Well, I want you to turn with
me to Psalm 126 this week. Psalm 126. Now, I know we're
going backwards because we did Psalm 130 two weeks ago, but
never mind. There's something in Psalm 126
that I want you to see. They're very, very rich, these
short psalms. Let's read it together. Psalm
126. When the Lord turned again the
captivity of Zion, We were like them that dream. Then was our
mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then
said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things
for us, whereof we are glad. Turn again our captivity, O Lord,
as the streams in the south. They that sow in tears shall
reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth,
bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
bringing his sheaves with him." Now this is obviously written
in connection with the return from exile when Judah, that was
sent into Babylonian exile, came back from their 70 years of exile
in Babylon. All in the plan and purpose of
God. You know, God said to Isaiah,
I will raise up a king called Cyrus, and he will cause you
to come back to your land when the time that was ordained was
fulfilled. And so he did. God raised up
Cyrus, who, a heathen king, said to the Jews who were his slaves
in the land effectively, captives in the land, go back to Jerusalem
and rebuild it and rebuild the temple and re-establish the worship
of your God there. This is an important thing. Why
did he do that? Because the heart of the king is in the hand of
God. We must remember that. Remember
that in everything. The heart of the king, what the
king wants to do is in the hands of God. God orders all things
according to the counsel of his will. God orders all things for
the eternal good of the people that he has saved out of this
fallen world. He does it all. The things that
seem tragedy to us, don't think of that. Our God If you honestly
believe Him, our God has done these things for us as His people. It's not just things He does
to us, He does these things for us. What a blessed thing it is
to rest in that knowledge. Now of course, we don't just
look at the history of Israel, of Judah, of Zion. We don't just
look at the history we apply it to today for God's Word. Here, this Word, these are they
which speak of Christ and of our union with Christ as his
people. Zion is the people of God. Israel
is a picture of the church. It pictures captivity as picturing
sin, the bondage of sin. We by nature Though the people
of God from all eternity, if you're in Christ, if you believe
Him, you know that that's the case. Yet, you have been in the
bondage of sin. And He, by the gospel of His
grace, and the work that He has accomplished, has released you.
He's turned again your captivity. He's turned again the captivity
of Zion. He's caused rejoicing. Then was
our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing.
Then said they among the heathen, even the heathen said this, the
Lord hath done great things for them. liberty, and rejoicing.
But verse 3 is where I want to get to, and this is the text
I want to consider. This is the people's testimony.
The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad. The Lord hath... what an economy
of words, and yet what depth, what profundity of truth. The
Lord hath done great things for us, whereof, because of this,
We're glad. We're glad because he's done
great things for us. So I want to look at three things
this morning with you. Who are the us that it's speaking
of? Us? Who? Who is it? Who are the
us that it's speaking of? Then what are some of the great
things that he has done for us? And then the gladness that results
from those great things. First of all, who are the us? that it speaks of here. The Lord
has done great things for us. You know, these two letters,
US, us, they appear again and again and again in the scriptures
and you know, it is vital to know who they're talking about. Who is it? Who's the us that
they're talking about? It's God's people. It's the people
of God. as opposed to the people of the
world and the world's religion. It's the people of God. I don't
mean people who believe there is a God, I mean the people of
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ. The God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. God's people, Zion, where God
makes his abode, they will be my people and I will be their
God. I will come and make, we will
come and make our abode with him, says Jesus in John's Gospel. The people of God is the dwelling
place of God. The Zion, glorious things of
thee are spoken. Zion, city of our God. This is
who it is. God's people. Zion, city of our
God. The people who believe him. They
believe Him. The people who, as Paul says
to the Philippians, worship Him in the Spirit. They worship God
truly. They don't go through external
motions and liturgies and practices in their ornate cathedrals and
church buildings and religious mosques and all the rest. They
don't do that. They worship Him truly in the Spirit. If you don't
worship God in the heart, in the Spirit, If you don't worship
God Monday to Saturday, you certainly don't worship God Sunday. I don't
care where you go or what you do, you do not worship God. Those
who believe Him, those who worship Him in the Spirit, those who
rejoice in Christ Jesus, they rejoice in Christ Jesus. What's
the cause of their rejoicing? Christ Jesus. Who He is. What
He's done. Where He is now. What He's doing
now. What it guarantees for them.
they rejoice in Christ Jesus. And this flesh, and this world,
they have no confidence in it. They have no confidence in what
they are, or what they have done, or what they might ever be. No,
they rejoice in Christ Jesus with no confidence in the flesh.
