Nahum chapter one. Nahum starts out by saying the
burden of Nineveh. So he's speaking about Nineveh
and the destruction thereof. His message is for the judgment
of Nineveh and it's utter destruction, utter judgment, desolation, utter
desolation. None can help, he says. And at
the end, as we'll read here in a moment, he tells us that they
are utterly, or at the end of this chapter, we won't get to
chapter verse 15, but the very last words it says, he is utterly
cut off. This is the message going to
Nineveh. This is the burden that Nahum
had. The burden that the gospel preacher
has is to tell the truth, the truth. And I think I said that
last week as well, but it's so true. It's my responsibility
and every preacher that stands to tell the truth of God. This message was 100 years after
Jonah. And we know in Jonah, it says
that the nation of Nineveh, the city of Nineveh, which was an
Assyrian city, it was their capital. It was the capital of Assyria. They had repented. 100 years
later, they went back to idolatry. They went back to doing what
they was doing prior to Jonah. They forgot all about God all
over again. Understand, anything that doesn't give God all the
glory stems from idolatry. That's where the root comes from,
is idolatry. The Assyrians persecuted Israel.
They mocked God. They thought they were God. They
were going to do things their way. They were going to worship
the way that they wanted to worship. And we see all the things that
they do, they have graven images, molten images. And he tells them,
he said, all your worship is vile. Everything you're doing
is an abomination. And I'm come to destroy you.
That's what the word from Nahum is. Now we see that Israel had sinned
many times against the Lord, and the Lord sent pestilences,
He sent famines, He sent wars, He sent captivity, and they were
carried away, some of them. No doubt the Assyrians had come
up against... I actually preached a message
on this one recently. It was... I can't remember the
title. I guess I should have wrote that
down, but get with me after service and I'll tell you. But recently
it was about... how the man came from the Assyrian nation to Jerusalem
and said, don't listen to Hezekiah. Don't listen to your king. What
trust do you have in that? And I believe that was the title.
What's your trust? What are we trusting in? But he said, everything
that you believe in, who's going to stand against me? I'm speaking
on behalf of the king of the Assyrians. I'm the most powerful
country in the world right now. And the Lord told Hezekiah, don't
be afraid of them. And they didn't even get to draw a sword, did
they? The Lord sent them back to where they came from. Well,
this is who we're talking about here. Nineveh, the Assyrians,
their capital. The Lord allowed these wars,
famines, and pestilences to come upon Israel. And what did they
do every time that that would happen? What did Israel do? They
cried out for mercy, didn't they? They cried out unto the Lord.
And then we see them returning back. And this is how he turns
his people. Even in today, he sends you trouble. He sends me
trouble and distresses. And what do we do in our trouble?
We cry out to the Lord, don't we? That's how he's designed
it. That's the only reason we cry out is because he allows
these things, his purpose comes to fruition. And we're continually
saying truth, Lord, you're right and I'm wrong. Truth, Lord, I
should not have drifted apart. Lord, I took my eyes off of you
and I looked at the storm and I started to sink like Peter.
And this is a story of our life. This is what we do over and over
again and have to be brought back. Well, this passage demands the
need to ask a question. Why didn't the Lord preach to
Nineveh again? Why didn't he send another prophet
to Nineveh with the ability for them to repent? Why didn't he
give them repentance a second time? You can look over the Old
Testament. We've seen it together as we
went through it. How many times did Israel turn away from God?
You can't count them, can you? I mean, maybe somebody can, but
I certainly, I couldn't tell you how many times, over and
over. It was continual, wasn't it?
And that's our life, continually turning away. And yet he brings
us back to him. So why didn't he do it to Nineveh? Why didn't
he have mercy upon them? Because they were not his chosen
people. because they were not his elect people. They were not
a nation that the Lord said, I will make a covenant with you.
This is how it started with Abraham, didn't it? It was God making
a decision to enter into a covenant with Abraham, the promise of
a Messiah, a Redeemer. We see that he didn't give that
to Nineveh. God has a spiritual people chosen before time. God chose a spiritual people
before time. Isaiah tells us, except the Lord
of hosts had left us a very small remnant, we should have been
a Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. He could
have also said been like Nineveh. Lord utterly destroys Nineveh.
