One of the many snares by which
Satan attempts to keep sinners from trusting the Savior is he
causes many women always to be looking for something to prove
that they are chosen, redeemed, and called of God. Something
to prove that they truly have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. What is it that happens? when
God saves a sinner? What takes place in here when
God saves a man or a woman, giving them life and faith in Christ?
Do the scriptures really tell us? Some folks had the idea that
everybody must have the kind of experience Paul had on the
Damascus Road, and God throws him off his horse down on the
ground, causes the light to shine from heaven, and God speaks to
him. Now, if I had that, I'd know
I was a believer. Some folks have the idea that
really nothing much happens. They have the idea that all you
do is say, I believe in Jesus and ask the Lord to save you,
and that's it, and nothing really takes place. What really happens? Do the scriptures tell us plainly? Is there anywhere we can go in
the Word of God and see what God says happens when sinners
are saved by His grace? Indeed, there are many places.
One passage is Isaiah chapter two. Turn there if you will.
Isaiah chapter two. The title of my message is In
the Day of Grace. Isaiah has been talking about
the day of the Lord. in this blessed gospel age when
God's elect are gathered from the four corners of the earth
under the mountain of the Lord's house. And in the Lord's house,
he tells us in verse four, many women who are natural enemies
dwell together in harmony, in peace and in brotherly love.
They beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning
hooks and they walk together in peace and in harmony. Then
in verse 5, God's prophet calls for sinners like you and me to
come and walk in the light of the Lord, to walk in the light
that God gives us in his word by the gospel. And then he warns
us, warns us in verses six through nine of the great danger of despising
the gospel, of refusing to walk in the light God's given us.
And then in verses 10 through 22, the prophet of God shows
us God's method of grace. His saving operations of grace
upon sinners in the day when the arm of the Lord is revealed
to his elect. Isaiah 10, or Isaiah 2 rather,
we'll begin reading at verse 10. Enter into the rock and hide
thee in the dust. Make your headquarters in the
dust, Brother Scott used to say. For the fear of the Lord and
for the glory of his majesty. 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. Now the following words are descriptive
of things using physical terms in an allegorical way to refer
to the lofty looks, the haughtiness, the pride of man. 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 13. and upon all the cedars
of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks
of Bashan, and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills
that are lifted up, and upon every high tower, and upon every
fenced wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all
the pleasant pictures. 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, and the idols he
shall utterly abolish, and they shall go into the holes of the
rocks, and into the caves of the earth for the fear of the
Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake
terribly the earth. In that day, a man shall cast
his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made each
one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats, to
go into the clasts of the rocks and to the tops of the ragged
rocks for the fear of the Lord and the glory of his majesty
when he arises to shake terribly the earth. Cease ye from man. whose breath is in his nostrils,
for wherein is he to be accounted of. There is a day appointed
by God when those he has chosen in electing love, those who are
redeemed by the precious blood of his darling son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, those for whom Christ has made effectual atonement,
there is a day appointed when God will send his Holy Spirit
in the irresistible power, in the effectual operations of his
grace, calling sinners from death to life, giving them faith in
Christ. It is a time when for that sinner,
there is a terrible shaking of the earth, when he's turned from
darkness to light, turned from bondage to liberty, and brought
to believe on the Son of God. It is called thy time. thy time,
because it is a special time specifically appointed of God
for you to be saved. Now let that settle in. Let that
settle in. The God of glory appointed for
you a specific time, a specific place, specific circumstances. and arranged all the affairs
