Now, tonight I want to direct
your attention back to Isaiah chapter 30. Brother David read
the first 17 verses of this chapter. Before I get there, I want to
remind you what I read in the opening of our service from Psalm
116. Verse 7 of Psalm 116, let me
just read that to you. It says, Return unto thy rest,
O my soul. Now, I've entitled the message
tonight, Return Unto Thy Rest, from Psalm 116 and verse 7, because
that is the theme of Isaiah chapter 30, especially these first verses. Look at verse 15 of Isaiah chapter
30. Verse 15, it says, For thus saith
the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning and rest
shall you be saved. So this is a very, very appropriate
message for the child of God. It's a very, very appropriate
message for sinners who are seeking safety and health and salvation
as we see how In these passages of Scripture, God uses history
mainly as a way to tell us what not to do and a way to show us
that we need to turn to him for our salvation. Of course, when
we talk about rest, we're talking about mainly and ultimately eternal
rest that we who believe have in Christ. That's the message,
so return unto thy rest. But let's go to the first verses
here of Isaiah chapter 30. Let me set up the historical
situation. Here's what's happening. The
people of Judah, the southern kingdom of Judah, whose capital
was Jerusalem, where Isaiah the prophet prophesied, they saw,
they were witness, or would be in the future. Actually, this
is a prophecy of the future. They would be witness to a great,
great disaster. The disaster that they would
be witness to would be the destruction of the entire northern kingdom,
known as Israel, the ten tribes, by the powerful, wicked, idolatrous
Assyrian army. They would see that destruction,
and they were afraid. It would be like if a major world
power attacked Canada for us, and then we would be afraid.
We'd say, what are we going to do? We must take action. We've
got to do something. We can't just sit still because
they're coming down on us now. That's why they conquered that
country. So they're coming down. So the
people of Judah saw this, or would see it, and they would
become afraid. Well, what were they to do? What
plan did they have? What armies did they have? What
strength did they have? What strategy could they come
up with for their defense? Well, the simple message that
God had for Israel and Judah in any situation like this, where
a foreign invader was attacking his country, his people, God's
people, was simply this, trust in the Lord. trust in the Lord. Had not God proven over the years
that He could deliver them from the hands of the most powerful
enemies? Hadn't He proven that over and
over and over again when they were attacked? Hadn't God proven
over the years that He could protect them and provide for
them? That He could be their high tower
and their strong defense against anything or anyone that would
come at them? Hadn't he proven that he is both
faithful and powerful to deliver Israel, to deliver Judah, to
deliver his people when they needed it? Well, of course he
had. Yet the people, rather than calling upon God and turning
to him and trusting him, they sought to make another alliance,
a worldly alliance. One that is a great picture of
the flesh and bondage. They went to a place called Egypt
to get an alliance, to get help, to find an ally to help them
against the Assyrian army. Egypt! What history did they
have with Egypt? Well, they knew. They knew that
their song of the redeemed included their redemption from the bondage
of Egypt and the idolatry of Egypt and the flesh pots of Egypt.
And yet they went back to Egypt. They sent ambassadors down into
Egypt with goods carried by donkeys and wagons all the way down into
Egypt to get the king of Egypt, Pharaoh, in light of his ambassadors,
to come and help them. Well, first of all, such an alliance
was foolish. That's the alliance of fools.
Number one, it dishonored God. They were the people of God.
They were to honor and fear and worship and serve God. They were
to represent God before the world. They were to be living, walking
examples of how powerful God is, how gracious God is, how
merciful God is, and how faithful God is. But in going to Egypt
to find help, they discounted every bit of that. They said,
well, big deal, basically. They also distrusted God, distrusted
His power, His faithfulness. This was an act of unbelief. When they sought alliance in
Egypt, they were saying, we don't really believe God. We don't
really trust Him. And you know to disbelieve God
and to distrust God is an assault upon every attribute of His nature. That's why unbelief is the greatest
sin. It's the mother of all sins. But it's an attack. It's an out-and-out
attack upon every attribute of God's nature. You see, God has
engaged Himself to do what He says and promises to do. And
when you don't believe God, that's an attack upon every attribute
He's engaged in that endeavor. This also compromised truth.
