All right, let's go back to Isaiah
28. Isaiah 28, verses 21 through
29. Now the Lord gives us an analogy
here. He's showing himself as a farmer,
one who cares for his land with wisdom and what he does with
it. Now tonight, what we're seeing is that the Lord is sending forth
his gospel. He's sending forth his gospel
word and it's accomplishing his will. And we know that many hear,
many hear, but there's very, very few that take it to heart. And what we see in those that
hear and don't take it to heart is that they go on assuming that
everything is well with them. They haven't been struck immediately
with lightning when they've done wickedly, and so they think that
everything is fine when they continue doing the things that
they are doing. But they don't realize that they're
already in an awful snare. They're already under judgment,
and their judgment is hardening fast around them and dragging
them down towards that awful punishment. But others hear the
same word. They hear that same word, and
in them it produces fruit, the fruit of faith. They believe
the living God. Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
saying in 2 Corinthians 2.16, to the one we are the saver of
death unto death, and to the other the saver of life unto
life. And who is sufficient for these
things? Our title is The Strange Act
of God. The Strange Act of God. And our
first point will be a warning to the wicked. A warning to the
wicked, yet it's for every one of us to hear. We're all to hear
it. We're to hear what we are because
that's where the Lord is calling out his people from among the
wicked, from among the children of wrath, from among the children
of disobedience. He's calling them out hearing
his word of warning to them and hearing his glorious, gracious
salvation in his son Jesus Christ. And then we'll look at the gospel's
work afterwards. Alright, so first a warning to
the wicked. Earlier in Isaiah's ministry,
he used similar imagery. Right here he's talking about
a plowman and earlier he spoke of a vineyard. He compared Israel
and Judah to a vineyard and said that the Lord takes great care
of that vineyard. It was in Isaiah 5, verse 7,
where we saw that. Isaiah 5, 7, and we're told that
the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel and the
men of Judah, his pleasant plant. And we're told there in verse
2 that the Lord had fenced it in. He removed from it the stones
that were there. He chose the choicest vine, the
choicest vine and planted it there in that vineyard to bear
fruit. He built a tower, he made a wine
press, and then when the time came, he looked for the grapes. But it said that all he found
were wild grapes. It didn't produce the grapes
from the vine that he planted there. It produced wild grapes. Now, the Jews, they benefited. They benefited from what God
had given to them. And that's what we see there
in Isaiah 5. There's benefits that were given
to the Jews. And Paul tells us in Romans 3,
2, that unto them were committed the oracles of God. That's how they were benefited.
They had committed unto them the oracles of God. And we know
what they are. They are the law. They had the
scriptures. They had the prophets. And these
things pointed to the holy justice of God, the judgment of God unto
satisfaction, for which his people were justified, were shown mercy
and forgiveness because they are righteous in the Lord Jesus
Christ. He made satisfaction unto that
divine, holy justice and judgment of God. They didn't escape free.
The Lord Jesus Christ paid for their sins. He paid the debt
that his people owe. Now in Isaiah 28, Verse 10, back
in our text there, Isaiah 28, verse 10, we see that the Lord
very carefully taught the Jews doctrine. He taught them the
truth. He was showing them these truths
that God is holy, he shall judge the inhabitants of the world."
And he showed them the doctrine, he showed them the truth of true
deliverance by God given in his son Jesus Christ, that he provided
the propitiation, he provided the means of forgiveness for
his people in the coming Messiah. And we're told, verse 10, for
precept must be upon precepts, Precept upon precept, line upon
line, line upon line, here a little and there a little. So he was
showing them the truth of these things. He was revealing to them
these things that they had to know and understand, that they
are sinners. We're sinners in Adam. We cannot
save ourselves. The law was given to show us
our sin, to show us that we cannot work righteousness, which God
requires of every one of us. And so when they heard Isaiah,
what Isaiah and what the other prophets were saying to them
is that this, this Messiah, this promised Christ, he is the rest,
wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest. Those laboring under
the law, those laboring and yet being able to produce no righteousness,
not being able to satisfy the holy justice of God by their
works, they're weary, they're worn out, they can't do it. And so the Lord is telling them,
this is the one in whom you'll find rest in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are wearing yourselves out.
