Certainty of the sinners punishment (Quality: Good)

[0:00] Jeremiah 22 and verse 24 As I live, saith the Lord, Though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence.

[0:21] Now I wonder how well you remember the history of the monarchy and the names of the kings. I think that anyone that has read the names in the books of Kings and Chronicles will find it very difficult to remember the names and to put them in their order and connection.

[0:47] And yet in this chapter from which our verse is taken, three of the kings of Judah are mentioned and there may well be by implication a reference to a fourth because this is Jeremiah's message to Judah and he is commanded by the Lord to speak to those who are rulers of Judah just before the demise of Judah when Nebuchadnezzar came up against Jerusalem and took the people captive and brought an end to the monarchy altogether.

[1:36] Let me mention very briefly the background by going over the kings that are referred to in this chapter. Jeremiah 22 you see reference to Shalom in verse 11 Thus saith the Lord, touching Shalom, the son of Josiah, king of Judah.

[1:59] Josiah was one of the few good kings, a very righteous man man who did much good by way of reformation but who died as a result of wounds in battle with Egypt and his sons were not after their father for righteousness.

[2:23] They were the very opposite. And Shalom is mentioned here, the son of Josiah which reigned instead of Josiah his father. And this man was king for only three months and then he was deposed by the Pharaoh of Egypt.

[2:44] And we are told in the book of Kings that this man Shalom did evil, did evil in the sight of the Lord.

[2:56] This man Shalom having been deposed by Pharaoh Nebuchadnezzar of Egypt. The Pharaoh put another man upon the throne in his praise.

[3:08] Put his brother Eliakim on the throne and changed his name to Jehoiakim. And you see that he is mentioned in the 18th verse.

[3:20] Thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah. And he was equally vile.

[3:32] And he was a vile man, a cowardice man, a murderer, an oppressor. Not only did this man also do evil in the sight of the Lord, but he worked abomination, we're told in Chronicles.

[3:47] He worked abomination in God's sight. What an awful thing that is for the king of Judah, for the king in Jerusalem to work abomination before God.

[3:59] But that's what we're told concerning Jehoiakim. And we're also told in this chapter of his ignominious end. Nebuchadnezzar came up in his preliminary advances against Jerusalem and he took this man away.

[4:17] He took him captive. And we're told that he died on the way to Babylon. And in verse 19, we're told concerning his burial, not a king's burial.

[4:28] He shall be buried with the burial of Anas. Burial of Anas. Old John Trapp, the Puritan, says how awful to die like a dog and to be buried like Anas.

[4:41] And what is the way Anas is buried? Well, his carcass is simply drawn out of the city if he's died there and thrown on the tip. And this man perished on the way and he was just left, his bones were just left to rot by the wayside.

[4:57] And in a sense, it was what he deserved for working abomination and being such a sinner before God. And then there is a third king and he is the king of our text.

[5:10] This man referred to in the verse as Coniah. Coniah, his full name was Jeconiah. He is also in certain places called Jehoiakim.

[5:23] Not Jehoiakim, but Jehoiakim. And he was the son of Jehoiakim. And he was king also only for a matter of months.

[5:35] Three months he was king and then he was taken captive to Babylon. And we know in Babylon that for 36 years at least he was living there in captivity.

[5:48] He never returned to Jerusalem. He remained in Babylon. And the last view that we have of him is that he's still there a captive.

[5:58] And although he's given some place and some eminence, yet he is a captive. And he is another who did evil in the sight of the Lord.

[6:12] He went into exile with his mother. And you see another word of prophecy spoken of this man in the 30th verse. Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days.

[6:26] For no man of his seed shall prosper sitting upon the throne of David and ruling any more in Judah. And although this man had seven sons, he had sons born to him in captivity in Babylon, none of them sat upon the throne.

[6:43] This prophecy was born out and proved to be completely true. And by implication, and if it's not in the chapter in the opening verses, I refer to it because you might as well hear the last, the name of the last king of all whose name was Zedekiah.

[7:02] These were the last kings of Judah. Zedekiah was another son of Josiah. He was the uncle of Jeconiah and he reigned eleven years.

[7:15] And yet he came to the same end and forced Nebuchadnezzar to come up against Jerusalem and to besiege it and then finally to conquer it and to break down the walls and take away the people and Zedekiah was taken away blinded and taken captive into Babylon 586 BC and with the end of Zedekiah so there is the end of the period of the kings, both the kings of the united monarchy Saul and David and Solomon and then the division that came in the days of Reborn with all the evil kings of the north and these few good kings of the southern kingdom came to an end 586 BC.

