Let's take our Bibles once again.
Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 50. Isaiah 50. I'm going to be in Isaiah 50. I'm going to make a few comments
and look at a couple of scriptures before. But Isaiah chapter 50. the entire chapter and then the
first verse of chapter 51. Man by nature is always ready, he's ever ready
to lay the blame for his rebellion on another. And ultimately to lay it on God
Himself. That's man by nature. It's somebody
else's fault. Somebody not, you know, they
don't see themselves as guilty. Remember when, again in the Garden
of Eden, when Adam rebelled against God, Eve, she was beguiled, she
was fooled. Adam did what he did. His eyes
wide open. Scripture says Genesis chapter
3 verses 11 after he had eaten. Scripture says in verse 11, He
said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of
the tree? Whereof I commanded thee that
thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman. whom thou gavest to be with me. She gave me of the tree, and
I did eat. And the Lord said unto the woman,
What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent
beguiled me, and I did eat. Listen to the marvel of God's
command for rejoicing of what we have. Now here we are by nature,
we're going to blame everybody else. We're going to blame God. But listen, just back in Isaiah,
I'm going to turn over and look at Isaiah 49 verse 13 for a second. Listen to the great reason for
rejoicing. Isaiah 49, 13, Sing, O heavens,
and be joyful, O earth, break forth into singing, O mountains,
for or because the Lord hath comforted His people, and will
have mercy upon His afflicted. Now, we've got great reason,
God's people do, to rejoice. Whenever the Lord was born, God Almighty made flesh, Christ
made flesh. The scripture says the angels,
the heavens were ringing with the, you know. There is this
day in the city of David, the Savior, which is born Christ,
Jesus, the Lord. Mankind has reason to rejoice. There is a Savior. He's come to save His people
from their sins. We've got great reason. But I
want you to look now. I just read in Isaiah 49, 13
of the great reason for rejoicing because the Lord has comforted
His people and will have mercy upon His afflicted. But listen to man's blame. Look at verse 14 of Isaiah 49.
But Zion... You know who Zion is? That's
the church. That's God's people. Zion said,
the Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Now what an accusation. How horrible. But now, before
we lay too much blame on them, remember that them right there
is us. This is us. And we're ever ready
to blame God. They were going through the affliction
of Babylon, but Israel was actually a picture, remember this, of
God's people. We're in this world. And we're
in a world of trials and afflictions, a world that hates us. And we
are ever ready, something comes our way, and we're ever ready. We won't say it outwardly, but
inwardly. Why has the Lord put me under
this? Why am I going through what I'm
going through? But Zion said, the Lord hath
forsaken me. My Lord hath forgotten me. Oh, but listen to the Lord's
answer. Look at verse 15 to 17. Here's
the Lord's answer. Now this is His answer to us
now. Listen, whenever we start finding
fault, somebody says, oh, I never find fault with God. Who are we kidding? Hear what the Lord says. Can
a woman forget her sucking child that she should not have compassion
on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will
I not forget thee? Behold, I have graven thee upon
the palms of my hands, thy walls are continually before me. Thy children shall make haste,
thy destroyers, and they that made thee waste shall go forth
of thee. The Lord's forsaken me. He forgot
me. The Lord said, a woman may forget
her sucking child. A woman may not care for. Not just merely that, well I
just forgot. No, to not be mindful towards. To not care as she should. to
not do that which would be the best for that child. A woman
may forget to have compassion on the son of her womb, but the
Lord said, I will not forget you. I will ever have you, your
walls. He's speaking of heavenly Jerusalem
and speaking of her as an enclosed city. engraved on my house. You are always in my sight."
That's what he's saying. So in the midst of Zion's complaint,
you forsook me. You left me out here to dry.
