Isaiah 30 will be our text today,
specifically verse 7, verse 15, and verse 18. I'm taking from
Isaiah 30, I'm taking the title for the message today from verse
18, the last line in verse 18. You see that? Blessed are they
that wait that wait for Him, not work. Let's say blessed are
those who work. Blessed are those that wait for
Him. Blessed are those that wait upon
the Lord. Those that look to the Lord and
wait upon Him and trust Him for all salvation shall be blessed
with the abundance of blessing for everything God has for any
guilty sinner is found in Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. May God
give us grace today to wait To wait upon Him. To rest in Him. To look unto Him like Simeon
of old. We read a moment ago from Luke
chapter 2. The Lord said that he would not die until he'd seen
the Lord's Christ. And he took the babe up in his
arms and said, Lord, let me now die. Let me now depart in peace,
for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. He was waiting upon the Lord,
and God sent him the Savior to behold. Wouldn't that be a blessing
today? The Lord be pleased to send the
message and cause us to look to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
when Isaiah was given these words of the Lord by inspiration of
God, Israel in this day was under attack from the Assyrian army. They had already conquered, that
is the Assyrians, the enemies of God, had already conquered
the northern part of the country of Israel, and were set to invade
the south. But instead of Hezekiah and the
men of Israel, instead of looking to the Lord for help, for deliverance,
they instead carried their treasures, their money, down into the south
country of Egypt to buy influence and to buy an army. Now think
about it. They went into a pagan king,
under the land of idolatry, under the land of heathenism, and said,
come over and deliver us. Now what a sad thing. Instead
of looking to the Holy One of Israel, instead of looking to
the God of Israel, who is the Almighty God, who had on countless
occasions delivered them and delivered them and delivered
them, even from 400 years of Egyptian bondage, delivered them,
and now they're running right back to idolatry. and seeking protection, seeking
a covering, seeking help. Isaiah was given instruction
from the Lord unto these people what they were to do. They were
to wait upon the Lord. They were to rest in Him and
they were to look unto the Lord. Now the lesson here And the application
here is very obvious. While the words have an immediate
application unto Israel and those people in that day, it has a
much wider application to you, to me, and to all of God's people. A wider application, those who
would seek mercy, where mercy is found. Would you seek mercy
in idolatry? That doesn't even make good sense.
There's no mercy found in idolatry. The only help and deliverance
we have of salvation and deliverance from sin is only found in one
source. The right source, one place,
one person, the right foundation, and that is Christ. And Christ
in Him crucified. All the help that God has provided
for us and for all salvation is all wrapped up in the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him is salvation. You remember what Simeon said?
My eyes have seen the salvation that is of the Lord. It is of
the Lord. It's His doing, His planning,
His purpose. Now, our only hope, our only
hope is to look unto Him. Our only hope of deliverance
from our enemies is to look unto Him. Remember from Isaiah 45,
turn over there. Isaiah 45. He said, beside me
there is no other. I'm the only just God and Savior. Isaiah 45 verse 21, the last
part of verse 21, he said, I'm a just God and Savior. There
is none beside me. Now, look unto me. Look unto
me. Don't look to your idols. Don't
look to your experience. Don't look to your feelings.
