From the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster we present Let the Bible Speak. It's good to have you join us today as we spend time around the Word of God, preaching Christ in all His fullness to men and women in all their need. With joy shall I lift up my head. In the ev'ry day, for ev'ry mountain, thy stars shall shine. the Savior appears, when ruin, danger, sins, and years know His glorious truth, the robe of Christ, is ever new. When from the dust of death I rise, ♪ My man should live this night ♪ ♪ In the age of this the old might be ♪ ♪ Jesus hath lived and died for me ♪ ♪ Hear thy voice ♪ ♪ Amid thy banished ones rejoice ♪ ♪ Their goodly days ♪ ♪ Their glorious rest ♪ ♪ Teach us the Lord ♪ ♪ Our righteous Lord ♪ I want to welcome each one along to this broadcast, and we trust and pray that the Lord will bless our time around His Word and the singing of the hymns as well. And we're going to bow together in prayer and look to the Lord just now. Our God and Father, we do bow in Thy holy presence, and we draw near in that worthy and precious and all-prevailing name of Thy dear Son, our Savior. We thank Thee for the one who was at ransom price of our redemption. who gave himself without spot and offered himself up as priest and sacrifice, and in his name we come to thee. And it is our prayer today that thou will draw near to us and grant us thy blessing. We pray that thou will minister to our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. Take of the things of thyself, we pray, and bless them this day, for we ask in Jesus' name. We're going to read the Word of God, the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 38, and we're going to read from verse 9 of this chapter. Isaiah chapter 38, and we're reading from verse 9. And the Word of God says, the writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he had been sick and was recovered of his sickness, I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave. I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living. I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent. I have cut off like a weaver my life. He will cut me off with pining sickness. From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. I reckon till morning that as a lion, so will he break all my bones. From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me. Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter. I did mourn, as a dove, my nice field with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed. Undertake for me. What shall I say? He hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it. I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul. O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit. So wilt thou recover me and make me to live. Behold, for peace I had great bitterness, but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption that has cast all my sins behind thy back. For the grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee, They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day. The father to the children shall make known thy truth. The Lord was ready to save me. Therefore, we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. May the Lord bless the reading of his word. to all of our hearts for His name's sake." We're going to have another hymn just now. It's entitled, There is a Fountain Filled with Blood, Drawn from Emmanuel's Veins, and Sinners Plunge Beneath That Flood, Lose All Their Guilty Stains. I do believe, I do believe that Jesus died for me. And on that cross he shed his blood from sin to save. It's a joy to see that Martinique is free, and we're alive. There sits my faith, my soul, the spring, my flowing words of life. Redeeming love has been my king, and shall be eternal. believe that Jesus died for me, that on the cross he shed his blood, from sin to set me free. Then in an older, sweeter song I'll sing my heart to you. I want to turn your thoughts to the opening words of verse 20 of this portion of Scripture that we have just read from. And those words say, the Lord was ready to save me. The Lord was ready to save me." This portion of Scripture that we have read can rightly be entitled Hezekiah's testimony. They're the words of the king after he had marvelously recovered from his sickness. And we're told here at the beginning of the reading that he wanted to write this down evidently for posterity's sake. not only for those who were around about him at that particular time, but also for others who would also read and marvel at what the Lord had done for him. And therefore, it begins in verse 9, the writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he had been sick and was recovered of his sickness. So after he had recovered, and around the same time, the Assyrians had invaded the land, and they were besieging Jerusalem. And there were all of these trials and troubles that had come upon King Hezekiah. But the Lord had miraculously spared his life. And as we know, not only spared his life, but added on 15 years to his life as well. And as King Hezekiah considers what the Lord has done for him, he utters these words through this portion of Scripture, right down to this concluding verse that we have read, verse 20. And at the very end, he makes this statement, the Lord was ready to save him. The Lord was ready to save him. The Lord was ready to intervene and to deliver the king. The message had been brought by Isaiah the prophet to the king that he was going to die and that he needed to set his house in order, but he had cried unto the Lord and the Lord was there ready to answer prayer and did answer prayer and did even more than that by adding on those 15 years to his life. I want us to consider this statement for a little while. And these words have a reference to each one of us also. The Lord was ready to save me, because you and I need to be saved. Not saved from some physical sickness, but saved from a spiritual