Let's turn today to Isaiah chapter
40. Isaiah 40 verses 6, 7, and 8. My subject is withering flesh
and the word of God. Withering flesh and the word
of God. Isaiah 40 verse 6. The voice
said cry. And he said, what shall I cry?
All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the
flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, because the spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely
the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth. but the word of our God shall
stand forever. Hold your hands here and turn
to 2 Corinthians chapter four. God the Holy Ghost inspired the
Apostle Paul to tell us virtually the same thing in 2 Corinthians
four. Flesh, withering flesh has to
do with all things connected with this time world. All things
connected with this world in which we live. all things to
touch and feel and sense by the flesh. 2 Corinthians 4, verse
17. Our light affliction, which is
but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal
weight of glory. While we look not at things which
are seen, but at things which are not seen. For the things
which are seen are temporal, All flesh is grass, just withering
grass. The things which are seen are
temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. I wonder if we will ever learn
that. The things which are not seen are eternal. Those things that are seen are
temporal, eternal. What a heavy, heavy, heavy word. We all tend to treat material,
sensible things, things of time, things of this world as realities. And we tend to treat eternal
things as fables. When in reality, it's just the
other way around. We ought to reverse our thinking.
That which is temporal, That which is temporal. That which is temporal is insignificant. Utterly insignificant compared
with that which is eternal. Eternity is reality. We deal with reality only when
we deal with eternity. All the arrangements, and the
attainments, and the relationships, and the experiences, and the
joys, and the sorrows, and the pleasures, and the pains, and
the successes, and the disappointments of time, all the hopes, and all
the fears of life in this world are utterly without meaning. except they'd be weighed in the
light of eternity. Soon, you and I will leave this
world of time and sense where all things are temporal, and
we will enter into a world where all things are eternal. When
I think about those things, I realize that you, like myself, have family
and friends, people we dearly loved, who are now either in
heaven or in hell. Many others very dear to us,
brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, sons and daughters, grandparents,
grandchildren, neighbors, friends. Many who will soon either enter
into an eternal world of bliss or an eternal world of woe. There
is but a breath between you and eternity. There is but a breath
between me and eternity. We need to live in the realization
of those things all the time, every day. Every day I awake,
I ask God to set my mind on eternity. And as I lay down at night, I
beg of God to set my mind on eternity. And through the day,
I beg of God to let me live for eternity. Let me make a few statements. I hope we'll be blessed of God
to you. These things are things that
strengthen and sustain me in life, in the sick room, and in
the funeral parlor. Whatever God does is right and will be right with me. Whatever
God does is right and it will be all right with me whatever
he does. My family and yours My friends
and yours, my life and yours, all are in His hands. And our
great God, our Heavenly Father, is too wise to err, too strong
to fail, and too good to do wrong. Whatever He does is just and
right and good. Whatever He does with you is
just and right and good. Whatever He does with me is just
and right Good, whatever it does with yours or with mine is just
and right and good Whatever God does is right It's just it's
good Nothing is of greater comfort to my heart Nothing gives me
greater satisfaction Nothing gives me more strength than the
blessed knowledge of God's sovereign goodness God is sovereign. The God we worship rules the
universe absolutely. I mean, he rules the universe
absolutely, even down to the thoughts of men. God rules everywhere
all the time. And this God who rules is good. Good, oh, how good. how very, very, very indescribably
good our God proves himself to be. All that God has done is
that which is right and good. All that God shall do is that
which is right and good. Now this may be shocking to most
people, but it must be said, if I am faithful to your soul,
it must be said. Not only Is it true that whatever
God does is good? Right. It'll be right and good
with me. But second, I want you to understand
this. Do I have your attention? Do I have your attention? You
fully deserve to suffer the wrath of God forever in hell. You fully deserve to suffer the
wrath of God forever in hell because you're a sinner, a sinful,
abominably wicked, God-hating rebel. That's the nature of man. That's true of you, it's true
of me, it's true of yours, and it's true of mine. Let it sink
in. We were all shapen in iniquity
and conceived in sin. Like all others, you were born
with a deceitful, desperately wicked heart. You fully deserve to suffer the wrath of God. You fully deserve it. You fully
deserve it. You've never done anything good.
But like all other men, you drink iniquity like water. You only
do evil continually, and you know that I'm telling you the
truth. As it is written, there's none righteous, no, not one.
