Isaiah 33 with me. Read verses 5 and 6 again. The Lord is exalted, for He dwelleth
on high. He hath filled Zion with judgment
and righteousness and wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability
of thy times and strength of salvation. The fear of the Lord
is his treasure." Stability in these times, unstable times,
that's what we need, stability. Perilous times. These are the
words of the Lord through Isaiah to us, to us. Most of this, is to Israel who
were the professing people of God. The Word of the Lord. There are six verses I want us
to look at. The first six verses begins with
a word of woe. The first word of woe from the
Lord and then ends with a word of salvation. Verse 1 says, Woe
to thee. Now, woe is often pronounced by Isaiah. If you've read it, you'll see
it more than any other prophet or preacher. Twenty times I counted
throughout Isaiah, he pronounced woe, woe. And, you know, things such as
woe unto them that call good evil and evil good and darkness
light and light and darkness. Woe unto thee. And the other
person who said this more than any other was the Lord Jesus
Christ. Fifteen times in the book of
Luke. And it wasn't just to Anyone. It was to everyone. Woe, woe. The Word of the Lord, the first
Word of the Lord to a sinful, unbelieving world is woe. Woe
unto them. And if we hear His Word the first
time we hear it, what we will hear is woe. And we will say
like Isaiah. You remember when Isaiah saw
the Lord, he said, Woe is me. Woe is unto me. I'm a man of
unclean lips. Look over at chapter 32. Now,
this is the need of our day. And our Lord says, Woe unto thee. And look at verses 9 through
15. He's speaking to people of Israel. He says, Rise up, ye
women that are at ease. Hear my voice, ye careless, Daughters,
give ear unto my speech. Many days and years shall ye
be troubled, ye careless women, for the vintage shall fail, the
gathering shall not come. Tremble, ye women that are at
ease. Be troubled, ye careless ones. Strip you and make you bare. Gird sackcloth upon your loins. They shall lament for the teeth."
So that is, desire the sincere milk of the Word. It will be
hard to find. The pleasant fields for the fruitful vine. And down
in verse 15, "...until the Spirit be poured upon them." Well, He
says, "...woe unto thee." And the Lord said in Isaiah 66, "...to
this man will I look. To him that is poor and of a
contrite heart, and tremble at my word." So this is the first
word of the Lord to everyone. Woe to thee. One of the old writers,
I love what he said. I'm not sure who it was. I forget.
I had it in our bulletin. But he said, I am Cain. I am
Esau. I am Nabal. I am Mary Magdalene. I am the thief on the cross.
If we'll take our place like those with those, that will cause
us to call upon the Lord. And like Isaiah who said, Woe
is me, the Lord took a coal and an angel, a seraph, took a coal
from an altar and placed it on his lips. And he said, the first
word he heard after saying, Woe is me, is, Thine iniquity is
purged." Woe is me. I'm a man of unclean lip. Here's
a word of prayer in our text. Oh Lord, verse 2, be gracious
unto us. Be gracious unto us. We've waited
for Thee. Lord, be gracious. What do we
pray for mostly? What is our greatest need? Mercy. That the Lord will be merciful
to us. That's what the original text actually says. Lord, be
merciful. Be gracious unto us. We need
grace. We need mercy. By grace are you
saved. He's the God of all grace. And
Scripture says, Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord
shall be saved. The most gracious thing the Lord
can do to us. Lord, be gracious to us. The
most gracious thing He can do to us right now. is to open our
ears to hear His Word, the Word of His grace. Brethren, I commend
you to the Word of His grace, which is able to build thee up
and keep thee. And the most gracious thing He
can do for us is give us ears to hear. Oh, Lord, be gracious
to us. He says, we've waited for thee.
Go back to Isaiah 30. Oh, how I love The whole book
of Isaiah is quoted more than any Old Testament book. You know
that? The book of Isaiah. Chapter 30. How I love this chapter as well
as the rest. We wait for thee, he said. You
know, many in here come early to our services. There were men
sitting in the study waiting 45 or 50 minutes. What are you
waiting for? What did you come to wait for?
