Now let's look at Isaiah 40 one
more time. I'm entitling the message today,
What Shall We Preach? What shall we preach? What is my primary purpose here
at Zebulun Baptist Church as your pastor? What is my calling? Why am I here? Why am I standing
before you right now? Without reservation, my strong
conviction is to preach unto you the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ and to do so without compromise, without hesitation, without apology,
always and only declaring unto you the gospel of God concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, without compromise, without hesitation,
without apology, declaring unto you the unsearchable riches of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that why you're here today?
You don't want to hear about my experiences. You want to hear
about the Gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, His person,
who He is, God Almighty. His work, what He has done for
us. He redeemed us with His own blood. And to declare unto you that
there is salvation in Christ. Salvation is of the Lord. The Apostle Paul put it this
way concerning the preaching of the gospel. Woe is unto me
if I don't preach the gospel of God unto you. Again the Apostle instructed
young Timothy on this matter of preaching. He said, I charge
you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ to preach the Word, preach
the Word, preach Christ, preach Him, and preach Christ crucified. Again, the Apostle Paul writes
this in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, he said, I'm determined not
to know anything among you, but Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. Our object and our goal in preaching
is primarily twofold. First and foremost, the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The grand design of God redeeming
blood, God redeeming grace, is the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. As the Apostle said, God forbid
I see glory save in the cross of Christ. So our object and
our goal in preaching is twofold. Number one and foremost the glory
of Christ and then secondly is the salvation of God's people.
I want to see God by the means that He has ordained to save
sinners, to call sinners out of darkness into His marvelous
light. Isn't that a glorious thing when
the Lord is pleased to do so? How shall we accomplish our goal,
our objective? By what means can we accomplish
this? Only by the means that God has
ordained. And He has ordained the preaching
of the gospel to His glory, to the fervor of the gospel, and
to call out His elect. He said, My sheep, they will
hear My voice. I know them, and they will follow
Me. I have given them eternal life,
and they shall never perish. What is our message? Now listen
to me. How is our message different
here than what's preached down the road? Is there a difference?
Absolutely. Different God is preached. They
preach a God who wants to and can't. Who's tried to and failed. We don't read about that in Isaiah
40, do we? He's the absolute God. Rules
and reigns over all things. Knows nothing of defeat. Our
message is not what you must do for God. Our message is what
God in Christ has already done for us. That's the difference.
They preach what you must do for God. We've just read all
flesh is vanity, zero, nothing. Useless man-made religion tells
us to appeal to man's dignity. God tells us to preach man's
total inability and total depravity. Man's useless religion tells
us to preach morality and human righteousness in order to earn
salvation or at least remove God's disfavor. God tells us
that all our righteousness is a filthy rag in God's sight and
that Christ alone is all our righteousness before God. Man-made,
useless religion tells us to join the church that has the
right name. The friendly church, the busy
church, the big church. God simply says, look to me and
be saved. I am God, there is none other. Man-made, useless religion tells
us to come to a position to make a decision, to make a profession,
to sign a church covenant. God tells us that salvation is
in a person. He that hath a son hath life.
He that hath not the Son hath not life. He that believeth on
the Son hath everlasting life. He that believeth not the Son
shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him. In our text today here in Isaiah
40, God gives us a prophecy concerning God's prophet John, who was sent
to identify the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And pointing to
Him that day, John said, Behold, the Lamb of God, the Lamb of
God takes away our sin. Don't follow me, John said, you
follow Him. I'm not even worthy to unloose
His shoes. He has all power. I'm nothing. You look to Him. As John identified
the Savior and told people in his day, follow Christ. Even
so, we in our day, we point sinners to the only refuge for sin, and
that is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is true of all God's servants
today. We declare unto all that will
hear that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only prepared way The
voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way
of the Lord. Make straight in the desert a
highway for our God. We declare unto all that will
hear, That the Lord Jesus Christ is the only prepared way, the
only way of salvation. Our Lord said, neither is there
salvation in any other. There's no other name under heaven,
given among men, whereby we must be saved. I'm saying that salvation's
in Christ. Look to Him. Don't come to me.
Don't come down front. Ain't no salvation down here.
Salvation's in Christ. Look unto Him. Look unto Him.
