I'm going to probably need you
to use your ears this morning because we may have a little
competition with the fire department. You know the Judah, the nation
of Judah, they were looking to Assyria to defend them, to help
them. They made just a political alliance
with them to help them and save them. And when they were in the
midst of doing this, Isaiah went to the king of Judah, sent there
by the Lord. And he was sent there to tell
them to wait on the Lord. Not to look to Assyria for help,
but to wait on the Lord. And, I mean, you think of that.
Here is a king, who's over this nation, and he has just some
preacher come up to him and tell him the word of the Lord is to
wait on him. And he said all he saw was a
man saying that to him. And he was thinking, I'll wait
on a word from the Lord. I'll wait till the Lord tells
me something, or the Lord shows me what I really should do. Well,
the Lord was telling him. The Lord was telling him through
Isaiah. But they made that alliance with
Assyria, and then Assyria turned around then, after they had conquered
the northern tribes of Israel, and they turned in and said,
okay, now we'll invade Judah, and we'll conquer Jerusalem.
And that's where they are this time. And this time, Isaiah sent
to them again. And he sent with the Word this
time. And he said, Isaiah 30 verse 7, he said, I cried concerning
this, their strength is to sit still. Verse 15, for thus saith the
Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning and rest shall you
be saved. In quietness and in confidence
shall be your strength, and you would not. And again, instead
of Heeding this word from Isaiah, they're just waiting. They decided
they would go their own way and do their own thing until the
Lord made it clear to them. Until the Lord gave them a word
on what He'd have them to do. And here was Isaiah, son of the
Lord, telling them, this is what the Lord says. This is what the
Lord says. But this time they looked to
Egypt and they were willing to go down into Egypt and become
the slaves of Egypt and forsake all their riches to Egypt to
get help. Didn't learn the first time,
going to do it again. Same thing, make the same mistake
all over again. Now, I want to try to give you
an illustration. As parents, all of us as parents,
we tell our children what we would have them to do. And sometimes
when we tell them what we would have them to do, they don't understand
why we're saying what we're saying. Or they can't enter into how
in the world that would possibly be the right thing for them to
do. They haven't taken into consideration that we've thought about what
we've instructed them on. They haven't taken into consideration
that their best interest is all we're concerned about. They haven't
taken into consideration that, that this will be we know by
experience, this is what will be the best for them. And sometimes
they say no. Sometimes they rise up and say
no. And when they do that, as parents, we tighten up on what we say
to them. And we tell them, No, you're gonna do what I told you
to do. And sometimes if they say, but I don't understand,
we say, because I said do it. Because I said do it. Now, we
can enter into that when we're in the position of authority
and we're talking to our children. But we have a very difficult
time dealing with that when we're in the position of our children
listening to those who God has put in authority over us. Don't
we? Officers of the law, police officers
are there because God put them there. He put them there. And
he says they're the ministers of God for your good. They're
not a terror to good works, they're a terror to the evil. You don't
obey them. You've got reason to be afraid.
You've got reason to run. God put them there. And we're
to submit to them. Why? Because God said so. Because God put them there. And
when it comes down to it, if they tell you to take a detour
here, sir, you do it because they said so, don't you? Because
they're the authority. Well, it's the same in every
position of authority that the Lord has put that person there
over us. And we'd listen to him. Isaiah
was the one that God sent to Judah to tell them what God said
in his word. And remember what King Ahaz said
when Isaiah came to him? He said, ask the Lord a sign,
and the sign is always the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what
the sign was, a virgin's gonna conceive and bear a son. But
you remember what Ahaz said? He basically rebuked Isaiah.
And he was saying that Isaiah was wrong. And he said, I'll
not tempt the Lord by asking a sign. I won't tempt the Lord
by listening to him and submitting to him and bowing to him and
looking to his son. That's what he was saying. But
he just was saying it to a man. And that's all he saw. But by
doing that he was rejecting God. That's who he was rejecting.
Well, now this is a lesson for those in authority. You know, police officers, me,
your pastor, this is a less for us. Even though they did this,
now twice the Lord still sent Isaiah to them. And he sent them
with a message to speak the words. And this was what he said, verse
16, But ye said, No, for we will flee upon horses. Therefore,
he's speaking on behalf of the Lord. Now Isaiah's got no ability
to bring this to pass. He says, therefore shall you
flee. In other words, he's saying you're
going to flee down there to Egypt on horses. But on those same
horses, you're going to turn around and flee away when the
enemy comes after you. Those horses aren't going to
help you. And we will ride upon the swift. Therefore shall they
that pursue you be swift. One thousand shall flee at the
rebuke of one. It's not going to take many to
bring you to nothing. It's not going to take much.
