Now we're turning to the book
of Isaiah for my message this evening. And Isaiah's book has been called
the Gospel of the Old Testament. I can give you several evidences
of this. If you wish, just keep your Bibles
open to Isaiah 50. But some of you who can find
Scripture quickly, turn with me to John 12, verse 41. I'll
read it. In John 12, verse 41, we're talking about the book
of Isaiah now. The prophecy of Isaiah is the
gospel. There's no new gospel. Paul said
this gospel is the ancient gospel. It's the gospel of the Old Testament
prophets. Our Lord stressed that so strongly. He said, they said, we have Moses. He said, Moses wrote of me. Well,
they said, Abraham's our father. He said, if you had believed
Abraham, you'd believe me. Abraham saw my day, he rejoiced
and was glad. And Isaiah, it says here in John
12, 41, these things said Isaiah when he saw his glory and spake
of him. Saw whose glory? The glory of
Christ. It was Christ that Isaiah saw
high and lifted up. His train filled the temple and
the seraphim cried, holy, holy, holy. He saw the glory of Christ
and spake of Him. Isaiah 53, He was wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities, chastisement of our peace was upon Him, by
His stripes we're healed. Oh, we like sheep have gone astray,
we've turned every one to his own way, and the Lord hath laid
on Christ the iniquity of us all. Who is that? That's Christ
Jesus. And Isaiah saw the glory of His
redemptive work, and he spake of Him. Do you know when the
two, when Moses and Elijah appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration
and talked with Christ, do you know what they talked about?
Well, if you don't know, you ought to find out. This is so important. These things
are, this is not just entertainment, this is, this is Bible eternal
information. When Moses and Elijah appeared
on top of the Mount of Transfiguration and talked with Christ, you know
who Moses is? That's the law. Moses represents
the law. What does Elijah represent? The
prophets. The law and the prophets. You
have both of them there. The law and the prophets and
the Messiah transfigured between them. And you know what they
talked about? The scripture says they talked about his crucifixion
at Jerusalem. That's what they talked about.
Moses and Elijah talked about the cross, because they anticipated
the cross, and they expected the cross, and they looked for
the cross, and they believed in the cross, and they waited
for the cross. That's the gospel of the Old Testament. It's Christ
and Him crucified. The whole thing is Christ and
Him crucified. Look at Matthew 121, when the
angel came down, when the angel came down and talked to Joseph
about the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. He came down and talked to the
angel. Whom did he quote? He quoted a prophet. He quoted
an Old Testament prophet. When he talked to Joseph, and
he said, Mary's going to bear a son. And he said in Matthew
121, she'll bring forth a son. And you've got a name you're
going to name him. A God-given name. You name him Jesus. Joshua. That's the Old Testament Joshua.
God is my Savior. You name him Jesus. because he's
going to save his people from their sins. He's going to save
whom? His people. From what? From their
sins. From the curse of it, from the
consequences of it, from all things pertaining to sin. He's going to wipe away their
transgression. Now, all this was done, here's the angel still
talking, all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken of the Lord by the prophet saying, what prophet? Isaiah. Behold, a virgin shall be with
child, and bring forth a son, and you call his name Immanuel,
which is being interpreted, God with us." Who wrote that? Isaiah. Isaiah wrote that. And then in
Luke chapter 4, in the fourth chapter of Luke, when our Lord
came to Nazareth, His hometown, after He had begun His public
ministry. came back to Nazareth. They had
packed the synagogue out that Sabbath day to hear him. Our
Lord got up and opened the Scriptures. Now, he's got Genesis through
Malachi to read. He's got thirty-nine books from
which to select his text. He read from Isaiah. Isaiah. Isaiah 61, Luke 4, 18, says,
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. because he hath anointed
me to preach the gospel to the poor. He hath sent me to heal
the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives,
and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them
that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."
