In the second chapter of Isaiah,
Isaiah having set forth what man is like, the pride of man,
how man, when he becomes rich and proud, turns from the living
God unto idols, and turns in his own nature to show what he
really is. And how God will come in the
day of judgment and how the foolishness of man, the wisdom of man, the
sin of man will be judged and how man's arrogance and pride
will be nothing in such a day. In that day a man shall cast
his idols of silver and his idols of gold which they made each
one for himself to worship to the moles and to the bats to
go into the clefts of the rocks and into the tops of the ragged
rocks for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty
when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Cease ye from man
whose breath is in his nostrils. Cease ye from man whose breath
is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of? Cease
ye from man, where is his religion in such a day? What good will
his idols of silver and his idols of gold do, when the Lord comes
to judge him according to his deeds. What good will your idols
do you in such a day? What good will your religion
be when the Lord comes in judgment, seeing you as you really are? Outward religion, the forms of
worship, Trust in empty outward deeds or empty idols will do
you no good. The men described in this chapter
in such a day, though they had once bought and made and worshipped
idols, knew on that day those idols could do nothing for them. They cast them away. They turned
from them, they threw them to the moles and to the bats to
go and hide because now the one true and living God was present. And reality had been made known. And every deceit that they trusted
in, they realized could do them no good. in an easy day, in a
rich day, in an idle day, they could turn to these things. When
God wasn't present, when God didn't make his presence known,
when the reality of life and the reality of man's sin and
corruption before a holy God was hid from their eyes and they
fought in their folly that all was well, then they could fill
their land with idols. Their land was full of silver
and gold. There was no end to their treasures. Their land was full of horses.
There was no end to their chariots. Their land was full of idols.
They worshipped the work of their own hands. That which their own
fingers had made. and the mean or the poor man
was bowed down and the great man humbly for himself. But their idols and their riches
and their pride and their arrogance could do them no good when the
Lord visited them. Cease ye from man whose breath
is in his nostrils. How deceitful man is How he deceives
others. How he deceives himself. How
the priding man fools him to think he can stand. When all
is well, he thinks he can stand. When the storm comes, he's washed
away. There's no good in him. There's
no strength in him. There's no wisdom in him. He's
a fool. Isaiah exhorts us. Cease ye from
man. Cease ye from man. Oh what a
lesson to learn. Oh what a lesson for us all to
learn. To cease from man. How often
has the Lord taught me this lesson. How often in my years. I'm walking
before God as he taught me the lesson to cease from man. Man cannot save you. You cannot
save yourself. Man cannot in the end truly guide
you. Man cannot give you the wisdom
you need. Man cannot give you the salvation
you need. Man will let you down time and
again. Irreligious man will let you
down. Religious men will let you down. Poor men will let you down. Rich
men will let you down. Foolish men will let you down.
Those you think were wise will let you down. Cease ye from man,
don't trust in him. Oh believer, don't trust in man.
Don't trust in man for salvation. Don't trust in yourself for salvation. Don't trust in your great works
for salvation. Don't trust in the will of man
for salvation. Don't trust in the church for
salvation. Don't trust in preachers for
salvation. Salvation will not come from
man. Your hope is not found in man,
however many great men there may be. And God does call and
speak through and use man. It is his pleasure to build his
church with the preaching of the gospel. It is God's good
pleasure to build his church by raising up and sending forth
preachers of the gospel. But it's not those preachers
that we must follow. It's the one of whom they testify. It's not those preachers who
can save your soul, though they bring the message of salvation. It's the Saviour whom they preach. Don't follow the preacher. Don't
worship the man, whoever he may be. There were those who fell
down at the disciples, the apostles' feet and they said, don't worship
us, we're men as yourselves. So easy it is when God greatly
uses a man. When he sends forth the disciples,
the apostles and many are saved under the powerful preaching
which God sends by them. For those who hear them to be
thankful to the men and to follow the men when they were but men. Even the greatest of the apostles
were but men, full of sin by nature, full of faults and failings. Cease ye from man. What is man? What is man? Who is man? What
is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that
thou visitest him? The psalmist writes in Psalm
8, What is man that thou art mindful of him, and the son of
man that thou visitest him? asked the psalmist. What is man? He's nothing. He's fallen. In Adam he fell, in Adam he turned
his back on Almighty God, created innocent. He turned his back
on God. That which God said don't do,
he did. And that which God has said do,
man does not do. He's a rebel by nature. When
Adam sinned, sin entered into the race of man. It passed from
Adam unto all those who were born of Adam. The same rebellious
nature and death by sin. Man's life is shortened. Sin has corrupted all that he
is and all that he does. And God's condemnation of him
is seen in the natural realm. Our lives are now brief. Soon
we are gone and we go, not because it's natural to, but because
sin has cursed us. Why should man boast? when he
cannot prevent the inevitable onset of sin and death and corruption. He cannot escape what he is.
