(BONUS EPISODE) September 21, 2025 - Sunday Evening Service with Bruce Walker - The Perfect Sacrifice of Jesus - Isaiah 6

Pray with me. Father, every time we open your

Word, there is the potential for fellowship,

worship, conviction, reproof, wisdom. power.

Your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light

unto our path. Every word of it is pure, our

shield, as we trust in you. Your word is quick

and powerful, sharper than any two -edged sword.

not only able but eager to divide asunder soul

and spirit and We are gathered in your midst

tonight for the work of your spirit in our heart

according to your word To the honor of your son

who has shed his precious blood on our behalf

so that we might not only come before you but

come boldly This is humbling, but it is true

We thank you that you have left us here to complete

and fill up the sufferings of the body. This

is a mystery to us. We know how perfect and sufficient

your suffering was and yet as your body there

are pains and trials and difficulties yet to

bear. We pray for your strength and grace because

we have nothing to bring to you but our weakness.

But we will boast in that so that the power of

God might rest upon us. Lord, knit our hearts

together in love. Teach us what love is and help

us to apply it. May we come away from our fellowship

tonight, changed more into the image of your

Son. Every time we're together with your Word

before us, that is not only your desire but a

distinct promise for us. So we present ourselves

before you as living sacrifices such as they

are. Strengthen us by might according to your

spirit in the inner man. We pray in Christ's

name, amen. Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 12.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

on the hills of this great litany of inexplicably

devoted disciples of whom the writer to the Hebrews

says the world was not worthy. He then goes on

to say, since we are surrounded by so great a

cloud of witnesses. I'm gonna end up in Isaiah

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6 tonight. Don't turn there yet, but

Much like Peter's death There's a you know Peter

Jesus told Peter How he would die and good early

church father Christian resources tell us that

Peter was crucified upside down. That's not a

canonical historical fact, but the evidence is

pretty good. I wouldn't bet much of my eternal

reward on it, but it probably happened that way.

The same thing is true of Isaiah. A Hebrew tradition

has it that during the time of Manasseh, Isaiah

was sawn in two. That's one of the references

of being sawn asunder. Hebrews chapter 11 is

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

referring at least to Isaiah, and here's the

kicker. Check this out, Danny. He was sawn in

two with a wooden saw. Slowly. The world was

not worthy. Of whom the world was not worthy.

And I don't think it's wrong to give honor to

saints that pay that ultimate price. And those

are the kinds of people that we revere and have

a proper obligation to live our lives in such

a way that whatever the Lord calls upon us to

lay down, based on what has been laid down for

us, we gladly offer that. That's that verse.

Therefore, since we're surrounded by so great

a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside some of

the weights that slow us down. Every weight and

every sin which clings so closely. And let us

run with endurance the race that is set before

us. You're running uphill. You're swimming upstream.

You're trudging on in quicksand. and the biblical

admonishment and privileges to endure and be

patient. Patience when it has its perfect work,

right? Therefore, being justified by faith, we

have peace with God. Looking unto Jesus. the

Founder and Perfecter of our faith. Every Old

Testament Saint looked forward to the certainty

of Christ's coming and salvation and every one

of us since then looked back on the perfect sacrifice

of Christ. He perfected our faith. I love this

last part of this paragraph. it says who for

the joy that was set before him enduring the

cross despising the shame didn't like the mocking

the scourging the stripes the dishonor of the

method of the most humiliating form of crucifixion

that has ever been derived by the cruel heart

of man he didn't like it but i think even more

so and i think this is all review for you guys

but I think what he hated the most was he had

to become sin he who knew no sin became sin so

that we might be made the righteousness of God

and in him and the only thing you do is repeat

that because the Bible says it that's beyond

our comprehension Think that when the Bible says

that Jesus was tempted in every way just like

we are yet without sin I don't think temptation

has any teeth without it being temptation and

he said no It is written Endurance endurance

may be the prominent subtext of sanctification

Because when you're first saved like Rick was

talking about and singing that hymn and the newness

and the freshness of having been forgiven and

that weight of sin being taken off of your back.

And then 20 and 30 and 40 years down the road,

you still got to get up the next day and do the

second thing. It can be a grind. The beauty of

spiritual discipline and presenting yourself

to the Lord every day in prayer and devotion

is that... He becomes that living sufficiency

to you in that grind, in that long stream up

to spawn like the great northwest salmon, trout,

and all those fish. And I think it's encouraging

for us to get together and acknowledge, hey,

you know, my grandfather, he died in his early

80s. My grandmother died in her late 90s so that

she had a long... I mean, they were old age together,

and then he died in his 80s, and she lived on

up almost to 100. And when they were, last time

I saw him, I may have mentioned this to y 'all

or not, but it's worth repeating in this context.