At the rebuke of five shall you flee till ye be left as a beacon
upon the top of a mountain and as an ensign on a hill. Now here is a remarkable word. He's speaking, Isaiah was sent
to speak to everybody that would listen to him in Judah. But he
was talking, the Lord was going to talk to somebody there. The
Lord was going to speak to somebody there. And it wasn't going to
be just a man talking to him, it was going to be God talking
to him. And here's a remarkable word. Brother Dan Parks emailed
me the other day and gave me a new phrase I like. Profundity
in brevity. I like that. Well, here's profundity
in brevity right here. This is profound, a profound
brief statement. And this will be our text, verse
18. And therefore will the Lord wait, that he may be gracious
unto you. And therefore will he be exalted,
that he may have mercy upon you. For the Lord is a God of judgment. Blessed are all they that wait
for him. Now this will be our text and
we'll just divide each statement here. There's four statements
here. We'll divide each one and look at these individually. First
of all, he says, Therefore will the Lord wait that He may be
gracious unto you." The waiting of our God is His long-suffering. It's His kindness. It's His goodness. Be turning with me to Genesis
chapter 18. In Adam's day, in the garden, when in perfect communion
with God, in perfect fellowship with God, God took the restraints
off Adam and let him do what he would do in a perfect environment
with just one law. And Adam broke that law and he
sinned against God. But the reason, Genesis 18, but
the reason that God didn't destroy the whole world right then when
Adam sinned is because he had a people that he had reserved
for himself that he would save. and no amount of rebellion in
a man was going to stop God from accomplishing what he purposed
to do from the beginning. Well, in Noah's day, when Noah
was building that ark, and he was preaching, a preacher of
righteousness, preaching the gospel of Christ, and they were
saying to him, just a man, you don't have to listen to him,
they're going on their way, doing their thing. But God waited for
all that time while that ark was preparing, wherein eight
souls were saved. in that hour. That was God's
long-suffering. Well, in Lot's day, when Lot was in Sodom and
Gomorrah, the only reason the Lord waited before destroying
Sodom and Gomorrah was till he brought Lot out of Sodom and
Gomorrah. Look, because Lot was a chosen
child of God. That was his child. And the rest
that was in Solomon and Gomorrah weren't. They died there and
faced God in judgment. But he didn't destroy it until
he brought that one man out of there. Look at Genesis 18, verse
23. And Abraham drew near. Abraham
was Lot's relative. And he said, Will thou also destroy
the righteous with the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous
within the city. There's 50 righteous within the
city. We know that because the scripture says Lot was vexed
in Sodom. He was vexed being in that place.
He went there. Remember when Abraham and him
got in a little fuss and Abraham said, take everything you want,
Lot. And Lot looked down there on Sodom and Gomorrah and he
saw green fields and clear water and green pastures and he said,
I'm moving down there. That's where the wealth is. And he was vexed the whole time
he was there. God was going to destroy that
place, but he wasn't going to destroy it until he brought Lot
out of there, because he loved him. And so Abraham says, Peradventure
there be fifty righteous within the city. Will thou also destroy
and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
that be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous
with the wicked, and that the righteous should be as the wicked,
that be far from thee, shall not the judge of all the earth
do right? And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous
within the city, then I'll spare all the place for their sakes.
And Abraham said, Well, behold now, I've taken upon me to speak
unto the Lord, which are but dust and ashes, Peradventure
there shall lack five of the fifty righteous, without destroy
all the city for lack of five. And the Lord said, If I find
forty-five there, I will not destroy it. And he spake unto
him again, and he said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there.
And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake. And he said,
Let the Lord not be angry. And I'll speak, peradventure
there shall 30 be found there. And he said, I will not do it
if I find 30 there. And he said, behold now, I've
taken upon me to speak unto the Lord. Peradventure there shall
be 20 found there. And he said, I will not destroy
it for 20's sake. Abraham's just narrowing his
thing down. And he said, Lord, please don't be angry with me.
