I want you to turn in your Bible
to Isaiah 28. Isaiah, the gospel of Isaiah. I believe Isaiah had a lot to
say about the gospel of Christ. Quoted many times in the New
Testament, Isaiah 28, beginning with verse 14. You got it? You know, I was, as Terry was praying there, he
mentioned something in his prayer that struck a thought with me
about that meeting down there in Lexington. I'm real thankful for that work
there in Lexington, and I'll tell you why. It's for a selfish reason, a
selfish reason on my part. There's a university there in
Lexington. Some of that University of Kentucky. They have a basketball team down
there. Occasionally we we watch a ball game. But you mentioned
in your prayer about about preaching those preaching down there. And
I have a real keen interest in what's going on. I have a daughter that's living
in Lexington who's going to school there. And, you know, this week
being Thanksgiving, they let him out of school for Thursday
and Friday. They were out of school. Well,
the girl that she rooms with, Tara Thornberry, some of you
know, know her. They room together down there
in a dorm. They came home Wednesday evening from school. And she
told me, she said, we're going to stay for Thursday, but Friday
we need to go back to Lexington. And I said, well, you know, you
have the weekend at home. She said, no, no, you don't understand. We want to go back and hear the
preaching of the gospel. She's just 19 years old. But
I'm thankful your pastor this morning preached to my daughter.
And I give thanks for that. You reminded me of that in your
prayer. And I give thanks for Brother Todd and that work that
God has raised up there. We have probably eight or nine,
maybe ten young people from Ashland, 13th Street, that are attending
school there. And they have a place where they
can go and hear the gospel preached. And you know what? It's an encouragement
to their parents that they have an interest in going. But I tell
you, you know what else? It's an encouragement to Todd.
He loves to preach to those young folks, young people down there. It thrills him. And it's good
for us parents. I have a selfish reason, I admit. But your pastor preached to my
daughters today. And I pray that, you know, we send her down there to get
an education. And I hope she gets an education,
secular education. But you know what I really hope
for? What my prayer really is? That God would teach her the
gospel of His grace. That's my prayer. That's my prayer. They can... I know I'm not making
fun of learning. We need to learn. We need to
be students. We need to know our business
and our job and get the training we need to make a living. But
that's not the main education I need. That's not the main education
that I want my children to have. I want them to have the education
that comes from God. Those who have heard and have
learned of the Father, what does he say in John 6? They're coming
to Christ. And that's what my prayer is
for those young folks that are attending down there. And I'm
thankful for that meeting. I'm thankful for that place down
there. Well, let me move on here. Isaiah 28, Isaiah 28, verse 14. Let me read these few verses,
and we'll come back and make some comments here. Isaiah 28,
beginning with verse 14. And he says, Wherefore hear,
hear the word, not just any word, he says, hear, hear the word
of God, the word of the Lord. You mockers, you scarners. harmful
men that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. The hub of religion
in that day may be the hub of religion in this day because
you have said, here's why you need to hear from God. Listen
to what these folks say. Because you have said, we've
made a covenant with death. We have it all fixed up with
death and with hell. We are at agreement. We are at
agreement. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, it's not going to come down to me. It
won't touch me. We have made lies our refuge,
and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Verse 17, judgment
also. Well, I lay to the line. a line,
no variance, a line, a law, judgment, righteousness to the plummet,
and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the water
shall overflow the hiding place, and your covenant with death,"
God said, I'm going to reveal your hiding place, your righteousness,
your covenant with death, "...shall be disannulled." And your agreement
with hell, God says, shall not stand. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, then shall you be trodden down by it. From
that time that it goeth forth, it shall take you. For by morning,
by morning shall it pass over. By day, by night, it shall be
a vexation only to understand the report of it. The bed, your
bed, your place of rest, your refuge is shorter than a man
can stretch himself on it. And you're covering, you're covering
narrower than a man can wrap himself in it. Now, let me go back and make
the introduction, and then I want to deal with these few verses
here as the Lord would bless us to do so. I believe I got
this statement here out of your pastor's bulletin, and it's written
hundreds of years ago by Augustine. And he made this statement, and
your pastor wisely reported it to you to read. Maybe some of
you remember reading it. He said, Our faith is fed, the
believer's faith is fed by what is plain in Scripture. and tried by what is obscure. Faith is fed. Genuine, saving
faith is fed by that which is plain in Scripture. I ask myself this question. What
is that in the Scripture which is plainly taught that feeds
my soul? And I come to the conclusion,
Rick, it's just one thing. Just one thing's needful for
this sinner to feed upon that's plainly taught in the Word of
God, and that's Christ. That's the Lord Jesus Christ
in all of His person and in all of His glory. That's what I need. And that's what's plainly taught
in the Word of God. And anything short of Christ
is the fuel which does not feed my soul. I'm not willing to sit
and listen to some man ramble on about the morality and the
moral issues of the day. That doesn't feed my soul. It
vexes my soul. I need somebody to tell me, tell
this sinner where I can find peace and hope and rest and a
real refuge that will stand the wrath of God who is holy. That's what I need. You and the
apostles said this, and you mentioned this in your prayer about the
simplicity of the gospel. Oh, and that word is singleness. Singleness of the gospel. I believe
that might be in your lesson next week, 2 Corinthians 11.
