Now this evening we're looking
at the last chapter of the Gospel according to Isaiah. The Gospel
according to Isaiah number 66. Chapter 66. Thus saith the Lord. But what a great statement that
is. Thus saith the Lord. We can start with Genesis 1-1
and all the way through Revelation 22 and put this before every
verse. Thus saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord. I think
that statement's made in scripture over 400 times. 400 times. Thus saith the Lord. We ought to reverence his word
and we do. He says, the heaven is my throne. The earth is my footstool. Where
is the house that you would build unto me? Where is the place of
my rest? For all those things hath my
hand made. God spoke and it was done. He created. all things by the
word of his power, and he upholds all things by the word of his
power. All those things have been, he made everything that
is made. Without him, without anything
made, it was made. Saith the Lord, who says so?
Well, the Lord does. God's people believe God's word
about his sovereign creation. Created all things by the word
of his power, according to his will and his purpose. But he
says in the middle of verse 2, but to this man will I look.
That's the title of the message. To this man will I look. This
man will I look. And he describes this man to
whom the Lord has mercy upon. Three things he mentions there.
One who was poor. one who is broken, and one who
reverences or trembles at the word of the Lord, or one who
reverences His name. Now, so I'm entitling the message
found in verse two from the words there, to this man will I look. Now, think about, think about
that. God Almighty who sits upon the
throne in the heavens, who rules and reigns everywhere, Everywhere,
God has a special eye to his people, to his children. To this
man, when I look, the Lord, our God, declares unto us that he
has a special look, a special consideration to his sheep, to
his somebody. It's a look of love. For he loved
them with an everlasting love. It's a look of mercy, isn't it?
He said, I delight to show mercy. And at the look of salvation toward his people, whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son. You remember God said, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. As a group of believers called
out of darkness into his marvelous light, as we assemble together
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we have a special and
unique privilege, which I don't take lightly, and I trust you
do not as well, to hear the word of God. to have the Word of God,
to read the Word of God, to hear the Word of God, and believers
do tremble in reverence and receive His Word, they bow in submission
to thus saith the Lord. We receive it not as a Word of
man, but as it is a Word of truth that effectually worketh in you
who believe. Thus saith the Lord." I found
that statement is made, as I said earlier, 400 times. 400 times
in scripture. 400 times. Look it up in your concordance.
I have a Bible study program, and I can punch in, Thus saith
the Lord, and hit a button, and it tells me how many times that
is written. 400 times. Thus saith the Lord. But we can put that statement
from Genesis 1 all the way to the last verse in Revelation
22. Thus saith the Lord. The Bible just doesn't contain
the Word of God. The Bible is the Word of God. You understand what I'm saying?
It is the Word of God. Thus saith the Lord. I think many times when we read
that, it may be like the word, behold, behold my servant, behold
my elect. I think many times when we read
that, thus saith the Lord, we just sort of read over it and
don't pay much attention to it. But I think we should Anytime
we read the Word of God, we ought to read it as such, handle it
as such, consider it as such. This book we hold in our hand
is not like any other book. It is God's infallible, inspired,
God-breathed Word of Truth. Remember from our study? We're
going to see this in 2 Timothy chapter 3. All Scripture is given
by inspiration of God, and it is profitable for us. It's profitable
unto us. The Holy Scripture is given of
God. Peter writes about it this way,
for the prophecy came not at old time by the will of man,
but holy men of God, because they were moved Driven by God
the Holy Spirit. Isaiah pens these words as God
gives him these words just as David did and all the writers
of Scripture. We are told and charged before
God to preach the word. Remember, we're going to see
this in 2 Timothy 4. Preach the word, be in season,
out of season, reprove and rebuke with all longsuffering and doctrine.
