That's a good hymn, isn't it? Well, that's pretty much the title of today's message, as you can see. It shall be well. We can say it is well, like the song says, if we know Christ, if we're in Him. It is well. Things may not seem to be well at any given moment in this life, Maybe going through some rough times. If you look at Isaiah chapter 3, the book of Isaiah, the prophet, Isaiah prophesied about 700, give or take a few years before Christ. Around a hundred years or so before Jeremiah. He prophesied in the city of Jerusalem mainly, in what was known then as the southern kingdom of Judah.

And what Isaiah chapter 3 is where we're going to look on this subject of it shall be well, where it says in verse 10, say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with him. Say ye to the righteous it shall be well. And you notice the words, it shall be, if you have a King James version, is in italics. And with him is in italics, meaning it was added by the translators, but that does no harm to the meaning of this verse. Say ye to the righteous, well. Well.

And then it goes down in verse 11, it says, woe unto the wicked. You know what woe is, we don't use that word much anymore. Woe is me, you've heard that. Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him, ill. Say ye to the righteous, well. Say ye to the wicked, ill. That's the message. And you know that's the message of the whole Bible as far as how it addresses human beings. Every man and woman on earth.

If you're righteous, well. If you're wicked, ill. In other words, if you're righteous, something good. If you're wicked, something really bad. And of course, when you come to passages like that, if you're like me, you think, well now, which category am I in? Am I in the category of the righteous? Or am I in the category of the wicked? Most people would look at that and they'd say, well, I'm a pretty good guy. I'm trying to do good. So I must be in the category of the righteous. I'm not out here, you know, openly sinning as people see it.

But is that what the book, the Bible, tells us? Because if that's the way you gauge this, you're in for an unpleasant surprise. You are. Now, let me go back through here, beginning at verse one of chapter three. The first nine verses of this prophecy of Isaiah describes the ruin and fall of a nation. And that's the nation of Judah.

Now you remember after Solomon, the kingdom of Israel was divided into two nations. The northern kingdom, which was called Israel, consisted of 10 of the 12 tribes. Some say 13 tribes because the tribe of Joseph was divided into Manasseh and Ephraim. The southern kingdom of Judah consisted of the two tribes, Judah, the main one, and Benjamin. And they were divided. Different kings, different capitals. The capital of the northern kingdom, Israel, was Samaria.

And they had a temple there. Christ addressed that when he talked to the Samaritan woman in John chapter four. and the temple that they had built up there. It was an evil temple. They thought they were worshiping the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but that's not the place that God had appointed. The place that he had appointed is the temple in Jerusalem, which was the aftermath of the tabernacle and all of that. But they had the capital of Judah was Jerusalem.

Well, during Isaiah's time, the Northern Kingdom, because of their sins and their idolatry and their rebellion against God, they were destroyed by the Assyrian Empire and scattered throughout the world. And come a point where Isaiah, part of his prophecy is of that destruction, and part of his prophecy is after it. But he also prophesies that there's coming a time when even the southern kingdom, Judah, would be destroyed because of their sin and their rebellion and their idolatry. Now God kept the southern kingdom, especially the tribe of Judah intact, even when they were conquered and taken into captivity. And the reason he did that, because it was his purpose all along to bring the Messiah through that tribe of Judah, Christ.

And you remember they went into captivity under Jeremiah, they went into captivity under the Babylonian conquering. And they stayed there for 70 years, and they were brought back. They were not independent. They were still under the conquerors, but they were brought back to Jerusalem after 70 years. And they were held together until the time of Christ. And later on, they were destroyed and scattered. But it was because of their idolatry.

Look at verse one. For behold, the Lord, 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." In other words, God is going to punish them by taking away the basic necessities to sustain physical life, bread and water. They had rejected God's Word, especially His Word of sending the Messiah. They rejected Christ. The Messiah, who is the bread and the water of spiritual life. And God's going to take away the stay in the staff, that which holds them up, that which gives them authority. He's gonna take it away.

You know, the whole Bible basically is about the rise and fall of nations. Because one nation comes, conquers, rises, multiplies, is successful, and then falls. None of them last forever. They don't last forever. The only nation that lasts forever is God's nation. His kingdom, heavenly kingdom, of which we who believe in Christ are citizens. But no nation lasts forever, and yes, that includes America. I love America. I'm a patriot. I thank God for the privileges and the blessings that we've had living in this country. But this country is not my salvation. America is not our salvation, folks. Christ is.

