I'll turn to the passage that
Peter read for us, which is Isaiah chapter 62. Twelve verses, another
short chapter, but so rich, I think, as he read it, if you were listening,
you will have seen the beauty and the richness, just the richness
of the language, never mind the spiritual truth behind it. And it's a message about God's
urgent commitment to Zion. his urgent commitment to Jerusalem. It was written in the 700s before
Christ came. It was foretelling of the Babylonian
captivity for their idolatry, but it was assuring the remnant
that they would be returned and they would be restored. And it
was literally historically fulfilled in the end of the Babylonian
captivity. Jeremiah was given the message
that it would be 70 years. And at the end of 70 years, God
raised up Cyrus and the people went back, many of them anyway. And you can read about it in
the prophecies of Haggai and of Zechariah and the history
books of Ezra and of Nehemiah. It's all about the literal fulfillment
of God restoring Zion. But you know, we always need
to look beyond what was the historical message. I mean, It may tickle
the brain cells of the historians amongst us, but what does it
do for the rest of us? What do the majority of us get
from this? This really concerns not old Jerusalem, not that pile
of old stones in the Middle East that's so viciously contested
and fought over. No, this is about the New Jerusalem,
what Paul calls in Galatians 4.26, Jerusalem which is above,
which is free, which is the mother of us all, the mother, mother,
the church, the woman that gave birth to the children of God.
This is it, it's the church of the living God. Zion is the church
of the living God. That's what it concerns, Zion,
city of our God. As we've sung a couple of times
recently, glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of
our God. It's the church of God. It's
the kingdom of God. It's the kingdom of heaven. When
Christ came and embarked on his ministry, he came preaching the
kingdom of God. That's what he came to do. He
came anointed to preach, as we saw in the last chapter. He came
for that purpose of calling out his people, his church, his bride,
his body. These are all descriptions of
the church of God, the elect of... Oh, you say that, I don't
like that word. No, give me your religion, but don't you dare
talk about election to me. I don't like that word. There's
lots of religious so-called Christians will tell you that. Yeah, they
need to get some scissors and they need to cut 50% of their
Bibles out because it teaches from start to finish the electing
grace of God. The election of God, God's election
of his people is the most glorious truth of comfort. If you were
relying on yourself, knowing what you are as a sinner, you
would never choose God. Jesus said to his disciples,
you haven't chosen me, I've chosen you. It is by grace you are saved. Not yourself, grace. Not your
works, grace. And that, through faith. And
even that is not of yourselves. It is the gift of God. No, the
elect of God is the multitude that God chose in Christ before
the beginning of time. whom he loved, as he tells Jeremiah,
loved with an everlasting love. There was never a time, and I
know eternity and time are incompatible concepts, but there was never
a time when God did not love his people, his elect multitude,
with an everlasting love. And in the covenant of grace,
Christ covenanted to come into time. God became man. God contracted to a span to redeem
to pay the purchase price, to pay the ransom price, to pay
the liberty price of that whole multitude. For He made Him who
knew no sin, the infinite God contracted to a span, our Lord
Jesus Christ. He made Him who knew no sin to
be sin. What sin? The sins of His people. That's what He made Him. He made
Him the sins of His people. And being made sin God the Father
turned his back on God the Son. God the Father poured the wrath
of divine justice out on that cross of Calvary when his body
was broken, when his blood was shed, when he poured out his
lifeblood and his soul for the redemption of his people so that
the justice of God was satisfied, so that he could say, is finished. The justice of God was finished
as far as that elect multitude was concerned, and His people,
as a result, are made the righteousness of God in Him. And not only that,
not just for now, but we're destined. Those people, that multitude,
is destined for eternal glory, according to God's unchangeable
purpose of grace. That's it. Destined for eternal
glory. You living in these maybe young
fit bodies but as you get older you'll soon discover gradually
getting torn apart by this problem and that problem and this disease
and that ailment and that physical weakness and you start to see,
do you know, It's getting to the stage where I can see I'm
really longing to leave this body. I'm really longing to leave
it. Oh, to be with Christ. You know,
Paul said, I'm in two minds, whether to stay and minister
to you or to depart and be with Christ, which is far better,
which is far better. So here in this chapter we have
God's purpose for His church, for His people, His eternal purpose
of grace and of glory. And there's an urgency about
it, and that's what I want to see in the first half, God's
urgency. Look there, for Zion's sake I
will not hold my peace. For Jerusalem's sake I will not
rest. This is God saying that He's
agitated. that he's urgent, that he's in
urgency about this. Why? Because he has an objective,
and his objective is the accomplishment of righteousness, the righteousness
thereof. Of what? Of Zion, of his people,
of his church, of the ones he chose in Christ before the beginning
of time. Righteousness and salvation.
