So, oh you Yeah. Okay. you So, Okay, good evening everyone. Let's turn to our text, which
will be Isaiah chapter 34. And we're gonna read the whole
chapter, because that's our text, all 17 verses of Isaiah 34. The Lord here speaking says,
Come near ye nations to hear and hearken ye people. Let the
earth hear and all that is therein, the world and all things that
come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord
is upon all nations and his fury upon all their armies. he hath
utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come
up out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted
with their blood. And all the host of heavens shall
be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a
scroll. and all their host shall fall
down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling
fig from the fig tree. For my sword shall be bathed
in heaven, behold it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the
people of my curse to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled
with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of
lambs and goats, and with the fat of the kidneys of rams, for
the Lord hath a sacrifice in Basra, and a great slaughter
in the land of Idumea. And the unicorns shall come down
with them, and the bullocks with the bulls, and their land shall
be soaked with blood, and their dust made fat with fatness. For
it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, and the year of recompenses for
the controversy of Zion. and the streams thereof shall
be turned into pitch, and the dust thereof into brimstone,
and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. It shall not be
quenched, night nor day. The smoke thereof shall go up
forever, from generation to generation. It shall lie waste. None shall
pass through it forever and ever. But the cormorant and the bittern
shall possess it. The owl also and the raven shall
dwell in it. and he shall stretch out upon
it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness. They
shall call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall
be there, and all her princes shall be nothing. And thorns
shall come up in her palaces, nettles and brambles in the fortresses
thereof, and it shall be an habitation of dragons and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert
shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island. And the
satyr shall cry to his fellow, the screech owl also shall rest
there and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great
owl make her nest and lay and hatch and gather under her shadow.
There shall the vultures also be gathered, everyone with her
mate. Seek ye out of the book of the
Lord and read. No one of these shall fail. None shall want her mate. For my mouth it hath commanded,
and his spirit it hath gathered them. And he hath cast the lot
for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line. They shall
possess it forever, from generation to generation shall they dwell
therein. Let's pray, brethren. Our gracious
Lord, we thank you, Father, for your great mercy. We thank you,
Lord, for the day of salvation, which has come to your people,
and that you have sent forth your gospel word, attended with
the power and the grace of your Spirit, causing us to hear your
word, causing us to to see Christ and to believe Him unto righteousness. Lord, we see how this is not
so for all peoples, but there are many who yet remain under
the darkness of nature, having no light and no understanding
of the things of God. And Father, we know that the
day comes when Your Son shall return to the earth to justly reward everyone for
the things which they have done, whether good or evil. And Lord,
we know that you are righteous and do all things well. Father,
we ask that you would indeed cause this people gathered here
this night to hear your word. Lord, that we would hear your
word in the spirit. Lord, that we would look to You
and seek our God, Your Kingdom, Your Righteousness. Lord, that
we would not be gathered with those who trust their own righteousness
and their own ways and works in the flesh. But Lord, be gracious
to us please, be merciful. and turn us from the ways of
flesh, and the ways of man, and the ways of this fallen world.
