so Good morning. Welcome again to Bethany Associate Reform Presbyterian Church as we gather together to worship the Lord our God on this blessed Sabbath morning. And as we come together today, just a few announcements. The psalm singing, of course, for tonight has been postponed. We'll announce a new date for that in short order. But if you know of particular Sundays that work better for y'all, please let me know as we think about that. Also, today at 3.30, There'll be a little gathering here at the church. And so if you want to come and play board games and just hang out, enjoy the running water and the electricity and all that, we invite you to come. Again, that'll be today at 3.30. So if you're interested in that, and if you have any questions about that, just let me know. Also, as you see in your bulletin, Bethany Banner for October is available. It's on all four of the lecterns, so pick up a copy of that today. Also, the Ladies Circle will meet next Sunday at 4 o'clock. And also, just as a reminder, the WOC meeting in October is not going to be the third Sunday, but it'll be the second Sunday. So just kind of note that change to the calendar. Also, next Sunday, October 6, we'll be celebrating the Lord's Supper in morning service. So please spend time this week preparing to be at the table that Christ has provided for sinners. And as we do that, again, if you have any questions or need help in preparation, please feel free to let me or an elder know. Also, we are in need of a teacher for fours and fives for Sabbath school on Sunday morning. So if you're interested in that, just let us know. As of right now, our plans are to have Wednesday night service this week. So we'll have Wednesday night at 630. And again, just keep an eye out for that. But our plans will be to have Wednesday night this week, again at 630. So we invite everybody out for that. Just take a look at all of the other announcements in the bulletin this afternoon. And as we prepare to worship the Lord our God, let us do so now through a moment of silent prayer. Amen. Again, as we come to worship the Lord our God, our call to worship this morning comes to us in the fourth chapter of the book of Hebrews. So I invite you to turn there in your confidence in God's word, again to Hebrews chapter four, and we're gonna be reading verses 14 through 16, as the Lord our God calls us into his presence on this blessed Sabbath morning. Again, Hebrews chapter four, beginning there at verse 14. Hear the word of the Lord. Seeing then that we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Amen. Thanks be to God for the reading of His holy and His perfect word. And as we witness again to this faith, this confession that we have as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, I invite you to stand as we come to sing our opening hymn, hymn number 629 from the Red Trinity Hymnal. Let us stand, let us sing together, and let us rejoice in the name of Jesus Christ. Oh, what we miss. take it Amen. As we do come to testify to the fact that we have a friend in our Lord Jesus Christ, the one who has laid down his life for us, the one who has suffered greatly, that we might rejoice in the heavenly blessings that he provides for his covenant people. We come now before the Lord our God as we come to him in prayer. Let us pray. Gracious heavenly Father, we give thanks again for the goodness of your grace and for the blessedness of your love. And to God, as you do give us opportunity to bring our cares before you. God, we testify, first of all, that we are weak and heavy laden, that there is much on our hearts, much on our souls, much on our minds. But to God, we know that you are more than capable of carrying those concerns. For to God, you have witnessed to us from the very beginning of creation, that God, you are always present with your covenant people. You heard our cries in the wilderness. You heard our cries in Egypt. You heard our cries in Babylon to God. You hear them this morning. Dear God, as we raise up our faith unto the heavens, as we rejoice in your covenant truth, dear God, may you strengthen us for battle. May you prepare us for the war that's before us. Dear God, most of all, may you cause us to rest in your witness and your truth, both this day and forevermore. We come now to say the words which the Son taught his disciples to say, praying. Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. And as we come down to our scripture lesson this morning, I invite you to turn your copies of God's word to the 20th chapter of the gospel of John. Now, as we continue to work through the gospel of John, we are entering here into the time of the great testimony of the resurrection of our Savior. So let us go here to John 20, beginning at verse one. Let us read through the 10th verse. Hear the word of the Lord. Now the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb earlier while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him. Peter therefore went out, and the other disciples were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he stooped down and looked in, saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went to the tomb, and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who came to the tomb first went in also, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the scripture that he must rise again from the dead. The disciples went away again to their own