Well, we come this morning to
the final chapter of Isaiah, chapter number 66. As I said,
the same number of chapters in Isaiah as books in the Bible,
66. And we come to the last one this morning. We started, I think
I said, in February 2018. We've had one or two little breaks
of two or three weeks here and there, but here we come the first
week of 2020 to the final chapter of Isaiah. And the final chapter
underlines and reinforces three strong themes of the whole book. First of all, the folly of religion. The folly of just religion, it's
everywhere. The folly of religion. Secondly,
the blessings of grace. And thirdly, the final words
of the book, a very stark warning of God's judgment on sin. A very
stark warning. God speaking by the prophet is
speaking unchanging, eternal truth. In this book, in the book
of the Bible, in the book of Isaiah, in all the books of the
Bible and in this chapter are the issues of life and death. This message is relevant to you
and to me. The world's message the world's
philosophy, the news, what we see the politicians say, what
we see the do-good societies say, what we see the climate
change activists and so on and so forth. Don't worry, I'm not
getting into anything like that. But their message constantly
changes. It's like the ebb and flow of
the tide. It comes and goes, it rises and it falls. This is
the view of sinless, godless society. Society that says, we
will not have this man, the Lord Jesus Christ, to rule over us.
There is no God for us. We don't want anything to do
with it. Its message is constantly changing. It's fickle. Think
about it. Those of you that are, say, over
50 years old, you will know. You think back 30 or 40 years,
and the message of society was completely different to what
it is today. So what is truth? The message
of man? It fluctuates. It's fickle. It's
up and down like a yo-yo. It doesn't know where it is.
There's no stability in it. But God's truth is eternal. You who know nothing, and that's
all of us by nature, you know nothing about who you are, really,
you know nothing about where you came from, really, you know
nothing about where you're going to, really, wouldn't it be wise
to listen and take notice of a clear message from God, because
that's what we have in front of us, a clear message from God. Believe me, believe me, Earth
and vessels, yes, that's preachers, but preaching the word of God
with the anointing of God's Holy Spirit, it's a message from God. It's a message from heaven to
the hearts and minds of fallen man. Listen to me. Let's see
what it says. First of all, I said three things. Firstly, the folly of religion. Isn't that odd that somebody
who preaches the Christian gospel calls religion folly? Yes, I
do. It is. I really, do you know
the biggest enemies, the biggest, most powerful enemies of the
true gospel is the most orthodox religion. Who are the enemies
of Christ? Who were the main enemies of
Christ when he walked this earth? Was it not the Pharisees and
the scribes and the ruling council in Jerusalem? Religion is the
main enemy of the truth of God. See, people are naturally superstitious. How many times have you said,
somebody said, oh I hope this turns out, and they go, fingers
crossed, fingers crossed, oh, touch wood, touch wood, ah, just
look at my horoscope, see what's going to happen in the next week
or two. Ah, do you know, with any luck things will turn out
OK for us. If the fates allow us, that Christmas
song says. I hate that song because of that
very thing. It's not the fates. It's not
luck. It's none of those things. The
horoscopes, none of those things influence the stars and the planets. No, they're the creation of God.
They're not the things that determine what happens to us. How stupidly
foolish and naturally superstitious people are. and people make a
covenant with death. Some, who say they don't believe,
they say they are atheists, they make a covenant with death, anticipating
annihilation. Oh, it's okay, I just know there's
nothing after I die, it's just the lights get switched off and
that's it, that's the end. And when it happens, well, so
be it. What can I do about it? It's just the end. That's my
confidence. I've made a covenant with death,
that when death comes, the lights go out and that's the end of
it, and that nothing more happens. On what basis do you make that?
