Who is a pardoning God like thee,
or who has grace so rich and free? Oh, thank you, God, for making
yourself known to this man in all your pardon of sin and all
the rich freeness of your grace. together Isaiah chapter 2, Isaiah
chapter 2, The word that Isaiah the son of Amos saw concerning
Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall come to pass in
the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be
established in the top of the mountains and shall be exalted
above the hills and all nations shall flow unto it. In these
last days, in this gospel day, God has established his church
and he gathers his elect out of all nations of the earth into
his kingdom. And many people shall go and
say, come ye, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to
the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways,
and we will walk in his paths, for out of Zion shall go forth
the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. Come, let's go
worship God, ask God to show us his way, to order our steps,
to teach us his word, And he shall judge among the nations
and shall rebuke many people. And they shall beat their swords
into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. And nation
shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn
war anymore. In Christ, all God's people are
one, united at peace and live in harmony with one another.
Oh, house of Jacob, Come ye, let us walk in the light of the
Lord. Let us walk in the light of that
which God has given us in his house by his word in the light
of the Lord. Verse six, therefore thou hast
forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob. This is why God cast
Israel off. because they be replenished from
the East, and are soothsayers like the Philistines, and they
please themselves in the children of strangers. My people, the
seed of Abraham, Judah, and Israel, they're soothsayers. They're
soothsayers. They're fortune tellers. They're palm readers. They're
witches. They're sorcerers. They heed
not the word of God, but seek a word from the spirit world
that is not of God. They're fortune tellers, soothsayers.
They read the astrological signs, and that's how they do business.
Read on. Their land also is full of silver
and gold. Neither is there any end of their
treasures. Their land is also full of horses. Neither is there any end of chariots.
They're rich and powerful. Their land also is full of idols. They worship the work of their
own hands, that which their own fingers have made. These mighty,
mighty, mighty men think everything is fine. They've got everything
worked out. They've got everything locked
up and they're confident. They worship, after all, their
God. They worship what they've done.
They worship what they've done. They make them a God out of mud
or make it out of gold. They worship the work of their
hands. Read on, verse nine. And the
mean man, the worthless contemptible man, boweth down, and the great
man humbleth himself. He bows down before his stump,
he humbles himself before his God, before the work of his hands. He bows down and pretends humility
and adoration and repentance and confessing of sin before
the work of his hands. Therefore, forgive them not. They've chosen to worship themselves. They've chosen to worship gods
of their own making. Therefore, forgive them not. Remember, this is the word of
the Lord which Isaiah saw concerning Judah. The word of the Lord that
Isaiah saw concerning Israel. The word that God gave to his
prophet. Verse 10, enter into the rock
and hide thee in the dust. Enter into the rock. Their rock
is not like our rock, they'll tell you so. Enter into the rock,
Christ Jesus. Hide thee in the dust, not before
a stump, but before God. For the fear of the Lord and
for the glory of his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall
be humbled and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and
the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the
Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and
upon everyone that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low. And it goes on to give illustration
after illustration of the proud and the lofty being brought down.
Verse 18, and the idols he shall utterly abolish, The Lord will
abolish them. And the man who made them will
abolish them. He will throw away the idols
he once worshipped. He will utterly hold in contempt
and discard the gods he once made. and they shall go into
the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, into
the pits of darkness where they belong, for the fear of the Lord,
and for the glory of his majesty, when he arises to shake terribly
the earth. When God arises in grace, and
shakes your soul to the very foundation, causing you to see
the glory of God in the face of the crucified Christ. And
you're compelled to throw away your righteousness, your goodness,
your religious thoughts, your religious training, and trust
Christ alone. It's a terrible, shaking day.
