Isaiah chapter 28. Title of the message this morning
is Will Your Refuge Stand? And we just read our text. I'm sure you noticed in that
text that there were two different refuges from the wrath of God
against our sin. One of those refuges is swept
away. It offers no protection from God's wrath at all. We read
about it in verse 15. Because ye have said, we have
made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement.
When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall
not come unto us. For we have made lies our refuge, and under
falsehood have we hid ourselves. Look at verse 17, what will happen
to that refuge? Judgment also will I lay to the
line, and righteousness to the plummet. And the hail shall sweep
away the refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow the
hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled.
and your agreement with hell shall not stand. When the overflowing
scourge shall pass through, you should be trodden down by it.
That refuge is destroyed. But there is a second refuge,
a refuge that stands strong, that gives complete safety and
protection from God's wrath. Look at verse 16. Therefore thus
saith the Lord God. Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation
of stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, A sure foundation,
he that believeth shall not make haste. That refuge stands. Now which one of those two refuges
is your refuge? Will your refuge stand in the
day of judgment? Now that's an important question.
A question that must be asked in our day. It's just as important
today as it was in Isaiah's day. Isaiah wrote to Jews. They had
the right religion, they had the right form of the worship
of God, but they're hiding in the wrong refuge. That is the
fallen nature of man. They had the right form of worship,
they had the prophets, they had the scriptures, and they were
hiding in the wrong refuge. They hid in the refuge of their
human lineage. They said, we're Abraham's children.
Well, that's no refuge. Salvation's not in the fact that
our ancestors might have experienced God's grace. That's not our refuge.
The Jews, they hid in the fact that they had to write doctrine
and nobody else did. None of the other nations around
them had the prophets and the scriptures and things. They were
hiding in the ceremonies and their own law keeping. They thought
that righteousness was what they did. That's no refuge. And they built these bunkers
so thick, nothing would penetrate them. They missed Christ when
he came. And God has taken his presence
away from that nation to this very day. And the reason that
this is an important question for our day is I see many similarities
between the nation Israel and the United States of America
today. God has blessed this nation for many years in an unusual
way, just like he blessed Israel for many years. The gospel of
God's free and sovereign grace has been preached in many places
in this country. Bob and I were talking this morning.
There are few of God's preachers few true prophets compared to
the many false prophets there in the world. But if you're going
to have a Bible conference, you're going to have 12 speakers, it'd
be easy to get 12 speakers. You'd really have some trouble
narrowing it down. God's blessed this nation with men who preach
the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace. God has spoken
in mercy to this country. When he hasn't spoke, he hasn't
sent one prophet to many countries in this world. But I ask you, haven't we done
the same thing Israel did? We have. This country has turned
its back on God, we've turned to idolatry, and we're hiding
in a false refuge. We're hiding in the refuge of
God's past blessings to our nation. Just take him for granted, he'll
always bless us this way. But now let's get personal. Let's
get personal. I'm not preaching to this whole
nation this morning, I'm preaching to you. Regardless of what our
nation is doing, what's your refuge? What is your refuge? And in the day of God's judgment,
will it stand? Now, as a group, this group,
we've had the gospel preached to us for many years, many years. And God has blessed this congregation
richly. He really has. I'm so thankful.
I mean, it's just a fact. I'm not saying anything is not
true. That's a fact. God's blessed us. And we're thankful, but that's
not what I'm asking. I'm not asking, has he blessed
us in the past? I'm asking, what's your refuge? I'm not asking,
what's the refuge of these believers that you know, that you see every
week? What I'm asking is, what is your refuge? And will your
refuge stand? It's a good question, because
man in his fallen state has created many false refuges. There's a
refuge of keeping the law better than others. The Pharisee in
the temple did that, didn't he? He said, God, thank you. I'm
not his other man. I've kept the law better. I've tied even
the smallest things. I didn't do him any good, did
I? That's not a refuge. He went home to his house and
sinned as opposed to that publican that went down to his house justified.
There's a refuge of our ancestry. You know, my parents and grandparents
and great-grandparents were believers. But I didn't do the Jews any
good, did I? They were Abraham's seed according to the flesh,
but that doesn't mean they're part spiritually surreal. They
missed Christ. That nation missed Christ. There's a refuge of attending
the right place where the right doctrine is preached. The Jews
had that, didn't they? Almost all of them missed Christ.
