Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Psalm 83. Psalm 83. The name of the message
is hidden. Hidden. This is a psalm of acid. Psalm 83. We'll read verses 1
to 5, and then we'll read verses 12 to 18 after that. Keep not thou silence, O God. That's Elohim, the strong and
mighty one. Hold not thy peace and be not
still, O God. Again, that's Elohim. For lo,
thine enemies make a tumult, and they that hate thee have
lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel
against thy people and consulted against Thy hidden ones. My,
thy hidden ones. They have said, come and let
us cut them off from being a nation that the name of Israel may be
no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together
with one consent. They are confederate against
thee. Do you know the whole world? in their natural state is against
God. And you know they've arrayed
themselves, imagine this, they arrayed themselves as an army
against our great God. Against our great God. They arrayed themselves as an
army against Him. You know what scripture says in Psalm 2? He
laughs at them. He laughs at them. My, oh my. And look at this, they have consulted
together with one consent. They are confederate against
thee. And we were in that number at
one time. But God, by his grace and his mercy, plucked us like
brands of the fire, beloved, because we're his people. Then
verses 6 to 11 speaks of those who were confederate against
the nation of Israel. But let's continue from verse 12 to verse
18. Who said, let us take to ourselves
the houses of God in possession? O my God, make them like a wheel,
as the stubble before the wind. As the fire burneth a wood, and
as a flame setteth the mountains on fire. So persecute them with
thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces
with shame, that they may seek thy name, O Lord. And that's
Jehovah there. Let them be confounded and troubled
forever. Let them be put to shame and
perish, that man may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah,
art the most high over all the earth. And that's what he is.
That, again, is a statement of fact, isn't it? He is the most
high over all the earth. He's Jehovah. He's God, and he's
sovereign, almighty. What a picture we have before
us. God protects the Church of God. They are his hidden ones. Hidden ones. Just as a hen, if
a storm is approaching, will cover her little babies with
her wings and bear whatever comes upon her. So we are hidden in
Christ, beloved. We're the hidden ones. And Israel had all these nations
were confederate against them. All these nations were confederate
against them at this time. They joined together. They were
plotting to wipe Israel off the map. That's what they were plotting
to do. And what a picture of the church
of God. The world hates the church. Does not understand. Now they're trying to take God
over everything. Trust me, the world is no friend
of our God. None at all. And if it were possible, if it
were possible, they would remove God's people. Just like these
folks here want to remove Israel. I'll tell you. If it was possible,
they'd remove us. But God won't let it happen,
will he? He'll always have a remnant according to the election of
grace. And that's why he said, don't fear what man can do, y'all.
All they can do is take the body. They can't take the soul, beloved. Oh, my. And here before us, we
see the heathen rage. And they still do today. They
still do. They rage against God's people,
against his hidden ones, his hidden ones. Turn, if you would,
to the first part of Psalms there. Look at Psalm 2. Let's read Psalm
2. Why do they rage? Look at this. Why do they rage? Well, they rage because God's
sovereign. Look at this, Psalm 2. Why do
the heathen rage? And the people imagine a vain
thing, heathen there as Gentiles, which is what we are. The kings
of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his anointing." Okay, now this
again is just like we see in the psalm, a confederation. And
what it's telling us here, because this psalm speaks of Christ,
it's talking about the whole world setting themselves against
Christ. So imagine all the armies of
the world, all the people of the world, as a vast army standing
before the Lord, shaking their fist at Him. That's what we are
by nature, right? My oh my, just imagine that.
