what it is for a child to God
to walk in this world and to walk in a world of so many different
religions and so much confusion. And so I want us to I want us
to look at this verse in Isaiah chapter 50, these two verses
in Isaiah chapter 50 verses 10 and 11. But I love what the verse
4 of that chapter, if you turn to that chapter with me, it says
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord, verse 4, the Lord God has
given me the tongue of the learner that I should know how to speak
a word in season to him that is weary. A word in season to the weary. A word in season to the lonely. A word in season to the one that
walks in darkness. So let's read these verses here.
Who is among you that feareth the Lord, that obeyeth the voice
of his servant, that walketh in darkness and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of
the Lord and stay upon his God. Remain and stay with him. And
then a word to the reprobate, a word to this religious world,
a word to God's people in the midst of this religious world.
Behold, just look at them, take careful notice, all you that
kindle a fire, that compass, surround yourselves about the
sparks. Walk in the light of your fire
and in the sparks that of mine hand, you shall lie down
in sorrow, you shall lie down in terror. I love the fact that the scriptures
declare simple statements about this world and why it is as evil
and as wicked as it is, Ephesians 2 makes it abundantly clear that
the people of this world are controlled and ruled by Satan. All of Adam's race is dead in
trespasses and sins. The spirit of the power of the
air that now worketh in the children of disobedience it worketh in
the children of disobedience. So why are the most religious
men seemingly the most lost and why so often are the most religious
people the ones that seemingly are most hardened against the
Lord Jesus Christ? We've got to keep remembering
it's people that sit in churches of this world today are the very
ones that would have cried out, crucify him, crucify him, when
he's revealed in a sense they're crying out, crucify him, crucify
him today. And in a sense what they want
to do is remove his presence and they want the children of
God not to see his presence. They'd want anyone that might
be searching and seeking, not to find. And so we know that
men are dead in sins. We know that they are captive
for Satan to do his will. We know that in verses like Isaiah
66, he says, I will choose their delusions. We know that in 2
Thessalonians 2, God sends a strong delusion to people who receive
not the love of the truth that they might be saved, but they
loved And they believed a lie. And so sometimes in the scriptures,
one of the things that's lovely, isn't it, is that we get these
pictures drawn by God, the Holy Spirit, pictures that speak a
thousand words. And this has been a picture that
has spoken words to me again and again and again. And it's
a picture that encompasses all of humanity, encompasses all
human activities in this world. But it's a word, obviously, of
comfort to the child of God. And that's the command, isn't
it, in Isaiah 40, that you comfort God's people. And we are comforted
when we see the pictures of our journey in this world traced
by the hand of God, both in word and command, in precept. But
this one's a picture, isn't it? And the picture's a very simple
one. It's a picture of the Lord's
work in the heart Verses 2, lots of people contrast
it, isn't it? 1 in verse 10 is a solitary figure. Who is among you? You have to search for this solitary
figure, this seemingly solitary figure. The Lord's people have
always been in the minority in this world. The Lord's people,
wherever there has been religion throughout, Throughout the ages,
the Lord's true servants are always in the minority. Who was
right in Jerusalem, Jeremiah or thousands of priests? Who
was right, Ezekiel or all the others? Who was right? Always,
always God's truth and God's people are in the minority. Who is this solitary figure?
Who among you? And then there's this crowd,
isn't there? Behold all you. There is a solitary
figure, as it were, a lonely journey in the midst and in the
presence of. A vast crowd, behold all ye that
kindle a fire. There are two paths in this world,
aren't there? The child of God walks a path that is described
here. Who is among you that feareth
the Lord, obeyeth the voice of his servant, and walketh in darkness? And as I said earlier, that darkness
is not an absence of light altogether, but the absence of a shining
bright light. You know, those who have lived
in the light of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ in special
ways, have a hunger and thirst to see him again and to see him
more glorified. And there are times when his
word just becomes a bright, shining thing to us, doesn't it? And
there are other times when his word seems dead to us and the
heavens seem as brass. And so there is an absence of
that shining light. But this man is told to trust
in the name of God. There are two destinies, aren't
there? Let him trust in the name of the Lord and stay upon his
God. And there is the destiny of all
those that kindle a fire. This you shall have at mine hand. You shall lie down. You shall
lie down in sorrow. And the differences, of course,
are the differences between man-made religion and the religion of
God in the hearts of his people. Maurice Montgomery said once,
is there anything going on in your church, in the lives of
the people in your church, for which the only explanation is
God? Man can create all of the things
that mimic and look as if they are religion, look as if they're
worshipping God. But the question is, isn't it,
has the religion, has your religion begun with man, or is this a
work of God? That's exactly what the Lord
said to Nicodemus in John 3, isn't it? You must be born again.