Now hold your place there and find over here Isaiah 45. Verse
21, verse 22 said, says here, I'm a just God. There's no God
beside me. Isaiah 45, 21. A just God and
Savior. There is none beside me. Now,
look unto me. He's the only just God and Savior
and salvation in Him and from Him and of Him. He said, look
unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. I am God
and there is none else. He is the only just God and Savior. He is just and holy and yet merciful. How can He be just and holy and
yet show mercy to sinners? Only in Christ. in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now look back at the text, Isaiah
40. Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway. Salvation is a highway, it's
a freeway. And it's of our God. Now look at verse 4 and 5. Every valley shall be exalted,
every low place shall be exalted, every mountain and hill shall
be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the
rough places plain, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken this." This is the Word of God. We see the fourfold effect
of the preaching of the Gospel that it has upon the elect of
God. Those made low shall be lifted by His grace. Look what it says, every valley
shall be exalted. When the Gospel comes in power,
this is exactly what happened to the sinner. We're emptied
of self and filled with Christ. You remember, turn to Isaiah
61, let's read about it. Isaiah 61, Isaiah 61, verse 1. The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me. Isaiah 61.1, because the Lord hath anointed me to preach
good tidings unto the meek. He has sent me to bind up the
brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, the opening
of prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year
of the Lord and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that
mourn. Comfort you, comfort you, my
people, sayeth your God. To appoint unto them that mourning
Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes. the oil of joy for
mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.
They might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of
the Lord, that He may be glorified in all things. Those made low,
those stripped, shall be filled with His grace. Those who are
lifted up, it says, every mountain and hill shall be made low. Those
who are lifted up with religious pride and self-righteousness
are stripped and made bare before the Lord, and they are humbled
in His sight by His power and by His grace. He deny them of
a broken heart, save us such as be of a contrite spirit. Those
who are crooked and rough are straightened out on the plain
way of salvation, how God saves sinners. It's not the way that
men naturally think that it is. How does God save sinners? Well,
you take the first step, God will meet you halfway. God's
done all He can do, now the rest is up to you. That's not how
God saves sinners. How does God save sinners? By
grace are you saved through faith, and that's not of yourself, it's
the gift of God. If not of worthless, any man
should boast. It's God who saved us and called
us with a holy calling, not according to our work, but according to
His own purpose and grace. And then He says here in verse
5, "...and the glory of the Lord." shall be revealed, and all flesh
shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken. All flesh shall see His glory."
That is, His elect among the multitude of sinners, Jew and
Gentile, young and old, shall see His redemptive glory as it
shines in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is by
the revelation of God, the revelation of grace, revealing Christ as
everything in salvation. Now in verse 6, down to verse
11, here we have the message, what we're to preach. And the
voice said, look at verse 6, cry. Well, what shall I cry? What shall I declare? What shall
I speak? Well, everything's okay. Everything's
okay. Peace. Peace. Peace. They say
what shall I cry and God said all flesh is grass and all the
glory and goodliness thereof, as the flower of the field, the
grass withered, the flower faded, because the Spirit of the Lord
blows upon it. Surely the people is grass, the
grass withers, the flower fadeth, but the Word of the Lord stands
forever. All flesh is grass, the Word
of the Lord stands forever. Look at verse 9, O Zion, that
bringeth good tidings, Get thee up into a high mountain, O Jerusalem,
that bringeth good tidings. Lift up thy voice with strength,
lift it up, and be not afraid. Say unto the cities of Judah,
Behold, behold your God." Behold your God. Now our message here
is a three-fold message. threefold message found here
in verse 6 down to verse 11. The first thing is this, sinners
are totally depraved, ruined in Adam. Secondly, the Word of
our God, you see it in the last part of verse 8, the Word of
the Lord, our God shall stand forever. Sinners are totally
depraved, the word of our God shall stand forever. And then
thirdly, it says, behold your God. This is a God with whom
we have to do. Behold God who is God. Now let's look at those three
things. What is our message? I've been here almost 22 years.
February be 22 years. I've not deviated one inch from
these three things It's found here. All flesh is grass the
word of the Lord stands forever and behold God behold God now,
let's look at these three things all men everywhere are Does that
include you? Does that include your household?
Does that include your neighbor, your children, those who you
work with? All flesh. That's pretty inclusive,
isn't it? All flesh. Well, it's pretty
good flesh. Well, it's okay flesh. No, all flesh is flesh. All flesh
is sinful. All flesh is grass. He's saying here that men are
totally depraved. Men are totally totally dead
in trespasses and in sin. This includes old flesh, young
flesh, religious flesh, irreligious. All flesh has an inherent nature
and principle of sin. We're sinners. God ever taught
you that? God's never taught you that you're
a sinner. You know what you'll do? I mean, God's never gripped
your heart and convicted your heart of who and what you are.