homes. Amen. Thanks be to God for the reading of His holy and His perfect word. And as we reflect upon the glories of the resurrection, what can we do but stand and sing of the glory of our God as we turn to our Bible song, wholehearted praise, number 288. Again, let us stand and sing together the blessedness of our praise. shall be when I shall sing Again, it is well spoken that we sing those words in this day and age, that our kings might honor the Lord, our God, and that we ourselves might pray that this may come to pass. And so in light of that, let us now be seated as we come before the Lord, our God, as we bring particular prayers before our heavenly Father. Now, as you'll remember, last Lord's Day, after the outreach we did for the JCs, we took up a number of prayer requests from those that we met on that day. That board is still up here. And so if you didn't get a chance last week, again, make sure to pick out a name or pick out somebody to be praying for. And again, as we enter into this time of prayer and a pastoral prayer, this will be an excellent time. to think on the needs that had been brought to our attention. So as we prepare to come before the Lord, let us do so now as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, dear God, as we come together as brothers and sisters in Christ, as we come as those who rest on the glory of your name, those who of all days are most appreciative for all the blessings of this life, as we think again of your comforting grace, especially dear God, as we have seen the power of this earth. As we have seen the realities of the fallen world in which we live, that there will be wars and rumors of wars, that there will be earthquakes and yes, even hurricanes which come upon us. Dear God, as we are humbled yet again to be in your presence, dear God, we do rejoice that you have given us this time and this place that we might be with our brothers and our sisters, that we might lift one another up in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, that we might be renewed by the testimony of the Holy Spirit. That, dear God, no matter the outward difficulties of this life, no matter the sufferings that we undertake and are brought upon us by this fallen world, dear God, we know that no scheme of the evil one, no attempt of this sinful place to drive us away from the Lord Jesus will ever succeed. And dear God, as you provide us again this house, as you give us this blessed group of brothers and sisters, that we might bear one another's burdens. Dear God, we do give thanks again for the witness of this church. We give thanks for the opportunities you provided to lean upon one another, to serve one another. And dear God, as the days move forward, dear God, we pray for opportunities that we might serve our neighbors, We might serve those in our neighborhood, that we might show forth the love of Christ in and through these deeds. But God, we do pray, especially this morning, for those who have been dealt quite a heavy hand. God, we think of our brothers and sisters, not only in the Western North Carolina mountains, but down in Greenville and in Greenwood and due West and other places, dear God. who have faced quite a catastrophe in the last several days. We pray for the opportunities again to witness grace in these moments. We pray for those who are undergoing difficulty to God that they might especially know your presence, that they might be reminded that you are the one true and living God. We pray for those who are making decisions, those who are needing to lead at this time. We pray that you would give them courage, that you would give them understanding and wisdom. But God, we especially pray, especially for those near unto us who are out and about doing the labors to fix not just power, but other matters. We pray for their protection and we pray for their standing. God, that you might be with them in these days. But to God, we especially pray also in your mercy for those who are of our own denomination, who have lost homes, who have lost even family members. To God, we lift them up to your presence. To God, as we pray for all of those in the path of this story. But to God, we also give thanks again for the outpouring of prayer that we have received from our brothers and sisters in Christ gathered throughout the world. We especially give thanks for our brothers in the ARP Senate of Mexico, who have already sent not only financial blessings, but have sent forth prayers for us. We rejoice at the united work of Jesus Christ that brings us together from every nation and every tongue under heaven, that we might be strong in the face. Dear God, we do pray for your continued outpourings of love as we see the work of the gospel go forth. We pray for the efforts of our missionary brothers and sisters, especially in Rwanda and elsewhere. We pray for these labors, dear God, that we might see again the kingdoms fall and see them rise in the lordship of Jesus Christ. And dear God, as we think especially of that this morning, we do pray for our own nation as we enter into this season of elections. We pray to God that as you provide for us again, these witnesses, not only to your judgment, dear God, but as we see again the future before us. Dear God, we do pray for those in authority over us that you would grant them your presence, that they might know you, not merely as those who are under your authority. But dear