Look unto me and be saved. All the ends of the earth. For
I am God and beside me there is no other. Turn to Jeremiah
17. Only a fool would go about to
seek salvation by the deeds of the flesh. Only a fool. Only
a man who is blind and dead and deaf to the Word of God. Only
a fool would go about to seek salvation in the land of idolatry
from Pharaoh and his ambassadors. And Jeremiah 17, look at verse
5. Jeremiah 17 verse 5, Thus saith
the Lord, Cursed be the man that trusteth in man. Now, would you want to find help
and comfort in a place where God said it's cursed? You see, only a fool would go
about to seek salvation by the arm of the flesh. Cursed be the
man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, whose heart
is departed from the Lord. For he should be like a heath
in the desert. and shall not see when the good
cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places, in the wilderness,
in the salt land, not inhabited. Oh, but blessed is the man that
trusteth in the Lord, whose hope is in the Lord." You see, the
place of blessing is in the Lord. The place of cursing is in the
arm of the flesh. Would you rather trust the lightning
down of His arm? You know, the power, just thinking
about the power of the thunderstorm and the power of the lightning,
it's powerful, isn't it? What about the lightning power
of his arm? We were amazed by the power of
those tornadoes that trucked the south. Where does that power
come from? Where does that whirlwind get
its energy and strength You know the scripture said the Lord will
have His way in the whirlwind. It's His whirlwind. It's His
mighty power that brought that devastation to the South. That's right. Well, look at this. Blessed is a man that trusteth
in the Lord. Certainly, our only hope is to
look unto Him, and only a fool will go about to seek salvation
in the deeds of the flesh. And certainly it is true that
all those who go about to establish the righteousness of their own
by the deeds of the flesh or by the deeds of the law shall
be extremely disappointed when they hear the Lord say in that
day, Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, for Tophet now is
your home. They add sin to their sin, as
we read in the scripture. Our Lord plainly says, now look
at Isaiah 30, Isaiah 30, our Lord plainly says in verse 3,
God says, your strength, or the strength of Pharaoh shall be
your shame, your trust shall be your confusion, The trust
in the shadow of Egypt shall be your confusion. Your help
shall not profit you, and your help shall be in vain." Don't
trust Egypt. Don't trust the arm of the flesh.
Now those who reject the counsel of God against themselves, And
those who go about to establish their own righteousness and those
who reject the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ have no hope
of mercy, have no hope of pardon. The only thing they have to look
forward to is a certain fiery day of indignation and eternal
condemnation. That's right. Here's what the
scriptures teach. He that believeth on the Son
has life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God, the Tophet of God abides
upon them. Look at verse 15 for just a moment.
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, the Holy One, the Holy One, in
returning and rest shall you be saved, in quietness and in
confidence shall be your strength, but you would not. You would not. You would not
hear what God says. You would not. Our Lord in John
chapter 5 said to those Pharisees, he said, I'm eternal life. I'm
the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life. In me, in the scriptures,
you think you have eternal life, but they are they which testify
of me, and you would not come to me. Oh, they'll go to the
law, to the ceremony, to the tradition of the elders, but
he said, you won't come to me that you might have life. I am
life. I am the way, I am salvation. Now is there any hope for a rebel and a guilty sinner? The only hope that's revealed
in this Word of God is in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Remember the words of the Apostle
Paul to the Philippian jailer? who was very concerned so much
so about his safety and salvation that he was ready to end his
life. And Paul said, don't harm yourself. And the Philippian
jailer said, well, what must I do to be saved? And the apostle
said, don't do anything. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Don't trust your works. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now, here's
my message for us found in verse 7, verse 15, and verse 18. God
says to His prophet, to these people who are going about to
seek salvation and deliverance in something other than God alone,
God says to this people and to us, your strength is to sit still. Your strength is to sit still.
Now that's just the opposite. That is a total opposite of what
you hear in mainstream religion today. Mainstream religion today
says let's get busy and work our way into glory. God says
your strength is to sit still. To sit still and to trust Him.
Their hope of deliverance and ours is the same. Don't work,
rest. Don't work, sit still. A lesson
that's impossible to learn. A lesson, one of the hardest
lessons the Lord has to teach us. The old wicked flesh is always
going about to gain God's favor or to remove God's wrath by some
deed or some by work or some by some work or some doing of
the flesh. Our Lord said of those Pharisees
who were so zealous about going about to establish a righteousness
of their own, He said, you are they which justify yourselves
before men, but God knows your heart. That which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination in the sight of God. Paul said of
those Romans, or he said in Romans 10 of Israel of his people, that
they were ignorant of God, and because they were ignorant of
God, they were going about to establish a righteousness of
their own, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness
which is of God in Christ Jesus. Our strength is to sit still,
to rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm reminded of the same instructions
given to Israel way back in Exodus 14. And I tell you, it's a lesson
we won't learn unless God teaches us Exodus 14 turn over there
You remember God had delivered them from Egyptian bondage by
the mighty power of God through the blood sacrifice of that lamb
upon the door. And Pharaoh and his army pursued
after the children of Israel as they came up hard against
the Red Sea. They could not get through. They
couldn't float across. There was no time to build a
boat. They couldn't float across. They couldn't go across. They
were up against it. And you know behind him? Pharaoh and his armies. He took
the chosen chariots of Israel, a hundred, some thousand chariots
of Israel, marching down upon them with nothing but one thing
in his heart. He had murder in his heart. What
are they to do? But what it says in Exodus 14
verse 14, verse 13, Moses said unto the people, fear ye not,
stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will show
you today. The Egyptians whom you have seen
today, you shall see them again no more. The Lord shall fight
for you. Hold your peace. They couldn't
fight their way out. They were defenseless. They couldn't
float their way out. God sent a word of deliverance. Stand still and see the salvation
of the Lord. Well, you know the rest of the
story, don't you? God parted the Red Sea, and they
walked across on dry ground, not muddy ground, but dry ground. Well, Pharaoh thought, well,
that looks pretty good. I think I'll try that. So he
started in after them. And the Lord took the Chariot
wheels off. You know that he took off the
wheels and they dragged They drug on the ground and the water
started to come in and they couldn't escape and the Lord destroyed
all of them You see the message Your strength is to sit still
stand still and see the salvation that is of the Lord and salvation
that God has brought out for us is accomplished by His doing. His doing, not ours. His dying,
not ours. His work, not ours. The Almighty
Lord, now you think about this, the Almighty Lord doesn't need
our help, does He? Poor God, He needs our help.
