There's absolutely nothing that
thrills a believer's heart more than when God Himself, from the
Scriptures, declares Himself to be a sovereign God and Savior. And it's the same with preaching.
True believers, sinners that God has taught that have learned
of the Father, of who and what they are, and who God is. I'll tell you this, they don't
desire to hear anything but the sovereign, saving power of God
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that right, Gary? That's
all you want to hear, isn't it? We don't want to hear how to
live. We can't live how we're supposed to, aside from God's
grace. Men don't want to hear that.
Sinners want to hear about the saving power of God in Christ. Salvation is of the Lord. Believers won't be satisfied
with anything less than the truth concerning a sovereign Savior. To preach anything else is to
preach lies. to preach anything else is to
preach a false gospel. And a false gospel will lead
men and women down the broad way to destruction. Now, I've
been here a little over two years now, and the first time that
I came, this highway out here was a mess. And further north,
I suppose that it still is. But they widened this. They made it a better, quote,
better road. But do you know why they widened
this road? Because so many people traveled
it, crowded, traveled this road. And that's why the road that
leads to destruction is wide. That's what our Lord said. He
said, for wide is the gate. Wide is the gate, and broad is
the way that leadeth to destruction, and many, many there be which
go in thereat." The gospel speaks of two gates,
two roads, and our Lord describes them in such a way that it's
easy to distinguish the one from the other. There's no difficulty,
dear friends, in finding or entering or walking in the way of sin,
which leads to eternal ruin. The gate of carnal lust, worldly
pleasure, stands wide open. And many, Christ says many, shall
go in that way. You see, the way of the ungodly
is broad. It's smooth, it's easy, and in
every way agreeable to men's flesh. But its end is destruction. However, there is a straight
and a narrow way which leads to life, and Christ said, few
there be that find it. Few there be that find it. It's
a path of truth and it's straight and it's narrow. It's straight
and narrow because it leads directly to the cross of Christ and His
redemption for sinners. It leads directly to the truth
about the sovereign God of heaven and earth, the redeeming Christ
and the horrific, depraved, fallen state of the creature. directly,
straight. The way of life is difficult
to enter in at, and when it's entered, the way is unpleasant
to the flesh. It's hedged up on each side with
afflictions, tribulations, trials, sufferings, pain, and tears. And men say, there must be an
easier way. There must be an easier way. There must be a more pleasant
route. Well, as I said, only two ways. One's broad and the
other's narrow. One's right, the other's wrong.
One's good and the other's evil. One is the way to heaven and
the other's the way to hell. One is by works, one is by grace. The one by works is broad. It's
broad, it's easy. But the one by grace is narrow
and straight. Now I pray this morning that
the Lord will enable me Enable me to show you the straight and
the narrow way that leads unto life May God enable you to see it and May God enable you that are
still without Christ To find it and enter into it I'll tell
you this much. You'll never find it. I unless
God Almighty, by divine inspiration and divine intervention, shows
it to you. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is of the Lord. Now if you would, turn with me
to Isaiah chapter 43. Isaiah chapter 43. While you're turning, let me
tell you that in this 43rd chapter of Isaiah, the first 25 verses,
at least 30 times, our Lord God of heaven and earth declares
these words, I will or I am. Over 30 times in 25 verses. And all of them are in reference
to His sovereignty as the God who controls all things. Every
one of them. Look at verse 1 with me. But
now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he
that formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name,
thou art mine. And when thou passest through
the waters, I will be with thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shall not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I am the Lord, thy God, and
the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I gave Egypt for thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba for thee. since thou wast precious in my
sight. Thou hast been honorable, and
I have loved thee. Therefore I will give men for
thee, and people for thy life. Fear not, for I am with thee."
I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the
west. I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep
not back. Bring my sons from afar and my
daughters from the ends of the earth, even every one that is
called by my name. For I have created him for my
glory. I have formed him, yea, I have
made him." bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the
deaf that have ears. Let all the nations be gathered
together, and let the people be assembled. Who among them
can declare this and show us former things? Let them bring
forth their witnesses that they may be justified, or let them
hear and say, it is truth. Ye are my witnesses, say the
Lord, and my servant, whom I have chosen." I'll pause here for
a moment and ask you, does this sound like a God that's trying?
