Now everything we do here is on purpose and for a purpose. From the messages preached down
to whatever, singing, playing of these instruments, even to
the way we dress and conduct ourselves, everything is on purpose
and for the purpose of to promote worship, to worship and reverence
for our God. Preaching is intended to glorify
God. Preaching, hopefully, every message
in some way gives God all the glory. helps his people. Singing, the
songs we sing, well, they're meant to glorify
God. The songs we sing, we look at
them carefully, don't we? They're chosen on purpose. Playing
of the instrument. If you'll listen carefully to
the songs that are being played for the prelude, or that the
music right before we start the service, it's a prelude. It's
been chosen, and not just Eeny, Meeny, Miny, Moe. It's been chosen
by our pianists for the God-honoring, God-glorifying
hymns. And they're scriptural. If it's
not scriptural, it's not good. from the preaching to the songs
we sing. And these things also prepare
our hearts to worship. That's why we do them. We prepare
our hearts to worship, and we need to enter into these things.
I've told you so many times how much I enjoy it. That's the reason
I wanted a bigger, louder piano. My hearing's getting bad. I wanted
to buy the best piano we could buy, because I loved that prelude
and that offertory. As the music played while we
took up the offering, that's just not something to stop a
gap. It's not done so we can showcase
cherished talent. God forbid. You don't want any concert pianists. I believe we have the best. But
anyway, last Sunday she was playing, she was playing Like a River
Glorious, is God's perfect piece. That's for the operatory. She
chose that. And I was sitting there looking
at my notes, and oh, that caught my attention. And I caught myself
singing along with that, and I That's from Isaiah 26. That song was written from Isaiah
26. Stayed upon Jehovah. And I've
had that on my mind ever since. I've had that verse in scripture.
And that's what we're going to look at right now. That's where
that hymn came from. All right, let's look at it.
Let's read verses 1 and 2 of Isaiah 26. shall this song be sung." In
the land of Judah, we have a strong city. Salvation will God appoint
for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates that the righteous
nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. In that day, he
says, this song is going to be sung. What day? Well, look back
at chapter 25. Verses 6 through 9 tell us about
that day. In this mountain, remember Mount
Zion, glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our
God, Mount Zion. In this mountain shall the Lord
of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast
of wines on the leaves. That means the best wine. of fat things full of marrow,
of wine on the leaves well refined." That means it has been well fermented
and aged. And he will destroy in this mountain
the face of the covering cast over all people, and the veil
that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death in victory. The Lord God will wipe away tears
from off all faces, and the rebuke of his people shall he take away.
from off all the earth. For the Lord hath spoken it,
and it shall be said in that day, Lo, this is our God, and
we have waited for him, and he will save us. This is the Lord.
We have waited for him. We will be glad and rejoice in
his salvation. So he says, In that day shall
this song be sung, in that day, that day on Mount Calvary. is
that day. That day on Mount Calvary when
our Lord God made his Son to be sin for us, who knew no sin? That we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. That day when he said, this is
my body broken for you, my blood shed for you. The Passover feast
where Christ served up his own body and blood, the feast of
the Passover. That day when the veil of the
temple was literally rinsed in two so that sinners to come into
the holiest of holies, that day when the veil over our hearts
was lifted so that the mystery of God's gospel was removed so
we see clearly, that day when Christ swallowed up death in
victory and rebuked the law, removed the rebuke of the law,
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, that day
he blotted it out with crimson blood That day, yes, on that cross
is our God. This is our God we've waited
on. He will save us. He did save us. He did, having obtained eternal
life. These are the best messages.
Whether you know these verses or not, or understand them fully,
the best messages are the ones most full of God's word, God's
truth. But on that cross was our God. And he hath saved us. Yes, in
that day it will be said, This is our God. He will save us.
We've waited for him. He will save us. This is the
Lord. That name Lord, this is Jehovah. This is Jehovah. And we're glad,
oh, so glad and rejoice in his salvation. His salvation. And that's why we sing what we
sing in verse 1 of chapter 26. That's why we sing this song.
In that day, this song shall be sung in the land of Judah.