And he closed the book. Isaiah. Isaiah. And then when Philip preached
the gospel to the Ethiopian This Ethiopian eunuch had been to
Jerusalem to worship, to try to find out something about God
from that present-day religionist, and teachers, and preachers,
and theologians, and professors, and he found out nothing. And
he started back to Ethiopia, and he was sitting in his chariot
reading. What was he reading? Isaiah. Isaiah. And Philip came alongside the
chariot and said to him, Do you understand what you're reading?
If nobody shows me, how can I? And Philip got up in the chair
and sat with him. And it began at the same scripture.
He didn't turn to John 3.16. He didn't have a John 3.16 to
turn to. He didn't take him down to Roman
Road. He didn't say, now don't pay attention to that. Let's
get in the New Testament. We're New Testament Christians.
He began at the same scripture in which Christ stood. Took him
all the way through the gospel in Isaiah 53. All the way through
the gospel. What an important lesson. And
a lesson so difficult for men to learn. So hard for men to
learn. So difficult. Turn to John 5.39. Listen here to our Lord. And
he's rebuking the, he's rebuking the religionist of his day in
John 5.39. And he says this to them. He
says, you search the scriptures. You search the scriptures, you've
got Bibles, and you're studying your Bibles. For in the Word,
in that Bible, you think you have eternal life. But eternal
life's not in the Bible. Eternal life's not in doctrine.
Eternal life's not in the law. Eternal life's not in the prophets.
He said, they are they which testify of me. And you will not
come to me that you might have life. That's the whole problem. You won't come to me. You'll
come to religion, you'll come to reformation, you'll come to
doctrine, you'll come to an ordinance, you'll come to the front of the
church, you'll come to a man, but you won't come to Christ. To him give all the prophets
witness. Christ is the key of knowledge.
One other scripture, turn to Luke 11. Listen to this, and
here's another rebuke for those, those religionists, those who
made their living, those who made their living in religion.
those who prospered, covetous men. He says in verse 52 of Luke
11, Woe unto you lawyers. He's not talking about public
defenders and attorneys. He's talking about religious
scribes and Pharisees and lawyers. These men were religionists,
teachers of the scriptures. He said, You've taken away the
key of knowledge. You've just literally lifted
away the key of knowledge. That's Christ. You know, a room
can be full of treasures, but if you don't have the key that
admits you into that room, you'll never discover those treasures.
And this book is full of treasures and promises and blessings and
all these things that God has for those whom He loves. But
there's no way in without Christ. Christ is the key of knowledge,
and He said you've taken away the key of knowledge. You enter
not in yourselves. You won't enter in yourselves.
And them that are entering in, you hinder. You hinder them. So that takes me to my text in
Isaiah 50. Isaiah 50, there's no question
but that this text is speaking of Christ, and this text is Christ
speaking. No question about that. Now David
read it, and I thought while he was reading it, I thought
he's just He's just enforcing what I'm going to say, just enforcing
it. God speaks through the mouth
of two or three witnesses. And if you begin back at verse
26 of Isaiah 49, you'll see this is Christ speaking. This is Christ
speaking, and this is speaking about Christ. In verse 49, verse
26 of chapter 49, And I'll feed them that oppress thee with their
own flesh. I'll deal with those that oppress
my people. They'll be drunken with their
own blood, as with new wine. And all flesh shall know that
I, the Lord, am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer. I am a Saviour. I'm a just God and a Saviour.
I'm your Saviour and your Redeemer. That's who I am, the Redeemer,
the Saviour, the Messiah, the Mighty One of Jacob. And then
look at verse 6 of Isaiah 50, just to show you this whole thing's
talking about Christ. Now, there's the first evidence.
He said, I'm your Savior. Who is our Savior? Christ Jesus.