Let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from
us. Now this is terrifying. We know the wrath of God is going
to fall upon those outside of Christ, right? But to have God
just laugh? So here's the whole world in
all its might, all its strength, standing before God. Raging against him. That's us
in our natural state. Right? Praise God. Some of us, by God's grace, lay
down our arms and go to the other side. By God's grace, right? Look at
this. Look at this. He that sits in
heaven shall laugh. He shall have them in derision,
confusion. He just laughs at them. All the
power and might of man, and God just laughs. Man is powerless against our
God. Like a bunch of ants in front
of him. You put all of us, all that ever lived in front of him,
it's like a bunch of little ants all in front. My. He's no one to be messed
with, I'll tell you that. Look at this. Then so he speak
unto them in his wrath, not in mercy, but in wrath. He speaks
to us in mercy, doesn't he? Through Christ Jesus our Lord.
He speaks to them in wrath and infects them in his sore displeasure. That means distress. The vexed
there means distress. They are in distress, beloved. I will declare the decree the
Lord has said unto me. Thou art my son, this day have
I begotten thee. Ask of me and I shall give thee
the heathen for thine inheritance. That's we who are the elect out
of the Gentiles, beloved. My, oh my, mercy, even amongst
this wrath here, there's mercy. for thine inheritance in the
uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. It's all
his. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash
them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now, therefore,
ye kings. Be instructed, ye judges of the
earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss
the son lest he be angry and ye perish from the way, wherein
his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are they, now here's
God's people, blessed are they that put their trust in him.
We're blessed. I'm looking at a bunch of blessed
people. We put our trust in Christ by
God's grace and mercy, haven't we? Isn't it wonderful? And God calls us blessed. Blessed. Can you imagine this though?
All the armies of the world, all the people of the world just
shaking their fists. We're not have this man rule
over us. And God said, that's my king.
That's my son. He's king. I put him over all
things, and it's his by inheritance. Oh my. One day they're standing
in front of him, won't they? And every single person that's
ever lived will either stand in front of the Lord in judgment
or stand before the Lord in mercy. And I hope it's mercy. I hope
God has mercy upon anyone who's listening to this. There's mercy
in Christ. There's forgiveness of all our
sins in Christ and Him alone. Just look to Him and live, the
scripture says. My, we're just a bunch of sinners looking to
Christ, aren't we? We who are the redeemed, looking away from
ourselves and looking to Christ. My, what the heathen do not understand
in the psalm we're looking at is they are actually trying to
take God's power by taking God out of all these things. But
you know what? God still reigns, doesn't he?
He laughs at them. Think of that. When you see the
next headline that says something, God just laughs at them, keeps
them in their derision. I didn't think of the mercy he's
had upon us. He didn't leave us there. And he saved us out
of all that, beloved. We're redeemed by the blood of
the lamb, redeemed by the blood of Christ. And it's only because
we were sons that God sent his spirit of his son into our hearts,
where we cry now, Abba, Father. Oh, it's mercy. We received mercy. And look at that verse over in,
I'll read it again in verse 4 of chapter 2. He that sitteth in
the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision.
Now let's go, let's go back to Psalm 83. And struck, these words struck
me, thy hidden ones, thy hidden ones. Psalm 83, verse 3, they have
taken crafty counsel against thy people and consulted against
thy hidden ones. Do you know when we were born,
we didn't know we were God's elect, right? It was hidden from
us, wasn't it? And up to the time when the Lord
saved us, we didn't know we were God's elect. It was hidden from
us. It was, wasn't it? And then when
he revealed himself, we were in awe. My, oh my. Those three words,
thy hidden ones. The Hebrew word for hidden ones
is defined as to hide, treasure, store up. To hide, so we're hidden in,
who are we hidden in? Christ. We're God's treasure. Whether we feel it or not, we're
God's treasure. And we're his hidden treasure. That's according to the Hebrew
word. To be stored up. And you know
what else it means to this? This is amazing. To hide from
discovery. We didn't know we were God's
alone. Do you know Satan doesn't know who God's elect are? Only God knows who his people
are. Now, Satan buffets. Hear Buffett. Hear Buffett. Even
someone who comes to church, hear Buffett them. Right? Because he doesn't know if they're
the Lord's elect or not. So hear Buffett them. But God's
people will be saved, and they will be preserved. They will
be. My, oh, my. Remember, some falls
on stony ground, the seed. Sometimes the thorns come and
the cares of the world choke it out, but some fall on good
ground. That means prepared ground. Who
prepares the ground of our hearts? The Holy Spirit of God to receive
that seed. Isn't that amazing? Oh, it's
wonderful. to hide from discovery. So God's
people were hidden. We're hidden in Christ Jesus
our Lord. Colossians chapter 3 verses 1 to 4 says this, If
ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above,
where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection
on things above, not on things of the earth. For ye are dead,
and your life is hid, hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who
is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him
in glory. Our lives are hidden in Christ, beloved. It's wonderful. My, what safety for us. What
assurance for the believer then to know that we're in Christ
and we're hidden in Him. We're in Him. We were crucified with Christ,
weren't we? Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. In the life which I now live, I live by the faith of
the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. That's true
of every believer. My. We're hidden in Christ. We're hidden, God manifest in
the flesh. We're hidden in the self-existent
one. Because he's God, right? He's Jehovah the Son, isn't he?
