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[0:00] A whole book that's calculated to strengthen our faith.! We turn to Zechariah chapter 8, with whom nothing is too hard.

[0:34] Zechariah 8. Again, the word of the Lord Almighty came to me. This is what the Lord Almighty says. I'm very zealous for Zion.

[0:45] I'm burning with jealousy for her. This is what the Lord says. I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. Then Jerusalem will be called the city of truth, and the mountain of the Lord Almighty will be called the Holy Mountain.

[1:02] This is what the Lord Almighty says. Once again, men and women of ripe old age will sit in the streets of Jerusalem, each with cane in hand because of his age.

[1:14] The city streets will be filled with boys and girls playing there. This is what the Lord Almighty says. It may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time, but it will seem marvelous, but will it seem marvelous to me, declares the Lord Almighty.

[1:33] This is what the Lord Almighty says. I will save my people from the countries of the East and the West. I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.

[1:50] This is what the Lord Almighty says. It says,

[2:52] This is what the Lord Almighty says. Just as I had determined to bring disaster upon you and showed no pity when your fathers angered me, says the Lord Almighty, so now I have determined to do good again to Jerusalem and Judah.

[3:11] Do not be afraid. These are the things you are to do. Speak the truth to each other and render true and sound judgment in your courts. Do not plot evil against your neighbor and do not love to swear falsely.

[3:27] I hate all this, declares the Lord. Again, the word of the Lord Almighty came to me. This is what the Lord Almighty says. The fasts of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will become joyful and glad occasions and happy festivals for Judah.

[3:46] Therefore, love, truth, and peace. This is what the Lord Almighty says. Many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will yet come and the inhabitants of one city will go to another and say, Let us go at once to entreat the Lord and seek the Lord Almighty.

[4:05] I myself am going. And many peoples and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat him.

[4:17] This is what the Lord Almighty says. In those days, ten men from all languages and nations will take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his robe and say, Let us go with you, because we have heard that God is with you.

[4:33] It was very fitting that Isaiah 42, 16, about after the darkness, I will bring out the light.

[4:45] That's very fitting for Zechariah 7 and 8, because in a lot of ways, chapter 7 is the darkness, and chapter 8 is the light.

[4:58] On a wall in Switzerland, there's carved four heroes of the Reformation, and they're all very imposing figures.

[5:09] They're each 15 feet tall, and they're looming over the people that come and visit this wall. And along each side of these four figures, there's the motto of the city of Geneva and the motto of the Reformation.

[5:25] And it's carved in Latin, and it says, Post Tenebras Lux, which means after darkness, light.

[5:37] And that's very much the history of the Reformation. The whole European continent is in darkness, and then there was light. The people walking in darkness have seen a great light.

[5:49] On those living in the shadow of death, the light has dawned. And that's an old biblical pattern of darkness and light.

[6:01] Dark, then light. It goes all the way back, strangely enough, to the creation. On the first day, there was evening, and then there was day.

[6:14] On the first day. Not morning, then evening. There was evening, and then there was morning. Death, then resurrection. Barrenness. Barrenness. Can you think of all the barren women in the Bible?

[6:27] Barrenness. Barren. And now they're giving birth, and they're suffering, and then there's glory. That's very much the pattern. And it's preparing us for the greatest unveiling of great light.

[6:42] The coming of the Lord Jesus. And that's the pattern in the Gospel. Romans 1-3. Paul throws his lasso of the law around all the Jews, and around all the Gentiles.

[6:54] And he shows how none of them are living up to what the law has said. He silences them all until he ends that argument with those great words.

[7:06] Therefore, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law. No one. And so it's the darkness of sin.

[7:18] It's the darkness of condemnation. It's the darkness of, here I am, I'm hopeless, I'm guilty, and the worst thing about it all is I can't do anything to fix it.

[7:31] So there's nothing I can do. Now what? Well, but after darkness, there is light. And Paul begins, but now a righteousness from God has been revealed.