He reached his hand up off the gurney, they were

wheeling him in, who knows what they were gonna

do next. And he was this gracious southern gentleman,

just perfect manners. I mean, just a refined,

country, southern gentleman. He took my hand

and he squeezed it and he said, Brucey. I said,

what, granddaddy? We never called him grandpa

or papa or anything. It was granddaddy, granddaddy

coach. I said, what, granddaddy? He said, I want

to tell you. He said, life is hard. Even when

it's easy, it's hard. Never forgot that because

what he was saying to me was the grind of his

faith You know it ebbs and flows and difficulty

not so difficult and everything in between But

the next day you're still swimming upstream.

You have to get in that and plow forward You

have to power plow a straight furrow and that

takes that takes endurance You know the farmer

waits for the cross, but he sows he waits. He

it's just All of life is this constant challenge

of, you know, the highs are great, but it's the

consistent path that wins glory. So in the next

few minutes, I'm going to give you some keys

according to Isaiah. and what is right now at

this time my favorite chapter in the Bible. You

know my favorite chapter in the Bible is always

the one I'm presently studying. Turn with me

to Isaiah 6. Now that we have the exhortation

of the anonymous writer to the Hebrews telling

us that we're swimming upstream, plowing a long

furrow, right? And endurance is the key. Let's

grab from this magnificent passage a few absolutely

essential truths to sanctification. I did this

message this morning at our church and Danny,

here was my title. Sanctification for dummies.

That's what I need. Keep it simple, stupid. I

need that. Give me something I can remember.

Give me something I can hang on to. Don't complicate

it too much with fancy stuff. In the year that

King Uzziah died, you know, King Uzziah also

is known by another name, Azariah, and Azariah

was contemporary of Uzziah's in the priesthood

and I've often wondered if and the way Uzziah's

life ends I've often wondered if the distinction

was made to call Uzziah by however this name

was derived just to keep those two clear because

they were both very prominent I don't know if

that's the case or not but this is a big year

in Isaiah's life and in the life of the Southern

Kingdom of Judah, Uzziah was 16 years old when

he came to the throne. Imagine that. Think of

the most prominent 16 -year -old in your life.

Think of that right now. Put that person, that

16, 15, 16 -year -old teenager, put that person

in your mind and then give them all the responsibility

of the kingdom. But Uzziah... proved to be a

seeker of the true and living God and he saw

God and He followed God and he did what was right

in the eyes of the Lord But what is the one it's

very similar to Solomon's life What's the one

thing that you'll remember about Uzziah that

was similar to Solomon? Old Testament students

Here's the way I put that remember my keep it

simple he didn't finish well he didn't he lit

he was he was 16 I think 50 something years on

the throne finished 52 years on the throne finished

up in his late 60s and The he's he's about Uzziah,

please bear with me. It's good. This is going

somewhere He's about halfway between the line

of the kings in the southern kingdom. He's about

halfway down. If you start with Rehoboam, and

you get all the way to Jehoiakim and the last

couple of kings, he's about right there in the

middle. And really, the kingdom prospered under

his hand. He was like a mechanical genius. They

made all kinds of probably weaponry that we wouldn't

even believe could have existed in that time.

I think it's the ESV uses the words. He helped

the inventors promote all of this particular

machinery. He was a great agriculturist. He loved

the soil and the kingdom really became famous,

almost like in Solomon's time during his reign.

And then as you said, toward the end, he assumed

the mantle of the priesthood and he went in to

the temple and the priest would have nothing

to do with it. They said, you can't do that.

This is not your place. Your authority does not

extend to this role and function. And then while

they were admonishing him, leprosy, and this

is ironic, and I'm not saying this is a humorous

thing, but because he got the big head, that's

exactly where the leprosy popped up. He got this

leprosy on immediately. They didn't have to tell

him to leave the temple. He got out of there

as fast as he could. He was banished from the

kingdom and his son had to run things for him

because he lived in isolation until he died.

He didn't finish well. That's an admonishment.