America, we're getting ready to celebrate 250 years of history. That's not really very much, if you think about it. Considering the history of the world, from the Garden of Eden on, it's a drop in the bucket. And it won't last forever. It may last until our Lord comes again. I hope it does. But it may not. We're living in perilous times today, aren't we? We can't take it for granted.

But understand, we don't believe, we don't preach the gospel of the flag here at this church. And what that is, the gospel of the flag is a false gospel. It teaches that those who love their country also love Christ, not so. or those who die for their country have a ticket into heaven. That's not Christianity, folks.

That's Muslim. Now again, I love this country, and I'm a patriot. I don't say America right or wrong. If America's wrong, then I don't go along with America. America sins against God, which America has and will. We don't go along with that. But don't you thank God for the Constitution that allows us to meet here without hindrance from the government? We have that freedom, freedom of religion.

But nations come and nations go. Don't put your hope in nations. God told Israel that, told Judah that. Don't seek your help from the idolatrous, heathen nations. And when you do, you'll lose. And they did. So here they're in a mess. Isaiah the prophet is telling them so. In fact, listen to how he describes Israel and Jerusalem, Judah, in the first chapter. Look at verse four of chapter one. Now who's he talking to here? He's talking to Jerusalem, talking to Israel and Judah.

He says in verse 4, a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters. They have forsaken the Lord. They have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger and they're gone away backward instead of moving forward In the providence and worship of God, they're going backward. He says in verse five, why should you be stricken anymore? You will revoke more and more. The whole head is sick, the whole heart is faint from the sole of the foot, even under the head, there's no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises and putrefying sores, they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment.

Now listen to me. Go down to verse nine of chapter one. I want you to see something here. And this is what people need to learn today. It's what people in every generation needed to learn. He says, except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant. Now you know what a remnant is, don't you? You go to a carpet store and say, I want a remnant. It means you don't want the whole row of carpet, you just want a little piece of it. And he says, except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant, a very small part of the population of this country.

And you know what they're called in the Bible? The elect of God. The redeemed of the Lord. except he'd left us a very small remnant, we, Judah, Jerusalem, should have been as Sodom and we should have been like unto Gomorrah. Now you know well the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, don't you? The sin of homosexuality, the sin of immorality, open immorality. Well, you mean that was going on in Israel and Jerusalem? No. I'm sure maybe it was going on in some segments of their society. But you know what was going on in their country?

False worship. False religion. They were worshipping at the temple, but they were worshipping not according to the rules and the laws and the guidelines of God. but in a self-righteous, legalistic way. That's what they were doing. Even in Jeremiah's day, a little over a hundred years later, Jeremiah describes the people as going to the temple to pray, lifting up their hands, and going backward. Because their religion was sickening to God.

He said, I'll spew you out of my mouth. That means I'll vomit you up. And that's the biggest problem with man. It's legalism, salvation by works, pride of man, self-righteousness. And God says, because of that, I'm gonna take away your bread and water. I'm gonna take away your sustenance. He says in verse two of Isaiah chapter three, look at this, the mighty man and the man of war, the judge and the prophet and the prudent and the ancient, old, young, the captain of 50, the honorable man and the counselor and the cunning artificer, the artist, and the eloquent orator.

All their leaders, all their noblemen, People were putting their trust in men, not in God, not in Christ. That's why in the last verse of chapter two, verse 22, right across the page there, he says, cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of. Don't put your trust in men. Don't put your trust in preachers. in deacons, elders, popes, whatever it is, put your trust in the Lord God, Christ himself alone and his word.

In verse four, he says, 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. The youth against the old. Hey, doesn't that sound like us today? They have no respect. And the base against the honorable. Those who should be wise because of age were leading the people in foolishness, so God makes children their leaders. Verse six. Or verse six, when a man shall take hold of his brother, of the house of his father, saying, thou hast clothing, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand, in that day shall he swear, saying, I will not be an healer, for in my house is neither bread nor clothing, make me not a ruler of the people. They'll refuse to lead.

Verse eight, for Jerusalem is ruined, And Judah is fallen because their tongue, their language, and their doings are against the Lord to provoke the eyes of His glory. And that's ruin and fall because of false religion, false gospels, gospels of works, salvation.

