words to this song on page 457. Day by day, and with each passing
moment, Time by time, to meet each final tear, Trusting in
my father's love to my son, ? I have thoughts for worry or
for fear ? ? He looks for his guide beyond all measure ? ?
Here's a clue which he won't leave in dread ? ? While he leads
for the faith and faith alone ? ? Created from inside his being
? ? One of special mercy for each one ? ? All my fears he
failed to manage in me ? ? He has made his considerable ? ?
The protection of his deep impression ? ? Our joys and our sorrows shall
remain ? ? As your days, my strength shall be with you ? ? This the
pledge we make to you ? Help me then in every condition,
so you trust my promises more. When I lose my place with consolation,
I will be in thy holy word. Help me, Lord, with all humility. One by one, we'll cross the mountains
together, till I reach the promised land. Thank you. I want us to turn back, if you
would, to Isaiah 54. Isaiah 54. I've entitled this message, The
Children's Education. the children's education. Chapter 53 deals so much with the work and the
details, the crucifixion, the dying of
our Lord Jesus Christ. And as a consequence of his death,
as a consequence of his finished God-satisfying work, we have chapter 4, the good news
of chapter 4, all these promises that are made to Jerusalem through
the true Israel of God, And it's as if that Jerusalem,
which is above, has likened to Sarah here. You remember Sarah,
Abraham's wife, was at the first barren. She seemed to not be
able to bear children, but now She, like Sarah, is enabled to,
brings forth, sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear. Break forth into singing and
cry aloud, because the Lord, your wife, You're the wife of the Maker,
thine husband. The Lord of hosts is his name. The God of the whole earth he
shall be called. For the Lord hath called thee
as a woman forsaken, grieved in spirit. But now you'll be
fruitful. And your fruit will go amidst
the Gentiles as well as the Jews. And you'll have children. That's
the church he's speaking of here. You'll have children. You'll
have a people. Posterity. And then in verse 13, he says
this. And all thy children shall be
taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children. Many parents are concerned that
their children get a good education. They're concerned about what
school they go to. They're concerned about who teaches
them. They're concerned about the curriculum. And they're certainly concerned
about the cost, because they want their children to get a
good education. And according to this, God is
no less concerned about His children. You know, He is the God of truth. And so our text says of Jerusalem's
children, of the Sarah who is the mother of us all, He's concerned
that they, because of what Christ has done, be educated to that
fact, know the truth. And the sad thing is that in
our day, in our day, Most people are ignorant to the fact that
God has some spiritual children, the children of his sovereign
free grace. He has only one begotten son. but he has a numberless number
of children which are the children of his grace. You see, what men generally believe
about the fatherhood of God is just a lie. They say that they believe in
the universal fatherhood of God, but such a notion is foreign
spiritually to this book. Not all are the children of God
in this sense. They may be all created by God. but they're not all a part of
his new creation, which is a creation that includes only these children. Hold your place and turn to John
chapter 8. John chapter 8. The Lord was talking to some of these
Jews, some of these morally and religiously prominent people
such as the Pharisees. And then he says to them in verse
43 of John 8, why do you not understand my speech? even because you cannot hear
my word. You are of your father, the devil,
and the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from
the beginning and abode not in the truth, because there is no
truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh
of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it. And because
I tell you the truth, you believe me not. They were of their father, the
devil, and the thing that characterized them was this, they believed
not the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet out of Adam's fallen race,
God has chosen a family just as he did physically in the nation
of Israel, just like most of you have done. You've chosen
to have a family. You've chosen how many children
you would have and such, but God, we don't allow him to do
that spiritually, it seems. But if you look over in 1 John,
and I want you to look at a lot of scripture this morning, but
if you look at 1 John, listen to what John says, because he
often speaks of these little children. little children born
of God. And he says this in I John 3
and verse 1, Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed
upon us, that we should be called the sons of God, the children
of God. This is the reason that they
are his children, because God has sovereignly bestowed on them
his love. They're children of the love
and grace of God. Therefore, the world knoweth
us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons
of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know
that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is. Look down at verse 10. In this the children of God are
manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not
righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his
brother. And he goes on in this chapter
to give Cain and Abel as the examples of God's distinguishing
grace and how it manifested itself. Abel obeyed God and looked to
that sacrifice, which was a type of Christ, and Cain looked to
his own works, the fruit of his own hand. so that we know that
he that doeth righteousness is that one who believes God, who
believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, and who looks to Christ alone. Look over in Hebrews chapter
three, or chapter two. Hebrews chapter two, verse 13. Christ is prophesied as saying
and did say, and again I will put my trust in him, and again
behold I and the children which God hath given me. For as much then as the children
are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took
part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that
had the power of death, that is, the devil. Because these
children were flesh and blood, in order to redeem them, the
Lord Jesus Christ took on himself flesh and blood. Look over in
Romans chapter 8, Romans chapter 8, and look down at verse 16. The Spirit itself beareth witness
with ourself that we are the children of God. And if children,
this is the only basis for this, this relationship with God, and
if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. That's the only way we receive
anything from God in mercy and grace. It's by being a joint
heir with Christ. And we are so with Christ if
we are the children of God. Look over in chapter nine. Chapter nine and verse seven. neither because they are the
seed of Abraham." In other words, he's distinguishing here the
fact that he's not talking about national Israel. Neither because
they are the seed of Abraham are they all children, but in
Isaac shall thy seed be called, that is, they which are the children
of the flesh. These are not the children of
God, but the children of the promise are accounted for the
seed. the promise of God's grace, the
promise of all blessings in the Lord Jesus Christ. And look back
at Isaiah 54 and verse 13, and notice this here, it says, all,
all thy children, that is all without exception, will be taught,
will be educated in this sense, and none will fail to get this
education. All die children. All of the people of God, all
those loved of the Father, all those redeemed by the Son, all
of those will be taught. And notice this, why they'll
be taught. Why it will be successful. He says, and all thy children
shall be taught of the Lord. God Himself will be the teacher. He alone has assured this purpose. He alone has redeemed them by
His blood. And He alone will assure that
they, everyone, be taught of God. He is able. He is able. And this will be the characteristic
of his children that they will all be taught by him. And you know if God teaches them,
if he truly is the one that teaches them, they will learn. I get so weary. of hearing people
say things like, God's trying to tell me something, or God's
trying to tell them something, or teach them something, that
can never be the case, because God has never tried to do anything. He's never failed. He's never
found one person, one being that he has not prevailed against
to do what he will. He will teach them and they will
learn. Look over in Isaiah chapter 2. Isaiah chapter 2 and verse 3. These are all these covenant
promises of God. Isaiah 2 and verse 3. And many people shall go and
say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways,
and we will walk in his path. For out of Zion shall go forth
the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." The people of
God, the children of God, corporately, are identified as a mountain,
Mount Zion. They are identified also as that
new Jerusalem. They're identified as His elect. They're identified as His church. And from the church shall go
forth the law and the word of the Lord. Look over in Psalm
25. Psalm 25. Our Lord says this. Psalm 25
and verse 8. Good and upright is the Lord,
therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he
guide in judgment, and the meek will he teach his ways? All the
paths of the Lord are mercy and truth, unto such as keep his
covenant and his testimonies? For thy name's sake, O Lord,
pardon my iniquity for his great? What man is he that feareth the
Lord? Him shall he teach in the way. that he shall choose. He will teach every one of them. Look over in Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 31. In Jeremiah, here's some more of
this covenant language of what he'll do to his people, his children. Verse Jeremiah 31 and verse 33. But this shall be the covenant
that I will make with the house of Israel. After those days,
saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts and
write it in their hearts and will be their God and they shall
be my people. And they shall teach no more
every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know
the Lord, for they shall all know me. From the least of them
unto the greatest saith the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity,
and I will remember their sin no more. God will teach every
one of them. God will declare unto them and
make them to know in their minds and their heart all of the things
that He desires for them to know. And because of that, Christ says
what He does. in John chapter 6. John chapter 6. Because, like
every other person on the earth, they are blind and ignorant and
spiritually dead to everything that pertains to God. And therefore, unable, unwilling,
unwanted, of anything that pertains to Christ till God teaches them. Look here at John chapter 6 and
verse 44. Jesus said to these people, no
man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw
him, and I will raise him up at the last day." Now that word
there that we have, draw, could be substituted for teach, could
be substituted for bring, could be substituted for a host of
other words that say the same thing. No man can come to Christ
except the Father draw him, teach him, bring him. And then look at verse 45, because it is a quote of just
what we read in Isaiah 54. It is written in the prophets and they shall all be taught
of God." Every one of his people, every one of his children, every
