Let us turn once again to God's
Word and turning to those closing verses in the book of the Prophet
Isaiah Isaiah 66 and I'll read verses 23 and 24 Isaiah 66 and
the verses 23 and 24 and it shall come to pass that from one new
moon to another and from one Sabbath to another shall all
flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord, and they
shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that
have transgressed against me, for their worm shall not die,
neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring
unto all flesh." Well, this morning we were looking
at the words that we find here in verse 23 and I thought to
say something with regards to that worship that is to be settled
and constant under the New Testament. We've been looking at these last
few verses in this remarkable book of Isaiah over the last
few weeks and considered something of the great promise that the
Gospel was to go out to the Gentiles. We began there at verse 19. I
will set a sign or an end sign among them. And in the end of
that verse, they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. And then in verse 21, I will
also take of them for priests and for Levites saith the Lord."
The rejection as it were of Israel, this is the theme that stands
out in these closing two chapters certainly. Remember the opening
words in chapter 65, God says, I am sought of them that ask
not for me, I am found of them that sought me not. I said, behold
me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.
speaking of Gentiles, and then of the Jews, I have spread out
my hands all the day unto a rebellious people which walketh in a way
that was not good after their own thoughts. So we've been thinking
of those two things, the fact that whereas in the Old Testament
God's purpose is very much tied up with Israel, you only have
I known of all the families of the earth, they were the ones
to whom God had given the holy law and all those precepts. But now with the coming of Christ
there is to be the proclamation of the Gospel to the ends of
the earth and the calling of sinners of the Gentiles. And so this morning we're trying
to say something in verse 23 of the worship that is to be
rendered unto God in this day of grace. from one Sabbath to
another shall all flesh shall all flesh come to worship before
me before me saith the Lord and I remarked earlier that under
the Old Testament there in Deuteronomy 16.16 it was only the males actually
who were to go up to the place where God had established his
worship first at Shiloh when they came into the promised land
where the tabernacle was set up so every year the male should
go there for the three great feasts of Passover and of Pentecost
and of tabernacles to appear before the Lord and then subsequently
of course when David had taken Manzion in Jerusalem from the
Jebusites and we established that worship there upon Manzion
and in the days of Solomon there was the building of the temple
but still it was the males who were to go up for those great
feasts but here under the gospel we see it's all flesh that he
is to come before God from one new moon and from one Sabbath
to another the regular, the constant worship of God. Now, when the
apostles are preaching in the Acts in the language of Paul
there in Acts 17 preaching at Athens And He speaks of those
Old Testament days as the times of ignorance. And God winked
at the Gentiles, but now He commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent. All are obliged, I said this
morning, to worship God. Every individual on the face
of the earth under that obligation. Though, of course, the unbeliever
cannot We know that the law does have its application. Whatsoever
things the law says, it says to them who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty
before God. No salvation in the law. It's
there to condemn. And yet, men are required to
worship God. We're reading this morning then
in In John 4, the words of the Lord Jesus as He goes into Samaria,
He must need to go through Samaria. He must meet the woman there
at the well at Sychar. And we have those remarkable
words concerning the worship of God. The true worshippers
worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For God seeketh
such to worship Him. God is a spirit. God is a spirit. The true worshippers worship
in spirit and in truth and of course those dead in trespasses
and sins cannot offer such spiritual worship or their worship would
be so carnal and in a sense that was the case with Israel here
in the Old Testament how carnal their worship was though they
attended to the requirements of the Levitical law offering
the stated sacrifices. But we've referred previously
to the language that we have in the former part of this chapter.
