We're gonna be in Hebrews chapter
13. Both hours this morning. We're
getting close to the end of Hebrews. Been very thankful for what the
Lord revealed in Hebrews to us. Hebrews chapter 13, and we're
only gonna look at verse eight and verse nine, but before I
read that, I'm gonna tell us that men have Over the years,
they have preached what they were taught or what they came
to and concluded on their own about who God is and about what
salvation is. And a good example of this, if you
remember in the book of Acts, Apostle Paul went to Athens And
he sits in Athens for a week watching the debaters that are
happening. You had the Stoics and Epicureans. One of them thought
that true happiness was found inside the mind where you educate
yourself with getting more information and you're able to become smarter
in that way. And that's where you would find
pure happiness. Well, the other ones believed that it was the external.
So it was what you eat or what you go visit or what you look
at, what you experience. That's the Epicureans and Stoics.
They had 12 statues there. The statue went for this God,
and this God, and this God, and that God, and that God, and all
the way down to the end. But one of them said, to the
unknown God. To the unknown God. Paul stands
up, the Lord gave him boldness to speak, confidence in the Lord,
confidence in the message God had given him, and says, I perceive
you men of Athens are superstitious. He said, To the unknown God,
he's the one I want to talk to you about. He's the one I want
to tell you about. And he preached the gospel to
him. And some said, we don't want to hear this. And others
said, we would hear more of this man. Can you come back tomorrow?
Men have always been superstitious about who God is and about how
to obtain salvation, about getting salvation, about being saved.
Lessons they've learned through different means but only through
the gospel is the Lord's truth revealed Only through his gospel. It's not going to come through
a book You're not going to see it in a hymn a nice hymn now
these things we can use to edify one another and get information
that's good. I like commentary sometimes.
I told, or somebody told me a long time ago whenever I, the Lord's
never gonna allow that to happen. It's impossible, isn't it? And
he confused their language. They couldn't talk the same language
anymore. But you have even Adam. Think about Adam walking with
God in the cool of the evening. Every evening that he did that,
I don't know how long it was, he walked with God. He walked
with God. And yet, whenever he sinned,
did he know what to do to fix the sin? Did he know exactly
what to do to appease the wrath of God? Did he know, okay, it's
gonna require blood. It's nothing I can do. No, his
nature, he's bound to his nature, the same nature we have. He said,
well, let me sow fig leaves together. Let me cover my nakedness. Let
me cover it. And that way, God won't look
at me in judgment. I'll no longer be naked. And
what did the Lord say? No, it's you have to have a lamb,
it be covered by the lamb. Blood has to be shed for without
the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin. So even
Adam, the father of us all physically did not know who God was until
God revealed himself to him till God revealed himself to him. Now we have the complete Word
of God. not just part of it. You know,
back before Moses, they didn't have any other than just the
spoken word. They didn't have any of the written word of God.
When Moses came, the Lord gave him the first five books. It's
called the Torah, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
And that's what they based how they knew God off of that. The
Lord's given us all the books of the Old Testament, all the
books of the New Testament, the complete fulfilled work of Jesus
Christ and how he saved his people from their sin. We have all of
that before us. We don't have to guess who God is and what
he's done. We don't have to guess. But the
only way we'll believe is if the Lord be our teacher. If the
Lord be our teacher. We can clearly read how God saved
his people and that our righteousness before God must be him alone.
