Psalm 120 reads, In my distress
I cried unto the Lord and he heard me. Deliver my soul, O
Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue. What shall
be given unto thee or what shall be done unto thee, thou false
tongue? Sharp arrows of the mighty with
coals of juniper. Woe is me that I sojourn in mesic. that I dwell in the tents of
Kedar. My soul have long dwelt with
him that hateth peace. I am for peace, but when I speak,
they are for war. I am for peace, but when I speak,
they are for war. There is one thing that characterizes
very day. It is the tensions, the strife,
the polemical warfare we see all around us in all walks of
life, the absolute lack of peace. We see anger and hatred and frustration
and despair We see war in every realm. We see the war of words. We see the war of hateful lips. We see the war between classes
and peoples. And in some places we see all
of this brought out into actual physical warfare. but whether
there's physical warfare or peace in the land underneath there
is this constant tension constant enmity between one man and another
and between man and God there's no peace there never has been
peace in this world and there never will be peace in this world
the only true peace is that which is found in Jesus Christ. The earthly man, however, is
mindful of earthly things. All he sees, all he cares about,
all he's concerned about is that which is around him. And he strives
to bring about that which he feels is important. He strives
to make this world a better place. the way that seems right unto
his own eyes but each one sees a different problem and a different
solution hence comes the strife between one and another but all
they look upon is this earthly realm and they fail to see that
the cause of the troubles they see below are their own selves
their own sins, the destruction that sin has brought in, the
death that sin has brought in. And that the answer is found
in God, in his Son, and in his Gospel. There is no peace to
be found in politics, in protests, in movements, in
all that man may do to try to make this world a better place.
All that comes is despair. You see this all around. You
see the frustration of people when they talk about politics
and this thing and that thing. When they talk about the present
situation and the pandemic and the rights and the wrongs of
this and of that. when they talk about the world
and its climate and the change in the climate and their attempts
to try to avert the disaster that they see looming how they're
full of despair because they're told one thing and the government
say another thing and they see doom coming upon them and they
can't do anything about it but they're fighting the wrong
battle. This world will not last forever. This world
will be burnt with fire. This world cannot be saved by
human means. It's the wrong battle, the wrong
issue. but the believer the child of
God unlike the world is not full of despair because he looks to
a God who brings in a new heaven and a new earth which will never
fade away which will never perish which will never be destroyed
a new earth in which dwells righteousness peace, holiness, truth, where
there is no sickness, where there is no death, where there is no
hatred, an everlasting kingdom, a world, a heaven, where Christ
is King. and where he rules over all things
in perfect peace and in perfect righteousness. A world very different
from this one that we pass through here below today. All around
us we see hatred, we see warfare, we see the lies of men. And yet this dark world in which
we dwell, is the very world that Christ entered into. The very
world that the Son of God stooped to enter into when he came in
the fullness of time. The light shining in the darkness
to deliver his people from their sins. Yes, the light shone in
the darkness of this world the truth came into the midst of
lies and his very presence here upon this very earth upon which
we walk shone a light into the darkness of men's hearts that
exposed the lies within. It shone light that exposed the
hatred that exposed the enmity, the opposition and that divided
one from the other. It is this that we see pictured
in this psalm, this first song of degrees. In this psalm, where
the psalmist says, in my distress I cried unto the Lord and he
heard me. where he concludes I am for peace
but when I speak they are for war. In this psalm we see the
experience of the psalmist himself as he walks through this world
as he seeks peace as he speaks the truth and as he feels the
opposition and the hatred of lying men towards him Deliver
my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue.
Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech and I dwell in the tents of Kedar.
My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace. I am for
peace, but when I speak they are for war. we see his experience
that whatever he says he seeks peace and yet when he speaks
peaceful words when he speaks the truth rather than this bringing
comfort and hope to his hearers they react in opposition and
hatred they rail upon him they persecute him they cast him out
that speech which should be received by them gladly, they despise,
they shut their ears to, they reject, they oppose, they ridicule,
they scorn, they mock. They look upon him with hatred. His peace has turned to war. They seek to destroy where he
seeks to build. They hate where He loves. The light shines in the darkness. Yes, we see the experience in
this psalm of the psalmist himself, but we also in the psalm, as
in all the psalms, as in all the scriptures, we see Christ
and His experience. When he entered this world and
came preaching the gospel, preaching the truth, shining the light,
bringing life into a world of darkness and death, we see Christ
and man's response to him. And in Christ, we also see the
believer. the believer in Christ and his
experience as he walks through this world. The psalm begins, in my distress
I cried unto the Lord and he heard me. The psalmist was in distress.
