If you will, let's turn back
now to Isaiah chapter 59. This chapter describes the sinfulness
in the nation of Israel in the days of Isaiah. You know, the
first chapter of Isaiah begins with a description of the sinfulness
of the nation of Israel using a sick and a diseased body. The whole head is sick. The whole
heart is faint. From the sole of the foot, even
unto the head, there's no soundness in it, but wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores. They have not been closed, neither
bound up, neither mollified with ointment." The condition of the
nation of Israel at this time is an apt description and picture
of all men, all lost and sinful men. The nation tended to blame
God for the calamities which had come upon them. as though his hand was shortened.
Notice how the chapter begins. Behold, the Lord's hand is not
shortened. God's power to deliver you from
foreign nations has not been depleted or diminished in any
way, but rather it is your sins, your sins, that has separated
you from God. When you read through 1 and 2
Kings and 1 and 2 Chronicles and read the history of the kings
of the nation of Israel, the history of the nation itself,
you cannot help but wonder time after time after time to be amazed
at the mercy of God to a wicked and unprofitable people. God healed them, God delivered
them time after time, and then a king would come upon the throne
who would do wickedness, and the nation would follow him into
worshiping other gods, and they would even choose the gods of
nations that they had defeated. In other words, when Israel went
out to battle and defeated a different nation with a different god,
the king would take that god and send the dimensions and the
drawings of that particular idol back to Jerusalem and have an
idol made there like the god, who could not even deliver his
own people. And yet, men as these in this
chapter have a tendency to blame God. Blame God. As though His hand was sharpened.
As though His mercy was clean. Gone. Oh no. It is your iniquities
that cause the separation between them and their God. And it was
their sins that caused God to hide His face from them. And
He did. and delivered them many times
into the hands of their enemies. You know, the Lord Jesus said the same
of the nation of Israel when he was here. In the flesh, he
said, this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and
honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.
And we know that this is something that men, lost men, naturally
do. They go through ceremonies and
rituals and rites and by pretense worship the true God when all
the time their heart is far from Him. The Apostle Paul, I will
just point out, he quoted from this chapter in Romans, in Romans
chapter 3. The apostle is there showing
how the whole world, both Jews and Gentiles, by the law of God,
is guilty before God. And he quotes verses 7 and 8
here in this chapter. Their feet run to evil, and they
make haste to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are thoughts of
iniquity, wasting, and destruction are in their past. The way of
peace they have not, or they know not. and there is no judgment
in their goings. They have made them crooked paths,
whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. What I'm going
to do this morning, I'm going to take this one phrase that
Paul quotes from in Romans chapter three, found there in verse eight,
the way of peace they know not. In Romans, it is the way of peace
They know not, or they have not known. I want us to think about
that just a moment. The way of peace. You know, the
Bible warns, telling us that there is a way which seemeth
right unto men, but the ends thereof are the way of death. The way of peace, the natural
man does not know. Peace with God. How is it that
a man or woman who has sinned against God, who has transgressed
the law of God, may have peace with God? The way of peace they
have not known. But men manufacture ways. They manufacture ways in which
they think they can approach unto God and obtain peace with
God. But as that verse tells us, it
is a way of destruction. Therein, whosoever goeth therein
shall not know peace. Now I have four truths, and I
want to emphasize the word made, M-A-D-E, so that we may easily
remember these four truths about the way of peace, the way of
having peace with God, the way for you, the way for me to have
peace with God. I want that, don't you? I want
that above everything. I want to know that between me
and God, there's nothing but peace. Peace. First, God made a covenant of
peace. That's the first made. God made
a covenant of peace. I want you to look back to chapter
54. We're going to look at these verses here in the prophecy of
Isaiah. But in Isaiah chapter 54 and verse 10. For the mountains
shall depart and the hills be removed, But my kindness shall
not depart from thee, neither shall, now notice, the covenant
of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee. In Ezekiel chapter 37 and verse
26, the covenant of my peace is there called an everlasting
covenant. And that is what is meant, of
course, in this verse, Isaiah 54 and verse 10, when the Lord
says, for the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed,
but my kindness shall not depart from thee. In other words, my
kindness, the covenant of peace that God has made is an everlasting
covenant. Someone asked me just a couple
of weeks ago, How would you define or give me a simple definition?
