Now let us hear the first four verses of the final chapter in the prophet Isaiah, verses 1-4 of chapter 66. Thus saith the Lord, Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. Where is the house that ye built unto me, and where is the place of my rest? For all those things have mine hand made. And all those things have been, saith the Lord. 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 is as if he slew a man. He that sacrificeth a lamb is as if he cut off a dog's neck. He that offereth an oblation is 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. I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them, because when I called, none did answer. When I spake, they did not hear. But they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not. May God help us understand these words this afternoon. There are many blessings associated with and that flow from saving faith and belief in the saving gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that Isaiah so clearly reveals and declares in the book of the Bible bearing his name. This book that we have been looking at for many weeks, that he wrote under the infallible and inerrant inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God. Not the least of which is the belief in the truths associated with the new heavens, the new earth, and the new Jerusalem that he infallibly wrote on in the wonderful verses that I directed your attention to earlier today. But as I begin this last chapter of this evangelical prophet this afternoon, there are many other blessings that flow from the gift of saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, some of which I want to direct your attention to in the opening verses of this final chapter. Now the non-believer would not see these as blessings. But the fact that he does not simply displays the fact that he is an unbeliever who needs the gift of true saving faith in the Lord. Because those who have been granted the gift of faith in the Lord are able to see the things that I want to direct your attention to this afternoon as the true blessings from the Lord God that they really and truly are. Because the real problem for the non-believer that flows from his lack of faith is that a non-believing, an unbelieving man does not see or understand the things that the true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ sees as real blessings and gifts from the Lord. Now obviously the greatest blessing, obviously the greatest gift from the Lord to a true believer is saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. But what is at the foundation of this saving faith? It is belief in the truth of the Word of God. You, believer, believe what the Lord declares about Himself. You, believer, believe what the Lord declares about you through His Word. You, believer, believe what the Word of God declares about the Lord Jesus Christ, and that He is your only hope and your only answer to the real problem that exists between you and the Lord, because of who you are by nature, and because of who God is by nature. A true believer sees the blessing of coming to understand and accept the truth of the first four words of Isaiah 66, verse 1. Thus saith the Lord. You know that when you hear the biblical and saving gospel, you know that when you hear the written word of God, the Holy Bible, you are hearing the word of the God of truth and of your salvation. Now in the King James translation of the Scriptures, these four words together, thus saith the Lord, are found 415 times. To believe that the Bible alone is the Word of God written is a blessing of true belief. For Isaiah was a prophet of the true and only Lord God. He was used by the Lord to speak and write exactly what the Lord wanted him to speak and write. To believe that the Bible alone is the Word of God written is a blessing the non-believer knows nothing about. For when a true believer, when you believer, pick up and read the Bible, you know by faith that you are reading the Word of God. You're not just reading the words of men. You're not just reading the words of Isaiah or Jeremiah or John or Paul or Peter. You are reading the Word of God. You are reading the truth that the Lord God of truth once declared in His name. Yet how many show that they lack this blessing that flows from saving faith by their attitude towards the written Word of God? They treat the Bible not as the written Word of God, thus saith the Lord, a work of inspired men who wrote what they wrote under the inspiration of God. No, they say the Bible is a work of men who wrote what they thought would be helpful to others. Or worse, they were deluded men. Or even worse, they were deceivers. But for men like Isaiah to declare, thus saith the Lord, and not to be the infallible human authors chosen by the Lord to proclaim and write his word, would mean that they were either liars, lunatics, or being deceived. But the gift of saving faith delivers a believer from all these false and inadequate understandings concerning the Bible, as Paul himself would declare about the believers in Thessalonica. 1 Thessalonians 2.13, For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in Truth, the Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe it." When God gives man saving faith, he opens his eyes not only to see Christ as his only hope, but to see the truth that the Bible is the Word of God. That he is reading that which is a unique book. Because prior to saving faith, unbelief Reigns and rules in the heart of a man. That's why a non-believer can pick up the Bible and say, how can you find this book interesting? How can you find anything that blesses your soul in this book? Why? The problem is not with the scriptures. The problem is with that man's heart. He lacks faith. He lacks belief in the truth that the Bible is the Word of God. darkness is removed through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, a believer sees and believes what he once refused to see and believe. Thus saith the Lord, unless I repent and believe the gospel, I will perish, as the Word of God declares. Oh, there was a time when you got little or any