If you have your Bibles open
to the book of Isaiah chapter 12, let me read this short chapter
again. I think it is worth reading over
and over again. And in that day thou shalt say,
this is one of the favorite sayings of the prophet Isaiah. 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 is become
my salvation, my deliverer. Therefore with joy shall you
draw water out of the wells or fountains of salvation. And in that day shall ye say,
Praise the Lord, call upon his name, declare his doings among
the people, make mention that his name is exalted. Sing unto
the Lord, for he hath done excellent things. This is known in all
the earth. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant
of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel. in the midst of
thee. The Apostle Paul said in the
book of Galatians chapter 4 and verse 19, My little children
of whom I prevail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. Paul says in this verse of Scripture
that he prevailed like a woman having a child for these people,
these Galatian people. And he says it will happen until
Christ be formed in you. Now we have long understood the
Word of God to teach that this thing called salvation, this
thing called redemption, is Christ in you. It is Christ in you. In Colossians 1 and 27, Paul
wrote, To whom God would make known what is the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in
you, the hope of glory, whom we preach. So Paul is saying
here that the mystery of the gospel is that salvation is Christ
being formed in a person. That is the Lord Jesus Christ
in you. He is the hope of glory. We have said often in years gone
by that a Christ not in you is a Christ not yours. He is not
yours. You say Christ is my Savior.
Is He in you? Is He in you? Has He been formed
in your heart? Has His very nature been implanted
in your soul? In Galatians 1 and verse 15,
Paul says, But when it pleased God, who separated me from my
mother's womb, and called me by His grace to reveal His Son
in me, that I might preach Him among the heathen. Paul says
in this verse of scripture that God separated him from his mother's
womb, called him by his grace, in order that the Son of God
might be revealed in him, that he might preach him among the
heathen or among the Gentiles, the Son of God being formed in
him. And Colossians 3 and 4 says when
Christ who is our life, shall appear, then shall you also appear
with Him in glory. Christ who is our life. Beloved, salvation, redemption,
reconciliation with God is being joined to a person. Salvation is a person. That person
is our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. And I fear that there
is some in our day who put their religion on. They put their religion
on on Sunday or on special occasions they wear their religion. They can discard their religion
as easily as they put it on because they think that religion is the
outward appearance. They think that it has to do
with the way one comes across to his fellow members of the
human race. It has to do, they think, with
the outward show. But Paul said in Galatians 2.20,
he said, I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, he said,
I live. Yet it is not I at all. that is living, but Christ liveth
in me. Christ liveth in me. Paul said
religion is not a thing you can just put on on Sunday and wear
to church. Religion is not something you
can just put on on a special occasion and go out into the
public and act like you're somebody you're not. Religion is Christ,
true religion, is Christ living in a man. To where it can be
said that yet it is not I at all, but Christ who liveth in
me. And so we see then that the work
of redemption is, and the work of salvation, is you being in
Christ. There's so many, many passages
of scripture that is a blessing to read. I remember in 1 Corinthians
1 and verse 30, where the Apostle Paul said, he said, of God are
ye in Christ Jesus. You're in Christ Jesus who is
made of God unto us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. And then in that glorious first
chapter of the book of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul, and I say it's
a glorious chapter, wonderful chapter because of that which
it reveals. We see where in verse 3 that
we have been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. God's people have been blessed,
and they've been blessed with all spiritual blessings. All
God's blessings for His people are in His Son, Christ Jesus. And if you be in Christ, all
God's spiritual blessings are directed toward you. And then
He goes on to explain further in verse 4, according as He hath
chosen us in Him. in Him. He's chosen us to salvation,
to everlasting life in Him, in Christ. It was in reference to
Christ. Had nothing whatever to do with
us. It was unconditional as far as we were concerned. It had
everything to do with Christ. You see, God planned and purposed
our salvation from eternity past and chose us in reference to
Christ. You see, He could do that. Now
you see he could do that because he could count on his son. He
could depend upon his son. He could depend upon his son
Christ Jesus to fulfill all the demands that he made of men under
the law. He could depend upon him doing
that. He could depend upon him providing a perfect righteousness
on the behalf of his people. He could depend upon the son.
