And then when I was looking at
the scripture in chapter 12, I was struck by what was here. So Lord willing, in the future,
I'll preach in Isaiah chapter 14. I want us to look at these
words here. What we have before us here is
a song of the triumphs of Christ. song of the triumphs of Christ.
What he's done for us is his people. Let's read those verses
again. Verses 1 to 6 of Isaiah chapter
12. And in that day thou shalt say,
O Lord, I will praise thee. Thou, though thou was angry with
me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. behold, God is my salvation. God is my salvation. Elohim is
my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid,
for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become
my salvation. Elohim is my salvation. Elohim is my strength. Jehovah
is my strength. He's my song. He's my salvation. Notice how it's personal. My
salvation. Every believer can say that,
right? Every born-again, blood-washed believer can cry this song out. Therefore with joy shall you
draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day shall you say,
Praise the Lord. That's what we say now. We didn't
say that before. And now we say, Praise you Lord. Praise be to God for the wonderful
things he's done for me. Call upon his name. declares
doings among the people, and make mention that his name is
exalted. He's the name above every name,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And then, look, now we see the
corporate worship of all the body of Christ. Sing unto the
Lord, for he hath done excellent things. This is known in all
the earth. Look at this. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitants
of Zion. Well, who are the inhabitants
of Zion? God's elect, God's people. Those have been redeemed by the
blood of the Lamb. So this is speaking to the whole church
corporate. For great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of
thee. Look at that. The Holy One of
Israel, Christ, is in the midst of us. He's in the midst of us
right now. It says, where two or three are gathered together
in my name, there am I in the midst. He's with us right now,
beloved. My. So the scripture here before
us is a song of the triumphs of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
we see here that the church will exalt Christ. We'll exalt him
in praise, in thanksgiving. We're going to exalt him. And
the believer in Christ will shout out, the Lord is my strength.
There was a time when we used to think our own strength was
what kept us going. Right? I'm strong, man. I can do all these things. It
don't take long. A few years pass, and a few more
years pass, and a few more years pass, and that strength is waning,
isn't it? Find out not as strong as I used
to be. But God, for the believer, is always my strength. In my weakness, he's what? Strong. He's strong. And we're weak all
the time, aren't we? If we really admit it, we're
weak all the time. If we really admit it. And here's
my song. I have a new song now that I
sing. It's been put in my mouth by Christ.
I never used to praise the Lord in my natural state. Not at all. Now I find myself speaking to
him and praising him all through the day. Is it so for you? Mine. And I'll tell you what, sometimes,
I'll tell you what, I'll do this too. It's just simple as pulling
in a parking lot and there's a Primo parking spot. Thank you,
Lord Jesus. Right? It's true though. Little things that we don't even
notice. Thank you, Lord. Praise your mighty name. Oh my, my. So these wonderful verses here in our text are a song of the
church. It's a song of the church. It's
a song of God's elect, singing about the triumphs of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is a gospel song, beloved.
This is a gospel song. Only the Lord Jesus Christ has
saved his people, right? There's salvation in no other,
no other but Christ and him alone. He alone has redeemed us with
his precious blood. He alone shed his blood to purchase
our eternal souls. He alone completed the work of the salvation of our souls.
And we've seen lately in our studies that that's a perfect
work. It's completely perfect. Brother Travis was talking to
me after Sunday school, and he said, If you add anything to
the perfect work of Christ, it's no longer perfect. It isn't. It's marred. If you add a stitch
of man's works, it's marred. Christ's work is perfect. It's
completed. It's brought to perfection. Why? So the redeemed sing praise to
Him who has perfectly saved our souls. Now we're still sinners
on this earth, aren't we? We struggle with sin every day,
every minute, if we're honest, every second. We struggle with
sin. But we've been redeemed by a
perfect work. We can take comfort in that. We've been purchased
by the precious blood of Christ, the blood of the God-man. And he perfectly died as our
substitute on Calvary's cross. Look at verse one here, look
at this. And in that day, thou shalt say, now was there a time
we said, oh Lord, I will praise thee? Before the Lord saved me,
I didn't say, oh Lord, I'll praise thee. But now I find myself praising
the Lord all the time. For little things like a parking
spot. Seriously, it's amazing. Look at this, and in that day
thou shalt say, O Lord, O Jehovah, in the Hebrew, O Jehovah, I will
praise thee. Thou was angry with me, right?