You know, let's be careful not to hide in the assumption that
we're saved just because we attend here, just because the right
doctrine is preached here. The question for my soul is not,
is the right doctrine preached here? Don't get me wrong, that's
very important. I'm not minimizing it. It's very
important the right doctrine is preached here. But the state
of my soul hangs on this. Do I believe Christ? Do I look to Him and believe
Him and trust in Him? Do I have faith in Him? Then
man has created the refuge of knowledge, you know, knowing
the right doctrine. Brethren, salvation is not knowledge. Judas had the right doctrine,
didn't he? And betrayed the Lord. He's in hell at this moment.
He knew the right doctrine, but he didn't know Christ. Salvation
is not knowledge. Salvation is trusting Christ,
knowing Christ. Then man's created the refuge
of experience. You know, if I've experienced
certain religious feelings and experiences, then I must be saved. Now be careful about that. Salvation's
an experience, but our refuge is not an experience. Does that
make sense? Simon the sorcerer, you read Acts chapter eight this
afternoon. He saw some things. He saw miracles
and things happening. He wanted that experience. He
wanted to buy it with money. He wanted to do those miracles,
have that experience. And Peter told him, you better
go home and pray God will forgive you. You're in a bond of iniquity.
Experience is no refuge. Salvation is not experience. Salvation is a new birth, being
born from above. Well, why is man devised so many
refuges? Why is this important to people?
Because inherently, God just put it in us, man knows I've
got an answer to God. Man just knows that. Man knows
that someday God's gonna judge me according to what I've done.
And that's why man wants more good works than bad works. You
know, we want our good works that way, our bad works, so I
know I'm gonna be judged. And man knows when that happens,
it won't be pretty. Verse two in our text. Behold,
the Lord hath a mighty and a strong one. which as a tempest of hail
and a destroying storm, as a flood of mighty waters overflowing,
shall cast down to the earth with the hand. Now that one who's
mighty and strong, who's coming to judge and to cast down sin,
it's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's God's mighty one. He's God's
strong one. And man knows this storm of judgment's
coming. And it's gonna bring wind and hail that will destroy
sinners. So, I mean, that's true, he thinks
that and he understands that. So he thinks, well, I better
get busy building me a storm cellar if there's a storm coming.
Well, that sounds like a good idea, doesn't it? But men get
drunk before they start building, and drunk people don't build
anything well. Verse one, woe to the crown of
pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is a fading
flower, which are on the head of the fat valleys of them that
are overcome with wine. In verse 7, he says, but they
also have erred through wine, and through strong drink they're
out of the way. The priest and the prophet have erred through
strong drink. They're swallowed up of wine.
They're out of the way through strong drink. They err in vision. They stumble in judgment. Now, he's speaking figuratively
here. He's not talking about them literally
being drunk on wine. They're drunk on religion. They're
just inebriated with man's religion and man's way of thinking. And
man's religion clouds the mind and makes people make foolish
decisions, do foolish things. Just like a person drinks too
much alcohol does foolish things. Religion makes men stumble. Just
like drinking too much wine makes somebody stumble, not be able
to walk a straight line because they're overcome with wine. Man's religion does not preach
Christ. So men stumble over Christ when
he's there. Look at 1 Peter 2. Now Christ
is the Savior of sinners, but people who insist on their own
righteousness, on having their own righteousness, they won't
submit themselves to the righteousness of Christ. They stumble over
Christ because they're not looking for Him. So they miss Him and
they stumble over Him into hell. 1 Peter 2 verse 7, unto you therefore
which believe, He's precious. But unto them which be disobedient,
The stone which the builders disallowed, the same as made
the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense,
even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient,
whereunto also they are appointed." I'll tell you the error that
causes people to stumble, where it comes from. It comes from
the pulpit. Isaiah said the priest and the
prophet have erred. Right here is where the error
is. Right here is where it starts every time. And all they can
spit out is error. They just vomit it up. Verse
eight in our text. For all tables are full of vomit
and filthiness, so that there's no place clean. Their table,
it's not the table of the Lord. It's a table full of vomit. And
that's what man's works are. They're just, they're vomit.
