Turn back to Isaiah chapter 48. Back in chapter 47, we looked at that a week or two
ago. God announces the fall of Babylon. He tells her that He's going
to dethrone her. He's going to bring her down
off her throne. And He's going to destroy that great whore. That's what she's called in the
book of Revelations. He's going to destroy her, that
one that has made all the nations, He says, to drink of her false
religions and her falsehood. As I told you before, I told
you last week, Babylon represents all false religions. Everything
that's against God, that's what it represents. But in chapter
48, God reveals the sin of His chosen
people. He reveals the sin of His elect
people, lest they should boast themselves against Babylon when
she falls. God reveals that by nature Israel
is not any better. By nature, Israel is not any
better. The only one that we have to rejoice in is our God,
the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who makes us to differ. I want
you to look over in Proverbs chapter 24, and this is one of
the reasons that God exposes their sin. He says in Proverbs
24, And verse 17 and verse 18, Rejoice
not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad
when he stumbleth, lest the Lord see it, and it displease him,
and he turn away his wrath from him. Now, the Scripture says
that the Lord takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. You
know, I feel for men when they die and they don't believe the
Gospel, they die lost. I do, that just troubles me. I don't rejoice in that. I know
I was of the same nature. What we see here is the sovereign
grace of God in Christ to chosen sinners. That's what we're going
to see here. You will not find, as we read
through this, you will not find one thing, not one thing about
Israel that recommends them to God. Not one, as you see this. The Lord does not hide our sins. He doesn't do that. But He reveals
it to us for the glory of His grace and that we might be led
to faith and repentance in the Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn't
hide it. He reveals it to us. Now, He
says here in verse 1, you call yourselves, He said, you're called
by the name of Israel. And you swear by the name of
the Lord, but not in truth nor in righteousness. They're charged
here with being religious hypocrites. That's what he's charged with.
You're religious hypocrites. Most of those, I know this, most
of those over this world and over this country, many people
call themselves Christians. They take the name Christians.
But yet I do believe this, that for the most part, The vast majority
of them are just hypocrites. They don't know God. They don't
know Him. Not at all. I heard on the news
the other day, it said that 87% of America claims to be Christians. 87%. Yet we lead the world in
murder, rape, and all these perversions. That just can't be so. But I
know this. I do know this. All, all men
and women, including all of God's elect. We are born into this
world, really, as hypocrites. We always think we're more than
what we are. We think we're stronger than we are. We think we're prettier
than we are. Hypocrites. We all come forth
from the womb, the Scripture says, for speaking lies. They say that's how we come forth,
speaking lies. If you'll notice in verses 1
through 8, 1 and 2, he talks about Verse 3 and 4, he calls
them rebels. Verse 5 and 7, he calls them
idolaters. He said, I've revealed these
things to you, lest you say my idol did it. And then verse 8,
he calls them transgressors from the womb. This is an accurate
description of God's elect by nature before God saves them,
before conversion. You know who Abraham was? You
know where these Israelites at? God's going to save. He's going
to save them from Babylon. He's going to go and destroy
Babylon. He's going to save them from them. And I was thinking
about this today. Abraham was called out of Ur
of the Chaldeans. He was a Chaldean. God's going
to save a people, Israel, out of this mess. God's going to
save a people out of this world. We're of the same nature, born
with the same nature of all the rest of the sons of Adam. But
God's going to save a people. I want you to look over at 1
Corinthians. He's going to save a people out of all this human
race. He's going to have a people just
like His Son. Over in 1 Corinthians chapter
6, look at verse 9. Know ye not that the unrighteous
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor
abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the
kingdom of God, as such were some of you." As such were some
of you, but you're washed." God's done something for you. You're
washed, you're sanctified, but you are justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. But he said,
as such were some of you. That's why he points out he never
washes over that. Such were some of you. We have
the same depraved nature that the children of wrath have, born
with it. We are born with the same enmity
in our minds that those who perish have. We have it. Scripture says
in Romans, there is none righteous, no, not one. I wrote by that,
even me. Even me. Even among the gods
elect by nature, there's none of them righteous by nature.