What is the truth? Well, God was the God of Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. And he had certainly taken care
of them up to this point, and he did it according to truth.
He didn't have to hide, he didn't have to finagle, he didn't have
to lie, he didn't have to deceive. All he had to do was act according
to his nature. So they compromised his truth,
and then ultimately they brought trouble. Trouble, trouble, trouble
to Judah. My friend, whenever we get our
eyes off of God and His Word, and begin to trust the arm of
the flesh. That's all we're going to have for ourselves. Trouble,
trouble, trouble. Nothing else. Now, of course,
this is an illustration of the trouble man gets into, sinful
man gets into, when he trusts in the arm of the flesh or makes
alliances with the world instead of trusting God for salvation.
That's the ultimate message here. There's a salvation message in
this historical setting. And that's the glory of this
Edmonton. This is where we see the glory of Christ, the Holy
One of Israel. We see this more than ever in
the realm of the salvation of sinners. When sinners find themselves
in trouble because of their sins, whether they're facing some kind
of a trial here on earth or whether they're facing death itself and
about to step into eternity and meet God face to face, what are
we going to do? Where are we going to find help?
Where are we going to find salvation and peace? And man, always by
nature, what's he going to do? He's going to trust to his own
works, his own flesh, his own heritage, anything but trusting
in Christ and Him alone. Isn't that right? And what's
he going to have there? Eternal trouble, trouble, trouble,
never-ending trouble when sinners seek salvation. That's no different
than Israel or Judah going down to Egypt to find help. to help
them conquer this invading army. There's also a message here to
the church body. And what it is to us, I believe,
we who know Christ, we who have been saved from our sins, who
have been regenerated by the Spirit, and that's this. We must
stand firm at all times in the grace of God in Christ and be
separate from the world. We can never, never make alliances
with the flesh and with the world. We have to strive to be what
God has made us, sinners saved by His grace and His power through
Christ. That's what we are. We're His
workmanship. He made us. And he said this
of the church. He says, you're the salt of the
earth. Don't lose your savor. That's
what this message is. We're the light of Christ in
a world of darkness. Don't hide it under a bushel.
We're the pillar and the ground of truth. We cannot compromise
the truth. And whenever people in the church
or as a whole stray from the Word of God, stray from their
faith in God, the message of God to his children is the same
as his message to Judah. Right here in this verse 15,
in returning and rest you shall be saved. Now let's not be like
Judah of old. You notice there, look back at
that verse 15. He says, for thus saith the Lord
God, the Holy One of Israel, in returning and rest shall you
be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.
And he says in those last words, and ye would not. Now let's not
be like Judah. And ye would not. Remember last
Wednesday I showed you what I called Three of the most devastating
words in the Bible. Let him alone. Some of you told
me you thought I was going to go to Matthew 7. Depart from
me, I knew you not. Well, that's the same thing,
isn't it? Same thing. Well, right here's another phrase.
That describes man by nature. And you would not. That's what
man will do of his own will, right there. And you would not.