And that's all they can spit out, that's all they can vomit
up, because that's all they take in is just man's works and man's
filthiness. Their table's full, covered of
filthiness, not righteousness, because they're not preaching
Christ our righteousness. And when those people who are
drunk on man's religion, when they hear the gospel, they come
across it, maybe in the workplace, they talk to one of you, you
talk to him about the gospel. They hate it. Verse 12. To whom
he said, now this is the rest, whereby ye may cause the weary
to rest, and this is the refreshing. Yet they would not hear. But
the word of the Lord was unto them, precept upon precept, precept
upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here little and
there little, that they might go and fall backward and be broken
and snared and taken. When they hear the gospel, they
scornfully reject the gospel. They say, we've got a better
way. I mean, this is foolishness.
We've got a much better way than what you're, what you're preaching.
They just, they ridicule the gospel and man's false religion. They use the right terminology. Well, wait, let me go back here
about this precept upon precept. They say this in a, in a rejecting
way, in a, in a mocking way. They saw your preaching as precept
upon precept, line upon line, just here a little, there a little.
It's making fun of the way the gospels are preached. They say,
you just say the same thing over and over and over again. We want
to hear something new so we don't get bored. I heard that before.
Give me something new. All you're preaching is the simplicity
of Christ. I want to hear something more
complicated than that, something that'll challenge my mind, you
know. All you preach is Christ. You preach His righteousness
and His sacrifice. I want to hear how to live a
better life. And they reject the gospel. So look what God
says to them in verse 14. Wherefore, hear the word of the
Lord, ye scornful men. See, they talk about that precept
upon precept and line upon line scornfully. So hear the word
of the Lord, ye scornful men that rule this people which is
in Jerusalem. Because you have said we made a covenant with
death, and with hell are we in agreement. When the overflowing
scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us. For we
have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves."
They reject the gospel and they say, we've got a better way.
And they say, we're preaching the same thing. You are, but
we're just preaching it better. Men in false religion, you just
be careful about that. They use the right terminology.
They use the same terms we use. They talk about sin. They talk
about grace. They talk about salvation. They
talk about eternal life. But they've got the wrong definition
of every one of those words. Grace is something they earn,
not something they receive freely because it's grace. Sin is something
you do, not what you are. They've got the wrong definition,
even though they may have the right terminology. I've never
seen this before. Like I've seen it this week.
They even use the word covenant, but they're not talking about
God's covenant of grace. Are they? They're talking about
a covenant with death. You see that we've made a covenant
with death. They're not, they're not preaching
a covenant of grace and life in Christ. It's a covenant we've
made with death. They said, we've got an agreement
with hell. We don't got a covenant of grace and peace in Christ.
We've got an agreement with hell. We're in agreement with hell.
And I'll tell you the reason for it. You know why they got
a covenant with death? Why they got an agreement with hell? They're
more interested in avoiding hell than finding Christ. That's what
it is. They're more interested in avoiding
hell than having eternal life and submitting themselves to
Christ. Now I ask you, You answer this question in your mind. Are
you more interested in avoiding hell or knowing Christ? Which is it? The answer to that
question will determine which refuge you seek. Are you more
determined to avoid hell or know Christ? These men who, they've
erred. I mean, he said the priest and
the prophet have erred. They're ruling the people that live in
Jerusalem. They've made anything but Christ
their refuge. Why do they come up with so many
different refuges? There's only one, but they've
made everything but Christ their refuge. They've covered themselves
in man's lies rather than God's truth, rather than Christ the
truth. They've hid themselves under falsehood rather than under
Christ the truth. They're lying to people about
who they are and what they are. They're not telling them that
you're sin, that you can't do anything good, you can't do anything
righteous. When you tell a man you've got to do better and God
will be pleased with you, you're covering him with falsehood.
That's not who he is. A man can't do that. He's incapable.
He's fallen in Adam. Anything that is not according
to God's Word, anything that contradicts God's Word is a lie. Now, it's a lie. It's not well-meaning.
It's not close enough to do somebody some good. It doesn't have some
good things in it, even though it might have some bad thing
in it. Brethren, it's a lie. It's a lie on God, and it's not
a refuge that'll stand. And God said, your covenant,
your covenant with death is gonna be disannulled. Your refuge,
your agreement with hell will not stand. Verse 17. Judgment also will I lay to the
line, and righteousness to the plummet. and the hell shall sweep
away the refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow the
hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled.
