Sermon #102   Series: Isaiah

 

Title:   The Withering of the Spirit

 

Text:   Isaiah 40:6-8

 

Scripture Reading:  John 3:1-21

 

Subject:  The Work of the Holy Spirit in Conversion

 

Date:   Sunday Morning- February 2, 1992

 

Introduction:

 

The gospel calls upon all people to repent of their sins and trust the Lord Jesus Christ as their only Savior and Lord, promising salvation, eternal life, and everlasting glory to all who believe- (Mk. 16:15-16; John 3:14, 15, 18, 36; Rom. 10:9-13).

 

These things cannot be disputed.  Christ accomplished redemption for all his people.  If you trust Christ, salvation is yours, you have been chosen, redeemed, and called by the grace of God.  But there is a problem…

 

Man, by nature is dead in trespasses and in sins, spiritually dead (Rom. 5:12; Eph. 2:1).  Being spiritually dead, he has no life toward God, no ability to improve his condition, and no desire to do so.  His spiritual death is so thorough and complete that he is not even aware of his condition before God and has no will or desire to come to Christ, believe on Christ, and be saved by Christ.  He will not and he cannot muster faith in himself and trust Christ by any ability of his own (John 5:40; 6:44).

 

Before any sinner can or will come to Christ, before you can or will trust Christ, you must be born again.  That faith by which men and women receive God’s salvation in Christ, is the gift of God. “Salvation is of the Lord” in its entirety!  Faith in Christ is as much the gift and work of God’s free grace as election, redemption, and regeneration!  If you believe on Christ, it is because God has given you faith (Phil. 1:29).  We “believe according to the working of his mighty power” (Eph. 1:19).

 

I have said all that to say this- There is a work of grace that takes place in the heart of a sinner before repentance, conversion, and faith. Any faith that is produced without this antecedent word of grace is a false faith.  I want to talk to you today about that work.

 

The title of my message is The Withering Work of the Spirit.  My text is Isaiah 40:6-8.

 

Proposition:  Before Christ is revealed in the heart of a sinner, in his saving fulness and glory, the flesh, all that is of the flesh, must be withered.

 

This is the work of God the Holy Spirit.  I am talking about the experience of every child of God.  You will never “Behold your God” until the flesh is withered.  This text must be fulfilled in everyone of us.  The flesh, because it is but grass, must be withered.  The comeliness there of must be destroyed.  The Spirit of God, like a mighty wind, must blow across the field of our souls, and cause our imaginary beauty to fade as a flower.  He must so convince us of our sin and so reveal us to ourselves, that we are made to see that “the flesh profiteth nothing,” that our fallen nature is corruption and that “they that are in the flesh cannot please God.”  The sentence of death must be brought upon us.  Self-righteousness must be slain.  Legal hope must be destroyed.  It is only when the flesh is withered that the incorruptible seed of the word of God is implanted by the Holy Spirit, implanted in us to live and abide forever.

 

This is the interpretation which the Spirit of God gives to our text (I Pet. 1:23-25).

 

Divisions:

 

I want to show you two things this morning:

 

  1. The withering of the Flesh.
  2. The Implanting of Life.

 

I.  First, let me talk to you about The Withering of the Flesh.

 

Our text declares that “all flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:  The grass withereth, the flower thereof fadeth: because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it.”  The first work of the Holy Spirit in a sinner’s heart is the withering of the flesh.

 

In this chapter preachers are commanded to comfort God’s people; but the comfort must be preceded by a withering.  Preachers today seem to have forgotten that the law is our schoolmaster to bring sinners to Christ.  Seed is not sown upon fallow ground.  The ground must be ploughed.  The hard clods must be broken up.  Conviction always precedes conversion.

 

 “Preachers have labored to make Christ precious to those who think themselves rich and increased in goods; and it has been labor in vain.” C.H. Spurgeon

 

It is our duty to preach Christ to all men, even to the self-righteous, but it is certain that no one will look to Christ for salvation and grace as long as he holds himself in high esteem.  The flesh must be withered.  Only the sick will come to the Physician-  It is the work of God the Holy Spirit to convince men and women of sin.  Until you are convinced of sin, you will never seek the righteousness of God by faith in Christ.

 

Mr. Spurgeon said, “I am persuaded that , wherever there is a real work of grace in any soul, it begins with a pulling down: the Holy Ghost does not build upon the old foundation…When every sandy foundation is gone, then, but not till then, he will lay in our souls the great foundation- stone, chosen of God, and precious.”

 

Do you see the point I am making?  Conversion is always preceded by conviction.  Before faith is established in the heart the flesh must wither!  This is the first operation of grace in a person’s heart.

 

C.  This Withering of the flesh is always unexpected.

 

The awakened sinner, when he calls upon God to have mercy upon him, is astonished to find that instead of immediately obtaining peace, his soul is bowed down and his heart is made heavy under a sense of God’s wrath.

 

 

God wounds before he heals!

He kills before he makes alive!

He strips before he clothes!

He empties before he fills!

He abases before he exalts!

 

This withering of the flesh is not a once for all experience.  It is a process that continues throughout the life of a believer.  As long as we live in the flesh, the flesh must be withered.  And it is always in a way unexpected.  John Newton expressed it this way-

 

“I asked the Lord that I might grow

In faith, and love, and every grace,

Might more of His salvation know,

And seek more earnestly His face.

 

Twas He who taught me thus to pray,

And He, I trust, has answered prayer;

But it has been in such a way

As almost drove me to despair.

