I hope we never become cavalier
about God's mercy. Well, if you would, open your
Bibles again to Isaiah chapter 17. Now, I kind of stopped and
kind of went back and looked and took stock of our study in
Isaiah so far. I thought, well, I got the same
message this Wednesday I had last Wednesday, Wednesday before
that and Wednesday before that. Well, that's because Isaiah has
been preaching the same message over and over and over again.
His message has been from the opening of this book that God's
going to punish sin. That day that God comes in judgment,
the punishment for sin will be complete and final. But we've
seen this in every chapter. In the midst of this punishment,
God always promises mercy to his elect people. That was Isaiah's
message to Israel. That was Isaiah's burden to Babylon,
his burden to Moab, and now in chapter 17, it's his burden to
Syria. And this is the pattern that
all God's preachers follow. We preach the same message over
and over and over again. And we have the same message
for every audience to whom we preach. Isaiah's message was
the same to Israel and Babylon and Moab and Syria. We have the
same message everywhere we go. The message does not change when
the audience changes. That's what a false prophet does.
He tailors his message to the audience. Now, truth is a truth
no matter who's listening to it. The gospel is the gospel
no matter who's in the audience. So you beware of a man that preaches
one thing, one place and something else someplace else. You just
beware of that because God's preachers just have one message
and it doesn't matter who's in the audience. God's servant will
preach the same message over and over and over again. Everywhere
we go, we preach the same message because there's just one. Doesn't
matter where you are, who's listening. There's just one message. It's
Christ and him crucified. There's only one gospel. Well,
if we're going to preach it, We're going to preach the same
message over and over and over again. Now, this is what Isaiah
has been telling us. This is the gospel. The gospel
tells us that God's holy. God will only accept perfect
holiness. Now, God's holy. He can't even
look on someone who's not holy, much less accept them into his
presence as they are. God's holy. So God, in his holy
vengeance, will punish every sin with death. Then the gospel
tells us all of us are sinners. We fell in Adam. We became guilty
in Adam. When Adam rebelled against God,
judicial guilt was imputed to all men. And all that means,
that's a big sounding statement, isn't it? All that means is this.
God the judge charged guilt to every man. When Adam fell, that's
what that means. God said all men are guilty.
And when Adam fell, a sin nature was imparted to us. Now, guilt
was imputed to us. Sin is imputed to us. And a sin
nature is imparted to all men when Adam fell. So all we can
do is sin. This is the nature that we have
inside of us. And we deserve God's wrath. We
deserve punishment from God. We deserve eternal death because
of our sin against God. But the Gospel also tells us
this, that God elected a people to save. And no one deserves
it. God just chose them anyway. He
chose a people to save. And He put those people in His
Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Christ the Son struck
hands with the Father in an agreement. He agreed to be surety for those
people. He agreed in the fullness of
time when the Father would send him that he would come as a man
to this earth and be the representative of his people. And as a man,
he would work out a perfect righteousness. As a man, he would obey God's
law perfectly, and he would impute that righteousness. He would
give that righteousness to his elect people. Now, God has an
elect people, but they don't have any righteousness of their
own. So, Christ, they're just the same as everybody else. fallen
lump of humanity. They're the same as everybody
else. They don't have any righteousness of their own. So Christ came
to give them one. He came to produce their righteousness
and impute that righteousness to them freely. You see, we all
became guilty and unrighteous in Adam. But God's elect became
righteous and innocent in Christ by imputation. Then the Gospel
tells us about the new birth. You must be born again. In the
new birth, God imparts a righteous nature into the heart of his
people by making a new man born. A new man is born in them who
is the exact replica of Christ. He's born from the seed, the
word of God, and he is an exact replica of Christ, just like
the old man. What's he? He's an exact replica
of Adam. That new man is born in the new
birth and his exact replica of Christ. But now remember, God's
holy. God will punish every sin with
death. So Christ suffered and died as
the substitute for God's elect. He took the punishment and he
died the death that they deserve. The father made Christ to be
sin. He made Christ to be the sin
of his elect. And the Lord Jesus Christ suffered
and he bled and he died for all of that sin. And God's elect
live for this reason. Christ, our substitute, died
the death we deserve, and we live the life that he gave us.
