In Isaiah chapter five, Isaiah
brings his first sermon in his prophecy to its conclusion with
a song, an inspired song of praise, a song of praise to an angry
God. The vast majority of people,
judging by the way they speak, seem to think that vengeance
Anger and wrath are attributes contrary to the character of
God, God who is mercy, love, and grace. Many even imagine
that God has undergone a great change. They think that somehow
the God of the Old Testament was a God who was angry, vengeful,
almost to the point of cruelty. But in the New Testament, under
grace, God is kind and gentle and loving to the point of being
incapable of anger. If you entertain such thoughts
of God, you are utterly vain in your imaginations about him,
utterly ignorant of the word of God and the character of God. It is true, and we rejoice to
know it, that God is love. Our God is merciful, gracious,
kind, and good beyond description. And he's demonstrated that fact
in the sacrifice of his darling son. Only inspired by his love
for us, God gave his only begotten son, the Lord Jesus Christ, our
dear Savior, to die in the room instead of such sinners as we
are, as a substitute for his people. Bearing in his body all
the fury of God's wrath, his anger, his justice, and his wrath
poured out upon him in body, soul, and spirit until justice
was fully satisfied that we might live forever with him. God is
love. I want you to know it and rejoice
in it. Be delighted in the fact of the
love of God in Christ for you, but never deceive yourself or
let yourself be deceived by others. God is also just. Justice and truth are the habitation
of his throne. His holiness, His justice, His
truth, His righteousness demand that God pour out His wrath upon
all who sin against Him. Every sinner must suffer the
wrath of God, no exceptions. Every sin must be punished, no
exceptions. The God of heaven, the God with
whom we have to do, the God we must soon face in judgment is
a God of severe, inescapable, indescribable wrath. God is angry
with the wicked every day. How this generation needs to
hear that and hear it often. God is angry with the wicked
every day. I do not enjoy preaching about
the wrath of God and hell and damnation. Those things clearly
revealed in Scripture are not matters upon which I like to
dwell, but they are clearly revealed in Scripture and revealed in
Scripture to make all men aware of God's justice, in the punishment
of sin. God will punish the wicked with
everlasting destruction. Indeed, the wrath of God upon
the wicked will be one theme of praise to him in the songs
of the redeemed. Read again the 19th chapter of
the book of Revelation and see how that when God has punished
all his enemies, when he's cast every foe into hell, the smoke
of their torments ascend and the saints of God sing praise
to God for his wrath and his justice, as well as for his grace
and his mercy. Judgment is God's strange work,
but it is God's work, and it is God's sure work, a work for
which he will have everlasting praise. Yes, the wrath of God
will honor him, just as does his grace. The punishment of
the wicked in hell will honor him, just as does the salvation
of the righteous in everlasting glory. Now let's look at this
song of praise to an angry God. And I intend to speak to you
as frankly and as clearly as I possibly can about the wrath
of God. And that's the subject of this
song recorded in Isaiah chapter five. I'm confident that God
has given me the message of the song. I pray he will give me
the power of his spirit and the grace of God to declare it to
your hearts. Now, I want to say something
before we look at these 30 verses, and I want you to hear me. You
and I must be punished for sin. God Almighty will by no means
clear the guilty. He will not pass by iniquity,
transgression, and sin. When Moses said, I beseech thee,
show me thy glory, that's exactly how he described his glory. He
says he must punish the iniquity of all. He must. The wages of
sin is death, and God always pays up. Every sinner and every
sin must be justly recompensed by him. Every sinner must be
slain under his wrath. We all have to die. This is the
word of God in Ezekiel 18, 20. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die, either representatively in a substitute. Bless God for
that. I am crucified with Christ. When Christ died, I died. When he suffered the wrath of
God, I suffered the wrath of God. When God Almighty delivered
him from the grave because he had fully satisfied justice,
God delivered me from the grave because I had fully satisfied
justice in the suffering of my substitute. But if you suffered
not with Christ, If you do not find life and salvation in that
substitute God punished for sin at Calvary, you will suffer the
wrath of God forever in your own person, eternally in hell. I remember years ago being a
bit surprised at a statement that Brother Scott Richardson
made when we were preaching together at another place. He preached
on the night of Passover in Egypt. And he said, everybody in the
land of Egypt died that night, the firstborn in every house.
