We're going to begin our second service by standing and singing 328, close to the 328. you Thou my everlasting portion, more than friend or life to me. All along my pilgrim journey, Savior, let me walk with Thee. Close to Thee, close to Thee, close to Thee, close to Thee, All along my pilgrim journey, Savior, let me walk with Thee. Not for ease or worldly pleasure, nor for fame my prayer shall be. Gladly will I toil and suffer, only let me walk with Thee. Close to Thee, close to Thee, close to Thee, close to Thee. Gladly will my torment suffer, only let me walk with thee. ♪ Lead me through the veil of shadows ♪ ♪ Bear me your life's fitful sting ♪ ♪ And the gate of life eternal ♪ ♪ May I enter, Lord, with Thee ♪ ♪ Close to Thee, close to Thee ♪ ♪ Close to Thee, close to Thee ♪ And the gate of life eternal may I enter, Lord, with Thee. Thank you. I'll be in Genesis six. Before I start, um, the Lord seen fit to keep us together for six years today. Um, and he's brought us a pastor, his wife, his family, mom, the gay Lords, you know, he's, he's made a, He's put together a group of people that have really, through his grace, stuck together. And my message, two weeks from now, is going to be in Genesis 6. And the people on the ark were very specifically placed in the ark. And they were put there by his purpose, just like everybody in this room today is here by purpose. by the Lord's purpose. And so anyway, I didn't want to get into too much of it before, but I'm just thankful that he's seen fit to keep us together. So I'm going to just read 613 through 21. It is Basically the story of Noah's ark and that's what I'll be preached on a couple weeks And God said to Noah the end of all flesh has come before me For the earth is filled with violence through them and behold. I will destroy them with the earth Make thee an ark of gopher wood Rooms shalt thou make in the ark and shall pitch it within and without without would pitch And this is the fashion which thou shalt make of it. The length of the ark shall be 300 cubits, the breadth of it 50 cubits, and the height of it 30 cubits. A window shalt thou make in the ark, or to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above, and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof, with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. Behold I even I do bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh Wherein is the breath of life from under heaven and everything that is in the earth shall die? With thee will I establish my covenant and thou shalt come pay attention into the ark Thou and thy sons and my wife and my son's wives with thee a specific group of no one else, and of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee, they shall be male and female, of fowls after their kind, and of the 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, and take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee, and it shall be for food for thee and for them. Thus did Noah, according to all that God commanded him, so did he. Let's pray. Father, we come to you thankful this morning for this passage of scripture, Lord, and we're so thankful that you've brought us here. And Father, by your purpose, you've made us to come here. You've placed us here. And Lord, we're so thankful because we wouldn't come without you. There's no way we would ever come if you didn't make us come, if you didn't make the move, if you didn't draw us. Lord, we would not be here. We wouldn't be here to listen to the gospel. We wouldn't hear it, we wouldn't know it, and we would perish. And Father, we're just thankful for the brethren that we've that we've met over the years, Lord, and we're just so thankful that you've kept this congregation. You've kept us strong. You've supported us. Lord, you've brought us a pastor who brings us the gospel three times a week without fail. And Father, again, we're just so thankful that you brought us together. And Lord, we ask that you continue to watch over this congregation. Grow it as you see fit or keep it just like it is if you see fit, if that be your will. And Lord, we just ask that you, as always, please continue to watch over and care for us in Christ's name. Our second hymn will be 351, Near the Cross, 351. Brother Scott gets situated back there. 351. Jesus keep me near the cross There a precious fountain ♪ Free to all a healing stream ♪ ♪ Flows from Calvary's mountain ♪ ♪ In the cross, in the cross ♪ ♪ Be my glory ever ♪ Till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river. Near the cross a trembling soul, love and mercy found me. There the bright and morning star, ♪ Sheds its beams around me ♪ ♪ In the cross, in the cross ♪ ♪ Be my glory ever ♪ ♪ Till my raptured soul shall find ♪ rests beyond the river. 351. Here the cross, O Lamb of God, brings its scenes before me. Help me walk from day to day with its shadows over me. In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever, till my raptured soul shall find Rest beyond the river, near the cross I'll watch and wait, hoping, trusting ever. ♪ Till I reach the golden strand ♪ ♪ Just beyond the river ♪ ♪ In the cross, in the cross, near the river ♪ Thank you. I love hearing your voices coming back at me. forward to hearing brother Scott preach that message look forward to that all right let's go to Genesis chapter 1 Genesis chapter 1 And today we're going to be looking at the second day of creation. Our Lord, when he was speaking to the Jews in John chapter 5 verse 46, he told them that had you believed Moses, had you believed Moses, you would have believed me. For he wrote of me. Moses wrote of the Lord Jesus Christ. And not a lot of people know that. I remember saying that to my grandmother once and she was shocked to hear that Moses wrote of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the significance of that truth for us today is that even in the foundations of the world being laid. In creation, we see the will and purpose of our God to glorify His Son, to