Verse 3, He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man. He that
sacrificeth a lamb as if he cut off a dog's neck. He that offereth
an oblation as if he offered swine's blood. He that burneth
incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their
own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. I also will choose their delusions
and will bring their fears upon them." And it's so strange because
here we have the end of the book and yet there at the beginning,
in the very first chapter, Isaiah is still there rebuking them,
as he does at the end, and rebuking them for their formality. Their worship was not that that
was pleasing unto the Lord God. God would away with it. As he
says there in verse 11 of chapter 1, To what purpose is the multitude
of your sacrifices unto me? I am full of the burnt offering
of rams and the fat of fed beasts. I delight not in the blood of
bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. When you come to appear
before me, who hath required this at your hand to tread my
courts? Bring no more vain oblations,
incenses, and abomination unto me." And so on. Now God rejects
the worship of those whose approach to him is but a carnal approach,
a form of godliness. As solemn it is, this book is
so full of gospel. It's very much a gospel book.
Time and again we observe that fact. You can think of whole
chapters, chapter 53 for example. What a remarkable chapter. Is
that concerning the Lord's suffering servant. It's altogether full
of gospel. It's so graphic, it's a remarkable
prophecy of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ, his substitutionary
death, how it stands out so plainly. How it's declared. Here in chapter
53 we come to chapter 55 and we see it's a chapter that's
full of gracious invitations of the gospel. God calls to sinners And yet when we come to the very
end of the book we have the solemn words where we see God rejecting
those formalists and all their hypocritical religion. And then
right at the end we have the solemn verse and I want us to
turn to it tonight. We must take it to our own hearts. Did God reject those formalists
of the Old Testament dispensation? How greater is the offense of
those who only present a formal religion to him in the day of
grace. The language of Paul there in
Hebrews 10 and again in Hebrews 12 concerning the great danger
of a mere form where there is nothing of the real power of
godliness. Think of the language in chapter
10. There at verse 26, If we sin
willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the
truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain
fearful looking forward of judgment and a fiery indignation which
shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died
without mercy, under two or three witnesses, of how much sore a
punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy who hath
trodden on the foot the Son of God, and hath accounted the blood
of the covenant wherewith he was sanctified an unholy thing,
and hath done despise unto the Spirit of Christ." It reminds
us, doesn't it, of those following words in the 12th chapter where
he makes that comparison. We referred to it this morning
where he said before us Mount Sinai and Mount Zion. And where have we come? We've
come onto not that Mount that could be touched, Mount Sinai,
the Mount that burned with fire, where God descended and spoke
those Ten Commandments. Now we've come now to Zion, the
City of the Living God, the Heavenly Jerusalem, the General Assembly
and Church of the Firstborn, God the Judge of all, Jesus the
Mediator of the Better Covenant, and so on. See that ye refuse
not him that speaketh, for if they escape not who refused him
that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape. if we turn
away from him that speaketh from heaven. Well, turning to these
words at the end of Isaiah's book, here in verse 24, it says,
They shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men
that have transgressed against me. For their worm shall not
die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be
an abhorring unto all flesh." All these transgressors. Their
worm, it says, shall not die, nor the fire be quenched. It's
the same language, isn't it, that we had in our reading there
in Mark's Gospel, the end of that ninth chapter. from verse
43 to 48. We find these words repeated
over and over. Their worm dieth not, neither
shall the fire be quenched. What does it speak of? Well,
two things, two things. It speaks surely of condemnation. It's reference to the fire that
shall not be quenched. When God threatens Israel in
this chapter, look at the language of verse 15, Behold, the Lord
will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind
to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of
fire. For by fire and by his sword
will the Lord plead with all flesh and the slain of the Lord
shall be many. Now, as we said previously it
is speaking of how God is rejecting Israel when Christ comes they
refuse to receive him but it also surely refers to the final
day and the great judgment that is to come and the condemnation
of the ungodly. Oh, what a condemnation it is.
