Thank you, Lindsay. Turn with
me into Genesis. Genesis Chapter 2. I bring greetings,
of course, from our congregation, the brethren at Hurricane Road,
our pastor and Janet. So many people, so many people
told me to bring their love and pass along their greetings. You're
in our prayers constantly. And by name, You're in our prayers. That song blessed me so much
while I was sitting there, and I was reminded on the way in
that we're here to be fed this morning, that we lose not faith's
sweet consolation declared to us in this holy word. And that's
what I pray to do this morning. We're gonna focus on one word,
the word surely surely Everything that God does everything that
God does every part of his character everything about God is always
and only surely surely definitely Eternally certain absolutely
positive. Absolutely sure Genesis chapter
2 looking here at verse 15 And the Lord God took the man
and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep
it. And the Lord God commanded the man saying, of every tree
of the garden, thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shall not eat thereof. thou shalt not
eat of it, for in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt
surely, surely, thou shalt surely die. And again, that's the word
we're gonna, we're gonna focus on today. Look over the next
chapter, chapter three. Now the serpent was more subtle
than any beast of the field. which the Lord God had made.
He said unto the woman, yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat
of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent,
we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the
fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God
has said, ye shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it,
lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall
not surely die, ye shall not surely die. And here we have
Two verses from two different sources saying two completely
different things. This is our first introduction
to to Lucifer and He gets right to the heart of the matter that
we deal with even today and all God does He is either sure he's
either surely or he is not Lucifer said he should not surely die.
Our Lord is either surely or he is not and Two verses from
two sources saying two different things. One is God saying to
Adam, in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die.
We have Lucifer telling Eve, you should not surely die. This
morning, we're sitting in the hotel, we're eating our breakfast
and the TV's playing behind us. And I was encouraged for a minute,
because they sing songs we sing. I heard the congregation singing
songs that we sing. So I was encouraged for a minute,
thinking, maybe, maybe there's going to be something here. And
then the message started, and we were listening to the message.
I instructed my children to stop listening to this. This is garbage.
Everything that man was saying could be summed up in, ye shall
not surely die. Everything he was saying was some focus on me, the center,
some focus on us, something that we have done or will do or can
do, something that was, we shall not, ye shall not surely die. Everything that man was saying
was contrary to what our Lord God said, which ye shall surely
die. That's works in grace. Those
are the two religions right there. surely or not. Our human language
can never describe what in our life can we liken. Not only can
we liken to our God, but what in our life can we liken to surely?
Everything we do is subject to change. It's variable. What in
our human language can possibly describe the certainty that is
found in this word surely? It's not possible that our understanding
could ever accurately describe God. We had Bible school last
week, and at the end of Bible school, we went to a pool to
celebrate with the kids. And my daughter, Rosalie, and
I were sitting there with a little girl, Nova, who's a little less
than two, probably, right? Not quite two. And we were drawing
with chalk on the sidewalk. And she's got a wonderful vocabulary
for a two-year-old. She can describe everything in
her world. Everything that she understands,
that little girl can describe. She has a wonderful vocabulary.
She can describe hungry, thirsty, mom, dad. She's got it all. And I was writing words with
chalk on the sidewalk. And she started writing words,
too. And she was writing little marks. Right? She had the form. She had the idea. She didn't
have the capability. She didn't have the capability.
She was writing scribbles. She just didn't, she had the
concept. She didn't have the ability to understand. And that's
us, right? We do see. By God's grace, we
do see. We see through glass darkly.
But by God's grace, we do see. So we're gonna attempt to look
at Shirley. and get an understanding and
draw comfort from the surety that is in our God. Again, by God's grace, we do
see, and we see through a glass darkly, but how can we describe
how permanent and unchangeable our God is? And we really have
nothing to relate it to in our life, but I was trying to think
of a few things. as analogies to what this word surely means.
