And I love those words, don't
you? And it's beautifully presented. If
you would, let's take our Bibles again and go to the book of Deuteronomy
chapter seven. We'll go to the book of, the
fifth book of the Bible, the book of Deuteronomy chapter seven. Let's again seek God's face and
ask that he would meet with us by spirit and bless the word
to each of us. Lord, we come to you through
the merits of our Savior. We acknowledge that we have no
goodness, we have no righteousness of our own. There is nothing
in any of us to, Lord, commend us unto Thee. Therefore, we would never even
think about mentioning our works or deeds or merits as a reason
why you should receive us or bless us. Lord, we come to you
through the blessed person and redemptive work of our Savior. that one who is your only begotten
son, that one with whom you're well pleased. Lord, he satisfied
you in his life and in his death of redemption. It is by his blood
that we're forgiven. and made the righteousness of
God in this Savior. So we ask that you would receive
us this morning, that you would take the Word of God and bless
your dear people. Lord, speak to those who as of
now have not been brought by your Spirit to be quickened and
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. O God, show all of us that we
desperately need God's mercy and the richness of it. need Your love and the greatness
of it, and we need Your grace in its saving power. Lord, we're a helpless people.
We ask You to save the lost and bless Your dear sheep, those
who were given by you to the Savior, to the Shepherd, and
back in old eternity. Lord, some of your people are
undergoing unusually difficult trials, and we ask that you would
not only sustain, but bless and encourage Lord, we should always
be joyful in you and contented knowing that your will is always
being fulfilled. Therefore, as we go into the
message this morning, we do so asking that you would be magnified,
exalted, There is the name of our Savior that we want to bless
and honor. Lord, we've come to preach and
listen of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And we ask that You
would enable us to do just that, and may we, all of us, be found
looking unto Jesus by faith, the author and the finisher of
faith. These things we ask in the Lord
Jesus' name and for his sake. Amen. Our God blessed Israel. in many, many ways. We have been recently studying
about how God brought them out of Egyptian bondage. They were
in a situation in which they could not get themselves out
of their captivity. Indeed, the scripture says that
they mourned and wept under their bondage, and they asked God for
help, and God did indeed come to their rescue. He raised up
a deliverer, Moses, and God gifted him. God blessed his servant,
blessed him with the knowledge of the gospel, blessed him with
the ability to lead the children of Israel. He gave him great
instruction in the first 40 years of Moses' life. He learned about the Egyptian
ways. He observed, no doubt, his stepfather,
as it were, the Pharaoh. for it was Pharaoh's daughter
who took him into her house. And so he saw the intricate dealings
of authority and rule and such things as that. But after 40
years, God then moved him to the backside of the desert. Moses
had to be educated by God in how to be a shepherd. And indeed,
he did learn how to be a shepherd, but more than that, he had to
have a very personal session with God, that is, with
the Son of God. There was, in the backside of
the desert, a bush that didn't burn. And God met Moses there,
that is the Son of God. And Moses, he learned that the
Lord Jesus is the great I Am. He's the great shepherd. He's
the great savior. And this is the one who would
lead Israel out of their bondage by means of the leadership of
Moses. And Moses wanted to know who
he was, and the Lord identified himself to Moses, and then Moses
was instructed to whom he was to attribute all of these things
to Israel. The Lord said, you tell them
I am, that I am hath sent you. And Moses goes forth. Now he
has been instructed of God. He has had a direct confrontation
with the Son of God. And that's absolutely necessary. We've got to see Him as God. As God over all, blessed forever. And Moses saw Him that way. And
Moses came to believe Him, and rest in Him, and understand that
He's the great, unchangeable God. And then Moses, led of the
Lord, he of course directed Israel out of Egypt, ultimately by means
of the blood of the Passover lamb. And upon the presentation
of the blood for God, because in the Bible, the blood is always
for God. God said, when I see the blood,
I will pass over you. And Moses instructed all the
heads of the households of Israel, you put the blood of a lamb,
catch the blood of course, and then put that blood on the doorpost
and over the doorpost outside. And God said, when I pass through
Egypt, I'll pass over you. And he did. And then the king
of Egypt called Moses forth and he said, I want you to leave.