His wrath was set upon us, right? But it's being appeased by Christ,
isn't it? Oh, yeah. God's angry with the
sinners. He's angry with the wicked. See, that's not preached as much.
Everybody preaches, well, God loves everybody. No, he doesn't
love everybody. And he's angry with the wicked,
the scripture says. That's what the scripture says. That's not
Wayne Boyd's words. That's what the scripture says. He's angry
with the wicked. Look at this. Thou was angry
with me, thine anger is turned away. How? By the perfect Passover
lamb. Remember the death angel went
through Egypt? And anyone who didn't have the blood? the firstborn was cut down. But
not one Israelite home had a firstborn die because a substitute already
died. See, his anger is being appeased.
Do you know that I was listening to one preacher one time and
he said, God's wrath is being extinguished. Like when they extinguish a fire
and there's just a little smoke, there ain't even smoke coming
off this. It's been totally extinguished. His wrath has been totally extinguished
against us. That's wonderful. Never to rise
up again. So dealt with that it will never
affect us again. Oh, that was angry with me. That
anger is turned away. And what? And now comforts me. How do we get comfort now? Oh,
Christ saved me. By His perfect work, He saved
my soul. He redeemed me. He redeemed me
with His precious blood. Does that not bring you comfort?
Why? Justified before God. We're going
to spend eternity in heaven because of what Christ has done. I've
been delivered from my sins. The very thing that would condemn
me. What comfort that brings me.
Sometimes I'll remember things I've done in the past. And I'm ashamed. But then there's that comforting
balm that comes. Forgiven. Forgiven. Forgiven. Wash clean the blood of Christ. And that comforts me, I'll tell
you that. And the preaching of the gospel comforts us, doesn't
it? Comforts we who are his people to know that the warfare is accomplished.
God's not angry with us anymore. He's not angry. He looks upon
his people with love. And this day spoken of in verse
one is the gospel day of Christ and his salvation. This is speaking
of the day when we were regenerated by the Holy Spirit of God. We
have a view of our past sins. which we confess is deserving
of God's just anger. And these verses bring forth
before us that we have a conscious sense
of redemption, the redemption that we have in Christ Jesus,
which he accomplished. And this puts a new song in our
hearts, a song of praise. The lips that once cursed him
is now praising him. That's a miracle of grace, isn't
it? Turn, if you would, to Luke chapter
19. This joy spoken of here, this comfort spoken of here,
is the same joy that Zacchaeus felt when the day of salvation
came to his home. You know, Zacchaeus went up that
tree. He went up that tree, a man dead
in trespasses and sins. And he came down that tree. He's
probably skin and bark coming down that tree. He wouldn't get
down so fast to be in the Lord's presence. But he came down a
regenerated man, born again of the Holy Spirit of God. Had he
done anything? No, he just climbed a tree to get a view of Jesus.
That's all he did, right? He didn't walk no while. He didn't
pray no prayer. He didn't do anything. It was
a heart work, wasn't it? God done a heart work in him.
He's born again of the Holy Spirit of God. Let's look at this narrative
here. Luke 19, verses 1 to 10. And Jesus has entered and passed
through Jericho. Now this was on purpose. There
was a sheep there. His name is Zacchaeus. And he's
lost, but this was his day of salvation. And behold, there
was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans,
and he was rich. All these publicans, they were
despised by the Jews because they collected taxes for the
Romans. They were looked at as traitors.
And they extorted people, and they became very wealthy. And
he was rich. And he sought to see Jesus. All
of a sudden, he wants to see Christ, who he was. And could
not for the press, because he was a little such. He's a small
man, so he's amongst folks who are taller than him. He can't
see Christ. There's probably a stir in the streets, because
Christ is passing through. He thinks I'm going to miss him.
No, he's not. The very reason Christ was passing
through Jericho was for Zacchaeus. He didn't know that, though.
He didn't know that. Because everything happens according
to God's purpose and will, right? Oh, look at this. So he couldn't
see because he was a little stature. And he ran before and climbed
up the sycamore tree. Do you know God had that sycamore
tree grow in that exact place? so that Zacchaeus could climb
that exact tree. A seed had fallen or someone
had planted it there and God had given the increase. That's
a divinely placed sycamore tree, just like every tree and everything
in this world. Isn't that amazing? So he climbs
this sycamore tree. He desires to see Christ, for
he was to pass that way. He's going to pass by. And when
Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him. Who does he see? One of his sheep,
one of his lost sheep that was given to him by the father for
maternity. He sees him. He knows he's his.
