Isaiah 22:23-25 (KJV)  And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house.  [24]  And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.  [25]  In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken it.

Audio of Sermon: 

Where Is Your Nail Driven?

Well it happened once again. A small Church had a gunman go in, an Atheist who mocked Christians and yet once purportedly assisted in Sunday School at that very Church. A disgraced Airman, which terribly hurts me as a retired Air Force Technical Sergeant. The man enlisted in my Beloved Air Force and smeared it by his conduct. He was dishonorably discharged from the service that I so loved, and dishonorably discharged his weapon in a little First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas. The man killed children as young as 18 months old. He killed the Pastor’s 14 year old daughter. He killed 26 people. The news media promote the man’s name. The talking heads ask “Why” but provide no answers.

There is no answer unless you look up.

The last shooting in a Nashville Church was from a confused person wandering in the darkness. This shooting in a Texas Church is from a confused person wandering in darkness. In both cases it was a person who thought their life was in order. They fastened a nail in what they thought was a sure place. One was an atheist, a person that God calls “A Fool”.

Psalms 14:1 (KJV)… The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.

God did not call the atheist a fool to mock him, but to speak truth.
The atheist is a “Fool” because the “sure place” he puts his nail is NOTHINGNESS.
That is stupid, foolish!

To deny that there is a Creative and Loving God with all the evidence we see around us, the beauty of creation, the joys and wonders within it, is indeed foolish. Though the book of nature is soiled by sin and corruption it I evident through common sense as well as experience that God is.

Job 12:7-12 (NIV) But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; 8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. 9 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? 10 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. 11 Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes food? 12 Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding?

To say there is no god is to drive a nail in a non-existent wall, then to hang all your hopes and dreams on it. How futile that is! But then, as the other confused killer, to believe in the false gods of this world. So many chase after false gods, idols, beings that truly are not. God has revealed Himself in the Scripture. The God of the one and only Holy Bible has said:

Isaiah 45:5-8 (ESV) I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, 6 that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. 7 I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity; I am the Lord, who does all these things. 8 “Shower, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down righteousness; let the earth open, that salvation and righteousness may bear fruit; let the earth cause them both to sprout; I the Lord have created it.

There are confused atheists who have driven a nail in what they thought was a sure place, and there are confused polytheists who have done the same. The atheists foolishly believe in NO god, but the polytheists believe in MANY gods. They foolishly say “there are many ways to heaven” and in their seeker sensitivity would have man to believe that faith in a squirrel is as good as faith in a stone statue or in some perception of God. “As long as you’re sincere you shall all get to Heaven”. Is this true? Is sincerity the test of truth? If I sincerely believe 1+5=3 is it true because I believe it so? Is gravity suspended if I step off a cliff believing myself to be weightless? The atheist puts a nail in what he considers a sure place, but it is nothing. A polytheist puts a nail in a sure place – so he thinks – and it is also nothing. There is but one God, and He is the God Who reveals Himself in the Scripture.

Who Drives Your Nail?

In our text today God speaks of two nails driven. The first nail is driven by God. He says:

Isaiah 22:23 (KJV)  And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house.

The person who has their faith in God will be blessed by God. God says “I will fasten him as a nail in a sure place”.The life that God blesses will also bless others. God says of this person “he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house”. In ancient times the inheritance was passed from father to son. The child that loved the Lord was promised to be a glorious throne to his father’s house. The one who trusted in God would be a blessing because God would strengthen him. God would make his life a blessing. God would insure that he was a “nail in a sure place”.

Who drives your nail?

In many cases we ourselves drive our own nail. We do not rely upon God, but upon ourselves and our own strengths and abilities.

In the background of this passage there was an important man who was necessary for the function of God’s Israel, a man named Shebna the Scribe. The Scribes were very important in the days of Israel. The Scribe not only faithfully copied Scripture so the people could have access to God’s Word, but they also spoke the Word and pointed to the Word. The Scribe was not to be lifted up with pride, but to realize that he was but the messenger of God. Shebna became arrogant, became willful, and began to promote himself rather than the Word of God.

He was the “Nail fastened in a sure place” that God was going to remove. He was the one spoken of in verse 25 of whom God said:

Isaiah 22:25 (KJV) In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall the nail that is fastened in the sure place be removed, and be cut down, and fall; and the burden that was upon it shall be cut off: for the LORD hath spoken it.

The nail fastened by man’s hand would be removed, and all that was placed upon it would fall to the ground.

God would raise up another Scribe to be in Shebna’s place, a man by the name of Eliakim. Shebna, the religious pretender, was out, and all who trusted in Shebna were out. But Eliakim, the Nail fastened by the Lord, would be in a sure place. Everything that rested on Shebna would fall to the ground, but Eliakim would be sure because God made him sure.

Oh My Beloved, In Order For God To Bless Your Life
Shebna Must Die And Eliakim Must Rise

So many people are like Shebna. They trust in themselves. They are puffed up over themselves. They think their righteousness will be the train that takes them to Heaven.

Before salvation comes Shebna must fall, so that Christ can rise.

