the doctrine of god

Pastor Andy Davis preaches on Galatians 3:11-14, explaining the meaning of God's grace and God's wrath, and that in Christ alone we have salvation.

- SERMON TRANSCRIPT  - 

September 11, 2001 is a day that would burn in our memories for as long as we live. Those of us who were alive at that time and were following the events of that day, saw the Twin Towers struck by Boeing 767s and explode in fire, and then eventually come crashing down to earth. We will never forget the terror of those images in our minds, the terror of such a sight. For many of us, the most horrible aspect of that day was the sight of people throwing themselves from the building in order to escape being burned to death, falling, maybe almost 1,000 feet to certain death. They were not suicidal as they went to their jobs that day, they were not depressed, they were not filled with any hatred of life as they walked through the halls of the 105th floor and turned on their lights, and turned on their computers, and looked out the window at the Manhattan skyline, and at the New York Harbor as they had done many times before. Jumping out of that same window 55 minutes later would never have occurred to them.

But when the planes crashed into the Twin Towers, and caused their world around them to be engulfed in smoke, in flame, intense searing heat, billowing smoke, they tried to escape, I'm sure, through the hallway. There was no way to get through there, no way to use the elevators, no way to get to the stairs, they went back to their office and looked out of the window, maybe they shattered the window themselves, maybe it was already shattered by the crash. At least 200 people died that day in that way, they made that terrifying bewildering decision, to jump is better than to stay. One particular photo taken by Richard Drew of the Associated Press was entitled "The Falling Man" was run the next day in the New York Times on page seven, but then because of the outcry against it, saying it had somehow desecrated the memories of those that died, the New York Times never ran such a photo again.

On the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy, Susie Linfield, a journalism professor at NYU, published a story in a New York magazine called "Jumpers," she had this to say: "The jumper photographs make clear to us the utter vulnerability of the victims. Those trapped in the Towers had only two choices- To jump to their deaths or to be incinerated- which is to say they had no choice at all. To moralize either 'choice'- to despise one as cowardly and valorize the other as heroic is to misunderstand both. What the 9/11 victims faced was the absence of options." That last comment stuck in my mind with incredible power, it seemed that these tragic people had no choice, there was no way to escape the searing fire that was engulfing their world. Even more tragic, I think, are the videos of people on the highest floors of the World Trade Center that day, leaning out and waving white pieces of cloth desperate for some kind of savior, smoke billowing out of the windows around them. They could see fire below them as they looked down. And they're just looking for some kind of savior and it's actually very difficult to watch, at least it was for me even 12 years later.

Now, these tragic people illustrate the central lesson of today's sermon. They give me an understanding of Jesus Christ is the only savior that there is from the wrath of God. I'm going to make three assertions in this sermon and the world hates all three of them. The first is that this world is facing a future raging inferno of immeasurable heat, of infinite power, and eternal duration, this coming inferno is the just wrath of God against sin. It is a fire that will destroy this entire world in judgment and will consume the enemies of God in hell. Secondly, Christ, Jesus Christ is God's only provision for escape from this coming wrath. Christ's death on the cross is the only way that sinners can be saved from this fire. Thirdly, just as those people had no way to save themselves from the raging inferno, we cannot save ourselves from the coming wrath. Our works cannot make us righteous in the sight of God. Just as there was no way for those tragic people to climb down to safety, there is no way for us to use the law of God to climb up to safety.

Oh, how the world hates and fights these three assertions, all three of them. The world says, "There is no coming wrath of God" or "God, if He exists, loves everyone and will rescue everyone from hell, would not send anyone to hell, it's unworthy of God to display anger or wrath," those kinds of things. The world says that Christ is not the only way to heaven and that it's arrogant for us as Christians to claim that he is, that he is the only way to heaven. Third, the world says that we actually can pay for our sins by our good works, righteousness in God's sight can be obtained by observing some kind of law or pattern of morality.

Now, these assertions that I've made here are hated and opposed by many in the world today, but these assertions that I've made are taught powerfully in the text that we are going to be looking at today, Galatians 2:21 and then Galatians 3:10-14. I kept as my jump off point, as I was meditating on this, Galatians 2:21. It's a text that captivated my mind and my imagination and my thoughts for much longer than I thought it would be. Galatians 2:21 says, "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, then Christ died for nothing." So I concentrated on the phrase, the grace of God, in Galatians 2:21. We're in the middle here in Galatians, of Paul's train of thought as he's explaining the Gospel of salvation through faith in Christ. The grace of God, then in Galatians 2:21, is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the gracious provision that God has made for us sinners.

I meditate on what the grace of God saves us from. It saves us mainly from the curse of God, the wrath of God.  I concentrate on the significance of Christ becoming a curse for us in Galatians 3:13. I zero in on the idea of setting aside the grace of God. He says, "I do not set aside the grace of God." The word 'set aside' means to nullify, to render as nothing. I just like the translation 'set aside,' I think it's the best translation. How the human race tries to avoid the cross of Christ in various ways, especially by gaining righteousness through the law. I zero in on the logic of the verse, that righteousness cannot be gained any other way. That if righteousness could be gained in some other way, then Christ died for nothing. This is the doctrine of the exclusivity of Christ and of the Gospel. And I'm going to talk about these themes and I'm going to end with the Spirit-filled life, the promise of the Spirit-filled life, which I will not develop in length because it's developed more, later in Galatians. But it's the answer to all of the things that come up as we contemplate these things.

These are the four main points of my sermon. First, why the world needs the grace of God: That is the wrath of God. Why does the world need grace? Because of the coming wrath. Secondly, the only way the grace of God comes to the world is through the cross of Christ. Third, how the world sets aside the grace of God, especially through self-righteousness. And then fourth, how the grace of God makes sinners righteous in his sight, first by justification and second through the Spirit-filled life. Those are the four points of the sermon.

I. Why the World Needs the Grace of God:  The Wrath of God

First, why the world needs the grace of God, and that is the wrath of God, this is the reason why. Look at verse 21, "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, then Christ died for nothing." We focus here on the grace of God, what is the grace of God? It's not a theme that's unfolded clearly or emphasized in the Old Testament, it seems as though God was reserving full emphasis on the grace of God for the coming of Jesus into the world. And in some of the translations, the word 'grace' doesn't pop up very often in the Old Testament. But then a river of grace is proclaimed in the New Testament. I like to start at John 1:14: "The word became flesh and made his dwelling among us and we have seen His glory. Glory of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." And then a few verses later in John 1:17, "For the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." With the coming of Jesus into the world, we have a dawning of the grace of God flowing to the world, not that there wasn't grace in the Old Testament, certainly there was. But it is by Christ that grace comes.

Now, the word 'grace' especially flows through the pen of the Apostle Paul. No biblical writer wrote more about grace than Paul. 86 times, he mentions 'grace', 86 times. He opens all of his epistles the same way, "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." So what is grace? We said it before, but I like this definition. Grace is the subtle determination in the heart of God. That's what it is. It starts in the heart, the mind of God, toward us in Christ. Grace is the determination, the subtle determination in the heart of God to do us good, we who deserved to be punished eternally. So those aspects of grace, determination in the heart of God, a river of goodness flowing to us as sinners, despite the fact we deserved wrath and judgment. I think that's grace.

"Grace is the determination, the subtle determination in the heart of God, to do us good, we who deserved to be punished eternally."

Now, grace is especially for salvation from his wrath in reference to our sins. That's a home base of grace. We're sinners and we deserve wrath and judgment, and God saves us by his grace. Ephesians 1:7-8 says in Jesus, "In Him, we have redemption through His blood. The forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His grace that He lavished on us." We have redemption from sin through the riches of grace. Grace is especially on display in reference to the wrath of God. Romans 3:23-25: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a propitiation, through faith in His blood." The word 'propitiation,' if you study it and you understand it in the Greek language, it means the setting aside of the wrath of God by a blood sacrifice. So God's wrath set aside by the sacrifice of Christ, so God's grace is on display in that he does not treat us as our sins deserve. Amen, hallelujah. "He does not treat us as our sins deserve," Psalm 103:10.

Now, in Galatians 2:21, the need for grace is seen in the fact that we sinners lack righteousness. Look again at the verse. "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained by the law, Christ died for nothing." So clearly we lack righteousness. We need to gain righteousness. Unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teacher of the law, we will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. We lack the necessary righteousness. Why is that? Because we are sinners, we are unrighteous in God's sight. We who lack righteousness, we are, turn it around, unrighteous to God. What is this unrighteousness? It has to do with our sins. We have violated God's laws. We have broken his laws, but friends, it goes infinitely deeper than that. It goes to the very core of our being.

I was listening to a John Piper sermon some time ago. He was summarizing all of Romans 1-7, a summarizing of those seven chapters. If I'm not careful, I might lurch off in that direction right now. But he is summarizing and he is zeroing in on this issue of sin. What is sin? And this is what John Piper said: "What makes sin is not first that it hurts people, but that it blasphemes God. This is the ultimate evil and this is the ultimate outrage of the universe. The glory of God is not honored. The holiness of God is not reverenced. The greatness of God is not admired. The power of God is not praised. The truth of God is not sought. The wisdom of God is not esteemed. The beauty of God is not treasured. The goodness of God is not savored. The faithfulness of God is not trusted. The promises of God are not relied upon. The commandments of God are not obeyed. The justice of God is not respected. The wrath of God is not feared. The grace of God is not cherished. The presence of God is not prized. The person of God is not loved. That is sin."

The infinite all-glorious Creator of the universe, by whom and for whom all things exist, the one about whom it is said, in him we live and move and have our being, is disregarded, disbelieved, disobeyed and dishonored by everybody in the world apart from Christ. That is the ultimate outrage of the universe. And God is outraged by it. Why? Because God is perfectly holy. He is perfectly holy. It's the most important attribute in the Bible. You could say, "Why would I say that?" Well, it's the only one that's stated three times in a row. There's no other attribute that's stated three times in a row. But in Isaiah 6:3, we have these glorious seraphim and they're calling to one another, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; The whole earth is full of His glory." The holiness of God, theologians tell us, has to do with his separation.

God is infinitely above all creation. He is the Creator and we all are creature. And there's an infinite gap between Creator and creature. That's the holiness. And that's why the holy angels, the burning seraphim who never have committed any sin still are crying "Holy, holy, holy" as they cover their faces. Infinite gap between all creation and God. But it also, especially in the Bible, has to do with God's infinite hatred for sin, his separation from all evil. Habakkuk 1:13: God's eyes are too pure to look on evil, he cannot tolerate wrong. It says in 1 John 1:5, “this is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in Him, there's no darkness at all.” God hates evil. And he's passionate about that. He's a passionate being and we who are created in his image, we have emotions because he had them first. Now his are pure and perfect, ours are not. But God is a passionate being and he hates all forms of evil with a fiery passion.

Listen, Isaiah 30:27 and 28. It says there, "Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke. His lips are full of wrath, His tongue is a consuming fire, His breath is like a rushing torrent, rising up to the neck. He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction." That's our God. And the Bible asserts the universality of sin. There is no one righteous, not even one. Romans 3:9-12: "There's no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away. They've together become worthless. There's no one who does good, not even one." The Bible tells us the wages of sin is death, eternal separation from God, not merely physical death but the second death in the lake of fire. The Bible teaches this. "The soul who sins shall die," Ezekiel 18:4.

Now, in our text today, the wrath of God is expressed in curse language, that's why we're even talking about wrath today, it has to do with curse. Look at verse 10 of Galatians 3, Galatians 3:10, it says there, "All who rely on observing the law are under a curse. For it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in this book of the Law.'" Now, in the old covenant, the curse of God meant that He was actively opposing you in your life. He was fighting against what you were doing on Earth in the old covenant. That's what the curse meant. God was fighting you, he was opposed to you. He was against your prosperity, he was against your happiness, against your health, against your efforts, what you were trying to do. That's what the curse means. So we have this in Deuteronomy 28:15-19. "If you do not obey the Lord, your God, and if you do not carefully follow all His commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. You will be cursed in the city and cursed in the country. Your basket and your kneading trough will be cursed. The fruit of your womb will be cursed and the crops of your land. And the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. You'll be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out." It actually goes on many verses beyond that.

 Now, Galatians 3:10 says that the curse comes on those who do not continually obey everything written in the law. So it's all the law, all the time, or you get cursed. That's what the law does. Now, the Old Testament curses, those earthbound curses that I was talking about, they were real curses. They actually happened, things actually occurred physically to the Jews. But they were just symbolic of a far greater curse that's yet to come, far greater curse that's yet to come.

The Bible is filled with the doctrine of the wrath of God. The past wrath of God, the present wrath of God, and the future wrath of God. In the past, we have the flood of Noah in which every living thing that had the breath of life in its nostrils perished except what was on the ark. We have Sodom and Gomorrah in which God rained down fiery sulfur, "from the Lord out of the heavens," it specifically says in Genesis 19. And the next day, Abraham looked out over the plains where Sodom and Gomorrah had been just the day before, teeming cities, and there was nothing but dense smoke rising from the plain. These are pictures of the judgment and wrath of God, the past wrath of God. The Bible also asserts the doctrine of God's present wrath. It says in Psalms 7:11: "God is a righteous judge, a God who expresses His wrath every day." Every day. But listen, past and present wrath merely warn of the infinitely more consequential future wrath of God. Any wrath that happens on Earth is just a symbol of the future wrath yet to come.

And that wrath is going to be physical. It says in 2 Peter 3:10: "The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the Earth and everything in it will be laid bare." That's the coming wrath of God. But even more terrifying than what God will do to creation is what he will do to his enemies, both angels and humans. And that is the doctrine of hell, the second death, the wrath of God displayed in hell. No one taught more about hell than Jesus. No one said more about the fire that is to come than Jesus. In the Sermon on the Mount, he said that, if you are angry in your heart with your brother, you're in danger of the fire of hell. If you look lustfully at a woman, you're in danger of the fire of hell. It's better for you to cut off your right hand or gouge out your right eye and escape going to hell than to have all of your physical equipment and be cast into the eternal fire, and he said plainly, "The fire does not go out, the warm never dies."

And he says in Matthew 25 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory and all of the nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate the people, one from another, as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." And he's going to put the sheep, the believers on his right and the unregenerate on his left. And then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you who are cursed." So there's that word 'curse.' "Depart from me, you are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

This is why the world needs the grace of God and Christ. This is why we need it. But the world sets aside the grace of God. The world sets aside the grace of God concerning this issue of the wrath of God by denying that he has a wrath. Mostly, non-Christians set it aside by not thinking about him and not thinking about it. And they effectively deny that it even exists, that it's coming. Now, picture again those desperate souls leaning out of the upper floors of the World Trade Center on September 11th, and they're waving their white shirts and they're trying desperately for a savior because they can feel the heat, they can smell the smoke. They know it's real. But this fire, they can't see anything. They can't see the flames, they can't smell the smoke, it's as though it's not around, you have to believe or you don't think it's coming. So if you don't have any faith, there's nothing to escape.

They don't see the fire, they deny it. Zephaniah 1:12, "They are complacent, thinking the Lord would do nothing either good or bad." Even worse for me though is Christians, so-called. People in the Christian world who deny this doctrine of the wrath of God, who are embarrassed by it, who think it's unworthy of God to have any kind of wrath at all. They think of a higher God, a wrath-free God, an anger-free God. Recently, I was reading about how Keith Getty and Stuart Townend wrote one of the greatest hymns of our time. We're going to close this service by singing it, "In Christ Alone." And then this verse is what they write: "In Christ alone, Who took on flesh, fullness of God in helpless babe" [incarnation.] "This gift of love and righteousness, scorned by the ones he came to save. Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied. For every sin on him was laid, here in the death of Christ I live." Well, a Presbyterian denomination, PCUSA, wanted to use that hymn in their hymnal but they just want to change it a little bit. So they contacted Getty and Townend and then asked if they could adjust the lyrics on that verse a little bit. From "Till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied," to "Till on that cross as Jesus died, the love of God was magnified."

Why would they want to do that? Well, hymnal committee chair, Mary Louise Bringle said this, "The song has been removed from our contents list with deep regret over losing its otherwise poignant and powerful witness. The view on the committee is that the cross is primarily about God's need to assuage God's anger, that if we have that view, it would have a negative effect on the hymnal's ability to form the faith of coming generations." Well, that's very mild, even worse, is Anglican priest Bosco Peters, what he said, "The understanding is that God the Father was angry at us in our sinfulness and that God took out his rage on Christ instead of on us and this now enables God the Father to love us. This understanding is heresy. God doesn't have anger management issues." No, he doesn't. Our God is slow to anger, he doesn't lash out quickly, he never has to regret anything he does and he will not regret the smoke of their torment rising forever and ever. he's not embarrassed about it, he's warned us about it. No, he doesn't have anger management issues but he has anger, he has wrath, and that's why we need the grace of God and we must not set aside the grace of God by denying the wrath of God. Secondly, the only way the grace of God comes into the world is the cross of Christ.

II. The Only Way the Grace of God Comes to the World:  The Cross of Christ

Look again at 2:21, "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, then Christ died for nothing." Christ is the only way that the grace of God comes to this world. Trying to save ourselves by law would be to set aside the grace of God. There is no other way for sinners to be made righteous, do you see how foolish the world is in getting angry about Christ being the only way to be saved? Picture again those poor souls on the upper floors of the World Trade Center, picture this time though an incredibly heroic and courageous rescuer descending perhaps from a rope ladder, hanging from a helicopter, they managed to get close enough to reach out to one of these folks that's waving the white shirt and saying, "Here, I've got you, come on" and the guy recoiling in anger and says, "I want multiple options to get off this floor and I'm not going out until there are many ways for me to get off this burning floor."

I think that's how this must look to the holy angels in heaven, as they look down amazed that anyone would not believe in Christ, amazed that we would want multiple ways to get off the burning floor; how foolish. Now, the incarnation itself, the coming of God into the world proved right away we could not save ourselves, just the incarnation, that's why he came. Isaiah 59:15-16: "The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice," no righteousness. He saw that there was no one. He was appalled that there was no one to intervene so his own arm worked salvation for him and his own righteousness sustained him. God looked at the human race, no saviors there, none. So he entered the world himself. Isaiah 59:15-16. So it's poignant at the birth of Christ, but see, even more poignant at the death of Christ and that's where our verse takes us. "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, then Christ died for nothing." This is the very issue that Jesus was settling as he wrestled in prayer in Gethsemane, wasn't it? Didn't he go to Gethsemane, fall on his face before God and sweating great drops of blood, he cried out to his Abba Father, he said, "Abba Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me, yet not as I will but as you will?" So Father, is it possible? Is there any other way?

The answer is implied, not openly stated because he goes back a second time and says, "My Father, if it is not possible, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done." "No, my Son, there is no other way. No other way." Settled by Jesus in Gethsemane, there is no other way. Christ alone is the incarnate Son of God. He alone died under the wrath of God. He alone satisfied the just penalty for our sins, for the wages in his death. And Christ alone rose from the dead, vindicating sinners like you and me. Christ alone is the Savior. Even more plainly, Jesus became a curse for us. Look at verse 13 of Galatians 3: "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, by becoming a curse for us. For it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.'" Now, this is amazing, not just Jesus was cursed for us, but Jesus became a curse for us. I meditated on this a long time.

"Christ alone is the incarnate Son of God. He alone died under the wrath of God. He alone satisfied the just penalty for our sins, for the wages in His death."

It's similar to the grammar that we have in another exclusivity verse, John 14:6: Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." Do you hear what Jesus said there? Let's hear it on the middle one. "I am the truth." Not merely "I speak the truth" or "I embrace the truth," or "I exemplify the truth." We should all speak the truth. We should all embrace the truth. We should all exemplify the truth. And we may, by the blood of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, we can. But Jesus is the only one who can say these words, "I am the truth." "I am the truth. I am the distilled essence of all truth there is in the universe. All roads of truth lead to me. I am the truth." Alright, now take that and bring it to Galatians 3:13: "I am the curse. I am the distilled essence of curse. All curse for the people of God, all curse leads to this one place, the curse of the cross." And go even deeper, what does God curse but that which he hates? The curse of God is the hatred of God. It's God's opposition, it's ground zero of the infinite nuclear strike of God's holy wrath.

Christ on the cross was the very essence of everything that God has ever hated or ever would hate, while at the same time being his infinitely beloved Son. It's a mystery we will never be able to understand, but this is the mystery of the substitutionary atonement of Jesus. Jesus was the distilled essence of everything God hates. Sin is utterly disgusting, it's repulsive to God. He hates it with all of his heart. Think of the most repulsive sinner you've ever heard of that later came to faith in Christ. Think of their disgusting actions, how repulsive they are to you.

Corrie ten Boom talked about how difficult it was for her to shake the hand of an SS guard that she had known in the concentration camp, how hard that was for her. She was repulsed by what this man had done, the way that he tortured, and even killed, innocent people in the concentration camp. She was repulsed, but let me tell you something: her sense of justice and repulsion is like a flickering candle compared to the sun, the raging sun of God's repulsion. God is far more repulsed at what that SS guard did than Corrie ten Boom.

I heard another story years ago, and I've never been able to find it since, but it had to do with a man that Charles Spurgeon led to faith in Christ. This man was an alcoholic, he was addicted to gin. He drank all of his family's money, all of it, for food, clothing, everything, including for medicine. It turned out that his young daughter had a serious but treatable illness, and this man drank the money for the medicine, so that she died. The neighbors were outraged at this story. She had nothing but threadbare rags, and they wanted her buried in a beautiful little dress. So they took an offering, and they took up a collection, and they bought a beautiful dress, and they buried... They clothed this little girl and put her... Put this beautiful clothed girl, this dead girl in a casket where she was to be... In which she was to be buried the next day. That night, this man broke into the undertaker's shop, opened the casket, took the dress off the dead body of his daughter, closed the casket, sold the dress for money, and drank it. He later came to faith in Christ.

I have a hard time even telling that story. I picture my own kids. I picture just a father acting like that. What do you do with the repulsion, what do you do with the revulsion? Well I'll tell you what God did. He poured it out on Jesus, instead of on that man. So Jesus became in some sense, the kind of cesspool, the toxic waste dump of everything God ever hated in his elect, in his sheep. Everything he's ever hated in you and me, all of it in one place. And then he poured out the wrath, his just wrath on Jesus. Jesus became a curse for me, and for you. I can't... I almost can't put this into words. How could God perfectly hate and perfectly love Jesus at the same time?

But this is what's going on at the cross. A parallel verse, we've already heard it, 2 Corinthians 5:21, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us." Just be sin. He was sin on the cross, so that "in Him, we might become the righteousness of God." Now meditate on this because of this substitution and this exchange, we have become by faith, in Christ, the very essence of everything God loves. We have become the righteousness of God in Christ. That's awesome, that's awesome! And Christ is the only way that that salvation can happen. He is the only way. God did not send his Son into the world to provide one of many paths to heaven. He didn't pour out his wrath on Jesus to provide one of many ways to reach heaven. It's because there was no other way. Now, the world sets aside the grace of God by denying the exclusivity of the cross. We are a weird people. We, post-modern tolerance-loving people, are just weird, and we think weird, especially on this exclusivity issue.

"Christ is the only way that salvation can happen. He is the only way. God did not send his son into the world to provide one of many paths to heaven."

Stephen Prothero, a professor of religion at Boston University in 2010, wrote a book, God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions that Run the World- and Why Their Differences Matter. This is what he said in his introduction, "It has been fashionable to affirm that all religions are beautiful and all are true. This claim is as odd as it is intriguing. No one argues that different economic systems or political regimes are one in the same. Capitalism and Socialism are so obviously at odds that their differences barely bear mentioning. The same goes for democracy and monarchy, yet scholars continue to claim that such different religions as Hinduism and Islam, Christianity and Judaism, by some", [I love this,] "some miracle of the imagination are essentially the same. And this view resounds in the echo chamber of popular culture. Not the least in Dan Brown's multi million dollar franchise The DaVinci Code." It's weird, they're not all the same, they can't be all the same.

The pastor of Watts Street Baptist Church right in our own town taught a number of years ago that spiritual truth is like an underwater river and Christianity is just one of many wells that we can use to get down to that water. Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, they're all equally valid ways of drinking that spiritual water. These folks say that it is arrogant for us to claim that Christianity is the only way. That makes no sense to me. Do you struggle with that? Arrogant. Listen, if I invented a new rootbeer in my shop and I came out and told you it is the greatest rootbeer that has ever been made. As a matter of fact, it's the greatest drink that's ever been offered to another human being, that would be arrogant. I didn't invent Christianity, I discovered it or actually, it discovered me. Christ discovered me. How is it arrogant for us to go as missionaries to the ends of the world to say there's only one way for humans to be saved? There's no arrogance here.

III. How the World Sets Aside the Grace of God:  Self-Righteousness

Thirdly, how the world sets aside the grace of God and that is through self-righteousness. Look again in Galatians 2:21. "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing." The number one way that the world sets aside the grace of God is by trying to save ourselves by our good works, by self-righteousness.

Self-Righteousness Option #1: Pagan Morality

So, the essence of legalism, this Judaizer legalism and all that, is the idea that present or future obedience to the law of God can cover or pay for a past disobedience. The more common way of talking about it is, "My good deeds outweigh my bad." So you've got a bunch of bad deeds, that means you didn't keep the law. Then you have some good deeds, you did keep the law and this can be used to pay for that. That's the basic transaction, the basic idea. So, what is the “law” if righteousness could be gained through the law? Well, Paul means immediately the law of Moses (and we'll get to that), but I want to give you three different levels of law that people use. First is basic pagan morality. The every day life sense of right and wrong. The Greek philosopher mentality. The Aristotle or Plato type of virtue and they define it, that kind of thing. Aristotle said it's the glorious mean, the average... You take outgoing energy, etcetera and the extreme version of that is rashness and the lack of it is cowardice, and the perfect mean right in the middle is courage. And he goes down, Aristotle does this in all these... And the perfect individual goes right down the center in all of these attributes, so he says.

The Japanese warrior code used Bushido and they had seven different attributes of virtue. Immanuel Kant had his. Benjamin Franklin, you can look up, he had 13 laws of morality that he tried to follow, 13. Like intemperance, temperance. Eat not to dullness, drink not to elevation. Silence, speak not only what may benefit yourself. Speak only what may benefit yourself or others, avoid trifling conversations. Order, let all your things have their places. Let each part of your business have its time. Etcetera, etcetera, yadda, yadda, yadda. Sorry, Ben Franklin, but there it is. Alright? So this is just common every day pagan morality.

So the average every day person that you'll meet in the office tomorrow who says to you, "I'm basically a good person," ask them what they mean by a “good person.” Take the word 'basically' out. I don't know what it means. I think it means, "I'm not a good person." I don't know. Or "I'm kinda a good person." But alright, on what basis? Well, I try... And they're going to lay out some sketch at the law that they've come up with. Okay, but this is setting aside the grace of God. Do you see it? They have invented their own morality, which they try to live up to but don't really. When they do live up to it, they boast about it, when they don't live up to it, they think they can pay for it by the times they do live up to their own moral schemes. And they're forgetting the central and most important command of God. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, will all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength." And they never keep it anyway.

The second level of morality is religious morality. And again, that's man-originated as well, with some demonic help. And so the world has set up pagan religions, and they have their own rules and regulations, their own laws that they follow, and people feel good or don't feel good based on whether they keep their religious laws. Followers of Dagon had to avoid stepping on the threshold. Which was one of the funniest laws ever because the reason... Never mind, that's another story, another time. Followers of Moloch had to offer their children as a burnt offering to that demonic god. Followers of Buddha have to seek out enlightenment by following the Noble Eightfold Path. Followers of Allah and Mohammad have to embrace the five pillars of Islam. All of these false religions have their own laws, their own moral systems, but none of them come from God. So they have set aside the grace of God to establish these man-made religions. Concerning Moloch, God said through Jeremiah 7:31: "They have built the high places of Topheth in the valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire- Something I did not command nor did it enter my mind." I didn't tell you to do these things. And so you can't use these laws to become righteous in my sight. Actually repugnant.

Now, some of the religious laws are the same as the Ten Commandments. They have to do with basic morality that Romans 2 says is written on their hearts anyway. But their consciences sometimes accuse them, sometimes defend them. They don't keep those moral laws. The highest level of laws, the one that I think Paul means here, and that's the law of God. "I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, then Christ died for nothing." This is talking about the perfect law of God that came down from Mt. Sinai, from God himself. This is God's perfect standard of morality. And so it says in Roman 7:12: "So then the law is holy and the commandment is holy and righteous and good." But again, Galatians 3:10: "All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the Law.'" All the law, all the time or you get cursed. And by the way, if you understand the sentence I'm speaking to you it's already too late. We've already violated it already. And so, therefore, Romans 4:15: "The law brings wrath." That's all. Not salvation.

The death of Christ, therefore, settles forever that no one could be made righteous in God's sight by the law. "I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness could be gained by the law, then Christ died for nothing." Now listen, if righteousness could've been gained by the law of God by keeping it, what God would've done from heaven is pointed to the law and said, "Human race, do this. Do this." And not send Jesus. And what would've happened if righteousness could be gained by the law? Some would gain it. They would be spiritual athletes who'd be climbing hand over hand, foot over foot, like this, making it to heaven by their own efforts. And God would have to listen to them for eternity, boasting on their achievements. And so God set it up that we would be saved only by grace. For it says in Ephesians 2:8-9: "For by grace are you saved through faith and this not out of or from yourself. It is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast."

IV. How the Grace of God Makes Sinners Righteous:  Justification and the Spirit-Filled Life

Fourth. How the grace of God makes sinners righteous. Justification leading to the Spirit-filled life. Justification is plain. It's the gift of righteousness simply because God says so, simply because he declares you to be righteous in Jesus. All you have to do is hear this Gospel, repent, believe, and the full righteousness of Christ will be imputed, credited to you and you will be in God's sight as righteous as Jesus was in God's sight cursed on the cross. How beautiful is that? Oh, Thank God for his grace. Thank God for his grace. Thank God that you can stand before him and say, "Though I was and still am a sinner, I am righteous in your sight through faith in Jesus. Thank you." So look at Galatian 2:16. It said very plainly how sinners are justified. “We know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we too had put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law, no one will be justified.” So justification by faith makes sinners positionally righteous in the sight of God. We have become the righteousness of God in Christ.

That leads to the promise of the Spirit. The Spirit was promised in the Old Testament. The Spirit himself is a promise of future perfection. And so if you believe in Jesus, you're instantly given the gift of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The Spirit comes and lives in you. Look at verse 14. "He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham"... Notice that word blessing. Not cursed now, blessing. "The blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit." And then the Spirit living inside us leads us to follow the perfect law of God, to love God with all our heart and love our neighbors ourselves, and all of the other commands he wants us to follow. He says, "This is the way. Walk in it." But we're not justified by that walk, we're justified by faith in Christ. The Spirit lives within us and by faith, we step, day after day, later it's going to say in Galatians 5, "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Galatians 5:16, "Walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." Galatians 5:18, "If you're led by the Spirit, you're not under law." We'll talk much more in the future, God-willing, about the Spirit-filled life.

V. Application

What applications can we take from this? Well, I want to zero in on this one phrase, "Do not set aside the grace of God." Do not set it aside. First, if you are an unbeliever, you're a non-Christian, you came here today and God brought you here by his sovereign grace. I'm pleading with you, do not set aside the grace of God. There will be no other Savior. No one else has descended from heaven and is sticking out his hand to grab you and pull you off the burning floor. There is going to be no other Savior. He's the only one. Do not set aside the grace of God by thinking you can save yourself by your own works. Your good deeds do not outweigh your bad, they cannot pay for your bad, and they aren't even good. Come to Christ. Trust in him and every day, say to Jesus, "Christ, you are my righteousness. You are my righteousness." Every day, say that him.

Secondly, embrace and tremble at the idea of the coming wrath of God. It is coming. We don't smell the smoke, we don't see the flames or feel the heat of the flames, but if you believe the Word of God, there is a coming wrath. Jesus rescues us from the coming wrath. 1 Thessalonians 1:10. The universe is going to be incinerated. The elements will melt in the heat, it is coming. Worse than that, the enemies of God will be consumed forever and ever in fire. Fear, trembling, tremble at it, understand you were rescued from it if you're a Christian. If you're not yet a Christian, danger is hanging over you right now. For us as evangelists, let us be faithful to share in light of that coming wrath.

Thirdly, embrace and celebrate in the exclusivity of Christ. This is going to be assaulted over the next part of the century if the Lord doesn't tarry. It's just going to get hotter and hotter in the United States of America. We have to stand firm and not burn pinches of incense to other gods, as though Jesus is just one of many gods. We need to stand firm and say, "He is the only God. He is the only Savior. We worship Christ alone." We need to stand firm on that. We need to preach that salvation is found in no one else, "For there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved," Acts 4:12. And then let's preach that Gospel. There is no other Savior. And when people bring up Buddhism, Hinduism, and all that, think of the things we've talked about here in this message.

Fourthly, meditate on the concept that Christ became a curse for you. If you've been redeemed through faith in Christ, nothing you face in your life now or will ever face for the rest of eternity can be classified as curse. Nothing. Could be cancer, could be unemployment, could be severe pain, it could be all kinds of things but none of it is curse. Christ sucked curse out of your case and took it on himself. God may discipline you for sin because he loves you. But there's an infinite difference between the discipline of a loving father and a curse of a wrath-filled God. Those are two different things.

Don't wait for the other shoe to drop. God has been good to you. He's going to keep being good to you. Nothing but good to you. Some Christians are like, "God's going to get me. I have been so blessed up to now but he's going to get me. He's going to get... " What do you mean by "get you?" "I know I'm not going to hell, but, yeah, this might happen." Look, anything that happens to you is a display of God's love. There is no curse coming for you if you're in Christ. We're done.

And fifth and finally, understand that there are two ways to live. You can live by trusting in your own morality through the law or you can live by faith in Christ's shed blood and the power of the Holy Spirit. Two ways to live, law versus grace. Flesh versus spirit, Holy Spirit. Okay, walk by the power of the Spirit and you will not gratify the deeds of the flesh. Close with me in prayer. Father, we thank You for the things that we've learned in this very rich text. I pray that You would please strengthen each of us to understand the Word of God. We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Pastor Andy Davis preaches Galatians 3:1-5, and explores the Apostle Paul's warns that justification is a free gift from the Holy Spirit and can not be earned by works.

- SERMON TRANSCRIPT  - 

So we come to Galatians 3:1-5, and as we do, I come to the issue of the perfection of Christians, how it is that Christians are made perfect once they have come to an initial saving faith in Christ. The title of this sermon is Christians are perfected by the Spirit and not by the law. We saw last time in Galatians 2:16 that clear statement, the doctrinal center, of the book of Galatians, really, of the Christian message to the world, of justification by faith alone apart from works of the law. So you can see it there in Galatians 2:16. There, Paul says, "We know that a person is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ." So he says, "We, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law. Because by observing the law, no one will be justified." So this is the answer to the Philippian jailer's question, "What must I do to be saved?" It's a question every single descendant of Adam should be asking. People don't realize the danger they're in and their sin. They don't understand how the wrath of God remains on them as long as they do not turn to Christ. As it says in John 3:36, once they have repented and turned to Christ, they are delivered from the wrath of God. But before that, they are vessels or objects of wrath and they're under judgment. And we should all, every single human being should be asking that question that the Philippian jailer asked, trembling, having just been rescued from committing suicide. He brings Paul and Silas out and asked them, "What must I do to be saved?" And the answer is, "Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved." And that is the answer. Justification by faith apart from works of the law.

We know that Paul is addressing a heresy that had come in after he had planted those churches in Asia Minor in Galatia, preaching Christ crucified, preaching justification by faith. In came some Judaizers afterwards, and they began messing it up. They began saying, “Faith in Christ is not enough. You need to add the works of the law, the Jewish law in particular. You have to be circumcised. You have to obey the Law of Moses in order to be saved.” Paul says, "This is no gospel at all. It's not good news at all to know that you can, buy your own law-keeping, save yourself, because no one can do it." And so he is writing to establish plainly, again, in the minds of these Galatian Christians, what is the Gospel?

So we are justified, we sinners are justified, we are made right with a holy God simply by faith in Jesus Christ. And that if you trust in Jesus and you put your faith in him, all of your sins will be forgiven. And you will be seen to be perfectly righteous in the sight of God, positionally righteous. The perfect work of Jesus Christ in law-keeping and in living under the Law of Moses, that perfect record of obedience will be imputed or credited to your account, and God will forever see you as obedient as his own Son. Isn't that staggering? I just can't say it enough. That if you're a Christian, God sees you as obedient as Jesus, perfectly righteous. But how then, after you've come to faith in Christ, after you have been justified, how then shall we live our lives? And we find that there is a call, an upward call of God in Christ Jesus toward perfection that's part of Christianity. We find that we are saved in stages, and that our salvation from sin is not complete. The positional aspect is instantaneous, it happens right at the beginning of the Christian life. You hear the Gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected, you repent and believe, and instantaneously, you're justified. But then begins that long journey of sanctification. And I think our text today addresses that. Having begun by the Spirit, you are not perfected by law-keeping. You're not perfected by the flesh, by human efforts.

"The perfect work of Jesus Christ in law-keeping and in living under the Law of Moses, that perfect record of obedience will be imputed or credited to your account, and God will forever see you as obedient as his own Son."

But we're going to find in the gospel, we're going to find here in the book of Galatians, the same way you begin the Christian life, that's how you make progress in it as well. We are called on to be perfect every day. Matthew 5:48, Jesus said, "You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect." And we begin to learn all of the areas, the scope, of that perfection, how it covers everything that there is in life. Every thought, every inclination or attitude of the heart, every occasion, every interaction with another human being, is an opportunity for you to be perfect, to love God with all of your heart and to love your neighbor as yourself. You're going to find that sanctification calls on you to seek to be perfect, as Christ is perfect. But it's impossible to do it in the flesh.  We're going to find out that the same way that we began, through faith in Christ crucified and resurrected, by reliance in the spirit, that's how we make progress in the Christian life. And we're going to learn to rely, as Paul says in Philippians 1:6, on, “He who began a good work in us.” That he, the same one that began this good work in us, he's going to continue it. He's going to perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. God means to carry on our salvation the same way he began it, by us completely relying on Jesus. And to God be the glory then for every step we make, every advance we make in sanctification, God gets the full credit and the full glory.

I. The Foolishness of Trying to Be Perfected by Law (verses 1, 3)

So let's look at it step by step. Jonathan, what an incredible reading of scripture. That was awesome. But the impact of that, "Oh, foolish Galatians!" I was jumping at that moment.  It was startling to me. But it's right there in the text, so thank you, Jonathan, for highlighting that. That was like bold, italic, underscore there.  Powerful. But Paul begins a passionate appeal and he seems to be very distressed with the Galatians. He's very passionate about this, "Oh, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?" And there's this little Greek word "oh" in there. And so it's an emotional word here. Same word you see in that in incredible doxology in Romans, "Oh, the depths of the riches, the wisdom, and the knowledge of God." There, that "oh" is one of rich joy and the depths of the wisdom of God and he's overwhelmed, it's a word of worship. But here, it really is a word of bitter disappointment. He's emotional here. Similar perhaps to the word "oh" in Jesus's statement, "Oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem. You who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you. How often I've longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you are unwilling." Same kind of bitter sadness at what's happening with these Galatian churches.

Paul is heartbroken that these churches that he has planted have in some way turned their back on the true gospel and have embraced this false doctrine of "works righteousness." They've turned their backs on the gospel of God and Christ. And he calls it "foolishness." "Oh, foolish Galatians." So there's the foolishness here, it's not a matter of stupidity. It's not that they're stupid or intellectually depleted or in some way lacking intelligence. Really, it's that moral stupidity that we get in the book of Proverbs, the fool of the book of Proverbs. There's a stubbornness of heart here, in this word "foolish." They're stubborn, their hearts are hard. And they were fools to exchange the truth of God for the lie of fleshly works. And again, I don't think it's spoken harshly or angrily. He's trying to wake them up out of the stupor of this false doctrine. And so I picture him saying it tenderly but sharply here.

Similar to Jesus on the road to Emmaus with those two disciples, where he says, "How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that God has spoken through the prophets. Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter into glory?" And so, at that point, Jesus then patiently explained the scriptures and showed why they were foolish not to be ready for the resurrection. And I think Paul does the same thing here. He doesn't just stop at calling them "fools," but he reasons with them based on their experience and then later, (we’ll study next week and beyond), based on the scriptures. And so in Galatians 3, he's going to talk first about their own experience with the gospel. That's what we are looking at today. Over the next few weeks, we will see that he's going to be reasoning from Abraham's experience as well. So he's going to reason with them from scripture and from experience, but experience first. And he's going to say, "Look at yourselves. Look at what happened to you. Look when the Holy Spirit came. And your relationship then to the law."

And he speaks here of the bewitching appeal of false teaching. "Who has bewitched you?" It's almost like, "Who has hypnotized you? Who's put the evil eye on you?" It's an interesting Greek word here. "Who's kinda put the evil eye on you to get you to believe this false doctrine?" Now, Paul's not using it literally, but it's almost like some mind control cult, some weird thing where you come back a year later and people are all walking around with this glazed look on their face, and they're all talking in a monotone. It's like, "What happened to you people? You've become weird, doctrinally weird. Who has bewitched you to follow this false doctrine?" And so, he appeals then to their first experience to try to win them back to how they first understood the gospel. Later in the book of Galatians, he's going to say, "What's happened to all your joy? Don't you remember how it was? You remember how joyful you were when you realized you were forgiven? How God had sent his son to die in your place? Don't you remember that? Can't we get back to that? And remember how you loved me at that time and how warm you were and how you embraced me? And you would've plucked out your eyes and given them to me. You were just so loving, and now you're set against me."

II. We Experienced Christ by Faith, Not Law  (Verse 1)

And so he goes back to their experience. "Let's go back to how it was when you first heard the gospel of Christ." And how did they first experience Christ? Well, they experienced Christ by faith. So look at it in verse one, "Oh, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified." They first saw Christ. You could almost put quotations around that, but not really. They first saw Jesus crucified, publicly crucified. Now, how did they do this? Please don't imagine they had the Jesus film back then. I know you've heard of that ministry and people go all over places and they set up generators and they play the Jesus film. That's not what's going on here. You know what was going on? Just simple, clear preaching. It was just proclamation of Christ and him crucified. And friends, that's been going on for 20 centuries. It's going on all over the world right now. It's going on right here in this room. A simple proclamation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born of a virgin, the one who lived a sinless life, who spoke all of his incredible teachings. This Jesus who spoke these parables, the Sermon on the Mount, who never sinned, the sinless Jesus. This one who did supernatural signs and wonders, who walked on water, who spoke to the wind and the waves and they obeyed him, who spoke to fish and they swam into fishermen's nets. Who could heal any disease and sickness, who could raise the dead, this Jesus was crucified. And he was publicly portrayed before your eyes as crucified.

They saw with the eyes of their heart. You know how it says in Ephesians 1:18, "May the eyes of your heart be enlightened." What are the eyes of the heart? It is faith. I really believe that. Faith is the eyesight of the soul. By faith, you see what cannot be seen based on words. So you hear the words of Christ and you can picture him in your mind's eye. You can survey the wondrous cross, and you can see Jesus, the Son of God, nailed to the cross. You can actually almost have a sense of what it was like when his hands and feet were pierced with those nails, as the nails were driven into the wood and as blood soaked into that wood and streamed down his body. You can picture that in your mind's eye. You can picture the circumstances, that eerie darkness that came over all the earth at that time. And you can hear his words saying, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing." And the events as, Kyle talked about in the baptism, the gospels give us the events, what happened at the time. And the words he spoke, here he said, "Father, into your hands, I commit my spirit." And "My God, my God, why have your forsaken me?" And "It is finished." You can hear these words, and so Christ crucified is proclaimed, and I imagine you can see that now in your mind's eye, too, you can picture Christ crucified, you can picture him there. And more than that, along come the epistles, the apostolic preaching of the cross gave the explanation of why of the circumstances. They tell us why it is that the Son of God died. And how in 2 Corinthians 5:21, it says, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God" and how by faith in Christ all our sins are forgiven. And so, you foolish Galatians, we publicly portrayed, we placarded Jesus Christ crucified before your very eyes, and then the Spirit worked in you at that time, a supernatural work of regeneration. You were born again as you heard that gospel. Faith came by hearing, and you heard, and the faith sprang to life within your heart, just like that man born blind. You'd never seen light before that moment. But suddenly, at that moment, God said, "Let there be light," and in your heart, the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ sprang up inside your hearts. And you didn't have to see anything, you're just listening to the gospel as it was being preached, and you believed. You remember how it was? By simple hearing with faith, you were justified. By simple hearing with faith, your sins were forgiven. And that was your first encounter with Jesus. That's how it all started for you. That's how you encountered Jesus. Do you remember how it was? But not only that, at that moment, you also experienced the third person of the Trinity. At that moment, you received the gift of the Holy Spirit. And so you experienced the Holy Spirit at that moment, too.

III. We Experienced the Spirit by Faith, Not Law (Verses 2-4)

Look at verses 2-4, "I would like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by observing a law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to finish your race or be perfected by the flesh, by human effort? [verse 4] Have you suffered so much for nothing if it really was for nothing?" So he now is appealing to their experience with the Spirit. He talks about the incredible gift of the Holy Spirit that came into their lives at that time. He asked a dramatic rhetorical question, "I just want to learn one thing from you." So he's underscoring by that use of kind of a dramatic rhetorical question, "Tell me something about yourselves. I want to ask one thing. I want you to go back to how it was at that time. You remember when you received the gift of the Holy Spirit? Do you remember how it was? The Holy Spirit came on you at that moment, the moment you heard and believed. You didn't go out on week's probation with a list of dos and don'ts and then based on how well you obeyed those dos and don'ts, then we saw which of you would get the Spirit. That's not how it happened. It was hearing, believing, and then the Spirit came. There was no time lapse. The Holy Spirit was poured out on you, uncircumcised, gentile believers in Jesus. That's how the Spirit came."

Now you may wonder, you say, "That really wasn't my experience with the Gospel. We didn't have signs and wonders. We didn't speak in tongues." You may have wondered. Well, back then in the apostolic era, frequently, the Holy Spirit would be poured out in a very signal way, a spectacular way. You remember how, on the day of Pentecost, all of the believers were gathered there in the upper room, you remember? And on that day of Pentecost, suddenly, there came a sound like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were staying, and they saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. And all of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages as the Spirit enabled them. That was a visible auditory... Just an actual experience of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. And unbelievers, people that hadn't come to faith in Christ yet, could hear the sound. And they gathered around the house, so it was something everybody experienced at that point.