Now y'all know that the firstborn in the houses of all the Egyptians
died, Brother Richardson went on to talk about for a little
bit. And then he said, but you may not understand this, the
firstborn in the house of all of Israel died that night as
well. The firstborn in the house of
all the Israelites died in a substitute lamb. They all died in a sacrifice
made for them. And so it is. All must suffer
the wrath of God. All must die, either personally
or representatively, either in a substitute or in your own persons. Now let's look at these 30 verses
of Isaiah 5. I ask you to keep your Bibles
open on your lap. And let me show you five things in this
chapter with regard to the wrath of God. The first thing the prophet
tells us in his song is that those who despise God's goodness
provoke him to wrath. And that's what he tells us in
verses one through seven. This chapter is a song composed
by Isaiah under the inspiration of God the Holy Ghost to the
praise of his beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ. The subject of
the song is the Lord's Vineyard. And the prophet tells us plainly
that the vineyard he's describing is the house of Israel and the
men of Judah. That is the visible church of
God in the Old Testament. God blessed the nation of Israel
as he blessed no other people who lived upon the face of the
earth. He did for the Jews what he did for no one else in all
the world. For 2,000 years, from the day
that God called Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldeans until the
day that God cast Israel off as a nation, the Lord God blessed
those people alone with the light of divine revelation. God sent
his word, his prophets, his priest, and his ordinances, and his law
to Israel and Israel alone. No one else had a message from
God. No one else had a revelation
from God. But they despised his goodness.
And by despising his goodness, they continually provoked the
Holy One of Israel to wrath. Therefore, ultimately, God destroyed
that nation in his wrath. Our Lord Jesus looked over the
city of Jerusalem and said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how oft would I have
gathered thy children as a hen gathers her chickens under her
wings, and you would not. Behold, your house is left unto
you desolate, empty, barren, a waste. Judgment forever fallen
upon that nation, utterly destroyed as a nation. And the Lord God
sent the light of the gospel to the Gentile world. Now look
at the great things God did for the Jewish church and nation.
Verse one. Now will I sing to my well-beloved
a song of my beloved, touching his vineyard. My well-beloved
hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill, and he fenced it, and gathered
out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and
built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress
therein, and it looked that it should bring forth grapes. and
they brought forth wild grapes. When the rest of the world was
barren, unsown, and uncultivated, without any special revelation
from God, Israel was his vineyard. The Jews were set apart as his
peculiar people. He called them his own. He set
them apart for himself. He planted them in the land of
milk and honey, a very fruitful hill, where they might have an
abundance with which to serve him. God fenced them about and
protected them. The Lord God was with his people
to guide them, protect them, and keep them all their days
from all their enemies. He gathered out of his vineyard
the stones of darkness, idolatry, and ignorance. He planted his
vineyard with the choicest seed. He planted that nation with the
seed of Abraham, Joshua, and Caleb. As I prepared the message
for this evening, it struck me as remarkable. God, you will
remember, destroyed all of those who came out of Egypt in the
wilderness who believed not. He destroyed them all. So that
he brought only into the land of Canaan, this land flowing
with milk and honey, a people who believed him. He brought
only the precious seed into Canaan. God planted a vineyard in Canaan,
a seed of believers, a seed of pure religion, a seed carrying
his perfect law. He planted there his ordinances
of worship and he directed their hearts to himself. And the Lord
built a tower in their midst. The tower he built in their midst
was the temple of God. He built there a temple where
the priest of God lodged and labored day and night. A place
in which God promised, here I will meet you upon the mercy seat
