Sermon #44 Series: Isaiah

Title: The Confessions Of A Sinner Saved By Grace

Text: Isaiah 12:1-2 - Scripture Reading: Psalm 51:1-

17

Subject: The Believer’s Confession Of Faith

Date: Sunday Morning - May 13, 1990

Tape #

Introduction:

Whenever we read the prophecies of the Old Testament Scriptures, we need to see both the immediate and the ultimate fulfillment of the prophet’s words. Each prophecy has both an immediate, typical and an ultimate, messianic fulfillment. Certainly this is true with regard to our text today.

In its immediate context, when Isaiah spoke these words, he was referring to God’s deliverance of the outcasts of Israel and the dispersed Judah from Sennacherib, the godless king of Assyria. When he invaded the land of Judea, it looked as though the nation of Israel would be utterly destroyed. And the Assyrian invasion was a terrible display of God’s anger against the sins of his people. But here Isaiah assures God’s elect remnant of salvation from the hands of that wicked tyrant, Sennacherib. That is the immediate, typical fulfillment of the prophecy. But there is much more in the text - In its ultimate, spiritual, messianic scope this text is a prophecy of the salvation of God’s elect in the day of his grace when Christ is revealed in their hearts. This text is an illustration of what happens to each of God’s elect when they are translated from the power of darkness into the kingdom of his dear Son. This is what happens to a sinner when he is born again by the power of God the Holy Spirit, delivered from the spirit of bondage and wrath, and brought by the Spirit of adoption into the liberty of the Sons of God.

As I read the words of our text today, every regenerate heart will say, “Amen.” And as I attempt to preach from these words, I am sure that I will only be echoing the thoughts of your heart if you are a believer. But I want to use my text in a very personal way, applying it to my own experience of grace. For you who are taking notes, the title of my message is The Confession Of A Sinner Saved By Grace. As I showed you a few weeks ago, the word “praise” in verse 1 might be better translated “confess.” Our text is talking about the believer’s confession of faith. The Lord God himself is speaking to us by the mouth of his prophet, Isaiah. And he says, “And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will confess thee.”

Before I get to the confessions that I want to make in your hearing today, I want to show you four things by way of introduction. But listen carefully, in this case, the introduction is part of the message.

1. There is a day appointed by God when he will save each of his elect.

God says, “in that day.” “That day” is what our Lord calls “Thy time” and “The time of love” (Ezek. 16:8). It is the time appointed by God from eternity for the calling of his elect. There is a set time when the Lord God visits each of his chosen with almighty, irresistible, effectual, saving grace. It is the time when he makes his chosen ones willing in the day of his power and effectually draws them to Christ (Ps. 65:4; 110:3). “In that day,” this is what God does for his elect.

· He reveals Christ in them - (Gal. 1:15-16).

· He raises them up from death to life - (John 5:25).

· He gives them faith in his dear Son - (Col. 2:12).

2. Every sinner saved by the grace of God will confess his Lord and Redeemer.

Notice the personal pronouns I used in verse 1 - “Thou shalt say, I will confess.” This is a personal faith arising from a personal knowledge of Christ. You see, salvation is a personal thing. The door to life eternal is open wide, so that all who will may enter in and be saved. But sinners must go through the door alone, one by one - (Isa. 27:12).

It is a personal confession; but it is also a public confession. It is open, avowed publicly, and published abroad. “God’s grace does not come into the heart as a beggar into a barn, and lie hidden away as if it stole a night’s lodging; no, its arrival is known all over the house, and every chamber of the soul testifies of its presence. Grace is like a bunch of lavender, it discovers itself by its sweet smell. Like the nightingale it is heard where it is not seen. Like the spark which falls into the midst of straw it burns, and blazes, and consumes, and so reveals itself by its own energetic operations” - (C. H. Spurgeon).

If the Lord God is pleased to save you by his free grace today, you will confess him before the day is done. You will gladly confess him. You will say to him, “O Lord, I will confess thee. Yesterday, I blasphemed thee. This morning I neglected thee. Oft I have despised thee. But I knew thee not. But now, O Lord, I will confess thee.”

· In my Heart!

· With my Mouth!

· By Water Baptism!

· As a Witness to those who know you not!

3. This confession is itself the product of God’s almighty grace.

It is the Lord who says, “In that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will confess thee.” When God says, “Thou shalt,” thou shalt! What God has spoken God will bring to pass. His Word cannot fail. Blessed be God, he knows how…

· To save His own Elect!

· To drive unbelief from His People!

· To bring us to embrace His Dear Son!

4. And the believer’s confession of faith is all about the Lord himself.

Where iniquity is pardoned and grace is bestowed God is all in all. There is not a record in the Bible of a simple sinner saved by the grace of God who attributes anything to himself but sin. The whole work of grace is attributed to God alone - (Eph. 1:3-14).

· Election by God the Father.

· Redemption by God the Son.

· Regeneration by God the Holy Spirit.

Now the man who speaks to you is a sinner. I am a sinner by birth, a sinner by nature, and a sinner by choice. I am, all over, inside and outside, in and of myself, nothing but a sinner. There is nothing in me but rottenness. There is not one particle of spiritual goodness, righteousness, or decency within me. I know who I am. And I know what I am. My name is “Sin.”