Yet we cannot believe it in our flesh unless the Lord causes
us to. Here's the good news, whether I believe it or whether
I don't, that doesn't change God one way or another. Doesn't
change God, doesn't change his promises, he can't lie. Doesn't
change his person, doesn't change his character, doesn't change
his attributes, changes nothing about him whether I believe or
whether I don't. Changes God, doesn't change God at all. His work was finished from the
foundation of the world. He does not change. I guess you
can call that an intro. So let's read this text here. Hebrews chapter 13, two verses,
eight and nine. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday,
today, and forever. Be not carried away with diverse
and strange doctrines, for it is a good thing that the heart
be established with grace, not with meats, which have not profited
them that have been occupied therein. Now we're gonna spend
the second hour looking at that ninth verse more so than this
hour, but the eighth verse is one of the most spoken verses
in all of, well, in many different religions. Jesus Christ, the
same yesterday, today, and forever. I've titled this message The
Lord Is. The Lord Is. Did you know that there's 167
times that it is recorded in this book those words, the Lord is. We have a lot of examples, a
lot of information, a lot of communication about who he is,
his attributes, his person, his character, what he purposed to
do, when he purposed to do it, his love. We have all kinds of
information, yet how many people believed on the Lord Jesus Christ
those that he came to, because he came and walked by many that
looked right at him and didn't know who he was, did they? He
walked right past them. They didn't know who he was.
Has to be by revelation of God to know who the Lord Jesus Christ
is. He's not just the God of love,
he hates as well. Did you know that? Scripture's
very clear on this. Psalm chapter five, verse five
says, he hates all workers of iniquity. Do you know what iniquity
is? Well, when you sin, that's called
transgression of the law. And what you try to do to fix
that is called iniquity. God hates the workers of iniquity. There's only one that can fix
the sin problem that we are. Not just the sin that we do,
but what we are. and His name is Jesus Christ. His blood alone
is the only thing that can put away the sin that we do, the
sin that we are, the sin that we are. Now, He's not the God
of scheming. He displayed His work on the
cross for everyone to see, the whole world. He said, this is
my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. This was the purpose
that the world was created. This is the reason that this
world is still spinning, is for the salvation of my people. His
son was stripped, didn't have any clothes on, hanging on a
cross, for everyone to see the purpose of God. And we know that
purpose, don't we? This is a faithful saying, a
worthy of all acceptation, Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners. He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous. I didn't come to call the righteous. Somebody
said, well, I actually was talking to somebody that I used to work
with and he said, I consider myself a righteous man. And I
thought, oh my. Christ Jesus didn't come to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance and give us his righteousness. Give us his righteousness, not
by works of righteousness, which we have done, but according to
his mercy as he saved us. His purpose was clearly displayed
to the entire world to see on the cross. And he successfully
redeemed every person that he died for. Every single one has
been redeemed back to God. There's nothing more to be done.
He's not waiting for you and I to do anything. Not a choice,
not a prayer. You say, well, you have to, you
have to believe. Well, if I believe, is it possible
for a dead man to believe? No, we've got to be made alive
first. Who does that? He does. He says, live. And he gives repentance and faith.
And we believe him. We believe him. First thing I want to mention
about the Lord is is found in Numbers 14, it says, the Lord
is long-suffering. I love that, long-suffering. And of great mercy, forgiving
iniquity and transgression, but by no means clearing the guilty,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children into
the third and fourth generation. See, our only hope is his long-suffering,
his long-suffering. Those who were chosen in Christ
before the foundation of the world will receive his grace
and his mercy to believe. But did you know all he has to
do for someone to go to hell is just leave them to themselves,
just pass by them, never talk to them, never reveal himself,
just like he passed by all so many that were impotent, lame,
and sick. He passed by them, why? He chose
to heal who he healed. He chose to redeem who he redeemed
for his own good and his own glory, not for you and I. He
didn't pick certain people because they were the most attractive
or they were the most unattractive or they were the best or they
were the, he picked the worst, didn't he? He picked the worst,
picked sinners. Somebody said, I'm not that bad. You don't know how bad you are.
A sinner is the highest insult someone could receive. It is
the opposite of what God is. And to get to God's heaven, I
cannot be in sin any longer. My sin has to be put away. My
sin has to be taken and nailed to the cross, covered in the
blood. Otherwise, I have no hope of
eternal life. God is holy. He will not acquit
the guilty. Our hope is his righteousness,
that he justified us before God. Not that we justify ourself.