Lord, don't leave us to our own will in these matters. All right,
let's look at these verses. The first two verses of this
show, number one, a necessary rebuke. A rebuke. My friend, Judah needed to be
rebuked. Judah needed to be admonished
over what they were doing. Judah needed to be corrected. So they didn't need to be left
alone in this matter. You see, this is not a matter
where the prophet should have been worried about stepping on
people's toes or taking pot shots at people. No, they needed to
be rebuked. They needed to be told the danger
that they were entering into. And that's what he says, woe
to the rebellious children, verse 1. As I said before, that woe
doesn't say, it's not in the sense of look out, I'm going
to get you. It's beware. Understand what
you're doing. Don't take the first step on
that road unless you know where it's going to end up. That's
what the woe is for. It had to be pointed out exactly
what Judah was going to do. They had ignored and rejected
God's Word and God's counsel. But they needed it. Now, you
know, none of us like to be rebuked. None of us like to be corrected
and admonished. And even believers, pride causes
us to see this as mean and harsh, just like children. But when
people go their own way in opposition to the plain Word of God, the
teachings of God, then rebuke is needed. And listen, it's the
most loving and the most caring thing that any person can give
us, rebuking us from God's Word. God's Word is our foundation
in God, and it's profitable, Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy
3, for doctrine, but not only for doctrine, that's teaching
and guiding and truth, but it's also profitable for rebuke and
correction. Paul wrote to the Romans, and
listen to what he said in chapter 15 and verse 14. He said, and
I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that you also
are full of goodness, that is, by the grace of God, filled with
all knowledge, and listen to what he says, and able also to
admonish one another. You're able to do that. Do you
know that's a God-given ability? To admonish one another. In 1
Thessalonians 5, verse 12, he said, I beseech you, brethren,
to know them which labor among you and are over you in the Lord,
and admonish you. That's talking about their pastors
and their elders. He said in 2 Thessalonians 3,
verse 15, when he's talking about those who were going contrary
to the word of God, that you count them not as an enemy, but
admonish him as a brother. That's one of the most loving,
caring things that a person can do for us, is rebuke us and admonish
us from the Word of God. Look at verse 1 again of chapter
30 here. He says, Woe to the rebellious
children. That's the first thing. He labels
them as rebels. In other words, they're not meek
and submissive to God's Word. And this is the Word of God,
saith the Lord. The prophet is just simply telling
them what God told him. And it says that take counsel
but not of me." He says, "...and that cover with a covering, but
not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin." They devised
their own plan, and they rejected God's way. A serious coming. What are we going to do? Well,
they acted not according to God's counsel and God's wisdom by the
Holy Spirit. You see, they took counsel, but
not of God. They didn't seek God's word.
They didn't seek the word of the prophets through whom God
spoke. They didn't look to the law of
God in the books of Moses. They had their own counsel, on
their own way, by their own words, in their own opinions, by their
own wisdom. And it was foolishness. And they
sought to cover with a covering, but not of the Spirit of God.
You know what that means? That means to seek cover and
protection from an enemy. It's the same word that's used
back over here in chapter 28 when it talks about in verse
20 how the bed is shorter than a man can stretch himself on,
and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in.
That's the same word, that cover. You see, this cover would not
protect them. They could go to Egypt. Egypt
may have seemed pretty powerful and pretty rich, but that cover's
too narrow to cover you from the Assyrian empire. We find
later in history that the Assyrian Empire went down and conquered
Egypt, tore them up, in fact. So that covering was too short
because it was not of God. Anything less than the power
of God alone is too narrow and too short. And God had told them
that He was their strength, He was their protection, that there
was nothing but death in Egypt, but they wouldn't listen. Now
here's the salvation message in this verse. It's simply this,
if you want to be covered from all of your sins, if you want
salvation eternally, then trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. God
had already told them that. He said, I'm going to send a
stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone. He that believeth
in him shall not make haste. Don't go to spiritual Egypt. Don't go to bondage and legalism
and fleshly works to find your salvation and your righteousness
and your holiness and your acceptance before God. But you trust Christ
and Him crucified. He's the only way of redemption
for a sinner. His blood and His blood alone.
Our only hope for the forgiveness of our sins is to be washed,
totally covered in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. No
other way. Any other covering is too narrow.
Our hope of being accepted before God, being justified and entitled
to the whole inheritance of grace and glory, is to be clothed in
the white robe of His righteousness imputed alone. Nothing else will
do. Nothing else will do. Anything
else is the arm of the flesh. Anything else is unbelief. It
denies and dishonors every attribute of God's character. You see,
God has engaged himself in the person and work of his Son. What
does that mean? That means God has engaged everything
that he is, every attribute, in the person and work of Christ
to save his people from their sins. Therefore, to reject Christ
and to turn to our own ways and our own devices and our own works
is to cast shame and reproach upon every attribute of God.
It's to lift ourselves up in self-righteousness. And he says
here in verse 1, he says that they may add sin to sin. Now,
that's the essence of unbelief. It adds sin to sin. You see,
disbelieving God is one sin. But devising God and provoking
Him by devising our own way is another sin. It just leads to
one sin after the other. It's the essence of sin. Look
at verse 2. He says, "...those that walk
to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth..." What
does God's Word say here? "...to strengthen themselves
in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt."