What evidence have you got? Have you got a message from eternity
that tells you that that's the case? No, you haven't, not at
all. And others, religious folk, insure
themselves, don't they? They sort of take out an insurance
policy with formal religion, hoping that God will accept them
despite their sin, because they're not that bad, they're not as
bad as others, and they go to a church, they go to a building
and they go, some go to quite a nice pleasant looking church
and others go to a cathedral, wow, a big big posh cathedral
with all of its ancient adornments and a proper place of worship
and they put value on a place and on the things that adorn
it. you know, all of the icons that are all around it, and the
stained glass windows, and the priests and their robes, and
their liturgies, and their rituals that they go through, and the
things that they say, mainly not having a clue what they're
talking about. And they go through works of religious conformance,
and they think that if I sincerely do all of this, God is sure to
think better of me. Look what God's Word says. As
I said, we've got a message from heaven right here in front of
us. Look at verse 3. He's talking to religious folk
in the time of the Old Testament temple in Jerusalem and formal
religion. Just formal, outward form religion. He that killeth an ox. There were sacrifices in the
temple that were to point to the need for blood redemption. The redemption that Christ would
accomplish to take away the sins of his people and they were going
through the motions of those pictures and those symbols that
all pointed to Christ they were going through those things with
a blasé attitude. He that killeth an ox as if he
slew a man. He that sacrificeth a lamb as
if he cut off a dog's neck. That offereth an oblation as
if he offered swine's blood. And in that regime, in that order
of things in Old Testament Israel amongst the Jews, the rule was
given in Leviticus that swine's blood was unclean. You were not
to use it. It was not to be that which was used. And yet they
did it. blatantly, as if the blood that was shed was not literally
pig's blood, but it was as if it might as well have been swine's
blood. He that burns incense, not to
God, but to an idol. Yea, they've chosen their own
ways, and their soul delights in their abomination. Oh, they
love their religion. God doesn't. God has contempt
for mere religion. Jesus said in Luke 16 verse 15,
Jesus said to them, to the Pharisees, to the religious folk of his
day, you are they which justify yourselves before men. but God
knows your hearts. For that which is highly esteemed
among men, all your religious service, everything you do, he's
what he meant, all that is highly esteemed among men is an abomination
in the sight of God. God despises it. These religious
folk have chosen their own ways. Verse three, you have chosen
your own ways. They haven't listened to God's
word. What does God's word tell us? Look at verse one. Thus saith
the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that ye build
unto me, and where is the place of my rest? They think they can
contain God in a building. They thought then, in the temple
in Jerusalem, they could contain God in a building. That's what
they thought. They think today they can contain
God in their cathedrals, in their church buildings, in their tabernacles. I've even heard evangelical Christians
talk about the room in which they meet in their church building
as the sanctuary. Do you know, be careful before
you use those words. I'll tell you the only situation
in which that room that you're thinking of is a sanctuary It's
a sanctuary when you do what we're doing now, and I'll explain
it more fully later on. Even supposedly evangelicals
get the notion that their church building is a proper church. It's got a certain feel about
it, a certain reference, they like it, it's a nice place, there's
a certain aroma to it, there's a certain, oh look how we keep
it so nice, and we, well I'm not saying that you shouldn't
keep your church, if you have a church building I'm not saying
you shouldn't keep it nice, but you know, to revere it that God
is there in that building rather than anywhere else is completely
wrong. There's only, as I'll tell you
later, one circumstance in which God is in that building more
than anywhere else. I'll tell you later. But what
God says is, the heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that you'll
build for me? You can't build me a house that
will contain me. You know when Solomon dedicated
the temple in Jerusalem I haven't got the text, but you can look
it up. And in his prayer, he admitted that a building cannot
contain the infinite God. God pervades everything. As the
psalmist says, where can I go from your spirit? Where can I
flee? I can't go anywhere. If I take
the wings of the morning and fly to the furthest reaches of
the earth, you are there. If I go down into the pit, you
are there. If I rise up into heaven, you
are... God pervades everything. He is above all things. There
isn't a building that contains God. Heaven is his throne and
earth is his footstool. That's his message to religious
folk. There was an Old Testament temple
that was there for what purpose? To house God? No. Where is the
house that you'll build for me? Where's the place of my... No,
no. The temple, what was it for? It was to portray in picture,
in symbol, in type, it was to portray God tabernacling with
men, living with men, the presence of God amongst his people, the
tabernacle of God with men. And who really is the tabernacle
of God with men? That temple was a picture of
Christ, who when he came in the flesh, when the infinite God
took upon him flesh, the likeness of sinful flesh, yet without
sin, there was God amongst us. That temple pictured Christ,
and not only Christ, but his church, the elect of God, the
Zion of God, that are united with him from eternity, because
the scripture describes the members of the Church of God as being
like the stones in the temple in Jerusalem were cut from the
quarry and fitted exactly in their place. The living temple
of God, the spiritual temple of God, is comprised of Christ,
the chief foundation stone, the chief cornerstone, and living
stones, living stones. You and me, believers, fitted
together in that house of God. A habitation of God in the spirit,
we're told, is the church of God, with Christ the chief cornerstone. The church, Christ as its head,
the body of Christ, is the living temple of God. That is the reality,
that is what pictures heaven, that is what pictures eternal
bliss, of fellowship between God and his people. That is the
substance the body, the reality, of which the temple was but a
picture. In Colossians 2 verse 7 we read
that all those Old Testament things, symbols, were a shadow
of things to come, but the body, the substance, is of Christ.