Back to our theme in Hebrews, endurance and patience

are not endurance and patience until they get

to the end. You have to see the biblical exhortation

to not only start well, not only run well, but

finish well. Key to sanctification. Really, it's

an important key. And Isaiah, I've often thought

about Isaiah in this particular. There were several

other prophets that were contemporary in this

time, but I've thought about Isaiah... because

of what happens and what is said after this.

I've thought about him sitting there and grieving

and mourning over the idolatry, over the high

places not being taken away, over the mixed muddy

situation of spirituality in the land and how

it must have grieved him. And, you know, certainly

in the godly frame of mind of praying and hoping

for, you know, the work of God. But when Isaiah

sees the Lord, all of that judgment, and all

of that perspective completely dissipates. He

sees God on his throne, the train of his rope,

filling the temple, the smoke and the cherubim

and the seraphim, and he sees God high and exalted,

and the cherubim crying, holy, holy, holy, holy,

holy. Whatever perspective on the nation he had,

here's the point. Sanctification. You're not

going to grow until you see God, and you're not

going to grow until you see God, and when you

see God, you're going to see yourself. That's

the track of sanctification. It is this constant

need of having an accurate and clear perspective

on reality. The politics around us, the cultural

apathy around us, the lukewarmness of the church

around us. We have no ability to affect those

things. Those things are under the purview and

hand of a sovereign God. We can bear the possibility

of being used to effect change in that situation,

but change starts with us. It is going before

God and getting a clear view of God's sovereignty,

God's holiness, God's wisdom. And you don't get

that in your own head. You get that through the

Word. under the inspiration of the Spirit. And

that's what happened. And remember this also,

it's not like Isaiah decided, hey, you know what?

I need a clearer picture of God. So I'm going

to go up and take a look around in heaven and

see how things work up there. No, God had to

come down and visit him and grace him with this

vision. Isaiah was chosen to see what he... None

of us can go up to heaven to see what he saw.

None of us can go up to heaven and bring this

down for ourselves. It is a matter of mercy and

grace for God to uncover himself for us so that

we can have a proper view. But I'll guarantee

you, if we were privy to such an experience,

our whole perspective... on what's going on around

us and what's going on in our church and what's

going on in our hearts. It would change, but

it shows, because it would change so dramatically

and drastically, it shows how desperately we

need that clarity. So the first key of sanctification

is you need a realistic view of who God is. And

that only comes through the Word. I saw the Lord.

Sitting upon a throne. What is a throne? A throne

is sovereignty, authority, high, sovereign, lifted

up, exalted, glorious. The train of his robe

filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim.

Each had six wings, with two he covered his face,

with two he covered his feet, and with two he

flew. Remember this? There's no sin in the cherubim

and the seraphim. They're absolutely un... They're

innocent. They're completely unadulterated and

unaffected by the curse and the fall. And yet,

there's this humility of being robed and covering

themselves because of the bright, burning reality

of God's presence. When people see God in the

Old Testament, they never shout hallelujah. They

always fall down on their face. They always,

even right up to the end in Revelation. No, stand

on your feet. I'm just bearing the shower of

him and I'm just like you. Get up! The fear of

God is the beginning of wisdom. That's a key

to sanctification. The fear of God is... If you

don't fear God, you don't know God. If you don't

fear Him, you can't know Him because He is inexplicably

holy and overwhelming. They called to one another,

holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth

is filled with his glory. Did you notice this?

This is so great. Here's this glorious picture

in heaven of the bright, shining, burning holiness

and glory of God, his sovereignty. But the paragraph

finishes with, the whole earth is filled with

his glory. Did you ever notice that? It shifts.

from this picture of glory in heaven to the picture

of glory on the earth. And it's this transitional

moment in the paragraph because the bottom line

is we can kind of get a sense of God's glory

in creation and revelation in creation but the

manifestation of His glory in the earth is largely

veiled to us because of our sinfulness. When

Isaiah sees the actual glory of God, his eyes

are open to the glory around him much like Jonathan's

armor -bearer when they were in that battle and

he was afraid and scared about the battle itself

and he was told open his eyes so that he can

actually see. The whole earth is filled with

His glory. There's principalities and powers

and spiritual forces in heavenly places and things

that we can't even imagine around us, right now,

in us, right now. It's veiled to us and the only

hope we have of gaining a more proper view of

it is a clear vision of God. We need the reality

of perspective. When we get that then the next

thing comes Foundation of threshold shook at

the voice of him who called him the house was

filled with smoke and I said Thank you for bringing

me up here to see all of this God. This is great,

man No, he said whoa Whoa is me Whoa is me for

I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the

midst of a people of unclean lips. I am undone.