You see, this is the necessary rebuke. This prophecy was given
at a time when the Assyrian army was actually attacking Israel
and Judah. Now, again, in Isaiah's day it
was future. But Assyria was getting ready
to come down, and they were starting to attack the northern kingdom,
and they started to bother Judah too. Israel would be conquered
by Assyria, totally destroyed. The people would be gathered
up, and they'd be taken into exile. The Assyrians would then
come against Judah, and because of this threat, the leaders of
Judah looked to Egypt for protection against the Assyrian invasion.
Now, looking to Egypt, what did they do? They forsook God. In
one sense, it's a wise thing and a good thing for people to
know and understand that they need help, isn't it? We need help. We can't do this
on ourselves. And we're willing to look elsewhere,
outside of ourselves. But in the larger sense, it was
foolish and evil, Judah, to look to others, especially Egypt,
for help instead of looking to the Lord, who had proven himself
over and over again. To make an alliance with Egypt,
did you notice there it says in verse 2, that walk to go down
into Egypt? I like that language. Because
I want to tell you something. To make an alliance with Egypt,
you've got to go down. You've got to go down. You're
not going to go up. And whenever sinners seek salvation by their
own works, whenever they seek righteousness by their own efforts,
I'm going to tell you what they do. They go down. They never
go up. It's never a step upward to come
to God and seek acceptance, to seek help, to seek salvation
based on your works. It looks like it's a step up.
I'll give you an example of what I'm talking about. You might
know somebody who is an out-and-out drunk, and that person needs
to stop that and reform. Their lives need to be reformed.
They need to quit it. They need to go tea totally on
the wagon, don't they? And if they do, we'd say, well,
that's a good thing. That's a step up, isn't it? Well,
let me tell you something. In our view, it is, and they
should stop that. But if they think that that's
what recommends them unto God, you know, maybe they start going
to church, walk an aisle, make a profession, get baptized. To
the world, that looks like a step up. But if they think in their
minds and in their hearts that that is their acceptance before
God, that that makes up some part of their righteousness,
that God owes them something for that, it's not a step up
in God's sight, it's a step down. They just lowered themselves
even further. Christ told the Pharisees that
when He said, you go out and encompass sea and land to make
converts, to get these Gentiles to become Jews and to go under
the law, like you're under the law. And he said, all you do
is make them twofold more the child of hell than you are. They've
gone down. Let me tell you, the only way
you're going to go up is when God reaches down His hand of
grace and lifts the beggar off the dung heap. That's right. Lifts you up by His grace and
His power and His mercy in Christ. You have to go down to go to
Egypt. Men always lower themselves when they go to the arm of the
flesh. The only way up is to look to Christ and rest in Him. They preferred, it says here,
look back, he says, they preferred the protective shade of Egypt.
It says they wanted the strength of Pharaoh. And I'll tell you
what, you know, you think about Pharaoh, I used to be really
interested in reading books about the Pharaohs and the pyramids
and all that. You know, the Pharaohs, they
died. They mummified their bodies,
but they still rotted away, and they didn't even have the power
to keep thieves out of the pyramids. That's how powerful Pharaoh is.
He couldn't even keep a thief, as much as they tried with all
the traps and all that stuff they had, they couldn't do that.
They didn't have any power. And it says, "...and to trust
in the shadow of Egypt." Egypt's power and strength and glory
was just a shadow. No substance to it, you see.
And that's what he's saying. It was just mere shadow. And
they preferred trusting in the shade of Egypt rather than the
Lord, who's the only real refuge. Well, look at verse 3. Now, here's
the second point. Here's the foolishness of trusting
in Egypt. Listen to this. He says, Therefore
shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, that what you
glory in will be your shame. That's the way it is when man
seeks to save himself by his works. He glories in what he's
done. He's gloried in what he's accomplished.
He's glorying in what he thinks God has enabled him to do. What
does the believer do? God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross. We glory only in what Christ
has done and is doing. Isn't that right? There's the
only issue for us. Well, their strength shall be
their shame. And to trust in the shadow of Egypt, your confusion. It would be an embarrassment.
