All right, let's look back at
Isaiah 65. I've been thinking a lot this
week about the prophet Isaiah and what he must have gone through
on a day-to-day basis. I think a lot of times we read
these scriptures and we don't realize that these men of God
In the Old Testament, some of the women of God. Life just was
not easy for them. And I know we have our problems
and I don't want to minimalize those and act like they don't
exist because they do. I know something about that,
you do too. But sometimes I get to thinking,
you know, I have it easy compared to them. and when i when i got
out of the hospital i told somebody i will go back and start exercising
they said we'll take it easy and i told myself there ain't
nothing easy from now i mean it's a it's a grueling process
it's a fight all the way up hill and so it's not easy but these
men of god especially prophets like isaiah they had their troubles
And I thought about this, you know, back in Isaiah chapter
6, when God called Isaiah to the ministry, you think about
now what a glorious time that must have been in Isaiah's life,
when he saw the Lord high and lifted up, the thrice holy God,
holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. And God brought him to a saving
knowledge of Christ. What a glorious day that is for
a child of God, for one of God's elect, when God meet you on your
Damascus road, so to speak, and give you a saving view, a heart
view of the glory of Christ who put away your sins and justified
you before God by His grace. And Isaiah saw that. And he had
that great vision where one of the seraphims flew and took a
coal from the altar and touched his lips. And you remember he
said, Woe unto me, I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell
amidst a people of unclean lips." And then God gave him his commission.
He said, you know, you go and tell people, tell your brethren,
tell Israel, tell Judah and Jerusalem, tell your friends, tell your
family this gospel of God's grace. But here's what he said to them.
He said in verse 9, let me just read this to you in Isaiah 6.
He said, go and tell this people, hear ye indeed, but understand
not. And see ye indeed, but perceive
not, make the heart of this people fat, that means proud there,
and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see
with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with
their heart, and convert, and be healed." In essence, what
he's telling Isaiah, he said, I've revealed to you the greatest
message, the greatest truth that has ever come to earth. And I'm
commissioning you and empowering you to go tell it, but they're
not going to listen to you." Now, what a motivation for ministry
there. That's what he said. They're
not going to hear you. And so as we come over here to
the end of the book of Isaiah, we see the prophet praying an
intercessory prayer for the people, and the people were just in a
bad way. Now, Isaiah did have, you know,
he did prophesy through the term of King Hezekiah. And that seems
in their history to be a relatively good time, a time of worship,
a time of truth, but it didn't last long. And so here the people
are just in disarray, they're in trouble, they're in unbelief,
they're problems, they've been attacked by foreign invaders. God delivered them, but he promised
them that there's a time coming Later on, after their day, when
their descendants were going to suffer because he's going
to send another invader and they're going to go into captivity and
they're going to be in despair, the temple's going to be destroyed,
Jerusalem, the whole city was going to be leveled. I mean,
this is trouble, trouble, trouble, isn't it? Problems. And so the prophet prays this
intercessory prayer on behalf of the people, on behalf, really,
of the remnant. He says there's a small remnant. that follow the Lord, that believe
the truth. And Isaiah prays on their behalf. And he's in essence saying, don't
destroy all of us. And God says, I'm not going to
destroy all of you. I have a people. I have a people. And this is his response. This
is Christ's response to the prayer of the remnant of Israel spoken
by Isaiah the prophet in the midst of all that unbelief and
idolatry and rebellion of the nation against God. And he starts
out in verses 1 and 2 of this chapter showing, assuring them
by something that you wouldn't think would assure an Israelite,
the calling of the Gentiles. I mean, you think about it, if
an Israelite back then is looking for comfort from his God, the
last thing he wants to hear is God say, well, I'm going to save
some Gentiles. That's not what he wants to hear.
That's man by nature, you see. But there's a point to this.
And it's an eternal point, and it's a greater point than man
in his natural religious way of thinking, self-righteous way
of thinking has ever imagined. God has a people all over this
world. And Isaiah, he's saying, Isaiah,
don't you ever think that the rebellion and unbelief and idolatry
and despair of Israel is going to stop or even hinder God's
purpose to save His people. including his remnant among the
Gentiles, and including his remnant among Israel. God has a people
out of every tribe, tongue, and nation. He's going to save them.
