In the 53rd chapter of Isaiah,
the prophet speaks concerning the Son of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and his suffering for his people. He writes, Who have
believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him
as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground. He have
no form nor comeliness. And when we shall see him, there
is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we
hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed
him not. Surely he have borne our griefs
and 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, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep
have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way, and the Lord have laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so we open
if not his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment, and who shall declare his generation? For he
was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgression
of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked and with the rich in his death, because he had done no
violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and 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 shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, And he shall divide the spoil with the
strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death. And
he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors. It pleased the Lord to bruise
him. He was put to grief. His soul was made an offering
for sin. He bare the sin of many. He was
wounded for the transgressions of his people. He was bruised
for their iniquity. By his stripes they are healed. And it is said of them that all
we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. and the Lord have laid on him
the iniquity of us all. All we like sheep have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his
own way. And what is true of the Lord's
people in going astray and turning to
their own way is true of everyone in this world. whether they know
Christ or not. We have all, like sheep, gone
astray. We have all turned to our own
way. Every one of us has turned our
back upon God our maker, has turned our back upon his truth,
has turned our back upon his son. We've gone our own way,
we've sought our own things, we've sought our own glory, we've
lived according to our own wisdom, our own reason, our own desires,
and for our own glory. We hear much today in society
of equality and the need for equality. to be treated equally,
to have the same rights as everyone else. But we read much in the scriptures
of how equal we are, of true equality. And the picture we read in the
scriptures is not necessarily what those that cry out for their
own rights and equality want to hear. Because the reality painted here
in God's word concerning man is not a pretty picture. Man is not inherently good Man
is not inherently righteous. And man does not deserve great
things. The very opposite. Mankind, men,
women, children, all races, all colors, all nationalities, all
kinds, mankind, humanity, Every one of us has turned our backs
upon God. Mankind has turned away from
God. We have all turned our backs
upon God. We have all fallen in sin. And in that we are equal. We're
all sinners. Every one of us. We have all
sinned, we have all like sheep gone astray, and we stand before
God equal in that state. Here is our equality. We are
all created beings who fell into sin, in whom sin dwells, and
in whom the consequence of sin, death, dwells. and upon whom
the physical consequence of sin, physical death, will soon put
its hand upon us. It will soon come upon us, and
soon take us out of this world into the next, and then we will
stand before God as equal souls. and answer for our deeds, our
thoughts, our lives in this world, then we will know what equality
is when we come before the same justice and the same God whom
we have equally despised and rejected in this world. And then we can lay claim to
whatever rights we think we have, whatever we feel is due. But
the reality is that the rights we have because of our sin are
a right to condemnation, are a righteous penalty of the law
against our every wicked deed. We have a right to die. The sentence
of death is written against us. In this, we are equal. The scriptures
speak of this equality in various places. In Romans chapter 3,
having proven all men of all kinds, whether Jew or Gentile,
rich or poor, male or female, whatever nationality, whatever
race, whatever country, whatever birth, whoever they are and whatever
they are, however religious or irreligious, whoever they are,
Paul proves us all to be the same in the same state, condemned
under the law of God, sinners. And he states plainly, for all
have sinned. and come short of the glory of
God. All have sinned, you, me, every
one of us. We're equal. Again, Isaiah here says, we all
like sheep have gone astray and we've turned everyone to his
own way. Well, we have, haven't we? And
you do, don't you? What are your plans for tomorrow?
What are your plans for this week? What are your plans for
this year? They're returning to your own
way. Not to God's way. Not to seek
Him. Not to seek His righteousness.
Not to seek His Son. Not to seek eternity. not to
seek peace with God for your soul, but to turn your own way,
to grasp at everything you can in this world below, crying out
for your rights and your freedoms in a world that perishes and
is gone in a moment. Oh the fools we are that we grasp
and we strive to gain everything we can in this world. And we
fight and we resist and we complain. We protest to get what we can
from the powers that be. We protest at governments. We
want this and we want that. We strive for this and we strive
for that. and many, however moral they
may claim to be, lie, steal and cheat in order to further their
own way. All we like sheep have gone astray,
we have turned everyone to his own way. We try to get everything
we can in this world. We seek for happiness, we seek
for pleasure, which is never to be found. mankind in his folly,
strives for position, strives for power, strives for popularity,
strives for riches, strives after property, strives after people,
strives after things, all those things in which he thinks he
will find pleasure, in which he thinks he will find rest and
peace. And when he gets each one, he
finds there's nothing in it and he strives for the next thing
and the next one. And when he's got that, he finds
there's nothing there. He's still empty, he's still
striving, he's still seeking for that which he can't find.