That Hebrew word is dama, and it means I'm finished.

I'm ruined. I'm lost. Basically in modern terms,

there is no chance for me. I have no chance here.

I'm finished. My eyes have seen the glory of

the Lord, and I will not make it through this.

I'm undone. But if you see that, that vision

of God produces... And both are equally important.

It is as important to see God as it is... It

is as important to see yourself as it is to see

God. Because until you see yourself as you truly

are, you will not be committed to the path of

sanctification that is before you. You will grumble

and gripe about your circumstances. You will

be distracted by worldliness. You will prioritize

things that you need to deprioritize. And you'll

deprioritize things you need to prioritize because

you don't really know how desperately in need

you are. You become self -sufficient. You become

independent. You become autonomous. You don't

need anybody. Much less the God of heaven himself

until you see him for who he truly is you cannot

see yourself and both are equally important Equally

important in sanctification Reality and ruin

is how I Put that To be properly sanctified you

need To see reality to be properly sanctified.

You need to know the ruin that that reality produces

When you're ruined and you have no chance and

you're lost and undone and remember this is not

a passage about Salvation this is a passage about

sanctification Isaiah is one of the most godly

people in the land and The one that here's one

of the most godly people who ever walked the

planet apart from Christ He's the Old Testament

Paul, basically. Isaiah is quoted more in the

New Testament than anybody else. A lot of stuff

that we hear as New Testament theology came from

Isaiah. His view of himself is, I'm ruined. That's

humility. And we're so angry about people who

don't agree with us, and we're so angry about

the way things are going in culture, and we're

so mad about people who are so stupid. And all

that does is just obfuscates what we really are.

Wretched, rotten, undone, ruined, undeserving

sinners. If you let go of that for a minute,

you're going to dishonor Christ in your life

tomorrow. When you go in front of unbelievers

or people who say they know the Lord, if you

have a judgmental, hypocritical, uppity, I've

got it figured out attitude, that makes people

nauseated. And that's not wrong. They should

be. Because that, what did Jesus say? Come unto

me and learn of me, I am what? Meek, lowly, and

you'll find rest for your soul. Pride is the

enemy of all things fruitful. And that's the

irony of this happening in Uzziah's. That was

his downfall. It's sort of a guess, but I think

somewhere in Isaiah's sanctification he needed

this vision of God because he was probably pretty

discouraged about how things were going around

him. And the basic answer is, don't worry about

that, man. I got it. You follow me. Same words

to the disciples. I got that. That's not your

concern. You know what he also said? I'm on a

political bomb because it's the current thing.

Here's what he said. If my kingdom were of this

world, my servants would have fought for it.

That's rhetorical. What that means is you are

not to be fighting and wrangling about the success

or failure of this world. I'm not fighting for

that. I'm fighting for you. I'm fighting for

your sanctification. I'm fighting for your devotion.

Am I saying don't care about it? Don't vote?

No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying if it dominates

your conversation and your thought life, you're

fighting for this world. Don't do that! Stop!

It's not biblical. It's not a biblical priority.

A more correct political system is not what Christianity

is. It's just not. And if there's ever been a...

Culture in the church age that needed to hear

that, it's this one. So really what a lot of

that's about is anxiety. We fear that our comfy

little society is going to be shaken out of our

comfort zone. But basically the Lord says, Isaiah,

look up here. Focus here. And now, here's that

mirror. This is... Isaiah wasn't being pretentious

and like, I'm going to be so godly I'm going

to tell you what a bad sinner I am. These are

honest sentiments here. Woe is me! Road of sanctification.

Reality. Ruin. Sanctification for dummies. Then

one of the seraphim flew to me having in his

hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs

from the altar." Now I want you to notice this.

I want you to notice this. The coal comes from

the altar which signifies everything we know

to be true about Christ and all that the Old

Testament prefigures. That's accurate. but notice

that the angel picks up the coal with tongs and

He touches it to the skin of Isaiah He picked

that up if he didn't have to pick that up. He's

not picking that up. He picked it up with tongs

He picked it up with tongs and he burned and

singed and Cleansed the lips of Isaiah from with

that coal off the altar And basically, what is

that? All of that woe, all of that wretchedness,

all of that rottenness, all of that depravity

that was in Isaiah. Isaiah, he's not immune or

excused from the progeny of Adam. He needed that

cleansing and he got it thoroughly. And let me

tell you, if you felt what he felt, it would

not have been pleasant. It hurt. It didn't hurt

as much as becoming sin so that we might be made

the righteousness of God in Him, but our death

in Christ and our daily cross with Him is not

designed to be pain -free. There's a pain and

a price that goes with a devoted, sanctified

life. And if you avert that, shy away from that,

do everything you can to the point of even spiritual

apostasy to avoid that, you're not being sanctified.

