He caused us to love Him. Now,
returning to Isaiah 2. Isaiah chapter 2. Isaiah chapter 2. Notice for
just a moment here by way of introduction, in the last part
of verse 2 of Isaiah 2, talking about the church of the Lord
Jesus being established, the top of the mountains and shall
be exalted above the hills the Lord will be exalted again notice
in verse 11 Isaiah 2 verse 11 and the Lord alone the Lord alone
shall be exalted in that day now that's a familiar phrase all the way through
the book of Isaiah, in that day. Again, notice if you will, verse
17, the last part. And the Lord alone, the loftiness
of man shall be bowed down, the haughtiness of man shall be made
low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. Well, guess what the title of
this message is? The Lord shall be exalted alone
in that day. Now isn't this the bottom line
in all that our great and glorious God does for us in the way of
salvation? and in the way of providence.
His glory alone is all that is important and relative in the
matter of God saving sinners. His glory alone. God forbid, the Apostle said,
that we should glory save in the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. He that glorieth let him glory
only in the Lord. Now isn't that our desire? That
Christ alone shall be exalted in all things, in salvation and
in providence. Jonathan Edwards, the old preacher
that lived in this country back in the 1700s. One time he was
the president of Princeton University, a place at one time where they
taught and preached the gospel. But he wrote a book years ago
called The History of Redemption. And the theme of that book was
this, the grand design of redemption is one thing, and that's the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will, each of us here, we
will be found in Christ through the praise of the glory of His
grace, It says that three times in Ephesians 1, doesn't it? He
chose us, He redeemed us, made us new creatures to the praise
of the glory of His grace. We will be found in Christ to
the praise of the glory of His grace or we will be condemned
without Christ to the praise of the glory of His justice.
But all things will serve His purpose. His glory, for the Lord
alone shall be exalted in that day." In that day of salvation? Or in that day of eternal condemnation? He must have all the glory. Is that so? That's so. Every believer, like Abraham
of old, does not stagger or stumble at the promises of God through
unbelief, but like Abraham, are strong in faith, giving glory
to God, being fully persuaded that all that God has promised,
God is able to perform. Now, in chapter 2 of Isaiah,
we have here a prophecy of the gospel age in which we live.
We see the blessing and benefit of the gospel church being established
through the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, in that day I will establish
My house. The church in verse 2 here is
called the Lord's house. And in verse 3, the house of
the God of Jacob. And then He calls the church
of the firstborn Zion. God said, I'll set My Holy King,
I'll set My King upon My holy hill of Zion. His house. Psalm 26, recently we studied
that psalm, and you who were there, remember the scripture
in Psalm 26 verse 8, where it says, Lord, I have loved the
habitation of thy house. It's the place where your honor
dwells. In the house of God, where the
assembly of believers meet together, is the place where His honor
dwells, where His gospel is preached, where His glory is seen. The
preaching of the gospel. Notice, if you will, Isaiah 2,
verse 2, and it shall come to pass, It shall come to pass in
the last days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be
established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted
above the hills, and all people shall flow unto it." In the gospel
day, this day. in the last days, this day. And upon the establishment of
the gospel church, salvation in Christ, it says here in the
last part of verse 2, that many shall flow unto it. God has an elect from all nations. You remember in Isaiah 43, He
said, Call My people from the east, from the west, from the
north, from the south, everyone that is called by My name, for
I have created him for My glory. They shall flow unto His house
where His gospel is preached, where Christ is made known through
the preaching of the gospel. You see, He has an elect from
all nations. He has an elect from all nations
out of every kindred, tribe, people, and nation under heaven.
He has a people redeemed by the blood of Christ. And He says,
all that the Father has given to me, they shall come to me. And I will in no wise cast them
out. Now it says that they shall flow
unto it, not naturally, but supernaturally by the power of God. Naturally,
we love darkness, not light. Naturally, we are at enmity with
God, not in fellowship. Naturally, we are like free-running
water. Tell me, which way does free-running
water go? Downhill. Man's will is never
Godward and upward. Man's will is always selfward
and downward like free-running water. It always seeks its lowest
course. is only by the grace of God that
we flow unto Christ, who is salvation. Look at verse 3. Many people
shall go and say, Come ye, let us go up to the mountain of the
Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His
ways. We will walk in His paths. For
out of Zion shall go the gospel. The Word of the Lord. Those who
have heard of God, those who have been taught of God are eager
to tell others about the Lord and His Gospel. Preaching is
simply one beggar telling another beggar where bread is found. You remember when the Lord Jesus
Christ crossed the path of that wild man in the tombs that no
one could tame? He was a fierce, wild, Renegade,
and no one could tame him until the Master walked on the scene. And after the Lord healed him,
saved him, and justified him, converted sinner, wanted to follow
the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember what the instruction
was to him? He said, go home and tell your
family how great things the Lord had done for thee, and how the
Lord had compassion on thee. And he went home and began to
publish all that the Lord had done. You see, it's one beggar
telling another beggar how he was healed, where bread is found,
where salvation is found. And then it says in Isaiah 2
verse 4, out of Zion shall go his word, out of Zion shall go
the law. Now look at this, and he shall
judge among the nations half with his gospel. He shall rebuke
among many people half with his gospel. And they shall beat their
swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, and
nations, or people, Among nations or races of people shall not
lift up their sword against nation, neither shall they learn war."