And then our Lord, when he rebuked the disciples, the apostles,
those 11 men, He rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness
of heart, but yet he commanded them to go and preach the gospel
to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. We read the word of God as such,
don't we? We meditate upon the word as
it is the word of truth, the word of God. We are told those
who read it and hear it and keep those things, Written in the
Word of God will be blessed of God. Did you know that? You remember
from Revelation chapter 1 verse 3. Remember what it says? Blessed
is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy. And that goes through the whole
book. From Moses, the prophet, to him give all the prophets
witness. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words
of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein,
for the time is at hand. We are blessed this evening just
having His Word, reading it, meditating upon it, preaching
the Word of the Lord. Now, I want all of us to make
much of the Word, the written Word of God. We start our service
by reading the Word of God. We sing a song. And then we read
the Word of God again, don't we? And then we take the Scripture
and we preach the Word of God. I want us to make much of the
Word of God, the written Word of God, because it tells us about
the living Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the very hope of
all our salvation. How would we know anything about
the Lord Jesus Christ had God not been pleased to tell us in
His Word? This word speaks one message
loud and clear in salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ is everything. He's the alpha, he's the omega,
he's the beginning, and he's the end of all things in salvation. The Lord, in verse one, makes
two glorious statements for us when he said, thus saith Jehovah,
stayed upon Jehovah, hearts are fully blessed, stayed upon the
Lord, Jehovah. He said, the heaven is my throne. Now, how vast and how expanse
is space, the heavens? They tell me it's infinite. Doesn't
even that speak of God who is infinite in every way? He said,
heaven is my throne. And the earth, he created the
world, the earth, by the word of his power, that's my footstool.
Therefore, he says, where is the house that can contain me? Where is the house that you build
unto me? Where is the place of my rest? For all those things
have my hand made, and all those things have been. Who says so? Sayeth the Lord. We don't believe
in this thing of evolution. We just didn't, man just didn't
evolve. God created man in his image. God created all things. Heaven is my throne. When he
by himself purged our sin, the Lord Jesus Christ sat down on
the throne of God. Wherever that throne is, the
Lord's on it. The Lord our God sits and reigns
upon his heavenly throne with undisputed power. He has no rival. The devil's not his rival. He
has infinite wisdom and total sovereignty. Everything he brings
to pass, he brings to pass on purpose. His dominion is universal. His power is unlimited. His sovereignty
extends from heaven to earth. Where is a place where God doesn't
dwell? Where is a place where God doesn't
reign? Is there any? From everlasting
to everlasting, thou art God. David corrected the heathen when
the heathen said, where is your God? We know where our God is. He's over here in the temple
of Baal. We fall down and worship that idol there in Baal in his
temple. I'm going to ask David, where
is your God? Our God's in the heavens, and he had done whatsoever
he had pleased. And then again in Psalm 135,
it says, whatsoever the Lord pleased, that's what he did,
in heaven, earth, sea, and all deep places. God taught Nebuchadnezzar,
that pagan king, that lesson, taught him that all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he does according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of this
earth, and no one can stay his hand. No one can overpower him. He has all power in heaven and
earth. He told those disciples, that
all power is given to me in heaven and earth. You remember this
scripture, turn back a few pages. Isaiah 46, turn over there, Isaiah
46, 9. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God, Isaiah 46, 9. I am God, there is none else. There's none like me, declaring
the end from the beginning. What is he like? How would we
know anything about our God? Unless he tells us about himself. He declares the end from the
beginning. How could he do that? He declared and decreed all things,
from ancient times to things that are not yet done, saying,
my counsel will stand, I'll do all my pleasure, calling a ravenous
bird from the east, a man that executes my counsel from a far
country, I have spoken it, I will bring it to pass, I have purposed
it, I will do it. God is God on His absolute throne,
absolute dominion, absolute sovereignty, and you can't run too far with
that. You can't preach Him too high, too big, too bold, too
powerful. I'd like to be guilty of doing
that. Can you give Him too much honor, too much glory? Oh, no.
Oh, no. Oh, no. And then he said, the earth,
the earth is my footstool. The Lord Jesus Christ, our God,
is a sovereign creator of all things. All things, he said,
for all things, verse two, all those things have my hand made,
and all those things have been, saith the Lord. He fashioned
the earth for his footstool. His hand made all things by the
word of His power. All things are controlled and
sustained by Him. He justly rules over all things. One preacher of old said this,
the Lord our God is not in the universe. The universe is in
Him. His circumference is nowhere.
