All right, if you take your Bibles
and turn with me to Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 1, and we'll be
looking at the first nine verses in this chapter, and I've entitled
this message, The Sure Hope, The Sure Hope of the Remnant. The Sure Hope of the Remnant. Now, as we study this chapter
together, I want you to see that I can see seven divisions in
this chapter. There are seven distinct divisions
in this chapter given to us, and each one of these divisions
are in themselves messages. And the first division we see
in verses one through eight, or two through eight, is the
universal depravity of man. The universal depravity of man,
and in verse 9, we see the sure, certain, and necessary election
of the remnant. The third thing is the utter
uselessness of religious works and offerings without Christ.
That's verses 10 through 15. The fourth thing is the impossibility
of saving oneself in verses 16 and 17. He said, wash yourselves,
do good. Impossible. Impossible. Then in verse 5, we have the
promise, the declaration and promise of salvation to all who
come to Christ. He said, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be white as wool. And those that receive this message,
they have life. those who do not will be damned
and the sixth thing is we see that this sovereign this salvation
that is promised in verses 18 through 20 this salvation is
a sovereign act of God alone in verses 25 to 27 and then in
the seventh thing you're going to see is the promised destruction
of every sinner in verses 28 through 31. There's your divisions. Now we're only looking at two
this morning. We're only looking at two divisions this morning.
The first two, the universal depravity of all men, verses
2 through 8, and then we're going to see the hope. I'm so, if you
just did the one, I considered you doing the one, but without
the second, it would be most miserable. And so the second,
then, is the sure hope of the remnant, except the Lord of hosts
had left us a remnant. We would have all been like Sodom
and Gomorrah. Now, we know this, that this
prophecy was written to the nation of Judah by the prophet Isaiah. It says a vision in verse 1 of
Isaiah, the son of Amos, when he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem,
This was written to Jerusalem and Judah, and surely it has
things to do with that nation at that time. But we know this,
that this is not just speaking to them. This is not just speaking
to the Jews nationally, but rather to spiritual Israel, to spiritual
Israel, to those who are the sons, the true sons of Abraham. This morning, if you are a believer
in Jesus Christ, you are the true Israel. YOU ARE THE TRUE
SONS OF ABRAHAM. AND THIS MESSAGE IS TO YOU. IT WAS FOR THOSE WHO ARE THE
SONS OF GOD, NOT ACCORDING TO THE FLESH, BUT THOSE WHO ARE
SPIRITUAL SONS, THOSE WHO ARE REPRESENTED BEFORE GOD BY JESUS
CHRIST. AND I TELL YOU, ALL THE SPIRITUAL
ISRAEL, It was for them that Jesus Christ came into the world
and obtained righteousness by His own obedience. It was for
spiritual Israel alone that His offering has forever satisfied
the justice of God and redeemed them and accomplished their redemption. And now the Holy Spirit is sent
forth into the world and through the preaching of the gospel in
order to save His people. This is what a spiritual Israel
is. Those who are chosen of God,
those who are redeemed by Christ, and those who are called by the
Spirit of God through the preaching of the Word. And that's what
we're doing this morning, is I'm preaching to you the Word
of God. This is God's Word. And every
time this Word is preached, every time this Word is preached, it
is effectual. is effectual. It is effectual to the hearts
of the elect. Now this morning I know this,
if you are dead in trespasses and sins and God by grace and
power gives you life this morning, that is the intent of God through
the preaching of the gospel, to give life to His elect. And
the other purpose of preaching the gospel is that those who
are quickened might be comforted and encouraged. That's my aim
this morning, is preaching the gospel to you that are dead.
