Now, this evening we'll take
a look at a few verses here. Isaiah 26, verse 1 down to verse
4. Let's read these four verses
one more time. In that day shall this song be
sung in the land of Judah. This song. We have, we have right
now a strong city. Salvation, we have right now.
Salvation in Christ. Salvation that God has appointed.
He will appoint salvation. And we will have a strong city
with walls and with bulwarks. We have a defense city, a city
of refuge. Open ye the gates that the righteous
nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. We know that Christ
is our entrance. Christ is the door. Thou will
keep him. Thou will keep him in perfect
peace, or as the marginal reference has, peace, peace, whose mind,
whose mind. Notice it says there in the marginal
reference, thought or imagination is stayed on thee because he
trusteth in thee. Trusting the Lord forever. For when the Lord, who is Jehovah,
Jehovah Jireh, Jehovah Sidcanu, Jehovah Shalom, all those different
names that represent the Lord Jesus Christ, the old timers
called him Jehovah Jesus, Jehovah Savior, God our Savior. For when
the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. I'd like to marginal
reading on that. He's the rock of ages. He is
our rock. our stone, our foundation. Now,
I'm entitling the message, Salvation Appointed by God. Now, if we have salvation, not
because of anything we have done, we have salvation by His, His
appointment, His appointment. What a glorious thought, the
salvation that we so desperately need is all according to God's
eternal purpose and grace, The grace of our God and Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all of the Lord. We say,
as the scripture plainly declares, that salvation, all of salvation,
is of the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ, He is
the appointed Savior, Son of God. He's the authorized anointed,
appointed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only just God
and Savior. He is the appointed Savior and
He has appointed the means to accomplish our salvation. What
are the appointed means? Well, Christ and Him crucified.
Christ in him crucified. He was sent of God to put away
our sin by the sacrifice of himself. He has also appointed the people
to that salvation. Remember in 1 Thessalonians chapter
five, where he said that we're not appointed to wrath, but we
are appointed unto salvation in Christ Jesus. Now that is
good news, is it not? We have salvation by his appointment. And it's appointment that's always
on time, never late. You ever been late for an appointment?
We have those different appointments. I always try to be, I always
try to get there before the appointment. I don't want to be late. They might cancel the appointment
if I'm late. But with God's appointed decrees,
everything's on time. He's never late. Never late. This is a blessed, blessed chapter,
Isaiah 26. He says in verse 1, in that day,
and we know that this is the day of salvation. This is the
day that God has appointed to accomplish our salvation. in
the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Today is a day of salvation. In that day shall this song be
sung in the land of Judah. Not another song, this song,
this song. We have the song of joy, praise,
and thanksgiving for that glorious salvation that we enjoy in the
Lord Jesus Christ. In that day, This is a day the
Lord has made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it, the psalmist
said. Psalm 118. It's a day of mercy,
whereby he speaks mercy to the miserable. It's a day when he
gives grace to the guilty. It's a day that God is pleased
to give salvation to sinners. Who needs salvation? Sinners. Who needs Mercy, those who are
miserable. Who needs grace? Those who are
guilty. We have in Christ a strong consolation. We have in Christ all of our
salvation. We gladly sing this song unto
him. In Psalm 98, 1, O sing unto the
Lord a new song, for he hath done marvelous things. His right
hand and His holy arm has gotten Him the victory. So when we sing
about salvation, we sing about what the Lord has done for us. I don't turn because you know
this scripture very well, but I'll turn and read it for you.
You remember in the Revelation, Verse 9, where they sung a new
song. In that day shall this song be
sung. It's a song of salvation we have
in Christ. And they sung a new song, saying,
thou art worthy to take the book, to open the seals thereof, for
thou was slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood of every
kindred, tongue, people and nation, and has made
us unto our God, kings and priests, and we shall reign on this earth,
and we sing worthy is the lamb that was slain, to receive all
honor, glory and blessing, both now and forever. We sing of the
salvation that he has accomplished for us. We sing this song, it
says there in the land of Judah, we studied a whole lot about.