Verse 20, 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. What do you think of your religion
now? Let the bats have it. Let the rats have it. It's worthless. To go into the clefts of the
rocks and to the tops of the ragged rocks for the 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, for wherein is he to be accounted of. There's
our text in verse 22. Cease ye from man. That's my subject. Cease ye from
man. throughout these first two chapters,
and indeed if you read through the whole prophecy of Isaiah,
Isaiah's purpose is to expose the perverse idolatry of the
nation of Israel and call them to worship the Lord God as he
revealed in Christ our Messiah, the crucified substitute, who
would come and accomplish redemption for his people. so base, so vile,
so perverted the people of Israel had become that they even turned
the worship and oracles of God into idolatry. They even turned
the oracles of God into idolatry. Their sacrifices, Their prayers,
their religious services, their holy days, their Sabbath days,
had all degenerated into base paganism so that God Almighty
was utterly weary of what they called worship. Look back in
chapter one, verse 10. Hear the word of the Lord, ye
rulers of Sodom. Give ear to the law of our God,
ye people of Gomorrah. Now remember, he's talking to
Jews. He's talking to Abraham's seed. He's talking to folks who
called themselves followers of God. He calls them Sodomites,
men of Gomorrah. And he says, to what purpose
is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord? Why
did you bring that goat? Why did you bring that calf?
Why did you bring that sheaf offering? Why did you bring that
meal offering? Why have you come to my house?
I'm full of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beast. I delight not in the blood of
bullocks or of lambs or of eagles, but God, you commanded it. Oh,
no, I didn't. Not like this. I commanded you
to come worship me, worship my son, believing my son represented
in these things, not to bring these things and worship the
work of your hands. Verse 12. When you come to appear
before me, who hath required this at your hand to tread my
courts? Bring no more vain oblations. Incense is an abomination. unto me. The new moons and Sabbath
days, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with. It is iniquity. Even the solemn meeting, your
new moons and your appointed feasts, my soul hateth. They
are a trouble unto me. I'm weary to bear them. And when
you spread forth your hands, when you call on me in prayer,
you speak my name in prayer while you bow before your stumps, I
will hide my eyes from you. Yea, when you make many prayers,
I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood.
Turn over to chapter 66. Chapter 66, verse three. Now this is God's opinion of
man's perversion of religion. This is God's opinion of man's
worship of the work of his own hands. This is God's opinion
of what men call worshiping Jehovah when in reality they're idolaters.
Look at verse three, Isaiah 66. He that killeth an ox. Now wait a minute, read God's
law. He required you to bring the
ox. He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man. He that
sacrificeth the lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck. He that
offered an oblation, as if he offered swine's blood. He that
burneth incense, as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own
ways. Their soul delighteth in abomination. also will choose their delusions
and will bring their fears upon them because when I called, none
did answer. When I speak, they did not hear. All right, let's go back to Isaiah
chapter two. Let me talk to you a little bit
and then we'll look at our text. All men by nature since the fall
of our father Adam, our idolaters. That's the nature of man. Our
nature is so corrupt, we are so depraved that we crave something
audible, something visible, something tangible as the object of our
trust and confidence. We cannot be content with that
which is purely spiritual. Man can't see God, so he won't
trust Him. Man can't hear God, so he won't
obey Him. And man can't touch God, so he
won't bow before Him. Man by nature is an idolater. And the fact is true, even among
those who are truly born of God. Our old nature is not in the
least improved after we've been converted by God's grace. The
old man in us is no different now than he was before God saved
us. It's only held in check by God's
grace. So long as sin remains in us,
so long as we're in this body of flesh, our natural tendency,
the bent of our nature is to idolatry. Our flesh grows weary
of God who is spirit. Our flesh longs to find something
physical, tangible, something we can put our hands on, and
that we'll worship. That's a sad fact, but a fact
it is. So that John's admonition as
he closed his first epistle is always seasonable to you and
to me. Little children, keep yourselves
from idols. Little children, keep yourselves
from idols. Oh, but Mother Dawn, we don't
have a problem with that. I fear we have a far greater
problem than any of us readily acknowledge. I remember a couple
of years ago, having dinner with the Grants. They'd been visiting
around, went to one of the Baptist churches here, and before the
services, they would light candles. Oh, it just feels so spiritual. Doesn't that make you feel close
to God? If it does, it's idolatry. Just fact. But we've got these
stained glass windows. That just makes you feel like
you're in the house of God. That's a good reason to throw
rocks through them. I remember years ago, a friend
of mine, A man who knows better. He was in a service, went somewhere
to preach, and this was when we were still in college, and
he said when they took up the offering, the organist played,
and they just reached a high pitch, and as the fellows brought
the offering plates, they lifted them up as on an altar to God,
and oh, it felt so reverent. I said it felt that way because
it's idolatry. We're impressed with tangible
things. We're impressed with a God we
can touch. A God we can feel. A God we can
see. With spiritual things appealing
to the eye. Appealing to the flesh. Flesh
pleasing. Flesh satisfying things. Everything
God did for the children of Israel. should have taught them to trust
him. Century after century, God sent his word to Israel. Century
after century, Israel turned aside to idols. The Jews were
by far the most spiritual and the most enlightened of all nations.