A word from the Lord. Ellen Fralin. Do you know her? She was always here at least
45 minutes or 50 or sometimes an hour. I had to get here real
early to meet Ellen over here. What was she waiting for? A word
from the Lord. Look at Isaiah 30, verse 8. Therefore will the Lord wait
that he may be gracious in his good time, all his people, he's
going to be gracious unto them. And he will be exalted that he
may have mercy upon you, for the Lord is a God of judgment.
Blessed are all they that wait for him." Wait, I say. Wait on the Lord. And so he says
in our text, Lord, we've waited for Thee. Be Thou their arm every
morning. Be the arm of Your people. Hold
us up every day. Lift us in Thine everlasting
arm. Hold us up lest we fall. Be Thou
our salvation in time of trouble. We have a few days, and the days
we have are full of trouble, aren't they? Physical troubles. Family troubles. Everybody has
all these troubles. Financial troubles. But our greatest
source of trouble is sin trouble. Sin trouble. But you know what? It's both a terrible and a wonderful
thing to get in sin trouble. I'm waiting for the Lord to get
some of our young people in trouble. I mean sin trouble. That's a
good thing. I can't wait to hear them say,
woe is me. I'll never forget when my daughter
came to me real troubled about her soul. It was the most wonderful
day that I can think of. Next to your children. It's a
terrible but a wonderful thing. Lord, be our salvation in time
of trouble. Verse 3, here's a word of tumult
and confusion, that the noise of the tumult, the people fled,
that the lifting up of thyself, nations were scattered. Confusion. It says people flee. They're
running scared. People are running. What are
people running from? Running to and fro. What are
they running from? People are running from their
fears. People are taking all sorts of things to try to escape
their fears, aren't they? What are they running to? What
are people in the world running to? Trying to run from their
fears, but who do they run to? to allay their fears or to get
some help from their fears. This Scripture tells us in chapter
31, just back a page, it says in verse 1, Woe to them that
go down to Egypt for help. Trust in chariots. Stay on horses.
There are many. There are so many. They are very
strong. But they look not unto the Holy
One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. Yet he also is wise, and
will bring evil, and will not call back his word." Verse 3, the Egyptians are men,
they're not God. They're not God. Look at chapter 30, verse 2 and
3. Look at this, chapter 30, verse
2, verse 1, "...woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that
take counsel." Who are we going to take counsel from? Who are
we going to take advice from? Who do we seek to help us in
our problem? Who? Well, they take counsel, but
not of me, the Lord says. Not of me. Verse 2, they go to
Egypt. They haven't asked at my mouth.
Strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh. Trust in
the shadow of Egypt. Look down at verse 7. The Egyptians
help as vain. Here their strength is. Here
is our strength, people, verse 7. Their strength is to sit still. Wait on the Lord. Verse 15, I
love this. Thus saith the Lord God, the
Holy One of Israel, in returning, where? Where do we return? Where do we keep returning? We
go out in the world and then we return. We come back to where
the Lord is. His Word, His people, in returning
and rest shall ye be saved from all your trouble. In quietness
and in confidence shall be your strength. How foolish! And you would not. They flee
upon horses. People flee. Don't do that. Run
to Christ. Run to the house of God where
God's people are dwelling. Their strength is to sit. You
tell the people, Isaiah, their strength is to sit still. You
tell the people, Gabe, their strength is to sit still, to
wait on the Lord. You tell the people, Paul, that
in returning and rest, you keep coming back here. Have the children
here. And in quietness, listen, and
confident that is trusting in the Lord, you'll be saved. From
what? Name something. All your troubles. All your trouble. Especially
your sin. My, my. Remember that Gadarene
demoniac? That was us. A lunatic, crazy
man. Dwelling among the tombs. Cutting
himself. Dashing up and down until the
Lord came and met him and spoke to him. And when He was finished
with him, He had him do what? Sit him. Clothed and in his right
mind. We have the mind of Christ. The
world doesn't. They're running to and fro. They're
full of tumult and confusion. But at Christ's feet, there's
quietness and confidence. And He shall deliver thee from
the noisome pestilence. No matter what you hear. It won't
bother you. I just read today where Paul
said, from henceforth let no man bother me. Here's a word of warning in our
text. Verse 4. Your spoil, whatever
you gather, that is, shall be gathered. Whatever we accumulate
is going to be taken. Whatever we accumulate, whatever
we gather, like a caterpillar, like the locusts, it's pretty
foolish to place all your happiness in something that moths can ruin
and that rust will destroy, not can, will destroy, that thieves. The Lord said He's going to take
you from it. How many of you read Philpott's
Baca's Veil? Look at that. I read it, Jeremiah
45. Look at that. I read that and
it was a wonderful blessing. And it caused me to go back and
look at that scripture that he quoted, Jeremiah 45. Look at
that. He was talking about what a blessing
it was that the Lord gives life. Do you remember? Did you read
it? He said in verse 5, He says, Thy life will I give unto thee.
