This morning for our Bible study,
let's turn to the book of Isaiah. Prophecy of Isaiah, chapter 28.
I would encourage you to get your Bible this morning. Let's
study from Isaiah 28, and we'll begin reading at verse 14. Wherefore,
hear the word of the Lord, you scornful men that rule this people
which is in Jerusalem. Because you have said, we have
made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement.
When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall
not come unto us, for we have made lies our refuge, and under
falsehood have we hid ourselves. Now verse 16 of Isaiah 28, therefore,
thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make
haste. Judgment also will I lay to the
line, and righteousness to the plummet. And the hail shall sweep
away the refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow the
hiding place. And your covenant with death
shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not
stand. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, you shall be trodden down by it." Now we
have a very Clear word from God this morning, as it is in all
Scripture, the Lord Jesus Christ has been given and established
for the only refuge for sinners to hide in. But we see here,
revealed in this scripture, that there are those who refuse to
hear the word of God, who refuse the truth of God, and are determined
to make themselves their own refuge, their own way of salvation. And God clearly says in this
portion of scripture, that whatever you have done and whatever you
bring, your covenant, your agreement will not stand before God. Now
let's look at three things this morning from these verses, Isaiah
28 verse 14 down through verse 18. The first thing we see is
this, man's refuge of lives. He says this in the text here,
you have made a covenant with death and you have said we are
in agreement with hell. The wrath of God and the judgment
of God won't come nigh unto us. We have a refuge. And God said
it's a refuge of lies and falsehood. You've hid yourselves in a lie. Now it's evident that those who
refuse and hate the truth of God and refuse to listen to the
scripture and read and study the scripture will securely wrap
themselves in a hiding place of some sort That is, something
other than the truth. It will be a false hiding place. And that's what the Lord calls
it here, falsehood and a refuge of lies. Now, I think that these
false refuges fall into two categories. Those that are religious and
then those that are non-religious. These are refuge. False refuges
and falsehoods that people love to hide in. The religious refuge. How many people today are hiding
or trusting something they have done other than trusting the
Lord Jesus Christ alone? Our Lord said to those Pharisees,
you remember those who trusted themselves that they were righteous
and despised others. You are they which justify yourselves
before men." This is Luke 16, 15. But God knows your heart,
for that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in
my sight. You remember in Matthew 7 there
were many who said in that day, Lord, we preached in your name
and have cast out devils and done many wonderful works. And
he said to them, I never knew you. Depart from me, you that
work iniquity. You see the religious refuge
that they had built up. These Pharisees in the Lord's
day were trusting something they did rather than trusting the
Lord Jesus Christ alone for righteousness. and salvation. That's the religious
refuge. Now some today, they hide in
their church membership, or in some profession they made years
ago, or some emotional experience they've had, some even trust
their baptism for salvation. My friend, these are refuges
that are false. The only refuge that any sinner
can hide in is what has been revealed in verse 16, the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's the religious refuge.
Now, here's another falsehood that people hide in, the non-religious. They say things like this, I'm
just as moral, as good as any person down there where you worship. Well, that's probably true, but
my friend, salvation is not based on my or your morality. Some
hide behind their false God, others simply hide in the fact
they have no religion. They become a religion unto themselves. They often say, well, I think
this, well, I think that, rather than turning to the Word of God
and resting in what the Word of God reveals as the only salvation
for sinners, and that's Christ. Now here in verse 16, God clearly
tells us of the refuge of truth. Now, here's the refuge of truth. Here's a refuge that God has
given that sinners can rest in. Now, are you interested? Are
you interested in hiding under falsehood or hiding in the refuge
of lies that you've built up? Or are you interested in hearing
God's truth about God's refuge? Now, let's read verse 16 again.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, behold, I lay in Zion for
a foundation of stone, tried stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation, he that believeth, that is, those who trust Christ,
salvation received by faith, shall not make haste, will never
be forced to flee. Now, without question, this is
talking about the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, Peter and Paul and
the apostles, they reference this scripture in the New Testament
and they reference this scripture and they quote from Isaiah 28
and they interpret it and point to and say that this scripture
speaks of Christ. Now, in 1 Peter chapter 2, 1
Peter chapter 2, this is exactly what Peter says. He says in verse
5 of 1 Peter 2 verse 5, you also are living stone to build up
a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it's contained
in the scripture. This is from Isaiah 28, he's
quoting. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief
cornerstone, elect, precious. He that believeth on him shall
not be confounded. Unto you, therefore, which believe,
he is precious. Now, without question, this refuge
that God has laid, this refuge of truth, is Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ alone. I'm often told you on this broadcast
that salvation is in a person, not in a church, not in an organization. I don't care what they call themselves.
