Today I would like you to turn
your Bible to Isaiah chapter 35. Isaiah chapter 35. Listen to these verses, verse
8 and 9 of Isaiah chapter 35. A highway shall be there, and
a way, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean
shall not pass over it, but it shall be for those The wayfaring
men, though fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be
there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon. It shall
not be found there, but the redeemed shall walk there. And the ransom
of the Lord, this is Isaiah 35 verse 10, the ransom of the Lord
shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy
upon their heads, and they shall obtain joy and gladness and sorrow
and sighing shall flee away. Now, in Isaiah 53, most of you
are familiar with Isaiah 53, tells us about the substitute,
our Lord Jesus Christ, wounded for us, a man of sorrows, acquainted
with grief, wounded for us, bruised for our transgressions. He died
as the sinner's substitute. Most of you are familiar with
Isaiah 53, but however, I dare say that most of you are
not familiar with Isaiah 35. Isaiah 35 tells of the coming
of the Messiah and the glory and blessings that will rest
upon his people because he came. All everything God has for any
sinner, blessing that God has for any sinner is in Christ.
He's blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenlies in Christ.
Now, a lot of people have this opinion about religion. And their opinion is, they say,
if we are sincere in our religion, it'll be all right with us, whatever
that religion may be. Now, I grant you, sincerity does
have some merit. And sincerity is good. But my
friend, sincerity is not salvation. Sincerity is good, but salvation
is better. Religion without Christ is damning
to your soul. You must not only be sincere,
believing and be sincere, but you also must believe the truth. What is the truth? Jesus Christ,
the Lord Jesus Christ, is the truth of God's salvation. All of God's prophets of the
past, all of God's preachers of the present, have but one
message to preach to all that will hear. Jesus Christ Himself
is salvation, and that's what Isaiah 35 tells us about, tells
us about a highway, the way of holiness. And it speaks of Christ
who is the way of salvation. He said, you shall know the truth.
Christ is that truth. He said, I am the way, the truth
and the life. Now, I want to bring to you five
things about this highway, this way of salvation. The first one
is this. There's one way. of salvation. Know the name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. There's not many ways
of salvation. There's one God and there's one
savior, one mediator between God and man, one high priest
with a suitable sacrifice that's appointed to put away sin. There's
just one gospel, one Lord, one faith, one baptism. And my friend,
there's just one way of salvation. Listen to this scripture carefully.
In Isaiah 43, verse 11, he said, I, even I am the Lord, and beside
me there is no Savior. Just one way of salvation. In
Isaiah 45, he says this, there is no God else beside me, a just
God and Savior. There is none beside me. That's pretty definite, isn't
it? There's none. There's no God. There's no Savior. apart from Jesus Christ. Therefore,
He says, look unto Me and be ye saved. All the ends of the
earth, I am God and there is none else. There is one way of
salvation. Now, there are many ways that
lead to destruction, but only one way that leads to glory.
And my friend, let me put it to you as plain as I can, Christ
Jesus, who is Lord God Almighty, the Savior, the Redeemer of His
people, He is salvation. He's the way. Secondly, it tells
us in this text, in Isaiah 35, the name of this way. It's the
way of holiness. It's a holy way. Can a holy God
have anything but a holy way of salvation? We read in Psalm
33, the word of the Lord is right and all His works are done in
truth. Whatever God does and however
He acts, He must act in complete harmony with His holy character. It says here in our text that
the unclean shall not pass over this way. The unclean won't be
found on this way. You see, it's a way that's holy. God is holy and the unclean shall
not pass over. Now, here we have a problem.
We're all unclean. We're all guilty before God.
We're all sinful before God. All of our righteousnesses, Isaiah
said, are as filthy rag. There's none righteous, no, not
one. The only way we can be made clean and put in this way is
for the work of God, the work of God, the work of God's grace
upon our soul to make us clean. It's the blood of Jesus Christ
that cleanses us from our sin. Only God can justify the unclean
through the blood sacrifice of our substitute, our Redeemer,
our God, Jesus Christ. It's the blood that makes atonement
for the soul. This is the only way that we
can be made clean and holy in Christ, being washed in the blood
and put in this one way a salvation. It's a holy way. Can God be holy,
just, and righteous and justify us? Only in Christ, our substitute. That's the only way God can be
a just God and a Savior. The only way God can be just
and justify the ungodly. You see, it's a holy way. It's
a holy way. God's too holy to look upon sin
with favor. So you see, there's one way.