Not at all. God reveals to us who and what
we are by nature, lest anyone should boast. He said there is
no flesh going to glory in His presence. We are going to glory
in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who we're going to glory
in. We're going to glory in Him, but not in ourselves. No flesh
is going to glory and say, let me tell you what I did. Nobody's
going to do that. That's not going to happen. We've
all gone our own way of rebellion. That's what it says over in Isaiah
53. We've all gone astray. And God says to Israel in verse
4, you are obstinate. Your neck is like, it's made
out of an iron sinew. And your brow, he says, is as
brass. It's as brass. Nothing of the
nature of God is in them at first. Election does not make me holy. It doesn't make me holy. Nor
cause me to love God. But a new birth will. A new birth
will do that. Salvation is this. It's Christ
in you. The hope of glory. That's what
God's going to do for His people. Christ in you. Adam could not
pass on to me the nature of God. He could not do it. He could
not pass on to me righteousness. He could not do it. Only His
fallen nature, that's the only thing Adam was able to pass on
to me. But God, but God can by His Spirit
make me a partaker of the divine nature. God can do that and He
will do that to His people. God can make me to differ. Who maketh thee to differ? What
do you have that God didn't give it to you? God makes us to differ.
God has put a difference between the Egyptian and the Israelites.
God makes us to differ. Now, God says in verse 8, He
says, You are transgressors from the womb. He hasn't said one
good thing about them yet, has He? About them personally. Now,
you look at them and consider who they are. God hasn't said
one good thing. Not one thing, as he said, would
recommend them to God. Not one. You are transgressors
from the womb. You're guilty from birth. We
are. Guilty. Guilty from birth. Partakers of original sin and
actual transgressors. Actual breakers of God's law. As soon as we're born, it says,
we go forth speaking lies. As soon as we're born. But here is a note of comfort. Let's get to the comfort zone.
Here is a note of comfort. I want you to look in verse 4. Because I knew that thou art
obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass.
Now look down at verse 8. Yea, thou heardest not, yea,
thou knewest not, yea, from that time that thine ear was not opened,
for I knew that thou wouldest deal very treacherously, and
was called a transgressor from the womb." Now, here's some comfort
for me. I found some comfort in this
today. God says this, I knew. I knew. I knew you before you were born. I knew exactly what you was going
to be like. I knew exactly what you were
going to do. I knew you before you, I knew you before the world
began. I knew you. And guess what? He
still chose me. I knew you. And you're my elect. He knew me and He still loved
me. I found some comfort in this, that God knew me. He said, I
knew you were obstinate. I know you. I know what kind
of sinner you are. I know how depraved you are.
And yet He still chose me. before the world began. I won't
do anything that will surprise God. Not anything. I knew you. I knew you. He joined Himself to us in covenant,
therefore He'll save us. He'll save us. Because He's joined
Himself to this people that He knew were sinners. He knew this. This ought to give us much comfort.
And this also magnifies This magnifies the grace of God to
me that God would know me in such a way. Hosea. God told him to go marry a prostitute. Hosea knew what kind of woman
she was. There's not a man in here to
do that. But God told him, you go marry
a prostitute. You go marry a woman like that
because that's what my people's like. That's what we are by nature. That's what we're like. That's
just exactly what we're like. Now God reveals His mercy and
grace. After revealing the sin, after
revealing that I knew you, I know what kind of people you are,
now in verse 9 He reveals His mercy and grace. And here's the
first cause, for my name's sake. For my name's sake, He says,
I deferred my anger. And for my praise will I refrain
for thee, that I cut thee not off. As I said earlier, God made
a covenant before the world. He made a covenant before the
world was with His Son on behalf of His elect. And He attached
the honor of His name to that covenant. He attached the honor
of His name to that people, to the saving of that people. He
attached the honor of His name and He's going to save them. He's not going to pollute His
name. Not a doubt. And then He says here, and for
His praise. His elect are for the praise
and honor of His grace. That's what it says over in Ephesians
2. He's going to make us trophies of His grace. That's what God's
going to do. And we know this. We know this
by the Scriptures. And because He's loved us with
an everlasting love. If He foreknew me, knew all about
me, and yet loved me, He's sure not going to change now. He's loved me, He's loved us,
He's loved them with an everlasting love. And then here's the second
cause, I have chosen thee. You didn't choose me, I chose
you. I have chosen thee. He will not, God will not lose
any of His chosen ones. He won't do it. He's going to
refine them, He says, in the furnace of affliction. He's going
to put them through trials. He's going to chasten them. And
you know what? Every one of them, every one
of his true Israel is going to come forth as a vessel of honor. Every one of them is going to
come forth as a vessel of honor. He said, I've refined you in
the furnace of affliction. chastened you, I have tried you,
I have put you through these hardships, and when you come
out, when I'm done with you, when I take you to glory, you're
going to be a vessel of honor." That's what God's doing. He says, you're going to be a
vessel of honor. He says over in chapter 43, look
here in chapter 43, verse 21 of Isaiah, this people Have I formed for myself, they
shall show forth my praise." That's what's going to happen.