Turn us unto our Savior, and cause us to seek Him, and to
rejoice in Christ Jesus our Lord, in our Savior, and in His righteousness,
that we may stand before You robed in His perfect, spotless
righteousness. Lord, we pray for our brethren
that you would be with us, Lord. Help us, guide us in our troubles,
lead us, Lord, through temptation, deliver us from evil. Help us,
Lord, with the things that we are trying to do. We pray for
our brethren. Lord, you know the many cares
and concerns that we have, and we ask that you would bless your
people. Bless your word now to our hearts. It's in Christ Jesus' name we
pray, amen. All right, so we're gonna be
in Isaiah 34, looking at all 17 verses. Now, we'll find that
this chapter through a great use of metaphors, through many
metaphors, is used to describe the second coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And when he comes, he will recompense
to all men their just reward, that which is due to them because
of their works. And let me tell you what I'm
talking about. If you turn over to Romans 2,
we'll see how Paul words it. Romans 2. And Paul here, you know in Romans
2, he's speaking to the Jews. And he's speaking to his brethren
in the flesh, those that were Jews, who were trusting in their
righteousness through the law of Moses. All right, they were
looking to the law of Moses and believing that that was their
righteousness and that was their salvation. And they didn't see
how that in our flesh, none of us are righteous. None of us
does good. None of us seeks the Lord and
gives him the praise and the glory for the works which he
gives to his people to do. And what the righteousness, the
righteous paths that he leads his people in. And Paul warns
them, and he says in verse five, Romans 2.5, but after thy heartless
and impenitent heart treasurest unto thyself wrath against the
day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,
who will render to every man according to his deeds. To them
who by patient continuance and well-doing seek for glory and
honor and immortality, eternal life. You see, Paul there in
that verse has just described the children of God who are led
by the Spirit of God. For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. But, verse eight, unto
them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey
unrighteousness. He says to them comes indignation
and wrath, tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that doeth
evil, of the Jew first and also of the Gentile." You see, to
believe ourselves, to count ourselves righteous, to trust our works,
whether fleshly works of sin and iniquity and filth that men
commit, murders and adulteries and stealing and lies and things
of that nature, to commit those things and also those works of
religion, right? Doing things in the name of God
and doing things that we think are our good works and our righteousness. to do those things and to deny
Christ the righteousness of his people, that we desperately need
his blood to cover our sins and iniquities, that's to do that
which is called, that's to be he that doeth evil. That's doing
evil works. But verse 10, glory, honor, and
peace to every man that worketh good. every man that worketh
good." And we know that the work of God is to believe on the Son
of God, to believe on Him whom He has sent, the Bread of Heaven. That's the work of God, which
He does effectually in the heart of His people. He reveals Christ
to them, and He reveals faith in His people. Those that believe
Christ are they that worketh good. They're the ones working
good by the power and grace of God for his people, bringing
forth their works mightily in them. Now this is the controversy
of Zion. This is the controversy of Zion. And what I mean by controversy
is that this is the dispute This is the dispute between two opposing
sides. One has heard the word of God. which declares to us that all
our sinners, all have fallen in Adam, and we cannot save ourselves,
but God has sent his son, Jesus Christ, into the world to lay
down his life, to be the propitiation for our sins, to put away our
iniquity, to make atonement, and to reconcile God's people
to God himself. He's made peace between us. And so having heard this word
and believing this word by the grace and power of God, we declare
Christ is our righteousness. That's one side. And then there's
the other side that says, well, that's good and well. That sounds
fine if it works for you. But I have my own works. And
I have my own way. And I think these things will
be well for me. I think they speak well for me.
I'm a good person. And I'm going to keep doing what
I do and believing what I believe. And I don't need that. I don't
believe that. and they reject the only salvation
which God has provided for his people. And so, because we speak
the truth, because the children of God declare the truth of God,
it angers those of the world, it angers the inhabitants of
the earth, who know not God, who do not believe God, and so
they persecute the people of God. They persecute those who
are the true children of Zion. They persecute them, and so that's
the controversy, and the Lord's gonna come, and he's going to
settle all things, and he's gonna make right that which needs to
be made right, okay? And so when the Lord comes, he
will repay what is right to every one of you. to the Jew first
and also to the Gentile. It doesn't matter. God's gonna
impartially give that which is just to everyone. So tonight's
message, as I said, uses metaphors to describe the payment that
God's going to give to the wicked for their sin and their rebellion,
for their deeds, that which they've worked up God's going to give
them what they've earned in their sin and rebellion. It's those
that do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness. All that
looks outside of Christ, all that looks away from Christ,
no matter how good of a work we say it is, it's obeying unrighteousness. And all those who look to Christ
and trust Him, that's by the power, the spirit, the grace
of God, through His regenerative power, His revelation, that's
to obey the truth, to look to Christ, to rest in Him, that's
obeying the truth, which the Father works in us by His Spirit. Now a metaphor is a figure of
speech. It's a figure of speech. It's
where we use a word or phrase to describe something that is
normally a word or phrase used to describe something else. So
if I say I'm boiling mad or I was boiling mad, well, that's a metaphor
because water boils. I don't boil, right? That's not
water that I'm talking about. I'm talking about my temper,
my emotions and feelings. I was boiling mad. That's a metaphor,
right? Or if you children, if you describe
your homework and say it was a breeze, it was a breeze. Well,
your homework isn't wind. You're just saying it was easy.
