I love that song. Turn with you
this evening for our study, our message to 1 Kings chapter 8. 1 Kings chapter 8. I remember learning a little
something growing up. And I got to the age that I realized I
can't in good conscience sing that song. And I sat there. And I sang during a service,
what can wash away my sin? Nothing. Because I didn't know
the Lord hadn't shown me the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
Nothing outside of the blood of Jesus. That's the answer.
And I'm thrilled to be able to sit there and sing that song.
I'm glad you picked that out, Sean. First Kings chapter eight. We're going to look at a few
verses starting in verse 54. The title of the message comes
from there in verse 56. In verse 56, it says, there hath
not failed one word of all his good promise. There has not failed
one word of all his good promise. And God's promise to Israel here
is a picture. of God's promise to spiritual
Israel today. And we can take comfort from,
hopefully, we can take comfort and we can see a picture of Christ
and we can see a picture of God's mighty hand that not, that hath
not failed one word of all his good promise. And we can take
comfort from that this evening also. I pray that we can, we
can see spiritual Israel in a, in a, in a picture of, of Israel,
physical Israel, God's promise to Israel. Again, it's a, it's
a picture of God's spiritual promise to spiritual Israel.
And I hope that we can see that. So as we read through these few
verses, we're going to read through verses 54 to 61. As we read through
these few verses, look for five points. As we read through what
was promised, what was promised to Israel, to whom was the promise
made to whom, who promised, That's what's important in any promise,
right? Who promised? When was that promise fulfilled?
And number five, what was the response? What was the response?
So look for those as we read through, starting here in 1 Kings
8, starting in 54. 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,
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 had given rest
unto his people israel according to all 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 us nor forsake us that
he may incline our hearts unto him that he may incline our hearts
unto him 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 were
with, I've made supplication before the Lord be nigh unto
the Lord, our God, day and night, that he maintained the cause
of his servant and the cause of his people, Israel at all
times, as the matter shall inquire, require that all the people of
the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is none
else. Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our
God to walk in his statutes and to keep his commandments as at
this day. What was promised? And to whom
was the promise made? Who promised? When was that promise
fulfilled? And what was the response? What
was promised? So we read through here, verse
56 says, bless the Lord that has given rest to his people,
Israel, according to all that he promised. What was promised
to look at that? Look back with me to Exodus chapter
six, Exodus chapter six. We'll, we'll look at the promise
that, that God made blessed to be the
Lord, that the given rest to his people, Israel, according
to all that he promised, what was promised when we read through
here in, in, in Exodus six, Look how, how God promised, he promised
he was going to give them a land. He'll give them a land. He'll
rid them of bondage. He's going to redeem them. He's
going to take them to himself for a people. He's going to cause
them to know him as the Lord, their God. And he's going to
bring them to the land. Look at these promises here that
the Lord makes here in Exodus chapter six, starting in verse
one, we'll read the eight verses. Then the Lord said unto Moses,
now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh, for with a strong
hand shall he let them go, with a strong hand shall he drive
them out of his land. God spake unto Moses, said unto
him, I am the Lord. I appeared unto Abraham, unto
Isaac, and unto Jacob by the name of God almighty, but by
my name Jehovah was I not known to them. For I have also established
my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the
land of their pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. I've also
heard the groaning of the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians
keep in bondage, and I have remembered my covenant. Listen to all the
I wills here. Wherefore, say to the children
of Israel, I am the Lord. I will bring you out from under
the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their
bondage. I will redeem thee with a stretched
out arm. With great judgments, I will
take you to me for a people. I will be to you a God. You shall
know that I am the Lord, your God, which brings you out from
under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you, I will
bring you in unto the land concerning the which I did swear to give
to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. And I will give it to you for
inheritance. I am the Lord. Listen to, to
all those promises, right? He promised that he was going
to give him the land. He promised he was going to rid them of bondage.