between the cherubs. And he gave them tokens of his
presence, his power, and his pleasure that abode with them
continually. He had a continually burning
fire at his altar. They had continually about them
the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire. He set up the altar
of sacrifice, the place to which sacrifices should be brought
to him as the fruits of his vineyard. Now, hear the complaint God made
against this people. Verse 3, And now, O inhabitants
of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me
and my vineyard. That is, I'm calling for you
to judge yourselves. I'm calling for you to acknowledge
that you're without excuse. What could have been done more
to my vineyard that I have not done in it? Wherefore, when I
looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild
grapes. He looked that it should bring
forth grapes, and he brought forth wild grapes. A farmer,
having done such work in his land, reasonably expects fruit
for his labor. And is it not right that God
should expect fruit for all he has done from those who enjoy
the benefits of his goodness in this world? Is it not right
that God should expect from every man who hears his word, the fruit
of faith, of righteousness, believing on the son of God? Indeed it
is. Grapes here speak of the fruit
of the spirits, the fruit of life wrought in us and given
to us by God, the Holy Spirit. Wild grapes are the produce of
nature. If you read again the first chapter
of the sermon in Isaiah 1 verses 11 through 14, obviously these
wild grapes speak of hypocritical acts of religion. The performance
of religion without faith in Christ, a form of godliness denying
the power of godliness. These people, being the recipients
of such great goodness, are called upon to speak to their own condemnation. They were all together without
excuse. Now I've said all that to say
this, man's heart by nature is so thoroughly depraved that no
amount of providential goodness will do it any good. Man's heart
by nature, so thoroughly depraved, so utterly dead in trespasses
and in sins, that no amount of outward providential goodness
will ever benefit your soul. Man will never be brought to
repentance by mere outward things. Nothing short of an almighty,
sovereign, regenerating work of grace can awaken the dead. But having said that, every man,
every woman, every child is responsible to respond to God's acts of goodness. And if you turn to Him, if you
believe on His Son, having heard the word of His grace, having
heard His voice, He will save you by His grace. Indeed, if
you believe on His Son, He has saved you by His grace. Because
the Jewish nation despised God's goodness, because they rejected
His revelation, because they received Him not, they'd been
utterly destroyed. Look at verse five. And now,
go to. I will tell you what I will do
to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof,
and it shall be eaten up. And break down the wall thereof,
and it shall be trodden down. And I will lay it waste, it shall
not be pruned nor digged. But there shall come up briars
and thorns. I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord
of hosts is the house of Israel. and the men of Judah, his pleasant
plant. And he looked for judgment, but
behold, oppression, for righteousness, but behold, a cry. God sent his
prophets, his priest, and his word to Israel. At last he sent
them his son. He looked for judgment and righteousness,
but he found oppression and a cry. He sent his son and they cried,
crucify him, crucify him. Therefore that church, that old
Testament church was annihilated. The nation of Israel utterly
destroyed. And God sent his grace to a people
chosen from among the Gentiles. You may ask, well, pastor, what
does all of this have to do with you and me? Turn to Romans chapter
11 for just a minute. Hold your place here at Isaiah
and turn to Romans chapter 11. We're going to read verses 20 and 21,
but before we do hear what I say, God will one day call you to
account for what you've experienced of his goodness. God will one day call you to
account for what you've experienced of his goodness. Romans 11, Paul
is talking about the casting away of Israel. Look at verse
20. Why did he do it? Paul says,
well, because of unbelief, they were broken off. And thou standest
by faith. Be not high minded, but fear. For if God spared not the natural
branches, take heed. lest he also spare not thee.