There's none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after
God. They're all going out of the way. They're all together
become unprofitable. There's none that doeth good,
no, not one. I know people try to convince you how good you
are, how good man is, and you know better. You listen to folks
and you flatter, oh, he thinks I'm such a good fellow. The fact
is you know the corruption of your heart. You know the depravity
of your heart. You know the evil of your thoughts,
the evil of your mind. You know the man speaks of you
and brags about how good you are. He's lying to you. Man by
nature is sin. and it can do nothing but sin,
that's what we are. Wherefore, as by one man's sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for all have sinned. Having said that, understand
this. If you're saved, if I'm saved, we must be saved by God. by something
God does, by a work God alone can perform.
We have no other hope. There's no hope for any sinner
but the grace of God flowing to sinners through the blood
of Christ. Salvation is of the Lord. It is not of man, not of
your will, not of your works, and certainly not of your worth.
Salvation comes to poor, lost, ruined, guilty sinners according
to God's will, by the power of Christ's blood, by the irresistible
grace of God the Holy Ghost. By grace, you're saved through
faith. And that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. If
you're saved, if any sinner is saved, it will be the result
of God's work. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
comes by God's sovereign, eternal election. God's unquestionable
election and predestination. God chose to save sinners. God
predestined some sinners to everlasting life in Christ Jesus. And there's
no other hope for sinners except God choose to save. Salvation
comes not only by God's election, but it comes by Christ particular
effectual accomplished redemption. Jesus Christ died at Calvary.
Now understand what the scriptures teach when I tell you this. Jesus
Christ died at Calvary. That does not mean that he just
died to be a good example, or he died to make it possible for
you to do some things and be saved, or he died so that if
you would obey him, then you'd be saved. He died! to satisfy
the justice of God for all his elect and by his death secured
our everlasting salvation, guaranteed our faith, bought our faith,
bought our salvation. Salvation is the work of God
the Son finished at Calvary. Christ came into the world to
save sinners of whom I'm chief. He came to save his people from
their sins and save us he did. And salvation comes to sinners
at the appointed time of love, in God's infinite mercy, by the
power, by the irresistible grace, by the omnipotent mercy of God
the Holy Ghost. God the Holy Spirit doesn't come
and nudge you to maybe move toward Jesus. He doesn't come and plead
with you and beg you, urge you to come to Christ. Oh, no, no,
no, no. God the Holy Ghost comes, the divine comforter, to those
for whom the Son laid down his life. Those whom the Father chose
in everlasting love. God the Holy Ghost comes in time
of love and he withers them. He slays them. He brings them
down in the dust. Brings them down to confess,
as Ruth just sang, our sin. Our guilt, our depravity, our
corruption brings them down, and bringing them down gives
them life. Giving them life, he reveals
Christ in them. Revealing Christ in them, he
gives them faith. He graciously works faith in
you, puts a new man in you, and that new man is born of God.
You cannot say it. That new man that's born of God
is Christ in you, the hope of glory. In the light of these
facts, facts plainly revealed in Holy Scripture, give me your
attention while I talk to you for just a little bit here from
Isaiah 40 about withering flesh and the Word of God. Let's back
up to verse three of Isaiah 40. The voice of him that crieth
in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord. Make straight
in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted. Every mountain and hill shall
be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the
rough places plain. You see road crews out working,
and you get a little disgusted with them. We're out in the middle
of the day working when they could do it another time, but thankfully they're
out there because we need to fill potholes. We need to level
the low places. We need to tear down the high
places. We need to clear debris out of
the road. We need to make things straight and smooth so the highway
runs smoothly and easily. This is the work of a gospel
preacher. He is to level things out with clarity of speech so
that you see clearly what the Word of God teaches and demands
of you. Read on. And when this is done,
when the gospel is preached, the glory of the Lord shall be
revealed. and all flesh shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. The voice said, cry. And he said, what shall I cry? Tell everybody all flesh is grass. And all the goodliness thereof,
the very best thing you can say about the grass is as the flower
of the field. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it. Surely
the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, but the Word of our God shall stand forever. Everything
earthly, everything in time, everything human is withering
flesh. In the Word of God, man is often
compared to withering grass. What can be more unstable than
grass? Our text is a declaration of
the instability of everything earthly and everything human.
Things which are seen are temporal. All right, here's the first thing
I want you to see. We live in a world where all things are
temporary. All things are temporal, just
temporary, passing away quickly. The news, as I saw it this week,
I don't pay too much attention to the news, but I suspect there
were a lot of folks in shock because they made a ton of money
the previous year with stocks and all of a sudden they're gone. Like that. Well, it's just stocks. Ask the fellow who lost them.
