In the sermon titled 'Even the Gates of Hades Will Not Prevail,' Peter Allison discusses Isaiah 14, emphasizing the hope found in God's mercy and redemption. The sermon outlines five declarations in Isaiah 14 that form the basis of Israel's hope: God's continued mercy, His choice of His people, restoring them to their land, including Gentiles in His church, and His people's rule over former captors. The story of Hazel Minor is used to illustrate the importance of hope in dire circumstances, paralleling the hope found in scripture. The sermon further explains that the land of Canaan, while significant in God's redemptive history, is no longer unique in the new covenant, as God's promises extend to the entire cosmos. The relationship between faith and hope is highlighted, with faith being the foundation of hope. Ultimately, God's mercy and redemption assure believers that 'even the gates of Hades will not prevail against the church.'

Our scripture reading is Isaiah chapter 14. Hear God's word. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob and still choose Israel and settle them in their own land. The strangers will be joined with them and they will cling to the house of Jacob. Then people will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them for servants and maids in the land of the Lord.

And they will take them captive, whose captives they were, and rule over their oppressors. And it shall come to pass in the day the Lord gives you rest from your sorrow and from your fear and hard bondage in which you were made to serve, that you will take up this proverb against the king of Babylon and say, How the oppressor has ceased, the golden city Ceased. The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the scepter of the rulers. He who struck the people in wrath with a continual stroke, he who ruled the nations in anger is persecuted and no one hinders. The whole earth is at rest and quiet.

They break forth into singing. Indeed the cypress trees rejoice over you and the cedars of Lebanon saying, Since you were cut down, no woodsman has come up against us. Sheol from beneath is excited about you, to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the dead for you, all the chief ones of the earth. It has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations.

They all shall speak and say to you, Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us? Your pomp is brought down to shield, and the sound of your stringed instruments, the maggot is spread under you, and worms cover you. How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weaken the nations!

For you have said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne against the stars of God. I will also sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest sides of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the Most High, yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the pit. Those who see you will gaze at you and consider you, saying, Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities, who did not open the house of his prisoners?

All the kings of the nations, all of them sleeping glory, every one in his own house, but you are cast out of your grave like an abominable branch, like the garment of those who are slain, Thrust through with the sword who go down to the stones of the pit like a corpse trodden underfoot. You will not be joined with them in burial because you have destroyed your land and slain your people. The blood of evildoers shall never be named. Prepare slaughter for his children, because of the iniquities of their fathers, lest they rise up and possess the land and fill the face of the world with cities. For I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts, and cut off from Babylon the name and remnant and offspring and posterity, says Jehovah.

I will also make it a possession for the porcupine and marshes of muddy water. I will sweep it with a broom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, Surely, as I have thought, so it should come to pass. As I have purpose, so it shall stand, that I will break the Assyrian in my land, and on my mountains tread him underfoot. Then his yoke will be removed from them and his burden removed from their shoulders.

That is the purpose that is joined against the whole earth. And this is the hand that is stretched over all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purpose. Who will annul it? His hand is stretched out.

Who will turn it back? This is the burden which came in the year that King Ahaz died. Do not rejoice, all of you Philistia, because the rod that struck you is broken. For out of The serpent's roots will come forth a viper, and its offspring will be a fiery, flying serpent. The firstborn of the poor will feed, and the needy will lie down in safety.

I will kill your roots with famine, and will slay your remnant. Whale, oh gate, cry, oh city! All you sons of Philistia are dissolved, for smoke will come from the north, and no one will be alone in his appointed times. What will they answer? The messengers of the nation, that the Lord has founded Zion, and the poor of his people shall take refuge in it.

Blessed are those who hear this word of God and keep it. Gracious Father in Heaven, may Your Word come to us from our ears to our hearts, from our hearts to our lips and to our conversation, and to our hands and back to our feet, grant us sword obedience, understanding of your word. And I ask that you would sanctify my sinful lips that they may this morning Be the instruments of your gospel of grace to us in Christ. In His name I ask, Amen. I ask.