But who are they? Who are they? They're those whom
God foreknew. Before there was ever time, before
there was ever a world, those that he foreknew. And you know
what that word means? It doesn't mean that he had a
crystal ball and was able to see who would choose him. Don't
you believe that lie? It's a pernicious lie, peddled
by people that do not like what the Word of God truly says. He
foreknew them in that he foreordained them. That's the same word. It's
exactly the same word. In some places it's translated
foreknew, in others it's translated foreordained, but it's the same
word. It means that God ordered the events. He foreordained it.
He predestinated them. These people, he predestinated
them to the adoption of children by Christ Jesus. He predestinated
them that at a point in time they would know they were the
children of God, who had received the adoption of the Father. They're
called the children of God. You who were dead in trespasses
and sins, children of wrath even as others, now has he quickened.
The Spirit has come and quickened them and brought about that predestination
of the adoption of children. He called them before time was
in eternity. He called them in the name of
his Son. He gave them a name. which was
their husband's name. The church is the bride of Christ,
the people of Christ, Zion is the bride of Christ. And before
time began, God betrothed them, betrothed them to the Son, and
gave them His name. he had that name, that the church
was given his name, united with him, because he took full responsibility
for everything to do with them, called in him, and because of
that, justified, justified, from everything that the works of
the law of Moses could never justify us from. He justified
us. He counted us before the justice
and law of God as perfectly righteous. Of perfectly deserving the heaven
of God. Of perfectly fitted for eternity. Justified us. And glorified us. There. You say, well we're not
there yet. No, this is talking about outside
of time. He's glorified His people in eternity. In His Son. He tells
us in his word, who are they, us? They're the people that were
chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world. They were saved,
as Paul writes to Timothy, in accordance with his purpose and
grace which was given us in Christ Jesus, when? Before the world
began. Before it began. This is, this
is, this is deep, awesome truth, isn't it? In the gospel of grace.
God's purpose, God's purpose. You might have a purpose, I might
have a purpose, politicians might have a purpose, they don't achieve
it. Rarely do they achieve what they set out to do, but God purposed
before the beginning of time to save his elect, the people
of his choice, the people he loved with an everlasting love,
the people he loved with a dis- oh I don't like this, it's not
fair, it's what God's word says. a discriminating, sovereign love,
who were born, not of the will of man, nor of the will of the
flesh, nor of blood, but of the will of God. This is what the
Scripture says. Born of the will of God, these
are the us, these are the us for whom the Lord has done great
things These are the ones who were put in Christ in the covenant,
the new covenant in his blood, the covenant of salvation, the
covenant of grace, the covenant whereby the Godhead Agreed. It's too weak a word. I was struggling.
It's too weak a word, but I think you know what I mean. Where the
Father chose, where the Son came to redeem, to perfectly pay the
price that was necessary of redemption. And the Spirit undertakes to
bring each and every lost sheep into the fold of the Saviour.