The singleness, the simplicity of the gospel. It's Christ. It's the single
message of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what the scripture is
all about. Christ. Paul said this, the apostle,
saying then that we have such a hope and we have a good hope,
a good hope. Paul said we have a good hope.
What? Through my works? Because I've
done this? No, we have a good hope through
grace. We have an everlasting consolation
and a good hope through Jesus Christ himself. By the grace
of God is that hope founded upon. Seeing that we have such a hope,
we use great plainness of speech. I don't want to carry on and
ramble on when you can't understand what I'm saying. I hope I can
talk in language that we can all understand. These people
who try to be an intellect, who try to be clever, who try to
be smart, they're fools. Just be plain. I hope I can speak
to you tonight plainly from the Word of God. Because we have
such a hope, we use great plainness of speech. That's my prayer,
that God, who is the Almighty God, who is the only God beside
Him, there is no other God. I pray that he would use this
message, maybe that he would use this earthen vessel to declare
unto you the gospel once again of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
he would use this message to dispel and to destroy any false,
vain notion, any idea of any hope, of any refuge, of any righteousness,
of any foundation that's severed, that's divorced from the Lord
Jesus Christ. I hope God would enable me to
show plainly that the foundation that centers like we are, such
as we are, we must have a refuge to hide in. Not a refuge of lies
that we read about, but a refuge that's founded and wrapped up
and vested all in Christ. Do you remember what Paul said?
And may God bring us all to this point in our life, individually,
before God in my heart. Bring this to my heart and my
eyes. As Paul said in Philippians 3,
count everything but loss. For the excellency of the knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ, count everything done and ruined and
lost that I might win Christ and be found in Him." Oh, I need
Christ. I need Him. I need Him desperately
to divorce everything, any hope of righteousness, any hope of
salvation. apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, it's His bloody sacrifice
that redeems from all sin. You see, we have a great high
priest. that has entered into the heavens. And this high priest
we have, the Lord Jesus Christ, He didn't bring that typical
blood. He didn't bring that typical sacrifice, did He? You remember
what it said in Hebrews 9? He entered in once into the holy
place, not with the blood of bulls or of goats, but with His
own blood. He entered in once into the very
presence of God, there to appear for us. To do what? To obtain eternal redemption
with His own blood. You see, it's His blood. It's
not my works. It's not, you know, repentance
does not put away sin. Does it? Huh? Does your faith put away sin?
No, sir. Blood. Blood. Not any blood. Not any kind of
blood, God blood. God purchased us. God cleansed
us by the one offering. He perfected forever them that
are sanctified by the one offering. One time, those high priests
of old offered many sacrifices which could never take away sin.
The blood of bulls and of goats can never put away sin. That
one sacrifice got it done. eternally done. Oh, it's new
and it's fresh. You see, it's His bloody sacrifice
that redeems from all sin. It's His perfect obedience to
the law of God that satisfied God's immutable justice. It's
His obedience. It's His obedience. What's He
doing here that God may mediate to? He's not working out a righteousness
for Himself. He's holy, but as the God-man
mediator, as my substitute, as my surety, He's walking here,
fulfilling every job and every title of the law. Why? Honoring the law, satisfying
the law, exalting the law. That's my righteousness. Blessed
is the man to whom God would impute You know what that word
impute means? It means to charge to your account.
