There we go. All right, if you'll take your Bibles
and turn with me to Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 58. Isaiah chapter
58. And the title of the message
this evening is, Sin Exposed and Christ Revealed. sin exposed
and Christ revealed. The scripture says in Isaiah
chapter 58 and verse 1, cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice
like a trumpet and show my people their transgression and the house
of Jacob their sins. How different is this verse of
scripture to modern religion? God says, cry aloud. God says,
sound forth as a trumpet and show my people their transgression. Religion, works religion, is
always trying to show men how good they are, how great they
are. how powerful they are. But yet
God says, you sound aloud and you show my people what? Their sin. You know, only sinners
need a Savior. Only sinners need a Savior. If you're not a sinner, you don't
need a Savior. And I'm not talking about a small
sinner. I'm not talking about one that
has only partial sin. I am talking about a complete
sinner. A complete sinner needs a complete
Savior. Therefore, God, first of all,
says, you expose the sin of my people. You show them their sin. And in this chapter, the Lord
rebukes all false professors of religion. All false professors. Look at this in verse 2. He says,
they seek me daily. They delight to know my ways
as a nation that did righteousness. and forsook not the ordinance
of their God. They ask of me the ordinances
of justice. They take delight in approaching
to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say
they? And thou seest not. Wherefore
have we afflicted our soul? And thou takest no knowledge.
Behold, in that day of your fast you find pleasure and exact all
your labors." This is speaking of people who
pretend to seek after God. These are people who expect God's
favor based on their religious works. Outwardly, they seek Him. Outwardly, they seem to pursue
after God. They are outwardly seeming righteous
in their obedience. But yet you'll notice what they
say in verse 3. They say, We have fasted, and
thou hast not seen. We've afflicted our soul, but
thou takest no knowledge. Isn't that very similar to those
goats in judgment? Remember when the Lord separates
the sheep from the goats in the end? It was the goats who say,
Lord, when did we not do this for you? We've always done those
things for you. It's you, God, that didn't hear
us. It's your fault that you didn't
respond to our goodness. These deceived souls find pleasure
in religion. They feel good about their religious
exercise and ceremonies. These are self-righteous men
who impose legal rules and laws upon men that they themselves
cannot bear. Look at that, he said in verse
5. Is this such a fast that I've chosen? I'm sorry, in verse 4, he said,
Behold, you fast for strife and debate. and to smite with the
fist of wickedness." You see, all works religion desires
nothing more than to smite men with the fist of the law. You
see, men who profess outwardly religion They believe that there
are certain levels and they like to attain certain privileges
by their obedience and what they do with those privileges is they
begin to look down on other men and they begin to smite and debate. Man by nature is very religious
and superstitious. Who among us is not religious
by nature and superstitious? Man by nature is prone to such
deceptions as works religion, and I tell you, men take pleasure
in works religion. Man by nature takes pleasure
in it. The Apostle Paul in Colossians
chapter 2, he says, if you are a believer in Christ, then you
have died with Christ. What does that mean? If you believe
in Christ, you have died with Christ. In other words, you were
in union with Christ when He died for sin. Therefore, why
should you submit yourselves to ordinances? Touch not, taste
not, handle not. Paul calls this will worship. See, all will worship has a good
outward show of religion. It has an outward show of religion,
but truly is useless to the soul. Therefore God says in verse 5,
Is this such a fast that I have chosen? A day for a man to afflict
his soul, Is it to bow down his head as a bulrush and to spread
sackcloth and ashes under him? Wilt thou call this a fast and
an acceptable day of the Lord?" God says, this is not a salvation
I've chosen. This is not the fast that I've
chosen to bow your head under the law and traditions of men,
no. Verse 6, is this not the fast
that I have chosen to loose the bands of wickedness and undo
the heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free and break every
yoke? You see, the salvation of God
is not one that burdens men with law, but rather frees the soul. from the condemnation of the
law. Frees a man from every yoke and
burden. He says in verse 7, is it not
to deal thy bread to the hungry? The gospel of God is for the
hungry to receive the bread of life. The gospel is for the poor, that
they should find refuge for their souls, that the naked should
be clothed in righteousness. When thou seest the naked, that
thou coverest him, and that thou hide not thyself from thine own
flesh. Friends, this is the message
that God has given. It is not a message of outward
religious ceremony. It is not a message of you and
your works. It is a message of grace. It is a message of mercy. It
is a message for sinners in need of freedom from sin and condemnation. This is the fast. This is the
salvation that God has chosen. It is a message of free grace
to sinners. You who are bound to sin, chained
to sin, and cannot lose yourselves from the condemnation of God's
holy justice. Do you realize this gospel speaks
to you? This gospel is speaking to sinners.