God, we especially pray for those above us who know not your name. We pray for their conversion. We pray that they would come to know Christ as Lord and Savior, that they would serve you not as sirens, but would serve you as Nebuchadnezzar after his conversion. We pray, dear God, that you would, again, relieve us from the judgment that we most surely deserve. But, dear God, we recognize, again, our own wickedness, not only as a nation, but as a people. And so to God, we pray in your mercy that you would forgive us of our many sins. To God, we pray that you would open our own eyes to see our weakness, to see where it is we fall short of your glory. To God, that we might serve you greater and serve you better each and every day. And that as we pray these prayers, we would not pray them as hypocrites, but we might pray them in humble reliance on your grace. And dear God, as we do think again about our own walk with Christ, dear God, we pray for our daily prayers. Dear God, we pray for those small things in our lives that are keeping us from enjoying more fully your presence. And we pray, dear God, that you would help us to remove the idols of our lives. God, renew us in faith, renew us in strength, renew us in love for Jesus Christ. Dear God, as we go out from this place, even this morning, to serve you, may we serve you well. May we serve you in hope, may we serve you in peace, may we serve you in mercy, both this day and forevermore. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, I invite you to stand for the reading of God's word this morning as it comes to us from Isaiah 65, verses 24 and 25. Let us stand for the reading of God's word. You can hear the word of the Lord. Isaiah 64, or 65, beginning at verse 24 through 25. It shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer. While they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord. Amen. Let us pray. Gracious heavenly Father, as you give us these words on this day by your providence, we do pray in your gracious love that you will apply these words to our hearts. Dear God, send your Holy Spirit, not only to convict us, but to comfort us and remind us of the blessings of being your servants. And in Jesus name we pray, amen. Please be seated. You know, last week in the sermon, we read verses 17 through 23. And in that section of Isaiah 65, the prophet introduced us to this whole concept of the new heavens and the new earth. Now, I'm not gonna get wholly into that again, but just as a word of reminder, we understand that the new heavens and new earth are not immediately in the future. In other words, we are not waiting for the new heavens and new earth. We believe, at least I believe, and I hope you believe too, that the new heavens and new earth we are already experiencing in many ways. Because the promise that is contained in the New Heavens, New Earth is that Jesus Christ is King. The promise in the New Heavens, New Earth is that God is making all things new, including the heavens and the earth. One of the things we believe is that Jesus Christ, as he rose from the dead, as he ascended into heaven, sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty. And we believe that Jesus Christ is an active king. He is not a king that is off in a far country waiting to hear about his colonies. He is engaged daily in the warfare of a military king. One of the things that we unfortunately have witnessed in the past couple hundred years is that our kings don't lead from the front like kings did in days of old. Our kings today lead from Washington, D.C. behind a comfortable desk in air conditioning while we do all the fighting. You know, I'm not going to quote it verbatim because it probably wouldn't be appropriate, but there was a song that came out in the 1970s about the war pigs. This idea that in today's age, men and women increasingly are unwilling to witness to the fact that Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And it's not just in the fact that they refuse to physically lead the wars that they make, but they relinquish all control and all ideas of that which is good and right to the devil. I think it's probably not too terribly out of line to say that we live in a nation that is run by those who worship the devil. Now, they might not literally hold seances and have, you know, astronaut polls in their office, but as we learned in Sabbath school this morning, there are only two options on earth. You either are a servant of the living God or you are a servant of Baal. And the biggest difference between God and Baal, as we learned in Sabbath school, is that one is real and one is not. The Lord our God alone is the creator of heaven and earth. And of course, as Isaiah has prophesied, he alone is going to bring the new heavens and new earth to bear. And as he's bringing the new heavens and new earth to bear, we are going to see a difference in how Christians live versus how pagans live. Now, in the passages before us today, we see that one of the ways this is shown forth is that the wolf and the lamb shall feed together. Now, when we hear that, we need to ask a couple of questions. We need to think through exactly why Isaiah has chosen these images for us to consider again, the change that has taken place now that Christ is king over heaven and earth. What is a wolf? Literally, right, a wolf is an animal who preys on other animals. One of the biggest things that shocked