Sermon #41 Series: Isaiah

Title: The Day Of Divine Visitation

Text: Isaiah 12:1-6

Subject: The Day Of Grace and Salvation

Date: Tuesday Evening - February 16, 1988

Tape #

Introduction:

There is a day which God has appointed for each of his elect, which will be for them the day of salvation. Tonight, I am going to talk to you about that day. The title of my message is: The Day Of Divine Visitation.

I fully realize that the work of our Lord in redeeming and saving his people is an eternal work. There can be no question about that fact. Long before time began God, in his eternal counsel, purposed to have a people like Christ. This is the will of God. And he sovereignly works all things after the counsel of his own will - (II Tim. 1:9; Eph. 1:11).

· His Covenant of Grace is called “The Everlasting Covenant” (Heb. 13:20).

· His Son is described as “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Rev. 13:8).

· His People are called “The Elect,” chosen in Christ before the world began (Eph. 1:4-6).

There is no getting around this fact: Salvation is God’s eternal work “Known unto the Lord are all his works from the beginning.” Our God declares the end from the beginning. All that he does in time by the power of his grace he did from eternity by the purpose of his grace in sovereign predestination.

Some day the angel shall stand, with one foot on the sea and one foot on the earth, and declare that time shall be no longer and that the mystery of God is finished (Rev. 10:6-7). Christ shall come. There shall be a new heaven and a new earth. In that great day the dead shall be raised and stand before God. All the elect shall be gathered unto God, holy, unblameable and unreproveable in his sight. And all the wicked shall be cast into hell. “This corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory” (I Cor. 15:54). And we shall reign forever with the Lord in everlasting glory - (Rev. 21:1-7). In that day the purpose of God in eternal election shall be fulfilled - (Rom. 8:29-31). Those whom he foreknew, though years and decades and centuries and millenniums past, he will at the appointed time glorify. Salvation is God’s eternal work. It is a work of eternal, immutable, irresistible, sovereign grace.

I also realize that the work of our Lord in redeeming and saving his elect is a lifelong work of grace. As I showed you a couple of weeks ago, we have been saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved. And “Now is our salvation nearer than when we believed” (Rom. 13:11).

· The hand of God is upon his elect from the womb to the tomb (Jer. 1:5; Gal. 1:15).

· The Lord Jesus Christ is revealed in the heart of the chosen sinner, when it pleases God (Gal. 1:15).

Illus: As God said to Simean, it can be said, with regard to all his elect, “he shall not see death, before he has seen the Lord’s Christ” (Luke 2:26). (See John 6:37-39, 44-45).

· And once we are born of God, called and saved by grace, it is by the power of God that we are kept in Christ - (Phil. 1:6; I Pet. 1:3-5; Jude 24-25).

We have come to Christ. We are coming to Christ. And by the grace of God we shall come to Christ. God will see to it - (Jer. 32:38-40).

He will keep me ‘til the river

Rolls its waters at my feet;

Then He’ll bear me safely over,

Where my Savior I shall meet!

Though this glorious divine work of redemption and salvation is an eternal work, though it is through the good providence of God a continual revelation of Christ, a continual coming to Christ, and a continual growth in the grace and knowledge of Christ - There is a day of Divine Visitation, when the sovereign Redeemer is pleased to meet a sinner and reveal himself in salvation.

Illus: The Adulterous Woman - John 4

I am not talking about a twenty-four hour day! You do not need a calendar to mark the time of your conversion. You do not need to remember a time, or place, or day in which you first met the Lord. In fact, if you have to look back to a given event as the proof that you are saved, you are not saved.

Illus: My Birth Certificate.

But you can mark this down: There is a day of Divine visitation. There is a time when the living God gives life, repentance and faith in Christ to his sheep, by the power of his Spirit through the preaching of the gospel of his grace.

Proposition: There is a day appointed when God will meet every chosen, redeemed sinner in saving power and grace - (Ezek. 16:6-8).

Illus: Jacob - Moses - Job - Paul - Isaiah.

I want us to look at Isaiah’s prophesy tonight, and notice how this phrase is used - “In that day.” Isaiah uses the words “in that day” to indicate the presence of the Lord and the work of the Lord in redeeming, saving grace. And he tells us five things about The Day Of Divine Visitation.

I. First, in Isaiah 2:11-12 and 17, the prophet shows us that THE DAY OF DIVINVE VISITATION IS A DAY OF HOLY SPIRIT CONVICTION.

When God the Holy Spirit comes into a sinner’s heart in saving power and grace, he always comes to reprove and convict. He reproves all whom he calls “of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment” (John 16:8). Where there is no conviction, there is no conversion. Where there is no reproof, there is no regeneration. If you have never experienced Holy Ghost conviction, you have never experienced Holy Ghost salvation.