That wants to do something and can't unless you let Him? Does
it? No siree, it doesn't. Let's just be honest. It sounds
like a God to me that's in control of everything. and works all
things according to His will and purpose. I have chosen thee,
verse 10, that ye may know and believe Me and understand that
I am He. Before Me there was no God formed,
neither shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and
beside Me there is no Savior. I have declared And have saved,
and I have showed when there was no strange God among you. Therefore, you are my witnesses,
saith the Lord, that I am God. Yea, before the day was, I am. Yet before the day was, I am
he. And there is none that can deliver
out of my hand. I will work, and who shall let
him? Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer,
the Holy One of Israel, for your sake I have sent Babylon, and
I have brought down all their nobles and the Chaldeans whose
cries in the ships. I am the Lord, your Holy One,
a Creator of Israel, your King. Look down at verse 19, behold,
I will do a new thing. And now it shall spring forth,
shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the
wilderness and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field
shall honor me, the dragons in the house, because I give waters
in the wilderness and rivers in the desert to give drink to
my people, my chosen. This people have I formed for
myself. They shall show forth my praise. But thou hast not called upon
me, O Jacob, but thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. Thou hast
not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings, neither
hast thou honored me with thy sacrifices. Have not caused thee
to serve me with an offering or wearied thee with incense
Thou has brought me no sweet cane with money Neither has thou
filled me with the fat of thy sacrifices But thou has made
me to serve with thy sins Thou has wearied me with thine iniquities
and verse 25 is my text I I, even I, am he that blotteth out
thy transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember thy
sins. Today, just for a few minutes,
I'd like you to consider this amazing verse of Scripture and
ask God to show Christ to us. If we meet today without seeing
Him, we'd have been better off just to stay in bed this morning.
That's right. Oh, I pray right now that God
might show someone Christ. Show him high and lifted up like
that serpent Moses held in the wilderness. All those that looked
at that serpent, they were saved. Bitten by the poison serpents. That's what's happened to us.
We've been bitten by the poison serpent of sin. And Moses held
that pole high and he said, look and live. Oh, may God enable
me to lift Christ up high to you today that you might see
him and that salvation is in him and him alone. In the book of Matthew, you don't
have to turn there. Matter of fact, we looked at
this a few weeks ago. Our Lord Jesus Christ made his
triumphal entry into Jerusalem and it says that all the city
was moved saying, who is this? That's the most important question
that you'll ever be asked. Who is this? Who is this? And another place it asks, what
think ye of Christ, whose son is he? That is an issue of life
and death. May God show you that soul. I
know this much, unless God shows you, you'll never see it. You
can ask any here who professes to believe. They'll tell you,
I never saw it until God showed it to me. Oh, may God show it
to you. Who is this? This is I am. I am that I am, he said. I am he. Christ said, I'm the one who
set forth in all the scriptures. You remember where he showed
those two fellas in the beginning of Moses and all the prophets?
He expounded to them in all the scriptures. All the scriptures. The things, what? Concerning
himself. I have four things I want you
to seriously consider from this passage in verse 25. I have four
questions that I want to ask you. First is who receives mercy? Second, what is the work of mercy? Thirdly, what is the reason for
mercy? And lastly, what is the promise
of mercy? If God permits you to truthfully
answer these questions and believe the answers in your heart, then
you're a blessed man or woman. I'll tell you that. Who receives
mercy? Well, let's look back at verse
22. But thou hast not called upon
me, O Jacob, But thou hast been weary of me, O Israel." First
we see that those who receive mercy are prayerless people. They are people without prayer.