of the universe, all the affairs of history to meet you at that
time and in that place. It is called the time of love
because it is the time when the love of God is shed abroad in
your hearts by the Holy Ghost given to you. And it's called
the day of the Lord. Because it is the day when the
Lord God reveals himself to chosen sinners in the face of the Lord
Jesus Christ, our crucified Savior, in all his glory, greatness,
and saving grace. In this message, I want to show
you what God does for sinners at that appointed time. what
God does for sinners in the day of his grace. I don't mean to
suggest, I don't mean to imply in any way that these things
are things you must experience before you can be saved. Things
you must experience before you can believe on Christ. There
are no conditions to salvation, no prerequisites to faith in
Christ. But I do mean for all to understand
that whenever God comes to his elect in saving power, he does
convert sinners. He does change them by his almighty
grace. He works on them from the inside. And in our text, Isaiah describes
that change. I don't suggest, I don't imply
that these changes are instantaneous. They're not, they're not. Conversion
is not something that took place when first God gave you life
and faith in Christ. Conversion is the continual turning
of our hearts, the continual turning of our lives more and
more to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a lifelong process. Remember when the Lord Jesus
spoke to Peter, Peter to whom he had given the keys of the
kingdom of heaven? Peter, whose great confession
was made before the Lord Jesus and the Savior said, I'll build
my church upon this rock, upon this foundation. Peter, the great
apostle to the Jews, that man to whom the Lord Jesus said,
as an apostle of Christ, those whose sins you remit shall be
remitted. Those whose sins you retain shall be retained. Speaking
of the work of the gospel in the hearts of men as he preached
it. But Peter was about to experience a horrible, horrible fall. A
horrible, horrible fall. And the Savior said, when thou
art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Conversion for God's
people is a thing that begins when God gives us life and faith
in Christ. But it is a continual, lifelong
process. It is not something we do for
ourselves, but something God does for us continually, graciously,
irresistibly, effectually, turning chosen sinners to the Lord Jesus. This conversion is described
by Peter, to whom coming, not to whom we have come, to whom
coming. We are continually coming to
the Savior. The grace of God, the grace of
God is always effectual. It is always irresistible. It always causes those sinners
called by God to enter into the rock of Christ Jesus. Now here's
the method of God's gracious operations in the hearts of his
elect as described by the prophet Isaiah. If God has chosen you
as the object of his grace, if Christ has redeemed you by his
precious blood, sooner or later, he'll get you. Sooner or later,
he'll save you by the mighty power of his spirit. You will
not escape his hand. None can deliver out of his hand. If God's chosen you, if Christ
has redeemed you, God will save you by his grace. And in the
day of grace, this is how he'll do it. Number one, he will call
you. In verse 10, to enter into the
rock, Christ, the rock of refuge. Second, if God calls you, he
will break your pride and destroy your peace. He will break your pride and
destroy your peace. That's what it tells us in verses
11 through 17. And third, in the day of God's
saving power, He tells us twice in verses 11 and 17, Christ alone
will be exalted. Christ alone will be exalted
in that day. Fourth, in verses 18 through
21, once Christ is exalted in your heart, all false religion
will become contemptible in your eyes. Once Christ is exalted
in your heart, once you come to trust him, all false religion,
every brand, every name, every sect of that which is false will
become contemptible in your eyes. And then in verse 22, this fifth
thing he does, in the day of his grace. That sinner who finds
refuge in Christ ceases from all creature confidence. Oh,
may God do these things for you in this hour. Number one, in
the day of God's grace, he calls guilty sinners to enter into
the rock, Christ Jesus. Look at verse 10. Enter into
the rock and hide thee in the dust. for the fear of the Lord
and for the glory of his majesty. I'm speaking to you in God's
name. I'm preaching the gospel to you
with the authority of God's word. And I call upon you in the name
of Jesus Christ. And I urge you in the name of
Jesus Christ to come to Christ with this authoritative promise.