The subject came up back in the office a little bit ago. Congregation
very dear to me, has been for many years. They're going through
an assault right now. And their future depends greatly
on what God's pleased to do for them. And I said to the men in
the office, you and I need to be aware of this. This local
church and our faith and our ministry for our Redeemer is
as strong and steadfast as God himself. He's our protector. But it's as fragile and unstable
as the weakest person here tonight. Let us then ever look to God
to be our keeper and faithfully seek his glory, adhering to his
word and his revelation, regardless of cost or consequences. God
has set you in his vineyard. He's fenced you about with his
goodness. He's given you his word. He set a tower in this
city, in Danville, Kentucky, this local church, God's tower
in this city. Oh, pastor, you're taking too
much on yourself. No, I'm either taking too much on myself or
I'm telling you the truth. Either this is God's tower, God's
lighthouse, God's witness in this city, or it is not. There
is not another, I promise you that. There is not another. This
is where God meets with man. If you do not give him the reasonable
fruit of repentance and faith in Christ, you provoke him to
anger and yours shall be the greater condemnation. You who
are raised here in this place under the sound of the gospel,
If you refuse to believe on the son of God, it would be better
for you never to have been born than to meet God in judgment
with your fist in his face. He that being often reproved,
the wise man said, shall be suddenly cut off and that without remedy. Now here's the second thing.
Look at verses eight through 23. Isaiah here shows us that God's
wrath is always the just recompense, the recompense of his justice
to the sins of men. Throughout the word of God, this
cannot be stated with enough emphasis, throughout the word
of God, Judgment, wrath, condemnation, everlasting damnation fall upon
people only as God's response to man's iniquity. But we believe
in absolute predestination. I think I'm aware of that. We
believe everything is absolutely according to God's purpose. I
think I've taught you that clearly. But throughout the scriptures,
your everlasting destruction is always attributed to you. Look at Isaiah chapter five,
verse eight. Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay
field to field, till there be no place that they may be placed
alone in the midst of the earth. In mine ears said the Lord of
hosts, of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great
and fair without inhabitant. You seek to have everything for
yourself. You gobble up everything you
can because you want to be the only one who's got anything.
And God says, I want to leave it desolate. Even the great and
fair without inhabitants, verse 10. Yea, ten acres of vineyard
shall yield one bath, and the seed of an omer shall yield one
effer. You're going to have ten acres
of ground, and you'll sow twenty bushels of potatoes, and you'll
get back a basketful. Woe unto them that rise up early
in the morning, that they may follow strong drink, that continue
until night, till wine inflame them. The strong drink of physical
alcohol, the strong drink of their own lust, the strong drink
of Babylon, until they're inflamed with it. and the harp and the
vial and the tabra and the pipe and the wine are in their feast. They come to worship God. They
come to the house of God. They have feast of Passover and
feast of worship and praise to God and pretend to be consecrated
to God and they do it all in a party. They just throw a big
party. They bring their harp and vial
and tabra and pipe and wine to the feast so they can have a
good time and call it worshiping God. but they regard not the
work of the Lord, neither consider the operation of his hands. Therefore,
there's always a therefore when God begins to speak of judgment.
Therefore, my people are gone into captivity, because they
have no knowledge, and their honorable men are famished, and
their multitude dried up with thirst. Therefore, hell hath
enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure, and
their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth
shall descend into it. and the mean man shall be brought
down, and the mighty man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the
lofty shall be humbled, but the Lord of hosts shall be exalted
in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. Your unbelief, your rebellion,
your haughtiness, your pride, your arrogance, your rebellion
against God will not rob God of his glory. Verse 17, then
shall the lambs feed after their manna, and the waste places of
the fat ones shall strangers eat. I'll come back to that. But even in the midst of wrath,
God remembers mercy and gathers his lambs. Verse 18, woe unto
them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, that just tug
and pull to get more iniquity accomplished, and sin as it were
with a cart rope. that say, let him make speed
and hasten his work, that we may see it, and that the counsel
of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know
it. You say God's gonna judge this?