It says here, neither shall their fire be quenched. The eternity of the sufferings
is what's being spoken of. Again, we have the language that
you're probably familiar with there in Revelation 19 concerning
the great war. When the Lord judges the great
war, a smoke rose up, it says, forever and ever. And interestingly,
it's the same language that is used with regards to God himself. in Revelation 4 and verse 10. The Lord God is the one who liveth
forever and ever. It's exactly the same terminology
in Revelation 4.10 with regards to the eternity of God that we
find then in Revelation 19.3 concerning the eternity of sufferings. Hell endures as long as God lives. The Bible knows nothing of annihilation. The fire is unquenchable. Again
in the Revelation we read of the bottomless pit. and what
is the imagery of the bottomless pits? well those who are cast
into that bottomless pit they are descending of course forever
and forever and forever there's no bottom to the pits it's the
punishment of those who have sinned against God and God of
course is infinite and it therefore must be required that if creatures
are to receive the just recompense of their sin against an infinite
God, their penalty must be an endless penalty. All the attributes
of justice in God is such that He can by no means clear the
guilty. The punishment that is meted out is to be a just punishment. God, the Infinite One, and finite
creatures, how can they pay the penalty that they've committed
against such a God? They must endure those sufferings
forever. Neither shall their fire be quenched. But then, secondly here, we also
have this expression, their worm shall not die. And I remind you,
it's exactly the same words that we have there repeated time and
again at the end of that portion that we were reading in Mark
9 verse 43 the Lord speaks of the
hands and then he speaks of the foot and then he speaks of the
eye but what does he say every time he refers to hell into the
fire that never shall be quenched where their worm dieth not and
the fire is not quenched three times three times the Lord himself
repeats those words and Christ he's not a man that he should
lie he's not the son of man that he should repent as he said it
shall he not do it as he spoken it shall he not make it good
the Lord doesn't speak idle words He tells us plainly that we are
to give account of every idle word. He spoke no idle words. Every word that fell from the
lips of the Lord Jesus Christ was an authoritative word, a
necessary word. These are solemn truths, you
see, that lie before us here in Scripture. And strangely, I say it again,
that we should have such a verse concluding such a book as is
the prophecy of Isaiah because this book is just full of gospel.
But what of those who are the rejecters of the gospel of the
grace of God? It's not only an unquenchable
fire. It's their worm. Their worm dieth
not. What is the reference here? It's the conscience. is to the
gnawing of the conscience the worm of the conscience in this world of course we see about us all the awful
consequences of sin it's a fallen world and we're fallen creatures
and our consciences aren't what they were when Adam first came
pristine from the hand of his creator God and so in the New
Testament we read of some who have a conscience that is weak
and defiled like every other faculty of the soul our consciences
have been affected by the fall in fact In 1 Timothy 4.2, Paul
speaks of someone whose conscience is seared with a hot iron. Seared
with a hot iron. It's not functioning properly.
The conscience is there. And in hell, everyone's conscience
is active. And always accusing. How solemn that is, when you
think about it. You see, there's no unbelievers
in hell. In this world, when the Lord
begins to deal with his people, and their conscience is awakened,
it's quite terrifying really. In the day of grace, where the
conscience is active and alert, Remember those on the day of
Pentecost when they hear the preaching of the Apostle Peter
and the other Apostles? They are pricked in their hearts.
That's their consciences. Now, Peter lays it plainly before
them. They are those who are the murderers
of the Son of God. They crucified the Messiah. and as they are awakened their
consciences are so active that's true with regards to all
those who are brought into a state of grace it's interesting what
Paul says writing in the in the epistle to the Romans
in the second chapter I was going to say the opening chapter, it's
the second chapter and there at verses 14 and 15
he speaks of the Gentiles which have not the law but they do
by nature the things contained in the law these having not the
law are a law unto themselves which show the work of the law
written in their hearts, their conscience is also bearing witness,
and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one
another." Now what is he saying here? Well he speaks of the conscience
but he also makes this significant point really that in man's creation
the law was written in his heart. The law was written in his heart.