This is very similar to what the Apostle Paul said in Romans
9, 10, and 11, as the Spirit inspired Paul to write those
chapters of that great letter to the church at Rome. They are
fraught with quotations from the book of Isaiah, especially
these latter parts. And one thing Paul told them
in Romans 9 and verse 6, let me just read that to you. He
says, it's not as though the word of God hath taken none effect.
God's saying that to Isaiah in his day. Yes, Israel was in disarray. Yes, they were nationally in
unbelief. Yes, they were in idolatry. But
there is a remnant, but don't ever think that because The majority
of this one nation rejected God, rejected His Messiah, rejected
His way of salvation, that the Word of God, what God promised
to do, is of no effect. God promised to save all Israel,
and He's going to save all Israel. For they are not all Israel,
Paul went on to write by inspiration of the Spirit, verse 6, for they
are not all Israel, which are of Israel. What he's telling
people in his day, Paul's telling them, you're looking at it all
wrong. See, you're looking to a physical nation, he's saying.
And you're basing your assessment of God's promise and God's faithfulness
and God's power upon how this nation responds to God's gospel.
And he says, you don't look at it that way now. That's a wrong
way of looking at it. You've got to look at things
the way God looks at it. You see, all Israel is going to be
saved. But just because they're the physical descendants of Abraham
does not mean they are the Israel that God promised to save and
will save. That's a spiritual nation. He
says in verse 7 of Romans 9, neither because they are the
seed of Abraham are they all children, but in Isaac shall
thy seed be called. Now, Isaac, the child of promise,
you've got to connect that promise directly with the coming of the
Messiah, not with just the salvation of a people, but with the coming
of a Messiah. For if the Messiah does not come
according to the promise, there'll be no salvation for any people.
That's right. So he says in verse 8, that is,
they which are the children of the flesh, physical descendants
of Abraham, these are not the children of God, but the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. That's those who believe
the gospel. That's those who rest in Christ,
plead His blood and righteousness. All Israel shall be saved, spiritual
Israel. So this is how the Lord answers
Isaiah to come for him in this remnant. God's got a people and
He's going to save them. He's even got people who are
not called by His name right now, Gentiles. He's going to
be found of them that sought Him not, Gentiles, who He'll
bring to faith in Christ. Now, in the next few verses,
verses 3 through 7, we see the sin of the nation described in
detail and how God will execute judgment. It's His vengeance. Vengeance is Mine, says the Lord,
upon all who refuse to bow. and trust him. And then beginning
at verse 8, now that's where I want you to see tonight. Listen
to what he says here. Some people may ask this question,
well, why didn't God utterly destroy Israel at that time?
Why didn't He just wipe out the whole bunch for their sin, their
rebellion, and their idolatry? Have you ever said that about
America? You probably have, I have. Things are getting so bad, you
read a headline, and it's a terrible headline. And you look up and
you say, man, I don't know why God just doesn't just put an
end to this whole mess sometimes. And I thought about that, you
know, because that's a good question. I mean, we think about, you know,
why they got, well, God gives us the answer, just like he gave
Isaiah the answer. And this is what he said. Thus
saith the Lord, as new wine is found in the cluster. Here's
a cluster of grapes teeming with the juice. And there's some bad
grapes there and he says, destroy it not for a blessing is in it. Now that's why God didn't destroy
Israel during Isaiah's day. That's why he didn't utterly
wipe them out. And that's why later on when they were taken
into captivity by the Babylonian Empire, he still kept that nation
together and brought them back out of that captivity and let
them last on for another 500, 600 some years or even more. And they weren't utterly destroyed
until A.D. 70. And that's after the blessing
that was in it had already come and gone. His name is Christ. Now, let me show you what I'm
talking about. He says a blessing is in it. So will I do for my
servants' sake that I may not destroy them all. We have the
answer here that a blessing is in it. Now, what is this blessing
that's in it? Well, two things. Number one,
The blessing that is in Israel is first and foremost the Lord
Jesus Christ himself. You see, God had purposed long
before this nation had come into existence, long before this nation
was established at Sinai, that through this nation He was going
to bring His beloved Son, the Savior of His people, into the
world. That's exactly why God didn't
destroy them. He had a purpose. He had a people to save, and
He had a Savior to send. It was through this nation Christ
was made the seed of David according to the flesh. And as long as