me as a little kid was that I had this idea that wolves were just like big dogs. But if you've ever seen a wolf in person, they're not just big dogs. They are massive in size. The idea that you could, one, run from a wolf or hide from a wolf is just silliness. Now, the other problem with a wolf is there's never just one wolf. Back during the Second World War, right, what did they call the gangs of U-boats that went all over the Atlantic Ocean destroying Allied shipping? They called them wolf packs. And why is that? Because wolves don't act alone. Wolves are always engaged with a pack, with a group, and the goal is to cause as much destruction as possible, to kill as many as they can get their hands on. And so when we see this image here in Isaiah 65, that the wolves are gonna lay down with the lambs, There is something even more profound than simply the idea that the predator is going to be friends with the prey. Because again, you think of the Bible, you think of the image, right? We hear wolves, we think predators, we think destroyers, we think of Satan, we think of evil men, we think of those whose only goal in life is to cause problems amongst the people of God. And of course, that's what the sheep are, right? The lambs. Whenever we see lamb used in the Bible, especially in this way, we are meant to think of the faithful believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are the ones in view here who are laying down with the wolves. The faithful believers in Jesus Christ are the ones who are pictured, and they're laying down with wolves. Now, again, if the New Heavens and Earth are happening now, right, if we believe that Jesus Christ is king and that he is causing the whole world to come under his dominion, as we're gonna sing about here in a minute, then what does this mean then for the lambs? It means those who used to persecute you, those who used to seek your destruction, will no longer be your enemies, but they will be your friends. Now for the Jews who are hearing this in Isaiah 65, when they hear the word lamb, who do they think about? They think about themselves, as they should, because they're the covenant family of God. So if you're a Jew hearing this, what are you then thinking of as wolves? You might be thinking of Assyrians, right? You might be thinking about Babylonians. You might be thinking of the priests of Baal. You might be thinking of Gentiles. And so one of the prophecies, of course, of the new heavens, new earth, of the new covenant age, is that the Gentiles are going to be grafted into the covenant family. Those who used to be your enemies are now a member of your household. But even more than that, we get a beautiful picture of this in the book of Acts with the Apostle Paul. a man who quite literally was a wolf engaged in a mission to destroy lambs. And Paul was, again, grade A, right? He was the best of the best. He was the so-called force recon of the Pharisees, right? And of course, as a former Marine, I gotta say force recon, not, you know, Delta or things like that. But again, he was the best of the best. And yet he is the one that Jesus Christ comes to on the road to Damascus and converts changes from being a wolf into a lamb. And remember, when Paul is first converted, is everybody who is a lamb super excited to have Paul around? Well, no, right? Because if you're a lamb and a wolf shows up, what's your natural reaction? to run and get away. Now, can we blame the early church for being a little bit kind of, you know, not super happy that Paul's hanging around? You know, what do you think they thought that Paul was doing there? Probably thought he was a double agent, right? A spy, right? That he had, you know, negative ideas about what, you know, was supposed to be happening. But what did Paul prove over time? that he was a sheep. Now did Paul ever have to stop reminding people that he was a sheep? Seems to me if you read the letters of the Apostle Paul that he seems to have to defend himself quite a lot. He has to tell people, no, I am no longer the Paul that you heard about who was killing Christians. I am now a servant of Jesus Christ and the apostle of the Gentiles. Now, is that Paul's fault that people don't seem to accept him? Well, no. The point of that is that as believes the Lord Jesus Christ, when somebody who used to be an enemy of Jesus Christ becomes a friend, how then are we to treat them? As a friend of Jesus Christ, are we to spend our lives doubting their conversion every day? Unless they give us reason to, it is sinning against a wolf to treat him as a wolf if he has become a sheep. One of the witnesses we see throughout the New Testament is that when a brother or sister in Christ comes in among the flock, are we to continue to hold sin against them? And if somebody has done something sinful two years ago, is it gospel grace to continue to bring it up? All right, if somebody has sinned against you, is it God's grace to continue to treat them in a manner that calls them a wolf? Again, it's in rocket science, it's basic Christianity. And what Isaiah is testifying to us here in Isaiah 65 is that this was always the plan and purpose of God, even in the old covenant, even before the new heavens and new earth become a part of the witness of our Lord. Because there were proselytes in the old covenant, right? There were Gentiles who became Jews, right? There were those of Egypt who walked through