Okay, this evening we wanna look
at Isaiah 35. I'm entitling the message from
verse eight. And the highway shall be there
and a way and it shall be called the way. Remember we read in
John 14, the Lord said, I am the way. Now, we know for certain
There's just one way of salvation, and Christ is that way. So the
title of the message will be God's Highway of Salvation. It's not a toll road, it's a
freeway. I like that expression we have
going across the country. We have freeways. But every once
in a while, even on those freeways in the middle of Kansas, you
run into a toll booth. In the middle of Kansas, they
have a toll road on that freeway. God's way is not like that. His
way is free all the way. No tolls. No tolls along the
way. God's highway of salvation. WE CAN BE CERTAIN AND SURE THAT
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST ALONE IS GOD'S HIGHWAY OF SALVATION, MERCY,
FORGIVENESS, REDEMPTION, RIGHTEOUSNESS, RECONCILIATION, REGENERATION,
RESURRECTION. JUST KEEP ON NAMING THOSE R'S.
WE ARE REDEEMED AND RANSOMED WITH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST. NEITHER
IS THERE SALVATION IN ANY OTHER Remember from Acts chapter four,
know the name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. To him give all the prophets witness. All the prophets, including
Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the, what they call major and minor
prophets, they all say the same thing. To him give all the prophets
witness. They all speak of the glory and
beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, when he writes in the Ephesian
letter, chapter two, the household of God is built upon one foundation,
that foundation that God has laid, and the foundation of all
the prophets and the apostles wrote about Jesus Christ being
the chief cornerstone. We've studied that in Isaiah
28, 16, didn't we a few weeks back? where God said, behold,
I lay in Zion for foundation of stone, a tried stone, a precious
cornerstone. He that believeth on him shall
not make haste, shall not be forced out, shall not be ashamed
or confounded. Now all the word of God, we know
the book is called the Bible, is given of God. All 66 books,
all the chapters in those books, all the verses in those books,
all the words in those books, in that book of God is inspired
in God breathed. All scripture is given by inspiration
of God. God's people do not put a question
mark upon thus saith the Lord. He said, I've spoken it, I'll
bring it to pass. I purpose it, I will do it. We read Sunday. For the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake
as they were moved THE CHIEF AND PRIMARY PURPOSE OF GOD THE
HOLY SPIRIT GIVING THE MOVED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, GIVING
THE WORD, REGENERATING DEAD SINNERS TO LIFE, AND REVEALING GOD'S
WAY OF SALVATION BY HIS SOVEREIGN MERCY AND SOVEREIGN GRACE. THE
WHOLE SCHEME OF IT, THE WHOLE PLAN OF IT, THE WHOLE GRAND DESIGN
OF IT IS WHAT? WHAT IS IT? THE GLORY OF THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST. THAT IS GOD'S GRAND DESIGN. I REMEMBER READING A BOOK BY
OLD JOHN EDWARDS, JONATHAN EDWARDS, YEARS AGO. I WISH I STILL HAD
THE BOOK. THE TITLE OF THE BOOK WAS THE
HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. THE HISTORY OF REDEMPTION. AND
ONE OF THE THINGS I REMEMBER IN READING THAT BOOK HE SAID
THE GRAND DESIGN OF GOD'S SALVATION AND THE GRAND DESIGN OF REDEMPTION
IS THE GLORY OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. OUR LORD SAID THAT IN
JOHN 16 SPEAKING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT HIS CHIEF AND PARAMOUNT
OFFICE WHEN HE THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH HAS COME HE'LL TAKE THE
THINGS OF CHRIST and reveal them to you. And our Lord said, he
shall glorify me for he shall receive of mine and show it unto
you. Now, in verse three, down to
verse seven of Isaiah 35, we see the Lord telling us about
the blessings of the gospel he will bring upon his covenant
people. WHEN HE IS PLEASED TO VISIT THEM
IN SAVING MERCY AND IN REGENERATING GRACE. LET'S READ THOSE VERSES
ONE MORE TIME. STRENGTHEN YOU THE WEAK HANDS. NOW WHO CAN STRENGTHEN US? GOD
IS OUR STRENGTH. HE IS OUR WISDOM. WE ARE BY NATURE
WEAK, NOT ONLY WEAK HANDED, BUT WEAK MINDED AS WELL. AND CONFIRMED
FEEBLE NEEDS. WE NEED STRENGTH AND CONFIRMATION. HOW? IN CHRIST. HE IS OUR STRENGTH. HE IS OUR CONFIRMATION. AND SAY
TO THEM THAT BE OF A FEARFUL HEART, A TROUBLED HEART. NO DOUBT, REMEMBER WHAT THE LORD
SAID TO PETER? PETER, ARE YOU GOING TO DENY
ME? THREE TIMES. BUT HE SAID, BE
OF GOOD COURAGE. I will not leave thee. I will
not forsake thee. Let not your heart be troubled.