Now he did not choose us. He did not choose us apart from
Christ, because only in Him is there life and salvation, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the
praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved. We're accepted before God. You
say, Preacher, don't you say that too much. Can't say it too
much. You cannot. Because we still
have people that have been under the sound of it, but still never
heard it. Our acceptance is in the Beloved
One, in the Lord Jesus Christ. How else could God accept you?
You're a proud hypocrite if you have the idea that there's some
other grounds upon which a thrice holy God could accept you. You're a proud rebel. If you
think there is, there is no other grounds upon which God Almighty
could accept a sinner like you and I, except on the basis of
accepting us in His beloved Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We're
all sinners. We all have failed. We all have
come short of the glory of God, Romans 3 and 23. We all, judged
by God, there is not a just man on the face of the earth that
doeth good and sinneth not. Not one. All have sinned and
come short of God's glory. And so in the beloved one, We
have redemption, we have salvation, we are saved and are being saved
through the merits of this One that God has accepted in our
place. You see, God has accepted Him
in my place. Hallelujah. You see, God can
do that, you see, because He's perfect. The Lord Jesus Christ
never sinned. No guile found in His mouth.
He was righteous. Perfectly righteous. So God could
accept Him in my stead, and I could be blessed as He ought to be
blessed. And He was treated on Calvary's
cross like this sinner ought to have been treated, and this
sinner ought to have went to hell, and Christ went to hell
on the cross for me. And so we can rejoice this morning
if we're in Christ Jesus. Now we need to understand that
truth. That is the very heart of the
Gospel. And then Paul said further in
the 11th verse, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance,
being predestinated," you're not afraid of that word, are
you? "...predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh
all things after the counsel of his own will, in whom also
we have obtained an inheritance." Now you see, if you're in Christ,
you have you have received God's inheritance, the inheritance
Christ ought to have received. Now there's not a one of you
here this morning that would have the audacity to stand in
the face of God and imply that you deserve to have the same
inheritance as his beloved son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Anybody
here that way? Nobody here would do that. But
isn't it wonderful in whom we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ according to the good pleasure of His will. And it's
glorious that we will be glorified together with Christ and that
we will have in eternity what He deserves to have. Now, I don't see anything offensive
about that gospel, do you? Now, if there's something about
that that is offensive to you, then it would only be because
you're a proud rebel and that you're still alienated from God,
not reconciled to God. Beloved, listen, I believe that
God the Father, God the Holy Father, that He deserves to have
a people just like His Son, to worship Him throughout all eternity. Is that alright with you? God's
gonna have that kind of people. It's the kind of people He's
going to have. Now, in order for us to understand this a little
better, there's about three things that I want to mention to you
in the time that we have, and I'll attempt to be as brief as
I can. But in this work of redemption,
this work of God saving a people, this work of God choosing a people
in His Son, this work of God, this saving and redeeming work,
it must be considered as it truly is an eternal work. It is an eternal work, not only
a work in us, but a work for us. I would invite your attention
to a very familiar passage of scripture found over in the book
of Romans chapter 8. This work must truly be considered
as an eternal work. Notice, if you will, in verse
29. for whom, now you take heed to that word for whom there,
whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn or
the pattern among many brethren, that all others would be just
like him. but in for whom he did foreknow."
Now, here we find ourselves all the way back in eternity before
the world began when only God was. We see ourself projected
back into eternity and God has foreknown a people. Now you see in this that this
whom he foreordained, here he goes on to talk about them. First
of all he says they've been predestinated to be conformed to the image
of his son and moreover whom he did predestinate in verse
30 Them he also called, and whom he called, them he also justified,
and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Now for those
whom he foreordained, they were on this end of the stage. Now
those same people, he says, he also glorified their way out
there on that end of the stage. So you see that it is an eternal
work, an eternal work that the Lord has done.
