Alright, let's look back at Isaiah
chapter 31. The title of the message, as
I said in the reading of Psalm 22 there, and in light of verse
6 of Isaiah 31 here, is Turn Unto the Lord. Whenever the Bible
speaks of turning, in the issue of salvation and redemption and
the new birth, in the issue of of the gospel. Whenever the Bible
speaks of turning, it is speaking of repentance. That's what repentance
is. It's a turning. And repent. Repentance is a command and a
call of the gospel. We hear the Great Commission
ringing forth that says, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shalt be saved. He that believeth and is baptized,
he who rests in Christ and confesses that in believer's baptism is
saved. We know that baptism doesn't
save him. It's Christ who saves. Baptism
is the confession of that. That he that believeth not shall
be damned. Now, inherent in that command
of the Great Commission is the command of repentance. And just
like faith, Repentance is the gift of God. It's not what we
do or have or know by nature. No man on his own, no sinner
on his own will repent or believe. Repentance is the gift of God.
But let me start out by showing you just some passages of Scripture.
I'll read these to you, just to show you the importance of
this issue of repentance. In the book of Matthew chapter
4 and verse 17, we read, From that time Jesus began to preach,
Now, this is the first record of his public ministry in his
message, his preaching. And it says, here's what he said.
Here was his message. He says, repent for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. Now, the kingdom of heaven that
he speaks of there is salvation by the grace of God wrapped up
based on and centered in and conditioned on his finished work
on the cross, his obedience unto death. And so the command of
repentance there is a command to think differently, to see
things differently, to value things differently. For as man
by nature values and rests in and trusts in his own works,
his own obedience, his own righteousness, the command here is to turn unto
Christ and rest in him and value him and his finished work. For
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. In the book of Mark, chapter
1 and verse 15, it says, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom
of God is at hand. Repent ye, and believe the gospel. That is, don't believe what you
believe formally, change your mind. Now, we know that changing
the mind, changing the heart, is an act of God. It's not an
act of the free will of man, for man doesn't have that. It's
an act of God. But he says, repent ye and believe
the gospel. Believe the good news of how
God saves sinners by his grace based on the blood and the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the issue. The issue is
not turn around in some immoral way or moral way in reformation. The gospel does not command reformation. The gospel commands repentance.
And then in the book of Luke, chapter 13, two times the Lord
was using an analogy here. And he's speaking to a religious
people here. And he makes this statement.
He says, I tell you nay, but except you repent, you shall
all likewise perish. And he says it again in verse
5. Except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. What does
he mean, likewise perish? Well, let me set up the scenario
for you this way. When it comes to religion and
men and women who are involved and dedicated and sincere in
religion, serious about it, they will always look at some person
who is outside of their circle, outside of their denomination,
outside of their particular way of thinking, and they'll look
at that person, maybe somebody who's infamously immoral or irreligious
or somebody who's not dedicated, And they will readily say and
look at that person and say, that person needs to repent. Well, let me tell you the reality
of it. Who needs to repent? Who needs to repent? I'll tell
you who needs to repent. Every one of us. From the best
of us to the worst of us. From the greatest to the least.
And so here the religious Pharisees who were seeking salvation based
upon their efforts to serve God, based upon their obedience to
the law, based upon their physical connection with Abraham, they
were looking at Gentile sinners and other sinners and they say
they need to repent. And Christ looks at them and
he says, except you likewise repent, you'll perish. Because
in your religion and in your works, You're no closer to the
kingdom of God than the worst of the Gentiles. You see, that's
the way it is with man. I looked at this one passage
here where it's describing the Egyptians in verse 3 of Isaiah
31. It says, Now the Egyptians are men. That is not a compliment
there. That is not a compliment. That's a shame. You're trusting
in the Egyptians and they're just men. Now what does that
mean? That means they're sinners. It
means they're weak. They're impotent. They cannot
save you. They cannot protect you. You
need to repent of that. And so Christ told the Pharisees
the same thing concerning salvation. You're trusting in yourselves.
You're trusting in your religious works. You're trusting in Moses.