They were a people educated by miracles, enlightened by the
oracles of God, Ruled by the law of God. Instructed by the
word of God through the mouths of God's prophets. And yet, they
continually went after the gods of the heathen. Everything God
did for them, they ignored. God led them out of Egypt. God
opened up the Red Sea. He just opened it up. They couldn't
see him. They couldn't hear him. They
just saw the sea open up and they walked across. God fed them
with manna from heaven. God gave them water out of the
rock. He caused them for 40 years in
the desert to wear clothes that didn't wear out. For 40 years,
he sheltered them with a pillar of cloud. He gave them light
by pillar of fire. Israel was alone with God in
the wilderness. Here they are. They've come out
of Egypt after 400 years of bondage. They come out of Egypt, they
spoil the Egyptians. They come across the Red Sea
and they're alone with God now. And Moses is in the mount. And
they said to Aaron, Aaron, make us some gods. And Aaron complied
with their wishes without a moment's hesitation. Made them some gods
and called it worshiping God. Idolatry is the nature of man. While Moses was in the mount,
Aaron was making gold and cash. God gave them a brazen serpent
to typify the Lord Jesus. You know what they did with that
serpent? This is hard to imagine. Moses and Aaron and Saul and
David and Solomon, through all their reigns, through all the
days of Samuel and the judges, they kept that brazen serpent.
They kept that thing. They kept it. And they burned
incense to it. They burned incense to it. They
worshipped the brazen serpent. All it was was a worthless piece
of brass. but they worshiped it. God calls
Balaam, when Balaam was commanded to curse Israel, God calls Balaam
to bless Israel. But Israel turned aside to the
gods of Baalpeor. In Isaiah's day, things hadn't
changed. After experiencing God's great
goodness for more than a thousand years, after more than a thousand
years of special revelation, of special providence from the
invisible God, Israel still turned aside to their idols. We just
read it. They trusted their wealth and
despised the treasures of God's grace. They trusted horses and
chariots and despised the power of the omnipotent God. They trusted
their graven images and despised God. In a word, the men and women
of Israel placed great confidence in man, worshiping the work of
their own hands. You see that back in verse eight?
They worshiped the work of their own hands. And they called it
the worship of God. They trusted in themselves. They trusted in themselves. Now hear me, you who yet know
not God, I'm going to tell you the reason. It's because you
still trust in yourself that you're good, that you're righteous. I don't believe that for a moment.
As long as you think you can do something good, As long as
you think you can make yourself righteous, as long as you look
for something in yourself, you trust in yourself. Things are
no better in our day. Our nature is so twisted, so
perverted that mankind seems always to be under the spell
of witchcraft and ideology. Men trust wealth and despise
providence. They trust power and despise
grace. They trust religious forms and
symbols and ceremonies and despise the power of God's Spirit. Men
trust their obedience to God's law and despise Christ's obedience. They trust their own righteousness
and despise Christ's righteousness. Men trust the work of their hands
and despise the work of Christ. Men trust their sacrifices, their
philanthropy, their gifts, their magnanimous deeds, and despise
Christ's sacrifice. I know a good many good Baptists,
and I've got quotation marks around those words, and I want
you to know I'm saying them with a laugh behind them, good Baptists. I know a good many good Baptists.
who consult with witches and palm readers and soothsayers.
