after the service for some for fellowship. Verse 10 of Zechariah chapter
12, you don't have to look it up, and I will pour upon the
house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem I will pour out
the spirit of grace and the spirit of supplication, and they shall
look upon him whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn
for him as one mourneth for his only son. They shall sorrow for
him as one sorrows for his firstborn." That's my hope. The Lord be pleased
to pour out the spirit of grace. and the spirit of supplication
upon us right now and cause us to look to Christ and realize
that his death on Calvary's cross was for my sin. Let's stand together. Brother Tom's going to come and
lead us in the hymn on the back of your bulletin. Now may the Lord reveal His face A sweeter subject can invite
a sinner's heart to sing, Or more display the glorious right
of our exalted King. Grace reigns to pardon crimson
sins, To melt the hardest hearts, And from the work it once begins,
It never once departs. was grace that called our souls
at first. By grace thus far we're come. And grace will help us through
the worst and lead us safely home. Please be seated. Please turn in the Word of God
to Psalm 115. Psalm 115. I don't know if you've ever had this
thought, but I have, and I'm guessing you have, is, why am
I here? Why has the Lord, what purpose
is my life? And especially, why has He put
me in this place on this day and this time? I hope Psalm 115
will answer that. The psalmist writes, Not unto
us, O Lord, not unto us, just to make it very clear, but unto
Thy name give glory. For Thy mercy and for Thy truth's
sake. Wherefore should the heavens
say, Where is now their God? That's what people say about
us. They say about us, especially when they see us in difficulties,
well, where's your God at now? But our God is in the heavens. He hath, oh, if God give us the
faith to believe this next, He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not. Eyes they have, have they, but
they see not. They have ears, but they hear
not. Noses have they, but they smell
not. They have hands, but they handle not. Feet they have, but
they walk not. Neither speak they through their
throat. They that make them are likened to them, so is everyone
that trusts in them. They worship a false God and
they trust in a false God and they're just like that false
God. O Israel, this is the believer, trust thou in the Lord. He is
their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the
Lord. He is their help and their shield. Ye that fear the Lord, trust
in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. Verse 12, the Lord hath been
mindful of us. We're never out of the minds
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're never out of His mind.
He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel.
He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless them that fear
the Lord, both small and great. The Lord shall increase you more
and more, you and your children, You are blessed of the Lord,
which made heaven and earth. The heaven, even the heavens,
are the Lord's. But the earth hath he given to
the children of men. The dead praise not the Lord.
The spiritually dead cannot praise God, neither any that go down
into silence. But we, the people of God, will
bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore. Praise the Lord. The Lord has helped me see something
over several months. I would like a life of peace. I'd like a life of comfort. I'd
like a life of joy. But that's not why I'm here.
If you're the Lord's, and everyone is, everyone that's here, both
the Lord's and those of us, we're here for one reason. We are here
for His glory. And if I have any enjoyment,
it'll be because the Lord's been glorified. If I have any peace,
it'll be because the Lord's been glorified. And if I have any
comfort, it's because the Lord has been glorified. I'm here
for His glory, not for my comfort or peace. And I thank the Lord
for that. I'll speak for me, I often get
it backwards. I think the Lord's here for me,
and He is. But my sole purpose is to glorify
the Lord, no matter what my circumstances may be. Let us pray. Lord, we pray this morning, We pray that you will put your
words into the heart and the mind and the mouth of our shepherd,
Brother Greg, and your other gospel preachers. Lord, that
you will enable him to declare Christ to us, and that your glory will be declared
unto us. And as your people, Lord, we
pray that you would send your Spirit to give us the faith to
believe it and, Lord, to glorify you. We pray this morning for our
brother and for Pam and for Charlie. Oh, Lord, that they may see that
we are in your hands and these events are ordained of you. and
that we can say by your spirit that they are good and they are
right and that we would give glory
to you no matter what happens. We ask these things for your