But one more time, let me ask you. He said, what if there's
just 10 down there? And the Lord went His way. And
the Lord said, I will not destroy it for ten seconds. I won't do
it for ten seconds. Well, turn over to Isaiah chapter
1 and verse 9, and let's see who it was that the Lord was
talking about when He said, the Lord is going to wait that He
may be gracious to you. Why was it He wasn't going to
destroy all of Judah? Why wasn't he just going to wipe
them out when they're sitting there? The majority said, no,
we're not going to serve God. Why didn't he wipe them out?
Isaiah 1 verse 9. Isaiah tells us, except the Lord
of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant. Who did it? The Lord did. Except He had a
very small remnant, we should have been a Sodom. And we should
have been like unto Gomorrah. Now, turn with me, if you will,
over to 2 Peter chapter 3. We live in a day where we see
all around us a world that says no to God. It's defiantly, brazenly
saying no to our God. And in our flesh, We find ourselves
rebelling against God. Why is it God doesn't destroy
us? Why is it God doesn't destroy
this world right now? Why is it? 2 Peter chapter 3
verse 3. Know this first, that there shall
come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts
and saying, where is the promise of his coming? About what I'm
saying right now. Where's the promise of His coming?
Since the fathers fell asleep, everything continues just like
it has been from the beginning of creation. For this, the Lord
says, they willingly are ignorant of. Willingly ignorant of this. That by the word of God, the
heavens were of old. That's how they came into being.
And the earth standing out of the water and in the water. whereby
the world that then was being overflowed with water perished."
That's in Noah's day. But the heavens and the earth
which are now by the same word, his word, are kept in store. They're held right in place right
now where they are. Reserved unto fire against the day of
judgment and perdition of ungodly men. You know what he did with
Sodom? He didn't take Sodom off away
and Sodom and Gomorrah and the inhabitants there and do something
with them. He brought his people out of there and then just destroyed
Sodom and Gomorrah. That's what he's going to do
again. He's taking his people out of this place and going to
destroy this place with the wicked men with it. And then there's
going to be a new heavens and a new earth. But beloved, verse
8, he's speaking to brethren. Beloved, this is who we're talking
to. Be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the
Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years is one day.
Don't think because he hadn't come back, it's been like this
since the beginning, that he's forgotten what he's gonna do.
The Lord's not slack concerning his promise, as some men count
slackness, but is longsuffering to usward. to the believer in
this world, to the remnant according to His election of grace, to
usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. Why didn't He destroy Sodom before
He brought Lot out of there? because he wasn't willing. He
wasn't willing that Lot perished there, and it brought him out.
That's why God hadn't destroyed this world. Now, his long-suffering,
his waiting, is his willingness to save those he's everlastingly
loved and to bring them to repentance and faith in Christ. And when
he's done the work, then he's finished with this stage here
that he set to work all this out on. He's finished with it.
These are all just props. Well, what do we learn from that? We learn this, the time of His
regeneration, the time of His quickening and calling us into
faith is going to be done in His time. It's set by Him. And
we learn this, in all the rebellion, now you listen to me, I'm talking
about when you see that brother over here rebel. And when you
see this brother, sister over here, rebel. And there's a trial
that comes up. It's not always because of rebellion.
Sometimes the trial is for other reasons. Remember that too. Trial
is to teach us to trust him. That's what it's for. And remember
that. But when the trial is upon us,
remember this. He sent the time to deliver his
child out of that affliction. You know, Mr. Keller is a, I admire Mr. Keller because he is a very organized,
and I'm probably embarrassing him, but he's raised his children
well. I admire his children, and he raised them well. And
I can tell you, I know this, just knowing what I know about
him, he wouldn't stand for you coming in when he was raising
his children and tell him what to do with his children. Well,
God our Father won't either. And if we're His children, we're
going to stand and follow Him. The trial's going to be, you're
going to want to snatch Him out of the fire right now. But you
can't. Isaiah was sent to do one thing,
to tell them this is what God says. And to wait on God sent
time to do the work. And here's the third thing, when
He takes us out of this world, while we see our loved ones die,
and never use the word He died an untimely death. There's no
such thing as that. It's set by God, and when they
go, it's because God set the time. If we're regenerated and
called, it's because He set the time. When the trial is over,
it's because He set the time. And when this whole trial of
life is over, and we're called unto the judgment day of God,
it's His set time. And His set time is the best
time. And it's best we learn that.
