"They Shall Come Which Were Ready To
Perish"
Isa. 27:13
In this passage Isaiah is describing the
operations of God's saving grace. He tells us who will be saved,
the certainty of their salvation and the method by which God will save his
elect remnant. This is God's method of grace: he gathers his elect one by one
when the gospel trumpet is blown, the great jubilee trumpet of grace. And the
salvation of God's elect is a matter of certainty. It is written, "They
shall come." It is not, "I hope they shall come," "They
shall come if," but "They shall come." "Thy people shall be
willing in the day of thy power" (Psa. 110:3). "Blessed is the man
whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee" (Psa. 65:4). But
who is it that shall come to Christ?" "They shall come which were
ready to perish."
All people are ready to perish under the
wrath of God by nature, for all are sinners, but very few know it. Isaiah is
talking about men and women who are in danger and know it. They are, in their
own apprehension of things, "ready to perish." A person is
"ready to perish when he is convinced that he deserves to perish, feels
that he must surely perish and senses that he is perishing. Being convinced of
his own guilt and sin before a just and holy God, he comes to God by faith in
Christ, crying, "Lord, save me, I am perishing!"
If you have been there, you know exactly
what I mean. A sinner is "ready to perish" when he feels the wrath of
God in his soul, when the sword of divine justice pricks his heart, causing him
to seek the mercy of God in Christ. (Read Acts 2:36-38). We are not saved by
feelings. And we must not look for a feeling. Look to Christ! Holy Spirit
conviction is more than a feeling of guilt and remorse. But when the wrath of
God seizes a sinner's heart and he is "ready to perish," he feels it
in his soul!
This is the way God begins with those whom
he has purposed to save. He first destroys our confidence in ourselves. Then he
gives us confidence in Christ. God always wounds before he heals,strips before he clothes, abases before he exalts and slays
before he makes alive. No one is ready for grace until he is "ready to
perish." You will never come to Christ until you know that you are
"ready to perish" without Christ. And if you are "ready to
perish," you will come to Christ.
Don Fortner