Well, that same kind of experience happened at other times. You remember how Peter went to Cornelius's house, remember? And he preached to that Roman centurion and his family and friends that were gathered in the house. And as Peter was preaching about Christ crucified and resurrected, as that preaching was going on, while he was preaching, suddenly, the same thing happened again, like a mini-day of Pentecost happened. In Acts 10:44-47, "The Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles, for they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God." So there was a clear sensory proof of the coming of the Spirit, that's something God did back then from time to time. Then Peter said, "Can anyone keep these people from being baptized with water? They've received the Holy Spirit just as we have." I believe that water baptism is an outward and visible sign of the true baptism that's already happened, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. If you're a genuine believer in Christ, you are immersed in the Holy Spirit. And if anyone doesn't have the Spirit, they're not a Christian. Romans 8 teaches that. So you are immersed in faith in Christ, by faith in Christ in the Spirit, you've already been baptized in the Spirit. We just testified to it outwardly to the world by the water baptism. And so they linked it back then, they said, "Look, these are uncircumcised Romans, these are uncircumcised Gentiles, but they've received the Holy Spirit." And I've already learned from that, that sheet being let down, "Don't call anything impure that God has made clean," He's purified these Gentiles now. They're clean by faith in Christ. Uncircumcised Gentiles. And the Holy Spirit came.

"I believe that water baptism is an outward and visible sign of the true baptism that's already happened, the baptism of the Holy Spirit. If you're a genuine believer in Christ, you are immersed in the Holy Spirit. And if anyone doesn't have the Spirit, they're not a Christian."

So, Galatians, remember how that was? I think the same thing must have happened for them. And they received a supernatural manifestation of the outpouring of the Spirit. Later, in our verse here, in verse five, he says, "Does God work miracles among you by works of the law or by believing what you heard?" And so, again, signs and wonders and miracles poured out on these Galatians. And they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. Now, we don't have those manifestations, but that doesn't mean that we don't receive the gift of the Spirit. I've already said in Romans chapter eight, If you have not received the gift of the Spirit, you're not justified. You're not a Christian. So every justified person, every genuine Christian, receives the Spirit. What does that mean? What does it mean to receive the Spirit? Well, it means to receive the gift of the third person of the Trinity, who, in some amazing way, comes and dwells in your heart. He dwells within you. He lives within you. John 14:16-17, Jesus said this, "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, cannot receive him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him for he lives with you and will be in you."

So the Spirit is going to be in you forever. The Spirit comes and dwells within your heart. And we're going to talk in future weeks about the varieties of the workings of the Spirit in the life of a believer. He comes at the beginning of the Christian life, at the moment of justification, and takes up residence within your life, and nothing is ever the same again, the third person of the Trinity. And then he fulfills the promise of radical transformation. He makes you into a new being. He is the fulfillment of the promise in Ezekiel, "I will take out the heart of stone, and I will put in you a heart of flesh, and I'll put my Spirit on you, and I will move you to follow my decrees and my laws. " So by the power of the Spirit, you then make progress in the Christian life and the Spirit fulfills that promise of radical transformation, so a genuine believer may love now what Christ loves and hate, genuinely hate, what Christ hates. And a genuine believer yearns for what Christ yearns for, and wills what Christ would will, and rejects what Christ would reject. Transformed from the inside by the Spirit, you have the same emotional reactions and you have the mind of Christ and think like he does, and out of that internally changed nature, you then live a different kind of life. That's biblical sanctification. That's what the Holy Spirit has come to do inside of us. And "It is not by law," he says, "but by the hearing with faith." He says that they're foolish and bewitched to think that having received the Holy Spirit by hearing with faith, they now make progress toward perfection by some other means, by human effort, by the flesh. They did not earn the Spirit. He was a beautiful gift given to them freely.

"Transformed from the inside by the Spirit, you have the same emotional reactions and you have the mind of Christ and think like he does, and out of that internally changed nature, you then live a different kind of life. That's biblical sanctification."

The gift of the Spirit is not earned by any works of piety. It is not earned by any moralistic laws, not earned by circumcision or dietary regulations, not earned by fasting. The Holy Spirit is not earned by any kind of self-denial. He is not earned by any good works of benevolence you may pour out on the poor and needy. The gift of the Holy Spirit is not given as a reward at all. The Spirit is not a wage given to workers. He is a gift given to sons and daughters. And so he says, "I would like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law or by believing the message you heard? And then having begun by the Spirit, we are not perfected by the law." And this is kinda the centerpiece of my message today. Look at verse three. "Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit, are you now perfected in the flesh?" If the Spirit has begun to do all this in us, isn't it a clear indication that we cannot do anything apart from him?

Now, for Paul, it's pretty clear that there's still a journey yet to be traveled, "Well, what else could there be after justification?" Well, in God's perfect purposes and in his plans, He wills that we live in this world in our mortal bodies, our bodies of sin, these bodies of death, we are to live in this Satan-dominated world surrounded by other people who are regenerate, but also living in bodies of sin and bodies of death, or unregenerate people who are dead in their transgressions and sins and filled with murderous threats against the Lord's people, or just totally ambivalent or not interested. We are to live out lives of godliness in those circumstances. And that's the playing field of sanctification. He wants to see us living a perfect life in that setting. And he wants us to run a race now, a race toward perfection every single day.

Paul talks about this very beautifully in Philippians 3. I love Philippians 3, these verses. Look at verses 8- 12 in Philippians, you can just go over it or just listen. Philippians 3:8 and following. It says, "That I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ. The righteous that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow to attain to the resurrection of the dead. Not that I have obtained all this or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me… So forgetting what lies behind and straining, [striving, pressing on] toward what lies ahead" I aim for perfection. So in that statement in Philippians, he says, "I press on to take hold of that [purpose] for which Christ Jesus took hold of me."  Okay, why did Christ take hold of me? He took hold of me that I would be perfect, holy, and blameless in his sight. So every day, I strive, I press after perfection every day. Now here's the challenging part, that means you have to work. You have to labor. You have to have holy resolutions. You have to have holy efforts. You have to strive, but you have to do it not in a legalistic way. How do we do that? How do we do that? How do we strive and not be legalistic? How do we make holy resolutions and not be legalistic? Well, everything comes down to the mentality as we do it. Everything comes down to this.

This is the internal journey that FBC talks about. How do we do it? First and foremost, in total reliance on Jesus Christ, him crucified and resurrected. Just say to yourself every day in your quiet time. John 15:5. Jesus, you said to me, "I am the vine, you are the branches. If a person remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit, for apart from me, you can do nothing." See, I think what's going on is that as the Galatians are trying to finish their race by human efforts, they feel like they're on their own. Like, Jesus came to town, Paul came to town, preaching the gospel and got them a good start, but now he's gone and they've got to run the rest of the race themselves. They're on their own now. And then on Judgement Day, the Lord can say, "Hey, look, I gave you an incredible, awesome start, what happened since then?" And so you become inward-focused and you're thinking, "What can I do?", and you've got all these challenges. And you see the perfection that you need to have in your lives, the way you think, the way you love, the way you live in every area, sins of commission, sins of omission. You're learning more and more of scripture and you're starting to get into the pile, and it's like, "How in the world can I be perfect like Jesus?" And you feel like you're on your own. But you're not. He is the vine, and you are the branch, and you abide in Jesus by the Spirit.

And you look to Christ crucified and you say, "He died my sins. The wrath of God against me is gone. I'm not afraid of the law's accusations anymore, I'm free from the law as it condemns me. I'm free. I'm a son, I'm a daughter, of the living God, and nothing I do or don't do today will change that. I'm secure in that love. But oh, I yearn to please my Heavenly Father. And sin is just poison and I don't want to do it today. And even though I can somehow drink it and not die, I can't drink it and not be sick. And so I don't want to sin today. I want to be free from all sin. Oh, Lord help me. I rely in you. I trust in you, Lord Jesus. Christ crucified, that's my death. I died a sin forever. Christ resurrected, that's my life, I can live a new life now by the Spirit." That's how you do it. As it says in Colossians 2:6-7, "So then just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, so continue to live in him."  The way you begin the Christian life is the way you continue, look to Christ crucified and resurrected. Trust in him. Hearing with faith, reliance in the Spirit, that's it.

"The way you begin the Christian life is the way you continue, look to Christ crucified and resurrected. Trust in him. Hearing with faith, reliance in the Spirit, that's it."

And Paul's concern, verse 4, "Have you suffered so much for nothing if it really was for nothing?" They were persecuted for their faith, they were beat up by the surrounding community, the churches went through hard times. He said, "But now it's like you're that stony ground hearer. When trouble, persecution, difficulty comes, you're fading. Turning away from the true gospel." And he's concerned that his labor for them was in vain. Later, in Galatians 4:19, he's going to use women in labor language. He says, "My dear children, for whom I'm again in the pains of childbirth until Christ be formed in you." He's in anguish over these churches. It's like, "I'm afraid that everything I've done for you was in vain. If you go off into this worked-based religion, it's all for nothing." So, he's yearning that they understand. You experienced Jesus by hearing with faith. You experienced the Spirit by hearing with faith, and you are in a relationship now with God the Father also by hearing with faith, and that's it. So look what he says in verse 5, "Does God give you, [God the Father, does he give you] the Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law or by believing what you heard?"

You have a relationship with God by the gospel. You have an ongoing walk with God now because you believe the gospel, by faith and by the Spirit. God doesn't give any of these things as a wage. We were universally sinful. There was no one righteous. Not even one. All of us had fallen short of the glory of God. None of us declared righteous by observing the law. And God, I love this word, "supplies" his spirit to you by faith and not by law. And so he gives you a flow. So often, the Holy Spirit's like a river. There's a flow, the pouring out of the Spirit, he's like liquid. And there's a sense of an ongoing stream of power coming to you by the Father's command and not because you are law-keeping.

IV. Applications:  Begun by the Spirit, Perfected by the Spirit

Alright, so, how do we apply this understanding? What application can we take from this? Well, first, I hope that there are some that have been invited here that are not Christians yet, and for you, I just want to say you have had Jesus Christ publicly portrayed as crucified before your eyes today. All you need to do is, having heard that, believe, and all of your sins will be forgiven. How sweet is that? Trust in the Lord. Believe in Jesus Christ. Call on the name of the Lord, and you will be saved. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Now John Stott said, and I love this, "Before we can begin to see the cross as something done for us, we have to first see it as something done by us." So what you need to do is say, "Lord, I'm a sinner. I've violated your laws. I have not loved you with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength, I've not loved my neighbor as myself, I've violated the 10 Commandments. I've been lustful, I've been covetous in my heart, I've led a wicked life. And Jesus died because I was a sinner. Jesus died in my place. I trust in you to take my wrath away." So you call on the name of the Lord and you picture him in your mind's eye, and you cry out to him and you say, "Save me, Jesus, save me." And he will save you. For everyone who calls on the name on the Lord will be saved. But having received, then, justification as a gift. Now I'm talking to all of you. So now, make progress by the same pattern. Make progress by the same pattern. Understand salvation is a process. You have to be perfected, you have to grow in grace in the knowledge of Christ. And so he wants you to become more and more mature. More and more like Christ. He wants you to aim every day for perfection. It says in 2 Corinthians 13, "Aim for perfection." Every day. There is a journey, but you must make that journey by actively relying on Christ crucified and the power of the Spirit. You're not on your own, praise God. You're not on your own. So, I want to turn around and say, "What does sanctification by flesh look like?" What does it look like? How can I know if I am trying to make progress in the flesh? Well, let's start with what happens when you sin. Okay? What happens when you know you violated your conscience, you've violated God's standards?

When I was a Catholic (I was raised in the Catholic faith), I had to go to confession, and you were told that if you died with unconfessed sin, it will be longer in purgatory. That was the doctrine that was told to us at that time, and so you would go and confess your sins to the priest. Back in my day, they had just gotten away from the confessionals, you had to sit and face the guy, face-to-face, and go tell him all your deep, dark secrets. And then there's purgatory hanging in the background. And then after you confessed your sins to the priest, he would then give you a list of things you had to do. Hail Mary's, Our Father's, prayers, giving money to the poor, etcetra. That was the bill at the end of the time. It's like that's my sin bill. "And if I do these works, then I'm clear? Is that it? Got it." Okay? Now I'm not necessarily saying that that was a right preaching of Roman Catholic soteriology. I'm not entirely sure what their answer to the question, "What must I do to be saved?" is anymore. But I know this. Satan still tries to hand us that bill of good works to do after you sin. You know what I'm saying?

Until I do these seven things, I can't feel good anymore about my walk with God. God's smile, His fatherly smile to you, cannot be earned. It can't be earned, so just like the prodigal son, go back, throw yourself at the feet of your Father, have him lift you up, and put you in that robe again, that raiment and say, "I love you." And you didn't do anything. You are restored by faith in Jesus alone, not by works. It is so easy to get legalistic about this. You know what I'm saying? So you've sinned, and you try to earn your way back to God by doing good works. That is what working it out by the flesh.

Another way is you make a list of resolutions, of good things you want to do. 10 things you want to do in the year 2014. Look, I think there's nothing wrong and everything right with having goals. It says in Isaiah, "The noble man makes noble plans, and by noble deeds, he stands." It's good to have plans. But hold them loosely because God delights in throwing wrenches into your moral plans. He loves messing it up. It's God doing it, not Satan, it's God. He wants to know what you do when you don't do all the things you want to do, and Bible-reading and scripture memorization and fasting and praying and sharing the gospel and all that. You got this list, alright, "45 minutes of Bible reading every day. Hour of prayer every day. Going to memorize two verses a day throughout the year. I'm not going to go to bed any day in the year 2014 without sharing the gospel with someone," on and on. All of those are good things. Not one of them is bad. But what happens when you don't? And is it all up to you to do it, to crank it out?

So those are two aspects of what it starts to look like, having begun by the spirit, perfected in the flesh. What do you do when you sin? And how do you approach your lists of things you want to do to improve your Christian life? There's so many more things I could say. I guess I'd like to bring you back to Philippians 2:12-13, where it says very plainly, I love how it works to get there, it says, "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling." So work hard at it. If you don't work, you will not make progress toward perfection. But understand, "it is God who works in you to will and to act, according to His good purpose." So all of your working and all of your willing and all of your striving, do it by faith in Christ crucified and resurrected, and by the power of the Spirit. Close with me in prayer.

Father, we thank you for the things we've learned today. That we should not be so foolish to think that we, having begun by the Spirit, are now perfected by the flesh. Help us, oh, Lord, to make genuine progress in the Christian life, but help us to do it by a constant reliance on Christ crucified and resurrected, and a constant reliance on the gift of the Holy Spirit. And knowing that our Father's smile is given us constantly as a gift of grace. It's blood bought, and it's our constant gift of grace. You love us and You'll never stop loving us. Help us to realize that, that we don't have to earn forgiveness. We pray this in Jesus's name. Amen.

Two Spectacular Moments

As we come to Hebrews 11:28-29, we come to two of the most spectacular moments in Old Testament history, probably the two most significant moments in the history of the nation of Israel. Two separate nights, amazing that they were both nights, the night of the Passover and the night of the Red Sea crossing. And these events shaped the history of Israel, they shaped the identity of the nation. And as we're in Hebrews 11, we're in the middle of the faith chapter, and we're looking at all of these heroes, these great men and women of the faith, and we're seeing in their lives the actions, the activities, the results, the fruit of faith. And the author means to work in us, by this historical survey, the same kind of faith that these heroes of the faith displayed in their lives.

And so we're not just looking at the night of the Passover just as a historical event, but we're looking at it specifically that we, as believers in Christ, after the coming of Christ, after His death, His resurrection, looking back on what happened the night of the Passover, may be strengthened in our faith and love Christ more and feel more powerfully the value and the worth of the blood shed for us, and that we might be strengthened by that and see the deliverance that Jesus wrought for us in Christ.

And the same thing, dear friends, with the Red Sea crossing, that we would look back not just at a spectacular miracle, what I would have to say is the most visually spectacular miracle in all of the Bible, not the most significant, but just the most spectacular, an awesome display of the power of God. But then we will not just stop there at the spectacle of it and just the drama of the Red Sea crossing, but that we would look at it through the porthole that the author wants us to do through Moses's faith and the faith of the people as they cross the Red Sea and the dry land, that our own faith may be strengthened and that we may see the deliverance wrought for us by Jesus Christ, and see, just as we do in the Passover lamb, we see also in the Red Sea crossing, we see Jesus Christ. I think that's what the author means for us to do.

And so right in the middle of a section which we're contemplating Moses. By faith Moses, by faith Moses, etcetera. We saw in verse 24 that, by faith Moses, turned his back on a life of comfort and ease, a life of pleasure and power as a son of Pharaoh's daughter. He turned his back on that by faith, and he chose by faith instead to be mistreated with the people of God, to embrace a life of suffering, not a life of sinful pleasure. He understood that the sinful pleasures of Egypt were temporary and fleeting, but the treasures of Christ were eternal, are eternal.

I. By Faith Moses Looked Ahead to Christ (vs. 26)

And so as we saw last week, in Verse 26 that by faith we saw Moses looking ahead to Christ. Faith essentially always looking forward, looking ahead. And so are we. We are more than merely optimistic. We are forward-looking by faith. The future is unspeakably bright. And we are going to a glorious place, the new heavens and the new earth, and we're looking forward to Christ. When we won't need faith anymore, when we will see Him in His glory seated on His glorious throne, when we will see Him in the clouds and He will come back, and all the nations will be gathered before Him and He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory, we, like Moses, by faith, looking ahead to Christ. Moses did it then, we do it now.

Verse 26, "He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt." And so he's looking ahead, at that point looking ahead to Christ. We made the point that all of these Hebrews, all of these heroes of the Old Testament were justified by faith in Christ. Abel was justified by faith in Christ, and so was Enoch, and so was Noah, and Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all of these great figures that were tracing out their history, all of them justified by faith in Christ, the Christ who was promised, the Christ who hadn't come yet, they were looking forward to Christ. So, it's not an accident or it's a mere throwaway this word "Christ" in Verse 26. Moses, by faith, looking ahead to Christ.

II. By Faith Moses Looked Ahead to His Reward (vs. 26)

And we saw also in Verse 26 that, by faith Moses "was looking forward to his reward." He was looking ahead to his reward. And we saw the issue of rewards coming again, how we, by faith, must yearn for those rewards. "Without faith, it's impossible to please Him," Verse 6, "because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him." And so he was looking ahead to his reward.

III. By Faith Moses Feared the Invisible God More Than Visible Pharaoh (vs. 27)

And then in verse 27, we saw that, by faith Moses feared the invisible God, more than visible Pharaoh. "By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king's anger." He persevered... Moses "persevered because he saw Him who is invisible." We discussed that Moses left Egypt twice, but these words, I think, referred to the Exodus, the time of the second leaving, not the first.

He fled for his life after he murdered the Egyptian slave driver. He was afraid at that point. Clearly the text in Exodus 2 tells us he was afraid of arrest, he was afraid of Pharaoh, and he ran. But when he comes back, filled with the Spirit of God, he confronts Pharaoh very boldly and directly in an ever-escalating contest of wills, a battle of wills. And it's not between Pharaoh and Moses, no, not at all. It's between Pharaoh and God, and no one has a stronger will than God. Moses, the mediator, he was the intermediary, he was the messenger, the prophet, speaking God's words. And you can see the kind of faith it would take to go out day after day, and confront this wicked man, this tyrant, the most powerful man on earth, and not fear his anger because instead you fear God more, and you love God more, and you want to please God more. And he persevered because he saw Him who's invisible.

Realize always, the author is thinking about the audience he's writing to, these first century Jews, who are persecuted, they're being oppressed, they're losing their property, their possessions, their freedoms. They hadn't resisted to the point of shedding blood, we'll talk about that in the next chapter, but they were under a hard time. And so he's throwing them some extra phrases in here to help them. And they weren't afraid of... Moses wasn't afraid of the king's anger. He didn't fear human anger or reprisals. Why? Because he could see the invisible God by faith, as if he could see Him. And so he deals with them in an ever-escalating way, to the point where Pharaoh cannot bear to look on Moses any longer. "Get out of my sight," he says. "The day you see my face you will die." Moses said, "Just as you say, I will never appear before you again." And that was right before that final judgment on Egypt, at that point, the plague on the firstborn. Moses's final act of courage directly facing Pharaoh's rage is in the Red Sea crossing, we'll get to that presently.

IV. By Faith Moses Kept the Passover (vs. 28)

But next verse, verse 28, "By faith Moses kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel." Now, before Moses even confronted Pharaoh, before he even began this whole thing, God told Moses what he would do. And He told him to tell Pharaoh what he would do. This is back in Exodus 4:22-23, "Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the LORD says: Israel is my firstborn son,  and I told you, "Let my son go, so he may worship me." But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.'"  Tell that to Pharaoh. This is before any of the plagues had even started. God willed all 10 of the plagues, He hardened Pharaoh's heart to be sure he got all 10 plagues. It was God's will. And so we come to the 10th plague, the deadly and the dreadful plague on the firstborn, and what a terrifying night that was. What a terrifying night.

And through Moses, God made plain what it was He was going to do. Exodus 11, "This is what the Lord says, 'About midnight, I will go throughout Egypt, and every firstborn son in Egypt will die, from the firstborn son of Pharaoh, who sits on the throne, to the firstborn son of the slave girl who is at her hand mill, and all the firstborn of the cattle as well, there will be loud wailing throughout Egypt, worse than there has ever been or ever will be again. But among the Israelites, not a dog will bark at any man or animal. Then you will know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.'" This is the sovereign electing love of God. Do not imagine for a moment that the Egyptians were any worse sinners than the Jews were. Jesus made this very plain.

When Pilate killed some Galileans while they were offering a sacrifice, and everyone assumed it's because they were worse sinners than the ones that survived, he said that was not so. And when a tower fell and some people died, Jesus said, them to not assume that the survivors were any more righteous than those that died. And he said,  "unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." Frankly, the plague on the firstborn was a mercy to Egypt, because the wages of sin is death and all of them deserved to die. But it wasn't just the Egyptians that all deserved to die, it was the Jews as well. They all deserved to die. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." We are all under the judgment of God, all of us under the death penalty.

The Shedding and Application of Blood

And the only remedy, therefore, for Israel would be the shedding and the application of the blood of the lamb. That was the only way they could be delivered from this plague. And so in Exodus 12, "Tell the whole community of Israel that on the 10th day of this month, each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. The animals you choose must be year-old males, without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. Take care of them until the 14th day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. Then they are to take some of the blood and apply it on the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses where they eat the lambs." This is the clear command given to Israel through Moses.

Now, what the author to Hebrews is telling us, it was only by faith that they kept the Passover. It's only by faith that they killed the lamb and applied the blood. By faith Moses killed the lamb, trusting in God that it would be effective. It was by faith that Moses applied the blood on the door post, trusting in God that it would be effective. Even before that happened, it was by faith that Moses feared the coming wrath, which was invisible. It was just threatened, just words. "On the same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down very firstborn, both men and animals, and I will bring judgement on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord." It's just words, right? It's just words. No. No. Who spoke those words? This was Almighty God. This is God who created heaven and earth by the word of His power. He doesn't speak in idle word. These are not idle words for you. These words are your life, and by these words, you will live. And so, by faith, Moses feared the coming wrath. He took it seriously, the wrath to come.

Hebrews 11:1, "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for," but it's also "the conviction of things not seen." Hebrews 11:7, "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family." Same thing happened the night of the Passover. Moses was filled with a holy fear, and so were the people. And it was by faith that they feared the coming wrath. What about you? Do you think there's a wrath to come? The secular world that we live in denies it. There's no evidence of it. 2 Peter says, that, in the final days, scoffers will come, scoffing and saying, "Where is this coming He promised?" Everything, as it always has been, always will be, goes on since the days of our fathers. It's always been the same, and I don't see any evidence of any seals or trumpets or bulls or any kind of judgments coming. There is no wrath coming on us. It's just life.

Is that what you think? Do you fear the coming wrath? Are you fleeing the wrath to come? John the Baptist said to the enemies of God, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?" By faith, Moses fled the coming wrath. It was by faith. Without that faith, he wouldn't have slaughtered the Passover lamb. Without that faith, he wouldn't have applied the blood. And so the point is that it's only by faith you see the danger.

And secondly, it's only by faith you see the remedy. How could the shedding of the blood of the lamb protect us from the coming wrath? By faith, the same faith that enabled Moses to fear the coming wrath, enabled him to trust in the promise of God, that if they kill that lamb and apply the blood, they would be delivered. That the blood would be effective. And so it was by faith that he kept the Passover and the shedding of the blood of the lamb. That was the only reason he did it.

And so it says in Exodus 12, in Verse 13, "The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. And no destructive play will touch you when I strike Egypt." And Exodus 12:23, "When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and the sides of the door frame, and will pass over that doorway, and He will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and to strike you down."

Moses, Aaron, and the Israelites Obeyed by Faith, and Were Saved

So, God said very plainly it is the blood that would deliver them. He was very plain about this. By faith then, Moses and Israel obeyed these instructions and they were saved, they were delivered that very night.

Exodus 12:28, "The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron." They obeyed by faith. "And at midnight, the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt. From the first born of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. Pharaoh, and all his officials and all the Egyptians, got up during the night, and there was a loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead."

It happened just as God said it would. Just as God said it would, it happened. It was by faith that Moses knew that the shed and applied blood provided the only safe haven of refuge from the wrath of God. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood of the lamb and the basin, and put some of the blood on the top and both sides of the door frame. And not one of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. That's good advice, brothers and sisters. Stay inside the house. The implication is this is the place of refuge, this is the safe place. Just like the ark, this is the only safe place. Stay inside here under the blood. Here, you will be delivered. If you go out in the streets, you will die and your judgement will be on your own head.

Ultimately, by faith, we would have to say, in the same language that we've just learned to use, it was by faith that Moses obeyed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen? Do you not see it? It's so plain. The Scripture makes it plain. We know what to think. John the Baptist came as the precursor of Jesus. The first day he sees Jesus beginning his public ministry, he points to him so all Israel will know who He is, he points to Him and says, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world."

Dear friends, I was raised in the Roman Catholic church. I was an altar boy. I heard those words every single week, they meant nothing to me. I didn't know what the words meant, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." I needed an education. And I got an education in life, and through Scripture, and by an evangelist, who taught me who the lamb was, who taught me what it means, "Behold the lamb of God."

How can we behold Him who is invisible? The answer is clear. Only by faith. Only by faith in Jesus can you obey what John the Baptist tells you to do, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world." And only by faith in Jesus will your sins be removed from you, because a far greater judgment is coming than they felt that night, far greater. You could think, how could it be greater? I've never heard of anything like that. Every single house in the whole nation someone dead? That's never happened since then. Not even in the days of the Black Death did that happen every, single house had a dead person. Oh, far greater than that.

And far greater than physical death we're talking, we're talking about the second death, we're talking about eternal torments in hell, we're talking about a deliverance from that. Does that mean nothing to you? Do you not fear the wrath to come? Far greater than any physical death, those Egyptians, they just dropped dead, they stopped living physically. Oh, but there's a far greater judgment, and that's a judgment of hell. And Jesus came to shed His blood to deliver you and me from the wrath of God and from hell. And so it says in Romans 3, "All have sinned, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a propitiation through faith in His blood." There is the word "blood" again. You can't avoid the word. It is by the blood of Jesus that propitiation happens.

Now, we're told in preaching classes, "Don't preach propitiation. No one knows what propitiation is." Well, that's why we should preach it, because no one knows what it is. I wasn't born knowing propitiation. What is propitiation? It's a fancy word for the removal of the wrath of God by the giving of a sacrifice. That's what it means. And by the giving of a sacrifice, dead, the blood shed out, the wrath of God is removed. There is none, and you are free at last from the wrath of God. That's what happened when Jesus shed his blood. And by faith in the blood, the wrath of God will be removed from you as well. Oh, how sweet is that good news? Is that not the best news you've ever heard? And sinner or saint, I don't care if you heard it 74 years ago, it's still the best news you've ever heard. Amen? The best news you've ever heard. Blood propitiation, the sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus died under the wrath of God to take it away from you. But I say to you, you will only see it by faith. That's the whole point here. I'm just giving you words. But the words are true, because they're God's Words, this is the Gospel, and it is so good. Good news that sinners like us can be delivered from the wrath to come.

V. By Moses’ Faith the People Passed Through the Red Sea (vs. 28)

By faith also, the Scripture tells us, the people passed through the Red Sea on dry ground. But when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned. This is the final act of the drama with Pharaoh. The 10th plague, it had its deadly effect. Pharaoh drove the people out. Indeed, the Egyptians were glad to see them go. And the Jews plundered the Egyptians and took precious articles from them, nowhere near enough compensation for the hundreds of years of slave labor they'd given. But they plundered the nation that held them in bondage, as God said they would do. And they went out boldly and openly that very night, and they were guided by God to the Red Sea. For specific reasons that God goes into, He doesn't want them to see war too soon, unless they turn in their hearts and flee back to Egypt.

But he brings them to the Red Sea. Exodus 14, "Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Hahiroth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon.' Pharaoh will think, 'The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.' And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.' So the Israelites did this. When the king of Egypt was told that the people had fled, Pharaoh and his officials changed their minds about them and said, 'What have we done? We have let the Israelites go and have lost their services!'"

Isn't that astonishing? Isn't that one of the most amazing verses you ever read in your life? How could they forget the 10 plagues? What have we done? We didn't do the right thing. We should have kept the Jews here for getting God as they always do. "So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him.  He took six hundred of the best chariots, along with all the other chariots of Egypt, with officers over all of them. The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, so that he pursued the Israelites, who were marching out boldly." Boy, that rankled Pharaoh. He's angry about it and God hardened his heart.

And so, at this particular moment, the Jews look up and they see the most terrifying sight they've ever seen in their lives. They see all of Pharaoh's army, all of his chariots, out there clearly bent on one thing, slaughtering them all. And at this point, we see the benefits of someone else's faith. Someone else's faith. "By faith the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned." Now, when the people saw Pharaoh's army, they were terrified. They were not faith-filled, they were fear-filled. Fear and faith are opposites. They were filled with fear. They were terrified, and they cried out to the Lord, and they said to Moses, "Was it because there were not enough graves in Egypt that you brought us out here to the desert to die? What have you done in bringing us out of Egypt? Didn't we say to you in Egypt let us alone. It's better to serve the Egyptians. It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert."

Faithless. No one saw Jesus, who puts His hand to the plow and looks back as fit for the kingdom of heaven. He also said in another place to remember Lot's wife. Don't look back to what you were delivered from, with longing eyes, "If only we could go back to Egypt and be slaves there again, and enjoy all the delicious food we had and that comfortable life we had as slaves in the Egypt." They would repeat this refrain again and again in the desert. The people were faithless.

Pharaoh, he thought God was a bad general, at least that's what Yul Brynner said in The Ten Commandments. I don't know if that's true. But Yul Brynner, in The Ten Commandments, said, "Boy, God is a bad general. He's left them no way of escape. They're trapped up against the Red Sea, there's nowhere for them to turn." Dear friends, God is not bad at anything He does, and He's not a bad general. He knows exactly what He's doing. And He hemmed Israel in so there was nowhere to turn but God, that's what He was doing. And He hardened Pharaoh's heart by it, so that Pharaoh had, in his mind, no choice but to go and wipe them out. It's like shooting fish in a barrel.

Standing and Waiting for God’s Salvation

These people didn't believe God. These people weren't trusting in God. Their faithlessness would be revealed again and again after the Red Sea crossing, murmuring against God concerning thirst in the desert, murmuring against God concerning what they would eat in the desert, making a golden calf and falling down and worshipping it, after hearing the voice of Almighty God telling them that they would not make any idol or bow down or worship it. They heard the voice of God himself and they denied it, they disobeyed it within days.

When they heard the report of the 10 spies about the Promised Land, they turned back in their hearts to Egypt and talked of stoning Moses. These were faithless people. But Moses was not. Moses was a man of faith. Moses stood there and saw the circumstances differently than they did. And he answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm, and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you. You need only to be still." You've heard that expression, "Don't just stand there, do something." Sometimes faith tells you, "Don't just do something, stand there." With courage and boldness, just stand there and trust in God.

Sometimes life hems you in, could be health issue of a loved one or yourself, could be a financial issue, it could be a sin problem too big for you to conquer. You're hemmed in, the Red Sea on one side and a pursuing arm in the other, you have nowhere to turn. Paul was in that situation. 2 Corinthians Chapter 1, "We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the afflictions we had in the province of Asia. We were under great hardship, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts, we felt the sentence of death, but this happened so that we might no longer rely on ourselves but on God who raises the dead." That is the lesson of sanctification. Amen? God, teach me no longer to rely on myself but on God who raises the dead. God, deliver me from self-reliance. And so the Red Sea and Pharaoh's encroaching army, that pressed the people to rely only on God.

Now, here we see that one person's faith can make the whole difference for another person or even a whole community. It was Moses's faith at that point. I'm not saying there were not other believers. There were. There were certainly other believers, Joshua and Caleb, and others were there. But the focus here is on Moses. Moses led them from fear to faith, he persuaded them to trust in God, and it was by his faith also that they had the faith to make the Red Sea crossing. And so Israel trusted in God, and God fought for them. All night long, God protected Israel from the enraged Pharaoh and his awesome army.

In Exodus 14:19-20, it says, "Then the angel of God, who had been traveling in front of Israel's army, withdrew and went behind them. The pillar of cloud also moved from in front and stood behind them, coming between the armies of Egypt and Israel. Throughout the night, the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side, so neither went near the other all night long." Now, if I'm an Egyptian soldier at this point, I'm running home. How could you possibly fight such a supernatural power? But they were stuck there by the will of God, there was no way they could turn. They're not running, their hearts are hardened. He put the pillar of fire between them, so that Pharaoh could not kill them. The Red Sea crossing, the whole thing, all of it happened at night.

Where did the light come from by which they saw it across? From the pillar of fire. From the pillar of fire which represents Christ. And it's by the light of Christ you understand the lessons of these Old Testament stories. It's only in the light of Christ you even see the Red Sea crossing for what it is, a supernatural miracle of deliverance similar to what Christ worked for us on the cross, a way out when there was no way out, a way of deliverance from death right across into the promised land of eternal life. Christ is our Red Sea crossing, and only by the light of Christ can you see this.

And so, by faith, Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land, the waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That's why I say it's the most spectacular miracle in the Bible, an awesome display of power. Imagine the scene, the waters walling up on the left and the right. I don't know how deep the Red Sea was at that point, but it sure wasn't a little salt marsh, friends. I don't know where they come up with this stuff, the salt marsh. It says in the song of Moses that the enemy sank to the depths like a stone. How do you sink to the depths of a puddle like a stone? Why do they try to minimize the power of God?

Jesus said to the Sadducees, "You're in error because you don't know the Scriptures or the power of God." Can God do this? Is our God powerful enough to do this? This is nothing compared to Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." That's awesome. This is little compared to that. And so they moved through. Now, this is a strange wind, if you think about it, this east wind that blew all night. Any wind strong enough to make the water of a sea wall up on the left and the right would be like a wind tunnel, and you can't stand. And yet two million or more people quietly, peacefully made their way across, as on dry ground, means peacefully and in good order.

And so it's like the wind perhaps of the day of Pentecost, a mysterious special, unusual kind of wind. A terrifying sound but no actual movement of air that was on the day of Pentecost. Here, there is some movement of air but only in a very narrow place, kind of like what it was that was around Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, protecting them from the heat, some kind of bubble of non-thermo... Forget it. But at any rate, just... And I'm thinking, from an engineering point of view, can you indulge me for a minute?

Do you realize how much strength it takes to wall up water to any kind of depth? The Hoover Dam at the bottom is 660 feet thick, that's more than two football fields thick at the bottom, 75 feet thick at the top. I assume an 11-mile crossing, a depth of 150 feet, could have been more, could have been less, the amount of force needed for the two walls is equal to the amount of force to lift 1200 aircraft carriers, 1200 aircraft carriers. That's what God can do. Physical strength of God in moving that water and holding it there as the people went through on dry ground. That's what God can do.

And what are your problems compared to that power? There is nothing. And if you're suffering and you've asked God to remove the thorn in the flesh, or you pleaded with them and you continue to suffer, then it's by God's will just learn the lessons, humble yourself, kiss the rod, learn what He wants you to learn by the pain that he's bringing in your life, and know that some day it'll all be over and He'll bring you to Heaven. That's all. But God's power is never lacking, neither is His love. Only God could do this and only by faith in God could they make this Red Sea crossing.

But when the Egyptians tried to do so, the water crashed down on them and destroyed them all, not a single Egyptian soldier survived, not one. God fought against them and they were destroyed. They start to enter in when the pillar went away. What were they thinking? God saying, "Go right ahead, right in between the water." What were they thinking? But their hearts are hard. And then they go and suddenly their chariot wheels get glommed up and they can't drive anymore, and suddenly it occurs to them. "Wait, God is fighting for the Israelites against us," and they clamor to get out, but it's too late. And they didn't enter by faith, they were just destroyed, they were just destroyed and the water crashed down and they died. I remember the whole point of Hebrews 11, "My righteous one will live by faith. But if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him. We are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed." Where are those who believe and they're saved?

Not All Who Crossed the Red Sea were Saved

Now, I want to make one final point. Paul makes it very clear that not everyone who made it through the Red Sea crossing was saved. Not everyone. In 1 Corinthians 10:1-5, he says this, "I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses [very interesting expression] in the cloud, in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food, and they drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, their bodies were scattered in the desert." Friends, that desert was on the other side of the Red Sea crossing.

Paul puts the Red Sea crossing in church language, baptism, Lord's supper-type language, to say, "Just because you have the outer trappings of Christianity doesn't mean you're saved." You are saved by faith alone, not by outer trappings, not by outer displays. You are saved by a genuine heart of faith toward Christ. Where you see yourself as a sinner, lost, no hope, but Christ died in your place and through Him you'll live forever. That's the genuine faith. Just passing through the Red Sea is not enough. And so, therefore, Paul gives us that to support the point he had just made in 1 Corinthians 9, that there is a race to run with endurance. Don't you know that, in a race, all the runners run but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. They do it to get a crown that will not last. We do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore, I do not run like a man running aimlessly. I don't fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave, lest after I preach to others, I myself may be disqualified from the prize. For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, on what happened to the Israelites. Do you see the link there? Run to the end.

And that's the very point the author of Hebrews makes in the very next chapter, in Hebrews 12, " Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. ." What are those sins? It's idolatry, pagan revelry, sexual immorality. He says in 1 Corinthians 10:6-14, "Now, these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did. Do not be idolaters, as some of them were, and it is written, 'The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in pagan revelry. And we should not commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day 23,000 of them died. And we should not test the Lord, as some of them did, and were killed by snakes. And do not grumble, as some of them did, and were killed by the destroying angel. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.So, if you think that you're standing firm, take heed, lest you fall. No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. But God is faithful." And with the temptation, He's going to make a way of escape for you, your own Red Sea crossing to get out of temptation so that you can stand up under it. It's kind of an odd image. I put it together this way, you stand up by running for your life. "Lead us not into temptation [God] deliver us from evil." God is called on us to be pure, to be holy, and to finish this race. It's not enough, friends, to just start. It's not enough to make it halfway across the Red Sea, or even to go to the other side but to be an idolater and a faithless individual.

So, we've seen the faith of Moses, we've seen how God worked in him, how he turned in his heart away from the pleasures of sin for a short time and embrace suffering with the people of God. We've seen how his faith enabled other people to believe as well. I think that's true of leaders, heads of households, husbands and fathers, elders, people who stand by faith, and our leaders, others can grow in their faith because of their boldness and their strength. That's what God has called on us to do. But for me, the central lesson today is flee to Christ. Amen? Both in the Passover and the Red Sea crossing, it's Christ. Please don't leave here Christ-less, don't leave here graceless. It's really not that hard. All you have to do is humble yourself now under Almighty God's hand. Humble yourself, repent of your sins, look to Christ with eyes of faith, and say, "He died for me. Oh, God, save me," and He will. Close with me in prayer.

- SERMON TRANSCRIPT  - 

The Voice of Lord

"Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken," Isaiah 1:2. from the beginning of time, the universe has been shaped by one awesome powerful creative force and that is the Word of God. "And God said 'Let there be light' and there was light." Genesis 1:3. Throughout Genesis, you see the voice of the Lord, the word of the Lord shaping and crafting the developing universe like the skillful hands of the potter shaping the clay. God's word from the very beginning, ringing throughout the creation, shaping it, making it what he wanted it to be. On Mount Sinai, the voice of the Lord was like, a thunder, it says, and the people were so terrified of it that they begged Moses, that they not hear this voice any more, lest they should die.

But another time, Elijah the prophet fleeing for his life from the wrath of Jezebel, hid in a cave on Mount Horeb, the Mountain of God, and God came to speak with him and had him stand before the Lord and first a great strong wind came by and God was not in the wind. And then a violent earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake and then a raging fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And then at last a still small voice, a low gentle whisper and when Elijah, heard it, he covered his face. He was hearing God speak.

And so the range of the voice of God is an awesome thing. God wanted to speak in a thunder on Mount Sinai. And he wanted to speak in a whisper on Mount Horeb. And I say to you that as we come to Hebrews 3:7-11, we come to the key moment of the daily Christian life, hearing God speak to us hearing the voice of God. And I think as we come to that key moment, we therefore come to a fork in the road, always a fork in the road. One way will lead to greater growth, greater fruitfulness in Christ, greater intimacy with him, greater heavenly rewards. The other way leads, well the other way. Less fruitfulness, growing distance between us and Christ, a colder, harder heart more unresponsive to God.

And what is that critical moment? I tell you, it's the moment of hearing God's voice, speaking to you by the Word and by the Spirit. It's the moment that the word of God hits your mind and you hear him speaking to you through that word of God. That moment is, now. The moment is today.

Now today as a pastor, as a man, as a brother in Christ, I'm going to bring you to that fork in the road again. The essence of the rest of your life in Christ, the rest of your life in Christ will be made up of this moment. This crucial moment, this awesome moment God speaking to you, speaking directly to your heart, by the Holy Spirit, based on some text of Scripture or another. Hebrews 3:7-8 tells you what to do at that moment. Actually it tells you what not to do. So as the Holy Spirit says "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts…" And so today I want to exhort you with everything in my being to develop within you, a sensitive heart toward God the Holy Spirit speaking to you directly by the written word. So that number one, you will recognize God's voice speaking to you as you read some psalm or a passage from the Gospel of Matthew or some section of Romans, or something from Ezekiel, you're going to hear it as it actually is, the word of God and secondly, when you hear God speaking to you, you will not harden your heart, but rather do what your king is commanding you to do. It's the rest of your Christian life, right here. That's what we're talking about. So this moment of God speaking to you by the Spirit in the Bible, is the key moment of every day. This thing mysteriously called, today.

The rest of your Christian lives are going to be a tapestry woven by threads called today and today and today that's what you get. And if you can develop an ear for hearing Christ speaking to you today, and if you can develop a soft yielded submissive heart, that obeys the voice of your king, it will lead to the most blessed life you can live in this world, the most fruitful life and it will lead to eternal life, hereafter.

"If you can develop an ear for hearing Christ speaking to you today, and if you can develop a soft yielded submissive heart, that obeys the voice of your king, it will lead to the most blessed life you can live in this world."

I. “So”: A Telescoped Context

So we come to this text, Hebrews 3, and we come right away, in the NIV, to the word, "so". Right away to the word, "so". And so it brings us to the question of context, we always want to ask the question of context, how does Hebrews 3:7-11, fit into Hebrews. How can we understand it? And I think questions of context are never more fascinating than in this passage here. This is a remarkable context. It's like a telescope really, with four different levels of context.

Let's start with ourselves, us, we are here reading the text aren't we? We're in 21st century America, we're here at First Baptist Church, in Durham that's who we are, that's where we are in space and time we are reading the Bible together. First level of context, what's our context, what's going on with us? What's happening with you today, what's going on in your life, how is it going with Jesus, how is it going in your marriage, how is it going in your witnessing life? How is it going in your prayer life? What is your context? Let's start there. Questions of context.

Multiple Layers of Contexts in this Text

But as we're doing that, we're recognizing, we're reading in an old book. We're reading the book of Hebrews. 2000 years old, that brings us back to the second level of context, one step removed from us, and that is the author to Hebrews and the Hebrew people he was writing to. The context of the epistle, itself. Remember, these are as we've been saying, Jewish people who had made an outward profession of faith in Christ, they probably testified to that by water Baptism. Confessed Jesus as their messiah, they've been baptized in his name, but now they were under terrible persecution, they were under pressure from their Jewish family and friends and neighbors and rabbis. They were under economic pressure. They were under legal pressure. And the pressure was pushing them in one direction that was to renounce their faith in Christ and turned back to Old Covenant Judaism. To say "no" to Jesus and "yes" to Moses. So the author to Hebrews is reaching, reaching, out to them. And speaking to them in that context, that was their context. And so he writes Hebrews. But he does so by reaching back in time, relative to him to Psalm 95.

He reaches for David speaking a thousand years before them to his own generation. David speaking to the people who were alive in his day, about 1000 BC, something like that. And so he writes Psalm 95, the author to Hebrews here is quoting Psalm 95. What you heard Tony read for the most part, was just Psalm 95. And so that's a third step of context. What was David's context, what was going on in his life, what was going on in his generation, what was he trying to say to the people that lived in his day? And as he was thinking about it, in about 1000 BC, he goes back even further in time, 500 years back, to the time of the Exodus, to the time of Moses, and the Jews and what was going on with them. And as they left Egypt, and as they went through the Red Sea and on the other side of the Sea, in the desert, two million of them in the desert. They start to doubt and question God, and they start to have problems and they start to quarrel, and argue with God. What was the context for that generation, the Jews under Moses is there in the Exodus. Four levels of context.

But I have faith in you, you can handle it. You can handle the multiple levels of context here, Amen. That's what you have to do to understand what's going on in Hebrews 3:7-11. But you know what, the interesting thing is it's the same word to every generation. Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. It's the same message to everyone in every generation the same thing.

David’s Meditation on the Wilderness Rebellion

And so David was thinking as he's writing Psalm 95, about the Jews, they had seen God do those awesome miracles. The ten plagues. You remember all of the displays of the power of God and the greatest of them all, the Red Sea crossing. I still think it's the most visually spectacular miracle in the Bible. What could top it? I think creation itself, I suppose, if you want to call that a miracle, but I mean the Red Sea crossing, they made it to the other side and they found two million strong on the other side, a desert. And the thing about a desert, there's just not much water there and there's not much to eat.

