You will find three words in
the 21st chapter of Isaiah's gospel that I trust before you
leave here this evening will be three of the most precious
words you've ever heard. I pray that they will be so inscribed
upon your heart that they cause you to dance before the Lord. Three words you probably have
never paid attention to before. with three words of tremendous
delight. Keter shall fail. Keter shall
fail. That's my subject. In this short
chapter, excuse me, Isaiah 21, God's prophet faithfully declares
the burden of Babylon in verses one through 10. The burden of
Duma, in verses 11 and 12, and the burden of Arabia in verses
13 and 14. Let me summarize the message
of those three burdens. The burden of Babylon assures
us of the fall of Babylon, the fall of our soul's enemy, of
all the confusion of this world, particularly of the religion
of this world. And it assures us of the deliverance
of God's Israel from all bondage and from all evil. The burden
of Duma in verses 11 and 12 shows us the need and work of faithful
watchmen in this dark, dark night. And then the burden of Arabia
assures us of the preservation, the protection of, provision
for God's elect always in all things in Christ Jesus. God provides for, God protects,
and God preserves his elect through all the affairs of time before
conversion and And God preserves, protects, and provides for his
elect in all times after we have been called by his grace. Let's
read verses 13 through 17 together. The burden of Arabia. In the
forest of Arabia shall ye lodge, O traveling companies of Dedanim. The inhabitants of the land of
Tima brought water to him that was thirsty. They prevented,
or they went before with their bread, him that fled. For they fled from the swords,
from the drawn sword, from the bent bow, and from the grievousness
of war. For thus hath the Lord said unto
me, within a year, according to the years of an hireling,
and all the glory of Keter shall fail. and the residue of the
number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Cedar
shall be diminished. For the Lord God of Israel had
spoken it. Now, if you're like I am, you
read a prophecy like this and you wonder, why Spirit of God
have you written these words for us? What's their significance? What's their message? What do
they mean? The Arabians, spoken of in verse
13, were Hagareens. They joined with Edom, Moab,
and Ishmaelites in their hostility against God and his people. God's Israel, God's church. They
formed a confederacy with all who opposed God and all who opposed
his people, determined to destroy his chosen and thus to obliterate
the name of our God from the earth. Hagar, the bondwoman,
and her son Ishmael have always hated and sought to destroy Sarah,
the married wife, and her son Isaac. Relations chapter four
gives us an allegory of how they're used in just that way. That's
the way it has been, that's the way it is, and that's the way
it shall be until time shall be no more. Hagar and her son,
the bond woman, and her son Ishmael, have always opposed Sarah, the
married wife, and her son Isaac, the child of promise. That's
the way it is. That's the way it has been. And
that's the way it will be until time shall be no more. Expect
no friendship with the world. Expect no friendship with those
who oppose God hold your hands here and turn back to Psalm 83
Psalm 83 Here how the psalmist speaks
in this psalm to the Lord God concerning this warfare this
opposition Psalm 83 verse 1 Keep not thou silence. Oh God Hold
not thy peace and be not still, O God. For lo, thine enemies
make a tumult, and they that hate thee have lifted up the
head. They have taken crafty counsel
against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They
have said, come, and let us cut them off from being a nation,
that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they
have consulted together with one consent, their confederate
against thee, the tabernacles of Edom and Ishmaelites, of Moab
and the Hagarins, of Jebel and Ammon and Amalek, the Philistines
with the inhabitants of Tyre. Asher also is joined with them.
