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[0:00] Turn with me to the book of Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 59. If you're with us, normally you know that we're making our way through 1 Corinthians. We're making our way through 1 Corinthians. And probably one of the, at least one of my most familiar Easter messages, and that's unknown to me, but when I go back and I look through my file folders and I look through messages I've preached on Easter, the last three Easter services, I'm sure you know it, the last three Easter morning services here we've preached out of 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 15.

[0:31] Not intentionally, it's just as the Lord leads, three different messages, but from the same passage. But this morning we're stepping out of 1 Corinthians, we're even stepping out of the New Testament.

[0:42] We're going to go all the way back to the book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 59 is where you need to be in Isaiah chapter 59. Isaiah is a great book of prophecy in the Old Testament, a great prophetic word that it offers to us.

[0:55] There's so much in Isaiah. We can use it as we introduce a lot of what happens in the New Testament. Isaiah is a prophet of the coming king. He speaks of one from royal courts. He speaks to the people in high places and on high thrones.

[1:09] And he has a grand vision in Isaiah chapter 6 of God sitting upon his throne in the year of King Uzziah's death. So he waited upon the courts of the kings of earth, and then he was called into the court of the king of heaven.

[1:23] And he saw a grand vision which forever changed his outlook on life. He was both prophet and royalty. He had royalty in his bloodline. He was called as a prophet. When we read the book of Isaiah, we see so much of the suffering servant.

[1:35] We see so much of the one who would be the king but would also suffer. So much which seems to be contradictory in nature and some things that seem to be strange to us. But what we see is the foretelling or the foretelling of things that will come about.

[1:50] And it is told to us very clearly. This morning, if you were with us in the sunrise service, you remember when we were reading in John chapter 20, when John entered the tomb after Peter, Mary Magdalene, and the other Marys came to the tomb.

[2:03] They found that it was empty. They went back and they told Peter and John, and Peter and John run to the tomb. John gets there quicker because he's younger, right? Peter gets there and does what Peter does. He goes straight into the tomb.

[2:13] John follows because Peter's went in there, so he can go in as well. And it says, and seeing and believing. They saw the linen cloths there. They saw the headpiece there. And then John makes this declaration.

[2:24] For they had not yet understood that according to the scriptures, he had to die and be raised again. And the scriptures he's pointing to are so much of the Old Testament word.

[2:36] Scriptures that resonated throughout the ages among the Jewish people. Scriptures that spoke of the reality of one that would come, that would pay the price of sin, that would bridge the gap.

[2:47] It is the call of scripture from the very earliest pages. And it is what we will see in Isaiah chapter 59. So if you are physically able and desire to do so, I'm going to ask if you would join with me as we stand together and we read the word of God.

[2:59] We're going to read the entire chapter. It's just 21 verses. And then we'll pray and we'll get into the text together. Isaiah here, speaking the word of God to the people of God, says, Behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save, nor is his ear so dull that it cannot hear.

[3:17] But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity.

[3:27] Your lips have spoken falsehood. Your tongue mutters wickedness. No one sues righteously and no one pleads honestly. They trust in confusion and speak lies. They conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.

[3:38] They hatch adder's eggs and weave the spider's web. He who eats of their eggs dies, and from that which is crushed a snake breaks forth. Their webs will not become clothing, nor will they cover themselves with their works.

[3:51] Their works are works of iniquity, and an act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity, devastation, and destruction are in their highways.

[4:03] They do not know the way of peace, and there is no justice in their tracks. They have made their paths crooked, and whoever treads on them does not know peace. Therefore, justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us.

[4:15] We hope for light, but behold, darkness. For brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope along the wall like blind men. We grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight.

[4:26] Among those who are vigorous, we are like dead men. All of us growl like bears and moan sadly like doves. We hope for justice, but there is none. For salvation, but it is far from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us.

[4:41] For our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities. Transgressing and denying the Lord and turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words, justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away.

[4:57] For truth has stumbled into the street, and uprightness cannot enter. Yes, truth is lacking, and he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now, you ready for some good news? Now, the Lord saw, and it was displeasing in his sight that there was no justice.

[5:13] And he saw that there was no man, and was astonished that there was no one to intercede. Then his own arm brought salvation to him, and his righteousness upheld him.