clear, shining salvation. This is His objective. He's urgent
about it. He's urgent about accomplishing
the unrivaled triumph of Zion, of the Church of God. God's objective
is Zion's righteousness and salvation. And every time I say Zion, You
put whatever word you want, so long as it's the church, the
body of Christ, the bride of Christ, you put any of those,
it's the people of God, the elect of God. Jesus does not pray for
the world. I listened, again, you know I
often do, Radio 4, I listened to the service this morning,
and it was led by the Archbishop of Canterbury from Lambeth. Oh,
oh, oh, you know, oh, oh, oh, the traditions, oh, we cannot,
and it was, the preacher was this lady that got up and said
absolutely zero about the gospel of grace. She said absolutely
nothing, nothing, nothing about sin debt and about condemnation
and about the justice of God and about hell. And she said
absolutely nothing about the redemption that has been accomplished
in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was all about
how, if we're all nice to one another, we can make this world
so much of a nicer place. Well, no doubt we might be able
to, but there's one big problem. It's the sin and the heart of
man. as this election proceeds, and don't worry I'm not going
down a party political broadcast, but every word I hear, all of
them, I know where I vote, I've already voted, I've got a postal
vote, I know where my preferences lie, with the least bad of the
alternatives is where my preferences lie, but I tell you, everything
they say is a fantasy promise based on nothing other than hot
air and hopes that cannot be achieved. Why? Because of the
sin of man. And if you want proof of it,
look back at every government and whatever it's promised down
the last hundred years, and tell me which of them has ever produced
anything substantial according to what they promised. Why can't
they do it? Because of the sin of man. Anyway, political broadcast
over. Let's continue. Promises in this world come to
nothing. Promises in Zion, these are eternal and these are sure. Jesus does not pray for this
world, but he teaches his disciples to pray, thy kingdom come, not
the kingdom of this world. God's eternal plan, that seven
sealed scroll of the plan of God for the accomplishment of
his kingdom triumphant in Revelation, That seven-sealed scroll, which
unfolds into seven trumpets and then into seven vials, is not
about making this world a nicer place, is it? Do you remember?
It's about frustrating the kingdom of Satan. It's about frustrating
the kingdom of this world. Frustrating it to destruction,
finally, not to improvement. No, not by physical means, not
by military force, for Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this
world, but by spiritual force. All of history, all of political
empires, all of society's developments is ordained. How do I know? God
said, he causes all things, we know, he causes all things to
work together for good to those who love God, who are the called
according to his purpose. It's all ordained, all of history. Oh no, the church is too small
and insignificant to be on the world stage. Don't you believe
it? It's absolutely center to the designs and the plans and
the objectives of the God of the universe. All of these rulers,
all of these political powers down all history, yeah? Who did
what they wanted, did they? No, the scripture tells us the
heart of the king is in the hands of God. This is the will of God. This is the will of God, said
Jesus in his prayer in John 17. He said, Father, I will that
they also whom thou hast given me Be with me where I am, that
they may behold my glory. This is God's objective for His
people, and it's an urgent objective that we might be in heaven. The
people that by grace the Father chose before time began, the
people that by grace Christ redeemed by coming into this world and
taking on flesh in the likeness of the flesh of the children
that he might shed his blood for the purpose of death that
he might destroy him who has the power of death that is the
devil by the grace of the Spirit who regenerates in time to new
life every one of those whom the Father gave to the Son, that
they should attain to eternal glory, qualified for it, and
that accomplished in all that Christ has done. That is the
objective of God, and it's an urgent objective. He will not
rest until it's accomplished, till all of them are there in
glory, every single one. Every single one. Just like in
Ezekiel, the Valley of the Dry Bones, and when the Spirit of
God breathed into them, they stood on their feet a mighty
army. Army in its ranks, with everyone
in its right position, with not one missing. The glory of Christ
was this. Behold, I and the children whom
the Lord has given me. You know, he says it in Isaiah
chapter 8. Behold, I and the children. This
is his purpose in coming, is to take his children with him
to heaven. It's repeated in Hebrews. Behold,
I and the children whom he has given me. And the Psalmist says
it in Psalm 24. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory
shall come in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong and
mighty. The Lord, mighty in battle. This
is Christ coming back from the accomplishment of victory at
the cross. Then it says again, lift up your
heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up ye everlasting doors,
and the King of glory shall come in. Who is the King of glory?