that purpose was unfulfilled, there was always a blessing in
that nation. God kept His truth alive in spite
of them. You say, well, looks to me like
the whole nation had rejected Him. Oh, not the whole. There
was a remnant. He had a prophet. He had other prophets, too, at
this time, in other places. Preaching the Word of God, preaching
the gospel of God's grace, preaching the Word of Christ, calling on
sinners to repent, and believe in Him. You see, there was still
a blessing in it. It was not a blessing of the
people's making. They themselves were not a blessing
to anybody. It was not a blessing of their
worth, their value, or their goodness. It was totally a blessing
of God's grace, mercy, sovereignly. And that was it. Did these people
deserve to have the blessing in them? more than the Amalekites,
for example? Absolutely not. They were just
as sinful and wicked as the Amalekites. That's right. In fact, Isaiah,
you remember how he helped in his prophecy in Isaiah chapter
1? Except the Lord of Sabaoth hath left us a seed, we should
be like who? Sodom and Gomorrah. This people
did not deserve the blessing any more than Sodom and Gomorrah
deserved it. They hadn't earned the blessing
any more than Sodom and Gomorrah had earned it. Now, let me tell
you something. The gospel being preached right
here at this place in Ashland, Kentucky, we're in the same way. We don't deserve it. We haven't
earned it. But God has sovereignly and mercifully
put it here. Sometimes we might wonder, well,
why doesn't God just close the doors and slam it shut and take
it away? I'll tell you why. There's a
blessing in it. There's a blessing in it. There's trouble. There's trials. There's sickness. There's fighting. There's warring. There's despair. But there's
also joy and peace and rest. You know why? Because there's
a blessing in it. And that blessing is Christ himself,
the crucified one. He's our Savior. You know he's
the reason that we're here. You got any other reason to be
here? If you do, you're here for the wrong reason. I'm not
going to tell you to go home, though. I'm glad you're here.
I heard a preacher say one time, he said, if you're not here for
the right reason, don't come at all. And I thought, well,
no unbeliever comes for the right reason. I want everybody to come
and listen, it may be God might put a blessing in you. It may
be he might give you the right reason to be here. Why are we
here? We're here to worship Christ.
We're here to exalt Him. We're here to hear about the
glory of His person and His finished work and His precious. I'm a
sinner. I want to hear about the blood
that washes away my sins. I need to please God. I want
to hear about Christ in whom God is well pleased, in whose
righteousness I stand before God eternally. There's a blessing
in that. But now the second thing is this,
it is the elect remnant. There is a remnant of God's people
in Israel at this time. All will not perish, he says,
and you know why? Because God has a people and
he's going to bless them and he's going to restore them. His
elect, he says, shall inherit it. And do you know something?
Are they any more deserving than the ones who are rebels and unbelievers? Absolutely not. It's by grace
you're saved. It's God's grace that makes me
and you or anybody else to differ. And that's it. No other claim
to fame. You may be proud of who you are
and what you've done, but that means nothing in the kingdom
of God. It's grace. It's mercy in Christ. My only plea, Christ died for
me. And that's why we're here, you
see. That's why God didn't destroy
Israel at this point in time. The only reason why God did not
totally annihilate the whole bunch when He destroyed their
nation was this. He yet had an elect remnant among
those people who must be saved. And you know what? It's the same
way with this whole world. The only reason God doesn't destroy
this whole world right now is the fact that He yet has an elect
remnant in this world who must be and shall be saved by his
grace." And that's it. Look on, he says in verse 9,
he says, I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob. The first application
of that is Christ, who came from that line, the seed of David,
according to the flesh, without sin. Now, Jacob refers to us. That's Christ's identification
with us in our sin, not because he was a sinner. Not because
he became a sinner, not because he was made a sinner, but because
he was made sin. He was our sin-bearer, our substitute. Our sins were charged to him.
And then it refers to his people. We're sinners saved by the grace
of God in Christ. Again, Malachi 3, 6, I am the
Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob are not consumed. And he says, out of Judah, an
inheritor of my mountains. That again refers to Christ.
He's the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He's the King of Kings.
He's the Lord of Lords. He's the one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. And then it refers to his people
because we are the recipients of an eternal inheritance that
will never fade away because Christ has earned our salvation. And this is what he says, and
mine elect shall inherit it. and my servants shall dwell there."