This gospel is speaking for those who cannot free themselves. from
sin. Come, you oppressed by sin, burdened
down with the yoke of the law that you cannot bear, for Jesus
Christ has come to set sinners free. Set sinners free. Free from sin. Not free to sin. Free from sin. Jesus Christ has
come to set us free from condemnation. from the penalty of sin, which
is death. He's come to set us free from
the power of sin. And one day, He has come to set
us free from the very presence of sin. This is what Christ has
come to do. You see, Christ has come to expose
our nakedness before God. He's come to show us that we
are empty of all righteousness. We are empty of any hope of acceptance
with God. If you've never seen yourself
a sinner, then you'll never know what it is to have a Savior. If you've never been bound to
sin, you'll never know what it's like to be free from sin. Because
Christ came to free the bound. He's come to give bread to the
hungry. He's come to give water to the
thirsty. He's come to give righteousness
to sinners. He's come to atone for the sinner's
sin. Behold, Jesus Christ is the only
refuge from the wrath of God. I preached this a couple weeks
ago from Isaiah chapter 32. It says, "...behold, a king shall
reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment." Listen,
"...and a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, a covert
from the tempest." As a refuge. Who's going to be a refuge? A
man. A man. Not you. You need a refuge. You're not
the refuge, and neither is anyone else. He is the refuge, Jesus
Christ. He's come to be a refuge. In
the Old Testament, when a man slew another man accidentally,
you remember that his family had a right to come and kill
that man. But the law provided that there
should be cities of refuge where to a man can flee from the avenger
of blood. Listen to me, the avenger of
blood is God. The avenger of blood is God's
justice. And I'm telling you who need
a refuge, flee to the refuge. Jesus Christ, He is the refuge
for sinners. Are you blind? Do you desire
to see what God demands from you? Then look at God's Son. You want
to know what God demands from us? He demands holy perfection. He demands holy perfection. He
demands righteousness that we cannot provide. You could work
your whole life You could spend all your time as a monk in some
mountain. You could be reading the Scriptures
every day, trying your best to obey the law of God, and it will
not be sufficient. It is not enough. God demands
perfection that you and I cannot provide. And see that God demands a greater
sacrifice than you and I can give. What could you give? What do you suppose you could
give to God to account for your sins? Do you suppose you could bargain
with God? Do you suppose you could will and deal with God
about your sin? No! God says death! That's what you owe. Death. Eternal, everlasting death. You see, you can't provide anything.
