Sovereign Grace Chapel, located
at 135 Annabel Lane in Beaver, West Virginia, invites you to
listen to a gospel message concerning Jesus Christ our Lord. If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in the book of Isaiah chapter 29, Isaiah 29. And I
wanna read from verses 18 to 24. Isaiah 29, beginning in verse
18. And in that day shall the deaf hear the words of the book. and the eyes of the blind shall
see out of obscurity and out of darkness. The meek also shall
increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall
rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For the terrible one is brought
to naught, and the scorner is consumed, and all that watch
for iniquity are cut off. that make a man an offender for
a word, and lay a snare for him that reproveth in the gate, and
turn aside the just for a thing of naught. Therefore thus saith
the Lord, who redeemed Abraham concerning the house of Jacob,
Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax
pale. But when he seeth his children,
the work of mine hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify
my name, and sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear
the God of Israel. They also that erred in spirit
shall come to understand, and they that murmured shall learn
doctrine. God's work is greater than we know. And God's work is also better
than we can say. But we try. That's all we can
do. Because here's the thing. His
work is greater than we can know, His work is better than we can
say, and God is for his people. And that's a blessing, that's
a blessing. But my title today is called
A Marvelous Work. Now we'll get to that title a
little later on, but I wanna begin in verse 18, where he says,
the deaf shall hear. Let's be clear though. The deaf shall hear the words
of the book. That's the scriptures, folks.
That's what he's talking about. But the first part of this verse
says the deaf shall hear. What's that mean? That means
some people don't hear. They are the deaf. Now, our Lord
Jesus Christ, I said this a few weeks ago, said it several times,
he that hath ears to hear Let him hear. Because some don't hear. And
that's just the fact of it. Stephen preached to them a message. And they killed him. They killed
him. He told them, this is Acts 7
verse 51, ye stiff neck and uncircumcised in heart and ears. Ye do always resist the Holy
Ghost, as your fathers did, so do ye, so do ye. Why? They didn't hear the words of
the book. Those words that Stephen said
there, ye sit naked uncircumcised in heart and ears, that's from
Deuteronomy. I don't remember what chapter
it is, I didn't write it down. But it's scripture, it's scripture. And they heard this and they
stoned Stephen to death. They could not hear and comprehend
the truth when it was preached to them. When it was preached
to them. So how can the deaf hear? How
can the ears of the deaf be circumcised? Proverbs 20 and verse 12 puts
it this way. The hearing ear and the seeing
eye, the Lord hath made even both of them. Both of them. That's what we have. The deaf
shall hear. Understand, this is just a flat
statement. It's a flat statement. It's not
the deaf shall hear if they do something. It's not the deaf
shall hear if they really wanna pay attention. No, he just says
the deaf shall hear. And they shall hear the words
of this book. It's coming. Because I'm gonna
tell you something, when the Lord gives you a hearing ear,
he that hath ears to hear shall hear. Shall hear, I guarantee
it. The deaf shall hear, and therefore,
they are no longer deaf. I know it sounds a little simple,
but when God works, God works. And things happen, that's the
point. Now, the next thing it says,
I'm not gonna keep you long today. Excuse me, the next thing it
says, And the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity and
out of darkness. The blind shall see. Understand, we're still talking
about the same person. The one that was deaf was also
blind. The one that was deaf was also
blind. The one that was blind was also deaf. But it says the
blind shall see. What does that mean? Well, it
means some don't see. It means some don't see, there
are the blind. But they shall, they shall, the
ones he's talking about. You understand, John the Baptist
sent his followers, he said, go see Jesus and see if this
is the one. And Jesus had them there and
did a bunch of things and he told them, in, this is Matthew
11 in verse five. He told him to go back and tell
John this. What did he tell him to tell? The blind receive their
sight. The lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the
poor have the gospel preached unto them. Here it is. receive, what? Their sight. I like that, I like
that. He makes it specific. He makes
it specific. These are the words of Christ,
their sight. You understand, the blind cannot
receive your sight. The blind can't receive my sight.
They've got to receive their own sight. And that takes, spiritually,
the power of God. The same thing with deaf ears. It applies here. The hearing
ear and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made even both of them. Oh my. The blind receive it. The blind shall see their own
sight. Oh, I like that. The blind receive
their own seeing eye. He's not saying people don't
have eyes. He's saying that people have eyes that don't see. If our gospel be hid, it's hid
to them which are lost. Whom the God of this world has
blinded their minds that they don't see. Oh. But the Lord's telling us
here, the deaf are going to hear and the blind are going to see.
