Thou Art Mine

Turn with me, if you would, back to Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43, I want to read those 13 verses again. Isaiah 43 verse 1 says, But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have loved thee. Therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life. Fear not, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even every one that is called by my name, for I have created him for my glory. I have formed him, yea, I have made him.

Bring forth the blind people that have eyes and the deaf that have ears. They're blind and they're deaf, but they've been given eyes and ears. Let all the nations be gathered together and let the people be assembled, who among them can declare this and show us former things. Let them bring forth their witnesses that they may be justified, or let them hear and say, it is truth.

Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant, whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me, and understand that I am he. Before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no Savior. I have declared and have saved, and I have showed when there was no strange God among you. Therefore, you are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God. Yea, before the day was, I am he, and there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

I will work, and who shall let it? Now we have two of our loved ones, whenever it's your family, it's our loved ones. When it's my family, it's our loved ones. We have two of our loved ones who have expressed their desire to confess the Lord in believer's baptism.

And usually when we have a baptism service, I try to explain what baptism is. and what it's not. And I'll go ahead and tell us what it's not. It is not salvation. It's not salvation. But I always try to tell us what it is, what it's not, and what exactly we're confessing in this confession. And I always like hearing it for myself. Every time I go through this, I like to hear it for myself. I want to be reminded again and told again exactly what we are confessing in this confession.

And tonight I want to do all of that by simply declaring this statement. He did it. That statement. He did it. That's the subject matter of our message tonight. He did it. I did not do it. You did not do it. I can't do it. You can't do it. Thank God he did it. Thank God. He did it.

That's what we're confessing. Our Lord told that Gadarean man who was possessed with devils, he was naked, he was cutting himself like a wild man, living among the tombs. After our Lord cast those devils out and clothed him and sat him down and put him in his right mind, He told that man, you go home to your family and your friends and you tell them how great things the Lord has done for you. That's what we're confessing. How great things the Lord has done for you. Nothing about this confession has anything to do with what we have done. Everything about this confession has everything to do with what he has done.

Verse one says, but now thus sayeth the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, he created thee. He did that. Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel. He did that. He said, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. He did that. I have called thee by thy name. He did that. Thou art mine. That's why he did it. That's the reason why he did it. He said, I did it because you're mine. I chose you to myself. You're mine.

Now, again, when we have a baptism service, I usually like to explain what we're confessing and believers baptism. And I also like to tell you a little bit of what the one said to me who's making the confession so you can enter into the joy of what they're confessing like I get to when they come to me. They come to me and talk to me and have conversations with me and I like to share that with you so you can enter in to the confessing heart of the confessor. Sometimes I do it in the message, sometimes I do it in the actual baptism.

Tonight I want to do it in a little bit of both. And in me telling you this, I believe you'll see why I felt led to settle on really, it's just verse one, Isaiah 43, verse one for our text tonight. Last Sunday, last weekend, we were at a conference in Dingus, West Virginia.

And it was such a blessing. It was just such a blessing to my whole family's heart. And I do believe the Lord's spirit was there. I believe his spirit was with us. And on the way home Sunday, it was just Hannah and Sophie and I. Sophie was riding back with us in the car. It was just the three of us in the car. And she said, can I ask, can I ask you both a question? And we said, sure.

And she said, I've heard you preach on, I've heard other men preach on the fear of the Lord. I've heard you preach on the fear of the Lord. And I've wondered what that is. I've, I've wondered about it. And that's what the Lord does for his people. He takes the things of his word and his people start to ponder them, ponder those things in their hearts. That's what Mary did. She pondered these things in her heart. And that's what God's people start to do.

And she said, I've wondered, I've tried to really think about what it is, what the fear of the Lord is. And she said, I've come to realize that I'm a sinner. And as strange as it sounds, that's what this father wants his child to know. As strange as that may sound to the world, that's the first thing I want both of my daughters to know. You're sinners. I'm a sinner.

And she said, I've come to realize that I'm a sinner and I can't do anything to save myself. And it takes the Lord to get a person truly to that place where you truly realize all avenues are exhausted. Anything that I thought I was capable of in the flesh, I'm not. I can't do anything to save myself.

