Today's scripture is Isaiah chapter 28 verses 14 through 19 Therefore hear the word of the Lord you scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem Because you have said we have made a covenant with death and with she all we have an agreement when the overwhelming went passes through it It will not come to us for we have made lies our refuge and in falsehood we have taken shelter Therefore thus says Lord God Behold I am the one who is laid as a foundation in Zion a stone a tested stone a precious corner stone of a sure foundation Whoever believes will not be in haste and I will make justice the line and righteousness the plumb line And hell will sweep away the refuge of lies and waters will overwhelm the shelter Then your covenant with death will be annulled and your agreement with she all will not stand When the overwhelming scorch passes through you will be beaten down by it As often as it passes through it will take you for morning by morning it will pass through by day and by night And it will be sheer terror to understand the message may the Lord add a blessing to the reading and the hearing of his word In 1935 most of us probably don't remember those days believe it or not It did exist They continue to have impact on our lives today Because in 1935 President Franklin Roosevelt signed in the law The Social Security Act Social Security Act was offered To the American people as something of a kind of communal safety net For the elderly and the agent In fact the act was also known as OASDI OASDI Old age survivors and disability insurance
We know it as Social Security And today I believe it today over 90% Over 90% of the American public workforce pays into and is covered In some form of action By social security And then was the time I remember growing up and there was a time in overhearing adults talk about How they can't wait to get their social security It looked forward to the security of their retirement And part Due to the fact that they trusted that social security would be there for them
Today beloved Americans believe it or not Are yearly threatened We are yearly threatened by politicians With the reduction or the potential dissolution of social security benefits And it's called it causes it causes angst And many many Americans wondering wondering after all these years of paying it into this promise What the promise of social security be there for them when it comes their time to come
You know the frailty of social security should be another reminder to us
Should remind us again this morning That security in this world is fleeting at best fleeting at best The truth is beloved the truth is That I want us to think about this morning Is that God doesn't promise his people social security
God promises his people Eternal security not social security But eternal security why this is because we have to remember That what God promises is eternal eternal security eternal life God promises our eternal so we'll remind it up in John 316 Right The Bible tells us that God so loved the world That he gave his only son And whoever believes in Jesus will not perish but what shall they have eternal eternal life
The fact is We all do it in this life all of us are looking for some type of security So what we do financial emotional food national Our homes and our houses our cars We got somebody in the parking lot this morning Because we are hoping for some type of security And because of that beloved the temptation for us in this world is to believe That there is actual security in these worldly means
And thus we often mistakenly place our hope And our safety in these earthly securities
This was Judah's mistake. This is what God sent Isaiah to prophesy to Judah about This was therefore as we have seen as we have been studying Isaiah we've been what making our time and our way through the prophecy of Isaiah We are reminded that Isaiah was sent by God to prophesy primarily to the southern kingdom Judah and prophesying he did this because her northern brothers Of Israel or Ephraim Was already under the judgment of God For their sin for their disobedience for their lack of trust in God And the northern kingdom was being judged And it was not pretty and all Judah needed to do was just look north see what was happening To her brother of north To see what was coming her way
look up and see Because that's coming Your way that judgment is coming your way it is only a border away
And Isaiah is sent to Judah to warn them It's coming and what would she do
In light of the prophecy that is coming What would she do In light of the words of warning given by the prophet Isaiah Given by God what would she do would she turn the God for refuge Oh would she build a refuge for herself
The Bible tells us Instead of turning to God she turned to her neighbors She turned to Egypt in fact She turned to Egypt for help She turned to Egypt for hope She turned to Egypt for security
She would seek to build a refuge A safe place for herself And she would build this refuge this safe place for herself Not realizing that she was building it against the storms of God's judgment
Building her own refuge Building her own shelter Establishing her own security Security in this world now listen beloved listen listen to me Building your own refuge building your own security your own storm shelters in this world When it comes to your home or your car or your job Or your finances Is one thing But building your own refuge and your own shelter When it comes up against the judgment of God
Is a totally different thing
A faulty shelter
When the stock market crashes is one thing that can be very discouraging
But have it a faulty or shaky shelter When the judgment of God comes I did not just discouraging beloved That is deadly that is deadly Unfortunately unfortunately Many many of us build our hopes and even our lives On shaky shelters I said shaky shelters When the storms of life And when troubling times come Because our foundations are not solid Things begin to crumble Because we discover That our shelter is shaky Thank you shelters Shaky shelters if you don't learn anything else today Go home and exact if your shelter is shaky I'm going to tell time will tell marriages fall apart You know why because they're built on shaky shelters
And when the trouble and trials come
They crumble shaky shelters You don't have to say man We lack peace of mind
None of our minds but in our spirits Because we live and we hope In these shaky shelters They don't make it We have placed our hope In a shelter and we have sought refuge in places or with people Whose foundations are built on sand And they will We're talking about shaky shelters this morning This is what I say
