Isaiah, you got Isaiah 28? Isaiah 28, let's read beginning
at verse 14. Isaiah 28, 14. Wherefore hear,
hear the word of the Lord. Now believers in Christ Jesus
are always anxious to hear God speak. And God speaks to us this
day through His word, by His servants, and by the power and
revelation of God the Holy Spirit, wherefore hear the word of the
Lord." And he's addressing his comments here to some very religious
people in Jerusalem. Much, these people here were
much like the religious people in our day. They're very, very
religious, very self-righteous. But he calls these here a scornful
people, scornful men. that rule this people which is
in Jerusalem." Now here's the reason he considers these folks,
these most self-righteous, self-serving, self-glory, sinful men, the reason
the Lord considers them to be scornful. They scorn and reject
God's covenant of grace. Because you have said, now here's
what they've said. And here's what the religious
men in our day, here's what they say. We've made our decision. We've joined the church. We've
been baptized. We've been to the altar. We've
prayed through. It's everything that they have
done. Men and sin have not changed. Men are still full of pride and
arrogance. They must be brought down and
it takes God Almighty to do so. because you have said." Here's
what these religious folks have said. And it flies in the face
of grace. It's opposing to grace. Because
you have said, we have a covenant. We've made an agreement. We've
made, we've done our thing. We have made a covenant with
death. Now how far will a lost sinner boast? I say that's pretty
far bragged, isn't it? That's a pretty far stretch.
that says that we have made a covenant with death. We have got it all
fixed up. We've got everything fixed up
based upon what we have said, based upon what we have contributed,
based upon what we have done. We have made a covenant. My friends,
salvation is not anything we have done, is it? Salvation is
all grace, all Christ, all mercy alone. We add and contribute
nothing, nothing in the way that's positive. The only thing we bring
is our wickedness, our sin. Because you have said, we've
made a covenant with death. A covenant is agreement, an agreement.
We're in agreement. Death won't come down to us.
It won't touch us. And with hell, we are in agreement. We have a covenant with hell. God's wrath won't come nigh to
us. And when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it
won't come nigh unto us. We've got everything fixed up.
We've done everything just the way we thought it should be done.
The wise man said there's a way that seems right unto men. The
end of that way is death. Death. Here's what God says of
them. You've made lies your refuge. You see that? Now that's a pretty
poor and sorry place to hide from the wrath of God in a refuge
of lies. But really, when you get right
down to it, anything other than the Lord Jesus Christ crucified,
His shedding of His blood, His righteousness that freely is
given to God's people that justifies us by His grace alone, anything
short of that is nothing but a lie. God is true. Let every man be a what? Liar. Liar. You see how far they have
boast and God comes back and says this in a plain way, you've
made nothing but a lie your refuge and your hiding place is nothing
but a lie. And then he goes on, he said,
under falsehood, under a falsehood, a false profession, you've hid
yourself. from the all-seeing eye of God."
Now, God knows the heart. You can't hide from God. You
can't run from God. He knows all things. He knows
our thoughts are far off. He knows that we are but dust.
He knows that man in his best state is altogether vanity. God
exposes that refuge. How does He do that? With truth.
with truth. My friend, I don't want you to
hide or I don't want to hide myself in any refuge but the
one that God has given, the one that God has provided. And that
refuge is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. God marked
out those cities of refuge. Remember that? And they were
marked by the priest pointing to the city of refuge, the city
of refuge, and those who were guilty were to run to that city
and stay in that city protected by God's authority, by God's
power. Now, how far will a sinner boast? That's a pretty far brag, isn't
it? How far will God's judgment reach? Look at verse 17. Judgment
also will I lay I'll lay it to a line. God's judgment is just
like Himself, absolutely holy. God is holy in every aspect of
His person, in every aspect of His work. God says this judgment
according to the holy standard, not the standard that I set.
It's a standard that God has set. And it's a standard he calls
here and he uses this building illustration of a line. When
you lay block or when you lay out a building, you stretch a
line to get the exact straightness of it, how to build and how to
construct. And there's no variableness in this line, not when it's done
right. And I can assure you God's line of judgment has a very strict
standard because He is most holy. God says judgment, I'm going
to bring judgment according to the line of my righteousness,
according to the line of my holiness and righteousness to the plummet.