Covenanted salvation. This is a covenant. And the covenant
is between God. The parties of the Godhead. Not
between us and God, the covenant is in the Godhead to save a people. Yes, he shows us that covenant
in a covenant with us, a faith, a covenant of faith, but it in
no way depends on what we do, for he has done everything. This
is a people who are predestinated to be conformed to the image
of God's Son. conformed to the image of his
son. God has an elect. You know, people in religion,
people, as Cliff was saying to us earlier, people in even reformed
Bible-believing religion, as they say, don't like the idea
that God is sovereign, and God has an elect. And for his elect,
God has done great things. He has done great things for
us. This is what our text says. Our
God has done great things for us. But you see, that's, if you
like, And that's doctrinally the position that the us is in. That's doctrinally the position
that the us is in. But, it's more than that. It's
what you feel. It's what you experience. These
people, the us, they don't just know something in their head,
they have experienced it. They have felt salvation in the
soul, in the core of their being. You see, It's irrelevant what
doctrine you know. I'm sure there are plenty of
people who can tell me what the Greek and the Hebrew is in this
particular place and they can, using systematic theology, they
can work out all the details of it and they can answer exam
questions better than I ever can. But it's irrelevant what
doctrine you know. This is the important thing.
Do you know Christ? Do you know Him? That I might
know Him and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness.
Turn over to that testimony of Paul, Philippians chapter 3.
Philippians chapter 3. You see, this is experience,
isn't it? It's not just head knowledge. It's not just doctrinal
knowledge. It's practical experience. Look
at verse 7. in chapter 3. Paul is talking
about his credentials, his CV we might say, or his resume.
In the first six verses he's saying that when it comes to
religious credentials. He is a Jew of the Jews, a Hebrew
of the Hebrews, a Pharisee. According to the law, blameless. They couldn't accuse him of anything.
He was zealous for his religion. He was zealous for that which
he had learned. He was persecuting the Church
of God. But then look at verse 7. But
what things were gained to me those I counted loss, the things
that I valued so highly, the things upon which I put so much
store, so much dependence. I counted them as worthless,
absolute rubbish. Yea, doubtless, I count all things
but loss." Why? For the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus, my Lord. See how personal this is? My
Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. Oh, you've
had a terrible life, haven't you, Paul? I've learned in whatsoever
state I am, said Paul, therewith to be content. Oh, that we might
learn that. the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things, and do
count them, those things, those religious credentials, I count
them but done. that I may win Christ and be
found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of
the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ." Through
what Christ did. Not through my believing, that
righteousness, not which God rewards me with because I've
done Him a favor of believing. That's not what it says. Read
the words. It's the faith of Christ that makes me righteous. It's what He has done. It's the
righteousness which is of God by faith. Not of me, that I may
know Him. and the power of his resurrection.
This is it, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection
and the fellowship of his sufferings, to know what it is and where
he's put me because of what he is and who he is and what he's
done, being made conformable unto his death, if by any means
I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." That's a powerful
testimony. These people don't just know
doctrine in their heads, they feel it in their experience,
in their hearts. They know what it is to have
been captive to sin. They know what it is to have
been captive in Zion. When the Lord turned again the
captivity of Zion, they were taken away and put in captivity,
picturing the people of God and where we are by nature in the
flesh, captive to sin, ruined, You know what we just sang in
that hymn? Ruined to know that. Vile. What did Job say? Job, have you considered, said
God to Satan, have you considered my servant Job? There is none
like him. Perfect, as men count perfection. A man who eschews evil. And when
Job who had heard of God, saw with his eye, what was his response? I am vile. Knowing what I am
by nature in the flesh, knowing captivity to sin, knowing the
weight of the law of God, because what does the law of God do?
He comes and it stops every mouth. You know how we always object
and say, no it's not me, I'm not really guilty, and you ought
to understand this, when the law of God comes and convicts
the sinner, every mouth is stopped. Every mouth. When the law of
God comes and convicts, you shut up. You just stop your mouth,
and you stop objecting. You know what you are by nature.
You know that you're a sinner. All hope of self is destroyed. You come as the prodigal son
to an end of yourself. Have you known any measure of
that? Have you known it? Because Jesus
said this, he said, I came to save the sick. It's not the well,
it's not the hole that need a physician, but those that are sick. Those
are the ones he came to save. He came to seek and to save,
not those that are confident in their own religious standing.
