Thank you, Brooke James. Let's
open the scriptures back to Isaiah 34 this evening. Isaiah chapter 34. And we'll also be looking at
chapter 35. This is really a prophecy that
spans these two chapters. In chapter 34, we see the certainty
of the vengeance of our God upon the wicked. There's a reason
I began the service this evening by reading to you from Isaiah
chapter 3. The Lord said to Isaiah, you
tell the wicked, woe unto the wicked for it shall be ill with
him. That's really a summation of
chapter 34. God has a word for the wicked.
There's no good news in chapter 34. It's a message of judgment. It's a message of the doom of
the wicked. That which shall befall those
who don't know our God. Those that God leaves to themselves. He leaves them to die forever
in their sins. Chapter 35, here's a prophecy
of the certainty of God's mercy. And indeed chapter 35, if ever
there was a gospel chapter in Isaiah, and there are many of
them, here's a gospel chapter in Isaiah chapter 35. And we
would use that verse back in Isaiah chapter 3 to summarize
this passage. That is, say ye to the righteous
that it shall be well with him. So here we have a two-fold prophecy. First of all, chapter 34, here's
the certainty of divine vengeance. On God's enemies, chapter 35,
here's the certainty of God's mercy on His people. Let's look at chapter 34 just
briefly and I hope that God will enable me to bring this message
to you in its fullness because there's a lot to cover here.
But I want to say it as simply as I can and as brief as I can. Chapter 34, here's the certainty
of divine judgment upon the enemies of our God. You'll note how the
chapter begins. Our brother read it. It starts
off this way. Come near ye nations to hear. Hearken ye people. Let the earth
hear and all that is therein, the world and all things that
come forth of it. For the indignation of the Lord,
God is indignant upon the earth, upon the nations of the earth,
on all those who are unbelieving, on all those who are wicked,
on all those who are outside of the Lord Jesus. His fury,
His fury, His anger is on all their hosts, on all their armies. He hath utterly destroyed or
He's doomed them. There is a doom that awaits the
wicked. He's delivered them. The word
delivered means He's appointed. God has appointed them to the
slaughter. This appointment was of old. God made this appointment back
in His counsel. Back in His everlasting counsel,
God determined He would utterly destroy many, many people. They would lift up their arms
in rebellion against Him. They would live their lives in
wickedness, giving no thought to God's glory, not believing
His word. They would live and die in their
sins and God long ago appointed them to this destruction. He said it's a great slaughter. A great slaughter. You'll notice
a special warning in verse 6 to the people of Idumea. Who's that? Well that's the Edomites. The
people of Edom. These are the descendants of
Esau. There's a special word of judgment
to the descendants of Esau to the Edomites. Now you know Esau,
his brother was Jacob. God loved Jacob, God hated Esau. But Esau had many great privileges
that God gave him. He could speak to his father
Isaac, and I'm sure Isaac sat both Jacob and Esau on his knees
on his lap and said, boys, let me tell you about the day God
saved me by substitution. Don't you know that Isaac told
them, then both those boys, Isaac told Jacob and Esau about that
day when his father Abraham took him up on this mountain. to worship
God and to offer Him as a burnt offering to God. And Isaac would
have said to both those lads, let me teach you the gospel of
substitution. Let me tell you how God saved
me. I'm an illustration of God's saving grace, Abraham. Isaac
would have told both those boys. You know he told them this. Isaac said, I was laid out on
the altar. And God spoke from heaven and
He told my father, He told your granddaddy, stop! I see you believe me. There's
a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. You let Isaac go
and you kill that ram as a substitute, kill him in the stead. Abraham
of your son. And Isaac laid before those two
boys the gospel of substitution, the gospel of sacrifice. If we
are to go free, a suitable sacrifice must die in our stead. That's the gospel of grace. We
learn the gospel through these two words, substitution and satisfaction. God demanded death that day,
and death He got. He got the death of a substitute. And Isaac was allowed to live. And that's our story, isn't it? That's the story of every child
of God. We live because somebody died
for us. We live because Christ Jesus
laid down His life for us. Well, both Esau and Jacob heard
that message, but Esau didn't believe. He didn't believe. Notwithstanding
all of the great privileges that God gave him, of the lineage
of Abraham, Esau didn't believe. He sold his birthright for just
a bowl of soup. And his descendants were no better
than he was. The Edomites. The Edomites. They despised the goodness of
God. They despised the grace of God.