Now these, this them, them, and whom He justified them, He also
glorified. So you have whom and you have
them. Now, they're the same people,
are they not? But don't you see here that it
has been an eternal work that has gone on here by the Lord. He calls these people, this whom
in the Bible, He calls them His sheep, His elect, His brethren,
His church, spiritual Israel, His people, the whom whom He
foreknow. Now note this as you read verse
30 then, He glorifies these people. And in 2 Peter 3 and 13, I'm
interested in the Lord's glorifying of His people. And in the fact
that He has in His eternal purpose said, them I also glorified,
them He also glorified. I'm interested in this. Because
I'm interested in being of that number that is talked about here
when it says whom and them. I'm interested in being involved
in that. In 2 Peter 3 and 13, Peter said,
nevertheless we according to his promise look for a new heaven
and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. We're going to
be glorified. We have been chosen, ordained
to eternal life, and we will be glorified together with him. Philippians 3 and 20, for our
conversation is in heaven from whence also we look for the Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall change Our vile body, that it
may be fashioned like unto His glorious, His glorious body. So you see, beloved, it is in
our future to be glorified, but God has spoken of it, God has
spoken of it as if it had already come to pass. Psalm 17 and verse
15, As for me, David said, I will behold thy
face in righteousness, I shall be satisfied when I awake with
thy likeness. God's people are going to be
like the Lord Jesus Christ, and they're going to be glorified,
have a glorified body just like He has. In 1 John 3 and 2, we
shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. We're going
to be like the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going to be conformed to
His image during our lifetime, and then we're going to be like
Him when we get to glory, get to heaven. Now in Revelation,
if you would turn to chapter 21, I would like to read a few
verses out of the 21st chapter of the book of Revelation. I'm
saying that this work of salvation, redemption, is an eternal work. God had it all in view from eternity
past when only He was until the very end, until all of that mass
that He's redeemed are all gathered together in glory and are assembled
around the throne of God. Now then, starting with verse
1 of chapter 21, let's read down through verse 5. And I saw a
new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first
earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John,
saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride, adorned for a husband. And I heard a
great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God
is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be
his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God.
This is when we're in a glorified state. And God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death,
neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain,
for the former things are all passed away. God's people are
there with Him and they're shut in with Him for all eternity
in a glorified state. And He that sat upon the throne
said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said to me, Write,
for these words are true and faithful. And so we see then
that if you take the Whom, Back in Romans 8, verse 29, and then
verse 30, and think, if you will, of the decades, and the centuries,
and the millenniums that took place between those two words. Him foreknowing a people, and
Him glorifying those people. You can see how that, it is an
eternal, it is an eternal work. whom and them, those he loved
in Christ, those he chose in Christ, those he gave to Christ,
those who he foreordained to be like Christ, he glorified. He glorified them. So long before
time began, God, in an eternal counsel, purposed to have a people,
and these people like the pattern, the Lord Jesus Christ. So it
is an eternal covenant. His Lamb, the Bible speaks of
the Lamb of God and how that He was slain in the mind and
the heart of God before the foundation of the world. And then in Revelation
5 and verse 6, as the unfolding of the of the scene there in
heaven, John saw in the midst of the elders there stood a lamb
as it had been slain. You see the same thing here.
That is Christ was the lamb slain in the mind of God before the
foundation of the world. And then John in the end time
In the end time, in the time when all things are coming to
its conclusion, he sees this lamb as it stands in the midst
of the throne as it had been slain. Same lamb. And you think
of the eternal aspects of this. Think of the many things that
have transpired between the Lamb chosen in eternity past and the
Lamb exalted in eternity to come. The eternal work of God. Now this is very important for
us to see. All that took place in the millenniums
between the two, God had it all purposed and yet he speaks of
it as being something that in the scriptures as if it was just
one right after the other. And so it's an eternal work that
God has done. Acts 15 and 18 says, known unto
God are all His works from the beginning of the world. God knows
all that He purposes and plans to do. And it's all known to
Him from the beginning of the world. So this work of salvation
is, as I see it, an eternal work. Christ is the author, not only
is the author, but he's also the finisher of the faith. Salvation is of God from its
origination to its completion. It is all of God. Now beloved, this whom and them,
as I said earlier, I want to be among these at the feet of
Christ in that day. I want to be among these. Now,
as one old prophet of God said, there's plenty of room in heaven,
but there won't be any vacancies. There won't be any vacancies.
Plenty of room in heaven, come on in. But there won't be any
vacancies when all of the Lord's people are assembled home in
heaven. But I sure would like to be there.