Oh no. The Almighty Lord does not need
our help for salvation of the Lord. Our strength is to sit
still and to be still and to know that God is in control of
all things and to trust Him. Now turn back to the book of
Psalms. Psalm 46. Psalm 46. Psalm 46. Look at verse 7. Psalm 46 verse
7. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Come behold the works of the Lord, what desolations he's made
in the earth. He maketh wars to cease unto
the end of the earth. He breaketh the bow and cutteth
the spear asunder. He breaketh the chariot in the
fire. Who does all this? He maketh wars to cease unto
the end. He breaketh the bow. He cutteth
the spear asunder. Who does all this? Be still,
verse 10, and know that I am God. I will be exalted in the
earth among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth.
The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge. Be still. Stand still. What does it say in our text?
Their strength and our strength. Our strength is to sit still,
rest in Him. Trust Him. You see salvation. Why does He say to sit still?
Why does He say to stand still and see the salvation of the
Lord? Salvation is accomplished by His purpose. His purpose. His doing, not mine. You know the Lord Jesus Christ
said, it is finished. It is done. What an insult to
God Almighty who sent the Lord Jesus Christ to accomplish our
salvation. What an insult to the Lord Jesus
Christ to say that His dying, His blood is not enough. You
need to bring something to add to that? To make it effectual? What an insult to God Almighty. Our strength is to sit still
and to look to Him. and to rest in Christ alone.
Salvation accomplished by His purpose. The Lord said it is
finished. Secondly, salvation is dependent
upon His faithfulness. Salvation is dependent upon His
faithfulness, not my doing. Our dear friend departed now
with the Lord. Pastor Scott Richardson used
to always tell us, lay your deadly doing down. Lay your deadly doing
down. Lay it down. You see, salvation
is accomplished by His faithfulness, not mine. Now, I can show you
that in Scripture. Turn to Galatians chapter 2.
Salvation is accomplished by His faithfulness. It's not my
faithfulness. We're not saved by our faithfulness. Now, listen to me. Nor do we
maintain our salvation by our faithfulness. We're kept by the
power of God. Now God's people are faithful,
but they're faithful because that he is God who keeps us.