Now a line goes this way. Some of you men have used a plumb
bob. And that goes vertically and has a weight on the end of
a string. And if you have a line up here and you want to find
the exact same spot down on the ground, you hold that plumb bob.
And there's no variableness in that plumb bob once it stops
swinging now. And once it's steady, and I can
assure you that God's plumb bob doesn't swing. It's straight
and steady. And this is the standard of God's
judgment. Now let me show you this. All judgment is relative
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And those who are not in Christ
will certainly experience the horrible wrath of God's holy
indignation against sin. Find Acts 17. How far will a sinner boast?
Well, they'll brag quite a bit, won't they? You remember in Matthew
7, they said, Lord, we preached in your name. Lord, we've done
many wonderful works in your name. And he said, depart from
me. I never, I never knew you. I never loved you. You are nothing
but workers of iniquity. They were hiding in what they
had did. Look what we have done. Same
group of people that say, we have made a covenant, we're in
agreement, judgment won't come nigh to us. Here's a standard
of God's judgment. Who sets the bar? Who sets the
standard? Is it the best I can do? The
best you can do? Do men set the standard of righteousness? No, look what it says here, Acts
17, verse 31, because He hath appointed a day in which He will
judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He has ordained."
Who is that man? Well, it's the God-man mediator,
the Lord Jesus Christ. "...Wherefore He hath given assurance
unto all men, sinners, unto all His people, in that He raised
Him from the dead. He was delivered for our offenses,
and He was raised again to justify us by His grace." So, the standard
of that judgment is not the best I can do. The standard of that
judgment is according to the standard that God has set in
His absolute righteousness. Where can that be found? Only
in Christ. Only in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Judgment also will I lay to the line. Look back at the text.
And righteousness is to plummet, and the hail shall sweep away
the refuge of lies, and the water shall overflow the hiding place. It's like hiding in a cardboard
shack on the beach front when there's a hurricane blowing in
that's a number 5 rated 250 plus mile an hour winds, how's that
cardboard shack going to hold up when that category 5 hurricane
comes roaring to shore? It's going to blow it away. And
that's the same thing that God says of those who willfully hide
in the refuge of lies that they've constructed, that they have built,
when the overflowing scourge of God's wrath comes through,
it will not stand. He's going to blow it down. He's
going to throw it away. Verse 18 in our text, in your
covenant with death, it's going to be disannulled. And your agreement
with hell, it will not stand. When the overflowing scourge
shall pass through, you shall be trodden down by it. Now turn,
if you will, to Psalm 24 and look at this. Psalm 24. Who's going to ascend then into
the hill of the Lord? Who's going to stand in His holy
place? Psalm 24. Look at verse 3. Who shall ascend then into the
hill of the Lord? Who shall stand in His holy place? If thou, Lord,
shouldest mark iniquities, we read it, Psalm 130, O Lord, who
shall stand? Look what it says. He that hath
clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul
to vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. Well, that's just slamming the
door on me. I can't meet that standard. He shall receive the
blessing from the Lord and the righteousness from the God of
his salvation. This is the generation of them
that seek Him, that seek thy face, O Jacob. Now lift up your
heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors.
Now, who's coming in? The King of glory. He's coming
in. You see, He's never lifted up
His soul to vanity. He's never sworn deceitfully.
He has clean hands. He has a pure heart. The King
of Glory is coming in. Look at verse 8. Who is the King
of Glory? Well, it's the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty
in battle. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory
shall come in. Now watch this. Now here's a
blessing. Don't mix this. Who is the King of Glory? He's
the Lord of a people. He's the Lord of hosts. He's
the King of Glory. I'm coming into God's presence
on His merit. The forerunner has entered in
and has occupied for us and He is seated. And we enter in on
His merit. He took my judgment. He took
my sin and paid my debt. That's the only hope any sinner
has. Now back to the text. Isaiah
28, 16. Now, how far will a sinner brag?
Well, they'll brag a lot. I've heard them. Haven't you?
