My message tonight is on the
subject, the gospel according to Isaiah. I have a meeting planned
at a church in a couple of weeks, and I'm thinking seriously of
speaking the three times that I'll be speaking from Isaiah
53. Turn there first, if you will. Here in Isaiah fifty-three, you
have the gospel provided. Isaiah fifty-three, that's where
I want you to go first, Isaiah fifty-three. This is here, this
is the gospel provided, summed up in just a few verses here.
Gospel provided through Christ. Verse four, Surely he, Christ,
hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem
him stricken smitten of God and afflicted. Pleased the Lord to
bruise him. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him, and with his stripes we're healed. All we, none excluded,
all we, all of Zion, all of Israel, all of the Church, all of his
body, like sheep, wandering sheep, have gone astray. We have turned
everyone to his own way, but the Lord hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all. That's the gospel of our life. Now, Isaiah 54, Isaiah 54, the
theme of this chapter is the gospel promises, the Lord's promises,
the promises of God. Verse 5, For thou makest thy
husband, Isaiah 54, 5. The Lord of hosts is his name. Thy Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel, the God of the whole earth, shall he be called. We're
talking about the sovereign God here now. His promises are sure. He can't lie. Look at verse 7. In a small moment have I forsaken
thee, but with great mercy will I gather thee. In a little wrath
I hid my face from thee for a moment, but watch it now, but with everlasting
kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer."
That's a promise. That assures the throne of God,
I'll have mercy on you. Saith the Lord your Redeemer.
Verse seventeen, and no weapon, no weapon, heaven, earth, or
hell that's formed against thee shall prosper. Every tongue that
shall rise against thee in the judgment I shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants
of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." That's
the gospel promises. Certainly should. The gospel
provided by the sacrifice of our Redeemer. Gospel promise.
Sure mercies of David by our Lord God. Now then, here's the
gospel proclaimed. Starts out, hope! That's a... We say, what's that word mean?
It means listen. Like down south we say, hey!
Listen. Everyone that thirsts it. Hope. Everyone that thirsts it. come
to the waters. Now, our Lord used that term.
He stood one day that last great day of the feast. The people
had come. It was the Feast of the Tabernacles,
I believe. People had come to Jerusalem
from everywhere. They'd come there to keep a certain
holy day. And they'd been there three days,
and they were packing up and going home. They listened to
the Pharisees and the Sadducees. They'd gone to the motions kept
the holy day, and they'd done all the ceremonies and everything.
They were going home just as eager as when they came, just
as eager as when they came, with no peace, no joy, no happiness,
no salvation, just going through the motions. And our Lord stood
the last great day of the feast. The fires were being quenched,
and the ashes put on them, and the people were getting the kids
together, and they was getting ready to leave. And he said, If any man thirsts, let him come
to me." If there's anybody in this crowd, he said, who thirsts
really, genuinely, only if I have thirsted. We're not talking about
a natural thirst now. He's talking here about a spiritual
thirst, a thirst for cleansing, a thirst for peace, a thirst
for mercy, a thirst for grace. If any man thirsts, let him come
to me, and out of his innermost being shall flow rivers, rivers
of living waters." That's good news, isn't it? Told that woman
at the well, he said, he asked her for a drink. She said, I
come here to you, ask me here at Gentile, this American, for
a drink. He said, if you knew, If you
just look, the gift of God. The gift of God. That's what
they used to call water over there in the East. Those fellas
carrying water on their back in pigskins, you've read this.
Gift of God! They're going down the street
selling water, hollering, the gift of God! The gift of God! Water is so precious, it's the
gift of God. He said it's beautiful. The real
gift of God. You'd ask me, I'd give you what? Living water. You wouldn't have
to come back here and drop water. You're drinking this well, you'll
keep thirsting. But you're drinking the water I give you, you'll
never thirst. And did you notice he says, come to the walkers?
