preparing to preach to eternity-bound
men and women, I try my best to seek from God some understanding
of the needs that your heart has as I speak to you in God's
stead. I wonder, maybe there's somebody
sitting out there tonight, one of you, and you wonder in your
own heart if you might be allowed, a sinner, guilty, lost, helpless,
and depraved, if you might indeed be allowed to come to God trusting
his Son. So why would anybody question
that? Oh, Satan has lots of ploys. He has lots of snares by which
he attempts to take the souls of eternity-bound people. And
one of those snares is whenever you've heard the gospel of God's
grace, of Christ's effectual redemption and of God's election
and the Spirit's call. When you begin to weigh those
things in your heart, the old serpent comes along and says,
well, you can't come or do you any good to come because you're
not one of God's elect. Christ hasn't Now you listen carefully to me.
God never once calls a sinner to search and find out whether
or not he's elect. Not one time. He never once calls
a sinner to see if he can find evidence whether or not Christ
has redeemed him. He never even calls a sinner
to determine whether or not the Spirit has called him. He calls
sinners to come to him. believing Him, to look to Christ,
that's all. And if you look to Him, it's
because He chose you, and He redeemed you, and He called you.
And I'm quite certain that there's some of you sitting out there,
like myself, genuine believers, folks who
trust the Son of God. But you find a constant struggle
in your soul truly to worship God and fellowship and communion,
the sweet intercourse between your soul and your Savior seems to be so very, very hard
and near impossible. to enjoy. The coldness steals over your
heart. Indifference, callousness. Just a terrible, terrible sense
of the reality of those words expressed in our hymn. Prone
to wonder. Lord, I feel it. prone to leave
the God I love. Here's my heart. Oh, here's my
heart. Take and seal it. Seal it for
thy courts above." If I've addressed those words
to you, if I've described you, I have a word from God tonight
addressed to you. to the believer and to the unbeliever. Turn with me to Isaiah 44. Isaiah chapter 44. Now the title of my message tonight
is a threefold call from the God who is worthy, worthy of
our trust, worthy of our allegiance, worthy of our worship. worthy
of our love. The issue throughout this chapter
is the character of God. God himself raises the issue,
and God himself settles the issue. The issue throughout the chapter
is the character of God. You see, true faith finds its
basis in the character of God. If we truly trust him, it is
because he has shown himself in our hearts to be worthy of
our trust. If we truly trust him, it's because
by his word he has shown himself in our hearts to be truly worthy
of our trust. Now, my object tonight is to
show you who are God's people, and you who are yet without faith
in Jesus Christ, that our God is worthy of implicit, unreserved,
absolute faith. If he is worthy of implicit faith,
then he is worthy of implicit allegiance as well. The prophet
Jonah said, they that trust in lying vanities forsake their
own mercy. And that's what we have seen
in the first part of Isaiah 44. But now in the latter part of
the chapter, the Lord God is showing us that salvation is
of the Lord. Those who trust lying vanities
trust gods without the character of God. They trust gods without
the ability to save. They trust gods without the ability
to do them any good. But salvation is of the Lord,
and they that trust God who is the Savior, they who trust God
who is worthy of trust, they who trust God who has the character
of God, now they have great reason to rejoice and to give thanks
unto him. As I've pointed out numerous
times already, this 44th chapter of Isaiah is a prophecy and a
promise of God to Israel, that though they must, because of
their sin, go down to Babylon, Though they must, because of
their unbelief, because of their spiritual adultery, chasing after
the idols of other nations, because they had turned their backs upon
Him, they must, for a time, go down to Babylon. And this prophecy
was given a long, long time before the Babylonian captivity ever
took place. But the Lord said, you're going
to Babylon, I'm going to take you there, and in doing so, I'm
going to deal with you according to my grace toward my people. But it is also a promise of deliverance,
a very clear, explicit prophecy that he would deliver Israel
at the appointed time in the appointed way. Look in verse
28 of this chapter, and let me show you that. The Lord speaks
very plainly. He says, that saith of Cyrus,
now Cyrus was the son of the king of Persia. Do you know when
Cyrus was born? Cyrus was born at least 200 years
after this scripture was written. At least 200 years. The Lord
God speaks with absolute word of promise, and says he will
say of Cyrus, he is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure. As a matter of fact, Josephus,
in his works, says that Cyrus read this prophecy, and that's
what inspired him to go to Babylon and accomplish the deliverance
of Jerusalem, or of Israel from Babylon, and bring them back
to Jerusalem. He says, Cyrus is my shepherd. Now, Cyrus is a pagan monarch. Cyrus was raised in a pagan household. Cyrus was born of a pagan ruler. But Cyrus, in the hands of God,
is God's shepherd. And Cyrus will accomplish God's
pleasure, exactly as God has ordained. As a matter of fact,
in verse 27, he says, that saith to the deep, be dry. and I will
dry up thy rivers." Do you know how Cyrus delivered Israel out
of Babylon? How he managed to sneak in and
take Babylon by surprise? He drained up all the watercourses
and all the canals all around surrounding that vast, vast city
and marched his armies right into Babylon, which they thought
nobody said 200 years before he was
born, he would do. So this prophecy is a very clear
declaration of the return of Judah and Israel from the Babylonian
captivity. It says Cyrus will say to Jerusalem,
thou shalt be built. Those are the words Cyrus gave.
