that the Lord wouldn't have said
these things if he didn't mean it. God who cannot lie. He wouldn't have promised these
things, like Manoah's wife said. He wouldn't have told us these
things. He wouldn't have showed us these things. That soul that on the Lord Jesus
hath leaned for repose, that trust in him, Every soul that trusts him, that
believes him, he said, I will never, no, never forsake. Never. Brother Stephen was telling
us in a study that he'd been thinking all week about when
Isaac said, I blessed him. I blessed him, Jacob, and I can't
take it back. Stephen was saying, blessed him to think about that,
that the Lord will not take it back. Whatever he says to his
people, he believed that. That he won't take it back. He
can trust him. That's what I hope we'll see
tonight, get great comfort despite our sins. He uses Israel as an
example of just how sin abounds. How bad people can be, how unbelieving
and how provoking people can be, and yet God still shows mercy. That's what he said up in verse
22 of Isaiah 42. This people's robbed and spoiled
and snared in holes and hid in prison houses. That was us. Before he found us, that was
us. Robbed, spoiled, in pits and
traps and captive. The God of this world will pray,
easy pray for anything, everyone. And he says, who will give ear
to this? Who will hearken and hear the
time to come? Who's going to hear the report
of good news? And he said, I did this. Who
gave Jacob for a spoil in Israel to the robber? Did not I, the
Lord? He against whom we've sinned? They wouldn't walk in his way.
They weren't obedient under his law. So he poured out upon him
the fury of his anger and the strength of the battle, set him
on fire. He didn't know it. He was burned
and laid it not to harm. These verses sound like Ephesians
2. And you. They were dead and trespassed
in. Walked according to the course
of this world. Prince of the power of the air, like the children
of the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience,
and were by nature children of wrath, even as others. But now, Isaiah 43, but now,
thus saith the Lord that created thee, or re-created thee, made
a new creature, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not. I have. Title of this message
and the subject, and if you noticed when you read with me all down
through here, God says, I have. I have. I have. And he says,
I will. I will. I will. And he says,
because he says for, I am. This is the title. This is the
subject. God says, I have. I will for I am, because that's
who I am. There's nothing conditioned on
us here. God's just telling us what all he has done, what all
he will do because of who he is. All right? I have. I will. He said in verse
1, I have created thee, formed thee, verse 7. Everyone that
is called by my name, I have created him for my glory. I have formed him. Yea, I have
made him. Look at verse 21. This people
have I formed for myself. They shall show forth my praise.
People all the time talk about being self-made men and women,
don't they? Not God's people. They never
say that. No, the Lord is He that hath
made us, and not we ourselves. Religion, free will, boasts that. Isn't that what free will boasts?
I made my decision. In effect, you make yourself
a child of God. No, no, no. We're His creation. We're His workmanship. For His
glory. To the praise of the glory of
His grace. I've done that. Let others boast of themselves. God's people, they boast in the
Lord. They boast in Him. And He hath
made us, not of blood, not of the will of the flesh, but they
are born of God. This people have I formed. I
made them. I made this new creature. I did
it. Born of God. He did it physically,
and He does it spiritually. Predestined doesn't Ephesians
1 or Romans 8 say we're predestined to be conformed to the image
of his dear son. This people have I thought. He's
talking to Jacob. You notice that? Oh, Jacob. Israel. He's not talking to the world.
He's talking to Jacob. Israel. Who's Jacob? It's his
chosen. He says this all down through
here. Jacob, my chosen. Not a national people here. Not
Israel the nation. But he is a Jew which is one
inwardly. Circumcision is not with hand,
but it's at the heart. Who does that? God does it. And
we are the seed of Abraham by faith. By faith. To all the sons
of Jacob, God says, He that formed thee, O Israel, fear not. Fear not. Verse 5, fear not. Now, all the sons of men fear
something. This is why there are so many
psychiatrists, so many psychologists, so much drugs, so many people
on them. Everybody's afraid of something. They're full of fears. And men and women need to be
if they don't fear God. Because they are in trouble. But for all who fear God, now
fearing the Lord, now this is the beginning of wisdom. And
we never quit fearing it. But it's not a slavish fear.
