Open your Bibles if you would
to Isaiah chapter 12. Now in every believer's life
there is a day when the gospel comes to us in power. There is a day when we are transformed
from the power of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son.
There's a time when we are born again by the Holy Spirit of God.
Now some people can pinpoint that exact date. But others can't
pinpoint the exact date, but they can say, well, there was
a time when I didn't believe, and now I believe. Something's
changed. Now what the preacher's saying,
I'm rejoicing in. And I believe it to be truth,
when days before I did not believe it, and did not believe it to
be truth. And every believer, is born again
by the Holy Spirit of God. Every believer. If a person's
not born again by the Holy Spirit of God, they're not saved. Plain
and simple. Because all who believe on Christ,
all who believe on Him, truly believe on Him, are born again
of the Holy Spirit of God. He said Himself, ye must be born
again. You must be. You must be. Look
at here in Isaiah chapter 12, let's read verses 1 6. And in that day thou shalt say,
O Lord, I will praise thee. Though thou was angry with me,
thine anger is turned away. Oh, my, look at that, beloved.
And thou comforted me. Behold, God is my salvation. We looked at that this morning,
didn't we? Who's our Savior? Emmanuel, God with us, the sinless
one, the sinless one. God is my salvation. I will trust
and not be afraid. For the Lord Jehovah is my strength
and my psalm. He also has become my salvation. Is He your salvation? Oh, I pray
God would make it so if He's not. And in that day, oh, in
that day, shall ye say, praise the Lord, call upon His name. Declare His doings among the
people. Make mention that His name is exalted. Sing unto the
Lord, for He hath done excellent things. This is known in all
the earth. Cry out and shout, Thou Inhabitant
of Zion, for great, and what's His name, is the Holy One of
Israel. That's Christ. Remember this
morning I mentioned them demons. They said, we know who Thou art,
the Holy One of God. Demons know who He is. Look at
that. In the Old Testament here, He's
called the Holy One of Israel. We looked at His sinlessness
today. He's absolutely sinless, perfect. He's the impeccable
One. Cry out and shout, thou in heaven
of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of
thee. Now in every believer's life,
there's a day of salvation. As I said, some of us can pinpoint
that day and some can't. But we know that there was a
moment when we didn't believe, and now we believe. Now we believe. Now we're born again in the Holy
Spirit of God. And that's the gospel day, beloved. That's the gospel day. God has
appointed our Almighty God, who is the sovereign ruler over all
the universe, has appointed a day when his sheep will hear the
gospel. The day you heard the gospel,
the day you were given ears to hear and eyes to see, that was
all appointed by God. It's amazing. And he does that
for every single one of his sheep. We are translated from the kingdom
of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. And it is appointed
by God. And we who are God's people,
we just marvel at it. Look at verse 1 in Isaiah 12
here. And in that day thou shalt say,
O Lord, I will praise thee. The lips that at one time cursed
him, now praise him. The lips that maybe used his
name as a byword, now they're filled with praise for his mighty
name. I know that's so in my life.
I know that's so in my life. Mine. And who brought that difference? Who made the change? Surely wasn't
me. Surely wasn't you in your life.
It was the Holy Spirit of God. He's the one who's done that.
He's the one who's done this mighty work. Salvation's in the
Lord, the scripture declares. From beginning to end, He's the
Alpha and He's the Omega and He's everything in between, right?
He's our God. In that day thou shalt say, O
Lord, I will praise thee, though thou was angry with me, thine
anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. Oh, what comfort
God's people can find in knowing the fact, right, that the wrath
of God that was against us has been turned away. Turned away
from us. Because Christ bore it all. He
extinguished the wrath of God Just think upon this. If you're
a believer, Christ extinguished the wrath of God that was against
you. He extinguished it. It's gone. See, and this is good news for
sinners. Any sinner who flees to Christ, Christ has already
paid for their sins 2,000 years ago. Did I know when I was dead
in trespasses and sins? Did you know when you were dead
in trespasses and sins that Christ had died for us on Calvary's
cross? Well, no, we didn't have a clue, did we? We didn't have
a clue. We were drinking sin-like water
and had no idea, no idea that the Holy One of Israel had died
in our place on Calvary's cross. But it was revealed to us that
it was so, wasn't it? Oh, what a glorious time that
was when He reveals that to us. And we're still rejoicing even
now. Do you not rejoice in your heart,
you who are beloved of God? Do you not rejoice even now in
your heart? Well, we ought to, eh? We ought to. Because Christ
has extinguished the wrath of God that was against us, the
transgressions. He blotted out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, that was contrary to us,
Paul wrote in Colossians, nailing it to his cross. Praise be to
God. Is it any wonder we say hallelujah? No. That's a wonderful word. I know I keep saying that, but
it's true. It's true. It's a wonderful word. My, it's
all through the Psalms. It's all through the Psalms.
There's a Gospel day for every believer. When God the Holy Spirit
reveals Christ to us. To sinners in desperate need
of Him. And we have Christ revealed to
us as the only hope for sinners. As the only way to God. Luke,
in the Gospel of Luke it says this in 19 verses 9 and 10. in 10 of that chapter. And Jesus
said unto him, this day of salvation come to this house for as much
as he also is the son of Abraham. For the son of man came to seek
and to save that which was lost. Are you lost? Are you lost? May God show you your lost condition.
Because we who believe, we once were lost, right? But now we're
found. We were blind, but now we see. I know we sing that song all
the time, but those words are wondrous words. We were lost. We were wandering out and had
no clue we were even lost. And the shepherds sought us out.
and the blind are given eyes to see. What does the scripture
say? Look unto me and live, be in
Christ. Look unto Christ and live. Even
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, right? All
those who looked to that serpent, they were safe, but those who
didn't perished. All who looked to Christ are
saved. All who don't look to Christ May God give you eyes to look
to Christ. Oh my. Turn if you would to Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 11. In that day
the cold stony heart of unbelief. The cold stony heart of unbelief
is taken from us. We all are naturally born with
a cold heart of unbelief. Dead in trespasses and sins the
scriptures say. But look at this marvelous These
marvelous verses here in Ezekiel chapter 11 and verses 17 to 20. And take note, beloved. Take
note of the words, I will. I will. Ezekiel chapter 11, verses
17 to 20. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God. Now, this isn't just anyone saying this, is it? You and I
may say things and we don't have the power and the ability to
do those things. But the one who's speaking here
has all power and all ability. That's the true God of the Bible.
Not a God of somebody's imagination. This is the true God of the Bible.
Look what these scriptures say. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, I will even gather you from the people. That means that we're
a called out assembly. That means we're an ecclesia.
He's gathered us out of the people, haven't he? The only one who's
made you and I to differ as believers is Christ. is God, look at that. I will gather you from the people
and assemble you out of the countries. Well, that's a unique thing here.
I'm Canadian and I'm with you all, you're American. We've been
gathered out of the two countries, haven't we? And Annie's a Canadian
too, but all this means is that God will bring his people from
all different countries out of every tribe, tongue, kindred,
and nation. Look at that, it says it. And
he says, I'm gonna do this, I will do this. where you have been
scattered, lost, lost, with no hope. And I will give you the
land of Israel, and they shall come thither, and they shall
take away all the destitute things thereof and the abominations
thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart,
one heart. Who do we find unity in, beloved?
We'll look at that later. Who's the object of our faith?
The Lord Jesus Christ. One heart. God's people are united. And I will put a new spirit within
you. And I will take the stony heart out of their flesh. Oh,
the stony heart of unbelief. And give them a heart of flesh.
A heart that now hungers and thirsts after righteousness.