Not that we work righteousness based upon what we do or what
we don't do, but that he worked righteousness in everything he
did. You know, it's amazing. We talk
about being sinners and how that's just not what we do, but that's
what we are. He is righteous. Therefore, he
did righteousness. It's not just what he did, it's
who he is. He is righteousness. God must make him unto you and
I all of our wisdom, all of our righteousness, all of our sanctification,
all of our redemption, or we have no eternal life. He's long-suffering. He says
in Peter, this is a misconstrued verse that people use. He said
that he's long-suffering, not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance. But do you know what the first
part of that chapter says? To the Lord's beloved, those
who God loves. That's who he's not willing should
perish, those that he loved. Why did he choose to love them?
For his own glory, his own purpose, and grace which was given to
his people before time ever began. That's 2 Timothy 1, 9, and 10. Ephesians chapter one, verse
four. The Lord tells us all these things
throughout. This isn't just one spot we find,
that we can go from Genesis all the way to Revelation. And what
is revelation? It's the revelation of Jesus
Christ, isn't it? It's all about him and his finished
work. God is God. And I am not. He's long-suffering. He's merciful. He is God. He is God. Why did he do all this? First
Kings 860 says that all the people of the earth may know that the
Lord is God. The Lord is God and that there
is none else. If we're made to see God, we
are made to see simultaneously that we're the sinner and he's
the savior. Everybody is born believing that
they are gods. They just don't know it. Good
example of that, how many times has your child demanded you to
pick them up? How many times has a kid lied
to you and acted like something was wrong when there was nothing
really wrong? Baby's screaming, you pick them up, they quit crying,
why? They want to be held. They want attention. They want
to be worshiped. That's us by nature, we're idol
factories, born come speaking. That's what he's talking about
when he says we come from the womb speaking lies. That's what he's
saying. Baby's not hungry. That baby's
not dirty. That baby just wants to be held,
wants to be loved on. Now, there's nothing wrong with
loving on a baby. Don't get me wrong. If you get a chance to love on
a baby, love on a baby. I think that's great. But the
point is, is babies, they get their lying nature from their
parents. That's us. I didn't have to teach
my kids to lie. I didn't have to teach my kids
to steal. They watch the parents and they
know, well, dad don't do that, or mom don't do that, but we
have to teach them not to. Don't do that. That's not good.
Don't do that. Why? Because their nature is
completely, and I can't stress that word enough, our nature
is completely depraved, completely at enmity with God, completely
and utterly desolate and destitute of life. And God has to give
the life or we won't have any. I heard somebody say one time,
well, you have to do your part. A dead man can't do his part.
Man's on the operating table and he goes flatline. The doctor
look at him and say, do your part. I'll do the rest. That's
silly, isn't it? No, the doctor says, okay, he's
flatlined. We got a code blue. We better get the defibrillator
out here. This man, he may not make it, but we're gonna have
to shock him back to life. If the Lord doesn't shock us
to life, we're gonna remain dead. If he doesn't say live, we're
gonna remain dead in darkness, in darkness, not even know it
either, not even know it. Am I saying that we're dead right
now? If we're not in Christ, we are. If we're not in Christ,
we're dead. We're all born dead and trespasses
and in sin until the Lord comes and he says, live. Live. Lazarus, come forth. Calls by name, doesn't he? It's
very personal. Calls by name. Come forth. And did Lazarus say, you know,
I don't really feel like it. That's silly, isn't it? That's
silly. Came forth, and I marvel at this because it said he came
forth bound hand and foot. So did he hop? I don't know.
All I know is, is the Lord Jesus Christ said, come forth, and
here came Lazarus. And that's exactly what you and I do. And
then he said, loose him and let him go. But why didn't the Lord
just say, come forth? Well, because if he did, everybody
in that graveyard would have popped up. That's exactly why.
He has all power. He said that. He said, all power
is given to me of my father. All, that means we don't have
any. You know what I mean, power to please God? God's pleased
with one, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not pleased with what we
are, he's pleased with who Christ is. The Lord is. As the Lord shows us that we're
utterly sinful, need a great savior, we'll never need the savior.
