Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 54. Isaiah chapter 54. And this morning we'll be looking
at verse 11 through verse 17. And the title of the message
is A Word to the Afflicted. A Word to the Afflicted. That's who the prophet is speaking
here by the mouth of the Lord. He said, O thou afflicted, tossed
with tempest, and not comforted. Now here in this chapter, we
see to whom this is written Even from the beginning of this text,
we read that this message, these afflicted are certain people. Now, all men have afflictions. There's no doubt about it. There's
a common affliction among men. We all can get disease, or we
can all have sickness, or we can all have bumps and bruises. Those are common among men. But
these afflictions, I have you know that these are spiritual
and troubling afflictions that only occur for believers. This message is for believers
in Christ. Those are the ones whom God has
purpose to comfort. And we know this because from
the beginning of this chapter, we see to whom this is written. Look at that, the very first
verse. He says, seeing who? The barren. The barren. A barren is a woman who cannot
conceive, who cannot give life, who is a woman whose womb is
dead. And so this letter is written
to the barren. It's also mentioned in verse
4 that these people are ashamed. He tells them, Fear not, for
thou shalt not be, what? Ashamed. Neither be thou confounded. These people are confused. These
people are barren. These people that he's writing
to are ashamed. And look at verse 7. These people
were forsaken. He says, for a small moment I
have forsaken thee. Now this is a picture of God's
people by nature. By nature this is a picture of
God's people. We are born barren or lifeless. We are born without any righteousness
to give to God. The carnal mind, the scripture
says, your mind, my mind, by nature, the carnal mind is at
war with God. Listen, if you're lost, you're
at war with God. Well, I'm not at war with God. God says you
are. I think that should settle it. You're at war with God in your
mind. You are not subject to the law of God. That's the evidence
of your warfare, is that you're not subject to the law of God,
neither indeed can you be subject to the law of God. Man by nature
is dead in trespasses and sins. You see, man doesn't need new
habits. He doesn't need reform. Man doesn't need religion. Man needs life. That's what man
needs. You don't need a 12-step program. I don't know. I know people like
steps, don't they? They like programs. What are
they doing? They're stepping up. They're getting better. We
don't need programs like that. God's program is that you get
worse before anything gets better. Man is dead and he needs to be
raised from the dead. And listen, if you've never been
raised from the dead, you're still dead. You're dead. This is the purpose of preaching
the gospel, that God has chosen a people from among the dead. of Adam's race. God has purposed
to save a people. Who are they? They're barren
people. They're dead people. That's who
God has chosen to save. Therefore, God sent His only
begotten Son into the world, and He was made a man and took
part of our nature. The Son of God became the Son
of Man for a purpose, for a reason. And that was to establish righteousness,
to perform righteousness that his people could not perform. Jesus said this, I came not to
destroy the law or the prophets. What did Christ
come to do? He came to fulfill the law and
the prophets. In Hebrews 10 it says, For by
His one offering He hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Those who are set apart by God
from eternity, those who are made holy are made holy by His
one offering. He hath perfected them. And you
know what God did when He perfected them? When Christ did the work,
God raised Him from the dead. God raised Him from the dead
and set Christ on high, set Him on the throne of God, and has
put all things under His feet in order that He do what? Call
His people. That's what He's doing right
now. If you're confused about what's going on, you just remember
this, Jesus Christ is moving everything to save His people.
That's what He's doing. He uses all men, circumstances,
nations, and peoples for this one purpose, that His gospel
go out in power, and that the Spirit of God arrest His people,
raise them from the dead, and they believe on Christ all the
days of their life. That's what God's doing, if you're
confused. You ever confused? You know what's going on. I just
told you. Christ on the throne doing that very thing. And you
know what he said? My sheep hear my voice and I
know them. And they do what? They follow
me. That's what he said. And he said also other sheep
I have which are not of this fold, them I also must bring. Isn't that something that God
said I must do something? Jesus is God manifested in flesh
and yet he said this, I must bring them. My glory depends
on it. I must bring them. And they will
come. I'll ask you this morning, are
you such a barren sinner? Are you such an one as this?