His center is everywhere. That's good geometry, isn't it? Turn back to Isaiah 40 and let's
look at this scripture. Isaiah 40. His circumference
is nowhere and his center is everywhere. Isaiah 40 tells us
about it. Isaiah 40. Verse 21, Isaiah 40, verse 21. Have you not known? Have you
not heard? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have
you not understood from the foundation of the earth? It is he that sitteth
upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are
as grasshoppers that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain
that spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in, that bringeth the
princes to nothing. He maketh the judges of the earth
as vanity, yea, they shall not be planted, yea, they shall not
be sown, yea, their stocks shall not take root in the earth. And
he shall also blow upon them, and they shall wither, and the
whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. To whom then will
you liken me? or whom shall I be equal, saith
the Lord." You see, how many times have we read Isaiah where
it says, I am God, beside me, there's no other, the only just
God, the only Savior. Now, the question the Lord asks
is, where's the house? Where's the house that can be
built to contain Almighty God? Where's the house that can be
built to enable God to rest. Does he need us to build him
a house where he could rest? Now many people of the past and
many people of the present want to try to contain Almighty God
in places that they build and say, here's what they say, they
build a great monument, a great cathedral, like what's going
on over there in England right now in that and they say they
build this big temple, this big monument, and they say God dwells
here. Can you confine God to a house,
to a place? Where is the house? that you
can build to contain God. Many people want to do that. Remember Stephen's message recorded
in Acts chapter 7, and he quotes this scripture and makes application
to his day to show that God is everywhere present, that God
is spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit
and in truth. Indeed, God gave instruction
to Moses to construct a tabernacle in the wilderness where the Shekinah
glory of God did dwell, but God wasn't confined to that place.
And he did give instruction to Solomon during the temple of
God, and these were visible symbols that the Lord did dwell among
his people, that the Lord was there, but he was confined to
those places. But what happened to the tabernacle?
Where's the tabernacle at now? God put it away, and the Lord
Jesus Christ came to tabernacle among us, and in the center of
that tabernacle was the mercy seat, and the Lord Jesus Christ
is our mercy seat. What happened to Solomon's temple?
We read about that in our study in First and Second Kings, didn't
we? When the Babylonian army came in, and what did they do
to that magnificent temple that Solomon built? They destroyed
it. And God carried them away into
Babylonian captivity, not for 50 years or 60 years, but 70
years. And then God raised up a pagan
king named Cyrus and delivered them, and they went back to Jerusalem. Remember in the book of Nehemiah
and the book of Ezra, they went back and rebuilt the wall of
a city that had been destroyed. They went back and rebuilt the
temple not like it was in Solomon's day, but like it was when the
Lord Jesus Christ was manifested in the flesh and he came to that
temple in Jerusalem and he told them there's coming a day when
there won't be one stone left upon another. And God sent another
army from Rome and destroyed that temple again. You see, God
is showing us that he is not confined to certain buildings
and places. He dwells everywhere. And the
Lord Jesus Christ is a fulfillment of that tabernacle. He's a fulfillment
of that temple. When the Lord Jesus Christ died,
the veil of the temple was rent from top to bottom. And those
Jews wanted to hold on to that temple, hold on to that temple,
hold on to those Jewish rights, and God destroyed it. Now what's
left today? that western wall. And those
Jews, they still, they call it the Wailing Wall. They still
want to worship a building. They still think God is dwelling
in that building. And the Muslims do the same thing.
They have their dome of the temple, whatever they think God is confined
to that. God is everywhere. You can't
hem him up. You can't put him in a box. You
can't put him in a corner. He does as he will, with whom
he will, when he will, for his own glory. Now here's the point. God doesn't need us. We need
him. God doesn't need our fine temples,
our big church buildings, our ornate cathedrals, or our many
high steeples. How many people in different
churches, different places, they want the biggest building with
the biggest steeple, and then they brag about how much they
have the prettiest stained glass windows. Oh, our stained glass
windows are so beautiful. Our steeple is the highest steeple. And they say that God dwells
there. That's just not so. Turn over
here to Psalm 139. Let's look at this scripture
here, Psalm 139. Westminster Cathedral over in
England. Everybody's rallying around the
monarchy of England. Psalm 139 says, verse 1, O Lord,
thou hast searched me and known me. Psalm 139, verse 2. Thou knowest my down-sitting,
my uprising. Thou understandest my thought
afar off. Thou compassest my path and my
lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For, Lord,
there is not a word in my tongue, but, O Lord, thou knowest it
altogether. Thou hast set me behind and before. Thou hast set me behind and before.
