Turn with me, if you will, to
the 12th chapter of Isaiah's gospel. Isaiah chapter 12. In this 12th chapter of his prophecy,
Isaiah describes the day of divine visitation. If you're taking
notes, and I always encourage folks to take notes, the title
of my message is In That Day. Inspired by God the Holy Ghost,
Isaiah uses those three words 43 times in this prophecy. I presume he means for us to
understand something about that day. Isaiah is talking to us
about God the Holy Ghost is teaching us about that day when God comes
to visit his people in mercy. happens when God comes to visit
his own? Let's look at Isaiah's prophecy
chapter 12 and find out. And in that day thou shalt say,
O LORD, I will praise thee, though thou wast angry with me, thine
anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. 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. Therefore, with joy, shall you
draw water out of the wells of salvation. And in that day, shall
you 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 is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of
thee. Now, without question, the work
of our God in redeeming and saving his people is an eternal work. I mean by that, it is a work
performed by God before the world began. There could be no question
about that fact. Long before time began, our great
God in his eternal counsel in the covenant of grace, Rex read
to us about in Hebrews chapter 10, just a moment ago, purposed
to have a people like Christ himself. This is God's will. And he sovereignly works all
things after the counsel of his own will in predestination to
accomplish that purpose of grace. His covenant of grace is called
the everlasting covenant. His son, the Lord Jesus, our
Redeemer, is described in the scriptures twice as the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. His people are called
the elect, chosen in Christ before the world began. There's no getting
around this fact. Salvation is God's eternal work. Known unto the Lord are all his
works from the beginning. The works were finished, the
apostle tells us in Hebrews 4, 3. The works were finished from
the foundation of the world. Our God declares the end from
the beginning and then he does what he declares. He declares
the end from the beginning and then he begins doing the work
manifestly. So that all God does in time
by the power of his grace, he did from eternity by the purpose
of his grace in sovereign predestination. One of these days, the Lord Jesus,
the angel of the covenant, shall stand with one foot on the earth
and one foot on the sea and declare that time shall be no more. and
the mystery of God is finished. Then Christ comes again. There will be a new creation,
a new heaven, and a new earth. And in that great day, the dead
shall be raised, all raised up to stand before God. All the
elect shall be gathered unto God, holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in his sight. and the wicked shall be cast
into hell. In that day, this corruptible
shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality. Then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory, and
we shall reign with Christ our Lord, our Redeemer, our Savior
forever in everlasting glory. In that day, the purpose of God
in eternal election and predestination shall be fulfilled. All those
he foreknew in everlasting love Though years and decades and
centuries and millenniums past, he will at the appointed time
glorify. This is God's eternal work. I
also recognize that the work of our Lord in redeeming and
saving his elect is a lifelong work. We have been saved in election,
redemption and regeneration. And we are being saved in providence
and preservation. And we shall be saved in that
great resurrection glory. And now is our salvation nearer
than when we believed. What a blessed thought. Now is
our salvation nearer than when we believe. That is the final
consummation of God's grace for us. The hand of God is upon his
elect from the womb to the tomb. The Lord Jesus Christ is revealed
in the hearts of his people at a chosen appointed time when
it pleases God. But God's hand is upon his own
all the days of their lives. As God said to Simeon, it can
be said with regard to all his elect, he shall not see death
before he has seen the Lord's Christ. Our Savior said, all
that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh
to me, I will in no wise cast out. He said, all that the Father
hath given me shall come to me. Being taught of God at the appointed
time of love, every chosen redeemed sinner shall come to the Savior. There is no question about it. God says, so shall my word be
that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall accomplish that which
I please. It shall prosper in the thing
where to I sent it. And so it shall be. At the appointed
time of love, The Lord God Almighty will save every chosen sinner
by the mighty operation of his grace, by the power of his spirit.
And once we're born of God, called and saved by grace, it is by
the power and grace of God that we are kept in salvation, kept
in faith, kept in Christ. Our security does not in any
way depend upon us. I want that to settle in firmly
in your heart. Our security in Christ does not
in any way depend upon us. Commonly, when folks who believe
the gospel of God's grace historically talk about the eternal salvation
of God's elect, they use the term perseverance, but they use
the term perseverance in such a way as to make that perseverance
depending upon you. Make that perseverance a work
of grace performed by you. And make that perseverance to
be your contribution by which you continue in the faith. Hear
me well, we are kept by the power of God through faith. We are
kept by the power of God through faith. Faith, God gives us and
God works in us. We are kept by God's power, kept
in God's grace, kept by God's hand because our Savior says,
I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish. And no man can pluck them out
of my hand. but this salvation, this perseverance,
this preservation involves a continual experience of grace. Most people
think about salvation as a time when they came to the Lord. Don't
do that. Don't do that. I don't suggest
that you forget past experiences. Remember them and cherish them.
