It's good to see everybody here this evening. Looking forward to our time of worship together. Let's take our hymn books and turn to hymn number 256. I was thinking about this hymn throughout the day today. It is well with my soul. When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll, Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, let this blast assurance control that Christ hath my helpless estate, and hath shed his own blood for my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought, My sin not in part, but the whole. is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. And Lord, haste the day when my face shall be sight. The clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul. Very good reminders that in Christ's hands all is well. Let's take our Bibles and look in Genesis chapter 7 for our scripture reading commentary, Genesis chapter 7. And Lord willing, I'm going to try to read down through this entire chapter because it is one unit. Sometimes when you break it down too small, you forget or overlook the flow of what's written here. Although these chapter divisions were added later to make it easy to find. But you'll notice this is a narrative that continues on through here, each one beginning with the word and. That's how chapter six began. And it came to pass. I like that. That means everything's according to God's purpose. And here, in Genesis chapter seven, and, and the Lord said unto Noah, come thou and all thy house into the ark, for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation. So here we have the Lord now summoning Noah into the ark along with his house, a very specific number. It wasn't everybody. There's some that preach as if Noah was standing out there inviting people to come in. It wasn't given to everybody. You notice here it says, come thou and all thy house into the ark. That's why that ark was built. Just like God has a specific people. that he has purposed to save. And it's for them only, specifically. Even Christ said, I pray not for the world. So all these pictures of Noah out there begging people, won't you please enter, it wasn't made for them. Just like in preaching the gospel, we're not out there trying to get everybody in. We're on the trail of God's elect, God's people. And everybody else is gonna go right on doing what they're gonna do. But what I find interesting here of note when it says, the Lord said unto Noah, he was the Lord's representative head as a type of Christ for his people. But notice he says, come thou and all thy house into the ark. That means God was already in the ark when he said, come in and would have Noah and his family then enter in with him. I think that's a beautiful picture right there. The Lord didn't say to Noah, go into the ark, but come. And that's exactly the call that Christ gives to his own. Come unto me, all ye that labor and have laid now will give you rest. So it implies that God himself was in the ark, just as God was in Christ. in that body that the ark represented and the ship was to be their place of refuge while all the other people on the face of the earth would drown. None of this, God has a wonderful plan for your life. You hear people preaching that way, that's not how scripture presents it. Now it says here that the Lord said to him, for thee have I seen righteous That term righteous in the Old Testament is used to describe the elect of God. In other words, in his forbearance, God saw these that he had chosen as being ones for whom when the Lord Jesus Christ would come, he would pay their sin debt. It's not as if there was some sort of righteousness in him. There wasn't. He was no better than those that were on the outside, but it's a term that the Lord uses in the scripture, and you'll find it throughout, describing those that he purposed to save and that when the Lord Jesus Christ would come, he would pay their sin debt. But in Romans chapter three, it's clear that the Lord God was dealing with them in his forbearance, not imputing their sin to them, but having purpose to impute it to the Lord Jesus Christ. So it's all looking forward to the righteousness that Christ would come and earn and establish on their behalf and God would impute. So that's dealing with Noah and his family, the specific people that God had chosen out of that whole evil generation. And then verses 2 through 9, We have the gathering of all the animals with the family. It says, of every clean beast thou shall take to thee by sevens, the male and his female, and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. You may wonder, well, why clean and unclean? The clean would be used for sacrifices. When Noah and his family would come out of the ark, they had to have clean animals that they would sacrifice unto the Lord. The unclean, those are all the rest, and notice male and female, would be to populate again the animal kingdom and serve as food for the population that would grow from there. But of fowls also of the air by sevens and the male and the female to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth. For yet seven days, and I will cause it to rain upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights, and every living substance that I have made will I destroy from off the face of the