to open the blind eyes, to bring
out the prisoners from the prison, and to them that sit in darkness
out of the prison house. I am the Lord, Isaiah 42, 8. That is my name, and my glory
will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. Now, we could just read the whole
thing, And it's Christ-centered. It's Christ-filled. This whole
thing. In this chapter, we can observe
the Father, and as we know from II Thessalonians 2, the Father
had chosen us from the beginning to salvation. John chapter 14
and verse 6, Jesus is essentially the way, the truth, and the life
by whom we are redeemed. And thirdly, the Holy Spirit
performs His office as our guide to the Son. Why is that essential? Well, because we, hopeless, lost
sinners, Isaiah 53, we've gone our own way. That's why we need
a Redeemer. That's why we need God the Father,
that's why we need God the Son. We are literally spiritually
deaf and blind to his truth. We stubbornly hard-hearted to
his narrow way and will never have him to rule and reign over
us unless he, by all powerful and all wise revelation, that
is Opening our hearts to receive his instruction. That's the only
way we'll understand it is it's got to be by divine revelation
And in the light of this and his words of truth when he convinces
us of our miserable condition and shows us the things and wonderful
things they are of Christ to us Then we can see and acknowledge
that and humbly so, in one verse in this chapter I want to look
at. Four declarations of unchangeable and sovereign operations of grace
upon the soul. Verse 16. We will observe this morning
four absolute declarations of our sovereign God on behalf of
sinners. I'm going to read the whole verse
and we're just going to walk through it. I don't know how
long it's going to take. It shouldn't take long. Some things you just read and
it's like, as Matt was saying back there, you just read them
and you almost want to walk away. You don't need any explanation. Verse 16, I, we know who that
is, that's God speaking, I will bring the blind by a way that
they knew not. I, says God again, will lead
them in paths that they have not known. Third declaration,
I will make darkness light before them and the crooked things straight. These things will I, or I will
again, do unto them and not forsake them. So we have confirmed by
the I-wills of God, four, times four, confirmed by four I-wills
of God, declarations of what God is gonna do for sinners. And incidentally, there are four
promises. So, like Spurgeon said years
and years ago, Take these promises to heart,
date them, mark them, and when you need them, spend them at
leisure. It's God's banknote to every one of his bride, every
one of his people. Let's just look at the first
one. I will bring the blind by a way
that they knew not. These words just ooze with grace. I will bring the blind. Blessed
be the grace of God that sought us and the blood that bought
us. Matter of fact, there's a hymn that we sing. Oh, the love that
sought me. Oh, the blood that bought me.
Oh, the grace that brought me to the fold, wondrous grace that
brought me to the fold. 480, in tenderness he sought
me. How he beat by his sweet notes
of pure love and a melody which cannot be denied allures us. unto himself, which we don't
have to turn there, but Hosea chapter 2, he says he will allure
his church in the wilderness unto himself. He, God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Spirit, brings, that's just, that's grace. Where do you see the word grace
in the Old Testament? Well, right there. He brings
outside of ourselves. He's the one that initiates the
whole process of salvation, the whole process of justification,
sanctification, righteousness. He has made unto us all these
things, says 1 Corinthians. He brings, oh tender word of
free mercy and grace. That word brings, I just had
to look this up, means to carry. Now instantly I thought of Matthew
18, where the shepherd is going to look for the lost sheep. And
he takes it and carries it. Now, did the sheep come back
to the fold? No, the shepherd, which is a
picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, he had to go find the lost sheep
and didn't, you know, come on your own will. No, he threw it
over his shoulders and brought it back. Now that's salvation. That's salvation. He brings,
carries His sheep. We never would have known His
way, because He says, I will bring the blind by a way that
they knew not. So we never would have known
His way of salvation had He not fetched us by the Holy Spirit
through the declared word, O the Father, the Son, and the Spirit,
Bring us and we will follow. We will follow on. And look at
how we're described. If you're described in there,
do you, you know, the promises are for those who, you know,
can you claim this promise? Well, I ask you this, do you
meet the qualifications of what's being said? I will bring the
blind. Well, I'm not blind and it's
not for you. That's all I can say. I will bring the blind by
a way that they knew not. We're blind. That's us. To all
things grace and all things Christ. We're born in sin. We're born
in trespasses and sins. We're dead in trespasses and
sins. So we're born blind. We're born
blind. Second thought. Second phrase. I will lead. them in paths that they have
not known. So anybody that says, well, since
I was a little baby, I knew the truth and I always loved Jesus
and I always followed him. No, that's not what this says
here. Again, do you see yourself in
this passage? I will lead them in the paths,
those who never have not known. They have not known. I will lead. And I love that word lead. It
doesn't say drive. And that's what some preachers
do, they drive, they whip, whip. He didn't say, he said lead,
not browbeat. If you don't believe exactly
what I'm, I'm just a man. That's why we go home, that's
why we have to have a Berean attitude, go home and check the
scriptures. Because we're men and we're fallible. And the men
we read are men, but not the man, not the man. So he says, I will lead them,
not drive, I will lead them, not browbeat, I will lead them,
not oppress, not oppress. in paths that they have not known. His path, His truth, His narrow
way, we didn't know it. Once again, we see the scriptures
in other places come to bear fruition. Proverbs 14, 12, there
is a way that seems right unto man, but the end thereof are
the ways of death. That's why, you know, I don't
know how long, but when you have children, There's certain things off limits.
It's the word no. You say no. I remember an old
believer at Henry's church said, no is the first word they hear
and the last word they learn. And that's true. But parents guide, direct, and
we do so. A believing parent does so according
to the scriptures. According to the scriptures.