that law that God will eventually promulgate and pronounce on Mount
Sinai. It was written in the hearts
of the Gentiles. Although, as I say, man is a
sinful creature, yet there's that within him, and there's
the conscience also, which appeals to that law that's written in
the heart. This is what he's saying. the conscience has a
standard and the standard is the holy law of God and when
God begins with his people and does the work in their hearts
they become aware that they are transgressors of that holy law
of God isn't that what Paul is saying there in Romans 3.19 we've
already referred to that verse all the world being brought in
guilt before God when there is any awakening in the soul of
the sinner he is conscious then of his sins and so those on the
day of Pentecost they are pricked in their hearts
we can think of the apostle Paul before he was an apostle he is
the arch persecutor He's persecuting those who are the followers of
the Lord Jesus. He's there at the martyrdom of
Stephen, when Stephen is stoned. They're bringing their garments,
they're lying them at this man's feet as they're murdering this
Christian, Stephen. But how troubled that man Saul
of Tarsus really was, how he's kicking against the pricks, how
his conscience is gnawing away, how he's feeling his guilt really
before God because he has a conscience that is now so active, so alive
and when he comes to the sufferings of those who die dead in trespasses
and sins and they go to that awful place where there is no
unbelief how their worm never dies they are constantly being
accused of what they are as sinners Who are we, those friends, who
in this day of grace have a conscience? A conscience that is tender. A conscience that is alive to
the Word of God, under the Word of God. Again, the Apostle speaks of
having always a conscience void of offence. Is that what we desire? A conscience void of offence
before God and man? Again, it's Paul, isn't it, writing
to Timothy, speaks of the necessity of holding faith and a good conscience. We say we're men and women of
faith. And we adhere, we trust to that
faith that is set before us, the great doctrines of the Gospel,
here in the New Testament, with those sinners of the Gentiles.
whose eyes have been enlightened, but do we, as we hold faith,
seek to hold it in a good conscience? Or the preciousness, you see,
of that blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He's applied in
the soul of the sinner? How much more shall the blood
of Christ purge our consciences, purge our consciences from every
dead work, that we might serve the living God. Again, Paul says,
having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies
washed in pure water. That's the Christian. Are we
those then who see the importance of conscience? That's the mark. If we know it
not in the day of grace, we will know it certainly in that fearful
day of judgment. We'll see that God is a just
God even as he condemns all the ungodly, all the unbelieving
but coming to the words of the text here, what do we see? we
see this strange sight really that those who are the Lord's
people have a sight of the sufferings of the wicked in hell they shall
go forth, it says Speaking of those that we've been considering,
those who are so favoured and blessed under the Gospel, those
Gentile sinners converted to Christ, they shall go forth and
look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against
me in the first part of the text.
What does this mean? Well, it seems to indicate, and
I believe it is scriptural, that those who are in heaven do have
some sight of those who are suffering in hell when the Lord Jesus tells
the parable of the rich man and Lazarus remember what happens
when each of these men die there is Lazarus the beggar sitting
at the gate of the rich man and the rich man just ignores the
poor beggar and there is appointed a time when each shall die, a
time to be born, a time to die and they go to their appointed
place and we're told there in Luke 16 concerning that rich
man in hell lifting up his eyes being in torment and he sees
Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham. Lazarus there amongst those who
have the faith of Abraham, a saved man. Now as the rich man could
see Lazarus, so surely those who are in heaven can also view
those who are in hell. And isn't that another truth
that is stated quite clearly in the Gospel? Look at the words
that we have in Luke. In Luke 13 and there at verses
28 and 29. The words of the Lord Jesus. He says, "...there shall be weeping
and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac,
and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you
yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the
east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the
south, and shall sit down in the kingdom of God." Oh, the
Lord speaking, you see, to the Jews. the multitudes of the Gentiles
will come from the East, from the West, from the North and
the South and you, you Jews who are rejecting the Messiah you'll
see this blessed sight and there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth
their conscience you see so very much alive and alert and does
it not aggravate in many ways it must aggravate the miseries
of those who are the damned when they witness the bliss of those
who are in heaven but then the reverse of that is also true
if it aggravates the miseries of the damned when they see that
blessed sight of the redeemed of the Lord it will also increase
the joy of those in heaven when they see what God has done with
his enemies and all of their enemies and again that's the
language isn't it that we have in the book of the Revelation
in Revelation 18 and verse 20 Rejoice over her thou heaven
and ye holy apostles and prophets for God have avenged you on her
Or when Babylon is fallen, the great enemy of God and of godliness. We understand it according to
the view of the reformers and the Puritans that this is the
Church of Rome, the very masterpiece of Satan. And in heaven there's
rejoicing over her fall with all the holy apostles and prophets.
