OK Brethren, let's be turning
to Isaiah chapter 66. Pick up in verse 5. The Lord is speaking here to
the Israel of God and it's given as an encouraging prophetic word
to them. He's declaring what he would
accomplish for his people in and by the Lord Jesus Christ
and that is now accomplished that redemption is accomplished
for us and he speaks of what he accomplishes in every heart
of every child, in the heart of all his people. And when the
Lord is gracious to a sinner, when he's gracious to his child
in the hour of his grace, when he comes with power, he gives
his child a hearing ear. That's one of the marks of a
believer. They are given a hearing ear. And that's not so of the
wicked. They don't hear with the ear
of faith. They don't hear the gospel the
way that you, that believe the Lord Jesus Christ, they don't
hear what you hear. They don't hear it the way that
you hear it. The hearing ear of faith is a
blessing. It's a gift given by the Lord
Jesus Christ. And that's what's being spoken
of here. One of those gifts is spoken of in this passage, and
it's given in the new birth of the child of God. Now, of these
many blessings that were given, obtained by Christ and given
to the church, The here and here is what's emphasized here in
this passage. Let's read verse 5. Isaiah 66
verse 5. The Lord says, Hear the word
of the Lord, ye that tremble at his word. Your brethren that
hated you, that cast you out for my name's sake, said, Let
the Lord be glorified, but he shall appear to your joy, and
they shall be ashamed." The religious think that they are doing the
service of God, and they're glorying in that which they're doing,
but God says here, no, I'm not. I'm not pleased with what they're
doing, and they're going to know it. I'm going to make it known
to them that I'm not pleased with what they're doing. And
so, We see how that the self-righteous, the religious persons, they know
a lot about religion. They know a lot about God and
they get puffed up with what they know. We know this intimately
because we ourselves by nature are Pharisees and we ourselves
have condemned others by the things that we know and people
that we disagreed with. But self-righteousness will take
things into their own hands and they'll try to effect or make
what they think the will of God is. And that's where they get
into trouble because that's when men begin to persecute the righteous. That's when they begin to break
a bruised reed or snuff out a smoking flax. That's when they, when
man gets involved with his flesh, that's when he starts to make
a mess of things rather than waiting upon and trusting the
Lord. And so they persecute the church. The Lord says while they're persecuting
the church, they say, let the Lord be glorified. They're zealous
for what they're doing. They're zealous in their persecution
and they believe that they are doing God's will in this. But regardless of man's sincerity,
it really amounts to nothing more than a mockery of the truth. because the truth declares that
the Lord saves His people, the Lord knows them that are His,
and He works His will and purpose in the midst of His people. I'm reminded, as I was looking
at this passage, I'm reminded of Galatians 6, verses 7 and
8, where Paul says, be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever
a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to the
flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that soweth
to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting. And so the Lord is saying, those
that would cast you out, they're going to reap corruption. I'm reminded of when I was about
this reaping corruption, when I was a computer programmer,
They had a saying that made it real easy for us. They would
say, because people would wonder, why is the programming acting
this way? Or why is the program that I built acting this way?
And if it's not a bug in your program, if your program is correct,
well, then the data going in is the problem. And they would
say, well, if you put garbage in, you're going to get garbage
out. And that's what it is. If we turn to the flesh, if we
would sow to the flesh, we're going to reap corruption. And
the anger of man, the wrath of man does not work the works of
God. It doesn't work the works of
God. And so the reason they cast out
the Lord's people is because the Lord's people's hope is in
the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord isn't saying here that
he's defending you because you're always right and no matter what
you do is always right. No, this is about the Lord Jesus
Christ. And the hope that you have is
that Christ is your righteousness. It's not your works. It's not
what you've done for the Lord. Our hope is that Christ is our
righteousness. The Lord strips us down. The
Spirit blows against this flesh and it withers this flesh. And
we're made weak and brought low in the Lord. That we should find
our all in Christ. And you that have heard that
Christ is all, and you that have been taught by the Spirit that
Christ is all, the ones who hate you the most are those whose
hope is in the law, whose hope is in their works and how they
sanctify themselves and how they've made themselves fit and right
for the Lord. And you that say, the work is
the Lord's, you sound anathema to them. Now we see examples
in the scripture of those that cast out the Lord's people. When they sent out officers,
for example, to arrest this Jesus of Nazareth, it was the Christ. When they sent those officers
out, they returned without Christ. And the Jews, the Sanhedrin,
they looked at that and wondered what Where is this Jesus of Nazareth? Why didn't you bring him back?