earth. And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. So in that we see him as a type of Christ as well, following exactly what God ordered should be done. for the salvation of his race, his people, but also for the condemnation of all the rest. That's the part that people don't like to hear about. I hear people talking about God's sovereign. It means he's in control of all things, but when you sit down and ask him, so in his sovereignty, is he right and just in condemning whom he will? That's where you find people halting. They're like, oh, well, he permits people to go to hell, but he doesn't send them. Well, that's not what the scriptures say. Very specifically here, we're seeing that God had a people he purposed to save and the rest, he says, as it says there in verse four, will I destroy from the face of the earth? That doesn't sound like some permission will, that means ordains it. And so Noah was 600 years old. when the flood of waters was upon the earth. And Noah went in and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him into the ark because of the waters of the flood of clean beasts and of beasts that are not clean and of fowls and of everything that creepeth upon the earth. There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah." So here we see a picture of God's sovereignty in commanding that not only Noah and his family should enter in, he didn't invite them in, he commanded that they go in, but also the animals. He said, you shall take with you, speaking to Noah. Some wonder how the animals came to Noah or how Noah got them. Well, in chapter six and verse 20, God said the animals would come to Noah by migration. So that last time, of fowls after their kind, says in Genesis 620, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee to keep them alive. We see migration even today, certain times of year and seasons, and animals that flock together. All of that is according to God's direction and purpose. And it's a miraculous thing to watch that it's the Lord that causes his creatures to be exactly where they should be for his purpose. But two by two, it says they went into the ark. Notice, to Noah. So Noah wasn't out there trying to wrangle them in. Now he was in the ark and the Lord brought Noah, those animals. If the Lord can so work with animals to do what he wants, don't you suppose he can take the hardest of sinners and cause them to do what he wants? Because really, when you look at it, aren't fallen creatures, men, more stupid than animals? That's what the scripture says about us, we're beasts. Even the beasts, the scriptures say, know their master. In Isaiah 1 verse 3, that's what the Lord said, the ox knows its owner, the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not consider. People don't like that, think that they're more stupid than beasts, but that's what they are in their depravity and unbelief. So in verses 10 to 12 now, we see where God brings the waters upon the earth. It says, after seven days, it came to pass that the waters of the flood were upon the earth. In the 600th year of Noah's life, in the second month, the 17th day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up and the windows of heaven were opened and the rain was upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights. So that means that Noah, even after entering into the ark, waited for seven days for the rain to come. God's never in a hurry in his judgments. He's never too early, he's never too late. He's always on time. And the number seven here in scripture, seven days, is the number of completion. In seven days, God created the world, or in six days, in the seventh, he rested. So seven in scripture is a number of completion. When the time was complete, it wasn't that he was giving people outside seven more days to come knock on the door and say, hey, we changed our mind, we want in. No, everybody was in there that was supposed to be. And the seven days just showed that it was a complete work of God. And Noah and his family were to rest in what God was doing. That's why in Hebrews chapter 11 it speaks of Noah by faith entered into that ark. He built it and entered in looking to Christ by Christ. And it says then the windows of heaven were opened. This is when the heavens containing the great waters that were above the firmament back in Genesis 1 and verse 7 when God created universe there was a firmament of water that was being held up, I believe for this purpose right now. It didn't rain on the earth until this time. That's an amazing thing because Noah was over 600 years old and that means that firmament was up there all that time, didn't drop one drop of water until God opened the skies and then these waters formed a huge if we can call it that, blanket of water in the upper part of the Earth's atmosphere. And that was there ever since creation. But it was there for this purpose, that at this time God would cause it to rain. But it's not just that, it says also that the fountains of the great deep were broken up. So there was a total upheaval. Waters came up from under the Earth also. and I'm sure accompanied by some great geological catastrophe. That's why you can find fish fossils up in the Rocky Mountains. They've gone down and wondered, what