That's hard now, that's not always difficult because, you know,
we see things, it's just like darts and daggers in us and it's
offensive and it's hurtful and it afflicts us and it's hard. But especially with, you know,
brethren love brethren. And when you love somebody, you
want to see what's best for them. And it's even more hurtful when
you love somebody. And I can tell you as a pastor,
it's hurtful to hear condescending things and rebellious statements
and things like that. And it's like a dagger. It's like your children snapping
back at you. And sometimes, you know, you
have to use the authority that God's given you and be firm,
but you try not to abuse the power God's given you. And as
believers dealing with grown folks, you learn real fast if
you snap too hard, that same snap's coming back. And so you
try to deal in mercy and kindness and longsuffering and grace,
and sometimes your tongue will be bitten too. That will happen,
but that's the case. Therefore will the Lord wait
that He may be gracious unto this elect chosen remnant. Now
here's the second thing. Therefore will He be exalted
that He may have mercy upon you. You see, when the Lord does any
work with a sinner, He's going to do that work in such a way
that you're going to see your nothingness, your helplessness,
your complete lack of strength, and you're going to see His complete
and total glory and power and wisdom and ability in the whole
matter. And that way, He's going to be
exalted and you're going to be amazed. That's how it's going
to happen. That's how it's going to always
happen. First, He's going to bring us to our nothingness.
Whether it's in regeneration, whether it's in a trial, whether
it's in the end. You know, I've told you this
repeatedly, the last trial that's coming is death. And that trial
is going to be so, so much on us personally when we enter that
thing. We're going to see just how helpless
we really have been in all these other trials throughout our life.
That's just how helpless we've been the whole time. But it's
going to become home then. And if God, if we hadn't learned
from God through all those trials, we're going to have a lot of
trouble when we reach that day. Because He's the only one that's
got, that's going to comfort and deliver and provide in all
the trials along the way. And especially in that last one. Now, He says this. First of all, He's going to bring
us to our nothingness. You'd be turning to Hosea chapter
2. He's going to make the The proud
is going to be brought low. He is going to make us to know
our sin and our rebellion. He is going to make the rebel
be broken. He is going to make the stiff
neck submit to Him. Let me show you this now in Hosea
chapter 2. This is speaking of Hosea was
prophesied to the ten northern tribes while Isaiah was prophesied
to Judah. But they're saying the same thing.
They both got the same gospel. Look here what in Gomer, Hosea's
wife is a picture of Israel, a picture of the nation. And
here's what he said he was going to do to Hosea. This is what
he does with sinners individually. This is what he does with all
his people who make up collectively his body. Hosea 2, and look at
verse 7. He said, let's start at verse
5. He says, Your mother has played
the harlot. She's conceived children and
done shamefully for she said, I'll go after my lovers. They
the ones that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my
flax, my oil and my drink. He's lovers. He's just like a
believer thinking that his provision comes from his hand and from
this world. That's where I'm getting all
this stuff. If I don't go out and go after it, I won't get
it. Verse six, therefore behold, I will hedge up thy way with
thorns and make a wall that she shall not find her paths. She
shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them.
It's called when the thorns are there. You remember when he arrested
Paul? Paul was going after his lovers, and he was kicking and
screaming the whole way against God. And remember what the Lord
said to him the first day? It's hard to kick against the
bricks, Paul. Try to kick a thorn bush. It's
going to hurt. You're going to draw back, and
it's going to hurt. He said, I'm going to hedge your way with
thorns. She's gonna follow after her lovers, but she won't overtake
them. She shall seek them, but she shall not find them. Then
shall she say, I'll go and return to my first husband, for then
was it better with me than now. For she did not know that I gave
her the corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and
gold, which she prepared for Baal. Her and her lovers praised
Baal. Therefore will I return and take
away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof,
and will cover my wool and my flack given to cover her nakedness. And now will I discover her lewdness,
her folly, her villainy in the sight of her lovers. I'll do
it right in plain sight for all her lovers to see it." He didn't
say he'd do it for her lovers. He said he'd do it for her. And
he says, and none shall deliver her out of my hand. Nobody's
going to stop her from coming back from me accomplishing this
work. I will also cause all her mirth to cease, and her feast
days, and her new moons, and her Sabbaths, and all her solemn
feasts. I'm going to bring all her religion and the joy of her
religion to nothing. Make it be mourning instead of
joy. And I'll destroy her vines and
her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that
my lovers have given me. And I'll make them a forest,
and the beasts of the field shall eat them. And I'll visit upon
her the days of Balaam, wherein she burned incense to them, and
decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and went after
her lovers, and forgot me, saith the Lord." What he's saying is,
I'm going to make her look back on all that and start really
thinking about what she's done, what she's done, who she's forgotten.