Remember he said, have not I chosen you 12 and one of you is the
devil? He knows. He knows. He knows his people.
We don't know him, but he knows them. He stopped. Look at that. God stopped. And he looked up at Zacchaeus.
And he said, Zacchaeus, he didn't say to everyone, come forth,
did he? It was an effectual calling,
a personal effectual calling. Zacchaeus, make haste and come
down. Oh, he flew down that tree, didn't
he? Make haste. Now is the day of salvation.
Now is the day of salvation. Don't wait till tomorrow. Tomorrow
might not come for you. Now is the day of salvation.
Right now. Oh my. Zacchaeus, make haste
and come down. For today I must abide at thy
house. He didn't even know him. Zacchaeus didn't know Christ.
And Christ said, I must abide at your house. You're one of
my sheep. I'm going to buy it in your home. Oh, my. And what's it say? What did Zacchaeus say? Well,
wait. I have to make a decision whether I want to climb down
this tree. And I don't know. I don't know if I want to climb
down this tree, because if I climb down this tree, I'll have to
give up all these things in my life that I don't want to give
up. Did he say that? No. He made
haste. He's made willing in the day
of God's power, beloved. Just like every one of God's
people. Look at this. This is wonderful. And he made haste
and he came down. He flew down that tree, beloved.
And then what did he do? He received him joyfully. Why
did he receive him joyfully? He's born again in the Holy Spirit
of God, beloved. He's receiving Christ joyfully. And when they saw it, they all
murmured. Now, look at this. Here's all the religious folks here.
Oh, my. Oh, my. Look at this. And when they saw
it, they all murmured, saying, he was gone to be a guest with
a man that's a sinner. And you could just hear it dripping
off them, the self-righteousness. He's gone with a sinner. Praise
be to God. This gives me, this comforts
my soul, because I'm a sinner saved by the grace of God. I
love this. I love the fact that Christ sat
with publicans and sinners. This is absolutely wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. And Zacchaeus
stood and said unto the Lord, behold, Lord. He called him Lord.
God's people call Christ Lord. There was a time when we didn't,
but now we call him Lord, don't we? He said, Lord, the half of
my goods I give to the poor. For if I have taken anything
from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. See,
he's now aware of what he's done was wrong. He's aware of his
sin. Look at this. And Jesus said
unto him, this day is salvation come to this house. You are my sheep. Zacchaeus,
and this is the day you'll be saved by the grace and mercy
of God. For so much is he also a son
of Abraham. Oh my. For the son of man has
come to seek and save what? That which was lost. He didn't
come to save the self-righteous or those who didn't need a physician,
did he? He came to save the lost. Are you lost? Are you without
hope? Has God shown you that you're
lost? That's a wonderful thing if he does. Flee to Christ. Make haste, like Zacchaeus did. Make haste and flee to Christ.
My. So when the Lord regenerates
a sinner and grants him faith to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ, it's a great comfort, isn't it? It's a great comfort
to know that my sins are all forgiven. To know that the anger
of God, by the wrath of God, has been turned away from me.
It's wonderful. Undeserving sinner that I am.
My, and it's comforting, isn't it? Look at these words, the
latter part of verse one, and thou comforts me. Who comforts
us? Jehovah. Now we get comfort from each
other too, don't we? But it's nowhere near the comfort that
we get from God. We get great comfort from God.
