Well, we've finished Hebrews,
which we started, I think it was the first Sunday of March
that we started, so it's been a long series, but... then it
leaves the preacher at the end of a series with a dilemma, how
to follow that, what to do next. Well, I'm sure we'll embark,
God willing, on another series at some time soon, but for now,
I think we'll have some weeks with a few one-off sermons. We were thinking towards the
end of Hebrews, chapter 12 particularly, about running the race that is
set before us, the journey of life, the course of life. And
it's a journey that God has set before each one of us. The journey
of life that you are on is the journey that God has set. And
it's a race of life which you would say, well, surely everything's
going to be absolutely wonderful. It's going to be a bed of roses,
isn't it? But no, the word of God is clear. It isn't. It's
beset with trials, with afflictions. The people of God in this world
are beset on every side with trials and afflictions. For some,
it's incredibly sharp. Some now, dear to us, are going
through severe trials of health. It's a severe trial. But you
know, at the other end of the spectrum, all of us, if we don't
feel any physical opposition from this world, we're in conflict
with the world. Because if you're a child of
God, as Paul says, we have the mind of Christ. And the mind
of Christ is completely at odds with the thinking of this world.
Jesus said, if they've hated me, they'll hate you too. We're
in conflict with this world. We're in conflict with the flesh
because even in our own bodies, there dwells the spirit of God
by regeneration in flesh, which is the product of Adam's fall.
And the flesh and the spirit are at war with one another.
They're in conflict. So where do we look? when we
seek comfort and assurance and soothing and balm from God. Well,
the Psalms, of course, resonate with comfort for believers, for
hard-pressed believers. The Psalms encourage us when
we're in a low state. The Psalms feed our faith, and
it's that faith which is fed with manna from heaven from God.
And this Psalm in particular has always been particularly
resonant with me. I won't embarrass him by mentioning
his name, but the birth of one of our children was beset with
great danger. At the time, the medical assessment
was that it was going to be an incredibly difficult birth. And then, in those days, they
didn't do cesarean sections with the keenness that they seem to
do than these days. And so we had a very good obstetrician,
is that what you call him? I think it is, isn't it? Yes.
We had a very good obstetrician and everything was in place for
this to go ahead, but he said, this is going to be very, very
difficult. And we put verse seven on a card in the bedside, in
the delivery room. Some trust in chariots and some
in horses, the things of this world, but we, will remember
the name of the Lord our God. We did it to state what we trusted
in, even then, all those years ago, but also as a testimony
to the nurses and others that were around, that however good
they were at that time, And they were pretty good at that time,
but nevertheless, our trust was in the living God. So this psalm's
always been a great source of comfort to me in many situations. And it is a prayer. It is a prayer
superficially, and when I say superficially, I don't mean trivially
or lightheartedly, I just mean just at its first appearance,
at the first level, the superficial comfort here for afflicted saints. You say, for saints? Are you
only talking about saints? Yes, let me be clear, if you
don't know this, everyone who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ,
everyone who knows by faith that they are saved by the blood of
the Lamb is a saint. A saint isn't somebody made or
declared to be such by some bishop in Rome, nothing of the sort.
The saints of God are those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. So there's superficial comfort
here for afflicted saints, and it's a prayer for Almighty God
to be on the side of His redeemed people in their worldly trials. The Lord hear thee in the day
of trouble. The name of the God of Jacob
defend thee. It's a prayer for God to be,
almighty God, to be on the side of his redeemed people in our
worldly trials. We have comfort from other scriptures.