That is your obedience to the law. And you say, those fellows
need to repent. You do too. And except you likewise
repent, you'll perish with them. With them. The Lord said in Mark
chapter 2 and verse 17, and I love this. He said, I came not to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The righteous
need no repentance. But sinners need repentance.
John the Baptist, this is interesting too. When he was preaching out
by the river and baptizing, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and
many of the scribes came out to hear him preach and to watch
what he was doing. They wanted to know something
about this man's ministry, how he could draw so many people.
And John the Baptist spoke very plainly to them. He wasn't out. I guess John the Baptist didn't
read Dale Carnegie before he got with the Pharisees, you know.
He just didn't have that preacher presence, that pulpit presence.
He didn't have that eloquence and that style and that politically
correct way of speaking. But he told the Pharisees in
Luke chapter 3 and verse 8, he says, bring forth therefore fruits
worthy of repentance. Now they were bringing forth
fruit. But you know what Paul called it? And he was one of
them at one time. He said it was fruit unto death.
It is all their works and their efforts. It was fruit unto death.
You see, anything but resting in Christ and His blood and righteousness
is death. He is life. There's no life except
in Christ. So anything you do without Christ
is death. And so he says, bring forth fruits
worthy of repentance. And listen to what he says. He
cut them off. It's the kind of way he knew what they were going
to say. So he sort of cut them off at the past. And he said,
and begin not to say within yourselves. He wasn't even saying. It's almost
like he's saying, I know what you're thinking. He said, now
bring forth fruits worthy of repentance. Now, I know what
you're thinking, because he said, begin not to say within yourselves.
You may not say it out loud, but I know what you guys are
thinking, because you know how John the Baptist knew what they
were thinking, because he was a Jew. Just like Paul, he knew
them because he was one of them. And so he says, say not within
yourselves. And here's what he cut him off. He said, we have
Abraham to our father. Because, you see, that was their,
in their minds, that was the comeback. You mean I need to
repent? Well, Abraham's my father. Another time when the Lord confronted
them with their unbelief, they said, we have Moses. We have
Abraham. We have the heritage, the pedigree,
and we have the law. And so John the Baptist, he said,
think not to say within yourselves, we have Abraham to our father,
for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise
up children unto Abraham. What's John the Baptist saying
there? He's saying the same thing our Lord said in John 8. Just
because you have a physical connection with Abraham does not mean you
have a spiritual connection with Abraham. And if all God wanted
to do was just have children of Abraham, He could turn a stone
into that if He wanted to. Who are the children of Abraham?
Those who believe the promise. Galatians chapter 3 tells us.
What is the promise? God saves sinners for Christ's
sake alone. God saves sinners by His grace. Mercy is the issue, not your
works and not your efforts, not your pedigree, not your papers,
and not your obedience. Mercy is the issue, you see. That's how Abraham was saved. When God saved Abraham, how did
He do it? God justified the ungodly, Romans
chapter 4. And he never put himself in any
position where he was obligated to the sinner. He saves whom
he will, when he will, by his grace. And then in the book of
Luke, chapter 15 and verse 7. Now, I am going to get to Isaiah
31, believe me. But this is what the issue here
is. In Luke 15, 7, Christ said this, said it twice in Luke 15.
My son Aaron read this just a while ago back in the study. And this
is when the Pharisees came and accused him. They said this.
They had an accusation. It was terrible. They said, your
master, this man, receives sinners. You know what we say? Hallelujah. Hallelujah. That he receives
sinners. Christ receiveth sinful men.