Sorrow comes his way, he strives to get out of it. Trouble comes
his way, he seeks for something else. He never learns. And yet
soon, ill health comes upon him old age comes upon him or her
and takes them into the grave and it's all gone that which
we've spent our whole life striving for is all gone in a moment that
lifetime which seemed so long when we were young looking forward
to it we look back on and it's gone in a moment where did the
years go Where did my hopes and ambitions go? How did it turn
out like this? It's all gone. And then we enter
into eternity and stand before a holy God as a soul equal with
other souls before the Lord of righteousness. And then we will know what equality
is. For there is that which comes
upon us which we cannot escape, death. Why? Because as Paul says in Romans
5 verse 12, by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin. And so death passed upon all
men for that all have sin. We can say what we like about
the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can have whatever view we
like about this world and life. But what we cannot escape and
we cannot deny is the reality that life is brief and is followed
by death. And the scriptures give us the
reason, the cause. Sin entered into the world and
death by sin. And so death passed upon all
men for that all have sinned. Why will you die? Because you've
sinned. Why will I die? Because I've
sinned. The consequence is sure and certain
and equal for all. We shall all die. We shall all
stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and we shall all face
our maker. As we read in 2 Corinthians,
for we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ,
that every one may receive the things done in his body according
to that he have done, whether it be good or bad. There is a day of reckoning.
A day in which we must give an account. A day which cannot be
escaped. We must all stand before God and give an account. And we will all bow unto the
name of Jesus Christ. We will all bow before this God
no matter how arrogant we may be, no matter how rebellious
we may be in this world, no matter how disparaging of the truth
of God, the reality of God, or his position and power and authority
over us, no matter how vocal we may be here and now, on that
day our mouths will be silenced and we will bow. Wherefore God
also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is
above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should
bow of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under
the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. That day is coming. You will either bow now, in time,
in this world, and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, or you
will bow on the day when you come to stand before him, the
other side of the grave, when it is too late. too late to go
back, too late to change your mind, too late to change your
heart, too late to change your life, too late to turn from going
astray and return to your maker, when it's too late. And when
the sentence concerning what you've done, whether it be good
or bad, is pronounced against you. Yes, on that day we shall
all stand before God as equals. There are no distinctions. There
are no distinctions between every human soul before their holy
God. Whether we are black, white,
male, female, young, old, of whatever tribe we're from, whatever
tongue we speak in, whatever kindred we're of, whatever nationality,
whatever lineage, whatever distinctions there may
be here in this world. On that day, we stand before
God as equal souls in the same state. We are all like sheep. who have gone astray. We all
turn to our own way. We have all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. And we will stand before Him,
naturally speaking, in that state. We shall all be judged according
to the same rule, according to the same judgment. according
to the same standard, the same law and the same righteousness. God is impartial in how he judges. He will judge all men alike. As such we would be wise not
to judge our fellow man. We have all sinned and we have
all gone astray. In Romans chapter 2, Paul writes,
Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that
judgest. For wherein thou judgest another,
thou condemnest thyself. For thou that judgest doest the
same things. But we are sure that the judgment
of God is according to truth against them which commit such
things. And thinkest thou this, O man,
that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that
thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the
riches of his goodness, and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after
thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath
against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment
of God, who will render to every man according to his deeds, to
them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory
and honor and immortality, eternal life. But unto them that are
contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,
indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul
of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile. But glory, honor, and peace to
every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to
the Gentile. For there is no respect of persons
with God. He will reward righteousness
with blessing, and he will reward sin with condemnation. whoever you are, from wherever
you come, the standard's the same. John echoes this fact in the
book of Revelation. In chapter 20, we read of this
day of judgment. From verse 11, and I saw a great
white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth
and the heaven fled away, and there was found no place for