Now look at Galatians 2 verse 16. Galatians 2 verse 16. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law. But by the faith, now watch this
carefully, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Now if you're not
using the authorized King James Version, you'll see this, but
by faith in Jesus Christ. Now if your Bible says that,
throw it away and get you a real Bible. If your Bible says in
Jesus Christ, if it's a modern version, they've tried to change
this. It's by the faith of Jesus Christ. It's the faithfulness of Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. The faith
of Christ. Not by the works of the law,
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." It's
by the faith of Christ, my friend. The faith of Christ, the faithfulness
of Christ. So salvation is accomplished
by His purpose. Salvation is dependent upon His
faithfulness. I'm going to sit still. My strength
and our strength is to sit still and trust Him. Salvation is by
His grace, not my works. His grace, not my works. By grace are you saved through
faith. And that, not of yourself, is a gift of God. Grace, grace,
grace, grace. God saved us and called us to
holy calling, not according to our work, but according to His
own purpose and grace. In the book of Titus we read,
it's not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us. So then, it is clear, stop working. That is, stop trying to earn
your salvation. Stop trying to work your way
in the glory. God won't allow it. He won't
have it. He won't have it. It's either
grace It's either grace or hell. That's just as plain as I can
make it. It's either grace or condemnation. Grace and works won't mix. You
can't have grace and works. It's either grace all the way
or works all the way. It's either grace and salvation
or works and hell. That's as plain as I can make
it. Stop working, start believing
Him. You see, salvation is not received
by doing, it's received by believing. So, point number one, have you
got it? Have I made it clear? Your strength is to sit still. Trust Him, look to Him. Now here's
point number two, look at verse 15. Thus saith the Lord God of
Israel, the Holy One, the Holy One of Israel, In returning and
resting shall you be saved. In quietness and confidence shall
be your strength. There's your strength, right
there. In returning and resting you shall be saved. God told
Israel, just get out of the land of idolatry and come back and
trust me, it'll be okay. Now I'm gonna tell you the end
of the story in a minute. There's an end to this story. What happened
to Israel in that day? "...returning and resting you
shall be saved." Israel was told to return from the land of idolatry
and rest in the Lord. Quietness and confidence, God
says, will be your strength. The message of the Gospel is
the same. This is the Gospel according to Isaiah. Return and
rest, meaning Repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Return and rest. Return and rest. Now what is repentance? What
is repentance? Now you can find 10,000 descriptions. What is repentance? I can sum
it up in a couple words. Turn. Turn. It's a turning away from your
idols. It's a turning to God from your
idols. It's turning. That's why he says
there, return. That's repentance. That's repentance. Return. Repentance is a sovereign
gift of God that causes us to turn from all our efforts of
the flesh unto Christ alone. Now, we've read this scripture
many times. I think we read this last week
or the week before. From 1 Thessalonians 9, we talked
about knowing, brethren, your election of God. And then it
says how you turn to God from your idols. That's repentance.
And that's a work of God. It's a gift of God. It's a sovereign
gift of God. turn to God from your idols."
Now, listen to me. Repentance is not the meritorious
cause or ground of our salvation. Now this is critical. Repentance
is not the ground of our salvation. You say, well if I'm sorry enough
and cry long enough and repent long enough that finally that
God will give me mercy. Well what you're trying to do,
you're trying to earn His favor by your doing. You see repentance is not the
meritorious cause or ground of salvation. What is the ground
of salvation? Christ! Repentance simply turns
us away from flesh to Christ. It's a turning, a turning. It
turns us to Christ alone. True repentance acknowledges
the truth. Now, the Lord said, except you
repent, you'll perish. Except you repent, you'll perish.
True repentance acknowledges the truth, gladly and willingly
bows to the truth of God concerning salvation. Now do I have true
repentance? Do I have true repentance or
is it a phony? Let me show you what true repentance
does. Now it's important to find 2 Timothy. True repentance, while is not
the ground of salvation, it acknowledges the truth of salvation. 2nd Timothy
chapter 2, Luke verse 23. Now you want to underscore this
in your Bible. If you haven't marked this scripture, please
mark it and refer to it again. 2 Timothy 2, 23, But foolish
and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strife.
And the servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle unto
all men, able to teach, in meekness instructing those that oppose
themselves, if God, peradventure, if God in mercy, will give them
repentance to the acknowledging of the truth. Now, if you're bucking against
God's sovereign mercy, you've not been given true repentance. If you're seeking salvation by
the deeds of the flesh, God has not given you true repentance. True repentance acknowledges
the truth, the salvations of the Lord. You see that? That
they may recover themselves from the snare of the devil. What
is the snare of the devil? Works. deeds, doing, who are
taken captive by Him at His will. So true repentance acknowledges
that salvation is of the Lord. Repentance does not save us or
put away our sin. It does not, but listen to this,
we're not saved without it either. It is the fruit of salvation
that never ceases. It is not I have repented, it
is that I am repenting. And by His grace I will continue
to repent, turning unto Him. So he says return, and then he
says rest. Rest. Returning and rest. You
shall be saved. Rest. What is that? That's faith.
