Sermon #237 Series:
Isaiah
Title: “A BLESSING IS IN IT”
Text: Isaiah 65:8-10
Reading: Off. Buddy Daugherty Aud. Merle Hart
Subject: God’s Elect Remnant
Date: Sunday Evening - April 28, 1996
Tape # S-48
Introduction:
In the first part of this chapter the
Lord God told the people of Israel why he would destroy them and their nation.
In doing so he declared to us the cause of reprobation and judgment. The cause
of reprobation and judgment is man’s willful rejection of God and his truth.
·
Romans 1:20-28
Now, lest true believers should be
overwhelmed by God’s denunciation of the nation and distressed by the foregoing
prophecy of his wrath, in verses 8-10 he promises to preserve and save an elect
remnant from the general ruin of the nations of this world.
Isaiah
65:8-10 "Thus saith the LORD,
As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not
destroy them all. (9) And I will
bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains:
and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. (10) And Sharon shall be a fold of
flocks, and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my
people that have sought me."
These verses are expounded by the
apostle Paul in Romans 11:1-5. There the apostle asks, “Hath God cast away his people?” Then he answers the question by
saying, “God forbid! For...at this
present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”
Proposition: The unbelief
of men will never make the purpose and promise of God according to election of
none effect (Rom. 3:3-4).
The title of my message tonight is
found in verse eight - “A Blessing is in
It.” Does anyone ask, “Why did God not destroy the entire nation of Israel?
Why do some survive unto this day?” Do any ask, “Why has God not yet destroyed
this nation and the rest of the world?” We live in such a wicked, perverse,
degenerate society that anyone who reads the Bible has to wonder. Our society
is so degenerate that I do not doubt it would make Sodom and Gomorah blush. If
God destroyed those cities, why does he allow us to continue? Here is the
answer - “A Blessing is in It.” Let
me show you.
Divisions: Hold your
Bibles open at Isaiah 65:8-10. I want you to see three things in these
three verses. Here are three lessons the Holy Spirit here
teaches us.
1. The blessing of God is often found in that which appears to
be good for nothing (v. 8).
2. God’s elect shall inherit all things with Christ (v. 9).
3. Grace experienced and possessed in the soul here is the
pledge and hope of everlasting glory hereafter (v. 10).
I. The blessing of God is often
found in that which appears to be good for nothing.
Isaiah 65:8 "Thus saith
the LORD, As the new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not; for a blessing is in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I may not
destroy them all."
Get the picture that is drawn before
us here. When a gardener is about to cut down a dried up vine, or about to
prune away some of its unfruitful branches, the owner of the vineyard passes by
and notices a cluster of new grapes on it. When he does, he cries out to the
vinedresser, “Destroy it not; for a
blessing is in it!” It looked worthless. It appeared to be needlessly
occupying space. Ugly and dried up, the gardener would have cut it down and
would have thought that was the only thing to be done with it. Nothing in the
field is uglier than a dried up vine. But the owner saw a blessing in that
which appeared to be worthless.
The Holy Spirit does not leave us
there, forcing us to draw out the parallel that is most applicable. He gives us
the parallel. Do you see it? “So will I
do for my servants’ sakes, that I may not destroy them all.”
Note: Both the chosen and the reprobate are referred to as “my servants” because all men, indeed
all things are the servants of our God (prov. 16:4).
A. God’s elect in this world are
the blessing hidden among the nations of the world for which he preserves them.
Read 2 Peter 3:9 one more time. "The
Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is
longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance." The only reason why God does not destroy
this world right now is this - There is
yet a remnant according to the election of grace who must be saved. Everything
God does in this world is for the elect’s sake. Every benefit of providential
mercy that reprobate men enjoy in time is because there lives among them God’s
elect, of whom he says, “Destroy it not;
for a blessing is in it.”
This is not my opinion. This is what
God says. “So will I do for my servants’
sakes.” Once Noah (the blessing) was safely in the ark, God destroyed the
rest of the world. Once Lot (the blessing) was delivered unto Zoar, God
destroyed Sodom. Joshua and Caleb (the blessings) entered into the land of
promise, though all those who came out of Egypt with them perished under the
wrath of God. The rest of the world exists and is used by God for his elect, the blessing in it (Isa. 43:1-5).
In this particular text the reference
is to these gospel days. It is a prophecy of the fact that there would be few
among the Jews in our Lord’s day and today who would called by the grace of God
and brought into a saving union with Christ. Indeed, among the nations of the
world God’s elect are always a remnant, few among many.
·
Matthew 22:14
B. Certainly, this eighth verse
is also a declaration that wherever the blessing of God’s grace is found in a
sinner’s heart it shall not be destroyed.
1. Like new wine in the grape, grace is a new thing in the
heart of man.
2. Like new wine, grace is delightful both to God who gives it
and to man who profits by it.
3. Like new wine in the cluster must be pressed out, so all
grace must be tried.
4. But the grace of God, once bestowed and wrought, in a
sinner’s heart cannot be destroyed.
·
Ecclesasiastes 3:14
·
Romans 11:29
C. Frequently
the object of God’s grace, the blessing of God in the earth, is found in that
which we consider worthless.
1. God often gathers jewels for his crown among those who
are counted the off-scouring of the earth.
·
I Corinthians 1:26-30
·
The Woman who was
Sinner
·
The Prodigal
·
The Rich Man and
Lazarus
·
William Huntington
·
John Newton
2. These chosen ones scattered throughout the earth are a
people concerning whom the Lord God says, “Destroy
them not.”