Why? because he was cast out, he was
rejected, he was brought low. All men hated him when he sought the truth. And because he knew as a man, as a sinner, that he himself was lost, that
in him there dwelt no good thing, that in his flesh there was nothing
but lies. Not only did he get this opposition
to truth from those around him, but he saw in himself what he
is. and that his only understanding
of truth, his only hope came from God himself. Left to himself
he was in distress, left to himself he was lost. He had no hope in
himself. He could do nothing about the
state that he was in. He was a leper before God. He was vile. Everything he turned his hand
to was stained by sin. All his attempts to get to God,
to deliver himself from the state he's in brought him down further. He was sinking in the midst of
stormy seas and he couldn't get out. and all he can do is cry,
cry out unto God, cry out unto the Lord, Lord help me, Lord
save me. There he is, his own sins damn
him. His own sins bring him down into
hell. His own sins bring him afar off
from God. And all around he's surrounded
by those who hate him, who would destroy him. When he cries out
and says, but God will hear, in God is my hope. God is my only salvation. All
around the voices of men say, well, where is thy God? Where
is your hope? Where is your salvation? Look
at the state you're in. Give it up. Any words he uttered of the truth,
of the gospel, of that in which he hoped, of the Lord to whom
he turned, were derided and mocked by all around him. Just like
Job. Just like Job when Job was brought
into that lowest state. His family were taken away. His health was taken away. His
riches were taken away. He had nothing left. And those
around him taunted him and said you must have done a great sin. The hand of the Almighty is against
you, you've got no hope. They all spake lies, they all
pointed to the wrong thing, the wrong cause and the wrong answer. And he cries out, deliver my
soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue.
Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech and I dwell in the tents of Kedar.
Woe is me that I live amongst this people who hate me and despise
me, who are no guide to me, who are no help to me. They do me
no good. They just seek to destroy me.
here I am I'm lost I'm ruined I'm helpless I've got no hope
in myself and there's no hope in those around me they're just
raging upon me they're like ravenous wolves they rip me to shreds
all their advice all their wisdom it's just lying lips so he's in distress He looks within and he sees the
sin within, he sees the lies that he hears without coming
from his own heart. There's that whispering in his
flesh, there's that whispering in his ear, saying it's all a
lie, where is God? Has God really said, is it true? You trust in Christ, you trust
in the truth, you trust in the gospel, but is it truth? Is he
Christ? Is he a saviour? Is it true? So there's lies without and lies
within. In my distress I cried unto the
Lord. Have you been brought to such
a place? This is distress. This is distress
to find all men Abandoning you. All hope in man, gone. And all hope in self, gone. You
look without and there is no help. You look within and there
is no help. You have no strength. You have
no ability. You have no righteousness. And
you look up. to a holy and a righteous God. And you know that if ever you're
to enter into eternity, into His presence and be saved, you
must be righteous and holy as He is. And you have none. You have nothing
but iniquity, nothing but sin that will damn you and there's
nothing you can do about it. You can't wipe, you can't cleanse
yourself, you can't wash yourself, you can't wipe yourself clean. All around there are these lies
and there's these words of hatred bringing you down. And you're
hearing the same within your own heart. They whisper in your
ears, where is God? And you say, I don't know, where
is he? They come and they say, give
up, it's hopeless. and you feel an echo in your
flesh yes it's hopeless I've been here so long and I'm falling
I'm sinking I'm lost he won't hear me I'm too wicked I'm too
evil he won't save one such as me but if you're brought to such
a place to such distress you will cry If the Lord comes in
the Gospel and speaks unto your soul and brings you to see that
there's no hope without and no hope within, then you cry you've
got nothing else you can do. And the psalmist cried, in my
distress I cried unto the Lord and He heard me. He heard me. men heard and men despised, men
thrust the sword in, men threw lies in my face, they spat upon
me, they despised me, they trampled me underfoot but there's one
that heard me. I cried unto the Lord and he
heard The psalmist was brought here. You may be brought here, but Christ himself was brought
here. He came into this world of lion
lips. He came the light in the darkness. He came unto his own and his
own received him not. He came unto the Jews and they
rejected Him. He walked amongst men and He
faced nothing but opposition, enmity, hatred. They questioned who He was. Art
thou the Son of God? They questioned His motives,
they questioned His ends, they questioned every word He uttered. They despised him, they rejected
him and they sought to destroy him. And we've done the same
with him. Whenever Christ comes in the
gospel and stands before us and says this is the truth, we shake
our head, we turn our face and we say away with him. Our hearts cry out, crucify him,
crucify him. He speaks the truth and we receive
it not. He says this is the way and we
go another way. He says this is life and we choose
death. Yes, when Christ The way, the
truth and the life comes unto us in the gospel. Our natural
heart and flesh rejects him. He comes unto us and we respond
with lying lips and deceitful tongues. We find fault in him. We find fault in his message.