You're just stuck right where you are. And if

that persists with any length of time, you need

to examine your salvation. A truly devoted, honest

to goodness Christian carries the cross. And

the cross is painful. Cleansing is painful. But

you have what? Reality, ruin, and relief. You

have the relief and the promise of forgiveness.

If you confess your sin, he's faithful and just

to forgive you of your sin. If you say you have

no sin, you're a liar and the truth is not in

you, but you have to make the move to come and

get that cleansing. The invitation is there.

What you going to do? Relief. He touched my mouth

and said behold this has touched your lips Listen

this listen this statement you ever read it closely

your guilt is taken away Isaiah came up there

with some He had some guilt somewhere. I don't

know if it was maybe a judgmental attitude toward

Uzziah or how could we let these things get like

this, some kind of prideful attitude, placing

more emphasis on the secular political development

of the nation and the reputation of the nation.

I don't know what was going on, but there was

some guilt there that needed to be removed. And

I promise you this, my beloved, people. If that

was true for Isaiah, that's true for every one

of us. We got some work to do. You got some splaining

to do, Lucy, right? We got some work to do. We

have the privilege of a fully complete sufficient

sacrifice and this blood that we so zealously

sang of... And, Lord forbid it, fall to the ground

like a common thing in our life and we don't

avail ourselves and appraise that blood properly

for what it afforded us by way of getting rid

of our guilt. You don't get rid of all your guilt

when you come to Christ the first time. You don't.

Because you... Christ died for all you were at

that moment, all you were before you got there,

and all you will do knowing that, knowing all

the wretched rotten things you would do after

you became a believer, and he spilled that blood

to the last drop. You're not going to honor that

by holding on to some coddling, some sin in your

life? That's sanctification. And here's what

I said this morning. You know what that is. You

know what that sin that so easily besets you

is. You know the apathy or the laziness or the

rebellion with which you have approached it.

You know exactly what it is. It's never complicated.

It's right there. Whether it be lust or greed

or covetousness or self -indulgence or whatever

the case, whatever it is, you know exactly what

it is that needs that singeing coal. From the

altar of Christ go do that take care of that

tonight honestly Reality ruin relief road sanctification

Running your race lots of ours. I had ours all

over the place By the way, Uzziah's leprosy is,

side note, the most humiliating condition that

a person could have in that time. His pride was

met with, and so that is a warning, isn't it?

It is. It's a warning that his pride was met

with the perfect instrument of humility. I imagine

he had some serious repentance. in that isolated

house that he lived in until he died. I'm pretty

confident, I feel pretty good about the fact

that he probably got things right over there.

Because he really, truly sought the Lord up until

he got a swelled head. And the Lord finished

the job. I don't want to have run a race and

get to the end. And I remember this. back in

the 70s. You know, most of y 'all are around

my age. You remember how big the Olympics used

to be? And I mean, it was like this. It was a

big thing on TV, and you look forward to it,

and it kind of took forever to come around again.

I remember this distance runner, this girl from...

I think she was from South America, maybe Australia,

but anyway. The last leg, you come in the stadium

from the road race, and you're... And I mean,

man, she was wobbling. She was like, I mean,

beaten down. And I think, I don't think she was

winning or maybe she was winning or whatever

the case may be. She got out in front. And I

mean, she just, I mean, you need to go, I'll

tell you her name later, but you go back and

look it up. It's just awful. And she's just not

going to quit. And literally her body gave out

and the runners behind her. Helped her picked

her up and got her across. She wasn't quitting

She was not quitting It was inspiring even as

a young child. I remember thinking man. This

is I don't know if I was a teenager or what but

it's just just the tenaciousness of finishing

and Doing that for a trophy or a medal finish

well right finish finish well We're all getting

old. We're all gonna die. That's no big news,

Flash. Finish well. Reality ruined relief. Readiness.