You know what you'll do? You'll cry for mercy. Oh God,
be merciful to me, the sinner. Until He does, you won't cry. You won't cry. Not sincerely
you won't. But God teaches us what we are. Ruined and spiritually
dead. What happened in the garden?
Ruin. Death. Judgment. And Adam all died. To deny that we're sinners is
to call God a liar. Did you know that? He that saith,
we have no sin, we deceive ourselves in the truth, not in it, we've
called God a liar. You see, in the flesh no man
completes God. In the flesh dwelleth no good
thing. In the flesh we have no energy, no strength, no righteousness. to satisfy God's holy law, do
we? All flesh is sinful flesh. This
must be preached. Really? Yes. Absolutely. I can't preach us low enough. I mean we're lower than the lowest. We're the scum of the earth.
We are rotten, dirty, filthy, stinking, dead, dog sinners. I can't take this down enough.
This must be preached in order to show the necessity of the
gospel. If we're not sinners, we don't
need a Savior. Is that right? If we're righteous
in our flesh by what we do, then we don't need the Lord to be
the Lord our righteousness. If I can get it done on my own,
then His death was really just... it wasn't necessary, was it?
If I can get by on my own, Not at all. We must preach total
depravity to show the necessity of the gospel of Christ without
an understanding of the problem, of the sin problem. We will always seek the wrong
solution. If you don't understand the sin problem, you won't understand
the solution. Without understanding sin, you'll
never have any idea of how salvation is accomplished. You see, if
you don't understand what happened in Adam, you don't understand
what happened in Christ. If you don't understand ruin,
you don't understand redemption in Christ. Something else is
given here in the text, not only is all flesh grass, but all the
goodliness thereof. I mean the best you can bring. Man at his best state. Turn over
here to Isaiah 64. Did you ever notice this scripture?
Isaiah 64. All flesh is grass and all the
glory and goodliness thereof is a fading, fading flower. Flower. Isaiah 64. But we are all as an unclean
thing. All our righteousnesses are as
filthy rags. We all do fade as a leaf. Our
iniquities like the wind have taken us away. Now read on, look
at verse seven. Now this just kills any kind
of notion of man, man and his free will. There
is none that calls upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take
hold of thee. There is none that stirs up himself. to take hold of God. For thou
hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us because of our
iniquities. But now, O Lord, thou art the
Father, we are the clay, thou art the potter, we are all the
work of thy hand. He must draw us by his power,
or we will never come. All of our righteousnesses before
God are as filthy, filthy rag. Did you notice in Isaiah 40 verse
15 talking about the nothingness of man and the sinfulness of
man? Behold, the nations are the drop
of a bucket, are counted as the small dust of the balance. Behold,
he taketh up the isles as a very little thing, When you take a bucket and put
it down in a stream to get a bucket full of water, and from the bottom
of that bucket is a drop that comes off the bottom, did you
care anything about that water drop off the bottom? No, that's
what he's saying here. The nations are as a drop of
a bucket. The dust of the balance, you
just blow that away. All the islands are a very little
thing. The cedar of Lebanon is not sufficient
to burn. The beast thereof is not sufficient
for a burnt offering. All nations before him are as
nothing. And it counted to him less than nothing
and vanity." You see, what is the glory of man compared to
the glory of God? Nothing. Nothing, nothing, nothing. The only way we'll know this
is by the Spirit of the Lord, as it says there, because the
Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it, surely the people is grass,
grass. The only way we'll know this
is by the Spirit convicting us of our sin and of the truth of
God's Word. Have you ever seen all your goodness
All your righteousness as sin before God. The best you can
do, the best you can bring. Your glory, it's just flesh. All it is is flesh. It counts
for nothing before God. So that's the first thing, we're
sinners. What's the second thing? What shall we cry? Look at verse
8. But the Word of our God shall stand forever. His Word, His truth, His gospel. The Word of the Lord shall stand
forever. Now we just considered this in
our Bible study this morning from 1 Peter chapter 1 verse
23, 24, and 25. The Word here, the Word of the
Lord here, our God, shall stand forever. talks about and is considering
two things. The written word of God shall
abide forever, shall stand forever. Heaven and earth the Lord said
will pass away but my word shall never pass away. In Psalm 119
he said the word of the Lord is settled forever It talks about
His written Word. It tells us about His written
Word that shall stand forever. We have this precious treasure
the Lord has given to us, His infallible, unfailing written
Word. All scripture that you hold in
your hand is God-breathed and God-given. We read it as such. We hear it as such, don't we?