Who is our Redeemer? Christ Jesus. All right, verse
six. I gave my back to the smiters. Is that not discouraging? Our
Lord's scourging? I gave my back to the smiters,
and my cheek to them that plucked off the hair. And I hid not my
face from shame and spitting. They spat in his face. They scourged
him. It's all in our Sunday School
lesson of two weeks ago. The soldiers scourged him, and
they said they'd spit in his face. I hid not my face from
their shame and spitting. And then look at verse seven,
and David said this while he was reading it. The Lord God
will help me, therefore shall I not be confounded. Therefore
have I set my face like a flint And I know I shall not be ashamed.
Let me read you. Don't you turn to it, but let
me read Luke 9 here. Read that verse in the light
of this verse, Luke 9, 51. Listen. And it came to pass when
the time was come that he should be received up, he steadfastly
set his face to go to Jerusalem. That's that. I set my face like
a flint. He set his face. far be it from
you, Lord," he said, for this hour came I to this place, to
this time. For this cause came I to this
hour. He set his face like a plinth towards Jerusalem. So let's look
at this Isaiah 50 here and see as our Master, our Lord, our
Savior, our Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel, as He describes
Himself. Now, beginning in verse 1, thus
saith the Lord. Our Lord talks about His rejection. wholesale rejection. Scripture
says he was in the world, and the world knew him not. This
world does not know the Lord Jesus Christ. It does not know
the Lord who is revealed in the scriptures. This world has a
God, this world has a Jesus, this world has a gospel, and
this world has a spirit, but this world does not know the
Son of God. He came in His own, and His own
received Him not. They were willing to receive
him as a healer. They were willing to receive him as one who provided
for their material needs. But they were unwilling to receive
him as their Lord. We will not have this man reign
over us. You know what they said? They
said, we have no king but Caesar. We'll let Jesus be the Savior.
We'll let him be the healer. We'll let him be the almsgiver. We'll let him do his little religious
works, but we bow only to Caesar. That's what they say. We'll not
have this man reign over us. We'll not receive him, bow to
him as Lord. It's wholesale rejection. And
this is what he says about it in verse 1. Thus saith the Lord,
Where is the bill of your mother's divorcement, whom I have put
away? Now here's what he's saying.
When a man puts away his wife, he gives her an official paper
She has an official bill. There's some friends of mine
recently got a divorce, and the young lady found out that her
divorce became official on a certain day. She had papers of divorcement,
and she had a paper. She could show it to the world.
He forsook me. He ditched me. He divorced me.
I have the paper here to prove it. He put me away. Here's my
paper to prove it. God said, the Lord Jesus said,
where's your paper? Where's your paper that says
that I have divorced you? You have no paper like that.
You have no paper like that. I've never forsaken my own Christ.
Where's your paper? Where's your bill? Where's the
bill of your mother's divorcement? The mothers of the nation Israel
and the children of Abraham see. Then he goes on and says this.
He said, Of which of my creditors is it to whom I've sold you? You know, back then, when a man
got heavily in debt, I mean heavily in debt, back in these days here,
the days of the writing of the Old Testament, when a man got
heavily in debt to his creditors and he could not fulfill his
obligation, he could sell himself or even his children into slavery. He could send his children to
work for this man. because he was so heavily in
debt, he couldn't fulfill his obligation. And the Lord says
to begin with, you have no bill of divorcement. And the Lord
says, I have no creditors that I can't pay. And I have no debts
I cannot fulfill. Well, how come we're in the mess
we're in? If the Lord didn't leave us, and the Lord didn't
divorce us, and the Lord didn't sell us into slavery, how'd we
get where we are? Well, he tells you. Your iniquities. Behold, for your iniquities you
sold yourselves. That's what happened to you. The mess you're in is your mess.
God said, I never did divorce you. I never had any creditors
I couldn't satisfy or bills I couldn't pay. But for your iniquities
you sold yourselves. And anytime anybody comes to
me and says, well, I don't believe in election because that's not
fair, I say this, you sold yourself. God didn't sell you. You forsook
God. He didn't forsake you. Isn't
that right? Adam's race is in the midst.