I believe this is the way it was put to me. Give me a simple
definition of what you mean by covenant, by covenant. And I
responded something like this. Well, a covenant, God's covenant
is his way of saving sinners. God's covenant, it is a compact. If you want the technical terms,
it is a compact, a contract, an agreement of God's way. It is an everlasting compact. It was made before the world's
ever began, before there was ever a start, when God himself
alone existed. He made this covenant. It is
an everlasting covenant, and it is, yes, thank God, a covenant
of peace. In this covenant, as I said,
it is an agreement. There was a council, and the
use of the word council, when God uses the word council in
reference to Himself. Now, you know with men, If there
was something important to be done, we might seek counsel. Several men might gather together
and you might seek the counsel, the advice. Now, that cannot
be said of God, we know that. But he uses that term to express
to you and I the wisdom of God in making this covenant. There
was a council in which this covenant of peace was made before the
foundation of the world when none existed but God himself
and the trinity of his persons. And God the Father agreed to
do certain things, and God the Son agreed to do certain things,
and God the Holy Spirit was the witness to this covenant. Now that's as simple as I know
how to make it, and I want to make it simple. I want to understand
what is meant by covenant. Because if you hear a man preach
the gospel, if he really knows the gospel, you're going to hear
this word covenant. Because you can't preach the
gospel, you can't preach from the word of God and not declare
the truth about this everlasting covenant. Because it is in this
covenant that God made provisions for the saving of his people. It's an everlasting covenant.
One of the agreements that the father made in this covenant,
he chose a people in his son and gave them to his son. Now that's so important. The
Lord Jesus Christ said, father, I have given unto them the words
which thou gave unto me. In John chapter 17, don't do
it now, but that's a prayer the Lord Jesus Christ prayed. Read
that prayer. He's praying to his father, of
course, as the God-man mediator. And six times in that prayer,
he makes reference to the fact that he was given a people. He was given a people to be his
sheep, he to be their shepherd. He was given a people to be his
bride, he to be their bridegroom. He was given a people to be his
seed, he is the everlasting father. And remember that prophecy in
Isaiah 53, speaking about the sufferings of the Lord Jesus
Christ declares unto us, he shall see his seed, those who were
given to him. and shall be satisfied. And they were given to him as
members of his body. He is the head of his mystical
body, the church. Now that's something the father
agreed. There's much more, but the son
agreed in this covenant to be made flesh and to come into this
world to be the mediator of the covenant. There's one mediator
between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, and to be the messenger
of this covenant. He's the one who preached out
the covenant, and he's also the surety of the covenant. So the
way of peace, first of all, God made a covenant of peace. Now second, God made himself
the Prince of Peace. Look with me in Isaiah chapter
6. That's the second made. God made himself the Prince of
Peace. In Isaiah chapter 9 and verse
6. This is one of those scriptures
that the world pulls out around December the 25th, you know,
and everybody talks about it and puts it on Christmas cards
and things like that, but most people don't have a clue. Most
people that use the verse, they don't have a clue as to what
it's telling us. Verse six, for unto us a child
is born, that is, He is the child born to the virgin. And at the
same time, he is unto us a son who is given. For God so loved
the world that he gave his only begotten son. In other words,
this is speaking to us of what is called the incarnation. God,
the son, made himself the prince of peace. God was manifest in
the flesh. And at his birth you will remember
the angels saying, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace. Peace. The Prince of Peace, you
notice is one of his titles. Let's read on that verse. For
unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government
shall be upon his shoulder. And his name shall be called
Wonderful. Now each one of these names,
each one of these titles deserves a message. And a separate message
could be preached from each one of them. But notice, first of
all, his name is wonderful. I want you to keep your places
here, but look back with me into the book of Judges. Judges chapter
13. In this chapter, The angel of the Lord appeared
unto Manoah's wife, first of all, and revealed to her that
she was going to have a son. And then the angel of the Lord
disappeared, and she told her husband, Manoah, and he said,
well, he said, I want to hear that. I want to know that. And
so the angel of the Lord appeared again, and she runs and gets
her husband, Manoah, and he comes. And the angel of the Lord spoke
and appeared to both of them. Look down in verse 16, And the
angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me. Now, Manoah,
he wanted to entertain this one. He didn't know who it was. He
didn't recognize who it was. But this was the angel of the
LORD. I will not eat of thy bread,
and if thou wilt offering thou must offer it unto the Lord.
