Isaiah chapter 35 and verse 3. Strengthen ye the weak hands,
and confirm the feeble knees. The title of my message this
morning is a message to weak and feeble saints. Something pointed at yourself.
I'm pointing to myself. I pointed to myself when I read
this text. So I understand weak and feeble
saints. Now the prophet Isaiah in this
text is commanded of God to do something that is seemingly impossible
truly for the preacher to do. Strengthen the weak hands. and confirm the feeble knees. Preaching is an impossible task. I am to take the Word of God
that He has given to my heart and give it to your heart. But
I know this, if I knew that if I had to do that of myself, I
would never preach. But because he is commanded of
God to do it, along with that comes the power of the Spirit
through the means of preaching to do what? Strengthen the weak. The weak hands and the feeble
knees of God's saints. He is commanded to do this. It
is the same as he was told in chapter A few chapters from this,
I believe in chapter 40, he says to him, Comfort ye, comfort ye
my people, saith your God. Well, how is he to comfort God's
people? The same as he is to strengthen
them and to encourage them, speak ye comfortably to them. cry unto her that her warfare
is accomplished, her iniquity is pardoned, for she hath received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins." All of God's people,
all of God's people throughout the Scripture are likened unto
many things. We're sons and daughters. We're
children of God. But I think one of the characteristics
that God likens us to is very applicable. Sheep. Sheep. He likens us to sheep
for a very specific reason. He said, my sheep hear my voice
and they follow me. We are well likened to sheep. The Scripture says we all like
sheep have gone astray. Why is this? Because sheep are
weak and timid creatures. They're easily startled, often
fearful and very stupid. This is just exactly like the
believer. That is offensive to the lost
man. That is offensive to the natural
man. But to the spiritual mind, it
is a truth that we confess. We are easily startled, easily
weakened, easily timid and very stupid creatures. And the only
thing that gives us strength is the only thing that strengthens
the sheep. The voice of the shepherd. This
morning, if you only hear My voice, you will not be strengthened,
you will not be encouraged. If you hear the Shepherd's voice,
then you will be strengthened, then you will be comforted. Only then can we find joy and
solace and peace and comfort when we hear His voice and feel
His presence. Is there anything greater that
you desire this morning than to hear His voice and feel His
presence? If we do not hear His voice and
we do not feel His presence, we become very weak and fearful. Our brother Don mentioned this
and I know this to be so. The greatest trouble that a believer
can experience is not to hear or feel his Savior. It is the greatest cause of our
weakness, and the greatest cause of our joy is the opposite, to
hear and feel His presence. And because we are like sheep,
because His elect are like sheep, He has called us to life and
faith in Christ because we are His. And because we have heard
the voice of the Shepherd and we follow Him, He most surely..."
Now, this is His Word. Now, you want to hear His Word?
Here it is. "...I give unto them eternal life, and they shall
never perish." Now, that's His Word to His sheep. I give you eternal life and you
shall never perish, neither. What about somebody else? What
about somebody else taking me from your presence? What about
somebody robbing me of my eternal life and gift? No man shall pluck
you out of my hand. No man. And yet even though these words
are ringing in your ears now, you still are fearful. You still
doubt. We, like sheep, because of the
old man that still resides in us, are often burdened down,
oppressed. Oppressed. On one side, you cling
to that. You hold to that. You love that. And on the other side, you cannot
believe that. You have a dual nature wrestling
even now as you sit and listen. You have a dual nature, two natures,
wrestling and struggling within your breast. Fighting you at
every turn. We are often tempted tried, weighed
down by all the sin of the old man that remains in us. We are
so prone to sin and unbelief. We are so prone to wander from
Christ. We are so prone to set our affections
on the things of this earth that are fleeting and passing away. And it is our sin that is grievous
to us. It is our old man that we utterly
despise. Oh, wretched man that I am. I'm glad Paul said that. I would
be very discouraged if I did not hear him say that in the
present tense. O wretched man, not that I was,
wretched man that I am, I am, who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? You know that means that Roman
torture where they sewed the dead corpse to the back of the
criminal until it rotted off. The stench of that body that
was on his back, he must bear it until it fall off. And we
too must bear the stench of this old man daily. We must bear his
weight. And this old man isn't getting
better, is he? Not getting any better. I can point this out, I want
to do this in the next message, but I can do it right now. You
lay a corpse down here and tell me if it's going to get better.