We're hidden in him, beloved. My, oh my, were hidden he who
became a man, a son of God, who died upon the
cross to redeem his people from all their sins. And think about
this, Christ is hidden from natural man, isn't he? Was he hid from
us before we were saved? Yeah. Didn't have a clue who
he was. I had a figment of an imagination
of who I thought Christ was, but it was not the Christ of
the Bible, I'll tell you that. He was hid from us. And just as Joseph revealed himself
to his brethren, Christ must reveal himself to us, we who
are his brethren. Right? He's our older brother,
isn't he? He's the head, we're the body.
He must reveal himself to us or we'll never know him. So marvel
at that this week when you're at home or you're working and
contemplating something. Marvel at this fact that we're hid in He who is God. And He who is God counts us as
brethren and loves us so much as His bride that He gave His
life for us, redeemed us with His blood. My. It's wonderful. And that he's
hid from natural man. He was hid once from us. When
you start thinking about that, and how he's revealed himself
to us, it'll fill your heart with joy. Because we don't deserve
that, do we? He could have just passed us
right by. But because we're sons, chosen in Christ before the foundation
of the world. My, oh my. The world knows nothing
about the heavenly manna, who came from heaven, the Lord Jesus
Christ. The world knows nothing of the
bread of life. They have an imaginary Christ,
but when he really reveals himself to you, I'll never forget. When someone revealed, or the
Holy Spirit used this gentleman to give me that verse, for there's
one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus,
who gave himself a ransom for all. And I was a Catholic, and
going to them priests, and I found that there's only one mediator.
There's only one, there's not multiples. And it's not a man
like you and I, it's the man Christ Jesus, it's God in the
flesh. That was the start of the refuge
of lies crumbling from under my feet. Because that's what
it is. We build up a refuge of lies.
We build up a refuge of who we think God is. And then when the
Holy Spirit reveals to us who Christ is, we find out, oh man,
I was on sink and sand. And then the Lord puts us what?
On the rock. On the rock. That rock is Christ. That foundation
is Christ, isn't it? Oh, it's wonderful. So the spiritual
life of the saints is hid from the men of the world. In natural
man, in our nature, we're alienated from God. He must come to us,
right? Because we'll never come to him
unless we're made willing in the day of God's power. That
lost sheep who the shepherd sought, he wasn't looking for the shepherd.
