Wednesday 05/13/26 Isaiah 32:1-5 "A need for a Refuge"

Q: What does the Bible say about Jesus as our refuge?

The Bible describes Jesus as a refuge, offering protection from dangers and troubles in life. In Isaiah 32:2, the Lord Jesus is referred to as 'a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest.' This highlights that Jesus serves as our refuge in times of trouble, providing shelter from the storms of life. When we face challenges, temptations, and dangers, we can find comfort and safety in Him. His sovereignty ensures that we are protected from the winds of doctrine that can lead us astray, offering us peace and security.

Q: How do we know Christ is our only source of salvation?

The Bible affirms that Jesus is the only Savior capable of redeeming us from sin and wrath. Christ is presented as the absolute Savior, the only one who can provide salvation from sin, as detailed in Isaiah 32:1-5. The need for a Savior is inherent in humanity, as we are all sinful and cannot save ourselves. God's Word assures us in Romans 10:9 that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. This truth emphasizes the significance of relying fully on Christ for salvation, rather than on our works or efforts.

Q: Why is it important to understand our need for Christ?

Understanding our need for Christ is crucial as it leads us to seek Him as our only source of hope. Recognizing our deep need for Christ is essential for genuine faith and repentance. Many people are unaware of their spiritual need, but as Isaiah points out, we are often caught in tempests and dry places without knowing it. Christ calls those who are thirsty and burdened to come to Him for rest (Matthew 11:28). This acknowledgment of need drives us to the only refuge—Jesus—where we can receive forgiveness and strength. Realizing our inadequacy leads to reliance on Him, which is foundational to a thriving Christian faith.

Q: What does it mean to have our hearts taught by God?

Having our hearts taught by God means receiving divine understanding of our sin and His salvation. When our hearts are taught by God, as mentioned in Isaiah 32:4, we gain understanding of critical truths about our condition as sinners and the sufficiency of Christ as our Savior. This teaching is the work of the Holy Spirit, who opens our eyes to see our desperate state and reveals the righteousness of Christ. It is a transformative experience—it changes how we view ourselves, our sin, and our need for God’s grace. Ultimately, genuine heart knowledge brings about a life aligned with His will and purpose.

Q: How does Jesus fulfill the role of a hiding place?

Jesus fulfills the role of a hiding place by providing safety and comfort in turbulent times. In Isaiah 32:2, Jesus is described as 'a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind.' This metaphor illustrates that He offers safety amid chaos and difficulty. Just as a shelter protects us from harsh weather, Christ protects us from the adversities of life—be it temptations, doubts, or fears. When the storms of life rage around us, He invites us to find refuge in Him. Through His grace, we are hidden from the wrath and judgment we rightly deserve, allowing us to abide in peace and assurance.

Good evening. Let's all stand together. We'll sing hymn number 447. 447. I have found a friend in Jesus. He's everything to me. He's the fairest of 10,000 to my soul. The lily of the valley, in Him alone I see. All I need to cleanse and make me fully whole. In sorrow, He's my comfort. In trouble, He's my stay. He tells me every care on Him to roll. He's the lily of the valley, the bright and morning star. He's the fairest of 10,000 to my soul.

He all my griefs has taken and all my sorrows borne. In temptation he's my strong and mighty tower. I have all for him forsaken, and all my idols torn from my heart, and now he keeps me by his power. Though all the world forsake me, and Satan tempt me sore.

Through Jesus I shall safely reach the goal. He's the lily of the valley, the bright and morning star. He's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul. He will never, never leave me, nor yet forsake me here. While I live by faith and do his blessed will. A wall of fire about me, I've nothing now to fear. With his manna he my hungry soul shall fill. Then sweeping up to glory, I'll see his blessed face where rivers of delight shall ever roll. He's the lily of the valley, the bright and morning star. He's the fairest of 10,000 to my soul.

Thank you. Be seated. Let's sing hymn number 442. 442. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer. Sing, O earth, His wonderful love proclaim. Hail Him, hail Him, highest archangels in glory, strength and honor. Give to his holy name like a shepherd. Jesus will guard his children in his arms. He carries them all day long.

Praise Him, praise Him, tell of His excellent greatness. Praise Him, praise Him, ever in joyful song. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus our blessed Redeemer. ♪ For our sins he suffered and bled and died ♪ ♪ He our rock, our hope of eternal salvation ♪ ♪ Hail him, hail him, Jesus the crucified ♪ ♪ Sound his praises ♪ Jesus who bore our sorrows, love unbounded, wonderful, deep, and strong. Praise Him, praise Him, tell of His excellent greatness. Praise Him, praise Him, ever in joyful song. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus, our blessed Redeemer.