And I believe by the grace of God, because of Christ Jesus,
and because of my being in Him, accepted in Him, and having the
same inheritance that He will have in eternity, I believe,
by the grace of God, I will be there. Now the second thing I
want to talk a little bit about that I understand this also and
that is that the work of God in the saving of his people is
a lifetime work. It is a lifetime work as far
as the elect are concerned. Now, you just follow with me
a little bit here, and I believe you will agree with what I'm
saying. This is no new doctrine. This is very plainly taught in
the Word of God. I understand that this work of
God in the saving of His people is a lifetime work. God intends
for us to be conformed to the image of His Son. It is God that
worketh in you both the will and to do of His good pleasure. To those who are being saved,
Christ is the power and the wisdom of God. And so we believe what
the Word of God says. This work is a lifetime work. It will take as long as we live
for God to save us Completely. Brother Glenn came in this morning
and said that he was going to be, how did you say it? He said he was going to be perfect
someday or something like that, and we agreed that someday he
would be, but God's still working on him. God is still working
on them. God's still working on all of
us. If we're His children, He's working
on us. And we're confident of this very
thing that He that begun a good work in us will perform it until
when? Until the day of Jesus Christ. God is working on His people. And He will continue to work
on His people. Now then, Paul said, Now is our
salvation nearer than when we first believed? In Romans 13
and verse 11. And in Jeremiah 1 and 5, we see
where that God began with Jeremiah before he was conceived in the
womb. I invite you to turn back with
me to Jeremiah chapter 1. And we see that God begins with
the elect. He begins with the elect before
they're ever born. He knows them before they come
into this world. He wrote their names down in
the Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world.
You say, well, I don't know whether He knows them or not. He knows
them. He knows them. I'm telling you the truth. God
knows His people. And here in Jeremiah 1 and 5,
He says, Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. Before
that seed was put and planted in your mother's womb, I knew
thee. I knew you. And before you came
out of the womb, I'd already set you apart. and ordained you
to be a prophet unto the nations. I'd already done that. Now you
see then that God started with Jeremiah before he was formed
in the belly. And God said, I know you. I know
you. And then, of course, if you turn
over in the Word of God to the book of Romans chapter 9, you
see the same thing again. Let me make this statement to
you this morning. If you're one of them, one of
those whom has been foreordained, them who is in the mind of God
glorified, then God is knowing you from your mother's womb.
God is knowing you. The Bible says that John the
Baptist said he was filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's
womb. I believe that all infants who
die in infancy go to heaven. I believe every one of them,
I believe every one of them are regenerated at the time of their
death and are taken into glory. I just believe that. That's what
I believe about babies dying. Now God will do right about babies,
but that's what I believe about. But I want you to know that Jeremiah
was one knowing of God, and John the Baptist was one knowing of
God, filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb. And so
God is knowing you, He did all of his knowing at one time. And
that was before the foundation of the world. Now everyone coming
into this world, hear me out carefully, has the hand of God
on them for mercy or for wrath. Everyone coming into this world
has the hand of God upon them from the womb for mercy or for
wrath. Now let me show you that here
in the ninth chapter of the book of Romans. Here in the ninth
chapter of the book of Romans, In verse 10, And not only this,
but when Rebekah also had conceived, but one even by her father Isaac,
for the children being not yet born, neither having done any
good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election
might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth, it was said
unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. God, how do you
know that? I know that because I know all
things, and I know that because I'm going to set the circumstances.
I'll be the one that triggers all the events that take place
in these boys' lives. I know, I know Jacob, and Esau
and Jacob have done no good or evil, but I, God says, have a
purpose. Now, beloved, we must ever bow
our knee to the fact that God, the holy God of heaven, has a
right to have a purpose of His own. Now, is not it better that
God have a purpose, this holy and just one, this one who is
too wise to err and too holy not to do right? Isn't it right
and proper that He have a purpose? Oh, you say, well, I think he
should give consideration. Well, there again, that's rebellion
against the God of the Bible when you suggest that you know
better or somebody else knows better. And whenever you hear
somebody like Mitch mentioned a while ago saying, it's not
fair. My friend, you're talking to
a irreligious, you're talking to a rebel against God, you're
talking to an unconverted soul. When you hear it come out of
their mouth, it's not fair when it comes to God. God Almighty
is thrice holy. We shall not contend with God. Shall the wax contend with the
fire? My friend, we shall not contend
with God. God has a right to do what He
will with His own. He's a sovereign God and He will
do what is right. And we must believe that. Sanctify
the Lord. May this be a place hallowed
ground here where God, hallowed ground in this place where God
is always sanctified. God is always set apart. People
come through that door are people who say God is right regardless
of what happens to me and mine. God is right and I'm going to
accept that. I'm going to believe it and I
will not allow myself to ever entertain the idea that God can
be wrong about anything. He is not wrong. He never will
be. You say, well, I don't see it
that way. Well, you may not see it that way, and it may not even
look that way from where you're at, and I would agree with you.
