Well, we're in Isaiah 52. Isaiah
52. There's a lot in here. I thought
about doing the chapter, but we might make it to verse 6 this
morning. Isaiah 52. And what we see here
is further encouragements to the people of God's grace. Further
encouragements to the people of God's grace. He says in verse
1, Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion. So we know that he's
talking to the church, he's talking to the remnant, the election
according to grace. He says, Put on thy beautiful
garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city, for henceforth there shall
no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. shake thyself
from the dust, arise and sit down, O Jerusalem, loose thyself
from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion." We have this
first exhortation in verse 1, to awake unto Him who is our
All in All. Awake unto Him. He says, Awake,
awake, put on thy strength, O Zion, Put on thy beautiful garments. Well, he says, put on thy strength.
Put on thy strength. But when I read this, I had to
ask the question, who can that be? Put on thy strength. What
is he talking about? Whose strength is he talking
about? When he addresses the people of God's grace and he
says, Awake and put on your strength. Who can that be? Well, Turn with
me to Romans chapter 5. It cannot be our own. It cannot be our own strength. Paul is very forward and very
clear when he writes to the Romans in Romans 5 and verse 6, he says,
For when we were yet without strength, when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. It cannot be, this exhortation,
awake, awake, put on thy strength. He cannot be telling us to put
on our own strength by our own will and by our own merits. Because we have no spiritual
strength to come unto God at all. John chapter 6. Turn to John chapter 6. I'm going
to lay this down first and then we'll see who our strength is.
John chapter 6 and verse 44. No man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him, and I will raise him
up at the last day." No man can. Can, that word shows ability. No man has the ability to come
to God. Why? Because we're without strength. In the 5th chapter of John, and
the 40th verse, it says this way, And you will not come to
me, that you might have life. Not only do we not have the ability,
we don't have the power. We don't have the power to come
to Him. So this strength that He is speaking
of in our text, put on thy strength. Our strength is none other than
the God-man Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. Put on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Put on put on by strength. He is our strength. And we can't,
you know, the way the wording is here The English language
is kind of clumsy and sometimes the way we word things, I want
to make sure that when we... I'm reading the scripture as
it is, I have no problem with the way it's worded. But the
way it's preached today is it says that you're able to do these
things. Oh no, we have no strength. We can't do a thing to honor
and to please God. But Christ is our strength and
gives us the ability to do these very exhortations. Put all my
strength. The Lord Jesus Christ, our strength,
is none other than the God-man himself. Let me show you this. Can we make this good in the
Word of God? Is this my opinion? Is this what this book says?
Just a couple places there's too many to look at. Psalms 19.
Turn to Psalms 19. Verse 14, let the words of my
mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy
sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Christ is the sinner's
Redeemer. And He says, my strength and
my Redeemer. Our strength. Put on thy strength. Our strength, because we've gotten
on ourselves. We're without strength, is what Paul says. We can't come
to Him. We won't come to Him. Christ
must be our strength. The Apostle also said that he
can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. If we do
anything for the glory of God, if we do anything to be recognized,
set apart, set aside, that honors and glorifies His grace, His
redemption, His Son, it's Him in us. It's not weird, we cannot
take any credit or any glory in this thing of salvation or
regeneration or justification or sanctification, it's all outside
of us. But he says, nonetheless, awake,
put on thy strength. The Lord Jesus Christ. Turn to
Psalms 29. Psalms 29 and verse 11. The Lord will give strength unto
his people The Lord will bless his people with peace. He will
give strength unto his people. And he did in the person and
work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now secondly, we have another
exhortation. Another encouragement. Awake!
Awake! Put on thy strength, O Zion.
Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem. I ask the same question. What garments is he speaking
of? It cannot be our own, or it cannot be garments found within. Why? I'm glad you asked, Isaiah
64, 6. Turn to Isaiah 64, 6, which I
don't know, we'll get here one of these days. Isaiah 64, 6. We're talking about garments
now. And he says, verse 6 of Isaiah
64, but we are all as an unclean thing,
and all our righteousness is, are as filthy rags. That's our garments. Filthy rags. We all do fate as a leaf, and
our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. That's our
garments. So when he says, put on thy strength,
it can't be our strength, it's the strength of Christ, Christ
himself, and he says, put on thy beautiful garments, it cannot
be ours or anything that we can produce but rather as we've seen
as we saw a couple weeks ago we got to turn back and look
at this Ezekiel 16 turn to Ezekiel 16 in this whole passage Ezekiel
16 And we won't go over the whole thing, but it's speaking of how
God saves helpless, vile, corrupt sinners. He does all the work
for them, He washes them, He stops by in the time of His love,
He calls His people by His grace, He cleans us, washes us, puts
jewels upon us, and now He's about ready to clothe us. And look in verse 13 of Ezekiel
16, thus, He's talking to the church, He's talking to His people,
thus, was thou decked with gold and silver, and thy reign was
of fine linen and silk, embroidered work. Thou didst eat fine flour
and honey and oil, and thou wast exceeding beautiful, and thou
didst prosper into a kingdom." Now hold it there. Remember,
he says, put on thy beautiful garments. But it's not us. And
there's nothing that we can produce. Our beautiful garment is Christ's
robe of righteousness. Look at what he says in verse
14 of Ezekiel 16. And thy renown went forth, the
church's renown, went forth among the heathen for thy beauty. How were we made beautiful? For
your beauty was what for it was perfect. How? Through my comeliness,
which I had put upon thee, saith the Lord. Back to our text. We are made beautiful through
His righteousness. We are covered in His robe of
atoning grace, protected and looked upon by God as lovely
as the Son Himself, because we have the Son upon us. We have
His strength and we have... He Himself clothes us. Look at
Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61 and verse 10. This says it as clear as any
others that I've read. Isaiah 61 and verse 10. God says, I will greatly rejoice
in the Lord, or the people say, I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for he hath clothed
me, this is one of God's redeemed speaking, with the garments of
salvation, and he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness
as a bridegroom decks Himself with ornaments and as a bride
adorns herself with her jewels Isaiah 61 verse 10 we have been
covered in his robe of righteousness That is what he's speaking of.
He says put on thy strength, O Zion, put on thy beautiful
garments And the beautiful thing is is that's how he sees us.
Yes, we've sinned yesterday. Yes, we're going to sin today
We'll sin tomorrow But He would confess our sins by His grace
and He's faithful. He forgives us our sins. Why?
Because He sees us in Christ. He sees us as the Son Himself. Oh, wonder of wonders, that free
grace of God in His beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ. I have
to go here. Turn to Luke chapter 15. This
is just... I'll still never forget the message
that this was preached to us. so many years ago by Scott Richardson
when we were on Cape Rock Drive. Luke chapter 15. Luke chapter 15. This is the story
of the prodigal son. He left his father's home. He
wasted all his money. Wasted all his substance. Spent
his inheritance. Had nothing left. He hired himself
out to work in a foreign country and he was feeding swine. And he was so hungry because
he had no food, no money, no anything, that he said that he
would even eat what the swine were eating. And then by the
supernatural abounding grace of God in the way it's worded
here, he comes to his senses. The only way that any dead dog,
lost sinner like you or I can come to our right mind is by
grace divine. The Holy Spirit quickening us,
bringing the things of God in this book, in the gospel to our
mind. And he says, you know what? I'm
going to go back to my father's house. I'm going to go there. I'm going to go back. And he
said, verse 19, the son says, I am no more worthy to be called
your son. Make me just like one of your hired servants. And so
that's what he was thinking he was going to say. So he arose
and he came to his father. But when the son was a great
way off, his father saw him and had compassion and ran and fell
on his neck and kissed him. And the Son said unto him, and
this is true repentance. This is what repentance is all
about. The Father said nothing. The Father, like the Father that
we serve this morning, through His electing grace, has always
loved us from the before time, but we just didn't know it. And
in the fullness of time, He calls us to come to our right mind
and return back to Him. You see, part of the word redemption
means to buy back. We were always His. in elective
grace. We were always His. But He said,
and the Son said to Him, Father, I have sinned, and verse 21,
against heaven. That's who we sin against first.