Israel came into that land of Judah across Jordan by miraculous
hand of God, by the power of God. The land of Judah is the
place promised, appointed, and purposed for God, of God, for
the Israel of God to inhabit and prosper. And they did. We
studied that all through the book of Joshua. And that land,
the land of Canaan and Joshua who led them in, that is all
typical of Christ our Savior. And that land is typical that
represents the church of the Lord Jesus Christ in this gospel
age in which we live today. The gospel church, is a place
established by the Lord for his covenant people, his spiritual
Israel to inhabit and to prosper. You remember the pleasure of
the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Therefore, we have great
reason to trust him at all times. He is our rock and he is our
salvation. We are to trust him at all times
and then we sing praises unto the Lord for all that he has
done for us. We don't pat ourselves on the
back and say, look what I've done for God, do we? No, sir. We praise him for all things
that he has done for us. We have in these verses a great
description of salvation that's given to us in Christ. In the Lord Jesus Christ, we
have a Strong, safe, and secure salvation. He says there in verse
one, we have a strong city. Now the reason we have a strong
city is because we have a strong God. We preach a big God, not
a peanut God. We preach a big God. How big
is he? Bigger than I can describe. The
heavens of heaven cannot contain the Lord. We have a strong salvation
because we have a strong city, because we have a strong God.
The city spoken of here is the church of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the church of the firstborn, bought with his blood. It is
a city that's built by God. We have a strong city because
we have a strong and almighty Lord, our God. If you wanna turn
with me, you can. If not, I'll just read it to
you, but over here in Psalm 46, one of my favorite Psalms, Psalm 46 verse 4, there is a
river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the
holy place, the tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the
midst of her, she shall not be moved. God, she shall not be
moved. shall help her and that right
soon. We have a strong city because
we have a strong God. The Lord has established his
church, he defends his church, and he will keep it at all costs. He even laid down his life to
secure and to purchase our salvation. This strong city is appointed,
this strong city is appointed to our salvation. And we know
when we talk about a city that's appointed of God and we talk
about salvation, we talk about a person who is our savior. The strength of our salvation
is not dependent upon the will, the work, the worth of the sinner,
but rather upon the will, work, and worth of the Savior. Salvation is always determined,
dependent, accomplished, and distributed by the Lord Jesus
Christ alone. Alone. He is able to save to
the uttermost. He is the one who is mighty to
save, mighty to save. Now, I can give you at least
three reasons why the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
city of God, is secure, safe, strong, with these walls that
are fortified. And that is all a picture of
what we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have salvation according
to God's purpose, according to the Son's purchase, and applied
to us by the Holy Spirit's power. Father, Son, Holy Spirit. These
three are one, but each work, each work of the blessed Trinity
is all essential to our salvation. He tells us that in Ephesians
chapter one, the Father choosing, the Son redeeming, and the Holy
Spirit making application, quickening, revealing, sealing salvation
unto us. Now, salvation, let's look at
those three things. Salvation is of the Lord and
the Father's purpose. God the Father purposed salvation
in Christ before the world was created, before Adam fell into
sin. The charity and savior stood
for us in that eternal covenant of grace. Before Adam sinned,
before Adam fell, the Lord Jesus Christ stood. He is a lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. None of the elect of God can
perish. None of those in Christ, for
those for whom He stood as surety, Savior, and sacrifice, they cannot
perish. None of the elect of God can
perish unless you change the eternal purpose of God, which
He purposed in Christ Jesus. Now, he worketh all things after
the counsel of his own will and purpose, and his purpose is not
going to be changed. Our salvation is certain and
sure, appointed of God, because he has purposed it. And his purpose
is an eternal purpose. You know that every sinner God
saves, he saves on purpose. Purpose. Purpose. Secondly, salvation
is of the Lord in the Son's purchase. We're going to see in 1 Corinthians
chapter 6, 1 Corinthians chapter 6 in our study, I think it will
be on Sunday, that we are bought with the blood of Christ. And then the apostle said to
those elders at Ephesus to feed the church of God which he had
purchased with his own blood. So we are bought with his blood. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation of the Lord because
he bought us with his own blood. His blood atones for all our
sin. His righteousness justifies us
before God, and we know the Lord Jesus Christ ever lives to intercede