It's not like you're scared to death of God. No, no, no. That's
not it at all. You don't fear Him in the sense
that if you sin, He's just going to, your wrath is going to come
down on you. That's a slavish fear. That's not the fear he's talking
about. It's a worshipful fear. It's a reverent fear. It's a
fear to use his name in disrespect, without honor and glory. It's
a fear dishonoring him. It's a fear. And I tell you what, if you don't
fear some kind of judgment, something's wrong with you. I don't mean
hell, but some kind of judgment or wrath. the Lord's displeasure,
that he will chase them. And there's a fear of that. The
fear of the Lord is clean. By the fear of the Lord, men
depart from evil. But he says here, to all that trust him,
to all Jacob's... Jacob was afraid. We're going
to look at that Sunday, I believe, chapter 28 of Genesis. Jacob's
ladder. But he was afraid for years,
wasn't he? Esau was chasing him and others.
He was afraid. But the Lord is saying to all
of his sons of Jacob, fear not. And he gives us so many reasons
why not to fear. Fear not. He says, I have, I
have, I have, and I will, and I will, because that's who I
am. All right? Fear not. Now, here's why. And you have his word on it.
And you can trust him. If you go out of here without
any peace or assurance, it's your own fault. What more can
he say to you than he says to you? Fear not, he says, for I
have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. I have redeemed thee. You're
bought with a price. I've created, I've formed, I've
made you, I've redeemed thee. Past tense. All of this is past
tense. Like Romans 8. For whom he did foreknow, he
did predestinate. Whom he did predestinate, he
called. Past tense. Whom he called, he justified.
Whom he justified, he glorified. What shall we say to these things?
If God be for us, Who could be against it? What could be against
it? Nothing, because all things work together for us. Because
God is for us. I have redeemed thee. We're bought
with the price. Who did Jesus Christ come down
to save? He said, I don't know if I can
believe this because I'm such a sinner. Oh, are you? Scott used to say, The more you
can convince me that I'm a sinner, the more right I have to the
blood of Jesus Christ. Oh, but my sins are ever before
me. Oh, are they? I remember somebody else saying
that. David. Was David a saved man? Was David
a redeemed man? Did not God say so? Why? He's
better than us? He's a great sinner. This is
a faithful saying. It's true because God said it. Calvin didn't say it. God said
it. Jesus Christ came into this world
to save sinners. Christ came to shed his precious
blood to redeem thieves on the cross. Rahab the harlot, prodigal
son. I have redeemed thee, bought
with a price, not with silver and gold. from your vain conversation
received by tradition from the elder, but with the precious
blood of the Lamb, the blood of God's Son, a purchased possession. He said, I have redeemed thee,
thou art mine. Don't you like that? Mine. Now, if you've bought something
and paid for it, and it's yours, and it's precious to you, you're
not going to go And that's what he says about his people. You're
mine. My son. My child. Who are we
talking about? Those that trust him. Those that believe him. My son. My child. My wife. You're my
wife. Who's he talking to? You're mine. My wife. Who's he talking to?
Gomer. You're my child. Who's he talking
to? That one that was in the field that he made pretty and
she got dressed up and went out and said it again and boasted
in her own beauty. That's his child. He never disowns
his children. You're mine. Are you ever going
to disown your children? Would you listen to this? Will
you ever disown your children for anything? Anything? Well, if you then, being evil,
How much more? God said, you're mine. Bought
and paid for. I blessed you, I bought you,
and I won't take it back. And I won't cast you out for
any reason. You're mine. How come? Not anything we did. Redeem you by the blood of for
Christ's sake. That's why I had called thee
verse 1 by thy name. I've called thee by thy name.
What's your name? Jacob. What's that mean? Cheat, supplanter, deceiver,
sinner, the worst kind. What's your name? Jacob. Is that
you? Is that you? Fear not, O Jacob,
for you are mine. Jacob have I loved. Jacob is
my chosen. Every son of Jacob, everyone
that when God asks them to tell him their name, every one of
them that says, I'm a Jacob, God says, you're mine. Do you
hear me? Like I said, if you go out of
here without any assurance, You must have been asleep or something.
What's your name? Wretched? Miserable? Poor? Blind? Naked? Deaf? Dumb? Unworthy? Leper? Dog? Worm? Prodigal son? Mary Magdalene? Rahab the harlot? Republican? Thief on the cross? Is that it? You're mine. All
those were his. Every one of those. are his.
He saved everyone, healed everyone. You're mine. But now, everyone
that says, I'm Jacob, I'm all those things, he says, no, you're
Israel. You're Israel. Change your name.