Readiness. Then I heard a voice say, it's not

until you see the Lord, you see yourself, You

get forgiveness in your sanctification that you're

ready to move on to any kind of ministry. Your

ministry is a shell and a hypocritical hollow

clanging symbol or whatever you want to say until

you have to follow the prescription as it is

given. If you want to honor Christ with your

life, you need to see God for who he is and see

God for who you are. You need to get forgiven

for what's there. Then you're ready to be used.

That's what happens next. Whom shall I send?

We all know that verse. And we always say, here

I am, send me, Lord. But we forget the first

verses and all the stuff that comes before this

to where he could get to this point where he

was eager. Now, man, when guilt gets taken off

of you, you get really excited. You really do.

I mean, there's nothing like being free from

something that has bound you up. And you're ready

to go. You almost feel like you just got saved

all over again. Because when you're in the midst

of apathy and sin, you feel like you're lost,

don't you? I mean, when you willfully, when you

say something or do something or get involved

in something and you're in slander and criticism

or whatever the case may be, you feel like an

unbeliever and you're supposed to feel like that.

But man, when that guilt's lifted, you're like,

Lord, let's go. What was I thinking? And that's

what, he's eager here. Here I am. Send me. And

he said, go. OK, go. Now, Isaiah, when you go

out there and preach, the stadiums are going

to be filled. People are going to fall all over

themselves coming down to the altar to give their

life to Jesus. And your name is going to go down.

They don't mention the wooden saw. You are going

to be like them. You're going to sell zillions

of books. No. Every step is going to be like

taking a step backwards. You're going to say,

he says, tell them to keep on listening, but

not to hear. Tell them to keep on seeing, but

not to see. Here's one of the most influential

believers of all time, and the Lord's saying,

everybody's going to say, you're a fool. And

they're going to reject everything you say. And

what you think is going to happen, if you just

get right and tell the truth, ain't going to

happen. You're not gonna have 10 ,000 people

in your name going down in history. I don't know

what that's all about anyway, but it's not gonna

be like that for you, Isaiah. It's gonna be hard,

like my granddad says, even when it's easy, it's

gonna be hard. Your reward is in the future.

Your reward comes at the end after you've endured

and persevered. You don't get it now. The reward

you get now is, I am with you, I will never leave

you or forsake you. Everything you need is in

this book. All you need pertaining to life and

the governance I've given you. You don't need

to seek any other source. And just be content

with a soldier's existence. Because you're going

to get home one day and the war is going to be

over. But right now, I mean, he's basically promising

him a life of hardship. Keep on hearing, do not

understand, keep on seeing, do not perceive.

Listen to this. Make the heart of this people

dull. There's your commission, Mr. Pastor. In

other words, what he is telling Isaiah... Make

it what it is. Make it impossible, but for God's

intervention. Make it as hard as you can make

it. He says, cut down the tree. Cut off everything.

Trim it down to just where there's just a root

left. To attack it, destroy it with the righteousness

of the truth. And the truth will stand at the

end. But make no pretense about the falsehood

of what presents itself as kingdom -oriented

and kingdom -natured. No! Tear it down! You know,

if we would preach like that... At least people

would have a clearer understanding of what the

gospel is. It costs you your life. You can't

come to God and keep your life. If you haven't

given your life to God, you're not a Christian.

If you haven't given your life in totality to

Christ for His Lordship, that's repentance. You

confess. You turn away from personal self -lordship.

You turn to the Lordship of Christ. That is what

repentance is. It's not anything else. Judas

was sorry about his sin. but he did not give

his life to the Master. What? That's the difference

between secular repentance and godly repentance.

If you give your life to Christ and He cleanses

you and you walk with Him and you carry your

cross through the difficulties of your situation,

not going around, not going over, not going under,

but going right through whatever He places providentially

and circumstantially, relationship -wise, resource

-wise, in front of you, then you have the promise

of His sufficiency and His fellowship. Mean y

'all y 'all know me long enough to know I try

to I'm not trying to make it any harder than

it is But I'm trying to make it as hard as the

Bible makes it and what did the disciples say?

Lord, then who if a rich person can't be saved

who can be saved? He doesn't answer them the

way they think he says it's pretty much impossible

but with God People get saved it's possible Even

a rich person, you know Zacchaeus, right? Oh

Zacchaeus was rich He told the rich young ruler

to sell everything he had but he didn't tell

Zacchaeus the same thing because the need of

their heart was different Zacchaeus was truly

repentant and he said I'm gonna pay everybody

back He didn't give everything away. So it's

it's the heart, right? It's the heart that is

presented to God for his work and sanctification

and that's like a fingerprint for you Whatever

that is, you know it, you know what it is I know

what it is. I know what the sins are that continually

trip me up. Reality, ruin, relief, readiness.