He cannot escape the judgment. Oh, how foolish he is to boast,
to be proud. How foolishly arrogant he is
when his life is so brief. At one stage he's a child in
need of care, then for a brief moment he's a young man full
of natural strength, but then soon he's old and weak and in
need of care again. His moment in the sun, as it
were, is so brief and yet so foolish, this man, that he boasts
in his ability when it comes and goes in a blink. But man,
at his greatest, at his highest, at his strongest, is nothing. He's like a grasshopper. He's
like a blade of grass growing up one day and being cut down
the next day. He's nothing. But not only is
he nothing, but he's wicked. He's departed from all the ways
of his maker. He goes his own way, he seeks
his own glory and not the glory of God. He seeks his own end
and he rages with hatred against any who get in his path. Why
is there such murder and hatred and warfare in this world in
which we live? Because men hate others who get
in their way. They will have this, they will
have that, they will go their way. and woe betide anyone that
stands in their path. He's fallen, he's depraved, he's
rebellious. Man is corrupt in all his doings. You are corrupt in all your doings. Even in religion. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? Even in religion. especially
in religion, man is corrupt. Isaiah spake of the house of
Jacob, those who God knew, those who had heard the word of God,
those who had walked before God, they knew right from wrong. And
when God left them to themselves, they turned unto strangers. They turn from his ways, they
turn to idols. A man in religion throughout
all generations has continued to do the same. Christ came with
his gospel and made the truth known. Generations follow and
take the name and the word of the gospel. They speak of following
Jesus Christ. but they've taken Christ out
of the gospel and replaced him with idols God isn't in their
midst but their religion is full of idols they call the idol Jesus
but he's something of their own making to give them what they
want, when they want he's nothing like the Christ described in
the scriptures he's nothing like the Christ, the Son of God He's
nothing like the Christ who is the power of God. They've never
seen or heard him. They've never experienced him.
So they make an idol based upon their own understanding. Man
is corrupt in all his doings, especially in religion. His religion
is full of self-glory. Their land was full of silver
and gold. Their land was full of idols.
They worshipped the work of their own hands, that which their own
fingers had made. So today so much of religion
is a worship not of God, not of Jesus Christ, but of the works
of men's own hands. Look at our meeting, look how
many we've gathered in, look at the success, look at how our
programs are working, look how good we are, look how godly I
am, look at my life. Look at my prayers. Look at my
worship. They worship to be seen to be
worshipping. They worship for glory. Man is
deceived and corrupt in all his doings, especially in religion.
It's full of self-glory, full of self-gain. It's a deceit. He deceives others and he deceives
himself. What is man? Cease ye from man. whose breath is in his nostrils,
for wherein is he to be accounted of? In chapter 15 of Job, Eliphaz
asks, what is man that he should be clean? And he which is born
of a woman, that he should be righteous? Behold, he put, if
no trust in his saints, yea, the heavens are not clean in
his sight. How much more abominable and
filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water. Why should
God trust in man when man drinketh iniquity like water? How can you think that you could
make yourself right before God? How could you ever think, oh
religious man, that you could live in such a way that God would
be pleased with you, that you should make yourself clean, that
you should make yourself righteous when you drink iniquity like
water? What foolishness is there in
you to think that there's any good in you when you know that
you drink iniquity like water? You're full of sin. And if you
don't know it, you're blinded by sin. What is man? He's not to be trusted. Man lets
you down. Always in the end. Oh, there
are many great deeds of kindness that men show for their brother.
There are many things that people do for others. But ultimately
men will let you down. You can't trust in them to be
there until the end. And you can't trust them with
your soul. Man will let you down. You let
yourself down. But if you let yourself down,
how can you trust others to help? And if in natural things, what
then of spiritual things? Even the best of men let us down.