The last line. Thy life will I give unto thee
for a prey. That is, you'll be persecuted,
hounded by the world, but I'm giving you life. They've got
death. Well, look at the rest of this
chapter. What a chapter this is. This was to Barak. Barak was the scribe who wrote
the book of Jeremiah. He's the one that wrote this
book, wrote down the words of Jeremiah. In verse 1, the Lord spoke unto
Barak, the son of Neriah, when he had written these words at
the mouth of Jeremiah. Verse 2, Thus saith the Lord
God of Israel unto thee, O Barak, thou didst say, Woe is me. For
the Lord hath added grief to my sorrow. I fainted in my sighing."
Sounds like David doesn't. I would have fainted, lest I
had believed to see the goodness of the Lord. He said, I find
no rest. Thus shalt thou say. Here's what
he told Isaiah to tell, or Jeremiah to tell Barak. The Lord said,
saith thus, Behold, that which I have built will I break down.
That which I've planted, I'll pluck up, even this whole land.
In other words, everything the Lord has given us, he's going
to take it away. There's a word of warning. Here's
a word, a sure word from the Lord. All flesh is grass. The flower
thereof fadeth away. He's going to take it away, every
bit of it. They that trust in riches, deceitful. The Lord's going to
take it away. The Lord gave, the Lord take
it away. Verse 5, seekest thou great things
for thyself? Verse 5, seekest thou great things
for thyself? Great possessions, great houses,
great position, great land, great things. Seek them not, for behold,
I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord, but thy life
will I give thee. He that hath the Son hath life.
Remember that? People say they're living the
good life. Well, it's not life if you lose
it. It's not good if you anything, the slightest thing can take
it away. So he said this word of warning to us. And he said
that to Barak. You know, I thought about Barak,
Obama. I wish the Lord would speak this
word to Barak. You know, He could, couldn't
He? He spoke to Manasseh. The Lord tells us to pray He spoke to Manasseh. He turned
that man's heart. If we're looking for help for
our country in Barak or Barak's replacements, we ain't going
to find it. We're not going to find it. But
the Lord can turn that man's heart. He sure could. I thought about that. That's
what we ought to be praying for. That the Lord would speak to
Barak as He did to Barak. It's all coming down. This great
land is coming down like Israel, like Egypt. Look at verse 5. Here's a word of praise now.
Here's where we dwell. The Lord is exalted. In the midst of all this tumult
and confusion, the Lord Jesus Christ reigns and rules. That's
a word of praise. The Lord rules over all. Though
spiritual wickedness in high places is against us, the Lord
is higher. The Lord is higher. We appeal
unto the highest court in the land, the Supreme Court. The Lord Jesus Christ, all authority
He said is given unto me in heaven and earth. Though our enemies
be strong, the Lord is stronger than them. The Lord is exalted. Not shall be. The Lord is exalted. For he dwelleth on high. Look
at verse 5. He hath filled Zion with judgment
and righteousness. Zion, you know this. Zion is
his church, his people. Zion. I love the sound of it. Walk about Zion. Mark her palaces,
her bulwarks. Take a look at Zion. Look at
those bulwarks. Look at them. Salvation hath
he appointed for walls. Zion is His church, and the Lord
has filled His church with judgment and righteousness. Had not God
made foolish the wisdom of this world? But God's people are full
of discernment, full of judgment, full of understanding. He has
filled His people. He has darkened the understanding
of the world. These things He has hid from
the wise and prudent, but revealed them unto babes, unto us and
our children. Judgment. And righteousness. What's righteousness? You know,
just like today, you don't even hear the word sin in preaching.
