Sermon
#1458[1]
Miscellaneous Sermons
Title: Don’t Ever Forget!
Text: Isaiah
51:1
Subject: A Needful Reminder of What God Has Done For Us By His Grace
Date: Wednesday Evening –
Tape #
Introduction:
The title of my message tonight is Don’t Ever Forget! I know that Paul admonishes us to
forget those things, which are behind and reach forth unto those things, which
are before. Certainly in a sense we must do that. We must forget past
experiences, past works and past religious feelings, services, and sacrifices.
In so far as our hope before God is concerned, in so far as our assurance of a
saving interest in Christ is concerned, we must forget the past altogether.
Trust Christ now, as if you had never trusted him before. Seek him now, as if
you had never sought him before.
Yet, there are some things
we must always strive to remember, some things we must try to always keep
vividly before our hearts and minds. There are some things we must never
forget.
1. We must never forget the
price of our redemption (John 3:14-16; 2 Cor. 5:21).
[John 3:14-16] "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: [15] That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
eternal life. [16] For God so loved the world, that
he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life."
[2 Corinthians 5:21] "For he hath made him to be sin
for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in
him."
2. We must never forget what
God has done for us (1 John 3:1).
[1 John 3:1]
"Behold, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the
world knoweth us not, because it knew him not."
3. We must never forget what we
are by nature and what God has saved us from, by his
almighty grace – (1 Cor. 6:9-11).
[1 Corinthians 1:26-31] "For ye see your calling, brethren, how
that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are
called: [27] But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to
confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty; [28] And base things of the world, and
things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are
not, to bring to nought things that are: [29] That no flesh should glory
in his presence. [30] But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is
made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
[31] That, according as it is written, He that
glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."
[1 Corinthians 6:9-11] "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the
Proposition: In our text tonight the Lord
God himself calls us to remember where we were, what we are by nature, and how
that he has saved us by his almighty grace – (Isa. 51:1).
[Isaiah 51:1]
"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek
the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the
pit whence ye are digged."
I. Here
is A Very Needful Call That Should Never Be Needed At All! – “Hearken to Me!”
The One speaking in this text is the Lord
God himself, our Savior. He is calling for us to pay attention to him, to
listen to him, to remember him and to remember what he has done for us. What a sad
fact this reveals! You and I, who should always be filled with vivid, living,
relentless, ever-increasing thoughts of Christ, have a terrible tendency to
neglect him and become indifferent to him (Song 5:2).
[Song of Songs 5:2-6] "I sleep, but my heart waketh: it is the
voice of my beloved that knocketh, saying, Open
to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is filled with
dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. [3] I have put off
my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
[4] My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my
bowels were moved for him. [5] I rose up to open to my beloved; and my
hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling
myrrh, upon the handles of the lock. [6] I opened to my beloved; but my
beloved had withdrawn himself, and was gone: my
soul failed when he spake: I sought him, but I could not find him; I called
him, but he gave me no answer."
If I speak falsely against you, forgive me. But I find that it is
the common lot of God’s people in this world to experience much of this
spiritual languishing. Few live on mountain tops. Most of us spend much time in
deep valleys, walking in darkness (Isa. 50:10).
[Isaiah 50:10] "Who is among you that feareth
the LORD, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh
in darkness, and hath no light? let him
trust in the name of the LORD, and stay upon his God."
We should never neglect our God and Savior; but often we do. So he
says, “Hearken to me!”
II. The
Lord God here Describes and Identifies His People. -- “Hearken to me, ye that
follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord!”
By these two things God distinguishes his people from all other
people. These two things separate true believers from mere religious
professors.
A.
The believer is a person who follows
after righteousness.
1. He does not follow after the
righteousness of the law, because he knows that righteousness can never be
found in or attained by the law (Gal.
[Galatians 2:21] "I do not frustrate the grace of God:
for if righteousness come by the law,
then Christ is dead in vain."
2. We seek the righteousness of
God in Christ and pursue that, without which we cannot see the Lord (Heb.
[Hebrews 12:14] "Follow peace with all men, and
holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:"
·
Imputed Righteousness.
·
Imparted Righteousness.
·
He who has righteousness seeks and follows hard after righteousness –
He who has no righteousness presumes that he has everything he needs – (Phil.
3:8-14).
[Philippians 3:8-14] "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but
loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom
I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that
I may win Christ, [9] And be found in him, not having mine own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: [10] That I may know
him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings,
being made conformable unto his death; [11] If by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead. [12] Not as though I had
already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I
may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. [13] Brethren,
I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are
before, [14] I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus."
3. The believer follows a path
and a career of righteousness. – That is the direction in which his life
generally flows. Believers are the servants of righteousness (Rom.
·
The Rule by which we live is The Word
of God.