What's that mean? Prince. Son of God. Son of God. Verse 7, he says, everyone's
called by my name. Son of God, behold what manner
of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God." Which brings me to my next thing the Lord,
the next thing the Lord says, I have. Verse 5. He said, since
thou wast precious in my sight and been honorable, I have loved
thee. Jacob have I loved. Yea, he said,
I have loved thee with an everlasting love, love that saves, love that
keeps, love that guards, love that protects, love that provides,
love that is faithful. that will never be unfaithful,
love that forgives, love that forgets, love that endures, love
that never fails. I have loved thee. And once you're
loved by God, you're always loved by God. Why? Not for anything in us. Nothing lovely in the thief and
the cross. Everything ugly. He just called. That's it. You know, they asked the Lord
in Malachi. The Lord said, I have loved thee.
And they said, wherein hast thou loved us? How do we know? How do we know God loves us?
Can I know that God loves me? How do we know? They asked that
to the Lord in Malachi 1. God said, I have loved you, saith
the Lord. Yet you say, well, how? Wherein hast thou loved
us? And he said, Was not Esau Jacob's brother, saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob. Now, all of us have family and
former friends and people all around us that don't believe
God, that don't love the truth, that don't worship Christ, that
don't need Christ, do you? That's why you're here, aren't
you? You know why you're here? If
you need Christ, if you believe God, if you believe Christ, if
you hope in Him, if you need Christ, if you enjoy hearing
about Christ, God, you know why? God loves you. Oh, he wouldn't
have shown you these things. You understand that? That's how
you know, was not Esau Jacob's brother? I passed him by, but
I love Jacob. How do you know? I revealed myself
to him. I came to him time and time again. Same God said to Abraham, I'll
bless you. I came to Abraham, a heathen,
and revealed himself to him. Came to Isaac, said, I'm with
thee. Came to Jacob in our text Sunday, said, I'm with thee.
I'm your God. Didn't do that to Esau. If you love the Son of God, if
you love the truth, it's because God first loved you. And if he loves you, fear not. He said in our text, I gave Egypt,
I have given, I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Cebu.
You know how many people he's passed by in our area alone? Will God destroy a whole nation
to save just a few worthless sinners? Yes, he will. Kill all
the firstborn of Egypt and most of the men in the Red Sea. Who
did He save? A bunch of ungrateful sinners. I gave Egypt for that. And the
greatest proof, He gave His Son. Now, buddy, if God gave His Son
to save us, you've got to know He loves you, don't you? I gave Egypt. Gave them over. to reprobate mine, but he says,
O Ephraim, I love this, how shall I give thee up, Ephraim? I can't. I can't give you up. Dear mother,
since I was, verse 4, precious in my sight, I have been honorable.
Oh, my. Not honorable until he redeemed,
until born again, a child, but he says, you're precious. Precious,
dear, a treasure. He says peculiar. Peculiar treasure. Dear to me, one whom he desires,
one whom he greatly has great pleasure in. Precious. Honorable. Do you feel like you've
been honorable? No. Nobody in here does. Nobody does. But I tell you what,
look at this, Revelation 5. The world dishonors our Lord
in every way. They dishonor Him. They don't
attribute any glory to Him. And they blaspheme His name. Revelation 5. They curse His
name. They blaspheme His name. They
don't give Him any glory or credit or honor. all of God's people
do. All the sons of Jacob do. In
this sense, they're honorable that they give Him all the honor.