Wasn't dyken due to four You Have built A shaky shelter And a storm A storm is coming And you will discover
That you have built your refuge on lies
You have made covenants with death Your foundation is not sure
And your lives are going to crumble So what he says Notice what Isaiah said to him He spoke to them as if he was speaking for them Right This way says in verse 50 This he says This is what you're thinking This is what you're thinking You boast he says You boast We have entered into a covenant with death With the realm of the dead We have made an agreement When an overwhelming skirt Sweets by It cannot touch us
For we have made a lie I have made a lie Our refuge and falsehood I hide in place
In other words You have built shaky shelters shaky shelters Because due to salt It's own refuge Salt It's own safety Salt is own security Built a shelter And then doing so Built it on three big costly errors This in the mean this morning Built it on three costly errors Number one is foolish friendships Foolish friendships Loads what the Bible says They made a covenant with death They struck a bargain Thinking that they would cheat death And agreement Was promised to them that they would miss the grave They're going to miss the grave This is their agreement that they got into with Egypt Because they thought that Egypt had the goods That Egypt had the goods and that Egypt would be their friends So they thought Egypt could and would save them And keep them from failing And keep them from falling They thought the Egyptians Would save them From the Assyrians And this is because they miscalculated Because they thought the Assyrians were their problem
And the Assyrians were not their problem The Assyrians was only the instrument of their problem Their problem was God
And here we are reminded That if you keep your eyes on God and knowing That all things come from God You will understand that worldly friendships are not the way
Worldly friendships are not the way Becoming more like the world Becoming more attractive to the world Listen beloved Trying to find and win the world's favor Will only cause you to lose God Being to win the world's favor Will only cause you to lose God The Bible says in James chapter 4 and verse 4 Therefore anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world Becomes an enemy of God As Isaac Watts says in this hymn The world is not a friend of grace To help you on to God It is not beloved The amount how attractive or desperate it may seem The world is not a friend of grace To help you on to God and being like the world Will not secure your salvation It is not refuge from God's judgment It only gives you a false sense of security Whether it's peer pressure or keeping up with the Joneses
Foolish friendships only lead to false securities
And that's what is real discovered. That's what Judah discovered That's what Isaiah says This foolish friendship has led you to the place Where you now have a false sense of security
So where it does So what it does Notice the confidence Notice the outrageous self-confidence of Judah In verse 15 it says The coming destruction can never touch us This is how they operate it This is what they thought There they coming destruction But because we have aligned ourselves with the right people It cannot touch us They were confident they were confident they would escape Because they made the right deal They were confident that they would escape Because they were smart enough They were wise enough To call upon the Egyptians And use the Egyptians to their own advantage So therefore they were impressed with themselves They're impressed with themselves You can see it The coming destruction It ain't gonna touch us Ask them do they feel safe And you know what they would have said Of course Yeah You know why? Because we have been smart enough to make the right moves
People live this way all the time When death and hell is threatening People come up with all kinds of ways to escape They do beloved They believe they're smart enough Think if they talk to the right people Ask the right questions And they solve all of life's great issues They find they can find a new religion They believe that they can talk their way out of judgment Listen to me this morning You cannot talk your way out of hell It ain't happening
You cannot talk your way out of hell Of people do all the time They think they're gonna do it They don't talk their way out of You know why? Because in our heart of hearts We believe we're good enough
We believe we're good enough We're just good enough Why is that? Because I want you to hear me this morning All of us all of us believe we are better than we are The fact that a matter is none of us is good enough as we need to be all of us Think that we are better Then we really are But none of us is good Is as good as you need to be
It's the most we believe are good enough To escape the judgment of God Why? Because they're nice people Because they're nice people Because they vote for life Because they're in favor of immigration Because they support climate controls Because they drink out of paper straws And they drive electric cars Because they treat people right And the good part of their lives Outweigh the bad part of their lives They go to mass at Christmas And they come to church on Easter
But theirs beloved is a false security It is a false security Because they compare themselves with themselves They compare themselves with their neighbors Or they even compare themselves With other people who go to church And they look at the lives of those who go to church And they say oh I know I'm at least better than them
We are warned In Jeremiah Chapter 9 verse 23 we've seen it before We've seen it again We are warned not to put our trust in wisdoms Not to put our trust in our wealth Not to put our trust in our influence
Why? Because beloved Hell is filled with people who stop they were going somewhere else And with people who were convinced They were going somewhere else All of them they were going somewhere else And instilled in them a false sense of security And they discovered when judgment came That that shelter was shaky And fell apart When false sense of security Is easy to have beloved And it leads To a futile hope And this is what this is what you'd have They made these foolish friendships It caused them to have a false sense of security And it developed this useless hope A useless hope beloved They hoped in themselves And their hope was useless Because it was based on lies Lies
So it says verse 15 again You have made a lie your refuge And a falsehood your hiding place Your shelter is built on a lie
Your refuge It's built on a falsehood