Oh my, that's wonderful. The scripture says to the preacher,
comfort ye my people. We're to preach the gospel. which
brings comfort to God's people. And what great comfort to know
that the Lord Jesus Christ has saved us by his perfect sin atoning
work on the cross. What comfort that can bring you
and I as believers. That's the greatest comfort we
can have, isn't it? That all our sins are forgiven, every
one of them. That he obtained eternal redemption for us and
he gave it to us. My. Oh my, and it was his perfect
sin atoning work by the shedding of his precious, precious blood,
which purchased us again, purchased our eternal souls. Now let's
look at verse two. It says, behold, God is my salvation. Elohim is my salvation, the strong
and mighty one. I will trust and not be afraid
for the Lord Jehovah, there it is, the Lord Jehovah is my strength
and my song. He also is become my salvation. Well, Elohim is the strong and
mighty one. So he's my strength, he's the
strong one. He's my strength. He's my song. And who has saved the people
of God? Let's look here. Who saved the
people of God? Can man save himself? No. What shall profit a man if she'll
gain the whole world and lose his own soul? And what shall
a man give in exchange for his soul? There's nothing we can
give in exchange for our soul. Nothing at all. Nothing we can
give to God in exchange for our souls. Nothing. Your very best
work is tainted with sin. So is mine. The very best prayers
we pray are tainted with sin. Everything we do is tainted with
sin. Look at this. Who saved us? Behold, verse 2,
God, and let this just sink deep into your soul, beloved. God
is my salvation. God is. God's my salvation. God has saved me. God himself has saved us. Immanuel,
God with us. We saw in the Incarnation series,
God with us. by the shedding of His precious
blood, He gave His life for us to deliver us from this present
evil world, to deliver us from our sins, to deliver us from
the law of God, to deliver us from the justice of God, that
we might be able to stand in the presence of God forever. That's what the God-man has done
for me and for you. God, Jehovah, It says here, for
the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become
my salvation. God himself became a man and
lived upon this earth as the substitute of his people. Then
he went to Calvary's cross and he died as a substitute of his
people. Then he was risen from the grave. by the power of God
three days later, and now he sits, the God-man, at the right
hand of the Father, interceding for you and I as believers. God's
my salvation. Christ and Christ alone is the
one who the born-again blood-washed believers trust in. We don't
trust in anything we do because there's nothing we can do to
gain salvation. We used to think that way, but
we don't anymore. And we're no longer afraid of the
judgment of God. It says we're not afraid. Why?
Because we're no longer afraid of the judgment of God, because
it fell upon Christ in our place for us. And death has no more
sting, right? Because our Savior's risen. And
where the head is, he's the head. And where the body, the body
will soon be, right? So death doesn't have the sting. It's
just a doorway for us. We don't know how we're going
to die, and that sometimes makes us go, OK, well, I don't know.
But that's natural for all humans. But when we are dying, God will
give us dying grace. He'll give us dying grace. I've
seen it firsthand with people, with some of the Lord's people
who've gone home. I've seen them give dying grace. It's amazing. Oh, they just want to be in the
Savior's arms. It's incredible. Like somebody said one time,
don't worry about dying grace when you're alive, because you're
not dying. But when you're dying, God will
give you grace. That's true. He'll give us grace. So we no
longer fear the law of God. We no longer fear the justice
of God. But we rejoice and are now comforted that Christ has
satisfied us in our place, that he's redeemed us again by his
precious, precious blood. God's law is fully satisfied. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. He's totally satisfied the law
of God in the Roman place of his people. That's why, again, Paul wrote
in Galatians 5.1, I mentioned this in Sunday school, stand
fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free. We're
free, beloved. We're free in Christ. Be not again entangled
with the yoke of bondage. Don't be entangled with the works
of the law. Don't be entangled with anything that man adds to
salvation, because it's a perversion of the gospel, as we saw in Sunday
school. It's a perversion of the gospel. Any works added by
man to the gospel of Christ is a perversion. It's no longer
the gospel. My, oh, my. And this is why Paul proclaims,
too, that there's no condemnation for the believer in Christ. There's no condemnation for us.
Isn't that amazing? We walk in this world truly emancipated
men and women. Totally free in Christ. Totally free. And we don't know
that until the Lord saves us, right? And I don't even think
we know the full extent of that freedom that we have in Christ.
Now, does it give us a freedom to go out and go crazy? No, we
won't want to do that. Because now we're constrained
by the love of Christ. We're new creatures in Christ
now. But what freedom we have. Jehovah, and note in verse two
it says Jehovah himself is our strength. God himself is our
strength. This is what the scriptures declare.
It's wonderful. We're so weak and frail. Our
faith is fickle. But rejoice, child of God. Salvation's
not based upon our feelings. It's in Christ and him alone.