Your agreement with hell shall not stand. When the overflowing
scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden down by
it." Your covenant with death is going to be disannulled because
God, the judge of all, didn't approve that covenant. Christ
did not ratify your covenant with death with his own blood,
so it's going to be disannulled. God's going to judge in strict
truth and strict justice. So all those refuge of lies are
going to be exposed. And when they're exposed, they'll
be destroyed. And everyone hiding in those
refuges is going to be damned. Because they've got the wrong
covenant. It's a covenant of death by man's works, rather
than a covenant of life through grace in Christ Jesus. When God's
judgment comes to sweep away that refuge of lies, You know
what they're going to do? They're going to pray. They do
the same things that you do. They're going to pray. Look in
Luke chapter 23. But even then, they're praying to the wrong
place. Even then they're looking for
the wrong refuge. Luke 23 verse 27. Now this is our Lord going to be
crucified. Luke 23 verse 27. And there followed him a great
company of people and of women, which also bewailed and lamented
him. But Jesus, turning unto them,
said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me, but weep for
yourselves and for your children. For behold, the days are coming
in which they shall say, blessed are the barren, and the wombs
that never bear, and the paps that never gave suck. Then shall
they begin to say to the mountains, fall on us, and to the hills,
cover us. Henry said it's the strangest
prayer meeting ever held, praying to the mountains to fall on them,
the hills to fall on them. But that day of judgment's coming,
and they're going to know in that day they don't have a refuge.
Now Isaiah talks about the line and the plummet. He's talking
about a plumb line that Masons used to make sure that wall is
straight and plumb. The line doesn't lie. You can
eyeball and think it's straight, but now the line doesn't lie.
the line will always be straight. So if the wall's crooked, the
line shows it, doesn't it? Well, this is God's judgment.
God's judgment is not gonna be eyeballed, certainly not by man's
eye, it's not gonna be eyeballed. It's gonna be done with a line.
It's gonna be done in strict justice by the all-seeing eye
of God with God's plumb line. If it's gonna be accepted, it's
gotta be perfect. Well, Christ is God's plumb line.
and the righteousness of Christ, His perfect obedience, is going
to reveal man's sin. And when it does, that sin is
going to be destroyed in judgment. The truth of Christ will always
reveal a refuge of lies, and that refuge of lies is going
to be destroyed in judgment. Truth is the only hiding place,
because God's going to judge in truth. Well, who's truth? Truth is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Then hide in Him. This refuge of lies, it's deceiving
men. Men can even deceive their own
selves with it, but they can't deceive God with it because Christ
is truth. God's not going to be deceived.
And man, this has been man's problem from the moment Adam
fell. What's the first thing Adam did
when he fell? He began to sow fig leaves together.
Man's been trying to cover his sin and his shame from the very
moment that Adam fell. And man's been trying to come
up with a new covering ever since. Even people in false religion
make fun of Adam's fig leaves. But their covering is just fig
leaves under a different name. Any covering we try to make is
not going to cover our sin and our shame any better than Adam's
fig leaves. Look at verse 20. For the bed is shorter than that
a man can stretch himself on it, and the covering narrower
than he can wrap himself in it. I read that verse and this is
what I imagine. I imagine Dan Morgan laying in a kid's bed,
a twin bed. He's not going to be comfortable
sleeping in that bed. He's too long. He's got to try
to lay catty corner in it and curl up because he's too big
for the bed. The bed's too short for him.
That's what this is talking about. Our works are not a comfortable
place to lie because that bed gives us no support. It's too
short because our works are not enough to meet God's demands. Then on a night like we had last
night, night like the weatherman tells me we're gonna have tonight,
you put down on that twin bed the baby blanket, he's gonna
be real uncomfortable. I don't care how much he tries
to stretch that baby blanket, it ain't gonna be enough to cover
his shoulders and his feet at the same time. It's too short. No matter how much he tried to
ball himself up, that blanket's not gonna cover him. It's too
narrow. It's too short. Well, that's
what trying to cover ourselves with our own works is. It's too
short. It's not enough. And whatever
it is that we think we, whatever blanket we think we've got, it's
full of holes. It's not going to keep us warm.