Because there was a cry of mourning, of grief that went up from every
household in Egypt, from Pharaoh's house to the maids that worked
for him. He said, leave. Leave now. Of course, God had told Moses,
tell the people to pack their bags and be ready to go. After
you put the blood out there on the doorpost, you eat the Passover
lamb roasted with fire. And that's a picture of faith
in the Lord Jesus. We eat of Him. We take of Him. The scripture says we receive
Him. We receive Him as prophet, priest,
and king. And the people did that. And
then the Lord came through and death came upon the firstborn
of the Egyptians. And so Pharaoh says, get out
of here. And so Israel went forth out
of Egypt and they went forth with all the riches of the Egyptians. And God took them out into the
outskirts of Egypt. And then God gave them a pillar
of cloud and a pillar of fire. These would lead, these would
direct, these would protect. And led by God, under God's canopy
of protection. And that's where we are, right? We're under the canopy of God's
protection. being led by him through this
wilderness. God led his people all the way
to the land of promise. Along the way, he abundantly
provided for them. He gave them food and he gave
them water. He was there always. He would
never leave them and he would never forsake them. And of course,
there's a multitude of pictures in that for each of us. We can all make application of
those blessings that God gave to Israel. That is all of us
who are the Lord's people. And then he led them right into
the land of promise, just as he said he would. Now, here's
what I want to address for a few minutes this morning. What was
the reason God did this? That is, why did God do all of
this for Egypt or for Israel? Well, it wasn't because of their
goodness. They didn't have any. It wasn't because they weren't
a rebellious people. They were a rebellious people.
And they murmured. And you know, you've read the
history of Israel going through the wilderness. They murmured
all the way across the wilderness for 40 years. God led them, God
protected them. God gave them that every essential
of life. And God made certain their clothes
didn't wear out. Their shoes didn't wear out.
He was with them every step of the way. But it wasn't because
they deserved it. Because they were a rebellious
people. They were a sinful people. They
often forgot God. No sooner had the Lord got them
or delivered them out of Egyptian bondage and they get out there
near the Red Sea, they begin to murmur against Moses, against
God's blessed providence. Why have you brought us out here?
Have you brought us out here to die? A little further, after
they go through the Red Sea, they'll come to some bitter waters. Have you brought us out here
so that we'd thirst to death? Then they needed something to
eat. Have you brought us out here so we'd starve to death?
Would to God we were back in Egypt. We had lots to drink there. We had lots of food there. They
made out like they were doing quite well in Egypt. They forgot
how bad it was. They forgot about all the troubles
and how difficult it was under the tyranny of Pharaoh. They forgot the goodness of God,
that God delivered them from that bondage. God delivered them
from that captivity. God made bare His mighty arm. He overcame all the armies of
Pharaoh. Here's the greatest empire in
the world. And God drowned that great military
might in the waters of the Red Sea. But then they forgot. And then
God would give mercies to them again and all was well. And then they'd hit a little
bump in the road and have fussing again. This was the history of
Israel all the way through the wilderness journeys. And whenever
they came up against enemies, God was there to protect them.
God was there to govern all things for the good of Israel. And they never lacked for anything
due to the goodness of God. And at last, in fulfillment of
God's word, Israel was indeed led by Joshua into the land flowing
with milk and honey. Here's a question. Why did God
deal with Israel in such mercy and in such blessed kindness? Because it's obvious that they
were a sinful people. They were a forgetful people.
They were often a thankless people and very much like us. If you don't, to some degree,
see yourself in Israel as they go through their wilderness journeys
in their spells of unbelief and their seasons of doubt, In those
times of murmuring against God's providence, if you don't see
something of yourself in that, well, I pray that God will show
you. Because you see, Israel in the Old Testament is a picture
of God's true Israel, as we read in Galatians chapter six, and
this is what the Apostle Paul said, the Israel of God. There is indeed national Israel,
but national Israel was but a picture in many ways, not in every way,
but in many ways, national Israel was a picture of all the redeemed
of God. of God's true Israel, of those
who had experienced a circumcision, not of the flesh, but of the
heart. That is, regeneration, as it
is set forth in the end of Romans, the second chapter. a people
to whom God has revealed Himself, a people to whom God has given
the Spirit of grace, who has wounded us. He has wounded us
in our innermost being and made us needy or to understand our
neediness of the Savior and of forgiveness. and of righteousness,
of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. It's the Spirit of God
who convinces us we need Him who is the only Savior. And He does this convincing work
through this spiritual circumcision, a wounding of the heart, a cutting
of the heart with the sword of the Spirit. And we are indeed
the children of God. And it's made evident to us that
we are the children of God because of the work that He's done within
us. And we look to Jesus Christ, the only Savior of sinners. He's
our only hope. He's our only righteousness.