He came to seek and to save that which was lost and at an end
of itself. Have you felt the burden of guilt?
as pilgrim in pilgrim's progress, had that great burden on his
back until he came to the foot of the cross where he saw that
that burden had been dealt with and it fell off and it disappeared
down into that tomb. Burden with sin, have you heard
the call of Christ? Say, come unto me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, under a burden of sin, because I will
give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, for my
yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Has your love of the world,
and let's not kid one another. However pious we might think
ourselves, we all love the world. But John says, little children,
to believers, little children, love not the world, nor the things
of the world. Little children, love not the
world. Yes, he's given us all things
freely to enjoy. He's given us oil to make our
faces shine and wine to gladden our hearts, but little children,
love not the world. Love not the world. Here we have
no continuing city. We look for a city whose builder
and maker, the foundations of which, whose builder and maker
is God. That's where our affections are
set. Set your affections on things above, where Christ is, not on
the things of this earth. Lay up for yourself treasures
in heaven, not on earth, where moth and rust. I don't care how
big your fortune is. I don't care how comfortably
placed you are, or how prosperous you are. lay up treasure in heaven. Have you done that? Has that
been your experience? Has your love of the world been
replaced by a good hope of eternity? Where am I going? I'm heading
for glory. I'm heading for eternal glory.
And the time is getting nearer, for every day we're one day's
journey nearer that eternal resting place. Have you found in Christ
Jesus, our Lord, have you found there peace with God in believing? Oh, what a thing it is to be
those who are by nature the enemies of God, at enmity with God, to
know that God is angry with the wicked every day, that God in
righteous justice and holiness must punish sin, and I am a sinner,
and then to find in Christ peace with God, peace from God, and
our Lord Jesus Christ. How often does Paul start his
epistles with those very words, peace from God. Peace from God
in believing the gospel, the proof of election, the proof
that you're amongst the us of which this verse speaks, is that
you have a credible profession in that it's not just something
in your head. And oh yes, you slip and you fall and you go
backwards, but your progress is generally towards heaven.
You walk in accordance with the spirit and not the flesh. And
when you fall, oh how you seek to be restored to that right
relationship with God. These alone are the us of which
this is speaking of. Not everyone without exception,
as people who read this book in the flesh, without the understanding
of the spirit, love to say, the Lord has done great things for
us all, everyone without, no he hasn't. He's done great things
for his people, for his elect. And therefore, it's certain and
sure. But now let's look, what are
some of the great things that he's done? I've picked out five
things that he's done, and no doubt there are many more. Count
your blessings if you can. Who can count? Who can number
the blessings of God? They're without measure, the
blessings of God. But here are some, here are five.
And it's all summed up in this. It's all summed up in the triune
God, our Father, His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit,
saving His people from every sin. saving his people from every
sin. How has he brought his people
to the experience of salvation? How has he done the great things
for us? Of which the summation is he
saved his people from every sin, from the consequence of every
sin, from the punishment of every sin. He saved his people. First of all, he's revealed gospel
truth to us. Oh, what great things he has
done. Where sin and where Satan has blinded us by nature in the
flesh, he has revealed gospel truth. 2 Corinthians 4 verse
4, the God of this world, Satan, little g, the God of this world,
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. But for the us, here's a great
thing that he's done. God, who calls light to shine
in the darkness at creation. When God said in the beginning
of Genesis, in the beginning the earth was without form and
void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. And God said,
let there be light. And there was light. And God
saw the light, that it was good. He who spoke then has shined
in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Is that not a great thing? Is that not a wonderful thing? That when you look at the darkness
and blindness of people in this world all around us, who are
just getting up and going to work and going through their
routine and getting older, and what have they got to look forward
to? but an increasingly troubled old age of failing physical strength,
of failing physical mind, of all of these things. It's no
fun. It's no fun in the flesh. Yes, we have brief glimpses of
joy for a season, but it's no fun in the flesh. What have they
got to look forward to other than the grave? And as it says
in Hebrews, those who through all their lifetimes were subject
to bondage because of the fear of that death. What lies beyond
that? We know it's appointed to man to die once, and then
the judgment. But oh, what a great thing God
has done for us, His believing people, in that He's given us
gospel truth. He's caused that light of the
knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ to
shine into our souls. What a blessing! What a blessing! You know, it says glibly, they
say in the world of business, making slick clichés, they say,
in the world of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. Well, yes,
yes, obvious. But think how true it is spiritually.