I mean, he completely, the Tigris River comes and after they were
besieged by an army and completely left desolate from that on fire
and ruined, then the Tigris River overflows and buries them in
the waters of the river. And it wasn't until 1845 they
found rubble of Nineveh. Nobody knew where it was. It
was gone. That's how God dealt with these people. That's how
we see He deals with sin. He utterly destroys. He utterly
destroys. And there is no news that will
cause a believer to flee to Christ and to see exactly the desolation
that happens to the non-believer. The desolation that happens when
men are left to themselves, just as Nineveh was left to themselves.
That causes you to run to Christ, doesn't it? Lord, have mercy
upon me. Don't leave me like this. I know I deserve the same
fate as Nineveh. Cause me to be found in Christ.
I need a hiding place. I can't stand against your great
day of judgment. I can't speak for myself. My wife was called for jury duty
this week and she went in a very intimidating situation. She just
got through the interrogation portion of it where they're trying
to weed their way through and see if she's a fit candidate
to be on the jury. And it was, as it always is for
most people, I would imagine, a little bit inconvenient to
have to drop everything and go and get paid $9 a day. It was
like, what are we doing? I mean, it's just frustrating
to the flesh when things like that happen. But you know, the
Lord allowed us to see a beautiful picture, a beautiful picture
of the Day of Judgment. Now, the judge in the court of
law, he has all authority. He has complete authority. What
he says goes. And when every man stands before
the Lord, every woman stands before the Lord, God will have
supreme authority, supreme authority. Now, every instance that's happened,
whether it be good or whether it be evil, we've brought into
account every single action that's taken place. And if a man is
standing there by himself, representing himself, he'll say, yes, but
I've done this good, and I've done that good. I did this for
you, and I've done that for you. And the Lord says, depart from
me, workers of iniquity. I never knew you. I never knew
you. It's not about what you've done. It's not about what you
chose. It's not about where you walk or what you've said. It's
about holiness, things that we can understand. We are not holy.
So our hope was, as we were talking, is on the day of judgment, we
have a representative. Understand something. It is Jesus
Christ that will be the judge himself, but he'll also be our
representative. He'll be the one that stands
up for us. And the record will be read,
but it will not be read that it is mine or yours as our hope.
It will be read perfectly righteous, not one sin ever. No, he put
them away by his own blood. That's what he did for his people.
There's the difference between Nineveh and Israel right there.
Nineveh had no advocate. They had no intercessor. They
had no hope of salvation. God said, judgments come upon
you, judgments come. But yet Israel, even though they
continually turned from God, even though they continually
went after strange gods and idols and made high places and all
the things, the horrible things that they did with prostitution
and everything, the Lord said, I have a remnant. I have a remnant
that I have bought by my own blood. The good news is Romans
11, even so then at this present time, this present time, I love
when the scripture reads that way, don't you? This present
time, when is it not right now? Always right now, at this present
time, this second, in this second, there is a remnant according
to the election of grace. Scripture tells us if it's of
works, it's no longer of grace. But if it's of grace, it's no
longer of works. The lie that men fabricate and
the lie that these Ninevites believed in, that all men will
believe in by nature, is that they can be God, that they can
do something to please God. And it's not possible, is it?
They that are in the flesh cannot please God. My question this
evening is this, is it God's choice or is it man's choice? That's the question. Second Timothy
is very clear on this. Chapter 1 verse 9, God who hath
saved us and then called us. He didn't say he made an offering
to us, did he? He didn't say he was asking us
to make a decision. He said he saved us and then
he called us. And he says it's with a holy
calling, and it's not according to our works. Not our works,
but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. Men say, are you telling
me that I have nothing to do with my salvation? Yes. He said
it was before the world began. Does that make you angry or does
that give you rest? It'll do one of the two. That's
all that the gospel does to me. And they, if you hear, if you
hear it, you will either be angry or you'll rest knowing that it
was from the foundation of the world. God saved his people.
