No Man Layeth It To Heart

Q: What does the Bible say about the death of believers?

The Bible teaches that believers enter into peace and are taken away from evil when they die. According to Isaiah 57, the righteous and merciful are taken away by God to be spared from the evil that is to come. The prophecy reveals that when God's saints die, they do not face judgment with the wicked; instead, they enter into peace and rest, free from all forms of evil. The passage emphasizes that believers are made righteous through Christ, resulting in true righteousness in their lives. Death for a believer is described as a transition into peace and the promise of eternal life with God, where they will walk in their uprightness free from the struggles of this present world.

Q: How do we know that God's grace is sufficient for salvation?

God's grace is sufficient for salvation as it provides the necessary righteousness through Christ, making us accepted by Him. The doctrine of God's grace is the foundation of sovereign grace theology. It illustrates that salvation is not reliant on human effort but on divine grace through Jesus Christ. God's grace is sufficient because it provides the righteousness necessary for sinners to be accepted before a holy God. As stated in Isaiah 57, when God sees a man's ways, He chooses to heal and restore him, enabling him to find comfort in divine grace. True peace comes not from works or self-righteousness, but solely from the grace of God which applies to all who believe in Christ, ensuring their acceptance before Him.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to understand their identity in Christ?

Understanding identity in Christ assures believers of their righteousness and the peace they have with God. For Christians, knowing their identity in Christ is paramount as it shapes their understanding of righteousness and acceptance before God. According to Isaiah 57, believers are made righteous not by their actions but by the imputed righteousness of Christ, which provides a foundation for their faith and hope. This identity brings assurance, allowing believers to walk uprightly in the world while being confident that they are children of God. Grasping this truth leads to a life characterized by peace and security in God's promises, as they recognize their standing in Christ rather than their own works.

Q: What does Isaiah 57 teach about judgment and mercy?

Isaiah 57 contrasts God's judgment on the wicked with His mercy towards the righteous. Isaiah 57 serves as a powerful reminder of the difference between the fate of the wicked and the righteous. The scripture highlights that while God will bring judgment on those who disregard Him, He mercifully takes away the righteous from the impending evil, ensuring their eternal peace. For the believer, death is not a punishment, but an act of mercy, as they are preserved from the world's evil. This assures believers of God's constant care and love, affirming that God's actions align with His covenant promises to those who trust Him.

Q: How can Christians prepare their hearts to receive God's message?

Christians can prepare their hearts by being humble and seeking God's truth earnestly. Preparation of the heart to receive God's message involves humility and a sincere desire for truth. Isaiah 57 emphasizes the necessity of having a contrite spirit while approaching God's Word. Believers are encouraged to cast aside distractions and self-righteousness to attentively hear God's voice. The role of God's servants is also highlighted in guiding God's people by removing obstacles from their understanding. Therefore, believers should actively engage in prayer and reflection, seeking to align their hearts with God's will in order to fully appreciate His message of grace and mercy.

Good evening to Isaiah 57. If you will, just hold your Bibles open on your lamps as we look through these 21 verses of Holy Scripture. I am certain that I'll come back in coming weeks and deal with each of these portions in more detail, but tonight I want us to look at the whole chapter.

The prophet here makes a lamentation In the first verse, notice he says, the righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart. I suspect there has never been a preacher, an Old Testament prophet, a New Testament apostle, or a preacher of the gospel in this age. I expect there's never been one who hasn't had occasion to use those words with regard to the response of men to the preaching of the gospel. A preacher preaches with the burden, carrying the burden of the word of the Lord, and preaches with all the fire that's in his soul, hoping to arouse and awaken those who hear him, calls them to just be enthusiastically responsive to the message, committing themselves to Christ, loving Christ, praising Christ, and when he gets done preaching, he sets down and lifts his heavy heart and says, God, no man layeth it to heart. And regrettably, I fear that most of the time, When a man preaches, even when men immediately make emotional response and are temporarily stirred, no man layeth it to heart.