Amen. Well, in 1920, in the spring, a 16-year-old lady, Hazel Minor, and her two younger siblings, Emmett, who was 11, and Meredith, who was eight, were caught in a late North Dakota blizzard. And if you're not familiar with these things, they are like a hurricane, except instead of blowing water around on a warm summer day, they are blowing snow around in 20 below zero temperatures with a wind chill that can bring the effective temperatures down to minus 50 or even 60 degrees Fahrenheit. And so cattle that normally handle the winter on the prairie can freeze in these blizzards. People can come within a few feet of their house and not be able to find it because the blowing snow fills the air, making it impossible to see sometimes even the hand in front of you.

Not only is it hard to see, it's also very disorienting. And hardly a winter goes by in this part of the country that at least one person doesn't freeze to death after being lost in a blizzard. That wind can cut through even the thickest of winter cold weather gear. And so when their sleigh tipped over, and Hazel and her siblings were not able to get the sleigh righted, Hazel did her very best to protect her brother and little sister. But she knew that if they were going to live, she would need to give them hope.

She would need to keep their spirits up as well as to keep them moving and awake. And she did. She told Meredith and Emmett stories. She sang hymns with them. They sang hymns that they knew from their church and their school.

And they prayed. And she kept them moving and talking and enabling Emmett and Meredith to survive 25 hours out in the blizzard before they were found the following day. But she sacrificed herself in order to save her siblings, spreading her coat out over top of them and lying herself on top of it to keep it on them in the heavy wind. It's a sacrifice that's still remembered and honored even today. See, she understood the importance of bringing hope when the circumstances were bleak and threatening.

Hope that they would be rescued and that they would live. See, the scriptures are written with many historical accounts and prophecies that were written so we, God's people, could have hope even when the circumstances were threatening and bleak. Romans 15, 4 says, for whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that through the patience and comfort of the scriptures, we might have hope. See, the hope of God's people is not a self-generated hope that's based on promising circumstances or a positive outlook because oftentimes our circumstances aren't positive they appear bleak The future looks dark to the natural eye. The Christian's hope is grounded in Jehovah's mercy and in his redemption.

See Jehovah himself is the object of our hope And this is very succinctly expressed in Psalm 130. I wait for the Lord my soul waits and in his word do I hope. O Israel, hope in the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy and with him is abundant redemption and he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities see mercy and redemption the mercy of God purchased by the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. This is the message or the theme of Isaiah 14. It is a message of hope that's grounded in Jehovah himself.

The message of hope in Isaiah 14 is that the very gates of Hades will not prevail against the church of Jesus Christ. And there are five declarations here in the opening two verses and the closing verse that frame this entire chapter and they form the basis these declarations form the basis of Israel's hope and our hope as well and these five are one that Jehovah will have mercy on his people. Secondly, Jehovah will still choose his people. Jehovah, thirdly, will restore his people to his land. Fourthly, Jehovah will add strangers, Gentiles, to his church.

And fifth, Jehovah's people will rule over their former captors. And this is all summed up in verse 32, the close of the chapter, as the Lord will establish Zion, and the poor of His people will have a refuge in it. So first, Jehovah will have mercy on Jacob. That's how this chapter opens. Jacob is a reference, of course, to the people of God, or the church as it's translated in the New Testament.

Jacob is not a reference to physical descendants of Abraham's grandson. Paul said in Romans 2 that he is not a Jew who is one outwardly. He's not a Jew because he's descended from Jacob, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly. And circumcision is that of the heart, not in the spirit, not the letter, whose praise is from men, not from men, but from God. He is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, not in the spirit, not the letter, whose praises from men, not from men, but from God.

He is a Jew who is one inwardly. These Jacob here that's being referred to are not the physical descendants of Jacob, no matter how rebellious and stubborn and wicked they are. He's also not saying that He has mercy on all those who aren't rebellious and wicked and abominable. Because there aren't any such people, are there? All have sinned.

There is none who seeks after God. There is none who does good. No, not one. Paul said, all have gone astray from the womb, speaking lies. The poison of vipers is under their lips.

Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed innocent blood. No. God has mercy on his people. He has mercy on Jacob.

That's those who are Jews inwardly. Now, the Hebrew word for mercy here means a deep, kindly sympathy and sorrow for someone who has been struck with affliction or misfortune. It's a deep sorrow, but it's not just an isolated feeling for them. True mercy is always accompanied by a desire to relieve the suffering. It's both.