It may not look that way, but you see, God started this thing
long before any of us showed up, before we got on the scene. And he knows a man from the womb. And he says, Jacob, he said,
the elder here is going to serve the younger. And in your eye
and other people's eyes, in the eyes of the Jewish fathers, it
should have been the other way around. But God said it ain't
going to be that way. It's going to be this way. Because
my purpose is going to stand. It's going to stand. And I will
do all my pleasure and it will stand. As it is written, Jacob
have I loved, I loved him from the womb, but Esau have I hated. Esau have I passed by. I passed
him by for reasons known to myself. And God's got a right to have
them reasons, friend. And you need to bow to that.
God has His right to have His reasons. Praise His name. So
we say it again, that everyone coming into this world From their
mother's womb, they have the hand of God upon them. The hand
of God for mercy and grace and salvation and everlasting life. Or the hand of God for wrath
and judgment. This is true. This is what the
Word of God teaches. Now beloved, do you believe that
God knew Saul of Tarsus before he was born into this world?
I believe that God knew him. He knew him before he was ever
converted on the road to Damascus. You say, well his life was a
mess. Oh yes, but he was religious,
he was very religious, and he was a blasphemer, and he was
a persecutor of the Lord's church, but God knew him. He knew him
when he came out. Paul said in Galatians 1 and
15, I read it to you a while ago, that it was God who separated
him from his mother's womb. God did this, Paul said. He separated
me from my mother's womb. He was right there in the room
when I was born. He was there because I was one
of his chosen servants, one of those chosen sons of God. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ is
a revealing Christ. He reveals himself. He's not
trying to hide from anybody. He reveals himself. And the Lord
Jesus Christ will be revealed to the heart of those who had
the hand of God upon them when they came into this world for
mercy and grace be revealed to them in His good time. You say,
can you tell me when that'll be? No, but I'll say in His good
time. In His good time. They'll be
revealed to Him. Now, for an example of that,
I want you to turn back with me to the book of Luke, chapter
2. The book of Luke, chapter 2.
Let me read you a short story here, and you'll see exactly
what I'm talking about. Now, as the Lord knew Saul of
Tarsus, here we see there was a man by the name of Simeon.
Verse 25 of Luke 2, And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem,
whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and
devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel. And the Holy Ghost
was upon him. And it was revealed unto him
by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen
the Lord's Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to
do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up
in his arms, and blessed God, and said, Lord, now let us bow
thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have
seen thy salvation. Mine eyes have seen thy salvation.
Now, beloved, I assert to you that, and declare to you, make
bold to say that what happened here to Simeon will happen sometime
or other between the cradle and the grave to everyone whom God
has laid hold of in old eternity, those whom ye foreknow. and God
will lay hold on them in time. Christ will be revealed to them. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
said this in John 6 and 40, he said the same thing. He said
that this is the will of Him that sent me that everyone which
seeth the Son may have everlasting life. Now what was he saying?
Was he saying that only those who were living at that time,
who looked upon the Son prior to His crucifixion and His ascension
back to glory, that they would have everlasting life? No, no,
no. That's not what he's saying. He's saying that all of those
that have been called to the Father, chosen to the Father
according to His will, that they will see the Son and will have
everlasting life. Now, this is what the Lord Jesus
Christ says. They will see Christ in His power.
They'll see Him in His wisdom, they'll see Him in His redemptive
glory, they'll see His saving work on their behalf. It'll be
revealed to them through the preaching of the Word of God,
and they will hear the glorious message of the redeeming work
of our Lord Jesus Christ, and suddenly, it's revealed to them.
Suddenly, it's made known to them, and they know that Christ
as their Christ, and they died in their room instead in place.
You may be 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, who knows when this occurs, but
sometime or other, if you're one of the whom He foreknew,
then you will be one of them whom He calls and them that He
justifies, and them that He glorifies. It will happen, my friend. I
don't know how long it will take, but it will happen. And then
again, too, I want you to know this, that you will be kept.
