So come with me to Isaiah 28
as Peter said in his prayer such a profound chapter and does it
not always feel you know when you read these the scriptures
of the false sects you know like the Book of Mormon and the other
bits and pieces I won't go into details but you know they just
ring of being untrue of being man-made whereas you touch this
and like the jeweler finding the pearl of greatest price you
know this has got all the hallmarks of being the Word of God. The
gospel we saw last week gospel trumpet sounding at the end of
chapter 27. And I said then, the desire of
all true believers, all who have truly trusted Christ and believed
his gospel as the Scriptures declare it, the fullness of the
Scriptures declare it, not the man-made version, not the man-edited
version, is that others might hear the gospel trumpet and might
rest and have peace with God. And so we witness, and so we
preach. God tells us, go into all the
world, preach the gospel. We declare it. We declare gospel
truth. We don't offer something, we
declare gospel truth. We declare that which God has
revealed in his word. We say, thus says the Lord, this
is what God says, this is what he has done. And we trust God. We trust God, the Holy Spirit,
to give repentance and faith to the elect of God, who are
scattered thinly throughout the earth. Oh, you say, oh, you've
made up that doctrine, that's a bit extreme, isn't it? No,
Acts 13, 48. they preach the gospel and it says those that
were ordained to eternal life believed. How clear can that
be? What ambiguity is there? Come
on, you who doubt it, you who preach another gospel and another
Christ, what ambiguity can there possibly be? We declare what
God has done and we leave it to the Holy Spirit for those
who are ordained by the sovereign electing grace of God of a multitude
that no man can number from every tribe and tongue and kindred
They believed because the Holy Spirit made them alive and gave
them what the natural man doesn't have, for the natural man can't
receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they're foolishness
to him, neither can he know them. But when the Holy Spirit gives
you that new nature, that rebirth, a man must be born again, they
can hear, they can see that which they couldn't see before, and
they believe it, and they grasp it, and it's the pearl of greatest
price, and they cling to it, And all of this frustrates Satan's
efforts because, do you know, Satan's desire is to bind and
captivate every man, woman, and child without exception. That's
his objective, to bind them in blindness to spiritual truth,
to blind them to the false notion that there is an eternal peace
of sorts, whether it's annihilation or whether it's some false view
of heaven, that there is an eternal peace of sorts that has no need
for divine justice, and yet the Scriptures declare there is no
such thing. The justice of God must be satisfied, must be satisfied. That's Satan's effort, and God
frustrates it. How does God frustrate it? Revelation
6. He sends forth four horses as
the scrolls are opened, and what's the first one, do you remember?
The white horse. What is the white horse? The
white horse is the gospel. of sovereign grace going forth
in the world. And that white horse touches
swathes of humanity. Even much wider than the elect
who believe, that white horse touches swathes of... Why is
there so much Christendom? Why are there so many denominations
with all of their erroneous teaching? It's because the white horse
has touched them in some way, touched them with religion. That's
why there's so much religion in the world. But it isn't saving
faith. whereby rest is felt. You only
experience rest, verse 12, this is the rest wherewith ye may
cause the weary to rest. That rest is only felt by saving
faith. It's only that. That white horse
goes out and the gospel is preached and it's like Jesus said in the
parable of the sower. the parable of the sower. I'm
going to touch on a lot of things. Stick with it. Cling on. Stick
with it. Mull it over. Come back to it.
Think about it. But he said, when the gospel is preached,
it's like the sower going forth to scatter. You know, in the
old days, big bag of seed, not like the modern machinery. And
he'd scatter the seed, scatter it around. And Jesus said, some
fell on the footpath, the rock solid footpath. And he said,
some He said, when it fell on the footpath, the birds of the
air just came down and said, yum yum, let's have some of this.
