[0:00] Take your Bibles and turn with me to Isaiah chapter 12 now. Isaiah chapter 12. I want to go with you through just little short six verses of Isaiah chapter 12. Isaiah chapter 12.
[0:11] And I want to talk to you about him being our strength and our song. And to be blunt honest, I am going to spend more time in the New Testament from the passage than maybe in the Old Testament.
[0:22] Though I could do it without showing you verses, but I want to show you verses. I really hope you'll get a sheet of paper and get your Bible out and look some things up because I want to encourage you. But I also want to help you know a little bit about salvation tonight.
[0:36] This might be, this might be, some of you that need to witness, you might need these verses. Read with me if you would Isaiah chapter 12 and verse 1. In that day, excuse me, that's my notes.
[0:48] And in that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee. Though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me.
[0:59] Father God in heaven, I pray that you would work and move in our midst. Help us as we learn the Bible. Help us as we understand more and more about what you say. And help us to apply it to our lives.
[1:11] And help us, dear God, to see you work in us. And I pray, dear God, that you would help us understand the salvation you gave us. And I pray, God, that you'd help your people to grow. And I'll give you glory and honor for all you do. In Jesus' name, amen.
[1:23] Okay, look at your Bible. Chapter 1, I want you to underline, in that day. Go to your Bible, underline, in that day. And then I want you to skip down to verse 4. And I want you to underline, in that day.
[1:34] Now that's important because in the context of Isaiah, we're talking about in that day. And in that day is the day that Jesus will come and actually set up his kingdom.
[1:45] The day the Jews are waiting for. Isaiah's preaching to him and he's saying, God is at work among us. And we have been in captivity. We've been mistreated. But there's a day coming when our great God will bring to pass all of his promises.
[2:00] And all you've been reading about in Isaiah up until now. And it'll be in that day. That's when he sets up the thousand-year reign. You'll just write that down somewhere. That was Revelation chapter 20, if you recall.
[2:12] It's all through the book of Isaiah as you've seen verse after verse about it. And then it says, when he sets up that kingdom, you'll notice it says, O Lord. You see, do you understand? Look at verse 1.
[2:22] It says, in that day thou shalt say, O Lord. This is a country that doesn't say, O Lord. This is a country that really doesn't say, O Lord. Israel has gotten hard against God. And Israel has pulled away from God.
[2:34] But in that day, God's people are going to say, O Lord. We know who you are. We recognize you. We honor you. Because Jesus is being set up in his kingdom.
[2:44] And then underlining that same verse, the whole verse. He said, and we will praise you. We will praise you. This is a nation that has stopped praising God.
[2:55] This is a nation that's been looking at other nations. This is a nation that's been looking at other gods. But now, in that day, when Jesus sets up his kingdom, Israel, who at this time doesn't even recognize Jesus, they will praise him.
[3:08] They'll acknowledge that he is Lord. Look at the same verse, if you would, chapter 12. Chapter 12 and verse 1, it says, It says, Thou wast angry with me. Thine anger is turned.
[3:20] So look at that verse online. Notice, thou wast angry. You know what that was? It was a seven-year tribulation period that you're going to learn a whole lot more about as we go through the Bible.
[3:31] You can't read the Bible without noticing this. When God came down and said, Israel, you haven't been honoring me. You haven't been respecting me. And I have brought about on you punishment. I'm shaking you to your foundation so you'll know who I am.
[3:44] And so you'll recognize me. So you'll say, oh, Lord, I will praise you. And so I have been angry. God was angry at a nation. And he tried to shake that nation and wake them up. But look at this.
[3:54] He is no longer angry. Because in that day, it's past the anger time. It's kingdom time now. He's gotten rid of those people that didn't love him. He's setting up his kingdom.
[4:05] Thine anger is turned away. And you are comforting us. Look at verse 4. You underlined in verse 4. In that day, in that day shall you say, praise the Lord. Call upon his name.