Most of the time this word occurs in the New Testament, It's used of God's compassion for his people, for Jacob, for his afflicted people. Mercy is the most commonly common translation, but it's also frequently translated compassion, and sometimes pity or love. God's mercy then is his active compassion toward those who are in misery, active because he is acting to relieve that suffering. The Lord sees the distresses and trials of his people and he pities them. He moves in time and history to relieve his people of their sufferings.

God's people, those who are referred to as Jacob, are characterized by two things as related to God's mercy. God's people are characterized as those who fear him. Psalm 103 says, as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities those who fear him. Pity here is the same word as mercy in our text. Lord pities those who fear him.

Secondly, God's people are those who have confessed and forsaken their sins. Proverbs 28, 13 says, He who covers his sins will not prosper, But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Mercy. God's people are characterized by fear of the Lord and confession and forsaking of sins. So if you don't fear the Lord, if you don't put great weight on what He says, if you don't prioritize His commandments ahead of everything else you want to do, then you have no claim to this promise of mercy No matter how long you have been a member of a church, if you haven't forsaken your bosom sins, then you have no claim to this promise of mercy.

He is not a Jew. He is not a Jacob, a descendant of Jacob, who is one outwardly, but he is one inwardly. The second declaration is that Jehovah would still choose His people Israel. There's no one that's worthy of mercy. None of us are worthy of mercy.

If we were worthy of mercy, it wouldn't be mercy, would it? It would be our just wages. It would be what we are owed if we were worthy of it. Our just wages are eternal death, misery and torment. And the only reason that we have received mercy.

Is because before the foundation of the world in eternity past, God chose to love us, God chose To show us mercy. Why? Because God will have mercy on whomever he will, and he will harden whomever he will. There was nothing in us that inclined him to show us mercy. But this wonderful promise here is that he still chooses us.

He still loves us. Indeed the only reason he bothers to chase in us is because he loves us. So Isaiah's message to Judah is that the Lord would send her into captivity in Babylon. Remember after Hezekiah so proudly displayed all of the treasures of his house, all of the gold, all of the silver, all of the riches to those envoys from the kingdom of Babylon, Isaiah pronounced God's chastening on his descendants and he told Hezekiah, all that is in your house and all what your fathers have accumulated until this day, everything that you were displaying so proudly to these envoys from Babylon, that shall be carried to Babylon. And nothing shall be left, says the Lord.

And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you Whom you will beget and they will be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon But see here the Lord assures these people Who were going to undergo his chastening, I will still choose you. To be my people, I will still choose you to be the objects and recipients of my mercy, my fatherly love. I will still choose you. I will even redeem you again and return you to your land. As I did when I redeemed you from Egypt and returned you to the land that I had promised you.

Notice that the land here is called their own land. It Says, I will settle them in their own land. The land was promised to Abraham and his descendants. And so as the descendants of Abraham and heirs of that promise, the land is called their land. But it is also called the land of the Lord or the land of Jehovah in verse two.

They would possess them for servants and maids in the land of the Lord. See the fact that Jehovah had a special interest or ownership in the land of Canaan In a way that the rest of the earth did not that's a constant theme throughout the Old Testament as the creator Of all the earth God is the sovereign proprietor owner of the entire earth But he chose the land of Israel as the land in which he would accomplish his great redemption. This was the land where he was made flesh and dwelt among men. This was the land where his earthly temple was built and where his glory dwelt among the mercy seat in in the Mount Zion in Jerusalem and for this reason the Israelites were not allowed to permanently sell the land of their tribal inheritance God commanded in Leviticus 25 the land shall not be sold permanently, for the land is mine. And in all the land of your possession, you shall grant redemption of the land like we read this morning in Ruth for.

God said you cannot sell the land because it's mine. The Israelites were guests in that land. They held it as trustees. They were the stewards of it, but the land and all its produce belonged to Jehovah. If they failed as trustees to use the land for the good of the beneficial owner, God would remove them from that land.

The Lord said in 2 Chronicles 7, If you turn away and forsake my statutes and my commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will uproot you from my land which I have given them. And this house, which I have sanctified for my name, I will cast out of my sight and make it a proverb and a byword among all the peoples." God says, if you don't act as faithful stewards of my land that I've given you, then I will cast you out. And in a passage that's very closely close parallel to this chapter, God says in Joel 2 that he would bring judgments on the nations who have scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land. See, this is Emmanuel's land, God with us. It's where he dwells.

