Isaiah chapter 12, we'll be looking
at the first three verses this morning. The title of the message this
morning is a prophecy of praise. A prophecy of praise. The scripture says, and in that
day thou shalt say, O Lord I will praise thee. Now, we know this according to
the Word of God, that no man by nature either can or is willing
to praise God. No man by nature being totally
depraved and spiritually dead is able to render praise, thanksgiving
unto God. The Scripture truly declares
that all men should praise God. They should praise Him for His
creation. They should praise Him for their
life and for their breath and all of the things that they have.
They should praise Him, but man by nature does not and cannot
praise God. The Apostle Paul, in the letter
to Romans, tells us that the carnal mind, the natural mind,
the one we are born with, is depraved. It cannot and will
not be subject to the law of God. Carnal mind is enmity, hatred
against God, and it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. The apostle also in 1 Corinthians
chapter 2 tells us, The natural man receiveth not the things
of God, for they are foolishness to him. Are the things of God
foolish to you? Are they frivolous to you? Are
they without any interest to you? This is the natural man. This is the natural man we all
are born with. They think the things of God
are foolish because they are spiritually discerned. That word
discerned, we don't use it. I don't walk around telling people
they're discerned. It means to judge. Man is judged or investigated. I like that word, investigated. Investigated by who? By God. God has investigated. The Scripture
tells us in two places in Psalms the very same thing. Over in
Psalm chapter 14, I'll read it for you. Psalm chapter 14 and
verse 1, it says that the fool has said in his heart, no God. Isn't that what natural man say?
Not that there is no God. Those are in italics. He says,
no God. He rebels against God. He hears
what God says. He says, no, I won't do it. They are corrupt, and they have
done abominable works, and there is none that doeth good. Now
notice, the Lord looked down from heaven. He investigated. He searched out upon the children
of men to see if there was any that did understand and seek
God. And what did He find? They are
all gone astray. They are all together become
filthy. There is none that doeth good. No, not one. That's what
God says about man. That's what God investigated.
God has discerned. God has judged. And what He has
found, He judged what He found. He found sin. He found corruption
in us. And there's none that doeth good.
So instead of praise, man is born estranged from the womb,
speaking lies. We were born speaking lies. Yet here's a promise in our text. We have a prophecy. We have a
prophecy of God. Something that God says will
happen that hasn't happened. He said, In that day thou shalt
say, O Lord, I will praise Thee. Here's a prophecy of a coming
day when some men will praise God. Some men will praise God. How can we, who are by nature
against God, be made to praise God? How can we, who are vile
and corrupt, be made acceptable and righteous before God's holy
eyes, even because God has purposed by His free grace to choose some
that He would save, redeem, and make holy? to praise Him. This is God's promise that there
are some men He will make to praise Him. This is His promise. Go over to Ephesians chapter
1. Ephesians chapter 1. Read this with me. The scripture
says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
verse 3, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places. In Christ, according as He hath
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him. in love, having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, here's
the reason, according to the good pleasure of his will, to
the praise of the glory of his grace. The Father chose a people,
gave them to his only beloved Son, This election was before
creation that they should be holy. Sinless, without condemnation,
these elect people, these ones that God chose, they should be
without sin. They should be made holy. And
he gave them to his Son who was to be their Redeemer, their Savior,
Jesus Christ. He said, Here, Son, are my elect
people. And the Son took them and said,
I will save them. I will redeem them. And all of
this was for the purpose that God's grace should be praised
by them. That God's grace should be praised.
The glory of His grace should be praised. Behold, the divine
counsel and sovereign will of God is that all His chosen in
Christ from eternity should be made holy sons by Jesus. I like
that. They should be made holy by Jesus,
not by themselves. Isn't that great? He didn't say
He chose them to be holy by themselves. He chose them to be holy by Jesus
Christ. By the work of another. And therefore,
if you go back to Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 11, you see the promise
of this coming. He says in chapter 11, of Isaiah,
let me go back there, find my place. In Isaiah chapter 11, he says
this in verse 10, in that day, speaking of a future day, he
said, there shall be a root of Jesse which shall stand as an
ensign or a signal, a beacon, a light. If you think of a lighthouse,
what does that is? What is that? That's an ensign.
