We are indeed a blessing to be
here and after traveling this past week, a round trip of about
1,500 miles, but a blessing that the number of miles
really has no bearing on them, because to be among the people
that desire to worship the Lord, who have sincere love of the
brethren, and like Brother Tim spoke about there a moment ago,
though these are people that we see only occasionally, yet
we find the kindred spirit in their midst. And we believe that
it is the Spirit of God that constrains our hearts to love
one another. And you know, of course, the
religious world would have us believe that churches are just like insurance
companies stores that you buy groceries at. You just go find
one that you like and go join up and everything is great. But when men are seeking a certain thing, they have to
find that wherever it is. They cannot just find it anywhere. And it is by the grace of God
that He does put His people together and it is nothing of them. It is no place of anything. I mean it is just the
work of God and according to the good pleasure of His will. How can we explain such things?
Chapter 26 of the book of Isaiah. I'm going to read this chapter
and then make a couple of comments about it as the Lord enables
us. It says, In that day, and of
course we've been looking at that phrase, in that day. Now that phrase occurs 60 times
in the book of Isaiah. It occurs over 120 times in the
Scriptures. but sixty times in the book of
Isaiah, or I think actually sixty-three times in the book of Isaiah and
twenty-three times in the book of Zechariah. And in that day, it refers to
a specific time or a specific age. And Isaiah is not talking
about more than one that day, but when he speaks about that
day, he is talking about that day. And as we have sought to
set forth, I believe that that day is the day of salvation,
that day. Now when is the day of salvation?
Paul said today is the day of salvation. This is that day. There is not
another day. There are the former times when
all of the things that were laid out by the Lord pointed to that
day. As we set forth in the Scriptures
there in the Grace Gazette concerning the prophets who prophesied of
the things that they did and desired to look into them. They
wanted to know. Isaiah wrote the book of Isaiah
and he said, ìMan, Iíd really like to know about that.î He
sent it forth, but he didnít know about it. The Lord gave
him the prophecy. He sent it in that day, but he
didnít see that day. The Scripture says that those
men all died, not having received the promise, but saw it afar
off. But dear brethren, we have been
privileged to be born in that day. This is that day when Christ
has been manifested as the Redeemer of Israel. When Christ has been
set forth as that One who is the King of kings and the Lord
of lords, as that One who has a kingdom which fadeth not away
and cannot be overturned, who comes to seek and to save that
which was lost. Now that's that All that he was
speaking about there, is it not? The Lord Jesus said, All that
the Father giveth me. shall come to me." That's the
same all that He said, "...and all will be drawn to Me, if I
be lifted up." Now, there's nothing wrong with an if, as long as
God's the one doing the if-ing. Because when God ifs something,
you can count on it. An if and a shall are the same
thing in the hands of God. When we say if, I mean, we say
if, well, we don't know what's going to happen, but when God
says if, it's the same thing as saying shall, because God
ordains all things to come to pass according to the good pleasure
of His will. And He does use the unfolding of events. If Christ
should come into the world born of a virgin, then He will redeem
His people from their sin. Now, only a fool would think
that there was some kind of a maybe involved in that. But it is an
if nonetheless. We are not saved apart from what
Christ did. We are saved by what Christ did.
So, all of the ifs, And the shalls in the Scripture
belong to the Lord and are really the same thing, but he says these
things in these fashions often just for our sake, for our benefit,
not in order that men might wonder whether or not there is something
that could overturn that. He said, All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And they shall. In that day 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. Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because He
trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever,
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. For He bringeth down
them that dwell on high. The lofty city He layeth it low,
He layeth it low. Even to the ground He bringeth
it, even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down,
even the feet of the poor and the steps of the needy. The way
of the just is uprightness. Thou most upright dost weigh
the path of the just. Yea, in the way of Thy judgments,
O Lord, have we waited for Thee. The desire of our soul is to
Thy name and to the remembrance of Thee. With my soul have I
desired Thee in the night. Yea, with my spirit within me
will I seek Thee early. For when Thy judgments are in
the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness. Let favor be showed to the wicked,
yet will he not learn righteousness. In the land of uprightness will
he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord.
Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see, but they
shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people. Yea,
the fire of thine enemy shall devour them. Lord, thou wilt
ordain peace for us, for thou also hast wrought. all our works
in us. O LORD our God, other lords beside
thee have had dominion over us, but by thee only will we make
mention of thy name. They are dead, they shall not
live. They are deceased, they shall
not rise. Therefore hast thou visited and
destroyed them, and made all their memory to perish. Thou
hast increased the nation, O Lord. Thou hast increased the nation.