[7:43] So all that human righteousness, not going to work. And if you talk to people, and they're thinking, and they're saying, well, what hope is there? What chance is there? Then it prepares it for that beautiful Gospel message of, now a righteousness from God has been revealed, and it comes by faith.

[8:01] Well, you see that pattern again and again. In Zechariah 7 and 8, follow that same pattern. Zechariah 7 was a very searching word. You remember that.

[8:12] There wasn't a lot of hopeful, good things that the Lord had to say to the people. And you remember, what have you been fasting for?

[8:24] Who have you been fasting for? Oh, you're fasting. It was never for me, he said. When you fast, it's for yourself. And when you feast, it's for yourself. It wasn't for me. So you wear the clothes of religion, but your heart is far from me.

[8:37] And that word comes to me. And as for me, it's good to be near the Lord. But again and again, I have to say that the prodigal son comes out of me and wanders away.

[8:54] The wayward sheep is off doing his own thing. And then I have to say, I'm not what I want to be. Well, then the Lord said, there's no, the ritual is no substitute for godlikeness.

[9:11] Men like to put on religion and think that that will make them godly. But he is saying there's no, ritual is no substitute for godlikeness. You remember the Pharisees were very good at religion.

[9:23] They were good at going to synagogue. They were good at studying the scriptures. They were good at giving alms to the poor as long as everyone was seeing. They're good at praying. But also at the same time, they were very good at robbing widows' houses.

[9:38] And then not honoring their parents. And so they constructed all these rules that they could keep in order to cover the fact that they weren't keeping God's laws. They could bear any amount of religion except for true religion.

[9:52] And Jesus hated it when he saw it. We read here, God says, I hate it. I hate that unrighteousness. And so God says to Israel, what's the use of your fasting?

[10:03] If you're running roughshod over the week, if you don't care about the orphan and the widow, whatever you're doing, you aren't like me. And finally, the Lord Almighty says, all of that outward religion, all of the outward religion in the world won't save you from my wrath.

[10:24] When I come in judgment, I'm not looking for ritual. I'm looking for righteousness. So I don't go look around for outward things that you're doing.

[10:35] I'm looking for righteousness. And ritual and outward religion is not righteousness. It will not save you. Zechariah 7 is the hammer.

[10:46] It's crushing their hearts. And it's crushing and sending us reeling. It's a fire. And it's burning up that stubble. And we wonder, what hope do we have?

[10:57] What? I'm so far from what I want to be. It could be very discouraging if it's all on its own. So one commentator said, you probably should preach 7 and 8 together.

[11:09] That's a lot of verses to cover. So I didn't do it. But thank the Lord. After darkness, there's light. Thank the Lord. After the wrath, the condemnation, how many times we're falling short in chapter 7, the doom, the hopelessness.

[11:24] It's followed up by glorious words. But God. But God is going to do something. And so Zechariah 8 is that, but God. We've seen and we've seen again and again what we haven't done.

[11:39] But now we're going to see what God is going to do. And so Zechariah 8 is very much the dawn after the dark. And it starts out just like a morning. It gets brighter and brighter.

[11:52] So if you get up really early in the morning, the sky goes from black to very dark navy blue, doesn't it? But you can tell there's a shade of a difference.

[12:03] And then it gets to be lighter dark blue. And as the morning goes on, the sun comes up. And Zechariah 8 ends with the sun high up in the air. And it's blazing light.

[12:15] Look at the very last verse again. Verse 23. This is what the Lord Almighty says in those days. So when I'm done doing what I'm going to do, in those days, ten men from all languages and nations will take a hold of one Jew, take firm hold of one Jew by the hem of his road and say, let's go with you.

[12:35] Let us go with you because we have heard that God is with you. The glories of God, the blessings upon God's people are going to be so clear that everyone from everywhere will be saying, take us with you.

[12:47] Or at least men from everywhere will be saying, we want to worship God. This evening we're just going to look at the first eight verses. And we want to look at, as we begin, the fountain of all of this blessing.