Look at Revelation 5, verse 9. Everybody in heaven, they're
singing this song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book,
to open the seals thereof, for Thou wast slain and Thou hast
redeemed us to God by Thy blood. out of every kindred, nation,
kindred and tongue and people and nation. And I heard a voice,
and down in verse 12, thousands, ten thousands, they were saying,
worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power. That is, for
us to acknowledge that He has power and riches and wisdom and
strength and honor and glory and blessing. Blessing, verse
13, I heard every creature there saying, blessing and honor and
glory and power be unto him. How many people are saying that
today? Every son of Jacob is. You're honorable. Because they
give him all the honor. And honorable in that they are
called by his name. Sons of God. What an honor. What
an honor. I have loved thee. Therefore,
now here, He says, I will. I will. Therefore, I will. Verse
2, since I have redeemed thee, since I have called thee by thy
name, since I have given all these for thee, my son especially. Verse 2, he says, when thou passest
through the waters, I will be with thee. and through the rivers,
they will not overflow there. I will be with thee. The same Lord says that to all
his people, said that to Abraham, said that to Isaac, says that
to Jacob and all the sons of Jacob. I am with thee, and I
will be with thee, and I always have been with thee. Though you
didn't know it, I love throughout the book of Isaiah, he says things
like, I girded you, though you didn't know me. I put you through this, though
you didn't know me." Again, like Gomer. She had a faithful husband
that had married her, and she played the harlot, and she thought
all her lovers, when she went out sinning, unfaithful, she
thought all her lovers were bringing all these things to her, until
he brought her to the end of herself. And she realized, hmm,
it was my faithful husband. I've girded you, though, that
you haven't known me. I have been with you. I am with
you. I always will be with you. Right before our Lord went back
to glory, you know what the last thing He said to His disciples
up on that mountain was? The very last words He said to
them before they saw Him go up into the sky. He said, no, I
am with thee always, even to the end of the earth. I am with thee. When you pass
through the waters, not if, when, because they all do. In Hebrews
11 it says they did all pass through the Red Sea, the waters,
deep waters. Psalm 103, those that go down
to the sea in ships, these do business in great waters. Deep waters. The waters of the
world. A world full of sin. David thought they were going
over his head. My iniquity has gone over my head. It can't go
over your head. Your head is always above water. That's not a play on words, that's
a fact. You're the body, Christ is the
head. Christ said, be of good cheer, I have overcome this world. Why? Not to show us how, but
to do us for. He said, sin shall not have dominion
over you. He didn't say it won't trouble
you. It won't vex you. It doesn't say you won't do it. He says
it won't have dominion over you. It won't swallow you up. It won't
drown in perdition like the other men. You won't. Why? You're mine. Why don't you believe the Lord?
And despite your sins, it gives Him great honor to believe Him
despite your sins. through the waters, when thou
passest through the waters, troubles, trials, deep waters, O my, the
river of woe shall not be overflown. Why? I will be with thee, thy
troubles to bless, and sanctify to thee thy deepest distress."
So the Don is going through deep, deep water. Some of you have
been through the same thing. Did you drown? Did you go down
and not come back up? No. Why? Why? You? Other people? No. Christ said, I am with you. I did. It's the only way. How did you make it through?
I didn't. The Lord brought me through.
Right? Hold on. When? Not if. When?
They all went through it. They all went through it. The same afflictions are accomplished
in your brethren. What do they accomplish? Trust
in the Lord. Belief. Rest. Peace. Waiting on the Lord. Wait, I
say. Wait on the Lord. You'd have
fainted if you hadn't believed to see the goodness of the Lord
in the land of the living. But wait, I say, on the Lord.
You'll see. Wait. You'll see. He's with you. He's with you. The river's raging,
swelling of the Jordan. What are you going to do with
the swelling of the Jordan? Children of Israel, the first
bunch went through the Red Sea. The second bunch came to the
River Jordan. And maybe that even looked more imposing. Have
you ever been near a raging river? I've been in one. I thought I
was going to drown. And I had to get to Iraq. That was my salvation. Got to
Iraq. Our Lord said, I'll be with you. I'm with you. Strengthen
the comfort. Pick us up. With us. For us. God be for us. Everything and
everyone works together for us. Egypt even. All these things
work for us. I will give men for thee and
people for thy life, He said. I will. I will. They shall not
overflow you. Jonah, oh my, when's the last
time you've read this? Jonah said, you cast me in the
deep, in the midst of the sea, and the floods compassed me about.
All thy billows and waves passed over me. I said, I'm cast out
of thy sight. Yet I will look again toward thy
holy temple. Look to Christ. I said, I'm cast out of your
sight. Yet I'll look again. The waters compassed me about,
even to the soul. The depths closed around about
me. The weeds wrapped about my head. I went down to the bottom.
Yet, you know how many times it says yet? Yet, hast thou brought
up my life from corruption, O Lord my God. When my soul painted
within me, I remembered the Lord. My prayer came in unto that holy
temple. They that observe lying vanities
forsake their own mercy, but I will sacrifice unto thee of
the voice of thanksgiving. I'll pay that that I have vowed.