That's a signal to the ships so that they don't crash into
the rocks. Behold, the ensign is the root
of Jesse. I like that. He said in this
verse, he said root, but if you went back to verse 1, he said
stem. See, Jesus is not only the stem of Jesse, He's the root. He's God and man. This is telling us that there's
coming God-man. The God-man should come. And
He would be an ensign, a signal. And this is referring to the
Lord Jesus Christ as He was lifted up on the cross. Jesus said this. as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness. Remember that brazen serpent,
how he put it on a pole and lifted it up high so all the nation
of Israel who were bitten by those serpents, everyone that
looked lived. And He said, Even so must the
Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in Him should
have eternal life, should not perish. This is the end sign. Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Jesus said, When you have lifted
Me up, When they have lifted me up, then should all men be
drawn unto me. You see, that's where sinners
are drawn. They're drawn to the cross. It's
a light. In the dark world, it is a light
for salvation. He is the ensign, the signal
of light. O sinner, behold the cross of
the God-man who was lifted up Now why was he lifted up? So that God should condemn sin
in the flesh. He made him to be sin for us. So that we should be made the
righteousness of God in him. It was by his blood that was
shed for the remission of sins. The sins of God's elect must
have been put away, even though He chose them, even though He
purposed for them to be holy. He must have put away their sin. He could not... God could not
show mercy at the expense of His justice. Now we do it all
the time. We forgive people unjustly. Why? Because we're unjust. We're
unjust. But God can't do that. He can't
forgive you without first putting away your sin or punishing your
sin, which deserves death. Your sin that you think so lightly
of deserves eternal death. And therefore, the Son of God
must have been lifted up and punished so that God could have
mercy. Jesus came in the flesh and condemned. God condemns sin in His flesh. Then after satisfying the justice
of God by his one offering, God raised him up from the dead,
exalted him, and set him down on the throne of God. And therefore,
therefore, in chapter 11 and verse 9 of Isaiah, he said, In
that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for
an ensign of the people. To it shall the Gentiles seek. and his rest shall be glorious,
stupendous, wonderful, full. His rest will be complete. Have
you believed on the Son of God? Are you such a complete sinner? Are you completely unrighteous,
ruined, and without standing before God? Well, then I've got
a good message for you because I'm preaching a complete Savior. If you're a partial sinner, then
this has no bearing on you. If you're partly good and you
got half of this whooped, then I'm not preaching to you because
I'm preaching to complete sinners who have no hope in themselves.
I'm pointing you to a full and successful Savior, a complete
Savior. And the Word of God says this,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Saved. Saved. Flee to Christ for refuge and
redemption for righteousness. How? By faith. By faith. by faith for he alone is a complete
savior he said come unto me all you that labor and are heavy
laden and I will give you rest not rest to the flesh all people
won't rest from this flesh don't we he's talking about a spiritual
rest an eternal rest a rest for your soul. Is your
sin too great to bear? Have you found no rest or peace
in the efforts of your religious exercise? Then come to Christ
as you are, if you tarry till you're better. You will never
come at all. And see then this prophecy fulfilled
In the day the sinner comes to Christ. Look at our prophecy.
In that day. In what day? In the day you believe. In the day the Spirit of God
comes and gives you life. In that day this prophecy is
fulfilled. In that day Thou shalt say, O
Lord, I will praise Thee. I will praise Thee. Now in the
remaining time I want to give us some reasons to praise. Reasons to praise. You who believe,
you have plenty of reason to praise God. I know that these
escape us constantly. And we say, Lord, what have we
to praise? This life is too hard. This world
is too difficult. My sin is too great. How can
I praise thee? Well, the Lord gives us reasons.