The birds of the air came and ate it up and took it away. And
some fell amongst stony ground. And it germinated, it looked
like it was germinating, but as soon as it germinated, it
hit stones and rocks and its roots couldn't go down and it
went no further. And the sun came up and it withered
and perished. And some fell on what looked
like reasonably good ground, but it was riddled with weeds
and thorns and thistles. And as it started to grow, so
did the weeds, and they choked it, and it's like the cares of
the world choking that gospel that some receive. But some praise
God, fell on good ground, on good ground. And it grew, and
it brought forth fruit, some 30, some 50, some a hundredfold
fruit. That good ground is good ground
only by virtue of electing grace, the electing grace of God. What
sort of ground are we? What sort of ground am I? Am
I amongst that good ground that by God's electing sovereign grace,
he has brought to receive the gospel sown and in it to believe
it and embrace it. You see, all the others, they
seal their own condemnation by their rejection and their disdain
of God's gospel. This is what Jesus said. You
say that's a bit harsh, your doctrine's harsh. I say they
seal their own condemnation by their rejection and their disdain
for God's gospel. Listen to what Jesus said. He
who came down from heaven, John 3, 18, he that believeth on him,
he meant the Son, the Christ of God, he that believeth on
the Son, the Christ of God, is not condemned. Why is he not
condemned? Because he's justified by what that Son came to do.
He's justified by the doing and dying of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the promised Messiah, the anointed one of God. He's justified by
what he came to do in dealing with sin, in shedding his blood
to pay the price for sin, in making those people the righteousness
of God in him. He is not condemned because he
believes. The belief is the proof of his
not being condemned. But he that believeth not is
condemned already. He that believeth not is condemned
already. Isaiah was sent of God to preach
to his generation. His generation was about 700
BC, thereabouts, maybe a bit more than that. At the time,
the Assyrian Empire was in the ascendancy, it was great, Sennacherib,
Shalmaneser, all the... You go to the British Museum,
as I keep telling you, look around there, you can see it's all around
the 700 to 800 years BC. And we've got all those artifacts
in the British Museum, absolutely fabulous things to go and look
at stuff that's so old and yet this was the age in which Isaiah
was prophesying and he was sent to preach to his generation salvation
from condemnation. and peace with God in the Messiah. Is that not what he preached?
Right from the very start, is that not what he preached? A
virgin shall be with child and shall call his name Immanuel,
which is God with us. Is that not what Isaiah preached? Isaiah 7. He's coming. How are we going to be right
with God? Someone's coming. Someone's coming. A person is coming. Behold,
he says, the people that walked in darkness have seen a great
light, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given,
and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall
be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, the Everlasting Father.
the prince of peace. He's coming, the one who will
establish righteousness and save his people from their sins. And
Isaiah preached it. He blew the gospel trumpet of
Isaiah 27 verse 13, that great trumpet shall be blown and they
shall come. And people responded, but not
the majority. Not the majority. Like in our
day, isn't it? Look at us. Fear not, little
flock. Fear not, says Jesus. Fear not,
little flock. It always appears that the true
people of God are in a little flock. He even uses these days
to stop us being filled up with pride at having a great big congregation
in a flashy building. Because what's our congregation?
A few of us here, and many, many more scattered around in their
ones and twos. And maybe not even watching this
at the same time as us, but watching the recording. We're a minority. But the majority in our day,
the majority all around us, the majority that we come across
every day, are they not just like Isaiah 28 and verse 1? The crown of pride, the drunkards
of Ephraim, whose glorious beauty is as a fading flower. Verse
3, the crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim. Are they not like
the drunkards of Ephraim? So I want to look in the time
we have available at Isaiah 28 and see First of all, the Gospel
proclaimed. Secondly, its rejection by the
majority. And thirdly, God's response to
that rejection. First of all, then, the Gospel
proclaimed. Look at verse 16. Verse 16. You know, it says in the New
Testament about rightly dividing the word of truth. My prayer
is that in my preparation I've been able to rightly divide this
up, because I know it's there's 29 verses, we're not going to
go through it in sequence, we're going to take it in a way that
I think puts together a message that you can understand with
a logical structure. The Gospel proclaimed, verse
16, Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion
for a foundation stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation, he that believeth shall not make haste. He is the
foundation that is the basis of the rest of the refreshing
that we read about in verse 12. Isaiah, under the inspiration
of God, declares a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a person,
and he that believes in what he declares shall not make haste
or shall not be not be moved, in other scriptures it shall
not be confounded, shall not be ashamed. Now, turn with me,
because we see a lot about this cornerstone in scripture, to
1 Peter and chapter 2. 1 Peter, chapter 2 and verse
3, where Peter's writing to the scattered, the dispersed strangers,
those that are They don't fit into the world, is who he's writing
to, and that's you and me if we're believers in the Lord Jesus
Christ. And he tells us to lay aside all malice, and he says,
as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, and he says,
if so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom
coming? We come as unto a living stone. The Catholics tell us that that
living stone is Peter, the first pope. Peter was not the first
pope. When Jesus said, upon this rock I will build my church.