The Lord of hosts. This is Him. I and the children
whom He has given me. This is the objective of God. This is the urgent objective
of God. And you say, well why hasn't
it happened? We're 2,000 years on. God is not slack as Peter
tells us. He's not slack concerning His
promise. as men count slackness. No, no,
no. He's simply gathering in all
of his elect, because all of his elect have got to come in
before the end comes. And you see, verse 4, that which
looks desolate, you shall no more, this church, this Zion,
this city of God, this people of God, this body of Christ,
you shall no more be termed forsaken, because that's what the world
looks on you as. Neither shall your land any more be termed
desolate, because that's what the world looks on you and regards
you as, but you shall be called Hepzibah. Do you have a margin? This is why a marginal Bible's
good. If you have a margin, you'll see Hepzibah, it says, my delight
is in her. Whose delight is in whom? God's
delight is in His Church, the Bride of Christ. My delight,
this is what God says about this motley bunch of sinners that
in Christ He has clothed with His righteousness. They shall
be called Hepzibah. My delight is in her. And thy
land Beulah. Beulah. Beulah. Married. Married. Who's married this land? God has married his church. God
has married his people. Married. Let me just remind you,
Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5, verse 25, husbands,
love your wives, even as, look, this is it, this is what it's
really about, even as Christ also loved the church and gave
himself for it, that he might sanctify it, make it holy. set
it apart for the service of God, that He might sanctify and cleanse
it with the washing of water by the Word. Ah, the Word of
God washes with water. That He might present it to Himself,
a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle. That's good
as we get older and we look in the mirror, isn't it? Not with
spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and
without blemish. That's how men ought to love
their wives, as Christ loved the church. You see, this church
is going to be called Hepzibah. My delight is in her. And married,
because the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.
For as a young man marries a virgin, So shall thy sons marry thee,
and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall thy
God rejoice over thee. This is Zion in glory. This is
God's urgent, overriding objective. To Him, His church of redeemed
people, look in verse 3. Thou shalt also be a crown of
glory in the hand of the Lord, not on the head, of the Lord,
in the hand of the Lord. His church is a crown of jewels
on His hand. His church is a crown, a diadem,
in the hand of God, a shining, glorious thing. Just as He says
to His people in Malachi, last prophet of the Old Testament,
chapter 3, verse 17, speaking of the same people, His church,
they shall be mine, says the Lord of hosts. In that day, when
I make up my jewels, jewels, jewels, pictures of the people
of God, of the Church of God, stones in the temple, members
of the body of Christ, jewels in the crown of the King of the
Universe. And because God is so urgent
about it, this is the second point, He sets watchmen with
urgency. Verse 6, I have set watchmen
upon thy walls, O Jerusalem. Remember, Jerusalem? And we're
not talking about that pile of bricks in the Middle East. We're
talking about the church of God. Zion, city of our God. I have
set watchmen upon thy walls, O my church, which shall never
hold their peace. Who are these watchmen? They're
preachers. God has his preachers. He set
preachers. What are the walls of the city?
What are the walls of the city of God? Salvation. Yeah, read
about it in Revelation throughout. Salvation is the walls of the
defense against the attacks of Satan. The salvation of God.