[4:17] Declare his doings among the people. Make mention that his name is exalted. Now Israel is being called on to pray to him. Being called on to call out to him.
[4:28] They're to tell everybody who he is and what he's doing. And how great he is. They're to make mention of his name. Israel doesn't do any of that now. But in that day. In that day, Jesus will be exalted.
[4:41] Jesus will return to the earth. Jesus will set up his kingdom. Jesus will win. And you will know that scriptures are true. You can be ready for whatever he has. Because you know what the scriptures say.
[4:53] And you know what he's going to do. I need you to understand something. And it's easy to look at the Bible and say, well, man, God's people totally walked away from him. And it looks like God really blew it.
[5:03] In the Old Testament, he just kind of shoved Israel to the side. And they're out of the picture. They're no good anymore. So now he's working on a new plan. Because plan A messed up. He's on plan B now. But here's what he's saying in Isaiah. Oh, no, I'm not on plan B.
[5:14] I got plan A still in effect. And Israel's coming back. And I will be king. And I will be exalted. Now that's what the whole lesson's really about. Isaiah chapter 12 is about Isaiah saying to them, I've been preaching to you for 11 chapters.
[5:28] I've been fussing at you for 11 chapters. In chapter 11, I told you that a root of David, a branch was going to come up. That was Jesus. I told you that. And this day is coming when Jesus will be elevated.
[5:41] Now I want you to go with me back to chapter 12 in verse 1. And I want you to go through this passage with me. And I want us to go over salvation for a few minutes. Because it is one book.
[5:52] From the book of Genesis all the way to the book of Revelation, it's one book. We all understand that, right? In other words, the whole book was written by one fellow. There's one author to 66 books. If you understand that, say amen.
[6:03] The author is the Holy Spirit. These are the words of God. These guys didn't say what they wanted to say. God spoke to them. God gave them the words. So we have all these words. So when I'm reading in the Old Testament, sometimes I see a picture.
[6:14] And I'm like, what's going on here? But when I get to the New Testament, all of a sudden this makes sense. Here's a good one for you. You can't understand the New Testament without the Old Testament. It is impossible to understand the New Testament without the Old Testament.
[6:28] And in the passage of Scripture, in fact, it is in my Sunday school class this morning in Galatians chapter 3. I showed them very clearly. You just don't even get it if you don't know Old Testament. And so I want you to realize he talks about salvation here.
[6:42] Now, if you look at this verse, look at Isaiah chapter 12, verses 1 and 2. The Bible says, In that day thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee. Though thou was angry with me, thine anger is turned away.
[6:53] Thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. For the Lord, Jehovah, is my strength and my song. He has become my salvation.
[7:04] Now, when Isaiah wrote that, he is really not talking about us. And he's not talking about eternal life. He's talking about how God rescues Israel. Israel has been thrown into captivity.
[7:16] Israel is scattered all over the globe. Israel is not God's chosen people. They are not being treated like God's chosen people. And Isaiah said, but let me explain to you. God still has a plan. And in that day, you'll see it come to fruition.
[7:28] You'll see God pull it off. And then you'll all say, boy, God really did come through. God did rescue us. God did save us. God did build our country again. God really did fulfill all of his words.
[7:39] But at the same time, this verse is like a perfect picture of our salvation. It's like a perfect picture of our salvation. I want you to go with me, if you would, to Romans chapter 2 and verse 5. You do understand, when it says here, you were angry with me.
[7:54] I need you to understand something. God is angry with sin. God hates sin.
[8:06] Sin will be judged. It's easy for us to act like, well, it's not that big a deal. We're Baptists and we've kind of accepted Jesus and we're on our way to heaven. But other people doing their own thing and everybody's got their own opinions.
[8:18] That is totally not biblically true. Look with me, if you would, at Romans chapter 2 and verse 5. He's angry when people refuse to submit to him, to recognize him, to honor him, and they store up his wrath.