them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, and
another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the
dead were judged out of those things which were written in
the books according to their works. And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it, And death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them, and they were judged every man according
to their works. And death and hell were cast
into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And
whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire. Yes, we shall all stand before
God in this day. And we will all be judged according
to the same rule. But those whose names are found
in the book of life, those who are found to be righteous
will be spared. And those who are not will be
cast into the lake of fire. Yet there's nothing in ourselves which would distinguish us from
another. If our name is found in the book
of life, it's not of our doing, for we have all sinned and we're
all under condemnation. If God spares us, it's by grace. And if God spares us, this judgment
that comes upon the wicked must fall. And if it doesn't fall
upon us, it must fall upon another. It must have fallen upon that
one of whom we read in Isaiah chapter 53. The Son of God. The Servant of God. He who was
wounded for the transgressions of his people. He who was bruised
for their iniquity. He who was rejected of all men. What has your response been to
Jesus Christ and his gospel? Have you believed our report
concerning him? Have you believed the gospel
concerning Jesus Christ? Have you seen the Lord Jesus
Christ? If you have, there's no beauty
in him, naturally speaking, that you should desire him. You, like
all men, have despised and rejected him because he's a man of sorrows,
He's acquainted with grief and we have all hid our faces
from Him. He was despised and we esteemed
Him not. He came to deliver people from
this judgment which comes upon all, from this day of wrath, from this condemnation and it
cost Him. He was despised and rejected
of all men. He was forsaken by God the Father when he was given up as an offering
for sin. He bore our griefs. He carried
our sorrows. He was smitten of God and afflicted. He was wounded for the transgressions
of His people. He was bruised for their iniquities. The chastisement of their peace
was upon Him, and they are healed by His stripes. They turned their
backs on Him, yet He came to save them. They, His people,
the ones for whom He died, despised Him. They hated Him like all
men hate Him. They spat upon Him like all men
spat upon Him. They reviled Him like all men
reviled Him. They treated Him equally with
all because they were sinners equal with all others, and yet
He came for them. and He took their sins and He
suffered for them that they should be spared the judgment to come. Who have believed our report?
What report? The Gospel. the message of the
Gospel, the preaching of the Gospel, that message which we
all equally need to hear. If this judgment will come upon
sin, if we're all condemned because of the state we're in, we all
equally need this Gospel. We need to hear it. We need to
believe it. We need to know this Saviour. we're all in the same state we're
all lost we're all without strength we're all without wisdom if we
had wisdom we'd turn and we'd believe if we knew really what state
we're in and believed it we'd turn but we don't we're so bewitched
by Satan and his lies and his deceptions that we think we know
best. We're all guilty. We've all gone
astray. We're all dead. Why can you preach the gospel
to sinners a thousand times and they do not hear? Because they're
dead. And the dead can't hear. The
dead are like dry bones in a valley. Of whom Ezekiel wrote, they're
dry bones, we're dry bones by nature, all of us, all the same,
we're dry dead bones and we cannot hear and we cannot believe except
the Lord comes. The Spirit of God comes and blows
and speaks upon the bones and says, live. We're all in the
same state and we need to hear this gospel. We need the Spirit
of God come unto us and say, live. Can these dry bones live? Not by themselves. Not by our
strength, not by our will, not by our wisdom. But if God so
pleased to come unto us, if he pleases to come unto us this
day and say, live, then we will live. And we need to live. We must all be born again. We need to live. We need life. We need to be born again of God. We need his life. We need Christ. You need Christ. Where is the equality of man? The equality is that we all need
Christ because we've all died as sinners. We're all dead. That's our equality, that's what
we need. Outside of Christ, outside of
his grace and his mercy and his love. We are nothing and we have
nothing. We need him. We need his grace. We need his love. We need his
gospel. We all do. This gospel is sent throughout
all the world, to the four corners of the world, to the ends of
the earth, God has declared this message throughout time and continues
to declare. Today, when you rose from your
bed, God was awake, the sun had risen in the sky, and he has
been preaching and preaches the gospel concerning his Son who
is risen in glory, risen from the dead, the Son of God, the
light of the world, a light, a sun that is brighter than the
physical sun, it's there, he's there in the glory. He's there
having come into this world to suffer for sin, to die for sinners. He's there, raised on high and
he's preaching. But do we hear? Can we hear? We're those who wander around
in the darkness, we're blind by nature, we cannot see, we
cannot hear, we're deaf. The message is there, the gospel's