And you have a futile and useless hope Judah had deceived itself into believing Beloved that it was safe It had deceived itself into believing that it was secure It had put its hope In the hopeless
Judah's sin Judah's sin Was that it had put hope In Egypt's presence And in Egypt's promises
Okay We're just going to step in it Judah had put its hope In political alliances And the promises Of others Rather than the promise of God Now this is what we see every four years Three four years Every four years in presidential elections This is what people do Put their hope In political parties Put their hope in political promises
Many on the right What they do They see Donald Trump as his great hope And he's got to make America great again
And many on the left Looking at Kamala Harris And I pronounce her name right I won't nobody get offended Don't want to fin your hope Putting in the same way They put hope and feel Clinton in Barack Obama Beloved listen to me Whoever wins Believers Hope in political Persons And parties in this world Is a false and useless hope Is a false and useless one God is not sending political parties To save his people But it's not To save political parties To save his people Rather than politicians Rather than political parties The Bible has laid a foundation In Jerusalem It is a shoof foundation It is an unshakable shelter Behold he says in verse 16 Behold Listen to me Judah Where you're shaky You're shaky shelters For I am placing in Jerusalem A firm foundation stone And that foundation is the hope And the help That foundation is the pillar And the pole That foundation is the warp And the wound of our security That's it Beloved God Listen God doesn't guarantee his people National security He doesn't guarantee them Financial security He isn't even guaranteeing you Social security The Lord our God And guaranteeing eternal security Eternal security It's built upon the rock of your foundation And that rock is Jesus Christ It's a shoof foundation But the Bible says Calls it a shoof foundation The sovereign God Listen Beloved The sovereign God who threatens judgment Against his enemies Is also the one who provides shelter From his judgments A refuge From that judgment For all who put their trust in him God is not just threatening judgment But he has given you and I a shelter Against that judgment Listen to the question That the psalm is raised In Psalm 11 and verse 3 When the foundations are being destroyed What What Can the righteous do When things That you built your security on Begin the crumble What are you going to do
When all around you Begins to give way What are you going to do Ask yourself the question At the psalm is in Psalm 11 and 13 and 3 raised If O Lord You should mark a nicotine O Lord O Lord Who can stand Who can stand Where Or on what Are you going to stand in the judgment Where Or on what Will your feet be planted When all the earth around you gives way The foundations are destroyed What are you going to do Counting the niceties And he will believe it
Where are you going to stand You're going to find hope You're going to find security
A lot of people make promises
God has provided for his people A sure foundation It is sure It is sure Because Our hope Is not just In what God says Our hope is also And what God does Because a lot of people say a lot of things A lot of people make promises You tell every time you turn on the TV Somebody making you a promise Out of people make promises Politicians do it all the time But God is not just a promise maker God is a great promise keeper
God keeps what he promises Notice what the Bible says Therefore The says who The sovereign lord Did you get that? The says The sovereign lord The one Who has laid That sure foundation Is the sovereign lord
What makes it sure Only because God said it But he has the power To do it And nobody standing in his way For the party on the other aisle standing in his way There's nobody putting up Other laws And propositions So that he can't accomplish his Is the sovereign lord And this is our security Not only Does God Have the authority to say it But when he says you are safe
He also has the power to do it He's able Did you hear what I said The one who said it Is able He's able As the fall said I think I'll to the end of his life Second Timothy chapter one and verse 12 You know what he says I know whom I have believed And I am convinced that he is what Able able to do what God he is able to shelter me He is able to guard All that I haven't trusted him Against that day What day The day the storm is coming Gives way The day that this frail Bucks him in I know I got a shelter I know I got a foundation I know I got a rock Because not only did he say it But he's able He's able He's able That's what Jude wrote Verse 24 When he prayed to him Who is what Able To do what To keep you from stumbling Why? Because on your own All you do is stumble Stumbling over yourself every day Our own way And if it was up to you To get to heaven You stumble your way into hell So how we could do Except for him Who is able to do what He's going to keep you from stumbling Keep you from falling over yourself And not only that But not only will he keep you from stumbling But then He will present you before his glorious presence And you won't have a fault And you won't know nothing But great joy Because nobody's going to be there To bring an accusation against you Because your shelter Has guarded and protected you
That's what it means Eat a sure foundation So let me just put it in ways That you could probably understand Christ is a safe bet beloved Okay just take out your phone With his drive-kings Whatever it is Christ Christ Is a safe bet this morning
You can put your trust in him He's a sure thing He's going to win I guarantee it He's a sure thing You bet on him But I was saying he's a sure foundation Why because he is a tested stone
He is a tested stone Jesus tried and true He now some Johnny come lately He is tried and true Jesus trusted and Jesus Has been tested And found to be true
You can try Jesus He's all right Can I get a quartet up here this morning
He is a stone others have leaned on beloved He is a stone He is a tested stone He is a stone at others have leaned on My mother before me And my grandmother before Others have leaned on him And found him to be true Book of tea watched in the Frederick Douglass and fill us weekly before them John Wesley and Charles Wesley and Richard Allen before them He is a stone A stone that has been tried And a stone that has been tested And a stone that has been found true Again and again And again
Will he fail? I know I know I know I know I know we sing a lot of things That we don't believe We do all the time But beloved I beg you Hear it again
Will he fail?