[13:06] The fountain of all of this blessing. And so we begin with God's heart. We begin with God's heart. And so you have to get the picture in your head again.

[13:19] The word of God has come. And it's done a number on Judah. Their hypocrisy is clear. And our hypocrisy is clear.

[13:32] Their failures are clear. The land is desolate. Things are still small. They are weak. They are poor. They are needy. But God is going to do something.

[13:44] God is going to do something. So in verse one, he says, again, the word of the Lord Almighty came to me. This is what the Lord Almighty says. I am very jealous for Zion.

[13:57] I am burning with jealousy for her. So why is there light after dark? Why is there light after dark for them? Why is there always light after dark for you if you're one of God's people?

[14:11] It's because of this. Because of this fountain of God's love. Of his great love. God's love is what thrusts the sun into the sky after we've been put into the darkness.

[14:23] God's love comes to the rescue. And so there isn't any hope for Zion and for little Judah in themselves. And the hope is not going to be because they're going to turn things around. They're going to pull themselves up.

[14:34] They're going to fix this. Their hope isn't in them. He says, this is where your hope is. I am very jealous for you. I am very jealous for you. I'm hot with jealousy.

[14:46] My heart is burning with possessive love. You are mine. I want to do you good because you are mine. You're the apple of my eye. You're my bride.

[14:56] I love you. How can I turn you away? How can I see you in this condition and not come to your aid? Yes, you've sinned. Yes, you are weak. But I've set my love upon you.

[15:09] And this is the glory of being one of God's people. That in his holy heart, there beats mercy for us. Even in our sin and our weakness.

[15:23] And so the greatness of God's love of people living in the darkness, God's love is coming to the rescue. He loves his people. We are precious in his sight.

[15:35] As precious as a bride is to her jealous husband. So how often do we doubt the love of God? How often do we look at those circumstances that we sang about and instead of looking to the cross where you see the greatness of God's love, we look to those circumstances and we judge God's heart by what those circumstances are.

[15:57] And time and time again, have they not been proven wrong? And the cross has been proven right. That God has loved us. And so we doubt God's love, but it's our shame.

[16:08] And it's our misery. But God says to them and to us, I'm not cold. I'm not indifferent to you. I'm not cold and indifferent to you.

[16:21] I'm hot with love. Hot with desire to bless. And so I'm going to bless them. My love and my grace and my fervor is going to make all the difference.

[16:32] So what is the fountain of every blessing in your life? Why are your best days ahead? Why, in the words of Psalm 23, verse 6, are goodness and mercy going to follow you all the days of your life?

[16:46] Why are they going to dog your steps? And no matter where you go, they're going to track you down. It's because God's heart is with you, his own loving heart. And so out of this great unimaginable love, he sends sinners, or he sends his Savior to sinners.

[17:02] He sends Jesus to sinners to be everything they need, to be a sacrifice for them. He sent Jesus because he loved us.

[17:18] Jesus didn't turn a cold and different God towards you. Christ was the channel of God's loving heart. So Christ didn't create love in God's heart for you.

[17:32] Christ was the way that it was expressed. And so that's your God. He's not this cold, mechanical, merely just God who loves us only for the sake of righteousness and blood.

[17:49] He loves us because he's that kind of God, abounding in love. And so in his abounding love, he provides the righteousness and the justice and the blood that we can never provide.

[18:03] And so that's his burning jealousy for them. And out of his burning jealousy, he's going to bless them. And so what follows next are these series of promises to bless them, to do them good.

[18:17] And we're just going to look at a few of them. Verse 3, I will return to Zion and dwell in Jerusalem. So God says, I'm going to move in with them. I'm going to move toward them. And that's what you do with people that you love.

[18:29] You move toward them. He says, I'm going to move in with them. And when he comes, he changes you. When he moves in, he changes you.

[18:42] And that happens whenever someone moves in with you. If you get a new baby, wow, they're so small.