Put a dead corpse on this floor and see how much day by day he
gets better. No, he will only grow more of
a stench. And that's exactly how we are.
The old man only grows worse. And so when we like Israel in
our text, Israel is being exposed of their sin. And that's exactly
what that does. When I just reminded you of that,
what happened? You were exposed. I am exposed. When that truth
comes out, there is nothing to hide. I am exposed. I know what I am. You know what
you are by nature. You feel it in your very soul.
And we, like Israel, are exposed before God. And then we become very tender
to the subject of wrath and judgment. Isn't that right? When you are
most exposed, you become very tender. You ever have a boil? Have somebody
try to pierce that or lance that. That is very tender, isn't it?
And it is with our sin. When judgment and wrath are preached
to us, we become very tender, become very weak and timid. And this is clearly set forth
in our text. Why would He say this to the
prophet? Why would He say, strengthen
ye the weak hands and confirm the feeble knees? Because their
hands were weak and their knees were feeble. And what was the
cause of it? What was the cause of their weakness
and their feebleness? I tell you, it was His message
that He just delivered in the previous chapter. A message of
judgment and wrath. In chapter 34, God calls the
whole earth to hear something. Look at that in chapter 34 in
verse 1. Come ye, come near ye nations, and hear, and hearken,
you people. Let the earth hear, and all that
is therein, the world and all things that come forth from it.
Here's the message. For the indignation of the Lord
is upon all nations, and His fury upon all their armies. He hath utterly destroyed them,
He hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall
be cast out, their stink shall come up out of their carcasses,
and the mountains shall be melted with their blood, And all the
host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled
together as a scroll. And all their host shall fall
down as a leaf falleth from the vine, and the falling of the
fig from the fig tree. For my sword shall be bathed. Behold, it shall come down upon
Edomia. and upon the people of my curse
of judgment." My curse to judgment. This is a message of divine indignation,
a message of divine wrath. The Apostle Peter testifies of
this day that is coming, the day of judgment, the day of wrath.
He says, in that day the earth shall be melted, burned up, melted
with fervent heat. And God shall judge all men,
and the ungodly shall be eternally ruined." That's what Peter testifies
up in 2 Peter. You can read later 2 Peter 3,
7-10. But this day is coming. This day is coming. Jesus said, one day I'm going
to divide all men into two groups. I will put the sheep on my right
hand and the goats on my left hand, and the sheep shall come,
and I will say to them, Come, inherit the kingdom of God prepared
for you. But there is coming a day when
the goats shall be cast off into eternal damnation." Sheep will be accepted, but the
goats shall be forever cast out into eternal damnation. Look
at verses 8 and chapter 34, for it is the day of the Lord's vengeance
and the year of recompense for the controversy of Zion. The
streams thereof shall be turned to pitch, and the dust thereof
with brimstone, and the land thereof shall become a burning
pitch. It shall not be quenched night
or day. The smoke thereof shall go up
forever. From generation to generation
it shall lie waste and none shall pass through it forever and ever. He is talking about eternal damnation
of the ungodly. And listen, every one of you
should hear this because this is what God says to you, to every
man. Judgment's coming. Judgment's
coming. Blow it off if you will. Judgment's
coming. Judgment's coming. The soul that
sinneth, it shall surely die. Psalm 24 said, Who shall ascend
into the hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in His holy place?
