The necessity of Divine instruction (Quality: Average)

[0:00] to the Lord's help from the last verse in the chapter that we read. The second chapter in the prophecy by Isaiah and the 22nd verse.

[0:15] Sees ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of. Sees ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted of.

[0:39] The apostle tells us that part of his word from God was that he was to warn every man and teach every man.

[0:51] And the gospel consists of these two great things, warning and teaching, exactly the same naturally, exactly the same in the family.

[1:08] It can't be all teaching, and it can't be all warning. It must be a wise mixture of both.

[1:19] And warning is therefore a very necessary part of spiritual instruction as well as natural.

[1:34] The great difference between the two is this, that whereas perhaps there may be a willingness to receive instruction, there is often, not always, but often a very intense dislike of warning.

[1:52] that pride in human nature, which thinks it knows, will not listen to wise counsels of those that do know.

[2:09] So that it is one of the great mercies given to the church of God that he is warned. And that these warnings are from one who knows.

[2:25] They are warnings that are very necessary. And that they are not to be put on one side, only of peril.

[2:36] as much as they may be in his case rule, look at it naturally or spiritually, for both about, in the word of God, they are given for the good of man.

[2:56] So that when we see the opening of Isaiah's prophecy here, and know all that he had to say, right through it, we can see that the sweet part of it is in the teaching.

[3:17] And in the unfolding of what God has to say in respect of his dear son, at his birth, in the 11th chapter, that he gave unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given.

[3:41] And all those attendant words in that blessed chapter, the virgin birth of Christ, the name of Christ, Emmanuel, all to be unfolded for the first time in full of sense, and then a warning, intermingled with the unfolded.

[4:10] So that the two go together. One is preparatory to the other, a guard, a preventative. and behind it, love.

[4:27] As a parent's love warns them of the possibility, danger, lying before them, as the parent even takes the child's hand and watches them across the road, for example, when they go to school.

[4:52] Can't rest until they know they're safely across the road. in the gospel, the Lord guards, guides, but he warns his people to be careful.

[5:15] And I say to look both ways. to give heed to these warnings is the very essence of wisdom.

[5:26] To disregard them is poverty. And furthermore, poverty, that is often followed by trouble, suffering.

[5:38] when the apostle warned then, he often got into trouble himself. There were many who utterly detested his warning, wouldn't listen to it under any circumstances.

[6:03] He himself was one one. he knew something of this gracious warning that God had given in the Old Testament when he himself had his eyes open to see.

[6:22] So that warning is a very valuable thing that we appreciate as we get older. And not only the warning itself but the person that gives it.

[6:41] But whereas once they were disliked, one might almost say fainted because they interfered so with life and said, you can't do this but you mustn't do that.

[6:56] Put a brake on here and stop you there. time comes where in later days those very often children have known to have shed tears and deeply repented over the way they treated their parents for their kindness in warning them.

[7:21] they feel the state of heart that they were so obstinate and so foolish that we have a very excellent parallel in nature let alone right but here we have this kind word of Jehovah to his people who cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils is the description God gives of this man and then asks the question for wherein is he to be accounted of we start at the end of the text and work upwards wherein is he to be accounted of what is man what do we know of man where shall we begin with this thought what do you know of man man that let us keep our thoughts to the scripture not of general opinion and that of scripture he is quote asap fearfully and wonderfully made marlous construction of the almighty his life as dr watt says contains a thousand calls dies as one to god what else is he is he has an immortal soul his creation is described very briefly to him in the first and second of genesis he is told there that he is created out of the dust of the earth by two distinct actions man as distinct from animal is created created out of the dust of the earth and in the following verse god breathed into his soul that of life which is not said of the feast he is immortal his soul is immortal that is both a teaching and a warning and that immortal soul is distinct separate from his dust like body it is called in other words in the scripture his spirit we read of two spirits spirits of just men made perfect who speaks of them as being in actual existence we are come he says to the spirits of just men made perfect he