He promised he was going to redeem Israel. He promised he was going
to take them to himself for a people. He promised he was going to reveal
themselves to them as their God. He was going to cause them to
know him as their God. And he promised he was going
to bring them all the way into the land. He gave them the land. He gave them the land not to
dwell in as strangers or as slaves. And that's all some of these
had ever been, right? They were born slaves. That's
all they had ever known was being a slave. and the Lord promised
them, I'm gonna give you a land. Not to wander around in as a
slave, not to have to slink around in, not to have cordoned off
places where you couldn't go, as a free man, I'm gonna give
you the land. They were free men, they were
promised to be free men in the land of Canaan. Can you just
imagine what they must have imagined as slaves to tell a slave, try
to explain to a slave what it's like to be a free man. I mean,
the Israelites must not have even been able to imagine it.
To be able to come and go as I please, to be able to own land,
to be able to set my own schedule, to be a free man. How could they
have even imagined, even to hear this promise? Again, these Israelites
were slaves and many had been slaves all their lives. They
had never owned land. They had never belonged. To be
told, I will give you a land and the land is fit for you,
you belong there, and you're fit for the land, to belong someplace. Can you imagine what they must've
been thinking to hear, I'm gonna give you a land where you'll
belong, the land that's right for you and that you're right
for the land? I imagine they couldn't even
picture it. How could they? How could they?
And look, still here in Exodus 6, look in verse nine. Moses
spake, so the children, So unto the children of Israel, but they
hearken not unto Moses for anguish of spirit and for cruel bondage.
They couldn't even listen to it. They couldn't even imagine.
They couldn't believe it was too good to be true, right? That
they would be, they would be given a land. They couldn't even
picture it. Physical Israel couldn't even
imagine being free. They were born in bondage. And
isn't that a picture of us? Isn't that a picture of our spiritual
self? We're born in bondage to sin. We're slaves to sin. Romans
7 says, for we know that the law is spiritual, but I'm carnal,
sold under sin. I'm a slave. I can't even imagine
what it is to be a free man, to be given a land, to be made
meat for the land and for the land to be made meat for me spiritually.
I can't even imagine, but God promises spiritual Israel land.
where his people are not slaves, but rather they belong. You listen to things we shouldn't,
you hear things on TV, you hear things on the, just all the time,
dang on it. And you hear people being cute, talking about slinking
in the backdoor heaven. Hmm. That's not God's children. God's children don't slink in
the backdoor heaven. No one gets by by the skin of
their teeth. It's Christ's work. God's children belong with him
because they're made holy because of Christ's work. No longer slaves,
but rather children. Children. They're made meat for
the land. It's spiritual Israel. It's an
inheritance. God's people are made to stand in the land, not
as slaves, but again, as children who belong just as the children
of Israel belong. What did God promise? He promised
to give them a land. He promises spiritual Israel
to give us a land where we belong with him. What else did he promise? He promised to rid them of bondage.
Turn over, stay in Exodus, but turn to chapter 14. Keep a marker
there in Exodus 6. We're going to go back to that
quite a bit, Over in Exodus 14, God freed
the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage. But when were they,
excuse me, when were they freed? When was Israel freed from this
bondage? I know Pharaoh said he'd released them, right? And
the children of Israel fled. And Pharaoh said he'd released
them after all the plagues, but he didn't. He still had a claim
on them. They were still his. They were,
Israel was still Pharaoh's. And even though he let them go,
he hadn't, he changed his mind and he went out back after him,
right? So when, when was, when were the children of Israel really
freed from, from bondage? Again, Pharaoh still had a claim
on them. They were, they were still his slaves. Look here in
exodus 14 in verse 10, when Pharaoh drew nigh, children of Israel
lifted up their eyes and behold, the Egyptians marched after them.
They were sore afraid. Children of Israel cried out
unto the Lord. They were sore afraid. Do you ever feel that way about
your sin? I do. Do you ever feel that way about
your sin? It's going to keep me captive forever. When were they finally freed
from their bondage? Look down further to verse 28. The children of Israel were were
brought through the Red Sea by God, and the waters returned
and covered the chariots and the horsemen and all the host
of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them, there remained
not so much as one of them. That's when the children were
freed from bondage, when Pharaoh was absolutely abolished, when
he was gone, when he was destroyed, so he had no claim left on the
children of Israel. When were these children of Israel
finally free from their bondage when Pharaoh was gone and had
no more claim on them. Spiritual Israel is free from
the bondage of sin the exact same way. When? Not until sin
is destroyed, because where sin is, sin will always have a claim.