glory. Amen. Let's all stand together once
again We'll sing hymn number 390, number 390. ["Hymn 390"] Jesus, I my cross have taken
All to leave and follow Thee Destined to despise forsaken
Though from hence my all shall be Perish every fond ambition
All I've sought and hoped and known Yet how rich is my condition
God and heaven are still my own Let the world despise and leave
me They have left my Savior too Human hearts and looks deceive
me, Thou art not like man untrue. And while Thou shalt smile upon
me, God of wisdom, love, and might, Foes may hate and friends
may shun me, Show Thy face and all is bright. Man may trouble
and distress me, Twill but drive me to thy breast. Life with trials hard may press
me, Heaven will bring me sweeter rest. Hope tis not in grief to
harm me, While thy love is left to me. O, t'were not in joy to
charm me, Were that joy unmixed with thee? ? Haste thee on from
grace to glory ? ? Armed by faith and winged by prayer ? ? Heaven's
eternal days before thee ? ? God's own hand shall guide thee there
? ? Soon shall close thy earthly mission ? ? Swift shall pass
thy pilgrim days ? Hope shall change to glad fruition, faith
to sight, and prayer to praise. Please be seated. We're going
to have special music again from Houston Vincent and Seth Hardman. And just, if you don't already
know these young men, they're down from Crossville. They're
first cousins. And they're also related to us
in this world, because Seth and Ryan are brothers. They're moms,
they're sisters. And you probably remember Houston,
Jacqueline Vincent, when she was working here and worshipped
with us, that's Houston's sister. Okay, you guys go. He told me that I am righteous. He told me that He saved me from
sin. He told me that I am chosen. He told me that I'm justified. He chose and died for a sinner,
so he cried, it is finished. It is finished for me. Chosen he died. His word is sweet and blessed. He opens it up to me. He taught me And he told me that he took my
place. He chose and died for a sinner's
soul, he cried. It is finished. It is finished. for me He chose and He died He
told me that He would take me home He told me that I would
not die He told me that Christ was afflicted, so that my sin
was no more. He chose and died for a sinner's
soul, he cried. It is finished. It is finished for me. He chose and he died. That's a blessing, wasn't it?
Don't those boys look like Florida boys? Thank you Seth in Houston. That
was a real blessing. The Lord told us that the Spirit
is willing But the flesh is weak. The believer has two natures.
He's been made new in Christ. The faith that God gives that
new nature looks to the Lord Jesus Christ alone for his finished
work. The finished work of his redemption.
All our righteousness is bound up. in the glorious person and
accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And believers believe
that by faith. Whatever's not a faith is sin.
The only thing God's pleased with is we're looking to Christ,
resting in Christ. Now are we able to have perfect
faith? Let me illustrate it like this. There was a time in my
attempts to preach to you that I thought there would come a
day when I would never have a thought again about what you thought
of me. It's sinful to stand and preach the gospel, to tell you
about Christ, and worry about what you thought of me. How shameful
is that? There was a time when I thought,
you know, I'm going to get rid of that one day. I have come
to realize that that's never ever going to go away. So just like we said in the first
hour, when we make an offering, we have to be forgiven for it
because our motives are so mixed. When I stand here to preach to
you, I'm in need of forgiveness. I can't have perfect faith. I
can't have a holy thought. I can't get away from my flesh. I just can't do it. Paul put
it like this in Romans chapter 7, he says, for we know that
the law is spiritual. Now two verses before that he
said the law is, the commandment of God is holy, it's just, and
it's good. That's God's law, that's his
word. And yet the law of God has never made a man holy, it's
never made a man justified, and it's never added an ounce of
goodness to anybody. The law had to be satisfied by the one
who was holy. Well, the one who is good and
the one who's able to satisfy all the demands of God's righteousness.
He goes on to say, for we know that the law is spiritual, but
I am carnal, sold under sin. He said, I'm a slave to sin.
I can't get away from it. I'm a slave to it. He goes on to say, to will is
present with me I want to be without sin but how
to perform that which is good I find not I can't do it I'm
carrying this body and he concludes this whole chapter by saying
all wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from this body
of death thanks be to God through Christ Jesus I am free so that
now there is no condemnation All my sins have been put away.