on earth? Well, it must have been some kind of upheaval. But for 40 days and 40 nights, it says it rained. The rain was upon the earth 40 days and 40 nights. Here we see where 40 becomes associated with a period of testing or judgment. And you'll see that number throughout the scriptures. Moses was 40 days on the mountain. That was a time of testing, because while he was away, what was going on down the valley? They began to say, well, he's gone, this fellow. Let's make our own idol and go back to Egypt. It was 40 days that the spies were on their trip to Canaan. And God proved them during those 40 days. There was 40 years, there was a year for each day that Israel rebelled or that the spies were in the land and Israel refused to go in, 40 years. That was a time of judgment. And Christ's temptation in the wilderness was for 40 days. He came as the true Israel, whereas the Old Israel failed during the 40 days that Moses was up on the Mount. Christ was 40 days in the wilderness working out that righteousness that the father demanded and expected of him. He is the new Israel, the true Israel. And so in verses 13 to 16, we see where all entered into the ark and the door is shut. Verse 13, in the self same day entered Noah, and Shem, and Ham, and Japheth, the sons of Noah, Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them into the ark. They and every beast after his kind, and all the cattle after their kind, and every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind, and every fowl after his kind, every bird of every sort. Even today, when you look out, you see animals pairing up after their kind. Birds of a feather flock together. You've heard that expression. Well, it's the Lord that's made it that way. And they went in unto Noah. into the ark, again Noah's a type of Christ, they were drawn in unto Noah as that type, two and two of all flesh wherein is the breath of life. And they that went in, went in male and female of flesh as God had commanded him, and the Lord shut him in. But notice they went in as God commanded him. That's how he proves his sovereignty. Everything that takes place, that lives and moves and breathes, is according to God's sovereignty. So this is a summary statement to show us, as you would expect, that everything was fulfilled exactly as the Lord had spoken. And all things now were ready for the flood that God would bring upon the earth. Here again, I say that there was plenty of room in that ark, but there were no vacancies. Everyone, everything was there. And then the Lord shut him in. Noah didn't even have to shut the door. He didn't stand at the door and say, okay, one more chance here. One more opportunity. Anybody want to come in? Nope. He was inside and the Lord shut the door. We see. that same pattern with regard to salvation. Doesn't the scripture say of Christ that he opens and no one shuts and he shuts and no one opens? That's in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 7. But clearly it's plain to see here, if the Lord gives you eyes, that the ark was for the salvation of Noah, but it was also for the condemnation of the world. Don't leave that off. There's no such thing as God's will to do certain things, but now he's got on the side of permissive will. He really doesn't want to have to judge if he doesn't want, that doesn't have to. Now that's not the God of scripture. This art stood as a representation of God's salvation, that everyone that entered in God commanded them to, and that everybody that was on the outside, God held them out. There were no second chances for those that were left out. The Lord had said that his spirit would strive only so long, and then that was going to be it. When it says strive, it means to restrain men from being as bad as they could be. You talk about how evil society is, but it's not even half of what it could be were God not, by his spirit, restraining men from being as evil as they could be. Just think about that. But hear the Lord. is the one that made the difference. And so, Noah and the ark during the flood. We have verses 17 to 23, the flood is described. It says the flood was 40 days upon the earth and the waters increased and bear up the ark and it was lift up above the earth. Think of the ark as being a picture of Christ who went through the watery fire of condemnation on behalf of his people, and he was lifted up above the earth. He said, I, and if I be lifted up, I will draw all to myself, all that God has purposed. And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth, and the ark went upon the face of the waters, and the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth, and all the high hills that were under the whole heaven were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail, and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved on the earth. There again, don't follow the silly artist's designs of people swimming around somehow and still knocking. Let me in, let me in. No. I believe that upheaval from the fountains of the deep, just like any of God's condemnation, it is immediate, it is sudden. Here it says, they all died. That means in an instant. that moved upon the earth, both of fowl and cattle and of beasts, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man. Even