Now our feelings go like this, don't they? Some days we have
great assurance. Other days, well, we don't have
much assurance. Right? But God is constant, beloved. Salvation does not change in
him. And those he saved are saved forever. I'll tell you what. If you could
lose your salvation by something you've done, then it's not eternal
salvation. It's based upon you. Again, doesn't give us a license
to go crazy. But praise be to God, we can
walk through this world as forgiven men and women in Christ. That's
amazing. Free, set free. I ask you this, if God saved us,
can we be lost again? No, because then God would be
a liar, right? Because the scripture declares,
who can bring anything against God's elect, any charge? It's
God that justifies. So if God saved us, we're saved.
The question is, are we saved? Are we truly born again? Because
the scripture says you must be born again. You must be. Salvation is not based
upon Our having been in one church
for our whole lives is not based on that, is it? Salvation is
based upon Christ and Him alone. Are we born again? You must be
born again, the Master said. So those of us who are saved,
it brings us great comfort that God's anger has been turned away,
and that God is our strength. Jehovah Himself is our strength.
He's our strength. And it helps us not to be afraid. And he's our salvation, the God-man,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now let's look at verse 3 here.
Therefore, with joy shall you draw water out of the wells of
salvation. Well, this is beautiful here, what's brought forth. Few words here, but wonderful
truths. Therefore, with joy shall you
draw water out of the wells of salvation. Well, here before
us is brought a picture, as we see this phrase, of drawing water,
as if it was out of the wells of the Savior. Now, back in the day, they didn't
turn the tap on like we do. They didn't have that. And water
flowed out. They had to go to the wells and
draw water out of the wells. And they'd have to do that several
times a day sometimes. They try to draw out enough water
for the morning, draw out a little bit of water for the afternoon,
draw out some water for the evening. And you hope the well was close,
because otherwise you'd be walking for a while. Do you know everything of grace
is fetched by faith from Christ? Everything of grace. is fetched
by faith from Christ. He's the well. He's the fountain
opened. He's the fountain opened. Therefore
the church sings a fountain, a garden, a well of living waters
and streams of love. Lebanon is my beloved in Song
of Solomon 415. My. What did Jesus tell the Samaritan
woman? That the water he gave that the
water he gave in his people is a well of living water. He said,
you draw that water out of that well there, you're going to be
thirsty again. But the water I give from the wells of salvation,
oh my, you're never thirst again. You're never thirst again. It's
a well of living water springing up into everlasting life, John
4, 14. Christ himself is a well of living
water, isn't he? Springing up into everlasting
life. That's what he is for us. Then look at Isaiah 4. It says
here, and in that day shall ye say praise the Lord, praise Jehovah,
call upon his name, declare his doings among the people, make
mention that his name is exalted. Now we're going to come back
to this verse. There's a few things I want to
bring out about his name. Let's look at verses 5 and 6
now. Sing unto the Lord, for he hath done excellent things.
This is known in all the earth. And then verse 6 brings out the
whole church here engaged in this hymn of praise. Cry out
and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One
of Israel in the midst of thee. Look at that. Remember the demons
called him? They said, we know who thou art, thou Holy One of
God. He's the Holy One, beloved. That's what Christ is. He's the
Holy One. And here we see all of Zion,
all the redeemed of the Lord, praising Jehovah in songs of
redemption and in stirring others to praise. When we hear someone else praising
the Lord, it'll stir us to praise the Lord, too. It's wonderful. And praise Jehovah. Praise Jehovah
for his glory. Praise Jehovah's glory and giving
grace to we who are his people. Praise Jehovah as we look at
all his attributes, his love, his justice, his wrath, all his
attributes, his solitariness, wonderful attributes, his holiness,
the fact that he's a just God and a savior. My, let us praise
Him for all His attributes. Praise Him for the excellent
things that He has done in this earth and in us and for us. God's my salvation. Praise Him
for saving my soul with His precious, precious blood. And let we who
are the redeemed of the Lord praise Him with songs of thanksgiving.
That, have you ever noticed that thanks just flows out of us now?
Something will happen, you're like, thank you, Lord. I never used to do that before.
