Well, I want to stay in Jeremiah
this morning and look at some verses together which pronounce
the blessing of God on his people, on the people that he saved.
But we live, don't we, in a world of such providential uncertainty. You never know what's going to
happen next. You really don't. It really is
a world of amazing, incredible, providential uncertainty. Who
knows, you know, it seems like the whole of life stretches before
you with no snags and then something suddenly arises, completely unexpected. And this is the way it is all
of the time. If you read the book of Ezekiel, as we have started
doing in our daily readings, the first chapter or so talks
about the wheels within the wheels. And it's picturing the uncertainty
of life. You know, sometimes a bit of
the wheel is at the top and then it's at the bottom and then it's
at the top and then it's at the bottom. It's metaphorical of
life, the life that we live. We all experience ups and downs. We all experience things which
feel like good at the time and things which feel dreadful at
the time. We have times of health, times
of rude health. And then we have times of sickness
and distress. We have times of riches. And then we have times of poverty.
People live in times of peace, and then in times of war. People
seem to be in safety, and then they seem to be in peril. We
all live in a world that is cursed by sin, cursed by Adam's sin,
cursed by the sin of each of us. This is the situation in
which we live. And Jeremiah pronounces God's
judgment. Throughout, if you read the book
of Jeremiah, a lot of it can be pretty hard going because
it's God judging his people for their sin. The people that called
themselves nominal Israel, and he's judging them for their sin
and telling them what's going to happen. There's condemnation
of sin. There's the certainty of the
penalty. And in the justice of God, there's
the strictness of divine justice. And this is the common lot of
every person. All of us, you and me, it's the
common lot, everybody all around us. Do we know what will be our
state in 10 years? What will be our state in 10
years? You don't know. What about one year? You don't
know. What about one week? One week
from now, do you know what will be your state? No, you don't.
What about tomorrow? We don't even know that, do we?
We don't know. Somebody was driving a car along
the A27 yesterday and all of a sudden a plane appears. I'm
not saying that's going to happen to you necessarily, but you know,
this is just typical of how providentially uncertain things are. The only
certainty is this. The only certainty. Someone once
said it was death and taxes, but really the only certainty
is death and judgment. That's the only certainty. The
only issue is a question of when. But it's certain for every one
of us. Death and judgment is the only thing. that you, you
know, oh, I'm going to go to university and I'm going to do
this, that, and that. You don't know that. Oh, I'm going to do
this job or that. You don't know that. Oh, I'm
going to marry that person or that. No, you don't know that.
You don't know anything. The only thing we know for certain
is death and judgment. It's just a question of when.
It's just a question of how long. Some will live to a hundred,
others will die in their youth. That's just the way it is. But,
though God is strictly just, and he pronounces his justice
in his word, yet he constantly declares mercy and salvation
from sin's penalty. God, in this book, constantly
declares mercy and salvation from the penalty of sin. He,
you know, we were thinking a week or two back about making a difference,
as Jude says, making a difference. He makes a difference He makes
a difference. For most, it's strict, unmerciful
justice, absolute justice. But for some, those he calls
Israel, not the land, are people. Those he calls Jacob, not Jews,
are people. Those he calls Zion, the city
he calls Zion, those he calls his elect, the people of his
choice, he makes a difference for them. For them he pronounces
salvation from sin and condemnation. In his word, God speaks to his
people, to those for whom he has made a difference. That's
what this book is. This book is not a general guide
to mankind as to how they ought to live. This book is God saying
to his elect, the people that he loved from before the beginning
of time, the multitude without number from every tribe and kindred
as Revelation tells us. He's telling them how he saves
them from their sins. In Jeremiah, Amidst all of the
judgment, there are these lovely pinnacles of salvation. I want
to look at a few of them with you this morning. Look in chapter
29, first of all. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 29. And I want you to look at verse
10. Jeremiah chapter 29 and verse
10. God's thoughts. Let's think about
God's thoughts. The title of this message is
Thoughts of Peace. This is what he says, for thus
saith the Lord, that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon,
I will visit you and perform my good word toward you in causing
you to return to this place. Listen, for I know the thoughts
that I think toward you, saith the Lord. thoughts of peace and
not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon
me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto
you, and ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search
for me with all your heart, and I will be found of you, saith
the Lord, and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather
you from all the nations and from all the places whither I
have driven you, saith the Lord, and I will bring you again into
the place once I have caused you to be carried away captive.
