Sermon #236 Series: Isaiah

Title: GRACE, REPROBATION, AND JUDGMENT

Text: Isaiah 65:1-7

Reading: Off: Ron Wood Aud: Romans 9:30-10:21

Subject: The Calling of God’s Elect from the Gentiles

Date: Sunday Evening - April 7, 1996 Tape # S-41

Introduction:

Isaiah 65:1-7 "I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name. 2 I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; 3 A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; 4 Which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine's flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels; 5 Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. 6 Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom, 7 Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the LORD, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom."

Without question this passage of Scripture is a prophecy given by Isaiah, under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, which directly asserted the fact that God would cast away the Jews as a people and call out his elect from among the Gentiles. We are not left to figure this out for ourselves. The Apostle Paul, also writing by divine inspiration tells us plainly that this is the meaning of Isaiah’s words.

Romans 10:20-21 "Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. 21 But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people."

If we go on to read the eleventh chapter of Romans, we find Paul explaining that it was always God’s purpose to save a people out of every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. He never planned to bestow his grace upon the physical seed of Abraham alone. The Israel of God is a spiritual nation, kingdom, and people. The Israel of God, is the church and kingdom of God made up of chosen, redeemed sinners out of all the nations and kingdoms of this world. Some of God’s elect were chosen from among the Jews. The rest were chosen from among the Gentiles. All shall be gathered to him by his grace and power. And when “the fullness of the Gentiles be brought in, all Israel shall be saved.” I want you to see that this is clearly the teaching of Holy Scripture.

Proposition: God’s purpose was not frustrated or defeated when the Jews rejected Christ and his gospel, but fulfilled.

Romans 11:25-26 "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:"

When Paul thought about this glorious work of God’s free, sovereign, and unchanging grace, demonstrated in the way he raises up and cast down all the nations of the world for the salvation of his elect out of every nation, he was filled with wonder, adoration, and praise. Read Romans 11:32-36.

"For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. 33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! 34 For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? 35 Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? 36 For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen."

Tonight, I want, by the grace and power of God the Holy Spirit, to bring you the message contained in these first seven verses in Isaiah 65. The title of my message is Grace, Reprobation, and Judgment. Those are the three things dealt with in these seven verses. They are weighty matters. I pray that God will be pleased to give me your attention and give me the ability to preach that which is written in the text before us.

Divisions: I am going to talk to you about three things in this message.

1. The Call of Grace (v. 1)

2. The Cause of Reprobation (vv. 2-5)

3. The Measure of Judgment (vv. 6-7)

I. THE CALL OF GRACE

Isaiah 65:1 "I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name."

Let’s look at this verse line by line and word by word. It is full of spiritual instruction.

A. The Lord God says, “I am sought of them that asked not for me.”

Remember, he is, according to Paul’s interpretation of these words, talking about the calling of his elect among the Gentiles. He is talking about you and me, who now believe on his name, who now seek him.

1. This was our state and condition by nature. - We asked not for him.

Before he saved us by his grace, we had absolutely no interest in him. We were without God, without Christ, without hope, and lost in this world.

· Ephesians 2:1-13

We had no knowledge of Christ. We were not in the least concerned for him, his will, or his glory. We saw no beauty in him and thought we had no need of him. But now, the Lord says, “I am sought of them that asked not after me.” How came we to seek him? What was it that aroused in our souls a desire for him? What caused you to seek him? The answer is obvious to all who know him. We began seeking him because he sought us by his grace. This is clearly the teaching of the Bible. In fact, this is precisely the teaching of this verse. We did not suddenly change our natures and decide, by an act of our free will, to start seeking the Lord. We began to seek him when he began to make himself known to us by the gospel.

2. That is precisely the meaning Paul, by divine inspiration, gives to this verse. In Romans 10:20, he quotes Isaiah’s opening line like this - “I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.”

Christ is made manifest and revealed to chosen sinners by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel.

· Romans 1:15-17

· Romans 10:17

· II Timothy 1:9-10

The Holy Spirit does not reveal Christ to sinners in any other way. God has chosen by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. When the Word of God comes to a sinner in effectual, saving power, it comes as the declaration and revelation of his salvation.

· Ephesians 1:13-14

The believing sinner is enabled to see, by the grace and power of God the Holy Spirit, the accomplishment of redemption, righteousness, justification, peace, pardon, and eternal life in and by the Lord Jesus Christ.

3. Seeing all grace, righteousness, salvation, and eternal life in Christ, we seek him, and seek these things in him. Thus it is written, “I am sought of them that asked not for me.”

That is what I am doing here tonight. Aren’t you? We are seeking to know the Lord Jesus Christ and be found in him. The lifelong pursuit of every believer is Jesus Christ, our Lord, our God, our Savior.

· Philippians 3:7-14

B. Now look at the next line of the text. “I am found of them that sought me not.”

Before Christ was revealed in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, we were not seeking him. We were seeking this world, pursuing the lusts of our flesh. But now we seek him.

· Matthew 6:31-33

· Colossians 3:1-3

We seek him earnestly and continually, where he has promised to be found.

· In His Word

· In His House

· In His Ordinances

· Among His People

C. “I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.”

He is still talking about us, the Gentiles, we who were not his people, who had no promises, covenants, or hopes of grace and salvation, but a people who are now the people of God!