Now, that's how God can show mercy in the midst of judgment,
by punishing Christ, our substitute. God will punish every sin with
death, either in us or in our substitute, one or the other.
That's how God shows mercy even in judgment. Now that's the message
Isaiah's been preaching. Let's see if that's not the same
message he preaches here again to us in Isaiah chapter 17. Isaiah's
got the same message to Syria that he preached to Israel, Babylon,
and Moab. Verse 1 says, The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away
from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap. Now the burden
that the Lord's given Isaiah here is for Syria. Damascus is
the chief city, the capital city of Syria. So this burden is for
Syria. And here's the first thing we
learn. God's holy. God will punish the sin of all
of the heathen. The heathen are just those who
have no religion. They're unreligious, if that's
a word. The Gentile world at this time that Isaiah was writing
is the heathen world. Now, you're a heathen if you
just, you don't have any true religion at all. You're a heathen.
And the Syrians represent the world that's outside of any religion
whatsoever. They just, they have no interest
in any religion, whether it's false religion or the gospel.
They just got no interest. They don't have time for it.
Because all they care about is this life. All they care about
is what they can build and get from this life. You know, they
care about getting better jobs and bigger homes and bigger cars
and a bigger retirement account. That's what they care about.
Now, it's pretty obvious that even people that don't know the
Lord, God's going to destroy everything those people accumulate
and build because they never sought the Lord at all in any
shape or form or fashion. They never sought the Lord. Everything
and everybody outside of Christ will be destroyed by God. Well,
they never sought him, so God's going to destroy him. We are
ruined in Adam. All of us, all men, are ruined
in Adam. And that old nature of Adam's
can never be anything but a ruin. That's all it can be. And that's
just the way God's going to leave them in judgment. He's just going
to leave them alone. And they'll be ruined because that's what
they are by nature. Well, here's the second thing
we learn. The heathen who don't have any religion, they're not
better off than people who are in false religion. God's holy,
and God's going to punish the sin of all men in false religion.
They're going to be destroyed just the same as the heathen.
Their false religion is not going to make any difference to them.
Look at verse 2. The cities of Aurora are forsaken. They shall be for flocks which
shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid. Now, Aurora
was a city in southern Judah, and when the children of Israel
came to the Promised Land, God gave them the land, didn't He?
And this city of Aurora, in this area, was given to the tribes
of Gad and Reuben. It's theirs. It belonged to them.
It belonged to Israel. But now, by the time Isaiah is
writing, it's a Syrian city. It's not an Israelite city anymore.
It's a Syrian city. Well, what happened? How did
these Syrians take possession of what belonged to Israel? Well,
I can tell you. These tribes, Gad and Reuben,
tribes of Israel, They went down and they mixed in with those
Syrians. And now they're all the same.
I don't know how long it took, but eventually they're all the
same. They came in and they mixed cultures with the Syrians. They
mixed lifestyles with the Syrians. And eventually they mixed religions
with the Syrians. And when they did this, you'll
notice the Syrians didn't become like the Israelites, did they?
The Israelites became like the Syrians. And these people in
Aurora, they represent the religious world. They're religious. They have religious rituals.
They have religious habits. We have religious habits. We
come to the worship service on Sunday and Wednesday. We read
our Bible. We pray. These are religious things that
we do. They have religious things they do. But they don't know
God because God has not sent his gospel to them. When Isaiah
was writing, the only place that you could find the true worship
of God was in Israel. Only Israel had the temple where
the presence of God dwelt. Only Israel had the priesthood
who could offer the sacrifices. Only Israel had the prophets
that God spoke to so the prophets could speak to the people. And
any other religion outside of that is false religion. Now,
here's Aurora. Those tribes of Reuben and Gad
went down there and lived, and they mixed. They mix some of
their religious traditions and their religious ceremonies with
some of the ceremonies and traditions of the Syrians. Because you know
what they said? Now we're all alike. We're all
alike. You know, we're worshiping the
same God in different ways. You know, why do we have to make
such a big issue of these things? Why do you have to make such
a big issue of the Word of God? Now, can't we just kind of Ignore
that, so that we can get along. Let's just agree to disagree
on some things so we can get along. Well, what happened to
him for that? God destroyed him. That's what
happened for that. For this reason, God's going
to be worshipped the way God told men to worship him, or God's
not going to be worshipped at all. That's why he's going to
destroy him. The word Aurora means ruins. And that's what's always produced
when you mix grace and works. When you mix the worship of Christ
with the worship of an idol, when you begin to compromise,
this is what you get. Ruins. Any form of worship, any
form of worship that's not the way God told men to worship him
is an abomination. Now, it's not good. It's not
better than doing nothing. It's an abomination. It's not
true worship, and God won't have it. Now, if God won't have it,
you know what that means? There's no salvation in it. There's
only damnation. Look back in Isaiah chapter 1.
