Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Isaiah chapter 64. Isaiah chapter 64. Let's pray together. Our Father, this evening we call
upon you in the name of the Lord Jesus. And Lord, we ask, as we
know you here, being in our presence, we ask that you bless the word
tonight to our hearts. May it be to your honor, to your
glory, to your praise, to our eternal good, for Christ's sake.
Amen. A believer looks around and sees
in this world that which is awful. The heinous rebellion of this
world, whether it be in governments, whatever it is, but especially
in this world's false religion. There's one thing that a believer
desires, and that is the Lord's presence. You that know Him,
you that see these things, you that are aware of the presence of sin within,
the presence of sin without, do you not desire this? If the Lord be with us tonight, we're a blessed people. If God
Almighty be here, if the Lord be pleased to meet with us, with all of this foolishness,
playing games. With the sin's presence within
me, this is what I want, this is what I need. Lord, if You'd
be here. Isaiah 64 1, O that Thou wouldest
rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains
might flow down at thy presence. Lord, break open the heavens,
that you might rend the heavens and come down in power. Come down, Lord, that the mountains,
that which thinks itself to be immovable. Not the mountains
that we drive over and stuff like that. That which thinks
itself stable and strong. Oh, especially here. False religion. We speak of this, the Scripture
speaks of this. often false prophets, false religion. Turn to Revelation, Revelation
16, 19. Revelation 16, 19. Revelation 16, 19, the great
city, false religion, mystery Babylon,
the great city, was divided into three parts, and the cities of
the nations fell. And great Babylon came in remembrance
before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness
of His wrath. And every island fled away, and
the mountains were not found." That which stood up against God
Almighty. There is nothing in this world,
I mean, you listen to this, false religion. As I've told you before, I grew
up, any of you I know, and I thank God that you came up hearing
a faithful preacher of the gospel. I came up a false religion, convinced
of it, and I realize now the evil of it. It is soul damning. false prophets, mystery babbling,
everything that exalts itself against God. Oh, that thou wouldest
rend the heavens, thou wouldest come down, that the mountains
might flow down at thy presence. Come! As when, verse 2, when
the melting fire burneth, The fire causes the waters to boil,
to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations
may tremble at thy presence. I read that as when the melting
fire burneth. I remember right when I was in
boot camp, naval boot camp, and one of the things that we were
made quite aware of is fire control. Fire control. They told us like this. This
is a ship. It's made out of steel. Steel. But it'll burn. You get a ship
on fire and it goes down. You don't have any place to go
but the water. This is what the writer is saying. Oh, that Thou
wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down, that
the mountains might flow down, be shaken, flow down at Thy presence,
as when the melting fire burneth, the fire that causeth the waters
to boil. Have you ever seen these documentaries
on volcanoes? And you've got a flow of lava
coming down, flowing down. And when it gets to the water,
you think it'd put it out immediately. But it just, you know, eventually
the water will cool it down, I know that. But it just kind
of runs out there and just steams, it just fires, it just turns
the very water into steam itself. Lord, because of the arrogance
of this world, the evil, manifest yourself. as a God, unapproachable,
without a mediator. Turn to Exodus 19. Hold your
finger there. Exodus 19. This is what a believer prays
for. This is what they desire. Exodus
19, verse 17. I was reading this scripture
just a moment before everybody started getting here. This particular
part came out, Exodus 19, 70, and Moses brought forth the people
out of the camp, look at this, to meet with God. He brought the people out of
the camp to meet with God. How little we think about that,
Neal. To meet with God. We speak of
the Lord as almost being so familiar with
Him that we could speak of Him just in awesomeness. To meet with God. And they stood
at the nether part of the mount. And Mount Sinai was altogether
on a smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in the fire.
And the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and
the whole mount quaked greatly. And when the voice of the trumpet
sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and
God answered him by a voice. And the Lord came down upon Mount
Sinai on the top of the mount, and the Lord called Moses up
to the top of the mount, and Moses went up. Moses went up. People didn't want to go up.
Lord, you go up. You go up and meet with God.
You go up and speak on our behalf. This is what the prophet is saying
under the inspiration of God's Spirit back in Isaiah 64. As
when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to
boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the
nations may tremble at thy presence. Lord, you've done this before. Lord, you've done these things
before, things that just arrested Arrested. Look at verse 3. When
thou didst terrible things, which we looked not far, thou camest
down. The mountains flowed down at
thy presence. Again, the mountains of rebellion. The mountains of arrogance. Lord,
when you did, thou didst terrible things, frightening things, Lord,
that we never thought about, things we never looked for, never
imagined. Lord, You came down and this
terrible thing, and it's speaking respectfully of what the Lord's
done, awesome, frightening things. He came and He met with Abraham.
