THIS IS THE DAY Isaiah 12 11/12
- Isaiah 12:1-6
We all have days that we look forward to. Some days are monumental and life changing like the day you married. Some you look forward to for years, like graduation. Some you never expected to have to look forward to. I imagine some in the Northeast are looking forward to the day when their electricity comes back on or their houses are repaired. They never expected to end up in a situation like this but are looking for these days to pass and a new day to come. Some days we look forward to have been announced for a long, long time and seem like they will never get here.
I am looking forward to Wednesday, the day after the election. I am honestly not sure it will ever get here. I am so tired of the ads, the phone calls, and the arguing. It seems as if Wednesday will never come.
There are other days we look forward to, days we dream of, that we are not sure will ever really come. Days when a loved one is saved, or the doctor says, “There’s no sign of the cancer”. The day we see in this passage is one of those days. It is a day the Israelites have dream of, and hoped for, but are not sure will ever arrive.
The Israelites have been living in their Promised Land for hundreds of years. They have seen good times and bad times, depending on how they were walking with or obeying God at that particular time. God has again gotten ticked at them. The nation is divided, they have turned on each other, an invader has swarmed through the land, and their citizens have been scattered here and there. In the midst of all of this destruction, in the midst of this pain, in the midst of this despair, God sends Isaiah and says, “There is coming a day.” There is coming a day when things will be different. There is coming a day when things will be restored. There is coming a day when I’ll send healing to your land. There is coming a day …
For those Isaiah was speaking to, this was a day in the future. It was something they had to look for, hope for, and pray for. For you, that day can be today. For you, that day can be today.
Notice what occurs on that day, and what can happen for you today.
I. SIGNS OF THAT DAY
1. God’s anger was turned away – v1
The first sign of that day is that God’s anger is turned away.
Now, there are those, perhaps some of you sitting here today, which believe that God has no reason, no right, and no justification for being angry with you in the first place. You have lived a good life. You’ve done the best you can. God’s got no real “right” to be angry with you in the first place. Let me suggest, if you believe that, that perhaps you are not seeing yourself, the situation and God as clearly as you should. God has many reasons to be angry with the world and with you today.
A. Reasons God is angry –
1. God is angry because of the condition of the world - Might I suggest that God is just in being angry because of the condition of the world.
Imagine if you will, that you build a magnificent house for your son or your daughter. You fix up the house. You paint it. You furnish it with nice furniture. You fill the linen closet with 600 thread count linen sheets, and inch-thick towels. The carpet so thick you sink into them when you walk and the kitchen and bathrooms tiled with fine roman marble.
Imagine walls with the finest drywall, covered with fine wallpaper, texture, and paint. Flawless textured ceilings. Imagine lush, green lawns without bare spots or a weeds or bugs; rich landscaping with every flowering and fruit-bearing tree you can think of.
Now, imagine coming back some time after giving it to your child, and finding the house destroyed; the ceilings are sagging and the walls have holes. There’s dog feces in the torn carpet. The trees are broken down. And on that once immaculate lawn, there is now a truck with no windshield sitting on blocks, leaking oil onto the weeds below.
Would you be irritated? Perhaps a bit miffed? And yet, that’s what we have done. God created a perfect garden, a perfect world where there was no death. Mosquitoes didn’t bite, and didn’t have to look over their shoulders worrying about frogs. Frogs didn’t have to look over their shoulders having to worry about snakes, and snakes didn’t have to look over their, whatever it is they have, worrying about hawks. There was no death, and yet because of Adam and Eve’s sin, because of the sin we have continued, the world is cursed.
In the beginning, the northeast didn’t have to worry about storms and flooding, because there was none. People didn’t have to carry insurance, because nothing bad happened. There were no locks on doors, and no computer viruses.
Children were not molested. Drunks never drove, and thieves never stole.
Our sin messed things up and God has every right to be angry, because of the condition of the world.
2. God is angry because of the condition of our lives –
Which of you parents have never been angry because your child hurt himself? Which of you parents have never been angry with your child because he wasted the education that was available to him, playing around? Which of you parents have never been upset because your daughter let a good guy go and traded him for an abusive bum? Doesn’t it anger you when you see your children living self-destructively?
God created us. Then He said, “These are the rules for living well in society. These are the rules for having a good marriage. These are the rules for having a happy home. These are the rules for walking with My blessings on your life and on all you do. These are the rules for building a great nation and having Me bless its citizens.”
And what do we do? We trade the long-term blessing for the instant gratification. We store and lose treasures on earth while ignoring our home in heaven. We make our homes into hells. We ignore the things that God has said will grow and mature and protect us, the things that will bring fruit into our lives – things like prayer, and Bible study, and ministry; and trade them for Honey Boo Boo.
