Isaiah 46 We're just gonna look
at the first four verses And as I look at this throughout
the week I Could not I was reading this
and reading this and I was in a reading the whole chapter and
I just couldn't get anywhere And then one evening The first
four verses just jumped out at me and I got to looking at this
again and it just amazed me how clear these four verses we just basically
have a glorious and clear demarcation. The way of man verses 1 and 2
and the way of God verses 3 and 4. You know sometimes you look
at a passage you look at it and you're looking for something
deep you know or whatever it might be and then The surface,
if you're looking over and looking over, it's just as plain as it
can be. And I thought, this is a message
that we need to hear this morning. This is a message, there's no
change in the message. It's the same message that's
been preached here year in and year out. We need to hear it
again. Verses 1 and 2, the way of works. Verse 3 and 4, the way of grace.
Verse 1 and 2, free will, verse 3 and 4, free grace. Verse 1
and 2, eternal separation from God. Verse 3 and 4, eternal union
with Christ. Let me just read these four verses
and then we'll look in Romans chapter 11, verse 5 and 6 briefly. bowed down, knee bowl, stoops. Their idols were upon the beasts
and upon the cattle. Your carriages were heavy loaded. They are a burden to the weary
beast. They stoop, they bow down together. They could not deliver the burden,
but themselves are gone into captivity. Harken unto me, O
house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, which
are born by me from the belly, which are carried from the womb,
and even to your old age I am he, and even to hares will I
carry you, I have made, and I will bear. even I will carry and will
deliver you. In my own words, when I thought,
the wording, or my own thoughts, my own outline, verses 1 and
2, either you carry the burden, verse 3 and 4, or God carries
the burden for you. It's pretty straight forward.
Either you, right now, today, are carrying your own burden
of sin, your own weight, while Christ bears it for you. There's only two camps. Turn
to Romans chapter 11. Paul says this very clearly in
Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11 verses 5 and
6. Paul says, even so, Then at this present time also
there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Now
that word remnant, we just read that back over in verse 3. There is a remnant according
to the election of grace. And if, that is salvation, that
is regeneration, if it is by grace then it is no more works,
otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it, regeneration, salvation, if it is, but if it is of works,
then it is no more grace, otherwise work is no more works. So there's only two religions
in the world, that is one of works or grace. works her grace now in verses
1 and 2 back in our text man's way or you must carry the
burden it's either man's way or the same thing would be you
carry the burden now this word Bell I looked that up and I looked
up Nebo well Bell is just another Writing another phrase of the
word veil be a al and Nebo what those are according to the Hebrew
according to Hebrew dictionaries and Those are battles are Babylonian
deities They're Babylonian deities Babylonian goddess and all throughout
the scripture Babylon is pictured as the great whore the great
false gospel and those who worship idols and not the true Christ
so again we come back to where we were at the beginning of my
introductory statements false, they're false gods worshipped
by deceived religionists and we know in reality that there's
only two religions and we will turn here in a little bit to
Genesis chapter 4 you got Cain and Abel that's kind of the great
head, the two heads of the two main religions in this world. But the reality is this, any
religion that has you doing things that are unwarranted in this
book, it's a heavy burden. It's a heavy burden. We talked
about that, John and I and Betty and Linda, we talked about that
before. the service this morning, if somebody or some religion,
it doesn't matter what denominational, that's really not even an issue.
If people have you doing something or not doing something or trying
to do something, whatever it might be that is unwarranted
in this book, It's a burden that you or I, we carry alone. It doesn't matter if it's Baptist,
Methodist, Catholic, it doesn't make any difference. It is a
burden that we bear alone. And look at what our text says.