And I know what it does not mean. It does not mean maybe. It doesn't mean maybe. We use
that word in our language surely sometimes. And we use it to mean
maybe. That's not what this word means
in our text. We've been remodeling our house for what seems like
forever. And I've been saying month after
month after month, I've been saying surely the countertops
are coming in today, aren't they? And they don't, because what
I really mean is maybe or I hope. That's not what our word surely
means here in our text. It's closer to this. Think of
a gavel. When all the defense has been made and the judge makes
his decision and bangs the gavel, bang. Maybe he says guilty, bang. And the sound of that gavel means
the discussion's over, surely. But really in our world, that's
not quite there either, because in our world there's appeals
and there's maybes. That's not totally this word.
So I thought of another. And have you ever watched a Western?
In the Western, they're building the scaffolding to hang a criminal.
And they're hanging a criminal. And the last sound that criminal
hears is the sound of that trap door opening. Bang. Now, now
that's a sound that's closer to what our word surely is here.
Now it's inevitable, it's unchangeable. Nothing can do to stop it once
you hear that sound, bang. And all week long as I've been
studying, every time I hear a door shut, every time I hear a cupboard
slam, every time I hear a car door shut, I've heard that bang.
And it's reminded me of this word, surely, and it's blessed
me. And I hope it does you throughout the week too. I'm making an assumption
that you all are the way I am and can't remember anything throughout
the week. If you're that way, then when you hear the door slam,
when you hear that bang, you think of the gavel, think of
the scaffold, think of that word, surely. And remember the surety,
how our God is surely. Unchanging forever certain that's
a closer word for the way that word surely is used in our text
And I pray while we focus on this word surely the Lord will
give us comfort in his unchanging forever certainty his forever
certainty in these four things his forever certainty in his
sovereignty God is surely sovereign. He is forever certainly sovereign. He has the authority and he has
the right to command Adam just as he does right now today, right
this moment today, just as he will tomorrow. God has the right
to sentence death. He has the right to breathe life.
God is surely certain, surely sovereign. He is forever certainly
sovereign. God's justice. God can, God does. Well, it slipped out of my mouth.
God can. No, that's not right. Not God can punish it. God does
punish sin. Surely. Absolutely. Certainly. Forever certainly punishes sin.
Unflinchingly and without exception, God punishes sin. Forever certain. Christ's power. Christ destroyed
sin for all. For all for whom he died. All
for whom he died. Christ will surely deliver his
people, that is forever certain, surely. Christ's eternal goodness
to his people, his eternal goodness to his people. David says, surely,
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and
I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Surely, certainly,
forever certain, for Christ's sake, forever certain, Christ
is eternally good, eternally good. Paul says, let us labor,
therefore, to enter into this rest, and that's what we're doing.
I pray that as we look more in depth at who Christ is and how
surely he accomplished his work, we labor to enter into that rest,
certainly not to add to salvation. That's accomplished, that is
surely finished. We labor to enter into that rest,
into that rest that Christ has provided. God's sovereignty. The Bible begins, in the beginning,
God created the heaven and the earth. God owns all things because
he's the creator and sustainer of all things. Look over in Isaiah
chapter 40. Isaiah chapter 40. God owns all things because he's
the creator and the sustainer of all things. Isaiah chapter
40, starting in verse 12, who has measured the waters in the
hollow of his hand, meted out heaven with the span and comprehended
the dust of the earth in a measure, weighed the mountains and scales
and the hills in a balance. That's our God who has directed
the spirit of the Lord. Or being his counselor who has
taught him. With whom took he counsel? Who instructed him and
taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him in knowledge,
and showed to him the way of understanding? Behold, the nations
are as a drop of a bucket, or as counted as the small dust
of the balance, insignificant. That's how powerful our God is.
Behold, he taketh up the aisles as a very little thing. Our God
owns all things. He's the creator. He's the sustainer
of all things. He's surely, forever certainly,
Sovereign it's his right to do with his creation as he sees
fit because he created it he rules over it Just as it is God's
right to do with mankind as he sees fit because he created man
And he rules over man here and back in Genesis chapter 2 and
in verse 7 The Lord formed man of the dust of the ground and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life man became a living
soul It's his right. God owns man. God owns creation. And as owner, he has the absolute
right to do with his creation and with his creature as he sees
fit. God is in full sovereign control. My dad used to say, power corrupts.