Is this scripture speaking to you? Are you one that can by no means
yield any offspring of righteousness? Are you such a shameful sinner
and know your sin has separated you from God? Well, see, that's
what the gospel's for. This book's not for anyone else. This book's for sinners. This
book's for the guilty. This book's for the dead. This
gospel message is for those who have no righteousness. Hear the
gospel sing. You that cannot produce righteousness,
you should sing, because Christ has already done it in your stead. Sing, for all who believe on
Christ shall have more righteousness than those that are married.
That's what it tells us. Sing, O barren, and break forth.
You'll have more children than the married wife. What is that,
the religious people? The self-righteous people, you
who believe on Christ, you have more righteousness than any of
these self-righteous Pharisees. The gospel cries to the barren,
and it says to come now to Christ, and he will make you fruitful,
and you shall not be ashamed or confounded. You who come to
Christ. That word confounded there in
our, let me see, in verse 4, it says, neither be confounded.
You know, it's got there frustrated. You know what works religion
is in a word? Frustration. They're always looking for the
next thing. You've got to progress in righteousness. You've got to work your way upward
to glory. And it's always frustrating because
you never make it. You're never there. Enough is
never enough. I'm telling you, Christ is enough.
Believe on Christ. And God said, that's enough.
Christ is enough. Religion's frustrating because
they're never finished. Self-righteous, religious, law
and works religion only cause frustration. Now consider those
who profess to believe on Christ that salvation by grace, and
then they turn you back to law. You ever heard of these people?
They profess to believe salvation is by grace, and then as soon
as you're saved, they throw the weight of the law at you. They
try to put you back under the law. Well, that's no gospel message
at all. Matter of fact, the early church
dealt with that issue. Go over to Acts chapter... With
this in mind, go over to Acts chapter 15. Acts chapter 15, there were some
men that brought this kind of doctrine in. In verse 1 it says,
certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, except
you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be
saved. What did they say? Well, believe
on Jesus, yes, but you also have to obey this one law, this one
commandment. Be circumcised. And Paul and
Barnabas had no small dissension. In other words, they got upset
as well they should have got upset. And so when men try to
point other men back to the law, I get quite upset. I get quite
upset just like the apostles did. There was no small disputation. And so they brought this before
the other apostles They brought it before the other apostles.
And this is what Peter had to say about this. Look at verse
8. He said, And God, which knoweth the heart, bare them witness,
giving them the Holy Ghost, even as He did us. He's saying there's
no difference between Jew and Gentile. God gave them the Holy
Ghost, just like He gave us. He gave them a new nature, just
like He gave us. and put no difference between
us and them, purifying their hearts." How? By faith. By faith. Now therefore, why tempt you
God? to put the yoke upon the neck
of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able
to bear. But we believe that through the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, you shall be saved even as they."
And that should settle all matters about legalism, shouldn't it?
I know that false preachers, it doesn't settle anything for
them, but for us it does. It settles all things. See that all who come to Christ
by faith, you're not to be frustrated by the law. The law doesn't frustrate
us. You know what the law does? The
law welcomes you because in Christ you fulfilled it. You fulfilled
the law. For Christ, the scripture says,
is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. So
you who believe on Christ, God says back in our text, He says,
you're not to be ashamed, you're not to be frustrated. Verse 5,
thy maker is thy husband. How is that possible? Because
thy maker is thy redeemer. The one who paid for your sins
is thy husband. And guess what? When a bride
takes a husband, guess what she gets to take? His name. You know
what we get to take? His name. In Jeremiah it tells
us His name is Jehovah Tizkanu. The Lord our righteousness. And you know what He says further
on in Jeremiah? He tells us the church's name. And her name shall be called.