What you do every time you take your visa card and you charge
something, you impute that charge, that debt to your account. He's
imputed to us with how it works. He's given that to us without
words. His righteousness. No wonder
David said, and Paul repeated in Romans 4, blessed is that
man. Happy is that man who has the righteousness of God given
to him. It's worked out by a substitute.
Oh, Christ. It's His obedience. You see,
that's the only way God can be God and still save me and still
have anything to do with me. It's that righteousness that
cleanses us and covers and wraps me up wonderfully. And you know,
it's a righteousness. It's not, as Brother Richardson
would say, it's not a pasted on righteousness. We often say, clothed in righteousness. Listen, God made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be M-A-D-E. That's what
we are, made righteous in his sight. See, it's his blood. It's his righteousness. It's
his almighty quickening power that dead sinners are raised
to the newness of life. You have he quickened who were
dead. Now, who did that? Who cleansed
you? He did. He did. Who made you
whole? He did. He did. Who made you
righteous? He did. Who quickened you from
the dead? Who took that corpse, that spiritual
corpse, out of the grave of sin and ruin and death and bondage
and gave you life? You hath he quickened who were
dead. The scripture said in John 6,
63, it's the Spirit that quickened it. God the Holy Spirit who quickened
it. The flesh profited zero. You didn't add one thing to it.
If you did, you'd mess it up. You'd mess it all up. And you
know what you'd do? You'd pat yourself on the back
and say, look what I've done. That's what religion in our day
says, isn't it? I can quickly detect someone's
experience of grace, whether it's real or not. I have conversation
with them, and you know what little word I listen for? I walked an aisle, or I accepted
Jesus, or I did that. Huh? That's works religion. That's what that is. Every man
by nature loves... Every man by nature is an Arminian.
Did you know that? Every man by nature tries to
approach God on the basis of his merit. Now, left to ourselves,
that's what we do. And we're so plagued with it,
we're so prone to it, but it's God who quickens. God who quickens. Now, what a monument, what a
trophy to man's depraved nature. What a monument to man's spiritual
insanity to ignore God's Christ, to ignore God's provision, and
to go about and to establish an to establish your own righteousness? Huh? Think about that. What absurdity! What spiritual
ignorance! What an insult to God Almighty! To ignore His Christ, to ignore
that sacrifice and try to approach God in your own merit? Oh, what
an insult to God! What an insult to God, to His
character, to His wisdom. What an outrage, huh? That's what these men right here
in Isaiah 28, they had their own refuge all fixed up and ready
to go. I know Isaiah is speaking to
his generation in his day, but the message certainly is fitting
to us and to our day, is it not? Oh, it is. It really is. Look
at verse 14. He said, Would you hear God? Would you hear the word of God? Would you hear it? Would you
hear from God? Would you set aside your preconceived
notions, your thoughts, your ideas? Well, I think God's like
this. No, your thinking's all wrong. God's not the way we think He
is. He's the way He is. We need a
revelation of God, of who He is, in all His glory, in His
power, in His holiness. Would you hear, God? Would you
lay aside? Would you sit still and listen
to what God says? That's what he says right here
in the text. Would you hear the word of God? Would you sit still
and just divorce all your past theology and all your thinking?
You know, I had lots of divorce in my life. I grew up out there
in Salt Lake City and they pounded Mormonism in my head from the
day I came out of mama's belly. And I had to divorce that. God
had to divorce that from my thinking. My theology was all backwards. All backwards. And we're all
that by nature. Would you hear God? Turn over
to John chapter 8. Hold your place there. Let me
show you a verse over here in John chapter 8. John chapter
8, verse 47. John 8, verse 47. Would you hear
God? Would you hear a word from Him?
I tell you, His people, His people here, they're willing to listen
to God. Listen to what He says here in
John 8, 47. You got it? He said, He that is of God, He
that is of God, the man who's by God's eternal election, by
God's regeneration, by God-given faith, He that is of God, What
does he do? He hears. Who does he hear? He
hears God's Word. He's willing to bow to what God
says. The sheep of Christ, they bow. The goats, they come up with
this argument, but, but, now, but. No. Goats, but. Sheep, bow. He that is of God,
heareth God. Look here, and he's talking to
these Pharisees. You, therefore, you hear them not. Why? You don't know God. The person
tells me he believes God and will not have the Word of God.