[8:13] These were solemn days. There was God's great displeasure on the people because of the way they lived and the sins they committed and the priests were false and religion was in tatters very much a day like this day and the displeasure of God was upon the people and upon the priests and upon their rulers and yet it's Jeremiah that speaks these solemn things that also speaks of a day of blessing, unparalleled blessing that will come through the new covenant and the inauguration of that new covenant in the day of Messiah and the 31st chapters and 33rd chapters of his prophecy have that great statement of God's sovereign goodness and grace to the remnant of his people into which blessings we have entered for these are the blessings of the gospel itself.

[9:12] Now then enough of the history of the times enough I think has been shown in these brief mentions of the by the brief mentioning of the names of these kings to show you the state of affairs the sorry condition that the land was in right for judgment and judgment was at hand.

[9:37] Let us go back to our text then. As I live saith the Lord though Coniah the son of Jehoiach and king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand yet would I pluck the fence.

[9:52] Now we must say just one more thing by way of explanation before we seek to draw from this verse the teaching that I would leave with you this night and that is to explain the expression the signet upon my right hand.

[10:09] It would be the precious ring signet ring that was upon a finger of the right hand of the Lord. Some have said that this would be the signet ring upon the right hand of the kings and when the kings were deposed the rings were taken from them.

[10:28] The ring was a symbol of authority royal authority and they make much of this verse in terms of the plucking of the signet from off the right hand of Coniah the king but it isn't saying that is it?

[10:46] It's as I live saith the Lord though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand yet would I pluck thee then this is the figure that the Lord is using to show that judgment is inevitable and sin will be punished because sin indeed must be punished the awful ungodliness of these kings the awful sin of the land is such that even if Coniah were anything other than what he is he is a rogue he is a man that does evil in the sight of the Lord but even if he were as precious as the ring upon the right hand of the Lord because of the way that he has sinned and the things that he has done he would be plucked from that right hand and he would be cast then that's what it's saying that's what we've got to deal with this is the background of the verse and the

[11:49] Lord notice is making an oath there is an oath God swearing because he cannot swear by any higher than himself he swears by himself as I live as I live said the Lord though this king Coniah it's as though Jeremiah won't give him his full name Jeconiah because he regards him as worthless it's as though he finds even to make mention of his name a distasteful thing but he says even this is as God speaks if this man were as precious as the signet ring in my hand I would cast him then and this man is anything but precious this man is ready to be cast into oblivion to be removed from his place unworthy to rule a man that ended his days then in Babylon and only was spared from that which was the portion of his father of the burial of

[12:57] Anas in the providence of God now this is the principle this is what we're looking at now we're coming to it in a roundabout way but this is part of the preaching one is to preach the word of God and you don't just grab a text out and open up on it you've got to set it in its place and show what it is saying and why it was said in the day when God spoke these words which have been recorded for us now the principle here we would seek to learn is this that rather than pass over sin rather than to overlook the sin of wicked men God will give up by comparison even those that are precious in his sight because of their sin God will deal with even those that are very near and dear to him for their sin how much more will he deal with those that are flagrant and open sinners he is a

[14:03] God whose eyes are holy to look upon abomination as a thing which is hateful to and God will judge and even if this man were as a precious ring upon the right hand of the Lord he would have to cast that ring from his hand because he could not make any connivance or any allowance for the sins and the abominations that this man has committed and is committing that's the principle then and this is something that is to be listened to this is speaking to us and I refer you to the 29th verse of this chapter oh earth earth earth hear the word of the Lord says Jeremiah and that is to gain attention hear these things hear these intimations and hear concerning this man I swear by myself as I live saith the

[15:04] Lord though Caniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand yet would I pluck the fence now let's consider this principle examples of it that God will deal with sin even if it involves those that are very important and precious in his sight God will deal with sin God won't pass over it and when we look at some other examples of this then let us learn why these things must be so and or that we might then be conducted to the gospel of grace well let us consider other examples of this this verse and I start with the angels and especially the angels that kept not their place in heaven kept not their first estate the angels were the greatest creatures that God made in the creation and they were made as was all his creation for his good pleasure for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are or were created these angels were created then they worshipped