The context is the Babylonian captivity. Jeremiah was passing
on God's message that for their sin they would go into captivity.
Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans would overrun them, would take
them captive, would destroy their city, would destroy their temple
for their idolatry and all of their wicked ways and they would
take them into captivity in Babylon to be the servants of the king
of Babylon. But he's saying after 70 years You're going to come
back. I'm going to bring you back.
That's the context of the literal words written. the captivity,
the literal captivity of Israel and Judah. But this book and
this captivity is vividly typical of the salvation of God's elect,
for all his people by nature are children of wrath even as
others, all are in the bondage of sin and Satan, all have no
power in the flesh to do that which pleases God, all are slaves
of sin, all are in captivity, all are under condemnation by
nature and the recovery is vividly typical of the salvation that
God promises his people. God who must condemn sin. God must condemn sin. Is that
a bit harsh? Why? Why? Because that's the
nature of God. If God did not condemn sin, God
would not be God. He is the God who, as Psalm 7
verse 11 says, God is angry with the wicked every day. You know,
you'll hear Arminian preachers, these big, you know, God loves
you and has a wonderful plan for your life. I don't know where
they get that from in the Word of God, but God's Word says this,
God is angry with the wicked every day. That's what God's
Word says. God's Word says this, Ezekiel
18, 20, the soul that sins, it shall die. Who's that? All. There is none righteous, no not
one. This God, who must condemn sin, says to his elect, look
what it says in verse 11, this is what, in the midst of his
having in justice, and in the nature of his being as God, condemn
sin and punish sin. This is what he says to the son
that he has chosen. I know the thoughts that I think
toward you, said the Lord. Thoughts of peace, and not of
evil, to give you an expected end. He has only thoughts of
peace for his people, not of evil. What does this mean? To give you an expected end.
It means to give you a dependable expectation of eternal good. Do you have a dependable expectation
of eternal good? Do you know, as that hymn says,
it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. If today
is the day that God takes me from this life, to stand before
the judgment seat of Christ, do you know that today You will
hear those words. Come, you blessed of my father.
Enter into the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. Why? Because you're one of his sheep.
You go into glory with him. Do you have that dependable expectation
of eternal good? Because the Lord God says to
the people of his choice, I know the thoughts. He knows the thoughts
that he thinks of sin. He must condemn it. He's angry
with the wicked every day, but I know the thoughts that I think
toward you, my people, is what he's saying, saith the Lord.
thoughts of peace. Condemnation and wrath doesn't
speak of peace, but he's talking of peace, not of evil, to give
you an expected end. These are the things that he
says. Though in the flesh that we live in there is enmity, There
is naturally enmity, this is what the word of God says, Romans
8, 7 and 8, the carnal mind, do you know what the carnal mind
is? The fleshly mind, the mind of
the flesh, your mind and my mind as we are as human beings in
this flesh, the carnal mind is enmity against God, is in opposition
against God. In our flesh we're naturally
in opposition against God, for it's not subject to the law of
God. Neither indeed can be. So then, they that are in the
flesh, living their lives in the flesh, motivated by the flesh,
satisfying the desires of the flesh, they cannot please God. Those people cannot please God.