Come to him and you won't be cast out. Believe on him and
you won't be damned. Trust him and his salvation is
yours. That I speak to sinners everywhere
without any hesitancy at all. But that's described by the theologians
as a general call. It is not a call that can produce
life. It is not a call that can cause
you to turn. No matter how urgently I preach,
no matter how faithfully I study and prepare, no matter how I
may plead with you, no matter how brokenhearted the plea may
be, no matter how severe the warnings may be, I can't call
sinners to believe. Now, this is the reason we don't
play the religious games with men's souls and try to trick
folks into making a profession of faith. Making a profession
of faith won't do you any good. Getting baptized won't do you
any good. Joining this church won't do you any good. You must
be brought into living union with the Son of God. And only
God the Holy Ghost can do that. That's called the effectual call,
the irresistible call. The scriptures describe it this
way. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. Blessed
is the man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto
thee. The hour is coming and now is
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they
that hear shall live. If you hear his voice, you'll
live. If he calls, you'll come. If
he gives you life, you'll believe. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath everlasting life. Christ is the rock of salvation,
and the Lord God calls for us to enter into the rock. The Lord
is my rock and my salvation. He is the foundation rock laid
by God in His eternal purpose of grace upon which our souls
are built by His grace. He is the smitten rock, the rock
smitten for us from which flows out waters of life to our souls. He is the rock of refuge in which
sinners hide and take refuge from the wrath of God and from
every storm in their lives. And for many, he is a stone of
stumbling and a rock of offense, because you will not trust him. Because you will not believe
him. All who come to Christ, come
as poor, needy, broken, contrite sinners, pleading for mercy alone. Hide thee in the dust. Hide thee in the dust. Bow before his throne. Put your
face in the dust before him. And you won't have any trouble
doing that if God reveals Christ in you. If God reveals Christ in you,
you will naturally take your place in the dust before him.
If ever God shows you your sin, and his holiness, your guilt
and his greatness, your filth and his glory, your emptiness
and his fullness, your condemnation and his grace in Christ, you'll
fall down before him as a condemned man whose only hope is mercy. Why? For the fear of the Lord. For a sense of his just wrath
upon you and for the reverence of his holy being. The Apostle Paul saw the Tarsus. He saw the glory of God revealed
and he fell to the earth and he cried, Lord, what will you
have me to do? Immediately, he knew he was justly
deserving of God's wrath and knew he was before the august
majesty of the crucified Christ in the fullness of his glory
as our Savior. Isaiah saw the Lord in his glory,
high and lifted up, and he said, woe is me. I'm a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.
Daniel experienced the same thing. He said, I was left alone and
saw this great vision and there remained no strength in me for
my comeliness, all that I looked at about myself and just sort
of made me swell with pride. All that I thought was good and
nice and appealing about me, my comeliness, was turned in
me into corruption, and I retained no strength. Oh, if God's pleased
to do that, come, enter into the rock. Flee away, guilty sinner,
to Christ, the city of refuge for your soul. Here's the second
thing, verses 11 through 17. If God calls you by his grace,
he will break your pride, He will destroy your peace. He will
bring your world crashing down upon you. 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
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. Oh, you naturally think yourself
to be very comfortable and secure and nothing much disturbs as
long as you push judgment and eternity and righteousness out
of your mind. You're strong, you have a material
financial security, you've got your life all set before you,
all your ducks lined up in a row. And you have a peaceful life
and a relatively peaceful conscience. You see yourself to be a pretty
good person, not too bad. And you don't have any real fear
of God's anger or displeasure. But in the day of God's grace,
all of that suddenly changes. All of that suddenly changes.
You see, God heals those who have need of healing. He saves
those who have need of saving. He'll never force you to come
to Christ against your will. But if he has set his heart upon
you, He will make you willing in the day of His power. Those
God saves, He humbles. Those He lifts, He brings down. Those He exalts, He first abases. All He fills, He first empties. He always wounds before He heals. He always kills before He makes
a life. He always strips before He clothes. That's God's way. Spurgeon put
it this way, whatever God does or does not do, there is one
rule of procedure from which he never deviates, namely to
cast down the proud and those who boast themselves from their
high places. It's a humbling, breaking, abasing
work of God is always painful. Oh, how painful in the process.