We have a strong city. We have a strong city. Turn over
to Hebrews 12 with me. What's this city he's talking
about, this strong city? Well, I immediately thought of
the cities of refuge. Did you? Did that come to mind? Remember the Old Testament story
of the cities of refuge, how that if a man, a manslayer, a
man was guilty of murder, and the law was pursuing him,
the law said he's got to die eye for eye, tooth for tooth,
death for death. He's got to die. He's a murderer.
The law was pursuing him, but God put this provision in, if
you could get to the city of refuge. And God made not just
one, but seven of them. Plenteous in mercy and redeeming. God said there's seven places,
seven cities of refuge. If you'll go to, just get to
that city of refuge and go in there and the law can't touch
you until you've had a fair trial. The law can't touch you. Well,
Christ is the believer's city of refuge. We're all guilty as
charged. guilty as charged, and he is
our city of refuge, a strong city. If we flee to him for refuge,
the law can't touch us. The law that says, Die, must
say, Turn him loose. A ransom has been found. He is
in the city of refuge. Let him go. Let him go. Christ died. Who is he that condemned
him? Here is a part of that city,
it's the same one, Hebrews 12, verses 22 and 23. We are coming
to Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God, the heavenly
Jerusalem, and an innumerable company of angels, to the general
assembly and the church of the firstborn, the church which is
written in heaven. to God, the judge of all, the
spirits, souls, spirits of just men, made perfect. I thought a lot when I just read
that. Just men. Better than anyone? No, no. Just
men, but justified. Why? Because they are in the
city, you see. And made perfect now. Lot's perfect
now. He's done with that sin. Well, the Church now. In the context, we can go back
there to our text. In the context, God's Church
is indeed a refuge. It's a city of refuge for God's
people, is it not? Don't you find this place to
be a refuge for sinners? Is this a good place to be? is I don't like to visit hospitals. I really don't. They're just
kind of, you know, they smell bad. They just make you feel
bad. Right? You that way? Hospitals. But now if you're sick, it's
a good place to be, isn't it? If you're sick, I mean really
sick, you need a good physician. that nobody can help you but
a good physician. A hospital is a good place to
be. You'll be glad you're there.
Well, that's what this place is. A hospital for folks in bad
shape, bad shape. God's church is a mercy, a place
of mercy, a city of mercy, a city of fellowships in an unmerciful
world. I love Psalm 119 where it says,
David said, I'm a companion of them that fear thee. And he went
on down a few verses to say, they that fear thee will be glad
when they see me. We've got the same problems.
We live in the same world, and we need the same gospel, and
we find mutual consolation together. Like Maurice would say, we just
hug up. snuggled up together in this
hospital for sinners. A strong city, he said, a strong
city. Look at this, verse 1. A strong
city. Salvation will God appoint for
walls and for bulwarks. This city is surrounded with
salvation. Walls and fortifications is what
that is, walls. I visited a few cities now. When we were in Barcelona, Spain,
there were walls, Roman walls still standing, walls from the
Roman Empire. I mean, they were, some of these
walls were about twenty feet thick, big walls from a thousand,
two years ago. to fortify that city, and these
bulwarks were fortifications, towers where men stood on the
watchtower with bows and arrows and cannons and all that, walls
and bulwarks surrounding the city to keep it safe. And none
of those cities, none of them survived the onslaught of enemy
army, none of them. Rome itself, none of those cities. But now, wait a minute, God says,
my city. This is the wall around it. You
can't see it, but it's there. I've appointed salvation as a
hedge, as a wall around my people. Salvation, that's their defense. Salvation. You think of how long
God's kingdom, we're talking about the church, we're talking
about God's kingdom, we're talking about God's people. Think how
long it's been standing. I visited that city where Columbus
sailed out of. Well, much further back than
that it went, but the Romans walked through it. Think how long the Church has
been standing against the onslaught of this world. Think about it.
The world has tried to, from the very beginning, has tried
to put it out of business, hasn't it? But it's still standing.
Why? God's appointed salvation. Heads to the back. Look at Job.