If he didn't, There'd be no receiving of us, wouldn't there? So he
said, I say unto you that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one
sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety-nine just persons
or righteous persons which need no repentance. When God brings
one of his children to repentance, our Lord tells us specifically
there's joy in heaven. When God brings one of his children
to repentance, shouldn't there be joy here? If it's in heaven,
it should be here, shouldn't it? You say, well, I don't like
that fellow. It doesn't matter whether you
like him. Maybe he don't like you either. That's not the issue. He's one
of God's dear, dear lambs. Isn't that right? And then in
Luke 24 and verse 47, it says that when they preached that
the Lord teaching the disciples about the Old Testament, and
he said that all of these things in the Old Testament, the books
of Moses, the Law of Moses, the Psalms, the wisdom books, all
of those, the prophets, they all led to this, that repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations beginning at Jerusalem. In the book of Acts 5 and verse
31, in that great message when Peter was preaching, speaking
of Christ, whom God hath exalted with His right hand to be a Prince
and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel and the forgiveness
of sins. What he's saying there is that repentance is just as
much the gift of God as the forgiveness of sins. In the book of Acts chapter 11,
verse 18, it says, When they heard these things, That is the
gospel of God's grace in Christ. They held their peace and glorified
God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance
unto life. That's what repentance is. It's
unto life. It doesn't mean that repentance
is the condition we must meet in order to have life. But that
repentance that is unto life is the evidence that God has
given us life. Do you know a repentance sinner
is a spiritually alive sinner? He's a born-again sinner. Born-again
person. Listen to this in Romans chapter
2 and verse 4, when he's speaking of the Jews who judge by their
own self-righteous judgment rather than according to truth. He said,
"...or despises thou the riches of his goodness," that is God's
goodness, "...and forbearance and longsuffering, not knowing
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance." It's the
goodness of God that leads a sinner to repentance. What is the goodness
of God? It's the preaching of Christ.
and Him crucified. 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 9, when
they accused the Lord of not being faithful to His promise,
Peter wrote, the Lord is not slack concerning His promise,
as some men count slackness, but is longsuffering to usward.
To usward. Who is that? He said, not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
It is God's goal to bring His people to repentance. They are
the usward. Two times the term is mentioned in the book of Hebrews,
of dead works. Paul mentioned in Hebrews chapter
6 concerning those who claim to believe the gospel, but because
of their bad attitude would not grow in grace and in knowledge
of Christ, would not grow spiritually. And he spoke of leaving the principles
of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection, that
is, completeness and maturity, not laying again the foundation
of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God. What
he's saying is simply this. I shouldn't have to keep bringing
this issue up of repentance of dead works unto you. You should
have already settled that in your heart. That's the first
principles of grace. And then in Hebrews chapter 9
and verse 14, when he's talking about the preciousness and the
value and the power of the blood of Christ to save us from our
sins as over the blood of animals, which cannot save us, cannot
bring remission of sins, he says, How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? That's repentance. Well, how
does that have to do with Isaiah 31? Now, look at this passage
with me. The first thing that you could understand here in
the first three verses of this passage is this, that in salvation,
in our initial new birth and in our life as a believer, that
God's people are to have no confidence in the flesh. That's number one. No confidence in the flesh. The flesh can do nothing for
you or for me. And that's what he's saying.
Woe, verse 1, woe to them that go down to Egypt for help. You know what Egypt represents
in the Bible? Egypt represents flesh, sinful
flesh. Egypt represents bondage. Children of Israel were in bondage
in Egypt for how long? A little over 400 years, weren't
they? That's what men in natural religion
are in. They're in the flesh of religion
and bondage, legalism, trying to earn their way into God's
favor. That's what Egypt represents. And then it represents idolatry.
That's what Egypt represents. Woe to those who look to Egypt,
go down to Egypt for help. We need help. Now, we always
need help. There's never a time in my life
that I don't need help. As a safe center, I need help
every day. Now, where am I going to get
my help from? When I get in trouble, when I face trials, when I face
problems, when people come against me, when I'm against myself,
and that's probably the biggest battle I have. The warfare, the
flesh and the spirit. Where am I going to get my help?
From the world? From Egypt? Am I going to go
to the flesh for help? Am I going to go to bondage for
help? That's what he's saying. Woe to them! This is a warning
from God to His people. It's not a legalistic warning.
