As we sing this song there, all
that my soul has tried left but a dismal void. Isn't that so
true? Oh, that's so true. A man trying
to work their own salvation now just leaves a dismal void. Jesus
is satisfied. Praise be to the Lord. Praise
be to the Lord. All the work of salvation is
done. Done in Christ. Open your Bibles if you would
to 1 Kings 8. 1 Kings chapter 8. The name of the message is,
Blessed be the Lord. Blessed be the Lord. 1 Kings chapter 8. We'll read verses 54 to 61. 1
Kings chapter 8 verses 54 to 61. Our text will be found in this
portion of scripture. And it was so that when Solomon
had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication
unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord
from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up. I had brother
Matt read that prayer because it ties right in with what we're
reading here. And He stood and blessed all the congregation
of Israel with a loud voice, saying, Blessed be the Lord that
hath given rest unto His people Israel, according to all that
He promised. There hath not failed one word
of all His good promise, which He promised by the hand of Moses'
servants. The Lord our God be with us,
as He was with our fathers, Let him not leave us nor forsake
us. That he may incline our hearts
unto him to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments
and his statutes and his judgments which he commanded our fathers.
And let these my words wherewith I have made supplications before
the Lord be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night. That he
maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel
at all times. And the matter shall require
All the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God and
there is none else. Oh What a what a verse there
Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God to walk
in his statues and to keep his commandments as at this day Now
the setting for our texts in this chapter is the Ark of the
Covenant has been bought into the temple The work of the temple
was complete And all that was needed now was for the Ark to
be bought in, and this is therefore the crowning work. The crowning
work. Since the Temple is finished
and all that's left is for the Ark of the Covenant to come in.
All the preparations have been made. The work is finished. Now was the solemn service of
bringing up the Ark of God from the section of Jerusalem known
as the City of David, or Zion, being bought up to the Temple
on Mount Moriah. which would be its fixed place
of residence. And the ark was put in the most
holy place. In the most holy place. And as
soon as the ark, which we know is a picture of Christ, was given
its proper place, the glory cloud, signifying the divine presence,
filled the temple. Filled the temple. And we are
taught here, that it is the presence of the Lord in the assemblies
of his people which gives glory to all the services which are
done. Where two or three are gathered together in my name,
there am I in the midst of them. If the Lord Jesus Christ is not
with us, then our meetings and our ordinances are worthless. If the ark be not in the temple,
all Solomon's labor is lost. Because again, the ark pictures
Christ and represents God's presence with these rights. And so for
the setting of our text in verses 1 to 11, we see the ark being
bought into the temple. Then in verses 12 to 21, Solomon
blesses the Lord of glory. Then in verses 22 to 53, which
I had brother Matt read, we see Solomon is a picture of Christ
interceding for the people of God. Interceding before the people
of God. He's at the altar of the burnt
offerings in the court of the priests. And this is where he
prayed this prayer, which, again, is typical of Christ. Who's always
to be in sight in prayer, we're always to look to him. It's here
we pray to. See, we pray to. And it is he, and through him
alone, through Christ alone, that all the sacrifices of prayer
and praise become what? Acceptable to God. Only through
Christ. Only through Christ. Look at
verse 53. We see a picture of God's elect
in Israel here. For thou didst separate them
from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance. Separated from all the people
of the earth. God didn't choose the Egyptians
or the Hittites or the Persites. No. He chose the Israelites. Out of all the people in the
world, he chose them. He chose them. What a picture, beloved. We know
that God's people, we don't know who they are, we do not know
who the elect of God are, but God knows, and he has chosen
the people. He's chosen the people from out
of the world to be his inheritance, beloved. It's wonderful. For
Thou didst separate them from among the people of the earth
to be Thine inheritance, to be His, to be His. As Thou speakest by the hand
of Moses, Thy servant, and Thou broughtest our fathers out of
Egypt, O Lord God, O Jehovah. Bless Your name, Jehovah. Bless
Your name, the most holy and high, sovereign, almighty God. Bless your name. Bless your name. And think of how the separation
of God's people in Christ. Think of this. How got the separation
of God's people in Christ commenced in eternity. In eternity. God chose a people in Christ
before before the earth ever was. He set apart unto himself a people
of his choosing. A people of His choosing. Objects
of His eternal love. Undeserving, unmerited objects. Because when God looked down
through time, He didn't see who chose them. He saw all of us
dead in trespasses and sins, beloved. He saw that there's
none that seeketh after God. There's none that understand.