Do you believe in God? Yes. Believe also in me. Say to them that have a fearful
heart. Isn't that all of us by nature,
so anxious, so fearful, so worried about everything in life? We have So many things that bombard us
during the day, don't we? During our week, during our month,
work problems, family problems, financial problems, this problem,
that problem, all kind of problems. Say to them that have a fearful
heart, be strong and fear not. Now that's one of the phrases
that, turn to Isaiah 43, that's one of the phrases that Isaiah
uses quite often, fear not. FEAR NOT. THIS IS A MESSAGE THAT
THE LORD GAVE ISAIAH TO COMFORT HIS PEOPLE. ISAIAH 43, 1, BUT
NOW THUS SAIT THE LORD THAT CREATED THEE, O JACOB, HE THAT FORMED THEE,
O ISRAEL, FEAR NOT. I HAVE REDEEMED THEE. I HAVE
CALLED THEE BY THY NAME. YOU'RE MY CHILD. NOW, FEAR NOT, WE HAVE A BIG
GOD AND A BIG SAVIOR WHO IS ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF ALL OUR NEED
ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES AND GLORY THROUGH THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
NOW, NOTICE THE LAST PART OF VERSE 4, BE STRONG, DO NOT FEAR,
BEHOLD, TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT THIS, YOUR GOD WILL COME. and he'll
come with vengeance, vengeance upon our enemies, vengeance upon
our sin, and even God, he'll come with a reward. Christ is
our reward. He will come, that's the promise
of God, the Messiah is coming, he will come and he'll try to
save his people from their sin. That's what most people want
us to believe. THAT'S WHAT MAINSTREAM CHRISTIANITY
WOULD HAVE US BELIEVE. HE CAME TO TRY TO SAVE HIS PEOPLE
FROM THEIR SIN. I REMEMBER WORKING IN A... WHEN I WAS OUT DOING... WORKING
IN THE INDUSTRIAL COMMUNITY, I WENT TO A PARTICULAR STEEL
MILL And there was one man in that steel mill, and you know
how they'd always put on those hard hats and they'd decorate
their hard hats with different things, different stickers or
slogans or sayings, you remember? I guess coal miners do the same
thing, don't they? But I remember every time I went
in there, I asked him about that saying that he had on his hard
hat. He said, he said, try Jesus. JUST, YOU KNOW, JUST PUT HIM
ON, SEE IF IT'LL WORK FOR YOU. IF HE DOESN'T WORK FOR YOU, JUST
THROW HIM AWAY. JUST, YOU KNOW, GIVE HIM A TRY. NO, THE LORD
SAID TRUST ME. HE WILL COME AND HE WILL SAVE
YOU. GOD WILL COME, AND HE DID IN
CHRIST. THE WORD WAS MADE FLESH AND DWELLED
AMONG US. AND THE LORD, WHEN HE CAME, HE
CAME ON PURPOSE WITH A DEFINITE MISSION TO ACCOMPLISH. YOU KNOW
WHAT THAT MISSION WAS? SALVATION. CALL HIS NAME JESUS. HE SHALL SAVE HIS PEOPLE FROM
THEIR SIN. THAT IS WHAT THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
DID UPON THE CROSS. He saved and justified us with
His own blood, being justified freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. He will come and
He will save us and He will recompense us. Christ is our reward. He will save us, He will justify
us, what the word means. And we know he didn't attempt
to try to save us, he accomplished salvation for us. He declared
upon the cross, what was that verse in John 19 verse 30? It
is done, finished, over, accomplished, satisfaction, salvation, substitution. Verse five, and here's the fruit
of that. Here's the fruit of that saving
atonement, that propitiation. Then the eyes of the blind shall
be opened. Now by nature, we're blinded,
we're blind, deaf, and dumb. Blind, deaf, and dumb. How's
our blind eyes gonna be opened, spiritually speaking? God must
command the light to shine out of darkness, to shine in our
hearts, to give us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the years of the death shall
be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap
as a heart, as a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will sing. For when the wilderness shall
break out, streamed in the desert, Christ is the water of life. You remember Isaiah 61, turn
over there. Isaiah 61, the prophecy of Isaiah
concerning the coming of the Lord, and the Lord quotes this
verse in Luke chapter four, doesn't he? Isaiah 61, the spirit of
the Lord God is upon me. because he has anointed me to
preach good tidings to the meek. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive, the opening of
the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that
mourn, to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give them beauty
for ashes. the oil of joy for mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they
might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that
he may be glorified. Oh, the eyes of the blind shall
be opened and their ears will be unstopped. And now we'll weep
as a young deer rejoicing in Christ, Isaiah 35, six, and the
tongue shall speak forth his glory, his word, and break out
with streams of water. There's another reference over
here, just one page over, one page back. Isaiah 32, verse one,
behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, Isaiah 32, one,
and princes shall rule in judgment, and a man shall be a hiding place
from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, rivers of water
in a dry place, a shadow of a great rock in a weary, weary land. Don't turn, let me get it for
you here. You're familiar with these verses.