That's why he gave you the law, to show you that you cannot keep
it. He was showing them this and
he was building all these things up for them to see it more clearly
and more evidently And this is the refreshing, he told them,
yet they would not hear. They would not hear. And that's
the delusion of man. He's so full of himself and thinks
that he can work salvation and accomplish what God has given
him to do there, rather than coming to the end of himself,
he was puffed up and thought that everything was fine and
that he had earned and worked a righteousness with the Lord,
so that he would not hear what the Lord was saying. And I was
thinking of what our brother read on Sunday. I don't remember
if it was from Chronicles or 2 Kings, but in 2 Kings where
Josiah was refurbishing the temple. And in the process of fixing
it up, they discovered the book of the law. And it was read in
Josiah's hearing. And Josiah was terrified. He
became afraid because he heard the law. He heard what it was
saying and realized, we're done. What are we going to do? We haven't
kept the law. And they went up to Huldah, the prophetess, and
she confirmed it. She said, thus saith the Lord,
behold, I will bring evil upon this place. This is the law.
Anyone that doesn't keep the law This is what the law says. I will bring evil upon this place
and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the words of the book
which the king of Judah hath read. And so man's already broken
the law of God and judgment is already set. It's already set. Everything's coming to an end.
The Lord has determined the end thereof and the inhabitants of
the earth shall perish in their sins because they will not hear
the rest that God has provided. They will not look to Him. They
won't hear His word. They don't believe Him. They
don't trust in His salvation. Now, the purpose for man not
hearing, we're told in verse 13. Look at Isaiah 28, 13. The purpose, at the very end
of that verse, it says that they might go. and fall backward,
and be broken, and snared, and taken." The Lord is saying these
are appointed unto that judgment. They don't hear it. They don't
want to believe. They have no heart or desire
to hear what the Lord is saying because everything's fine for
them. They've obtained and achieved their purpose of saving themselves.
Now the Lord, we could see this, the Lord said this back, turn
over to Isaiah six, Isaiah six, and look at verses nine and 10.
This is where Isaiah saw the Lord. He was given sight, he
saw the Lord. He abhorred himself like Job
and put his mouth in the dust and saw his sin and iniquity
that he's nothing before the true and living God. And when
we see the Lord, that's what we see of ourselves. We are nothing. In Isaiah 6, 9, and 10, he said,
go, this is the Lord speaking to Isaiah, go and tell this people,
hear ye indeed, but understand not. And see ye indeed, but perceive
not. Make the heart of this people
fat. and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they
see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand
with their heart, and convert and be healed. The Lord is showing
us there's a people appointed to this judgment, and they don't
hear. They're not crying out for the
Lord. They're not seeking him for the mercy that he provides
in his son, Jesus Christ. They're not hearing it. They're
only hearing what they want to hear, and then looking back to
the law for their righteousness, for their satisfaction with the
living God. And so the Lord warns man. He's warning him over and over. and over and over again. That's the whole Old Testament.
You see, all throughout the Old Testament, the Lord is showing
us how Israel, this people, blessed with the oracles of God, having
all these things, could not save themselves and would not hear
the righteousness of God revealed in his son Jesus Christ. They just would not hear it,
and it shows that man is so unwilling, so uncaring for his own soul,
that he despises the word of the Lord, even mocking it, and
then perishes in judgment. He despises the Lord, mocks it,
and perishes in judgment. So here's Isaiah, and he's declaring
the gospel. For many years, he's been declaring
to them the rest, the peace, the soft waters of Shiloah that
go softly. He's declaring to them the rest
that God has provided, telling them plainly that the Lord here
now, he's declaring these things to them. They're not hearing
it, they're drunk, with their own religion, they're drunk with
their own self-righteousness, they're trusting in themselves,
they're saying, yeah, yeah, Isaiah, whatever, we're fine, we're keeping
the law, we're doing what we're supposed to do. And so he's telling
them, listen, the Lord is going to perform a strange work among
you, a strange act, his strange act. Look at verse 21, Isaiah
28, 21. For the Lord shall rise up, as
in Mount Parazim, Isaiah 28, 21, as in Mount Parazim, and
he shall be angry, wroth, as in the valley of Gibeon, that
he may do his work, his strange work, and bring to pass his act,
his strange act. So what he's saying is as the
Lord destroyed the enemies of Israel, as he destroyed them,
wiped them out with David, He brought them to an end. He's
warning them, God's going to turn on you, just as he turned
on his enemies in Parazim and Gibeon, he's gonna do the same
thing to you. He's going to destroy you with
his strange work. You think everything's fine,
he's saying, you think everything's great and hunky-dory, but he's
going to destroy you the way he destroys his enemies. And
he's gonna do something unheard of before, his strange act. In other words, he's going to
cease giving you his word. That's what he's saying to Israel
here. The self-righteous, puffed up, self-assured of themselves,
he says, he's gonna do a strange act. He's gonna take that word
that you've been hearing and despising, and he's gonna give
it to another. He's gonna send it to another,
to a nation that will hear. Turn over, we see this actually
being spoken of in Romans 9. Go to Romans 9, 25. Romans 9.25. Paul says, as he saith also in
Hosea, I will call them my people, which were not my people, and
her beloved, which was not beloved. All right, look down at 9.30,
Romans 9.30. What shall we say then? That
the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have
attained to righteousness, even the righteousness which is of
faith, So the Lord was warning Israel. He's been warning them