But don't talk about salvation in the past in that regard. Peter
says, to whom coming? Those who have come to Christ
are coming to Christ and shall continue to come to Christ. They
know their need of him and they come to him continually. By the
grace of God, we shall come to Christ continually, and God will
see to it. He said, I'll give them one heart
and one way and they shall not depart from me forever. He said, I will do them good
with all my soul and with all my heart, I will do them good. I'll never turn away from them
to do them good. Oh, blessed, blessed security. He will keep me till the river
rolls its waters at my feet. Then he'll bear me safely over
where my Savior I shall meet. Now though this glorious divine
work of redemption, salvation, is an eternal work, Though through
the good providence of our God, it is a continual work, a continual
revelation of Christ, a continual coming to Christ, a continual
growth in the grace and knowledge of Christ. There is a specific
day of divine visitation. when our sovereign Redeemer is
pleased to cross the path of chosen redeemed sinners and make
himself known in his saving grace. Isaiah refers to it here as that
day. Oh, what a day that is. The day when the hand of Christ
our Redeemer touches his own in saving mercy. Can't you picture
that day for that woman taken in adultery? Described for us
in the eighth chapter of John's gospel. Oh, how blessed that
day was for her when she was brought before the master. before
Him, broken before Him, condemned before Him, stripped before Him,
and completely forgiven of all sin by Him and before Him. That's the day I'm talking about.
I'm not talking about a literal 24-hour day. You don't need a
calendar to mark the time of your conversion. You don't need
to remember a time or a place or a day when first the Lord
saved you by his grace. Now, I chose my words deliberately.
You don't need to remember a day, a time, or a place and say, there,
that's when God saved me. In fact, if you base your confidence
of God's salvation upon something in the past, I assure you, you've
not yet experienced God's salvation. I, somewhere over at the house
or back here in one of the places where Shelby keeps papers, I
have a birth certificate. I've actually seen it. And I
know that I was actually born because I've read that birth
certificate. That sounds a little bit dumb, doesn't it? I never
go check on my birth certificate to see if I was born. I know
because I live. that I was born. And I know that
I've been born of God because I trust Jesus Christ to whom
I am now coming. You understand that? Salvation
is not in a past experience. It is in a life, a life that
is Christ himself. It is in a living person, Jesus
Christ the Lord. Now let's see if I can make good
on this. There is a day appointed when God will meet every chosen
redeemed sinner in the saving power of his grace. I know I
can make good on it. Let's look at some scripture.
Ezekiel chapter 16. Ezekiel chapter 16. Ezekiel is describing for us
an infant. And I sat down this afternoon
Started looking over my notes again, preparing to preach. I
tried to get a picture of what Ezekiel saw. We have the idea
that somehow there was just a little baby out there that had gotten
lost and mama had maybe fallen off the back of a wagon or something,
but that's not the picture at all. Some of you have seen, I
don't suggest that you go look for them, but you have seen pictures
of abortion factories. I vividly remember seeing the
newsreel about that fella somewhere up in Chicago just murdering
babies one after the other, that doctor, called a doctor. And
the things they cleaned up out of his slaughterhouse. Horrible, horrible, horrible. Words can't describe how horrible
to see this. That's what Ezekiel saw. A baby
cast out from his mother's womb. Aborted, dead, polluted in its
own blood. And this is what you are by nature.
Now listen to what God does by his grace. Ezekiel 16, verse
six. And when I passed by thee and
saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee, when
thou wast in thy blood, live. Yea, I said unto thee, when thou
wast in thy blood, live. I have caused thee to multiply
as the bud of the field. Thou hast increased in wax and
grape, and thou art come to excellent ornaments. Thy breast are fashioned,
thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now
when I passed by thee and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was
the time of love. And I spread my skirt over thee,
and I covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swear unto thee, and entered
into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becameest
mine. At the time of love, the Lord
God, our Savior, comes by the power of the Spirit and spreads
his skirt over us, just as Boaz did with Ruth on the threshing
floor. Picturing for us what God does
in grace, he spreads over us his perfect righteousness, robes
us with the garments of salvation, and thereby covers our nakedness. covers up our nakedness as Noah's
son, Shem and Japheth covered their father's nakedness, refusing
to look upon it. So he covers our sin, refusing
to look upon our iniquities and says he does not behold iniquity
in Jacob. And then you in the sweet experience
of his grace become his. Then you, in the sweet experience
of his grace, become his. That's what happened to Jacob.