He wasn't meaning Peter, the first pope. He was meaning the
truth of Christ and the gospel of his grace. This is Peter himself
writing. He wouldn't say, as coming unto
me. He doesn't say that here. He says, as unto a living stone. He's speaking of Christ, disallowed
indeed of men, but chosen of God and precious. Who's he talking
about? The Lord Jesus Christ. Look,
ye also as lively stones, you each one are living stones, are
built upon that foundation stone. upon that living stone. A spiritual house, the kingdom
of God, the temple of God, the dwelling of God, on earth with
his people, that is built upon a foundation stone, a cornerstone. Everything else locks together,
but it must all link back to him. You are a holy priesthood,
to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore, also, it is contained
in the scripture, and this is our verse, Isaiah 28, 16, Behold,
I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious, and he that
believeth on him shall not be confounded. Who's he talking?
Jesus Christ is who he's talking about, the God-man, the one who
came. Unto you, therefore, which believe
and are built as the living house-temple of God upon that chief cornerstone.
Unto you therefore which believe He, Christ. That cornerstone
is precious. He's precious. He's of supreme
value. but unto them which be disobedient
the stone which the builders disallowed." To the religious
folks who build their own house, their own false house, and they
look at this cornerstone and they say, no, that's no good,
we're not having that, we'll have our own cornerstone. And
they reject him, they disallow him. but he's still made the
head of the corner. He's still the chief cornerstone.
And to them who reject, he is, verse eight, a stone of stumbling
and a rock of offense. You see, they reject him as the
chief cornerstone, but they trip over him. Just as Paul says to
the Corinthians about it being foolishness to the Greeks and
a stumbling block to the Jews. Foolishness, this idea of redemption
by shed blood. Foolishness to the Greeks, but
a stumbling block to the religious folks. They trip over it, even
to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient. Where,
listen, listen, whereunto also they were appointed. There's
the sovereignty of God. Oh, my friends, the religious
world hates that idea, but there it is clearly, isn't it? Here
is, God is sovereign in everything. Oh, you say that's not fair.
You go and argue it with God. That's what God declares. Whereunto
also they were appointed, but ye are a chosen generation, a
royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people. Okay, back
to Isaiah chapter 28. You see, the gospel is not just
a doctrine. It's not just a way of life.
It's a person. The Gospel is the Son of God.
The Gospel is the God-Man, Christ, God in flesh. For in Him dwelt
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. For in Him, being united with
Him, being eternally united with Him, in electing grace, I, a
sinner in the flesh, I, a sinner in the flesh, if I am in Christ,
I am made the righteousness of God in him. That's what his word
promises, that's what his word assures me. In him, resting on
him, by belief, by faith, anchored to him, the anchor for the soul,
all that the holy God who we must all face for it's appointed
to man to die once and then the judgment. All that the holy God
requires of me, the sinner, is perfectly provided in him, in
Christ. Resting in him, everything God
requires of me is provided in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is
the gospel. What does God require of me,
the sinner? He requires perfect righteousness,
for he won't let anything into heaven that defiles. He requires
me to be perfectly righteous, and I'll tell you what else he
requires. He requires me to die. For the soul that sins, it shall
die. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
his people. He shed his precious blood for
his people. He died that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. He died for the sins of his people,
which he was made so that justice justly punished him. And in punishing
him, justice was satisfied. And in the process, he made his
people the righteousness of God in him. And how do I know it?
