Isaiah chapter 3 is our text
this morning. Let's read these two verses Isaiah
3 verse 10 say ye to the righteous in that day of judgment It shall
be well with them well For they shall eat the fruit of their
doing You see the fruit of their doing is Christ. I He's the fruit
of their doing. You see, what he did for us,
he did as a representative man, and we're blessed in him. But
there's a flip side. There's a woe. There's a downside. Yes, it shall be well with the
righteous, but woe unto the wicked. Now, there is nothing more wicked
before God than a man would trust himself righteousness that he
would look to himself his work his deed his and what most people
do they consider themselves righteous by their standard of morality
they think because they don't do certain things that they're
not wicked I mean not really they think they're pretty good
folks Now, I'm all for morality, but my friend, I warn you, morality
is not righteousness, not for God. Now, you might look pretty
good before me, and I wouldn't encourage morality. Good conduct
is fine. Be a good citizen. Be a good
worker. Be the best you can, but never
look to that for righteousness. Don't ever go about to establish
your own righteousness by the deeds of your hand, because that
is extremely wicked before God, before God. That's why the Lord
says there in Galatians 2, where he says, Paul said, I don't frustrate
the grace of God. If righteousness comes by the
law, if righteousness can be done by your doing, no need for
the Lord Jesus Christ to come, is there? I mean if you can just
make up some for a few of your deficiencies by your morality
and if I can just coach you to stop this and stop this and start
this and start this and just clean, you know, clean yourself
up. Quit that habit, that habit,
that habit. That's wickedness. When you look to that for a justifying
righteousness before God. You see what I'm saying? It shall woe unto the wicked.
There's nothing more wicked than to say the death and righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the shedding of His blood, is not
really necessary. I think I can get it done by
my own doing. That is the height of wickedness. You see, he that believeth on
the Son hath life, right? He that believeth not shall not
see life. But the wrath of God abides upon
those who do not believe the gospel. The wicked say there
is no God. The wicked say there is no fear
of God before their eyes. The righteous have a healthy,
healthy, fervent fear and reverence of the Lord. Because they've
been taught who He is. They've been taught who we are.
So I've entitled the message, Say Ye to the Righteous. Say
to every believer made righteous in Christ. Now, that's how we're
made righteous, right? My instruction from the Lord
is to say to you who are trusting the Lord Jesus Christ for all
of your salvation, this is what God tells me to tell you, you
who are believers, you who are trusting Christ for all salvation,
It'll be well with you. You'll hear him say, come ye
blessed to my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation, from the foundation of the world. The
Lord Jesus Christ stood as a lamb slain before the foundation of
the world. It shall be well with you. That's what I'm to tell
every believer. It is well with my soul. That's
what we sang at our dear brother's funeral. It shall be well. It shall be well with our soul. They shall enjoy the fruit of
their doing because their doing's blessed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this blessed promise of
God is not given to all men without distinction, is it? It doesn't
say that it shall be well with all men without exception. That's
not there. I can't tell that, I can't say
to everybody, and I won't say to everybody, well God loves
you. Because God doesn't love everybody. God is love, but the
love of God is in the Lord Jesus Christ. His love is sovereign.
His love is sovereign love. So I can't tell all men without
exception it shall be well with them. It shall only be well with
the righteous, those found in Christ, those trusting the Lord
Jesus Christ for all of salvation. It'll be well with you. Those
who were justified before God and cleared of all guilt before
the unbending, unyielding law of God in that day of judgment,
their sins will be sought for and they will not be found. There
is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in the Lord
Jesus Christ. But God also boldly says, and
I can boldly say because He had said, It won't be well with everyone. It's appointed unto men once
to die, and after that, something's coming. Judgment. Judgment. You die in your sin, you'll be
raised in your sin. Our Lord said in John 8, if you
believe not that I am He, that I am. He is a Talasai. If you believe not that I am,
that I am. If you believe not that I am
God, you shall die in your sin. If you die in your sin, you'll
be raised in your sin. You'll face God in judgment with
your sin and hear Him depart. Say, depart from me, ye wicked,
into everlasting fire. I never knew you. Now, our God
said it shall be well with the righteous. Now, I'm a sinner. I mean, I confess. I fess up
before you and before God. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. I'm born in sin, shapen in iniquity. God said there's none righteous,
no not one. We've all gone out of the way.
