Okay, this evening then we're
going to look at Isaiah 38. Isaiah 38. I'm taking the title for the
message from what is said in verse 17. Delivered from the pit of corruption.
Look what it says in verse 17, Isaiah 38. Behold, for peace
I had great bitterness, For on my peace came great bitterness,
but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it." Delivered my soul. from the pit of corruption, from
the guilt of my sin, from the pit of corruption, for thou hast
cast all my sins behind the back of God." Now where is that? Where is the backside of God?
I can't see anything behind me, but think about this, God who
knows all things said their sin and their iniquity will I remember
no more. They're cast into the depths
of the sea, separated from us as far as the east is from the
west, delivered from the pit of corruption. That is every
believer's testimony. And He did it. He delivered us.
He is called the Deliverer. He is our Redeemer. From reading
Job 33, deliver him from going down to the pit, I have found
a ransom. That's the reason we're delivered,
because we have a ransom. The ransom he freely paid, sing
oh sing of my Redeemer. Matthew 28, excuse me, Matthew
20 verse 28, even the son of man cannot be ministered unto
but to minister and to give his life a ransom payment for sin
for many for his people. He laid down his life for his
sheep. He said, no man takes my life for me. I have power
to lay it down. I have power to take it again. This commandment
have I received in my father. We studied in 1 Timothy 2 that
he gave himself a ransom, a full payment for all his elect, all
his people. Now Hezekiah was a blessing to
the people of Judah. It was a blessing to those people
where he reigned as king in Judah. He began to reign when he was
25 years old. He reigned 29 years in Jerusalem. And God says of him that he did
that which was right in the sight of the Lord. And we read earlier,
and the Lord made him to prosper. All that he did, the Lord made
him to prosper. We read over there in 2 Kings
18, he removed all the relics of idolatry, even took the brazen
serpent that Moses had made and broke it in pieces and called
it a worthless piece of brass. Nahushtin. Nahushtin. So he told
all Israel to worship the Lord and trust the Lord, and God said
to him, there was none like him among the kings in Israel. He was God's king, a special
king like David. David was God's anointed man. We saw his faithfulness. how
he defied the armies of Syria when they came to surround the
city with probably well over 200,000 soldiers. And he cried unto the Lord for
help, and the Lord delivered them in a marvelous way, sent
one angel from heaven, and destroyed 185,000 soldiers. Just think
what the Lord could do with a legion of angels. Remember when they
came to arrest the Lord Jesus, and Peter took out his sword
and tried to defend the Lord, and remember what he said? Peter,
put up your sword. I don't need your help. I could
call 12 legions of angels to wipe out these people. 12 legions
of angels. I think I calculated that one
time. That's 60,000 angels. If one
angel killed 185,000 Assyrians, what would 60,000 do? Wow! You
see, it's no problem for the Lord to defend His people. But
now we see something unusual. We see the Lord send affliction,
sickness to Hezekiah. He was sick unto death. Look
what it says in verse 1. In no day was Hezekiah sick unto
death. And Isaiah the prophet came and
said unto him, set your house in order. You're going to die. You're going to die. What did
Hezekiah do? He cried unto the Lord. He prayed
unto the Lord. Lord have mercy upon me. We see
Hezekiah afflicted with sickness. Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord,
and the Lord heard his prayer and granted him 15 more years. Now, that was the will of the
Lord. He prayed according to the will of the Lord, and the
Lord granted that. It was the Lord's purpose all
along, unknown to Hezekiah. The Lord sent that sickness on
purpose, and the Lord sent the remedy for healing that plastered,
put it on the boil, and he recovered from sickness. And the Lord all
along planned to grant him 15 more years. Isaiah didn't know
at first, neither did Hezekiah, until it was made known. And
the Lord gave them a great sign to verify the fact of his healing,
that God had heard his prayer, God turned back time, stopped
the world, and turned the world in reverse. Put the universe
in reverse. Only God can do that. What a
almighty, sovereign God we serve. Anything too hard for the Lord?
