Sermon #48                                                            Series:  Isaiah

 

          Title:       Four Stages Of Grace

          Text:       Isaiah 14:1-3 - Reading Psalm 71

          Subject:  The Believer’s Experience Of Grace

          Date:      Sunday Evening - July 15, 1990

          Tape #

 

          Introduction:

 

          We know that the prophecy given in Isaiah 13 and 14 had an immediate reference to the physical seed of Abraham, the nation of Israel, and their deliverance from Babylonian captivity.  But those who limit the prophecy to these historical events have missed its message altogether.  There are some things spoken of in this text which cannot be applied to the Jews and the Babylonians.  There never was a time in history when the Jews carried the Babylonians into captivity.  And there never was a time when Israel ruled over Babylon.  But, if we understand the prophecy spiritually, as referring to the salvation of God’s elect by Christ Jesus, its interpretation is both easy and practical.  The things spoken of in the passage before us will find their perfect accomplishment in the salvation of God’s church, the Israel of God, and in every believer.

 

Proposition:  The people of God shall be triumphant over all their enemies by the grace that is ours in Christ Jesus - We are more than conquerors through him that loved us and gave himself for us.

 

          Here are four things promised in these three verses of Scripture -

 

1.   The purpose of God in all things is that he will have mercy upon his own elect - “For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob.”

 

          God’s treatment of Babylon, the nations of the world, and the demons of hell is determined and regulated by his purpose of grace toward his Israel (Rom. 8:28; II Cor. 5:18).

 

2.   Though in providence God sometimes appears to be angry with his people, he will never cast them off - He “will yet choose Israel and set them in their own land.”

 

          There is a great multitude which no man can number, scattered throughout the nations of the world whom God will save.  Though they are now strangers to the covenant of promise, they must be joined to the people of God (John 10:16).

 

                   Illus:  The Iron Curtain Countries.

                               Africa - Kon Wimer

                               Mexico

 

3.   Many who now oppose Christ, his gospel and his church shall soon be made to serve him, his cause and his people - (v. 2).

 

                   Illus:  Saul of Tarsus.

                              Rolfe Barnard.

                              Myself.

 

4.   And God’s elect shall triumph over all their enemies by his grace - “They shall take them captive, whose captives they were: and they shall rule over their aggressors.  And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sorrow, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve.”

 

          Tonight, I want us to focus our attention on these words in the last part of verse 2 and verse three.  They describe for us every believer’s experience of grace in four stages.

 

Divisions:  We will trace the work of God’s grace in the souls of men in these four stages.

 

1.   Grace Finds Us All In A State Of Captivity.

2.   Grace Brings Us Into A State Of Deliverance.

3.   Grace Sustains Us In A State Of Warfare.

4.   Grace Shall Deliver Us Into A State Of Victory and Dominion.

 

 

I.      GRACE FINDS US IN A STATE OF BONDAGE AND CAPTIVITY.

 

          All men like to boast of their freedom.  They like to flatter themselves with the idea that they are morally, spiritually and intellectually free.  But the fact is that every man by nature is in a state of bondage and captivity.  If you are here without Christ, you are a bondman, a slave, held in captivity.  And the first work of grace is to show you the misery of your present condition.  Like Israel in Egypt and in Babylon, we are all by nature in the land of captivity.

 

          Even the believer is, in a sense, yet in captivity to sin (Rom. 8:23).  And if the believer is yet in captivity, while he lives in this world, how much more so are you who are without Christ.

 

A.  You are held in bondage by the world.

 

          Our minds are controlled by the sentiments of the world.  Our morals are determined by the customs of the world.  And our actions are directed by the fashion of the world.  I am talking about natural, unregenerate men and women.  And what I am saying is true of all men by nature.

 

          Now and then, some individual steps out of the general mold of society and appears to be an independent individual.  But upon closer examination, you will see the shackles of the world upon him - He is a slave after all, held in bondage by the shackles of…

 

·        Prejudice, Pride!

·        Greed, Ambition!

·        Opinion, Custom!

·        And Approval, Applause!

 

          The things of God appear to be foolishness to you and you cannot receive them, because your carnal mind will not accept that which is contrary to the wisdom of his world (I Cor. 1:19-24).

 

 

 

B. You are also held in bondage to sin.

 

          You may not behave in the shameless manner of the profligate pervert, cold-blooded murderer, common thief, or drunken reveler.  But there is a malignant principle of sin in us all that so corrupts us that every imagination of our hearts is only evil continually (Gen. 6:5) and every righteous deed performed by us is perverse and filthy (Isa. 64:6).  Sin is the nature of man (Matt. 15:19).  And no man can escape or change his nature (Jer. 13:23; 17:9).

 

          I know that what I am saying is offensive to the flesh.  Some of you may be seething in your hearts with anger against me for saying it.  But you know it is true.  And your anger is but an evidence of the truth of what I am saying.  You are in bondage to the world, in bondage to sin.  And…

 

C. You are in bondage to satan.

 

          How the prince of darkness secretly manipulates the thoughts of men’s hearts and the actions of their lives, I cannot explain.  I only know that he is a mighty, subtle, cunning adversary.  He is “the prince of the power of the air, who now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:2).  And I know that men are taken captive by him at his will (II Tim. 2:26).