He told that woman at the well, remember, you drink of that water,
you're gonna thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him, shall never thirst, but the water that
I shall give him shall be in him a well of water, bringing
up into everlasting life. And then again in John chapter
seven, verse 37, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink.
HE THAT BELIEVETH ON ME, AS THE SCRIPTURE HAS SAID, OUT OF HIS
BELLY SHALL FLOW RIVERS OF LIVING WATERS. WE HAVE LIFE IN HIM. WE HAVE LIFE IN CHRIST. WE HAVE
SALVATION IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. Now, know for sure there's one
way of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
victorious Christ, and it must be God's way or there's no option. It's either God's way of salvation
or damnation. It must be grace, not works.
It must be faith, not feeling. It must be Christ, not church
membership. It must be regeneration by God
the Holy Spirit, not reformation of the old sin nature. God must
do a work in our heart. A lot of people have the opinion,
well, it doesn't really matter what you believe or who you believe,
just as long as you're sincere in your religious beliefs. Anybody
doubt the sincerity of the Muslim who would take his own life in
the cause of Mohammed? He certainly was sincere. We're
gonna celebrate pretty soon, 9-11. Those Muslims that flew
their planes into the towers, you reckon they were insincere
in what they did? Oh, they were sincere, weren't
they? They're gonna destroy themselves and everything else. But sincerity
in religion is not salvation. Sincerity is good if you sincerely
believe the truth. It's the truth that will set
you free. Salvation in Christ is much better
than sincerity, for you must not only believe with sincerity
of heart, but you also must believe the truth with SINCERITY IN THE
LORD JESUS CHRIST. NOW LOOK AT VERSE 8. AND HERE
WE COME TO THIS HIGHWAY. A PARCHED GROUND SHALL BECOME
A POOL, AND THIRSTY LAND SPRINGS OF WATER, AND THE HABITATION
DRAGONS WHERE EACH LAY SHALL BE GRASS, REEDS, AND RUSHES. THE DESERT SHALL BLOSSOM LIKE
A ROSE BECAUSE OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST. HE'S THE ROSE OF SHARON.
Now, let's look at this highway for a moment. A highway shall
be there. Now, this highway is designed,
built, planned by God Almighty, and there's just one way. It
really had no beginning and had no end. From everlasting to everlasting,
thou art God. The highways that men build,
They have a beginning. We've been watching some of those
old documentaries on Highway 66, the old Highway Route 66,
from Chicago all the way down to LA, California. Some of that section of that
road is still there. But that highway has a beginning.
It has an end. This highway of God is an everlasting
highway. It shall be there. It shall be
there because God designed it, planned it, built it, established
it in a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The
unclean shall not pass on this highway, but it is for those,
the wayfaring men, the fools shall not err therein. Now, there is but one way. of
salvation, and that is God's highway. I love just the word
highway. It's not a dirt road, not a gravel
road. It's not a low way. It's an elevated, it's a highway. It is a highway. This highway
has a sign that says one way. One way, I remember a story of
a little boy with his grandfather going down the road, and the
little boy was old enough to read, and there was a sign that
said, one way. And the little boy said to his
grandfather, look there, granddad, he said, there's the gospel.
