If you'll turn with me in your Bibles to Isaiah chapter 57. Tom read from this remarkable chapter. The Gospel of Isaiah chapter 57. It is a great gospel. The book of Isaiah is a remarkable declaration of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this chapter has one of the most, one of my favorite declarations of our God in it from verse 15. For thus saith the high and lofty one that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in thee, high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. What a glorious declaration of the character of our God, the place where our God dwells, and the people he dwells with. What an extraordinary verse of scripture. What an extraordinary... Solomon asked the question at the dedication of the temple, will God really dwell on the earth? Will God dwell on the earth? He knew the answer to it. He'd met him, but I think he was talking about much more, and I think he was talking about the dwelling of God, being with man. The great question is, as Job puts it, how can a man be just with God? Who dwells with God eternally? Who does dwell with God eternally? And to dwell with God eternally means that you must dwell with Him. in you the hope of glory, you in Christ the comfort of his glory. Do I dwell with him? Have I dwelt with him? Do I have a true and a living hope? I'm so thankful that our God speaks towards his speech so that we don't have to be in any doubt regarding the character of God and what it is to dwell with him on vital matters that concern eternity, on vital matters that concern his glory. Our God speaks, and he speaks in remarkable ways, and he speaks over and over again. And as Hebrews 1 says, he has one word. In these last days he has spoken one word, Jesus Christ, the Word of God. He speaks. And so, God's children know. God's children know Him. That's what He says, that's eternal life, is knowing the Father and knowing Jesus Christ whom He has sent. To know Him is to know Him as the High and Lofty One, to know Him as the One who inhabiteth eternity. It's extraordinary, isn't it? We could think about that phrase for the rest of our days and we'd never get to the bottom of it, would we? He's not just eternal, he inhabits eternity, which means he's here now. He must be. We live so much of our lives as if he is absent, but he's here now. So there are some vital things here to inhabit eternity that our God gives some extraordinary declarations of his character and of his work of grace in the hearts of his people. We must know God. We must know him spiritually. We must know his character as it's revealed in the scriptures. We must know him as he's revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ according to the scriptures. You must be born again. You must know God. And until you are settled and assured in the very work of God on your behalf, I pray that you don't have any rest. I pray that you don't rest until these matters are settled. We live in, as Simon declared so wonderfully from Genesis 3, we live as people who have been deceived. We live as people who came out of that garden, came out of that fall, declaring the Frank Sinatra song over and over and over again, I did it my way. And continually all a fallen man is saying, I am in control. I am sovereign. You shall be as God's was the promise of Satan. I will rule over my own life. I will be, some young fellow, I was shocked to see it some years ago, he wrote, had it tattooed on his arm, I'm the master of my own destiny. I trust he's found out that he's got a horrible master. saved him and led him astray. And maybe, maybe one day he will erase that and he'll be thankful that there is a God in heaven who saves sinners like this. So let's just go back and try and put something of the context of this. There are two very significant buts in this passage of scripture and there is one in verse 3 and verse 1 begins, The righteous perisheth and no man layeth a heart. and merciful men, those who proclaim mercy are taken away and none consider him. No one considers that the righteous are taken away from the evil to come. Throughout history, God has proven again and again that he's able to preserve his own and rescue his own out of the depravity and the fall of this world. He did it in the days of Jeremiah and Ezekiel. when he took his people out of there, and he took them... to Babylon. And I love what Ezekiel says. He says, in Babylon, I will be a sanctuary for them. He took them to himself in Babylon. And at the fall of Jerusalem, yet again, he took his people out of that city and left it to its destruction. There are tragic, tragic pictures of the justice and the mercy and the grace of God in the hearts of his people. But there's a but there. It talks about these people, they enter into peace and they rest on their beds and each one walking in his uprightness. The only uprightness they have is the Lord Jesus Christ. And here he begins a section of 10 verses which I don't want to spend a whole lot of time on this morning. But if you read through them again, you will see that they are a description of man in his deceived religion and man in false religion. And it's characterised again and again and again in the terms of sexual immorality. It said, draw near hither ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer, and the whore. Sexual immorality is not acceptable at all in any circumstances and I love what Ephesians said, it's not even to be a hint of it. Your neighbours and the bystanders of your life should be able to give testimony to the fact that there is not a hint of sexual immorality amongst you and in you. the children of God in their great desire to walk in uprightness. But all sexual immorality of any stripe whatsoever is a spiritual picture of people trying to produce life and trying to satisfy and gratify the desires of their flesh outside of the covenant. The marriage bed is undefiled, but the marriage bed is a picture of the marriage of the Lord Jesus Christ with his bride. So listen to how he goes on. sport themselves, which means they use enticing, they cause themselves to be enticing. One of the tragic things I used to witness on almost a weekly basis for a while, I worked on our sawmill in