And then, how it goes on in the 19th chapter. After these things
I heard the great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor
and power unto the Lord our God! For true and righteous are His
judgments. For He hath judged the great
whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and
hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand. And again
they said, Alleluia! And her smoke rose up for ever
and ever. Solemn words, one realizes that,
but they are the words of God, they are the words of Holy Scripture. We have then here Heaven's view
of how really. They shall go forth and look
upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against
me, says God. And concerning these men, their
worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, then
they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh. What does it teach us then? It
teaches us surely this truth that there is no pity at all
in that place called hell. God is a God who is good. God
is a God who does good. He's a merciful God. He's a gracious
God. He's a patient God. He's a long-suffering
God. He's all of these things, but
also He is a God of strict justice. He's a God who will by no means
clear the guilty. And what does He say? In Ezekiel
8 verse 18, Therefore will I also deal in fury? Mine eye shall
not spare, neither will I have pity. And though they cry in
mine ears with a loud voice, yet will I not hear them. it won't always be the day of
grace there will be another day this day of grace is to end and
then the judgment will be set and that's what the Lord God
is speaking of there in that verse in Ezekiel 8 there's no
pity from God even with regards to those who are in hell they
are receiving their just recompense but what of heaven? well in heaven
it's all praise it's all worship whereas there's no pity at all
in hell in contrast heaven is that world of laugh well there's
a sermon of that great American minister Jonathan Edwards entitled
heaven a world of love I think it's the most wonderful work I've ever read on heaven
in a sense I think it's more difficult to preach about heaven
than it is to preach about hell But how Edwards in that brings
out what heaven is. He's preaching from those words,
if I remember right, at the end of 1 Corinthians 13, neverbideth
faith, hope, charity these three, but the greatest of these is
charity love. And he speaks of heaven as that
world of love. And it's that place, of course,
of perfect worship. We were thinking of worship this
morning. all flesh shall worship before
me, saith the Lord. What is heaven? It's a place
where congregations near break up, where Sabbaths have no end.
It's continual worship of God himself. It's interesting because when heaven comes when the final
day comes and God sends his children to that appointed place and sends
the goats also to their appointed place we know that there is then
no more any opportunity of repentance or of faith in heaven they rejoice in God's
judgments but now it's the day of grace
and we're told aren't we in the presence of the angels of God
now there's joy joy in the presence of the angels over one sinner
that repenteth oh now in heaven they they rejoice in salvation
but then when he comes to the day of judgments they'll be rejoicing
in all that God has done in his strict righteousness and justice
how solemn are these matters laid before us in God's words
and we're to take account of these things and we're to examine
ourselves and to prove ourselves and to know ourselves and that
Jesus Christ is in us, except we be reprobate. Solemn words, and yet the words
that close this great prophetic book that speaks so clearly,
so plainly of the Lord Jesus Christ sets him before us as
the Lord's faithful servant, his suffering servant, his righteous
servant. And yet we come to these closing
words concerning those who are the rejecters of Christ, concerning
those who have known the favour and the blessing of salvation.
These are the ones that go forth. They shall go forth, it says,
and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed
against me. For their worm shall not die,
neither shall their fire be quenched. And they shall be an abhorring
unto all flesh. All this to the honor, to the
glory of God's name. Oh, the Lord then be pleased
to imprint the truth of it upon all of our hearts, to His own
glory. Amen.