It was very easy and I had it done quickly. So the Lord uses
metaphors to describe the punishment that is brought upon the wicked. And so what we're seeing here
is that when the Lord, but we know that when the Lord returns
and he destroys our enemies, that's the final act of salvation. When he returns, we'll be caught
up to him forever with our God, and immediately the Word describes
it, it's not a secret rapture or something like that, but when
Christ comes and our bodies are raised from the grave, we shall
see him and be made like unto him, for we shall see him as
he is, and the Bible, the Word describes us as immediately returning
with our Savior, our Prince, our King of Kings and Lord of
Lords, to witness the destruction and the complete overthrow of
the enemies of our God and his people. So I've titled this message,
The Controversy of Zion, The Controversy of Zion. So let's
go back to our text in Isaiah 34 verse one. And there's a good
amount of verses, so turn with me, but I'll try to make it so
that it's easy to follow. Verse one takes us to when the
trump, that final trumpet sounds. This is the final trumpet sounds,
meaning this is the end of the inhabitants. of the world. This
is when the Lord Jesus Christ returns to the earth, and so
all those who despise the salvation of God, His Son Jesus Christ,
this is the reckoning day for them. It says in Isaiah 34 1,
Come near ye nations to hear, and hearken ye people. Let the
earth hear, and all that is therein, the world and all things that
come forth of it. So here's the whole world, all
the inhabitants of the earth that are united in their rebellion
against God. And they're ready now to receive
the reward of their works and their deeds, which they've done.
And what this is showing us is that all those left to themselves,
all those who have not the spirit of Christ, are trusting in their
own works. They're trusting in their flesh. They're trusting in their wisdom
and intelligence, the things they've searched out, and the
things they've searched out, they can't reconcile them with
the truth of God. They don't think they can reconcile
them there. Those that have acquired great riches or just set their
heart on the riches of this world and pursued that, those that
are deceitful and conniving and just, doing that which pleases
them and satisfies their own flesh. It's now, it's all works
of the flesh. And so they've believed that
they're just, and they think that they're justified and that
their works will speak well for them. And so they've refused
the gospel. They've refused to hear the salvation
of God. Even those that have heard the
word, that have heard the word, they've refused it and they don't
believe it. They haven't heard it as the
children of God have heard it, as it is in truth, the word of
God. Now, the prophets, they spoke
of, they've used this similar language, right? The prophets
and the apostles have used this similar language. In Micah, He
uses similar language to call the people together to hear,
right? The Lord assembles the people.