And not only will it not make us comfortable, it'll damn our
souls because our works are not enough to cover the cost of our
sin, to cover and put away the shame and uncleanness of our
sin. Now, there's all these refuges
men have come up with, and boy, it's in us by nature. All these
refuges are in us by nature. Now, I'm telling you, don't hide
in any of these false refuges. You can't stretch them enough
to cover you. But God has provided a refuge.
Trust Christ. Come hide in Him. Well, all right,
is Christ a good refuge? You show me about all these other
refuges, how they'll be swept away. Will I be safe from the
wrath of God against my sin if I'm hiding in Christ? Will I? Fair question, will you? Well,
what does God say? Verse 16. Therefore, thus saith
the Lord God. Now you can bank on this. This
is what God says. Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation,
He that believeth shall not make haste." There is a refuge that's
a sure hiding place. There is a refuge that will stand.
And that refuge is the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to quickly give
you five points about Christ the refuge. Number one, Christ
is a safe hiding place because Christ is the foundation laid
by God Himself. God said, I lay in Zion for a
foundation. Now, I don't know a lot about
building, but I do know this. The first thing that's laid when
you build a building is the foundation, and that foundation is vitally
important. That foundation that's laid is
just as sure as the builder's skill and wisdom. Now, if I was
building a little And just on my own, I started digging the
footer, started pouring concrete in it, started building a building
on it. You probably don't want to go spend much time in that
building because of the wisdom and ability of Frank, who dug
the foundation and laid the foundation. But if H.B. built it, if H.B. laid the foundation, he supervised
it, watched it being done, you'd go in that building and never
worry a bit about it because he's got the skill. He's got
the know-how. He'd done it before. The foundation
is sure as the builder's skill and wisdom. The foundation Christ
Jesus is sure because this foundation is laid by God himself who has
all wisdom and ability. Christ is the foundation. Christ
is the chief cornerstone. The cornerstone is what you lay
first. And as I understand it, everything
else is measured from that cornerstone. That way everything stays straight
and stays plump. It's all got the same starting
point, the cornerstone. Brethren, that's why we only
preach Christ, because Christ is the only foundation God's
laid. Christ is the cornerstone. So
our doctrine is Christ. Everything we believe is Christ.
That's the only way our doctrine is going to stay straight. If
we preach Christ, he's the chief cornerstone. He's a sure foundation. Number two, Christ is the safe
hiding place because Christ is the tried foundation. He's the
tried cornerstone. You don't have to wonder if this
cornerstone is going to stand the test of time. Christ has
already stood the test of time. He's the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. He has already passed every test
anybody can throw at him. Christ was tried by the Old Testament
saints. Abel came before God bringing
a lamb. He brought a lamb, just a picture of Christ, and he was
accepted. He tried Christ, the foundation,
and found it was sure. Israel left Egypt. Went out into
the wilderness to go to the promised land, thought they were going
to die of thirst out there in the wilderness. And every one
of them drank from the smitten rock. They had all they ever
wanted. They tried the rock and he satisfied their every need.
Moses couldn't see God's face and live, but he could live and
he could see the glory of God hiding in that cleft of the rock.
Moses tried the rock, found it to be sure. Look back at Psalm
61. David tried this rock. Boy, David faced many dangers,
toils and snares, didn't he? King David had a stormy life. He tried this rock. Psalm 61,
verse 1. Hear my cry, O God, attend unto
my prayer. From the end of the earth will
I cry unto Thee, when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the
rock that's higher than I. Oh, I need something better than
me. Lead me to the rock that's higher than I. For thou hast
been a shelter. See, he's not talking about a
place, he's talking about a person. For thou hast been a shelter
for me, and a strong tower from the enemy. I'll abide in thy
tabernacle forever. I will trust, I'm confident,
being in the covert of thy wings. Look over page Psalm 62, verse
one. Truly, My soul waiteth upon God. From
him cometh my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation. He is my defense. I shall not
be greatly moved. Then verse five, my soul wait
thou only upon God for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock
and my salvation. He's my defense. I shall not
be moved. In God is my salvation and my
glory. the rock of my strength, and
my refuge is in God. Now trust in Him at all times,
ye people. Pour out your heart before Him."