I'll show you this. God's going to be worshipped
the way God told men to worship him, or he won't be worshipped.
Isaiah 1, verse 10. Hear the word of the Lord, ye
rulers of Sodom. Give ear unto the law of our
God, ye people of Gomorrah. To what purpose is the multitude
of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord? I am full of the burnt
offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts, and I delight
not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he-goats.
When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at
your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations.
Incense, this incense that ye are burning, that gives you this
great religious atmosphere, It's an abomination unto me. The new
moons and the Sabbaths, your best, highest, holiest days,
those calling of assemblies, I cannot. Away with. It's iniquity. Even your solemn meeting, your
new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hates. These things don't please God.
He says my soul hates them. They're a trouble unto me. I'm
weary to bear them. And when you spread forth your
hands, I'll hide mine eyes from you. Yea, when ye make many prayers,
I will not hear." Your hands are full of blood. Look over
in Isaiah 65. You see that? Any worship that's
not the way God has appointed for men to worship Him is an
abomination. There's no salvation in it. Isaiah
65, verse 2. I have spread out my hands all
the day unto a rebellious people. which walketh in a way that was
not good, here's the problem, after their own thoughts, not
the way God told them, after their own thoughts, a people
that provoketh me to anger continually to my face, that sacrifices in
gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick, which remain
among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's
flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels, which
say, Stand by thyself. Come not near to me, for I am
holier than thou. By what I have done, I am holier
than thou. God says these are smoke in my nose, a fire that
burneth all the day. Behold, it is written before
me, I will not keep silence, but I will recompense, even recompense
into their bosom. Now all these religious things
they have done that they say make me holier than you, look
at verse 7, what God calls them, your iniquities. All these religious
things you're doing, they're your iniquities and iniquities
of your fathers together, saith the Lord, which had burned incense
upon the mountains and blasphemed me upon the hills." That wasn't
worship, that was blaspheming God. God says, therefore, while
I measure their former work into their bosom. Now God's holy. He said he's going to pour out
his holy anger on these men found in false religion, these compromisers. Now, there are things that we
can disagree on and still have fellowship. There are things
we can disagree on and still be saved. I value my opinions pretty highly,
but you don't have to agree with all my opinions in order to be
saved. But you do have to agree with God. You do, if you're going to be
saved, you do have to believe Christ. You do have to know and
love that all of your salvation is in Christ without anything
that you've done. You do have to know that salvation
is all by what Christ did for you. It's all in his righteousness
and his obedience. The sins put away by his blood
and his blood alone. Salvation is all by His will
and His work without any of my works or any of my will being
involved. You do have to know that. You
do have to love that and believe that. And we can never compromise
on those things, ever. If we do, we'll end up just like
these residents of Aurora. We'll end up forsaken of God.
God's going to pour out judgment on them. Well, here's the third
thing we learned. God's holy. God is going to punish
the sin of men who hear the gospel and still refuse to believe and
still refuse to bow. Look at verse 3 back in our text
of Isaiah 17. The fortress also shall cease
from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant
of Syria. They shall be as the glory of
the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts. And in that
day it shall come to pass that the glory of Jacob shall be made
thin, and the fatness of his flesh Now, when Isaiah refers to Ephraim,
he's referring to those ten northern tribes that rebelled against
Judah. Now, they had the form, or at
least they had retained some of the form in the ceremony.
