The Need for a Savior - Isaiah 53:6

[0:00] You can turn to Isaiah 53. This week, we're going to look at the need for a Savior. You know, we celebrate at Christmas that Jesus has come into the world. The Savior has come into the world.

[0:11] What does that mean? What does it mean to us personally? What does it mean to the world? Well, I know what it means, Pastor. I mean, it's Christmas. Jesus came. He was born of a virgin. He came to live a sinless life, to die for our sins and rise again so that we could have life.

[0:26] And yeah, this may be some review, but I think it'll be healthy and I think it'll be exciting. I've been excited just going through this. So this Sunday, we'll look at the need for a Savior.

[0:37] Why does man need a Savior? Why did we need God to send a Savior? The 22nd, the next Sunday, we'll look at the promise of a Savior. Well, if we need a Savior, who's going to fulfill that?

[0:48] And God sends, he's going to send a Savior. He sends a promise and he makes it so that we know who that is in his promise. And then on the 24th, which is Christmas Eve, we'll look at the arrival of a Savior, celebrating that Savior who's come into the world.

[1:00] And then the 29th, the last Sunday of December, what is then the effect of the Savior in our lives? So, you know, Peter says in 1 Peter, I mean, 2 Peter chapter 1, he says, Listen, I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though you know them and be established in the present truth.

[1:20] Peter says, hey, I'm going to put you in remembrance of these things. I know you know them. I know you're established in this truth of who the Savior is, why the Savior came, what was he here for. But I'm going to continue to remind you of that.

[1:32] Kind of our theme verse through this series is Luke 2 11. You know, Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, when he's writing to the Corinthians, he says, Listen, guys, I didn't come to you with excellency of speech, with wisdom of man's words.

[1:55] I came declaring the testimony of God. I came in the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified.

[2:06] You think, well, does that mean we just preach the gospel every week? We just constantly are doing that? No, not at all. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, Paul tells us what the gospel is.

[2:17] He says how that Christ died for our sins according to scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to scriptures. That's great. That's the power of God. Romans tells us that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

[2:28] But we're also told a little further in 1 Corinthians, after Paul says, Hey, I came to you not knowing anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. I didn't come by wisdom of man's words.

[2:40] He says why? He says that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power, the gospel, we just read, of God. Our faith stands in the power of God. That power works in every aspect of our lives.

[2:53] It's not just that, well, I need to preach the gospel constantly to myself to be saved over and over. No, once we're in Christ, we're in Christ. But it is by Christ that God has made wisdom and truth and life to us.

[3:04] And so we continue, as we do every week, as we go through Exodus and Genesis, we look at Jesus. So who is the Savior? So the question today is, why does man need a Savior?

[3:15] As we look at the need for a Savior. You know, there's some scriptures that right off the bat come to mind when you think of, well, why do I need a Savior? Romans 3.23 says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

[3:27] Well, why do we need a Savior? Because all have sinned. Well, what does that mean? To sin, to come short of the glory of God? Well, I was looking up the statistic of how far someone could throw something. And so the best thing to kind of like, you know, use is like a baseball.

[3:41] So the average adult man could throw a baseball about 200 feet. I mean, if I got 200 feet, I'd feel good about myself and probably hurt my arm. Now, the record, it was in the 50s by a major league player.

[3:54] It was over 450 feet. He threw a baseball. That's like, wow. You know, I'm going to come short of that. I may feel good. If we all stood in a line and threw baseballs, I may feel pretty good because I can throw farther than you.

[4:07] I can throw farther than you. But I'm going to come short of maybe, you know, Keller is going to throw farther than me, right? And I came short, but I'm further than you. But then that major league baseball player, man, he's going to put us all to shame.

[4:20] And you can feel like, oh, I've come so short. But you know, when you realize where we're lined up is on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean and we're trying to chuck it across the ocean, it doesn't really matter, does it?

[4:30] If you threw it 450 feet or a thousand feet, it's all irrelevant. Nobody's going to make it across that distance. That's what it means here when all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. We've all come short.

[4:41] We've all missed the mark. You may get a lot further. Don't feel good about yourself because you got further than the person sitting next to you. You're not going to cross the Atlantic Ocean with a toss, right? Tucked away in Ecclesiastes chapter 7, verse 20, Solomon writes, For there is not a just man upon the earth that does good and sins not.

[4:59] You think, oh, wait a minute, pastor. I know some good people. I know people that do good. Some people who do justice. Well, look what it says there. There's not a just man that does good and sins not.