How foolish today, with that knowledge, how foolish to attempt
to recreate the blueprint of that which has passed away in
the coming of Christ. What do they try and recreate?
They try and recreate the Old Testament temple, which was but
the blueprint. They do it with cathedrals, and
with ornate chapels, and all sorts of things of that nature.
No, God doesn't dwell there. They develop their own ways of
doing God's service as they like to see it. In verse 3, we read
about it before, that they think, oh, we'll do it this way. They
develop their own ways of doing God's service, but without true
spiritual life. Look at verse 4. God says, I
also will choose their delusions and will bring their fears upon
them because when I called, none did answer. When I spake, they
did not hear, but they did evil before mine eyes and chose that
in which I delighted not. God even calls to them. but they
reject his message and so God compounds their delusions. In
2 Thessalonians, Paul writes to the Thessalonians about this
in chapter 2 of 2 Thessalonians and verse 8. And then shall that
wicked, he's talking about the Antichrist, he's talking about
the manifestation of the kingdom of Satan, and then shall that,
talking about coming towards the end of time, Then shall that
wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit
of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming
at the final judgment. Even him, whose coming is after
the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders. Don't be impressed with signs
and lying wonders. There's lots of them in false
religion. Religion's absolutely full of them. And with all deceivableness
of unrighteousness in them that perish. Because, listen, just
as in Isaiah 66, they receive not the love of the truth, that
they might be saved. They wouldn't have it. They wouldn't
have God's message. And for this cause, is this exactly
what God says in that verse 4 of Isaiah 66? For this cause God
shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie,
that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but
have pleasure in unrighteousness. God brings their own desires
upon them. Let me ask you a question then,
in the light of what God says here. to people who might listen
to this on the internet, do you revere the place where you attend
church as being specially favoured with God's presence? You know,
oh it's the building and they've got the right minister and you
know the singing's pretty good there too, they've got a good
organist and all of that sort of thing works, so therefore
God's bound to be there. You revere the place, you revere
the place. Do you hear the gospel of his
grace there? Do you hear the gospel of his grace as it is
in the scriptures? I'm not talking about a so-called
gospel that sounds in part like the true gospel, just like a
glass of water. If you put a drop of cyanide
in it, it's not a glass of pure water and you shouldn't drink
it, you shouldn't touch it. Be careful, be careful. Is the true gospel there? That's
the thing that matters. God's presence is not associated
with the building. Did you hear? God's presence
is not associated with any building. What is it associated with? I'll
tell you. It's associated with the preaching
of Christ, the lifting up of Christ, and his true gospel,
the gospel of sovereign grace, the gospel of particular redemption.
that God has a people He chose in Christ before the foundation
of the world, and for whom, because they're sinners, Christ has paid
the debt to the law of God and justice of God, that they might
be qualified to be the citizens of His eternal kingdom. That
is the true gospel of grace, and that salvation is of God,
not of man. Jesus said to his disciples,
I have chosen you, you haven't chosen me. Oh yes, he makes his
people willing in the day of his power, but salvation is of
the Lord. That's the message of scripture.
It is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of
God that shows mercy, who were born, not of the flesh, nor of
blood, nor of the will of man, but of the will of God. That's
the message of Scripture, and the natural man hates it. the
religious man hates it. But that's the truth, and when
that truth is lifted up, God is in the midst. Christ crucified. Where's the altar? Where's the
altar? Has your church got an altar? Where's the altar? Hebrews
tells us. Hebrews 13 verse 10. We, true
believers, have an altar. What's our altar? Christ crucified. Christ lifted up. It's spiritual
things, not physical. The spiritual truth of Christ
lifted up. That's our altar. Where's our
priest with all of his gorgeous robes, his flowing, elaborate
robes, to make it a proper church? Where's our priest? He, our Lord
Jesus Christ, who we see, how do we see him? With our eyes.
