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The Puritan Hope: An Eschatology of Victory

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• If you would open your Bibles tonight, please, to two passages, Romans chapter 15 and Colossians chapter 1. Romans chapter 15 first, and then we'll go to Colossians chapter 1. I will not be expounding these verses tonight. However, I'm going to use them just to point out a truth. So if you look in Romans chapter 15. The title of the message is "The Puritan Hope: An Eschatology of Victory." So notice in Romans chapter 15 and verse 13, the Word of God says, "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost." Note, if you would please, that God is specifically designated as the God of hope. And then He tells us that we are to abound in hope. And then if you look in the book of Colossians chapter 1 and verse 23, Colossians 1 and verse 23, the Word of God says very clearly, "If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached

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• to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister." So I want you to note, if you would please, the phrase, "the hope of the gospel."

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• Now, as I pointed out, it's not my intent tonight to deal with these two specific texts that I just read in Romans and in Colossians, nor is it my particular intent tonight to deal with various and sundry views of eschatology. Eschatology, of course, is the doctrine of last things. It is my intent tonight to expound our hope in God and His gospel. You have to understand that when it comes to eschatology, that good and godly men have differed over these things for many, many years, and especially over the return of Jesus Christ.

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• There is certainly no way that I could settle that great question in one message, and probably it's not even going to be settled until our Lord returns. So it's my intent tonight simply to demonstrate not only from history, but also from Scripture, that there is indeed an eschatology of victory. Christians do not need a defeatist, discouraged, distressed, and detrimental attitude in any area, and especially not in reference to the Lord Jesus Christ and His gospel.

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• Now, the Puritans, of course, had a great influence upon the founding of this country, obviously. But it is true, since the founding of our country and since the influx of Puritanism there, that basically, in one sense of the word, we have gone from optimism to pessimism. We have basically denied victory and embraced defeat. In fact, I have a good friend who wrote a book, and the title of the book is "The Death of the Church Victorious."

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• We seem somehow as Christians to masochistically enjoy being ruled over, dominated, and subjugated by the wicked. Our hope has become one of flight or rescue instead of one that is conquering for the Lord Jesus Christ. It is true that our eschatology affects our lives. How you view the doctrine of last things determines in one sense of the word how you act, how you live, and how you respond to certain things.

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• So if you and I are going to remain faithful in every venue, and I'm talking about the cultural, the domestic, the financial, the religious, and the evangelistic, we have to understand that our Lord is absolutely victorious in every area of life. It was Professor John Murray who said this, and let me just give you a quote. He said, "The more great and glorious things you expect from God as the downfall of Antichrist, the conversion of the Jews, the conquest of the nations to Christ, the breaking of all yokes, the New Jerusalem's coming down from above, the extraordinary pouring out of the Spirit, and a more general union among all

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• saints, the more holy, yea, the more eminently holy in all your ways and actings it becomes you to be." So what he is saying is this. Obviously, your eschatology is going to affect how you live. It was Dr. J. Vernon McGee years ago whom I heard with my own ears as he was teaching on the radio. He said this, "You don't polish brass on a sinking ship."

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• And of course he was talking about this world. Well, first of all, this world is not a ship. And secondly, this world, although it may be populated with wicked and evil individuals, the world is not going down with the wicked. The Apostle Paul stated that very clearly in Romans chapter 8. I want you to turn there, if you would. Follow me tonight, because I'm going to be showing you a lot of passages. But in Romans 8, beginning there with verse 19, I want you to see what the Apostle Paul said in regard to this world, to the creature or God's creation. He said in Romans 8, beginning there with verse 19, "For the earnest expectation of the creature"—or the creation, that is the world—"waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

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• For the creature"—or the creation—"was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature"—or the creation itself also—"shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." So obviously in this passage the Apostle Paul is teaching that this world, although it is now under a curse, and although it is populated with the wicked, it, too, shall be delivered from this curse into the glorious liberty of the children of God. If you would turn right over in your Bibles to 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3, and let's begin reading there with verse 12, and I want you to note very clearly what the Apostle Peter says concerning this world. 2 Peter 3, verse 12.