Anything too hard for the Lord? Not at all. With God, all things
are possible. All things are possible. God,
who created all things, created time, Space and matter, and one
day, you remember we studied in Revelation 10, God said time
will be no more. One day time will be over. With God, there's just the eternal
present. We are creatures of time. Being
a faithful believer as Hezekiah was does not exempt us from trial,
heartache, sickness, and persecution. God's special apostles, those
men specially chosen of God and blessed in such a special way,
they had much heartache, much trouble, much persecution. And
our Lord told them, and he tells us, these words have I spoken
unto you, that in me you might have peace. Ah, but in this world
you shall have tribulation. Ah, but be of good cheer, I have
overcome. Some of God's faithful servants
of the past and present have suffered years of sickness and
even early death. Charles Spurgeon, that great
preacher over in England back in the middle 1800s, was sick
for many of his years in ministry. During his ministry, he was sick
many, many times. He had to take months and months
off. and could not preach, and he died at a very young age. As we think about being old,
he was just 58 years old, 58 years old. The great hymn writer
and preacher, Augustus Toplady, who wrote Rock of Ages, Cleft
for Me, Let Me Hide Myself Indeed, died of tuberculosis, 1778, and
he was just 38 years old. Robert Mary McShane. died at
a very early age. David Brainerd, the great missionary
to the American Indians, also died at a very, very young age. I think of three young people
that we know personally that are afflicted with great sickness
and cancer. I mentioned earlier about D.
Parks. And then most of you know Daniel
Parks, excuse me, Daniel Culver. Daniel Culver, his son, his daughter,
Jessica, is also having a terrible, terrible time with cancer, has
been afflicted so, so grievously. And I told you about Erin Woods. She's also, these are all young
people in their 40s, also been afflicted with cancer. You remember the beloved brother
of Mary and Martha, Lazarus, was sick and dying. And the sisters
sent word to the Lord saying, he whom thou lovest is sick.
Well, we know what happened. The Lord tarried a couple days
till Lazarus had died. In time that he got to the grave,
he'd been dead four days. And the Lord said, you take away
that stone. And they said, you don't want
to do that. Oh, yeah, I do. Lazarus come forth and he that
was dead came forth. You see, being a believer doesn't
exempt us from heartache, sickness, and eventually this body is going
to die. Hezekiah eventually died. Lazarus,
even though he was raised from the dead, eventually he died.
Being a believer doesn't exempt us from heartache, trial, and
trouble, but being a believer does bring us grace for the trial. He said his grace is sufficient,
and eternal blessings when the believer dies in the Lord. For me to live is Christ, to
die is gain. Death to the believer is not
punishment, it's promotion. as I've said to you many times
over the years. Blessed are they who die in the
Lord. Precious in the sight of the
Lord. You remember Psalm 116? Precious in the sight of the
Lord is the death of his saints. I want to use this God-given
inspired words of Hezekiah down in verse 9 down to verse 20. It's really the words of his
testimony and the experience of his salvation from the Lord
when the Lord had healed him and when he was recovered from
his sickness. And I want to use that as an
outline with these four points. We see, first of all, the despair
of conviction. Secondly, the dependence of heart's
faith. He was totally dependent upon
the Lord for his mercy. Thirdly, the deliverance of his
soul, thou hast, thou delivered me. And then the dedication of
gratitude in closing. Despair of conviction leads to
dependence of faith, doesn't it? Dependence of faith obtained
deliverance by God's redeeming grace. Deliverance by His grace
also leads to dedication and gratitude of heart unto the Lord. As David said in Psalm 103, bless
the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His
holy name. Forget not all His benefits,
who healeth us and takes away our sin. We used to sing that
chorus. When we had a piano player at
one time, we'd sing that chorus out of the chorus book. Thank
you, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. Thank you, Lord, for giving to
me thy great salvation so rich and free. If I was a singer,
I'd sing it. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord.
Isn't that the attitude of the believer's heart? It's constantly,
thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Now, I don't
want any of us to seek an experience and call that salvation. Many
people seek an experience or a feeling. Now, I don't want
you to seek an experience alone or a feeling alone as we seek
salvation in Christ. However, those who do truly seek
Him do experience God's mercy and God's grace. And experience
is not salvation. But salvation by the grace of
God is something certainly we experience and we feel in our
heart and our soul. Now first thing is this, the
despair of Holy Spirit conviction. The despair of Holy Spirit conviction. And we see that in verse 10 and
following, Isaiah 38, I said in the cutting off of my days,
I shall go to the gates of the grave. I'm deprived of the residue
of my years. I said, I shall not see the Lord,
even the Lord, even in the land of living. I shall behold man
no more. He's getting ready to die. Conviction. Getting ready to
die. Behold man no more with his habitants
of the world. My age is departed and is removed. Now he's just a young man here.