Physical eyes? No. Eye of faith, given by God. He is our interceding priest. who intercedes for us. Where
does he gather? Oh, in that church. Oh, you must
go to that retreat. Oh, you must go to that special
place. Oh, you must go to that holy island. If you want to meet
with God you must go there. You must have a visit. Some time
in your life you must have a visit to the holy land. There is no
land that's any more holy than anywhere else. There isn't. Get
it out of your mind. If it's in there, get rid of
it. It's false. It's superstition. It's nonsense. Should I tell you where God is?
He's here this morning. There are at least two or three
of his believing people and in his word he has promised that
he is in the midst. He's in the midst. Christ is
in the midst when his people gather together. He is in the
midst. It's that that guarantees his
presence. The gospel of sovereign grace and particular redemption
faithfully preached with Holy Spirit anointing is the Ark of
the Covenant. Where's the Ark of the Covenant
that was in the temple that was of such symbolic significance? It was the picture of the gospel. the presence of God with his
people, the mercy seat covering the law which we've broken, the
manor that's sent down from heaven, Aaron's rod that budded. All of those things were in it,
and it was a picture of the gospel. But we don't physically have
it now. You know, the films like Indiana Jones and the Raiders
of the Lost Ark, all seeking to find the Ark of the Covenant,
and fictitious, elaborate nonsense like that. No, no, we don't find
the presence of God in physical things, it's spiritual. See what
Jesus said in John chapter 4 and verse 21. Jesus said to the woman
by the well in Samaria, who he'd asked for a drink and she was
surprised that he, a Jew, spoke to her, a Samaritan. He said,
woman, believe me, The hour cometh when ye shall neither in this
mountain nor yet at Jerusalem worship the Father. You see,
she'd said, oh, I perceive, because he told her that she had five
husbands and the one she's got now was not her own. He'd pointed
out her sin and she said, I perceive that you're a prophet. Let's
talk about where we should worship. Our fathers worshipped in this
mountain and you say that Jerusalem's the place where men ought to
worship. And Jesus said to her, woman, believe me, This is the
Son of God come from heaven speaking. Woman, believe me, the hour is
coming when ye shall neither in this mountain nor yet at Jerusalem
worship the Father. In other words, place doesn't
matter. Ye worship ye know not what. We know what we worship,
we Jews, for salvation is of the Jews, for they have the oracles
of God. He says this, but the hour comes, is coming, and now
is When true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth, for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
God is spirit, and they that worship him must worship him
in spirit and in truth. Do you worship God in spirit
and in truth? Do you worship God in that way,
or do you go to a place because you think you'll find him there?
If the latter, you need to think again in the light of this message.
Be in no doubt, God views all man's religion with contempt,
other than that which is solidly based on the foundation, the
cornerstone, the chief cornerstone of Jesus Christ. So let's move
on. The blessings of grace. God tells
us in verses one and two that it isn't in man-made temples
that God is found, but look, where does he say in verse two?
All those things my hand has made and all those things have
been, says the Lord. Listen, but to this man will
I look, this one, this person will I look, even to him that
is poor and of a contrite spirit and trembleth at my word. That's
not very impressive, is it? somebody who's really, really
way down, poor and contrite spirit, trembling at the Word of God.
That's why God says he will look, that's why God says he will be
found in his people, people like them, which are his people, that
he has brought to forsake all self-dependence. If you know
God, he has brought you Truly He has brought you to forsake
all self-dependence, that you are righteous in some way, that
you have done something, that you have a tradition that God
will respect, that you go to a church building that God will
respect, that the things you do are things that God likes
you to do. No, no, no, no. Poor. Blessed are the poor in
spirit. They shall see God. Blessed are
the meek. They shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those
that are persecuted for my sake. Read again the Beatitudes of
the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5. The poor and contrite spirit
trembling at his word. How do we tremble at his word?
We feed on it. We rejoice in it. But we know
whose word it is. We know it is the word of the
living God. We know it is the word of the one who said, let
there be light, and there was light. It is the word of him
who said, let all of these things be created. It's the word of
him who made everything that we see. This is who it is trembling
at his word. He is God. And fearing God is
the beginning of wisdom. It's the beginning of knowledge.
It's the beginning of understanding about eternity. The fear of God. Why? Because the Spirit has told
us what we are and what he is. Something of it at any rate.