Now the Bible's clear, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All, by nature, deserve this wrath. But look at verse nine. The show of their countenance doth witness against them, and they declare their sin as Sodom. They hide it not, woe unto their soul, for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. The main evidence of their problem is pride and self-righteousness.

That's what he's saying there. Just as Sodom was proud and open with their gross immorality, Don't we have that today? The Jews were proud and open with their religion, even though it was an insult to every attribute of God's glory. Think about it. Woe unto their soul, for they have rewarded evil unto themselves. Thinking they were doing good and deserving the reward of good, they were earning the reward of evil.

This nation's in a mess. Our nation's in a mess. There may be some hope for this nation in this life. We wait for the midterms, don't we? Don't know what's gonna happen. I hate to be a downer, but I'm not optimistic. Maybe you are. But I do know this. God rose this nation up, and he can put it down. And when he's pleased to put it down, it's going down. Now that's true. I hope and pray that he comes back before then, before I think about my children and my grandchildren. I want them to have the same freedoms that I have.

But here's what Isaiah is about to tell the people that no matter what happens to this nation, say ye to the righteous, it's okay. It's well. There's no greater place to be than to be among the population of the righteous. There's no worse place to be if the nation is prospering and lasts a thousand years. There's no worse place to be if you're among the population of the wicked.

You may not know it at the time. You may be in the lap of luxury at the time. But say unto the wicked, woe, it's going to be ill with you. David, the king, when he was being pursued by Saul, going through so much trouble, he wondered, why do the heathen prosper? Have you ever wondered that? Why do those who are ungodly, why are they in the lap of luxury and health Wealth, all of that. And you know what the Lord God told David?

David, consider their end. Consider how this is all gonna end up. You see, say to the righteous, who are the righteous? This remnant, this remnant of God, Two very different messages. Righteous, it's gonna be all right. It's gonna be well. Hold your head up. The wicked, sorry, whoa, it's gonna be ill. Two very different message. Consider the righteous.

Now all of us by nature are among the population of the wicked. And what I mean by that is as we are born fallen in Adam and naturally in this world, in the flesh. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. That's why we must be born again, if we're to be saved. Because our first birth was a cursed birth, a sinful birth.

All of us by nature are weak, but in every generation of this world's history, God has had and will have a remnant. Except the Lord had left us a small remnant. It's a remnant of grace. Am I among the righteous? Am I among that remnant? Well, it's a remnant of grace. Look over at Romans chapter 9.

If you believe that salvation is conditioned on yourself, your works, your will, your decision. If you believe it is by your works, at this time, you show no evidence of being among the righteous, the wicked, the remnant. Now, hopefully, at some point in your life, God will intervene and interrupt your merry road to hell. and put you on the narrow way that leads to life. Changes your heart and your mind gives you life.

But look at Romans chapter nine, verse 15. The Lord God, for he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. So then it's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy." Now what's that in the context of? It's in the context of God making this statement that God chose Jacob and passed by Esau. Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated, and all of that was so that God's truth and power of grace could be brought forth in Christ to show that he has the glory in salvation.

It's grace, a remnant of grace. Over in Romans chapter 11 he tells us that if it's of grace it's not of works, And if it works, it's not of grace. Look at verse six of Romans chapter 11. Verse five. Even so, at this present time also, there's a remnant according to the election of grace.

And if by grace, then is it no more of works? Otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then it's no more grace. Otherwise, work is no more work. What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for, seeking for salvation, but they didn't obtain it. But the election hath obtained it, God's elect, that remnant hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded.

How do we obtain this grace? How do we obtain righteousness? Romans 5 21 says, as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Seeking it in Christ. Romans 9 tells us that Israel sought for righteousness, but they didn't make it. Why? Because they didn't seek it by faith, by looking to Christ. They sought it by works of the law.

The righteous are sinners saved by grace. And how are they righteous? The Bible tells us. that God justifies, makes righteous, declares righteous the ungodly by imputing to them the righteousness of Christ. I stand before God, washed in the blood of Christ, having his righteousness imputed to me.

For God made him sin, Christ who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. We're not righteous by our works. We're not righteous by our decisions. We're not righteous by our efforts. We're righteous by the grace of God in Christ Jesus.