You put me out to pasture. You've not done that which you
said you were going to do. With that in mind, now I want
you to look now. Isaiah chapter 50. In the midst of her complaints
now, let's see what the Spirit of God has to say of the Lord's
speech to us. Alright, Isaiah 50 verse 1, Thus
saith the Lord, Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement,
whom I have put away? Of which of my creditors Is it
to whom I have sold you? Behold, your iniquities have
you sold yourself. For your iniquities and for your
transgressions is your mother put away." Now here the Lord
clearly sets forth the relationship that He has with Zion, with the
bride. And she's the mother, she's the
wife, he's the husband, and answered her complaint about him being
unfaithful. And he asked this question, where
is the bill of divorcement that I gave you? Now, to really understand
what that means right there, hold your place and turn over
to Deuteronomy chapter 24. Deuteronomy 24. Where is the bill of divorcement? Deuteronomy 24, verse 1 and 2. When a man hath taken a wife,
and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor
in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her, then let him write her a bill
of divorcement, and give it in her hand and send her out of
the house, and when she is departed out of the house, she may go
and be another man's wife." Now, let me tell you what a bill of
divorcement was. It was not a bill of divorcement
for her being unfaithful, of her committing adultery. It wasn't
what it was. It says, if a man found some
uncleanness in her, all it means with that word uncleanness is
that there's just something about her that grates on him. I just
don't like you. I don't like your ways, I don't
like your food, I don't like your housekeeping, I just don't
like you. There's something about it. It
wasn't for adultery. Because if it was for adultery,
I'm going to tell you something, the law took care of her. And
she was stoned. So it wasn't that. It was that
there was something about her that was just disagreeable. Something that just caused him
to not want to be with her anymore. I'm telling you, today it's called
irreconcilable differences. I just don't like you. I don't
like you anymore. You know? No? He said, let me
ask you something, where you've accused me of forgetting you,
putting you out, being unfaithful, where is the bill of divorcement
that I wrote you? Now listen now, the bill of divorcement
that Moses gave because of the hardness of their hearts, the
Lord said it was never like that. The woman let her leave her father,
mother, cleave to his wife. The Lord says in Malachi 2.16,
I hate putting away, I hate it, I hate it. Where is the Bill
of Divorcement? Do you know that with the Bill
of Divorcement, the blame was totally on the man? The woman
didn't write the Bill of Divorcement, only the man could write it.
And it's because he just didn't want to be with her anymore.
So the man was totally to blame. The Lord said, you showed me
where I was totally to blame for putting you away. You showed
me that. Then he asked another question.
He said, now, where is the bill of divorcement, or of which of
my creditors is it to whom I have sold you? Let me just read this
for you. It's in the book of Nehemiah.
I'll just read Nehemiah 5, verses 1 to 5. And there was a great
cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren,
the Jews, for there were that said, we, our sons, our daughters,
are many and therefore we take up corn for them that we may
eat and live and some also there were that said what we've mortgaged
our lands, our vineyards, our houses, that we might buy corn
because of the dearth. There were also that says we
borrowed money for the for the king's tribute, and that upon
our lands and our vineyards. And now our flesh is as the flesh
of our brethren, our children, as their children. And lo, we
bring into bondage our sons, our daughters to be servants.
Some of our daughters are brought into bondage already, neither
is it in our power to redeem them. For other men have our
lands and our vineyards." And what was happening was, if someone
came into dire straits, And they're hungry. We got a famine, we got
a mortgage up to here and I can't afford it. They can sell their
land, they can sell their kids. Put them into bondage. They can
be your servants. Okay, take them. That's all I
got. That's all I got. The Lord said
back in Isaiah 50, Which of my creditors is it to whom I sold
you? Where is the bill of divorce
and to which of the creditors? Who did I owe? Who did I owe
and have to sell you out? Who is it? No, no, look at Isaiah
59. No, here's the problem. Isaiah
59 verse 1, Behold the Lord's hand is not shortened. It's not
removed, not cut off, not hindered. that it cannot save, neither
his ear heavy that it cannot hear, but your iniquities have
separated between you and your God. And your sins has hid his
face from you that he will not hear. Man can lay the blame on
no one but himself. The wife that you gave me, she's
the reason that I ate. The serpent beguiled me. Let me tell you what our problem
is. It's us. We're the problem. Here's the
problem right here. Let's just go ahead and every
time, you know, instead of looking at somebody else, look at them.