Salvation's in a person. The Lord Jesus Christ, as He's
revealed in Scripture, is the true God and the true Savior
of sinners. Let's look at several things
about God's refuge of truth for sinners to hide in. Who's provided
and established the only refuge? God says here, Thus saith the
Lord, Behold, I lay in Zion. God himself is the architect,
the builder, and the supplier of this secure refuge. And there's
just one. Our Lord identified himself as
the way, the truth, the life, and then he said, no man comes
to the Father but by me. All the prophets pointed to just
one. To him give all the prophets
witness. This is God's foundation. This
is the Lord Jesus Christ. Know the name under heaven, given
among men, whereby we must be saved. And believers rejoice
in him. We rejoice in him alone. And
this is the description of those who trust Christ who are resting
on this foundation. They rejoice in Christ Jesus,
and they have no confidence in the flesh. They worship God in
the Spirit, they rejoice in Christ Jesus, and they have no confidence
in the flesh. Now, this is a salvation and
a foundation that God has laid for His people, those who trust
Him. Another characteristic of this
foundation is this, and this salvation that God has laid.
He said it's a tridestone. The foundation that God has laid
and it's a triad stone. That means it's proven. Our Lord
said he was tempted and tried and tested in all points like
as we are yet without sin. No sinner ever perished. Will you hear me? No sinner ever
perished resting on this rock, the Lord Jesus Christ. He said,
upon this rock I'll build my church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail. He said, I give unto my sheep
eternal life and they shall never perish. This is a tried stone. The Lord Jesus Christ is proven. And then secondly, he said it's
a precious cornerstone. A precious cornerstone. To those
who believe, Christ is precious. To you who are hiding under a
falsehood, Christ to you is a stumbling stone, but to you who believe,
he's a precious cornerstone. He is precious to those who believe.
We're redeemed with his precious blood. Not with silver and gold,
not by our works, not by tradition, but with the precious blood of
Christ. He bought us with his own blood. We're saved by his precious promises,
the promise of grace. God has promised to bless all
those who trust Christ. And we're united to him by precious
faith, and precious faith acknowledges that the Lord Jesus Christ is
everything in salvation. So we see it's a tridestone,
it's a precious cornerstone, and he said it's a sure foundation.
A sure foundation. I like things that are sure,
don't you? I'm not much of one to take risk. Listen to what
Paul said when he wrote to young Timothy. The foundation of God
standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are
his. You see, this foundation and
this salvation of God doesn't change. It's certain and it's
sure. It will never decay, will never
be improved, will never be replaced, will never be changed. We read
that in the book of Hebrews, the Lord said, I'm the same yesterday,
today, and forever. It's founded upon the sure promise
of God, the sure word of God. that he is given. Christ is such
a strong and secure, everlasting, sufficient refuge that none who
finds salvation in him, none who flee to him for salvation,
forgiveness, pardon, redemption, justification, righteousness,
everything, will never be forced to flee. That's what it says
here. He that believeth He that believeth, not worketh, not giveth,
he that believeth. Salvation is received by faith,
by believing. Salvation is not received by
doing, but by believing. He that believeth shall not make
haste. Those who trust Christ will never
be forced out, not at all. Not at all. When Paul quoted
that scripture in Romans 9, he says, those who trust Christ
will never be ashamed. When Peter quotes it in his epistle,
he says, those who trust Christ will never be confounded. We
read in Isaiah 45, 17, Israel shall be saved in the Lord with
an everlasting salvation, and you shall not be ashamed nor
confounded, world without end. Now let me ask you this question,
who What or rather who is your refuge? Now think with me. What
are you trusting for salvation? Are you trusting something you've
done? Some decision you made? Some
church you joined? My friend, salvation's in a person. Salvation's in this foundation,
this tried stone that God has laid and it is the Lord Jesus
Christ alone. Now here's some good advice,
throw away everything and discard everything but Christ. In him
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily and in him you
stand complete. You remember in reading Philippians
chapter 3, when God taught the Apostle Paul, old Saul of Tarsus,
the gospel, and when he revealed himself to him, he said he counted
everything lost but Christ. Throw away and discard everything
but Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's the reason why. In
closing, let me give you this quickly. In verse 17 and 18,
God will expose. Now, you may hide in your refuge
for a while, but judgment's coming. God will expose a false refuge. Old Martin Luther, the reformer,
you remember him? He said this, three things I
dare not face without the Lord Jesus Christ. My sins, the soul
that sinneth shall die. Secondly, he said, my death,
the wages of sin is death. I can't face death and go through
death without Christ. I can't handle and deal with
my sin except in Christ who made atonement for my sin and judgment. It's appointed unto man once
to die after that judgment, judgment to those who rest in Christ.
We read, there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
That's what he says in verse 17, judgment also will I lay
to the line, and righteousness to the plummet. You see, God's
standard of judgment is not your morality, but His strict holiness. And God says, those who are not
resting on the refuge of Christ Jesus, your lives and your refuge
will be swept away and your agreement and your covenant with death
shall be disannulled and shall not stand. If your refuge is
not Christ only, God will justly destroy it and you. God is holy. God must deal with
sin. My friend, flee to Christ and
rest in Him. Christ is salvation. Christ is
life. He to the believer is made unto
us. He's our wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption.