Okay, now we're looking at, and
we're turning in our Bible again to Isaiah 28. Isaiah 28. I have one particular verse that
I want to camp on for a while, but we'll consider some of these
verses before and after. But verse 16, Isaiah 28 verse
16, Therefore thus saith the Lord God. Now that ought to get
our attention quickly. Thus saith, not the preacher,
this is not my word, this is God's word. Thus saith the Lord,
the Lord who is God. Behold, take a look at this,
This is worth considering. Behold, don't just pass by, stop
and look. Behold, I lay in Zion. Zion here is his church. I lay
in Zion, a foundation for a foundation, a stone, tried, a tried stone. It's called here precious cornerstone. This is something that sure,
certain, fixed, guaranteed, a sure foundation. Not flimsy, it's
fixed. Not iffy, certain, a sure foundation. He that believeth not worketh. He that believeth shall not ever
be forced out, shall not make haste. Now I'm entitling the
message from that verse, a sure foundation. A sure foundation. I delight in the things of God
and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that are certain and sure.
Every promise that he has is yes and amen and in him and certain
and sure. I delight in the things of God
because they're sure. They're certain. They're true. They're everlasting. They can
be depended upon. They can be counted upon. Great
is thy faithfulness, Lord God Almighty. Now we read about several
things in scripture that are Sure, King David, upon his deathbed,
said, God hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered
in all things, and is sure, this is all my hope and all my salvation. Second Peter, When Peter writes
about the Word, he says, the Word, the written, inspired Word,
record of God, testimony of God, testimony of God, he said, we
have a sure Word of prophecy. It can be trusted. All Scripture
is given by inspiration of God. And then when Paul talks about
and describes salvation in Romans 4, he said, it is by faith that
it might be by grace that the promise might be sure. to all
the seed, to all the elect of God. Now I trust that you find
comfort in those things that are unquestionably sure, undeniably
safe, and eternally true. Don't you find comfort in that?
It is troubling to our heart to see so many finding comfort
and seeking refuge in that which is contrary to that which is
sure, safe, and true. What Isaiah calls here, by God
the Holy Spirit, falsehood, a fading flower whose glorious beauty
is a fading flower, a refuge of lies. Would you hide in a
refuge? of lies? Many people do. I did for years. It's also troubling
to my soul to see so many going about to establish a righteousness
of their own doing and totally disregarding the righteousness
of God revealed in the Gospel. Blessed is that man to whom the
Lord imputes righteousness without works. You see, Christ is the
end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth the
gospel. This chapter, Isaiah 28, is going
to tell us the difference between the false refuge of men and the
true refuge of God. One will save you. The other
will damn you. One will bless you. The other
will curse you. The refuge of lies will not be
a blessing. One will bless you, the refuge
of truth in Christ. One will justify you by His grace. The other will eternally condemn
you. One will redeem you by His blood. The other will ruin you forever. Do you have a refuge? Are you
hiding under a falsehood? Do you have a refuge? Is it built upon the foundation
that God has laid? The rock Christ Jesus, or is
your refuge upon the sand of your doing, the sand of your
works? One will stand, one will fail. The man who heard the sayings
of God, the true word of God, and received that truth, salvation
in Christ, and stood upon that ground, the solid rock, Christ
and Him crucified, that house stood when judgment came. Those
who build upon the sand, those who refuse the gospel, reject
the Lord Jesus Christ, and build upon the foundation of the sand
of their works, their doing, remember what the Lord said?