You see that? That's plural, and that's on
purpose. Everyone that's really thirsty, genuinely thirsty, Genuinely
desire cleansing and living water. Come to the waters. You know
why he calls it waters? He calls it waters because, whoa,
because it's plenty. Plenteous. Plenteous. With him, he said in Psalm 130,
it's plenteous mercy. Plenteous mercy. Come to the
waters. What does water do? Cleanses. What does water do? It quenches the thirst. What
does water do? It purifies. What does water
do? It refreshes. You come to Christ
for cleansing, purification, satisfaction. You come to the
waters. And there's plenty. There's plenty. And then he says in the next
line there, you have no money. You don't need any money. You
don't need any money. Money won't buy this. You come
and buy and eat. Come and buy. Yea, come buy wine. It's not the kind you give away. This is the best. This is valuable. Buy wine. This is priceless.
This is priceless. What is wine? What does the scripture
say about wine? Well, wine makes the heart glad. Wine not only makes the heart
glad, but it gives a happy and a cheerful heart. And not only
that, but it's good for the stomach. That's what Paul said to young
Timothy. He said, get you a little wine
for your stomach's sake. There's a whole lot of things
being served on tables around this world that's bad for the
stomach, but his wine is good for the stomach. It's good for
the whole man, the inner man. You come back without a nickel,
without a dime, without a deed, without a duty, without an I-O-U,
you just come on. It's free. This is the best price. Saved us a lot. And it's costly,
but he paid the price. But it'll make your heart glad.
It'll give a glow to your cheeks. And it'll give a warmth and satisfaction
and peace to your soul. It's his wine. And then he says,
come and buy milk. What's this milk? Well, I want
to ask you, what's the first thing you give a baby when it's
born? Well, milk is a life-giving and life-sustaining element. Milk. You come, the milk of the
word. Desire that sends him milk of
the word, that you may grow old. That's how we grow old, his milk.
And you get it without any price. Don't pay a thing. Come buy wine,
the best wine and milk without money, without price. It's free.
We just sang about it. Let not conscience make you leaner. And all the fitness, fondly read,
all the fitness he requires is just to have a thirst and a hunger
and feel your need of him. money, come to Jesus and die,
and die. Not the labor of these hands can fulfill the law's demands. Christ was seen, and only Christ
can atone and save. So everyone's come to the waters,
they're plentiful, and they're free. We're freely justified
from all sin by His grace, freely justified. Peter said, we're
not redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold,
but with the precious blood of Christ, the Lamb without spot
or blemish. Now verse two, here's a serious
question, powerful question. Listen to it. Wherefore do you
spend money for that which is not good? Why does he say money here? Well,
you know, all my life I've heard that saying, time's money. Time
is money. What do people mean by that?
Well, when you invest your time in something, you invest in your
treasures. You could be spending, making
some money. Time is money. Time spent is money. Well, here's
what the Lord's asking him. Why do you spend your time? which
is profitable to you. Why do you spend your strength? Why do you spend your efforts?
Why do you spend your reading time for that which is not great? What's he talking about? He's
talking about false religion. False religion is not great,
it's charity. Why do you spend your time and
your money and your efforts and your study time and your and
all these things for that which is not bread." And he says, "...and
that which will not satisfy." Why do you spend your time and
your money and your strength and your reading time for that
which is not bread? It's chaff. Christ is the bread
of life. He said, I'm the bread of life.
My body's meat indeed. He that eateth this bread will
never hunger. But you spend yours for that
which is not bread at all. And he said, you spend your labor
for that which does not satisfy. False religion never satisfied
anyone. I've had it, I know. I get it
up to here. And some of you are a false religion. It doesn't satisfy, it's not
great, it won't give peace in heart. So why do you indulge
in it? He's asked his people. He asked
another serious question back here in Isaiah 45. Turn to Isaiah
45. Listen to verse 20. Isaiah 45,
verse 20. He said, you have it there, Isaiah
45, 20. Why do you spend money for that
which you not bring it, and you labor for that which never satisfy? Verse 20, Isaiah 45. Assemble
yourselves and come now. Draw near to God. You that are
escaped to the nations, they have no knowledge that set up
wood their grave and images. A man prays to a false god and
has a false religion, he has no understanding of the real
God, and pray to a god that cannot save. Why do you pray to a god
that can't save? Well, preachers, they think he
can't. No, they don't either. They tell you he can't. They
say, he's done all he can do, and that's up to you. I've heard
them say that. You take the first step, God
will meet you. That's what they're saying. God
wants to save everybody, but He can't because they won't let
Him. That's a God He can't save. Why do you pray to a God that
can't save? Now, the Lord that we pray to
here at Central Baptist Church can save. That's right. He said, my arm's not sharp,
but I can't save. My ear's not headed, I can't
hear. Can I not do with my own what I will, he said? I'll be
merciful to whom I will. I'll be gracious to whom I will.