You mean I can't mess it up? Can't mess it up. It's God that
calls. It's God that justifies. He's
God. Before the world began, there's
rest in that, isn't there? Before the world began, Christ
justified his people freely by his grace. Paul goes on to say
in another place, where is boasting then? Where is boasting? I've
done this and I've done, no, no, it's excluded. There is no
boasting in this salvation by men. All glory goes to God, all
glory. He chose to save his remnant
sinners before time. God did the choosing. God did
the work. God saved his people from their
sin. Understand something. Choosing
is a work. Choosing is a work. It's something you do. If there
is one thing required that you and I do, it's not grace. It's works. No, Lord, don't leave
me to myself thinking I can make a choice or I can do a work that
would please you or to cause me to be found in Christ. It's
not possible. I'm dead in trespasses and in sin. You're going to have
to do the saving. Then you're going to have to
do the calling. And then you're going to have to do the keeping. I'm
just like Israel. I'm going to continually turn away from you.
You're going to have to draw me back over and over and over. Don't leave me to myself. Scripture says, be not deceived.
And tonight I wanna make certain that I am clear as I can be.
Be not deceived, men and brethren. God is not mocked. Whatsoever
a man soweth, that shall he also reap. If he sows to the flesh,
he shall love the flesh, reap corruption. But if he sows to
the spirit, he shall love the spirit, reap life everlasting.
What does that mean? Does that mean I need to sow
more to the spirit? If I am dead and trespasses and in sin, how
am I gonna sow to the spirit? All that I produce is sowing
to the flesh. That's all I can produce in and
of myself. What has to happen? Lord, you're gonna have to give
me a substitute. One that sowed to the spirit in everything that
he did. Cause me to look to him as my substitute and realize
I cannot do anything that pleases you in this flesh. I need a substitute,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Left to ourself, we'll be doing
nothing but meriting. All our righteousness is filthy
rag. Left to ourself, we'll be doing nothing but meriting eternal
damnation because of our iniquity. Lord, don't leave me to myself.
Now here we see, in this chapter, when God deals with sin, it's
absolute. Just like everything else that
God has ever done, it's absolute, as we heard last Wednesday. It
doesn't matter what God has done, it's absolute, it's finished.
It's finished, he doesn't try, he doesn't attempt, he doesn't
make an offer. The only time that the Lord ever
made an offer was upon the cross of Calvary, and it was the Lord
Jesus Christ offering himself to the father, knowing that his
father would accept him. God's dealing with sin is absolute. I want us to read here in Numbers
chapter one, and I want to be very clear as I can be, that
the reason Nineveh didn't believe God is because they had no faith.
They had no faith. And here in Nahum chapter one,
we see the judgment that the Lord places upon them. Now, the Lord does not give men
an opportunity, an opportunity. I think it was said in religion
a lot of times that the Lord's standing at the door knocking,
and if any man will open, I'll come in himself with him and
he with me. That's true. That's true, but it's not an offer of
salvation when he's doing that. Anybody that can open the door
will open the door, but I don't need my hand to open the door.
I need the Lord to kick the door down, is what the scripture says,
and take the strong man and bind him. The Lord has to be the one
that's stronger than me, stronger than my flesh, stronger than
Satan. The Lord has to do the work there. These Ninevites,
they weren't given faith because they weren't God's people. Everyone
does not have faith. God has not given every man faith. He's given every man a measure.
The measure is what it says. Well, sometimes the measure is
zero. Zero, don't add anything. So
let's read this here in Nahum chapter one, verse one. The burden
of Nineveh, the book of vision of Nahum, the Elkashite. God is jealous. and the Lord revengeth. The Lord
revengeth and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance
on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The Lord
is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit
the wicked. The Lord hath his way, in the
whirlwind, and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of
his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh
it dry, and dryeth up all the rivers. Bashan languisheth, and
caramel in the flower of Lebanon languisheth. The mountains quake
at Him, the hills melt, the earth is burnt at His presence. Yea,
the world and all that dwell therein, who can stand before
His indignation? Who can abide in the fierceness
of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks
are thrown down by Him. The Lord is good, a stronghold
in the day of trouble. And He knoweth them that trusteth
in Him. But with an overrunning flood, He will make an utter
end of the place thereof, and darkness shall pursue his enemies.