Great was the fall of that house. in the day of judgment. Now man
has a refuge of lies that we read about here in verse 14 and
15. Here we see man's refuge of lies described here in the
word of the Lord. He said, hear the word of the
Lord, verse 14, you scornful men that rule this people, because
you have said With death we are agreement. We have a covenant
with death. With hell we're at agreement. When the overflowing
scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us. We have
made, we have a refuge, but God said it's a refuge of lies. And
it's a falsehood that we are hiding in. Now it's sad, isn't
it? It's most obvious and evident that those who refuse to hear
the Word of Truth and receive the Word of Truth and believe
the Word of Truth will go about to build a refuge that has a
foundation that is false. They will wrap themselves in
a covering too narrow. They will rest upon a bed that
is too short. What does that mean? That means
what you do and what you bring will never satisfy God. Never satisfy God. These folks
declared, we have done this, we have done that. It reminded
me exactly what we read in Matthew 7. Remember? Lord, Lord, we have
prophesied in your name. Lord, we have even, in your name,
cast out demons. And in your name, we have done
many wonderful work. We have done, we have done, we
have done. we have made an agreement with
him we have done what did the lord say in matthew seven Away
with it, it is nothing but iniquity. Anything we bring to the table
and present before God, anything we have to do with it, God said
away with it, it is sin, it is iniquity. Therefore we cannot
trust anything we have. Anything we have, anything we
bring is a falsehood and a refuge of lies. Pure and simple. These folks said we have made
a covenant. It's not the covenant of grace,
it's a covenant of their puny ungodly works, which will not
satisfy God. Remember our Lord said to the
Pharisees, you are they that justify yourselves before men,
but God knows your heart. That which is highly esteemed
among men is an abomination in the sight of God. These folks
in that day said, we've made an agreement with the grave.
The agreement is not with the Word of God and salvation in
Christ, but upon the words of their own religious denomination
or what they think." Well, I don't really care what the Word of
God says, I think this, you value your opinion more than the Word
of Truth, the Word of God? These folks said, we've made
a refuge of our own doing. This is not the refuge of Christ
alone. The Lord said here it is a refuge
of falsehood and it's a refuge of lies. Now what's going to
happen to these folks that hide in a refuge of lies? It will
be exposed, won't it? Look at verse 17, 18, 19. Judgment, God said, I will lay
to the line. The strictness of God's holy
law. The standard of judgment is not
the best you can do. The standard of judgment is God's
absolute holiness. Judgment will lay to the line,
righteousness to the plummet, Judgment and righteousness and
the hail of God's wrath will sweep away the refuge of lies
and the water shall overflow The hiding place your covenant
with death. She'll be disannulled and your agreement with hell
shall not stand When the overflowing scourge shall pass through you'll
be trodden down by it Now, I don't want to seek mercy in a place
where God said He's going to destroy. I'm going to seek mercy
where mercy is found in Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that
brings us to verse 16. Therefore thus saith the Lord
God. Aren't you glad He gives us this
promise of the gospel? Therefore thus saith the Lord
God behold, I lay in Zion. Is there a true foundation that
this sinner can hide in? Yes, it's Christ. This is a living
stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation.
He that believeth on him shall not be ashamed. Shall never be
forced out. Now, let's look at this refuge
for a moment. With God there is an everlasting
covenant the Lord has made within the eternal Godhead, an everlasting
covenant. This covenant indeed is ordered
in all things and is sure. The God of peace that brought
again from the dead the Lord Jesus Christ, that great shepherd
of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. You see, we have an eternal covenant
of mercy, an eternal covenant of grace in Christ. There is
an everlasting covenant found in the Word of God that the Lord
Jesus Christ promised to come and to save His people from their
sin. That's why He came, to put away
our sin and do it in a way that would magnify the justice of
God and also at the same time magnify the mercy of God. And
that's the mystery of the gospel. How God can be holy and just
and righteous and justify the ungodly not at the expense of
His holiness. How can He show mercy and not
trample on justice? by punishing our sin in Christ. That's what the everlasting covenant
of grace and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is all about.