You will be kept as a child of God. Here you come out of your
mother's womb. The hand of God is on you for grace and mercy.
Hallelujah. You will be kept until that time
of your regeneration. And that regeneration is in the
hands of God. You will be kept. You will be
kept. God will keep you. He will. He
will keep you. And then after you experience
this revelation, of the Lord Jesus Christ, you will yet be
kept, as the songwriter said, until the river rolls its water
at your feet. He shall bear you safely over
until the Lord Jesus you meet. And so, my friend, you will be
kept. Now you say, well, but what happens
if we fall away? Well, you're not going to fall
away. You say, well, you may fall away for a while. Well,
you may fall away for a while. You're not going to fall away
permanently. The Word of God is full of stories about the
people of God and how that they have slipped. And the Bible talks
about them falling seven times and the Lord lifting them up.
And you read in the Scriptures about David and his fall, and
about Peter and his fall, and it's clearly taught in the Word
of God that God's people are God's people, and there isn't
anything going to change that. They're the Lord's people. Nothing. They've been given eternal life.
None shall pluck them out of His hand. They have eternal life. They shall be kept, as we said,
until the river rolls its water at our feet. And in Jeremiah
chapter 32, these are great verses. In verse 38, And they shall be
my people, and I will be their God. They shall be my people,
and I will be their God, and I'll give them one heart. I'm
going to give them a heart, God says, in one way, that they may
fear me forever for the good of them and for their children
after them. and I will make an everlasting covenant with them
that I will not turn away from them to do them good. God said
it's an everlasting covenant. It's settled with my people.
I will not turn away from them to do them good. I'm going to
do them good all of their lives from the cradle to the grave.
I will do them good and in eternity I will still be doing them good. I will make an everlasting covenant
with them to do them good, but I will put my fear in their hearts
that they shall not depart from me. I'm not going to depart from
them, and my fear will be in their hearts that they shall
not depart from me. Yea, I will rejoice over them
to do them good. I will do them good. I'll rejoice
over them. Now you see, God said this. He
didn't have to say this. He did say it. And I'm telling
you that there is such a thing before a person receives the
grace of God experientially into the heart. That is, That is prevenient
grace that God does keep. And I've heard testimonies from
many of this grace. For some reason, they didn't
perish in an automobile accident. For some reason, they came back
off of the battlefield. For some reason, this happened
and that happened. But they were spared until the
regenerating power of God came upon them. And so God's people
will be kept. And I'm confident again, in Philippians
1, 6, of this very thing, that he that hath begun this work
will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. I believe that
God's people must persevere. Must persevere. And they will
persevere. They will persevere. God has
put His fear in their hearts. Now, you know, every once in
a while you have an influx of people. They come into the church
and after a little while, they endure for a little while and
then most of them leave. And you say, what's happened?
Well, you see, what's happened whenever this occurs is the fact
that some stay. And those that are being saved,
they normally are the ones that stay. I'm not saying that God
didn't lead his people out of one church into other churches.
I'm not saying that. And I will not say that, because
God can do what He pleases about that. That's His business. And
they're His children, He can do what He wants. He can plant
them wherever He wants to plant them. But I'm saying that oftentimes
there are those who do leave out of the building, but there
are others that stay. that stay because God is saving
those people. Now if you get somebody that
goes off and stays off and will not come in and come back into
the way, then it is evident that God never had his hand on them.
But if God says you're my child, ain't nothing gonna change that.
You can change your name if you want to, and you can change your
address, you can change anything else about yourself you want
to, but that ain't gonna change the fact that you're His child. You're His child, and you will
be forever. And that ain't gonna change.
Thanks be unto God. I kinda feel a little bit sometimes
like I'm preaching up against something here this morning.
But I hope not. I hope not. Well, so if God put
you in the way, then you will never leave the path. We cannot
cease to be his children. It is an eternal work. It is
a lifetime work. But then there is indeed a day
of divine visitation. And these verses that I read,
or that I read to you, that Randy read, to you earlier out of the
book of Isaiah. If you want to turn back there
just quickly, I'm going to let you go just a little bit here.