You've read the time, eh? No, never, never even entered
our minds. Now we thank him all the time. Oh, what an amazing God we have. What an amazing God we have. And these verses tell us the
cause for these shouts of joy, because great is the Holy One
of Israel. Great is Jehovah. Look what it
says in verse 6. Cry out and shout thou in heavens
and in Zion, for great is the Holy One. Our God's great beloved,
and He's greatly to be praised. He's deserving. He's the only
one deserving of our praise. Him alone. The Great is the Holy One of
Israel in the midst of thee. He said this to every one of
his sheep, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. Paul wrote that
in Hebrews. I'll never leave thee nor forsake
thee. My. For he has said, I'll never leave
thee nor forsake thee. Wonderful, wonderful words. And
not only is our God great and glorious in himself, But He's
great and gracious to His people, isn't He? Think of how gracious He is to
us. He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. He sent His Son to redeem our
eternal souls. He sent the Holy Spirit to regenerate
us and draw us to Christ and give us faith to believe on Him. You know, years ago, Donny Bell
told me, the Lord always takes care of his sheep, and I have
seen that in my life. I've seen that in this work.
God takes care of his people all the time. We might not have
what we want, but we always have what we need. Always have what we need. He's great and glorious. So let
we who are the people give Him praise. Give Him praise. Let we who are the redeemed of
the Lord praise His mighty name. Let's go back to verse 4 here.
Isaiah chapter 12, verse 4. And it says, In that day shall
you say, Praise the Lord, call upon His name, declare His doings
among the people, make mention that His name is exalted. You
know that God is highly exalted, Christ. His name is the name
above all names. It's a name above all names.
And how did He exalt Him? Well, He exalted Him by raising
Him from the dead, didn't He? By seating Him on His right hand.
Oh, He's been exalted by giving Him all power. When
men die in the great white judgment throne, they're going to face
the very one who they denied. Because Christ is all power. It's him sitting upon that great
white throne. It's Christ. Can you imagine
a man saying, well, I didn't believe it. There he is. That's why I always say, people
pop off and say, well, I don't believe that, and I don't believe
that. Well, it doesn't change the fact that it's true. Salvation's in Christ alone.
Somebody says, I don't believe that. It doesn't change the fact
that it's true. I don't believe in God, I don't,
doesn't change the fact that God is real and that he's living,
doesn't change one iota. As a matter of fact, the scripture
says God laughs at them and keeps them in derision, mocks their
calamity. Do you think it affects God,
the Bible, or the God of the Bible when men say, I don't believe
in him, do you think he's up there twisting his hand saying,
oh my, Nope. We are the ones who need to beg
for mercy before the sovereign. Because he is an absolute sovereign.
We're the ones who should be on our faces, crying out to him,
have mercy on me, Lord. See the difference between the
publican and the sinner, right? The publican's like, oh, I'm
not like that sinner over there. And we saw that even in Luke,
where we looked at how the religious people just despised publicans
and sinners. And there's the publican saying,
oh, God, be merciful to me, the sinner. And God had mercy on that sinner.
That man went home justified. Not by anything he did, right?
He just cried out to God and said, God, have mercy on me.
That's all we do. That's all we've done as believers,
isn't it? God, have mercy on me. I need to be saved. And he saved us, didn't he? Oh,
my. My. His name is above all names,
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's Lord over all, whether people
believe it or not. And in the day of salvation,
the Lord Jesus Christ is being highly exalted in our hearts.
Right? Think of that. He wasn't exalted
in our hearts before he saved us. Now he's exalted in our hearts,
isn't he? Now we praise him with these
lips. It's wonderful. It's all by his work. That's
why the believer says Christ is, he's all my salvation. You
take away Christ, I have nothing. I have nothing without him. But
oh, in him I have all spiritual blessings. given to me by God
in Christ, justification, sanctification, redemption, my righteousness
to stand before God. I'm going to look at three names,
three names quickly of consider in scripture. First one's in
Deuteronomy 18, 18. If you want to turn there, Deuteronomy
18, 18. The Lord, the Messiah is called
prophet. He's called the prophet. Deuteronomy
18, 18 says, God says, I will raise up a prophet from among
the brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his
mouth. And he shall speak unto them all that I shall command
him. And over in John 6, 14, the scripture says this. Christ
is identified as that prophet. After he's multiplied the loaves
and fishes, it's said of him in John 6, 14, Then those men,
when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, this is
of a truth, that prophet that should come into the world. He's
the Messiah, he's the prophet, that's one of his names, prophet,
prophet. How God's so gracious to us,
how he's so gracious to us. You know, we know that beginning
in Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all
the scriptures the things concerning themselves. The prophets, the
Old Testament prophets spoke of the prophet. And so how blessed
are we, we've been given ears to hear him and eyes to see him. Oh my. And how inexcusable it
will be for those who refuse to hear him in his words. He
who is true and faithful. His words are full of grace.