Gloucester and so I had to leave Sydney at two o'clock in the morning or three o'clock in the morning from the eastern suburbs and I drive down William Street and it was just so, so tragic to see the prostitutes there. lined up along that street, and all of them were there dressed in enticing clothes and looking attractive. They sport themselves, they make a wide mouth, they draw out the tongue, they inflame themselves, they hop with passion, with idols under every green tree. He's talking about professing religious people here. Slaying the children in the valley and the cliffs of the rock. Upon, verse 7, upon the loft and high mountain has they set thy bed, and even then they went us up to offer sacrifice. Behind the doors, verse, thou hast discovered that you have uncovered your nakedness to one another than me. You have broken What was the judgment of God upon these people again and again? And you have turned from the covenant of grace and turned from the covenant that you promised at Mount Sinai. At Mount Sinai, they repeatedly said, Lord, you just tell us what to do and we'll do it. We'll be able to obey you. Obeying God and living for God's easy, they thought. And they never did, and all through the Old Testament Scriptures, they were there, a people in breach of not only the covenant of works, but because of their idolatry, they were in breach of the covenant of grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. And they make a covenant with others. Other than me, they're gone up, at the end of verse eight, thou hast enlarged thy bed, made thee a covenant with them, thou hast lovest their bed. Turn with me to Proverbs chapter seven. Let's just remember, these are pictures of spiritual, they're spiritual pictures of religion. Of man-made works religion. Verse 6 of Proverbs chapter 7, For at the window of my house I looked through my casement and beheld the simple ones. I discerned among the youth a man, a young man, void of understanding. And passing through the street near her corner, he went, hit the way to her house. And behold, verse 10, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot and subtle of heart. She is loud and stubborn, her feet abide not in her house. And she caught him, verse 13, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace offerings with me. This day I have paid my vows. Therefore I came forth to meet thee, diligently seek thy face. I have found thee, I have decked my beds with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Europe. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning. Let us solace ourselves with love. For the good man is not at home. It's a breach of covenant promises. This is a spiritual picture. And he's not coming back for a long time. He goeth, verse 22, he goeth after her straightway as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, till a diet strike through his liver and a bird hasteneth to the snare, knoweth not that it is for his life. Harken unto me now, therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not thine heart decline to her ways. Go not astray in her path, for she has cast down many wounded. Yea, many strong men have been slain by her. Her house is the way. to hell, going down to the chambers of death. It's spiritual fornication and spiritual adultery, trying to produce life outside the covenant of grace, which is exactly what religion is doing. Turn with me to Revelation chapter 7 so that we can... 17, sorry. There's another woman, isn't there? Verse 5, And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman, drunken with the blood of the saints, with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, And when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. She seemed so extraordinarily powerful. Verse four says, and the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. That is works religion, which has polluted this whole world. Whether it's Roman Catholicism, which it no doubt is, or the Baptists down the road, or the Anglicans down the street, or the Presbyterians across the park, it's all the same. Any religion which is not declaring the glory of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ is not faithfully declaring to men who they are, because it's not declaring to them who God is and how he saves. At the end of it, he says in verse 12, he says, I will declare thy righteousness. It's exactly what Simon said earlier. God is going to expose the righteousness of people with that flaming sword outside of the garden, guarding the way to the tree of life. That, I will declare thy righteousness and thy works, for they shall not profit thee. When thou cryest, let thy companies deliver thy, let all of your companions deliver you. Those that you have joined with, let them deliver you. If you want to read a horrifying passage of scripture, read the Proverbs chapter one at the beginning of the book of wisdom. It talks about those who go this way. And God says, thou call on me. For your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then they shall call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me, for they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. They would none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. If God leaves you alone, if God leaves you alone, deceived by Satan, coming forth into this world, deceived by the religion of this world, vanity, at the end of verse 13, vanity shall take them. But, These glorious butts of the scripture are the declaration of the gospel. That is what this world is full of. That's what the religion of this world is full of. But, he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land and shall inherit it. My holy mountain. The question that we have before us is what is it to dwell in this holy mountain? Psalm 17 and the other psalms, they say you have to be as good as God. Who can walk on this holy hill? He who has clean hands and a pure heart And they shall say, and this shall be the declaration of those who put their trust in him. This shall be the declaration of them that possess the land. This is a declaration that inherit my holy mountain. This is what they say. Cast ye up, cast ye up. Prepare the way. Don't you remember