Thou hast laid thy hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me, and as high I can attain unto it. Whether shall I go from
my spirit, or whether shall I flee from my presence? If I ascend
up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in the grave,
that's the word there, hell is the grave, behold, thou art there.
If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right
hand shall hold me. You see, God is everywhere. God's
not contained to this building or that building or any other
building. Stephen said to those Jews, the
most high dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Paul, preaching
on Mars Hill, said something similar. God that made the world
and all things therein, seeing that he is the Lord of heaven
and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. God meets with
his people in Christ around the gospel, whether it's in a barn
or whether it's in a fine building, where the gospel is preached,
where his people meet together. It doesn't matter what the building
looks like. Now, I'm thankful we have a comfortable
building, padded pews, air conditioning, carpet on the floor. Those are
nice creature comforts. But if we had to meet in a barn
or in a trailer, or out under the stars, the main thing is
the gospel is preached where God's people meet together. And
he promised us this, where two or three are met together, I
dwell in their midst. Remember Matthew 18, 20. God dwells in the hearts of his
people by his abiding presence of God the Holy Spirit that continually
bears witness to the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Believers who make up the body of Christ, who are called out
of darkness into His marvelous light, are called the temple
of God. God dwells in the hearts of His
people. Listen to this scripture. 2 Corinthians 6. What agreement
hath the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the
living God. As God hath said, I will dwell
in them, and walk in them, I will be their God, and they shall
be My people. I will, and they shall. Now, look back to Isaiah 66. Isaiah 66. Now, here's the second
point to this message. And this will be the last point. But to this man, you see that
in the middle of verse 2? But to this man, Isaiah 66 verse
2, but to this man will I look. God makes an exception to look
with mercy and love toward his covenant people. But to this
man or sinner will I look. And he describes that person
who is poor, who is contrite, who trembles. That is the word.
Three things. Three things. Does this describe you? Does this describe me? Is this
my condition? Do you fit the character of the
promise? The Lord is going to look with favor upon those that
are described here as being poor. Now, he's not talking about money.
He's talking about blessed are the poor in spirit. for theirs
is the kingdom of God." He's talking about those who are poor
spiritually. He's not talking about lack of
material wealth. This is talking about poverty
of spirit. This is talking about being a
bankrupt, guilty sinner on the downhill of total depravity,
having nothing, knowing nothing, ignorant, without God, without
hope, and without Christ. Even to this poor man, God came
to save sinners, poor, bankrupt sinners, not the righteous. He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He came to call those
who are without Christ, without God, and without hope. He comes
to us and he gives us a hope. We have no merit. We are totally dependent upon
His mercy, totally dependent upon the grace of God. We are
wretched, miserable, blind, and naked. As long as we think we're
rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing, we'll
never look to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. To this
poor man, well, look, you see, when he convicts us of our sin,
he makes us to know that we are bankrupt sinners on the downhill
of depravity. The only way we'll know that
is if the Lord teaches us by His grace. Only as we see ourselves
as nothing before God will we turn to the Lord as mercy beggars.
God be merciful to me, the sinner. That's our constant prayer. Only
as we see ourselves as nothing will we see and love the Lord
Jesus Christ and look to Him for everything in salvation.
Not part of salvation, but everything in salvation. In Him will all
the fullness of God head bodily, and in Christ we stand complete.
In Psalm 40, David says this, I am poor and needy, yet the
Lord thinketh upon me. Now I looked that phrase up today,
poor and needy. Poor and needy. In the book of
Psalms, it's given 10 times. In the word of God, it's given
17 times. And that describes us. Poor and needy. Yet the Lord
thinks upon us. If he made you to know, if he
makes us to know our poverty, we're blessed of God. And then
he says, secondly, the Lord will look on this man who is a contrite
spirit, or a broken spirit, or a convicted spirit. This word
contrite in our text is the same word that's rendered in 2 Samuel
9, describing Mephibosheth, that cripple, as a lame man. Remember when David ascended
to the throne, and David had made that covenant with his friend
Jonathan, You ascend to the throne, have mercy on my family, Jonathan
said. Well, Jonathan had a son. His
name was Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth, and he was lame
on both his feet. And when David came to the throne,
he said, go get him, fetch him, bring him to me. He couldn't
walk. He was lame on both his feet.