the wilderness with the Jews, Egyptians who were born in the land of Egypt, who had no right or privilege to the Abrahamic promises, yet received all the blessings of the Abrahamic promises because they believed in Jehovah. And were they to be treated any differently than somebody who was born of the house of Judah, or the house of Asher, or the house of Naphtali, or the house of Gad? The answer's no. They were to receive all the rights and privileges of a native-born son. In fact, Paul spends a good time, space, dealing with this in his letters, that the Jews are not to treat the Gentiles as second-class citizens. that it doesn't matter how you came into the kingdom of God. Now, it is a blessing and a privilege to be born into the kingdom. We baptize infants because we believe in the covenant blessings of generation to generation. We baptize infants because we believe that the promises of God are from generation to generation. But it doesn't matter when the water is placed on your head. No. If you were baptized at age 99, you have the same rights and privileges as if you were baptized when you were two months old. Because again, the power is not of us, but of God. And if God has called somebody into his covenant family, do we have any right to cast them out of that covenant family? To deny them the blessings of the grace which has been shown to us? And the answer's no. It's fairly straightforward. It's fairly clear. It's fairly open. But why do we struggle so much with this? Again, remember, Isaiah is not preaching to unbelievers, right? This word is to people who are in the covenant family. When Paul writes to the church at Corinth, he's writing to people who confess Jesus Christ. But there is a struggle with this. And I think part of the reason is it's laid forth to us here in Isaiah 65, 24, and 25. Again, it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer, and while they're still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent's food. They shall not hurt nor destroy, and on my holy mountain says the Lord. Again, it doesn't matter whether you are a former wolf or if you are a sheep, you are to lay down together and feed together. Now, when you hear that language of feeding, your mind should immediately go, especially considering what we're getting ready to do next week, to the Lord's table. Because when we come to eat at the Lord's table, what are we confessing? We are confessing that Jesus Christ died for our sins, that Jesus Christ laid down his life for our sins, that our sins put Jesus on the cross, that our sins caused him to be beat, reviled, and mocked, right? That's what Isaiah 53 testifies, that we put Jesus on the cross, not your neighbor, Not the person that you're thinking about right now, right? Not the person who sinned against you, but your sins put Jesus on the cross. And unless you admit that to yourself, of course everybody else's sins are gonna be worse than your sins. Of course you're gonna feel it okay to continue to apply sin to somebody whom Jesus Christ has forgiven. Because you must recognize, again, your own fleshly weakness, right? You must recognize that you yourself are as much a wolf as a lamb. That the sinful man remains within you, like Romans chapter seven says. And until and unless we are willing to admit our own sin, it makes sense, of course, that we would continue to hold sin against a neighbor. That's what's happened, of course, in Luke 18, when the Pharisee and the publican come to pray to the Lord. What does the Pharisee say in Luke 18? Thank you, God, that you did not make me like this publican over here. And what does the publican say as he comes unto the Lord? God have mercy on me, a sinner. Now the approach that those two men give tells us everything about their own walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. Because as the Pharisee is coming, he is holding his head high. As the publican comes, he lowers his head because he recognizes that he himself is not worthy of such. He's not worthy of such opportunity to come before the Lord. And why is that? Because the public can understand, again, something that Isaiah points out for us in Isaiah 65. It shall come to pass, and before they call, I will answer, and while they are still speaking, I will hear. Again, God Almighty is the prime mover in salvation, right? He is the one who has called you out of darkness, called you out of unbelief, called you out of your sin, and has given unto you this new life, right, this new birth, this new creation that has happened in you because Jesus Christ laid down His sin for your sin, or laid down His life for your sin. Again, this humble recognition, again, that God is the one, takes away any haughtiness, right? Takes away any arrogance, takes away any power that we have in this transaction. And so, brothers and sisters, when we hear the language of wolf and lamb, again, we are seeing, again, the might and the power of the gospel to change the hearts of everyone and anyone who hears the gospel message. Again, Isaiah, writing in Isaiah 65, is thinking again of Jesus Christ, as any prophet does. because that's what the prophets were here to do, were to prepare the way for the coming of the Lord. Yes, John the Baptist is kind of given, you know, kind of prime mention there, but all of the prophets are given for this purpose, to prepare Israel for the coming of the day of the Lord. And when