And so this huge nation of two million people began to quarrel with Moses, Exodus 17 and say, "'Give us water to drink.' Moses replied. 'Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?'" So they're crying out, the people are against Moses and against God, and doubting God. God commanded Moses to take his staff and strike a rock there in the desert and when he did a miraculous flow of water came out of that rock and the people were able to drink from that water and live. And he called the place Massa and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, is the Lord among us or not?

Now Massa, in the Hebrew language means rebellion and Meribah in the Hebrew language means testing. In the Greek translation of the Old Testament, the Septuagint, which the author to Hebrews is using, they don't use the words Massa and Meribah. They just say, rebellion, and testing. And so if you look at verse 8, do not harden your heart as you did in the rebellion during the time of testing, that's Massa and Meribah when the Jews said, "Is God really going to be able to finish the job, is he really going to be able to bring us through all of this trouble into the promised land. And they tested God, and quarreled against him, they rebelled. It was a great insult, and that the consummation of that in that generation that churning rebellion, came when the spies came back and brought a good report about the land, but a negative report about the inhabitants of the land, and the people questioned whether they could go in and their eyes are fixed on the Anakites and how strong they were, and how tall, and they forgot about God and they wanted to stone Moses and go back to Egypt, at least they had a steady supply of food there and slavery. Forgetting God entirely.

So they rebelled. It says, in Numbers 14, 10 times they disobeyed God, 10 times, they tested him and God was angry at them for their lack of faith for their unbelief. And so David living in 1000 BC, maybe 500 years later looking back on that whole heritage. We'll talk more about at the end of Hebrews 3. But Looking back on it says, "Let's learn from history. Let's learn what they did and not do it, let's see what happened to them and not let it happen to us. So "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massa in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me though they had seen what I did. For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, 'They are people whose hearts go astray and they have not known my ways.' So I declared on oath in my anger, 'they shall never enter my rest.'" Don't be like them. That God then is set against you and declares on oath you will not enter his rest." And he's going to continue to meditate on this through into chapter four. So we need to learn from history. We begin in verse seven, with the word "so" or "therefore" or "wherefore" or something like that, whenever you see that you're going to look back to what we just covered and what did we just cover in Hebrews 3:1-6.

Christ Greater than Moses

We learned the lesson last time that Jesus is greater than Moses. He's greater than Moses. Moses was faithful in the mission that God sent him to do. Faithful as a servant in God's house. But Jesus is faithful as a Son over God's house, and he's worthy of greater honor than Moses and his mission is greater than Moses' mission. Moses' mission was to bring the Jews out of physical bondage, in a physical nation of Egypt and bring them into a physical promised land where they could live out the rest of their physical days and die in peace in their bed surrounded by their grandkids. That's Moses' mission.

Jesus has a greater mission friends. Greater mission. His Exodus is a greater Exodus. He wants to take you out of bondage to sin and bring you to heaven where you'll never die and you'll be surrounded by people, forever and ever, where your sins will be forgiven and in order to accomplish that mission, he did far more than Moses. His blood was shed under the wrath of God on the cross so that unbelievers like us can become believers. We can trust in Christ and have our sins forgiven. It's a greater mission. And the Gospel message is, if you just... If you'll just repent and turn to Christ, all your sins will be forgiven.

So I'm crying out to you today. I know there must be some visitors there must be some unbelievers hearing me today. And my first level of application to you is simple, if today you hear the Gospel, don't harden your hearts, come to faith in Jesus, look to him now for the forgiveness of sins, trust in him while you still have time. Today, if you hear Jesus calling to you, then come and believe. His blood is sufficient for you and God didn't leave him dead in the tomb, he raised him from the dead on the third day. And so also shall you be raised. All you have to do is believe in Jesus and you'll live forever. It's the Gospel. You've heard it before, but today if you hear it don't harden your heart. Believe in Jesus, trust in him. I plead with you.

And I think the authors pleading with these Jews, he's saying, "You know, failure today is greater than failure then. The real question kind of as it was back in the days of the generation of the Exodus. So it is today. Are you going to stay with the leader that God has appointed all the way for the rest of the journey? Are you going to stay with Jesus until he brings you to heaven or are you going to turn your back on him through unbelief and wickedness, and go back to your life of sin?

A Uniting Theme of Failure to Believe

The uniting theme of failure here between the Jews of Moses' time and the Jews of David's time, and the Jews of the author to Hebrews time, and then us in the 21st century. It's the same cycle over and over. We hear God's word we don't believe it, we are afraid of the consequences of faithfulness, and of obedience, afraid of what's going to come and so, we disobey and turn in our hearts, away from the living God. And so, we face the same key issue today that they did back in those generations. "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." So, that's context.

II. How the Holy Spirit Speaks

So, now let's look at the details here. So as the Holy Spirit says, what a fascinating way to introduce an Old Testament quote. Who is this Holy Spirit? While we believe the Holy Spirit is the third person of the trinity, Father, Son and Spirit, we worship one God in three persons, an infinite mystery, but clearly taught in the Bible, the Holy Spirit, then is God, God the Holy Spirit equal to God the Father and God the Son within the Trinity. He first appears in Scripture in Genesis 1:2. It says he was hovering over the face of the waters of creation, and he has never changed, he's exactly the same today as he was then.

How the Spirit Speaks: Through the Scripture

He is the unchanging God. And the Spirit speaks, he communicates, he speaks through Scripture. The author ascribes Psalm 95:7-11 to the Holy Spirit. So "as the Holy Spirit says" and then you have in your English Bibles a little quotation mark there. And it's probably set off in a little bit different way. The way that the editors of English Bibles tend to set off Old Testament quotations visually from the page. So, you're looking at an Old Testament quotation, Psalm 95. And so the author introduces a quote from Psalm 95 and ascribes it to the Holy Spirit. The author's key idea is Scripture is the Holy Spirit speaking to you, that's what he's getting at. Again, notice how he minimizes human authorship. The encounter with God is maximized, the encounter with David is minimized. Now, he's going to mention David later. It's not like David doesn't mean anything, but he's not serving the author's purpose here. It doesn't really matter that it was David that wrote it. The issue here is that it's the Holy Spirit who's speaking. And so we come to the idea in the creed, he has spoken through the prophets. Speaking of the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit has spoken, through the prophets.

Let's say King David, for example, the author of many of the Psalms, the Holy Spirit would come upon him and he would prophesy. He would speak the words of God and so he says, in 2 Samuel 23:2, "The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me, his word is on my tongue." And so, when David would write a Psalm, like Psalm 95 it was really the Holy Spirit speaking directly through David. Frequently, the expression was used in the Old Covenant, the word of the Lord came to so and so. So the word of the Lord came to Isaiah or the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Ezekiel. In the New Testament we learn from a couple of key verses from Peter, this doctrine of the Holy Spirit's involvement in the written Word of God. For example, 1 Peter 1 says that The prophets who were speaking about the salvation that was coming to us in Christ "searched intently with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances, to which the Spirit of Christ was pointing in them when he predicted the sufferings of Christ…"

The Spirit of Christ, then was in the writing prophets, enabling them to write the words that they wrote; the Holy Spirit was. And then in 2nd Peter 1 it says, "Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture ever came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man. But men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit." Jesus in the New Testament promised that the Holy Spirit would come on the apostles and the Holy Spirit would come on the apostles in a significant way to help them finish the Bible, I think; to give us the written New Testament. And so it says in John 16, "When he, the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own. He will speak only what he hears and he will tell you what is yet to come." And then on that grand, glorious day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came down on the whole church. The gift of the Holy Spirit poured out like a river of blessing on all of the believers in Christ, and not only that, but Peter in his Pentecost sermon, made the promise for everyone that would believe in Jesus, from that generation, and forever. From that point on unto the end of redemptive history.

He said, "The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off." That's us Gentiles by the way. We were far off. Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. And so we have this incredible gift. But what about us today?

Does the Holy Spirit Still speak to Us Today?

Does the Holy Spirit still speak to us today? Well what does the Scripture say right here? "So as the Holy Spirit says…" Isn't that interesting? "The Holy Spirit says." Notice that it doesn't say, "so as King David said" and it also doesn't say, "so as the Holy Spirit said." All of those things would be true but the author is not emphasizing that. He's saying the Holy Spirit is speaking when? Right now. Today. How? By Psalm 95. And so yes the Holy Spirit does speak, to us today.

Does the Holy Spirit speak apart from Scripture? The answer is yes, the Holy Spirit can and does frequently speak apart from direct text of Scripture. For example, in Romans 8:16, it says, "The Spirit himself testifies with our spirits that we are the children of God." That is the Holy Spirit speaking directly to your heart that you are a child of God.

Jesus said in John 10. "My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me." How can we follow Jesus? Except by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. So yes, the Holy Spirit speaks many things apart from direct chapter and verse of the Scripture. The Apostle Paul, when he was with his companions in Acts 16, traveling about from place to place was kept by the Holy Spirit from going into one place so that he could preach the Gospel in another place. But I say to you that this speaking of the Holy Spirit, the vital of the Christian life is less clear than the way that the Holy Spirit speaks by Scripture. Less clear, the inner prompting of the Spirit are not perceived by all people but only by that person to whom it is given. The Scripture however, can be read clearly by everyone by simple laws of grammar that everyone has understood the conventions of language. If it's a good translation, the word of God comes across. And so we can read those nouns and verbs and adjectives we can understand, and with a growing database of history of biblical context we can get the interpretation right.

Some people, I think, in various circles of the Christian church, put a tremendous amount of stock in the Holy Spirit's direct communication to their hearts. They speak of the gift of discernment, or the word of knowledge, feel they have the ability to know things in the spiritual realms. It's possible and can't be ruled out biblically. Others believe the gift of prophecy is still going on today and they are able to say, "Thus says the Lord with the same authority is a biblical prophet. Again, it's possible, and can't be ruled out biblically.

But in any case, the Scripture tells us that we must test the spirits to see whether they're from God, or not. The private impressions that individual people get may or may not be actually the Holy Spirit speaking to that person. And so, in 1 John 4:1, it says, "Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world." Or again, it says in 1 Thessalonians 5, "Do not quench the Spirit, do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything, hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil."

How then do we test the spirits? How do you test those private impressions or senses you get of the Holy Spirit. Well, I say it's by the Scripture. You test the private prompting of the Spirit by the Scripture. Westminster Confession of Faith, puts it this way, "The supreme judge by which all controversies of religion are to be determined, and all decrees of councils, opinions of ancient writers, doctrines of men and private spirits are to be examined, and in whose sentence, we are to rest, can be no other than the Holy Spirit speaking in Scripture."

Now, you lift up that expression "private spirits", and I think that means these private impressions that you have through the Holy Spirit. Friends, it is not the Spirit-filled person who's afire or aglow with the Spirit and hearing the Spirit speaking directly vs the cold dead letter people. We're going to the cold, dead letter of the Bible… That's not it dear friends. It's the Holy Spirit speaking through Scripture and, not vs but... And the Holy Spirit speaking individually and personally to individual Christians. They're not in contradiction if they are than the private impression is wrong.

It is so easy to go to extremes here to quench the Spirit. So you don't trust any inner prompting of the Spirit would be wrong and lead you to fruitlessness. But to test the inner promptings of the Spirit above Scripture or before Scripture etcetera, is wrong, and leads us to heresies, we must be careful. So the Holy Spirit is speaking to us today, he's speaking to us right now, as the Holy Spirit says. So does the Holy Spirit speak apart from Scripture? Yes. Does the Holy Spirit speak contrary to Scripture? Never. And again, I say never. And then four more times. Never, never, never and never. He never speaks contrary to Scripture, why because he's never going to be contrary to himself.

So what is the application point for us here? Well simply put, when you get the Bible open it up and pray to God and say, "God, Would you please speak to me now speak to me directly speak to my heart now by the Holy Spirit as I read some psalm or something from Isaiah or something from Genesis or something from Romans, I want to hear your voice." And so Psalm 119, verse 18 says, "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." And then 1 Samuel 3:9, "Speak O Lord, for your servant is listening." The Holy Spirit speaks then when we open the Bible. He's speaking to us right now.

Every reading of the Scripture should be an immediate encounter with the living God as though you were there at the foot of Mount Sinai hearing God speak as in a thunder. Hear that thunder in your soul when you read Exodus 19 and 20. As if you were there with Elijah on Mount Horeb, and you could hear that still, small voice that gentle whisper. Listen for the whisper of the Holy Spirit when you read the scriptures. As though you were there with Peter, John, and James and Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, and the bright cloud envelopes them and you hear the voice from the cloud speaking. "This is my beloved Son, with him I am well pleased, listen to him." And then you can hear Jesus speaking to you. Scripture is not a dead letter, not at all. Scripture is alive, it's powerful.

III. When the Holy Spirit Speaks

Now, the author is taking Psalm 95, and he's going to work it over, dear friends. He's going to be working on it for two chapters, working and working on Psalm 95 7-11, picking individual words up and thinking about them and working on them. And at the end of all that working on Psalm 95, at the end of chapter four this is what he says, it's like he interrupts himself, where he says, "Okay, I've done everything I need from Psalm 95." I just want to tell you what I think about the written word. Hebrews 4:12, "For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any double edged sword. It penetrates even to the dividing of soul and spirit, joints and marrow, it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Listen to the words, it's living, it's active, it's penetrating it's dividing its judging, it's a powerful change agent in your life, it's the Holy Spirit speaking to you. And I think this is the mark of a truly saved heart. If you're genuinely saved, you're coming to the written word with this one attitude this thought, this is not the word of men, this is the word of God to me today, right now.

So it says in 1 Thessalonians 2:13, "We also thank God continually because when you receive the word of God what you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as it actually is, the Word of God at work among you who believe." It's awesome, isn't it? So do you want an encounter with the living God today? Please say yes. Oh yes, I want an encounter with the living God. And go in or into your room and close the door and get the Bible out, open it up, pray a prayer, a simple prayer, saying "God speak to me" and then listen to what he says. There's your encounter with the living God.

IV. Today, If You Hear His Voice

And what should you do when you get it? Well, the Scripture says, "today, if you hear his voice." Now, I have a lot to say about today, because Hebrew 3 and 4 has a lot to say about today. Look at verse 12-13, "See to it brothers that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily. As long as it is called today." That's an interesting expression. "As long as it is called today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness."

Or again, in verse 15 of the same chapter. "Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts." And then in 4:7, he kind of unfolds this whole theology of today. That's why the NIV editors decided to capitalize the word "today" in this chapter. It's like this special kind of glowing thing, this thing called "today". "So therefore, God again set a certain day calling it today, when a long time later, he spoke through David as we said before, today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts."

So what is this thing called today? Well, right from the very beginning of creation, God set up a rhythm, a kind of a rhythm to life. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. And there was evening and there was morning the second day. There was evening, and there was morning, the third day. On the fourth day, God delegated that whole thing to the sun. So now, we speak in terms of sunrise and sunsets, but the same rhythm has been going on. This rhythm of day after day after day today.

And so the Bible uses the word "days" to refer to the time of your life. So, in Plasm 90:9-10, Moses said this, "All our days pass away into your wrath. We finish our years with a moan. The length of our days is seventy years or eighty, if we have the strength, yet the span is but trouble and sorrow, for they quickly pass and we fly away."

Your Life is a Tapestry of Todays

So he goes back and forth between days and years, days and years, your years are made up of days dear friends. Your life is like a tapestry and every day, God pulls out a thread and weaves it in his loom. And that's another thread of today, that's what you have, you have today.

So what is today? Today is November 21st, 2010, here we are, Sunday, November 21st, 2010. We will never have it again. We'll never have it again. It's right here, right now, today. You'll see it again on Judgment Day, but you'll never have this day again. And so, you have today, and it's all you'll ever have. You had yesterday, you had it, but at that point it was called "today", you remember? Saturday November 20th 2010, you had it and you did what you did, whatever that was. You ate certain foods, drank certain drinks, went to certain places, talked to certain people, did certain things, thought certain thoughts, that was it. God noted at all it's all written down. Record is complete and perfect, and cannot be changed. There's nothing you can do about it at all. Yesterday is gone. You'll never see it again until Judgment Day.

Tomorrow. Now that's an interesting topic, isn't it? Tomorrow. Tomorrow, is... Well, what is it? November 22 2010, you know what the Bible says about tomorrow? May never come. You should not presume on tomorrow, it may actually never come. Book of James says you ought to say If the Lord wills, we'll get tomorrow, but when you get it, you know, where you're going to call it, it's going to have a new name, it's going to be called today. It's kind of the way it works. And so all you can do with yesterday is remember, it's lessons so that you can live today in glory to God. And all you can do with tomorrow is prepared for its battles and the Bible says go to the ant O sluggard, lay up treasure or store for yourselves… You're not supposed to say, "Hey look, tomorrow may never come so let's eat, drink, and be merry. Tomorrow we might die." That's the wrong attitude you should prepare for tomorrow. You know how you prepare for tomorrow best? Be maximally fruitful and faithful today.

"You know how you prepare for tomorrow best? Be maximally fruitful and faithful today."

Don't acquire a new sin habit that will burden tomorrow with wickedness. So you understand yesterday, today, tomorrow. Yesterday is for learning, it's lessons. Tomorrow is for trusting God in preparation, but today is all you're ever going to have.

V. Do Not Harden Your Hearts

And so what should you do? Well today if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart, don't harden your heart. What does it mean to harden your heart? Well, hardening your heart means that the word of God comes to you, meaning to change you, it's meaning to shape you, it's meaning to alter you and you say a simple word to it, "No, no, I will not do what you want me to do, I will not witness to that neighbor. I will not give that money. I will not use my spiritual gift in that way, I will not go to that brother or sister and show him or her compassion, I will not forgive that person, who has sinned again, I'm just no!" And you may not say it that baldly, but that's in effect what's happening. Today if you hear him telling you something, don't say no to God.

It has a synonym in the Old Testament and that is "stiffen your neck". So, a hard-hearted person, is a stiff neck person. It means the same thing. It means to not humble yourself before your king and not do what he says. And we're going to talk more about the hardened heart and how it comes about, in the next little section, but what is the destination of a hardened heart? Well, the destination is you get an oath from God declared in his anger that you'll never enter his rest. God says a word over you in anger, wrath that you will not enter his rest. And the issues here in Hebrews three and four are heaven and hell. That's what we're dealing with here. It's a greater mission that Jesus is on than Moses, he's talking about greater issues and the greater issue is heaven and hell. And the ultimate destination of a hardened heart that will not listen to God speaking in the word is hell. To hear this sentence, "Depart from me. You were cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels." That's the destination of a hardened heart.

Friends, I plead with you not to go there. Instead when you hear God speak, just do what he says, listen to him, follow him in any area, it could be a sin habit that's in your life, God is speaking to you. He wants that sin put to death by the power of the Spirit, by the word of God, he wants it put to death, then put it to death. He wants you to use your spiritual gifts fruitfully in ministry, then use them. He wants a rich marriage between you and your spouse, then make it rich. Through love and forgiveness, and the giving and receiving of blessings. Today if you hear his voice, don't harden your heart.

Now we're going to go to the Lord's Supper. I asked a few moments ago, does the Lord speak apart from Scripture? Absolutely, this is one of the clearest ways that God speaks to me apart from Scripture. It's commanded in Scripture but I have prayed already that the Holy Spirit will fill this place that we will have an experience of Christ crucified and risen, and ascended, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit today as we partake in the Lord's supper. This is meant for believers, who have trusted in Christ, that you have repented, you have trusted in him. You've expressed that through water baptism. If so, you're welcome at the table if not, please refrain, lest you eat and drink judgment on yourself. But just know it's waiting for you, if you'll just repent and believe, as I said before, you can be there next time we'd love to have you. But if you're a Christian, struggling with sin, this is a good time to repent and partake of the Lord supper.

Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the time that we've had to study your word. And now as we go to the table, we pray, O Lord, that you would speak to us through the Holy Spirit. Fill this sanctuary with a strong presence of the Spirit of Christ, that Christ's merits might shine in our hearts, his achievement on the cross. And that we might understand the message of the Lord's supper, as you speak to us Holy Spirit we pray in Jesus name.

Introduction

Well, I mentioned a few weeks ago, this would be a most unusual Sunday, and so it is. I'm preaching this morning on a sentence fragment. We don't even get the full thought today, we just get dot, dot, dot at the end of the verse. And it occurred to me that next week's sermon, which is the completion of the thought, the sermon's entitled “Run For Your Lives” will be our Mother's Day sermon here at First Baptist Church. That just occurred to me, only here at this church would that happen. Mothers, can I say a word in advance? It wasn't personal, it's just the next passage. We will seek to honor you and we love you, we will pray for you and bless you in many ways. But I thought about that this morning and I just had to laugh and said, “Well, I'm gonna stay the course, and we're gonna keep learning from the Word of God.” But this morning, we're gonna focus on verse 15.

Every single day, Jews from around the world gather at a place called The Wailing Wall, and they stand there and pray and weep concerning the destruction of the temple that happened almost two millennia ago. They weep over the fact that the temple is destroyed, that they are because of that, unable to fulfill the laws of Moses, they're unable to render animal sacrifice. They don't believe that Jesus finished the animal sacrificial system, they don't believe that at all, and they yearn for the temple to be rebuilt so that they can continue their religious lives in accordance with the law that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob gave them.

And so they stand there and pray, and many of them pray the words of Psalm 79:1, “O God, the nations have invaded your inheritance; they have defiled your holy temple, they have reduced Jerusalem to rubble.” They pray that lament Psalm. “The Gentiles have come and done this.”

And many of them I'm sure, I don't know their minds and hearts, but pray that that temple will someday be rebuilt. They pray this way, despite the fact that one of Islam's holiest shrines, the Dome of the Rock, is built supposedly right where the Holy of Holies was for Solomon's temple, and that the Muslims are not going to give that holy site up easily. But still, the Jews continue to pray that the temple would be rebuilt.

Now, our passage today looks back to the prediction that Jesus made during his lifetime, about 40 years before the destruction of the temple, that the temple would be destroyed. It looks back to that prediction that was fulfilled in AD 70, when the Romans destroyed the temple. It looks back, but I believe it also looks ahead to a stunning climax to human history, the rebuilding of a temple of desolation, the re-establishment of animal sacrifice, in defiance to the completed work of Christ on the cross, defiance of the stipulations of the new covenant, the ending of the animal sacrifices by antichrist and the second coming of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I believe this passage looks ahead to all of that.

I've been praying this morning, according to Colossians 4:4, that I would be clear, this is a difficult passage to preach on. It's not controversial or disagreements, but it's not one of those ones that people feel, well most people, feel emotional about and get all upset or heated about. It's just hard to understand. And I'm going to be taking you through the Book of Daniel, through some of the visions in Daniel, I'm gonna try to fulfill what Jesus said, what he exhorted, I think, at this phase in redemptive history, “Let the reader understand.” It's my desire to be an instrument in God's hands toward that end, that you would understand the book of Daniel and understand what this abomination of desolation is.

Key Principle: “As it was… so it will be”

The Days of Noah Repeated

I think there are actually two key principles that I have in my mind, there's just one in your outline. But there are two in my mind from Matthew 24 and one of them is in verse 37, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” Stripped down, the concept is this: As it was, so it will be. History repeats itself. We've seen some things before in redemptive history, we're gonna see it one more time.

Getting Ready for the End of the World

That's a key principle for me. A second key principle is in verse 25, “Behold, or see, I have told you ahead of time.” There's something here in these two sermons, this week and next week, that the Lord wants us to know ahead of time before it comes and that your right understanding of these things will help you survive those trials. Now, I don't know if we're the final generation. I believe from Scripture, we are to live as though we were. And to prepare our hearts as though these things were going to be fulfilled in our lifetime; we need to get ready for the coming of the antichrist. I believe that. But if we're not the final generation, maybe our children will be the final generation. We need to get them ready. So we have to attend to these things carefully, we have to take this seriously.

I do not believe that these things are the most important issues of theology. If you wanna know what the most important issues of theology are, you can just read 1 Corinthians 15:3, “For I passed on to you as of first importance: That Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried and that he was raised from the dead on the third day according to the scriptures.” Well, there's the center of it all. That's the most important thing, “I passed that on as of first importance.” But it is a fallacy to say that we should only teach those things that are of first importance from the pulpit. That's what expositional preaching does, it brings you through things that are of lesser importance, but they're still important. And so this is important and we need to learn it. So I'm praying for God's grace, I'm praying for the Holy Spirit to just be moving through this sanctuary, and that you'll just say in effect, “Aha, there's something I hadn't seen before,” that insight will come to you and that it'll get you ready for the end of the world. That's my desire.

History Repeats Itself… Again and Again

So as we look at this, “As it was, so it will be,” this is the principle that's governing me today. History repeats itself; redemptive history repeats itself. God in his sovereignty has orchestrated history to be a teaching tool, to teach us important things that we need to know. Past is prologue in redemptive history, definitely, that God has stuck some certain things in history and then recorded them in the Bible that help us get ready for the future.

That definitely was the case concerning the salvation that we have in Christ. Every animal sacrifice ever offered was a picture of the final sacrifice of Christ. Those things are called types, things acted out in history that then instruct us concerning future events. The near sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah, was such a type. As God told Abraham to take his son, his only son, Isaac, whom he loved and offer him up as a sacrifice, it was a clear picture of what God the Father would do in sending his own son, the only begotten Son of God, Jesus and pouring him out to death for our sins.

It was acted out in history again and again. The Passover lamb, a clear picture of Christ. And I preached that on Maundy Thursday, how the blood was painted on the doorposts, and all that and there was a picture of the death of Christ for us. So also the Exodus itself, all of the Jews, this mighty nation coming out of bondage, out of slavery, and coming into the Promised Land. Definitely a picture of our personal salvation. So history repeats itself, “As it was, so it will be.”

Similarity Concerning the Temple and its Desolation

Now, what I believe is happening here is Jesus is predicting the destruction of the temple, its desolation, he's talking about the destruction of what we would call Herod's Temple. Alright? I believe it was a continuation of Haggai's Temple, but it was just enlarged and beautified by lots of money that King Herod poured in around the time of Jesus 's birth. And so it's generally called Herod's Temple. He's talking about the destruction of Herod's Temple. And he's saying, in effect, I believe, what Daniel foretold and has already been acted out will be again, will be again. Verse 15, “So when you see standing in the holy place, ‘the abomination that causes desolation’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand.” Jesus is saying, “As it was, so it will be.”

Daniel's prophecy was in part fulfilled in the second century BC. But it's not done being fulfilled yet, there's more yet to come from Daniel. And I'm saying today, there's more still yet to come from Daniel even now, even now that the temple has been destroyed back in that first century AD. There's still more coming from the Book of Daniel, that's what I'm saying. As it was, so it will be.

And in verse 25, Jesus says, “I have told you ahead of time. I'm telling you this ahead of time because you'll need to know this,” and every generation has needed to know this to prepare themselves to get ready. It affects the way you live, it affects your outlook on life, it affects your godliness in this present age.

What is “The Abomination of Desolation”?

Alright, well let's zero in on this phrase: Abomination of desolation. What is this phrase? Friends, there's nobody on earth that's born into the world knowing what abomination of desolation means. Everybody's gotta sit at Jesus ' feet and learn this. And I praise God to be in this church, people that are eager for the meat of the Word of God and not just sipping at the milk. This isn't milk. We all have to learn. What does this mean? I don't know what that means. I don't use the word abomination very often in everyday life, and I - Other than these kinds of things - I would never put it together with desolation. Abomination of desolation? I don't know what it means. Teach me what it means. We're all on the boat, same boat of learners. What does it mean?

Christ’s Use of the Phrase Here

Well, let's begin with the concept of desolation. Let's keep close to Matthew and then I'll branch out. We've already seen the desolation haven't we? Go back to the end of Matthew 23. At the end of Matthew 23, Jesus is there having argued and disputed with the scribes and Pharisees, you have the seven-fold woe on the scribes and Pharisees. “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites!” Seven times, he speaks this, and then he just weeps. In Luke, he literally weeps over the city. But here, you just hear the weeping and the words, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were unwilling. Behold, your house is left to you desolate.” There's that interesting word, desolation. And then as I highlighted when I preached on that passage, “For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” The desolation is the absence of Jesus. When Jesus walks away, Israel's house is left desolate.

Now, what does the word desolate mean? Empty like a desert, nothing there. It's a howling wasteland spiritually because Jesus has left, he's walking away. The word “for” shows the nature of the desolation, this is the desolation. Because they rejected Christ, because they did not recognize the time of him coming, because they did not love him, Jesus is going away. Israel has forsaken her God, and now God will forsake Israel. That's the nature of the desolation, a desolate relationship.

And so as he's walking out, you remember, he's walking right on out of the temple, and you just continue right on into Matthew 24 from 23. As he's walking out, the disciples come up and they call attention to the vast stones of the temple complex, and “Master, what magnificent stones? What incredible buildings?” “Do you see all these things?” Jesus said. “I tell you the truth, not one stone here will be left on another. Every one will be thrown down.”

Jesus, as a prophet, predicting a future event, the total destruction of Jerusalem and specifically of the temple. Shocking to the disciples, they come to him privately, they don't know what to make of Jesus ' statements. And so they asked him privately, “‘Tell us,’ they said, ‘when will this happen? And what would be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?’”

All conservative commentators believe that Matthew 24:15 and following is at least this, the answer to their first question: “When will this happen?” “When will what happen?” “The destruction of the temple. When will the temple be destroyed?” And Jesus here is at least answering that question. So conservative commentators who believe in inerrancy, who believe in the Word of God, they say at least this: Jesus in Matthew 24:15 is predicting the circumstances concerning the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, which was fulfilled in the year AD 70. At least that, I think more than that, but at least that is true. He's in part answering their first question, “What will it be like When Jerusalem is destroyed?”

Luke 21:20-24 gives us a parallel account that helps give us more information. “When you see,” Jesus said there, “When you see Jerusalem being surrounded by armies, you will know that its desolation is near. Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those in the city get out, let those in the country not enter the city for this is the time of punishment and fulfillment of all that has been written. How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people, they will fall by the sword and they will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles is fulfilled.”

So Jesus, there, you put the two passages together, Jesus is talking about the circumstances of the besieging and then the destroying of Jerusalem. He calls it interestingly, the times of the Gentiles. Very interesting phrase that we don't have time to get into, but we're in it now. These are the times of the Gentiles in which the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has turned his attention to the nations, as we saw in 24:14, and is bringing them into Christ. They're bringing people in from Asia and Africa and Latin America, bringing them in through faith in Christ into the household of God, drawing them in. This is the times of the Gentiles. And also the time when the Gentiles, at least in part, have some control over Jerusalem, some authority over Jerusalem, and able to dominate there. It comes as a result of military conquest.

So this is how I understand the desolation, the spiritual desolation comes first. Then comes military conquest producing a physical desolation; lots of dead people, nobody living there. That's how it works. And so there's the spiritual desolation first resulting physical desolation, and it comes as a result of military conquest.

“Let the reader understand”: The Phrase in Daniel

Now, Jesus in the middle of this teaching, just pauses as I've already noted and says, “Let the reader understand.” I believe these were Jesus ' original words to his disciples as they were sitting there at his feet, learning about the end of the world. I think he interrupted himself and said, “Let the reader understand.” The other alternative is that it's Matthew interrupting his writing of the gospel, and just inserts that. Either way is a reputable interpretation. But I really think it was Jesus, it doesn't make a difference who because Jesus would be speaking through Matthew by the spirit anyway. But in the middle of this, after he says, “So when you see ‘the abomination of desolation,’ standing in the holy place, spoken of by the prophet Daniel - let the reader understand.”

Well, that is your springboard from Matthew into Daniel. Basically, Jesus is saying, “We need to study Daniel better and understand it better. It's a difficult book, and so we're going to go over to Daniel and try to understand it.” He's basically saying to his disciples, “You need to read Daniel more carefully, Daniel is complex.” Daniel, himself, the prophet, didn't fully understand what was told him. Five different times in the book of Daniel, he stops an angel and says, “I don't get it. I don't understand what you're telling me.”

The book of Daniel has 12 chapters. The first six chapters talk about Daniel and Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, their court life in the lives of Gentile courts, the king of Babylon and the king of the Medo-Persian Empire. So it has to do with the circumstances of those Jewish people in a Gentile court, kingly court, 1 through 6.

Daniel 7-12 is a bunch of visions that God gave to Daniel concerning the future. And so those visions are the source of information about the future and the source of complexity. And Daniel himself would stop when an angel would come and give him a vision in the night, and he'd say, “I don't understand.” And generally, four of those five times, the angel would stop and give more plain explanation.

The last time, he didn't, interestingly. Daniel was told the last time, “But as for you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end.” In effect, it was told, and what 1 Peter says, it was revealed to him that it wasn't for him to know. He didn't need to know his own vision. “Just write it down, seal it up and send it on to the future. You don't need to know.”

But there is a clear implication in Daniel 12, that some people will need to know. Some people will need to understand these complex visions, their very lives will depend on it, and so understanding is actually pretty important. I believe that every generation of Christian is challenged by Jesus's words, “Let the reader understand,” to study Daniel more carefully. I think the final generation of Christians will need to do it so that they may survive what's going on at the time, just a higher level, so we need to hold the torch of learning and understanding, and if we're not the final generation, pass it on to those who may be the final generation, get them ready.

And so, Daniel repeatedly makes statements about the desolation of Israel. For example, if you wanna turn there, it probably would help you. If not, you can just listen. But in Daniel chapter 8, Daniel is shown the vision of the first king of Greece, who comes from the west across into the east and destroys the King of Persia, just destroys him, and conquers his empire completely, the king of Greece does. And then at the height of his power, he dies. And his kingdom is divided up into quadrants, into four, four of his generals get it.

There is no doubt. Nobody even wonders who this is, even liberals who read this, who don't believe in the inspiration and authority of the Bible, know that this is talking about Alexander the Great. What they say is, it was written afterwards, prophecy after the fact. “I predict that World War II will strike in 1939,” that's not a prophetic statement. But they said “It comes after, it was just too specific. It was too specific.”

Alexander the Great, height of his power, cut off, kingdom divided into four. And in one of those quadrants, this little horn comes along and creates some problems, and that's an interesting feature, but in the middle of it, Daniel doesn't understand. He is told that one of Alexander's successors will viciously persecute the Jewish nation, becoming extremely arrogant, making claims that reach even up to the heavens as though he could bring the stars down from the heavens, an arrogant boaster. Daniel's told that a huge number of his own people will be given over to this man because of their transgressions. And at one point the angel speaks up, saying in verse 13, Daniel 8:13, “For how long is the vision concerning the regular burnt offering, the transgression that makes desolate and the giving over the sanctuary and the host to be trampled under foot?”

So here you have the first time that the word “desolation” or “desolate” is mentioned in Daniel, and the word desolation has to do with powerful Gentile rulers or a ruler with their armies trampling the sanctuary of the Jews, trampling it. In Daniel 9, in the next chapter, the phrase is mentioned many times again.

Daniel there at that point is praying to God, concerning the desolation, the present desolation of Israel, in his own day. What do we mean by that? Well, Israel had been destroyed by the Babylonians already, that's why Daniel was in Babylon. He learned from the prophet Jeremiah that the desolation would last 70 years. So look at Daniel chapter 9:2, “I, Daniel perceived in the books the number of the years that according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, 70 years.

So the desolation has to do with Jerusalem being a pile of rubble, the temple a pile of rubble, and nobody's living there really. And it's been going on now for 70 years. And he gets down on his knees three times a day, and prays that Jerusalem will be rebuilt. And that's what Daniel 9, the first part is all about, the rebuilding of the temple and the rebuilding of Jerusalem to the glory of God, because God had said it would last only 70 years.

And so in Daniel 9:17-18, it says, “Now therefore, O our God... “ this is Daniel praying, “listen to the prayer of your servant, and listen to his pleas for mercy and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate.” A desolated sanctuary. “Oh my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations and the city that is called by your name.” Jerusalem is desolate. It's empty. The temple is desolate. It's destroyed. Oh, Lord, please. For Your name's sake, rebuild it, that's what he's saying. 

Well, then the Lord dispatches another angel to come and tell Daniel some stuff. I bet you don't have quiet times like this, I know I don't. But wouldn't it be exciting? You're having a prayer time, and suddenly the angel comes with some insights about the future. And so the Lord dispatches this angel to tell him with amazing clarity about a timetable concerning, I believe, both the first and the second comings of the Messiah.

And it's a fascinating passage that I already preached on once, so I won't do it again. But at any rate, the 70 weeks of Daniel, we get seven weeks, 62 weeks, and one week adds up to 70, seven plus 62 is 69 weeks. And at the end of that period, after 69 weeks, seven plus 62, in Daniel 9:26, look what it says there, “an anointed one,” or the Anointed One, the word for anointed one is Messiah or Christ, but there are other anointed ones. But, “An anointed one shall be cut off and have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary.” So after the death of the Messiah, the city and the sanctuary will be destroyed. “It's end shall come with a flood and there shall be war. Desolations are decreed.” It's the same thing, only this time it's in the future.

Alright, stop, what's going on? Daniel is praying, “Oh God, please give us strength to rebuild the city.” And you know what the angel comes and says, “Daniel, the city will be rebuilt, and guess what? It's gonna be destroyed again.” That's what's happening here, he's saying, “Just so you know, it will be rebuilt and then it's going to be destroyed again.” For the same reason actually, sins of the people. But at any rate, it's going to happen.

Then in Daniel 9:27, it speaks of the famous final week, what many interpreters believe depicts the final seven years of human history, what some people call the great tribulation, the last stretch of seven years that many commentators believe refers to the final seven years of human history. Again, you see the concept of desolation. Look at verse 27, Daniel 9:27, “And he,” the prince who is to come, “He shall make a strong covenant with many for one week.” Some people say seven years, “and for half of the week,” after three and a half years, “he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on a wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.” If you think it's hard to read that in English, it's even harder in the original language. There are like 17 different translations of that one verse.

But basically what's going on is you've got these seven years, I think, and in the middle of it, this leader is going to stop sacrifice, put an end to it, and then set up an abomination of desolation. He's going to set up or build something, or establish something that will be the abomination of desolation. So the concept is a powerful and evil ruler will make a seven-year covenant concerning the sacrifices of the temple, and that in the middle of that period of seven years he'll put an end to sacrifice and offering. Note this is after the events of verse 26, in which the city is destroyed. And he shall in some striking way abominate the temple, but the end decreed by God shall be poured out on this evil person, God's in control of all of this.

Now, Daniel 11, one of the most extraordinary chapters in the Bible. I think 106 times the English word “will” appears in this one chapter. “Will” is our future word, this will happen, that will happen, the other will happen. It's a future chapter. I believe it's God, the sovereign God, showing off. Showing what he can do, he says, “You wanna know how detailed I can get with prophecy, read Daniel 11.” There's so many details here that it's really tough to preach, I've already tried to do it once, I am not doing it again.

Because the details all have to do with these Greek kings who fight each other, they hate each other all the time. Alexander the great unified a fractured Greek-speaking nation. Once he was gone, they just fell apart again and they're fighting each other all the time, Daniel 11 is all about that. And in the middle of all that, this one Greek king pops up, second century BC, a man named Antiochus, he was the fourth of that name Antiochus IV, he takes on himself a special name Epiphanes, it means in Greek, “the manifest one,” “the revealed one.” He thinks he's a god incarnate. So did Alexander, for that matter, Alexander thought he was Zeus incarnate. I think it ran in the family of these Greek leaders, they had delusions of grandeur. They thought high, lofty thoughts of themselves.

So this Antiochus comes along and he's particularly wicked and he's going to do special desecrations of the temple. Again, the language of “abomination of desolation.” Look at Daniel 11:31, “his armed forces will rise up to desecrate the temple fortresses and will abolish the daily sacrifice, then they will set up the abomination that causes desolation.” So there's that phrase again, “the abomination of desolation.”

Finally, in Daniel 12, the concept is mentioned again. This time it seems to be in connection with the end of the world and the eternal state of glory that the saints will enjoy. This is what makes it so amazing. The beginning of chapter 12 mentions a great tribulation greater than any that Israel had ever endured up to that time, I believe Jesus was pretty much paraphrasing that in Matthew 24. It also predicts a rising up of Michael, the great prince angel who protects Israel.

The chapter then goes on to unfold the deliverance of Israel miraculously, the resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked, some to everlasting glory, and others to everlasting shame and contempt. Jesus covered this in John chapter 5, that's the end of the world friends, that's the resurrection of the righteous and the wicked to their final places of heaven and hell. And at the end of that chapter, the angel says this - Look at verse 8-12, by the way, verse 8, Daniel says, “I heard but I did not understand.” I have no idea what you're telling me. “Then I said, ‘Oh, my Lord, what shall be the outcome of all these things?’” I don't get it. Please explain it to me. “He said, ‘Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end.’” That is unbelievably significant. Basically what it is is no one's really gonna get it until the time of the end. Now, Matthew 24-15 says you need to try, you need to chew on it, you need to meditate on it, you need to think about it, but you're not gonna really get it until you need to.

Okay, the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Verse 10, “Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined but the wicked shall act wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand” - here's this word understanding again - “but those who are wise shall understand.” There's the word understand again. Understanding seems to be huge here, the Wise need to understand. We'll get to that next week. Why? But they need to understand. “And from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate” - there's the phrase again - “is set up, there shall be 1,290 days. Blessed is he who waits for and arrives at the 1,335 days.” I have no idea.

All I think is what's happening is there's gonna be some generation of people that will know exactly what those words are about. And they'll be sitting there counting down the days in some cave somewhere, waiting until those shortened days finally come to an end and Jesus returns.

So what is the abomination of desolation? The word abomination refers to some kind of idolatry, some offense to the Almighty God, generally some idolatrous worship focused thing. What is the desolation? It is the spiritual emptiness of the people that are doing it, and the physical emptiness of the city after it is destroyed, that's what the abomination of desolation is.

Summary: What is the “Abomination”?

Alright, summing it all up, because of their sins, God abandons his people to the power of marauding Gentile armies, resulting in a shocking trampling of his holy place. He does this to show that he is holy, that he dwells in a high and holy place, and not in any man made shrine. God just continually tramples his own shrine to show that what he really wants is to dwell in the midst of a holy people, and until they're really holy, you cannot live with them. And so he goes away and then they come in and trample the place. Because of the desolation, demonic forces flood in in the form of Gentile armies and create a horror show of pagan worship and destruction. Alright, now, I believe that the bible has shown that this has happened again and again.

I don't know what to do. It's 12:10. Hang on, dear friends, I don't wanna hurry through this... Okay, I'm not going to. We're gonna resume this next week, thank God, we're not doing that on Mother's Day, we're not saying “Run for your Lives” on Mother's Day. The Lord is so good. We'll do that the week after Mother's Day.

I wanna go through the dress rehearsals for this, there have been four of them already. One, two, three, four. I wanna talk about each one of them, and I want to talk about why the temple would be rebuilt. We haven't even gotten there yet. There's no way I can finish this sermon today. So we'll talk about why I think the temple would be rebuilt and what's gonna happen at the end of the world, we'll do that next week.

Application

Let me just pause, if I might, and just take a moment to apply this. You may say to yourself, “What in the world does this have to do with my life?” I thought about that for a full week. I did nothing but think about applications on abomination of desolation for one full week, I have nine of them… There are probably more than that. And I'll give them more to you next week.

But let me just tell you one thing, clearly God wants you to know this. Clearly he wants you to know this. You know why? Because in II Thessalonians 2, one of the clearest teachings on the antichrist in the Bible, Paul says, having given them some instruction about the antichrist he says, “Don't you remember that when I was with you, I kept telling you about this?” They lived in the first century AD. Paul thought it was incredibly important that those Thessalonians know about the antichrist. We're far closer to the end of the world than he.

As a good pastor, I have to teach you about the antichrist. You may say, “What does this have to do with me? I'm unemployed and my marriage is struggling, my loved one is sick, etcetera.” Look, all of those things are important, God cares about them, but he clearly cares about this too, this isn't just some made up fable, these are deep, rich things that the Lord has gotten across to us in the Word of God. We need to give attention to it. So let me give you some of the applications that I've already thought of.

Abomination of Desolation

First of all, consider the phrase abomination of desolation. The abomination is idolatry. Are there any idols in your life? The desolation is a sense of emptiness with God, of his remoteness from you. What about you? Are you close to Jesus right now? Or is there a miniature abomination of desolation set up in your heart? You know what causes God to flee from you? Idolatry. You know what, when you do idols, it's when you're not satisfied with God anymore. You're not satisfied with him, and so you run after some material thing to fill the emptiness of your heart, and you set up within your own heart some form of an abomination of desolation. The beauty is that God will not allow that to happen to his children. He's going to come with a whip, Jesus says and clean your temple. He invites you to clean it first, tear down your idols, get rid of them. 

The central idol of our lives is ourselves. Don't worship yourself, don't feed yourself, don't live for yourself. The Bible says we should no longer live for ourselves but for God, and for Christ who died for us and was raised again. Live for him, don't leave an abomination of desolation in your own heart, draw close to Jesus, get close to him in your prayer closet. Say, “Lord, I've been distant from you, I don't feel your presence in my life, I don't feel close to you... Yes, I'm unemployed, but that's not the issue. The issue is, I'm distant from you in my unemployment. Yes, I'm struggling with my teens or I'm struggling with my marriage. That's not the issue, the issue is, I'm not close to you through that, I wanna get close to you, Lord.” Draw near to God and he's gonna draw near to you, don't be desolate or empty in your relationship with Christ.

Repent and Believe

And finally just let me say, if there's any that are here that have never trusted in Christ, the time is now for you to repent and believe the gospel. Jesus shed his blood, ending forever the animal sacrificial system, we'll talk about that next week, but he shed his blood, ending it forever. You don't need the blood of bulls and goats, it won't help you anyway, the blood sufficient for your forgiveness has already been poured forth. All you need to do is believe in him, trust in him for the forgiveness of your sins. Repent, give up your idolatry, give up all of the things you've been living for and come to Jesus and allow him to take his place on the throne of your life.

The antichrist sets himself up as God and says, worship me. Jesus is worthy of your worship, allow him to set up his throne in the center of your life, fall down and worship him, and then get up and serve him with every breath you have more next week. Let's close in prayer.

