Sermon # 92     Series:  Isaiah

 

 

Title:   Almighty Grace!

 

Text:  Isaiah 35:5-6

 

SubjectEffectual, Saving Grace

 

Date:    Sunday Evening – November 10. 1991

 

 

Introduction:

 

Most people today, when they hear the word “grace,” or think about the grace of God which causes him to provide for, desire, and seek the salvation of sinners, but no more than that.  They imagine that God’s grace is a helpless, frustrated, passion.  It is a good intention.  It is a noble desire.  But it lacks power.  It can do nothing without the aide, assistance, and consent of the sinner’s will.  Rubbish!  Nonsense!  Blasphemy!  Such grace a not worth of our God.  Tonight, I want to talk to you about Almighty Grace!

 

Proposition:  Grace is not a helpless passion in God’s heart- Grace is an attribute of God’s Being which, like God himself, is almighty; it is an attribute of God which works effectually, irresistibly, accomplishing the salvation of chosen sinners.  ”By grace ye are saved!

 

Read Isaiah 35:5-6 with me – Our text is a prophecy of the coming of Christ and the establishment of his kingdom in this world and in the hearts of men.  It is talking about this gospel age and the coming of Christ in a twofold way:

 

 

IWhen Christ came into this world wonders were wrought by him in both the kingdom of nature and the kingdom of grace, wonders of mercy wrought upon the sons of men, which declared him to be the Christ, the Son of the living God.

 

The miracles Christ performed proved that he was sent of God (John 3:2).  The fact that he performed these miracles by his own power and in his own name proved that he is God.  He who made man’s mouth, made the mouth of the dumb to speak.  He who made the eyes, made the eyes of the blind to see.  He who made man’s ears, made the ears of the deaf to hear.  He who made man’s legs made the legs of the lame to leap!

 

When John’s disciples wanted proof of his Messiahship the Lord Jesus simply showed them the miracles he performed (Matt. 11:2-6).

 

Note:  The purpose of the miracles performed by Christ was to authenticate his claims as the Messiah, the Son of God.  And the purpose of the miraculous, supernatural gifts bestowed upon the apostles was to authenticate their commission as the messengers of Christ.  Today, these gifts are no longer needed.  We have the word of God.  Both God’s servants and the message we proclaim are authenticated by the word of God.

 

A.     When our Savior was here, he wrought wondrous things upon and in the bodies of men.

 

1.       The eyes of the blind were opened by him who is the Light of the world (Matt. 9:27; 12:30; John 9:6).

2.       The ears of the deaf were made to hear by him who is the Word of God  (Mk. 7:34 – “Ephphatha- Be opened!”).

3.       Many that were lame were caused to leap with life by him who is the way (John 5:1-9; Acts 3:8).

4.       The dumb were made to speak and sing by him who spoke the world into being (Matt. 9:32-33).

 

B.     But, as our Lord promised, for greater wonders than these are today performed upon the souls of lost men and women by the preaching of the gospel (John 14:12-14).

 

I am sometimes asked, “Do you believe in miracles?”  And my answer is, “Oh, yes, the God I serve is a God of miracles.  I know he is.  I am proof of it.  I am a walking miracle!”

 

Note: God does heal the bodies of his people.  And God does heal the lives of his people.   But he has sent me to preach the gospel that heals the souls of men and women forever.

 

Through the preaching of the gospel, by the sovereign operations of his Spirit, by almighty grace—

 

A.     Christ still opens the eyes of the blind (Acts 26:18; II Cor. 4:6; Eph. 1:18).

B.     Christ still causes the deaf to hear (Acts 16:14).

C.     Christ still causes the impotent and lame to run in the ways of God’s commandments (John 10:27-28).

“These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.

D.     Christ still causes the dumb to speak and to sing (Ps. 32:5; 51:15).

 

Before the Lord saved me, I was spiritually blind and deaf, lame and dumb.  Dumb in a fourfold sense:

 

    1. I could not speak of God.  (With knowledge).
    2. I would not speak for God. (In Praise).
    3. I dared not speak to God. (In Prayer).
    4. I had nothing to say!

 

But now, he has opened my mouth and loosed my tongue

 

 

II.  The Lord God pours out his Spirit in Almighty, saving grace and power in the most unlikely places- “For in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert”- (John 7:38). (Isa. 32:15)- (Acts 10:44).   I Cor. 1:26.  Who is elected?   The least likely!  David.

 

III.  What are we to learn from these two verses of Holy Scripture?

 

A.     The only difference between God’s elect and the rest of the world is the difference that grace makes (I Cor. 4:7).

 

1.       We were blind.  He made us see.

2.       We were deaf.  He caused us to hear his voice.

3.       We were lame.  He caused us to come to him and follow him.

4.       We were dumb.  He caused us to show forth his praise.

(I Cor. 15:10).  We were dead, He gave us life!  Ezek 16.

 

B.     Grace does change men (II Cor. 5:17).

C.     Grace is almighty, irresistible, and saving (Ps. 65:4).

D.     You and I have great reason to adore, praise, and honor our great God for his great grace-   He saved us!  (I Cor 6:9-11).

E.      The knowledge of God’s almighty grace should encourage and inspire us as we seek the salvation of others.

“I have never despaired of any man’s salvation since the Lord saved me.” (Newton to Jay)

 

#222 “There is a fountain!”

      Barnard- “Old Faithful”