He won He won And then that great day of tribulation You will find That there is only rock one rock That has staying power It has been tested
And found true
The stone That was laid Was not first laid by you
No And it will not disappear with us either Because he is a tested stone And he has been found true And now I'm just sure foundation and a tested stone But he is a precious cornerstone And now what the Bible says A precious cornerstone The most valuable The most cherished In all of heaven and earth The stone The stone The foundation That God has laid Has a rock of our salvation Is the in the capstone of our security Is the most valuable And precious stone of all
So that is important to note That our salvation may be free But it's not cheap It's not cheap You don't have A cheap salvation beloved It may have come to you free
Okay But it is priceless It is valuable It is the most precious In all of the universe It caused God his son It caused the son his life
And as first Peter chapter 1 and verse 19 says And as we repeat in the catechism Every Sunday Christ has paid for all my sins with what His precious blood precious precious blood The blood of Jesus Is not just powerful beloved The blood of Jesus It's precious And because it's precious That means it's priceless
Remember that Remember that The blood which covers you And has taken away all your sin Is not just powerful But in heaven It is the most valuable commodity of all
You have been Bought with a price
And that price Is the precious blood Of Jesus And when you know that When you know That you have been bought With the most precious thing The universe has ever seen When you realize That your soul Is so precious To God That he could not bear One moment of losing it Because he gave That you can now I will say Whoever believes in him And verse 16 Need not ever panic Here what I said This is why I see people doing all the time I have to feel They panic They pushed the panic button all the time This comes down now To stress them And to stress them They pushed the panic button The Bible says Whoever believes in him Will find No need to panic
There's no panic here
There is no panic here They panic And they run They run for the hills They leave They leave What is They leave home They leave marriage
They leave church I'm distressing That's when you know
Where has the foundation been What does that built on What rock did they have Because you do know God's people don't panic Moses didn't panic When they got down better at sea When all around them There was a red sea in front of him That was Pharaoh's arm was behind him Moses didn't panic Joshua didn't panic He faced the mighty walls of Jericho And that great city
What a rag team army He didn't panic David didn't panic Big Goliath is standing there Mocking and taunting The armies of Israel And all the great generals of Israel are hiding And said There's no panic here Daniel didn't panic When they threw him
knowing That his life hung in the balance Of the last time they fed those lions
Why? Because God's people Don't panic Because God has sent Christ to us as Panic prevention
That's what the cross is beloved The cross is panic prevention Whenever things stop falling away The Bible says look to Jesus Who is the author and finisher of your faith Look to Jesus Don't panic Look to Christ Look to Christ What the Bible said in 1st Timothy in 1st Peter chapter 2 and verse 6 For the scripture says see I have laid in Zion A chosen and precious cornerstone And the one who trust in him Will never be made And put the shame No need to panic here Yeah, yeah, beloved My life is not perfect My life at all kind of ups And downs My life It's not an example to follow But I haven't built a refuge for myself I have not built a shelter of my own doing But there is a rock When I was growing up There was an insurance company called Prudentials Prudentials still around I think it is And their tagline on their commercials was Get a piece of rock Get a piece of rock Why? Because the idea is That rock will serve As the foundation And when all the storms of life Come your way Prudential will be there for you
Because there's only one rock Upon which you build all of your hope and trust Where do you go? When there's nobody else to turn to Who do you talk to When nobody wants to listen Who do you lean on? When there's no foundation stable What do you do? I go to the rock I know that he's able I go to the rock That's where it is this morning He is the rock Of our salvation
He is a stone At the builders rejected
Go to the rock
The ride is fine That the rock is unmolable He's unassailable And in him Is your hope and security Sure Go to the rock I know that he's able Please Please this morning
Let's pray