From me as a shepherd's tent, getting ready to fold up the
tent. I have cut off like a weaver my life. He will cut me off with
pining sickness from day even to night. Wilt thou make an end
of me? Here's he crying unto the Lord
in despair and conviction. I reckon till morning that as
a lion so will he break all my bones from day even to night
without making end of me. You see something of his despair. He said, Lord, I'm broken. I'm convicted. God brought Hezekiah
to the end of himself. God made Hezekiah to know that
his only hope was found in the Lord. God be merciful to me,
the sinner. This is exactly what the Lord
does when God the Holy Spirit brings us to conviction of our
sin. He brings us to the end of ourselves. He makes us to know that we must
have no confidence in the flesh. He makes us to know without Him
we are hopelessly lost, dead, guilty, vile, and wretched in
his sight. That's what conviction of sin
brings us to know and understand and experience. He reveals unto
us what we are, S-I-N, that we have nothing, are nothing, and
deserve nothing but his condemnation, and righteous judgment. He convicts
us of our sin, what we are. Remember in John 16, he said,
when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will convict of
sin, of righteousness, and of judgment to come, of sin because
they believe not on me, of righteousness because I go to my Father and
you see me no more, of judgment because the Prince of this world
is judged. When He has come, He will convict
the world of sin, what I am, of righteousness, what I need,
and of judgment, what I deserve. He brings that to pass in our
heart, in our life. He convicts us and He shows us
what we are. You remember we studied in Isaiah
6 verse 5, when Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up? And
those angels said, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty.
Remember what Isaiah said, woe is me, woe is me. In the chapter
before, he kept saying, woe unto them, woe unto them. But when
he said, now I see thee, woe is me. I'm undone, I'm a man
of unclean lips, I dwell among a people of unclean lips. When he convicts us of our sin,
he shows us what we are by nature and Adam all died. None righteous,
no not one. None that understand, none that
seek after the Lord. He convicts us of our sin, he
convicts us of our righteousness. He convicts us of righteousness,
that is, what we need and what we do not have and what we cannot
earn. We're no longer going about to
establish a righteousness. He shows us that our best deeds
are sin. Remember from Isaiah 64 when
he says, all of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in his sight.
He convicts us of our sin, and then he shows us our best deeds
are nothing but sin, and he shows us that we need a justifying
righteousness only in Christ crucified. What we need, we need
Christ, who is the Lord, our righteousness. And then he convicts
us of what we deserve. What do we deserve? Judgment,
don't we? The wages of sin is death. David
said, Lord, if you give me what I deserve, if you condemn me,
you're giving me exactly what I deserve. And that's what he
convicts us of. He shows us that we're not worthy
of the least of his mercies, that we're deserving of death
and condemnation because of our guilt and sin. The wage of sin
is death. Ah, but the gift of God. The
gift of God is eternal life. If you miss Holy Spirit conviction,
you'll miss true godly repentance. If you miss true repentance,
you'll miss faith. If you miss faith, you'll miss
the Lord Jesus Christ. You'll miss Him. you see, is
repentant toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The
writer of the book of Hebrews said, without faith, it is impossible
to please God. Those without faith are those
without Christ, and without Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot
please God. Can we? No. If righteousness
comes by the law, then Christ is dead and vain. Sadly, in our
day, sadly in our religious day, man-centered, useless religion
had diminished the need of Holy Spirit conviction. They've diminished
the need. Now not true preaching, I'm talking
about useless, vain, false religion. They've totally skipped the need
of Holy Spirit conviction. They have substituted making
a decision for Holy Spirit conviction. They have replaced Holy Spirit
conviction with walking down an aisle and joining the church.
They have swapped Holy Spirit conviction for kneeling at the
mortars bench and praying through, they say. That's not Holy Spirit
conviction. Holy Spirit conviction shows
us our guilt, shows us our need of the Lord Jesus Christ. You'll
never look to Christ alone for all salvation until you are convinced
that you're lost, guilty, and an ungodly rebel against God. Until He teaches you that salvation
is of the Lord, you'll never look to Him until He shows us
our need of Him. My God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory through the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see, He came to save sinners.