And in this case, in Micah 6, 2, the Lord's speaking to the
Jews, and he says, hear ye, O mountains, the Lord's controversy, and ye
strong foundations of the earth, for the Lord hath a controversy
with his people, and he will plead with Israel, right? So the Lord, we know, is pleading
with Israel, has a controversy with Israel, because when the
Messiah came, when he that is the light of the world came into
the world, They refused him. They didn't receive him. They
didn't believe him. Instead, they crucified him on
a tree. But it's not just the Jews. The
Lord also shows us that it's the Gentiles as well. All the
world is guilty of trusting their flesh and despising, rejecting,
rebelling against the true and living God. Look in our text,
Isaiah 34, verse two. for the indignation of the Lord
is upon all nations, all nations, and his fury upon all their armies. He hath utterly destroyed them,
he hath delivered them to the slaughter." And so, the Lord
gathers all men, Jews and Gentiles, all nations, all armies, to slaughter
them, to destroy them, because everyone All the nations have
rebelled against God, and done the works of their own heart,
and followed the works of their own imagination, and all their
inventions of sin, and iniquity, and filth. And so, the Lord's
going to destroy sin, and destroy death, and destroy the serpent,
and destroy all the enemies of God. and so they're going to
be punished for the dead works of the flesh, and all the wicked
will be punished for their dead works of flesh. And so, because
of this, because of their works that they're trusting in, they
refuse to hear Christ, they refuse to bow, to the simplicity of
Christ. They refused the waters of Shiloh
that go softly, the Lord said. They don't want to hear of peace
and righteousness with our God, fellowship with him through his
son, Jesus Christ. So he says in verse three and
four of our text, Isaiah 34, three and four, their slain also
shall be cast out. and their stink shall come up
out of their carcasses, and the mountains shall be melted with
their blood, and all the host of heaven shall be dissolved,
and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll, and all
their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the
vine, and as a falling fig from the fig tree. So this language,
when you hear this read, you probably can think, I know I've
heard similar language. in the scriptures before, and
that's because other prophets have spoken this word, and the
apostles as well reference this word to define and to show us
what the end shall be for the wicked, for the unjust, for the
unrighteous. Turn over to Revelation 6. Let's
go to Revelation 6. and we'll pick up in verse 12,
and this is the Apostle John, and you know in Revelation 1.1,
how's he worded, he says, signifies, right? He says, these
are the things to signify to John. The Lord revealed to him
symbols and to signify to him. And so we see this, the same
use of symbols, of metaphors to describe the end. So Revelation
6, 12 says, and I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal
and lo, there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth
of hair. and the moon became as blood.
And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig
tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty
wind. And the heaven departed as a
scroll when it is rolled together, and every mountain and island
were moved out of their places." It's the end time. The Lord is
wrapping it all up, right? For the Lord shall do a short
work on the earth. He's gonna bring it to an end.
Go over to 2 Peter 3.10. This is Peter now. And he speaks of the burning,
the heat and the burning that is coming upon the earth. 2 Peter
3.10, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.
We're not gonna be expecting it, it's gonna come suddenly,
suddenly. in the which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. The earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burned up." So all the works of the
earth, of all that men and women have done in the earth, they'll
be burned up because they're works of the flesh. We're not
to trust in ourselves. The Lord is showing us that salvation
is not in our hand. And to trust in ourselves is
to refuse and to reject that salvation which the Lord has
provided for His people. And all those who look to Christ
and believe Him trusting His righteousness to save them, they
shall have a happy end. They shall be delivered from
this coming destruction. And so the Lord here is making
clear to us that He is going to lay waste to His enemies. They're not going to continue.
They're not going to stand. And so much so, He describes
it as a bloody mess. There will be so much bloodshed
that it just makes the mountains appear as though they're melting. The mountains of all the works,
all the inventions of man, all that man has done and come up
with, these things shall be melted with their blood. Now think of
that word in light of the gospel, right? In light of the gospel.
For us as men and women to think that our works speak well for
us is very foolish, because we're fallen sinners. We're rebels
against God. We seek glory for ourselves. We want to be patted on the back
for our works and to glory in what we've done, to make ourselves
gods, right? To steal that which is the glory
of our God and to speak in pride and arrogance of what we've done.
