Sermon #234 Series: Isaiah

Title: THINGS SEEN AND THINGS REVEALED

Text: Isaiah 64:4

Reading: Office: Larry Criss Auditorium: Merle Hart

Subject: Things Known by Nature and Things Known By Revelation

Date: Sunday Evening - March 10, 1996

Tape # S-34

Introduction:

The title of my message tonight is Things Seen and Things Revealed. My text is Isaiah 64:4. “Since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.”

Proposition: While some things can be and are known by nature, other things can be and are known only by divine revelation.

When Aristotle wrote about the physical world, he wrote a treatise called Physics. Later, he wrote a second volume called Metaphysics, in which he discussed things beyond the physical realm, things beyond what the eye can see, the ear can hear, or the hand can feel. He recognized, as all men must, that there is an unseen world that can never be felt, discerned, or known by the natural senses.

This is nothing profound or mysterious. It is simply a matter of fact. We can examine a man’s brain, but not his mind. We can measure the nervous system of the human body and the impulses of it, but not the thoughts of a man. We can dissect a cadaver, but not a soul. We can describe and categorize all the organs of the human body, draw pictures of them, and even make substitutes for them and transplant them from one person to another; but we can never describe, categorize, picture, transplant, or make a substitute for the conscience of a man.

There is another world, a world beyond sight and sound, time and sense, which has nothing to do with this physical world. In reality, there is no similarity between the two. In this physical world, everything is temporary and passing away. Nothing is substantial. Nothing is lasting. In the world to come, everything is eternal, permanent, and unchanging. We are all rapidly passing through this brief state of existence and going to a world where everything is eternal. If God the Holy Spirit will enable me to do so, I want to talk to you tonight about these two worlds. I want to talk to you about Things Seen and Things Revealed.

I. First, I want to show you FOUR FACTS THAT CANNOT BE DENIED.

I am not foolish enough to imagine that all men acknowledge these four facts. I know that few men acknowledge them. Some of you may not acknowledge them. But these four facts are seen and known by all men. There is not a man upon the earth who does not, in his inmost being, know these four things.

A. We are all living, immortal souls.

Man is more than flesh and blood. You know that as well as I do. Our bodies are nothing more than houses for our souls. You have an undying soul. More accurately stated, you are an undying soul. That is not a spiritual truth. It is a fact stamped upon your very being. It is explained in the Scriptures; but it is written upon your very conscience.

B. We live in a world created by God Almighty.

Again, this is not a matter of theological persuasion, or of spiritual knowledge. Every human being in this world knows that this planet upon which we live was created by the hand of God. Again, the Bible explains creation; but creation is a fact that every man’s conscience forces him to acknowledge in the privacy of his own soul. Those who pretend to deny it are liars of the worst kind. They try to deceive themselves; but they cannot.

This planet called earth is like nothing else in God’s vast creation. Scientists and astronomers, in their vain attempts to make God a liar, keep searching for life on other planets. They gave up on finding life on Mars. Now they are searching for life on Saturn. What fools they are! Imagine trying, in the name of science and intelligence, to find life without air, atmosphere, or water! Mars, Saturn, and the other planets are like the moon, empty, sterile, and lifeless. I sometimes think, maybe the Lord threw a few extra balls out into space just to tease those who refuse to acknowledge his creative power so plainly revealed in nature.

· Romans 1:18-20

Be that as it may, this planet is unique and stands apart from all others because, if for no other reason, the Lord Jesus Christ lived here. He came here to fulfill all righteousness, to pour out his life’s blood, and make atonement for sin. This earth drank up his precious blood. It was from this earth that he ascended back to the Father. And it is to this earth that he is coming again.

C. We are, each of us, dying creatures.

There is no escaping the reality of death. Everything in the world is dying. Even the stars burn out at God’s appointed time. Some day our sun will burn itself out, and the earth will collapse in a ball of fire. Everything we see, touch, hear, taste, smell, and feel will soon die. And so shall we. Graveyards are everywhere because all men die. Morticians rarely go out of business. Soon, you and I will drop these tents of clay. Our bodies will rot in the ground. And then...