He is all of our acceptance with God. He did not make us acceptable
to God. We are accepted by God in the
Beloved, and we've always been accepted in the Beloved forever. But notwithstanding the faithfulness
of God, we often find ourselves doubting. And I know preachers have said through the
years some things about doubting. There are some preachers, I heard
a preacher say one time, you're damned if you doubt. And then
somebody else says, well, you're damned if you never doubt. The people of God, let's be honest. Was it Barnard said, honest people
don't go to hell. When you're honest with God.
Let's be honest with God, honest with ourselves. We do have doubts. And I confess to you, and I,
And I know it's not honoring to God, but every once in a while,
I have doubts. I have doubts. And I understand
it's sin, and I ask God to forgive me, and I'm thankful it's under
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there are times when I doubt,
there are times when I have weak faith, there are times when I
murmur. You wouldn't ever murmur against
the providence of God, would you? You would never in your
deep down, in your very bosom, in the soul, in your soul, you
would never question that which God does. Well, I have. Just be honest with you. And yet, as we read in 2 Timothy
chapter two, though we believe not yet, he abideth not. Isn't that wonderful? He abided faithful. And this is demonstrated to us in Israel, because you see, notwithstanding
their belly aching, their unbelief, their fretful spirit, God remained faithful. He remained
faithful. Well, why was it that he regarded
Israel? That's the question. Well, because, and here's the
title of the message, God Keeps His Oath. That's it. God keeps his Look here in Deuteronomy chapter
seven, and I'm gonna read, I'm gonna read several verses to
you, but I'm going to focus for just a little bit upon three
or four verses, but I'm gonna begin at verse one. Deuteronomy
7, now this is 40 years of wondering is about to come to an end. And
that's what you need to know about the book of Deuteronomy.
In fact, the book of Deuteronomy is the second reading of God's
law, is what it is. Many of those who now lived were
not alive when God gave the law back in Exodus chapter 20, or
they were so very young they don't remember it. And so here
before Israel goes over into the land of promise, the law
of God is repeated in the book of Deuteronomy. And they are
reminded of God's faithfulness to them all through these 40
years of wandering. Now look at chapter 7 verse 1.
When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou
goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before
thee, and that includes the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the
Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites,
and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou. Verse two, and when the Lord
thy God shall deliver thee before them. These nations are too great
for Israel to conquer. So who's going to
deliver Israel from these nations that they're going to encounter
when they enter into the land of promise? The Lord will. The Lord will. Now look at verse
two. And when the Lord thy God shall
deliver them before thee, He's the one who will lead you in
victory over them. Thou shalt smite them and utterly
destroy them. Thou shalt make no covenant with
them, nor show mercy unto them. Neither shalt thou make marriages
with them. Thy daughter shalt thou not give
unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son.