Thou hast not called upon me. For in salvation, always has
God as the first cause. Always. True salvation is of
the Lord. He's the first cause. It's never
the sinner that initiates it. It always begins with God. Thou hast not called upon Me. Christ said in John 15, you've
not chosen me, but I've chosen you. And I've ordained you that
you should go forth and bring fruit and that your fruit should
remain, that whatsoever you shall ask of the Father in my name,
he may give it you. You've not chosen me, I've chosen
you. Oh, the beloved John, the Apostle
John learned that truth well, didn't he? He wrote in 1 John
4, we love Him because He first loved us. He learned that well. He wrote in chapter 4, verse
10, herein is love. I'm going to tell you what love
is, John says. Not that we love God. No sir,
that's not love. Not that we love God, but that
He loved us. And He sent His Son. Oh, what
love! What amazing love! The love of
Christ for me. He sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. The sacrifice. Now it's friends
to answer that question. It's mercy-beggars. It's mercy
beggars who receive mercy. Have you begged for mercy? If
you truly have, then you'll truly receive. I can't find anywhere
in Scripture, can you Tyler? Anywhere in Scripture that a
man or a woman came to Christ begging and pleading for mercy
that didn't receive it. I challenge you to find one place
where they didn't. Sinful mercy beggars are made
to beg because by nature they're a prayerless people. These recipients of mercy are
also a despising people. Look at the end of verse 22.
Thou hast been weary of me, O Israel. Now that describes me, friends,
more than I care to think. All the times that I've been
weary of the most crucial and urgent things. I've often been
weary of reading God's Word, studying the Scriptures. I'm
just being honest. I've often been weary of attending
worship. I've often been weary of worship
itself. And in all these things, I'm
weary of my Lord. Thou hast been weary of me, He
says. Now you be honest with yourself.
Is it not true of you also? We're so wrapped up in earthly,
temporal things that we ignore the spiritual and eternal things
most often. I can watch five hours of TV,
a two hour movie and fall asleep in an hour of worship. That's
true. I can read a useless magazine
and very seldom open my Bible if God don't give me grace. We can make time for the silliest
and most ridiculous things and not make time for fellowship
with one another. Why is that so? We're despisers. And we're weary of God. By nature,
we are. Yes, God is merciful to a despising
people. And those who receive mercy,
you know what else they are? They're a thankless people. That's
right. Look at verse 23, "...thou hast
not brought me the small cattle of thy burnt offerings, neither
hast thou honored me with thy sacrifices." Now God had increased
these people's cattle, and He had multiplied their flocks,
and they didn't even bring Him one small cattle. They had never given him a young
goat for a burnt offering. They were never thankful to God
Almighty who had given it all. Now I ask you, before Christ
came to you in mercy and in love and in grace and called you by
the gospel, were you thankful? Were you? I would dare to say that you
weren't. I wasn't. Why God's Son provided for me. God gave me health in order to
make a living. God caused the rain to fall so
that I could drink and provided food for me daily. I never thanked
Him. Just expected Him. Just took
Him for granted. I have not caused thee to serve." Men say they love God and they
are thankful that they never give to the cause of preaching
the gospel. We, by nature, are a thankless
people. God gives mercy, dear friends,
to prayerless, despising, thankless, and useless people. Look at the
remainder of verse 24. Neither hast thou filled me with
the fat of thy sacrifices, but thou hast made me to serve with
thy sins. Thou hast wearied me with thine
iniquities. Friends, we are by nature, birth,
and practice useless people. And you know what? You can't
make a believer mad by telling him that. He'll agree with you
every time, just like you do. I see a lot of heads saying,
yeah, that's right. I'm useless, thankless, prayerless, a despiser
of God outside of His mercy and grace. Well, brother, I don't
much appreciate you calling me useless. I didn't. God did. And He calls me that too. And a believer shakes his head
and says, that's right, that's what I am. Outside of Christ,
that's what I am. Our Lord said in Luke 17, so
likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are
commanded you, say, say this, we are unprofitable servants. Unprofitable, sir. We've done
that which was our duty to do. No, God's people aren't puffed
up. God's people aren't proud. They don't walk around bragging
and talking about all the things that we've done for God. No,
sir. They're like that publican in
the temple. A Pharisee stood up there and
said, Lord, I think you ain't like other men. I do this, I
do that, I do this. Ain't I something? Republican,
a man whom God had showed something of his sin. He stood in the back. He beat upon his chest with his
head hanging low, and his words were, Lord, be merciful to me,
a sinner. As God Had that effect on you? If He hadn't, you've yet to see
Him. You've yet to see the Lord Jesus Christ in Him high and
lifted up. It's often been said that the
chief end of man is to glorify God. That God made the sun, the
moon, the stars, and all His works that they might honor Him.