He ordered the decree. More than 200 years after this
was spoken, Cyrus said, go build But not the temple. But not the
temple. But rather he says concerning
the temple, to the temple thy foundation shall be laid. Do you know how much of the temple
was built and reconstructed after Israel returned under the rule
of Cyrus? They laid the foundation. It
was not until the reign of Darius that the temple itself was reconstructed
by the order of God. So you see in this passage a
very clear declaration of God's total sovereignty, even over
pagan nations, down to the very details of what a pagan ruler
would do on the behalf of his people. But there is more here
than Babylon, and one greater here than Cyrus. This passage
of scripture was written for our learning and our admonition.
that we, through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might
have hope. We rejoice to know that God did
this for Israel back in that day long, long ago. But what
does it have to say concerning us? Well, let's hear what the
Lord God has to say to you and me in these verses of holy inspiration. First, there is here a threefold
call from God to you and me. Look what he says in verse 21.
Remember these, O Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant. I have formed thee. Thou art
my servant, O Israel. Thou shalt not be forgotten of
me. There is the first word from
God. He says to you and me, remember,
remember. The Lord God himself is speaking.
Israel was suffering because of her sin. She had forsaken
her God, but God would not cast off his people. He was determined
to correct their sin. He was determined to chasten
them and break them off from following after the gods of other
nations. But he was determined that he
wouldn't lose them. He preserved them to himself.
And by his sovereign, gracious determination, he would bring
them back into fellowship with himself. He says to accomplish
this, remember, remember. The first step toward recovery
is remembrance. The Lord God says, remember these,
O Jacob and Israel. Remember what? Remember what
you were and where you were when I found you by my grace. Don't
ever forget that. Bless God. Thank God. Oh, how
I adore and praise him. that he will never remember our
sins against us forever. But don't you ever forget. Don't
ever forget where you were. Don't ever forget what you were
when God by his marvelous grace snatched you from the pit of
destruction as a brand from the burning and caused you to live
by his marvelous power. You hath he quickened. who were
dead in trespasses and in sins, wherein in time past you walked
according to the course of this world. You live just like everybody
else, motivated by the same things that motivates everybody else,
according to the prince and the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. Among these
ungodly ones, we all had our conversation in time past, in
the lust of our flesh. But God, who is rich in mercy,
For his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace
ye are saved. Don't forget that. Don't forget
that. You were dead, you were polluted,
you were helpless, you were perishing, you were lost, you were condemned,
but I saved you by the hand of my mercy. Remember that. Remember my distinguishing grace. Remember how I called you out
from among the heathen where you were scattered. Remember
how I called you out from among the fallen sons of Adam. Remember
how I called you and caused you to come unto me." Our Lord uses
this word again over in Revelation 2, speaking to his own people
who had left their first love. I've tried a number of times
to preach concerning that, but I've not decided it's best just to state what's said and
wait for the Spirit of God to make you know what He's talking
about. If you know what it is to leave your first love, you
know what it is. And if you don't know what it
is, all my talking will never do it. He said, you've left your
personal love. He says, remember from which
thou art fallen. Remember. Remember how it once
was with you. Remember how once it was between
you and me. Remember the sweet communion.
Remember the blessed, blessed fellowship. Remember. Remember
from which you've fallen. Remember also, thou art my servant. Isn't that amazing? Remember
these, O Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant. Remember,
I have formed thee. Remember, thou shalt not be forgotten
of me. Remember these, remember these.
