The King's Highway

Q: What does the Bible say about the King's Highway?

The King's Highway represents Christ as the way of holiness and life, where the redeemed walk in joy and safety. The King's Highway is depicted in Isaiah 35 as the way of holiness, a path specifically for those who have been washed in the blood of Christ. It's a way that leads the believers, described as wayfaring men, to life and joy beyond this life. The unclean cannot walk this path, emphasizing the need for Christ's redemptive work in cleansing us from sin. Christ, the only holy man who ever lived, is the embodiment of this highway, guiding His people away from sin and towards holiness through His righteousness.

Q: How do we know the judgment of God is true?

The judgment of God is assured, as proclaimed in Isaiah 34, which describes the certain destruction of His enemies due to unbelief. The certainty of God's judgment is illustrated in Isaiah 34, where the prophecy details the destruction of the enemies of Christ and those who do not believe in Him. God's strong declaration that no words of His shall fail emphasizes the absolute truth of His promises, including those of judgment. Just as the Israelites faced consequences for their unbelief and disobedience, the text draws a vivid picture of the spiritual death awaiting those without faith in Christ, affirming the seriousness of God's judgments.

Q: Why is the Gospel important for Christians?

The Gospel is essential as it brings life, sustenance, and strength to believers in Christ, transforming them from spiritual death to abundant life. The Gospel holds paramount importance as it is the means through which God gives life to those who are spiritually dead. Isaiah 35 describes how God's grace creates beauty and abundance where there was once only barrenness, symbolizing the transformative power of the Gospel. Through the preaching of the Gospel, believers are regenerated, receiving strength and life that flows from Christ, the bread of life and water of life. This sustenance enables them to produce fruit in their lives and to walk in holiness, underscoring the central role of the Gospel in the life of every Christian.

Q: What does it mean to be a wayfaring man in Christ?

A wayfaring man in Christ is someone who is on a spiritual journey towards holiness and eternal joy, guided by the truths of the Gospel. In the context of Isaiah 35, a wayfaring man symbolizes a believer who is navigating the Christian faith, traveling the King's Highway towards eternal life with Christ. This journey acknowledges that all believers are pilgrims in this world, passing through and not finding ultimate satisfaction here. They are guided by the Holy Spirit and the truth of the Word, ensuring they do not err despite their old foolish nature. Their path is marked by steadfastness and the assurance that Christ, being their shepherd, will not allow them to stray away from Him or lose their salvation.