How painful in the process. My dear friend, Brother Harry
Graham, I can hear him say it right now. I was just 19 years
old. I could hardly understand what he was talking about at
the time. He said, he said, if you could picture a man or a
woman, a sinner, when God begins to work with them, what goes
on inside of them. You'd think to yourself, I wouldn't
treat a mad dog like that. This work is always painful. It's never pleasant. It's never
pleasant. But oh, how blessed it is in
the end. Gomer could never, never, never
have known the greatness of Hosea's grace and mercy had he not gone
down to the red light district and found her stripped naked,
helpless, and useless for nothing, and there redeemed her and brought
her again to himself. Prodigal son could never have
known the joy of his father's house had he not first left his
father's house and wasted all his substance and riotous living
and came back to his father broken, empty-handed with nothing. Verses 11 and 12, the lofty looks
of man must be humble. Your heart is spirit. It must
be broken. Pride and rebellion, God breaks. God breaks. Verses 13 and 14. Speaks of the cedars of Lebanon.
What's that got to do with all this? The cedars of Lebanon are
the straightest, most stately, and most impressive of men. Some men just have an air about
them. And I'm not speaking just in
a critical way of man's physical appearance. Some men are strikingly,
strikingly pictures of manhood. They stand erect, their faces
perfectly chiseled, every hair in place, their shoulders broad,
neatly dressed, and they just have an appearance about them
almost of the epitome of what manhood should be. Every man
thinks himself such. Every man thinks himself tall
and straight and strong and good on the inside. The lofty looks
of man must be brought down so that even the cedars of Lebanon,
the straightest, most stately, most impressive of men humbled. The oaks of Bashan, these are
the strongest. the stout-hearted among men,
the high mountains, those who are firm, well-established, never
question anything, highly praised and exalted by their peers. Verse
15, he speaks of the towers and fenced walls, representing the
fortresses men make for the security of their souls. for the peace
of their consciences, religious works, moral uprightness, religious
ceremonies, good deeds. Verse 16, he speaks of the ships
of Tarshish, and he's talking about proud men, and proud men
being a base. What does this have to do with
it? The ships of Tarshish throughout scripture represent economic
security, plenty, and wealth. Man's imaginary spiritual wealth
has got to be destroyed. All those things that you look
at and say, ah, now that's, that'll give me a little hope. That gives
me a foot up toward God. That makes me different. God'll
destroy it or you'll go to hell. Pleasant pictures. Pleasant pictures. What's that got to do with anything?
Pleasant pictures. I like a pleasant picture, don't
you? your pleasant pictures of yourself, God'll destroy or you'll
go to hell. God'll destroy or you'll go to
hell. They're those things that are
desirable, those pleasant ornaments of wealth by which men and women
please themselves. The things that you show off
to other folks. come into your house and you
have something that's really prized, a really fine piece of
art, a beautiful vase, something that's obviously expensive that
not many folks have, and you set it in the most obvious place
in the house so that every eye that walks in the door is fixed
on that pleasant picture, that pleasant picture. Those are the
things that you put out in front of folks about yourself. All
those things by which you pleasingly look upon yourself and would
have others to look upon you, they'll be destroyed. Whatever
it is that you set up in opposition to God, whatever it is that keeps
you from Christ, whatever it is that you have made your refuge
of lies, whatever it is that you set your heart upon, God
will destroy it, that he might save you. Oh, what great love
he has for us. What great love he has for us
that he will destroy those things by which we would destroy ourselves. I don't qualify for parenthood
as a man in this 21st century. I didn't qualify in the 20th
century when we were raising our daughter and I'm not Please
don't misunderstand it. I'm not belittling or anything.
I joke about it a little bit. But I didn't change diapers.
If I had, I'd have fell over top of Faith, smothered her.
There, she wouldn't be here now. I didn't do those things. I just
didn't do those things. But once in a while, I'd feed her. And
she was a breastfed child, but I'd have her and I'd have to
give her a bottle. And then it came time to wean
her. Do y'all remember what happened
to those babies when you start to wean them? And mama quits
nursing them? And you quit giving them a bottle?