As a sinner, how do I know it? Only by belief. I believe by
the gift of faith he has given. What do I believe? I believe
the whole counsel of God. Do I understand it all? No. Can
I recite it all? No. Is my memory flawed? Of course
it's flawed, but When I'm presented with any truth from the entirety
of this book, if I'm a true child of God, I believe it. I don't
put a big question mark over God who has revealed it. I believe
it. I believe the whole counsel of God. I believe God when he
says that those who rejected were appointed to it by the sovereignty
of God. I believe it when he says he's
a God of absolute sovereign grace. It is not of him that wills nor
of him that runs but of God who shows mercy. I believe it when
he says he died. Who for? His people. Who are
these people? The people the Father gave to
the Son in electing grace before the beginning of time. I believe
it when he says that those who were ordained to eternal life
believed when the gospel was preached. Any other Jesus, with
any other message, however similar it sounds, if it isn't 100% perfect,
it is not true. It is false. There's a glass
of water there that I've been drinking. If one of you were
to put one drop of cyanide into it, it would still be probably
99.99% water. But would I drink it? Of course
I wouldn't. Because that tiny, tiny percentage of cyanide would
make the whole thing poisonous to me. So it is with a false
gospel. However plausible most of it
sounds, if it doesn't accord with the truth of this book,
it's a lie and it's false. And as Jesus said, last week's
article, False Christs. Watch out for them. The Jesus
Christ of the Bible is the only one. His is the only name. As
Peter preached in Acts chapter 4, this Jesus Christ of Nazareth
is the stone, there it is again, which was set at nought of you
builders. You religious builders trying
to build the temple of God, trying to build the kingdom of God,
you who think you're master builders, you've set that stone at nought,
you've rejected it, you've counted it as worthless, and yet it's
the foundation which alone you can build upon, and he has become
the head of the corner. He is the chief cornerstone.
Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is none
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. He alone is the bread from heaven. He alone is the bread from heaven
that will feed your hungry soul. He alone is the light from heaven
that will guide your feet. He alone is the door into the
kingdom of God. He alone is the good shepherd
who will lead you and feed you by still waters. He alone is
the resurrection and the life that guarantees that when you
die you will rise from the dead. and you'll be in his presence
forevermore. He alone is the way and the truth and the life
to God. There is no other comparative
way. There is no, oh look, aren't they sincere? No, they're deluded.
They're blinded. They're in falsehood. There's
only one truth. We don't say their religion is
valid, because it isn't valid. The true religion is the religion
of Jesus Christ, of the scriptures. He alone is the way, the truth,
and the life to true God. He alone is the vine. in which
we must be grafted. He is that rootstock which alone
gives the life-giving sap to us. What think ye of Christ? That is the test. What think
ye of Christ? To you, is he God become flesh
in order to save his people from their sins? To give them rest,
to give them rest, verse 12, rest and refreshing, refreshing
from that weight of sin. Jesus said, I know I quote it
often, Matthew 11, 28, come unto me All you who labor under heavy
laden, under what? Under a burden of sin. As in
Pilgrim's Progress, Pilgrim he starts and he's got this conscious
of this great heavy burden on his back and it's weighing him
down and he must find a way of getting rid of this burden. He's
weary and heavy laden and Jesus says, come to me and I will give
you rest. He's hungering and thirsting
for righteousness and Jesus says, come to me and you will be filled.
John 7.37, if any man thirst, thirst for what? Thirst for peace
with God, let him come to me and drink. Colossians 1.20, because
he alone has made peace with God for sinners through the blood
of his cross. The religious Jews of Isaiah's
day were proud. They were God's people by ethnic
privilege. They were Jews, you know, God
had spoken to them. but they were utterly materialistic
and worldly. They were materially prosperous.
Ephraim's glorious beauty, he's talking about Samaria. Ephraim
was one of the half-tribes, you know, the two sons of Joseph,
Manasseh and Ephraim. So instead of being twelve tribes,
there were two half-tribes, Ephraim and Manasseh. And Ephraim lived
in the Samaria area, and there capital city was Samaria at the
head of the valley and it was beautiful and it was rich and
it was abundant and they were materially prosperous and that
was their crown and their boast and their crown and boast was
not, look at verse 5, in that day shall the Lord of hosts be
for a crown of glory and for a diadem of beauty. For the residue
of his people, look at the end of verse 5, unto the residue
of his people, the residue of his people, the remnant, the
elect remnant according to the sovereignty of God the elect
remnant according to the grace of God. For them, God himself
is all the righteousness they need for peace with him. He alone,
the Lord our righteousness. Jeremiah 23 verse 6, this is
the name by which he, the Messiah, shall be called. The Lord our...