For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord. And Manoah
said unto the angel of the Lord, What is thy name? What is thy
name? That when thy sayings come to
pass, we may do thee honor. And the angel of the Lord said
unto him, Why askest thou after my name, seeing it is secret? Do you have a marginal reading?
Do you see what that word is in the margin? Why do you ask
after my name saying it is wonderful? Wonderful. This is the angel
of the Lord, the angel, the messenger of the covenant. His name shall
be called wonderful. And then the next title that
he has given here in this verse is counselor. If there's anything
you and I need as we go through this world is a counselor, someone
to counsel us. But we use that term also in
reference to lawyers. They're counselors. You have
your counselor at the table with you if you're brought to court.
If any man sin, We have an advocate with the Father. That's another
term for a lawyer, your advocate. He shall be called wonderful.
He's wonderful in his person. He's God and man. He's wonderful
in his offices, prophet, priest, and king. And yes, he is counselor. He's that advocate that we have
with the Father, those of us who know Him as our Lord and
Savior, and when we sin, and we do, God's people I'm speaking
of. We don't lose our salvation.
Why? Because we have an advocate with
the Father. And he's always there, always
there representing us as our counselor. And not only does
he represent us, but he is also the propitiation, the sacrifice,
John tells us, that appeases God for the sins of his people. And then we find that he's not
only the wonderful, counselor, but he's the mighty God, the
mighty God. You know, when you read and study
about God, you come upon a word that's called infinite, infinite. Now that word really should never
be used except in reference to God. He is the only one who is infinite. And when we read about Him being
the mighty God, that simply reminds us that His power is unlimited. You cannot measure His power. He is infinite in power. And that's true of all of His
attributes, isn't it? You cannot measure His love. You cannot measure His grace.
his wisdom, his knowledge. He's a mighty God. And not only
that, but we read here, he's the everlasting father. And that
brings us back to the fact, as I said, he was given a people,
a seed to serve him. And then the last title is the
Prince of Peace. The Prince of Peace. What does
this mean? Well, it means one of these two
things. It means both of them, really.
But first of all, it means he's a peaceful prince. A peaceful
prince. Now, the nation of Israel had
been taught there's a Messiah coming, no doubt about it. He's
been promised all through the Old Testament. But they had been
taught to expect a Messiah who would set up a kingdom through
power and might. like a military commander. And
the Lord Jesus Christ came as the peaceful Messiah. His voice was not heard in the
street. This is one of the prophecies.
His voice shall not be heard in the streets. Have you ever
seen a parade when, when the president of our country or even
a governor, when they come to town and everybody is out there
applauding and shouting or demonstrating against, but the, the noise that
is made and yet the Lord Jesus Christ shows a lamb to picture
himself. And what is more docile, more
quiet, more peaceful than a lamb? He shall be led as a lamb to
the slaughter, the scripture says. And John pointed him out,
John the Baptist says, the lamb of God, which taketh away the
sins of the world. He'll be a peaceful prince. But second, it also means he
would be a restorer of peace. The peace, the amity, the friendship
that was lost between God and man because of Adam's transgression,
because of Adam's sin, he shall restore it. He restored that
which he took not away. Now here's the third maid. God
made peace by His righteousness. Look back to Isaiah 32. Isaiah
chapter 32 and verse 17. So first of all we see God made
a covenant of peace. The way of peace they have not
known. Now here it is. God made a covenant
of peace. God made Himself the Prince of
Peace. He became man. The God-man. And third, God made peace by
His righteousness. Chapter 32 and verse 17. And the work of righteousness
shall be peace. His work, His work, His obedience. The work of righteousness that
results in peace is the obedience of the Prince of Peace. He came
to fulfill all righteousness. He told those when he was here
in the flesh, think not that I'm come to destroy the law or
the prophets. I'm not come to destroy, but
to fulfill, to fulfill. And when he came to John the
Baptist to be baptized of him, to begin his public ministry. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
John, and John, of course, he said this, I have need to be
baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? Now, John confessed. Listen, folks, this is what John
confessed. Paraphrase, he said, listen,
there's someone here among you, and I'm not worthy to even unloose
the straps of his shoes. He knew who this was, this was
God come in the flesh, the Lamb of God. I'm not worthy to even
bend down and unstrap his sandals. And then the Lord came to him