there, the preaching's there, but we never hear. We cannot
hear and we don't want to hear. But God preaches. The sound goes
into all the earth, the ends of the earth. Who have believed
our report? Who have believed? It's been
preached. And we're preaching now. And
we've preached before. But do we hear? Romans 10, Paul says of Isaiah,
Isaiah is very bold and saith, I was found of them that sought
me not. I was made manifest unto them
that asked not after me. But to Israel he saith, all day
long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and
gained saying people. I've been preaching, yet we don't
want to know. Isaiah saith, Lord, who have
believed our report? Have they not heard? Yea, verily
their sound went out into all the earth and their words unto
all the ends of the world. Israel knew, but Israel rejected. You know. You know. But the heart, by nature, despises
the Son of God. God says elsewhere, look unto
me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and
there is none else. Mankind cannot say we have not
heard, we do not know. And yet we all by nature equally
reject. We deserve nothing from God but
his condemnation. Our rights, what rights have
we got? We have the right to be sentenced to eternal condemnation
because of the sins that we have committed. Willingly, freely,
continually, repeatedly against the holy God despite the fact
that he's given us life, breath, well-being in this world. All
that we have has come from him and he has preached of salvation
in his son and we've said no. Away with him. Crucify him. Yet despite this, God gave his
son for many. Christ came into this world that
hated him. He came into a world that despised
Him. He came unto sinners like you
and I in spite of our rejection, and He took their sins, and He
took their judgment, and He took the wrath of God, and He laid
down His life in their place, and He died that they might live. and He took away the condemnation,
He took away the sin, and He took away the death, and He brought
in for those who were dead in sins, everlasting righteousness
and everlasting life. And He lives today to say unto
you and I, here is life, life in the gospel. And there are those for whom
He died, who in time at an appointed time, are brought to see, to
see Him, to hear His voice in the Gospel, to see what they
are, to see their need, they are brought to cry out unto Him,
Lord save me, except thou hear me I perish, Lord have mercy
upon me the sinner, They're brought to look unto
Him, look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. We
cannot and we do not, but when God comes upon us in grace and
mercy, when the Spirit comes upon us, He'll make us call,
He'll make us cry, and He'll hear our call. he'll hear our
cry, he'll lift us up, he'll pluck us out of the grave, he'll
pluck us up out of the waters in which we're drowning and he'll
bring us under him and he'll wrap his arms around us and embrace
us as the prodigal son who's brought to his senses and returns
to his father whom he despised and yet who never cease to love
him. Oh, what a thing for God to turn
the heart of a sinner unto him. Wherein does one differ from
another? What brings one to believe when
others despise? Are they born differently? Have
they lived better than the others? Have they ears to hear that others
aren't born with? Are they rewarded for their good
deeds, their righteousness? Have they made the right decision?
No. We're all the same by nature. We have no righteousness. We're
all sinners by nature. Our will With our will we've
decided to go astray, to turn another way. We've all made the
same decision, confronted with this question, will thou follow
me? We've gone another way. And yet, there are those under
whom God comes, whose hearts are turned, who are turned under Him. who
are granted repentance, their minds are changed, their entire
way of thinking concerning God and the Gospel is altered. Once they despised Him and now
they seek Him, they rejoice in Him, they love Him. We're in one of two states, we're
either despising, we either shut our ears, we either want to run
away, or He's turned us, we love Him, we want Him. We cry out
for mercy, we either believe or we reject. We either love
God or we hate God. We either have faith or we are
blind. We either live or we are dead. We're either sheep or we are
goats. Who maketh thee to differ from
another? And what hast thou that thou
didst not receive? Why is one brought to believe
and another goes to his grave rejected? What makes them to
differ? Nothing in themselves. We're
all the same by nature. But God, who is rich in grace
and mercy. But God, we're all the same. except God
sets His grace, His love, His mercy upon us. We're all the same except for
God's choice. For election. Except for God's
electing grace. We all deserve the same condemnation. We don't have any rights, we
don't deserve anything from God's hand. But He's chosen to take
the sins of some and lay them upon his son, that he might have
mercy upon many. He's chosen to magnify his grace,
his love, his mercy, by slaying his own son in the place of many. His justice is the same, he must
condemn their sins. But for some, he condemned them
in his own son. in his own son, who laid down
his life for the sheep, for the many, for those for whom he came. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. A people that
God chose before they were ever born, before they ever did any
good or bad deeds, before they ever had any good or bad thoughts,
before they were ever here. He chose them in Christ before
the world was created and said, I will have mercy upon them.
I will love them to the end. I will give my son for them.
