The Lord has made this world to be a wilderness and he's made his children in this world to be a wilderness so that we will not find a home as wilderness wanderers in a wilderness and that we will behold the glory of the Lord. It is It is one of the wonders of the Gospel, and I love the Gospel of Isaiah, and I love the fact that the Scriptures are continually saying that God not only does a work for us, but he does a work in us, and he does a work in all of his people. So he not only purchased all of the blessings in the covenant of grace from before the foundation of the world. And all of those blessings are signed and sealed and have their focus on the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified. But the wonder of the gospel is that they're actually applied to the hearts of God's people.

And he has to make his people to see that this is a wilderness. This is not our home. This is not home for the children of God. If this was a tree, you wouldn't build a nest in it if you were a bird. You wouldn't establish anything here. All of our hope is in another place.

We are, I love what the word Hebrews means. It means people from another place. That's what the word means. It means a people who are passing through. We're just here for a little while. This is a wilderness. We don't collect anything here. We don't take anything from this place with us.

Everything that is going to blossom in this world is going to blossom in light of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. And he's given command to his servants to strengthen the weak hands, verse 3, confirm the feeble knees, say to them that are of a fearful heart, be strong and fear not.

And he says, behold, you look at your God. Don't just glance at him. Behold means to fix your eyes upon him and gaze upon him. He's the one thing in all of this wilderness that we can look at, and he becomes more beautiful and more amazing and more remarkable. And his word is the same. He and his word are one, aren't they? The more we behold him, The more glorious he becomes, the more we behold anything else in this world, the more classy you look at it, the more flaws you see in it.

And especially in ourselves. We're not told to look inside of ourselves. We are still a wilderness in our flesh, in a wilderness world. It is Christ. in you that is life. It is Christ in us that is our hope. It is Christ in us. That's why we're beholding our God.

We're beholding him coming. We behold him coming. We rejoice in him coming. But we behold him when he comes. And that's what he says here, isn't it? Behold, your God will come. And when we behold him, we're gonna behold him like Isaiah did, high and lifted up upon a throne. We're gonna behold him as the only one, the only altar upon which all of your sins can be dealt with and you can be washed clean, only in him. And he's coming with a recompense, with vengeance and a recompense. He'll come and he'll save you.

And I want us to look, a little bit at the last few verses here, but I want us to see that then as a result of beholding Him and as a result of Him revealing Himself to His people, then the eyes of the blind shall be opened. The opening of blind eyes is a messianic prophecy and only the Messiah did it. You might recall the story of that man in John Chapter 9 when the Lord opened his eyes and the Pharisees came and questioned him and his family and others and there was all sorts of disputation. He says to them, he says, has anyone ever heard of anyone opening the eyes of one born blind? And the answer is no. See, blind men have a serious interest in their eyes being opened. And when he heard those scriptures, he heard those scriptures about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Old Testament, he was going to open the eyes of the blind. For people who can see and think they can see, having your eyes open is not such a big deal.

But if you've been made blind, if you've been made blind by God, The eyes being opened is such a glorious thing. The gospel is look and live. That's what Isaiah says. Look unto me and be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth. And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. We'll be able to hear the word of God. We'll be able to hear it as it really is, the word of God.

Not something to debate about and argue about. I listened to two theologians having a discussion about a new book written on Romans last week. And they discussed all of these things. And you know on every issue that they discussed, you can have your opinion. whether it's the law, whether it's righteousness, whether it's what Romans 7 is saying about the fallenness of man, all of them, you can take your pick. It's up to you.

That's not how God's word comes to his people when their ears are open. They'll hear it as the word of God. They're not going to debate it. They're not going to puff themselves up with pride about their ability to debate it. These are promises from God. Then the lame man shall leap as a harp and the tongue of the dumb sing, for in the wilderness waters shall break out. and streams in the desert, and the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water, in the habitation of dragons, where each lay shall be grass with reeds and rushes." And then these amazing verses, which I just love so much. And, together with all of that, then, then, then, and, and highway, the king's highway shall be there, and a way, so it's one highway, it's one way, and it shall be called the way of holiness.

There is only one way. Who is the way? You know John chapter 14. The Lord Jesus Christ is the way, isn't he? He says, listen to what he says in John 14 in regard to this. He says, I am the way, The way is a person, the gospel's a person. All of this, the one who opens the eyes of the blind and the lame, all of this is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. I am the way, I am the truth, I am the life.

No man cometh unto the Father but by me. And that word by, by me, can mean with me, or in me, or through me. That's how you come to the Father. The only possible way of coming to the Father, the only way is in Him, in Him, the One who came with vengeance and with recompense.

And a highway shall be there and a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, and it shall be they, shall be for those, the wayfaring men. The fools shall not air their inn. That highway is for the blind and the lame and the dumb and the deaf. It's the way of holiness. What's a wayfaring man? It literally means a pilgrim, a stranger. Peter wrote his letters to the strangers and pilgrims in this earth. This is not our home.