Introduction

Well, it's not every day that a story from current events just hands you a tailor-made sermon illustration. But that's what happened on Tuesday of Thanksgiving week, November 24th, when a couple sought to crash a state party at the White House. Perhaps you've heard that story. I find it remarkable, the moxie of that couple. You know the story, I think, or some details of it. President Obama was hosting his first state dinner at the White House for the Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh and his wife. Three hundred high-ranking state officials and dignitaries were invited to that event, but this one couple was not invited. But yet they came anyway.

A strikingly attired couple. She was wearing a red and gold sari, appropriate attire for the occasion. And he was wearing a black tux. And they just swept confidently past the photographers and other people that were there at the red carpet watching the dignitaries who were coming in. They just walked right by, by the Secret Service. We'll get to that in a moment, but right on by everybody and into the event. And I think, undoubtedly, it was the clothing that they wore, and the confidence that they had, that enabled them to get through. If they'd been dressed like tourists, saying, “Is this where we should…”  You know. They would have been dealt with very, very quickly. “No, time for tours is over. Tomorrow resume.” But they went right in with the proper clothing, and with that confidence.

And they had the, just, the gall to stand and get their photos taken with various folks and then post them later on the web. And so I think there's going to be some trouble for them. I haven't followed the story recently, but I heard that perhaps there were gonna be some charges pressed against them. I don't know what it would be, but I'm sure there's something. And the Secret Service is asking a simple question, “How in the world did it happen?” And I don't relish those who, probably heads are gonna roll or maybe already have, for something like that. They said procedures weren't followed. They were not invited, but they were still attending.

Now, there are a lot of similarities to the message that I'm gonna preach in the parable, but there's some significant differences too. In the parable of the wedding banquet, the one there was invited, but he wasn't chosen. And he didn't have the proper attire, he didn't have the proper clothing. And he wasn't just facing criminal charges, he was sent to hell. And so, as we come to, for the second week, the parable of the wedding banquet. Last week we looked at some details and just the big picture of the parable. We looked at what it taught us about God and man and various things, but there were some weighty doctrinal issues that come from this parable that we reserved for this week and I wanna look at them with you, together.

I wanna talk about the imputation or the crediting or the giving of Christ's righteousness, I believe, represented by the wedding clothes. I wanna talk about the joys of heaven, the horrors of hell, and the sovereignty of God and salvation. These are the weighty doctrines that await us this morning.

Review of the Parable

The Parable Recounted and Described

Let's just go over the parable again. You already heard it read this morning, but just look at it again. Christ spoke to them again in parables. He was teaching them in parables. “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. And he sent some servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner. My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’ But they paid no attention and went off - one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ And the man was speechless. Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot and throw him outside into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

Lesson #1: The Gift of Christ’s Righteousness is Essential to Heaven

That's the parable. Let's look at the first lesson, and that is the gift of Christ's righteousness is essential to heaven. We must receive the gift of Christ's righteousness or we will not be permitted to enter Heaven. Look again at verses 11 through 13. The king comes in, he sees the guests, he noticed a man there who's not wearing the wedding clothes. “How did you get in here without wedding clothes?” The man's speechless, there's nothing he can say. And then the king throws him outside.

What Are the “Wedding Clothes”? Why Such a Harsh Response?

Now, what are these wedding clothes? And why such a shocking, really, a harsh response? Well, William Hendriksen, commenting on this passage, said this, “There can be only one explanation. It is by the command of the king and from his bountiful supplies, at the very entrance of the wedding hall a wedding robe had been offered to each guest. All except this person had accepted that free robe. This one man however, had looked at his own robe, perhaps slightly brushed it off with his hand, and then had told the attendants, ‘My own robe is good enough. I don't need the one you're offering me.’ Then, in an attitude of self-satisfaction and defiance, he had marched on into the wedding hall.”

Well, I think obviously that goes beyond, I think it uses some imagination, but I think it's probably true within the context of the parable. Seems like everybody else was properly attired, but this man was not. John McArthur said this, “The proper wedding garment of a true believer is God imputed righteousness, without which no one can enter or live in that kingdom.”

Now we're going to talk about that word, imputed. It wouldn't surprise me if many of you don't know what it means. I hope that by the time we get done, you do know what it means. Even if you don't know the word, you need to know the concept. The imputed righteousness of Christ is essential to heaven.

Positive Righteousness Required for Heaven

Now, the foundation of this whole point is that a positive righteousness is required for heaven. You must be righteous in order to go to heaven. And so it says in Matthew 5:20. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, said this, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.” So there is a level of righteousness you must have to go to heaven, to enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus actually intensifies it later in that same chapter, at the end of the very same chapter. Matthew 5:48, he says, “You must be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” You must have a perfect righteousness, like unto that of God himself, to go to heaven.

So to whom, then, will God open the gates of the New Jerusalem? What nation will enter in and stream into those gates? Isaiah 26:2 says, “Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, The nation that keeps faith.” It has to be a righteous nation that enters the gates of the New Jerusalem. In 2 Peter 3:13, the Apostle Peter calls the new heaven and the new earth “the home of righteousness.” You must be righteous to live there. There is no unrighteousness in that place.

Problem: No One is Righteous

Well, of course, we all have a problem, don't we? Significant problem. No one of us is righteous. Romans 3:10 teaches that very plainly. “There is no one righteous, not even one.” Note that in the parable the man is speechless. There is nothing he can say. And so it will be, dear friends, on Judgment Day, when the unrighteous are confronted with the perfect righteousness necessary for Heaven. There will be nothing they can say. There will not be one answer possible in a thousand accusations, not one. We will be speechless. If we don't have a gift of righteousness we will be lost.

The Answer of the Gospel: Imputed Righteousness

But praise be to God. Praise be to God. We celebrate this time of year, and every time of year, a gospel that solves our problem. Isn't that marvelous? Oh, how sweet is the gospel of the gift of righteousness that comes in Jesus Christ.

And the glowing center of that, declared very plainly in Romans 3:21-24, “But now, a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the law and the prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” That is talking of the gift of a righteousness from God, simply by faith. Not by works, of the law, not by our good works, but just simply as a gift, a gift of Christ's righteousness. 

The Imputation of Christ’s Righteousness

This is where we get to this doctrine of the imputation or the crediting or the reckoning of Christ's righteousness to our account. Now, what do we mean by imputation? What are we talking about there? I guess the image I always get is of a numbered Swiss bank account. Like you have in those spy movies, you know. And there's this numbered account, and it's your account and suddenly there's a billion dollars in your account. Where did it come from? You probably wouldn't care, just as long as it's there, right? But there it is, suddenly a billion dollars credited to your account. And so it is with the righteousness of Christ, it's just credited to you as though it's yours. The imputation or the thinking or the reckoning. God thinks of you as righteous in Jesus.

That's how it works, a reckoning. There are actually two aspects of this imputation. Positively, Christ's righteousness is credited to us as though it were our own. God just sees us as righteous as Jesus. I mean, it's incredible when you think about it, he sees us as obedient as Jesus. He sees us as having kept just as many of the laws of Moses as Jesus did, as having spoken nothing but perfect words, as Jesus did. Incredible. I mean, you just keep unfolding and it's just, it boggles the mind, but God just credits Jesus's obedience, his righteousness, to you as though it was yours.

And negatively, our sins are credited to Jesus and not to us. So God does not reckon or consider our sins ours anymore. He considers them as having transferred over to Jesus. Whereupon he struck Jesus with the wrath of God in our place. Jesus drank hell for us on the cross, because he was bearing our sins. So, there's a double imputation or crediting. Christ's righteousness to us and our sins to Jesus.

Now, let's talk about this positive imputation or crediting of Christ's righteousness. Christ lived a perfect life, a sinless life. You could have thought, “Why didn't Jesus just be born or just made a man 33 years old, and just die that day. Blood shed on the cross, done, right? Why not? Could God do that?” Of course he could do it. Would it be Christ's blood shed on the cross? Yes. Could it have saved us? Debatable. I don't know if I wanna get into that. I just, God chose not to do that.

Instead, what God wanted was a life lived. In many respects a normal life lived, a human life lived. Walking on the dusty roads, eating food, drinking liquids, resting, getting fatigued, all of that stuff, a normal physical life, yet without sin. And so Jesus lived his whole life under the law of Moses. He was obedient to his parents at age 12. He was born under the law, he lived under the law. Obeyed the law, fulfilled it perfectly. Active righteousness of Jesus just obeying everything God commanded Him to do. Perfect righteousness of Jesus. And that active righteousness has been credited to you by faith if you're a Christian today. Isn't that incredible? God just sees you as though you are as obedient as Jesus. Because of your union with Jesus through faith, that's how He sees you. How remarkable is that? How much should you praise God for that? 

1. Gresham Machen who was a Presbyterian hero of the faith. In the early 20th century he fought the battle with liberalism in his denomination. And just as he was dying, just before he died, he sent a message to his friend and his theological co-worker, John Murray, and he said this, “I am thankful for the active obedience of Christ; no hope without it.” So Machen believed that Christ's obedience to the law is essential to our salvation. And I think it is. Christ's active obedience is essential to my salvation because that's the robe that Christ won for me and you. That's the act of righteousness. That's the wedding robe we have to wear on that Judgment Day.

Imputation Essential to Our Acceptance on Judgment Day

And that imputation of Christ's righteousness to us is essential to our acceptance on Judgment Day. Remember in the parable the man's thrown out, he's evicted because he doesn't have those wedding clothes. He's speechless, there's nothing he can say. And this is the reception that anyone will get who gets to Judgment Day trusting in their own righteousness. I stand here today as a messenger from God to tell you, you will go to hell if you do that. You will be cast out eternally if you stand and trust in your own righteousness and do not receive the gift of Christ's righteousness by faith. You are not good enough. Your righteousness isn't sufficient. I am not singling you out, I'm not either. There's no one righteous enough.

How to be as Righteous as Jesus

So how can we be as righteous as Jesus? Well, I've already told you, but I'll say it again: Simply by faith. By trusting in Christ. By simple faith. Not by any movement of the muscles, not by any deeds or actions or activities. You can do it while sitting and listening, just as you sit and listen you can just hear and believe.

It says in Romans 4:3, “What does the scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.’” That's it, just credited to him. Perfect righteousness credited to Abraham's account simply by faith. I Corinthians 1:30, “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God - that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.”

And again, Philippians 3:8-9, Paul says, “that I may gain Christ,” that's what he's yearning for, “that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” And again, probably most famously, especially on the double imputation I was mentioning, 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” There's your double imputation.

Now, John Bunyan who wrote the classic Pilgrim's Progress in the late 17th century. He was converted remarkably and told his conversion story in his testimonial book, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. And as he was struggling with the gospel and with his own wickedness and his own efforts at saving himself and all that, wrestling with it, trying to come to some kind of assurance that he would, when he died, that he would go to heaven and not hell. Very concerned about his soul. This is what he wrote:

“One day as I was passing into the field and that too, with some dashes on my conscience, fearing lest yet all was not right with my soul, suddenly this sentence fell upon my soul, ‘Thy righteousness is in heaven.’ And I thought I saw with the eyes of my soul, Jesus Christ at God's right hand; there, I say, was my righteousness;” right there, “so that wherever I was or whatever I was doing, God could not say of me, ‘He lacks my righteousness’, for that was just before him. I saw moreover that it was not my good frame of heart that made my righteousness better, nor was it my bad frame of heart that made my righteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ, himself, the same yesterday, and today and forever. Thy righteousness is in heaven.”

Now, later it troubled Bunyan as he searched in the Bible, that he couldn't find the phrase anywhere, “Thy righteousness is in heaven.” It bothered him. And it actually isn't found anywhere. But, the doctrine certainly is, and he lighted on the passage I just read to you, 1 Corinthians 1:30. “It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us righteousness.” It's the same thing. Christ is in fact our righteousness. 

And so he wrote about this in Pilgrim's Progress and as Christian, the pilgrim who's leaving the City of Destruction and going to heaven, the Celestial City, trying to find some way to get out from under his guilt, he's got this heavy burden on his back. He comes at last to the cross, and when he looks at the cross, his burden is loosed from his back, and rolls down into the empty tomb, and there he saw it no more. And then he is given some gifts and one of the gifts that's given is this robe, this new set of clothing that covers him.

Just a short time later in the story, as he's traveling along, the journey isn't done yet, at that point. We have a long way to go in our pilgrimage to heaven. And so, he's traveling along, but he's in this beautiful robe. He notices two men tumbling in over the wall to get into the way to the Celestial City, Formalist and Hypocrisy are their names. And they're coming in and they notice, and they start to have a discussion. He's like, “The thief comes in this way. You ought to come in by the narrow gate, like I did.” And they're saying, “Well I don't see any difference between... We don't see any difference between us and you except that clothing you're wearing, which some friend probably gave you to cover your nakedness.”

And this is what Christian says, “As for the coat that's on my back, it was in fact given me by the Lord of the place whither I go, and as you say, it is to cover my nakedness with. And I take it as a token of his kindness to me for I had nothing but rags before. And besides this, I comfort myself as I go: surely, I think, when I come to the gate of the city, the Lord thereof, will know me for good since I have his coat on my back. A coat he gave me freely in the day that he stripped me of my rags.” Friends, go that way for Judgment Day. Clothed in the righteousness of Jesus.

Charles Wesley put it this way in the hymn, “And Can It Be”: “No condemnation now I dread. Jesus and all in him is mine. Alive in him, my living head and clothed in righteousness divine. Bold I approach the eternal throne, and claim the crown through Christ my own.” So lesson number one, the gift or the imputation of Christ's righteousness is essential to your going to heaven. 

Lesson #2: Heaven is a Joyful Place

Lesson number two: Heaven is a joyful place. I don't need to say much about this because I covered it a lot last week. But I don't think you'll mind if I talk more about the joys of heaven. Would you? Spend another week? Have you been constantly basking in heavenly joy, this week? Has it been a heavenly joy week for you? Well, it hasn't been for me, I mean it's been a week. It's been a busy week, some moments in and out, but I need a strong hope. I need to renew my faith today. And so I want a sense of just what it's gonna be like to sit at table at the wedding banquet with God and enjoy that.

The Joys of Heaven are Hinted at Here

And so, “the Kingdom of Heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his Son”. That's what it's gonna be like, a wedding banquet. We're gonna sit at table with God, and we're gonna drink from the fountain of joy and we're gonna be happy forever. Forever and ever, and there'll be nothing in that place to take away our joy. The thief that came to steal and kill and destroy, he'll be screaming in agony in hell, he'll be away from us forever. Nothing will steal that joy from us, it'll be ours, forever and ever.

And foundational to that joy of heaven, as I mentioned last week, is relationship. It's all about love. That's what's gonna be the foundation of our joy. God loves me. But before we even get there, you have to start foundationally. God loves his Son, he loves Jesus. “This is my Son, my only Son, whom I love.” And we are seen to be in him so he loves us like he loves Jesus. And how sweet is that relationship?

And so it's all about love. As I mentioned last week, the love of the Father for the Son, he wants to put on this wedding banquet for his Son. Sparing no expense, what would God the Father spare in expense for his Son? Nothing. But so also secondarily a story of a love relationship between God the Son, and his bride, the church. We are his bride. We are part of that bride of Christ that's gonna be coming down from heaven, the New Jerusalem prepared for the husband.

And we are going to be in some mysterious way, married to Christ. Every earthly marriage is a picture of this. You've been to lots of weddings. They're happy times, at least they should be. I've been to some interesting weddings, ask me about those, some other time. You've probably seen some on YouTube that didn't end so happily, alright, those things happen. But this one is gonna be happy, it's gonna be perfectly happy, it's gonna be joyful, a celebration. And every earthly marriage, it just pictures in some mysterious way. Ephesians 5-31-32, the union of Christ and the church, that will be consummated, mysteriously consummated, there at the wedding banquet.

And so it's all about love, it's all about joy. We're gonna be sitting at table eating, drinking, feasting in some mysterious way. I keep using that word mysterious. I don't know what eating is like in heaven in the resurrection body. I know that Jesus ate broiled fish in a resurrection body. So, I'm hoping for better, hoping for something else, but who knows, maybe I'll be healed from my dislike of fish of any sort at that point. But the Lord knows what to do and it's going to be a happy, joyful, celebration time. And you'll have people at your right and at your left and you're gonna talk to them and you're gonna be totally satisfied with your position there at the table. And you're going to enjoy yourself, forever.

Yearn for this Joy

And there is no joy on earth that compares with it. The only thing that comes close is the deposit given us by the Holy Spirit, those little foretastes that we get. Like maybe you're having one right now like I am, and you're just yearning for it and longing for it. That's the closest it comes. No earthly gift can ever come close.

So, I would urge that you actually stoke up the fires of that desire in your heart. Make yourself yearn for it more than you ever did before. Feed your heart with things above and things to come, and what it's gonna be like, Feed your heart and your mind so that you can yearn for it more than ever before. And oh, how I wish I didn't have to turn from such a delightful and happy topic to one, so dreadful and horrible as this.

Lesson #3: Hell is a Terrifying Place

Hell Described Briefly Here

The horrors of hell, depicted very plainly in Verse 13. And Jesus warned us, more in detail and more specifically about hell than any other biblical figure. And you know I wonder sometimes about that. Not just that we needed the warning, but because he was going to experience hell himself on the cross, and he was gonna drink that cup from his Father and so hell was very personal for him and that he would absorb it in our place.

But look at it. Look at Verse 13, “Then the king told the attendants, tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Further Descriptions of Hell Elsewhere

There are many descriptions of hell in other places. Revelation 14 speaks of those who receive the mark of the beast and “if anyone receives the mark of the beast, he too,” it says, “will drink of the wine of God's fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. And He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever. There is no rest day or night.” It says.

And the sheep and the goats, the story of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:41, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.’” Five verses later in verse 46, it says, “Then they will go away into eternal punishment.” Mark 9:48 says, “Where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.” Revelation 20:14-15, it says, “The lake of fire is the second death, and if anyone's name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Tie Hand and Foot, and Throw Him

So those are just different verses. But I want to zero in just on verse 13, and pick it apart a bit. First, it says “Tie him hand and foot.” The king commands the man who's not wearing wedding clothes to be tied up, hand and foot. The image is one of forceful restriction, the man cannot get away. Hell is the place of ultimate restriction. From hell there can be no escape.

Now, every prison on earth harbors within it some prisoners who harbor hope of escape. Even Alcatraz, that rock in the middle of the San Francisco Bay that was thought to be escape proof. There is a story in June of 1962, of three men that escaped. Now the FBI tells us they didn't make it. They may not have. No bodies were ever found, but they were able to get out and they made a rudimentary raft, and they got away.

But Dante, in writing Inferno, there was a sign over the gate, entering into the infernal region. It said, “Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here.” There's no escape. And why no escape, because God knows how to keep his prisoners. You have the omnipotence and the omniscience and the omnipresence of God working together to be certain you don't escape from hell.

Omniscience, speaking of earthly judgments, in Jeremiah 23:24, “‘Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ declares the Lord.” And then omnipresence, “‘Do I not fill heaven and earth?’ declares the Lord.”

Amos 9:1-3, “Not one will get away, none will escape. Though they dig down to the depths of the grave, from there my hand will take them. Though they climb up to the heavens, from there I will bring them down. Though they hide themselves on the top of Mount Carmel, there I will hunt them down and seize them. Though they hide from me at the bottom of the sea, there I will command the sea serpent to bite them.” Now that's just earthly. How much more impossible is it to escape from hell?

The prisoners escaping from Alcatraz were hidden from the guards. They made dummies with real human hair, so that as the guards walked by the guards were fooled, thinking that the prisoners were still in their beds during the bed checks, during the night. Can't do that to God. God's omniscience, God's omnipotence, God's omnipresence ensures that no one will ever escape from hell. There's no getting out.

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus, father Abraham says to the rich man, “Between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can any one cross over from there to us.” Jude 6 says that God held mighty angels in the pit before Judgment Day. It says, “The angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home - these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great day.” There can be no escape.

And notice also that they are thrown outside. “Tie him hand and foot and throw him outside.” It says. Some make foolish statements and it's just amazing the things you hear as people are trying, foolishly, to protect God's reputation as though hell is the dirty little secret of the future life. No, no, no, hell is God's righteous punishment on sin. God knows all about hell, and we don't need to protect God's reputation. But they seek to do this and you know what they say? They say, “God doesn't send anyone to hell. People send themselves there by their choices.” 

Can I say to you quite plainly on Judgment Day, no one will choose to send themselves to hell. No one will say, “You know, I really don't wanna be with you, I don't wanna be with God. I'm going to walk and jump into the lake of fire over there.” No one will wanna go there. You won't need any faith to see it like you need faith now, to believe what I'm saying is true, it will be right there. And maybe some others have already been cast in there by the angels. They will have to be thrown outside. Thrown there. Against their will.

Outside

And note the word outside. What does the word outside mean? Well, outside of that wonderful place I just was talking about. The New Jerusalem, the place of feasting, the place of happiness, the place of bounty and celebration and joy. I said before, even if there were no hell, it would be hell to not be in heaven. But these folks are gonna be outside. Thrown outside. It says in the book of Revelation, “outside are the sinners,” there's this sense of outside and we're in here. Excluded, cast out, rejected, not permitted to enter and enjoy the presence of God.

Darkness

It says, “Throw them outside into the darkness.” What is darkness? Well darkness is a place where there is nothing good. 1 John 1:5, it says, “This is the message we have heard from the beginning and declare to you: God is light; and in Him there is no darkness at all.” Well, hell is a place of perfect and complete darkness, it implies that there is no blessing from God there. God and his ability to bless is completely removed from hell. It's a place of darkness.

And don't let anyone tell you, “I wanna go to hell because all my friends will be there.” Sadly, it may be true. That all their friends will be there, but they will have no fellowship. Because it's a place of darkness, complete darkness, you'll see nothing, there'll be no light.

The New Jerusalem, the New Heaven and the New Earth will be illuminated with the glory of God and Christ will be the lamp and the righteous will shine with that light, the glory of God will radiate through that beautiful place. But it will not be there in hell because it's a darkness, a place of utter darkness.

Weeping

It says, “Throw them outside in the darkness where there will be weeping.” Do you know what weeping signifies? It signifies psychological, mental, emotional trauma and pain.

It's a place of regret, a place of sadness, a place where you wish you had another chance, one more chance. A place where you remember the good things you had while you were alive and also that you never gave God thanks for them. And probably most acutely of all is there are some sighs and groans going up from hell. People will remember the chances that they had to hear the gospel which is the only power which would have gotten them out of there. And they will regret what they did at that time.

I actually prayed this morning that there would be some lost people here today. That you will fear regretting not having acted properly with this sermon. That you heard everything you needed. You've heard, you've heard the gospel this morning, you've heard the gospel of the gift of Christ's righteousness, of the shed blood of Jesus, of Christ drinking hell. You have all the ingredients, the power of God is here for you, you don't need to go to hell. Jesus drank hell for all that will repent and believe. So repent and believe.

You don't need to go there, Christ has already stood in your place to take it from you, he's here to warn you of it. But if you choose not to heed that warning you will regret this day, you'll look back on this day and you'll regret it, and say, “You know, you told me the truth, that day, and I didn't listen.” A place of psychological misery, of weeping and weeping and weeping, for eternity because you're not in heaven and you are in this dreadful place.

Gnashing of Teeth

Weeping and gnashing of teeth. I don't know what that is, other than I think of physical torment there. It's not just mental, emotional, psychological. I believe in the resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. And I believe that the worm will not die and the fire will not be quenched. It's gonna be a place of active torment, under the wrath of God. People will gnaw their tongues in agony.

Summary: Please Flee the Wrath to Come

And so I beg you as though God himself were making his appeal I plead with you, flee the wrath to come. Because it's coming and just accept the gift of Christ's righteousness. Accept a place at the wedding banquet free of charge. Here's your place, sit down and eat forever, and enjoy forever, just accept it, receive it. There is no earthly situation, as horrible as hell. I don't use the word hell unless I'm speaking of it doctrinally, never. I don't say, “I felt like hell.” Or, “You look like hell.” I don't use the word because there's just nothing on earth that directly compares with it.

Can you imagine giving someone in hell a chance to be out of hell and in an AIDS clinic in Uganda, suffering from pneumonia, the final throes of AIDS, would they take it? I tell you, they would take it if only for 24 hours to get out of hell. They would go out of there and go to Auschwitz or Bergen-Belsen or any one of a number of horrible places on earth rather than be in hell.

So, flee the wrath to come. It says in 2 Corinthian 6:2 “‘In the time of my favor, I heard you, and in the day of salvation, I helped you.’ I tell you now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation.” Flee to Christ now. You don't need to go anywhere. You don't need to get up and come forward. You probably ought not to. You probably ought to just sit and believe and trust. And then after that, if it's a genuine faith, a whole lifetime of good works will come. Just believe and receive.

Lesson #4: God is Sovereign in Salvation

Lesson number four. God is sovereign in salvation. Now, there are two really shocking aspects of this parable. One is what happened to the man who wasn't wearing wedding clothes. Throw him outside in the darkness, weeping and gnashing of teeth. Just went through that carefully. But verse 14 is pretty shocking too. It's like, “Where did that come from?” It's kind of like out of left field it seems. Well, nothing's out of left field from the mind of Christ. If it seems out of left field to you, you just don't understand the mind of Christ at that point, that's all.

Called by God

And so what does he mean when he says, “Many are invited, but few are chosen”? Most translations actually give us this, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” Where did the issue of choosing even come in? Well, remember Jesus is telling this parable to the Jews who are rejecting it.

And in effect, like Paul in Romans 9-11, is answering the question of, “Why are the Jews rejecting?” It's so unbelievable that you would actually reject an invitation to a banquet with the king. Why are you doing it? And Jesus's answer is, there are lots of people invited, but only some, few, are chosen and the chosen ones will stay at the wedding banquet and if you're not chosen, you won't say at the wedding banquet. That's what Jesus is saying. It's the doctrine of election of choosing by God.

So we have to deal first with “many are called.” What do we mean by called or invited? Well, the invitation, the call comes from God. First of all, you can't go to the wedding banquet in and of yourself just like any more than we could have gone to that state dinner that that couple from Virginia, they tried, and I think it will probably never happen again, I'm thinking.

Alright, you can't just up and say, “I'm going to that state dinner.” You have to be invited. And if you're not invited, you can't go. And how much more then, heaven. But here's the beauty of it. God is inviting you. He's inviting you, it's an incredible thing. The initiative was on God's part, and he is opening it up. He's sending out messengers and the messengers are going, saying, “Come on everybody, come. Whosoever wills let him come.” That's what it's saying, God must call us.

Two Different Callings: General and Effectual

Now, I believe there are two different kinds of calling and they're related. There is an external call that you hear with your ears, you're hearing it right now. Causes your eardrums to vibrate. It may not cause your heart to move, but it does cause the eardrums to vibrate, causes the mind to think some certain thoughts. 

The General Call of the Gospel: Evangelism

It's an external call. It's the words of the gospel which Paul says, “Is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes,” it's the gospel of Jesus Christ. The general call goes out, the external call you just hear it, you could read it, you could hear it on Trans World Radio, you could hear it on a DVD, you could see it on YouTube. There's lots of different ways to get that call, but it's external, and it's just an invitation from God to believe in Jesus. Messengers are sent out.

It's Lottie Moon time and so we say, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. But how then can they call on the one they've not believed? And how can they believe in the one of whom they've not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’”

So that's the external call. It's the call of the evangelist, of the missionary. So you go and visit a new neighbor. And you bring them one of those little white bags with the little gifts in there. Invite them to our concert. Alright. Bring a freshly baked little loaf of bread or something. It's Christmas time, it's time to be neighborly. You go out there and you invite them to church, that's not the call. But then you get in the conversation and as you go in, you start talking about Christ and him crucified, Jesus shed his blood if you repent and believe. Now that's the call. You're starting to get into gear explaining the gospel and they listen, you are giving the external call.

Or an urban evangelist sets up a tent. For seven straight days he's in some tough area of some city in the U.S., and they have a crusade, and they preach the gospel. They preach Christ and him crucified. Every day and every night. That's the call, the external call, the invitation.

A missionary in China conducts an English language class. And uses the Bible as a text. And there's a specific student who wants to know more, comes privately after hours. They have a conversation. The missionary shares the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ. That is the external call. It's the message of the gospel.

A physician witnesses to a patient who has just received a diagnosis of terminal cancer, sitting there in the room, they're witnessing very plainly of repentance and faith in Christ. Dear friends, that's the external call.

Now as Christians, it is our job to do that. We are called on to spread that as widely as we can. We are called out to go into the hedge rows, and the street corners and place of employment and your neighbor and everywhere to the ends of the earth, missionaries like the Gillams and others going out to the ends of the earth with the external call, spreading the gospel.

So verse 10, “The servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.” Jesus himself did this, “On the last and greatest day of the feast he stood and called out in a loud voice. ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink.’” There's your external call.

The Effectual Call of the Gospel: Regeneration

But there is another call. And it works together with the external call and at the same time as the external call, there's the internal call of God. The internal call of Almighty God. It's an effective call, an effectual call. It creates what it calls. God says, “Let there be light,” and there's light. God creates and there is.

It says, in Romans 4:17, speaks of “the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.” So God calls to the heart, to the unregenerate heart, and the unregenerate heart, hearing the words, the external call of the Gospel, repents and believes. Why? Because God has worked it sovereignly in their heart.

So it says in 2 Corinthians 4:6, “For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” So you've got that external general call and you've got the sovereign call of God in regeneration. 

Not Everyone Gets Called by God

Now, not everyone gets these calls. First of all, it's “Many are called,” not “everyone is called.” So there are some people that live their whole lives and never hear about Jesus, they never get the invitation that way. If you asked me about that and the justice of it and all that, that's another sermon, already preached it, probably several times. Come and ask me, and we'll talk about it. But it does say, “Many are called.” So many many many people hear the external call of the gospel, many.

But only few are chosen to sit at the banquet with God, chosen by God for that purpose, this is God's sovereignty in salvation. Ephesians 1 says, “He chose us in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.”

God’s Sovereignty in Salvation

According to Jesus, then, God sovereignly chooses whom he will call with that internal call, who he will clothe with the righteousness of Christ, and whom he will seat at the banquet table with him. I don't know what other interpretation, you could give to Jesus' summation of this parable. “Many are called but few are chosen.” It's the chosen ones that get to sit at the table and aren't cast outside into the darkness.

Applications

Well, what application can we take from this? Well, I've already given you one, repent and come to Christ.

Secondly, be involved in the external call, be involved in the call of the mission. You have the chance to do that financially. Next week you're gonna hear a Lottie Moon speaker. Listen to that message, see how God may be calling you to be involved in missions. I believe that people like the Gillams and others, missionaries that are in our church, they are a stewardship from God to this local church. Let's cherish their call and let's do what we can to feed that call and encourage them. And as you spend more time, you may actually hear a call from God, to go on mission work yourself.

And then finally, if I could just urge you, feed your hearts with the joys of heaven and study the terrors of hell. I really believe that an hour in each place would do us good whether we were Christians or non-Christians. But you can get it through the Word of God. Feed on it. Close with me now if you would in prayer.

Introduction

So, we resume our series in Matthew. Going back to Matthew now and resuming our look at the life of Christ from that marvelous gospel. And we come to the parable of the wedding feast. We're gonna deal with it in two weeks. This morning we're gonna just look at the general overview and details of this parable and next week we're gonna draw out three of the weighty doctrinal issues that come from this. Just too much to cover in one week and so we can look forward to that next week.

But I will never forget as long as I live, the morning of July, 29th 1981. I was a non-Christian. I was driving to work at a job I hated. And I was listening to the radio, reports describing the most lavish wedding of our time, the royal wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer at Saint Paul's Cathedral. And I was green with envy. I will never forget that. Lady Diana's wedding train was 25 feet long, we were told. She arrived in a glass coach. Took 3.5 minutes for her to walk the red velvet aisle up to the altar. 750 million people watched that wedding from 58 countries by TV and a privileged 3,500 viewed it in person.

I remember feeling incredibly jealous and not that I cared that much about the royal couple, but I didn't like my life at that point and thought, “Boy, wouldn't it be great? Wouldn't it be great to have the life of luxury and ease they were gonna have?” They were going on a Mediterranean cruise for their honeymoon. Eleven day cruise. A gift of the Queen of England. And I was pulling into the parking lot right at that moment as that all was being described, toiling my way through a life that seemed far less appealing. I remember wishing that I could at least have been one of the privileged few that could have attended that wedding. Little did I know what the future held for that couple or, for that matter, what the future held for me. That couple, as you know, had a tragic future in-store. A life of conflict and hostility, of adultery, broken relationships, of misery and, of course, the untimely death of Diana pursued by the paparazzi in Paris, bizarre car chase. You know the story.

Whereas I, for my part, would be invited and chosen for a far more lavish wedding banquet 15 months later when I became a Christian. And now I look on my own attitude at the time as foolishness, worldly foolishness. I can't wait to sit at the wedding banquet with Jesus. Amen? I can't wait to go to that wedding and sit at table with Jesus and partake in a mystical sort of way, a way I cannot understand, but as part of the bride of Christ, as we just sang, how beautiful is the bride of Christ. To be part of that and to enjoy just being in the presence of God. And part of the anticipation and the joy I have looking forward to Heaven comes from this parable and from the image, the picture of God that it gives us as the ultimate generous joy giver. That God is himself a happy being and he delights to make others happy out of his bounty and his lavishness. I'm just looking forward to being in the presence of such a being. Looking forward to being in the presence of God.

There are so many faulty views of God out there, aren't there? The “cosmic killjoy.” The one leaning over the ramparts of heaven to see if any of you are having a good time. And telling you to cut it out, squelching any joy you might have. I believe these images are clearly a Satanic lie. Clearly a satanic lie. From the Garden of Eden Satan has been lying to us, telling us that God is holding out on us, holding out joy and happiness. If we could just follow him, we would be really happy. The truth of the matter is quite different. The book of Revelation says of Satan that he is filled with rage, because he knows his time is short. How can a being like that give anybody happiness?

Jesus spoke of him saying he's a murderer from the beginning, the thief who comes to steal and kill and destroy. Jesus is the one who has come to give us life, and give it abundantly. Paul puts it this way, speaking of God, in 1 Timothy 1:11 speaks of “the glorious gospel of the blessed God.” And like many of you, perhaps, you just read over those words and it's like those religious words: Glorious, gospel, blessed, God, those kind of things.

It wasn't until John Piper kind of re-translated or actually got a little more careful in the translation than we're used to. “The glorious good news of the happy God.” It is glorious good news that God is happy and that he invites you into his happiness with him, that he wants you to be as happy as he is. That is a biblical picture of God and that's a picture we get of God in this parable today. In the parable, Jesus portrays God the Father as a joy-filled host of a wedding banquet. He portrays heaven as a lavish, joy-filled feast in which the fattened oxen and the cattle have been butchered and everything's made ready, and we're invited to sit at table and enjoy. And amazingly in this parable, this invitation is rejected. Rejected and rejected and rejected, again and again.

So, my earnest desire today is to explain the joy of God in this parable in such an appealing way that you'll sit at table with Christ even now, by the power of the Holy Spirit. And I do mean at the Lord's Supper, later on, but I also just mean day-to-day that you would just sit at table with Jesus, through that deposit, that guarantee of the Holy Spirit, and have foretaste of that heavenly banquet, knowing that it's not the full consummation, but just sit at table with Jesus.

And even more, mindful of the fact that there are almost certainly people here today who are in an unregenerate state. And you are lost. The Bible says you're under the wrath of God. If you were to die today, you would go to hell, you would spend eternity away from God. You can be freed from that today, just by hearing the gospel, which is the power of God for salvation. Just by hearing words of Christ crucified, his blood shed for sinners, of his bodily resurrection from the dead. And that hearing that, that faith will spring up in your heart and you'll be justified, forgiven of all your sins, and you will someday sit at table with God. That's my hope today. Can all of that happen? Yes, it can. That's the power of the Word of God. And so, that's what I'm praying for today.

A Happy King Throws A Party

Context

But let's begin by just setting this parable in its context. A happy king throws a party, that's what it's about. And so Jesus is there in the last week of his life, we've already traced that out. He has made his triumphal entry to “hosannas” from the little children. “Hallelujahs.” “Blessed is the one who comes in the Name of the Lord,” and they're just chanting and celebrating. But it wasn't long after that joyful entry that Jesus began to cross swords with his enemies, the Jewish leaders who wanted to kill him, who were conspiring to put him to death.

They are the ones that rebuked the children for praising Jesus. They're the ones that were there when Jesus cleansed the temple, and they asked him, “By what power or authority do you do this?” They were there when Jesus was teaching in the temple area. They questioned him about that. They confronted him on his authority to do any of the things he was doing. He told them parables to try to explain their situation before God, Jewish history, and who he was. Parable of the two sons. The first son, the father says, “Go and work in the vineyard,” and the first son says he won't go, but he changes his mind and goes. And the other son, he says he'll go, but he doesn't go. And which of the two did the will of his father? And Jesus applies that parable, talking about the ministry of John the Baptist, he said, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw that, you didn't repent and believe.”

And then he told them the parable of the wicked tenants in the vineyard, picking up on that theme of God as the owner of a vineyard. An absentee owner. And how a vineyard was planted and rented to some tenant farmers, and when he sent servants to collect the fruit, they just beat them up and killed them, and then finally he sends his son and they kill him too. And then Jesus applies the parable this way, “I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but the one on whom it falls will be crushed.” Well, the Jewish leaders definitely got the message at the end of Matthew 21. It says, “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus' parables, they knew he was talking about them, they looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because all the people held that he was a prophet.” That's how it ends, chapter 21.

And we go right from that into this parable. Jesus answers them again and tells them another parable, the parable of the wedding banquet. Now, why did Jesus use parables? This was something that Jesus chose to do. A parable is a story with elements taken from everyday life, something we understand, something that's familiar, but it teaches a spiritual principle. And if you get the key, if you understand it, then it's a marvelous teaching tool. Very memorable and teaches elements of truth that really just can't be gotten across so powerfully any other way. But if you don't have that key, it's gibberish and it makes the one who speaks them look like he's insane. They actually thought he was demon-possessed after telling parables. So it's a very wise thing. Jesus actually divides people by the parables that he tells. But in this way, I think he's explaining something about the rejection of the Messiah by the Jewish nation. 

The Parable Recounted

So what's in this parable? You heard Bert read it. I'll just go over it briefly, just for details. “The kingdom of Heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.” So God is portrayed as a king and preparing a wedding banquet for the Son. “And he sent servants,” verse 3, “to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come.” So there's some group of people that had already known that this banquet was coming, and he's basically saying the time has come. It's time for the wedding banquet. 

However, verse 3, “they refused to come.” It's rather shocking, if you think about it, but they refused to come to the wedding banquet that's been prepared. Well, the king tries again. He sends more messengers.

Verse 4, “He sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited, that I prepared my dinner.’” Maybe you didn't understand the earlier message, maybe you didn't know. Well, I'm trying to make it clear. Dinner is ready. Dinner is served. In my family, you don't have to ask twice. They know. Thursday, you know when it was ready, it was long sought after. I'm gonna get into trouble. It was wonderfully made and the ladies worked hard and it was marvelous. But I'm just telling you, when the time came, we were there. We were eager. 

But the king sends more messengers, “Tell them the banquet is ready. The time has come. My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.” But those invited actually attack the messengers at this point. Verse 5 and 6, “They paid no attention and went off, one to his field, another to his business.” Verse 6, “The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.” But now we have the rage of the king. The king's enraged. “He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.” And then he sends out a general invitation to everyone.

“He said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready but those I invited did not deserve to come. So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.” So here you've got this grand wedding hall and it's filled with good and bad people. But then the king comes in and as he comes in, he looks at the wedding guests and he notices there a man who's not wearing wedding clothes. And he approaches him, he initiates with him. He said, “Friend, how did you get in here without wedding clothes?” And the man is speechless, it says. He doesn't have an answer. And then, perhaps some people think maybe the, most shocking part of the whole parable, then the king told the attendants, “Tie him hand and foot and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” 

The Parable Applied

And then Jesus gives this, almost as shocking or maybe even more, in some cases, application or summation of this parable, “For many are called but few are chosen.” That's it. That's the parable. Those are the 14 verses we're gonna look at over these two weeks. Alright?

These striking words at the end, “Many are called but few are chosen,” are striking because it seems that choosing isn't even in view. What choosing or what election or what kind of choice is involved here? He's contrasting the invitation to the wedding banquet and the actual attendance of those that end up being there. And not everyone who gets invited actually ends up sitting at table. And this fits the context, actually, because he's addressing the fact, I believe, that Israel, that the Jews, are rejecting their Messiah and not everyone who gets invited actually sits at table. “Many are called but few are chosen.” It brings it squarely in view of the sovereignty of God in human salvation. 

General Lessons from the Parable

The Lavish Character of the King

Alright, well, let's look at some general lessons from this parable. Some general lessons. First of all, I always ask when I come to a text, two questions: What does it teach me about God and what does it teach me about man? And I would recommend that to you as a general principle of Bible study. Whenever you read a passage just say, “What do I learn about God here and what can I learn about man?” And so, let's start with the first and most important question. What does this parable teach us about God? And we see first and foremost, the lavish character of the king. This parable teaches us about God. God is a king. Clearly, I think, the king in the parable is God the Father, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he's presented as a king, a sovereign, a ruler.

And we see also this wedding analogy. I'll talk more about that in a moment, but it pictures a relationship between the Son of God and the church. A relationship between the Son of God and his people. Well, what are the attributes of the king? What does the parable teach us about the attributes of God?

Well, we see first and clearly, the love of God here. The love of God. The whole wedding banquet language is about love. It's a love relationship between the Father and the Son. The Father loves the Son and wants to put on the banquet. And just because it's a wedding banquet, not just a celebratory feast or a harvest feast or something like that, there's a love relationship between the Son and his bride. The marriage between Christ and the church. So we see love.

John the Baptist calls Jesus the bridegroom. You know, when his disciples come and they're jealous, because Jesus is doing better. Jesus' church is growing faster. And John understands exactly what's happening. It's exactly like it needs to be. And he says in John 3:29, “The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice.” So he uses bridegroom language to speak of Jesus.

Jesus uses that language to speak of himself when questioned about fasting, He said, “How can the friends of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken away. At that point they will fast.” So, that's Matthew 9:15.

The apostle Paul likened marital relations between a husband and wife, in a mysterious way, to the relationship between Christ and the church. And so there is this idea of a wedding between Christ and the church. The final consummation of this is depicted in the book of Revelation. As the new Jerusalem comes down like a bride, beautifully dressed, prepared for her husband, ready for her wedding day. And so the whole context of this parable is the love of the Father for the Son and of the Son for His bride.

We see also, as I've already mentioned, the happiness of God. The happiness of God. A wedding is a happy time, it's a celebration. All over the world, A time of happiness. It's a time of eating and drinking and being happy, of laughter and music. And our God is a God of overwhelming joy. He is a happy God. You know, it just takes a while to wrap your mind around that. All of the misery in your life and mine has come from departing from this happy God. And all of the happiness and joy we'll experience comes from returning to him, reconciliation with him, right relationship with him. He's a happy God. How ridiculous is it then that some people portray him as a miserable being? I'm about to teach a class this upcoming semester on the Puritans at Southeastern. And H.L. Mencken said that Puritanism is “the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”

Well, listen, that's really very clever and very bitter and all that, but the real issue isn't so much what does Mencken think of the Puritans, it's what does an unbeliever think about God? Same kind of thing, the haunting fear God has that someone, somewhere, is happy and they need to cut it out. But you know, the Scripture says, I think it's Psalm 115, “Our God is in heaven, he does whatever pleases him.” How foolish to be omnipotent and omniscient and be unhappy. [chuckle] I mean, if you're gonna be omnipotent, be happy, because everything's the way you want. And he is. He does whatever pleases him. In heaven, earth and under the earth, he's sovereign, he rules, and he is happy. He's a happy being.

Our God is a God of infinite happiness and pleasure. Psalms 16:11, this is your future if you're a Christian, it says: “You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” Eternal pleasures at the right hand of God. And so the wedding banquet of Jesus Christ is ample evidence that our God is a happy God and He wants you to be happy too. He wants you to experience pleasure and joy.

Thirdly, we see the generosity of the king. He is a generous being in this. He spares nothing for this lavish banquet. He wants to share his generosity with as many people as possible. Psalm 50, he says that, “Our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills.” Well, here he wants to share that bounty lavishly with the guests. So he is lavish and generous. “Tell those I've invited that I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered and everything is ready. Come to the feast.” He's generous.

Now, some people are stingy. Proverbs 23:6-8 says, “Do not eat the food of a stingy man, do not crave his delicacies; for he's the kind of man who's always thinking about the cost. ‘Eat and drink,’ he says to you, but his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the little you have eaten and you will have wasted your compliments.” Well God isn't stingy and he's not thinking about the cost. He is putting on this wedding banquet and he is being generous, lavishly generous. How generous? Well, in order to get you there, he didn't spare his own Son, but gave him up for you. How generous then, is God? How generous? What would you spare? What's precious to you? He didn't spare anything. The most precious to him, he gave. Poured him out at the cross.

See then the lavish generosity of God and see also the patience of God. Oh, he doesn't just try once, He tries multiple times to get these people to come to the wedding banquet. It says in Romans 9, concerning the reprobates, concerning the wicked, that “God bears with great patience the objects of wrath.” Oh, He puts up with an awful lot. And here, he just sends messenger after messenger. “Tell them to come. Tell them to come.” He's very patient.

We see also the wrath of God here in this parable. You might think, how does that fit with the earlier picture of the happy God? But it does. And we see the wrath of God. Once the people become violent and abusive to his messengers, the king shows his wrath, his righteously passionate emotional anger to what they have done to his messengers. How else could a loving King, a just king, respond? His servants have gone in his name to invite people to a long-prepared wedding banquet and they are refusing to come and actually murdering the messengers.

So I crafted an illustration to try to give you a sense of this. And it was so powerful as I went over it, it brought tears to my eyes because I have children. But imagine, just bear with this illustration. Imagine in one community, there's a group of parents that wants to put on a party for the village.

And they get everything ready for the party and they send out their children. And the children are dressed, the boys are dressed up in these little white suits, girls are dressed up in party dresses with flowers in their hair, and they go skipping and dancing and singing into the village. And the villagers murder them. Now, what would you feel as a father of those children? What I feel right now. Only make it perfect, make it holy, make it just.