Oh, I like that, I like that. This is what I need. And here,
and I looked at this. This was a little odd. It says,
they shall see out of obscurity and out of darkness. So I looked
at those two words, obscurity and darkness. Well, both of them,
it's two different words, two different Hebrew words. Both
of them have to do with dark. Both of them have to do with
dark. It's just a strange wording, because the word obscurity actually
means darkness. And the word darkness, translated,
means the dark. Oh, I thought, wait a minute,
that's pretty good. Because naturally, all that you're
going to see is darkness if you are in the dark. And I thought,
well that makes more sense now. I like that though. Because of
Colossians 1 13. Who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
son. If you're in the dark, all you're
gonna see is darkness. But the blind shall see out. Oh, I like that. Out of obscurity
and out of the darkness. The blind are going to see. He's
delivered us from the dark and he's delivered us from the darkness.
That's pretty good stuff. Oh, and therefore, they'll see. They'll see, the blind shall
see. The kingdom of him we have been
translated into is a kingdom of light because he is the light. He is the light. And now they
see. Those that have been translated
see. Oh, and therefore they are no longer
blind, no longer blind. Oh, I like that. The deaf shall
hear the words of the book and out of the eyes of the blind
shall see out of the obscurity and out of darkness. Then the next one says this.
The meek shall increase their joy in the Lord. In the Lord. And the poor shall
rejoice in the Holy One of Israel, in
the Holy One of Israel. So the meek shall increase their
joy in the Lord, and the poor shall rejoice in the Holy One
of Israel. So I looked at those words just
to check. The meek and the poor, you know what that is? It's the depressed. The humbled. And the poor, the
word is beggar. The beggar. Understand, the one
with whom we have to do is the one who takes the beggar off
of the dunghill to sit with princes and kings. Oh, I like that. I like that, I do. Oh, and guess
what? They'll rejoice. They'll rejoice. In who? The Holy One of Israel. Folks, that's the Lord Jesus
Christ. Our Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. And Jesus Christ
is the Redeemer. The Redeemer. Oh, oh, I like
that. Because you understand, here's
the thing. The only people who know they
need the Lord are what? Meek and poor. What the world doesn't understand
is that they're meek and they're poor. Spiritually. But you can have all the worldly
goods in the world. You can have them all. And still
be meek and poor. Humbled, depressed, and a beggar. The world doesn't know it. Oh
my, but you know who does know it? The deaf that shall hear
and the blind that shall see. They're the only ones who know
it. Only those who can hear and see know what they are themselves. And also, only those who can
hear and see know the world that we live in. Oh my. And one more thing, very important. Only those who can hear and see
know the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. Oh, and rejoice in Him. And joy increase in the Lord. Oh, I like that, I do that, because
here's the thing. The meek and the poor hear and
see the good news of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The
salvation by his sovereign grace given to men. Oh, these people
do see. Matter of fact, what was it?
I love that scripture in Exodus. When Moses tells the people,
he says, stand still. Stand still. And see the salvation
of the Lord. You're not gonna see the salvation
of the Lord unless he gives you eyes to see. You're not gonna
hear about the salvation of the Lord unless he gives you ears
that hear. But if he does, If he does give
you ears that hear, eyes that see, and a heart that can understand,
you're going to see the salvation of the Lord, and you're gonna
see it's in his hands and not yours. The poor and the meek. Oh, I
like that. That's who see it. Their joy
increases, and they rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. Next I wanna drop down to verse
24, where it says, the airing shall understand. They also that
aired, wait a minute, in spirit, shall come to understanding.