Go to Job, chapter 1, with the book of Job, chapter 1. The reason
this city is standing is because it's God's city. God built this
city. God's kingdom. God's appointed
salvation for this kingdom. It's made up of people, too.
People. It's not of this world. It's
not a literal kingdom you can see, but it's made up of people
that God has joined together, and no man or no thing can move
it. Nothing touches, nothing harms
it. That's what the psalms say, but what God ordained. Like Job. The book of Job, chapter 1, we're
hedged about. Just like Job, look at Job 1,
verse 7, just to read on down through here. Now, the Lord said
to Satan, Satan reported to him one day. The Lord said to him,
now, wait a minute, before we go any further, you might not
know this, but you know this is the oldest book in the Bible.
The book of Job, it's the oldest recorded book in the Bible. When
this took place, I believe it took place a long time before.
Abraham, Moses, a long time. The oldest book in the Bible.
Well, read on. It says now in verse 7, the Lord
said to Satan, Satan appeared to him, whence comest thou? Satan
answered the Lord and said, from going to and fro in the earth
and from walking up and down in it, like a roaring lion. The Lord said unto Satan, have
you considered my servant Job? There's none like him in the
earth, a perfect, upright man, one that feareth God, chews evil. Satan answered and said, Job
doesn't fear you, or that is, Job fears you for nothing. The
only reason Job fears you is because, verse 10, you've hedged
him about. You've got to hedge about him,
verse 10, about him, about his house, about all that he has
on every side. You've blessed the work of his
hand, his substance. I can't touch him because you've
got a hedge around him. That's why he fears you. Of course
it is. Of course it is. I can't get to him. Verse 11. Now here's what Satan said to
the Lord. You put forth your hand. You touch him. Touch what
he has, his possessions. Well, he'll curse you. No, Satan, he won't curse me. You can't touch him because I've
hedged him, and he won't curse me because I've hedged him, because
I've given him something more than things. And then you know
the story, don't you? The Lord said, Have at him. Have
at him. And you know the story. took
away everything, everything, everything. We're not just, it's
not a fairytale here. Roberta, everything he owned,
he lost. Now get, let's think about this
a minute. Everything he owned, he lost. All of his children, all of his
possessions, his wife was cussing And he finally lost his health.
He's laying there with boils all over his body. How bad can
it get? Well, he didn't lose his soul,
and nor did he lose his faith in his God. Look at chapter 2. I like this. Oh, I like this. Commit this
to memory. This is memory verse number 3. Look at this, verse
10, or verse 9. His wife said unto him, Do you
still retain your integrity? Curse God. Is your God sovereign? Your God did this? Do you believe
your God did this? How could a loving God do this?
Huh? Well, he did. Just cuss him and
die. What's the sense in that? What
do you have to live for? Job surely thought I don't know why. And the whole
book of Job is about that. Job thinking, I really don't
understand why this happened. And Job started musing and surmising,
and coming up when Job got in a mess, too, didn't he? Job got
in trouble. His mouth got in front of his brain. And Job started, oh, maybe I
didn't deserve this. Well, but now, in the beginning,
verse 10, he said unto her, Your speaking is one of the foolish
women speaketh. Look at this now. What? Shall
we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive
evil? Do you understand that? Job did. And all of this did not Job sin
with his lip. Now look at the end of the story,
okay? Look at Job 42, last chapter
in this book. Here's the end of the story.
It always ends happily ever after with all of God's people. I'm
talking about the story of the handsome prince coming to get
his pauper bride. It always ends. happily ever
after for her. She always gets everything. She always gets to live in the
palace with the King. Look at chapter 42, verse 10. And the Lord turned the captivity
of Job when he prayed for his friend. Also the Lord gave Job
twice as much as he had before. And verse 12. So the Lord blessed
latter end of Job more than his beginning. My boy, the Lord has hedged his
people back. And though you don't, you know,
maybe we're going through a tough time, but the end is good. It
always is. Just hang on. Just hang on. Stand on the promises now. All
right? But it's God's church, and he
hath hedged it about. Go back to our text in Isaiah
26. He's hedged it about. We're kept
by the power of God. Salvation. This gospel. You come
here this morning to hear this gospel, and it's going to keep
you. Deborah, it's going to keep you until you come back again
to hear it again, he said. We're kept by this gospel. Kept
from falling. prone to wonder, Lord, I feel
it, prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, take and seal
it." How? Right here. So he seals it with
promises after promises. You get that? After promises.