And by His grace and His mercy, He chose us in Christ. Wonder
of wonders. God did this. Wonder of wonders. People of His choosing. And why
did He do it? Because it pleased Him to do
so. And because it was all according to His purpose. To His purpose. And a believer in Christ We marvel
that we're in that number, don't we? We absolutely marvel. Marvel. But he did this. This separation
of God's elect in Christ was a distinct act of grace. It was
a distinct act of grace. God's people are chosen in Christ.
We see this pictured here in verse 53. For thou didst separate
them from among all the people of the earth to be thine inheritance. Now, this separation of God's
people in Christ is hidden from us. It's hidden from us. Because before we're born again,
we do not know that that God's love is being set upon us from
eternity. We have no idea. We have no clue. Because we're
born dead in trespasses and sins, the scripture says, with no hope. But the people of God who are
born again by the Holy Spirit of God, in God's due time and
according to His purpose, those who are called out by the divine
power of God with an effectual invincible call which you cannot
resist because it's the sovereign almighty God who calls us just
as Christ said Lazarus come forth and Lazarus came forth he couldn't
resist he was dead he was graveyard dead and God called him forth
from the grave the Lord Jesus Christ and he came didn't he
he came God's people are called out by
God's divine power with an effectual call. And then they're separated
from the people of the world. We looked at that on Wednesday
night. Love not the world. We don't love the world. We did
at one time, but we don't know more. We're just passing through,
beloved. We're just passing through. Believers
became separate from the hour of their conversion by possessing
a new nature. They are born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. So what was the design of our Lord in separating
his people from among men? Well, the same reason he separated
Israel from all the other nations, to be thine inheritance. That's
wonderful. That's wonderful. It fills your
heart with joy if you're a believer. It's wonderful. God has made
a choice of a people who are called the Lord's portion. A
lot of his inheritance. by which is meant he has a particular,
a peculiar interest in them. They're set apart from the people
of the world by his eternal love and by his eternal mercy and
grace that's been set upon them from eternity in Christ. Turn,
if you would, to Psalm 132, Psalm 132. Psalm 132. And then we'll
go right back to 1st Kings chapter 8, Psalm 132. In light of this verse here.
In light of verse. 53 there. Look at this in Psalm
132, verses 13 to 18, for the Lord has chosen Zion. Well, we
know Zion's a picture at the church, beloved. For the Lord
has chosen Zion. He had desired it for his habitation. This is my rest forever. Here
will I dwell for I have desired. He's in the midst of his people. I will abundantly bless her provisions. How blessed are we in Christ?
All our sins are forgiven past, present and future. All of them
washed in the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ were
justified by God. I will abundantly bless her provision.
I will satisfy her poor with bread. Who's the bread of life
for us, beloved? I will also clothe her priests
with salvation. Oh my. God's people are clothed
in the perfect, spotless righteousness of Christ. And her saints shall
shout aloud for joy. I ask you, Saint of God, you
who are one of the blood-bought people of God, do you not shout
for joy in your heart over this wondrous salvation that we have
in Christ? Oh my. We shout for joy, don't we? It's
wondrous. There will I make the horn of
David to bud. I have ordained a lamp for mine anointed. His
enemies will I clothe with shame, but upon himself shows crown
flourish. Oh, what a wonder of salvation
we have in Christ and Christ alone. Let's go back to first
Kings. We'll read verses 54 to 56 or 61 again. And it was so that when Solomon
had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication
unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord,
from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.