[11:22] just speaks of them as the spirit now in prison that is in hell he speaks of now going to breathe to the spirits in prison or as we believe it might truthfully and accurately be read the spirit now in prison the spirit of the life of the angel Gabriel immortal and so is the life of the devil immortal there is solemn warning in this but oh how discarded it is immortality eternally and not eternal dies for some eternal death for others as but eternally and the hymn writer

[12:50] Anstale calls it a tremendous sound so it is tremendous sound and it's a sound that grows more tremendous the nearer you get to it how that there is warning and this warning is regarded as Jesus put it in his own inimitable way what shall a man gain if he what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul there must be a vast parallel here which Jesus over done it cannot be that there is some arguable way round this that you can say well yes but it doesn't mean that what is the whole world you should gain you can't possess the whole world you can measure it perhaps in some way or other but even then you would be right that

[14:21] Jesus said he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul well the Lord's teaching therefore confirms what man is and that he is unlike the spirit of the beast that goes downward and the spirit of man that goes upward but man is also fallen in Adam all died he is biased he has a distinct propensity one way and not here some men and not others but all men as in Adam all died so in

[15:23] Christ shall all be made alive this man is a sinner he goes astray of his birth as a sinner he is described very graphically as a wild ass is cold I don't suppose any of us have ever seen one we can well imagine what the wild ass is like quite apart from its cold that independent beast of the wilderness which stuff it up as Job tells us none can tell you this man therefore is ruined from the outset he is lost and again warning is necessary to tell him this as much as he will rebel against it and heartily dislike it and most permanently deny it he is a lost preacher and that because he is born in sin so that he is helpless from the womb and in this condition therefore the word of

[17:22] God finds him and describes to him his condition thousands of thousands never heard it word of God even in our own country was not here in the days of darkness no illumination came to these coasts until God sent his word when it came it brought with him light and what do you associate light with if it isn't morning ask the children what the traffic lights mean I'll tell you straight away and I'll tell you that there's an intermediate like the amber that tells you to be careful and they have to think more about the amber than they do the green or the red so the word of God there is only the green and the red there is no intermediate and this is

[18:45] God's mercy to his people to give them clear walk decisive walk head or her right or wrong chief or ghost yes they don't stand at the crossroads and say well this is an intermediate way can I can I possibly take a middle course because I should love to do that I should love to do that it's not just the natural bank of the human mind middle course or else an extremist field that is for them he is therefore when he's warned is alive to this position he rejects it he denies it he's an unbeliever we all are not something that you contract or that is peculiar to your family peculiar to your nationality in bread nothing to do with your rights your color and in bread unbevist that his favorite word can revelry from man he doesn't believe he doesn't believe that

[20:51] God rules Brian that he believes belongs to God as his creator no he doesn't believe that he is not master of his own destiny he will not have it nor listen to it one way or the other when it comes to warning he can easily discard it scoff at it and laugh at it pity the people that do believe it and say you poor things you what a limited capacity you've got what a poor narrow bigoted outlook you possess I wouldn't have it for anything the unbeliever says I don't want your company neither does it and it is such character as this that

[21:54] Lord Jesus came to save it's for whom Emmanuel came God gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth you see the opposite from unbelief whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life and in this whosoever is the whole election of grace and those that do believe and how and why what is man that thou art mindful of him ask David a very excellent example of man because he does if both in his history and his prayers a complete picture of two sides of man seeing as we were speaking of him what a fortnight ago and David said in his heart

[23:17] I shall one day perish in a hand of souls have nothing better for me than that I escape into the land of the pharistines there he is unbelieving David never think he had any dealing with God when the issue of that sad event came about we find as we spoke from here David encouraged himself to lose God his God found him his God found him too and that with the smoke and ruins of Ziklag all about he learned his lesson death we have a picture therefore of man