[5:11] No matter how good that person is, no matter how good we are, no matter how just, there's still the contamination, essentially. There's still the condition of sin. So again, I can't look and say, well, I did a lot better than that person.

[5:24] You know, I'm doing this just cause. I'm doing good things. You know, we collected a bunch of coats and space heaters to take up to Asheville for those in need. That is a good and a just thing to do.

[5:36] But it's contaminated with sin because we all are. So why does man need a savior? I think there's three things we're going to look at, three reasons that kind of come to mind that encapsulates this idea that we've all come short.

[5:47] Man is lost, man is separated, and man is condemned. That's why we need a savior. So the first one, man is lost. What is it to be lost?

[5:59] Some say, well, what does that mean to be lost? Well, you know, the old trope of that if you're a guy, you don't like to stop and ask for directions, right? You just keep driving and, yeah, I know where I am.

[6:09] I don't need to stop and ask for directions. Well, you know the cure for that, right? You'll never have to stop and ask for directions again. You say, well, yeah, I got a GPS. No, no, no. You get married, and you'll never have to stop and ask for directions again. Your wife will tell you.

[6:20] And you're set. No. Actually, back before cell phones had GPS on them, you know, I remember we had, you know, the Tom Toms and the Garmins. Man, that thing was great.

[6:30] We got a little Garmin, stopped a lot of confusion and frustration. I remember one time, I don't know where we were going, and we were driving along, because the paper map said, go on this route, the highway.

[6:41] I was like, this just doesn't seem right. And after a while, I realized, like, up above, parallel with me, was like another road. And we were on the old highway, and that was the new one.

[6:52] But on the map, it looked the same. And so it's taken us forever, and we could have been on the highway. But what does it mean to be lost? Well, I've kind of narrowed it down and boiled it down to a couple definitions.

[7:03] For myself, I think it's this. Not knowing where you are in relation to what is familiar. To be lost is, I don't know where I am in relation to what is familiar. So if you go on a hike, and you go over a ridge, and you come down into a valley, and there's a lake in front of you, and on the north slope, there's some pine trees.

[7:19] And over here, there's some, you know, some oak trees. Well, you know where you are. You don't think you're on the moon. You know that you're, well, I'm in this valley, and here's, but there's nothing familiar.

[7:30] So it's not knowing where you are in relation to what is familiar. You could be driving in the city of Charlotte or driving across country, but you don't know where you are in relation to what is familiar.

[7:40] Being lost is being able, is being unable to understand your situation beyond your immediate surroundings. So I know my immediate surroundings, but I cannot understand my situation beyond that.

[7:54] I don't know how to get outside of these surroundings. And ultimately, being lost is lacking direction, right? I don't know where I am in relation to my, to what's familiar.

[8:07] I understand my immediate surroundings, but I mean, I'm driving down a road, I'm in a car, and I'm passing trees and houses, but I have no idea what direction to do. And then being lost indicates that one is not in an expected or proper place.

[8:22] This is not where I wanted to be. This is not where I expected to be. This is not where I should be. I am lost. Let's turn over to Isaiah 53. And we will read the first five verses.

[8:38] Isaiah 53, very famous passage of scripture. Isaiah the prophet writes, Who is this him?

[8:59] Well, it's talking about the Messiah, the prophecy of Jesus, that Jesus didn't stand out from a crowd because he was like glowing or seven feet tall or, you know, look like a movie star. There is nothing that would say, well, we know this is the son of God by how he looked.

[9:14] Verse three, he is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. The world rejected him. And even we have to admit that we hid our faces from him.

[9:29] He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted.

[9:41] But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him. And with his stripes, we are healed. One of my favorite phrases in scripture.

[9:52] I read from the King James and I just love the chastisement of our peace was upon him. The punishment, the cost to bring peace to me, he took that. And then look at verse six. Despite all of that, all we like sheep have gone astray.

[10:07] We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Jesus who took this chastisement upon himself. Jesus who took the payment, who undertook to bring about peace in my life.

[10:22] How did I respond? All we like sheep have gone astray. That word there, all we, it means the whole. The whole have gone astray. There's not someone who's like, well, I didn't. You know, I'm not contaminated with sin.

[10:34] It didn't get me. The whole have gone astray. All we like sheep have gone astray. Romans 5, 12 says, Wherefore as by one man, Adam, sin entered the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all or the whole of men.

[10:52] For that all or the whole sinned. The whole have. The whole thing is contaminated. And when it says like sheep, well, it's the nature of sheep to wander.