He said, I'm going to go into Sodom tomorrow. to see if the
things that I've heard as the Lord speak to you, He do. He
do. See if they're so. And here was
Abraham interceding. He knew a lot was inside him.
Lord, if you find, if there'd be 50 righteous men, if you find
50, would you spare it for 50? Yeah. And you know what he did?
45, 40. Got down to ten. Lord, if there's ten there, would
you spare it for ten? I'd spare it for ten. There wasn't
ten there. You know, I think about this.
Lord, would you have mercy? Would you have mercy on this
place? Would you have mercy if there's
fifty? Would you have mercy on Fairmont
if there'd be fifty? It would be fifty righteous men. Now you think about this, Gene. If there was not... I'm not talking
about... Somebody says, well, you're just speaking arrogantly.
No, I'm speaking truthfully. I'm not talking about those that
God's raised up, taught the gospel under the sound of the preaching
of a glorious gospel of God's free grace here. I'm talking
about take a place, name a city. Lord, if there was 50 righteous
in Fairmont, if I see 50 righteous, I'm not talking about religious.
I'm talking about 50 men, 50 men that knew God and walked
with God. If there's 50, would you spare
it for 50? If there was 50 men there, 45?
Lord, if there was 10, God rained down fire and brimstone
because it wasn't there. Lord, we saw these terrible things. In Egypt, the plagues, the frogs,
the darkness, the water turned to blood. God rescued Israel. Did terrible things. Came to
the Red Sea. The Red Sea opened up and all
of Israel walked across on dry ground and all the Egyptians,
every one of them drowned. Lord, You did terrible things. When Thou didst terrible things
which we looked not far, we never dreamed of them, we never thought
of them. Lord, You came down. The mountains flowed down at
Thy presence. And the reason that the mountains
flowed down at His presence, why? Because God's just. You're
a just God. You're a just God. And the Lord
in all of these terrible things, in Sodom, in Egypt, the Red Sea,
in all of the terrible things, what was God doing? I'll tell
you what He was doing. He was being just in dealing
with sin and He was delivering His people. That's exactly what
He was doing. All things. You think Romans
8, 28? would have applied to everything
back in the Old Testament. It may not have been penned until
the New Testament era. But I can tell you this, it was
still so back then. All things worked together for
good when God poured out the terrible things on Sodom and
Gomorrah and all the cities of the plains. God's just and He
delivers His people. Look at verse 4. For since the
beginning of the world, men have not heard nor perceived by the
ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee what he hath
prepared for him that waiteth for him." All the plagues, all
of the destruction, the miseries that's poured out on the rebellious,
it never entered their mind. never entered their mind that
God in justice was delivering His people. We have things that
happen today. These plagues, these whatever,
whatever happened, earthquakes, famines, whatever. It never enters
the mind of the rebel that this is God Almighty. being just. In fact, men will stand up and
say God would never do that. Not a loving God. God is love, but I'll tell you
this, He's just. He's a just God. The Apostle
Paul spoke and quoted this, quoting this, and the Spirit of God had
him to write the fullness of this passage. Look at 1 Corinthians
2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians 2.7. 1 Corinthians
2.7-10. The Apostle Paul says, we speak
the wisdom of God in the mystery, even the hidden wisdom. Here's hidden wisdom. Wisdom
concealed. We speak the wisdom of God in
a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the
world unto our glory, which none of the princes of this world
knew. For had they known it, they would not have crucified
the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath
not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him,
but God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit
searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God." Listen,
everything that we're going through, everything that happened, everything
that fell out today, Whatever it was, no matter what it was,
no matter what part of the world it was in, I'm telling you that
it fell out for the glory of God, for the salvation of God's
people. Why are these things happening? These terrible things. Why? Because God is just and because
God is going to deliver His people. I don't see how that could happen.
These are the hidden things. They are revealed to us. I don't
understand the fullness of all of it, but I can tell you this,
I know that God Almighty is just, and I know that He's going to
save His people. I know He is. Not only the judgment
of this world is a hidden mystery, but the marvel of salvation for
God's elect, oh, that's a hidden mystery. Chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world, God, made flesh the Word, made
flesh Christ, made sin, imputed righteousness to God's people. Who could perceive that? That's
got to be revealed. That's got to be shown us. It
must be shown us. Look at verse 5. Thou meetest
him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness. those that remember
thee in thy ways." Now God meets with His people. Now He meets
with His people. That's something that no man
could perceive without having it revealed that God meets with
His people. Somehow we just, and we all do
it, we get it in our mind, and God is. God is in the heavens.