Job, things are bad. Job, I just need to remember one more.
Job, things are bad. Joe, that can't, oh Scott's good at
this, isn't he? Scott Richardson. Keep saying
something so much, you'll never forget Joe. Can't get any worse than that,
Joe. Can't get any better than this,
Joe. Everybody's forsaken. Only one that matters. You'll
see in the end. Well, look at here, Isaiah 26,
verse 2. Open ye the gates of this city,
that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
Open the gates of the city. Open the gates. The gates of
the city are open. God is still adding to his Church,
such as should be said." That's a scripture I just quoted.
That's what it said in the book of Acts, didn't it, Ed? God added
daily, such as should be said. That doesn't mean people that
ought to be saved. People deserve it. That means
such as God in his purpose elected and determined should be said.
The Lord is still adding to his church daily such as should be
said. The Lord is still adding to his
congregation those ordained to eternal life. He sure hope is. They're going to believe. They
sure are. They're going to hear the shepherd's voice. They're
going to come in the gate. The gate's open. That's why the
gospel is being preached this morning, because the gate is
wide open. Like in Noah's day. That happened
on purpose. When God's ark was finished,
remember, the door of the ark was left open for seven days,
remember? Well, Christ said, as in the
days of Noah, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. This is
just like the days of Noah. We're in the last days, right
up to the judgment's about to fall, the world's about to perish,
but Sam, this door is still wide open. Isn't our God good? Should
have shut it long time ago. Should have shut it in 73. Shut
it in the face of that young rebel teenager. His fist in God's
face. Didn't give a flip for the gospel
his dad loved dearly. Should have shut the door in
his face. Left him outside. No, left it open so that the chief of sinners
could come in. Shut the door. Here comes one of those beggars.
No, no, no, no, no. This is a soup kitchen. Open
the door. Shut it in the face of the rich
and the famous, the fat and the sassy. But open
it to the poor and the needy, to the worst. Let them come in. They don't need to work for food
either. Open the gates, it said. Who
will go in? Well, just who will go in? This
city, the church, God's entering into salvation. Just who will?
Thy people will be willing in the day of thy power, like Rebecca.
Isn't that your favorite story, Rebecca? Abraham's servant came looking
for a bride for Isaac. Oh, the master, what a son the
master has. Rich in all things. Put all things
into my master's sons, and he's so, oh, if you marry him, you
got you a husband. Whew! When do we leave? Huh? Do we go now? Let's not stop
and eat. Let's go now. Huh? The high people shall be willing.
All that the Father giveth me, Christ said, they'll come to
me. They'll come to me. And him that cometh, I will in no wise cast out. No wise. Well, look at the text
here. It says in verse 2, Open the
gates that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter
in. What are we talking about right now? We're talking about
the Church, right? We're talking about salvation.
We're talking about Christ. We're talking about, and you
know, the church is his body. Salvation is Christ himself.
When you come to Christ, you come to Mount Zion. You come
to the church. He brings you in the flock. Christ
is the door of the sheepfold. Christ is the building we dwell
in, and we're all here together. You see what I'm saying? You
can't separate Christ and his church. Christ and his church,
they go together like husband and wife. Christ and his church.