I was at a family Christmas gathering a few years ago, and these folks
are all supposed to be church members, and they've been in
church all their lives. And all this thing and they got
to talking about some spiritual things. And of course, I chimed
right in on the conversation, you know, I was sitting over
there just waiting to get in. And now we started talking along
and I mentioned something about God's eternal purpose and his
elective grace and he being sovereign and have mercy on whom he will.
And they hollered at me, that's predestination. I said, well,
that is a Bible word. And I said, I'll tell you what
let's do. Let's get a Bible and see what God says. So someone
was bold enough to go get a Bible. And they brought it in the kitchen.
We were all sitting around the table there. And I flipped over
to Ephesians 1. And I got down to about verse
7 or 8. And, buddy, that was it. They
would not have His Word. That tells me one thing right
away. They don't know God. Mark it down. Mark it down. Look what it says right here
in verse 15. Hear the word of the Lord, you
scornful men that rule with people in this horrible religious city,
Jerusalem, because you have said... Here's the problem. You know, Larry King, have you
ever heard Larry King on the radio? He's obnoxious. I don't
like him. He's an agnostic. But he said
one thing that made a lot of sense to me. He said, he said
to someone, you know, he said, I've never learned anything by
talking. I think about it. I've never
learned anything by talking, listening. That's what we need
to do. Listen, that's what he says right here. Because you
have said they're so busy talking and we're so busy thinking we
know everything that we haven't heard God. We don't learn anything
by talking, do we? Sitting still, listening, waiting
for God, oh, to hear a word from God, blessed, blessed of God,
because you have said, now listen to what they say here, because
you have said, we have made a covenant with death. Now how far will
a proud sinner boast? I'll tell you, pretty far. pretty
far, because you have said, We have made a covenant with death
and with hell. We're in agreement. We're in
agreement with hell and death. How far will a proud sinner boast? Remember what Satan told Eve,
Thou shalt not surely die. And you know, we're just so dead
and so ruined and so wicked. This old man and this old nature
still believes the same lie. We think that with death, we're
in agreement. But the scripture said it's an
appointment that you're going to meet. It's appointed unto
men once to die, and after that, judgment. Judgment's coming. People often make fun of death,
don't they? Huh? People that, I mean, just
people on the job that don't know nothing of God, know nothing
of the Scriptures, but they make fun of death. They mock death. Well, I guess his number was
up. You know, they make jokes about it, don't they? They're
saying in their heart and in their mind, we have an agreement
with death. And you know what it is? We're
not going to die. We're not going to die. They
believe that, and they live this life to the fullest, believing
that lie, you won't die. I had a man at work, sat down,
and he's bragging about his retirement, how much money he's going to
save, and how much he's going to do this, and he's going to
buy this and fix up this, and he had everything planned out
and all fixed up. And I looked him dead in the
eye and I said, buddy, I said, you're going to die. You're going to die." And he
got so upset with me, he said, what are you talking about? He
said, I'm not planning on dying, I'm going to live. I said, you're
going to die. You're going to retire and you're
going to drop dead in a few years. Never considered that. He had
an agreement with death. And look what it says right here
in the text. And with hell, we've got a covenant with death and
with hell we're in agreement. People make light of judgment,
don't they? I say, all my friends will be in hell, we'll have a
good time. Listen, God's holy. God is holy. God must punish
sin. Mark it down. For as much as
there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ, apart from
Christ, mark it down, eternal wrath and condemnation. Those
who believe not the wrath of God abideth on them. Judgment,
eternal judgment, eternal punishment is a reality not to be made fun
of. And it says here in the text,
verse 15, we've made lies our refuge and under falsehood have
we hid ourselves. Now, would a person intentionally
hide in a refuge that he knew that was It was false. You think back to the time when
you were in religion without Christ. I can think back to that
time. And I thought I was right. Didn't
you? I thought we had a hold of the
truth. Didn't even know the truth. Didn't even know who the truth
was. Under false lies and refuge, under falsehood, have we hid
ourselves and we're so blind and so dead that we think we
have a hold of the truth, and we don't even know the truth.