all this time. He's declared to them, plainly,
the rest. He's shown them the coming Messiah. He's pointed to them the rest
that they are to look to and trust in, but they wouldn't hear
the Lord's word. Verse 31, but Israel, which followed
after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law
of righteousness. And this is what We see when
we look at the Old Testament, when we read it, how that Israel
and Judah, they had the law, and yet it was always to them,
to the majority of them, it was a dead letter. It was just a
letter religion that they were told do these things, and so
they did them as they understood it, and as it was laid out to
them, and they thought that was their righteousness, that they
were working righteousness through their keeping the law that they
had. And so it was all being done
with a veil, right? They had the veil over their
heart. And when they looked into the law of Moses, they just had
a veil and didn't understand or see the end of the law, and
they could not see Christ. Wherefore, verse 32, because
they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of
the law, for they stumbled at that stumbling stone. And that's
what religion, that's what Christianity is today. Much of Christianity
is this, they see certain things, they have the Bible, they look
at the Bible, they hear of the Lord Jesus Christ, but they think
now that because they've you know, given their heart to Jesus
or done something in Christianity, that now they're to go back to
the law, put their necks under the yoke of the law, doing that
which Peter said neither we nor our fathers were able to bear,
we couldn't do it, yet they think that they're going to go back
to the law and keep the law, doing the works of righteousness. just like the Jews were doing,
the works of the law, doing the works of the law for their righteousness. And so they never hear that love
is the fulfilling of the law. Love is the fulfilling of the
law, which we can only do through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. because the Lord shows us and
teaches us that we have been raised together with Christ in
the likeness of His resurrection. And we'll look at that more on
Sunday, Lord willing, from Romans 6, how that our righteousness
is Christ. He is our righteousness. We believe
Him. We trust Him. We rest in Him. We're not going to be able to
go back to that law, not before and not now, and study that law
to do the works of the law and think that's going to be our
righteousness. It's not. We're delivered from that bondage. And now having his spirit, we
look to him and believe him and love. We walk in love toward
him and toward one another. We walk in love because it's
not a strict rule that says you have to do this or do that, right?
We don't look to the law to not steal from our neighbor, but
we know how is that loving my neighbor if I take his stuff
off his property and just use it for myself and take it away
from him? How is that love? How is anything
that is spoken of in the law, if we do those things, how is
that love? So we don't need to go back to the law. We're not
looking to the law for our righteousness and doing those works. We look
to Christ and we trust Him and believe Him that He is our righteousness
because we know if you look to the law, even now, we're going
to come up short because there's so many things that we don't
even understand but that show us that we are our sinners when
we do begin to understand them. So one of the delusions or another
delusion of man is that he thinks that the warnings and the threatenings
of God are telling him, you need to work harder. You need to work
harder and do better. You've got to try a lot harder
now because you're still coming up short. And that's what they
think that the warnings and the threatenings of God are. And
God's telling us all sin is to be punished. The fury of the
Lord is going to break out against the wickedness of man. It's going
to be judged perfectly, exactly. Everything that's been done shall
be punished. It shall be paid for perfectly
with the Lord. He's just and holy and righteous. For the believer, our hope is
not that now we've turned it around and are working perfectly,
but our hope is that it's all been paid. Every last drop of
it has been satisfied by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's our hope. That's our confidence. That's
what we believe. That's what the Spirit has taught
us, that it's not in the law, but in Christ. He is my very
righteousness. Now, in Romans 10.3, I'll just
read it. These are what the Jews were
doing, and this is what many in so-called Christianity are
doing today. In Romans 10.3, for they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. And that's what people are still
doing to this day. They're not submitting themselves,
not believing, not hearing the rest which God has provided in
his son, Jesus Christ. So they're still worried and
they're still anxious and still going back to that law to try
and perfect that which they can never perfect. All right, now
back in Isaiah, Isaiah 28, if you want to save your finger
there in Romans, if you haven't already lost it, I'll take you
back there later, but Isaiah 28, 22. Now therefore, the Lord says,
now therefore be not mockers lest your bands be made strong. lest I tighten them and make
them harder and seal you off in your rebellion and just keep
you dead to these things so you cannot hear. For I've heard from
the Lord God of hosts a consumption, an end, even determined upon
the whole earth. Now what the Lord is saying in
this passage as we get to it is he's revealing in his word
that through his prophets through the coming of Christ, his apostles
and his pastors. He's showing us throughout that
judgment is coming. It's coming. It's coming on the
earth. There is an end. The Lord has
determined there is an end to these things. And so the gospel
is a declaration that God punishes sin. the good news, our hope,
declares to us that God punishes sin. Because he slew his own
son, putting him to death, sacrificing him, shedding his blood, that
we might go free. There's judgment. Judgment occurred
for us. We didn't escape judgment. We
died in Christ. Christ died for us. And we believe
that we died in him and rose together with him as well. And even, you know, Romans 1,
that's where I was going to take you back to, but I'll read it.
