If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in Isaiah chapter three. Isaiah chapter three, and I'm
gonna read verses 10 and 11. Isaiah chapter three, verse 10. Say ye to the righteous that
it shall be well with him. For they shall eat the fruit
of their doings. Woe unto the wicked, it shall
be ill with him. For the reward of his hands shall
be given him. That's all I'm gonna read right
now. I said it. a couple, three weeks
ago, whatever it was. You cannot preach Christ too
high or man too low. I got a couple other things that
some preachers wrote. Actually, two of them by Spurgeon
and two of them by Isaac Watts. This is one by Spurgeon. You
cannot slander human nature. It's worse than words can paint
it. I like that. He also wrote this,
this is also Spurgeon. A dark cloud in your sky is not
a sign that the sun has lost its light. I like that. Because we're too prone to say, Lord, why have
you left me? He didn't go nowhere. That's
your problem. Isaac Watts wrote this, acquaint
yourself with your own ignorance. I like that, I do. Paul said, I would not have you
be ignorant, brethren. The reason he said that was because
we are. We usually are. The other thing he said, when
a false argument puts on the appearance of a true one, then
it is properly called a fallacy. Or as we call it, a lie. And
as always, I say, your problems are, by definition and description,
yours. The problem is never with God,
the problem is always with us. But here, Isaiah writes this
statement. And this just hit me when I read
it. Say ye to the righteous, it shall
be well with him. For they shall eat the fruit
of their doings, The first word I want to pay attention to here
is this word, actually the very first word, say. This is to be
said. Now I know it's not real complicated,
it's very simple, but it needs to be stated. There are some
things that need to be said. They need to be said out loud.
Now this is not just some random saying drawn from the imagination
of man. These are the words of the Lord
to Isaiah to say to the people of, what is it? Actually, Jerusalem
and Judah, in this case. Verse one, it says that. These
are the words of the Lord, and they need to be said. They need
to actually be said. This is kind of what made me
think a little bit about this. Walter has told me this, and
Earl told him that, and I will tell you this, if we haven't
already. There's a lot of studying and
reading and stuff that goes into a sermon, but you don't bring
everything you studied to the sermon, because it ends up being
way too much detail, and it takes too much time. because not everything
learned is said in every message. But this right here, according
to the word of the Lord, this is to be said. This is to be
said. This one thing. We are explicitly
told to say this message. Isaiah is told to say this message,
and he says, say ye. You say this. The one Isaiah
is talking to, in this case, us. Say this, say this message. Say ye, it's to be said by you
if you know. Because those who know this message
should speak. However, in this case, we who
believe are explicitly told to say this message. This is the
word of the Lord. Say ye, you say it, I say it,
Isaiah said it, Why? Because the Lord said it. This
is the word of the Lord. And then he tells us, say ye
to the righteous, to the righteous. Here's the address to whom this
message is sent. This message, let's be clear,
this message is not for everyone. This is a message to the righteous.
It's very plain. Now, no, I'm not gonna get real
complicated or real theologically deep today, but don't have to
because it's plain. This is what the word says. This
is a message to the righteous. Now, I know we are fond of quoting
here and preaching here the truth that there is none righteous,
no, not one. That's what we say. And the reason
we say it is because that's what the scriptures state. I'm gonna
look at it, I'm just gonna basically read it to you. It's Romans chapter
nine, excuse me, Romans chapter three, verse nine. What then, are we better than
they? No, in no wise, for we have before proved both Jew and
Gentiles that they are all under sin, as it is written. And that's in the Old Testament.
There is none righteous, no, not one. Then he continues, there's
none that understandeth, there's none that seeketh after God.
They are all gone out of the way. They are together become
unprofitable. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulcher. With their tongues they have
used deceit. The poison of Asp is under their lips, whose mouth
is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed
blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways, and the way
of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before
their eyes. Now, what is the fear of the
Lord? It's the beginning of knowledge, and it's the beginning of wisdom.
There's none in the natural man. This is the state of the natural
man. There is none righteous, no not
one. Yet, right here, Isaiah, very
clearly told to say in the word of the Lord, say to the righteous. So who's he talking to? Well,
Isaiah's also very clear. I'll read this, this is Isaiah
61 in verse 10. I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my
God. Four, four. He hath clothed me
with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness. As a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. Who are the righteous? They are
those whom God has clothed in the garments of salvation. They
are those whom he has covered with the robe of righteousness.
He's not talking about people who are possibly righteous in
themselves because there are none. That is true. But there
are those who are righteous in Christ Jesus. He is our righteousness. Who are the righteous? Those
whom God has chosen and saved. Who are the righteous? Those
to whom God has revealed himself. And who are the righteous? Those
who know and believe the Lord Jesus Christ. They are righteous,
not in themselves, but in him. For he, he, Jesus Christ is our
righteousness. That's who this message is addressed
to. Say ye to the righteous. Now you might say, hey, this
is the Old Testament. Yeah, what about it? It is. Paul was referring to, Paul referred
to Genesis 15, six, and he referred to it in Romans four and verse
three. He says, for what saith the scripture? Abraham believed
God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. By faith, the just live. And I will expound on that just
a little bit. By faith, the righteous live. To believe the Lord Jesus Christ
is to believe God. For he is God. He's God manifest
in the flesh. To believe him, he is your righteousness. You
have none of your own. He'll see to it you know that.