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• Notice he says, "Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless we," that is, we believers, "nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for a new heaven and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness." So Peter then is saying, well, this earth is going to be purified with fire and it's going to be ultimately a new heaven and a new earth. This promise is from the Old Testament. If you would turn back to Isaiah chapter 66 and look at verse 22, Isaiah 66 and verse 22. Here in this passage, the Word of God says very plainly, where He promises a new heaven and a new earth. So Isaiah 66, and look there if you would please at verse 22. Here the Word of God says, "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain." So He's talking then about a new earth

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• and a new heaven that He's going to make. That's why in the book of Revelation chapter 21 in verse 1, it was John the Apostle who said, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea." John even speaks of the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven as a bride adorned for her husband. Now if the New Jerusalem is coming down, it has to come down to something which obviously would be the earth as well. So when you put Romans 8 together with 2 Peter and Isaiah and the book of Revelation, the Bible is indicating that the earth is not going to be forsaken. It's not going to be destroyed or given up. Rather, it's going to be purified and made new and set free from the bondage of the curse and from the bondage of sin.

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• So in that light, then, we had probably better get busy occupying and doing business as our Lord has commanded us and as you read in the New Testament when He said, "Occupy till I come." The word "occupy" literally means to do business. Now I want you to stop and think just for a moment about when this country was founded. Our Puritan forefathers had a vision. They foresaw this country as being literally a city set on the hill for the entire world to see. In fact, let me give you a quote. Here it is. "The entire Puritan experiment in America was aimed at creating a city set on the hill for all the world to see,

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• a model republic based on biblical law and Christian charity for the whole world to emulate." The Puritans also believed in the concept of patient gradualism, that they might not live to see the fruit of the field that they had planted. They understood the kingdom of heaven as being progressive and having a gradual growth as a stone cut without hands, which becomes a great mountain and fills the earth. The kingdom of heaven was to attain universal dominion, but through slow degrees and gradual progress. The Puritans understood that the Messiah would thus gradually be magnified until He became the omnipotent ruler of the world. Thus the battle cry of the Reformation was, "No king but Christ."

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• And they expected that to become a temporal reality. Do you realize that there were historic, and still are I might add, historic declarations of faith that taught this very concept. For instance, the Savoy Declaration of 1658 was one of the earliest statements talking about the victory of Christ on earth, in time, and in history. Here is just a paragraph from the Savoy Declaration. "As the Lord in His care and love toward His church hath in His infinite wise providence exercised it with a great variety in all ages for the good of them that love Him and His own glory, so according to His promise we expect that in the latter days, Antichrist being destroyed, the Jews

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• called, and the adversaries of the kingdom of His dear Son broken, the churches of Christ being enlarged and edified through a free and plentiful communication of light and grace, shall enjoy in this world"—notice—"more quiet, peaceable, and glorious condition than they have ever enjoyed before." So here's the Savoy Declaration saying we see that Christ is going to conquer and finally it will be basically for the saints of God far more peaceful and far more glorious.

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• Now I could do two or three things tonight. I could sit here and just quote Puritan after Puritan and show you what their theology was, but I'm not going to do that. I am going to show you a number of passages that undeniably demonstrate that our Lord is omnipotent and victorious in His total, absolute dominion.

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• Now you say, "Wait a minute, Brother Weaver, how in the world does what you preach tonight correlate with what you preached the last three nights?" Well, let me just tell you this. You have to understand that there is no contradiction between the judgment of God and what I'm preaching tonight, because all throughout the Bible, oftentimes God has used judgment to conquer His enemies and to destroy His enemies. So what I want to do tonight is this. I want to show you a number of passages from the Word of God, which I believe are just frankly undeniable. And then I want to summarize not just the Puritan hope, but our hope of victory in time and in history. Now, as I'm preaching this tonight, I'm well aware of the fact that we're living in a day of apostasy, lukewarmness, and apathy.

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• It appears from all appearances that Christianity is on the decline, and of course, Islam and numerous other sects and isms are on the increase. May I remind you of one simple truth? The Word of God teaches us that we as Christians do not live by sight, but we live by faith. Sometimes people look at me and they say, "Brother Weaver, everything is going wrong. Everything is going wrong." And I will say, "Let me add to that. Everything is going wrong just right." Because God is in control and He is the one that determines everything.