It's not a threat of hell. Now listen, anybody who trusts
in Egypt and who does not trust in the Lord God, who does not
trust in Christ, is bound for hell. That's so. But the warning here is for sinners
not to look to Egypt, but to turn to Christ. Turn to the living
God. Judah had committed two sins
here. Look at it. It says, look at
it, verse 1, Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help and
stay on horses. That is, their confidence is
in horses. The horse represents the power
of the world. Because back then it was like,
it was power. Be like tanks today. put your
trust in tanks or in a B-52, I don't know, or some kind of
a jet or something, some kind of a bomber. But see, that's
where their confidence is. Look how many horses we've got.
And trust in chariots. That was power, you see. Because
why? Why do they trust in horses and
chariots? Because there are many. Because of numbers. They put
their trust in numbers. And in horsemen, because they're
very strong, these men were very strong, they could They could
guide the horse, bridle the horse. But they look not unto the Holy
One of Israel, neither do they seek the Lord. There's two sins
there. The sin of trusting in Egypt and their military might,
and the sin of not trusting in the Holy One of Israel. Judah
for some reason, the kingdom of Judah, and remember Isaiah
prophesying to the southern kingdom in Jerusalem, the northern kingdom
was going to be destroyed by the Assyrian Empire, and now
the Assyrian Empire is coming down to Judah, and they're going
to lay waste to that country as much as God allows them. So
they needed help. They needed help. They couldn't
defeat this on their own. It's like people in religion
today. Do you know most people today, now you go to the average
religionist today and ask them, do you think you can save yourself
from your sins? And I'll guarantee you they'll
say no. Just about all of them will.
When I was in false religion, if you'd come and ask me and
say, do you think you can save yourself? I would have said,
absolutely not. Now, here's the question. That is the issue of
faith and repentance. Where do you get your help from
then? Well, it's me and Jesus. We've got a good thing going.
No. Well, God did his part and I'll
do mine. God loves everybody. Christ died for everybody. Now
I just got to do my part. Is that your help? Because if
it is, I want to tell you something. It's not the God of this Bible.
It's a God of your imagination. That's the issue. You see, Judah
knew they needed help. They knew they couldn't defeat
the Assyrian army. But where are they going to get their help
from? Well, they felt they had a reason to trust in chariots
and horses because they were many. They felt they had a reason
to trust in horsemen because they're strong. But think about
this. How awful. They could not seem
to find a reason to trust the living God. And they had every
reason to trust Him. Now, somebody said, well, that's
only two sins. Well, it may be only two, but
I'm going to tell you, it's the mother of all sins. It's unbelief. It's
self-righteousness. One writer said this, he said,
they did not, of course, abandon faith per se. Everybody lives
by faith. It is part of the human condition.
Financiers, they trust in market forces. They have faith. Militarists,
they trust in bombs and airplanes. They have faith. Scientists trust
in the regularities of nature until they're baffled, but they
have some kind of faith. Jerusalem's leaders trusted in
Egypt. They had faith, but their faith
was in an impotent power. They had faith that was misplaced.
Turn to Psalm 20. Look back at the 20th Psalm with
me. This is what the Psalmist is
saying right here. Psalm 20, look at verse 6. He says, Now know that I, the
Lord, saveth his anointed. He will hear him from his holy
heaven with the saving strength of his right hand." That's God
speaking. Some trust in chariots, some in horses. But now here's
salvation. We will remember the name of
the Lord our God. His name is His glory. They are
brought down and fallen, but we're risen and stand upright.
Save, Lord, let the King hear us when we call. Don't trust
in Egypt. My friend, don't trust in your
works for salvation. Don't trust in anything of yourself. Don't even trust in your faith
for salvation. Trust Christ for salvation. Lean upon Him. Look unto Him. Rest in Him and His finished
work. Don't trust yourself and your works for your righteousness.
Look to Christ. Look to His blood alone. Look
at verse 2 of chapter 31 back here. He says here, now, the
Lord is mightier than the Egyptians. He says, yet he also is wise
and will bring evil and will not call back his words. God
never went back on his word. The Egyptians have, all men do.