And they said, well, when we got there, we heard him speak,
and never man spake like this man. And then we read in John
7, 47, they answered, then answered them the Pharisees. They asked,
are you also deceived? What's going on? Are you deceived?
Have any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed on him?
But this people who knoweth not the law are cursed. Their hope was in the law. And because they were hearing
faith, because they heard that Christ is the salvation of his
people, they rejected it. Nicodemus saith unto them, he
that came to Jesus by night, being one in that council there,
doth our law judge any man before it hear him, and know what he
doeth? They answered and said unto him, Art thou also of Galilee? Search and look, for out of Galilee
ariseth no prophet. All right, they thought, are
you just defending him because you're from Galilee and you wanted
to put Galilee on the map? Is that why you're saying this?
There's no prophet that comes out of Galilee. That's because
they didn't take the time to inquire. They never asked him,
Lord, why does it say that the Christ will be born in Bethlehem,
but you're from Galilee? We see the works of God, but
why this contradiction? They never took the time to learn
it. And so they condemned a just man, a man who came and spoke
the words of his father, a man who came and did the works of
his father, a man who did those things which no man could do
except God were with him. Then in John 9, why don't you
turn there, in John 9, While you're turning there, we
read there of a blind man whom Christ had healed. Christ had
healed this man, giving him sight, and he confessed that a man healed
him, that Jesus of Nazareth had healed him, and they cast him
out of the synagogue, just because he spoke the truth, just because
he gave Christ the glory, and saying, that man healed me, he
healed me. and his own parents when they
came and they asked the parents, is this your son? Yes he is.
How was he healed? I don't know how he was healed.
And it tells us in verse 22 that it's because the Jews had already
agreed that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should
be put out of the synagogue. And so they didn't want to say
that, well, he said it was this Jesus of Nazareth that healed
them. They didn't want to say it because
then they would just be lumped in and thrown out with their
son. Turn over to John 12, 42. John
12, verse 42. It says, nevertheless, among
the chief rulers also, many believed on him. But because of the Pharisees,
they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the
synagogue. The Lord is saying that what
we see there is that those who stand with Christ are hated and
despised by the world, especially the religious world. Christ said in Luke 11, 52, woe
unto you lawyers, for ye have taken away the key of knowledge. Him who is the most important,
the chief cornerstone, You've cast them aside and you've kept
it locked up and hidden away. Ye entered not in yourselves
and them that were entering in ye hindered." They didn't have
an ear for the truth. They didn't have an ear of faith
to hear Him and therefore they actively prevented those that
were trying to hear, those that would have heard, those that
wanted to hear what this Jesus of Nazareth was saying. And so
they're described as those that received not the love of the
truth that they might be saved. And for this cause, Paul says,
God sends them strong delusion that they should believe a lie. They're hearing something, but
they're hearing a lie and they're believing a lie that they all
might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure
in unrighteousness. So we're to preach the gospel. We preach that Christ is the
salvation of his people, that he has accomplished the redemption
of all those whom the Father chose before the foundation of
the world and gave them to Christ, that he should purchase them,
that he should deliver them from the fall in Adam and make them
righteous in him. fit in Him, perfect in Him, so
that we would come to the Father in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
all been accomplished by the grace of our God, apart from
any works that you or I have done. We preach this because
sinners saved are manifested in the hearing of faith. They
hear what God has done. They hear what Christ, his Christ,
the God-man mediator, has done for his people, and the Spirit
gives faith. to the children of God. Though
they were dead in trespasses and sins, he reveals hope in
them. He reveals the righteousness
of Christ in them through faith, through that faith given, that
hearing ear of faith. So the children hear and they
believe and are obedient to the word. They're obedient to the
word, meaning they believe. They don't try to argue with
God. They don't cast aside Christ and come in their own righteousness.
They're obedient to the word, which says, look to Christ, believe
him, trust him. They cannot not believe. All
they can do in the new man, which is born in them is look to Christ
and believe. They heed that word. He describes
believers here in verse five, back in Isaiah 66, saying, Ye
that tremble at his word. That was used to describe Christ.
that he trembled at the word. He was careful to do what God
said. And that's how the Lord describes
you in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ye that tremble at his word.