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• You have to remember this. There is no such thing as an accident in a world that is ruled by God. God is the absolute sovereign in heaven and in earth. And God is only going to allow that to come to pass, which ultimately will redound to His honor and His glory. You say, "How can you say that?" Well, let me show you. I want you to turn to Psalm 76 and look in your Bibles at verse 10. Psalm 76 and verse 10. Here's the verse that you need to memorize. Psalm 76 and verse 10. Very wonderful verse, very beautiful verse, and a very powerful verse. Psalm 76 and verse 10, the Word of God says it like this, "Surely the wrath of man shall praise thee: the remainder of wrath shalt thou restrain." Do you want to know how much wrath and sin and wickedness will happen in this world? Just enough that's going to redound to God's honor and God's glory. You're going to say, "Well, how in the world can sin and wickedness redound to God's honor and God's glory?"

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• If there was no sin, if there was no wickedness, we would know nothing of God's judgment. We would know nothing of God's holiness. We would know nothing of God's righteousness, nor would we know anything of God's mercy and God's graciousness. So God says, "I will allow just enough that's going to ultimately redound either to My justice or to My grace and My mercy, and that which will not glorify Me, I will restrain."

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• A good illustration of that is found in Genesis chapter 20, when Abimelech had taken Sarah, Abram's wife. And guess what? God came to Abimelech that night in a dream and said, "If you touch her, you're a dead man. I'll kill you. If you touch her, you're a dead man, for she's another man's wife." And Abimelech said, "Lord, in the integrity of my heart, in the innocence of my hands, I've done this thing.

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• Said she not even to me that he's my brother? And he said she's my sister." And God said, "Yea, I know that. Therefore, I've withheld thee from sinning against Me." And so God restrained Abimelech. Well, certainly God's going to do exactly what Psalm 76 verse 10 says. He's not going to allow anything to come to pass except that which will ultimately honor and glorify Him.

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• Now, contrary to all circumstantial evidence, and contrary and in opposition to all situational observances, Jesus Christ is still seated on the throne of His glory and is ruling and reigning and subduing all things. He is in absolute control. And here's the thing, He subdues His enemies in His time and in His way. The Bible says very plainly in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 25, listen, "For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet." He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. So Jesus Christ is ruling now, and yes, contrary to what you and I are seeing, contrary to sight, He is in fact subduing His enemies. And He shall continue to do so until everyone is totally and absolutely subdued.

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• Now, let me show you some passages. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Isaiah chapter 2. And I want you to mark this passage because we will come back to this passage just a little bit later. But notice Isaiah, chapter two, and let's begin reading there with verse two. Look at the prophecy here. Isaiah, chapter two, verse two, and we're going to read through verse four.

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• "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house"—that is His kingdom—"shall be established in the top of the mountains"—that is, over every other kingdom—"and shall be exalted above the hills." Now watch, "and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks.

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• Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more." But notice, if you would, the Bible says in verse 2 that the Lord's kingdom is going to be established, and all nations shall flow into it. So when this passage then speaks of nations coming to Christ and submitting to Christ and living obediently, it's not talking about eternity, it's talking about time in history. And it is talking about the fact that His law is going to be the absolute authority and all nations will ultimately submit to Him.

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• If you would turn over in your Bibles to the book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 7. And let's begin reading there with verse 13. Daniel 7 and verse 13. Just showing you a few verses to begin with, Daniel 7, and note if you would please, verse 13. Daniel said, "I saw in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought Him near before Him.