Oh, they were religious. They were religious. But they
didn't know the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Esau, unlike Abraham, the Bible
says Abraham rejoiced to see the day of Jesus Christ. Esau
didn't. He didn't rejoice to see the
day of Christ. And His descendants didn't rejoice
to see the day of Christ. They didn't look forward to the
coming of the Messiah. They were in opposition to all
the descendants of Abraham or the descendants of Jacob. And
even when Israel was on their way to the promised land, the
Edomites, they opposed them every which way they could. They were
enemies of God. They were enemies of God's people.
And God says in this chapter, I've got a special message for
the Edomites. I've got a special message of
judgment and warning. I'm threatening especially the
people of Eden and the people of Basra, as he says in verse
6. That was one of the main cities
in Eden. Judgment is going to be more
severe for you, he says. More severe for you. Let me make two statements right
here. Number one, I don't believe there will be degrees of heaven
to you. There are no degrees of glory. There are no degrees of glory
because salvation is all together by grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus. All of us who are saved, we are
saved by the same grace. We were chosen in the very same
election of grace. We were redeemed by the same
price, the price of the blood of the Lord Jesus. And we shall
all attain to the same state of glory. The Lord will give
grace and glory. That is what the promise is to
the Lord's people. Where He gives grace, He always
gives glory. We're sure to be glorified. God
has given to us His Son. He can give us no more. What is it that you want more
than anything else? As a child of God, as a sinner
saved by God's free grace, what is it that you want deep down
in your soul more than anything else? You want to see Him as
He is and be with Christ forever, don't you? That's what I want. I want to spend eternity with
Him. I want to gaze on His beauties. I want to join the heavenly choir
singing, worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive honor and
glory and blessing and praise forever and ever. He is the one
who shed His blood to redeem me. I want to see Him face to
face. And the very heaven of heavens
will be this, to be with Christ. There are no degrees of heaven,
there are no different levels to glory. Our salvation, our
standing before God, our everlasting presence in glory, are all the
reward of Christ's obedience unto all of His covenant obligations. There are no degrees of heaven
because there are no degrees of righteousness. You either
are righteous or you're not righteous. There are no degrees of glory
because there are no degrees of holiness. You either are holy
or you're unholy. There are no degrees of heaven,
there are no degrees of glory because you're either made perfect
in Jesus Christ or you're imperfect in yourself. There are no degrees
of glory. But the second thing is this.
I do believe in degrees of punishment. The Bible teaches that. After
all, to whom much is given, much is required. And I'll tell you
something. You've been given a lot. People
in this congregation. You've heard the gospel from
this pulpit, many of you, you've heard the gospel for years and
years and years. You've heard the message of redeeming
grace. You've heard the message of effectual
redemption. You've heard the message of the
work of the Spirit to show us Christ Jesus. You've heard the
glad tidings that God has killed His Son and in the death of His
Son we see our everlasting life. You've heard the message, we
live because He died. You've heard the message, salvation
altogether a work of God. And you don't believe that message? You've not fled to the Son of
God? You've heard about the ark of
God's salvation, but you won't enter in? You, being a leper, have not
fled to the great physician for cleansing? After all the gospel
messages you've heard, the messages still fall on uninterested hearts? Hell's gonna be in some way hotter
for you. I don't know how. I don't know
how God's able to do it. But of how much sore punishment
shall you be thought worthy? You've trampled underfoot the
blood of Christ. The gospel of free grace has
meant nothing to you even though God in His goodness has given
you preachers who faithfully preach Christ and Him crucified. And you die in unbelief. You
die with your fist stuck in the face of God Almighty saying,
I don't believe this message of grace. Oh, you're going to
be in for it. I believe that. I believe there
are degrees of judgment. And here's the people of Idumea. Here are the Edomites. God said, the last statement
of verse 6, going to be a great slaughter. A great slaughter. You notice there in verse 6,
he says, the sword of the Lord is filled with blood. It's made fat with fatness. with
the blood of lambs and goats and the fat of the kidneys of
rams. For the Lord hath a sacrifice
in Basra." What about that sacrifice in
Basra? Look over at Isaiah chapter 63. Look at Isaiah chapter 63. Verse 1, who is this that cometh
from Edom, from Idumea, with dyed garments from Basra? This that is glorious in his
apparel, and he travels in the greatness of his strength. Who
is this? And the Lord speaks and He says,
I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. And then the
question is raised to the Lord, wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the wine
vat? And the answer comes back, I
have trodden the winepress alone. and of the people there was none
with me. For I will tread them in mine
anger, I'll trample them in my fury. Their blood shall be sprinkled
upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment. For the
day of vengeance is in mine heart, and the year of my redeemed is
come." Our Lord Jesus Himself He has entered into this world
of wickedness and of false religion. And He has given His life to
save His people from their sins. And His garments are stained
with His own blood. But in staining His garments
with His own blood, He also slaughtered all of the enemies of God's people.