We sin against God first. And in my sight, and I'm no more
worthy to be called by son. There's not an argument. Well,
you give me my right. I get my last right. I get this.
I get that. No, the humble sinner says, you're
right. You're just in your condemning
me. I'm not even worthy to be called
your son. But the father, through the Lord Jesus Christ. He's blotted out our sins. He's
given us to his son strength. He's clothed in his robe of righteousness.
Look at this, verse 22, but the father, it's like he didn't even,
he did not further the son's agony. See, we would do that.
We would say, well, you know, Bruce has done something against
me. You know, I'm going to be, I'll be, I'll forgive him when
I think he's, he's got, he's repented enough. You know, we
put people under bondage and when they meet our standards.
No, look at the father, but the father said to his servants,
Bring forth the best robe. That's what we're looking at.
Beautiful garment. Bring the best robe and put it
on him and put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet and
bring him the fatted calf and kill it and let us eat and be
merry. Why? For this my son was dead. and is alive again. He was lost
and is found. And they began to be married.
You want to know why we rejoice when God calls us in? Somebody
gets a hold of me and says, I believe what you're preaching. I believe
that gospel. I want to be baptized. You want to know why we just,
we get beside ourselves? Because it's a time to be merry
and rejoice and glorify God. And I say, OK, now, now, I don't
know, is that, you know, are you, you know, is that the Baptist
doctrine now? Do we need to do this, this,
this and that? Or we need to let's let's go in this room.
Let's go back in this room and let's have a little time. And
we got to make sure all the T's are crossed and the I's are dotted.
No. I'm going to preach the gospel.
And God's going to save his people. And I'm not going to determine
who is and who isn't. His people. Father, I've sinned. I'm not
even worthy to be called. Just let me hang around. No,
the father says, no, no, you're my son. We're going to put the
best robe, the best robe indeed. The only robe that we must have
That is the beautiful garment whose name is Christ. Okay, now
verses 2 through 6. This is what he shall yet do
for his church. He says, shake yourself from
the dust, arise and sit down, O Jerusalem. Loose yourself from
the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion. For thus saith
the Lord, you have sold yourself for naught. and you shall be
redeemed without money." That's what we do. We just sell ourselves
for anything. The next fancy thing around the
corner, but he says, no, I'm going to redeem you without money.
Without money. But thus saith the Lord God,
my people went down a poor time into Egypt to sojourn there,
and the Assyrians oppressed them without cause. Now therefore
what have I here, saith the Lord, that my people is taken away
for naught, that they that rule over them make them to howl,
saith the Lord, and my name continually every day is blaspheming. Therefore
my people shall know my name. Therefore they shall know in
that day that I am he that doth speak. Behold, it is I. He's going to yet do this for
us. We were once captive. Now we're free and safe from
the oppressor. John tells us that if Christ
has set you free, you're free indeed. Now again, there are
people who get afraid when you say that. But I know your freedom
and my freedom is we're free to serve Christ. We're free to
worship Him. We're free to honor Him. But
one time we were in bondage to self, to sin, and most certainly
false religion. Do this, act this way, say this,
all these different things. You know, people that haven't
been to church for a while, they come in and, oh, you know, don't
talk, you know, watch what you say. You know, that's just all
religious nonsense. It's all bondage. The believer
is a sinner, but he's a redeemed sinner. redeemed from self, from
sin, and this world. And we, though we still fall
short, we desire to serve Him, worship Him, and honor Him. And
we desire to commune with Him, walk with Him, and fellowship
with Him, and be found where His people are found, and where
His gospel is proclaimed. It's just a desire of a sheep.
