Sermon
# 197 Series: Isaiah
Title: STUMBLINGBLOCKS REMOVED
Text: Isaiah 57:14
Subject: Hindrances To Faith
Date:
Sunday Evening – November 27, 1994
Introduction:
There is only one way to
heaven. There is only one way of salvation. There is
only one way whereby fallen, depraved, sinful man can
approach the holy, living, almighty God and be accepted of him. The Lord Jesus
Christ said, “I
am the Way!” Christ is the Way. There is no other way. If you walk in any other way, you are going the wrong way, you
are in the broad way that leadeth to destruction. Christ is the Door. You cannot enter into life, but by him. Christ is the Way. You cannot come to God, you cannot be saved, but by
him.
There the Man our Savior sits,
(Our God in human form!),
To intercede for His elect,
And bring His ransomed home!
You must come to God by
him. There is no other way. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” This is the way of
salvation. It is unalterable. Trust Christ and you are saved. If you do not trust Christ alone, you are
lost. Salvation can never be obtained
by our works our tears, or our prayers.
It can only be obtained through simple reliance upon the finished work
of Christ, the sinner’s Substitute. In
this matter of salvation, Christ is all in all. He
is the “A” and the “Z” in the alphabet of grace. He is the beginning and the ending of God’s
salvation. “He that believeth on the
Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see
life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
(John 3:36). “He that believeth
on him is not condemned” (John 3:18), and shall never
be condemned, because
he’s passed from death unto life. The
way of salvation is as clear day, as simple as trust, and as straight as an
arrow. Christ said, “I am the Way!” What could be more simple or
more direct?
Proposition: Yet, there are stumblingblocks in the way that must
be removed.
That
is what I wan to talk to you about tonight.
The title of my message is Stumbling Blocks Removed. My text is Isaiah 57:14 – “Cast ye up, cast you up,
prepare the way, take up the stumblingblock out of the way of my people.” I want, by God the Holy Spirit, to remove
the stumblingblocks from your way. I want to take you by the hand and lead you in the way to
life everlasting.
Divisions: I want to show you four things in this message.
I. It is the Business and
Responsibility of Every Gospel Preacher to Remove Those Stumblingblocks Over Which
Sinners Stumble and Fall.
The preacher’s business is to lead blind sinners in the way, to remove the stumblingblocks before them, and to help them overcome the discouragements they encounter.
A. Every False Prophet, Every
False Teacher, Every Deceiver of Men’s Souls Put Stumblingblocks In The Way Of
The Blind. (Lev. 19:14 – “Thou shalt not
curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind.”)
I lay
this charge at the feet of every preacher of Arminian, freewill, works religion
– He puts a stumblingblock before the blind – He puts something between the sinner and Christ, and thus keeps the sinner from coming to Christ.
NOTE: Such men are not the servants of Christ, but
messengers of satan. They are blind
leaders of blind men, lost guides to the lost souls, useless watchmen (Ezek.
3:20)
B. God’s Servants, “Speaking the Truth in Love,
“Faithfully Remove the Stumbling Blocks and Direct Sinners To Christ Alone as
Their Savior.
We
labor to keep men from having their minds corrupted and turned aside from “the
simplicity that is in Christ” (II Cor. 11:3).
We preach salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone; and labor at doing so with
total simplicity.
A learned botanist may have the ability to give
you the proper, scientific name of a rose. He may be able to tell you the number of
petals, thorns, and leaves to be found on each properly developed stem, and the reason for the distinctive colors and fragrances of different roses. I have listend to such men give lectures
about these things while standing in front of rose gardens. As my eyes glazed over, I thought, “I wish
he would shut up and get out of my way.
I want to see the roses! I want
to bend over and smell this sweet fragrance!”
In preaching Christ to you, I do not want to labor over a system of
doctrine. I want you to take the
sweetness of the Savior. I don’t want to parade my learning, but his loveliness – I want
you to see the beauty and smell the sweet fragrance of the Rose of Sharon! It is my responsibility to make the message
plain and clear, to remove the stumblingblocks.
II. There are Many Stumblingblocks
Mentioned In The Word of God, Over Which Sinners Stumble and Fall Through
Ignorance.
Most people are ignorant of the way of salvation. I do not say that in a derogatory way at all. Many who are brought up under the sound of the gospel are still ignorant of the gospel.
This
is what C.H. Spurgeon wrote about himself – (A man who had read Matthew
Henry’s entire 6 volume commentary when he was only 6 years old!) – “I was
brought up to attend the house of God regularly. I do not suppose that…, except through illness. I was even absent. Yet, when I began to seek the Lord, I did not know the way of
salvation. I knew the letter of it, but
not the real meaning.”
I am
here to tell you that no man can know it until God by his Spirit reveals it to
him. Without the supernatural, saving
revelation of divine grace, all men are ignorant of it and stumble over many
things. Frequently, the very things
that ought to be the means of grace are stumblingblocks to those who believe
not.
A. Covetousness is a stumblingblock over which
many fall into hell.
“He
that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver.” Eccles. 5:10
“Take
heed and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the
abundance of the things which he passeseth.”
(Luke 12:15).
B. Idolatry is the stumblingblock of
multitudes.
Idolatry
is the worship of images, the worship of any imaginary god, the pretended worship of God through
images, or
the worship of a false god, even when it is
called the worship of Jehovah.
C. A form of godliness is a stumbling block that
keeps sinners from the Savior.
Multitudes,
like the Jews of Paul’s day, build a refuge of lies in a religious profession,
a name, a ceremony, or an affiliation – a form of godliness! Their religious table is “made a snare, and
a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompense unto them” (Rom. 11:9).
D. Even God’s holy law becomes a stumblingblock to
the legalists who make their obedience to the law a basis of acceptance with
God.
NOTE: Some lost religious people are strict legalists and
some are lost antinomians. Believers
are neither. We are not in bondage to
the law, but we love it!
E. More astonishing than anything else is the
fact that to the unbeliever The Lord Jesus Christ Himself
and the Gospel Message of Salvation by God’s Free and Sovereign Grace in Him, is a stumblingblock!
The
message we preach is a message no man will ever believe, receive, and rejoice
in, except one who is born and taught of God.
We preach salvation…
1. By Grace without Works!
Multitudes say, “I’ll go to hell before I will
submit to a salvation which demands that I be saved as a sinner, without merit
before God, by free grace alone, through the blood and righteousness of a
Substitute!”
III. There are Some Stumblingblocks
of Divine Judgment, which cannot be Removed, By Which Reprobate Sinners Shall
Be Damned.
Contrary
to popular opinion, the door of mercy is not always open. Grace is not always available. There does come a time when men and women
who will not trust Christ cannot trust Christ.
God puts a stumblingblock of judgment in front of them to trip them
up. Here is the recompense
for man’s unbelief – To those who will not receive the love of the truth God
sends a strong delusion, and they are damned believing a lie (II Thess. 26:10-12).
For those who will not take refuge in Christ, God builds a refuge of
lies. So that those who would not trust
Christ and be saved by him will be confident and assured of salvation, while
they walk in damnation (Isa. 28:14-20).
IV. Far Too Often Believers Are
Stumblingblocks To One Another.
Let
us not put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in the way of any of God’s
children…
A. By Abusing our Liberty in Matters of
Indifference.
B. By the Neglect of Public Worship.
C. By Behavior that is Inconsistent with Our
Profession.
Application: Salvation is no more and no less than looking to
Christ.