you see a passage like Isaiah 65, 24 and 25, again, we see in such a flowering beauty what our Lord has done for his people, for his church, and for, yes, even you. Again, God has heard even before you call, right? God hears even while we are still speaking. I think all of us, if we are honest with ourselves, we're willing to be honest with ourselves, can testify that this was true. Think about how God in his providence prepared the way for your coming to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. especially in ways that we may never know on this side of the things. One of the things that we'll get to do in heaven is God is going to open our eyes to see many of these things. Many of the times that God protected us from ourselves, protected us from apostasy, protected us from the kind of thing that Paul points out in Hebrews chapter 10, protected us from the inward words of the devil. which told us to do and to be and to act in wicked ways. That's one of the reminders that Isaiah gives in this passage. You can notice what he says there in the third line in verse 25, and dust shall be the serpent's food. Again, that's a promise that we hear in Genesis chapter three, that the serpent will eat the dust to the ground. And why in the midst of all these promises of the new heavens and new earth do we get a reminder of the judgment that comes down upon Satan? Because we need to be reminded every now and then that there is no glory in falling after the evil one. There is only dust to be eaten. Would you rather feed upon the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ or would you rather eat the dust of the ground? Yeah, and the answer should be fairly clear, but how often in life do we choose the dirt over the bread and the cup? That's what we do when we sin. We are choosing dirt over the bread and the cup. That's what we're doing when we treat one another poorly. Because what does Satan do? What does the name Satan mean, right? It means deceiving. And the thing about deceivers is who are they actually deceiving? themselves. You see, Satan, we know, was the most beautiful of all the angels. He had position in heaven. And he looked at what God had provided for him, heaven, and what did he do? He deceived himself, thinking that not only was he greater than the one who had made the heavens and the earth, but that he could overthrow the maker of heaven and earth. And deceiving his own heart, he fell from heaven and has spent the past, you know, however many thousand years eating the dirt of the ground. Because the other image we're meant to think of when we think of the eating of the dirt is that what do you make your enemies do? I don't know if people say this anymore, and I'm not necessarily saying it's a good thing to say, but if you're in a conflagration with somebody, what do you want them to do? You want them to eat dirt, right? You want to put their face into the ground. The idea is that you're gaining victory over them. And that's exactly what we see, of course, that happened in Genesis chapter three, right? Satan brought death upon the world through deceiving Adam, and he is rewarded with eternal death. He's rewarded with judgment, with eternal destruction. And Isaiah here is warning Israel that they will face the exact same fate if they ignore the power of what Christ has brought forward to them. Choose this day whom you will serve. Will you serve the Lord of glory or will you serve the Lord of dirt? The question is right before us. But again, it shows forth itself very much in this whole picture of wolf and lamb. Again, if our desire is to cause division, and if our desire, even if we don't lay it out that way, is to cause pain in other people's lives, then which of those are we? Again, if we are a lamb, what are we seeking to do? We're seeking not only to bring peace and comfort to brothers and sisters in pain and anguish going through difficulty, but also we're seeking to make wolves into lambs. Because you think about what the lamb is given to do. The lamb is not just the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, it's Jesus himself. One of the, those of y'all who've been up towards Winston-Salem, have been around the Moravians. I'm not gonna get into the whole history of how the Moravians came here, but does anybody know what the symbol of the Moravian church is? It's a lamb holding a flag. And the image that the Moravians are presenting with that is that Christ is King. Because back in the day when armies marched into battle, what was at the center of the formation? What was the most prestigious thing you could do in an army back when we stood shoulder to shoulder and fought? Was it not to carry the very colors of your nation into battle? Because you're testifying that your nation is greater than the nation you're fighting against. And that's why the flags were made in such a way that they were always moving forward. And so that image that the Moravians have given us is laid forward here in Isaiah 65. Again, if we are servants of the risen King who has come to bring dominion over the world under him, again, he is pictured for us as a lamb, not as a wolf, not as a bear, not as a powerful animal, but as a humble lamb. Because what did that lamb do first? That lamb laid him down himself for the sin of the world. He has gained his power not through the fleshly arms as those who were looking forward to the Messiah in the