He says here, for your transgressions is your mother put away. And
when I came, listen to this, what he says here in verse 2,
the first line. He says, when I came, I came,
and nobody believed me. I came, there was no man. I came
into my own, in my own receiving, and I came to my own temple,
and they put me out. I came to my own people, and
they cried crucify. I was in the world, and the world
knew me not. There was no beauty about him
that we should desire him. He was a hill, as it were, our
faces from him. He was despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows acquainted with greed. Everybody who was
anybody turned thumbs down on Jesus of Nazareth. So different today. When Jesus Christ is preached
in His true glory and true character and true demands, the reactions
are the same. The reactions are the same. When
I called, was there none to answer? Who answered? I called, who answered? He said, I called, and you didn't
answer. You didn't answer. And he says
there, that's how, let's give you just a little hint over here
in Proverbs chapter 1. Proverbs chapter 1, the same
thing is written almost. Proverbs chapter 1, verse 24,
he said, I called, and you received. I stretched out my hand, a hand
of grace, a hand of mercy, a hand of love, and no man regarded. If you said it not my counsel,
that's my word, you wouldn't have my rebuke, reproof. Now when your calamity comes,
I'm going to laugh, and I'm going to mock when fear wraps its fingers
around your heart. When your fear comes as desolation,
your destruction comes as a whirlwind, and distress and anguish comes
upon you. And death faces you, and judgment
comes to meet you, and hell moves up to meet you at your coming,
then you're going to call on me, and I will not answer. And you're going to seek me,
but you're not going to find me." Oh, that's what he describes
here in verses 1 and the first part of verse 2. He says, Where's
your bill of divorcement? Where's any proof that God has
ever cast you away or sold your children? It's your iniquities
and your transgressions. For I called, he said, and you
didn't answer. I came. I came. And they hated me without a cause.
Do you know that when Jesus Christ the Lord was led to Calvary,
there wasn't one single person to befriend him? Not one. Not one. In religion or out of
it. He died alone. And that's the Lord of glory.
That's what, what a judgment on our will. All right, verse
2 and 3, our Lord, there He describes His rejection, now He declares
His power, His deity. Is my hand shortened at all,
that it can't redeem? Here's what He's saying. Have
I no power to deliver whom I will? came into the world, and the
world knew him not. He came in his own. His own said, We won't
have him. Does the unbelief of some make the promise of God
of none effect? Will he not have a people? Shall
the Lord of glory taste defeat because we don't believe him?
He said, Is my hand shortened at all that I can't redeem? Have
I no power to deliver? Why, he said, At my rebuke, I
dried up the Red Sea, and they walked through on dry land."
That's the Lord Jesus talking now. Don't switch gods here.
This is the same one. This is the Lord Jesus, who said,
I'm a Savior, I'm a Redeemer. I came down here and you wouldn't
have me. They held me to a cross, spit in my face. Spit in my face. But he said, does that mean I
won't have a people? Does that mean my arm is short,
that I can't save, that I can't redeem, that I can't deliver?
Well, I'll tell you this, I dried up the Red Sea for Israel to
walk over. He said, and I also made the
rivers a wilderness. When was that? He turned Jordan
into a wilderness. Dried up the River Jordan. Read
about it in Joshua 3. And he said, I clothed, I clothed
the heavens with blackness. I want to read about that in
Exodus 10, verse 21. Listen to that. I think it's
good to turn over there and look at Exodus 10, verse 21. Listen
to that. I clothe the heavens with blackness. Verse 20 of Exodus 10, the Lord
hardened Pharaoh's heart. He wouldn't let the children
of Israel go. And the Lord said to Moses, stretch
out your hand toward heaven. And there'll be darkness over
the land of Egypt, even darkness that can be felt. Almighty God can turn the sun
off like you turn off an electric light. That's who I'm talking
about. Poor little Jesus. He just wants
to save and we won't let him. Poor little Jesus. You won't
let him in your heart. Poor little Jesus, won't you
give him a chance? Somebody help him out." Now,
he said, hold on here. You hold on. I dried up the Red
Sea, and I turned the Jordan River bed into a wilderness.