His words are words of power. And apart from the gracious words
of the prophets spoken to our hearts and the powers and revelation
of the Holy Spirit of God, we would be left in darkness. Next, he's called Redeemer. Turn,
if you would, to Job 19. Job 19, he's called Redeemer.
Now this name, for the Messiah is so dear to God's people, because
it speaks of what he's done for us. He's redeemed us. He's redeemed
us with his precious blood. And look what Job writes here.
Job 19, verses 25 to 27, he writes these words. For I know, each believer can say this, right?
For I know my Redeemer liveth. I know he lives. Some people
say, well, you've never seen him. I know he lives. By faith,
I know he lives. Oh, I had a friend of mine. He
was an atheist. And the Lord saved him. I would think these
words are real precious to him. Because he denied God. And now
he says, I know he lives now. I know he lives. For I know that
my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter
day upon the earth. And though after my skin's worms
destroy, yet in my flesh shall I seek out. I'm going to see
him. I'm going to see my Redeemer. And look what he says, whom I
shall see for myself. Mine, in mine eyes shall behold,
and not another, though my reigns be consumed within me. Though
I die and they put my body in the grave, I'm going to see my
Redeemer. I'm going to see him face to
face, all because of his mercy and all because of his grace,
beloved. Each believer can say that, can't
we? So that name Redeemer is so precious to us. So precious
to us. He's our kinsman Redeemer. He
has the right to redeem us because we were given to him by the Father
in eternity. And we're set free. We're set
free. The ransom price for our souls
has been paid, beloved. Paid in full by Christ. And so Job said confidently,
I know my Redeemer lives. I know He lives. I say that. I know my Redeemer lives. I don't
care. People can say what they want. They can say, well, I don't
believe in Him. I know He lives. I know He's alive. He saved my
soul. So let there be no mistake. All those who were given to Him
in the covenant of grace, we were set free when Christ paid
the ransom price for our eternal souls. 2,000 years ago, we didn't
even know it. We didn't even know it. Turn,
if you would, to Acts chapter 20. Paul here is writing a farewell
address to the Ephesian elders. He knows that he's going to go
and die. He knows. And so he writes this
in Ephesians chapter 20. He writes to the Ephesian elders. We'll pick it up in verse 18
here. They've been called to him, and now he's going to address
them. And look what he says to them here. Start in verse 18. And when they were come to him,
he said unto them, you know, from the first day that I came
into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons,
serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears
and temptations which befell me by the lying and weight of
Jesus. See, he's just like us. He's
just like us, beloved. And how I kept back nothing.
God's preachers, we don't hold nothing back. Some people say,
well, you shouldn't talk about election to folks all the time,
because that's pretty deep. We hold nothing back. You can
find out what I believe by listening to about three messages of mine,
and it's going to be the same thing each time. You can find out all I believe
within three or four messages. Joe Terrell said that years ago,
and it's so true. It's so true. How I kept back nothing that
was profitable unto you. God's people don't hold anything
that's profitable for his people back. but have showed you and have
taught you publicly from house to house, testifying both to
the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, repentance is given to us,
isn't it? And faith is given to us after we're born again.
People say, well, first you gotta have faith and then you're born
again. No, that's a lie. No, that's a lie. When you're
born again, you're going to have faith and you're going to have
repentance before God, because both of them are gifts from God. And now, behold, I go bound in
the Spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall
befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesses in every
city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me. But none of these things
moved me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that
I might finish my course with joy in the ministry which I have
received the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
And now, behold, I know that you all among whom I have gone
preaching the kingdom of God shall see my face no more." He
knew he was going to go and die. Wherefore, I take you to record
this day that I am pure from the blood of all men, for I have
not shunned to declare unto you the gospel or the counsel, all
the counsel of God. Now look at this next verse talking
about redemption. Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves
and to all the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers to feed the church of God, which he has purchased,
which he has redeemed with his own blood. Job says, I know my
Redeemer. I know the one who purchased
my soul lives. I know he lives. Whether people believe or not,
we know as God's people he lives, don't we? By God-given faith,
we know our Redeemer lives, and we know we're going to see him.