Oh, what magnificent words of grace. What a powerful, powerful
demonstration of God's love. He is saying, you may forget
me, and you have. You may forsake me, and you do. But I will never forget you.
I will never forsake you. I will never forget my love for
you. I will never forget my covenant
made for you. I will never forget my promises
to you. I will never forget to be gracious
to you. So the Lord says, remember. That's
the first word, Myrtle. God speaks to you and me and
says, remember, remember. Here's a second call. Look in
verse 22. I have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgressions and as a cloud thy sins. Here's the
word, return. Now you remember, you remember? You remember what you were? Where you were when God saved
you? You remember God's distinguishing grace toward you? You remember
from whence you were fallen? You remember that you're God's
servant? You remember that the Lord God
has called you to be his own? You remember that God says, you'll
not be forgotten in me. Now, if you remember it, return.
Don't just remember how good it once was, return. Don't just
remember how blessed it once was, return. Return to me. Imagine that. God Almighty, the
God of glory, our Heavenly Father, entreats us sinful men and women
who have shamefully neglected Him to return to Him, and gives
us blessed words of assured grace to persuade us to return. That
shouldn't surprise us, should it? That shouldn't surprise us. If something were to happen between
me and my daughter and suddenly she turned against me and rebelled
against me and decided she was going She was going to leave
and had nothing more to do with me. She turned her back on me. I'll tell you something. I wouldn't give her up easy.
Would you? I wouldn't give her up easy. I might give her up, but I wouldn't
give her up easy. Let me tell you something. Bobby Estes, your
Heavenly Father flat won't give you up. He won't give his people up.
At all. Ever. He won't do it. He says,
return. Return to me. And everything in the passage
is grace. Just pure grace. Though Israel
and Jacob had departed from him, though Israel and Jacob had mingled
the worship of idols with the worship of God? Though Israel
and Jacob had sinned miserably against him, not a word is spoken
concerning their saving. Not a word. Not a word of threat. You come on back now and I'll
let you start working your way back into good favor. No. Not
a word is spoken concerning how he would have to hold them in
the sidelines for a while to see whether or not he could trust
them again. No, he just said return. return
to me, return to me, not a word of law, because, you see, God's
people are motivated always by God, by his grace, always. He never attempts to motivate
his people to do anything by threatening them or by promising
something to them in the reward of their obedience. But rather,
he simply motivates them by tugging at their hearts, making them
to know that he is gracious, always gracious. Well, where
does he fetch arguments to get us to return to him? Well, look
at verse 22. He says, I have blotted out as
a thick cloud thy transgression. and as a cloud by sins." I said
he didn't mention our sins, he does mention them, but only in
forgiveness. He says, I have blotted out as
a thick cloud by transgressions, as a cloud by sins. Our sins
and our transgressions are here compared to dark, dark, dark
clouds. Clouds that separate between
earth and heaven. And the Lord God says, I blotted
her out. Go out on a cloudy day, those
dark clouds cover the sky and they have the forebodings of
a terrible, terrible storm. And maybe you get a little fearful,
the wind's blowing and you're a little fearful of what might
happen, but when the clouds are gone, the clouds have dissipated. Oh, how blessed, how blessed,
how blessed to see the sunshine again. Well, as clouds separate
between earth and heaven, so our sins separate between us
and our God. As the clouds are scattered and
dissipated, blooded out by the rising of the sun and the stirring
of the winds, so our sins have been blooded out by the rising
of the sun of righteousness, and they have been dissipated
by the power of God the Holy Spirit speaking peace to our
hearts, calling our sins to pass from us in our own hearts and
in our own minds, declaring that our sins are forgiven. And as
the clouds Once they have been blotted out, once they have been
dissipated, once they've been scattered, they never form together
again. Never. A cloud only has one life. When it's gone, another cloud
may take its place, but that cloud's gone. Never, never, never
to come together again. And the Lord God, when he blots
out our sins, blots them out. so thoroughly that they never
gather against us again forever. And with that word, he says,
return, return to me. He says, return unto me for I
have redeemed thee. He doesn't say return and I will
redeem you. He says return for I have redeemed
you. I'm talking specifically to You
who are yet without faith in Christ now. Let me tell you something. If God calls you and you return
to Him. You return to Him. Your return
is not the condition of redemption. Your return is the fruit of redemption. He's returning to me. Return
to me. Reckon the ark has come? Oh yeah.
