Thy Walls Salvation, Thy Gates Praise

Q: What does the Bible say about salvation and peace?

The Bible teaches that Christ is our salvation and the Prince of Peace, who brings eternal peace to His people. In Isaiah 60:18, the Lord promises His people that their walls shall be called salvation and their gates praise. This reflects the peace that Christ, the King of Peace, imparts to His church. Before knowing Christ, humanity was characterized by violence and sin, but through Him, believers experience mercy and peace. As stated in Isaiah 9:6, He is called the Prince of Peace, and His government shall always increase. This peace is not just future hope; it exists in the hearts of believers now, as they are transformed by His love and mercy.

Q: How do we know Jesus is our protector?

Jesus is our protection, likened to a wall of salvation that secures us from sin and condemnation. The scriptures affirm that Christ serves as our wall of protection, as seen in Isaiah 26:1, where it describes how salvation appoints walls and bulwarks. In John 10:27-29, Jesus declares that His sheep will never perish, emphasizing that no one can snatch them from His hand. This means believers are forever secure in His salvation, shielded from both the dominion of sin and the threat of judgment. His righteousness as our covering is the source of our protection and assurance, as He mediates for us at the right hand of the Father.

Q: Why is grace significant in the context of salvation?

Grace is essential because it is God's unmerited favor, granting salvation that we do not deserve. Grace is the core of our salvation, as illustrated in Ephesians 2:8-9, where it states that we are saved by grace through faith, not of our own works. This underscores that salvation is entirely the work of God, not something we can earn or merit. As stated in the sermon, mercy is God withholding what we deserve, and grace is Him giving us what we do not earn. This understanding of grace helps believers appreciate the depth of Christ's sacrifice and leads them to live in a way that honors His gift of salvation.

Q: What does it mean that our gates are praised?

Our gates being praised signifies that we acknowledge God's work in our salvation and worship Him for His grace. The concept of gates being praised indicates a response of worship and acknowledgment of God's redemptive work. In Isaiah 60:18, where it is stated that our gates are called praise, this highlights that the entrance to God's people is marked by gratitude and recognition of Christ's finished work. This idea is further exemplified in the New Testament, as believers are called to proclaim the praises of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). Thus, our gates symbolize not just entry but a testament to God's glory among His people.

Q: Why is it important to understand our sinful nature?

Understanding our sinful nature helps us appreciate God's grace and the need for salvation through Christ. Recognizing our sinful nature is crucial for acknowledging our dependence on God's grace. The sermon articulates that, by nature, we are foolish, disobedient, and hostile towards God (Titus 3:3). This understanding highlights the true depth of our need for a Savior and underscores the magnificence of Christ’s grace toward us. Without this revelation, one may not fully grasp the mercy of God and the significance of Christ's sacrifice for our sin. It's through the knowledge of our sinful state that we can comprehend the great love and sacrifice of Jesus who took our place.

That is a good passage to read to set you on Christ and remember what he bore for his people. All right, Isaiah 60 in verse 18. Now the Lord is speaking to his city, which is the church. He said in verse 18, violence shall no more be heard in thy land wasting nor destruction within thy borders, but thou shalt call thy walls salvation and thy gates praise.

He promises the citizens of his city, the members of his body, the church, that we shall have perpetual peace and that our walls shall be salvation and our gates praise. Now, the first reason this is so is because the Lord Jesus is the King of Salem. He's the King of Peace. He is the Prince of Peace. Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders.

Before he called us, violence is what we were because we were wasted. We were destroyed. by Adam. We really don't enter into how bad our situation was. I mean, we were guilty before God because of Adam's sin, and so we came forth sinning. We had plenty of our own transgression. Christ didn't only die for Adam's transgression. He died for all of the sins of all his people.

And not only that, our nature being so corrupt When it come to this world and how we made our living and how we expected to accomplish our goals and things like that, we live by the sword. Looked out for number one, didn't have any regard for who we hurt to get what we wanted. That was the nature in all of us, in every center. And when it comes to religion of the unregenerate, the nature that's in us in us as we come into this world is to take the things of God and use them to do two things. Use them to oppress others, to point out their sin, to put them under law and under oppression and a heavy weight, while at the same time not lifting one of them with our fingers, excusing ourselves, justifying ourselves, claiming we're better than somebody because we've kept the word. Now that's the nature in all of us. When it comes to the world and when it comes to our very best religion, it was all violence.

