You see in this passage there
are two refuges mentioned. There's a place of rest that
is told about by those whom God will send to teach his people. Let's look at verses 9 through
12 again. We started in verse 12 tonight,
but we looked at verse 9 last week and 10 and 11. Look at it here. Whom shall he
teach knowledge? Everybody in the first eight
verses of the chapter are all concluded to be the same. Spiritual
drunkards, idolaters, proud self-righteous losers. But somebody is going
to be taught. God is going to teach somebody.
Who? Who shall he teach knowledge and whom shall he make to understand
doctrine? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from
the breast are going to have to be pulled away from what they
depend upon now. For precept must be upon precept,
precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a
little and there a little. For with stammering lips and
another tongue will he speak to this people to whom he said,
this is the rest wherewith you may cause the weary to rest.
And this is the refreshment. This is the place of rest. This
is the refuge. There is a place of rest that
is told about by those whom God sends to teach his people. And this place of rest is further
described in verse 16. Look at it. Therefore, thus saith
the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone,
a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. And he that
believeth shall not make haste, You know what it means to not
make haste? It means to rest. To rest. Those that believe on Him, build
upon Him, and they have a refuge in Him. And they don't make haste. They're not anxious. They're
not troubled. They're not running here and there and trying to
shore up the walls or battening down the hatches and running
to and fro, buttressing their refuge like those who rely upon
their own works have to do. You always have to be running,
don't you? If you're making your own righteousness,
if your refuge is yourself, your works, your will, your way, then
you're constantly plugging holes in the dam, aren't you? That's
why our Lord said, are you tired of that? Come to me and rest.
Are you tired of that? When you run out of fingers and
toes to plug all the holes with, and you begin to see that your
church membership is not going to hold up before God, your decision
for Jesus isn't going to stand up. It's not going to cut it.
Your Bible reading and your witnessing and all of your so-called good
deeds together are not going to, they're not gained to you
as they once were. Now you see them to be lost for
the sake of Christ. In the matter of your righteousness
before God, you're forced to actually count everything you
do but loss. That's where Paul came. Demerits. Your good works are
demerits before God, before the perfect standard of His holiness.
That's when you look for a hiding place that sounds secure. And the phrase When we say your
works don't measure up, that's a good way to say it because
the metaphor here in our text is one of dimensions and squareness
and structural integrity. It's talking about a building,
a refuge, a place of rest that is constructed and it's talking
about whether or not it is constructed according to God's specifications. God said I'm going to lay the
line to it. I'm going to drop a plummet and we'll see. We'll
see how it measures up, your refuge of lies. And whether or not it's constructed
according to God's specifications will determine whether it will
be successful as a refuge or not. You see, the sad truth is
that most, though God teaches, He does send a messenger, verse
12, but also the end of verse 12, most will never hear. Yet
they will not hear And this is what their refuge
looks like verse 15 because you have said we have made a covenant
with death and with hell are we at agreement When the overflowing
scourge shall pass through it shall not come unto us For we
have made lies our refuge And under falsehood have we hid
ourselves Now people aren't going to use that language, but when
you say, I made a decision for Jesus when I was ten, what you're
really saying is, I've made lies my refuge. That's what God's
hearing. So that's what you're saying. When you say, well God loves
everybody and I'm just thankful, you know, for my salvation. I'm not what I used to be. Just like the refuge of the elect
comes in a message, we saw that didn't we? Who shall he teach?
He's going to teach somebody concerning the rest, the place
of refuge. So also the false refuge of religious
fools comes in words, lies. It boils down to a two-word description
in the text, lies and falsehood. Did you see that? Why those two
words? Why two words? Aren't they the
same thing? Aren't lies and falsehood the same thing? We have made
lies our refuge and under falsehood have we hid ourselves? Sounds
like he's just being repetitive. Well, no, and this is worth stopping
and considering for a minute. Why lies and falsehood? Well,
because there are two ways to not tell the truth. One is falsehood. That's saying
things that just aren't true. When Satan said, you shall not
surely die, that was falsehood. That's just not the truth. The
Lord said just the opposite. In the day you eat, you'll die. When religion's preachers say
God loves everybody, that's falsehood. That's in direct opposition to
the truth of God. When so-called preachers say
Christ died to save everybody, he said, I give my life for my
sheep. So that's just falsehood. Falsehood. Direct opposition. But there's another way to deceive
sinners. And that is by telling things that are true, but not
the truth. The other way, there's falsehood
and then there's lies. Sometimes it's more what they
don't say than what they do. It's still a lie. If you get
up in front of a group of people and present yourself as a spokesman
for God, an ambassador of Jesus Christ with God's message for
sinners, and tell them that God is good, and God loves sinners,
and Jesus died for sinners, and talk about heaven and hell, and
you can state facts all night long, but that's not the gospel. The message of God is Christ
crucified. You see, God also hates sinners.
