Sermon #43                                                            Series:  Isaiah

 

Title:       The Believer’s Response To God’s Salvation

          Text:       Isaiah 12:1-6

          Subject:  Praise To God For His Grace

          Date:      Sunday Evening - April 22, 1990

          Tape #

 

          Introduction:

 

          I have no doubt that I am speaking to some here tonight who soon, perhaps this very hour, shall be saved by God’s almighty free grace in Christ.  You fully deserve the wrath of God.  Your personal depravity, sin, rebellion, and obstinate unbelief deserve to be punished forever. But God is gracious.  And he will soon save some of you.

 

·        He chose you as the object of his love in Eternal Election.

·        The Lord Jesus Christ has redeemed you with His Own Precious Blood - He obeyed the law of God for you - And he satisfied the offended justice of God as your Substitute at Calvary.

·        If God the Father chose you and God the Son redeemed you, I am here to tell you that there is a day appointed which you cannot escape, a day of grace, and when that day comes God the Holy Spirit will effectually give you life and call you to faith in Christ by his irresistible grace (Ps. 65:4; 110:3).

 

          Perhaps you are now a scoffer.  Maybe you secretly laugh at all the fuss we make about grace, righteousness, redemption and the glory of God.  But in that day God has appointed, if you are privileged to be numbered among his elect, a radical change will take place in your heart.  I want to talk to you now about that day.  I pray that this very day shall be to some of you the day of God’s salvation.

 

          Let’s turn in our Bibles to Isaiah 12.  The title of my message is - The Believer’s Response To God’s Salvation.  I want to show you tonight how sinners who are saved by God’s sovereign grace respond to his salvation.  My text is Isaiah 12:1-6.  This chapter is Isaiah’s conclusion to the sermon that began in chapter 8.  The whole sermon is a prophecy of the coming of Christ and the day of God’s salvation and grace.

 

v.    1 - “And in that day” - The day Isaiah is talking about is the day of grace and salvation.  It is the day when God comes to deliver his elect from the bondage of sin.  This day of salvation was typified in the deliverance of Israel out of Egyptian bondage. (11:16).  The redemption of Israel out of Egypt was twofold.

 

·        A Redemption by Price - The Blood of the Lamb.

·        A Redemption by Power - “His Mighty Wind” (11:15; John 3:8).

 

          In the day that God comes to a sinner in saving grace there will be…

 

1.   An Outpouring of His Spirit (11:15).

2.   A Revelation of His Son (11:10).

3.   A Gathering of His Elect (11:11-12).

4.   A Conversion by His Almighty Grace (11:6-9).

 

          “In that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise Thee!”  The word for “praise” here is “confess.”  When God comes to his elect in saving power and grace, the sinner whom he saves will confess Christ (Rom. 10:9-13) -

 

·        In His Heart.

·        With His Mouth.

·        In Baptism.

 

And this is the confession we make to God our Savior, for the praise of the glory of his grace.

 

          “Though thou was angry with me” - Have you ever known the wrath of God upon you?  When he comes in saving grace the first thing he does is to reveal his wrath against sin (Rom. 9:9-10).  Until you are lost you will never be saved.

 

          “Thine anger is turned away!”  Turned away by the precious blood of Christ and turned away by the gracious application of the blood to my heart (Heb. 9:12-14).

 

          “And thou comfortest me!”  (Isa. 40:1-2).  How does God comfort his people?  He does it through the preaching of the gospel by the power of his Spirit by which…

 

1.   The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts (Rom. 5:1-5).

2.   The forgiveness of sin is proclaimed in our souls (I John 1:9).

3.   The promised of the covenant are made known to us (II Tim. 1:10).

4.   The sweet assurance of acceptance with and access to God is granted to our consciences (Heb. 10:15-23).

 

v.    2 - Isaiah is still describing the confessions of a sinner saved by the grace of God - “Behold, God is my salvation” - or God is my Savior.