They have hopened the children of Lot. do unto them as unto the Midianites,
as to Sisera, as to Jabin at the brook of Kishon, which perished
at Endor, they became as dung for the earth. Make their nobles
like Oreb and like Zeab, yea, all their princes as Zeba and
Zalmonah, who said, let us take to ourselves the houses of God
in possession. Oh my God. Make them like a wheel,
as the stubble before the wind, as the fire burneth the wood,
as the flame setteth the mountains on fire. So persecute them with
thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm. Fill their faces
with shame, that they may seek thy name, O Lord. That is that
your elect among them may seek your name. That your elect among
them may be called by your grace. But it goes on to pray. Let them
be confounded and troubled forever. Yea, let them be put to shame
and perish. That men may know that thou,
whose name alone is Jehovah, art the most high over all the
earth. I'm back here in our text. The
dead are not spoken of in this portion of scripture. were the
descendants of Abraham by Keturah. They were among the Arabians
traveling companies lodging in the forest of Arabia. Unless
I'm mistaken, the Spirit of God here uses them to portray God's
elect in this world. God's elect found among those
who are his enemies. God's elect found among those
who are the offcast of the world, offcast of society, the offcast
of God himself, but God's elect found among them. God uses these
deadenites to portray his elect in the world. They are a traveling
company, passing through the world. They're found even among
the Arabians. even among the Arabians. The
Arabians have historically been what they are today. And I choose
my words deliberately. I don't wish to paint with a
broad brush anything that sounds like racism or bigotry. The fact is
there are things that are true about people. The Arabians have
always been what they are today. A warring people who can't be
trusted as far as you can spit on. That's what they have always
been. And our politicians fool themselves
and you are fooled by them if you think otherwise. God's people,
however, are found even among them. I have some friends saved
by God's free grace, made new creatures in Christ, who were
found among Arabians. These Dedanims, God's people,
lodge in the dark forest of Arabia, both those who are yet to be
called and those who have been called. The inhabitants of Tima
bring God's chosen bread and water as they need it, we're
told in verse 14. you may recall is mentioned by
Habakkuk in Habakkuk chapter 3. He says, God came from Timon,
that's the same place. And I've often wondered, why
did Habakkuk write that? What's he talking about? The
words may be translated as a prayer because it is the prayer of Habakkuk,
and Habakkuk is praying, God, come from Teman. Either way,
he's asking for or declaring that God showed his great grace,
his great glory, his great wisdom, his minute providence in coming
from Teman to the aid of his people. Here Isaiah speaks of
that very thing. protecting his elect, preserving
his chosen. God uses his most implacable
enemies and ours for our good and his glory. And when their
service to our souls is ended, he promises to destroy every
foe. Let me repeat that. God uses
His most implacable enemies and ours, for our good and His glory. And when their service to our
souls is ended, He promises to destroy them. That's the message
of Isaiah 21, 13, 14, and 15. Then in verses 16 and 17, the
Lord gives us this sweet, sweet promise. For thus hath the Lord said unto
me, within a year, according to the years of an hireling,
and all the glory of Keter shall fail. All that makes Keter so
impressive, all her wealth, all her power, all her might, all
that's appealing about her shall fail. And the residue of the
number of archers, the mighty men of the children of Keter,
those who pulled out their swords, and are ready to slay you. Those
who have bent their bows and had their arrows sharply aimed
at you, the mighty men of the children of Keter shall be diminished,
brought to nothing. For the Lord God of Israel has
spoken it. Keter shall fail. Let me show
you if I can the sweetness, the joy and the blessedness of this
promise. It is a promise of God that I
have read dozens, if not hundreds of times in the past 50 years,
but a promise I'd never heard until just a few weeks ago. I
read it dozens, if not hundreds of times, but never heard God
speak the promise in 50 years until just a few weeks ago. And
what a joy it has been to my soul in preparing this message.