It says, their idols were upon the beasts and upon the cattle,
your carriages, those who believe in this Baal or bow down to Nebo,
to these false deities, these false gods which preach a false
gospel, Whatever the name might be, whatever the contemporary
name might be called, your carriages were heavy loaded. They are a burden to the weary
beast. They're a burden. And if you,
if God has opened your heart this morning, if he's opened
your eyes, and you, it doesn't take long to think back about
the days before God opened up your heart to the gospel, and
how much of a burden stuff is and stuff was. You know, you
had to do, the preacher said to do it this way. This is what
the Bible says, but the preacher says this is what our denomination
does, or this is what we think is right, and so you did that. And then, like at the conference,
Donnie Bell, one of these guys was talking about how they change
preachers about every two or three months, some of these places.
Then you get a new preacher in, And then he's got his own little
criteria, the things you've got to do. What a burden. What a
heavy burden. And that's why Christ says, if
you if you see me, you believe upon me, that means you believe
the truth. And he says one thing about the
truth is it sets you free. It sets you free to serve Christ,
but we don't complain about serving him because we love him and we
want to. I was reading an article not
too long ago, the man said he could not understand, and I agree
wholeheartedly with this comment, he said he could not even fathom
a gospel church or a gospel preacher keeping people, you know, keeping them there
against their will. He said, and I quote, the doors
of the church swing both ways, they swing in, And we've got
our name out here, we have preachers come in, we put a sign, special
services, it says all welcome. Everybody's welcome. And we would
love to see more people in this area, this county, this community,
come in and hear the gospel. But when people come and they
don't believe this gospel, or they don't want to, that door
swings both ways. Because I am not the author of
salvation, Christ. is the author and giver of life.
We do not like to see people leave, but there's... Why burden them and say, well,
if you don't do this, this and that, or you're going to bear
my wrath, or we're going to put you under church discipline, or we're
going to excommunicate you, we're going to do all these things.
It's just, it's a burden. Why? Because it's not of the
gospel. And it's just so laid out here.
It's not only is it a heavy burden, it's a damning burden. You know
what Christ said about the Pharisees? When they're teaching people
their doctrines that they say are coming from God, but they're
not, He says they're making those people who listen and believe
that twice-fold the children of hell themselves. That's what
Christ says. It is not enough, say these of
Nebo and these of Baal, those who preach a false gospel, they
say it's not enough. at least in action, not in words,
to simply trust Christ. Now I know, and we were talking
about this before service, well they believe in, you know, I
talk, okay, I'll give you an example. I was talking to a gentleman
years ago, and he goes, well what church do you go to? And
I told him the name of the church was, what do you believe? I said,
we believe in grace. And I knew that he didn't believe the gospel,
and he goes, well yeah, that's what we believe. I said, there's
only two religions, works for grace. Well, they had grace in the name
of the church. He goes, well, that's what we believe. OK, tell
me what you believe. Well, I can't remember. All right. So I'm the preacher. But he said
they believe in grace because they had grace in the name of
the church. No, you will not get people to
say, well, yeah, we believe in Jesus, or we believe in God,
and this and that. But they're always adding something
to the work of Christ. You must add something to His
work. You must be catechized. You must be proselytized. You
must have the fire of the Holy Spirit come down upon you, or
you're not completely saved. And then with the Pentecostals,
you know, you get that second blessing in life, or they may
make believing or repenting conditions on salvation. It's all the same
thing. I'm telling you, it's a heavy burden. It's a heavy
burden. And those whom God chose His
gospel, once that's seen, they realize it. They realize it. And we were all under that stuff.
We were all under it. I still can remember the day
that Bruce and I were talking and I go back to this because
it's worded so well and it speaks volumes. He said he walked out
of his house. I can run my life now. I can run my household now. I
can make my own decisions. Somebody asked me not too long
ago, I'm thinking about doing this. What is your pastoral counsel? Now, again, you all know that
you can call me any time of the day or night. If I can't help
you, Melinda will. But, and I'll help you as much
as I can, but we God's preachers, the preachers
that I've had in here, the preachers that you know, they are trying
their hardest to wean people off of themselves and on the
Christ. Because we don't want people
that act like us and talk like us. We want you to be like Christ.