John the Baptist? He came preparing the way. What's the way? Christ is the way. Cast ye up, exalt him. Make plain who he is. Tell the people who have ears to hear, tell them about the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. Tell them about the wonder of him. Prepare the way and take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people. You might recall in Numbers chapter 35 they had the cities of refuge. One of the commands of the people of the city of refuge, you had to point a way to the refuge, you said this way to refuge, and you had to make the way clear. And inside the city of the refuge, for those who had committed manslaughter, they had to provide a place for you. and provide protection for you and provide food for you. But the priests and others had to make the way clear. There weren't to be any stumbling blocks in the way. We're not to put any stumbling blocks. We don't want to put anything between a needy sinner and the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't want people to put their will, their worth, their works, their wisdom, their learning. We don't want to put anything. We come to Christ as Adam did in the garden. We come to Christ drawn to him by his voice and we come to him naked. We come to him without any covering whatsoever. We take the stumbling block out of the way. We just declare the simplicity that's in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a simplicity in the gospel message. There's a simplicity in the everlasting love of God the Father for the church in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a simplicity in the everlasting love of God the Son to the church. There's a simplicity in the everlasting love of God the Holy Spirit to his church. There's a simplicity that all of our mercies flow from one united source. There's a simplicity of the union of the Lord Jesus Christ with his bride, an eternal union, a union of marriage, a union in covenant, a union that binds them together as one flesh. And all of our mercies come through us. There's a simplicity in God's purpose and mind and will and determine. There's a simplicity in His sovereignty exercising in making all this come to pass to all of His own and in His own, in His own good time. We have a simple doctrine. It's Christ alone. We preach the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We don't need to know anything else among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If you add anything to the Lord Jesus Christ, if you are caused to look anywhere than Him completely, And fully, you have a stumbling block in front of people. We take the stumbling blocks out of the way. It's not Christ plus your works to get you into heaven. It's not Christ plus your works to keep you there. It's Christ alone. Christ is all. That's a pretty simple declaration, isn't it? He's all in eternity, He's all in salvation, He's all we look to. In Christ alone, we're chosen in Him, we're justified in Him. In the Beloved, we're accepted in Him. There is a simplicity. We take the stumbling blocks out of the road. For, because, "'Thus saith the High and Lofty One.'" We take these stumbling blocks out of the road because it is one is high and one who is lofty, who inhabits eternity, and his name is holy. Everything about God declares the glory of his holiness. His justice is holy justice. His grace is holy grace. His sovereignty is holy sovereignty. Isaiah knew about the holiness of God, didn't he, in Isaiah chapter 6. He met the Lord Jesus Christ and he was undone, he was unraveled and he declared, woe is me. He'd been woeing the other nations around in the previous chapter, he meets the Lord Jesus Christ and he says, woe is me. And what did he hear? Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. What are they singing in heaven? Revelation chapter five. What are they singing around the throne of heaven right now? Holy, Revelation chapter four verse eight. Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. But one of the things that I want us to go from here seeing in this passage of scripture is that there is a declaration of what it is to be humble and contrite, which I just love. And we know that this must be a work of God in the hearts of his people. In Matthew 5 the Lord says, Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the broken hearted. When the Lord came, he came to preach the good news to the broken hearted. If you've got a broken heart, your heart doesn't work. To the poor, to the captives, a humble and contrite heart. A humble and contrite heart is accepted. They're the blessed people. They're the one to whom the gospel comes preached. They're the ones who receive the promise of God. Turn with me back to Psalm 51. We looked at it here a few weeks ago. It's just a remarkable psalm of a man with a contrite heart. But I love the promise. You can read it at your leisure and be amazed at the power of the work of God to bring both conviction and bring this sinner back to himself. But listen to what verse 17 says. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. Why doesn't he despise them? Because they're his creation. It's his work of grace in the hearts of his people. But I want us to see, in the midst of these amazing declarations, there's an amazing, amazing declaration of the glory of the grace of God. In verse 17, he says in verse 16 that he has a limit to how much He will put his children under in terms of contention. But then in verse 17, he says, for the iniquity of his covetousness, I was wroth. He's talking about his children. For the iniquity of his covetousness, I was wroth and I smote him. What a blessing it is to be chastised by God. For God to come to you and say, you can go this far and absolutely no further. I am putting a stop to this. I smote him. I hid me. What was the cry of a contrite heart? Don't hide your face from me. The only people who cry that are those who have seen the face of God in the Lord Jesus Christ and know what it is to delight in the glories of his presence in the preaching of the gospel and was wroth. And listen to what this humbled sinner does. And he went on fraudly in the way of his heart. Have you ever sinned, and sinned, and