He is. The Lord Jesus Christ seated
at the right hand of power and glory, ruling and reigning. But I'm telling you, as we've
said before, our Lord is with us here. He's with us tonight. Two or three gathered together
in my name. But I tell you where God's going to meet with His
people. You know this. He's going to
meet with them in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Mediator. Thou meetest him that rejoiceth."
Rejoices in Christ Jesus. Rejoicing in God Almighty who
is sovereign. And worketh righteousness. All that rejoice in the Lord
Jesus Christ, in His person, in His greatness, in His glory,
and worketh righteousness. What is that? Righteousness. Here it is. I'm going to tell
you. Now listen. Here's what it is. To work righteousness. I believe God. I believe God. I believe God. That's what it
is. I believe the Lord. He meets
with people that rejoice in His Son and believe Him. There's a blessed person. Meets
with Him, in Him, in mercy. We told Moses, where am I going
to meet with you? I'll meet with you between the
cherubims at the mercy seat. I'm going to meet with you in
a mediator. That's what I'm going to meet with you. I'm going to
meet with you in satisfaction in Him. You try to approach God
without a mediator, God is a consuming fire. Coming down just like the
prophet has declared, those that rejoice and work with righteousness,
those that remember Thee in Thy ways. Oh, God's ways. Past finding out. God's ways. Listen to this. God's way. for His people to be eternally
secure. You know what He did? He put them in the only one He
trusted. Put them in the only one He trusted.
Chose them in Christ from before the foundation of the world.
Elected them. Predestinated them. to the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. Chose us His way. Those that remember Thee in Thy ways. They're going
to have to have their sin debt. They're born sinners. Fallen
in Adam. Sinners by birth. Sinners by
practice. Sinners by choice. They're sinners. Here's God's way. Here's God's
way. Their sin is going to have to
be dealt with. God's just. God's just. I can
remember thinking forgiveness was just, well, I'm just going
to not worry about it. Just don't worry about it. Don't worry about
the mule. Just load the wagon. That's what
my dad used to tell me. I'd ask him, how are we going
to do this? Don't worry about it. No, God's just. And for His people to have their
sin dealt with, He, the Father, hath made Him,
the Son, sin. He who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in Him. For God Almighty
to put away our sin justly, We're going to have to have a Redeemer.
We're going to have to have one that is absolutely made what
we are and pay our debt. Oh, those that remember thee
and thy ways for God's people to be holy. And we must be. Flesh and blood are going to
inherit the Kingdom of God. We're going to have to be holy. and without blame. How's God
going to do that? He has imputed to His people,
His believing people, robed them in the righteousness of Christ.
That's a mystery. I know it's so, though I can't
perceive the depth of it, but God Almighty says it's so, and
we remember Him. In His ways. Oh, but as we remember
Him, in the mercy of His ways, we remember something else about
ourselves. And we do. We rejoice in Christ
Jesus. He has put away the debt of our
sins by His precious Son's shedding of His own blood, robed us in
His righteousness. But look at that last part of
verse 5. Behold, thou art wroth, for we
have sinned, And those and those sins is continuous. We cannot not sin. God who put
away the debt of our sins, wrath, the anger of the Lord, I dealt
with that a few weeks ago, the anger of the Lord kindled against
Moses. God Almighty is going to deal
with our sins in loving chastisement. God, He's going to deal with
us as a Father. You know, that punishes his children. I love, I told you I love my
kids. I love my kids. But you ask any,
I got four of them, and ask any four of them if I wouldn't at
the drop of a hat for rebellion. For rebellion. I always tell
them, I said, I won't whip you for a mistake, but I'll be the
determining factor whether it was a mistake. But for rebellion,
we're going to the bedroom. God is without wrath. Why? Because we've sinned. And
those is continuous. We cannot not sin. But listen to this. Knowing that
God Almighty is going to deal with us in chastening mercy,
here's what we know. We shall be saved. We shall be
saved. I had a specific purpose in dealing
with my kids in rebellion. Number one, they had done something
that deserved it and they must be taught. They must be taught.
You don't do that. But I desired that they be around
people that wanted to be around them. I wanted them to be accepted. I wanted them to be well thought
of. And I told them, I said, let
me tell you something. No kids ever want to be around
rebellious kids and no adult ever want to be around rebellious
kids. Now just, y'all remember that. Y'all remember that. Rebellious
children, unruly children, nobody wants to be around them. Almighty
God is going to make us what He says He's going to make us.
We're going to be saved. We're going to be saved. How
do we know we're going to be saved? Because He said He's going
to save us. Look at Jeremiah 23. Jeremiah
23. I'm going to go to verse 8. We'll
stop here. Jeremiah 23, verse 6. In His days, Judah shall be saved. He's going to be rescued. And
Israel shall dwell safely. And this is His name whereby
He shall be called the Lord our righteousness. Judah's going
to be saved. Israel's going to dwell in safety.