[16:21] God in holiness they rendered service as God appointed they were those that continually were in his presence and ready to do his bidding they were as the signet upon his right hand and then there was the rebellion of many of those angels of which we are told little in detail but the truth of it is plainly stated you have it in 2 Peter chapter 2 and in the 4th verse and you have got the consequence of the rebellion of those angels in heaven all the angels would have rebelled were it not that God had elect angels angels that he had chosen should not rebel as others he has elect men and women but they have sinned and yet notwithstanding he has chosen that they might be delivered and ransomed and redeemed and restored but there are elect angels that have never sinned but the fact that they've never sinned is because they were elect and chosen not to sin when others sinned and kept not their first estate they they were restrained and there was this rebellion of angels and the consequence in 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 4 is that

[17:39] God spared not the angels that sinned but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness to be reserved unto judgment and at judgment day Matthew 25 41 he shall say to them on the left hand to the goats that are upon the left hand to those who are the wicked to those who are not his people not the elect not those chosen from all eternity given to Christ and called by grace he shall say to them upon the left hand depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels here then are the angels these great beings with intelligence and powers surpassing anything that we possess and there is this rebellion amongst these angelic beings and there is the casting of them down to hell to be reserved in darkness against the judgment of the great day and their ultimate destiny is the lake of fire that burneth forever and ever there will the devil and his angels be there will all wicked men and women be also in their company eternally shows God's power over the creation shows God's power over the angels that he could do this that he even has a restraint put upon their leader Satan himself he is that old serpent but

[19:21] Christ has bruised the serpent's head how we thank God for it and these angels were put down they still have a sphere it's not yet the end time they still have certain powers we wrestle not against flesh and blood we wrestle more than with men whom we can see and whom we can evaluate because they're like ourselves we are wrestling against principalities and powers spiritual forces spiritual rulers of the darkness of this world but for all that and for all that Satan is called the God of this world and the prince of the power of the air yet there is the restraint upon him and he cannot prevail over us for Christ is the keeper of his saints but the thing that I'm noting and the thing that I would have you to note is that those angels great beings as they were and surely they're existing for the glory of God and his pleasure yet when some of them rebelled he cast them down to hell though they were as a signet upon his right hand he cast them things and do sinners think that God will overlook their sin does anyone present in this gathering tonight think that if

[20:49] God cast down the sinning angels into hell that he will do differently with you except you're brought to repentance and faith and found in Christ what folly to think that he will make a difference for you if he didn't make a difference even for the sinning angels who surely were as a signet upon his right hand let me take another example what about our first parents in the garden Adam and Eve they were greatly favored they were singularly blessed they were put into paradise into the garden they were those that were made in the image and likeness of God we believe that man as he proceeded from the hand of his creator was possessed of an original righteousness there was nothing of sin in him there was nothing of sin about him in the garden where he was put either indeed we are told in the psalm that he was made a little lower than the angels just a little lower than these great angelic beings and crowned with glory and honor thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands and have put all things under his feet all of which you see in these opening chapters of the Bible and there are Adam and Eve and they're in the garden and there is this one prohibition that of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that they should not partake of it and you know that that was the very thing that Eve was seduced into partaking of and she gave the fruit to Adam and he ate and there was sin and sin entered with all its dreadful consequences and the sentence of spiritual death was cast upon them and these curses we looked at them just a few weeks ago in the portion around the 15th verse of

[22:48] Genesis 3 that speaks of the seed of the woman bruising the serpent's head we saw those curses that were put upon our first parents because of their sin and you see how they were driven forth from this place of paradise they went forth they were driven forth he drove out the man and God placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life now would you not say that Adam and Eve and their original righteousness made by God holding communion with God that they were as a signet surely they were as a signet upon his right hand they were very important very precious they brought great pleasure to God and yet when they sinned there were those intimations of his displeasure there were those curses denounced upon them and the consequence of their sin and sinning and that passed upon the whole race that should proceed from was a separation and they are at enmity with God and

[23:56] God at enmity with them and they're driven for from the garden and there is a lesson again to us can the sinner believe that if Adam and Eve were driven from the garden because they had incurred God's displeasure that God will make a difference and omit to do anything to those that live all their time without consideration of his law who break all the commandments if not in letter in spirit who continually offend who leave undone the things that they ought to do who recognize not God do these benighted sinners think that if they live like this that it won't matter that God in the end will open heaven I saw I think it was in the evangelical times this afternoon just glancing at it that a poll taken in America puts into the 70% isn't it 78% of Americans believe that they'll go to heaven only 4% when asked that they might go to hell you see people say well if there is a God he's not going to make a difference he'll never mind me if he was concerned that the sin of our first parents he'll be concerned that you're sinned in