There's no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus. So though I'm painfully aware
of the presence of my sin, the presence of my flesh, I'm also
looking to Christ to have put that away from the sight of God
and present himself to God on my behalf for all my righteousness
before God. That's the gospel. That's our
only hope. Man-made religion is all based
upon what man does. You can get better, you can do
this. And here's the problem with most
folks' view of sin. They only see sin as a behavioral
problem. And it goes so much deeper than
that. When the Lord makes you to be a sinner, you know that
sin is not just what you do, it's what you are. You can't
escape it. You need a sinless Savior. You need a substitute. You need
a sin bearer. You need an advocate that can
stand in your stead before God and present himself on your behalf.
That's why we're looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher
of our faith. That's our hope and that's our
faith. And that's the grace of God in our hearts. If you'll
turn with me in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 5, Isaiah chapter
5, the flesh is weak when it comes to its ability to produce
anything that's righteous before God. And as I've witnessed on
many occasions in my life, and I'm witnessing right now with
our brother Brian, the flesh is very strong when it comes
to its clinging to this world. It doesn't die easily. It holds
on to this world. In Isaiah chapter 5, verse 1,
the Father is speaking here first in verse 1. God the Father is
speaking about His Son. when he says, now will I sing
to my well-beloved a song of my well-beloved touching his
vineyard. Now his vineyard's the church,
and God the Father is praising the Lord Jesus Christ for his
church. My well-beloved hath a vineyard
in a very fruitful hill. And he fenced it, and gathered
out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and
built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress
therein. And he looked that it should
bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes." That's the
title of this message, wild grapes. That's all you and I are able
to produce. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem,
he's talking to us, he's talking to his church, and men of Judah,
judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. Who's responsible
for the fact that my vineyard is producing wild grapes? Is
it my fault? God's speaking. I planted the
vineyard in a fruitful hill, and I tended my vineyard, and
I put a winepress in my vineyard, which that winepress, you know,
is a picture of the cross. That's when the wrath of God
treaded out the wine, the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ in the
winepress of his wrath. And so he says, you judge. You judge between me and yourself. What could have I done more to
my vineyard than I have done unto it? Wherefore, when I looked,
that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth wild grapes. Who's responsible for the wild
grapes that are being produced by my vineyard? Verse five, and now go to, and
I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away
the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up, and break down the
wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. And I will lay
it waste, and it shall be pruned. It shall not be pruned, nor digged,
and there shall come up briars and thorns, and I will also command
the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. I'm going to I'm
going to do something in my vineyard that's going to expose it for
what it is. And what he's talking about is
the work of grace in repentance. The Lord is now promising to
cause his people to see how wild their grapes really are. I'm
going to expose my vineyard. For the vineyard of the Lord
of hosts is the house of Israel. He's talking about his church.
And the men of Judah, his pleasant plant, and he looked for judgment,
but behold, oppression for righteousness, but behold, a cry. I'm going to cause them to see
how wild their grapes really are. You're not going to look
to the Lord Jesus Christ for anything until the Lord breaks
down your wall. Until he causes you to see how
fruitless you are. And that the only hope of righteousness
that you have is completely bound up in the glorious person and
accomplished work of the Lord. He's the only one that ever produced
good grapes. The only one. The Lord said,
I did everything, you cannot, let no man say when he is tempted,
James put it like this, let no man say when he is tempted, I
am tempted of God, for God tempteth no man to evil, neither can he
be tempted with evil, but men are tempted when they are drawn
away of their own lust, and when lust hath conceived it bringeth
forth sin, and sin bringeth forth death. We're responsible. When
God causes you, you know, man has been playing the blame game
ever since the garden hadn't he? Now, aren't we good at it? We're really good at it, aren't
we? I mean, we can justify ourselves and point our finger at other
folks and accuse other people for all our problems. When God does a work of grace
in your heart, you'll know where the problem lies. You'll know
that it's you. That's how this message is going
to end up. We're going to end up in Isaiah chapter 6. What
does Isaiah say in Isaiah chapter 6? Woe is me, for I am undone. I'm a man of unclean lips, and
I live among a people of unclean lips, and mine eyes have seen
the King. I'm going to die. I've seen God
for who He is. The Lord, He's tore down my wall. He's caused me to see that the
flesh can produce nothing but wild grapes and it's my fault. It's not because He hasn't blessed
me. It's not because He hasn't given me plenty of opportunities.
