Today, for our Bible study, let's
turn in our Bible to Isaiah chapter 26. Isaiah chapter 26, and let's
read the first four verses of Isaiah 26. I would encourage
you to get your Bible, and let's read and study these verses together
today. In that day shall this song be
sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. Salvation
will God appoint for walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates that
the righteous nation which keepeth truth, or truths, may enter in. Thy will keep him in perfect
peace, whose mind is stayed on God, because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever,
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Or, for in the Lord
Jehovah is the rock of ages. He is our foundation. Now clearly,
this is a song of thanksgiving. The believer loves to sing. We
love to sing and praise our God for all the great things that
God has done for us and in us. Now, in these four verses today,
I have four points. The first point in verse 1 is
Christ our security. The Lord Jesus Christ is all
our salvation, all our security and hope before God. Notice in
this verse, this is Isaiah 26 verse 1, we have a strong city,
we have a strong refuge, a strong hope, we have strong salvation
in Christ. He's our security. Because salvation
will God appoint for our refuge. Now, the safety the believer
enjoys and the security the believer enjoys is not in his will or
his work or his merit or his worth. It's not even in our faith,
but rather God's salvation and provided and appointed, the salvation
that God has provided and appointed for us. You see again, we see
this truth taught throughout the scriptures that I've often
reminded you of, that salvation is of the Lord. Listen to this
scripture over in the book of Ecclesiastes. And this is our
hope. We have a strong city because
we have a great God. We have a great Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. We read in Ecclesiastes, I know
that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can
be put to it, nor anything taken from it. God doeth it that men
should fear before Him. We have a strong city. We have
a great salvation because we have a great God. God has appointed
this salvation. We read over in 1 Thessalonians
5 verse 9 that God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation
by our Lord Jesus Christ. Now let me give you Three reasons
why we have a strong city, a strong salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is our security. And here's
the three reasons. The first reason is this, the
purpose of God. The purpose of God. The cause
of our salvation is the love of God which is unchanging. Nothing can separate us from
the love of God which is in the Lord Jesus Christ. The foundation
of salvation is the very decree of God which is unalterable.
He said, I am the Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob,
you are not consumed. The source of salvation is the
election of God's grace. Paul put it this way when he
wrote to the Those in Thessalonica, we are bound to give thanks to
God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has
from the beginning chosen you to salvation. The ground of salvation
is the very covenant of grace, the everlasting and eternal covenant
of grace. And David said that it is ordered
in all things and is sure. You see, we have a strong and
certain salvation in Christ. Now, none of God's elect No believer
can ever perish unless God's love fails. And we know, according
to Scripture, in 1 Corinthians 13, we read that Christ never
fails. Love never fails. None of God's
elect can perish. No believer can perish unless
God's purpose is changed. Now you can't change the purpose
of God. He said, I've spoken it, I've purposed it, I'll bring
it to pass, I'll do it. From Isaiah 46. None of God's
elect can perish unless His covenant or power can be defeated. No
one can defeat the purpose and power of God, not at all. None
can stay His hand or say unto Him, Lord God Almighty, what
are you doing? So we have a strong and certain
city. Salvation in Christ because of
the purpose of God. Secondly, because of the purchase
of the Lord Jesus Christ. His purchase. He bought us. He bought us. He redeemed us,
not with corruptible things, but with His own blood. The precious
blood of Christ. He bought us lock, stock, and
barrel. soul, body, and spirit. He said, I'm the good shepherd.
The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. God bought
us with his own blood, Paul said in Acts 20. The blood of Jesus
Christ, we read in Scripture, 1 John chapter 1, cleanses us
from all sin. This is the purchase and redemption
we have in Christ. His righteousness covers all
our sins. He is our propitiation, He is
our covering, He is our mercy seat. We read in Jeremiah that
He is the Lord, our righteousness. We read in Isaiah 61 that He
has clothed us with the garment of salvation, with the robe of
righteousness. His blood cleanses, His righteousness
covers, His mediation is our protection. There is one God
and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
And His power is our defense. He prayed this way in John 17,
the Father had given me power over all flesh that I should
give eternal life to as many as the Father had given Him.