[5:24] He put on righteousness like a breastplate and a helmet of salvation on his head. He put on garments of vengeance for clothing and wrapped himself with zeal as a mantle. According to their deeds, so he will repay.

[5:37] Wrath to his adversaries, recompense to his enemies, to the coastlands he will make recompense, so they will fear the name of the Lord from the west and his glory from the rising of the sun. For he will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the Lord drives.

[5:50] A redeemer will come to Zion, and those who turn from transgression, and Jacob declares the Lord. As for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord. My spirit, which is upon you, and my words, which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring, says the Lord, from now and forever.

[6:12] Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this day. We thank you for an opportunity of gathering together to sing your praises. We thank you for coming on an Easter morning to worship and to celebrate the empty tomb.

[6:24] We pray that we would be reminded of all that is accomplished for ourselves. Lord, all that you did, the work that was completed, and we thank you for it in advance, and we ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen.

[6:35] You may be seated. I want you to see this morning, according to our text, in Isaiah chapter 59, an accomplished salvation. An accomplished salvation.

[6:46] Sure, we gather together on Resurrection Sunday, but what we recognize on Resurrection Sunday is so much more than an empty tomb. We look at a completed task, not completed in part, not completed in portion, but completed in full.

[7:00] A work that was spoken of, a work that was foretold of, a work that was pointed to, and a work that is complete. Something in which we have the opportunity of gathering together and celebrating, and that is an accomplished salvation.

[7:14] There is any portion of Scripture which we could go to that would declare these realities to us. We could go to the text that says that he is a forerunner who goes before us. We could go to the reality in 1 Corinthians 15 that says that if Christ is not risen from the dead, then all faith and hope is vain and useless, and our preaching is vain.

[7:31] That it is an essential aspect of our salvation. But what we see here in the text before us is the work that would be accomplished, and that we stand today in the reality that it is accomplished.

[7:42] It is the work of the cross that finds its completion in the empty tomb. And it is the work in which we rely on for security for all of eternity. It is this, as Paul says, when he opens up, he says, When I came to you, I preached that which was of greatest importance, that Christ was born according to the Scriptures, that he was crucified according to the Scriptures, that he was dead and buried and raised on the third day according to the Scriptures.

[8:06] But before saying that, he said, These are the truths in which you stand and remain. These are the things which give you a steadfast assurance of hope until the end.

[8:17] The reality that there is nothing that you have to do, but rather it is a celebration of all that he has done. It is a salvation accomplished. We see from our text in Isaiah 59 the possibilities with God.

[8:31] The text opens up and says, Behold, the Lord's hand is not so short that it cannot save. Now, understanding this, every prophet that speaks to the people of God in the Old Testament, most of them are speaking in times of tragedy, trials, and difficulties.

[8:47] They're not coming in times of ease and comfort. God doesn't have a word that is on a mountaintop. He has a word for them in a valley. Isaiah is not any different. Isaiah writes to the people of God when they are failing God himself.

[9:00] He writes to the people of God when they have exalted man above God, and they've put man on the throne and not allowed the Lord God to be there. They've made their own decisions, and they're falling away from him.

[9:10] He writes to the people when they're about to be led away into the Babylonian captivity. He writes to them in the midst of trials. He writes to them in the midst of struggles. He writes to them in the midst of difficult days. And he writes to them this reality, Behold, the arm of the Lord is not so short that it cannot save.

[9:25] One of the first possibilities we see with God is that God is able, right? That his hand is not so short that it cannot save. When we begin just to dwell on this text and think on this text, the reality is that we could stay right there in the very first verse of Isaiah 59 and preach that message over and over again and probably stand astounded at it each and every time we see it.

[9:45] Behold, the arm of the Lord is not so short that it cannot save. Friend, listen to this truth. The truth of the reality is this, is that God's hand can pull us no matter how far we get, no matter how deep we are, and no matter how far we've struggled, no matter how far we've wondered, no matter how far we've gone, we never go farther than the hand of God can reach us because his hand is not so short that it cannot save.

[10:09] Isn't that a great and glorious truth in which the people of God ought to declare hallelujah and amen, that the hand of the Lord is not so short that it cannot save. It means no matter where we're at, no matter where we've been, no matter how far we've gone, no matter how deep we've dug, no matter how much we've wondered, no matter how defiled we are, his hand is not so short that it cannot reach us where we are.