He was lost. I imagine he was blatant, but
as far as he knew, there was no one around. Didn't stop him
from crying out, probably, did it? Put it thus, God, be merciful
to me, the sinner. Oh, my. Blind baroness, have
mercy on me, thou son of God. The leper, Lord, if thou will. The woman at the well, I know
Messiah cometh. And the Lord says, I that speaketh
unto thee am he. The shepherd is always seeking
out the sheep, isn't he? The hidden ones. He knows who
they are. So marvel that God came to us. We had no idea. We didn't know
nothing about God. Nothing of eternal life. Nothing
of the heavenly man of which we now feast upon. And this is
why we preach the gospel. This is why Christ must, must,
must be preached. Because he's the only savior
of sinners. The only one. Romans chapter 16. Turn there
if you would. Romans chapter 16. My, the believers
hid in Christ. Hidden Christ. All our spiritual life comes
from Christ. He's the vine. We're the branches. He's the head. We're the branches. We're the body. And in Christ,
we're safe. We're not safe anywhere else,
but we're safe in Christ. And what in Christ can never
be lost? Never. Once he finds his sheep, which
he's the one who seeks them out, he's the one who finds them,
they'll never be lost again. They're going home with the shepherd.
Look at this in Romans chapter 16, verses 25 to 27. Now, to
him that is of the power to establish thee according to my gospel.
Who has the power? Who has the power to establish
us? Who has the power to put our feet on the rock, which is
Christ? God. We don't have that power. Now unto he that has the power
to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of
Jesus Christ. It must be preached. Christ must
be preached. According to the revelation of the mystery. That's
where we didn't know Christ. And all of a sudden he reveals
himself to us, beloved. the revelation of the mystery
that was in Colossians says was hid from ages and generations
now made manifest unto us the mystery look at this which was
kept secret since the world began but now is made manifest and
by the scriptures of the prophets according to the commandment
of the everlasting God that's who our God is he's the everlasting
God he's the one true God made known to all nations for the
obedience of faith. He's made known himself to us,
to his people, out of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation.
Now we willingly obey him, don't we? Isn't that amazing? We willingly obey our Savior.
We bow our knee to our King, the Lord Jesus Christ, willingly. And then he says this, to God,
only wise be glory. He gets all the glory through
Jesus Christ forever. Forever, God will get all the
glory. Forever, beloved. Forever. I was talking to a fellow this
week. He was talking about rewards
and how if you do something wrong, you lose a reward, or if you
do something right, you gain a reward. And I said, well, I
said Christ is my reward. He's my reward. I can't lose
Him. I can't lose Him. Anything I
do or say can't separate me from Him. That's not a license to
go out and do whatever. You know that. I don't believe
in that. But we are secure in Christ,
beloved. He is our reward. He's our exceeding reward. If
we have Christ, there's no greater reward than Christ, is there? Why would we want anything else
other than Christ? And he even told Abraham, I'm
your exceeding reward. That's true for every one of
us. Isn't that wonderful? If I can
gain or lose something, that means I'm gaining or losing favor
with God by something I do. I already lost favor with God
in my natural state, didn't I? And so did you. We're born dead
in trespasses and sins. But now, because we're sons,
God sends the spirit of his Son in our hearts, where we now cry,
Abba, Father, we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Right? We have favor with God, don't
we? Through Christ Jesus, our Lord.
And we were always in him, we just didn't know it. Isn't that
amazing? My, oh my. Man's religion just
tangles you up, I'll tell you why. Keeps you in knots and stitches. My, oh my. Let this world rage
against the believer. We're hid in Christ. Let this
world rage against us. We're hid with Christ. We're
hid with Christ. We're hitting God who's manifest
in the flesh, the self-existent one. My oh my. He's the head. And because he
lives, right? Because the head lives, the body
will live too, right? He says, I go to prepare a place
for you. Who's preparing it? Christ. And where I am, you're
going to be too. All because of him and his mercy
and his grace. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. He's the fountain. He's the fountain
of everlasting life. And when a sinner's plunged in
that fountain, he comes up clean. In that precious blood of Christ,
right? Clean. There's no spots left. Purely,
perfectly clean. We're sinners though, yes. But
in the righteousness of Christ, God looks upon us and sees us
in Christ, sees us in him, his son. And what does he say about
his son? This is my beloved son in whom
I'm well pleased. So if he sees us in the son whom
he's well pleased, that means he's pleased with us. Do you see why he says your sins
and your iniquities I'll remember no more? Because he sees us in
Christ. You see why he says, as far as
the east is from the west, I won't remember your sins? Because the
scapegoat, which also pictured Christ, carried them out into
the wilderness, into a land where they will not be found. My, what
a Savior, what a Redeemer is Christ Jesus our Lord. All our sins forgiven. All of
them. Again, look at Psalm 80, 83,
83, 3. I keep wanting to say 8, 83,
8. 83, 3. They have taken crafty counsel
against thy people and consulted against thy hidden ones. We're
not hidden from God. His eyes always been upon us
in love, in mercy, in grace. In one day though, we're going
to see Him face to face. He won't be hidden from us anymore,
face to face wise. Someone asked me one time, he
said, you've never seen Christ and yet you love Him. I said,
He's the Savior of my soul. I'm going to see His face one
day though. I'm going to see Him. And I know He lives. I know
He lives, beloved. Do you know that too, right?