And he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with
a loud voice saying, Blessed be the Lord that hath given rest
unto his people Israel. According to all that he promised,
there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which
he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. The Lord our God
be with us as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave, not
leave us nor forsake us. that he may incline our hearts
unto him to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments
and his statutes and his judgments which he commanded our fathers
and to let these my words wherewith I have made supplication before
the Lord be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night that he
maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel
at all times as the matter shall require. that all the people
of the earth may know that the Lord is God and there is none
else. Let your heart, therefore, be
perfect with the Lord, our God, to walk in the statutes and to
keep his commandments at this day. We see here before us, Solomon
asks in this prayer and it's still granted in the intercession
of Christ. So Solomon's supplication was
a type of Christ. He was a type of Christ here
that God's presence He asked in the supplication that God's
presence would always be with his people, always be with his
people, that God would guide and direct his people, that God
would watch over his people, that God would never leave nor
forsake his people. And this is precious truth for
the believer in Christ. We know we have the Holy Spirit
who guides us into all truth, beloved. God has never left us
nor forsook us. Never. He's always with his people,
always. This prayer has been answered
for God's people in Christ, in Christ alone. And we who are
the people of God, we receive grace sufficient, don't we? We
receive grace sufficient for the times that we go through.
Suitable grace, seasonable grace in every time of need. We always,
always receive the grace that we need from the Lord in times
of grief and in times of joy. God's grace is sufficient. It's
sufficient, isn't it? He's ever with us. He never leave
us. So think upon this, that no human
heart of itself is willing to obey the gospel call. No human
heart of itself is willing to obey the gospel call. To come
to God in faith and repentance. Oh, Solomon here though exhorts
them to walk in the way of God. This is only true for those who
are in Christ, for those who are born again by the Holy Spirit
of God, who by God's divine power are now servants of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We're able to serve God through
the Lord Jesus Christ. It is he who walked perfect before
God for us, for us. And that perfect spotless righteousness
is imputed to us And again, as I've said many times, it is the
love of Christ which now constrains us from sin. We do not desire
to do the things we once did, and we repent before our God,
and we ask, beg his forgiveness, don't we? Even as believers,
even as believers, knowing that the precious blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ has cleansed us from all sin. Wonderful, what
a savior. What a Redeemer is Jesus Christ
our Lord. Look at verse 56 here. There
is so much packed into this verse. Blessed be the Lord that has
given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he has
promised. There hath not failed one word of all his good promise,
which he promised by the hand of Moses, his servant. What a
verse. What a verse, beloved. There's
so much packed in here. Take note of what's here before
us. The first thing that I'd like us to consider is God's
people worship and adore our great God. We worship and adore
our great God. It says, blessed be the Lord.
Oh, that's what we say about our King. Blessed be our great
God. Blessed be Jehovah. The Lord there is the self-existent
one. Jehovah in the Hebrew. Bless
his name. And the world does not bless
Jehovah. The world does not bless Jehovah. Just think of before
we were saved. We didn't bless the Lord. No,
but now God's born again, blah, blah, people. We bless the Lord.
We praise his name for his goodness and mercy to us. Oh, the world
don't bless Jehovah. They use his name as a byword
or a curse word. But God's born again people who
have been separated from the world. As we saw in verse 53,
Israel's a picture of us. Those who've been separated by
the Holy Spirit of God, born again, they reverence the name
of the Lord. They say, bless his holy name.
Glory to our great God for what he's done for us. And it's not
hard for us to bless his name. When we think of all that the
Lord has done for us, When we think of what the Lord's done
for us, it is not hard for us to bless His name, beloved. It's
not hard at all. And we see the reason that it's
not hard. One of the reasons we see in
the next part of the verse that it's not hard for God's people
to bless the Lord. This verse continues. And for
God's people, it's the Lord who's given rest unto His people. It's
the Lord who's given rest unto His people. And we know that
the Church of Spiritual Israel, we know that from studying Scripture,
beloved. Look, it says, blessed be the Lord that hath given rest
unto his people Israel. Oh my. The Hebrew word here for
rest, you know what it means? It means repose. It means to
repose. I really like to read a lot of
old sermons from the old timers. I love reading, and they use
this word constantly, repose. Repose, rest and repose in Christ. Rest and repose on Christ. The
Hebrew word here for rest means. Peaceful rest. To be still. To be still. When you're being still, you
ain't doing nothing. You're not working. You've ceased
from your labors. Reposed. Peaceful rest to be
still. To be still. Now let us consider
historically the rest that Israel had, now had. And again we see
it's a picture of the church. They were bought out from the
bondage of labor and being slaves in Egypt, weren't they? They
had been bought out. And they were now at rest from
wandering around in the desert. which pictures our journey through
the desert of this world, the wilderness of this world, after
the Lord saves us. And they're now in the promised
land, beloved. And the ark of the covenant was in its place,
and God was in their presence. They're in the land of rest.