Few who hear the word lay it to heart, very few. The response of unbelieving, unregenerate men and women whose hearts and thoughts are consumed with this world. Their response to the word of God and the works of God, by and large, is just indifference. Just indifference. Don't pay any attention. No man layeth it to heart.

I pray. Oh God, I pray. that you will not leave here tonight indifferent to the word of God. Give me your attention. I pray God you will be compelled by his spirit to lay to heart those things which Isaiah here speaks of. Here are four things about which it can be said with regard to the vast majority of people in church and out of church, no man layeth it to heart.

In verses one and two, Isaiah speaks of the death of God's saints. A righteous man perishes. You see it? The righteous perisheth. And no man layeth it to heart. And the merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace. They shall rest in their beds.

Each one walking in his uprightness. If you have a marginal reference, read it. Each one walking before him. Each one walking before the Lord in his uprightness. God comes in mercy and calls the righteous out of this world. He does so to save them from the evil that is to come yet in this world. And no man lays this to heart. This is what the prophet is telling us. Now, this is God's way, always has been. Whenever God is about to bring judgment, whenever God is going to bring some great devastation, he always takes the righteous away.

He does it to preserve them from the evil to come. Do you remember that even in Hezekiah's day, the Lord came with a word and said to Hezekiah, when you're dead and gone, the kingdom is gonna be divided and judgment's going to come. And Hezekiah said, it's a good word from God. He said, he's gonna take me away first. The righteous he takes away. He calls them up to glory. He calls them out of the world, the righteous perisheth.

And God is taking them away from the evil to come. When Lot was in Sodom, and God was about to bring judgment upon the city of Sodom and Gomorrah, before God poured the fire and brimstone out of heaven, he sent his angels to get Lot out. And when God brings his final judgment to this world, before he consumes the world with the fierceness of his wrath and the brightness of his coming, he'll call out his elect. He will not judge the righteous with the wicked.

Now be sure that you understand, though, what this text of scripture says about the death of a believer. He tells us five things very plainly. First, God's saints in this world are described here by two words, righteous and merciful. That's the character of God's saints. They're righteous and they're merciful. They are not righteous in themselves. No child of God imagined such foolishness.

But they are made righteous by the imputed righteousness of Christ being laid to their account in justification so that we are accounted by God as perfectly righteous in Jesus Christ. And then by God's regenerating grace, the believer who by nature is nothing but sin, dead in trespasses and in sins, is made righteous by God the Holy Spirit, giving him a new holy nature. Christ is formed in every child of God. Christ in you, that's the hope of glory. And there is in every believer a nature, a heart, a will that's righteous. That's what Paul speaks of in Romans 7 and what John speaks of in 1 John chapter 3.

But more than that, the believer is a man or a woman who is righteous in conversation. I don't mean just in the words they speak. I'm talking about in their manner of life. Believers are righteous people. In the character of their lives, in the tenor of their walk, they walk in righteousness. Now, please understand me. They don't walk in a pretentious show of righteousness. They don't act righteous.

If God has made Rex Bartley righteous, righteousness is not something he acts out, something he is. It's something he is. Means he deals in business honestly. Means you can trust him. That means he deals with many women with uprightness. That means he walks before God honestly. That means he walks before men honestly. And it means, more than anything else, he's merciful. Notice how it comes to use interchangeably.

The righteous perisheth, no man layeth it to heart, and the merciful men are taken away. They're the same folks, very same folks. Read Matthew chapter seven again at your leisure. When our Lord Jesus expounds his message in the Sermon on the Mount and declares what righteousness is, he declares over and over and over again that righteousness is mercy. It's kindness, it's forgiveness, it's love, it's goodness one to another. And God's people, every one of them, are merciful.

They're merciful. They are not in the tenor of their lives. They may do, without question, they may do any kind of violence. There's no question about that, you understand that. But I'm telling you, if Bobby Estes is a believer, if he's a child of God, in the tenor of his life, this is the character of the man. He's merciful. He's not mean, he's merciful. He's not vicious, he's merciful. He's not hard, he's merciful. Righteousness and mercy are synonymous. They're synonymous. Now then, look at what else he says here.