And they can hardly walk, they're just badly walking. She'd go
to the refrigerator, she couldn't open it, and she'd pull on the
door and just bawl. Just bawl. And it'd break my
heart to see her bawl. But my soul, who wants a six-year-old
going to school carrying a bottle. Who wants a 16-year-old still
looking after a bottle? Who wants a grown man or a grown
daughter still staying at home and nursing at the bottle? The
object of love is to destroy that thing the child thinks it
can't live without. Oh, how great God's mercy. that
he will not let us hold those things we cherish by which we
would take ourselves to hell. The loftiness of man shall be
bowed down and the haughtiness of men shall be made low. In
that day, in the day of his grace, God will humble your pride. He'll
break your rebellion down and he'll do it by work of providence
and the work of grace. He arranges the affairs of your
life. He arranges the affairs of your
life to bring you to nothing. Again, look at the prodigal.
Look at Gomer. God graciously arranges the affairs
of your life so you've got nothing. He said, you reach rock bottom. You're brought to utter emptiness,
utter desolation outwardly, mentally, emotionally. But providence alone
will never give you faith. Providence alone will never convert
the soul. It takes God's work of grace
in you by His Spirit along with His work of providence for you
to produce repentance and faith in Christ. God saves chosen sinners
by the mighty operations of His grace, by the work of His Son
at Calvary, and the work of His Spirit in conviction, calling,
and conversion. Turn one more time, I say one
more time, one more time today to John chapter 16. I want you
to see it again. This is the work of God's Spirit
in you. Our Lord Jesus says in verse
seven, nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is expedient for
you that I go away. For if I go not away, the comforter
will not come unto you. But if I depart, I'll send him
unto you. He says God won't send his spirit
in regeneration. God won't send his spirit in
the saving power of his grace, except on the basis of atonement
finished, redemption accomplished. Verse eight. And when he is come,
he will reprove. He will He will convince so thoroughly
that you are reproved. He will reprove the world. He
will reprove every sinner called by his grace wherever he's found
in the world. He'll reprove sinners in Danville,
Kentucky. He'll reprove his chosen in the
world of sin. righteousness and of judgment.
These three things our Lord specifically names. He says of sin, because
they believe not on Me. He says He will make you understand
your problem is unbelief. God's issue with you is your
refusal to trust the Son of God of unbelief. And he'll convince
you of righteousness, of righteousness accomplished by the doing and
dying of the Son of God because I go to my Father. And he will
convince you of judgment. Judgment's over because the prince
of this world is judged. All right, back here in our text,
Isaiah 2, verses 11 and 17. The prophet of God tells us in
that day, in the day of God's saving power and grace, when
the Spirit of God reproves you of sin, of righteousness and
judgment, Christ alone will be exalted in your eyes. The Lord
Jehovah alone shall be exalted in that day. I don't know whether
God's chosen you or not. I don't know whether Christ has
redeemed you or not. I will not lie to please you
and say I do. I don't know whether God the
Holy Spirit will call you and give you life and faith in Christ
or not. But this I know, if God's pleased
to save you by his grace, when he does, In that day, Christ
will be exalted in your eyes, and you will see and see clearly
that Jesus Christ alone is Savior. He is made of God unto you wisdom,
so that he teaches you that which you must know, your sin and his
righteousness, your guilt and his grace, your condemnation
and his forgiveness. He's made of God unto you in
that day righteousness. Righteousness. You've been wrapping
yourself up in righteousness all your life. You've been wrapping
yourself up in it. And then Christ comes and he
strips off your pretend righteousness and puts on you the perfect white
robe of his righteousness. And he is made of God unto you,
redemption. Complete deliverance by blood,
grace, and power from sin. And he's made of God unto you,
sanctification. He is all your holiness. You give up all else. He is exalted
in that day as your only rightful Lord so that you willingly Lay down your life to Him. What will you have me do, Lord? Your flesh wars against it all
the time. You who are God's children, you
have walked with Him for a long time. Bear me witness. You struggle with this to this
day more than ever you have in your life. day by day giving
up your will to His will, your way to His way. But there's nothing
you more desire than for Him to have absolute control over
you and do with you what He will for the glory of His name. Christ
alone will be exalted in that day as your only necessary desire. Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth
that I desire beside thee. O Lord Jesus, you, you, you are
the one thing needful, the one thing I must have, the one thing
without which I cannot live. Gracious Lord, incline thine
ear, My request be pleased to hear. Hear my never ceasing cry. Give me Christ or else I die. Wealth and honor I disdain. Earthly
comforts all are vain. These can never satisfy. Give
me Christ or else I die. Lord, deny me what thou wilt. Only ease me of my guilt. Helpless at thy feet I lie. Give me Christ or else I die. Look at verses 18 through 21.