The fault for my wild grapes lies completely on me. It's nobody else's fault but
mine. I am my own worst enemy. My flesh. Do you believe that
about yourself? In chapter 5, there's six woes. We're not going to do all of
chapter 5. We just want to look at these verses very quickly.
There's six woes in chapter 5. Now six, as you know, is the
number for man. Man was made on the sixth day, and six is
the closest number to seven that there is. And 666 is the number
of man. And it's man's attempt to save
himself. That's what it is. It's man's
attempt to save himself. And God says, woe unto them. woe unto them six times. But
this word woe is a passionate cry of grief or despair as would
be expressed by someone who has just been given the death penalty
from a judge. It's irrevocable. So here's a
man in a court of law And he hears the judge say, guilty,
death. And there's no, there's no recourse. And the grief and despair that
that man would feel over that judgment is what God's saying
when he says, whoa, six times, six times. I want the Lord to
do that for you and I want Him to do that for me. I want to
see the things that I would by nature trust in for my salvation
and I want God to speak. I want the judge of all creation
to speak to me this judgment so that I won't lean upon those
things for the hope of my salvation. Now, these woes are progressive. They get progressively worse.
It starts with the most natural woe of all, and that's our attraction
and dependence and security in possessions. Now, we've got,
I suppose, right now, as we speak, two- and three-year-olds in the
nursery, just through those doors, fighting over whose toys are
whose. And we never get away from it, do we? We just never get away from it.
Man by nature will produce the wild grapes of trying to hold
on to his possessions. Look, here it is, verse 1. And
by the way, these get progressively worse. It starts with the most
natural and the one thing that becomes so... It's so early in
life and it becomes so natural for the flesh to cling on to
these worldly possessions as the hope of his salvation. And
it ends up with false prophets in verse 22, which is the worst
woe of all. Verse eight. Woe unto them that
join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be
no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth."
In other words, God's saying woe unto them who sets their
affections on the things of this world so that their hope is to
own it all. I just want to have never content,
never satisfied with what the Lord's given me, always wanting
more. Is that your flesh? In mine eyes, verse nine, in
mine ears, I'm sorry, saith the Lord of hosts, of a truth, many
houses shall be desolate, even great and fair without inhabitants. Men by nature suppose that gain
is godliness, but God says godliness with contentment is great gain. Lord, give me contentment. That's
only going to happen as we're able, by the grace of God, through
the gift of faith, to set our affections, not on the things
of the earth, but on Christ. To rest in Him. And God says,
woe unto them who would do, woe unto this flesh. This flesh has
been pronounced dead. The final enemy is death. We're
all going to be right where Brian is, sooner than we think. That's the final enemy. God said,
woe to this flesh. It's going to be desolate. What does it profit a man if
he gains the whole world and loses his own soul? What will
a man give in exchange for his soul? But isn't that our flesh?