My hope is that the Spirit of God will give you life. And you
that are living, listen to me, you that are alive, you that
are the spiritual Israel of God, my design by God's grace is to
preach the word so that you should be comforted encouraged and you
know I have this confidence not in myself not in my ability but
this that God's Word is always successful it's always successful
you know what the Lord said in Isaiah 55 he said my word that
goeth forth out of my mouth will accomplish the thing where into
I send it Paul said this same thing in 2 Corinthians 2, in
verse 14, he said, Now thanks be to God, who always causes
us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of
the knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a
sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that
perish. To the one we are savour of death
unto death, and to the other a savour of life unto life. for
such things. So my intent this morning is
to preach to God's people, that God's people should either be
quickened or they should be comforted. But I know this, it will happen.
It will happen as God determines it. Now, as we preach, let's
see these two things this morning in this text. First of all, I
want you to see the universal depravity all men as it is stated
in verses 2 through verse 8 and then secondly a sure and necessary
election and salvation of the remnant let's look at this first
look at verse 2 the scripture says here O you heavens and give
ear O earth who's that that's everyone in it anybody missing
in this one no that includes everyone listen what God says
For the LORD hath spoken, I have nourished and brought up children,
and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner,
the ass his master's crib. But Israel doth not know, my
people doth not consider. Ah, sinful nation, a people laden
with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters. They have forsaken the Lord.
They have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger. They are
gone away backward. Why should you be stricken anymore?
Why will you revolt more and more? The whole head is sick. The whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even
to the head there is no soundness in it but wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores. that have not been closed, neither
bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate,
your cities are burned with fire, your land strangers devour it,
and in your presence it is desolate as overthrown by strangers. And
the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in the vineyard,
as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. THE UNIVERSAL
DEPRAVITY OF MAN. THE FIRST THING I WANT YOU TO
SEE THIS IS THAT ALL MEN BY NATURE HAVE REBELLED. NOW WHAT IT SAYS
THERE IN VERSE 2, LOOK AT THIS, I HAVE NOURISHED UP A CHILDREN,
I'VE BROUGHT UP A CHILDREN, AND THEY HAVE WHAT? REBELLED AGAINST
ME. HEREIN, FRIENDS, IS THE EVIDENCE
OF DEPRAVITY, EVEN REBELLION AGAINST GOD. What it say over there in Romans
chapter 8, for the carnal mind is what? Enmity against God. And what's the evidence of such
enmity? You say, I don't hate God. I
don't hate God. Here's the evidence you hate
God. For you are neither subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. That's the carnal nature of man.
We have rebelled against God. Now listen, God did nurture and
brought up his children in this way. When Adam was created, he
was created in perfection. God made Adam and Adam was subject
to God. And remember, after he had made
Adam, he said this, God said, behold, it is very good. He said
everything else was good. But when he made Adam, he said,
behold, it is very good. And yet when Adam was tempted,
when Adam was tempted, he knowingly, willingly rebelled against God. And then the just sentence of
God fell on him, and he died. In the day thou eatest thereof,
thou shalt surely die. And he became spiritually dead,
spiritually dead in trespasses and sins. Adam lost all knowledge
of God. Now, he lost all knowledge of
who God really is. He retained some knowledge. He retained the knowledge of
God's existence. He knew God existed. He knew
some measure of God's justice. His conscience was still able
to feel guilt. He knew he needed a covering. for his nakedness before God. But I'll tell you this, he was
ignorant. He was ignorant of God's righteousness. He became ignorant. He rebelled,
and a result of the rebellion was what? Ignorance. Ignorance. Can you imagine this,
that he really thought that fig leaves would hide his sin, that
God would not be able then to know there was something wrong.
You ever have your kids try to break something, try to glue
it together, thinking, oh, they're not going to know. That's exactly
what Adam did. He was trying to fix it. And
yet he was doing it in ignorance. He was ignorant of God's righteousness. And what's the manifestation?
It's going about to establish his own righteousness, his own
acceptance with God. And this same nature of sin and
death and blindness has been passed down to every one of us. We all by nature are born dead
in sins, and the evidence is this. We have rebelled against
God. We have rebelled against Him.