And God has to take dynamite, the dynamite of the power of
the gospel, to blow us out of that refuge. I have never met
a man yet, have you, who didn't have some hope of some kind. Oh, I hope I hope that I hope
even if he did, even if his hope was that he didn't have a hope.
I mean, everybody's got a refuge of some kind. I've never met
a man yet and quizzed him and inquired about his hope that
he didn't say he had some kind of hope. But it says here a refuge,
but one of lies and falsehood have we hid ourselves. Look,
verse 17. He said judgment. Judgment. Well, I lay to the line. Here's
the rules, the measurement of judgment to the line, to the
law. You know, that line, it mentions
here, judgment to the line and righteousness to the plumb. You
who are builders, Rick, you know what that line is. That's where
you string, stretch that string and you lay that block according
to that line. No variance in that line, is
there? It has to be strict and straight. And to plumb this way,
no variance. He said judgment and righteousness
is according to God's inflexible law. It doesn't bend. It doesn't
bend to suit your needs. It's inflexible. Line. Plumb it. And the hail is going
to sweep away, God says, that judgment. will sweep away your
refuge of lies, and the waters of God's judgment are going to
overflow your hiding place, and your covenant that you've made,
that you've fixed up, God says is going to be made null and
void, and your agreement Only scourge shall pass through.
You shall be trodden down by it. From that time that it goeth
forth, it's going to take you. And here's the eternal judgment
right here. It shall take you morning, night,
day, and night eternally. To understand the report of it,
it's just going to vex your soul. Verse 20, And your bed is shorter
than a man can stretch himself on. Our righteousness and our
covering will never do. Just like those fig leaves that
Adam tried to cover up won't do. Won't do. Our covering, our
bed's too short. It won't do. Will not work. Well, we've considered what men left to themselves would
say is their hope and their refuge and their hiding place. Now let's
look at that verse that I skipped over. Did you notice I skipped
over verse 16? I did it on purpose. Verse 16,
here is the believer's hope. Here is the believer's foundation,
is it not? Verse 16, Therefore thus saith
the Lord God, I lay in Zion. God laid this foundation for
the church. I lay in Zion a stone, tried,
proven stone, precious cornerstone, and this is a sure foundation.
He that believeth, he who hides in this refuge, shall not make
haste, shall never be forced to flee, never forced out, never
forced out. This foundation of God where
guilty sinners can rest with confidence, with enjoyment of
heart, with assurance and peace and comfort of their soul, is
our sovereign Redeemer. That foundation that he's speaking
here is Christ. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. I
lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone. It's a living stone. It's not a place. It's not a
profession. It's not a position. But it's
a person, a person, a living stone. A foundation that God
has laid is a living stone. Let me show you that that stone
and that foundation is Christ from the Word of God. Turn to
one scripture, Acts chapter 4. Acts chapter 4. And Peter picks
this up here in his preaching. Acts chapter 4. He said, Acts
4, verse 10. Acts 4, 10. He said, Be it known
unto you all, unto all the people of Israel, that by the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised
from the dead, even by him. Doth this man stand here before
you whole?" This is the stone. That's the same foundation stone
that Peter, we read over here in Isaiah 20, this is the stone
that God raised up, which was set at naught of you builders,
you scorners, which has become the head of the corner. Neither
is there salvation in any other stone, any other name. under
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." That foundation
is Christ and Him alone, and only Christ. It's all Christ. Other foundations can no man
lay than that which is already laid. Now, here's my first point. Stay with me here. This foundation
has an architect. You build a building, the first
thing you can do is get an architect, don't you? You can't build without
a plan, without a planner. This building has an architect,
has a planner, and it's the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, Thus saith
the Lord, I lay in Zion. Who's the architect? Who's the
builder? Who's the layer? Who's the master
craftsman? Who's the manufacturer of this
foundation? It's Christ! It's the Lord Jesus
Christ! It's the Triune God! Behold,
I lay in Zion for a foundation. Jesus Christ is the foundation
of God's laying, God's doing. Find, if you will, Psalm 118.