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• That's Christ coming to the Father, verse 14, "And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Notice, if you would, in this verse you can ask these questions. Who shall serve Him? How many? The answer is all. His dominion shall never be destroyed. His kingdom shall never pass away. And if you look in verse 27 of Daniel chapter 7, the Bible says it again. "And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve Him and obey Him." Note, all dominions shall serve Him and obey Him. Now when you read Isaiah 2 and Daniel chapter 7 and numerous other passages as well, it's these passages that should encourage us not only in evangelism and witnessing, but in proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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• He is the absolute victor. He cannot fail, and He will not fail. It was the truths that I've just enunciated to you that gave rise to the great missionary movements in the 17th and 18th century. It was the same exact truth that motivated and inspired the Apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 2, verse 10, when he said, "Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." He said, "I endure all things for them." See, the Apostle Paul understood that our Lord had a people. He also understood that He had a kingdom. He also understood that everything was going to come to pass exactly as He ordained it. Now, let me just clear something up for you. I honestly believe that we could summarize everything like this. I believe that we could accurately and biblically say this. The kingdom has come because the King has come. The kingdom is here because the King is here. And the kingdom is coming more fully and completely because the King will return as well.

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• So if you and I are going to desire to see the increase and the victory of that kingdom, we have to pray and preach as He has commanded. Now, let me give you three what I'm going to call very practical and yet important truths on which to hang your hope. If you want to say, "Look at Islam. Look at the White House, look at Congress, look at our government, look at the wicked.

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• We're so deep in trouble." Yes, I understand that. But let me tell you something, that does not change the fact that God is sovereign and He's on the throne. That does not change the reality of Holy Scripture. And like I said earlier, things may be going wrong, but they're going wrong just right. So tonight, what I want to do is this. I want to give you three truths from Scripture on which to hang your hope and which will be the guarantee of victory for the child of God. I can say it like this, that every aspect of our hope is rooted and grounded in these three truths. What are they? First of all, the promise of the Sovereign. I want you to go back in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 2. Isaiah chapter 2. We're going to look at the promise of the Sovereign. In Isaiah chapter 2 and verse 2, here is the promise.

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• "And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above all the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths." We will walk in His paths. Obedience. "For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." So our Lord is going to be ruling and reigning.

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• So you have to ask yourself this question. How can this promise be real? Well, have you ever just meditated on the promises of God? And I realize there are a multitude of promises in the Bible. But you need to meditate upon promises that give us victory, especially in light of the context of this message tonight. Can it be true that our Lord's kingdom shall be superior to all other kingdoms and all nations shall flow into it? And if that promise is true, then you have to ask, how in the world can this be? Well, it is certainly true because God is who He said He is.

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• He is the Great I Am. He is the one and only true God. There is none other beside Him. And how can it be? It can be because He is the omnipotent, all-powerful God of heaven and earth. He is the sovereign God. He is in control. We have to understand that when you look at the promises of God, there are two attributes of God that are connected very intricately with God's promises.

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• The first attribute is that of His faithfulness, and the second attribute is that of His power. Moreover, we could say this, not only are the faithfulness and the power of God connected with His promises, we can also say that the very Godhood of God is connected with His promises. For if God ever violated His promise, if God did not keep His word, then basically He would cease to be God. Obviously, if God ever lied, He would cease to be God. Do you realize there are usually three things that will stop a man from fulfilling his word? I could say to Brother Ray, "Well, I'll be at your house tomorrow at 3 p.m." Well, I could give him that promise, but first of all, I may not have the foresight to envision all the problems that I would entail in just trying to get to his house at 3 o'clock. My car could break down. I could have a flat tire. I could be in a wreck. I could be in the hospital, I could be dead.

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• I do not have the foresight to foresee everything that would hinder me from keeping my word to him. Secondly, I may not have the necessary power to bring my word to pass. If I'm sick with the flu, obviously I'm not going to have the power to do it. And thirdly, I may not have the character necessary to bring to pass my word. None of these three things apply to God. Because, number one, God is omniscient. He knows everything. Secondly, God is omnipotent. He is all-powerful. And thirdly, there is the character of God.

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• He is infinitely holy and infinitely faithful, and He cannot deny Himself. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Hebrews chapter 6. Look in Hebrews chapter 6. And notice, if you would, beginning there with verse 16. Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 16. Watch carefully. Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 16. The Word of God says, "For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath: that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us."

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• And notice if you would, he said, "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." Now note if you would, that God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, the unchangeability of His word, the unchangeability of His person, He confirmed it with an oath. God gave His promise. When we talk about God's immutability, God cannot change for the worse. Because He is perfect. If He changed for the worse, He would cease to be God. And He cannot change for the better, because He is already perfect.