Verse 4, for his princes were at Zoan, and his ambassadors
came to Haines. What happened there is they sent
ambassadors down to Egypt, and these were the places they went
to with all their goods. And they met with these ambassadors
trying to form an alliance with Egypt. And it says in verse 5,
they were all ashamed of a people that could not profit them, nor
be in help nor profit, but ashamed and also reproached. Everything
which man by nature. glories in shall be brought to
shame and humiliation." I think about Matthew 7 quite a bit when
I read scriptures like that. That which you glory in becomes
your shame. That which you're trusting in
becomes your shame. You remember when the Lord, in
verse 21, when He said there, in that day, many shall say unto
me, Lord, Lord. And He said, they'll say, Lord,
haven't we prophesied in Your name? Haven't we cast out demons? Haven't we done many wonderful
works? And he said, Depart from me,
ye that worketh iniquity, I never knew you. Their glory became
their shame. I'm telling you, the lesson here,
the salvation message here is this. Any sinner who stands before
God in anything less than Christ and His blood and righteousness,
your glory will be your shame. That's the message. That's the
foolishness of trusting in our works. All who trust in Christ
shall not be ashamed, the Bible says, over and over again. Look
at verse 6. The burden of the beast of the
south into the land of trouble and anguish from whence come
the young and old life, the viper and the fiery flying serpent.
They're going out into a desert, a place of trouble, going down
into Egypt carrying all these goods, and it's a hard journey. It's not an easy journey. That's
a great picture of the way of false religion. It's a hard journey. It's not easy. I know some denominations
try to make it easier than others. But it's not the way of work
salvation. First of all, it's impossible
to do. It can't be done. But there's no real peace there.
You're always going to be attacked by the young lion and the viper
and the fiery flying serpent, just like out in the desert.
That's what he's talking about. There's not going to be any peace
out there. There's no rest out there. There's only rest in Christ,
you see. Out there in the desert of man's
false religion, it's work, work, work, and just when you think
you've made it, they'll give you something else to do, won't
they? They'll make you feel bad enough. You'll either have to
rededicate or re-educate or reform or whatever. You'll have to redo
something, and you'll have to keep on keeping on, and you'll
never get there, and somebody says, well, we'll find out in
the end. That's the desert of human religion. He says they'll
carry their riches upon the shoulders of young asses. They're carrying
everything that they think is valuable. That's what a person
in religion does, doesn't it? It lists up everything that he
thinks is going to recommend him unto God. They're treasures
upon the bunches of camels to a people that shall not profit
them. You're going to the wrong place,
the wrong way. And he says in verse 7, For the
Egyptians shall help in vain and to no purpose. Therefore
have I cried concerning this, their strength is to sit still. Now what he's saying there is
this, their strength is to do nothing. They're a do-nothing
people. That's what he's calling Egypt.
They can't help you. That's what he means. There's
nothing they can do for you. Like false religion. It may look
good to the world. It may be bragged on. It may
look like you're being lifted up, but it can do nothing for
you except keep you in a state of damnation, which you're already
in. That's all they can do. But now God sets forth through
the prophet a written indictment. Listen to this in verse 8. Here's
the third point. God's written indictment against
Judah. He says, now go write it before them in a table and
note it in a book that it may be for the time to come forever
and ever. This is a message for us. That's
what he's saying. They rejected his word. Well,
that's a problem today. People reject his word. His word
of truth, His word of the gospel, how God saves sinners. People
reject that. And he says here, write it down.
Write it in a book. Anything that's written down
in God's word is important. It's vital. And he goes on, he
says in verse 9, he says that this is a rebellious people,
lying children, children that will not hear the law of the
Lord. They won't hear what Moses wrote. Remember, our Lord stood
and spoke to the Pharisees in John chapter 5, and He said,
you do search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life, but they are they which testify of Me. He said,
the one who will be your judge is the one in whom you trust.
You trust in Moses, he'll be your judge, because Moses never,
never directed the people who were under him to seek salvation
by their law-keeping. And Christ said it this way,
He said, Moses wrote of Me. Moses pointed sinners to Christ.
But they wouldn't hear the law of the Lord. Verse 10, it says,
we say to the seers, those are the visionaries, say to the seers,
see not, and to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things.
Speak, now here's the key. Now listen to this. He says in
verse 10, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy to see. Now, what did they want to hear?