Now I have no problem with what Paul says in as much as he said
he followed Christ, follow him. That's fine. But all this other
stuff that goes along, it's burdens. And I told this gentleman, he
said, well, what is your pastoral counsel? I was being set up is
what I was, and I knew I was being set up. And I said, well,
how old are you? I'm 35 years old. I said, you
can't make that decision on your own? What do you need me for? Is not God sovereign? Can he
not, as this word says, which we're going to get to in the
next couple of verses, take care of his people all the way from
the womb to the hoary head, which is gray hair? Can he not? If he who began, the scripture
says, he that began a work in us, a good work in us will continue
it until the day of Christ Jesus. Now I'm not saying we don't need
to be exhorted, or helped, or rebuked, or encouraged, but God's
people will be taken care of from A to Z. From A to Z. Turn to Genesis chapter 4. They
are a burden to the world. It's such a heavy burden that
they stoop. They bow down together. They
cannot deliver the burden. And that is what false religion is all about. It's about We were talking about something
and she saw something and said, you know, they're going to have this
day, they're going to do this that day, they're going to do
this next. Always try to get people either scared or worried
or upset. Tim James calls it this, whips
and biscuits preaching. I think it's good. Whips and
biscuits. I'm going to either give you
a whip, scare you, scare you into making a profession or reward
you. Isn't that what you do at school
all the time? You do good. John was telling me years ago that
the Sunday school teacher at one of these places said, and
all these children, five and six and seven years older, they're
walking in the aisle in these Baptist churches making these
decisions, come to find out that the Bible class teacher was telling
those children that If they made a decision, they would be good
little angels, and if they weren't good angels, they were devil,
and they were little devils. So they're scared. So the preacher,
you know, he's preaching the message. These kids are coming
up, because they don't want to be little devils. They want to
be good little angels. It's a burden. And it's damning.
It's damning. You don't think so? You walk
up to somebody and you say, What's the reason that you believe? The New Testament says if somebody
asks you of the good hope that you have, can you tell them? And most people you ask them,
all of a sudden they go back to, I walked that aisle. They
equate that with salvation. I was baptized as a little child or something
happened. I had some emotional experience. I did too when I was a kid. And
you go back to that. You go back to that and then
that becomes a slippery ground. It's a burden. It's a burden. We're here in Genesis chapter
4 and we see these two religions again. We see Cain and Abel. Genesis chapter 4. In verse 1, and to his offering, but unto
Cain, and to his offering he had not respect, and Cain was
very wroth, and his counsels fell." Now first of all, how
did they even know to bring a sacrifice because they've been taught by
mom and dad. God requires a sacrifice. He requires sin covering, the
just for the unjust. This is all typical of Christ. They understood that and they
taught their children, which again is what parents need to
do. We teach our children the ways
of the gospel. We can't save them, but we teach
them. So they knew that God, who is
holy, righteous and just, the only way he can be approached
is by a sacrifice. sinless, holy, harmless, undefiled,
without blemish. But Cain, he heard the same thing
his brother did, Abel, but you know what he thought? I'm going to bring something
else. All throughout this book, it's a lamb, a lamb, an offering,
an offering, because that shows that Christ is called the Lamb
of God, slain before the foundation of the world. He's the Lamb of
Righteousness. So Cain, he, in the process of time, he brought
the fruit of the ground, his best that he had. I'm not saying
it wasn't impressive. I'm not saying these churches
are not impressive. But if there's death inside, then what good
is it? Cain added to what God had told
Adam, that is, sacrifice only that which I command, and basically
that which God commands, God will accept. God commands you
and I perfection, we can't produce it. God commands it, and he delivers
it. Who? In the person of Christ.
I was listening to radio the other day as I was coming home.
Turned on, I was over in Illinois. Turned on the station. I don't
know who it was. It was some preacher talking about, it's
okay if you can't keep all the commandments, just keep some
of them. That's exactly what he said, Bruce. I was over in
Pinkneyville. I'm driving and I was like, I can't believe.