And the picture there of the mountains melting with blood,
we know what blood is in the scripture. and the hope and the
confidence that we have in the blood of Christ. So if our works
are covered with our blood, these things mean that our works stink,
like a dead, rotting carcass will stink. The blood of man
cannot save, it cannot atone, it cannot make clean or make
righteous or make acceptable our works unto God. But we know
that the blood of Christ, it's his blood which was shed for
his people and his body which was broken on the cross. And
we're told that his sacrifice is a sweet smelling savor unto
the Lord. So while the carcasses of men
lying on their mountain of works shedding their blood upon them
shall be a stench in the nostrils of God, We're told that the fruits
that Christ bears in his people, the works that he brings forth
in his people, covered with his blood, blessed with his broken
body to sanctify them, these works are acceptable unto the
Father. These are fruits of righteousness
born of his spiritual seed, our husband. That's why we have such
confidence and trust and love for Jesus Christ, our Savior,
because it's by Him that we stand accepted with the Lord. In Hebrews 12, 22, we see that
God's people are come unto Mount Zion. Go ahead, Hebrews 12, verse
22, and I'll read down to 25 with you there. God's people
are come unto Mount Zion, right, and unto the city of the living
God. the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company
of angels. Verse 23, to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn, right? Our flesh, the firstborn
of our flesh, of Adam, the first Adam, has to pass away and be
done away with. And that firstborn blessing is
upon Christ our Savior, the second Adam. He's the one that the Father
receives. We're come to the general assembly
in church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to
God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men, made
perfect. You see, we don't make ourselves
perfect. Christ made us perfect by his
righteous, holy, willing sacrifice of himself to put away forever
the sins of his people. and to Jesus, the mediator of
the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling." See, there's
the blood, the blood of sprinkling. His blood sanctifies. His blood
cleanses us from all sin and iniquity. That blood speaketh
better things than that of Abel. See that ye refuse not him that
speaketh. And therein lies the problem
for the wicked and the unrighteous. They hear the beauties and the
glory of our God and his son. They hear of what he's accomplished
for his people, and yet they refuse that word. And they continue
on in their works, trusting in themselves, and that means that
in the day when Christ returns, they shall stand before him and
meet him in all his fury. They're gonna meet God in fury.
And so he says now, back in our text, Isaiah 34, verse five and six,
for my sword shall be bathed in heaven. Behold, it shall come
down upon Idumea. And that's Edom, that's the children
of Esau, who was the firstborn, but the birthright, the blessing
came upon Jacob. came upon Jacob, the second born,
and upon the people of my curse to judgment." Alright, upon this
Idumea people, the Edomites. The sword of the Lord is filled
with blood, it is made fat with fatness, and with the blood of
lambs and goats, and the fat of the kidneys of rams. Now,
These lambs and goats and kidneys of rams, it's a picture, it's
a metaphor pointing to the armies of men which are doing the will
and the bidding of those that destroy the earth, those that
are just ruling and reigning on the earth now that are just
leading men astray in utter corruption, all right? So these are the armies
of men of the nations. For the Lord hath a sacrifice
in Basra and a great slaughter in the land of Idumea. Now, this
sacrifice in Basra likely, if you know the word, you're thinking
of Isaiah 63, right? Go over to Isaiah 63, we'll look
there. Isaiah 63 verse one, and the
church here sees this one coming up from the slaughter in Basra,
all right, and they ask, who is this that cometh from Edom,
Isaiah 63 one, with dyed garments from Basra? This, and then the
Lord answers, this that is glorious in his apparel, or rather, this
is still the church, sorry, this that is glorious in his apparel,
traveling in the greatness of his strength. And then the Lord
answers the church, I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. And the church asks, wherefore
art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that
treadeth in the wine vat? And the Lord says, I have trodden
the winepress alone, and of the people there was none with me,
for I will tread them in mine anger and trample them in my
fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and
I will stain all my raiment. For the day of vengeance is in
mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is come." You see? The reason why the Lord is judging
the people is because all have sinned. And what I want us to
hear is that there is a people that have escaped, been delivered
from that day of judgment, that coming day of judgment, who have
nothing to fear in that day, who will not be gathered together
with the unrighteous and be cut down and receive their just due
for their sins. because Christ, the picture there,
as well as he is destroying his enemies, in that picture there
in Basra, we also see there the gospel picture of how that Christ
by himself, accomplished our redemption when He went to the
cross for His people, willingly bearing their sins in His own
body on that cursed tree, being made a curse for us to forever
put away our sin and unrighteousness, to obtain eternal redemption
for His people by the death of Himself. by the sacrifice of
himself. And God is satisfied with what
he's done for his people because he raised him from the dead.