So I'm not going to pray to a God that can't say. Not going to. I'm going to pray to a God that's
able to do what he will, when he will, with whom he will. That's
the Lord God of heaven. He cannot fail. Why, he said,
why do you spend your time and your money and your strength
for that which is not grand at all? That which doesn't feed
the soul, that which doesn't satisfy. Why do you pray to a
God that can't save? Hearken, look at this, hearken
to me, hearken diligently unto me, verse 2 of Isaiah 55. Listen, turn your ear this way,
he said, hearken diligently. Diligently. Peter says, give
diligence to make your call and inflection show. Asterius. Asterius. Wait upon the Lord. Hearken diligently unto me. Now
listen. Hearken diligently unto me and eat that which is good. Who is that? That's Christ. Eat
that which is good, the Lord Jesus Christ, and watch this,
and let your soul just wallow around and delight itself in
fatness. Write by that word fatness, fullness. In him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead mightily, and you are complete in him. Now you just come to me. He said,
and hearkened diligently, now don't, just don't play games
with me now. You, you hearkened diligently
to me. And you eat that which is good. My, my blood is drink
indeed, and my body is meat indeed. And delight yourself. You just
wallow in the fullness of Christ. He's all you need. Plus nothing
minus nothing. He's your wisdom. And as you
grow in grace, you grow in the knowledge of Him, who's your
wisdom. He's your sanctification. He's your righteousness. He's
your redemption. He's your hope. A friend of mine
was going to write a thesis on hope, and he just wrote one sentence,
Christ in you, the hope of glory. The professor said, that's not
enough. He said, that is enough, too. Christ in you, that's the hope.
He's the hope. How can there be, how can there
not be enough if it's thee on the hope? Just water in that. Fullness. Fullness. Now listen, here's, here's two
precepts and two promises. Here's the two precepts. Incline
your ear. Boy, if we could just get people's
ears. You know this mouth, This mouth
feeds the body. You can't feed this body. At
least there was a time you couldn't. Now you can IV it. But before
IVs, you couldn't feed this body except through the mouth. That's
the only way. Feed this body through the mouth.
If you don't feed this body, it will swivel up and down. You
know how they feed your soul? Through the ear. Tell me any
other way. You see any other way? No sign. And you say, lookie
somewhere, that'll do for a while. But I'm talking about people
who seem to not believe. But you hear, incline your ear,
he said to me. That's the first precept. You
incline your ear to me. And the second precept is you
come to me. Don't come to the preacher. I'm doing for you all I can do
right now. That's tough. Isn't that right?
That's all I get. Don't come to the preacher. Don't
come to the front. You're not any closer to God
up here than you are back there. That's right. Don't come to the
altar. We have an altar, but it's not
up here. It's at the right hand of God. Christ is our altar.
Isn't that what scripture says? I have an altar. You tell all
your Pentecostal friends, we have an altar. Tell all your
Catholic friends, we have a priest. Tell all your legalistic friends,
we have a Sabbath. Christ is our Sabbath. Everything
you have, we have, too, in one person. Don't come to the altar. Don't come to the front. Don't
come to the person. Come to me, he said. Me. Come to me. And I'll tell you what I'll do
for you. Here's the promise. Your soul will live. If you can
come to me, your soul will live. Come to me, and your soul will
be healed. You'll miss the second death.
You know, turn to Revelation. The second death, that's the
eternal death. That's something you don't want
to have any part of, the eternal death. Revelation, there's three
scriptures here that are just awesome. Revelation 2.11. Revelation 2.11 says, He that
hath an ear. That's what we're talking about. Can you hear? Let him hear what
the Spirit of God says to the churches. He that overcometh
shall not be hurt of the second death. That's when God puts away
everything, annihilates everything that's contrary to him. I don't
want to be in that mess. I don't want to be in that bunch,
the second death. And then here in Revelation 20,
verse 6, listen to this. Revelation 20, verse 6, O blessed
and holy is he that had part in the first resurrection. On such, the second death hath
no power. Ask where I will be, the second
death hath no power. Look at Revelation 21.3. I heard
a great voice, Revelation 21, 21.8, I'm sorry, 21.8. But the fearful and the unbelieving
and the abominable, and murderers, or mockers, sorcerers, idolaters,
and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth
with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." That's
just too depressing to think about. Well, he says, incline
your ear, and hear, and come to me, and your soul will heal. And over you, the second is there
and hath no power. He that believeth on me will
never die. He that cometh to me shall never be confounded,
shall never be put to death. That's my promise. If precepts
is hidden, inclined to be hidden, come to me. The promise is, and
you live. Your soul will live. Your soul
will live eternally. Now here's the second promise.