Oh, Brother Don, you don't either. Oh, yes, I do. Oh, yes, I do.
Some of them come here now and then. They read their astrological
signs in the newspaper every day. Oh, I don't pay any attention
to that. I just read that for fun. You
lie through your teeth. You lie through your teeth. And
they despise the word of God and ignore it. As children must
have their toys, the sons of Adam must have their idols. But
there's one form of idolatry that exceeds all others. One
form of idolatry that is more base, more vile, more blinding,
more corrupting than any other form. The most vile base form
of idolatry, the most vile base crime of humanity is the worship
of yourself. The worship of yourself. It'd
make more sense to trust a stump that you've just covered over
with a little gold, or to pile you up some mud, let it harden,
stick some eyes in it, draw a mouth in it, and bow down and worship
that, that'd make more sense than trusting yourself. But men
trust themselves. And they're taught to trust themselves
from their youth. And churches everywhere teach
men to trust themselves. Man, fallen man, worships himself. Isaiah calls it worshipping the
work of their hands. Turn to Colossians chapter 2.
Colossians chapter 2. Now I want you to read it with
me. This is a problem that extended
to the early church for which the Apostle Paul gives stern
warning and does so repeatedly. Brother Don, how are we supposed
to walk with God? How are we supposed to live in
this world? As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord,
so walk ye in him. How did you first come to Christ?
As an empty-handed, naked, helpless, poor, doomed, damned, lost sinner
without one claim on God. Keep on living just like that.
Trust in Christ for everything. Keep on living just like that.
rooted and built up in him, established in the faith, as you've been
taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Oh, thank God,
Christ is everything. Thank God, Christ is all. Lindsay
read chapter three back in the office and concluded the reading
of the chapter with those words, Christ is all, thank God, Christ
is all, and he's taught me so. Beware. You know that's so, beware. Beware,
lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit after
the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world. What's
he talking about? He's specifically talking about
outward, physical, ceremonial religion. Specifically, he's
talking about Judaism, the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. and ye are complete in him, walk
in him, rooted, established in him, which is the head of all
principality and power, in whom also ye are circumcised with
the circumcision made without hands, and putting off the body
of sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in
baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith
of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you
all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out
of the way, nailing it to his cross. All the commandments of
God that we broke, he nailed them to the cross. Having spoiled
principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing
over them in his cross. Bless God, he put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself. Verse 16, let no man therefore
judge you. Let no man therefore judge you.
That is, don't let anybody make you feel guilty. Don't let anybody
to push you back under the law. Don't let anybody bring you to
feel somehow you just, this ain't right because we're not doing,
we're not keeping, we're not, let no man judge you in meat
or drink or in respect of an holy day. Eat whatever you want
to and drink whatever you want to. Oh, you can't say that. No, I can't. Eat whatever you
want to and drink whatever you want to. Do everything with moderation. but eat what you want to and
drink what you want to. I was chatting with some of the kids
this morning. Some of them, bless their hearts, they've learned
to like turkey early. Oh, my soul, what poor children. Sausage
is so much better, so much better. Eat what you want to. Pork or
beef, chicken or rabbit, duck or bear, whatever you want to.
That's the reason God put them here. Eat what you want to, drink
what you want to. If you want to have a glass of
wine, you want to have a beer, you want to have a shot of whiskey,
whatever you drink, in moderation, in moderation. Drunkenness is
wrong, just like gluttony is, with moderation. Don't let anybody
make you feel guilty because you do so. Christians ought not
do that. That's a good reason to do it.