You can give your precious prized possession. And truly, you've
only given God what He gave you. Oh, that men would see that Jesus
Christ came into the world to yield up His soul unto death
for sin. God sending His Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin, in the flesh. In His flesh. Jesus was made
sin. Who knew no sin? That we should
be made the righteousness of God in Him. He laid down His
life for the sheep. You see, Jesus is the Good Shepherd
who giveth His life for the sheep. Jesus gave his life for those
that the Father gave him, and he willingly suffered, willingly
suffered the judgment of God for all their
sins. Jesus is the righteousness of
God that I present before you tonight. I preach to you a man
I don't preach to you a system of theology. I don't preach to
you some catechism that you must memorize. I preach to you a man,
Jesus Christ, the God-man. And look at verse 8, He is this
light. Then shall thy light break forth
as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily,
and thy righteousness shall go before thee. The glory of the
Lord is thy reward. You see that Jesus Christ came
into this world to fulfill the will of the Father. The will
of the Father was that He should save His people from their sins. And He fulfilled the will of
the Father. I tell you, He is the light to
the blind. Are you blind? Then behold the
light. Jesus Christ is the light. He
is the health for thy soul. He is thy righteousness. And
the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward. What was Christ's
reward? For giving His life, for obeying
the law of God. What was His reward? It was the
glory of God. God raised Him from the dead,
having accepted His work. Having accepted His perfect work,
He raised Him from the dead and set Him on the throne of heaven. Then, verse 9, Then shalt thou
call, and the Lord shall answer. Thou shalt cry, and He shall
say, Here I am, If thou wilt take away from the midst of thee
the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity, O burdened sinner, behold, that Jesus Christ has
already taken the yoke of sin away. He has already taken the
yoke away. He pleased the Father. He satisfied
God's justice for sin. And He has removed the finger
of Satan. What this means is, when someone
accuses you of what they do, they point their finger. Who
is the great accuser? Is it not Satan? Satan, the great
accuser of men. He has taken his finger out of
the way. and he cannot accuse God's people
anymore of their sin. He has removed the finger of
the accuser by crushing his head. All who come to Jesus Christ
by faith, as all their righteousness and atonement, listen to me,
are free from all sin, all guilt and condemnation. Free! Free! In Romans 8.1 it says,
There is therefore now. When? Right now. And right now. And right now. And right now. No condemnation. No more finger pointing. No more
condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. And later in that same text it
says, Who is He that condemneth? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that accuses you? It's Christ that died, yea rather
is risen again, who set the right hand of God ever living to make
intercession for us. Who can accuse anyone who is
in Christ? He's taken the yoke. He's taken
the burden of our sin upon Himself and God punished Him. in our
stead. In the stead of who? All who
believe on Him. All who believe on Jesus Christ. Jesus. Look at this in verse
10. He says, And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry and
satisfy the afflicted soul. Friends, Jesus Christ draws out
the hungry and satisfies every afflicted soul. Jesus Christ
alone. O hungry sinner, what are you
hungry for? What do you long for in your
soul? I'm not talking about your flesh.
We all have many things that this flesh wants. I'm not talking
about that. I'm talking about a spiritual
hunger, a spiritual hunger for righteousness. Righteousness. All hungry sinners, starving
for righteousness, come to Christ and be filled. Jesus Christ always fills the
hungry soul. With what? Righteousness. Righteousness. Forsake your own righteousness,
which is lighter than vanity. You remember when you were kids
and you always Well, I did this. I had two girls live next door,
and they always wanted to have tea parties and things like that,
so I was forced to do that. And they'd always have these
plates, and they'd give you this plate, and there'd be nothing
in it, but then they'd want you to pretend to eat. And so you'd
just go, mmm, mmm. That's what your righteousness
is. It's lighter than vanity. It'll never fill your hungry
soul. But I tell you, Jesus Christ
He has a righteousness that's real, that's substantive, and
it will satisfy your soul. It alone can satisfy you. Your
righteousness lieth in vanity, but Christ's righteousness is
the only thing that can satisfy. What does God say about your
righteousness? Look over the next chapter there
and look at verse 5. This is what God says your righteousness
is. In verse 5, He said, And they
hatch adder's egg. Cockatrice is adders or snake
eggs. And weave the spider's web. He that eateth their eggs dieth,
and that which is crushed breaketh out into the viper. Their webs
shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with
their works. Their works are works of iniquity,
and the act of violence is in their hands." What is God saying? God compares your works to poison
eggs and spiders' webs. Spiders' webs. I like this. Charles Spurgeon said this, as
a spider spins her web out of her own bowels, so do sinful
man try to manufacture righteousness from within himself, which he
will never do. Your works are poison eggs that
will kill your soul and webs that will not cover your nakedness
before God. Oh, that Jesus Christ, he see
that Jesus Christ is the only complete covering, covering for
sin. He is the only one who provides
a righteousness, a robe of righteousness, clean and white. His works are
good. His works can sustain you. Do you ever supposed to lean
on a spider's web? No. Why? It can't hold you. Neither can your works. Neither
can your goodness. It can't hold you. Don't lean
on it. I'm showing you a foundation
that you can stand on. I'm showing you a foundation
that was laid by God Himself for your souls. It is the foundation
of Jesus Christ. Rest on Him. Lean on Him. All that God may, by His grace,
cause you to wrap yourself in the robe of His righteousness,
and you'll be safe, safe in His arms. All who believe on Jesus Christ
shall never lack anything. Back in our text, it says, He
shall draw out the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul. Then
shall thy light rise in obscurity and thy darkness as a noonday.