[18:52] But such huge changes in your life. Things that you didn't care for, now you care about. Things that you didn't worry about, now you worry about. Things that you never even bothered noticing.

[19:05] You notice all the time. That baby has changed you. Or men, when your wives moved in, they started changing your life. Maybe you didn't like it at first.

[19:16] But they were changes for the better, weren't they? They were. You're still wondering. They were.

[19:27] And when God moves in to a heart, he changes it. When God moves in to a people, he changes it for the better. And so Jerusalem will be called the city of truth. No more hypocrisy.

[19:39] No more chapter 7. That's not going to be the rule anymore. Eventually, it's not going to be true at all. No more hypocrisy. Truth. No more lies. Truth. No more living for false gods.

[19:50] No more lying idols. No more deceitful desires. Truth. Where what we desire are true and lasting and real. It will be called the city of truth.

[20:03] And again, we're talking about the people of God. We're not talking about the particular geographical area over there in Palestine, made up of buildings and whatnot that have changed over time. We're talking about God's people.

[20:14] They're going to become the city of truth. And so when God moves into a person and into a people, he takes them out of the world of lies. And he puts them into the world of truth.

[20:28] And so brothers and sisters, what should we be here? We should be one neighborhood in that city of truth. As a church.

[20:38] We're not the whole church. But here as this local church, we should be one neighborhood in that great city of truth. And we should shine like stars in a crooked and perverse generation.

[20:51] So this world is a city of lies. So let's live as the city of truth. It's okay to be completely different than the world if the difference is between truth and lies.

[21:03] So loving the truth. He's going to talk about that. We'll get to that. It's in verse 19. But he says, love the truth. Live for the truth. Be committed to the truth.

[21:14] Live according to the truth. And so the people of God are changed. That's what he's saying. Remember, we're talking about how when God comes into a person, how does he change them?

[21:25] He changes them from being hypocrites to being truthful. From just wearing the clothes of religion to having now this is what is coming out of me. I'm not forced to go and be with God's people.

[21:37] I want to go and be with God's people. I'm not just pretending. I'm not just playing. This is who I am. And I don't want the distance anymore.

[21:49] So the people of God are changed from hypocrisy to the truth. And secondly, he says, I'm going to change them from unholiness to holiness. They are going to be the holy mountain. So when the Holy Spirit comes down, when God comes down, what was common ground becomes holy.

[22:11] It goes from normal to sacred to special where God is. So think about the first holy mountain. God came down in the desert on Mount Sinai.

[22:24] And there was nothing particular about Mount Sinai until God came down on that mountain. And then it became holy ground. Sacred.

[22:35] Sacred. And now here God says, I'm going to come down and I'm going to make you the holy mountain. I'm going to take when I come into your lives, when I come into your hearts, when I come into your and I move in, you're going to go from normal to holy.

[22:53] And so, brothers and sisters, that has already happened. That's already begun. That has already begun. We have been transformed. And the reality is that we will be transformed.

[23:08] We will be transformed. And what guarantees that? What guarantees that we are holy and one day we are going to be perfected in holiness?

[23:20] Well, it's God's presence. It's God's intention. It's God's purpose. We certainly have a part to play in it. But what guarantees it? What ensures it?

[23:31] Well, God says, I'm going to move. This is my promise to you. This is God's promise to us. And so we are holy. So we should act holy. We are the city of truth.

[23:42] And so we should live as the city of truth. The world goes from mirage to mirage. So many times you see someone living for one mirage.

[24:00] We'll just say food or something. They're living for it. They're trying to fill themselves up on it. But you've seen enough cartoons when you're eating the mirage food.

[24:12] You're just eating the sand. And they're eating the sand. And one day they realize that this is all dead and sand. And so they run off to another mirage. And that's what the world is.

[24:24] Some mirages are better for us. Or at least not so damaging to us. But they all end up being dishonest.