Preachers can let us down. The most revered can let us down. They're still men, they're still
corrupt, they're still full of faults. They're just messengers
that God sends with his gospel, but in themselves they're nothing. When a man comes with the Gospel
and we hate his message, we attack the messenger, but he's just
a messenger. We rail against him, but he's
just a messenger. But sadly, if by God's grace
we're blessed by the message, we're saved by the message, the
natural man will then turn to praise the messenger. and revere
the messenger and not he who sends the message. How foolish
we are. We go by what we can see. We
walk by sight, not by faith. We trust in man and not in God. Where were Job's friends when
he needed them most? When Job was brought to an end
of everything? When God in his providence allowed
Satan to put his hand upon Job in order to prove Job. When Job had everything taken
away from him, family, friends, health, when he was in the depths,
his so-called former friends let him down. Not only did they
not help him, But they blamed him. They said he brought the
trouble upon himself. They said he was a secret sinner.
They said God was judging him. They had no empathy, no care,
no true love. They judged. They fought. They found fault. They let him
down. What is man? the fit of the best
of men, the disciples, Peter, he who walked with the Lord,
he who knew the Lord in his time upon the earth. At the end, when
Christ was taken away and tried and sentenced, Peter denied him
thrice, whether he wanted to or not, in that situation. The Lord said, you will deny
me. Peter said he wouldn't, but he did. He did, he had no strength. When Christ was in Gethsemane,
feeling the torments approaching, knowing what he would suffer
upon the cross, knowing that in order to save his people from
their sins, he must suffer the full outpouring of God's wrath
upon them. upon him upon those sins upon
him he must suffer knowing what he must endure knowing the cup
that he must drink he laboured, he travailed and where were his
disciples? where were those who should have
been his friends? where were his closest? where
was man when he needed him? the disciples slept they slept
When Christ needed them, they slept. Cease ye from man, whose
breath is in his nostrils. If one like Peter could deny
Christ, then all can deny Christ. If the disciples in Christ's
greatest need could sleep, then we all would sleep. If they couldn't
help, then none could help. Ceci from man. Where were they
to help? How can man possibly save himself? If these who walked with Christ
slept at such an hour, they were so weak that they slept at such
a time. How can man delude himself in
religion? that he could possibly contribute
to his salvation. What can he do? Sleep. What can he do? Deny the Lord
with cursing. How can a man possibly save himself?
He can't. His works will never save him.
what is man that he should be clean and he that he which is
born of a woman that he should be righteous he drinketh iniquity
like water and how is he going to bring forth righteousness
in order to be saved by a righteous and a holy God his works can't
possibly save him his will won't save him he can't choose to follow
God he goes his own way he can't help himself He can't help himself,
he drinks iniquity like water. He can't help himself, he can't
help others. Not only does he plunge himself
into destruction, but he leads others away with him. The Pharisees
made others with their teaching more destroyed, more guilty,
more children of hell than themselves. they led them away man cannot
deliver himself from destruction and he leads others to destruction
irreligious or religious cease ye from man cease ye from man
what is man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that
thou visitest him the psalmist asks if this is man If that's
the state of man, if that's how bad man is and he is, then why
would God have any time for man? Why would he have any time for
man? What good is there in man? In
Hebrews 2, the writer coached the psalmist. He says, One in
a certain place testified, saying, What is man that thou art mindful
of him? Or the son of man that thou visitest
him? Thou madest him a little lower
than the angels. Thou crownest him with glory
and honour, and didst set him over the work of thy hands. Thou
hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he
put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put
under him. But now we see not yet all things are put under
him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the
angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor,
that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. What is man? Natural man is nothing. Man born of Adam made a little
lower than the angels, crowned by God with a certain glory and
honor, given a rule over the creatures in this world, given
this world to live in, fell into sin and corruption. The natural
man, man in Adam, that God gave so much to and put in so great
a position defiled himself and this world. He brought sin into
this world, he brought death into this world, he brought destruction
and judgment into this world. What is man that thou art mindful
of him? He's nothing, he's corrupt, he's
worthy of death. He deserves the judgment. He
deserves the consequence of sin. He deserves to be destroyed utterly. When God had created man upon
this earth, and man fell, and man multiplied in number, and
God in the days of Noah saw the wickedness of man increase, it
is written that it repented God that He had made man. And He
sent a judgment. He sent destruction. He washed
everyone away in the flood. He destroyed the wickedness of
men except for one man and his household who he delivered in
an ark to bring him out of a wicked and an evil world and bring him
into a new world. And he set forth a sign of peace
in the rainbow to say, I will not send judgment again. I will
deliver my people. And in that we see what his purpose
was in another man. What is man that thou art mindful
of him is nothing, but he was God's creation. And if he was
not full of sin, God was pleased to love him. God was pleased
to save man. He destroyed all the wickedness
of man in the time of Noah, but he took one man and said, I will
save him and his household. He deserves it no more than anyone
else, but I will show forth my grace. I will show forth my love. I will show forth my peace by
delivering this man through the judgment. And so God, having
done this in a figure with Noah, has done the same for others. Man in himself is nothing. But the man of whom man in Adam
was a figure is everything. There is another
man. There is another Adam. There
is another son of man. whom God is mindful of, whom
God visitests, whom God will glorify. What is man that thou
art mindful of him? In Christ he is all. Or the son
of man that thou visitest him? In Christ he is God's son. Thou
made'st him a little lower than the angels, Thou crown'st him
with glory and honour, and didst set him over the works of thy
hands. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet.