Who's going to stand in that day? Who's going to be able to
stand? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. But does not the Word of God
declare plainly, there is none righteous, no, not one? There's none that understandeth,
there's none that seeketh after God. They are all together, all
together, all together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good, no, not one. Therefore, by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh, no flesh, no flesh be justified in his
sight. Now this message of judgment
to the dead means nothing. You got that? It means nothing. This message of judgment to the
man who is satisfied with his works, to a man who is satisfied
with his obedience, to a man who is satisfied with his religious
deeds, the message of judgment means nothing. Why? Everything
is alright with me. I'm okay. Now it may give him some fear
for a little while. He may even use it to modify
his deeds. He may use it to motivate himself. Now get
that. A message of judgment impending
doom upon sinners and a man takes courage in that to motivate himself
to do better. I was thinking about this. There
was this homely looking man and he, very dumb and beautiful,
attractive woman he was in love with and he said, what do you
think the chances are of me with a woman like you? Is it one in
a hundred? One in a thousand? He said, no,
more like one in a million. And he says, ah, so you're saying
there's a chance. So you're saying there's a chance.
That's what man does with religion. God says it's absolutely impossible. You cannot merit righteousness. And I will judge sin, all sin,
with eternal damnation. And he said, ah, there's a chance.
Perhaps if I do my best, if I just modify my deeds, then God would
be gracious, then God would accept me. No! No. A message of judgment does not
inspire us to do better. A message of law does not inspire
us to do better. Who are believers? What does
it do? It makes us weak! He humbles
our hearts, exposes us for who we are. He
causes us to bow down in the dust. Message of sin and judgment
lays us low so that we cannot even look up. We are again and again by that
message brought down to the publican who says, Lord, be merciful to
me, the sinner. I don't know if anybody else
is a sinner. I am. I'm the sinner. I'm the only one. We may be ever so strong in our
faith, bold in our witness and faithful to the service of Christ,
but let the Holy Spirit light upon our sin and He will break
us. Let Him light upon the filth
and stench of our nature and sin, and our hands that once
were strong become weak." Our boldness melts. Our works, no matter how good
and useful to God and men, are no foundation upon which we can
stand. We're like Peter. You remember
when he asked, Lord, let me come out there today upon the sea.
Christ was walking on the sea and Peter asked, Can I come out
today? What a boldness! That was boldness. And don't
you think, don't mock him because he sank in a minute, but think
of his faith, how bold it was that he actually stepped out
of the boat. And there he was, a man walking
on the sea. But when the waves began to be
boisterous, He took his eye off of the one keeping him on the
sea and put them on the sea. And he began to sink. He began to sink. And he cried,
Save me, Lord, lest I perish. Isn't that exactly what we begin
to do when we hear a message of judgment? We begin to look
within, we begin to look at the law, and we begin to sink. Our
hands that once were so strong, our feet that were so strong
as to step out of the boat and come to Christ, we now sink. Our hands become weak, our knees
become feeble. Is it not so with you, believer?
Does not the Word of God strike deep into your hearts when it
exposes our sins? Our hands have become weak, our
knees become feeble. and we fall as dead men before
the feet of our Savior. Are you such a weak and wounded
sinner? Then behold the grace of God
that commands His preachers to strengthen your hands and confirm
your knees." Strengthen your hands and confirm
your knees. God sends us to weak and feeble
sinners. He commands us to comfort you. To comfort you. In spite of the
truth God will judge sin. In spite of the truth that God's
law must be kept. That anyone that is to approach
to God must be holy. And yet I'm here to confirm your
hand, strengthen your hand, and confirm your knees. But how can this be done? How is it to be done? By what means am I to use to
strengthen your hands and confirm your knees?" I'm going to use the same thing
Isaiah used. Okay? I'm not going to use any different
means. I'm going to use the means that God told him to tell the
people to use. Okay? So look back at 34 and
verse 16. Here it is. Are you weak? Are
you feeble? And listen. I'm going to confirm
you by this one source right here. Seek out the book of the
Lord and read. Are you weak? Are you feeble? Seek out the book and read. This is the source by which weak
hands are made strong and feeble knees are confirmed or strengthened
by the book, by God's eternal, immutable, unchangeable, and
all-wise book. Seek the book of the Lord and
read. The only assurance and strength
for sheep is the voice of the shepherd, and the only place
the shepherd is heard is in the book." What did he say about
this book? In the volume of the book. It is written of me. To do thy will, O God. to do thy will, O God." By the
which will? We are sanctified. Believer, this Word of God, this
Word of God alone is the foundation of every believer's faith and
practice. This book and this book alone. Are you weak, believer? Are your
hands empty of righteousness? I mean, that's why they're weak,
isn't it? Because there's nothing in them. You come to God and
you have nothing to give. Our hands become weak because
we have no righteousness. That's why you're weak. When
you heard the law, all that you found was you had no righteousness.