benefit or any blessing out of the Word of God, believer. The problem was that you lacked the gift of faith to embrace and confess the truth of, thus saith the Lord. Now, some might foolishly and dangerously try and assault the blessing of personally embracing the truth that the Bible alone is the Word of God written by referring to such unholy books as the Koran as also being inspired by God. Well, you've got your holy book. the followers of Islam of their holy book. But how does a true believer in the Lord who understands that the Bible alone can lay claim to the truth of thus saith the Lord reply to this objection? Well, there is more than one way that he can respond. One is Isaiah 8.20. to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Since what is written in the Quran does not agree with what is written in the Bible, there was no light in Mohammed. And the second way is to remember the truth of Revelation 22 verses 18 and 19. For I testify unto every man that he heard the words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part of the book of life and out of the holy city and from the things which are written in this book. The Koran, both adds and takes away from the truths of the Bible. Therefore it falls under the condemnation of these verses and therefore cannot be the Word of God. The same applies to the Book of Mormon. It adds and takes away from the Word of God. Therefore it falls under the condemnation of Revelation 22 verses 18 and 19 and cannot be the Word of God regardless of whether a man running for president embraces Mormonism. Oh, if you embrace the truth of, thus saith the Lord, when you pick up to read, study, or meditate on the truths of the Word of God, you are a truly blessed person. When you can pick up the Bible and read a portion and it ministers to your heart, it blesses your heart, it convicts you, it shows you another area of your sinfulness and turns you again unto the Lord Jesus Christ in repentance, and faithful, you are a truly blessed person. Because you then see, believe, and have the blessing of knowing that what the Bible declares about God is true and correct. You are not left to drift in the sea of all the changing and contradictory views of God that exist in this world today. You have the truth of, thus saith the Lord, about Himself to rest on. And as I will show you as I proceed with this message, the two greatest problems of the unbelieving dead mind of unregenerate and unbelieving mankind is that since the fallen rebellion of our natural Father Adam against the truth of the Word of God in the Garden of Eden, unbelieving men embrace and believe woefully inaccurate and inadequate views about God and woefully inaccurate and exalted views about themselves. But when you, believer, embrace the truth that the Bible alone is the Word of God written, thus saith the Lord, you see and believe the truths that it reveals and declares about the Lord God and about yourself and about all men. And what does the true and only Lord God declare about Himself in the middle of verse 1 of Isaiah 66? Thus saith the Lord, that heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Now a throne, I'm sure we all know what a throne is. A throne is something a king sits upon. So here you see another verse that shows you the truth that the Lord is King, and this is why believers pray, Thy Kingdom come. But a King sits upon His throne, and the King who sits upon His throne is greater than the throne He sits upon. Therefore, since the Lord is declaring that the heavens are His throne. He is not only declaring that He is a king far above any earthly king, especially in light of how the earth is referred to later in the next part of this verse, but that He is above the heavens themselves. Psalm 19, 1, the heavens declare the glory of God, but they cannot contain His glory. His glory is above the heavens. The heavens are simply a visible means where God declares to all mankind the utter folly of rebelling and rejecting Him. Therefore, since the heaven is His throne, how glorious and powerful must God really be? And no man on judgment day will be able to claim ignorance of the glory of God. For all any man needs to do is go outside and look up into the sky to have a testimony of the glory of God being constantly displayed before him. Or, in the case of someone who is blind, hear someone explain to him the truths about how glorious the heavens are above his head. The heavens declare the glory of God, but the sobering debilitating power of unbelief upon the minds and understandings of non-believers is clearly seen in mankind over the last 150 years, or the last 50 years. What I mean, in view of all that men have been able to discover over the last 50 years, about the heavens above our heads. With both earthbound and satellite telescopes, discoveries about the heavens that men in previous centuries knew nothing about or could even have imagined. Yet men in the last 150 years have displayed greater levels of atheism and denial of God than cultures that worshipped rocks. Oh, but to embrace by faith the truth that the heavens are the throne of the Lord is to embrace truth about the Lord that should remind you of how truly great and glorious the Lord is. His glory is above the heavens. His power is greater than the heavens because He is the One who spoke them into existence and sustains them all by His all-powerful Word. Just take the sun. The energy. displayed by the sun. That's just the sun. What of all the stars? And His knowledge of His throne is perfect. Psalm 147 verse 4, He telleth the number of the stars, He calleth them all by their names. Men can't even begin to figure out how many stars there are in the heavens yet God knows every one of them. He has a name for everyone. Oh, the folly and the foolishness of unbelieving men who rebel against and reject the Lord who sits upon the heavens as his throne. But this folly is also seen in the next thing that the Lord declares through Isaiah about himself, this time with reference to the earth. Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool. Now, the Lord is not saying through Isaiah that he has feet. Because the Lord God is eternal spirit. But the Lord is using the picture of a footstool to teach men, in a different way, how far above this world in majesty and glory He is. For another side of the darkness of unbelief that shrouds the minds of the majority of men today is how everything, or the majority of things that men write about today, or talk about today, is man-centered. Little or no reference is made to the Lord. When is the last time you heard someone acknowledge that it was the Lord who gave us the snow on Friday? It's the Lord who is causing the snow to melt on the roof of this meeting house. All that is ever talked about is what man has done, is doing, or plans to do. Man glories in his accomplishments, refusing to acknowledge that it is the Lord who enables him to do anything. And men refuse to face the fact that the Lord is not impressed with what men have done or presently do or think they will yet be able to do. For the earth is His footstool. And compare this with Isaiah 40 verse 15. Behold, the nations are as a drop else is a very little thing. The addiction of men to what men have done or are doing with no reference to the Lord shows how ignorant the majority of men are to the truth about God and themselves. Men glory in the creations of men. You know, a man will be an artist or a painter or something of this nature. Men will glory and they'll spend millions of dollars for paintings. glorying in the works of men, and yet God paints a new picture every Sunday. Every time the sun goes up, every time the sun goes down. Every fall is different, every winter is different, every spring is different. He is a constant, never-ending artist. And men, because they are blinded in their unbelief, refuse to see this. And my dear people, ignorance is not bliss when it comes to truths about God and man. Truth that is seen by what the Lord declares through Isaiah in the last part of verse 1 and the first half of verse 2. For remember, the verse divisions are not inspired. Where is the house that she built unto me? And where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord." Now, the Lord, through Isaiah, is making reference to the temple that He decreed to be built for His worship. But why is the Lord making reference to this through Isaiah? Now, in saying what I am about to say, I am not denying the wisdom and ability that the people that the Lord used to make his temple. I'm not denying the ability that they had to have to weave the curtains, to lay the foundation, to lay the stones, to build the altar, to overlay the things with gold and with brass. I'm not denying any of those things. But who is it that gave these men the plans for the temple, all the materials for the temple, And all the abilities required for the building of the temple. Who was it who gave them? It was the Lord. The Lord did, as so powerfully testified to by David in 1 Chronicles 29. I'm going to read a number of verses here, but they bring out this truth. I believe the reason that the Lord is making reference to this is to remind us that the reason the temple was built was because He was the one who enabled it to be built. Picking it up in 1 Chronicles 29 at verse number 2. Now I have prepared with all my might for the house of my God, the gold for the things to be made of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and the brass for the things of brass, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for things of wood, onyx stones and stones to be set, blistering glistering stones, and of diverse colors, and all manner of precious stones, and marble stones in abundance. Moreover, because I have set my affection to the house of God, I have of my own proper good of gold and silver, which I have given to the house of my God, over and above all that I have prepared for the Holy House, even three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the houses with all the gold for things of gold, and the silver for things of silver, and for all manner of work to be made by the hands of artificers, and who then is willing to consecrate his service this day unto the Lord? Then the chief of the fathers, and princes of the tribes of Israel, and the captains of thousands, and of hundreds, with the rulers of the kings, work offered willingly. and gave for the service of the house of God 5,000 talents and 10,000 trams and of silver 10,000 talents and of glass 18,000 talents and 100,000 talents of iron and they with whom precious stones were found gave them to the treasure of the house of the Lord by the hand of Jehiel the Gershonite. Then the people rejoiced for they that For that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the Lord. And David the king also rejoiced with great joy. Wherefore David blessed the Lord before all the congregation, and David said, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty. For all that is in the heaven and in the earth is Thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and Thou art exalted as head above all. both riches and honor come of Thee, and Thou reignest over all, and in Thine hand is power and might, and in Thine hand it is to make great and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank Thee and praise Thy glorious name." And so here David laid out all the things that were given and prepared, not only by himself, but by others for the making of the temple. And he lays it all out and he praises God for it. But listen to verse 14 of 2 Chronicles 29. But who am I? But who am I? And what is my people that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sword? For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. Yes, men brought the materials for the temple. Yes, men labored to build the temple. But it was the Lord who gave all the materials and talents needed to build the temple, because the temple pointed to the work of the Lord in saving sinners. The temple pointed to the need for an acceptable substitute to approach the Lord, a substitute that the Lord Himself only could supply. The Lord is so glorious. Man is so sinful. that only the Lord can reveal and declare what is acceptable to Him and how sinner man can safely approach Him. We are only able to do what You enable us to do. The Lord God is not impressed with the achievements Because He is the only One who gives any man the ability to do anything. Let him who glories, glory in the Lord. Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do it all to the glory of God. God is not awed by anything men do, because what do you have that you did not receive from the Lord? And since you did receive it from the Lord, why do you think God should be awed by what you were able to do? Because He has given you the ability to do it. The temple was to be used to remind those giving the things to build it. The temple was to be used to remind those using it of their need of an acceptable sacrifice. Therefore, when men think that God is impressed by what they do, or will receive what they do without the only acceptable mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, they simply show that they have not seen God correctly or themselves correctly in the light of the Word of God. Because God not only reveals that He is not impressed by what men do, He reveals what type of man He does take notice of. The last part of verse 2. But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." Now, the Lord through Isaiah is not saying that the Lord is not aware of what all men are doing, even the hypocritical and self-righteous religious, as the next verses will show. The Lord is aware of everything every man thinks, every man says, and every man does, whether he is a believer or a non-believer. which should show to any man who would face himself correctly, that God looks with favor and acceptance only on those men who see that without the mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, they are lost and undone. For what is one of the clearest signs that unbelief rules in the heart of a man? He doesn't believe. that the only ones that the Lord accepts and looks upon with favor are those who give evidence of saving faith, as seen by what the Lord declares through Isaiah. But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor. Not poor physically, in that you can't lift a thousand pounds. Not poor monetarily, because men can have poor physical health and little financial in the sight of the Lord. Thinking that they do not need the one and only Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor in spirit, who sees that all his righteousnesses are his filthy rags, and that he needs the perfect, pure righteousness of another, the perfect righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, to make him acceptable to God. To that man will the Lord look with favor. But to this man will I look, even him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, a man who was convicted of his sins and his sinfulness before the Lord. And notice how the Lord Jesus Christ illustrates this in Luke 18. Jesus in Luke 18 talks about a man who was trusting in himself and despising others. But what does he say? Luke 18, verses 9-13, And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others. Two men went up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee and the other a Republican. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Republican. I fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. Is that a contrite spirit? Is that a poor spirit? And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me, a sinner. But to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, because what does Jesus say after this declaration of this man in Luke 18? I didn't go far enough in the reference. publican, standing afar, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for every one that exalted himself shall be abased, and he that humbled himself shall be exalted. To this man, while I looked, to him it was poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My Word. Psalm 130 verse 3, If thou, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? Lord, if You were to mark My iniquities as Your Word reveals, I couldn't stand before You. But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou may be feared. That forgiveness cost the death, required the death of Your only begotten Son. Oh, the utter folly displayed by non-believers. Does the atheist see himself as spiritually poor? No, he is so arrogant and proud in his atheism that he denies the very existence of the God who holds his breath in his hands. Think of the rebellious as they mock at sin and the idea that they are sinners accountable to God and can only be made right with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Do they tremble at the Word of God? No, they are like Pharaoh who defied the Lord with the words, Exodus 5, verse 2, and Pharaoh said, Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. If you want to know the story of Pharaoh, you know what happened to this proud, impenitent man as he was destroyed in the waters of the Red Sea. Oh, I pray that you and I have seen ourselves and the Lord correctly, because then you and I will confess The very truths that the Lord declares through Isaiah. Who does the Lord look on with favor? Those who are of a poor spirit. Those who are of a contrite spirit. Those who tremble at His Word and cry, Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. Because unless a sinner is enabled by the grace and mercy of the Lord to see himself and the Lord correctly, an unbelieving sinner man will even misuse the very things that the Lord has given to testify to a man's need of the Lord's mercy and grace through Christ. For what does an unbelieving religious person do? He misuses the very things that the Lord gives us to testify to our need of the salvation of the Lord. In the case of the people in the Old Testament, it was the temple. In the case of non-believers in the New Testament, it is thinking that by observing such things as the Lord's Supper, they have somehow made themselves acceptable to God. They somehow merit something before God. But what's the purpose of the Lord's Supper? For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do proclaim the Lord's