Therefore but look what he's doing here. He's bringing her
to nothing. But why is he doing it? Why is he doing that? He
said I'm gonna wait that I might be gracious. Therefore will I
be exalted Then I'll have mercy on you watch this now verse 14. Therefore behold, I will allure
her and bring her into the wilderness and speak comfortably unto her
and And I'll give her her vineyards and the valley of acre for door
of hope. And she'll sing there's in the
days of her youth is in the day when she came up out of the land
of Egypt. He said, I'm gonna bring her down to nothing. I'm
gonna do all that for so I can get her attention, make her think
on what she's done, turn her around to me, and I must be constantly
to her. Now brethren, go back to this
illustration of you and your children. How is it you cause
your children to listen to you? They're doing all their thing.
They're saying no. They're going and they're doing
their thing. How is it we get them to listen to us and to heed
what we're saying? We hedge up their way. Son, go
to your room. He's got to go there. We've hedged
up. We've taken the stuff away from
him. Now he's got to go there and wait. And then we come in,
once we've got his attention, he's settled down now, we come
in. And sometimes I think it's good, sometimes when they're
just so, sometimes I'll just take mine and hold them for a
little while. Before I even, before I do the discipline, I'll
just hold them for a while to get their attention. It's hard
to kick against somebody that's really holding you. And I don't
mean just restraining them, I mean a loving embrace, just hold them.
And I'll get their attention. And then I'll tell them what
they did wrong, explain to them what they did wrong, and correct
them, and correct them. But now they leave that place
looking to their father and saying, I have to mind my father. I have
to do what my father told me. Well, that's what the Lord does
with His children. That's what the Lord does with His children.
He hedges us about. And He brings, takes away everything
that's coming between us and Him, and then He speaks comfortably
to us, He allures us, He speaks comfortably, and He gives us
hope. And He's exalted that way, and we behold Him exalted. You
know, when He waits like this, it's not that He's waiting, and
he's not doing anything. You see that? He's doing all
the work. His waiting is his doing all
the work that he might be gracious and exalted. He's doing the work. He'd been doing the work amongst
that remnant there in Judah the whole time. He sent his messenger
there to begin with and said, okay, do what I say. And they
said, no. And so then in his providence,
he did all this other. But here's the thing about that. The reason he says I must be
exalted. Here's the thing we see about
our Redeemer is Christ was coming through Judah. That was promised
by the Lord. It was coming through that tribe.
And he wasn't going to destroy that tribe because he would have
it that Christ would be exalted. And everything God does in regenerating
us and calling us in the trial, in the end, is to exalt His Son. Everything. Everything He does
is to exalt His Son. Every elect child of God had
to die in their substitute. That's why He said, just as that
serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up. That whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish but have eternal life. He had to be lifted up. He had to be exalted. He has
to be exalted in the heart. That's why God does it. He doesn't
leave this work to me and you. He comes through the power of
this gospel and He does that. He gives that new heart and He
exalts His Son in the heart He's made new. And we behold that
His Son's been exalted to the right hand of the Father where
He's ordering everything. The government's on His shoulder.