For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they
may serve other gods. So will the anger of the Lord
be kindled against you and destroy you suddenly. But, verse five,
thus shall you deal with them. You shall destroy their altars,
break down their images, cut down their groves, and burn their
graven images with fire. And a good example of that, by
the way, is that King Josiah. And you can read, here's a beautiful
passage of scripture, and you read about it in 2 Chronicles
chapter 34. He was just a very young man
when he assumed the kingdom of Judah. But he went in and he
totally destroyed every idol he ever came across. He was valiant
for the cause of God. He knew God only was to be worshiped. God only was to be served. God only was to be magnified. Thou shalt have no other gods
before me. That's what God said. And so
Josiah, a very young king, he began to reign when he was, what,
eight years old? But he went in and he set himself
to destroy all idolatry. Just as God had said. Now look at verse 6. 4. Here's the reason. Here's
the reason you must not put up with, tolerate any other God,
little G. Here's the reason you must not
tolerate false religion. For thou art a holy people unto
the Lord thy God. God set you apart. God sanctified
you. The Lord thy God had chosen thee
to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon
the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love
upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than
any people for you were the fewest of all people. But because the
Lord loved you and because he would keep the oath. This wasn't because they merited
his favor. They merited His protection. They deserved all of the gifts
that He gave them. It wasn't because they were worthy
of all of the protection, all of the provisions that He gave
them. Not at all. Not at all. God took care of these people
because He was keeping His oath. His promise. His covenant, watch
it, because He would keep the oath which He had sworn unto
your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and
redeemed you. He redeemed you out of the house
of bondmen from the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. It's not for your
sake. It's not because you deserve
it. And I say to all of the people of God here, to everyone who
believes this glorious gospel of God's grace, to everyone who rests totally
for all of your salvation in Jesus Christ the Lord, Him and
His crucifixion, death and His resurrection, to all of you who've
been brought forth out of bondage to Satan and to sin. The reason you believe, the reason
you have been redeemed, the reason you have been reconciled unto
God is because God keeps His oath. It's all because of covenant,
a covenant. Okay, verse nine. Know therefore
that the Lord, that God, he is God. He's not a pretend God. He's not one who wants to be
God. He is God. And he conducts himself
as God. The faithful God. Watch it. Which keepeth covenant and mercy
with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand
generation. And he repaid them that hate
him to their face to destroy them. He will not be slack to
him that hated him. He will repay him to his face. And that's what Pharaoh experienced. That's what all of the Egyptian
warriors experienced. As they went into the path into
the Red Sea, having seen the Israelites go through, and as
they see the last of the Israelites moving on toward the distant
shore, Pharaoh said, let's go! Let's get them! No doubt the
darkness of God's cloud. covered the sea and so they couldn't
even see the sea. They just see dry land and all
they're concerned about is revenge. I want my captives back. That's
what Pharaoh said. I want my bondman back. I want
my free labor back to build more pyramids. Come on, let's go. And there they go on that dry
ground that God opened up through the Red Sea. And then he met the judgment
of God. And ultimately, he met God himself. All souls are mine. God took the life of Pharaoh
and his army, and immediately they went into the presence of
God, and he found out, the Lord, he is God. And God casts them all into hell. Verse 11, Thou shalt therefore
keep the commandments and the statutes and the judgments which
I command thee this day to do them. Why did God deal so mercifully
with Israel? and in the very strictness of
judgment and wrath with the Egyptians. He did so because of an oath.
God's keeping his oath. He always does. He always keeps
his promises. I asked Joe to read for us back
in Genesis chapter 15. Would you go back there to that
passage of scripture? in Genesis chapter 15. You see,
God took care of the Israelites because of a covenant he entered
into with one who was a representative of all of Israel, and that is
Abraham. It's so important to know that. God delivered Israel Out of Egyptian
bondage, for this reason, he made a promise to Abraham. God keeps his oath. His oath. 430 years before the Exodus, God had called a man out of Ur
of the Chaldees. His name was Abram, later changed
to Abraham, the father of many nations. The Lord set his love
on him from old eternity. He drew him out of Ur of the
Chaldees. He was an idolater. He was a
man given over to false religion. He didn't know anything about
God. God himself, that is the son of God, came to Abram, called
him by his grace out of idolatry. God taught him the gospel. He was a vessel of mercy aforeprepared
unto glory. In chapters 12 and 13, God indicated
to Abram the blessings that he promised to give to this man.
They would make of him a great nation, would make his name great. would give him a seed as in one,
a people as in many, and a land that his people would possess.
And when we get to chapter 15, we find God entering into a covenant
with Abraham, that is, concerning the promises that he made unto
him. In this covenant, God declared
Israel to be his people. In fact, he says in Amos chapter
three in verse two, you only have I known of all the families
of the earth. To you who love the gospel of
God's free grace, to you who look to the Lord Jesus only,
for all of your salvation, for all of your acceptance before
God. You hear God's word to you. You only, you only have I known
of all the families of the earth. You only. The promises and blessings
of this covenant come from God. You see, God made a covenant
with Abraham, a legal binding agreement. It didn't originate
with Abraham. It didn't start with him. The
blessings of this covenant were not conditioned upon Abraham's
obedience. This was a covenant which God
initiated. a covenant that originated with
God, and a covenant fully dependent upon God. As I said, it consisted
of a seed that is Christ Jesus. We know that from Galatians chapter
3, because he said, not seeds as in many, but seed as in one. And our Lord Jesus is said to
be, in Matthew chapter 1, He's the Son of Abraham. He's the
son of Abraham. This is the seed. This is the
seed in whom all the families of the earth or the nations of
the earth will be blessed. God only blesses people in this
seed, Christ Jesus. We read in Ephesians chapter
1 that God blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus because He had chosen us in Him before
the world ever began. All of the blessings, all of
the grace, all of the mercy, all of the salvation that we
enjoy today is because of a covenant that God made way back in eternity
past. And we were blessed in Christ
Jesus. You see, the Lord makes it abundantly
evident here in Genesis chapter 15, and Joe read this to us,
that God made a covenant with Abram. That's what it says in
chapter 15 in verse 18. In the same day, the Lord made
a covenant with Abram. concerning the seed, and concerning
a people, a people. God said, let me tell you about
the people that's going to come forth from you. And Abraham,
what is he called? He's called the father of the
faithful. He's the father of those who believe. Abraham believed
God. It was counted to him for righteousness.