Heavenly portals, loud with hosannas ring. Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever. Crown Him, crown Him, ♪ Prophet and priest and king ♪ ♪ Christ is coming ♪ ♪ Over the world victorious ♪ ♪ Power and glory ♪ ♪ Unto the Lord belong ♪ ♪ Praise him, praise him ♪ ♪ Tell of his excellent greatness ♪ Praise Him, praise Him, ever in joyful song.

Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 32. Isaiah chapter 32. Lord willing, maybe next week I'll start preaching through John chapter 17. That's our Lord's real, our Lord's priestly prayer for us, for all of his elect. I'm going to read these first five verses.

Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness. Princes shall rule in judgment. And the man shall be as in hiding place from the wind, a covert from the tempest, and rivers of water in a dry place, as a shadow of a great rock in a reary land. And the eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken. The heart also of the rash shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be ready to speak plainly, the vile person shall be called no more liberal, nor the churl shall be said to be bountiful.

Lord, we come to bless you and to praise you, our great, glorious, and blessed God of heaven and earth, to bless you and thank you for the day, to bless you and thank you for all the years you've been faithful. You've kept us, you've preserved us, were kept by your power, kept by your grace, kept believing, kept trusting, kept looking to you. And, Lord, we'd do none of these things without you. Lord, we're so grateful for this salvation that's perfect, sure, built on a strong, blessed, glorious foundation, our Lord Jesus Christ and his precious word.

God meet with us tonight. Bring glory to yourself in this service. Meet the needs of these families that's gathered out. And Lord, we again pray for those who can't be with us, Doc and Janie, Rick and Helen. Lord, please meet the needs of these dear saints.

We know, Lord Jesus, that you can. And we know that you will in your time. But we understand clearly that your grace has been sufficient and is sufficient to uphold them through what they go through. And our blessed Savior again, we pray for our families. Oh, God, every one of us have families here that we want to see be brought to faith in Christ, to trust Christ, to come to him, see their great, great need. And Lord Jesus, you can create the need. So we ask to you to do it for us, for Christ's sake. Amen.

M number 75. Number 75. Abide with me. Fast falls the eventide. The darkness deepens. Lord, with me abide when other helpers fail and comforts flee. Help of the helpless, O abide with me. Swift to its close, ebbs out life's little day. Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away. Change and decay.

In all around I see, O Thou who changest not, abide with me. I need Thy presence every passing hour, What but thy grace can foil the tempter's power? Who like thyself my guide and stay can be? Through cloud and sunshine, O abide, with me. Hold thou thy word before my closing eyes. Shine through the gloom and point me to the sky. Heaven's morning breaks And earth's faint shadows flee. In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me. Abide with me. That's what we all want. Look with me back here in Isaiah 32. I want to talk about a need for a refuge, a need for a refuge. There's no doubt that man has a need, and many, many don't know it. They just don't know it.

May God be pleased to make show man his need. I remember when I had a need, and I God in his sovereign mercy created that need, and I only found a place to hide years later when he showed me the Lord Jesus Christ. But the only people the Lord Jesus Christ ever did anything for were those that in need. Do you know that everything I, Lord, call people to do, that they fit a certain character?

Look with me in Luke chapter 9. You know, if any man's thirsty, he said, come unto me. He said, if you're weak and heavy laden, come to me. If you're in darkness, I'm the light. I mean, you have to meet that character. In Luke chapter 9 and verse 11, look what it says here.

And the people, when they knew it, followed him. And he received them and spake unto them of the kingdom of God. And listen to this, and healed them that had need of healing. You know, people, us preachers used to think that people just didn't have commitment. But I think what it amounts to is, is that people don't have a need. If you have a need, you're going to go where that need can be met. And I tell you what we're going to talk about, a refuge for the needy.

You know, man's character, when our Lord gives a soul a need, he also reveals the remedy for that need. Man's character needs a double, double cure. Be of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. First of all, we need a place of refuge from danger. wrath of God. And we need a refuge and a remedy for our sin. And I believe we can find it right here. And look what it says in verse 1.

Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. A king shall reign in righteousness. And I tell you, our Lord Jesus Christ not only reigns in righteousness, but He gives a righteousness, and He makes His people righteous. And all those who are set at his right hand, and all those that sent forth by him, they reign in judgment. Their judgment is true. But this king is also a man, because it's said in this verse 2, and a man, and a man. But I tell you, this king shall reign. But I tell you, let me first deal with the need. We see our needs shown. First one is there in verse 3, excuse me, verse 2. A man shall be as an hiding place from the wind. The wind. This is our need, a wind.

Sometimes a cold wind blows, and when that cold wind blows, oh, it just chills you plump to your bones. And then when we get in the summertime, the hot wind blows, and you can't cool it down. You go out in, and it just scalds you. It just blows over you, and you can't get your breath. And we don't know where it comes from, but we know when it comes.

And I tell you, a wind so strong sometimes, we feel a wind so strong sometimes, you think it's going to blow us over and blow us away. And I tell you, the scriptures talks about people being carried about of every wind of doctrine. So, oh, we need a place to hide because there's winds out here, cold winds that sweep over our soul. You know, our souls go through the same seasons that the world does. Our seasons go through, our souls go through a winter, our souls go through a spring, our souls go through a fall, and they go through a winter, and they go through all that gets cold and snowy. Our souls go through all four of those things. And you know, you don't know when it's going to come. Winter may come and there'll be a cold wind blowing across your soul. Summer may come and your heart feels like it's just a wind blowing over and it's blowing everything away.

And oh my, so listen, I'm telling you. Oh, the wind. We need something to help us. Our need is a wind. And then look what else it says here. And a covert from the tempest there in verse two. A tempest. Oh, this is a need. This creates a need in us. You know what a tempest is? It's a violent, violent storm. Great wind goes to whipping around. And then, oh my, it's extra violent. It has such violence to it, these tempests do.

And we sing that hymn, Jesus, Savior, Pilate and me. Over lives, temptations see. And oh my, before me roll, unknown ways before me roll, hiding rocks and treasures so, Jesus, Savior, Pilate, mate. Look with me in Matthew chapter 8. Oh, a tempest, a tempest, a tempest is awful. You ever get caught in one? Look in Matthew chapter 8, verse 23.

This is what our Lord does for us. And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. Well, he got in the ship. We'll just go get in it, too. And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea. See, it says a tempest, violent storm, great wind, exceptionally violent, and much great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the sea was covered with the waves. Waves was washing over it. But he was asleep. And his disciples came to him and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us, we perish. And he saith unto them, why are you fearful, O ye of little faith?

Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. Went from being a tempest Waves flowing over that ship, going on, just flowing over and getting them wet until, and we're just calm. And when we have those tempests going on in our hearts, have those tempests and those storms going on in our souls, our Lord Jesus Christ, he said, peace, be still. Calm, he'll calm that tempest down. And look what he says. And the men marveled, saying, what manner of man is this? Really, what manner of man is this? Even the winds in the sea obeyed. Oh, what a man is this.

And then back over in our text, a tempest. Oh, we have a need. These tempests come, we have a need. These violent storms come in our minds, in our hearts, in our souls. And oh my, we get bad news about a child or a husband or a wife or somebody in our family, someone we know, we get these awful bad news. And look what else it says.

And as rivers of water in a dry place, oh, a dry place creates a need in us. You know, the world's water isn't sufficient. This world is a dry, dry, dry place. Disappointments, such disappointments, helplessness, feel so empty. Wells are dry, the cisterns are dry.

And oh, you know, there was a man who went into his house, an unclean man went into his house and found it swept and clean. And he said, well, I'm going to, I'm going to, listen, I'm going to leave this place. You know, he found it swept and dried and all that. And he said, he went out, these unclean spirits went out looking for a place and they found no place. It was dry. They walked through dry places. And they said, we'll go back into that place. And there were seven of them. There's worse than there was the first place that they started. And oh, a dry place.

Now, I've experienced this more than anything. I experience dryness more than anything that I do. If you all had any idea, any idea how dry I feel, how empty I feel, when I get up to to preach or teach or whatever I'm doing. My soul is still so dry, so empty.

There's no moisture in it. In a dry place, there's no moisture. There's nothing there. There's nothing there. The desert, people get caught out in deserts in these dry places, and they can't find their way out. It looks the same, and they die. But a dry place, oh a dry place, what an awful place a dry place is. Does your soul, I hope it doesn't, I hope your soul never gets dry, never gets dry. But that's what causes a need in us. And then look what else it says, not only a tempest, a wind, a tempest, a dry place, and then a shadow of a great rock in a weary, weary land.