sickness, the sickness of sin. We all suffer from the consequences of sin. We too are facing death, even as Hezekiah faced death. The sentence of death has been pronounced upon us. All that waits is the execution of that sentence. The Bible tells us we're all under condemnation. But how glorious are these words that are found in this portion of Scripture, the Lord was ready to save me. The Lord is ready to save this very moment. And that certainly is our prayer that if you do not know Christ in a saving way, that you will come to that experience of salvation. Even as you listen to this broadcast and the Word of God going forth at this time, that the Lord might so speak to you that you would cry unto Him and that you would come to know that experience of salvation and then be able to have a testimony like King Hezekiah had, that the Lord was ready to save. And thinking about this text or this phrase, I want us to consider three simple truths. First of all, I want you to consider that the Lord is able to save. The Lord is able to save. That He has proved beyond no shadow of a doubt when you think of Hezekiah's life. Here's a man who was spared from an early grave. He was a young man when he came to the throne, and he reigned 29 years. He was 25 when he came to the throne and reigned 29 years. So ultimately when he did die, he was 54. So take off those 15 years. He was a young man when he was told that he was going to die and not live. And yet the Lord graciously intervened and spared this man from an early grave. And also the Lord had the power to add on the 15 years onto his life. And that is a reminder to us all that the power of life and death is in the Lord's hand. The very individual here of whom it is said He's ready to save is also the individual who has the power of life and death in His hand. All things are subject to Him, even death and hell also. Remember what John, the apostle John, heard when he was on the Isle of Patmos, and there was that voice that spoke unto him, and it says in Revelation 1, verse 18, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and of death. The Lord has the keys of hell and of death. He is the one who controls. If you have the key, you can open the lock. You can open the door. If you do not have the key, then the door is closed and locked and you will not be able to either open it or enter in through it or exit out through it either. But the Lord has the keys of death and hell. He's the one who's in control even of these things. He's the one who is then able to save sinners from going down to a lost eternity. The Bible describes him as the one who's mighty to save. You find that elsewhere here in the prophecy of Isaiah chapter 63 and verse 1. There's that wonderful description of the coming Messiah. Who is this that cometh up from Edom, with garments dyed from Bozrah? This that is glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength. I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. That's His own description of Himself. The question is asked there in chapter 63, verse 1, who is this that is coming all glorious in His apparel, traveling in the greatness of His strength? And then the Lord Himself answers. And of all the answers that He could give, one of those refers to His power to save. So we can indeed declare today the Lord is able to save. And when we read these words of Isaiah, the Lord was ready to save me. He was indeed ready to save because He was able to save. He's able to save. He's able to save the sinner this very moment, this very hour. The Lord is still able to save. He has lost none of His ancient power. He is the one alone who can save, and He still is able to save. Not only is He able to save, but He's able to keep also. He keeps those whom He saves. We are reminded of that in Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 25, wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them. He's able to save to the uttermost. And the thought there is that to the very end, He's able not only to save now and to deliver a sinner from their sins and bring them into that experience of salvation, but He's able to save to the uttermost, right to the very end, He will keep. He will never give up any whom He saves. He will never forsake them. He will never forget them. He will never disown them. Oh, He's able to save today. All power is His to defeat that most powerful of foes. The Bible describes death as the very last enemy, but it describes that last great enemy as being defeated in 1 Corinthians 15, because there's one who has power to save not only from physical death as in the case of Hezekiah and add years on to his life, but he's able to save your soul and my soul from going down to eternal death. And you can look today to the Lord as one who's able to save and who's ready to save. I trust that you might know that indeed to be the case. The Lord is able to save. There's no one else who's able. You cannot look to anyone else. We have to forsake hope in anything else and anyone else. Look alone to Jesus Christ who is able to save. The second thing I want you to consider here with this statement that Hezekiah made, the Lord was ready to save me, is that the Lord is willing to save. Again, this is illustrated in the life of Hezekiah because we read that Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord. We can go back to the beginning of this chapter, Isaiah 38, and you will read there about his prayer. It says in verse 2, Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed unto the Lord and said, remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee. And the Lord heard his cry. In fact, we are told that the prophet Isaiah hadn't even got out of the precincts of the royal palace before the Lord told him to return back into Hezekiah's presence and tell him that God indeed had heard his prayer. Verse 5, "'Go and say to Hezekiah, thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer.'" There