A sheep is not a solitary animal. Sheep are gregarious by nature.
They want to be around other sheep. And he says, Awake yourself. Shake
yourself from the dust. Sit down. Loose yourself from
the bands of your neck. You were captive. These people
held you in oppression. You sold yourself for naught.
But I'm going to redeem you without money. You are free in Christ. You are free to glorify and honor
Him. Well, people get, they get so
upset. And they say, oh, you say that to your people. They'll
just, you'll never have anybody. You'll never grow. You'll never
do this. You'll never do that. Well, I go back to the Luke,
that Luke passage. Is God not able to keep His people?
Is God not able to deliver His people? Is God not able to keep
them and allow us to do the things which would honor and glorify
Him? But what about all the sin in the, yes, that's, we have
those things. But I am not going to waste your
time and mine by putting up a bunch of rules and regulations. He
makes His people willing in the day of His power. And willing
people desire to do what is written in this book. As frail as we
are, as weak as we are, we desire to honor and glorify Him. So, who's on the throne? Me or
God? Preachers or God? Well, don't
misunderstand me. There's not many things that
I don't get discouraged about or get disheartened about with
myself and everything else. But in the end, I go back in
this book, I realize it is going to be well with His people and
His church because we're the sheep of His fold. This is not
my fault. This is not my church. This is
his church. And like Bruchred in Thessalonians,
I've just been placed here for this time in my generation, and
I'm to serve him. I'm to go broke for him. And
that's what we'll do. Well, secondly, he says, remember
what it took to redeem us. He says in verse three, You sold
yourself for naught and you shall be redeemed without money. This is all the world understands
is money. How much does it cost? How much
can I make? How much can I get? Not how much
can I give, but we are to remember as the sheep of his fold what
it took to redeem us. Turn to 1 Peter chapter 1. And he'll constantly remind us
what it took to save your soul and my soul. 1 Peter 1, look
with me at verses 18-21. Forasmuch as you know that you
were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold from
your vain conversations received by tradition from your fathers,
but you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as
of a lamb without blemish and without spot. who barely was
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you. Who by Him do believe in God,
that raised Him up from the dead, and gave Him glory, that your
faith and your hope might be in God. You see, we're constantly,
when we gather together, and we open this book, and we study
this book, and we read, and we fellowship with one another,
we're told constantly to remember what it took to redeem us. It didn't take a thousand goats
and a thousand calves. It didn't take a million dollars.
It didn't take a bunch of incense to be waved. It didn't take a
bunch of prayers in purgatory. It didn't take penances. It didn't
take all these things, but it took the precious blood of Christ
like a lamb, an innocent lamb without blemish and spot. who
was ordained of God from before the foundation of the world to
bleed, suffer, and die. For us, who couldn't even believe
without Him. Well, what do you mean? Believe.
You have to believe. You have to believe. But wait
a second. How do we believe? Is that something that we work?
Is that something that we can do? Or is that a grace of God?
Well, I think it's answered in verse 21. Who by Him do believe
in God. So, even believing. is the work
of God's grace in us. You see, there's absolutely zero
that we can do for ourselves in salvation or
after salvation. It's all of grace from Alpha
to Omega. Thirdly, we remember from what? We remember what it took to redeem
us, but in verse 5, we remember from what we were redeemed, verse
5. Now therefore, what have I here? Sayeth the Lord, that my people
is taken away for naught. They that rule over them make
them to howl, saith the Lord, and my name continually every
day is blasphemed. It took the precious blood of
Christ to redeem us, but what were we redeemed from? That horrible
oppression that the false gospel and false religion brings. Blasphemy and bondage. Linda and I were talking about
this on the way home from St. Louis yesterday. We listened
to a message on the way up and on the way back. We were talking
about some different things and we just remembered again and
again how wonderful it is to be free in Christ and to be able
to serve Him and worship Him and not, well, just all the bondage
and the horrible oppression that false religion brings with it. You know, you talk to people
that have been in that and they finally hear the gospel and they
come out and you're like, you know, you talk to Scotty. You talk about things he's been
through, things every one of us have been through. And when
you get out from underneath that and you see how free the gospel
is and how pure it is and how beautiful it is and how lovely
the garments are and how strong his strength is, You see how
weak we were and how corrupt. You see all that stuff and you
shake your head. It humbles us because we realize
that if God didn't snatch us, we'd still be in that stuff.