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• He is God, and He knows the end from the beginning, according to Acts 15, verse 18. "Known unto God are all His works from the beginning of the world." Moreover, He said in Isaiah 46 and verse 10, "My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure." Why do you think God said to Moses, "Tell them I AM hath sent you"? "I AM THAT I AM." That indicates that God is immutable. He is unchangeable.

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• His promises do not change. In Deuteronomy 7, in verse 9, He said it like this, "Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him and keep His commandments to a thousand generations." But note, if you would, He is the faithful God. You should read through your Bibles and just understand as well as underline the faithfulness of God every time you see it. Did you know the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 9, "Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it."

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• Do you realize your calling? Your salvation is based upon the faithfulness of God. God cannot help but be faithful. He is God. His promises are real and genuine and true.

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• Now let me show you. You say, "How does this apply to our hope of victory in time and history?" Well, let me ask you a question. In the Old Testament, in the Old Testament, and you could probably say it in the New Testament as well, but in the Old Testament primarily, who were the two chief enemies of the covenant people? Well, let's see. There was Egypt and there was Assyria. 400 years they were in bondage in Egypt. Ten northern tribes went into captivity, 722, into Assyria. I want to show you something. I want you to turn in your Bibles, if you would please, to Isaiah chapter 19. I want to show you what God says about these two horrible enemies of God's people. Look in Isaiah chapter 19, and I want us to begin reading with verse 18. Isaiah 19 and verse 18. Watch carefully. Isaiah 19, verse 18. "In that day"—that is the day of the Lord's victory—"in that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear by the Lord of hosts.

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• One shall be called, The city of destruction." So there's five-sixths of Egypt to be called. Now watch, verse 19, "In that day shall there be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar at the border thereof to the Lord. And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the Lord because of the oppressors, and He shall send them a Saviour, and a Great One, and He shall deliver them. And the Lord shall be known to Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall do sacrifice and oblation; yea, they shall vow a vow unto the Lord, and perform it. And the Lord shall smite Egypt: He shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the Lord, and He shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them. In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land:

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• whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel Mine inheritance." Wow! Five-sixths of Egypt being called? Assyria being designated as the work of His hands? In Psalm 68 it is, in verse 31, God says this, listen carefully, "Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God." Princes coming out of Egypt, Ethiopia stretching out her hands unto God. We have to conclude that God has His people scattered everywhere, and He will bring them in just as He promised. The promises of God are absolutely true, and when God said that His kingdom is going to be above all the other kingdoms, and all nations shall flow into it, that is time in history. And yes it shall be, because His promise is absolutely sure.

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• So what do we hang our hope on? First of all, we hang our hope on the promises of the Sovereign. He cannot fail. He cannot change. His word is true. Secondly, we hang our hope on the person of the Savior. Did you know that Jesus Christ is God? He is God incarnate. You know, the Bible says in 1 Timothy 3, verse 16, "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory." Notice what he said, "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh." When you consider the person of Jesus Christ, you must remember that He is God manifest in the flesh.

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• What did He tell Thomas? "He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." Yes, He is the God-man. He's perfect God and perfect man. Consequently, He is the only mediator between God and men. That's why 1 Timothy 2 and verse 5 says, "For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Now I want you to see how Jesus Christ is uniquely the Son of God. If you would turn in your Bibles to the book of Colossians chapter 1, Colossians chapter 1, and let's begin reading there with verse 15. Notice carefully what the Bible says concerning Jesus Christ. Colossians 1 verse 15. In fact, let's go back to verse 13, just so you can see in the context, we're talking about Jesus Christ, "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son: in whom we have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins." So we're talking about Jesus Christ, here it is in verse 15, "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: for by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all

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• things were created by Him, and for Him: and He is before all things, and by Him all things consist." Wow! He's the Creator. He is the God-Man. He is God. There's nothing that was not created by Him. I want you to look in your Bibles to 1 Timothy 6. Note, if you would please, what the Word of God says beginning there with verse 14. 1 Timothy 6 and verse 14. In fact, we'll go back and read verse 13 just again, so you can see that Jesus Christ is in the context. 1 Timothy 6, verse 13, Paul writes to Timothy and he says, "I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: which in

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• His times He shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen." Note, if you would, He is the blessed and only Potentate, King of kings and Lord of lords. I never will forget years ago. I was invited by a preacher brother to go to a gun show in Albany, Georgia. And we got into Albany, Georgia, you have the address. And I found out that the gun show was at the Shriner's Temple.