Romans 1.18 says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men hold the truth in unrighteousness. The wrath is there. It's plain
to see. It's all about us. There's constantly
wrath being poured out upon man, and it's all showing us that
God is angry with the wicked every day. Every day His wrath
is being poured out. And so this is made plain to
us in the preaching of the gospel. We see judgment in beholding
Christ on the cross. We see, yes, God is a holy God. He's a just God, and He shall
punish every last sin that man commits. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it's written, the just
shall live by faith. That's our hope. We live by faith,
looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we see this word throughout
scripture, right? We see judgment throughout scripture.
When Adam and Eve sinned, we're told that the Lord made two coats
of skin and clothed them. He gave them two tunics, two
cloaks of animal skin. So an animal died that they might
be covered of their nakedness. And Noah, Noah and his family
were saved in the ark. And the ark bore the wrath. The
ark bore the judgment and the wrath of God and they were safe
inside while the rest faced the judgment of God in their own
works and all died in the flood. And we know that Isaac, Isaac
was going to be sacrificed by Abraham. He was about to plunge
a knife into him and the Lord stopped him because he provided
a ram, caught in the thickets instead, who died in Isaac's
place. So we see judgment throughout
the scriptures. And so all of that points to
the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this
brings us to our next point, the gospel's work. The Lord says
here, back in Isaiah 28, verse 23, he says, give ye ear and
hear my voice, hearken and hear my speech. What the Lord is saying
is, I've given you ample warning, I've shown you the truth, I've
declared to you my righteousness and my holiness, that sin shall
be punished, hear me. Hear what I'm saying. That's
what the Lord is telling us. Look to me. Listen very carefully. And then in verse 24, he begins
this metaphorical language, comparing himself to a plowman, and he
asks a question. Doth the plowman plow all day
to sow? Doth he open and break the clods
of his ground? And what he's saying there, the
language is a little hard for us to understand, but he's saying,
does the plowman just plow all day long? Does he just plow and
plow and plow year in, every day of the year? No, there's
a time, there's a point, and when he plows, and then he's
done plowing, and then he sows the seed. While he plows, then
he breaks up the clods, and he prepares the ground, and then
he scatters the seed. and then he reaps the seed, or
harvests it, and then he threshes out the seed and prepares it
for its final product. So the Lord isn't just plowing,
just to plow. And it's to plant a seed in wisdom. And that's what the Lord's showing
us. And so he's saying to us, don't be ignorant mockers. Hear
what's going on. And the reason why I say it's
even for us because we do well to always remember that there's
a whole nation, a whole history of a nation who had all the oracles
of God and would not hear. They would not hear. They were
so confident, so sure in themselves that they had everything right,
so they wouldn't hear the Lord, and they wouldn't hear of Christ,
they wouldn't hear of the Lord's salvation, that it's not by our
works, it's not what we do, but the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, there are mockers, though,
that will laugh and despise the Lord, and yet he's saying, your
bands are being made stronger. To those that hear it, and refuse
to hear, and refuse to believe the Lord and trust him, he's
saying, your bands are already being hardened and made stronger,
and the noose is tightening around your neck, you're already in
the snare, and you're going to perish in your sins. That's what
he's saying, you're going to be destroyed. Peter notes this
concerning the truth. He said in 1 Peter 2.8 that the
gospel of Jesus Christ, it's gone forth, it's gone forth into
all the world and to the wicked, We are told that Christ is a
stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, even to them which
stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed. And their judgment is to be cast
into the lake of fire. They're to be harvested. We see
that imagery in Revelation where they're picked up with a sickle
and thrown, their wild grapes are thrown into the lake of fire. So the Lord's warning us Those
of us who think everything's fine, and that we're fine, I'm
a good person, and I do what I'm supposed to do, and I'm not
as bad as so and so over here, and those people that are trusting
their works, and looking to them for their righteousness, the
prophet is coming to Israel. He comes to Israel just like
the pastor comes to you now, and we declare these things,
and what the Lord is saying that we're hearing, is that there's
a season, a season of judgment involved. It isn't always just
flickity-split quick. He's saying the Lord knows what
he's doing. There's a plowing involved, there's a breaking
up of the clods, there's a planting of the seed, there's a harvesting
of the seed, and there's a threshing out of the seed. All these things
in their time And that's what the Lord is doing, all these
things in their time. And so the wicked are going through
the whole process of judgment. We see that when the Lord tells
us either they have or have not filled up their cup of wrath.