And I'll make an everlasting covenant with you. even the same
sure certain mercies I gave to David." Man, that's a long argument. Oh, I want in on that, don't
you? Well, just hear it. Incline your ears and come to
me. And I promise you, the sacrament of death has no power over you.
You're there. And I'll make with you an everlasting
covenant. And he tells you about it in
Jeremiah. Turn to Jeremiah 31. Here they are. Here's the promises. to those who are just here and
come to Him. Jeremiah 31, listen, listen here
to verse 33. Jeremiah 31, 33. This is the
covenant. He said, this is what I'm talking
about. Jeremiah 31, 33. This will be
the covenant I'll make with the house of Israel after those days. I'll put my law in your heart.
In your heart. in your heart, in your inward
parts. I write it in your heart, and
listen, I'll be your God, and you'll be my people. Two of my
favorite scriptures, my most favorite, have to do with Abraham. It says in Isaiah 41, God said,
I did this for Jacob, but I did this for Abraham, my friend. Isn't that precious? And then
over in James, it says something about Abraham, who's called a
friend of God. I'll be your God. If you'll hear
me, your heart can tell me, you'll come to me. I'll be your God,
and you'll be my people. Friend of God. I'm telling you. Look at the next verse, verse
thirty-four. And you teach no man ever No
more every man's neighbor and every man's brother saying, know
the Lord, know the Lord, you'll all know me. From the least to
the greatest. These Old Testament people had
to depend on the prophets. Great prophets, great high priests,
Abraham, Samuel. But he said, the least one will
know me. The least little fellow in the kingdom of God will know
me. I'm here for God too. He's my people. He knows me.
And I'll know him from the least to the greatest. And I'll forgive,
I'll forgive their iniquity. I won't remember this sin no
more. No more. You remember him, don't you?
He doesn't. That's the most awesome scripture
in the Bible. God, who knows all things, forgets
nothing, knows everything before it happens, because He decrees
it, but He does not know John Davison. not one of your sins
you don't remember. That's how powerful the blood
of Christ is, that Almighty God can't find any fault with you
in Christ. That's awesome. You don't come
down here and get that. You don't go to that good of
a water and get that kind of relationship. You come to Christ. You don't sign up for that. You
know, you may sign up for some rapture, you know, but you don't
sign up for this. You come to Christ. I'll be your
God, you'll be my people, I'll be your friend. I'll forgive all your iniquities,
and I won't remember one sin anymore. Turn over to Jeremiah 32. He
says some more things about this covenant. Jeremiah 32, verse
39. Well, I just love this passage
right here. Jeremiah 32, 38. He says, and
they'll be my people. I'll be their God. Jeremiah 32,
38. I'll give them one heart, one
way. They may fear me forever. for
the good of them, their children after them, and I'll make an
everlasting covenant with them that I will not turn away from
them to do them good, but I'll put my fear in their hearts and
they won't turn away from me. Now that's a good prophecy. If
you belong to him, he'll never leave you, but I'll give you
another state, you'll never leave him. You ain't know where you
can go. and find what you find in Him,
you'll never leave Him. Some people don't leave Christ. He said they don't ever leave
Him. Back to my text, Isaiah 55, Behold, he says in verse
4, Behold, I've given Him, this is the Lord God talking about
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, I've given Him. This is the covenant
made with us in our Redeemer. Everything He's given us is in
Christ, worked out by Christ, earned by Christ, accomplished
by Christ. He says, I've given Him for a
witness. Here's His threefold office.
He's the prophet. I've given Him for a witness.