Listen to this from Titus 3.3. We ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving different lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. That's every sinner by nature. That's what you see in the world. That's how the world operates. But when the spirit of God revealed Christ in us, he began by showing this about ourselves. He gave us faith to really understand, gave us wisdom to hear and know, and he made us see this about ourselves by showing us the holiness of God, by showing us what Christ did for his people. Look with me at Isaiah 9. I tried to stay pretty well in Isaiah tonight on my references, and I want you to look at these. Isaiah 9, you're very familiar, Isaiah 9, 6. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. The government shall be upon his shoulder. This is the government of his nation, his city, his church, the government, as well as the government of this whole universe.

He said his name should be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. We're talking about how he has peace in his people, in his church. Of the increase of his government and peace, there should be no end, and it will increase People want to argue about our text and say, well, that's coming in a day to come. No, it's right now in the hearts of his people, but it will get better and better because one day it's going to be perfect peace when we're with him. But of the increase of his government and peace, there should be no end. Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom. David's throne just pictured Christ's throne and Christ's kingdom.

And here's what he's doing. He orders it and he establishes it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. Now get this next word. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. That's who performs this is our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Prince of Peace. And by his spirit, this is what he accomplishes.

When he makes you to know him and begins to give you some discernment He said in Isaiah 11, verse nine, this is due entirely to Christ being in his people, due to Christ dwelling in the midst of his church. Isaiah 11, nine, he said, he said, well, let's read verse six.

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the kid and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together. And a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed. Their young ones shall lie down together, and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the ass, the hole of the snake. And the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice's den.

And here's the point of all of this. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. This is all by him giving us a knowledge of the Lord. By the knowledge of the Lord, God making Christ's wisdom to us, giving us the mind of Christ, a spirit we did not have before, the spirit of the Lord given to us, his spirit, him dwelling in us, making us a partaker of the divine nature, When he does this, he makes you see by faith what we deserve from God.

We deserve nothing but wrath and condemnation. That's all we deserve. And yet, Christ, rather than pouring out violence on us, Christ came and took the place of his people. Our Lord Jesus came down to take the place of his people. And by the knowledge of the Lord, now we know Christ didn't come and give us what we deserved. He came and gave us what we did not deserve. He withheld, he showed us mercy. He withheld what we deserve. Mercy is God withholding what we deserve. Grace is God giving us what we did not earn, what we did not merit, what we did not deserve. And he came and showed us mercy and grace.

And by his love, by his great love for his people, You think, you and me have never loved like this. I hear people talking about unconditional love. You and me are sinners and we don't love unconditionally. As much as we might like to think we do, you let somebody spit in your face and you'll find out if you love unconditionally. Christ loved with a perfect love. It couldn't be turned back. It couldn't be changed or altered. Even when we spit in His face, even when we cursed Him, He went and laid down His life for His people. He took all the sin of all His people and was made a curse for us.

This is what Christ did. And so by the knowledge of the Lord, by Him making you see Him, that's how we know our sin. By Him making us see Him, that's how we know the love of God. By Him giving us the knowledge to know Christ, that's how we know the mercy and grace of God. We see what we are and we see what He did for His people.

And the scripture says, by His Spirit, He said, blessed are the peacemakers. That's what He makes us, by making us see how He made peace for His people with God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. We see now, God was in Christ, and he reconciled us to God.

You know 2 Corinthians 5.18, all things are of God. We have nothing to glory in. All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself, He did that, he reconciled his, we were violent toward God, hating God, hateful and hating one another. He reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ.

And the way he did it was he did not impute our sin to us. What'd he do with it? He made his son sin for us. His son who knew no sin, he made him sin and he poured out the curse and condemnation on his son. and doing so made us the righteousness of God.

And he comes in power and commits this word of reconciliation to us and regeneration. He commits this word to us, first of all, making us believe him, made willing in the day of his power. And then he commits this word of reconciliation to us to speak to this lost world. Because this is how, by his grace, by this gospel of peace, that's what it's called, as opposed to violence.

