Isaiah chapter 66 if you would
turn with me there verses 1 & 2 Thus saith the Lord The heaven is my throne and the
earth is my footstool Where is the house that you build unto
me? And where is the place of my
rest? For all those things hath mine
hand made. And all those things have been,
saith the Lord, but to this man will I look. That's the title
of the message. But to this man I will look. Even to him that is poor and
of a contrite spirit and trembleth, at my Word. Now this book that
you hold in your lap or your hand this morning is no ordinary
book. It's God's Word. It's called
the Holy Bible. It's called holy because it belongs
to one who is holy. One who is truly holy. And this
wondrous and marvelous book contains the words of life. No ordinary
book. It contains the meaning of life
and the purpose of life in God Almighty. It has only one theme
from beginning to end and that's the Lord Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. It asks one urgent question throughout
its pages. What think ye of Christ? Whose
Son is He? And it answers the question of
who and what we are. It answers the question of what
Christ did for chosen sinners. It answers the question of what
happens to those who reject God's Word and God's Son. And I've
heard it said many times that this is the number one best-selling
book, has been throughout, I guess, since they started publishing
books. And yet, it sits on so many people's coffee tables and
has never opened. Men searched the world over to
find the meaning of life, and it more than likely sits right
on their coffee tables. Many of those that do read it
never see it or understand its meaning because it's spiritually
discerned. A great majority consider it
foolishness and nonsense. I've had men say, you don't believe
the Bible, do you? It was just written by men. Written
by men under the divine inspiration of God Almighty. Only a fool
or a believer believes it. But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, their foolishness unto
him, neither can he know them." Why? Because they're spiritually
discerned. It's like we're born with blinders
on. Unless God removes the blinders,
we'll never see the beauty of this wonderful book. Christ speaking. of Himself. And the Holy Word said, These
are the words which I have spoken to you while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled. What things was He talking about?
The covenant that He had made with God the Father before the
foundation of the world to save chosen sinners by His death,
His life, His death, His resurrection. He said, these things must be
fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets
and in the Psalms. And I love those two words, concerning
me. This book concerns Christ. Paul said in Romans 4, he said,
I'm a servant of Jesus Christ. I'm called to be an apostle.
I'm separated unto the Gospel concerning His Son, Jesus Christ. And Paul said, he was declared
to be the Son of God. Who declared it? God did. God
said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And that's the only place, dear
sinners, that God and the only person that God is ever pleased
with, Christ, and us if we're found in Him. And what separated our Lord from
all other prophets? Well, there are many things,
but the one great difference was His resurrection. You see,
death could not hold the Son of God. And because He rose again,
death couldn't hold Him. You and I will one day be risen
again with Him in glory. He lived for us, He died for
us, and He rose again for us. And now He lives and makes intercession
for us at the right hand of God in all power and in all glory. Oh, isn't that a wonderful, wonderful
truth? If God be for me, who can be
against me? Who could be against me? Every
page of Scripture proclaims those words, Thus saith the Lord. That
should be the first thing that gets our attention. Thus saith
the Lord. He didn't say, Thus saith Isaiah. Thus saith the Lord. 1 Timothy
3.6 says that all Scripture was given by inspiration of God. And when the Creator of the heaven
and the earth speaks, dear friends, we the creature should most definitely
listen. It's crucial. It's a matter of
life and death. We're not just playing church.
We're not just meeting together once a week to feel good about
ourselves. This is a matter of life and
death. I'm often amazed at how many
people stop and work their schedules
around when the President of the United States makes a State
of the Union address. And most people listen because
what he says affects them and the nation in which they live.