Think about this, after Pharaoh's army, You know, Pharaoh saw,
what is Pharaoh? You talk about people who's actually
seen things and still don't believe? Number one, I can tell you why
Pharaoh didn't believe God. I can tell you exactly why he's
in hell right now. I can tell you exactly why. The
Lord said, for this cause have I raised up Pharaoh that I might
show forth my glory. That's Romans chapter nine. Pharaoh
was literally born to resist God. That was the point. Judas
was literally born to be the son of perdition. God's gonna
get his glory. Shall the thing form said to
the thing that made it, what doest thou? Who are thou to reply
to God, oh man? You're just a man, we're just
dust. Men think too highly of themselves and so did Pharaoh.
Pharaoh hardened his heart, didn't he? He said God hardened the
heart of Pharaoh. How did he do that? He left him
to himself. Did you know that? Did you know all that the Lord
has to do to harden your heart is just leave you and I to ourself? And our heart will become cold
and dark and stony He has to give us a new heart, doesn't
he? Heart of flesh, one that loves him, unto him. We're born,
our flesh hates God right now. Your flesh hates God. Flesh is
enmity against God. And the Lord didn't come to save
the flesh. He came to save the soul. Pharaoh, he decided, I
will not bow to this God. I am king, I am in charge. You're
not gonna tell me what to do. But I love, you look at the confession
sometimes of Pharaoh after some of the plagues that happened.
Pharaoh made this confession, he said, behold, I've sinned
and the Lord is righteous. Pharaoh said that. Pharaoh said
the Lord is righteous, but yet he still didn't believe. He just
come to that conclusion. I've sinned and the Lord is righteous.
So whenever you see judgment, we will confess that Jesus Christ
is Lord when we see that judgment, but that's not under salvation.
Salvation is by grace through faith, not by sight. It's not
what you see. Not with these eyes. It's through
the eyes of faith, isn't it? Well, you know what happened.
They were released from Pharaoh's power into the wilderness and
they got up against the Red Sea, but then Pharaoh decided he was
going to go slaughter them, at least he thought he was. And
so he brought his army down there to do just that. And when they
got there, the children of Israel panicked, didn't know what to
do. Moses said these words, stand still and see the salvation of
the Lord. And the Lord sent a wind, and
it parted the waters, and they were able to walk across on dry
land. And when they got to the other side, the Pharaoh's army
said, well, we can do the same thing. And they thought they
would, and they went into the water. And what'd the Lord do? The Lord
dropped the water and drowned every one of them, didn't he?
Why? For his glory, for his own purpose and grace. Moses sings
this song in the very next chapter. It says, the Lord is, that's
what we're preaching on, what the Lord is, who the Lord is.
The Lord is my strength and my song. Can you say that? The Lord is my strength and my
song. He has become my salvation. He is my God and I will prepare
him in habitation My Father is God and I will exalt Him. He
has become my salvation. Why? Because the Lord is salvation. Neither is there any other name
given among men whereby we must be saved except the name the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is our God. He is our Lord
and Savior. David saw Him this way too. All
the Lord's people, all the Lord's people will see the Lord just
like Isaiah. When the ear King Uzziah died,
I saw the Lord. Well, how do you see the Lord?
If you answer this question, how do you see the Lord? You
can really know whether you've seen the Lord or not. Do you see him
high and lifted up and seated on his throne as the complete
sovereign of the universe? And do you see all of his glory
filling the temple? That's what that train represents.
That's where we hide is underneath that train. That's our hiding
place. Is that how you see him? Yes, why? The Lord is sovereign,
the Lord is holy, the Lord is good. Tell Isaiah saw him, David
saw him this way, the Lord is my rock, the Lord is my fortress,
the Lord is my deliverer, the Lord is my God, the Lord is my
strength and whom I will trust, my buckler and the horn of my
salvation and my high tower. Sometimes you can take certain
verses and you could just put everything in there and it would
be all right, wouldn't it? But I do like that he broke down
some of those words. The Lord is my rock, my high tower. What
does that mean? That means you have a foundation
in Christ. Something to stand on. Something to stand on. There's
nothing to stand on whenever you stand before the holy eyes
of God. If you don't have Christ, you
won't have any foundation. Everything else will burn up.