Where sin is, sin will always have a claim. But Christ abolished
sin, just as God abolished Pharaoh and wiped him from the face of
the earth. wiped him from existence so that there was no more claim
on the existence. Christ has abolished, absolutely put away
sin, abolished sin. Hebrews said Christ appeared
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He came to put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. Colossians says blotting out
the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was
contrary to us. And he took it. out of the way,
nailing it to the cross. That's when sinners are made
free from the bondage of sin. That's when, what did God promise
Israel? To rid them of bondage. What
does God promise spiritual Israel and Christ? To rid us of the
bondage of sin because Christ has put away sin. It's gone. There's no more claim. Christ
took the sin of his people in his body on the tree and with
his perfect sacrifice, abolished sin, gone forever. God says as
far as the east is from the west, right? gone so that there is
no more claim on spiritual Israel released from the bondage, just
as physical Israel was released from the bondage. Just as the
physical Israel wasn't free from that bondage until Pharaoh was
completely wiped off the face of the earth. It was no more.
Pharaoh was gone. Sinners can never be free from
sin's curse and from that spiritual death. unless sin is absolutely
abolished. And that's found only in Christ.
What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Just as physical Israel saw the
same thing. When Christ abolished sin by
taking the sin off of his people and into his own perfect body.
So he said that we being dead to sins should live under righteousness
by whose stripes were healed. give them a land, a land that's
fit for them and a land that they're fit for. I'll free them
from bondage. God redeemed Israel. He redeemed
Israel. He took them for himself as a
people and he caused them to know that he was the Lord, their
God. Now just, just pardon that word, but solely only freeing
Israel from bondage would have been, that would have been wonderful,
right? If that's all God did with physical Israel was free
them from that bondage, that's more than they could have even
imagined to ask for, right? But what does Ephesians 3 say?
Ephesians 3 says he's able to do, say he's able to do all that
we ask or think. Ephesians 3 says he's able to
do above all that we ask or think. It says he's able to do abundantly
above all that we ask or think. Ephesians 3 says he's able to
do, exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think. Asking
to be free from sin, to be free from bondage, is more than we
would ever in our wildest dreams imagine to even ask for. But
Christ does more, exceeding abundantly above more. Not only did Christ
free Israel from bondage, he took them to himself for a people.
He caused them to know him as the Lord their God. To know and
to love. Not only a head knowledge. We
have a more than a head knowledge of our spouses. There's an intimate
knowledge. There's a knowing. He caused
them to know. He causes Israel. Our God causes
Israel to know him intimately as the Lord their God. He gave
them a knowledge of his character. He gave them a knowledge of his
holiness. He took them as his people and he gave them eyes
to see him and hearts to believe him, ears to hear him. He gave
them life. He caused them to know that he's
the Lord their God. He freed them from bondage, he
did. But he also made them a people
unto him, exceeding abundantly all that they possibly could
have asked or thought. Just as spiritual Israel is free
from that curse of sin, but it's also made alive in Christ, made
alive and made to know him as the Lord, our God, made his people. He claims us. You think of all
the relationships that the Bible references because one human
relationship can't possibly describe our relationship with Christ.
He calls himself our spouse, our brother, our friend. I mean, such dear relationships,
not only quote unquote, not that that's a little, that's a lot,
freed from the curse of sin, freed from bondage, but also
given life and an intimate heart knowledge of him. exceeding abundantly
above all that we could ever have asked or thought. He made
us a people unto him. Hebrews eight says, I will be
their God. They shall be my people, my people. First Peter says, you're a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. that you should show forth the
praises of him who has called you out of darkness into his
marvelous light, which in times past were not a people, but are
now the people of God. That's what he calls us. That's
what he calls spiritual Israel. He calls them the people of God,
which have not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy vessels
of, of mercy. He freed them. He gave them a
land. He removed them from bondage.
He revealed himself as the Lord, their God. He made them his people
and revealed to them that relationship. And he didn't leave them there. Next to the six says that he
brought them all the way to the land. He brought them to the
land. I was just so struck by that,
that he didn't provide a way. He did provide a way through
Christ. that he carried his people the
entire way and brought them to the land. Not one step left for
his people. He provided them a land. He freed
them from bondage. He revealed himself to them and
he brought them all the way and planted them in the land, brought
them the whole way. He brought them to the land.
