Okay, we're turning now for our
message this morning. Isaiah chapter 1. Isaiah the
first chapter. The title of the message comes
from verse 9. Except the Lord of hosts had
left us a very small remnant, we should have been like Sodom
and Gomorrah. judged of God. Accept the Lord,
have mercy upon us. We all, likewise, justly perish
under the weight of our sin. So the title of the message this
morning is, A Remnant Shall Be Saved. A remnant, a remnant shall
be saved. There is a remnant according
to the election of God's grace, God's sovereign mercy. Now, let's
look at verse 1 of Isaiah chapter 1. The vision of Isaiah, the
son of Amos, which he saw concerning Judah, Jerusalem, in the days
of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, these kings, of Judah. Hear, O heavens, give
ear, O earth, for the Lord has spoken, calling us to attention. Hear the word of the Lord. Now let me give you this background
and this introduction as we start this study through Isaiah. Isaiah was one of 16 prophets
whose writings are contained in Holy Scripture. There are more testimonies and
quotations in the New Testament taken from the book of Isaiah
than all the other prophets combined. Isaiah is quoted over and over
and over again throughout the New Testament more than all the
other Old Testament prophets combined. Isaiah so fully describes
the person and offices and sufferings and work and the kingdom of the
Lord Jesus Christ, that some have called Him the fifth evangelist."
We have Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and Isaiah. Some of the other old writers
consider the writings of Isaiah as they're given of God to be
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ according to Isaiah. He was a prophet of God. Now it's interesting, you remember
the old preacher that was out in the wilderness named John
the Baptist? When he started his public ministry,
and he said, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare
ye the way of the Lord. That comes from Isaiah chapter
40 verse 3. When the Lord Jesus Christ started
His public ministry, When he went to his hometown, and went
into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read,
he asked for the book of Isaiah, and he read unto them, From Isaiah
chapter 61, the Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has
anointed me to heal the brokenhearted, to set the captives free, to
mend the brokenhearted and those who were bruised. When Philip,
God's preacher, met the eunuch down in the desert land, and
the eunuch was reading from the book of Isaiah, And Philip took
that same Scripture and preached unto the eunuch the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, something about Isaiah's
name. Do you know what his name means? His name means the salvation
of the Lord. Or, Lord, the Lord shall save. One of the key words that's found
throughout this book of Isaiah is the word salvation. Salvation. Salvation. 26 times we read the word salvation. And then again, he says in Isaiah,
turn to Isaiah 12, he says, I am God, beside me there is no Savior. There is salvation only in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Notice Isaiah 12 concerning this
word salvation. Isaiah 12 verse 2. He said, Behold,
God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid,
for the Lord Jehovah, the Lord Jehovah is my strength and song. He is also become my salvation. Therefore with joy shall you
draw water out of the wells of salvation. That's what I need. I need God's mercy. I need salvation. That salvation
is found in none other than the Lord Jesus. You remember what
Peter said to the men who asked him about the healing of that
cripple? In whose name, whose power had
you performed this miracle? And he said, Be it known unto
you that by the name of Jesus Christ this man stands before
you whole. Neither is there salvation in
any other. For there is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved in Christ alone."
Now, notice if you will, again, Isaiah 1.1. It says here, the
vision of Isaiah, the son of Amos, which he saw. The same
as it says in verse 2, for the Lord hath spoken. The vision
of Isaiah is what God has spoken. And it's what he saw. What he
saw. Just so clear and so plain. The
Word of the Lord. Now we know from studying the
Scripture that all Scripture is given of God. All Scripture
is God-inspired, God-breathed. These words that we're reading
today, that Isaiah was the penman, are the very inspired, God-breathed
words, and Isaiah is simply writing down what God would have him
say. The holy men of old, Peter said,
spake as they were moved by God the Holy Spirit." You have in
your hand there, my friend, the very will and testimony of God
Almighty. Would you hear Him speak? He
says, Hear, O heavens, give ear, for the Lord hath spoken. Oh, I tell you, sit up, pay attention,
It says here of Isaiah that he is the son of Amos. Some think
that this man Amos was the brother of King Amaziah. And some think
that Isaiah's father was also a prophet of God himself. But
one thing is certain. Isaiah was born of a father who
was a sinner. And therefore it made him a sinner. Isaiah was a sinner just like
you, just like me. A man of God, a prophet of God,
but in and of himself, by nature, born in sin, shaped in iniquity. Isaiah was a sinner. Notice his