Not just the creatures, not just the animals, not just the terrain
of this world, but he's put all things under this man's feet. For in that He put all in subjection
under Him, He left nothing that is not put under Him. But now
we see not yet all things put under Him, but we see Jesus,
who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering
of death, crowned with glory and honour, that He, by the grace
of God, should taste death for every man. for it became him
for whom are all things and by whom are all things in bringing
many sons unto glory to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through sufferings for both he that sanctifyeth and
they who are sanctified are all of one for which cause he is
not ashamed to call them brethren what is man that thou art mindful
of him outside of Christ is nothing but in this man In this man,
God looks at man and sees the perfect man. In this son, in
this son of man, God looks at man in him and sees his own son,
the son of God. He sees another man, a perfect
man, a glorious man, a man without sin, a man whom the first Adam
was a figure of, a man whom the creation was created for, another
man, a glorious man, the Son of God, the Son of Man, Jesus
Christ, the Saviour. Cease ye from man whose breath
is in his nostrils but there is another man to whom the Lord
would lead us to. Cease from all others but come
by grace to the feet of this man, the man Christ Jesus. The man Christ Jesus, the mediator
between God and men. As Paul writes to Timothy, for
there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus. Man in Adam by nature is corrupt
and dead. But God in grace and mercy and
love, because he loved the world that he created for his son,
God in love has set his love upon a people and he sent his
son, the man Christ Jesus, to mediate between him and them. He sent him. He sent him to speak
on God's behalf unto fallen sinners. And he sent him to speak unto
God on their behalf. He comes as the mediator. He comes to stand between a God
whose righteousness has been offended and a people who in
their sin have offended their maker. He comes to stand before
them. He comes to plead their case.
He comes to defend them. Then how can he? How can God
send a mediator? How can the Son of God, Jesus
Christ, the man Christ Jesus, mediate between God and man,
when on the one hand there is his God, perfect and righteous
and holy, who cannot look upon sin, who cannot look upon the
wicked, without sending forth righteous judgment? without destroying
it without sending forth the fires of his wrath to burn it
up how can the mediator stand between that holy God who is
a consuming fire who is unapproachable by fallen man and wicked sinful
men like you and I how can he stand between us how can he mediate
for us only through his own death but we see Jesus who was made
a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death crowned
with glory and honor that by the grace of God should taste
death for every man every man for whom he died Every man for
whom he is the mediator. Every man who hears his voice
in the gospel. He had to die. Their sin had
brought him death. There is no way past sin. There's
no way to remove sin. There's no way to approach unto
God except there be death. Your sin has earned you death. You will not see God until you
die. You will not be free of your
sin unless a price is paid by death. And either you will pass
from this world into the next, dying, that you should then enter
the second death for eternity to pay the price of your sins
forevermore. or another, another man, the
man Christ Jesus, should come in your place, in your stead
and stand before God and say, don't judge them, don't cause
them to die forever for their sins. I will die in their place. This man, the man Christ Jesus,
took upon himself human flesh Humanity, the soul of a man. He was made very man and yet
was still very God. He came as a man, born as a man,
born of Mary. He took upon himself human flesh. He walked amongst men. He walked
amongst sinners. He suffered amongst sinners.