You can't mention one without mentioning the other. Think about
it. When you say Stan, what do you think of? Huh? Stan Sherry. Don't you? Huh? Think about it. Henry Burdick. It's like it's
one word, isn't it? Joel Manson. Isn't it? They go together, Christ
and church. You can't separate them. Christ
sure won't separate them, does he? Christ and his church, they're
inseparable. You see? Come unto me, Christ
said. Oh, ye that labor in a heavy
laden, I'll give you rest. And we find that in Christ. Yes,
we find that in his church, don't we? True church, Joe won't send
people, what, no, you've got to work, you better work, you
better work, get out there and get them blessed. No, rest, you'll
find rest. Come to Christ, you'll find mercy,
won't you, Henry? Same way with this church, you
won't find a hard taskmaster. You're no good, worthless, you
ain't no good, they're going to kick you out of here. No,
you find mercy, don't you? Isn't this a good place, huh? Oh, I love thy tabernacle. How
amiable are thy tabernacles. It's a good place to be. Don't
you just feel at home here? If you wouldn't fall asleep,
we'd get a bunch of lazy boys. Now, I'm being silly here, but
truthfully now, we come here to find rest. This ought to be
a place we enjoy coming to. Hopefully, if we don't, maybe
it's my fault. But Brother Greg Ellenquist, they're
furnishing their new auditorium right now. They're about finished
with it. I'll sleep instead. But this
is a place of comfort. It's church, church. Ah, boy. Well, look at who goes
in. It says, those that keep the
truth, seekers of the truth. And I don't have time to have
you turn, but I do have time, but I'm not going to. Over in
Isaiah 59, just jot this reference down. verses 12 through 15. Well, we're in Isaiah. Let's turn, OK? 59. Just a few pages. Isaiah
59. Now, he said those that keep
the truth are going to enter into the city. Those that are
righteous, that keep the truth, are going to enter into the city.
Look at this. Isaiah 59, verse 4. Here's Isaiah's lamentation about
the general people. Isaiah 59 verse 4, None called
it for justice, nor any pleaded for truth. Is that what you find with people
that you meet on the streets? Do you find anybody asking, How
can God be just and justify a guilty sinner like me? Have you ever
heard of such a thing? Truth. What is truth? I've been
looking for the truth. I've been going all over, visiting
churches here and there, and this church is doing that, and
this church is doing that. I'd like to know the truth. Is
there a place where the truth is found? I'd like to know the
truth about God. I hear God, them talk about God
this way and that way. I don't hear anybody calling
for that. Do you hear anybody calling for that? Look down at verse 14. Judgment's turned way backward.
Justice standeth afar off. Truth is fallen in the street.
Equity cannot enter. Yea, truth failing. My dad made
this observation. He said, whenever you hear a
religious person or anybody bring up religion, you know they're
going to say something about religion. Don't you just cringe?
Because it's going to be so far from the truth. It's going to
be flippant. It's going to be brazen. It's
going to be blasphemous. It's going to be something absolutely
contrary to the truth, isn't it? Isn't it, Sam? You know how it is. Whenever
somebody, you know they're going to say something religious and you
just, oh, what are they going to say now? It didn't used to
be that way. People at least would read their
Bible, you know, King James Bible, and they at least said something,
had some truth in it. You know what I'm saying? Or
what he was saying. None call it the truth. The ones
that are going in this city, dude, the ones that are going
in this city, they hear the truth. They're seeking the truth. Paul
told young Timothy, he said, time's going to come. He said,
preach the word, Timothy. Preach the word, Timothy. Don't
sing, don't dance, don't entertain. Preach the word, Timothy. In
season, out of season. It's out of season now. That's
why all this entertainment's going on in religion, because
people don't want to hear preaching. If I had to hear what they hear,
I wouldn't want to hear it either. I'd rather dance. But people
don't want to hear, especially the truth. That's what he said
to Timothy. They'll turn away their ears
from the truth. What's the truth say? That God
is God. Nobody lets him be God. He is
God. He might let us be man. Right? It's up to God to let
us man. We're going to let God do it.
That's not in the Bible anywhere. Never, nowhere in all the Bible
does it ever say, let God. Nowhere in the Bible does it
say one time, God wants, God wants, God wants. It doesn't
say that anywhere in all the Scripture. And I'm getting excited
because Truth is God, it's the absolute opposite. Whatever God's
Word says, it's about the opposite now. Men say, God wants this. God, God, it doesn't say that
anywhere in all the Bible. I'd give somebody one million
dollars to find it. It does say, God will work. and who shall let it or prevent
it. It does say that in Isaiah 43,
10, I believe it. It does say that. It doesn't
say God's justice, but that's all we're hearing now, isn't
it? Truth is gone. It's fallen in the street. They
don't want it in their church house. Don't tell me about a
God who elects. I don't want to hear that stuff.