I have redeemed faith. I have redeemed faith. to you
who are believered but like Peter following afar off. God says
return unto me for I have redeemed thee. I sacrificed my son for
you. I gave my darling son for you
to redeem you. I have redeemed you by the precious
blood of my own dear Son. I have redeemed you by the power
and grace of my Spirit. And you belong to me. You're
mine. You're bought with a price. So
return to me and glorify God in your body and in your spirits,
which are God's. Why shouldn't you come? Why shouldn't
you return to him? He that spared not his own Son
but delivered him up for us all? How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? Oh yeah, come on. Come on. He says, return. I've redeemed
you. Everything's all right. Everything's
all right. Now look at this third word.
Sing. He says, remember. Remember.
Return. Sing. The redemption and salvation
and deliverance of God's elect is calls for joy and singing.
Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it. Shout, ye lower
parts of the earth, break forth into singing, ye mountains, O
forest, and every tree therein, for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob
and glorified himself in Israel. You see, the redemption of God's
elect is here set before us as a cause
for universal joy, for universal joy. He calls upon the creation,
the creation, the heavens, the earth, the trees, the fields,
the forests, the mountains. He calls for the whole creation
to sing, as though the whole creation might rejoice because
God has redeemed his people. Well, it may. Because the creation
was made for this purpose. God created this world that in
this world he might send his son to redeem his people. That's
the reason God said in the beginning, let there be light. That's the
reason that in the beginning God made the heavens and the
earth because God had formed a plan by which he would redeem
a people out of the fallen mess of humanity through the blood
of his own dear son. And the creation itself waits
for it. Turn back to Psalm 96. Psalm
96. Look what the psalmist says here
in verse 11. Psalm 96, verse 11. Let the heavens rejoice, and
let the earth be glad. Let the sea roar in the fullness
thereof. Let the field be joyful in all
that is therein. Then shall all the trees of the
wood rejoice before the Lord, for he cometh, for he cometh
to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with
righteousness, and the people with truth." Look at verse 7
of Psalm 98. Psalm 98 and verse 7. Let the
sea roar, and the fullness thereof, the world and they that dwell
therein. Let the floods clap their hands,
let the hills be joyful together. before the Lord, for he cometh
to judge the earth with righteousness, shall he judge the world and
the people with equity." Now, turn to Romans, chapter 8. Romans,
the 8th chapter. God's creation suffers from the
fall. God's creation suffers from sin
and the curse resulting from sin. The ground was cursed because
of man's And God's creation can never be freed from the curse
until all of God's elect are freed from the curse. And listen
to how Paul speaks. He says in verse 18, I reckon
that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared
with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest
expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the
sons of God." That is, waits for God to make manifest His
grace and glory upon His sons. For the creature was made subject
to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected
the same in hope. Because the creature itself also
shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth in pain to gather unto man. And not only
they, that is, not only the trees and the forests and the mountains
and the seas and the heavens, not only do they groan, but we
also which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves,
grown within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is, the
redemption, the resurrection of the body. More than that, the angels of
God rejoice in the redemption of God's elect, saying, O ye
heavens, there is joy in the presence of the angels, over
one sinner who repented. Joy in the presence of the angels. The angels of God were created
for this purpose, that they might be ministering spirits sent forth
to minister or to serve those who should be the heirs of salvation.
That's the reason they were made. God created that angelic race,
whatever and whoever they are, God created that great, noble
race of spirit beings and maintained them in holiness and integrity
so that they might minister to you, who are the heirs of salvation,
preserving and preserving themselves, rejoicing. You and I who are
of the lower parts of the earth, we rejoice because we are redeemed
and rejoice because God is glorified in redeeming us. The two things
seldom ever come to knowledge simultaneously, I'm sure. When
first God saved me, and the burden of guilt rolled off my heart, when for
the first time in months I could lay down and sleep with peace,
and had no more dread of God's wrath, and no more dread of God's
holiness, and no more dread of God's terror, because I'd been
redeemed. Oh, I rejoiced. But you know,
a little later on, I came to realize that he who had redeemed
me was himself glorified in redeeming me. I don't know which joy is greater.
The joy of being redeemed or the joy of knowing that my God
is glorified in the redemption of His people. He glorifies His
holy character, His justice and His mercy, His truth and His
grace, His righteousness and His goodness is glorified in
the redemption of sinners by Christ Jesus. We rejoice to give
Him the glory For the Lord hath done it. The Lord hath done it. No free will here. No works here. No mixing of grace and works
here. The Lord hath done it. And we
rejoice to declare that it's so. He chose us. He redeemed
us. He called us. He preserves us.