So I said, I'm going to leave this on here. If you can't keep all
of them, just keep some of them. And he said, then God will know
that you're trying to keep all of them. And that way he will
know that you love him and he'll love you then. God demands that
we keep every single one of them perfect. He commands that. We
can't do it. What he commands, he gives in
the person of Christ, which is a picture of this lamb that was
sacrificed. But Cain, no, I'm going to do,
I'm going to bring my best. It's not what our best will not
do. It's not our mom and dad's best
for us. It's not the preacher's best. It's Christ's sacrifice. He's the accepted of. He's the
the accepted. We are accepted in the beloved,
not our own ability, our own worst. It says Cain McCain. I'm not saying this guy saying
this in chapter four, verse five, but under Cain and to his offering,
God had not respect. That's how serious it is. Cain
added to his burden already by adding more. I know this is what
God requires, I know this is what God expects, but I'm going
to add more. No. That's why gospel preachers
were told never to deviate from the simple message of Christ
being crucified. You can't improve on that. It's
this, tell me the same old story. Tell me, and that's what we do.
That's what we do. Well, as I told you, back to
our text, Babylon, this Nebo and Baal, they're Babylonian
deities, and it's always shown in the scripture, typified of
idolatrous religion. And I say one more time, you
or I will not relieve our burden of self, sin, and false religion
until you or I believe God's grace in the burden satisfying
sacrifice of Jesus to Christ. It is a burden lifting. Because man, I told you this
story time and time again about one of my brothers. I was talking
to him and he said, you know, when I get ready, I'll come to
Christ. That's a burden. I said, if you
wait till then, you'll never come. You can't feel sorry enough
for your sin and then come. You can't. at the conference. Melinda and I were talking about
this on the way out to the baptisms this morning. On the way out
there, I think Donnie Bell said, when he was in false religion,
he would tell somebody, well just accept Jesus. And he said
he told this to a grace preacher. He was talking to a grace preacher
one time, and that's when stuff started clicking. And the preacher
just looked at him and said, can you tell me, how do you do
that? And Donnie Bell was like, how do you accept Jesus? And
when I was in college over there, we used to do what was called
the Romans Road of Grace. You'd have four or five things.
We'd go down to the strip, and we'd get as many drunks as we
could, and say, okay, do you believe this? Yeah, this, this,
this. Okay, now, you know, do you accept Jesus? How do you
do that? How do you know that? And we
were out there one time, and we got ahold of a real intellectual. And he stopped us and he said,
what do you mean accept? How do I do that? And so then
we would use all these other analogies. Well you just trust,
you completely trust. He goes, how do I completely
trust somebody? I don't even know. Well okay,
so then we'd use an illustration like a bridge. You put all your
weight on that so you're trusting. He says, well how do I put on
others? He just had us all mixed up. But you know why? It was
a good thing because works religion, it's all confusing. But when God reveals the gospel,
you believe. You can't help. And then you
repent. And then you're like the Ethiopian
Union. You say, I'm reading this. I've been reading this my whole
life. And then somebody said something to me, preached something
to me, and it made some sense. And I'm like, do I understand
everything? No. But I understand who he is,
what I am, what he's done. And I believe that. And I trust
that. You know, there's water over
there. What hinders me? Nothing. You
believe what I believe? Let's go. You can't... I've heard these preachers, I've
heard Tim and these other preachers make this comment, and it's so
true, we don't really explain, we proclaim. Christ, believe
on Him. Look and live. Not do this, this,
this and that. Because it's not, that would
be of worse, that would be the way of a burden. Five, four, five, we see God's
way or the fact that God does all the carrying. Look at how
this is worded. This is just, this is just pure,
free, sovereign grace. This is so beautiful. I, when
I looked this over, I kind of chided myself. I thought, well,
this is so obvious. What was I looking for? Hearken
unto me, O house of Jacob and all the remnant of the house
of Israel. Hearken, listen up. Hear the
word of grace. Who does he say this to? Well,
God specifically calls, we preach the gospel to all, but this is
a specific call from God himself to who? Jacob. Sinners, you better
believe it. Yes, they are, but chosen of
God from the beginning. They're called the remnant. This
book calls them the elect. Who are they? They're sinners
like everybody else. But it's not everybody. It's
his people. He says, hearken unto me, O house
of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, which are
born by me. Born by me from the belly, which
are carried from the womb. It's just look at the contrasting
way. Look at the contrasting way from
what we just seen, what we just looked at in verses one and two.
