Good morning, or good evening,
I'm sorry. Let's all stand together, turn
to hymn number 314. Hymn number 314. I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard
Thy voice, and it told Thy love to me. But I long to rise in the arms
of faith, and be closer drawn to Thee. Draw me nearer, nearer,
blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer,
blessed Lord, to Thy precious, fleeting Consecrate me now to thy service,
Lord, by the power of grace divine. Let my soul look up with a steadfast
hope, and my will be lost in thine. Draw me nearer, nearer,
blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer,
blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding side. Oh, the pure delight of a single
hour that before thy throne I spend. When I kneel in prayer and with
thee, my God, I commune as friend with friend. Nearer, nearer, blessed Lord,
to the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer,
nearer, blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding side. There are depths of love that
I cannot know till I cross the narrow sea. There are heights of joy that
I may not reach till I rest in peace with thee. Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed
Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died. Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer,
blessed Lord, to Thy precious bleeding Son. Thank and be seated. Hymn number
106, number 106. Tell me the story of Jesus, write
on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious,
sweetest that ever was heard. Tell how the angels in chorus
Sang as they welcomed his birth Glory to God in the highest Peace
and good tidings to earth Tell me the story of Jesus Write on
my heart every word Tell me the story most precious, sweetest
that ever was heard. Fasting alone in the desert,
tale of the days that are past. How for our sins he was tempted,
Yet was triumphant at last. Tell of the years of his labor,
Tell of the sorrow he bore, He was despised and afflicted, homeless,
rejected, and poor. Tell me the story of Jesus. Write on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious,
sweetest that ever was heard. Tell of the cross where they
nailed Him, writhing in anguish and pain. Tell of the grave where
they laid him. Tell how he liveth again. Love in that story so tender,
clearer than ever I see. Stay, let me weep while you whisper,
love paid the ransom for me. Tell me the story of Jesus. Write on my heart every word. Tell me the story most precious,
sweetest that ever was heard. I'd like us to read from the
book of Ephesians tonight, chapter 6. Ephesians chapter 6. Children, obey your parents in
the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother,
which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be
well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. And ye
fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in
the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Servants, be obedient
to them that are your masters, according to the flesh, with
fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ. not with our service as men-pleasers,
but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the
heart, with goodwill doing service as to the Lord and not to men,
knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same
shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. And
ye masters, do the same things unto them, forbearing threatening,
knowing that your master also is in heaven. Neither is there
respect of persons with him. Finally, my brethren, be strong
in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole
armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles
of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh
and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers
of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness
in high places. Wherefore, take unto you the
whole armor of God, that ye may be able to a stand in the evil
day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having
your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate
of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of
the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield
of faith, wherewith you shall be able to quench all the fiery
darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation and the
sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always
with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. And for me, that
utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly
to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an
ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as I ought
to speak, but that ye also may know my affairs, And how I do,
Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord,
shall make known to you all things whom I've sent unto you for the
same purpose, that you might know our affairs and that he
might comfort your hearts. Peace be to the brethren and
love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen. Our kind and gracious and merciful
Heavenly Father, we join our hearts together once again to
give thanks for all that you've given to us, for your great mercy
and love, and most of all, for our dear Savior, Who you sent
to this earth who came and laid down his life. Gladly and willingly laid down
his life. For those that hated him, for
those that by nature. Did not even give him a passing
thought. Yet from all eternities he said his love upon us. And
he came and he died, paid the penalty due our sin as our substitute. And we seek to honor him tonight, seek
to hear from him tonight. And we anticipate his presence
in our midst as we're gathered together. We're thankful for this time
where we are all of one heart and one mind that Christ alone
is worthy. And we're here to hear his word,
to hear him preach, to hear him exalted and lifted up, to hear
his gospel, to be led, to be encouraged, to be instructed
by him through his word. How we do thank you for these
times of worship. And we ask Lord you'd be with
our speaker tonight as he stands before us and we thank you for
him. Thank you for his labor and his love for your people. His love for Christ. Thank you. That you've enabled him to preach
to us. We ask that you do that once
again tonight and enable us to hear. Give us attentive ears
and hearts and minds. Give us spiritual ears, spiritual
eyes. Send your spirit to make your
word effectual. And may we be edified, encouraged,
instructed in your word. Save our children and our grandchildren,
Lord. We ask that you'd remember them.