It means that you hear his word and you're fed with the word
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. You rejoice in him, but we're
not here to teach the law of Moses. We're not here to teach
a dead letter religion. We're to lift up and to exalt
the Lord Jesus Christ because He is the one who saves sinners. We're to preach Christ and that's
where the rub is revealed. That's where the difference is
made between the Lord's people and those who are just comfortable
in their dead religion, and think that they've got it all figured
out, and they know how to please God, and how to approach God,
and how to worship God, and they're coming in their flesh, in the
works of the flesh. They're sowing to the flesh,
and they're gonna reap corruption. And so, in Galatians 3, 5, it
says, he that ministereth, this is how Paul worded it, he that
ministereth to you the spirit, and worketh miracles among you. He works miracles among you.
Doeth he it by the works of the law? You know, that's how the
legalist and the lawmonger says it. He says, I'm working miracles
among you. I'm keeping the law, and I keep
the law to sanctify myself, to make myself fit for the blessings
of God. Oh, that's a miracle. You that are blessed of God,
it's a miracle because it's not of the flesh, it's of God, it's
of the Spirit. And so anyone who would tell
you that he sanctifies himself by the keeping of the law is
saying to you, I'm working miracles, because I'm doing only that which
the Spirit can do. But that's not how the children
of God come. He that ministers the Spirit to you, and he that
works miracles among you, is it's done through the hearing
of faith. Through the hearing of faith,
where the Lord blesses his people to show them Christ, that he
is all their righteousness. And the Spirit makes Christ unto
you wisdom and righteousness. And the Spirit of God makes Christ
unto you sanctification. and redemption. Christ has made
everything to the children of God. He's our righteousness. He's why we are made just with
God in the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our justification and He
is our sanctification. So God sends a man to preach
the gospel to His people to declare not what they do for Christ but
what Christ has accomplished on the cross by Himself as the
Lamb of God to put away their sin. And they hearing what Christ
has done for His people believe. They believe and are set free
because the Spirit gives them life, regenerating them so that
by that life they hear and believe. That's the hearing of faith. Faith lays hold of the promises
of God, believing what God has said that He's done for His people.
So Christ is preached and the Spirit gives the ear of faith
and faith believes Christ unto righteousness. He that hath an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." How
does that happen? How do I get an ear to hear what
the Spirit says to the churches? It's in the preaching of Christ,
through the faithful preaching of the gospel, through the preaching
of what Christ has done for his people, and the Lord gives faith
through that word. Through that word. You that hear
and believe Christ, that hearing ear, is the gift of God. It is the gift of God in the
Lord Jesus Christ who obeyed his father perfectly. How did
he obtain this for us? It says in Ephesians 4, 7, and
8, but unto every one of us is given grace according to the
measure of the gift of Christ. Aren't you thankful that it's
according to the measure of the gift of Christ and not according
to how well you keep the law? How obedient you are in all things?
What you've done or not done? No, it's according to the gift
of Christ. Christ, praise God. Thank the
Lord for that. Thank Him every day. And go back,
that's Ephesians 4, 7. Wherefore He saith, when He ascended
up on high, He led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men. He obtained all that spoil, His
people, and all the gifts for them, and gives them to His people
to bless them, to bless them as it pleases Him. And so when
God saves His child, there's going to be a hearing, ear of
faith, whereby they believe Christ and they trust Him for all their
righteousness. You know, this is why Paul says
in 2 Thessalonians 2, we're familiar with this one, 2 Thessalonians
2, verses 13 and 14, that he, the apostles, and those fellow
laborers, and the ministers of God, they were bound to give
thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the spirit, coming and saying, I'm taking
you, and I'm taking you, and I'm taking you, and put you apart
to hear this gospel. He put you apart, sanctified
by the Spirit and belief of the truth. He gave you that. Whereunto He called you by our
gospel to the obtaining. He called you to the obtaining
of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. God's love for His children
is a saving love. If God's love was for everyone
and people were going to hell, that's no love that accomplishes
anything. That doesn't do anything for
you. But the scriptures describe the love of God as effectual
to the obtaining of eternal life. because it's the power and the
work all rests upon the Lord Jesus Christ who was obedient
to the Father and obtained that eternal redemption. And so now
you that are his chosen children that were in Christ when he was
crucified, you too shall be found by the Spirit and you shall hear
and believe to the obtaining of eternal life, to the obtaining
of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so the wicked, to
the wicked God will punish them. They claim to do God's service.