Let's see him do it. Woe unto them that call evil
good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light
for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in
their own sight. Woe unto them that are mighty
to drink wine and men of strength to mingle strong drink, which
justify the wicked for reward and take away the righteousness
of the righteous from him. Now, let me just briefly give
you the message contained in these verses of scripture. Grace
is altogether free and unconditional. Our works have nothing to do
with God's grace. Election is free and unconditional. Redemption is free and unconditional. Predestination is free and unconditional. Regeneration is free and unconditional. Preservation is free and unconditional. Salvation is free, it's unconditional. Eternal life is free, the free
gift of God, the gift of God's free, sovereign, unconditional
grace. But judgment, wrath, and eternal
damnation is the result of willful, deliberate unbelief and sin. It is the result of willful,
deliberate unbelief and sin. Even among the heathen who've
never heard the gospel, Romans chapter one, they have the light
of nature, but they refuse to walk in the light God's given
them. So God withdraws what light they have. And when men have
the word of God, they have the light of divine revelation in
scripture. But men who refuse to walk in
the light, God turns the light they have into darkness. So that the very Bibles they
read every day and memorize line by line, verse by verse, chapter
by chapter, and book by book, is full of snares and djinns
to trip them up. If men refuse light, God turns
light into darkness. Men and women do not go to hell
because of God's sovereignty or because of God's predestination
or because of God's election. Men and women go to hell because
of sin. God's will saves, man's will
damns. God's choice saves, man's choice
damns. God's work saves, man's work
damns. The cause of grace is God, the
cause of wrath is man. In other words, if you go to
heaven, it will be God's work, and God's work alone, and God
shall have the praise for it. If however, you go to hell, if you go to hell, if you go
to hell, it will be the result of your work and your work alone. And you alone shall have the
blame of it. In these verses, eight through
23, the prophet enumerates six specific crimes against God,
which are common to men. Crimes for which the wrath of
God falls upon sinners. He describes in verses eight
through 10, the love of the world. If any man loved the world, the
love of Christ is not in him. And then in verses 11 through
15, he speaks of the love of pleasure. drunkenness and sensuality. That is, people who live for
their own pleasures. You see these riots in the streets,
they call them peaceful protest, an expression of free speech
and all the bucket of manure they describe it as. It is simply men expressing one
thing. I live for me. And men and women
who live for themselves, live for their pleasure, live to the
injury of everybody else. What a crime. And they regard not the work
of the Lord. Verses 18 and 19. God charges
them with infidelity, unbelief, and blasphemy. refused to hear
his word, refused to believe him. In verse 20, he speaks of
their moral and spiritual perversity, calling good evil and evil good,
calling light darkness and darkness light. In verse 21, he speaks
of their haughtiness and pride, especially spiritual pride. And
those things always lead to oppression. In verses 22 and 23. Proud, haughty,
self-righteous men and women always oppress others. These
things are contrary to God, contrary to the Spirit of Christ. Meryl
Hart, they ought not be named among us who wear the Savior's
name. That's what Paul tells us in
Ephesians chapter 4. Yes, we are all by nature guilty
of these crimes and many other vile deeds of the flesh Worse
than these, but God had been merciful and gracious to us.
Though we fully deserve his wrath. He saved us by his grace. Never
was there a man. Never was there a man who more
thoroughly deserved to be cast into hell long ago than the one
talking to you. But God has saved me by his grace. Is that the case with you? Then
Mark, let us ever devote ourselves to him utterly. You're not, you're
old. You've been bought with a price.
So glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's
thank God. Grace is free, but God's wrath
is always the response of his justice to the sins of men. Here's
the third thing. Verses 24 through 30. Isaiah shows us that the wrath
of God is thorough, irresistible, and irreversible. Verse 24. Therefore, as the fire devoureth
the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall
be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust, because
they've cast away the law of the Lord. of hosts. They've taken
God's revelation and threw it to one side. Just threw it away. Just threw it away. They've taken
all that God revealed to them, all that God showed them, all
that God taught them, all the good things God did for them,
and they threw it away! Just threw it away. And despised
the word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, therefore, therefore,
is the anger of the Lord kindled against his people, these who
are called by his name. And he has stretched forth his
hand against them, and has smitten them, and the hills did tremble,
and their carcasses were torn in the midst of the streets.