[8:34] Jews stored it up and you could if you're not a believer. And I know this is a Sunday night and I'm 99% sure almost all of you are saved. But look what it says. But after thy hardness and impenitent heart, you treasure up unto yourself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.
[8:55] If I were reading that verse right now, I'd want to say, do I have a hard heart that doesn't listen to God? Have I rejected God as he spoke to my heart? Now, if you're a born again person, you have accepted him.
[9:06] But there are lost people all over the world and you might have family members that are like hard against God and they won't accept the gospel. And you just feel real bad about it and you kind of think, well, God would never do it.
[9:18] In Romans chapter 2 and verse 5, he said, no, they are treasuring up to themselves wrath. This ought to scare us to death. My son, my daughter, my brother, my sister, my mother, my daddy, my neighbor, my friend who rejects Jesus isn't rejecting my church, isn't rejecting my doctrine.
[9:38] They're rejecting eternal life. And they are bringing righteous judgment on themselves. And we don't like that. But the Bible's full of it.
[9:50] Next verse I want to give you about this. He was angry. You need to understand he's angry with sin. In Matthew chapter 25 and verse 46, Jesus said, and these shall go away into everlasting punishment.
[10:03] But the righteous into life eternal. And I want you to underline in chapter 25 and verse 46, everlasting punishment. You understand that if a person doesn't get saved, they will not go to a place called purgatory.
[10:20] They will not go to a place that will clean them up and knock off the rough edges and get them right. And then God will accept them. They will go to a place in the verse of everlasting punishment.
[10:30] That's quite unpopular today. It's quite not accepted today. In this verse, the Jewish people, Isaiah says, hey, he was angry, but he's not angry anymore. And I can say he was angry, but he's not angry anymore with me and you because we're born again.
[10:45] But you need to understand this is a real deal here. He was, there will be everlasting punishment. Look at Romans chapter 1 and verse 18. The Bible says, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness.
[11:09] That's a hard verse. That's a very hard verse. The wrath of God. We want to say he's a loving God. He is a loving God. But if you hold the truth in unrighteousness, if you mock the truth of the God of heaven, if our family members mock the truth of the God of heaven, the wrath of God will be revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.
[11:39] Revelation 19. We're going to get to the happy part in a minute. But you shouldn't get happy until you've gotten sad. You shouldn't realize, you'll never realize how bright the light is until you realize how dark the dark is.
[11:51] In Revelation chapter 19 and verse 15, out of his mouth, this is talking about Jesus, goes a sharp sword that with it he would smite the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
[12:08] The fierceness and the wrath of Almighty God. Can we be honest with ourselves and realize there really is a hell? Can we realize that our own family members may experience this eternal, everlasting punishment, this wrath of God if they don't come to know Jesus?
[12:26] That's why we're going to pray. That's why we're going to witness. That's why we're going to share the gospel. Because God doesn't want that to happen. But that is what it says. In Hebrews chapter 10 and verse 31, it says, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God.
[12:41] It's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. I just want to, you don't understand. I want you to learn the Bible.
[12:51] I want you to know Jesus. But I don't want you to know facts. I don't want you to feel your head up. I want your heart to be bursted with this. Here's the whole thing. There really is a lake of fire. In my Bible reading this morning before church, it's a straight gate and few that find it.
[13:07] It's a straight gate and few that find it. In other words, it's hard and tight and straight and narrow to get into the gate of heaven. You've got to get there and there's only one way you can get there.
[13:18] And that's through Jesus Christ. And we need to understand hell is real. We need to understand our family members will go to hell.
[13:29] We need to understand our neighbors and our friends will go to hell. We tend to back up like, I don't want to offend anybody. Are you crazy? You don't want to offend them when you know good and well that if they don't get saved, they're going to go to hell, they'll already be offended.
[13:42] We need to understand there really is a hell. The second thing you saw in chapter 12 and verse 1 of Isaiah, which I think is a beautiful picture of our salvation. It says, though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away.