Look at verse 10. He says, and Sharon shall be
a fold of flocks. Now, Sharon, as you know, was
a land known. It was west of Jerusalem, and
it was a land that was well known for its fruitfulness and its
beauty. And I thought about this in the
Song of Solomon, chapter 2 and verse 1, where Christ, one of
the great names of our Savior, is the Rose of Sharon. And what
that means to me, and I believe it is this, is that the people
of God are beautiful and fruitful because of Christ, for He is
our beauty and He is our fruitfulness. And then he goes on, he says,
in the Valley of Acre, a place for the herds to lie down, for
my people that have sought me. The Valley of Acre probably,
well, the Valley of Acre, Acre means trouble, that's what it
means. It probably became proverbial
for that which caused trouble. Whenever they talked about somebody
being in trouble, they said, well, he's in the Valley of Acre.
And when Isaiah refers to it, he uses it in this sense, the
valley of Achor, a place of herds to lie down in. Find, if you
will, the book of Hosea. Turn to the book of Hosea, chapter
2. That's right after Daniel. Hosea,
chapter 2. Hosea makes a reference to this.
And this is spoken in light of God's severe judgments upon Israel. And you know, Hosea was a contemporary
of Isaiah. He prophesied under the same
kings that Isaiah prophesied under, he just did it in a different
area, a different place. And it says in Hosea chapter
2, and if you look at verse 14, it says, Therefore, behold, I
will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak
comfortably unto her, speaking of his people, And he says, and
I will give her vineyards, give her her vineyards from fence
and the valley of Acre, the valley of trouble for a door of hope. Now, think about that, that's
kind of opposite, isn't it? Well, they call that an oxymoron.
Here's the valley of trouble. How can the valley of trouble
be a door of hope? That's what he says. Well, he
says, and she shall sing there as in the days of her youth and
as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. Now,
child of God, that's what he's saying. The valley of trouble
for you and for me, for Isaiah and for the remnant back here
in Isaiah 65 is a door of hope. You say, well, I can't see it
now. That doesn't matter. It doesn't say the valley of
Achor, the valley of trouble will be a door of hope if you
see it. The valley of trouble is a door
of hope because that's what God makes it. All things work together. All things, even the valley of
trouble. You may not see it. You may not
see the light at the end of the tunnel. You may think it's the
worst thing that you've ever gone through. But let me tell
you something. It's a door of hope in the purpose
and mind of God for you in Christ. And that's what he's telling
the remnant back here. Telling Isaiah back here in Isaiah
65 and verse 8, he's saying this, that which you see as trouble
and as a source of trouble would ultimately, by God's power and
grace, not by yours now, not by mine, but by God's power and
grace, it'll ultimately be a door of hope, a source of blessing. Now, let me tell you something.
You may be sitting there thinking, say, well, I'd like to figure
that one out. Well, you can't. Just forget that. But you know
what? That ought not amaze us. Because
I'm going to tell you where the deepest dark valley of trouble
that ever was on the face of this earth occurred. At Calvary. And at Calvary, that deepest
dark valley of trouble, came the greatest and brightest and
most eternal door of hope. Isn't that right? So that should
not amaze us. Even though we don't see the
end from the beginning, God does, even though we don't know how
it's all going to work out, we don't know where we'll be, where
this one will be, where that one will be, whether they'll
be alive or dead, whether they'll be whatever, friend, foe, or
whatever. But I'm telling you, based on
God's testimony, there's a blessing in it. There's a blessing in
it. That valley of trouble is a door
of hope. If you would hear a doctor tell
you tomorrow that you've got 30 days to live, that's trouble,
isn't it? That's 30 days until you see
the Lord, that door of hope. And I'm not trying to be negative
or anything like that. I'm trying to show you this is
what God's Word says. Who's this for? Look at verse
10 of Isaiah 65. It's for the people who have
sought God. Did they seek him of their own
free will, of their own volition? No, he'd already said back up
in verse 1, I'm sought of them that ask not for me. I'm found
of them that sought me not. Man by nature is not going to
seek the Lord. You say, well, I'm saved because
I sought the Lord. Well, somebody lost because they
didn't. Are you better than them? That's exactly what you're saying
in that kind of thinking. No, sir, it's grace. It's a miracle
that any of us ever sought the Lord. It's a miracle of God's
grace. Think about that. You see, all
this promise of blessing and hope is fulfilled eternally and
spiritually in and by Christ. Out of His trouble on the cross
comes life and beauty and fruitfulness and salvation. Out of our trouble
comes blessings because God works all things after the counsel
of His own will. Now, beginning at verse 11, He