sinned, and sinned again, and gone on in it? That's what it is to be a sinner according to Romans chapter seven. This notion that somehow we get better and better and better and finally we get ourselves like a piece of ripe fruit that falls off the tree into the lap of God and gets into heaven is not a biblical notion at all. We are sinners. Have you done that? Have you gone on in the way of your heart? in rebellion against him, in covetousness. What a wicked thing covetousness is. God has given us everything in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we look around this world and think, I'd like to have one of them. I was sitting in the dentist's chair yesterday, and he's just bought himself a boat, and it's ridiculous. It wouldn't fit in this room, it's so long. And it's got two amazing sort of state rooms with sort of queen beds and bathrooms and sort of great big entertaining rooms. I don't like boats, so I wasn't particularly comfortable. But it was all set up there to say, isn't this just wonderful? You need one of these. If you get one of these, your life will be complete. Your speedboat could fit in one of the bathrooms now. It's enormous, this thing. I don't know the name of it, but anyway. Anyway, he's having it delivered, and he's going to spend his retirement in his boat. God will take it away from him, and take him away from it one day. But listen to what God says, I've seen his ways, verse 18, I've seen the ways of this man, and what would you think God would do? I've seen the ways of this man, he's gone on in the way of his heart. I'll destroy him. That's exactly what we do when we were treated with someone like that. Listen to what he says. This is what it is to have a humbled and contrite heart. It's for God to show you who he is in the glory of his gospel. I've seen his ways. Listen to what God promises. This is grace, this is amazing grace, this passage of scripture. And I love how there is just amazing grace displayed alongside the glorious character of God in the scriptures. I've seen his ways, going on fraudly in the baby's heart, and I will heal him. Don't you love that? I will heal him. Oh, how are we healed? By his stripes we are healed. Not by anything do we do. By him bearing in his own body all of the sins of his people. Not only does he heal him, but I will lead him. I will lead him. Isn't it wonderful to be led by God? We have prayed that prayer in Exodus 33 ever since we began. Lord, if you don't take us up from here, don't lead us anywhere. If you've called on us to declare your name, if you've called on us to care for your people, don't let us take a step without you leading us. He leads us besides streams of still water. Don't you love the fact that God leads? He heals wicked sinners. He heals them. He leads them. And he restores comfort unto him. What comforts there are in the glory of the gospel. We read about it, Simon read it in Romans 8. If you can't find comfort in Romans 8, I'm really, really sad for you. Romans 8 is a remark. But what comfort there is in the Lord Jesus Christ and all of these promises being yay and amen. And listen to what he goes on to say. This is the path of a contrite and humbled heart. What humbles people? Not the law. What humbles people? What causes contrition of heart? Simply seeing the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified. It's seeing Him that humbles people. The circumstances of life humble people for a little while and then they go on in their pride. Verse 19, isn't this glorious? We'll finish with these verses. I create the fruit of lips. I create the fruit of lips. Peace, peace to him that is afar off. We have a God of peace. We have a gospel of peace. We have the peace of God. We have peace through his blood. There's peace. I have peace when I'm looking to the Lord Jesus Christ and him alone for all of my righteousness. Here now and all of my righteousness before God. Peace to him that is far off and to him that is near, saith the Lord. And just to remind us yet again, that backsliding one is now being made humble and contrite yet again, and yet again, and yet again, and yet again, and I will heal him. I will heal him. Having been justified, we have peace with God. There's no peace outside of that. There is no peace outside of that. What is it to have? a humble and contrite heart, it's a spiritual work of God alone. It requires a healing, a leading, a restoration, it requires a creation, it requires a meeting with God, and it requires grace being shown in the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. What's the fruit of our lips? We confess Him. We confess Him. The glory of the Lord Jesus Christ is all my salvation, is all my righteousness, is all my redemption, is all my healing, is all my leaning, is all my restoration. And He's created the fruit of lips that sing praise to His name. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for the promises of the glory of who you are and the wonder and glory of your salvation. We praise you, Heavenly Father, that there is grace for sinners. We praise you that the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. Our Heavenly Father, you alone can make us sinners. You alone can turn us from our own works of righteousness. You alone can protect us from the religion of Satan, which is a religion that declares the righteousness of men. Oh, what a Savior we have. What a Savior we need. What a healer, what a restorer, what a comforter. Oh, our Heavenly Father, we do pray that as we eat and drink, you would allow us to do so and only do so, Heavenly Father. as we confess Him, as we live by faith in Him, as we declare His death, the glories of what He achieved on the cross of Calvary, till He come again. Make His blood precious, Heavenly Father, to our hearts that we might drink worthily. trusting our Lord Jesus Christ alone. We praise you, Heavenly Father, that this is a dwelling place with the High and Lofty One, whose name is Holy, and that dwelling place is Christ alone. We just praise you for your precious Son, our Father, and we praise you in his name. May we go from here, taking the stumbling blocks out of our brother's way and cause him to look to the Lord Jesus