So it is with God and the messengers of his gospel who have been beaten and killed, persecuted in every generation of church history. They have traveled over land and sea, they've gone over mountains, they have suffered privations, they've left the comforts of their home and they've gone over there and they have been persecuted and in some cases, martyred. And God loves those messengers, His children, more than any of you parents love your children.

And the connection between Christ and his messengers is intense and powerful, so much so that he confronts Saul of Tarsus, breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples, confronts him saying, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” “Who are you, Lord?” “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting,” he says. So this is how God treats the persecutors of his messengers if he doesn't convert them. Praise God for the grace of God, He converted Saul of Tarsus. “You deserve to die, but I'm gonna actually convert you instead. I'm gonna transform you and you'd be one of my children too. And you'll be one of my messengers and guess what's gonna happen to you? Everywhere you go you're gonna get beat up.” “I will show him how much he must suffer for my name,” but in the midst of it all, there'll be the joy of a reconciled relationship.

How do you see wrath in this parable? Well, it's right there in two ways. Two, actually, stunning ways. First, the burning of the town. Verse 7, “The King was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.” In redemptive history, this undoubtedly refers to the destruction of Jerusalem. They rejected Christ, 70 A.D. the Romans came and destroyed that city and burned it to the ground.

But it's just a foretaste of the final judgment of God. It says in the book of Revelation that he sends out angels with bowls. And the angels pour out bowls on the earth. And the third angel pours out his bowl and the fresh water, the rivers and springs and streams are all turned to blood. And the angel celebrates the justice of God. “You are righteous, oh God, holy and true for doing this, for this is what you have judged. For they shed the blood of your saints and your prophets and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.” The final fulfillment of this will be the second coming of Christ when Jesus comes on that horse in front of the armies of heaven. Read about it in Revelation 19:7-11. He's riding a horse and the sword of God is coming out of his mouth, two-edged sword. Fire in his eyes. Faithful and true written on his thigh. Brings wrath, brings punishment for all those who have persecuted his people. So we see then, the judgment of God and the wrath of God.

We see it also in the banishment of the man from the hall, who is cast outside into darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, because he's not wearing the right clothes. We'll get to that next week. I told you there wasn't enough time in one time to deal with this parable. But there's a reason for it, and we'll talk about it next week, but we see, I think, a picture of hell there. And therefore we see the judgment of God, the keen assessment of the wedding hall and its guests, the perfect judgment of God. Nothing escapes his notice. He comes in there to see the guests. He looks at them, He notices a man there who's not wearing wedding clothes. He's just dealing with his eyes. He sees and knows.

And so it says in Proverbs 20:8, “When a king sits on his throne to judge, he winnows out all evil with his eyes.” Well, I don't know if Solomon could do that, but I know God can do that. And he winnows out all evil, separating the wheat from the chaff, separating the good fish from the bad fish, separating the sheep from the goats with his eyes. So that's what, some of what, I think the parable teaches about God.

The Stubborn Sinfulness of Man

What does it teach us about man? Well, how about let's start with the stubborn sinfulness of man. How stubborn are we in our sin, how much we resist the gospel message. The Jewish rejection of the Messiah, that's the context here. Through the prophets the Lord had been spreading a banquet feast and inviting them to come, getting ready for the Messiah. And they were the ones who had already been invited, but they're just being told now the banquets here.

These are the Jews. And through the prophets they've been prepared for this. Isaiah 55:1-2, “Come, all you are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.” Well, that's the invitation. They've been told that the banquet's coming. And now Jesus is coming saying, “The banquet's here.” Verse 3, “He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.” Jesus said it, he is very plain. John 7, “On the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and called out in a loud voice. ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within you.’”

Did they come? No, they did not, they rejected him. And in the future they would reject the messengers of the Messiah and of the gospel. Matthew 23:34, “I'm sending you prophets and wise men and teachers, and some of them you will kill and crucify and others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.” Now, note the reasons for this stubborn, sinful refusal. First, it's just a flat, “No.” They just refused to come. Just said no.

Can you imagine a friend receiving an invitation to the inaugural ball in Washington, D.C., for the President, President of the United States? Just set the politics aside or whatever you think about presidents. But just think about the magnitude of the occasion. And you say to your friend, “When are you leaving?” He said, “I don't know. I don't think I'm gonna go.” “Why not? Are you not well?” “No, I'm fine. I decided the work's been piling up in the office. I think I'm probably just gonna work late that night.” “What are you, nuts? Are you crazy? This is an invitation to come, this is a once-in-a-lifetime invitation. How can you reject it to get a little extra work done at the office?”

But that's about what they say. “They paid no attention and went off,” Verse 5, “one to his field, another to his business.” So the craving for money, for material possessions, for power, for the stuff of this world, drives out any allure that the invitation has. They don't wanna come, they're too busy. Even the possessions. Luke's version of this, Luke 14:18-20, it says, “They all alike began to make excuses. The first said, ‘I've just bought a field and I want to go look at it. Please excuse me.’ Another said, ‘I just bought five yoke of oxen and I wanna try them.’” So like, “I just bought a new SUV, I just don't have time for the Lord, I wanna try it out.” Bought a new boat, something. Something exciting, something interesting, something worldly. And the allure of the invitation starts to fade. Just not that appealing. So they refused to come. Another said, “I just got married. I can't come.” Just making excuses. And note the escalating wickedness. It starts with simple refusal, then they start to make excuses, and then they get violent and start to abuse them, as we've already talked about. This parable then, gives us a remarkable tour of the human heart, of human wickedness in rejecting the gospel. 

The Free Offer of the Gospel Worldwide

Notice also, if you would, the free offer of the gospel worldwide. Just tell everyone to come. The invitation, worldwide. I believe in the free offer of the gospel. I believe in telling anyone and everyone to come. It says in Luke 14, “The master told the servant, ‘Go out into the roads and the country lanes, and make them come in so my house will be full.’” Paul and Barnabas in Pisidian Antioch, after being rejected by the Jews, they said, “We are now turning to the Gentiles and they will listen.” So just go out, free, offer to everyone, any nation, tribe and people and language all over the world, “Come to the wedding banquet.

The Mixed Nature of the Church

Notice also the mixed nature of the church. Verse 10, “The servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests, good and bad.” So, also, around the world, the church is filled with good and bad. The church is filled with what the Puritans called gospel hypocrites. People who look good on the outside, but inside their hearts are far from Christ. How dangerous a state. I believe the hardest category of people to reach with the gospel, they're not Muslims, not communists, not atheists, they are gospel hypocrites. Hardest category of people to reach. What can you tell them? Mixed nature.

The Mixed Nature of Judgment Day

And only on judgment day will they be winnowed out. As I already said, the sheep separated from the goats. The good fish separated from the bad. The wheat separated from the tares. And so it will be. Thus also, I think, the mixed nature of judgment day when Jesus comes and separates all of that out. And so it will be.

Three Major Doctrines Illuminated

The Sovereignty of God in Salvation

Now, next week, we're gonna talk about three significant doctrines that this parable discusses that I didn't discuss today. One of them is the sovereignty of God in salvation. That final statement, “Many are called, but few are chosen.” What did Jesus mean? We'll talk about that, God willing, next time.

The Imputation of Christ’s Righteousness

And I think we should talk about the imputation of Christ's righteousness. What were the wedding clothes that that man lacked? What are we supposed to be wearing on Judgment Day? Because apparently, if you're not wearing it you get thrown outside into the darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth. So it would behoove us to know what kind of attire God expects on Judgment Day. I say it's the imputed righteousness of Christ. We're gonna talk about that next week.

The Joys of Heaven and the Terrors of Hell

And I wanna talk about the joys of Heaven and the terrors of hell. The kingdom of Heaven is like a wedding banquet. “Throw that man outside into the darkness, tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside in the darkness where there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” There's so many things in each phrase. Tie him hand and foot. Throw him. Outside. Darkness. Weeping. Gnashing of teeth. Each one of those teaches us something about hell. 

The Parable Applied

And so we're gonna look at it next week, God willing. Now, what application can we take for this parable today? Well, first of all come to Christ. I am one of the messengers that the king has sent out. I'm not speaking highly of myself. “We are all ambassadors of Christ,” it says, “as though God himself were making his appeal through us. … Be reconciled to God.” In the language of the parable, God himself is making his appeal through me: “Come to the wedding banquet.” I know exactly when it is.

This is the Sunday after Thanksgiving. There are probably relatives here listening to me today. You were invited to come to church, maybe you don't usually go to church, I don't know. Maybe you go to a church in another place. That's really not so important right now. The question is, “Are you clothed in the righteousness of Christ? Have you trusted in Jesus?” Earlier, I gave you everything you needed to know. Jesus, the Son of God, shed his blood on the cross as an atoning sacrifice for sins. If you trust in him, all of your sins will be forgiven, past, present, and future. Trust in Jesus. Come to the banquet.

And if I can speak now to Christians, can I say, come to the banquet? He is a happy God. How are you? Are you happy? Are you joyful? Are you, through that indwelling Spirit, having foretaste of the future heavenly banquet? Or is the master coming out and saying, “I didn't say you could get up from the table, sit down and eat some more. Be joyful in me.” Didn't Paul say it this way, “Rejoice in the Lord always”? We wander from the banqueting table through sin. Jesus is inviting you right now to come back and sit down and feast some more in Christ. Don't wander after worldly things. Don't wander after sin. Understand the greatness of the joy waiting for you in Heaven.

Now, we're gonna unfold some of those weighty doctrines next time and talk some more about applications at this point. The final application for me right now is, I just want you to prepare your hearts for the Lord's Supper. We're going to celebrate the Lord's Supper. And how beautiful and how synergistic and providential that we're having the Lord's Supper today because I believe that this Lord's Supper pre-figures the wedding banquet of the Lamb. Don't you? Sitting at table. God and man at table are sat down. I love that song. And just think about what it's gonna be like to feast with Jesus. And again, if you're not a Christian, please don't come. Don't partake. Instead spend your time repenting of sin and trusting in Jesus.

But if you have trusted in Christ and have testified to that publicly, through baptism, water baptism, I'd like to ask you to partake. You may feel sinful. During the time, as we're getting our hearts ready, confess that sin. Resolve to make it right. It's for sinners. It's not for perfect people, it's for sinners. So, come and partake.

Introduction

It is to the glory of a king to show lavish generosity. And the more lavishly generous, the more glory comes to the king, thereby. And we see this in scripture and we see it in history, Solomon for example, put on a lavish display of generosity for the Queen of Sheba, to impress her. And she, for her part, brought a lot of lavish gifts herself. So they were dueling in their generosity to see which could outdo the other in lavish generosity. But then in the Book of Esther, King Xerxes puts on a lavish and full and rich display of his wealth for 180 days showing just how generous he could be, and how rich. And it culminated in a rich seven-day feast in which all the nobles of his empire were invited and the palace was decked out richly with blue and white hangings and with silver decorations and everyone sat at table with the king and everyone drank from different goblets, however they wished, in keeping with the king's lavish generosity. And later in that same book when Esther came unannounced into his throne room and he extended the scepter to her, he said to his queen, “What is your request? Even up to half of my kingdom, I will give you.” What a bold statement.

But kings love to say these kinds of things. You remember King Herod, evil King Herod, said the same thing to a dancing girl after he was so pleased with that dance. He said, “What would you like me to give you? Even up to half of my kingdom.” She asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter, but the king wanted to show his lavish generosity and so he made such a bold boast. So also the Caesars ruling the world loved to impress with lavish and generous gifts. When Hadrian visited the city of Athens, he lavished on that city innumerable costly gifts, and competed with others to show who could have the most generous civic and municipal gift given to the city of Athens. So there are all kinds of building projects that were done. Ultimately he won and was shown to be the most generous, Hadrian. When King James took the throne to rule Great Britain, he put on a lavish Christmas and New Year's celebration to display his wealth and his largesse to the people. There were lavish feasts and gifts for all the guests, indescribable foods, and there was even a play written by one William Shakespeare and he even acted in his own play. So the king, King James, very very generous.

Machiavelli, in a cynical study of the power of kings entitled The Prince, said this about generosity by kings, he said lavish generosity is a way that a king would show his power and it's usually self-serving. And it's sometimes dangerous, for these displays are usually expensive and paid for by raising taxes. And the people start to get resentful. Even worse, they might actually come to expect it. So, Machiavelli said it was best for a king to be generally stingy and just occasionally generous, especially if his was somebody else's money. So if you won a military victory and it was some other king's money, spend that money like water. So that was Machiavelli. Well, I do believe it is to the glory of our king, the king of kings, the glory of the God of the universe, to be lavishly generous to us.

God, the creator of the ends of the Earth has been lavishly generous to his subjects, more than any king there has ever been. Now, this week is what we call Holy Week, the time in which Christians can meditate on and weigh again, and feel the weight of the glory of God in Christ at the cross, and also at the empty tomb. The cross on which the Savior of the World died and the empty tomb from which he rose. But what I wanna do this morning, and that's just in the natural text, the next passage that we're going to read in Matthew, and so we see the hand of God and the providence in lining that up for us. But I wanna take a concept from last week's parable and put it side by side with the plain prediction that Jesus gives his disciples of his death and his resurrection. And that concept is that God is free to be as lavishly generous with his own things as he chooses. He can do whatever he wants with his own. And so, therefore, I want to talk about God's sovereign freedom to be generous in all things, and especially in giving his son the Lord Jesus Christ.

Christ Declares God’s Sovereign Freedom to be Generous

A Declaration of Freedom

So look back at the parable from last week in verse 15. I'm gonna read, I think, the ESV, which I think is a better, a little more faithful translation. Mathew 20:15 says, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me, or do you begrudge my generosity?” Now remember the context, the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. Some worked only one hour, and some worked more, some worked even the entire day, 12 hours. Those that worked only one hour received a denarius as you remember, and those that worked 12 hours also received a denarius. They each received the same. The one who worked only one hour had received lavish generosity, really surprising and even shocking generosity from the owner of the vineyard. Those that had worked 12 hours and received the agreed on wage, a denarius were not so impressed. And the landowner said “it's not a matter of justice here, friend.” Oh no, it's a matter of generosity. Look what he says in verse 13, “he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair or unjust to you, didn't you agree to work for a denarius?’” He said, “I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with my own things, what belongs to me? or do you begrudge my generosity?”

So the lavish generosity of God, the freedom, the sovereign generosity of God is on display, in this parable. He can be as generous as he chooses to be. And he says, “I want to give.” That's his nature. “I want. This is my will, it's my desire to be generous. I want to give this.” And he says, “Don't I have the right to do it? Isn't it right for me to do whatever I choose, with my own things?” So it's a matter of sovereign rights and privileges. And then he says, “Are you envious because I'm generous?” So it's a matter of generosity.

God’s Sovereignty Defined

So what do I mean by God's sovereignty, defined? Sovereignty of God is the doctrine that God is king over the entire universe. Every square inch of it is his. Every atom in it is his, for he made it. He can do whatever he wants with all of it. He owes us nothing. He does not ask us permission, he does not ask advice, he does not owe it to us to make us all equally gifted or blessed. He does not owe us a single word of explanation concerning what he does with his own. He is not accountable to us in any way, but we are accountable to him. And therefore, God can be as generous as he chooses to be with his own things. Now the tendency for us, in our sinful state, is to resent God's sovereign generosity and his freedom in giving as he sees fit. We tend to resent it. “Do you begrudge my generosity?” he says.

God’s Sovereignty Resented

The doctrine of God's sovereign generosity is a very troubling one to human beings. They resent the way that God sits on his throne. And is in no way held accountable to us. Doesn't need to give us any explanation. They resent that. It’s especially poignant, I think, for many in the issue of salvation. They feel if God does such and such for one person, he must do equally the same for all. He's under obligation to do the same thing for everyone, he must give everyone equal access to his grace and his generosity. So they say.

God’s Generosity Required for our Blessedness

Now, I say to you that God's generosity is absolutely required for our blessedness. If he is not generous to us, we will not be blessed. I say that in two senses, first of all, given our status as creatures, as created beings. God is glorified in creating us totally dependent on him. He created us that way, that we would be completely and totally dependent on God's generosity. Our very atoms are held together by a direct act of his sovereign will. Our biological lives depend on oxygen and water and nutrients that come from outside of us in. And if they're not out there, if they don't come in, we die. And so, God has created us completely dependent on him. We were created needy, and God is greatly glorified by this. It would be the case, even if we had never sinned.

God is honored by our dependence on him, so because we are creatures and he is the creator, we must have God's generosity, for our blessedness but even more now, friends that we are sinners. Even more now that we have rebelled against the king. When Adam sinned in the garden of Eden, all of his posterity, all of us, sinned in him and with him. We are members, therefore, of a sin-cursed race of rebels against the throne of Almighty God. We are all of us, each one of us, under a death sentence uttered in Genesis, in chapter 2, where it says, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it, you will surely die.” So also it's restatement later through the pen of the apostle Paul, “The wages of sin is death.” And we have sinned, friends. We have violated God's commands, not just in being descended from Adam, but in that we have actually violated his commands, his Ten Commandments. Or the summation of all of his commands. Look at that, the two great commandments, Jesus said, “The first, that you should love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your strength. And with all your mind.” We have violated that commandment, we are sinners. And we should love our neighbors as ourselves, we've violated that, we have not done this.

And therefore we deserve condemnation. We deserve eternity in hell. We deserve the deepest punishment. Therefore for us to receive anything good at all is sovereign generosity on the part of God. If there's anything in this life that you enjoy, anything that brings you pleasure or happiness. Anything that lightens your burdens, it is a gift of grace, of sovereign grace given to you. And God didn't have to do it. That we should actually have sunshine and rain, and delicious food, and the beauty of the Earth and natural gifts and enriching and pleasure-filled experiences. All of this is nothing less than astonishing generosity from this sovereign God. So, we are totally dependent on God's generosity, in that first we are creatures and we depend on him for our very existence and secondly, because we are sinners. 

We must start here, because we are creatures we can make no demands whatsoever on God, whatever he gives we receive gratefully. And how much more now that we have sinned? God can be as generous as he chooses to be and we would have no right whatsoever to complain. We all received a stay of execution from the death that our sin deserved. God decided to allow history to continue. Not just general history, but our own personal history. We didn't drop dead, the moment we sinned the first time. And so God's given us time and with that also many, many blessings and anything we get other than condemnation is grace from God.

God’s Common Generosity, Given as He Thinks Best

Common Grace Blessings

But let's look a little bit more specifically at aspects of God's sovereign generosity to us. I wanna talk first about common grace blessings, those things that are just generally given to human beings. Let's start with the heavenly lights, the sun, and the moon and the stars. In James 1:17, it says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above coming down from the father of the heavenly lights, who does not change, like shifting shadows.” So it refers to the heavenly lights, the sun, the moon, and the stars, which Deuteronomy 4 says, “The Lord set in heavens as the portion for all nations.” So basically, all nations get to enjoy the sun and the moon and the stars and look up at them and see their beauty. And so Jesus extends it in Matthew 5:45 to talk about how life and nourishment and blessing comes from the sun and the rain. That God causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good. And sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. This is just sovereign generosity on the part of God. Love to his enemies who do not acknowledge him.

And even beyond this, the Apostle Paul says, in Acts 14:17, “He has not left himself without testimony. He has shown kindness, by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons. He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.” And he's speaking this to a bunch of pagans, idolaters who don't acknowledge him at all, but the apostle Paul says, “God gives you these things richly to enjoy.” And then there are kind of unique physical blessings given to people, different blessings at different levels in people's lives. Let's look at physical blessings. Some are tall, some are short. Some are strong, some not so strong. Also known as weak. Some are really, really attractive and beautiful, some not so much. Some people are quick and agile, others a little bit more awkward, a little slower. So also in the issue of mental strength, some are brilliant, intelligent, others not so much. Some people have the ability to concentrate and focus, and they have received gifts of insight and education. There are financial resources, inheritance money, talent for earning money, blessing in business.

God Sovereignly Gives Common Gifts

God gives these blessings as he chooses and he gives them in the measure he chooses and all of it is sovereign generosity. And it's patently obvious, I hope it is to you, that all men are not created equal when it comes to these things. Despite what the writers of the Declaration of Independence said. I'll go with the scripture rather than Thomas Jefferson, okay, on this one? But isn't it obvious? That we have not received equally of these kinds of blessings? Some live in particularly fertile soil, rich and black and nutrient-filled and the soil is soaked with the appropriate amount of rain. And so all they have to do is just kind of scatter seeds and everything just grows lavishly and it's an abundant harvest. Others have to scrape out a living from it looks like desert areas, and you wonder why they live there and they can barely survive. Some have excellent physical capabilities, they're excellent athletes, they excel on the ball-field on the basketball court, they're tall, they have incredible hand-eye coordination, very quick, and they're just skillful. I've seen others that are not so. I've had times like that myself.

But these are gifts that God gives or he doesn't. Some have clear minds, fantastic memories, sharp perception skills. They acquire new concepts with remarkable ease. Others struggled to concentrate, they forget things readily, they seem somewhat dense, they do not excel in mental tasks or in school. Now, God is free to give these gifts as he sees fit without asking us first, whether we'd like the gift package he gives us. He opens his hand, and gives them as he chooses. God sits on his throne and can be as generous as he wants to be, and it's for us to praise him and thank him for whatever we get. Whatever gift he has given and not to murmur against God. Or to boast about the gifts you have, for who makes you different from another? And what do you have that you didn't receive? And if you did receive it, then why do you boast as though you had not?

God’s Greatest Generosity, Given as He Thinks Best

The Greatest Gift in History: Jesus Christ

Yet, for all of that, God has been incredibly generous to the sinful human race. Far more generous than we deserve. We can see that generosity in these common grace blessings. How much more dear friends in the blessings of the gospel, in the blessing of giving his only begotten son poured out on the cross for us, resurrected from the grave for us. Let us stand in awe at his most breathtaking generosity. Put your hand over your mouth and be astonished that he would give his only begotten son for people like you and me. 

And didn't he have the right to do it? Doesn't he have the right to be as generous with Jesus as he chooses? He didn't have to give him but he did. And this is the greatest generosity that we have ever received. I think that's the logic of Romans 8:32, the infinite value of Christ, Romans 8:32 says, “He who did not spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also along with him, graciously give us all things?” Think of the logic of the verse.

“He who did not spare his own son, will he not also give us all things?” So his own son, infinitely greater than all things. That's the root concept of this verse is that the greatest gift God could have given, the greatest gift he did give, is Jesus Christ, not all things. His only begotten son, therefore, all the universe’s material wealth, all of its gold, and silver, and diamonds and starry host are as so much dust on the scales compared to the infinite magnitude of the gift of the only begotten son of God. And all of your talents and all of your abilities and all of your deficiencies and weaknesses and limitations, all of it is as nothing, dust on the scales compared to this gift, the gift of Jesus Christ. I've quoted it before, but C.S. Lewis said it so beautifully, “He who has Christ, and all the world has no more than he who has Christ alone.” So it is true. Now, God had the right to be generous with Jesus, he had the right and he was. This deliverance of Christ was done by the good pleasure of our Sovereign God. He was under no compulsion, he was under no obligation. God the Father gave God the Son freely and generously with lavish generosity and it was infinitely painful and costly because He gave Him up for us in death and destruction.

Details of the Most Generous Gift

Look at the details of that in verses 17-19, “As Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, ‘We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn Him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles, to be mocked and flogged and crucified. And on the third day, He will be raised to life.’” In this intimate moment in which Jesus opens up his mind about his impending death, we see some amazing aspects of just how generous this gift of God the Father is. Does not the father have the right to be this generous with his son? Yes, he does have the right. But we therefore have an obligation to pick up this jewel and turn it and look at every facet of its glory and be amazed and have a sense of wonder and awe at the gift of Jesus Christ: Crucified, dead, buried, and raised again on the third day. So let's look at some details. First, look at the aspect of intimate relationship with Jesus.

Intimate Relationship

Look at verse 17, “He took the twelve disciples aside,” that means away from the crowd. He pulled them away just to talk to them privately. The twelve were his chosen ones, his apostles, those closest to Jesus. The crowds that followed him did so for a myriad of reasons. Most of all because He healed all their diseases and sicknesses and that was a value. He had fed the 5,000 and they were there the next day looking for another meal. So that's a motive, for following Jesus. It was quite a show I'm sure. And they didn't have cable back then, and so there just needed to be something to do in a day. And so you're gonna just follow Jesus, “Where is he going today?” “I don't know, you're never sure where he's gonna go.” “Well, let's find him.” And so just to be there to watch it and to see the healings and to listen to the teachings and no man ever spoke like this man and, there's all kinds of reasons for following Jesus, but it says in John 2, that Jesus didn't entrust Himself to them for he knew what was in a man's heart. He knows what's inside man, he didn't entrust Himself to them.

But he pulled and said to these twelve aside, and they were his apostles, and it implies intimacy, it implies closeness in relationship with Jesus. A sweet relationship with Christ, what a gift. What a gift, listen to John 15:15. He says, “I no longer call you servants because a servant doesn't know his master's business, instead I've called you friends for everything I learned from my Father I've made known to you.” That's what he's doing here in these verses. He pulls them aside he says, “Friends, I want you to know what's gonna happen. I wanna tell you ahead of time.” He could have just done it. But he wants to let them in on it. He wants to have that intimate relationship with him. And frankly, other passages give us more of a sense of this intimacy, they really do: In John 12, Jesus opens up his heart to them and actually speaks about how he feels about his crucifixion. He says, “And now my heart is troubled and what shall I say, ‘Father, save me from this hour?’ It was for this very reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Oh, he's opening up his heart to them.

“It's hard for me to be crucified, it's hard for me, there's a part of me that's shrinking back but I want God to be glorified. Oh Father, glorify your name,” he's opening himself up. Intimacy. He does it even more in Gethsemane, you know that. He doesn't just take the twelve at this point, he takes Peter, James, and John aside with him, and the three in an incredible intimacy are invited to come and to be with Jesus in his time of unutterable agony. As he has revealed to him, I think, by the Father, just what it's going to be like to drink the cup of his wrath on the cross. And so he goes a little farther and he falls to the ground and says, “Father, if it is possible, let this cup be taken from me, yet, not as I will, but as you will.” And then he goes back to the three and talk to them and back to some more prayer. He's just drawing them into his feelings, intimate relationship with Christ, what a gift.

He didn't have to give that. That was sovereign generosity in the part of Jesus, he didn't have to give that. And notice the word of intimacy, we, “we” are going up to Jerusalem, we're going up together. Now, Jesus had to go to the cross alone as it says in the language of Isaiah, he trod the winepress, alone, he had to do that alone. But he wanted to spend it with them.

Prophecy

Secondly, we see the aspect of prophecy, of prediction. The ability to predict the future is a unique gift of God, to the human race through the prophets. Only God really knows the future. Only God knows the end from the beginning, only God can establish the future.

Isaiah 46:10, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come. I say my purpose will stand and I will do all that I please.” So, the Bible is full of prophecies of God making known the end from the beginning, and of establishing His plan and His purpose and doing all that he pleases. And the center of the prophetic word is Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected, that's the center of the prophetic message. Some of these prophecies come in patterns and types. Things lived out in the life of Israel. For example, the saving of Isaac, on Mount Moriah, in Genesis 22, when God tested Abraham and said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and offer him up as a sacrifice.”

And you remember what happened, how Abraham obeyed God and was just about to kill Isaac, and the angel of the Lord calls out, and Isaac is spared by a substitute, the ram in the thicket caught by his horns. What a picture of the cross of Christ. Or the Passover lamb in Exodus 12, on the night of that dreadful tenth plague against the Egyptians when all the firstborn of Egypt were dying, and though the firstborn of Israel deserved to die, they did not die because the Passover lamb was sacrificed, and the blood of the lamb was painted over the door posts, and the angel of the Lord moving over saw the blood and forgiveness and freedom was given. What a picture of the death of Christ.

So those are types. Sometimes prophecies were verbal predictions like in Psalm 22, “They have pierced my hands and my feet.” And Isaiah 53, which speaks so plainly of substitutionary atonement, of Jesus standing in our place, “All we like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” So those are verbally predictive prophecies. So here, Jesus gives a simple and about the clearest prophecy you can have about his own death and resurrection.

“We are going up to Jerusalem and the Son of man will be betrayed to the chief priest and the teachers of the law, they will condemn Him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified and on the third day, He will be raised to life.” What a plain, what a clear prediction of prophecy this is. Now this prediction was given in love to teach us a simple lesson and that is that Christ willingly, gladly chose to go to the cross for you and me. He willingly, gladly, chose to lay down His life. “No one takes my life from me,” said Jesus, “but I lay it down freely.” And so it says in John 13:19, “I'm telling you now, before it happens, so that when it does happen, you will believe that I am.”

Betrayal

Thirdly, we see the aspect of betrayal. Let's look at some of the details of the prediction. “The Son of man,” He said, “will be betrayed.” This is a very specific word. Some of those horoscopes and Nostradamus predictions and all that are very general. Ever read a horoscope, and it says, “Something unusual will happen to you, today,” and you're waiting all day long for that unusual thing, and if you want to believe in horoscopes you'll find it, “Something unusual did happen to me today.”

Well, this isn't like that. This is something very specific, betrayal. He's going to be betrayed. And it really just connects with what we've already established, intimacy, relationship, the chosen ones. You cannot be betrayed by a total stranger, you can only be betrayed by a beloved friend, somebody close to you. And so he says, “The Son of Man will be betrayed.” He makes this much more abundantly later on at the Lord's Supper.

The Last Supper while they were eating, in Matthew 26, “He said, while they were eating, ‘I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.’ And they were very sad and began to say to Him, one after the other, ‘Surely not I, Lord.’ Jesus replied, ‘The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about Him, but woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man. It would be better for him if he had never been born.’ And then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, ‘Surely not I Rabbi.’ Jesus answered, ‘Yes, it is you.’”

Condemnation by the Priests

Betrayal, fourth, we see condemnation by the priest. Look at verse 18, “The Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priest and the teacher of the law, they will condemn Him to death.” The betrayer would hand Jesus over to his Jewish enemies, the leaders of the Jewish nation. The leaders were the chief priest and the teachers of the law. This is even more powerful, even more striking. These men spent their whole day, supposedly, studying the scriptures, immersing themselves in the written Word of God.

Jesus said in John 5:39 and 40, “You diligently study the Scriptures, because you think that by them you possess eternal life, these are the scriptures that refer to me. And yet you're unwilling to come to me that you may have life.” The priests were the ones who are supposed to ... Supposedly offering up animal sacrifices in fulfillment of the laws of Moses, all of those types, those predictions. Every animal sacrifice was a prediction of the death of Jesus. And so it says in Hebrews 10:11, “Day after day, every priest stands and performs his religious duties. Again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sin.” They should have known better, they should have known that the blood of bulls and goats could not in any way atone for human sin, they should have understood who Jesus was, why he had come, but they were the ones most set against him, they were his bitterest enemies. John 1:11, “He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.” 

They therefore represent the rejection by the whole Jewish nation of Jesus from being their Messiah, they condemned him to death, amazingly and in so doing fulfilled the types of the animal sacrifice. It was only by their rejection and their condemnation of Him to death that Jesus would die, his blood shed for us. 

Hatred by the Gentiles

The next aspect is hatred by the Gentiles. They'll condemn him to death, verse 19, and will turn him over to the Gentiles. Though the Jews' hatred for Jesus was strong enough to kill him, and frankly, many times in his life and his ministry, they sought to do so. From the very beginning when he was there in Nazareth and he opened up Isaiah and that whole encounter ends with them pushing him to the edge of a cliff as to throw him over. And they wanted to kill him right there and then, but Jesus just miraculously moved right through the crowd and went.

Or the time in John chapter 8, when Jesus made this stunning assertion, “Before Abraham was born, I am,” and they just picked up stones to stone him right there and then. Or later in John's Gospel when he said, “I and the Father are one,” again, they pick up stones to stone him. They wanted to kill him many times. But it was God's will, it was God's sovereign will, it was part of his sovereign generosity to us, that it would be both Jew and Gentile together that would condemn the Son of God. A collaborative effort. A few years ago, as you remember when Mel Gibson's controversial film came out, the Passion of the Christ, you remember that, do you remember some of the controversy on that? That the film suggested that the Jews were in any way involved in the death of Christ was offensive to the Anti-Defamation League. They found the Gospel of John in general offensive. But they found the film offensive and I think because they couldn't do anything with the Gospel of John, what could they do with that? They did something with Mel Gibson's film. But do you not see the sovereignty of God in ensuring that Jew and Gentile alike were equally responsible for the death of Jesus Christ?

For in this way, Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. In this way, Jews and Gentiles alike are all rebellious against God, Jews and Gentiles alike could not see in Christ the glory of God. Jews and Gentiles alike are in danger of the fire of hell. And so God ordained that the Jewish leaders would condemn Jesus to death and turn him over to the Gentiles, for what?

Mocked

Well, to be mocked. What do we mean by mockery? It's a sense of perverted humor. Finding humor in a very dark and wicked and sinful way. There's an arrogance in mockery too, as though you are above the one that you're mocking. And so, the Gentiles would delight in mocking Jesus. Frankly, so were the chief priests and the scribes and the Pharisees, and the Jewish crowd, as well. This mockery was predicted in the Old Testament. In Psalm 22:7-8, “All who see me mock me, they hurl insults shaking their heads. He trusts in God, let the lord rescue Him, let Him deliver Him, since He delights in him.” So, this mockery predicted by Psalm 22, fulfilled in life of Christ. Now, first it was the Romans, oh, and they made a science of it. They were expert mockers.

Mathew 27:27 and following, “Then the governor's soldiers took Jesus into the praetorium, and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. And they stripped him and they put a scarlet robe on him. And they twisted together a crown of thorns, and set it on his head and they put a staff in his right hand, and they knelt in front of Him and mocked Him, ‘Hail King of the Jews!’ They said. And they spat on Him. And they took the staff and struck him on the head again and again,” driving those thorns deep into his scalp, blood flowing down his face. Mockery. Luke 22:63-65 says, “The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him, they blindfolded Him and demanded, ‘prophesy to us, Christ, who hit you?’” Little did they realize that he could read their minds and thoughts and could have said, he could have told their whole life history, if he'd wanted to, but they're mocking him. King Herod did the same thing, do you remember when they sent Jesus over to Herod, and it says in Luke 23:11, “And Herod and his soldiers ridiculed and mocked him, dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.”

The crowds that lined the street pitched in. Mark 15:29, “Those who passed by hurled insults at him,"” and the chief priests and the scribes, and Jewish leaders stood at the foot of the cross to rub it in. It says, “In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law and the elders mocked, ‘He saved others,’ they said, ‘but he can't save himself! He's the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross and we will believe in him. He trusts in God, let God rescue him now, if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The soldiers who crucified Jesus mocked Him. Luke 23, “The soldiers came up and mocked Him. They offered him wine vinegar, and said, ‘If you're the King of the Jews, save yourself.’” Even the thieves crucified with Jesus, began the time mocking. Thanks be to God, one of them stopped. Thanks be to God, one of them repented in the middle and said, “Remember me, Jesus, when you come in your kingdom.” 

We've been saved from mocking Jesus, amen. We don't mock Him anymore, we fall before Him and we claim that he is our God. But he was mocked. Amazingly the Bible speaks in prophetic form of how graciously willing Jesus was to submit to this mockery. Isaiah 50:6 it says, “I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard, I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting.” But yet, you know something? Galatians 6:7 said, “God cannot be mocked.” Jesus ends up looking regal to me, doesn't he to you? He looks glorious to me, He looks majestic to me 'cause I understand why he did it, and I see the glory of it, and I see the shame of the human race. We're really just mocking ourselves when we mock Jesus.

Flogged

Well what's the next step? Well, he would be flogged. They'll turn him over to the Gentiles, to be mocked and flogged. Flogging is one of the most heinous tortures ever devised by man. It involves a short stick with long straps of leather. And at the end of the straps of leather, are bits of bone and lead, embedded in the straps of leather, and a skillful sadist who knows what he's doing, and what he's trying to do, could wrap these straps around the victim's back and plow deep into his back and expose the tendons and the muscles and the blood vessels and even the white bone. He could kill him if he wanted to.

Jesus spoke the single word “flog,” to be mocked and flogged. He spoke at about himself. What must have been going through his mind? The flogging almost didn't happen. Pontius Pilate wanted to release Jesus. He was innocent, he knew it was out of jealousy that the Jews had handed him over, he kept trying to set him free and finally he said, “Well maybe if I flog him, they'll wanna set him free.” And so, he had Jesus flogged, even though he said, “I flogged him so that you know I find no fault in him.” That makes no sense to me at all. That's why he did it. This is the flogging that Jesus predicted.

Crucified

And then the final step of the agony, to be mocked and flogged and crucified. The most hideous form of death employed by the ancient world, invented by the cruel Assyrians. Picked up by the Romans for use only on foreigners, it was against the law to use it against any Roman citizen. It didn't matter how awful or heinous his crime, he would never be crucified if you were a Roman citizen. But a Jew could be crucified, and the mechanics of the death are well known to you: Hands and feet pierced, nailed to the wood. He's hanging there pushing up on His pierced feet so that he can gulp breath and sink back down until he needs another breath.

And in this way Jesus knew he would die. It had been written in the prophecies with specific word, “pierced.” Psalm 22:16-17, “Dogs have surrounded me, a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones, people stare, and gloat over me.” Isaiah 53:5 uses the same word, “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities, the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”

This is the cost of the gift of the only begotten Son of God, for us. This is what it costs us friends, and how could any of us come to the throne and try to persuade God the Father to send such a gift for people like us. This is sovereign, generosity of the highest kind, this is infinite generosity. And he didn't have to do it. He was under no obligation to do it. Why was the son of God so shamefully destroyed? Well, he did it as our substitute. You look at all of that suffering, all of that rejection, that mocking, spitting, blood, pain, all of that, the shame, then you must say as a believer in Christ, I deserve that, and worse. I deserve that, and worse, I deserved eternity under the wrath of God. And He came as my substitute. He came to take my place.

Resurrected

God's sovereign generosity culminates in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, in a human body, in flesh and bones to come back and show himself to his apostles, and say, “A spirit doesn't have flesh and bones as you see I have.” God's sovereign generosity culminates in the gift of the resurrected Jesus Christ from the dead.

He was resurrected for our justification, it says in Romans Chapter 4, that we might be justified, vindicated of our sins. Have you trusted in Him, friend, have you looked to him? Do you realize you have no standing before this God except that he be sovereignly generous to you? Have you asked Him for faith to believe? It's in his hand to give. Ask Him for faith to believe, look to the cross for the forgiveness of your sins, look to the empty tomb for your hope for the rest of your life. This is sovereign free generosity. Great and lavish generosity, more than Solomon did for the Queen of Sheba. More than Xerxes did for his 180 days and then the seven-day feast besides. A greater promise than “Up to half of my kingdom I'll give you.” Better than anything that Hadrian did for Athens, better than anything King James did on Christmas and New Year’s with William Shakespeare included, this is the most lavish generosity, the greatest feast any king has ever spread for anybody. Come to the table. Come and believe in Jesus. Find forgiveness of sins in God's sovereign generosity.

Application

See Every Blessing as Grace from God

Now, what application can we take from that other than come to Christ. I would urge you to see every blessing you have in your life as a gift of sovereign generosity that God didn't have to give you. Thank him for it, for every physical capability, for every piece of food you enjoy, for everything that brings you any kind of pleasure, or happiness or peace, whatsoever, it is a gift of grace to you and, see, every earthly limitation you have, all of those things you've fought against your whole life, the struggles you've had with your mind, or with your body, with your nature, your tendencies those limitations are a gift of God to you for they cause you to look to something better, something higher. To look to Jesus Christ.

And they cause you to not be jealous or envious of someone else. To say, “I have my advantages and my limitations. They have theirs. All of these things are given as a gift, a lavish gift of God, and I don't deserve any of it. I'm delighted at any good thing that God gives to anyone else.”

Focus Your Minds on God’s Greatest Gift

And therefore, focus your mind on his greatest gifts. All earthly gifts are temporary and not worth comparing with this one, the glory of Christ crucified and risen from the dead. In Christ alone then find your worth, your success, your beauty, your strength, your righteousness, your achievement in Christ, and Christ alone. And thank God hourly for this, what Paul calls indescribable gift, it will sweeten your life. To live a life of thankfulness to God for what he has done, of His sovereign generous freedom. Close with me in prayer.

Introduction

So turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 17. We continue our study in Matthew, with verses 14-20, and I think it's gonna be helpful for you also, if you could open to Mark 9:14-29. I'm gonna be really looking at both of these passages in order to get a fuller understanding of what happened in that account. So Matthew chapter 17, verses 14-20, and put your finger there and stay also in Mark 9:14-29.

I can hardly imagine what it must have felt like for this young couple, newly married. The man I knew in the first engineering job I had just out of college. Now they were on their honeymoon, they'd been married for just two days, and they had gone to Hawaii for their honeymoon.

They were body surfing there, off the coast of Oahu, when suddenly a particularly violent wave drove this young man head first into the sand of the beach, jarred him violently, and injured him in a way that must have been terrifying to them both. He lay there on the beach paralyzed, unable to move, unable to feel, unable to wiggle his fingers, or his toes. Soon he was whisked away to a hospital, his weeping bride was stunned, wondering if now - they've been married for two days - she was married to a quadriplegic and would be feeding her husband the rest of their married lives together.

And as he lay there in that hospital bed I think their future must have looked bleak indeed. They were not Christians, they didn't know the Lord. It was a devastating time for them. Thankfully for them, he'd merely suffered a temporary shock to his spinal column, a temporary shock to the system, within days he would recover all of his functions, all of his feelings, and went on to lead a normal life.

But I think about that paralysis, that feeling of utter helplessness and I believe it's a picture of us in our sin, apart from Christ. A picture of absolute powerlessness. Now, what is power? Well, there are different kinds of power, there's political power, military power, there's physical power, the power of beauty, there's electrical power, nuclear power, economic power, and others besides. Power is the ability, the force to make a change, make an effect in the world, and people like to see themselves as powerful, that they can make a difference in the world, that they can make an effect.

But the Bible actually portrays us as spiritually powerless, actually helpless, apart from Christ. We are powerless to change our own nature, the nature of our hearts. We are powerless in the face of our own sinfulness, powerless in the face of disease. We have been proven again and again as a race to be powerless in the face of death, the final enemy. We are powerless to throw off the demonic oppression of Satan's kingdom and its opposition to us. We are powerless to improve our spiritual standing with a holy God.

We need a savior. And that is precisely why Jesus Christ has come, amen? Because we are powerless apart from Him. Romans chapter 5 and verse 6 says, “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.” Oh, feel the weight of each of those words. Christ died for the ungodly. That, my friends, is us; it's you and me.

Now, in today's passage, we're gonna see Christ coming face-to-face again with human powerlessness as he has so many times in his ministry. We see the powerlessness of a boy who is demon-possessed and thrown frequently into the fire or into the water. We see the powerlessness of his father who's desperate to save the life of his tormented son, we see the powerlessness of his disciples who through their lack of faith seemingly can do nothing about it.

But in the end, we see the powerlessness of the demon to oppose Jesus Christ. We see the powerlessness of disease to resist Christ's healing power. We see the powerlessness of darkness to resist the light, the powerlessness finally of unbelief, to resist the faith that Christ intends to give each and every one of us even today. The final lesson on this passage is this: If you believe in Jesus Christ, then nothing will be impossible for you. That is the power of faith.

From the Mountaintop to the Valley

Descending from the Mountaintop

So this encounter with Christ stands as a timeless testimony to the power of faith to overcome our powerlessness. But let's set it in its context. Here, in this account, we see Jesus and his three chosen disciples going from the mountaintop down into the valley. I told you it was coming. Remember we can't stay up there on the mountain top much as we'd like to do it, we have to come down into the valley.

And so, they're descending from that incredible experience that they had, the mount of transfiguration where Jesus was transfigured before them, and his face shone as radiantly as the sun. And his clothes became brilliantly white, and they had an encounter with Christ that they could never have imagined, and a glimpse of that pure heavenly glory that they will be gazing on for all eternity. They also had an encounter with Moses and Elijah, a true mountaintop experience, but friends it couldn't last. 

The Valley of Humiliation

So now, they descend down into the valley of humiliation. Mark's gospel as I've told you, records this event with a little more detail than Matthew's, so we are gonna be running parallel, side-by-side. But according to Mark's gospel, Jesus's enemies were there and they were attacking the nine apostles that Jesus had left down in the valley.

They were coming after them, Mark 9:14, “When they came to the other disciples, they saw a large crowd around them and the teachers of the law arguing with them.” These are the scribes, the teachers of the law. They were Jesus' sworn enemies. They had, it seems, orchestrated this whole test, they brought this demonized boy and his father to the apostles to see what they could do. And as usual these scribes, these teachers of the law were looking merely for an opportunity to discredit Jesus, and this time by testing his apostles. Jesus' apostles had miserably failed, bringing temporary disrepute to Jesus and his ministry.

The Plea of a Desperate Father

And so we see the plea of a desperate father, look at Matthew 17, verses 14-16. “When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him, ‘Lord, have mercy on my son,’ he said, ‘He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. I brought him to your disciples but they could not heal him.’”

Powerlessness Breeds Desperation

So the powerlessness of this man to handle this situation brings about desperation. The love of a father for his son is among the strongest there is in the world. The father's anguish over his son is heightened by three factors: First, this son was an only son, his only child. The only child this poor man had. Secondly, the son was suffering terribly, he was in agony, and his life was threatened every day, and it had been going on like this for a long time. And thirdly, there was nothing the man could do about it, he was utterly powerless before it.

And so this man has great anguish for these three reasons. Now, he had heard of Jesus' reputation as a healer, but now perhaps his faith has been damaged, not destroyed, but perhaps damaged by the failure of his apostles, to drive out the demon.

The Son’s Desperate Condition

Now, the son's desperate condition is interesting in the original language, and in Greek, the King James version actually brings it across a little more faithfully. It says there that he was a “lunatic,” and it's related to the Greek word for the goddess of the moon and they believed that epileptic seizures were brought on because they had, in some sense, offended the moon goddess and they would wax and wane with the patterns of the moon and that's what the word literally means. Lunatic.

But clearly the issue here is this man is having seizures. And the man rightly believed that it was brought on by a demon. Now, when we go from the word lunatic to epileptic seizures, we who live in the city of medicine, we may leave out the supernatural impact of the demonic. We may think that demons don't bring about illnesses, but they do, and they certainly do here in this account. This is brought on by a demon. Look at Mark 9:17 and 18, “Teacher I've brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground, he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid.”