Now you see the reason we have a strong and certain salvation
in Christ, the purpose of God, the purchase of the Son, redemption
through the blood of Christ. None of God's elect can perish
unless His blood can be made useless. We read in Scripture
that He's obtained eternal redemption for us. None of God's elect can
perish unless His righteousness is destroyed. He saved His people
with an everlasting salvation. He said, I give unto my sheep
eternal life and they shall never perish. His mediation, none of
God's elect can perish unless His mediation, unless He someday
is stopped from being our mediator. And we know that He ever lives
to make intercession for us. And none of us who believe the
gospel of God's grace can perish because His power is everlasting. All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth. You see the reason we have a
strong city? Salvation will God appoint because
of the purpose of the Son, because of the purchase, the purpose
of God, the purchase of the Lord Jesus Christ, and third, because
of the power of God the Holy Spirit. power of God the Holy
Spirit. It's the Holy Spirit of God that
quickens, convicts, and quickens with the word of life and seals
us until the day of redemption. Our Lord said it is the Spirit,
it is the Spirit that quickens the flesh, the prophet is nothing. You have to be quickened who
were dead in trespasses and in sin. God who hath begun a good
work In us, we'll perform it and perfect it until the day
the Lord Jesus takes us home to glory. You see why we rejoice
and we sing this song? We have a strong city, a certain
and sure salvation. God has appointed Christ to be
our Savior, our Lord, our Master. Here's a second thought from
Isaiah chapter 26, verse 2. Open ye the gates. that the righteous
nation which keepeth the truth may enter in." Now, here's the
second thought from verse 2. Christ is our entrance. Christ is our door. Now, he describes
himself that way in John chapter 10. You remember reading? He
said, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved. Now, I know this, our sin in
Adam all died. Our sin had banished us from
the presence of God. Our sin has separated us from
God, we read in Isaiah 59. Our sin has banished us from
the way to God. There is a way that seems right
unto men, but the end of that way is death. The Lord Jesus
Christ alone is the gate and door and entrance into eternal
life. And this gate and door is Christ
Himself. It was prophesied in the Scripture
Over in Psalm 24, remember reading Psalm 24, where it talks about
the Lord who is strong and mighty, and it says, Lift up your heads,
O ye gates, lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King
of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? He
is the Lord of hosts. He is the King. of glory. The
Lord Jesus Christ entered in to glory, having accomplished
our redemption, having finished salvation, and He is seated at
the right hand of God, having accomplished our very justification
before God. And this was prophesied all through
the Old Testament. Secondly, it was demonstrated
in the temple when Christ died. Remember when He yielded up the
Spirit? What happened in the temple?
That veil that separated the holy of holies from the holy
place was rent from top to bottom, signifying that the way into
the presence of God was open and declared to be so through
the death, blood, and righteousness of Christ. Christ alone is our
entrance, and it's experienced in the heart and life of the
believer When the gospel is revealed, we are made righteous in Him. This is the righteous nation
that we read about here. We have no righteousness of our
own. The righteousness we enjoy has been imputed to us because
of Christ. He is our righteousness. And
we, because of that work of grace and in the heart, we do keep
and receive the truth of God. This Word that we have read,
we receive it not as a Word of men, but as it is in truth the
Word of God, which effectually works in us. And we do enter
into His rest. Christ is our Sabbath. We don't
need to keep a Sabbath day. Christ is our rest. Christ is
our Sabbath. And we rest in Him. We have entrance
and reconciliation in Him. Now here's a third. Thought,
from Isaiah 26, verse 3. Thou wilt keep him, that person,
the believer, the sinner who believes Christ in perfect peace,
whose mind, thought, heart, affection is stayed, fixed upon the Lord
Jesus Christ, and we trust in him. Now Christ is our peace. He's our peace. How is peace
made between a holy God and a guilty sinner? I know I can't make peace. I can't satisfy the holiness
of God and the justice of God, and you can't either. It's fruitless
to try to do so. But I love to read the Scripture
that says He is our peace. He made peace for us. No wonder
He's called the Prince of Peace. How did He make peace? We read
in Colossians chapter 1, He made peace with God for us through
the blood of his cross. The only terms and ground of
peace before God is the blood atonement of Jesus Christ. How
is peace received? Well, we know how peace is made.
Christ made peace for us with his blood. How is peace received? It's by faith, my friend, by
faith. being justified by Christ, we
have peace with God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. The
just shall live by faith. We're not justified by our merit. We're not justified by the deeds
of the law. We're justified in Christ, and
this salvation, this peace is received by faith. And that gives
God all the glory. How is peace enjoyed? I'll tell
you how peace is enjoyed. Not by trusting ourselves. Peace
is enjoyed by trusting Christ Jesus alone, always, only, and
completely. He is our peace. If you know
this, if your mind and your heart has been stayed upon Christ and
trusting Him only, you do have peace before God. But not only
that, you have peace in your heart, peace in your conscience. God no longer angry with those
who trust Christ. Now here's the fourth thought
in closing from Isaiah 26, verse 4. Trust ye in the Lord forever,
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. Now we've talked about
Christ our security, Christ our entrance, and here we see Christ
and Christ our peace, and here is Christ our foundation. He's
everlasting strength. He's the rock of ages. He is
both object and foundation of faith. Christ is all. Here are
some excellent, goodly, scriptural advice that you can never go
wrong with. Trust the Lord Jehovah forever. The Lord Jehovah is the Lord
Jesus Christ. The wise man Solomon said this
in Proverbs 3 verse 5, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart,
and lead not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy path. Trust him. The Lord Jehovah is
everlasting strength. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Lord Jehovah, self-existent, eternal, immutable God, the same
yesterday, today, and forever. As our God, as our Savior, who
purposed and purchased and performed and provided all things in our
salvation, certainly we can say He is worthy of our trust. Trust ye in the Lord forever,
for in the Lord Jehovah, in the Lord Jesus Christ is everlasting
salvation.