God, God Himself, is a refuge for us. David tried Him, and
David encouraged all his brethren of all ages, you try Him. You'll
be found safe in Him. Look at Matthew chapter 16. The
apostles tried Him. The apostles tried Christ. and
found Him to be everything that they need. Matthew 16, verse
13. When Jesus came into the coast
of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, Whom do
men say that I, the Son of Man, am? And they said, Some say that
thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremiah, or
one of the prophets. He saith unto them, See, this
is why I said, Let us get personal now. Whom say ye that I am?"
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this
rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. Now our Lord's not talking about
Peter there. Peter's not a very good rock, is he? Peter crumbles
just, I mean, a little girl puts a little weight on him, he's
gonna crumble. He's not talking about Peter. He's talking about the Lord that
Peter confessed. He is the rock on which the whole
church of God is built. And the rock Christ Jesus is
so sure, the gates of hell can't even prevail against him. He
tried and proven. He'll not lose one. The Old Testament
saints tried him. The apostles tried him, Satan
tried him, and found nothing in him. There was nothing in
our Lord Jesus Satan could work with. He found nothing in him.
The Father tried him. The Father watched him as a man,
walked this earth, and saw him to be perfect. That's why he
accepted the sacrifice of Christ, because he's perfect. And the
Father will accept everyone who's hiding in Christ, because Christ
is perfect. And in Christ, we are perfect. Sinners like us don't just need
a covering. You know this, what we read about
there in verse 20, that blanket that's too short to stretch over
us? We don't just need a covering. We don't even just need a big
blanket that's going to cover up our sinful nature and leave
all that sin and iniquity there under the blanket. That's not
what we need. God's not going to accept that.
He's going to see through that. That's the covering false religion
tries to provide. What a sinner needs is a covering
that cleanses us from all of our sin. We must have a covering
that cleanses us from original sin in Adam. We've got to have
a covering that cleanses all of our own sinful acts and thoughts
and deeds. That's the covering that we have
in Christ. When we talk about Christ being
our covering, we're talking about being made perfect in Him because
He blotted out the sin of His people with the blood of His
sacrifice. Christ is the safe hiding place
because Christ is the precious cornerstone. Isaiah says He's
precious. Christ is precious because He's
rare. Of all the hiding places that
we talked about, Christ is the only refuge that will stand.
Christ is precious in His character. This man doesn't just receive
righteous people, be friends with righteous people and good
people. This man and his character He receives sinners and He eats
with them. Christ is precious in His sacrifice.
There remaineth no more sacrifice for sin. You don't have to sacrifice
anything to put away your sin because the sacrifice of Christ
is so precious, His blood, His sacrifice already paid the sin
debt of His people in full because He's precious. The name of Christ
is precious. There's not salvation in any
other, for there's none other name under heaven given among
men whereby we must be saved. If we're in Christ, we must be
saved because His name is precious. Christ is the precious water
of life to a thirsty sinner. Are you thirsty? Do you hunger
and thirst after righteousness? Then Christ is precious to you.
Christ is the precious bread of life to the starving sinner.
Christ is the precious robe of righteousness to the naked sinner.
Christ is precious life to the dead sinner. Christ is precious
peace to the defeated enemy. He's wisdom to the ignorant sinner. He's precious freedom to the
captive sinner. He's precious light to the sinner
that sits in darkness. He's precious sight to the blind
sinner. He's the precious way to the lost sinner. Unto you,
therefore, which believe, He is precious. He's a precious
Savior and a precious refuge. Fourth, Christ is the safe hiding
place because Christ is the sure foundation. Isaiah says He's
sure. You notice where God laid this
foundation. He laid Him in Zion. Zion is God's church. whole church
of God of all the ages is built upon the Lord Jesus Christ. And
he's so sure he holds up that entire church. A number that
no man can number is held up immovable by Christ, the sure
foundation. Christ will never crumble. So
his church will never crumble. Every living stone built upon
this foundation, Christ Jesus, will never be lost. He'll never
fall out. He'll never crumble because Christ,
our foundation, is sure. He'll never crumble. He'll never
fail. And fifth, Christ is the sure
foundation. of faith. See what Isaiah says
here at the end of verse 16. He that believeth shall not make
haste. You don't enter this foundation
by war, this refuge by works. You don't build on this foundation
by works. You enter by faith. He that believeth shall not make
haste. Hiding in Christ. You know what
I mean? We talked about come to the refuge, hide in Christ.
