Isaiah chapter 3 in one verse
and one phrase. Isaiah chapter 3 and verse 10. Isaiah chapter 3, verse 10. Say you to the righteous, it
shall be well with him. It shall be well with you. And
I read this. I read this. I read this to you.
I read this in my own hearing. Do we not desire this verse to
speak to us? Not necessarily the person sitting
next to you. Now, if it's your spouse, you
want it to be spoken well for them. But individually. God deals with sinners. He deals
with us individually, personally. Do we not desire this verse to
speak to us? Do we not desire this verse to
speak to our children? They would listen. Say this word
of God, this unerring word of God, and Isaiah says, say to
the righteous, that is, say to those who are cleansed is the
word, or cleared is the word in the Hebrew, that we could
also say the called, the quickened, the saved, the redeemed. It shall
be well. And that word well is good in
the broadest sense. With you. With me. But we're going to come back
to this. Just think about that. Is this verse speaking to you? Is it speaking to me? Say to
the righteous, those who have been cleared by the precious
blood of the Lamb, It will be well. It will be good in the
broadest sense to you. We'll come back to this a little
later, but before God will speak peace, I know this, before God
will speak peace and comfort and wellness to us, He will empty
us, He will bring us low, and He will humble before He exhausts. This is just God's way of grace.
You're not going to go into the kingdom. I'm not going to go
into the kingdom. Nobody goes into the kingdom standing upright
and saying, look at me, you've got to receive me. No. He brings
us down to the dust. Turn to our next passage, Amos
chapter 3. We'll be here for a little while.
Amos chapter 3. Right after Joel, which is right
after Hosea, the first of the minor prophets, Hosea, Jo, Amos
chapter 3. I'll read another verse. Amos chapter 3 and verse 3. Can two walk together except
they be agreed? Do we wish, I ask again, to walk,
that word is to be conversant, that word is to be united, Do
we wish to be united? We cannot be unless we be agreed,
that word, to meet together or engage for marriage or assemble. Can two walk together in unity
except they are agreed or assemble? or engaged. If you're engaged
to somebody, you're getting ready to go through it. You've talked,
you're getting ready to do it. Now I will say this, and I'll
pause here, and I will say this, and you think about this, in
our own life here in these thirty-something years, some of you have been
here that long, some of you have not been here that long, but
I will say this, there is nothing quite like the assembly of the
saints walking together, lest they be agreed, assembled together,
that also means that in Hebrew, there's nothing quite like the
assembly of the saints when unity of heart, unity of spirit, and
unity of attitude are present. There's nothing like it. There's nothing like it. Now,
I will say this, marriage, if there's unity, Oh, it is absolutely
incredible. And Melinda and I have said this
for years, there's nothing like marriage trouble. If you're on
the outs and outs with your spouse, can't sleep, it's irritating. But there's also nothing quite
disconcerting as church trouble. You go out in the world, and
you work, and you hear all this nonsense, and you put up with
all this stuff to unbelievers. You're not equally yoked. You're
not doomed, but you've got to be there. You've got to be amongst
them. That's fine. But you come together with God's
people. There's nothing like unity and
harmony and peace. As a matter of fact, Psalms 133,
if you want to turn there, in that famous passage about Aaron
and Aaron's beard, he makes that comment, he says, Psalms 133,
verse 1, Behold how good and how pleasant, two great words,
good and pleasant, it is for brethren to dwell together in
unity. There's nothing like the dwelling together in unity. One
aim, one purpose, one Savior. We agree on this. And that's
essential if we're going to walk together. That's essential. It's
absolutely essential. But I will say this, we are not
prone to this unity. From birth, nature of practice,
we're not prone to this unity. As a matter of fact, Psalms 110,
Bruce quoted in Bible class, he has to make us willing in
a day of his power in order for us to walk in unity, in order
for us to walk in agreement with one another. But I'm going to
go, we're talking about if we're going to say to the righteous,
it's well with your soul, I can't say that to you unless you walk
together, unless you agree with what this book says about certain
things. Can two walk together? Even friendships. When I was growing up, I had
friends. And you always have somebody who's a little bit closer
to you. And why? Because we like the same sports,
we like to swim, we like to jump on a trampoline, we did a lot
of the same things. We were agreed on many things.