He doesn't leave us without reasons. There was a song that said, when
there's one million reasons not to trust you, you give me a one
million and one reasons to trust you. One million and one. Well, here's some reasons. First
of all, look at this. We shall praise Him because His
promises are sure. We praise Him because His promises
are sure. Let us praise our God who has
promised and is faithful to do it. Faithful to do it. I believe it's over in Numbers
Numbers chapter twenty-three Numbers chapter twenty-three
in verse nineteen says this God is not a man that he should lie
isn't that something? you're a man you lie God's not
like you he doesn't lie Why do you lie? You lie because you're
afraid. You lie because you're trying
to get out of something. You're lying because you're covering
up something. God doesn't need to cover up
anything. God is not a man and he's not
accountable to you. So God tells the truth. He doesn't
lie. God is not a man that he should
lie, neither the son of man that he should repent. Hath he said,
and shall he not do it? Or hath he spoken, and shall
he not make it good? God's promises are sure. You
can praise God for this. He is sure. His promises are
sure. Believer, let us draw near with
a heart of full assurance of faith, seeing that Jesus Christ,
our priest, his blood offering is accepted. God said it was
accepted. Is God a man that he should lie? No. Has he not said he would
do it? Has he not done it? And shall
we now doubt him that he's done it? How should we doubt him? I'll tell you this, you can doubt
yourself. Don't doubt him. Don't doubt him. His promises
are sure. Look at this in our text, he
says, Though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned
away, and thou comfortest me. Thou comfortest me. Over in Hosea it says much the
same thing. Hosea chapter 14, he says this,
I will heal their backsliding. I will love them freely without
a cause. For mine anger is turned away
from him. He noticed he says them and then
he says him. What is that? Well, the Lord
Jesus Christ, upon Him was our sins placed. And God poured out
His anger on Him. But now that He's satisfied,
His anger is no longer on Him. And therefore, His anger is no
longer on you. This is His faithful promise
to you. He said, My anger is turned away from you. That's
a sure promise. That's a sure promise. A sure
reason to praise Him. May God give us such comfort
to our hearts and such praise for His immutable-ness. The immutable-ness of His grace
in Jesus Christ. The unchangeable-ness of His
grace. Second of all, let us praise
God because God Himself is our salvation. Look at this in our
text. Behold, God is my salvation. God Himself is my salvation. See, believer, that none of your
salvation is dependent upon you. Absolutely nothing. Isn't that hard to get our minds
around? Man, you tell us there's a free
car waiting for us and we'll jump through our necks trying
to break our necks getting to it. We are fooled by such easy
things like that. People all the time are being
conned. In their mail, they'll get some
saying, you won, here's a check, and all you got to do is send
me your bank account number, and I'll give you this millions
and millions of dollars. And they're duping people daily
with this garbage. And we'll run to it, naturally
inclined to it, in hopes there's some free lunch out there. And
yet God says, I love you freely. And we say, oh, man, I don't
know about that. I don't trust Him. God is my salvation. Believer, none of this salvation
is dependent upon you. All salvation is absolutely the
person, the work of God alone. Over in Isaiah 43, Isaiah 43
says this, verse 25, if I got it right, Verse 25, I, even I am he that
blotteth out thy transgression. Now notice why he blots out your
transgression. He blots it out, he says, for
my own namesake and will not remember your sin. Now why is
it he won't remember your sin? because you were a good person,
because of something you did for Him. He said, I'll do it
for my own sake. I'll do it because I want to
do it. There's no reason in you. There's no goodness in you. Over
in Isaiah 48, in verse 11, He says this, For my own sake, even
for my own sake, just in case you missed the first time, He
said it twice. for my own sake even for my own sake will I do
it for how should my name be polluted and I will not give
my glory to another why does he do it for his own sake because
he will not give you any glory for it You will not have any
glory in this matter of salvation. God says, I am your salvation
completely and absolutely from beginning to end. I'm it. And I do it for my own sake.