You might get ignorant and come to think you have some, but he'll
show you you don't. The righteous are believers,
Old Testament and New Testament. Because the righteous are those
who know Christ. In the Old Testament, they were
looking for Christ to come. And here now, we are looking
back, seeing that he had come, and what he did do, and what
he's doing now. The righteous know, believe,
and love Jesus Christ. They know God, they believe God. So that's who this message is
to. Say ye to the righteous. So what's this message? I love
this. It shall be well with him. I like that. God, I like that.
It shall. You understand? There's no qualifier
here. There's no description. There's
no hedging your bets. There's no uncertainty. It's
not a question, it's a flat statement, a declaration. There's no discussion. There's no exception. Say ye
to the righteous, it shall be well with him. I like that, I
like that. It shall. Not it might, not it
could. It shall be well. I like that, I do. With them. Him, them, it shall be well. What's that mean? It means it
shall be good. That's what the word means. It
shall be good. It shall be good with them. What
a simple phrase and what great portents. Again, no qualifier. There's no word if in there anywhere
in this statement. There's no But in this statement
it all, it says, say ye unto the righteous, it shall be well. Now I know a lot of people wanna
put the word if at the back of it. No, say to the righteous,
it shall be well. It's gonna be good, it's gonna
be good. It doesn't say if they don't backslide. It doesn't say
it shall be well if you live right. I used to hear that repeatedly
from certain people. Know what Isaiah says for us
to say. Say ye to the righteous, it shall
be well with them. If you want to, you can put a
period right there. It shall be well, shall be well with him.
No matter what happens and no matter what doesn't, Look where he put this message.
This is the message of the Lord to the righteous. Look where
he put this in Isaiah chapter three. Read verse one here. For
behold, the Lord of hosts doth take away from Jerusalem and
from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and
the whole stay of water. Say to the righteous, It shall
be well. Verse four. And I will give children
to be their princes and babes shall rule over them. I'll continue
on to verse five. And the people shall be oppressed,
every one by another and every one by his neighbor. The child
shall behave himself proudly against the ancient and the base
against the honorable. And. with the righteous, it shall
be well. It shall be well. I mean, verse
eight, right before this. For Jerusalem is ruined and Judah
is fallen because their tongue and their doings are against
the Lord to provoke the eyes of his glory. Say ye to the righteous,
it shall be well with him. I mean, I don't mean to make
light of anyone's problems. I mean, we've been watching the
weather this week with the floods and the hurricanes and the people
are dying and all this other stuff. But right now, you can
say to the righteous, it shall be well with them, with them. With illnesses and surgeries,
which we've got going and coming, it shall be well with him. With
accidents and injuries, with the righteous, it shall be well
with him. Even with death, with the righteous,
it shall be well, it shall be well. I know it may not feel
well, but it shall be. I know it may
not look well, but it shall be, it shall be well. You know, we
were saying a little earlier, God has not promised, skies always
blue, flowers strewn pathway all the way through. But, God
has promised, strength is our day, light when we labor, or
light on the way, excuse me, strength when we labor. God has
promised, it shall be well. With the righteous, it shall
be well. I have to say it. Whenever I
read a verse like this, I automatically think it, so I might as well
say it to you guys. All things work together for good to them
that love God, to them that are the called according to his purpose. And by God, I don't care what
normal man says anyway. It's not all good things, it's
all things. It's all things. And this mess
here that God is going to send Jerusalem and Judah through,
and he did. And yet, right in the middle
of that message, he stops to tell Isaiah to tell us to say
to the righteous, it shall be well with him. Though your country's
conquered and you're gonna be scattered, it shall be well with
the righteous. Say ye to the righteous, it shall
be well with them. Then we come to this next verse,
and I was reading this to Deborah and she worried about this a
little bit, and I do too at times, but it says, they shall eat of
the fruit of their doings. They shall eat. Let's be clear,
they're gonna eat. The righteous shall be fed. Matter
of fact, in the Psalms it tells us that God will prepare a table
for you in the presence of your enemies. Some place for you to
eat. Right in the middle of your persecution. They shall eat, and then it says
it, the fruit of their doings. Well, someone might say, you
say there's no works in salvation. No, I didn't. I didn't say that. I said there's no works for salvation,
and I meant that. But there are a multitude of
works in salvation, most of which are not yours. Well, let's get
it this way. All of it's not yours. None of
it's yours. You understand, salvation is
free. Grace is free to me, but only
because Christ already paid. Christ paid. Christ worked. Christ performed his Father's
will, kept the law perfectly, and died the death, so I don't
have to, and you don't have to if you know him. There's works,
but there's also works we do because of salvation, not for
salvation, because of salvation. Paul related to us, for it is
God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good
pleasure. Understand, you look at it, look
at the scriptures, look at Hebrews 11, okay? By faith, Noah built
an ark. Wait a minute, that's works.
