I was pleased, Isaiah, the 66th
chapter. We're gonna look at verses three
and four tonight. The title of my message is Displayed Delusion. We'll read this in the context
which is written, so we'll read the last phrase of verse two. But to this man will I look,
even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth
at my word. He that killeth an ox, as if
he slew a man. He that sacrifitheth a lamb,
as if he cut off a dog's neck. He that offereth an oblation,
as if he offered swine's blood. He that burneth incense, as if
he blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own
ways, and their soul delighted in their abominations. And I
will also choose their delusions, and I will bring their fears
upon them. Because when I call, none did answer. When I spake,
they did not hear, but they did evil before mine eyes and choose
that in which I delight not. Let us pray. Our Father, we bless
you and thank you for that amazing grace that saved us from the
wrath to come. That amazing grace that establishes
us in the truth and causes our hearts to cling to the Lord Jesus
Christ and believe the report of what he has accomplished on
Calvary Street. We thank you, Father, that we
can come into your presence in our time of need to that throne
that is a throne of grace to seek help and find it there.
We pray for those of our company who are sick Those who've lost
loved ones, we remember especially Brother Wayne, as he suffered
the loss of his dear wife and the family, the Husky family,
they mourned the loss of our dear sister. We pray for Brother
David Ledford as he's recovering from this operation. We pray
you give him, bring him back to a good measure of health.
Pray for the others who requested prayer. For those who are sick,
pray for Robert as you continue to minister to him and to families
they minister to him. We pray for ourselves tonight.
Fathers, we've gathered here that you might teach us your
word. May it speak to our hearts and
to our minds. We know your word is a lamp unto
our feet and a light unto our path. We know the entrance of
your word giveth light and understanding to the simple. We ask that you
would speak to us by your spirit and take the things of Christ
and reveal them unto us. We pray in this precious name.
Amen. Now, when I was reading these
two verses, many things came to my mind. I first thought of
the multitude of times that people have said unto me, it doesn't
really matter what you believe as long as you believe something.
as if believing God is a turnip is a reasonable way to salvation.
Also, I saw the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, where
God rebuked Israel for offering blind and lame sacrifices and
polluted bread to God, believing that the act of offering equated
with the offering that God required and would be accepted. In their
mind, they believe that offering something, anything, was acceptable
to God when the scripture declared otherwise. The scripture declares
if an offering is to be made unto God, it shall be perfect
to be accepted. Many have invented places where
people can make the offering of their tears, the offering
of their weeping, I knew one man told me one time when the
Lord say to him, he went up to the altar and put his camel filters
down on the altar. I told him I wish I'd have been
there, I'd have picked him up and taken him home with me. But they
had altars. Our Lord says something about
that in his book, about the altars and the sacrifices and the tears
and the weeping that men make. In Malachi chapter two, Malachi chapter two, Verse 13, our Lord says, and
this have you done again, covering the altar of the Lord with tears,
with weeping and with crying out, insomuch that God regardeth
not the offering anymore, or receiveth it at the goodwill
of your hand. The offerings are made, but it
is the act of offering that they count on as having something
to do with their salvation. I also thought of those described
in the second epistle to the Thessalonians as those who set
themselves up in the church and act as if they were God, declaring
their will and their works were more powerful and substantial
than God's will and work. You say nobody does that. I say
everybody who don't know the grace of God does that. They
say that God can't do anything unless you exercise your will
and let him do it. That makes you God and him your
puppet. And it's just the other way around. God says he would send them a
strong delusion in 2 Thessalonians. God said, I will send them a
strong delusion so that they would believe a lie. God said
that. I will delude their minds so
they would believe a lie because they received not the love of
the truth. In this very book in Isaiah 28, we found that there
were those who bragged about the fact that they had a covenant
with death and were not afraid of hell because they had refuge
in lies and took hope in falsehoods. People don't do that. They do
it all the time in religion. Then I thought of the statement
our Lord often made concerning the sins of the fathers being
visited upon their children, even to the fourth and fifth
generation. It seems to me to be, for lack of a better way
of saying it, that seems to be a progressive digression that
right doctrine suffers from generation to generation in religion. It
appears that ritual and physical acts over time have come to be
equated with righteousness. The people that our Lord addresses
in this short passage are not those who have abandoned religion
They are ritually making offerings to God. They are showing up for
service and for the ceremony. They claim to believe God and
to worship him. But in their mind, they have
so diminished God that they have decided his word is of no true
value. And regardless of what they offer,
he is somehow obligated to accept them simply because they have
acted in a religious manner. praying, giving, church attendance,
and reading the Bible, or what makes census takers and posters
report that 90% of Americans claim to be Christians. They
believe something, and it is no longer essential to believe
God. What has happened? Little by little, as God describes
it, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little,
God's word has been set aside for the supposed needs and manifold
opinions of humanity. A man once stood or sat in the
congregation here with me and told me that it was all right
to have fornication because a man has needs. And he quoted scripture
to prove his point. He said that the Lord said it's
not good for man to be alone. And that was the excuse he used.