Philippians one says, being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ. He purposed the work, he began
the work, he did the work, Christ completed the work. Christ did
it all, it all, just as, I was so struck by that. Not only did
God free Israel, he gave them the land, he redeemed them, he
took them to himself, he made them known as their God, and
he didn't leave it up to them to find the rest of the way to
the land. No, he brought them all the way to the land. He did
it all. And for spiritual Israel, there's no difference. This is
a picture of spiritual Israel. For spiritual Israel, Christ
did it all. It all. It's all of God. He separates
Israel. He calls. He determines. He saves. He sanctifies. He redeems. He
cleanses. He purifies. He draws. He saves. He pardons. He preserves. Was it, I believe it was Bruce
that says that we persevere. He preserves. We are preserved. We persevere because he preserves
us, right? He preserves, therefore we persevere. He provides the land and he brings
us there. There's no burden on the sinner. No burden, and there can't be.
There's no part left to the sinner. And only a sinner who is revealed
is a sinner. can come that way and ask for
that kind of mercy, that kind of care, that kind of power,
and to beg for that kind of mercy. When we come to the throne of
mercy, that's the throne we come to. And we say, God, you must
do it all. You must do it all. I can do
nothing. You must do it all. And he does. We believe and we bow and we've
heard from this pulpit so many times. Senator that comes to
a holy God on those terms has always been accepted, always
will be accepted. We believe, we bow, that's our part. We bow
to that authority and that power and that goodness. It's the goodness
of God. Can you imagine that kind of
power on this earth? How awful that would be in the hands of
one person? Because we're so corrupt. You've all heard the
phrase. Dad used to say it a lot. He'd
say power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts. Absolutely.
Right? The more power that's in the
hand of a man, the worse it's going to be. Not so with our
God. Infinite, ultimate power backed
by his good and generous and merciful character. He brought
them to the land. He brought them all the way to
it, brought them all the way in it. That's what was promised
to whom, to whom was promised back, back there. And if he,
in Exodus six, Exodus six, six says, wherefore say unto the
children of Israel, that's who the promise is made to under
the children of Israel, that the promise is exclusively and
only only to the children of Israel. This isn't just a doctrinal
issue that we hang our hats on, separates ourselves from others. I'll admit, if this is just an
intellectual doctrine, we'll use it from a sense of pride
just to argue with people, we will. I did it as a freshman
in college, I remember distinctly. You're getting into good arguments
with people about Calvinism, uselessness. uselessness. Is
this just a doctrine for us to argue about election predestination? Another thing my dad used to
talk about was the ugliness of pride. And he would say, yeah,
pride is ugly. There's, there's pride of race,
pride of face, pride of place, but the worst is pride of grace.
That's the worst. That, that That pride of grace
is limited atonement for a particular people, just a doctrinal sense
for us to argue about. Something that I can dig my heels
into, and of course, of course it's not. But it is important. Turn over to the book of Deuteronomy,
Deuteronomy chapter seven. Did God choose Israel because
of some redeeming quality in them because of something that,
that, that he needed, that they would bring to the table. Deuteronomy
chapter seven, look here in verse versus six
and seven for thou art unholy people under
the Lord, thy God, the Lord, thy God has chosen. They'd be
a special people unto himself above all people that are upon
the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love
upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than
any people. If you are the fewest of all people, it's important. Doctrine of election
is, is, is vital because it gives credit to whom credit is due,
gives, gives credit to, to our God. There's no redeeming quality
in centers. It says, in fact, not only were
you not the most of the people, you were the fewest. Not only
was I not the best of people, I was the worst. a vessel of
mercy. And that's what every center
is, is an example, not of their own goodness so that God would
choose them. They're a picture of God's goodness, that he would
condescend to choose them. You are the least of people.
That doctrine of election is, again, that's vital because it
gives credit to whom credit is due. No redeeming quality in
centers. Verse six, it says, because he
would, because he would, that's why. Salvation begins and ends
with God alone, because he would. I had to pick up some cream for
something Gavin's got on his hand. And you look at all the
ingredients and all the cream, it's ingredient, ingredient,
ingredient, ingredient, right? And at the end it says active ingredient.
And I always think to myself, why don't they just make that?