All that they've done, how good they are. Like that Pharisee,
God, I thank you. I'm not like that man. Self-righteous. I tell you, how far will God's
judgment reach? It's going to reach far, far
and wide, deep. He's going to sweep away every
refuge of lie. lies, the only thing will stand
is that refuge that God's provided, and that's Christ. Now, here's
a description of it. Are you interested? Isaiah 28,
16. Here's a description of this
foundation that God has provided. Now, I'm not real smart, but
I know this. Only that which God's provided
will God accept. Is that right? We're accepted
in the beloved. Thank God He is Jehovah Jireh.
Thank God He is the Lord who does provide all things for us
in Christ. Verse 16, Isaiah 28, Therefore,
therefore, therefore, boy don't miss that word, it's a big word.
Therefore, thus saith the Lord God. Now here's God's covenant.
We've seen something about man's covenant, man's agreement. God
said, I'm going to do away with that. It's nothing but a lie.
It's nothing but falsehood. Now, here's God's covenant. Here's
God's eternal covenant that's certain and sure, based upon
the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It cannot fail. Therefore,
thus saith the Lord God. Now, see that word, comma, behold. Behold. Now, whenever you read
scripture and you see that word, that's a big stop sign. You just
think about that as a stop sign. Stop, behold, and gaze with intense
contemplation. Behold, meditate upon this. Stop,
look, and listen before you go any further. Behold, God says
this. Who says this? The Lord God.
Behold, I lay in Zion. I'm building this foundation.
This is what I've provided. This is the refuge that God has
given. Behold, I'm laying in Zion. Who's Zion here? His people? His church? His elect? Behold,
I lay in Zion for a foundation. A foundation. Now, if you're
going to build a house, you better have a foundation. You could
spend thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars on material,
but if you don't start out with the right foundation, I tell
you, you're going to have a mess. And you're going to have a sorry
house. Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation. A foundation. You see, there's only one foundation.
Other foundation can no man lay. You remember that scripture?
Where is that? 1 Corinthians chapter 3? Other
foundation can no man lay than that which is already laid. And
it describes that foundation as Christ the Lord. He is the Lord. He is that foundation. He is that foundation that God
has provided. I lay in Zion a foundation, for
a foundation, a stone, a stone, a rock, a tried stone, precious
cornerstone, sure foundation. Now look at this, he that believeth,
he that believeth, not he that worketh, not he that runneth,
he that believeth. Where'd you get that believing?
Faith's a gift of God. He that believeth shall not make
haste." You know what he's saying there? He that believeth will
never be forced out, will never be confounded, will never be
ashamed. He that believeth, believeth.
Now, let's look at several things. Here we see, first of all, the
designer of this foundation. The designer of this foundation.
Behold, he said, the Lord God, I lay in Zion. the designer of
this foundation, none other than Almighty God Himself. He's the
architect. He planned it. You reckon it
is a good one? You reckon it'll endure the storm? Almighty God is the architect.
He is the provider. He is the builder of this foundation,
of which there is no other. Neither is there salvation in
any other than the Lord Jesus Christ. He is that foundation
that God has laid. My friend, and notice this, God
Himself is the foundation. We read in 1 Peter, He is called
the living stone. This foundation is alive. This foundation is not cold and
dead. It's just not concrete. It's
not concrete. It's a person, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a foundation. God Himself is that living stone.
And we are living stone built upon Him, the rock, the rock
of ages. So God Himself is that foundation.
There's only one foundation. He's the designer of this foundation,
the architect, the planner, the one who's purposed all this.
I want you to turn to this scripture. Find Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians
chapter 2. All the prophets of the past.
And all the apostles of the past all point to this one foundation
that God has provided and identify that foundation as none other
than our Savior, the Lord Jesus. Ephesians 2 verse 19. Now therefore, you're no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the sanction
of the household of God and are built upon the foundation. the foundation of the apostles
and the prophets." Now, he's not saying it, our foundation
is the apostles or the prophets, but he's saying all the apostles
and all the prophets talked about this one foundation. What is
it? Comma, Jesus Christ himself. He is the chief cornerstone in
whom all the building fitly frames together. Now, who fits this
in this building? He does it. It's his work. fitly
framed together. It groweth. It's alive. In Him
we live and move and have our being. It's a holy temple in
the Lord in whom you also are built together for habitation
of God. Now you get a hold of that. We're
built together. We are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus. Built together for habitation
of God through His work. His work. His doing. So this
foundation God is the designer of this foundation. Now look
back at the text again. Isaiah 28, 16. Here He describes
this foundation. It's called here a stone or a
rock, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone. Now let's look at
these individually here. First of all, it's called a stone
or a rock. The Lord Jesus Christ is often
called in Scripture the stone, the rock. He's a rock of ages.