What do you, what do you imagine against the Lord? He will make
an utter end. Affliction shall not rise up
the second time. What does he mean, affliction
shall not rise up again the second time? It's because the first
time he does it, there will be nothing left after he's done
to afflict it. When the Lord judges, He judges
with absolute judgment. When the Lord pours out His wrath,
He pours out His wrath absolutely, all of it, every bit of it. He wiped Nineveh off the face
of the earth. That's a picture of men who will
not have Christ to be their Lord. It's a picture of men who will
not come to Christ with the eyes of faith. It's a picture of men
that will not believe God, will not have this man to reign over
them. That's what Nineveh is, a picture of him. And you know
what that does to the believer? Well, that makes me cry out for
mercy, don't it? You Lord have mercy upon me. Don't, don't let
me think for a moment that I'm okay without you, that I'm, that
I've done my part and that I've let you be God. You are God and
you're supremely sovereign. We have nine attributes of God
in this first chapter, nine. We're going to look at them on
Sunday, not tonight. We're just going to look at one tonight, just
one. We have nine attributes, nine
characteristics. I've determined, I've been persuaded as Paul said,
that the attributes of God are innumerable. He's the eternal. Every time you think you've counted
about all of them, you realize there's more. He's just past
finding out, isn't he? That's the way he is. That's
his attributes. Everything about him is just other than we are. We see in this picture, There
is only one who could stand in the wrath of God and live, and
it was Christ. Christ endured the full wrath
of God and he extinguished it. Do you know how? He absorbed
it into himself and thus by extinguishing it. And yet it was still necessary
for him to die. That's how it was given in the
Old Testament. That was the prophecy that was
given and what had to take place. Whenever he died, he had already
put away the sin of his people. If he would have had sin upon
him when he died, death would have had a claim on him. No,
he had already put the sin of his people away. He had already
paid the price that his people could be set free. And so when
he went into death, just as Jonah, we heard a couple of weeks ago,
as soon as he hit the dark drags of death, death had to set him
free. Had no claim upon him. Understand something. If he did
that for everyone, everyone, everyone is saved. Period. Everyone. But he endured the wrath of God
for those whom he loves. The idea that Jesus loves everybody,
but yet some of them go to hell. What does the love of God have
to do with salvation? No, the Lord loves his bride. The Lord
died for his bride. The Lord redeemed his bride.
He saved his people from their sin. Not Nineveh. Not everyone. He only loves his bride. And
he says in verse two, God is jealous. God is jealous for his
bride. Now I kept typing this in on
a computer and I type up my notes and you wouldn't be able to understand
them and I barely can. So I'm constantly just praying
while I'm up here, Lord, bring it back to my remembrance. Bring
it back. When I first preached to you, I was using nine notes,
nine pages of notes. Now I'm down to like two and
a half. There's freedom in relying on the Lord completely, I'm telling
you, but there's also anxiety of the flesh. What if, what if?
And the Lord has to do the work. He has to bring it back to my
remembrance and he has to send his spirit. And as I was typing this
up, I kept typing, he is jealous of her. That's not what I typed.
I typed four and it kept auto-correcting me and it kept auto-correcting
me and it kept auto-correcting me. I said, no, he's not jealous
of her. He's jealous for her. There's
a big difference. There's a very big difference.
Tonight, I want to look at our jealous Lord and Savior. I've
titled the message, Jealous is His Name. Jealous is His Name. And I can show you that if you'll
turn to Exodus chapter 34. Hold your place here, we're gonna
come right back. A little hard to find. Exodus 34. Look at verse eight. And Moses
made haste and bowed his head towards the earth and worshiped.
And he said, if now I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, let
my Lord, I pray thee go among us for it is a stiff neck people
and pardon our iniquity and our sin and take us for that inheritance.
Boy, is that your plea? Lord, I am stiff necked. I am
stiff necked and I am, you're going to have to pardon my iniquity.