[11:05] So it just means according to our nature. All we like sheep. All we, according to our natures, have wandered. We've turned away. The nature of a sheep is to wander.

[11:16] Without a shepherd, sheep have no capacity to lead themselves without going astray. How many people have ever had sheep? Anybody ever had sheep? A couple of sheep. My grandma had sheep when I was a kid.

[11:28] And they're enclosed on three sides. And then on one side was like this sheer gully. You wouldn't believe how many sheep walked over the edge of that thing. You know, you'd find them at the bottom. Dead.

[11:40] But that's the nature of a sheep. Without a shepherd, without someone to lead them, they don't have a capacity to not wander. Where it says that they've gone astray, that encapsulates the idea of wander, but also has within it sin.

[11:54] They've wandered off into something. They've erred. And we have turned everyone to our own way. Well, turning to our own way, by definition, means we're doing what?

[12:06] Turning away from something else. To turn to my own way, then, is to consciously turn away from God's way. Right? Like a sheep, we've all erred.

[12:17] We've all gone astray. Man's way is according to his own course, manner, and habit. It's according to our nature. What is our nature? Well, it's like those sheep, you know?

[12:28] The nature of a sheep isn't to like, you know, be aggressive and to attack and to be like, hey, come on, get a bunch of other sheep and be like, you know what? We're going into the wolf's den and we're going to take them out. That's not going to be very pretty, right?

[12:40] It's not the nature of a sheep. The nature of a sheep isn't to lead. It doesn't go to the shepherd. I got an idea. Follow me. The shepherd's, no, no. You follow me. So as we turn to our own way, we're turning from the way that was giving us what?

[12:54] That direction. That was leading us somewhere. The world, the world says, hey, the height of wisdom, man, is to be self, to be led by self. Yes, turn to your own way.

[13:05] Follow your heart. Follow your own way. Find your own way. That is the height of wisdom in this world. God says, man, that is the depth of folly. Don't do that. But Proverbs 14, 12, there is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

[13:22] When we turn to our own way, we're turning to a way that ends in death. And yet the Lord did what? He laid on him the iniquity of us all.

[13:32] What does iniquity mean? Iniquity means perversity. Or literally, when something is perverse, it has been turned aside or distorted from what is right. The Lord laid on him that which caused us to turn out of the way.

[13:46] Like, oh man, we've wandered. We've turned. And God took and said, yeah, well, I've got a remedy for that. I know you're lost, but I have a remedy for that. Turn over to Matthew 18, if you would. The New Testament.

[13:59] In Matthew 18, the disciples have come to Jesus, and they've asked him a question. A very important question. Jesus, this is important. We've been talking a long time about this one.

[14:10] We really need to know. Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Which one? Peter's like, is it me? You know, in one sense, you can understand.

[14:20] All right, they want to know who's the greatest. But don't you think they would already know? It's Jesus. Don't you think they'd be like, oh, Lord, well, we know you're the greatest, right? Who's the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus then, in verse 2, calls a little child unto him.

[14:35] And he sets that little child in the midst of them. And then we know going on from there, he says that whoever would be greatest in the kingdom, he must become as a child. But jump down to verse 11, and we're going to pick up there.

[14:47] Just to give us some context, what Jesus is talking about. He's got a child in the midst, and now he begins to talk with his disciples. In verse 11, he says, Why does man need a savior?

[15:06] Why a savior? Because man's lost. Man's separated. Man is condemned. And yet here Jesus says, I've come to save, to be the savior for the lost. Jesus was sent to be the savior to the ones who don't know where they are.

[15:18] What is it to be lost? We don't know where we are. I like that. Jesus came to save those who don't know where they are. Or, man, I don't know where I am. But he does. When we're lost, we find ourselves in a place that's not familiar, a place we don't understand, and a place that's not expected.

[15:36] And Jesus came specifically to save those. Jesus is now going to give a parable to illustrate this. When Jesus gives a parable, it's not an analogy. It's not an allegory.

[15:46] It's an illustration. It's to illustrate a truth, a principle, or an idea. Yeah. So then Jesus, when he gives us that truth and principle of an idea, we take that and go, okay, that's what this parable means. If you remember, Jesus said that he spoke in parables, not so that people could understand.

[16:01] Why would he do that? What he said is, I'm speaking in parables because it's only for those who already understand. And those who already understand are those who have received his words and believed him.