And they had rest in the land from their enemies, and the presence
of God was in the temple. Now the rest which God gives
to His people, to His born-again, blood-washed people, is all according
to God's divine plan. And this rest that we have is
in Christ, in Christ alone. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 4. Hebrews chapter 4. He who has entered into the rest
of Christ has ceased from his labors. See, there was once a time when When we thought we could earn
our salvation by the things that we did. Well, if I just read
my Bible enough, or if I just pray enough, or even before we
were saved. Well, I'm a good person. Surely
God won't send someone to hell. Well, maybe that murderer in
prison, but surely not me. All the time not knowing that
we were dead in trespasses and sins. Without hope and without
God in this world. Trying to work our way to glory.
Trying to gain merit and favor with God by what we did. Look
at Hebrews chapter 4 verses 9 and 10. There remaineth therefore
a rest to the people of God. There's a rest to the people
of God. And we know who that rest is. That rest is Christ,
isn't it? That rest is Christ. For he that is entered into his
rest, God's rest, which is Christ, he hath also ceased from his
own works as God did from his. The believer in Christ has ceased
from his labors. Ceased from trying to gain merit
and favor with God. Ceased from trying to save ourselves,
which we know we can't do, but we didn't know at the time. And
we've entered into the rest of Christ. We've put our hope and
all our trust in the one who did all the work. Did all the
work. So God's people, we ceased from
our labors. What does the Lord say? Come
unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden. And I'll give
you rest, rest, and that's rest for your soul. That's rest for
your soul. My, not one person topside of
this earth who could ever work their way to heaven. Because
we're sinners. He who looks to Christ looks
to the one, as I said, who has ceased, or who's done all the
work, and we cease from our labors. And when we leave this earth,
we who are the born-again, blood-washed saints of God, we are in the
presence of God. We're in the presence of the
Lord. We will gaze upon He who is our rest. We'll gaze upon
He who is our rest. We'll gaze upon He who took us
from the slave block of sin, which Egypt pictured the world. He took us from that. He took
us from that. We're gazed upon the one who
is our rest, the one who took us through the wilderness of
this world, the desert of this world, the one who was ever with
us, the one who has promised to never leave nor forsake his
people. We will gaze upon his face, beloved. We will see him. Or gaze upon the very one who
proclaimed, Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I'll give you rest. Or see him when we're in glory. You know the Greek word used
in Matthew 11, 28 where he says, Come unto me all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. It has the same meaning as the
word we looked at. over there in 1st Kings, it means
repose. In the Greek it means repose.
So we see in the Hebrew and we see in the Greek, we are to repose
in Christ. Just to rest. Rest. Just rest in Him, beloved. Rest
in Him. And in English, the repose means
a state of rest or tranquility. It's a state. You're just resting. You're being still. You're just
being still. Let's go back to 1 Kings 8.56. And we who are the people of
God, we know with confidence that we're the people of God,
we're born again by the Holy Spirit of God, all according
to His work. We've been given rest, beloved. And we know that
this rest only comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. And this
is the only true rest for sinners. The only true rest for sinners
is found in Christ. in Christ alone. Nowhere else. Let's look at our text again. It says, Blessed be the Lord
that hath given rest unto His people Israel. Oh, what a rest
we have in Christ. Look at this. According to all
that He promised. According to all that He promised. The Scripture here declares that
this rest that God has given His people is according to His
promise. According to His promise. Turn
if you would to John chapter 10. John chapter 10. We know
that from the scriptures that all the promises of God are in
Christ. Yay and amen. And here's just a few of the
promises. We'll just look at a few of the promises here. Just
a couple. Our Lord Jesus Christ promises
that our salvation is secure in Him. He's promised us. that our salvation in Christ
is secure in Him. Now we know, left to ourselves,
we'd be gone. We cannot save ourselves and
we cannot keep ourselves. But look at this in John 10,
verses 27 to 29. My sheep hear my voice, and beloved,
that is with an effectual, irresistible call of God the Holy Spirit.
And I know them, that's Gnoska. He knows us intimately. He knows
them intimately. In the Greek, that's Gnoska.
That's an intimate relationship. And they follow me. It doesn't
say, well, they might if they choose me, does it? Because we
know we'd never choose God. No, it says they'll follow me.