Every one of us turned away from God. Every one of us are sinners,
born in sin, shaped in iniquity, but I'm a sinner and you are
too. By birth, by choice, and by practice, by action, by attitude,
by motive, by thought, word, and deed, we are sinful through
and through. So we know when it says, it shall
be well with the righteous, something has to take place. Because by
nature, I'm not a righteous man. I'm a sinner. But by His grace,
I'm made righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the
apostle said, oh, that I might win Christ and be found in Him
who is the Lord, our righteousness. Who are these people that he's
talking about that I can say to them, it shall be well with
you? And I hope I can say that to everyone here, but I don't
know your heart. God does. But I can say to every
believer, it shall be well with you. Now who are these people
that are justified before God? those found in Christ. The Lord
Jesus Christ alone is our righteousness before God. You see, the righteousness
that I enjoy as a sinner is a justifying righteousness that the Lord Jesus
Christ has freely, freely given to me. It says that in Romans
chapter 4 verse 6, doesn't it? Blessed is the man whom the Lord
would impute righteousness without works. The Lord Jesus Christ
is made unto me. He's my righteousness. So therefore, as this sinner
stands before God, I have a justifying righteousness, and God says of
me in Christ, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. It shall be well with the righteous.
As he is right now, it says this in 1st John, as he is right now,
so are we in this world. As he is righteous, so are we
righteous. As he is holy, the Lord Jesus
Christ, we are in him. It shall be well with the righteous.
Jeremiah calls the Lord Jesus Christ, he is the Lord, our righteousness. Jehovah said, he's the Lord,
our righteousness. How are they made righteous or
justified before God? Not by anything that they do. I'm not justified or made righteous
by my deeds or by my works, but by the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. God made him sin for us, who
knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God.
Now this is what I desperately need. It will only be well with
me now and for eternity if I have that righteousness of God in
the gospel that's revealed in the gospel in Christ. God made
him sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Christ alone. Now, one interesting thing I've
noticed in reading the scripture Those who are truly made righteous
in Christ, they readily confess. You know what they readily confess?
Those who are truly justified and made righteous in Christ.
You know what they confess before men and God? They're sinners. They're sinners. Have you ever
noticed that in Scripture? Our Lord said that man that prayed
and went down to his house justified in Luke 18, he prayed, God be
merciful to me, the sinner. I thought that he would justify
it. How about Job? Job said, I abhor myself, I repent
in dust and ashes. And God said, Job was a just
man. That's what he said. Job was
a just man, a righteous man, yet Job said, I'm a sinner, I
hate myself, I repent in dust and ashes. And then in Isaiah
65, turn over there, in Isaiah 6, rather, Isaiah chapter 6,
verse 5, that worked better. Isaiah 6 verse 5 Isaiah himself
said when he saw the Lord high and lifted up and heard the messengers
cry Holy Holy Holy Lord God Almighty Isaiah 6 verse 5 then Isaiah
said woe is me and I'm undone. I'm a man of unclean lips. I
dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for mine eyes
have seen the King." Isaiah was God's prophet. Isaiah was justified
in the Lord Jesus Christ. But Isaiah knew in and of himself
when he saw the beauty and holiness of God Almighty. He said, I'm
a sinner. Before him and compared to him,
I'm a sinner in and of myself. And then we have the record of
the Apostle Paul. One called of God, blessed of
God. We know he was a righteous, justified man in Christ. He writes
about it extensively. And yet he called himself Oh,
wretched man that I am. You see, those who are truly
righteous and justified in the Lord Jesus Christ, they own in
and of themselves that they're what? Sinners. What do you say
about yourself? Well, you know, come on now. You don't need to confess before
me, but God knows your heart. You don't have to do business
with me, but you do have to do business with God. Are you a
sinner? I tell you, if you are, you're
a blessed person. If you know you're a sinner,
you're a blessed man. You're a blessed man because
I tell you what sinners really know, you know what they really
know? The Lord Jesus Christ is my Savior. And that He came to
save sinners. Something else I've noticed in
Scripture, those who are truly wicked, who are going about to
establish their own righteousness by the deeds of their own doing,
Those who are truly wicked before God, who trust themselves for
righteousness, they claim that they are righteous by what they
do. And yet God said they're wicked.
You remember in Matthew 7, they said, Lord, we preached in your
name. Lord, we've done many wonderful works in your name. We've even
cast out demons in your name. And we've done all these things
in your name. They thought those things recommended them to God,
or at least removed their sin. What did the Lord say? Depart
from me, I never knew you. Those who are truly wicked, we
read about in scripture, they claim that they were righteous,
but God said, no, no you're not. The Pharisee prayed with himself
in Luke 18, said, God, I thank you I'm not like this. I've not
done that. I've not done that. And the Lord
said to that man, he went down to his house condemned. In John
chapter 8, we studied that about those Pharisees. And they thought
being the natural seed and the descendant of Abraham recommended
them to God. Do you remember? Oh, we'd be
Abraham's children. We're righteous. We don't need
the truth to set us free. We've never been in bondage to
any man. What did the Lord say of them?