For all this, his anger is not turned away, but his hand is
stretched out still. The sufferings of men in this
world and the sufferings of men in the world to come can never
satisfy the wrath and justice of a holy God. And He will lift
up an instant to the nations from far and will histen to them
from the end of the earth and behold, they shall come with
speed swiftly. He's talking about the utter
destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 AD. None shall be weary
nor stumble among them. None shall slumber nor sleep.
Neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latches
of their shoes be broken, whose arrows are sharp and their bows
bent. Their horses' hooves shall be
counted like flint and their wheels like a whirlwind. Their
roaring shall be like a lion. They shall roar like a young
lion's. Yea, they shall roar and lay hold of the prey and
shall carry it away safe. and none shall deliver it. And
in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the
sea. And if one look unto the land, behold, darkness and sorrow,
and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof." Because
the Jews despised God's grace, rejected his word and refused
to submit to his son. God raised up the destroyer to
destroy that nation and cut them off in his wrath. The cause of
his wrath was their unbelief. The instrument of his wrath was
a pagan Roman by the name of Titus. The executioner of wrath
is God himself. Titus was a sword in God's hand. He was a sword in God's hand.
The extent of wrath was the utter desolation of Jerusalem and Israel. Now, I want you to see this too,
in verse 16. God's wrath is honoring to his
character as God. Don't ever imagine that man's
ungodliness and man being cast into hell is somehow or another
going to be dishonoring to God or shameful to him. Look at verse
16. But the Lord of hosts shall be
exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified
in righteousness. Wrath, judgment, eternal condemnation
in hell, those things are not at all contrary to the character
of God. In fact, a holy, just, and good
God must and shall punish sin, and he shall be glorified in
the punishment of sin, even in his wrath. He shall be exalted
as God alone, God of irresistible power. He shall be sanctified
and honored as a God of unspotted purity. Man's unbelief will not
in any way mar or detract from God's greatness and his glory
as God. Having said all that, let me
show you one fifth thing as we finish the message in verse 17. Here Isaiah shows us that even
in wrath, God remembers mercy. Even the wrath of God is an instrument
of his mercy and his grace to his elect. Look at this, verse
17. Then shall the lambs feed after
their manner and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers
eat. The Lord Jesus is that one who
cast off the Jews as a nation, but he's not cast off his people.
He's the one who cast off the goats as a people, but he's not
cast off his sheep. He says, I'm the good shepherd.
The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. The sheep
hear his voice and they follow him and he gives them eternal
life and they shall never perish. He remembers mercy forever. He is ever faithful to his covenant.
He will save his people. And he even uses the unbelief
of the wicked and his acts of judgment against them to save
his elect. Then, then, after God destroyed
Israel, then shall the lambs feed after their manner and the
waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat. Let's see
if we can find a description of that. Turn to Ezekiel chapter
34. Ezekiel 34. The lambs are God's elect scattered
throughout the world. Though we are strangers, we've
been brought nigh by the blood of Christ and given free access
to God in him. Look at verse 16 of Ezekiel 34.
The good shepherd says, I will feed them in a good pasture. And upon the high mountains of
Israel shall their fold be. There shall they lie in good
fold. And in a fat pasture shall they
feed upon the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock, and I will
cause them to lie down, saith the Lord, the Lord God. I will
seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven
away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen
that which was sick. But I will destroy the fat and
the strong. I will feed them with judgment."
