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.

 

  1. The Son of God became one of us that he might redeem and save us (Gal. 4:4-5).
  2. He brought in everlasting righteousness for men by his fulfillment of and obedience to God’s holy law as the Representative of God’s elect (Dan. 9:24).
  3. He made atonement for sin and put away sin by the sacrifice of himself – He satisfied the justice of God for the sins of his people when he was made to be sin for us and died under the penalty of sin as our Substitute (II Cor. 5:21; Heb. 9:27; Rom. 3:26-28).
  4. Having put away sin, he ascended back into heaven to make intercession with God for the salvation of his people, on the basis of his sacrifice, as our great High Priest.

 

There the Man our Savior sits,

(Our God in human form!),

To intercede for His elect,

And bring His ransomed home!

 

  1. This great Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, because of all that he has done for sinners, and because he now lives in heaven to make intercession for the transgressors, is able to save to the uttermost all who come to God by him (Heb. 7:25).

 

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.

 

  1. It is the business and responsibility of every gospel preacher to remove stumblingblocks over which sinners stumble and fall.
  2. There are many stumblingblocks mentioned in the Word of God over which sinners stumble and fall through ignorance.
  3. There are stumblingblocks of divine judgment, which can not be removed, by which the reprobate will be damned.
  4. Far too often believers, genuine believers are stumblingblocks to one another.

 

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!

  1. By Blood Atonement Not Blood Lineage!
  2. By the Merit of a Substitute Not Ceremonies!
  3. By Imputed Righteousness Not Developed Righteousness.
  4. By The Prerogative of God’s Sovereign will not man’s Freewill.

 

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.