[25:17] Adam you sin after the fashion of Adam we are those original sinners every one of them though they were as a signet upon the right arm of the Lord yet he plucked them then he drove them forth and we cannot hope to escape simply by God's overlooking us and passing us by let's take another example what about the world as it was in the day of Noah what about that world it was a great population there was a vast population in that day not just a handful of people they were clever people they were successful people the Lord said they did eat they drank they married wives they were given in marriage they were in all the experiences and relationships of life there was that culture which is described in the early chapters of Genesis there were those that were gifted in many ways it was an advanced civilization but there was one great default and it was that which brought

[26:30] God's judgment upon it that people were sinners very greatly so before the Lord God saw the wickedness of man was great in the earth every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually and it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth and he grieved him at his heart and the Lord said I will destroy man whom I have created for it repenteth me that I have made them but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord and back then into second Peter 2 where we looked at just a few moments ago and you read after that verse that declares in the fifth in the fourth verse of chapter 2 that God spared not the angels that sinned but cast them down to hell the next verse and spared not the old world but saved Noah the eighth person a preacher of righteousness bringing in the flood upon the world of iniquity if that world with all its population with all the life that it sustained and all its family life and all its culture if

[27:46] God looked upon that and he had caused it to be brought into being in the beginning if God looked at that and condemned it all to judgment in the flood save for Noah and his family then you see something illustrative of this principle that though there be that which is as precious as a signet on his right hand he will pluck it then because sin will not be permitted when God's time comes to judge don't think that you will be spared think rather of what it says in the next chapter in 2 Peter and in the third chapter and the sixth verse the world that then was being overflowed with water perished but the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men

[28:47] God will never bring a flood again but he will bring a day of judgment and there will be that fire which will consume when the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat and there is that day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men let me take another example of this as I live said the Lord though can I are the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah with a signet upon my right hand yet would I pluck the fence think of the history of the Jewish nation were they not as a signet upon his right hand Abram was the friend of God think of the history of those that were the children of Abram think of Joseph think of the circumstances that made provision for them in Egypt think of the bondage from which they were delivered think of the miracles that they witnessed the provision made the enemies that were scattered think of the promised land given to them think of all those things that were done two thousand years of history and in the tabernacle and in the temple the cloud of the presence of

[30:00] God himself in the midst of the nation think of these things to whom were given the law and the promises of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came think of all the privileges of this nation was there ever a nation so favored surely as the signet upon God's right hand and yet they crucified Messiah and when Pilate symbolically washed his hands because he wanted to release Jesus and they would not permit it they could crucify him they said to him they took the responsibility upon themselves he said his blood be upon your hands and they accepted the responsibility see ye to it his blood be on us and on our children they said and for two thousand years since these words were uttered there has been that consequence upon them and upon their children and I believe that that is very largely the history of

[31:04] Israel right up to the present day the darkness the blindness and not a little of the things that have happened to them as a nation and the experiences that they have gone through awful experiences in so many many occasions through judgment though they were as a signet upon his right hand yet he was prepared to pluck it then and the blessing that have come to us are very real too we are not going into the great chapter the 11th of Romans that speak of the blessings upon the Gentiles that have come through the blindness that has happened in part unto Israel there will be those of the Jewish nation and those of the Gentile nations that are in the last day in Christ for time and for eternity but we must remember the displeasure upon the nation as a nation how he has visited his wrath upon him though they were as a signet upon his right hand he has plucked them then and then let me bring to you this other what about this example what about the Lord and

[32:20] Savior Jesus Christ was there ever one from it could be said that he was as a signet upon the right hand of the Lord the only begotten son who is in the bosom of the Father the beloved son this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased and yet he was plucked then he was removed he was brought to that place of shame and scoffing root he was brought to the cross not as a sinner for he was holy the holy one of God but as one who stood in the place of sin and because the father was dealing with the sins of the church there was no mitigation of the sentence it fell with extreme severity upon the person of his son Paul declares it to us in Romans 8 32 God spared not his own son but delivered him up for us all it pleased the Lord to bruise him no one more worthy to be turned the signet upon the his right hand and yet he was in that sense prepared to pluck it sense he gave him up to the cruel death of the cross and did it for our sakes who are his people by sovereign choice what of the sinner who hears of this