in that you see God's sovereignty as to what beasts live and what die. All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, and all that was in the dry land died. The wages of sin is what? Death. Contrary to what Satan said, you will not surely die. These blinded people even to think that somehow they're going to be safe outside of Christ, outside of the ark. They aren't. There's nothing but death. And every living substance was destroyed, that's a strong word, which was upon the face of the ground, both man and cattle and the creeping things and the fowl of the heaven. And they were destroyed from the earth. And notice, Noah only remained alive and they that were with him in the ark. There's salvation again. Only those in Christ are saved. All the rest perish. Now there's some that try to say, well this is just some kind of local flood. No, here very specifically it says all that was upon the face of the earth. In fact, there's some interesting history in many different places around the world, different cultures that actually describe this flood. I remember someone telling me that the caricature in Chinese for the word flood is actually a caricature of an ark. So even today from China, there's an indication that these new that this flood had taken place. Here it says that the mountains were covered. This took a lot of water. Now granted, in the upheaval, a lot of those mountains would have been turned upside down, but there was plenty of water even today on Earth to do this. When you look at a map of the world, it's amazing how so much water surrounds the dry land and yet The Lord declares that those waves come so far and no further. But at this point, the water was collected by God himself and that it covered the mountains. In fact, it says, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life. All that was on the dry land died. And again, that shows that it is God who gives life, And it's God who takes it. He determines the beginning and the end of all. And then verse 24, the flood lasted 150 days without receding. The waters prevailed upon the earth in 150 days. It rained for 40 days and 40 nights, but then the flood waters prevailed for 150 days. God purposed that The judgment be as it was, but he also determined the length of days. But guess what? Noah and his family were safe in the ark. And that's how God sustained Noah through that time of catastrophe and judgment. It's the ark that bore the judgment. And that's why the scriptures say that any that are in Christ, it was Christ who bore the judgment. And those for whom he died, died in him. His death was their death and his judgment their judgment. But they were shut in and sheltered from the storm and flood. They were safe. I like that word. That's what salvation means to be safe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Noah underwent burial to all the old things of that world that he might come out into a new world. And so it is those that have died in Christ have died to the law. Old things are passed away. All that condemned and judged the Lord's people were put away in Christ and that we may live in him. That's the picture we're going to see next time as the Lord brings Noah and his family out of the ark. Gracious Father, thank you for your word, how precious. I pray that you would grant us eyes to consider your glory and your sovereignty and salvation, but yes, even in condemnation. And I pray that we would be humbled to think that, who am I, that you should be pleased to save such a wretch as I am and yet condemn others. We have nothing in which to glory other than Christ and his finished work. And I thank you for the beautiful picture we have of Noah in the ark and salvation of those you've purposed to save in your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I give you the praise and honor and glory in his precious name. Amen. Hymn number 334, be thou my vision. Be Thou my vision, O Lord, of my heart, Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou my best thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. Be Thou my wisdom and Thou my true word, I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord. Thou my great Father, I Thy true song, Thou in me dwelling and I with Thee one. Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise, Thou mine inheritance now and always, Thou and Thou only, first in my heart. High King of heaven, my treasure Thou art, I, king of heaven, my victory won. May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's sun. Heart of my own heart, Amen. All right, let's take our Bibles and turn to Isaiah chapter 55 as we consider the L's of titles concerning Christ. Last time we saw the Lamb of God and Here in Isaiah 55 and verse 4, we're going to consider Christ the leader, the leader and commander. We'll start reading up in verse 1 to get the context here. And the part that I want us to see down there in verse 4, although we'll read down to verse 5, It says, behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. So there's the L, leader. But let's read beginning with verse 1. Ho, everyone that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money, come ye buy and eat. Yea, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good. Again, wherever