And the Lord shall guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul
in drought and make fat thy bones. In other words, He's going to
make everyone that come to Christ full. Full. In John chapter 6,
the Lord says, Whosoever eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood
shall not hunger or thirst. What does He mean? Eat His flesh,
drink His blood. He's talking about believing
in Him, trusting in Him. Just as we partake the Lord's
Supper, as that bread goes into our body, it becomes one with
us. It gives us strength. As the
wine would go into our mouths and go down into us, it becomes
one with us. And it gives us joy. So what
is Christ? Our strength and our joy. eat
His flesh, drink His blood, and you shall have eternal life. This is His promise. This is
not my promise. This is His promise. You shall be in union with Him. Believe on His person. How can
you believe on a Christ that you've never heard of? I'm telling
you of a man who is God himself. He is the God-man. He is the
God-man mediator. The one that stands between God
and man. The one that lays his hand both
on God and man. The umpire. You see what the
word is translated. He stands between us. In verse 11 it says, The Lord
shall guide thee continually. He shall satisfy thy soul in
drought, make thy fat thy bones, and thou shalt be like a watered
garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. O soul, are you wearied and troubled? no light in the darkness sea. There's light for a look at the
Savior and life more abundant and free. Are you troubled? I know you are, because this
world is nothing more than a desert wasteland. This world is nothing but a desert
wasteland. Have you not tasted this world
and found it to be way less than satisfying? Every time I've thought
there was an oasis in this world, I've found it to be nothing but
sand in my mouth. Nothing. There's nothing here
that satisfies the soul. It's vanity. It's empty. Try it if you must, but you'll
find nothing but dirt. It's worthless. But Jesus, he's
like a water garden whose water does not fail. Water does not fail. Jesus said, if any man thirsts,
let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the
Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water." Whose belly? Christ's belly. That's who. Was
it not so when He hung on the cross, when they pierced His
side, what came out? Water and blood. Water of blood
to atone for sin and water to cleanse. And I tell you, that
water has never ceased to flow. never cease to flow. Out of His
belly flows the forgiveness of sin continually. Which one of you do not need
forgiveness now? How many times do we need forgiveness
in a day? I can't count. But I know this,
His water cleanses me every time. And it hasn't stopped cleansing
me. It is even cleansing me now, as I preach to you. His water
never fails. Praise God for this fountain
of never-ceasing grace. The saint's exaltless theme. It is God's saint's exaltless
theme that He is the fountain of living waters. Oh, you have
come to Jesus Christ and believed on Him. Refresh your souls even
now. Refresh your souls and seek forgiveness
and He'll give it to you. Even now. If we confess our sins,
He is faithful and just. to forgive us our sins. That's
one thing to be faithful, but it's another thing to be just
and faithful. He is both just, he's right to
do it, to forgive us our sins. Do you believe that? Oh, that
God would give you grace to believe that. Believer, do you not need guidance? The Lord shall guide thee. How
long? Continually? Continually? Do you need guidance? Then seek
it from the Father even as our Savior did. He will guide you.