And then the root here is obedience. The root

of sanctification, the road of sanctification,

I should say, is obedience. Right? Look at it

this way. This way we're all supposed to be walking

is a narrow way fair enough Well, there's like

an interstate What happens if you don't read

the signs on the interstate you usually get killed

or you die? It's like the horse with you know

if you don't if you can't see the signs the scriptures

are the signs obedience is not a means of Righteousness,

it's a barometer of righteousness. It's a it's

how you stay on the and and that's what Isaiah

had to obey when the Lord said make their heart

dull. That was probably pretty hard for Isaiah.

Whatever he needed to say to make it hard, difficult,

impossible, revealing, he had to say it. He probably

felt like I did. I don't want anybody to be lost.

I'm trying to condition it and get them there.

You can't get a person there. All you can do

is present the truth of their life offered to

Christ and what that is going to cost them and

you have to trust that if God is after them,

he will bring that truth to their heart. You

have to leave but you can't shrink back and not

say what you need to say. The spirit bears witness

to the truth, not your silence or not your obfuscation

or avoidance of what needs to be said. It's a

convicting truth and it's a hard truth, but it

conforms us into the image of Christ. Remember,

God is interested in my sanctification for my

experience and yours for you. Mine's not yours

and yours is not mine. We all have the sufficient

signs in the road map of scripture that obedience

provides for us. If there's something in your

life, let me just keep it simple. If there's

something in your life that the word of God says

you should do and you're not doing or something

the word of God says something that you should

not do and you are doing, stop it. Repent. Go

to the altar. Get cleansing. Start new. Here

I am. Send me. the road map of sanctification.

People complicate sanctification. It's a new

truth, it's a new perspective, it's 40 days of

purpose, it's this, it's that, it's whatever.

No. When I sit across the table and counseling

from somebody, if they have a relationship or

a circumstance that presents a difficult point

of obedience, it's clear that that's their problem.

That's what they need to address. And lo and

behold, when they do... All this makes sense

to me now. Everything you've been saying makes

perfect sense. It's because Christians are blind

too. We're blind, man. Our sin keeps us in the

dark. Reality, ruin, relief, readiness and the

road of sanctification is obedience. Bad when

you go by a sign on the road sanctification and

it says bridge out and you've got your eyes closed

and you can't see it Right bridge out You just

went right by it because you were obsessed with

your comfort your life in this world Coddling

sin whatever you can't bridge out and you just

went right by it Right You'll survive it but

The Lord chastens every son whom he receives.

Sanctification means that you... When I think

about this from my own life, I have fear and

trembling in my heart. And every time I pray

for God, I pray for the shoulders to bear it.

Because it comes with a burden. Don't shy back

from that. Just ask the Lord to help you lift

it. When you pick up the cross for whatever difficulty

this is that you're struggling with, don't pick

it up like this. Just pick it up. Right? Have

you ever picked up a bale of barbed wire? If

you're tentative with it, it'll tear you to pieces.

If you pick it up, it'll cut you, but it'll be

over pretty quick. Pick it up. If any man would

follow me and let him deny himself, pick up his

cross daily and follow me. These are not complicated

truths. These are truths we all know, but we

get... Fooled into thinking there's some sort

of trick or gimmick or method or something. I'm

thinking of something, but I'm going to refrain

from saying it. Lastly, reality ruined relief,

readiness, root slash road. Reality is seeing

off who he is. The ruin is seeing yourself for

who you are. The relief is the forgiveness that

comes when you come and present your life to

Him for that sanctifying purpose. Readiness is

a result of that forgiveness and it never looks

like you think it's going to look. Your mission

is going to be curtailed not only for God's fruit,

but your sanctification and edification. It's

specially designed for you. Isn't that encouraging?

And then the root is obedience. If you're not

really working to understand the Bible, you're

failing. I'm just telling you. As a believer,

to have the Spirit of God in your heart and the

Word of God in your hands, and not to genuinely,

consistently, with some effort and sweat trying

to learn the content of the Bible, there's stuff

in there that is just a mess. Because you've

been hearing this for... however many years.