We said in our hearts, we may not even said it with our lips,
but we said it with every action and every thought of evil that
comes to our mind. We said this, I will not have
Him to rule over me. I will have my own way. I will
do what I please. rebel against God. And the result of that is nothing
but a matter of ignorance. Look what God says you are, because
you rebelled. The ox knoweth his owner, the
ass knoweth his master's crib, but Israel doth not know, my
people doth not consider. He said you are dumber than an
ox and an ass. An ox knows his owner. Man doesn't
even acknowledge God as his creator. If he does, he acknowledges God
as his judge, as his maker, as his owner. Man doesn't acknowledge God as
his owner. An ass, he said, an ass knows where his refuge is. You know that? When a thunderstorm
comes, an ass will know where to go. When God's judgment comes,
man's so stupid he don't even know where to go. Instead of
going to the only refuge, Jesus Christ, man runs to a refuge
of lies. He's ignorant as an ass. In verse 4, look at this, a sinful
nation of people laden with iniquity. That word laden means heaviness.
Man is not only ignorant, but he is laden down, burdened down
with iniquity. And he's, it says he's the seed
of evildoers, children that are corrupters. They have forsaken
the Lord. They have provoked the Holy One
to anger. They're going way backwards. Man has everything backwards.
You know that? Man does everything backwards. He's laden with iniquity. What
does man do when he's laden with iniquity? Well, man by nature
seeks to be justified by the law. Man seeks to be justified
by the law. And instead of the burden getting
lighter, what happens? When a man seeks to be justified
by law, what happens? Does the burden get lighter?
It gets heavier. He said, my people are laden
with sin. They just pour heaviness on top
of themselves. How? By going to the law to be
justified. Why? Because the law only makes
the bondage worse. When the young church, the early
church, You remember that the Jews were trying to put certain
laws on those Gentile believers. And when that came to the apostles,
remember what Peter said in Acts chapter 15, he said this, why
tempt ye God to put the yoke on the neck of the disciples
which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? Why go
back to the law? That's backwards. You're turned
backwards. You see, the law can only increase
the burden of sin. It can never relieve it. The law can only expose sin,
not remedy it. The law can only condemn sin. It cannot make the comers thereunto
righteous. Isn't that exactly what Paul
said in Galatians 3? He said this, as many as are
of the works of the law are under what? blessing of the law? No, he said the curse of the
law. For it is written, cursed is everyone that continueth not,
and listen to this, all things which are written in the book
of the law to do them. That's important because most men, they just say,
well I'm not saying the whole law, I'm just saying this one
part of the law. Well you don't, you're not gonna
be justified by lambs and goats and blood and temples and altars,
but you need to keep the moral law. You need to keep the Sabbath
worship. You need to, instead of baptism,
we circumcise. Baptism is circumcision in the
New Testament. Hogwash. That's foolishness. That's ignorance. The law is
the law is the law, and if you take one part of the law, you
must take the whole law. And what does it say? Curses
everyone that continue with not in all things written in the
book of the law to do them. The law cannot anything but curse
and condemn because we are all by nature what this is the next
part full of sin the law can do nothing to the sinner but
condemn him and that's exactly what the scriptures teach in
the next look at verse 5 verse 5 said why should you be stricken
anymore you will revolt more and more The whole head is sick. The whole heart is faint. Notice this question. Why should
you be stricken anymore? The meaning of this is the chastisements
that were laid on him, the judgments of these people that were God
laid on him. God's saying they are of no purpose. The judgments of God had no good
effect on the condemned. They are of no avail. They are
unprofitable to them. In fact, they only aggravate
sin. They only aggravate it. Why should
you be stricken more and more? God says, if I just keep stricken
you, if I just keep beating you, if I just keep throwing my judgments
on you, you know what? It's not gonna be availing you
anything. This is the product of total
depravity, is that when God puts judgments on men, they don't
repent. They only revolt. That's what it says, isn't it?
What's the answer to this? Why should I stricken you anymore?
You will only revolt more and more. The law, it only brings condemnation,
and yet it doesn't cause repentance. It only aggravates sin. It only stirs up sin. I've used
this illustration as a kid. You know, you see, if somebody
were to paint something, you see a sign that says, wet paint,
don't touch. What is the first inclination?