Leave them not to themselves. intervene in their lives, trouble
them, cause them to sue for mercy. We remember those that are sick
and those that are weak and frail. And Lord, you must, if they're
to be helped, you must be their helper. We know that you will. Those that call upon you, you
hear their cries. Lord, we're weak. We have no
ability. We have no strength. We cannot provide for ourselves.
You must provide everything for us. And we look to you as a great
provider. Help us to believe you. Help
us to trust you. Help us to submit to your will.
Go through the remainder of this service. Bring honor to your
dear son, we pray in Christ's name, amen. Hymn number 337, 337. ? Teach me thy way, O Lord ? ?
Teach me thy way ? ? Thy guiding grace afford ? ? Teach me thy
way ? ? Help me to walk aright ? More by faith, less by sight,
Lead me with heavenly light, Teach me thy way. When I am sad at heart, Teach
me thy way. When earthly joys depart, In hours of loneliness, in times
of dire distress, in failure or success, teach me thy way. When doubts and fears arise,
teach me thy way. When storms o'erspread the skies,
teach me thy way. Shine through the cloud and rain,
Through sorrow, toil, and pain, Make Thou my pathway plain, Teach
me Thy way. Long as my life shall last, teach
me thy way. Where'er my lot be cast, Teach
me thy way Until the race is run Until the journey's done
Until the crown is won Teach me thy way Well, we're thankful to God once
again to have Brother Cody with us to preach for us. Cody, we
do thank God for you and ask him to bless our time together
as you come and bring the message he's laid on your heart. So come
ahead. Good to see you again. If you
will turn with me and your Bibles to Exodus chapter 3. And I forgot
to mention it this morning, but some of you know because some
of you told me you're coming. We're having our conference this coming
weekend, Friday night at 7 and then Saturday at 10 and Sunday
at 10. If you can come, we'd love to
have you. And also, I failed to read the bulletin before I
preached this morning, but your pastor wrote a good article on
the right page on the inside called, Does God Love You? Isn't
that appropriate? But I'll read you just a small
part of it, you know, obviously writing the article with the
knowing that people just assume God loves them. But he said this,
he said, when God loves a sinner, he does something effectual for
that sinner. Then he quoted Ezekiel 16, it
says, in the time of love, I pass by thee and I said unto thee,
live. If God loves us, he will see
to it that we live forever and that life is in his son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Alright, Exodus chapter 3. Look with me starting in verse
7. Exodus 3 verse 7. And the Lord said, I have surely
seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt. and have
heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know
their sorrows, and I am come down to deliver them out of the
hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land
unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk
and honey, unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites,
and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Now therefore behold, The cry of the children of Israel is
come unto me, and I have also seen the oppression wherewith
the Egyptians oppressed them." If this looks familiar, we dealt
with this Sunday night. Last time I was here, technically
I'm picking up in verse 9 where we left off, but the first part
of this will be a little bit of a recap, I'm sure. Right here
in Exodus 3, we see again that God's people are afflicted. We know that. We don't have to
read about it. We know it by our own experience.
Our life is full of affliction and sorrow. The longer we're
here, the longer we see that, the longer we know that to be
true. But we find comfort knowing that our Lord, it's not news
to Him. It's that way for a reason. Our
Lord knows it. He hears it. He sees it all.
In fact, he knows the feeling of our infirmities better than
we do. That may not even make sense,
but I know it's true. He's touched with every single
feeling of our infirmities. He felt it when he suffered for
our sins. Remember this, he knew no sin. We deserve the pain we feel in
the sense that we're sinners and we deserve for God to deal
most harshly with us. You know, I've heard it said,
anything this side of hell is God's mercy. I believe that's
true. God hears our cry. He hears the cries of the afflicted. And I must confess this too.
It's good for me that I've been afflicted. I think we read that
last time. But when affliction comes our way, I hope I realize
this next time affliction comes my way. It's my honor and privilege
to get to cry out unto my Lord in those times. Do you remember
what Job's wife said when affliction came to him? She said, well,
you just ought to curse God and die, and many people do. And
but for the grace of God, you and I would too. It's an honor
and a privilege to be able to cry out unto our Lord in our
time of trouble. It's a great honor and joy to
be able to do that and to know that he hears us. What a blessing.