God has every right to be angry. He’s angry because of the condition of the world. He’s angry because of the condition of our lives. He’s angry because of the condition of our relationship.
3. God is angry because of the condition of our relationship –
God has said, “Come unto Me, all ye who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” God has said, “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” God has said, “I am the Vine, you are the branches. He that abides in Me and I in Him will bear much fruit, but apart from Me you can do nothing.”
God has said those things. And yet, day after day, we willingly and knowingly sin. We choose to do things we know will not please Him. We choose to leave undone, things He has told us to do.
For those who are not yet followers of Christ, He has given you an invitation again and again to become a child of His, to become part of His family, but you have repeatedly refused. God I’m not ready. God, I can’t do it, or, God, I can do it on my own. Do you think He’s not a bit irritated by your disobedience? Do you think He’s not a bit peeved by your delay? Do you think He’s not a bit irate because you think He’s unimportant or doesn’t deserve your attention?
God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to demonstrate His love for you, by dying on the cross and purchasing your salvation and yet you act ass though it is nothing. God is angry and has every right to be. We’ve messed up the world. We’ve messed up our lives and we’ve ignored His invitation.
But my friends, there is coming a day. There is coming a day when God’s anger will be turned away. Will you make today that day? Will you say, “Lord, I have disobeyed You. I have messed things up. I have ignored our relationship and acted as though Your love for me means nothing. Lord, please forgive me.”
Today can be the day. The Bible says, “If we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Will you make today the day in your life when Jesus really becomes the Lord, the Boss in your life?
There’s a second sign that today’s that day in your life and it’s found in verse 2.
- Read Isaiah 12:2
2. I will trust Him and not be afraid –
We have a bunch of people today, running around acting as though the sky is falling. Even within our churches, there are folks acting ass though these are the last days and all they want to talk about is how bad things are and what the days ahead hold. Everything, they say, depends on this election.
What a bunch of foolishness. This country, our future and our lives does not hang in the balance of this election.
Do I think this election is important? You’d better believe it. Do I think that you need to get out and vote? Yes I do. There is definitely a difference between the two candidates. There is a difference between supporting abortion and opposing the murder of our unborn children. There is a difference between supporting a Christian national day of prayer and attending one with Muslims. There is a difference between recognizing marriage as a God-designed institution intended to be between 1 man and 1 woman; and calling marriage, something God calls an abomination. This election is important and for you not to vote to uphold Christian values and morals I would think would be a sin.
But, regardless of what happens Tuesday God is still on the throne. Regardless of what happens Tuesday He is still in control. He is still the Lord of heaven and earth. His angels still watch over me. His hand of protection is still upon me, and no weapon formed against me shall prosper without His permission.
You want to know when that day has arrived? That day has arrived, when you can still sing in prison though you’ve been unjustly arrested and beaten, because your trust is still in God. That day has arrived when regardless of the economy, you still look to God as your provider.
All of us carry in our pockets and our purses, money on which is inscribed, “In God we trust”. Constant reminders of the responsibility Christians have, and yet many of us place more faith in the coin than in the God Who built this nation in the first place. Let me tell you my friend, God was here before this money was minted. He was here before this nation was built. He was here before there were 50 states to place on the back of our quarters and He’ll be here long after they’re gone.
My faith is not in Washington. It is not in Tallassee. It is not in Deland. My hope, my trust is placed in the Lord Jesus Christ and in His Heavenly Father, for all other ground is sinking sand.
That day has arrived for you when you are able to say, “Lord, if a sparrow cannot fall without You seeing it, then I know You’re watching over me. I will trust You and not be afraid.”
There’s a third sign that day has arrived in your life and you find it in verse 4.
- Read Isaiah 12:4
3. That day has arrived for you when you give thanks and proclaim God’s deeds.
Have you ever noticed how much time we spend worrying a fretting? Have you ever noticed how much of our prayers are spent requesting this or asking God to fix that?
For a person who’s day with God has arrived, a person whose life has been changed, every day is a day to be thankful and to give thanks.
Health. Friends. Food. Clothing. …
4. That day has arrived for you when you are concerned for others
- Read Isaiah 12:4
Celebrate His deeds among the people. Why? Partly, to give glory to God, but partially to make sure that others know Him.
Jesus – “I must go – woman at the well
Paul – “I must go to Jerusalem
Jesus said, “Go into all the world and make disciples …Why? Because He had a concern for people.
> Jeremiah 20:9 If I say: I won’t mention Him or speak any longer in His name, His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones. I become tired of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.
CONCLUSION – Is today the day for you? Salvation. Repentance and rededication.
We’ve heard this past week of those who have lost loved ones in the storms of the northeast. We hear of people struggling to get out. They had some warning. They knew a storm was coming and many waited too long. Today, the Lord is giving you another chance, just as He has done many times before. I pray that you will not wait too late.