And he fetches us back to himself as often as we fall from him.
Now there is the threefold call. return safe. Here is the God who is worthy
of our faith, allegiance, worship, and love. In verses 24 through
28, the Lord God describes himself. Having called us to himself after
giving us gracious reasons to return to him, Our God fetches
even more reasons drawn from his own great and glorious character. He calls for us to return to
him by describing who he is and what he's done. He says, return
to me, return to me. Thus saith the Lord thy Redeemer,
and he that formed thee from the womb, I am the Lord that
maketh all things. that stretcheth forth the heavens
alone that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself." God says, return
to me, I'm God, sovereign in all creation, sovereign in all
creation. I'm going to tell you what, if
God is not sovereign, absolutely sovereign, absolutely You've
got a good reason to worry. If God is not sovereign, you
have every reason under the sun to be scared to death of Satan,
hell, and the powers of darkness. If God is not absolutely sovereign,
you have every reason under the sun to be terrified to meet whatever
it is out there that God doesn't control absolutely. But he says,
I'm sovereign over all the creation. So come on, trust me. Come on,
trust me. He says, I am the Lord thy Redeemer,
thy Redeemer. I wonder if he's an effectual
Redeemer. Well, let's see. It's I'm he that formed thee
from the womb. Formed thee from the womb. David
says you formed me in the womb. Here he says I formed you from
the womb. What he's saying is this, I am God, who by the sovereign
disposition of my own will have brought you into this world and
have molded you all the days of your life according to my
will. I am God. I am God the Lord that
maketh all things. All things. All things. Where did the covenant of God
make it? God made it. Maybe many secondary causes,
but when you get back to the root, God made it. All things are of the Lord, Paul
said. That's high doctrine. Oh, but
that's great doctrine. All things are of God. All things. He says, I am God that stretcheth
forth the heavens alone. want to know what kind of power
and greatness he's describing here, why don't you go home tonight
and get out one of your white flat sheets off of a twin bed
and try to stretch it out by yourself? Especially if there's
a little gust of wind out in the yard. Go ahead and try to
stretch it out. Or get you a piece of that thin plastic and go out
of here and try to stretch it out for 25, 30 feet. Just give
it a shot. You got to have some help. You
got to get some rocks or something they don't want in so you can
stretch out. God says, I'm God. Stretched out to heaven. There
they are. All by myself. What does it mean? I am God that
spreadeth abroad the earth. By myself. Nobody came to assist
me. I didn't need any help. And I
don't need any help from you. Nobody assisted me in stretching
out the heavens, and nobody's going to assist me in bringing
you up to heaven. Nobody assisted me in spreading
forth the earth, and nobody's going to assist me in gathering
mine inlets scattered throughout all the earth. I'm God. Totally sovereign in creation.
More than that. He says, I am God, the Lord.
Sovereign, absolutely sovereign in providence. Look what it says
in verse 25. that frustrateth the tokens of
liars, false prophets, and false gods,
lying vanities, that maketh diviners mad, that turneth the wise men
backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish. I'm gone. I'm gone. Not only sovereign
in creation, but totally sovereign over all the affairs of men in
Providence. Totally so. Totally so. Like many of you, I picked up
this morning's Lexington Herald and read that front page article
on rape. And like many of you, I've got
a daughter living by herself. Mine lives over there. And I
began to pray it. I began to pray it while I was
preparing to preach this sermon to you. Now you talk about a
reproof. Wait a minute, God. Wait a minute
now. Wait a minute now. God's in charge
of this world. God rules in prophethood. God
controls godless, reprobate men just as well as he controls the
angels in heaven. He rules everywhere and rules
all things. Sometimes when I'm traveling,
I get threatened a little bit by Shelby and Faith living here
by themselves, as if I might imagine that I had greater ability
to protect my family than God does. Why, that's sheer nonsense. But what about wicked, godless
people? Who's more wicked and godless
than a reprobate false prophet? Who's more wicked and godless
than an astrologer and a soothsayer, a fortune teller? And God says,
he frustrates the tokens of life. Why is there nothing? He makes
the soothsayer, the fortune teller, the astrologer, he makes them
mad, the diviner. He turns their counsel to nothing.