Faith. in the Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance
toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is also the
gift of God. And you know what? Faith is not
the ground of salvation. Faith is not the ground of salvation.
Faith is not the reason of salvation. What is the ground of salvation?
It's the same ground of repentance. Christ is the only reason for
salvation. Christ is the ground and cause
of salvation. Faith is the sovereign gift of
God that does not accomplish salvation. Faith is the gift
of God that receives Christ who did accomplish salvation. You
see what I'm saying? Do you get it? I hope you do. Faith is a sovereign gift of
God that received the Lord Jesus Christ who accomplished all our
salvation, who alone is the reason and cause and ground of our salvation. Now true faith, like true repentance,
you know what true faith does? True faith receives the true
Christ. True faith, like, turn to Titus,
Titus, right before the book of Hebrews is Titus, chapter
1, verse 1, and mark this down as well, Titus 1, 1, Paul, a
servant of God, an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the
faith of God's elect. You got it? Underscore this now.
The faith of God's elect, what does it do? Acknowledging the
truth. Oh, there we go again. True faith
acknowledges the truth that salvation is of the Lord, and it's after
godliness. What does that mean? That means
it gives him all the honor and glory. True faith, like true
repentance, they both look unto the Lord Jesus Christ for all
of salvation. Now listen to this again. Again,
faith does not save. It's not the ground or cause
of salvation. But a man without faith is not
saved. Without faith, it says in Scripture,
without faith it is impossible to please God. And faith is a
sovereign gift of God. I'm praying to God, Lord, give
me faith. Because true faith looks unto the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it says in Hebrews
12, 2. Looking unto Jesus, who is the author and finisher of
our faith. Now, faith and repentance are always found together. Repentance
turns us from idolatry and self-righteousness, and faith causes us to behold
the Lord Jesus Christ as altogether lovely. So faith turns us, or
repentance turns us, and then by faith we look to Christ for
all things in salvation. Now I'm making this too simple. We need to preach in a simple
way so as folks can understand. Paul said, I kept nothing back
that was possible unto you, preaching unto you publicly and from house
to house in the temple and from house to house publicly in all
the places, preaching repentance toward God and faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Acknowledging the way of salvation
in Him. Now notice this also in verse
15. In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. Quietness,
be still, know that I am God and your confidence and confident
in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength. Quietness
and confidence, quietly submitting to the way of salvation in Christ
breeds, not contempt, It breeds confidence. It breeds assurance. It breeds peace in the heart
to a weary sinner. For Christ alone is our strength. You remember? Turn back to Isaiah
12. Isaiah 12, line upon line, precept
upon precept. I repeat myself on purpose every
time I preach. It's the same message, isn't
it? If you've heard me one time, you've heard me. I mean, my message
is, I'm like the fella that was in the orchestra. He had a bass
fiddle. And he was over on that bass
fiddle just plucking one note. One note. Middle C. Plucked C
all the time. Well, the fellas in the orchestra
said, you know, we play all kind of different notes. He said,
yeah, you're looking for the note. I found the note. It's
Christ, Christ, Christ, Christ. He is our strength, He is our
salvation. Notice, I told you to turn to
Isaiah chapter 12, look at verse 2. Behold, God is my salvation,
I will trust, be not afraid, for the Lord Jehovah is my strength,
He's my song, He also has become my salvation, therefore with
joy shall you draw water out of the wells of salvation. He's
my confidence. He's quietly submitting to the
way of salvation in Christ breeds confidence. We are the true Israel
which worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and
we have no confidence in the flesh. Christ alone is our strength. His grace is sufficient, isn't
it? You know it is. You see, His grace is the strength
of our salvation. His righteousness is the strength
of our assurance. Turn just one page, Isaiah 32,
17. Isaiah 32, 17. His righteousness is the strength
of our assurance. Well, preacher, I don't have
much assurance. Well, that's your problem. You're looking
for assurance. Don't look for assurance. Look to Christ. He gives assurance. Isaiah 32,
look at verse 17. The work of righteousness, that's
His righteousness, His doing, His dying, shall be peace. And
the effect of righteousness, the Lord our righteousness, shall
be quietness and assurance. Forever! You want assurance? I do. Look to Christ. He is our assurance. We have
confidence in Him. His reconciliation is the strength
of our peace. Peace with God through the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, verse 18, let's get to this.