What is your righteousness? Christ. Christ. This is the name
by which she shall be called. Jeremiah 33 verse 16. The church,
his bride, the Lord, our righteousness. She's Mrs. the Lord, our righteousness. I know it's almost like a colloquial
phrasing of it. It's not irreverent in any way.
I mean it. I seriously mean it. That's the truth. That's the
truth. We're bound by this eternal union with the Christ of God.
The Lord of hosts is his people's crown of glory and diadem of
beauty. And we look unto that dreadful
day of judgment, for it is dreadful, with fear, seeking to hide. But for the residue, for the
elect remnant, Jeremiah 50 verse 20, the iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for and there shall be none. How come? Do we not
deceive ourselves if we say we have no sin? Of course we're
sinners in the flesh, so how come there shall be none? How
come? Romans 7, who shall deliver me
from the body of this death? When I try to do good, I find
sin is always present with me. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? And he says right in the last
verse of chapter 7 of Romans, I thank God through Jesus Christ,
my Lord. Therefore, what's the consequence?
Verse 1 of chapter 8, therefore, there is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not according to the
flesh, but the spirit. No condemnation, therefore, rest
from fear. Who shall bring any charge? Christ
has died. This is the gospel Isaiah preached
to his generation, but it was rejected by the majority. Look
at the end of verse 12. This is the title of the message.
yet they would not hear. He preached this glorious gospel
of liberty, of peace with God, of eternal bliss, of the forgiveness
of sins, of acceptance with God, of the conquering of Satan and
all his devilish designs. They preached that gospel, yet
they would not hear. The gospel to mortal, sinful,
dying people is glorious good news. It's a glorious promise
of eternal bliss. But they would not hear it. They
would not hear it. They'd hear it if some great
benefactor was giving out a million pounds to everybody in the area,
wouldn't they? They'd hear it then. Oh boy, would their ears
prick up. Would they be forming a queue?
Would they be rushing to get their share of it? And yet, the
greatest riches of eternity are here in the gospel of grace,
and they would not hear it. And is that not like so many
in our day? Is it not like, perhaps, some who are listening to this
now? You hear it, and there it is. But you would not hear it. You would not take it to heart.
You would not believe it. Why not? I'll tell you why not.
Drunkenness. Drunkenness. Literally in this
chapter, drunkenness with alcohol. They had a rich valley that no
doubt was overflowing with its vineyards and they made their
lovely wines and their strong drink and they consumed it to
excess. And literally with alcohol they
lost... What does drunkenness do? You
lose all reason. You lose your senses. You're
out of control. Your judgment is distorted. And
that's the reason that in the gospel that Paul writes to the
Ephesians 5 18 be not drunk with wine wherein is excess you drink
too much and you will lose all reason and it wasn't only the
Samaritans of Ephraim the drunkards of Ephraim but the priest and
the prophet look in verse 7 They also have erred through wine
and strong drink." Who does he mean? He means the priest and
the prophet in Jerusalem, the priest and the prophet in Judah,
the ones that God had preserved for the line of Christ to come
from. He'd given them good kings, Hezekiah and Josiah, who sincerely
sought to restore the true worship of God in the temple. Yet even
there, the priest and the prophet were given to drunkenness, and
their reason had gone. Now let me be clear, wine is
a pleasure to be enjoyed, but excess is always sin to be avoided. But we mustn't just think he's
talking only about literal wine and literal alcohol intoxication. He's talking about the intoxication
of religious pride. He's talking about worldly materialism. These are things... our society
today is drunken with the wizardry and gadgets of this kingdom of
Antichrist. Read again Revelation 13, and
see what the beast and the false prophet do, and how all of their
technological wizardry, which I know we make use of, but all
of it comes and it renders hordes of people intoxicated, so that
they lose all rational judgment of what they really are, as sentient
beings responsible to a holy God. and they lose all sense
of it, and they say that they're filled with pride. Verse 3, the
crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden underfoot.