And will give them a heart of flesh. That they may walk in
my statutes. And keep mine ordinances. And
do them. And look at these marvelous words
in verse 20. And they shall be my people. There's one of those little hinge
words again, right? It doesn't say maybe, doesn't
say if they make a decision, doesn't say if it's dependent
upon the sinner, doesn't say any of that, does it? And they
shall be my people, and I will be their God. It's emphatic,
isn't it? This will come to pass. How? By God's almighty power, that's
how. by God's almighty power. And
what do we say who are the recipients of that mercy and grace? Well,
we say, bless his holy name, don't we? Bless his holy name,
what a God! We who are born again by the
Holy Spirit of God, we have a view of our sins which we never had
before. Now we know we're sinners. Now we know we've sinned against
God. That he's the one we've sinned against. And on that day,
we're given life. We're given life, beloved. Born
again by the Holy Spirit of God. Oh, that God would show you your
need for Christ, like He's done for we who believe. Oh, that's
our prayer. If you do not know Him, turn
if you would to Galatians chapter 1. Galatians chapter 1. We'll
look at what Paul wrote in Galatians. Galatians chapter 1, verses 11
to 17. But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. It didn't
originate with man. You ever hear people say these
foolish words? They say, well, you believe it was penned by
a bunch of men from Palestine way back. No, this gospel is
not from man. This is the everlasting gospel. This is the gospel of my salvation.
And if you're a believer, you say the same thing. It's the
gospel of my salvation, but it's from everlasting. It doesn't
have its origins in man. But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man, for I
neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation
of Jesus Christ. Now, when I was in religion,
I was taught of man, beloved. I was taught of man. That's one
thing, that after the Lord saved me out of religion, I said to
Vicki, I said, I was taught of man. I was believing man's doctrine.
Now I believe what the scriptures say. Is it so for you? Salvation's
of the Lord. We're taught of God. Brother
Tim and I have often talked about the Gospels of Revelation. God
must reveal it to us, or we'll never know Christ. For ye have
heard of my conversations in times past in the Jewish religion,
how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God and wasted
it, and profited in the Jewish religion above many my equals
in mine own nation, being made exceedingly zealous of the traditions
of my fathers. Look at this, look at verse 15.
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb and called me by His grace." Paul was called by the grace
of God. Do you know every believer in Christ is called by the grace
of God? The same grace and the same mercy. We often vault these Bible characters
up. They're just men and women like
we are, saved by the grace of God in Christ, beloved. They
went through the same things we go through, and they look
to the same Savior we look to. And they had revealed to them
their desperate need for Christ, just like we've had revealed
to us our desperate need for Christ. You see? I'll read verse
15 again. But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace.
Oh, wonderful words. To reveal His Son in me. God
revealed Christ to Paul. that I might preach him among
the heathen. Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood, neither
went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me.
But I went unto Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus." So Paul
knew that he was a sinner saved by the grace of God in Christ.
He knew that. And he knew his sins were worthy
of condemnation. But God had mercy on him. And
it pleased God. And it pleased God. So when it's
appointed of God, Every one of God's sheep will hear the gospel,
will hear the voice of the shepherd through the preaching of the
gospel. Every one of them, when it's appointed to God. They say,
well, I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now
I see. And it's all by the grace of
God. It's all by the grace of God. Again, what is the result
of this wonderful day? Look at verse one again. In that
day, thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee. Look at that. I will praise thee. The very
one who said, in our natural state, I'll not have this man
rule over me, because that's what we did in our sinful state.