You carry your own weight. Do you try to save yourself?
It's just a burden. It just keeps on getting heavier
and heavier. But then he says in verse three, he says, you're
born by me. I'm taken. I've taken that burden.
I've satisfied that law. I satisfied righteousness that
you must have. I've given you repentance. I've
given you faith. You must be born by me. And he
says, carried from the womb. That's all grace. It's not that
little... I used to have one when I was
in college. It was still in that religious
mess. I had that little footprints in the sand. Little footprints
in the sand. Two prints. And then one. What happened? I'm carrying you.
I'm sorry. He's been carrying one footprint
instead of prints. It's his from start to finish.
He's carried us the whole way. It's not two. And then when I
looked at that, I thought, this is stupid. Then I got that little
thing, a little cross in my pocket. A little wooden cross, you know.
It sounded really good until the last little phrase. You're
my Savior, only if I'll let you be. Only if I'll let you be. That was a message that Maurice
preached. Wasn't it? At the conference?
Let God? What? You're going to let God?
No. You must be born again. And that
birth is from above, that's grace. From the womb to the grave, we
are carried by the everlasting arms of the sovereign grace in
the person of Emmanuel. Look at verse 4. And even to
your old age, from the belly, from the womb, to your old age,
I am he. And even to the whore hairs will
I carry you. I have made and I will bear,
even I will carry and will deliver you. Esau's acceptance with God
back in Genesis 4 where we looked at Cain and Abel. I'm sorry, Cain and Abel that
we looked at there in Genesis 4. His acceptance with God was
solely based upon what God decreed and then God provided through
a typical picture of Christ that was a lamb. Matter of fact, our
first parents, Adam and Eve, What did they do? They knew they
messed up. That conscience will make you
do a lot of things. And what they did is they got
leaves and they covered themselves. That's what they did. Was God
pleased with that or did he accept that? No. He took them off of
them and said then God clothed them with skins. There's your
sacrifice, there's Christ, and the fact that it's all grace
because God had to clothe them. They tried to, you know, you've
heard people say it's called fig leaf religion. That's exactly
what it is. But it's a burden. It's a burden. He says, I have made He's created
once, he created us once, and then we have to be recreated.
Secondly, the new creature in Christ, and he says, I will bear,
I like how that's verse four, I have made and I will bear.
He bears the guilt, our guilt, and our sin upon himself, upon
the cursed tree. He bears the awful, ugly load,
And then gives us a beautiful covering of righteousness. I
born, I will, I will, I've made and I will bear. And he says,
even I will carry. And I like the way this closes
out and will deliver you. Will deliver you. I got to looking
at this and looking at this and I didn't look it up in any dictionary
or any concordance. It's just the thoughts of scripture
in my own heart. It seems to me that salvation
is being delivered, and delivered, and delivered, and delivered.
Because once God saves a person, they never quit coming to Christ.
That's what Peter tells us, unto Him, unto whom coming, we continue
to come to Him. And there is three usages of
the word salvation. Different tenses, past, present,
future. We're saved. We're being saved. And one day,
we finally will be saved. But it's all of His grace. And
I believe it's the same thought here when he says, and I will
deliver you. Salvation is being delivered
and delivered and delivered. If there's ever a time here that
we do not need to be delivered, then we do not need salvation.
And the older you get in grace, the more you realize we need
him every day. We need him. We do need him and
he has provided salvation in Christ. So in closing I just
have a question for you and for myself. Are you, am I, are we
carrying our burden or has Christ taken it for you? He says to
cast your care upon him for he cares for us and be free. Free in Christ.