Mostly, they left it. And God said He's going to destroy
them, too. Just exactly like He's going
to destroy the heathen. Just exactly like He's going
to destroy those in false religion. Now, at one time, God blessed
them, didn't He? God blessed those tribes and
they became glorious and grew fat and prosperous. But God says
they're going to waste away to nothing. This didn't happen overnight.
They wasted away to nothing slowly. Isaiah likens them to a person
being starved to death. You know, they were one time.
They were real robust. But slowly they've been starved
to death and they're left just nothing but skin and bones. They're
unrecognizable. You just I read a story about
a man who he was a Jew in the Holocaust, and when he was finally
set free, he saw his brother. Looked him right in the eye and
didn't recognize him because they lost so much weight. This
is what's happened. They're just unrecognizable compared
to what they were when God blessed them. And you know why they're
starving to death? They left Christ the bread of
life. They're starving to death because they've left the green
pastures of God's Word. That's the only thing the sheep
can eat. They're starving to death. Now, these are people
who represent people in our day who hear the gospel and don't
believe it. They hear the gospel. I'm telling
the gospel, but they never come to Christ. I want you to listen
to me. Maybe this being a heathen doesn't
apply to you and me. Maybe this being in false religion
and a compromiser, maybe that doesn't apply to you and me.
This, I know, applies to you and me. I mean, we're still heathen,
you know what I'm saying. This applies to us, though. Salvation
is not in being physically in the place where the gospel is
preached. Salvation is believing Christ.
Salvation is not found in being a member of the right church.
Salvation is believing Christ. Salvation is union with the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, it's good for us to be here
all the time. This is a place where the Gospels
preach. I can say that with all confidence.
This is a place where the Gospels preach. And it's good that we
be here as often as we can. And if you're here and you don't
believe, keep coming. Now, it's good for you. Keep
coming. It's best that you do because faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the Word of God. You're never going to be saved
apart from hearing of Christ, so come where He's preached. That's where God's going to save
people. And you children, I want you to listen to me. I'm going
to talk to you. Parents can listen in if you want. Don't go to sleep.
You may have trouble waking up. I want to talk to our children. You children are blessed. You
are so blessed. And you probably don't realize
it. When I was your age, I didn't realize it. But you're blessed.
You are blessed to have parents who always bring you to the worship
service. It's a blessing, really, truly. It's a blessing. If you have
parents that insist you listen to your teachers and that you
listen to your pastor and these other men that come preach, that's
a blessing. But now listen, and you're the
best kids in the world. I wouldn't trade you for any
kids I know anywhere. You're the best, honestly. Outwardly. Your mama and your daddy taught
you how to behave. Someone one time was talking
to me about our girls when they were little, and I said, well,
at least they don't embarrass us in public. They were taught,
you know, how to act, you know, in public. And that's the way
you are. But now listen, you're not better
than all your friends at school. You've got friends at school
who are heathen, don't you? You've got friends at school that you
know are in false religion. And by nature, you're not better
than him. You're better off, but you're
not better. Brother Henry taught us that
you're better off, but by nature, you're not better. You're better
off because you're better off hearing the gospel preached.
But now listen, would you listen to me? Remember this? You need
Christ just as much as that heathen friend of yours. You need Christ
just as much as all of us do. That's our great need. is Christ,
and that's why you're blessed, because your parents bring you
where he's preached. Now, these people in these verses, they
had the ceremonies, didn't they? They had the temple, they had
the priesthood, but it didn't make them any better than the
Syrian who was an idolater did. Now, I want to show you that.
Look at Romans chapter 3. I'll show you this. You're better off, but not better. We need Christ just as much as
the worst criminal heathen we know of. See if this is what
Scripture says. Romans 3 verse 1. What advantage
then hath the Jew? Or what profit is there of circumcision? Or what Paul means is what profit
is there in all these ceremonies that the Jews had? The reading
of the law, the reading of the Old Testament Scriptures and
the following of all the ceremonies, the Passover and all these things.
What advantage? Is there any advantage in that?
Well, verse 2, Paul says, oh, there's much. Every way. Chiefly
because unto them were committed the oracles of God. This is a
great advantage that you have because you hear the gospel.