But absolute power corrupts, absolutely. And we see that over
and over and over in our world. I can't think of an example where
a person hasn't been given, the more power a person has been
given, the more under their thumb, the more abuse they seem to put
on the people underneath them. Power corrupts us. Absolute power
corrupts, absolutely. Not our God. His ways are higher
than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. With
absolute control and with absolute power over man and creation,
our God chose to bless Adam. Chose to bless Adam. Look back
in Genesis in chapter one, verse 28, 27, 28. So God created man in his own
image. In the image of God created he him. Male and female created
he them. And God blessed them. God blessed
them. With absolute power, our God
chooses to bless. Unlike us, our God chooses to
bless. God blessed Adam and Eve and
provided them with everything. Everything. He communed with
them. You ever had a cucumber right
off the plant, right out of the garden? I didn't used to like
tomatoes until one time I planted a garden and I had extra space
and I planted tomato plants. For the first time in my life,
I plucked a tomato right off the plant and ate it. Oh, this
is what a tomato is supposed to taste like. Not the one that's
been sitting in the store for a week. Totally different experience. A vegetable right off the vine.
Imagine Can you imagine just how good those fruits or vegetables
grown in the garden must have been in a perfect earth, in a
perfect world? Our Lord blessed Adam and Eve with everything.
With everything. The air they breathed, he communed
with them, with the meat they had to eat, through the fruits
and the vegetables. He blessed them. He blessed them with everything. Our God, who is in complete control,
with absolute power, used all that authority to bless. to bless Adam. So in Genesis
2.17, when God told Adam, but of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day
that thou eatest of, thou shalt surely die. This one restriction
was a reminder to Adam that God is in control. God is sovereign. God provided all of this for
me. Now a thankful heart would have looked at that and smiled.
would have looked at that restriction and smiled and been reminded
that their God who controls all things, that their God who is
in control of all things has blessed me with this garden.
And that restriction on that one fruit would have been a reminder
of his goodness to me for a thankful heart. Thankful heart sees God's
sovereignty and smiles, recognizing that it's God's right to do with
us as he will. Look look over in Romans with
me Romans chapter 9 a Thankful heart would have looked
at that fruit And just been reminded of the
fact that my God is in control and look what look what all he
has done Romans chapter 9 in verse 20 Nay, but, O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say unto
him that formed us, why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the
potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honor and another unto dishonor? A thankful heart bows to God's
right and gladly recognizes that, gladly recognizes that with all
of his power, with all of that absolute power God chose to bless
us. Not like the sinful rulers that I mentioned of the world
who set themselves up in the castle and live off the sweat
of those that were working under them. We used to drive on vacation
when I was a kid and we'd go through West Virginia and my
dad would point to the old coal mines, the hills, where the nice
house at the top of the hill was the person that owned that
hill and owned that mine and then every little shanty all
the way down that didn't even have running water. That was
the backs of the people that that person living on the hill
on top just worked off their sweat and off their back. He
would tell me, nothing wrong with owning anything, nothing
wrong with making money. It's wrong to do it to the detriment
of those underneath you. But that's man, that's us, that's
our nature, that's our sinful flesh. That's how we operate. That is not our God with all
of that infinite power he chose to bless. And he surely does.
He surely does. The Tree of the Knowledge of
Good and Evil, again, represented God's sovereign goodness. So
in chapter 3, back in Genesis, chapter 3, verse 4, again, there
were, when Lucifer, the serpent said unto the woman, thou shalt
not surely die, this directly disputed God's sovereignty and
God's goodness. Thou shalt not surely die is
a rebellion against God's authority. It's a rebellion against God's
goodness. When God has shown, he's shown nothing. He's shown
to Adam nothing but power and goodness to Adam and Eve. Ye
shall not surely die, disputed everything they've ever seen,
everything they've ever been told. In direct rebellion to all of
God's power and all of God's goodness, Adam took the fruit
and he did eat. I've heard this described as
if God were, I hesitate to even say this, if God were somehow
being petty. Like, well, isn't death a harsh punishment for
just stealing a piece of fruit? What an awful thing to say. As
if God were cruelly setting Adam up in a trap. That's the way
I've heard it described. And that couldn't be further
from the truth. That tree represented God's sovereignty and God's goodness.