Well, if the active ingredient is what we need, won't they make
something with just that in it? What's all this other stuff? Left to
ourselves, and this is just a proof of our fallen dead nature that
we inherited through our fallen Adam, we think we're the active
ingredient in salvation. And we're most certainly not.
We're not the active ingredient. We're not the catalyst in no
way, shape or form. If we love him, what a gift that
is. It's because he first loved us.
Not only is he the beginner and the performer of the work and
the end of the work, he's all of it. He's all three without
any input from us. We're the recipient. We're the
recipient of his work, just as the children of Israel here were. Because of his goodness alone,
that's why. So to whom was it promised? To
the people he chose, because this is God's work. to the people
he chose. Who promised? Third point, who
promised? God promised. The value of a
promise, as we see there in Exodus 6, the Lord said unto Moses,
and how many times did he say, I will, I will, I will. This is a one-way contract. I
will, God says. God promised. And the value of
any promise is, 100% dependent on who's making the promise,
right? Whoever's making the promise, do they have the authority to
make that promise? Do they have the right? Do they have the power
to make it happen? If they don't have the right
to make the promise, and they don't have the power to make it happen, the promise
is no good, right? Do they have the character and
the will to make it happen? Unless someone has the right
to do it, the power to do it, and the character and the will
to do it, The promise is useless. The promise is dependent on the
person making the promise, right? I remember one time in the parking
lot, Danny and Lorelei let us drive their fancy sports car.
Danny let me take Gavin for a ride in that vet. Now, if I turned
around and promised, you all want to take a ride in that vet?
Go right ahead. I can make that promise all day long. It's not my car,
right? Ask the person whose car it is.
Ask Danny and Lorelei. Maybe they will. I don't have
the authority to make that promise. I don't have the rights, not
my car. Person has to have the authority to make the promise,
the power, the right to make it happen, and they have to have
the will, the character to make it happen. For spiritual Israel,
who is that? We know that that's Christ, who
only the Lord Jesus Christ has the right to forgive because
he's God himself. We've offended God. Who has the
right to forgive other than God himself? only found in our Lord
Jesus Christ has the right, has the authority to forgive sin. Only the Lord Jesus Christ has
the power to forgive sin, as he was the perfect sacrifice,
made sin for his people. He who knew no sin, took sin,
made sin for his people, that his people be made the righteousness
of God in him. Only our Lord Jesus Christ has
the power to forgive sin. When he took all the weight,
He took all the guilt. He took all the punishment as
a man. He paid that sin. He paid that
debt as a man himself. Only the Lord Jesus Christ has
the character and has that will to make it happen. It's only
in his character, where else can you find? It's in his character
to delight, to show mercy to sins. It's only found in our
Lord Jesus Christ, the authority, the power, and the character
to forgive who promised that's important. Who's making the promise
here? God promises into spiritual Israel. God's promise is fulfilled in
Christ alone. Fourth point, when was the promise
fulfilled in time back again to exodus six, We look at all those I wills,
and this time when you listen to all those I wills, as we read
through verses six to eight, listen to those I wills. But
with God, the I will isn't a function of time. When I say I will, Ralph,
I'll call you tomorrow. It's a function of time. I will
call you tomorrow. But not so, not so with our Lord. It's not a reference. at all
to time. We speak relative to time, but
God's not relative to time. He created time. Time's relative
to Him. Turn, well, first, let's listen
to those. Exodus 6, starting in verse 6. Wherefore
say to the children of Israel, I am the Lord. I will bring you
out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will rid you
out of their bondage. I will redeem you with a stretched
out harm and with great judgments. I will take you to me for a people.
I will be to you a God. You shall know that I am the
Lord, your God, which brings you out from the burdens of the
Egyptians. It's not a function of time. It's a function of purpose.
He's sharing his purpose. So when, when was the, was the
promise fulfilled? Turn over to Isaiah chapter 48. Isaiah chapter 48 verse 12. Hearken unto me, O Jacob in Israel,
my called. I am he. I am the first. I also am the last. Mine hand
also laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has
spanned the heavens. When I called unto them, they
stand up together. Spanned the heavens. That's the span of your
hand right there. His hand spanned the heavens.