If God has not spared his only son, it says in Romans 8, if
he's not spared his only son but delivered him up for us all,
his well-beloved son, his precious darling son, if God has not spared
his only son but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with him freely give us all things? How shall he not do that? The
God of the universe, the God who is almighty God over all
things, the God of his people. He declares, I will be their
God and they shall be my people. That God is for his people. And
how shall he not with Christ freely give us all things? How shall he not send the needed
help? In verse two, send thee help
from the sanctuary and strengthen thee out of Zion. How shall he
not do that? For he is almighty God, who loves
his people, who has an eternal purpose of grace and comfort
and bliss and glory for his people. How shall he not accomplish it
and send the needed help? For he is almighty God. And who
can stop him? And who can stay his hand? And
who can contradict him? May God remember his purpose
of grace in salvation, which he must accomplish from his heavenly
throne. He determined it before time
began. He determined it before there
ever was a creation. He determined it then, so how
can he not, the unchangeable God, how can he not accomplish
it completely? Look at verse seven and eight
again. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will
remember the name of the Lord our God. They're brought down
and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright. Let us, believers,
not be like the world. Let us not trust in the world,
but let us trust in our God. Jeremiah 17 says this in verse
five. Thus saith the Lord, this is
Jeremiah 17 and verse 5. Thus saith the Lord, cursed be
the man that trusteth in man, chariots and horses, and maketh
flesh his arm. gets his strength from the things
of this flesh and of this world, and whose heart departeth from
the Lord. For he shall be like the heath
in the desert, and shall not see when the good cometh, but
shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt
land not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusts
in the Lord. By contrast, cursed is the man
that trusts in the things of this world, but blessed is the
man that trusts in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For
he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth
out her roots by the river, and shall not see when the heat cometh,
but her leaf shall be green, and shall not be careful, not
be worried in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding
fruit. No, we trust in God. The people
of God trust in God. It's a cry in verse nine, save
Lord, save Lord. asking that the Lord will accomplish
his purpose. What is his purpose? Again, Jeremiah,
Jeremiah 29, and off-quoted verses, verse 11. It's in the context
of the promise to bring the scattered people back from their captivity
in Babylon. But of course, we interpret all
of these prophecies concerning Old Testament Israel in the light
or through the lens of God's accomplishing his purposes for
his people, the church. And so in verse 11, God says
to his people, God says to us, if we believe him, I know the
thoughts that I think toward you. The God of heaven, the creator,
The omnipotent sovereign of the universe says this to you and
me if we're his people. He says, I know the thoughts
that I think toward you. What, me? Little me? Insignificant
non-entity me? The God of the universe thinks
of you, child of God. He says it. I know the thoughts
that I think toward you, saith the Lord. What thoughts? Thoughts
of peace. You a sinner. Him a holy God
who cannot look upon evil. He's a purer eyes than to behold
it. But he thinks thoughts of peace, and not of evil. It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God, for our God is a consuming
fire. He is angry with the wicked every
day. Yet this Lord God says to you, child of God, if you believe
him, I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts
of peace and not of evil, look, to give you an expected end. To give you an expected end.
You shall call upon me, you shall seek me, you shall find me, and
I will be found of you, says God. an expected end. What's
the expected end that he promises? It's heavenly glory. At the end
of this course of life, of this race that is set before us by
our God, looking unto Jesus, at the end of it, is the celestial
city of Pilgrim's Progress. John Bunyan described the very
same concept in his book, The Pilgrim's Progress. And the goal
at the end of the pilgrim's life, the child of God's life, is the
celestial city, the expected end. I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, says the God of heaven, the sovereign,
almighty God of the universe, to each and every one of you
sinful, people, yet sinful people who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ to give you an expected end, and that expected end is
heavenly glory. But it begs the question, it
begs the question, how is that expected end to be accomplished? And the answer to that is twofold. How is that expected end of you
and me, sinners, believing in Christ, being in that heavenly
glory, an expected end? The answer is this. Number one,
by the success of Christ's mission of salvation. That's number one. The success of Christ's mission
of salvation. And number two, the eternal union
of his people with him, that we were placed in him, in union
with him, betrothed to him before the beginning of time. If he
is successful, then all who are in union with him will be successful
in attaining that goal of heavenly glory. What is that success? Let me remind you. He says, Jesus
says, our God, our God-man says, behold I and the children whom
God has given me. Behold I and the children, the
body, his church, his people, his bride. Behold us together,
lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting
doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King
of glory? The Lord of hosts, the hosts of his people, I and
the children that God has given me. He said, he prayed in his
high priestly prayer. Not that we be taken out of this
world until our course is finished, but this is his prayer in John
17, that his people, all of them, that they might be with me, he
said, where I am. That they might be with me where
I am and that they might behold my glory. Do you have that hope? Do I have that hope? That the
time will come when In God's good pleasure, I will lay down
this robe of flesh and be with him where he is and behold his
glory. And listen. Listen, there are
young and there are old listening to this, and as the weeks go
by and people download the sermon, there might be many, many more.