testimony over here in Isaiah chapter 6 verse 5. Isaiah 6 verse
5. He said, Woe is me, I am undone. Because I am a man of unclean
lips, I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for
mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." When he saw
the holy majesty of God, he cried out, I am a sinner. I am a sinner. Born a sinner. Shaken in iniquity. But yet Isaiah was a prophet
of God. You see, God uses sinners. saves them by His grace, and
sends them forth to preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have this treasure of the
gospel in this earthen vessel. You know why God uses frail,
weakly, sinful vessels to preach the gospel? That He might have
all the honor and glory alone. Isaiah says here, it was a prophet
during the reign of four different kings. Now remember, at this
time of Israel, this time that Isaiah lived, through the reign
of these four kings, that Israel was a divided nation. After the
death of Solomon, they split into the ten tribes of the northern
kingdom, known as Israel, led by a man called Jeroboam, and
the two tribes of the south, known as Judah, led by Rehoboam. Now you probably won't remember
that. But if you read through 1 Kings, you'll find out, oftentimes
when you read through Scripture, you'll see a reference to Israel
and then Judah. The southern two tribes and then
the northern ten tribes, Israel and Judah. Verse 2 says, Hear,
O heavens, give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. The
Lord hath spoken. Isaiah calls for all men everywhere
to sit up and pay attention. Listen. Clean out your ears. Listen to God Almighty, for He's
about to speak. The voice of the Lord is about
to thunder. We know it's the voice of truth, absolute truth. It's the voice of all authority,
all power, all dominion. It is the voice of holiness.
He speaks the Word of Life, because it's the Word of God. My prayer
for us today and for the years to come or days to come that
we have here together, oh, that God would speak in power into
our heart. Wouldn't that be something? That
God Almighty would speak in power to our heart right now. That
the Lord would give us ears to hear Him, give us eyes to see Him. Our Lord said in John, chapter
5, "...he that heareth my word, and believeth on me, has everlasting
life." Oh, to hear a word from God Almighty. Now notice, here's
the message of God. Here's God's man, God's prophet,
the man of God, with a word from God. And the first thing he declares,
First thing the Lord declares when He speaks through Isaiah.
The first thing He establishes is this fact. We're sinners. We're sinners. We're sinners. Totally depraved and guilty before
God. This charge is leveled against
the nation of Israel, but it's true of all people. For we all
have sin that comes short of the glory of God. That includes
you, me, and all people. We're sinners. We're sinners. He said, I've nourished and brought
up children. They have rebelled against Me. All men are the creation of God. Through Adam, God created one
man. And all men issue from the loins
of that one man. All men enjoy the blessings of
God whether they realize it or not. For God sends the rain. God sends the sunshine. God sends
the air we breathe. He maintains it. God gives us
the food we eat, the shelter we enjoy. And yet by nature,
men everywhere are left to themselves now. are unthankful. He said, look what he says in
verse 2, I've nourished and brought up children. How merciful God
is to all men everywhere as they live upon his earth, they enjoy
the blue sky, the rain, the sunshine, the warmth, and yet, he says,
they're rebels against God. Just how depraved are we? Look
what he says in verse 3. The ox knoweth his owner. The ass his master's crib. But Israel doth not know. My
people do not even consider. How ungrateful. Just how depraved
are we? More ignorant? More ungrateful
than the beast of the field. Even little birds sing glory
to God. He says here, and we've heard
that old country saying, he's dumber than an ox. Or that old country saying, stubborn
as a jackass. That's what God's saying of us.
That's what we are by nature. Now let's just shut right down
to the cob. It won't do any good to play
games before God. He says, the ox knows his owner,
the ass his master's crib, but we don't know God. Not left to
ourselves. We don't even consider who God
is. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God. Well, preacher, that kind of
talk is offensive to the flesh. You call people guilty sinners
and you won't preach to anybody. You'll run them all off. I would
much rather offend the sinner by telling the truth than to
offend God by telling a lie. See what I'm saying? I'm going
to tell the truth if it's to one or two people or two or three
hundred. I'd much rather offend sinners by telling them who they
are and what they are, than by patting people on the back and
saying, well, you're okay, I'm okay, peace, peace, when God
said there is no peace. Not in the flesh. I'm committed to telling the
truth. Come flame or flood, hell or high water, God is my helper. Now, notice the three charges
that God has against us. And what he says of Israel is
true of us. What he says of this nation is true of this nation
and all nations of the world. A sinful nation of people laden
with iniquity. A seed of evildoers. Children
that are corruptors. They have forsaken the Lord.