[16:12] It's not to take Jesus' truth and Jesus' teaching, like, okay, well, we're going to apply this to the world to make the world a better place. It's not for the world. It's for those who he's called out of the world, for his sheep.

[16:24] But he says here, in verse 11, the son of man has come to save that which was lost. How think you, as he begins to tell this parable, this story, if a man have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, that's that word there, to wander, to err, or to be led astray, to make a decision that leads to a state of being lost, is what's happened here.

[16:46] If a man would have a hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, does he not leave the ninety and nine, and go into the mountains, and seek that which is gone astray? He leaves, and he goes for one one-hundredth.

[17:00] No value, such small value, one one-hundredth. He leaves the ninety and nine, goes for one one-hundredth, and he goes into the mountains. He's willing to sacrifice. He's willing to exert effort. To go and to find the one that's gone astray, that's made the decision to be lost.

[17:16] And if a man would do this, how much more the Savior? The Savior seeks those who wander. Verse 13, And if it be so that he find it, truly I say unto you, he rejoices more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.

[17:34] There is great joy in being found. Great joy in being found. In Luke 15, Jesus says, Do you know what the condition is for being found?

[17:53] There's two conditions. You know what they are? You have to be lost. You have to have someone seek you. Right? There's more joy over the lost, because only the lost can be found. To be found means to be rescued by one who knows exactly where you are and can give you direction to what is familiar.

[18:10] So the Savior comes to the lost and says, I know where you are and I can give you direction to what's familiar. Are you lost? Great. You have great potential then to be found. In verse 14, Even so, does not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

[18:29] The disciples are like, Who's the greatest in heaven? And Jesus is like, It's not about that. My Father's interested in the least. One one hundredth of the value. You wouldn't even miss it.

[18:40] And he's going to go to all that length to find that one. Even so, it's not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish. What is it to perish?

[18:51] To stay lost. Not God's will. That one of these little ones should stay lost. God sees those that are lost as lambs, as little ones. That's how he sees them.

[19:02] How do you know if you're lost? Well, I think we just read it, right? Isaiah 53, 6. Because the Bible tells us, according to our natures, all we, like sheep, have wandered. We've gone astray.

[19:13] We've turned everyone to our own way. And yet, the Lord gave us a Savior. The Lord laid on him the cost for that. Being lost, you're unsure.

[19:24] You're unfamiliar. You're frightened. You're isolated. I think we've all been there. Why does man need a Savior? Because man is lost.

[19:36] Luke 19, 10. Jesus says, The Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost. Do you qualify as one who's lost? You say, Well, yes, I do. And I've accepted that.

[19:47] I've been found. And yet, at times, I'm still in a place where I'm unsure, where I'm unfamiliar, where maybe like that sheep in the mountain, I'm frightened.

[19:57] I'm isolated. Jesus says, The Son of Man has come to seek and save that which is lost. Why does man need a Savior? Because man is lost and because man is separated.

[20:09] What is it to be separated? Well, separation is distance between two objects. It's just a matter of distance. Now, that distance is not defined. Separation is not defined by the size of the distance, right?

[20:22] You could have a razor blade's edge that separates. There is now distance. There's no longer unity. There's no longer oneness. There is separation. Man is separated.

[20:33] Anything that causes distance between objects or people is something that separates. And for this, we can turn over to Isaiah 59, a couple chapters to the right. And we will pick up in verse 1.

[20:52] Man needs a Savior because man is lost because of our condition of sin, because man is separated. There is distance. There is space between. In verse 1 of Isaiah 59, Isaiah writes, Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened that it cannot save, neither his ear heavy that it cannot hear.

[21:11] What does that mean? His arm's not shortened that it cannot save. Well, remember we were talking about throwing that baseball and coming up short? Well, the idea is God doesn't come up short, right? It's like reaching out, reaching across to that divide, and he's like, oops, almost.

[21:26] You know, right at the fingertips, no, his arm is not short. His arm is able to reach and save, and then neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear. It's not like God's got his ears plugged, so what's going on?

[21:37] It means that God does not stop short of salvation, and it's not man's choice. I'm sorry, it's not God's choice. It's man's choice that prevents God from hearing. So in verse 1 here, Isaiah is saying, God is capable to save, and God is capable to hear.

[21:52] So what's going on here in verse 2? But, your iniquities. Remember we looked at that word? Perversity, distorting from what is right.

[22:04] Your iniquities have separated you between your God, you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, but he will not hear. So it's not that God can't save, not that God can't hear, but what's the problem here?