But friends, that fails in comparison to when the God of heaven and
earth speaks. God speaks in these last days
by His Holy Word through His Holy Son. That's what Hebrews
1 says. It says, God who at sundry times
in divers manner spoke in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets, He hath in these last days spoken unto us by His Son. whom he hath appointed heir of
all things, by whom also he made the worlds." He said, as I quoted a minute
ago, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. And you
know what else he said? Hear ye Him, you better listen. It's crucial. It's a matter of
life and death. The Apostle Peter spoke those
words of faith And Christ, when asked by Christ Himself, after
the multitude had left and gone no more, Christ said, I'm the
bread that came from heaven. And people turned around and
walked off. They said, I don't want to hear that. Who does He
think He is? And He looked at His twelve disciples,
apostles, and He said, will you lead me also? And Peter, by the
inspiration of God and by the divine revelation of God, said,
Lord, where else would we go? That's how a believer feels.
Where else would I go? You have the words to life eternal. Look at the next line of our
text. Thus saith the Lord, the heaven
is my throne and the earth is my footstool. David Rowland,
Psalm 115, you're very familiar with this passage, but he said,
Our God is in the heavens, and He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. We see the largeness of this
earth from our own perspective, from our own eyes. And we don't
realize how insignificant it is in the overall scheme of things. It's just tiny compared to the
sun, and yet they found universes where the sun is just tiny compared
to other solar systems. And then you consider yourself
just a worm, just a worm, insignificant. And it's no wonder that David
asked the question, what is man, that thou art mindful of him,
that you would visit him? What is he? Men build big churches. They
build big mega-complexes with sky-high crosses. But they do it to impress men.
And let me tell you something, they don't impress God at all. That's what he says. He says
in the next line, where is the house that you build unto me?
And where is the place of my rest? What can we do for God? Think about that and answer it
in your own mind and with your own heart. What have we done
that has in any shape or form ever benefited God? But Lord, haven't we done many
wonderful works in your name? We've preached in your name.
We've cast out devils in your name. He said, depart from me,
you doers of iniquity. I never knew you. What can we
do for God? That's why God says what He does
in the next line. Look at verse 2. He says, For
all those things hath mine hand made. And all those things that have
been. We can do nothing for God. But
oh, oh what He can do for us. I suppose that's why they call
it the gospel, the good news. God has been mindful of us. My,
my. You hear me say this often. I
hope you never grow tired of it. I never grow tired of saying
it. There's only one way. There's only one thing needful.
There's only one who is just, holy, and righteous. And that's
God's precious Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul was so determined
for the sheep of God not to know anything. He didn't want to know
anything among them other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The man, Christ Jesus, is the
one who is just, holy, and righteous. 1 Timothy 2.5 says, For there
is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man, Christ
Jesus. Oh, doesn't that spark an interest? There's only one God. And there's only one who can
mediate between God and man. And He's a man. He was made a
man. He became a man. He left His
throne from on high and took on flesh to redeem them that
were in the flesh. Yet without sin He was. So much
so that the Scriptures say He knew no sin. knew no sin, but
was made sin to be sin for us. And the only reason, dear friends,
was that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Well, Brother David, you say
that every week. I hope I never say anything but. God help me
to never say anything but. that we be found in His perfect
righteousness which He worked out for us. That's the theme of all our preaching,
this man, Christ Jesus. And that's what God Himself says
here in verse 2. He says, but to this man will
I look. even to him that is poor and
of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." Oh, one of the most
glorious little words of Scripture is that word, but, isn't it?
But God needs nothing from sinners. But if a man or a woman is ever
saved, God, I have to do something for them. Psalm 49. Can you hold
your place here and turn back with me there? Psalm 49. Verse 14. Like sheep, they are laid in
the grave. Death shall feed on them, and
the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning, and
their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling.