That's what's happening now. You know, even now we show forth
His praise, but not like we're going to. Not like we're going
to. And then he says in verse 11,
I saved you here for my own sake. Because of who I am. That's why I say, God who changes
not, God who cannot lie, says, for my own sake, and I will do
it. You have my word on this. God
says, I give you my word. I will do this. I will save you,
even though you're not worth saving yourself. But because
of who I am, I'm going to save His people that I've chosen.
even though they're stiff-necked, obstinate. He said, I won't do
it because I've attached my name to it. I've attached my name
to it. And my honor, he said, my honor,
I'll not give to another. I'll not give it to another god,
Bill G., another idol that they've come up with. He said, I've told
you these things that when they come to pass, you won't say,
my idol did it. Oh, he said, I'm not going to
give my honor to another God, or listen, I'm not going to give
my honor to another people. I'm going to give it to my elect.
The one I've chosen, I put my glory and my honor upon them.
I'm not giving it to no one else. The Scripture tells us this.
It says that we are forgiven of all our sins for Christ's
sake. God did not forgive me for my
sake. God forgives sinners whom Christ died for, for Christ's
sake. For my own sake, I do this. This is why I saved you. I chose
you. I've loved you. And I'm going
to have you. And I'm going to finish the work. And I'm going to do it for my
honor. It will be for my honor. Now in verse 12, God says, now
listen to me, here in verse 12, hearken to me, O Jacob and Israel,
listen to me, give me your attention, give me your ear, listen to me,
listen to what he called, my called, my called, called from
eternity, called by his Spirit, called by my grace, Called by
my name. Called effectually. This is who
the message is to. The gospel message is to His
elect. It's to His elect. He said, listen
to me, my call. Oh, I tell you what, if God would
enable us to listen to Him, we'll find much comfort. Much comfort
in His Word. This is who God's talking to.
This is who the Bible is written to. called ones, those whom He's
called, called according to His purpose. He says, give attention
to this. Give attention to this. I am
He. Give attention to who I am. Give attention to who's calling
you. Give attention here to who's talking, to who's giving you
this promise. I am He, the Eternal God, the
Holy One of Israel, the One who changes not. The only God there
is. There is no other God. The First
and the Last. That's who He is. The First and
the Last. The One that all things begin
with and all things will end with. The First and the Last. I Am. I Am has spoken and will
do it. I will do it. Well, that ought to relieve our
fears. Who is your salvation? God Almighty, who He says, I'll
do it. Trust me. Trust me. Now, lest
you doubt my power to save you. You know, Babylon was a very
great city, a very fortified city. And they'd been in there
for a while. And God says, and He's saying
this, lest you Doubt my power to deliver you from this great
city, this Babylon. He said in verse 13, my hand
laid the foundation of the earth. Do you know anybody else has
done that? Do you know anyone else who has created such a thing?