[22:17] Well, again, that idea, distort from what is right, turning out of the way, that which has caused us to be lost has separated us from God. Any space between, to be separated is to divide, to sever, to exclude, or to distinguish from that which is not, from what I'm separated from.

[22:35] So there's something in me that distinguishes itself from, man, I am not holy as God is holy. I am separated from where I wish I would be. It is not that God can't reach, but that sin keeps me out of reach.

[22:50] It's not that God can't hear, but that he won't hear sin. So verse one says, God's able to save, and God's able to hear. Verse two says, but it's our sin that separates us.

[23:03] And then verse three tells us what that sin was. Your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue has muttered perverseness.

[23:15] Your hands are defiled. Defiled means to be stained. There's a stain of blood on them. You say, now wait a minute. I never murdered anybody. I hope you haven't. My hands aren't stained with blood.

[23:26] I've never done anything really bad. Well, notice how it goes from the large to the small. We have hands, we have fingers. We have a mouth, then we have a tongue. Right? My hands might not be defiled with blood, but what about my fingers with iniquity?

[23:38] Iniquity, perverseness, turning out of the way. How easy is it for your fingers to do something perverse? Click, click, tap, tap, turn it on, change the channel. How easy it is for fingers to be perverse.

[23:51] Well, my hands aren't stained with blood. Your lips have spoken lies, literally to lead astray with lies. Well, I haven't done that. I've never let anyone astray with a lie. But your tongue has muttered perverseness.

[24:03] Muttered means to imagine or meditate. The imaginations, the things that you meditate, that's what you speak of. Think of the perverse things that people say with their words, with their tongue, with their mouth.

[24:15] Think of the imaginations that come out of people's mouth that becomes entertainment in this world. So, well, I've never let anyone astray with a big lie. But I've had perverse things come out of my mouth.

[24:28] And we're told here that those have separated us from our God. Your sins have hid your face from, his face from you. He will not hear. Man is lost and man is separated.

[24:41] What we do and what we say, it does not make us who we are. It simply displays who we already are. As Isaiah says, well, what have you done with your hands and fingers?

[24:51] What have you said with your mouth and your tongue? That doesn't make you into who you are, but it does display who you already are. As Jesus says in Luke 6, 45, a good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth that which is good.

[25:06] What's in your heart? An evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth that which is evil. For of the abundance of the heart, his mouth speaks. It overflows. It's what comes out. In Matthew 15, 11, Jesus says, not that which goes into the mouth defiles a man.

[25:22] Like, you're not going to be because, oh, I ate meat on Friday. You know, that doesn't defile you. That's not a sin. It doesn't defile you before God. It's what comes out. But that which comes out of the mouth defiles him.

[25:34] Because why? That proves what's in your heart. Proves what you already are. Sin, we think of as sin as an act. Something we do. Like, we talk about doing good or doing evil. The just man, the good man, or, well, the one who did, they did that.

[25:48] But sin is a condition. It's not an act. Just because we lack opportunity to act upon our condition doesn't mean we don't have it. Let's say this afternoon you're bored.

[26:01] You call up a couple friends. You say, you know what? Let's go rob a bank Monday morning. Nothing else to do. You call up your one friend and he's like, not a chance.

[26:12] I'm not going to rob a bank. You're out of your mind. You call up the other one. He's like, yes, I'll be there. What time do you want to do that? He's like, all right, we're going to do this 10 a.m. on Monday morning. 10 a.m. Monday morning comes, you head to the bank, your friend doesn't show, but you get the drop on them.

[26:26] You rob the bank. Great. By the afternoon, they've caught you. And you're standing in front of the judge and your other two friends come too, just because, and all three of you are standing there. And the judge looks at you and says, you are guilty of robbing a bank.

[26:40] And the other one says, I told you, I wasn't going to do that. That was ridiculous. And the other one says, well, judge, man, I wanted to be here, but I got caught in traffic. I really wanted to rob this bank.

[26:51] It's in my heart to rob a bank, but it just didn't work out. Are you going to go to jail for robbing a bank? No. No, you're not. Because that's the justice system, thankfully, that we still have in this nation.

[27:03] You're not going to. Jesus says, though, in Matthew chapter five, he says, you've heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill. And whosoever you shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.

[27:15] But I say unto you, that whoever is angry with his brother, without a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever shall say to his brother, raka, or essentially worthless, shall be in danger of the council.