I do it for my own sake. Behold and wonder at God Himself,
our salvation. God is not only my Savior, but
He is my salvation. And therefore, I am safe. Safe. I'm safe because God saved me. I'm safe because all the responsibility
of this rests on Him. It was God the Father who loved
us. It was Christ the Son who redeemed
us. It was the Holy Spirit who gave
us life. And I tell you it's the Holy
Spirit that keeps you in the faith even now. And He that hath begun a good
work in you. Has He begun a good work in you?
I have confidence in this. He has begun a good work in me.
Now I don't always feel it. I don't always even know it. But he has begun a good work
and may he shall perform it. Until the, until what? Until
the end. Until the end. He shall perform
it. Not me, him. He shall perform
it. Behold, I am God, and there is
none beside me, declaring the end from the beginning, saying,
All my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. O
believer, therefore, let us praise God and trust Him and not be
afraid. That's what he says in our text.
He said, Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. When things are smooth and the
waters are calm, we often boast and say, though he slay me, yet
will I trust him. When the waters are calm, we
like Peter say, Lord, though everyone deny thee, I know this,
I'll die with you. In that time of calm when everything
is well and we feel the very presence of God in our souls
and we are so strong we boast out things like that but you
let this little ship get tossed and the waves begin to overflow
your bark and you'll be like the disciples in the midst of
the sea afraid. fearful. Believers, we are as sheep among
wolves and we're surrounded by our enemies. Sometimes we feel
it and sometimes we don't. But what bearing do our feelings
have on our security? Our security rests with the shepherd,
doesn't it? So then let me ask you, when
are you not in trouble? You're in trouble even when you
don't feel like you're in trouble. You're in trouble. You're surrounded
by trouble. So when do you need God? Always. So when should you trust Him?
Always. Always. Trust is always the remedy
for fear. Trust in God. Trust in the Lord. Behold, I lay in Zion for a stone,
a tried stone, a sure foundation. We who trust in Christ have no
desire to flee from this foundation. It was laid by the omnipotent
hand of God, tried and proven by God, and none who are on this
foundation shall be lost. So then God is not only our salvation,
but look at this, He is my strength and my song. Are you in darkness? Then God will give you a song
in the night. I don't know, I don't just know
that by scripture, I know that by experience. When I'm in the darkest times
of my life, God has always sent a light. He has always sent someone to help. Have you not found that to be
true? And I tell you, He gives us the
greatest reason to sing in the middle of darkness. Don't be afraid. It is I. I put you in the storm. I come to you in the storm. And I will bring you through
the storm. I don't feel that, but I trust
that. I believe that because I know him. I know him. And lastly, he said, therefore,
with joy, you shall draw water out of the wells of salvation. This is a reason to praise him.
As we go through this wilderness and we are either scorched by
the heat of afflictions or frozen by the chill of our own heart,
there is always water to drink. There's always water. In Zechariah 14, verse 8, it
says, And it shall be in that day. I like that. Every time
I turn around, it's there's that day. There's that day. In that
day, water shall go forth from Jerusalem, half toward the north
and half toward the hinder sea, in summer and in winter. When your heart is cold or when
you're in the heat of affliction, there'll always be water. to
drink. Why? Because the Spirit of God
dwells in you. He dwells in you. And all you
can do, when all you can do is groan, oh, that's all you can do. The Spirit intercedes with groanings
that cannot be uttered. God knows what you need even
before you ask. And I'll tell you, just like
Daniel, when Daniel prayed, the angel was already on his way. Pray in your time of trouble. And
I tell you, God is already on his way. Isn't that comforting to know?
He said, I'm your salvation. I'm on my way. He may delay,
but he'll be there on time. On time. Is that not reason enough
to praise him? I hope that it is. I pray God
blesses to you.