And because it's his land, he has provided atonement for it. No, this is not a new promise. It was first promised by Moses back in Deuteronomy 32, rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people, for he will avenge the blood of his servants and render vengeance to his adversaries. He will provide atonement for his land and his people. And this same promise is reaffirmed in Psalm 85.

Lord, you have been favorable to your land. You have brought back the captivity of Jacob. You have forgiven the iniquity of your people. You have covered all of their sin." This is the promise of God, that He would bring back the captivity of His people and resettle them in their land. But this land, of course, is no longer unique with respect to the rest of the Earth.

This land over in Israel, this land of Palestine, that sometimes we hear called today the Holy Land. It's no longer any more holy than any other part of God's earth. And that, I think, point is missed by all those who think that there's something special about that little piece of real estate in the Middle East. That land was the originating point of God's redemptive work. But even in God's original promise to Abraham, the land was never the terminus or the focus of God's redemptive plan.

When the Lord first appeared to Abraham in Genesis 12, God's promise to him was that through him, all the families of the earth would be blessed. All the families of the Adama, the ground, would be blessed through him, not just the people who lived on the little land of Palestine. And when God renewed his covenant with Abraham in Genesis 22, after he had passed that test of his faith by obeying God's command to sacrifice his son Isaac, God repeated his promise saying, In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed because you have obeyed my voice. In Romans 4, Paul refers to the promise as the promise that Abraham would be heir of the world the cosmos Abraham is the heir of the cosmos not heir of a little piece of land in the Middle East, but air of the sum total of everything in the here and now. The sum total of everything in the here and now.

That's the dictionary definition of cosmos. Another definition of cosmos is the Greek word cosmos is the habitation of humanity. Abraham was the heir of the cosmos. Speaking to the Jews in Palestine, Jesus promised in the Beatitudes that the meek would inherit the earth, not just Palestine. And that's not a change in the New Testament.

God's people were always have always been intended to inherit the earth. Psalm 37 11 says the meek shall inherit the earth and verse 9 explains that the evil doers shall be cut off but those who wait on the Lord shall inherit the earth. And so modern attempts to attach special significance to the real estate in Palestine is to return to the shadows and the mess, the fullness of the new covenant riches in Christ. The Christ is King of the entire earth. And his people are heirs.

Even at Sinai, God asserted his ownership of all the earth. He said in Exodus 19, Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine." So this covenant promise, originally given regarding the land of Canaan, was always intended, always intended, from the very beginning to be extended to include all the earth as the nations of the earth are turned from their idolatry to covenant with Jehovah. So there's no more Holy Land because the physical temple of God. Is no longer on the earth, it's in heaven. So in parallel with the expansion of the promise from the land of Canaan to the entire cosmos, the promise is also expanded to include Gentiles and Jews.

For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob and will still choose Israel and settle them in their own land, but more strangers shall be joined with them and they will cling to the house of Jacob. Strangers. This is referring to strangers to the covenant. The strange woman in Proverbs was a woman that is outside the covenant of marriage. The stranger here is somebody who is outside of this covenant.

The Lord's going to bring them into the covenant. So not only is the Lord going to return his people to their land, but he also promises to enlarge his people by adding Gentile believers, strangers, to the covenant with them. So that the two people now become one. They become the same body. And in the New Testament, the promise to Abraham is applied to the church.

The church which is composed of those who are in Christ is called the Israel of God, and they are the heirs of the covenant promises to Abraham. And they are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit. So what was a trickle in the Old Testament? Just this small group of people. It becomes this flood in the New Testament of all the peoples of the earth, an innumerable company.

But when the Old Testament was the hundred forty four thousand is. An innumerable company. Of people from every tribe and tongue and nation. You see, throughout the Old Testament, Gentiles were continually being added to Israel. Ruth was a Moabite.

She clung to Naomi, and in clinging to her, she was joined to Israel and became a mother in the physical line through which Christ was born. But a reading of David's Mighty Men will reveal a host of Gentiles that were joined to Israel and served in the most trusted positions. And we read about Zellick, the Ammonite, Uriah, the Hittite. These are Gentiles joined to Israel, even in the Old Testament. But in the New Testament, It's whole cities of Gentiles that repent and are added to the number.