·
God the Father says, “Destroy them not,” for he has loved
them, chosen them, and found a ransom for them.
·
God the Son says, “Destroy them not,” for he has redeemed
them by his blood.
·
God the Holy Spirit
says, “Destroy them not,” for he has
pledged to regenerate them and make them the willing servants of the Most High.
II. God’s
elect shall inherit all things with Christ.
Let’s look at
verse 9 line by line. Everything in this verse has a double application. It
speaks first of Christ and then of God’s elect in Christ.
A. “And I will bring forth a seed out of
Jacob.”
1. This must be applied to Christ.
He is the
Seed of woman, the Seed of Abraham, and the Seed of David. He sprang from
Jacob, out of the tribe of Judah. He is very beautifully represented as a cluster of grapes in which the new
wine of all the blessings of God and his grace are found.
·
Clusters of divine
perfections are in him (Col. 2:9).
·
Clusters of grace are
in him (Eph, 1:3).
·
Clusters of promises
are in him yea and amen (II Cor. 1:20).
·
Jesus Christ is that
Seed in whom all the nations of the earth are blessed (Gal. 3:16).
2. Yet these words have an application to God’s elect in
Christ.
We who
believe are God’s chosen seed in him, brought forth out of Jacob and Judah, for
we are one with Christ. The grace of God in us is as a cluster of new wine.
·
The Benefits of Grace
(Eph. 1:3-14)
·
The Fruit of Grace
(Gal. 5:22-23).
B. “And out of Judah,” God says, I will bring forth “an inheritor of my mountains.”
1.
Certainly, this is true of Christ.
He who is the inheritor of all things
(Heb. 1:2) is the inheritor of God’s mountains.
a. Christ is the inheritor of all things by nature as the Son
of God, the Creator of all things.
b. He is the inheritor of all things by divine appointment as
our Mediator (John 17:2).
c. The Lord Jesus Christ has all creation, all things, all men,
all angels, and all devils in his hands (Matt. 20:15).
d.
And he has
inherited all the blessings of the heavenly inheritance as the Forerunner for
his people (Heb. 6:20).
2.
Yet all God’s elect are also heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ.
·
Romans 8:17
·
John 17:5, 22
·
All the Blessings and
Benefits of the Covenant.
·
All the Fullness of
God’s Grace.
·
All the Perfection of
Righteousness.
·
All the Bliss, Glory,
Happiness, and Fullness of Heaven.
Note: God’s mountains
speak of those mountains upon which Jerusalem and his temple were built. They
represent the fullness of heaven’s glory, both the throne of God and the temple
of his presence.
C. And mine elect shall inherit it.”
Christ is God’s first and chief Elect.
We were chosen in him by the grace of God unto eternal glory. That is the
meaning of the next line “And my servants shall dwell there.”
1. God’s people are his servants.
2. They shall dwell in his holy mountains, in his churches in
this world.
3.
And they shall
dwell in his holy mountains of everlasting glory.
III. Grace experienced and
possessed in the soul here is the pledge and hope of everlasting glory
hereafter.
Isaiah
65:10 "And Sharon shall be a fold of flocks,
and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people
that have sought me."
Sharon was a rich, fertile land around
Joppa and Lydda in which shepherds found rich pastures for their herds and
flocks (I Chron. 27:29). Perhaps this is a prophecy of the conversion of some
in those parts which was fulfilled during apostolic times (Acts 9:35). There
Christ had his sheep; and there he established a fold for his sheep.
I rather think that Sharon is to be
looked upon allegorically, representing the Word of God and the ordinances of
the gospel, which are green pastures for Christ’s sheep (Psa. 23:1-2).
The valley of Achor was the place
where Achan was stoned because of his sin. This the Lord promises shall be
given to his people for a door of hope (Hos. 2:15). Here, in this land of
destruction, death, and sin, the Lord God gives us hope.
The valley of Achor was also the very
first spot of ground upon which the children of Israel set their feet after
crossing over the Jordan River into the land of promise. As such, it represents
the beginnings of salvation and grace in us, the earnest and firstfruits of the
Spirit, which is the pledge, promise, and hope of glory to come.
·
Ephesians 1:13-14
·
Ephesians 4:30
Grace experienced and possessed in the heart is the pledge
of everlasting glory with Christ.
This promise
from God is for a specific people. It is given “for my people that have sought
me.” Notice how these people to whom God gives this door of hope are
described by him.
·
They are called “My People.”
·
They are a people “Which have Sought Me.”
·
These are the people
who have been sought and found by God’s almighty grace (v. 1).
Application:
Now, as we prepare to once more
receive the Lord’s Table, let me call your attention to the sevenfold description here given of
God’s saints in this world. Starting at verse ten and going back up to verse
eight, we are described as...
1. His People - His because he adopted us in Christ.
2. His Flock - Christ is our Shepherd.
3. His Servants - Christ is our Master.
4. His Elect - Chosen in Everlasting Love!
5. The Inheritor of His Mountains - Heirs of Heaven’s Fullness
and Glory with Christ!.
6. His Seed - A Seed sprung from Christ, the Son of God.
7. A Blessing in this Reprobate World - A Blessing because
Blessed of God.
God’s people are “blessings to the
places where they live; and sometimes God spares whole cities and nations for
the sakes of a few such men. How ambitious we should be of this honor, not only
to be distinguished from others, but serviceable to others!” Matthew
Henry