It only stirs me up to touch it when you tell me not to. The law can only stir up sin
in the natural man. It can't remedy it. The conscience of a man cries
out in his guilt. The pains of a man's sin warn
him. God sends his prophets. God sends
his son to warn men of sin. He gave his word, but no matter
the judgment of God that is laid upon the natural man, men by
nature will still not repent. All right, I'll prove it. Let
me go prove it now. Go over to Revelation chapter
16. Listen to this. This should be amazing. This
should show you how depraved man actually is. Revelation 16,
and look at verse 8. Revelation 16 and verse 8. It
said, The fourth angel poured out his vial, these vials of
wrath, upon the son. And power was given to him to,
listen, scorched men with fire." Now what? That's a judgment of
God. This is a warning of God. Now
listen what happens. And men were scorched with great
heat. Notice what they did. And they,
what? Did they repent? No. And they blasphemed the name
of God which had given power over these plagues. they repented
not to give him glory. Look at the next one. The fifth
angel poured out. You figure that was enough. There's another
one coming. The fifth angel poured out his
vial upon the seed of the beast, and the kingdom was full of darkness. And what they do? They gnawed
their tongues for pain. And notice what they did. They
blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their
sores, and repented not of their deeds. Listen, you can beat a man with
the law. You can bind the man with the
law. You can threaten him with hell
and eternal damnation. He could actually be made to
feel the fires of hell from underneath his feet. He could possibly see
that God holds his life over the pit of hell, and it is held
by one hair's breadth. And that knowledge without Christ,
without the power of God and the Holy Spirit will avail nothing. You can make a man physically
suffer, God can make him physically suffer, and it will be to no
avail. He will only revolt more and more. It will do no good.
Now look at verse 5 and 6 and see why it won't do any good.
LOOK AT VERSE END OF VERSE 5, THIS IS WHY IT WON'T DO ANY GOOD.
BECAUSE THE WHOLE HEAD IS SICK, THE WHOLE HEART IS FAINT. FROM THE SOLE OF THE FOOT EVEN
UNTO THE HEAD THERE IS NO SOUNDNESS IN IT, BUT WOUNDS AND BRUISES
AND PUTREFYING SORES, THEY HAVE NOT BEEN CLOSED UP, NEITHER BOUND
UP NOR MOLIFIED WITH OINTMENT. THE WHOLE Man is leprous. If God give us grace to see the
pitiful condition of man, what a ruined state. This is a picture of a leper
and from the bottom of his feet he has leprosy and it consumes
his whole body all the way to the crown so that there's not
one good piece of flesh left on him. This is how we are. There is no goodness in man. There is no soundness. But we are as a leprous man,
covered from head to toe with sins. The sores of our sins are
open and daily spewing out iniquity. The way that Todd put it, I thought
it was very good. You cannot not sin. Sin is what
we are by nature. It's not just what we do. We
are by nature full of sin. This is why we revolt. This is
why we rebel. This is why we are ignorant,
because we are full of sin. We cannot please God in any measure. When he says this in verse 16
of this chapter, God says, go wash yourself, make yourself
clean, put away your evil doings. All right. Who can do that? Who can wash himself? Who can do good? Jesus said this in Matthew 13. He said, either make the whole
tree good and the fruit will be good or make the tree corrupt
and the fruit is corrupt. He said, you know, and by their
fruits, he said, you generation of vipers, how can you being
evil speak good things? You can't. Can the leper change
his spots? Can the Ethiopian change his
skin? Listen, neither can you do good who are accustomed to
doing evil. You cannot heal yourself. Behold what God says about the
condition of man that you are absolutely, totally depraved. Man by nature is rebellious,
he is ignorant of God's righteousness, which is Jesus Christ, going
about to establish his own righteousness by the law, and no amount of
suffering, no amount of affliction, no amount of warnings will move
him to repent, because the whole head is sick, the whole heart
is full of sin. Now notice this in the next verse
here, verse 7. Your country is desolate. Your
cities are burned with fire. Your land, strangers devour it
in your presence, and it is desolate and overthrown by strangers. Behold, this says this, the whole