[13:56] And his anger is turned away. For anybody and everybody on the whole planet, he's already done everything that needs to be done for everybody, everywhere to get saved because Jesus suffered for our sins.
[14:09] Look at 1 Peter 3 and verse 18. This is the good news. This is the exciting news. This is what we want to go out and tell people. This is why we want to have services. This is why when they come in here and they hear the gospel, we want to be praying for them because we want them to realize we're not playing a game.
[14:24] We're not going through a religious activity. This is not some ritual. It's heaven or hell. 1 Peter 3 and verse 18. Sin required a sacrifice.
[14:51] Sin required suffering. Sin requires God's judgment. And Jesus suffered for our sins.
[15:03] Can I get an amen right there? I'm going to get to go to heaven today because I deserve to go to hell. I deserve to go to hell. It's my, it's my, it's, it's, it's only a blessing that I'm not going to hell because Jesus took my payment.
[15:16] In 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21, he said, he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God. I really need you to underline this in your Bible.
[15:27] I need you to open your Bible to this verse. Go to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21. But you need to understand this. I'm sin. I deserve hell. My sin is so horrible and so wicked that if God throws me into hell, that God in heaven would have every right to do so because I am a hard-hearted and penitent guy who, without his mercy, without his grace would go to hell, but God saved me.
[15:49] And God saved you. And what happened is Jesus took and he, God made Jesus sin so he could make me righteousness. I need you to open your Bible and I want you to circle in the verse in him.
[16:01] You need in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 21 to make sure you've circled in him. There's only one way that that ever happens and that's in Jesus. It is Jesus who died for our sins.
[16:12] It's Jesus that paid our sin debt. I'm going to tell you something. Popular Christianity today, you're never going to hear this. Popular Christianity today, you're going to hear how to have your best life now.
[16:22] Popular Christianity, they're going to tell you how you can lose weight, how you can quit smoking, how you can get rich, whatever they're going to tell you. But the Bible's pretty clear. People are going to die and go to hell.
[16:35] And Jesus died so nobody had to. 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 24. God loves us. And he made provision for our sin.
[16:47] Who, his own self, bear our sins in his own body on the tree. That we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness by whose stripes you were healed.
[17:00] 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 24. He carried my sins. So when it comes time to sing one of those songs about how we come to him and how he saved us and how he died for us, you need to know the reality of that.
[17:15] You need to see that as real and true in your life. Jesus carried our sins. He died on a cross when he didn't deserve to, to pay my sin debt.
[17:27] Well, I deserve hell. God is angry with sin. But Jesus carried the sin debt of everybody so that we can all be saved. And the people sitting in this room, I'm sure that almost every one of you, if not every one of you, know that you'd go to heaven if you died.
[17:42] But people all around the world don't know. And on a Sunday morning when they come in here and they're visiting our church and we're like, we'd like to have you join. We want you to give money. We want you to attend things. We want our numbers to go. Oh, no, we don't.
[17:53] We want them to go to heaven when they die. We want them to know Jesus as their Savior. We're not looking at filling up a room. We're not looking at getting bigger offerings. We're looking at people that are dying and going to hell and saying, Jesus loves you.
[18:05] That means they've got to have a smile when they come in here. That means they've got to have a handshake when they come in here. That means they need to drop their guard because there's so much friendliness in the room. And there's so much of eagerness on your part to know them that they'll listen to the gospel and be saved.
[18:21] Look at Isaiah chapter 12 and verse 3. And in that day, thou shalt say, O Lord, I will praise thee. Though thou wast angry with me, that's with Israel actually, thine anger is turned away.
[18:35] That'll be because Jesus is coming to set up his kingdom and thou comfortest me. I want to talk to you about how he comforts us real quick. I'll just give you three verses. You know all of them, but let's look at them anyway. Number one, Romans chapter 5 and verse 1.