I have set preachers upon your walls of salvation, O Jerusalem,
and they shall never hold their peace. Oh, sometimes don't you
wish that preacher would shut up, eh? Don't you? Oh, he's gone
on long enough, hasn't he? When's he going to stop? When's
he going to get an end of this? No, the Word of God says, which
shall never hold their peace. Urgent! Ye that make mention
of the Lord, keep not silent. You preachers, give him no rest. Give that preacher no rest till
he establish, till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. Give God
no rest in your prayers till he establish and make Jerusalem,
his church, a praise in the earth. The Lord has sworn by his right
hand and by the arm of his strength and he promises good for his
people. This is God, because of His urgency,
raising up watchmen, preachers with urgency, to preach the triumphant
kingdom of God. There it is. Give Him no rest.
The world needs to see the glory of God, as it doesn't see it
at the moment. Give Him no rest. This isn't
a casual thing. This isn't a part-time thing.
This isn't something that you can pick up and put away and
drop just as you feel like it. This is how it pleased God to
gather Zion's citizens. How does God populate Zion with
this multitude? That as they're born and as they
grow, they are children of wrath even as others. They are dead
in trespasses and sins with no light of life, even though they
come to know that they were loved with an everlasting love. How
does it please God to gather Zion's citizens? It pleases Him
to do it by preachers, by the foolishness of preaching. Preachers
are God-ordained. It isn't religious organizations
that ordain preachers. It isn't. It isn't. The qualification
for a preacher is not a certificate from a Bible college, however
revered it might be. Absolutely not. I'll tell you
what it is. People at times have said to
me, who gave you the authority to preach? I'll tell you who
gave me the authority to preach, if you want to know. God did,
but how did I know it? It's people that tell me, we
want to hear you preach. Why? Because they say they hear
the Good Shepherd's voice. And that's the only qualification.
You know, somebody says to me, I am your pastor, therefore you
will do as you're told, you will do as I... Oh no, you don't,
mate. I'm sorry if that sounds disrespectful, but that's a fact.
Oh no, you don't. There's only one thing that qualifies
you to get my attention and to listen to you, and that's you
speak with the word of the Good Shepherd. You echo the voice
of the Good Shepherd, because Jesus said, my sheep hear my
voice. Not yours, pastor, whoever you
might be. My sheep hear my voice, and hearing,
they follow me, me. What's the preacher's job? Is
it this? Hey, look, look, look, no, it's look to him, look to
him, follow him. That's the preacher's job. You
know, you apply that test, you'll actually have a very good test
of where there's error and where there's truth. I could take you
to so-called churches near here, and right now at this moment,
you will find men who are full of themselves, boasting of their
own qualities and pointing people to follow them and to give them
their money. I guarantee it. Not pointing people to Christ.
No. It pleases God by the foolishness
of preaching. Preaching. By men. Men. Yes, even in this day. Even in
this day of political correctness. It's men. It's men that God has
ordained to preach. Why? I don't know, but that's
the way it is. That's God's order. And that's
the way it is, and we fly in the face of it to our own peril.
And he equips men of his choice. And he anoints men of his choice.
and He gives them the gifts to speak, and He burdens them with
a message that must be conveyed, and He supplies them in the situations
where they're needed with one purpose, which is to lift up
the Lord Jesus Christ, that His sheep might be drawn to Him.
In John 12, 32, Jesus said, And I, if I be lifted up from the
earth, will draw all men unto Me." He doesn't mean all without
exception, but he means all of that multitude that the Father
gave Him before the beginning of time. What the world calls
foolishness, this preaching of gospel grace, this preaching
of sovereign grace, God employs to fill Zion. God employs it
to populate Zion. Look in verse 10. There's a particular
instruction to them. Go through, go through the gates.
Prepare ye the way of the people. Cast up, cast up the highway. Gather out the stones. Lift up
a standard for the people. Build roads, build roads. This
is a particular instruction. Preach Christ. Declare salvation. Declare it accomplished by redeeming
blood. Demonstrate in your preaching
how God is just, and yet God is the justifier of those who
come to God by the Lord Jesus Christ. Mark out the road to
Zion. Mark out the road, in Pilgrim's
Progress Bunyan called it the Celestial City. Mark out the
road, the narrow way to the Celestial City. Prepare the way, cast up,
cast up the highway. Gather out the stones, clear
the obstacles, because there are obstacles on that road. You
preachers, clear those obstacles out of the way of the people
of Zion who need to come on that road to the Celestial City. In
this world, which I think you'd be very brave if you didn't accept
that it is a state of utter confusion. Look at the state of confusion
in the USA over the president and those that oppose him. Look
at the state of confusion in our own country with the election
coming less than a week away. Look at the state of turmoil
that there is all around. Look at the contention that there
is all around the world. where there are wars and rumors
of wars. Who said that? Who said that?