Preacher, what does that mean? That's, I don't understand. It's
very simple. Hiding in Christ is simply believing
Him, is simply trusting Him to do exactly what He said He'd
do. Christ said He saved sinners. I'm a sinner. I believe He saved
me, because that's what He said. Well, how can I tell if I believe
Christ? Well, Christ Himself said the
work of salvation is done. Did He say it's finished? Well,
then if you believe Him, you're resting in Him. You're not working
to try to make yourself a little more saved. You're not working
to try to make yourself a little more savable. You're not working
to try to make yourself a little safer because you believe Christ. You believe he saved you from
all of your sin. You believe he's the sure foundation. You believe he's the safe refuge
just because he said he is. If you believe Christ, you're
not trying to shore up the foundation because you already believe Christ
is all you need. He did it all. You believe him.
Rest in him. That's hiding in the refuge. And if you're in
Christ, you will never make haste. Now, none of us knows when this
day of judgment is coming, when Christ is going to return. Nobody
knows that day. It'll come as a thief in the night when nobody's
expecting it. Well, you and I won't be expecting
it. But when he comes, you're not gonna be running around like
a chicken with your head cut off, trying to take care of all the final details
and worrying is everything okay. You'll never make haste because
you're in Christ, the safe refuge that'll stand. Look at Romans
chapter nine. The apostle Paul quotes this
verse in Isaiah. And look at what he says, the
way he says it in Romans nine, verse 33. As it's written, behold, I lay
in Zion a stumbling stone and a rock of offense. Whosoever
believeth on him shall never be ashamed. You'll never be found
ashamed in that day because you're suddenly ashamed to be naked
because Christ is your righteousness. You'll never be ashamed to find
out God won't accept you because you're accepted in the beloved,
hiding in the safe refuge. You'll never be ashamed because
you're found with sin on you because Christ has cleansed you
from all of your sin. In Christ, you'll never be ashamed. All right. I told you hide in
Christ. Come to him. Hide your soul in
him. And hiding in Christ is simply
trusting Christ, simply believing him. Well, how can I hear him? Preacher,
I don't know him. I know I don't know him. How
can I trust him? How can I be given faith in him?
It's very simple. By hearing the word of God preached.
God said, faith cometh by hearing. Look in Isaiah 28, verse 9. Whom shall he teach knowledge?
Whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned
from the milk and drawn from the breast. For precept must
be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line
upon line, here a little and there a little." We got a message
to preach. Who's going to hear it? Who's
going to believe it? The babes, all the babes that God's weaned,
they'll hear. Those babes, they're easy to
preach to. God's people are. easy to preach
to. You go someplace and someone
says, oh, I like going there, they're easy to preach to. Well,
if they're God's sheep, they ought to be, babes ought to be
easy to preach to because all they want is the simplicity of
the gospel. All they want is the sincere
milk of God's word. Years ago, my dad taught the
ladies Bible class. Those ladies forgot more gospel
than I know. And most of the men, if they're
going to be honest with you at all, were afraid to teach that
class. Because those ladies, I mean, my goodness. I mean,
they know more. I loved teaching that class.
Absolutely loved it. Bee Frazier told me, she said,
Frankie, she's one of the few people that can do that. I want
you all to do that. Frankie, she said, just teach us like you
teach those children. All we want is Christ. I hope I always say that. All
I want is Christ. I want something new. I don't
want something novel. Give me Christ. That's what the babe
wants. The babe don't want anything
complicated. My system can't handle it. Give me the milk of
Christ. Give me the milk. That's the
babes. They want and they need the gospel
preached simply. They need, they, these, these
false, these leaders, all they made fun of line upon line, precept
upon precept. That's the way the babes want
it. Give it to me, line upon line, one line at a time, precept
upon precept, here a little bit, there a little bit. Give me a
little Sunday, give me a little Wednesday, give me a little next
Wednesday, give me a little next Sunday, line upon line, precept
upon precept. You know what that means? It
means break it up into the simplest components, A, B, C, and then
repeat it, A, B, C. Then repeat it, A, B, C. And don't go on to D, E, F until
we got A, B, C. Now we're going to add line upon
line. We'll add D, E, F. And then we'll go back, A, B,
C, D, E, F, until we cover it all, line upon line, precept
upon precept. And I'll tell you this. If you're
going to hear God's gospel, you're going to hear it from a man who's
got stammering tongue. At the end of that verse, he
says, verse 11, for a stammering lips and another tongue will
you speak to this people. You're going to hear the gospel,
you're going to hear it from a man who's got stammering lips. He isn't
much. All he is is a clay pot. But
I'm telling you, God's put the message of life in that man.