The devil can quote scripture for his purpose, and I'll guarantee
these who are spoken of in chapter 66 in verse three and four are
men who can quote scriptures right and left. The truth is that the truth hurts
people's feelings. The gospel, according to the
words of Paul in Galatians chapter five and verse 11, is an offense. to men. It's an offense to men
because it removes their person and work and will and ideas and
notions and thoughts completely out of the picture in the matter
of salvation. Salvation is by the work and
person of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. But that upsets men because
they want to have some part in it. They want to be able to say,
I did this or I did that. I accepted Jesus. I made my decision. I walked down an aisle. I did
I, I, I. The fact is, men just believe that they do
a little something. And if we can give them that,
if I could give you something to do, if I could give, if I
could preach to the whole Cherokee reservation, and tell them there's
just a little something they can do to be saved. Maybe it's
prayer, sinners prayer. Maybe it is to walk down an aisle.
If I can give them, I can fill up a church. Because I've given
men something to do. Men said, well, to Paul in Galatians,
you've been preaching works. He said, if I preach works, how
come I'm suffering? He said, the gospel is an offense.
It's an offense to men because it points men only to Christ
for the salvation of their soul. That hurts people's feelings.
And over time, men will disregard what God requires altogether
because of that. Because the fathers made exceptions
for the truth for their children, and children for their children,
soon they no longer care for truth at all. But that doesn't
keep them from being religious, because that is what they've
always done. Like the old song says, that
old time religion's what I want, because if it's good enough for
grandma, it's good enough for me. Well, what if grandma's in
hell? Still good enough for you. Still
good enough for you. It doesn't matter what they believe
as long as they believe something. As long as they believe something.
The words of our text are in direct opposition. to Him whom
God declares that He will look to in verse two. This man we
saw last week is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the man God looks
to for the salvation of His people. This is the man that God looks
to for the glorification of His name and His person. God will
always look to Christ. If you are in Him, you are most
fortunate, for He will see you in Jesus Christ and see Christ
in you. He will look to Christ and he
will only accept the offering of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
proven early on when Cain and Abel offered up their offerings.
Cain came to the Lord with the best of the works of his hand.
And I know Cain did not bring rotten fruit to God when he tilled
his garden. He brought him the very best
things he had. He brought the brides, he shined
them cucumbers up and he shined those apples and everything.
He brought them and said, here's what I've done, Lord. Accept
me, look how hard I've worked for you. God rejected him and
his sacrifice. And Abel took the firstling of
a flock without blemish or without mark or any such thing and cut
its neck open and put his blood in a basin and offered that lamb
on that altar. And our God accepted, accepted
Abel and his sacrifice. Early on, God was saying, this
is my son. I look to this man, this lamb
that was slain from the foundation of the world. And God will count
on us no offering but Christ. And if you come to God, you better
come with Christ or he won't accept you. He'll cast you aside
as a pot shirt into the field of pot shirts. Christ is the
only offering because Christ, the offering of Christ alone
is the entire salvation of the elect. So that which is offered
by these here in verse three and four are offered in opposition
to Christ. We have but to read the words
of our Lord concerning the Pharisees to see that their religion had
replaced all respect and reverence for God. He that killeth an ox
as if he slew a man. He that sacrifices a lamb as
if he cut off a dog's head. He that offereth an oblation,
that's an offering. as if he offered swine's blood.