He's the Alpha and the Omega. He's the first. He's also the
last. Revelation says, God says, I
am the Alpha and the Omega. I'm the beginning and I'm the
end. Time is relative to him. He's not relative to time. I'm
the beginning, I'm the end. When Christ said to the soldiers
in the garden, I am, and he declared that eternal existence, I am,
what did the soldiers do? They fell backwards. They fell
down backwards, right? Now, why is this, this comforting
to us that the God's not relative to time, but rather time is relative
to him, that when he says, I will, he's not talking about time.
He's talking, he's revealing his purpose. I will, because
if it's God, if it's God, who's making the promise and willing
the promise and working the promise and God never changes, his will
never changes. And God is not bound by time.
And if all those things are true, and they are, shouldn't we go
through our day with a little bit more peace? Shouldn't I?
Shouldn't I go through my day with more peace? If I know those
things, God is not bound by time. God is bound only by his own
goodness. And God never changes. So when he says, I will, should
I sit fretting, waiting for it to happen? Of course not. I should go through my day with
a lot more peace. You've heard this example before.
I know my dad taped football games. I believe Cecil taped
basketball games, didn't he? Did he only watch them if Kentucky
won? Dad only watched Michigan football if Michigan won. Easy
to watch a game if you already know the outcome, right? So when
Michigan's down 40, if he already knows that they won, you're just
sitting there waiting for the comeback, as should we be, right? As should we be. Christ is the
alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. When he says, I
will, he's just revealing his purpose. It's a function of time
to us, but we know the outcome. We already know the outcome because
of God's goodness. We already know the outcome.
Time always makes me uneasy because time always changes things day
by days. Now that Facebook is a thing,
that's a reminder when those Facebook memories come up from
10 years ago, you know, my goodness, how things have changed. Time
changes things constantly, but God does not change. When God
says, I will, his purpose does not change. I can take comfort
in that. I don't need to know what the
outcome is. I know who holds the outcome.
And I know that he has promised his goodness to me. He's promised.
All things work together for good to them who love God, to
those who are called according to his purpose. He's promised.
I know the outcome. I know who holds it. I should
go through my day with a lot more peace. That gave me comfort
studying. It's his purpose. All those I wills, I will, I
will, I will, is him revealing his purpose to those children
of Israel. Not a function of time. It's
his purpose. Israel can take comfort in that
fact that when the promise was purposed, that's when it was
fulfilled. When it was purposed, that's
when it was fulfilled. It's not a function of time.
It's a function of purpose. When God purposed it, it was
fulfilled. It was done. Time can't change that because
the God who purposed it is irrelevant to time. I hope you all find
comfort in that. That point just stuck with me
for the past couple of days. And in our experience of time,
each promise will be fulfilled. I tell you when it's going to
be fulfilled in our time. It's going to be fulfilled when
it's best for us. That's when it's going to be fulfilled. Israel
was delivered when it was best for Israel will be delivered
when it's best for us. God promises that I quoted it
earlier. All things work together for
them who love God, to them who are the called according to his
purpose, according to his will. In our experience of time, it'll
happen when it's best for us. Second Peter says, but, but beloved,
be not ignorant of this one thing. One day is with the Lord is a
thousand years and a thousand years is one day. Lord is not
slack concerning his promise. As son, some men count slackness,
but he's long suffering to us word, not willing that any should
perish, but that all should come to repentance. Proverbs says a man's heart divisive
his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Lamentations says
the Lord is good under them that wait for him. the soul that seeketh
him. It's good that a man should both
hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. Does that mean they're in lamentations
that we suffer silently? Do I have to quietly wait and
just suffer silently? No, we share with each other
so that we can encourage each other with these words. I share
with you so you can tell me, Jonathan, wait on the Lord. You
could remind me. Right? You can remind me, Jonathan,
wait on the Lord. He's good. His will doesn't change. His
purpose hasn't changed, but it's good that we wait on the Lord
and see his salvation and see his power and see his goodness. Wise man once told me in the
midst of a trial, who was our pastor, actually, he told me
when I look back at the trials in my life, I don't see the trials. I see the Lord's sweetness to
me. Not always easy to see when you're
in the middle of it. But it's still true. It's true nonetheless. And we remind ourselves of that.