one of his elect, they will all be taught of God. Every one. Every man, therefore, that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me." You see, the teaching is all
about the Lord Jesus Christ. And he will bring them, he will
teach them, he will draw them by this teaching them in a twofold
way. First of all, by bringing them
or by bringing to them knowledge, the knowledge of the truth, which
is the gospel. Let me read you what Paul says
in Romans 10. You're familiar with this passage
in Romans chapter 10, but sometimes I don't think we really comprehend
what he's saying there. In Romans 10 and verse 13, that
verse does not stand alone. They say, For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." That verse does
not stand alone. First of all, I'd say this, we
better go back and see what it is to call upon the name of the
Lord. Because the New Testament is
interpreted by the Old Testament in many ways, and to call on
the name of the Lord everywhere you see it with regard to Abraham
or whoever it is, they called upon the name of the Lord by
means of a sacrifice. It says, Abraham built an altar. offered up a sacrifice of blood
like God said, and he called upon the name of the Lord. He
sought to go before God only through and by that sacrifice
which typified Christ. He only came before God in Christ. He only had him as the mediator. But now it says here in verse
14, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not
believed? That's so simple. You would never
call, you would never ask, you would never depend on one in
whom you didn't believe. And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? Well, I've heard of Jesus. Really? Paul warned against hearing and
believing in another Jesus. Because unless the Jesus we believe
on is the Jesus that is set forth in this Word in His particular
person as the Son of God, as God manifests in the flesh, and
in His particular work as having accomplished redemption for His
people, then that's not really Jesus at all. I've often told
you there's one verse of Scripture that pretty well will distinguish
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that which was born of
Mary. And it's in Matthew 121. He says, Thou shalt call his
name Jesus, for he shall save his people, his children, from
their sins." Now, if He didn't do that, that's not the Jesus
of the Bible. If He simply made something available
or possible for everybody, that is not the Lord Jesus Christ. He shall save His people from
their sins. How shall they believe in him
of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? And how shall they hear, how
shall they preach, except they be sent, as it is written, how
beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace
and bring glad tidings of good things? But they have not all
obeyed the gospel, for Isaiah saith, Lord, whom hath believed
our report? In other words, he goes and he
teaches them, first of all, by sending them a messenger. And
by the way, Paul and the apostles were pretty good preachers, unless
we get to thinking that we're the only one. Long before we
ever were, Paul and the apostles, they were the greatest of preachers,
truth tellers about the Lord Jesus Christ. He brings to them
the gospel. You remember the eunuch and Philip. Philip is in one place enjoying
the blessings of God, and he's caught up by God, the Spirit,
and taken to another place. And there's an Ethiopian eunuch
who's returning from Jerusalem. He's out in the middle of the
desert riding his chariot. Paul, and God brings Philip to
preach to him from Isaiah 53. He said, understandest thou what
you read? How can I except some man show
me? And he joined himself, God working
that providence to bring those two men together in order to
bring that Ethiopian eunuch the teaching of the gospel. And he
believed. Before they ever got finished
with the journey, before they ever had very long together,
he brought to him that knowledge of the gospel, and he believed
he was taught of God. But he does so secondly by revealing
that work. by the revealing work of God
the Spirit in them. In them. Turn over to I John
chapter 2 again. I John chapter 2 and verse 27. Now I'm afraid there are a lot
of preachers that don't that don't seem to believe that God
can trust the work of His Spirit to anybody, unless it's them. But when you read verse 27 of
I John chapter 2 and verse 28, listen to what it says. But the
anointing, what is that? That's the anointing of God's
Spirit. That's the teaching of God's
Spirit. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons of God. But the anointing which
you have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that
any man teach you. But as the same anointing teacheth
you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it
hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. And now, little children,
abide in him, when he shall appear, that we may have confidence and
not be ashamed before him at his coming." The Spirit of God
takes the gospel, which is the things of Christ, and he teaches
us in an irresistible, understandable way. So that can be said of us, we're
taught of God. Does that mean that we know everything? No. But it means that we know enough. to distinguish the true and the
living God from every false god. We know enough and are taught
of God, enough of the Lord Jesus Christ to distinguish him from
any Christ, and enough to praise and glorify and believe on him. And he keeps right on teaching.
Oh, I'm so glad of that. When I first was beginning to
be taught of God, I thought, I gained so much almost in an
instant, seeing what I had read about in the Bible, what I had
seen in the Bible with my eyes and with my natural understanding.
And when God began to teach me, it was just like overnight I
got a new Bible. I could see where in this place,
in that place and all what he was saying. But that was just the beginning.