War! No more. He shall make wars to
cease, it says in Psalm 46.9. Now, this is an amazing thing.
Where have you heard that Scripture read before? Where have you seen
that Scripture placed before? You know, this Scripture right
here, you all heard of the United Nations in New York City, that
body of people that come together. In the front of that building,
in the United Nations Plaza, this Scripture is written in
Isaiah 2 verse 4, "...they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks. They have the vain delusion
that they are going to usher in and bring in world peace. That's pure fantasy. There will
be no peace among men until the Prince of Peace appears a second
time and destroys this world as we know it and creates a new
heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Now Peter
quotes that from Isaiah 65 17 and 2 Peter 3 13 but it comes
from Isaiah 65. This here is not talking about
some future state of things designed and created by man for the glory
of man. It's talking here what happens
in the believer by God's sovereign grace in his heart and salvation
right now. The war is over when He invades
our territory. when He invades our heart by
His power and by His grace. You see, by nature, the carnal
mind is at war with God. And when He invades our heart,
we lay down our shotgun, we put up the sword, and we bow unto
His sovereign claims. We are reconciled to God in Christ
Jesus. That's what that verse is talking
about here. He's talking about that enmity being slain by His
grace. Being justified by faith we have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel of Christ
makes men peaceable. The love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts. And it causes us to love Him
and to love one another and to forgive one another. But this
is not talking about That some vain thinker might say, well,
we're going to just teach everybody to get along. That's not going
to happen. Our Lord said, until He comes,
there'll be wars and rumors of wars until the Prince of Peace
comes and puts an end to this world. Look at verse 5 now. Isaiah 2, verse 5. Oh, how some
Jacob! Aren't you glad He's the God
of Jacob? Jacob have I loved. Esau, have
I hated? Oh, house of Jacob, come ye! Come right now. Come ye. Let us walk in the light of the
Lord. He's caused the light of God's
truth to shine in our heart. Let me read this to you over
here. And if you'd like to turn, you can. 1 John chapter 1. If you don't want to turn, just
sit and listen to it. He says, let us walk in the light
of the Lord, 1 John chapter 1. It says in verse 6, if we say that we have fellowship
with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and we do not know the
truth. But if we walk in the light as
He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood
of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. God, help me
to walk in that light. The light of salvation accomplished
in Christ Jesus. Since He has redeemed us by His
grace, let us walk in the light of that grace. And He'll give
us more light. Now, I want to consider, that's
a little bit of a lengthy introduction, isn't it? Fourteen minutes. I intended to do that introduction
in ten minutes. So somehow, I've got to cut out
four minutes somewhere. I want to consider for a moment
this statement here that's found in verse 2, verse 11, and verse
17. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day. And I want to do it under two
headings. First of all, in a general and a broad way, and a very universal
way. In all things, the Lord alone
shall be exalted. And then secondly, I want to
consider this statement in a very personal way. in your own heart
and in mine. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day. Okay, here's the first one. In
a general, in a broad, in a very universal way. The Lord alone... I want this to... Take this home with you. I want
you to think about this all week long or the rest of your life. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day. In that day. Now, let's look
at six things. In the day of creation. In the
day of creation when God spoke all things into existence by
the Word of His power. He created all things by the
Word of His power. He upholds all things by the
Word of His power. God Almighty created all things
by Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. In the day of creation.
The Lord alone shall be exalted. It says in Colossians 117, He
must have the preeminence. He must have the glory. For in
Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day of creation. That's so is it. Secondly, in
the day of His sovereign providence, when God has decreed what God
has decreed in eternity, He will sovereignly bring to pass in
time. For known unto God are all His
works from the beginning. Whatsoever the Lord pleased,
that's what He did. And heaven, earth, seas, and
all deep places. In providence the Lord alone
shall be exalted in that day. For He does work all things after
the counsel of His own will. For of Him, and through Him,
and to Him, are all things, to whom be glory, both now and forever. And then the text of Scripture
says, that's Romans 11, 36, and it ends with this word, Amen. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day of creation, in His sovereign working out of His
decrees, providence, God works all things out to the counsel
of His own will, Thirdly, in the day of salvation. For salvation
is of the Lord. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day. In the day of salvation's planning,
the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For He is the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. The Lord alone shall
be exalted not only in the planning of salvation, but how about in
the execution of salvation? Who gets the glory in this? The
Lord alone shall be exalted in accomplishing and in the execution
of our salvation. In the accomplishment of it.