Why? Because I'm going to robe them.
Look at Acts 2.21. Acts 2.21. Acts 2.21. It shall come to pass
that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be
saved. They're going to be saved. I'm
going to robe them in righteousness and I'm going to give them a
heart to call. And when they call, I'm going to answer. We're
going to be saved. Not because of what we've done
back in Isaiah 64. Not because of what we've done.
The Lord's going to save His people. Verses 6 and 7 says,
but we are all. Now here's the amazing thing
that I've said before. All men are sinners. All men,
all women are born sinners. There's none righteous, no not
one. But only a believer knows it,
grieves over it, admits it, admits it. A non-believer will skirt
the issue. You know how I know the non-believer
doesn't really think he's a sinner? Here's the most obvious. Here's
the most obvious thing that you could possibly see about a man
or woman that does not believe that they're a sinner. They don't
need a savior. They don't need a savior. They
have it in their heart that they're okay. They have it in their heart
that things are not that bad. You let somebody find out that
they have a grievous illness. A fatal illness. And I'm telling
you, that's the first time that they really decided, I better
go see a doctor. You know, up until then, it's
not that big a deal. Why? Because I'm not sick. But
you let me get sick, and that's when I'm going to... A sinner
is one that needs a savior. A sinner admits what he is. But we are all as an unclean
thing. And all our righteousnesses are
as filthy rags. And we all do fade as a leaf. And our iniquities like the wind
have taken us away. There is none that calleth upon
thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee. For thou
hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us because of our
iniquities." You know, here's the joy of the heart of a sinner. A sinner that will admit, I'm
the problem. I'm the problem. I have nobody
to blame but myself. You know, a man or woman is willing
to take the blame. That's a precious thing. Because Christ Jesus came into
this world to save that kind of person. He came into this
world to save sinners. Sinners. We're going to be saved. Because this is what we know. This is what we admit. This is
who God came to save. A believer is a new creature
in Christ. He's a sinner. He's a sinner. Saved by the grace of God. Sin,
Mars, even our repentance. You try, you want, you admit,
you say, Lord, help me. Sin is present with me. Selfishness,
my own selfishness mars my very tears. Unbelief. Oh, I want to believe Him. And I find unbelief with me. Lord, I believe. Help thou my
unbelief. The Lord charges His angels with folly. Stars are
not pure in His sight. How much more a man that drinks
iniquity like water? It's not a thing we've got to
brag about, but I'll tell you this, in closing, we have a hope. We have a hope. There's a hope
for honest sinners. Ralph Barnard said that one time.
He said, God doesn't send honest men to hell. He makes them honest. I need a Savior. Lord, save me.
Lord, have mercy on me. Verse 8, last verse for tonight.
But now, O Lord, Thou art our Father. O Lord, Father, Son, and Spirit,
Jehovah, Thou art our Father. Lord, You're our Father by creation
and You're our Father by adoption. Lord, You're our Father. I've
sinned against You. That's what it said. We're all
an unclean thing. Filthy rags is our righteousness.
Our iniquities, like the wind, taking us away. None calls on
Your name. But now, O Lord, Thou art our
Father. I was thinking about that prodigal
son. Give me what's coming to me, I'll take that. Wasted it
all in riotous living, which fain had eaten the husk that
the hogs ate. And that blessed portion of Scripture,
and that you know by the grace of God, but he came to himself. He came to himself. And he thought
of the one person, the one person in which he'd have some hope,
one person thought about his father. He said, servants, he
better not do. I'm going to go back to my father
and this is what I'm going to say to him. I've sinned against you. I've
sinned against you. I've sinned against heaven. I've done it before heaven. I'm
not worthy. I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy.
And that dad fell on his neck. Kissed him. Kissed him. Kissed him. He said, kill the
fatty cat. Bring the best row. Put some shoes on this one. Get
the ring on this boy. This is my boy. This is my son. This is what we are. We're sinners,
we're rebels against God, and God has shown it to us. But now,
O Lord, Thou art our Father. I don't know a father in his
right mind that wouldn't, and I don't care, I don't care what
his son's done, but you take a dad, got a son, and I'm telling
you, I told you just about that much about myself when I was
coming up in high school, college, my rebellion. My dad kicked me
out. I was tough. It didn't matter
to me. Well, a little change of heart
after a while, you know. It came to my dad. O Lord, Thou art our Father. We are the clay. Thou our potter. We are all the work of Thy hands. Father, You're the former. We're the formed. Lord, You've
made us as You've made us By grace, you've taught me what
I am. You've shown me what I am. I
realize I am what I am by the grace of God. Lord, mold me and make me after
Thy will. Lord, help me save this sinner. Lord, for Your glory and for
my eternal good, Save me. Amen.