[10:29] And when he writes to the people of God, no matter how far they've went away from him, Isaiah declares to them, we have a God that has a hand of possibilities, that no matter how far we've wondered, his hand can still reach us.

[10:42] And that's a wonderful thing, right? That the hand of God can reach us where we're at. The question is not, my friend, can you reach God? The question is, can God reach you? And with that, the scripture gives a resounding yes.

[10:55] His hand is long enough. His arm is strong enough. And with him, it is absolutely possible that he can reach you where you're at. And that is a wonderful truth. We see the possibility of God that his hand is not so short that it cannot save, nor is his ear so dull that it cannot hear.

[11:11] Which means it is absolutely possible for him to hear you. He can reach you, but friend, he can also hear you. So many times the brokenness of our own soul causes us to live in despair silently.

[11:25] It causes us to live in moments where we don't understand this. This is why when we come to corporate prayer meetings and we come to prayer times and churches have true moments of prayer, very often the greatest cries are those unspoken requests.

[11:39] And the reason they're unspoken is because they're so near and dear to us. There are things that we don't want to open up to anyone else. There are things that we don't want to share for fear that if anyone would know this thing about us, they would judge us and they would know us and they would look at us differently.

[11:53] So for fear of man, we leave it unspoken and we do not declare it openly. But the reality is, is God's ear is not so dull that he cannot hear. Whatever is so close to us, whatever is so near to us, whatever is so dear to us, whatever is so burdensome to us, he hears us.

[12:09] I'm reminded when I think of this in the book of Exodus. Remember in the book of Exodus, one of those days there arose another king who did not know Jacob. Remember that? In the book of Exodus, the people were enslaved in Egypt.

[12:20] They did not understand it. They did not choose it. They were born into slavery. They were born as slaves. There was another generation that came. They were not free men. They had never been free men. And here's Pharaoh on the throne. And he's mistreating them.

[12:32] And he is treating them harshly. And he is trying to push them down because they're multiplying. And they're born as slaves. There's nothing they can do. They didn't choose it. They're just born that way. And yet in the state in which they were born, they begin to moan.

[12:44] And they begin to groan. And they begin to be burdened. And then the text says, And God heard. And God heard. And God took notice of them.

[12:56] And then God called Moses to himself. See, Exodus is such a grand picture of salvation because here we see that God's ear is not so dull that it cannot hear. Friend, listen. At the moment of our birth, we are born with a sin nature.

[13:11] I was born as a slave. I did not choose it. I did not go that path. I was born into it. There is this fallen nature of mankind which brings me into this slavery of sin.

[13:23] By nature, I was a sinner. By nature, I did things that were wrong. By nature, I did what was wicked. By nature, I did what was unpleasing to God. You do not have to teach these young children how to do wrong.

[13:35] You have to train them how to do right. That's a big amen, which is a lot harder. And the reason it's so hard is because these children possess in innocence what we possess in maturity.

[13:47] By nature, we were born as slaves into sin. And there's nothing we can do about it. But the wonderful news is there's a God who hears. And when he hears, he takes notice and he responds. Just like the Israelites in Egypt born into slavery, God heard them there.

[14:01] And God initiated a response to what he heard. We see the possibilities with God. The absolute possibilities with God is that God is able. He can reach us where we're at and he hears us where we're at and he can do something about it even when we cannot.

[14:18] Which leads us to the second thing. And it is the problem with man. The possibility with God is that God's hand is not so short that it cannot save and that his ear is not so dull that it cannot hear.

[14:29] The problem is never with God, by the way. You need to understand that. Do not blame God for your problems. Do not blame God. You can go to God with your problems and let me encourage you.

[14:40] Maybe we don't think about this much, but you can go to God in a very raw fashion with all your problems. You can be angry and sin not, right? You can go to God. He can handle it. God can handle whatever it is we have.

[14:53] But do not ever blame God for your problems because God's possibilities always supersede man's problems. But we need to understand what man's problem is. See, the lack of salvation that is present upon the earth is because it is not because God cannot because we have seen the possibilities that he can.

[15:09] The lack of salvation that we see resonate throughout the earth is what we find in verse 2. But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God. The God who is able that it is possible to do all those things is pushed away from us because of our iniquities.

[15:24] But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. That is, his response is mitigated by our condition. And it is our problem.