The Lord our righteousness. We get His name. We get His name. And even though the Lord is her
husband, even though He has chose us before the world began, He's
betrothed us to Christ, He's promised us to Christ, yet we,
as this woman pictures His people, are grieved and forsaken and
cast off. He said this, verse 6, The Lord
hath called thee as a woman forsaken, grieved in spirit, and a wife
of youth, When thou wast refused, saith thy God, for a small moment
have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. We were by nature cast off as
a barren woman, as an outcast. We were cast off. But how long? Only for a small moment, God
says. I remember when our brother J.D. came in. He was 66 years
old. He professed when 66, the Lord
saved him. Now, that 66 years was a small
moment. God said, I've turned on you
for that small moment. But grace, in the appointed time
of grace, He found him, just like He found all of us, grieving
over our sin. He found us in our sin. and he
saved us by his mercy, his everlasting kindness. In verse 8, in a little
wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with loving
kindness I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer. And listen, this should end all
doubt. You who believe in Christ, look
at verse 9. He said, for this, all of this
I've been explaining to you, for this, the covenant of grace, For this is as the waters of
Noah to me. For I have sworn in the waters
of Noah should no more go over the earth, so have I sworn that
I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke thee." Now, so he
means this, you remember the waters of Noah were for judgment,
weren't they? The waters, the whole earth was
corrupt and God sent to kill every person on the face of the
earth except for Noah and his family. And when God poured out
that judgment on the earth, He made an oath. He said, I swear
that I will never flood the world again. And then he put that bow
in the sky that's even there today after the rains come down. The rainbow is in the sky as
a covenant promise that God will never flood the world again. You imagine when it rained, Noah
was a little upset, a little fearful. Until he saw what? The bow. And
then he remembered, that's God's promise. He'll never do it. He'll
never flood this again. Even so, in this matter of redemption,
believer, God says, I have sworn that I will not be wroth with
thee, nor rebuke thee. Believer, as Jesus bare our sins
in His own body on the tree, the judgment of God's wrath flooded
His soul. As the waters of Noah flooded
the earth, even so the waters of judgment flooded the soul
of Jesus Christ as He bare our sin. And when God said, God says
to His people after He was satisfied with Christ, He said, I swear
I will never be angry with you again. Now do you hear that? Because I want that to sink in.
May the Spirit of God put that into your heart. God says, as
I swore with these waters, so now I swear to you, judgment
is passed. I am never angry with you. Believer, God is never angry
with you. Ever. He is never wroth with you and
He'll never bring judgment on you. Matter of fact, in Revelation
4, I like this. You know what surrounds the throne
of God? The rainbow. In chapter 10 of Revelation,
you know what's over God's head? Rainbow. You see, that covenant
promise of not bringing the waters of Noah is only a picture of
what His covenant promise is to you and me. That He'll never
bring judgment. And that rainbow that is there
always reminds Him of His covenant promise. That He will never be
angry with you. He's never going to forsake you. Even so, God is mindful of his
covenant promise and that will never change. But look at verse
10, God is also aware of the changing world you live in. Look
at this, he said, for the mountains shall depart and the hills shall
be removed. God is very mindful and promises
believers that all things in this world are mutable. Though His covenant is immutable,
it doesn't change. He reminds us that all the other
things in this world are mutable. Mountains. Now what is more sturdy
and more steadfast than a mountain? And yet God says the mountain
shall depart. It's going away. The hills be
removed. All things in this world are
mutable and therefore you should not lean on any of them. You
should not trust any of them. This nation, we live in a very,
very wonderful nation. This nation, matter of fact,
is an anomaly in history. It's never happened before. It's
a nation that's very special. We all grant that. Don't trust
in it. It's going away. You understand
that? This nation has risen and it
will fall just like every other nation. So don't trust in it.