He that burneth incense as if he blessed an idol. Yea, they
have chosen their own ways and their soul delighteth in their
abominations. In Matthew chapter 23, our Lord
spoke of these Pharisees. Now this is what our Lord, when
he entered into the world and the record was given him, he
came to his own and his own received him not. He's talking about the
Jews. He came with the truth. He came,
I said, I am the way, the truth and the life. I preach the kingdom
of God. He that believeth on me hath
everlasting life. They didn't wanna hear that.
They wanted to hear something else. They wanted to hear what
they'd always heard about how their works and their will brought
forth evidence that they were God's people. And our Lord spoke
with them in Matthew 23 in verse five. He says, but all their
works, All their works, all their works they do to be seen of men. They make broad their phylacteries,
that's a little box they attached to their garments with Bible
verses that they had remembered. They enlarged the borders of
the garments, that's speaking of the blue ribbon that went
around the bottom of the garment. That blue ribbon spoke of a relationship
between God and man. But they broadened theirs. It
wasn't just enough for them to say, I know God and God knows
me. They made the ribbon bigger, bigger, bigger, bigger. The bigger
your ribbon was, the more holy it was. The more ribbons you
put around the bottom, the more holy it was. And they did that
so men would see them and say, oh, there's a holy man. There's
a rabbi. There's a teacher. They did all
that to be seen of men, to be seen of men, so a record can
be kept. And then down in verse 13, he
says, but woe unto you. Scribes and Pharisees, you're
hypocrites, you're two-faced. For you shut up the kingdom of
heaven against men. You tell men, no, that's not
the way to heaven. Christ is not the way to heaven. For neither
you go in yourselves, neither suffer them to go in that are
trying to get in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you devour widows' houses. You take money from people
who can't afford it, and promise them all kinds of blessings.
I see that all the time on Facebook. If you'll just type amen here,
you're gonna get $5,000 next week, oh my sir. Woe unto you, devour widows'
houses, and for a pretense, and you know what a pretense is,
pretending, and for a pretense, you make long prayers. Pray a
long time, because if you pray a long time, you really know
how to pray. You really know how to pray. That old publican,
he didn't know how to pray in a temple. He said, Lord, be merciful
to me, the sinner. God took him to heaven, sent
the Pharisee to hell. Lord, be merciful to me, the
sinner. Preachers make a long prayer, therefore you shall receive
the greater damnation. Woe unto your scribes and Pharisees,
you hypocrites, for your compass will see and land to make one
person agree with you, one proselyte to join your religion. And when
he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
You're the child of hell, Pharisees, and your converts are twofold
more. Twofold more. This is what our Lord ran into.
This mindset spoken up here in verse three of our text. Verse
three reveals the fact that these mentioned have no thought of
God in their religious acts. It is simply a matter of what
they offer because they are content with themselves having offered
something, having offered anything. It doesn't matter what they believe
as long as they believe something. And our Lord declares that they
believe their polluted offering is the same as Christ. Because
remember, that immediately after the Lord declares to whom he
will look, this man to whom he will look, that he says these
rebels kill an ox as if it were a man. And I think the wording
should be if it were this man. If it were this man. Christ or
the bullet mean nothing to these rebels. It's an act, the act
of offering that counts in the mind of these miscreants. They
offer a lamb just as easily as they could have offered a dog.
There's no difference to them. They could offer a pig's blood
as if they offered up the blood of the lamb. They offer up incense,
but just as easily they could have offered it up to an idol.