But look at Ephesians chapter 2, verse 11. Ephesians chapter
2, verse 11. Turn with me there now. Let's
just read a few verses here. Ephesians 2 verse 11 the chapter
that opens saying what we were if we're believers if we're those
who Have reason to count ourselves amongst the elect of God He says
that you were children of wrath even as others you were you were
walking You were dead in trespasses and sins in your flesh, but then
look at verse 11 wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles
in the flesh, that means out of the people of God, by the
flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision
in the flesh, you know, the Jews called the Gentiles dogs, just
not fit to, you know, couldn't eat with them, couldn't spend
time with them, that at that time, verse 12, ye were without
Christ. You were without Christ. Before
you believed the Gospel, whatever God had done in eternity for
your soul, at that time in your flesh, you were without Christ. You were aliens, foreigners,
enemies from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the
covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the
world. You know that expected end that
Jeremiah talked about? You didn't have that before you
believed Christ. But now, in Christ Jesus, ye
who sometimes, you who then, were far off, are made near. What's made you near? The blood
of Christ. The blood of Christ has made
you near. For What does God say? He says, I know the thoughts
that I think to you. Thoughts of peace. How does he
think thoughts of peace? Verse 14 of Ephesians 2. He,
our Lord Jesus Christ, is our peace, who hath made both one
and hath broken down the middle wall of petition between us,
having abolished in his flesh the enmity. He's abolished that
opposition, that enmity with God. Even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, for to make himself of twain one
new man, so making peace. Who for? For the son, for the
son that God speaks to, for the son that God chose in Christ
before the foundation of the world. God in Christ has abolished
in his flesh the enmity, so making peace. I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace. In our
Lord Jesus Christ, thoughts of peace. Where God's justice demands
no mercy, God's grace in Christ God's grace in Christ demands
deliverance. How does it demand deliverance?
It's by the perfection of the divine being of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and his infinite human death. God in himself, in the
spirit of his being, could not redeem man. He had to become
man to redeem man. He had to become man to satisfy
justice for man. In that being, in the perfection
of his divine being, and in his infinite human death, and that
precious blood that he shed, He demands deliverance. Job cries
out, Job 33, 24, when he's pronouncing what God has said, deliver him,
the sinner. from going down to the pit. Why?
Why does God deliver someone from going down to the pit of
hell? How does God deliver someone? How does God release someone
from going down to the pit of hell? He says this, for I have
found a ransom. The ransom he's found is the
justice that is established in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
for the people of his choice. And what are the results of it?
Look at the results of it. Verse 12 of Jeremiah 29. You're
a people who I've got thoughts of peace toward, not of evil,
to give you an expected end. And you shall call upon me, and
you shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you."
When Ananias was told to minister to the needs of Saul of Tarsus,
on his way to Damascus when he was struck with that vision of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he said, I'm frightened of
him because I've heard that he's coming to do evil to Christians.
And the Lord said to Ananias, don't be afraid. You'll find
him. He's praying. He's praying. He's one of my
children. He's praying. He may have come breathing out
threats and violence and death to you, but he's praying. He's
praying you shall call upon me and you shall go and pray unto
me and I will hearken and you shall seek me God's people will
seek he makes them willing in the day of his power to seek
him and Seeking they shall find seek and you shall find our Lord
Jesus Christ said this no doubt referring to these scriptures
when you shall search for me with all your heart and If with
all your heart you truly seek me, you shall ever surely find
me, thus says the Lord. You shall seek me and find me
when you shall search for me with all your heart, and I will
be found of you." You know, people say, oh, there's not enough evidence
of God. Ah, he hides himself from those who are determined
not to believe. But you, in whose heart he's put that willingness
to seek him, he says, I will be found of you, saith the Lord,
and I will turn away your captivity. Yes, he's talking literally here
of the captivity in Babylon. But he's talking of our captivity
as the slaves of sin and of Satan. I will gather you from all nations
and from all the places where I have driven you, saith the
Lord. And I will bring you again to the place whence I caused
you to be carried away captive. These are the results of his
thoughts of peace. You'll call and pray and God
will hear. You'll seek and search with your
heart and you will find and you will be gathered into the kingdom
of God from all nations. It's wonderful to have fellowship
with other believers around the world. To know, you know, there's
the man that we know of via Harry in Pakistan, and you think, what
a blessing it is that there, in such a dark society, under
the thrall of Islam, the dreadful, dreadful thrall, there is a man
who is preaching sovereign grace. to know that fellowship, that
kingdom of God, people from all nations believing this gospel
of his grace. In a world of such providential
uncertainty, this is solid. This is dependable. This is certainty. This is what the people of God
have that nobody else has. Nobody else in this world. Nobody
else has. Nobody else has. Why? Because
this depends only on the God who has pronounced it. Then turn
over to chapter 31, chapter 31 and verse 31 chapter 31 and verse
31 where we have the promise that God gives that's quoted
in Hebrews chapter 8 behold the days come saith the Lord that
I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with
the house of Judah and I won't read all the rest of it because
we read it in Hebrews it's a direct quote of those words the peace
that is promised God promises peace. I know the thoughts that
I think toward you, thoughts of peace. That promise of peace,
you know, if somebody gives you a promise, somebody promises
you that in a certain amount of time they'll do something
for you, they'll give you something, they'll leave something to you,
you know, that might happen. And you say, well, what's underwriting
that promise? I mean, people might forget.