We may not have verbalized those words, but that's what we said
in our hearts, by our sinful actions. I'll not have this man
reign over me. And now we gladly bow the knee,
don't we, and say thou art Oh Lord, please reign over me. Please
keep me from sin. Help me. Give me grace and strength
in time of need. And what a glorious day that'll
be when we don't sin anymore. Right now, even our best prayers
are tainted with sin. But oh, our lips now praise the
Savior. We now praise His name. Do you
remember the time when you didn't praise His name? Do you remember
the time when he wasn't in your thoughts? Maybe you were religious,
maybe you weren't. Do you remember when going to
church was just something you did because you had to? Now going
to church is something you do because you want to. Now you
get to pray. You don't have to pray. You get
to pray to our glorious God. Now you get to read the scriptures
and God gives you understanding. Now you get to fellowship with
the believers in Christ and enjoy sweet fellowship in Christ Jesus
our Lord. Now you have bonds with believers
in Christ that you never had before. I thought I had was close
to the friends I hung out with growing up. But the bonds I have
with believers is even stronger than the bonds I have with my
own family. Because we have the same God, the same Spirit, the
same Savior. And all we can say as believers
is, bless his holy name. That's all we can say. Because
it's just the mercy of God. So one of the results of this
wonderful day when the believer is born again of the Holy Spirit
of God is we have a new song, don't we? We have a new song
in our heart. Look at that. And in that day
thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee. Though thou was
angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest
me. Now we find comfort in our great
God. Now we still have a reverence
for Him, don't we? And a reverent fear. But we don't
fear death like we used to. No, death's but a doorway. I know I say that a lot and I'm
going to keep saying it because it's true. It's just like you
walk through a doorway, beloved. I never forget when Donny Bell,
when Ma Bell died. And Donny called me about 30
seconds after and said, well, she's gone from the land of the
dead to the land of the living. She did. She stepped through
death's door, beloved, into the presence of the king. And she's
more alive now than she ever was when she was here on this
earth. Now the believers no more secure in heaven than they are
right now on earth either. Never forget that too. We are
secure in Christ. But here we're plagued with sinfulness,
aren't we? There there's no sin. So think of how we praise Him
with our lips here, and think of how we're praising with our
lips there. Absolutely sinless. It's glorious. It's absolutely
glorious, beloved. My oh my. And who is our salvation? The Lord Jesus Christ is our
salvation, isn't he? He's our salvation. He's the
object of our faith. Look at verse 2 of Isaiah chapter
12. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid,
for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become
my salvation. Let us be reminded again and
again through the preaching of the gospel that God is our salvation. God is our salvation. Emmanuel. We saw that clearly this morning.
Emmanuel, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God, is my salvation,
the believer cries. It's glorious. It's absolutely
glorious to think that God would save a sinner like me. Do you
know that the same God who delivered Israel from Egypt He's the same
God who the believer can say has saved my soul. Now think
about that. We often think about that. He
had all them plagues hit Egypt and nobody in Goshen was even
touched, none of the Israelites. And then when that death angel
came past, he said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you.
We know that's a picture of the believer in Christ under the
blood of Christ. See, the death angel passes by,
because death has already occurred with the sacrificial lamb. And
that was pointing, that sacrificial lamb, that Passover lamb, was
pointing to Christ, who is our Passover lamb. So God won't punish
us for our sins, because our sins were imputed to Christ,
and that wrath to us fell upon Christ. The sinless, spotless
sacrifice. And when I see the blood, I'll
pass over you. I didn't think of this, the same God who saved
us is the same God who parted that Red Sea. Yeah, we were watching
something, we had to turn it off, the History Channel. I don't even know why I even
bother watching even 10 minutes of that stuff when they start
talking about Bible stuff. Yeah, Brother Neil, you know
what I'm talking about. I said, oh, it was just dry land, a little
bit of water, they passed through the reeds. That's not what the
scripture says. Scripture says that sea just
split right open, beloved. And there's a water wall on both
sides. And them Israelites, they passed
right through on dry land, dry land. And what happened, them
Egyptians, they got all wound up. We're going to get them.
We're not going to let them leave. We're going to get them. We either
kill them all or kill most of them and bring some of them back.
And then they went. They flew in there. And God had
them wheels fall off the chariots, didn't he? Could you imagine
that? I don't know how far in they were, but could you imagine
that? And the wheels are falling off the chariots, and they're
looking at these walls of water, and then what happened? Oh, the
wrath of God fell upon them, didn't it? And that sea just
swallowed them up. All who are in Christ are safe
from the wrath of God. Just like Noah and the ark, remember?