Now, I can't imagine what an epileptic seizure would be like. There have been some in our church whose children have suffered through them. Perhaps you yourself have this kind of malady, but I can imagine it would be a terrifying thing to go through this. And the powerlessness of the father watching this.

But even worse, there's a malevolent side to it, a wickedness, a demon, that's bringing it on. And this demon isn't merely robbing his son of speech, the demon is trying to kill him. He's looking for an opportunity. Jesus said that Satan is a murderer, and he was a murderer from the beginning. This demon is just following suit of his dark lord and master, he's trying to kill, to murder, this man's son. 

And he does it by bringing on convulsions resulting in the boy throwing himself often it says, “Into the fire or into the water.” The fire might be a cooking fire in the house or any other kind of fire that might be around the yard. The water could be a river, a lake, a pond, a well. It could come on at any moment. Imagine being this boy's father, you never know if this moment might be his last. There's just nothing you can do about it. It's been going on since childhood, a desperate case.

Coming to Christ for Mercy

And so he comes to Christ for mercy. Matthew 17:14-15, it says, “A man approached Jesus and knelt before him, ‘Lord have mercy on my son,’ he said.” He bows down before Christ as before a king, and he calls him “Lord.” This was actually common. It doesn't mean that he necessarily fully understood who Jesus was, but he certainly understood that he was great and had great power.

However it seems that his faith is already as I've said, been somewhat damaged. Look at Mark 9:22-23. There it says, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” Let me read that a little differently: “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” And let me put a little inflection in Jesus's answer, “‘If you can?’ All things are possible to him who believes.” What do you mean if you can?

If you can do anything Jesus. Well therein lies the rub, friends, isn't it? Can Jesus do anything about your situation? Don't we come to him about the same way? “If you can do anything Jesus please do something, some little thing, let me know that you're there.” If you can. And so we see the struggle of this father.

The Plight of the Faithless Disciples

Focus on the Disciples’ Failure

We see also the plight of the faithless disciples. He says, “I brought him to your disciples but they could not heal him.” The focus here is on the failure of the disciples, literally they had no power to heal, they were powerless before this case. They were stripped, they were exposed, they were weak, they were helpless, ashamed, defeated, humiliated. This was a stinging setback for them.

Realize it was couched as a test by Jesus's enemies. Jesus isn't there, he's up on the mountain, coming down. And so they're kind of left alone, in their own mind, they're far more alone than they really were. It's an especially poignant failure because it's done in front of Jesus' enemies who are trying to discredit his ministry, and Jesus had given them power over the demons to drive them out.

They'd already been over this. They were qualified to do this, they'd been given supernatural power to do this, they'd been sent out to do this. Mark chapter 3:14-15 says that, “Jesus appointed twelve, designating them apostles, that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.” They had the power to do it.

Now, we don't know what they did, and we don't know what they didn't do, but one thing it seems that they didn't do is they didn't pray. Now, this is rather striking when you stop and think about it. Okay, afterward, you know after the account, and we'll come back to this later, but at the end, they come to Jesus, after Jesus had gone indoors they ask him privately, “Why couldn't we drive it out?” And Jesus answers, and I think this is the proper reading: “This kind, can only come out by prayer.” Now just mull that over for a moment. A demon possessed boy is there, and they don't even pray about it. Instead of calling on Almighty God they tried the technique that they had developed on that earlier mission trip. You remember?

They went out and they had that demon thing, that technique down, and that was a great day. This is not a great day. There are great days and there are not great days. This was not a great day. That was a great day. Luke 10:17, “They returned back filled with joy saying, even the demons are subject to us in your name,” what a great moment that was for them, but now they can't do anything. Powerless.

The Root Issue: Unbelief

The root issue here is clearly unbelief. In Matthew, “Why couldn't we drive it out?” They asked. Jesus said, “Because you have so little faith.” And we're gonna discuss this more fully in a moment, but the bottom line here is that they failed to trust in God's power working through them, they didn't look to God at all. They felt they were alone 'cause Jesus wasn't there, they couldn't see Jesus.

Well, the overwhelming majority of Christian throughout all history would not be able to see Jesus and would have to trust him not seeing him. Having not seen him, we love him, we're not gonna get to see him. And they needed to be able to rely on Almighty God, his invisible working power, whether Jesus was physically there or not, and frankly for much of the rest of their own lives, they would have to do that.

They relied instead on themselves, maybe like that Ali Baba thing, they were looking for that magic word, “Open Sesame.” If they could just say the right word, the demon would come out. And so, there are Jesus's enemies looking on, and they try to drive the demon out and nothing happens. And so, beads of sweat start to form on the head. They look around at one another the top three apostles had been drafted for some trip that Jesus was on. And so who's in charge? Is it Andrew? Is it Thaddeus? I mean who's gonna step forward now?

Whose turn is it? And so it starts to go badly, and then it gets worse. I don't know what the demon said, but we know in the book of Acts, a demon beat up some people who were unqualified to drive out, the seven sons of Sceva, they got beaten up. And so this is going very, very badly. They begin to argue, perhaps, among themselves, their faith nowhere to be found.

Jesus’ Stinging Rebuke

And so Jesus comes down off the mountain. The father encounters him, “I brought him to your disciples. They couldn't drive him out.” And now we get Jesus's response. What an amazing response it is.

“Oh, unbelieving and perverse generation. How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?” Some commentators say Jesus is talking about his enemies, the scribes, talking generally about the Jews at the time. I think yes, and yes. But do you really think the apostles were not meant to hear that as a rebuke? I think it was for them and for us. Oh, unbelieving and perverse generation, unbelieving, not as though they were pagans, but where was their faith?

How many times does Jesus say, “You of little faith. Why did you doubt?” He says to Peter, “Where is your faith?” What happened to it? Did you leave it behind in this particular encounter? “Oh, unbelieving and perverse generation.” “Perverse” means they've gone off the right path. This shouldn't shock us. Jesus called Simon Peter “Satan” at one point, “Get behind me Satan. You're a stumbling block to me.” Romans chapter 4, speaking of Abraham, it says that God justifies the ungodly, or the wicked. Wicked Abraham. That's what the text says.

The standard is absolute perfection. We are an unbelieving and perverse generation and we stand well-rebuked by Jesus here. Have you ever failed to trust Jesus? Have you ever turned away in unbelief? Have you ever sinned? I really believe all sin is a failure of faith. If Jesus were standing right there, you wouldn't have done it. It's a failure of faith friends, “Oh, unbelieving perverse generation.”

Then he says, “How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?” Oh, that I would not be a burden to Jesus. Weary of bearing it, he says in Isaiah 1, “I'm weary of bearing you, carrying you along.” How long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you?

And then the beautiful statement, “Bring the boy here to me.” Thank God for Jesus. When we look our weakest, our frailest, he shines in his power. There's nothing he cannot do, there's no situation that's going to leave him nonplussed, doesn't know what to do. “Bring the boy here to me.” Not to get too allegorical here, but can I urge you to just do that all the time? “Bring the boy to Jesus.”

Whatever it is, bring the problem to Jesus, bring the struggle to Jesus, bring everything to Jesus. By the end of this sermon, I'm gonna urge you to bring your unbelief to Jesus. Bring it all to Jesus, he'll make it better. He'll take care of it, he will address it, he will heal it, he will show his power. “Bring the boy here to me.”

The Power of Our Sovereign Lord

So we see the power of our sovereign Lord. Look at verse 18 in Matthew 17, “Jesus rebuked the demon, it came out of the boy and he was healed from that moment.” Oh, how crisply are those three statements made! Ding, ding, ding. “Jesus rebuked the demon, it came out of the boy and he was healed from that moment.” Wow! Awesome power, the power of Jesus. 

The Power of Christ Hidden

Now, his power was hidden as he came down off the mountain. He's not radiantly shining brightly anymore. He looks like an ordinary man. The power is hidden again, he's God incognito again. To his enemies, perhaps to that desperate father through his tears, perhaps a little even to his own disciples, he looked like an ordinary man. So the encounter with the desperate father makes sense, in Mark 9 where he says, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.” “If you can,” said Jesus. Do you know who you're talking to?

Who is He, this Jesus? He's the second member of the Trinity. He's the only begotten Son of God. Through Jesus, God made the universe. By his power he upholds all things in the universe. By the word of his power, he sustains them. Is there anything that Jesus cannot do? If you can. If you can do anything. Oh, he can do everything. He is omnipotent. Christ is the center of God's pleasure. Angels hide their faces before him. We will gaze for eternity on his glory and never grow weary of it. The Apostle Paul, who revealed so much to us of Christ said, “I just want one thing, I wanna know Jesus. I wanna know him. I wanna know his power, the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings. I wanna know Christ.”

And so Christ reveals his power, once again. I say to you, there's not a man, a woman or a child here today that properly esteems the power of Jesus Christ. None of us does. We all underestimate what he can do. We all say, in effect, “If you can do anything, could you help me?” Well, He can do all things.

Christ Reveals His Power Once Again

And so Christ reveals His power. He's already done a river of miracles in Palestine. Should be enough for us. He's already done it, but here's another one. He's all but banished the demons and disease from Galilee for a brief three-year period. Just rebukes the demon, it comes out of the boy and he's healed from that moment.

I like Mark's account, it gives it a little bit fuller. Verses 25-27, Mark 9. “When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. ‘You deaf and mute spirit,’ he said, ‘I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.’ The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, ‘He's dead,’ but Jesus took him by the hand, lifted him to his feet, and he stood up.”

Now, the demon, upon seeing Jesus, writhes and convulses. He is in fear of Jesus. He knows what Jesus can do. Oh, he knows the great power. It's the light of the glory of Christ's spiritual being, it's not physical anymore, but the demon's eyes, his dark eyes, stabbed by the brilliance of Christ's deity. And he is in terror of Jesus, as they always were. Afraid that he would send him to eternal punishment before the time. Some day, that demon will be cast into the lake of fire, the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. That's where he's going some day. And so the demon recoils in terror and abject hatred, gives the boy one final kick before he leaves him. The hatred of this demonic power, but he must obey Jesus, amen? He must obey him, because all authority in heaven and earth is Jesus'.

The Healing Was Permanent… But Temporary

So out he comes. Do you think he ever entered that boy again? I tell you, he didn't. It was a permanent healing of that particular demon. And yet it was just a temporary healing. You know why? Because that boy is now dead. All of the people that Jesus healed are dead. All of them. Their bodies long since decayed, long since turned dust.

All of Jesus's miracles are just signs. They're signs of a future reality when there will be no demon possession, there will be no disease, there'll be no mourning, no crying, no pain, no death. It's all going to be gone. He's going to heal the world through faith in his name and that New Heaven and New Earth will be called rightfully, the Home of Righteousness. Not disease and death and sorrow and sadness. This was just a symbol, a sign of a coming reality. The true healing of every bodily disease and infirmity is the resurrection of the body at the final day.

And so Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15, “So it will be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there's also a spiritual body. And so it is written: ‘The first man, Adam, became a living being,’ the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.” Jesus has come to raise you from the dead, not merely heal you of one particular malady.

I believe that there's got to be a small number, or maybe even a larger number than we can imagine, of people that Jesus brought here today, that he might raise you from the dead spiritually. Now. That he might speak a word into your heart of who he is, the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And that light can shine in your hearts even while you listen to me talk, as though God himself were making his appeal through you. I urge you, be reconciled to God.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Trust in him for the forgiveness of all of your sins and you will live forever, and you will have a resurrection body, and there'll come a time you won't know any disease, any pain. Death will be a thing of the past. Trust in him, that's the healing he wants to work in you. Oh, let him work it. Trust in him.

The Primacy of Faith

Well, the account ends with the issue of faith, the primacy of faith. We've already seen it. Look at verses 19-20 of Matthew 17, “The disciples came to Jesus in private.” Why do you think they came in private? What do you think? A bit embarrassed, I'm thinking. “Jesus, why couldn't we drive him out? What did we do wrong? We gotta go to the technique school again. Exorcism 201. Okay, 101 was only enough for that time. We need to get the advanced exorcism. What did we do wrong? Why couldn't we drive it out?” He said, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there, and it will move.’ Nothing will be impossible for you.”

The True Lesson Here: Overcoming Unbelief

True lesson here is overcoming unbelief. The great enemy here is not the disease of demon possession. There's a far greater enemy than that. That disease and all of the physical diseases cannot condemn your soul to eternity in hell, but unbelief can. To not believe in Jesus is a sin, perishable by death.

So, he's got to heal this issue of unbelief. And again and again, Jesus deals with the unbelief of his disciples. He rebukes them after he rebukes the wind and the waves. He said, “Why did you doubt?” Thomas, you know, after the resurrection, he heard an account from the other apostles that Jesus had risen from the dead. He said, “I'll tell you what, unless I put my finger in his hands where the nail marks were and put my hand on the side, I will not believe it.”

So, a week later, Jesus gave him what he asked for because he was an apostle and he had the right to see it with his own eyes. So, though the doors were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus comes and stands in their mids and says, “Peace be with you.” And he goes right over to Thomas and says, “Okay look, look and see. My hands. Look at my side. Stop doubting and believe.” And Thomas says, “My Lord and my God.” And Jesus says, “Because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.”

Is that you today? You've not seen and yet you believe that Jesus has risen from the dead. Good! You believe that, do you believe him for more? Or should I say, do you believe him for less? He who raised Jesus from the dead, can he not take care of your problems, whatever problems you hauled in here today? What's troubling your mind? What's concerning your soul today? God raised Jesus from the dead. What could be greater than that? You trust him for that, but not for your financial problem, not for your job problem, not for the problems going on in your family, not for your academic struggles, not for your struggle with sin. Oh, you'll trust him for resurrection, but not for those other things. How foolish. We are of little, little faith.

What Is Faith?

So what do we mean by faith? Well, I've meditated on this. Now, faith can be small or it can be great. You can be of little faith or, like the Roman centurion, “I've not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.” So faith, actually, can grow. It's possible for faith to grow. It says in 2 Thessalonians 1:3, “Your faith is growing more and more.” It is possible for faith to grow.

Well, then what is this issue of the mustard seed, okay? They said, “Increase our faith,” and he said, “I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there.’” So in some sense, faith can grow. In another sense, it's not a matter of size or amount, it's a matter of getting out of the way and letting Almighty God do what he intends to do. That's what it is. It is not faith that moves a mountain, it is God that moves the mountain. And he does it by people who will believe in him to do it.

And faith, you know there's all kinds of faith movements. The “name-it-and-claim-it” thing. You know what I'm talking about? “If you have enough faith, you can have anything.” And it reverses your relationship with God, where he becomes your servant and you're the king deciding what's best for the universe. “Please let us know where we're heading, okay. I'm interested in knowing where we're heading as you run the universe.” Aren't you glad you don't run the universe? God runs the universe and he's not surrendering that control to any of us at any time.

What then, is faith? Making God do what you want? Not at all. If God is intending to move a mountain, I mean a literal physical mountain with mountain goats and with shrubs and dirt and rocks, he can move that mountain whether he has you believing in it or not. But the issue is, do we wanna get involved in what he's doing? And if you have even a mustard seed of faith, you can get involved in the great things that God is doing.

And so therefore, I think it's an idea that you take and apply to every situation of your life. An omnipotent God is here and means good for me. He's promised me these things in the Bible, I'm going to trust him and he will do what he thinks is best. That's what faith is. And if it means the literal moving of a mountain, then praise God.

The Remedy to Unbelief: How Faith Grows

How then, does your faith grow? Be in the Word. Where did faith come from? Faith comes from hearing the Word. Immerse yourself in the Word of God. Memorize it. Saturate your minds in it. And then, the promises you find in it, trust him for those things. Bring them back to God in prayer. “Show him his Word,” said one puritan, “He's fond of his writing." So show it to him. Say, “Lord, you said you would do this. You said that if I'd prayed for wisdom you'd give it to me. Now I'm trusting you to give me wisdom.” Venture out. See God do great things and your faith will grow. It could be that your faith isn't growing, 'cause you really don't need it to grow much. You got it covered, just like the apostles who didn't need to even pray.

Now, I know some of the manuscripts say, “This kind only comes out by prayer and fasting.” I think that's a later addition. You know, we don't have the original Matthew and Mark, and so they're copies. And I think a monk or a group of monks who thought a lot about fasting, stuck it in there. I do think this, that fasting can focus us in prayer. I think it can be helpful. I just don't think it was originally there.

I think it's even more poignant to say, “You know, you need to pray about this. You should have asked God.” And that convicts me. How many problems come, in my life, 'cause I didn't ask God at all. I didn't bring him into the midst of it.

The Rewards of Faith

And so, what are the rewards of faith? Well, the moving of mountains. Immense joy when the boy is healed and walks away. When the sinner is converted, the one you've been praying for for all those years, when he or she is finally converted, the joy you get. When the inland regions of China are finally evangelized and Hudson Taylor can look with satisfaction on what began in his lifetime and is consummated right before Jesus returns.

Oh, the moving of mountains. Let me tell you something, the moving of a literal mountain is as nothing compared to this. The Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Now, that's a bigger mountain than even if the Himalayas were moved a 100 miles to the north or south. And God is moving mountains.

He's doing it in his church, he's doing it in lives all around us. The question is, are we involved in it? When the Berlin Wall fell, you know how many Christians had specifically prayed for an end of communism in Eastern Europe? And they gave thanks to God, that mountain moved. Are you trusting God for anything? Are you trusting God? Are you ready to be blessed by the answers to specific prayer, and to receive the joy that God will give and the glory that he gets as a result? Please close with me in prayer.

Pastor Andy Davis preaches a verse-by-verse expository sermon on Isaiah 18:1-7. The main subject of the sermon is God's delight in people all across the world including the Ethiopians.

- SERMON TRANSCRIPT -

I. Introduction

We are looking this morning at Isaiah Chapter 18. One commentator called it one of the most obscure chapters in Isaiah. But I think the more you study and the more you understand the circumstances, not only is it not obscure, but it actually is very applicable to our present day. We are in the middle of a series of oracles that the prophet Isaiah has given to the surrounding Gentile nations. The nations of the world make up an astonishing, brilliant, beautiful mosaic to the glory of God. God has created different races, tribes, languages, and peoples all over the world. Together they make up the human race. They bring great glory to God. Some peoples are characterized by their physical strength, some by their military prowess, some by their intellectual achievements, philosophy or science, some by their exquisite artistry, and some by their skill in trade or travel. All of these proclivities, these tendencies, bring glory to God. The differences between the tribes and the peoples and the nations were built into the original genetic code of one man, Adam. The apostle Paul told us in Acts 17:26, “From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth.”

Actually, God did that twice because you know that He destroyed the entire world in a flood. And so again, through one man, Noah, the entire human race was developed. Now, the differences between the races have come about by the magnificent variety that God built into the genetic code of that one man, Adam, or that one man, Noah. Differences between the races therefore come from God and bring Him glory. Pride between the races comes from sin, and dishonors God. Race is from God, racism is from sin. Racism may be defined as the belief that one race is inherently superior to another, and that race is the primary determining factor of human traits. Closely linked to racism, of course, are all sorts of bad behaviors, prejudices, oppressions, violence, and discrimination that one group foists on another because of racial differences. The 20^th century, I think, saw the purest form of this evil of racism in the Nazi movement and their Aryan convictions that they were the purest and best race on the face of the earth, and that everyone else was inferior to them, if not actually subhuman.

They believed themselves to be genetically superior and everyone else to be genetically inferior. They took that ideology on the road through military conquest until they were finally defeated by the providence of God. But that doesn’t end the issue of racism itself. This country struggles with it. The end of slavery in the United States did not end the suffering of the African people who were stolen from their homelands. They’ve had to face racism ever since. Christian faith is diametrically opposed to racism, because racism is inherently based on pride. If we haven’t learned anything from the book of Isaiah, we can learn this: God hates pride. He hates it. Pride is the root of all sin, that me-ism. One thing I’ve noticed about racism is that people tend to celebrate the race they’re from. Have you ever noticed that? I’ve never found anyone that was racist on behalf of another race. It was always their own race that they felt was superior. Therefore, I think racism is really a form of self worship. It’s really a form of idolatry, and it is evil.

Now, we Christians, we know that. We know that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. Amen? Every single one of us depends on the shed blood of Christ to have any standing at all before our creator. It is because Jesus shed His blood that we can have access to the throne of grace. Amen? In that way, all of us are together. We all need a redeemer. And praise God, that Redeemer is available! Jesus Christ is the redeemer of the whole world, of people from every tribe, and language, and people, and nation. It says in Revelation 5:9-10, “They sang a new song” up in heaven, speaking of Jesus, “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on earth.” Notice it’s a kingdom, not a multiplicity or a mosaic of kingdoms. We will be one in Jesus. Amen? We will serve the Lord forever. That’s where we’re heading, and that’s a beautiful thing. Now, Isaiah 18 is an oracle about one tribe, one nation, the Cushites. The political events with Assyria have led that distant nation from Africa to send envoys to Jerusalem to seek an alliance with, I believe, King Hezekiah and the Jews. The Cushite envoys come with a purpose, but God speaks through the prophet Isaiah concerning God’s larger purposes. God’s doing something much bigger than defeating the Assyrians.

He has a bigger purpose for the Cushites, and He has a bigger purpose for the whole world. That’s what this seven verse oracle is speaking about. In this brief oracle, God reveals His delight in the Cushites. He has pleasure in them. He enjoys their uniqueness and their distinctiveness. He speaks a word as a pleased, or as a delighted Creator about them, not just concerning their little political mission, their military mission, but about, I believe, their future, bringing gifts to almighty God in Jerusalem. I think that speaks of a spiritual purpose, of God’s desire to bring them to faith in Christ through the spread of the Gospel. Ultimately, the cure for racism is to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We’re not going to have any of that in the new heaven and new earth. I’m looking forward to that, to being free forever from racism and frankly from every vestige of pride, to being so completely humble and immersed in a sea of worship that Jesus deserves for what He’s done at the cross.

In this brief oracle, we see the delight, the pleasure of God in Cush and His plans for them. It begins with these envoys coming from Ethiopia. Now, I know that Isaiah 18 is not primarily about racism, and this sermon’s not going to be about it. I’m going to give careful exegesis to it and I’m going to describe the political situation. But I tell you this, I think we ought to take every opportunity we can to find out the evils that surround us that may still be in our own hearts, and to preach clearly the truth so that God can be glorified. Sin always brings misery. It brings misery to those who have that locked within their hearts and also to those who receive the bitter fruits of it. So, we’re going to focus on Isaiah 18 and understand the glory of God in the spread of the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

II. Envoys from Ethiopia

Context: A Rising Power in Africa

The envoys are coming from Cush, Ethiopia. In modern history, we think of Ethiopia as a land of starvation and weakness. But in Isaiah’s day, the Cushites were a nation to be reckoned with. They were a rising power in Africa. After the flood, as I mentioned, Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Through them God would repopulate the entire earth. Cush was the eldest son of Ham in the table of nations in Genesis 10:7. His brother Mizraim was the Hebrew name for Egypt, probably the ancestor of the Egyptians. Cush seems to have settled farther south along the Nile River. From him came Seba, Havila, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca. All of them seem to have settled in Arabia. But some of his descendants seem to have crossed the Red Sea and settled in what we now know as Ethiopia. One of Cush’s descendants was Nimrod, who was a mighty warrior and who founded what became Babylon and Nineveh, two centers of godless empire-building. The Babylonian Empire and the Assyrian Empire eventually came from these cities that Nimrod, Cush’s descendant, planted.

According to Ezekiel 29:10, the southern border of Egypt was its common boundary with Cush. This was the land of the Nile River, stretching almost 2,500 miles by air. But because of its twisting and meandering course, the Nile River is over 4,000 miles long, the longest river on the face of the earth. The Nile Valley was formed as water cut its way through the sandstone and limestone. It made cataracts, or waterfalls, which interfere with navigation and section off portions of the river. In those various valleys and basins, peoples formed. The Cushites were among them. Cushites settled the region of the fourth cataract, or waterfall, and there they flourished.

Some commentators believe that the Queen of Sheba, or the Queen of the South in the NIV, was actually a Cushite who came from this very region. She heard of Solomon’s fame and came to see all that Solomon had done. There formed a link, then, between the Cushites and what God was doing in Jerusalem, the glory He was spreading through the Davidic kingships of David and Solomon. She was overwhelmed. As the Old Testament era ended, there is a tradition, perhaps a myth, that it was the Cushites that rescued the Ark of the Covenant. No matter what Indiana Jones thinks, there are some Ethiopians that say they’ve got it. It’s in an Orthodox temple. You can’t see it, but they take care of it. I don’t know what good it would do to see it. God is not in the business of leaving us physical artifacts for us to focus our worship on. He actually tends to destroy those things, like the bronze serpent that was destroyed because it had become an idol. At any rate, there is that tradition. You can follow it on the internet or however would be interesting to you. They say they rescued the lost Ark of the Covenant and that they still have it.

Around the time of Isaiah, somewhere around 720 to 715 BC, the Cushites got so strong that they were able to basically conquer Egypt and take it over. They set up the 25^th dynasty and they ruled until around 633 BC. So they were in charge of Egypt at this time. And now, these Ethiopian rulers were sending emissaries to Judah to organize an anti-Assyrian coalition.

Palestine: the Playground and Battlefield of Egypt and Assyria

Let’s set the stage in terms of the geopolitics of the region. Palestine, the ancient near east, that area of Judah and Israel and all those tiny little kingdoms, was between two mighty empires at the time: the Assyrian Empire to the north, and the Egyptian Empire to the south.

The Assyrian Empire to the north was between two rivers. The Mesopotamian region literally means “between two rivers.” It was a fertile area, and because of the fertility of the soil, they were strong and powerful militarily and culturally. They sought to take that dominance on the road and build, as they did, the Assyrian Empire. In the south it was Egypt. Again, because of the fertility of the soil through the Nile River, they were strong and powerful and able to project their power as well. Between these two empires was this little region called Palestine. It was their playground, the battlefields, the chessboard between these two empires. There was always stuff going on, always intrigues, emissaries and alliances being formed. This was an opportunity for such an alliance.

Isaiah 18: A Message to Ethiopia by Means of Their Emissaries

During this time, the Cushites, having gained control of Egypt, wanted to link up with this Judean king. I believe it was King Hezekiah. So they sent emissaries to try to make an arrangement and an alliance against Assyria. They show up in Jerusalem, but there’s a prophet there named Isaiah, and he’s got something to say about this mission and these emissaries. He’s got a prophetic word to speak about the future. And he speaks it. Look at verses 1-2, “Woe to the land of the whirring wings along the rivers of Cush, which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers.” This is the land of whirring wings.

You can almost hear them, the tsetse flies or perhaps other types of flies. There are lots of flies in Egypt along the marshes where the reeds grow. These folks come from the rivers of Cush, a land, it says, divided by rivers. So Isaiah’s oracle reaches to a land over 1,500 miles away, a land populated by people very different from the Jews, a land that God intended to conquer someday with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They send envoys. As mentioned, Cush takes control of Egypt and sends envoys to curry favor with King Hezekiah. They come in these little papyrus boats. They’re lightweight boats. If you’re going to travel through the cataracts, through the waterfalls, it’s good to have a boat that you can carry. So these are lightweight boats made of reeds, or grass, and that’s how they come. They’re designed to travel lightly and quickly. They had traveled an enormous distance to make their case to King Hezekiah, to check the power of the Assyrians, perhaps even to defeat the Assyrian Empire.

The Envoys Sent Back Home with a Message

But Isaiah sends the envoys back home with a message. He sends them back. “Go, swift messengers, to a people tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by rivers.” The Lord, through Isaiah, describes the Cushites with a pleasure, the pleasure of the Creator. He delights in the Cushites. He enjoys them. He enjoys their uniqueness, their attributes. I have the sense almost of the way God, in the Book of Job, describes the different physical aspects of His creation; of the sun and the moon and the stars, the stability of the earth and different animals He’s created and their attributes.

First of all, they are swift. They’re good runners. In the time of the rebellion against King David by Absalom, there was a Cushite man that wanted to run and bring the news that Absalom was dead, and the rebellion had been destroyed. Do you remember that? They’re long-distance runners. They do very well in the Olympics. Have you noticed? It’s the Ethiopians that win the 5,000 and the 10,000 and the marathon if they can. They’re great runners and have been for a long time. They’re swift, and they’re tall, and they’re smooth-skinned, and they’re a people feared far and wide. These envoys represented an unusually tall people. As a matter of fact, some research that I did listed some tribes in Ethiopia and the Sudan as the tallest people on the face of the earth, statistically. In the case of one of these tribes from that area, males can have an average height of six feet four inches tall, women six feet tall. They’re a tall people, and they’re powerful militarily.

Herodotus, the first Greek historian, called the Father of History, visited Egypt around 460 to 450 BC. He wrote this about the Ethiopians, he said, “The Ethiopians to whom this embassy was sent are said to be the tallest and handsomest men in the whole world. In their customs they differ greatly from the rest of mankind, and particularly in the way they choose their kings; for they find out the man who is the tallest of all the citizens, and of strength equal to his height, and they appoint him to be ruler over them.” That’s a unique way to choose a leader. It’s the very same thing they noted about Saul, though, that he was a head taller than any of the other people. So it’s not unheard of that the tallest man, the most powerful man, is going to be the king.

It says of them that they are smooth-skinned. Now, the Egyptian priests shaved themselves head to toe once every three days. But these people didn’t need to do that. They were smooth-skinned already and had no need to shave themselves. They were, as we said, a people feared far and wide. They were aggressive militarily and strong. They had already taken control of Egypt, and that was no small accomplishment.

Ancient historians tell the story of some Persian messengers who went to the Cushite king to discuss a possible alliance with him. This was in the era of the Persian Empire. The Cushite king brought out a standard bow that their archers used, but the bow was unstrung. He challenged the Persian messengers to string the bow, and none of them could do it. And he said, basically, “When you’re able to send men who can string one of our bows, then we’ll talk about an alliance.” They’re powerful and strong, and, you can see, also a little prideful.

A modern website speaks of the Ethiopians as the only Black nation in history never to have succumbed to slavery or colonial rule. The Italians, British, Dutch, Portuguese, Turks, Spanish, Arabs, and French tried twenty-seven times to conquer Ethiopia but failed every single time. Yet they easily defeated all other African tribes and empires to carve out a niche for themselves in the Horn of Africa. This speaks of military prowess and the power of this small nation. Because of this, and because of God’s plans for Assyria, God is issuing them a warning. “Military aggression ends in destruction. If you take what you have and you start spreading out, you start conquering other people, you’re going to come under my judgment.” That’s what the woe is at the beginning of the chapter. He’s giving them a warning. He’s going to warn them more than anything though what He’s going to do to the Assyrians. So if you have plans to conquer the world, put them aside, because God has His own plans to conquer the world. You’re just going to be running head to head with Him.

III. The Message to the Peoples of the World

Something Magnificent is About to Happen

So that’s the warning that He gives to these amazing people. And what is this message? Look at verses 3-6, the message to the peoples of the world. “All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it. This is what the Lord says to me: ‘I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.’ For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches. They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals; the birds will feed on them all summer, and the wild animals all winter.” Something magnificent, something noteworthy is about to happen, says Isaiah. The message is given to all the nations of the earth. Why? Because they all have the same ambition. They’d like to conquer the world if they could. Now, some nations find themselves in a position to try, but he’s addressing all the peoples of the earth concerning this ambition. God is going to do something dramatic. It’s as if He’s saying, “Drum roll, please. Now, pay attention to what I’m doing.”

The Seemingly Silent God Speaks

 The nations of the world are going to sit up and take notice of what God is about to do. When a banner is raised on a bare hilltop, people from miles around can see it. When a trumpet sounds clearly and loudly, people from miles around, they can hear it. The Lord is going to communicate something to every tribe and language and people and nations about His great power. At this point, the seemingly silent God speaks at last. It seems like God isn’t even there sometimes. Is He even there in the natural disasters and with the rise and fall of the empires? People have asked that again and again when suffering and tragedy come. Is there even a God? It seems like He’s not even there. People cry out to Him and there’s no answer. It just seems like He doesn’t exist to some. But He is there. Oh, He’s there! Right from the very beginning of the book, we have these words, that God is there, and He is not silent.

Isaiah 1:2 says, “Hear, O heavens! Listen, O earth! For the Lord has spoken.” Here in this oracle, verse 4 says, “This is what the Lord says to me: ‘I will remain quiet and will look on from my dwelling place, like shimmering heat in the sunshine, like a cloud of dew in the heat of harvest.” Oh, He’s there! He is powerful, and He’s watching, it seems, very quietly. He’s like the rising heat. You wonder if He’s there, but you can perhaps occasionally see the shimmering. You think, “All right, maybe He really is there.” Now, there’s a legal maxim that says, “Silence means consent.” Well, that doesn’t work when it comes to God, let me tell you right now. Just because God is silent doesn’t mean He agrees. Not at all.

It says in Psalms 50:21, “These things you have done and I kept silent; you thought I was altogether like you.” Oh, but He’s not altogether like us. And just because He’s silent doesn’t mean He agrees. Not at all. God’s silence actually is time to lead us to repentance. His patience means repentance and salvation. That’s what He’s waiting for. 2 Peter 3:15 says, “Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation.” Romans 2:4, “Do you show contempt for the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you towards repentance?” Here, God is silent like shimmering heat and like a cloud of dew, silent, but ready to act.

How unlike the tumultuous kings of the earth that we talked about last week in Isaiah 17:12, “Oh, the raging of many nations – they are like the raging sea! Oh, the uproar of the peoples – they roar like the roaring of great waters!” That’s what we’re like. We’re noisy, but it’s signifying nothing. God is silent and signifying everything, sitting on His throne. He sits serenely up there on His throne. He sits enthroned above the circle of the Earth. The people before Him, they are like grasshoppers.

God’s Magnificent Plan: Judgment on the Aggressor

God has a magnificent plan, and that is judgment on the aggressor. Look at verses 5-6. “For, before the harvest, when the blossom is gone and the flower becomes a ripening grape, he will cut off the shoots with pruning knives, and cut down and take away the spreading branches. They will all be left to the mountain birds of prey and to the wild animals; the birds will feed on them all summer, the wild animals all winter.” This is a bit of an agricultural analogy, perhaps like a parable. There’s a spreading vine, and it’s moving out. It’s advancing itself. Its branches are moving. We might know it as kudzu. Okay, have you ever seen that? It just grows and grows. It seems like it can’t be stopped. But here, there’s even some fruit. It’s a flowering and then a fruitful vine that seeks to move out. Notice that He doesn’t mention Assyria here directly, because it’s a message for all the nations.

Right now, it’s Assyria, at the time of the oracle. But it could be the Cushites too. Maybe they have ambitions for the world. It’s anybody who wants to move out with military prowess and take over the face of the earth. God will stand and He will say, “No.” He will cut off with a pruning knife those spreading branches. And what’s going to happen to all of the fruit? The birds are going to come and eat it. It’s a picture of desolation and judgment. It’s God fighting against you. Now, the Cushite envoys have come and they’re trying to play the geopolitical game. They’re trying to make an alliance. They’re going to stop Assyria. Assyria will be thwarted. They’re so clever, they’re so wise, and they come to talk to King Hezekiah about making this kind of an alliance. God says, “I have my own plans for Assyria. I’ve already made them plain through my prophet Isaiah.”

We have already read it. Isaiah 10:12 says, “When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say, ‘I will punish the King of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.’” This is Isaiah 10:16-17, “Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame. The Light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers.’” One day. Just one day. He’ll take care of Assyria. Now we know what that is. That’s when Sennacherib threatened Jerusalem, came right up against it. God sent out the Angel of the Lord, and in one night, one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrian troops were dead. “Cushite envoys, I don’t need you.”

There doesn’t need to be any alliance between Judah and Egypt. It’s not necessary. As a matter of fact, it’s sin. We’ll talk about that next week. “Judah doesn’t need you, but you need Judah. A little more specifically, you need a savior coming from Judah.” That’s the message here. God knows His sovereign plan. He knows His own perfect timing. Though He is quiet, though He is silent like shimmering heat in the sunshine and like a cloud of dew, He will act when the time comes, quite boldly. It says in Isaiah 14:25-27, “’I will crush the Assyrian in my land; on my mountains I will trample him down. His yoke will be taken from my people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.’ This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations. For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?” God is enough, Amen? His power is enough. What matters is what God thinks. What matters is what God is doing, not all these plans, trying something on our own, on the side. It doesn’t matter. What matters is, what is God’s will? What is He doing? That’s what matters.

IV. Gifts Sent from the Ends of the Earth

The Envoys Return --- to Worship!

God gives a prophecy through Isaiah. The envoys are looking for some kind of a political arrangement. Actually, let me tell you what’s going to happen with Cush. There’s going to come a time when they’re going to send gifts from the ends of the earth. They’re going to send it to Zion and they’re going to worship the Lord, the Lord Almighty. Look at verse 7, “At that time gifts will be brought to the Lord Almighty from a people tall and smooth-skinned, from a people feared far and wide, an aggressive nation of strange speech, whose land is divided by the rivers – the gifts will be brought to Mount Zion, the place of the name of the Lord Almighty.”

The gifts will be sent by envoys. They’re going to come back and they’re going to worship. The Cushite envoys first came to recruit for military alliance. These powerful people are described for a second time. God just can’t seem to get enough of saying these words. He enjoys the Cushites. He likes talking about them. But at that time, those Cushites are going to send gifts and they’re going to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They’re going to worship at Mount Zion.

Old Testament Fulfillment: 2 Chronicles 32:23

Now, there is a physical fulfillment of this. In 2 Chronicles 32, 21-22, this is what it says: “The Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace.” That’s the defeat of Assyria. One angel, the Angel of the Lord, gets sent out and Assyria gets defeated. He withdraws to his own land in disgrace. “And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword. So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others.” That’s the banner raised up on the bare hilltop. That’s the trumpet blast that all nations will hear. And they did hear. That was Assyria. That was Sennacherib. That was almost 200,000 troops killed in one night, while the nations sat up and took notice. He took care of them on every side. 2 Chronicles 32:23, “Many brought offerings to Jerusalem for the Lord and valuable gifts for Hezekiah king of Judah. From then on he was highly regarded by all nations.”

So they’re going to physically come, after Assyria gets crushed, and the Cushites are going to bring gifts. They’re going to link up. Perhaps it’s enlightened self-interest. “It’s good to be on the good side of the Jewish God, we’ve noted.” They want to worship, so they bring gifts. That’s what Isaiah’s predicting. But I think he’s predicting far more than that. By the way, just a note about Hezekiah: at that time, when he was receiving ambassadors and people coming from all over, and they’re bringing gifts, his heart gets puffed up with pride. Can you believe it? Oh, how pestilent is human pride! And Hezekiah’s like, “Ain’t I something?” What did Hezekiah do? When he heard of an overwhelming Assyrian force, he got down on his face and pleaded with God to save the remnant that still survived. He had the good sense to know that he had no chance if God didn’t intervene. That’s all.

Hezekiah receives these emissaries, and 2 Chronicles 32:25 says, “Hezekiah’s heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the Lord’s wrath was on him and on Judah and Jerusalem.” Can I just urge you by way of application to search out pride in your life and destroy it? Wherever you find it, wherever you find it. Start looking in certain places, like when good friends give you some advice on how you can do better. For example, your spouse might have some input on how you could improve some area of your life. That’s a chance for you to find out if there’s any pride in your heart. Oh, there are many such opportunities. Look at your ambitions, look at your hopes and desires. What are you driving for? How many of them are traced back to your own pride? Search it out and destroy it, friends. I need to do the same.

God’s Ultimate End: Worship by All Nations

But what is God’s ultimate end for the earth? Why does He put up the banner on the bare hilltop? Why the trumpet beckoning? Because He wants to be worshipped, friends. He wants you to forget yourself. He wants you to turn away from your own petty little interest, your own empire building. He wants you to get down on your face and worship Him, and delight in Him in spirit and in truth. That’s what He’s doing. So those little gifts that are brought by the Cushite emissaries after the Assyrians die, that’s just a symbol, friends. That’s yet another prophecy, that’s all it is. It’s a prophecy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When the Gospel goes out to the ends of the earth and the true gifts come from the nations, that’s the people themselves bringing their own hearts, their own bodies prostrate before God and saying, “Here I am.” Presenting to God a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing, themselves, that’s the gift.

They’re going to come from all over the earth. Regarding God’s original purpose in calling Abraham the father of the Jews, He said this in Genesis 12:3, “I bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” Now just wait till next week. Wait till next week, when in Isaiah 19 we talk about how God says this, “The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, ‘Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance.’” Wow, that brings goosebumps, that God would actually call Egypt “His people.” Yes, He will in the new covenant, through the blood of Jesus Christ. So God has some specific purposes for the Cushites. They’re going to come and they’re going to bring gifts. They’re going to come and worship the true God. Psalm 68:29-32 says, “Because of your temple at Jerusalem kings will bring you gifts… Envoys will come from Egypt; Cush will submit herself to God. Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praise to the Lord.”

Zephaniah 3:9-10 says, “Then I will purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and may serve Him shoulder to shoulder.” Listen, “From beyond the rivers of Cush my worshippers, my scattered people, will bring me offerings.” Isn’t that sweet? Zephaniah 3:9-10, where God is predicting that some from the Cushites will come and worship Him forever. God’s ultimate aim, then, is worship from all nations. Isaiah 52:10 says “The Lord will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.” Isaiah 60:11-13 says, “Your gates will always stand open, they will never be shut, day or night, so that men may bring you the wealth of the nations – their kings led in triumphal procession. For the nation or kingdom that will not serve you will perish; it will be utterly ruined. ‘The glory of Lebanon will come to you, the pine, the fir, and the cypress together, to adorn the place of my sanctuary; and I will glorify the place of my feet.’” And it says in Isaiah 56, “My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” That’s God’s purpose in Isaiah. That’s God’s purpose to the ends of the earth.

V. New Testament Fulfillment: the Ethiopian Eunuch

The Ethiopian Eunuch Came for the Old Covenant, Discovered the New Covenant

There is a brief New Testament fulfillment to all this. Ain’t it sweet? In Acts 8, an Ethiopian eunuch has gone up to worship. He’s gone to the temple to worship. Why has he gone there? He’s heard of the fame of the Jewish God, and he wants to worship. He is an important official in charge of the treasury of Candace, Queen of the Ethiopians. He’s an important man. He’s gone there for the Old Covenant worship. He’s taken part in the animal sacrifice system. He’s on his way back, riding in his chariot, and he’s reading the book of Isaiah the prophet.

Oh, Isaiah has converting power, my friends! So there he is, reading Isaiah the prophet, and this is what it says in Isaiah 53:5-6, “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” That’s what he was reading. You can’t choose a better portion of Isaiah to be reading, especially if you’re unconverted. So, he was reading Isaiah, and he was reading about Jesus Christ, the substitute, the Son of God who came to shed His blood. But it didn’t make any sense to him. Who is this man who died? Who is this suffering servant?

Well, the Holy Spirit leads an emissary, an envoy, a messenger, a missionary named Phillip, one of the original seven. God laid on him, by an angel and by the indwelling spirit, “Go down to that desert road. I’ve got work for you to do.” And he sees the chariot, he runs up alongside it and jumps in. I think actually the Ethiopian invited him in first, all right? You need to be invited in. You need to build that connection relationally. He said, “What are you doing?” “I’m reading.” “Do you understand what you’re reading?” “How can I,” he says, “unless someone explains it to me? Please evangelize me.” Friends, don’t miss one like that.

You actually ought to pray for them. If you’re not really being that fruitful in evangelism, pray for an easy one. You know what I mean? A big, slow pitch right down the center of the plate that you can knock over the fence. Ask for something. Say, “God, give me an evangelistic opportunity equal to my immaturity and lack of courage and boldness.” He’ll answer that prayer. But he’s saying, “I need someone to explain Isaiah 53 to me. Can you do it?” Oh, you need to be ready for that moment. “I can do it. God sent His son. His name is Jesus. He entered the world. He lived a sinless life. He did great miracles to prove his deity. He taught great things to prove His wisdom. But the greatest thing He did of all was He took our sins on Himself. He was our substitute. He died in our place. All we like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all. He’s talking about Jesus.” The Ethiopian man was drawn in. “What do I do? What do I have to do to be saved?” “Repent and believe.” Friend, you may have come here today by the provident hand of God and you’re not saved. You don’t know the forgiveness that this Ethiopian eunuch found. Find it in Christ.

It’s the same message. Then gifts will be brought by you. Not just by the Cushites, but by you, to Almighty God. Simply repent and believe in Him. Trust in Him. The Ethiopian man, he did it. He said, “Look, here’s some water, why couldn’t I be baptized?” No reason. So they stopped the chariot, and right there and then Philip baptized. When he came up out of the water, immediately the Lord took Philip away, disappeared, poof! Now that’s an exciting moment in redemptive history. “Whoa, where did he go? He’s gone!”

The Beginning of the Church in Ethiopia

The Lord dropped Philip at Azatus and he continued his preaching ministry there. But the Ethiopian eunuch went on his way rejoicing. He went down to Ethiopia where Irenaeus tells us that he continued in evangelistic ministry himself. We don’t anything more about this man. He drops from the pages of history. I can’t imagine, however, that he didn’t go back and lead many to Christ. See, God has plans for Ethiopia. In the fourth and fifth centuries AD, after the Gospel had already started to spread around the world, a shipwreck brought two men to the Cushite kingdom. Those two eventually led that king to faith in Christ. Athanasius sent one of them back as the first bishop, orthodox bishop. He set up the church there in Ethiopia, so the Gospel was planted in Ethiopia. But friends, that’s in the past. That’s in the past.

The Future of Ethiopian Worship … the New Jerusalem

What’s in the future? I’ll tell you what’s in the future, the new Jerusalem, the new heaven, and the new earth. Its gates are going to stand open night and day. It says in Revelation 21, “The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and the honor of the nations will be brought into it.” Those are the gifts that are going to be brought from a people tall and smooth-skinned, a people feared far and wide, whose land is divided by the rivers, an aggressive nation of strange speech. They’re going to bring gifts eternally into the new Jerusalem. Amen?

VI. Application

Believe the Gospel Like the Ethiopian Eunuch Did

So what application can we take from this? Well, let’s start with this: believe in the gospel as the Ethiopian eunuch did. Believe in it the first time today for the forgiveness of your sins, and continue to believe in Christ. He is the focus of Isaiah. He’s the focus of all scripture.

