Now in that passage that Brother
Mark just read, Isaiah chapter 8, we have a prophecy. The prophet
Isaiah, as he was taught and commanded, commissioned by God
to preach to the people of his day, and this incidentally was
about 700, 750 years before the coming of Christ into the world. But the prophecy of Isaiah is
a prophecy that is based upon the faithfulness of God and the
promise of God to send Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, into the
world to be a sanctuary for his people. Now the word sanctuary,
we find that in verse 14. He shall be for us sanctuary.
That word sanctuary means a holy place. place set apart. But we often think of sanctuary,
and this is the case for the people of God, as a resting place,
a place of safety, a place of protection from everything that
would come against us. And that's what Jesus Christ
is to his people, God's chosen people. Christ is our sanctuary. And that sanctuary displays itself
in the word of God in so many different ways. He's our security. He's our surety. He's our redeemer. He is our lamb, our sacrifice. He's our propitiation, our mercy. We could go on and on. He is
our righteousness. We stand before God. without
being charged with our sin, sin not imputed to us, blessed is
the man to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, because we stand
in our sanctuary, the Lord Jesus Christ. But he's not a sanctuary
to everybody. Look at verse 14, he shall be
for a sanctuary That's to his people, but for a stumbling stone
and for a rock of a fence to both the houses of Israel, for
a djinn and for a snare, that's a trap, that's what that word
djinn means, it's a trap, for a djinn and for a snare to the
inhabitants of Jerusalem. To some people, he's a stumbling
stone, a rock of a fence. That's the title of the message,
Jesus Christ Sanctuary or Stumbling Stone, which is he to me? Which
is he to you? Now this whole issue of, I'm
not going to spend a lot of time giving you the historical references
here, but What this is about, you see, Isaiah prophesied, as
I said, about 700, 750 years before Christ to the southern
kingdom of Judah. And Isaiah, his prophecy, his
preaching mainly took place in Jerusalem. And what was happening
here is the northern kingdom, Israel, you remember how the
kingdom split after Solomon? Well, there was the northern
kingdom called Israel, their capital was Samaria. They had
made an unholy union, treaty, confederacy with the idolatrous
kingdom of Syria to band together and attack the southern kingdom
and destroy it. And that's why he said up here
in verse 11, look at it, that Mark read, for the Lord spake
thus with me with a strong hand and instructed me that I should
not walk in the way of this people saying, say ye not, a confederacy. all them to whom this people
shall say a confederacy neither fear ye their fear nor be afraid."
The people of Judah were afraid of this attack and they were
talking about making a confederacy, cutting treaties, and of course
the Lord forbids that. Over in chapter 7 of Isaiah we
see that whole thing working out as Isaiah preaches to King
Ahaz about this issue, about this coming down and what he
tells them he says the Lord is not going to forsake Judah the
Lord has a purpose that has not yet been fulfilled in time and
you know what that purpose was? well look over in Isaiah chapter
7 and look down at verse 14 now a lot of commentators when they
read this they don't understand why this portion of scripture
is here and they think well that somebody just shoved that into
there oh no What it is, here's the prophet of God assuring the
people of God that this evil confederacy between the northern
kingdom and Syria is not going to work. God is not finished
with them. God has a purpose for them that
he's not yet fulfilled. And what is it? Look at verse
14. God's purpose. to preserve Judah was to preserve
them until the time of Christ. God had in mind before the foundation
of the world to send Christ into the world to be a sanctuary for
his people. How would he be a sanctuary for
his people? He would put away their sins by the sacrifice of
himself. He would shed his precious blood
as the full payment of all their sins charged to him and out of
that comes righteousness that is charged to them. And that's
the purpose. And so, Isaiah prophesies to
them. And look back over in Isaiah
8, look at verse 13. He says, sanctify the Lord of
hosts of himself. What he's saying here is don't
regard and fear and give that much credence and respect to
men. Regard and fear God. Worship
God. God is faithful to his promise. Not only is God faithful to His
promise, God is able to fulfill His promise. You're not able,
I'm not able. The people of Judah, if this
was left up to them, they would have been obliterated long before
this. But he says, sanctify the Lord of hosts. The Lord of hosts
is a term that means the Lord of a great army And what it means
is that God in His power and in His nature, God is like a
great invincible army that cannot be defeated. That's why He says,
Lord of hosts. And let Him be your fear. Respect
Him. That's what it's talking about.