for us. Now, you see why we have a strong
city? You see why we have salvation
that's appointed of God? The Father's purpose, the Son's
purchase. And then we see that, thirdly, salvations of the Lord by the
work of the Holy Spirit in application, revelation, and his power. You hath he quickened who were
dead. It is the Spirit that quickeneth,
right? The flesh profits nothing, nothing. You hath he quickened who were
dead. The new birth is the Spirit's work. That's why the Lord said
ye must be born again. As the wind blows where it will,
even so those who are born by the Spirit of God. We can't do
anything to control the wind. It blows as God sends it, east
to west or north to south, however God sends it. So is everyone
that's born of the Spirit of God, sovereignly by His will,
His grace, and His purpose. Therefore, we ought to sing unto
the Lord, and we do, this new song of redemption for the salvation
that's of the Lord. I love what David said. In Psalm 118, this is the Lord's
doing, and it's marvelous, marvelous in our eye. We have a strong
city. Salvation will God appoint for
us. Now, if God's appointed that
salvation for His elect, for His covenant-chosen people, do
you think that any of them will miss that appointment? You're
not going to miss that appointment. As many as were ordained to eternal
life, they did what? They believed the gospel of God
grace. Now, look at verse two. Open,
open ye the gates at the righteous nation, which keepeth truth may
enter in. Now, you know, those ancient
cities, including Jerusalem and those ancient cities, they were
walled cities and they had gates. And the gates, especially at
night time, were closed. Or the gates were closed when
the enemy came in toward that city. They closed the gates to
keep the enemy out. They could not say, open the
gate. No, the man inside had the control,
the gatekeeper had the control. But the believer can say in the
Lord Jesus Christ, and this is what the Lord Jesus Christ says
unto us, open wide the gate. He said, I am the door, by me
if any man enter in, he shall be saved. Open ye the gates that
the righteous nation which keepeth truth may enter in. Now, this is good news for us.
In the Lord Jesus Christ, we have an entrance into the kingdom
of God, into this holy city, into this new Jerusalem. Remember
Psalm 24, where it says, who shall ascend into the hill of
the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath
clean hands and a pure heart, who has never lifted up his soul
to vanity, who has never sworn deceitfully. That shuts me out. But in the latter part of that
Psalm, Psalm 24, the King of glory is coming in. He's the
Lord of hosts and we come in because he brings us in in him. Our sin and our fall in Adam
banished us from the presence of God, from the city of God.
In Isaiah 59, it says, our sins have separated us from God. Our sin and ruin in Adam exiled
us, put us out of the way, out of the way into the broad way
of destruction. Our sin has displaced us from
the life of God. and Adam all died, fallen Adam
lost the way, he lost the truth, and he lost life. In our Lord
Jesus Christ, we have fully and completely and eternally, he
has restored the way, because he is the way. Restored the truth,
he said, I am truth. And then he said, I am life. By one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners. So by the obedience of another
shall many be made righteous in him. Open ye the gates that
the righteous nation may come in. We don't open this gate ourselves,
he opens it for us. He is the Lord, our righteousness,
and he gives us entitlement and citizenship into that city because
he has made us A righteous nation. So we enter in in Him. Now these
people who enter in in Christ into the city of God, they do
so upon the merits of Christ. He is the Lord, our righteousness. And we are a holy nation in Him. Believers are royal priesthood,
a holy nation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Believers are keepers
of the truth. because we receive the Word of
God, and we believe the Word of God, and by His grace we keep
on believing the Word, these people who enter in by grace
and mercy, enter in to the salvation of the Lord. Open ye the gates
that the righteous nation. Now, we're not righteous in ourselves,
are we? We're not coming in upon our
morality, upon our good deeds, Open ye the gate that the righteous
nation. Now, God's not gonna receive
or accept anything less than absolute perfection. How can
this sinner be made righteous? Well, you know the answer, only
in Christ. Only in Christ. And this is by
His will, His purpose, His grace that we keep the truth. Now,
what is the truth? Christ is the truth. and we're
blessed to hear it. We're blessed to believe the
truth and to keep it always, believing it always. Look at
verse three, thou will keep him. We keep it the truth by believing
the truth, receiving the truth. Verse three says, thou will keep
him in perfect peace whose mind, thought, imagination is stayed,
fixed, settled on thee. And those who are fixed and settled
upon Christ our peace, Christ our righteousness, they do trust
Him always for all things in salvation. In the Lord Jesus
Christ, believers have, now think about this, we have perfect peace.