Preach the Gospel Like Philip Did

Secondly, be ready to preach the gospel as Philip did. Are you prepared? Suppose you were reading something a little more obscure than Isaiah 53, would you be ready? Are you ready to share the gospel? Get yourself ready. Pray that prayer. You can laugh, but pray it. Say, “Lord, make me a witness today. Give me a chance. I’m weak.” He knows you’re weak. “Lord, I’ve been fruitless.” He knows that. “Oh God, give me a chance today to witness. Help me to be ready.” And pray for the advance of the gospel, not just in Cush, in Ethiopia, but to the ends of the earth. God has plans for people from all over the world. Pray for it, and get involved in it.

Delight in the Races as God Does

Delight in the races as God does. I have a theory. I was talking to Matthew Hodges about it this week. I have a theory that we will have our racial distinctions up in Heaven, in the new Jerusalem. I think we’ll retain them. I think God loves variety. I think He created them for His own glory. That’s why there’s people from every tribe and language and people and nation. It says in Revelation 7:9-10, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’” Oh, that’s the end of racism there, friends; it’s gone. We will delight in the variety of what God has done. People will be coming from many different roads, many different places to believe in Christ.

Despise Racism as God Does

Finally, despise racism as God does. Be open to what God is doing through this church in the urban ministry. Get involved in it. Ask Matthew how you can get involved in the urban ministry. We have a health fair coming up, get involved. Wouldn’t it be delightful to see, as much as possible, here in this local church, the variety that we’re going to see in heaven? Close with me in prayer.

Pastor Andy Davis preaches a verse-by-verse expository sermon on Isaiah 17:1-14. The main subject of the sermon is that the nations of the world rage against God's righteous rule.

- SERMON TRANSCRIPT -

I. Introduction

I believe it still ranks as one of the stupidest things that I’ve ever done (what a way to begin a sermon). I was on a summer evangelism project with a parachurch group in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. A tropical storm had sat off the coast for a day or so, and it whipped the waves into a frenzy. The next day, right in the middle of the summer, there was no one on the beach. The beach wasn’t closed, but it didn’t need to be. Nobody in their right minds would swim in the ocean that day, except for me and a friend of mine. I had never seen the waves so high. I enjoyed body surfing, and it looked like Oahu. It was the closest I was ever going to get to those kinds of waves. So, the two of us went out and we started swimming and body surfing. What a time we had! We had a great time until we started to notice that we were getting further and further away from the shore. We were caught in a riptide, and we started getting scared. I said, kind of lightly, to my friend (his name was Chaz), “Don’t you think we oughta start heading in?” He said, “Good idea.” It took us 45 minutes just to get in. I’ll never forget that. We’d ride a wave about halfway in, and then swim as hard as we could just to maintain our position more or less in that place. Then we’d ride another wave halfway in. In this way, we dropped exhausted on the sand, glad to be alive. And I resolved never to swim again after a tropical storm or hurricane in the ocean, no matter how dramatic the waves.

There are times when we look at current event, and I think we as Christians can feel very much like that. We’re caught in a riptide. We have little or no control over where we’re going. Even death could face us, depending on the magnitude of the trial. We can feel very insecure in those situations. We like to have control and the fact is, that’s an illusion. We have very little control. And frankly, for the most part, since the church is made up of not many who are wise, not many who are influential, not many of noble birth, we have even less control than average people. We are not the king-makers of the world. I’m talking about the church as a whole, around the world. We are more passive when it comes to current events than even those great people of the world who think that they are in charge but really aren’t. But we know we’re not in charge. So we have to look, more than ever before, to the sovereign God who rules over history.

Look at this CNN age that we live in. That’s something that’s really just come on in the last few decades, where something negative, something significant, can happen anywhere in the world and we can know about it almost while it’s happening. I still remember during the first Gulf War, seeing Peter Arnett and some other CNN correspondents standing on the roof of the Al-Rashid Hotel in downtown Baghdad, while the bombing started, starting the war. This kind of gave you a ‘you are there’ feel, like we had never experienced before. CNN has continued since then, whether it’s a typhoon, a hurricane, an earthquake, a war, or something like that, you can be there and you can see it. I think it gives you a sense of the verses in Isaiah 17 that we’re going to look at today. Look at verses 12-13. It says, “Oh, the raging of many nations – they rage like the raging sea! Oh, the uproar of the peoples – they roar like the roaring of great waters! Although the people roar like the roar of surging waters, when he rebukes them they flee far away, driven before the wind like chaff on the hills, like tumbleweed before a gale.”

II. The Raging of the Nations Described (v 12)

Timeless Context: The Churning of Evil in the Heart

Those verses speak of the churning of the nations, the great power and convulsive effect of one nation after another, crashing into each other. Each of them is vying for supremacy in the world, for oil drilling rights, or for gold, or for control over a piece of property, something like that. It’s the surging, the raging of the nations. The church, the believers in Christ, are really like flotsam and jetsam, something floating on the surface that can do very little about it. Therefore, it’s good to know what this verse, this passage, and what we’ve seen in Isaiah teaches: God is sovereign over the nations, He sits on His throne and rules over all of these things. We can believe that there is nothing random happening on the face of the earth, that everything is for a purpose and that God is ruling over all things, though we don’t understand it, though we can’t know it. So we have the ragings of the nations described here, and I think the root cause, really, comes down to the heart of man. Because we are not at peace with God within our own hearts, we are not at peace with each other. Because of man’s original fall into sin, the world, the climate, the earth is at war with us and we with the earth. And so we’re in trouble because of sin.

It says in Isaiah 57:20-21, “The wicked are like the tossing sea, which cannot rest, whose waves cast up mire and mud. ‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked.’” Since the year 2000, one website tells us that there have been one hundred and forty-two riots in the world. One hundred and forty-two riots. Many of us don’t know that in April of this year, there were riots in Haiti and Bangladesh and Mozambique over the spiraling cost of food. And what is just kind of an annoyance for us was desperate for them in terms of even getting enough to eat and survive, probably all of it tied to the rising cost of oil. There have been many other causes of riots over the years. There’s political unrest. Many of us can remember the demonstrations in Tiananmen Square in 1989 and what happened there as hundreds of thousands of Chinese crowded in, clamoring for political change. Race and racial tensions can be the cause of riots. In 1998, there were race riots in Jakarta, Indonesia between native Indonesians and ethnic Chinese. Religion can be a cause of riots. I think since 1979, when the hostages were taken by Iranian students, we’ve seen images of Muslim demonstrations almost every week, fists in the air and anger. So, religion can be a cause of it.

In 2007, in the town where the Taj Mahal is, there were angry mobs stirred up because there was an accidental death of an Islamic youth. There were riots between Hindus and Muslims. Anti-war demonstrations, food shortages, unemployment, housing shortages, grievances among prison inmates, gang violence, natural disasters leading to other physical problems and shortages, excessive pollution, and even sports can cause riots. There are soccer riots in Europe all of the time. It’s very nationalistic, but it goes on. Lots of violence, lots of anger, the seething rage of the nations. They rage like the roiling turbulent sea after a hurricane or tropical storm. It comes from the fact that we’re not at peace with God, and, therefore, we’re not at peace with each other. More potently, you see the rise and fall of the world, the rise and fall of one controlling regime after another, one empire after another, the invasion by one seething power of another country’s territory. “The raging of many nations – they rage like the raging sea; … they roar like the roaring of great waters.” (Is 17:12) They are like the relentless ocean, undulating and frothy, whipped by the eternal drives of sinful human nature, by what they want.

Satan’s Rage Imitated … and for the Same Reason

James 4:1-3 says, “What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don’t get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. When you do ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” This is what’s whipping the nations into a frenzy. Behind it all is the rage of Satan. We’ve already learned this from Isaiah 14, of Satan’s fall and how Satan was ambitious, not content, not satisfied with what God has assigned to him. However great his personal beauty, and his personal wisdom, and his powerful position, it wasn’t enough for him. He was ambitious and covetous, and wanted to rise up. He gave us those five “I wills,” the ambitions of Satan. Satan rebelled against God and therefore God cast him down to the earth. He put him on a timetable for his ultimate destruction, as we saw. Revelation 12:12 says, “Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”

When Adam, our federal head, our representative, ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, he, in effect, joined Satan in his rebellion against God. Therefore, he also, man, put a timetable on his ultimate destruction. We, as a race, are like Satan, filled with rage because we know our time is short. Hence, the uproar of the nations.

Ultimate Rage Directed at Christ: Psalm 2

The ultimate rage is directed toward God and toward His Christ. That’s where the real raging comes. Psalms 2:1 makes this plain, “Why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain?” The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One, His Christ, His Messiah. “Let us break their chains asunder,” they say. “Throw off their fetters.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs. He laughs at it, but that’s where it is. It’s a hatred against God and against His rule, against Christ, and against His authority. That’s the nature of this raging that goes on.

Immediate Context: the Assyrian Invasion

Now, the immediate context here in Isaiah 17 is the Assyrian invasion, as we’ve seen. In the oracle of the nations here from chapter 13 of Isaiah up through 23, in the oracles of the nations, this Jewish prophet is describing political situations that would be alien to us. We wouldn’t care that much about them, perhaps. They happened a long time ago. They were resolved a long time ago. But there are two things you need to know about the Bible that make it immediately relevant and applicable. First of all, God never changes. He never changes. He’s the same yesterday, and today, and forever. What we can learn about God back in Isaiah’s time, twenty-seven centuries ago, is still true today. Now, He didn’t have to act in any given way. He can do whatever He chooses. I’m just saying He never changes. And if we can learn something about God’s character and His nature, His attributes, from something in the Bible, it’s still true today. Second of all, we don’t change either. I know we may wear different clothing, we may have advanced technology, but we have the same passions. We have the same lusts. We have the same drives and desires, the same thinking patterns. We’re the same.

III. Judgment on Damascus and Ephraim (vs 1-6)

First, Damascus Judged

Therefore, when we see how God interacts with sinners twenty-seven centuries ago, it should matter to us today. We should take it as a warning to flee the wrath to come. The judgment on Syria here, Damascus and Ephraim, is a judgment on peoples that may seem obsolete to us, but these facts are still with us, the facts that God never changes and that man never changes. Assyria was to invade Damascus, the Arameans, and also Ephraim. In Isaiah 17:1-6, it’s described. Look at verse 1, “An oracle concerning Damascus: ‘See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins.’” Damascus was the capital of Syria, not to be confused with Assyria. They were also known as the Arameans. It was a small nation, along with all those others: the Moabites and Edomites, and the northern and southern kingdoms of the Jews. These were the Syrians, and Damascus was their capital city.

Now, Damascus has the distinction, from what I’ve found, of being the longest continuously inhabited city on the face of the earth. People have been living there for centuries, for millennia. Rome is called “the Eternal City,” but Damascus, Syria was flourishing a couple of thousand years before Rome was founded in 753 BC. It was the capital of the Syrian nation in Isaiah’s day, also known as Aram. It was one of the most strategic cities in the ancient Near East. It stood at the mouth of a natural funnel through which ran the only convenient land route between Mesopotamia and Egypt. So everybody had to go down through Damascus. It positioned them very well for trade and for influence.

Remember back in Isaiah 7, when King Ahaz was terrified by an alliance between these two countries, Syria and Ephraim? Ephraim, the northern kingdom of the Jews, and Syria allied themselves against Judah. And you remember that Isaiah at that time predicted their destruction. Here is the second prediction. It says in verses 1-2, “See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid.”

Then, Ephraim Judged with Syria

But it wasn’t just the Arameans that were going to be judged. It was also the ten tribes of the Jews, Ephraim. Ephraim was the name of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. They were apostate right from the beginning of their history. Remember that Solomon was led into idolatry by his foreign wives, and God chose to judge him in the next generation through his son Rehoboam. And so the twelve tribes were split up. Ten tribes went to the Northern Kingdom under Jeroboam, son of Nebat. Right from the beginning, he led the Israelites, the Northern Kingdom, into sin because he did not want those ten tribes going three times a year back to Jerusalem, the City of David. He didn’t want them going there because he thought that he would lose his power and his influence. So he set up his own religion, with his own priests and his own idols, golden calves in Bethel and Dan. He immediately led those ten tribes into idolatrous worship. Pretty soon after that, they were worshipping in whatever way the nations worshipped around them. They became literally no different than any of the pagan peoples around them. A godless nation, those northern ten tribes.

They share in the destruction of the godless around them. Look at verse 3, “’The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” Verses 4-5 continue, “In that day the glory of Jacob will fade; the fat of his body will waste away. It will be as when a reaper gathers the standing grain and harvests the grain with his arms – as when a man gleans heads of grain in the Valley of Rephaim.” The picture here is of a formerly healthy man. Now he’s lost so much weight through illness, or perhaps like a prisoner of war. You come upon those that were in the Japanese concentration camps, or the Nazi concentration camps, with their skin barely hanging on their bones. They’re like living skeletons. That’s the image here, the fat of the body completely wasted away. That’s what the former health and prosperity of these two countries will be like.

End Result: Desolation (v 9)

And the end result in verse nine is desolation. “In that day their strong cities, which they left because of the Israelites, will be like places abandoned to thickets and undergrowth. And all will be desolation.”

How Will the Judgment Come?

How does this judgment come? It comes in the usual way. It comes through the invasion of the Assyrians. It’s what they do. The Assyrians coveted their land, and then they came.  But we know what’s going to happen to the Assyrians, too. They’re going to be destroyed as well. So the nations, they rise, they fall, they come, they go, they covet, they invade, they win, they lose, all of it for earthly glory and earthly pleasure and earthly conquest, and none of it means anything eternally. All of them stand under the judgment of God, the real story of history, the real story of human beings’ relationship to Almighty God. That’s what causes everything. It’s because of that that we’re in the situations that we’re in now. The rise and fall of the nations is orchestrated because of that, because of human beings and their idolatry.

Yet … Still a Remnant for Israel

And yet, in the midst of all of that idolatry, look at verse six. Some gleanings will remain of Israel. This is a remnant for Israel that God promises. “’Some gleanings [of Israel] will remain, as when an olive tree is beaten, leaving two or three olives on the topmost branches, four or five on the fruitful boughs,’ declares the Lord, the God of Israel.” It says in Romans 11:29, “God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable.” And no matter how godless those ten tribes were, they were still descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He’s going to leave a remnant by His sovereign grace, though they don’t deserve it. Who does? Judah doesn’t deserve it either, none of us does. But by His sovereignty, He’s going to leave this handful of sick-looking olives that nobody wants. Physically, what that looked like was, after the Assyrian and Babylonian exiles, there were just some of the poorest in the land left to kind of farm it and be there. In Jeremiah 39:10, it says, “Nebuzaradan the commander of the guard left behind in the land of Judah some of the poor people, who owned nothing; and at that time he gave them vineyards and fields.” So God doesn’t totally give the Jews over to destruction, even though they are no better than their Gentile neighbors.

IV. The Root Cause of Judgment: Idolatry

Worshipping What you Do

Now, as I’ve mentioned, the root cause of this judgment is clear. It’s idolatry. Verse 8 mentions their altars, the work of their hands, the Asherah poles, and the incense altars that their fingers have made. The essence of idolatry is worshipping and serving created things rather than the Creator, who is forever praised, Amen. To worship what you do, to worship what you make with your hands, now that’s idolatry, to worship and serve created things. It is the ultimate foolishness to exchange the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man, and birds, and animals, and reptiles, and to worship, ultimately, man in all his glory, in all of his creative power.

Later on in this very book, Isaiah is going to lampoon idolatry with some of the most poignant sarcasm that you’ll find in any prophetic writing. Isiah 44:12 – 17 talks about the foolishness of crafting an idol and then falling down and worshipping it. This is what he says, “The blacksmith takes a tool and works with it in the coals; he shapes an idol with hammers, he forges it with the might of his arm. He gets hungry and loses his strength; he drinks no water and grows faint. The carpenter measures with a line and makes an outline with a marker; he roughs it out with chisels and marks it with compasses. He shapes it in the form of man, of man in all his glory, that it may dwell in a shrine. He cut down cedars, or perhaps took a cypress or oak. He let it grow among the trees of the forest, or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow. It is man’s fuel for burning; some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it. Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, ‘Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.’ From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, ‘Save me; you are my god.’”

In the end, there are just two religions: the worship of the true living God and idolatry. For the longest time, even in my own ministry as a preacher, I underestimated the significance of the sin of idolatry. You read the Old Testament, and you think of totem poles and these odd-looking golden things and wooden things that people bow down to. But the fact of the matter is, if you’re not a genuine believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the living God through faith in Christ, you are an idolater. It’s a fact. That’s your religion. If you don’t have the true religion, you have idolatry. You’re worshipping and serving some created thing, maybe yourself. You could even be an atheist and you’re an idolater, worshipping yourself. We Americans, we struggle with our idolatries. Materialism is idolatry. Careerism is idolatry. Being in love with your achievements, your academic achievements or professional achievements, is idolatry. All of these things come close to home and it’s because of idolatry that God moves out in judgment.

Crafting a Religion Around Idols

These people crafted a system of religion that was handed down from generation to generation around their idolatry. It’s religious idolatry and you see elaborate systems of it in the east, in Hinduism and Buddhism and other types of idolatry. These people had Asherah poles, which represented the feminine side of deity. Goddesses were frequently worshipped along with the gods, usually through sexual immorality. They also had altars that their hands had made. They offered sacrifices to demon gods. They’re not true gods, they’re demon gods who do God impersonations. And these people bow down to that.

But the Whole System is Empty

The whole system, however, is empty. When the judgment comes, when the Assyrians come over the border, they forsake the idols and run for their lives. They say, “Save me, you are my god.” But their god can’t save them because he doesn’t exist. And in that day they will forsake it. They will run for their lives. They will turn away from the idols that they made and run away from them because they know that they cannot save.

Deepest Issue: Rejecting God (v 10)

But the deepest issue is rejecting God. Look at verse 10, “You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress.” Exchanging the glory of the immortal God for images, that’s exactly what they did. It’s especially tragic for those ten tribes, the northern tribes of Israel. Think of all that God had done through Moses and Aaron, how He rescued them from the land of slavery by the ten plagues that He demonstrated with a mighty hand and outstretched arm, and how He led them through the Red Sea when the water walled up to the right and to the left and they passed right through. Two million strong, right through by the power of God. They went through to the other side and there God provided water out of a rock, and manna came down. They just picked it up off the ground. God delivered them for forty years in the desert and carried them as a father carries his son on his shoulders. He brought them right across the Jordan River at flood stage when the water heaped up like a mountain, and they crossed on dry ground. They surrounded the walls of Jericho, that mighty walled city, and then they just cried out on the seventh day and the walls came falling down. They took over the whole promised land by miraculous power, taking over nations more powerful than they were.

In this way, they came into a land flowing with milk and honey, and they ate from vineyards they didn’t plant, and they lived in houses they didn’t build. All of this done by the hand of God.  And it wasn’t long after that, that they turned away, those ten tribes, from the God of their heritage, the God of their fathers, of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and worshipped and served foreign gods. It says in Jeremiah 2:11 that this is the greatest tragedy of all time. “’Has a nation ever changed its gods? (Yet they are not gods at all.) But my people have exchanged their glory for worthless idols. Be appalled at this, O heavens, and shudder with great horror,’ declares the Lord. ‘My people have committed two sins: they have forsaken Me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.’”

Result: A Harvest of Incurable Pain

The result of this idolatry, of this exchange, is a harvest of incurable pain. God puts a curse on everything they do. Everything they do, there’s a curse on the work of their hands. Look at verses 10-11, “You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines, though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain.” What a dreadful, final end! What a terrifying thing it is to have Almighty God as your enemy, to have God fighting everything you do, to have Him not bless you when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, and when you rise and lie down, to have God not bless your kneading trough, and your calves, and all the agricultural images.

You say, “We’re not farmers. Or, what do these vines have to do with us?” Well, alright, translate it then into the 21^st century. You invest in a small business and it goes belly-up. You leave one job and go to another thinking things are going to go better for you and they go much worse. You have problems with material possessions. You have a flood in your home, or you have repairs to your car that you can’t afford, one thing after another. How can you fight God? Could it be that God is using all of these adverse circumstances to say, “Look, this is happening to you?” You may not have thought Isaiah 17 was relevant to you, but you set out vines and you planted them thinking good things were going to come. And nothing comes of it. Could it be you’re out of fellowship with God? That God himself is fighting you?

Now, it mentions the day of disease and incurable pain. It is true that we can suffer in this world. We can have pain in this world. We can have incurable diseases. We think of AIDS as an incurable disease. You could bye laying there suffering from AIDS and wonder, “Is this a judgment of God on me?” Frankly, any disease that takes you out of the world was, in the end, incurable, wasn’t it? The doctor couldn’t cure it. He couldn’t save you from dying, and so you died. But I don’t think that’s the ultimate judgment of God, do you? “Do not be afraid,” said Jesus, “of those who kill the body and after that, there’s nothing more they can do. But be afraid of the one who has power to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Death isn’t the end. God has appointed for each one of us that we die and then face judgment day, in which we give an account for the things done in the body. So to me, the real day of disease and incurable pain is hell. It’s a day that will last forever. It is incurable because God will not cure it and any He casts to hell are cast there forever. There is no rescue. There is no refuge. That is the ultimate end of idolatry, it’s the ultimate end, the ultimate judgment of God that He will bring.

V. The Effect of the Judgment: Genuine Faith in God

A Ray of Hope: Judgment Brings Repentance

God in His mercy, God in His kindness gives us samples of that future judgment while there’s still time to repent. You may not think of it as mercy, but we should think of it that way. When judgment comes on other people, like the Tower of Siloam fell and some people died, Jesus said that unless we repent we will all likewise perish. Hurricane Ike didn’t come our way. Well, we’re fine then. We have our power, we have our electricity. You’re not thinking rightly. When you turn on CNN and you see some misery for other people in another part of the world, you should say, “Unless we repent, we will all likewise perish.” That’s one message. Another is, “There but by the grace of God, go I.” What can I do with the grace that God’s given me to help them and reach out to them and love them? If you come to Isaiah 7 and say, “This is the Syrians and the Ephraimites, what do they have to do with me? Oh, they lived twenty-seven centuries ago,” you’re missing the point. God is still holy and we’re still idolaters. He hasn’t changed. And unless we repent, we will all likewise perish.

The ray of hope in the middle of this is that God can bring about salvation for sinners like you and me. Isn’t that sweet? Isn’t that magnificent? Look what it says in verses 7-8, “In that day men will look to their Maker and turn their eyes to the Holy One of Israel.” At last they look to him! “They will not look to the altars, the work of their hands, and they will have no regard for the Asherah poles and the incense altars their fingers have made.” They finally turn to the Lord and look to Him.

Israel Finally Looks to God

It says in Isaiah 4:22, “Look unto me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth.” It’s the look of faith. CNN’s not going to cover the look of faith, friends. But it’s going on all over the world, praise God! People from every tribe, and language, and people, and nation are hearing the gospel and they’re looking, at last, away from the work of their hands. They’re looking up to their Maker and they’re finding salvation in Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Looking to Christ Before the Final Judgment Comes

I think it’s my primary job, as a preacher, to make Christ crucified almost visible to your eyes. I think about that hymn, “Before the Throne of God.” At the end, it says, “Behold him there, the risen lamb, the perfect spotless, the great I Am.” Behold Him there. How do you see Him? By faith. It says in Galatians 3:1, “Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was portrayed as crucified.” The Apostle Paul says to the Corinthians, in 1 Corinthians 2:2, “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” So behold Him there, the bloody Son of God who shed His blood for idolaters, for sinners like you and me. And in that day, it says they will have no more regard for the work of their hands. They’re going to look to their Maker, their Creator, their sustainer, and to their Savior, and they will find in Him salvation. Look to Him. Look to Him.

VI. The Raging of the Nations: Quieted at Last (vs 12-14)

This is an assembly of Christian worship. Most of you who come in here with a profession of faith in Christ, are you done looking to Jesus? Are you finished being saved? Look unto Him and be saved. Keep looking. Look unto Him the rest of your life. Realize that there are still idolatries inside our divided hearts. Romans 7 talks about it, ‘The very thing we hate, we do.” Why? Because there are idols still there and we still bow the knee and give them allegiance. Look unto Him and be saved, all the ends of the earth. In this alone will the raging of the nations be quieted at last. This is where the peace comes from. It’s not coming from the United Nations. It’s not coming from military actions. It’s not coming from economic sanctions. It’s not coming from a new invention. It’s not coming from better food distribution systems. It’s not coming from the best negotiator that ever lived. None of that is going to bring peace between the nations. Not at all.

You want to know what’s going to bring peace between the nations? The actions of our Sovereign God, actions in judgment and actions in salvation. We’ve talked about the judgment. He’s going to clean it all up. He’s going to come back in glorious power and He’s going to destroy the final regime, the final nation, that one world nation under the antichrist. And the dragon, the devil, stands by the sea, remember? And up out of the sea comes the beast. What does the sea represent? The raging sea, it’s right here in Isaiah 17. It’s the nations, the turbulent nations. Up out of the nations comes the antichrist. It’s the same image in Daniel 7. He has a dream and the winds are blowing over the turbulent sea and up out of it comes four beasts, one after the other. Up out of the sea comes the nations, the final form of that, the antichrist, doing the bidding of the dragon, of Satan. Up he comes.

The nations will still be raging, still be turbulent until the Lord Jesus comes back in all His glory, amen? He destroys the antichrist and destroys the devil, and gets rid of the sea. It says in Revelation 21:1, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” I really link that right back to Isaiah 17:12. The turbulent, crashing waves of rebellion against Almighty God is over and there’s going to be this quiet, peaceful, loving group of people from every tribe and language and people and nation who are all focused on the throne of Christ. He will reign forever and ever over a peaceful multitude. The time of rebellion will end and your heart will be at peace with God and with one another. Why? Because it says in Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith,” What do we have? ”we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

As a result of that, we have peace with one another. Why? Because Jesus Christ paid our price for us. Isaiah 53:5 says, “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.” The punishment that brought us what? Peace. That’s where it’s going to happen, friends. That’s where the raging turbulence of the nations will end at last, at the end of the world when Jesus comes and establishes His throne. Then it will be true, what it says in Zechariah 1:11, “we have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.” Oh, how sweet will that be!

So there are two looks. We’ll see Christ in two different ways. The first is the look of faith. That can happen right now. Close your physical eyes. If you look with your mind’s eye, then you can see Christ crucified. You can also see Christ resurrected. You can see Christ reigning on the throne. You can see Christ returning in glory. Alright, it’s the look of faith. You can see Him that way or you can wait and you can see Him with your eyes. “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.” Revelation 1:7. You’ll see Him either way. I urge you to see Him now, see Him today by faith so that all your sins can be forgiven. Close with me in prayer.

Pastor Andy Davis preaches a verse-by-verse expository sermon on Isaiah 15:1-16:14. The main subject of the sermon is how the nations will flee in the day of God's wrath.

- SERMON TRANSCRIPT -

I. Introduction

As we come to Isaiah 15 and 16, I acknowledge here before you the challenge of expositional preaching. It is quite possible that there’s no congregation on the face of the earth that has had Isaiah 16:4 projected up on the walls as we did this morning, talking about fugitives from Moab and finding refuge in Christ. That’s the challenge of exposition and the joy as well. “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness.” (2 Tim 3:16) Amen.

Jesus said, “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Mt 4:4) Now, my brother and good friend, Andy Winn, had John 3:16 last Sunday. I get Isaiah 15 and 16. He did a wonderful job and I was greatly encouraged. But frankly, the more I studied these two chapters that we’re looking at today, the more relevancy I saw in my own personal life. I don’t know that this is something where you’re necessarily going to take a verse from it and memorize it, or something like that. Yet, it is the word of the Lord to us today. And I pray that God will enable me to preach it with power and with conviction so that our lives might be transformed.

I’ll never forget the summer of 1987, when I had the privilege of ministering to refugees who had fled from the invading Russians in Afghanistan. They were across the border in Pakistan, and we went to the city of Peshawar and we ministered to them. They were the most miserable and destitute people I’d ever seen in my life. And it’s still the case. I’ve seen some poverty in Asia, in India, in Haiti, but I’ve never seen the kind of misery and pain that I saw etched on the faces of these people that had run for their lives from Russian helicopter gunships. Many of them had seen relatives and friends killed before their very eyes. Their prospects were limited. They were not incredibly welcome in Pakistan. They were safe, at least for the time being, but their prospects economically were dim.

Very few people were ministering to them. They had a hard time eating and caring for themselves. And again, the future looked dim. What a joy and privilege it is to go into a situation like that and minister the gospel of Jesus Christ! Amen! To be able to bring hope where, other than the ministry of the Gospel, there would be no hope. But the 20th century really was a century of refugees. Look at World War I. Look at World War II. Look at grainy old black and white photos from World War I and footage of German dive bombers, strafing columns of refugees that are fleeing from Belgium, or fleeing from Poland, or fleeing from Russia or Ukraine. You can see a picture in your mind of what it is to be a refugee. It’s a terrifying situation to be in, to lose everything that you have except what you can carry with you.

I remember a picture of an elderly French woman. She’s got a mink stole on and she’s got an evening gown and a valuable painting. She’s got it in a baby buggy and she’s pushing it down a muddy road. It’s all she has left of a former way of life. Everything that she has, she’s carrying with her. You get the sense that it won’t be much longer and she won’t even be pushing that baby buggy. She’ll be stripped of everything. So it is to be a refugee. The more I meditated on Isaiah 15 and 16, the more I saw the relevance to our lives. I don’t know that any of us will ever be refugees. I do know that the United Nations High Commission on Refugees said there were sixty-five million displaced persons in 2007.

So there’s a lot of refugees around the world. There’s an opportunity for us as a church of Jesus Christ to minister. We had an opportunity to minister to some refugees who came to us from Vietnam. What a great privilege that was! We may well have a practical ministry to refugees. It could be that, if we are in fact the final generation, and some of the events that are recorded in the Book of Revelation take place, then we will actually know what it means to flee for our lives and to dwell in caves, and to look for a place of refuge from an encroaching terror that’s coming to hunt us down. We may know that. If the Lord tarries, we may never know that.

But there are people, even brothers and sisters in Christ, in the Sudan and other places in the world, that are actually going through this right now. So at the physical level, I think there’s a relevance to this text. But I also see a spiritual connection. I don’t think it’s hard to find because what happens in this text is a judgment on Moab. Some unnamed invader comes into their country and the people of Moab have to run for their lives. Their military strength is gone. They have nothing left. Their religious strength is gone and they run for their lives. They actually turn, at that point, to their former enemies in Judah, the Jews. They want to see if it’s possible that they might take them in. As a matter of fact, Isaiah the prophet says that it’s the only refuge they’re going to have.

I’m going to talk about who the invader could be. We don’t really know who it is. But if in fact the invader was Assyria, and if they came in during a certain time, it could be that, literally, physically, the only refuge there could be would be in Zion, in Jerusalem, with godly King Hezekiah. This, in the end, becomes a picture of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Jesus, the descendant of David, the King, the Davidic King, mentioned in the middle of Isaiah 16, is in fact the only refuge there is from the coming judgment. So there is a beautiful spiritual picture of the gospel as well.

The Bible does this over and over. Oh, how the Lord wants us to flee to Christ! How many different ways does it give us incentive so that we would run for our lives, run to the only refuge there is, the refuge of Jesus Christ? There are pictures again and again in the Old Testament of a place of refuge. If you go there, you are going to be safe from the coming judgment and the coming wrath. But, if you go outside of it, you’re going to be killed. You’re going to perish.

Noah’s ark is a picture of that. If you’re on the ark, you’re safe. If you’re outside the ark, you are lost. Also, during the time of Passover when the Jews painted the blood of the sacrificial lamb over the door posts, the angel of death passed over. If he saw the blood on the house, everyone inside the house was safe. But if you were outside the house, your blood was on your own head. That meant you were going to die. So there’s a place of refuge, a place of security and safety, and outside there is none. Or again, we have Rahab’s house nestled in the walls of Jericho. The promise of a scarlet cord hanging down was that she and all of her relatives would be safe if they stayed in the house. But if they went outside the house, their blood would be on their own heads. They would die. It is also a picture of a place of refuge, which you have to be inside. That’s where the refuge is. Outside there is none. In the Law of Moses, there is a provision for cities of refuge where, if you accidentally kill somebody, you can run for your life. If you get there before the avenger of blood comes, you’ll be safe. They’ll protect you and keep you safe until the death of the high priest. It was a picture, again, of a place of refuge.

Don’t you see how all of these are pictures of Jesus Christ? Don’t you see Christ in all of this? Don’t you see the need to run for your life? Don’t you see that there is a judgment coming, worse than the flood of Noah? It’s an eternal judgment, an eternal fire. What we stand to lose is not just our mortal lives, but our souls. We are encouraged again and again and again to run for our lives to the place of refuge, and that is Jesus Christ. So there you have it. There’s the sermon in a nutshell. What we have is a current event that’s not so current.

II. Moabite Refugees Fleeing in Terror

Prophecies Against the Nations

We have, in this section of Isaiah, the oracles against the nations. Isaiah the prophet is giving an oracle, or a saying, a prophecy concerning Moab. From Isaiah 13 through 23, one nation after another is addressed through the prophetic voice. Isaiah the prophet is speaking here to the little country of Moab. We’ve had oracles against great nations like Assyria and Babylon. Last time, we looked at an oracle against the Philistines, a smaller nation. Here, the Moabites were even smaller. The Sovereign God who rules over all the earth is orchestrating the events of all the earth. He speaks an oracle through his prophet to the people of Moab, the Moabites.

Who are the Moabites?

Now, who were the Moabites? They were descended from Lot, Abraham’s nephew. When, in another picture of refuge, Lot fled from Sodom and Gomorrah to the little town of Zoar, he was able to survive the fire and brimstone. This is a picture, again, of refuge, fleeing for your life. But then, thinking that it was the end of the world, they took up refuge in a cave. Lot was there with his two daughters. And the daughters, thinking that they wouldn’t know any more people on the face of the earth, perhaps with the memory of the flood still very fresh in their minds, induced their father through wine to lay with them. Each of them had a son by their own father and from this came two peoples, the Moabites and the Ammonites.

The Moabites took up residence on a tiny piece of land east of the Dead Sea, stretching from the Arnon River, which dumps into the Dead Sea, to the Zered River, on the border with Edom. It’s a small piece of land, thirty miles by thirty miles. It’s really small. The Moabites were not a mighty and significant people. They were usually enemies of Israel, usually in opposition to the people of God. They would fight against them. For example, during the Exodus, they would not allow the Israelites to pass through their territory, they had to go around. They hired Balaam to curse Israel, and you remember what happened with that. The Moabite women seduced the Israelite men to worship Baal of Peor through sexual immorality. It was the Moabite women that did that. As a result of all of these things, the Law of Moses forbad any of them to enter the assembly of the Lord down to the tenth generation. They were forbidden to enter.

During the time of the Judges, God gave Israel over to a Moabite king, Eglon, the fat man. Eglon was murdered by one of the judges, Ehud, a left-handed man. These were the Moabites. They were the enemies of the people of God. It was Moabite wives that seduced King Solomon to worship foreign gods, to worship Chemosh, their detestable god. They occasionally organized armies to fight against the Jews, and they usually lost. They were the enemies of God’s people. By the end of Kings and Chronicles, Moabite raiders were still plundering Israel.

Yet, for all of that, it was a godly Moabite woman, Ruth, who said to Naomi, “Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God… May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” (Ru 1:16-17) From Ruth came David, and through David, ultimately, came our savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, we see the grace of God in dealing with pagan people. We also see God’s saving intentions to the Gentiles and to every tribe and language and people and nation, everyone on the face of the earth.

Why are They Fleeing?

These are the people, the Moabites, who are running for their lives in these two chapters. It’s the Moabites who are running now. Why are they fleeing? Look at Isaiah 15:1, “Ar in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night! Kir in Moab is ruined, destroyed in a night!” By the way, if you see Keith Pendergraff, thank him for that reading. There’s something like twenty proper nouns in that. He did a phenomenal job. I don’t know that I’m going to do as well. I was adjusting my pronunciation as I listened to him read the scripture. So thank you, Keith. We thought about that at our staff meeting, “Now, who’s going to do this reading? Please urge them to practice ahead of time.”

But what is going on in Isaiah 15:1? Well, these are two cities in Moab, Ar and Kir, and both of them are destroyed in a night. They’re gone. These are their strongholds, their high places, their walled fortresses. They are nothing to the unnamed invader. In a single night, they are gone, both of them have fallen. Furthermore, their religion has proven to be empty. They turn to their high places. Verse 2 says, “Dibon goes up to its temple, to its high places to weep.” If you look all the way over to Chapter 16:12, it says, “When Moab appears at her high place, she only wears herself out; when she goes to her shrine to pray, it is to no avail.” Chemosh cannot help them. You know why? Because Chemosh does not exist.

He’s an idol of their own imagination and Chemosh cannot save them. So they are running for their lives. They are fugitives. Look at Isaiah 15:5, “Her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the way to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction.” You see a picture of a train of refugees, crying, running, leaving possessions behind, stuff strewn along the roads. That’s what’s going on. The Moabites are running for their lives. Like all refugees, they try to carry whatever they can of their possessions. Verse 7 says, “So the wealth they have acquired and stored up they carry away over the Ravine of the Poplars.”

They’re going to carry their gold and silver with them. Well, how long is that going to last? It’s heavy. There comes a point where they will leave it behind. The army that’s going to come after them will pick it up and plunder them. So that’s what is happening. These are refugees leaving behind their old way of life, and the slaughter is terrible. Look at Isaiah 15:9, “Dimon’s waters are full of blood, but I will bring still more upon Dimon – a lion upon the fugitives of Moab and upon those who remain in the land.” Whether it’s a literal lion or it’s just more military conquest coming on this straggling line of refugees, it doesn’t matter. The fact of the matter is, it’s just a miserable, horrible time for these Moabites. The rivers are filled with blood. You see the image of their women in 16:2, “like fluttering birds, pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of Arnon.” As they’re trying to cross this river, they are panicking and weak and defenseless, a picture of the refugee.

Turning to Judah for Help

At this point, they turn to Judah for help. This is the only place they can turn. Frankly, this is what Isaiah wants them to do. If you look at Isaiah 16:1, it says, “send lambs as tribute to the ruler of the land, from Sela, across the desert.” Where? “to the daughter of Zion.” Reach out to the Jews. Why? Because salvation is from the Jews, your ancient enemies. Reach out to the daughter of Zion. That’s the advice that Isaiah’s giving. It’s really that God is giving it. Reach out to the Jews in your moment of distress.

Historical Details

Now, I have no idea, historically, what this is referring to. Nobody really knows. I have a sense of what’s going on, but nobody really knows. Of course, the big bully of the time was Assyria. It could be that in 715 BC, the Assyrians were coming down and dealing with some Arabian raiders that were making commerce difficult. As they did, they passed through little Moab. And what do the Assyrians do when they pass through somebody’s land? They do this kind of thing, this kind of conquest, this kind of bloodshed, this kind of plundering and pillaging. It could be that’s exactly what was going. The end for Moab is quite near.

The End is Near

Look at the end of our reading for today. Isaiah 16:13-14 says, “This is the word the Lord has already spoken concerning Moab. But now the Lord says: ‘Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab’s splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble.” It’s a time table, three years as for a servant bound by a contract, meaning counting the hours. It’s going to be very accurate. Within that time, three years, Moab will be finished. That’s what’s going on. Look at Isaiah’s reaction, weeping for the refugees.

III. Weeping for the Refugees

God Does Not Willingly Afflict People

I find it fascinating, the emotional response of Isaiah to these, who are supposedly his enemies. I tell you that God does not willingly afflict anyone. He doesn’t willingly bring suffering on anybody. So says Lamentations 3:32-33, “Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men.”

The consistent teaching of scripture is that it is, in fact, God that brings these disasters. There’s not a subset of disaster that didn’t come from God and had nothing to do with God. He does everything. He’s King of the Universe, but He doesn’t delight in bringing suffering. That’s not what He’s doing. It’s called in Isaiah 28:21, “His strange work” and “His alien task.”

It’s not his home base. He does it for a reason, for a purpose. I believe He afflicts the nations to get them up out of their self-satisfied, self-worshipping rut, and to cause them to seek a Savior, who they would never seek if God didn’t afflict them. As King Hezekiah says as he is recovering from his illness, “Surely it was good for me to have been afflicted.” It’s a good thing, then, to be afflicted if, in the end, it means salvation for your soul. And I think that’s what’s going on here. God brings these kinds of afflictions because there is no way the Moabites will seek a Savior from the descendants of David, unless they are desperate and running for their lives.

Isaiah Weeps for the Nations

God brings this kind of affliction into lives, but you see the emotion, you see the compassion of God through His spokesman Isaiah. You see Him weeping for them, and it’s really quite surprising. Look at Isaiah 15:5. He says “My heart cries out over Moab; her fugitives flee as far as Zoar, as far as Eglath Shelishiyah. They go up the way to Luhith, weeping as they go; on the road to Horonaim they lament their destruction.” He’s weeping for them. He has compassion for them. In chapter 16:9-11, it says, “So I weep, as Jazer weeps… the shouts of joy… are stilled. Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards; no one treads out the wine at the presses, for I have put an end to the shouting. My heart laments for Moab like a harp, my inmost being for Kir Hareseth.”

This is Isaiah. Isaiah is speaking. He is a man. He is reacting to his own prophecies. He’s reacting emotionally to what he is writing. But in so doing, he is God’s mouthpiece, and it is really God’s own reaction to what the Moabites are going through. That’s quite remarkable. You have to look carefully, but look at verse 10, and then on into verse 11 of Chapter 16. It says, “Joy and gladness are taken away from the orchards; no one sings or shouts in the vineyards; no one treads out wine at the presses.” Why? “For I have put an end to the shouting.” Do you see that? The word “I?” Isaiah didn’t do that. It’s not Isaiah’s work that put an end to anything. He’s an announcer. He’s a messenger. This is God speaking. Therefore, the very next verse is God speaking as well. “My heart laments for Moab.”

This is the nature of our God. He brings the affliction, but He weeps at the effects. Surely, God’s ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts. They are so infinitely high above us, what God is doing in the world. But I believe He does it out of compassion. I believe He does it so that people will turn from their sins and cry out to a Jewish Savior, cry out to Christ and be saved. That’s why He does it. And unless some harsh treatment comes in most of our lives, if not all, we will never do it. We will never do it.

Christ Wept for His Enemies

Christ wept for His enemies, didn’t He? Didn’t Christ stand over Jerusalem and weep for the coming judgment that would come on that city? Didn’t He say, concerning the men that were murdering Him, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Lk 23:34) Do you see His heart there?

The Apostle Paul Wept for His Enemies

Do you see the Apostle Paul, in Romans 9, testifying that he has a great sorrow and unceasing anguish over the Jews who are making his life utterly miserable and who would love to kill him as well? He testifies solemnly that he would trade his salvation for theirs, if he could. Amazing compassion!

Do We?

What about us? What about me? Every time I come to the issue of my level of compassion for the lost, I’m brought up short and convicted. I realize that I have to cry out against the stoniness of my own heart and I realize that I just don’t care enough about fugitives, refugees. I don’t care enough about the lost, the idolaters around me.  I don’t care enough. And I have to fan a little ember into a flame, by a biblical meditation on what hell is actually going to be like. I have to do it.

The scholarly pastor Andrew Bonar, in Scotland, lay on his bed Saturday nights. Down in the street, below his window, he could hear revelers tramping back and forth, going to the bars and the shows, an empty searching for something. He used to get out of his bed and weep over their souls and cry out, “Oh, they perish, they perish!” He would weep for them. Oswald J Smith, who brought the Gospel to over 50 countries, this is what he said, “Can we travail for a drowning child, but not for a perishing soul? It is not hard to weep when we realize that our little one is sinking below the surface for the last time. Anguish is spontaneous then. Nor is it hard to agonize when we see the little casket containing all that we love on earth borne out of the home. Ah, no; tears are natural at such a time! But oh, to realize and to know that souls, precious, never-dying souls are perishing all around us, going out into the blackness of darkness and despair, eternally lost, and yet to feel no anguish, shed no tears, know no travail! How cold are our hearts! How little do we know of the compassion of Jesus!”

I take solace from the fact that you can even see that Oswald J Smith, who brought the gospel to over 50 countries, saw that weakness in his own heart. It’s not natural for us, but we ought to weep over the kind of judgments that come on the lost. We ought to travail for their souls. We see the sorrow of Isaiah and, really, the sorrow of God over the affliction necessary to save them.

IV. The Great Advantage of Refugees

Advantage? How Can It Be?

We also see the great advantage for these refugees. Now, you might say what advantage can there be in being a refugee? Well, on an earthly basis, at a purely secular level, I can’t possibly see any advantage. As I said, these were the most miserable people I’d ever seen on the face of the earth. I don’t mean that in terms of their emotional state. I just mean in terms of their circumstances.

As I look at the hierarchy of suffering, the only think that I think is worse than running for your life before an invading army is being captured and held by a malicious tyrant who loves to torture you, with no escape or death. I think that’s probably the worst earthly circumstance you could be in. Of course, none of this compares to hell, because there is always some escape from any misery here on earth. But there is no escape from hell. Still, I think being a refugee is a horrible situation. Yet there is an advantage if, in the end, you come to your senses and come to faith in Christ, if you realize you’re really running for your life. And by that, I mean your eternal life. If you realize that your ordinary way of life was only going to lead you to hell, and something caused you to get out of that rut that was drawing you right down into hell, to get up out of that and say, “Where am I going?” If you then come to your senses and say, “I need a savior,” then it’s worthwhile.

Foundations Removed

There’s some advantage, then, in being a refugee. Foundations are removed. All the things you counted on and relied on are taken away. You have to think about everything anew and afresh. Everything’s been tossed up for grabs.

Pride Removed

Pride has been removed. Oh, that’s important. Look at Isaiah 16:6. It’s mentioned right there, “We have heard of Moab’s pride – her overweening pride and conceit, her pride and her insolence – but her boasts are empty.” Oh, they’re empty now! Now whoever it is has come in, the Assyrians, let’s say. Oh, there’s nothing left to be proud of now! Now they’re beggars looking for some place of refuge. Actually, that’s good, because Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 5:3) It’s good to get to the point where you realize you have nothing in your hands to give to the king. You’re just begging for a place of refuge. That’s a good thing.