But the book of Isaiah, chapter 12, and I mentioned earlier that
this was one of the key phrases of Isaiah. One of the key phrases
of Isaiah. There is a day of salvation. A day, a definite day. Now I
do not ask, I do not think that you should be looking back for
a day in your life when you actually experience the Lord's salvation. I don't think you ought to do
that, because you get to trusting in a day instead of Christ if
you do. Most of God's people, the revelation
comes, you know, like the sun coming up on a foggy morning,
burning the fog off. The revelation comes in that
way. And God is not, He is not, you know, subject to 24-hour
days like we are. But in that day, in the day when
the Lord chooses, in the day when the Lord pleases, there
is a day of salvation. Paul talked about that in 2 Corinthians
6 and 2. He said, I've succored thee.
And he said, in the day of salvation. And this is the day in which
God is revealing Himself unto His people. We're living in a
time when God is yet calling out and yet saving a people. A time when a sovereign Redeemer
is confronting and meeting sinners in the way. Those sinners that
He chose in eternity past, they will come to know the Lord. And
so here in Isaiah chapter 12, In that day thou shalt say, O
Lord, I praise Thee, though Thou wast angry with me, Thine anger
is turned away. and thou comfortest me. This
is talking about the salvation, the day when a person receives
that glorious salvation that has been purchased, paid for,
planned by the Lord Jesus Christ, which has been prophesied in
chapter 11. This Lord Jesus Christ said,
we will praise Thee. That's the church speaking up.
I will praise Thee. Though Thou wast angry with me.
God's people feel that God was angry with them before they were
reconciled to Him experientially. They feel that. But now that
which we felt was against us has been turned away. And you
have comforted Me. You've comforted me. And hallelujah. Isn't it wonderful when God comforts
His people and brings them out? Glorious, glorious salvation. Now, I want to say this. We don't have a Savior who is
unrevealed. He is a revealed Savior. We know this Savior. And I talked
to you earlier about the fact that He is pleased to reveal
Himself. And we don't have a Savior who
we do not know. We know this Savior. We know
this Redeemer. And we do not have a husband
we do not know. The church does not have a bridegroom
that they do not know. He is revealed. unto them. And they know this one. There's been this day of the
Lord wherein He has been revealed. Now the woman at the well, you
remember the woman, the story of the woman at the well, at
Syker's well? And you remember that Her life had been a mess. Oh, how messed up her life had
been. And been married time after time,
and was living then with a man who was not her husband. And
you remember that the Lord Jesus Christ revealed Himself to her.
And you see, this is a picture of what we've been talking about
this morning. That God's people, and we know that this woman was
purposely saved by the Lord, no accident, because Jesus had
said prior, I must go through Samaria, have to do it. I must. Why? Because there's people there. My people are there. And so I
must save this woman. And so He had foreknown her. And so in time, there was a day
when she had Christ revealed. He that speaketh... Oh, when
the Messiah comes, He'll tell us all things. I that speak unto
thee am He. I am he. And so he revealed himself
to her and she believed on him. And then you remember Jacob,
how he went out and wrestled with the Lord all night. Jacob
was a contriving deceiver and yet there came a time when God,
there was a day when the Lord revealed himself to old Jacob
and Jacob was never the same after that. He lived after that.
Not only that, but that's where God changed his name to Israel. And he was never the same after
that. Just like the woman at the well
was never the same after this day. This day when the Lord was,
his anger is turned away and they're comforted and they say,
Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid.
They're trusting in the Lord from that day. And you remember
Moses. Moses was about 80 years old. But you know how the hand
of God was on him. From the bill rushes, you remember?