What do they say? They say, we're all right. Our
religious traditions will see us well. Isn't that what people
say all around? Even if your religious tradition
is atheism. Oh, that will see us well. We'll
be all right. Let's get together, but whatever
you do, don't let's have any conversation about what these
people call the gospel of the truth of God. No, no. I'll tell
you what we'll do. Look, verse 15. We've said we've
made a covenant with death. and with hell we're at agreement
when the overflowing scourge that's judgment shall pass through
it shall not come to us we won't be affected by judgment because
we've made a covenant with death we're going to be all right we
have made lies our refuge it's almost as if they kind of know
their lies but nevertheless they still hide in these lies, they
take refuge in these lies of falsehood. Under falsehood have
we hid ourselves. They've made a covenant with
death and they've hidden in a refuge of lies. They don't want to know
the truth. Verse 9, they're like infants. You can't teach the gospel to
a baby because it can't understand. You can't understand. It's lovely
to see a child grow and grow in understanding and grow in
abilities and grow in reason and all of these things. But
you can't make a young child understand the gospel. Them that
are weaned from milk and drawn from the breast, whom shall he
teach knowledge and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?
These people, with their religious pride, are as difficult to teach
as tiny infants. Just like folk of today, they
want their rituals, they want their traditions, whether they're
biblical traditions or not. You know, so much still in our
society around us, you know, they love their altars and their
infant baptisms and their priestly robes. and their icons that they
bow down and worship, and their transubstantiations, and their
popes, and their bishops, and all the rest of it. They love
all of these things, and others love their higher philosophy,
and their artistic philosophy, and their comparative religious
studies, and their just plain materialistic hedonism. But they
say, don't keep going on with your simple gospel message. We don't want to know your simple
gospel message. It's not right. I'd sooner go
and, so long as I'm surrounded by some of that mysticism in
my cathedral, I don't want to know your simple gospel message.
You see, it's too simple for us. We're prouder, we're more
clever than that. You see where it says in verse
10, precept upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line. And in verse 13, the word of
the Lord was to them precept upon precept. Now, that translation
tends to give the view of something that is high and mighty, but
this is what they were really saying. This is what Hebrew scholars
tell us that they were really saying. And you have to say it
in the Hebrew language to understand what he means. He said, the preaching
of the simple gospel was to you high-minded drunkards, it was
like this. I'll try and say it. Tzav, ladzav. Tzav, ladzav. Kav Lakav. Kav Lakav. Zir Sham. Zir Sham. It's repetitive. It's like a kid running a stick
down a fence. You know, oh will you stop that
child from doing that? This is what they were saying.
Your preaching is like Tzav Latzav. Tzav Latzav. Kav Lakav. Kav Lakav. Zir Sham. Zir Sham. You see, don't come
to us with your simple gospel. We don't want it. We don't want
it. It's too simple for us. It's
an annoying noise to us. We don't want it. I struggle
to think of a good analogy that really puts how stark this is.
But if you've ever been to a top quality Michelin starred restaurant
and you've had some of their food, you'll pay for it. But
nevertheless, when you've had it, you have a dine in. Three
or four days later, you just keep remembering that glorious
taste of that starter that you had. It's wonderful. But there
are those who say, Keep that, I don't want anything to do with
that. I just don't want that, that's horrible. I'd sooner have
my baked beans on toast. I don't want your fancy Michelin-starred
food. Honestly, the gospel of grace,
it's such a poor analogy, I know. But the gospel of grace that
is in this book is like the top quality food that you will ever
buy. And the people are saying, no, we don't want that. It's
an annoying noise to us. It's an annoying smell to us.
