The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. (ii) (Quality: Very good)

[0:00] over thee with joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. This morning our attention was generally directed to the first part of this verse, The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, mighty insofar as it may refer generally in the midst of the congregations, but principally as the Lord God may be in the midst of individual hearts in the congregations, and thus forming, so to speak, a nucleus whereby the mighty power of God was revealed.

[0:57] We do notice also the mighty power of God manifested in the pulling down of strongholds, in giving the conquest in respect to the conflict between the flesh and the spirit.

[1:20] Now with the help of God this evening, we will direct our attention to the four points mentioned in the rest part of the verse, as they may be related to this first part.

[1:38] The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, in salvation he will save. Then, in rejoicing over thee with joy, and then, in resting in his love, and then, he will joy over thee with singing.

[2:05] These four points, all, as we may be led into the matter, will direct our attention to the mighty power of God.

[2:23] If we are aware of the mighty power of sin working in our members, we shall become aware of the almightyness of God to be a reality if we are to be delivered from the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the sin which does so easily beset us, and that which may entangle our feet.

[3:04] Sin has this effect. I remember many years ago, reading Dr. Owen on the 130th Psalm, being much struck with his reference to sin entanglement.

[3:26] Scarcely do we see the snare before we feel the smart. How easily we are entangled. And sin is the moving force, handled by Satan to his own advantage.

[3:51] Now, we need to be saved from sin entanglement. We can easily get entangled, but how difficult to disentangle ourselves.

[4:09] We have practical experience in respect to string or wool or anything of that description. We don't have to try to get it entangled.

[4:22] But sometimes it may take some time to disentangle it. Now, to a far deeper degree, our sin has that effect.

[4:36] We have no problem in getting ourselves entangled. But how to disentangle ourselves from that which has gripped us?

[4:48] The more we struggle, the more we seem to be captivated by further entanglement.

[5:01] And thus we find the people in the wilderness, they fell down. There was none to help. And they cried unto the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them out of their distresses.

[5:17] salvation is a great word to the lost, to the undone, to those that, in a way of speaking, only have themselves to blame.

[5:36] How often will we come into this situation where we have only ourselves to blame? We have only ourselves to blame. By the fall and the weakness of the flesh, we may be ready to try and plant our sin upon another.

[6:01] This goes back to the Garden of Eden. the woman thou gavest me. She gave me of the fruit to eat, and so on.

[6:15] But by the teaching of the Spirit of God, we shall have to come back to this, that by our own foolishness, we have fallen. By our own foolishness, we have become entangled.

[6:29] Now the Lord, thy God, in the midst of thee is mighty. Remember that the Lord is not outside of thee.

[6:43] What a blessing it is to have the Lord inside. That can direct matters from the inside. And this is what God does.

[6:56] The Spirit dwelleth in us. Know ye not that your bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost? No, it is that. It is that voice.

[7:08] It is that person. It is that presence within the soul that will speak and also will enable the quickened soul to hear the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty.

[7:27] do not despair. Do not take action that will bring bring your ultimate destruction but rather fall down before God for he will save.

[7:47] And furthermore he is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him. God it is when we come to the uttermost led there by God that we appreciate more deeply these words the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty.

[8:13] we are made conscious of our sin entanglement in order that we may know our weakness.

[8:25] we go back to Samson's day the reason for his remarkable feats of strength were not so much that he was a Nazarite from his youth were not so much because he had long hair but because the spirit of the Lord came upon him the spirit of the Lord came upon him this was why he was able to accomplish the exploits that he did his being a Nazarite was but a sign his being a Nazarite was about an evidence to the people that he was dedicated to God and God was dedicated to him but it was by his by the spirit of God not by might nor by power but by my spirit saith the

[9:44] Lord of hosts and he was able to break the cords that were round about him not because of his natural strength but because the spirit of God came upon him and if we are to break the cords of sin entanglement it will not be the result of our natural ability and strength but it will be because of the spirit of God coming upon us with a special power and granting us that faith to believe faith is a blessed grace faith sees Jesus Christ in a saving capacity the chapter that we read from the prophecy of Isaiah speaks to us about the

