In verse 12, it kind of asks
a question here. He said, "...who hath measured
the waters in the hall of his hand?" Who has done that? Could it be
done? Who has measured the waters in
the hall of his hand? and meted out heaven with a span,
and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure. Who has done that? And weighed the mountains in
scales, and the hills in a balance. Who hath directed the Spirit
of the Lord? or being his counselor hath taught him, with whom took
he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path
of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of
understanding. Who's done this? Anyone that
you know of or ever heard of or read about that could do such mighty things, mighty
acts? He said, Behold, the nations
are as a drop in a bucket, a drop of a bucket. After you empty
the bucket and you look down, you'll see a drop. hanging on
the side of the bucket. And so you remove that drop and
look and there's another drop. And he said the nations are as
a drop of a bucket and are counted or regarded as the small dust
of the battle. Behold, he taketh up the isles
as a very little thing. Lebanon is not sufficient to
burn, that is, is not worth my time, Lebanon, nor the beast
of Lebanon thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. All nations
are before him as nothing. and less than nothing. What is
nothing? I don't know what nothing is,
do you? It's such an insignificant thing
that you can't articulate to our understanding what nothing
is. I used to say, If you took a box and sealed it off on all sides, put nothing in the box, seal
it off on all sides, you could say, What is in the box? Nothing. You can't explain nothing. So people who are so full of
self, full of their attainments, and think they're somebody. It's basically these that try
to educate God and tell Him what He can do and what He can't do. They're nothing. They are accounted
to Him less. than nothing, nothing in less
than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? Or what likeness will ye compare
unto him? The workman melteth a graven
image, and the goldsmith spreadeth it over with gold, and casteth
silver chains. He that is so impoverished that
he hath no oblation chooseth a tree that will rot. He speaketh unto him a cunning
workman to prepare a graven image that shall not be moved. Have
ye not known? Have ye not heard? Hath it not
been told to you from the beginning? Have ye not understood from the
foundation of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the
circle of the earth, and the inhabitants, the people thereof,
are grasshoppers. That stretcheth out the heavens
as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. He, for that bringeth the princes
to nothing, he maketh the judges of the earth as vanity. Yea,
they shall not be planted, they shall not be sown, yea, their
stalks shall not take root in the earth. He shall also blow
upon them, and they shall wither, and the whirlwind shall take
them away as stubble. To whom, then, will ye liken
me? or shall I be equal? Lift up your eyes on high, and
behold who hath created these things, and bringeth out their
host by number. He calleth them all by names,
by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power." Not one fail. You can read the
rest of it there when you get home some other time. God. Awesome God. And to think that The majority of the inhabitants
of this earth at any given time are walking on thin ice. They
know not when the grim reaper will overtake them. And if they are overtaken, and
will be overtaken, surely, sooner or later, at the appointed time. and that they do not reverence
and love the God of the Bible in Christ. What awaits them is so terrible
that I don't even want to think about it. The awful misery and torment
of a man. when the grim reaper overtakes
him and destroys him and sends him into that place that he never can get out of,
terribly. The majority of the world is
like that. The majority of the peoples of the world, they don't
give a second thought to God, who He is. Is he worthy or unworthy? Busy doing things that pleases
him, that pleases the flesh. Lord have mercy. In fact, sing
us another verse, one verse if you will. In chapter 41 of the
book of Isaiah, And verse 17, let me make mention of that here
this evening and make a few comments on what it means. Verse 17, it says, When the poor and needy
seek water, And there is none, and their tongue faileth for
thirst. I, the Lord, will hear them. I, the God of Israel, will not
forsake them." Now, it's common to hear people say, Such a one as is identified in this verse,
the poor and needy, such a one surely must be a great
believer. He must be a strong, valiant
believer in the gospel. What ideas strike your mind in
reference to such a person? You say, well, we're apt to think that he's
very rich in himself. He must have a great amount or
a great stock of inherent righteousness. He must have a natural righteousness
of his own, and he must have a great amount of it. But that's wrong. That is 100 percent wrong. Instead of him having a large
amount of self-righteousness or righteousness is just the
reverse, just the opposite. He is one who knows himself to
be poor and needy. And if a man ever, by the grace
of God, by the great Teacher, the Spirit of God, finds Somewhat about God and who He
is. Somewhat. He comes to find out what He
Himself is in light of who God is. He'll find out that He's poor
and needy. He's poor and needy. when he
finds out who God is and who He is, he'll find out that he's very
poor and he's very needy, poor and needy. And his great faith leads him out of himself, leads him to look out of himself
for that which he needs and quit looking at himself. But the Spirit will lead him
out of himself. To the great God that I just
read about in the book of Isaiah, to the great God in our to receive
out of his fullness an unsearchable riches. He confesses, I am a
poor and needy sinner and live on the unsearchable riches of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The sight of our poverty, our
poorness, our vanity, in the sense of our need. What
do we need? We need to get out of self. We
need to quit looking for avenues out of ourselves that will set
us in good stead with God. There are many people in our
day, very many religious people who think that this business
of salvation, that someone approaches them and makes a proposition
to them about the Lord Jesus Christ, their reaction is as
one that's doing God a favor. by saying, yes, we believe on
his name, we believe in the Lord Jesus. And they are only doing this
as a show. There is no real Holy Spirit
conviction that brings them to know how poor and needy they
are. and how far off from God they
are. They don't know that. They think
they're doing God a favor. We'll just do this fellow a favor.