And when I got ready, I turned the sun off, and it quit shining.
I turned the heavens into blackness. And look at this next verse.
And I made sackcloth I hung a sackcloth over the sun. You'll see that in Revelation
6. Revelation 6, listen to verse 12. And I beheld, when he had
opened the sixth seal, lo, there was a great earthquake, and the
sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became
as blood. Who is like unto our God? He
can and He will save whom He will. He said the Son will quicken
whom He will. I want to read you a passage
over here the Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 9. I want you to listen
to it. In Romans 9, beginning with verse
17. In Romans 9, let's begin with
verse 16. So then, it is not of him that
willeth Man has a will, but it's enslaved to a fallen nature.
It's not of him that willeth, it's not of him that runneth.
Man runs, but always in the wrong direction, after the wrong things. But it's of God that showeth
mercy, for the Scripture saith to Pharaoh, Even for this same
purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in
thee, that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. at
the mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he'll
harden, and he'll confuse, and he'll send him strong delusions
that they'll believe a lie and be damned for believing it. Nay,
but, O man, who are you to reply against God? Shall the thing
formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me this?
hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to
make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor? Our Lord
said, I came, and no one would have me. I called, and no one
answered. But now wait a minute. That's
wholesale rejection. But wait a minute. Is my hand
shortened that I can't say? Will I not have a people? Is
my ear heavy that I cannot hear? Do I not have the power to deliver?
Well, I want you to see these illustrations. I dried up the
Red Sea. I turned Jordan into a wilderness.
I made the sun to go out at noonday, and I hung it with sackcloth
and ashes. I can do what I will. I can do
what I will. And I tell you, I believe this,
if our generation ever experiences revival, somebody's going to
preach this God. If our generation is ever broken
and and brought down before God in mourning and repentance and
seeking the Lord, it's going to be the preaching of the true
character of the living God. This ten-cent store of God that
you heard about today is an abomination. It's a stench in the nostrils
of anybody that's got good sense. That's just right. Ninety-eight percent of the churches
in America, you waste your time going through the door. Because
you're not going to hear about the God of the Bible. And most of the television programs,
you're not going to hear about the God of the Bible. You're
going to hear about some little silly, sentimental, emotional,
defeated, frustrated, confused, tin-horned God who can't do one
thing. That's what you hear about. Is
that not right? I'm telling you the truth. The God I'm interested in knowing
is the God that dried up the Red Sea. The God I'm interested
in knowing is the God whose hand is not short, and ears not heavy,
and who has power to deliver whom he will. Who says, let there
be light, and there's light. He said, I create light and I
create darkness, I create good, I create evil, I kill and I make
alive, I wound and I heal, I raise men up and I put them down. That's
God I'm talking about. And that is Jesus Christ is who
that is. That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what he says. That's his power and deity. This
is the Lord describing himself through the pen of his prophet
Isaiah. That's who this is writing. This
is the one who wrote the Messianic prophecy. This is Isaiah who
saw the Lord. You know, If I'm going to read
from a fellow, I want to read from one who's seen something.
This man saw the Lord. He's going to describe the Lord
whom he saw. He's not going to describe some
old Roberts Jesus. He's going to describe the Lord
whom he saw and from whom he heard. The living God who does
what he will, when he will, with whom he will. That's our God.