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. It is quick
and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. This Word of
God contains the exceeding great and precious promises of God.
It is to be prized above the Word of men, for it is the Word
of God. It is a holy, written Word of
God. We preach it as such. We hear
it as such. We believe it as such. Don't turn, let me just read
this to you. I'm thinking of a verse over here in 1 Thessalonians,
where the Apostle Paul talks about those who have received
the Word of God. For this cause also, thank we
God, without ceasing, because when you receive the Word of
God, 1 Thessalonians 2.13, when you heard the Word of God, you received it not as the Word
of men, but as it is in truth, the Word of God, which Effectually
worketh also in you that believe this Word of God. So it refers
to the written Word of God, but also refers to the living Word. The Word of our God. The Word
of our God shall stand forever. Now, let's turn and read this
one. Turn to John chapter 1. John chapter 1, it also has reference
to not only the written Word of God, but the eternal incarnate
Word. In John chapter 1, in the beginning,
verse 1, was the Word, capital W-O-R-D, and the Word was with
God, and the Word was God. The Word of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ, abides forever. It says down in verse 14 of John
1, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and full of truth. The living Word, the Lord Jesus
Christ, is called in Scripture, the Word of God. Turn to one
other Scripture, find Revelation 19. Revelation 19, turn over
there, let's read this. Revelation 19 verse 11, Revelation
19 verse 11, And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse,
and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, And
in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were a
flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had
a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed
with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word
of God. The armies which were with him
in heaven followed him upon a white horse, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean, and out of his mouth was a sharp sword. that
with it he should smite the nation, he shall rule them with a rod
of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of
the wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and
on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. The word of the Lord, what he
speaks and who he is abides forever. who stand forever, the Lord Jesus
Christ abides forever in his divine person as God. He said,
I'm he that liveth and with dead behold I'm alive forevermore.
He ever lived to intercede for us. He abides forever in his
divine office as mediator. There's one God and one mediator
between God and men, that is the man Christ Jesus. He abides
forever in His divine office as our prophet to reveal the
gospel unto us, to teach us the gospel. He abides forever as
our priest to redeem us. He obtained for us eternal redemption
and He abides forever as our King to rule and reign over us.
He is King of Kings and He is Lord of Lords. He by Himself
purged our sin. He sat down at the right hand
of God. He abides forever. Our forerunner
has entered into glory, seated on the right hand of God, ever
there, living to intercede for us right now. Aren't you glad
the Word of our God, the Lord Jesus Christ, abides forever
for us right now? interceding for us right now,
appearing for us right now before the throne of God. Now here's
the third thing. What is our message? All flesh
is grass. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
eternal Word of God. abide forever in all of his office
to mediate and intercede and advocate for us, mediate for
us. And the third thing is this,
behold your God. Behold your God. Behold God who
is God. What is our message about our
God? Well, let's see if we can find some scripture. Turn over
here to Isaiah 45 one more time. Behold your God. The God who is God, the God of
Holy Scripture. In Isaiah 45, look at verse 5. I am the Lord, there is none
else. There is no God beside me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me, that they may know from the rising of the sun from
the west that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, there is no
other beside me. He said, I form light. I create
darkness. I make peace. I create evil. I, the Lord, do all these things. There is none beside me. Behold, your God. Let's turn again to Isaiah 46. Turn over there. Isaiah 46, 9. He said, Remember the former
things of old. I am God. There is none else. There is none like me." What's
he like? Declaring the end from the beginning,
from ancient times to things that are not yet done, saying,
my counsel shall stand. I'll do all my pleasure. This is God who is God. Calling a ravenous bird from
the east, a man that executed my counsel from a far country.
I've spoken it. I will also bring it to pass.
I purposed it. I'll do it. Turn to one more
reference. Turn over here to Isaiah 52.