Keter was the son of Ishmael. His name means blackness or dark-skinned. The children of Keter were nomadic
people. They dwelt in tents that they
carried with them from place to place. Tents made from the
hair of animals. And those tents over a period
of time had got dirty. They're outward covering, just
dirty. So to the natural eye, to the
man passing by, those tents of Keter looked like ugly, dirty,
filthy tents. Black, black. Horribly unappealing
to anyone. The children of Israel, or children
of Keter, like Ishmael their father, were wild, barbaric,
warring people. Muslim genealogist traced the
descent of Muhammad from Ishmael through Keter. And throughout
the scriptures, Keter is used to speak of three things, filth,
darkness, and trouble. Filth, darkness, and trouble. David lamented in Psalm 120,
woe is me. that I sojourn in Meshach, that
I dwell in the tents of Keter. But I find no indication anywhere
in scripture, no indication anywhere that David ever dwelt literally
among those people. What does he mean then? Woe is
me that I sojourn in Meshach, that I dwell in the tents of
Keter. He uses the words Meshach and Keter allegorically. In Psalm
120 in verse 5, this is what he's saying. Woe is me, for I
dwell among ignorant, barbaric, warring, filthy idolaters. Woe is me. My life is a life
among ignorant, warring, barbaric, idolaters. Now, let's look at
Isaiah 7, or 21, Verses 13-17 and let me show you four things
I trust God will use for your soul's good. Number one, God's elect in this world are
like the traveling companies of dead and God's church, though
one, is described here as companies, plural, because some of God's
church are yet to be called. Others have been called. Our
Savior said, other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them
also I must bring. They're already his sheep. They're
already one with him. They're already united to him
in covenant mercy from eternity, but they haven't yet been called.
Others have been called, and there shall be one fold and one
shepherd. God's church travels through this world in all the
ages of time. so that we can hardly get our
minds around such things, but the church that has preceded
us in this world, and we are one. The church triumphant in
glory, and we, militant upon the earth, are one body, one
people, and yet we travel as companies through this world.
And God's church is found in all nations among all people. We find God's elect everywhere,
God's people everywhere. And all who are one with Christ,
all who are washed in his blood, born of his spirit, called by
his grace, all who believe on the son of God are his church
and his people. And God's church is made up of
many companies, many congregations. So I was preparing this message,
trying to find a way to illustrate what I'm talking about. Of course,
you know the church in Lexington, and the church in Ashton, and
the church down in College Grove, and the church in Dingus. You
know those churches, but I have some friends that you don't know.
I have visited them regularly over the years. There's some
churches in Mexico. Their pastors are friends of
mine. And I visit those congregations.
I have over the years many, many times. They too are God's church. We are one body in Christ Jesus
and yet many distinct congregations. So we're a traveling company
through this world. Even before they're born again
and called by his grace, sinners are under God's care, secretly
cared for by Him. One of the wonders I'm sure to
be, that will be revealed to us in heaven's glory is how God
has worked for us secretly before we knew Him. His church, even
before saved by his grace, are sanctified by God the Father
and preserved in Jesus Christ unto the day of their calling.
But here Isaiah is talking about those already numbered among
the saints. Let us who are gods never fail
to remember, to deliberately remember and give thanks to God
for the blessings that are ours in Christ Jesus. chosen of God to be his own in
everlasting love. Redeemed you are by the precious
blood of God's dear Son. Jesus Christ, the Son of God
died for you because of his love for you. Born again, called by
God's free grace, made the sons and daughters of God Almighty.
and through all the days of our sojourn kept, kept by the power
of His grace. So many we have seen and loved
and cared for, embraced as our brethren Brother Rex just read
Philemon and at the end of the chapter, he spoke of Demas and
giving greetings by Demas to the saints in Philemon's household.
And later, Paul had to write concerning that man whom he so
greatly loved, Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present
world. How many we have seen to whom
our hearts have been knit, who have fallen by the wayside, having
loved this present world, because they were not kept by the power
of God, by the power of his grace. God did not do for them what
he's done for Bill Raleigh. He'd given you faith in Christ
and keeps giving it to you. And that's the only reason you're
sitting here now. Here Isaiah describes us as a
people passing through hostile enemy territory, as the traveling
companies of Deuteronomy. God, I repeat, has his elect
in every nation, every kindred, every tribe, every tongue. Christ
has his redeemed out of all the families of the earth, even out
of the sons and daughters of Ishmael. We are all, after all,
warring Ishmaelites by nature, but we've been sought out, called,
and made new in Christ Jesus. Turn to a couple of passages
in Isaiah 62, Isaiah 62, verse four. The Lord God promises, thou shalt
no more be termed forsaken. Neither shall thy land any more
be turned desolate. That's what the whole Gentile
world was before God sent his grace to us. But thou shalt be
called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah, for the Lord delighteth
in thee, and thy land shall be married. Verse 10, go through,
go through the gates, Prepare ye the way of the people. Cast
up, cast up the highway. Clear the road for them. Gather
out the stones. Lift up a standard for the people.