They provoke the Holy One into anger. He charges us with treason. He
said, they've rebelled against me. You know what it says in
the book of Psalms? The fool has said in his heart,
there is no God. Treason. We've committed treason
against the Most High God. Rebels against God. We're born
in rebellion. That's right. And then the second charge he's
given levels against us is ignorance. Israel doth not know. Isn't that
the same thing Paul says in Romans 10? They, being ignorant of God's
righteousness and going about to establish their own, have
not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God which
is in Christ Jesus. And then the third charge is
this, irreverence in gratitude my people doth not consider. Holy and reverent is my name. Now these are strong charges,
aren't they? They're true, aren't they? They're true. In verses 4-8, verses 4-8, more
details are given of who we are before God, our sin, our iniquity,
our transgressions against God, making us fit candidates for
His just condemnation, for the wages of sin is death. But I
thought about this as I came to this point. He's going to strip us down to
nothing here as we go through these verses. But think about
this. The Lord Jesus Christ died for
the ungodly. If you can come in here and identify
yourself here with these whom God describes as rebels, ignorant,
arrogant, irreverent, ungodly, I've got good hope for you. Christ
died for the ungodly. He came to save sinners. This
is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that the
Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. He didn't come to call
the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He came to seek out
and to save the lost. Now notice, if you will, the
Lord's vivid description of who we are in verse 4. He mentions seven things here
in this first verse. In verse 4, rather. He said,
a sinful nation. A sinful nation. What do we see
here? Universal depravity. Universal
depravity. In Adam, how did we get so sinful? In Adam, all died. When Adam
sinned, I sinned. What he did, I did. That sin
was reckoned and charged to the account of everyone that issued
out of his body. And Adam all died. And Adam all
guilty before God. So a sinful people. And then
he says, secondly, a people laden with iniquity. This word here, laden, means
full of sin. Full of sin. Laden with iniquity. Full of sin. As Paul said in
Romans 3, there is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that
understands. There is none that seeks after
God. They are all together. altogether gone out of the way,
altogether unprofitable. And then thirdly, he says in
verse 4 of Isaiah 1, he said, a seed of evildoers. A seed of evildoers. That is,
he's saying this, we all have a sinful nature. what we are
before God. If we say we have no sin nature,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. We are a
seed of evil doers. We have a sin nature and principle. All flesh, in the flesh dwelleth
no good thing. And then he says, children of
corruptors, Born in sin, shaped in iniquity. Your children, my
children. And then he says, fifthly, they've forsaken the Lord. They've
forsaken the Lord. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone to our own way. Forsaken the Lord. And then he says further in verse
4, they provoked the Holy One unto anger. Who have we provoked? the Holy One of God. You know
what it says in Psalm 7, verse 11, that God is angry with the
wicked every day? I thought, well preacher, I thought
God loved everybody. No, it's not so. We just read
in Romans 9, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated. We provoke
the Holy One into anger because we sinned against God. Again,
in verse 4, he says, they are gone away backward, fallen, separated,
aliens, enemies of God. By what? Turn to Isaiah 59. Isaiah 59.2. I know this is a
bleak picture, but I prefaced it by saying that salvation is
for sinners. This should give us hope. The only man who will seek salvation
in Christ is a man who knows himself to be a sinner. Isaiah 59-2 says, But your iniquities
have separated you between you and your God, and your sins have
hid His face from you, and He will not hear. Your hands are
defiled with blood. Your fingers with iniquity. Your
lips have spoken lies. Your tongues mutter perverseness.
None call us for justice, nor any plead for the truth. They
trust in vanity. They speak lies. They conceive
mischief. They bring forth iniquity." That's
us. That's our sin nature. That's
our flesh. Isaiah chapter 1, look at verse
5 and 6. He said, why should you be stricken
anymore? You will revolt more and more?
I sent judgment and judgment and judgment, and yet you revolt
more and more and more? He said, the whole head is sick.
The whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot, the
bottom of the foot to the top of their head, there's no goodness
in us. All people are so morally depraved
and spiritually dead that not even the judgment of God brings
lasting repentance. He sent judgment after judgment
and they revolted more and more and more. You know, it's not
the wrath of God that brings a man to repentance. It is the
goodness of God. that brings a sinner to repentance.
Listen to this scripture in Revelation 16, 9. And men were scorched
with great heat and blasphemed the name of God, which had power
over these plagues. And they repented not to give
Him the glory. You see, it's God's goodness
that breaks our heart. We are so infected with sin that
unless God intervenes in our behalf, we shall die as we are
born, dead in sin, without God, without hope, and without Christ.