No? Right here. I'm the problem. Man, by nature, has built that
wall of separation between him and God, and without God's law
being satisfied. I'm going to tell you something.
that debt until it's paid, man's going to die. He's going to die
separated from God. Where's the bill of divorce? Who did I owe? Where can you
prove to me? The scripture says that man separated
himself from Almighty God. The scripture declares in Hebrews
1 and 2, God sends prophets, God sent
the Lord Jesus, and we would not hear. Scripture says He came
unto His own. The world was made by Him, the
world knew Him not, and His own received Him not. No, we're the
problem. We're the problem. Verse 3, Isaiah
50. He said, I clothe the heavens
with blackness. I make sackcloth, their covering. I clothe the heavens. Whenever
the children of Israel were in Egypt, Almighty God sent the
plagues. One of the plagues was darkness. Almighty God, in Exodus chapter
10, Exodus 10 verse 21-23, The Lord said unto Moses, Stretch
out thine hand toward heaven, that there may be darkness over
the land of Egypt, even darkness which it may be felt. And Moses
stretched forth his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness
in all the land of Egypt three days. And they saw not one another,
neither rose any from his place for three days. All the children
of Israel had light in their dwellings. The Lord said, Where
am I short in being able to deliver you? You're the problem. We're
the problem. The Lord said, I clothe the heavens
with blackness. Back in verse 2, I forgot to
look at this right here, the latter part. He said, at my rebuke,
I dry up the sea. Did He not do that when the children
of Israel went across? I make the rivers a wilderness.
Their fish stinketh because there's no water. What was it? It was
blood. They didn't have any water in
it. It was blood there. Died for thirst. I clothe the
heavens with blackness. I make sackcloth. And then all
of these reasons that God says, it's not me, it's you. You've
left. I didn't put you away. You put
me away. But oh, in the mercy of Almighty
God. Here's the backdrop of our problem. We're the problem. But I want
you to listen to the next few verses of the glorious mercy
of Almighty God. To send the Lord Jesus into this
world, here the Lord is speaking. Isaiah penned these words, but
I'm telling you, these are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You'll see what I'm saying. The Lord God hath given me the
tongue of the learned. The Lord God, He says, has given
me that tongue of knowledge and wisdom that I should know how
to speak a word in season to him that is weary. God's people
blame God, God said you're the problem, but listen to the solution.
Listen. Here's the Lord revealing to
Zion that He alone and His words through His prophets are the
words that are heard by His people with power and persuasion, clarity
to their comfort. We are the problem. There's not
a believer in here that won't admit it. I am the problem. But
Lord, would you speak to me? Lord, teach me something. Lord, I am the rebellious one. And only, Lord, in you can I
find acceptance with God. Lord, tell me what you've done
on my behalf. Tell me of the righteousness
that you've earned. for me and clothe me in it. The
Lord says He has given me the tongue. Here's the submissive
servant of Jehovah. This is God Almighty humbling
Himself and making Himself of no reputation. Listen to this. The Lord hath given me the tongue
of the learned that I should know how to speak a word in season
to him that is weary. He wakeneth morning by morning. He wakeneth mine ear to hear
as the learned. It just amazes me when I read
of the humility of Christ. And this is the Lord who absolutely,
as I just said, you talk about humility. Here's what He says,
God the Father wakes me up every morning. As Almighty God, He never sleeps. He never sleeps. But as the man,
Christ Jesus, He was weary. I know He was asleep in the boat.
One time, the disciples, they were out there in the middle
of the storm and they woke Him up. He was asleep. And they said,
Lord, don't you care that we perish? Don't you care? He says,
He wakeneth me morning by morning, and he wakeneth my ear to hear."
As the learned, he learned obedience in that which he suffered. The
Lord Himself was awakened by the Father and imminently prepared
of God to hear what His Father had to say. John 14, 23. We see this. I tell you that the
humanity of Christ is to me as glorious as the deity of Christ. How do you separate this? This is my beloved son whom I'm
well pleased. Here's God, man. He said, He wakes me up. He wakes
my ear up that I might hear. John 14, the Lord speaking. I'm so thankful. You want to
have some hope here? This is what's expected of us
to be right before God, holy, accepted. Here's the Lord Jesus
Christ who did always only those things that pleased the Father.