[18:47] You need to go look at this verse.
[19:04] You need to mark it in your Bible. Look at this. Therefore, being justified by faith. I realized that I could never do enough to get saved. I realized that no matter how many times I came to church, no matter how many times I started doing good stuff and stopped doing bad stuff, I knew I'd never make it in my own ability.
[19:22] Robert preached it very well. We could never measure up. Only through Jesus can we measure up. So in Romans chapter 5 and verse 1, the Bible says we are justified by faith and we have peace with God.
[19:36] Now why would you need peace with God? Because he was angry with sin. Because God in heaven said you sin and you rebelled and you don't believe in me and you don't accept me.
[19:47] And because you don't, there is a place called hell. There is eternal punishment. The Bible's full of it. We can never forget that. It can't be ho-hum to you. It can't be ho-hum to you.
[19:59] There is a hell. Look at what it says. Through our Lord Jesus Christ. You should underline that. How do I have peace with God? Through Jesus. Not through the church.
[20:10] Not through my offerings. Not through being a good guy. But through Jesus. Verse 2, we have access by faith. Access by faith into this grace. That's how I get saved.
[20:21] That's how I get forgiveness. By faith through grace. Into his grace. Go with me if you would to Colossians chapter 2 and verse 13. He's comforting us now. He's saying, Austin, things were pretty rocky between me and you, buddy.
[20:35] You deserved hell, but I died for you and you trusted me, so let me just comfort you. We're at peace now. There's a peace between me and God. There's a peace between you and God. Because you now know your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life.
[20:47] You now know that you're on your way to heaven. You now know that your sins have been forgiven. And we have peace with God. Can I get an amen out of that? I mean, you should be able to go to bed tonight. And when you lay down and go to bed and pull the cover up about you, you should be able to go to sleep and say, If I die before I wake, I know the Lord my soul will take.
[21:04] And he'll take me to heaven because I've been born again. I have peace. I have peace. Which is coming up in verse 2. And I'm probably not getting there, but I'm going to try. Look at Delosians 2.13. You being dead in sins and in uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses.
[21:22] Chapter 2, verse 13. You know where we were? We were separated from God. We were a long ways from God. There was great distance between me and God because God was right and I was wrong.
[21:34] And because I chose to disobey God. But the God of heaven came down to me and died on the cross for me and the Holy Spirit of God convicted me of my sin. And then he said this, Hey, he quickened you.
[21:44] You were dead. He gave you life. And all of a sudden I woke up and I said, Man, I want to know you, Jesus. Boy, we got to pray when they come in. We got to pray God deal with people. Let the song that they sing is a special.
[21:56] Get into their heart. Let the preaching get into their heart. Let the devotions get into their heart. Let everything we're doing touch hearts. Chapter 2, verse 14. He's comforting us, blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us.
[22:11] So up in heaven, God's like, Here's a list of everything you did, Austin. Here's a list and you ought to go to hell. And then he erases all of it. Then I don't have time for it, but he nails it to his cross. And he says, If anybody comes by asking about the junk you did, you tell them I wiped it out and nailed it to the cross.
[22:26] They can go look at it. I took care of it. That's how I'm going to go to heaven. That's how I got peace. Through Jesus and what he did on the cross of Calvary. He took away everything contrary to us. He took it out of the way and he nailed it to his cross.
[22:38] In Romans chapter 8 and verse 1, it says, There's no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus. I will never, ever hear God say, You're not going to heaven. What comfort.
[22:49] You were angry, but you're not angry anymore. Your anger is turned away and you comfort. And the way he was talking to Israel, he was talking to them about getting into the kingdom and Jesus setting up his kingdom. That's exactly what happened in my life.
[23:02] I'm just going to tell you something. I think, though, if you didn't ever realize you was a sinner, I think that if you just think that you, as a little kid, you prayed some little prayer and you never really saw I needed Jesus.