My hand laid the foundation of the earth. That's what he's saying
there in verse 13. And my right hand has spanned
the heavens. Spread out like a curtain. When I call unto them, listen
to this, when I call unto them, they stand up together. When
I call to my creation, when I call to all things that I have made,
they obey me. They do what I tell them to do,
what I command them to do. They obey My command. Who can
resist the powerful, effectual call of God Almighty when He
calls? Why don't you look over Job chapter
38. Job chapter 38. Job 38. He said, When I call,
they stand up together. Look at verse 35. Canst thou send lightnings that
they may go and say unto thee, Here we are? Lightning comes
upon them and says, Here we are. Where, who, and what do you want
to strike? That's what it's saying. When
I call, lightning stands up and says, Here we are. Give us your
bidding. He said, My hands have created the foundation of the
earth and span the heavens. And when I call, they all stand
up together. They do as I have bid them to do, lest you doubt
my ability to save. Assemble yourselves and hear.
That's just what we're doing now, isn't it? Assemble here
to hear from God. And I sure hope we do. Hear what
I have to say for your instructions. Hear what I have to say for your
edification. Hear what I have to say for your
comfort. Our Lord said this, take heed
how ye hear, for with what measure you meet it with, it shall be
measured to you again. Hear, he said, hear, pay attention. Oh, give attention to it. Hear
this, hear this. Verse 14, the Lord hath loved
him. Who is this speaking of? He said,
well, speaking of Cyrus, It's speaking of Cyrus, but Cyrus
is a type of Christ. Christ is our Cyrus. He's our
Deliverer. The Scripture said, The Father
hath loved the Son, and hath given all things into his hands. The Lord hath loved him, and
he will do all my pleasure. The Lord Jesus Christ will do
all my pleasure. He will fulfill all my counsel. Scripture says in Isaiah 53,
the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He'll do all my pleasure. I have
spoken, in verse 15, I have spoken and I have called him. You know,
God named and called Cyrus to be the deliverer of Israel long
before he was even born. He told about him long before
he was born, and long before Christ was born on this earth,
before a body was prepared for him. He said, a body hath thou
prepared for me. The Scriptures have spoken of him, spoken of
God. God called his Son. God called
him from eternity past to be the Messiah of his Israel, the
true Israel of God. That's who he is. Thou shalt
call his name Jesus. Why? for he shall save his people
from their sins." Cyrus was going to go up to Babylon, he was going
to destroy that city, bring it down, he was going to set the
elect of God, Israel, free. They were going to go back to
their homeland. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Savior, He's the
Messiah, He's the one who saves us from our sins. If you really know what sin is,
that's good news. If you know what sin is, that is good news.
And you notice here, when God speaks of Cyrus, He always speaks
of bringing Cyrus. He never said anything about
Cyrus' army. Cyrus came in with a big army. But He speaks of
Cyrus going to be my deliverer. I'm going to raise him up. I'm
going to raise him up in righteousness. I tell you why. Because Christ
shall save His people by Himself, not with an army. He came alone. He didn't come with an army like
Cyrus did. When God spoke of Cyrus, He just spoke of Cyrus
because He's the type of Christ who's going to save His people
by Himself. When He had by Himself purged
our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Father. The promise, the promise here
and the message It's all about the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all
about our Lord. It's all about Him. His way,
He says, shall be prosperous. The way He saves sinners shall
be prosperous. It shall be prosperous. Now,
how do we know that He shall be prosperous? Well, first of
all, because who He is. He's God. Look in verse 16 and
17. He says, Come ye near unto me,
hear ye this. For I have not spoken in secret
from the beginning, from the time that it was. There am I. And now the Lord God, the Father,
and His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, has sent me. Who's me? Thus saith
the Lord, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. He's God. He's God. And listen, the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit are engaged in this whole affair of bringing
His people to glory. They're all engaged in it. Now,
He says in verse 17, I am the Lord thy God, which teacheth
thee to profit. Now, He's not talking here about
profit in earthly things. He teaches us the gospel. He teaches us the gospel. That
causes us to be prosperous when a man learns in his heart, in
truth, the gospel, which is the way that we should go. He said,
I'll teach you the way you should go also. In verses 18 and 19,
I want you to look at the great cost of the sin of unbelief. Oh, that thou hast hearkened
to my commandments. Then hath thy peace been as a
river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea. Thy
seed also had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels
like the gravel thereof. His name should not have been
cut off nor destroyed from before me." I know this. I know this. How much more could
we enjoy if it were not for the sin of unbelief? If it were not
for the remaining sin, how much more would this service, right
here, how much more glory How much more praise and worship
would we give God if it wasn't for remaining sin? Oh, how much more? Obedience
is better than sacrifice. Every time. Every time. When I read that today, I thought,
and this is just a thought, I thought, if Adam hadn't fallen, we know
the purpose of God in that. What a beautiful creation we
would have had. And all this, of course, we're
going to enjoy something far greater than this, but all for
what? For sin. Sin is a problem. It's just a destroyer of everything
that's joyful, isn't it? One day we'll get rid of it.