You don't hear preachers talk about sin anymore. That's not
what they're appealing to people about. They're appealing to people
about all their physical troubles, aren't they? All their troubles
that they run into in this world. Because nobody is concerned about
forgiveness of sin except God's people. And that's why Christ
came. You never hear anybody talk about
that. You never hear them talk about righteousness. You ever
hear the word? Zion's filled with it. Every
preacher that stands in this pulpit, you'll hear him say it
several times. Righteousness. While the world
doesn't know what the word means, while the world doesn't know
they need it, while the world thinks they have it, while the
world doesn't care, He's filled Zion with righteousness. What's that? It's not what. It's who. It's who. The Lord
Jesus Christ is made unto us wisdom. Look at the next verse.
Here's a word of salvation and comfort and wisdom. Verse 6,
And wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy time. Wisdom. The Lord made unto us
wisdom. Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? The world professes themselves
to be wise, but they're fooled. God's people, He's filled His
people with wisdom. Why do they call the owl wise? Why do they call an owl wise? The wise owl. Why do they call
him that? Because he looks wise? He has
big eyes? He sees all? Because he's few words? Scripture says even a fool is
thought to be wise if he holds his tongue. I'll tell you why. You ask him any question, he'll
give you one answer. What's the meaning of life? Who? Ox knows his owner. Ass is master
of the crib. The wise owl. He'll tell you. Wisdom is a who. It's not found
in anything, anything, any philosophy, anything man has to offer. He,
him, who, is our wisdom. He who is our wisdom. Wisdom.
His church, His people with wisdom. And this wisdom and knowledge,
Peter said, grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is the stability of thy
times. In these times of ignorance,
God's Word is our wisdom. Christ is our wisdom. In this
time of foolishness, Christ is our wisdom. In this time of carnal
knowledge, we have the mind of Christ. In this unstable, perilous
times that we live in, the God of all grace, Peter said then,
the God of all grace who hath called us unto His glory by Jesus
Christ, establish, strengthen, and settle you. How the world
is troubled. He's filled Zion with peace and
rest through this knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Stability.
Stability. Stable. You know how you'll be
stable? If you're standing on a rock.
When the storms of life... We were in California and that
Pacific coastline is awesome. The Lord's creation there is
awesome. I've never seen it before. And
I was amazed by it. There's a rocky coastline and
there are big boulders out in the middle of the water that
have withstood the eons of time, you know, crashing against them.
There they stand, those big rocks. And I had to get down there close. Remember that, Mindy? We stopped
and it was the most glorious sight I've ever seen on this
earth. It was just awesome. The waves crashing up against
that rocky shoreline. I worked my way down. It was a big rocky outcropping. I worked my way down. I just
had to get down there near that water. It scared me. She lost sight of me. But I walked
down there. And those waves, no matter how
big they were, and they were fearsome, bashing that water. Water shooting 50 feet high. And I wasn't scared. You know why? I was standing
on a rock. Standing on a rock. And I stood
there for the longest time and just enjoyed that immensely. Stability in our times. Standing on Christ the Rock.
We have strength of salvation. Look at that. Strength of salvation. We have a God who is God. We
don't pray to a God who cannot save. Our God is God. We don't have to let Him be God.
He is God. Aren't you glad? Our Christ is the Savior. Not,
He will save you if you let... No, no, no, no. He is our Savior.
He's the Savior who left the 99 and went after 1. If He loses
1, He's going to go find it. We have a Christ who has never
lost one shape. Strength. Strong Savior. Strength of salvation. The blood
of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses. Particular, effectual, eternal,
Final, full redemption. We have a strong salvation. The
world, I don't know why they want a half payment, a down payment. We have strength of salvation.
Strong salvation. Certain salvation. Sure salvation
for the sin of surety. We have a Holy Spirit that cannot
fail, that will not fail, that will bring every one of His people
to Christ will draw them and will keep them all the days of
their life. Strong salvation. That's stability
in these times. You know why people go from church
hopping, go from here to there trying to find something? No
stability. No stability. We have stability. Strong salvation. Stability. One more word, okay?