[27:28] But whosoever shall say, thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire. The outward act of sin simply displays the inward condition of the heart. Why did that one friend not rob the bank?

[27:39] Because he wasn't a bank robber. Only bank robbers rob banks. Do you know there's all kinds of laws that we can do things that are sinful and foolish? I don't, I don't have a reason to do that.

[27:51] Right? There's a law that tells me I could, I could go out and I could leave my family. It says it's legal for me to do that. I have no, I don't want to do that. There's a law that says, you know, I could go and I could inebriate myself and get so drunk and that's legal.

[28:08] Well, I don't want to do that because that's not who I am. I don't want to rob a bank because I'm not a bank robber. So just because there's opportunity to rob a bank, if you put that in front of me, I'm not going to do that.

[28:20] Right? That one friend who said, I don't want to rob a bank. Now the other one, he lacked opportunity, but he was still a bank robber at heart, wasn't he? So just because we lack opportunity to act upon our sin nature, doesn't mean that nature is not still in there.

[28:36] And we will find a way to act upon it. Maybe your hands aren't stained with blood, but maybe your fingers are stained with iniquity. So how do you know you're separated? Well, Isaiah told us in Isaiah 59 too.

[28:48] But your sins and iniquities have separated between you and your God and your sins have hit his face from you but he will not hear. You are separated. I am separated. I'm lost and I'm separated.

[28:59] To be separated, there's distance. There's an exclusion. And God, no matter how much I try, I'm still excluded. I just can't bring myself on my own to overcome this condition of sin.

[29:11] No matter how good I am, I'm still contaminated with sin. And then there's that inward condition that tells me that fact. Why does man need a Savior? Because man is lost.

[29:22] Man is separated and man is condemned. What does it mean to be condemned? Well, if that bank robber, you, that was the analogy.

[29:35] I didn't rob the bank, you did. But if you are then tried, convicted, and sentenced, all that's left then is the judgment. You are now under the condemnation of that judgment.

[29:47] To be condemned means you're simply awaiting judgment. You've been tried, you've been convicted, and you've been sentenced. Man is condemned. We've been tried, we've been convicted, and we are just awaiting the judgment of our sentence.

[30:02] Essentially, we are dead men walking. The condemned is cursed. Turn over to Isaiah 24 for this. And we will pick up in verse 1 to give a little context.

[30:27] And then we'll look at specifically verses 5 and 6. Behold, the Lord makes the earth empty, and he makes it waste, and he turns it upside down, and he scatters abroad the inhabitants thereof.

[30:39] Why is he doing all this? And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest, as with the servant, so with his master, as with the maid, so with her mistress, as with the buyer, so with the seller, as with the lender, so with the borrower, as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury.

[30:57] Nobody exempt. The land shall be utterly emptied and utterly spoiled, for the Lord has spoken this word. The earth mourns and fades away. The world languishes and fades away.

[31:10] The haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof. Nobody exempt. Because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, and broken the everlasting covenant.

[31:28] Why is the earth under this? Why every person, every category of person, why is the land under this judgment? Why is the earth being made empty and wasted? Because it's defiled by its inhabitants.

[31:40] Because they've transgressed the laws. Three things. They've transgressed the laws, they've changed the ordinances, and they've broken the everlasting covenant. I know what you're all thinking. You're thinking, oh man, I hate it when the laws are transgressed, the ordinances are changed, and the everlasting covenant's broken.

[31:54] What does that mean? They transgressed the laws. Transgressed means the Passover. They've passed over instruction. We live in a world today where all the inhabitants of the earth have passed over instruction.

[32:06] Hey, you know, that's so old-fashioned. I don't, that's, nobody does that anymore. It's perfectly normal to live that way. I know the Bible says that's sin, but now we've passed over that instruction.

[32:17] We're beyond that. Change the ordinances. Ordinances, boundaries. It's changing the boundaries. It's literally to make the boundaries pass away. Wow, the boundaries passed away between man and woman, boy and girl, right and wrong, marriage, someone's word.

[32:34] The boundaries have passed away, and they've broken the everlasting covenant. They've dissolved the unending alliance that God desired to have with man. The unending alliance that God said, I will make this covenant with you, it's been dissolved.

[32:46] It has no meaning anymore in this world. We don't need that. We're okay. Remember, we've gone our own way now, and we're going to be just fine. Instead of receiving God's everlasting covenant, man has decided to go his own way, and for that reason, verse 6, therefore, has the curse, the oath, the judgment, devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein, they are desolate.