They didn't want to hear anything that would rebuke them or correct
them or admonish them. They wanted to hear what they
wanted to hear. Not what God has to say. Tell me what I want
to hear. Now that's man by nature. That's
religion. Speak, speak highly of me. Speak in low tones to me. Speak kind words to me that lead
me astray. Lying children, you see. Tell
me. They're like those who have itching
ears. They got something they want to hear. It's like an itch.
And they'll find them a preacher somewhere who will scratch that
itch instead of tell them what they need to hear. What do you
need to hear? We need to hear what kind of
people we really are. Somebody said one time, said,
well, I'm tired of hearing how much of a sinner I am. Well,
that's what I need to hear. And that's what you need to hear.
Now, it's not very flattering, is it? when we see the reality
of what we are, even now as sinners saved by the grace of God. But
I want to tell you what that does for a child of God. When
we hear what kind of sinners we are, it shows us how great
our Savior is. And there's the key. Anything
that magnifies Christ, that's what we ought to hear and want
to hear. People want to magnify the flesh.
They want to brag on this one, brag on that one, memorialize
this one, memorialize that one. No, sir, let's lift up Christ
and Him crucified. Let's talk about the power and
the preciousness of His blood. Let's talk about the beauty of
His righteousness. Let's talk about how God can
be just and justify. But people don't want to hear
that. Speak unto me smooth things. Look at verse 11. He says, get
you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy
One of Israel to cease from before us. It would be like the same
as somebody said, well, all you preach is Christ and Him crucified.
Go somewhere else. Preach someone else. Preach something
else. I need something else. And that's
the kind of picture you have here. That's how bad it got in
Judah. Well, here's the fourth point.
Here's God's judgment upon Judah. Look at verse 12. He says, wherefore,
or for this reason, thus saith the Holy One of Israel, the one
you reject now. That's what he's saying. Because
you despise the Word and trust in oppression, you might have
in your concordance that word oppression is literally fraud. Because that's what a false message
is. It's fraud. Any message that misrepresents
God and His way of salvation. You trust in oppression, fraud,
and perverseness, and stay there on. That's where you want to
stay. What does the Bible say? It says that a heart that stayed
on Jehovah. A heart stayed on Jehovah. That's
the wisdom of God. That's salvation. A heart fixed
on Christ. A heart established with grace. Can't be moved. He says here,
you want to hear about fraud, and you want to hear about perverseness,
and you want to be fixed right there. How pitiful that is. So he says in verse 13, Therefore,
this iniquity shall be to you as a breach ready to fall, swelling
out in a high wall, whose breaking cometh suddenly at an instant,
just like a dam being burst, that which you trust in is going
to drown you, going to be your downfall. He says this, verse
14, "...he shall break it as the breaking of the potter's
vessel that is broken in pieces he shall not spare." In other
words, it's going to be shattered to pieces. You're not going to
be able to put it back together. That's what the point is. You
can't put this one back together. Humpty Dumpty is not going to
be put back together on this one. It's going to shatter to
pieces. "...so that there shall not be
found in the bursting of it even a shard." Do you know what a
shard is? You've heard that, let the pot shards of the air,
that's the pot shards. When you break a pot, you can
pick up that big piece and you can glue it back in. No, you
won't even be able to find a shard here to take fire from the hearth
or to take water with all out of the pit. You won't even be
able to put this thing back together that it could hold fire or that
it could hold water. Absolute destruction. That's
God's Judah. Why? A judgment upon Judah. Why?
Because you despise the Word of God. You despise God's gospel. You despise God's way. God promised
that because Judah trusted in Egypt instead of him, everything
will be broken and collapsed. Judah will be like a collapsed
wall and like a broken pot shattered and cannot be put together. Well,
here's the fifth point. Look at Judah's rejection of
God's word described. Now look at this. He says, he
says, where thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel.
In returning and rest shall you be saved. In quietness and in
confidence shall be your strength. And you would not. It starts
off with Isaiah's message to Judah. What is the prophet's
message? Repent. Repent and rest in the
Lord. That's the message. Returning
and rest. That has to do with repentance.