And granddad said, what do you mean? He said, there's that sign
that says, one way. This highway of God is one way,
one way. And that way is Christ. That
means that salvation is of the Lord. He's the Alpha, the Omega
of salvation. It is purposed by Him, accomplished
by Him. Man has no part in this highway
of God. None whatsoever. Our Lord said, beside me there
is no other God. Beside me there is no other Savior. There is no other way. Now, there
is a way that seems right unto men, but the end of that way
is what? Death, death, death. God, he said, I am the Lord,
beside me there is no other. I'm the only just God and Savior. The Bible knows nothing about
different ways of salvation or different ways of being saved.
I remember my brother, when my dad passed away, And I went out
there to attend the funeral, and my brother was taking me
back to the airport, and we were talking about the way of salvation. He said, well, you know, there's
the top of the mountain, and we're climbing up the top of
that mountain different ways, but we're all going to the same
place. And I said, brother, you're terribly
mistaken. You're terribly mistaken. We're
not climbing up any mountain. God brings us the way of salvation. And there's not different trails
up this mountain. There's just one highway of salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
straight gate and that narrow way. One Lord, one faith, one
baptism, one gospel. There's just one gospel. NOT
ANOTHER. TO BELIEVE ANOTHER, TO EMBRACE
ANOTHER IS TO EMBRACE DAMNATION AND CONDEMNATION. THERE'S JUST
ONE SAVIOR. TO EMBRACE ANOTHER JESUS THAT
PAUL WRITES ABOUT IS TO EMBRACE CONDEMNATION. THERE'S JUST ONE
REDEEMER WHO SAVED HIS PEOPLE FROM THEIR SIN AND HE OBTAINED
FOR THEM HIS ELECT ETERNAL REDEMPTION WITH HIS OWN BLOOD. THERE'S JUST
ONE MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN The man, the God-man, the
Lord Jesus Christ. They're just one advocate. We
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. They're
just one sacrifice for sin. Just one. And that is Christ
in him crucified. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. There's
a second thing I see in verse eight. It is called here, HIGHWAY,
A WAY, AND IT SHALL BE CALLED THE
WAY, DEFINITE ARTICLE, THE WAY OF HOLINESS. NOW, IF WE KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT
WHAT THIS BOOK TEACHES ABOUT THE CHARACTER OF GOD, IT'S WHAT?
GOD IS HOLY. SO HIS HIGHWAY HAS TO BE according
to his character, it has to be a holy way. It's a highway and
a holy way. The unclean, it says, shall not
pass upon it, shall not, cannot. The unclean cannot walk on this
holy highway. The unclean, the leprous sinner,
shall not pass upon it, shall not defile this way, this holy
way of salvation. Can a thrice holy God have anything
but the way of salvation that honors his holy character? No,
absolutely not. Well, then we've got a big problem. And those astronauts there on
Apollo 13, when they called in and said, Houston, we've got
a problem. Well, our problem's a whole lot worse than that.
We're unclean. WE'RE SINFUL. WE'RE GUILTY. THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO,
NOT ONE. ISAIAH SAYS LATER ON OVER HERE IN ISAIAH 64 THAT ALL
OF OUR RIGHTEOUSNESSES ARE A FILTHY RAG IN HIS SIGHT. WE HAVE A BIG
PROBLEM. I'M A SINNER AND YOU ARE TOO.
GOD IS MOST HOLY. HOW THEN CAN GOD BE JUST AND
JUSTIFY THE UNGODLY AND NOT VIOLATE HIS HOLY CHARACTER? The gospel
is the only answer for that, the gospel of substitution and
satisfaction. How can the unclean be made clean? Well, just go home and take a
bath, clean up, hit the baptistry and wash away all them sins in
the water. Can the easy open change his
skin? Can the leper change his spot? NEITHER CAN YOU DO ANY
GOOD WHO ARE ACCUSTOMED TO DOING EVIL. WE HAVE AN EVIL, ROTTEN
NATURE. HOW CAN THE UNCLEAN BE MADE CLEAN? HOW CAN THE GUILTY BE JUSTIFIED? THAT'S THE QUESTION. BY WORKS?