[24:35] False. And so if that's the world. And we're not in the world anymore. We're not going around eating sand.

[24:46] Running from one sand bank to another. But if we have something to live for that's real and really satisfying. Then what should we do? We should enjoy it. And we definitely shouldn't go back to the old sand pile anymore.

[25:00] Things that are seen are temporary. But the unseen things are eternal. They store up their treasures on earth. Where rust and moth destroy.

[25:12] Where thieves break in and steal. And Jesus says, Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Where rust, moth and rust do not destroy. And thieves do not break in and steal. Lasting joys and lasting pleasures.

[25:24] Only Zion's children know. And so God promises this poor, weak, sinful people. I love you. I'm going to come to you. And I'm going to change you. And that changes from the inside out.

[25:39] And then God promises secondly, peace and prosperity. That's what you see in verses 4 and 5. There's this beautiful picture of peace and prosperity.

[25:51] It's a beautiful picture of grandmas and grandpas. Sitting outside their house with their canes. And running all around them are boys and girls in the streets.

[26:08] Children playing in the streets. And there's no fear. There's no danger. There's no hurry. There's no worry. There's no frantic working because we don't have enough to eat. There's no frantic running around because we're in danger.

[26:22] There's no terror. There's no persecution. And you picture it. Mommies and daddies aren't worried about what their kids are doing outside. Because it's safe.

[26:34] And everyone has time to relax because things are prosperous. And so grandmas and grandpas are sitting together watching their children playing. And you can picture it.

[26:46] There's a smile on every face. There's a smile on grandpa and grandma's face. And there's joy in every heart of every old lady and old man as their grandchildren.

[26:58] And all the children are playing and singing and jumping and running around. And here comes five-year-old Joshua and seven-year-old Miriam. And they found a frog. And they're going to show grandpa and grandma.

[27:09] And they whisper in their ears. And they kiss their wrinkled faces. And the little three-year-old is going to come and sit on grandpa's lap. And it's not just in one house.

[27:23] Every house. And you go up one street. And it's full of children playing. And you go down another street. And it's full of children playing. And God says, this is what I'm going to do for you.

[27:37] This is what I'm going to do for you. I'm going to give you such peace and prosperity. I'm going to give you such life and joy. Life's sweeter than southern tea.

[27:49] See all that. And again, is all this come upon us yet? No. But it has begun.

[27:59] Hasn't it? The Christian life is the best kind of life. And God's ways are delightful.

[28:12] And Jesus' yoke is easy compared to the world's yoke. And so the Christian life is the best kind of life even here in this broken world. But can you imagine what it's going to be like when redemption is complete?

[28:27] The dawn is here. But the day is coming. And then God promises the third thing. The people the people of God are going to be brought together.

[28:37] The scattered will be gathered. East and west. Rescued out of their countries and brought together. And that began to happen. But we even saw this morning even down to the time that Jesus came.

[28:54] And Paul and Barnabas went out to preach. There were still Jews scattered all over the world. So it's it's duffel that that's exactly what he's talking about. But he is saying God's people from everywhere are going to be brought together.

[29:08] The ones that are out there who are far away from God are going to be brought in. And I will save my people from the countries from the east and the west. And I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem.

[29:20] And so the city isn't going to be this half deserted small discouraging place to live. If you were to take a tour of Jerusalem in Zechariah's day it would have been more like walking through an archaeological site than a living city.

[29:38] Everywhere you're going it's old buildings abandoned buildings ruined fallen down buildings. And you would say where is everybody? And your guide says they're floating in the wind.

[29:50] They're far away. They're gone. And the Lord says I'm going to bring them together and I'll make them one again. And then I'll come back and they'll come back and serve me again.

[30:01] And I will be their God and they will be my people. He's saying I'll marry them all over again in righteousness and we will live together forever.

[30:16] Now if you were little Judah and you're just hearing these promises and you're looking at your circumstances and you're looking at the way things are is it going to be hard to believe or is it going to be easy to believe?