With regard to believers, when they die, They're taken away in mercy from the evil to come. For the unbeliever, that's exactly opposite. The unbeliever is taken away from this world, no matter how bad things are for him here. When he's taken away from this world, he's taken away from mercy to everlasting evil and destruction.

Don't ever, don't ever say with regard to an unbelieving man when he's left this world, well, he's better off now. It's not so. It's not so. Don't ever give that pretentious, hypocritical word of assurance to some people with regard to the passing away of their loved ones who have no regard for God. Are we better off now? No, we're not better off now. Men and women are better off living in this world under any circumstances than dying without Christ.

The unbeliever is taken away from mercy to evil. But the believer, this, Here in this world, this is all the evil you'll ever know. This is all you'll ever know. I promise you, you leave this world, child of God, you leave evil behind. I'm talking about you leave behind the evil of your heart, and the evil of the world, and the evil of circumstances, and the evil of sorrow, and the evil of trial, and the evil of difficulties, and the evil of temptations.

The Lord comes and takes the merciful away. from all evil forever. That's what it is for the believer to die. And when the saved man dies, he enters into peace. You see that verse too? He shall enter into peace. He goes in peace. He goes in peace. I think that it is Usually so, that believers die in peace. I think that's usually the case. I would not be so presumptuous as to say they always do. Not at all.

But I'll tell you this, when he gets done dying, he goes into peace. He enters into peace. When David called me a few weeks ago and told me that his dad was in such bad shape, I said to him, Well, I hope the Lord will be pleased to take him soon. Take him quickly. How could you say so? Well, he's God's child. And he's now out of woe and evil and entered into peace. He's into peace. And when the righteous man dies, he leaves his body in the grave as one laying down in a bed.

See what it says here? They shall rest in their beds. Now that's not talking about the foolish nonsense of soul sleep. Souls never sleep. That's talking about the resting of the body. The believer drops this robe of flesh and it's laid out by tender hands and caring friends in a grave, casket. And there it lays in rest. until the resurrection day. His body's resting. Oh, but now that man himself, that woman herself, they've not been laid in the grave. No, they dropped this robe of flesh. Look at the next thing it said here. As soon as the believer drops this robe of flesh, he walks in his uprightness before the Lord.

Each one walking in his uprightness. Maybe you can, for interpretation's sake, write out somewhere perfectly. That's what it means. We're struggling now to walk in uprightness. And we do, in the tenor of our lives, as we're God's saints, walk in uprightness. But when we drop this robe of flesh, the struggle is going to be over. And we're going to walk before Him in uprightness. You understand that right?

He predestinated us to be holy and without blame. He chose us to be holy and without blame. He redeemed us to make us holy and without blame. He called us to make us holy and without blame. In one of these days, we're gonna walk before God, holy and without blame. Walks in his uprightness. You see, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. We know that if I enter the house of this tabernacle, we're dissolved. We have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. We long to be absent with the body and present with the Lord, to walk in his uprightness.

The righteous perisheth. And God says, now listen, folks, listen here. This is the end of all men, you're gonna die. And you're gonna die at the appointed time. And doesn't matter how old or how young you are, you're gonna die. When the righteous perishes, when the merciful are taken, they enter into peace. And God takes them away from evil. But if you die under the wrath of God, There's no hope for you, no mercy for you, no peace for you.

Today, we drove down to see Charlotte Murrow's place for just a minute after lunch and came back up through Hattieburton. There was a funeral procession. Somebody's going to the graveyard. Got about halfway back into town here. Here came another funeral procession going the other way. Somebody else going to the graveyard.

And these days, folks don't even pull over and stop. Stop blowing your hornets if you do. Nobody lays it to heart. Nobody pays any attention. We're too busy, too busy gathering up dust and clutter. You better lay it to heart. You're gonna die one of these days.