That's us, contrite, broken, lame. When Mephibosheth came
before the throne of David, you remember what he said? What am
I such a dead dog before your throne? Again, do we fit the
character of the promise? Are we lame before God? Are we
the crippled sinner before God, unable to take a step, unable
to satisfy God's holy law? Are we what the old timers used
to call, are we dead dog sinners? Guilty. Unable to believe, unable
to repent, unable to come to Him. He said, no man can come
to me except the Father which sent me, draw him. Are we convicted
and convinced in our heart that if the Lord sent me to eternal
condemnation, that is totally and exactly what I deserve? God sent me to hell, that's exactly
what I deserve. And that's what he brings us
to, to know that we are broken, that we are broken before God.
Turn back here to Isaiah 57. I was looking at this scripture
today. Isaiah 57 verse 15. Thus saith the high and lofty
one that inhabits eternity, whose name is holy. I dwell in a high
and holy place with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit. Isaiah 57, 15. To revive the
spirit of the humble, to revive the heart of the contrite one.
We need to be revived. We need to have life. And here's
the good news of the gospel. Now find Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61,
1. Isaiah 61-1, the Spirit of the
Lord God is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach
good tidings unto the meek, the poor. He has sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted, the contract one, to proclaim liberty to the
captive, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound.
You see, the God who is the sovereign God must come and do something
for us. for us and in us, make us new
creatures in the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to heal the brokenhearted.
The last thing is this, but to this man will I look, even to
him that is poor and of a contrite, broken spirit, he's nigh them. Notice the reference on that,
Psalm 34, 18, he's nigh them of a broken heart, save as such
as be of a contrite spirit, and those that tremble at his word.
who worship at his feet. Again, do we fit the character
of the promise? Do we tremble at his word? Thus
saith the Lord. What is your attitude toward
the word of God? Do you receive the word as a
final authority on all matters of salvation? Do you have an
eager desire to hear the word of the Lord and to be obedient
unto it? Believers do tremble in reverence
and receive His Word as it is the Word of God, the Word of
truth. They bow in submission to the Word of God, believing
God as He's revealed in His Word. Faith comes by hearing, hearing
by the Word of the Lord. Do you have a desire to feed
upon Christ in the Word? Believers tremble and receive
His Word because we believe it. Because of the power of his word,
it's quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. Because
of the blessing of the word. The blessing of the word. How
sweet, David said, how sweet is thy word. It's as sweet as
honey, and to my taste, it's sweet as honey, yea, sweeter,
sweeter than honey to my mouth. Through thy precepts I get understanding,
therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp unto
my feet and a light unto my path. We do receive the word of truth,
don't we? We believe it. We believe it and receive it
as such, as the word of truth, because of the power of it, because
of the blessing of it, because of the message of it, Christ
him crucified. We can be assured that if we
fit the character of the promise, it is only because God, by his
sovereign grace, has taught us the truth about ourselves. It
is his grace, it is his grace, that's made us to differ. Why do you love the word of the
Lord? Why do you believe the word of the Lord? It's because
God has done a work, not only for you, but in you. Sinners
left to themselves will never arrive at these conditions of
a poor spirit, of a contrite heart, will never arrive to reverence
the word of the Lord, A believer of the gospel of Christ is brought
by the Spirit to know that his salvation is all of God, salvation
of the Lord. If this describes you, you know
that all the glory is due to the Lord alone, for He came to
save folks just like you, just like me. Are you a sinner? I've got good news for sinners.
This is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation, the Lord
Jesus Christ came to save sinners. To this man will I look. If the
Lord looks with favor upon us, we will certainly look to him
for all grace now and glory forever. And he'll bring us into a constant
state of Believing. Faith is not an isolated act.
Repentance is not an isolated act. It's a state of being before
God. Coming to Him, believing, repenting,
looking unto the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the author and finisher
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured
the cross, despising the shame, and has set down, guess where? On the right hand of the throne
of God. Gets right back to the throne of God, doesn't it? Heaven
is my throne. Earth is my footstool.