Abraham was given all of that land, that extraordinary land in the Middle East. And it had cities like Jericho and Sodom and all those other cities and it was full of cities. And Hebrews says that he was looking. He was looking for a city that had foundations. He didn't see any foundation in anything that he saw there. He was looking for a city that had foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Why? He'd beheld the Lord Jesus Christ. We're pilgrims. We are passing through. We are people from another country. We're just sojourners. We're just here for a little while. How long is life? I've had a bunch of them, and so has Lynn. How long is life? About that long, isn't it, Lynn? It's that long, isn't it?

No wonder man in his wilderness state is clinging to the things of this life. And it shall be for those, the wayfaring men, the pilgrims. Are you a pilgrim? As the Lord made you to be on a pilgrimage through this wilderness, are you a wilderness in the wilderness? And the only thirsty, the only drink, and the only nourishment that I can find in all of this is the Lord Jesus Christ.

And listen to what the description of them is. Though fools, this way, the highway shall be there, a way shall be there, it shall be called the way of holiness, the unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those, the wayfaring men, though fools, they shall not err therein. This world says that the preaching of the gospel is foolishness, isn't it?

The preaching of the cross, 1 Corinthians 1.18, the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God.

How much power does God have? Does he have power to save? Does he have power to apply what he has promised to the hearts of his people? Or does he need us to help him? If he needs us to help him, then it's not grace, and it's not mercy, and it's not the way.

There's not. The pilgrims in this way are wayfaring men. They're wandering pilgrims, and they're considered fools. This world considers what is going on here foolishness. It considers that the preaching of the Lord Jesus Christ is a weak and foolish thing, and God says it's the power of God under salvation. What a remarkable thing that God has entrusted into something and someone, the someones of this world, wandering fools the glory of God.

Why is that? so that he gets all the glory for all of the saving, for all of the keeping, for all of the preserving. He gets all of the glory for opening the blind eyes. He gets all of the glory for giving the ears to hear. He gets all of the glory for causing his people to walk and to sing. As we'll see in a minute, the dumb sing. In verse six, they sing. And they shall not err therein. They shall not err therein. On this highway, in this way, his people won't err.

Are you fearful of erring, being in error? I hate the thought of being found at the end of my time here, someone who has lied about God and lied to people about themselves. I'm fearful of that. Paul, said, isn't it, that the one issue was that a man be found faithful. I just want to say what God says. I want to say what God says. I want to talk about the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified and the glories of what He has done. I want to talk about the glories of Him coming and saving His people. And He says they shall not err. They shall not err.

They'll never be put to shame. No charge will be laid against him, his people. And on this highway that shall be there, and in this way, no lion shall be there. There'll be no ravaging of the people of God. The unclean, it's the way of holiness, the unclean, he says in verse eight, shall not pass over it, but it's only for those pilgrims and fools, and they shall not err. There's no lion, there are no lions there. nor ravenous beasts shall go up thereon. It shall not be found there. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the way of heaven, and he has dealt with the ravening beasts, and he has dealt with the lions of all of our sins. He's dealt with them all. There are no lines there.

Nothing harmful spiritually can ever befall a child of God on this way and in this way. And we look around at the circumstances of our world and the circumstances of our lives in this world, and we naturally think, oh, I wish this was better, and I wish that was better, and I wish God would do this, and I wish God would do that. If we had the power to change things, we'd change everything. And if we had the wisdom of God, we'd change absolutely nothing. Because God is working all things for the good of his people. Are the lions going to harm us? They'll roar.

I love the picture in Pilgrim's Progress of that lion and Christian was going up into this and there were two lions on either side of the pathway. And he's really fearful and he's trembling. And then someone says to him, they've got chains on them, those lions. They've got chains, they can't touch you. They can roar from a distance and they can do no harm spiritually to the children of God. Who holds the chains? God holds the chains. No ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall not be found there.

But the redeemed shall walk there while you're in Isaiah. We'll turn over to Isaiah chapter 43. It's such a glorious picture that paints so beautifully what we're looking at here. But now, Verse 1 of Isaiah 43, but now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear not. That's what he says to these people who have a fearful heart. Be strong, fear not. Fear not. Why?

For I have redeemed thee. I have paid the price for all of your deliverance from this wilderness world and the wilderness that you are and I have paid the price and I have redeemed you. But listen to it. I have redeemed thee and I have called thee by thy name. In John chapter 10 he calls his own sheep by name and his own sheep hear his voice. And then listen to what he goes on to say. I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine.

Isn't that wonderful? That's the most, they're the sweetest words, aren't they, in all the scriptures. Thou art mine, God Almighty says to his children, who are in this wilderness, who have been blind and deaf and dumb, and they're parched and thirsty and without a way. He says, you're mine. And listen to what he goes on to say, speaking of the lions and the ravenous beasts.

He says, we're now passers through the waters. The waters are going to be there, and you're going to pass through them. I will be with thee. I will be with thee. And through the rivers, the rivers are going to be there, and you're going to go through them, and they shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. What a glorious promise. That's the promise of the people on this way. That's how he's put them in this way.