you see good in scripture, eat ye that which is of God. Only one is good, and that's God himself. And let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto me here and your soul shall live And I will make an everlasting covenant with you even the sure mercies of David And then it says behold I have given him for a witness to the people a leader and commander to the people Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God and for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. David was already dead when it says here, I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. So you say, well, make that covenant with David? Well, it was with David's seed. And that's why we're looking at this when it says, behold, I have given him for a witness. It's talking about David's seed to the people, a leader and commander to the people. That's Christ. So he's clearly set forth here, but starting at the top in verses one and two, we have here a call, what I call a summons. It's not an invitation. The gospel is not an invitation. When it says here, ho, everyone that thirsteth, come, that's a command, ye to the people, it's not an invitation. When the prophet calls out, ho, and he does so in a loud and clear manner, it's that those that are to hear should hear. There's nothing that we're to be timid about when we speak of Christ to sinners, just because they're hardened, and will not and do not hear. We don't just try to work around and just try to get people to listen. No, we declare. And I believe what we see here is an important announcement declaring the gospel. And when he says, ho, that's a gospel note. It's like the word behold, that's to catch attention. It's short. but it's significant. It doesn't need to be some kind of long, urging appeal like you have in false religion. This preacher might preach for five, 10 minutes, and then the rest of the time he's trying to get people to walk an aisle and say a prayer and do all these things. That's not how God does his work. They're not even preaching Christ. They're just twisting men's arms and trying to persuade them into some kind of profession. You can see here that this declaration, and that's what the gospel is, it's a declaration. It's clear, it's simple, it's sharp, it's to the point. And those that are to hear will hear. You notice that's how it's put there in the context in verse three. Incline your ear and come unto me. Well, who is it that inclines the ear but God himself by his spirit? You don't have to raise your voice. If a person's deaf, it doesn't matter how much you raise your voice, they're not going to hear you. But notice the call here is to everyone who, what, thirsts to come to the waters. So it implies that these are ones that have already been made alive by the Spirit of God. That order is important. It's not that first You've got to get them to hear, and then they'll be made alive. No, they've been made alive by the Spirit of God, therefore they hear, and therefore they thirst. A dead person doesn't thirst. So when he says, ho everyone that thirsteth, that's not everybody. That's those that the spirit has given that thirst to, and therefore, they come to the waters. You know how it is, when you get thirsty, it could be the middle of the night. Next thing you know, you're getting up and trotting off to the faucet or to the refrigerator, and you're getting water because you're thirsty. That's a pretty good sign of life. You might not feel too awake, but you know enough to get some water. And only those who thirst will come to the waters. That's the problem. You've got a bunch of dead people that have no thirst because they are dead, and they're not going to thirst after the water, after Christ. It takes the Lord giving us that thirst. And I believe that the Lord himself had probably this passage in mind there in John chapter 7 and verse 37 when he cried out, if anyone thirsts, Let him come to me and drink. That's what we're doing tonight. The Lord's given us a thirst to hear of Christ. And so we come to him. But notice also, it says you who have no money, come by and eat. That's a manner of speaking to catch our attention. Those who do thirst, they do come to Christ, but there's no need to bring anything with you. How many times has someone said to you, come on over, and let's sit down and enjoy a nice meal together, and what's the first thing you say? Well, what can I bring? And when you tell them, don't bring anything, just come, what do they do? They insist, no, I gotta bring something. That's just our nature. But that might be so amongst ourselves, and yet when it comes to this matter of the gospel of Christ, do not bring money. We have a hymn in our hymn book. I've got a big old X through it on my copy where it asks the question, must I go and empty handed? And the whole thing is you better not. You better come with something in your hand. If you come across that in the hymn book, just go ahead and you can rip the page out as far as I'm concerned. Put a big X through it. Because the money won't do you any good. This matter of salvation is in the hands of a sovereign Christ who came and earned that righteousness and God imputed it to the account of his people. In fact, Paul declared that in Galatians 2 and verse 