This line, did it strike you? It says, the fear of the Lord
is His treasure. Did that strike you? It struck
me. For two weeks. The fear of the
Lord is His treasure. Fear of the Lord. That's where
saving wisdom begins and ends. Most don't know anything about
this. Most don't have it. The Lord calls it His treasure. His treasure. These are riches
that he bestows upon whom he wills. Treasure. The pearl of
great pride. The fear of the Lord. Riches
that every saint must possess, and the Lord alone has it, and
he gives it to them. Fear. Holy reverence. That's what it
is. Fear that causes us to tremble at His Word. Why are so many
people arguing against God's Word? No fear. Why do people
twist and corrupt His Word? No fear. Why do people turn away
their ears from the truth? No fear. Why do you have to have
it? Fear. This is a treasure. Unite our hearts, David said,
to fear. Thy name. All of us. Fear. The
fear of the Lord causes us to worship. Worship the Lord in
spirit and in truth. Worship the Lord. Why are people
just playing games? No fear. Why do people draw near
with their lips? No fear. Why do we come here
to worship the Lord, to thank Him, to bow in His holy presence? Fear. It's a treasure. It's a treasure. It's the greatest
thing you can have. The beginning of saving wisdom
and the continuance of it. This fear causes you to value
Jesus Christ. Do you know what it took to put
away our sin? Do you know what it takes for us to go to heaven?
Who shall dwell with the devouring fire? We read there in Isaiah
32. Who? Who shall ascend to His holy
hill of Zion? We can't do it. Christ did it. Ascended Mount
Sinai. Ascended Mount Calvary. Ascended
the cross. It was made sin for us there.
Bore the wrath of God. Poured out His soul unto death.
Poured out His precious blood on the mercy seat. Who is going
to be with Him? Those who value Christ. Those
who fear Him. The fear of the Lord causes us
to give diligence, to make our calling with fear. Paul said,
I haven't arrived yet. Paul said that. He said, I haven't
arrived yet. So this is one thing I do. One
thing, and this is what I do. Don't play at it. This is what
I do. Only the fear of the Lord will cause a person to press
or to mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Jesus
Christ. Why is this not a pressing matter to people? No fear. Why
is it pressing to you? I don't want to miscribe. Fear.
See that? It's treasure. Fear of the Lord
will make you willing to lose everything in this world but
Christ. Take it all, but don't take not
thy Holy Spirit from me. What is that? Fear. It's treasure. Yes, fear. And I tell you, God
tells you, everyone who has this fear of the Lord, this treasure,
everyone who He gives this treasure to, in the end, we'll hear him
say, fear not. No more fear. Go over with me
now in closing, 254. Just read this with me. Closing prayer. In Gatsby's,
number 254, Joseph Hart is the one that wrote this also. 254, this is wonderful. He started to sing it, but too
many verses. I'll just read it for you, okay? 254, this is wonderful. You have
it? The fear of the Lord our days
will prolong, in trouble afford a confidence strong, will keep
us from sinning, will prosper our ways, and is the beginning
of wisdom and grace. The fear of the Lord preserves
us from death, enforces His Word, enlivens our faith. It regulates
passion and helps us to quell the dread of damnation and terrors
of hell. The fear of the Lord is soundness
and health, a treasure well stored with heavenly wealth, a fence
against evil by which we resist world, flesh, and the devil and
imitate Christ. The fear of the Lord is clean
and approved, makes Satan abhorred and Lord Jesus beloved. It conquers in weakness, is proof
against strife, a cordial in sickness, a fountain of life. The fear of the Lord is lowly
and meek, the happy reward of all that Him seeks. They only
that fear Him, the truth can discern, for living so near Him,
His secrets they learn. The fear of the Lord, His mercy
makes dear, His judgments adored, His righteousness clear. Without
its fresh flavor in knowledge, there's fault. In doctrines,
no savor. In duties, no salt. The fear
of the Lord confirms a good hope. By this are restored the senses
that droop. The deeper it reaches, the more
the soul thrives. It gives what it teaches and
guards what it gives. The fear of the Lord forbids
us to yield. It sharpens our sword and strengthens
our shield. Then cry we to heaven with one
loud accord that to us be given the fear of the Lord.