You're pointed to Christ. You hear how the scriptures reveal
Christ. That's a good, big advantage. Much in every way. Now, verse
3. For what if some did not believe?
Now, they had all this true a true worship of God, but they didn't
believe. Well, what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief
make the faith of God without effect? If they don't believe,
does that mean God's not faithful? God forbid. Yea, let God be true,
but every man a liar. As it's written, that thou mightest
be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou
art judged. Now, what that's saying is salvation
is found in Christ. Salvation is found through faith.
in Christ, by believing Christ, by not just hearing the gospel,
but believing and loving the Christ we are preached. Let's
play Romans chapter 9. Verse 30. What shall we say then? That the Gentiles which followed
not after righteousness, and what Paul means there is they
didn't follow after trying to be righteous by keeping the law
and the ceremonies, because they didn't have any of that, just
the Jews had that. Well, they didn't follow after
righteousness, but they have attained a righteousness, they've
been made righteous, even the righteousness which is of faith,
not of works, by faith in Christ. But Israel, which did follow
after the law of righteousness, they tried to be righteous by
keeping the law themselves. They have not attained to the
law of righteousness. They are not made righteous.
Wherefore, wherefore means why? Why not? Because they sought
it not by faith. They sought it not by faith in
Christ, but they sought it, as it were, by the works of the
law, and they stumbled at that stumbling stone. They stumbled
at Christ. You see, salvation is believing
Christ. He is our great need. And if
not, if we don't believe Him, we'll be damned. Now, this is
what Isaiah has told us so far. All men are the same. All men
outside of Christ, whether they're heathen, whether they're in false
religion, whether they're one of these compromisers, whether
they hear the gospel and just don't believe it, all men outside
of Christ, they're going to be cut down by the judgment of God
against sin. Now, look back in our text, Isaiah
17, verse 5. That's what he says here. And
it shall be as when the harvestman gathereth the corn, and reapeth
the ears with his arm. And it shall be as he that gathereth
the ears in the valley of Rephaim." Now, this valley of Rephaim,
that's where the corn grew the best. It grew the tallest and
the thickest. But you know, that was no protection
for that corn against the harvest, was it? As a matter of fact,
it just made those who came to harvest, made them happier to
be there, because they know they're going to get a good crop here.
It made them put their sickle into the corn all the harder.
And what he's teaching us here, it doesn't matter whether you're
tall stalk or short stalk, whether you're a fat stalk of corn or
a skinny stalk of corn. In the end, all of them are just
the same. They're going to be cut down flat to the ground.
And the same thing is true with men. It doesn't matter. Whether outwardly we're a heathen
or outwardly we're a religious person. Whether we're a heretic
or whether we're someone who's got a head knowledge of some
good doctrine but doesn't love Christ. It doesn't matter. We're
all going to end up the same. Cut down to the ground outside
of Christ. Now the corn is the glory of
the field. A field of corn is beautiful. I've driven up in through Ohio
and they've got some big corn fields there. Man, they're beautiful.
And I go by a little bit later in the fall of the year, and
that field is flat. And usually the sky is dark and
cloudy, you know, it's just, oh, this is not near as beautiful
as it was when I was through here in the summertime. That
field is barren, all its glory is taken away. And when God comes
to judge sin, we think men are glorious. All that glory is going
to be cut down when God's judgment comes sweeping through. Now, In the midst of judgment,
there's mercy. Here's the fourth thing we learn
from Isaiah's message. Salvation from sin is found in
God's electing love. Look at verse 6. Yet, what a
great word, yet. Here's all this gloom and despair
and sin and judgment that's found in us. Yet, gleaning grapes shall
be left in it as the shaking of an olive tree. Two or three
berries in the top of the uppermost bough, four or five in the outmost
fruitful branches thereof. Now, why are they there? Saith
the Lord God of Israel, in the midst of God punishing all sin
with death, there's mercy found in God's electing love. These
few berries, these two or three here and four or five there,
they're God's remnant that shall be saved. God's remnant according
to the election of grace. Now, Isaiah likens this elect
remnant to the gleaning grapes or the gleaning berries. The
gleaning berries, those are the few left at the top of the tree. The reapers couldn't quite get
to them. The gleaning olives, they would shake those trees
and shake the olives out of them. After they got done shaking that
tree, there's a few of them right there at the very top. And the
reaper looked at them and thought, it's not worth it. And they just
left them there. It's not worth me climbing up
to get it. That's the gleaning buried. Look at verse nine. He
describes it in verse nine. He says, In that day shall his
strong cities be as a forsaken fowl, that branch, a forsaken
branch, an uppermost branch, which they left because of the
children of Israel. And there should be desolation.