 

                   Illus:  My Cousin’s Husband.

 

          The greatest pity is that man’s bondage to the world, the flesh and the devil is a voluntary bondage.  It is true, you were born in bondage.  But from the days of your youth, you have willfully, continually chosen to remain in bondage.  And because your bondage is the result of your own, willful rebellion and sin…

 

D. You are in bondage as a prisoner under the sentence of God’s holy law - (Ezek. 18:20).

 

          Will you hear me, my dear friend?  The wrath of God is upon you!  You are guilty.  You are condemned.  The sword of God’s justice is thirsty for your blood.  God is angry with you.  And God will slay you.

1.   You owe God a debt you cannot pay - Satisfaction!

2.   God demands of you a work you cannot perform - Righteousness!

3.   Your only hope is to flee to the City of Refuge - Christ Jesus!

 

          I hope that you see your natural state and condition.  If you do, there is hope.  God has set before you a door of hope.  And that Door is Christ.  Enter in now and be saved forever.

 

          That is my first point.  Grace finds us in a state of bondage and captivity, lost, helpless, ruined, and justly condemned.  This is the condition of all men by nature.

 

II.   GRACE BRINGS US INTO A STATE OF DELIVERANCE - (Isa. 61:1-3).

 

          We are by nature the house of a strong man armed.  But when Christ comes in, by the power of his omnipetent grace, he binds the strong man, casts him out, and takes the spoils of victory.

 

          This deliverance is the work of God alone.  “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord!”  As soon as a man is born of God, as soon as Christ is revealed in the heart, as soon as you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ by the irresistible grace and power of God the Holy Spirit, you are saved.  Deliverance is accomplished!  Christ delivers his people from…

 

·        The Charms of the World.

·        The Power of Satan.

·        The Dominion of Sin.

·        The Curse of the Law - (Isa. 40:1-2).

 

          We are saved, if we trust Christ, saved forever.  But our deliverance is not yet complete.  Like the children of Israel after they had crossed the Red Sea, we have many enemies to face, many conflicts to endure, and many battles to fight in this wilderness before we can enter the promised land of rest.  But I want you to know that…

 

 

III. GRACE SUSTAINS US IN A STATE OF WARFARE.

 

          The believer in this world is not in the land of peace.  We are at war with the world, the flesh and the devil.  The world allures us, the flesh opposes us, and the devil tempts us.  But, blessed be God, grace sustains us!  (See Phil. 1:6; II Cor. 12:9).

 

          If you come to Christ, I do not promise you a life of ease, peace and tranquility.  I promise you nothing in this world but pain, conflict, tribulation and war.  But in the midst of that warfare, I promise you peace with God and the assurance of victory at last.

 

A.  In this world, we have trials and tribulations to endure.

 

·        Natural Trials.

·        Providential Troubles.

·        Spiritual Trials.

·        Religious Persecutions.

·        Doctrinal Heresies.

 

But whatever the trial may be, however severe the tribulation, the Lord will sustain you (Isa. 43:1-5).

 

B. In this world, we must endure great temptations.

 

          As our Lord was tempted in all points, so must we be.  Satan will not leave us alone.  When it appears that he has, we are in real trouble.

 

          But when we are tempted our God will not forsake us!  (I Cor. 10:13).

 

1.   He can hold us up.

2.   When we fall, he will raise us up again.

3.   When we sin, he will forgive us (I John 1:9; 2:1-2).

 

                    Illus:  Bunyan’s Pilgrim and the Roaring Lion.

 

 

 

C. And while we live in this world, we must endure a constant inner warfare with sin (Rom. 7:22-24; Gal. 5:17).

 

          The flesh and the spirit are at war with one another in my soul.  And I know that as long as I live in this body of flesh this warfare will continue.  But God will sustain me by his grace.

 

          I think I know, at least in part, why these things are so.

 

1.   God will not let us trust in ourselves.

2.   God will ever make us aware that we are saved by grace alone.

3.   God will make his own tender with one another.

4.   God will make his own to know that Christ is all!

 

IV. GRACE SHALL DELIVER US INTO A STATE OF VICTORY AND DOMINION.

 

          Read the text again - (Isa. 14:2-3).  Soon we shall be free!  God will soon bruise satan under our feet!  In the end we will rule over our oppressors.  “And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall give thee rest” (Rev. 7:14-16; 21:4).  He will give you…

 

·        Rest from Your Sorrows.

·        Rest from Your Fears.

·        Rest from Your Hard Bondage.

 

                   Illus:  The Robin’s Shell.

 

Application:  The work of grace is…

 

1.   A Stupendous Work - This is the work of God.

2.   An Effectual Work.

3.   A Sure Work (Isa. 49:24-26).

4.   A Work which God is ready to perform for all who call upon Him - (Amos 5:9; Ps. 72:4, 12, 13).