And you take that and multiply that times ten. Basically, that's
what the assembly of the saints is. As Acts says, they gather
together at one accord. That's agreeing. Unity. That's
harmony. And as pastor, it's my responsibility
to protect that. To protect that at all costs.
And I'm thankful the Lord has given us the unified presence. And we've had people come, they've
been here for six, seven years, and we thought they were part
of us, and all of a sudden, they heard something and it's like,
They don't want anything more to do. And I'm thankful, as weak
as I am, that the Lord removed a lot of these people. He did
it on His own. We were talking, Lynn and I were talking about
this. The Lord removed certain people because I was not strong
enough to deal with it. That's okay. If any man lacks
wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men liberally. Lord,
I don't know how to deal with this situation. I don't know
how to deal with this situation. And He has saved and delivered
us in this place time and time and time again. So let's look
at this Amos. Can two walk together? Specifically
speaking about the individual and God. Can they
walk together except they be agreed? From birth, nature, practice,
we're not in agreement with God on these things. And there's
more, but just three things. What happened in the garden?
What happened in the garden? Our sins, our depravity, our
evil nature. God plainly states in Romans,
there's none good. Doesn't make a difference how
old you are. There's no age limit on this.
Doesn't make any difference what ethnic background you have. None good. There's none that
seek God. There's none that seek God. There's
none who will come unto Christ or Emmanuel that we may have
life. We have to be... God has to reveal what we are
to ourselves. And I would go to Zechariah chapter
12 and 13. It's beautiful how he convicts
each person individually by grace and supplications. And then after
they're convicted, chapter 13 verse 1, then there's a fountain
opened. There's a fountain open. But
we just don't walk in unity. I was born and I've always loved
God. No, no you haven't. I haven't. You haven't. We plainly
believe, as far as the area in the garden and our sins and our
depravity, that we're okay. Because you go to school and
the teacher says you're okay. And that's not what they're talking
about here. Mom and Dad say you're okay. You may be Mom and Dad's
favorite, you may not. But we're always told, and we
believe this, that we're okay. And that we're not that bad.
Did you see Bobby down the road? I wouldn't have done that. Or
Joey, or Emily. I don't do those things. We're
always comparing ourselves to others, which Paul says is not
profitable. Because you're always going to
come out ahead. This is what we think about God's
depravity. That we're able to choose correctly. and that we're not dead in trespasses
and sins. What can a dead person do? He
can't do anything. And spiritually, nothing. We're born in trespasses and
sins. That's what the scripture says
about sin, about what happened in the garden. When we fell,
we didn't slip. We didn't bruise our elbow. We
didn't get our hands caught in a cookie jar. We fell completely
to will. The mind and the heart completely
fell. Second thing, what does this
book say? What do we need to be in agreement
with God about it before we can walk together with Him, before
we can commune, before there's going to be unity? What God says
happened at the cross. How God saves sinners. What He
declares is that life is in His Son and all who are placed in
Him have everlasting life. Not maybe. He says, Matthew 1.21,
He shall save His people from their sins. There's no maybes.
There is with man, but not God. God absolutely came to sacrifice
Himself, perfect, pure, holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners, doing those things which we must do, we could not
do. He accomplished this on our behalf. God, He has placed salvation,
righteousness, peace, grace, and mercy in the doing and dying
of the Lord Jesus Christ and nowhere else. Not in Mohammed,
not in the Pope, not in Joseph Smith, Not in the leader of the
Baptist seminary congregation in the Southern Baptist. No,
none of these things. Salvation is in the person of Jesus Christ. God chose, the Son saved, the
Holy Spirit calls and quickens. As a matter of fact, a passage
of verse 15 that I love, it says, Christ says, without Me, you
can do nothing. I mean, what part of nothing?