To be given spiritual sight. To be given faith. For by grace
are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. What is faith? It's the sight
of the soul. It's the sight with which the
soul sees these things of the light, of the glory, of the knowledge
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. This word, is made living to
us. This book is made living to us,
revealing gospel truth to us, speaking the things of Christ
to us, that on every page he is there, of showing us that
milepost, showing us as the roads point to London, every place
has got a signpost saying to London, so this book everywhere
is Christ, because it's in him that we find Gospel truth, gospel
knowledge. I was determined, says Paul,
to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. He speaks truth in the soul of
his people. What a great thing it is to have
gospel truth revealed. You might have heard it with
the ear, with the hearing of the ear. Have you seen it with
the sight of the soul, with the faith that God gives? Secondly,
here's a great thing that God does for his people, for us,
for the us. He gives us Holy Spirit conviction
of sin. Holy Spirit conviction of sin. John 16 verse 8 says the Holy
Spirit, the Comforter, when He comes, He will reprove the world
of sin. He reproves His people of sin. as I've already hinted. Job said,
I had heard with the hearing of the ear, but now mine eyes
see, mine eye of faith sees, and I abhor myself, and I repent
in dust and ashes, and I know that I am vile. I know what Isaiah
said, Isaiah 1 verse 6, how that I The people of God these are,
the us. He brings us to know this, that
from the sole of our foot in the flesh to the very top of
the head, there is no soundness in us. We're entirely spiritually,
sinfully leprous. As that leprosy disease was such
a picture of sin. In our flesh as we are, from
the sole of the foot to the crown of the head, there is no soundness
in us. This is what the Holy Spirit
brings the people of God to know. The world says this, and world's
religion says this. You need to learn to love yourself
in order to love others. That's what the world's religion,
that's what, that's what glib evangelicalism says. You need
to learn to love yourself in order to love others. What does
God's word say? God says you need to know the
depravity of your own heart. You need to know the vileness
of your own heart to love Christ, to cleave to Christ, to abandon
all hope of self, and thereby loving Christ, to truly love
others. What we sang in Heart's Hymn,
what comfort can a Savior bring to those who never felt their
woe? Those who are well, think they're
well, they don't need to go to the doctors, do they? What comfort
can a Savior bring to those who never felt that? They don't need
saving. They're alright. They're good enough in themselves.
No. A sinner is a sacred thing. A sinner is a holy thing. A sinner
is a thing made holy by the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost has made
him so. Why? Because he's shown him what
he is before the law of God, before the justice of God. Showing
him how far short he has fallen from the glory of God. Showing
him the debt, something of it, something of the burden, something
of the debt that there is. new life from him we must receive
before for sin we rightly grieve. The Holy Spirit must come and
switch on that awareness of the sin that we are by nature. That sin, your sins have separated
you from your God. Before we know that, to show
us how God in Christ by his spirit has dealt with us. Show us these
things. Think of people that he dealt
with. Think of Zacchaeus when our Lord
Jesus in his ministry was on the road to Jericho and the crowds
were there thronging to hear and in discriminating grace there
was one tax collector who was a fraudster because he cheated
people In his public office, as so many do in his public office,
collecting taxes, he collected far more than was necessary and
kept so much for himself. There's Zacchaeus. Oh, surely
he's not fit to be saved. He's up in a sycamore tree, and
he's looking down. And as the Savior, as the old
chorus says, as the Savior passed that way, he looked up into the
tree and said, Zacchaeus, discriminate in grace. Zacchaeus, you come
down. I'm coming to your house for
tea." He didn't say those words but you know the sentiments there.