Anytime somebody says Christians ought not to, go ahead and do
it. I just almost guarantee you that'd be all right. Let no man
judge you. Or in respect of a holy day,
holy days. Oh, we're about to come up on
the holy day of Christmas. It's just December the 25th.
Exactly the same as December the 24th. Don't mean a frazzling
thing. We have Easter, Resurrection
Day, Good Friday. If you're a papist, they mean
something. If you're not, they shouldn't mean anything to you.
There's nothing, there's nothing. Or of the new moon, or of Sabbath
days, Sabbath days, Sabbath days. Everybody wants to show they're
religious by keeping the Sabbath day. And you know better. You know better. What do you
do on Sunday? Just whatever I want to. Just
whatever I want to. I want to worship God one day
in seven, and I do. Set aside one day for that purpose.
But don't tell me I can't go swimming, or I might. Don't tell
me I can't go mow my yard and mow those leaves over there.
I'm waiting till tomorrow, but I wanted to mow them today. Should've
mowed them today. Might rain tomorrow, but I set
this day aside for that purpose. Don't tell me I can't do it.
I'll get the lawnmower out before I go to bed tonight and do it.
Don't let anybody bring you in judgment with regard to these
things. All these things are a shadow of things to come. The body, the substance, the
reality is of Christ. Let no man beguile you. Now,
Bobby, he's talking to you and me. He's talking to believers,
folks who are complete in Christ. Don't let anybody beguile you
of your reward in a voluntary humility. Now, listen to what
he says. Worshiping of angels. I go up and preach Brother Gary
Perkins going up the mountain. I laugh and I ought to cry. Every
time I go up there, there's a Baptist church sitting on the side of
the mountain. Pretty little brick building. Real nice building.
And sitting right on the front porch, as big as that front porch
out there, they got two huge guardian angels sitting there. Oh, we don't pay any attention
to that. You go kick one of them, see if they do. You go topple
one over and see how much attention they pay to it. the worshiping
of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen,
are vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the head,
from which all the body by joints and band, having nourishment
ministered and knit together, increaseth with the increase
of God, not holding to Christ, but holding to idolatry. Wherefore,
if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why,
as though living in the world, are you subject to ordinances?
The ordinances of men, what are they? Oh, now, if you're gonna
be a good Christian, don't touch this, don't taste that, don't
handle the other. Touch not, taste not, handle
not. Which all are to perish with the using after the commandments
and doctrines of men. All religion, all religion except
the gospel of God's free grace is designed and operates to control
you. All religion, doesn't matter
whether it's Baptist or Papist, doesn't matter whether it's Pentecostal,
Presbyterian, Islam, Judaistic, doesn't matter. All religion
is designed to control you except the gospel of God's free grace.
Look at verse 23. Which things have indeed a show
of wisdom in will worship. You make the difference. You're
the one who decides. You're the one who determines
everything. God's waiting on you. Will worship, that's what
free will religion is. And humility, a show of humility. Oh, I want folks to see Jesus
in me. They didn't see Jesus in Jesus, they ain't gonna see
me in you. And neglecting of the body. Oh, he's so holy. Do you know he hasn't eaten a
piece of meat in seven years? He's so holy. I actually went
to school with a fella my first year in Bible college who thought
somehow, he got it stuck in his noggin, that it was sinful to
eat stuff that tasted good. Now, I'm telling you the truth.
He thought it was sinful to eat stuff that tasted good, let alone
smoke a cigarette. I mean, man, that's building
a hell for yourself. It's sinful to eat something
that tastes good. Do you know what he did with everything we
ate? We'd sit down at the table, and that fellow would pour salt.
I'm not talking about salted. I like salt pretty good. That
fellow would whiten it with salt, and then he'd wash it down with
some water. Because it's sinful to eat something tasty good.
That's pleasing the flesh. That seems so humble, doesn't
it? Doesn't it? I had something on the news the
other day. One of the monasteries around here, I don't remember
which one it was, doesn't matter. They're making fruitcakes and they pray
seven times a day. And they have periods of silence.