And yet, how many are there even perhaps among us this morning
who have never honored God once in your life. Some of you here today have been
raised under the sound of the gospel. You've heard this wondrous
message of salvation which is in, by, and through Christ alone
nearly most of your life. John Bunyan once said, the worst
way to hell is to walk over the cross of Christ on your way. Oh, friends, the very ones that
are weary of God are the ones who weary God with their sins. We're a useless people. All right,
I'll move on. What is the work of mercy? We've
seen the type of people that receive God's mercy. They're
prayerless. They're despising thankless and
useless people. But what is the work of mercy?
It's a work of forgiveness. First notice in verse 25 that
it's a divine forgiveness. I, even I, am He. Divine pardon, dear friends,
is the only forgiveness possible. No one, and I repeat it, no one
can remit sin but God. No one can forgive sin but God.
You know, the Pharisees once said that of Christ. They said,
who is this man? None can forgive sin but God.
And you know what? They spoke the truth. For He
was God. He was God in the flesh. Even
God will use wicked men to bring forth His praise, won't He? Now
if a man has offended me, I can forgive him. But if he's offended
God, I can't forgive him. The only forgiveness possible
is pardon by God. And it's the only pardon necessary. Now let's just suppose that I
committed murder. I'm a murderer. And I am because
I've hated in my heart. But let's say I'm a murderer
and the law of this land will not pardon me, finds me guilty,
condemns me to life imprisonment, maybe possibly even death. The family of the one that I
murdered will not forgive me and obviously I can't pardon
myself. But if God forgives me, that is all the acquittal that'll
be necessary for my salvation. I may remain in prison, and rightfully
so. I may be branded a murderer and
hated by all men, and rightfully so. But if God forgives me, Christ and my salvations for
certain and sure I Even I Am he that blotted out thy transgressions. Oh What forgiveness we have in
Christ Christ died for all my sin all
the sin of all his people past, present, yes, and even future. Christ is salvation. He is my
salvation. Oh, what forgiveness there is
in Christ. It's the only real forgiveness
we have, that which we have in Christ. Notice that it's a surprising
forgiveness. It's a surprising forgiveness
to those that find it It's so surprising that it's repeated
this way. I, even I, so that none of us
should doubt it. God repeats that it's I, even
I, that blotteth out by transgressions. Notice that
this forgiveness is a present forgiveness. God doesn't say,
I am he that will blot out thy transgressions. Is that what
it says? I will blot out thy transgressions. No, he said, I am he that blotteth
out thy transgressions. This is a present forgiveness
right now. I'll blot them out. Those that
come to God by Christ right now. That's why the Apostle Paul said
in Romans 8, there is therefore now no condemnation to those
that are in Christ. Right now! Right now! No condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus. Now if I live 80 years after
my pardon, And I won't. But if I did, there's no doubt
that I'll fall and fail many, many times in sin and in error. But one pardon from God. Did you hear that? One pardon
from God will avail for all present as well as past and all future
sins. One pardon from God. Jesus Christ
bore our punishment in His own body on the tree. And God will
never, ever require in my hands or your hands, those of you that
trust in Him, the fulfillment of that law which Christ has
honored in our stead. Is that not good news? Can you
get a hold of that? And friends, this is a complete
salvation. This is complete. Christ paid
all my debt. He didn't just die for some of
the sins of some of His people, did He? He died for all the sins
of all His people. It's a complete salvation. There's no salvation if there's
one sin left unpaid. It's not salvation. Notice that he says, I blotteth
out thy transgressions, plural. Jesus paid it all. All our transgressions. Not one
sin left unaccounted for or unpaid. When God made him to be sin for
us, he who knew no sin, he was made to be what? Sin, singular. Sin is what we are, and we are
sin because of what we are. We sin because of what we are.