We're going to see him. Oh, we're going to look at him
forever in glory. And we're going to stand in his
presence clothed in his perfect righteousness. Again, that's
the wedding garment. Spotless, perfect, white. So
we're not unknown to God. And look at verse 18 of Psalm
83, that man may know that thou, whose name alone is Jehovah,
art the most high over all the earth. He reigns. Does that not speak of a sovereign? Does that not speak of a king
over everything? Most high over all the earth.
See, this is why Paul tells us, set your mind on things above,
right? Because he's above all the trouble of this world. He's above it. He sees it all. He's above it. So we're to set
our minds upon Christ. And not on this world, not on
the things of this world. but Christ, because exactly what
this says, that men may know that thou whose name alone is
Jehovah. We know, we know by God's grace
that his name is Jehovah. We know by God's grace that he's
the self-existent one. We know by God's grace that he's
Elohim, the strong and mighty one. We know by God's grace that
he's Jehovah Sekindu, the Lord our righteousness. We know by God's grace that he's
Jehovah Shalom, the Lord our peace. We know these things now. We didn't know them before, but
by God's grace now we know them. Not fully. But oh, what we know, oh, does
it not cause us just to cling to Christ, who's the lover of
our souls? And then to think? To think that
the world rises up against God, but here protect his people?
See, they can't get at God, but they can get at his servants,
can't they? But even that he protects us. He protects us,
beloved. It's wonderful. We may be persecuted
by the world. But God will watch over us and
protect us. Vengeance is mine, saith the
Lord. I will repay. And he does, doesn't he? He does. You know, the scripture says,
keep me as the apple of thy eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. The hidden ones, hid under the
wings of Christ is in a picture of him as a hen. He hides over. We're hidden. We're hidden. See, the Lord used pictures in
life during these times, and even our times we can understand
what that is, right? Hidden. Hidden in Christ. My oh my. It's amazing. God's grace is
absolutely amazing. Why are God's people called the
hidden ones? Because He's put them out of
reach of all their adversaries. And He has concealed us in a
place of safety. And where is that? In Him. Again,
man can destroy the body, but they can't take the soul. They can't take the soul. We
are protected by God. We are protected by the sovereign
one. We are protected in Christ. We
are ever under his watchful eye. Always remember that God is ever
watchful over us. There's not a time when he's
not, you know, when we think, well, he's not paying attention
to me now. He always has his eyes of love
upon us. And he looks at us in love, in
mercy. In grace. That's how He looks
upon us. In Christ. Psalm 27 says this, One thing
have I desired of the Lord, that I will seek after, that I may
dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold
the beauty of the Lord. Isn't He beautiful to us? Isn't
He beautiful? And to inquire in His temple,
for in the time of trouble He shall hide me. He shall hide
me in his pavilion, in the secret of his tabernacle. He shall hide
me. He shall set me up upon a rock. That's Christ, beloved. And now
shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about
me. Therefore, will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of
joy. Praise you, Lord, for delivering
me from my enemies. Now shall my head be lifted up,
above mine enemies round about me. Therefore will I offer sacrifices
of joy. I will sing, yea, I will sing
praises unto the Lord. And we do that, right? Praise
God, he delivered us from the enemy of ourself. Praise God,
he delivered us from the enemy called sin. Praise God, he delivered
us from his own law. Praise God, he delivered us from
his wrath. My. Praise God, we've been delivered
from the wrath of the Lamb through the Lamb. My, what a great God. What a great Savior. God's people
are also called the hidden ones because he gives us quiet and
peace even in the midst of turmoil and sorrow. Psalm 23 says this,
the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. Only one in Christ can say that.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. How wonderful are the
green pastures of His Word. Right? He leadeth me beside the still
waters. Dave mentioned one time about sheep won't drink from
running water. Still waters. Quiet, peaceful
waters. Oh my. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the path of
righteousness. That's Christ, right? For his
name's sake. There's the reason. For his name's
sake. For his glory. For his honor.