You know that you need to be in the Word. You

know that you need to be begging God in prayer

daily and consistently and devoted to Him. You

know that you're supposed to be thankful for

all things and you know this kind of, right on

the periphery of your life, these things are

trying to shout in. Reward. The reward is, and

it's almost easy to miss it, Because he says

how long? Lord, how long am I gonna have to travel

this difficult road? And let me give you the

Living Bible version to the answer to that. How

long am I gonna have to make this people's heart

dull? How long am I gonna have to do this? Reader's

Digest version until it's over. Until you get

to the end. Until I call you up to myself. Until

your life on earth is done. This is when you're

finished. This is when this is when you get a

break You need to rest in the Lord and you need

to gather your rest as it is provided for you

along the journey So you can get back in the

battle You know this trout sometime will going

up the stream There's little pools of still water

that has gotten kind of trapped by the rocks

and they'll fall off in there for a minute But

you know what happens if they stay in there too

long somebody comes along and get some Or they

die, right? Their life is given to... They take

a rest, but don't get too used to it, right?

Get back into battle. The reward is, faithful

that he who has called you, he will also do it.

How long? You do it to the end. Until the cities

lie waste and without inhabitant. In other words,

this is the circumstantial end to Isaiah. When

I have come and... As I said, Uzziah is about

halfway through this string of kings, and so

they're about halfway there. It's going to outlast

your lifetime, Isaiah. You just keep on doing

what I'm telling you to do. What I'm prophesying

here is going to happen after you're dead, so

it's going to be irrelevant to you. And though

a tenth remain in it, verse 13, speaking of the

dispersion in verse 12 under the under the Babylonian

captivity. And though a tenth remain in it, it

will be burned again. After there's a tenth left,

he's going, keep tearing it down, just keep going

after it. Like a terabith or an oak, whose stump

remains when it is fell. Listen, here's the last

verse, last clause of the chapter. The holy seed

is in the stump. I'm going to perfect it. I'm

going to make sure it happens. I'm going to preserve

it. The future I've promised for you, I'm going

to give you. How faithful is he who called you?

He will also do it. The reward is the promise

of the perfection and purposes of God. In the

Ephesians, one idea of the Kingdom coming and

God putting everything and filling up everything

and gathering everything together in Christ.

There's a sense to which that is so relevant

to you and so important to you, but there's a

sense at which we don't know when it might be

a hundred years. Who knows when it's all going

to be said and done and the Lord's going to send

out his angels to the four corners of the earth

to gather the elect. Jesus himself doesn't know

the day or the hour, so I guarantee you, you

don't. You follow me. He'll get you. to the end

and you'll finish well if you just follow the

basics of your faith. Be devoted to prayer. Be

devoted to the Word. Be devoted to repentance.

Be devoted to the local church fellowship and

give yourself entirely to that. Give yourself

to the imitation of Christ, learning the content

of the Bible. It's the repetitive soldier -like

mentality that takes us to the next bend in the

road, right? Sovereignty, patience, grace, and

the goodness of God ensures that like your salvation,

your sanctification is guaranteed and orchestrated

and designed by a loving and wise and good God.

The question is, you know, one of my favorite,

I'm sure I've given you all this illustration.

But one of my favorite illustrations is in one

of the Indiana Jones movies where he gets the

clues to get to the Holy Grail. Remember that

movie? And right at the end before the caves

across this big chasm, and one of the signs was

sort of you have to just step out into this chasm

by faith that you won't fall. And you look down

and it's like an endless chasm and you're like,

I can't do it. I can't, yeah, I can't, I can't.

I'll fall and and the sign says no step out and

when he steps out and puts his foot down is solid

He can't see it He has to believe it's there.

He's been told is there and he has to put his

foot down in faith and it's there So there you

go Lord, thank you for this night this wonderful

marvelous chapter of Isaiah's commission, the

wonderful testimony of His life and faithfulness.

How much more provision do we have than Isaiah

had? How much more of the things that we take

for granted he longed to look into? Lord, let

us not abuse our privilege. Let us not grow weary

in doing right. Whatever means and points conviction

your spirit has brought into our heart according

to your word tonight may we be attentive to it

and if you if you should please to give us another

day we'd be grateful for that we're thankful

that there are multiplied new beginnings for

those of us who are in Christ that the next time

we're fully cleansed of our sin is like the first

time we're fully cleansed Help us to get that

cleansing not to disparage the work and blood

of Christ by our apathy or rebellion or refusal

Let me pray this in Jesus name. Amen