Worship Him. Honor Him. You see, we don't
realize how great of a dishonor to God it is to not believe God.
It strikes, listen, unbelief of God's promise, of God's ability,
of God's faithfulness strikes against every attribute of his
nature. Great is thy faithfulness, the
prophet Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations. Our God is faithful. And he says,
let him be your dread. Don't dread this unholy confederacy. between Syria and Israel coming
against you. And then he says, he shall be,
this God, this God shall be for a sanctuary. He's your peace. He's your safety. He's your hiding
place. Christ, that's what he's talking
about. But now, not to everybody, he's a stone of stumbling. He's
a rock of offense to both houses of Israel. And for a trap, a
snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. God had already told Isaiah,
back in chapter 6, that when you go out to preach this message,
they're not going to believe what you say. They're not going
to hear you. And that message, which is such
a precious message, such a God-honoring message, and such a sinner-needed
message, they're going to turn a deaf ear to it. He says in
verse 15, many among them shall stumble and fall. This is the
preaching of the gospel. And they're going to stumble
and fall over it. This is the preaching of the only way that
sinners can be made right with God. You remember over in Romans
9 that we've been talking about? This passage here in Isaiah 8,
14 was quoted here by the Apostle Paul in Romans 9. Look over there
just for a moment. And here's what, you know, the
whole issue, Romans 9 is a fascinating chapter because it relates the
faithfulness and the power and the invincibility of God to save
His people, the people whom He chose, the people who were redeemed
by the Lord Jesus Christ, and bring them to Christ. And there's
all kinds of language in the Old Testament under the Old Covenant
law that talks about Israel being saved. Paul relates that in Romans
11, all Israel shall be saved. But look back, just like back
in Isaiah, this sanctuary This Christ, who is the Lord our righteousness,
in whom we who believe by the power of God stand in Him, justified
before God. This Christ, who is a sanctuary
to God's people, is going to be a stumbling block, a snare,
a fence, a scandal. Remember we talked about that. To both houses of Israel. That's
the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. and to Jerusalem,
even the Holy City. They're not going to believe
it. Well, what's the problem then? Is God unfaithful to His
promise? Because these Israelites rejected
Christ, He was a stone of stumbling to them? Is God unable to fulfill
His promise? No. And remember what Paul wrote
back there in Romans chapter 9, look at verse 6. Not as though
the word of God hath taken none effect, for they are not all
Israel, which are of Israel." What he's talking about is there's
a national, ethnic, physical Israel, and then there's a spiritual
Israel. And that spiritual Israel is
the true people of God. It's made up of God's elect out
of every tribe, kindred, tongue, and nation. Remember what he
said back in Romans 2, 28. He is not a Jew which is one
outwardly, but he is a Jew which is one inwardly, and that circumcision
is not of the flesh. But it's in the heart. That's
what he's talking about. And then he relates God's sovereignty
in the salvation of sinners. God chooses whom he will. He
saves whom he will. And he lets the others go their
own way. And of course you know the objections of the natural
man. That's not fair. That's not just. Who's resisted
his will? Paul answers that. And then look
at verse 22. of Romans 9. This is all in the
context of this prophecy of Isaiah. Christ is a sanctuary to his
people. Is he your sanctuary? Is he my
sanctuary? Where do you find peace, comfort,
hope, assurance, salvation, forgiveness, righteousness? All in Christ.
But he says in verse 22, listen to this, he says, what if God
willing to show his wrath And to make his power known, endured
with much longsuffering, the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction."