 

I hoped that in some favored hour,

At once He’d answer my request,

And by His love’s constraining power

Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

 

Instead of this, He made me feel

The hidden evils of my heart;

And let the angry powers of hell

Assault my soul in every part!”

 

Illus:

            Noah’s Degradation!

            Moses Humiliation!

            David’s Breaking!

            Peter’s Fall!

            Paul’s Messenger!

            “The flesh withereth!”  It must!  God knows how to wither our flesh!

 

A.  This is according to the usual method of God’s operations- “He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second.”  Grace is always preceded by judgment.

 

1.       Creation (Gen. 1:1-3)- Choose, then Light.

2.       Adam and Eve (Gen. 3).

 

·         Nakedness exposed, then Redemption Promised (3:9-10, 15).

·         Fig leaves stripped, then Garments Provided. (3:21).

 

3.       Noah (Gen. 6) Judgment Declared, then Salvation Provided.

4.       Israel in Egypt (Ex. 2:23; 14:30-31) Bondage felt, then Deliverance.

 

Everywhere, before salvation comes, the creature is humbled and all fleshly hope is destroyed.  The old must go before the new can come.  God takes away the first that he may establish the second.  The present heavens and earth must be dissolved to make room for a new heavens and a new earth.  The flesh must be withered before life can be implanted.

 

Illus:  Pioneer Settlements- Before cities were built, the land had to be conquered and cleared.

 

C.  This withering work of the Spirit is universal in its range.

 

 “All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field.  “All must wither!”  “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth; because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it,” the grass and the flower, the flesh and the goodliness thereof!  Whenever the Spirit of God breathes upon the soul of man, there is a withering of everything that is flesh.

 

1.           The world is made to appear as vanity.

2.           Our holiness is reveal as corruption.

3.           Our righteousness is made to appear as filthy rags.

4.           Our religion is made to be seen as a mere form of godliness.

5.           Our good works are made to appear as abominations, just shining sins.

6.           Everything which once gave us hope, everything which once we trusted is made to appear as dung (Phil. 3:6-8; Isa. 28:14-22).

7.           When the Spirit of God blows upon a lost sinner, he is made to see his utter, total inability before God.

 

This withering of the flesh makes us hear and understand the word of our Lord, “Without me, ye can do nothing!”  When I was first made to know my need of Christ, this withering of my flesh was a real experience, a terrible conflict in my soul.

 

 

This is a humbling, but necessary, revelation of grace, for that faith which is of the flesh is not the faith of God’s elect.  True faith and true repentance are the gifts of God- (John 1:12-13).

 

If the faith that is in you is not the work of God’s Spirit, if it is only the work of your own flesh, it will wither and die like the grass in the field, when the sun rises and the winds of judgment blow upon it.

 

D.  The withering work of the Spirit is a complete work.

 

The grass does not droop.  It withers.  The flower does not hang it’s head.  It fades.  It “falleth away!”  There is no reviving it with showers.  It has come to an end.  It is dead.  Even so, in the believer, there must be a death to sin, to the law, to the world, and to self.  The flesh cannot be corrected.  It must be slain.  The carnal mind cannot be instructed.  It must be killed.  The old nature cannot be mended.  It must die.

 

  1. We must be made to see that in our flesh dwelleth no good thing!
  2. This flesh, this corruption, must die, it must go to the grave.  Otherwise, we could never enter into glory!  The flesh must wither.  Thank God, it must, and it will!

 

E.  This withering of the flesh is a painful work.

           

No one wants the flesh to wither by nature.  We all naturally cling to it.  It is painful to part with it.  But wither it must.

 

 

F.  The withering of the flesh is inevitable.

 

The grass withers because it is a withering thing.  Its root is in the earth, in the grave; therefore it must die.

 

  1. The flesh must wither because it is flesh.   It has in it the principle of corruption.
  2. And the flesh must wither because God will never allow the flesh to have any part in salvation.

    

·         In the work of It!

·         In the Glory of It!

 

G.  This withering of the flesh is the work of God the Holy Spirit.

 

It gives me hope when sinners begin to wither.  I know that is the work of God.  And that which God begins, God will complete.  It is not the devil who slays self-righteousness and withers the flesh.  That is God’s work.  It is the Spirit of the Lord blowing upon it.  He withers the flesh by three means…

 

  1. By Providence (Ps. 107)- But that is not enough.
  2. By the Law (Rom. 3:19)- But that is not sufficient.
  3. By the Revelation of Christ (Zech. 12:10)- How the flesh withers.

 

Once the flesh is withered, something else happens.  Life is given.  This is what Peter tells us (I Pet. 1:23-25), when he interprets Isaiah’s words.

 

II.  Let me show you The Implanting of Life.

 

A.     The Seed of Life is the Word of God.

B.     The Seed of Life is planted in the Soul by the Holy Spirit.

 

1.       You are new creatures in Christ (II Cor. 5:17).

2.       You are complete in him- Body/Soul/Spirit!

 

C.     The Seed of Life is Incorruptible!

 

  1. It cannot corrupt of itself.
  2. It cannot be corrupted.

 

Child of God, you now have within you life and immortality.  You shall never die!

 

Application:

 

What of you who are not born again, who do not have this seed of incorruptible life in you, you who are without Christ?  You shall not see life.  “The wrath of God abideth upon you!”  May God the Holy Spirit now visit you with his grace.

 

  1. Withering your Flesh
  2. Implanting Life!