Oh, what a blessed thing it is to be taught of the Lord, to
know that we are ungodly, that we are guilty, that we are sinners
in God's sight. Before God clothes you with His
righteousness, He must strip you of yourself. Before He saves
you by His grace, He must condemn you in Adam. Before He heals
you, He must wound you Convict you, before He justifies you,
He must kill you. Before He fills you, He must
empty you. You see, the way up is not up. The way up is down. Down in submission
unto the Lord. We'll never truly embrace the
Lord Jesus Christ until you see your need of Him, that He is
altogether lovely, that he is indeed precious, that Christ
is everything that God has provided for us. And then we can say with
David, blessed is he who transgression is forgiven, who sin is covered. Blessed is a man to whom the
Lord will not impute iniquity. Now that's a blessed man. That's
a blessing. Blessed is that man whom the
Lord would impute righteousness without work. So there is that
deep conviction of God the Holy Spirit. The second thing we see
in this experience of grace in the life of Hezekiah was the
dependence of faith. The dependence of faith. Look
at verse 14, like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter. I did mourn as a dove. My eyes fell with looking upward,
O Lord, I am oppressed. Undertake for me. Undertake for
me. What shall I say? He hath both
spoken unto me, and him and himself hath done it. I shall go softly
all my years in the bitterness of my soul. O Lord, by these
things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit. So wilt thou recover me, and make me to live." Here's
the dependence of faith. Hezekiah was totally shut up.
and totally depended upon God to do a work of grace for him
and in him. When Hezekiah realized he had
no hope in himself or in Isaiah, he cried unto the Lord alone
for mercy. He took his place before the
throne of God as a mercy beggar. That's a good place to be, a
mercy beggar at the throne of grace. He said in verse 14, I'm
oppressed, in anguish and despair, undertake for me. Be my surety,
be my savior. Saving faith as a single eye
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Looking unto the Lord. Lord,
would you help me? Lord, would you save me? Lord,
would you undertake for me? So we're at Isaiah 45. Remember what he says over here?
Isaiah 45, verse 21, the last part. He said, there is no God else
beside me. Isaiah 45 verse 21, a just God
and Savior, there is none beside me. Now look, verse 22, unto
me, and be saved all the ends of the earth, for I am God and
there is none else. Look at verse 24, Isaiah 45,
surely, Shall one say, and the Lord have
our righteousness destroyed? Even to him shall men come, and
all that are in sins against him shall be ashamed. In the
Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified." Justified in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Justified really by His grace. Through the redemption that is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is exactly what the Gospel
is all about. What He has done for us. Lord,
he says, they're undertake for me. You see that verse 14. Oh Lord, I'm oppressed. Undertake
for me. Be my surety, be my substitute,
be my representative. Undertake for me. And the Lord
has undertaken for his covenant people. He did undertake to honor
the law of God for us. It says in Isaiah 42, 21 that
He magnified the law of God and made it honorable on our behalf.
He did undertake for us the Lord Jesus Christ did to put away
our sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Turn just a few pages over to
Isaiah 44. Isaiah 44, verse 21. He did undertake for us to put
away our sin. Isaiah 44, 21. Remember these,
O Jacob and Israel, for thou art my servant, I have formed
thee. Thou art my servant, O Israel. Thou shall not be forgotten of
me. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgression, as a
cloud thy sins, return unto me, for I have redeemed thee. Sing,
O heavens, for the Lord hath done it. Shout, ye lower parts
of the earth, break forth in a singing you mountains, and
every tree therein. For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob,
and glorified himself in Israel. Undertake for me, Lord, thou
hast done it for me. What shall I say? He hath both
spoken unto me, and himself hath done it. Salvation is all of
His doing, is it not? The Lord Jesus did undertake
for us to put away our sin. He did undertake for us to establish
a perfect righteousness before God. Look back at Isaiah 32,
verse 17. Isaiah 32, verse 17. The work of righteousness shall
be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness, assurance, and assurance
forever. My people shall dwell in a peaceful
habitation, an insured dwelling, and in a quiet resting places. The work of righteousness shall
be peace. We have peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ. He did undertake for us the Lord
Jesus Christ. He ever lived to intercede for
us. The Lord himself had done it. Saving faith is dependent
upon the Lord Jesus Christ. It all depends upon Him. Remember
Psalm 118? This is the Lord's doing, and
it's marvelous in our eyes. I like that Psalm 57, verse 2,
where it says, The Lord hath performed all things for me.