· Isaiah 63:19

· Hosea 2:23

· I Peter 2:10

1. When the gospel is preached, the Lord Jesus Christ himself, God almighty himself says, “Behold me, behold me.”

· Isaiah 45:22

· II Corinthians 5:20

These words are repeated, or doubled, to show the heartiness, willingness, and sincerity of the gospel call. Christ is willing to be beheld by sinners. He is willing to save sinners. He says to you, right now, “Behold me, behold me!” He means for us to behold him. He calls us to behold him.

· His Incarnation

· His Accomplishments

· His Saving Power and Glory

2. It is God who takes the initiative in salvation.

We see this over and over again. It is constantly repeated by precept and by example after example. God is first. He sought us first. He called us first. Afterward, we sought him. Afterward, we called him. If he waited on us to take the initiative, no one would ever come to him and be saved. A spiritually dead sinner simply cannot come to God until God first comes to him.

That is the first and best part of my message. I have deliberately spent most of my time here. But I cannot fail to faithfully declare the rest of the text. So, secondly, I want you to see...

II. THE CAUSE OF REPROBATION

I fully recognize that God has predestined all things that come to pass. There are in this world vessels of mercy and vessels of wrath, sheep and goats, elect sinners and reprobate sinners. I know that all the vessels of mercy shall obtain mercy; vessels of wrath never shall. All the Lord’s sheep shall be saved; goats will never be saved. All the elect will enter glory; the reprobate never shall. But be sure you understand this too - None of the elect will ever be saved apart from redemption, grace, and faith; and no one will ever be damned without first filling up the measure of wrath by their own willful transgressions. In other words, if you go to heaven it will be God’s fault. If you go to hell it will be your own fault.

· Proverbs 1:22-33

God still deals with men and women in judicial reprobation. Just as he turned from Israel and sent blindness and hardness of heart to that nation, so he does today with individuals, churches and nations who will not receive the love of the truth. Nothing else on this earth can explain what is going on in the world around us, except this - We are living in a reprobate age, in a generation under the judgment of God.

· Romans 1:25-28

· II Thessalonians 2:10-12

Read verses 2-5. Here the Lord God shows us five reasons for his wrath, five reasons why he took the gospel from the Jews and sent it to the Gentiles, five reasons why he will yet in this day turn from sinners in his wrath and seal them up to destruction in reprobation.

A. God gives men up to judgment because of willful, persistent, obstinate rebellion against him.

Isaiah 65:2 "I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;"

If you insist on doing things your own way and walking in the way of your own thoughts, God will let you have your way.

B. God gives sinners up in reprobation because they refuse to worship at his altar alone, because they refuse to trust Christ alone for salvation.

Isaiah 65:3 "A people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick;"

Idolatry takes many, many forms. But in its essence, idolatry is looking to yourself for salvation. It is an attempt to worship God on an altar you have made. You cannot approach God and be accepted by him upon an altar of bricks that you have made.

· Exodus 20:24-26

God will not accept incense from any altar other than his altar, which is Christ the Lord.

· Exodus 30:1,3

· Hebrews 13:10

Note: The idolatry spoken of in this verse must have particular reference to the idolatry of this perverse, religious age in which we now live, because Israel was never guilty of idolatry after their return from the Babylonian captivity.

C. God shuts the door of mercy upon men and seals them up in reprobation because of spiritism, mysticism, and necromancy.

Look at the first part of verse 4. “Which remain among the graves and lodge in the monuments.” The so called “new age” religions are not new at all. Pagans who refuse to bow to God and his revelation have always tried to communicate with the dead, sought to find out about the spirit world, and endeavored to find out their fortunes by communicating with witches, sorcerers, and astrologers.

D. God leaves wicked rebels to their wickedness and rebellion because of deliberate, persistent lawlessness.

People who “eat swine’s flesh and broth of abominable things in their vessels” (v. 4). This was, of course, strictly forbidden in the law of God (Lev. 11:7). But rebels have no regard for God’s law.

I realize that we are not under the law in any sense whatsoever. But the text is applicable to us. Anyone who snubs his nose at God can expect eternal damnation as a result.

E. God shuts men up in reprobation because of relentless self-righteousness.

Isaiah 65:5 "Which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me; for I am holier than thou. These are a smoke in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day."

· Luke 18:9-14

If you care for your soul, beware of ignoring, rebelling against, despising and snubbing your nose at God almighty. He will not trifle with you! He will recompense your iniquity to you. He will pay you your wages. “The wages of sin is death.” And God will pay it in exactly the proportion that you deserve. That is the last thing revealed in this paragraph.

III. THE MEASURE OF JUDGMENT

Isaiah 65:6-7 "Behold, it is written before me: I will not keep silence, but will recompense, even recompense into their bosom, 7 Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the LORD, which have burned incense upon the mountains, and blasphemed me upon the hills: therefore will I measure their former work into their bosom."

Application:

1. Do not trifle with God. To do so is to court eternal wrath and judgment.

2. If God has saved you from your chosen path of destruction and the deadly influence of false religion, give him unceasing praise and thanksgiving.

· II Thessalonians 2:13-14