Our Savior knows our sorrows, as the end of verse 7 said, because
He came and He made them His own. may than his own. God has
purposed and God has promised to deliver us from our sin and
our bondage and to bring us unto that good land, unto life eternal
with our Savior forever and ever. Verse 10 says, come now therefore
and I will send thee unto Pharaoh that thou mayest bring forth
my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt. We see God's purpose
for Moses. God was gonna send Moses to deliver
his people out of Egypt from their harsh taskmasters, and
I want to mention who God is sending Moses to confront. The
Pharaoh. I'll tell you something about
that Pharaoh. One, he knew not Joseph. You
know, the Pharaoh that knew Joseph and put Joseph in that position
of authority, he had died. This new Pharaoh that didn't
know Joseph, and clearly didn't know God, didn't know Christ,
he cared not for the children of Israel. He commanded for all the Hebrew
baby boys to be killed. And yet Moses was spared because
his parents hid him in an ark. Moses was in the ark. Moses was
in Christ from his birth. Moses was saved in Christ from
before he was ever born because God loved him with an everlasting
love. But this is the man Moses is going to confront. The man
that if he had his way, Moses wouldn't even be here. And not
only that, if you recall, I think in Exodus 2, when Moses saw one
of his Hebrew brethren being attacked, and he looked this
way, and he looked that way, and then he went and he killed
that Egyptian man. Because he killed that Egyptian man, this
Pharaoh wanted Moses dead. That's why Moses is here in the
desert, because he had fled from Pharaoh. And yet now God's saying,
Moses, I'm sending you back to Pharaoh. How do you reckon he
felt about that commission? I can't imagine he was too excited
about it. I'd have been terrified, wouldn't you? You think that
man had the power and authority to kill him? If God would let
him, absolutely he did. Oh my. But as God's people always
do, God's sheep here, these children of Israel, they needed a shepherd
to lead them, much like we need a pastor to lead and to guide
us. and Moses was God's man for them. God said, Moses, I'm sending
you. It's time. You're going. You
know, some people have a problem with this, but I don't because
God said it, and that's the way it is. God uses men to lead his
people to Christ. Does it bother you that it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe? I'm
so glad he did. I'm so glad it pleased God to
do that. He did it for me, and I believe he's done it for you,
too. But I'm just intrigued by Moses' response here in verse
11. God says, I'm sending you. Verse 11, And Moses said unto
God, Who am I that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should
bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? I'm convinced this
is the response of every single man God has ever called to lead
his people. Who am I that you would choose
to send me? Who was Paul? Who was Paul that
he should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ?
He told us who he was. He said, I'm less than the least
of all saints. I'm nobody. I'm nothing. I don't deserve
to do this. David said, Who am I and what is my house that thou
hast brought me hitherto? You remember what God had done
for David? God made David king of Israel. And before God made him king,
he said, Who am I that I should be son-in-law to the king? And
then God made him king. Then God made his son king. Who
was he? You know, much like Moses, he had
a man killed too. I'm telling you, God's people are sinners
and we're unworthy. We're unworthy. David told us in 2 Samuel 23,
he said, God had made an everlasting covenant with me, ordered in
all things and sure, who am I that God would do that for me? Think of Peter, when the Lord
came to Peter, revealed himself to Peter. You know, we see Peter
just lost in his arrogance. And the Lord saved him, revealed
himself to him, and what did he say? He said, Depart from
me, I'm a sinful man, O Lord. How can you have anything to
do with me? Is that not what we say when
God comes to us? There's no other response, brethren.
And you who God's come to, you know it. God's people know they're unworthy.