This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation that
the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. There is a true
refuge for sinners to hide in from the storm of God's wrath
and it's none other than a person. The Lord Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
surety of that covenant. He's the surety. What guarantees
does this sinner have that salvation is perfect and complete? Because
the Lord Jesus Christ is the surety of it. He honored the
law of God for us as a representative man. He died as a representative
man with the sin of God's people charged to Him, and He made complete
satisfaction for them. Matter of fact, it says, when
He by Himself purged our sin, He sat down on the right hand
of the throne of God. Yes, there is a covenant of grace
that sinners can hide in from the storm of God's wrath, and
it is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. Salvation is in a person. Salvation
is not in this church or any other church. Salvation is in
a person. The Lord Jesus, He's a surety,
the everlasting surety of the eternal covenant of grace. The
Lord Jesus Christ is not only the surety of that covenant of
grace, He's a sacrifice of it. The blood of bulls and goats
cannot take away sin. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. He put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. There is a true and solid and
established foundation upon which this weary sinner can rest, and
it's Christ. He said, come unto me, all you
that labor heavy laden, I will give you rest. Now, who says
so? Who says so? Look at verse 16,
how it begins. Therefore thus saith the Lord
God, This is God's Word to His people. By whose authority do
we have this covenant of grace? Thus saith the Lord. Without
question this foundation that God has laid in Zion for His
church is Christ Himself. Now I want you to find Ephesians
chapter 2. Ephesians chapter 2. You see,
neither is there salvation in any other, for there's no other
name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. Christ himself is that foundation. Ephesians chapter 2, look at
verse 19. Now therefore, you are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints,
and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation. The foundation of the apostles,
the foundation of the prophets, is Jesus Christ Himself. Underscore
those three words. All the prophets of the past,
that includes Isaiah, Jeremiah, all the prophets, to Him give
all the prophets witness. They all say that Jesus Christ
Himself, He is the Savior. He is the foundation of salvation.
And all the apostles, they all said the same thing. Jesus Christ
Himself is the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly
framed together groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, in
whom ye also build it together for a habitation of God through
the Spirit." So there is a foundation. That foundation is Christ, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we see here, look back at
the text, Behold, God said, I lay in Zion for a foundation. Now he didn't ask for our help.
He didn't ask for our suggestions. He said, behold, I lay the foundation
for Zion, the church. The church, Zion here is church.
Who has provided and established this foundation? God himself
is the architect. The supplier, the builder, he's
the alpha, the omega, the beginning, the end. He's the only one who
can build a foundation for a sinner to rest in. Our Lord said in
Matthew 16, I will build my church. I will build my church upon this
one foundation. I'll build my church in the gates
of hell. Upon this rock I'll build my
church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
Remember this, only that which God provides will God accept.
Believers are only accepted in the Beloved. Behold I lay in
Zion for a foundation. A foundation. Now, It describes
this foundation that God tells us about, that God has provided
for us, a foundation that's a refuge of truth that we can hide in,
Christ himself, a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure foundation. I notice the three characteristics
of this foundation. First of all, it's tried. It's
tried. That means it's proven. That
means it's tested. That means it's established and
guaranteed. It's a tried stone, proven stone. The Lord Jesus Christ is a rock
in the weary land. He is a proven foundation. No
sinner ever perished resting on this foundation. None. Turn back, or turn over
just a couple pages. I think it's Isaiah 32. Look at verse 2, Isaiah 32, 2.
A man shall be a hiding place from the wind. Who is this man? This is no ordinary man. This
is the God-man Mediator. He's a covering from the tempest,
rivers of water in a dry place, at the shadow of a great rock.
in a weary land. He is our hiding place, the Lord
Jesus Christ. No sinner ever perished resting
upon this foundation. It's tried, proven, certain,
and sure. It's tried and tested by Satan.