We live in a weary land, a weary land. Labor's hard. I've never found anything that I've had the work taken out of it. Labor is hard. We're weary of this world. I get so weary of this world and its politics, its religion, It's lies. It's deceit. I just get so weary of it. So weary of it. So weary of division. So weary of sin. Oh my. Weary of sin. Weary of self.

Do you get weary in this land? Is this land a weary place to you? Is this such a weary land? Are we like those people that was brought out of Egypt and they go through the desert and they go through that, all the way through that desert and I tell you what, and they get so weary in it. Oh, get so weary in this place. I was looking at a lady of a dear sister and I thought, boy, oh boy, how happy she is now. She's left this weary, weary place. It's weary.

I tell you what, I don't know how weary you get, but do you get weary of this world? Do you get weary of this political world? Get weary of religion? Get weary of children and the burdens they bring with them? Get weary of sickness? Get weary of people's burdens and get weary of people not paying any attention to what you got to say? Don't you get weary?

And I tell you, weary of sin and weary of self. That's two things that you really, I really get weary of. And oh my, the heart gets faint. And I'll tell you something, you just well be used to being weary because there is no resting place in this world. No resting place in this world. You're just going to be weary in this world. And I tell you what, what a blessed day is going to be when this weariness will stop.

And but, oh, bless God, bless His holy name. He gave us a hiding place from all these things to meet all these needs. Look what it says. And a man, and a man shall be as a hiding place for all these things. And we already said, what manner of man is this that even the winds and sea obey my man? Who is this man? He, you know, he was laying asleep. Our Lord Jesus was such a man that he laid asleep there in that storm. Now, God doesn't sleep, but man doesn't come to see. But as a man, he got weary.

As a man, he said on that well, at that woman with the issue, at the woman at the well, who is this man? God said, this is my fellow. This is my son in whom my soul delights. This is my elect. This is he that shall not fail to be discouraged. This man here is the only mediator. The man Christ Jesus is the only mediator between us and God. And a man, who is a man that died on the cross, But it was God who had the ability to put away sin, because he was such a sinless, holy man, perfect man, that he could put away sin. That's what kind of man he was. He could put away sin. Oh, my.

And a man stands before God right now for us. A man. When we see the Lord Jesus Christ, we're going to see him as he was on this earth after his resurrection. We're going to see a man. And we're all going to see God, because he set no throne. That's one of the greatest mysteries of all, that as a man on this earth, he suffered as a man. But God so exalted him and carried him and set him at his own right hand, and there's no way we can go to God except apart from this man, the Lord Jesus Christ. A man in glory, as an old preacher used to say. And a man, right now, a man stands before God. It's a man.

That's why it says he could be touched with the feelings of our infirmities. We get touched with the feelings of one another's infirmities sometimes. But I tell you what, our Lord Jesus Christ, all of our infirmities, all of our weaknesses, everything that's wrong with us, our Lord Jesus Christ is touched with them.

Why? Because he was tempted in all points, as we are, yet without sin. And oh, I tell you, this is one of the most blessed things that God did for us, is to make his son a man so he could identify with us. Make his son a man so that he would be a sinless man, perfect man, accepted of God. And oh, my, we only accept it in the beloved.

And then not only is he a hiding place, That's the blessed character of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. And oh, listen, he says there, a man shall be of hiding place from the wind. We already showed you where he says, peace be still. He called that tempest. So when the wind goes to blowing, cold winds, hot winds, Winds of doctrine, all these false things that come at us. Our Lord's already said, He's done calmed that storm. He gonna deal with that storm. And oh, we sing that old hymn, Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. And I'll tell you what, hid from sin, hid from wrath.

And Colossians 3.1 says this, if you be risen with Christ, set your affection on things above. not on things of the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." You're talking about a hiding place. You're dead. Dead to what? To the world? Dead to sin? Dead to the wrath of God? Dead to the law?

And our Lord Jesus Christ, oh, bless his name, If you want a hiding place from God, the safest place to hide is in his son. You talk about a hiding place, and that's a man we're hiding in. That's a man he's hiding in. And then look what it says, he'll be a covert from the tempest. Talked about that tempest. That value, no, that storm, violent storm, raging storm, terrible storm. And oh my, and he said he'll be a covert from the tempest. You know what a covert is? A covert's something that you get in, and it covers you. Covers you. And he's a covert from the tempest. Oh, my. A place of secrecy. The most powerful forces are outside us, and they can't find these hidden ones.