The Lord God met him one day in the middle of nowhere and
wrestled with him. Now, sometimes people talk about
Jacob wrestling with God. I guess there's a sense in which
that's all right. If a fellow wrestles with you, you generally
wrestle back. But the scriptures specifically
tell us the Lord wrestled with Jacob. I used to be a wrestler
when I was in junior high school and high school, and even a little
bit intermural collegiate wrestling when I was in college. And I'll
tell you the secret of wrestling. You want to get the fella peeing
down. You want him peeing down. The
sooner the better. And the Lord God pinned Jacob
down and made him confess his name. His name's Jacob, tricky,
deceitful, cunning, crafty, untrusting and untrustable, a man of sin
and corruption. That's my name, Jacob. And as
soon as he did, the Lord said, not anymore, your name's Israel,
a prince with God, for you have prevailed and you have power
with God. How on earth did Jacob prevail
with God? Show me something in that text
that shows Jacob prevailing with God. When Jacob acknowledged
what he is, who he is, what he had done, acknowledged and confessed
his sin, that prevails with God. That's how God saves sinners. He meets them in their path to
rebellion, steps in their way, stops them in their way, and
turns them in his way and puts them in the new and living way,
Christ Jesus the Lord. Now, let's look at Isaiah's prophecy
as he uses these three words in that day. And see what God
does when he comes to sinners in mercy. I said, but pastor,
you're preaching to folks who are saved. I suspect not all
of you are. I suspect there are good many
here just a breath from hell. But what I've got to say is fully
applicable to both believers and to unbelievers. If the Lord
comes in saving grace, or if he comes in reviving mercy, when
God visits his people, this is what he does. look back at Isaiah
chapter 2, Isaiah chapter 2. Here the prophet shows us that
the day of divine visitation is a day of Holy Spirit conviction. Look at verse 11, the lofty looks
of man shall be humbled and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed
down and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the
Lord of hosts, for the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon
everyone that is proud and lofty, and upon everyone that is lifted
up, and he shall be brought low. Verse 17, and the loftiness of
man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall
be made low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. When God the Holy Ghost comes
in saving mercy, he always comes to reprove and convince men of
sin, of righteousness and of judgment. He always does these
three things by which he causes the haughty to be brought down.
He causes the high and lofty to be made low. If ever you experience
Holy Ghost conviction, you will experience this humiliation. And if you never experienced
the conviction, you'll never know God's salvation. You see,
God always works different for men. In the kingdom of heaven,
the way up is down. The Lord always abases before
he lifts up. He always strips before he clothes. He always wounds before he heals. He always kills before he makes
alive. Throughout the Old Testament,
God refers to himself this way. I am he that killeth and maketh
alive. I kill and I make alive. It looks
like he would have said, I make alive and I kill. But he doesn't
make alive until he kills. And it does this by convincing
you of sin. Our Savior says specifically,
because you believe not on me. He doesn't come in Holy Spirit
conviction and convince you that it's wrong to steal, or to commit
adultery, or fornication, or to lie, or to get drunk, or any
of those things. All those things you know by
nature. Romans chapters 1 chapter 2 tell
us plainly there's not a soul living upon the earth that doesn't
know that Adultery fornication murder drunkenness thieving those
things are those things are evil all being by nature know that
But when God the Holy Ghost comes he does something nothing and
nobody else can do He convinces you that you're seeing He convinces you, not that you've
sinned, that you sin, that you are sin,
and that's all you are, nothing but sin. Hear me, hear me. In the depth of your soul, no
matter how you look on the outside, No matter what others think of
you, you are sin. And there is no evil known to
humanity that doesn't rage in you by nature. I hear folks say, when we talk
about depravity, we don't mean that man's as bad as he could
be. That's what this book means by it. You're just as bad as
you could be. You don't always act as bad as
you could act. Thank God for that. But you're
just as bad as you could be, just as wicked as you could be.
There's nothing in you but sin. That's the nature of fallen humanity. And when a man's convinced of
his sin, then he confesses his sin. I know in Baptist churches
and others, Folks are treated like papists. One of the reasons
I guess papacy is so prevalent in the world is that it's a religion
that requires nothing of you except to go to a priest and
live like hell all you want to and go to some priest and confess
your sin and get absolution if you do. So many Hail Marys put
so much money in the cup. And we Baptists don't do that.