We feel sorry for him. They know, as I know and as you
know, that the majority of professions and confessions of faith in the
twentieth century and on back are made from the mouth and not
made from the heart. They think that they are adding
something to God. They want to do something that
springs from their inherent righteousness that will add to God or try to
gain God's favor. the sight of our real state and
condition, the sight of our poverty and the sense of our need, the
Holy Spirit of God must keep up our minds with this thought
that we are poor and needy. when we come to Christ, but all
through life. From the time that we're quickened
and given life, and from the time that the love of God, seen
in Christ, is shed abroad in our hearts, he's got to keep
this idea in our mind, which is truth, that we are poor and
needy. And he has to lead us and he
will lead us out of ourselves and lead us to him who alone
gives drink to the thirsty and clothes the poor and the needy,
our Lord Jesus. And when that happens, That makes
the Lord Jesus Christ and his riches, the riches of himself,
the riches of his grace, that makes the riches of his grace
and the riches of himself very precious to that soul. Some say
such a one as described here is only a seeker. He's seeking
after God. Well, that's what God's children
do all their life. They are seekers after God. They
are poor and needy, and they seek water. Their souls are thirsty
for water, and there is none. That's the reason They come to
say, I'm poor and needy. There's no water. There's nothing
coming from God to my soul. I need some help. I need a word
from God, a word of comfort, a word of help, something to
help me in this trying time. Their souls are thirsty. for
water, and the prophet says there is none. They can find no water
of consolation in the whole world. Remember I said we are not of
this world, and Jesus said, I pray for them, I pray not for the
world. These that are poor and needy know that they cannot find
no water of consolation, no water that would help them from this
wicked world. So they got to keep crying out
unto God and quit looking for it in this world because there's
no water in this world, no water that will have them. They have
no spring of comfort in themselves. They cannot draw none from their
own righteousness because they have none. And they know they
need a righteousness, a sinless perfection. They know they need
that. And they cry out to God, we're
thirsty for this righteousness that will stand us in good stead
with God. We have no righteousness of our
own. We're poor and needy sinners. Their tongues fail for thirst,
the prophet says, the sin of their nature. It's still there. It hasn't changed. When God saved
them, he didn't save their nature. they still have a sinful nature. And it's like an uncontrollable,
scorching fever that a man has. It burns in him. And then this
hardened sin of his old nature and self-righteousness does not And the poor and needy, they
need something bad. They need water. And there is none. What are we
going to do? Their cry is about their poverty
and their need and their thirst. They cry after Jesus. Give me
Jesus! else I perish along the way. Well, says he, well, says he,
I am the Lord. I, the Lord, will hear you and
answer you too. Look over here in John chapter
7. just for a minute or a second
or less. John 7 and verse 37. In that last day, it says, in
the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and
cry, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.
And he that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out
of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. Any man thirst, let him come
to me. Well, I think I know what I'm talking
about. Because I have been that poor, needy sinner. I've been thirsty as a poor,
needy sinner. And I've been thirsty ever since
God convinced me of my sinnerhood, who I was, and brought me to
know his Lamb, the Lamb of God. I've been thirsty and I've looked in various places
and I could find no spring of water that would quench my thirst. I have been shut up to this man,
Christ Jesus. If any man thirst, let him come
to me. Let him come to me and drink. And he that believeth on me,
as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. I've been on that road. Look over here, if you will,
and I think it's the third chapter of the book of the Revelation.
There's a verse here that kind of gives you some help. It says, He that hath an ear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches, To him
that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and
will give him a new stone, and in the stone a name written,
which no man knoweth, saving him that receiveth." That is
to the poor and the needy. To the poor and the needy. Over
here in Luke chapter 1, there may be something there
that would be beneficial. Luke chapter 1. Well, I haven't got the right
book. I know what's there. Luke chapter 1. It talks about Zacharias. Verse 12 here, verse 10. It said, The whole multitude
of the people were praying without at the time of incense. There
appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right
side of the altar of incense. And when Zechariah saw him, he
was troubled, and fear fell upon him. And the angel said unto
him, Fear not, Zacharias, for thy prayer is heard. Thy prayer
is heard. And the people marveled. And the virgin was espoused to
a man whose name was Joseph. In the house of David the virgin's
name was Mary. The angel came unto her and said,
Hail, to gain her attention. Hail thou that art highly favored,
highly favored by God. The Lord is with thee. Blessed
art thou among women. Fear not, Mary, for thou hast
found favor with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive in
thy womb, and shalt bring forth a son. and call his name Jesus. And he shall be great, and shall
be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto
him the throne of his father David. He will reign over the
house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there is no end." Verse 68, Blessed be the Lord
God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people, saved them from their enemies,
from the hand of all Lamb that hateth. Grant us to be delivered, to give knowledge of salvation
unto his people by the remissions of their sins. through the tender
mercy of our God, whereby the day-spring from on high hath
visited us, to give light to them that sit in darkness, in
the shadow of death, to guide our feet in the way of peace.
When we come to know him, whom to know is life eternal, he'll
satisfy our thirst. We will quench our thirst with
the rich blessings of His grace, the great God and Savior I mentioned
at the outset. Of all of those who walk on thin
ice, who walk a tightrope, the ice is going to break, and the
water is going to swallow them up, and they are going to fall
off of the and great will be the fall. I earnestly plead with you to
look unto Him, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior
of His people. Look unto Him. It's not worthwhile
looking at yourself. You can find no hope in yourself. Must look out of yourself. Come
unto me, all ye that are thirsty, and drink. I'll give unto you
life. Out of your belly shall flow
rivers of living water which there is no way in. Let's stand
and we'll go home.