[23:15] You need to be real careful with that. It was hard for me for a long time to admit I was a sinner. It was kind of like, you know, nobody was brought up like me. I was a deacon's kid. I never missed church.
[23:27] If anybody ought to get to go to heaven, it ought to be me. But here's what the scriptures say. All have sinned. That includes you, Austin. And Jesus says, through him, all can be saved.
[23:40] I have three minutes and I'm going to just throw this next thing at you and I'll leave out the last part of the verse. But go with me to Isaiah chapter 12 and verse 2. When you realize he is your salvation, when you realize he was angry and not angry and comforts you, then you ought to get this.
[23:54] You can know peace. You do not have to be afraid. Chapter 12, verse 2. Behold, God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. I will trust and not be afraid.
[24:07] For the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song. He also has become my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid. Because I know who God is.
[24:17] I will trust and I will not be afraid. Now I need you to look up here and listen just a second. Death is going to face all of us. And death is going to come and take some of our children.
[24:28] Death is going to come and take some of our spouses. Death is going to come and take us. Death is going to come and get your parents. Death is a reality. And humans are terrified of death. You don't have to be terrified of death.
[24:39] Because when you know Jesus, you know who holds the keys to death and hell. You know who has power over the grave. You know who died for us. And you know I can trust. I will trust.
[24:50] And I will not be afraid. If I had time, I'd go into this with you. But too many of us let fear run our life. We go around all the time afraid of everything.
[25:01] We're afraid of the economy. We're afraid of what's going to happen when the economy crashes. We're afraid of what's going to happen when a country does this or that. We're afraid of all the news. I mean, and if you watch the news, it's enough to keep you torn up pretty good.
[25:13] But here's the deal you have. I'll trust. And I will not be afraid. Why would you trust and not be afraid, Austin? Because I know the God of heaven.
[25:24] I know the God in charge of it all. I know the God with all the power over it all. And I know that the God I serve said that perfect love casts out fear. He said that fear had torment.
[25:36] He doesn't want me to fear. He wants me to enjoy peace and to get comfort from him. So tonight, if you're here and you're not saved, you're not sure of that, you ought to get sure.
[25:48] That's the most important thing of all. You know what bothers me? I'm just blunt honest. Departure from script. It scares me to death that I come in here and do the best I can just to teach Bible.
[26:01] And that you would take that as an academic thing just bothers me to no end. That you'd say, man, we're learning all about Isaiah. Now we're in Isaiah. Our church, we really study the Bible. Big whoop. It's not about knowing the Pharisees' new stuff.
[26:15] It's got to be applied stuff. Can I get an amen? Amen? It's got to be real in your heart that you're a sinner, that you deserve to go to hell, that Jesus died for you, that he made a difference in your life. And now you might brag and say, man, we go to church.
[26:26] We've been through Genesis all the way through. We're in Ezra now, glory to God. We've already been through all the minor prophets. We've covered so much Bible. Who cares if it's not real to you?
[26:37] It's got to be real to you. Are you saved? And if you are saved, let me just tell you what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid we'll not be evangelistic. I'm afraid we won't tell our neighbors.
[26:49] I'm afraid we won't be concerned. I'm afraid when I give the invitation, you know what you ought to be thinking? Austin, don't stop that invitation. I've got a friend here who could get saved if you'd not cut off the invitation.
[26:59] Instead, you might be thinking, one verse, let's get out of here. You finish preaching, dump it, let's go. That's not what we're here for. We're here for people to know Jesus. It's got to be our heart.
[27:09] It's got to be our heart. And then my next thing is, why are you living with fear? Why are you worried about everything? You don't have to worry. You don't have to worry.
[27:20] You don't have to be afraid of what's going on. You know who you trust. Do you know who you trust? Do you know that you'd go to heaven if you died? Have you learned to get your heart and mind in line with what Scripture says?
[27:33] Bringing all thoughts into captivity to obey God? That's what He's calling on you to do tonight.