Look in Isaiah 4 with me, and then I want you to look to Matthew chapter 7. Look in Isaiah 4, verse 6. Look what he says here. Isaiah 4, 6. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and a covert from storm and from rain. Oh, we got a hiding place. Oh, my. From the heat. place of refuge, a covert from the storm and from the rain. And he'll be a covert.

Now I want you to look in Matthew chapter 7 with me again. Everything will be in Matthew tonight. Matthew chapter 7 and verse 24. Look what he says. talking about a COVID now from a storm. Therefore, whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I liken him to a wise man which built his house upon a rock. Now watch what happens to it.

The rains came down, descended. Rains come from heaven, things sent by God. And the floods came, those come from the earth. And the winds blew, we heard about that tempest, and the winds, and the winds of, and all the winds that come on, and the winds blew, and beat, beat, beat on that house, and it didn't fall. It didn't fall.

Why not? It's found on the rock. And everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and does not do them, shall be likened unto a fool, which built his house on a sand. The same things come to that house on the, that's on the rock. Everything that happened, the rain descended. They send things from God. The floods came from the earth, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell.

And this was it. Great was the fall of it. Oh, my. We got a place to get in out of that tempest. We got a place to get in out of that storm. We got some place where that rain and all the things is going to beat on us, and they beat. They said they beat on them. David said, you know, thy deeps went over me. The waves of thy deep went over me. God sent some awful storms.

But I tell you, he's never took you into a stormer, never took you where the winds blew, never took you where the floods came, never took you when things beat on you, that he wasn't there with you, and he's the foundation on which we build, and it shall never fail, never, never, never.

Oh, now, we're in a place where they can't find us. We're hidden in Christ. And then look what he said. and also a shadow of a great rock in a weary land." We have that weary land we live in, this old weary land, weary of sin, weary of self. But he said, there's a great rock. Now, this rock is so high and so big that it casts a shadow that everybody that knows Christ can get in that shadow.

If you ever look for a shadow in the summertime, I remember old folks, you know, they didn't have air conditioning, so they'd everybody sit outside. And they'd have a fan just, you know, they didn't have air conditioning, they'd just sit out and they just followed, tried to go around the house and follow the shade. I remember preachers used to come to our house, and we'd all sit outside. And what we'd do, we'd just sit on the porch till the sun'd come. Then we'd go around the side of the house where it's still shady. We'd go around this house when the sun's on this side.

We used to try to stay in the shade all day, talking and visiting. But oh, my. I'll tell you what. You talk about it, Shanna. Oh, when we're in this weary, weary land, We can sit down in great delight in this blessed, blessed strength and shadow of this rock. Look in Psalm with me,

91. Look here in Psalm 91. This is one of them precious verses of scripture. Oh, what our Lord said here, Psalm 91. He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." That rock, that rock was Christ. And oh my, you sit down in this old weary land. You get weary of self, sit down. You get weary of sin, sit down in this shadow. And I tell you, he that dwells in the secret place, and that's what it is. You know what's secret about it? The world don't know anything about it. The world don't know nothing about it. Religion don't know nothing about this. The world don't know nothing about this place. This secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

And you know what we'll say? I'll say of the Lord, He's my refuge, my fortress. Oh, we need a refuge, and not only that, but a fortress. My God, my God, in Him will I trust. Oh, my. Solomon said, oh, as the apple trees among the trees of the woods, even so is my beloved. And I sat down under the shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. my. And let me give you some blessings of these, these, these hiding places, the blessings that we have in Christ, the blessings we have in Christ our Lord. And those who are saved have great blessings.

Look at the first one in verse 3. And the eyes of them that see, the eyes of them that see shall not be dim. He gives them clear eyes, not dim anymore. The eyes are clear. Eyes are clear. And I tell you what, do you know what the first thing you see when your eyes are clear? You clearly see the Lord Jesus Christ. Clearly see Him. Clearly see Him.

And oh my, they've seen their need, and they see Christ is the only one that can meet that need. And they clearly see that there's only one place to hide, and that's in the Lord Jesus Christ. And they fly to it. They flew to it. Oh my, their eyes are clear. We can see now. We can see. We can see Christ. We can see ourselves. We can see the Word of God. We see things we never saw until he gave us clear eyes. And look what else it says.