[34:01] Jesus who hears the gospel and rejects the gospel what of the person that sits under a gospel ministry and never is prepared to seek this Savior and call upon his name what a solemn solemn thing it is oh earth earth earth hear the word of the Lord how shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation now these are examples of this thing God is a holier God holier than to look upon iniquity and he says as I live saith the Lord though can I are the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah with a signet upon my right hand yet would I pluck thee then natural men don't like this preaching of course they wouldn't like what I've said but their natural men will never like the truth of the word of God the carnal mind is at enmity with God natural men on the whole reject the Old Testament you get them every now and then in the public place saying that the Old Testament is severe and harsh and it's not a book that we should even be reading from anymore and yet it is the word of the living God and no word of

[35:29] God's will fruitless fall it will be it will be brought to pass the Old and the New Testament are one one word one Bible one record of God's dealings with his people one intimation of God's attitude to the wicked and one statement and that's why men don't like the Old Testament and they wouldn't like the nature of this preaching from this pulpit if they were to hear it it's it's sin they they are those that are seeking to flee from God they are seeking to put distance between themselves and the holiness of God and they will clutch at anything that will be as a means of avoiding the implications of the word of the soul that sinneth it shall die more that we might be those that are not sitting in judgment on the word I said a little bit this morning I repeat it it's an awful thing to play around with the word of God and say I don't think that can mean what it says God has caused it to be written if we look into it and we see that how it is found and what it says and the implications of it we are to receive all that is there in declared to us as the word of God we are not to reject any part of it word of God is that anvil that has worn out many hammers that have been laid upon it in a view with a view to smashing it's worn out the hammers it will bring down all its enemies the word of the Lord God abideth forever now let us look to the second thing learn why these things must be why as I live said the Lord though can I are the son of Jehoiach and king of Judah with a signet upon my right hand yet would I pluck the fence it's not because God enjoys enjoys inflicting pain not that at all there are tyrants that do that that enjoy inflicting pain not just tyrants of the distant past present-day tyrants we've heard the awful stories of some of the things they've done the pain that they've enjoyed inflicting upon others not that God isn't like that he is sworn by himself in another place he's sworn by himself to judge the sinner to punish sin but he's sworn by himself Ezekiel 33 verse 11 listen to this say unto them as I live saith the Lord God I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked but that the wicked turn from his way and live turn ye turn from your evil ways for why will you die O house of Israel even to those before the flood whose sin was so great Noah was sent to preach righteousness to them and in the history of sinning Israel there were those prophets sent to Chronicles 36 15 16 the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers rising up betimes and sending because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place but they mocked the messengers of God and despised his words and misused his prophets until the wrath of the

[38:58] Lord rose against his people till there was no remedy therefore he brought upon them the king of the coal God is God is one that is not taking pleasure in the death of the wicked we have his own word sealed by his very own and it isn't personal revenge although vengeance is mine I will repay it is constant with his sheer holiness he is such a God in other words as must deal with sin he cannot be God and allow sin to have its sway and to be disregarded and overlooked and to exist in the universe without ultimate judgment upon it and if there is that stay of execution now there will be that sure sentence executed in the day that is to come when Christ appears the second time apart from sin unto salvation this is not personal revenge it is because sin must be punished it is of the essence of those that are in positions of authority those that are called the magistrates in the word of God that they should be punishing the sinner that they should be bearing the sword I was reading George Swinnet the Puritan in his treatise on the dignity and the duties of magistrates and all that our governors might read that that our politicians might be given that to read and he says in that that they must not wield a blunt sword and he says this that execution is the life of the Lord the luster and the glory of the prince the security of good people and there's not much security for good people while there is this attitude in the legislature and in the rulers of this nation where they are not prepared to call sin sin we get it repeatedly that it is a social phenomenon it isn't sin the word of God declares it sin and the word of God Father declares that the soul that sineth it shall die and there must be again a recovery of this statement there must be this sort of preaching in the French revolution they said there was no God and there was no sin and therefore there was no judgment and they put up notices and placards in public places there is no God and that death is eternal sleep because the word of God says after death judgment but the French revolution brought in untold anarchy untold havoc it had to be brought to an end because no one could live like that we've had some awareness of it brought to us in the communist system they were very much of the same persuasion godless atheism there is no God there is no judgment you can't live like that society can't be governed except where there is the sanction of God's law and the authority of it and punishment for the infringement and transgression of it and that's the reason it's not vindictiveness it's not personal revenge it is the necessity to sustain the moral government of the universe causes God to intimate that the soul that sinneth must bear the consequences of his sin and that even though one be as precious as the signet on his right hand there must be the plucking of it in order that there might be that righteousness and that manifestation of righteousness or that it might yet come into our land again what righteousness means and that there might be the upholding of the law of God in this land and that there might be those that will unashamedly say this is the word of God earth, earth, earth hear the word of the Lord how these things then are important things