[10:46] Lord himself as being mighty to save and how this brings up with the words of our text the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty he will say he will but what a vision is given to the church here who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed garments from Basra this that is glorious in his apparel traveling in the greatness of his strength I that speak in righteousness mighty to save we have set before us this wonderful view of Jesus Christ in the manner of his sufferings in the power that was wrought by his sufferings the strength that he had in those sufferings sufferings in relation to human our humanity has the effect of weakening us and we shall all find this at some time or other when we are unwell what an effect it has upon our ability to do things

[12:19] Gary if it should be mental suffering if it should be suffering resulting from persecution all these things naturally speaking will have an adverse effect upon us and we shall feel weaker but God is the strength of my heart God was the strength of the heart of Jesus Christ and having gone through all his sufferings culminating on the cross and of his sufferings so intense angels have no perfect sense yet physically he was not weakened because we find that he cried out with a loud voice it is finished oh what an evidence that this is the son of God bearing so much and yet being adequate to it mighty to save now what does this salvation mean?

[13:34] it means putting away sin by the death of his cross would you think that was easy? have you tried to put away sin?

[13:47] and have you found that it was impossible to put it away? if you were successful even in pushing it a little way as soon as you stopped pushing so it immediately returned but God the Lord Jesus Christ is mighty to save he is not only able to push away sin but to put it away and put it away forever so that it will rise no more you know the children of God will not be confronted with their sins on the great day of judgment because the Lord is mighty to save and in the pursuit of that salvation he is put away sin by the death of his cross how powerful then was that work effected upon Calvary in the same way we may say he is mighty to save in that he is able to put down sin in Micah's prophecy we see a dual a point set before us where the prophet was led to show so clearly how wonderful God was who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage he retaineth not his anger forever because he delighteth in mercy an example of God's mightiness which is in the midst of thee in regard to salvation a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity now you see

[16:03] God cannot pardon iniquity unless that iniquity has been put away and then as the scapegoat in the Old Testament figure went into the wilderness and was sent led into the wilderness so it is with respect to the sins of the people where pardon is applied to the soul effectively it is at such a time when the mighty power of God in his salvation he will say is to put away sin to carry it away so that there is no more a remembrance remembrance of it Mr. Hart has a very powerful word in guilt's dark dungeon when we lay mercy cried spare and justice slay and here we are quite helpless in the matter but

[17:17] Jesus answered set them free and pardon them and punish me salvation is of God alone life everlasting in his son and he that gave his son to bleed will freely give us all we need so then the God that is in the midst of thee is mighty he will save not only save us by putting away sin but save us by giving us the certificate of it it's when we receive pardon so to speak that we have a certificate from God it may be likened to the sealing of the spirit you see a pardon whether it is given through mercy or by reason of an amnesty must surely have a seal on it you know that will be well worth waiting for it is a sovereign act we can't write out our own pardon but God is able to write out write out our pardon and God will be mighty in us to enable us to receive it sometimes you may say but it can't be for me well here is the receipt then ask the Lord for his receipt to show the payment good delivered from the mercy seat and sprinkled with his blood there's the seal who is a God like unto thee that pardoneth iniquity and passeth by the transgression of his heritage which we must regard in the life here but Jesus answered set them free and pardoned them and punished me that is the manner of passing by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage but reverting to our second point again he will turn again he will have compassion upon us he will subdue our iniquities so then our God is the mighty God not only to put sin away but to put sin down we are reminded from the new testament you are not under the law but under grace therefore sin shall not have dominion over you and they will cast all their sins into the depth of the sea the

[20:37] Lord God in the midst of thee is mighty he will save God whilst we may look at this in all its wonderful glory manifested at Calvary in the garden of Gethsemane oh that we may therefore thereby see the almighty God almighty God side human breath the Lord of life experienced death how it was done we can't discuss and blessed are those Caucasians when with assurance in our souls we may say and this we know it was done for us when we are able to look on the certificate and see that thy sins are pardoned they are put away

[21:43] I will blot out as a thick cloud thy sins and I will remember thine iniquities no more forever the evidence of salvation we shall not find the truth of God to be comfortable and encouraging until that truth comes to us and God gives something into our hands sometimes we may have to wait a long time I think again it is Mr.