Verse 15. God will redeem my soul from
the power of the grave, for He shall receive me. How's God going
to receive a wretched, no good sinner? Through Christ and in
Christ alone. Death feeds on me and the grave
consumes me, but God will redeem my soul from the power of the
grave. Paul said in Romans 5, he said,
for when we were yet without strength and due time, Christ
died for the ungodly. Is there an ungodly person here
today? If so, Christ died for the ungodly. That's good news. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward
us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Christ dies for sinners. He dies for those that have a
need. He doesn't die for those that are whole. He dies for the
needy. God commendeth His love toward
us. God commends us. What? Only in Christ. That first and
foremost speaks of Him and Him only. God will only save sinners
in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're ungodly. We're wretched
sinners deserving of death. But God commendeth His love toward
us. Well, didn't I have to straighten
up and do right before he did? No. Wow, ye were yet sinners. In the book of Acts, it tells
of the fake trial the mock trial of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
it says, and they found no cause of death in him, yet desired
they pallet that he should be slain. His own people yelled,
crucify, crucify. And it says, and when they had
fulfilled all that was written of Him, they took Him down from
the tree, and they laid Him in a sepulcher. You want to talk
about the free will of man? They by wicked hands took and
crucified the Lord of glory. But the verse right after where
it says they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a sepulcher
says, but God raised Him from the dead. Christ died in the place of chosen
sinners. He died as a man, though He was
most certainly God. And in order to satisfy God's
justice, friends, He had to become a man and die as a man. Oh, what
a condescension God made to redeem His people. He fulfilled all
that was written, all that had been foretold. He was slain. He was taken down from the cross
and He laid in a tomb, but God raised Him from the dead. And if we're found in Him, God
will do the same for us. That little word, but. Eyes not
seen or ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of the
man of things which God hath prepared for them that love Him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God." Now let me tell you what we deserve.
We deserve death. We deserve just condemnation. But God saved us by His grace. And it was sovereign grace. He
did it on purpose. It wasn't an afterthought. Well,
what am I going to do with these folks? No. Christ was a lamb
slain before the foundation of the world. You were chosen in
Christ before the world were ever made. This wasn't no afterthought. This wasn't no backup plan. God
don't need a backup plan. I think about those little words
used, but God saved us. Unless, that's another good one,
Psalm, unless thy law had been my delight, I should then have
perished in mine affliction. Unless, unless. What about that word except?
No man can come to me except. the Father which sent me draw
him, and I will raise him up at the last day." That little
word, yet. Y-E-T. For as ye in times past
have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their
unbelief. Speaking to the Gentiles concerning
the Jews. Yet have you now obtained And
we could go on and on. Paul said, I am what I am by
the grace of God, which was bestowed upon me, and it was not in vain.
I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God, which was
with me. But to this man will I look,
God said. even to him that is poor and
of contrite spirit and trembleth at my word." Now the more correct
translation there, I say that, but men smarter than me said
this, would be, or might be, and to whom shall I look? To
whom shall I look? Is He going to look to us? Not
if we're not in Christ. Or maybe even more correctly
translated, in whom shall I dwell? Well, I know this much. He doesn't dwell in temples made
with hands. He says that in Acts 7.48. No,
not in the temple that was built in Jerusalem. And I'm sure it
was a spectacle. I'm sure it was something to
see. and not even in the true tabernacle which God pitched
in the desert, in the wilderness. He dwells in Christ and Christ
only. He looks to Christ only in all
things. But to this man will I look. Christ said in John 14, Believest
thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words
that I speak unto you, I don't speak of myself. But the Father
that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Paul wrote in Colossians 2, verse
9, For in him dwelleth what? All the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. Bodily. To this man will I look. If you're in Christ, dear friend,
you dwell in God. Christ said, and we say this
each time we take the Lord's table, He says, He that eateth
my flesh and drinketh my blood, what? Dwelleth in me and I in
Him. In that wonderful prayer of John
17, He said, I have manifested Thy name unto the men which You
gave Me. He said, Thine they were. and
thou gavest them me, and they have kept thy word." And then
he says in verse 9 of that chapter, I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are thine. And then he says these words,
And all mine are thine, all mine are yours, and thine are mine,
all yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. Oh, friends,
if we dwell in Christ, we dwell in God, and God dwells in us.