race is desolate. All hope of worship is gone. You know, when they burned that
temple in Jerusalem, the Jews understood this, no hope of worship. When a man by nature is born
into this world, there is no hope of worshiping God in himself. Now later on, he's going to see
this in all our sacrifices and religions. All of our best efforts
are not able to please God. We are overtaken by strangers,
the strangers of lust and enmity against God. We are overruled
by Satan and the love of this world. Do you see then the greatness
of our depravity? Can you not see the completeness
of our depravity? If I were to end there, what
hope would there be? But listen, this morning, I desire,
by God's grace, to show you hope. Look at this. The hope is found
in verse 9. Except the Lord of hosts had
left unto us a small remnant, we should have been as Sodom
we should have been, like unto the city of Gomorrah. Except,
without this divine exception, Without God doing something for
us, there would have been no salvation. And what is this thing
that God has done? He has left us a remnant, a remnant. After God has shown us the utter
darkness and depravity of man, the whole heart, the whole head
being full of sin, it cannot redeem itself by works or by
law or by the will of man. God now gives us hope. He now shines a ray of light,
of divine light and knowledge, so that all who see their condition
might have hope of salvation. Here's the light. Except the
Lord of hosts had left us a remnant. And the light of hope here is
this matter of divine sovereign election. Sovereign election. God says except he had left us
a remnant, a people. Except had God chosen a people,
a remnant they are called, there would have been no salvation.
There would have been no salvation at all. The entire race of man
would have suffered the same fate as Sodom and Gomorrah. Can
you imagine a more depraved people than Sodom and Gomorrah? Consider this. When Lot was there,
you remember those angels visited Sodom. They came to Lot. And
these Sodomites were so overpowered by their lust for these angels
that they came on to the house, came to the house, and in violence
would have taken them. I'll tell you, there's nothing
more abominable than a sodomite. And yet men today just, eh, sodomites,
homosexuals, no big deal. Yeah, it's a huge deal. They
even go, they're people that go against nature. They're an abomination unto God. And God uses Sodom and Gomorrah
here as the worst case scenario. You remember what they did to
those, they, they wanted those angels and Lot said, I'll give
you my daughter. He said, we don't want your daughters. We
want them. And when those angels blinded
those men, they were so filled with sin and desire that they
didn't run away. but they ran toward the door. They groped in the dark trying
to find these men. But I want you to see this, man
by nature, we are just as evil as they are. Now listen, you may not be a
sodomite physically, but if God were to take our hands off of
us, We are very capable of the same thing by nature. We are
the same thing. And we all are worthy just as
Sodom and Gomorrah met the destruction and eternal damnation of God,
even so are we all worthy of God's judgment. But here's the
hope for man that God has purpose to save a remnant. And the illustration
is who? Lot. You remember before Lot
knew it. God and Abraham were having a
conversation. And Abraham was interceding for
Lot. And that's exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ was doing for this remnant. He was interceding for
them. And you know what happened? Lot
is a picture of the remnant. Had God not chosen Lot, He would
have been just like the rest. But God in mercy chose that remnant,
Lot, which pictures all the elect, and He delivered him out of Sodom. And that's what He does for all
of this remnant. There is a remnant according
to the election of grace. Friends, God will not save all
men. God will not save all men. God has chosen a remnant according
to the election of grace that he would save. And this remnant
was chosen from eternity. Was chosen from eternity. None
of them deserve God's mercy. We all have sinned and missed
the mark of God's holiness. And because of sin and God's
immutable justice, had it not been for the election of the
remnant, none of us would have been saved. we all would have
been like Sodom and Gomorrah. So I say this, praise God for
his election. You know what religious man says?