· Judgment always precedes grace!

· Emptying always comes before filling!

· Humbling always comes before exaltation!

· Stripping always precedes clothing!

This convicting of the Spirit is threefold:

A. He convicts us of our sin.

B. He convicts us of Christ’s righteousness.

C. He convicts us of accomplished redemption - God’s judgment of sin and satisfaction made for sin in the death of Christ.

II. Now turn to Isaiah 11:10, and you will see that THE DAY OF DIVINE VISITATION IS A DAY OF GRACIOUS REVELATION.

In order for us to have faith in Christ, Christ must be revealed in us. We cannot trust an unknown, unrevealed Christ. And he is revealed to us and in us by his Spirit through the word.

Illus: The Woman at the Well

Saul of Tarsus

Our Savior is called by many names. He is: The Root of Jesse, The Seed of Woman - That Prophet - The King - The Lion of the Tribe of Judah - The Rose of Sharon - The Son of David - The Banner of the People - (Isa. 9:6).

Once he is revealed, to him we do look; and looking to him, we find that his rest is glorious!

III. Thirdly, in Isaiah 25:9, we see that THE DAY OF DIVINE VISITATION IS A DAY OF SAVING FAITH.

When Christ is revealed in the heart, faith is born in the heart. Faith is born of and rests upon the revelation of Christ in our hearts (II Cor. 4:3-6).

Illus: Simeon - “Mine eyes have seen thy salvation!”

Thomas - “My Lord and my God!”

Paul - “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”

· Faith in Christ is more than embracing a Doctrine!

· Faith in Christ is more than making a Profession!

· Faith in Christ is more than coming to a Position!

· Faith in Christ is more than reforming a Misspent Life!

· Faith in Christ is submitting to, trusting and embracing a Person! “Lo, this is our God; we have waited for him, and he will save us: This is the Lord; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Salvation is knowing, trusting, loving, following, obeying a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is not a theory! He is not a doctrine! He is not a creed! He is a Person!

· “Christ is all and in all.”

· “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

· “Til Christ be formed in you.”

· “I am crucified with Christ; never the less I live; yet, not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

IV. Fourthly, Isaiah tells us in chapter 26 verses 1-4, that THE DAY OF DIVINE VISITATION IS A DAY OF JOYFUL ASSURANCE.

In that day of conviction, revelation and faith, God’s elect will have a song to sing and a rock upon which to rest, whatever the trial - (II Tim. 1:12; 4:6-8). Faith in Christ gives a joyful assurance to the heart.

· We have a strong city of refuge.

· We are surrounded by the walls of salvation.

· We have entered the gates of life.

· We are kept in perfect peace by faith.

· The Lord, Jehovah, is our Rock.

My hope is built on nothing less

Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness:

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the Solid Rock, I stand,

All other ground is sinking sand.

V. Once more, in Isaiah 12:1-6, we see that THE DAY OF DIVINE VISITATION IS A DAY OF HEARTFELT PRAISE.

When the Lord God visits his elect with saving grace, they praise him with joyful hearts and praise him alone. No flesh will ever glory in his presence. Those who know the Lord, those who are visited by the Lord, glory in the Lord - (Ps. 115:1; I Cor. 1:26-31).

I will glory in the Lord, because…

A. He is my Comforter - (v. 1).

B. He is my Salvation - (v. 2).

“Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust, and not be afraid.”

1. The Lord Jehovah is my Strength.

2. The Lord Jehovah is my Song.

3. The Lord Jehovah is my Salvation.

C. He is my Supply - (v. 3).

1. Christ is the Fountain of Living Water - (Jer. 2:13).

2. Drawing from Christ the Water of Life, I am both full and overflowing - (John 7:37-39).

D. He is my Testimony - (v. 4).

Illus: “Bro. Mahan, could you give us your

testimony?” What is my confession? It is just this:

1. Praise the Lord!

2. Call upon His Name!

3. Declare His Doings among the people!

4. Make mention that His Name is Exalted!

E. Once more He is my Message - (vv. 5-6).

“Great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee!”

“He shall be great.”

“How great thou art!”

1. Great in His Person!

2. Great in His Purpose!

3. Great in His Propitiation!

4. Great in His Pardon!

5. Great in His Preservation!

Application: The Day of Divine Visitation is:

· A Day of Conviction!

· A Day of Revelation!

· A Day of Faith!

· A Day of Assurance!

· A Day of Praise!

It begins the moment a sinner is born again by God’s almighty grace in Christ. It begins the moment the daystar rises in your heart. It begins as soon as the sun of righteousness arises in your soul, with healing beneath his wings. And that day shall never end. It only grows brighter and brighter, until at last we reach that glorious land of eternal day, in which there is no darkness at all. May it please God to visit you this very night. I pray that all here today enjoy The Day Of Divine Visitation!