For his praise. Because it pleased God to save
us. Isn't that wonderful? Oh, it's just so incredible. And the more trials we have to
endure, the more communion we have with our Lord. It just drives
us closer to Him. That's what it does. I found
that in my life. My sister, Marge Leszczynski, once
told me she thanked God for her cancer. I'll never forget that one. She
told me that on the phone. I was in tears with her, and she said,
Gwen, I thank God for my cancer. It's drawn me closer to our Savior.
My. That's God's grace, isn't it? And eventually that cancer took
her home. God, that was a vehicle the Lord used to take her home.
But she thanked the Lord for it. My. Incredible. Turn, if you would,
to 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1. Now these saints that I preached
out of this book a couple weeks ago in chapter 5 and I had mentioned
that these saints that Peter's writing to, they're the elect
of God. They're going through all sorts
of trials. They're going through trials for their faith. They're being
persecuted because of what they believe. They've trusted and
rested in Christ and they're going through severe manifold
temptations and trials. And look what Peter here by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit of God writes in verses 6 to 9. wherein ye
greatly rejoice, though now for a season, now this life is just
a season, isn't it? Just like fall and spring and
summer, and even in our lives we can have a fall, a spring,
a winter, right? Look at this. Though now for
a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold
temptations. that the trial of your faith, being much more precious
than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
and that's the fire of persecution and trials, might be found under
praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ,
whom, look at this, is this not true of us, as I mentioned earlier,
we've never seen him, look at this, whom, having not seen,
ye love. That goes against the opposite
of human reasoning, doesn't it? We love people we see. We love
people who we're with. Look at this. Whom having not
seen, ye love. We've never seen Christ, and
yet our hearts are full of love for him. That's amazing. That's incredible. in whom though
now you see him not, yet believe and you rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory." These saints are going through manifold temptations
and trials, severe trials of their faith. They've never seen
Christ and it says here, this is just incredible. Is it not
true for all of us? Right? Though now you see him
not, yet believe and you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full
of glory. He's the lover of my soul. He's the fairest of 10,000. Tell
my soul. I never see him, but he is. Isn't
that remarkable? That's God's grace. That's God's
mercy. That's God making us new creatures
in Christ. Receiving the end of your faith,
even the salvation of your souls. My. All for God's glory. Again, why are God's People call
it the hidden ones because they are not understood by the world.
The world does not understand God's people. They call us foolish. They don't understand. They don't
understand how we can believe in one we've never seen. But they don't know him, do they?
Just as we didn't know him at one time. My oh my. Remember how we who believe used
to think about Christians before the Lord saved us? That's how
the world thinks of us. Behold what manner of love the
Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the
sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. That's why the world doesn't
understand us, because it didn't understand him. It didn't know
him. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. Right now we're
in the flesh. It doesn't appear what we shall
be. We look just like everybody else, but one day we'll be in
glory, with a new body, without sin, and it'll be glorious. But we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. We're gonna see him. We don't
see him now, but we're gonna see him, beloved, face to face. So the world does not understand
believers in Christ because they don't know Christ. Why are God's people called the
hidden ones? Because all the saints of God
are not yet revealed. Lord hasn't come back yet because
there's still some sheep that have to be saved through the
preaching of his gospel and by the power of God the Holy Spirit.