It's just stocks. Temporal. Faster than that, life
flees away. Temporal. Everything around us
is decaying, dying, and coming to an end. The only thing you
have that is forever is your immortal soul. What will a profited
man? If he's gained the whole world
and loses his own soul. Oh, hear me. Hear me, you who
are without Christ. Soon you will meet God. And nothing will matter except
Christ and His righteousness. Christ and His blood. Christ
and His grace. Christ and His goodness. Everything
else will be meaningless. The things which are seen are
temporal. Paul said, the fashion of this
world passeth away. We live in a world in which everything
is fleeing quickly. I urge you then, cherish every
blessing, every privilege God gives you in this world. Cherish
it while you have it. Sometime back, I wrote to a dear
friend of mine whose wife unexpectedly died suddenly. And I was trying
to give him some word of comfort, let him know I cared. And I got
a note back from him. He said, Brother Don, be sure
you tell your wife you love her every time you get a chance.
Don't miss a chance. Don't miss a chance. Because
this is going to end soon. It's going to end soon. Our relationships, those things
we neglect and abuse, children, husband, wife, friends, brothers,
sisters, widows, sick, needy, folks who need us, how quickly,
easily, commonly we neglect them and forget them. Oh, don't do
that. Cherish every blessing, every
privilege God gives you in this world and set your heart on Christ,
not on things on the earth. Set your heart on heaven, not
on earthly things. Set your affection on things
above where your life is hid with Christ in God. Live for
Christ. Serve Christ, seek Christ, live
with Christ and honor Christ. See that you value nothing in
this world more than you will value it when God takes it away
from you. Value nothing here more than
you will value it when you have taken your last breath here.
Love not the world, John said. Neither the things that are in
the world if any man loved the world the love of the father
is not in him All right second We live in a world where everything
is temporary We're going to a world where everything is eternal Eternity is a subject about which
the wisest men know very little We have no eyes to see it fully,
no rule by which to measure it, no mind by which to grasp it,
and yet consider it we must. Lost or saved, blessed or cursed,
justified or condemned, every one of us lives upon the brink
of eternity right now. And you go. That quickly, that quickly. I know we don't half believe
that, but it's true. That great unseen world that
lies beyond the grave is eternal. Whatever there is in that world
for you and for me is eternal. Eternal happiness or eternal
misery. Eternal bliss or eternal woe. Eternal holiness or eternal ungodliness. Eternal light or eternal darkness. Eternal peace or eternal torment. Lazarus, as soon as he died,
was carried away to paradise for eternity. The rich man, as
soon as he died, woke up in hell for eternity. The future happiness, bliss,
and glory of God's saints is eternal. At thy right hand are pleasures
forevermore. What a statement. What a statement. At thy right hand are pleasures
forevermore. You who are saved by God's grace
live in hope of eternal life. And that's a good hope through
grace. We're going to a home that will never be broken up.
A family gathering that will never end. A day of joy that
will never be followed by a night of weeping. Heaven is eternal. And the future misery and torment
of the damned in hell is eternal. I don't say a great deal about
hell and the torments of hell, the fires of hell, everlasting
damnation. I don't say a great deal about
it because it's unbearable to think of it. But our Lord Jesus speaks of
those who shall go their way into everlasting punishment.
There is a place of everlasting punishment called hell. It is a place of darkness where
justice is executed constantly forever. It's eternal. It's a place where men will suffer
and never cease to suffer because justice can never be satisfied
by them. They will suffer with multitudes of the day, harassing
and tormenting them, and yet they will suffer alone. Our Lord said in that place,
the worm dieth not. I don't know what the fires of
hell are. There's something more than just physical fire. Perhaps the worm that dies not
is your conscience. And the fire that's not quenched
is the guilt of conscience. So that you're constantly tormented
in your mind. Constantly tormented with guilt.
Without excuse. We're going to a world where
everything's eternal. Now hear this third thing. What
we are here It's what we will be forever
in eternity. Same wall, if you drop dead right
now, whatever you are right now, that's what you're going to be
forever. Would you hear me? If right now God takes your last
breath, what you are right now, that's what you're going to be
forever. Forever. Forever. It's a common delusion
of many that death changes things. These tear-jerking commercials
on television trying to get you to support various causes, and
the causes may be worth supporting. Don't misunderstand me. I'm all
in favor of helping folks in need. But one lady comes on and
said, I had to tell my girls that their daddy became an angel.
No, they didn't. No, when daddy dies, he doesn't
become an angel, and when Johnny dies, he doesn't become an angel.
What you are now is what you will be forever. What you are
in this world, you will be forever in the world to come. Many foolishly
imagine that a person may live in wickedness and yet rise in
righteousness. That you may live without Christ
and yet rise to be with Christ. That you may live in sin this
side of eternity and then rise in heaven as a saint. But that's
a delusion. Turn to Revelation chapter 22.