And Adam taking of that fruit was in direct rebellion to that
sovereignty and that goodness. Ye shall not surely die. Is God
really sovereign? That's what Lucifer's saying.
Is God really sovereign? You shall not surely die. Adam,
can he kill you? Does he have the right? Does
he have the power? Adam had never even seen death in the garden. Could God do it? Would God do
it? Does God really have the right
to do it? Surely surely he should not surely
die. Does he really have the right
to do it? Is God really sovereign? This is an attack on God's sovereignty
You shall not surely die is God really good Because if God is
good, if he is perfect, right, if he's perfect, then he cannot
change. Changing, right, when we change something, which we
do all the time, constantly, right, that's an admission of
fault on our part. Either I was wrong, right, so
I have to change my mind, or something in my surroundings
have changed that are outside of my control and I have to react
to them. In either case, it's an admission of fault on my part
whenever I have to change. Friday night, I think I mentioned
in talking to someone, my brother and I were gonna fix a, put in
a faucet in his kitchen. And after working on it for two
hours, we changed our mind. Because I didn't have the power
to get it done. You shall not surely die. Is God really good? Or will he change his mind? Ye shall not surely die is a
direct, direct rebellion to his goodness. Ye shall not, ye shall
not surely die. Now that's a different question.
Ye shall not surely die. Yeah, God will punish sin, but
will you die? For years I sat, even in this
building, agreeing that mankind was sinful. That mankind needed
God. This sinner needs God. Ye shall
not surely die. Now that's different. Ye shall
not surely die. Yeah, God's sovereign, God's
good. He sees I'm not really all that bad, right? This is
me. This is me. Ye shall not surely die, right? Adam and Eve responded to that,
just like we do. In the day that thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die. When Adam ate the fruit, he rebelled
against God's sovereignty and against God's goodness. And God,
in his sovereignty and in his goodness, spiritually killed
him. He spiritually killed all of
us in Adam so that we cannot approach unto him. We cannot.
God is sovereign. He has the right and the authority
to do so. God is good. There's no reason for him to
change. There's no reason for him to change. And he will not
change. God is surely sovereign and good. Absolutely. God's sovereign. God's justice. Back again in
chapter two, in Genesis, verse 17, God told Adam, in the day
that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. And when Adam
rebelled against God, it was an act of treason. It was an
act of infidelity, of cheating on all of that power and goodness
that Adam had seen. And that can never be made right. Adam's banishment and our banishment
from God's presence. It's not meant to teach us a
lesson. Sometimes we withhold things from our children. Usually
it's the Xbox. We'll withhold something that
our children like in order to teach them a lesson and change
their behavior. It's to change. We're withholding them temporarily
to teach them a lesson, but that isn't permanent. It's used to
teach them a lesson, change their behavior. Adam's banishment and
our banishment in Adam is not meant to teach a lesson. It's
justice. It's justice served. Surely justice served. We've
sought to overthrow God himself and we're no longer allowed to
walk with God as Adam did. Lucifer said in his heart, I
will ascend into the heavens. I will exalt my throne above
the stars. I will also sit on the mount
of the congregation and in the sides of the north, I will ascend
above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high.
I will. And Christ said, I beheld Satan
as lightning falling from heaven. This wasn't teaching Satan a
lesson. This was justice for treason. What Adam did and what
we did in Adam is no less rebellious. Not at all. All the human race
was killed in Adam, not as a lesson, it was killed in Adam in justice,
in right justice. Banishment wasn't a lesson, and
this banishment won't pay for the crime either. Adam can never
pay for the crime, you and I can never pay for the crime. Eternal
separation from God will never pay for this first sin. All of the banishment of all
of mankind for all of eternity won't ever pay for this first
sin. It's not a lesson. It's not punishment. It's justice. It's justice. God will surely
punish sin. You're familiar with Ezekiel.