That's right. And then he talks about his prophetic
office. Now listen to him. Here's Christ
when he became a man. He said in verse 4, The Lord
God hath given me the tongue of the learned, a body hast thou
prepared me. Our Lord speaks as a man, because
he became a man. Do you see that? He grew in wisdom
and grew in favor and stature, in favor with God and man. I
don't understand that. It's not so. Our Lord was born
of a woman. He grew He became a man, flesh,
and he says here, a body he prepared me, and the Lord has given me
the tongue of the learned, the words I speak. The words that
Christ spoke while he was here on this earth were not his words,
that is, him as a man, but they were the words of him that sent
me. That's what Christ said. He'd given me the tongue of the
learned. That, I should know how to speak
a word in season. to him that is weary, coming
to me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, learn of me."
Learn, not, that's not study my life, that's listen to me.
Listen to me, he said. Listen to me and you hear God.
Christ is that prophet who speaks of God and for God. He said,
I am the truth. I am the truth. He wakeneth me,
he wakeneth morning by morning, he wakeneth my ear to hear as
belearned. The Lord hath bored my ear. I was not rebellious, neither
turned away, turned away back. I am the truth. He has the words
of hope. He has the words of life. He
has the words of comfort. He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, shall not come into condemnation,
but is passed from death unto life. You see, the Old Testament, all
the way through, says that someone's coming. Someone's coming. He's going to be the seed of
woman. This is God's eternal purpose from all the councils
before the foundation of the world. God decreed to have a
people. He established a covenant. Christ was the surety of that
covenant. His blood was the blood of the covenant. He was the Lamb
of the covenant, slain before the foundation of the world.
God elected a people. He gave them to Christ. He made
Christ their surety. The Holy Spirit was appointed
to call them, to woo them, to exhort them, to teach them, to
bring them to Christ, to bring them to God by Christ. And all
of this that God has done, the creation of the world and everything,
points to Christ coming. Our Lord Jesus Christ came. And
all the way through the Old Testament, it says he's going to be the
seed of woman. It says he's going to be a prophet. A man, a prophet
from among the brethren, like Moses. Listen to him you shall
hear. And when Jesus Christ came forth
on this earth. It's God in human flesh, a body
God prepared him, the Father prepared him a body, tabernacled
among us. And he came down here, and God
said, All right, I'm going to speak to you now. God who at
sundry times and in diverse manners spake to our fathers by Isaiah
and these prophets in these last days has spoken to us by his
Son. He said, This is my beloved son,
hear him. will you hear?" And Jesus Christ
stood and spoke. He spoke. He said, the words
that I speak, they didn't originate from a man, they didn't originate
from a prophet, they're the words of Him that sit in me. And the
works that I do as a man, in the flesh, in this body, He prepared
me for His works. The purpose I came to fulfill
is his purpose from the foundation of the world. He was here on
a mission, he was here on an errand. Do you know the first
words he said, the first recorded words of Jesus Christ on this
earth? Does anybody know what they were?
The first recorded words in the flesh. I'm not talking about
his first recorded words, because he spoke in the Old Testament.
But in the flesh, he's saying. As a boy, I must be about my
father's business." That's what he said. That's the first words.
What was the last words he said before he died? It's finished! He came down here to perform
a task, a mission. His mother and father went looking
for him. They found him in the temple questioning, the doctors
questioning him, the professors. And they said, well, you've grieved
us, son. We've looked everywhere. Now, wait a minute. He said,
I must be about my father's business. I've got a mission to perform.
Do you think Christ came down here just at random? I shot an
arrow into the air and it fell to earth. I knew not where. Do
you think Jesus Christ just came down here to earth to see what
he could do with this bunch of rebels? No, sir. He said, I came
down here to call my sheep. I came down here to die for my
sheep. I came down here to redeem my sheep, and other sheep I have. And I know them, and I give them
eternal life. And my Father which gave to me
is greater than all. Nobody's going to take them out of His
hands. That's right. He came down here looking. And
He said, I'm not going to fail. I'm not going to fail. In verse
5, He declares His obedience to His Father's will. That's
where He said, the Lord God has opened my ears. You say, Jesus
Christ talks sometimes like he's not God. He talks about the Father,
he talks about the Lord God. Our Lord Jesus Christ, and this
is something that you can't logically explain because it's not logical,
it's spiritual. Secret things belong to God to
reveal things to us, his children. But Jesus Christ was God. He is God. As if he never had
become a man, he's God. Understand that he's God. God
in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God, and all things were made by him. But in one
sense of the word, he was a man, so fully and completely a man,
tempted in every way, every point, as if he had not been God. That's
right. I can't, I'm going to someday
understand that, but right now I can't. But I just know that
he was fully a man. He was not God masquerading.