Man, if you open the Bible, that's what you'll hear. Isaiah 43,
13 is where it is. I want to be sure. It's Isaiah
43, 13. Well, truth is falling in the
streets, isn't it? Don't get upset at me because
I just yelled and screamed. I can't help that. That's what
it means by the zeal of thy house has eaten me up. When people
bring up something religious, oh, what are you going to say
about my God now? How are you going to lie on God
now? What wise fable are you going to bring up now? Turn on
the TV, here's some preacher. What's he going to say about
Jesus now? Is that the way you feel? Phew,
man. But the keepers of the truth
Or go in this city, it says. Preacher, tell me the truth,
even if it hurts. Tell me the truth. What? Who
is God? He's God. Well, do we let God? Does he let us?
He lets us. Well, let's see. Do we have a
free will or is everything done according to God's will? It's
God's will. That's what I thought. Tell me about man. Does God need
us or do we need him? God doesn't need us. He doesn't
need one son of Adam. But we sure need him. That's
what I thought. Well, how can we be saved if
we do the best we can? If we do the best we can, if
we live the best we can, will that save us or is this thing,
is it just all mercy? It's all mercy. That's what I
thought. Now, that's the truth. And that defends man's pride.
That defends man's dignity. That defends man's will. But it sure glorifies God, doesn't
it? And that's the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. So
help me, God's Word says it. I've got my hand on it. Turn
to any page of it, and that's what you'll find. And those that
hear that, the truth, they lay hold on it. I believe that. That's my God. That's my gospel. That's my hope. Come on in. Just come right on
in. But now wait a minute. I'm the
chief. You're the chief of senate? Ha! Open the door a little wider.
Open the door a little wider. Here comes the chief of senate.
They go in. Isn't that good news? Isn't that
good news? Not to a self-righteous man,
doesn't need that. Doesn't need a God like that, because he's
not like that. And that man's not that bad,
and sure don't need Christ to do it all for him. He can help
himself. Now, don't worry about me slamming
his face. But look at this, and I'll quit,
all right? I wanted to already be quit. Verse 3, this is my text. But, you know, I like it. Bernard used to say, I got some
notes here. I hope I don't have to use them. And maybe I'll save this for
Wednesday night. Can you wait that long? They say the best
time to quit is when everybody's like, don't quit, don't quit. I'm going to quit. You want me to quit? Come back Wednesday night, and
we'll find out who this Jehovah is. You can stay on, you can
find perfect peace. Perfect peace. Mine stayed on
Jehovah. I stand, I wanted to preach on
chapter 25. She was playing that, I thought of that, and my eye
began to wander, you know, back to 25 and 9, my favorite verse. And I got to those first two
verses, bulwarks, salvation, hedged about, opened the gates. What could we have left out? We'll come back Wednesday night,
and we'll see what it means to have your minds stayed on Jehovah. All right, Joe, what is that
number? I about called you Job. That's
a good name, isn't it? 287. 287. 287. Like a river of glory. Stand with me. Sing all three verses. All three
verses. Like the river glorious is God's
perfect peace, over all victorious in its bright increase. Mourner every day. Earth we let it grow up, deeper
all the way. Say that from Jehovah, hearts
are fully blessed. Finding as he promised, earthly
peace and rest. Hidden in the hollow of his blessed
head. Never broken, follow, never quaver,
stay. Mary, not a seed of care, not
a flask of herring, drank the spirit there. Welcome to Ho, Ho, Ho. Hearts are fully blest. Thriving as we promised. Earth, be pleased and blest. Every joy or triumph, falleth
from above. Praised upon our God, by the
Son of God. We may trust Him fully, all for
us to be. They who trust Him wholly find
Him wholly true. State upon Jehovah, hearts are
fully blest, binding as He promised. Happy peace and rest. Thank you, and you're dismissed.