Behold, the Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, say
ye to the daughter of Zion, behold, thy salvation cometh. Behold,
his reward is with him and his work before him. And they shall
call them, we who are by nature Gentiles, by nature desolate,
by nature cast off, by nature aliens from the promises of God,
aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, but now made his Zion. This is the name by which we're
called, the holy people. The redeemed of the Lord. And
thou shalt be called sought out. A city not forsaken. Thanks be unto God. This world
is not our home. We're just passing through. We
ought to act like it. Being sought out, called, redeemed
by God's grace, you and I are pilgrims passing through a land
that does not want us and we do not want. A land that does not want us,
and we do not want. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the
love of the Father is not in him. The things of this world ought
to be of little concern to you and I who are pilgrims going
through this world. While we're here, we ought to
be the best citizens there are in the world. While we're here,
we ought to do everything we can good for the people among
whom we live. While we're here, we seek the
salvation of God's elect among these people. But we are not
here to stay. We're just passing through. Now,
my wife is not quite like I am. If we go places and we often
do and stay in a motel room somewhere and things aren't just right,
she gets busy and straightens it up. I can stay in the motel
room and look at a crooked picture hanging on the wall for a week.
Doesn't bother me a bit in the world. Doesn't bother me a bit
in the world. But how can you live in that?
I'm not living in it, I'm just sleeping there. I'm just sleeping
there. Now here where I live, the crooked
picture gets straightened out right now. But just passing through. Man, that furniture, that's got
a broken leg on it. That's all right, I'll sit in
the other chair. I'll just sit in the other, no matter, it's
insignificant. Oh God, teach me. So to live
in this world. But so long as we're passing
through this land, the very people of the land who greatly despise
us are made by God to be our protectors and our providers. I've bitten off here more than
I can chew, I know. And I've said more than I can
possibly explain, I'm fully aware. But we need to be aware of it.
In every nation in the Western world, the trend for the last
50 years or more has been to enact laws in opposition to religion,
particularly in opposition to what's called Christianity. And
frankly, I have no sympathy for what's called Christianity. But
those things enacted against what's called Christianity are
enacted against you and me. The laws are designed to silence
God's word in our generation and in our world. But little
do they know it, those who are our confederated enemies, are
our protectors and our providers by God's hand. And I don't know
how all that works, but I know it does. Our great God displays
his providence in a special, unique way that no one can see
except those who see it by believing his word. Do you really believe
that all things All things, when they enact laws to promote sodomy,
when our legislators enact laws in the name of love to promote
the slaughter of babies, when folks enact laws to oppose the
name of God and the truth of God and the word of God, do you
suppose really those are good for us? What does the book say,
Brother Lindsay? All things, work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. Our God causes the very people
who despise us and despise him. Those very people who would rid
the world of his name and rid the world of us, he causes them
to be our helpers, our protectors, and our providers. Look at verse
14. The inhabitants of the land of Tima came out to these traveling
companies of Didyonyms. The inhabitants of the land of
Tima saw God's people thirsty and hungry. So they brought water
to him that was thirsty. They prevented him with their
bread. They prevented with their bread
him that fled. whether they did so purposefully
or not is irrelevant. Whether they intended to do so
or not is totally irrelevant. Edom and the Ishmaelites, Moab
and the Hagarins, Jebel, Ammon and Amalek, and all the Philistines
with the inhabitants of Tyre were enemies, constant foes.
Yet they were instruments by which the Lord God did his people
good. turn back and read again. We've
read it several times in recent months. Read again the twelfth
chapter of the book of Revelation, the twelfth chapter of the book
of Revelation. God secretly manipulates the
thoughts of so that the king's heart is in the hand of the Lord.