and ensured the doom of everyone who wouldn't bow to Him willingly
by the Spirit's gracious call. And so back over here in Isaiah
chapter 34, the Lord says He has a sacrifice in Bozrah. Who is the sacrifice for sin? Christ Jesus. That's the only
sacrifice for sin. But the people of Bozrah had
no interest. Had no interest in the sacrifice. Oh God, the Spirit, give me a
saving interest in the sacrifice of the Son of God. That's what
I pray for me. I don't want a passing interest.
Do you? I don't want this to be a shallow
thing. The Son of God, He's come and
gave His life. He died that sinners might live,
that God might be just and holy and justify the ungodly. I don't
want this great message to just float right by me. The sacrifice
of our Lord Jesus, He who was stained with His own blood, He
will soon be stained with the blood of the wicked. Oh, may
this gospel be everything to us. What is your resolution for the
new year? Well, I tell you what, I don't
have much of a resolution, but I sure have a prayer. that God
would make this gospel real, make it precious to everybody
who's under the sound of my voice, if it pleases Him to do so. Every passing year, eternity's
getting closer. We're just right on the verge,
we're right on the precipice of eternity. Oh, how is it with you soul?
Are you bathed in that sin-cleansing blood? Are you robed in the righteousness
of the Son of God? In verses 6 through 15, the Lord
uses several metaphors to set forth the harshness and the severity
of His judgment. And if anyone wonders whether
this prediction will come to pass. Here is what the prophet
says in verse 16. Watch this. Chapter 34 verse 16. Seek ye
out of the book of the Lord and read. And this next statement
is a very powerful statement. No one of these shall fail. None shall want her meat. You say, what does that mean,
preacher? I tell you what I wrote in my
Bible. No prediction shall lack of fulfillment. No prediction
shall lack of fulfillment. What God says, that's the way
it's going to be. And He says, He says, my mouth
has commanded it. So it's just, it's just the word
of Isaiah. Well, when Isaiah wrote by the
inspiration of the spirit of God, that's weighty. There's
no question about it. But this is the Lord himself
speaking. My mouth has commanded it. Our
Lord Jesus said to those folks there in John chapter 8, if you
die in your sins, where I am, where I am, you can't come. You
can't come. Look at verse 17. And he hath
cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided unto them by
line. They shall possess it forever,
From generation to generation shall they dwell together. In
other words, God has already allotted to the wicked that which
shall be their portion. And that which He has allotted
to them shall be their portion without end. This is everlasting
judgment. It's like I said a couple of
weeks ago, going to hell is not about paying for your sins. There's
only one way for sins to be paid for, and that's in the blood
of the Lord Jesus. Jesus paid it all. All the death
I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. But
no sinner can ever satisfy judgment or the justice of God for even
one sin because every sin is infinitely against an infinite
God. And it takes an infinite sacrifice
to put it away. Be warned. Be warned. I have been honest
with you. God says vengeance is mine. I
am going to repay. There is going to be a day of
recompense. And if I was to choose, if I was to select a key verse
out of chapter 34, it would be verse 8. For it is the day of
the Lord's vengeance, and the year of His recompenses for the
controversy of Zion. These wicked have opposed Zion. They've opposed God's church.