It'll all turn wood, hay, and stubble, the scripture says.
But if you're standing on Christ, the solid rock, by grace alone,
You have a foundation. You have a rock. You have a hiding
place. That's what that fortress is.
Fortress is a term used, you call it a castle if you wanted
to, but it's something that's fortified. It's something that's to prevent
enemies from getting in. It's something for safety. That's
what he is to his people is our safety. He won't lose one sheep,
will he? He won't lose one sheep. Our
Lord upholds his people comforts his people gives them eternal
life and none of them are going to perish. I like what it said there says
he is the Lord is our deliverer. Deliverer. Deliverer means He's
delivered us from some things. He delivered us from certain
death, for sure. He delivered us from sin, didn't
He? At least the power of sin. Delivered us from the power of
sin. He delivered us from the penalty
of sin, didn't He? One day, He's gonna deliver us from the presence,
the presence of sin. I long for that day, don't you?
The Lord is our strength. The Lord is our salvation. The
Lord is our high tower, the righteous. David said this too, the righteous
run into it and is saved. You begin to wonder sometimes,
why didn't it say he was saved? Well, because I need to be saved
right now. And right now, what do you mean you need to be saved
right now? Well, I was saved. in eternity past before time
ever begins, what the scripture says, the Lord's people were
given to Christ before time ever began and the Lord viewed them
in Christ. That means they were righteous before time. Then I
was saved on the cross when Jesus Christ offered himself to the
father freely as the offering to put away the sin of his people.
I was also saved whenever the Lord came to me and he called
me for the first time and he says, this is what I've done.
I've saved you and you're saved. And I need to be saved right
now for myself, and right now for myself, and right now for
myself, because if he leaves me to myself, woe is me, woe
is me. He's continually saving us from
ourself. I love what David said, the Lord
is my shepherd. Well, what does that mean? That
means he's my overwatcher, overseer, protector, and defender. I saw
a lamb just recently. It wasn't as big as a loaf of
bread. I didn't know it came that small. I knew there was
miniature things, but my goodness, this thing. I thought, no wonder
wolves are scary to sheep if that's how big that little fella
is and has no way of protecting itself whatsoever. And the Lord
likens us unto his sheep, doesn't he? Calls us his sheep, calls
us his lambs. Peter, do you love me? Feed my
lambs. Feed my lambs. But then he says, the Lord is
my shepherd. I shall not want. I'll be in
want of nothing. I have everything in Christ.
Everything in Christ Jesus. I'll be in want of nothing. How do we know the Lord won't
leave us to ourself? He tells us in Isaiah 33, for the Lord
is our judge. When did he judge us? He judged
his people on the cross. Never to judge us again. Judged
his people on the cross. Everyone else has got to stand
before him and give an account for themselves. But our account
was on the cross. The Lord took our account to
himself and he made sure to put away every sin of every person
he was dying for, every one of them. The blood covers those.
He said, I've cast that sin as far as the East is from the West,
never to be remembered again. We were judged in Christ on the
cross. And when the Lord was made sin for us, then we were
made the righteousness of God in him. The account, you know
what the account reads now? Settled, clear. Matter of fact,
it's more than settled because the sin that was there no longer
exists. So it doesn't even say settled,
it's gone, isn't it? It's gone. So how do we know the Lord won't
leave us to ourself? Because we were judged in Christ. He says
the Lord is our lawgiver. The Lord is our king. He will
save us. Because he said he would. How
do you know the Lord's gonna save you, not leave it to yourself?
Because he said he would. If you're his, that's exactly
what he's gonna do. How do you know that He'll save
you? Well, we believe it by faith, don't we? But do we look at our
faith at any point and say, okay, I know that I believe because
of my faith? No, we believe this, the Lord
is faithful. The Lord is, that's the faith
that we look to, not my faith, His. And we hope that the faith
that we have is the faith that He has given, it's His faith.