And like rivers of water, he turns it whithersoever he will
for the good of his people. The Lord God puts it in the minds
of Egyptians. Egyptians who despise his people. Egyptians who want nothing more
than for his people to be gone. Egyptians who would if they could
utterly destroy Israel. God puts it in their mind to
give the children of Israel all the gold and silver they would
need for all their journeying through the wilderness for 40
years. Now, they didn't just say, well,
we've hated these Israelites for 400 years. Our fathers hated
them, and they hated our fathers, and we want to kill them, but
you know, we ought to be nice to them. Let's take care of them
while they're out in the wilderness. No, no, nothing could have been
further from their minds, but God put it in their minds to
take care of them. The Lord God had Paul, his apostle
on a ship, Arrested, going to Rome. Oh,
what a horrible thing. He's in a storm, a terrible storm. And everybody wanted to abandon
the ship, and God said, Paul, see to it, nobody leaves the
ship, just get rid of all the cargo. And we let her ride, and
the ship broke up. And they go to Malita, modern
Malta. Why on this earth? Why? Because
there was some barbarian heathen, tribesmen there, barbarians,
and the chieftain among them was chosen of God in the time
of mercy had come. All this for Paul and for his
church. The earth always helps God's
people. The world always helps God's
people, even when she snarls and growls and grinds her teeth
and would destroy. Look at Revelation 12, verse
6. The woman fled into the wilderness, for she hath a place prepared
of God that they should feed her 1,203 score days. I'm not
much concerned about what the 1,203 203 score days represent. I'm real
happy that they should feed her the whole time. Feed her, who? The people of the world. Look
down at verse 14. And to the woman were given two
wings of a great eagle that she fly into the wilderness into
her place where she is nourished for time and times and a half
a time from the face of the serpent. Verse 16, and the earth helped
the woman. And the earth opened her mouth
and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth
against the woman. Still, we must never imagine
that those who oppose our God are our friends. God's church
is always the object of implacable anger and hatred. While we live
in this world, swords are drawn against us. Bows are bent toward
us. And we're relentlessly involved
in the grievousness of war. Now listen to me. but only for
a set time. The prophet said within a year,
that's 12 months, that's 365 days, that's a specific limited
time, within a year, according to the years of an hireling, a hireling. Oh, I wonder what
that is, that's mysterious isn't it? Not too mysterious, not too
mysterious. You hire a fella on a temporary
basis and you hire him for a specific amount of time, for a specific
job and when his day or days of work are done, he's dismissed. So it is with the peoples of
this world. Within a year, according to the
years of a hireling, they're gone. And the glory of Keter
shall fail. Now let me show you a second
thing. I'll be very brief. So long as we are in this world,
God's people must dwell in the black tents of Keter. Now let's turn to that passage
I referred to earlier, Psalm 120. Psalm 120. We are in Keter, and Keter is in us. Almost all
religious people recognize that we are in Keter, in the world,
in the world. What most of them fail to recognize
is that Keter is in us. You and I know better. We dwell
in the blackness, darkness, and filth of our sinful flesh. And
all the blackness, darkness, and filth of the flesh dwells
in us. That's just the way it is. Psalm
120, verse 5. Woe is me. that I sojourn in Meshach, that
I dwell in the tents of Keter. Meshach was a son of Japheth. Keter was of Ishmael, whose hand
was against every man and every man's hand against him. There
are no geographical connections to be found between the two people.
Meshach was in the north, Keter was in the south. The connection
is only a connection of character. They were both fierce, warring,
barbarian idolaters. David here laments the fact that
he lived constantly with a savage, barbaric, ignorant, idolatrous
people, men of Meshach and Keter. Calvin calls them false brethren
and a bastard race of Abraham. by whom David was relentlessly
molested and tormented. That's a pretty good picture
of our flesh. In the psalm of Solomon, chapter
one, verse five, God's church speaks honestly about herself.