One day we'll be totally rid of this sin and we'll enjoy God
and worship God as we ought to. One day. One day. Then he gives
him here in verse 20 through 22 a call to separation. He says,
Go out of Babylon. You're not going to stay there.
We're not going to stay here. He said, But go out. Leave that
place. I'm going to set you free from
it. Don't hang around with it. And when you go out, go out with
singing. Paul says, Rejoice in the Lord.
And again I say, Rejoice. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be white as snow. You go out with joy. You went
in with weeping. They went to Babylon in weeping. They're coming out of there singing
because they've been delivered. They've been delivered. And as
you go, as you go out, you tell what the Lord has done for your
soul. That's what he's saying. When
you go out, you tell. You tell what the Lord has done
for you. You publish the good news. This is not a secret society
here. This is not a secret society. I would to God, we could tell
everybody on this earth the gospel of what Christ has done for us. Publish the good news. And here's
the good news. What is the good news? The Lord
has redeemed His servant Jacob. There's redemption. We have been
redeemed from the curse of the law, from the power of sin. God has actually and truly redeemed
us through the blood of His Son. We've been redeemed. And it is
a sure redemption, for the Lord has done it. The Lord has done
it. And then he tells them, the Lord
will provide. In verse 21, they thirsted not
in the deserts, Plural. How many deserts do we go through
in this life? Several. Several deserts. But he says
here, they thirsted not. You know why they thirsted not?
Because they had a well of water springing up within them. That
well of water is within springing up. It's not being filled in. It's springing up. Why? He says here, Because the waters
flowed out of the rock for them. This is why they thirsted not.
Because the waters flowed out of the rock for them. Do you
know any people on earth that that happened to? And here's a verse, this is a
verse we could just spend sermons on. He claimed the rock also,
and the waters gushed out. You like that word? I like that. The waters gushed out when God
smoked Christ our rock. The waters of mercy and grace
and love and forgiveness gushed out on His people. That's what
gushed out. Oh, that's what I see when I
see Calvary. I see what a mess I am. by such a death he had
to die. But I see the mercy and the grace
of God just absolutely gushing out of that rock. Now, if you can't drink of that,
you're just not thirsty. It gushed out. Where sin abounded,
grace did much more abound. But where did sin abound? Right
in my heart. Right in that old nation. Right
in me. Sin abounded in me. I'm not looking
out here at a bar and a honky. It abounded in me. But where
it abounded in me, the waters gushed out. Mercy gushed out. Drink. Drink, O sinner, while
the water is gushing out. Drink while the water is gushing
out. Because every day it won't. It will stop. And it'll all be
over. We'll drink while the water's
gushing out. And he says here in verse 22, as for the wicked,
there is no peace. No peace with God, no peace in
the heart, no peace in death, no peace, no peace. Those who
remain obstinate will die in their sins, and they'll die with
no peace. But listen, I'm not going to
end on that note. Not so for those who drink of
that rock. Not so. Their peace shall flow
like a river forever and ever. Drink of that water that's gushing
out. Okay, Mike. Let's turn to page 51. Page 51. Stand as we sing Proclamations. Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let
me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood from
thy wounded side which flow me of sin the double cure. Save from wrath and make me pure. Could my tears forever flow? Could my zeal no anger know? These for sin could not atone. Thou must save and Thou alone. In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling. While I draw this fleeting breath,
When my eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown,
And behold Thee on Thy throne, Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let
me hide myself in Thee.