He says, furthermore, let's take it down another notch. Can you
take any more? Pretty low, isn't it? This is
God's Word. This is His truth. He's describing
what we are before Him. Now, I know before one another
we look pretty good. But what's one worm comparing
to another worm? What's one maggot? You say, well,
you're a pretty maggot. But he's still a maggot. He's
still a maggot. Thou worm, Jacob. What are we
compared to God? That's the comparison. He said
the whole head, the whole head is sick. The whole heart is faint. The whole head. That is our reasons,
our reasoning, our thoughts. They're perverted. They're perverted.
It says in Psalm 50 verse 21, God says, You thought that I
was such a one as you. No, He's not. God's who He is. The whole head is sick. Our thoughts
are warped. We think too highly of self and
too low of God. We have low thoughts of God and
high thoughts of self. You know why? Our head is sick. Our thoughts are perverted. And
then he says the whole heart is faint. Our affections are perverted.
By nature we love darkness, not light. The heart, Jeremiah said,
God's prophet Jeremiah said, the heart is deceitful above
all things, desperately wicked. Who can know it? And then he
goes on, he says, from the bottom of our feet to the top of the
head, there's no goodness, no soundness, no righteousness. All of our
righteousness is, Isaiah 64, God says, a filthy rag in His
sight. From the sole of the foot, bottom of your foot, to the tip
of your toe, to the top of your head, nothing but Wounds, bruises,
open, running, bloody, infested sores that have not been treated,
that have not seen a doctor, have not been bound up, neither
mollified with ointment. No antiseptic has been applied.
Infested, open, ulcerated, Festered. Infected. You see, everything
about us is rotten. Wounds that have not been bound
up. Bruises that have not been treated. We are, before God,
we are spiritual lepers. That disease of leprosy affects
the whole body. An infection is just one open,
running sore, and the fingers begin to deteriorate. The hands, the toes, the feet,
the limbs, everything just falls off, infected through and through. That's God's description of us. Turn to Matthew chapter 8. If you knew yourself to be in
such rotten condition, naturally speaking, If you had such a vile
disease and so infected, wouldn't you cry out for a doctor? Wouldn't you say, is there a
doctor in the house? Can you help this poor, wretched man? Wouldn't you call out for a doctor,
for a physician? Wouldn't you seek the remedy
for your disease? If you were a leper, would you
seek the great physician the Lord Jesus Christ. This leper
did here in Matthew chapter 8 verse 1, And when the Lord was come
down from the mountain, having spoken with all authority and
power, great multitudes followed Him, and behold, there came a
leper. This is what we are by nature. And this leper worshipped Him.
saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean. You're the
only one who can. And the Lord Jesus Christ put
forth His hand and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy disappeared. My friend, seek the remedy for
our vile condition, where it's found, in whom it's found, in
the Lord Jesus Christ alone. In verse 7 and 8, God says, judgment's
coming. He said, your country is desolate,
your cities burned with fire, your land, strangers have devoured
it in your presence, and it's a desolate, overthrown by strangers. The daughter of Zion is left
as an empty cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden, emptied,
besieged city. Sin brought judgment on this
nation. History tells us that. The Lord of glory certainly reigned
judgment on this national people, taking them away into Babylonian
captivity for 70 years. And when the Messiah came among
them, and they soundly rejected Him, they said away with Him,
we have no King but Caesar. And then just a short time afterward,
God reigned judgment on that country by the hands of the Roman
armies in 70 AD and brought it to naught, to nothing. All this is a vivid reminder
of what is awaiting those who continue in rebellion against
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice across the page
in Isaiah 1 verse 28, And the destruction of the transgressors
and sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord
shall be consumed. Turn over to Isaiah 3 verse 10, Say ye to the righteous, it shall
be well. Who are the righteous? Those
who are made righteous in Christ. It shall be well with them, for
they shall eat the fruit of their doing. Woe unto the wicked, it
shall be ill with them, for the reward of their hands shall be
given. It shall be well with the righteous.
He that believeth on the Son hath life. He that believeth
not the Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God
abides on that man." This is also a vivid reminder of what
is awaiting the final destruction of this world when God will rain
fire from heaven and burn up this heaven and this earth as
we know it and make a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. My friend, don't build your hope
for eternal glory in the forest of this world. It is marked out
for destruction. The fashion of this world fadeth
away. My friend, don't build your hope
of salvation upon the quicksand of your works, your righteousness,
for it is nothing but sin in God's sight. It's not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to God's
mercy He saved us. If you know yourself to be a
sinner, do you know what God says to those
who turn to Isaiah 45? Our blessed Lord declares in Isaiah
45 that He is a just God and Savior. He said, there is none
beside Me. The last part of verse 21. Verse
22 says this, Look unto Me, He said, and be ye saved. all the
ends of the earth, for I am God. Beside me there is no other. I have sworn by myself the word
gone out of my mouth in righteousness and shall not return. That unto
me every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear. Surely shall
one say in the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Even to Him shall
men come, and all that are incensed against Him shall be ashamed.