Thou art glorified. Thou hast removed it far into
all the ends of the earth. Lord, in trouble have they visited
Thee. They poured out a prayer when
Thy chastening was upon them. Like as a woman with child that
draweth near the time of her delivery is in pain, and crieth
out in her pain, so have we been in Thy sight, O Lord. We have been with child, we have
been in pain, we have, as it were, brought forth wind. We
have not wrought any deliverance in the earth, neither have the
inhabitants of the world fallen. Thy dead men shall live, together
with my dead bodies shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that
dwell in dust, for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the
earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, Enter thou into
thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee. Hide thyself, as
it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpassed. For behold, the Lord cometh out
of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity.
The earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more
cover her slain." Now this is a There is a lot in this passage
of Scripture we could spend a long time here. In that day, as we
said, that is the present time. It is the day when the Lord would
be pleased to manifest the glory of His Son, Jesus Christ, as
the God-man, as the fullness of the Godhead bodily, not as
a lesser being come down to dwell among men, but as God Himself,
as He is. He is the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. That means there is no greater
manifestation that could possibly be made of the Godhead than that
which is seen in Jesus Christ as He came and dwelt among men
in flesh and blood. Now, time would fail us to and
understanding and ability to fathom the depths of how it is
that He who made the world could come into this world and show
Himself to men in the very same fashion as the men that He created. Now, I have to tell you, I don't
know how that is. That's not a simple thing if
you pause and think about it, but it is amazing nonetheless
that that is what he is seen fit to do. Now, the Jews had
no misunderstanding about what the early disciples, as the Lord
Himself and then His disciples after He had ascended, were preaching. They were preaching that this
man, Jesus, is the eternal God who is Israel's refuge. Now they
taught that. And of course, that is at the
very basis of the errors that stemmed with the Gnostics and
others who came along and said, well, wait a minute. He just
appeared to be God. He wasn't really God. I mean,
He wasn't actually the eternal God. We just thought that was
the way He was, or that's just how He appeared, but He wasn't
really that. But the teaching, the truth of
the Gospel is that He is indeed that One who is God, the very
God. I mean, even as Isaiah prophesied
that thou shalt call His name Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty
God, the Everlasting Father. Now, how can that not be what
he said? I mean, you have to tear that
out of the Scripture. He is the Mighty God. He is the Everlasting Father. He is that One who is manifest
The only way any man can ever know or see God is in Jesus Christ. That's why he said, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. And he said that in response
to, or in anticipation of that which Philip said, Lord, show us the Father." And
it's a passage that he said, Philip, if I've been so long
time with you and you didn't know who I am, he said, I and
the Father are one. He wasn't saying, well, the Father
is up there and I'm down here, but we're all on the same page.
I phone in every night and I talk to him. That wasn't it at all. He said, Philip, I've been writing
you myths. He said, I am the Father. He
said, I am. The great I am. He is that one
who is all things. So in that day shall this song
be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. Salvation
will God appoint for wolves and bulls. This is the song of the
people of God. Redemption is the message of
God's people. It is the delight of God's people. And it is the refuge of God's
people. You see, that which is wrought
in Jesus Christ is the only thing that the children of God have
any sort of comfort or help in. Now, religion affords a lot of
comfort to a lot of people. And I certainly have no way to
change that. I don't even know if I desire
to change that. I would wish that men could see
beyond it, but they can't. But the multitudes of the people
in this world are satisfied with whatever religion it is that
they were born in. That is just human nature. They
grew up in it. They have fond memories of it
in their childhood and they just like to perpetuate it in their
mind and they are dependent on that religion. And to them it
is a thing that is very comforting. I mean, men is the man that's
comforted in great times of distress and great times of darkness by
his religion and the people that share that religion with him.
But you see, that's not the place God's people are at because all
these things are like a balloon that somebody stuck a hole in
and all the air went out of it. I mean, as a kid, and you had
a balloon, and that thing was full of air, and you could play
with it, that was great, but as soon as it popped, you didn't
pick the pieces of the balloon up and try to play with them.
Why? Because, I mean, the balloon
was popped. That was it. Now, when the Lord
pops a man's religious balloon, he doesn't want to play with
it anymore. Now the woman at the well is
a good example of somebody who the Lord popped her balloon.
She said, here is my balloon and we worship down here in Samaria. And our fathers, they said, here
worship. See our balloon here? Where is
the right place to worship? The Lord did not have any balloons.