Curse God for his election. I don't want to hear that. You
know why? You still think you've got some
goodness. You see, I understand I have nothing good. From the
head to the foot, I am full of sin. The only hope for me is
that God would choose, that God would do the work. Praise God
for His election. Otherwise, what? I'd have been
a Sodom and like a Gomorrah. Praise God for His election.
Now, I want you to see some things about this election. First of
all, it's sovereign. It's sovereign. Go to Ephesians
chapter 1, read it again with me, this blessed passage. Ephesians
chapter 1 and verse 3, Paul blesses God. He praises God. He said, blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because that he hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. Well, how did He do that, Paul?
How did He bless us with all spiritual blessing? According,
this is how, according as He had chosen us, the remnant, according
as He had chosen us in Christ, put us in union with Christ before
the foundation of the world. What's the purpose of His election? That we should be holy. We who
have all sin, He purposed that we should have no sin. Isn't
that something? be holy and without blame before
Him. Here's His motivation, in love,
having predestined us under the adoption of children. This is
how He's going to do it, by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. This
is the election of grace. It is sovereign. It is something
God does without you. Where were you? When God, this took place, where
were you? What did you have to do with this? Nothing. Nothing. It's sovereign. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ who did this. All glory and praise
be to our God who has made us accepted in the blood according
to His will, according to the praise of His glory of His grace. He made us accepted, sovereign.
Well, people say, well, I believe that He looked down at time and
saw what you would do. No, because this election is
not only sovereign, it is unconditional. Romans chapter 9, look at it.
Tell me if it's unconditional. Romans chapter 9, you know the
two men He's talking about, Jacob and Esau. And what did God say
about these two men while they were unborn? He said, for the
children, verse 11 of chapter 9 of Romans, for the children
not being yet born, neither having done good or evil. So what? It's
not according to what they've done or they didn't do. They've
done nothing, good or evil. For what purpose? That the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works. But
of him that called it and said it to her, the elder shall serve
the younger, as it is written, Jacob, have I loved But Esau
have I hated." Jacob was loved unconditionally. Unconditionally. And so are the remnant. They're
chosen unconditionally according to the purpose of God in sovereign
election. And thirdly, it is a matter of
love. God's election is because of
love. Love is the motivating factor. God says, In Jeremiah 31, the
Lord hath appeared unto me of old, saying, Yea, I have loved
thee. How long have you loved me? With
an everlasting love. And this love of God that chose
the remnant, it's immutable love. It doesn't change. This morning,
do you love God as much as you did before? Or is your love less
this morning? Is it more this morning? What
is it? Do you love Him more today? Or do you love him less today?
Well, you see, the election of this remnant doesn't depend on
the love of the remnant. It depends on the love of the
Father, which is immutable. That word's unchangeable love.
He said, I am the Lord. What? I change not. Therefore, who? The remnant. The sons of Jacob are not consumed. But who are the remnant? Who
are they? I'll tell you this, they are
even as all the race of Adam, they are scattered, they are
ruined, they are depraved even as others, even as others. God's people, God's remnant is
scattered upon the face of the earth. All the elect, those scattered
and ruined, this is what God promises to His elect, I will
gather them. This remnant, according to the
election of grace, this remnant of God's elect, they are scattered,
they are even as all of other in Adam's race, yet God promises
them that He will gather. Jeremiah 23, verse 3, He said,
I will gather the remnant of My flock from all countries whither
I have driven them. But let's stay in Isaiah. Go
back to Isaiah. Now, look, I'm just gonna stay in Isaiah. I'm
gonna flip through some passages and show you this. Go to Isaiah
10. Isaiah 10. Look at verse 20. And it shall come to pass in
that day that the remnant of Israel and Setzar's escaped of
the house of Judah shall no more stay upon him that smote them,
but shall stay upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. The remnant shall return, even
the remnant of Jacob, unto the mighty God. For though thy people,
Israel, be as the sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall
return. The consumption decreed shall
overflow with righteousness. I want to notice a couple of
things here. First, I want you to notice this. The remnant of
Israel, Those that have escaped of the
house of Judah. This is God's promise that they
should return to him God's remnant they shall no more stay upon
them that smote them, but they shall stay upon the Lord This
is a promise that all who are who were held captive by sin
All who are held captive by Satan who are the remnant of God God
says there's coming a day where you will no more stay upon your
captor You will no more depend upon them, but you will depend
upon the Lord. When he comes to his remnant,
you know what he does? He sets us free. We no longer
depend upon ourselves for salvation. Isn't that something? We no longer
depend upon the law in order to save us, or our works, or
our will, or our false gods, or our religion. Who do we stay
on? The Lord Jesus Christ. We come by faith to Christ. His remnant is promised. They
shall return. And the remnant of Jacob unto
the mighty God. We come recognizing that our
salvation is by the mighty God. The remnant will always recognize
that his salvation is by the power of God and not self. Not
will, not man, but God. We return unto the mighty God.