[43:17] God cannot make exceptions God must punish sinners and I say to you that if God gave his son to the death of the cross you see just how it is inevitable that he must deal with sin he could not forgive even those his love was set upon except there be a just basis except there be a righteousness established and he died the just for the unjust to bring us to God and this brings us then to the end of what I have to say from this verse it brings us to see that there is hope there is hope is there no hope someone might say for the repentant sin you're saying that if a man or a woman is a sinner all they can expect is judgment what of the repenting sin oh there is hope for a truly repenting sin let me read again from Ezekiel the 18th chapter this time the 32nd verse cast away from you all your transgressions whereby ye have transgressed and make you a new heart and a new spirit for why will ye die

[44:31] O house of Israel for I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth saith the Lord God wherefore turn yourselves and live there is the message of the gospel turn and live but but turning and repenting doesn't alter the fact that we've sinned do you say that to me yes I've sinned but turning and repenting doesn't alter the fact of sin no it doesn't but that's where we look to the cross that's where we look to Christ God has dealt with our sins God has not overlooked it God has not passed it by God has brought his judgments to bear not upon us upon whom these deservedly should have fallen but God in his love he has made his son a substitute and Christ has stood in the room of his church and God has visited upon his dear son that which otherwise would surely have fallen upon us damned us for all eternity and when you say then it's not just enough to repent what if the sins that I've done even if I were able to keep from doing some of those things in the future which of course such is our constitution we find that we are incapable of in our own strength our sins if we are the people of God are dealt with all dealt with we were singing it

[46:07] I chose it deliberately payment God cannot twice demand first at my breathing surety's hand and then again at mine penalty has been exacted satisfaction has been made in Christ Jehovah lifted up his sword says one of the hymns in the hymn book Jehovah lifted up his rod O Christ it fell on thee thou was so stricken of thy God there's not one stroke for me thy tears thy blood beneath it float thy bruising healeth me Jehovah bade his sword awake O Christ it walk against thee thy blood the flaming blade must slake thy heart it sheath must be all for my sake my peace to make now sleeps that sword for me you say well how can there be forgiveness if we repent of our sins because we've still sinned

[47:10] God has put away our sins in Christ we look to him we look to God's dear son slain for sin satisfaction made for time and for eternity but then we say but I cannot of myself repent I must repent I must turn to live I cannot do it I cannot make me a new heart I cannot put a new spirit within me but without a new heart and without a new spirit I'm undone but all the condescension of our God knowing our weakness and our frailty through sin knowing we could do nothing of ourselves knowing that we have no strength in and of ourselves he has wrought for us he has caused the very repentance and the faith to be worked within us he has given his spirit there's the great message of Pentecost the spirit of course is there in the Old Testament the spirit is there in the days of Christ's ministry on earth and the spirit comes but now he is poured out there is this great day of the blessings of the gospel and the extension of the church to the ends of the earth and the spirit of God is he that brings conviction he works in the sinner's heart he causes him to tremble he causes him to fear he causes him to know that he must repent but he cannot repent and there is his dilemma he must repent he must have the new heart he must have the spirit within him but he cannot have himself have any of these things and the spirit comes to him and the spirit works effectually within him and he is granted by the grace of

[48:55] God by the operations of grace by the working of the strong spirit of God he has the salvation accomplished and he rests in the Lord there is the glory of the gospel you see it in Jeremiah I mentioned the covenant chapters just look ahead from where we are to Jeremiah 31 to 31 you see the triune work in Jeremiah 31 for sinners you see God's sovereignty in salvation in the third verse chapter 31 in the beginning the Lord hath appeared of old unto me saying yea I have loved thee with an everlasting love God has loved the people of his choice you look into the same chapter and go through to the eleventh verse for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he you look in the third verse again at the remainder of it therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee the father loving us and the

