9 and 10 of Isaiah 54. For this is, as the waters of Noah unto me, For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, Seth the Lord that hath mercy on thee. Beloved in our Lord Jesus Christ, we saw last week in our preparatory sermon that the wrath of God against sin is terrible. It is great. During this week of examination, we see that likewise our sins, whether it be actual deeds that we commit, whether it be thoughts that we think, desires in our heart, they too are great. How great is God's wrath, and yet we saw last week that it is but for a moment. And what is the reason for that, that God's wrath on us is but for a moment? And the reason is God's everlasting love. He loved us from eternity. He gave us to Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ suffered in our place as our substitute he bore the wrath of God the curse of God in our place what an infinite wrath that was and what is the reason for what is the basis for that kindness for that love of God what is the reason or the basis for that love of God And beloved, our text says it is God alone. It is God alone. The church's security, the church's future, the church's salvation lies in the unshakable faithfulness of her Lord, Jehovah. so that we, after this examination this past week, looking at all of our sins, we are able to come to the table of our Lord Jesus Christ with confidence, with the assurance that our sins are gone and the Lord will receive us as guests at his table. So that's my theme, Zion's confidence and assurance of salvation. Notice with me in the first place the ground for that confidence, God's covenant of peace, and thirdly, it is realized in Jesus Christ. The ground for our confidence and our assurance of salvation is God. And verse 9 says that God swears an oath. That's an amazing thing. God is true. He never lies. We sometimes need to swear an oath because there are lies in our life. There is so much falsehood. How can someone in the court really believe us when we speak? And we swear then by the living God that we are bringing the truth. Why does God swear an oath? And the answer is because of our weakness. He wants us to be doubly assured, fully assured that his word is true. That he will not deal with us as we deserve, but rather he will have his wrath as very momentary, and he will deal with us in his love and in his mercy. And so there is a comparison, isn't there? God says here, as for me, this is true for me, as I swore an oath to Noah, the waters would not cover the whole earth again and destroy everything so also I swear an oath I would not be wroth with thee nor rebuke thee compared then is God's wrath over sin to the deluge to the flood momentary momentary how important that was to Noah for his confidence as he and his family started living on the earth again that God had sworn an oath and he had given him a sign in the heavens did you see did you see that beautiful rainbow in the sky this past Thursday after the rains that rainbow a symbol to remind us of God's oath that he would not again in his wrath cover the whole earth with a flood. How important that was for dear old Saint Noah at that time. For you'll remember before the flood there was never a rain. There was dew that would descend from heaven and water the earth, but that is the first time it rained, and without that oath of God. Don't you think that Noah and his family would have been terribly frightened any time all of a sudden the skies got dark and the raindrops started falling down? Oh no, oh no, is this another flood? The boys and girls, Noah and his sons and their wives could look up at the sky They saw the rainbow, they had the oath of God before them, I will not again destroy the whole earth with a flood. And with confidence then enjoy the different momentary reigns that they would have to refresh the earth. Well that is the comparison here. Terrible wrath is coming upon Zion. Isaiah is predicting it. Because of her sin, it's going to be such a terrible wrath that it's like the outpouring of a flood. She is going to be carried away over to Babylon. And what's gonna happen there? The people, mostly all taken away, no kingdom any longer, no king on the throne, no civil government, very hard bondage down there in Babylon. It is as if their name was extinguished, how the church should tremble. That is the remnant, the remnant that is left. What will happen to us? What will happen to our name? What will happen to God's promise that Abraham would be a blessing to all nations and there would be a multitude of nations saved in him? Well, the Lord is now making an oath before it takes place. And he's really saying, yes, it's going to be a terrible wrath The outpouring of the wrath is going to be like the deluge, but it will be for a moment, 70 years, and I will remember my word. I will have kindness. I will have mercy. I will receive you back again into your own land. and you will again have that king to rule over you, the son of David, namely Jesus Christ. As we read in Isaiah 1, verse 9, except, except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom and we should have been like as Gomorrah. Sodom and Gomorrah were visited by God's wrath and they were no more, never again. Destroyed, wiped out. But with God's people being punished or chastised for their sins, it's not going to be like Sodom and Gomorrah. By grace, he has a remnant and he is true to that remnant. He is good to that remnant. And the wrath that is coming is not