And when God made Him to be sin for us, He gave us, it says,
His perfect righteousness. Now, if you've got perfect righteousness,
is your salvation and your forgiveness complete? If you're righteous, if you're
perfectly righteous in Him, it is. Okay, thirdly, what is the
reason for mercy? Why should God forgive me? I know there's no reason why
I should. I've never done anything to deserve his mercy. But do you hear and see what
God says? He says, I am not about to forgive
you for your sake, but for my own sake. Oh, my. Now we've already seen
from these verses that we can't ever pray enough to deserve God's
mercy. And God says, I've not pardoned
you for your sake, but for my own sake. Lord, I can never thank you enough.
We're not saved because of our thankfulness. We're a thankless
people. but for his name's sake. I've despised you, Lord, and
I've been totally useless. There's nothing that I've done
or could ever do to deserve your mercy and pardon. I know. I didn't save you for your sake.
I saved you for my own sake. Do you hear that? My own sake. That's the gospel, dear friends,
the reason salvation's been given to us, pardon has been supplied
for us, is for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ who loved us
and gave himself for us. That's our only hope. That is
salvation. It's not how much scripture you've
memorized, it's not how dedicated you are to attend church, those
are all good things and a good sign that you know and love Christ.
But it's not your sake. Not by works of righteousness
that you've done, but of God who is rich in mercy. He's rich in mercy. He delights
to show mercy for His own sake. The reason for mercy is for God's
own sake, Christ's own sake. Last thing and I'm done. What
is the promise of mercy? What's God's promise to those
who trust in Christ? Well, it's right there in verse
25. I will not remember thy sins. God will not remember my sins. God will not remember your sins.
That's the promise of God's mercy. Now, several years ago, Brother
Don Fortner, he preached a message called Seven Things That God
Cannot Do. One was God cannot change or
be changed. God cannot lie. God cannot save
a sinner without a suitable sacrifice. God cannot take anyone to heaven
who is not perfectly righteous in his sight, the fourth thing.
Number five, God cannot send anyone to hell for whom Christ
suffered and died. Six, God cannot save a sinner
apart from the preaching of the gospel. These are scriptural
things. And seven, God cannot fail to
save any sinner who trusts the Lord Jesus Christ, His dear Son. Seven things God cannot do. Well,
one might say here, well, isn't there another thing that God
cannot do? If God is sovereign and omnipotent,
can God forget? Can the sovereign God of heaven
and earth who counts the stars and calls them by names forget? Can the omnipotent God who notices
every grain of dust that kicks up behind the tractor in the
fields and every leaf that falls from the trees in the forest,
can He choose not to remember? I guarantee you, He can choose
not to remember. That's what He says. Isn't that
what He says here? Will not remember thy sins. I know our first inclination
is to say, no, God can't forget, but the verse says, I will not
remember thy sins. I believe it would be correct
to say that God chooses not to remember our sins and our transgressions,
but there's still a better answer than that. You know what it is? I give you the answer I believe
with all my heart to be correct. And let me again read to you
that marvelous passage of Scripture found in 2 Corinthians 5.21. You can turn there if you like.
But let me read it to you. Most of you know it by heart.
For He, God, hath made Him to be sin for us. Who knew no sin, speaking of
Christ? He didn't know sin. That we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Now let me ask you something.
Do you believe that verse? I believe this is the gospel,
dear friends. In Christ, He who knew no sin
was made to be sin for us, His elect, His people, His chosen,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Then the correct answer The truth
of this amazing verse that God will not remember is we have no sin. Isn't that it? God doesn't remember my sin because
I don't have any. It's all been put on and extinguished
in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is my only hope. And I pray that that is your
only hope. It's the only thing that saves
substitution. Christ standing in my place. I should have been crucified.
I should have suffered and died. I should have hung on the cross
in disgrace. But Jesus, God's Son, took my
place.