I want you to find Genesis chapter 49. Genesis 49. Jacob had 12 sons. And when Jacob was dying, he
called all his sons together, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah,
all those sons, Naphtali, Asher. And in verse 22, Genesis 49,
Joseph is a fruitful bough. Even a fruitful bough by a well,
whose branches run over the wall." Now, all of these sons here,
you can go back through all these blessings given to these sons,
and you can preach Christ from every one of these. Joseph is
one of the best pictures of the Lord Jesus Christ in all of Scripture. There in the latter part of Genesis. Joseph is a picture of Christ. The archers have sorely grieved
him, and shot at him and hated him." Well, that speaks of Christ,
doesn't it? He's despised and rejected of
men, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. But his bow abode
in strength. And his arms, the arms of his
hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God. He laid
help upon one that is mighty. The mighty God of Jacob from
thence is the shepherd. He's the stone of Israel. He is that stone. He is that
rock. Now I want you to find Deuteronomy
32. Deuteronomy 32. Now here's something interesting. The Lord said upon this rock
I build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against
this rock, this stone. Deuteronomy 32. Now look at this.
This is interesting here. I like this. How should one,
verse 30, Deuteronomy 32. Verse 30, how should one chase
a thousand? How should one soldier chase
a thousand men? How can that happen? And yet
when Israel walked into Canaan, one man put a thousand of the
enemy to flight. Or two put ten thousand to flight,
except their, notice that, rock, capital R, had sold them, promoted
them. He promoted them. He empowered
them. And the Lord had shut them up. For their rock, the Philistine,
the Hittite, the Jebusite, their rock is not as our rock. Oh, they've got a rock. Not a
good one. It's a refuge of lies. Their
rock is not like our rock. Even our enemies themselves being
judges. Oh, God's going to judge them.
You see, our rock is special. Our rock is special. I want you
to find Isaiah 32. Look at this, Isaiah 32. You
see, the Lord Jesus, He is that rock. He is that foundation upon
which sinners can rest with confidence. With confidence, I tell you. And it's not confidence in us.
It's not assurance in us. It's assurance and confidence
in Christ, our rock. Christ, our righteousness. He's
made unto me everything I need, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Now Isaiah 32, look at verse
1, Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes
shall rule in judgment. A man shall be a hiding place
from the wind. There's that hiding place again.
There's the wind again. And a covert, a covering from
the tempest, rivers of water in a dry place. The Lord is the
living fountain of water, a shadow of a great rock. You see, He's
that great rock. A great rock. in a weary land. He is that rock. No wonder David
prayed, Lord, lead me to the rock that is higher than I. You
remember Psalm 61? Now look back at the text, Isaiah
28, 16. So it's a stone, it's a rock,
this foundation that God has laid, and it's all the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now secondly, it says here that
the Lord Jesus, this foundation, this stone, this rock is tried.
It's a tried stone. It's a tried stone. Now, builders,
naturally speaking, when they build a building, they use tried
and tested, proven construction material. They don't build with
things that they don't know anything about. They use things that are
proven and tried and tested and will hold up. Even so, the Lord
Jesus Christ, the God-man mediator, was tried Tested, proven, tempted
in every conceivable way as the God-man mediator, yet he never
failed in any aspect of his work in any way. He finished the work
God gave him to do. The law of God tried him. What did he do? He honored the
law of God in every precept and every penalty. Turn to Isaiah
42, 21 and look at this. We often use that phrase, the
Lord magnified the law, the Lord honored the law for us on our
behalf. And here it comes, this is where
we find it from Isaiah 42, verse 21. You got it? Isaiah 42, 21.
The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake. Talking
about Christ, the believer's righteousness. He will magnify
the law He will make it honorable. The law of God tried Him. He
honored the law of God. Our Lord said, I didn't come
to destroy the law. I came to honor it. God's law
has to be satisfied. He just can't shove it aside.