Nicodemus, you don't have a clue who God is, you don't have a
clue about his word, you don't have a clue about who you are,
and you don't have a clue about this religious world you're living
in, Nicodemus. If it's begun with man, it will
be sustained by the activities of man. If it's begun with God,
then God's people can have great confidence, can't we, that the
work that he's begun in you is the work that he will complete.
He must do the completing. It's a spiritual activity. It's
a spiritual activity. But only one of these two groups
of people, this solitary figure, will find this word in season. to the weary, a word that explains
so much of what happens in this world. So let's look briefly
at this scene that the Holy Spirit has drawn for us. There is, in
the days of the Lord Jesus Christ, in the days of Isaiah, in the
days that we live in today, there is a seemingly solitary figure
amongst a mass of professing religious people. Let's follow the Lord's description
of this man. He fears God. He obeys the voice
of his servant. He walks in darkness and has
no shining light. He fears God. God is actually
describing God's work in the heart of these people. There
is a natural fear of God. The devils believe and tremble.
The people of Israel tremble at Mount Sinai. Saul feared God
when he was told of his imminent death. Felix feared and trembled
when he heard of righteousness, temperance and the judgment to
come. But Isaiah in 29 verse 13 sums up the fear, this fear
that's generated of God by natural man. Their fear, Isaiah 29, 13,
their fear towards me is taught by the precept of man. It comes from man, it's a natural
fear. But this fear, the fear that
he is speaking of here, the real fear that God sees, of this solitary
figure is a fear which is, as you know, the beginning of wisdom.
It is, in Proverbs 20.14, the fountain of life. It's a strong confidence. In
Isaiah 33, it's a treasure. people by the Lord revealing
himself to them. There's a reverence for God. There's a reverence for God.
It's the fear that Isaiah had when he met the Lord Jesus Christ
in the temple. It's the fear that Saul of Tarsus
had when the Lord was revealed to him. At the one and the same
moment when God reveals himself to people there's an awareness
of our depravity and there's an awareness of his holy And it is lacking. It is lacking
in natural man, and it is particularly lacking in natural religious
men, again and again and again. When you deal with these religious
people, you keep, I keep coming up with the answer, these people
don't know God. I listened to three sermons by
a young man here a few weeks ago, and the end result was,
this guy has no reverence for God. This man has no reverence
for the Word of God. This man has no fear of God. The fear of God comes from a
meeting with Him. The fear of God is best characterised
by the fact that we are fearful of being in the very presence
of God without the covering of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the real fear, isn't it? That we have met Him who is holy
and we need a covering for it. I pray that the Lord would cause
us to have a reverence for His name. His name is holy. His name is holy. He is to be revered. The second
characteristic that God describes of this man, he obeys the voice
of the servant. There's no question about who
the servant is. The Lord Jesus Christ is the servant. You can
read his description of himself in In verses 4 and 7 of our text
in Isaiah 50, the Lord has given me the tongue of the learned
that I should know how to speak a word in season to him that
is weary. He wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth mine
ear to hear as the learned. The Lord has opened mine ear.