He said it is finished. It pleased the Lord to bruise
Him in our room and in our stead, being made sin for us as the
Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all. The Lord alone gets
the glory for salvation, doesn't He? He will be exalted in that
day, not only of its planning, its execution, but also in the
day of its application. Being confident of this very
thing that God, who has begun a good work in you, He will finish
it. Praise and glory. The Lord alone
shall be exalted in that day. Not only in that day of planning
and execution, application, but in that day of sustaining power,
we're kept by the power of God. And in its ultimate perfection,
predestinated to be conformed to the image of the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see, God is so designed and
fixed thing that in that day, the Lord alone shall be exalted. Fourthly, in the day of worship.
In the day of worship, why are we here today? To worship the
true and living God. In the day of worship, it says,
the Father seeketh such to worship Him in spirit and in truth. In
the day of worship, the Lord alone is to be exalted. We come together today to worship
Him, to exalt Him, to extol Him, to praise Him, to preach His
gospel, not to recognize and honor men. Did you ever notice
that we never have Mother's Day recognition? The oldest mother,
the youngest mother, the mother with the most children. We're
not here to honor women. We never have Father's Day here,
do we? We're not here to honor the oldest
dad, the youngest dad. We're not here. But for one purpose,
and it's to worship God. We're not here to recognize and
honor men, Mother's Day, Father's Day, or our nation's Independence
Day. We're not here for that purpose
either, are we? I would almost say that that's what's going
on in most religious circles today, being the 4th of July. But we're not here today to honor
our nation. who are here to worship God. In that day of worship, He alone
shall be exalted. In the day of judgment, look
over here in Isaiah 5 verse 16. In the day of judgment, who alone
will be exalted in that day of judgment? Isaiah 5, look at verse
16. But the Lord of hosts shall be
exalted in judgment. And God that is holy shall be
sanctified in righteousness." Who's going to get the glory
in the day of judgment? Christ alone. John 5.22, "...declared
the Father judgeth no man, but committeth all judgment unto
the Son, that all men should honor the Son, even as they honor
the Father. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day." You see what I'm saying? at Acts 17, verse 31, because
He hath appointed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness
by that man. All judgment is relative to the
Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, that I might win Christ and
be found in Him, in Christ. In that day of judgment, Christ
alone will have all the honor and glory. And in the day of
His second coming, the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.
Revelation 1, 7 declared, Behold, He cometh with clouds, and every
eye shall see Him, and they also who have pierced Him, and all
kindred of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, come
quickly, Lord Jesus Christ. In that day of His second coming,
the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. That's point number one in a
general, in a broad way. You could expand that and take
it as far as you can go with it. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day of His incarnation, in that day of His resurrection
glory, in that day of His ascension and enthronement, and in the
day when He comes again. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day. Now, secondly is this. I want
to consider this statement in a most personal way, in our own experience of salvation. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day. In that day. Now, a couple of things here.
In the day of conviction, in the day of conviction of sin,
when God is pleased by His sovereign power and grace and by the power
of God the Holy Spirit to reveal unto our heart what we are in
His sight. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day. What a blessed day this is when
God Almighty is pleased to strip us down as the old country boy
said, let's just shut right down to the cob. what we are before
God. We are S-I-N. Through and through. There is
none good, no not one. What a blessed day when God is
pleased to strip us down and put us in the dust as wretched
sinners before God. In that day, He says, every lofty
look of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of man, verse
11, shall be bowed down. Down, sinner, down! I can't convict of sin. He can. And he does. And the day when
the Lord teaches us what we are before His holy presence, that
all of our supposed goodness, that all of our supposed righteousnesses
are as filthy rags in His sight, the Lord alone shall be exalted
in the beauty of His holiness. The Lord alone shall be exalted
when we are taught that everything we've ever produced is nothing
but sin. Everything I think, say, touch,
and do is tainted with the virus of what I am. It takes the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ to cleanse us from all sin. All have sinned and come short
of the glory alone in that day of conviction. And it's not something
that happens one time. This is the life of a believer
for we are continually being convicted and shown what we are
before God. being continually stripped and
humbled and bowed down in His presence, the Lord alone shall
be exalted in that day. In that day. Secondly, not only
in the day of conviction, but in the day of revelation and
the day of God's redemptive grace in our heart through Christ Jesus. when the Lord is pleased in His
sovereign mercy to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ unto us. When He is pleased to hide these
things from the wise and prudent and reveal them unto babes in
that day of revelation, the Lord alone shall be exalted in that
day when we see Him as altogether lovely. In that day of revelation,
the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day when we are made
to know, when the Lord gives us understanding of His glorious
person as God our Savior, that all of our salvation is in Christ
and accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ, that He alone is
all salvation. The Son of God is come. And He's
given us an understanding that we might know Him that is true.