He said, He said, Woman, you don't know
what you're talking about. He said, The Father seeketh such
to worship Him as worship Him in spirit and truth. I tell you,
it's not in this mountain or any other mountain. And she went
away and she said, Is not this man the one sent from God? Come see a man that told me all
things ever I did. You see, she said, She began
to sing this song, We have a strong city, salvation will God appoint
for walls and bulwarks. You see, this is the place that
we want to find our help and hope. Not in some religious institution
somewhere. It doesn't make a difference
if it's been around for a thousand years. It's not the place God's
people can find any solace or help in. But it is that which
God appoints for walls and bulwarks. Now what does He appoint for
walls and bulwarks unto the people of God? It is the redemptive
work of Jesus Christ. It is there and there alone that
we can find any help. I'm not interested in what men
can teach me with their religion or whatever thing they've got
to offer. It doesn't make any difference
because that which is for salvation and walls at which I have been
brought by the grace of God to trust in is nothing less than
Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name." You see, that's the song
of the redeemed. And the Lord appointed it. It's
not something we figured out. It's not something we decided
to agree with. We're brought to a place where
there's nothing else. We're going to starve to death,
Lord, if you don't help us. Open ye the gates that the righteous
nation which keepeth the truth may enter in." Now where is the
righteous nation? Is that the nation of Israel?
Are they the righteous nation? I mean, I'm talking about carnal
Israel. I mean, the people that abide
over in what's called the holy land? I mean, is there such a
thing as a holy land? No. Dear brethren, this world
is a cursed world. There is no holy land in this
world. But I'll tell you where there
is a holy land is wherever Jesus Christ is. You see, that's the
place that's made holy, not because it was holy, but because He came
there. And so whenever it says here,
Open ye the gates that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth
may enter in, Who's that talking about? It's talking about the
people of God who have been made righteous. Now, when you look
around and you see them, you couldn't tell they were righteous.
The Lord didn't say, well, I've looked at you for a long time
and now I've judged you to be righteous. No. He said, you are my dove, my
undefiled. You are that one in whom my soul
delighted. You see, the righteous nation
is the nation which the Lord Jesus Christ has made righteous
according to His purpose and according to the good pleasure
of His will, according to those whom He loved with an everlasting
love. And He said, You are My people.
Yes, that is the righteous nation. And the Scripture says that the
gates are opened that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth
may enter in. Now, how do we keep the truth?
Well, the Lord said, I am the way, the truth, and the life,
and the righteous nation confesses no other truth. We don't say,
oh, well, we believe the Lord is who He said He was, but we
also believe this other stuff over here. See, there are many
religions in the world that claim to believe what we say we believe. Now, whether or not we do believe
those things is another matter, but we trust by the grace of
God that we do. Well, there are many religions
that adopt a portion of that, but they say, but you've got
to have this along with it. And so it is. But the Scripture
says, ìOpen ye the gates at the righteous nation which keepeth
the truth,î that is, which holdeth the truth and nothing else. The Scripture says, ìBuy the
truth and sell it not, because it is the most precious possession
that we have.î And then he says something here, ìThou wilt keep
him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.î Now in past
times, I've had heard and had this grained into my mind. All right, now here it is. Thou wilt keep him in perfect
peace whose mind stayed on Thee. All right, you all get your minds
stayed on the Lord. Come on, I mean, get stayed on
the Lord. You can do it. And if you will
do it, you will have perfect peace. Well, brother, I'm telling
you, that's a dead-end street. That's right. I mean, that's
a dead-end street. Now, there's nothing wrong with
that, with doing what Tim's saying. There's nothing wrong with memorizing
Scripture. But David said, Thy Word have I hid in my heart.
And indeed, that's a good thing. But if a man thinks that by doing
such things as that, that he can keep his mind in perfect
peace, then he is in error. Because it says, Thou wilt keep
them in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on the Lord, because
he trusteth in Thee. How is a man brought to a place
of trusting in the Lord? By the work of the Spirit of
God. This is not, you can do this in order to do this, but
it is a picture of what the Lord, how the Lord works in His people. He causes His people to trust
in Him. Now, in whom do you trust? Where is your trust? Now, if
it be true that you are trusting in the Lord according to what
the Scripture says, you will be kept in perfect peace. Now
that doesn't mean you won't have struggles and troubles and trials
and all external things that will come upon you, but it means
that He will keep you. He will not allow you to fall
out of that, but He will hold you in the palm of His hand.
He will keep His people in perfect peace because regardless of the
trial, He will bring His people back to the place where they
know their comfort is. Just like Peter said, Lord, to
whom shall we go? Those are the words of eternal
life. I mean, God's people are like that moth that flies around
the flame. They just keep flying around.
And in the picture, the moth, he's burnt up by it. But dear
brethren, the people of God would rather be burnt up in the flame
of the Lord than have to fly off out here and fly out in the
darkness. Job said, though He slay me,
yet will I trust Him. Because why? Because his heart
trusted in the Lord. Why does his heart trust in the
Lord? Because the Lord worked in him, both the will and the
do of his good pleasure. If we remain faithful, brethren,
why is that? It's because the Lord made us
faithful. I mean, we can't look back and say, oh, brother, we
stood through all these heartaches and troubles and we were strong
in the Lord. No, we were weak and we were
beggarly and we were ready to fall by the wayside at any minute,
but God who is rich in mercy has kept us and brought us and
caused us to trust in Him. Trust ye in the Lord forever,
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Now, I want to ask
you a question. Is there any way that a man who has been given
the gift of faith could not or could testify to any other thing
than that. How could he? How could it be
that a man would be given the gift of faith and yet say, well,
I don't think I'm going to trust in the Lord today. How could
it be? It can't be. Trust ye in the
Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.