You're going to have to put away my sin. Lord, take me for that
inheritance. Boy, that's our prayer, isn't
it? That's our prayer. And he said, behold, I make a
covenant before all thy people. I will do marvels such as have
not been done in all the earth, nor in any nation and all the
people among which thou art shall see the work of the Lord. For
it is a terrible thing that I do, that I will do with thee. Observe
thou that which I command thee this day. Behold, I drive out
before the Amorite and the Canaanite, the Hittite and the Perizzite,
the Hivite and the Jebusite. Take heed to thyself, lest thou
make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land that thou goest,
lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee. but ye shall destroy
their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves. For
thou shalt worship no other God. For the Lord, whose name is Jealous,
is a jealous God." His name is Jealous. The Lord's name is Jealous. Now I have come to the understanding
by His grace to see Every attribute that he has is also his name.
God is love. God is the prince of peace. Do
we see that? Everything that he gives, everything
that his attributes are of him is also part of his name. The
Lord is jealous. The Lord is jealous. Now he says
here to Moses, all these inhabitants, he says, cast them out and get
rid of their idols and get rid of their groves and don't worship
their gods. I'm a jealous God. Worship me only. worship me only."
These inhabitants were not God's people. God's jealous for his
bride. God's jealous for his bride.
Now, every attribute of God exists in perfect harmony. There's no
contradiction whatsoever. He loves perfectly and he hates
perfectly. He's jealous perfectly. Now, as I begin to look into
what the word jealous meant, every time I found the definition
of the scripture, jealous means jealous. And so I looked up the
Merriam-Webster and got three definitions. And we're gonna
look at those tonight. One thing I wanna show us before that is
back in our text. In verse two again, God is jealous
and the Lord revengeth. The Lord revengeth and is furious. Now that word furious is ba'al,
ba'al, ba'al, the Hebrew word. It also doesn't just translate
furious, it also translates as owner, as husband, and as Lord. What is he saying? The Lord is
owner, the Lord is husband, and the Lord is Lord. He's jealous,
but he owns, and he's the husband. Now, if it's not understood,
I want to make it clear. The Lord owns everything. The
Lord owns everything. There's the Lord in the fullness
there. There's nothing that the Lord doesn't own. But he has
a particular characteristic that he shows towards a particular
people. And it's his elect. It's his
love. The Lord doesn't love everybody.
He loves her. He's not jealous for everybody.
He's jealous for her. It's very particular. Very particular. Now, the first definition. of jealous is feeling or showing
envy of someone or their achievements and advantages. Feeling or showing
envy, being envious of somebody because of their achievements
or their advantagements. And the best thing I can think
of would be whether they have power, whether they have popularity,
maybe they get more attention, maybe they have more money. There's
several different examples we can use, but that's where the
envy comes from. That's what this jealousy is it's talking
about. This is one of the definitions. This is how most men believe
God is. They lie and they say, God is
envious of you. You have something he wants,
but he can't take it unless you let him. That's what men say,
isn't it? Give Jesus your heart. Lord doesn't want your heart.
Your heart's deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.
We need a new heart. We need a heart of flesh, don't we? But
men say God's envious. Make Jesus your choice. Do your
part for God. He says, you have the advantage. Man says you have the advantage
over God to make him Lord. Let him be Lord of your life.
Men and brethren, God is Lord already. I can't let him do anything. You can't let him do anything.
He's God. He's the God that is jealous
for his bride. He's not envious. So this can't
be This can't be the definition. It's not that he's saying he
wants to have his way, but can't unless you let him. And he envies
that you're giving your achievements, your attention to other things
that you should be coming to him. That's not what he is at
all. So this can't be the definition of jealous of our God. It can't
be. Now we've been made to know that he is not jealous in the
sense of him being envious of anyone. Understand something
that this all stems This all stems from a God that is frustrated,
what I'm describing here. If he's envious, he's frustrated.
He wants something but can't have it. That can't be God. God's
seated, isn't he? God's seated on the throne. Everything
that he's wanted to happen, happened. He purposed it and it's finished.
He's seated. He's successfully redeemed. So
this can't be the definition of jealous that fits our Lord.