Still be in that. Verse 6, lastly, we see God's
sovereign effectual call. His sheep are going to hear His
voice. They're going to know His name. And they're going to
be called out one by one, two by two. They're going to be called
out when they're called out by His grace. Therefore my people
shall know my name. They shall know that in that
day I am He that does speak. Behold, it is I. They're going
to know His name because He calls us out by our name. Turn to John chapter 10. John chapter 10 John chapter
10 look with me at verses 3 to him the porter opens and the
sheep hear his voice and he calls his sheep by name it's not a
a general call, like when we preach the gospel, we're preaching
it to everybody. We don't know who or what's going to happen.
John chapter 10 and verse 3, but Christ, His call is specific,
it's particular. It's those for whom He loves,
and only those for whom He loves, and it's those for whom He died
for. No more, no less. It's not a universal thing. He
calls his sheep by name and he leads them out. And when he puts
forth his own sheep, he goes before them and the sheep follow
him. Why? Because they know his voice. When you hear the true gospel
and God quickens you, you can't listen to this other junk and
you won't desire to. Oh, you know, as we're young,
young in the Lord, and we haven't grown much, there's a lot of
things that creep up on us. There's a lot of things that
we have struggles with. And we'll struggle all the days of our
life. But as we become more familiar with Him, and worship and fellowship
and communion one with another, and speak about the things of
God's grace and His glory, and look and see Him in all these
Old Testament pictures and types. When somebody starts speaking
about another Jesus, who has to have your input and has to
have your cooperation and died for everybody. They say loves
everybody. You're going to say, that's not
the voice of the one I love. That's not even close. And you'll
turn a deaf ear to that. Verse 5, And a stranger will
they not follow, but flee from him, for they know not the voice
of strangers. We don't know everything, but
we know whom we love. We know whom we have believed.
Okay? And look at verse 11 in the same
chapter. I am the good shepherd, says
Christ. The good shepherd gives his life
for the sheep. Not everybody does sheep. But
he that isn't hireling and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep
are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees.
And the wolf catches them and scatters the sheep. The hireling
flees, because he is a hireling, and cares not for the sheep.
But Christ says, I am the good shepherd, and I know my sheep,
and am known of mine. As the Father knows me, even
so know I the Father, and I lay down my life for the sheep, and
other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring, and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be
one fold and one shepherd. Therefore does my father love
me because I lay down my life that I might take it again No
man takes it from me, but I lay it down of myself and I have
power to lay it down I have power to take it again this commandment
have I received of my father now that is pure Sovereign elective
grace and when that's preached Usually what happens is verse
19 there was a division therefore among the the Jews for these
things. They don't like it. They hadn't
heard that before. It's not something that they
were taught or that they think is in this book, but it's the
message of this book. God's grace about the great shepherd
dying for his sheep. And back to our text, he says,
he says, Therefore, my people shall know my name. They shall know that in that
day that I am He that does speak. Behold, it is I. We can know
Him because He reveals Himself to each and every one of His
remnant. He will not let us fall away
or die without being comforted by His matchless grace. What
a great Shepherd! What a tender Shepherd! What
a merciful Shepherd! Have you heard his voice? And
may he draw you to him this day. Bruce, would you close us please?