When we share our burdens with each other, we remind ourselves
the Lord is good, even if it doesn't feel so right now. The
Lord is good. His will doesn't change. His
goodness doesn't change. His power hasn't changed. It's
still all together in his hands. We remind ourselves of that.
And it's good for us to wait on the Lord and see his goodness
and his sweetness to us. Look back in 1 Kings 8. What is our response? 1 Kings 8. What is our response? Our response is the same as the
Israelites. Look down in verses 62 and 63. And the king and all
Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. Solomon offered
a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered unto the Lord.
22,000 oxen, 120,000 sheep. That's a sacrifice. 140,000 animals. So the king
and all the children of Israel dedicated the house of Lord.
What are the, what are the children of Israel do? What, what's their
response to the Lord fulfilling his promises? They same as our,
our response should be the same as theirs. They prayed and they
looked to the sacrifice. And I imagine when they looked
to the sacrifice, second Chronicle said that that fire came down
from heaven and devoured that sacrifice. 140,000 animals fire
came down from the, from the sky and devoured that sacrifice.
And I imagine people of Israel were amazed by the sacrifice
and amazed by the God that accepted. And that's our response to the
promises of God being fulfilled. We look and we look to the sacrifice
and we should certainly be no less amazed when we speak of
Christ and the miracle of salvation and the work that he did that
only Christ could do. We should be no less amazed than
the children of Israel watching that fire come down from heaven.
Shouldn't we stand here amazed that God would see fit to commune
with us on a Wednesday night here together
with us, through my mouth, for pity's sake. It's significantly more amazing
than 140,000 animals getting swallowed up by fire. This is
amazing that God would see fit to commune with us through Christ.
That's the response. The response is that we see the
sacrifice and we're amazed. We see the God that accepts the
sacrifice and we're thankful. And they rejoiced for eight days,
I believe it was. And then they all went back to
their cities as happy as they can be. Just as we do. Most times
when we leave here, we go back to our house in the evening.
Isn't your heart lighter? Mine often is. And we go back
rejoicing. Our response to spiritual Israel's
response to God's promises being fulfilled is the same as physical
Israel's. They're amazed by the sacrifice. They're amazed by
the God that accepted. And they go back to their house
as happy and rejoicing. The second chronicle said now,
now when Solomon had made an end of praying, this fire came
down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices
and the glory of the Lord filled the house and the priests couldn't
enter the house of the Lord because the glory of the Lord had filled
the Lord's house. When all the children of Israel saw how the
fire came down and the glory of the Lord upon the house, this
is our response. They bowed down, they bowed themselves
with their faces to the ground upon the pavement and they worshiped
and they praise the Lord saying, for he is good, his mercy endureth
forever. That was their response. And
that's our response because all the promises of God for spiritual
Israel in Christ, what does the scripture say there says there?
Yay. And amen. What was promised? He gave him
the land. He, he, he gives us a land where
we're, we're, we're meat for the land and land is meat for
us. We're made meat for the land. Land is meat for us. He gives
us the land. He freezes from bondage in Christ. He redeems us from the burden
of sin in Christ. He takes us to himself for a
people in Christ. He reveals himself as our Lord
God. He reveals himself to us in Christ. He brings us to the land and
puts us there, all in Christ. Who made the promise? God makes
the promise. It's fulfilled in Christ. When was the promise
fulfilled? It was fulfilled when the Lord
first willed it before the foundation of the world. The lamb slain
before the foundation of the world, because to will isn't
a function of time, to will is a function of purpose. He purposed
it before the foundation of the world even began. What's our response? The same
as the Israelites will pray and give thanks because in Christ,
all of God's promises are yay and amen. And we can, we can
say amen to that. I hope that's been a blessing.
Let's, let's pray before Sean comes and leaves us in the closing
song. Our holy heavenly father, I pray
that you bless your word according to your will and that you don't
leave us alone as you promised. We, we pray for your, for your
promises, that you fulfill your promises and and that the work
that you began, you don't end. Don't leave it unfinished, but
rather finish the work. Bring us all the way to you. Keep us
and hold us. We pray for our pastor and for
Janet as they travel. Pray that you bring them home
safely to us. Pray for ourselves that you hold and keep this congregation
and keep us faithful to declare your message and only your message. Don't leave us to ourselves.
And we pray this thankfully in Christ's name and for his sake.