Let's look back in our Bibles
at Isaiah 35, passage Brother Wayne read for us. Chapter 34, we won't take the
time to read it, is a prophecy of destruction that's going to
come on all the enemies of Christ, those who do not believe in Him. It's much like the warning against
unbelief we're studying in the book of Hebrews, where those
children of Israel that didn't believe God. They didn't enter
into the promised land. They turned around and their
carcasses fell in the wilderness. Well, chapter 34, the Lord promises
that He'll bring judgment. He'll come in judgment and He'll
bring death to unbelievers. He'll turn their rivers into
pitch, it says. He'll turn all their land into
a wilderness that they will die in. And there's a picture here
of the Lord turning men's self-righteousness into rags. You know, they think
it looks real good and then one day the Lord's going to reveal
it for what it is. Just rags. He's going to turn what they
think is beauty into death and ugliness. And that's people who
are religious without Christ. They go along, they think they're
flourishing and fruitful. And sadly, in the end, that's
going to be turned into a barren wilderness. It's barren because
it's without God. It's without Christ. And this
destruction that the Lord promises is so complete, there's going
to be death everywhere. This is the place vultures are
going to go to hang out. See that in verse 15 of chapter
4. There shall the great owl make
her nest and lay and hatch and gather under her shadow. There
shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate. There's
enough for both of them. All of them are going to conquer.
There's going to be death everywhere. And this destruction is sure. This judgment against unbelief
is sure. He says in verse 16, seek ye
out of the book of the Lord and read. No one of these shall fail. It's sure. This judgment is sure. That's chapter 34. That's enough
about that. Chapter 35 is what we want to
look at. This is a prophecy of what's
coming to those who believe in Christ, those who are in Christ,
that find all their hope of salvation in Him. And I know it has some
historical significance that the Jews at that time would be
delivered out of wherever it is they happened to be in captivity
at the time. They'll return to Zion. But the real message here
is the prophecy of what's coming for those who believe in Christ.
So he begins in verse one, the wilderness and the solitary place
should be glad for them. The desert shall rejoice and
bloom as the rose that shall blossom abundantly. and rejoice
even with joy in singing, the glory of Lebanon shall be given
unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the
glory of the Lord and the excellency of our God. Now we know all men
are born spiritually dead. That's one of the three R's of
the gospel, ruined by the fall. We're born dead. We're a wilderness
where there's no water, there's no life, there's no fruit, there's
no goodness. There's nothing there that's
alive. There's nothing there that can
sustain life. But then God's grace and God's mercy comes on
the scene. God's Spirit moves and He gives
life. And those blossoms bloom like
the rose, like a beautiful rose. The blossoms of God's grace are
beautiful. I don't think He used the rose
there on accident. The beauty of that rose is a
picture of the beauty of the blossoms of God's grace. And
they bloom abundantly, it says. God doesn't just give those sparks
of life here and there. It's abundant life. It's rich
and full. That's the kind of life that
God gives. And on fruit trees, those blossoms that you see come
out in the spring turn into fruit eventually. And that's the way
of belief for you. God moves in grace and gives
life. You see those blossoms start to bloom. For long, there's
fruit. The fruit of the Spirit's there.
Now, how'd that happen? In the midst of this wilderness?
How on earth did that happen? Through the preaching of the
Gospel. Through what we're doing right now. Look over in John
15. John 15, verse 16. Our Lord is speaking to His disciples.
And He tells them, you've not chosen Me, but I have chosen
you. and ordains you that you should
go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain,
that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he'll
give it to you. It's going to come through them
going out. He has ordained them. They'll go out and preach the
gospel, and it's going to bear fruit. The gospel always brings
forth fruit. When Christ appears, there's
fruit in the desert, because now there's life. Where there
used to be nothing but death and sadness, Now there's rejoicing
and singing the praises of our God. He says the glory of Lebanon
shall be given unto it, unto God's people the glory of Lebanon.
Now Lebanon is known for the tall, stately, beautiful cedar
trees that grew there. God's people in scripture are
called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. And
the Lord plants his trees. He causes them to grow. He can
cause them to live long enough that they grow into a tall, stately
tree. It has roots down deep in Christ. Those trees that are an example
to the little trees, they are strong in Christ because they've
got roots down in Him. And those beautiful trees grow
out of a dry, parched ground. What used to be dry, parched