Made up for destruction. In other words, if that's God's
will and God's business, that's it. Verse 23, and that he might
make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy
which he had aforeprepared unto glory. What a comforting thought
that we need to really think about. There are vessels of mercy. And look, he says in verse 24,
even us whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also
of the Gentiles. You see there? These vessels
of mercy, there are vessels of mercy. Now, the issues of mercy
and grace show us this, that whatever God has for these people,
these vessels of mercy, they didn't earn it and they don't
deserve it. So don't give me any of this nonsense about God
looking down through the telescope of time and foreseeing who would
do this, who would believe that, and who would refuse. That's
not a vessel of mercy. These vessels of mercy are sinners
who have absolutely nothing to recommend them unto God. who
have no righteousness, who cannot work righteousness, and who don't
want righteousness God's way. That's who these vessels of mercy
are. And he says it's not just of the Jews, there are vessels
of mercy in the Jewish nation, but there are also vessels of
mercy in the Gentile nations. And look at it, verse 25. And
he saith also to OC, now that's Hosea, that's the New Testament
transliterate, that's Hosea, the prophet Hosea. And he quotes from Hosea too.
He said, in Hosea I will call them my people which were not
my people, and her beloved which was not beloved. Talking about
Gentiles there. And he said in verse 26, it shall
come to pass that in the place where it was said unto them,
you are not my people, there shall they be called the children
of the living God. What he's talking about, he's
comparing, and under the old covenant, national Israel, as a nation,
physically, temporally, and ceremonially, they were the people of God.
Not spiritually now. Not eternally. And the Gentiles
were left out. They were not his people. But
he's talking about his spiritual kingdom here, He's talking about
his chosen people in Christ who will be brought by the power
and the will of God to find sanctuary in the Lord their righteousness. And he said, they weren't my
people under the old covenant according to its terms and its
conditions. But he said, they're my people
in Christ. Quoting from Hosea, turn over to that passage in
Hosea. If you can find it, it's right after Daniel. You know,
Hosea was a contemporary with Isaiah. He just prophesied in a different
place. He was in the northern kingdom
of Israel. And he preached. You know the story of Hosea.
It's one of the most beautiful pictures of Christ and his church
and salvation. Remember Hosea the prophet? He
was commanded of God to marry a prostitute. You think it's
tough today? Think about this. Because that's
a great picture of Christ and His bride. Because that's what
we are by nature. We're born dead in trespass.
We fell in Adam. And we're born dead in trespasses
and sin. And we prostituted ourselves
out into an idol. And what does God do? He saves
us by His grace. He justifies us based on His
righteousness imputed. Then he gives us all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. What a dowry.
But look at Hosea chapter 2. Look at verse 23. This is what
he's quoting from. He says, and I will sow her unto
me and the earth. And I will have mercy upon her
that had not obtained mercy. And I will say to them which
were not my people, thou art my people. And they shall say,
Thou art my God. Now sowing her into the earth,
what is he talking about? He's talking about his church. God sowing his seed. That's the preaching of the gospel
where he brings his elect into the kingdom of heaven. Now Satan
is out there sowing his what? His tares, remember. That's false
believers. False churches. The God sowing
his seed. And you remember, that's a good
analogy, Christ himself. Remember, he spoke of himself
in his death in John chapter 12 as the seed which went into
the ground and died. And he came to earth, he died,
he was buried, he arose again the third day, and out of that
death came much fruit. That's his people. That's what
he's talking about. And look just across the page
over at Hosea 1, look at verse 10. Here's who he's describing. This
is a prophecy now. And understand now, Hosea, he
preached in the northern kingdom, which was a totally idolatrous
place. Well, so was the southern kingdom
that Isaiah was preaching to. But he says in verse 10 of Hosea
1, Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be as the sand
of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. Now he's talking
about spiritual Israel there. How do you know? Well, look at
it. It shall come to pass that in the place where it was said
unto them, you are not my people, there it shall be said unto them,
you are the sons of the living God. Now, what is the interpretation
of that according to the Holy Spirit's revelation to the Apostle
Paul in Romans 9? That's talking about Gentiles.