There's nothing here. It's going away. Your family
and friends, they will fail you. Oh, not my family. Yeah, yeah,
your family just like mine. See, I love my children, but
I don't put trust in them as to be all my happiness. They're
just not going to be. They can't be. They will betray us, they will
fail us. And so we are to hold on to them
very loosely. Lovingly, you hold to your family
lovingly, but you hold very loosely to them. Jesus said, if you were
to be my disciple, for man hate not his father, and his mother,
and his sister, and his brother, and his own life also, he what? Cannot be my disciple. And so these mountains and these
things are movable. And what does this cause? Well,
go to your text. This is where we come to now.
Because of these things, these mutable things, look what happens.
O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted. Is this not often the case of
your soul, my brother." Even though these promises of
God are sure and steadfast, even though He's taken us from such
a barren state, He's given us the righteousness of Christ,
He swore on His own oath, on His own name, that this is not
going to be moved. And yet, now he recognizes, he
tells us that we shall suffer affliction. Go over to Mark chapter,
this is a good illustration of it. Go to Mark chapter six. Mark chapter six. And verse 48. Now the Lord just testified of
His deity here. He fed 5,000 men with just those
few loaves and those fishes and He commanded His disciples to
depart, to get in the boat and to go to the other side of Bethsaida,
the other side of the Sea of Galilee. But He Himself did not
go with His disciples. He left them in the ship by themselves
and told them to go to the other side while he went into a mountain
to pray. And his disciples were alone
in the ship. Now, when do all troubles begin? When Christ's presence is not
felt or he is not in view. You want to know when the sea
begins rough, when it starts to beat our little ship to death? It's when Christ is not present,
when we can't feel His presence, or when He is not in view or
in our sight. When we think we can do this
on our own, that's the beginning of the storm. That's the beginning
of troubles. And so they began to go out into
the sea. And they row out a little ways,
and all of a sudden the Scripture says, He saw them toiling in
rowing, for the wind was contrary unto them. And about the fourth
watch of the night He cometh to them, walking upon the sea. Now then, this is something.
You realize that they rode out and then the wind came and they rode for nine hours. You talk about determination. That's pretty good determination.
They had only went three-tenths of a mile from the shore and
spent nine hours getting there. They were determined. Is this not greatly described
our life when Christ seems to be a far off toiling in rowing? Is that not a fitting description? Always working and going nowhere. toiling against the world, toiling
against our kin, toiling against Satan, toiling against our flesh,
so that we become weak and tossed about and not comforted. So tossed about and afflicted
that we cry like David, my soul is sore vexed. How long O Lord, how long will you forget me?
Is that not the cry of your heart when you're toiling, when you're
afflicted? How tedious and tasteless the
hours when Jesus no longer I see. Sweet birds, sweet prospects,
sweet flowers have all lost their sweetness to me. the midsummer
sun shines but dim, the fields strive in vain to look gay. Oh,
but when I am happy in Him, December is as pleasant as May. His presence,
the wind is contrary to us, we begin to be toiling. And here's a question now. Was
it possible that these disciples should ever be lost? Would this
wind overturn their vessel and cause them to perish? Was that
His purpose? It was never His purpose. And
neither shall you perish, though you toil and rowing, though you
are afflicted, though you are tossed. Listen, His purpose in
the wind is not to cause you to perish, but rather to see
Him walking on the very thing that causes you the most problem.
What's causing your affliction? Christ walks on it. He's treading
on the water. That's what caused there. That's
what stopped the boat from moving forward, wasn't it? The wind
blowing the waves against them. That was contrary and Christ
just walking in the wind like it's nothing. Isn't that how
he comes on our troubles? He comes and he steps on them
as though they're nothing. What is troubling sin? He walks
on it. He treaded. He treaded over your
sin at the cross. It's already put under his feet.
Death, does that trouble you? He's walking on death. He's already
conquered the grave. What are you troubled about?
Why are you so fearful? What troubles you? Jesus comes
walking on your trouble. Are you tossed? Are you toiling? Your Savior treads on your trouble
and you cry out to him and you know what he says? Be of good cheer. It's me. Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid. Our sin surely afflicts us. The
old man in the body of death is around our neck, and we become
weighed down so that we cry with nudentism, point I long to know. Oft it causes anxious thought.