You are of your father the devil, and the works of your father
will you do. You see, they claim to be righteous, but they were
truly wicked. But those who are truly righteous
by the blood and righteousness of God, they say of themselves
that they are wicked. You see what I'm saying? And
this is what we see all through Scripture. Isn't this so with
you who believe the Gospel? Isn't this the experience of
your heart? You know that the only hope of salvation you have
is in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you delight in the Gospel
of God's grace through Christ Jesus. So God instructs His ministers
to say, it shall be well with the righteous. And it is well. It is well with our soul. Every
believer can say that. In this life, for a believer,
it can't get any better than what we have right now in Christ,
in this life. The believer is well fed, for
he feeds abundantly upon Christ, the bread of life, the water
of life. He's well clothed. I mean, he wears the best garments. They're not bought with silver
and gold, they're bought with His blood. Turn over here to
Isaiah 61. Isaiah 61, they're well clothed,
they're clothed with the righteousness of Christ. Isaiah 61 verse 10. I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God Isaiah 61 10 for he
hath clothed me with the garments of salvation He hath covered
me with the robe of righteousness. Oh boy, you see He's he wears
the best clothes provided of God, the robe of righteousness,
the garments of salvation, as a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, as a bride adorns herself with jewels." The believer
in this life is abundantly blessed in Christ Jesus. He's well fed,
He's well clothed. He's well housed. For we belong
to the family of God and we're in the household of God. We're
set on a sure foundation and will never be evicted. Turn to Isaiah 28. Now it must
be a, I've never been kicked out of a house. I've never been
evicted, but it must be a terrible thing. to have everything and
all your belongings in a house and living there in that house
and for some reason something happened that you get a notice
of eviction. You're forced by the law, you're
forced out of your house, right? That's what eviction is. The
law says you must vacate the premises right now. You see,
believers in the household of God, resting upon the foundation
of God, will never be evicted. They don't even have to worry
about it. Look what it says here, I can make good on that, Isaiah
28, verse 16. Therefore thus saith the Lord
God, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation of stone. A tried
stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
shall not make haste. And you know what that means?
Shall not make haste, never forced out, never evicted. You see, we're resting in Christ. We're well housed in Christ upon
that foundation. He's the rock upon which we build. The believer is not only well-fed,
well-clothed, well-housed, but you know what? He's married. Every believer is married. Turn
over here to Isaiah 54. Isaiah 54. You see, Christ is
our husband. He loved the church and gave
Himself. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ loved the
church and gave Himself for it. He's our husband. He's our head.
Isaiah 54, 5, 4, Thy maker is thine husband. The
Lord of hosts is His name. Thy Redeemer, the Holy One of
Israel, the God of the whole earth, shall He be called. See,
we're well married. He chose us to be His bride. He bought us with His blood.
He has blessed us with all spiritual blessings. No wonder God can
say in the text, say ye to the righteous, oh, it's going to
be well with you. I mean, it's well right now.
But in that day of judgment, oh, I tell you, we're blessed.
It shall be well with the righteous. It is well with the righteous
always, in all times, in all seasons, not just some days,
but all days. There's no time included here.
It shall be well with the righteous. So all time is included. No occasion is singled out. Because
upon every occasion the saying is true, from the first of the
year to the last of the year and all of our years, it shall
be well with the righteous. You got what he's saying here?
Oh, I tell you, we're blessed. He's blessed us with all spiritual
blessings and heavenlies in Christ. From the rising of the sun until
the sunset. In young age, in old age, no
age is included. The steps of a righteous man
are ordered of the Lord. It shall be well, it shall be
well with the righteous. It shall be well with the righteous. Now, let me give you several
things. It shall be well with the righteous,
number one, because Our sins have been dealt with and put
away by the glorious sacrifice of Christ. It shall be well with
the righteous, for we are made righteous through the blood sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn back one page, Isaiah chapter
1 verse 18, come now Isaiah 118, let us reason together,
sayeth the Lord, though your sins be as scarlet, they shall
be white as snow. It shall be well with the righteous. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
has not put away some of our sin. I'd say if you just put
away some of my sin, I'm in big trouble I can't say to you it
shall be well with the righteous if he's only made atonement for
some of our sins But because the Lord Jesus Christ his blood
cleanses us from all our sins We can say to every believer
looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. It shall be well with the righteous
Come now, let us reason together, sayeth the Lord, though your
sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Though they
be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. You remember what
Isaiah writes about in Isaiah 53? What does he write about?