You're gonna meet God one of these days, either for everlasting peace or everlasting misery. Second, in verses three through 10, God speaks by his prophet and declares, the Lord's quarrel with the idolatry of those people who profess to be his people. Let me read the passage for you, and then make clear application of it to ourselves. Draw near, draw near hither. Come and listen to me, the prophet says. You sons of the sorcerers, of the sorceress, That's not a way to win friends and influence people. Come here, you sons of witchcraft, the seed of the adulterer and the whore. Against whom do you sport yourselves? Against whom make you wide mouth and draw out the tongue? Who do you think you're mocking? Who do you think you're playing games with? Are you not children of transgression? A seed of a lie, a seed of falsehood. Inflaming your cells with idols under every green tree, slaying the children in the valleys under the clests of the rocks.

Among the smooth stones of the stream is thy portion. That is, that's where you get your gods. They are thy lot. Even to them hast thou poured out, poured a drink offering. Thou hast offered a meat offering. Should I receive comfort in these? because you've gone and worshipped your stocks and your stones and called them me? Should I receive comfort from these?

Upon a lofty and high mountain hast thou set thy bed. Even thither wentest thou up to offer sacrifice. Behind the doors also and the post hast thou set up thy remembrance, for thou hast discovered thyself to another than me. And art grown up, Thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made thee a covenant with them. Thou lovest their bed where thou sawest it, and thou wentest into the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even into hell.

You mean, men and women, by the diligent practice of religion, by the diligent sacrifices they make to their gods, debase themselves unto hell? No, I didn't write the book. I don't mean that at all. That's what God means. God wrote the book, and that's what he says. You debase yourselves unto hell. Thou art weary'd in the greatness of thy way, yet sits thou not, there is no hope. Thou hast found the life of thine hand, therefore thou wast not grieved. Now what does all that mean?

God gave Israel his law, his prophets, His tabernacle, his temple, his priesthood, his mercy seat, his sacrifices, his revelation. God gave him everything. Nobody else in the world had it. And Israel followed after sorcerers, magicians, wizards, witches, and false prophets under gross idolatry. They involved themselves in the worship of imaginary gods. And yet all the while, they kept the name of Jehovah and pretended to worship him. It began all the way back in the book of Exodus. Hold your hands here and let's look at this one text. I believe it's in Exodus 32. Turn back there for a moment. Exodus chapter 32. You remember Moses was up in the mountain. And he had been gone for a long, long time. And Aaron got the people pushing him pretty good. And Aaron wasn't quite the man Moses was. Moses wouldn't take the pushing, but Aaron would. Some preachers will, some won't.

And the people said, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? Moses up in the mountain, we don't know what's going to become of us. Do something for us. And Aaron said, give me your gold. and they pulled off their gold earrings, and they pulled off their gold rings out of their noses, and they pulled off their necklaces and their bracelets, and they took all their gold and put it into a fire, stirred it around.

Alan acted like he just came out of his womb, but he fashioned them a huge golden cap. And look what it says here. He took the cap which they had made, I'm sorry, I'm in Rome passage, that's in, Chapter, that's when Moses came down. Let me find David's passage here. Must be back in chapter 20, 19 and 20. Let's see here. They took the gold out of their noses and off of their ears and made a golden cave.

Anyway, Aaron said, these be thy gods, O Israel. And they danced and they made their feast and all that. And Aaron said, well, tomorrow, tomorrow now, we're going to have a feast to Jehovah. while they're worshipping a golden calf. While they're worshipping a golden calf.

And over here Isaiah is talking about the very same thing. They have made themselves gods of all kinds. They've taken the gods of the nations and they still pretend to be worshipping Jehovah. Now there's clear application to ourselves and to our generation.

You see the way of Balaam The way that Balaam taught Israel to worship was he said, if you're going to get along with the people, if you're going to dwell in a land of people who hate God, you're going to have to accommodate them. Otherwise, you can't get along, fellas. So you don't have to deny Jehovah. You don't have to say, no, we're no longer following the Lord Jehovah. All you've got to do is incorporate the worship of all their gods with your worship. And you say, we are worshiping the Lord. We're all on the way to glory and we're all going to be all right. And that was Balaam's philosophy. That was the way to destruction. And this is what the Jews did throughout their history. And this is what men do today.