Who is the Lord Jehovah? He is that One who hung on Calvary's
cross. He is that One who came and tabernacled
among men. He is that One who said, I thirst. I don't understand it. Don't
try to get me to explain it to you because I can't do that.
But by the grace of God, He is that One in whom our trust is.
For He bringeth down them that dwell on high. The lofty city
He layeth it low. He layeth it low even to the
ground. He bringeth it even to the dust. The foot shall tread it down,
even the feet of the poor and the steps of the needy. The way
of the just is uprightness. Thou most upright dost weigh
the path of the just. Yea, in the way of thy judgments,
O Lord, have we waited for thee. The desire of our soul is to
thy name and to the remembrance of thee." Now you see, it says,
He bringeth down them that dwell on high. We have dwelt on high. We have been lifted up in our
own pride and our own way and our own arrogance and our own
thoughts of our abilities to follow the Lord? Peter was, was
he not? Lord, though all men forsake
Thee, not me. I'm going to stand with you to
the end. The Lord layeth, He bringeth down them that dwell
on high. The lofty city, He lays it low. The way of the just is
uprightness. Thou most upright dost way the
path of the just. Yea, in the way of Thy judgments,
O Lord, have we waited for Thee, the desire of our souls in Thy
name, and to the remembrance of Thee. With my soul, if I desired
Thee in the night, yea, with my spirit within me will I seek
Thee early. For when Thy judgments are in
the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.
And then he makes a contrast here. He says, �Let favor be
showed to the wicked.� Now, he�s contrasting. You see, the
Scripture contrasts the righteous and the wicked. Now, it doesn�t
mean that those whom the Lord is speaking of as the righteous
are those who in the carnal nature of man are righteous, because
he said that he came to seek and to save sinners. So he is
speaking not in that respect, but in how he is viewing those
people, how he sees them, how they are insofar as the imputed
righteousness of Christ is given to them. But here when he speaks
about the wicked, he is talking about those who have not a mind
to trust in him, those who have not been given grace to see the
things of God. He said, Let favor be showed
to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness. You see,
it's a privilege when you've been given the ability to learn
righteousness because by nature none of us wanted to learn righteousness. We want to go on our way. We
want to be left alone. But yet in God's mercy He does
not do so. But the wicked will not learn
righteousness in the land of uprightness. It doesn't make
any difference what you do Unto a man who has not been given
grace to trust and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, he can
learn the ways of religion, but he cannot and will not bow his
knee unto the worship of the Lord Jesus Christ or desire to
follow in His way. In the land of uprightness will
he deal unjustly and will not behold the majesty of the Lord. Now you see, that's the difference
between the righteous and the wicked. The righteous behold
the majesty of the Lord and they fall on their faces and they
worship Him. The wicked, when they see the
righteousness of the Lord, they say, it's not enough. You've got to have the Ten Commandments. It is all right to talk about
what Christ did on the cross, but you better keep the Ten Commandments. No, dear brethren, the righteous
recognize the majesty of the Lord, and they are not interested
in trying to fulfill the religious ways of men. The law of the Spirit of life
in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and death.
It is the work of God in the hearts of His people that constrains
them unto Him. And they desire to walk in His
way and behold the majesty of the Lord. You see, a man cannot
be embracing sin and saying, I love the way of sin, but I
love the majesty of the Lord. Those two things don't go hand-in-hand
because, you see, when a man is bowed down before the majesty
of the Lord, he will hate the way of sin. Now, that doesn't
mean that he doesn't sin. That doesn't mean that he doesn't
do the things. But he's as Paul who said, the
good that I would, I do not, and that which I would not, that
I do. Because, you see, there is a
conflict in the people of God, but it is this conflict That
is the very evidence of the Spirit of God, because with the mind
we desire to worship and honor the Lord Jesus Christ, because
He is that One whom we believe is the Savior of sinners. He
is the only Savior of sinners. He is that One in whom all righteousness
dwells. He is that One in whom all majesty
is set forth. And we desire with all that is
within us to fall down and worship Him. May the Lord give us grace
as we look into His Word, as we walk through this life, that
we might be a people who are indeed manifested as the people
of God, not because of what we say, but because of what we are. Those whose mind has stayed on
the Lord, for He'll keep that man in perfect peace.