I mean, it starts when we're babies and we can never get away
from it. And the Lord says, well, I'm
going to break down that wall. I gave you those things that
you have. I blessed you with so much and
yet you look to them for your contentment and for your happiness
and you're not looking to my Son? That's what the flesh does. Woe unto you! You brought nothing into this
world and it is certain that you shall take nothing out. That's the truth. I need to hear
that, don't you? Because my flesh will hang on to the possessions
of this world as if that's my security. Lord, help me to turn
loose of those things. So that's the first woe. Look
at verse 11. The second one is just as natural. It's just as natural as the first
one. It's the woe of pleasure. This
flesh is so addicted to pleasure. It's hard to be satisfied with
moderation. We want more. We want more pleasure. We're like the flesh is like
Esau. It's wild grapes. Esau was a
wild man. And Esau sold his birthright
for a pot of soup when he got hungry. We'll do that just to
feed our bellies to feed our flesh We'll look away from Christ
and God says these are wild grapes They're wild grapes Woe unto them, verse 11, that
rise early in the morning, and that they may follow strong drink,
that continue until night, till wine inflame them, and the harp,
and the vial, and the tabret, and the pipe, and the wine are
in their feast, but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither
consider the operation of his hands. Is that a description
of your flesh? Just as you were saying, Michael
just wants pleasure, wants contentment, wants some sort of fleshly peace
in this world, not regarding the work of His hands. The accomplished
work of the Lord Jesus Christ on Calvary's cross who put away
our sins once and for all and secured for us the salvation
of our souls. Oh Lord, Give me the grace. There's pleasure in sin. You
know that. I don't have to tell you that. There's pleasure in
sin for a season, but the end, it leads to death, doesn't it? Verse 18, the third woe is the
woe of good works. Here's the man who's proud of
the things that he's done. He doesn't see that everything
he's put his hand to, he's infected with his own sin. He wants others
to pat him on the back and he wants God to reward him for his
good works. And so what does he do? Woe unto
them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity and sin, as it
were, with a cart rope, that say, let him make speed. Now
he's talking to God. Here's a person who takes their
iniquity. You remember, iniquity is that
which falls short of the glory of God. It's our good works.
That's what iniquity is. It's the things that we do to
try to earn favor with God, and we draw it with cords of vanity.
It's so empty in what we're doing. And this man speaks to God while
he's doing these things, and he says, Let him make haste and
hasten his work, that we may see it. And the counsel of the
Holy One of Israel, draw nigh and come, that we may know it.
Let God come and inspect my works. And he'll find that I've been
dedicated to him. That's what the Lord said on
the day of judgment when he separates the sheep from the goats. He
will say to the goats, I was hungry and you didn't feed me.
I was thirsty, you didn't give me drink. I was naked, you didn't
clothe me. I was in prison, you didn't come visit me. I was a
stranger, you didn't take me in. What do the goats say? Lord,
when did we not do those things? We've been serving you all our
lives. Lord, Lord, we've cast out demons
in Thy name. We've done many wonderful works
in Thy name. You did them in the flesh. They
never earned you an ounce of favor with God. The only work
that a holy God can be pleased with is a holy work. And the
only one that ever did that was the Lord Jesus Christ. He produced
perfect faith. He obeyed God perfectly. Everything
we do, we just conclude, I'm an unprofitable
servant. Whether it's giving or preaching
or serving one another, we're thankful for one another. I see
it in you and I thank God for it, just like we saw in 2 Corinthians
chapter 9. And you do the same when you
see it in other believers. But we don't see it in ourselves,
do we? But here's the flesh who's proud of what it's done and wants
recognition from men and from God. So he's finding his contentment
in his possessions, in his pleasure, in his good works, and God says,
wild grapes, whoa. I pronounce it dead. There's
nothing to it. Look at the fourth one. You know what, before we move
on to the fourth one, I want to show you a verse that Tia pointed
out to me last night when we were talking about this. Turn
with me to Isaiah chapter 66. Isaiah chapter 66. Are God's people delight to serve
Him willfully and joyfully? Yes. Do they look to those things
for any hope of their salvation? Look at Isaiah chapter 66 at
verse 17. They that sanctify themselves
and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the
midst, eating swine's flesh and the abomination and the mouse
shall be consumed together, saith the Lord. For I know their works
and their thoughts, and it shall come that I will gather all nations
and tongues and they shall come and see my glory." My glory. I got a call this week from a
brother. I was very encouraged talking
to this man. There's three families in Pittsburgh that are watching
our services. Perhaps they're watching them now. And he was
just thanking me for couldn't find anybody around that's preaching
the gospel. And I told him about the church in Fairmont. So hopefully
they're gonna make it down there. But he was saying that, you know,
everywhere he goes, they're talking about progressive sanctification.