Those were left there as a picture of the children of spiritual
Israel, God's remnant that he preserved. When I was a teenager,
we went on a long extended vacation, a camping trip. And I think we
were out, I think it was Utah. And we camped in this cherry
orchard, beautiful cherry orchard. And if you camped there, you
could go into that orchard and you could pick and you could
eat all the cherries you wanted. They had buckets and stuff. And
I'm telling you, I feel buckets. I can't not tell you how many
cherries that I ate. But you know, as you went out
in the day, you think, I want some cherries. There weren't
very many that you could reach from the ground. All the low-hanging
fruit was gone first. But they had ladders scattered
all over the place. So all you've got to do is go
get your ladder, you put it up, and you can climb up and get
all the berries that you want. But you've got to look before
you put your ladder in a tree because there might not be any
berries that even the ladder could reach. Now, there could
be some up there, and if you're brave enough, my little brother
was, he'd climb up that ladder, then he'd climb out on some branches,
you know, to get some cherries that you couldn't reach. It wasn't
worth it for me. I just moved my ladder to another
tree. Well, I would imagine, by the end of the season, there
were no berries anywhere in those trees, except at the very tip
top. And everybody that camped there
looked way up at the top of those The ladder won't reach. You climb
out on these little skinny branches, you know. And I think it's not
worth it. It's just not worth it. Brethren, that's God's elect.
Anybody else would look at us and say they're not worth it.
They're just not worth it. But thank God He did. God said
they're worth it. So worth it. How worth it were
those that elect, that elect remnant to the Father. He sent
His Son to die for them. He sent His Son with the power
and the ability to redeem those ones that weren't worth it. And
that's exactly what we see in our text. Salvation is by God's
election, by those that God chooses. Isaiah said Damascus is going
to be destroyed. Well, when I watch the news today,
you know what? Damascus is still there. Isn't
ISIS or somebody fighting, you know, in there? It's still there.
Well, does that mean Isaiah's prophecy is not true? No, it
doesn't mean that at all. Damascus was destroyed and it
was rebuilt and destroyed and rebuilt. That's really not the
point. The point of all this is this
destruction of Damascus is a picture of God's wrath against sin. It's
coming. And it's going to bring death
to sinners outside of Christ. But in that judgment, in that
judgment of Damascus, there's electing mercy. God sent his
gospel in mercy to Gentiles and idolaters in Damascus. Now, Frank,
how in this world do you know that? I didn't read a history
book to find that out. Where was Saul's Tarsus going
when God saved him? He was going to Damascus. Why
was he going to Damascus? There were some of that way there.
And he was going to go arrest them and throw them in jail.
There in Damascus was a remnant of God's elect. And Saul of Tarsus
was going to get them. But there are those gleaning
grapes. He didn't get there, did he? He couldn't get them. If
you look over Acts chapter 9, Saul of Tarsus, that Pharisee
of the Pharisees, was saved the exact same way as Ananias the
preacher was saved. Acts 9, verse 10. And there was a certain disciple
at Damascus. Here he is, one of those gleaning
berries, one of those gleaning olives left at Damascus. There
was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him said
the Lord in a vision, Ananias, and he said, Behold, I am here,
And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go unto the street which
is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one
called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he prayeth, and hath
seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting
his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. And Ananias
answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man how much
evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem, and here he hath
authority from the chief priest to bind all that call on my name. But the Lord said unto him, Go
thy way, for he is a chosen vessel unto me. There sat another one
of God's elect remnant, one of those gleaning berries, he is
an elect vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles,
and kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how
great things he must suffer for my name's sake. And Ananias went
his way, and entered into the house, and putting his hands
on him, said, Brother Saul, the Lord,
even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way, as thou camest,
hath sent me, that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled
with the Holy Ghost. And immediately there fell from
his eyes, as it had been scales, and he received sight forthwith,
and arose and was baptized." Saul was saved the exact same
way Ananias the preacher was. God said he's going to forsake
Aurora. But you know, God's never going to forsake his sheep. He'll
forsake that city, but he's never going to forsake his elect. Well,
you can imagine how horrible a place is when God forsakes
it. When God's not there, just what
a horrible place full of punishment and fear and sin. But verse two says their sheep
can come and lie down there and not be afraid. Now, how can those
sheep lie in that horrible place and not be afraid of the judgment
and punishment and death that's all around them? Because Christ
was punished for them. If Christ died for you, what
do you have to be afraid of? Christ bore your punishment.