Psalm 118. Psalm 118. And look at this scripture here,
verse 22, Psalm 118, 22. The stone, here it is, that stone
again. That stone, the rock of ages,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the stone which the builders, the religious,
self-righteous rulers refuse has become the headstone of the
corner. Watch this. This is the Lord's
doing. You see, He's the architect.
He's the designer. It's the Lord's doing, and it
is marvelous. in our eyes. Marvelous in our
eyes. Who laid this foundation? He
did. It's the Lord's doing. It's this same Jonah theology
we have here. It's the Lord's doing. Salvations
of the Lord. It's the Lord's doing. And it's
marvelous to the believer that God would lay this foundation
where sinful men Simple people, his sheep can hide, can rest
on that foundation and be safe and secure. Salvation of the
Lord, it's his doing. Now, I'll give you these five
things. And I'm sure your pastor has given this to you in the
past because this is something Spurgeon said. Salvation of the
Lord, fivefold. If you want to write these down,
it's worthy. It's worthy of repeating, and
I've committed to memory. Salvation is of the Lord. It's
the Lord's doing. He said, I lay in Zion for a
foundation. The first one is this. Salvation
is of the Lord in its origination. I lay in Zion. Salvation is of
the Lord in its origination. Salvation was born in the eternal
purpose of God to redeem His elect and to exalt His Son. He was a lamb that was slain
before the foundation of the world. Before Adam ever fell,
Christ stood as the Lamb that had been slain. You see, salvation
is of the Lord in its origination. It began with Him in eternity,
somewhere, somehow. It always existed in the purpose
of God. Salvation is of the Lord in its
origination. Salvation, secondly, is of the
Lord in its execution. Have you heard this before? Huh? I hope you hear it again. Salvation
of the Lord in its execution. Listen. Now listen to me good. Men with wicked hands killed
and crucified the Lord Jesus Christ. They did what they wanted
to do. They did what their wicked heart
designed to do. They killed the Son of God with
malice and murder in their heart. But listen to me, the work men
did at Calvary was not sufficient to put away our sin. Huh? You with me? It's not what wicked
men did to Christ. That's not salvation. It's what
God was doing at the cross. You see the difference? It pleased
the Lord to bruise him in our stead, in our room. You see the
difference there? I hope you do. My hope's not
what those men did. The world looks at that and says,
oh, what a pitiful tragedy. What a glorious God that would
provide salvation for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Him being
delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. They took with wicked hands and crucified and slain the Lord
of glory, but they did what God determined before to be done.
Salvation of the Lord. in its execution. Thirdly, salvation
is of the Lord in its application. Huh? Who applied that to your
heart? Huh? One old boy told me, well,
I touched the blood in the water, in the pool. That's how you touch
the blood. You touch the blood through baptism.
That's not how God applied that blood to my heart. Huh? salvation of the Lord in its
application. You know what I found out, what
God taught me? It takes God to reveal God. Huh? Of his own will begat he
us, was the word of truth. Huh? Does a baby birth himself? No. Mama does that. Mama does
that. And we're begotten of his own
will begat he us. He who has begot a good work
in you, who started that work? He did! Who sought who? You know, faith, old Pink said
this, faith is an exotic thing. It's exotic. It's something that
doesn't flower up from my old rotten nature. It's something
that God places in my heart. Face the gift of God. See, salvation
of the Lord in its application. Regeneration is all of God. When
it pleased God who separated me, call me by His grace. Fourthly,
salvation is of the Lord. You see, this foundation that
God is laying, it's of the Lord. That's why we can rest in it,
that it's sure, that it's safe, that it will endure eternal judgment.
Salvation is of the Lord in its sustaining power. Now, only a
fool—listen to me—only a fool would ask this question, can
a man be saved and then lost again? That's nonsense. Only a fool would ask such a
question. Eternal security is not up for
debate. Those whom God put a man in Christ,
and that man somehow who is given life, who has been raised from
the dead, somehow that man can be made dead again? What a foolish
argument, huh? Has no weight, has no scriptural
foundation at all. We're kept by the power of God.
He said, my sheep, they hear my voice. I know them. They follow
me. I give unto them eternal life.
They'll never perish. No man can pluck them out of
my hand. Why? The Father which gave to me is greater than all.