And we reverence God. It's not a fear of judgment if
you're in Christ, but it is a reverence of God. And we learn God's wisdom
and God's knowledge in Christ. For why? In Christ are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. If you would know about eternity,
if you would know about God and you say, oh, well, we pray for
this religion and that because they're all coming to the same
God. No, they're not. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the
life. And no man comes to the Father, but by me. So I don't
care what your religion is. If you attempt to come to God
other than by the Lord Jesus Christ, you will fail. And you
will be found out in that day, in that day of judgment. No,
God is not found in the proud and the self-righteous. No, he's
found in the people, the multitude that he loved before time. In
the people that Christ redeemed in the middle of time when he
came. in the people that the Holy Spirit brings from being
children of wrath even as others to those who are alive with the
new birth from on high. He quickens them, each one in
their own experience, of saving grace. And he qualifies his people
for the kingdom of God, for eternity. And he destines his people for
eternal bliss. This is his eternal purpose,
by gracious salvation. This is the true temple of God. Let me refer you to Ephesians,
chapter 2. In Ephesians chapter 2 and verse
19, Paul writes to the believing Gentiles in Ephesus, he writes
this, Now therefore you, believing Ephesian Gentiles, are no more
strangers and foreigners, that means from the kingdom of God,
but fellow citizens of the kingdom of God with the saints and of
the household of God, all of God's people. And you are built
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, their doctrine.
You're built upon the foundation of the doctrine of the apostles
and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone,
in whom all the building That's built upon. All the building,
fitly framed together, groweth into an holy temple in the Lord.
He's speaking of the church, which is the spiritual realisation
of what the Old Testament temple in all its glory faintly pictured,
but the Church is the true realisation of it, in whom ye are also built
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." That's
it now. Your cathedrals and things like
that, they're not the habitation of God through the Spirit, but
the Church is. This is where God truly inhabits,
in Zion and in her children. Look at verse 8, Who hath heard
such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Shall
the earth be made to bring forth in one day, or shall a nation
be born at once? For as soon as Zion travailed,
she brought forth her children. That's a kind of a metaphorical
picture of Zion, which is the church, pictured in Revelation
as the woman of Revelation 12 verse 1, bringing forth children,
believers. Believers are born in the church,
they're born in the company, in the body of God's people.
The church is the woman that gives birth to the children of
God, is what the scriptural picture is. In verses 10 to 14 It's a
picture of rejoicing. Rejoice with Jerusalem, be glad
with her, all ye that love her. Rejoice for joy with her, all
ye that mourn for her. It's a picture of satisfaction.
I won't go through the detail because of the sake of time,
but it's all about the blessings of Christ for Gentile children
born into Zion. Zion. It's not just restricted
to Jews, it's Jews and Gentiles, without that barrier being between
them, because it's the one gospel, the one and only gospel. There
is not a way to God for Jews and a separate way for Gentiles.
No. Look at verse 14. And when you see this, your heart
shall rejoice and your bones shall flourish like an herb.
And the hand of the Lord shall be known towards his servants
for good and his indignation towards his enemy. God makes
his hand known for good toward his servants. Is that not a blessed
thing to know? You know, wherever you are, whatever
your situation, our friends in Australia, surrounded by the
fires at the moment, God makes his hand known toward his servants,
and that's for good. Jeremiah 29 verse 11, God says,
I know to his people, he says, I know the thoughts that I think
toward you, saith the Lord. Thoughts of peace and not of
evil to give you an expected end. And it goes on at the end
of verse 19, they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles and
they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord
out of all nations. about the church is poetic metaphorical
language but it's talking about the church bringing an offering
in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord in that our worship
of God through Christ is clean and acceptable in his sight and
not only that you know in the Old Testament in the Jewish order
of things it was only the Levites the sons of Aaron who were allowed
to be priests in that Mosaic order in that Jewish order the
Levites were the priests they were the ones that had to proclaim
the word of the Lord and to preach and to teach. And God says I
will take from amongst these new Gentile children that are
being born into the church, I will take for them priests and for
Levites, I will make them the ones who speak on my behalf and
do my service and do my ministry. God does all of this. A worldwide
church, acceptable worship in the house of the Lord, a clean
offering in the house of the Lord, which is the church of
the living God. With God-appointed priests, preachers,
pastors, teachers, as Ephesians chapter 4 says about the ministry
gifts, God gave these ministry gifts, earthen vessels in which
is the treasure of eternal life, accomplishing God's eternal purpose
of grace. And he goes on about the going
on into eternity, the perpetual Sabbath bliss of rest in Christ. People, especially religious
people, if they know about us here at Neville's Grace Church,
meeting where we do, in a house, they think we're a very odd sect.