Don't think that this is just good when the end of this life
race is coming into view, even if we think we know when it's
coming into view, which we don't, of course. This is good for the
whole of life, for the whole of the race that is set before
us. This prospect, this heavenly prospect, that we might be with
him and behold his glory. So, having said that there is
a superficial or lying-on-the-surface message of comfort for afflicted
saints, the afflicted people of God in this world, This prayer,
this Psalm 20, is really the church's prayer for the success
of our Lord Jesus Christ, for the success of our Messiah. Because we attain glory if he
is successful in his mission of salvation. And we attain glory
if we are united with him from before the beginning of time
in his mission to accomplish salvation. Verse one, the Lord. Notice how there the Lord is
in capital, small capital letters, the Lord. This is the Almighty
God. Almighty God. This is a prayer
of the church saying the Lord, Almighty God, the one who is
above all things in this universe, the one in heavenly majesty,
the one who sits on the throne of the universe, ruling all things,
controlling all things, causing all things to work together for
good, for the good of his people whom he loved from before the
beginning of time. May he hear thee. Who is thee? May the Lord in heaven hear thee. This is God incarnate. This is
God incarnate. You say, how can that be? Psalm
110 verse one. Psalm 110 verse 1 says this,
the Lord, capital letters, said unto my Lord, lowercase letters,
this is the Lord Almighty says to the Christ, God manifest as
a man, hear thee, hear thee, God incarnate, our God, when
he becomes a man. May he hear thee when you come
on your earthly mission as a man. May God in heaven, this is the
church praying for our Messiah, for our Lord Jesus Christ. May
God in heaven, your heavenly Father who dwells in unapproachable
light, may he hear thee when you come to this earth on your
mission of salvation in a body, you in whom bodily dwells the
fullness of the Godhead. Mystery, I know, I know, cannot
explain it. Beyond our comprehension in this
life, in this body, and how much we'll understand when we're in
eternity, I do not know. But it's clear in scripture,
the Lord said unto my Lord, this is what we pray, that God in
heaven will hear thee in the day of trouble. that the man
Christ Jesus, our sinless savior, who was made for a little while,
as Hebrews 2 tells us, made a little lower, made for a little while,
lower than the angels, in humility, he laid aside his glory, says
Philippians 2. He laid it aside. He thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, for he was God. Yet he laid
that glory aside. Why? That he might be obedient. Obedient? obedient unto death. Why death? Because only in the
death of the cross and the shed blood of the God-man is the salvation
of his people accomplished. There's one God, one God. Hear,
O Israel, the Lord your God is one God. There are not multiple
gods, there is only one God. Yet that one God is manifested
in three persons, the Trinity. And those three persons of the
Trinity, God is one, they covenanted together to justly save a multitude
that no man can number from the curse of sin. The Father, in
loving, electing grace, chose that multitude. and united them
with the Son who agreed, who covenanted to become a man to
pay salvation's price. to pay the price of saving them
from their sins. To do that, justice had to be
satisfied. Offended divine justice had to
be satisfied. There's only one thing that would
satisfy it, and that's life. He had to give his life, and
his life is in the blood. And so, again, I'll quote it
again, I've quoted it several times in recent weeks, Acts 20
verse 28, Paul to the elders of the Ephesus
church. On that beat it says, look after the church of God,
which God purchased with his own blood. How could God purchase
a church with his own blood? God is a spirit. How could he
do that? He became a man. He became a
man. The same flesh, in likeness of
sinful flesh, yet without sin, he became a man and he accomplished
that salvation. And the Spirit, covenanted, the
Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, that Spirit, that life-giving
force, that quickening force, the Spirit of God, that person
who is the quickening force of God, undertook to regenerate
all in time. When we were children of wrath,
even as others, He made us awake. When we were dwelling in darkness
and had seen no light, He shined the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. into our dark
and sinful hearts and showed us the truth of God. All together,
God covenanting to accomplish the redemption of his church,
of his body. What is the day of trouble then?
As Christ comes off on his mission, the church prays, God in heaven,
hear you, Christ, in the day of trouble. What is the day of
trouble? Well, in a sense, it's the entire earthly life. of our
Lord Jesus Christ, from his conception in the womb of Mary by the Holy
Ghost until his ascension back to glory. The day of trouble,
this existence in this world of the man who is God, the man
in whom dwells bodily, the fullness of the Godhead, the one who is
sinless in a sinful world, a world full of sinners. Can you imagine
Can you get any idea of how that would be a day of trouble to
this one? How that would be a day of...