This is speaking of the servant in Exodus 20. who loved his master,
and loved his wife, and loved his children, and he wouldn't
go out free. It's a glorious picture, isn't
it? Listen to him. I was not rebellious. The Lord is saying, I was not
rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my back to the smiters,
and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. I hid not my face
from shame and spitting. It's a description of the Lord
Jesus. He's a servant, isn't he? The servant. Further on in Isaiah 52 it says,
Behold, my servant, in Isaiah 53, By his knowledge shall my
righteous servant justify many. Philippians gives a glorious
description of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was in the form Isn't that glorious? He came
to serve and his voice is heard as no other voice will come to
that end. John chapter 10, Lord willing in time to come. Multitudes
hear the Lord Jesus Christ speak audibly and saw him with physical
eyes and had absolutely no idea and no knowledge of who was speaking
to him. When the Lord creates a fear,
he creates a reverence for his word. That's a voice from heaven. It's not to be debated and argued.
It's to be adored and bowed to. And he walks in darkness
and has no light. And that's an extraordinary description
from God of someone who fears God. and obeys the voice of his
servant. He walks in darkness. See, walking
in the scriptures speaks of a habitual, continual, the norm of our lives
rather than the exception. The picture is of one who walks
at night without lights to guide him. And so often, so often the
children of God who are honest will talk about how so dead and
so dry is their faith and they will be hungering and thirsting
and they'll be pleading for the Lord and He'll cause them to
wait upon Him. This is not the darkness of the
unregenerate. It's the absence of this shining
light that's spoken of in Isaiah chapter 4 and Isaiah chapter
62. See the child of God has his
eyes open and he's turned from darkness to light. He's a children
of the light but it's a child who mourns. Where's God? How often do we
say, where is God in all of this? It's so easy to trust him when
the lights are shining and all is well, but there is a darkness
for the child of God to walk through in this world. And then
God has a remedy for this child of his, doesn't he? Let him trust
in the name of the Lord and stay upon his feet. trust in the name of the Lord. It's remarkable how many times
the name of the Lord is used in scriptures. But they trust.
God's children trust in the name of the Lord. It's a description
and declaration of his very being and his character, isn't it?
Listen to how the Old Testament finished in Malachi 3.16 Then
they that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the
Lord hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was
written before him for them that feared the Lord and thought upon
his name. is holy, his name is wonderful,
his name is mighty God, his name is supreme, his name is holy,
his name is all of his attributes wrapped up together. Listen to
what he says of these people that fear him, and think upon
his name. They shall be mine, saith the
Lord of hosts, in the day when I make up my jewels. So listen
to the comfort that God brings to this person who walks in darkness
and has an absence of that shining light. God owns him as his own, even
though he seemingly walks in darkness. Trust and stay. Trust and stay. Trust and stay upon the Lord. Now we come to verse 11, Isaiah
50 verse 11, and let's look at the picture that God the Holy
Spirit draws. since the fall of our father,
Adam. Whenever mankind has been collected
in groups, isn't it? But it's particularly speaking
of religious people. It's particularly speaking of
the religious people that the Lord Jesus Christ met with in
these days in Jerusalem. It's particularly speaking of
the religious people that surround God's church these days. Behold all ye that kindle a fire,
that compass yourself about with sparks, walk. in the light of
your fire and in the sparks that you have kindled. This you shall
have of mine hand, you shall lie down in sorrow." So here
we have a multitude. They're called upon to examine
themselves and we're called upon to behold them, to look at them,
to look at them from our position, children of God. you, behold all you. They can't behold the solitary
one with any spiritual understanding of who he is, but the solitary
one can behold them. The solitary one is so insignificant
in number that he can be ignored. He's so inconspicuous in his
conduct that he can be seen as a nothing. That's what Herod
did of the Lord Jesus Christ, and he set him as nothing. He
set him before him as nothing. Don't expect the world to think
how wonderful we are. But listen to what God declares
to be their crime. All ye that kindle a fire. That's the origin of their crime.