I want you to see it. Revelation 22. Verse 11. He that is unjust, let him be
unjust still. And he which is filthy, Let him
be filthy still. And he that is righteous, let
him be righteous still. And he that is holy, let him
be holy still. Now here's a weighty, tremendous
thought, one that should cause you to sit up and pay attention. Though our life in this world
is very brief, our eternal destiny depends upon what we are here. I know God's people will not
fail. His purpose will not fail. It will not be altered. Those
he's chosen and predestined shall be saved. Christ redeemed one
shall be with him in glory. Those and only those, all those
who are called born again by the Spirit's almighty grace will
enter into heaven. But no child of Adam will enter
into heaven unless he experiences the regenerating grace, the transforming
power the sanctifying work of God the Holy Ghost in what's
called the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath
no power. What is that first resurrection?
Turn back to John chapter three and I'll read about it to you.
John chapter three. The Lord Jesus is talking to
Nicodemus. Jesus answered in verse three
and said unto him, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus
saith unto him, how can a man be born when he's old? Can he
enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Jesus
answered, verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born
of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said
unto thee, you must be born again. The new birth is the first resurrection. You must be born again. You must
be born again now, or you will not be born again when this life
is over. Only the Lord Jesus Christ, only the Son of God can
make us fit for eternity. Only Christ can make us fit for
heaven. Turn to 2 Corinthians chapter
five. This is a very familiar text of scripture to this congregation. Familiar the words are, I hope
the meaning of the words is familiar to you. 2 Corinthians 5, 17. Therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. He's been resurrected from the
dead. Old things are passed away. God has forgotten all his sins.
He will not remember his sins anymore. Behold, all things have
become new. He's got a new record, a new
name, a new nature, a new heart, new will, a new man. And all
things are of God. who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation,
to wit that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them, and hath committed
to us the word of reconciliation. God was in Christ turning his
people to himself. And now he's committed to us
this word of reconciliation so that we preach the gospel and
urge sinners now to quit fighting against God. Now then we're ambassadors
for Christ, verse 20. As though God didn't beseech
you by us, we pray you in Christ's head, be you reconciled to God. Be you reconciled to God. Come
to God. Believe on God, trust God, live
with God, come to the throne of grace. For he, the God of
glory, hath made him the son of God to be sin for us who knew
no sin. God made his son sin and slew
his son for sin. that he might make us the righteousness
of God in him. Now read on. We then as workers
together with God beseech you that you receive not the grace
of God in vain. The message that I preach to
you is the message of God's grace. Now hear me, hear me. It'll soon
be 40 years since you called me as your pastor. For 40 years,
God has given you this grace, the hearing of the gospel. Oh,
what a privilege. What a privilege. In this dark,
dark, dark, dark world, God's called you to hear the gospel.
What a privilege. What a privilege. This grace
is giving you Now then, we beseech you, receive not the grace of
God in vain. For he saith, I have heard thee
in an accepted time. In the day of salvation have
I succored thee. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. You must be reconciled to God
now. This is the day of grace. There
is no other. You must bathe your soul in the
blood of Christ now. You must be robed in his righteousness
now. You must trust the Son of God
now. Now fourth, hear this. Blessed is that sinner, oh blessed
is that sinner, who in the face of eternity can truthfully say, I trust Christ. I trust Christ. Skip, let's just presume you're
fixing to die right now. Is that all right? Let's just
presume today is your last day. Oh, how blessed of God you are.
If looking eternity in the face, you can honestly say, I trust
Christ. Oh, that's called grace. That's
called salvation. That person has eternal life
and shall never die. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. The Philippian jailer said to
Paul and Silas, sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they answered
and said, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be
saved. Believe on the Son of God. Did
you hear me? Did you hear me? Believe on the
Son of God and you shall be saved. Christ Jesus came into this world God in our nature, God in human
flesh. He lived in perfect righteousness,
in obedience to God as a man. He died under the wrath of God
as a substitute for sinners. He rose again as the sinner's
surety when he had put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
He came here to give hope and peace while we live in this world,
and glory and blessedness in the world to come, to bring life
and immortality to light through the gospel. Christ came to save
sinners. And having come for that purpose,
he's accomplished his purpose. With his own blood, he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption. He took hold of eternal redemption. And by the merit of his blood,
he said, the salvation of my people is mine. I got it! I got it for them. With his blood,
he obtained eternal redemption, and he gives it freely to all
who trust him. In him, we have redemption through
his blood, which is the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches
of His grace. The Son of God gives eternal
life freely to all who trust Him. He said, if any man thirst,
let him come to me and drink. He said, all that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. That's what it is to believe.