No man can pluck them out of my Father's hand. I am a Father
for one. You see that? Ah, sustaining
power. Fifthly, salvation of the Lord
in its ultimate perfection. In its ultimate perfection. You
know what He's going to do with this old sinner right here? He's
already done it. Seated in the heaven, He's already
in the purpose of God. Huh? His ultimate perfection
to make His elect, His sheep, just like the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to this scripture. Whom
he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. Whom he called, he justified.
Whom he justified, he glorified. What are we going to say to these
things? What can you say? Who can be
against it? Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? Those are five good points, aren't
they? Origination, execution, application, sustaining power,
ultimate perfection. And you know what? Remember that
scripture we read? It's marvelous in our eyes. This
is the Lord's doing, and it's marvelous in our eyes. The whole
scheme of God's redemption is marvelous to the believer, and
it gives God and Christ all the glory. Was it Jonathan Edwards
who wrote that book, The History of Redemption, who made the statement,
it's God's, the grand design? What would you say the grand
design of God's redemption is? Huh? What is the grand design
of God's redemption? To keep you out of hell? Huh?
No, that's not it. It's the glory and honor of His
Son, the glory and honor of His name. He's going to get all the
glory. He's going to see to it that He does. And it's marvelous
in our eyes. Huh? The cross of Christ, is
it nothing to you? Huh? What do you think of Christ?
Is it marvelous in your eyes? Remember what Jeremiah said?
Old Jeremiah in the Lamentation 1? Is it nothing to you, huh,
the cross of Christ? He said, Is it nothing to you,
all ye that pass by? Behold, and see if there be any
sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done on me, wherewith the
Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger. Huh?
Oh, it's marvelous in the believer's eye. I've got to move on. You see, salvations of the Lord. Behold, I lay in Zion. You got
the first point. Who laid the foundation? He did.
He's the designer. He's the architect. Now, here's
my second point. Here's the description of this
foundation that says here in the text. It's called a stone,
a stone. It's called a tried stone. You know, builders, builders
back when they built, back when they started pouring concrete,
They'd go out and they'd find a stone, and they'd check that
stone out. They'd prove that stone. A wise
master builder would look at it and prove it, and he'd probably
hit on it, and he'd probably check back in past times when
someone else has built a—used that for a foundation and laid
that foundation and went over and inspected that to see if
that foundation would endure the weather and the rain and
the sun. The Lord Jesus Christ is a proven,
tried stone. The wise master builder, God
our Father, made no mistake when he picked out that jewel, the
Lord Jesus Christ. He is that stone, tried and proven. He said, This is my beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased, well pleased. Satan tried him. And
he defeated him. The law tried him, and he honored
him. Let me move on. It's a tried
stone. It says here it's a precious cornerstone. A cornerstone was
used in early building days. It sort of knitted the building
together. The cornerstone, back when they
built buildings years ago, was a very vital stone in that corner
of the building, that cheek corner. And it was there for strength.
It was there for beauty. And it cemented, it knitted the
building together. And that's what the Lord Jesus
Christ is. He's that chief cornerstone. He's that precious cornerstone. He's the superglue, if you will,
that holds and knits everything together. You remember there
in Colossians 1 where it says that all things consist by Him. He made all things for Himself,
by Himself, for Himself. And He, by Himself, all things
consist. The word there means held together.
He's that precious cornerstone. He's the superglue of this outfit
that holds it together. He's that precious cornerstone. He's precious to all believers
of all ages. He's that pearl of great price.
He's precious to the Father. He's not only precious to you
who believe, He is precious, Peter said. But he's precious
to the father. The father said, This is my son.
This is my son. God loves his son. God loves
his son. This is my son. I'm well pleased. The father loveth the son. It
says in John 3, The father loveth the son hath given all things
into his hand. Precious to the believers. He's
precious to the father. And it says here over in Peter,
he's the chief cornerstone. He's the head corner of the stone. He's the head of a spiritual
building that's made of living stone. He's the head. He's Lord. He's the chief cornerstone. And God has made him Lord. God
has made him the head of the corner, the precious cornerstone.
And it says here in the text, he's a sure foundation, something
that's sure. People like to take something
to the bank that's sure. They like a sure investment,
don't they? They don't like a risky investment.