begins to describe both the sin of Israel, and then he sets up
a contrast. And he's contrasting here his
people as opposed to those who are not his people. And I want
you to see this. Now, first of all, notice in
the first two verses here, verses 11 and 12, how the Bible never
portrays fallen, sinful man as a victim. He's not a victim. Now, that's popular today. We're
all victims. All victims of something. Victimization. Now, mainly, I know there are
victims in this world. Don't get me wrong. I especially
think about children who are wronged, who are abused. They are truly victims. But the
problems that we have with each other and between us and God
are not because we're victims. I'll tell you what the problem
is. We're rebels. That's the way the Bible teaches
it. We're rebels by nature, rebellious against God. And so if God, as
one of the old, in the Old Testament said, If he breaks the wild ass's
coat and puts a bridle in his mouth, that's grace. It may not
feel good, but it's grace. It's grace all the way. So what
does he say here? Well, he gives five things here
about rebels. He says, look at verse 11, but
you are they that forsake the Lord. You've abandoned God. You've
gone your own way. He says, forget my holy mountain. The holy mountain is symbolic
of Sinai. That's where God gave the law.
And what he's saying is they've forgotten God's Word. They've
left God's Word. They've rebelled against God's
Word and God's law and God's worship. That law, which was
intended to bring us in as sinners and to drive us to Christ for
salvation. So think about that. Now they've
forgotten that. And then he says in verse 11, that prepare a table
for that troop and that furnish the drink offering unto that
number. Now, if you look in your concordance,
if you have one in your Bible, the word truth and the word number,
you might have for the word truth the word GAD, G-A-D, not G-O-D,
but G-A-D, GAD. And by the word number, you have
the word meaning, not many, but meaning, M-E-N-I. Now, what that
was, that was the heathen view of fortune and destiny, fortune
and destiny. And what he's saying is that
it's, what he's speaking of here is idolatry. That is, instead
of worshipping God and depending upon God, they're worshipping
fortune, luck, and fate, destiny. And it's almost like they're
saying, I'm taking things into my own hands. And whatever will
be, will be. Whatever comes about, will come
about. Que sera, que sera, that kind
of thing. You see, we as the people of
God have to be ever aware in every second of our life that
God is on the throne. God is in control. Now, He's
in control. He determines our boundaries,
where we live, all these things that we do. God is the determinant
counsel. It's not fate, it's not luck,
it's not happenstance, and it's not chance. I don't care what
anybody says. And you say, well, that boggles
my mind. Well, it should boggle your mind. Listen, the infinite
glory of God should leave you astounded and me astounded. If it doesn't, where does that,
what kind of, if it doesn't, that just shows our pride. Somebody
says, well, that's just too much for me to take in. Yes, it is. Job said that. Who can by searching
find Him out? You see, He's God. You're finite. You've got limits. I've got limits. You see, God doesn't, except
for His own nature. We don't even know the beginning
of that. So yes, but see, God's in control. God is our God. He's our ever-present God. But
look on now. He says in verse 12, Therefore
will I number you to the sword, and you shall all bow down to
the slaughter. That's the judgment of death. The wages of sin is
death. And he says, Because when I called, you did not answer.
God's call, and they did not, they refused to hear God's Word.
Man by nature. And then he says, But did evil
before mine eyes, and did not choose that wherein I delighted
not. Or did choose that wherein I delighted not. They chose that
which did not glorify and honor God, but they chose that which
glorified and honored man. So now there's the ramble, okay? Now, beginning at verse 13, now
look here, he gives the contrast. Now, when you see these contrasts,
remember what I said before. Always remember this. It is God
who makes us to differ. He starts out by calling them
His servants. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, Behold My servants. And He keeps on going, My servants
do this, My servants do that. Are you God's servant? Well,
what is it? Turn over to Romans chapter 6
with me. I love the way that Romans 6
and Romans 7 define the servants of God. And I want you to see
this and mark this down. Now, when he says a servant of
God, he's not speaking of an unwilling, forced, legal slave
who owes a debt to God's justice. You remember back in the old
covenant, they had a provision with if a person got in debt
to another person, that person could become that person's servant
and slave, and they would serve so many years until they paid
their debt. Usually it was, what, six years,
I think it was, or seven. And on the seventh year, if that
person, well, after having the debt paid, willingly and lovingly
wanted to stay with his master because his master loved him
and he loved his master, then he would become a bond slave.