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• And I was walking up to the door, and here's this parking spot. And it says, "Reserved for the Potentate." I looked at my preacher friend, and I said, "Isn't that nice? They've reserved a parking place for Jesus Christ when He returns. He's the only Potentate that I know of." That's what the Bible says. He's the blessed and only Potentate. He's King of kings and Lord of lords and God of gods.

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• You have to consider His person. Do you think for one minute that Jesus Christ as Creator, as Controller, as Inheritor, as Lord of all, as King of kings and God of gods, do you think for one minute that He is going to fail? Moreover, I want you to look in your Bibles to Psalm 2. I want you to see what the Father told the Son. Look in Psalm 2, if you would please. This is an amazing Psalm. In Psalm 2, I love this passage. In Psalm 2, I love when He said in verse four, talking about the wicked, in fact, let's just read verse one. Let's start there. Watch this.

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• "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us." In other words, they don't like God's sovereign limitations that He places upon them. They said, "We're going to break our bands. We're going to do what we want to do.

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• We'll make our own law. We'll make our own rules. We'll show Him." Well, look in verse 4. "He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure." Look what He says, "Yet have I set My King"—that is Jesus Christ—"upon My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee." Watch verse 8, here's what the Father says to the Son, "Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession." Do you realize all Jesus Christ has to do is say, "Father, I want this." The Father said, "Just ask Me. I'll give it to You. I'll give You the heathen for Your possession. I'll give You the uttermost parts of the earth. Just ask and it's Yours." Well, of course, because He's the only begotten Son. He is God incarnate.

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• He is the God-man. He is the Creator. You have to consider His person. Secondly, you have to consider His position. Would you stop with me and think about His position? Jesus Christ is the resurrected, ascended, glorified King of kings and Lord of lords. He's seated at the right hand of the Father. I get so tickled in one sense of the word around Christmas time. Because everybody wants a nativity scene. Everybody wants little baby Jesus. You know why everybody goes stark raving crazy over nativity scenes and little baby Jesus's during that time of the year?

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• Well, let me ask you. Who's afraid of a baby? Who's afraid of a baby? Nobody. A lot of people will have necklaces with Christ on a cross. Who's afraid of a dead Christ? Nobody. But I tell you what you do. You begin to proclaim a resurrected, glorified, ascended, Lord of lords, God of gods, and King of kings. And people will gnash with their teeth against Him. They don't want that. Why? They can't control Him. You remember when Peter... Turn there. Let me show you. Turn to Acts chapter 2. Peter was preaching on the day of Pentecost. And this is really, really what got those people. I want you to look what he said in Acts chapter two. He's preaching. And the Bible says in verse, well, let's begin with verse thirty-four, Acts two, verse thirty-four.

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• "For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, until I make thy foes thy footstool. Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."

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• "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Now, go back. Verse 37, "Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said, Men and brethren, what shall we do?" When they heard what? Well, go back to verse 36, "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ."

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• In other words, here's the problem. Jesus Christ had been delivered into their hand, and if you'll read the book of Luke, the Bible says they did unto Him as they willed. What did they will? They mocked Him, they ridiculed Him, they crucified Him, they put Him to death.

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• Now, all of a sudden, Peter is preaching a resurrected, glorified Lord who is seated at the right hand of God. And they say, "Men and brethren, what are we going to do? He was in our hands, and look what we did to Him. Now He's resurrected and glorified. We're in His hands. What's He going to do to us?" You can't control a resurrected, glorified Lord. You might not be afraid of a little baby and you might not be afraid of a dead Christ, but Christ is not a baby and Christ is not dead. He came as the Lamb, but He's coming back as the Lion. He's the resurrected, glorified Son of God. Psalm 110, verse 1, "The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool."