Do I love the Lord or no? Am I his or am I not? If I am,
why am I thus? Why this dull and lifeless frame? Hardly could they be worse, whoever
never heard His name. When I look within, all is vain
and wild, and sin is mixed with all I do. You that deem yourself
a child, is it thus with you? Is this not your trouble the
same as mine? So then what alone will soothe
the tossed and afflicted soul? Look back at your text. Look
at this. He says to us who are afflicted
and tossed, he gives us this. He says, I will lay thy stones
with fair colors and thy foundations with sapphires. This is what ceases our ship
from being tossed. The foundation on which we were
built. How much does a boat rock on
a sure foundation? Not at all. Not at all. You see, although you and I can
be moved by circumstances, the foundation cannot. David said
this, Thou art my rock and my salvation. I shall not greatly
be moved. David was sure of his salvation. He was sure that he was not going
to be cast out. But I'll tell you this, he was
moved. He was moved. Are you not moved
by your sin? Are you not staggering about
at times like a drunken man? If you're not, just wait. You
will be. Just wait a minute. Because this
is God's purpose. Why? So you look to the foundation. This occurred the other day.
One of the little girls that Audrey was playing basketball
with, she was trying to pick up her leg and stretch. And you
know how hard it is to stand on one foot and stretch that
leg behind you? And she was always falling over.
And I said, sweetheart, look at something that isn't moving.
and you'll be able to balance. And sure enough, she picked up
her leg, she looked at something that wasn't moving, and she stretched.
Isn't that how it is? Look at something that isn't
moving. What isn't moving? Christ isn't moving! Christ is
not moving! The foundation is not moving
one inch. Though you stagger, this foundation
is sure it's going to last. It's for eternity. It doesn't
move. And nothing in heaven or earth
or heaven or hell will move this foundation. It's sure, it's rock
solid. Trust it. Trust it. The foundation of religion, that's
staggering. That's sinking sand. You're trusting
in yourself? That's sinking sand. You're trusting
in religion? That's sinking sand. You're trusting
in the preacher? That's sinking sand. Don't trust
in men. Trust in Christ. He doesn't move. He doesn't move. Foundation. God says, you know what? I'll
lay the foundation. That's good. Because I couldn't
lay it. Neither could you. Can't lay
your own foundation. God says, I lay in Zion a stone,
a precious stone, a tried stone, a cornerstone, a sure foundation. And look at this. He said, I
will make windows of gates and gates of carbuncles, and all
thy borders shall be stone windows. I love windows. Windows, what
do they do? They allow light to come in. Behold, the windows of heaven
are open, and all the light of the gospel pours down on us. All spiritual blessings are yours.
God opens the windows of heaven and reveals Himself. And yet
we look out a window, look out these stained glass windows,
and I see light. But I can't hardly make out anything
else. Scripture says, we see through
a glass, how? Darkly. Now, as soon as you walk out
that door, you'll say, oh, that's what that is. I thought, this
looks strange through the window. But now, face to face, we shall
see our Savior. This is the window He's opened.
The gate, what does the gate do? It shuts out the enemies.
It keeps in those that are safe. Isn't that what He said? I am
the door of the sheep. You see, only sheep are allowed
in here. And when you're in Christ, you're safe from all enemies. He said, I'll make you windows
and gates. That's our comforting assurance if you're tossed. And
he said this, verse 13, all thy children shall be taught of the
Lord. And great shall be the peace of thy children. This is wonderful. I'll tell
you what, Jesus used this passage of Scripture. Go to John chapter
6. John chapter 6. Jesus quoted this very passage
of Scripture. He said this in verse 44. He said, No man can come to me
except the Father which has sent me draw him. I'm not an English major. Don't profess to be. But the
word can has to do with ability. No man can come unto me. By nature, you could never come
to Christ. I tell you, come to Christ. I
show you the good things that Christ has done. I show you his
salvation. I show you eternal life. I show
you the glory of God. And yet you say, I will not come. You will not because you cannot. How is it that you've come? Are you special? Was it because of your intellect? Is that why you came? You were
smarter than the rest. Joanne, you must have been smarter
than the rest. Scott, you must have been more
gifted than everybody else. That's what happened, wasn't
it? We know that's not true. We could
not come. And we would not come. Had He
not drew us. And look what Jesus said this
drawing is. Verse 45. It is written in the prophets.