He teaches us. Hebrews 8 says, For this is the
covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those
days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind and write them into their hearts, and I will be to them
a God, and they shall be to me a people. That's exactly what
he was saying in the Old Testament. There must be a revelation. There
must be a revealing work of God. Turn over to Matthew chapter
11. Matthew chapter 11 and verse
25. There were so many people in
places like Bethsaida and Capernaum and other places such as that. That who, that in the light of
what they saw naturally of the miracles, and ate the bread,
and drank the wine, and did everything of these natural miracles, and
yet, they did not believe on Christ. Why? Because they were not taught
of God. Look at verse 25. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, said to all this unbelief, I thank thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent and hast revealed them unto babes. Man can be a theologian, he can
be a scholar, he can be a preacher, he can have the title of doctor
or reverend or whatever, but he's blind to the truth of God
unless the Spirit teach him. And he can be a farmer, he can
be a virtually uneducated man, but if God teach him, He knows more than that doctor. I thought this morning about
when Amos, who was a prophet of God, spoke
for God and spoke before God, spoke before the king and all
the religious priests in such of his day. How he began to say, I'm not
a prophet, I'm not a prophet's son, but I was just a gatherer
of sycamore fruit and the Lord came to me, called me, and said
for me, speak what I tell you. He was taught of God. Christ says, even so, father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered
unto me of my father, and no man knoweth the son, but the
father, neither knoweth any man the father, save the son, and
he to whomsoever the son will reveal him. Look over in 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 9. The Old Testament and the New
Testament are in complete harmony. And oftentimes, as Paul says,
The things that were written aforetimes were written for us,
for our admonition, those of us upon whom the ends of the
age shall come. So he begins in verse 9 by saying,
but as it is written. I hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither have entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him." They're not shown these things
because they love him. They're shown these things because
he loves them. And those things that they're
shown, because He loves them, are the cause for them loving
Him. All right. But God... hath revealed them unto us by
his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man, say the Spirit of man which is in him,
even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the
spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that
we might know." Blessed knowledge. Know in the
sense of being aware and learning, and know in the sense of delighting
in what we're taught, that we may know the things that are
freely given to us of God. Now the false prophet, all he
knows to do is to tell people what they're to do. And there's
a Heinz 57 varieties on live right, do right, give, attend,
do, do, all these various things, but the Spirit reveals the things
of God that He has freely given us. That He has freely given us. In John 14, Christ promised the
Spirit And he said, but the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom
the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things
and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have
said unto you. But then he goes a little bit
farther in John 16. He says, how be it when he, The
spirit of truth. Not just the spirit. When he, the spirit of truth,
is come, he will guide you into all truth. For he shall not speak
of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak. And he will show you things to
come. He shall glorify me. We have a lot of meetings where
people say, oh, the spirit was there. I don't doubt that. But it was
an evil, satanic spirit. Because Christ said, the Spirit
shall glorify me. For he shall receive of mine
and show it unto you. All things that the Father hath
are mine. Therefore said I, that he shall
take of mine and show it unto you. Wherever the Spirit of God is,
wherever the Spirit of God is teaching, wherever the Spirit
of God is working, He is always glorifying Christ. He is always
taking the things of Christ and showing them, revealing them
to these children. He's not a funny feeling. He's
a revealer. He's a teacher. And everyone
that is led by the Spirit, Christ says, comes to me. Which brings us to this. How
do we know if we've been taught? How do
we know if anybody has been taught? If they have truly learned of
the Father. Every man that is taught, every man that has learned really
had the Spirit's teaching. Christ said, cometh to me. Cometh to me. And when you read
in that context there in John chapter six, it's obvious, obvious,
obvious that this coming to Christ is the same as truly believing
on Christ. Christ said, everyone who has
learned comes to me, believes on me, trusts in me, has as their
only hope me. They don't come to a religious
organization. They don't come to the baptismal
pool or the sprinkling font. He doesn't say that they come
to a new doctrinal position. He doesn't say that they just
learn the doctrines of grace somehow. It says that they come
to Him. And the only way to distinguish
Him is to know who He is and what he has actually done. Paul said Christ is all. He's made unto us by God wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. He's all in salvation. He's all there is. And we repent of everything else. I know how we are. As one man
said, we're recovering Pharisees. We always have the tendency to
look within ourselves or to look at what we've done or to look
at what we've not done and gain some hope and insurance and all
that. But he said, they come to me. They come to the work
that I've accomplished. Look over in Galatians chapter