You have no fear. And I'll show you that this means
that how Christ suffered for us so that we have no fear. The
original writing of verse 1, the burden of Damascus, John
Gill says, is the burden of the cup of cursing to give to Damascus
to drink. This was Isaiah's burden, to
give this cup of cursing to Damascus to drink. Well, then how in this
world did anybody in Syria survive that? How could anybody survive
this cup of cursing that God gave them to drink? Because Christ drank it for them.
Look at Isaiah 51. They could survive that cup of
cursing because Christ drank that cup for them. Isaiah 51, verse 17. Awake, awake,
stand up, O Jerusalem, which has drunk at the hand of the
Lord the cup of his fury. Thou hast drunken the dregs of
the cup of trembling, and wrung them out. Now that's the Lord
Jesus Christ drinking the cup of His fury, drinking those dregs,
the very bottom, worst, most bitter parts of that cup and
wringing them out. And if you don't believe me,
look at Matthew chapter 26. If you do believe me, look at Matthew
26. This is a blessing. Matthew 26, verse 36. Then cometh Jesus with them unto
a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit
ye here while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and
the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very
happy. Then saith he unto them, My soul
is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death. Tear ye here, and
watch with me. And he went a little further,
and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be
possible Let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will,
but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto the disciples,
and findeth them asleep. And he saith unto Peter, What,
couldst thou not watch with me one hour? Watch, and pray that
ye enter not into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing,
but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second
time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass
from me, except I drink it, thy will be done. And the Father's
will was that he drink that cup and the Lord Jesus Christ drank
that cup of cursing dry. He drank every last drop. So there's not a drop left for
God's sheep. But if you look in Psalm 116. There's a cup that we must drink. There's a cup that God's elect
still have to drink. But it's not the cup of cursing. Psalm 116, verse 12. What shall I render unto the
Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation
and call upon the name of the Lord. God's elect drink the cup
of salvation because Christ drank the cup of cursing dry. In 1
Corinthians 10, Paul called the cup of the Lord's table, that
cup of that wine, he called it the cup of blessing. Because
that cup represents the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And
we drink all of the blessings that come from his precious blood
being shed to put away our sins. And we live because he died. That's the cup of blessing that
we take because Christ drank the cup of cursing dry. Then
last, we see in our text, verse 7, Isaiah chapter 17, the results
of salvation in Christ. At that day shall a man look
to his Maker, and his eyes shall have respect to the Holy One
of Israel. And he shall not look to the altars, the work of his
hands, neither shall he respect that which his fingers have made,
either the groves or the images." Now when God saves a man, he's
got to let people. Christ came and he suffered and
he died for them. God's going to save them. The
Holy Spirit's going to come and give them life. He's going to
give them faith and life. He's going to cause them to be
born again. And when that man is born again, he's got eyes
to see. And he'll look to Christ. And
he'll see Him. In that day that God the Holy
Spirit moves in mercy, gives us life, gives us eyes to see,
we will see Him that our soul longs for. We'll see Him who
is salvation. And we'll look to Him. We'll
look to Christ for everything we need. and won't take her eyes
off of him, just like a dog looks to his master. Now, I use our
two little crazy dogs as illustration. This is another good one, these
dogs. When we sit down to eat, me and Jana, those dogs come
right up to her chair and sit and look. The whole time we're
eating, those dogs are just looking. And every once in a while, they'll
kind of nudge or remind her. And they just look. And they
never take their eyes off of her. You know why? Because they
know she's going to give them table scraps. I told them this
at Lexington a couple weeks ago about this woman that came to
the Lord and said, Lord, just give me some crumbs. That's all.