Now, please don't get me wrong. I'm not saying we don't get lifted
up with pride. I'm the best example of anybody for this, and I'm
ashamed to say it. I'm ashamed to say it. If there's any scripture I can
enter into, it's what Paul wrote in Romans 7 by inspiration of
God about the wretch that he was. Don't we always feel like
we have the best of intentions, and yet, all these things we
want to do and we strive to do and we have all these aspirations
and ambitions and yet we fail miserably. Wouldn't you love
to love the Lord thy God with all the heart, soul, mind, and
strength? Wouldn't you love to think about him all day instead of
yourself? Wouldn't you love to go to work praising him rather
than complaining about how much you hate your job? Are we not
guilty of these things? Get a promotion, well I should
have more. I'm so guilty of that. God is so good to me, and I'm
so unworthy of his goodness, and I prove it every day. I prove
it every day. To my shame. Now, I know Moses
felt the same way. He felt unworthy of God's revelation. You know, maybe he was happy
there in the backside of the desert, tending his father-in-law's
sheep. Maybe he was, I don't know. But I know this, he was
never so happy as when the Lord came and revealed himself to
him. That's when happiness comes, when Christ is made known to
you. He knew he was unworthy of God's salvation. He knew he
was unworthy of God's calling. He just said it. Who am I that
you should send me? And like we saw this morning,
he knew that he was unworthy of God's everlasting love freely
bestowed upon him. And we know it too, don't we?
I pray we do. Now here in verse 12, the Lord answers Moses. And
I see some precious promises here. We'll look at them one
by one and keep going. Verse 12. God said to Moses,
certainly I will be with thee. Isn't that comforting to you?
It doesn't matter what our circumstance is. God said, I'm sending you
to Pharaoh. Moses says, who am I? God said, I'll be with you,
Moses. I'll be with you. He's not telling him, I'm just
gonna be with you in this. I'm gonna be with you forever.
I'm gonna be with you the rest of your days and beyond. You see, God saved Moses. God
called Moses to lead his people, and God gave him this blessed
assurance, I will be with you. And I love what Moses prayed
in Exodus 33. He said, if thy presence go not with me, carry
us not up hence. If you're not going to go with
me, don't let us go. Is that not our prayer as we
approach each day? Lord, if you're not with me,
do you want to go through your day without your Lord? The sad reality is, Unless God
put Him on our mind, we would go about our day without our
Lord. It's not up to us staying with Him. It's He promised not
to leave us. He promised to stay right beside
us and hold our hand. Verse 12, He said, Certainly
I will be with thee, and this shall be a token unto thee that
I have sent thee. What a comfort that is. I've
sent you. What did Moses do? Moses killed
a man, then he fled. What did God do? God saved him
and God sent him with his, with God's commission to be God's
under shepherd, ambassador for his people. Now, anytime I read
a verse like this where God says, I have sent the, I can't help
but think of what I'm doing right now. I'm trying to stand and
preach Christ to declare the glorious gospel of the grace
of God. And I need to know that he sent
me. I tell you this all the time,
but every time I stand up here, I feel like a complete fool.
Not just because I get done and realize I said something ridiculous,
which happens all the time. But I just, I know that I am
a sinful man. I know the thoughts that I think
are so wrong. I know that the motive that I
often have is just so bad. I don't just say it, I know it.
The only thing good in me is Christ in me. But I'm like Paul
said, a wretched man. And I don't deserve this awesome
privilege and awesome responsibility to get up here and do this. I have no business standing here
doing this unless God has sent me. And if God has sent me, then
I better make this my business to do this. Not seeking my own
profit, but his glory. and your good, and your comfort,
your edification. And I, as I stand here, I need
God to be with me. I need God to uphold me. You know, he upholds this world
by the word of his power. He can uphold his preacher too.
And I'm absolutely convinced he does. He told Jeremiah, when
the Lord called Jeremiah, Jeremiah said the same thing. He said,
I can't speak, I'm just a child. And I think that means he was
young, but it doesn't matter if we're young or old. Who is
sufficient for these things? That's what Paul said, didn't
he? Our sufficiency is of God, brothers and sisters. But he
told Jeremiah, when Jeremiah said, I'm not worthy for this.
I can't do this. God told him several things,
but he said, I've sent you. And he said, you're going to
speak that which I command you to speak. You're going to go
where I send you. He said, I put my word in your mouth, and he
said this. He said, I will hasten my word to perform it. This doesn't depend on you, Jeremiah.
Moses, you can't screw this up. This is God working through you.