Notice carefully the Lord's gracious promise. Therefore will the Lord
wait, therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious
unto you. I tell you what, if you're one
of his elect, he'll put up with your rebellion, your ignorance,
your foolishness, until one day, it is long suffering, He'll call
you to himself and teach you the way of grace. Therefore will
the Lord wait that he may be gracious unto you. Don't get
in a hurry. Don't get in a hurry. Therefore
will the Lord be exalted that he may have mercy upon you. You
see, he's exalted in showing mercy. Moses said to the Lord,
show me your glory. He said, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. He's exalted that He may have
mercy upon you, for the Lord is a God of judgment. Blessed
are all they that wait for Him, that wait for Him. The Lord will
wait to be gracious. It says over in 2 Peter 3, 9,
that the Lord is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any
should perish, but all should come to repentance. Now, remember
the first part of that verse, to usward, to His elect. The
Lord has chosen His people in eternity unto salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ has come
and redeemed them by His own blood in the fullness of time.
And He will in due time reveal Himself unto us through the gospel. And He will be exalted He will
be exalted in showing mercy unto us. The Lord Jesus Christ, through
His sacrifice, is highly exalted to the throne of glory, that
He may be a just God and Savior, that He might be just and the
justifier of those who believe on Him. Blessed are all they... Last line, verse 18. Blessed
are all they that wait upon Him. Their strength is to sit still,
and quietness and confidence shall be your strength. Blessed
are all they that wait for Him." Now these are God's words of
instruction. May the Lord be pleased to give
us wisdom and patience to wait, to believe, to rest, and trust
all His great and exceeding precious promises of the gospel, Isn't
he worth waiting upon? Wait upon the Lord? Wait upon
the Lord. Turn over here to Isaiah 49.
I found this statement here. Isaiah 49, verse 23. The last
two lines in Isaiah 49, verse 23. This is Isaiah 49, 23. He said, I am the Lord. They
shall not be ashamed that wait for me. Oh, you all want to wait on Him.
Wait on Him. All through the book of Psalms,
we've seen this in our study on Wednesday night. We've read
this statement so many times, haven't we, in the book of Psalms?
Wait upon the Lord. David said, wait upon the Lord.
Wait upon Him. You see, our strength is to wait
upon the Lord, to sit still and to trust Him. Now, in conclusion,
Isaiah sent a word of comfort Judah's king, Israel's king,
Hezekiah, when the Syrian army had Jerusalem surrounded. Do you know what he did? Mark this
down, 2 Kings 19. Here's what the Lord did. It
says here in Isaiah 30, verse 31, look at that. For through the voice of the
Lord shall the Assyrian army be beaten down, which smote with a rod. The Lord
says, I'll fight against it. And then he says, I'm going to
put them in tofit. I'm going to put them in a garbage
dump. And I'm going to heat up the fire. Now listen to this
scripture. What happened to Israel on that
day? He said, I will defend this city
to save it for my own sake and for David, my servant's sake.
And it came to pass that night that the angel of the Lord went
out and smote in the camp of the Assyrians 185,000 soldiers
dropped dead, one angel. One angel killed 185,000. Israel
was delivered. And they sat still and marveled
at God's grace. When they got up the next morning,
they went out and they found all the enemy was dead. They
hadn't lifted one sword, shot one arrow, thrown one stone. You see? Deliverance and salvation
is of the Lord. Now here's a message for us today.
Look to Christ to deliver us from all sin. Our enemies have
us surrounded. The law, sin, death, judgment,
Satan. You can't save yourself. Give
up. Surrender. Wave the white flag and beg for
mercy. We're helpless to deliver ourselves.
Look to the messenger of the covenant. the Lord Jesus Christ,
the angel of the covenant, the messenger of the covenant whom
God sent to defeat all our enemies. He's a captain of our salvation
that has won the victory for us. I don't know about you, but
I'm going to sit still and rest in Him. That's my strength. It says in Colossians 2, "...and
you, being dead in your sin, and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you
all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of mortals that
was against us, which is contrary to us, took it out of the way,
nailing it to his cross, having spoiled principalities and power,
he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them himself."
I'm going to sit still. May God bless us to rest in the
Lord Jesus Christ. For salvation, salvation is of
the Lord.