I plead His merits, His worthiness, His righteousness alone. And that's those to whom I will say, it'll be well. It's well. It's well with my soul. Sing that hymn. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. But now those who believe that salvation or any part of it is conditioned on them, their works, their will, their efforts.

In God's sight, they're wicked because they deny His glory. They deny the person and work of Christ. They exalt themselves in self-righteousness. It'll be ill with them. Anyone and everyone who's not reconciled to God on the ground of Christ's blood alone, His righteousness alone. That's the wicked. They may appear righteous. You know, Christ told the Pharisees in Matthew 23. He says, you do indeed appear righteous unto men. But that's just an appearance. You're fooling them. You're fooling yourselves.

Like those false preachers who stood before the Lord at judgment and said, Lord, haven't we done many things in your name? We preached, we've cast out devils, we've done all these things. What was their problem? Their problem was they wanted to enter heaven's glory based upon what they did, not based upon what Christ alone did.

You see? Look at it again. Verse 10 of Isaiah 3. Say ye to the righteous that it shall be well with him, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. You say, well there it talks about their doings. No, it talks about the fruit of their doings, and I'll show you that in a minute. Verse 11. Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him. The reward of his hands, his works. Turn to Romans chapter seven and I'll conclude with this. Let's talk about the fruit of the doings of the righteous. In Romans chapter seven. Now look at verse four. He says, wherefore, my brethren, you also are become dead to the law. Now what does it mean to be dead to the law? It means the law cannot come up as a witness against you.

It cannot condemn you. Now, think about that. Do you keep the law perfectly? No. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. But the law, if you're dead to the law, the law cannot charge you or condemn you. Now why? Look at it again. Wherefore, my brethren, you are become dead to the law because you gave your heart to Jesus. Because you walked in awe and confessed Christ and got baptized. Or because you made a decision. No. You are become dead to the law by the body of Christ. Now what does that mean, the body of Christ? That means His death on the cross. That's how I became dead to the law because Christ kept the law and died under its penalty for me. My sins were charged imputed to Him. And He did the work. So that's how the law cannot charge me. The law charged Christ in my place.

Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's Christ that died, Romans 8. Alright, you become dead to the law, it says in verse 4, by the body of Christ, that you should be married to another. Well, who am I going to be married to then? even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should what? Bring forth fruit unto God. We're dead to the law because Christ died in our place as our surety, our substitute, our redeemer. The law cannot charge us. Sin cannot be imputed to us. The law cannot condemn us because it charged and condemned Christ in our place.

But all of that so that we might be united to Christ in a marriage union, spiritual marriage union, to church wedded to Christ. For what purpose? That we should bring forth fruit unto God. See, none of that took place because of our works. All of that took place that we should bear fruit, the fruit of the Spirit, unto God.

Verse five, for when we were in the flesh, when we were not born again, when we were rebellious and in unbelief, the passions of sins, the motions of sins, which were by the law, you know, that's what, you know, I heard him talking about the other day, attacking the Ten Commandments upon the walls again. Well, that's why people want that because they think that's gonna, that'll be a threat to people and stir up the passions to do right, but all it does is stir up the passions of sins because it's legalism.

Now, should we be good people, moral people? Yes. Should we not murder, not steal? Should we love our neighbor? Yes. But that's not what stirs us up to obedience. What stirs us up to obedience is grace and love. So these passions of sins which were by the law did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. When I was lost, not knowing Christ, not submitted to his righteousness, I did my best to keep the law in order to be saved, in order to earn God's favor.

That was fruit unto death. That's the wicked. Woe unto the wicked, it shall be ill. But look at verse six. But now we're delivered from the law, dead to the law. That being dead wherein we were held, that we should serve, serve God in newness of spirit. Not in oldness of the letter. Oldness of the letter, that's legalism, that's work salvation.

That's trying to earn God's favor. Newness of the spirit, that's serving God as a willing, loving, bond-servant of Christ. having our debt paid, our salvation secure, our righteousness imputed to us, Christ's righteousness imputed to us, certain for heaven's glory it shall be well, serving the Lord for His glory and out of love for Him. You see the difference? Well, it takes the Spirit of the Lord for you to see the difference, doesn't it? It's what it took for me, and that's what it'll take for you and for all. All right, let's get our hymnals. Turn to hymn number 294. Savior, like a shepherd, lead us. 294, let's stand.