And we, brethren, were crucified. When Christ died, this old man
died. All our sins were paid for. When
he was buried, we were buried with him. And when he rose from
the grave, we rose from the grave. And we now dwell with our Lord,
seated in heavenly places. And we're just waiting for that
day, looking to the return of our Savior, Jesus Christ. So
hear this word this day, that today is the day of salvation. Don't be so confident in your
works. Don't trust in your works. Hear the salvation that God has
provided in his Son. And so, the righteous, those
that Christ laid down his life for, they shall not have anything
to fear in that day. They shall hear those blessed
words, well done thou good and faithful servant, enter into
thy rest. But the wicked shall hear, depart
from me ye workers of iniquity, I never knew you. All right,
so they'll be cut down, the wicked will be cut down by the sword
of the mouth of Christ that shall judge them. He shall judge them,
all right? And all his people will rejoice
because they'll see it, they'll bear witness to the judgment
of their enemies who persecuted them and told them that they
were wrong and told them that that wasn't the truth and despised
and troubled them and afflicted them in the earth. All right,
now, just as the people of the armies, all the little people
died, so the rulers, all the mighty men and the great ones
of the earth, they die as well. Look at verse seven, Isaiah 34,
seven, and the unicorns shall come down with them, right? And the bullocks and with the
bulls and their land shall be soaked with blood and their dust
made fat with fatness. And verse eight, we see the reason
for this death and destruction. for it is the day of the Lord's
vengeance and the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion."
And so this controversy is over the truth, right? Is God true? Is he the true and
living God? Is what he says true and right?
Or is it right what we think and say in our rebellious little
hearts, right? Our black dead, dark hearts that
all of us have by nature. Are we to trust ourselves and
to believe the voice of the evil one and his lies? Or are we to
believe the true and living God who is faithful, just, and holy,
and true? We're to hear the true and living
God. We're to hear him, and that's
what the controversy is over. The Lord loves his people. and he shall stand for his people,
and he shall defend his people, and protect his people, and keep
his people, and provide for them, and stand for them on that very
day. But the wicked, they hate the
truth of God. They hate God, they hate his
Christ, they hate his gospel, and they hate his people, who
speak and rejoice in Christ, and declare his righteousness,
and rejoice in his salvation, so they persecute and trouble
the people of God. But now here's another passage.
This is Paul here in 2 Thessalonians 1. In 2 Thessalonians 1.6, Paul
tells us, seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense
tribulation to them that trouble you, right? And he says, to you
that are troubled, rest with us. Keep looking to Christ. Believe the promises of God to
you in Christ. when the Lord Jesus shall be
revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. in flaming fire,
taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not
the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished
with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord
and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified
in his saints and to be admired in all them that believe. You that believe Christ and have
no confidence in the flesh, but hope in Him, hope in Him against
hope, hope in Him not because you see things in your flesh
as you would see them, but because you believe the promises of God. He says you are saints, and you
shall be glorified in Him. You shall rejoice in Him. You
shall see Him in that day, admiring Him. You shall admire him when
he comes and sets all things right in the earth, right? When he creates new heavens and
a new earth. And so the Lord's gonna deal
with the wicked just as he said. He tells us in John 3, 19, this
is the condemnation, that light is coming to the world and men
loved darkness rather than light. Why? Because their deeds were
evil. By nature our deeds are evil,
our thoughts are corrupt, our hearts corrupt, our mind is corrupt,
our way is corrupt. It's only by the grace and power
of God that we are turned and delivered from that darkness. We need and depend upon his grace
and power to save us completely. Alright, now the following here,
the rest of this chapter, we'll see a great use of metaphors,
right? The Lord uses metaphors here
and he's describing the eternal hell and separation of the wicked
from God. But in the light of the gospel,
we also see here that hardening of the heart, that sealing up
for that day of evil that's coming upon the wicked, right? And this
is also a description. It's a description of their eternal,
resting place, and it's a description of their hearts, the hard dark
hearts of the wicked even now. Look at verse 9 and 10 with me.