Why? Because the divine power of God is exercised when we're
born again by the Holy Spirit of God. And thy people shall
be made willing in the day of his power. And they flee right
to Christ. They will follow Christ. Look
at this, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall
never perish. These are the words of God incarnate
in the flesh, beloved. Neither shall any man pluck them
out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my Father's hand. This is wonderful. And they shall
never perish. This is good news for sinners.
Wonderful news for sinners. God has promised to never leave
His people nor forsake us. We'll look at that a little bit
later. But God also promises to finish the work He's begun
in us. And remember, all the promises
of God are yea and amen in Christ. Turn if you would to Philippians
chapter 1. Philippians chapter 1. God promises to finish the
good work which has begun in us. He's the Alpha and the Omega
of our salvation, isn't he? He's the beginning and the end.
Philippians chapter 1, verses 3 to 7. Oh, let this be honey
to your soul, you who are the redeemed of the Lord. I thank
my God upon every remembrance of you. Verse 3. Verse 4. Always in every prayer of mine
before you all, making requests with joy for your fellowship
in the Gospel from the first day until now, being confident
of this very thing, that He which begun a good work in you will
perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ. God will finish the work
that He's begun in us and we'll be taken home to glory. to be
in His presence forever, to gaze again, to gaze upon the One who
is the rest of His people forever, forever. Even as it is meet for me to
think of you, this of you all, because I have you in my heart,
and so much as both in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation
of the gospel, you are partakers of my grace. Now turn to Matthew
chapter 16, if you would. Matthew chapter 16. Our Savior promised to, here
come back, here come back. Matthew 16 verses 24 to 27. Then said Jesus unto his disciples,
if any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me. For whosoever will save his life
shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for my sake
shall find it. For what is man profit if he
shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? For what shall
man give in exchange for his own soul? For the Son of Man
shall come in glory of his Father with his angels, and he shall
reward every man according to his works. Our Lord's coming
again. He's coming. But look at look at their look
at their. In verse twenty five and twenty
six, whosoever shall save his life, she'll lose it and whosoever
will lose his life for my sake, she'll find it. For what is a
man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his
own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? Nothing that we can give. Nothing
that we could give would merit in exchange for our souls, because
we're all sinners. If you could gain everything
in the world, everything in the world, and
lose your soul, you profited nothing. But the believer in
Christ, We don't give anything in exchange
for ourselves because Christ did it all. He did it all for
us. He offered himself as the perfect
sacrifice for our sins. And the believer in Christ is
richer than any man in this world. You count the richest man in
this world? Each believer is far richer in
Christ than any, even the wealthiest man in this world. We're going to spend eternity
with our Lord in glory. All because of what he's done.
All because of what he's done. It's glorious. It's absolutely
glorious. And beloved, these promises of
God, we know our yay and amen in Christ and they are sure and
they are steadfast. They are sure and steadfast.
They come from he. Now remember, the promises of
God come from he who is the same yesterday, today and forever. They come from Him. They come from Him who reigneth
in majesty over all the world. They come from He who has all
power and ability. And these promises are established
by God. And they cannot be moved. They
cannot be moved. Now then, think of the promises
of God and how they are, again, yea and amen in Christ. It's
God the Father, the Son, and Spirit who made a covenant in
eternity to save a people. God the Father chose His people
in Christ, and it's God who carried that which He had purposed and
planned all by His divine power as Christ, God incarnated in
flesh, the great substitute. He goes to Calvary's cross. and dies in the place of his
people, totally satisfying all that God demanded for the redemption
of the souls of his people. How? By the shedding of his own
precious blood, by the giving of his life to purchase our eternal souls.
Is it any wonder then that the people of God say, bless the
Lord? Bless the Lord. And it's God the Son who sends
the Holy Spirit just as He promised He would. We're born again by the Holy
Spirit of God. We who are the people of God.
And He guides us into all truth. And we know who is the truth.
Christ said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. He is truth. The Holy Spirit guides us into
all truth. He reveals Christ to us and the things of Christ. How? Through the preaching and
study of the Word of God as Peter brought forth in the Sunday School
lesson. The Gospel is constantly being
preached to us to bring us into remembrance of the great things
God has done for us. In the Scriptures, proclaim Christ.