That way is Christ. It's a holy way. God must justify
us in Christ, through His blood, and put us in a way, being made
clean in Christ, being accepted in the blood. Thirdly, it's a
select way. It says in our text, and highway
shall be there, and it shall be called the way of holiness. The unclean shall not pass over
it, but it shall be for those You see, it's a select way. It's
a free way. Who are these people he's talking
about here? It shall be for those. Well,
verse 5 and 6 tells us. It tells us about the eyes of
the blind being opened, the ears of the deaf being unstopped,
the lame man being made to walk, the tongue of the dumb to sing. It's talking about those who
have been made fit for this way. They've had a work of grace performed
in their heart. It's God who has begun a good
work in you. It's a select way for those who
have been made clean and justified in Christ Jesus. It says here,
also it describes those people down in verse 9, they're called
redeemed. Who are those who walk on this
way? They're redeemed of the Lord. They're ransomed of the
Lord. They're redeemed and they're ransomed. How are we redeemed? Not by the corruptible thing,
but by the blood of Jesus Christ. The lamb that was appointed in
the sin of God. We're redeemed with his blood.
And then these people are called the ransomed of the Lord. We've
been bought with a price. Job said, deliver them from going
down to the pit. I have found a ransom. And when
the ransom price is paid, the guilty go free. He purchased
us with His own blood. You see, it's a select way. It
shall be for those who are redeemed, who are regenerated, and those
who are ransomed, bought with the blood of Christ. Now, how
can I know if I'm one of those for whom Christ died? How do
I know if I'm one of those for whom God chose in eternity and
salvation? Well, let me ask you this. Do
you believe? Do you trust? Do you bow? Do you submit to
Jesus Christ as all your salvation, as all your redemption, as all
your righteousness? You see, it's a select way for
those who are redeemed, bought, and made righteous in Christ
Jesus. Fourthly is this. This highway
that God has appointed, there's one way. It's a way of holiness. It's a select way. And fourthly,
the highway God has appointed is a plain way. It says here,
the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein. The gospel doesn't need the logic
of human wisdom to explain it. To those who believe, it's a
plain way. That's why Paul says, seeing
we have such a hope, we use great plainness of speech. You listen
to scripture in 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Paul said, I'm determined
Not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. I was with you in weakness and
in fear and in much trembling and my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration
of the spirit and of power that your faith should not stand in
the wisdom of men but in the power of God. It's a plain way. We didn't come With the excellency
of speech, we came plainly preaching, determined to know nothing among
you, but Jesus Christ crucified." Christ crucified is our wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. When God reveals
the way, it's a plain way. You see, eye had not heard, eye
had not seen, ear had not heard, neither had it entered into the
heart of man to think which God. have prepared for them that love
Him. God has revealed them unto us
by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the
deep things of God." You see, it's a plain way. When God reveals
this unto us, it's a plain way. And those who believe, it is
a plain way. They're not ashamed of the gospel.
You'll never make a mistake trusting the Lord Jesus Christ. You see,
there's one way of salvation. It's a holy way. It's a select
way. It's a plain way. And lastly,
it's a sure and safe way. We read in our text, no lion
shall be there in this way, nor any ravenous beast shall go up
thereon. It shall not be found there,
but the redeemed shall walk there. It's a safe way. No lion, no
harm, no ravenous beast, will bother those in this way. Now, there are lions and ravenous
beasts around, but they can't harm God's elect. Who can lay
anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God who justifies. Who can condemn me? Christ has
died. Yea, rather, is risen again who
is even at the right hand of God. This highway of salvation
in Christ Jesus is a safe and secure way. No one can pluck
them out of God's hand. You see, our sin's been put away.
God said their sin and their iniquity will I remember no more. Satan has been defeated. Caesar's
woman crushed his head at Calvary. Crushed his dominion, his power.
The law of God has been honored. He redeemed us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. Death has been abolished.
He brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. You see, there's one way of salvation. It's a holy way. It's called
the way of holiness. God must make us clean, washed
in the blood of Christ. It's a select way. It's for those
who are redeemed, regenerated, ransomed. It's a plain way. It's
a free way, justified freely by His grace, and it's a safe
and secure way in Christ Jesus. He's able to keep us from falling,
and to present us faultless before the presence of God's glory with
exceeding joy." Now, three closing observations. Carefully, here's
the first one, carefully discriminate. Am I in the king's highway? Am
I in the straight and narrow way that leads to life? And beware
of the false prophet who would detour you from the way." There's
just one. Christ is the way. Carefully
discriminate to see if you're in the way. Secondly, if you
are in the way, keep to the way. Turn not to the right hand or
to the left. Hold on, hold out to the end. Faith that is real and genuine
and God-given endureth to the end. The third observation is
this. If we're in the way, God's way
of salvation, by grace, through faith, through the blood of Jesus
Christ, if we're in this way, let us be earnest in telling
others of the way. Like the early church and the
apostles, when they were beaten for the gospel's sake, and commanded
not to preach and teach anymore in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, what did they do? Well, daily in the temple, publicly
and in every house, public and in private, they cease not to
teach and preach Jesus Christ as the way of salvation.