Let God be true and every man a liar. And he'll bring evil. That's disaster. Whenever God
brings disaster against his enemies or defeats his enemies, he says,
but will arise against the house of the evildoers and against
the health of them that work iniquity. God commands His people
never to seek the help of those who work iniquity. A worker of
iniquity is a lost person. It's the world that's against
God. And He says He's wiser, He'll bring disaster, He'll rise
against them. And then He says in verse 3,
Now the Egyptians are men, fallen, sinful, depraved men. That's who you're looking to
for help. They can't help you. They're not God. Only God can
help. And their horses are just flesh,
not spirit. You need spiritual help. You
see, this is the thing. Back over there in Hebrews chapter
9, when it speaks of how much more shall the blood of Christ,
who offered Himself, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself
without spot unto God. You see, for salvation, we don't
need fleshly help. We don't need the arm of the
flesh because it won't help us. We need spiritual help. We need
someone who is spiritual, who is perfect, and who can stand
in our place and fight that battle for us and win against spiritual
forces. We need the Lord Jesus Christ.
And horses are flesh. They're not spirit. You know
what that means? That means they can be killed.
I remember as a boy growing up and I saw the title of a movie.
It said they shoot horses, don't they? And what that was, you
know, it was talking about in the old westerns, they'd never
shoot a horse. You know, even the Indians and
the cowboys, when they battled, they'd never shoot each other's
horses. And somebody said, well, why
not? That's how you're going to win the battle. Kill their
horses. Then they've got to run. Then
you can kill them. Well, see, that's the way it is with horses.
They can die. That's the way it is with flesh. It can die.
It will die. For the flesh is death, the spirit
is life. So we need spiritual help, and
the horses are flesh. Look back at verse 3. He says,
When the Lord shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth
shall fall, and he that hopeth, or that is helped, shall fall
down, and they all shall fail together. Just like the blind
leading the blind, they all fall in the ditch together. The one
you're seeking to for help will fall, and you'll fall with him.
Now, the only way that we have any hope, then, is to trust in
one who will not and cannot fall. And that's God of grace in Christ. He shall not fall. He said, I'll
build my church upon the rock, the rock Christ Jesus, and the
gates of hell will not prevail against it. It will not fall.
Verse four, he says, He says in verse 4, the next point here
is our confidence is to be in the Lord. Now look at verse 4.
The Lord will defend Judah and Jerusalem. He says, For thus
saith the Lord, spoken unto me, like as the lion and the young
lion roaring on his prey, when a multitude of shepherds is called
forth against him, he will not be afraid of their voice, nor
abase himself with the noise of them or the number of them.
So shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight for Mount Zion
and for the hill thereof." This is like a mother lion and the
young lion who's got that prey and they're going to eat that
prey and nothing's going to stop them. That's what he's saying.
And that's the way it is with the Lord, the power of the lion,
you see. Well, he is the lion. He's the
lion of the tribe of Judah. And I'll tell you what, he's
the king of kings, the Lord of lords, the potentate of potentates.
Now, Potentate of Potentates doesn't mean a lodge member.
Potentate of Potentates means the all-powerful God. And I want
to tell you something, there's nobody who should take that title,
Potentate, except God. He is God. And so he's like that
lion. And he said it doesn't matter
the shepherds, he won't be afraid of their voice, he won't be afraid
of their number, He's the Lord of Hosts, which means the Invincible
God, the Lord of a great army, and he's coming down to fight
for Mount Zion and for the hill thereof. Physically speaking,
under the Old Covenant, that referred to Judah and Jerusalem.
And the Assyrian army, as you know, did not defeat them. He
brought them disaster. He turned them away like a roaring
lion over his prey. But spiritually speaking, it
speaks of Zion the church, the living God. He's going to defend
us, He's going to fight for us, He's going to protect us. Verse
5 says, As birds fly, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem,
just like the birds soaring over protecting their young. That's
what the picture is. Defending also, He will deliver
it, and passing over, He will preserve it. He will One writer
said, he'll be as strong as a lion that growls over his prey, and
he'll be as sweet and soft and gentle as a mother bird over
her chicks. That's the Lord. We'll look at
verse 6. Now here's the rest of the chapter.