And they shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore that
hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh to me." Why
is it you came? You have learned of the Father.
Is that not a great blessing? You see, faith is not some easy
thing, easy believism, as the world would have it to be. It's
not some decision that you make. It's something God teaches you.
It's a revelation from heaven. It's eternal life given to you. That's what it is. Is that not something to stand
on? Your faith is really nothing to stand on, is it? I'm not telling
you to trust in your faith. Don't have faith in your faith.
Have faith in His faith. My faith is in Him. And I've
got something to stand on. If I'm looking to Him, I'm not
so tossed. If I have faith in Him, do you
realize I've been taught of God? You believe this morning you've
been taught of God. That's why you believe. And listen to this, verse 14,
in righteousness shalt thou be established. Do you realize that God saved
you in such a way that he receives you through the front door? You know when you have people
you don't want your neighbors to know you got, you sneak them
in the back door? God doesn't sneak you in the
back door. He parades you through the front door for everyone to
see and he says, look at my bride. whom I have established in righteousness. He saved you through justice.
This is wonderful, through judgment. In other words, He has saved
you in such a way, judgment can never come back on you. Ever. He did it in righteousness. And
so therefore, as the bride of Christ, you betrothed of Christ, God testifies that He is not
ashamed of you. He has established you in righteousness.
Now you, you are ashamed of yourself, aren't you? God said you would
be. Ezekiel, that covenant of grace,
he said, I'm going to make you holy, I'm going to make you righteous,
I'm going to give you a new nature, I'm going to give you a new heart,
but then you're going to hate yourselves. You're going to loathe
yourselves. Isn't that what exactly happened?
Can you not trust this book? Is it not exactly as God said
it's been? Everything I've said, God said
it. I'm not saying anything new to you. This is our experience. In righteousness shall I establish
thee, and thou shalt be far from oppression, And thou shalt not
fear, and from terror it shall not come nigh thee. Do you realize
that no fear or terror shall ever touch you? Nothing shall
ever touch you. Nothing can taint that righteousness. He says, behold, they shall surely
gather together, but not by me. In other words, those who produce
oppression and fear and terror, he said, they will gather around
you. They will come near you. But I tell you, it's not of me.
Does your conscience convict you of sin? He says, it's not
of me. Your sin's gone. You fear the judgment of God?
You fear death? That's not of me. That's not of me. He said, Behold,
I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire,
and bringeth forth an instrument of his work. I have created the
waster to destroy. In other words, all those that
form these weapons, and he's going to mention that in verse
17, no weapon, that's what this guy's doing. He puts the iron
in the fire, he blows the coals to make the weapon against you. Isn't that what the world's doing?
They're scheming against you. Satan is against you. The flesh
is against you. And you know what? God says,
I let them. I let them scheme. I let them
build their weapons. But look at this. No weapon that
is formed against you shall prosper. It will never touch you. Are
you afflicted? Has God not given you so many
reasons as to not be fearful, tossed? So when you are tossed,
and you will be, look to these things. Look to Christ, your
foundation. Look through the windows of the
gospel and see the glory of God. Look to the door. the door of
hope, which is Christ. And know this, that nothing shall
ever harm you. Now, you that will not be comforted,
is it not only because of unbelief? May God even give you faith to
lay down and stop toiling. Rest. You know, that's what Sabbath
means. Rest. Rest. Where? In Christ. Christ alone. May God bless this to your hearts.