This day has salvation come to this house because the Holy Spirit
convicted Zacchaeus. In that day, in that moment,
he met with Christ and the Holy Spirit convicted him. Peter,
Peter, Simon, the fisherman, Good at his job. Totally dedicated
to his work of fishing. And there he is. Simon, follow
me. And what does he do? Holy Spirit
conviction. He follows him. He follows him. Mary Magdalene,
who lived a life of extreme ill repute. We shouldn't delve into
the details to think what it might have been, but there would
be no end of examples today. For there's no sinner beyond
the reach beyond the reach of the gospel of Christ. Mary Magdalene,
how the Holy Spirit convicted her. How, as with Lydia, on the
riverbank in Philippi, when Paul preached and she was there trying
to be pious and the Lord opened Lydia's heart. Who did it? Paul's
preaching? No! By the foolishness of Paul's
preaching, it pleased God to open Lydia's heart. Saul of Tarsus
himself, going breathing threats and persecutions and death against
the church on the road to Damascus. Holy Spirit conviction. When
the Lord appeared, it wasn't just a vision, but it was Holy
Spirit conviction in his heart. What a great thing God has done
for us. Some of you and me, some of you,
God has done this great thing of giving you that conviction.
What about all of you? What about all listening? What
about you? Where are you now? What about
you? Has he given you that conviction of sin? Do you know there is
a voice that speaks? Jesus said in John 5 25, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, listen
to me, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God,
and they that hear shall live. What a great thing. What a great
thing! He has not left us to ourselves.
The people He loved from all eternity, the dead, in trespasses
and sins, shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that
hear shall live. Oh, that He might open every
ear that is here today to hear the gospel of His grace, to embrace
the Lord Jesus Christ. What a great thing to be so dealt
with. by God. You may say, what a bad
thing to be shown what we are in truth. What a great thing.
The Lord has done great things for us. Thirdly, God has shown
us his covenant. He's shown us his covenant. He's
shown us mysteries that the natural man with his own abilities, I
don't care how clever he is, he cannot receive them, for they're
the things of the Spirit of God. They're foolishness to the natural
man. He cannot know them. But God has shown his covenant
to his friends. God has shown his secret to his
friends. Our Lord Jesus Christ said in
John 15, 15, I have called you friends. Why? For all things
that I have heard of my father I have made known unto you. This
is what friends do, they share secrets. God, calling us his
friends, the us, what a great thing he's done. He's shown us
the secret of the eternal covenant. He's shown us that secret of
the eternal covenant. You see how different the gospel
that we believe is compared with that which is peddled today as
the gospel. That man-made gospel, which depends
on The will of man to make a decision for Christ. I heard some people
on the radio this morning singing, I have decided to follow Jesus.
Well, how good of you. Oh, what a great favor you've
done God. I've decided to follow Jesus. Oh, how good I am. No
turning back. The cross before me, the world
behind me, no turning. Who's gonna keep you? Is it all
on the strength of your decision? Is it all because you were given
a chance and you, oh, you're so good. You exercised faith
of yourself. No, that's not how it is. That's
not how it is at all. God put his people in a covenant
relationship with him, on the basis of the covenant of grace,
before the beginning of time, and it was never possible. All
that the Father gives me shall come to me. All that the Father
gives me shall come to me. He that comes I will in no wise
cast out. All of them. Of all that he's given me, this
is the will of the Father. Of all that he's given me, in
the covenant of grace, I should lose nothing. That's not my determination,
but his eternal promise. The eternal covenant. Incline
your ear, says Isaiah 55 verse 3. Incline your ear and come
unto me. Is God speaking to you through
his word? Incline your ear and come unto me, and your soul shall
live. And I will make an everlasting
covenant with you, my people. I will make promises to you. I will make promises to you,
even the sure mercies of David. The sure mercies of David. The sure mercies of David. David in his dying days wrote
these things, 2 Samuel 23 verse 5. He, God, hath made with me
an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure, for this
is all my salvation. This covenant that God made in
the triune Godhead and then with his people. This is all my salvation
and all my desire. What for one whose sin was as
black as David's was? Yes, he was a man after God's
own heart, but what was he in the flesh? But fallen and vile
and sinful. And he committed the most heinous
thing. And don't say I'm beyond it. But for the grace of God,
we would all fall into the same situation. But He has dealt with
every sin. And so the hymn writer, who I
love to quote, My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought,
My sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to His cross.