Multitudes. The fifth declaration here is that God's people will Take them captives whose captives they once were and that they will rule over their oppressors. The Babylonians are here called The peoples. The peoples would bring Israel and Jacob back to their place. Back to their land.

And as you describes how this was fulfilled in Israel, one. Where we read that all those who were around them. Well, who's around them? They're in the land of Babylon. So it's Babylonians are surrounding them.

All of the Babylonians surrounding them encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered. And King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods and he counted them out to Shesh Bazar the Prince of Judah and all the articles of gold and silver were five thousand four hundred all of these Shesh Bazar took with the captives who were brought from Babylon to Jerusalem. That's just as Isaiah said. People will take them and bring them to their place, and the house of Israel will possess them. Strangers will take them and bring them to their place, and the roles will be reversed.

Those who were formerly captives would rule over their oppressors. This was foreshadowed in the reigns of David and Solomon, but only it's only fulfilled in the messianic reign of Jesus Christ as the gospel goes throughout the earth and all are conquered by it, either conquered in his wrath or conquered in his grace. Christ will reign until he has put all enemies under his feet. Speaking of the events in 70 A.D., Daniel says in Daniel 7, I was watching and the same horn was making war against the Saints and prevailing against them until the ancient of days came and judgment was made in favor of the Saints of the Most High and the time came for the Saints to possess the kingdom the roles were reversed and this is pictured in the worship scene in heaven in Revelation 5. And they sang a new song.

That's the elders. Saying you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for you were slain and you have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation and have made us kings and priests to our God and we shall reign on the earth. Paul also asserts this in his letter, second letter to Timothy at the close of his life. So Timothy, who was his pro his protege. Therefore, I endure all things for the sake of the elect, that they may obtain the salvation which is Jesus Christ, which is in Jesus Christ with eternal glory.

This is a faithful saying, for if we died with him, we shall also live with him. And if we endure, we shall also reign with him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. So those are the five declarations, but the bulk of this chapter, that are the basis and foundation of our hope.

But the the bulk of this chapter. Is a proverb. That the people of God will take up against the King of Babylon. And this proverb against the King of Babylon which Isaiah gives God's people is exactly like the exactly analogous or parallel to the victory song which Moses gave the Israelites in Exodus 15, sometimes called the Song of Moses. You see in it all the people rejoice in the Lord and the victory that he has accomplished over the Egyptians.

But what's different about this song is that right in the middle of this proverb, this oracle against the king of Babylon, Satan or Lucifer is suddenly being addressed. And then just as seamlessly the narrative shifts back to the human ruler of Babylon. Isaiah goes from speaking about the king of Babylon being cut down, His pomp and glory traded for shield and worms destroying his flesh to. Verse 12, how you are fallen from heaven, oh, Lucifer, son of the morning. Lucifer is is Daystar or light.

How you are fallen from heaven, oh, Lucifer, it's a name given to Satan. You who weaken the nations for you have said in your heart. And here we have the theology of Satan why he fell you have said in your heart I will ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will sit on the mount of the congregation on the farthest side of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds. I will be like the most high. That was Satan's thought To be like God.

And any and those who have that same theology have today have the theology of Satan. There are those there are those who teach that and they even want to claim to be Christians, but they are the farthest thing from it. They have the theology of Satan, Mormons do, Because that's what they believe that they will become as God. Yet, Isaiah says, you shall be brought down to Sheol. To the lowest depths of the pit.

Those who see you will gaze at you and consider you saying, is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its city? So now he's gone right back to talking about a human king. So what are we to what are we to make of this? Is this talking about Satan or is this talking about the King of Babylon? Well, we We see in the New Testament some further teaching that can explain this, I think, quite clearly.

In the New Testament, we see demons can work through people. They can influence them. They can even control them. When a mute demon occupied a person in Luke 1, that person became mute. And when that mute demon was cast out, the person is able to speak.

And so even though demons are spiritual things, they don't have physical bodies, but through people, they can occupy people and they can take a physical form. And when they inhabit kings and other people who have authority in their own right they can leverage that person to extend their destructive and evil influence a lot farther when they're working through a person So there's this combination of them moving people or even possessing people and being able to extend what they can do and also to extend what that person can do. And I think this is how we can understand this passage. It is unquestionably addressing the King of Babylon, but this language addressing Satan in the middle is telling us that the King of Babylon is being moved by high demons, and so God addresses them as one. Christ addresses Peter in the same way when Peter, remember, suggested that Christ did not have to die in Matthew 16 and Mark 8.