He is sinless. He is a purer eyes than to behold
iniquity. He cannot look upon sin and yet
he lived with it for 33 years. He lived with it in the house
he grew up in, the people he dwelt amongst, the religious
folks all around, the Roman salt. Sin all around him who cannot
abide to look upon sin. And yet he ate with sinners. Republicans and sinners, they
accused him. He eats with publicans and sinners. He accepts sinners. Oh, what
a blessed thing that the eternal God accepts sinners. He experienced
a day of trouble because this world, it says, they hated me
without a cause. They hated him. There was nothing
in him that would cause this world to hate him. He healed
the sick. He fed the 5,000 and the 4,000.
He did work miracle after miracle. He spoke words that no man ever
spake like this man. And yet this world hated him
without a cause. And we see it as children of
God today. I told you about that men's discussion
group and they invited me to join them and I said, well, I
just want to warn you about this, that every time you ask me one
of your debating questions, the answer I will give will always
be, driven, directed by the word of God and the truth of God.
And they said, these lovely, wise old men of our community,
they said, we don't want you to join us because we don't want
it. Hated without a cause, despised, it says. He was despised, it
says in Isaiah 53, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, despised
and rejected of men, the day of trouble. And it culminated,
that day of trouble, that 33 years, that day of trouble, it
culminated in him, the sinless one. Which of you convicts me
of sin, he said. Not one, none of them, nobody
could convince him of sin. but yet it culminated in him,
the sinless one, being made sin. You don't even have to turn a
page. Look at Psalm 22 and verse one. These are the words, prophetically,
of Christ on the cross of Calvary, a thousand years before he was
there, crying out, the man in whom the fullness of the Godhead
dwelt bodily, and he cried out, my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? It was recorded when he died.
You can look up Matthew 27 verse 46. That's what he said. My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And this was said a thousand
years before he was on that cross. Why art thou so far from helping
me and from the words of my roaring? Oh my God, I cry. Why, why, why? Because he was made sin for his
people. To save his people from their
sins, he bore their sins in his own body on the cursed tree,
and God the Father, in perfect justice as he must be as God,
turned away. He hid his face from him. He
forsook his beloved son on that cursed tree, that he might accomplish
the salvation of his people by satisfying offended justice. He is the substitute of his people. He is the surety of his people. He bore the curse that was due
to his people as sinners. He paid the price of their release. He paid the ransom. Release him
from going down to the pit of hell. because of sin. Release
him from going down to the pit of hell, says Job. Why? Why? Why can he be released?
Because Christ has paid the price, the ransom. I have found a ransom. He paid that ransom, and the
ransom was paid with the blood of God. He purchased it with
the blood of God, which was his own blood, his own precious blood,
not the blood of a sinner, but the blood of as a lamb, of a
lamb, without blemish and without spots, says the Apostle Peter,
the perfect lamb of God. And in so doing, He satisfied
offended justice. The Lord hear thee. The Lord
make thee successful in your mission to save a multitude from
their sins. Your bride, your betrothed's
bride, in union with you. All his people, all his people,
the Old Testament saints looked for it. They prayed for God in
heaven to hear and defend when he came, the Messiah, who is
God in flesh, in his earthly mission to save The God of Jacob
defend thee. Jacob? Jacob was the sinner. Jacob was the swindler. Jacob
was the deceiver. Jacob is what we all are by nature. The God of sinners defend thee
in that day. Saviour, Saviour, may the God
of heaven defend you and help you and hear you in that day
of trouble. And send you help, verse 2, send
you help from heaven, from the sanctuary. The sanctuary is the
heaven of God. Send you help from the sanctuary
and strengthen you. When you're on this mission,
in this day of trouble, God in heaven send you help. In Luke
chapter 23, sorry, 22, and verses 42 and 43, Jesus says this. in the garden of Gethsemane before
he goes to the cross, and he sees it there coming down upon
him. And the horror of it made him sweat as it were great drops
of blood. It was such an anguish of soul.
Father, if thou be willing remove this cup from me." The cup, the
cup of wrath of God against sin. The cup where all of the anger
of God against sin was squeezed out into that cup and he was
there to drink it on behalf of his people. He says, nevertheless,
not my will, But thine be done. Now listen. Send thee help from
the sanctuary. It says in Luke 22 verse 43. And there appeared an angel unto
him from heaven, strengthening him. The scripture was fulfilled.