Did Christ die for all? He died for all his own. Does
he love all? He loves all his own. But no,
he does not love all. He loves the sheep, not the goats. He loves his chosen, not the
reprobate. Those who were chosen, not because
of anything in them or about them, anything done by them,
but purely out of God's grace and mercy. We all deserve condemnation. But God in grace has chosen,
elected to save his own. But not all. And herein lies
the offense of the gospel. This is why by nature we rail
against the gospel. How this grieves our pride. The pride and the arrogance of
man. We want things to be in our own hands. We want salvation
to be a reward for our decision or our works. We want equal claim
upon it, even though we don't want it. How foolish man is. He doesn't want this, yet he
complains that God gives it to some and not to all. How foolish
we are. as those who have sinned equally,
the same as others, and yet we rail against God's grace and
mercy. Shown to Psalm. Nay, but O man, who art thou
that replyest against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? have not the
pot of power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel
unto honour and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing
to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with
much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction,
and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the
vessels of mercy which he had aforeprepared unto glory? Even
us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of
the Gentiles. Who are we to question? But if you're ever brought to
understand and to see and to experience and to receive God's
grace and mercy in the gospel, you will rejoice that he has
chosen in his good pleasure to have mercy upon many. to have mercy upon all those
chosen in Christ, all those who are chosen in Him unto salvation,
all those who are saved from all that condemned them. He came
to deliver His people from sin, from death, from hell, from everlasting
condemnation, from the darkness of hell, from the fires of hell,
from the wrath of God. He came to deliver them from
the law and its condemnation and its penalty. He came to deliver
them from the flesh and its deceptions. He came to deliver them from
all their enemies, inside and outside, from the adversary,
from Satan himself. Christ delivers his people from
them all. He's a perfect saviour. He's
a mighty saviour. He conquered our every foe, our
every enemy. And none shall pluck us if we're
his out of his hands. If we walk in the light as he
is in the light we have fellowship one with another and the blood
of Jesus Christ his son cleanseth us from all sin, every sin, past,
present and future, all our going astray, all our unbelief. all our refusal to hear the Gospel,
all our rejection of Christ and His Gospel, all our despising
of Him, everything we did that could have put us so far from
His grace, He delivered His people from it, even though we hated
Him who loved us. He washed us clean of our hatred,
of our rejection, of our despisal, of our unbelief. He took it all
away and He put love in our hearts. Love in our hearts, that we should
love Him who first loved us. Yes, He delivered us from all
our enemies, that we should be saved from our enemies and from
the hand of all that hate us. We read in Luke chapter one.
All our enemies, this God, who gave his son to deliver his people
from all their enemies, did so and can do so because he is God,
he is sovereign, he is all-powerful. This world and all that is in
it is his. All things are under his control,
in his power. There is no enemy that can come
upon the child of God, that can pluck them out of God's hands,
that can pluck them out of Christ's hands. There is nothing that
we can do or say, nothing that anyone else can do or say, that
can take us out of God's hands. If He purposes to save us, He
will save us. He is the head of the body, the
church. who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence,
he rules over all. And he must reign, we read, until
he have put all his enemies under his feet. What a place to be put. The child of God will look on.
and will see the absolute victory of God and their Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He will see Christ rule over
all and all be brought to an end. But if we're one of Christ's
enemies, we will be put under his feet, for he is sovereign. All things,
all events, all people are under his control. Everyone. And all his sheep are in his
hands from whence no one can pluck them. They are his. They are his. He gave his life for that. He
works out all events in time for that. Everything that happens
in this world from the beginning of time and to the end of time
has one purpose. The good of God's people and
the salvation of God's people. If you look at the events going
on in the world today and wonder what's going on, take comfort. What's going on is God is saving
his people from their sins. But what about this and what
about that? Don't worry. All these events, all the wars,
all the rumors of wars, all the tragedies, all the travails,
all the disease, all the fears and concerns of man, every event
in time is brought about that God's people should be humbled,
that they should be brought low, that they should be shown their
sin, that they should cry unto God for salvation, that the gospel
should come unto them and that God should pluck them out of
condemnation. Everything happens for the fervorance
of the gospel and the kingdom of Christ. There is not one event
in this world which we may look upon and say that's terrible.
There's nothing that happens that isn't ultimately for good. All things work together for
good. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God. to them who are the
called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom He called,
them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified. What shall we say then to these
things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also make intercession for us.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation,
or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or sword? 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. Everything that happens is for
the good of God's people, their salvation. God uses all things
for their good, all things for their salvation. If we're brought
to hear this gospel, this message, this truth, we will be brought
to really hear, to believe, to receive, to live. God will do
everything he needs to save his sheep, his people. He will give
countries. He will give empires. He will
give the world if he must to save his people. And why not? He gave something far greater.
Someone far greater. He gave his own son that his
people should live. He gave His own Son that His
people should live, that He might have mercy upon all His own. And because He gave all, they
in Him receive all. In Christ we have a great inheritance. In Christ we have righteousness,
we have life. We have all the riches of God
in the person of Jesus Christ. Why? Because God have concluded
us all in unbelief that he might have mercy upon us all. Oh, the
depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out. Who have known the mind of the
Lord, who have been his counsellor? Or who have first given to him
and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him and through
him and to him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. Yes, for of him and through him
and to him are all things. Are you his? Have you heard? Has he given you, in Christ,
all things?