Repent and turn to the Lord. Look at it, verse 6. Turn ye
unto him from whom the children of Israel have deeply revolted.
Return to him because of how great he is. Repentance means
turning towards God. When we think of repentance,
don't think simply of turning away from something. We do turn
away, but we turn toward the living God. And away from anything
that we have put in God's place. Idols of silver, look at it.
Verse 7, For in that day every man shall cast away his idols
of silver. They're gone. Turn away from
idols. Turn toward God. His idols of gold, which your
own hands have made unto you for a sin. That's what it is. A man who depends upon his own
works, who rests in his own works, is resting in a sin. That's what
he's talking about. And we're to repent of those
dead works and turn toward the living God. This is God's way. And he says in verse 8, Then
shall the Assyrian fall with the sword, not of a mighty man,
and the sword not of a mean, or somebody said an average or
a weak man, shall devour him. But he shall flee from the sword,
and his young men shall be discomfited." In other words, the wrath of
God is going to pass right through him and destroy him. And he shall
pass over to his stronghold for fear, and his princes shall be
afraid of the ensign, that is the banner, even just the banner
of God, the side of the Lord. Christ is our banner, you see.
That's what that means. And saith the Lord, whose fire
is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem. You know, this right
here, these last two verses, was fulfilled exactly as Isaiah
prophesied here. That shouldn't amaze us because
there's no prophecy ever made that God made that didn't come
true. The Syrian army devastated almost
the entire land of Judah and camped on the outskirts of Jerusalem,
waiting to conquer the nation by defeating the capital city
of Jerusalem. But in 2 Kings 19, verse 35,
you read this. It describes how God simply sent
the angel of the Lord. I mentioned this before. We read
it in 2 Chronicles. But it's in 2 Kings 19. God sent
the angel of the Lord and killed 185,000 Assyrians in one night. And when the people woke up,
there was 185,000 Assyrian soldiers dead. Not by a mighty man. It was a victory that had nothing
to do with the sword of a man. You see, it was all of God. Now,
in light of that, he says, repent, change your mind, change your
direction. In the Old Testament, the word
for repent mainly refers to a change of direction. It's like you're
going south, you turn around 180 degrees and go north. You
don't just veer a little bit. You see, repentance is not just
walking this way and then veering a little bit to the right. It's
a complete turnaround. In the New Testament, the Word
is literally a change of mind. But you've got to understand
now, it's not just an intellectual change, it's a change of the
whole person. The heart, the mind, the affections,
the will, everything that you are. Now, how does God bring
a sinner to repentance? Turn with me to Philippians chapter
3. Now, the simplest way to put
it is just like there in Isaiah 31. Now, God's message sent by
God through the prophet, how is it structured? And I say that
because he's the one who structured it. This is God's message. This
is not man's plan and not man's connivings and schemes. But this
is God's way. How does God bring a sinner to
repentance? Here's a sinner. He's trusting
in something other than Christ. He's trusting in something other
than God and His way of grace. He's trusting in the arm of the
flesh. He's gone down to Egypt, just like a sinner who's trusting
in his works, trusting in his faith, trusting in his church
membership, trusting in his baptism, trusting in something other than
Christ, blood, and righteousness alone. And how does God turn
him? Well, I'll tell you how. He shows
that sinner the sinfulness and the depravity of all that he's
trusting in, and he shows him something infinitely, someone
infinitely better. the Lord Jesus Christ. In other
words, God brings sinners to repentance through faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Let me show you that. Look at
Philippians 3 and verse 3. Paul writes here, for we're the
circumcision. That means we're the children
of God. Spiritually speaking, we've been
spiritually circumcised in heart and ears. We've been born again
by the Spirit. That's what he means. which worship
God in the spirit. We worship God as he reveals
himself in his word, by his spirit, and we worship God from the heart.