Christ said, I speak those things I've seen and do know. I've seen, I've heard, and I
do know. My witness is true. My witness
is true. He said, The Spirit of the Lord
God is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He's our preacher. He's our witness. He's our prophet. And then secondly, I've given
him as a leader. He's our high priest. He leads
us in paths of righteousness. For his namesake, he restores
my soul. He's my leader. He's my leader. And then thirdly, he's my commander. I've given him as a commander.
He's my, he's my king of kings and lord of lords. He's my Joshua
to take me in the cave. Old Moses is dead, buried on
the mountain. The law was put away. And Joshua,
you know what Joshua's name is? Jesus. That's the Old Testament
name, Jesus, Joshua. God my Savior, that's his name,
and he leads us triumphantly in the kingdom. He does what
the law couldn't do. We buried Moses and Joshua took
the sin. He's my witness, he's my priest,
my leader, he's my king, my commander. I follow him. Follow him. Verse five, he shall not fail.
nation, I shall call a nation thou knowest not, and nations
it knew not thee." Cannibals, Gentiles, used to eat each other.
That's right. Our forefathers used to eat each
other. Do you know that? That's right. We'd come from
a bunch of England. We didn't know God. He said, you'll call
a nation that knew you not, and they'll run to you. Run to you. because of the Lord thy God,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified
thee. Father, glorify thy Son, that
thy sons may glorify thee. He didn't faint. He accomplished
all the Father's sin in the earth. Nothing needs to be added to
anything my Savior did for his people. It's complete. It's finished. He shall not faint. So, What
are we going to do? Verse six, seek the Lord. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Now, what is it to seek the Lord? I've looked at that, and looked
at it, and looked at it for a long, long time, tried to preach on
it. What is it to seek the Lord? Well, it's a whole lot more than
just to go to church. It's a whole lot more than to
get interested in religion. It's a whole lot more than the
side of which Calvinists are right and Arminians are wrong.
And the Catholics have missed it and the Baptists have too.
But what is it to seek the Lord? He says, seek ye the Lord while
he may be found. Call ye, he, seek ye the Lord. Call ye upon him while he may
be found. I'll give you five things, I
believe it is. A fellow asked a preacher one
time, said, how long it take you to prepare that message?
Well, this particular one, 49 years. I'm still learning, still
adding to it. There's five things I know that
are included in seeking the Lord, with seriousness and with success. Number one. Number one is to
discover in reality, by nature, that I don't know the Lord. So that's the first thing I've
got to have revealed to me and discovered that I don't have.
Why do you seek something if you already have it? Why would
he say seek the Lord if we already had it? I'm not talking about
believers now. I'm talking about, he's talking to the whole world
here. Seek ye the Lord. Seek ye the Lord. Well, if you
already have him, you don't have to seek him. So this, the first
thing is, by nature I don't know him. Seek the Lord secondly is
to desire his mercy, his forgiveness, his fellowship more than any
other thing. God won't bless a divided heart.
Just won't bless a divided heart. He's going to be Lord of all,
or he's not going to be Lord at all. You don't seek him as a sideline,
you don't seek him as a fad, you don't seek him to add to
the other gods. You seek him with the desire
for his mercy, his fellowship, his forgiveness more than any
other thing. More than any other. You'll seek me and find me when
you search for me with all your heart. You know what it says? All your heart. My heart belongs
to Christ. I love my wife, I love my granddaughter,
I love my son, I love my daughter-in-law, I love you. He's my Lord. He's my Master. And I can do
without you. I wouldn't want to. But I couldn't
do it without Him. I can't face God without Christ.
I can't have your friendship without Christ. I can't have
your eternal friendship and fellowship without Christ. So if I have
Him, I have you. Is that right? If I have Him,
I have you eternally. You say you love your wife, well
if you have Him, you have her for eternity. But if you don't
have Him, you don't have anything. So it's to seek Him with all
your heart. And you'll find Him. Seek me with all your heart and
I'll be found of you. I'll be found of you. I guarantee
it. That's right. I guarantee it.
That's something I guarantee. You see, why didn't he find the
Lord? He wasn't looking for Him with
all his eyes. And God knew it. Third essential. It's to be willing
to be saved on His terms. Now boy, that's something this
world doesn't want to deal with. He dictates the terms. It's his
turn. His turn. Repent and believe. It's his turn to come to Christ.