Remember in John 14 we read, Our Lord said, Satan has come,
and he has tempted and tested me, and he's found nothing in
me. The Lord Jesus Christ was tested and tempted in all points
like as we are, yet without sin. This foundation that God has
laid is tried, proven, and certain, and sure. Tried by Satan. The Lord Jesus Christ was also
tried by the law. The law of God. He honored the
law. He magnified the law. You read
about it in Isaiah 42 verse 21. He magnified the law. He established
the law. Our Lord said in Matthew 5, I
didn't come to destroy the law, I came to satisfy the law. He
worked out a perfect righteousness for us by His obedience unto
the law through His faithfulness. It's a tried stone by Satan,
by the law, and tried and tested and proven by the Father. by
the Holy Father, by God the Father. Our Lord speaks from heaven and
said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. We read over in 1 Peter chapter
2 that this foundation is a living stone. It not only tried, proven,
and established, but it's life. The Lord Jesus Christ doesn't
just have life, He is life. He that hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son hath
not life. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
living stone and we have life in Him. Those that build upon
the living stone. are identified and have union
with the stone, and because he lives, we live in him. You see, this is a tried, tested
stone. It's a living stone. And then
it's called here in the text, not only a tried stone, but a
precious cornerstone. A cornerstone. Now, I don't know
so much in these days, but back years ago when they would build
buildings out of stones, they would have a cornerstone that
would knit the building. They would knit the walls together.
It was a very important stone that was laid in that building.
It knit it together. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
that precious cornerstone. to those that perish in their
sin, to those to whom the gospel is foolishness, Christ is a stone
of stumbling, a rock of offense, but to you who believe, He's
a precious cornerstone. to you who believe the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. We read about
it in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 that Christ crucified to some is foolish,
but to us who were saved by the cross of Christ, Christ crucified
is the wisdom of God, the power of God, the glory of God. Christ
is that living stone that's precious. He's a precious cornerstone.
You see, we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ,
aren't we? We are justified through the
precious promises of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
we have obtained by His grace like precious faith through the
righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You see this glorious
foundation we have? This sinner finds great comfort
resting upon that foundation. I build all my hope upon Christ
alone. He's a tried stone. He's a sure
foundation. He's a precious cornerstone.
And then thirdly, he says here, it's sure. It is a sure foundation. That is one that cannot be destroyed,
one that cannot be changed, one that cannot fail. Oftentimes you hear about commercials. And you hear about different
investments. And a lot of times they'll send out these phony
emails. And you get them and they say,
this is a sure thing. This is a sure investment. You
can't go wrong. Oh yeah, you can. Don't trust those things. Hit
delete. When you get them, hit delete. They're just phonies.
But this foundation is sure. Who says so? God does. God, it's
a sure foundation. One that cannot be chained, one
that cannot be destroyed, one that cannot be improved, one
that cannot fail. Let me show you why. Turn to
Isaiah chapter 42. Isaiah 42, verse 4, describes
the servant of God, the elect of God, verse 1, and then it
says of him in verse 4, Isaiah 42, 4, he shall not fail. He's a successful Savior, the
victorious Savior. He shall not fail nor be defeated,
be discouraged. He will set judgment in the earth.
And we'll wait. We'll wait upon the Lord. For
salvation is of the Lord. A sure foundation. A sure foundation
of hope, faith, peace, joy, and comfort. All built upon the Lord
Himself. A foundation firm and strong,
immovable, everlasting, that will never decay, never be replaced,
never be updated, never be changed. The Lord said, I am the Lord,
I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob,
you are not consumed. Behold, I lay in Zion a stone,
a rock of ages, A tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure,
sure, certain foundation. We read in 2 Timothy chapter
2 verse 19. Nevertheless the foundation of
God standeth sure. It does. The Lord having this
seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His. Now, in closing, It says there in the last part
of verse 16, he that believeth shall not make haste. Those that believe the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ and are blessed by his grace to rest
upon that foundation that's certain and sure shall never be forced
to flee. And that's what it means there.
He that believeth shall not make haste. Now, turn to John chapter
6. John chapter 6. Those who rest
upon this foundation, Christ, this tridestone, this precious
cornerstone, those who believe on Him, that trust Him, shall
never be forced out. Look what it says right here,
John 6 verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. He'll never cast us away. He
says, I give my sheep eternal life. Turn to John chapter 10.