All we were were violence. And now the gospel of peace came, declaring the prince of peace and how he made peace with God for his people. And it says, how shall they preach except they be sent? How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace. that bring glad tidings of good things. He said, your feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. When he creates a new man and gives you faith, he makes you now a peacemaker, and our one weapon now is the gospel of peace, the gospel of Christ and Him crucified.

This is what he meant in Isaiah 2.4, he shall judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people and they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Only Christ can work this. And it starts with him giving a new heart to each and every one of those for whom he made peace with God. This is the only way that he makes you put down your sword against God and your weapons in fighting God and makes you personally be reconciled to God.

That's what he does in his people. And it's by his knowledge now that we love mercy with God. We love that he saved us by mercy. And we love mercy with our brethren now. Go with me to Ephesians 4. You still have a sin nature and I do too. Husbands and wives especially, don't forget this. You have a sin nature. So you're gonna have falling outs from time to time. And you may get sideways with one another and say something you ought not say. But I tell you this, that's so between brethren and brethren. but the Lord will send this gospel, and just like he saved you in the first hour, he will speak this right here effectually into your heart, and this is what makes us be reconciled to one another.

Ephesians 4.31, he speaks this right here into the heart.

He says, let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice. and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, here's your motive, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Be ye therefore followers of God as dear children and walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling Savior. That's all of the Lord. Every bit of this that we just heard is all of the Lord.

He made peace with God on behalf of his people. He makes us personally be reconciled to God, and then through this gospel, continually showing us what he did for us, he makes us be reconciled with one another, forgive one another, be merciful to one another, and walk in love.

He makes you endeavor to keep the unity of peace in the bond of peace. This is what he does. Now, that's why there's not gonna be violence in his city, in his church. When violence breaks out, it's not perfect now. It will happen, but when it does, he's gonna correct it in the hearts of them that are his, because he has the power and ability to do that, and he does it through this gospel.

Secondly, now Christ is our wall of protection. What is the number one reason that people are violent? The number one reason, besides just being mean, the number one thing that causes people to get this almost like a panic state where they gotta do something to provide for themselves or to save themselves from somebody is fear. When people fear that they're not gonna be provided for or they fear that that they've gotta commit violence to get what they want, or they can't get it. That's what causes this violence, is a fear of, and that's how we walked, that's all we were by nature. But now Christ makes you know, he is your wall of salvation. You don't have to fear. You don't have to fear what man will do, because he is your wall of salvation. Verse 18, but thou shalt call thy walls salvation.

Now, we're talking about the city of God, which is the church of God. Let me show you that in Hebrews 12. Now, like I said, as long as we're sinners, this is not gonna be perfect in this life, but it will be perfect in glory. Hebrews 12. But this is so in his people, in his city, the church.

Hebrews 12.22, he says, you are not come, or I'm sorry, you are come unto Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to a enumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn.

The only way you become a citizen of this city, a member of his church, is to be born from above into it. That's the only way, to be born from above. Now we were, as far as God choosing us by his grace, we were in Christ from before the creation of the world. But the way we experience being a citizen of this city is you have to be born into it by the spirit of God. this is the church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, elect, God wrote our names in the Lamb's book of life before the world was created.

And he says, to God, the judge of all, that's who we come to, to the spirits of just men made perfect, that's not only his saints in glory with him, that's you in the new man. He justified us and he's made us perfect in Christ, holy in Christ. We have sin in our old man, so it's not so just of us. I think this is important, needs to be said. Even when he sanctifies you, gives you a new holy heart, that sanctification, though you love godliness and you hate sin, though there is a holy man created, a new holy spirit, that's not the holiness by which we stand perfect before God. The holiness by which we stand perfect before God is Christ only. his righteousness and his holiness in him alone. But you are a just man made perfect in Christ, you that believe. And we've come to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, through the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. See that you refuse not him that speaks.

He's speaking from heaven every time the gospel's preached. And he promised, where I've assembled my people, I'm there. and he's the one doing the speaking. We know that when he speaks, when he affectionately speaks, we know it. There's those sweet times when you hear the gospel and your heart burns within you just like those fellas on the road to Emmaus. That's Christ has spoken and you hear it and you know it and you have sweet communion with him. But now because of regeneration and righteousness and holiness and all these blessings freely given to us in by the Lord Jesus, In Him, by Him.