ABSOLUTELY NOT. HOW CAN THE GUILTY BE JUSTIFIED
IN GOD'S SIGHT? BY THE DEEDS OF THE LAW? WELL,
BY THE DEEDS OF THE LAW SHALL NO FLESH BE JUSTIFIED. HOW CAN
THIS VILE SINNER BE MADE RIGHTEOUS IN HIS HOLY PRESENCE? WE READ
AND STUDIED IN HEBREWS, YOU REMEMBER? CHAPTER 12, VERSE 14, WITHOUT
HOLINESS, NO MAN SHALL SEE THE LORD. A PREACHER, WE GOT TO BE
MORAL PEOPLE. YOUR MORALITY IS NOT HOLINESS.
People make a deadly mistake. They think their morality is
righteousness. They think their morality is
holiness before God, and he says away with it. It is nothing but
iniquity. There is none righteous, no,
not one. Tell me then, how Can a sinner
be made clean, justified before God? Only God himself can make
us clean through that sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and
his blood. Remember John, 1 John? For he
said, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son cleanses us from all
our sins, all our iniquity. Only God himself can give us
by his free grace and impute to us a perfect righteousness
and a divine nature by his omnipotent grace. I'm only holy as God sees
me in Christ. That's the only way, and God's
gotta put me in there. But of him are you in Christ,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Now notice, it's a select way.
It is a select way. It shall be for those though
wayfaring man, though fool, shall not err therein. It shall be
for those." Who are those and them? Who is this he's talking
about? It shall be for those, even though
they're unclean, even though they are fools by nature, even
though they are wayfaring men and sinful, He shall be with them. OUR GOD IS ABLE TO SAVE THEM
TO THE UTTERMOST, ALL THAT COME TO GOD BY HIM. OUR LORD SAID,
ALL THAT THE FATHER GIVETH TO ME SHALL COME TO ME, AND THOSE
THAT COME TO ME I WILL THEN KNOW WISE, CAST OUT. WHO ARE THESE
PEOPLE? BY NATURE, WAYFARING MEN, STRANGERS
TO THE GRACE OF GOD, STRANGERS TO THE WAY OF SALVATION IN HIM,
WITHOUT GOD, WITHOUT HOPE, AND WITHOUT CHRIST, BY NATURE, SINNERS,
AND IN OUR FALLEN CONDITION, FOOLS. THE FOOL HATH SAID IN HIS HEART
THERE IS NO GOD. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? BY HIS
ALMIGHTY GRACE AND HIS SOVEREIGN MERCY HE CALLED US FROM DEATH
TO LIFE, YOU HATH HE QUICKENED WHO WERE DEAD, FROM DARKNESS
TO LIGHT, FROM BEING ALIENS OF GRACE TO LOVERS OF THE LORD JESUS
CHRIST. IT SAYS DOWN HERE IN THE LAST
PART OF VERSE 9, THEY ARE REDEEMED PEOPLE. Who are these people? They are redeemed. You know what
that word means? Delivered. Delivered. He bought us with his own blood.
They were chosen in that eternal covenant of grace, elected in
Christ unto salvation, and bought with his precious blood. They
are all redeemed just like Ruth was redeemed. BY WHO? BOAZ. WHO IS BOAZ A PICTURE OF? THE KINSMAN REDEEMER THE LORD
JESUS CHRIST. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE? DOWN IN
THE LAST PART OR THE FIRST PART OF VERSE 10 HE SAYS THEY ARE
RANSOMED. THEY ARE THE RANSOMED OF THE
LORD AND THEY SHALL RETURN. They're called ransom. That is,
they're delivered from the captivity and guilt of sin because the
Lord Jesus Christ paid their debt to God's holy law and justice,
and he paid it in full. You remember the words found
in Job 33, deliver them from going down to the pit? God said,
I found a ransom. And that ransom is the blood
atonement of Christ. And when the ransom is paid,
the captive set free. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ has set us free. Christ is the only
one who is near kin to us, that is able to redeem us, and willing
to redeem us, and has the proper ransom price that God demands
to set us free. Now, this is God's way of salvation
in Christ. Now, here's the next thing. The
king's highway is a plain way. Fools shall not err in this way. When the Lord is pleased to reveal
the gospel and himself unto us in the gospel, it's a plain and
simple way. The way of salvation in Christ
is not complicated and complex. Oh, it is a mystery that must
be revealed, but it's not a convoluted system of works, ceremony, traditions
of man. It's a plain way. The Lord Jesus
Christ, He is that way. He is that way. He that hath
the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. talking to my neighbor the other
day and said he was telling me that he was having an ongoing
internet chat or something with someone who was trying to say
that Salvation is in this denomination. It's not in that denomination. It's in this religion, not in
that religion. And my neighbor was asking me
what I thought about. Is salvation in any particular
sect, denomination, or religion? And I said, it's not in this
church. I don't care what you name your
church." And he named some churches. I said, salvation's not in that
church, that church, that church, that church. Over here at Zebulon
Grace, there's no salvation in this church either. He said,
wow. He said, well, where is it? I
said, it's in a person. YOU WRITE BACK AND TELL YOUR
FRIEND THAT SALVATION'S IN A PERSON, NOT IN A CHURCH, NOT IN A DOMINATION,
NOT IN A RELIGION. YOU SEE IT THE PLAIN WAY. NOW,
WHEN GOD TEACHES YOU THE GOSPEL, YOU SEE IT, DON'T YOU? IT'S CHRIST. IT'S ALL THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
IN HIM DWELLS ALL THE FULLNESS OF THE GODHEAD BODILY, AND WE'RE
COMPLETE IN HIM. WHAT CAN YOU ADD TO COMPLETENESS? NOTHING. Paul feared for the
early church being removed from the simplicity of the gospel.