I'll just read it. Ezekiel 18 says, behold, all souls are mine
as the soul of the father. So also the soul of the son is
mine. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. Surely it shall
die. And even that death, even that
death can never pay for sin. But Satan said, you will not
surely die. There must be something you can
do. Satan is very subtle, and this comes out today as, God
sees that you mean well. This is all a variation of ye
shall not surely die. This is evil. God sees you mean
well. You go to church, you do a lot for God. My roommate, my
sophomore roommate at University of Kentucky told me that. When
my soul was troubled, that was his comfort to me. He said to
me, you do a lot for God. If I'm talking to a sinner right
now whose soul is troubled, I say to you, good. Good. Our souls should be troubled.
The answer isn't you do a lot for God. The answer is Christ.
The answer is always and only, surely, Christ. Christ. You're a Christian, you're a
good person, or the more subtle, God is love, meaning a loving
God wouldn't possibly punish you. Those are all variations
of ye shall not surely die. Those are all variations of words
from the devil. Lump all these under, you shall
not surely die. And they're collectively works.
They're collectively works religion. You shall not surely die. There's
something we can do to open that door of reconciliation with God.
There's something that we can do. If we're good enough, God
will see that we're different from the rest of mankind. And
that we're different from Adam. And therefore our father will
then accept us. And isn't that just ridiculous? That's what our sinful flesh
is still drawn to. ye shall not surely die. Just
as Adam and Eve were, that belief is still in us. It's still just
as sinful and it's still just as wrong. And you know what else?
It still shows that we're still no different from our father
Adam. We're no different from our father Adam. Still trying
to put ourselves with equal footing on God, kick him off his throne.
And even if we did somehow genuinely want reconciliation with him,
why would he want reconciliation with us? We're rightfully banished
from the presence of God. And that is our state in our
sinful flesh. That's their state that we're
born into. God's justice is absolute. It's surely, thou shalt surely
die. Now, where is our comfort here?
Where's our comfort here? And surely God is surely sovereign
and good. Absolutely. Unchangeably. God is surely just to put away
sin. Absolutely. Unchangeably. Unflinchingly. Surely just. If we stopped right
there, God would be just and right. And he'd be worthy of
worship. And we would sing the song. What
can wash away my sin? Nothing. What can make me whole again?
Nothing. For my cleansing, this I see,
nothing. For my pardon, this my plea,
nothing. And God would be just and God
would be right and God would be worthy of worship if we stopped
right there. So where's our comfort? Turn
over to Isaiah 53. Where's our comfort? in the certainty, surely, of
our God. Isaiah chapter 53. God has with full sovereignty,
because He's right, He is right and He has the right to do so.
And with full goodness, because nothing has changed. And with
full justice, because it's right that He did this. God has laid
the sin of his people in and on the Lord Jesus Christ, who
bore that deserved justice, and even now is at the right hand
of God, making intercession for us. Isaiah chapter 53, look there
in verse three. He is despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows. This is Christ. acquainted with
grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised,
and we esteemed him not. Surely, surely, hear that gavel,
hear that trapdoor. Surely, this is unchangeable,
this is forever, this is today, this was yesterday, this will
be a thousand years, this will be for eternity. Surely, he hath
borne our griefs, carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded
for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him. With his stripes
we are healed. Surely. Our comfort in thou shalt
surely die is found in Christ who bore God's justice. Surely. Just as you hear the trapdoor,
just as you hear the gavel, just as you hear the word surely,
hear the word, it is finished. Surely. The word of our Lord
from the cross, it is finished. Thou shalt surely die. It is
finished. Our comforts in that thou shalt
surely die is found in Christ who bore God's justice. Justice
wasn't prevented, diverted, deflected, or minimized in any way whatsoever. All the punishment deserved in
that thou shalt surely die was poured on our Lord, our Savior,
Jesus Christ on the cross. All of the justice was surely
poured on him. It was made to meet on Christ.