She says, I am black. Black as the tents of Keter. And so we are. Believers, true believers, are
a people who acknowledge and confess their sin. They don't
hide it, they don't cover it, they don't excuse it. We acknowledge
that sin is what we are by nature. Sin is what we do. Sin is the
habit of our lives. I'm black. Black as the tents
of Keter. There is no evil in humanity
that is not in me. I call God as my witness. And I can't tell you, Billy,
how soberly I do that. I call God as my witness. I want
to be otherwise, but sin is what I am. So much
so that though I have been born again by the Spirit of God and
while black as the tents of Keter, I'm as comely, as perfect as
the golden curtains of Solomon. Comely, beautiful, perfect. Perfect by the work of Christ
performed for me and in me by his grace. So that at the same
time, God's people are both altogether sinful and altogether holy. That old man, That which is born
of the flesh, that which is of the devil, that old man, just
see it. That new man is a man in whom
there is no sin and a man who cannot see it, a man perfectly
righteous. But because these two natures
are in this one man, everything I do, everything I think, Everything
I experience is marred and corrupted by sin. Everything. If these hands touch it, these
hands defile it. That's just fact. And you know
it's fact. The believer is a man or woman
at war with himself continually. Flesh lusting against spirit
and spirit against the flesh. And these two are contrary one
to the other. And it continues that way as
long as we live in this world, dwelling in Moshech, in the tents
of Keter. We pray or try to. We read the word of God. We try
to serve him, we come here to worship him. It's just sin. So that we need
our high priest with the crown on his head and blazing holiness
to the Lord. so that he may bear the iniquity
of our holy things for us. And we, being what we are, recognize
that our gifts, our sacrifices, our services, our attempts to
worship are accepted to God only by Christ Jesus. Black as the
tents of Keter. Brother Todd and I but and I
have often discussed this we're talking about it just again this
week and I I Gave him an illustration of what I'm talking about Over
in Europe some of you been there most of the places we visit they
have a strange custom I'm sure the purpose is to make you when
you shave in the mornings keeps you from running hot water. So
you don't and run out of water, as if we were going to. But folks
are scared we're gonna run out of water, so you have to put
water in the bowl and let it run in there, because they run
the water hot on this side, cold on that side. But we do that
here. No, we don't. They run it out of a faucet there
and another faucet there, just like we used to when I was a
boy. Very few of them are mixed together. We have a better way
of doing it. We run the hot water and the
cold water out of the same faucet. That's a pretty good description
of everything we are and everything we do. The evil and the good. The sin and the righteousness. The old man and the new. Function
in this body that soon Bless God, we'll be dissolved. Here's
the third thing. Though we dwell in the black
tents of Keter, every heaven-born soul in this world is comparable
to the golden curtains of Solomon. I am black, but comely as the
tents of Keter, as the curtains of Solomon. I am comely as the
curtains of Solomon. Listen to these words. This is
how the Lord Jesus describes his church. Behold, thou art
fair, my love. Behold, thou art fair. Thou hast
dove's eyes within thy locks. Thy hair is a flock of goats
that appear from Mount Gilead. That's Christ's estimate of his
people. That's our comfort. That's our
joy. A faithful, loving wife does
not find her joy, her delight, her comfort in what other people
think about her, what other people say about her, how other people
see her, but if her husband delights in her. If he sees her in her
beauty, if he rejoices in her, if he commends her, then she
is comforted as a wife and delighted as a wife. She doesn't find her
joy in what she sees herself to be, but in what he perceives
her to be. Here's our joy. Here's our delight. The Lord Jesus says to you, to
me, thou art all fair, my love, my dove, my undefiled, there
is no spot in thee. And the beauty we have is his
beauty that he has put upon us. One more thing. Verses 16 and
17 of Isaiah 21. Keter shall fail. Soon, very soon we shall be delivered
from Keter. I have a few friends who have
just recently been delivered from Keter. I'm so happy for
them. This warfare between flesh and
spirit will soon end. and it will end in glorious triumph
for us. The glory of Keter shall fail. Her mighty men brought to nothing. What's that talking about? It's
talking about what the Apostle Paul described in Romans chapter
seven. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death. I thank God through
Jesus Christ, our Lord. So with the mind, I myself serve
the law of God with the flesh, the law of sin. But there is
no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus who walk
not after the flesh, but after the spirit and soon we shall
be delivered into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. Cedar shall fail. Amen.