ground, ground now that the Lord makes good. He makes it good
by watering it with the water of life, with Christ. So he gives
them the glory of Lebanon and he gives them the excellency
of Carmel and Sharon. Now the lands of areas of Carmel
and Sharon were known for their lush rich pastures, green pastures
that they had. And that's where you find God's
sheep in Carmel and Sharon. God's sheep don't have to hunt
for a little bit of food here and there. They don't have to
look for a sprig of grass growing up amongst the rocks in the mountain
like a billy goat does. That's where mountain goats go.
God's sheep are in the pastures, the green pastures of His Word. That's what this carmel and sand,
the green pastures of God's Word. And He says that His people are
going to see the glory and the excellency of the Lord. God's
going to give His people eyes to see. And when He gives them
eyes, He'll reveal Himself to them, and they'll see Him. We
see the glory of God's grace, don't we? God's people do. We
see the excellency of our God. When we see Christ, we know,
I know, there is no other Savior I want other than Him. He's all
I want. There's no other righteousness
to claim except the spotless robe of Christ's righteousness
He imputes to His people. There's no other gospel to preach
other than the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. John asked
me to preach tonight, and he's planning on being in Mexico,
and I didn't know what text I was going to preach, but I knew what
I was going to preach. I knew who I was going to preach, because
there's no other gospel to preach than the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. If you know it, you know that's
true. There's no other God to worship
other than the God of this book. And you know that's true if you've
seen the glory and the excellency of the Lord. And he reveals that
to his people. He promises he will. So he says
in verse 3, strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble
knees. Now again, we know we're born
dead. And that means we don't have
any strength. We don't have the strength to stand before God.
We're dead. We don't have the strength to
lift our hands or do anything that could please God because
we're dead. That's the way we're born. But the Gospel comes. Christ reveals Himself to His
people. The Spirit takes up abode in the hearts of His people.
And He tells us where strength is to be found. It's in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You can imagine someone you've
seen in the movies and things. Someone who's been out in the
desert for days and days and days without supplies. You know,
and they're crawling along and they're panting and they're wanting
something to drink. They're weak from hunger. They
haven't had anything to eat. They're weak from thirst. There's
nothing out there for them to drink. They're weak from that
heat just feeding down on them. And that's the way we're born.
We're born dead, but we're weak from lack of anything to eat.
We're dying from thirst because we haven't had anything to drink.
The heat of God's wrath against our sin is coming on us and putting
us away. But then in mercy, Christ comes. And He's the bread of life. He's
all we'll ever need to eat to strengthen us. He's the water
of life that refreshes us. He comes and out of your belly
will flow rivers of living water. You don't want more water anymore.
Christ comes and He takes. He took on Calvary's tree all
the wrath that God has against our sin. He shades us. He gives
us a shady spot to dwell in. See, that's how we live. It's
in and by and through and because of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
our life. He's our strength. He's our everything.
And even as believers, after the Lord regenerates us, We need
to be strengthened, don't we? Babes need to be fed so they
can be strengthened in grace. And all of us, we need to be
fed daily. Physically, if you didn't eat
for long, you have the strength to do anything. Well, as believers,
we need spiritual food daily so that we'll have the strength
to walk in this life as we should so we can walk in a way that's
pleasing to our Father. So all that being true, Isaiah
says, Tell those that are burdened down under sin. They've been
trying to carry this burden so long they've become weak. Tell
them to look to Christ. That's where your strength's
found. Look to Him. Look over Psalm 27. Psalm 27. David says, The Lord is my light
and my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The Lord is
the strength of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid? You
find your strength in Him. Look over at Psalm 118. Psalm 118, verse 13. Thou hast
thrust sword in me that I might fall. But the Lord helped me.
The Lord, why didn't I fall when the evil thrust at me? Well,
verse 14 says, the Lord is my strength and my song. He's become
my salvation. So look to Him. You'll find all
the strength you ever need in Him. He's the eternal rock of
ages. What more strength do you want? Verse 4, he goes on. He says, say to them, they're
of a fearful heart. Be strong and fear not. Behold,
your God will come with vengeance. Even God with a recompense. He
will come and save you. Even believers, if we're honest
with ourselves, we have a fearful heart sometimes, don't we? The word fearful here means hasty. What he's saying here is tell