Now, if God looks at me without Christ, it's a whole different
ballgame, isn't it? He'll never see anything other
than sin and depravity and evil if He looked at me, at me alone. But in this man, Christ Jesus,
God sees me He sees me in perfect holiness
and perfect righteousness. Me? In Christ. For ye are the temple
of the living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in them. and walk in them, and I'll be
their God, and they shall be my people." Oh, child of God,
rejoice this morning that God dwells in you, but He dwells,
and never forget, He dwells in you because He looks to this
man, Christ Jesus. For we know the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes
He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich. Though
He was God and rich beyond measure, yet for our sakes," did you hear
that? For our sakes, He became poor. He took on no reputation. He became what we are. What are
we? We're poor and we're bankrupt
before God Almighty. We have nothing to offer, nothing
to pay. We're in the red, way in the
red. He was one with a contrite spirit. And you know what? All He has
chosen, all those whom He saves, are contrite men and women. That word contrite means sorrowful,
remorseful over their sin. Christ said, take My yoke upon
you and learn of Me, for I am meek and I am lowly in heart,
and you shall find rest under your souls. We must take Christ's
yoke and learn of Him. That's our only hope. As our
example in all things, dear friends, He's meek and He's lowly in heart. And this is where we find rest
for ourselves. Blessed are the meek, they shall
inherit the earth. Lowly. His body was not only broken
for us, but His spirit was also. not through a sense of sin or
a consciousness of it, but through His sorrows and sufferings for
His people. You remember when Christ went
to see Lazarus and they came to Him and they said, He's already
dead. Christ said, No, He sleeps. And
the apostle said, Well, that's good if He just sleeps. That
means He's not dead. And Christ said, No, He's dead.
And then I've heard men just make complete sermons out of
those two little words, Jesus wept. Well, I'm going to tell
you why he wept. Now, some will say it was because
of their unbelief, and it very well could have been. But Christ,
but this man, man, he loved Lazarus. Lazarus was one of His. That's
why he wept. He feels our sorrow. He felt
our sorrow, our pain. And in our place, he was tempted
in all points as we are, yet without sin. Oh, help me to believe more,
Lord. And notice the last line, and
I'll concentrate just for a few minutes on this and finish it
up. He says, and trembleth at my
word. Now listen, Christ bowed to the
will and purpose of his Father. And at his most trying time as
a man, he said, Lord, not my will. but Thine be done." He
said, if it be possible, Lord, let this cup pass from me. Take
this away from me. He said, but not my will. Thy
will be done. And it was God's will to crucify
Him on the cross next to two criminals as the greatest criminal
that ever lived because that's where you and I should have been. And friends, all God's elect
have bowed their heads before Jehovah, and they listen with
urgent attention to everything that God may speak. They're like
that child Samuel. You remember Samuel. You've read
that. When he said, Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. That's
the attitude of all God's people. Speak, Lord. I listen. I'm your servant, and I'll hear.
I know that thou hast the words to life eternal. Those who tremble
at God's word are people who are acquainted with God's word.
You cannot tremble in the sense that's meant here at a voice
that you've never heard. You can't tremble the way that
it's meant here at a book that you've never opened. There's nothing sacred in the
paper. There's nothing sacred in the ink and in the binding
of this book. Those that tremble at his word
are the ones that have heard him speak. They're the ones whom he's revealed
what he said. When God reveals the Word of
God and you read its holy laws, let me tell you, you'll tremble
if God's shown them to you. You'll say, oh my goodness, I
haven't kept to one. And the Scripture says that if
I've offended in one point, I'm guilty of the whole law. And
men tremble when God shows it to them. When He reveals it to
you, you're astonished to find out how you have broken His law. and how short you are, you've
come short of the glory of God, then you tremble. Oh, we tremble. A revelation of the Scriptures
alone can make a man tremble at it, and yet the more he understands
it, the more calls for trembling he'll see. Oh, I still tremble
at God's Word. The more he enjoys God's Word.