They've opposed God's people. They've opposed the gospel that
God's people love. God says, I've got a controversy
with you. And one day, someday is going
to be a settling up day. That brings us to chapter 35.
Now chapter 34 is about the certainty of divine vengeance upon the
wicked. Chapter 35 is about the certainty
of divine mercy for God's people. And certainly the words again
of Isaiah chapter 3 and verse 10 are most appropriate. Say
ye to the righteous, it shall be well with you. Look at verse
1. The wilderness and the solitary
place shall be glad for them. Now the wilderness and the solitary
place, that's what we are by nature. God's people. That's our condition by nature.
Barren, fruitless, lifeless. But God gives us grace in Christ
Jesus and God makes us alive. And there's gonna come a day
when the destruction, now watch it, when the destruction of all
of God's enemies will make us glad. That's what he's saying. Remember, there are no chapter
divisions in the original scriptures. And this is a prophecy. Here's
a prediction that goes together. Chapter 34 is all about the doom
of the wicked. And then he says, the wilderness
and the solitary place shall be glad for them. They will be
glad when this happens. And you can read in Revelation
chapter 19. There is going to come a day
when God judges Babylon. Babylon is all false religion. And when He judges Babylon, when
He casts Babylon into hell, There will be gladness among all of
God's people. Chapter 19 of Revelation, after
these things, verse 1, I heard a great voice of much people
in heaven saying, Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and honor
and power unto the Lord our God, for or because true and righteous
are His judgments. You see, this is virtually the
same thing that the people of God are saying there in Isaiah
chapter 35. Well, what is the reason for
this joy, this gladness? Because the Lord has judged the
great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication,
and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. And
again, they said, hallelujah, praise the Lord. That's what
that means. And her smoke rose up forever and ever, and the
four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshipped
God that sat on the throne saying, Amen, Hallelujah! All false religion
has fallen! Hallelujah! What a glorious day it will be
when God shuts the mouth of every false prophet across this earth! And when everybody opposes Him,
are disposed of by God, and all of the elect will say, Hallelujah!
No more lies. No more false gospel. God has done what's right. That's
what's being said back over here in Isaiah 35 then. Look at it
again. Isaiah 35 verse 1. The wilderness
and the solitary place shall be glad for them. Now the wilderness
and the solitary place, that's what we are by nature. There's
no fruit of the spirit. There's no life of God in the
soul. We have nothing. We can do nothing
and we can offer nothing to God. You think about our natural condition. That condition that exists within
us, within each of us, prior to the grace of God being operative
within us. We can't worship God. We can't
come to God. We can't love God. The Lord said,
no man can come unto me except the Father which has sent me
draw him. I raise him up the last day. We're a wilderness.
What does the word wilderness mean? It means desolate, useless,
uninhabited. And then it's described as a
solitary place, a dry place, a place of a drought, where there's
no water, no water of life. That's our condition by nature.
But look at the promise of the Lord. The desert shall rejoice. And God will cause it to blossom
as the rose. Get the picture. Back in chapter
34, here are the Edomites. Great in power. Awesome. So impressive. God brings them
down. He brings them down to such a
point that there's nothing left alive in it. Oh, she looked good
for a little while. Then God brought her to nothing.
Now look at God's church. It's just a wilderness, a desolate
place, a solitary place. But watch what grace does. Grace makes the desert to rejoice
and blossom as the rose. We bear fruit for his glory. I've got a good friend of mine
down in North Carolina. On her birthday, one of her children
gave her, and I can't remember when she turned 86 or 87. I can't remember. But I think
it was 86. But she turned 86 this past year,
and one of her children gave her 86 yellow roses. And she spread them through the
house, and she said, oh Jim, did my house ever smell good? In ourselves, there's a stench
about us. But you know, we have a fragrance
about us now. It's the fragrance of the sacrifice
of the Son of God. We read over in Ephesians chapter
5, walk in love as Christ also hath loved us and given himself
for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor. Isn't this your own confession
right now? I'm not talking about physically,
but spiritually. I just stink. I stink spiritually. You know, you look at your works
and your thoughts and nobody else is in your thoughts, you
know. You know what your thoughts are and you say, man alive, I
stink to high heaven. But you know, in the Lord Jesus,
there's no stench to God. You're as sweet smelling as a
rose to Him. That's the imputed righteousness
of the Son of God. We blossom as the rose, as the
rose. Look at verse 2, it shall blossom
abundantly and rejoice even with joy in singing. The glory of
Lebanon shall be given unto it the excellency of Carmel and
Sharon. They shall see the glory of the
Lord. Haven't you seen the glory of
the Lord? Not fully, but you've seen His
Shekinah glory in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. You've
seen His glory. What is His glory? Moses said,
show me a glory. God said, I'll cause my goodness
to pass before you and I'll be merciful to whom I'll be merciful.