He hears your cries. His ear is not full that He cannot
hear you. He will do you good all the days
of your life even as He promised to do. But where we fail, Where we fail
is when we look to ourselves for any reason to receive these
things. You need forgiveness? Don't look
inside. Don't look to yourself. You won't
find any reason for forgiveness. There is nothing in us but sin. In my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. In us is a desert of sin, a dry
place, and full of sin as numerous as the sands of the Sahara Desert. Oh, but I see Jesus, in Jesus
Christ, all the reason why God can and will forgive me of my
sin. Verse 12, "...and they that shall
be of thee..." I like to read it without those italicized words
there because they're not in the original. It says, "...and
of thee shall build the old waste places. Thou shalt raise up the
foundations of many generations, and thou shalt be called the
repairer of the breach, the restorer of the paths to dwell in. Friends, Jesus Christ is the
repairer of the breach. The repairer of the breach. Look over in verse 1 of chapter
59, it says, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it
cannot save. Neither is his ear heavy that
it cannot hear, but your iniquities have separated you and your God,
between you and your God. Your sins have hid his face from
you that he will not hear." The Lord tells us that salvation, that salvation of sinners The
failure to save sinners is not in lack of His power. The Lord's
arm is not shortened to save. The arm of the Lord here speaks
of His power to save, which Jesus Christ is the strength of His
salvation. Man by nature has fallen. Man
by nature is dead and cannot save himself. How sad is the condition of sinners. Man by nature is as the old wasted
places. Picture a ruined city left barren
for centuries. That's you. You're the old wasted
place. Therefore all salvation rests
in the strength of God's arm for Jesus is the foundation laid
of God for all generations Do you realize that Jesus Christ
is the foundation of Adam and Abraham That is my foundation,
too He's the foundation of all generations. If there's any salvation
of man, it is by Jesus Christ. There is no other salvation.
So then if any man is to be saved, it must be by the sovereign,
all-powerful hand of God. Does God have power to save all
men? You bet He does. He has all power. All power is His. Is the blood
of Christ sufficient for all men? You bet it's sufficient
for ten million worlds, if that's what He purposed to give it for.
It's sufficient. It's sufficient. His blood could
have saved ten billion worlds if He purposed to do it. God's
hand is not slack. It's limited in power to save
any sinner. The problem is not in Christ's
blood, nor in God's power, but rather in your sin. There's a
problem. Your sin. Your sin has separated
you from God. See then that there is no man
that can or will call out to God by nature, for the scripture
says that there's none that seeketh after God. No man could repair
the breach between God and men because our sin has separated
us. But God, whose arm is not shortened
to save, did not save, Because He could
not. Or because man deserved to be
saved. God saves because He will. God
saves because He will. His power is not shortened to
save who? Whosoever He will. His power
is not shortened. Christ's blood is sufficient
to save who? Whomsoever He will. Whomsoever
He will. God tells us in Isaiah 48 that
we were transgressors from the womb. We were transgressors from the
womb. Why then did God save us? He said, I saved you for my own
namesake. I saved you because I wanted
to. There's no other reason. There's no other reason for God
to save any one of us except His own sovereign will. Therefore behold that Jesus Christ
is the repairer of the breach. There's a wall of separation
and God's wrath has come in. God's condemnation has broken
down the middle wall of protection between us and His wrath and
the only one to repair the wall is Jesus Christ. He's the only
one. He's the only one that can give
us protection for our souls. And I tell you, He has restored
the paths of peace and accomplished an acceptance before God. Behold,
the power of Jesus to save is not limited by anything man can
do. It's only limited by His sovereign
will to do it. Is my arm shortened that it cannot
save? Absolutely not. Absolutely not. Let me ask you then, what is
your excuse? What is your excuse that you
bring to God as to why you will not believe on His Son? If God's arm is not shortened
to save anyone, He will. Then what's your excuse for not
coming? Some say, well, I don't come
because I'm too great a sinner. That don't make any sense at
all. That don't make any sense at all. This is no reason for
Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. In
1 Timothy, Paul said, this is worthy of acceptation, that Jesus
Christ came into the world to save sinners, of whom I'm chief.