They proclaim that He has saved His people from their sins. And
we Gospel preachers, we preach a salvation that's finished,
that's complete, that Christ did it all. And thus we tell
sinners to look to Christ. He's the only Savior. There's
no other Savior but Christ and Christ alone. Turn, if you would,
to Isaiah 42. Isaiah 42. Look at these words.
Isaiah 42, verses 1 to 9. God delights in Christ, beloved. And we who are in Christ, God
delights in us, because we're in Christ. It's amazing. It's
absolutely amazing. It's incredible. He's the head
and we're the body. Look at this in Isaiah 42, verses
1-9. Behold My servants. Whom I uphold,
mine elect. That's Christ. This is Christ.
In whom my soul delighteth. God delights in Christ. I put
my spirit upon him. He shall bring forth judgment
to the Gentiles. He shall not cry nor lift up his cause. His
voice to be heard in the street, a bruised reed shall He not break,
and the smoking flax shall He not quench. He shall bring forth
judgment unto truth. He shall not fail nor be discouraged. He shall not fail. And He did
not fail in His work of redemption. He came here to save His people
from their sins, and He did it. He did it, praise God, He did
it. He shall not fail nor be discouraged till He has set judgment
in the earth, and the isles shall wait for His law. Thus saith
the Lord, He that created the heavens and stretched them out.
Look at the majesty proclaimed here. Thus saith the Lord God,
He that created the heavens and stretched them out. He that spread
forth the earth and that which cometh out of it. He that giveth
breath unto his people. The breath we breathe comes from
our great God. The very breath we breathe. Giveth
breath unto the people upon it. That's saved and lost. He gives
breath to all people. in spirit to them that walk therein.
I, the Lord, have called thee in righteousness and will uphold
thine hand. Oh, the Lord carries us and keeps
us beloved and will keep thee and give thee for a covenant
of the people for a light of the Gentiles. And this is look
at this. And this is not true. Does Christ
not open the blind eyes to open the blind eyes? We see Christ
now. We were once blind, but now we
see. To open the blind eyes, look at this, to bring out the
prisoners from the prison. We were in the prison house of
sin. We had no way to get out. No way at all, but God's delivered
us, hallelujah. He took us out of that, beloved.
Bless his name. Is it any wonder again that God's
people bless his name? Oh my. to open the blind eyes,
to bring out the prisoners from the prison, to them that sat
in darkness out of the prison house. We were in darkness and
we didn't even know it. We were dead in trespasses and
sins, without hope. But what a hope the believer
has now. They've been brought out of the prison house of sin,
set free, beloved. And look at this, I am the Lord. He's Jehovah. He's Jehovah. That is my name. And my glory
will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. We
prescribe salvation all to the Lord and Him alone. God will
not share His glory with anyone. People who say that they're saved
by their works or saved by their doing, they're stealing glory
from God. God is the only one who saves.
He will not share His glory with anyone. That's why we give Him
all the glory, beloved. We give Him all the praise for
what He's done. It's wonderful. Neither my praise
to graven images. Behold, the former things are
come to pass, and new things do I declare. Before they spring
forth, I tell you of them. Bless His name, beloved. Bless the name of the Lord for
the great things that He has done for His people. Let's go
back to 1 Kings chapter 8. Now we look at verse 57. And
we who are the people of God know this statement, this fact
to be true. Our God is ever faithful to His
people. Is it not so in your life? Can
you not trace back in your life and see the faithfulness of God
continually? Continually. Why? He is ever faithful to His people.
There's been mountains that have come in our way. Mountains that
we think, Lord, how am I going to deal with this? It could be
a mountain of sickness. Mountain of distress or anxiety.
Mountain of something. Trouble in the soul of the saint.
And God just mows it down. And we look back and we see the
faithfulness of God again and again and again and again in
our lives. He is ever faithful. He will
never leave us nor forsake us. Look what it says in verse seven.