It was done there in eternity, when the Lamb was slain from
the foundation of the world, and He must come in time, into
this time realm, this time state, where we live as men and women.
of flesh and blood. He must come as a man and there
he must redeem. He must die. He must shed his
blood to pay the price of sin. This is not subject to chance. This is not giving everybody
a chance. This is not preaching the gospel
that people might exercise their will because their will is fallen
and corrupt. Not chance, but sure. It's the
sure mercies of David. Not left to the decision of a
fallen man. What great things our God has
done for us. He's eternally united us with
Christ, the us, eternally united. You know, there's so much divorce
and breaking down relationships, we know that, that's because
of the fallen world that we're in. But you know, marriage was
never intended to be thus. It was always intended to be,
till death us depart, for life. It was always intended to be
forever. That commitment, that promise,
that promise, well Christ has promised. in being united with
his people, the church, the bride of Christ. Ephesians 5, 25-27,
Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it that
he might sanctify and cleanse it. with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. How holy do you need to be to
appear before God and be accepted by him as holy as Christ has
made his church in union with him. Jesus said this to his father. He said, thine they were, the
people, his church, his bride, Zion, thine they were, and thou
gavest them me." The Father gave them to the Son. There's no chance
involved. There's no change. He did it.
All that the Father gave me shall come. Not shall have a chance
to come. How great a thing it is to be
placed in that cleft of the rock. Because the rock which was Christ
was cleft for us. God said, I'll show you my glory.
Come here in the cleft of the rock. And you shall see me. This was when Moses asked to
see God's glory. That cleft in the rock which
is Christ. That man, that man that Isaiah
speaks about in chapter 32, that man who is a hiding place from
the wind of God's judgment, of his wrath, from the tempest,
from the scorching of the sun. None can pluck them from my Father's
hand. My Father is greater than all.
Then he shows Emmanuel, This is the fifth of the great things.
He shows Immanuel making full satisfaction to the broken law
for sin. Has he shown you that? Has he
shown me that Immanuel, why do I say Immanuel? Christ, God with
us, God with us. God with us. Behold your God,
cities of Judah. Showing us the Old Testament
types of substitution, making atonement for sin. Not in reality,
but in picture. And the need of a Saviour. Look
at Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10 and verses
4 to 7. For it is not possible that the
blood of bulls and of goats in the Old Testament sacrifices
should take away sins. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not,
but a body thou hast prepared me. In burned offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure." No satisfaction was made. They
were pictures. They were like monopoly money.
It's just a picture. It cannot actually buy real goods.
thou hast had no pleasure, because those animal sacrifices never
paid the price of one's sin. They only pictured that which
was seen by faith and grasped by faith. In burnt offerings
and sacrifices thou had no pleasure. Then said I, Christ said this,
lo, I come. In the volume of the book it
is written of me to do thy will of God, thy will God. He came
to put away sacrifice, to make an end of sin. He came and accomplished
all these things. Infinite suffering, infinite
suffering on behalf of his people, an infinite savior, suffering
hell for his people, that we might go free. As when he was
arrested in the garden, and they came, the soldiers and Judas
came, and he said, you've got me now, let these, his disciples,
let these go their way, that we might go free. Why did he
do it? To give all without exception
a chance to decide for him? Is that why he did it? That's
blasphemy. That's blasphemy to the honor
of God. to his eternal covenant. His eternal covenant is to redeem
his people for God's honor. He will redeem his people. He
will save his people from their sins. And they are the ones,
the sheep, the sheep of his pasture, they hear his voice and they
come. He said to the Pharisees, he says, you don't believe because
you're not of my sheep. Didn't say it the other way around,
that's scriptural truth. He rose from the dead, Romans
4.25. He was delivered up for our transgressions
and raised for our justification. And raising him from the dead,
demonstrative proof of sin destroyed for those people, of law satisfied. What a great thing it is to see
and to experience these blessings. Blessed is the man whose transgression
is covered, whose sin is not imputed to him. Great things. Five great things. There are
many more. Think of them. He has done great things for
us. Whereof, we are glad. We are glad. The psalm is about
liberty. When the Lord turned again the
captivity of Zion, we were glad. We were like them that dream.