[30:36] That's a million miles away from where things are now. It's a million miles away from anything that you could actually produce. it's going to be hard to believe but God doesn't want us to waver through our unbelief.

[30:53] Wavering robs him of glory it robs us of peace. God's promises are so much bigger than our present circumstances but yet he doesn't want us wavering through unbelief and so he gives them reasons to believe.

[31:09] Reasons to believe. Verse 6 says it may seem marvelous to the remnant of this people at that time but will it seem marvelous to me? So he's saying let's go into the future let's imagine ourselves in the future and there is the remnant and all these things have come true.

[31:28] All of these things are now true and there you are you're standing in the middle of it and you're saying this is exactly what God said and I can't believe it's happened. It's amazing.

[31:38] And he's saying it might seem marvelous to you at that time that this is happening but is it going to seem marvelous to me? You're going to be pinching yourself.

[31:51] You're going to be saying am I dreaming or am I awake? Remember Psalm 126 when the Lord restored the fortunes of Judah we were like those who dreamed. That's what it's going to be like.

[32:05] For us we're going to be in heaven and we're going to say I can't believe it. We're going to be here on this new earth and this new heaven and all these things are going to be true and we're going to be able to look at our Bibles and say every single thing is true.

[32:17] I didn't understand how it was going to come true but here it is it's all true and it's going to seem marvelous to us but will it be marvelous to God? Will it be amazing and hard to believe for God?

[32:31] No. Why not? Because he's planned it. He's been working on it. His hand did it. So who's surprised and amazed in saying this is marvelous at a surprise birthday party?

[32:52] The people that put it on? The people that were invited? The people that brought all the meals or all the cake and the food? No.

[33:04] The birthday person who gets the surprise birthday party is amazed. All the people who came together to make it happen aren't surprised. They're not amazed. They know the work that went into this.

[33:16] They have been planning it. They have been working on it and that's what God is saying. You're going to have a hard time believing it. It's going to be so amazing and so wonderful you're going to be pinching yourself saying am I dreaming or am I awake?

[33:28] But I know what I'm going to do. I know the plans I have for you. I know what I'm going to do. I know the exact path that I'm going to take to get us there.

[33:39] And so why should we believe God's promises? Because they've been long in the making. He didn't make them five minutes ago on a whim. He's been long time in coming and he's been working toward it.

[33:55] So God knew what he was going to do for Abraham and Sarah. But Abraham was pinching himself with laughter when God says okay a year from now you're going to have a son. Now think about after little Isaac was born and there they are.

[34:11] They're old. It's unnatural what's happened. Supernatural. And so think of when Isaac's born. Abraham must have spent half of his time just shaking his head in amazement that it happened.

[34:25] But God knows the plans that he has for us. The plans to prosper us and to do us good. And when all of God's promises have come true we will be like the ones who are dreaming not God.

[34:39] God will say this is what I've been working for all along. This is what I had planned. This is what I meant. So why should we believe? Because even now God is working on those promises.

[34:52] promises. He's not idle in the darkness. When we're sitting in the darkness and we don't know what's ahead he's still at work. Another reason we can believe.

[35:05] And we should believe all of these promises. So how can I be sure that God is going to change me? Change us? Get rid of all that hypocrisy? Make us completely holy?

[35:16] How do I know that he can bring me peace and prosperity? And finally get us home to heaven. Well because again remember what Pastor John said.

[35:28] Did you notice what is being said over and over and over again in Zechariah chapter 8? Who is the one making the promise? The Lord Almighty.

[35:43] The Lord Almighty. It's God's covenant name Yahweh. The one who doesn't change. Who is faithful to all of his promises. Joined with Sabaoth.

[35:55] The Lord of hosts. The king of the armies of heaven. So he has all power. All authority. Heaven and earth are his and so he has the right.

[36:09] He has the power. He has the faithfulness to bring everything he promised to pass. He's the one who's speaking. And so let heaven and hell join arms and they're nothing to God.