And the continuation is that it's compassed. Surround yourselves
about with sparks. All ye that kindle a fire, the
religion of man begins in man. It uses the words of God, it
uses the statutes of God, the ordinances of God, it claims
the promises of God, and says it honours the law of God. The
religion of man speaks of man coming to God, to pleasing God,
doing God's service, and it begins And again and again and again
as you read through the New Testament scriptures you see the Lord Jesus
Christ confronting this multitude and exposing them for what they
are, and it's only God shining a light of his glory in this
world that causes the religious world to be seen for what they
are. And they kindle a fire and then they surround or compass
themselves about with sparks. So the picture is a simple picture,
isn't it? extraordinary circle all gathered
together and surrounding them are these fires and continually
on those fires are more and more kindling being put and more logs
being put and as you know when you put the logs on the fire
the sparks rise up and people inside the circle, inside that
surrounding of their activities, their religious activities, they
have light, from their fire, and they have warmth from their
fire. And that's exactly what happens
in man-made religion, isn't it? You get a crowd of people doing
things, doesn't matter what they are, together, and they are warmed
by the light of their fire, and they continually see more people
putting sparks, putting logs on the fire, and it grows. Higher
and higher. And in religion, of course, we
highly esteem men who are exalted amongst other men, and we're
looking up higher to the sparks. How nice it is to be in the presence
and in the company of someone famous, and particularly in religion,
of someone who wears titles. I've spent some time in the presence
of the Archbishop. What an amazing thing. What an
amazing thing. Don't you feel good? I didn't
actually, and neither did he, after we'd finished our discussion
about the naughty things that he was doing. But nevertheless,
that's exactly what man-made religion is like, isn't it? There
is a hierarchy, and you climb this ladder, and the sparks go
higher, and the more wood that's thrown on the fire, the more
light and the more warmth there is, and everyone is rejoicing,
saying how wonderful it is. All you have to do is go to Hillsong
Church and see what's happening, isn't it? And it's happening
in the churches around us all over. So all inside have light,
all inside have warmth, all inside have companionship, all inside
the circle are unable to see what's beyond the wall of sparks
that are rising up. Why don't they come? Why won't
they go and examine the evidence? Why, when the Lord Jesus Christ
is revealed to people and declares who he is, these religious people
want to kill him rather than go and examine what he says and
go and see what the scriptures say about him? All inside see
the light of their creating, all inside are warmed by the
fires that they and others have kindled. So many people, so many
sparks. So much warmth. It happens in
politics, it happens in all sorts of congregations of people, doesn't
it? It's a great picture of the congregations,
but particularly it's a religious picture, it's a spiritual picture.
And the more light, and the more warmth, and the more sparks,
the more deceived they all are. See Aaron, did that at the foot
of Sinai and he made a golden calf, didn't he? Nadab and Abihu
wrought false fire, didn't they? Fire that hadn't come from the
altar that God had ignited from heaven. The fire from an altar
that spoke of the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified. They
thought they could go into the presence of God under their own
initiative. Korah, Dathan and Abihu, you
know the Old Testament, pictures again and again and again. God
showed his people that if you come near to me, I'll show myself
to be holy. I'm going to be reverenced by
people who come near to me. Saul offered a sacrifice. Jeroboam
set up calves in Bethel. Again and again and again, men
make their religion and claim it's come from God. It begins
with man, with man's will. It esteems men's decisions. It esteems men's worth and works. And they all esteem the name
of God as a light thing, and they cannot see beyond it. And
the more active they are in it, the less they are able to see,
and the more active the people around them are, the less they
are able to see beyond it. I hope, brothers and sisters,
this causes you to rejoice in the grace of God that has saved
you out of that. He says, come out from among
them. How can you know what they are? Here is a glorious description. Pharisees and the chief priests
and the scribes, they stood in judgment of God Almighty and
they judged him as worthy of death. They wanted to silence
him and to remove his presence from them. And all, all blinded
by the sparks of their own fire and their own religion. We walk, God's children, we walk
a solitary path. And God brings a judgment upon
them. There's a judgment here in this
world upon people, isn't it? What is highly esteemed among
men in religion, God says, is an abomination to him. If you
can see it as highly esteemed amongst the multitudes of people,
God sees it as an abomination. God's judgment. He says, walk
in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that you have kindled,
God leaves them, and God says you'll keep walking in that light.