[15:34] And the bulk of the text, Isaiah 59, the bulk of the text deals with the problems. Man, we don't have to read them over again. You see it. When we're reading it, we're almost like, man, Isaiah, okay, we get it. That's enough. We understand. You keep saying the same thing over and over again.

[15:46] Right, and that is truth because one of the major issues that man has is that man does not really understand his problem. Mankind. We like to paint ourselves better than we are and we like to think we're better off than we are when the text is very raw to us.

[16:00] And what we find in scripture is that it deals with us honestly and circumspectly that it is it looks to the very inner thoughts of our mind. If you notice, as we go down through the passage, the problem with man is that sin has affected every issue of his life.

[16:14] What he says is affected by sin. How he treats others. He says no one sins or no one goes to court righteously. That is how we deal with one another judiciously is even affected by our sin nature.

[16:25] What we speak is an overflow of our heart and our heart is affected by sin, our sin nature and that becomes wickedness and this is all of our longing and there is no peace. It declares that man has a longing even in the midst of his problems.

[16:37] Man has a longing for peace but the reality is is that there is no peace and he's wandering around groping in darkness and is like a blind man going along the wall trying to figure out how to get somewhere because the major problem with man is that sin has created this issue and it is an issue which we cannot overcome on our own.

[16:56] Ecclesiastes chapter 3 speaks to us about there being a time for everything. There's a season for everything, right? There's a season for laughter. There's a season for weeping. There's a season for living. There's a season for dying.

[17:07] There's a season for everything. But Ecclesiastes 3, 12 and following says but God has said eternity in the heart of all men. Is that though we have this problem there's also this longing and the battle comes when the problem confronts the longing.

[17:23] The longing in our heart is for eternity. We realize from the very beginning of creation we realize that we were not created just to live once. We were created to live eternally. God has said eternity in the heart of all men. There is a longing.

[17:34] This is why death has such an effect on all mankind. This is why we see these matters happening. It's because we understand it's not supposed to be this way, right? It's supposed to continue going on and on. That's a very natural thing. God has created us for fellowship with one another but it's also created us to commune with Him.

[17:48] And He's created us not to just do it for some amount of time but to do it eternally. And no matter how long we go no matter how far along it is I got word this morning of an individual who passed away 94, 95 years old.

[18:00] We think wow that's a great long life. Yes, but in the blink of time it seems like nothing. Because we understand there has to be more to it than what we see.

[18:12] No matter how many years no matter how many days we go there's something deep inside of us and that's a longing for peace that's a longing for eternity. The issue comes is when we understand that because of who we are on the inside our problem we cannot attain that.

[18:26] We want peace but there is no peace. All that we see is wickedness and darkness and falling and faltering and we don't even know how to treat one another because there's this problem and this grand problem permeates each and every one of us and it's a reality that we need to come to.

[18:42] See, I believe at times the reason we don't glory in scripture so much is because we paint ourselves better than the word paints us. When we can come to ourselves and be honest and understand who we are to the very core of our being that is not that is not kind of putting down my self-confidence that's not putting myself down.

[18:58] I'm not trying to put anyone down. I'm just trying to rightfully rightly diagnose the problem, right? And when the problem is with me but yet when I see the rest of scripture and we'll get to it in just a moment that's why we don't stop right here then I have all the more reason to praise his name because he is possible.

[19:17] It is possible with God to save. The problem is not that God is not good. The problem is that there's nothing in me that is. That's the problem. The reason the text spends so long speaking of our own wickedness is because we need to understand it because until we understand it we do not stand in amazement.

[19:37] And it's the third thing and that is the position he assumes. There's a possibility with God there's a problem with man and there's the position he assumes. In Job, the book of Job is the oldest book in all of scripture.

[19:51] It's the oldest book in all of scripture. You say, well, that's not the first book. I understand that. But historically speaking, most Bible scholars will accept and acknowledge the fact that the book of Job is the oldest book of scripture. In Job chapter 9, Job makes this declaration in the 28th verse.

[20:06] He says, I am afraid of all my pains. That is what I know about myself. Job makes this great statement. He says, what I know about myself scares me because I know that you will not acquit me.

[20:17] He says, I know that in me there's nothing good. He makes this statement, right? Remember Job, he lost everything, literally, except for his wife and his life. And his wife wanted him to denounce himself and die, but he wouldn't do it.