We find fault in all that he has done and said. The natural
heart responds unto Christ and unto his God and says, oh, if
there's a God, why do you allow this? Why is there suffering
in this world? Why am I in the state I'm in?
We accuse him and charge him with our own sin. The world is
in the state it's in because man turned his back upon God,
because man sinned and rebelled against God, and because death
entered when sin entered the world. All the suffering, all
the sickness, all the tragedy, all the hatred, all the warfare
here below is of man's doing because of sin. And yet when
God comes in the person of Christ in his gospel unto us, we blame
him and we say I will not believe because of the state I'm in and
because of the state of the world it's all your fault and we blame
it on God rather than on ourselves. Lying lips and deceitful tongues. He came into this world and he
received this He received the hatred and the rejection of all
men against him. And in the end they cried out,
crucify him, crucify him. And he was led as a lamb to the
slaughter. He came to bear the sins of his
people, to suffer in their place. He came as a sacrifice for sin. he came because of our sin he
came because of the darkness he came because of the lies and
he came to suffer the outworking of darkness the outworking of
sin death itself he came to suffer death in order that his people
might live but in suffering that death He bore their sins. He was made sin. He bore. their hatred, their lies, their
deceit. He bore all the lies that his
people had ever uttered, all the lies they'd ever believed,
all the lies they'd ever trusted in. He bore all their deceit,
all their rebellion, all their hatred, all their hatred one
for another and all their hatred of God and his Son. all our unbelief, all our rejection
of him, he bore it. And in his distress, as he bore
it, he cried unto the Lord and he heard him. In the darkness
He hung for three hours upon that cross, in darkness. Three
hours in the light and three hours in the darkness, made sin,
bearing the sins of His people, the wrath of God pouring down
upon Him. Suffering hell and eternity of
judgment in three hours for all His people, cast out by all the
world. judged and forsaken by a holy
God who must judge and destroy sin righteously. He hung alone
in the darkness and he cried out unto God, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? Why hast thou forsaken me? He was the only one innocent
in himself of every charge, the only man who'd ever lived sinlessly,
the only one who was righteous. But as he hung upon the cross,
he was made sin. And he bore the sins of all his
people, a multitude of sins of a multitude of people. And God
forsook him because of what he was, what he bore, the place
he was in. He hung there as the sinner.
He hung there as the guilty one. And he would say of their sins,
they're my sins. And he would say of their guilt,
it's my guilt. And he would say of their distress,
it's my distress. And their lies and their deceit,
these are my lies and my deceit which I bear, for which I suffer. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Deliver my soul, O Lord, from
lying lips and from a deceitful tongue. The psalmist cries this
out. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from
lying lips and a deceitful tongue. He knew what it was to be alone
in this world, to be surrounded by lies, to be surrounded by
opposition. But Christ on the cross knew
what it was to be alone. To be surrounded by those who
hated him. and to bear the sins of those
who hated him. Christ is the way, the truth
and the life and the one who is life, the one who is truth
hung upon the cross, dying, bearing the lies a multitude. The father of lies Satan the
devil influences every person in this world every sinner born
of man he came into the world at the beginning and spake in
Eve's ear hath God said and so he does to every one of us throughout
all time ever since. His deceit reaches unto all. He stands alongside us constantly
whispering in our ears, half God said. Is it true? Is it true? Christ hung upon the cross, the
truth nailed to the tree, with this whispering all around him,
hath God said. Bearing the lies, bearing those
who trusted in lies, and crying out unto his God,
Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful
tongue. He felt it all around, not just
at a distance, not just those voices of men that passed by
as he hung upon the cross, mocking and scoffing him and saying,
you know what, the Son of God, you claim to be the Son of God,
then call for a legion of angels to deliver thee, come down. Not just from them. But as he
hung there, he bore the sins of his people. He'd uttered the
same things every day. He felt it. He felt it all around. Deliver my soul, O Lord, from
lying lips and from a deceitful tongue. What shall be given unto
thee or what shall be done unto thee thou false tongue? What's the remedy? What can be
done unto these lying lips and to this false tongue? It can't be changed. It can't be turned, it can't
be altered. We see in this psalm the experience
of the psalmist, he has this opposition, these people, he
can't change them. They hate him, it doesn't matter
what he says, it doesn't matter how much truth he says, it doesn't
matter how loving he is in his response, they hate him. We see Christ's own experience.