Who said there will be wars and rumors of wars? Jesus did. When? 2,000 years ago. Was he wrong?
No. Here we are today. Wars and rumors
of wars. There's political unrest. There's
sociological turmoil. There's moral despair. Things that 50 years ago were
clearly black and white. black and white, right and wrong,
are now turned completely on their heads. It's true, absolutely
true. That which was almost universally
despised as immoral and evil and abhorrent to the Lord is
now regarded as moral and upright and just and good. In the religious
world, there's an utter walking away from the truth. The church
and its witnesses, so-called, are lying dead in the streets.
Even those places that held to a good profession 30 or 40 years
ago are completely gone over. Look at the publishing organizations. Banner of Truth and Evangelical
Press and all of these are so compromised with falsehood now.
And neo-scientific things, and I say that advisedly, you know,
don't worry, I'm not trying to deny that at this moment the
world might be warming up, but honestly, the neo-scientific,
because it isn't science, it's wonky false science, it's not
correct, it isn't right. All of this sort of stuff is
causing such fear regarding the future. Have you ever known a
general so fearful Fearful. You know, this is why we get
the little Swedish girl screwing her face up and yelling, how
dare you, to the world's politicians. Fear of the future. Fragility
and despair. In the light of that, is not
Zion an attractive prospect? See, that's a serious question.
All listening, ask yourself, in the light of this terrible
world in which we're currently living, It's not Zion. What do I mean? What God describes
as his heaven. Read it in Revelation. I saw the new heaven and the
new earth. I saw much people in heaven. I saw the marriage
supper of the Lamb. I saw the new heaven and the
new earth. And in it, there was what? There
was no more sorrow. There was no more crying. There
was no more pain. There was no more death. God
will wipe away all tears from his people's eyes. The former
things have passed away. All of that is gone. And what
is the prospect? It's a prospect of the uninterrupted
communion of a people with their God who has loved them from all
eternity. who has saved them from their
sins, who has redeemed them, who has clothed them, who has
qualified them, who has married them, in intimate communion for
eternity, in bliss. Is that not a glorious prospect?
Oh, but I've got things to do here and now. God will give you
the space you need, however long it might be. Don't worry about
anything like that. But isn't Zion a glorious prospect? You know, there's only truth
and righteousness there. There's perfect peace, continuous
fellowship, no sin, no strife, no pain, no disease, no death.
From the perspective of a Christian trusting Christ with the hope
of heaven, as life progresses, more grows the desire to be there. Or that I might be there. Or
that I might be there with Him. Well, here's the road. There's
the celestial city. Who's the way? What's the way?
What's the road? Christ said, I am the way, the truth, and
the life. What is this road that they're to cast up? Christ, He
is the way, the truth, and the life. This world and all it seems
to offer is increasingly empty and unsatisfying. But what's
stopping you? If you're not on that road, if
you're not a member of God's church, of Zion, what's stopping
you? Well, maybe there are some hindrances.
And that I see in this gather out the stones in verse 10. Gather
out the stones. I want to think. I hope these
next 10 minutes go well. I hope it's taken in the right
way. But I want you to see, and I'm
particularly talking to any that might be listening who do not
at this stage count yourselves citizens of Zion. What do I mean
by that? You haven't called on the name
of the Lord, because it says, whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord shall be saved. Jesus said, whosoever believes
in me shall not perish, but have everlasting life. He who believes
in me has passed from death to life and shall not see death.
You haven't done that. You're not aware that you are
confirmed as a citizen of the kingdom of God. But wow, you
see a certain attraction here. You certainly see an attraction.