We just make do with beans on toast, thank you very much. How
their rejection condemns them. Are you like this gospel rejecting
majority that's about us in our day? And I don't mean the people
that never go to church, I mean very largely the ones who are
religious but won't have the true gospel. They reject the
gospel. Or are you among the residue
of God's people? Verse five, the residue of his
people, his elect. oh well you say let everyone
decide for himself but you know here's our third point God says
beware beware those who reject God's response to gospel rejection
verse 14 hear the word of the Lord ye scornful men that rule
this people which is in Jerusalem you've got your opinions sav
sav lakav lakav don't want to know anything about that hear
what God says to you verse 15 he says Your philosophy is lies
and falsehood. That's what he says. God says
your philosophy is lies and falsehood. He said you try to make yourself
comfortable in it and say we've made a covenant with death and
it won't come near us. The scourge shall not come near
us. You try to make yourself comfortable but look at verse
20. Look at verse 20. The bed is shorter than that
a man can stretch himself on it. and the covering narrower
than he can wrap himself in it. Isn't it lovely on a cold winter's
night to get into a nice comfortable warm bed and snuggle down and
just drift off into a lovely sleep and wake up seven or eight
hours later nicely refreshed? Have you ever been very very
tired and you've landed up in a place where there's not really
been decent sleeping arrangements And you've been given somewhere
where you might be able to get some sleep, but you've found
that it's not big enough for you, and the cover that you've
been given leaves areas exposed, and you've got a draft on your
back, and you can't cover yourself up, and it's a most unsatisfactory
sleeping arrangement. Well, this is what God says,
your refuge of lies. will give you no comfort, it
will give you no rest, it will give you no refreshing, it leaves
you exposed, it leaves you facing death and just judgment with
only your own nakedness. You'll be ashamed, where it says,
he that believes on him, the stone, the foundation stone,
shall not make haste, shall not be confounded, shall not be ashamed,
you will be, you will be. Unlike those that believe in
him, you will be confounded and ashamed and found naked. For God does not change. And
his justice is absolutely strict. Look at verse 17. Judgment also,
says God, will I lay to the line and righteousness to the plummet.
What's he saying? His justice will be absolutely
strictly correct. Absolutely. He will judge. Judgment
will come. God will judge sin. God will
punish sin. His righteousness will be laid
to the plummet. There will be no question about
what is unrighteousness. This covenant with death, this
refuge of lies, will be found to be totally wanting. In the
verses that followed, your covenant with death shall be disannulled,
your agreement with hell shall not stand, the scourge shall
get you, you will be swept away in the judgment of God, the Lord
shall rise up as in Mount Perissim, he shall be very wroth as in
the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange
work, and bring to pass his act, his strange act. The Lord God
does not change. His justice is absolutely strict. He shall be wrath, that is, angry. God is angry, we read in the
Psalms. Angry with the wicked every day.
The wicked, those who will not believe the Son of God. Those
who will not believe in him, this chief cornerstone. God will
do exactly what he has said he will do. Verses 23 to 29 is a
parable. about breaking up the ground
and making it ready to receive the seed that you might reap
its harvest. He says, does a farmer break up the ground and then
not sow his seed? Of course not. When he starts,
he finishes what he intends to do. And God says he will do exactly
what he has said he will do. So don't think he is bluffing.
Now, I'll close. Revelation 21 and verse 12, we
see the final judgment. Does God do exactly what he says
he will do? John says, and I saw the dead,
small and great, stand before God. That's all of us. Well,
that's all who will be there in that judgment. And the dead
were judged out of those things that were written in the books.
The books, symbolical of the fact that God keeps perfect records
according to their works. You know, there's another book.
All are judged according to these books for what they've done.
There's another book, the Lamb's Book of Life. Everyone's judged
except those who are found written in the Lamb's Book of Life, for
they're judged in him. But judgment is coming for those
who reject. And Ezekiel 33 verse 11 says,
As I live, said the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death
of the wicked. It doesn't mean he doesn't want
to do it, it means justice demands it, but it doesn't It's never
enough to bring satisfaction, truly. But that the wicked would
turn from his way and live. How do you do that? Believe the
gospel. What must I do to be saved? Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways. Repent, repent from your evil
ways. For, listen, God says, Why will
ye die, O house of Israel? Why will ye die? There's such
a glorious gospel set before us. There's such glorious truth,
which is so credible, so believable, so accomplishing of everything
it set out to do. Why will ye die, O house of Israel? There is the gospel of salvation
from sin plainly declared. You ask, what must I do? I'll
tell you. This is what the scripture says.
Simply look to what God has done, believing and resting. You don't
do anything. You simply look. You simply look,
believing to what God in Christ has done, believing and resting. Amen.