Oh, Comforter, I pray that He would blow this way, this hour,
in three things. He would show us Christ, He would
show us His path, and show us His perfections. I will, says
God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Spirit, they're all
about, will lead them in paths that they have not known. Not
man's path. We're born in our own path. Not
self. Not man's method. Not man's plan. And not Adam's approach. Because
Adam fell. Our third phrase. I will make
darkness light before them and crooked things straight. Who only spoke and the worlds
were. The Lord Jesus Christ. He spoke. What kind of power does that
shed light on? I will make darkness light before
them. He who is uncontaminated light. He can and does create light. the light of His gospel, the
light of His truth, the light of His word to shine into our
hearts. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4, starting
in verse 3. 2 Corinthians 4, starting in
verse 3. But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost. in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. That's why in verse 5 we preach
not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your
servants. for Jesus' sake, for God, who
commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in
our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ. There's another absolute verse
right there, and there's the gospel right there in that one
verse. If we're talking about other
things, and they may be moral things, they may be moral things,
they may be right things, But we need to hear the gospel. We
need to hear the gospel. First and foremost, we need to
have the light to shine unto us. As he says, I will make darkness
light before them to see Christ, to see ourselves. and to walk
with him unto the rising of the sun. What does Malachi 4.2, you
don't have to turn there, talks about the son of righteousness
will come with healing in its wings. That's what we need, the
son of righteousness. And that's S-U-N, so you look
at the sun, And there's a picture of Christ. We saw a rainbow the
other day. It's been more than a couple
of weeks because we haven't had rain. But when it rained, rainbow,
every time I see that rainbow, there's the gospel. I remember talking to some preachers,
I don't remember who it was, years ago, and he says, you know,
everywhere, to all things, to the spiritual, all things are
spiritual. And he was talking about just turning the light
on. You could talk about Christ. You could see the, you know,
and the stop signs. You're sitting there, stop signs,
light. He was just using, as Spurgeon's got a little book
out, The Teachings of Grace in the Kingdom of Nature. And I
love it. He talks about trees and the
tree of righteousness, talks about water. He's the water of
life. He talks about nature. And most people will get all
evolutionary. No, nature shows forth our God
in Christ. That's what it's there for. Oh,
the Son of Righteousness comes with healing in His wings. And
look at this second part of this third point. I will make darkness
light before them and crooked things straight. Crooked things
straight. This is interesting. That's us. Are you in this passage? Are
you blind? Don't know His way, His path?
Are you darkness? And are the crooked things made
straight? That's us. That's this world. That's Satan. And that's every
false religion's stamp. Crooked. Crooked. Well, that sounds pretty good.
And then they turn it over to you to make your decision for
Jesus to walk an aisle. It's crooked. It's crooked. Now this I thought was very interesting.
Sometimes you just wonder about words, and so I thought, well
let me look at what this word crooked means. And sometimes
you gotta dig a little deeper, it gives you one in the concordance,
and it gives you a couple extra numbers which that word is derived
from those, so then you dig a little deeper, listen to what this word
crooked means. To not, to not, to distort, to pervert. Now where have we
heard that word? I marvel that you are so soon
removed from Christ that called you into the grace, or from God
that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel,
which is not another. We heard that this morning in
Bible class. There's one truth, one God, one faith, one baptism,
one gospel. But there would be some that
trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. I will make darkness light before
them and crooked things straight. He's got to. In the Old Testament, it says
where you lay down a straight stick to see what's straight
and what's crooked. That's why in carpentry you get
a plumb line. Make sure that cornerstone is
set. We're crooked. The world's crooked,
Satan's crooked, false religion has that stamp. So I ask you
a few questions. When the gospel is preached,
who gets all the glory, God or man? There's something left for
you to do, then you get the glory. Did God try to save or did he
actually accomplish salvation? He said it was finished on the
cross. Who's in control, God or man? Who governs, God or man? Did man simply injure himself,
as Bruce said this morning, did man simply injure himself in
the garden, or did he totally collapse? It can't be both. You either need a savior, or
you're not blind, you know the way, you understand darkness
and light, and there's nothing crooked, yes there is. Yes, there
is. Whose will is sovereign, God
or man's? I will make darkness light before
them and crooked things straight. Crooked. Crooked, that's our
problem. Well, I laugh at that and I say,
I will, I will, I will, I will. That's the trump card. God's
will shall be done. So says this unerring book regarding
our unerring God. And lastly, the fourth I will,
and the fourth promise, this is the capstone. It really is
what one writer said, the topstone. These things will I do unto them. and not forsake them. What things?
Well, everything you've been talking about in Isaiah 42. The aforementioned. Mainly, specifically,
He will bring the blind by the way that they knew not. He will
lead them in paths that they have not known. He will make
darkness light before them and crooked things straight. These
things will I do for them. Who? Those who specifically meet
the conditions in the text. Not everybody, Not everybody. I will do this for them. I got
in parentheses, sinners. I will not forsake them. Sinners. Sinners. Oh, this is the capstone
of these fourfold declarations and therefore fourfold promises. I ask us to lay hold of each
one. And I ask each of us to dig,
let's mine, mine out the golden nuggets that are found in here. You could probably preach this
every Sunday for months and never wear it out. Remember, every
and all these promises, says the scriptures, are yes and amen
in Christ Jesus. There's the key. He's the key.
He's the key. I pray that the Holy Spirit would
lead us into paradise. resting solely, singularly, and
only upon the blood and righteousness of the spotless Lamb of God. Knowing this, as many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they are the sons and daughters of God. Are you led by the Spirit? Led
by the Spirit to see that you qualify all these conditions. Salvation is not conditioned.
It is. It's conditioned upon Christ. Not us. It's conditioned
upon Him. What He's done, what He's accomplished, and I love it. I love it. These things
will I do unto them and not forsake them. You cannot lie. I am God, says the scriptures,
who cannot lie. Bruce, would you close us, please?