Now, if He saved the chief of sinners, is it not reason that
He should save everyone else? Is your sin too great? Absolutely
not. If He has saved the chief of
sinners, how is His arm shortened to save you? It's not. Your excuse,
then, is no excuse. Come to Christ. come to Christ. Some say, well, I won't come
to Christ because I cannot come to Christ. That has some truth
in it, doesn't it? It is true that no man can come
to God on his own power except the Father draw him. It is true
that if men are saved, it is by the grace of God through faith,
and that faith is a gift of God. Yet should not your inability
to come be the motivation to cry out? Inability should be the greatest
motivator to come. Is not our inability a cause? Cause us to cease from self? Cease from looking to any merit
of ourselves? Our inability should cause us
to cease from all false religious works? What a motive. What a motive to cease from self
and flesh. But I tell you, there is a command
of Christ to all who are unable If any man thirst, let him come
unto me." Is that not authority enough
for you? Jesus said, let him come. Who? Thirsty? Come to Christ. Let him come. The Spirit and
the bride say, come! Let him that heareth say, Come,
and let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him come."
Is that not clear? Is that not enough authority
for you to come? He said, Come. God commandeth every man everywhere
to repent. Surely then your ability is no
excuse, seeing you have authority to come. God is absolutely sovereign in
salvation, and He will call His elect, and they're just as incapable
as anyone else of coming. Weren't you just as incapable?
You that have come, is that not true of you? Weren't you incapable
of coming? How is it that you've come? You've
come by the grace of God, and everyone who comes, everyone
who comes, gives all the glory to God for coming. I'm still
giving God glory for coming. I come tonight. I believe tonight. Who gets the glory? Me? No. God. God gets all the glory for
me coming. Thirdly, some say I will not
come to Christ because I'm not good enough. Is this not why you need a Savior
in the first place? Because you're not good enough.
That's true. We're not good enough. But that's
the whole reason I need a Savior. I'm not good enough. Man needs
a Savior because they will never be good enough. You will never
obey the law, and therefore you need the righteousness of Christ.
Matter of fact, all who come to Christ by faith, we know more
now of our lack of goodness, don't we? than when we first
started. You see, the flesh will never
get better, and if you wait till you get better to come, you'll
never come at all. You'll never come at all. Therefore, all who
come to Christ by faith are to come and live by faith,
seeing Jesus more and more to be all our goodness. I tell you,
if you will not believe on Jesus Christ, then the blame will not
fall on God. Did you hear me? If you will
not believe on God, or you will not come to Christ, the blame
will not fall on God, it will fall on you. Just as true as the sovereignty
of God is the responsibility of man. You must believe. You must come to Christ. But all who do come to Christ,
we find verse 1 of chapter 59 very helpful. Behold, the Lord's
hand is not shortened, that it cannot save. Neither is his ear
heavy that he cannot hear." Have you fallen into sin, believer?
Have you wondered from your God? Has your heart become cold and
indifferent? Praise God that His hand is not
shortened to save. He that hath begun a good work
in you shall perform it unto the day
of Jesus Christ. Is that not good news? Man, that's
good news. That's the good news I need to
hear. That's God's Word. God says you expose their sin. And then you show them my Savior. And you tell them to come. And
you know what God's people do? They come. And they don't stop
coming. They don't stop coming. Why? Because I need Him. Jesus Christ, to me, And to every
believer is not an option. It's a necessity. I must have him or I die. Is that so with you? If not,
may God give you grace to see it and believe it. I stand will
be dismissed in prayer.