And He said He wakes me up every morning, and wakes my ear up
every morning. John 14, 23, Jesus answered and said unto
him, If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father
will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with
him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings, and the word
which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. It's
not His apart from the Father. They're one. They're one God.
And as a submissive servant, He said, He wakes me up every
morning. Wakes my ear up every morning. Look at verse 5. The Lord God
hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned
back. Not only is He saying that He
hears, He opens His ears to hear, but also He's speaking of that
blessed sign that we find in Exodus 21. I'll read this to
you, Exodus chapter 21. When there was a servant, you
know this story. There was a servant who loved
his master and the time of his service was over. He could go
free, but if he chose to stay with his master, It was a special
sign. Take the earlobe and put it on
the door post and take an awl and bore a hole right there in
his ear. Exodus 21 verse 5 and 6. If the servant shall plainly
say, I love my master, my wife, my children, I will not go out
free, then his master shall bring him to the judges, he shall bring
him to the door post, his master shall bore his ear through with
an awl, and he shall serve him forever. The Lord says back in
Isaiah 50, the Lord God hath opened mine ear, Because as His servant, I serve
Him forever. I neither was rebellious, I didn't
turn my back, I did that which pleased Him. I wasn't rebellious
toward His word, His command, His call. I gave, verse 6 and
7, how obedient? I gave my back to the smiters,
my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face
from shame and spitting. For the Lord God will help me,
therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore have I set my face
like a flint. I know that I shall not be ashamed."
Whenever he stood before Pilate, men falsely accused him. mistreated
him. Scripture says he opened not
his mouth. He stood there with all the insults
and he set his face firmly toward the cross. Zion has accused him of forsaking
him. And he said this is what I did
for you. This is what I did. You that falsely accused me of
writing a bill of divorce and selling you out, know this, no. He came into this world, submitted
himself, made of a woman, made under the law, and learned obedience
in that he suffered. He experienced it. He opened
my ear. I gave my back to the smiters,
my cheek. They pulled off his beard. cleared
their throats and spit in his face. Scripture says in verse 8, He
is near that justifies me. Who will contend with me? Let
us stand together. Who is my adversary? Let him
come near to me. Those that accuse God of being
unfaithful, the Lord Jesus says, He's justified me, as I just
said a moment ago. This is my beloved Son in whom
I'm well pleased. He has just... Men abused Him,
but God was His help. And He was justified, I can tell
you this, not only by the voice of His Father from heaven, but
three days after He was crucified. How did God justify Him? He was
raised from the dead. God raised Him. Almighty God
brought him out, publicly. Set him forth. He said, I have
the favor of the Father. And the sheep shall be redeemed. My people shall... He is near
that justifies me. Who will contend with me? Who will oppose me? Is what he
said. God has justified me. What could
these who have nothing but death and resentment on their minds
toward me, what can they do? The everlasting will of the Father,
that's going to be done. I have finished the work that
God has given me to do. I have finished, I have stood
as your surety. And you that accuse me of being
unfaithful to you, I never left you. I never forsook you. Who will stand? Who will contend? Then he says, let's stand together.
Now this is an unusual passage right here. Let us stand together.
Who is my adversary? Let him come near to me. What
he's saying is, I challenge you. I challenge to all that oppose
me. I challenge all of my adversaries. You come and stand before me.
Stand face to face with me, your judge, and let's engage. Verse 9, Behold, the Lord will
help me. Who is he that shall condemn
me? Lo, they shall all wax old as a garment. The moth shall
eat them all up. But then the Lord gives, in these
last couple of verses, in the 50th chapter, verse 10, verse
11, He gives a word of encouragement to His people and a warning to
those that will not have this man to rule over them. Listen
to the word of encouragement. Who is among you that feareth
the Lord, that obeyeth the voice of His servant? that walketh
in darkness and hath no light. Let him trust in the name of
the Lord and stay upon his God." Now you have to remember what
they accused him of. They were in bondage. All the
commentators seem to indicate this is while they were in Babylon,
in captivity. In that bondage and suppressed,
accused God of forsaking them. He said, now for a word of encouragement. Here the Lord Jesus having the
tongue of the learned, He gives a word of encouragement. to those
who actually fear Him and reverence Him. Who is among you that feareth
the Lord? Who is among you that reverences
the Lord in His holy name? He speaks to those that walk
really as His children. He is speaking to His bride.