The Old Testament Scribes were marked by self righteousness. So many of them thought themselves the oracles of God because they memorized vast portions of Scripture. So many today believe that they will enter Heaven upon their death because:

They were uncommonly MORAL
They took the SACRAMENT of bread and cup weekly
They gave faithfully of their TITHE
They were never absent from SUNDAY SCHOOL
Though they skipped the Worship Services
They PRAYED meticulously, counting BEADS

My Beloved, Shebna must fall, and self must die before salvation can come. It was to His disciples, along with the Scribes and Pharisees that Jesus said:

Matthew 16:24-26 … If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

Salvation is a surrender of self to God. Salvation is to stop being your own hammer and nail, and to turn yourself over to Him Who loves you and gave Himself for you. Salvation is to say to the Lord “I am unrighteous. I am undone. I am but a rusty nail. Use me, dear Lord, as you would.”

Salvation is a changing from Saul to Paul, not based on what we have done, but on what God will do. There was no greater religious creature than Saul of Taurus. Saul was

Philippians 3:5-6 (ESV) circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.

This man, a leader in Israel, a nail fastened by his hand in what he thought was a sure place, chased Christians to murder them in their churches. Then one day Jesus Christ struck him down on the Damascus Road. God pulled that nail out of that unsure place and made Saul see himself as he was … lost, undone, a fool without God. On that day the fool was raised up and fastened by those nail scarred hands into a sure place. The Apostle said:

Philippians 3:7-8 (ESV) But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ …

Whereas before his life was based on his power, now his life was based on God’s power. God raised Saul and changed him to Paul, and God wishes to do the same for you. The Bible says of us all:

Romans 3:23 (ESV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

A sinner cannot make himself better. A sinner needs the Savior, and the Savior wants the sinner. Jesus Christ declared:

Luke 5:32 (ESV) I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

Mark 2:17 (ESV) … Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus came for sinners. He came to save Shebna, but Shebna must die. He must give himself over to Christ if he would be made a Child of the King.

You have pains in your arms, your chest. You go to the doctor. You hear the bad news. “I’m sorry, but it seems as if you have a blockage in your heart. I will need to operate. You will have to trust yourself to me, to rest on my table, allow me to do what I do.” No, Doctor, I will not do this. I believe I will get better on my own. Continue this pathway and there will be consequences. No, Doctor, I will lay upon your table, but I wish to assist in the operation. Beloved, continue this way and there will be consequences. The Physician must be allowed to work, else you will die. The great Physician must be allowed to work, or you will die in your sins.

You cannot be saved unless Christ save you. You cannot slay a single passion toward evil unless Christ be in charge of the operation. He has said:

John 10:8-9 (ESV) Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.

You use a door by going through it. Christ bids we cease trying and start following. We are to knock at mercy’s door and then enter. When we do He has promised to never leave nor forsake you. Jesus shed His Blood so that He could purchase you. Kill Shebna. Let Him have you all.

Christ Promises To Fasten You In A Sure Place

The person who is saved relies upon Christ and Christ alone. We are those who are continually …

Hebrews 12:2-3 (ESV) looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.

What has God said of the one He saved, of Eliakim? He says:

Isaiah 22:23-24 (KJV)  And I WILL fasten him as a nail in a sure place; and he shall be for a glorious throne to his father’s house.  [24]  And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father’s house, the offspring and the issue, all vessels of small quantity, from the vessels of cups, even to all the vessels of flagons.

The one who entrusts his life to God is fastened as a nail in a sure place. The hands that made the Heavens and earth embrace you. God sustains those whom He saves. God ensures the future of His Beloved. Yes, a madman – a sad, misplaced and confused Shebna – came into a Church with a semi-automatic rifle. He killed many saints, many children, a few babies. Then this man died, going into an eternity without God and without hope. But Beloved, every person who died by his evil act did not die. Those who were nails hung by the hand of God were in a sure place. Though attacked and killed for their faith, the first century Christian did not despair. Believers in the first century Church knew that their faith could lead to their deaths. The Apostle Paul as he headed toward a sure Roman execution said:

Philippians 1:18-21 (ESV) What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, 19 for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, 20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

The nail driven in the sure place by God’s hand will endure. The life that ends here in eternity’s grasp will never end, for God has promised it. My dependance is on Christ and Christ alone. The dependance of Christ’s Church is on Christ and Christ alone. When I sin my hope is not on my penance, but on returning to Christ and Christ alone. And if I have wandered as a Prodigal Son away from the Father, my only hope for restoration is to return to Him and Him alone.

There is no other hope but Christ. There is no other salvation but the Old Rugged Cross. There is no Heaven without the Body and the Blood of Christ. Spurgeon wrote:

I’ll go to Jesus though my sins,
Have like a mountain rose!
I know His courts I’ll enter in,
Whatever may oppose.
Prostrate I lie before His Throne,
And there my sin confess.

{and I write}

I am but a wretch undone,
Without Him my life a mess!

{Hymnal}

All to Jesus, I surrender,
All to Him I freely give.
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live!

Is your nail in a sure place? Is your life in his hand? May God lead you to Christ this very day to save you and glorify His Name.