You see, free will works religion. I'm going to make a big jump from the worshipping of stocks and stones to the worshipping of yourself. To the worshipping of your own imaginary God. Free will works religion is the religion of the great poor. There are only two. There are only two. And you mark it down.

I don't care what name the church goes by, whether it's called Grace Baptist Church, or whether it's called Pentecostal Church. It don't matter. It doesn't matter if it's called Buddhist or Catholic. It doesn't matter. There are only two religions in the world. either free will or free grace. There are no exceptions. Either the religion that's centered in man or religion that's centered in God. Either a religion that exalts and magnifies the Lord God or that exalts and magnifies such things as we are. That's all there is.

And I'm telling you that the religion of man the religion of your will, the religion that teaches salvation by your decision, by your words, by you, the religion that says salvation after all is in your hands, that's the religion of the whore Babylon. And it'll take you to hell. I don't care what name it's called by. All that's involved in the religion of this great whore, all that's involved in the religion of the world is described in verse 4 as adultery, Deceit and the mockery of God.

The mockery of God. When men and women sing their songs in their churches, and they lift up their voices in prayer, and they go through their religious rituals, they're mocking God. That's all. That's all. Not a man, not a creed, not a confession, but mocking God.

In verse 5, we read about these fellows who carried their sons and daughters into the valley under every green tree and sacrificed them upon the altars. of their pagan gods. Quite literally, they did. The gods would be heated until the arms on those man-made gods were red hot. And in the name of Jehovah, they'd come take their gods. And they'd take their sons and daughters and lay them in the arms of their gods, consume them.

And I'm telling you, telling you, Young man called me a few weeks ago, down in North Carolina. His pastor said, call Don and ask him about it. How about going to church? He's been married since I first met him, and he's got a passion to go to church. I said, I wouldn't go. I wouldn't go where folks don't preach the gospel of God's grace for anything under the sun. I wouldn't go to please you. I wouldn't go to please my wife. I wouldn't go to please my daughter. I wouldn't go for anything. I was going to tell you what you do.

At Ronwood, you got those two girls there, they're your responsibility. You take them into a synagogue of Satan, to an altar of man's will and man's works, and you destroy their souls. Same thing. Same thing. When you send them down here to be under the influence, after all, it's good and bad influence. I would rather my daughter be influenced by pimps, pushers, and prostitutes than be influenced by false religion. I'm telling you truth. There's nothing more evil in this world.

No matter how devoted they may be, no matter how zealous many women are, no matter how devoted they are to their false religion, God will never accept it. He'll never accept it. I've had folks ask me about You know, this Mother Teresa of Calcutta. How can you say that God won't accept that? She's so devoted. She's so sincere. She's done so much good. How can you imagine that that's not God's servant and God's child? Because I don't interpret anything by what I feel. I interpret it by what God says. And this is what God says. You come and offer your smooth stones and you pour out your drink offerings and your meat offerings. Should I receive comfort from these? Do you really think I'm going to be pleased with this?

All who walk in the broad way that leads to destruction walk in a way that gains great honor in this world because men delight to honor one another. They walk in a place that is as an exalted lofty mountain. Oh, look at that. Boy, what success. The Lord sure must be blessed in that place. Look at them. Lofty, lofty, lofty. How many of them went on Sunday school this year? How many of them baptized last year? Lord, look at how God's blessing them. Lofty, lofty mountain.

And they have a great bed of ecumenism. Thou hast enlarged thy bed. Made plenty of room for everybody. For everybody. Come on. We're all in this thing together. It's so sweet. Look at them. They don't let anything get by. They don't let anything get in the way of their sweet fellowship. Not even God's glory or God's word. Isn't that right? They've enlarged their bed. Enlarged their bed.

I told you a few weeks ago when folks were squawking about whether or not this is the word of God, the denominational churches around town were fussing and fighting. Some of them said yay and some of them said nay. They interviewed one of the fellows down the road here, and he said, well, I think we ought to We ought not be divided over issues like this. We ought to just win souls for Jesus. Let's just argue. It don't matter what you believe.