Not a drop fell on those in Noah's ark, right? which was the heart
that God told Noah to build. But all outside, oh boy, they
all perished, didn't they? My, believers safe in Christ,
safe in him. And it's God who's our salvation,
beloved. That's what the scripture declares.
Behold, God is my salvation. That's an incredible, that alone
is an incredible sentence for us to proclaim as believers. When you really think about it,
God, Elohim, is my salvation, the mighty one. I will trust
and not be afraid. We have a little trouble with
that sometimes, don't we? If we're honest with each other.
And we shouldn't when we consider who we're trusting in, but we're
flesh, right? All the flesh, the flesh, the
flesh. God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid
by the grace of God, right? For the Lord Jehovah, the self-existent
One, is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation,
God incarnate in the flesh, mine. And He gives us strength every
day to overcome every enemy we cannot overcome on our own. And
He's given us this perfect spotless righteousness. And He alone is
our salvation. The Lord Jehovah is my strength
and my song. He also has become my salvation. My. He has become my salvation. Notice that in the verbiage.
Let's look at that verse again. Isaiah 12, 2. Behold, God is
my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid.
For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become
my salvation. Notice He's become my salvation.
As there was a time when I trusted in myself and I did not trust
in Him. Now we trust Him, don't we? Now
we trust Him. We trust our great God by the
grace of God. And He's made it so, hasn't He?
This is the work of God, not the work of man. No, we could
never on our own. The Scripture says, there's none
that seeketh after God, there's none that understand it. But
by God's grace, we seek God. By God's grace, we understand
the Scriptures. And the Holy Spirit illuminates
us and teaches us the things Christ he's the author and the
finisher of our salvation He's everything and there's great
comfort beloved and joy in the wells of salvation Do you know
that look at verse 3 of our text here? Therefore with joy shall
you draw water out of the what the wells of salvation the wells
of salvation this points us back to the verses before this one
in view of his mercies towards us in the everlasting covenant
in Christ God's people draw water out of the wells of salvation.
Remember Zacchaeus? Think of the joy that he felt
in the fact that Christ was his savior. He went up that tree,
a lost man, beloved, didn't he? He just wanted to look, to see
Christ, curiosity's sake. But that divinely planted sycamore
tree was there, and that little man climbed up that tree, didn't
he? And the Lord said to Zacchaeus, See, that man had a divine appointment,
beloved. He had a divine appointment with
God, and he didn't know it. And the Lord saved him that day,
didn't he? Oh, my. He gave him faith to believe
on Christ. And God is the fountain of all
good to his people. And we draw water with joy, don't
we? And the Lord Jesus Christ is a fountain springing up into
eternal life. The scripture says this in Zechariah
13 1 it says in that day again in that day there shall be a
fountain open to the house of David and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem and for sin and uncleanness a fountain open.
Christ is a fountain open and all who come to him are washed
clean are cleansed from All their sin, all of it. Turn, if you
would, to John chapter 4. We'll look at the woman at the
well here. Wonderful, wonderful portion
of scripture. Just a wonderful portion of scripture.
Look what he says, our Lord says here in verse 4, and he must
needs go through Samaria. Yeah, he needed to go because
there was an appointment with a sinner. God had appointed an
appointment For this woman who was known to have five husbands,
a sinner, so much so that she went and got water on her own.