that they might lose their mind and forget that they promised
it. What underpins the fact that that is done? How can I be sure
that that is going to come to... Well, you have a legal document.
You write your last will and testament. You give your goods
to your children and all that kind of thing. There's a legal
document that underpins what you want to happen. Well, God
has underwritten his promises with a legal document, a solemn
undertaking, a solemn undertaking. Normally, a legal document is
an agreement between two or more persons. But this is a covenant,
this legal agreement, this new covenant with the House of Israel
is not between the House of Israel and God, but between the persons
of the Godhead. and therefore it doesn't depend
upon those who are the beneficiaries of that covenant. This is God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit covenanting
together in eternity to save a people from the justice that
they deserve. It's a new covenant, it's a unilateral
covenant between the persons of the Godhead, but it's a new
covenant replacing the old. The old covenant being the covenant
of law that was given when they came out of Egypt at Mount Sinai. And so you say, well, is this
new? Well, it's newly revealed. You see, because it was first.
This new covenant that is being spoken of here always was the
first covenant, but it was hidden from ages and from generations.
It's newly revealed in the gospel age. The old one of works, do
this and you shall live, was faulty. Hebrews chapter 8 verse
7 tells us that. The old covenant was faulty.
It needed to be replaced. Why did it need to be replaced?
What was the old covenant? Do these things and you shall
live and you shall be my people. Do these temple sacrifices and
I will forgive your sins. Do all of these things with these
priests and these prophets and I will forgive your sins and
I will be your God and you will be my people. Why was it faulty?
It was faulty because it was only typical. What do I mean
by only typical? It was only the design drawing.
It wasn't the reality. You know, I could show you a
plan of a lovely house, and you could say, oh yes, I can see
how that's going to be, oh what a lovely room that's going to
be, oh look at the furnishings, look at the facilities it's going
to have, look how it's laid out, look at where the gardens are
going, oh what a beautiful place that's going to be. But come
the storms of winter, That drawing isn't going to keep you safe,
is it? That drawing isn't going to keep the weather from you.
That drawing is not going to keep the rain from down the back
of your neck. Because it's just a drawing. You can envisage what
it will be like, but it's not the reality. And so it is. With
the Old Covenant, it just draws a picture, typically, of what
it is going to be like. But the reality is the thing
that accomplishes the purpose. The reality, the completed building
is what keeps you dry, not the design of it, the completed building. The old covenant couldn't save
anyone in itself, but the new covenant, which is the everlasting
covenant, the always was covenant, the one that was out of time
in eternity, that covenant, that eternal covenant, accomplishes
its purposes. Hebrews 13.20 says, now the God
of peace who brought our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead through
the blood of the everlasting covenant. That everlasting covenant
is the same as this new covenant, it's just newly revealed. It's
based on justice that is satisfied from all eternity, as our first
hymn was telling us. Revelation 13, 8. Those whose
names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. The Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. Oh, we were slain at Calvary
2,000 years ago. Yes, yes, in time. in time, but
in the economy of God, slain from the foundation of the world
in eternity. Always his people were in him,
always his people were justified in him from all eternity. The
old was broken, verse 32, of Jeremiah 31, not according to
the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that
I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt,
which my covenant they break, although I was an husband to
them, said the Lord, but this shall be the covenant I will
make with the house of Israel. After those days I will put my
law in their inward parts, I'll write it on their hearts, I'll
be their God and they shall be my people. This covenant was
broken by weak flesh, the old covenant, but the new covenant
is eternal and unbreakable. Why is it unbreakable? Because
it's unilateral. Because it's only the persons
of the Godhead that agree to it. And being God, those persons
of the Godhead cannot change. Cannot change. It has four characteristics. He says, I'll put my laws in
their minds, in the minds of his people. What's the law he's
talking about? He's not talking just about ten
commandments, he's talking about his gospel, his revelation of
salvation. He's talking about what the scriptures
call the royal law of Christ. He's talking about repentance
in the heart, faith in the heart. godliness, imparted and imputed
righteousness, and a nature that he gives that is a godly nature. These laws are not written on
tablets of stone as were the Ten Commandments, but they're
written on the flesh of the heart. They will know me, he says, so
that the child of God says this, as the Psalmist in Psalm 119,
O how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day. John says, to Christians, 1 John
5 verse 3, his commandments are not grievous. To the believing
heart, the gospel precepts of God are not grievous. Secondly, he talks about, I will
be their God and they shall be my people. This is a special,
particular relationship, one of grace. The family of God,
citizens of Zion, I will be their God and they shall be my people. The passport is irrevocable. The passport of this kingdom
is irrevocable. It's permanent. It cannot be
changed. It's written in heaven, in the
Lamb's Book of Life. It's without human intercession.