Behold your God. Behold your God. He's absolute
sovereign, eternal, and holy God. The only place a sinner
will worship is at the throne of a thrice holy sovereign God. Look at Isaiah 52 verse 7. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publish peace. peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publish
salvation, the salvations of the Lord, that saith unto Zion,
the church of God, thy God reigns. He's sovereign. God who is God,
that is our message. Behold your God. You see, God's not in our hands. we're in His hands. We're in
His hands. You remember what we read over
here just a moment ago, as the potter has power over the clay,
even so the Lord has power over you, He will have mercy on whom
He will have mercy. He's God in creation. Most folks
don't have a problem with that, do they? He's Almighty God in
providence. He does according to His will
in the army of heaven, among the heavens of this earth, and
none can stay His hand or say unto Him, Lord God Almighty,
what doest thou? And He's Lord in What's that
third one? He's Lord in salvation. Behold
your God. He said, I will have mercy on
whom I will have mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. He is the mighty God. Behold
your God. Now look at verse 10. Behold
your God. Behold the Lord. God will come
with strong hand. He's a strong handed God. No
one can stay his hand. He's a strong-handed God. He's
a strong-armed God. His arm, His power shall rule
for him. Behold, his reward is with him. He is the reward. And his work,
you see, salvation is his work. Salvation is his doing. God was
in Christ reconciling us unto himself. The one who is our God
is a mighty God, able to save to the uttermost. He's a strong-handed,
the strong-armed God. Turn over here to Isaiah 63.
Isaiah 63. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
reward of our salvation. He came with a strong hand to
finish the work of redemption. Isaiah 63, look at verse 1. Who is this that cometh from
Edom with dyed garments of Badr? This that is glorious in his
apparel, faddling in the greatness of his strength. I that speak
in righteousness, mighty to save. Aren't you glad he's able to
save to the uttermost? Wherefore art thou red in thine
apparel, and thine garments like him that treadeth the wine vat?
I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the people there
was none with me. I will tread them in my anger,
and trample them in my fury. Their blood shall be sprinkled
upon my garments. I will stain all my raiment.
For the day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redeemed
is come. I looked, and there was none
to help. I wondered that there was none
to help. Therefore mine own arm brought salvation unto me, and
my fury upheld it. He is God our Savior who accomplished
salvation by himself. There was no man with me." You
see what he's saying there? Christ accomplished salvation
by himself, with himself. Behold your God, who is a mighty
God to save. Strong hand, a strong arm. And
then look at verse 11 in closing. He shall feed his flock. He's
a shepherd who provides for us. He's a God and Savior who provides
for us. He not only saves us with a strong
hand and a strong arm, but He's able to keep us by His power.
He shall feed His flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the
lambs in His arms and carry them in His bosom and shall gently
lead those that are with none. He's a gentle, Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is our mighty Shepherd. You
remember Psalm 23, David said, the Lord is my Shepherd I shall
not want. My God shall supply all your
need according to His riches in glory. He shall feed His flock
like a Shepherd. He is God, our Shepherd. He is a good shepherd who laid
down his life for the sheep. He is a chief shepherd that shall
come again and gather us unto himself. He is a great shepherd
through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Our shepherd shall
do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. It says there, he
shall gather us unto himself. You remember over here in Isaiah
43, turn over there. He shall gather us. He shall feed us and
gather. He'll gather the lambs, His elect
with His arm. Isaiah 43, look at verse 5. Fear not, for I am with thee. I'll bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west. I will gather thee. I will
say to the north, give up to the south, keep not back. Bring
my sons from far, my daughters from the ends of the earth. Well,
this is a Savior who's going to gather His sheep. You see,
He came to seek and to save the lost, didn't He? Everyone that is called by My
name, for I have created Him for My glory, I have formed Him,
yea, I have made Him. He's going to gather His people. He said, All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me, and those that come to me I will
unknowwise cast out. He shall feed his flock with
the bread of life. He shall gather them in his arms.
He gives them eternal life, and they'll never perish. He'll carry
them in his heart. You see that? He shall gently... He'll carry them in his bosom. He has us on his heart, and we
are in him. And He shall lead them, gently
lead those that are with young." What a message we have to proclaim.
All flesh is grass. Behold the Lord Jesus Christ,
the Living Word. who cannot fail, the successful
Lord Jesus Christ. And behold your God. Behold God
who is mighty to save. What a message we have to proclaim.
What a gospel we have to declare. God help us to declare it. God
help us to believe it. God help us to endure for it,
contend for the faith once delivered unto the saints, and God help
us never to alter the message or to change the message that
all flesh has grasped. We say, well, you might offend
someone. Does that offend you for me to tell you what you are?
Does that offend you for me to tell you the truth? I would much
rather tell the truth than offend you than to lie on God and offend
Him. I'd much rather offend you than
God. I've got to tell you the truth. It's either tell you the
truth or quit preaching. I mean, that's the only option.
Either declare the gospel or quit preaching. By His grace,
I'm determined. to keep on preaching. Maybe the
Lord will be pleased to give me another 20 years.