He's been given the government of all things. And then He's going to bring
His people to rejoice and bow His knee. And even in the end,
when everything is all done, when all the trials of the rebellious
and hard-hearted are all done, in the end, you know who's going
to be exalted before their eyes too? Christ the Son. He's going to announce, God's
going to announce His name. And when He does, every knee's
going to bow and every tongue's going to confess He is Lord of
lords and King of kings. Every one of them. That's what
He's doing right now. He's in a day of His divine visitation,
in the day of the trial, when He delivers us to His throne
in glory. He's waiting that He might be
exalted. That's what He's doing. And therefore,
He'll be gracious unto you and merciful unto you. Now, here's
the third thing. Why does He do all that? Why
does He do it that way? Verse 18 says, For the Lord is
a God of judgment. Shall not the God of all the
earth judge of all the earth do right? He's a God of judgment. The scriptures tells us that
by mercy, His mercy, and by truth, by His righteous, holy judgment,
by those two, iniquity is purged. put away completely made to be
gone from his people by mercy and by truth. Not mercy at the
expense of truth and not truth at the expense of mercy. God
has found a way for the two to kiss one another and that way
is in Christ his son. He's God so he's the justifier
and because his son died he's just. He died in the room instead
of his people. He's just. as the substitute. So God is just and He's the justifier. Now if you see the judgment of
God, the discretion of God to order everything and bring it
to pass so that you look to the cross and you see on that cross,
you see mercy and you see truth in unparalleled wisdom meeting
together on that cross in Christ Jesus. How God could be just,
be truthful to his holy character, by no means clear of the guilty,
and at the same time show mercy to a multitude of people. You
see judgment right there. I'm not talking about wrath,
I'm talking about discretion. You see a God who's all wise.
Well brethren, He ordered everything from the beginning to come to
that moment. He said even the things that
transpired that day with the wicked hands that crucified Him
were done according to the determination of God which He determined before
to be done. It was all carried out just precisely
as God ordered it. That tells me I can wait on Him
and trust Him and look to him and he will do me right because
when I see the discretion he used in purging me of my sin,
I know it that in all my affairs in his life, he's gonna do right
by me. No doubt about that because he's
a God of judgment. He's a God of judgment. Well, I want you to see something here.
Look over at Isaiah 28 verse 23. I skipped this before when we
were going through it. I just didn't know quite how
to... I didn't get a message from it. But I got you a comment
on it at least here. Verse 23. Isaiah 28, 23. Give
ye ear and hear my voice, hearken and hear my speech. This is Isaiah
talking. Just like I'm sitting here. Hearken
and hear this. Now, you listen right now to
this. And this is just an illustration Isaiah has given. Does the plowman,
the farmer, does he plow all day? to sow? Does he open and
break the clods of the ground? And then when he's made plain
the face thereof, does he not cast abroad the fitches, and
scatter the cumin, and cast in the principal weed, and the pointed
barley, and the rye, all in their place? You get the picture. He
plows his field just like he wants it plowed. Just like he
wants his garden to be shaped. And then he takes all the different
seeds and he puts them right where he wants to put them. And
he puts them just exactly where he wants them to be in that garden.
Why does he do it that way? Look at verse 26. For his God
doth instruct him to discretion and to teach him. God teaches
him how to do that. The fitches are not threshed
with a threshing instrument, neither is a cartwheel turned
about upon the cueman, but the fitches are beaten out with a
staff, and the cueman 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 horseman. He puts everything
just where he would have it, because everything is going to
be harvested in a little different way, in his way. And so he's
not gonna put a cartwheel upon that which doesn't need a cartwheel
on it to thresh it out. And he's not gonna use the staff
upon that which needs a cartwheel to thresh it out. Why does the
farmer use all this discretion and do it that way? This also
cometh forth from the Lord of hosts. And here's the point,
who is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working. Number
one, he's able to teach you and me just like he teaches the farmer.
And as he's teaching us, he's waiting and he's working and
he's doing the work. He's excellent in counsel, and
he's excellent in working. That's what it means. That's
why he waits that he might be gracious. He waits till he's
exalted that he might be merciful because he's a God of judgment. He's a God of discretion. Now,
here's the last thing. Blessed, the word means happy,
are all they that wait for Him. You know, let me just ask you
this. When's the last time that your
children, and you children, let me ask you, when's the last time
you were impatient? I'm asking this to the parents
and the children. When's the last time your children were
impatient? and spoke back to you and said
no and all that. And when's the last time you
children did that? And it resulted in peace and
comfort and happiness. Just from that immediate reaction. Never, never. Well, it's the
same in waiting on the Lord. It's the same in trusting God.
It never results in any happiness whatsoever when we just run headlong,
and we say no, and we're obstinate, and we rebel, and we don't hear,
and we don't submit. There's just not going to be
any happiness there. But those in whom God has worked a work
of grace, in the trial in the beginning, in the trial throughout
the life, every time He does it, He brings about happiness. It's so much more happy, a blessed
time to wait on Him. And then when you see it, when
you see what He's done, you think, Lord, oh, how I messed it up. Or you think, how I would have
messed it up. And you think, Lord, you did
it just right. You did it just like it should have been done.