That's why it's not all wrapped up. But when that last sheep is saved,
it's all over. It's all over, beloved. God has scattered sheep all over
this world and all through time, doesn't he? We know that all
through time because there's always been a remnant. There's
always been a people of God through all of time. Cain and Abel, right? Abel offered the proper sacrifice.
God's always had a people. It's like they say the thin red
line through the Old Testament. You could actually say the thin
red line through the whole of time. Those who are redeemed by the
Lamb of God, by His precious, precious blood. Turn, if you
would, to Colossians chapter 1. Remember I mentioned earlier
that the mystery of Christ has been hid? This is the portion
I was telling you about. This is amazing. You think about
this. As we read this, think about all the Egyptians before
Christ came. Think of all the Hittites. Think
of all the people in this world. People who were over here in
North America, right? Think of all the people in the
world before Christ came. Look at this. Colossians 1, verses
26 to 28. You know, God will manifest himself
to his saints. He does it through the preaching
of the word according to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who again is God incarnated in the flesh. Colossians 1 verses
26 to 28. Even the mystery which has been
hid from ages and from generations. Hid. Hid. From ages and generations. Generation after generation after
generation. Hid. but now is made manifest to his
saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is what? Christ
in you, the hope of glory. Isn't that wonderful? Christ
in us, the hope of glory. Whom we preach, warning every
man. We preach to all, right? Don't
know who the gods elect, so we preach the gospel to all. Warning
every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may
present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. My, oh my. So what are some of the benefits
of the hidden ones? Well, we have all spiritual blessings
in Christ. All of them, beloved. All of
them. All the promises of God, I've said it many times, I'll
say it again, are all wrapped up in Christ. All in him. What's
another thing that the hidden ones have? We're justified before
God. My, oh my. In and through the Lord Jesus
Christ. What's another benefit? We were chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world. Amazing. Amazing. Christ has redeemed everyone
of those who the Father gave him. Everyone. There won't be one lost because
everyone The Holy Spirit will come to every one of those sheep
that have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. And if we're
saved, it's only because of Christ. It's only because of Him. It's
only because of His mighty work. Nothing is left up to the sinner.
Nothing. There's nothing left up to us.
Nothing. Isn't that wonderful? Folks will say, well, you've
got to live a holy life. I'm saved in Christ, therefore
I'm going to want to live a holy life, right? The Holy Spirit
in me is going to convict me of my sin, which he does. Oh my, but I'm safe and secure
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that wonderful? My, oh my. So nothing's left
up to the sinner for the salvation of their souls. No works of ours. It's all the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's why we say, look to Christ. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
not of our doing. It's of the Lord. It's all Him. Isaiah tells us, look and live.
Look to Christ and live. My. And we come to Christ in repentance,
don't we? Because of God-given faith, we
come to Christ and we repent before Him. We say, God, be merciful
to me. I'm such a sinner. Save me, Lord, or I perish. And I love what the leper said
to the Lord. Lord, if Thou will, Thou can
make me clean. I'm just, I'm from the top of
my head to the bottom of my feet. I'm such a sinner. But Lord,
you can make me clean. You can make me clean. What's
happened to that man? Well, there's been a working
God in him, isn't there? To make him come and say that. And what
does the Lord say? I will be thou clean. And immediately,
the leprosy left. Immediately! He was made whiter
than snow. And that's what happens to us
when the Lord saves us. We're still sinners, right? But
we are, oh my, cleansed, forgiven of all our
trespasses and sins by the blood of the Lamb. God knows what it costs to redeem
us. He knows it costs the life of
His Son, whom He sent. He knows the great cost, the
redemption of our souls. It was the life and the shed
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, his son, who purchased our eternal
souls. My. Let's look at Psalm 83, 18
again. Let's look at the last verse
again. Look at this. That man may know that thou, whose name
alone is Jehovah, he's the only true living God. He's the only
self-existent one. That's what that's stating. Whose
name alone is Jehovah, art the most high over all the earth.