Perfect peace, complete, true, and eternal peace with God. We have peace with God. Notice
the reason I read down to verse 12 in Isaiah 26, verse 12, Lord,
thou wilt ordain peace for us. for thou hast wrought all our
work in us and for us. We have peace with God only through
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now I want you to turn to Isaiah
57, and let's read about this peace. Isaiah 57, it's perfect
peace. Isaiah 57 verse 19. I create the fruit of the lips,
peace, peace to him that is far off and to him that is near,
saith the Lord. I will heal him, but the wicked
are like a troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters
cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God
to the wicked. He is the one who creates peace
and gives it to us. There is no peace with God apart
from the Lord Jesus Christ, is there? Not at all. Apart from
the gospel of Christ, apart from faith in Christ, apart from trusting
him for all salvation, there is no peace with God, is there?
Apart from Christ. Now you hear religious people
say, well, I'm trying to make peace with God. You can't do that. God's holy
and we're sinful. Forget it. You can't make peace
with God. A guilty sinner cannot satisfy a thrice holy God. But in the Lord Jesus Christ,
we have perfect peace. Perfect peace. You see, he reconciled
us to God. He wrought peace for us. This peace promise here is a
peace accomplished by the blood atonement of Christ. You remember
what we read over here in Colossians chapter one? Don't turn there,
but let me just read it to you. It pleased the Father that in
him should all foolish dwell, having made peace through the
blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself. By him I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were alienated
enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled."
He made peace for us with his own blood. Peace promised here is that peace
accomplished by Christ. And the peace here promised,
he says there is perfect peace. Now listen carefully. The text
here is not saying that unless we have peace perfectly, we do
not have faith. But it is saying we have perfect
peace, the peace of God, which gives us perfect peace. You get that? Although it's not
enjoyed perfectly here, although it's not perfectly enjoyed in
the heart, we still have peace with God. It's not perfectly
enjoyed because we're still centered, but we have perfect peace in
Christ. We still have conflicts around
us, don't we? But the promise of the gospel
is perfect peace with God. through our Lord Jesus Christ.
That's the peace we need. The word perfect here means true
peace. It's not a false peace. It's
not based upon a falsehood. The word perfect here also means
completeness and abundance. We have complete and perfect
peace in the Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace now. that in eternal
glory it will be perfectly enjoyed. We have peace now, don't get
me wrong. We have peace of conscience,
peace of mind, but we don't enjoy it perfectly now. Then we'll
enjoy it perfectly and it will last forever. This peace is promised
to those whose mind and heart is stayed upon, notice what it
says, who stayed upon Jehovah. stayed upon Jehovah. Who is Jehovah? He is God, my Savior, the everlasting
God. This peace is promised to those
whose mind and heart has stayed upon God, my Savior. He has fixed my heart. If you
look at Psalm 57, He has fixed my heart upon Him. I will cry
unto God most high, unto God that performeth all things for
me. Psalm 57, verse two. He shall send from heaven and
save me from the approach of him that will swallow me up.