And that we're in Him that is true. This is the true God. And
this is eternal life. Little children, keep yourself
from idols. The Apostle John. 1 John 5.20
When we are made to know, when we are taught, not only the glorious
person of the Lord Jesus Christ, He's God our Savior. The Lord
alone shall be exalted in that day. when we are made to know
by His sovereign grace, when we are taught of God how sin
indeed is put away, how righteousness is established, the Lord alone
shall be exalted in that day. How is sin put away? You know,
it's difficult to put away sin. The blood of bulls and goats
have flowed on Jewish altars for thousands and thousands of
years. did not and cannot put away sin. All my repentance, all my goodness,
all my tears, all my deeds, all my merits cannot put away sin. We are not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. He appeared once in the end of
the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. The Lord
alone shall be exalted in that day when He teaches us that we
are redeemed with the blood of Christ, and it's all His doing, in whom we have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of
His grace. You see, the Lord alone. Do you
get my idea? This is God's truth. The Lord
alone. I've got to hold something here.
I know I do. It's His Word. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day. Has that happened in your heart?
Has God enthroned Himself in your heart? The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day of conviction, in that day of revelation, and in
that day, thirdly, in regeneration. in regeneration of His own will
beget He us with the Word of truth, being born again, not
of corruptible seed, but of an incorruptible by the Word of
God which lives and abides in us in that day of regeneration."
What is that? What are we talking about? Our
Lord said, except a man be born of God, born from above, he cannot
see. He cannot understand. He cannot
enter into the Kingdom of God. Then He said, you must be born
again. In that day of regeneration, the Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day, as we see Him as everything. For in the new birth,
and being quickened by the power of God the Holy Spirit, and being
made new creatures in Christ, for if any man be in Christ,
all things are passed away. Behold, all things have become
new in that day. The Lord alone shall be exalted. The Lord alone, the Lord alone
shall be exalted. Having a new nature implanted
within us by the operation of God's sovereign grace, whereby
Peter said, are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises, that by these ye might be partakers of a divine nature,
having escaped the corruption that is in the world through
love. In that day alone, the Lord shall be exalted. You see,
my friend, Christ in you is a hope of glory. And lastly, in the
resurrection morning, in that glorious resurrection morning,
when the dead shall rise in Christ Jesus, in that glorious resurrection
morning, when this corruption must put on incorruption, when
this mortal shall have put on immortality, and we shall be
perfectly conformed to the image of Christ, when this vile body
shall be fashioned like unto His glorious body, and we shall
see Him as He is, and be like Him as He is. The Lord alone
shall be exalted in that day, and we shall sing unto Him, And
to Him who loved us and washed us from our sin in His own blood,
to Him be the glory and honor both now and forever. Turn with
me and read Isaiah 12. Turn over there. Believers are
made willing by His power to give Him all the glory alone. For all that we are, all that
we have, all that we forever will be is by His sovereign,
free, and eternal grace. Isaiah 12, look at verse 2. Behold, God is my salvation. I trust you can read that with
confidence and say that that is so. He's my salvation. I will trust and be not afraid,
for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He has become my
salvation. Therefore, with joy shall you
draw water out of the wells of salvation. Look at verse 4. And
in that day shall you praise the Lord and call upon His name,
declare His doing among the people, mention..." What does that say? That His name is exalted. singing to the Lord, for He hath
done excellent things. This is known in all the earth."
Oh, make mention, His name is exalted. You see, He's bowed
us. We cast our idols to the wind. We cast our idols to the bat
and to the mole and say, here you go! We don't need them anymore. We've been turned. to God from
our idols to serve the living and true God. If you're not willing for the
Lord alone to be exalted in you, may God be pleased to change
your thinking, your heart, your mind, your life, and give you
faith in Christ Jesus. For I know this, One day you
will be made to bow to Him in judgment. For we read earlier
from Philippians 2, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted
Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that at
that name every knee will bow, the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And every tongue will confess that He is Lord to the glory
of God the Father. And in that day, And in that
day, mark it down, the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day.