This is God speaking through you. He said in Isaiah 55, concerning
his word, he said, it shall not return unto me void. You know
why? Because it's his word, and he's
the one that's in it. And he has a purpose in it, and that
purpose is going to be fulfilled. It's going to be accomplished. Verse 12 goes on to say, it says,
this shall be a token unto thee that I have sent thee when thou
hast brought forth the people out of Egypt. When, not if, when
you've brought forth my people out of Egypt. My people are coming
out of Egypt. I see their affliction, I hear
their cry, I know their sorrows and they're coming out. I'm come
down to bring them out of it. Does that not bless your heart?
Don't you wonder sometimes, is it really going to be okay? Am
I going to make it? By God's grace, we will. Absolutely,
we will. You know, it doesn't depend on
us proving ourselves worthy. We're not. I'll go ahead and
tell you, we ain't. But He is. You know, God promised
to deliver us. Therefore, we shall be delivered.
He is faithful. He's the one who promised and
he's faithful to do what he promised. It's just like if God loves us,
he's going to make us live. He's going to save us. We're
his. He's going to draw us to himself. Sometimes I need to go back and
listen to this, but Brother Don brought a message years ago.
Is it really safe to trust the Lord? I'll tell you this, not
only is it really safe to trust Him, nothing else is safe. It's
not safe to trust myself. It's not safe to trust anybody
but our Lord. May God cause us to trust Him.
He's trustworthy. And I love this too, the end
of verse 12. When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt,
Ye shall serve God upon this mountain. Now physically speaking,
this just seemed like an impossible task. It didn't seem like a favorable
task to be sent to do. But don't you suppose this right
here was assuring to Moses, when you've brought forth my people,
you're gonna bring my people out. And when you do, you're
gonna serve me, and you're gonna serve me right here. Don't you
think that comforted him? I need that kind of comfort,
I do, I need it. Though Pharaoh repeatedly refused
to let God's people go, you remember that? Moses would go in and say,
God said let my people go, and Pharaoh hardened his heart and
he wouldn't let them go. Though Pharaoh repeatedly did
that, the outcome was never in doubt. It didn't matter how hard and
how many times that man's heart was hardened. The end of this
was set in stone, always. It was ordered and sure, just
like that blessed covenant. Think about that moment when
they were running, they get to that Red Sea, and they turn around,
here they come. Can you imagine a more fearful
moment, really? Backs against the sea, this is
it. What are we going to do now? It's over. Nowhere to go. This blessed my heart. Do you
know what happened at the Red Sea is a picture of Jesus Christ
and Him crucified? That Red Sea, that was the way
for the children of Israel. That was their salvation. God opened up that Red Sea for
them. Is Christ's blood, His death not our salvation? And
yet, that same sea was the death. of Pharaoh and his chariots,
his armies. They trampled it under their
feet, trampled underfoot the blood of Christ, counted a common
thing. Let me tell you this, the Red
Sea, God opening the Red Sea for them to make it through,
that was never a backup plan. That was the plan. When Adam
fell in the garden, you know the death of Christ, that wasn't
a backup plan. That was always the plan. You
see, when God plans something, it shall come to pass. When God
plans it, it's done. We make plans and we cancel them.
I canceled a doctor's appointment Friday, and God doesn't cancel
any of his. He keeps every appointment. When
he purposes it, it shall come to pass. When he speaks it, it's
done. That's the difference in God's
plans and ours. He purposes, we plan, we hope,
God does. He said, Moses, you're gonna
deliver my people out of Egypt, and when you do, you're coming
right back here and you're gonna worship me, and you're gonna
praise my glorious, wonderful name. And I rejoice to tell you,
that's exactly what happened. That's exactly what happened.
Now, what I wanna focus on for the rest of our message is a
word in verse 12. the first word God said to Moses
there. And he said, certainly, certainly, I will be with thee. That word stuck out to me and
it just blessed my heart. You ever feel alone? Often when I stand up here, I
feel alone. But it's not just here. All these
sorrows and afflictions and trials that we endure in our lives,
don't you sometimes just feel plumb alone, all by yourself?
I know some of you feel that far more than I do. And I feel
for you, because I know it must be a terrible feeling. Do you ever get overcome with
worry, fear, doubt? I know you do, because I do. It's just, it's a constant struggle. But our God has given us assurance. I love that word. Certainly. Will he be with us? Well, if
we can take him at his word, we don't have to wonder, do we?