And our Lord, he despised that. Back in the very first chapter,
as I was looking, chapter 66, seems to me that it's kind of
a synopsis of chapter one of Isaiah. In Isaiah chapter one,
in verse 11. Our Lord says, to what purpose
is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord? I am
full of burnt offerings and of rams and of fat of fed beasts,
and I delight not in the blood of bullocks or lambs or goats.
What is he delighted in? He delights in his son. And what
they were supposed to see was that the law, the Ten Commandments
condemned them, and the ceremonies was a picture of the Lord Jesus
Christ coming and redeeming them. And so these were supposed to
be about the Lord Jesus Christ, but they weren't. They were about
the fact that they did something for Jesus. that they did something
for God. This is what they trusted in.
So it didn't matter whether it was a lamb or a dog or a bullock
or a man. It didn't matter. It didn't matter
that the blood they poured on the altar was the blood of a
lamb without spot or blemish or a pig's blood. It didn't matter
because it was the act that they were interested in. They were
acting toward God. They were doing something for
God and this meant something to them. meant something to them. They offer a lamb as easy as
they would a dog, rather than believing God's Word. It says
they've chosen their own ways. Scripture says, there is a way
that seemeth right unto men, but the end thereof are the ways
of death. Deep down in their soul, they
delight in their abominations. An abomination is a nasty little
word. It means passing gas, the smell you get when you pass gas.
It's a very unpleasant thing. It says that's what these smell
like to God. That's what these smell like
to God. You see, men do religious things.
They pray. They preach. They read their
Bible. But if they don't know Christ
and aren't seeing Christ in all that they look to, then they're
an abomination to God. an abomination to God. Let me
give you a few examples. Turn over to Proverbs chapter
15. Verse eight says, the sacrifice,
the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. Now
there are many in this world who don't know Christ who are
very, very philanthropic. Deb read me a thing the other
day that America as a nation is the most philanthropic nation
in the world. It gives more money than any
other nations to charity. More of its people volunteer.
All these things. You say, well, these are good
people. On the natural realm, they are good people. But I'm
telling you this. The sacrifices of those who don't know Christ
are an abomination to God. They stink in God's nose. This
is the Word of God. But the prayer of the upright
is His delight. The prayer of those whom He has
made righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then look at verse nine,
the way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord, but he that loveth
him followeth after righteousness, which means to follow after the
Lord Jesus Christ. Look over at verse 26 of the
same chapter, the thoughts, the thoughts of the wicked are an
abomination to the Lord, but the words of the pure are pleasant
words. Then look at chapter 21, In verse four, a high look and
a proud heart and the plowing of the wicked is sin. You say, well, a man goes out
and plows a field to plant and nourish his family. Surely that's
a good thing. As far as the world goes, it's
a good thing that that man don't know Christ. It's wicked and
it's sin. It's sin. That's what these people
are doing here. The religious acts of men do,
that men do, believing that these acts are evidence of salvation.
All of them are abomination to the Lord. Now this is the Word
of God. This is what He said. Then back
in our text in verse 4, the Lord says, I will also choose their
delusions. And I will bring their fears
upon them, because when I called, none did answer. When I spake,
they did not hear, but they did evil in mine eyes, and chose
that which I delighted not. In this verse, the Lord reveals
the manner of his wrath against them. He will choose their delusion,
or the devices they use. He'll choose them for them. What
does that mean? This means that he will delude
them to believe that everything is okay. Back before I knew Christ, I
made a profession of faith when I was 12 years old, and they
told me never to doubt that, to always have assurance, never
to doubt that, because if I doubted that, I'd be doubting God. Thank
God one day He gave me grace to doubt that. God will send these who believe
their works and their will of what is acceptable to God. He
will send them a strong delusion. They'll believe everything's
going to be okay. They're not afraid of hell. With wrath, buried agreement.