Salvation is of the Lord." And the Lord sent him. And the Lord
put him out on the dry land, got him out of the depths. Out
of the depths, said I, cried unto thee, O Lord, if thou shouldst
mark indifference, who shall stand? yet there is forgiveness
with thee." Oh, my. Look at our text. It says, when
you go through the fire, verse 2, when thou walkest through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned. The flame won't even kindle on
you. Listen to this. There's three
men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Ananias, Azariah, and Mashiach. is a real name. They fell down
bound into the midst of the furnace, the fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar,
the king, though was astonished, rose up in haste, said to his
counselors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the
fire? They said, That's true, O king.
He said, Lo, I see four men, loose, in the midst of the fire, walking.
in fire, and they have no hurt. And the fourth is like the Son
of God. And it says, when they got them
out of the furnace, the princes, governors, captains, kings, counselors
gathered together, and they saw these men, and upon their bodies
the fire had no power. There wasn't one hair of their
head singed. Neither was their coats changed.
No smell of fire on them at all. Now, you know what that's talking
about? That means sin will have no lasting effect at all on God's
people. These trials we go through, the
sins that we commit and fall to, in the end, in Revelation
21 says there'll be no more sorrow, no more tears. No more remembrance
of pain, no more death. It won't even be the smell of it.
No smell of pain, no remembrance of former things will not be
remembered or come to mind. It won't even be a whiff of smoke. Why? Because God said, I will
be with them. I will. And he says in verse
5, I will bring thy seed from the east and gather it from the
west. I will say to the north. We want so desperately for some
to know the Lord. I mean, we do. No one. But we can't do it. No one feels more helpless than
I do. No one. And no one takes more blame than
I do. I blame myself all the time. You ought to do more. You ought
to do this. You ought to do that. But here's my hope. Here's all my
comfort. We can't bring anybody. We don't
save anybody. We don't convince anybody. We
can't do it. Try as we may, we can't do it.
Talk, preach, do what we may. We can't do it. But the Lord,
if it's the Lord's will, if He says, I will, So we trust in
Him. We call upon Him. Lord, pray,
we hope it's Your will. Will You? Will You? Sometimes
He will. But it's Him. I will say to the
north, give up. Connecticut, give up. Come down
south where you belong. I will say, give up. Give up. The Lord's got to make a man
give up, doesn't He? The Lord's got to get a man down on the
ground Old Jacob and Rasaway would say, now, do you give?
Do you give up? My brothers used to do that to
me. Oh, man. You know, I might have said uncle, but I didn't
mean it. I couldn't wait. To this day, I'd like to get
my brother down. But not his people. Oh, no. They submit. They bow. They give up. Don't
they? Everyone that gives up, the Lord
did that. Everyone that quits trying, the
Lord does that. He brings us. Blessed is the
man the Lord chooses and brings and causes to approve. Everyone,
verse 7, he says, is called by my name. I have created him for
my glory. I have formed him. I made him.
I did it. I have made him and I will bring
him. I will bring him. That's our hope for us and our
children. What the Lord begins, He will
finish. And then down there, I've got
to close. He said, I will. I have. I will. I have. How do we know that He has done
this for us? How do we know that He will be
with us? How do we know that He means
these things? Because look at verse 3. He says, For I am the Lord thy
God, the Holy One of Israel. I am. That's who I am. How do
we know that He will redeem us? Because that's His name. I am
the Redeemer. How do we know that He will save
us? Because that's His name. He said, verse 3, Thy Savior. And everyone that really believes
and looks to the Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord, calls Him their Lord
and their Savior, you can be certain that He has and that
He will because He is. I am. I am. I am by Lord and
God. I am. Is He your Lord? Why? Did you make Him that? If you
did, then you've got the wrong one. But He just revealed Himself
to you. Look down at verse 10. You're my witnesses, saith the
Lord, and my servant, whom I have chosen. All the sons of Jacob
know that. You didn't choose me, Christ
said. I chose you. Why? Verse 10. That you may know. Know what? Know what you are and know who
he is. That you may know and believe.
What? Not what? The person. Me. Believe me. What else? I've chosen you that you may
understand. And we know in part, we preach
in part, but this much I know. I know whom I have believed.
Don't you? I know He's God. I know He's
God. I believe Him. You know why I
believe Him? Not in my free will, because
He made me believe Him. That's what Diane said to you,
didn't she, Mindy? This woman who'd never had any
religious background at all, all of a sudden heard a message,
and she believed. And she was talking to Mindy
about it, and she said, I know it's up to the Lord, because
I just rejected it thumbs down. All of it. I rejected it completely.