Certainly I will be with thee. Few things in this life seem
certain. People lose jobs. I've lost jobs before. Against
my will, I would have kept it, but I didn't. People lose loved
ones. Tragedies strike. You think everything's
fine, and then all of a sudden it isn't. You know, we don't
know what today is going to bring forth. We really don't. I have
no idea. But one thing we can be sure
of, brethren, is that our God, our God, God Almighty, God who
is on his throne ruling and reigning all things right now and forever
has promised to certainly be with us. That makes me smile. It really
does. I can think of nothing greater.
Turn over with me to the book of Joshua, Joshua chapter 1. Joshua 1, look with me at verse
1. Joshua 1. Now after the death of Moses,
the servant of the Lord, it came to pass that the Lord spake unto
Joshua, the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses, my servant,
is dead. Now therefore, arise, go over
this Jordan, thou and all this people, unto the land which I
do give to them, even to the children of Israel. Every place
that the sole of your foot shall tread upon, that have I given
unto you, as I said unto Moses. From the wilderness and this
Lebanon, even unto the great river, the river Euphrates, all
the land of the Hittites, and unto the great sea toward the
going down of the sun shall be your coast. Verse five, there
shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days
of thy life. As I was with Moses, so I will
be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake
thee. Moses led the children of Israel
out of Egypt, but God would not let him lead them into the promised
land. He told Moses that the children
of Israel would be brought out of Egypt and that he would see
to it that they enter the promised land, but Moses couldn't enter
into the physical. Now, Moses is in the promised
land being glory, but this is important. Moses couldn't enter
into the land of Canaan, the promised land, because Moses
represents the law. The law can't save us. The law
can't get us to glory. Only Christ can. So God raised
up this man Joshua, who pictured the Lord Jesus Christ, and he
used Joshua to bring the children of Israel into that land. Now,
I pray God will enable us to enter into this, okay? As God
promised to be with Moses, He promised to be with Joshua. We just read it. As I was with
Moses, so will I be with you. Nothing's gonna, nothing's gonna
come upon you. I'm with you. As our Lord Jesus
Christ walked this earth, was the Lord God with him? That's who Joshua represents,
Christ. As Christ walked this earth, was the Lord God with
him? Absolutely he was. Absolutely he was. The triune
God is completely united, completely unified. They're one. One in
heart, one in mind, one in purpose, one in desire, one. God is three
in one, completely one. Yet, think about this. When our
Lord bore our sin, when he was made sin, when he was made a
curse, when he became us, and he bowed his head and gave up
the ghost, he was forsaken By God, he said,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? How? If he is God, if God was with
him as he walked this earth in a body, how was he forsaken by
God? He was forsaken by God, one,
because God is holy. And as He hung there as our substitute,
that's what the sword of God's justice and holiness demanded,
was death. Though He knew no sin. He traded
places with us. Our sin became His. But here's
the thing. He was forsaken by God. And He is God. So that His people
can never be forsaken. It's it's not just God loves
us and we shall be saved. It is impossible for anything
other. It's impossible for us not to be because Christ was
forsaken in our place. It's impossible for God to forsake
us. It's impossible. That's why he
says, certainly I will be with thee. We we know it's so. And I just I pray that'll be
a comfort to us when we're when we're in that place of doubt
and fear. You look to the cross. You look to the Christ of the
cross. Love singing about that when I'm here. You look to the
Christ of the cross who hung there in your place. You see
his everlasting love for you. And you remember, he was there
so that I will always be with him. He's always with me. Always. I'll never leave you.
Never forsake you. I want to leave you with a word
of encouragement. This will take a few minutes.
Turn to Isaiah chapter 43. I know this is a fairly familiar
text. Isaiah 43, certainly one of the most encouraging
passages I know of. Isaiah 43, starting in verse
1. Isaiah 43, 1. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba for thee. This just amazes me. Verse four.
Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable,
and I have loved thee. Therefore will I give men for
thee and people for thy life. You who are hoping in Christ
and Christ alone, can you fathom the fact that
you're precious in God's sight? God says, and the way God sees
things is the way they really are. God says, thou hast been
honorable. The only way that could possibly
be true is in Christ. There's no other way. He said,
I have loved thee. Oh, because I've loved you, I'm
going to give people for you. I'm going to protect you. I'm
going to nourish you. I'm going to be with you. He said, you're mine. You're
mine. Nothing's going to harm you.