She probably didn't want to be heckled by people. They'd say,
oh, look at her. She's such a sinner. Well, I
praise God that he sat with sinners and publicans, do you? Oh, I
thank God he did. Look at this. He must needs go
through Samaria. Then cometh he to the city of
Samaria, which is called Sicar, near to a parcel of ground that
Jacob gave to his son, to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well
was there. Jesus, therefore, being weary,
this shows his humanity, with his journey, sat thus on the
well, and it was about the sixth hour. Then came a certain woman
of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith to her, Give me to
drink. For his disciples were gone away
unto the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria
unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of
me, which am a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings
with the Samaritans. The Samaritans were half Jews,
and the Jews didn't want to have any dealings with them. But see,
this was one of Christ's sheep. Now, she didn't know it, did
she? She had no idea that she was one of God's sheep. No, she
had no idea at all. Jesus answered and said unto
her, if thou knewest the gift of God, And who it is that saith
to thee, give me the drink? Thou wouldst ask of him, and
he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him,
Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep from
whence. Then hast thou that living water. So she thinks he's speaking just
like, remember, Nicodemus? He thought the Lord was speaking
about being born again, that he'd have to be born a second
time. So he's thinking naturally. She's thinking naturally, too.
She's thinking, well, you talk about this water. You don't have
anything to draw with. But our Lord is speaking spiritual things
to her. Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave
us the well and drank thereof himself, and his children, and
his cattle? Jesus answered her and said unto
her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but
whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be unto him a
well of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith
unto him, Sir, give me this water that I thirst not, neither come
hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go call
thy husband, and come hither. The woman answered and said,
I have no husband. Jesus said unto her, Thou hast said well,
or well said, I have no husbands, for thou hast had five husbands,
and he whom thou now hast is not thy husband, in that sayest
thou truly. The woman sayeth to him, Sir,
I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this
mountain, and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where
men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman,
believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this
mountain, nor at Jerusalem worship the Father. Ye worship ye know
not what. We know what we worship, for
salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now
is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit
and in truth. For the Father seeketh such to
worship him. God is spirit, and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. Look at
this. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which
is called Christ. When he is come, he will tell
us all things. Jesus saith unto her, I that
speak unto thee am he. And we know that God granted
her faith to believe because she went back and told people
in the city More people came out, and you know what? The Lord
saved more folks. Because there was more than just
her. One lost sheep there, there were several lost sheep there,
beloved. But see, God saved this notorious sinner, didn't he?
Someone who people didn't want to have nothing to do with. Someone
who had to come later in the day just to get her water. Oh,
God's merciful, isn't he? Oh, he's the savior of sinners,
beloved. He's the savior of sinners. My. He not turned away anyone who
comes to Him by faith. Oh my. So think on this. When God the Holy Spirit has
drawn us to Christ and we come to Christ and drink from the
fountain spoken of here. My, and we believe on Christ. The unbelieving believe on Him
and trust in Him. How can one ask, can we know
if we are saved? Have you come to Christ? Have
you asked God to have mercy on you? Do you see yourself as a
sinner in need of him? Only one being drawn by the Holy
Spirit of God will do these things, will see these things. I didn't
think I was a sinner before the Lord saved me. I may have told
people that, but I really didn't think I was. I really didn't. There's worse folks than me,
a lot worse than me. Well, no, I found out, no, they got nothing
on me, right? That's why Paul said, what did
Paul say? I'm the chief. I'm the chief of sinners. And
every believer says, oh, no, I am, Paul. I am. See, we all
feel the same way. We all know what we are, but
praise be to God. We praise His mighty name for
His wondrous salvation. Look at verse 4 in Isaiah chapter
12. And in that day ye shall say,
praise the Lord, call upon His name, declare His doings among
the people, make mention that his name is exalted. God's people
give praise to our great God. We give praise to our great God,
the Lord Jesus Christ, for what he's done for us. We declare
his doings among the people. We tell others of what Christ
has done for us, don't we? And God's still moving. His plan
and purpose is still being accomplished. He's still gathering in his elect.
He's still gathering in his sheep. And we praise his name and proclaim
the gospel boldly as he gives us strength. And we're saved
to give Him glory too, beloved. Give Him all the glory. We're
saved to give Him glory. We're saved to give Him glory.
And what strength we can glean from these verses tonight. Because
it's God who's done all this for us. It's God who's done all
this for us. Praise His mighty name.