[22:23] Hart who says their pardon some receive it first and then compelled to fight they find their latter stages worst and travel much by night but then there are the others who have to wait and wait and wait but when their pardon they receive they walk with joy to heaven but each will prove this that the Lord is mighty mighty to save wherefore art there red in thine apparel and thy garments like garments like them that treadeth in the wine fat for the wine fat I have trodden the wine press alone and of the people there was none with me for I will tread them in mine anger and trample them in my fury and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments and I will stain all my raiment we shall be favoured indeed if the spirit of

[23:37] God opens our that view to our faith to behold the glory of Emmanuel in his battle in his conquest in his victory and it will mean so much to us if we feel that it affects us if the Lord becomes the captain of our salvation do we need the Lord to be the captain of our salvation I ask that a question because it is possible I believe for us to receive truth biblical truth into our minds and to understand it have light in that way and yet never to be involved in it never to feel that we need the Lord to be our captain and therefore our knowledge is without feeling but the children of

[24:49] God because of their need may be said to be ever on their captain calling ever seeking that he will lead them on safely through this wilderness journey the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty he will save so there is certainty here it may be an encouragement to our hope he will save he does not say when but he will save and that not only on one occasion in our lives how we need to be saved daily daily to feel thyself undone how do we feel at the end of each day surely some days perhaps more than others the feeling is deeper but we heard from thy ways we have heard from thy ways and we've added to the bulk we need as it were the renewal of God's salvation the renewal of it in its feeling the joy of it as the psalmist said restore unto me the joy of thy salvation salvation is never altered it's the same yesterday and today and forever as Jesus

[26:20] Christ is once in him in him forever thus the eternal covenant stands the truth before us is true yesterday and today and tomorrow the lord thy god in the midst of thee is mighty he will save but to feel the joy of it to feel the blessing of it is something quite different and will make such a difference to us when we feel that joy in our own souls and we have no power to bring it and this only sets forth once again the lord's mightiness the lord thy god in the midst of thee is mighty he will save save by his death save by his life give the evidence of salvation by his resurrection and here we may have a token that

[27:25] Christ is ours and therefore we have a true friend by the experience feeling within of a risen Christ if ye then be risen with Christ set your affection on things above and not on things on the earth this is the effect of Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith the lord god being in the midst of thee and being mighty do we feel impotent do we feel lifeless and dead do we feel bogged down to the things of time and all our strugglings seem to be but the strugglings of weakness when we discover that the lord god in the midst of thee in thine heart is mighty and he will save thee from thy dilemma by the power of his resurrection the same power that raised

[28:31] Jesus Christ from the dead will raise thy affection the scripture speaks of it in the singular only one affection there is no adultery in this matter when we come to our lord Jesus Christ the heart born again has only one affection and that is toward the lord Jesus Christ set your affection on things above and not on things of the earth and if you should say but I cannot we can sympathize with you but we can also commend to you this witness of god in the soul the lord thy god in midst of thee is mighty he will save and what an evidence of salvation is this when in spite of all that would bind us down to the earth we break through all and we enter into the heavenless and we worship god in the spirit and we join christ jesus and have no confidence in the flesh and we see things in this life in their right perspective we see that heaven is for eternity the things of time valuable as they are whilst we may be able to enjoy them yet they've all got to be left it is good for us to be aware of this that everything that we possess even those things that we prize they've all got to be left now how do we feel about this sometimes it is not a bad thing for us to look at all that we possess all that we call valuable now what is valuable to one may not appear valuable to another but may we be able sometimes to just look at them in the light of eternity and we need to be saved from holding things too tightly we need to be saved from insisting that we must have this and must have that because we're only grasping at a straw we're only grasping at that that we would never grasp at all if God was to take our breath away and we die and so we need that salvation that we might view the things of time in a right way put a right value upon them recognising that they come from

[31:40] God as God's gift but not setting an over value upon them setting a greater value than the than Christ himself now if we should be plagued sometimes with what is covetousness what is idolatry say we cannot part with this you know it's as easy as thing the lines I can from all things parted me but never never lord from me well the God sometimes puts us to the test and he may say part with this and you may say I cannot oh I must have that it has sweet memories for me it brings back family recollections and so on we can hardly think think and say

