Title: Why God Saves by Grace
Text: Isaiah 48: 9-11
Date: July 8, 2012
Place: SGBC, New Jersey
The love and grace of God toward his elect never changes. The purpose of God according to election shall
stand because his grace is not based on any works performed by the objects of
his love, but solely according to the unchangeable will and immutable grace of
Jehovah that calleth. Those our God
loved from everlasting, he loves everlastingly.
The love of God toward his elect is sovereign, unchangeable love.
Psalm 94: 14: For the LORD will not cast off his people,
neither will he forsake his inheritance.
God sent Israel into Babylon because of
her great sin not to destroy her in wrath, but to refine her in mercy. But there was nothing in them to merit his
mercy and grace. (Isaiah 48: 4, 8) So why did God show them mercy? Why does he show, you and I, his erring
children mercy?
Isaiah 48: 9: For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger, and for
my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. 10: Behold, I have
refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of
affliction. 11: For mine own sake, even for mine own sake, will I do it:
for how should my name be polluted? and I will not give my glory unto
another.
Title: Why God Saves by Grace
Proposition: God saves his children in mercy, love
and grace for his name’s sake.
Divisions: I. FOR THE RIGHTEOUSNESS HIS NAME IS--v9:
For my name’s sake will I defer mine anger…that I cut thee not off. II. FOR THE PRAISE DUE TO HIS NAME—V9:
and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off. III. FOR THE FAITHFULNESS, LOVE AND WISDOM
THAT HIS NAME IS--V10: Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I
have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. IV. FOR THE HOLINESS HIS NAME IS--V11: For mine own sake, even
for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be
polluted? V. FOR THE GLORY OF HIS NAME—V11…and
I will not give my glory unto another.
I. FOR THE RIGHTEOUSNESS HIS NAME IS--v9: For my name’s sake will
I defer mine anger…that I cut thee not off.
God deals mercifully with
his children—not cutting us off when our sins fully merit it because of Christ
our Righteousness. God deferred his
anger from his elect to Christ who bore our sins in his own body on the tree.
Isaiah 53: 8: He was taken
from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was
cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he
stricken.
Christ was cut off by the
full stroke of God’s fury and justice in the place of God’s people so that God
is righteous to be merciful toward us rather than cutting us off.
God’s
righteousness—the righteousness of God—how God is just and the Justifier, how
God is righteous to show us mercy—is declared in the Lord Jesus Christ—he
reconciled us to God. It is because of the righteousness of God’s great name
that God is merciful to his children and will not cut us off.
Illustration: I have one son—my name will be
continued one way—in him—my name’s sake. Christ Jesus—the only begotten Son of
God—is truly God’s name sake.
So for
the sake of Christ, God is righteously merciful to his children—because we were
cut off when he was cut off.
Pictured
in Moses who stood between God and Israel when they made the golden calf—a type of Christ our Mediator
Exodus 32: 9 And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen
this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: 10 Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may
wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a
great nation. 11 And Moses besought the
LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people,
which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and
with a mighty hand? 12 Wherefore should
the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them
in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy
fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy
servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will
multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken
of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.
14 And the LORD repented of the evil
which he thought to do unto his people.
Pictured
in David when Solomon transgressed--God made him a prince all his days for one
reason:
1
Kings 11:34:…for David my servant’s sake, whom I chose, because he kept my
commandments and my statutes:
2
Kings 19:34: For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and
for my servant David’s sake.
This is what John declared:
1 John 1: 9: If we confess
our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness….2: 1: My little children, these things write I
unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the
Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: and he is the propitiation for our sins.
Psalm 106: 44: Nevertheless
he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry: 45 And he remembered for them his covenant, and
repented according to the multitude of his mercies.
Application: Now, does that make you sorrow over your
sin, to confess to God your sin, and at the same time make you praise our
Father that for the sake of Christ he is merciful and gracious to you? That is our second point.
II. GOD SAVES BY HIS GRACE, FOR THE PRAISE DUE TO HIS NAME—V9:
and for my praise will I refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.
It is not judgment alone,
but the grace of God which brings his children to repent from our sins and to
praise his name.
Romans 2: 4: Or despisest
thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing
that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?
Let
folks boast about their praise of God and put on their silly shows. Those who truly praise him are those who know
something of his goodness to us even when we are such great sinners and
unfaithful.
Application: If
one of God’s lost sheep is here this morning, if the Spirit of God is pleased
to make you alive and reveal the mystery of the gospel in your heart then you
will be made to see:
·
You were not seeking God, God sought you
·
You have been hard as iron and stiff as brass
·
You will find no reason in yourself for God’s grace toward you
BUT YOU
WILL FIND ALL THE REASON LIE IN GOD’S OWN WILL AND PURPOSE TO MAKE YOU HIS OWN.
In
all his righteous, merciful dealing with us:
·
In electing us in Christ
·
In predestinating us to be conformed to the image of Christ
·
In adopting us to himself by Christ
·
In redemption through Christ’s blood
·
In keeping us by his grace
It is “that we should be to the praise of his glory.” (Eph 1:12,
14)
He says, “for my praise will I
refrain for thee, that I cut thee not off.”
Isaiah 45:25 In the LORD shall all the seed of Israel be
justified, and shall glory.
Believer,
this is our cry...
1 Chronicles 16: 35: And say
ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us
from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in
thy praise.