God saves us in such a way that His law is honored and magnified
and His mercy is magnified as well, that He might be a just
God and Savior. So the law, God tried Him. He's
holy, harmless, undefiled, and without sin. Satan tried him,
didn't he? Tested him, proved him, 40 days
in the wilderness. Who won that battle? What really
a battle was it? The prince of this world has
come and our Lord said, he's found no agreement in me. Nothing
allied did the deceiver of men find in the humanity of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's without sin. Now when he
comes and tempts me, he finds He finds a lot of things in me
that ally with him. My old rotten nature that I have.
The law tried him, he honored it. Satan tried him and he was
defeated. He went down in defeat. He went
down in flames. The seed of woman crushed the
serpent's head. The father tried him. God gave
him a mighty work of redemption to do. And he said, I finished
the work you gave me to do. He said on Calvary Street, it's
done. It's finished to the delight of God. He said, God speaks from
heaven and said, this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.
It's a tried stone. What I'm trying to say here,
it's a tried stone. Believers down through the centuries
have found the Lord Jesus Christ to be true and faithful and one
to be relied upon. Abraham was fully persuaded that
all that God promised, God was able to do. You see, it's a tried
stone. It's a stone. It's a foundation
that God has laid. It's a tried stone. Now, look
at this third thing. It's precious. Precious. Your
children to you and you. They're precious, aren't they?
Oh, they're precious. We love our children. God gave
me three beautiful children and they're precious to me. Your
daughters, precious to you. Your children here, you're precious. You're precious to your parents,
grandparents, they think a lot. But you know what? This foundation
that God has laid is most precious. It's most precious to God and
His people. It's a precious cornerstone to
the self-righteous, those who are going about to establish
their own righteousness. This foundation that God has
laid, Jesus Christ crucified, He's not precious. He's a rock
of a fence. He's a stumbling stone. But to
those who believe, He is of great value. He is precious. He is
precious. He's called the pearl of great
price. That's precious, is it not? Valuable. Valuable. Jesus Christ is the only thing
that is truly, spiritually precious to the believer in Christ Jesus.
You see, we are redeemed. Now, Peter uses that word quite
a bit, precious. In 1 Peter and in 2 Peter, he
uses that word precious. We are redeemed with the, you
remember the scripture? We are redeemed with the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are saved, Peter talks about
in 2 Peter 1, we are saved according to the exceeding great and precious
promises given in Christ Jesus. All the promises of Him are yes
and in Him, amen, and to the glory of God. 2 Corinthians 1.20. You see, we're redeemed with
precious blood. We believe Him and to the believer
He is precious. He's not a rock of offense. He's
my only hope. And we're united to Him by precious
faith. Precious faith. This faith is
God-given. We've obtained like precious
faith through the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
the reason we have faith. Because of His faithfulness.
Oh, I tell you, it's a precious. It's a precious cornerstone. You see what he's saying there?
The Lord Jesus Christ is called the precious cornerstone, the
chief cornerstone, and the head of the corner. That's saying
a whole lot. Now, we don't know much about
buildings with cornerstones, but back in those hundreds and
thousands of years ago when they constructed buildings out of
rocks and stones and they made them where they'd fit. The cornerstone
was the key to locking the two walls together and the other
two walls. The cornerstone had to be just
so-so where two walls could come in and meet together. The cornerstone
made the whole building work. Made it jive together. Not a
good word. Made it work together. Jive. I'm sorry. Excuse me for that.
That's street talk. Don't want to use street talk.
But you get what I'm trying to say. It makes it work together
in harmony. And the Lord Jesus Christ, He
is that cornerstone. In this spiritual temple, Christ
must and will have all the glory, preeminence, and honor. That's
what that cornerstone does. It gets the glory in that building,
the honor of that building. It holds the wall together. He's
the, what knits it together is Christ in this foundation. This building, talking about
the church, of the Lord Jesus Christ, the church of the firstborn.