Remember, they'd take him and bore his ear with an awl. And
he'd wear a ring in that, here's what he would do, and that would
distinguish him as a bond slave and not somebody who's trying
to pay a debt. You see, that was the difference. In other
words, people would look at him and say, well, he's serving his
master because he wants to. His debt's already been paid.
And that's what God's talking about here in his servants. Look
at verse 17. in Romans chapter 6. Now, he'd
already talked about being freed from sin, being justified. Christ
already paid the debt. That's what he's saying. So,
therefore, he says in verse 17 of Romans 6, But God, do you
think that you were the servants of sin? You were legal slaves
trying to pay a debt by your works. That's a person who's
a servant of sin. A servant of sin is a person
who's trying to earn their way into God's favor. Now, most would tell you, well,
that's certainly a drunk or a whoremonger or a drug pusher. Well, they
are servants of sin. But ultimately, what Paul's talking
about here are those who are trying to work their way into
God's favor. But he says in verse 17, that
you have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was
delivered to you. Now, that's the gospel of Christ. That form of doctrine, that word
form there doesn't mean like a shape. That word form there
means like a stamp, like a die, like the die is stamped. It's like a mark, like the ring
in the ear of the bondslave, like the work of the Holy Spirit
on the heart that is stamped there indelibly and it cannot
be removed. The Word, you see. And he says,
that form of doctrine which was preached to you, look at verse
18, being then made free from sin, you became the servants
of righteousness. Now, when did you become a servant
of righteousness? When you became a servant of Christ. And then
look over at Romans 7 and verse 4. Now listen to this one. He
says in verse 4 of Romans 7, wherefore, my brethren, you also
are become dead to the law. That means you don't owe a debt
to the law. When you're dead to the law, it means you're no
longer obligated to the law to pay its debt of justice. Now,
how did we become dead to the law? Look at it. By the body
of Christ. Underscore that in your Bible.
That's how a sinner becomes dead. He doesn't become dead to the
law because of his works, because of his tears, or his religion,
or his confession, or his faith. He becomes dead to the law, it
says, by the body of Christ. That's Christ crucified. That's
Christ burying our sins and establishing righteousness for us. And he
says that you should be married to another, united to Christ,
even him who is raised from the dead, that we should what? Bring
forth fruit unto God. That is the result. So he says
in verse 5, for when we were in the flesh, when we were unregenerate,
you could say there, The motions or passions of sins which were
by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death,
seeking to earn our way into God's favor. That's that fruit
unto death. But verse 6, but now we're delivered
from the law. How? By the body of Christ, remember,
that being dead wherein we were held, that we should serve in
newness of spirit, like a bond slave, in love, gratitude. serve God, not to be saved, but
because we already are." Grace. Leanness of spirit and not in
oldness of the letter. Trying to earn our way into God's
faith. You see the difference? Well, now, that's what a servant
of God is back here. Look back at Isaiah 65, and then
look at verse 13. "'Therefore thus saith the Lord,
Behold my servants,' he owns them, lock, stock, and barrel,'
there he is, and he says, they shall eat." You see that? Well,
any good servant ought to be fed. Well, my friend, those who
are servants of Christ, they feed on the bread of life eternally,
and they'll never go hungry. That bread will always be there.
But he says, but you shall be hungry. Those who are not his
servants, they'll go hungry. They may get filled up for a
little while, but they're going to be hungry because the bread
of the flesh will not satisfy hunger eternally. He says, Behold,
my servant shall drink. Well, a good servant ought to
be ought to be given water when he's thirsty. Well, we drink
from the water of life. Christ is the fountain of living
water. It's like he told that woman
at the well, rivers of living water gushing up inside you. That's faith in Christ. That's
feeding on his word continually. He says, but you shall be thirsty.