And it's, oh, that's wonderful. Isn't that wonderful? It's called
wheel worship. Wheel worship. Listen to how
it's described. Not in any honor, not in any
honor to the satisfying of the flesh. All human religion, all works
religion, all the practice of religion, all free will religion
is nothing but the satisfying of the flesh. All idolatry is
just the satisfying of the flesh. Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, paganism,
voodooism, papacy, legalism, freewillism, it's all the same. Now, let's look at Isaiah 2,
22 for just a minute. Cease ye from man. Now this is what it means. Stop
trusting, following, and worshiping man. Stop placing confidence
in man. Trust Christ alone. Stop trusting
the flesh. Stop trusting others. And stop
trusting yourself. Particularly, I had no question
at all, John Gill is exactly on the money when he says, Isaiah
is here saying, cease ye from the man, the man of sin, Antichrist. You will never know and worship
God until you come out of and cease to follow the religion
of Antichrist. Jeremiah speaks a little differently
than all the other prophets, but repeatedly in the scriptures
we're commanded, come out of her, come out of her, come out
of her, come out of her. Jeremiah says, we would have healed her.
We would have healed her, but she would not be healed. I can't
tell you how many times I've had folks tell me, Well, I go
to church over there because they let me teach Sunday school
and I think maybe I can do some good. I ain't never seen it do
any good. I ain't never seen it do any good. All I've ever
seen is the fellow try and do some good, compromise. That's
all I've ever seen. And I promise you, if you can
stay there and nothing happens, you're compromising. I promise
you, I promise you. Brother Mark Daniel and his wife
raised free will Baptist. And I don't mean just free will
and as, you know, that fell across the streets, free will, badness,
that went down there, free will, badness, that went down there,
free will, badness. Most folks don't call themselves that. Brother
Bill Clark was riding down the road with Brother Bayhead and
I one day, we were going to Cincinnati. And we were riding the back roads
and he, Bill kept seeing these signs, free will, badness, church,
free will, badness, church. He said, this is the only country
I've ever been in where they advertise apostasy. Free will badness. They were free will badness.
Free will badness missionaries. What do you do when God saves
you? You leave it. Mother and daddy, brother and
sister, son and daughter, you leave it! You can't heal it. You can't come out of her. Lest
ye be partaker of her sins and you die with her. Forsake, abandon,
permanently wash your hands of all Arminian freewill works religion. It's just idolatry. Forsake her. You'll never be saved until you
cease to trust your soul to some man. Doesn't matter whether it's
a badness preacher or a papist priest. There's no mediator but
Christ, no priest but Christ, no intercessor but Christ, no
holy father but Christ. Trust Christ alone or you'll
go to hell. There's no in between ground.
And quit trusting yourself. Turn to Luke 18. Hold your hands
here, we'll be right back. Luke chapter 18. God Almighty will never accept
you. He will never accept me. He will
never receive you. He will never receive me until
we cease to trust ourselves. Luke 18 verse nine. The Lord
Jesus spoke this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves
that they were righteous. He's talking to folks who trust
in themselves and despised others. Because you see, people who trust
in themselves that they're righteous always despise others who are
not quite so good. Two men went up into the temple
to pray. The one a Pharisee, the other
a publican. The Pharisee, oh boy, if anybody
get into heaven, my brother the Pharisee will. The other a publican,
well, we've always known he's going to hell, nothing we can
do for him. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself.