But we also see the believer here. And the believer sees in
his flesh a false tongue. and lying lips. When he's brought unto Christ
and delivered from the dominion of sin and the consequence of
sin death, when he comes to know that Christ has taken away that
sin, has judged the flesh in himself at the cross and has
brought them from darkness into light and from death unto life,
They know that it's been answered once and for all. They know the
judgment and the wrath of God against their sins, against the
lies, against the false tongue has been answered. And yet they
sojourn in this world until the day that they enter glory. They
walk in this world, we walk through this world knowing what it is. to dwell in Christ and to have
Christ dwelling in us, the new man of grace, having the spirit
within us, having life and peace within us, but having the flesh
all around us still. and the flesh wars against the
Spirit, the flesh fights against the Spirit, the flesh fights
against all that is of God. The believer's great struggle
daily is seeing the sin in his flesh, the unbelief in his flesh,
the coldness of heart in his flesh, the lies and the deceit
of his flesh. always warring against the truth
of the gospel in Christ, always pulling him down, always causing
him to fall and to stumble, always causing him to doubt and to question. This is why he cries out, in
my distress, my daily distress, I feel the flesh, I feel the
lion tongue, I feel the deceitful tongue, the lion lips, I feel
this in myself. Always questioning, always arguing,
always contradicting, always doubting. I hear the voice of Satan. Whispering in my ear,
hath God said, O deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from
a deceitful tongue. What can be done unto it? What
shall be given unto you, lying lips? What shall be done unto
thee, false tongue? What can be done unto it? It
cannot be approved. It cannot be changed. It must
be judged. sharp arrows of the mighty with
culls of juniper it must be destroyed judged by fire and that's what
happened at the cross in Christ. He took our flesh, he took the
sin, he took the rebellion, he took all that was of Satan, all
the influence of sin, he bore the lying lips, he bore the hatred,
he bore the deceit, he bore the false tongue and God judged it. God poured out fire from heaven
upon it. He poured out fire from heaven
upon his own son as he bore it. And Christ felt as he suffered
the sharp arrows of the mighty with culls of juniper. In order
to deliver us from the consequence of sin, from the flesh, from
death, from lies. He had to bear the judgment of
God. He had to bear the arrows of
the mighty, the coals of juniper. He was burnt in the furnace. He went into the furnace to deliver
his people out of its midst. He went as it were into that
furnace where those men in the book of Daniel were thrown and
he walked with them and he delivered them and though the fires burnt
around it could not consume him and it could not consume them
because he was with them. There's our life, there's our
salvation. Why don't these things destroy
us? Because Christ is in us. and
he's already suffered the fires, he's already felt the sharp arrows
of the Mighty for his own, he's already felt the culls of Juniper,
he's been to the furnace for us. And though we may feel it
at times, though we may feel the flesh, though we may feel
the warfare, he's already dealt with it, he's destroyed it, he's
burnt it up. He walked through the valley
of death for his own. His love was so great, so deep,
so vast, that he went from the highest height to the lowest
depths. He went through the greatest
sorrow, the greatest fire. the greatest storm that anyone
ever passed through. He went into the darkness, alone, under the outpouring of
God's wrath for you, believer, because of your sins, your lies,
your tongue. He did away with it. The flesh
was judged, destroyed, done away with. And yet the psalmist writes,
woe is me that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell in the tents of
Kedar. Here's his lament. All through
his sojourn in this world, He feels like he's dwelling amongst
a people that hate. A people who lie. A people who reject. He's as
it were dwelling in a tent in the midst of iniquity. Kedar was a descendant of Ishmael. He was cut off from the worship
of God. Picture, as it were, of the flesh,
sin and death. To dwell in a tent of Kedar is
to dwell, as it were, in a tent of sin, death and iniquity. When Christ passed through this
world, He was surrounded by those who opposed Him, those who hated,
those who rejected. He sojourned in Mesach. He dwelt
in the tents of Kedar. The believer, as he passes through
the world, feels as though he dwells in a tent of his flesh. Inside, he's one with Christ. In the new man, he's united to
his Savior. He looks up unto God, he calls
out in his distress, he cries unto the God that hears him.