He says, They shall teach no more every man his neighbor and
every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall
all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them.
For I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.
It's without human intercession of priests. You know, churches
love to have priests, don't they? Sometimes they call them pastors,
but they mean priests to them. No, no. They shall all know me. without any human intercession
as priests. Each of them will be given the
mind of Christ. First Corinthians 2, 14-16 talks
about the natural man not receiving the things of the Spirit of God.
He can't know them, they're foolishness to him. But to the child of God
we have the mind of Christ. He gives that mind, he writes
it on the hearts of his people, gives them that mind. He tells
us in Revelation 1, verse 6 that his people whom he loved in Christ
before the foundation of the world, are made kings and priests
unto God. Every one of them. Not just a
certain number, every one of them. What does Peter say? We
are a holy nation, a kingdom of I'm mixing up the quotation,
but you know the bit of one Peter that I'm talking about. We're
a holy nation. Priests unto God. The priesthood of all believers.
Priests unto God. And then fourthly, he says forgiveness. I will forgive their iniquity.
I will remember their sin no more. Forgiveness. Forgiveness. Not based on just mercy, where
it's like, okay, I'll forgive you, but on justice. He forgives
because of justice. And why? Because it's based on
Christ's satisfaction of justice. For God to be just, He has to
forgive the sins of the people for whom Christ died. He cannot
not forgive those sins. It would be unjust of Him not
to. So 1 John 1 verse 9, John tells
us, He, God, is faithful unjust to forgive us our sins. He's
not just faithful to forgive us our sins, he's just in forgiving
our sins. Why just? Because Christ has
paid the penalty for them. The debt is cleared. It would
be unjust if he didn't forgive us our sins. It's legally based. There's a certainty of accomplishment.
It's underpinned by all the nature and power, omnipotence and glory
of God, His immutability of purpose. Is this not in a life, in a day
of such providential uncertainty, is this not a solid rock? Is
this not an anchor for the soul in stormy uncertainty? Who knows
what's coming? Is this not the solid rock that
can anchor your soul for all eternity? And then thirdly, my
third point, Why did God do this? Well, we see this. Look back
in chapter 31, verses 2 to 4. Chapter 31, verses 2 to 4. Thus saith the Lord, the people
which were left of the sword found grace. This is the judgment.
Those that were left, there is a remnant that's left, found
grace in the wilderness, even Israel, when I went to cause
him to rest. The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. Therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. Again I will
build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin of Israel. Thou
shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets, and shalt go forth in
the dances of them that shall make merry. Why did God so ordain
things? Why did he so ordain things?
It's because of his grace. And what's underneath, underpinning
His grace? It is eternal love. Eternal love. Grace implies that it's undeserved,
that it's unmerited. When Moses asked God to show
him his glory, the greatest glory that God could show him was his
grace. I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious. When
Elijah was fleeing from Jezebel and he came to the cave, and
he wanted to know God's presence and guidance, there was an earthquake,
there was wind, there was fire, but God was not in the earthquake
or the wind or the fire, but he was in the still small voice.