·
The Example we Follow is Jesus Christ –
(John
·
The Test by
which we seek to determine our actions is the Glory of God and Love for Our
Brethren.
B.
The believer is a person who seeks
the Lord.
We presume nothing! We have not yet attained! We have not yet
apprehended that for which we have been apprehended. We have not yet gotten
what we desire. We have not yet arrived. We seek the
Lord Jesus Christ!
1. We know our need of him.
2. We know that all fullness is
in him.
3. We seek him for salvation
and life, grace and strength, righteousness and peace – All Things (1 Cor.
4. We Seek
him earnestly, where he is to be found.
·
In His Word!
·
In His House!
5. We seek his communion, his
fellowship, his favor and his approval.
III.
Our
text also Describes the Saving Operations of God’s Grace.
Notice how God describes the salvation, which he performs.
[Isaiah 51:1]
"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek
the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the
pit whence ye are digged."
A.
We were hewn from the rock
of human depravity, by the hammer of omnipotent grace.
·
We did not break ourselves from the rock. God broke us from it.
·
We did not fall from the rock. We were hewn from it.
·
We did not gradually evolve from the rock. We were hewn from it, with
the violence of God’s omnipotent hand!
B.
We were dug from the pit of
human corruption, death, and degradation by the hand of God’s irresistible,
immaculate mercy.
·
Genesis 6:5
·
Jeremiah 17:9
·
Mark 7:21-23
[Genesis 6:5]
"And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the
earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only
evil continually."
[Jeremiah 17:9] "The heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
[Mark 7:21-23] "For from within, out of the heart of
men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, [22] Thefts,
covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy,
pride, foolishness: [23] All these evil things come from within, and defile
the man."
Your heart and mine is by nature as black at the heart of Judas.
Whatever sin there is, has been or shall be in this world is in your heart and
mine by nature. The germ of all evil is in us all. It does not matter who your
parents are, that which is born of the flesh is flesh. Corruption brings forth
corruption. It can never give birth to purity!
C.
The history of our race,
when honestly read, is a history of corruption and depravity.
·
Wars!
·
Persecutions!
·
Ambition!
·
Greed!
·
Debauchery!
D.
Things have not changed in
our day of enlightenment, education, and reason!
If you care to see how far we have advanced above the
cannibalistic barbarians of
·
Self-serving Politicians and Preachers.
·
Adultery, Fornication, and Rape.
·
Rioting, Murder, and Abortion.
·
Homosexuality, Pedophilia, and Cannibalism. – (Jeffery Dalmer)
·
These reprobate practices men and women want to protect and promote by
law, while they fret about protecting frogs, trees, and worms!
E.Take a good
look at the state and condition you were in when God saved you by his grace.
1. Many of us prodigals were
saved from the hog pen of corruption.
2. You who were less vile in
practice were no less vile in heart. – Providential restraints kept you from
behaving as you desired.
Illustration: The Caged Lion
F. Look at the pit in which the lost and the damned now
suffer the wrath of God.
1. There I would be tonight,
had God not saved me by his grace.
2. You would be in hell now, if
the Lord had not kept you from destruction.
G.
But the most vivid reminder
I have of the rock from whence I have been hewn and the hole of the pit from
whence I have been dug is the present corruption of my depraved heart!
I thank God for his forgiveness of my sin and for the imputed
righteousness that is mine in Christ. I thank God for a new nature, a principle
of grace that he has established in me, causing me to truly love him and love
righteousness. But there is a real warfare in my soul. (Rom.
[Romans 7:14-25] "For we know that the law is spiritual:
but I am carnal, sold under sin. [15] For that which I do I allow not:
for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do
[Galatians 5:17] "For the flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the
other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would."
Illustration: David
– Psalm 73
IV.
Now, looking to the rock whence we are hewn and the hole of the pit
whence we are digged, I
want us to Learn some things by the Grace of God.
I pray that God the Holy Spirit will teach us these lessons and
seal them to our hearts.
A. You and I
ought to be
a humble people.
Pride ought not exist in us. God hates
pride! We have nothing about us that is more despicable than pride.
[1 Corinthians 4:7] "For who maketh thee
to differ from another? and what
hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou
didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?"
·
Pride of Race!
·
Pride of Place!
·
Pride of Grace!
D
This look ought to encourage
us!
·
With regard to Our Own Salvation.
·
With regard to the Souls of Others.
C
We ought to be kind and
tender to others.
·
To Our Brethren in Christ (Eph.
·
To Our Brethren in Adam (
D We ought to be faithful to Christ, our God and
Savior (
Application:
1. No sinner is beyond the
reach of God’s almighty arm.
2. Remember what God has done
for you!
Illustration:
My
Remembrance Room!
Don’t ever forget! AMEN.