It makes your hands to be weak. You cannot work if your hands
are weak. Joanne, you have trouble with
your hands, don't you? The other day she had a lid. I tightened the lid. And she
said, oh, I get it. Okay, I can't get it. Her hands
are weak. She can't work. And so it is
with us spiritually. We cannot work to earn God's
favor. We need righteousness. How then
can we have righteousness? Well, it's in the book. It's
in the book. Are your works so vile? Where
can we turn for strength or righteousness? that our own hands cannot provide.
Are your knees weak? What happens if you lose your
knees? You'll fall. That's all you can
do. That's all you can do. You have no foundation. When
the law is preached, the foundation of our works crumble and we fall. Where then is our foundation?
It's in the book. It's in the book. Where can we find an offering
for sin that is acceptable to God? Where can we find a foundation
so as to support our soul before God? In Psalm 119 verse 28 says,
My soul melteth for heaviness. Strengthen me. according to Thy
Word." The only strength for weak believers is the Word. The
Word of God. Behold God, Thy God, as He declares
Himself in His Word, which is the only strength and foundation
for weak and feeble sinners. How does the Word of God then
strengthen us? It strengthens us because it's
sure. It's sure. It's definite. It's not speculative. And this is why we should look
at it. Look at the text. Seek you out and read. And he
tells you why. No one of these shall fail. None shall want her
mate. For my mouth, it hath commanded
and His Spirit it hath gathered them." Look at the book of God
because no one of the promises or words of this book shall fail. Not one. None of the words or prophecies
shall be without her mate. Now, you have a prophecy. What's
prophecy's mate? Is it not the fulfillment of
the prophecy? That's what he's talking about.
He said, this is what God said is going to happen, you know,
and it's going to find its mate when it happens. Not one of God's
prophecies shall be without a reality. So every time you read this book,
you better be sure it's sure. And not one word shall fail. Why? For God's mouth spoke it. God has commanded it, and His
Spirit, it hath gathered them. He hath cast the lot for them,
His hand hath divided it unto them by line." Believer, are
you weak? You are unsure? You are uncertain? You are fearful? Are you wavering?
Then be strong because the book doesn't waver. The book doesn't
move. Let God be true and every man
a liar." Anything going against this book is a liar. That's just
simple. I don't need to debate it. I
don't need to speculate about it. God's Word be true and every
man, you and me included, would be liars if we went against this
book. Therefore, the Word of God cannot
fail. For all that God has decreed
shall be filled, and not one thing He promised will ever fall
to the ground." The psalmist writes this of our God. Our God
is in the heavens, and hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. In the book of Isaiah, God Himself
declares this, Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the
earth for I am God and there is none else. I have sworn, the
word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness and it shall
not return. You got that? Everything God
says will happen, will happen. Now, who doesn't understand that? I didn't say about believing
because that takes actually more than we have to believe that.
That takes the Spirit of God to cause a man to believe it.
But it's true. Well, Pastor, the Lord says this,
I have decreed in Isaiah 46, He said He had decreed everything
from the beginning. I am God and there is none else."
Declaring the end, when? From the beginning. From ancient
times of things that were not yet done, saying, my counsel
shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Well, pastor, what about the
sins of men? If God has done everything that
He's decreed to do, and all things are decreed of God, all things
that have happened, all things that are happening now, and all
things that shall happen were purposed of God from the beginning,
what about man's sin? Yes, even man's sin was decreed
by God. Did God purpose and decree? These things to take place? Yes.
The Scripture tells us, "...shall not evil be in the city, and
the Lord hath not done it." Man is still responsible for
his sin, but I tell you this, man won't sin unless God decreed
it. Think about Pharaoh. God said, I raised you up just
to show My power in you. God hardened his heart. For what
purpose? For the glory of His grace. To show mercy to Israel. What
about Judas? Was he not the son of perdition?