They like something that you'll take that fixed interest on to.
You won't take that variable stuff, huh? You'll take that
fixed interest. Why? You like something that's
sure. Gives you some hope. Gives you
some peace, doesn't it? Now, this foundation, he says,
is sure. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth. Having this foundation, the Lord,
which is sure. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth
them that are his. He said it's a sure foundation.
This foundation will never give way, will never be disannulled,
will stand forever. Nothing can prevail against it
because the ground on which this foundation is laid is the eternal,
immutable decree and word of God. Nothing can move it. The overflowing scourge of God's
wrath. We can't move this foundation.
It's a sure foundation. And those who are cemented, the
church of God is cemented to this foundation. And it's a living
foundation. It's sure because it's alive.
It's not a dead, mechanical foundation. It's a living foundation. He
ever lives to intercede for us. And we're knitted and we're glued
together and we're fastened to Him by God's immutable decree. Can't be moved. It's a sure foundation. The living foundation. And notice
the last thing, and I'll quit with this. He said, He that believeth shall not make haste. And that's
rendered several different places in the scripture. He that believeth
shall never be confounded, shall never be confused. But what he's
saying, shall never be ashamed. But what he's saying is this,
those who rest on that eternal foundation of Christ that's sure,
that's precious, will never be confounded, will never be confused,
will never be ashamed, will never be forced to flee. Nothing can
move us from that foundation. God has put us on that foundation. It's a sure foundation. Nothing
can remove us. The faith of God's elect is immovable
because it's fixed and resting on the rock of ages, the Lord
Jesus Christ himself. To move the believer, you'd have
to move the foundation, and that's God. You see, the strength of
faith is not in faith. The strength of saving faith,
the faith of God's elect, is what it has a hold of, Christ. But to move the believer, you've
got to move that foundation. I can't move God like no one
else can. You see, it's a sure foundation.
To move the believer, you'd have to move the foundation. Faith
is giving up self-reliance. I think this is a good description
of faith. Shall not make haste. Faith is giving up self-reliance,
self-dependence, and resting upon Christ, who is the sure
foundation. Faith is the committal of everything
to the care and custody of Christ. It's to rest. It's to stand still
and see the salvation of God. It's to rest on Christ, the solid
rock. Let me close by giving you one
scripture over in Isaiah 45. Notice this scripture in Isaiah 45. Isaiah 45, verse 15. They shall be ashamed and confounded,
all of them. They shall go to confusion together
that are makers of idols, refuge of lies. But Israel, the elect
of God, the sheep of God, the redeemed of Christ, shall be
saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation, and ye shall not be
ashamed nor confounded, world without end." Never be forced
to flee. Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone. he that believeth
on him never be confounded." Are you resting on that foundation?
Is that your hope? Have you rejected all other foundations,
all other hopes? Old Thomas Guthrie wrote this.
He said, If you find yourself loving any pleasure better than
worship any book better than the Bible, any house better than
the house of God, any table better than the Lord's table, any person
better than Christ, any indulgence better than any hope of heaven,
he said, take alarm. Take alarm. I hope that's all
your hope. That's all your refuge. That's
all your righteousness and hope. Well, I thank you for your attention.
It certainly is my pleasure to come and be with you and preach
to you. I appreciate your pastor inviting
me to come and be with you. And it's, you know, it's a delight
to preach to people who are interested in the gospel. It's really encouraging
for me to come here and to be with you and to greet you and point you
to Christ just as your pastor does every week. And I hope you'll
remember us in Ashland when you can and come and visit us when
you can. We think often of you folks and
your pastor. Appreciate him, love him, I know
you do too. You know, there's not a... One
of the greatest blessings, one of the greatest blessings
God has given to His people is a pastor. That's it. One of the greatest blessings. I didn't say the greatest. In
fact, it is one of the greatest, is a pastor. I'll tell you, a
group of people, I've been around some other places, other churches, where they haven't
had a pastor. There was one situation up in
West Virginia where they went without a pastor over ten years
ago. We'd go up and we'd preach, and
I'd say, a congregation without a pastor. I tell you, if I see
you in a boat out in the middle of the ocean with no oars and
no