David, he was a man. He was a man. He wasn't God disguised. He is fully God. Isn't that right,
John? As if he had not been a man. Fully God with all the attributes
of the Father. He that has seen me has seen
my Father. And yet, and yet he was a man who died. Now his soul
didn't die. His body died. That man died,
but God didn't die. See that? He's God. And yet he's
a poorly man. But he declares here in verse
5 his total subjection, and he said, the Lord has bored my ear.
David read that right. Dick my ear. That's what you
do to a bond-servant. He's a willing, loving bond-slave. And I was not rebellious, and
I didn't turn away. And then he describes his sufferings.
He said, I gave my back to the smiters, my cheeks to them that
plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from shame
and spitting. All that suffering. And verse
7, he said, and the Lord God will help me. And he did. Therefore
shall I not be confounded. I set my face like a flint to
my death, and I know I shall not be ashamed. Now he declares
his success. He is near that justifieth me. Turn to Romans 8. Romans chapter
8. Now I want to show you something.
Hold Isaiah 50 now and just turn to Romans 8. Just have both scriptures
there. And you can lay them down like
I lay my Bible there. Here's Isaiah 50, here's Romans
8. Now when the Lord Jesus Christ speaks, he speaks for his people.
When he speaks, he speaks for us. He lived for us, He died
for us, He intercedes for us, we're accepted in Him, we're,
He's the head, we're the body, He's the vine, we're the branch.
What He says about Himself, He says about me. So He says in
verse 8, He is new that justifieth me. Look at Romans 8, verse 29
and 30. Whom He foreknew, He predestinated
to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be
the firstborn among many brethren. For over whom he did predestinate,
he called. Whom he called, he justified.
Whom he justified, he glorified. Who justified him? He did. He's
nearer to justify. I'm justified. Who justified
you? God did. On what basis? On the basis of
a fully satisfied law and a completely honored justice. I'll read the
next line, Isaiah 50. Who's going to contend with me?
Come on, Satan, angels, anyone. Who's going to contend? All right,
look at verse 31. What shall we say to these things?
If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things? Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Oh,
read that 33rd verse again. Who shall contend with me? God justified me. You know what
he said in Isaiah 58? He's nearly justified me. Who's
going to contend with me? Who's going to charge me? Let us stand together. All right,
look at the next line. Who's my adversary? Who is my
adversary? Let him come near to me. Look
at verse 34. Who is he that condemned me?
It's Christ the rather than is risen again, who is even at the
right hand of God, who maketh intercession for us." Who's my
adversary? Who can condemn me? That's success. If you will, turn in your Bibles
one page to Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53, verse 10 through 12.
I'll be through in a moment. Isaiah 53, verse 10. I'll tell you one on Doris. We
were sitting at the table listening to that long message I preached
at Pollard, that Four Awakening Truths, and I kept saying, and
I'll be through in a minute, she said, How many times do you
say that? Now watch your mouth, woman. How many times do you
say that? All right, look at Isaiah 53.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. He shall see the travail of his
soul, and shall be satisfied by his knowledge. Shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities? Therefore will I divide him a
portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the
strong. Because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and
he was numbered with the transgressors, he bare the sin of many, and
made intercession for the transgressors." There it is, that's success.