Our walls of protection is the Lord Jesus. He's our wall of protection. Go back over with me to Isaiah 26 and look at verse one. Isaiah 26 and verse one. In that day, in this gospel day, the day Christ is made, In that day shall this song be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city.

Salvation will appoint walls and bulwarks. Salvation will appoint walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates that the righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. You see there, salvation, you take the italicized words out. They are added by the translators. Salvation will appoint walls and bulwarks. Christ is our salvation. He appointed the walls and the bulwarks for his people, and our text says he is the walls. Salvation is the wall. It's Christ. It is Christ.

Listen to this from Zechariah 2.5. For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about. and I will be the glory in the midst of her. Christ's blood is the bulwark. A bulwark is a big mound of dirt. Sometimes they would put timbers on them and make these big projectiles where people couldn't get over them. Christ is the bulwark protecting us from sin having dominion over us. He's protecting us from us.

If he took his hand off of us because of our sin nature, one of his holy saints will do anything anybody else in this world would do. You would do what the worst sinner in this world would do, you will do that too if he took his hand off you. And sometime he'll give you just enough space to let you see it and know your need of him. but he's our bulwark from our own sinful nature having dominion over us. He is our righteousness, the wall that encloses us about, sparing us, saving us from the condemnation of God's just justice and saving us from every enemy in this world. His mediation at the right hand of the Father is our protection at all time. His wisdom and his power is our defense from every enemy we face in this world. Christ's wisdom and His power. You've been born of the Holy Spirit. If so, you're sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise. The Spirit's the earnest. It's the foretaste of glory.

And you've been sealed. You ever can tomatoes, and you put the tomatoes in there, and you have them in that hot water, and you pull them out, and you put the lids on them, and you set them there, and in just a little while, you hear pop, and then you hear this pop. They'll start popping. They're sealed, preserved.

If you've been born of the spirit, he brings you to trust Christ, and he has sealed you so that you're going to be preserved forever. That's our walls. That's our protection. Let me show you what our protection is. Go to John 10. Here's our protection right here. Here's why our walls are salvation. Listen to John 10. Look here in verse 27.

He said, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, That's him making you be born again, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, 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. I and my Father are one.

That's so, that's our wall, the wall of salvation, Christ Jesus. That's why I wanted to sing the song, the hymn we just sang. A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing, our helper amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. Did we in our strength confide, our strength would be, our striving would be losing. We're not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing. Ask who that may be. Christ Jesus, it is he. Lord, sabboth his name from age to age the same, and he must win the battle.

That's our wall of salvation, Christ Jesus. Lastly, because all this is so, our gates are praised. Our gates are praised. Verse 18, but thou shalt call thy wall salvation and thy gates praise. No more violence. Call thy wall salvation and thy gates praise.

When Christ came to his people, when he comes to you and me dead in our sin, we were behind the walls and the gates of hell. We were in the prison, we were behind the walls, locked behind the gates of hell, and the devil was determined to keep us there. But our Lord Jesus said, through the message that declares he's the rock, He's the foundation. He said the gates of hell shall not prevail against this gospel. Christ Jesus, wherever his child is, God gave him the glory of setting the prisoners free, of breaking down the gates of hell through this gospel, entering that heart.

Our heart, our sin nature is like the walls of Jericho, walled up to heaven. We're not gonna let the gospel in. We wasn't gonna let him get to us. And the devil wasn't going, he was determined not to let you hear this gospel. But God made us hear the gospel trumpet like they marched around that city.

Can you just picture what them people on the walls of Jericho must have thought? Here's these people walking around, just holding up the ark. That's all they're doing, holding up the ark of the covenant. We're just holding up Christ and blowing a trumpet, blowing a trumpet. That's all we're doing, preaching Christ and Him crucified, the mercy seat.

And through that message, Just like he did the Jericho, God make the walls fall down. And then he called us and saved us to himself. And the reason now our wall is Christ, our salvation is Christ, and the reason our gates are praised, we saw it Sunday. When he made that promise to Abraham in Genesis 22, 17, he said, thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Christ is that seed. He came through Abraham. The gate in a city is where judgment was settled. I'm gonna repeat this, because we need to hear the gospel repeated.

But when Boaz, when he wanted to redeem Naomi and Ruth and marry Ruth, there was a nearer kinsman, and a legal matter had to be handled. The law had to be settled. And the scripture says Boaz went up to the gate. Well, before Christ could lawfully take each of his people as his bride, his church, he had to go up to the gate. And he went to the cross. And that's where judgment was settled.