Not the eyes of them that see shall not be dim. They won't be dim. Won't be struggling to see. No. And the ears of them that hear shall hearken. Their ears are open. Their eyes are clear and their ears are open. Oh my. You know, it says they hearken, they listen. And all that hear shall live. I'm going to show you something in Matthew 13. Keep, keep this now. Matthew 13. I don't know if you, I know you've seen this before, but oh my. Their ear, their eyes see.

Oh, I'll never forget when my eyes saw the first thing I saw. When God opened my eyes to see the Lord Jesus Christ, I seen what a sorry, sorry, sorry, miserable human being I was. Oh, how awful I was. Lied on God, misinterpreted the scriptures. Oh, my. But now my eyes is opened. I see. I see the Lord. I see Him high and lifted up. I see Him in His glory. I see Him in His temple. I see Him on His throne. I see Christ. Oh, my. And then our ears are open. We can hear things we never heard before. And oh, my.

And look what it says in verse 14. And them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah. which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and listen to this, and shall not understand, and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive. For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and should be healed. But now listen to the difference. But blessed are your eyes, Blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears they hear. And I'm telling you, there's lots of prophets and righteous men desire to see the things that you see and have not seen them, and to hear the things which you hear and have not heard. And that's what he says over here. Our eyes are clear, our ears are open, our ears are open. Look down in verse four.

Isaiah 32 The heart also the rash shall understand knowledge. Oh My the heart of the rash and that's what it means hasty The heart of the hasty the heart has been taught and look what it says It shall understand knowledge Who taught us who taught us all thy children all thy children shall be taught of God, all thy children." Our Lord Jesus Christ said, come unto me, come unto me and learn of me. Take my yoke and learn of me. Our heart has been taught that we're, more about Jesus would I know, more of his saving fullness see, more of his love who died for me. The heart has been taught. And I tell you, we want to learn of Christ. And there's three things, three things I believe we've all been taught. And without a doubt, we understand these things. And these are things that you know.

And I know that knowledge don't save a person, but you can't see without knowledge. You know, you can't be ignorant of the righteousness of Christ and be saved. You can't be ignorant about establishing your own righteousness and know the Lord. You can't be saved by going to your works and going to Christ at the same time. That's not the way it works.

And I tell you, they shall be taught. And those that hear, the heart of the rash shall understand knowledge. And we know some things. And here's the three things that I think we absolutely know. That we know this without a shadow of a doubt, that we're absolute sinners. Once you become a sinner, you never cease to be one. You never trust yourself. You never trust your heart. You never trust your feelings. You're over those things.

You understand that David said, I was conceived in iniquity and sin was I shaping. We know that we're absolute sinners. No ability to change ourselves. No power to stop being sinners. There's no stop to our minds and our hearts and our wills and things. There's no stop to it. We can't stop it. We don't have the ability. If you and I had the ability to stop sinning, we'd do it that quick. Just that quick. That quick. And here's the second thing. They know that Christ is an absolute Savior. He's a successful Savior, an absolute Savior. There ain't nobody else that can save us who are sinners. Nobody else can do it. He's the Savior, and He's absolutely so. There's nobody can rival Him.

There's no other name. What's in a name? In Christ, everything's in His name. All power's in His name. All grace is in His name. All mercy's in His name. All authority's in His name. All salvation's in His name. Righteousness is in His name. Justifications in His name. Acceptance is in His name. There's nothing, everything about Christ's name is everything.

And I tell you what, that's why we call Him our Lord Jesus Christ. That's why we cry, Lord Jesus, save me. The fastest and easiest prayers in the Bible, Lord, save us, we perish. That woman with her daughter said, Lord, have mercy on me. Three lepers come down from the mountainside and they said, Lord, have mercy on us.

And if you will, you can make us clean. I will be clean. Who else could do that? And we know that God's taught us that Christ is our absolute Savior. We have no one else in this world that can save us. And I tell you, you know how much I need saving? Every day, all day. I want to be saved. I don't want to be deceived. I don't want to miss Christ. And I know, I know that if I ever look to myself for anything other than Christ, I despair. And I'll tell you the third thing that we know, that we understand, and our hearts understood this in the knowledge that we have, that God is an absolute Savior.

He's the first cause of everything that happens in this world. He has all power. He declares every, you know, sometimes we get in situations and we think, boy, boy, this is rough, this is tough, this is tired. It's weary. But oh my, I always remember this.