[20:28] He lost everything. He lost possessions. He lost children. He lost everything. He lost everything. And he goes, I know that though I think I'm innocent, what I know about myself when I stand before you, you will not acquit me because even what I know about myself is not that good.

[20:41] So he rightfully diagnosed the problem. And then just a couple verses later, Job makes this great call. This is why I've said that Job was a baseball fan.

[20:52] It's because Job makes this great call in Job chapter 9. It says, but there is no umpire. Some of you are going to look it up in your text and say, mine doesn't say umpire. Look up the NASB.

[21:02] It says umpire. Okay, I like baseball. Job says, but there is no umpire that would lay his hand upon God and lay his hand upon man and stand in the gap.

[21:15] Do you see that? Job, the oldest book in scripture, the first recording we have of anyone with a longing, we don't really even know what people group Job was from.

[21:26] But we know it's a great story and he writes this story. He speaks of the resurrection later on. He says, for I know that I will see my Redeemer in the land of the living and that my eyes will behold him as alive. He says, though he slay me, I know I will see him while I'm alive.

[21:37] He speaks of a hope of a resurrection. But here he says in this ninth chapter, the great need of the moment is for an umpire. I need someone to mitigate the problem. It's just like any sporting event in which there are three teams out there, right?

[21:48] You have two competing and one mitigating. He says, I know who I am my own. I cannot stand before God because I know that even in my own goodness, when I take my goodness before God's holy standard, he will not equip me because my own goodness is not enough of his standard.

[22:01] What I need is an intercessor. I need someone who will stand the gap that will put his hand upon man and put his hand upon God and would help me plead my case. This is what he says. I need an umpire.

[22:12] Well, look at what the text tells us. It says, now the Lord saw. Isaiah 59, now the Lord saw. What did the Lord see? The Lord saw the problems of man, which is wonderful.

[22:23] This is why we can speak to him with comfort. This is why we can speak to him with reality. This is why I do not have a problem telling you about myself. This is why I do not have a problem telling you that naturally in the flesh to the very core of my being, I'm not that good of a guy.

[22:36] I may be good according to the world's standards, but I'm not good at all according to the Lord's holy standards. This is why I have no problems about being honest and transparent about my own failures. It's because what I'm trying to conceal from you, God's already seen.

[22:47] And if you knew who I was truly on the inside, you might do something about it and you might judge me in a way and you might speak to me or speak about me in a certain way and you may go tell others about me a certain way, but the good news that I know is that God saw it and he did something about it as well.

[23:03] When the Lord saw the problem the man has, look at what it says, and it was displeasing. That literally means it was wicked in the sight of God. It was displeasing in his sight that there was no justice. It bothers God.

[23:14] He created creation perfect. He created it good and when he created man, he said he's very good and God rebels against man and God goes his own way and chooses to be his own God with a lowercase g and does all these things and there's this problem and he says, this is just bad.

[23:28] There's no justice and then it says in verse 16, he saw that there was no man and was astonished that there was no one to intercede. We're looking at an accomplished salvation, by the way.

[23:42] You know, when it was accomplished when God saw, and began to do something. When God saw and was astonished and amazed that there was no justice and he was amazed, it says, that there's no man.

[23:55] He was astonished that there was no one to intercede. And look here, that's Job's longing. Job's longing is, I need someone to intercede on my behalf because I have this problem.

[24:06] I cannot do it on my own. Look at what it says. Then his own arm brought salvation to him. His and him ought to be capitalized.

[24:18] God brought salvation to himself. His own arm brought salvation to him and his righteousness upheld him. What is he speaking of?

[24:29] The fact that he became flesh, dwelt among men and we call him Emmanuel. He became that umpire. See, the cross of Calvary is a hand upon man and a hand upon God.

[24:42] It is where the problem of man intersects the sovereignty of God. It is where man's grand problem is dealt with in the sight of God's holy, righteous judgments.

[24:55] It is when the problem of man finds its reconciliation. It is there we have a perfect sacrifice. But a perfect sacrifice does nothing to move us forward.

[25:06] It just forgives us for a moment, right? If we say, well, that's a perfect sacrifice then we are sacrificed at the moment. What about everything after that? Well, the empty tomb means that he is a living sacrifice, right?

[25:16] That he is the lamb that was slain. And then the Bible tells us that he is at the right hand of the Father to make intercession for the saints. He is still laying a hand upon man and a hand upon God.