Let's get in bed together. And the whole world is. The whole world is. You go up here to the Ministerial Association. And I don't care if you take this tape and send it to every preacher in town. I might do it myself. Take it and send it to the Ministerial Association.

And they all get along. Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Presbyterian, Church of God, Pentecostal, Mormon, I don't guess they've included Jehovah's Witnesses yet, but they just all give one fine, and they have their fine services, and they have no difficulties at all. Now one of them immerses, and one of them sprinkles, one of them wears a rose, one of them doesn't, one of them says a rosary, and one of them doesn't say the rosary, but they all preach the same thing. That's the reason they're all in bed together. Let one man stand up and preach free grace and none.

I tell you what, if you don't want to, you don't have to come back to these meetings. We can get along all right without you. There's no need for that, because we recognize that we are right. Look at us. Everybody says we're right. And they have approval from powerful, influential people. Thou wentest into the king with ointment, and distinguished thy perfumes, while politicians and Educators and powerful people, they're with us. Surely God's with us then. And they have huge works of evangelism.

Thou didst send thy messengers far off, and didst debase thyself even unto hell. With all their pretentious greatness, the free will works religionist debases himself down to hell. Because they live a lie. And they live a lie, they will not give up. They will not give it up. Look at verse 9, or verse 10 rather. Thou art willed in the greatness of thy way.

What does that mean? That means it doesn't matter how zealous you are in your religion. It doesn't matter how devoted you are. It doesn't matter how much you give, it doesn't matter how much you work, it'll never give you any peace. It'll never give you it. Wear it. But you'll never admit it. You won't admit it. No, sir. You'll hold on to it till you go to hell with it. Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way, and yet sits thou not. That is, you didn't say it. There's no hope. There's no hope. Never crosses your mind. Never crosses your mind.

You talk to family and friends, neighbor, relative, you talk to them. And it doesn't matter what they've lived like, it doesn't matter what they've been through. I know, I'm all right now. Don't try to tell me I'm not saved. I know when the Lord saves me, I can take you to the time and I can take you to the place, and I know he saved me.

I'll never give that up. No, you won't. I agree, you won't give it up. But you don't have any peace, do you? No peace. What are you going to do when you realize you've got to face God today? I've watched them. Terror seizes them. Terror seizes them. No peace. More than that, while they assure themselves that they have hope, they do so because they think that they have life in their hands.

Do you see it? Thou saidst not, there is no hope. Thou hast found the life of thine hand. Therefore thou wast not grieved. I hear my hands. I made a decision for Jesus, and I know it's all right. I walked down, I said the sinner's prayer, and I've been baptized in church since I was a little boy. I know it's all right. And look what I've done. Look what I've done. Don't tell me there's no hope.

It's much like the language of Isaiah 28, where the Lord says you've made lies a refuge. You've made lies your refuge. You've made a covenant with death, and you say everything's going to be all right. Having made their refuge of lies and their covenant with death, they have no fear of God, no fear of judgment. And of whom hast thou been afraid or feared, that thou hast lied and hast not remembered me?

Now laid it to thy heart, have not I held my peace, even of old, and thou fearest me not? I will declare thy righteousness and thy works, for they shall not profit thee." That's what God said. That's what God said. What you do, your righteousness, you're so proud of, you're so confident of it, life is in my hand. I know I've got it, I've got hope. God said, I'll declare your righteousness. I'll declare your works.

It'll take you to hell. It shall not profit you. And then thirdly, God gives an assurance of an elect remnant. He says in verse 13, when thou cryest, let thy company deliver thee, but the wind shall carry them all away. Vanity shall take them. Your religion's just vanity, he says, but he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land. You see, throughout the ages, from the beginning of time, from Abel down to this present day, and indeed until the days yet to come, God has always had an elect remnant. In the darkest of days, they are the people who trust God. All the rest of the world trusts themselves. God's saints trust him.