This is those that are left in nature's darkness. Isaiah 34
9, and the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch. and the
dust thereof into brimstone, and the land thereof shall become
burning pitch." All right, that's fiery tar, just on fire. It shall not be quenched night
nor day. The smoke thereof shall go up
forever from generation to generation. It shall lie waste. None shall
pass through it forever and ever. In other words, the spirit of
the living God is not gonna blow upon that land. He's not going
to come and by the gospel strip their flesh, to humble them of
their pride, to bring them low in self, and to cause them to
see their need of Christ. The Spirit's not going to come
and teach them the gospel. They won't hear it. They've refused
it. They are shut up now and sealed
in their blindness. And the Lord He describes the
wicked as birds. As we'll see now, he begins to
describe them as birds, scavenger birds, birds of prey. They're carrion eaters. And what's a carrion eater? Well,
it's a bird that eats dead, rotting flesh. And that's a picture of
the wicked that continue in their way They feed upon their own
flesh. They feed upon their arm of flesh. They trust in their works, right? That's what the picture is there. And so the Lord says in verse
11, but the cormorant and the bittern shall possess it. The
owl also and the raven shall dwell in it. And he shall stretch
out upon it the line of confusion and the stones of emptiness.
In other words, they continue in darkness and stumble. They
don't even know what they're stumbling over anymore. They're
so confused, being ignorant of the truth. Verse 12, they shall
call the nobles thereof to the kingdom, but none shall be there,
and all her princes shall be nothing. All right, there's no
more mighty or great men. in the earth, all have become
fools, all have become darkened in their minds and their thoughts,
and all are defeated by the Lord. All right, now in verse 13, we
have a description of the cursed works that come as a result of
the hard labors, right? That the laboring of those who
think themselves to be righteous and who think that they can earn
favor with God in their works, right? In their own works of
pleasure and in their own works of dead religion. We read verse
13, and thorns shall come up in her palaces. Nettles and brambles
in the fortresses thereof, and it shall be in habitation of
dragons and a court for owls." And we know that thorns and thistles,
all right, that was what the Lord pronounced as a curse upon
man for his rebellion against God, that all his labors are
gonna bring forth, not grapes and figs, but thorns and thistles,
right? And that's what's gonna grow
up in the heart of man. All right, now verse 14 and 15.
The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild
beasts of the island. And the satyr shall cry to his
fellow. The screech owl also shall rest
there and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great
owl make her nest and lay and hatch and gather under her shadow.
There shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her
mate. All right. This is what is described
for us over in Revelation 18 too, I'll read it. And he cried
mightily with a strong voice saying, Babylon the greatest
fallen is fallen and has become the habitation of devils. That's
the description we just had, the habitation of devils and
the hold of every foul spirit and a cage of every unclean and
hateful bird. All right, every unclean and
hateful burden. So the Lord now gives us a challenge. You that
are here, you that hear my voice this night, the Lord gives us
a challenge in verse 16. He says, seek ye out of the book
of the Lord and read, no one of these shall fail. He's saying,
try me, my word's gonna stand. All my word is gonna come to
pass because I'm God and I can bring forth my word exactly as
it pleases me to bring it forth." And he says, none of these are
gonna fail. None shall want her mate, right? And there's a promise
in there, brethren, for you and I who love Christ. You that love
your Lord and your Savior, you shall have your mate. You shall
be joined to your husband who laid down his life for his bride. But you that love death, you
shall find your mate. You shall be joined unto eternal
death, forever separated from God. For he says, my mouth it
hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them." Right? It's gathered them. So to whom
are you gathered? Do you love Christ? Do you need
the righteousness and the salvation that God has provided in Christ?
Do you see that you and I are sinners? We cannot save ourselves.
And have you heard what God has declared? That He has provided
salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ. He gives His Spirit, and He gives
life to the dead. He turns the wicked from their
way, and He causes them to behold their King, to behold Christ,
their God and Savior, their righteousness, their hope, their salvation.