Fifty seven. The Lord, our God, be with us
as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us nor forsake
us. Let him not leave us nor forsake
us. Turn, if you would, to to Joshua
chapter one, Joshua chapter one. Listen to what the Lord proclaims
to Joshua here. In Joshua 1, verse 5. And may these truths go deep into your soul. Joshua 1, verse 5. There shall
not any man be able to stand before Thee, All the days of the life, as
I was with Moses, so I will be with thee. I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. I will not
fail thee, nor forsake thee. Now turn, if you would, to Matthew
chapter 28. Matthew chapter 28. And then put your finger in Hebrews
chapter 13. Matthew chapter 28 and Hebrews 13. We see this truth
both in the Old Testament and the New Testament. God will never
forsake or leave His people. Never. This is a truth proclaimed
in the Old Testament and the truth proclaimed in the New Testament.
Listen to the words of our Master in Matthew 28 verse 20. It says,
And lo, I am with you always. even unto the end of the world. Amen. I'm with you. God is ever
with his people. Now turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. Listen to
what Paul writes in the book of Hebrews. And oh, how this
can comfort the believer to know that our Lord will never leave
us nor forsake us. Now, other people in our lives
might leave us. We've all had that happen. We've all had people
leave us in our lives. But God will never leave. Never
leave His people. Hebrews 13, 5 and 6, look at
this. Let your conversation be without
covetousness, and be content with such things as ye have.
For He hath said, God has said this, I will never leave thee,
nor forsake thee. And in the Greek, that's in a
triple. Never, not ever, ever. I will never leave thee, nor
forsake thee, so that we, God's born-again blood-bought people,
may boldly say what? The Lord is my helper. The Lord's
my helper. I will not fear what man shall
do unto me. The Lord's my helper. Can you
say that? God's people who do say, bless
the Lord, oh my soul. Bless the Lord, oh my soul. Now
this is a promise of God, beloved, that He will ever be with His
people. That He will ever be with His people. And we know
we have the comforter of the Holy Spirit, again, guiding and
directing us into all truth. We know that the Lord Jesus Christ
is the way, the truth, and the life. And we who are the people
of God, We stand in daily need of assistance of God, don't we?
We need Him every day. We need Him every day. And God
is ever with us. He is ever with us. And He has
never failed us. He has never failed His people. He never slumbers nor sleeps. And He is ever with us. God's
care for his people is constant. He never grows tired of caring
for us because he loves us with an everlasting love. He never
grows weary of us because he loves us with an everlasting
love. And God's promises to his people
will never fail. Never. I ask you, you who are the redeemed
of the Lord, has God ever failed you? Ever? Never. And the reason God's promises
will never fail is because they're in Christ. And another reason
that they're never failed is because what God has promised
to do He has both the power and the ability to do it. Now we
may promise things, but we don't have the ability to do things
sometimes. Or the power to do things. But God has both the
power and the ability to do exactly what He promises. And all that He has promised
will come to pass. Listen to the words of Joshua.
He knows that his departure is soon at hand. And he tells the
people of God in Joshua 23, verse 14, this is what he says to them.
And behold, this day I am going the way of all the earth. And
ye know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one
thing hath failed of all the good things which the Lord your
God spake concerning you. Not one thing hath failed of
all the good things which the Lord your God spake concerning
you. Not one. Not one. all are come to pass unto you,
and not one thing hath failed thereof." Not one. Let's go back and look at our
text real quick. 1st Kings 8.56. Blessed be the Lord that hath
given rest unto his people, according to all that he promised, there
hath not failed one word of all his good promise. Not one. which He promised by the hand
of Moses, His servant. There were promises given by
God to Moses. God gave Israel the promised
rest. But He gave it to them, and after that they had many
trials. They had trials. Well, the day is coming, beloved, when all the trials of this world
will be finished for the believer. And we'll enter into the eternal
rest and be with Christ forever. And God's people say, bless us
now. Heavenly Father, we thank you
for allowing us to be together, for allowing us to look to thy
word and see the glorious things that are spoken of thee, O Lord,
to see thy power and thy majesty, to see that in Christ Jesus our
Lord, oh, what a wonderful Savior we have, all our sins forgiven,
all of them blotted out by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ, paid in full, everything that you demanded, Glory to you,
O Lord Jesus. And we marvel, Lord. And as you
promised, you'll never leave us nor forsake us. No matter
what we're going through, you're always ever with us. And Lord,
we know, we who are your people know, that not one of your promises
ever failed. You've never failed us. You've
never, ever failed us. And we look forward to that day
when we'll gaze upon your face, gaze upon you, who is the rest
of our souls. In Jesus' name, amen.