God sends them a strong delusion that they should believe the
lie. The lie is the lie of free will works religion. How did
God send Ahab to hell? A lying spirit from God went down
from heaven and deceived all the prophets of Ahab so that
Ahab would be enticed to go to battle. and be killed by that
arrow, that arrow that was shot at random. There was one man in all of that
place that was speaking the truth, Micaiah, and Ahab couldn't listen
to him. God has set humanity on slippery
places. He says their foot shall slip
in due time. The weight of their own activities
will send them down And the true and living God is
not known to them, and he hides his face from them. My brothers
and sisters, how this should cause us to call out to God as
we see and we are aware of his judgment. No wonder the Lord
Jesus Christ cried in the temple. No wonder he wept over Jerusalem
when he knew what their end was. Man is 100% responsible and God
is 100% sovereign. And this is a picture that should
cause us comfort in the midst of thus, but if that comfort
doesn't bring us to pray for the lost around us and the particular
religious loss that we know of, then I pray that God will have
mercy on us. So they see nothing beyond. see his witness before them,
that solitary figure that brings the word of God and lives in
righteousness before God. God says in judgment to them,
I will not put out your fire and I'll let it We miss God's judicial works
in time. He says to them, enjoy your false
confidence, live in the world of sparks, live in the world
of light and warmth that you've created and never see the truth
of what is happening. It's like the oxen being fattened
for the stools. There's no idea, there's no idea
that the very hand that feeds it is a hand that will slit its
throat in time. Left by God. As Job says of the
reprobate, he is not in trouble as other men. So the sentence
of God is executed in this life, but there is one to come, isn't
it? They shall have of mine hand,
ye shall lie down in sorrow, ye shall lie down in pain and
terror and affliction. This is a word of promise from
God, and it's of mine hand. God will be the judge. and it will be honouring to him
and all of creation will say Amen when he is finished. The Lord Jesus Christ warned
these very people in Jerusalem, didn't he? They turn up before
him and say, Lord, Lord, didn't we perform any wonderful deeds
in your hand? Didn't we cast out demons? He
says to those people with their works, with their fire kindled
activities. Esteemed men, and he says, depart
from me, Matthew 7, 21 to 23. I never knew you. The religious multitude knew
you. They saw you kindling the fire
and the sparks rising upwards, and they rejoiced in the light
you brought and the loyalty you gave, but I never knew you. There will come a time when the
refuges of lies are swept away. So much better for them to be
swept away in this world. No matter what the cost, brothers
and sisters, no matter what the world says of us, no matter what
the religious world says of us, it's better to have them swept
away here than swept away on that day when you meet him. I want us to close by remembering
that this, as all the scriptures are, is a picture of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's a picture of his walk, as
we see in the gospel accounts before that religious world,
where the light of the world came and revealed that light
from heaven, the glory, the glory of his very, very being before
them. And he's the one And all who
are in him is the one who truly fears God. He truly feared God. He truly reverenced God. He had
no other gods before him. He honoured his name. And our Lord Jesus Christ, at
his time of being in darkness, my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? He cried from the cross. As darkness
descended on that world, God hid his face from him because
he was made sin for us. He knew what it was to walk in
darkness. He knew what it was to be lonely.
He knew what it was to be rejected by this religious world. But
he trusted. He trusted, it's remarkable isn't
this, Psalm 22, they mocked him on the cross for trusting God
and went home to preach their sermons and have their religious
celebration the next day, rejoicing in the fact that they had done
God's service. What a saviour, brothers and
sisters. I hope and pray that the Lord shows us a picture of
what we've been rescued from, and who we have been rescued
to, and what it cost him. He trusted in the name of his
God, and he stayed upon his God. And all of his people in him
do exactly the same, and he will carry them through this world.
He will carry them through this world. Precious Saviour. Precious blood. Precious redemption. Precious deliverance. All in
Him. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we do pray that we would have of the wonders of redeeming love,
and that you might cause us to esteem the person of your dear
son and his precious blood, as precious to us, Heavenly Father,
that saved our souls, that washed us, that rescued us from the
religion that we inherited from our father Adam when we fell
and took Satan's poison in the garden. Oh, our Father, What a saviour, what a lord to
carry his little ones in his arms and carry us through this
deceived and wicked world and carry us into the very presence
of God in heaven. Heavenly Father, you say that
we are seated there now. In Him, give us the faith to
simply trust His name and stay upon Him. For we pray in Jesus'
name and for His glory. Amen.