The question that we ought be asking is, can he do it? Or does he need us to do something? Is he actually going to do this in the hearts of his people? Do we have to put our hand to that work of God to make it happen? He's the one that says, I will, I will, I will, I'm going to do it. How do we see it? We see it through the eyes of faith. We walk by faith and not by sight.

Listen to what he goes on to say, he says, because for I am the Lord, thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee. Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable and I have loved thee. And I will give men for thee and people for thy life. Fear not, for I am with thee. I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth, even everyone that is called by my name. For I have created him for my glory. Yea, I have formed him. Yea, I have made him.

They're the ones that are walking. They're pilgrims in this world. They're sojourners here. They're wayfaring men. They are seen to be fools, and they're not going to err. They're the redeemed. And the ransom of the Lord shall return. He's bought us. You know what a ransom is, isn't it? Someone has been taken captive. And they're saying, if you give me a certain price, then you can have them free. You can have them back again.

What was the price of ransoming our souls? The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The life of the Lord Jesus Christ. What are the wages that we earned? The wages that we earned in this wilderness by sin is death. What's the ransom price? The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The death of his body. He's paid the price. He's bought his people. He says, you're mine. I bought you. You're not your own. You're not your own. Now you are mine. You are mine. He's ransomed them. He calls them mine.

Turn with me in Psalm 40 just briefly. We're going to have the Lord's Supper. I want us to see what happens, what the Lord did on the cross of Calvary, what the scriptures say about what the Lord did on the cross of Calvary. When you think about it in light of what we've been reading, in Isaiah chapter 35. I'm going to start in verse 7. He says, Lo, then said I, this is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking. It's repeated in Hebrews. Lo, I come in the volume in the book it is written of me. What is his way? I delight to do thy will, O my God. Yea, thy law is within my heart.

I have preached righteousness in the great congregation. Lo, I have not refrained my lips, thou knowest. I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart. He's declared the righteousness of God Almighty. There is just one righteousness. It's the righteousness of Christ, the righteousness of God. I have declared thy faithfulness. Can he do it? I've declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy lovingkindness. That word is grace. I've not concealed the grace of God. And thy truth from the great congregation. What is it to be in a great congregation? Behold he comes. It's to have the great one in the congregation. It's not about numbers, it's about the greatness of the one who's there. Withhold not thy tender mercies from me, O Lord. Let thy loving kindness and thy truth continually preserve me. Now listen to this verse. This is the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no doubt that this is the Lord Jesus Christ speaking.

He says, for innumerable evils have compassed me about, they have surrounded me. Listen to what he says. He says, we've just read it in Isaiah, he says, they're mine, they're mine, they're mine, you're mine, he says. What did he say about their iniquities?

My iniquities have taken hold upon me so that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of my head, therefore my heart faileth me. When did the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ fail him? In the garden of Gethsemane his heart was broken and great drops of blood came out through the pores of his skin.

That's how close it is. He's speaking. The people on the highway are those that are in perfect union with Him. They've always been in union with Him from the foundation of the world. When this world was made a wilderness and we came into this world as wilderness wanderers in a wilderness, there was a Savior before we fell. There was a saviour before Satan fell. There was a saviour before we sinned in Adam. There was a saviour who took away our sins before we came into this world. What a saviour.

What's the price of the ransom? The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is the price of the ransom. And the result of it is they shall return. It's like all the then shall, then shall, then shall. All these travellers on this highway, they're the ransomed of the Lord, they're the redeemed that walk on this highway. Listen to how he finishes in verse 10. The ransomed of the Lord shall return.

Are there any of them going to be missing? None. They can't be missing. His body is perfect. They shall return, they'll come to Zion. Listen to how they come. They come with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

That's what they're singing in heaven, aren't they? As we close, I'll turn to a couple of verses in Revelation. This is what's happened. Revelation tells us what they're singing in heaven. They sung Revelation 5 verse 9, and they sung a new song saying, thou art worthy to take the book and open the seals thereof, for thou was slain and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood. out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation, out of this wilderness, He made it a wilderness, he puts his people in the wilderness to display the glory of his grace and his mercy, and to display all of the glories of the character, his character, his name. He gets all the glory. And has made us unto our God, kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.

I wonder what it's like to sing in heaven. I wonder what it's like to sing. The choir is enormous and the choir in heaven has one sight in their eyes all the time. They're looking at the Lord Jesus Christ on that throne in all of his glory and he shall wipe Away all tears. Sorrow and sighing. I just love the fact that it doesn't just walk away. Sorrow and sighing shall flee away. They obtain joy and gladness. They sing with songs of everlasting joy upon their heads. And he'll wipe every tear from their eyes and he'll say, you're mine, you're mine. Such is the intimacy of fellowship with him. Such is the sureness of the promises he's made. Our God reigns, behold. your God.

The ransomed of the Lord shall return and they'll come to Zion, they'll come to Mount Zion, they'll come to the church with songs and everlasting joy upon their head. They shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. What an answer to the wilderness. What an answer to the wilderness that's in us. Let's pray.