It's his turn to bow down. It's his turn to repent. It's
his turn to receive Him. His turn. I don't tell the Lord
what I'm going to do. He's the Savior. He doesn't have
to show mercy to me. No, He doesn't have to. He has
to give me justice, but He'll give me mercy if He will. That's
what that leper said, Lord, if You will, You make me whole.
So it's His turn. And then fourthly, it's to be
willing to part with all others and all else that's opposed to
Him. You don't have to part with anyone
that loves Him. You don't have to part with any
one than any, but you have to part with all else and all others
that are not in Christ. That's right, that are not in
Christ. It's opposed to Christ. Darkness
and light can't walk together. What agreement does Baal have
with idols? What does Baal have with God?
What agreement does darkness have with light? Paul said I
count all things but loss for the excellence of the knowledge
of Christ my Lord. Yeah I do count them but don't
that I may win Christ and be found in Him. So whatever comes
along that's not in Christ and of Christ and seeking the glory
of Christ you don't want to be partnership with it. You don't
want to be committed to it. to be willing, willing to be
with Him. He makes His people willing.
And then fifthly, it's to seek Him. Not His. Once it was the
blessing, now it's the Lord. Once it was the gift, now it's
the giver I want. If I have Him, I have everything
else. So it's to seek Him. I believe that's a pretty good
answer, that what is it? To seek the Lord. And here's
verse seven and eight, listen to this. Let the wicked forsake
his way, his own way of life, his own choice in things, his
way, his way of salvation, his works, his righteousness, the
way that seems right to him. Just turn from our way. Our ways
are not his ways. And our thoughts. Let the unrighteous
man forsake his thoughts. We're not talking about natural
thoughts. You've got to think on your job. You've got to think
on your work, you've got to think on your children, you've got
to think on your obligations, you've got to think on your responsibilities,
you've got to think on these things, natural things. But this
thing for the unrighteous man to forsake his thoughts, that's
his thoughts about God, who He is. That's His glory, His magnesty. Isn't that what that is? To forsake
your thoughts about people, they have the wrong thoughts of God. Brother Barnard was having supper
with a man one time. He was in a meeting, and the
man was having supper with a man and his wife. The wife came to
church faithfully, but the husband wouldn't come. And he didn't
like the kind of preaching that was going on down there. So they
were sitting, and he went to the house to have dinner with
them, because the wife wanted him to, and wanted to talk to
her husband. And they were sitting around the table, and Barnard
said, the husband wasn't saying much. He saw he was angry. And finally he turned to Martin
and he said, Preacher, my God won't do what you say. Martin said, I didn't answer
him. I wanted one more bite of chicken before I got thrown out,
you know, so I kept on eating. And then he turned to him again
and said, do you hear me, Preacher? I said, my God won't do what
you say. Martin looked at him and said,
I expect you're right. your God won't, but the God of my will. Man's got to forsake his thoughts
about it. My God won't do this, my God
won't do that. It's not what your God will do
at all, it's what the eternal living God will do. And the way
to find out what He'll do is what He says He'll do in this
world. Here's our, here's our, here's our rule of faith and
practice. Here's our foundation of faith.
Here's how we know who God is and what God will do and what
God has done and what He plans to do. Right here. Let God be
God. Old Maven said, I thought that's
the whole problem. I got to thinking about how sin
came into this world. And you know what? Where sin,
all the sin and depravity and death and darkness and and hopelessness
and all that we know in this world. You know where it all
started? In Adam's thoughts. One man stood representing this
race and he thought the wrong thing. He said, I'll be like
God. And that threw this whole thing
in the smithereens. I'll be like God. I'll go my way and fulfill my
thoughts. Now, if you're going to come
to Him and I'm going to come to Him, we're going to forsake our way
and our thoughts and bow to God. Let God be God. That's true preaching. That's the basic, that's the
foundation, let God be God. Now God, let me tell you something. You remember these four things.
A God who can pardon you or me without justice being satisfied. may one day condemn us without
reason. If a God Almighty can justify
a sinner without justice, He may condemn some day without
reason. You know the reason we know we'll not be condemned?
Because Christ satisfied justice for us. That's how you know. That's the only way you know.