[25:27] And he is the umpire now who is the answer to the problem. He is the one who bridges the gap. And the position he assumed was a position of intercession because of our problem.

[25:38] Because God is able to save us from the uttermost. He is able to hear us when we're in the gutter most, right? He is there and he can reach us where we're at. The problem is is we didn't think that his hand could touch us and his hand dwelt among us and touched us and was unblemished and spotless.

[25:55] It was perfect, right? I was reading this morning in the Old Testament. I was reading this morning in the book of Leviticus and I know you're so excited. Those of you reading through the book of Leviticus and you're in that great chapter as you're reading that Bible reading plan and you're reading about all this crazy stuff, leprosy and all this and these scabs and these white hairs and all this other stuff and you're like, what does this have to do with anything?

[26:14] Do you notice when you're reading Leviticus the only one that could pronounce a man clean or unclean was the priest? Did you notice that in the book of Leviticus the only way you could be clean is if you presented yourself to the priest and the priest looked at you and said, yeah, you clean and you can go be clean.

[26:28] If the priest did not say you were clean, you were unclean and you had to go live away from everybody. You had to separate yourself. We have a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek who is alive today who walked out of the tomb in the garden, right?

[26:40] And now he looks up on me and all of my defilement. He looks up on me and all of my red spots and I'm like that other man. Yes, I am getting a little excited. I know I always do at the end of my message. I'm like that man that was so consumed with leprosy.

[26:52] It says in the book of Leviticus, it says that if he is covered in it, if it's all over him so that his whole body is white, if the red has turned to white, he has this raging infection of leprosy.

[27:03] It blows my mind when it says he is clean. He's clean because he's covered up with it. Listen, I am covered with sin naturally but when I went to the priest who took the position of the umpire, he wasn't afraid to put his hand up on me because when I read the Bible, Jesus touches the leprous.

[27:20] When I read the Bible, Jesus touches the dead man. When I read the Bible, Jesus touches the lame and the blind and the unclean and he always touches them and says, you clean. And see, when he touches God and he touches man, though I'm covered up with it and that's my problem, the priest looks at me because of the position he has assumed and says, you clean.

[27:41] And when he says I'm clean, I really don't care what anybody else says because he alone is in the position to touch God and to touch man. You may judge me, you may look down upon me, you may ridicule me, but you can't touch God.

[27:57] You may think less of me, you may think more of me, but you can't touch God. The only one that matters to me who's in the position of being the umpire who's had the right, it doesn't matter what my other teammates say about me.

[28:09] We all on the same team, right? We all the human race. It doesn't matter what my other teammates say about me. I could care less about what the other team says because the Bible says, you wrestle not against flesh and blood but against the powers and principalities of the air and the spiritual forces of darkness, which means I don't care what the people on the human race say about me.

[28:26] I don't care what the people in the dark spiritual world over there say about me. I only care about what the umpire who's got his hand on me and hand on God says about me and in Christ, he says, you're clean because of the position he's assumed.

[28:42] On the cross, he paid the penalty. When he came out of the tomb, he ensured an eternal position which leads me to my fourth and final thing, the praise we declare.

[28:56] I shouldn't have to go there but the Bible does. When we understand possibilities with God, his hand is not so short that it cannot save. His ear is not so dull that it cannot hear.

[29:06] Friend, listen, no matter where you're at, no matter how far you go, he can reach you there. And when we understand the problem of man, that man has a longing for peace but he cannot attain it on his own.

[29:18] That man has a desire for his security but he cannot attain it on his own. That everything man does leads to greater problems. When we understand the problems of man and then when we really understand the position he's assumed that he is the umpire, that he's the one who can touch heaven and touch earth.

[29:35] He's the one who has filled the gap. He's the one that has taken the place. He's the one that walked out of the tomb to fill the gap forevermore for the people who call upon his name. It leads us to the praise we declare because it says in verse 21, as for me, this is God speaking, as for me, this is my covenant with them, says the Lord.

[29:54] My spirit which is upon you. Now we have went from God the Father taking notice to God the Son taking a position to God the Holy Spirit moving in. When the Father took notice and the Son took action and the Spirit came and dwelt, look at what it says.

[30:10] He says that my spirit which is upon you and my words which I have put in your mouth. Do you notice that every time when you open up the book of Acts, the book of Acts is the early church, right?