glorify Him in the salvation of those whom He gave to the Son before the foundation of the world was even laid. That's important. What we'll be looking at today is to know that we were given by the Father to Christ before the foundation of the world, and yet when we came forth, we all came forth dead in Adam. We all died in Adam, and so the people of God are sinners in need of salvation, and God has provided that salvation freely, abundantly, in grace, in his Son, Jesus Christ. And our God saves through the God-man mediator. He sent a mediator between us, sinful man, and holy God. We have one who spans the gap which we could never cross and who reconciles us to the Father. And so before we get into Genesis, turn over to Psalm 19. Psalm 19, knowing that this is speaking of Christ, this creation account, let's see Psalm 19 verses 1 through 3. It says, The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. So that it doesn't matter what people we are of, what our ethnicity, what our background is. who our family is, what nationality we are, what language we speak, we see our God declaring the glory of his Son for the salvation of sinners. And we're reminded in this message of creation that there is no other salvation in any other name but the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who's revealed to us in creation. Each day we see Christ as a beautiful, glorious diamond with many facets on each side. And any way you turn it, you see the brilliance and the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what we see in each creation day, in each account of what our Lord has done. We saw on day one that Christ is the word of God. He is the creator by whom all things are made. And we saw on day one that he is the light of men. He's the light that the Father brought forth in order to bless and to bring life to this world which he had made. It's said there in Genesis 1-3 that God said, there's the word of God, there's Christ right in the beginning. God said, let there be light and there was light. And that's a declaration that's shown us the Lord Jesus Christ in all things. Now today again, we see Jesus. We see that He is our atonement. He is our covering. He is our robe of righteousness. And He's the one in whom we stand and how we stand before Holy God. And He's the one in whom now the children of God dwell. He's the one in whom we have life. In whom we breathe. by the Spirit. We live by Him. Let's read verses 6-8. This is our text this morning. God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called the firmament heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day." Now in each of these verses there's a progression which reminds us and speaks to us of what our God does sovereignly in salvation. God said, God made, God called. Our God does everything for His people in their salvation. He provides everything and does everything in Christ Jesus and that's why every day we're seeing picture of Christ. We're seeing how that God blesses us, gives us life, creates us anew in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice here before we get into it there's a difference in the spelling of the word heaven. Look at verse 1. Genesis 1.1 it says in the beginning God created the little h heaven and the earth. But then in Genesis 1.8 It says in God called the firmament, capital H, heaven. And Christ is this, we're gonna see this is Christ. This firmament is again, it's Christ. And Christ is our heaven because wherever the sun is, wherever the Lord Jesus Christ is present, that brethren is paradise. He is our paradise. He is our heaven. He is our eternal life and eternal joy. He is everything to the people of God. Now, by the time that we finish this message, I want you to see how that God from the very foundations of the earth is showing to you. He's putting proof upon proof. He's showing you over and over and over again that salvation is of the Lord and it shines unto us gloriously in the face of Jesus Christ. So I've titled this, The Covering of Men. And first, we're going to look at waters of judgment, and then we're going to go and look at this firmament that divides and covers. So on to, the Lord speaks of a firmament. and he speaks of waters, and he puts a divide in the midst of the waters. And the thing that divides the waters is this firmament. This firmament is what divides, is placed, it's a division in the midst of the waters. Now as we define these words and we consider what our Lord is doing here in creation, we see what our God has made Christ unto us. We're learning. We're seeing God's handiwork in all the facets of creation. We're seeing His handiwork in His Son, through His Son unto you, unto you His people. And so we're already familiar with this word waters. We've talked about this word before and it says in verse two, and the earth was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. So let me just remind you what I said previously about waters. Waters in scripture is a term used to describe peoples and nations. It's a term to describe the people that are on the earth. Turn over to Revelation 17. Let's look there, Revelation 17. And we'll see in verse one, verse 15, Even verse 18, there are references that are relevant here. So verse 1 says, And there came one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither, I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters. Look at verse 15, And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And verse 18 of that chapter says, And the woman which thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. And so waters are a type of people. It's a picture of what we are. It's us. It's talking about us, regardless of nationality, regardless of tongue or peoples. It's us. And just like there's a judgment coming for this great whore that sitteth upon the waters, so these waters, described in Genesis 1, verse 2, you can go back there now. In Genesis 1, 2, these are described in terms of lying in judgment. The earth was without form, and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. That's describing what we are by nature. We're without form. We're void. We come forth in darkness, spiritual darkness, dead in trespasses and sins. Now, turn over to Romans 8. Let's go to Romans 1. Let's go to Romans chapter 1. And here, we're given a picture of people under the judgment of God. Romans 1 verse 18 through 25. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them. For God hath showed it unto them. for the invisible things of him from the creation of the world. It goes all the way back to the creation of the world. They are clearly seen being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Now at this point, he begins to describe using terms of judgment. terms that the people are under to describe them. And we'll see that these people are without form. They've corrupted from the image that God made man, when he made him upright in the image of God. But now in Adam, he's defiled. He's without the form of God. And they're void of knowledge, and they're in darkness. And now we'll see these traced back in reverse order. We'll see darkness, we'll see void, and we'll see the image being without form. So verse 21, because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. They were in darkness. Verse 22, professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. They're void of knowledge and understanding. They have no understanding of the true and living God. Verse 23, they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image, something that doesn't have the form of God, of Christ at all, but an image made like unto corruptible man and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Wherefore, God also gave them up to uncleanness, through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves. They're under judgment. These waters, these people, are under judgment, who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. And so man, who is created by God, rebelled against God. And God became enmity to man. In his heart, he saw God and treated him as an enemy. as an enemy, and despised the true and living God, and thought to come by his own power, by his own works, by his own righteousness, as he saw fit, as he wanted to do. Now, turning over to Ephesians chapter two, there's similar language to this troubling description. I'm not gonna read it, you're familiar with verses one through three, but we see there that God, our creator, has every right to justly condemn us, to throw us into hell, to destroy us. But here, in verse 4, we see a comfort. We see the grace of God. given to his chosen people in the face of Jesus Christ. God makes the difference. Verse four, but God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us. There's a people whom the father loves, a people he chose out before the foundation of the world and gave to his son, committing them to his care. He loved us. us who hear, who have heard the voice of Christ and have an interest in his word. And we see these riches to us in Christ who has delivered us from judgment, from that death, from that darkness, from that void of knowledge, from that fallen corrupt image in Adam. He says, verse five, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened, hath given us life together with Christ, by grace you are saved, and hath raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Now that's a good segue for us because this firmament is described as these heavenly places. It's a picture showing us of our life. of our fellowship in the Lord Jesus Christ and what he's done for us. He's the one in whom we are reconciled to the Father. And so let's see what this firmament is that God puts here in the midst of the waters that were lying in judgment under God. Because right now, these waters in creation are all in darkness. They're all void. They're all without form in judgment, the judgment of God. What is this firmament? What is it literally? And how is this firmament a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ? How does this give us hope in our Savior? Well, we're told in verse 6 and 7 in Genesis 1, it says, God said, let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. The Lord is telling us that He is the one who separated the waters. And there were waters, by His separation with that firmament, there was waters beneath, under the firmament, and waters above the firmament. He's the divide between those waters. Some say those waters are what we see today in the sky, the clouds. that they are the waters spoken of that were raised up by that firmament. And that could be. Others say that back then there was a thicker amount of water, which was a canopy around the whole earth, well insulating it so that things were very stable, very secure, very, very normalized all over the globe. It was all one in that canopy. in that perfect atmospheric perfection there which kept everything stable and things were full of nutrition, the soils were good and the plants were good and loaded with nutrition so that men lived for many years and men had strength, having a very good oxygenation there and all that stuff. I don't know. Exactly, but we do know that the Lord says that there were waters below and waters above. And this firmament is the space that exists or is between those waters there. Now the margin, your margin in the King James calls it an expansion. And so this expansion exists between the earth beneath your feet and all the way up to the heavens. All the way up. And men of God say, all the way up to the third heaven. All the way up, that whole expansion is the Lord, is that firmament there. And so God spread this firmament out. Now we see it clearly in in our atmosphere, right? When you look down from the International Space Station and see those pictures, you see that glow, that firmament that's describing our picture of that safety, that protection, that covering that we have from space and the crushing of space or the coldness, We would die in