death. until He comes, the only thing that can make you right with God. Because the whole temple system was the revelation from the Lord as how sinner man could approach Him safely. What's the Lord's table but a testimony to the only way that I could approach the Lord safely? But unbelieving religious men turned these things into forms of works righteousness. thinking that by doing these things they were earning the favor of the Lord, or they used these very rituals of the temple as a means to cover up their ongoing sinfulness. But the offerings and services of the temple were not to be used as a means to cover their ongoing sinfulness, or as a way to earn merit from the Lord. And when men use what the Lord has given them to show them their need of an acceptable substitute as something either to go on in their sin, or as a way that they think they can merit something from the Lord, they are simply displaying the true depravity of their unbelieving hearts. This is what I think the Lord is bringing out How many were using the rituals of the temple as a means to cover their ongoing sinfulness? As if they could put one over on the all-seeing God. But the Lord rebukes such to pray, thinking in verse 3, He that killeth an ox is as if he slew a man. Now, they were to bring an ox in sacrifice. So what's the Lord Meaning here, if you kill an ox and think that somehow that that bringing of that offering can allow you to go on in sin, it's just as if you slew a lamb. He that sacrifices a lamb, they were supposed to bring a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck. If you think that bringing a lamb enables you to go on in your sin, it's as if you cut off a dog's neck, and a dog is an unclean animal. He that offereth an oblation, and they were to bring an oblation, as if He offered swine's blood while a pig's blood was unclean. He that burneth incense, as if He blessed an idol. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abomination. To use the things that the Lord has given to show that He is a forgiving and merciful God toward sinners as a way to continue on in sin displays the real depravity of the human heart. Now, although what I am about to say is a perversion of the Lord's Supper, it illustrates, I believe, what Isaiah is referring to here. Although the Roman Mass and Confessional are perversions of biblical truth, how many members of what has been called the Mafia see themselves as good Catholics? They see no problem in committing all the heinous crimes against God and men that they commit because they go to Mass! And they go to confession! And I don't understand why this is constantly on, but as I've mentioned many times, the television is on in some of the homes I help in. And in one particular channel, they constantly repeat the Godfather series of movies. Very violent movies, but in that movie it brings that very reality out. Well, I can go on and sin, and I'll just go to the priest, and I'll go to mass, and I'll go to confession. What does God say here? He that killeth an ox is as if He slew a man. He that sacrifices a lamb is as if He cut off a dog's neck. He that offereth an oblation is as if He offered swine blood. Yea, they have chosen their own ways, and their soul delighteth in their abominations. And unbelieving men also like to think that they can tell God what He must accept from them, or think that they can put whatever on Him, rather than heeding the warning of verse 4. I also will choose their delusions and will bring their fears upon them, because when I called, none did answer. When I spake, they did not hear, but they did evil before mine eyes and chose that in which I delighted not. Rather than listening to the truth of the Word of God, as to what the temple was declaring, Lost religious man follows his own foolish and deceived heart with the result that the very thing he thought he would escape will come upon him because he refuses to believe in the truth of the Word of God. Bringing it to the New Testament How many have come before the Lord's Supper? How many have partaken of the elements of the Lord's Supper? Thinking that because they've partaken of those elements that they're somehow safe in the presence of the Lord, but they've never confessed Christ Jesus alone as Savior. They've never truly believed what the table is testifying to. Do this in remembrance of Him, in remembrance of the only One that can make a sinner accepted in the sight of God. And so the very thing that they think they won't face, they will face because they do not come with a believing heart and an understanding heart to the very thing that the Lord has given us to remind us and to teach us of our need of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord does not delight in what you do. The Lord delights in what His Son did. And you and I should be delighting in what His Son did. And He is not pleased when the very things that He has given to point to His Son and remind us of His finished work are used as a cloak for continuing in sin. Galatians 6, 7 and 8, Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap, for he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that sows to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap everlasting life. Oh, may none of us be sowing to the flesh by thinking that religious rituals even those things that the Lord has given us, like the temple in the Old Testament, like the Lord's Supper in the New. May none of us be sowing to the flesh by thinking that religious ritual can hide our continuing in sin or merit something from God other than destruction. May you and I be sowing to the Spirit by believing all that the Bible declares about us, about God, and about how that radical separation that exists between us and God because of who He is by nature and who we are by nature can only be solved and has been solved by the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one the temple of the Lord was pointing to, the truth that the Lord's Supper points to, truth that unbelieving religious sinners misuse and distort to their own destruction. May none of us be in such a state. Let us pray.