Oh, I like that. I found a good definition of
error by Horatius Bonar, who's wrote a couple of songs in our
hymnal. Here it is. All error is, more or less, whether
directly or indirectly, a misrepresentation of God's character and a subversion
of his revelation. And he gives us a reference,
Revelations 22, 18 and 19. And you know what that is? This little thing says anybody
takes and adds a word to this prophecy, anybody takes a word away from
this prophecy, this is what you get. Don't mess
with God's word. Don't add, don't take away, don't
hide, don't ignore. It's all true, whether we understand
it or not. It's still true. Because here
it is, the natural man errs naturally. It's what he does. Understand,
those that don't hear the words of the book, those who cannot
see, err. They are full of error. And what
they do is they misrepresent God's character and they subvert
his revelation. That's what we're surrounded
by, folks. Oh my, only one man ever truly
understood naturally, and that was the Lord Jesus Christ. We need divine revelation. And that's just what the scripture
says. It says, thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. Flesh and blood is not revealed
that to you, but my Father, which is in heaven. Why? It pleased God. It pleased God
to hide these things from the wise and the prudent. And, not
just that, to reveal them unto babes. For so it seemed good
in thy sight. Oh, I like that. I like that. The natural man errs naturally. But, our Lord Jesus Christ did
understand. This is what they said when Jesus
was 12 years old and in the temple. His folks had gone off. They
had to come back and find him. He was still in the temple talking
with these doctors of law in the temple. And it says this
in Luke two and verse 47, and all that heard him were astonished
at his understanding and answers. Oh, I like that. All that heard
him were astonished at his understanding and his understanding because of his answers. Understand? The Lord Jesus Christ understood.
The scripture. The Lord. Oh my, the Father. And he said, what? Wished ye
not that I be about my Father's business? Oh my. That was the reaction of those
that heard him when he was 12 years old. And the reaction of
when he was an adult, they tried to kill him. They wanted to stone
him. and would have, but he passed
right out of their sight more than once. Oh my. Because here's the thing. The
Father's business includes understanding. Understanding. And even more
than that, the Lord Jesus Christ gives understanding to his people. To his people. Oh. Luke 24 verse 45 puts it this
way. Then opened he their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures. The scriptures. Your understanding has to be
open to understand the scriptures. People don't get that. People don't want that. You understand,
I do enjoy logic. It's something that kind of fascinates
me in some ways. When something is this way, this
is the result. When this happens, this happens. But you understand, God's word
is right, whether you think it's logical or not. He's not worried
about your logic or my logic. He says it. and it's done. He don't even have to say it. He can think it. And it's done. It's done. Oh, and his word shall
not return unto him void. It's going to accomplish that
for which unto he sent it. Oh. He opens, here's the thing
though. He opened their understanding.
He opens and no man shuts. Yeah. The opposite is also true,
says it. He shuts and no man opens. He says both in the book of Revelations. Oh my, because here's the thing
though. At one time, all believers only
knew error. That's all we knew. because that's
all the unbeliever knows, is error. And that's what we were
at one time. Oh my, even, I tell you something,
even if the doctrine was orthodox that you knew, you're still in
error. You're still in error. Because
you understand, if you don't see him who gives the doctrine,
you've missed the point of the doctrine. The point of this book is not
doctrine, the point of this book is Jesus Christ. Now it's chock full of doctrine.
His doctrine. Sound teaching, that's what the
word means. And if you're against, I'm against
doctrine, I don't like doctrine. You don't like sound teaching?
What do you want, nonsense? There's plenty of that out there.
Go right ahead. I'm trying to stay away from
it. I try to turn my TV off whenever Debbie's not looking. Or change
the channel and put on Hogan's Heroes. I prefer that to the news nowadays.
Okay, let's be honest. I've always preferred that to
the news. I liked it, but anyhow. Here. In 1 Corinthians chapter two
and verse 16, Paul ends that whole thing, that whole saying
about talking about the natural man cannot understand the things
of the Spirit of God, for they're spiritually discerned. Neither
can he know them, for they are spiritually discerned. That's
what it says, but it comes down to the end of it, and this is
the last verse. He says, for who hath known, what? The mind
of the Lord, that he may instruct him But, and this is one of them
good ones, but we have the mind of Christ. Now, you look at that
word mind there, what the word is, is understanding. Understanding, understanding.
We have the understanding of Christ. You know why? He gives
it. He gives it. They also that erred
in spirit shall come to understanding. Oh, I like that. How? He gives
it. He gives it. And then it says this. The murmurers shall learn. Some, and I'm gonna say that
word some, but we'll get to it. Some of those that murmur against
the Lord learn. And intimate in that word is
they learn better. You understand? That's more of
a country saying, I know. But my mom used to, you'll learn
better someday. Sometimes I did. Sometimes maybe
not so much. But the murmurers shall learn. And let's be very clear about
this. Learning never stops. It doesn't come all at once. Lord, I am so pleased that I'm
not as ignorant as I was 40 years ago. Because I was pretty ignorant
of this book and anything about Christ. I rarely, rarely use the word
disciple. And that's a personal choice.
It is a scriptural word. In fact, I usually never use
it unless I'm quoting scripture. Because I can tell you this,
too many people who still murmur against God, who are in error,