[50:02] Jehovah Jesus redeeming us the spirit is pleased to draw us he has drawn us and you see it there in the eighth verse also of that same chapter I will bring them from the north country gather them from the coast of the earth and with them the blind and the lame the woman with child her that travaileth with child together a great company shall return you've got it in the thirty third verse of the same chapter this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days saith the Lord I will put my law in their hearts in their inward parts and write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall be my people and I couldn't help noticing that thirteen verse of Isaiah and the twenty-seventh chapter it shall come to pass that the great trumpet shall be blown in that day and they shall come which were ready to perish in the land of

[51:08] Assyria and the outcasts in the land of Egypt and shall worship the Lord in the holy mount at Jerusalem my dear friends what do you know of this salvation you know you're so loved of God do you know yourself redeemed by Christ do you know the operations of grace that have brought you to Christ and caused you to see yourself as a sinner hopeless without it do you see yourself as pardoned because of him do you see yourself pass from death unto life come from darkness into the marvelous light of the gospel have you heard the word of the truth of the gospel sounding like the great trumpet have you come as a poor outcast ready to perish to the savior of sinners there's the glorious gospel of the grace of God there's the only message that can answer for those that are made to tremble when they discover that even though we were as a signet upon the right arm of the Lord for our sin we would have to be cast off but because we are written not just upon the right arm and upon the signet but written as it were in the very heart of God with an everlasting love there can be no separation but they will be dealing with their sins their enmity will be ended they will be reconciled they will be drawn from the farthest corners they will be drawn they will be brought brought from the depths of their sin and their sinning they will be brought until all the ransomed of the

[52:45] Lord shall come and they shall worship before the Lord in Zion and they shall sing the praises of his name and that's the gospel of grace and that's the only gospel that the word of God proclaims and I ask you where do you stand in relation to it where do you stand in relation to Christ is he your savior do you look to him to deliver you from wrath to come look to him as that only way whereby you will not be brought to know that casting sense or do you say that it doesn't matter that he loves me God's bound to love me he's been very good to me over the years yes he's been good to you you don't deserve any of the goodness of the Lord do you but he's been good to you but the very goodness of God is to lead you to repentance have you never been led to repentance have you never asked him to save you have you never come trembling before to fall and to acknowledge the God who has sustained you and brought you thus far and to say oh how can I appear before thee who I'm so simple how can I who I'm so dark and hell bound in all my doing and indeed in all my thinking how can I be lifted then he will show you these things and disclose his love to you and give you to find in

[54:14] Christ that salvation which is the salvation of the Lord oh that this might sound forth this great trumpet as sounded through the years it sounded from the pulpit of Salem chapel through the years I love to read these obituaries in the old gospel standards I've got the whole set now through to the 1900s and many are those that were saved by grace through the preaching in connection with this cause and you read of them coming trembling trying this place trying that place coming in creeping in hearing all their case opened up and not only that hearing the great sounding forth of the gospel trumpet and brought as poor old castes ready to perish to that one refuge and rendezvous for guilty men God has done it when the day comes and the books are opened and eternity reveals there will be many that have been blessed through the testimony of this pulpit over the years over nearly 180 years oh let there be blessings still we beggar of the

[55:24] God of heaven let there be those that will be brought even in these days so that they shall not perish but that they might be brought to turn brought to live a new heart given to them a new spirit put within them and from all their filthiness and from all their uncleanness that they might be washed and washed in the Redeemer's blood gospel of the grace of God what a privilege to have heard it what a privilege to be able to preach what a privilege to be in a place that owes its very existence to these blessed truths God come in the power of his spirit Pentecost need never be repeated it was once and for all within the day of grace within the day of God the Holy Spirit may there be those operations of invincible grace in sinners hearts and may those that have known these operations be melted before God this night melted that ever he has shown grace to us and done these things for us what a verse then it is an obscure portion perhaps an unusual verse but the truth of it

[56:41] God will punish sin God has punished his son in the place of many sins all to know that he has died for my sins and that God will never visit his wrath upon me accordingly as I live saith the Lord though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah with a signet upon my right hand yet would I pluck thee then God bless his word to us earth earth earth here the word of the Lord God give us to hear what the spirit is saying through the word Amen