is one who's able to save and who's willing to save. He was willing to save Hezekiah from an early grave. On this very day we can say the Lord is ready to save and He's willing to save your soul and my soul. There's no reluctance on His part to save. He's one who delights in showing mercy and saving sinners. It is His good pleasure to do so. He has not dealt with humanity as He dealt with the angels that sinned. They were left to perish. There was no salvation for them. They were in chains awaiting eternal judgment. But the Lord has purposed to save among humanity. He's willing to save today. He came into the world to save. Is that not proof of His willingness? That He would leave the splendor of heaven that He would veil that inherent glory that was in Him as a second person of the Godhead, that He would take into union with Himself our nature? Is all this not evidence that the Lord indeed is willing to save? Why would He come from heaven if He was not willing to save? Why would He go to the cross if He was not willing to save? There's those words that are attributed to the Messiah in Psalm 40 and verse 8, I delight to do thy will. Oh my God. He delights to do His Father's will. It is His Father's will to save sinners. And the Savior is one who is willing. And we are never to doubt His ability, nor are we ever to doubt His willingness. He came from heaven to save. He lived and died in this world that He might save. He was in this world. He underwent all the miseries of this life. Even death itself He gave Himself as a ransom for the many, all with the purpose of saving. Oh, why? Why will we perish? It's not that there's no salvation. It's not that there's no Savior willing to save. For as we think of what happened in Hezekiah's life in this statement that is made, the Lord is able to save. And He's willing to save also. One final thought I want you to think upon, and that is that the Lord is near to save. He's near to save. That truth is brought home to us in the Scriptures about the Lord being near. At hand, you particularly have it in Romans chapter 10, and in verse 6, 7, 8, and 9 of that chapter, it says, but the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this way, say not in thine heart who shall ascend into heaven, that is, to bring Christ down from above, nor who shall descend into the deep, that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead, but what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith that we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. So the argument that Paul is making there is that Christ is a Savior who is near. He's not in heaven that you have to bring Him down. He has already come from heaven. He's not away somewhere in the dark parts of the earth that you cannot reach Him and cannot access Him. No, He's near. He's near today in the preaching of the Word of God. Therefore, He's near this very moment. As you're listening to the sound of my voice, and God's Word is going forth, then the Word of God is indeed nigh unto thee. There is a Savior who's coming nigh in the preaching of the gospel whenever and wherever it is preached at any given time. When the gospel is preached, the Lord is drawing near at that particular moment. That's an opportunity to be saved. That's an opportunity then to be saved. When the Lord is drawing near and seeking out souls through the preaching of the Word of God, Just like the shepherd in the parable who left the ninety and nine in the fold and went out onto the mountain to search for that one lost sheep, so Christ searches for lost sheep that he might save them. And if you have never had an experience of God's salvation, then you're a lost sheep and you need saved. You need rescued. But the Lord is near. Hezekiah could testify that. Oh, the Lord was so near. and came to Him and did wondrous things for Him, you can have a similar testimony. He invites you to come. There's a welcome for sinners at the cross. How often does that word, come, not appear in the Scriptures, particularly in the spoken words of the Lord Jesus? Come unto me, He said, all ye that labor under heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Come, for all things are now ready. He invites sinners to come to Him. That's why He's able and willing and near to save. May you call upon Him. As it tells us there in Romans 10 verse 13 this time, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And that is all that you need to do is just to call. Just to call upon Him. Do just what Hezekiah did. We've noticed there in Isaiah 38 how Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed unto the Lord. He called unto the Lord. My friend, that's all you need to do in order to be saved. The Lord is ready to save you. He's ready now to save you. And if you call, the assurance of Scripture is but He will save you. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And therefore may you call. Call this very moment. You don't need to do anything else other than turn to the Lord and call upon Him. Acknowledge your need of Him and call upon Him to save your soul. And then you can have a testimony like Hezekiah did, the Lord was ready to save me. May that be your testimony. May the Lord bless His Word. We're going to bow together in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee for the opportunity of spending a little time around the Word of God. And we pray, Lord, that Thou will bless Thy truth that has gone forth. Write Thy Word upon each heart. May this truth be established there, written with a point of a diamond. The Lord is ready to save me. And may there be someone who will come to that experience of God's salvation. So grant thy blessing, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for spending some time with us today around the Word of God. For further information, visit our website at ltbs.tv. We look forward to joining with you next time as we seek to let the Bible speak once again.