Always looks to Him and gives Him all the glory. But the Lord
is faithful who shall establish you and keep you from evil. This
is who he is. This is what he's done, and this
is what he's doing. I love the thought that his works
were finished from the foundation of the world. We're seeing what
he's purposed, really. But to think that he's having
to do something now in order to protect us, I mean, it's already
done. I love that. We can't understand that, but
I love that. No, we never look at our faithfulness, but His,
His promises, because He cannot lie. You and I can lie. He cannot
lie. Everything that He's purposed,
He has completed with perfect accuracy, 100%, left nothing
undone. He's God. He is God. This isn't something left to
chance. This isn't something left to
chance. This isn't something left to me or you. This is something
that God purposed. Salvation is something God purposed.
Because of who he is, his people were redeemed. I like what Psalm 103 says about
our Lord. The Lord is merciful. You know what merciful means?
Not getting what you deserve. Merciful means not getting, what
do you deserve? What do I deserve? If we say
anything short of hail, eternal separation from God and torment,
then we haven't seen who God is yet because that's what we
deserve. For what reason? Because we're born in sin and
shapen into iniquity. And they that are in the flesh
cannot please God. Thankful the Lord is merciful.
And gracious. Next part he says is and gracious.
What does that mean? Gracious is mean getting what
you don't deserve. Lord gave us Christ. Gave his
people Christ, the substitutionary lamb, the sovereign surety of
his chosen people. He gave them Christ Jesus. You know, he gives us, I mean,
what are all the benefits of that? That's everything, isn't
it? That's everything. He's slow to anger and plenteous in mercy.
How is it that he can be slow to anger and plenteous in mercy?
Because all the wrath due us, all the hell that's due the Lord's
people was laid upon Christ when Isaiah 53 says, the Lord hath
laid upon him the iniquity of us all. All we like sheep have
gone astray. We've turned everyone into his
own way. And the Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all."
When he did that, he put away that iniquity. Therefore, he
is long-suffering. He is plenteous in mercy. He is slow to anger. Answer yourself this question,
if the Lord spared not his own son, but freely offered him up
for us all, how shall he not with him also give us all things
freely by his grace? If he spared not his son to redeem
us, what will he withhold that we need? He's gonna give us exactly
what we need. What do we need? Lord, give me
Christ lest I die. Give me mercy. Give me grace. Give me truth. We live in a world
that hates truth. They come up with their own ideas.
We started this by talking. Men come up with their own ideas
about who God is. And then they teach other men
the same thing. What did the Lord tell the Pharisees? He said,
you go around and try to make a proselyte, and when you've
made one, you've made him twofold the child of hell that you are.
You're teaching this religion that's not true. That's what
men and women are doing today. What does the Lord say? Come
unto me. You see your sin? Do you see
the sin that you are? The Lord says, come unto me.
Or do you have a righteousness that's not in Christ? The Lord
said, come unto me, all you that are labored and are heavy laden.
Are you trying to get rid of that sin? Are you labored and
heavy laden? He said, well, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly at heart. You
shall find rest to your soul. Why? He says, my yoke is easy
and my burden is light. Why is the burden light? Why
is the burden light? Because the work's finished.
There's nothing for you to do. The work is finished. He hung on that cross till God
was satisfied. There's nothing left for you
to do. No wonder David said, oh, taste and see that the Lord
is good. The Lord is good. Who's he good to? Well, he's
honestly, he's good to everybody. If you look around, you see the
grace that's given to everybody says he lets it rain on the just
as well as the unjust. Why does it rain on your non-believing
neighbor in your house too? Because God's good and he's gracious. He's gracious. He tells us, so
they were at that excuse, they stand before him and say, I didn't
know all this. I didn't know about you and this. And nature itself
shows me. You ever seen the amazing transformation
of a butterfly? Starts out as a wiggly worm,
turns into a beautiful butterfly flying out. How's that happen
in the cocoon? I don't have a clue, but I've seen it and I know it.