He was a man of faith. And if you are a believer, you're
the spiritual children of Abraham. God promised him a seed. He promised
him a people. He promised him protection. And He promised him land. And God has promised us protection
as we journey. And He's promised us a land. more glorious than the land of
Canaan, flowed with milk and honey. The land that God has
promised to us is the land of everlasting delight, the heavenly
paradise, where we shall be with the Lamb of God who loved us
and who gave himself for us, and we shall be with him forever
and ever. Well, how do you know we will be with him? Because
God keeps his oath. That's why. God keeps his oath. in this setting, as was read
to us a while ago. You read silently, as Joe read
aloud to us, of these sacrifices that Abram offered to God. Look
at verse nine. Take me a heifer of three years
old, a she-goat of three years old, chapter 15, verse nine,
a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove and a young pigeon.
And Abram offered these as a sacrifice to God. And it was within this
setting of the blood sacrifice that God established with Abraham
that which he had purposed to do before he made the world.
God said, here's my oath. Here's my covenant. I'll take
care of you. You'll be my people. But this
covenant is an association with a bloody sacrifice. Now look
with me over in the book of Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. Last chapter of Hebrews. Okay, verse 20. Hebrews chapter
13 and verse 20. Now the God of peace, one of the many titles for God,
he's the God of peace. He's a God of mercy, he's the
God of love, he's the God of grace, and he's the God of peace. that brought again from the dead
our Lord Jesus. How do we know that the death
of our Savior satisfied all of the demands of divine justice?
How do we know it put away our sins? How do we know it reconciled
us to God? How do we know his cross death
brought in everlasting righteousness for everybody who ever believes
him? How do we know he was brought again from the dead? by the Father
and by the Spirit. Well, who is this one who died
for us? Well, he's that great shepherd
of the sheep. Well, how did he reconcile us? How did he save us? Through the
blood of the everlasting covenant. The covenant is always made in
association with in the setting of sacrifice. Don't ever talk about the covenant
of God without relating it to and associating it to the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus. In fact, don't ever talk about
anything spiritual. Don't ever talk about anything
from the Word of God unless you connect it to the substitutionary
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is all important to God.
The blood, that's what's important to God. The blood. Put the blood
on the doorpost. Sacrifice. Adam and Eve, they
stand shivering before a holy God, trembling in their sinfulness
and in their disobedience. And God sheds blood. He kills
animals to clothe them. The blood, it's the blood that
satisfies God. It's the blood that puts our
sins away. And this covenant, this covenant
of grace is sealed with the blood of the Lord Jesus.
You see, the covenant that God made with Abraham is a picture
of, in many ways, not in every way, but in many ways, it's a
picture of the everlasting covenant of grace. A covenant is a legal
binding agreement between two or three, two or more parties,
really. Behold the everlasting covenant
of grace. Way back in old eternity, really
there never was a time when this didn't exist. This is beyond
our grasp, it's beyond our comprehension, but this is the eternal way of
God dealing with his people in covenant grace according to his
oath. And in that oath, in that everlasting
covenant, God the Father said, I will save. Well, who would he save? A multitude
that no man can number. A people chosen out of every
nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. I will save, that's what God
said. And God has said it. Who's gonna
overthrow that? Who's going to nullify that?
Hath He spoken and shall He not make it good? The Father said,
I will save. Who's going to stop Him? Who's
going to frustrate Him? Well, man's free will. Oh, no. Man's free will won't do it.