And Jesus rebukes Peter by saying, Get behind me, Satan. You are an offense to me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of man. And we see similar language in Daniel 10 regarding the kings of Persia and Greece. Daniel is fasting and praying for three weeks with no answer. When suddenly this hand touches him, makes him jump, and so after assuring him that God loved him, the angel said, Do not fear, Daniel.

For from the first day that you set your heart to understand and to humble yourself before God your words were heard so God as soon as Daniel started praying his words were heard but there's a war that breaks out but he said and I have come because of your words, but the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me 21 days. The prince of the kingdom of Persia, Who is that? Withstood this angel 21 days, so that's a demonic power. But he's working through inhabiting the Prince of Persia. And behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone here with the kings of Persia.

The angel that was sent as soon as Daniel started praying was resisted for three weeks by demonic powers called the Prince of the Kingdom of Persia until Michael, the archangel, helps deliver sin. And then he's able to go to Daniel, but he said, as soon as soon as you you prayed, your words were heard. But for three weeks, demonic powers prevented me for coming. And after delivering his message, he tells Daniel them in verse 20 of chapter 10. Now I must return to fight with the Prince of Persia.

And when I have gone forth indeed, the Prince of Greece will come. But I tell you what is noted in the scripture of truth. No one upholds me against these except Michael, your prince. So he's speaking there of these kings of Greece, princes of Greece, but these are rulers that are demonically controlled, demonically moved. And that's, I believe, what is being addressed here in Isaiah 14.

But see, the hope here is that even this demonic power that's working through these kings and these powers, these earthly powers cannot stop. God's people cannot prevail against the church. We also see, though, that its propertor rejoices in the Lord's victory. We rejoice in His victory, in His power, in His defeat of His enemies. And of course, in verse 32, the world will notice these victories.

These reversals where the captors become captives and captives rule over their former oppressors. And they will ask, what is this? What is this? And the answer is the Lord has founded Zion and the poor of his people will take refuge in it. The Lord has established His church and the poor of His people as distinguished from the poor that are in rebellion against Him.

The poor of His people, not the poor that are at war with him. The poor of his people will take refuge in it. When Peter confesses that Jesus was the Messiah, the Christ, in Matthew 16, Jesus said to him, blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. But my father who is in heaven, and I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church. And the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be Will be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven This is the message of great hope Founded in God's mercy and redemption And so my message to you this morning is to cultivate that hope. Feed and strengthen faith, for as your faith is, your hope will be. Hope is never ill when faith is well. Hope is never strong if faith is weak. In Romans 15, Paul says, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace how in believing in Faith so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit Feed and strengthen faith for as our faith is so your hope will be don't sink at the sight of your own weakness learn from Abraham who hope against hope believed in hope Hoping against the discouragements that arose from within himself.

Don't sink at the sight of your own weakness. Keep your experience as a treasure. Remember what the Lord has done for you. And when that fails, remember what the Lord has done for his people. As Moses instructed Israel in Deuteronomy 8, remember that the Lord your God led you all the way these years, these 40 years in the wilderness.

God preserved them. And Moses says, remember that. Hope, hope based on your experience. Treasure that experience. Remember the cloud of witnesses.

But also cultivate hope by reasoning from your calling and from God's corrections. Remember the Lord chastens those he loves. The very fact that he chastens us is evidence that we are his legitimate children and that we are the objects of his fatherly love and protection. And let the scriptures do their work. The whole Bible history was written for this purpose that we might have hope.

Hope is faith expectation of unseen glory, and it's grown by strengthening faith and pondering God's words and past dealings and it's kept alive by constant exercise, by patience and in prayer. May it be so. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this message of hope, of your establishing of your church, of your still choosing your people, of showing us mercy and of the victory that you have accomplished. Of your present reign in this earth, which you invite us to share that for we who have been crucified with you have been raised with you and are seated in the heavens. You call us Lord if we have been raised with you and seated with you in the heavens.

To set our mind on things above and not on things here on the earth. For we have died and our life is hidden with Christ in you. Father, may this be the foundation of our hope, your mercy and your redemption. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.