Sermon
# 208 Series: Isaiah
Title: “WHEN THE ENEMY SHALL COME IN
LIKE A FLOOD”
Text: Isaiah 59:19
Subject: The Dangers Faced By God’s
Saints in This World
Date:
Sunday Evening – April 9, 1995
Introduction:
I will leave it to men more informed than I am to investigate and debate about the original, historical events and deliverances that may have inspired Isaiah to record the words of this particular passage, that is of little concern to me. I know of whom the chapter speaks. The great, conquering Hero and Deliverer described in verses 16-21 is the Captain of our Salvation, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Prince of the House of David, The Lord Jesus Christ our Savior. Isaiah may or may not have known it when he wrote these words, but his words were inspired by God the Holy Spirit to be prophetic, to be a prophetic description of Christ and of the ultimate, consummate salvation of God’s elect by him.
v. 16 – When he saw that there was no
righteous men upon the earth, that there was no Intercessor between God and
men, he stepped forward as the right arm of the Almighty, and brought salvation
unto him.
v. 17-18 – Because “The righteous Lord loveth righteousness, as surely as he wrought
salvation in the earth, so surely also he will execute judgment upon his
enemies and justly recompense his adversaries.
As grace reigned in righteousness unto eternal life for God’s elect, so
too justice shall reign in righteousness unto the everlasting destruction of
God’s enemies.
vv. 19-20 – There is no question that
truth shall yet prevail and God’s kingdom shall be established in all the
earth. I certainly do not believe that
the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our God in a political
sense, or that the time will come when all men will be saved. But the Scriptures do teach that God has his
elect in every nation, people, tribe, and tongue. And the Scriptures do teach that God will save some out of every
nation. Thus, as the gospel spreads
through all the earth and the hearts of chosen sinners are conquered by grace
in every nation, the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our
God.
v. 20 – Then, once God has saved his
elect out of every nation, Christ our Redeemer shall come again in the glory of
his second advent.
Did
you notice that this prophetic paragraph encompasses the whole gospel age. Verse 16 speaks of our Savior’s first advent
to accomplish the salvation of his people.
And verse 20 speaks of his second advent, when he shall come to
consummate his great work, which will bring his saints into everlasting glory
and recompense his enemies with the terror of his wrath.
But I
call your attention tonight to the second half of verse 19. “When the enemy shall come in like a flood,
the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” This is what I want to talk to you about – “When The Enemy Shall Come In Like A Flood.”
As you well know, I am not one of those delirious men who imagines that he has figured out the prophetic scriptures that have stumped everyone else for two thousand years. I have no interest in those things and pay absolutely no attention to those who claim to know the timetable of prophecy. Those who preach prophetic things preach nonsense. They know not whereof they speak; and in a short time their folly will be made evident to all.
I am
content to simply expound the gospel to all who will hear me. I fully agree with Spurgeon who wrote, “I
believe it to be one of the most fatal devices of Satan to turn aside useful
gospel ministers from their proper work into idle speculations upon the number
of the beast, and the meaning of the little horn. The prophecies will interpret themselves by their fulfillment,
but no expositor has yet arisen who has been able to do it. Providence is the true interpreter of
prophecy; - ‘God is His own Interpreter, And He will make it plain.’ But for us to try the mysterious visions of
Daniel and John before they are fulfilled will, I believe, be worse then
folly.”
Having
said all that with regard to prophecy, our text does give us a general warning
that is echoed throughout the scriptures of the perilous times in which we live
when satan, our great enemy, shall come in like a flood, in the greatest power
and force that he can muster against the church and kingdom of God.
At
such times we are assured that God the Holy Spirit shall put forth his glorious
power and lift up a standard against our foe.
Proposition: Though the enemy shall come in like a flood, no harm
shall be done to God’s people, the truth of God and the kingdom of God shall
not be damaged or even hindered in progress!
I. There are times when satan,
the enemy of our souls, comes in like a flood, threatening to destroy.
Our
adversary, the devil, never takes a vacation.
He never relaxes his vigilance of enmity against the throne of God and
the people of God. The manner of his
assaults changes; but his object is invariably the same. He seeks to overthrow the work of God.
A. Floods of heresy have spilled
from the dragon’s mouth from the earliest apostolic times.
The heresies distress us and rightfully raise our fury. And faithful men will always expose that which is damning to the souls of me - (Gal. 1:6-8). But the heresies that arise shall not destroy the wheat of God’s kingdom. They only sift out the tares.
NOTE: The “fables” of Arminianism are threefold:
In
this day of mamby, pamby, anything goes, “we must not say anything to offend
anyone religion, everything is tolerated except the plain declaration of God’s
truth. Spineless preachers, cow tailing
to unregenerate church members and deacon boards have given us a generation of
Bible toting, spiritual idiots, totally ignorant of …
· Covenant Mercy!
NOTE: The old serpent may have put away the glittering
sword of persecution, but only because he has found a more suitable weapon of
destruction. The stupefying barbiturate
of religion without Christ and the deadly poison of heresy!
B. On a more personal level, the
Lord God sometimes allows satan to come in like a flood against our souls
individually.
1. He raises up disturbances in the house of God to keep you from the ordinances of public worship. (P.C.)
2. He allows our hearts with temptations to
draw us away from Christ.
3. Sometimes he stirs up the corruptions of our
hearts, fills our minds with vile, blasphemous thoughts, and derides us as
hypocrites with no evidences of grace.
4. Sometimes the Lord allows the enemy of our
souls to run us through his sieve.
Illus: Peter.
II. But even when the enemy comes
in like a flood, no harm shall be done in the kingdom of God or to our souls,
“For the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.”
A. Christ is the Standard, which the Holy Spirit lifts up – (Isa. 11:10-12).
B. He lifts up the standard by the preaching of
the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation.
C. He lifts up Christ in the hearts of his
people and causes us to gather to him as our all in all – (I Cor. 1:30).
Application: Those who are sealed of God cannot be hurt by satan –
(Rom. 8:32-39; Rev. 7).