21, that if righteousness come by the law, And that word law means any obligation or rule that you think you need to fulfill, then Christ is dead in vain. You make the death of Christ to be of none effect. So don't bring your dirty money. That money can't do you any good, and it can't contribute one whit to God showing you any favor with regard to salvation. Our coming, and that's why it says, who have no money. We have nothing to contribute, not even by our will. People say, well, it's according to your will. No, it isn't. It's according to His will that any can come. So it's a matter of coming in faith. Faith means coming without even seeing with our physical eyes, but believing God. And when it says there, come buy wine and milk without money and without price, So coming to the waters, you don't bring anything. But it mentions also wine and milk. It's all free, the free grace of God. Sometimes when you see that word free, and we've done this before, you don't read the fine print. You get these free downloads on the internet. And you download, and then the next thing you know, it's sending you over to a place for a subscription. The only thing that was free was downloading it. The rest, you better be ready to pay. That's not how it is with salvation. It is free. And the water represents Christ. The wine represents his shed blood. The milk represents the purity of his word, but it is all free without any contribution on man's part. You're not allowed to drink freely of the water and then somehow think, well, I better purchase the wine. Nope. You're not to be summoned to come and eat freely that which is good and then spend your labor for that which is fat. Even the richest dainties of God's house are as free as the bread he gives to hungry souls. When you think about the dainties, the delicacies of the grace of God, his pardon, peace, righteousness, sanctification, forgiveness, those are all the dainties, delicacies. It's all free. Free to us, but it costs Christ everything. The question's asked there, why do you spend money for that which is not bread or your wages for what does not satisfy. So here is a very good question that God asked. Why do I spend money for what can't satisfy? That's what we do in life most of the time. We buy this and we think it's going to bring us happiness for a while and then within a short time we get looking around and we see something we like better. Next thing you know that's going aside and I'm going after this. That's the way this flesh would carry us were it not for the spirit of Christ drawing us to Christ and giving us satisfaction in him. Things you buy can never satisfy, but things that Christ has purchased on our behalf and that God has given to us because of him, they satisfy. So listen, he says, incline your ear. That's what it means. Listen carefully. Notice unto me, to me, salvation is the person of Christ. It's not a system of doctrines that you come into. It's come unto me, incline your ear unto me and eat that which is good and let your soul delight itself in that abundance. So here the summons is very clear. The provision is made, already made. You don't bring anything. And you simply partake. Oh, that God would grant us that hunger and thirst to simply partake of what he has already procured. But you notice it does take hearing, incline your ear. You can have physical ears and still be deaf. So the hearing, the inclining of the ear, comes from the Lord himself, to be able to hear. And your soul shall live. That's an indication of life. When the Lord gives a hearing, it indicates then that the soul has been made alive. You can take a surgeon's knife and cut yourself open. You'll never find in there anything that's called a soul that you can operate on. It's the inner being. of who we are that the Lord makes alive by his spirit. And when he does, you delight. It says, let your soul delight itself in fatness. In scripture, fatness, those are the good things of the sacrifice. There was a certain part of the sacrifices, the thank offerings, that the fatness was preserved, reserved for the priests to eat. and enjoy that fellowship with God. And so it is here, the sacrifice of which we eat is Christ. And we've been given his grace to be able to participate and eat of him. So verses three through five, the rest of this portion here leads us into what is the title of this message, how in all of this, Christ is the leader and the commander. When he says, And there, incline your ear, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people. And behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. Incline your ear. That carries with it the thought that the inward ear that the Lord has made open by his spirit is towards when he says incline your ear and come unto me. That's where faith looks. This is a description of faith. It's the ear that is attuned to the voice of the leader, commander, the shepherd. My sheep hear my voice, but it's also the eye that is enabled to look to Christ and see him. All the senses that we have, like physical senses, spiritually, the eye, the ear, the taste, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. These are all examples of the work of the Spirit in the heart, but it's the Spirit's work to do. Sadly, you've got