what would they say? They say, well you've got no
building for one thing, you've got no proper minister, you haven't
got a vicar, somebody who's properly ordained by proper ecclesiastical
authority, authorised to preach, you haven't got a priest, oh,
you haven't got a programme of social activity to make the world
a better place. The man who preaches for you
has no Bible college education and qualification. But compare
what we are, and fellowships like us, and those who join with
us, compare what we are, sinners saved by grace, gathering in
Christ's name to worship and proclaim His truth. Compare what
we are and what we seek to do with what Isaiah 66 says. And
ask, where are you most likely to find Him truly, to find His
truth? This is not by way of self-congratulation,
because I remind us it's the poor and the contrite in spirit
that tremble at his word, but it is to warn, as Paul did in
2 Thessalonians, which we read earlier, about false religion
and its corruption. We must avoid the false, because
be sure to understand This is a critical message for you today,
for me today, for all who hear it today. This is a critical
message. It's an eternal divide of mankind. You know the division is not
between Iranians and Americans. The division is not between the
Chinese and the Russians. It isn't world political divisions
at all. It isn't even in this country
between those who want to leave the European Union and those
that want to remain. It isn't at all. It's a critical
message of eternal life and eternal damnation. And that's the truth. And you say, oh, don't use such
harsh words. I'm being no more harsh than this book is, because
that's exactly what it says. There's a warning of judgment.
Look at verses five and six. Hear the word of the Lord. Ye
that tremble at his word, your brethren that hated you, that
cast you out for my name's sake, said, let the Lord be glorified,
but he shall appear to your joy, and they shall be ashamed. A
voice of noise from the city, a voice from the temple, a voice
of the Lord that rendereth recompense to his enemies. You see, it's
a message of judgment. It's a message of judgment. God
renders recompense to his enemies. Who is God's enemy? You know we often sing about
the wicked. In the eyes of God, what is wickedness? What is it to be the enemy of
God? Shall I tell you? I'll tell you. It's the one that
calls God a liar. How do you call God a liar? You
call God a liar when you refuse to believe his word. When you
try to appease rebellious man. When you cling to your false
gods, your idols, in your mind and elsewhere. When you refuse
to answer God's call because he says I called and none did
answer. That's what God says. All shall bow the knee and confess
Christ as Lord. Stephen mentioned it in his prayer.
It's true, it's the message of scripture. But be in no doubt,
God will judge and will punish sin. Verse 24, the very last
verse of the book. They shall go forth and look
upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against
me. For their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire
be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
there's a chilling warning there about the certainty that God
must punish all sin and he will punish you for yours if Christ
has not already borne its punishment up at Calvary. God will be vindicated. Those he has redeemed will look
upon the punishment enacted, as we read here, with a sense
of true, divine justice accomplished, and with unending gratitude for
the salvation with which he has brought them out of that condemnation. You say, well I'm not sure whether
he'll do this, is he just bluffing? Do you know, because of that,
God has left us some examples. Think of the days of Noah and
of the flood. And God said he would take away
all flesh because of its sin. And you know what he did? in
a day when they were scoffing and disbelieving and refusing
to hear the message of that preacher of righteousness, Noah, who preached
for 120 years while the ark was being built that God had specified
to escape. And he preached and preached
against them, and he warned them to come in, and they laughed
him to scorn. And in that one day, God shut
that ate and those animals in the ark. He shut them in, God
shut them in and God flooded the earth and He took them all
away in a moment. Think about Sodom and Gomorrah
in the days of Abraham in the plains in the Middle East and
there they were in their absolute evil practices exactly as they
are today. That which were meant in our
evil society to count as good and clean and wholesome God said
was absolutely vile and abomination and for their sin he took them
away in a day. In a day, he took them away.
He showed that he would do it. He said repeatedly about Israel
that they would go into captivity if they followed their idolatry
and they wouldn't believe him and they thought they could get
away with it and they carried on in their schemes and he sent
Nebuchadnezzar and carried them all away and overran their society. And think about this for an example,
about God punishing sin. If you are a believer, if you're
a believer, think about this. God didn't ignore your sin. If
you're a believer, God put your sin on the Lord Jesus Christ,
the perfect Lamb of God, and poured out his wrath to the very
last dregs of the cup on him that it all might be paid, that
his people might go free. This is a message from God, from
heaven. Is it not wise to take heed,
how you hear, Amen.