It comforts our souls, all because of his mercy and grace. The great
Kingsman Redeemer has removed every charge and debt against
us, set us free from the bondage of sin. Stand fast, beloved. Stand fast in that truth. Let's
read verse 2 again of Isaiah chapter 12. It says, Behold,
God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid.
For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become
my salvation. Who's our salvation? Christ. Christ. Last third name I'd like
us to look at. Turn, if you would, to the Book
of Luke. Book of Luke. Simeon has been waiting for God
to reveal to him the Savior. And when Christ was bought to
Simeon, he took him in his arms and he proclaimed that Christ
is God's salvation. Christ is salvation. He's my
salvation. And if you're a believer, he's
your salvation. Look at these wonderful words here in Luke
chapter 2 verses 22 to 38. And when the days of her purification
according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they bought
him, bought Christ to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord. As
it is written in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth
the womb shall be called holy to the Lord, and to offer a sacrifice
according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, a pair
of turtle doves or two young pigeons. And behold, there was
a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the same man
was just and devout. Now see where it says just there?
He's only just in Christ, beloved. We're only just in Christ. Oh,
it's wonderful. And devote, waiting for the consolation
of Israel. And the Holy Ghost was upon him.
And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should
not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ, before he'd
seen the Messiah, before he had seen the salvation of the Lord. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple. And when the parents brought
in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law,
Then he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord,
now let us thy servant depart in peace according to thy word.
For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. God's my salvation. Seeming as seeing God's salvation,
it's the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. And
look at this, which thou hast prepared before the face of all
people, to lighten the Gentiles and to the glory of thy people
Israel. And Joseph and his mother marveled
at these things which were spoken of him. And Simeon blessed them
and said unto Mary, his mother, behold, this child is set for
the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign
which shall be spoken against. Yea, a sword shall pierce through
thy own soul also, and the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phileo, of the
tribe of Asher. She was of great age, and she
had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity. And
she was a widow of about four score and four years. which departed
not from the temple, but served God with fasting prayers night
and day. And she coming in, in that instant,
gave thanks likewise unto the Lord and spake of him to all
them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Simeon saw God's
salvation, and it was Christ. It was Christ. God is my salvation.
Christ is God in the flesh, right? Christ alone is the author of
our salvation. Christ alone is the cause of
our salvation. Christ alone is the completer
of our salvation. And he is the certainty of our
salvation. Christ Jesus our Lord. Praise
his mighty name. For none for whom he died for
can perish, not one. Not one. So let us, beloved,
continually be drawn water from the wells of salvation as we
walk through this world. Because Jesus himself is the
well. He's the well of living water. And whosoever drinketh
of that well shall live forever. And Christ is an open well. He's
an open well. And him has found life for sinners.
Life for sinners. And that we who are the redeemed
of the Lord come to this blessed well for grace daily. Daily. Let us come for grace. And let
us come hourly. Any time of the day. And draw
from the well of Christ. So this week, as you think upon
the trace brought forth in our text here that we've looked at, Think upon the fact that God,
the Lord Jesus Christ, is our salvation, my salvation. It's personal in these verses,
isn't it? My salvation. The Lord himself, the Lord of
glory, the word of God, the second person of the Trinity is my salvation. My salvation. all my salvation,
all of it. And you know all the persons
of the Godhead are involved in our, involved in our salvation. The Father chose us in Christ,
the Son has redeemed us, and the Holy Spirit has regenerated
us and given us faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. The
whole Trinity's in action. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. And we have one mediator between
our great God, only one, the Lord Jesus Christ. No other
mediator. We can trust him. We can trust
him and not be afraid. When we get afraid, let us just
trust him. Let us just rest in Him. When you see things going
on in the world, and if it troubles us, let us just rest in Him.
God's my salvation. I won't be afraid of that stuff.
I'm aware of it, but I ain't gonna be afraid of it. Easier
said than done, right? But let us, when we feel that
way, rest in Christ. Rest in our Savior. Praise be
to God. Every single believer in Christ
can say, God is my salvation. We can only say that by the grace
of God, can't we? We can't say that any other way.
Only by the grace and mercy of God. Praise be to the Lord for His
grace and His mercy. Heavenly Father, we come before
Thee. Praise in Your name. Thankful
for your grace and mercy.