a lot of preachers carrying cadavers around. They'll prop one up, and then they'll kinda let the hand off of it just a little bit, make sure it's okay, and then they'll come over here, prop up another one, and then they'll go and prop this one up, and they're kinda proud of what they got, and all of a sudden this one starts falling, and then you gotta go back and grab them. That's what a lot of Preachers are involved with. It's their work. Spirit's not in it. They're not preaching Christ. And therefore, there's no life. But here, we're talking about a work of the Spirit. Hear and your soul shall live. How is the soul made alive? By hearing. Hearing who? The voice of the shepherd. My sheep, hear my voice. And so, You've seen your pets do this from time to time. They'll hear your voice and their ears turn to you. The ear will flicker. I had a little cat out sunning the other day on the back porch, and I looked through the window, and I thought the cat was dead. It was just lying as still as possible. And so I kept looking to see if I could see whether it was breathing or not, because it was a hot day. And this cat loves to get out in the heat. She'll stay out there all day if you let her. But I was concerned that somehow she died. So I called her name, and guess what? The ear twitched. Up comes the ear, and then it turns the head. So I knew all is well. She recognized the voice. There's life. And that's what takes place in the heart of the sinner that God has been pleased to save by Christ. But notice here, it comes all down to this. I will make an everlasting covenant with you. It says the sure mercies of David. For the ones who do hear the voice of the Lord, they've been caused to hear it. It's because God has already established that covenant. Here it says with David, but we know the sure mercies of David. that God said he would make with David had to do with that seed, Christ, that should come from his loins and sit upon his throne. And you can see that that covenant is characterized, I love that word, by the sure mercies of David. There are no unsure mercies of God when it comes to salvation. His mercies blended with his grace. He's merciful over all of his creation, but when blended with his grace, Therein we know that God has been favorable. God showed his great mercy first to David, not only by sparing David's life, even though he was a guilty murderer and adulterer. People don't know what to do with David because the scriptures say he was a man after God's own heart. And yet, if he were to apply for membership in most congregations today, they'd turn him down. Oh, you were a murderer? You were an adulterer? People reason that way, not even seeing themselves as that before the Lord. I'll tell you what, there's not a person Christ has ever saved that's not a murderer or an adulterer or an evil person, just as evil as those that God condemns to die. So you say, well, on what ground then is a sinner saved? Well, it's in these sure mercies that the Lord has manifest towards such as David. And those mercies are sure. That word sure means certain. Doubt yourself, but don't doubt Christ. Don't doubt his word. If we get under a cloud of doubt, it's because we're looking in here or we're comparing ourselves with somebody else and thinking, well, I don't know if I quite measure up. Why are you looking around? They can't help you. They're as much a leper as you are. Now we have to look to Christ. His sure mercies are certain. And you know what? God never gave David up in spite of his failings. In fact, his last words were that, that the only reason that he had any confidence he was the Lord's was that the Lord had established that covenant with him, ordered in all things and sure. I can go to bed at night and sleep on that because if I want to try to think about myself being somehow right with God, it'll never be, not in this self, this flesh. There's always going to be a battle, always a struggle, but the sure mercies of God, just like he manifests toward David. That's why he says here, I have given thee, I've given him for a witness to the people. What kind of witness is he? He's a witness of the kind of sinners that God saves. Not the righteous, but sinners Christ came to save. He said, it's not the people that are whole or think themselves whole that need a physician, but those that are sick. So that's where it begins, flat on our face before the Lord, acknowledging our sickness and knowing that It's Christ that has been established by God to be that wisdom, that righteousness, that sanctification, that redemption. David, he was a leader of Israel. He was not only a physical leader, but he was to be their spiritual leader. And God established him to be, as it says there, you notice those two words go together, a leader and commander. of the people or to the people, for the people. That's important. He wasn't a leader to be above the people or apart from the people or just pointing the way. No, he is the way. It's like Christ said, I am the way, the truth and life. No man comes unto the Father, but by me. He didn't come to tell us the truth. He is the truth. He didn't come to show us the way. He is the way. and he's life. So David here is used as an example of what Christ is to his people. David