He shall not fail. And because he can't fail, I
can't fail. Because he can't perish, He said
there in verse 9, he's near that justifies me. Who's going to
contend with me? Who's going to, let us stand
together. Who's my adversary? Who's going to condemn me? Who's
going to charge me? Verse 9, the Lord God will help
me. Who is he that shall condemn me? They shall all wax old as
a garment, and the moth shall eat them up. Now he addresses
two classes of people, and we'll look at this and close. This
is the application, the self-application that every one of us have to
make right here. Now, verse 10. Who is among you that fears God? Fears God Almighty. Trembles
and shakes in fears at the presence of God. Anybody? Anybody fear
God? Are we supposed to love God?
No. I said, does anybody fear God
here? There's God. Trembles at His awesome, holy
presence. Fearful before His power, majesty,
and glory. You fear God? Then obeyeth the voice of His
servant. Anybody here fear the Lord and listen to Christ? Hear
Christ? Believe Christ? You believe Him?
You fear God and believe Christ? Walketh in darkness and hath
no light? Will you admit that? Will you admit you don't have
any light? You have no righteousness, you have no truth, you're dumb
and ignorant, stupid. Come on now. Spiritually I'm
telling you, I know you can build bridges, but there ain't no bridge
between here and heaven. I know you can build skyscrapers,
but they tried to build one at Babel too, and God confused their
tongue. I know you're smart, but you
ain't that smart. before God. Anybody here? Plumb scared of God, plumb fear
of God, plumb tremble before holy God, and listen to Jesus
Christ, and you're walking around, stumbling around in darkness.
You think darkness and darkness is light, and bitter is sweet,
and sweet is bitter, and good is evil, and evil is good, and
high is low, and low is high. That's what we think. There's
a way that seems right to us, and the end is death and damnation.
We're in darkness, and we've got no light. We've got no right. We've got no right. Anybody here
like that? Trust in the Lord. Cast yourself
on Him. Look up. That's what he's saying,
Bob. Trust in the Lord. And stay on
God. Don't you join any denomination.
Cast yourself with any Mooney or any Sonny or anybody else.
I wonder when Sonny's coming along to join Mooney. Don't follow any man. Just stay
on God, will you? That's who's going to do it.
That's who's going to make this God and here His servant and
nobody else. And man ain't got no life. None
at all. But he needs it. And he's going
to trust the Lord Jesus. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and His righteousness. I cast myself on Him. Oh, here's
the second crowd. Now behold, all ye that kindle
a fire, accomplish yourself with sparks. You walk in the light
of your own fire. That's your own righteousness.
Well, I know what I think. That's what he says. That's you.
Well, I know, dummy. I know. And you walk in the light
of your own fire. You walk in the light of your
own righteousness, your own ideas, your own thoughts, your own ways,
in the sparks you kindle. And this you'll have of my hand.
I'll leave you right there. I'll leave you in the light of
your own fire, and let you walk in the light of your own sparks.
That's where I'll leave you. And you'll lie down in sorrow.
You'll come to the end of life, and you'll lie down in death,
and your death will be a death. Blessed are the dead that die
in the Lord. What about the rest of them? They lie down in sorrow.
Pretty clear, isn't it? I have to say, that's pretty
clear. That's pretty clear. If you want to know the truth,
you've heard it. If you really want to know it, that's where
it is. You can't exalt Him too high, preeminently, and you can't
put us down too low in our darkness. Our great Lord and God, thank
You for Your Word. What a treasure. What a blessed,
blessed treasure. And you've given us some insight
in how we pray for more, some understanding in how our hearts
yearn for more. Oh, to see Christ in every page. Oh, to see Christ in His majesty
and glory and beauty and power, in His triumph, in His victory. And to find ourselves, by your
grace, in Him. Oh, that we may win Christ and
be found in Him, know Him and the power of His resurrection,
understand the mysteries of the gospel, and rejoice therein. Lord, teach us, and we'll be
taught, and we'll come to Thee, having
learned of Thee. In the name of Christ our Lord
we pray, Amen.