How he was a comely child and the decree went out to kill all
these male children. But yet here he was floating
in a basket. and taken into the house of Pharaoh's daughter,
preserved all those years. There he made an attempt to deliver
the people of God and killed one of the Egyptians and buried
him in the sand. This was before Moses really
had come experientially to really know God. But when he was 80
years old, I believe, at the burning bush is when God revealed
himself as the great I Am unto Moses. And this is a very picture
of what we've been talking about this morning. But there comes
a day of divine visitation. A day when God will visit a man's
soul if he's purposed to save him. Now, in several places this
And in that day shalt thou say, O Lord, in that day is found,
and in Isaiah 11 and 10, I'm not going to have you turn there,
Isaiah 2 verse 11 and verse 17, and then Isaiah 25, 9, Isaiah
26, 6, and then of course here in Isaiah 12, in that day, in
that day. And like I say, don't go looking
back for a day. Just believe that there was a
day when God confronted your soul, if you're a believer. Because
you see, beloved, we're saved in the context of the faith we
got right now. Not in the context of the faith
we had 10 years ago, or in the context of the faith we had 20,
40, 50 years ago. In the context of the faith right
now that we've got in the shed blood of our Redeemer, in His
preciousness, in His ability to save. And we're believing
on Him right now. We're trusting Him now. Today! It's not that I trusted Him 30
years ago. Well, praise God, I did trust
Him over 50 years ago, but I'm not looking back to that, I'm
looking at right now. Oh John, do you believe today
that Jesus Christ shed His blood, died in your room and stood in
place, and do you believe that God has accepted you in Him today? Do you believe that? Hallelujah,
I believe it today. that God has accepted me in the
Beloved One. Therefore, He says, for the Lord
Jehovah is my strength and my song, and He also has become
my salvation. Therefore, with joy shall you
draw water out of the wells of salvation, out of the fountain
of salvation, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. And in that day,
there it is again, shall you say, Praise the Lord. Call upon
His name. Declare His doings. The Bible
says, Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. And in that day shall you say, Praise the Lord. And
he said, Call upon the name of the Lord. Call upon His name.
Declare His doings among the people. And that's what happens
in a testimony meeting. When somebody truly knows what
God's done for them, and they stand up and say, I want to tell
you what the Lord's done for me. Well, make mention also,
he says, that his name is exalted. Well, God has given him a name
which is above every name. And that name is a high name.
It's an exalted name. It's that name which is above
every, as we said, every name. Sing unto the Lord. And God's
people have a song in their hearts. that they sing unto the Lord.
Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs making melody unto the
Lord. They have a song in their hearts. God gives it to them. And why? For He hath done excellent things. Would there be anybody here that
would look over, survey what things the Lord has done and
come up with any other conclusion than that He hath done excellent
things? Well, beloved, when it comes
to me and God allowing me to be involved in His redemptive
purpose, well, from my standpoint, that's an excellent thing. Praise
His dear name. I glory in the God of my salvation. And He says this is known in
all the earth, these excellent things. How is it known in all
the earth? By the church going into all
the world and preaching the gospel to every creature. That's how
it's known. That's how it's known in all
the earth by the word of the Lord going out being published.
Now cry out and shout thou inhabit of Zion. All the children of
God are inhabitants, spiritual inhabitants of Zion. For great
is the Holy One of Israel, who is Christ, who is in the midst
of thee. Did He not say, where two or
three of you are gathered together, there am I in the midst. I'm
in the midst of the brethren. I will sing in the midst of the
brethren. God is in the midst of His people, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And so, beloved, look to that
day that the Lord has given you. Whether you can pin it down and
say it was on February the 8th or 9th of such-and-such a year? No, no. Some people can do that,
and I'll have any problem with it if they can. But don't trust
the day. Trust the God who saved you in
that day. Trust His power and His grace. Well, these were the things that
were upon my heart this morning, and I hope that they were not
so scattered, the remarks were not so scattered, that it's kind
of feeling my age this morning, I guess, but Nevertheless, I hope that these
things were clear enough to where you could grasp them and get
a blessing out of focusing on these things. Our salvation is
in the hands of the Lord. And that's whose hands? I'm glad
it's in His hands, aren't you? Aren't you? Father, we thank
You for Your Word. We thank you for this privilege
of preaching this morning, and we ask that you'll own this message
and bless thy people as they meditate upon this, maybe coming
from a little different angle, but Lord, might they be blessed
and encouraged and strengthened by what they've heard. And we
do pray that there be one here who has just received, maybe
today, a revelation of the fact that God's hand is upon them
for mercy and grace. Might they rejoice? And as they
are comforted, might they be willing to confess? Oh, that
their faith would be one that would confess. The scripture
says, he that believeth and is baptized, he that believeth with
a faith that will confess itself shall be saved. And I pray, Father,
that if there be one here whom you've done this great and excellent
work, they would not hold back. but tell about the great work
of God, the excellent things the Lord's done for them in their
life. We ask it in Jesus' name, and
for His sake, Amen.