those that are too quick to give up and say all is lost, don't
be hasty. God's coming. My family, to my
embarrassment, will tell you this is true. I can be watching
the Kentucky basketball game and I get nervous, you know.
And they get down by about 10 points in the second half. I
said, well, that's it. It's over now. Well, don't be like me. Don't have a hasty heart now.
I mean, you can have that about Kentucky because they're known
to lose, you know, every so often. But don't ever say that when
Christ is your captain. Don't ever say that. He'll never
fail. I had in my notes that all is
never lost. And I changed that this evening
when I was going over them. Nothing is ever lost. Christ is the captain. Nothing
is. He'll not lose one. So say to
those who are ready to doubt and ready to admit defeat, now
be strong. Don't fear. You be strong in the Lord. We've
got a lot to fear if we're depending on our own strength, but be strong
in the Lord. Therefore, David said, I don't
have anything to fear. Don't fear because the Lord's
on our side. To be afraid and be ready to
admit defeat is to doubt our Lord. So don't doubt Him. The
battle's not yours, but God's. Rest in Him. Everything is well
in hand. He's taken it to His hand. It's well in hand. He'll win
the battle, and He will, without a doubt, come. He'll come in
judgment against His enemies. And for His people, He'll come
in mercy. He'll save His people from their
sins. And ultimately, He'll come and
gather us to Himself and take us home. There's no doubt about
it, so don't fear. Don't get too hasty. And I know
at times the situation looks awful grim. And those times where
it's dark and things look bad. What we have a tendency to do
in human nature is to look in ourselves. And we see no goodness. We see no soundness. I look at
myself and I see absolutely no reason to expect mercy. Well, you're right. That's true.
The problem is we're looking in the wrong place. The reasons
for mercy aren't found in ourselves. The reasons for mercy are found
in God's character. That He's merciful. Look to Him. And no matter how dire the situation
is, He will come. And He will save His people.
He will deliver His people. Never doubt God's mercy and God's
promises. So, verse 5, He says, Then the
eyes of the blind shall be opened. And the ears of the deaf shall
be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap
as in heart, and the tongue of the dumb sing." Now you know
very well these prophecies were fulfilled in men's bodies when
Christ came to this earth. We won't take the time to look
at them all. You know the stories very well.
How the Lord opened the eyes of that man that was born blind.
He didn't have an accident and lose an eye. He was born blind
and the Lord opened his eyes. You know the story about how
the Lord unstopped the ears of that deaf man, and he heard sound
for the first time. You know stories that when the
Lord healed a lame person, and He healed them so completely,
they didn't slowly learn to walk and kind of stagger around on
weak legs like a colt does when it's born. The Lord healed them. They got up off that bed and
leaped for joy. They were healed, given strength. Those who are possessed by demons
and couldn't speak, the Lord loosed their tongue and they
spoke fluently. And that didn't just happen.
You adapt here and adapt there and adapt there. Many times. I do want us to look over Matthew
15. This didn't happen just here
and there now. In Matthew 15, verse 30. And great multitudes came unto
him, having with them those that were lame, blind, dumb, maimed,
and many others, and cast them down at Jesus' feet. And he healed
them, insomuch as the multitude wondered when they saw the dumb
to speak, the maimed to behold, the lame to walk, and the blind
to see. And they glorified the God of Israel." Now, where did
that happen? Great multitudes. Never talk
about God's mercy. in small quantities. He's rich
in mercy. It's abundant mercy. These blossoms
are going to blossom abundantly. It's rich mercy. It's rich, full
life. And all these miracles of physical
healing that our Lord performed are pictures of spiritual healing
that God's elect have in Christ. We know we're born dead. Completely
dead. But God gives life to His people. The new man that's born has life. And we're born blind. We can't
see anything spiritual at all. But that new man has eyes that
see. And they see with 20-20 vision. They're not eyes that
have to adjust to the light or eyes that need glasses to correct
their vision. They see perfectly. They can look. Those new eyes
can look into the face of the Lord Jesus Christ and see God's
glory in Him. That's eyes to see. We're born
deaf. We can't hear or understand any
spiritual truth. Before the Lord gives life, before
He gives ears to hear, we think, what on earth are they talking
about? But the new man, he's got ears
to hear. And he can hear and understand
the voice of Christ in his Word. That's what he hears. We're born
dead. Laying on both feet just like
Lefebvre said. Mephibosheth became lame in the fall, and so did
we in the fall of Adam. But the new man, he's complete. He's got all his arms, all his
legs, all his fingers. Yeah, we've got a couple of expectant
mothers. And you parents know this. When a child's born, what's