You see peace regarding life and death and eternity. But the
road to it seems littered with stones. Let's see if we can clear
some of them. And maybe, this is my hope, I
haven't got time, it would be an hour's long lecture, and I
don't want to give a lecture, I'm preaching the gospel. But
let's imagine some stones that might be on your road if you
are attracted, but not there yet. Right, first of all, I would
say in the day in which we live, that a great big stone in the
way of many people, on this road to the blessed prospect of Zion,
is the spirit of our age, the spirit of our society, that spirit
of rationalism, which says that everything can be explained by
the purely material, and that all the world of the media and
the science all around us constantly tell us, even if they don't use
the words, no need for God. That's what they're saying. No
need for God for our society, for me as an individual, for
anybody. The sooner we get rid of the
notion of God, the better it will be for all of us. That is
the philosophy of our society. All around us, it really is.
From the most revered, right the way down, through all the
ranks of the great scientists and political leaders and financiers
and everything. That is their message. We have
no place and no need for God. All of the scientists. You know,
Paul says to Timothy, writing 2,000 years ago, he calls it
the oppositions of science, falsely so-called. It isn't proper science. Evolution. Evolution. By which
I mean this. And I'm careful to use the right
terminology. You know, there are a lot of
people that bandy words around, they don't know what they're
talking about, really. But by evolution, I mean the invention
of new genes, the new codes for new types of life that do things
like make birds fly, and flowers flower, and eyes form in your
head. You know, new genes, by chance. You know, because you know what
they say is the fundamental equation of life is that you take a universe
full of molecules and you give it a great big almighty shake
and you leave it for an incredibly long time and the inevitable
result of that is complex things that work. Do you know something?
It's utterly, utterly, utterly impossible. So, I'm going to
try and be as quick as I can. Why do so many scientists accept
it? You see, that might be a great
big boulder in your way on the road to Zion. Why do so many
scientists accept it? I'll give you three reasons,
no doubt there are more. Firstly, The media only gives voice to
the ones that do accept it. Do you know there are plenty
of scientists that don't accept it? There are plenty that do
not believe it's true. Secondly, it's not based on science,
but it's based on their paradigm of life. It's based on what they
fundamentally believe about the meaning of life. Romans 1.28,
they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. That's the
second point. And thirdly, it's a spiritual
truth, and you only understand spiritual truth by spiritual
revelation from God on high. Hebrews 11 verse 3, through faith,
which is the gift of God, not of yourselves, through faith
we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God. There's a great big stone in
the way, but do you know, Do you know, it's possible to clear
that stone right out of the way. I'm not saying you will ever
get faith by rationalistic thinking, it's the gift of God. But let
not that be a boulder in the way on your road to the truth.
I remember years ago, There was a book written by a man called
Norman Macbeth. It's called Darwin Retried, and
you can still get it today. And he was a lawyer, a very,
very good US lawyer. And he got seriously ill, and
he had a long period of convalescence. And he thought, what should I
do during my convalescence? And he said, I know. Evolution
is this fascinating thing. They tell me it's the most amazing
thing that anybody has ever invented. I'm going to look into it, because
I'd really want to stretch my mind with it. and he brought
a lawyer's thinking to the evidence for evolution and he concluded
that it was completely unsubstantiated and absolutely untrue and he
wrote his book, Darwin Retried. I don't know whether he ever
himself became a true believing Christian but he said, this boulder
which stands in the roadway for many of you, some out there now
I know listening that think I can't go along with it because it flies
in the face of everything I'm taught at school and in society
cast out, gather up the stones, let's get rid of it. I wrote
a summary of that book by Douglas Axe a couple of years ago, undeniable. What you need to do is like,
you know what the noble Bereans did? They searched the scriptures
to see whether what Paul was saying is true. You need to not
accept these things without question. Look into them. As I say, it
won't guarantee to give you faith, but it might remove a great big
stone from your path to Zion. Do you see what I'm trying to
do? I hope I'm not giving the wrong impression. Here's another
one, and there might be many more. You have to substitute
your own. People might look at a gathering like ours and say,
well, you're not a proper church. This isn't a church. A church
has got stained glass windows and it's got vicars and priests
and archbishops and all this kind of thing. Do you know what
the word of God says? Don't believe what that says.
Don't believe what that traditional nonsense says. Well, examine
it. If you do what I did this morning and listen to their service,
you'll see how empty and shallow and utterly pointless it all
is. But what the word of God says is this. Thus says the Lord,
where two or three are gathered together in my name, said Jesus,
I am there in the midst. I'm not in your great big cathedral
with your archbishop and all of his flowing robes. I'm where
two or three, sincerely believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, are
gathered in my name. He's in the midst, and we can
confidently believe that by his Spirit he's here with us now.