[33:09] Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left. Romans 5, 12, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.

[33:22] Therefore, has the curse devoured the earth. That curse that came when Adam said, I'm going to go my own way. When Adam listened to his wife, well, it looked like his wife.

[33:33] It sounded like his wife, but it wasn't his wife's words. It was the words of the enemy, right? In Genesis chapter 3, after Adam has eaten of the fruit, and the Lord is walking in the cool of the day, and Adam and Eve hide themselves, and God says, where are you?

[33:53] And he says, have you eaten of that fruit? He said, well, it was the woman you gave me. And God said unto Adam, because you've hearkened unto the voice of your wife, and again, it's not that it was the wife, it was the words.

[34:03] And as eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, saying, you shall not eat of it, cursed is the ground for your sake, and sorrow that you shall eat of it all the days of thy life, thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt eat the herb of the field, and the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread, till you return into the ground, for out of it you are taken, for dust you are, and dust you shall return.

[34:31] The curse has devoured the earth. It's eaten it up. In other words, it's permeated every part. It's all contaminated. Whether you want to be related to your parents or not, we are.

[34:46] There's nothing we can ever do about that. We can change our hair color, we can go live somewhere else, change our name. There's nothing you can ever do. You can't replace your DNA. It's who you are. Adam, as the head of the human race, Adam and Eve as mom and dad, all their children will take on their characteristics.

[35:03] They have the DNA of sin. They have been contaminated with it. There's nothing we're going to do about that. You can't say, well, I don't want to be part of that. Well, you can pretend not to be, but the earth has been devoured. It's been eaten up.

[35:15] And then where it says, the curse has, the curse has devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned. Well, that means literally to burn, to be burned up, and also can be figuratively, to be angry.

[35:30] It's just anger, anger at our state, anger at God thinking it's his fault, but we're the ones who've turned our own way. And this world is permeated with that.

[35:41] Those that are earth abiders, those that dwell on the earth, those that inhabit the earth, are guilty of being, what does it say, desolate. What does that mean? It means to fail in your duty, to be guilty.

[35:53] Those that are earth abiders, they are guilty of failing in their duty. The earth is now the inhabitant, I'm sorry, the habitation of the condemned. It's inhabited by those who've come under conviction, sentence, and judgment.

[36:09] It is now the inhabitation, the habitation of the condemned of those awaiting judgment. How do we get out of that? Well, that's why man needs a savior. Because we're lost, because we're separated, because we're condemned.

[36:22] And Jesus gives us an option where he himself becomes our habitation. In John 15, he says, abide in me, come and dwell in me, come and inhabit me, and I in you, as the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine.

[36:37] No more can you, except you abide in me. Well, unless we're part of Christ, guess what? We don't have the life that comes from him. The life that comes from him that completely counteracts the contamination of sin.

[36:49] If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch and is withered, and men gather them and cast them into the fire and they are burned. Yes, there is a judgment coming. And yes, the inhabitants of the earth will be burned up, but they don't have to be.

[37:02] Why do men need a savior? Because man is lost. Because man is separated. Because man is condemned. Therefore has the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate.

[37:16] Why do we need a savior? Because man is lost. Man is separated. Man is condemned. God bless you. Go home. Man, that's a downer. Are you lost?

[37:28] Well, okay. How do we get found? How can I be found? Philippians 3, verse 9, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, which is of my own works, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know him, that through relationship, by becoming one with Christ, I can know him.

[37:49] I can know the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of sufferings. Yeah, it doesn't remove the suffering of sin, but it does remove the judgment. And the fellowship of suffering is being made conformable unto his death.

[38:01] In other words, being unified with Christ, a death that he died to overcome sin, that I can be part of his resurrection that then gives me life. Being lost, being unsure, being in a place that's unfamiliar, being frightened, being isolated, should we be surprised, for those of us who've now been found to be in Christ, that we still find ourselves wandering, we're still lost, we're still at times in a place unfamiliar.

[38:28] No, we shouldn't be surprised that we're lost. We shouldn't be surprised we can be found. That's where the surprise is. Yes, we're lost because that's our nature. Do not be discouraged when you lose your way. Instead, be prepared to be found.

[38:41] What is it to be found? Rescued by one who knows exactly where you are and can lead you to what is familiar. Even now, in Christ, man, when we wander, he comes and he brings us back. He says, man, I know where you are.

[38:52] Let me bring you back. Let me bring you back to something familiar. We are lost, but we can be found. We're separated, so how do we draw near? If I'm separated, I want to come close.