Come to Christ. Come to him. Believe him. Believe
him. Right where you are. Right where
you sit. Right now. Believe him. Look
unto me and be you saved. All the ends of the earth for
I am God and beside me there is none else. If you die without
Christ, if you perish under the wrath of God, You have no one
to blame but yourself. Oh, God give you grace now. Believe
on his son. For the wages of sin is death.
But the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord. One last statement. And I'll
send you home. Or maybe to eternity. Yes, the grass withereth. The
flower fadeth. but the word of our God shall
stand forever. As our God is the Lord Jehovah
who changes not, so his word changes not. Like God himself,
his word is immutable. The word here spoken of, of course,
refers to God's eternal purpose of grace and predestination,
that book written. sealed inside and out, held by
the hands of him who stands with one foot on the earth and one
on the sea, the mighty angel of God, the Lamb of God. That
book of God's decree and purpose will stand forever. The Lord
God says, my counsel shall stand. I will do all my pleasure. God
in sovereign predestination, ordained everything that comes
to pass in time. and he ordained it for the saving
of his people and the glory of his name. In time, in providence,
little by little, day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment,
God fulfills his purpose of predestination. And he graciously calls sinners
to the Savior and daily adds to his church such as should
be saved. Without question, the word here spoken of by Isaiah
refers to our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the word of God. In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. Same was in the beginning with
God. Jesus Christ is God the Word. Jesus Christ is God the Word. I had been working on this message
for several weeks. I wrapped it up last night, put
it down on paper. I finished writing out everything
I planned to say to you this morning, and maybe a little more
than I'll get said to you. But having written it out, you
still are totally without knowledge of it, because you've not seen
it. And now you've heard the word spoken. And now you have
been given knowledge of what I had been studying and preparing
and what I've written down for you, you're given knowledge of
it by the Word, by me taking what's inside me and giving it
to you. Jesus Christ is the Word of God. He is God incarnate. He is that
one by whom alone God is known. That one who alone reveals God. That one by whom alone you can
know God. Every time you read in the Old
Testament of God speaking to a man, that was Christ speaking
to a man. Every time you see a pre-incarnate
revelation of Christ, that was Christ, the incarnate God, the
Word, coming to speak to a man. Christ is he who's come to make
known God to men. And all who believe on him, who
is the Word of God, have life eternal. Our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Word, is the same yesterday and today and forever. His person never changes. His
purpose never changes. His power never changes. His
promises never change. He's the same yesterday, today,
and forever. He's proved him so, hasn't he?
Over and over again. The Apostle Peter tells us that
this word, the word of the Lord, the word of our God is the gospel
by which God makes himself known to sinners. It is the word that's
preached to you. We preach God's word to you.
And by this word preached to you, you're born again, not a
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth
and abideth forever. The word of God, the gospel,
is the declaration of redemption accomplished by Christ. It is
the means by which God gives life and faith to sinners. The
word, God's word, reveals and assures us of all the promises
of God to sinners in Christ. God in his word tells me my sins
are forgiven. God in his word assures me of
rest. Rest for my soul, both for time
and eternity. God in his word assures me of
something that I find just almost impossible to believe, even as
I read it in the word, Mark. I'm righteous. I'm accepted of
God. I'm perfect in Christ. As he
is, so are we in this world. Oh God give you grace now to
build your house upon the word Christ Jesus, the foundation
of God, the rock that stands strong. Trust Christ and his
word and you'll never be disappointed in the object of your trust.
Believe on the son of God and you'll have everlasting life. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ hath everlasting life. I have a lot of things that cause
me a lot of concern. A lot of things that I don't attempt
to explain. because I don't know the answers.
Shelby asked me a question about something in scripture just this
week. And she got done, she said, you know, Hawker didn't say anything
about that. And somebody else didn't say anything about that.
I wonder what you think about that. I said, I think same thing
they did. I don't know. I don't know. I just don't have the answer.
I don't mind acknowledging that. There are lots of things I don't
know the answer to. I don't know why I find it so
hard to believe God when he proved himself to me again and again.
I don't know why I find it so hard to expect God to do things
he promised to do. I don't know why. But this I
say with absolute confidence. I believe that Jesus is the Christ. I believe he, the man who is
God, fully accomplished everything God in the book of the prophets
said he would accomplish. I believe he brought in everlasting
righteousness by his obedience. I believe he made an end of transgression
and sin. I believe he obtained eternal
redemption. I believe he magnified the law
and honored it. I believe he did it for sinners.
And believing that Jesus is the Christ, God tells me I'm born
of God. I bid you now believe on the
Son of God and live forever. Amen.