That which was written a thousand years before was fulfilled. He
was strengthened. in the garden before he went
to the cross. In verse three, remember all
thy offerings and accept thy burnt sacrifices. Oh, the church
prays that God the Father in strict justice in heaven would
accept the offering of himself by our Lord Jesus Christ, that
divine justice might accept it, that the sacrifice might be,
if you've got a marginal Bible, you'll see that accept, The idea
is turned to ashes that it's entirely burnt up that there
is none of it left over It's a very satisfying thing. I remember
a few years ago that I had some very old difficult stumps of
wood to get rid of in the garden and I set a bonfire going and
I I didn't think it was going to burn, but what a satisfying
feeling the next morning when I went down the garden and all
that was there was ashes. There was not even a trace of
a bit of wood. It was all ashes. May the sacrifice
be entirely turned to ashes. In other words, may it completely
satisfy God's demand for justice. In offering himself, that's what
he did, in offering himself. Psalm 89 says this, in Psalm
89 and verse 18, we read, for the Lord is our defense and the
Holy One of Israel is our King. Then thou spakest in vision to
thy Holy One, which is Christ, and said, I have laid help upon
one that is mighty. I have exalted one chosen out
of the people. I have found David my servant. This is Christ. With my holy
oileth I anointed him, with whom my hand shall be established.
Mine arm also shall strengthen him. The enemy shall not exact
upon him, nor the son of wickedness reject him. And I will beat down
all his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.
But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him, and in my
name shall his horn of power be exalted. This is the prayer
of God's people, that the Messiah will be successful. In Isaiah
chapter 53, that great chapter of the suffering of the Christ
of God in Isaiah chapter 53 verse 10, yet it pleased the Lord to
bruise him. He has put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, there you see, may he
accept all your offerings and your burnt sacrifice. May he
burn it up absolutely to ashes. May he completely accept it.
When you make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. His people are his seed. He shall
prolong his days and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in
his hand. Why is there no pleasure in the death of the wicked? Because
it doesn't satisfy the justice of God. It has to go on infinitely. but in Christ the pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail
of his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge, by knowing
him, shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear
their iniquities. He shall bear them away. He shall
bear them away as far as the east is from the west. In verse
four we read, Grant thee, according to thine own heart, and fulfil
all thy counsel. We're running out of time, but
there it is again in Psalm 21. The king shall joy in thy strength,
O Lord, and in thy salvation, how greatly shall he rejoice. There's a counsel of peace in
this. It says in Zechariah chapter six and verse 13, the counsel
of peace. And we were thinking last week
of the God of peace. Verse five. set up the banners,
Jehovah Nisai is the Lord our banner. The idea there is that
he'd be successful, that he'd be victorious, that we in him,
his people in him, are more than conquerors through Christ who
loved us. We're triumphant over Satan.
In Colossians chapter 2, and verse 15, we read there about
Christ being successful. The idea is of a military victory. Setting up our banners, verse
5, may it be a military victory. Having spoiled principalities
and powers, it says in Colossians 2.15, he made a show of them
openly, triumphing over them in it. In verse 6, now I know
that the Lord saveth his anointed. This is Jesus. Now I, Jesus,
know, I, the man, know that God in heaven saves his anointed,
which is he himself. Come on that mission. He will
hear him from his holy heaven with the saving strength of his
hand. God heard the Lord Jesus Christ
on earth. You know when As he walked this
earth as a man, and this is what's so hard to understand, but this
is a comfort to our souls, he trusted the Lord in heaven. Jesus, the man, had faith in
God. You say, well, he was God. Yes,
he was God, but in this mysterious way. The human nature of him
trusted God in heaven. We read of the faith of Jesus
Christ. It was the faith of Jesus Christ
which has accomplished our salvation. He was faithful in all points
to accomplish salvation. He prayed, he prayed to his Father
in heaven and it says he will hear him. When he came to the
tomb of Lazarus in John chapter 11, Jesus said, Father, I thank
thee that thou hast heard me. A thousand years before, the
prayer was made by the church for Christ in his earthly life,
that he will hear him from his holy heaven. I know that you
heard me always, he said, and then he called for Lazarus to
come forth out of the grave. Verse seven, some trust in chariots
and some in horses. I've mentioned it before, but
I'm reminded of that verse in 2 Corinthians chapter 10 and
verse four. As we live this life in this
world, in this day of trouble, that the weapons of our warfare,
you know, my kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants
would take up weapons and fight, but they don't, they don't, because
it's not that the weapons of our warfare, there is a warfare,
is not carnal, not fleshly, not of this world, but it says they're
mighty in God, through God, to the pulling down of strongholds.