That's why he quoted Hosea here. That's another quote from Romans
9, you see. I mean, Romans 9 quoted from
this. And so he's talking about spiritual Israel, the people
of God who belong to Christ, who are Abraham's seed spiritually.
And it says, verse 11, then shall the children of Judah and the
children of Israel be gathered together, and look at this, and
appoint themselves one head. What he's talking about is the
church under the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ. So he's
not talking about national Israel, even national Israel today. As
much as I believe we should support that nation because they're a
democracy and they're for freedom and all of that has nothing to
do with religion with me. They're not, they're gathered
together, but it's not under the headship of Christ. They
denied Christ as a nation, I'm saying. But he says, and they
shall come up out of the land, for great shall be the day of
Jezreel. Now, I'm not going to go into
all the history of that. If you want to learn about that, Brother
Winston preached a message six years ago, I think it was, called
The Day of Jezreel. Jezreel was a place. And it's
an emblem of God's judgment against sinfulness and idolatry. God's judgment fell upon a king
there and all of that. But it's also an emblem of God's
place of judgment upon Christ for the sins of His people. And
so His people are sown out upon upon that day by the Lord Jesus
Christ. Christ is our hope. Now before
we go back to Isaiah 8, go back to Romans chapter 9. Alright,
he talked about quoting from Hosea, this is the salvation
of God's elect among the Gentiles. And then look at verse 27, now
he goes to Isaiah. Isaiah also cried concerning
Israel. And here's what he said about the nation Israel. He said,
though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the
sea, a remnant shall be saved. Now what's a remnant? Remember
Isaiah spoke that over in Isaiah chapter one. Except the Lord
of Sabaoth hath left of a seed, we'd be as Sodom and Gomorrah.
That's the remnant. That's the people whom God brings
as the redeemed of the Lord to find sanctuary in Christ. That's what he's talking about.
And he says in verse 28, he will finish the work, cut it short
in righteousness. See, that's the issue. Righteousness
is the issue here. When we talk about the gospel,
when we talk about salvation, When we talk about justification,
it's righteousness. That's the issue. What is righteousness? You know, he's going to be talking
about the pursuit of righteousness here. Look at it. He said, the Lord will make a
short work on the earth. Isaiah, verse 29, said, except
the Lord of Sabaoth, the left of the sea, we'd be a Sodom,
been made like a Nagamor. What are we going to say? The
Gentiles who follow not after righteousness. That is a right
relationship with God. What is righteousness? What does
it mean? It means to be right with God.
To be right in God's eyes as measured by the standard of God's
holy law. And that is demonstrated and
seen only in the obedience unto death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
How many times have you heard me quote Acts 1731? Which he
says there that God has commanded all men everywhere to repent
in light of this. has appointed a day in the which
he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained
in that he hath given assurance unto all men and that he hath
raised him from the dead you know this whole bible is God's
manual God's revelation of what it really is what right really
is and what wrong really is according to God's standard and right a right relationship
with God, that standard by which all people are measured by God,
by which the people are judged as sinners who deserve nothing
but God's wrath, none righteous, no not one, all have sinned and
come short of the glory of God. I was telling Jason earlier,
I said I was in a bookstore the other day and one of the national
magazines, I can't remember which one, they had a picture of a
guy, And the question underneath him says, can this man reverse
the aging process? And, of course, I didn't have
to read the article. I know the answer to that. No. Now, there
may be ways of slowing it down. God may allow that, whatever,
you know. But here's what you might as well say. Can this man
cure sin? And the answer is no. He can't
do it. He can't cure, that's why, that's
why, why do we age? Why do we get sick? Why is it
that what Job said is true? Man is a few days and full of
what? Trouble. Why is it? It's sin, that's the
problem. And that's what this pursuit of righteousness is all
about. How can I, as a sinner, how can I be right with God?
To pursue righteousness is to actively seek to become right
with God. But man does not know or want
God's way of righteousness in and by the Lord Jesus Christ.