Yeah, but he did it by faith. By faith, the gift of God. By
faith, Abraham went out, not knowing where he was going. And
by faith also, Abraham offered up Isaac. All of these heroes
of faith worked because of salvation. And see, understand, if it's
true now, if it's true when Paul wrote it, that God works in you
both to will and to do of his good pleasure, If it's true now,
it has always been true. You wonder how these people in
the Old Testament did some of the things they did. You know
how? It's the power of God. Working in them both to will
and to do of his good pleasure. Oh my. By faith, John, Peter,
and Paul traveled and preached the gospel. And other apostles. And some were given to be martyrs.
killed for the faith of Jesus Christ. They shall eat of the fruit of
their doings. Say ye to the righteous, it shall
be well with him. They shall eat of the fruit of
their doings. And I'll just read Psalms 23
in verse five. Thou preparest a table before
me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou anointest my head with oil. Here. My cup runneth over. Say ye to the righteous, it shall
be well with them. Your cup runs over. whether you
know it or not, whether you understand it or not, whether you feel like
it or not. But then I can't stop right there
because you have this in the middle here. Say ye to the righteous
that it shall be well with him for they shall eat the fruit
of their doings. And it says this, woe unto the wicked. It
shall be ill with him. for the reward of his hands shall
be given him. You understand? I don't wanna
be judged according to my works. Because here's the thing about
the wicked. You understand, these are two different sayings in
two different verses, but they're one right after the other, and
they're both in the word of the Lord that God gave to Isaiah.
They're both words that Isaiah was supposed to give to us, and
he did. Both of them are true, and both of them are in the same
message. Say ye to the righteous, and say ye to the wicked. They're
both there. The righteous are those whom
God hath clothed in the garments of salvation, and covered in
the robe of righteousness. The wicked are those whom God
has not clothed and has not covered. I don't have to go any further
than that, you understand? There's lots of people, well,
they're child abusers and they're murderers and they're adulterers
and they're drunks and they're foreigners, they might be. But
the chief difference between the righteous and the wicked
is one knows God and the other doesn't. And the reason the ones
know God is because God clothed them. They didn't clothe themselves. They didn't cover themselves
with the robe of righteousness. No, God clothed them in the garments
of salvation and God covered them with a robe of righteousness.
Salvation is of the Lord. And the wicked are not. The wicked may or may have not
done some horrible things, God knows. But I'm gonna tell you
something, there's some that fit this description of the wicked
that are sitting in churches right now. I used to be one of
them. I used to be one of them. I used
to be one of the wicked. I didn't know God. And as far
as you can tell, I wasn't any different than anybody else.
As far as I know right now, I wasn't any different than anyone else.
The chief wickedness of man is this, to reject Jesus Christ. We will not have this man to
reign over us. We will not have it. I was that
way. The world still is. The only
ones who have bowed the knee to Christ right now are those
that he has made to bow the knee to him. He has revealed himself
to him. He hath clothed them in the garments
of salvation. He has covered them with the
robe of righteousness. That's, he is the one who is
righteous, not us. The chief wickedness of man is
this. You put your will above the will of God. That's what
you want to do. It won't work. You can't do it. Because God'll still have his
will and his way. He's doing all according to his
own good pleasure right now. But we try, we try. But here's the message. There's
always good news. There's always good news. For
the righteous, for the righteous. It may not seem that way, but
it's true. There's always good news. The
Bible is filled with good news. But I have to say, the good news
is not for everyone. There's always good news for
the righteous. There's always good news for the children of
God. Those that are in Christ Jesus,
know Christ Jesus, and believe Christ Jesus, right now, they
are the sons and daughters of God. Therefore, now, there is
no condemnation in them that know Christ Jesus and them that
love God. Say ye unto the righteous, it
shall be well with them. You may not feel it right now,
but it shall be, it shall be. No matter what you feel or how
you feel or what you're going through, there is always good
news for the righteous. There's a psalm where it says,
1,000 may fall beside you, 10,000 may
fall by your right hand, but it's not gonna come nigh thee.
You understand? In the Lord's sight, you are
more precious than sparrows. Doesn't that sound good? When
you think about what he said before, he says, not a sparrow
falls without my Father. And ye are more precious than
sparrows. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
saints and the life. Say ye to the righteous, it shall
be well with them. It shall be. Our Father, we're
thankful for this time and this place. Lord, we are most thankful
for your son, our Lord. We ask that you would be with
Walter as he preaches in Ohio and bring him home safely. Let
the gospel be extolled, expounded, preached, and believed wherever
it goes. In Christ's name we pray.