The power of God is in the power of his word on this world. So
then, verse nine, save, Lord, save, Lord. Let the King hear
us when we call. Save me, I pray you. Be successful
in salvation. And we read in Isaiah 42 and
verse four, concerning Christ again, written hundreds of years
before he came, he shall not fail nor be discouraged. So herein. is the comfort of assurance for
God's people. This is the comfort which causes
Paul in Hebrews 10, 22 to say, let us draw near with a true
heart in the full assurance of faith, because our God, man,
redeemer has been successful, and everyone who believes in
him is guaranteed the kingdom inheritance, prepared in eternal
electing grace. So just quickly, I just want
to close with this, the union, you see, The success of the end
of our mission in reaching that celestial city is the success
of Christ in his mission, but don't forget it must be with
his people in union with him. In union with him. I am crucified
with Christ, said Paul. I'm dead with Christ. When he
died, I died. This was a marriage betrothal
from eternity, the multitude chosen in him by nothing other
than the grace and the love of God, united with him then. This is particular redemption. Religion, free will, God-hating
religion, of the day in which we live, leaves it to the whimsical
free will of man, as if they would, of their own volition,
choose God. No. But this is the perfect will
of God, and this is the unchanging justice of God, that everything
that Christ is, his people are, in him. 1 John 4, 17, Peter read
it earlier. Herein is our love made perfect,
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because
as He is, so are we in this world. As He is, so are we in this world. We're
united with him. Messiah's day of trouble was
his people's day of trouble, that we may have boldness in
that day of judgment, that we may have boldness in that day,
in the day of judgment. In Mark chapter 10, the sons
of Zebedee ask that When it comes to heaven, they might sit on
either side of Christ in heaven. And Jesus asks them, are you
able to drink the cup of suffering that I must drink? And they said,
yes, we are. And Jesus says, he doesn't say
you don't know what you're talking about. He says, you certainly
will drink this cup of suffering. His people were crucified with
him. If you believe him, you were.
You were raised with him, which is what baptism signifies. And
even now we read, are seated in heavenly places in him. So
that in this world, in our earthly race, His body, the church, and
he in heaven are in union in earthly sufferings. Colossians
1.24 says this, that the people of God now rejoice in my sufferings,
Paul's saying this, my sufferings for you, and fill up that which
is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh, for his
body's sake, which is the church. Now this cannot mean what you
might think it means to start with. It cannot mean that Christ
didn't suffer enough to accomplish complete redemption from sin,
therefore we need to do a bit of suffering to make up for that.
It cannot possibly mean that. The scriptures make it absolutely
clear, but we, his believing people, his church, we are his
body. We are his body on earth while
we're here. Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is
God, manifested, shown to us, takes part in all the earthly
afflictions of his body, the church, of his bride, as Jesus
the man in heaven. Jesus knows as God in heaven. Jesus knows, omniscient. Jesus
knows as God. But this is the thing. This is
the comfort. Are you in trials and in tribulations
at the moment, whether they be physical or emotional or spiritual? He feels as a man. He is touched
with a feeling of our infirmities because he's lived in our flesh,
albeit without sin. Nevertheless, he knows our weakness. If the foot, listen to this,
I forget who said this, I think it was Hawker said this. If the
foot of any of his body on earth is crushed, the body's head,
who is Christ our God, feels it in heaven. I'll say that again. If the foot of any of his body
on earth is crushed, and though there are many that are experiencing
that at this moment, The body's head feels it in heaven. He is
in all things, as Hebrews 2.17 says, made like unto his brethren,
that he might be a faithful and great high priest to us in all
things. The conclusion, I'm just gonna
read some words that we know well, but they help. Romans 8, verse 35, who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, troubles,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword, for as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all
the day long, we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay,
in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that
loved us. For I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers,
nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth,
nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." You say, well,
that's fine. I know you Christians, you get
a lot of comfort from things like that. And if it makes you
sleep easier at night, well, all well and good. That's okay
for you if you want, but it's not for me and my mates just
now. Let me remind you what we thought of several months ago
in Hebrews chapter 2 verse 3. How shall we escape if we neglect? How shall we escape what? Just
eternal condemnation for sin. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation? Amen.