III. FOR THE FAITHFULNESS, LOVE AND WISDOM OF NAME AS OUR FATHER--V10:
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the
furnace of affliction.
His name is
faithfulness. God our Father is faithful
to correct his child when we turn from him—v10:
behold I have refined thee…
Application: God promises to remember our sins no
more. But our Father is never pleased
with our sin. He will correct us. He will chasten us.
In doing so he makes us to
know his name is love. God is love--that
is his name. And for his name’s sake,
for the sake of his love toward his child, he shall correct us. He does so because he loves us as a Father.
Hebrews 12: 6: For whom the Lord
loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 7: If ye
endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom
the father chasteneth not?...
10:…he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
Application: Two hands are not enough to count the
times that my heavenly Father has brought all my ways to a dead-end, keeping me
worshipping Christ under the sound of the gospel. God will not spoil his child by letting us
stray in our vain way. How thankful I am
to him for doing so.
And because Wisdom is his
name. We behold wisdom in how he
corrects us without consuming us--V10:
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the
furnace of affliction.
Silver requires intense fire until all the dross is consumed. But God does not use fire so fierce, that he consumes
us—he tempers the fire, and corrects gently, in measure and mercy. It is strict
to us. But it is never in the flames of
strict justice. It is not to consume us
but only to humble us, to keep us ever dependent, to make us partaker of his
holiness.
It may
seem like the affliction will bring us to our end. It is a furnace. Chastening is not meant to be pleasurable,
but grievous, else it would not be chastening.
But it is not the intense fire of unrestrained justice which our sins
deserve. It is the chastening hand of a
loving Father.
God
makes his faithfulness, his love and his wisdom known in how he chastens his
child
Isa
27:8: In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debate with it: he stayeth
his rough wind in the day of the east wind. 9: By this therefore shall the
iniquity of Jacob be purged; and this is all the fruit to take away his sin
Psalm
103: 10: He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to
our iniquities. 11: For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great
is his mercy toward them that fear him. 12: As far as the east is from the
west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. 13: Like as a
father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear
him. 14: For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.
Application: Brethren,
I do not say that every trial is due to our turning away from God but most of
it is. Have you been suffering the
correcting hand of God? Listen to what
God is teaching by it. Heed his correction. Make straight paths for your feet to Christ,
confess your sins, and follow Christ the Author and Finisher of our faith.
IV. FOR THE HOLINESS HIS NAME IS--V11 For mine own sake, even for mine own
sake, will I do it: for how should my name be polluted?
His name is holy. God will not allow our enemies to blaspheme
his name, to count his name common as any other name. And he will not allow his children to profane
his name--V11 For mine own sake, even
for mine own sake, will I do it: for how should my name be
polluted?
Ezekiel
36: 19: And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through
the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged
them. 20 And when they entered unto the
heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them,
These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land.
21 But I had pity for mine holy name,
which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went.
22 Therefore say unto the house of
Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house
of Israel, but for mine holy name’s sake, which ye have profaned among the
heathen, whither ye went. 23 And I will
sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have
profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the
LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes.
24 For I will take you from among the
heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own
land.
God will not lose one for
whom Christ died:
·
The blood of Christ cannot be shed in vain
·
The seal of the Spirit cannot be broken.
·
The gifts and callings of God are without repentance.
·
He will never cease to love his loved one.
·
For he will not allow his name to be polluted!
Review:
We have seen here that God’s motive for his mercy, his love, his grace toward
us is for his name’s sake:
·
The righteousness of his name
·
The praise due to his name
·
The faithfulness, love and wisdom of his name
·
The holiness of his name
All this and more is included in this last point.
V. FOR THE GLORY OF HIS NAME—V11…and I will not
give my glory unto another.
Exodus 33: 18: And [Moses]
said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. 19: And he said, I will make all my
goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before
thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on
whom I will shew mercy.
He
put Moses in the Cleft of the Rock—in Christ is where we see all his glory—the
glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus.
Exodus 34: 6: And the LORD
passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious,
longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, 7: Keeping mercy for
thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no
means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.
Application: Sinner, have you seen his glory in
Christ Jesus? Believer, have you felt his chastening hand turning you back to
your Beloved?
God’s purpose in saving
sinners, and his purpose in saving sinners the way he does is to glorify his
name.
If that is God’s object
saving and keeping us, that ought to be our primary object as we seek to serve
him.
·
For the glory of his name—Go and sin no more
·
For the glory of his name—Look no more to the idols gods of this
world, only to him
·
For the glory of his name—delight to do his will
·
For the glory of his name—keep yourself from everything impure and
unclean
Only the grace and glory of his great name working effectually in the newly
created heart does that.
Sinner, turn to God and ask
mercy and he will receive you—not because of any good in you but for his name’s
sake. Believer, return to the Lord. You
will find no peace, no rest in this worlds hills no matter how pleasant they
may seem to the flesh—but only in Christ, only under the sound of his gospel.
Jeremiah 3: 21 A voice was heard upon the high places,
weeping and supplications of the children of Israel: for they have
perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God. 22 Return, ye backsliding children, and I
will heal your backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee; for thou art the
LORD our God. 23 Truly in vain is
salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of
mountains: truly in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel.
Why does God deal so
graciously and merciful to his children—he says, “for his name’s sake!”
Amen!