Now I know, I know everybody says I trust Jesus. We stand on the book, the blood, the blessed oath. Everybody preaches from the Bible. Everybody says we believe in God. Everybody says we, we, we'll sing amazing grace and all the while we trust Jesus and our works. We trust Jesus and our church. We trust Jesus and our will. We trust Jesus and our prayers. Oh, the God saints may all trust him. That's all.

Where's your hope? Come on, where is it, honestly? When you start looking for peace, when you start looking for comfort, when you start considering the prospect of meeting God in judgment, when you start to consider heaven and hell and eternity, where is your hope? Is it in your feelings, your doings, your experiences, or is it in the Son of God? It's in Him. That's it. I have no hope but Him. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand. I stand in him, I bet you.

When the world is in utter darkness, this elect remnant is the light of the world, guiding man in the way of life. When the world is consumed with gross immorality and provoked God's wrath, this elect remnant is described as the salt of the earth, those who preserve society and preserve the generation in which they live. And when God sends a delusion and God sends death to all the rest of the world, these elect ones are kept safe and secure because God's chosen them and he'll keep them. God's servants talk about those things, truth, and error, life and death, righteousness and self-righteousness, grace and works. And folks sit back and say, well, what's the preacher ranting about now?

No man layeth it to heart. Everybody pays attention. It's not that important. He's making too much of this thing. It's all right to try to get along. You know what it is. It's all right to bend a little here and give a little there. You know it's going to be all right. God understands. No man layeth it to heart. And then the chapter closes with the description of the work and message of God's servants. I'll just give it to you quickly. In verse 14, the work of God's servants in every age is here described, it is to prepare the way of the Lord. God gives a command, and shall say, you who trust the Lord say, Castia, Castia, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people. That's what preachers are supposed to do.

In the cities of refuge, I've told you many times, they had work crews, and it was the responsibility of those road crews to go out, and whenever there was a dip in the road, to fill it in and make it level. Whenever there was a high place, to level it down. Whenever there was debris, to clear it out of the way, take away the stumbling stones, and keep the sides in repair and put it away. Refuge, this way. That's what a coach is supposed to do. That's what I'm here for. I'm trying my best to clear out the debris, to make straight the way of the Lord, to point to the way, and say, Refuge is in Christ. Flee to Him. That's what we're commanded to do.

The message of God's servants is always the same. It's cast in different words, but it's always the same. It's a five-fold message. First, it's a declaration of God's greatness. That's what it is. When a man preaches, I don't care if he talks for five minutes or five hours, when a man preaches, if he exalts man, he's not God's. That's right. If he exalts the greatness of God, that's a pretty good indication God sent him. Listen to what he says. For thus saith the High and Lofty One. Who are you talking about? I'm talking about God.

That Inherited Eternity, whose name is Holy. I dwell in the high and holy place, and I dwell with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble and to revive the heart of the contrite ones, because I'm the great God, and I'm the only one who can lift you up to me. I'm the great God, and I'm the only one who can give life to the dead. The preacher is sent of God to declare the certainty of divine judgment, for I will not contend forever, neither will I always be wroth, for the spirit should fail before me and the souls which I have made."

God says, I'm contending with you now, and he is right now contending with you. I know he is. And you're contending with God. God says you're going to bow. Are you going to perish? I'm not going to put up with this forever. I'm not going to put up with this forever. Will you bow or will you perish? And then he speaks of guilt, the guilt and obstinance of man's sin. For the iniquity of his covetousness was I wroth and smote him. I hid me and was wroth. But no man laid it to heart.

You see that? And he went on forwardly in the way of his heart. But then the preacher declares the saving grace of God Almighty in Jesus Christ. The Lord God says, I've seen his ways. And I destroy it. That's what I would have said. But he said, I've seen his ways, and I'll heal him. I'll heal him. I'll lead him also, and I'll restore comforts to him. Oh, I'll make this man whose ways have been the ways of hell to find the comfort of heaven. I'll restore comforts to him and to his mourners, and I'll create the fruit of the lips. That is, I'll cause him to praise me. I'll give him peace, peace, peace to him that's far off.