He says, I give my sheep eternal life, and they'll never perish. John 10 27 he said my sheep hear
my voice I know them they follow me I give unto them eternal life
and they shall never perish neither shall any man pluck them out
of my hand my father which gave to me is greater than all and
no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand I and
my father are one He gives us eternal life, everlasting salvation. Now, in Romans 9, verse 33, when
the apostle there quotes this verse, it is given this way,
He that believeth on him shall never be ashamed. shall never
be ashamed. We can say with the Apostle Paul,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God and the salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew and
also to the Gentile. Therein in that gospel is the
righteousness of God revealed, from faith to faith, as it is
written, the just shall live by faith. And then in 1 Peter
chapter 2 verse 6, This verse is rendered this way, he that
believeth shall not be confounded or confused. In that day of judgment,
when those folks stand before the Lord Jesus Christ, we read
about it in Matthew 7, and they said, Lord, look what we have
done, we have done, we have done, and then he says, it's nothing
but iniquity. What? Boy, they'll be confounded,
won't they? They'll be confused, won't they?
Those that rest on Christ will hear Him say, come, enter in. Receive this inheritance prepared
for you before the foundation of the world. Now, who is your
hope? I didn't say what. Who is your
hope of salvation? The apostle said, I know whom
I have believed. Do you have a refuge? You know,
I've not ever met a person out on the street, out on the job,
I've never met anyone that didn't have some sort of refuge. It may be an irreligious refuge,
or it may be a religious refuge. But somebody has some, all the
time, some sort of hope. Even if it's in a hope. I hope,
I hope, I hope, I hope. All people have some kind of
refuge that they're resting in. Sadly, most of the time, it's
a refuge of lies, not of truth. Do you have a refuge of truth? Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ
himself. That's my hope. That's all of
my salvation. Throw away everything else. throw
away every false refuge, discard every falsehood, and count it
like it ought to be counted, done." That's what the Apostle
said, I count all things but lost that I might win Christ
and be found in Him. You see, He's the only foundation.
Look to the Lord Jesus Christ, oh God give us grace to look
to Him. Now I want to show you an example,
an illustration between a refuge of truth and a refuge of lies. It's given right here in scripture
for us to read. Luke, turn to the Gospel of Luke
18, Luke chapter 18. Here we see two men, one had
a refuge of truth, one had a refuge of lies. One went home justified,
the other went home condemned. In Luke 18, look at verse nine. And he spake this parable unto
certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous and
despised others. Now right there is a false refuge,
isn't it? They trusted in themselves that they were righteous. Two
men went to the temple to pray. They were both religious. The
one, a Pharisee. You know, the Pharisees were
the very self-righteous, self-serving. And the other, a publican, a
notorious known vile sinner." Which one would you think would
be justified? The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, God I thank thee I'm not as other men, an
extortioner, unjust, an adulterer, or even I'm certainly not like
that man, that publican, I'm better than that man. What did
this man have? He had a refuge of lies, didn't
he? He was trusting in what he did or did not do. I fast twice
in a week. I give tithes of all that I possess. He had a religious refuge of
lies. What did this other man have?
He had a refuge of truth. The publican, the sinner, verse
13, standing afar off would not lift up so much his eyes to heaven,
but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, the sinner."
He knew he was guilty. He knew he needed a refuge. And
God gave him grace to look to the Lord Jesus Christ because
he cries out for mercy where mercy is found. He lifted up
his eyes to heaven. God who was sovereign in heaven.
And the Lord says, one had a refuge of lies, one had a refuge of
truth. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other. The publican,
the one who cried out for mercy, I'm a sinner. God says of him,
he went home justified. justified in Christ, justified
by God's grace. The other rather than the other,
for everyone that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that
humbles himself shall be exalted. What did that Pharisee do? He
justified himself and was condemned. What did that publican do? He
condemned himself, didn't he? And was justified. You see, one
had a refuge of lies. One, by God's grace, had a refuge
of truth and was justified before God.