so much a catastrophe, but rather a wonderful deliverance. You say, how do you say that? When we were at the Creation Museum a couple weeks back, there was the scene of the flood, and underneath it, at that Creation Museum, they called it catastrophe. I scratched my head and I said, no, it's not catastrophe. but rather it was deliverance. It was deliverance of Noah and his sons from the evil generation of that day. What is the Babylonian captivity all about? Yes, God's wrath, but it was a deliverance where the remnant are delivered from the many wicked in Israel who prefer to keep on sinning. And it is a small remnant, wasn't it? How many finally come back from Babylon willingly when they are allowed to by Cyrus, and the number is very small, isn't it? Only some 49,000 souls return. Judah will not be extinguished. The church will not come to an end. But, as God swore in the days of Noah to Noah, So God swears an oath to his church. Never, never will he extinguish her in his wrath. Then God comes again to the prophet Isaiah. And he says, I want you to have another view. Now instead of the rainbow, I want you to look at the hills and the mountain. We sing as the hills are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people. What do we see as human beings when we look at mountains and at hills? What we see is permanence, don't we? Permanence. They're not like the sand dunes that keep on shifting and moving and leveling, but the mountains and the hills are rather permanent. There they stand. And God is saying, even more permanent than mountains and hills is my loving kindness. We read, for the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. How wonderful that is. Yes, the Lord Jesus in Matthew 24, verse 35 does say, heaven and earth shall pass away. That's going to be God's judgment on this sinful world at the end of days, in the day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven and earth shall pass away. But my words shall not pass away. We can take here these promises, this oath of God with us as our staff through life. I will not always be wrathful. It's only gonna be for a moment to chastise, to correct. But my loving kindness will know no end, not at all. Israel's security, Israel's existence lies in that unshakable faithfulness of her God, the covenant God, Jehovah. It's not standing upon her own goodness, her own ability to live a Christian life, just as our security does not lie in our obedience in the works that we have done, or the feelings even that we might have. Your and my security, your and my assurance of salvation lies only in God. and his unshakable faithfulness. What joy that brings to us as we've examined ourselves and we've seen our sin. The mountains and the hills might be removed and they will be at the very end of time. But God says, my kindness shall not depart from thee, and now especially this phrase, and neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed. That phrase, that covenant of peace, is a phrase that is found twice in the prophecy of Ezekiel. But the very first time we find that phrase, covenant of peace, is in Numbers, the book of Numbers, where you have Phinehas, the grandson of Aaron, is moved by anger for the holiness of God. It's the time of Balaam And it is a time of the Moabites. You'll remember that false prophet told the Moabites, you want God to curse this people? I can't do it myself, but you want God to curse this people? Intermingle with them. Enter into their homes. And so there was an Israelite who took a Moabitess right into the camp of Israel. They were supposed to remain separate, not to have anything to do with the wicked. And Phinehas then, the grandson of Aaron, takes his spear and he runs it through that man and that woman, showing God's fierce wrath for that sin. And because of that action, God comes with Moses and tells him that he makes a covenant of peace with him. Now what does that mean? That covenant of peace then for Phinehas was that his family would have the eternal priesthood in Israel as long as they remained a nation. There as priests they would serve the Lord and as priests they would be able to bring the blessings of God to his people. So what is this covenant of peace? God's word is here, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed. That covenant of peace, other names for it is the covenant of grace or the covenant of redemption. It is that peace, it is that relationship between God and His people where God is their friend and we are made friends of God. It's a relationship of love, of mercy and kindness. God is at peace. God is at harmony with his people. What a wonderful thing. My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed. God. How we love to sing it. How we love to speak of it. how we love to bring that good news to the world that we live in. God is good, God is kind, God is merciful, God removes sin so that there is reconciliation. You and I who were once estranged are brought near. We walk with God, we talk with God, and he walks with us and he talks with us. That covenant of peace is brought about because that is the very life of God himself, isn't it? The triune God living together in peace and harmony. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The three of them busy in creation. The three of them busy in God's providence. The three of them busy in redemption. Harmony, friendship. And now that life that is in God himself, he is willing to reveal outside of himself to a people. To Israel, his chosen nation. to the church, which is the new Israel. We read that that covenant of peace will not be removed. That means it will not be taken away. It will not waver. There will be no lack of security for God's people for that relationship that He establishes with His people He keeps. It cannot waver at all. It's firm. It will not be broken. It will not be ruined. It will not depart. My covenant of peace, God's word says, shall not be removed. And when we read that negative, The covenant of my peace will not be removed. What is implied is the positive, isn't it? And the positive is this. God's covenant stands eternally firm, immutable, unshakable. God's kindness toward his own will not totter. It will not slip away. It will not be shaken. but rather His love is going to surround us. It's going to envelop us. It's gonna completely pick us up and care for us. Boys and girls, there is a picture in Scripture of the mother hen who with her wings covers her little chicks in the storms. Well, that's the promise to us. Our God covers us with His covenant, with His presence. so that yes, yes there will be trials and difficulties, yes at times we will experience still God's wrath in our lives, wrath against our sinful flesh, we will have trials and troubles in our life, but never, never will He take away His love for us. We see that especially on the cross, don't we? There the wrath of God was poured out on His Son in our stead. But the whole time that Jesus hung there, the Father would say of His Son, I am well pleased in Him. I delight in Him. So with us. How can we know that? As if the oath is not enough. Notice how just as verse eight ends with those words, so also verse 10. Suff Jehovah that hath mercy on thee. This is not Aud Sprintzma saying this, this is not just well-intentioned folks saying this, but your God, our God, comes to us and he says, yes, Yes, I will be wrathful at times for a moment because of your sins to correct you, to chastise you, but it will not last. I will not be angry ever, forever, but rather my kindness, my mercy will smother you, will hold you. That covenant of peace, where we are made one with the Lord, sins are gotten out of the way, is unconditional. And that's the blessing that we have in our reformed doctrine, isn't it, that arises out of the scriptures. There are many that look at the covenant And they say, yes, yes, on God's part, His love and His kindness and His mercy are everlasting. There's no problem with God. His part in the relationship is unshakable. But they say, our part in the covenant are fulfilling the conditions of the covenant of faith and obedience can be shaken, can totter, can be broken. And yes, they say it is possible for a child of God, a true child of God, to break God's covenant. That is a lie, beloved. The relationship that God forms with his people is an unbreakable bond. Those whom he marries to Jesus Christ are never tossed aside. We hold to an unconditional covenant where it is completely God's work. There's not conditions that we have to do in order for that covenant to be realized. How sad I would be and you ought to be if it depended upon our faith or our obedience even for a moment. But our assurance, our confidence, our salvation rests in the God of our salvation alone who is in his relationship to us unshakable. It doesn't waver. His mercies are new every morning. Jeremiah writes, great is thy faithfulness. And it is out of that covenant of peace then that all the blessings flow to us. The forgiveness of our sins, our adoption as children of God, the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, our hope of everlasting life secure in God. How? Because it's realized in Jesus Christ. Remember, we're talking about the covenant of peace. How does that covenant of peace come to you and to me, sinners? And that's where the place of Isaiah 54 is very important. It follows Isaiah 53, the righteous servant of Jehovah. We read in Isaiah 53, verse 5, if you have your Bibles open, but He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes we are healed. Do you see it? God is a righteous God. Sin must be punished. Sin must be punished completely. and our sins were punished completely on him who stood in our place, the suffering servant of Jehovah, Jesus Christ. And those who do not stand in Jesus Christ, those who do not believe in Jesus Christ, they will experience that wrath of God for sin all of their life and into eternity. But that wrath is turned away, aside for us who believe in the Christ, who are his children. And we receive comfort. We receive hope. Isaiah 53, verse 10. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief, when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. He, that is Jesus, will see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. It's in Jesus Christ. The chastisement of our peace, the chastisement that makes our peace possible. was the chastisement that he laid on his own son in our place. And that is what we remember this morning as we come to the Lord's table, isn't it? His body broken. His blood poured out. So that all of our sins are blotted out. And we have peace, reconciliation. We're guests at Jesus' table. He loves us. And oh, that beautiful oath. His kindness will endure, will stand forever. Even when we're wayward. Forgives our past sins and will forgive our future sins. our salvation is secure in Jesus Christ alone. Amen. Let's turn in our Psalters to page 91.