The more he enjoys God's Word, the more he'll tremble. The highest
joy which God's Word brings to mortal men is attended with a
reverential awe, just a respect like, wow, that is just amazing,
and a holy trembling before God. We tremble in joy, don't we?
We tremble in thanksgiving. If God is pleased to show us
the incarnate Word, Christ Jesus Himself, He gives us eyes to
see Him high and lifted up. Oh, listen, we tremble. We tremble. Oh, we tremble in the splendor
of His person. We tremble even more. And as
John the Beloved himself said, when I saw Him, I fell at His
feet as dead. Have you seen Christ? If you
have, you tremble. You tremble at His Word. You
know what? For such a trembling, it's a
sign of grace. Is it not? It's a sign of grace. Believe me, this trembling is
not one of a slavish fear. It's not one whose fear of being
beaten by his master. No. Not that kind of trembling
at all. they that tremble at God's Word.
May at first tremble because the Word threatens them with
death, but afterwards, as they're taught of God and grow in grace
and become familiar with the God of love and they enter into
the beauty of His covenant, they tremble for a totally different
reason. They tremble because they have
a holy reverence for God and who He is and what He's done. Oh, it's the power and majesty
of Him that became one of us and died for us. We tremble because
of His excellent majesty. Those who know the Lord in truth,
they tremble with fear, lest he should break God's law. And
he sees what a perfect law it is, and how spiritual it is,
and how it overlaps the whole human existence. And he cried,
oh, it's too high. It's high. I cannot keep it. Oh my God, help me. And he trembles. He views the law with reverence. He admires it with a sacred fear. He trembles at God's Word, not
because he dislikes it, but because he cannot bear to
be so far off from obedience to it with its righteous demands. Oh, I want to be pleasing to
God, but I can only be in Christ. And by the sovereign grace of
God, the sinner then sees the law of God fulfilled in Christ. All that the law required of
me, the sinner, Christ has fulfilled. And you know what we do? We tremble. We tremble. We tremble in thanksgiving. All that God demands, Christ
fulfills in perfect obedience. The sinner is truly made to see
that Christ died for the ungodly. And now He's considered a son. He's adopted into the kingdom
of the Holy God. Christ died for us while we were
yet sinners, and we tremble in amazement, don't we? I tremble
to think that God Himself became flesh and dwelt among us and
became what we were and died in our place. I can't get over
that. Brother Scott Richardson said,
I've not ever heard any bad news since I heard the good news.
What can compare to that? No better news ever given. Oh,
we tremble at God's Word, for in it we see His sovereign, His
undeserving grace. and His mercy to us who are undeserving
of mercy. Have you heard the voice of the
Lord? Have you heeded what He says? Thus saith the Lord. Have you
seen that He is almighty and supreme and the heavens is His
throne and the earth is His footstool? Have you seen that there's nothing
that you can build or offer God? Where is the house that we built
for Him? Have you seen that God has made
everything that was ever made? But most importantly, dear friends,
have you seen the man to whom God will look? If you've seen Him and you've
bowed to Him and you've trusted Him for all your righteousness,
and you know what righteousness means. It means right standing. I'm in good standing. I'm in
the right standing before Him. If so, then you're one of His
chosen. Chosen before the worlds were
ever made. If you've seen Him, you've seen
your poverty. You've seen your bankrupt state
and you've been made sorrowful over your sin. If you've seen
Him and you know that your sin has been forgiven, do we really believe that? I'm asking myself, do I really
believe my sin is forgiven? By God's grace, I do. I have
no sin. I, who have nothing but sin in
my own standing, now stand right before God, because He took all
my sin, forgave all my sin, covered all my sin with His precious
blood. Oh, do you tremble before the
Word of God? And do you endeavor with all
that's within you by His grace to follow Him all the days of
your life? God says, thus saith the Lord,
God says, but to this man will I look. And by His wondrous,
sovereign grace and mercy, dear friends, you and I are made to
look to Him also. And if we look to Him and Him
alone, everything's all right.