He wants it his own way. So he says the Jews, they pursued
righteousness out of the law. But you remember those vessels
of mercy that he talked about? Well, they find sanctuary. Not in the law, not by their
works, not in their decision, not in their free will, but in
Christ. And those who find sanctuary
anywhere else, which is a lie, isn't that right? It's a false
sanctuary. What happens? Look at verse 33
of Romans 9, or verse 32. Why? Because they sought it not
by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. They stumbled
at that stumbling stone. As is written, Behold, I lay
in Zion a stumbling stone, rock of offense, that scandal, and
whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. And then in chapter
10, he tells you, he said, what about Israel? Well, they're sincere.
They're religious, but not according to knowledge. Verse 3, they being
ignorant of God's righteousness, going about to establish their
own, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. You see, everyone who believes,
you know where their sanctuary is? Go back to Isaiah 8 now. Their sanctuary is in Christ,
the Lord, their righteousness. And they can't find it anywhere
else, or in anyone else. They might look within their
own hearts. They won't find it there. And if they have a new
heart, a heart for God, given by the Holy Spirit in the new
birth, they don't want to find it there. They want to look to
Christ. He's my sanctuary. And if you find it anywhere else,
you're going to stumble over this. It'll be a stumbling stone. He'll rock your boat. He'll rock
your world. Just like the Pharisees told,
or the Sanhedrin told the apostles, you've turned the world upside
down, just like Saul of Tarsus, everything that I found sanctuary
in, I was a Hebrew of Hebrews, circumcised the eighth day, of
the tribe of Benjamin, touching the law of Pharisee, according
to the righteousness which is of the law, blame, all those
things I found sanctuary in, he said I found it to be dung. As one old preacher said, when
God found me, I was living on Dung Heap Drive. That's right. You might have
been sitting in a church somewhere, doing your best, but that's still
where you live. And how did he do that? How did
God work that? He did it by revelation from
himself. wherein he sanctified himself,
he set himself apart in your mind, affections, and will as
the God who justifies the ungodly on one basis, on one ground. And that's the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, imputed to his people. Look back at Isaiah
8, verse 14. He says, he shall be for a sanctuary. But for a stone of stumbling,
for a rock of offense to both houses of Israel, for a trap
and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, verse 15, many
among them shall stumble and fall and be broken and be snared
and be taken, taken in their own deception, taken in their
own darkness, taken in their own self-righteousness and unbelief.
But here's what he says, look at verse 16. What right or authority
does Isaiah or any preacher of the gospel have to say that?
Here it is. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.
My friend, this is the word of God. This is God's word. This is not
man's opinion. This is not just another way,
this is the way And he says in verse 7, I will wait upon the
Lord. Wait upon him to do what? Wait upon him to fulfill his
promise to send Christ into the world to be my sanctuary. That
hideth his face from the house of Jacob. He said, I'll look
to the one who hides his face from the house of Jacob. He says in verse 18, Behold,
I and the children whom the Lord hath given me are for signs and
for wonder. This is a signification and a
marvelous wonder that anybody would believe this gospel. He
said, I'll do it in Israel from the Lord of hosts which dwelleth
in Mount Zion. And he says in verse 19, When
they say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits.
A familiar spirit is a lying spirit. Somebody to lie to you. Somebody to tell you what you
want to hear, not what you need to hear. Under wizards that peep,
people that say they see things that you don't see, and that
mutter. When I think of that, I think
about the modern tongues movement. They say they're speaking in
this heavenly language, but it's no communication from God. He
says, should not a people seek under their God? For the living
to the dead? Are you going to seek to the
living God or a dead God? Well, verse 20, to the law and
to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it's
because there's no light in them. Is Christ my true sanctuary? Or am I looking elsewhere for
salvation, for righteousness, for forgiveness, for hope? Is
Christ your sanctuary? Is He a sanctuary or a stumbling
stone? May the Lord bless His word to
our hearts.