[39:03] I want to remove the space in between. Ephesians 2, 13, but now in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were far off, you've been brought near by the blood of Christ, by the Savior.

[39:15] Romans 5, 10, for if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Christ. Reconcile is to remove, remove separation, to remove what separates. When we were enemies, Jesus came to die and remove that separation to reconcile us and bring us back to God.

[39:30] Well, then how much more being reconciled, we're going to be saved by his life. How much more than having been reconciled and the separation removed, does the Savior then work in our lives now to keep us reconciled?

[39:43] When we feel distant, when we feel excluded, when our inward condition says, man, I'm, God, I'm not like you. Well, guess what? Jesus, Jesus says, that's all right.

[39:55] I've reconciled you. I've removed the space. Do not let the fact that you feel separated keep you from pursuing oneness. Man, you're going to feel separated.

[40:06] We're going to feel separated. We've been brought in here. We are seated with him in the heavenlies. We have an inheritance, undefiled, incorruptible, that fades not away, reserved in the heavens for us. Sometimes I don't feel it.

[40:18] Sometimes I feel as far from God. But do you know right now you are as near to God as you've ever been in your closest moments? That moment at that one conference, that moment when that word of God spoke to you, that moment when you were praying and you were crying and it's like, Jesus is right here.

[40:32] You're no further from him. We are as closest now as we've ever been in our closest moment with Christ. Do not let the fact you feel separated keep you from pursuing oneness.

[40:43] 2 Corinthians 5, beginning in verse 17, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. All things are become new. And all things are of God who has reconciled us unto himself by Jesus Christ and has given unto us the ministry of reconciliation to go out to the world and say, hey, all that space between you and God, I can't take it away, but I can tell you about someone who can.

[41:10] How do we come out from under condemnation? How do we get out from under this? Through the Savior, we escape the judgment that our sin, our separation, and our lost condition demands.

[41:29] In Romans chapter 8, verse 1, we read, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. How do we come out from under that condemnation?

[41:40] We escape the judgment that our sin and our separation and our lost condition demands because in Christ, there is no condemnation.

[41:51] He's reconciled us. He took upon himself the condition of our lost state. for I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

[42:13] Does it say that it won't make us feel separated? No, but it won't separate us. Does it mean I won't do anything that expresses my inward nature of sin that causes the separation?

[42:27] I'll never do that again? No, but it means that the judgment of that is taken away now. Only those that are lost can be found.

[42:39] Only those that are separated can be reconciled and only those that are condemned can be forgiven. Well, I don't want to be lost. I don't want to be separated.

[42:50] I don't want to be condemned. No, what you want is you want to be found, you want to be reconciled, and you want to be forgiven. Thank you, Jesus, so much, Lord, for this word that you've spoken to us, Lord.

[43:03] Lord, to remind us, to put us in memory, Lord, of why the Savior? Why did the Savior come? Why do we celebrate Christmas? Why do we read that verse? For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

[43:16] Why do I need a Savior? Because I'm lost, because I'm separated, and because I'm condemned. But Jesus, the Savior, in you we have been found, we are reconciled, and we are forgiven, and now how much more by your life.

[43:36] Lord, will you give us all things that pertain unto life and godliness. Father, I pray for my brothers and sisters this morning. If there's any lost, if there's any separated, if there's any still under condemnation, instead of fighting against that, instead of like that one scripture said, the inhabitants of the earth, they burn, they're angry, instead of looking at that as a reason to reject you, that we would see the Savior has come to save us from our lost state, from our condemnation, from our separation, and we would run to you.

[44:10] And then, Lord, for those of us, Lord, we have, we've experienced that, you've removed the separation, you've reconciled us to God, oh Lord, but I still feel separated, but I still wander and go my own way, but the enemy is still there to speak those lying words of condemnation.

[44:26] He says, I saw what your finger did, I heard what you said. Man, you know what's in your heart. Thank you, Jesus, that you come and you whisper those wonderful words again. My little lamb, there is therefore no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus.

[44:46] Lord, as we worship now, you know, you know how much we need a Savior. And you know that area of our hearts and lives that as the Savior, you want to reach into.

[44:59] So, Lord, instead of pulling back, help us to draw near. Because, Lord, you're the only place. You're the only place that we can go and that we can inhabit and we can be forever saved.

[45:13] Thank you, Jesus. We love you. In your name I pray. Amen. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace.

[45:26] God bless you. Have a wonderful week in Christ.