God shall send forth his mercy and his truth. My soul is among
lions. I lie even among those that are
set on fire, even the sons of men whose teeth are spears and
arrows, and their tongues are sharp sword. Be thou exalted,
O God, above the heavens. Let thy glory be above all the
earth. They have prepared a net for
my step. My soul is bowed down. They have digged a pit before
me in the midst whereof there are fallen themselves. My heart,
verse 7, is what I want to get to. My heart, O God, my heart
is fixed. O God, my heart is fixed. were
fixed upon him. I will sing and give thee praise. Our heart is fixed upon things
above, not on the things of the earth. To be stayed upon him
is to be fixed upon him, to have your heart fixed upon the Lord. And I mean by that your affections,
your will, your mind, your attitude toward God, one of submission
and total dependence. To lean upon Him at all times.
It's to cast your burden upon the Lord and to rest in Him. Notice this. It's also to be stuck upon Him. It's to be fixed and stayed upon
Him. It's to be stuck upon Him. It's
to be addicted to Him. It's to trust Him at all times
for all things. That will keep him in perfect
peace whose mind is stayed, fixed, settled upon Christ. And we do trust in Him at all
times for all things in salvation. His blood for cleansing, His
righteousness to justify, His mercy to pardon, His grace to
save, His power to keep. It's all of God, is it not? All
of grace. Now, lastly, look at verse 4.
Now trust ye in the Lord forever, and that's what saving faith
does, it trusts the Lord. For the Lord Jehovah is everlasting,
everlasting strength. He is the everlasting foundation. We had that a couple weeks ago.
You remember Isaiah 28, 16. Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation
of stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone. He is the rock upon
which we build. He is the rock upon which we
rest. The Lord said, I will build my
church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
He only is my rock and my salvation. Remember Psalm 62. The Lord Jesus
Christ, He is Jehovah. Jehovah means everlasting, independent,
eternal, sovereign God. And we know the Lord Jesus Christ
is God, our Savior. He is our Jehovah. He is the
Lord, Jehovah. The old timers called Him Jehovah
Jesus, God our Savior, which is, which was, and is to come,
a self-existent, eternal, immutable God. In Him is strength as well
as righteousness and He is all our salvation. He is all of our
strength. The Lord is my light and my salvation
and whom shall I fear? He is our strength and he will
give us strength when we need him. To bear temptation, to endure
every trial, he said my grace is sufficient. To exercise every
grace, Paul said I can do all things through Christ, it strengthens
me. and to rest in Christ alone. He gives us his strength. You know, faith is quite an amazing,
amazing thing because it's the gift of God. Every good and every
perfect gift comes from God. We don't have perfect faith,
but we have a perfect gift of faith. Our faith grows We grow
in faith and in the knowledge of Christ, but it is a perfect
gift. In the Lord Jesus Christ, we
have everlasting salvation and we have everlasting strength. But think about this, we have
everlasting everything. We have everlasting everything.
Turn over a couple pages to Isaiah 45, 17. But Israel, 45, 17, but
Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation. You shall not be ashamed or confounded,
world without end. You see, everything we have in
Christ is everlasting. His righteousness is everlasting. His peace is everlasting. His redemption He obtained for
us. What kind of redemption? He obtained for us, remember,
eternal redemption. And he gives us what kind of
life? He said, I give them eternal life and they shall never perish.
The work of righteousness, Isaiah 32, 17. The work of righteousness
shall be peace and the effect of righteousness, quietness and
assurance forever. My people shall dwell in a peaceable
habitation, in assured dwellings, in quiet, resting places. when it shall hail coming down
on the forest, and the city shall be low in a low place. Blessed are they that sow beside
all still waters, that sendeth forth thither the feet of the
ox and the ass. He provides all things for us.
My God shall supply all your need according to his riches
in glory through the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust ye in the Lord
Jehovah forever. Aren't those four good verses?
Thou will keep him in perfect peace. We have peace through
his righteousness, whose mind is stayed, his heart is fixed
upon thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever
for all things. For in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting
everything. Everlasting righteousness, everlasting
salvation, everlasting peace, everlasting reconciliation, in
Christ Jesus.