No weapon formed against us shall prosper. because we are his and
he is ours. Look at verse five, he said,
fear not, tells us again, for I am with thee. You know, I love
when God repeats himself. Sometimes people get angry when
people repeat themselves. Aren't you glad God does? I'll
tell you what the Bible is. It's God repeating himself over
and over and over and over again. It's not, well, you have the
message of the Old Testament and the message of the New Testament.
No, it's one message. It's all about Christ. It's all about
Jesus Christ and Him crucified and our hope, our confident expectation
in Him. Verse five, fear not for I am
with thee. I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee
from the west. I will say to the north, give
up. And to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from far
and my daughters from the ends of the earth. What he's saying
is all my people gather here, come here, you're mine. I'm with
you, you're with me, that's how it's gonna be. And then in verse
seven, he says, even everyone that is called by my name, for
I have created him for my glory, I have formed him. Yea, I have
made him. God created us for his glory,
made us, formed us for his glory. What an encouragement. Oh, what
a comfort. You know, that's the God we can
trust. There's no other God, there's
no other hope. I'm telling you, all my hope,
all my plea is in the Lord Jesus Christ and that he died for me.
I'll leave you with this. Psalm 23 verse six, the psalmist
says, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days
of my life because God is with us and I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. I pray that comforts you as it
does me. Let's have a word of prayer. Our Heavenly Father,
most gracious, loving, kind Heavenly Father, we thank you again for
this blessed privilege of gathering together in your name to worship
you. Lord, I'm so amazed at your love for your
own, your love that would not take no for an answer, though
we know we wanted nothing to do with you. And that you would
come and save us, reveal yourself to us, and promise time and time
again to be with us forever. What a comfort, what a blessing,
what a great, glorious hope you've given us through your grace.
Lord, I pray it'd be an encouragement to these dear saints gathered
here and your saints everywhere. Please be with us, remind us
that you're with us, Oh, cause us to desire your presence, cause
us to commune with you. Lord, every chance we get to
hear your voice is such a blessed privilege. Please bless your
word tonight. I know you'll hasten your word
to perform it just like you said you would. It won't return void.
Bless it to the hearts of your dear saints. Be with all your
people, be with the afflicted. These afflictions we talk about,
they're so hard. but we know they're for our good.
Lord, be with your people. Show them you're near. Lord, lead us, draw us to yourself
both now and continually. Bless us as we depart this place.
Please forgive us of our sin. Please stay by our side for the
rest of our days and for all eternity. Forgive us, lead us,
and guide us. Thy name be glorified both here
and everywhere this moment. In Christ's name we ask these
things, amen. Thank you, Cody. A blessing. Encourage my heart. Let's sing that song that Cody
mentioned in your little book there, page 29, The Christ of
the Cross. We'll sing that together, and
then we'll be dismissed. Hymn number 29, page 29. On a hill far away died the Christ
of the cross. He yielded to suffering and shame. And there in His grace He died
in my place The purpose of God to fulfill So I'll cherish the
Christ of the cross And before His throne I'll bow
down I will cling to the Christ of the cross For He is the King
I must crown O the Christ of the Cross, so
despised by the world, has a wondrous attraction to me. He, the dear Lamb of God, left
His glory above to bear all my sin on the tree. So I'll cherish the Christ cross
and before his throne I'll bow down I will cling to the Christ
of the cross For He is the King I must crown In the Christ of the Cross And
His blood so divine A marvelous beauty I see for he opened my eyes that long
had been blind to behold him now on his throne. So I'll cherish And before His throne I'll bow
down I will cling to the Christ of the cross For He is the King
I must crown To the Christ of the cross I
must ever be true His shame and reproach gladly bear For in love he constrains till
all shall be gained and his glory forever I share. So I'll cherish the Christ of
the cross And before His throne I'll bow down I will cling to the Christ of Well, there's no service Wednesday
night. Brother Fred Evans will be here with us next Sunday.
You're dismissed, and we'll see you next time. Good night.