I'll be gracious to whom I'll be gracious. What's God's glory?
Free and sovereign grace. That's His glory. You've seen
His glory. They shall see the glory of the
Lord. The glory of how He saves sinners like you and me. Without
compromising His law and justice. And we've seen the excellency
of our God. in all of its attributes. Now
in verse 3, beginning with verse 3, we have words which I believe
are given to preachers. Preachers of the gospel. What
are preachers of the gospel supposed to do? Here's the message to
God's preachers, verse 3. Strengthen ye the weak hands.
Confirm the feeble knees. Any weak handed believers here
this evening, Any saints of God with feeble knees, I am here to strengthen you and
to confirm you in the gospel. The Lord is your strength. The
Lord is your strength. Say to them that are of a fearful
heart, Be strong! I am so afraid what is going
to happen. Do not be afraid. Be strong and
fear not. Your God's on the throne. Behold,
your God will come with vengeance someday. Even God with a recompense, He's
coming to pay back all those who've stood in opposition to
Him. Even as He came the first time
with vengeance against our sins. Our Lord Jesus came with vengeance
in His heart against our iniquities. With vengeance in His heart against
Satan and all of the enemies that oppose us. And He came with
recompense. It was time to pay God's law
what it demanded. And He paid the price fully.
And Isaiah says, He will come and save you. He will come and
save you. What's going to happen when the
Lord Jesus Christ comes? Look at verse 5. Then the eyes
of the blind shall be opened. That's what happens when He comes.
People who are blind start to see. And the ears of the deaf
shall be unstopped. That's what happens when Christ
comes in saving power. And then the lame man shall leap
as a heart. The tongue of the dumb shall
sing his praises. For in the wilderness shall waters
break out, and streams in the desert." Well, what is this water? It's the water of life. Where
did it come from? It comes right from the throne
of God. That's where it comes from. Streams
in the desert. This old world, it's like a desert
to us. The world, you can't rest in
it. You can't rely upon it. But in
this desert of the world, God has a stream flowing and we come
and drink. Come and drink of the water of
life. Oh, how refreshing the gospel
is in this world of turmoil, in this world of trouble. In
this world that's so wretched, in this world that's so perverted,
isn't the gospel like a cool stream to you? And you just dip
down in that cool stream and get you a ladle of water and
drink it. Oh, bless the name of God, how refreshing this is
to my part soul. There's nothing in the world
for me, but God's got a stream flowing through the desert. Look at verse 7, the parched
ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water,
and the habitation of dragons, and the habitation of serpents,
where each lay shall be grass with reeds and rushes. It bursts
forth in the life, in the life. And look at verse 8, and a highway
shall be there, a highway. And a way, and it should be called
the way of holiness. What way is this? This is the
way of Christ Jesus. This is the way of grace. This
is the way of righteousness. The way of holiness. He says
the unclean shall not pass over it. Oh, the unclean, they're
not going to pass over this. What does that mean? And I read
the commentators, the reputable commentators, because I do like
to read. And they said this means that
the filthy shall not contaminate the way. even in glory. You know in Revelation chapter
21 there or 22 talks about the filthy shall not come in. He
that is filthy be filthy still. They won't enter in. But I really
don't think that's what this is talking about here. It says
the unclean shall not pass over it this way. It doesn't say the
unclean shall not touch it. It says they shall not pass over
this way of grace. Christ who is the way. Because
let me tell you something, as soon as the unclean touches away,
you're not unclean anymore. You're clean. That's what the
Lord said to His disciples. He said, you're clean, but not
all of you. And He meant Judas wasn't clean.