[32:44] I could from all things parted be but never never the lord from thee while this spirit is in us and therefore we need the mighty God to save us from it now the mighty God can save us from it and he does save us from it when our affection is set on things above where Christ is at the right hand of God how wonderful and rich and blessed are those moments when our soul is transported into heaven itself according to our feelings and we can truly then say that by comparison nothing matters compared with Christ in all beside no comeliness I see the one thing needful dearest lord is to be one with thee it's a great mercy when the mighty power of God saves us from false valuations and false her views of everything else but

[33:53] Christ so the lord thy god in the midst of thee is mighty and this we must remember because we may well say I shall never be able to get past that I shall never be able to come to that place where I can give up all for Christ neither could the apostle Paul and neither could Peter and John and James indeed Peter said we have left all and followed thee but what happened after the lord was crucified his heart anchored back to what he had left I go fishing but oh the mighty God was soon to appear and the Lord Jesus appeared to them and he said children have you any meat and he had prepared a meal for them and then he speaks to

[35:03] Peter lovest thou me more than these now do we love these more than Jesus Christ these will include ourselves is there something which love to God will move us to do well why aren't we doing it is it because our love is faint and how will our love be increased by the mighty God the Lord God thy God in the midst of thee is mighty and will save thee from that which produces weakness to do how to perform that that I would I find not may come into a lot of things in our lives now do we want to honour

[36:05] God has God shown us what his will is and you have said I can't do it I'm strange to do it I'm afraid to do it well the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty he will save thee from my weakness will he contend with me no he will put strength into me salvation oh how often we have the need of it when it comes down to particulars it is one thing and a great thing too to see salvation as blotting out the sin of the church but it is also another blessed view when so to speak God breaks down that salvation and comes to us and shows us types of sins shall I say and says now this is blotted out we can lose a lot by generalizing and saying well all sin is blotted out all my sins are blotted out but you know if

[37:17] God comes to you and shows you the power of a certain sin and it may be different you see in us each then God says I am mighty to deal with that sin and it is a sin which crops up day by day and we have no power against it but God has power and there have been cases where a certain sin has troubled us for days and weeks and months and perhaps years and suddenly the power of it is taken away from when shall we trace the reason surely in the words of our text the Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty the Lord spoke and it was done he commanded and it stood fast he will save now it is good for us to have knowledge of this day to day salvation because when we come to face the last enemy which is death all these revelations of salvation will strengthen our confidence so that we may look forward and say to our day of death and say he will save

[38:45] I hope to die shouting the Lord will appear to my enemy's confusion and to my own joy he will save and we just certainly need salvation on our dying bed and that salvation which is of the Lord which is full and which is free and furthermore which will overcome he will save he will rejoice over thee with joy now this is something which a poor wretched sinner can hardly imagine could ever take place when Jesus with his mighty love visits my troubled breast my fears my hopes revive my fears remove and I'm completely blessed now this is a visit of almighty love and what a demonstration he will rejoice over thee with joy rejoice over thee because there is this to be viewed clothed with a righteousness divine the righteousness of God not yours but mine he will rejoice over thee when he looks upon thee clothed in his own righteousness and surely he will rejoice over thee when he looks upon your cleansed condition washed in his blood redeemed by Jesus blood redeemed oh what a day is that he will rejoice over thee we read there is joy in heaven over one sinner that repented and we often think and we are directed to do this by inference that it is the angels which rejoice and so they do but let us not forget this that if there is rejoicing in heaven then the

[41:32] Lord himself rejoices too rejoices as he sees the work of grace effected by his spirit he will rejoice over thee with joy now if that happened to you what has it been about the work of the mighty God what has it been about the result of the Lord thy God in the midst of thee being mighty God has given you that nature whereby you can rejoice together come come now and let us rejoice together you know the Lord cannot rejoice and you not rejoice and neither can you rejoice without the Lord rejoicing he will rejoice over thee with joy the joy that is in his heart he shall see of the travel of his soul and you will be satisfied but then we may look at this point in regard to our entry into heaven clothed and washed standing in his righteousness alone he will rejoice over thee with joy do we ever think or are we able to think what it means to pass from this time state into heaven you know it won't be a cold reception but it will be a reception here that we have described he will rejoice over thee with joy

[43:36] Bunyan sees this with his pilgrims what a reception they had so different from ignorance is reception you know