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• That one verse is quoted over and over so many times in the New Testament. In Ephesians 1, verse 20, "Which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places." In Hebrews 1 and verse 8, "But unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of Thy kingdom." Yes. I want you to turn in your Bibles and look in the book of Zechariah, right before the book of Malachi, next to the last book in the Old Testament. We'll look in the book of Zechariah 9, if you would. Zechariah 9. And let's begin reading there with verse 9. Zechariah 9 and verse 9. Watch carefully. Zechariah 9 and verse 9.

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• The scripture says, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass." Read about that in Matthew. Read about it in Luke. But watch verse 10. "And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and He shall speak peace unto the heathen: and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth." Why? Because of His position.

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• He's seated at the right hand of God. Do you know what our Lord said in Matthew 28 and verse 18? "All power" or "all authority in heaven and in earth is given unto Me." He is the conqueror. He cannot fail but to conquer. He is the Son of God and He is seated at the throne of God. All power is in His hand. I want you to turn in your Bibles to Isaiah 53 if you would. Isaiah 53, because thirdly, I want you to consider with me His purchase. Our Lord, according to the Scripture, purchased a people. I want you to notice this in Isaiah 53, and I want you to see particularly what is said in light of His purchase. Isaiah 53, and let's begin reading there with verse 10. Isaiah 53. "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him." It pleased the Lord to bruise Him.

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• "He hath put Him to grief: when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin," now underline this, "He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities." Note, if you would please, in verse 10, the Bible says very plainly, very obviously, "He shall see His seed." And then in verse 11, "He shall see of the travail of His soul."

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• What does that tell you? It tells you all of those for whom our Lord died will be redeemed, will be purchased. They have been purchased. They will be saved. He will see the travail of His soul. And here's the astounding thing, the most amazing thing. The Bible says He shall see the travail of His soul and be satisfied. Can you imagine? Can you imagine for one instant? With all of your sin, with all of your wickedness, with all of your rebellion, with all of your ungodliness, yet in His grace and His mercy, He saved you. And when you're finally in His presence, He will be satisfied with you.

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• How can we satisfy the heart of God? But yet the scripture said, "He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied." You know, our Lord's prayers are always answered. He said in that high priestly prayer in John 17, verse one, "Father, I thank Thee." Now, here's me. Now, here's me always. But in His prayer request, in John 17, verse 24, He said this, "Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world." Father, I'm just asking for all those that You've given Me that they might be with Me.

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• Let me tell you something. I can assure you, based upon the person of Jesus Christ, based upon the position of Jesus Christ, and based upon the purchase of Jesus Christ, He shall see the travail of His soul and He shall be satisfied. Because He's King of kings and Lord of lords and God of gods, we can hang our hope not only on the promise of the Sovereign, but on the person of the Savior.

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• One last thing, I want you to turn to Isaiah 55. You're close there already. The third thing that we hang our hope on is the power of the Scriptures. Isaiah 55, let's read verses 8 through 11. Isaiah 55, verses 8 through 11. Watch carefully. God says in this passage, "For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.

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• For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall My word be that goeth forth out of My mouth: it shall not return unto Me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it." Wow! Wow. Do you realize that God's word is like Himself? It is invincible.

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• No one and nothing can stop it. God will always accomplish His will and His word will always prosper in that whereto He sends it. Politicians cannot contain it. Governments cannot destroy it. Persecution cannot hinder it. The wicked cannot succeed against it. Ignorance, apathy, and complacency cannot change it. Do you realize if every demon out of hell and every devil himself, even the devil himself, and every wicked man that has ever lived, is living and shall ever live, would unite in rebellion against God, it would not change God one bit. It would not move God one bit. It would not upset God one bit. Why? Because His Word is sure. And they could avail absolutely nothing. Nothing.