He suffered their rejection and their hatred and their spite.
He suffered their fury. He suffered at the hands of religious
men who should have received Him. But man being man rejected
the man Christ Jesus. Man being man rejected the Son
of God. Man being man rejected God Himself. Man being man took the Son of
God, the Son of Man, the man Christ Jesus and crucified Him. He came as a man. to be crucified,
to die in the place of man, to suffer because of the sin of
wicked men. Wicked men took him and slew
him. It was sin that put him to death. Their sinful deeds put him to
death. But in dying, it was sin that
slew him. though they took him though in
their sin they took him and pierced him and said crucify him they
could not have killed him physically unless he allowed them to do
so he allowed them to take him he allowed them to put nails
through his hands he allowed them to crucify him but all their
efforts didn't slay him he was slain because he bore the sins
of his people and because his God judged those sins that's
what killed him that's what slew him and that is why he came to
bear those sins to die that death to take that sin away did he
bear your sins? did he die your death? Did he
take your sins away? Did his love for you, O sinner,
transcend your hatred for him? Did this man's love for you,
O sinner, transcend your hatred for him, O man? He came to suffer
and to die for sinners like you and I. to suffer for sinners. But why? What is man that thou
art mindful of him? Or the son of man that thou visitest
him? Why should God do this for such
wretched creatures? Why should he do this for those
who slew him at the very moment that he was saving? Those who
were at their worst when he was at his greatest. Those who hated
the most when he loved the most. Why should he do this? Job wondered
this. Job in his suffering wondered
Why God should care for man, what is man that thou shouldst
magnify him and that thou shouldst set thine heart upon him, he
asks. Oh the grace of God, that God
should love those who are so wretched, those who are so hateful. Rightly should God say, cease
ye from man. Rightly should we cease from
man. Rightly should we not trust in
man for anything. Only God can provide salvation. Only God can grant true hope. Only God can give righteousness. Only God can give life. Only
God can give wisdom. Only God can give true understanding
and knowledge. Only God has riches which last
forever. Only God can be trusted. Rightly
should we cease from man. But thank God, O man, that in
the end, God didn't cease from man because he looked at man
through the man. He looked at this world through
his son. He looked at fallen man, fallen
Adam through the last Adam. He looked at his people, his
bride through the son. He looked at man through the
man Christ Jesus and He looked at them in grace. He looked at
them in mercy. He looked at them in love. And
He said, I will save my people from their sins. O sinner, O
man, has He looked at you? Has He looked at you? Are God's
eyes set upon you this day? If they are, are they looking
at you this day, seeing into your heart and seeing the corruption
of your heart, the wickedness of your heart? Are they looking
upon you in judgment? Do you feel the wisdom, the knowledge
and the eyes of God looking within you? Do you feel laid bare before
Him? Will He take you? Will He plunge
you into the waters of death? Will He send down His fires upon
you? Do you deserve it? Do you know
it? Do you feel the guilt? Do you feel His fury? Do you
feel the heavens above burning in wrath against your sin? Or
do you feel that you have been led by the Gospel, by the voice
of Jesus Christ, by a voice crying in the wilderness. By the sound
of grace, have you been led to hear the voice of the Son of
God, the Son of Man, the Man Christ Jesus, calling unto you
from eternity into time, from the other side of the grave,
through the death, through the cross, unto you, saying unto
you, arise, come forth, come unto me, thy sins be forgiven
thee. Is he looking upon you? through
the eyes of Jesus Christ? Is God looking upon you through
His Son, the man Christ Jesus? Is He looking upon you and seeing
your sin and saying it has already been judged? I've burnt it up,
I've cancelled it, I've blotted it out, I've taken it away. My Son died in your place. Is He looking upon you and no
longer seeing the old Adam, but the last Adam? Is he looking
upon you and seeing Christ his Son and setting his love upon
you as he loves his own? Is he looking upon you in Christ?
Are you one with Christ? Are you one with the man, the
man Christ Jesus? See she from man, believer, see
she from man, but not this man. Oh may God lead you by grace
to this man so that you see Jesus. We see Jesus who was made a little
lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with
glory and honor. that he by the grace of God should
taste death for every man. We see Jesus. Amen.