Turn there and let's read it one more time. It shall be well
with the righteous because of this. Isaiah 53 verse five. You see, our sins have been dealt
with in Christ. Say, well, I think I'm going
to just deal with my own sin. I think I'm just going to make
amends for my own doing. I just think I can go back and
change things or make things better. That's talk of a fool. We can't make things better.
Not with God. You see, we've sinned against
God. That's the problem. But look at this, here's our
great substitute who put away our sin. Our head, our husband,
our redeemer, our savior. Isaiah 53 verse 5, he was wounded
for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquity.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him and with his stripes,
and with his stripes, with his bruising, we are healed. Now this is not talking about
physical healing. This is talking about spiritual healing. We are
healed. All we like sheep have gone astray,
we've turned everyone to his own way and the Lord laid on
him my iniquity. The just one, the Lord Jesus
Christ, died for the unjust. By one sacrifice he put away
sin by the sacrifice of himself. It shall be well with the righteous
because our sin has been dealt with in Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Secondly, it shall be well with
the righteous in the day of trials, in the day of heartache, in the
day of affliction, we can say it shall be well with the righteous.
And I'll tell you why. We can read about it right here
in Isaiah. Turn to Isaiah 41, verse 10. Isaiah 41, verse 10. Isaiah 41 10, fear thou not,
I am with thee. Okay, I'm with thee. Be not dismayed,
for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee, yea,
I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. It shall be well with the believer
in the day of trials. Because the Lord said, I'll never
leave you, I'll never forsake you. Look at Isaiah 43. Isaiah
43, verse 1, but now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O
Jacob, you with me, Isaiah 43, 1, he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, I have redeemed thee. I've called thee by thy name. He knows his sheep by name, calls
them out. This is the invincible call of
the gospel. When you pass through the waters, I'll be with you.
Through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. When you walk
through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall
the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel. There's no more wrath. I'm your
Savior. I gave Egypt for you, a ransom,
and Sheba for thee. Since thou was precious in my
sight, thou has been honorable. I've loved thee, therefore will
I give men for thee and people for thy life. Fear not, I'm with
thee. I'll bring thee, bring thy seed
from the east and gather thee from the west. I'll say to the
north, give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons
from far, my daughters from the end of the earth. Everyone is
called by my name. I've created him for my glory. I have formed him, yea, I have
made him. It shall be well with the righteous
in the day of trial. You see, all things work together
for good. All things are working together
for good to them who love God, to them who are thee called according
to God's purpose. I've got it written down to close
the service today with a song written by Horatio Spafford,
1850. It is called, It Is Well With
My Soul. But there's a back story to that
song. When he sat down and wrote that song, he had a wife and
four daughters. who were on a voyage from England,
I can't remember if it was from England to the United States
or from the United States to England, to meet him. And the
ship went down. And she, his wife, survived and
sent a telegram to Horatio Stafford and said, the telegram said,
saved alone, his four daughters, perished in that ship going down
and he penned these words when peace like a river attended my
way when sorrows like sea billows roll whatever my lot thou has
taught me to say it is well It is well with my soul. It shall
be well with the righteous in the day of salvation our sin
put away. It shall be well with the righteous
in the day of trial and heartache. And Mr. Spafford wrote again,
My sin, O the bliss of this glorious thought! My sin, not in part,
but the whole! It's nailed to the cross, I bear
it no more. Praise the Lord, oh my soul. It is well with the righteous,
even in the day of trial, even in the day of heartache. Thirdly,
it shall be well with the righteous in that day when the Lord is
pleased to call us home. in the day of our death, it shall
be well with the righteous." Who says so? Who says so? Well, God's Word does. God's
Word says, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
saints. It shall be well with the righteous
in the day of salvation, and in the day of trial, and in the
day of death. We read this again, blessed are
the dead It doesn't say blessed are the dead, period. Blessed are the dead who die
in the Lord. It shall be well with the righteous
in the day of death. You see, death to the believer
is not punishment, it's graduation. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. And in the day of judgment, fourthly,
it shall be well with the righteous." We read in Matthew 25, those
set on the right hand of the Lord and those blessed in the
Lord Jesus Christ with that incorruptible inheritance, He will say, come
ye blessed in my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. It shall be well with the righteous.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who were in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who