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• What did He say in Psalm 119, verse 89? "For ever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in heaven." What did our Lord say in Matthew 5, verse 18? He said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." The Word of God tells us in Psalm 138, verse 2, "For Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name." If God's Word ever fails, then God ceases to be God. His word cannot fail, because God is God. You know what He said in Psalm 46 and verse 10? Most of you can quote this verse, or at least part of it. You can quote the first part where God says, "Be still, and know that I am God." But the latter part says this, "I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth." What is He saying? There's going to come a time in history that I will be exalted among the heathen. I will be exalted in the earth.

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• In Malachi chapter 1 and verse 11, the Word of God says it like this. "For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same My name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto My name, and a pure offering: for My name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts." My name shall be great among the heathen. What do we have? We have the promises of God. Yes.

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• We have the person of the Savior, but we have the power of Scriptures. Let me tell you something. I want to encourage you, encourage you, just to use the Word of God. You never understand the power of God's Word until you see it applied by the Holy Spirit. Suppose I happen to be a soldier back in Vietnam. I was not in Vietnam, thankfully, but suppose I was.

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• And I had an AR-15 in my lap. And here comes a Viet Cong, or a group of them, and they look at me and they start laughing and pointing to that AR-15 and they say, "That is a piece of junk. That is the sorriest weapon ever produced by the United States of America. We're not the least bit afraid of that thing. It's the worst piece of machinery we've ever seen."

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• Now, I'm not going to stand up, hold this AR up and say, "Let me tell you something. This is mil-spec. This thing has been milled to the nth degree. It's been made by the finest armorers." I'm not going to do that. All I'm going to do is point it at them and press the trigger. They'll find out sooner enough whether it works or not, whether it's real or not. You don't have to just stand up and say, "I'm defending Scripture," right? No, no, no. You just quote it. God will use it. Because it's His word.

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• And no one can destroy it. So you've got to understand, you never back up, you never back down, you never sway away from the absolute power and authority and simplicity of the Word of God. It is indeed the power of God to everyone that believes. It is. What is my hope? I can look around and say, "We're in such deep trouble in this country," and we are. We can laugh about it, but we know we're in it up to our eyeballs.

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• And it's going to get worse. How can we hope that we can ever get out of this mess? By the promise of the Sovereign, the person of the Savior, and the power of Scripture. Here's my applications. The first one is this. How do we know that we're going to prevail? How do we know that we're ultimately going to prosper, overcome and dominate? I'm going to answer that for you. The only way you can know that is by the promise of the Sovereign, the person of the Savior and the power of Scripture.

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• It was the preaching of the Word of God under the influence and power of the Holy Ghost that brought to pass in this country the great personal, societal, governmental, and cultural changes in times past. It is the same preaching that will bring those exact changes today in our culture, in our society, in our government, and it has to be done by the Word of God and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Our hope is in God alone. I could say it like this, the Puritan hope is our hope. It is our hope because their hope was a biblical, Christ-honoring and God-exalting hope. And our God cannot fail. "I am the Lord,

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• I change not" (Malachi 3:6). If God ever fails, He ceases to be God. Because if He fails, He's not perfect. He's not omnipotent. He's not God. I got news for you. He said, "I'm the Lord. Beside Me, there is none else. I am God. I know not of any others." Our hope is bound up in our sovereign God, in our Savior, and in our Scriptures. We have the pure, unadulterated Word of God, and what we need is the power of God to apply it in our lives, and to give us the courage and the boldness to apply it and put it into practice, not just in our daily lives, but in our families, in our workplaces, in our

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• society, in our culture, in our government. Yes, there is victory in Jesus Christ, that's why in the Book of Revelation, He comes back on that great white horse and there was a crown given to Him and He went forth conquering. And He conquers all. And as Paul said in Romans 8 and verse 37, "Yea, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us." Don't give in. Don't give up. Don't back down. Stay the course. And stay faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ.

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• Father, in Thy name we bow to Thee this night. We thank You for Your love, for Your grace, for Your mercy, Your goodness and Your kindness. We thank You that there is indeed victory in Jesus Christ. He is God of gods, Lord of lords, and King of kings. He is the Sovereign. We bow before Him. We worship Him. We acknowledge Him. And we pray, Father, that You would enable us to apply Thy Word to our lives and give us victory in time and in history. In the name of Jesus Christ, we ask and pray. Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T02:09:52Z