Repent of seeking your own way. Repent of your own dead works. Repent of your self-righteousness
and your unbelief. And rest. What is rest? That's
faith in God. That's what that is. Trusting
in God. Trusting in the Lord. Rest in Him. That's the salvation
message. Repent and trust in the Holy
One of Israel. Repent and trust in Christ. Rest
in Christ. That's not a hard road. Christ
has already walked the hard road, and He's taken care of all the
obstacles and provided all the means. He's done it Himself. And here's what He says to His
people, "'Come unto Me, all ye that are labored and heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.'" Hebrews chapter 4, enter into his rest,
for there remaineth a Sabbath, a rest unto the people of God.
It is not a day, thank God, it's a person who did a work of glory
and grace upon the cross of Calvary, and we rest in him. He is our
rest. And he says, quietness and confidence
shall be your strength. Think about that. Turn to Isaiah
32. We'll be seeing this in a few weeks. Look at verse 17. What do you mean quietness and
confidence? It has to do with calmness and
assurance of salvation. Confidence. He's talking about
here in Isaiah 32 about the coming of Christ. It starts off in verse
1, Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes
shall rule in judgment. That's talking about Christ and
His church. He's the king who reigns in righteousness. And His princes rule in judgment.
You know what that means? It means they preach the gospel.
Because that's the judgment. And he says in verse 15, he says,
until the Spirit be poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness
be a fruitful field, and the fruitful field be counted for
a forest. This is the spreading of the gospel out to the Gentiles.
He says, then judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and
righteousness remain in the fruitful field. Now listen to verse 17
here. He says, and the work of righteousness shall be peace.
Now whose righteousness do you think he's talking about there?
It's talking about the work of Christ on the cross to satisfy
the justice of God for our sins and enable God to be a just God
and a Savior based on His righteousness, peace with God through Christ. And then he says, and the effect
of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. Now, you may
have some troubled times. You may have some times of turmoil,
and you will. We all do. But when it comes
to my relationship with God, when it comes to my eternal soul
and eternal life, I can be confident as long as I'm looking to Christ,
who did the work. And when I get my eyes off of
Him, and down into Egypt, I'm in trouble. When I get my eyes
off of Him and look in here, and this is Egypt too now, that's
when I get in trouble. but returning and resting in
Him. And that's a continual thing
for the believer. That's not just a one-time thing. We continually
return, continually rest in Him. And what does He say? The effect of His righteousness
is quietness. Calm down now, Israel. Calm down,
Judah. You don't have to fear the Assyrian
army. God's much more powerful than
the Assyrians. And He's proven that. And assurance
forever. And look at verse 18 of Isaiah
32, And my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and
in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting places. Isn't that good?
Go back to Isaiah 30 and I'll conclude. He says here in verse
15, In returning to rest shall you be saved, in quietness and
in confidence shall be your strength. But look at Judah's response.
Now there's the prophet's message. Here's Judah's response. And
you would not. And you would not. What did they
say? Well, they said no. No, we'll
flee upon horses. Horses back then was a real symbol
of power and strength and defense. We'll flee upon horses. We'd
rather run on a horse than rest in quiet confidence. Now, that's
man by nature. We'd rather be in bondage in
Egypt. Huh? than resting in the power
and glory and grace of God. Therefore shall you flee. God
says you'll flee. And we will ride upon the swift,
therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. In other words,
you're going to get caught. That's what that means. You're
going to flee and they'll be swift, but the ones pursuing
you are going to be faster. You're going to get caught. And
here's how bad it's going to get, verse 17. One thousand shall
flee at the rebuke of one. It's only going to take one of
them to get you on the run. He says, "...at the rebuke of
five shall you flee, till you be left as a beacon upon the
top of a mountain, and as an incense on a hill." You're going
to be an example. Now think about this. This is
terrible. You're going to be a living warning upon the top
of a hill like a beacon of unbelief and rebellion. Don't follow Israel. Paul used it in Hebrews chapter
3. Don't provoke God like Israel
provoked. but enter into his rest." They
couldn't enter in because of unbelief. That was Judah's punishment. Therefore, he will flee. And
what I say in my prayer, and what you say too in your prayer,
when it says, and you would not, Lord, don't leave me to my own
will. Bring me to a saving knowledge
of Christ my Savior. Cause me to return and rest. and leave me in quietness and
in confidence. That's my salvation and my strength. All right. We're going to sing
as a closing hymn, hymn number 242, Jesus I Come, 242.