Max Clifford, the publicist or whatever else he is, has just
been convicted of some crimes. He's lived his life as if he
was above the law and could do whatever he wanted. But the law,
it would seem, has caught up with him and according to due
process he's been tried and found guilty and has been sentenced
to eight years in prison. A man who thought he could do
anything, he could go anywhere, he could be whatever he wanted
to be. He must be the very opposite
of glad today. He must be in utter despair that
his liberty is taken away from him. Now contrast that. Contrast
that with what we read earlier in Isaiah chapter 61. The Spirit
of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord hath appointed me, anointed
me to preach good tidings to the meek. He sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and
the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim
the acceptable year, that's the Jubilee year, the year when all
the slaves were to be set free, the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all that mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn
in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes. Lovely words. Liberty. Liberty, liberty. I grew up in
the country and we were surrounded by fields, farmer's fields of
green grass. There was never anything other
than cattle and sheep grazing on them. And it was rich, lots
of rain up there and it was rich green grass. And I remember this
time of year, And every year, it used to really amuse me to
see it as a little boy. You see, the cattle were kept
indoors all winter. They were kept in a barn, in
the dark, warm, nice, straw, hay to eat, all that kind of
thing. But about early May, the farmer used to let them out.
I don't know if they still do this agriculturally, but do you
know that those cows, those cattle, used to go leaping up the field.
You've seen little lambs bouncing on all four, you know, and like
the deer do in South Africa. What do they call it? I can't
remember the word for it. The cattle used to go, why? Because
they were at liberty. They were jumping and leaping
and dancing around the field. Honestly, it was hilarious to
watch it. That these normally docile beasts who were only interested
in eating grass or hay, were suddenly, hey! We're outside,
whereof he has made us glad. Have you had that feeling? Have
you seen the great things that our Jehovah Jesus has done for
us, causing us to rejoice in him? Why? Because we don't fear
death, because he's dealt with everything. He's dealt with our
sin. He's dealt with our judgment. He's cleansed our conscience
with his blood. He's shown us that every sin
is taken away. He's shown us liberty from the
curse of the law being made a curse for us. He hung on that tree. Cursed is everyone hanging on
a tree. Experiencing freedom from sin's
bondage. Sin shall no longer have dominion
over you. You are free from the law. knowing
God's providential care, knowing his blessings every day, knowing
that contentment of being where he's put you, with what he's
given you, because you know where he's taken you. Having faith,
these are marks of his people, of the us, having faith and hope
and love in the heart, experienced of salvation. Knowing this, that
in the Lord I have righteousness and strength. Do you remember
when Jesus healed that man possessed of devils living in the tombs,
and nobody could restrain him. He used to break the chains that
they put on him, he was so strong and wild. And he healed him. He drove out the evil spirit.
And we see that man sitting, clothed, and in his right mind
at the feet of Jesus. And he wants to come with Jesus.
There are three prayers in that passage, and I won't go into
any of the details because the time has gone. Three prayers
there, And only, the first one was from people who didn't know
Christ. They said, please go away. And he said, okay, I'll
go away. And he left them. He left them. Make sure you don't
pray that. Make sure like those people you don't pray, oh, leave
me alone. Because he might well leave you alone. And leave you
to yourself. Oh, leave Esau, Edom, to his
idols. Leave him alone. But this man,
who had found Christ, prayed that he might go with Jesus and
Jesus said to him, no, no, you go home and you tell your friends
and your family how great things the Lord has done for you and
how he's had compassion on you. Is that your experience? Let's
go and tell them how great things the Lord has done for us. Amen.