the first thing you do? Start counting. Counting ears,
counting eyes, counting arms and legs and fingers and toes.
And all the appropriate numbers there. You're happy. The baby's
complete. Well, that new man is complete. And he doesn't just have legs
that might limp along following the Lord. He leaps for joy at
the mercy of God, at the salvation that we have in Christ. We're
born dead with a tongue that can't make any good sound. The
sound it makes is ugly. That new man has a tongue and
he's got a story to tell. And he can tell it fluently.
The story of salvation to a substitute. That new man's got a tongue that
can talk to the Father, that can cry, Abba, Father, and be
heard before the throne of God. And you know, that tongue doesn't
stop at just talking. It sings. It sings the song of
the redeemed. And it sings it in perfect harmony
and perfect pitch. That's the tongue that God gives
His people. So, verse 6, there at the end
of the verse, for in the wilderness waters or shall waters break
out in streams in the desert, and the parched ground shall
become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water, and the
habitation of dragons where each lay shall be grass with reeds
and rushes." Now the Gentiles for thousands of years, the people
we all come from, Gentiles, were without the gospel. Thousands
of years of dry, barren wilderness because there was no gospel.
There was no Christ there. Then, in his providence, the
Lord unleashed the floodgates, and the gospel flowed out to
the Gentiles. That water of life just went
out spreading across that dry desert, and multitudes have been
converted. And individually, each one of
us individually are born, just like the Sahara Desert, just
dry and dead. There's no life inside. But God
moves in grace. He sends showers of blessing
from His Word. And streams start flowing out
across what used to be desert. Rivers of living water, like
I said a minute ago, fly out of your belly. And where there
used to be nothing but barren, dead, dry, ugly, now there's
life and blessing. Now we're refreshed by Christ
and we come to drink deeply of Him. We're not crawling through
the desert begging for water, crying for water, seeing mirages
somewhere anymore. You've got water flowing from
inside the fountain of water. And once water comes across that
desert of our dead soul, we start to blossom. We watch on the Discovery
Channel and educational TV and so forth about the African savannah,
how all the animals are there. Then comes the dry season, the
time of drought, and everything dries up and you think, man,
it's dead. All the animals, you know, Just
conserving every little bit of energy they have so there's nothing
there to eat. Then the rainy season starts to come. And overnight,
things start greening up. That's the way God's people are.
When He sends the water of life, we start to green up instantly.
Blossom like the rose. And that place that used to be
the habitation of dragons, that place that used to be where the
monster lived, now it's different. People who believe in total depravity
will tell you, I don't just have a monster running around inside
me. I am a monster. That's the way I was born. A
monster. And the place that that monster
used to live, the place that the devil, his abode, now, that's
changed. It's a place that's full of green
grass and rushes. The place where God's people
can lie down to feed. And all that happened because
of God's grace. the presence of Christ in living
water. So verse 8, and this is the verse that really caught
my attention, where I really wanted to get to. And a highway
shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called the way of
holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be
for those, the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. Now this highway he's talking
about here is the King's Highway. This is Christ, the way of life. I want to read you what John
Gill said about this. It's so good. He says, this is
the way that's common to all of Christ's subjects, both high
and low, rich and poor, stronger or weaker believers all walk
in this way. It's an old, beaten path. How
many times did Brother Henry tell us, don't leave the old
path. Don't leave those old paths that have been trodden on by
believers for centuries. It's an old path. beaten path
which saints in all ages from the beginning of the world have
walked in. It's a good old way, the more excellent, the most
excellent one. All obstructions and impediments
are removed. No one is to be stopped or molested
in this way. In all limit, shall come safe
to their journey's end." That's the King Kai way. Now there's
not two ways, there's not three ways, there's one way. The King's
Highway. Just one word. And it's a plain
way. It's easy to find if you're looking
for it. It really is. It's a narrow way. It's only
Christ. It's only room for Him to follow
Him. But it is made plain in the Gospel. It's plain if you've got eyes
to see. It really is. It's simple. This way is raised
above the mire of sin. It's easy to see if you're looking
up, isn't it? There it is. It's the way that
leads us away from sin and leads us to holiness. Now, what other
way can this be but the Lord Jesus Christ? The only holy man
to ever live. And if sinners like you and me