[36:22] He has the right. He has the power. He has the love. He has the faithfulness to bless us. And so his love has the strength of omnipotence.

[36:34] Isn't that wonderful? Almighty power. Abounding love. God has the power. And it's for you. It's promised to you. And so we will be changed.

[36:46] All these promises will come true. We will enjoy peace. God's people will swell and fill the earth because God has said it and will he not do it? Abraham.

[36:59] Again, he had every reason humanly speaking to doubt the promise of God. but he knew God's power. By faith he knew God's heart.

[37:09] He knew God's love. And so he didn't waver through unbelief but he gave glory to God. And so with all of our hearts we should do the very same. Embrace these promises.

[37:21] Like candy. Suck them in and enjoy the sweetness of them. Rejoice in them. And what about the gospel promise? Gospel is a command.

[37:34] The gospel is a message. The gospel is also a promise. It's a promise to anyone here. It's a promise that we as believers even need to hear again and again and again.

[37:46] It's a promise. It's a promise that if we in our sin and our wretchedness will turn and throw ourselves on Jesus for mercy Jesus says I will save you.

[37:59] He will forgive you. And he doesn't ask for the good deeds first. Their turn will come. Their time will come. He says come as you are and I'll receive you.

[38:11] And the promise is just believe and you'll be saved. Just believe. And he doesn't ask us to feel so bad before you're worthy.

[38:23] All he says is feel your need for him. Sometimes when God works in a person's heart he makes them feel really bad for a really long time because that's what it takes to get that person to Jesus.

[38:39] Other people it's not so extreme. Do you feel your need for him? Do you need to go to him? Well don't wait until you feel the need more. Go now.

[38:50] Believe the promise and be saved. And like all of God's promises that's been God's plan all along. That everyone who would call upon the name of Jesus would be saved.

[39:04] That's been his long standing purpose and plan. That's the way it's always been. All the way back in the Old Testament they were looking forward to a Messiah and they were putting their faith in the coming Messiah and Jesus was saving them.

[39:18] And now we're looking back to that same Messiah. Same plan. Same promise. And so he has the power to save you. He has the heart to save you. He has the love and the faithfulness to save you.

[39:30] And so take him up on his offer. Believe. Believe it. And if you don't believe how sad and how bad that will be for you because the invitation is in your hand.

[39:44] and the invitation hasn't come just once or twice. It's come again and again. And you've boarded up your heart. You've nailed the window shut.

[39:55] You've nailed the mailbox shut. But the invitation keeps bursting through. It's getting through the cracks of your life. That's just saying his arms are open wide.

[40:07] And even now he's saying come. Leave your life behind and you'll find Jesus. And you'll find Jesus to be everything you've ever needed. Everything you could ever want. And the amazing thing is the only requirement is that you repent and you believe.

[40:26] Turn from that old life and turn to Jesus. Let's pray. Heavenly Father who could know and who can measure the greatness of your loving heart for us.

[40:40] Your loving heart for sinners. That you would give them a gospel. That you would give and provide a savior that if they would believe that they would be saved.

[40:53] Thank you for calling so many of us out of darkness and into your wonderful light. Will you please help us not to wander back into unbelief.

[41:05] but to live our lives upon Jesus and the glorious riches that are found in him. Thank you that every promise that has been made in the Old Testament and the New Testament are yes and amen in Christ Jesus.

[41:22] And so if we are in him and we are abiding in him that all these promises are for us. And so I pray that each one of us would take these things to heart would be encouraged by your love and your plans and your purposes for us.

[41:39] And as we go down into the valleys and as we find ourselves in the shadows that we would hold on to these promises hold on to your character and believe.

[41:53] And Lord thank you that you are mighty to save. And I pray that you would show forth your might and your power this week in bringing salvation to those who are not even looking for it.

[42:07]  Oh bring in and receive sinners even tonight. We ask this for Jesus' sake. Amen.