And now I believe. I really believe. She said, I
know it's up to the Lord. These people have chosen to believe
me, not what? Not in themselves, me. And understand
that I am he. Understand that what? That he
is God. Christ is God. That he's our
wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption,
our priest, our prophet, our priest. We don't have complete understanding,
but we have this much understanding. Christ is all. If you understand
that Jesus Christ is all your salvation, He chose you. And you're my witnesses,
he said. He said that twice, didn't he?
You're my witnesses, whom I've chosen. What's a witness do? A real witness, a faithful witness,
is one who's seen something and heard something. And they tell
others that. That's it. You can't get on a
witness stand if you didn't see anything, didn't hear anything.
All right, Peter got up to preach one day. And he said, we can't
help but tell the things we've seen and heard. What, Peter? What did Peter preach? Christ. All of God's chosen people elect,
if you ask them about salvation, you know what's going to come
out of their mouth? Jesus Christ. Salvation is every
one of them. That's how you know. That's how
you know. That's how you know. You're my
witness that I am. I'm the Lord. Verse 11. Beside
me, there's no way. He said, I have. Here's another.
I have. I left out. I have declared. He didn't. I didn't say I begged you. I've
asked you. I've offered. He didn't say that.
I have declared and I have saved. I have saved past tense. Yes, past tense. I have showed. Like old Manoah's wife said,
he wouldn't have showed us these things. And therefore, you're
my witnesses that I am God, that I am your Lord, I am your Savior,
I am your Redeemer. You know why he'll be faithful
to us? Because he is our Father. You
know why he'll be faithful to us? Because he is our husband.
He said, you may file for divorce, but you're not getting it. You
know why he would be faithful to us? Because he's a friend
that's sticking closer than a brother. He said he was born for adversity. You may be unfaithful to him,
but because he says, I am faithful. You're a friend. I call you friends,
he said. Well, all his friends deserted
him, didn't they? Peter, John, all of them, they deserted him,
didn't they? He deserted them. He gathered them all back together,
didn't he? I've called you friend. You're my friend. I am. That's the kind of friend I want.
Him. I am. I want to be. But thus saith
the Lord, I have, I will. Verse 13, I close, Before the
day walks, I am He. There's none that can deliver
out of my hand. It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands
of God, and yet, if you're in His hands, nobody's going to
pluck you out. I will work. and who shall let
it. Can I just show you one thing
that he will not do? I told you what all, he said what
all he will do because of who he is. You know what he will
not do? What he cannot do? Will not do?
Look at verse 25. Verse 25 says, I am he, I, even
I am he that blotteth out thy transgression. for my own sake
and will not remember that sin. If I blessed you, if I told you
all these things, and you believe them, and you trust them, and
you're looking to me, I will not take it back. Can't do it. You trust me. I
will not. I'm not lying to you, Lord. I'm
not lying to you. I cannot lie. Cannot lie. Trust me. But, but, but God. If you're going to but, say,
but God. No one that's ever trusted in
Him has been desolate, cast out, guilty. Not one. Trust Him. All right. Stand with me. Our Lord, thank You for Your
Word. You've told Isaiah, to comfort
your people. He told your preachers to comfort
your people. This is what we've endeavored
to do. Thy Word is our comfort, our strength, on that which you
caused us to hope. And Lord, we know you're true. Every man's a liar. You're not
slack concerning your promise. Some men count slackness. Long-suffering
us, we're not willing that any of your people should perish.
We're so glad. God that promises and gives salvation
cannot lie. Oh Lord, we fear, we doubt, we
have no assurance because we look to ourselves. We look at
ourselves. And we're Jacobs. But the very
thing that gives us great fear and worry should be that which
causes us to hope in Your Word, in Your promises. You've given
us exceeding great and precious promises that the likes of Jacob
are precious to you, bought with a price, and you'll never leave
them or forsake them. Oh Lord, that's us. So we want
to believe Thee and trust Thee and not be afraid, not fear. Fear not. You say, peace I leave
with Thee. Peace I give unto Thee. Oh Lord,
enable us to believe in You and trust You. for our peace, for
thy glory and honor that we have met here tonight and ask these
things. Amen.