And she said, I know that my only hope of salvation is if the Lord chose me and died and shed his blood to save me. I know that. I know that. And she said, I know that Christ is my only hope. So she said, I have been praying, asking the Lord to reveal Christ to me.

And she said, I'm just wondering if that is the fear of the Lord. Is that what the fear of the Lord is? Knowing that my only hope is in his hands. And all that I can find the ability to do is beg him to reveal himself to me, beg him to reveal Christ to me. Is that the fear of the Lord? And I said, it sounds like it to me. Sounds like it to me.

God Almighty causes his people to very wisely fear and reverence him or the sovereign God that he is. God's people fear and reverence the God whose hands they are in. God's people realize I'm in His hands and they fear and reverence the God whose hands they are in. God's people bow before and they worship the God whose hands they are in.

Do you remember a moment in time when it started to become real to you? I am totally in His hands. He can do with me whatever He wants to do with me. God's people are made, this is made known to them and they cry out for mercy. God's people cry out for mercy and grace to the God whose hands they are in. And God's people love and give thanks to the God whose hands they are in.

Well, that was Sunday. The next day on Monday, Isabella sent me a text asking if she could come by my office to talk to me. And I'm sorry, girls. I'm sorry for embarrassing you like this. But I think everybody will enjoy hearing this. Isabella sent me a text asking if she could come by my office and talk to me. And I'll just tell you that a lot of people come by my office and talk to me, but that's a very, I don't really know what the word surreal means, but I think that's a very surreal moment. And we're sitting there together and she said much of the same things that Sophie said.

All of God's people have pretty much the same confession. I'm a sinner. I know that I'm a sinner. And this is what I told both of my girls. You're going to know more of it the longer you live. You know something of it now. But the longer you live, you're going to know more and more and more.

Oh, I'm a sinner. You're never going to leave that place. If you ever get used to that stage, the Lord will take you to the next step. But she said, I know I'm a sinner and I know that Christ is my only hope of salvation. And as simple as that may sound, the pope doesn't even know that. I mean, it's it's a it's amazing. It's a miracle if God reveals that to somebody. But she said, I know that I'm a sinner and I know that Christ is my only hope of salvation, so I've been calling on the Lord, asking him to reveal himself to me.

And she said, I believe he has. I believe he has revealed himself to me. And she said, I've been wanting to confess him for quite a while. But she said, I have been waiting because I wanted to know that it wasn't just me doing it. She said, I've been waiting because I didn't want to do this for the wrong reasons, which would be my decision. You know, just me doing it, my doing it.

She said, I've wanted to know in my heart that he did it. And when I tell you that I know the feeling. I know the feeling all of God's people know the feeling. All of God's people know this feeling, but she said to me in my office, I believe he has revealed to me that the fact that I only want to confess him if he has done it means he has done it. And she said, that's what I'm ready to confess.

He has done it. Well, hearing both of their confessions caused me to settle on Isaiah 43 verse 1 for our text, which says, But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. Fear not, I have done it.

All who truly fear the Lord can fear not. All who have been caused to reverence him. The only way that any sinner will reverence him and worship him and bow to him is if they are caused to reverence him and worship him and bow to him. The only way a sinner can believe on him is if that sinner is caused to believe on him. The only way we can love him is if he first loves us.

All who have been caused to fear the Lord can fear not. All who have not been caused to fear, all who reverence themselves and worship themselves and love themselves and love their own religion and love their own works have every reason under the sun to fear.

Because if the Lord has not done it. If I'm looking to me to do it, if the Lord God has not accomplished salvation, it will not be accomplished. It will not be accomplished. Condemnation and destruction are all that await. And it's so sad to me that we live in a world that has no fear. What great mercy it is if God would cause a sinner to fear. What great mercy it is. But every soul that has been caused to fear and reverence the Lord, every soul that has been caused to cry out to him, begging for mercy and forgiveness in the blood of Jesus Christ, the Lamb. And this is what I told both of them. Where you are now, you never leave this place. You never leave this place. Every time we gather, we're crying out, begging for mercy, begging for grace. Lord, hide me under the blood of Jesus Christ.