We understand what nothing is. Without Him, can do nothing. That's what God says about us.
That's what God says how he saves. If we can do nothing to assist
our efforts in salvation, Christ must have to do it all. And yet
what we say, we say the opposite. We're not in agreement with God
or Christ or this unerring word. We say, I can save myself. I've
told this story before, several times. My brother said, I was
talking to him, I remember exactly where it was at, when it was
there, and I was talking to him about the gospel, and he said,
I understand what you're saying. When I'm ready, I'll come. I
said, you'll never come. You'll never come. When you think
you're ready, you'll never come. Why? Because he didn't see himself
as totally desperate, lost and undone. He didn't see Christ
as totally sufficient. for every need. We put him up on a mantel on
a fireplace. When I need him, I'll take him
down. People get scared. They say there's no such thing
as a foxhole atheist. Well, maybe not a foxhole, but
as soon as they're out, then everything is fine. This country
became so religious at 912, 913, 914. I talk about the two towers. and the Pentagon, all that happened.
The weeks, well, actually maybe a good six months after that
happened, this country became very religious. Now, it's the
way it was before. We can save ourselves. We have
free will. And there are others who can
save. This is what we say. I can save myself. Or my parents
can pray for me and they can save me. Or somebody else can
save me. But that's not what God says.
The third area, and I'm being very basic here, there's so many
more, but the third area that we must agree with God before
we can walk together with Him, before we can say, it is well
with my soul, is God has the right to do with us as He sees
fit, or God's ultimate sovereignty in all things. All things. He says in Exodus 3.14, I am
that I am. How do you explain to somebody?
If you want to explain who Bruce is or Brian or Jeremy, when somebody
says, you try to explain their character or what they look like,
whatever. I am. He is. We're not. I am that I
am. Exodus 3, 14. He gives account
of none of His actions or His matters. He says this in Job
33, 13. Isaiah 64, 8. He is the potter. We're the clay.
He can do with us as He sees fit. And He says, Christ says
at one point, I thank Thee, Father, The Lord of heaven and earth
that you hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed
them unto babes." Why? For it seemed good in your sight.
He's totally sovereign. Totally sovereign. He will not
share His glory with another. Isaiah 42. He spoke in the worlds
as Bruce mentioned were formed. Psalms 33 verse 9. But we say,
turn with me to Daniel 4. This is what we say. God is sovereign, but this is
our attitude. And this is a good picture of
salvation, incidentally. Daniel 4, verse 30, this is King
Nebuchadnezzar before the Lord humbles him. Daniel chapter 4,
and all this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of 12 months he walked
in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon and this is what he
said, this is what we say when we're confronted with the gospel,
we're challenged with the gospel. Then the king spake and said,
is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of
the kingdom by the might of my power? and for the honor of my
majesty." That's verse 30, Daniel 4 verse 30. Is this not me? Did I not do this? Did I not
pull myself up by the bootstraps? I came from a rough family. I
made myself a name. I've done this and I've done
that. Now I'm on the city council, on the board, and this and that.