It is finished. So what does jealous is his name
mean then? Well, the second definition is
feeling or showing suspicion of someone's unfaithfulness in
a relationship. Feeling or showing suspicion
of someone's unfaithfulness in a relationship. Now, this definition
of jealous is derived from a lack of confidence, a lack of having
fear or failure to be good enough, afraid of them leaving you, afraid
of them departing from you, feeling the suspicion that they're unfaithful. Does God lack anything? Is God
afraid of losing anything? What did Christ say in John chapter
18? Them which thou gavest me have
I lost. How many? None. Not one. Not one. So this idea that God
is a jealous God because He's suspicious of your actions. He's watching you. It's like
people say about Santa Claus. He sees you when you're awake
and knows when you're sleeping. So you better do good or you
won't get a present. You'll get a lump of coal. That's how they view
God. No, He's not suspicious. He knows our frame that we are
but does. And that's the glorious news of the gospel that while
we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. That's the glorious
news. Not when we were dotting every I and crossing every T,
but when we were the worst of the worst, we were dead dog sinners.
Then he came to save his people from their sin. He chose to do that. He was talking about the unfaithfulness
in a relationship, and I'm reminded about our love. Our love has
to be worked on, doesn't it? Now, I can say this about my
marriage. I've been married 18 years, and
I think I'm qualified to speak a little bit about marriage,
not much. But there's been times where we've grown complacent
of each other. We kind of see the same thing all the time,
and you don't appreciate it as much as you should, and you fall
out of love, so to speak, and you have to fall back in love.
Marriage is work. Marriage is work. Don't let anybody
ever tell you otherwise. You're getting married soon,
Jonah. It's work, brother. It's work. 100% all day long, it's
work. But it's good work. You love
one another unto the Lord. We have to work on our love one
towards another. We fall in and out, it seems.
We're so cold, not only towards the Lord, but our spouses. We
are, it's true. Do you know the Lord never grows cold in His
love towards us? He doesn't have to work on His
love towards us. No, it's constant, it's sure, it's steadfast, it's
everlasting. Marriage is a picture of the
union that we have with him, with him. And I just said, work
is the word to use in marriage. You have to work one towards
another. We grow tired of each other, frustrated each other.
We have to work our problems out. It's work constantly, a
hundred percent. But in this marriage with him, this perfect
union with God, Christ did all the work. You and I don't do
the work. Marriage in this life is a hundred percent my responsibility,
a hundred percent my wife's responsibility. Somebody tells you it's 50-50,
they're lying to you. but God's the only one that could do 100%
and we have to do 0% in order for the union, we don't change
the union in any way, but that's the requirement is zero. And
only the Lord's zeros will do 0% to try to obtain salvation.
We're not gonna do anything. We've been made to say, no, Lord,
you have to do 100%. It can't be 99.999. You gotta do 100%. And that's
what he did. He did all the work, didn't he?
Marriage is sacrifice, putting one another before each other.
putting one another before each other. Marriage is sacrifice. But in this union with the Lord,
it's not our sacrifice. It's His. He did the sacrificing
so that you and I could be joined with Him. He did everything required
for our salvation. Everything required. He doesn't
suspect us as being unfaithful. He was faithful in our stead.
He knows we're unfaithful. He took every sin that we are,
everything that we've ever done, every thought that we've ever
had and took them into himself. He knows our unfaithfulness and
he put it away. And now he says, faithful. You're my faithful
dogs. You're my sheep. My sheep hear
my voice and I know them and they follow me. So saying the Lord is suspicious.
This can't be the definition of jealous that our God is, is
it? Can't be. He already knows everything
about us. Why would he be suspicious? That's
silly, isn't it? So the very last definition that
I found, number three, God is jealous. Jealous means fiercely
protective or vigilant of one's rights or possessions. That's it. That's God. Fiercely. fiercely protective or vigilant
of one rights or possessions. He is fiercely, fiercely protective
of his possession, her, his bride. His jealousy is not based upon
what we do. It's based upon what he has done.
He owns his people. As I said before, the word furious
is the word ownership. It's the word husband. It's the
word Lord. He is the one that owns his people. He is the husband
to his purchased bride. He is Lord of all. We are his
purchased possession. What did he purchase us with?