And then he says, we rejoice in Christ Jesus. Remember that
word rejoice here is the same word translated glory in Galatians
6.14 when Paul wrote, God forbid that I should glory save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word rejoice here doesn't
mean simply to have joy, even though that's included. It doesn't
mean to be happy, even though that's included. It's to have
confidence in. And you know that by the following
sentence and have no confidence in the flesh. Now, Paul says
in verse 4, though I might also have confidence in the flesh,
if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust
in the flesh, I more. Paul is saying here, literally,
he said, if you think you could trust in the flesh for salvation,
I can outdo you. I more. How? Well, he says, verse
5, circumcise the eighth day. Is that what your confidence
is in? Paul says, well, it was at one time. He says, of the
stock of Israel, we be Abraham's seed. Of the tribe of Benjamin,
an honored tribe. And Hebrew of the Hebrews, as
touching the law, that is a full-blooded Hebrew, no mixed blood here.
And as I've said when I read that, I don't know how Paul knew
that, but he believed it. And you know when fellows believe
something, you can't jar it out of there with a hammer and a
chisel. It takes the power of God to get it out of their head,
doesn't it? Just like me. He says, as touching the law
of Pharisee, that is, he went above and beyond the call of
duty and religion, concerning zeal, persecuting the church,
that which he saw as heresy, he went to stamp out according
to the law. And he says, touching the righteousness
which is in the law, blame us. Outwardly speaking, they could
bring no charge rightfully against Saul. Now, he trusted in all
that. That was his hope. That's a spiritual
way of going down into Egypt, like Judah did. That's the bondage
of the law. He thought that recommended him
unto God. Well, how did God jar him out of that, bring him to
repentance? Well, he says it in verse 7.
But what things were gained to me, those I counted loss, for
what? For Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ
revealed himself to Saul of Tarsus. And that's what showed him, in
the light of the glory of God in Christ and his finishment,
that's what showed him the depravity and wickedness and self-righteousness
of all that he thought, recommending him unto God. And he changed
his direction. He changed his mind. God changed
his mind and his direction. God changed his heart. Verse
8, "...Yet, doubtless, I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I suffered
the loss of all things." In other words, when he saw the glory
of Christ and Him crucified, Paul said, I realized I couldn't
bring anything in with me. If I wanted to wear His robe
of righteousness, I had to come as a naked sinner. If I want
to be washed in his blood, the only thing I can bring is my
sin. That's it. And he says, and do count them
but done that I may win Christ. That's how God brings a sinner
to repentance. And we as believers, we've been
brought to this repentance. But we must continually repent,
don't we? Repentance is an everyday thing
for us. because we fight continually the warfare of the flesh and
the spirit. Our whole life is one of fighting the flesh and
constantly turning to the Lord for help and peace and safety.
We constantly get ourselves in trouble. What are we to do? What the psalmist said in Psalm
121, I'll lift up mine eyes into the hills from which cometh my
help. I'm not going to go down to Egypt, not going to look within,
not going to look to man, not going to look to self. My help
cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. You know, to
look to the flesh is dishonoring to God. And it's dishonoring
to God for His children to seek comfort, strength, and help from
His enemies. Anytime Judah went down to Egypt
for help, you know what happened? Judah suffered. Peter got into
trouble when he warmed himself by the fire of the Lord's enemies,
didn't he? And he had to be brought to repentance
once again. We're brought to repentance in
prayer. for his grace and his mercy when we look unto the God
of our salvation and pray because we have a great high priest who's
passed through into the heavens, who's been touched with the feeling
of our infirmities without sin. We come to repentance when we
read and study his word for our guidance. And then it's unbelief
for us to seek help from the world. You know what that means? That means God in Christ is our
whole salvation, not just up to a point. That means everything
we are, everything we're going through, everything we will be
in glory is all by the sovereign mercy and grace of God in Christ. There's not one point where I
can turn to myself and say, well, now that part's conditioned on
me. If I do that, you know what I'm doing? The same as going
down to Egypt. Is that right? Can't do it. Only God is our
help in Christ. All right. Let's sing as our
closing hymn. Hymn number 337. Teach me thy
way, O Lord. 337.