Well, what about Satan? Surely Satan can frustrate God's
redemptive person. Purpose? Never. because Satan
is but God's dog that he uses. Everything God has purposed will
come to pass. God the Father said, I will save. And actually, as soon as he said
it, it was done. It was done. but a covenant is an agreement
between two or three parties. So the father says, I will save. And here's what the son of God
said, I will satisfy. I will satisfy. These people
that you have given me, they will fall in Adam's transgression. They'll become sinful, alienated
from God, cut off from God. They'll become unrighteous, ungodly,
and wicked. The justice of God will be stirred
to anger and vengeance. Death is the penalty for sin.
Who will bear the penalty of death? And our Lord Jesus spoke
up in the covenant of grace after the Father said, I will save,
the Son of God said, I will satisfy. I will satisfy. I'll go to the
earth, become one like them, yet without sin, and live a life
of impeccability to the law of God, thereby showing my infinite
qualification to be their Savior. I will lay down my life in their
stead. and everything the justice of
God demanded of them, I will satisfy. I will be their surety. Whatever they owe, put it on
my account. Don't you like that? Put it on
my account. And he fulfilled his oath in the covenant. He has
come. And he has died. And he has redeemed. He has satisfied justice. Everything
God demanded for our infinite salvation, our Lord Jesus satisfied. He said, it is finished. The Father said, I will save.
The Son of God said in that oath, in that covenant, I will satisfy,
and the Spirit of God said, and I, I will sanctify. I will sanctify at just the right
time. I'll set them apart. Oh, they're
on the broad road that leads to destruction with all the rest
of mankind, but I'm going to move them aside and I'm going
to deal with them one on one. I'll sanctify them. I'll set
them apart and I will do an invisible work within them. A new heart
will I give them and a right spirit will I create within them. And then they will look to that
one who suffered, bled and died for them. And they will say,
this is the savior I must have, this rock of ages, the spirit
of God. He's sanctified. Why has God
dealt so mercifully with Israel? Why did he bring them out of
Egyptian bondage and lead them all the way to the land of promise? Because God keeps his oath. He
told Abraham he would. Well, it's as good as done. And you and me, brought to faith in the Lord
Jesus, but still struggling, still stumbling, still falling, still weak. We say, oh God, oh
God forgive me. I don't believe you like I should.
God help me to believe you more fully. And I do pray that, and
you do too. But God says to us, I do this
for you, not because of your faithfulness. I'm gonna keep you, and I'm gonna
teach you. And as I'm going to show you
this evening, the Lord says I'm going to lead you. I will be
to you a pillar of cloud by day. I'll be to you a pillar of fire
by night. And I'm not going to leave you. And I'm going to see you all
the way through until you get to glory. And here's the reason,
not for your sakes, not because of your merits, but here's the
reason. keep my oath. No wonder then that David on
his death bed said concerning this covenant, this oath of God,
he said, this is all my hope. It's all I want. It's all my
salvation. Oh, how blessed are those people. to whom God shows the richness
of His mercy, the greatness of His love, and
that His grace, it really does save. Look to Christ Jesus, my friends. What a blessed, blessed Savior
He is. We'll gather again this evening
at 6.30. Let's bow for prayer. It is with gratitude, our Father,
that we bow before you in recognition of your great
faithfulness. Oh God, you kept your oath to
Abraham. And the evidence of that is that
the children of Israel were delivered from Egyptian bondage, provided
for through all the days of their wilderness journey, and they
entered into the land of promise. That one who is the pillar of
cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night He stayed with
them every step of their journey. And your people went in. Even
so, Father, we see the faithfulness of Your covenant. We see that
You're an oath-keeping God. For You have set forth in Your
Word Your very promise that you will keep us all the way until
the end and bear us safely over into a land far more glorious
than the Canaan into which Israel entered. We shall enter into
Emmanuel's land. We shall enter into glory land
and be with the Savior forever. And here is our confidence. You
keep your oath. Your covenant is an everlasting
covenant. You have said, Father, I will
save. The Son of God said, I will satisfy. The Spirit of God said, I will
sanctify. The Spirit of God abides with
us. And He will be with us until
that day when we breathe our last breath. And then we shall
be escorted by angelic messengers right into the presence of our
God and King, Christ Jesus. We bless you today. We honor
you, Father, for this great salvation. We ask these things for Jesus'
sake with thanksgiving. Amen.