He's put the message of Christ in it to preach to his people.
And he's got stammering lips. I mean, he loses place in his
notes, he turns to scripture, got to have somebody else tell
him where in the world he is. He's got stammering lips. But that's
all right. He's well-suited to God's babes. They need somebody. If a man's
got stammering lips, all he can give you is line upon line, precept
upon precept. Well, that's good. He's well-suited
to preach to God's children. All he can say is A-B-C. But that's all right. All they
hear is A-B-C. They're a good match for each other. Now God
laid the foundation, and God's preachers build upon that foundation. Not another foundation, on this
foundation. And the building goes up slowly.
It goes up line upon line, precept upon precept. Eric and I were
talking last week. Our children, you children, you
don't realize it yet. You're too little, you don't
realize it yet. What a great blessing it is you've
got these classes. We've got three of the best teachers
you'll find anywhere teaching our children every Sunday. Bible
school, we've got the best teachers. You don't realize what a blessing
it is to have those teachers. You'll never remember not knowing
the very foundation, line upon line, precept upon precept of
the gospel. Up here, you always have known
it up here because they're faithful to teach it to you. That's how
God builds his building. Line upon line, it goes up slowly,
but I'm telling you when it's done, you won't have wood, hay
and stubble. You have gold and silver and
precious stones. Now this is the way God teaches
his children. He teaches the gospel by repetition. I've not told you anything you
hadn't heard already. It's repetition. Repeating the
simple truths of the gospel. Man's lost an atom. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the Savior. Christ is the perfect Savior
who makes His people perfect. Now you run to Christ. You look
to Him and you keep looking to Him. You hide in Him. You keep
hiding in Him. You come to Him and don't ever
leave Him. It's all Christ. Christ is the
foundation. Christ is the walls. Christ is
the roof. He's the crown of it all. Verse
5 in our text. Now in that day, shall the Lord
of hosts, shall the Lord Jesus Christ be for a crown of glory
and for a diadem of beauty under the residue of his people. He's
all in me. He's the foundation, he's the
crown, and he's everything in between. Now run to him. Hide in him. He is the sure,
sure safe refuge that will stand. All right, let's bow in prayer. Our Father, How we thank you
for your word. How we thank you that you've
given us some understanding to see the Lord Jesus Christ in
your word. He's the subject, he's the theme,
he's all in your word. How we thank you that you've
given us some sight of the Lord Jesus Christ in your word. Father,
how we thank you that in your infinite mercy and grace and
love and goodness to your people and your wisdom, You laid a sure
foundation, a sure, tried, precious cornerstone for your people to
enter into that refuge by faith that you give, faith that you
give through the preaching of the gospel. Father, we're thankful.
And I beg of thee that you bless your word as it's been preached
this morning. It's been preached with stammering
lips, faltering tongue, and the weakness of the flesh. But Father,
we pray that you'd take your word Take the gospel, cause it
to go forth in the power of the Spirit, to pierce the heart of
your people, to give faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to cause
us to run to Him, and to cause us who have come to Him by faith
to rejoice in your many mercies to us that you've put us in the
Lord Jesus Christ, that we're safe in Him. Cause us to rejoice
in Christ our Savior. Cause Him to be the theme of
our conversation, theme of our song, he's all in our preaching.
Cause Christ to be all in our hearts. He's all to thee. He's all the refuge a sinner
needs. Cause Christ to be all in our hearts. By your mercy
and grace and power, we pray. It's the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ. For the glory of his name, we pray. Amen.