Was there any possibility for Judas to not betray our Lord?
No. What about the crucifixion? Peter
said this, he said that this was ordained. Pilate and the
Gentiles and the religious leaders crucified our Lord, and yet the
Scripture says they did it according to the foreknowledge of God.
They did it according to God's ordained plan. So listen, believer,
everything that has happened and is happening is God's decree. It's by God's decree. So yes, in the providence of
time and eternity, God has decreed all things. And He has all things
that need purpose to do, and not one of them shall fail. So
what is He doing then? How does this comfort the weak? What was His purpose? What is
the object of God's purpose that He's doing? It's not according to our feelings
or opinions of men, but what He is doing is according to His
immutable Word. He's doing exactly what He recorded
in this book. And listen, for you who are believers
in Christ, let this be your strength, that whatever God is doing in
time and providence, He's doing for your good. Listen, all things
work together for good. Not to all men, but to them who
love God. To them who are called according
to His purpose. These things that are written
in this book are written for the elect of God. that God has
chosen before the world began, before time was made. God the
Father had chosen us to be His sons. Those who believe the book and
take and read the book, the immutable book of God, it is a book of
sovereign election. Isn't that what the text says
here? And He said, "...He hath cast a lot for them, Do you not
realize that the lot has already been cast for you, believer?
This lot. And this was the same language
as when the children inherited the land of Canaan. They had a lot cast to see which
portion of land they would possess. And listen, your inheritance,
your lot has already been cast. You've already been chosen of
God from eternity, purposed of God to be saved and holy before
Him. In free and sovereign love and
grace, God loved us and chose us and purposed. He commanded
that all of His elect should be holy and without blame before
Him. In love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ Himself, Weak
and feeble believer? You in whose hands is no price
to bring, no goodness to claim. Here's the book. The book says,
I chose you and purposed that you should be holy. The word
has gone out of my mouth. It shall not return. How many times has your Word
returned? How many promises have you made that you cannot keep?
You weak and feeble believer, God is nothing like us. His Word
is forever. The law has already been cast.
You have already been chosen. Your inheritance has already
been settled. But how can this be? I'm weak
in hands and full of sin. How can a sinner be righteous
before God? Never by your works. Never by
a mixture of works and grace. But only by Jesus Christ. Do
you understand that? Your hands should be made strong
because they're full of righteousness. Not righteousness you've earned,
but righteousness Christ earned for you. He earned that for you. Our Father
did not purpose that we should be holy and blameless by our
works, but by the works of our federal head and substitute,
Jesus Christ. God is holy. God can, God will,
and must punish sin. God's justice is no pretender.
He will not nor will He ever purpose to pass over our sins
without judgment. But rather, He purposed that
your sins be punished in a substitute. God didn't pass over your sins.
He punished them. He punished them in a substitute,
in a federal head. You remember the Passover? God
says, I'm going to go through Egypt and I'm going to destroy
the firstborn of everyone, every creature. And he told them, he
said, but you, you nation of Israel, you get a lamb. And you
sacrifice a lamb. And the lamb must be killed.