Here's the fourth thing. I know this for certain. Once Christ is exalted in a sinner's
heart, once you see and trust the Lord Jesus Christ, all false
religion, all religion that once was precious to you. Every religious
notion that made you look to yourself, your works, your will,
your righteousness, your goodness, your experience, your feelings,
your emotions, all false religion will be made utterly contemptible
to you. The idols he shall utterly abolish. When Christ arises to shake the
earth, and destroy the foundations of sand upon which you built
your soul, you will see the vanity and uselessness and obnoxiousness
of all false gods and all false religions. You'll gladly denounce
your idols and destroy them. Be they ever so costly, all those
works of your hands that you have so highly praised, idols
of darkness, are fit only for pits of darkness, where moles
and bats, blind creatures of darkness dwell. It's always costly
to denounce the family's gods. Always costly to denounce the
gods of mom and dad and brother and sister. Always costly to
do so. Always costly to denounce the
gods of friends and turn from them. but you got to learn and
God will teach you. Dagon cannot stand in the same
house with the ark of God. Dagon cannot stand in the same
house with the ark of God. The fear of the Lord and the
glory of his majesty compel us, compel us to destroy every false
god and every false refuge. Turn to Philippians chapter 3.
Philippians chapter 3. Verse 3. We are the circumcision. We are
truly God's people. We are born again, circumcised
in heart by the Spirit of God, not with circumcision made by
hands, but the circumcision of grace in our hearts, which worship
God in the Spirit. We worship God in His Spirit,
in our spirits, we worship God spiritually. And rejoice, that
is, we have confidence in, we trust in Christ Jesus, the Lord. and have no confidence in the
flesh. No confidence in any part of
the flesh. Not in fleshly relationships,
not in fleshly experiences, not in fleshly feelings, not in fleshly
emotions, not in the flesh. Then he says, though I might
have confidence in the flesh, he tells us what he's talking
about. If any other man thinketh he hath whereof he might trust
in the flesh, you think you're somebody? You're nothing compared
to what I was. My soul, that's some language.
He's I more. I was circumcised the eighth
day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. Among
the Hebrews, I was number one. Hebrew of the Hebrews. As touching
the law, I was a Pharisee. Everybody, including my mom and
daddy, really did think I was a good boy. concerning zeal,
persecuting the church, touching the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, doubtless I count
all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of
Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things. Now watch this, and do count
them but dung. just a pile of manure. I count all my pedigree, all
my knowledge, all my works, all my righteousness, all my goodness,
just so much manure that I may win Christ and be found in him,
not having my own righteousness, which is of the law. but that
which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which
is of God by faith. Oh, in that day, in that day,
all human religion will be utterly contemptible. And fifth, look
at verse 22, Isaiah 2, 22. If God's pleased to save you,
if God's pleased to save you, if this hour, if this hour, Oh, God, great. If this hour,
God gives you faith in Christ, if you right now find yourself
believing on the Son of God, when you find refuge in Christ,
you will cease from all creature confidence. Cease ye from man,
whose breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted
of. Cease ye from man, from yourself,
from the religion of man, from the fear of man, from the approval
of man. Let your hope be in the Lord
your God. Let your allegiance be to the
Lord your God. Let your strength be the Lord
your God. Enter into the rock. Hide thee in the dust. for the
fear of the Lord and the glory of his majesty. Oh God, help
me to do so. Enter into the rock, hide in
the dust for the fear of the Lord and the glory of his majesty. Amen.