God sent it. God ordered it. God ordained it. God ordained it. And I'll tell you what, and this is what I love, God ordained the day that I'd be born, because He's sovereign. God ordained every day that I'd live, and every minute I'd live, every moment I'd live, how many hairs I'd have on my head. He ordained all of that, and I tell you what, He ordained how many times my heart would beat, and when I'd draw my last one. He's already ordered all that, and everything in between. And you know what? I don't find fault with anything he's ever done. Do you? I don't find a fault with any.

If he takes, if he wills to take a child, he's the Lord. They belong to him anyway. If he wants to take a spouse, they're his, they're his anyway. They belong to him. And that's what's so wonderful about it. When he takes someone, he takes them to be with himself. Oh my, ain't you, we're sinners, Christ is our savior, and God is sovereign. Absolutely so, absolutely so.

All right, our heart has been taught, and look what it says now in the last part of verse four. And then their tongue is loosed, and the tongue of the stammer shall be ready to speak plainly. You know. that God loosed our tongue. We don't stammer. We speak plainly. Paul said, you know, we speak plainly. We speak plainly.

Oh, we speak plainly of the truth of the gospel, the truth of Christ, the truth of Christ's Savior, the truth of our need of the Savior. And I tell you that our Lord, when he loosed our tongues, he set them free from lies and from traditions and from saying things we ought not say. You hear people say all the time, boy, I sure was lucky. I was dealt a bad hand.

Our tongue don't stammer. Our tongue don't stammer when it comes to the things of God, the things of Christ. Religion does. You ask them questions and they go to stammer and stammer and stammer. Oh, my. Oh, it sets our tongue free from lies. It's plain, and we don't have any fear to tell who will listen to us and tell them what we say. And then look in verse 5, and I'm through. In verse 5, the vile person, vile, shall be no more called liberal, vile person called liberal.

I mean, they got everything, and they give it all away. No, the churl. Shirley's person is a ill-mannered, ill-tempered person, said to be bountiful. He won't be said to be bountiful. But oh my, you know what this tells us? The life is purified. The vile person shall more be called liberal or crafty to be bountiful. And oh my, the liberals are through. Our life has been purified. We're no more called those things. We're no more called those things. Our lives has been purified. And I tell you, our Lord Jesus Christ purified us. We're not vile anymore. We're not one of those people that is crafty and churlish and ill-tempered. You know, and the liberal here is called a fool.

That's what it means in this verse of scripture. So if you have a need of a refuge, I know where one's at. A man shall be a hiding place. A man shall, from the wind, let the winds blow. We got a hiding place. Well, let the tempest blow. We got a place to get in. It has rivers of water that flows from the throne of God, a river, and all rivers of water in a dry place. Oh, here comes the water. I see it coming. and the shadow of a great rock in a weary land." And this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the one that's that hiding place.

Our Lord, our blessed Savior, our Redeemer, we thank you, Lord, that you've loosed our tongues gave us eyes to see, ears to hear, and that we have a place to hide from this old world and this weary land, these storms that come, this winds that blow, these tempests that come so violently. Lord, we have a place to go. The world don't have a place to go. Our families don't have a place to go. We have a place to go. We have a place to hide from all these things of life.

And thank you, Lord Jesus, for providing it for us, giving it to us, giving us seeing eyes and hearing ears and believing hearts. God, how we thank you. Thank us for blessed be your name that you made us to know you, to know God, to know your son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's eternal life, to know you, to know you. God bless these dear saints, meet the needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We ask in his holy name. Amen. Amen. Thank you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to me thy great salvation, so rich and free. I'll see you Sunday morning, God willing. Vroom.

Wednesday 05/13/26 Isaiah 32:1-5 "A need for a Refuge"

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about Jesus as our refuge?

How do we know Christ is our only source of salvation?

Why is it important to understand our need for Christ?

What does it mean to have our hearts taught by God?

How does Jesus fulfill the role of a hiding place?

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Wednesday 05/13/26 Isaiah 32:1-5 "A need for a Refuge"

Key Quotes

What does the Bible say about Jesus as our refuge?

How do we know Christ is our only source of salvation?

Why is it important to understand our need for Christ?

What does it mean to have our hearts taught by God?

How does Jesus fulfill the role of a hiding place?

Sermon Transcript

About Donnie Bell

Comments

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