are to be made holy, it's going to be in Him, in the Beloved.
Because we're born unholy, aren't we? Unclean. But Christ reaches
way down, like Mike sang, grabs hold of His people. He washes
us in His blood. Cleanses us from all of our sin
and iniquity. And He sets our feet on the path
of righteousness. And He leads us in those paths
of righteousness for His namesake. Calls us to live a holy life.
It's the way of holiness. And the unclean should not pass
over this way. This way is not for the unclean.
It's for the clean. It's for those who have been
washed in the blood of Christ. Those who claim His blood and
His righteousness alone. The unclean cannot come up and
defile this way. And they can't come up on this
way and disturb your rest. Can't do it. And I thought as
I was studying, why would the unclean want to come up on this
way anyway? There's nothing there for them. There's nothing there
that interests them. There's nothing there that can grab their
attention. for the washed, for those who
are in Christ. And he gives us a description
of those who are in this way. He says they're wayfaring men.
They're traveling men. Pilgrims and strangers are just
passing through, looking for a better country. There's nothing
here for us. We're on a journey, just like
pilgrims, wayfaring men. And he says they're fools. Now
we are born fools. Fools, by nature, just ugh. But not anymore. You can't say
that about God's people anymore. If you care to, you can look
over when you get home at Psalm 14, verse 1. Here's Scripture's
definition of the fool. The fool has said in his heart,
there is no God. That's the fool. That's the way
we're born, but that's not the way you are anymore. Not only
do you know there is a God, you love Him. You're here tonight
to worship Him, to hear more about Him. He's your God. You're
not a fool anymore. God doesn't leave His children
fools. But we do still carry around that foolish nature, don't
we? It's dead and it's foolish. But
that old man will not cause you to err. He will not cause you
to lose your salvation and to leave Christ. Now we may be foolish
and not be able to understand some earthly things, math or
science or whatever. And I may be foolish and compared
to others spiritually not be able to understand some things
others understand. But no believer will err. No child of God will ever make
a mistake that will make you lose your soul. Christ has already
covered those sins. And He won't let you go off into
another way. He won't let you leave the way
of salvation in Christ, and you don't want to. No believer will
ever, once God has put you in the king's highway, you'll never
leave it for that broadway that leads to destruction. You won't
do it. That's not your new nature. I'll quote John Gill again. He
says, the way of salvation by Christ is so plain that he who
has any spiritual understanding of it should not err in it. And
the reason that we won't err in it is because Christ is the
way. If your Bible's like mine, there's
a little number seven by the phrase, but it shall be for those.
And that can also be translated, for he shall be with them. Not
only is he the way, Christ is the good shepherd who leads his
sheep in the way. That's why we won't err in it.
We're not infallible. You know, you can't say, well,
we'll never make a mistake. In this flesh, we're never going
to be infallible. You know better than that. We
never will be. We never will know everything.
But God's people are led. Now, we're being led by the Spirit
of truth. And the Spirit of truth will
not lead you to a lie. He leads you to truth. To Christ,
who is the truth. And we won't always be able to
explain the lie. You won't always be able to explain
a false gospel when you hear it. Maybe you pick out every
little thing about it that is wrong, that makes it false. But
you'll know it when you hear it. The sheep will know it because
they're not being edified. They're not being fed. There's
nothing there for them. And they'll know the truth when they hear
it too. Because they're being led by the Spirit of truth. And
God's sheep, His people, will not err in this matter of salvation. They'll never leave Christ and
Him crucified. So verse 9, He says, no lion
shall be there nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It
shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there."
Now Satan, the roaring lion, he can't come on this way. Now
you're still going to hear his roars. He's going to go about
roaring, seeking whom he may devour. But Satan and none of
his minions can come on the king's highway and get you. They can't
cause any harm to you. You might be able to get your
body. The Lord, just like Job, might let him touch your body,
but he'll never let him touch you. He won't do it. That's his promise. And here's
another description of the people in this way, in the King's highway.
They're the redeemed. They're those who've been redeemed
by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. They've had their sin
debt paid by his blood. They've been bought back from
the curse of the law and they've been set free. free from the
bondage to sin, free from bondage to the law, and now they freely,
joyfully walk in Christ. And we walk free from worry and
doubt. In verse 10, And the ransom of the Lord shall return, and