And notice this, for though thy people Israel shall be as the
sand of the sea, yet a remnant of them shall return. I like
this last part. The consummation decreed shall
overflow with righteousness. I think of this verse, where
sin did abound, grace did much more abound. That consumption
that was decreed, which was our nature, judgment, you know what
it overflows with now? Righteousness. You see, we have
now the righteousness of Jesus Christ imputed and imparted to
us in the new nature. So now then, the remnant are
made righteous, and it overflows the consumption. You see, I have
more righteousness now than ever had sin before. My righteousness
exceeds my sin. And you know what? Really, I
have righteousness because there is no more sin, seeing that the
blood has washed it away. You see, He did what I couldn't
do. He washed my sins. He clothed me in His righteousness. This is what we return to. We
return to Jesus Christ. Look at verse chapter 11 and
verse 10. Look at chapter 11 and verse 10. It says, And in
that day there shall the root of Jesse, Jesus Christ, which
shall be an ensign for the people. To it shall the Gentiles seek,
and his rest shall be glorious." What is this? In that day, Jesus
Christ, when he is lifted up, is an ensign. It's the manifestation
of how a sinner is saved. He said, when the Son of Man
shall be lifted up, He shall draw all men to Him. You want
to know where salvation is? It is in the cross of Jesus Christ. It's Christ and Him crucified. And you know what? The Gentiles
shall seek it. That's us, isn't it? And what do we find there? We find rest. The remnant always
finds rest. Why? Free from the law, happy
condition. Jesus has bled, and there is
remission. Cursed by the law, bruised by
the fall, Christ hath redeemed us, what? Once for all. There's rest. There's rest in
Christ. And it shall come to pass in
that day that the Lord shall set his hand again the second
time to recover the remnant of his people. What's that? Well,
the first time he comes, his hand is heavy. He exposes our
sins. But then comes the second hand.
What is that? I'm gonna come the second time
with the second hand and recover my people Recover them Jesus
Christ is coming into work and He has been lifted up our only
Savior for lost sinners the sole author and captain of our salvation
To him we flee to him we lay hold on eternal life. That's what the remnant does
We see we are redeemed by his grace redeemed from our sins
by His blood, covered by His righteousness, and He turns His
hand to us. And the third thing I want you
to see is that the remnant, when God's hand of grace comes upon
His remnant, they will return by the same way. Look at verse
16 of Isaiah chapter 11, verse 16. And there shall be a highway
for the remnant. Now who? Who's the highway for?
The remnant, for His people. which shall be left from Assyria,
like as it was in the day when he came up out of the land of
Egypt." You know, all the remnant, God says, they're going to return
to me, they're going to come to me, they're going to be recovered
by me, and this is the way they're going to come, by this highway. What is that highway? It is faith
in Jesus Christ. They all come by faith in Christ.
Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes
to God but by me. He is the only way. So then how
sweet is this election of grace? How sweet is this to your heart,
knowing this, except the Lord had purpose to save us, except
Christ came and saved us, except the Spirit of God quicken us
and give us life, we would have all been what? Just like Sodom
and No different. No different. How sweet is election. Behold who we were dead in sin.