I would disclose my whole complaint,

But where shall I begin?

No words of mine can fully paint

That worst distemper, sin.

It lies not in a single part,

But through my frame is spread;

A burning fever in my heart,

A palsy in my head.

But I am a sinner saved by the grace of God. And I gladly acknowledge to all who hear my voice. “By the grace of God I am what I am” (I Cor. 15:10).

· This is my doctrine.

· This is my daily experience.

· This is my confession.

Will you give me your attention as I make my confession of my God, and of his saving grace in Christ, as I have experienced it?

Illus: The Remembrance Room.

From my heart, and with my mouth, I now say, “O Lord, I will confess thee!”

· As my Sovereign Lord.

· As my Sin Atoning Redeemer.

· As my Almighty Savior.

· As my Covenant God.

I. “THOU WAST ANGRY WITH ME.”

Call it what you will, put it in whatever theological terms you choose, but there was a time when I was awakened to a sense of my personal sin and made to realize that God almighty was justly and righteously angry with me. I was made to realize that I was, like all other men and women, a child of wrath by nature, cursed and condemned before God’s holy law - (Rom. 3:19; 7:9).

Illus: Gomer - Hosea 2:9-13).

Has God made you aware of your sin and your just condemnation before his holy law? I hope he will do so now. You will never know the love of God in Christ until you are made to know the wrath of God without Christ. You will never be saved until you are lost. God will not robe you with the righteousness of Christ until he strips you of your own righteousness. He will not heal you until you have need of healing. He will not lift you up until he casts you down. He will not make you alive until he first slays you.

This I know, God was angry with me. And I confess to God before you all that his anger against me was fully justified (Ps. 51:4). But, blessed be his name, my confession does not stop there.

II. “Though thou wast angry with me, THINE ANGER IS TURNED AWAY!”

Is it possible for a man to know that? Can I know, indeed, that I am forgiven? Can this matter of forgiveness really be known as a matter of certainty, so that a sinful man can honestly look upon the holy God and declare, “Thine anger is turned away?” I say he can. More emphatically, this is my own, personal confession of faith. “O Lord, though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away!” Upon what grounds can I make such a confession of confident faith?

· Not My Feeling!

· Not My Faith!

· Not My Experience!

I make this confession upon the authority of God’s holy, infallible Word. The basis of my assurance is the Word of God alone (I John 5:7-10).

A. In the Book of God I read that Christ died for sinners (Rom. 5:6-8; I Tim. 1:15-16).

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came into this world as a Substitute for an elect race. He bore their sin and was punished in their place under the wrath of God, so that God, without violating his holy justice, might freely forgive those who were washed in his precious blood. My question then is, who is that elect race? Who are those people for whom Christ died? I open the Word of God and read that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Because I am assured that I am a sinner, I am assured that Christ died for me. I cannot doubt it.

B. Next, the Word of God declares, “He that believeth on him is not condemned!” (John 3:18).

I do believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, I do not trust him as I should. I do not trust him as I would. But I do trust Christ alone for all my acceptance with God.

· His Blood.

· His Righteousness.

· His Intercession.

If God’s Word is true, and it is, then I am not condemned!

C. Again, the Book of God declares, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved” - (Mk. 16:16).

I trust Christ alone as my Savior, and in obedience to his command as my Lord, I have been baptized. And upon the basis of God’s own Word I am assured that God’s anger is turned away. The blood of Christ applied to my heart by the Holy Spirit through faith has purged my conscience from all sin and guilt. And God’s anger is turned away (Ps. 32:1-5).

III. “AND THOU COMFORTEST ME.”

Since the day that God’s anger was turned away from my conscience, the Lord has comforted me. Though I am weak, he is strong. Though I am full of sin, he is full of mercy. Though I am tempted, he is faithful. And he comforts me with…

A. The Assurance of Propitiation Made (I John 2:1-2).

B. The Awareness of Providence Good (Rom. 8:28).

C. The Application of Promises Sure (II Cor. 1:20).

· His Presence.

· His Preservation.

· His Second Coming.

IV. “BEHOLD, GOD IS MY SALVATION!”

God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, is my salvation. God the Father planned my salvation. God the Son purchased my salvation. And God the Holy Spirit brought salvation to me.

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

B. “The Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song.”

1. My Savior is Jehovah.

· Jehovah-jireh - The Lord who Provides.

· Jehovah-rapha - The Lord who Heals.

· Jehovah-nissi - The Lord our Banner.

· Jehovah-shalom - The Lord our Peace.

· Jehovah-ra-ah - The Lord our Shepherd.

· Jehovah-tsidkenu - The Lord our Righteousness.

· Jehovah-shammah - The Lord is There.

· Jehovah-Jesus - The Lord who Saves.

2. Jehovah is my Strength.

· For Every Trial.

· For Every Duty.

· For Every Day.

3. Jehovah is my Song.

4. “He also is become my Salvation.”

· By His Own Appointment.

· By His Own Accomplishments.

· By His Almighty Grace.

· By Faith.

Application: I Cor. 1:30-31.