come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their head. They shall
obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and signs shall flee away. Now, believers, who are in the
king's highway. They're no different by nature
than any other son of Adam. We're sinful, wretched, born
enemies of God. So what are they doing on the
king's highway? What is the king doing letting
these people in his highway? Well, they've been ransomed.
Here's another description. They've been redeemed and they've
been ransomed. They've been ransomed by the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Father said, deliver them
from going down to the pit. I found a ransom. And He gave
commandment to take hold of them. He gave commandment to wash them
in the blood of His Son. He made commandment to quicken
them, to give them life, and to set their feet in His highway. In Christ, the way of life. Those
who are ransomed by the blood of Christ, they return. In Israel,
they did return to Zion. But we've got something a whole
lot better than that. We return to God, to the Father. In Adam,
we lost the way to the Father. But in Christ, in the ransoms,
we return to God in the beloved. And when we come, we come with
psalms of joy and worship and thanksgiving. And it's everlasting
joy. See, in Israel, when they returned
back to Zion, it wasn't everlasting because they sinned. They were
carried off into slavery somewhere else sometime, but not God's
people. It's everlasting joy. We sing
songs thanking God for His electing grace. The Father who chose us.
We sing songs of praise for the sin-atoning blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We give thanks for that perfect
righteousness of Christ that He gives His people. It makes
us stand as holy and righteous as God's Son Himself. Standing
before the presence of the Father. We give thanks for the effectual
life-giving call was built. We know what the Lord told His
disciples is true. You didn't choose me. I chose
you. I made you come to me. And people
in this way, in Christ, they shall obtain joy and gladness. And this is joy and gladness
that can never be taken away. It's everlasting. Men didn't
give it to you, and men can't take it away from you. God gave
it. And there's no doubt about it.
They shall obtain joy and gladness. Believers are not a depressed,
down-to-mouth people all the time. We have a gospel of glad
tidings, of good things. And circumstances are going to
come along and cast us down sometimes. They will. We're cast down, Paul
said, not destroyed. We will be cast down, but the
gospel will lift us up. God will not leave his people
cast down. He'll lift them up with his gospel.
And at the end of this highway, one day, we'll have perfect,
uninterrupted joy and gladness. Then, and only then, will sorrow
and sighing flee away and be gone. The redeemed, the ransomed,
these wayfaring men They will have sorrow in this life. We
just will. Sin causes sorrow. Just grief
and sorrow. But at the end of the highway,
when we're eternally with Christ, there can't be any more sorrow. Sin will be gone. Unbelief will
be gone. Temptations, sickness will be
gone. All those things that cause sorrow
are gone in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there
will be no more signs. I sigh a lot. Maybe it's a bad habit I get
into. If you ever just go through your day, you're just tired of
it. I mean, just tired of it. For years, I've worked with a
checklist. I like my checklist. At the end of my day, I feel
so productive. Look at all the things I've checked off. And,
you know, it's always at the end of my day, you know, I used
to do it on paper. Now I do it on the computer.
And when you do it on the computer, at the end of the day, I mean,
you've added a thousand. Because if you didn't check it
off, you just move it to tomorrow. At the end of the day, they're
all checked off. And I go through my day, I'm checking them off,
you know. And there's always something else. And I find when
I check one off, I sign on to the next thing. One day, the
sign is going to flee away. The checklist is complete. Christ
has completed everything. Nothing moved to tomorrow. It's
complete in Him. And sorrow and signs must flee
away in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ. When the sun comes
up in the morning, darkness must flee away. Darkness cannot stand
in the presence of the sun that God hung in His sky. He gave
the sun to rule over the day. It rules over the darkness and
drives it away. When we're in the presence of
Christ, sorrow and sin will flee away. It can't stand, it can't
be in the presence of our Lord. That's the King's highway, and
we hope that's been a blessing to you. Mike, you come lead us
in a song.

The King's Highway

What does the Bible say about the King's Highway?

How do we know the judgment of God is true?

Why is the Gospel important for Christians?

What does it mean to be a wayfaring man in Christ?

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The King's Highway

What does the Bible say about the King's Highway?

How do we know the judgment of God is true?

Why is the Gospel important for Christians?

What does it mean to be a wayfaring man in Christ?

Sermon Transcript

About Frank Tate

Comments

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