[30:23] It's the only, it's the only manual we have for what church should look like. It's the book of Acts. It's church in its origination, church in its birth. That's what it should look like. Law first mentioned. When something is first mentioned in scripture, that's what it should look like and we see that.

[30:36] Here we have it lived out in daily practice and the Holy Spirit keeps moving in and out upon the people. It's filling the church. Every time the Spirit fills the church, open up the book of Acts. It's been some years since we've been there.

[30:47] Every time the Holy Spirit moves the people of God, they declare the word of God. I mean, you ain't moved by the Spirit going around speaking gibberish. You moved by the Spirit going around declaring the word of God.

[31:00] Because the Spirit comes, Jesus says, to bring to mind all that He has taught us. And so, this begins to be His praise. The Spirit moves the people of God to proclaim the word of God and look at what it says.

[31:15] It says, not depart from your mouth and from the mouth of your offspring nor from the mouth of your offsprings. Offsprings. This says, praise becomes a generational issue.

[31:28] True praise. Parents, listen to me. Grandparents, listen to me. I put myself in both of those. True praise. True praise is a generational issue.

[31:43] We pass it on. We move it along further. We live lives of praise declaring the word so that the generations who come after us can live lives of praise declaring the word so that the generations who come after them should live lives declaring the praises of His word.

[32:00] It is a generational thing. We are sending a message to the generations that follow us in our own family and in the families of others. All of these children are a great blessing to the church but they're also a great responsibility.

[32:16] These children, they need our acceptance, they need our love, they need our care but they need our praises more. These children need to see the people of God praising God so that they can be free to get excited about the Lord God and what He has done because friend, I'm going to tell you the earth in which they live is going to be harder than the one we are in because this world is on a downward spiral and I'm not here at doom and gloom, I'm just here at Bible preaching.

[32:42] What I have found is it's a downward spiral. It's going to get worse until He comes again and if the Lord tarries, we are sending forth pastors, missionaries and praisers into the generations after us and we want them to be excited about the things of God but the only way they're going to be excited about it, they're not going to learn it from the world, they're going to learn it from us and if they walk into the church house and the church people are sitting on their lips and moping around and they can't get excited about what the Lord has done, then don't expect them to get excited about it either because we should be so, I'm not saying we got to be ecstatic and charismatic even though we can't be afraid of that either.

[33:26] It's okay to get a little Bapticastal every now and then, it's okay but we ought to be led by the Spirit. We ought to be a praising people, a genuineness and a sincerity of praise because there's something special.

[33:46] You say, oh, when I get together, when I'm alone with the Lord I can praise Him, so can I. I can sing better alone than I ever can in public. At least I think I can but there's something special about when the people of God gets together and the family of God get together and then there's something Jesus said about where two or more are together.

[34:06] All of a sudden we invite His presence into our praise. You want your children to encounter the risen Lord? The best way I know it is where two or more are gathered together, I am there as well.

[34:19] This is where He meets Him is when we praise Him. You go home and you can teach them around the dinner table. I want you to do that too. I want you to teach them in the bedroom. I want you to be that example.

[34:31] Let us be a praising people for the generations that follow. Here are the praises we declare for the glory He's taken. It is an accomplished salvation. Let's pray.

[34:43] Lord, we thank You for this day. Lord, I thank You for Your Word and the promises it contains. Lord, we come to a moment of invitation.

[34:55] And Lord, we pray that in this moment of invitation, if there's one here today who does not understand or know the reality of salvation by the power and presence of Your Spirit that You would make it known to them.

[35:10] We pray, Lord, that Your Spirit would have a perfect work in each and every one of us. You would search our hearts, search our minds. Help us to understand where we stand before You.

[35:20] Lord, if we have known that salvation, may we offer praise for it. May it be for Your glory, not for the recognition of man, but for the glory of God and Yours alone.

[35:33] We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. And we're going to sing hymn number 407 Because He Lives. After our time of invitation, we are going to celebrate the Lord's Supper together.

[35:48] We will be looking at 1 Corinthians chapter 11. 1 Corinthians chapter 11. I won't preach again. Don't get too worried about that. Paul says that there's a way and a manner in which we should take the Lord's Supper.

[35:59] That is, that we ought to be sure that we take it rightly. So this time of invitation, if you do not know in which we are deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg deleg Thank you.

[37:18] Thank you.