He said, I fear, I fear that you would be removed from the
simplicity of the gospel. He that hath the Son hath life. Pretty plain, is it not? In our
day, there's a great necessity of returning back to the simplicity
of the gospel in our worship and in our preaching. I had a
man contact me last week, and I finally called
him back on Monday. He lives out near Sacramento,
California, and he was very concerned about the complexity of the way men
in our day are trying to preach the gospel. AND HE'S GOT A RIGHT
TO BE CONCERNED BECAUSE WE DON'T NEED TO BE COMPLEX. LET'S KEEP
IT SIMPLE. WE ARE SINNERS. GOD IS SOVEREIGN. CHRIST REDEEMED HIS PEOPLE AND
WILL SAVE THEM BY HIS GRACE AND CALL THEM OUT OF DARKNESS INTO
HIS MARVELOUS LIGHT. That's why Paul said, I'm determined
not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Lastly, in verse nine, it's a
safe way and a secure way. No lion shall be there. Oh, but
there's one. There's one lion there. because
in one line there there's no ravenous lions there he the Lord
Jesus is called the lion of the tribe of judah oh he's there
and he takes care of all these other lions no lion shall be
either be there no any ravenous beast shall go up there on, it
shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk on this
highway. It's a highway, a freeway, it's
a safeway, it's a secure way. Oh, there are enemies around
us. There's enemies about and around that would devour us,
like Satan is called, a roaring lion going about seeking whom
he may devour. The enemies would cast us down
from our excellency in Christ. They would turn our hearts from
Christ if they could and turn us back to the law, works, or
ceremony. But the enemies of God and the
gospel are defeated. that under his dominion, under
his rule, sin, Satan, death, hell, and the grave, he rules
over all. Having spoiled principalities
and power, he made a show of them, openly triumphing over
them. The elect of God are safe in
his hand, hands, he said, none can pluck them out of my hand.
None can pluck them out of my father's hand. I'm a father,
we're one. No one is able to remove us from his love. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're more than conquerors
through him that loved us. The grace of God that chose us
and called us is not changing grace, but eternal grace, preserving
grace, redeeming grace. He said, I will be their God
and they shall be my people. No one is able to remove us from
His hand. He saves them, Isaiah 45, 17,
with an everlasting salvation, and He is able to keep us from
falling and to present us faultless before the presence of God, joy,
with God's presence with exceeding joy. The ransom of the Lord shall
return. and come to Zion with song, singing. What are we saying? Worthy is
the lamb that was slain. Receive all honor, glory, and
blessing. And they have everlasting joy
upon their heads. They shall obtain grace to help
in time of need, mercy. They shall obtain joy and gladness. Sorrow and sighing shall Lay
away. Lay away. Make sure you are on
the King's highway of salvation. Examine yourself whether you
be in the faith. Now, don't examine your feelings.
Examine yourself whether you're trusting Christ. If you're in
the way, but let's tell others about the way. Let us warn our
friends and our family who are on the broad road to destruction
about the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth, and
the life. Remember, the Lord told that
wild Gadarene that he healed. Go home, your friends, and tell
how great things the Lord has done for thee and had compassion
upon thee.