Now turn back to Isaiah 5, verse 26. Even as he lifts up an ensign
to destroy his enemies, he lifts up an ensign to save his people. When the Lord Jesus Christ, the
glorious ensign of his people comes, it is both for vengeance
and for salvation. Hear the word of the Lord. 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. For the day of vengeance is in
mine heart. and the year of my redeemed is
come. Now look at Isaiah 5, 26. And
he will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will
hiss unto them from the end of the earth, and behold, they shall
come with speed swiftly. No question, this refers specifically
to that ensign he raised up for destruction for Israel. But we'll
find later in the book of Isaiah, our Lord Jesus is described as
the instant lifted up by God. And all that is here said that
Titus did for the destruction of Israel is true of our Savior,
the Lord Jesus. He is the instant of salvation
to all nations. He hisses for his sheep from
the ends of the earth. He calls them, he calls them. When I was a boy, in fact, until
we moved here, except for the brief time I was in college,
I always had a dog. Usually had two or three. Always
had a dog. Liked having him. I liked to
have him with me. And didn't matter where I was,
didn't matter where I was, might not be able to see the dog. Sometimes,
if the dog was, he might be far enough away, I couldn't even
hear him and distinguish him as my dog. But I'll tell you what,
my dog always did. Here he comes. That's all I had
to do. You could stand there and whistle
for him all day long. He'd stay right where he was. All I had
to do, just whistle, hiss for him, and he comes. The Lord Jesus
comes by the gospel and calls his sheep with the irresistible
hissing of his grace. And when he does, they come with
speed swiftly. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
amazing? They come with speed swiftly. Now, I don't know about you,
but for me, I went through a long period of
struggle, darkness, unbelief, convinced I was reprobate, terribly
fearful of God's wrath and judgment. Terribly fearful, always looking
somehow to do something, to make a bargain with God. I'd cry to
him at night and beg for mercy and live through the night and
wake up the next day and cuss like I always did. Just horrible,
horrible struggles. Horrible nightmares. Horrible,
terrifying fear. Until one day, sitting where
you're sitting now, I heard a man preach the gospel of God's free
grace and immediately, as God spoke to my heart, I found myself
believing. coming to Christ with speed,
swiftly. Not so much a decision, not so
much an act I perform, but found myself irresistibly compelled
to believe Him. Now I'm calling for decision
from you who hear my voice. I hold before you grace and wrath,
life and condemnation. Will you or will you not bow
to Christ? I assure you, whether you do
or not, you will not hinder God's purpose of grace. You will not
rob God of His glory. If you refuse to bow to Christ,
you cannot escape His wrath. And if you come to Christ, you
cannot perish. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son of God shall not see life. but the wrath of God abideth
upon him. Salvation, eternal life, is promised
to just one thing. Are you listening? Faith in Christ. Just one thing, faith in Christ. In fact, if you trust Christ,
you already have everlasting life. If you didn't have life,
you couldn't believe. Faith in Christ is not the cause
of spiritual life, but the fruit of spiritual life. Faith is a matter of first concern. You must believe. If you trust
Christ, you must lay everything else
aside. And if you trust him, everything
that now confuses you will fall into place. But as long as you
set up any condition that must be met by you before you can
believe and be saved, you're attempting to save yourself.
And God won't allow that. Let me give you some things that
commonly come up in discussing these things with men and women.
And they're always the same. They're always the same. but
I don't feel that I have conviction enough. Conviction doesn't produce
faith. Conviction follows faith. Read
Zechariah chapter 12. Agrippa had deep conviction. He said, almost thou persuadest
me to be a Christian, but he had no faith. Folks say, well,
I haven't repented enough. Repentance toward God doesn't
produce faith. Repentance toward God is the
result of faith. When Isaiah saw Christ, he cried,
woe is me. But King Saul had repentance
and no faith. Knowledge doesn't produce faith.
I know you can't be saved without knowledge, but spiritual knowledge
is the result of faith. All knowledge you have without
faith is just carnal knowledge. Demas, Judas, Simon Magus, Theotrophes,
Hymenaeus, and Phibetus, all had knowledge, but none had faith. Love. Well, I just don't feel
like I love the Lord enough. You don't. I promise you, you
don't. But love for God's not what saves.
Faith in Christ is the one thing needful. You must believe on
the Son of God, and he that believeth on the Son. have everlasting
life. You cannot, hear me now, you
cannot come to Christ. You cannot believe on Christ. You cannot trust Christ and perish
under the wrath of God. Oh, may God give you faith in
his son. May the son of God, the good
shepherd, hiss for you now and cause you to come with speed
swiftly to him for grace. Amen.