space without any protection. But in this atmosphere, in this air, we're protected. We breathe. We live. We move about in safety and protection. So we call this the sky, but really it's air. It's everything that's beneath your feet right now all the way up into the heavens. And so this sky, this air reaches from the earth all the way up to heaven above. Now, you can see in verse 17, in Genesis 1, 17, it describes the firmament as containing the sun and the moon, right? God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, right? So that's why We describe it, it goes up to wherever God is in the third heaven, which is a physical place where he sits enthroned in the midst of the hosts of heaven, being worshiped and adored by his creatures. And then verse 20 also describes it as God said, let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And so we see this firmament, and I'm going to read some verses to you that just describe this firmament to us. In Job 9.8, Job says, God alone spreadeth out the heavens and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. In Psalm 104, verse 2, the psalmist says, who covers thyself with light as with a garment, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain. That's the same word as Job had. In Isaiah 40, verse 22, it is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain. And here he uses a different word, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. And that word spreadeth is the word that you would use to robe yourself with a cloak, to put on a cloak and to wear that cloak. And then once more in Isaiah 42, 5. Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens and stretched them out, he that spread forth the earth and that which cometh out of it, he that giveth breath unto the people upon it and the spirit to them that walk therein. And so the Lord has put his people to dwell in this firmament. This is where we live and breathe and move about and have our being. And so this firmament is also, if you think about it, this firmament is also the place where the Son of God enrobed himself in flesh and came and tabernacled among us, coming and meeting his people here in this firmament where we dwell He came and dwelt among us in the likeness of this flesh, yet was without sin. And so it says in Matthew 1.23, I'll read it. Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is God with us. And so Christ came and tabernacled with us in the flesh. He came to this air, to this place, this firmament, and meets with his people in the likeness of this flesh. And that's, we begin to see, get a picture of this firmament is where God meets with us in the mediator. We couldn't survive except God has provided this firmament, this space, this expanse, where we live and dwell and he came and dwelt among us, God with us, Emmanuel in the flesh. And so like this firmament which extends from the earth all the way up to heaven, we also see another picture. We see that this firmament in whom we dwell, in which we dwell, it extends from the earth beneath all the way to heaven above. So that we see there a picture of Christ who spans the expanse. who spans us sinful creatures on earth and brings us into reconciliation and fellowship with holy God in heaven. Christ is the one who spans that. Turn over to Genesis 28, and we'll see this. Genesis 28, and we're just gonna look at verse 12. This firmament in which we dwell, where God meets with us, is a picture of Christ. This firmament enables us to see and have an understanding of who our God is. This firmament reveals the things of God to us. This firmament interprets God's handiwork to us. This firmament is the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a picture of Him who reveals the things of God to you, who meets with you and dwells with you, who reveals the Father to us and interprets God's works unto us, that salvation work of God in Christ. Now, in verse 12 here, Jacob had just assembled together some rocks and made it his resting place. And verse 12 says, he dreamed fell asleep and he dreamed and behold a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And we know that Christ is that ladder. He's that firmament that is like a ladder which touches the earth where we are and reaches all the way up to heaven where God dwells. Where God dwells and that's how our God communicates with us is through the Son, in the Son. He is the God-man mediator. He's our hope. He's our life. It's His Spirit that we breathe. It's in Him that we dwell and live and have our being. So just like that firmament extends from the earth beneath all the air up to heaven, that's Christ. That's Christ unto us. That's what He is. Our Lord told Nathanael, He said, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man, which is a picture, a reference to Jacob's ladder here, which is Christ. Christ is that ladder. Christ is this firmament. He's the one in whom we are robed and dwell and breathe and have fellowship, being reconciled to God in our Savior. Now, this firmament was given by God, it says, to divide the waters from the waters. There would be terrestrial water and there would be celestial water being divided by this firmament. Now, in one sense, we understand this to be a picture of how the Lord separates his sheep from the goats. He puts his sheep on the right hand and the goats on the left. He divides and separates the waters. If you turn over to Luke 12, we can see this. Let's go to Luke 12, verse 51 through 56. So Luke 12, 51, and there will be references to this firmament as well here in this division, this chapter. Luke 12, 51. Christ says, suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you nay, but rather division. Division. And this firmament was given to immediately cause a division. in the midst of and that word means in the middle of the house right in the middle of the house there's going to be a divide and it says verse 52 for from henceforth there shall be five in one house divided Three against two, and two against three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son against the father. The mother against the daughter, and the daughter against the mother. The mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And he said also to the people when, here it is, this reference to the firmament. When you see a cloud, rise out of the west. When you're looking up into the firmament, straightway ye say, there cometh a shower, and so it is. And when you see the south wind blow, ye say, there will be heat, and it cometh to pass. Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth. You know what the firmament is saying. How is it then that you cannot discern these this time? How is it that You, which believe Christ, see Christ. You discern the firmament. You behold the salvation of God in the face of Jesus Christ when so many others don't. When so many others don't discern, don't see Christ, don't believe the Lord Jesus Christ unto salvation. He tells us, for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But to us which are saved, it is the power of God. Christ has made unto us life and salvation. He's made unto us everything. And though we all came forth of sinful Adam, born of his corrupt seed, under the judgment of God, were under the prince of the power of the air, Ephesians 2 verse 2 we were walking the course of this world and yet God had mercy and grace on us for Christ's sake and he divided us out from those waters of judgment and gave us life and light and liberty in his son praise to his name look again at Romans 9 and we just see this and then we'll move on Romans 9 21 and Hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump, that same lump from Adam, to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? What if God, willing to show His wrath, and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? And that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had aforeprepared unto glory, even us, whom He hath called, not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles? And so we see how that Christ has a people given to Him before the foundation of the world, given to Him by the Father, committed to His care, and then He came forth and out of that same lump drew out His people, divided them, delivered them from the judgment of God's wrath. Now that's not the only, that's not the only division that our Lord makes here because we also see described a terrestrial body of water and a celestial body of water. And that shows us another picture of what our Savior does for you that are his people. We see there pictured what we are in this flesh and that what we are raised again in the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 15. 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 40. There are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial, but the glory of the celestial one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. or the glory of the celestial is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars, for one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It's sown in corruption. It's raised in incorruption. It's sown in dishonor. It's raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body. And so we see here in this firmament declaring to us the resurrection from the dead. We see our Lord raising us up. His word of promise to us that you shall be raised again by Him. This body is weak and sinful and corrupt and unable to work a righteousness for itself. It's going to go back to the dust. But when Christ returns, he shall raise us up again in a body new, a heavenly body whereby we worship and dwell with our God forever. And so before he does that though, He divides, He delivers us from that body of sin, that enmity against God. When all we are is flesh, and all we are is dead in trespasses and sins, He comes. He's the Sword of God. He's the Word of the Lord that divides us asunder. that divides the soul and the spirit. He's the two-edged sword. He's the one that divides the joints and the marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of our hearts. And he shows us our vile nature. He shows us our deadness. He shows us our enmity. and shows us life and gives us life in Christ, whereby he delivers us from that judgment, delivers us from that death, that darkness, that prison, that bondage, and gives us life and liberty in his Son. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." In other words, Christ gives us a new birth by his Spirit. making us new creatures, born of the seed of Christ, whereby we know our God and have fellowship with him. This flesh is still defiled, but in the new man, the creation of Christ, we rejoice in Christ. We worship him, awaiting for that day when he will raise us anew. Raise us anew. Just as he told Mary, I said this recently, but I'll say it again in Luke 2.35, yea, a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. And Christ comes and he divides us. He shows us what we are. He shows us our need of him and his complete sufficiency. He's everything to us and he gives us life in him. And so Christ is the sword of division. He's the one that separates the living waters from the waters of judgment. Romans 8, 9, and 10 says, but ye are not in this flesh, but in the spirit. If so be that the spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man have not the spirit of Christ, he's none of his. But if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness. And so our God is showing us throughout this whole account, he's showing us what he does in us so that he separates us from trusting the works of the flesh. We're not divided from these waters of wrath by the works that we do. for the Lord by our keeping the law or the good works we do. That doesn't divide us from the wrath of God. And we're not divided from the wrath of God by our free will, which is corrupt and defiled and can only do that which is against God because it sees God as an enemy. in our will of Adam, our so-called free