In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified in Him." Now for my text, verse 9. That's
my introduction. Now here's the message. Verse
9. They accept the Lord of hosts had
left us a very small remnant. we should have been like Sodom
and Gomorrah. Except the Lord of His covenant
people had chosen and elected a people unto salvation, none
would be saved. Except the Lord of hosts by His
infinite grace and goodness, Had He not chosen the people
out of Adam's fallen race, and defeated all of our spiritual
enemies in the person and work of Christ, having put away all
our sin by His blood sacrifice, and called us affectionately
by His Spirit, none would be saved. None. We would have all
been cut off, and justly so, just like Sodom and Gomorrah.
Thank God that salvation is of the Lord. If you know what you
are by nature, you also know that salvation has to be by His
sovereign grace. If you know what you are, I'm
not talking about what you do and what you've done or what
you will do. Sin is what we are. We only do what is the fruit
of this old rotten nature. Sin can only produce sin. Sin doesn't produce righteousness.
Salvation has to be all of God's sovereign grace in Christ. The
Scriptures declare throughout that salvation is of the Lord,
of Him. Salvation is of the Lord in its
origination. It begins with Him and ends with
Him. Salvation is of the Lord in its execution. He executed
His purpose. Salvation is of the Lord in its
application. He makes application to the heart
of the sinner by His grace. Because of our condition, until
God wakes us up and shows us what we are, we'll never seek
mercy in Christ. We'll never call out on the Great
Physician like that leper did. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. If you will. Salvation of the
Lord in its sustaining power. We're kept by the power of God.
Salvation is of the Lord in its ultimate perfection. He takes
that rotten, leprous, vile sinner. And you know what He does? Turn to Isaiah 53. You know what
He does? You know what the Lord Jesus
Christ has done for us in salvation? God incarnate, the Lord Jesus
Christ, the God-man mediator, took our sin to Himself. That's what happened at Calvary.
It says here in Isaiah 53, Surely He hath borne our griefs, carried
our sorrows, yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten, and God
inflicted. He was wounded for our transgression. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes
we are... What's that word? Heal. Heal. Heal. That's what we have
in Christ Jesus. Healing. There is a remnant according
to the election of grace. It says it's a very small remnant.
At any time upon the earth, when compared to the masses of unbelievers,
it seems like a very small remnant of believers, doesn't it? But
in the final day of glorification, there will be a multitude which
no man can number. And they sang one song, turn
to Revelation 5, I'll let you go. Revelation chapter 5, in
closing, I'll send you home with this. Never fear, for the remnant
God-delect shall be saved. They shall hear the gospel. They
shall believe it. and they shall be made new creatures
in Christ. And they'll sing in that day,
Revelation 5 verse 9, they sung a new song, saying, Thou art
worthy to take the book, to open the seals thereof, for Thou wast
slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood, out of every
kindred, tongue, people, and nation." You see, He shed His
blood taking our sin to put away our sin, and He gave us His blessed
righteousness, and with His stripes we are healed. He made us kings
and priests under our God, and we shall reign with Him. Reign
on this new heaven and the new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about
the throne, and the beasts and the elders, and the number of
them was ten thousand times, and thousands and thousands of
thousands. I thought it was a very small
remnant. It ain't time upon this earth. It seems small, but in
eternal glory, it's a multitude that no man could number, redeemed
by the blood of Christ, sang with a loud voice, worthy is
the Lamb that was slain to receive power, riches, wisdom, strength,
honor, glory, and blessings. And every creature which is in
heaven and on the earth And unto the earth such as are in the
sea, and all that are in them heard I say, Blessing, honor,
glory, power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and
unto the Lamb forever. The Lord Jesus is the Lamb of
God. And the four beasts said, Amen. God's church, the four
and twenty elders, fell down and worshiped him that liveth
forever and ever. Come now, let us reason together,
saith the Lord. Though your sin be as scarlet,
they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. There is salvation for sinners
in the Lord Jesus Christ. May God give us grace in our
heart to look unto Him and be saved in Christ Jesus.