[24:19] David and we come to the personal application of it in David's life and the Lord reveals his coming through him we find David in a most sweet and tender spirit and spiritual prayer he went in and sat before the Lord we read and he said Lord who am I what is my father's house thou brought me in a here you get the fulfillment of these previous verses the loftiness of man bound down the haughtiness of man made down the Lord of love exalted in that day there you see the whole thing brought out before your very eyes and this man who had two nations brought before his girl in this humble way who am I why should this be made and others with whom the Lord has dealt

[25:46] Mary the mother of Jesus go back to Gideon the Lord called him I am the least in my father's power this is a strange thing as if he should say Lord why me why me man and here we see man in the embrace of sovereign grace like Brewer the hidden writer you've just asked his beautiful hymn the only one life in her book God Brewer a Godly man there you see the difference in the two the man who knew what mercy's angel form was to lead him on with classic faith

[26:59] Jesus his hiding place in this therefore man is revealed to us in his entirety in so many ways that it's unnecessary for me to go on on where it shall he be accounted on in what way naturally no no not naturally where should we be without our teachers our forbear our parents look what you owe to man look what your children owe to your parents look what you owe to your teachers you can't send the children to school and say well don't take any notice of what the teacher says I know you have to certain evil things oh no

[28:04] I can't this regard this wonderful use that man is to man as regards instruction or woman to woman only Proverbs the book of Proverbs unfolds very beautifully both in the negative and the positive side if one more another should help him up and so on we can't get on without each other can we we can't live as units I worry it doesn't matter what happens to you look at I'm right naturally the great question might be written over all mankind Jesus answered who is my neighbor you know the answer and it is not a matter then of being just one individual oh no is working together and we see the lack of it in our country today this vast industrial unrest sad the loss of that which was once so can now man helping his family now one antagonized against the other well that when we look at man as such we see that he is not to be accounted of that he you never know just can't turn

[30:02] Judas held the bag he was respected he was just one with the twelve disciples and when Jesus said to him at the supper that now do is do quickly the disciples still didn't understand they thought that he had been to give something to the poor and thought where are they and it knew that Satan had entered into the heart of Jews where is he to be accounted even among the twelve all all about this lesson in his past ministry and it's gone and on like this from time almost immemorial you can go right back to

[31:04] Cain wherein is he to be accounted of why should he ride up with such wrong that that this conferion of which we know so little and till his run can you count one the which is silent upon the past and it's quite clear that he proved jealous you might go through the scripture even to David and Hithophel and went to the house of God together there and Hithophel turned right him would David ever suspect that of that he would turn round on him like that and the

[32:14] Old Testament history in particular abounds with those who couldn't be accounted for or could trust them you come to Peter and Paul you say ah well you're on a very dangerous ground there and now and now poor Peter dear Peter God for the Peter saint he made it the crucesh sight Peter he dissembled after a good many years of gospel blessing Paul said I was stood into his sight wherein was

[33:20] Peter to be accounted of and a man you therefore need no further reminders from the scripture of the unreliability of a gracious man of a gracious man and this is where the warning comes Micah the prophet says put not confidence in a guy trust not him friend Jeremiah speaks of the folly of trusting in man so that it comes down to this that we are not to put our confidence in each other what for and does this mean that we are to live at cross purposes what are we talking about then before this is totally concrete of the scripture which it is what does this mean then it means when you come to the reality of eternity immortality the reality of night and the celebrity of death you are not you are not to put your cognitive in anyone not my wife or my husband no but why not why because you've got to die without them there's got to come a time when the party has got to be such that you will not be able to help them you may sit by a dying bed but when the soul leaves the body nothing whatever you can do and furthermore if ever you feel helpless it's it's it is cease from matter now this is the great concern therefore of the warnings of the scripture whilst we might cover a vast field of natural things we're not here for that focus we're here as dying men women and children consider the vast reality of eternity now on the other hand all this being taken away from us what is there what is there has the