D. Our immortal souls will go out into eternity to meet God in judgment.

There is a moral sensitivity stamped upon the human race that simply cannot be erased. There has never been a nation, a tribe, a family, or even a single man in history so degenerate and degraded that he has no code of conduct, no ethical principle by which he determines right and wrong. What they think to be right and what they think to be wrong may seem strange to us, but they have a moral code by which they live. And they recognize that there is a day coming when they must meet God to give account of themselves in judgment. All men everywhere, throughout the world and throughout history, have lived and died with this God consciousness that has made them aware of eternity. Everyone in the world, in his heart of hearts knows that...

1. There is a place of eternal bliss.

2. And there is a place of eternal woe.

These are all things that are seen and known by all men by nature. They are natural things, facts that simply cannot be denied by anyone. But there is another world, a spiritual world, a world that cannot be seen or known by nature. It cannot be proved by science, understood by intelligence, or grasped by logic. This is a world in which all things are known only by divine revelation.

· John 3:5-7

· I Corinthians 2:9-16

II. Secondly, I want to show you FOUR FACTS THAT CAN BE KNOWN ONLY BY DIVINE REVELATION.

Just as all who have natural sense know the four facts of the natural world, so all who are taught of God, all who are born of his Spirit, all who have the mind of Christ know these four facts by divine revelation. They are both written in the Book of God and written upon our hearts.

A. God almighty created us in his image and created all things for a specific purpose - His own glory.

· Proverbs 16:4

· Ephesians 1:3-14

· Romans 11:33-36

We are not the accidents and productions of blind evolution. You and I were created by the finger of God; and we were created to serve a specific purpose. Our purpose for existence is and ought to be the glory of God our Creator.

You young people are being taught by your school teachers, the news media, and the entertainment industry that you are nothing but animals, without purpose or meaning. You are being taught that you are the products of millions of years of blind, mindless evolution. What a degrading, debasing thing evolution is! When our young people are taught that they are animals, we ought not be surprised to find them acting like animals.

Do not fall for the great lie of the age. Evolution is a joke. When I hear the wiseacres of the world talk as though it is an assumed fact, I simply laugh at them. What nonsense! Open your Bible and read it. God tells us plainly who we are, where we came from, why we are here, and where we are going.

B. The Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, has redeemed a people for himself.

The Lord God, in his great love, mercy, and grace, sent his Son into this world to redeem and save his people from their sins by the sacrifice of himself. And he has done it, perfectly, fully, effectually.

· Matthew 1:21

· John 17:4; 19:30

· Galatians 3:13

When God the Holy Spirit comes in saving power and grace to convict chosen, redeemed sinners and bring them to Christ, he reveals Christ in them and convinces them of who he is and what he has done.

· John 16:7-14

C. By the miracle of the new birth, by his sovereign regenerating grace and power, God the Holy Spirit, makes us new creatures in Christ.

· II Corinthians 5:17

· I Corinthians 6:9-11

· Ephesians 2:1-4

· Isaiah 65:25

We who were once enemies of God and the servants of sin, are now reconciled to God and the voluntary servants of righteousness.

D. The Lord God has prepared a kingdom for his elect and will see to it that every chosen, redeemed, called sinner enters into, inherits, and possesses that kingdom.

He who gave us grace will give us glory also.

· Psalm 84:11

We do not know a great deal about what awaits us in that kingdom; but we do know that...

1. Christ is there; sin is not.

2. Life is there; death is not.

3. Joy is there; sorrow is not.

4. Worship is there; weeping is not.

5. The Lord God will bring us into the kingdom he has prepared for us, at his appointed time.

· Some by Death (II Cor. 5:1-9).

· All by the Resurrection (I Cor. 15: 50-57).

Application: Where will you be in eternity?