He's the only one. He's the only most high over
all the earth. I like what Neil said a couple
weeks ago when he said man makes an idol, molds an idol, and then
the idol molds him. Well you know we're saved by
God and you know he's conforming us into the image of his son.
We don't do any conforming. It's him that's working on us. We're stones being made ready.
to be prepared to fit in the temple of God. And there won't
be a sound of a hammer. No work, no work, no chipping
when we're in glory. God's not gonna be working on
us when we're in glory. It's already done. All the chipping
and all the forming is done here in our lives. Oh, Wayne, gotta
take that chunk off you. It's gonna hurt a little bit.
It's all in love though, isn't it? It's all in love. You ever find grave clothes falling
off you? Normally I call them grave clothes.
Religious grave clothes. You come out of religion and
you're like, in religion it was like, oh you can't do this, you
can't, and then all of a sudden that grave clothes just, whoosh.
I'm free in Christ. I'm free in him. My. It's God's grace is mercy. He's
so merciful. He's so merciful. So here we
see it's God, Jehovah, who hides us. Hides us. Oh my. All according to his will and
purpose. He's the most sovereign high God, Lord over all. Above
all kings. Above all leaders. above this
whole world and everything that's going on. He's all above it. He's all above it. He's the most
high God. He's king. He's king. No wonder
he laughs at those people of the world, all of us in our natural
state who rebel against him. And then, oh, he's mine. Come
here. He's mine. And we lay down our
arms, don't we? And we run to Christ. Now He's our King. Now we bow
before Him. We used to say, I'll not have
this man reign over us. And now we say, oh Lord, we love
thy reign. We love thy rule. Turn if you would to Hebrews
chapter 4. So he's king not only over the
land of Israel here in our text, but he's king over all the earth
and all the nations of the earth. God's people, we find great comfort,
don't we? We find rest in that fact, don't we? That our God
rules supreme. Our King is supreme. Let's start
in verse 1 of Hebrews 4. What a rest we have in the Lord
Jesus Christ. We'll go all the way to verse
10. Let us therefore fear, lest the
promise of being left of us entering into his rest, any of you should
seem to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached
as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit
them. We wonder why some folks come and they don't hear the
wonderful proclamations that we hear. The word doesn't profit
them at all. Not being mixed with faith in
them that hurt it. For we which have believed do
enter into rest. Oh, what a beautiful word, rest. Do you like resting after a hard
stage work? Do you like resting? or being outside working on the
garden or working on something. You come inside and you sit down,
rest, have a glass of water, and just rest. My. For we which have believed
do enter into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath,
if they shall enter into my rest, although the works were finished
from the foundation of the world. For he spake in certain place
of the seventh day on this wise, and God did rest the seventh
day from all his works. And in this place, again, if
they shall enter into my rest. Seeing, therefore, it remaineth
that some must enter therein, and they to whom it was first
preached entered not in because of unbelief. Again, he limited
the certain day, saying in David, today, after so long a time,
as it is said, today, if you will hear his voice, harden not
your hearts. For if Jesus had given them rest,
then would he not afterward have spoken of another day? There
remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that
has entered into his rest. Who's God's rest? Christ. Christ. For he that has entered into
his rest, he hath also ceased from his own works as God did
from his. See, we've ceased from the labors of trying to save
ourselves. We've entered into the rest of the finished work
of Christ. And that's who we rest our eternal souls on. The
fact that he completed the work, it's finished. And we rest in
that truth, don't we? We rest in that truth. So let
us ponder this wonderful fact this week, that we are the hidden
ones of God. The hidden ones of God. My, what
a savior, what a redeemer.