He uses that imagery in the scripture. Some hadn't yet, and some had. And when that time was that they
filled up their cup, that's when the judgment was poured out.
And that's what the Lord's saying. There's a process and a time
that's being worked out Everything's going according to plan. And
so don't think that just because judgment hasn't fallen upon you
that you're not in judgment right now. That's what he's saying
to the wicked. And so the Lord has a strange
act which he performs in the earth. And it's what has made
to some, made his word a savor of death and what makes to others
a savor of life. And that's what we see here being
talked about in these verses 25 through 26. All right, one
here is being prepared for the judgment, and another is being
prepared to receive the word of the Lord. Verse 25, when he
hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches,
which is what we call anise, anise, and scatter the cumin,
and cast in the principal wheat, and the appointed barley, and
the rye in their place? For his God doth instruct him
to discretion, and doth teach him. So we understand this to
be the Lord is sending out his word, his gospel word far and
wide. Many are hearing the gospel.
Many are hearing the truth of God and reading the word and
they hear it preached. And it's like the parable of
the sower, right? Some seed fell by the wayside
and the fowl of the air came and devoured it up. Other fell
on the stony ground and they had no root. So when the sun
came up, They were scorched and they withered away. And then
there was others that fell among the weeds, right, or the thorns. And as they grew, so did the
thorns and the weeds. And they choked it out, right,
the cares of the world choked it out until it was worthless
and didn't produce fruit. But others fell into good ground.
and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some
thirtyfold, who hath ears to hear, let him hear." And so many,
many, many hear over a long time, hear it, but never hear it. They
hear it over years and years. Some hear the gospel once and
they believe it. Some hear the gospel for many
years And then eventually they hear. They don't hear for years
and years and years and then they hear it and the Lord calls
them out. And some hear it and hear it and hear it and hear
it and never, never believe it. Never, never hear what the Lord
is saying. And the Lord spoke to the Jews.
He said in John 8, 43, why do ye not understand my speech?
Why don't you understand what I'm saying? Even because ye cannot
hear my word. And he tells them, ye are of
your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will
do. And then later he said, because
I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. And Christ there was
speaking to very religious people and telling them, you're going
to do the lusts of your father. That's what you're going to do.
You're going to do the lusts of the evil one who doesn't,
doesn't believe me, doesn't, doesn't love God and doesn't,
he rebelled against me and he's worked rebellion in your heart
and you're not going to hear, alright? You're going to do the
lusts, which aren't necessarily just the things that we think
of as sinful things, but even religious things, trusting in
our works of the law. So it's their religious service
that they're trusting in, and that's because their heart is
fat, their ears are heavy, their eyes are shut. They don't want
to hear what the Lord is saying. But there was a remnant there.
There was a remnant there that did hear, even heard this parable
of the sower, and Christ said, blessed, blessed you that hear,
blessed are your eyes, for they see. in your ears, for they hear."