His own blood. His own blood. For those he loves,
he is jealous. He was so protective of the danger
of us being put into hell that He took our place upon the cross
of Calvary. He took our place and laid down
His life in our stead, providing everything we needed. That's
what the word vigilant means, is keeping careful watch for
possible danger or difficulties. There is now, therefore, no condemnation. There is no more danger. There's
no more danger to the elect of God. He's vigilant. He keeps
an eye on His people. Psalm 139 tells us, if I ascend
up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell
in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thou hand
lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. What's his right hand?
That's Christ. That's Christ. He holds his people.
We can't escape from him no matter where we go, no matter what we
do. If we're his, we can't escape
from him. We don't want to, do we? But the good, even if you
could, you can't. Even if you think you can, you
can't. He's got his people. He's got his people kept by his
right hand. He watches over his people. The Lord tells us the parable
of the sparrow. And he says, are not two sparrow
sold for a farthing? And yet not one of them falls
to the ground unnoticed by your heavenly father. How much more
shall he give unto you good things? How much more do you think he
pays attention to you and I if he's noticing the sparrows that
are dying? What about his people that he shed his own blood for?
What about his bride that he loves immeasurably, infinitely,
eternally, and everlastingly? Now he provided everything in
Christ and watches over his people. Insomuch so that David said,
yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I'll fear no evil. Why? Thou art with me. Thy rod
and thy staff, they comfort me. Oh no, this, this jealous God,
he's fiercely, he's fiercely protective. If death comes nigh
unto the child of God, the Lord says, no, this one's mine. He's
fiercely protective, fiercely protective of his people. Death
cannot harm her because he tasted death for her. There's no more
danger in it. He's vigilant, vigilant. He's valiant of his purchased
people and he is fiercely protective of her. And in closing, I want
to look at his promise in Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43, verse one tells
us. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel. Now
he's talking to a particular people here that must be established. Israel and Jacob, God's chosen.
For I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou
art mine. And because you're mine, when
thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. and through
the rivers they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through
the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior. Now look at this part. I gave
Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou
wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable, and I have
loved thee. Therefore will I give men for
thee and people for thy life. That's a crystal clear gospel,
isn't it? Crystal clear. I have redeemed thee. I have
formed thee. I created thee. I have redeemed
thee. I have called thee. Thou art
mine, period. Well, there's not a choice in that. God's choice,
not mine. No, he said, I created you. I
redeemed you. I've called you by your name.
You're mine. I own you. Does that cause you
to rest? causes me to rest. Lord, you,
you own me. I'm yours. Oh, I am my beloved
and he is mine. That's what Song of Solomon tells
us. Jealous is his name. And you
know what he says about her, his bride. One look from her,
ravishes my heart. Ravishes. Now, the best translation
I could find for that is whenever you were to look at your spouse,
especially whenever early on and We ought to be ashamed of
ourselves for not looking and being ravished every time we
look at our spouses. But early on, especially, you would look,
and that feeling you got, and the pit of your stomach, and
the flutter that you get, and every once in a while, you still
get it, every once in a while. But every single time she looks
at him, he gets that feeling. That's what he says. He ravishes.
He ravishes his heart. God is jealous of his bride,
fiercely protective of his love. You know why? They were given
to him by the Father and he successfully redeemed them by his own blood,
by his own choice, his work and his doing. We read at the beginning
of our call to worship, what shall separate us from the love
of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord? He said, I'm persuaded
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things come, nor height,
nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus. Why? Because
he's jealous, he's fiercely protective, and he's God, and he's seated
on the throne. What shall we say to these things?
God before us, who can be against us? If God be for us, who can
be against us? Nothing. Nothing can. You know
why? Because he's jealous of her,
his bride. We are his people. We are the
sheep of his pasture. And our shepherd has provided
everything for his sheep. Everything needed. Sheep are
dumb. Sheep are not smart animals.
They'll run headlong over a cliff. They'll drown their self in moving
water. Our shepherd's good to his sheep. He protects them fiercely. Fiercely protects his sheep because
he's jealous of them. Jealous is his name. Jealous
is his name for his bride.