that man who takes counsel against God and against his own, will
have their counsel turned to foolishness just as God did Oedipus. He says, I am God that causes
the wise men to be turned backward and make their knowledge to be
foolishness. Now, if he is absolutely sovereign
in the rule of properties, I reckon they are right to trust him,
absolutely. Oh, I pray for grace to trust my
God absolutely. And then God fetches another
argument drawn from his own character. Not only is he sovereign in creation
and sovereign in providence, but he's sovereign in the salvation
of his people. He says in verse 26, I am God
that confirmeth the word of his servant. Here is Isaiah. As I told you
earlier, he wrote this prophecy 200 years before Cyrus was born.
And folks sitting around snickering and laughing. He's Cyrus. Where is that fella? Who ever
heard of Kilostyrus? Sounds like a Persian name to
me. And you know the Persians would never do anything to deliver
the Hebrews. Just hang on for a couple hundred
years and see if God fulfills it. Just hang on. He says, I confirm the word of
my servant and perform the counsel of my messenger. I'll do it. I'll do it. Preachers have a tendency, we
want God to perform our word right now and confirm our counsel
right now. Why, it's nonsense. God performs
his word when he pleases. And he confirms the counsel of
his messengers when he pleases. And the day is coming when God
will confirm what you've heard preached to you tonight. I don't
have any question about that. He may confirm it to you through
faith right now. But if you persist in rebellion
and unbelief, in the day of judgment, he will confirm his word. I don't
have any question about that. Then saith to Jerusalem, Jerusalem,
not the material Jerusalem, though that's what he was talking about
here immediately. He's talking about one greater than this Jerusalem. Jerusalem, which is above. the
city of our God. What's he saying? Thou shalt
be inhabited. God's going to save his elect.
The New Jerusalem is measured as the city four squares. That
means it's in perfect symmetry. There's nothing lacking, nothing
missing. But that city shall be inhabited. God's elect shall inhabit it.
And to the cities of Judah, shall be built to the assemblies of
his saints. I'll build you up. I'll build
you up. I will raise up even the decayed places thereof, but
sayeth to the deep, be dry." God speaks on behalf of his children
to the raging Red Sea. And when God speaks, Folks walked
across that sea and didn't get any mud on their feet. He said,
be dry, be dry. Boy, that's a fantastic tale.
No, that's the truth. That's the truth. Israel has
a raging swollen Jordan lying between them and the promise
of God. How on this earth shall Joshua lead that band of shepherds
across the raging Jordan River? God speaks! And the Jordan River, he saith, I will dry up thy rivers. That saith of Cyrus? Well, a man who is the God-man, that
saith of Christ, he's my shepherd. He's the one to whom I've committed
the care of my sheep. And this shepherd, he shall do
all my pleasure. Lo, I come to do thy will, O
my God. He gonna do all my pleasure.
He gonna save all my people. He's going to glorify all my
names. He's going to get to himself a people I've given to him. My
shepherds will come and present them before I and the children
which the Lord God has given me. Even saying to Jerusalem,
thou shalt be built. And to the temple, the temple
which is the church of the living God, thy foundation shall be
laid. And the Lord Jesus Christ, by
the sacrifice of himself, has laid the foundation upon which
all the temple of God is built. He is the foundation. Build on
him and live forever. Build on him and you are the
house of the living God. Children of God, as we've assembled
once more around the Lord's table, I call for us together to return
to our God. Listen to what he says in Hosea.
Let me just read it to you. Hosea chapter 6. Listen to what
God says. Gives us this counsel by his
prophets. Come, let us return to the Lord, for he hath torn,
and he will heal us. He hath smitten, and he will
bind us up. He didn't tear to kill, and he
didn't spite to kill, but he tore to heal, and he smote us
to bind us up. Listen again in Hosea 14. O Israel,
return to the Lord thy God, for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. My God, indeed we have. Return and take with you words
and turn to the Lord and say to him, take away all iniquity and receive
us graciously and we'll praise your name. We'll give you the
calves of our limbs. Return. Return. Remember, return
and sing. and to you who yet are without
Christ. Oh, today, if you will hear his
voice, harden not your hearts. I plead with you who have so
long run from God, now to return to him. Trust in Christ Jesus. Remember his word. Return, be
reconciled to God, and sing. Oh, if you now return, You are
the one to whom these words are spoken. I have blotted out as
a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins. I have redeemed thee."