We come to priest at the front of a Baptist church at a Baptist
altar. And confess we cheated or lied or did something we shouldn't
have done and we weep a little bit and the priest says, well,
the Lord's forgiven you if you sin. That's not what I'm talking
about. I'm talking about making bare
your heart before God. And you just can't do that. And
you won't do that. until God Almighty comes in saving
power and forces you to confess your sin. And he convinces men
and women of righteousness. Our Savior said, particularly,
because I go to my Father, you'll see me no more. I have come here. Christ, the Messiah, the Savior,
came to bring in everlasting righteousness. And he can't go
back to the Father, Mark, until he's done his job. I go back
to my Father because righteousness by my obedience has been brought
in. Salvation is done. And the sinner
is convinced now of righteousness, sin and righteousness. But there's
something else. He'll convince you of judgment.
Not that there's a day of judgment coming. Everybody's born knowing
that. That's why everybody's scared
to death to die. I find it interesting, I was talking to some of the
men in the back back there about our attitude toward death and
dying, but Shelby and I were watching something on television,
some advertisement for a funeral home. And morticians, they can,
I remember, They used to do everything they could to get everybody to
cry and bawl, and they'd carry little ammonia tubes so they
could break them to get you to pass out and give you a little
ammonia so you wake up and cry some more. I mean, that was their
design. They wanted to have a horrible, sad, balding time, then you had
a good funeral. These days, things have changed. Do you know how
they describe funerals now? It's called a celebration of
life. Everybody trying to convince themselves no such thing as death.
or judgment. The fact is, everybody knows
he's gonna meet God in judgment. But when God comes in saving
mercy, he convinces men who are sinners, who look away from themselves
to Christ, that judgment is over, because the prince of this world
is judged. There's no reason. Oh, God help
you to get hold of this. There is no reason for any sinner
who believes on the Son of God to ever be terrified of God.
No reason to ever dread God. No reason for God ever to look
with displeasure upon you. Never. Because He has put away
our sins by the sacrifice of Himself and judgment is over.
Number two. Turn over to Isaiah 11. Isaiah
chapter 11. The day of God's visitation.
day of gracious revelation. Verse 10, And 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. In order for us to have faith
in Christ, Christ must be revealed in us. revealed to us, but revealed
in us. And that's God's work alone. Christ must be revealed in us
if we would know Him. It pleased the Lord to reveal
His Son in me, Paul said. The Lord God raises up in our
hearts before our eyes the banner, Christ Jesus the Lord, Christ
crucified, our crucified Redeemer held up before our eyes and graciously
causes us to look unto him who says, look unto me and be you
saved all the ends of the earth for I am God and beside me there
is none else. Brother Mark was just talking
to me a little bit ago about Mr. Spurgeon's conversion when
he was 16 years old. One winter day, I believe it
was January the 9th, he was going to worship God on the service. He'd been raised in a congregational
household by a congregational preacher. His grandfather was
a congregational preacher. And he was going to church dutifully,
but he couldn't get to where he was going. And so he slipped
into a primitive Methodist church in London, and the preacher couldn't
get there. And there was an illiterate man
preaching. An illiterate man preaching.
He could hardly read, let alone preach. But he took for his text
Isaiah 45, 22. And he repeated the text a number
of times. Look unto me and be ye saved.
All the ends of the earth. For I am God and beside me there
is none else. And as he was about to wrap it
up, Spurgeon's sitting back in the back toward one of the aisles.
He looked at him and he said to him, young man, you look to
me like you're in trouble. You look to me like you need
to look. Look unto me and be you saved. And God was pleased
to reveal Christ in that young man. That's how God saves sinners. He reveals Christ in you, and
you find yourself by sweet, irresistible power that no tongue can explain,
believing Christ. believing on the Son of God.
Oh, God do that for you. Lift up the banner, and when
God lifts up the banner before you, you will rally round the
banner, Jesus Christ and Him crucified, looking to Him. looking away from yourself, looking
to Him and to Him alone. The Lord Jesus Christ comes in
grace and makes Himself known and the scripture says there
in Isaiah 11, His rest is glory. That is His glory as our mediator. and His rest is our glory. He is our Sabbath rest. Looking to Him, we drop our own
works and trust Him. We quit trying to do something
to make up to God. We quit trying to do something
to please God. Now, turn over a couple of pages
further, Isaiah 25. Isaiah 25, here's the third thing. When the Lord God comes in mercy,
the day of divine visitation is a day of saving faith. When
God causes you to know yourself, knowing his son, you can't help
but to believe him. Look here, Isaiah 25 verse 9. And it shall be said in that
day, lo, this is our God, We've waited for Him. He will save
us. This is the Lord. We've waited
for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in
His salvation. This is Him. This is Him. I fed him of whom Moses and the
prophets did speak. Here he is. This is Jesus of
Nazareth, the Christ of God, God the Son, the Redeemer, the
Savior. We find grace in him, believing
him. And we rest in him, believing
him. Because God, who commanded the
light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. How do you know? How do you know?