He comforts them. He says, you that are actually
walking in darkness and have no light, That is, you're walking
in bondage and I do know, I do know where you are. I put you
there as chastisement because I love you and I'm going to teach
you. You that are walking, not in
spiritual darkness, when it says that walketh in darkness and
hath no light, he's talking about those that can't find where are
you. Why is it that I'm going through
what I'm going through? How often do we find ourselves
in that position? You that walk in darkness and
don't know the mind of the Lord for right now. That's what he's
saying. He's talking, I mean, he can't be saying that they
don't know Him because they do. Because you that actually fear
the Lord. The fear of the Lord is the beginning.
That's the major part of wisdom. That obey the voice of His servant
that walk in darkness and have no light. Let Him Trust in the
name of the Lord. When we don't know where to go,
what is the word of encouragement? Let him trust in the Lord. Let him stay upon his God. And then that word of warning,
verse 11, to those that will not have this man to rule over
them. Behold, all ye that kindle a
fire, that accomplish yourselves about with sparks and walk in
the light of your fire, and in the sparks that you've kindled,
this shall you have of mine hand. You shall lie down in sorrow. Here's the word of warning. What
an awful end to those who have kindled A fire of their own making. A fire to keep them secure and
warm spiritually. Safe from predators. I'm going
to stand next to my fire that I've committed. Satan will never
get to me. The world won't get to me. I can protect myself. I'll build
my own fire. I have a fire of my kindling
to light my way and protect me from all harm. And you reject
the light himself? Almighty God, when Israel left
Egypt, what did the Lord provide for them? A pillar of fire at
night, a pillar of cloud by day. And God guided them. He said,
you that kindle your own fire, you walk about in your own sparks,
find all your comfort in the light that you've made and the
warmth that you've kindled, this shall you have of my hand. You're going to die in sorrow. You're going to die in misery.
But I have to go into the first verse of this next chapter. And
here I'll stop. Hearken to me. Ye that follow
after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord, look unto the
rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence
ye are digged. Hearken to me in the preaching
of the gospel. I cannot say this enough. Make much of hearing the gospel
preached. Why? Faith cometh by hearing. And hearing by the Word of God. Hearken to me. You that follow
after righteousness. You that follow after Christ
and His righteousness. God's righteousness. Not mine,
but His. Hearken to me. Hearken to the
message from me. I who chose you. I who redeemed
you. I who called you by grace. I
who keeps you by my power. Look to me. Look to me. for all of your help, all of
your security. Look to the rock, this is so
precious, look unto the rock, look to the refuge whence ye
are hewn, that is quarried. Look unto me from which you were
made and taken and to the hole of the pit. I want you to remember
where we all came from. Look unto Him who alone is our
haven. And don't ever forget where you
came from. Look to the hole of the pit.
The cistern. That's what that means. It says
the hole of the pit. It means the dungeon or the cistern
from which you are digged. That is picked out or put out
is what it is. From which you were digged. Look
to Christ. You that accuse me. of being
unfaithful to you? Where is the bill of divorce
that I gave you? When did I ever sell you out
because I owed somebody? Is my hand unable to deliver? I parted the sea for you. I clothed Egypt in absolute darkness
and gave you light. I turned the river into blood. The fish stunk because they died. I pulled you out. I came into
this world and pleased the Father. I humbled myself. I gave my back
to the smiters. I gave my beard to those that
plucked it off. They spit in my face. I humbled myself and I finished
the work. Hearken to me. Hearken to me. Come to me. Remember the rock
from which you've been hewn. Where God put you in me. Kept you in me. And for all that
will desire to build their own fire, If you find your security
and you're on fire, you're gonna lay down in misery. Come unto
me, all ye that labor heavy laden. He said, I'll give you rest.
Oh, how I thank God for mercy. Mercy. Mercy is for rebellious
sinners. That's what mercy's for. That's
mercy. Lord, have mercy on me for Christ's
sake. Amen.