Let's get rid of that stone out of the way quickly. Let's bring
another one along. You've heard me talk every week,
I hope, about election. And, you know, the doctrine of
election, that God, entirely of his own choice, and without
any regard whatsoever to the relative good or ill of any one
of the people that would live on this earth, chose a multitude
out of them for his glory, to save them from their sins, flesh
finds that sovereign grace a severe stone, stumbling block on the
road. They say, flesh says, my flesh
has said in the past, it's unfair to create beings destined to
damnation for a condition, that condition of sin, which is beyond
their control. And All who at some stage have
come to true faith have wrestled at times in their flesh with
these thoughts. You think about relatives, and
where they're going, and what their destiny is, and you think,
how does personal responsibility to believe the gospel meet the
sovereign purposes of God predestining the end from the beginning? And
I have to say, we don't know, and we'll only find out when
God reveals it to us. But we know that the God of all
the earth shall do right, We know that God is just and true
and honest and cannot do anything wrong. And Bunyan, when he confesses
in his biography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, he says
how he struggled with this. You know, the crowd in John 6
struggled, and they went away. And Jesus said to the disciples,
will you also go away? And they didn't say, no, because
we 100% agree with everything you've said. They didn't say,
no, we found it dead easy, we don't know why they had a problem
with it. He said... you've got a point, you know,
the tendency is in us, prone to wonder, Lord, I feel it, but
you alone we've seen have the words of eternal life. Lord,
I believe, help thou mine unbelief in the flesh. Yes, we always
have unbelief in the flesh and Bunyan struggled with it and
he searched the scriptures. He said, I know how I'm going
to resolve this. I'm going to look through the scriptures and
I'm going to see if there was ever a sinner who knew he was
a sinner, come to Christ for forgiveness, and end up being
refused. And he said he got to the end
of it, and he found there wasn't a solitary one. So he said, because
of that, I will go. Because he bids me come, and
has said, Him, He doesn't say Him that this, that and the other.
He says, Him that comes, I will in no wise cast out. Who does
Jesus tell to come to Him? All you who labor and are heavy
laden, and He will give you rest. Not one is cast out, not a solitary
one. Let's remove election as a boulder
in your way on the road to Zion. Maybe you think you're not good
enough for God. Well, that's true, but does not the Word of
God? You know, what says the Scripture?
All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven. The blood
of Jesus Christ cleanses us from most, no, all sins. Though your sins be a scarlet,
says God through Isaiah in chapter 1 verse 18. Though your sins
be a scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Maybe you think
you need to feel a certain... Oh, I don't feel adequately sorry
for my sins. I don't feel adequately seeking
after God. Don't look to what you feel like. Salvation is not in what you
feel like. Salvation is in Christ. Look
to Christ. Come to Christ. Don't look to
self, look to Him. Come to Christ for a repentant
heart. You say, I haven't got a repentant.
Come to Christ for a repentant heart. You say, I'm getting too
old to change. That's a stumbling block. That's
a stone on the road. Is it ever too late while it's
still the day of salvation? The dying thief, this is not
an invitation for you to put it off. Today is the day of salvation,
not tomorrow, or the day after, or when you're getting nearer
to death. But don't ever think it's too late if you are older.
The dying thief on that cross, in that moment of divine revelation,
Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. This day you
shall be with me in paradise. Or you say, whatever stage you're
at, I just need to go on with my career, with my social circle.
You see, that's a stumbling block on the road, isn't it? But you
know, God has promised to care for his people. He has promised
never to let his people go begging bread. He has promised to keep
us. Even though things get tough,
he's promised to keep his people. Peter said, we've left all and
followed you, what shall we have? Jesus said, those that have left
all and followed me have totally compensated in this life and
in the life to come, eternal life. There are so many more.
I can't believe the strength to believe is not in you, it's
in Christ come to him. The key point is that as we read
two weeks ago, two chapters back, Zion's gates are open now. And there's a certain end, a
glorious end in those last two verses, a people made holy, a
people redeemed, a people sought out by God's sovereign grace,
never more forsaken. Here's my last question, will
you Whoever you are, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
be saved for eternity. Amen.