The gospel of Christ is not dependent upon our doing, but upon His
doing, upon His death, upon His dying. His blood and His righteousness
alone is all our hope. All our hope. The gospel is a
declaration of what Christ has done for us, not what we must
do for Him. The gospel says, done. It doesn't say, do. D-O-N-E is
done. The Lord said it is finished.
Saving faith also brings us to the place of humility. He said,
I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
Saving faith slays self-righteous pride and gives us meekness of
heart and repentant spirit. Saving faith gives God all the
honor and glory. Look at verse 16. O Lord, by
these things men shall live, and in all these things is the
life of my spirit. So wilt Thou recover me and make
me to live. Saving faith gives God all the
honor and glory. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto Thy name give glory. As Paul said, God forbid I should
glory, saving the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's the
third thing. Look at verse 17. Behold, for
peace. I had great bitterness, but thou
hast, in love to my soul, delivered it from the pit of corruption,
for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back." Deliverance
from sin by the power of God's grace through the redeeming blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Hezekiah now enjoys great peace
and happiness. Though he had been in great bitterness,
the words may be rendered, I am in peace and I had great bitterness
of affliction. What great deliverance Hezekiah
now enjoys from his sickness and enjoys salvation by the grace
of God. Notice several things he says
there in verse 17. For thou hast in love to my soul
delivered it. Deliverance was due to God's
love for him. This is true of all that God,
by His purpose and grace, does for us in Christ Jesus. It's
His love for us. We only love Him because He first
loved us. Thou hast in love to my soul. He loved us with an everlasting
love, therefore with love and kindness does He draw us to Himself. His deliverance, and every sinner's
deliverance, is due to His everlasting love. He earned His love, not
that we loved God, but that He loved us, and that He sent His
Son to put away our sin. Thou hast delivered my soul from
the pit of corruption. His deliverance and every sinner's
deliverance is not only by His everlasting love, but His redeeming
blood. He cast all of our sin behind
His back, out of sight, out of sight and out of mind. Christ
the Lord Jesus Christ has put away all our sin. Completely. He remembers them
no more. Remember Hebrews 10, 17? He said
their sin and their iniquity will I remember no more. They
don't exist. David said in Psalm 103, as far
as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgression
from us. Thou hast put away our sin, and
cast all our sin behind His back, blotted them out as a thick cloud."
We read a moment ago in Isaiah 44. And then in Micah 7, 19 it
says, God has cast all their sin into the depths of the sea,
blotted out. Separated us far as the east
is from the west. He appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself. What a blessed Savior we have. He chose us freely by His grace,
redeemed us with His precious blood, called us out of darkness
into His marvelous light, translates us into the kingdom of God, dear
Son, by His grace. Thou hast done this. Now, here's
the last thing. What does that bring us to? Gratitude. Hezekiah was thankful. For the
grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee, verse
18. They that go down into the pit
cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living shall
praise thee as I do this day. We're going to praise the Lord.
The fathers of the children shall make known thy truth. The Lord
was ready. Look at verse 20. He was ready
to save me. All along the Lord's ready to
save. Therefore will we sing song to the string instrument
all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. David said,
I was glad when they said, let us go into the house of the Lord.
The living, the living shall praise thee. Those who are made
alive in Christ Jesus, they do praise the Lord. Those who are
made spiritually alive by his transforming power shall praise
him now and forever. And to him that loved us and
washed us from our sin and his own blood, to him be all the
honor and glory. The Lord is ready to save. The
Lord is ready to pardon. Therefore, by his grace, we are
ready to praise him and ready to preach his gospel. Sing his
praise all our days, privately, in our heart before the Lord,
and publicly in the house of the Lord. The Lord was ready
to save me, verse 20. Therefore, we will sing songs,
my songs, to the string instrument all our days, the days of our
life, in the house of the Lord. Hezekiah spent the last of his
days worshipping, worshipping, worshipping the Lord.