 

          The Lord Jesus Christ is God, the great God and our Savior.  He is the Savior appointed by the Father, promised in the covenant, and sent in the fullness of time, and now revealed in my heart by the Spirit.

 

          Notice that word, “Behold,” which prefixes this confession.  It is a word of assurance - “God is my salvation.”  It is a word of affirmation, acknowledging to all that God is my salvation.  It is a word of adoration, admiring God for his salvation.  It is a word of exclusion, declaring that God alone is my Savior.  It is a word of amazement.  This great and glorious God is my salvation (I John 3:1).  And it is a word of hope to all who hear it - If God is my salvation, maybe he will be your salvation too!

 

          “I will trust and not be afraid!”  I will trust Christ for all my salvation, be confident of him, and look upon myself as one who is safe and secure in him.  And trusting him, I will not be afraid (Rom. 8:28-29).  “I will not be afraid!”

 

 

 

 

·        Of Sin!

·        Of Satan!

·        Of the World!

·        Of the Flesh!

·        Of Death!

·        Of Hell!

·        Of Condemnation!

 

          The ground of this confident faith is not myself, my works, my feelings, or my experience, but in my God.  “For the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.” The Lord JEHOVAH is God my Deliverer.  He is Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

 

1.   He is my Strength.

 

·        The Strength of my Life.

·        The Strength of all Grace.

·        The Strength of all Duty.

·        The Strength for every Trial.

 

2.   He is my Song.

 

·        His Person.

·        His Work.

 

3.   He is my Salvation.

 

          If ever you come to Christ and obtain salvation by him, you will never tire of hearing it, or of repeating it.  “The Lord JEHOVAH, he is become my salvation!”

 

          John Gill said, “Salvation is wrought out by Christ, and believers have it in him, and they know it, and believe it, and are already saved in him.”

 

v.    3 - “Therefore” because God is your salvation, “with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.”

 

          Water represents daily, reviving, refreshing grace.  The bucket with which we draw this water is faith.  It must be drawn by prayer.  What are these wells of salvation?

 

1.   The Triune God.

 

·        The Father (Jer. 2:13).

·        The Spirit (John 4:14).

·        The Son (Song 4:15).

 

2.   The Word of God.

3.   The Covenant of Grace.

4.   The Promises of the Gospel.

 

          And once God saves a sinner by his grace, he is not content to have grace himself.  He wants others to worship, honor, praise, and trust his God.  Look at the next verse.

 

v.    4 - “And in that day ye shall say, Praise the Lord!”  Believers want all men to give praise to Christ, the Lord.

 

·        For His Person.

·        For His Perfection.

·        For His Performances.

 

          “Call upon His name.”  That is to say, “Worship Him.”

 

          “Declare His doings among the people.” Declare to all the world what wondrous things Christ has done.

 

1.   His Obedience.

2.   His Death.

3.   His Intercession.

4.   His Grace.

5.   His Providence.

 

          “Make mention that his name is exalted” (Acts 4:12; Phil. 2:9-10).

 

v.    5 - “Sing unto the Lord; for he hath done excellent things.”  Sing unto the Lord songs, and hymns, and spiritual songs.  Sing how great and good he is.  Sing of what he is in himself.  And sing of what he is to his people, “for he hath done excellent things.”

 

1.  He has wrought out an excellent salvation.

2.   He has brought in an excellent righteousness.

3.   He has offered up an excellent sacrifice.

4.   He has obtained an excellent victory.

 

          “This is known in all the earth!”  The apostles preached it everywhere.  The church in ages past has made it known to all.  And we must in our day make it known in all places.

 

v.    6 - “Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion:  for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee.”

 

          Here is great reason for constant, exuberant praise among God’s saints.

 

1.   Christ, the Holy One of Israel, is “in the midst of thee.”

2.   And He is Great!

 

·        A Great God.

·        A Great Redeemer.

·        A Great Savior.

·        A Great King.

·        A Great High Priest.

·        A Great Husband.

·        A Great Friend.