And then I like this. Not only is it precious, tried,
but it's a sure foundation. You see that? Don't you like
things that are sure? Things that are sure. I like
sure things. Things I can depend on. Things
that are so certain and sure that it doesn't even depend on
me whatsoever. It depends on Christ alone. He is the sure foundation. The foundation of God, we read
in Scripture, this is II Timothy 2.19, don't turn, let me just
see if I can quote some of it to you. The foundation of God
stands as sure, having this seal. The Lord knoweth them, the Lord
knoweth them that are His. It stands sure, the foundation
of God. This foundation that God has
established will never be changed. You know, things that men make,
they always come up with something new and improved, don't they?
And it's really just the same old thing in a different bottle
or a different package. But this foundation that God
has established is certain and sure will never be changed. It
never needs improvement, never needs to be altered, never needs
to be replaced, never needs our help or our addition, never needs
to be changed. It's founded upon the sure word
of prophecy. It's founded upon the sure covenant
mercies of God's grace in Christ, ordered in all things, and is
sure. This promise of salvation is certain and sure to all His
covenant people. It is sure. Now, see if I can
make good on that. Turn to Romans 4. You reckon God's going to save
His covenant people? He said, All that the Father
hath given to me, they will come to me, and I will in no wise
cast them out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And
this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which
seeth the Son and believeth on Him, I'll raise him up at the
last day, and I will not lose one of those sheep given to me. His honor is at stake. You see,
salvation in Christ is certain and sure. You've got Romans chapter
4, look at verse 16. Therefore it is of faith, salvation,
righteousness that justifies. It is of faith that it might
be by grace to the end. That the promise might be, well,
you know, maybe. Is that what it says? It's sure to all the seed. Now who's the seed? Those in
Christ. Those elect chosen him. Not to that only which is of
the law, that is the Jew. the circumcision, but to that
also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of
us all." Jew and Gentile, salvation is certain and sure to all those
in Christ Jesus. None will perish for whom He
died. They can't. His honor is at stake. You ever
read that scripture over there in Hebrews chapter 2, where he
talks about those for whom Christ died, and he describes them,
and in one verse, it's either verse 10, 11, and 12, along in
there somewhere, Hebrews chapter 2. He said, Behold, I and the
children, they're all here. Not a one is missing. Not a one
is missing. Well, turn back to the text and
I'll give you this and let you go. Look at the last part of verse
16, Isaiah 28, 16. Here's a description of saving
faith. He that believeth, shall never
be forced off, never be forced out, shall never make haste,
no reason to ever depart from Christ. Here's a description
of God's saving faith. These all died in faith. He that believeth shall not make
haste, never be forced to flee. Believing God and resting in
Christ is not the product of the flesh. You understand that?
We believe according to the working of His mighty power. Faith is
a gift of God. Faith is giving up on everything
but Christ. Forsaking all, I trust Him. F-A-I-T-H. Forsaking all, I trust
Him. Counting all things lost that
we might win Christ and be found in Him. Faith is giving up on
everything but Christ. Faith is a committal of everything
to the care and custody of the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter said
this, or rather Paul wrote this in 2 Timothy, I know whom I have
believed, and I am persuaded he's able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. I'm persuaded that
he is able. Not I'm persuaded I'm able. I'm
persuaded He is able to keep that which I've committed unto
Him against that day." Everything. Everything. True faith is not
a shame. True faith will never be confounded.
Now, I want you to look at this scripture and I'll let you go.
Isaiah 45. Look at this. Now, this will
be a blessing to you. In Romans 9, when it quotes this
verse, it says, we'll never be ashamed. And then Peter when
he quotes this verse, true faith is never confounded, never ashamed.
Now look at this, Isaiah 45 verse 16. They shall be ashamed
and also confounded, all of them shall go to confusion together
that are makers of idols. You know, you don't have to will
out a totem pole to be an idolater. Most people worship themselves. They think salvation rests upon
what they do. They together, makers of idols,
they shall be confounded and they shall go to confusion. They're
maker of idols that look to themselves for salvation. But look what
it says in the next verse. But Israel shall be saved in
the Lord, that's his elect, with an everlasting salvation. You
shall not be ashamed nor confounded. world without end. That's good news. That's the
good news of the gospel. We have a certain and sure foundation
in the Lord Jesus Christ that will endure. God has provided
it and it will get the job done.