first century, but he came as a lamb to the slaughter. And what has that lamb received but the very kingdoms themselves? Because of humility, because of what he fulfilled in his earthly life. And so what witness, again, should we be here in what we see? Again, if we are servants of the lamb, then we should be as gentle as lambs. We should be seeking what the lamb seeks. That's why the Christian message is one of grace and of mercy. not of dominion, not of power, not of majesty, but of humility, of grace to sinners, to wolves that they might no longer destroy. They might bring peace. And of course the irony of course that is that our lamb does bring dominion. does bring power, he does bring majesty, but he doesn't do so in the way the world understands that. Because we convert kingdoms by the preaching of the gospel, right? We convert kingdoms in the same way that Jonah brought the entire nation of Assyria to its knees. Because we believe, again, that our calling as Christians is to be as gentle as lambs and bringing the good news of Jesus Christ to others, that they might no longer be deceivers and destroyers, but might be those who are at peace with their brothers and their sisters in Christ. "'It shall come to pass, before they call, "'I will answer, and while they're still speaking, "'I will hear. "'The wolf and the lamb shall feed together. "'The lion shall eat strong like the ox, "'and dust shall be the serpent's food. "'They shall not hurt and destroy it all. "'My only mountain says the Lord.'" You know, as we come to a close this morning, and as we think again about what, again, the Lord is teaching us in these passages, it should be, again, we see that the power of the Lamb has brought what? It has brought not only victory in the preaching of the cross, but it has brought protection for His covenanted people. Again, why is it that we preach the gospel with such boldness and without fear and without concern and without worry and without anxiousness? Because again, even the preaching of the gospel itself is not reliant upon us. We preach the gospel of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And again, we see here just as the Lord Jesus went before us He continues to go before us just as those wicked kings don't anymore. We preach the gospel with boldness because Jesus has already gone to work in the hearts of men and women. He's already laid the seeds there. He's already furrowed in the heart. When the gospel is preached and the seed is germinated and the seed grows, we have the assurance that the powers of God are not of us. That's why we preach the gospel indiscriminately to sinners everywhere. Because everybody needs to hear of Jesus. And we know that Jesus will give us again the victory in the preaching of the gospel because it's his gospel to preach. And it's his gospel alone which brings forth the new heavens and the new earth, which is recreating the creation even at this moment. That's why we support missions. That's why we support local outreach. That's why we support the preaching of the gospel, is so that we might see wolves become lambs, and that the wolves may lie down with the lambs, and that the lions shall lay down with the ox and eat the straw, and be fed by the Lord of glory, by Jesus Christ himself, who has given life unto men. Let that be our lesson for this morning, both in our own hearts and in the mission that God has given to the Bethany Church. And we must again witness and see what Jesus has done, and it must live itself out in our lives. Let us love one another as Christ has loved us. Let us support one another, seek the glory of one another, that we might do so in the goal of laying down together and feeding on Christ, being renewed by his grace and being strengthened by the power of his word, both this day and forevermore. Let's pray. Gracious Heavenly Father, as we give thanks again for the blessings of your grace, of the way that you've called us again to lie down with one another as the wolf with the lamb. You've called us again out of darkness not to treat one another as the world treats one another, but we are to forgive one another because Christ has forgiven us. And we are to do so that others may see, again, not just the power of the gospel, that they might see that there is glory in Jesus Christ, that there is comfort in the lamb who has shed his blood, that all may be at peace in the new heavens and the new earth. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let us come now as we sing the closing Bible Psalm, Bible Psalm 156. Let us stand and sing together. we worship you We will. in his holy sight. Christ shall come to thee, O God, all the land may see. Worshippers, preachers, shall listen by thee. we are I. Again, as we close our worship this morning, and as we rejoice on this Sabbath blessing, let us come now to hear the benediction this morning from the 19th chapter of the book of Job, beginning there at verse 25. Hear the word of the Lord. For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth. And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God. whom I shall see for myself, my eyes shall behold, and not another, how my heart yearns within me. If you should say, how shall we persecute him, since the root of the matter is found in me? Be afraid of the sword for yourselves, for wrath brings the punishment of the sword, that you may know there is a judgment. Amen. Okay.