[36:51] Lord stripped us of every possibility probability every hole oh no indeed not he's given something far far better far more secure and as I've said of David just now David encouraged himself in the Lord's God he found his faithful God who stood by him in his utter extremity oh yes it isn't all negative is it but it warned wherein should he be accounted of can we answer the question then having started with the last rule and you in your heart of hearts can you answer this question if you can it's only my divine teaching and that teaching exceedingly faithful and trying and from experience this great question has a very positive answer wherein should he be accounted of how kind can this about them that you could say having no confidence in the flesh or as

[38:45] Paul says elsewhere the life that I now live I live by the faith of the son of God who loved me and gave himself what is this that is of such magnitude importance who is this mighty person that has saved from man man well in shall he be accounted of well the blessings in the scripture are so abundant asap comes to mind he had to cease from that he entered them prosperity of the wicked he saw them die in their brazen nest and he said of them that there are no bands in their dead not in trouble as other men are he goes on to say until

[40:01] I went into the sanctuary of God then understood I there end what was the sanctuary of God for a to his life he wouldn't hear a sermon he wouldn't have the New Testament rest things that we are all very familiar with would be quite unfamiliar to him what was there in the sanctuary of God that brought asap to his senses to see light in God's life there was God's provision there of the atonement of the sacrifice of the order of worship of the mercy of the golden candles table of stove bread and the night and all that

[41:02] God had appointed in an ancient sanctuary quite sufficient to point asap in his dilemma to the rightful and we today have the same sanctuary we have no beasts to kill no candles to light we have no mercy seat no vials no cherubims over it something far better and it is the same truth that changes the whole situation and points out the utter folly of trusting in man wherein shall he be accounted of now the Lord will have the honor himself he is the teacher and to this end he has appointed his oldest fifth and this blessed teacher will use all means that he has in his control to take the sinner to look unto

[42:26] Jesus not to himself that is to the Holy Spirit but to look out himself unto the Lord Jesus so that if the lesson be hard which it will be and if bright and good spirit take you thankfully to cease from man and you gradually begin to learn this lesson it will turn your eyes another way you won't start looking and continue looking as you once did for spiritual help and medicine you won't look to the quiz you won't look to the minutes you won't feel quite sure that because you've got a preacher that you're going to be blessed

[43:30] God has undoubtedly made this one of the first principles of the preaching of the gospel that no flesh should glory in that the early lessons in the church of God and Corinth have stood as a permanent mark gracious warning and teaching with regard to Paul and Cephas and Apollos which as distasteful as they may be to read as regards the people saying I am of one and I am of the other and yet the essential lesson is there and the apostle goes on to unfold it he says who is Paul what are you making all this to do about me Paul who is

[44:33] Cephas what has he got to do with your salvation was he the one that determined you should be born of God did Paul quicken you those wonderful chapters are so put for our instruction that we can see them clearly they're not to glory in men you're not to glory in anyone nor am I now you look how God does this how impotent he makes and sense calls his own self and how poor they are in themselves how helped how again and again they are show but they're only sour to the seed if I own serve at all and not even the seed itself they're only sour or to compare also the golden calf

[45:55] I mean the brave serpent they were not told to look at the pole they were told to look at the serpent called sheepers upon us and any of God's servants are only the pole that's all they're not told to look at the pole see it even back and it's faithful to look at man God will not have it it is the carbonation is no rest and Paul wrote on to say so that he that plant it he that water is nothing well you can't have anything less than that can be this warning therefore is very blessing though it may be it always is there's no easy way to it

[47:03] I can't suggest the pathway to you of theory where if I set before you a plan and you followed it you could cease from that you've got to learn it on the hard road and you've got to learn it in the permanent way and it's got to be a lesson to take down to death's door with you more than ever more than ever there could you realize the value of this great warning when you come to death's door cease even that whose breath is in his nostrils wherein shall he be accounted for when you ponder the Lord help in this right word wherein but we must leave it for the time being again fifth in that almost but we need yes thank you yes thanks behind your