exactly who it
was he was dying for. Look with me at John 10. John 10 verse 11, our Lord said,
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. The good shepherd gave his life
for them that are his. He said, father, forgive them
in my death. John 13 one says, having loved
his own, he loved them to the end, all the way to the end.
The foundation of God stands. Sure. Having this seal, the Lord
knew the Lord loved them. That were his, he knew, and he
loved him in eternity past. He knew and loved them in the
fall. He loved him. He came to him.
He provided coats for them, even in the fall. He knew and loved
them in His covenant. He knew and loved them in His
coming. He knew and loved them in His
death. And thank God He still knows
them. He knoweth them, our text says. As He sovereignly sits on His
throne right now in His resurrected, ascended He reigns and rules for them
that are His. Everything that He's doing is
for them that are His. Hold your place in John and turn over to
Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 28 it says, and we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God. Who is that? To them
who are the called according to his purpose. He is ordering
and working everything for them that are his. Verse 34 right here says, Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. He daily makes intercession. He ever lives to make intercession
for them that are his. This is the foundation of God
that will forever stand sure. He knew and loved his people.
in eternity past, before anything in this world ever was. He knew
and loved His people even in their fall. He knew and loved
them in His covenant of redemption. He knew and loved them in His
coming to save them. He knew and loved them in His
death. He knows and loves them right
now in His sovereign ascension. And he will know and love them
in his return. Turn back to John, this time
go to chapter 14. John 14, verse 1. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am, there you may be also. That's his promise. That's
the foundation of his promise to us. By his death, through
his blood, Peter said, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise,
as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to usward,
them that are his, not willing that any of the usward should
perish, but that all of the usward, every single one of them that
are his, should come to repentance, faith that looks to Christ alone. That's God's foundation. That's
our foundation. And on Jesus Christ, our God,
our Savior, and our King, it will stand forever. That word
of promise will stand forever. Amen.