He cries, deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful
tongue, because the lying lips are in the tent in which he dwells. We dwell in this tent of Kedar. We dwell in that which is cut
off from the worship of God, that which is dead. We dwell
in the midst of a lying people and we dwell in the midst of
that which is lying in our very flesh. It's not just those outside
who oppose us and reject us, it's that in our very being,
our flesh. It's there all the time. It's
there all the time, it opposes all that we are in Christ, it
deceives, it lies, it's contrary. But the believer's hope is in
his Savior. As Paul wrote, I am crucified
with Christ. This that I dwell in, it's been
crucified, it's been judged, it's been consumed in those culls
of juniper. Nevertheless I live, yet not
I but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in
the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God. I'm in this
flesh, I'm in this tent, but it's his life, he's in me, it's
he that lifts me up, it's he that delivers me, he who loved
me and gave himself for me. O believer, if you feel this
in your walk, if you feel the warfare between the flesh and
the spirit, if you hate your flesh and you hate your sin,
you hate your doubts, you hate your fears, you hate your unbelief,
think how Christ feels, for it's Him that dwells within us. He's the one that sojourns In
Misek, he's the one that dwells in these tents of Kedar. Not
only did he come in this world in the days of his flesh and
was surrounded by this opposition, by this hatred, by this sin,
but throughout time, generation after generation, he dwells in
his people now and he dwells in the midst tents of Kedar. He dwells in your flesh believer. He feels the hatred around him,
he feels the enmity, he feels the opposition, he feels the
rejection and the unbelief, not just of the unbelievers out there,
not just of those who hear the gospel and reject and cast it
back in his teeth, but even in his own, their flesh is there
around him. this is that in which he dwells
the spirit dwells within us it dwells within our flesh he dwells
in us by his spirit and that which troubles us imagine
how long-suffering he is with us he dwells in the midst of
us here we are all that comes from our flesh wars against him,
rejects him, doubts him he says follow me and we say oh but I
don't know where you're going I don't know that way isn't this
a better way? He says trust in me and we turn
to trust in ourself. He says look unto me and we look
to ourselves and to others. Every day we grieve him, every
day we turn from him and yet he loves us to the end. loved me and gave himself for
me. He loves us to the end, he endures,
he's long-suffering, we let him down constantly and yet he loves
us. Our hearts despise him, our fleshly
hearts despise him and yet he loves us. Our minds doubt Him
and yet He loves us, He never departs from us, He never turns
away from us. I will never leave thee nor forsake
thee, He says unto His own. Though they rail against Him,
He's there as it were hanging upon the cross in the midst of
their heart. And we are every day like those
who encircled Him on the cross, railing against Him, spitting
upon Him, doubting Him, casting scorn upon Him. there we are every day so unthankful
so ungrateful and yet he hangs there saying unto his Lord of
us his people father forgive them they know not what they
do when he looked out from the cross and said that he said that
of his own as he hung in the midst of them the light in the
midst of darkness. He dwells within us. He dwells
in the tents of Kedar. My soul hath long dwelt with
him that hateth peace. This is the psalmist experience. It's Christ's experience as he
walks through this world. It's the believer's experience
as he walks through this world. But it's Christ's experience
in the heart of the believer. He dwells in him that hates peace. And he says, I am for peace,
but when I speak, they are for war. I am for peace, but when
I speak, they are for war. I am for peace. I am the divine,
the son of God. God himself is for peace. He's the only one who's for peace. Men say they want peace, we want
peace, but all that we do brings strife, enmity, warfare, opposition. All that we do, our rebellion
of the gospel, brings hatred and opposition, it brings strife,
it does no good. Our rejection, our turning aside,
all that we do brings war. He is for peace. When he speaks,
when he comes in the gospel and he speaks unto us, what is our
response? We're for war. We shut our ears,
we turn our face. We go another way, we say another
day. Or we turn around in anger and
opposition. We question it, we doubt it,
we find fault with it. We're for war. I am for peace. But when I speak,
they are for war. The gospel brings life, but it's
met by the hearts of men with hatred. Though we hate him, he loves
his own. Though we rejected him, he set
his love upon his own. And though they hated, though