That's all I have. That's all I have before you. Every soul who is caused to cry that to him, every soul who is caused to reverence and bow to him and beg of him can fear not. Because the soul that's been caused to fear, that's the soul who has been redeemed. That's the soul who has been called by name. That's the soul who will hear from God Almighty, Christ our Redeemer, you're mine. You're mine.

If I see baptism as a component of my salvation, If I see baptism as the final step that I need to take in order to be saved, then I should not confess baptism. Because that's all I would be doing, confessing baptism. That's all I would be doing, confessing an ordinance, confessing myself in baptism. I would just be confessing my decision to do this, my final step taken in my salvation. That's not what it is to confess Christ. That's what it is to confess me. We're not confessing us when we confess him. We're confessing him. We're confessing him, we're confessing that he started the work. He performed the work and he finished the work.

Where? All on the cross of Calvary. Died, buried, risen again. Let it be written, let it be done. Let it be said, let it be done. Let it be done, let it be finished. finished. That's what we're confessing. He started, he performed, he finished before any acknowledgement on our part even came along. We were just notified. Should I confess the Lord in baptism? Not if I feel in my heart that there's still work to be done.

This is a confession of rest. That's what this is. It's a confession of rest. This is a confession that says what the Lord has revealed to me has given me rest. It has given me rest. He revealed to me that I'm a sinner against him. And that's given me rest. He reveals that we're sinners and that's what strikes fear. And then he reveals that everything he did, all of his good news in his gospel is for sinners. And that's what gives us rest.

He revealed to me that I'm a sinner against him, but he came to me where I was. And again, if you just let me leave being a preacher for a minute and just let me step into being a father for just a second. It overwhelms my heart to think that the Lord would leave his throne and come down here for me. But multiply that times a thousand to think he would come down here for them.

He revealed that I'm a sinner against Him, but He came here to me, and He lived for me, and He took my sin upon Himself, and He suffered in that sin for me, and He was tried and judged and condemned in all of my sin for me. And He was crucified on a cross for me. And he died on that cross for me and he satisfied justice and judgment in that death for me. And he was buried for me. And he arose for me and he ascended back on high for me. And he sat down on his throne for me. And every single day he intercedes for me. And one day real soon, he's coming back for me. And according to his promise, he'll take me to eternally live with him in the place that he has prepared for me. That's what he has done.

That's what God's people confess, and that's what God's people rest in. That's what we rest in. This is a confession that says, I have been caused to believe His Word. This is a confession that says, I have been, God has caused me to believe His Word. And here is His Word.

Verse 1 says, But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O sinner. Yes, I'm talking to you, sinner. Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O sinner, and he that formed thee, O Prince of God. Changed from sinner to prince by the work of God Almighty. Thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel. Fear not. I've been caused to believe your word, and this is your word. Fear not. For I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name.

Thou art mine. Thou art mine. Like that little Spanish boy in Mexico with his kite. He said, you're mine. You're twice mine. I made you and I bought you. I am telling the two of you the truth. I want you to belong to him. That's all I want you to be, is. That's all I want you to be. And if you'll let me speak as a father just for a second more, do you want your children in anybody else's hands be yours? No, I will be in charge of my children, thank you. You've come to me. You gonna turn them over to just anybody?

From the bottom of my heart, all I want you to be is his. That's all I want every soul in this room to be, his. One who can say I am his and he is mine. I am thine, oh Lord, I've heard thy voice. He had told thy love to me, the sinner. God be merciful to me. And I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer drawn to thee. My hope is built on nothing less than the Lord Jesus Christ's blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest brain, but wholly lean on the Lord Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand.

All other ground is sinking sand. He is my all. Christ is all. Christ is all. He has done it all. He has paid it all. Christ is all. What else is to be done concerning salvation? What did Christ leave undone? Nothing. Nothing. That's what we're confessing. We're confessing Him. We're confessing this glorious man, Jesus Christ, our Savior. I need Thee. Oh, I need Thee. Every hour I need thee, oh, bless me now, my Savior, I come to thee. Every soul that comes to him, confessing him, that soul will in no wise be cast out. In no wise. Every soul that comes, he receives. Because he drew. He drew. Everyone. That's what we're confessing. OK, girls, you can go on back. And man, if you'll take care of the pulpit.

Thou Art Mine

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Thou Art Mine

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