was nothing but a sinner that God was pleased to save by his grace. Christ had no sin in him and yet he was the sin bearer and that's how we see him here as a leader and commander to the people. He bore their transgressions and their wanderings because it was God who had established him to be that leader to the people. And when it says in scripture that David was a man after God's own heart, don't understand that in the sense that David's heart was always toward God, it wasn't. But he was a man after God's own heart toward him and therefore He was safe. So just as David was a commander for Israel, even so Christ is for his people. Even as David, he was a shepherd, wasn't he? When the Lord called him and put him over the people, anointed him. Well, that's who Christ is. He's God's shepherd. and thereby he leads his people. Notice in verse four, God says, I have given him. There would be no salvation had God not purposed that salvation through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. I have given him. And rather than just referring to David historically here, I believe we see in this how Christ is that faithful one. Faithful, he's the faithful and true witness. In fact, if you go over to Hebrews chapter 2 and verse 10, you'll see the same language that the writer to the Hebrews used with regard to our Lord Jesus Christ. It says, for it became him for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing many sons unto glory, here it is, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. That word captain is the word leader. It's commander. And that's who Christ was made for his people. And from that, Coming back here to wrap this up in Isaiah 55, there is a nation then that has been established, that he has been established over. A lot of people like to say, well, that's the Jewish nation. No, that Jewish nation was set aside when Christ finished his work. And the end of that era, that age, the Lord himself said he would take what pertained unto Israel to that point and he would give it unto another nation That's over in Matthew chapter 21 and verse 43 so quit talking about Israel somehow still being God's nation Now there's been a change. It says it right here Matthew 21 and verse 43 so you can go and take your Israel flag out of your yard and take the I support Israel sign off out of there Let's go ahead and burn it Because that's not God's people There are no wise above any other that's out there. Here, Christ says in verse 42 of Matthew 21, Jesus said unto them, did ye never read the scriptures, the stone which the builders rejected, the same as it come to head corner? This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. Well, who was the stone that was rejected? That's Christ. Who rejected him? That was that Jewish population in his day. But notice verse 43, therefore, Here's the conclusion. Say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be taken from you. So quit saying that it's still somehow that Jewish nation is the kingdom of God. It's taken from you and given to a nation, bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever shall fall on this stone shall be broken. But on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder. We're caused to fall on that stone. In other words, be crushed ourself by it. Those that reject this stone will be crushed completely by it. So all the blessings of salvation are wrapped up in this one. It says there, a nation that knew not thee, but shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God. That's what the Lord does. He takes sinners that did not know him and causes them to run unto him. That's why he's called the leader and commander. He orders all things, and in Him all things are ordered and sure. And I'm thankful, because I wouldn't know Him myself were it not for Him having called, and Him having led, and Him having directed. 294, Savior, like a shepherd lead us, much we need thy tender care. Oh, wow, that's true. ♪ Savior, like a shepherd lead us ♪ Much we need thy tender care ♪ In thy pleasant pastures feed us ♪ For our use thy folds prepare ♪ Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus ♪ Thou hast bought us, thine we are Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, Thou hast bought us Thine we are. We are Thine, do Thou befriend us, Be the guardian of our way. Keep Thy flock from sin, defend us, Seek us when we go astray. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, hear, oh hear us when we pray. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, hear, oh hear us when we pray. ♪ Thou hast promised to receive us ♪ ♪ Poor and sinful though we be ♪ ♪ Thou hast mercy to relieve us ♪ ♪ Grace to cleanse and power to free ♪ ♪ Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus ♪ ♪ Early let us turn to Thee ♪ ♪ Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus ♪ Early let us turn to Thee ♪ Early let us seek Thy favor ♪ Early let us do Thy will ♪ Blessed Lord and only Savior ♪ With Thy love our bosoms fill Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, thou hast loved us, love us still. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, thou hast loved us, love us still. Amen. All right, we'll be dismissed and look forward to the next time. Lord willing. you