they opposed, though they lied, He sets his grace irresistibly
upon them, such that they are overwhelmed, that they cannot
turn, and they're brought to a place of distress where they
cry and say, Lord, help me. Lord, help my unbelief. Lord, forgive me for my opposition,
for my rejection. for my turning aside, for my
trusting in self, Lord help me. I am for peace, but they are
for war. He's not just for peace in the
sense that he wants peace, that he strives for peace, that he
comes in the gospel to bring peace. He's not just for peace,
he is our peace and he is given for peace I am for peace he is
our peace as we read in Ephesians 2 Now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ, for he is
our peace, who have made both one and have broken down the
middle wall of partition between us. He's taken man and God and
brought them together. He's taken the Jew and the Gentile
and brought them together. He's taken the warring factions
and made them one. He is our peace. He is the Prince
of Peace, Isaiah tells us. And he is for peace. Not just
desirous, not just seeking, but he was offered up as a peace
offering to make peace between God and man. To make peace between
God and his people. He was given for peace. He is our peace offering. He
is our peace, who hath made both one and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances. For
to make in himself of twain one new man, so make in peace, and
that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross,
having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached peace.
to you which were afar off and to them that were nigh. He is our peace but outside of
him there is no peace. When he went to the cross for
his own when he shed his blood he took their sins He wrapped
them around him like a tent of Kedar. He took that which was
war and took it away and washed it in his blood to bring peace
where once there was nothing but hatred. But outside of him
there's war. Although he's for peace, although
God is a God of peace, Christ says elsewhere in the Gospels
that he came in this world not to bring peace, but that in coming
in this world those men would be set against men. Son against
father, daughter against mother, brother against brother, sister
against sister. He says he does not bring peace.
Well what does he mean? How does he who is our peace,
how does the God of peace come in the world in the gospel? Not
to bring peace. Well simply because when peace
comes into this world the hatred of the flesh is stirred up against
it. Warfare is produced. When he
speaks and is for peace They are for war. Warfare is the result. When the God of peace, when the
light comes into the darkness, the darkness hates it. When life
stands in the midst of death, death rejects it. When righteousness
comes into the midst of sinners, sinners prefer the darkness and
their sin to the righteousness. When peace comes into this world,
It stirs up the enmity of men. He speaks, he preaches the gospel. He's for peace, but they are
for war. Ultimately, the gospel delivers
his people out of the darkness, out of the world, out of the
warfare, and brings them into eternal peace, an everlasting
kingdom. a heavenly kingdom wherein dwelleth
righteousness. It delivers, it saves. He hears
his people in distress and he delivers their souls. But in
this world, there's war. There's warfare without, there's
warfare within. All that is earthly, fleshly,
sinful, wars against all that is of God and the truth. Your
heart does, my heart does, the lips of lying men do, we all
despise the truth by nature but Christ came to save, He has the
victory. He was victorious at the cross. He came to save victoriously
at the cross. He finished the work then. He
was victorious then and he's victorious today. He cried out
at the end of those hours in the darkness, it is finished. He cried out in his distress
and the Lord heard him. In my distress I cried unto the
Lord and he heard me and when he heard him Christ cried out
it is finished and he was laid in the grave and the grave could
not hold him for sin had been taken away every sin of his people
had been judged the law had been answered there was no more condemnation
And Christ the Son of God rose in power, victorious over sin,
victorious over the grave. The truth had conquered the lies. Death had been swallowed up in
victory. The light shone through the darkness. And His people, in Him, crucified
with Him, rose again in Him. For He loved them. and gave Himself
for them. They all in Him look up by faith
out of the flesh, out of the darkness, out of the tent of
Kedar in which they dwell. They look up out of their distress
to Him who hears them and they say in faith In confident victory
in Christ, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. I am for peace, but when I speak,
they are for war. But the God of peace delivered
me. He loved me and gave himself
for me. Amen.