will. It's in bondage. That doesn't separate us from the waters of wrath, and it doesn't separate us from the judgment of God. Only Christ, the firmament of God, he comes, and he's the one that divides the waters. He's the one that separates his people from the wrath of God and from those waters of judgment which shall be destroyed by God. So then it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. It's of God. And this firmament is a picture of Christ and what God does for sinners in dividing them from the wrath of God and separating us out unto himself to the glory, honor, and praise of his name. Now I said as we concluded this message that we would see how that God from the very foundation of the world had a people already chosen and given to Christ. And Christ is seen in all the creation account how he comes and delivers his people, how he obtains their eternal redemption for them. doing everything necessary to ensure our life, our fellowship, our deliverance, that we might be reconciled to our God, though we were under judgment in Adam. And so our Savior was crucified. for his people. Just as we were given to Christ before the foundation of the world, so Christ is called the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the world. These works were all done, so this creation is given to show us Christ to affirm Him to us over and over again. To show us the proof of His Word and promise and His power and glory over and over again. So that you who believe the Lord Jesus Christ know this is exactly what your God said and purposed to do from the very beginning. And everything He's wrought in you was purposed and shown to us in the very beginning of creation." Your God is wonderful. Your God is amazing. Your God does all things and all things well. Believe Him, rest in Him, rejoice in Him, give Him thanks and praise for what He's done for you. Christ, this word, that word spread out that we saw earlier, it means to beat out, to hammer out, And what your God did in sending the Son as the firmament who protects you and who covers you, Christ came and He bore the hammering out. He bore the wrath of God poured out in judgment upon Him to deliver you from those judgment waters and from the fiery wrath of God. Christ bore that wrath. He's the one who covers his people. He is our atonement. His blood was shed to cover our sins and to deliver us from the wrath of God. And that's exactly what we see here in this firmament. It was beat out, spread out. No matter where you go, that firmament is over you. There's not a place you can go on the earth without being covered by that firmament. And so it is with Christ. There's nothing you can do. There's not a place you can go to. But the blood of Christ covers you. And He is your righteousness and your acceptance with holy God. Rest in Him. Believe Him. Call upon His name. For He's a kind and gracious Savior to all who call upon Him. And believing Him, you shall have the forgiveness of your sins. For He says it so. in his word over and over again. Amen. All right, brethren, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our gracious Lord, we thank you, Father, for your mercy, which you've provided for us abundantly in your Son, Jesus Christ. We see, Lord, in this firmament, a picture of our Savior who came and dwelt with us tabernacled among us in this flesh, and who was beat out, hammered upon by the wrath of God, bearing our stripes, whereby we are healed of our death, healed of our ruin and sin in Adam. Lord, you delivered us from the waters of wrath, the waters of death and the grave, and you've given us life in your son. Lord, we thank you for this. We praise your name. We thank you for that we may see Christ in all the scriptures, even from the very foundation of the world. And Lord, we think now of our brethren. We think of Johnny, who is sick with the lymph node. Lord, heal her, give her strength, make her well. We think of Ron and and his pain and not feeling well today with the surgery he had. We pray that you would heal him, give him strength, make him well again, Lord, and restore them to us. And we pray for Lisa, Lord, that you would help her to be able to to be with us, to not have the issues, Lord, the stomach issues, and that you would heal her. Lord, that we may all come together again, rejoicing in you. And Lord, you know your people and the things that separate us. Lord, let there not be a divide between brethren, but let them be restored in fellowship, rejoicing in Christ our Savior, our Lord, our all. It's in his name we pray and give thanks, amen. Our closing hymn will be 37, How Great Thou Art, 37. O Lord, my God, than I in awesome wonder consider all the worlds Thy hands have made. I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder Thy power throughout the universe displayed Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee How great Thou art. How great Thou art. And sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. How great Thou art. How great Thou art. When through the woods and forest glades I wander And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur and hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze. And sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! And sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! And when I think that God, His Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in. That on a cross, my burning gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin, and sinks my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! And sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. How great Thou art! How great Thou art! When Christ shall come, shout of acclamation, And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart! in humble adoration, and there proclaim, God, how great thou art. Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee. How great Thou art. How great Thou art. It sinks my soul, my Savior God, to Thee. How great Thou art. How great Thou art. Thank you.