Is that not what we say about Christ on the cross? Lord, you
did it right. You did it just like it ought
to be done. That's what Christ said when he was on the cross.
Lord, you've done right. Done right. And there's happiness. That sinner who's waiting and
saving faith, the world doesn't see any happiness in that Canaanite
woman who comes and she asks of the Lord for mercy. And he
says, it's not fit for me to give the bread to dogs. And she
just came and said, yes Lord, you're right. But do not the dogs eat the crumbs
that fall from the table? The rebellious don't see that
there would be any happiness in that. But she did, and that's
what she found, was happiness. He fed her. You know what he's
doing right now? Right now, today, all these years,
From the time that that happened, he's still feeding her. He's
still feeding her. Oh, that believer that can wait
at his feet. and bow to Him in faith and trust Him. Trust all
your salvation into His hands. I told the children Friday night,
you know, that lifeguard, he goes out there to save that drowning
person. And that drowning person is thrashing. I mean, they're
moving, they're thrashing. They're going to save themselves,
even though they're the ones that got themselves in that spot
and they can't get out of it, but they keep trying to save
themselves. But He's not going to bring them in and touch them
until He's made them stop thrashing around. and to just rest and
lay hold of him and trust him to bring them to shore. Then
he's gonna grab them and bring them in. That's why you see him
with that long rope on that little rip thing, so they can throw
that out there to him and they don't have to get out there and
let that desperate man drown them. Well, God waits. He has the power to wait and
to work so that He makes you stop and rest at His feet. And that's what faith is, just
trusting Him to take you all the way to Canaan's shore. That's what it is. Resting in
Him. And in those trials, in every
trial, being cumbered about much serving,
brethren, is this. In all these trials and afflictions,
in all these things that are going on in life, when we say
no to those that God has given us His Word through, whether
it's a parent, a pastor, a teacher, an officer, whatever it is, it's
saying no to them, we're going to save ourselves. You're cumbered
about serving yourself and saving yourself. The salvation and the
happiness in it is going to be, stop trying to do that. Stop
trying to serve yourself and wait on the Lord to save you.
Trust Him to save you. And then in the end, they were
waiting on the Messiah to come the first time, that remnant
in Isaiah's day. We're waiting on Him to come
again. And He said, blessed are those that when He comes, He's
going to find them watching. watching now I want you to understand
something and I'm not gonna let you go before I tell you this
as I tried to explain to you Thursday night declared to you
Thursday night waiting on God and last week we saw waiting
on God's a warfare it doesn't mean that you're sitting on your
hands doing nothing trusting God is is is a Not glorying in
the flesh, not glorying in sight, but by faith, looking to Him.
It's crucifying that old man. And you do that as we saw Friday
night, not by looking to your brethren. You'll never follow
after peace and holiness with men by looking at men or looking
at yourself. that you will fail of the grace
of God, and you will discover a root of bitterness. You'll
be totally disappointed in what you see in men, and they'll be
totally disappointed in what they see in you, and all that's
gonna result is a whole bunch of fighting and fussing and a
bitter root within you and them. But he says, look diligently.
As you're following after peace and holiness, look diligently.
And he began Hebrews 12 by saying, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith. Brethren, our nature, our old
nature is to look at you and to look at me and to try to find
that peace and holiness there. It's not going to be found there.
And true peace and true holiness is coming to the, it being sanctified
by God the Spirit to know it's not going to be found there,
it's going to be found in Christ. Then you'll find true peace and
true holiness. And you'll be settled. And you'll be like Mary,
who found that one thing needful. And you'll sit right there. Sit
right there. That's where Christ, if He is,
He's bringing you there. He's going to bring you there,
just like He did Gomer. Well, read verse 18 again with me.
And I want you to remember this now, as you wait on the Lord
to do something for your children, for your spouse, for your loved
ones, in all the trials you go through, As you see those dear
saints or dear loved ones facing death, remember this. Therefore
will the Lord wait that He may be gracious unto you. Therefore
will He be exalted that He may have mercy upon you. For the
Lord is a God of judgment, and happy are all they that wait
for Him. Amen.