He must be a perfect lamb. And you take the blood and you
sprinkle it on the doorpost and on the lintel. And when I see
the blood, I will pass over you. Not when I see your goodness,
not when I see your works, not when I see your heritage, but
when I see the blood, when I see payment, and only when I see
payment will I pass over you. And this is what our Lord and
Savior has done for us. He has shed His own blood for
our sins. He has shed His own blood in
our stead. Look back in Isaiah 34. I want
you to see this. When He's talking about judgment,
I want you to see that this gets inserted in here. And it is beautiful. Look at verse 6. He just says
above, my sword's going to be bathed with the blood of the
ungodly. But now in verse 6, He said, the sword of the Lord
is filled with blood. It is made fat with fatness,
and with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fat of the kidneys
of rams, for the Lord hath a sacrifice in Bozra, and a great slaughter
in the land of Edomene." Now, what in the world is this? My
sword is fat. When you're fat, it means you're
full. You eat a good meal, you're satisfied. That's exactly what he's talking
about. He's saying, my sword is satisfied. My justice is satisfied. With what? A sacrifice that comes
from the Lord. The Lord has brought a sacrifice
from Bozrah. Go over to Isaiah 63. Connect these two together and
see what happens. Who is this that cometh from Edom with dyed
garments from Bozra. This is that glorious in his
apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength. Here it is,
I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Wherefore art
thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth
the wine-fat? I have tread in the wine-press
alone. and of the people there was none
with me. For I would tread them in mine anger, and trample them
in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments,
and I will stain all my raiments. Listen, for the day of vengeance
is in mine heart, and the year of mine redeemed." Did you send
out both of those? Judgment and redemption? The
day of vengeance and redemption. Same day. Same day. When God
took our sins, He imputed them to His Son. And Christ bore our
sins in His own body on the tree. He suffered and died in our stead
under the judgment and the justice of God that we deserve. He suffered
it. He endured it in His own body. And God says, My sword is fat. I don't need any more of your
blood. I have His. I have His blood. My sword is
fat." Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all those types of lambs and
slaughter of the Old Testament. He says about these lambs and
about these goats, that was a picture, and none of those could take
away sin, but this one sacrifice of Christ has forever removed
our sin. He has forever removed our sin
by treading the winepress of the wrath of God alone. You weak
and feeble believer, be strengthened. Why? God's Word cannot fail.
His Word had chosen you. His Word had purposed to save
you. And you know what? It found a mate. When Christ
Jesus died for your sins on that tree, His prophecy found a mate. What He had spoken in prophecy
now has become a reality. And He has forever, forever removed
your sins from you. He has forever removed your sins
from you. The Scripture tells us that He
hath blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us. Isn't that what made us weak? The handwriting of ordinances?
When that's preached, we become weak. But now, I tell you, He's
removed those. Strengthen your hands. Go about
your business and serve your God. Go about and strengthen
boldness and confidence. Why? Your foundation is not your
knees, but rather the rock of ages that God has laid from eternity,
Jesus Christ. That's your foundation. That's
your strength. How shall you stand in the day
of judgment? Christ my rock. Christ my foundation. How shall your works be accepted?
Christ is all my righteousness. His blood has cleansed me from
all my sins and imputed His own righteousness to me. What then have you to fear? What have you got to fear? What
are you trembling about? Why are your hands so weak? Obviously,
because you're looking to yourself. If you look to Christ, all you'll
have is strength. If you look to Christ, you'll have
a sure foundation to stand on. And listen, these that are to
be strengthened, look at the experience of grace that God
has given to them. In verse 1 of chapter 35, the
wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them. The desert
shall rejoice and the blossom as the rose. It shall blossom
abundantly and rejoice even with joy and singing. The glory of
Lebanon shall be given unto it. The excellency of Carmel and
Sharon, they shall see the glory of the Lord and the excellency
of our God. This lot that has been cast,
this sacrifice that God has made, is for a people. And this is the experience of
every one of those people. They, by nature, are desert, lifeless and fruitless. But when God in grace comes to
them, He makes this Word, He makes them, these prophecies
that God has given, these things that God has brought to pass,
He makes them as a rose in the desert to blossom. He gives life
where there was no life. He gives faith where there was
no faith. He gives hope where there was no hope. He gives love
where there was no love. And they shall blossom abundantly
and rejoice with joy and singing. Why? Because they've seen the
glory of the Lord. What is the glory of the Lord?
Where do you see it? In the face of Jesus Christ. For as God commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, He has shined in our hearts to give
us the light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Where do we find strength for
our hands and confirming for our knees? Looking only to Christ. trusting only in His Word. And not what we see, not what
we feel, not what we think, rather only what God says. And God says,
I've already cast your lot. I've already given you an inheritance,
incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you. Strengthen your weak hand. Confirm
your feeble knees. Read the book. Read the book. Hear the word. And God will strengthen
you. I pray that God bless this to
your hearts.