They persecuted the righteous, but they were doing their own
works. They were trying to obtain a righteousness. And not only
were they foolish in trying to obtain a righteousness, they
actually did it, they tried to do it in persecuting God's people
who were trusting the Lord. believing Him, waiting upon Him
for righteousness, looking to Him, believing God's word. Could
you imagine persecuting someone for believing God's word? And
hating them and casting them out for believing God's word?
The time cometh, Christ said, that whosoever killeth you will
think that he doeth God's service. He's either thinks that he's
doing the service of God or that he's pleasing God, that he's
doing God a favor by putting you out. And God says, I'll punish
them. I'll punish them. And so the punishment of the
wicked is witnessed in the preaching of the gospel. And that's what
we see in verse six now. In Isaiah 66, verse six. A voice
of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice of the
Lord that rendereth recompense to his enemies. This voice is
the voice that is heard in the preaching of the gospel when
we declare the good news of salvation by the Lord Jesus Christ. While
it is good news to some, to others it is death. Turn over to 2 Corinthians
2. Go to 2 Corinthians 2. To some
it's good news, to others it's death. They don't hear by faith. 2 Corinthians 2, we'll pick up
in verse 14. Now thanks be unto God, which
always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest
the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. making manifest
the savor of his knowledge. For we are unto God a sweet savor
of Christ in them that are saved and in them that perish. To the
one we are the savor of death unto death and to the other we are the saver
of life unto life. And who's sufficient for these
things? It's the work of God. It's not us, it's him. For we
are not as many which corrupt the word of God, but as of sincerity,
but as of God and the sight of God speak we in Christ. So in other words, our message
is Christ. We're declaring what he's done
and what he sent us to speak, which is him. Christ preached
Christ. So when we go to the scriptures,
we preach him. Just as he found himself in all
the scriptures and preached to those men on the road to Emmaus,
so it is that that's what we preach. We see Christ in all
the scriptures. And he's the voice of noise,
which is heard from the city and from the temple. That's Christ
in his church. And that voice of noise, that
describes how those that are punished of God hear the gospel.
It's just noise to them. To you, it's the noise of salvation.
It's a rejoicing. It's a joy. But to the wicked,
it's just the noise of confusion. An example is when the Father
spoke to Christ. I'm going to read two scriptures.
The Father spoke to Christ in John 12, 29, and it says, the
people, therefore, that stood by and heard it said that it
thundered. Others said an angel spake to
him. Some heard a noise, only a noise,
and others just attributed it to something else, just a religious
thing, but they didn't know what it was. Then when Christ appeared
to Paul, we're told that those with him, they saw indeed the
light and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him that
spake to me, Paul said. So there's a description of the
preaching of the gospel. Some people come and they hear
nothing at all. They see a religious thing going
on, they see a little light, but They hear nothing at all. Others hear noise, the noise
of thunder. Others hear, that sounds like
a religious thing going on over there, the voice of an angel
spoke, but they don't hear the voice of Christ. They don't hear
what you hear. That's the point. They don't
hear with the ear of faith. And they don't believe. And they
don't receive it because they don't understand it. The Scriptures
confirm that to some the preaching of the gospel is foolishness,
but to us which are being saved it is the power of God. And so don't attribute your faith
and what you hear to your flesh. It's the power of God. because
there's many that hear it and don't believe because they
don't have that ear of faith. And here our Lord tells us in
John 8, 47, he that is of God, heareth God's words. It's that simple. He that is
of God, heareth God's words. Ye therefore, he was talking
to the Jews, ye therefore hear them not because you're not of
God. If all you hear is the noise
of thunder, the noise of judgment, or the noise of confusion, if
you hear nothing at all or attribute it to something religious but
have no understanding of it, it's because you don't know God. You're not known of God. Because
God is very gracious to his people, to bless them, to give them an
ear to hear. And the Lord said it this way,
because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and
hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. Now this blessing, this salvation,
with all its gifts and blessings, it's founded upon the redemption
accomplished by Christ. Let's go back to Isaiah 66 and
look at verses 7 and 8. Before she travailed, she brought
forth. Before her pain came, she was
delivered of a man-child. Who hath heard such a thing?
