Sermon #17 Series:
Isaiah
Title: What
Can We Expect To See In These
Last
Days?
Text: Isaiah 4:1-6
Subject: Fake
and True Religion In the Last Days
Date: Sunday Evening - July 23, 1989
Tape #
Introduction:
The title of my message tonight is - What Can We Expect To See In These Last Days? Our text is the middle portion of Isaiah’s sermon concerning
the last days. This sermon began in
Chapter 2 and concludes in Chapter 5 verse 30.
Our text tonight is Chapter 4.
The subject in all four of these chapters is “the last days” (2:1-2).
· Chapter 2 - The Glory of God’s Church in the Last Days.
· Chapter 3 - God’s Providential Judgment upon the Wicked
and His Blessings
upon the Righteous
in the
Last Days.
·
Chapter 4 - What We
Can Expect to See
In the Religious
World in the Last Days.
Now remember,
we are living in the last days. (I John
2:18). Those who talk about the last
days as being days of a tribulation period in which men will be saved by legal
obedience, or a millennial age when people will be saved by being born in
natural righteousness, speak in opposition to the Scriptures. The Bible nowhere speaks of a coming…
·
Seven Year
Tribulation.
·
Thousand Year Jewish
Kingdom.
·
Rebuilding of the
Temple, or Gathering of the Jews.
We
are living in the last days. When
Isaiah speaks of “the last days” and
“in that day,” he is talking about the gospel age in which we live. It began with the incarnation of Christ and
will end at Christ’s glorious second advent.
“Then cometh the end!”
Proposition: In
Isaiah 4 the Prophet of God shows us, by the Spirit of Inspiration what we can
expect to see in these last days, particularly in the religious world.
Divisions: Give
me your attention. Here are five things
which Isaiah prophesied would come to pass in these last days. And already we see them happening. Without question, “it is the last time.”
1.
The Apostacy of the World (v. 1).
2.
The Exaltation of Christ (v. 2).
3.
The Perserverance of an Elect Remnant (v. 3).
4.
The Purging and Purifying of Christ’s Churches (v. 4).
5.
The Protection and Preservation of the Church (vv. 5-6).
I.
It has come to pass as Isaiah prophesied, THE WORLD HAS BEEN
ENGULFED IN APOSTATE, FREE-WILL, WORKS RELIGION (v. 1).
Without question, this first verse has immediate reference
to the desolation which God brought upon the Jewish nation, because of their
departure from him - However , the whole passage is written for our instruction
in these last days. And the instruction
is of a spiritual nature.
A. These seven
women represent the whole world.
Seven is the number of completion. These seven women represent the entire religious apostacy of the
world - II Thess. 2:1-12; II Tim. 3:1-4).
B. The apostate
religion of antichrist is free-will, works religion.
These women want nothing but the name of a man, to take away
their reproach. And the religious world
wants nothing but the name of Christ to soothe their consciences.
1.
The religion of this world is initiated by man, not by God -
Free-willism - Pacisionism - “Seven women shall take hold of one man”.
True salvation is initiated by God
taking hold of man!
2.
The religion of this world is a religion of works and
rewards - “We will eat our own bread.”
3.
The religion of this world is a religion of
self-righteousness. “We will wear our
own apparel.”
4.
The religion of this world wants nothing from Christ but his
name.
No regard for His Word - His Doctrine - His Ordinances
- His Will - His Glory.
I have no desire to be contentious or
offensive. But I must be faithful to
God and to you. I warn you - have
nothing to do with free-will, works religion, in any form - (Rev. 18:4).
·
In the religion of
the world, Christ is nothing but a name.
·
In the church of God,
Christ is all and in all - (Col. 3:11).
II.
Though the world despises Christ and his gospel, IN THESE
LAST DAYS THERE IS AN EVIDENT EXALTATION OF CHRIST AMONG HIS OWN PEOPLE (v. 2).
I am a student of history, especially of Church
History. And I relish the works of God
in the past. I love to read the old
writers. I regularly read sermons by
the old preachers. I have read
Augustine, Luther, and Calvin, Owen, Bunyan, Watson, and Goodwin, Edward,
Whitefield, Gill , and Spurgeon. But I
am going to tell you something, I have never read better sermons than I have
heard preached in my life-time.
There has never been such a day of
spiritual darkness as this - but there has never been such a day of spiritual
light as this. Christ has never been
more beautiful and glorious than he is in the gospel we preach in this day.
A. Christ is
called “The Branch of the Lord.”
·
His Divine Origin.
·
His Humiliation.
·
His Davidic Ancestry.
B. Christ is
beautiful in His glorious person.
·
God-man.
·
Savior - Prophet -
Priest - King.
C. Christ is
glorious in His saving power.
·
His Satisfaction.
·
His Sovereignty.
·
His Salvation
D. Christ, the
fruit of the earth, being raised from the dead, is excellent and comely to His
elect.
“Unto you, therefore, which believe He
is precious!” The more men revile him,
the more we adore him. The more others
mar the beauty of the gospel, the more clearly we must preach the gospel. The more others detract from his glory, the
more we must exalt his glory.
III. Though many
apostates abound, departing from the faith (I John 2:19) THERE IS AN ELECT
REMNANT WHO SHALL PERSEVERE, STEADFAST AND IMMOVABLE, IN THE MIDST OF WHOLESALE
APOSTACY (v. 3).
“The righteous shall hold on his way.” These to whom Christ appears beautiful will
not forsake him. Blessed be God, there
is a remnant according to the election of grace!
A. God’s elect
shall remain steadfast in the truths of the gospel.
B. They shall be
called holy.
·
Holy by Imputation.
·
Holy by Regeneration.
·
Holy in Conversation.
C. Our security
is our election.
Who shall
persevere to the end?” Even everyone
that is written among the living in Jerusalem” - (See Rev. 13:8; 17:8).
IV. In these last
days, we can expect to see THE PURGING AND PURIFICATION OF CHRIST CHURCHES BY
THE GOSPEL (v. 4).
This verse might be interpreted as a prophesy of our
redemption by Christ. He has washed
away our sins by his precious blood’s atonement. But both Gill and Matthew Henry say that “the daughters of Zion”
are individual local churches. I think
they are right.
The Lord Jesus purges his church by
the preaching of the gospel, separating the wheat from the tares.
A. He washes away
the filth of false doctrine and false worship by the pure preaching of the
gospel.
B. He purges
oppressors from our midst by the same means.
·
“The Spirit of
Judgment” - is wisdom, justice, and truth.
·
“The Spirit of
Burning” - is zeal for the glory of God.
The fire of God’s word will burn up
the wood, hay, and stubble of falsehood within the church of God.
Note: This purging is God’s work, not ours!
V. In these last
days of wholesale religious apostacy, we can expect to see THE CONTINUED
PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF GOD’S CHURCH
(vv. 5-6) - (See Matt. 16:18).
·
He shall be a cloud
to protect us from the heat of persecution.
·
The Lord shall be a
flaming light to guide us in the midst of darkness.
·
The glory of God
shall be our defense.
·
The Lord himself
shall be a tabernacle, a refuge, and a
covert for sinners to flee for
refuge to him.
Application: II
Timothy 1:13-14
“Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken!”