And Hebrews chapter 10, verse 10 says, By the witch will we
are sanctified through the offering of the blood of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. He that sanctifieth and they
that are sanctified are all as one. so that he is not ashamed
to call them his brethren. By one offering, by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Woe unto
the flesh, woe unto the man that looks to his works for any recommendation
whatsoever for hope of salvation before God. Whoa, and God says,
I'll destroy that. It's wild grapes. Your sanctification,
your holiness before God, your acceptance before God is holy
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Number, verse 20. Verse 20 and
here's the fourth woe that God pronounces as wild grapes. Do you see these things as wild
grapes? Do you see your attraction to material things as wild grapes? Do you see your attraction to
pleasure as wild grapes? And your need to be affirmed
for good things that you do as wild grapes? It's what God says. Woe unto it. It's been pronounced
the death sentence. Number four, verse 20. Woe unto them that call evil
good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light
for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
Now, I'm sad as you are, that as a nation, we have lost, it
seems, our moral standing or perception or discernment. Let's put it that way. Not moral
standing, moral discernment. In that we are celebrating things
and I'm sad for our children that they see the world celebrating
things in our society that they used to be considered very shameful.
And I'm sad for that. But let me say this, that's not
what this is talking about. Yet we are, as a nation, we are
calling good evil and evil good. But those self-righteous Pharisees
who would stand up and point their finger at that behavior
are the ones he's talking about. It's the religious who call the
sovereignty of God an election and predestination according
to God's will and purpose. They call it what? They call
it evil. And then they'll turn around and say, free will is
good. They'll talk about particular redemption. The fact that the
Lord Jesus Christ went to Calvary's cross in order to satisfy the
demands of God's law for a particular people that God chose in the
covenant of grace before the world began, shed his precious
blood, put away their sins once and for all, that God loves righteousness. He loves Jacob. He has a particular
people. What do they call that? That's
evil. My God's not like that. The atonement of Christ is an
offer of salvation to all men. That's good. And they'll call a man, mark
my word on this, they'll call a man or a believer who stands
for Christ and preaches the gospel, a false prophet. And they'll
follow in droves after the false prophets and they'll call them
good and us evil. This is false religion he's talking
about. This is the progression of the flesh who goes from possessions
to pleasure, to good works, and now to false religion. They will call our unwillingness
to compromise the gospel evil. Why don't you guys just be more
loving and be more conciliatory and just put the walls down and
open the doors and let's just all get along. Why do you have
to be so narrow about everything? You're evil, you're unloving,
you're unkind. And the most loving thing that
we can... And then they call their open-door policy of, you
know, just whatever you want to believe and whatever you want
to... Yeah, we'll just indulge everything. They call that good. Man, when the flesh progresses,
these wild grapes, he calls evil good and he calls good evil. Number five, there's six of them
here. Number five, verse 21. Woe unto them that are wise in
their own sight, eyes, and prudent in their own sight. You remember when Naaman, the
leper, came down to Elisha to be healed, and Elisha wouldn't
even go out to see him. Elisha sent his servant out,
and Naaman was enraged in wrath against the prophet. And here's
what came out of Naaman's mouth. He said, I thought, that's where
you need to stop talking, Naaman, because that's your problem.
That's your problem. I thought that the prophet would
come out and call upon his God and raise his hands and do some
wonderful work and heal the leper. Naaman talks about himself in
third part, he says, the leper. A man by name, my thoughts are
not your thoughts. My ways are not your ways as
the heavens are high above the earth. So are my thoughts above
your thoughts, but the flesh thing. So, you know, I, and in
Psalm 1 46 verse five, here's what the scripture says. Speaking
of our experience, when the judgment of God is pronounced against
our thoughts, and the woe of God is executed against our flesh,
and the wild grapes are put to an end, his breath goeth forth,
and he returneth to the earth, and in that very day his thoughts
shall perish. That's my hope. I certainly don't want to take
this flesh with me, but I don't want to take my thoughts with
me. I don't want to have any thoughts that I've had in this
life. I just want to see Him for who
He is and have nothing but holy, perfect thoughts about the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ who has died for me. His thoughts
shall perish. All the things that men take
pride in Oh, we're just so proud of our thoughts, aren't we? God
says, wild grapes, wild grapes. Woe unto the man who's wise in
his own eyes. And verse six, number six, here's
the final progression of the flesh. When the flesh gets to
its worst state, Its worst state is not possessions, its worst
state is not pleasure, its worst state is not good works, its
worst state is pronounced here in verse 22. Woe unto them that
are mighty to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong
drink. He's not talking about being
intoxicated with alcohol. He's talking about being intoxicated
with the spirit of false religion. He's talking about mixing the
truth with error. And here's the proof of that.
Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness
of the righteous from him. Why do we hate the false gospel?
Because it robs me of my hope. If it's Christ plus anything,
If God's looking to me for any contribution whatsoever for the
hope of my salvation, you've robbed me of my righteousness.
My righteousness is in Him. But what do the false prophets
do? They mingle doctrine. They mingle truth with error.
And a little bit of leaven leavens the whole lump. And if it's not
of grace, it must be of works. You can't mix grace and works.
But that's what they're doing. And here's the progression. God
says, woe, wild grapes, wild grapes, don't rob me of my righteousness. The seventh woe, and I bring
this to a conclusion. Do you see these six woes in
your own flesh? Do you see it? Is this your experience
in this world? The wild grapes of possessions,
the wild grapes of pleasure, the wild grapes of good works,
the wild grapes of false religion and human wisdom, false prophets? God says, whoa. This is the judge
of all judges that says, death. now in Isaiah chapter 6 notice
all six of those woes Isaiah speaking and he's saying woe
unto them he's pointing to the flesh he's pointing to man woe
unto them woe unto them now in Isaiah chapter 6 in the year
the king Uzziah died I also saw the Lord high and lifted up. All you gotta do is go to John
chapter 12 and it makes it clear in the word of God that Isaiah
saw none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself sitting
upon that throne. That was Christ sitting upon
his throne. High and lifted up. And his train filled the temple. Look there. Look at chapter 6. And above it stood the seraphim. Each one had six wings. And with
them, with Twain he covered his face, and with Twain he covered
his feet, and with Twain he did fly. And one cried unto the other
and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. Heaven
and earth is filled with his glory. Now there's the only grape
that's not wild. It's the only one. This is the cluster that Isaiah
talks about later that's cut down, that the substance is within. You remember when the spies went
in to spy out the promised land and Joshua and Caleb came out
and the scripture said they had one cluster of grapes and they
had to put it on a pole between and carry the two of them between
their shoulders. It was so big and heavy. That's
Christ. It's not the wild grape. And
Joshua and Caleb, who were carrying this cluster of grapes, wanted
to go in, and the rest of the spies said, Oh no, there's giants
in the land, and we look like grasshoppers in their sight.
And Joshua and Caleb said, Yeah, but God promised it. He'll give
it to us. Look, this is the evidence. These aren't wild grapes. And
they followed after wild grapes, and they died in the wilderness. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
of hosts. Heaven and earth is filled with
His glory. And the post of the door moved,
and the voice of him that cried, at the voice of him that cried,
and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, woe is me,
I'm a wild grape. I'm a shriveled up, sour, wild
grape. I've got nothing to offer. This
is the one I need. This is the one who sits upon
His throne. This is the one whose train fills the temple. This
is the one that the angels in heaven hover over Him. And they
can't even look upon Him. You notice, remember, with two
wings they covered their face? And with two wings they covered
their feet? Symbolizing that the angels who were innocent
before God were still creatures and they had to cover their feet
of clay. They could not look upon His radiance because He
was so glorious. And Isaiah sees Him and says,
Woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips. I
live among a people of unclean lips. My eyes have seen the King, and He has every right to execute
woe against me, because I'm nothing but a wild grape." Then, we'll finish with this
verse, then flew one of the seraphim, having a live coal in his hand,
which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar, and he laid
it upon his mouth and said, Lo, this has touched thy lips. And
thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin is purged. Now what
is that coal? That's the fiery wrath of God
that fell upon Christ on Calvary's cross. And God says because of
what Christ does, did, your sin is taken away. Yeah, your flesh is still wild
grapes. And one day your flesh is going
to be put back into the place where it came from. From dust
it came and dust it's going to return. But in Christ, all those
wild grapes have been forgiven. And you now are a part of that