You know, being taught of God. How do you know? You know because
God's given you faith. Like Thomas, when he put his
hand in the Savior's side, he said, my Lord and my God. This is he, this is he. like
Saul of Tarsus when he was smitten by the hand of God in mercy on
the Damascus road. Lord, what will you had me to
do? You don't need somebody else
to tell you, you know, because he'd been revealed in you. I
don't need anyone to tell me who my wife is, what she looks
like and what she's like. I don't need anyone to tell me.
I'm always delighted to hear about her, as long as you talk
good. But I don't need anyone to tell me anything about her.
I know her. I've been living with her for
nearly 49 years. I know her. I know her. And I
know my Redeemer. I don't know much, but I know
Him. I know Him. You see, faith in Christ is not
just embracing a doctrine, or making a profession of faith,
or coming to a position, or coming to a new doctrine, or new system
of theology, or reforming a misspent life. Faith in Christ is submitting
to, trusting, and embracing a person. It is submitting to, trusting,
and embracing a person, Jesus Christ the Lord. I make no apology. for the doctrine I believe and
preach. I make no apology at all. In fact, some of you have
been with me places preaching. When I go someplace that I'm
not real sure how things are going to turn out, I unload everything
I possibly can just as soon as I get in the pulpit. I just don't
back up. I want to proclaim the doctrine
of God's free grace loudly and clearly and do so. But I'm not
in love with a doctrine or a system of doctrine. I'm in love with
Him who is my Redeemer. I don't trust a doctrine or a
system of doctrine. I trust Him who is God my Savior. Fourth, look at Isaiah chapter
26. The day of divine visitation
is a day of joyful assurance. In that day, Isaiah 26, shall
this song be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city. Salvation will God appoint for
walls and bulwarks. Open ye the gates that the righteous
nation which keepeth the truth may enter in. Thou will keep
him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee. Now watch
this, because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the Lord forever,
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. I know whom I have
believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. I acknowledge, like
many of you, I often struggle and have severe struggle with
doubts, unbelief, lack of assurance. And I'll tell you where the struggle
always is. Always. It's looking somewhere other
than to Him. who loved me and gave himself
for me. It's looking back to a time,
or place, or an experience, or looking at a life. What insane human being, what
insane human being can look at his life? Let's narrow it down. Just one day in his life, any
day, pick it out. And say, now there, I have reason
to believe I'm a believer. That's insanity. The name for
it's called self-righteousness. Or look within with our feelings. How we feel toward God. how we
feel toward one another. Anybody here, anybody hears this
message anywhere in the world, tell me if there's something
in you that gives you assurance. I want to hear about it. Your
love, your faith, your righteousness, your devotion, your consecration. Oh, what horrible thought! But
that's, Lindsay, where a lack of assurance always comes in. Looking here, looking here. I'll
tell you what always gives strength and peace. God comes in His grace. and causes you to turn your eyes
again, not to the broken, empty cistern of your own righteousness
and works, but rather to the cistern of His free grace, the
fountain of His grace, Jesus Christ the Lord. Looking to Him
who says, I am thy salvation. What's your hope? My hope is
built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare
not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ, the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. Now, let's turn back to our original
text, Isaiah 12. One more thing. When God comes in mercy, the
day of divine visitation is a day of heartfelt praise. We'll come
back to this again. Let's just read the text one
more time. Oh, when God comes in mercy and makes us to know ourselves
and to know his son, when God comes in mercy, giving us faith
in his son, In that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise
thee. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us. Unto thy name give glory forever. Though thou wast angry
with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. 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. Therefore with joy shall ye draw
water out of the wells of salvation. Just drink from this life-giving
fountain. this fountain of living waters,
and draw waters out of the wells of salvation. Covenant love,
covenant mercy, effectual redemption, free grace, draw water from the
wells of salvation. And in that day, shall you 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 is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of
thee. In that day, when God comes in
mercy, there is praise and thanksgiving
to God alone. There is the lifting up, the
exaltation of God alone. There is the declaration, the
proclaiming of God alone, God in the person of his Son, the
salvation of our souls. Amen.