God, I thank thee. I am not as other men are, extortioners,
unjust, adulterers, or even this poor publican. I fast twice in
the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. I'm a good fella. And the publican,
standing afar off, would not so much as lift up his eyes unto
heaven, but smote on his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me,
a sinner. Let me read you that just exactly
as it should be read. God, be propitious to me, the
sinner. God, look on Christ, the sin
atoning sacrifice, the propitiation for our sins, and be satisfied
for me, the sinner. There'd never been one quite
like me. There'd never been a man so vile
as me. There'd never been one so corrupt as me. God, look on
Christ and forgive me, the sinner. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone
that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth
himself shall be exhausted. Salvation is not by your good
works, but by God's work of grace. Salvation is not by your free
will, but by God's sovereign will. Salvation is not by your
righteousness, but by Christ's righteousness. Sin is not atoned
for by what you do, by what sacrifices you make. Sin was atoned for
by the blood of God's darling son, the Lord Jesus. Acceptance
with God is not in you, it's in Christ. It's not in the church,
it's in Christ. It's not in your works, it's
in Christ. This word is also sent to us
who are the children of God by faith in Christ. Cease ye from
man. The tendency of our nature is
to idolize man. Many who never think of worshiping
a crucifix or even wearing one, bow and scrape and grovel before
men as if God's work depended on man. Cease ye from man. We've got to have the help of
the Egyptians. Look how powerful they are. We've
got to have the help of the Assyrians. Look what wealth they have. We've
got to have the help of these folks over here. Look what great
people they are. You can't despise those things.
Cease ye from man. God's people need nobody but
God. God's church needs nobody but
God. That's all, that's all. Cease
for man, because you come to know the man who is God, Christ
Jesus the Lord, and none can be compared to him. Throw yourself
on El Shaddai, God Almighty, who will do for you exceeding
abundantly above all that you can ask or think. As that word
is addressed to believers, it's addressed to churches just like
this one. I say to you, men and women of
Grace Baptist Church, cease ye from man. Cease from man. Man's opinion just doesn't matter
about anything. Not about doctrine, not about
morals, not about right, not about wrong. Man's opinion is
meaningless. Cease from man. Don't bow and
scrape before men. Don't seek to please man. That's not our object. That's
not our object. Our object is to proclaim the
gospel of God's grace and glory to worthless human beings who
deserve his wrath, who've earned his wrath, who ought to be in
hell, except for God being gracious, they would be. Cease ye for man,
whose breath is in his nostrils. We make a great deal about men. We brag old men, and we promote
men, and we flatter men, and we laud men, and praise men,
and hold men up, whose breath is in his nostrils. Just cover
his nose and his mouth, and he's a golden Jesse. He's more worthless
than grass. The grass withers and the flower
thereof fades and man perishes away. Like that. The Spirit of
the Lord blows upon him and his gall, his breath is in his nostrils. Cease from fearing him. Cease
from fearing him. Cease from trusting him. Cease
from leaning on him. Cease ye from man. Fear God. Trust God. Lean on God. I won't do it for the sake of
time, but I wanted to read the 40th chapter of Isaiah. Actually,
I'd like to start in chapter 40 and just read right on through
as God describes himself. He gives his prophet the message
to declare. He says, he said, you go, say
all flesh is grass. All flesh is grass. You can't
preach man low enough. You can't preach him low enough.
You can't make him too despicable. You can't describe him too vile.
You can't make his heart too corrupt. You just can't do it.
All flesh is grass. Was that all we gotta say? No,
no, no. Behold your God. Look to him, trust him, lead
on him. Look to him and be safe, who
is a just God and a savior. Cease for man, whose breath is
in his nostrils. And then he says concerning this
mighty man, whose breath is in his nostrils, wherein is he to
be accounted of? Cease for man, He's weaker than
water. And he just, his next breath
he'll be gone. And wherein is he to be accounted
of? Mighty, mighty man. Noble, noble,
great man. What is he? Solomon described him pretty
well. Vanity, vanity, vanity. That's all. Man, the greatest,
the mightiest, the most noble, the most famous, the most delightful. Wherein is he to be accounted
of? He's just a puff of smoke. That's all. That's all. Cease
ye from man. Trust God. Oh, my God, cause
me to look away from myself, my feelings, my doings, my emotions,
my experience, my knowledge, to look out of myself to Christ
alone, who of God has made unto me wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. Teach me, my glory in the Lord,
and saying, The Lord is my rock, and He is my salvation. Amen.