Those who are not his servants won't have that. Remember, he
said in Matthew 5, blessed is he who hungers and thirsts after
righteousness, they'll be filled. Christ will fill it. He's our
righteousness. He says, behold, my servants
shall rejoice, but you shall be ashamed. God's servants are
going to rejoice with confidence in Christ. He goes on, verse
14, behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart. They'll
sing the new song of redemption from a glad heart, a purified
heart, one purified by faith in Christ. What is that song?
Worthy is the Lamb. That's what Revelation teaches.
Worthy is the Lamb. And he says, but you shall cry
for sorrow of heart and shall howl for vexation of spirit,
trouble of spirit, despair of spirit. Those who are not the
servants of God. Verse 15. And you shall leave
your name for a curse unto my chosen. In other words, those
who, listen, a person who does not have Christ is cursed. Did
you know that? A person who dies without Christ
dies in a cursed state. And he says, for the Lord God
shall slay thee and call his servants by another name. God's
servants will be called by another name. Now, there's a lot of names
in the Scriptures that are given to his servants. We're called
Christians in the book of Acts. followers of Christ, sons of
God, had chosen, adopted, regenerated. You remember back in the book
of Isaiah where he said, our name is now Hesabah, which means
we're the delight of the Lord. Dula, which means married to
the Lord. Jeremiah said it, Jehovah Sikhanou,
the Lord our righteousness, we're called by His name. And then
look at verse 16. He says that he who blessed himself
in the earth, shall bless himself in the God of truth." Now, that
may sound a little strange to you. He who blesses himself? What does he mean by that? You
know, you might say, well, I've never gone around blessing myself.
Yes, you have. Have you ever said to anybody,
or even prayed, Lord, you have blessed me so much? Have you
ever said that? I have. And I still do. And it's
not bad. if you see where that blessing
comes from and if you see why that blessing is given. That's
what he's talking about. He's talking about a person who
claims to be blessed of God. Well, yes, we claim to be blessed
of God. We're blessed with His salvation.
Didn't I just read in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 3, blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
Jesus. Did you hear me read that? And
did you think within your heart, that's me? I've put you in that
category. Now, there's a lot of people
who claim around saying, God's blessed me. Here's a country
song, I think some woman says it's called, Blessed. And how
blessed she is? And I hope she is. I hope she is. But you see, the servants of
God, it is a true eternal spiritual blessing because they know where
it comes from and they know why it's given. Where does it come
from? It comes from Christ. Why is
it given? Grace. Mercy. I didn't deserve it. I didn't
earn it. Those who think they have, it
may be a blessing for a little while, but it will ultimately
be a curse. You see that? So he says that he who blesseth
himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth. There's the key. In the God of
truth. He goes on, he says, he that
sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth. He who issues
forth an oath in the earth does it by the God of truth. God who
is true and God of truth. In other words, the blessing
doesn't come from an idol. It doesn't come from man. It
doesn't come from me or myself. It comes from the God of truth,
who is truth. God who is sovereign. God who
gives and God who takes away. But whether He gives, whether
He takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. That's it.
The God who justifies the ungodly, saves sinners by His Son. not gives me what I deserve or
what I think I deserve, but saves me in spite of myself. The God
who is sovereign, who saves whom He will, when He will, and how
He will. You see, the blessedness of the
believer is a matter of truth. It's a matter of justice and
mercy ascribed to the God of truth and to Him alone. Proverbs
chapter 16 and verse 6 says, By mercy and truth iniquity is
purged. And by the fear of the Lord,
men depart from evil, that is, worshiping God in Christ. And he goes on, he says, because
the former troubles are forgotten and because they are hid from
my eyes. You see, our sins are put away by the God of truth,
according to his strict justice and mercy in the person and finished
work of Christ on the cross. And these are all differences
between children of God and children of the flesh. But you know how
it all comes down. You can simplify it like this.
Here's the simplicity that's in Christ, and I'll conclude
it this way. Children of God, servants of God, find satisfaction
and blessing only in Christ and Him crucified and risen again. The one who's our advocate, who's
coming again, children Children of God boast only in Him and
Him alone, His blood and His righteousness alone. Children
of the flesh find other things to occupy their heart and their
mind and their time.