That's exactly what happens. And that's a picture of the new
birth. Unless we're born again and become a new creature in
Christ, We're going to die in our sin and go to hell. It's
that simple. It's that simple. But here's
the good news. The Lord is the true God. He is the living God. He is the
everlasting King. His wrath, the earth shall tremble
and the nation should not be able to abide in his indignation. None can hide from him. None
could hide from him, but all that wrath was laid upon Jesus
Christ upon the cross for a particular chosen people that God redeemed,
that God successfully redeemed. Does that comfort your heart?
to know that you didn't have any part of your salvation? Or
do you have confidence in yourself that if you had part in your
salvation, it would be, you could do what's necessary? I'll do
what's necessary. We're dead. Dead man can't do
anything but just lay there and stink. Ain't that right? Dead man can't do anything but
lay there and stink. Lord, make me alive unto Christ. Make me to know
your truth. Lord, give me the joy of your salvation. This is
all Him. Lord, I thought. But I'm going
to put my hands over my mouth and I'm not going to talk anymore
because you're God and I'm not. You're salvation. I can't do
anything to be saved. You're going to have to save
me. I'm unsavable by myself. The good news of the gospel is
Christ became the substitute of those people and endeared
the full fury of God's wrath. You know what a substitute is? Somebody that takes the place
of another. Somebody that takes the place of another. I use this
example with my children, a substitute teacher. Teacher's missing, maybe
sick, couldn't be there. They call in a sub. What's the
sub's responsibility to do? To teach the same curriculum,
to take care of the children the same way. The day that Calvary happened,
you and I might not be able to say that we were there, but in
Christ Jesus, we were there. He was our substitute. He was
our substitute. So the Lord is our substitute. He is our surety. He's the one
that says, if I fail to redeem them, hold it on my account. Put it on my account. But did
He redeem His people on the cross? Did everybody that He died for,
are they saved? He tells us plainly, it is finished. Do you believe
God or do you believe yourself? That's the question we must ask
ourselves. It is finished. What does that mean to you? That
means it is finished, doesn't it? It means it is finished. He endured the full fury of God's
anger until it was gone, until our sin was gone. And because our sin is gone,
David said this in Psalm 93, the Lord reigneth. He is clothed
with majesty. The Lord is clothed with strength,
wherewith he hath girded himself. The world also is established
and it cannot be moved. Cannot be moved. Why? God put
it there. God put it there. Because of
who he is and what he has accomplished, we have peace. with God. Because the Lord is good and
merciful, he chose to become a man and die to save his people.
Because the Lord is sovereign, he had the right to choose whoever
he wanted to. He still has that right, that
hasn't changed. Because the Lord is faithful,
he will not lose one sheep. Because the Lord is perfect,
the Lord is true, and the Lord is righteous, his people have
been made the righteousness of God in Christ. You'll never lose
one sheep. I love the thought that he said,
I'll never leave you or forsake you either. Not only will you
not lose us, but don't ever leave us. David said it this way, if
I ascend into the heavens, thou art there. If I make my bed in
hell, behold, thou art there. We can't escape him. I love that.
I love that we can't escape him. I love that we can't mess up
salvation. It's not up to you and I. We
can't fix it because it's not broken and we can't mess it up.
We're not powerful enough. We have no power, zero power. Scripture says that we are saved
not by works of righteousness we have done, but it's His righteousness,
isn't it? The Lord is salvation. The Lord
is salvation. Truly the Lord is good. The Lord
is our Savior. The Lord is our King. The Lord
is our Redeemer. 167 times the scripture says
the Lord is. I think we got through eight
of them. Oh, he's everything. He's everything
to his people. Let's pray. Father, we ask that
you would take this blessed to your people. Blessed to our understanding
for your glory and honor. Thank you for your isness, what
you are and what you revealed that we are and giving us Christ
in his name. We pray. Amen. Let's take a break.