Grace. Grace. Undeserved. Unmerited. When did he show us that grace?
It was out of time. In eternity. Ephesians 1 verse
4. He hath chosen us, his people, in him, in Christ, before the
foundation of the world. We sang in that first hymn. In
union with Christ from before the beginning of time. 2 Timothy
1 verses 9 and 10. Talking about God who has saved
us. And called us. Am I one of the
us? Am I one of the us? He has saved
us and called us with an holy calling, not according to our
works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made
manifest by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who
has abolished death and has brought immortality to light through
the gospel. Based on what? Based on what? What's it all based on? Revelation
13, 8. It talks about the book of life
of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. It's all based
on the certainty of God's electing purposes of grace, justifying
his people from all eternity. Turn to Romans chapter 8. I just
want to remind you of a couple of these verses. Romans 8, verse
29, talking of his people, for whom he did foreknow, and the
implication there is in eternity, before the beginning of time,
foreknow in electing grace. He did predestinate to be conformed
in time to the image of his son. that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren, that Christ might be the firstborn, but there
would be a people that he would save. Moreover, verse 30, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called. And you know, I've
told you before, I think that call there is not necessarily
just the call of the gospel from a preacher, but is the calling
with the name of Christ in union with him before the beginning
of time. And whom he called? them he also justified from all
eternity and whom he justified them he also glorified to give
you a certain end I know the thoughts I think of you thoughts
of peace to give you a certain end justified from all eternity
and then finally my final point very quickly God's accomplishment
look again we're back in chapter 31 of Jeremiah chapter 31 verse
10 this time God's accomplishment. He's promised,
He's told us what thoughts He has, He's told us the legal undertaking
for it, He's told us what's at the root of it, which is love
and His grace, and here's the accomplishment of it. Verse 10,
Hear the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the
isles afar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather
him. and keep him, as a shepherd doth
his flock. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob,
and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than
he. Therefore, they shall come and sing in the height of Zion,
and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, for wheat,
and for wine, and for oil, and for the young of the flock, and
of the herd. And their soul shall be as a watered garden, and they
shall not sorrow any more at all. He hath redeemed. He has redeemed. It's passed. It's done. It's accomplished.
Yet when Jeremiah wrote, it was still to happen. Christ was still
to go to the cross and die for the sins of his people in time.
But in the reckoning of God, he has redeemed us. It's done. It speaks of his certainty. As
Isaiah says in chapter 42 verse 4, he shall not fail. The servant of the Lord, the
righteous servant of the Lord, our Lord Jesus Christ. He shall
not fail. Why does he call Jesus? For he
shall save his people from their sins. Will he accomplish it?
He shall not fail. He shall not fail. Isaiah 43
verse 1. Thus saith the Lord that created
thee, O Jacob. Why Jacob? Sinners. Sinners. cheats, scoundrels, sinners,
just like we are. Jacob made Israel a prince with
God. The Lord that created thee, O
Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not. Why? For I have redeemed thee. I have
called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. He's speaking
of rescue. He's speaking of release from
the bondage of Satan. The strength of the law is sin,
and Satan is the accuser of the brethren. But who shall bring
any charge to God's elect? For Christ has died. There's
no charge outstanding on the charge seat at the bar of divine
justice for the people of God. For Christ has paid the penalty. There's no charge outstanding.
He's delivered his people from going down to the pit because
the required ransom has been found. Where has it been found?
In the blood of Christ for his people. And what does this lead
to? All of its consequences are spiritual
prosperity. Ephesians 1 verse 3 says, We've
just taken the lid off a mine of infinite spiritual treasure.
Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven. that doesn't scratch the surface.
In a world of providential uncertainty, where the only certainty is death
and judgment, for the people of God, we've just revealed in
these few verses, the blessedness of the salvation that belongs
to the people of God. This is the certainty for the
elect of God in a world of providential uncertainty. Now I ask you a
question, and ask me a question, Do you have a good hope that
you are numbered amongst God's elect? Do you have a good hope
that your name is written in the Lamb's book of life? Next
week, what I purpose to do, God willing, is to look at what marks
out the elect of God from the rest of fallen mankind. What
marks out the elect of God from the rest of fallen mankind? Amen.