3. Galatians 3 verse 26. He says, and this is the identifying
characteristic, not the way that we become it, but this is the
identifying characteristic, for you are all the children of God
by faith in Jesus Christ. Why is that so important in the
book of Galatians? Because at Galatia, There had
come in some that were saying it's Christ plus, or Christ plus
the law, or Christ of circumcision, or something like that. He said
you're the children of God only if you have faith in Christ alone. You see, being taught something
about God, being taught something about ourselves, being taught
something about the only way that God saves sinners, being
taught something about Jesus as to who he is and what he actually
accomplished, we flee to Christ. If you ever find out how God
really is, And in that light, find out who
you really are, what you are as a sinner. And find out the
only way of salvation which is in Jesus Christ and Him crucified
through His cross death. You will, by faith, look to Him
alone. But the only reason you'll do
that is because you've been taught of God. Taught of God. You will actually in this coming
leave every false refuge. You will come to the Savior alone. You will Plead his righteousness
and you will cast off your own self-righteousness and look to
him as the one mediator. As the only name under heaven
given among men whereby we might be saved. And you'll keep coming to him. One way we know whether or not
men or we ourselves have come to Christ is if we keep coming
to Christ. Peter said, to whom coming as
unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God and precious. We keep coming to him. Lord,
I need mercy today. I need grace today. I need your
salvation today. If anything, I need it more than
the first time I came. If that can be so, I need you
in everything. And if we don't keep coming to
him and taking refuge in him and believing on him, then we
never were taught of God. Because as we were taught even
more, We see the need even more. In John 6, 37, he said, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me, and I will in no wise
cast him out. He said, and therefore said I
unto you that no man can come to me except it were given him
of my Father. Now, there's always the charge that if we believe this, that
salvation is according to God's purpose, according to God's sovereign
will, in the Lord Jesus Christ alone, all of grace accomplished
by Him alone, if we believe that, well, there's just no telling
how you'll live. There's just no telling how you'd
live if you had that kind of doctrine. Not if you're taught of God. Turn over to Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 4. And listen to what Paul says
to these believing Gentiles, mainly Gentiles in the church
at Ephesus. In verse 17 of chapter 4, he
says, This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that henceforth
walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their minds,
having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life
of God through the ignorance that is in them because of the
blindness of their heart, who being past feeling have given
themselves over unto lasciviousness to work all uncleanness with
greediness." All these things that characterize the Gentiles
after the flesh. He said, don't walk in them anymore. because you've not so learned
Christ. If so be that ye have heard him
and have been taught by him as the truth is in Jesus Christ. that you put off concerning the
former conversation, the old man, which is corrupt, and according
to the deceitful lesson, he goes on with a long life. Not if you're
taught of God. Because the spirit that is your
teacher in you is the Holy Spirit. And he never directs, he never
condones any ungodly thing at all. That isn't to say that we don't
do them. That isn't to say we don't think them. That isn't to say that we're
not still in this sinful flesh. But every time we're delivered
from that, it's because we've been taught of God. We're taught something else.
We're taught when we do them, and we will. that we have an
advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. And let me just quickly show
you that last thing in verse 13. And all thy children shall
be taught of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of thy children. Great. I'm telling you, when God says
something, it's true. Great. Shall be. Not maybe. We've been taught of God. We've
not been taught by the Puritans or somebody like that. by some that send you always
to introspection rather than looking to Christ if we've been
taught of God. Great shall be the peace. Great shall be the peace. Because
this gospel is the word of reconciliation. We have peace because we know
that we're reconciled to God in Christ. Peace, we'll know
that we have peace with God and therefore we'll have the peace
of God because we've been taught that Christ made peace by the
blood of his cross. And now we have what Paul says
in Romans 15. It's that peace and joy that
comes to us through believing. Now we lapse sometimes and we'll
say, we'll start listening to ourself, or listening to some
works preacher, or listening to somebody who's a super Christian,
you know. We will lose peace momentarily
of mind. But when we come back to that
which we're taught, taught of God, and hear what he says, we'll
have peace again. The peace that comes to us through
believing. All his children will receive
this, I guess you'd call it, holy education. And those are sent of God only
who declare it, and those are born of God only who believe
it. What thus saith the Lord? Father,
we thank you and we pray that you would take your word, teach
your children as you have promised. cause us to speak the right things,
and by these right things, concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and Him
crucified, teach them, enable them to believe, and give them
peace. Isaiah said they've not all obeyed
and believed our report. What was the report? Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith the Lord. We pray in Christ's
name, amen.