Look over in John chapter 19. John chapter 19, starting in
verse 28. After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled,
said, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full
of vinegar, and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon
Hesed and put it in his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received
the vinegar, he said, it is finished. And he bowed his head and gave
up the ghost. Satan said, you shall not surely die. Not surely. He, I suppose, thought to himself
that he had God trapped between goodness and justice. How can
God be just and justify sinners? I believe that's at the top of
your bulletin. How can I be just with God? How can, how can God Be just and also justify sinners.
Can can God forgive me and still be right? Because we know he's
surely sovereign. We know he's surely just can
he be surely surely sovereign and surely just and Still accept
me a sinner And still be right Romans 3 says, for all have sinned,
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, being justified
freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus. A couple of verses later it says,
do we then make void the law through faith? Paul says, God
forbid. If God justifies me, does that
make Satan right? Thou shalt not surely die? Paul
says, God forbid, yea, we establish the law. God establishes, Christ
establishes the law through his work. Christ really did bear
the sin of his people, not as an example, not as a picture,
not as a fable or a story, We go to eat up in Michigan sometime,
a place called Frankenmuth. Frankenmuth has all the fairytales,
all of Grimm's fairytales painted on all the walls. Grimm's fairytales
are truly that, they're grim. The real deal fairytales are
gory and bloody and that's what they have painted on their walls.
It's kind of creepy. But the point is, that's a fairytale. This is not a fairytale. when
the sin of all of God's people were made to meet on and in Christ. That's not a fairy tale. That's
not a picture. That really did happen. Surely, it surely happened. Surely, he hath borne our griefs,
our grief and our sorrows. God is surely good. He's surely just. We take comfort
in the fact that he is surely just because our sin was justly
put away in Christ. Nothing left, nothing left. God
is surely sovereign, he is surely just. Christ's power is sure,
it's sure, it's forever. Because Christ is the son of
God and is God, Christ is sovereign, just, and he has the power and
he has the right to deliver all of his people surely. He will
deliver surely, that is all of his people. None will be left
out from all of their sins. None will be uncovered. There's
not one left for me to take care of. God will surely deliver all
of his people from all of their sins. There's nothing left undone.
In Micah, Micah says, I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all
of thee. I will surely gather the remnant
of Israel. I will put them together as the
sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold. They
shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. I will
surely gather the remnant of Israel." Hear that gavel. Hear those gallows. Surely, Christ has paid it all. When he said it is finished,
it is finished in sovereignty, it's finished in goodness, and
it's finished in justice. Payment has been made, and the
banishment that Adam earned is over. Hebrews 4, turn over there
with me if you would. Hebrews chapter 4. See, it is finished. Hebrews
chapter 4 in verse 14. Seeing then that we have a great
high priest who has passed into the heavens, Jesus, the son of
God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities.
He has been touched with the feeling of our infirmities. But
was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Let
us therefore, but it's therefore based on Christ. Let us therefore
come boldly under the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy
and find grace to help in time of deed. Surely certain, surely. Christ's powers is certain and
it is sure. Fourth, Christ's eternal goodness
is sure. Turn with me to Psalm chapter
23. Christ's eternal goodness is
sure. Psalm chapter 23 starts, the
Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me
to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still
waters. He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of
righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou
art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Thou
preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.
Thou anointest my head with oil. My cup runneth over. Surely,
goodness and mercy. shall follow me all the days
of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Surely, hear that gavel, hear those gallows, hear it is finished. This is sure, this is unchangeable,
this is forever certain. Surely, goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the
house of the Lord forever. For Christ's sake, because Christ
is sovereign, because Christ is good, because full justice
has been satisfied, because Christ has the right
to do so, saw fit to do so, and did so. Because Christ did, and
he did surely, and he did completely. Therefore I can say surely goodness
and mercy follow me all the days of my life And I shall dwell
in the house of the Lord forever Because our God is surely Sovereign
to save through Christ. He's surely good to save in Christ
He's surely just to save in Christ He's surely merciful to call
us in Christ. I And he's surely powerful to
bring us to glory. For Christ's sake, surely, unchangeably,
forever certain. Amen.