cluster. That cluster that Joshua and
Caleb carried out of the Promised Land. Here's my only hope. Everything else is a wild grape. God's done everything. Problems
with us. Now if he gives us hope in Christ,
then we have hope. The only hope there is. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly
Father, we're thankful for your word. We pray for your Holy Spirit
to make it effectual to our hearts. Bless us with faith and cause
us to look to Christ, for it's in his name we ask it. Amen. Let's stand together, Brother
Tom. Number 232, let's stand. We'll sing this acapella, it's
not in the music box. Number 232. Christ our Redeemer died on the
cross, died for the sinner, paid all his due. Sprinkle your soul
with the blood of the Lamb, and I will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, when I
see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass
over you. Chiefest of sinners, Jesus will
save All He has promised that He will do Wash in the fountain,
open for sin And I will pass, will pass over you When I see
the blood When I see the blood When I see the blood I will pass,
I will pass over you Judgment is coming, all will be there,
each one receiving justly his due. Hide in the saving, sin-cleansing
blood, and I will pass, will pass over you. When I see the
blood When I see the blood When I see the blood I will pass,
I will pass over you Oh, great compassion. Oh, boundless love. Oh, loving
kindness, faithful and true. Find peace and shelter under
the blood. And I will pass, will pass over
you. When I see the blood, when I
see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass
over you. We have one more very special
event before we enjoy lunch together. This is particularly special
for me. When Olivia Dunbar was little,
she noticed pictures in my office, a lot of pictures of Lord Grace,
and she didn't know she was my granddaughter. She thought I
just had special favoritism towards Lord Grace. Well, Lord Grace, along with
Ashley Olson and Caleb Torres, have completed their high school
career. And we have always been delighted
to give our high school graduates Bibles. I wrote in their Bibles
Hebrews chapter 10, verse 7, then said I, Lo, I have come
to do thy will, O God, for in the volume of the book it is
written of me." That's the scripture reference in the front of your
all's Bibles. Lo, I have come to do thy will. Christ is speaking.
For lo, in the volume of the book it is written of me. Our hope and prayer for these
young people The Lord will be pleased to make
Himself known to them, keep them, open His Word to them, reveal
Himself, save their souls, keep them in Christ, keep them in
His Church. Oh, young people, don't move
away from His Church. You're going to have opportunities for
jobs and things. Make sure you stay close to the
Gospel. I'm thankful for the parents
of these young people. I'm thankful for them. And I
want to ask the three of them, Caleb, and Laura Grace, Ashley,
where's Ashley? Ashley, you all come up here.
I was kidding them the other night, told them they were going
to have to speak when they came up here. Ashley said she would
if Laura Grace would. I said, well, I don't think you
have to worry about that. So Ashley, Caleb, and Laura Grace. I think these three exceptional
young people ought to get an applause from
us. Thank you. I'm going to give you one last
word of advice. I gave this to Lord Grace some
time ago. And young people need to hear
this. It seems so simple and so obvious to older folks. I
told Laura Grace, I said, you want to be successful in this
world. You always want to be able to have work. I said, be
at work. on time, every time, with a good
attitude. That's all you have to do. Just
remember those three things. Be at work, on time, every time,
with a good attitude. And you'll always have somebody
who wants you to work for them. They're all going to college.
Caleb's going to Tallahassee, to Florida State, and Laura Grace
and Ashley are going to stay here at UCF. So let's stand together. I want to pray for these young
people. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful for your mercy
toward us. We're thankful for allowing Causing
Lord grace and Ashley and Caleb to sit under the gospel all their
lives And how we do pray that you would bless the words of
this book that are in their hands and cause them to to see Christ
in it to trust him for For all their salvation and all their
supply of grace and need in this world We thank you for them pray
that you'd protect them and Bless them with your grace. We ask
it in Christ's name. Amen. All right. Let's enjoy
a meal together.