I'll tell you one reason I don't ever presume to tell anybody, you're saved, you're all right, God's taken care of you. I wouldn't do that. I wouldn't do that for all the money in this world. I wouldn't tell you God saved you. No, sir. I wouldn't think about saying to you, now if you do this and you do that, you're a child of God, don't let anybody ever take that away from you. I wouldn't think about it.

But I'll tell you what, if God tells you peace, you'll sleep in peace. Honestly, I wish people would learn to quit looking to preachers for peace. Preacher, can you give me some assurance? No. Any assurance a man can give you, a man can take from you. But God says, I'll speak peace to him that's far off, and to him that's near. That is, I'll take the profligate, irreligious man, and I'll take the lost religious man, and I'll speak peace to him. And I'll heal him. Oh, how I thank God. He spoke peace to my soul.

When I was a boy of six years old, seven years old, I sat in the church building, a little smaller than this one, and they'd been running their tricks and gimmicks and it was packed out. Preacher told some kind of tale, I don't know what it was, but when we got done, everybody was swallowed, and I was too. I sat right on the front row, right on the end, never will forget it. And they sang their invitation song. I suspect it was Just As I Am, I don't know what it was. They had an altar down front.

And I just, just as soon as I started seeing picture car folks come forward, I broke out and I fell down on my knees just sobbing, crying, sobbing. And I didn't have any idea what for. I just scared to death of going to hell. And a man, well-meaning man, I know he was, pilot with Piedmont Airlines, never will forget him, know it. I can see his face right now. Known him all my life. He came and took his soul winner's Bible and put his arm around my shoulders.

He said, Don, you don't want to go to hell, do you? I said, no, I don't. He said, you believe in Jesus, don't you? I said, I sure do. He said, well, call on the name of the Lord and repeat after me. And he gave me the sinner's prayer. And he said, now you're at peace with God. Everything's all right.

But when I got up, I didn't have any more peace than I did when I went down. I spent my life living in rebellion to God, and he kept telling me, you're a piece of God. Remember back then when you made your decision for Jesus? I remember, but I didn't get any peace.

That was it. That's it. But one day God sent a preacher. He called me to hear the gospel of his grace. He gave me faith in Jesus Christ. And I want to tell you something. I've got all kinds of turmoil, and I'm topsy-turvy inside more than I ever let anybody know. But God Almighty has spoken peace to my soul. He's spoken peace to you. I mean peace. I'm at peace with God. I'm at peace with God. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, fixed it so that God won't charge me with sin. The righteousness of Jesus Christ, God's son, fixed it, so that God says, I'm perfectly righteous. And boy, that gives me peace. God said, I'll speak peace. But the preacher has to say something else.

If you won't trust Christ, you're going to hold on to your righteousness and your religion and your works, and you're going to, I will not say there's no hope for me. Hold on to it. But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters just keep on casting up mire and dirt. No matter what you get, you'll never get any rest. For there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.

So peace. I don't care how much you holler peace. And I don't care how much you pretend to have peace. I'm talking to some of you tonight who've been trying to convince yourself for years you've got peace and you ain't got an ounce of peace. You know as well as I do, got no peace. Because there's no peace. No peace to the wicked. None. Not in here. And David, that's the only place it counts. That's the only place it counts. No peace to the wicked. Oh, may God graciously speak peace to you by granting you faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.

No Man Layeth It To Heart

What does the Bible say about the death of believers?

How do we know that God's grace is sufficient for salvation?

Why is it important for Christians to understand their identity in Christ?

What does Isaiah 57 teach about judgment and mercy?

How can Christians prepare their hearts to receive God's message?

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No Man Layeth It To Heart

What does the Bible say about the death of believers?

How do we know that God's grace is sufficient for salvation?

Why is it important for Christians to understand their identity in Christ?

What does Isaiah 57 teach about judgment and mercy?

How can Christians prepare their hearts to receive God's message?

Sermon Transcript

About Don Fortner

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