They got assurance. He will give them a false assurance
in what they do. And unless he interrupts their
abominable religious career, they will die and go to hell
off a church pew with a Bible in their hand and a hymn or a
prayer upon their lips. What men do in this world to
be seen of men. What men do in this world to
believe that they have exercised before God and being recognized
by God like those spoken of in Isaiah 58 who said, we've done
all this and you've not paid attention. You've not paid attention. Our Lord said something about
that in the Gospel of Matthew. Here it is. In Matthew chapter
six, Verse two, he says, therefore
when thou doest thine alms, that is your giving, your giving,
when you do your alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee as
the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they
may have the glory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have
the reward. Every time I read that, some
of you weren't here this time, but I know at least two of you
were here this time. Many moons ago, we went to Little
Snowbird to sing. And they asked me to preach,
and I preached from Philippians chapter 3, verses 1 through 3. And then they had an offering for the benefit. And I think
they passed a plate. And everybody put their offering
in it, and then this fellow who was outside, was you there, Arlene? He come trotting in. They was
playing on the piano. He came trotting in, holding
up a $20 bill. As he walked down the aisle,
patted his chest, weighed that $20 bill, and threw it right
down that offering plate. And what that was, an abomination
to God. But he believed in something, which I guess was better than
believing in nothing. When you do your giving before
men, don't let men see you do it. I've never looked at what
is taken up here and counted and put in that thing. I never
look at that, because I don't want to know what people give and what
they don't give. None of my business. It's absolutely none of my business.
But they do it when the offering's taken up and they don't stand
up and say, here's my $50, here's my $100. They don't do that. Why? They do it in secret. Because
if they did that, the Lord said they'd have their reward. They
got it. They got what they asked for.
They got what they wanted. Somebody to notice them. Then in verse 5, it says this,
and when thou prayest, Thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are,
for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the
corners of the streets that they may be seen of men. Verily, they're
seen of men. Men see them, and they applaud
them, and that's their reward. They got it. They got what they
was looking for. Then up in verse 16 it says this,
moreover, when you fast, be not as the hypocrites of a sad countenance,
for they disfigure their faces, that they may be a peer to men
to fast. They come out of their closet all tore up and sad and
broken and humbled, tears running down their eyes, their hair's
a little messed up, they haven't shaven, and they say, I've been
fasting. And somebody says, oh, that's
so holy. Such a good man. I say, reward. And guess what he's looking for?
Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when
thou fastest, wash your hair, wash your face, that you may
appear to men not to fast at all. But unto the Father which
is in secret, and thy Father which is in secret, shall he
warn thee openly. to do what you do to be seen of men. That's
what these folks, they did what they did because they believed
that everybody was watching, they was making an offering.
Everybody's paying attention to what they were doing. And
the Lord gave them a delusion. And actually went in and went
up there and they laid that pig's blood on the altar. Maybe it
was lamb's blood, but they didn't care whether it was a lamb or
a pig. The Lord diluted their minds
and they heard in their own heart, you're good to go. Everything's
okay. The Lord is in the heaven and
all is right with the world. Our Lord says they have no excuse.
They have no excuse because you see you have this word. You got
this. Dust it off and read it. You
got it. This is your book. And whatever you think might
be the way, look up and see if it is the way. Because God will
tell you. It's in His book. They didn't
care for His book. They had no excuse. The Lord
called them by His prophets. He calls them by His preachers.
He calls them by His Word. He calls for men to believe and
to repent. But they hear not. Rather, they
opted for the deluded notion of righteousness. It is Christ,
my beloved. Don't know how to say it any
different. It is Christ and nothing else is the offering that God
has and will accept. Don't dare approach God otherwise.
Our natural religion is legalism. That's what we're born with.
We want to do things and be noticed for it. Our natural religion
is free will. Our natural religion is works.
Until we die, we'll be playing whack-a-mole with our own self-righteousness
as it pops up its ugly head, and our only hammer is the word
of God. part of the five Solas of the Reformation, one was Sola
Christus, Christ alone. Father, bless us
for understanding in Christ's name.