There is no judgment to them who are in Christ. God cannot
condemn us because we're justified. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect if God's unjustified? And that's the reason we know
He'll never condemn because He's just. But if He can save you
without justice, He can condemn you without reason. That's true. Listen to this. A God who can
set aside His holiness I know a lot of people think, well,
we're going to heaven, you know, because we've just done the best
we can. I know we're not perfect, I know we're not holy, I know
we're not like Christ, but I just believe there's a place to live.
Now God can do that. He can take you to heaven without
you being perfectly holy. He can just as easily one day
set aside His mercy. That's right. If He can set aside
His holiness, He can set aside His mercy. That's no God. He
can't set us up. Christ came, satisfied justice,
and satisfied the law, and we're holy. And God got to show mercy. And, of course, He's God. He
can't condemn us. Here's the third. A God who can
deny His law may someday deny His gospel. Isn't that right? But our hope is he can't deny
his justice, he can't deny his holiness, and he can't deny his
law. We've got to obey the law. The
only way a man can be justified is that by Christ or by the law.
And the reason we're not sat justified by the law is because
we didn't obey it, and the reason we're justified by Christ is
he did obey it. He's justified by the law. Christ is the only
man living that's ever been justified by the law. He said of God, He
is near that justifies me. He obeyed Him. Christ was justified
before God as a man, not by the blood of a substitute, but by
holiness, you know, in the previous. There's one man who's been justified
by the law, Christ, but nobody else. There's been people justified
before the law, Abraham, Noah, Abel, Is man justified during
the law? Moses, Abraham, Samuel, David. Is man justified since the law? You and me. Man been justified
before the law, during the law, since the law, but no one's ever
been justified by the law. Justified with Christ. And that's why... See, God can't...
He can't deny the law. And because he can't deny his
law, he can't deny his gospel. That man will beg that law. One
hundred percent. And then a God who can reverse
his word of command, may one day reverse his word of promise. But he can't reverse his word
of command. He commanded it was done. All
right, I've got to quit. Look at verse 9. He said, as
the heavens, here's why we have to forsake our ways and our thoughts,
as the heavens are higher than the earth. Verse 9, my ways are
higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
And as the rain coming down from the snow from heaven returns,
not visited but watered the earth and maketh it bring forth in
buds, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater.
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It will
not return to me void. It shall accomplish that which
I please. It shall prosper the same way
unto thy sin. Our Lord saves his people through
the preaching of his word." And he said, when it's preached,
it'll accomplish the purpose for which it's preached. And
it'll accomplish the purpose for which it's sinned. And here's
his promise in our clothes. You shall go out with joy. You
shall be led forth with peace. The mountains and the hills shall
break forth before you into singing, and all the trees in the fields
shall clap their hands, and the curses shall be removed. You
remember he said to Adam, he said, you'll till the land through
the sweat of your brow, and it'll bring forth thorns and briars.
But he said to you and me, instead of the thorn, shall come up the
fir tree. Instead of the briar, shall come
up the myrtle tree. It shall be to the Lord for a
name, an everlasting sign, that shall not be cut off. The curse
is removed. The restoration is complete in
Christ our Lord. Our Father, we thank you for
your Word. I pray that everyone here tonight will be encouraged
by the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, provided in
its fullness and abundance by His divine obedience and sacrificial
hand. Precious blood that cleanses
us from all sin. Blessed hope. Be encouraged by
the promises of your word. I'll be your God, you'll be my
people. I'll never turn away from doing
you good. I'll put my law in your heart,
right in your minds. I'll forgive your iniquities
and remember your sin no more. Oh, the blessed promises, sure
mercies of nature that we have in Christ our Lord. And this
glorious gospel has been proclaimed to us so many, many, many times. Lord, increase our faith. Strengthen
our confidence. We know whom we have believed,
and we're totally persuaded that he is able to keep that which
we have committed once for all unto him against that day. It is in his name that we trust. It is in his name that we call
upon thee. It is in his name that we rest
confident and sure and certain of life eternal. It is in his
name that we worship and call thy name, our father. It's in
his name that we pray and ask for your mercy and grace upon
this congregation, upon our beloved brothers and sisters in Iceland
and throughout this world who rejoice in Christ. Amen. So don't be confused. Don't be confused.