The Lord told her, it's not meat for me to give the children's
bread to dogs. And Janet takes roast beef. I mean, all she takes
is a roast beef that's just ugh. And she gives pieces of that
roast beef. Not a begging strip. She gives
them roast beef to these dogs. And I just think it's not me
to give Frank's meat to dogs. But they look at her. And you
know why they never take their eyes off of her? She's going
to give them what they want. She's going to give them what
they need. God got any dogs here? If He does, you look to Him.
And never take your eyes off of Him. He'll give you what you
need. He'll give you everything your soul needs. Freely. And it's going to be good. You
come taste and see that the Lord's good. We tell people all the
time, look to Christ. Look to Christ. Look to Christ.
And one day we look. By God's grace, He enables us
to look and we're never disappointed. Once you look to Christ, you
can't take your eyes off of Him. Because you don't have respect
to anyone but Christ. He's the Holy One of Israel.
And I'm made holy in Him. Once I see Him, I don't have
any respect for my works anymore. But I've got respect for Him.
And I look to Him. And when God saves a man, He
gives us understanding. When we see, we understand. Once I see Christ, I see, oh,
it's so obvious. Salvation's of the Lord. Here
He is. He's salvation. He's the one
that made us, not we ourselves. I'm his workmanship. He made
me. I didn't contribute anything
to my salvation. I've got no good works. I've
got no righteousness. So I've got nothing to contribute.
He did it all. I didn't choose him. He chose
me. I only love him because he first loved me. Christ did it
all. That's what we understand. Christ
is all my salvation. We know that when we see him.
And when God saves a man or a woman or a boy or a girl, we're going
to quit all of our idols. We're just going to quit them
and throw them away and we're going to rest in Christ. And
there's not going to be any of this talk about compromising
with that idol. No, he's in trash. I've got only
respect for Christ. And we won't go back. God's grace
won't let us go back. It's like Lot's wife turning
to look back at Sodom. The problem wasn't so much that
she looked back at Sodom. I mean, I might have been curious
and wondered what the destruction, you know, looks like. The problem
was she looked back where her heart was. When God saves a person,
our heart's not with those idols anymore. We're not with that
false religion and that compromise anymore because our heart's not
there. Our heart's in Christ. It's in Him. And He is all of
our desire, all of our hope, all of our love. He is all to
us. And I know that it seems like
our world, our country, everything around us, seems like it's all
upside down and shaken. It seems like it's all just been
forsaken of God. But there is a remnant according
to God's election, according to His grace and God's remnant
that He chose. They're being saved. They're
being fed. Are you fed tonight? But bless
your heart, that's because you're one God's elect. And He's not
forsaken you. I know the world looks awful. I mean, I don't know what word
to put on it. But it's all right. It may be forsaken, but He's
not going to forsake you. That's the thing. He ought to
forsake this country. I hope He doesn't. I pray He
doesn't, but He ought to. But He's not going to forsake
you, His elect. Those gleaning berries are going
to be safe because God said they're worth it and sent His Son to
redeem. Alright, well, I hope the Lord will bless that to you.
Let's bow in prayer. Our Father, how we thank you
for your electing mercy and love. How we thank you that in love
that could only come from a holy God, you saw your people and
your Son and said they're worth it. It's worth it to send my
Son to take their place. They're worth it to send My Son
to make Him be sin for them that I might make them the righteousness
of God in Him. That You'd send Your Son to suffer
and bleed and die the death that Your people deserve so that Your
Son would be glorified. Oh, Father, how we pray You'd
give us eyes to see Him. To lay hold upon the Lord Jesus
Christ and see Him and never take our eyes off of Him. He
is glorious to us. Cause us to preach His glory,
believe His glory, and revel in the glory of our Savior. For
it is in His precious name we give thanks and ask these blessings.