Oh, there is a fount opened up for cleansing for the unclean.
And I tell you, when we come to Jesus Christ the Lord, by
God's free and effectual sovereign grace, all of a sudden, the unclean
have made clean, washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus. And
watch it, it shall be for the wayfaring men who, though fools,
and isn't that a description of us? We're just fools. But
you're not going to err in this way. Those who walk in this way,
those who abide in this way, this way of Christ Jesus, He
said, I am the way, I am the truth, I am the light. Those
who are in the way, they are not mistaken. That word, they
are in, means they shall not, they are not mistaken. You are
not wrong. When you flee to Jesus Christ,
you are not wrong. You are right. You are taken
the right way. There's one way to God, one way
to glory, and one way to salvation. He's the way. He's the new and
living way. And watch this in verse 9. No
lion shall be there. Oh, that lion who goes about
seeking whom he may devour. He's not in the way. He's out
of the way. He can roar, but he's not in
the way. He can't trouble you. He can't
hurt you. Nor any ravenous beast shall
go up thereon. It shall not be found there.
But the redeemed, the redeemed shall walk there." They shall
walk. The redeemed. That's us. What's our message? Redeemed by the blood of the
Lamb. That's our message. And we walk. No need to get in a hurry. Well,
I'm a little fearful here. I think I'll break into a jog.
Oh, yea, though I walk through the
valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear no evil, for thou art
with me. That's what David says, for thou
art with me. So I'll just walk. And I'll face
whatever circumstance, whatever difficulty, whatever trial God
has ordained for me, I'll just walk. Knowing that my Heavenly
Father watches over me and He's making all things work together
for my good and to fulfill His eternal purpose regarding me.
So I'll just walk. No need to get in a hurry. No
need to be anxious. Just walk. And look at verse 10. And the
ransom of the Lord. That's us. We're the redeemed
and we're the ransom of the Lord. He paid our ransom. The ransom of the Lord shall
return. We shall return to Him. We left
Him in Adam. But we shall return in Christ
Jesus. And we shall come to Zion. We
shall come to the land of our heavenly rest. And we'll come
to Zion with songs. Songs. And everlasting joy upon their
heads. And they shall obtain joy and
gladness. And I love this last statement.
I love it all, but this kind of tops it off. Sorrow and sighing. They shall flee away. No more
tears. Oh, how many tears we shed in
this sad world. God's people weep a lot. Some
of the people of God weep now. God's been pleased. God's pleased
from time to time to lay upon us heavy burdens. And we weep. But there's coming an everlasting
day when the scripture says, He shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes. He'll do that. That's our Savior. Wipe away
all tears. Blessed are they that mourn.
They shall be comforted. Boy, what a comfort this is here
in this passage of Scripture. What a comfort to the people
of God. So, here they are. Here's a two-fold prediction,
two-fold prophecy. Woe to the wicked shall be ill
with you. God give you grace to flee to
Christ Jesus. Oh, may God overcome your rebellion. May God overcome your unwillingness. May God burst through the bars
of your determination not to have anything to do with Christ
Jesus. May He just intrude in your heart,
that's what He's got to do, and rescue you. That's what salvation
is. It's a rescue, isn't it? He rescues
us by His grace. Because if He doesn't do that,
doom awaits you. And when God judges you, if you're
one of the ones that He judges, and He sends you out into hell, you die in unbelief. You die
setting your own filthy self-righteousness in competition to the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. All of the saints of God, we
may be sorrow of the fact that you died, but we'll say, God
did what's right. You set yourself in opposition
to the Son of God. When God sends you away where
you'll never be heard from again, we're going to say, praise the
Lord. Amen. But oh, what a joyful passage
in Isaiah 35. Those of us who are like a desert
and a wilderness by nature, we blossom, we're full of life. It's the Lord's life. He's made
us alive. And the fruit that we bear, it's
not our fruit. It's called the fruit of the
Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit. And
it's all due to the Savior. Let's turn to 52.