to be baptized. And John said, oh no, I have
need to be baptized of thee and you come to me? But the Lord Jesus Christ said
this. He said, suffer it to be. We might fulfill all righteousness. All righteousness. It was by
his obedience that he brought in this everlasting righteousness. And he suffered the penalty of
the law that you and I had broken. And the Apostle Paul in Colossians
tells us this. Now listen, we're talking about
peace, talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace,
making peace by His righteousness, by His obedience. In Colossians,
Paul says this, for it pleased the Father that in Him, that
is in Christ, should all fullness dwell, all fullness of deity
in the man Christ Jesus. And now notice, and having made
peace, how did he make peace? By the blood of his cross. Having made peace by the blood
of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself, by him,
I say, whether things in earth or things in heaven, and you,
and I'd say this to you, As Paul
wrote to those believers at Colossae, and you, you, you who were alienated
in your mind and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now
hath he reconciled. Now notice in this verse here
in Isaiah 32, I said he, God made peace by his righteousness,
and the work of righteousness shall be peace, and the effect
of righteousness, quietness and assurance. Quietness of what? Quietness of conscience. That
conscience that troubles you because you have disobeyed God,
because you have sinned. How's that conscience ever going
to be quietened? by Him, by His blood, by recognizing
that He made peace. The peace that you need with
God is a peace that He made. I don't know when or where this
term came into being, but people used to say, and maybe still
do, say, well, make your peace with God. And I'm always reminded
of what Mr. Spurgeon said in one message
a bricklayer evidently had fallen off the scaffold and was about
to die there in London. And people came around and this
English clergyman came up and told him, said, make your peace
with God. And the man had enough strength
and thank God enough grace to say, that was already made for
me. That was already made for me.
No, you're not going to make your peace with God. How could
you make peace with God? Everything you offer unto God
is polluted because of your pollution, my pollution. No, thank God,
He made peace for us, for His people, by His suffering, by
His death, by His perfect obedience. And here's the last made God
made commandment to preach the gospel of peace to all men. To all men. Look at Isaiah 52. Paul quotes this verse in Romans
chapter 10. Isaiah chapter 52. And verse 7. How beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings. that
publisheth peace. Now, when Paul quotes that in
the New Testament, he says that how beautiful are the feet of
them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings
of good things. How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth
peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation,
that saith undesigned, that is the church, thy God reigneth. Someone said, why do you emphasize
the sovereignty of God? Because God is sovereign, that's
why. And because I know that God's
people need to hear it and rejoice in it, that God is sovereign. He's not up there, my friends,
in heaven wringing his hands, wondering how all things are
going to turn out. No, he's working all things after
the counsel of his will. All things. And as I've said many times before,
God doesn't need us, but we sure need him. And God uses this truth
to make his people recognize our poverty. Blessed are the
poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. God commanded
this or made this commandment to go into all the world and
preach this gospel of peace to all creatures. whosoever believeth. Do you believe today? Do you
trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and as your Savior?
Do you bow to Him, acknowledging Him as your lawful ruler? The hymn writer said, a refuge
for sinners the gospel makes known, disfound in the merits
of Jesus alone. The weary, the tempted, and burdened
by sin, were never exempted from entering therein. This refuge
for sinners His love did ordain, in Jesus the Lamb from eternity
slain. And if God the Spirit reveal
this to you, take refuge in Jesus, though hell should pursue. Here's
refuge for sinners whose guilt may appear as black as the confines
of endless despair, who stripped of all merit whereon to rely,
are taught by the spirit to Jesus to fly. Should conscience accuse
us as oft times it may, here's blood that can take its defilement
away. In Jesus the Savior, the sinner
shall view of city of refuge and righteousness too. Now, do
you know him who is the way of peace? Our Lord said, I am the
way. I am the way of peace. He's the only way of peace with
the Father. Do you know him today? I trust
that you do, and if not, that God might reveal himself to you.
Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with God. May the Lord bless this word.
If you will, now we're going to
end the service singing 134, hymn number 134.