And he does this through regeneration by the power of his spirit, giving
light to the blind, giving light to those who sit in darkness,
to open the prison doors, to take off the veil of the heart,
to make us to see, to make us righteous in his Son. You that
look to Christ, who love his righteousness, you're gathered
unto him. And this isn't your calling here
that he's speaking of. but to those who hate the true
and living God, who hate His righteousness, who wanna do things
their way and continue pursuing and seeking their own pleasures
according to the wickedness of their own heart. He's saying,
you love death and your words are dead works and you shall
have your end. You shall be joined to your mate,
which is eternal death. But the Lord's word, it's not
gonna fail. Believe Him, what He's telling
you now, this very day. Look to Christ, flee to Christ. Beg Him to have mercy upon you. To set you free from your darkness
and your delusion and your sin and rebellion against Him. To
turn your heart, to strip you of your dead works and to fill
you with His Spirit and to give you hope in Christ. To continue
in Him and trusting His righteousness. that you may know him and feed
upon Christ, the bread of heaven, and to drink his blood, and to
eat his flesh, that you should be satisfied forever with him
and his righteousness. All right? Seek first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness and all these things, all these
things that are good, all the blessings and promises of God
shall be added unto you. The night is at hand. Get to
Christ. To confirm this word about our
Lord of His faithfulness, I read from Deuteronomy 7, 9 and 10.
Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful
God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love Him
and keep His commandments to a thousand generations. His commandment is to believe
his son to love him and to love your brethren. And he repayeth
them that hate him to their face to destroy them. He will not
be slack to him that hateth him. He will repay him to his face."
And then in the next verse of our text, the Lord, the final
verse here, He confirms the eternal habitation of all in that day. Look at verse 17. And God hath
cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them
by line. They shall possess it forever.
From generation to generation shall they dwell therein. You see, it shall be a terrifying
and a frightful day for all those who know not Christ. for all
those whose kingdom and heart is set here upon the earth, and
love what they are here in the flesh in the earth, and whose
heart is set here." It's gonna be a terrifying and an awful
day. And he tells us, the Lord tells
us in Matthew 24, verse 29 and 30, We're told that immediately after
the tribulation, which is coming upon the earth of those days,
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light,
and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the
heavens shall be shaken. All right, there's that great
noise when the sky disappears and is rolled up like a scroll.
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven,
and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they
shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven with
power and great glory." So, the word to our God is kiss the Son,
right? Psalm 212, kiss the Son lest
he be angry, and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindled
but a little, Blessed are all they that put their trust in
Him. Believe God, believe His Son. He's the name which He's given
us, and it's the only name under heaven given among men, whereby
we must be saved. If we're to be delivered from
the coming wrath of God, it's in Christ Jesus alone. He is
the salvation of God. I pray that the Lord would open
your heart, that He would open your eyes to see Christ, and
to see your need of Christ, and that He would fill your heart
with His Spirit, and that you would have a love and a desire
for Him, and His righteousness. And He says He'll teach you.
He'll teach you. And He'll bless His Word to your
heart, where He's begun that work, by that little tiny seed
of faith, he'll complete it. He'll finish the work. Believe
him, trust him, for all they that trust him are blessed in
him. I pray the Lord will bless that to your hearts. Amen. All
right, let's close in prayer, brethren. Our gracious Lord,
we thank you, Father, for your great and mighty salvation for
your people. Lord, it's such a sober topic
to speak of that great judgment day. I pray, Lord, for your people,
that you would bless them, Lord, that you would comfort your people.
I pray that Christ has been exalted in the eyes of your people, that
they see the sacrifice, that they see the Lamb of God provided
for our deliverance and our salvation, to set us free from our sin,
to deliver us from the debt of righteousness which we owe, that
now it's been paid in full in Christ our Lord and our Savior.
Father, bless us with faith, and Lord, fill us with your Spirit.
Grow us in Christ, cause us to hear him and to walk in faith
before him. Lord, deliver us from foolishness
and the way of this world, for we know their end. Father, we
pray that you would bless this word to your hearts. And Lord,
if there's some sinner sitting in darkness, that is your child,
by grace and through election, that you would break through
the hardness, break through the prison, break through the death
and the blindness, and cause them to hear. Deliver them, Lord,
from the house of the strong man, and establish them with
faith in your spirit and your kingdom, filling them with love
and blessing us to love them as well. We pray this in Christ's
name, our Lord and Savior. Amen. Good night, brethren.