Just like Boaz settled that matter with that nearer kinsman. and made it so he could lawfully marry Ruth, redeem her, marry her. Christ went to that cross and he laid down his life and he redeemed us from the curse by being made a curse for his people. And now he's lawfully married to his people.

Listen to Romans 7, Romans chapter 7. The law was that first husband that had the first right to us. But he couldn't redeem us, just like that nearer kinsman couldn't redeem Ruth without, what's the word, defiling his inheritance. So the law couldn't save us and still be wholly just and good, because we had to die. But now, that first husband is dead to us, and we're dead to that husband, and we're lawfully married to Christ.

Romans 7.1, know ye not, brethren, I speak to them that know the law, how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth. For the woman, this is an illustration, the woman which hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth. But if the husband be dead, she's loose from the law of her husband. So then while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she's free from that law, so that she's no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Now here's the point.

Wherefore, my brethren, you also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ. We were crucified in Christ. Our old man died. Look, that you should be married to another, to him who is raised from the dead that we should bring forth fruit unto God. For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. Everything that we called law keeping was just dead, sinful fruit is all it was, no fruit at all.

But now, now you've been delivered from that law that being dead wherein you were held, that we should serve in newness of spirit, not in the oldness of the letter. Romans 8, one says, there's therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus, that's the law you wrote on our heart. The covenant of grace, the Holy Spirit, the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

That's the law given at Mount Sinai, the Ten Commandments. It wasn't given to give you life. It wasn't given to be a rule of life. It was given to declare you a guilty, hell-deserving sinner. And right now, if you go to it, that's what it's gonna say to you. The law wasn't made for a righteous man.

His people are righteous in Christ. We're walking by faith led of the spirit of God, setting our affection on Christ above, hearing his gospel minister to us, and that's how our flesh is put down. He's our salvation, the walls around us protecting us, and all the praise, all the glory goes to Christ because he settled this matter of judgment in the gates forever. He settled it. He settled it. Our Lord said, He is the gate. The only way you can enter is through faith in Him.

Nothing else pleases God. Nothing else. The law is not of faith. We can't partly come by faith and partly come by law. If it's grace, it's all grace. If it's faith, it's all faith. If it's works, it's all works. The law's not of faith. We walk by faith.

Christ is leading us in spirit, just like you take a little child by the hand. When you hear, he said, in Isaiah 30, he said, you'll hear that still, small voice saying, this is the way, walk ye in it, when you try to turn to the right or to the left. That's him leading us by the spirit, isn't it, Robbie? That's how he leads his people. We walk in by faith, looking to him. So, that's why our wall is salvation, that's why our gate is praise.

Have you, as the spirit, convinced you of sin? Unless, when he gives you faith, you just trust Christ is all. But without faith in Christ, I don't care what a man does, it's sin. That's what the spirit convinces us of. of sin because we believe not on Christ. He convinces us of righteousness, that Christ only is our righteousness.

He's the only one that ever kept the law. You hear me now? You hadn't kept it, I hadn't kept it, not before conversion, not after. He's the only one that ever kept it. And when the Spirit convinces you, He convinces you He's my righteousness, because He's there with the Father. And the Spirit convinces you of judgment. prince of this world's cast out. The only ammunition the devil had was your sin. He would accuse you to God, but he can't do it now because Christ put our sin away. Has he convinced you?

Judgment was settled in the gate on Calvary's cross. If so, this is the promise of God for his people and his city. Verse 18, violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders. but thou shalt call thy wall salvation and thy gates praise. Amen. All right, Brother Adam. Brother Robbie needs to get out of here. You got a meeting or something.

Thy Walls Salvation, Thy Gates Praise

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about salvation and peace?

How do we know Jesus is our protector?

Why is grace significant in the context of salvation?

What does it mean that our gates are praised?

Why is it important to understand our sinful nature?

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Thy Walls Salvation, Thy Gates Praise

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about salvation and peace?

How do we know Jesus is our protector?

Why is grace significant in the context of salvation?

What does it mean that our gates are praised?

Why is it important to understand our sinful nature?

Sermon Transcript

About Clay Curtis

Comments

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