You can say God loves sinners. That's true. He does love sinners. But you know what else? He hates
sinners too. And you're not going to hear
that very often. And you see that at the cross. You see at the cross that God
hates sinners. And someone in religion might
say, oh no, that just shows that God loves the sinner, but he
hates the sin. That we see at the cross how
much God hates the sin, but he loves sinners. No, it says in
Psalm 55, the foolish shall not stand in thy sight, thou hatest
all workers of iniquity. You hate all people who work
iniquity. Not their sin. When my Savior bore My sin and
his own body on the tree. God didn't crush sin. He crushed
his son. He crushed a person. He poured
out all of his hatred and wrath on a person. His only begotten
son. And if you do not have Christ
as your refuge, God hates you. And your business, that being
true, your business with God is not to presume that Christ
is your refuge by default because he's everybody's refuge. Nor
is it your business to doubt whether he could be refuge for
somebody so vile as you are. Your business is simply to run
to the city of refuge, the Lord Jesus Christ, where you'll be
safe from the avenger of blood in him alone. Everything in religion,
all of its refuge of lies is designed to make a sinner feel
safe in themselves. You think about it, oh God loves
you. What is that designed to do?
That makes me feel pretty, well God loves me? I feel pretty good
about that. Jesus died for everybody so you're
fine. Just decide to be saved. God
loves you, you just need to love him. It's just up to you to love
him back now and you'll be fine. That's trusting in myself. Jesus
died for everybody, you just need to decide to be saved and
you're covered. God's done all he can do to save
you, now it's up to you. Everything they say is designed
to cause you to look right here and to do what you need to do,
what you need to do. In other words, you are the refuge.
Lies and falsehood. And every truth in the gospel
is designed by God to cause sinners to flee to and trust and rest
in Christ alone. God's love. Who shall separate
us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord? God's self-declared purpose for
giving us his book is that we might believe on his son and
have rest, refuge, shelter, life, peace in Christ alone. And there are two refuges. And there's only one standard
though. There's just one line, one plummet,
one standard, one holiness, one righteousness. one judge. Look at verse 17. Judgment also
will I lay to the lion and righteousness to the plummet. You're not going
to use your lion and plummet. Lions and plummets, they're designed
to check for squareness, for the trueness of a structure.
You're not going to use your, he uses his. And the hail shall sweep away
the refuge of lies and the water shall overflow the hiding place. It's not going to stand because
it's not true. It's structurally unsound. God's standard is perfect and
your refuge has to measure up. It has to be square and true
and strong. By what measure does God measure,
by what standard? What standard does he use to
check, to see? Well, read verses 16 and 17 and
18 together now, let's look at it. Therefore thus saith the
Lord God, behold I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a
tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. And he that believeth shall not
make haste. And then I'm going to lay the
line and righteousness to the plummet based on that, based on that
cornerstone, based on that precious, sure foundation. And your covenant with death,
it's not going to hold up. Verse 18, and your agreement
with hell shall not stand. And you and your refuge will
be trodden down by God's scourge. That's the wrath of God, the
judgment of God. And only that which is built
upon that cornerstone, that foundation, that rock, can stand. By the
way, do you remember our study in Psalms last Wednesday? What it had to do with? the cornerstone. Can you, how did that happen? We've been in songs for how many
years now? In Isaiah for over a year I'd say. I believe the
Lord is teaching us something. And I pray that he always is.
That he always does when we open his book. He just reminds us
every once in a while by coincidence that he has arranged all of this.
What a blessing that is. What a blessing that is. And think about this. He who is the sinner's refuge
is also the standard by which God judges. He said, I'm going
to lay that cornerstone. Precious and strong and true.
And then I'm going to lay the line to your righteousness, the
plummet to your refuge. By what standard? That stone,
that rock, that foundation, that standard. And he is the refuge
and he is the standard and he is the judge. He's the one that
lays the line to it and determines whether it's true or not. Let
me see if I can put some perspective on that, because that's profound
whether I'm able to express it right or not. It's profound.
The one who says, you must have a refuge that meets my standard.
I'm going to lay my line and my plummet to it. Says to sinners,
come to me. the refuge and you'll be safe. The one who is the righteousness
of God says come to me and fear no condemnation. The one who is the offended party,
the one whose very wrath is against sinners, the overflowing scourge
is his wrath, his anger, his justice, says come and I will
freely pardon you. And most will yet say to him
in that day, what about my wonderful works? What about what I've done? And he will say to them, depart
from me, I never knew you. But not all. There is a residue,
verse five of our text, a residue unto whom Christ himself, and
remember These, this residue, this remnant, according to the
election of God's grace, are those to whom Christ himself
is a crown of glory, a diadem of beauty, a spirit of judgment,
so that they know a lie from the truth, so that they're not
going to make their refuge lies, because they can discern. And
also strength, so that they might come to him, because no man can
unless the Father gives him strength. verses five and six of our text.
So not all who hear the gospel will come. And I'll tell you
this, not all are meant to come. Not all are meant to come. Our
Lord Jesus Christ said, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me. They all shall. But what about those who don't?
Not everybody came to Christ. Some went away from Christ. When our Lord preached His sovereignty
and man's utter inability in John chapter 6, many went away
and walked no more with Him. And then He turned to the twelve
and said, Will you also, do you remember the next word? Go. Will you also go? Now look at
verse 13 in our text in Isaiah 28. The word of the Lord was upon
them, was unto them, even those that would not hear. Remember
the very last part of verse 12, they will not hear. They will
not hear. It's not just they're not going
to hear because it just doesn't work out that they're going to
hear. They're going to hear the words, but they're going to refuse
them. They will not hear. You will not come to me. This
is a willful rejection of the message. This is the rest. That
Christ is the chief cornerstone. But the word of the Lord was
unto them, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon
line, line upon line, here a little and there a little, that they
might go. Not that they might come. Will
you also go? The word of the Lord to some
is that they might go and fall backward and be broken and be
snared and be taken. To some the gospel we preach
It is indeed the savor of life unto life. Bless God for that. But to some it is the savor of
death unto death. And God said through his apostle,
it's always a win either way. It's a victory in God's book.
Is that what he said? In God's book. If Christ is honored
and glorified, it's a win. Very sobering. The gospel is God's means of
salvation. And it's the message, what is
the message? This is the rest. There is a refuge for sinners.
There is a city of refuge. If you're fleeing from the avenger
of blood who by God's law has the right to pursue you and put
you down. But I'll tell you what else God
said. There's a city of refuge. And
he said, make the way clear. Make sure there's not any obstacles
in the road. And make sure everybody knows
where they are. And if you flee to that city and you go within
the gates of that city, you're safe. You're safe. No consequences. No consequences
for your sins. So the gospel is that means of
salvation. He will speak. He will teach. He will make to understand. That's what it said in our day.
To some. But also his gospel is a means
of condemnation. Our Lord to some is a stumbling
stone and a rock of offense. But to the residue, the head
of the corner, elect and precious the chief cornerstone. To you
who believe by the gift of God's grace He is precious. And these two refuges determine
the two ways in which God deals with sinners in these last verses.
Let's just read them together. We see in these last verses,
verses 21 through 29, what God is doing and why. Expressed as
in many places in the scriptures, it's expressed in terms of a
husband working for a harvest. How many times have we seen that?
How many times? And if you'd read, if you want
to pursue this study a little bit beyond tonight, in Matthew
13, the parable of the sower that our Lord told would shed
a lot of light. and vice versa on this passage
of scripture. We don't have time to look particularly
into Matthew 13 tonight, but let's look at it and we'll kind
of remember some of it I imagine as we go through this. Verse
21, for the Lord shall rise up, and
remember what he's talking about now. Two refuges. There's a message and the message
is this is the place of rest. This is the refreshing, and then
there are those who won't hear, who make lies their refuge. But
what's God doing in all this? The Lord shall rise up as in
Mount Perism. He shall be wroth as in the valley
of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work, and bring
to pass his act, his strange act, judgment, judgment upon
sinners. Now therefore be ye not mockers,
lest your bans be made strong. For I have heard from the Lord
God of hosts a consumption even determined upon the whole earth.
Judgment coming. Give ye ear and hear my voice,
hearken and hear my speech. He just got through saying at
the end of verse 12, I believe it was, but they won't hear,
so I'm not going to hear. But he says to you, you hear.
You hear what God says. Doth the plowman plow all day
to sow? Doth he open and break the clods
of his ground? When he hath made plain the face
thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, those are a certain
kind of seed, there's some speculation as to what kind of seed that
is, and scatter the cumin, that's a spice, or a herb, I think that's
a spice, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley
and the rye in their place? For his God doth instruct him
to discretion and doth teach him. Now this is God, the husbandman,
cast in sea. Do you remember the parable of
the sower? Some fell on stony ground, some fell among thorns,
but some are going to fall on good ground. God's purpose is
accomplished. Who's going to go to which refuge?
Who's going to hide in their lies and who's going to flee
to the city of the true? Who is going to build upon the
chief cornerstone? All of this is pictured in this
other way now. God is in husbandly, and he casts his seed. And he
teaches his sower to cast the seed. Do you see that there?
His God doth instruct him. For the fitches, verse 27, are
not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is there
a cartwheel turned about upon the cumen. But the fitches are
beaten out with a staff, and the cumen with a rod. Bread corn
is bruised because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break
it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen.
He deals with his seed, his precious seed, his people, differently. He's not going to crush them.
They're threshed, they're bruised, but not broken. We saw that in
another study, didn't we? He doesn't deal the same way
with his people in judgment as he does with the reprobate. And in this life, this also cometh
forth from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel
and excellent in working. So the message comes. This is
the rest. This is the place. There is a
bed you can stretch out on. There is a covering. under which
you can hide and be secure. But your lives are not it. The
so-called gospel of this religious world is not it. The counsel
of the Lord, the one who is wonderful in counsel, hear him. There's one stone, there's one
true, plumb, straight, square, strong foundation. An other foundation
can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. I pray
that God would teach us, would make us to understand, as the
text said, that Christ is the only refuge for sinners, the
only foundation, the only hope for a sinner like
me. Let's pray together.