is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather,
is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also
makes intercession for us. You see, we can say to every
believer in that day, it shall be well with the righteous. Hear
him say, come you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for you from the foundation of the world. But look back to
the text. I don't wanna leave out this
warning in verse 11, Isaiah three, verse 11. Whoa, whoa. unto the unbeliever. Woe unto that man who goes about
to establish his own righteousness. There is a way that appears right
unto men. Do the best you can. Be the best
you can. There is a way that appears right
unto men, but the end of that way is is death, and it's an
eternal death, an eternal condemnation. Woe unto the wicked, it shall
be ill with them, for the reward of his hands shall be given. Payday's coming. The wages of
sin, death. The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord, but the wages of sin, and that's
all I produce, that's all I can produce is sin. If I'm gonna
stand on that ground, death, death, death. Death, in the day of judgment,
it won't be well for those who choose to stand upon the ground
of their good deeds. Misery, misery, misery, to face,
think about this, to face your sin with no atonement, with no
Redeemer, with no Savior, no righteousness, no sacrifice for
sin, how dreadful it will be for those who stand before God
with no mediator. To stand naked before God, dressed
in your guilt, dressed in your filth, we can't say, it'll be
well on that day. Can't say that, can we? It'll
be terrible in that day. To stand before God with no mediator,
no righteousness, no Savior, no blood atonement. We read in Matthew 25, these
shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous
unto eternal life. And we can go back over these
same four points. Woe unto the wicked to endure
trial and heartache and grief with no comfort, with no comforter,
no grace, no faith, no hope and trial for everything that comes
your way works to your eternal ruin, not to your good. It works
to your ruin. Woe unto the wicked. to face
your sin with no atonement, to face trial and heartache with
no Comforter, with no Redeemer, with no Savior. And in the day
of death, isn't it most interesting that Brother Mahan said one time,
and he preached funerals and funerals and funerals and funerals,
for a lot of people. There's an old funeral director,
Brother Bob knows him, John Steen. Runs the John Steen Funeral Home
in Ashland for years. He's gone now. But Brother Mahan
has conducted many, many funerals where Brother Steen took care
of the arrangements. And oh, this old funeral director
told Brother Mahan one time, you know, he said, I've never
been to a funeral where anybody, the preacher said that he went
to hell. It seems like that everybody,
that this old funeral director attended thousands and thousands
and thousands of funerals, and yet he never did hear any preacher
say that man died and went to hell. That's a sad thing. It's a sad
thing. To die in your sin, it will not. Death for the believer is a horrible
state. horrible state to die with no
hope to die to live without God without Christ and with hope
without hope and to die without hope. Oh how dreadful it will be for
the unbelieving wicked to die in their sin. I want you Don't
go that way. I'm telling you as your friend,
as a servant of God, trust the Lord Jesus Christ for all of
your salvation and count everything else as done. Well, I had an
experience years ago. Forget it. Well, I had this feeling
a few days ago. Forget it. Saving faith doesn't
look back. Saving faith looks to Christ
right now. It shall be ill with the wicked. Woe unto the wicked, it shall
be ill with them. Not only in the day of death,
but how about the day of judgment? Mm-mm-mm. To hear him say, depart
from me, I never knew you. I never loved you. In closing, let me give you these
words. May the Lord our God convict
all of us and show us our great need of the Lord Jesus Christ,
our righteousness. And may God give us grace in
our heart to continually flee for mercy unto the Lord Jesus
Christ. That city of refuge, that's a
picture of Christ. The manslayer running into that
city of refuge where the avenger could not touch him. Oh, may
God give us grace to flee to the Lord Jesus Christ right now. I can tell you this, upon the
authority of God's Word, come to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith
in your heart right now and don't move a muscle. That's why we
don't have a closing hymn and I stand down here in the front
and invite you to come forward and make some kind of decision.
That's not coming to Christ. That's you making a decision.
Come to Christ right now in your heart and don't bat an eye. Don't move a muscle. Coming to
Christ is not a physical thing, it's a spiritual thing. Believing
on the Lord Jesus Christ and trusting Him is a spiritual thing. Let's turn to one scripture and
let's see what the Lord said. Turn to John. Chapter 6 verse
35 How do we come to Christ that's
a pretty good question How do we come to Christ look what it
says right here John 6 35 The Lord said I am the bread of life
He's saying I am salvation he that cometh to me Shall never
hunger shall never want for righteousness, for redemption, for salvation.
He that believeth on me shall never thirst." Those two words,
cometh to me, believeth on me. It's not something you do physical. It's something you do spiritually
in your heart by faith. And it means trust the Lord Jesus
Christ for all of salvation. That's what faith does. That's
what saving faith does. Trust Jesus Christ alone.