Who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring
forth in one day? Or shall a nation be born at
once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
This first refers to the birth of the Church by Christ in His
redemption work upon the cross. When He laid down His life as
an offering unto the Father to put away the sins of His people,
to make an atonement for their sins, and to purchase them When
he did that, we were delivered, brethren. We were delivered from
death. We obtained, by the grace of
God, we were saved in that very hour by the Lord Jesus Christ. We were born. The church was
established. The promise of God was fulfilled
unto his people. So by his sacrifice, the scriptures
tell us that he saw the travail of his soul and was satisfied. He was satisfied. By his knowledge
shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquities. And we are told in Hebrews 10.14
that by one offering he hath forever perfected them that are
sanctified, sanctified by him. And so this act of Christ secured
his bride's salvation. With Securitor of Salvation it
is the very substance of the good news that we preach. We declare what Christ has done,
what He has accomplished. The warfare is over. You're not
still working for righteousness, Christ has obtained it. Now the
second thing that this speaks of here is the salvation which
your Lord works for you, in you, in time, in the hour of his grace. Every one of God's children are
going to be adorned with the gifts of their Savior. You're
going to know what God has done for you here. He's going to make
you to know what he's accomplished. We're told that they have eyes
to see the Savior. Our Lord said, everyone which
seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life. They are people who are made
willing to serve the Lord. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. They are people who are born
again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the
word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. In this birth,
they worship God in spirit and in truth, because the Father
seeketh such to worship him. So he gives the spirit, and he
calls him in truth. And they worship the Lord in
truth, knowing that he has done it. and he gives them ears to
hear the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, truly,
truly, I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that
hear shall live. And so His people, they're made
living creatures, new creatures in the new man formed in you
by the Spirit of God, by the seed of Christ. And we are set
free from the law of sin and death so that we're not governed
by the flesh any longer. We're led by the Spirit. We're
led by the Spirit. According as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world. that we should
be righteous and holy in Him without blame before Him in love.
So our salvation is an act of God's choosing His people. In
eternity, in the fullness of time, we were redeemed by Christ. We were chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world. We were redeemed by Christ on
the cross, and he comes to us by his spirit and gives us life
in that appointed hour of his grace. He says in verse nine,
shall I bring to the birth and not cause to bring forth, saith
the Lord? Shall I cause to bring forth
and shut the womb, saith thy God? He's saying, did I not choose
you in eternity in Christ? And did I not send him to redeem
you on the cross, to put away your sins? And did I not give
you my spirit, who gave you a hearing ear to hear what Christ has done
and revealed faith in you? Shall I not bring all these things
to pass for you, my people? Therefore, brethren, we confidently
preach the gospel. Though our enemies hate it, and
they would see it destroyed and come to an end, though they persecute
the people of God and cast them out, be ye confident. The Lord
says, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. So you
trust in your Lord. He says, being confident of this
very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you shall
perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Faithful is he that calleth
you, who also will do it. So your God says, look at verse
five again. Hear the word of the Lord, ye
that tremble at his word. Your brethren that hated you,
that cast you out for my name's sake, said, let the Lord be glorified. Well, he shall appear to your
joy and they shall be ashamed. And so rejoice in the Lord. You
have a hearing ear and they don't. And that's the punishment of
God. He's revealed to you the salvation
through his son. So I pray the Lord bless that
word and comfort you in Christ. Let's pray. Our gracious Lord,
we thank you father for your grace. We thank you for your
for your salvation. Lord, we see how you've done
all the work and choosing us and putting us in Christ and
sending your son to redeem your people. And Lord, how you faithfully
search them out and call them by your grace, by your gospel,
giving us an ear to hear what Christ has done for his people.
Lord, help us to faithfully preach this word, to keep declaring
what Christ has done for his people, that you would comfort
the hearts of your people. Keep them ever looking to Christ.
Lord, we pray that you would pour out your spirit upon us,
that you will pour out your spirit upon your people. Help us to
delight and rejoice in what Christ has done for us. It's in Christ's
name we pray and give thanks. Amen. I just wanted to change our hymn
to match the message a little bit better. Let's turn to 143. Rejoice, the
Lord is King. Let's all stand and sing a closing
hymn, 143. Rejoice! The Lord is King! Your Lord and King adore! Rejoice! Give thanks and sing
and triumph evermore! Lift up your hearts! Lift up your voice, rejoice again,
I say rejoice. Jesus the Savior reigns, the
God of truth and love. When he had purged our sins,
he took his seat above. Lift up your heart. Lift up your voice. Rejoice again, I say, rejoice. kingdom cannot fail. He rules over earth and heaven. The keys of death and hell are
to our Jesus' gift. Lift up your hearts Lift up your
voice, rejoice again I say, rejoice, rejoice in glorious hope. Our Lord the Judge shall come
and take his servants up to their eternal home. Lift up your heart. Lift up your voice. Rejoice again, I say, rejoice. Thank you.