But God before purposed our salvation. Christ fulfilled it. And the
Spirit shall come. And this is the last thing about
all the remnant of Israel. They're safe. They're safe. Go to Isaiah 37 and look at verse
3. Isaiah chapter 37, look at verse
3. And he said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a
day of trouble. Remember now, the Assyrian army
had surrounded them and now he's going to Isaiah and he's saying,
look, we're surrounded. Today is a day of trouble. And
the rebuke of blasphemy, the children have come to birth and
they're not your strength to bring forth. It may be that the
Lord will hear the words of Rav Shecha, the king of Assyria,
his master, has sent reproaching the living God, and will reprove
the words which the Lord thy God hath heard. Wherefore, listen,
lift up thy prayer for the remnant. What is he asking for? Troubles
come, and he's asking for what? Intercession. Pray for the remnant. All of those who are the remnant
have been redeemed by the blood of Christ, who have been quickened,
are not exempt from trouble. You found that out, you who are
believers? You remnant, you found that out yet you're not exempt
from trouble? No, we are not yet free from
the old nature of sin. We are often in trouble, we suffer
pain, we suffer grief, we suffer persecution, we have foes within,
foes without. But here is our hope. Here is
my hope. We shall endure. Why? Because the Lord Jesus ever liveth
to make intercession for us. He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. You see, He's already made intercession,
hasn't He? By His death. That's what is
said in Isaiah chapter 53. He said, He shall bear the sins
of many and made intercession for the transgressors. He already
made intercession. Our sins are already gone. Righteousness
already accomplished. He already interceded. But it
doesn't stop there. No, He's risen. And because He's
risen, you listen, for the remnant, only for the remnant He prays.
Only for the remnant He intercedes. He ever liveth to make intercession
for us. Ever liveth. You know, those
high priests, they interceded for Israel, but when they died,
they had to get somebody else. You see, this high priest, he
ever liveth. So my intercession is constant,
it's perpetual, it's never-ending intercession. So what does this
mean? No matter the darkness of the
providence, no matter how much you and I fail, We will never lose faith in Christ. What's the difference between
Peter and Judas? Both betrayed Christ. What was the difference? What
did Christ say? I have prayed for thee. What's the difference between
the remnant and the rest? Here it is, I have prayed for thee. Isaiah 37 verse 31, the remnant
is escaped and the house of Judah shall take root and bear fruit,
take root downward and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem
shall go forth a remnant and they shall escape out of Mount
Zion. Listen, the zeal of the Lord
of hosts shall do this. Who's saving who? God saves His remnant. And His remnant acknowledge,
I am saved of God. I'm saved of God. Listen, we're
going to be saved because we are rooted in Christ. And because
we are rooted in Christ, listen to this, There is therefore now
no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. Do you not see now, because of
the depravity of our nature, hey look, you've rebelled. You're
ignorant of the righteousness of God. You're covered from sin
from the foot to the head. You're desolate with no hope
to save yourself. Here's the hope. Except the Lord
God had left us a remnant, we'd all been like Sodom and Gomorrah.
And because there is a remnant, who is this? These are the ones
chosen in sovereign election. These are the ones chosen by
unconditional election. These are the ones chosen put
in Christ. These are the ones Christ came to die for. These
are the ones the Holy Spirit comes and quickens. These are
the ones the Holy Spirit keeps in power and demonstration of
that Spirit. Keeps us in the faith. And we
shall never see the condemnation of God. Why? Because Christ already
endured the condemnation. For who? The remnant. Now is
this not sure? This is the sure hope of the
remnant. Listen, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Jesus Christ
and Him risen from the dead. Whoever liveth to make intercession
for us. If you're the remnant, you're
safe. Safe. How do I know if I'm the remnant?
Do you believe on Jesus Christ alone? Those who believe are
the remnant. Pray God bless this to you.