Because it's the Spirit, right? The blessing is in the fact that
it's the Spirit that enables us to hear. It's the Spirit that
makes us to know our judgment, to know what we deserve, to know
that we cannot save ourselves, whether we've labored under the
law a short time or a long time, it's the Spirit that makes us
to know, I'm a sinner. But I hear of the Lord's grace
and mercy in His Son, Jesus Christ, that Christ came, the Lamb of
God, working perfect righteousness for me, as I cannot save myself. And so that He was crucified
in my place, He gave up the ghost for me. He shed His blood to
wash away my sins, to make payment for my life. And He redeemed
my soul unto Himself, so that now I'm His. he's made me his
and I died with him and now I live with him and I believe Lord that
in you you are my very righteousness and the hope that I have to stand
before the living God in that day having no fear no shame no
guilt nothing to pay for because you paid it all and the children
of God hear that and believe and rest right there we rest
what our Savior Jesus Christ has done. Now look at the, go
back to the text in Isaiah 28-27, and here we see the delicate
and careful work of the Lord. For the fitches, the anise, are
not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart
wheel turned about upon the cumin, but the fitches are beaten out
with a staff and the cumin with a rod. Right? The more delicate
seeds were handled in a little more delicate way. to do their
delicate work. And that works for the wicked,
their judgment. Little subtle things are going
on that are just sealing their death, sealing their judgment.
And to the righteous, to the Lord's people, to His children
who are His from eternity, those little subtle things are all
working good for them, that they are being prepared to hear the
word of the Lord and to receive it in that good ground prepared
by our wise and gracious God. 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 horsemen." Some things don't
break apart from the worthless things very easily. Some things
are fixed in their husk, and so they go through a different
process to be broken of that. and separated more harshly even,
right? Just as we know the wicked go
through their things and the righteous, there are some things
that the Lord breaks us through with very harsh things that separate
out that precious fruit unto himself. This also, verse 29,
cometh from the Lord of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel
and excellent in working. So, We hear that, and the purpose
why I even labored in that is just to see the awesome power
of your God, that He is wise beyond belief, and He knows exactly
what He's doing, and He's blessed us here, even in this little
town of Nixon, Missouri, to hear the Gospel. He's opened our ears
to hear our need of Him, to know that we can't save ourselves,
to not be turned back to the law, and see, that's not my righteousness. The Jews couldn't do it, I'm
certainly not gonna be able to do it. And so we look to Christ,
we believe, we hear that word, and rest there in the Lord Jesus
Christ. But you that don't hear, that
don't believe Christ, that are still trying to work a righteousness,
still trying to labor to get yourself perfect and right with
the Lord through your works, he's telling you, judgment is
coming. It's already set. No one's going
to escape judgment. Even Christ laid down his life
to deliver his people. Judgment falls on every single
sin. It must be paid. And so the wicked
who are trusting in their own works, they're not going to escape
that perfect judgment of the living God. And so they'll perish
in their sins in the judgment. But to those who hear his voice,
believe him. You that hear him, you that know
that you're nothing, that you can't save yourselves, believe
him. Rest in Him. He's the one that opened your
ear to hear that and to rest. Believe Him. Trust that He indeed
has done this for you and brought you here to hear this very word
to comfort your souls, to comfort your hearts. Trust Him. Believe
Him. This, verse 12, is the rest wherewith
ye may cause the weary to rest and this is the refreshing. He's
so gracious. He's so gracious. He's not putting
up fences and trying to keep you out. He's showing you this
is the rest. You that hear it, come. Believe
and rest in the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins. I pray the Lord will bless that
word to your heart. Let's pray. Our gracious Lord, we thank you,
Lord. We see the holiness and the terror
of the Lord. Lord, we see that none shall
escape the judgment of God. And Lord, we see your Son, Jesus
Christ, provided for the very forgiveness, for the forgiveness
and the washing away of the sins of your people, putting them
away so that there is no more judgment for them, because Christ
bore the judgment. And Lord, we see what we are
in the flesh, that there's nothing we can do to save ourselves.
Lord, help your people to hear this word. Open our ear and cause
us to hear the rest that you have provided in your Son, Jesus
Christ, freely for your people. The Lord, let us be turned from
trying to work a righteousness of our own. Cause others, the
Lord, cause your people in this part of the world to hear your
gospel. Cause them to hear it and to
flee to the Lord Jesus Christ. Deliver us from darkness and
put us safely into the arms of your Son, Jesus Christ. Cause
us to rest in him. Make us, Lord, to lie down in
his green pastures and to be led by him, by the still, soft,
gentle flowing waters of your gospel. Lord, settle us. It's
in Christ's name we pray and give thanks. Amen.