Haven't I done all these things? God could just let you go and
continue to think that. But He didn't, Nebuchadnezzar,
because look at this. While the word was in the king's mouth,
there fell a voice from heaven saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar,
to thee is spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee. And they
shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be the beast
of the field, and shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and
seven times shall pass over thee until thou knowest that the most
high rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever
he will. And the same hour the thing was
fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, And verse 34, at the end of these
days, I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes, and mine understanding
returned unto me, and I blessed the Most High, and I praised
and honored Him that lives forever, whose dominion is an everlasting
dominion. His kingdom is from generation to generation. And
the inhabitants of the earth, even the kings, are reputed as
nothing. And He does according to His
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth And nobody can say unto Him, what are you doing? That
is what the Bible says about God's sovereignty. It's about
God's ruling and reigning over us. This is the humiliation I was
speaking of at the introduction. We're not this way naturally. We're proud. He's got to bring
this to pass. I'm saying this, what I'm saying
is until we are made by sovereign free grace to agree about these
things and then some, we cannot know, we cannot walk, we cannot
have union or peace with Jehovah God. Can two walk together except
they be agreed? It's not rocket science. You
have a friend, you have a brother or sister, you agree with them,
you walk in unity, It's the same thing. We cannot walk with God
until we agree with Him, His terms of salvation, what we are
and what He is, where He's at now. I pray that God would give
us, give me, grace to bow to His authority, His dominion and
power every day. We need this. Let's go back to Isaiah chapter
3. Now let's go back to Isaiah chapter 3 and verse 10. Say to those who have been cleared
by God's grace through the blood of the Son, by the enabling of
the Holy Spirit, say to the righteous who are in total agreement with
things revealed in this Word, to them about who God is, about
what they are, and how God saves sinners. Say to the righteous,
it shall be well with him. I can freely say to all those
who have been made the righteousness of God in Christ, it is well
with you. It is good in the Romans 8.28
sense. These are called the righteous,
they're called the called, the children, the elect, the loved
ones, the righteous. And what I love about this, this
passage here in chapter 3 verse 10, say to the righteous, it
is well with them. If there is no time mentioned,
all time is included. I'll say that again. Spurgeon
said this. If no time is included, no time
is mentioned, all time is included. If you're righteous, it's well
with you. Period. From morning till evening,
from storm till the clearing day, from now to eternity, it's
well. I know, but I know you struggle.
I know I struggle. We've got things to do tomorrow.
People to see, places to go, work must be done. It's still
well. I've got a pain. I've got an
ache. I've got this. Yes, but it's well. I love, whenever
I put in one of the bulletins, maybe last week about Newton,
he said, you know, he was being visited, he couldn't preach anymore,
he was in bed, he was bed fast, and he said to his friend, he
says, I'm suffering from this disease, in which there's no
cure, old age. And he says, but who would want
to live in a world such as this anyway? And that's exactly right. That's the older you get, That's
the more you think. He's our rock and our stake.
I'll tell you this, we are well fed because He's our bread. He's the bread of life for us.
We're well fed. We're well clothed. We have His
robe of righteousness placed upon us. We are well housed. We dwell in the Son and the Son
dwells in us. We are well married. He is our
kinsman, redeemer, our spouse, and our all in all. We are well
provided for. He is our soul's provision. We
are well endowed. We have an unchangeable inheritance. And we have this wellness based
upon divine authority. God's Word. Now, if you don't
think this is the Word of God, if you think there's error, if
there's interpretation problems, The Bible says about itself,
every word of God is pure. You can argue all you want to. But let's say verse 10 is not
real. Now where do you go? That's what always cracks me
up about these intellectuals. This Bible, this part over here,
this over here. Don't take that promise from
me. I need that promise. We have this wellness that is
based upon divine authority, God's Word. We have this wellness
even when we do not see it because of our sins. Whether we're in
stormy seas or we have interrupted communion. You know, we're praying
and then something happens and the world gets involved. It's
still well. It's still well, even in our
sins. We confess our sins. He's faithful
and just to forgive us our sins. That's what the word says Say
to the righteous it's well, it's well Rest assured dear ones. It is well always well truly
well and unquestionably well with us Even though we're weak sheep
doesn't matter because this wellness does not depend on us This wellness,
just like our righteousness, just like our forgiveness, just
like our peace, just like mercy, it all depends on Christ. And
the last hundred verses I remember, He will not leave or forsake
us. He won't do it. He will keep us until the end. And then we'll be with Him in
glory. Bruce, would you close us please?