Pride has been destroyed. It’s amazing how proud we are, isn’t it? But what do we have to be proud of, really? We’re just created beings. Everything we have we receive from God. What do we have to boast about? Yet it’s in there, that worm of pride. It’s so ugly when you see it in someone else, isn’t it? It’s so ugly when you see it in another person, but it’s ugly if you can see it in yourself too. I was reading a quote by the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau. I can scarcely read this without feeling a curdling effect in my stomach. He said openly what most people would never parade. Pride is just oozing from this paragraph. Listen to what he said:

“What could your miseries have in common with mine? My situation is unique, unheard of since the beginning of time. The person who can love me as I can love is still yet to be born. No one has ever had more talent for loving. I was born to be the best friend that ever existed. Show me a better man than me, a heart more loving, more tender, more sensitive. Posterity will honor me because it is my due. I rejoice in myself. My consolation lies in my self-esteem. If there were a single enlightened government in Europe, it would have erected statues to me.”

Wow! Listen, bro. Let’s sit down and have a conversation. Let’s get the scripture and find out what the truth really is. What’s so sad is that we’re like this, though we don’t admit it. We’re not going to bring it this far, but we think, “Has anybody ever suffered like me? Nobody loves like I love. If I really got what I deserved, they’d be erecting a statue.” I don’t know if we carry it that far, but the pride, it’s really laughable. It’s actually good to laugh at yourself. But, you know, to actually get cured from it, sometimes it takes this level of affliction. To run for your life strips you of pride. What do you have left? Where then is your resume? Where then are your possessions? Where then is your glorious future? You’re running for your life, and that’s what it’s done. So there’s a great advantage to being a refugee.

V. The Only Safe Refuge: Christ

An Invitation for Refuge

It’s good if you know the refuge. Amen? If you know where to run to, now that’s a benefit. And I say to you, the only safe refuge is Jesus Christ. He’s mentioned in the text, though indirectly. With their pride stripped, the Moabite refugees have nowhere to turn but to Judah. As we already mentioned in Chapter 16:1, they’re urged to “send lambs as tribute to the… mount of the Daughter of Zion.” That’s Jerusalem. They begged for help from the Jews. Verses 2-4 of Chapter 16 say, “Like fluttering birds pushed from the nest, so are the women of Moab at the fords of the Arnon. ‘Give us counsel, render a decision. Make your shadow like night – at high noon. Hide the fugitives, do not betray the refugees. Let the Moabite fugitives stay with you; be their shelter from the destroyer.’ The oppressor will come to an and, and destruction will cease; the aggressor will vanish from the land.”

A Stunning Prophecy: A Ruler from the House of David

Here we have a stunning and beautiful prophecy: a ruler from the house of David. Look at verse 16:5, “In love a throne will be established; in faithfulness a man will sit on it – one from the house of David – one who in judging seeks justice and speeds the cause of righteousness.” Oh, how sweet is that promise of Jesus Christ! This isn’t any one of the Davidic kings. Yes, Hezekiah was a godly man, but he was no final refuge. He’s a picture of A refuge, but he’s not The final refuge. Oh no. The final refuge is Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. He’s the refuge. Therefore, Isaiah predicts the establishment of a Davidic throne that will reign in righteousness. This Davidic king will bring justice to the nations. It is Jesus Christ then at last, who is every refugee’s place of safety. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run to it and find refuge.

Jesus is the name of the Lord. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. You run to Him and you find refuge. What refuge is there? The foot of the cross, where Jesus shed His blood for sin. The real danger is not the Assyrian army or any army. The real danger is the wrath of God. “’Do not fear those who kill the body and after that can do nothing to you. I’ll tell you the one to fear,’ said Jesus, ‘fear the one who has the power to destroy both soul and body in hell.’” We need a refuge from hell. We need a refuge from the judgment of an all-seeing God. We need a refuge from judgment and wrath. That’s what we need.

Jesus Christ is the place of refuge, amen? We can flee to Him and find safety. There is no other, there’s no other place. God didn’t ordain that Noah and five other people each build an ark. There was one ark, there was one place of refuge. And so it is with Christ. In the Old Covenant, the Moabites were excluded to the tenth generation. Oh, but praise God for the New covenant, Amen? In the New Covenant, anyone who repents and believes is welcome.

“All that the Father gives me will come to me,” said Jesus, “and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” (Jn 6:37) There is your welcome. There is your place of refuge. Jesus Christ is saying, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Mt 11:28) So He is the place of refuge mentioned right here in Isaiah 16:5.

Someday the Whole World Will Become Refugees

What’s the connection to our lives? Are we ever going to be refugees? Well, I can’t say. I cannot say. I do know, though, there will come a time when every nation on earth will run for their lives. If you’re alive at that time, you’ll run too. You will run too. That’s all you can do. This is what the Lord says in Isaiah 13:13-14, “Therefore I will make the heavens tremble; and the earth will shake from its place at the wrath of the Lord Almighty, in the day of his burning anger. Like a hunted gazelle, like sheep without a shepherd, each will return to his own people, each will flee to his native land.” Haggai 2:6-7 says, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations.’” Isaiah 30:27-28 says, “See, the name of the Lord comes from afar, with burning anger and dense clouds of smoke; his lips are full of wrath, and his tongue is a consuming fire. His breath is like a rushing torrent, rising up to the neck. He shakes the nations in the sieve of destruction.” Hebrews 12:26-27 says, “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, ‘Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.’ The words “once more” indicate the removal of what can be shaken – that is, created things – so that what cannot be shaken may remain.”

God himself is going to shake the nations in a sieve of destruction. All the nations that live at that time will run for their lives. So you will be a fugitive if you live in the final generation. It is your future and mine if the Lord tarries. It is a terrifying thing. The prediction is plain in Revelation 6:12-17,

“I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as late figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The sky receded like a scroll, rolling up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’”

Run for your lives! It’s going to be literal at that point. But the real danger is nothing on earth, friend. No, the real danger is Judgment Day. That’s the real danger. When you stand before Him who knows everything you ever said, everything you ever did, who knows the inclinations of your heart, who remembers everything perfectly, that’s the danger. As John the Baptist said to his Jewish enemies, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” Has anybody warned you to do that, to be a refugee from the coming wrath? Have you learned to do that? To flee from the wrath to come?

Christ is the Only Refuge for Spiritual Refugees

Jesus Christ is the only refuge from that wrath to come. It says in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, “Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” Amen? He is a safe refuge from the coming wrath. It says in 1 Thessalonians 5:9, “God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” So run for your lives! In the beginning of Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian realizes that he actually lived in a place called the City of Destruction. He started to be worried about the future. Wouldn’t you if you lived in a place called the City of Destruction? He’s reading about it in the book, in the Scriptures, and he has a terrible burden on his back, a sense of guilt for his own sins that are going to press him down to hell. He talks to his wife, but she doesn’t believe. She thinks he’s crazy. The children don’t believe, they think he’s crazy. His neighbors think he’s crazy. Then Evangelist tells him to go to a wicket gate and to a flashing light, and he begins to run there. He’s running, and he’s got his fingers in his ears so he doesn’t listen to the cries of his unbelieving family and his mocking neighbors. He runs and runs for the distant salvation, running for that gate, so that his soul can be saved. Run for your lives. Do you live in the City of Destruction? Yes, you do. So do I. So we’re called on to run this race with endurance, to keep running until we’re done, to run for our lives spiritually.

VI. Applications

Nothing Here is Eternal… So Flee Every Day to Christ

What application do we take from this? First, nothing you see around you is eternal. Don’t be deceived. Did you say, “What? We heard a strange sermon today on being a refugee for Christ. I don’t think that’s going to happen to me.” Well, be careful, friend. Be careful, because someday you’re going to lose it all anyway. You are. And it’s good to know it. I don’t know the specific political and military situations, or earthquake, or hurricane that will cause you to be a displaced person. I don’t know whether that will ever happen to you. But I do know this, you ought to live with that kind of mentality. Live as an alien and a stranger on earth, looking ahead to a city with foundations whose builder and maker is God. Run for that place, the celestial city. Nothing will ever remove that. It cannot be shaken. Run for that.

Live a Holy Life Worthy of Our Future Home… Personal Holiness

Hold on to your possessions loosely. Live a holy life worthy of that final day, since is says in 2 Peter 3:11-13,  “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.” So live a holy and godly life. 1 Peter 2:11  says, “Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in this world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.”

Cry Out Over Our Hardness of Heart

Thirdly, I would urge you to cry out over your own hardness of heart, as I do over mine. Cry out that you don’t care about the plight of the lost. Be like God. Be like Paul. Be like Andrew Bonar and Oswald J Smith. Be like these men and women who learned to weep over the condition of lost friends and relatives and co-workers. If you don’t care much, know that God knows you don’t care. He knows, however, if you’re a believer, that you want to care. You want to be healed from your hardness of heart. You want to care about the poor and the needy. Go to Him and ask Him for it. Be a spiritual beggar for that, too. Say, “Lord, change my heart. Give me tears to cry over lost people.” And stay there until He does. Meditate in depth on passages about hell. That might help you.

Consider Ministry to Refugees

Finally, consider in a practical way a ministry to refugees. We’ve already had some in this church that have sacrificially given to refugees from Vietnam. It’s been a sweet experience for them and for the church. You can give money to Persecution Project, which ministers to Christian refugees in the Sudan, especially in Darfur. You can minister to refugees that are non-Christians, as we did in Pakistan. Those were Muslim refugees. Perhaps God might call you to that kind of a practical ministry. In any case, whatever God calls you to do, live your life as a refugee here on Earth until God takes you to heaven. Close with me in prayer.

God is sovereign over all nations, He speaks oracles, dictates policy, decrees events for them, and brings about their rise and fall.

- SERMON TRANSCRIPT -

I. Introduction

Of all the marvels of the physical universe, few are more amazing to me, as a former mechanical engineer, than the human hand. I’ve been thinking about the human hand. Now, I know I’m supposed to have grown out of hand-regard a long time ago. Infants just lay and stare at their hands. But I’ve been thinking about the human hand because the hand of the Lord is in this passage. I can’t see his invisible hand, but I can know what human hands do. The human hand is a marvel of design and of engineering and of beauty. Each hand contains twenty-nine major and minor bones, twenty-nine major joints, at least one hundred and twenty-three ligaments, thirty-five muscles (seventeen in the palm and eighteen in the forearm), and forty-eight named nerves. You won’t be asked to name them. I don’t know what they all are, but they’ve named them for us, these forty-eight nerves. There are thirty named arteries and nearly as many smaller named branches. The thumb is a marvel. It’s controlled by nine individual muscles, which are themselves controlled by three major nerve branches. It moves in such a complex fashion that there are six descriptive terms for just the particular directions of one joint, the basal joint at the bottom of the thumb.

Sir Isaac Newton said this, “In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence.” Well, there’s a lot more proof than that, but I’ve been thinking about the power of the human hand. It’s an amazing instrument. Think about the strength. There are three different ways that the hand shows strength. The first is the crush grip, and there’s one among you who has the gift of a vigorous handshake. I’ve talked to you about it before. I am blessed by it every week. I’m grateful that he holds back. You know who you are. That’s the crush grip. For example, if you’ve been watching the Olympics, I watched the super heavyweight weight-lifting man from Germany, and he lifted 565 pounds over his head. I watched for thirty seconds as he got his grip right on the bar, adjusting and readjusting and gripping, just knowing what the hand was about to go through, 565 pounds.

Then there’s the pinch grip, which we use to carry heavy things like a piece of plywood or something like that. It’s the weakest of the three grips. We do it to pinch. Then there’s the support grip, in which the hand has to be strong over a long period of time, like for rock climbers that are dangling by three or four fingers. Have you seen it, where they reach back for equipment or take a break, just dangling like that? Or the ability to hold a bucket of water, a pail, over a long period of time. These are the three ways that the human hand shows its strength. Now, the human hand has shaped all of history. Alexander the Great grasps his sword and conquers an empire. Or maybe Michelangelo grasps a paintbrush and paints the Sistine Chapel for us. Or maybe it’s Bach who’s writing down the music to St Matthew’s Passion so that we can enjoy it centuries later. Or Thomas Jefferson taking hold of the quill pen and writing the Declaration of Independence, the birth sounds of an infant nation. These are the very powers of the human hand, and with it we also stroke the face of our little baby, or shake each other’s hand, pat each other on the back.

People can talk with the hand through sign language. They can use the expressiveness of the different motions of the human hand in order to communicate. If these are the various powers of the human hand, what then of God who created it? He who formed the eye, does He not see? He who made the ear, does He not hear? And He who formed the human hand, does He not have power to change events in history? We see in scripture the hand of God mentioned again and again. We know that God doesn’t have a physical body. He doesn’t have a hand. But this is human language so that we can know that this is the way that God exerts His effect on the world. We see it in creation, for example. It is meditated on so beautifully in Psalm 8:34, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?” Just with the fingers of God, He sets the sun and moon and stars in position. We also see His hand in the flow of history, in providence, in God’s orchestration of history. And that’s the focus of our text today: we see the hand of God in history.

Look at Isaiah 14:26-27, “This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations. For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?” The context of this great statement of the power of God over the nations is that it’s the beginning of a series of oracles that the Prophet Isaiah is going to utter concerning all of the minor nations in the ancient Near East, in Palestine. We’ve already had his contemplation of God’s great power over Assyria, and also over Babylon, the present empire and the future empire. He’s already talked about that. But from chapter 14 through chapter 23, he’s going to give a series of oracles about the smaller nations. Palestine of the ancient Near East is somewhat like the Balkans today, made up of a lot of small countries. The Balkans has Yugoslavia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and all of these small countries. In the ancient Near East you had Israel, the Northern Kingdom and Judah, and you had Ammon, Moab, the Edomites, and all of these smaller kingdoms.

Certainly Egypt and Assyria, and then eventually Babylon, would be the major powers of the day. The empires would be fighting over these smaller nations, trying to control them and to organize them. Each of these nations had tribal deities, national gods. For example, Moab had the detestable god Chemosh. Anything that concerned Moab concerned the god Chemosh. When the Moabites would go out to fight, Chemosh was right there with them. Today, Moab is gone, and so is Chemosh. The Philistines had Dagon, the half man, half fish god. Whenever the Philistines would go out to fight, Dagon was right there with them. The Philistines are gone today, where then is Dagon? He’s gone.

But the God of the Bible is not gone. He’s not a localized tribal deity. Yes, it is true that He chose the descendants of Abraham to be His very own chosen people, the Jews. That is true, they were His people. They were the smallest of all the nations when they were called because they were called from a barren couple. They weren’t even a nation, there was nothing there. So, a small nation. But God is a great God, a majestic God, the God over all the earth. And though He is incredibly concerned with the Jews and that one nation, yet He is sovereign over all nations. The picture of God is of a God who rules all the earth. Jeremiah 23:23-24 says this, “’Am I only a God nearby,’ declares the Lord, ‘and not a God far away? Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see him?’ declares the Lord. ‘Do not I fill heaven and earth?’ declares the Lord.” He’s not a localized tribal deity. It says in Isaiah 6:3, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory.” He is not a localized tribal deity.

He is Lord of Heaven and Earth, sovereign over all nations. He speaks oracles over them. He dictates policy to them and they must obey. He decrees events for them. He brings about their rise and their fall. But above all, God yearns for their salvation. He yearns that they would reach out for Him and seek Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. For in Him, we live and move and have our being. Yes, God decrees the time set for those nations and the exact places where they should live, but God does it all so that men will find Him and be saved. As it says in Isaiah 45:22, “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.” So we’re entering this section in Isaiah, the oracles to the nations. And here is Isaiah, a lone Jewish prophet, in some room somewhere, perhaps in Jerusalem, somewhere in Judah. He is speaking the word of the Lord. He’s writing out the word of the Lord. He speaks of the sovereign hand of the King of all the Earth, orchestrating events to achieve His final purposes. Oracle after oracle will come from Isaiah’s lips. They will stand over the events of foreign peoples.

If the foreign peoples knew that this Jewish prophet was speaking about their affairs, they might be indignant. They might laugh. They might wonder what this prophet had to say that in any way concerned them. But it wouldn’t matter, because he was speaking the words of Almighty God. He was speaking the oracles of the living God. Over the next nine chapters, Almighty God is going to speak to one Gentile nation after another; to the Philistines, to Moab, to Damascus, to Cush, to Egypt, to Babylon, to Edom, to Arabia, and to Tyre. Many of those nations have gotten absorbed into modern nations. Many of them do not exist as such anymore. But the lesson’s still the same. God is sovereign over all the earth. He’s sovereign over the affairs of the nations. He rules heaven and earth.

Two great lessons then, come from these chapters. First of all, God is sovereign over the nations and has the power to destroy them. And secondly, refuge from God’s wrath can only be found in the God of the Jews. These are the two great lessons of these oracles to the nations. God is sovereign and rules and has the power to judge nations for their sins. Secondly, refuge is available. It is found among the God of the Jews. As Jesus put it very beautifully to the Samaritan woman, “Salvation is from the Jews.” (Jn 4:22) In order for any of these Gentiles to be saved, they must humble themselves and go to the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and find salvation, find refuge there.

II. The Plan and Power of God Proclaimed (vs 24-27)

The Absolute Sovereignty of God Declared to the Nations

So let’s look, first and foremost, at the plan and power of God proclaimed in verses 24-27. Look again at these beautiful verses, “The Lord Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand. I will crush the Assyrian in my land; on my mountains I will trample him down. His yoke will be taken from my people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.’ This is the plan determined for the whole world; this is the hand stretched out over all nations. For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?” The absolute sovereignty of God is declared to all the nations. God’s name here is Yahweh Sabaoth. “The Lord Almighty,” it’s translated in the NIV. First, the Hebrew word for God, Yahweh, His covenant name, the name by which He revealed Himself in the flames of the burning bush to Moses. It’s the name with which He made the covenant with Israel, and He’s declaring that name to the nations. Sabaoth is literally “of host.” He’s the Lord of Hosts. He’s the commander of the armies of Heaven. He rules over great power, indescribable power. The Lord Almighty. He takes somewhat of an oath stance here. He puts His feet together and puts His hand up in the air and He makes an oath. He swears something here. He’s in an oath stance.

Everything God says is true. God is incapable of lying. He cannot lie. It’s impossible for Him to lie. When He swears, we ought to pay careful attention. For example, when Abraham was willing to offer up his son Isaac, the angel of the Lord spoke from heaven and stopped him. He said, “I swear by myself, …that because you have done this, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed…” (Gen 22:16-18) Or even more seriously, when God the Father swore to His own son. Psalms 110:4 says, “The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind: you are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.” The book of Hebrew says, when the Lord swears something and takes an oath, it’s His way of underscoring that “by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us, may be greatly encouraged.” (Heb 6:18) It’s for the sake of us that God swears His oaths and makes His promises, that we might know that God is sovereign over the nations and that God’s wise plan means our salvation, that we can have forgiveness of sins so we can live with Him forever.

So the Lord swears an oath to the nations. He wants the ends of the earth to know two things. Number one, God has an infinitely wise plan for all nations. And number two, God has an infinitely powerful hand to make it happen. God’s absolute sovereignty is proclaimed here. This is a topic over which many people stumble and fall needlessly. Human sinners, I’ve found, including myself, are tempted. We want absolute freedom. We don’t mind a God who gives us advice and makes recommendations. We don’t mind a God who lets us make our own choices. And we certainly don’t mind a God who’s there to clean up any mess we might make when we make bad choices. That’s the kind of God we’re attracted to. We like that kind of God, but we want the final say. We want to make the final decision. We want the freedom to rule over our lives, and we like to control as much around us as we can. That’s what we do. We like to be as sovereign as we can be.

The doctrine of the power of absolute sovereignty of God is repugnant to the natural mind. But the grace of God has power to transform that view. It’s transformed for me. For me, the doctrine of the absolute sovereignty of God is my only hope over my constantly wandering heart. It’s my only hope that I’m going to end up in Heaven, free at last from the corruption of sin. I trust in the absolute sovereignty of God to save me and to save you too, and to save people from every tribe, and language, and people, and nation, who ordinarily wouldn’t listen to us at all. But because of God’s sovereign hand, He opens up their ears to hear the messengers of the Gospel. I trust in the sovereignty of God. Slowly, as we being to understand and embrace the Biblical doctrine that the Most High rules over the heaven and earth, our hearts are encouraged and are humbled. We don’t trust in ourselves any more. We have security to face the bitterest trials that we’re going to face in our lives.

A.W. Pink talked about how important this doctrine is in his book, “The Sovereignty of God.” He said this, “The sovereignty of the God of scripture is absolute, irresistible, infinite. When we say that God is sovereign we affirm His right to govern the universe, which He has made for His own glory just as He pleases, without conferring with us. We affirm that His right is the right of a potter over the clay, namely that He may mold that clay into whatsoever form He chooses, fashioning out of the same lump one vessel for honor and one for dishonor. We affirm that He is under no rule or law outside of His own will and nature, that God is a law unto Himself, and that He is under no obligation to give an account of His matters to anyone. Sovereignty characterizes the whole being of God. He is sovereign in all His attributes. He is sovereign in the exercise of His power, His power is exercised as He will, when He wills, where He wills. This fact is evidenced on every page of Scripture.”

In other words, to deny the absolute sovereignty of God is to worship an idol, a god who doesn’t really exist. It is to leave us, as Christians, preaching a false gospel, one that will save no one. It is to leave us vulnerable to deep doubts and unneeded suffering during the painful trials of our lives. It is to strip us of the greatest weapon we have for fighting sin, knowing that God’s power is available for us so that we can stand firm and resist the devil. What’s he going to do? He’s going to flee from us. Why? Because we’re so mighty and powerful? No, because God’s sovereignty ordains that if we stand firm, he will run away from us. And it is to deny the clear teaching of the passage we’re looking at today, Isaiah 14:24-27.

The First Assertion: God Has a Plan for All Nations

The first assertion is that God has a plan for all nations. Look at verse 26, “This is the plan determined for the whole world.” What is the plan? It is God’s wisdom, His foreknowledge woven together ahead of time to determine the best course of human history. It’s God’s wisdom in action woven into the events of history. That’s what the plan is. This plan is shown in scripture to be both massive and minute. It’s massive enough to cover the rise and fall of great empires; how long they will reign, how long they will last, and what will bring them down. It’s massive enough for that. It’s minute enough to extend even to the death of a sparrow. Even a sparrow doesn’t fall to the ground apart from the will of God, or the casting of lots into the lap of a child when he plays a game, the rolling of a die. It extends even to minor things like that.

How incredible is the range of the plan of God! Ephesians 1:11 says, “In him, we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will.” It’s a comprehensive plan, and that plan, scripture reveals, was made before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1:4 says, “He chose us in him before the creation of the world.” God does not merely react to human choices and shape His plans accordingly. We are not on plan B or plan C or plan Triple Z by now. We’re on schedule. We’re in God’s plan. And think of this, God has never learned a single thing. He never will. That’ll boggle your mind, won’t it? God has never learned anything, and He never will. Everything He knows, He has always known. He’s not increasing in knowledge or wisdom as He goes on, as He gains experience being God. That’s not the God of the Bible. No. This plan was wise from the very beginning. God took all of His attributes and wove them together in His plan. His plan is a display of His love, of His mercy, of His grace, of His wrath, of His justice, of all of His attributes. It’s all woven into His plan.

God’s plan here in Isaiah 14 is also revealed to be comprehensive and universal, for the whole earth. He’s looked out over all the earth and He’s claimed it as His own. He can rule over it as He chooses. God’s plan extends to every nation on earth. To every nation on earth, He has given evidence of His existence through physical creation. To every nation on earth, He has shown kindness by giving rain and crops and their seasons. To every nation on earth, He has given internally, through a conscience, a sense of His moral law. To every nation on earth, He threatens judgment for sin when we violate our conscience and go against that moral law He has revealed. To every nation on earth, He has sent one man, the savior of the world, Jesus Christ. This is the plan of God. And so, assertion number one is that God has a wise plan for all nations.

The Second Assertion: God’s Omnipotent Hand Will Most Certainly Accomplish that Plan

The second assertion is that God has a mighty hand to make that plan come true. God’s omnipotent hand will most certainly accomplish that plan. It’s not enough to say that God has a plan. We all have plans. Many are the plans of a man’s heart, but it’s the Lord’s purpose that overrules them all. Almighty God alone has the power to make certain that all of His plans will definitely be accomplished. Look at verse 24, “The Lord Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.’” There’s no chance about it. It’s going to happen. And all others beings, Satan, all of his demons, all the kings and potentates and emperors, and even the most minor, insignificant people on the face of the earth, none of them can change God’s plan. Why? Because God has an omnipotent hand to make it so. All of God’s wisdom and love went into making that plan. Now all of God’s omnipotence is behind making sure it happens.

We have two phrases that I have kept in mind, right from the text. “This is the plan.”  ”This is the hand.” There it is, easy to remember. There is a plan and there is a hand behind it, and that’s Almighty God. Things are under control. Both the plan and the hand extend over the whole world. Not just a corner of it, but all the world is under this plan and all the world is under His mighty hand. The hand of the Lord Almighty cannot be resisted. Look at verse 27, “The Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart Him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?” God’s hand represents, then, His power to act in history, to make a difference, to effect a change. His hand stretched out shows that He is moving. He’s not the god of the deists, standing back and watching to see what will happen. He is moving out. He’s making changes. He’s working in history. He says His hand is stretched out and no one can turn it back. We’re all created beings together. Satan and his demons and all human beings, all of their mass, their power together, sought to push God’s hand back. They couldn’t move it a slight bit, for God is omnipotent. No one can stop His hand from extending exactly where He has willed.

III. The Plan and Power of God Applied (v 25)

God’s Eternal Plan Made Up of Small Acts in History

Up to this point, we’ve been speaking of the plan and power of God somewhat in abstraction. Here in this text, it’s applied directly to a certain circumstance, to a situation. Look what verse 24 says, “The Lord Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.’” Then, verse 25, “I will crush the Assyrian in my land; on my mountains I will trample him down. His yoke will be taken from my people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.” God’s plan doesn’t stand hovering up there like a theory. It comes down on the Assyrians here. Now, you might say, “I’m not too worried about the Assyrians.” There’s a reason you’re not worried about the Assyrians. This verse tells us why. They’re gone, but God’s still the same. We can transfer this principle to modern politics and nations. We know that God rules now, as He did then. God’s eternal plan, then, is made up of small acts in history. As a tapestry is made up of single threads, so history is made up of single events. They may seem small to us, but God understands their significance.

God is well aware of the effects of seemingly small things in the flow of history. For want of a nail, the kingdom was lost. He understands that better than anyone. And He’s just as aware of the big moments in history, Waterloo and Gettysburg, and D-Day, all the big events. The rise of Charlemagne, or the defeat of the Muslims in the 7^th century by Charles Martel. He understands what’s happening, how significant these things are. He understands it all.

The Destruction of Assyria Part of God’s Plan

The destruction of Assyria was part of God’s plan. It’s the most significant moment in Isaiah’s lifetime. We’ve talked about it before, we’ll talk about it again. Assyria sweeps down from the north. They bring into exile the Northern Kingdom of Israel. They move down into Judah seeking to take it over as well. They conquer all of Judah, except the city of Jerusalem. They come right to the walls of Jerusalem. But they’re arrogant and boastful. They say, “The God of the Jews is just like all the other gods. Every nation has its gods, like Chemosh, and Molech, and Dagon. And Yahweh would be just another national deity.” Oh! That was a mistake, talking like that, because it motivated God to show His glory. And in the sovereignty of God, it just so happened there was a godly king who knew what to do, and that’s get out of the way. Get down on your face. Be humble and ask God to work and move.

So the Lord sent out the Angel of the Lord. One hundred eighty-five thousand Assyrian troops died in one night. They’re all dead. And the King of Assyria thought it best to leave, wisdom of man. Time to go home and be assassinated by your son, in the temple of your god. You can’t fight God. And that’s what God has ordained. He said, “I’m going to crush the Assyrian in my land. I’m going to take his burden off of my people.” This is the plan determined for the whole world. This is the hand stretched out over all nations. This is what the Lord can do to a mighty empire that boasts against Him. And notice how personally He takes it. Look at verse 25, “I will crush the Assyrian in my land; on my mountain I will trample him down. His yoke will be taken from my people, and his burden removed from their shoulders.” This is very personal for God. He is getting involved to crush the Assyrians. He is defending His people and His promised land.

IV. A Warning to the Philistines: Death is Coming (vs 28-31)

God Speaks to the Philistines a Message of Warning

The chapter ends with a warning to the Philistines. What does that have to do with it? Well, he goes right from this to talking to the Philistines. We’ve talked about the Assyrians. What about the Philistines? Look what it says in verses 28-31, “This oracle came in the year King Ahaz died: ‘Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken; from the root of that snake will spring up a viper, its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent. The poorest of the poor will find pasture, and the needy will lie down in safety. But your root I will destroy by famine; it will slay your survivors. Wail, O gate! Howl, O city! Melt away, all you Philistines! A cloud of smoke comes from the north, and there is not a straggler in its ranks.’” God is speaking to the Philistines here a message of warning. By the way, that alone is evidence of grace. God could just do it. As a matter of fact, sometimes He does just do it. People do just drop dead without warning. It does happen. Nations do topple without a prophet saying ahead of time what’s going to happen. But here, He gives them a warning, speaking to the Philistines through a Jewish prophet named Isaiah. The context, at this moment, was King Ahaz’s death, but I don’t think that had anything to do with it.

The Philistines: Ancient Enemies of the Jews

Who are the Philistines? They’re the ancient enemies of the Jews. You know them. They migrated from Crete, perhaps originally from the shores of the Aegean Sea around Greece. They came down and took a foothold along the shoreline near the land that God had promise to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, on oath. Their land was an alliance of five Philistine lords in the cities of Gaza, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron. They were a thorn in the side of the Jews again and again. They were the bitter enemies that were fought during the period of Judges. Samson was after the Philistines all the time, right up to the time of Samuel. Then King Saul comes along and starts to fight them and has some successes and some defeats. It was a Philistine named Goliath that David defeated, showing his military strength. Then, when David becomes king, he pretty much reduced the Philistines to servitude, and they never really rose to ascendance again. However, they were still there, present on the coast lands, still a factor when Ahaz died.

Isaiah’s Warning: Do Not Rejoice… Death is Coming

Look at the warning he gives. Look again at verses 29-30, “Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken; from the root of that snake will spring up a viper, and its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.” This is a false cause for joy, the death of the rod that struck them. Who is this? I don’t think it’s Ahaz. Though they weren’t necessarily friends, the Philistines and the kingdom of Judah, Ahaz didn’t do much, militarily. He wasn’t the rod that struck them. No, it was Tiglath-Pilesar, the King of Assyria. The Assyrian king. He died the same year Ahaz died.

There was partying in the streets. They’re celebrating and they’re rejoicing that the King of Assyria is dead. Well, meet the new King of Assyria, same as the old King of Assyria. There’s a warning here. Because what has happened is the Philistines, upon the death of the King of Assyria, are sending emissaries, messengers to Zion, to Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah, saying “Join us together in a rebellion, a revolution, against Assyrian power. Join us, and we’ll throw them off. It’s a time of weakness now. You come along with us and we’ll get rid of the Assyrians.” But what does it say here? Don’t rejoice that the rod that struck you is broken. Out of that will come a venomous viper, even more powerful than before, the next King of Assyria. With that revolution, with that revolt, the Assyrians were motivated. They swept down and they conquered the Philistines almost entirely, took over their land, and absorbed them into the Assyrian kingdom. That’s what happened there.

A Cloud is Coming from the North

They should have listened to the warning, because the warning actually speaks of death. Look at verse 30, “But your root I will destroy by famine; it will slay your survivors.” The root is a hope for the future, something that can spring up. But it’s gone forever for the Philistines. Why? Because, as verse 31 says, “Wail, O gate! Howl, O city! Melt away, all you Philistines! A cloud of smoke comes from the north, and there’s not a straggler in its ranks.” It’s a mighty army sweeping down from the north, and they know what they’re doing. “Not a straggler in its ranks” means they are well-disciplined, and they’re coming to destroy you. The Assyrians came down in 711 BC and they reduced the Philistine territory completely and made it a permanent part of Assyria. Verse 30 says, “It will slay your survivors,” that’s what the NIV gives us. Another translation would be “remnant.” They’re all dead. The Philistines would be gone. “I will make the Philistines extinct.”

This is predicted in numerous places. In Jeremiah 47:4, the prophet says, “The day has come to destroy all the Philistines and to cut off all survivors… The Lord is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.” In Amos 1:8, “’I will destroy the King of Ashdod and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn my hand against Ekron, till the last of the Philistines is dead.’ says the Lord.” From this point in Isaiah’s prophecy, the Philistines were never mentioned again. They’re gone. You know very well that you don’t personally know any Philistines. They don’t exist anymore. I think they may have given their name to Palestine, but they themselves were extinct as a people. Why? Because God’s hand was against them.

What a contrast with the Jews. How powerful are the Jews? A weak remnant at this point. As a matter of fact, the Assyrians are coming after them next. That’s why it says in Isaiah 1:9, “Unless the Lord Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been like Gomorrah.” That’s what the Jews say. “If the Lord hadn’t protected us, we would have been wiped out too.” Therefore, Hezekiah, when facing the same Assyrian army, said to Isaiah, “Pray for the remnant that still survives.” (Is 37:4) And so he did. God moved out with His sovereign hand and His sovereign plan and protected a small remnant of Jews. They’re with us to this day, the remnant of the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You know what?  They’re going to be with us right through to the end of time. Why? Because this is the plan determined for the whole world. This is the hand stretched out over all nations, and no one can stop it. It doesn’t matter how powerful their enemies, it doesn’t matter about Nazi Germany or Stalin or any of them. They can organize their plans all they want to try to exterminate the Jews. It cannot happen, because God sovereignly will not allow it to happen. He is upholding the remnant until Jesus returns.

V. An Answer to the Nations: A Refuge for the Afflicted (v 32)

The Answer: Salvation is from the Jews

So what answer should be given to the nations? Verse 32 says, “What answer shall be given to the envoys of that nation?” Well here’s the answer. Here come the envoys. They’re saying, “Join us in rebellion.” Here’s the answer. “The Lord has established Zion, and in her his afflicted people will find refuge.” You’re not going to find refuge in a plan to revolt against Assyria. You find refuge in Zion. Zion represents not just the literal physical city of Jerusalem. It represents God’s saving plan through the Jews. In effect, what He’s saying is, “You want to be safe? Come to Zion.” I think for the Philistines, it literally meant come to Zion and get inside the walls with King Hezekiah; you’ll survive. If any Philistines had believed this message and had literally come into the walls of Jerusalem when the gate went up and they were there, just like Rahaab or Ruth, any of these Gentiles that come and say, “I want to get close to the God of the Jews. Your God will be my God and your people will be my people,” then they’d find refuge there, not in your plans of throwing off the Assyrians.

True Danger and True Deliverance.

The bottom line is that the true danger isn’t the Assyrians. Never has been. The true danger is not another Islamic attack, terrorist attack, on American soil. That’s not the true danger. Nor is it the coming economic crisis, or inflation, or the strength or weakness of the dollar against the euro. It’s none of that. The true danger isn’t heart disease or cancer, AIDS, or diabetes. It’s never been any of those things. It’s not the ascendancy of China in the 21^st century to a position of world dominance. It’s none of that. Those things may happen. That’s not the danger. No, Jesus said it this way, “…Do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has the power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” (Lk 12:4-5) Is there a refuge from this God? Yes, there is. God Himself is a refuge from His own judgment and His own wrath. It says in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, “Jesus rescues us from the coming wrath.” And so God sent His Son, His only begotten Son, Jesus, into this world to carve out a safe place, a refuge. Anyone from any tribe or language or people or nation, including the Jews, can flee to that place of safety, and they can find refuge. They can have their sins forgiven. His blood was shed on the cross that there might be a safe place, a safe haven, for any who trust in Christ.

I don’t know what brought you here today. I think the sovereign hand of God must have brought you here today. If you don’t know Him as your Lord and Savior, you’re under great danger. It says in John 3:36, “The wrath of God remains on you.” This sovereign God who controls and orchestrates everything down to sparrows falling to the ground, you don’t want Him as an enemy. Oh, how sweet it is to have Him as a friend! Oh, how sweet it is to have Him as a savior! You can flee to Christ and trust in Him and know, because of the sovereign hand of God and His plan, that all of your sins will be forgiven. And if you do, if you become a child of God, His hand will take hold of you for good and will never let you go. It doesn’t matter what happens in your life. It doesn’t matter what you struggle with. It doesn’t matter what temptations. If God has taken hold of you for salvation, He will not let you go until you are fully saved.

What is “fully saved?” It means freedom from all sin, freedom from temptation, pure in your heart, in a resurrection body as glorious as Jesus’ resurrection body. It means being in a company of people so great that no one could count them, from every nation on the face of the earth, in the new heaven and new earth, living there forever in happiness and joy. That’s the plan that God has determined for His people. That’s the hand that’s stretched out over all nations, to save a people for Himself. Flee to Christ. Trust in Him.

VI. Application

Meditate Often on God’s Sovereignty and Wisdom

By way of application, I would urge you to meditate frequently on this theme: God is sovereign. His hand is stretched out. His plan is worked out to the ends of the earth. Everything’s on schedule. Though you may not understand it, God has actually chosen this universe as the best possible universe to display His glory and His attributes. You may not understand the suffering, like that of a 19-year-old that dives into a lake, hits his head, and dies. You may not understand that. I don’t understand that. But I know this, God has never learned anything and God is loving and compassionate, and this world is not all there is. We can trust in Him to take us into heaven to live with Him forever. We don’t need to fear the rise and fall of the nations. That’s all under control. God knows what He’s doing. Therefore, stand in awe of what God is doing.

Stand in Awe Over What God Has Done with the Jews

Finally, if I can say this one last thing, stand in awe over the fact that the Jews still exist. The Philistines are gone. The Moabites are gone. But the Jews are still with us. Why? Because God’s gift and His calling are irrevocable. God’s plan is to save the Jews at the end through faith in Christ. It’s an amazing thing. Even a staunch unbeliever like Mark Twain said, “I have no explanation for how it is the Jews are still with us.” Nations come and go, but the Jews are still with us. Well, I have an explanation for it. This is the plan determined for the whole world. This is the hand stretched out over all nations. Close with me in prayer.

Pastor Andy Davis preaches a verse-by-verse expository sermon on Isaiah 11:1-16. The main subject of the sermon is how Christ's kingdom starts out small, but will become glorious and great.

- SERMON TRANSCRIPT -

This morning, we are looking at Isaiah chapter 11. And it's a good time for it too, because this is the season of grandiose promises, and of visions of a glorious future, because it is a season of a presidential campaign. And it is amazing to listen to all of the promises that are made by the candidates, whether of major parties or minor parties. You really ought to make a list of all the things that are in our immediate future. It's looking quite bright, isn't it? And the fact of a long history of broken campaign promises, not necessarily by these candidates, but just by presidential candidates in, for example, the 20th century, doesn't dim those hopes at all.

For example, in 1916 Woodrow Wilson promised to keep the United States out of World War I. And by 1917, we were fighting in World War I. Or in 1928, Herbert Hoover, or at least his campaign around him (I think he later said he never promised any such thing) promised a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage. He did promise to eradicate poverty. That was in 1928. You know that what happened in 1929 and the depression that followed put an end to that promise - hence the denial by Herbert Hoover.

Or then Franklin Roosevelt's pledge in 1932 to maintain balanced budgets and to decrease government spending by 25%. You can find out whether that happened or not. Or then his pledge in 1940 to keep the United States out of World War II. Or how about Lyndon Johnson's famous promise to win the war on poverty through his Great Society? Someone once said of his presidency that, “He fought a war on poverty and poverty won.” But at any rate, there was a grand and glorious vision of a future society free from poverty. Or Richard Nixon's pledge to get the United States out of the Vietnam War. When pressed on details, he implied that there was some kind of a secret plan. No one was ever sure what the secret plan was. I don't think it included Watergate, his near impeachment, and then the fact that in 1975, finally, we ended, and got out of Vietnam. 

Or George H W Bush's pledge, "No new taxes, read my lips." Very famous. Of course, at the same time, he was promising to maintain government programs, social programs, and to keep a balanced budget. You can find out how well all of that happened. And so we are in the middle of a presidential campaign, and you are going to hear things like, oh, an end to global warming, or a victory in the war on terror, or the ability to get Republicans and Democrats to work completely together with no discrepancies, or contradictions, or problems whatsoever. Who knows what they are going to promise? It sounds good to me. But as I look at history, I am a bit skeptical. And as I read Isaiah 11, I am yearning for that kingdom to come, and for Christ to reign. But I still think it's fascinating how much we yearn for this kind of thing, and how much we want a glorious future promised to us, and actually fulfilled.

I think no myth or legend has been so strong as the legend of Camelot. You remember King Arthur, the English king of lore and legend, who was a wise and righteous man, powerful and mighty in battle with his sword Excalibur, who gathered around him a bunch of gallant Knights of the Round Table, who carried themselves with great dignity, and wisdom, and defended truth, justice, and I guess the British way, at that particular moment. This was a vision of Camelot, of a perfect society, and it extended even in nature, at least in the 1960 musical called "Camelot." There was a song whose lyrics are very well known, and this is what was decreed for Camelot, according to the musical anyway:

It's true! It's true! The crown has made it clear
The climate must be perfect all the year

A law was made a distant moon ago here
July and August cannot be too hot
And there's a legal limit to the snow here
In Camelot

The winter is forbidden till December
And exits March the second on the dot
By order, summer lingers through September
In Camelot

Camelot! Camelot!
I know it sounds a bit bizarre
But in Camelot, Camelot
That's how conditions are

The rain may never fall till after sundown
By eight, the morning fog must disappear
In short, there's simply not
A more congenial spot
For happily-ever-aftering than here
In Camelot

It is a vision of peace, even extending to nature, of a righteous king who reigns righteously on a throne, of all the people around him doing what is good and right and just - a vision of perfection. And you know what is so amazing? According to scripture, it is too good not to be true. It's too good not to be true, because this is exactly what God has promised us through Jesus Christ. Now, what I think he is doing here in history is letting it be seen plainly that, apart from Christ, and apart from the direct intervention of almighty God, it cannot happen. And so we get to see one form of government, one presidential campaign and rule after another fail, ultimately, so that the ground may be cleared for Jesus Christ, and for the reign of the Messiah on the Davidic throne. And that is the vision that we have in front of us.

 I. The Humble Beginning of Christ’s Rule

 Humble Beginning: A Branch from A Stump… Israel like a Felled Tree

And it begins humbly. Look at verse one. It says, "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit." This testifies very plainly to the humble beginnings of Christ's rule, or the rule of the Messiah. Now the image of a stump is one really of hopelessness. There is just nothing left, it seems, of the Davidic line - nothing left of Judah. It is very humble. It says in Isaiah 6:13, "As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the land." There is an indication of a termination, but then there is still a vitality to the roots. 

Branch: Living Image…

Israel's promise, then, is of a future restoration and glory to come. The branches are of a living image. The shoot that comes up from the stump of Jesse and a branch bearing fruit, are of a living image. Yes, these are small beginnings, but there is hope for a glorious, a bright future. It reminds me of Isaiah 53, that incredible picture of Christ crucified and resurrected, the fruit of which goes and extends to the salvation of the nations. And this is what that prophecy says at the beginning. Isaiah 53:2, "He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground." Again, we see the idea of sterility, of nothing left of Israel, everything laid low, seems to be nothing going on, and out of it comes life. A branch comes forth and this is the Messiah.

And the Messiah is truly Jewish. "Salvation is from the Jews," as Jesus said to the Samaritan woman (John 4:22). The lineage is focused on David, although David isn't mentioned here. Rather, there is a step before that to David's father, Jesse, showing the humble origin even of David. And as you look at the kings in this Davidic line, the kings of Judah have fallen, and it seems, on very hard times. We already have Ahaz, a terribly wicked king who sacrificed his own son to Molech. And after the exile, once the exile comes, there are 14 generations of obscure men who are listed in the genealogies of Matthew and Luke, but we don't know anything about these men. There is nothing significant about them at all, except that God knows that they are in the lineage, from which ultimately will come the Savior of the world, this fruitful branch that is going to come.

So it seems for 14 generations as though nothing is coming. Nothing can come from Israel. Nothing can come from the stump of Jesse. But don't you believe it, because the promise has been given concerning David, that one of his descendants will reign on the throne forever. And so we have already seen this fruitful branch. Isaiah 4:2 says, “In that day the branch of the Lord will be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land will be the pride and glory of the survivors in Israel.” I can't hear that prophecy or this one here in Isaiah 11 without thinking about Jesus' analogy in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 

And so here is this fruitful branch, Jesus Christ, coming up from the stump of Jesse. The branch is the Messiah. Jeremiah 23:5-6 says, “‘The days are coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness.’” Oh, any of you who sit there righteous in God's sight today, you can say, "Amen!" to that. The Lord is our righteousness. Jesus is my righteousness. I have no other hope. I am a sinner. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. What righteousness do we have, apart from this gift from the righteous branch? He is our righteousness. He is the perfect King. And this is the perfect title for the coming King, because we want to be in his Kingdom. We want to be included, and it is going to be a new heaven and a new earth. 2 Peter 3:13 calls it “the home of righteousness.”  How can I be there, except that the Lord give me a gift of righteousness? “The Lord Our Righteousness” - that is the branch.

 II. The Divine Power of Christ’s rule (vs. 2-3)

 “Messiah” = Anointed One, Oil Symbolized Holy Spirit

Then in verses 2-3, we see the divine power of Christ's coming rule, the power of the Lord on him to bring it about, to make something out of nothing, to make this branch come forth, and then that Jesus would reign in this kind of righteousness and power. Look at verses 2-3.  It says, “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord - and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.” Despite these humble origins from Jesse, despite this humble origin, yet there is supernatural power in this branch. He is the Messiah.

Now, the word “Messiah” means “anointed one.” And you know that the Davidic kings, in order to be identified as the king, would be anointed by a prophet, or perhaps by a priest. A horn of oil would be poured down on their hair, and it would come down, and trickle down on their beard, or on their hair, and drip down like this. And it was a symbol, a picture, I believe, of the endowing of that Davidic king with the Holy Spirit of God, that the Spirit would come on this individual, and cover him, and enable him to reign wisely and justly.

You remember that Saul received that anointing from the prophet Samuel. And the Spirit of God came on him in power, and so it was said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” (1 Samuel 10:11). It was a surprise. Nobody really expected it. But you know also that things turned in Saul's ministry and the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. We know also that the Spirit of God came on David in power, Saul's successor. But then when David sinned with Bathsheba, he was terrified in Psalm 51:11 where he said, “Do not… take not your Holy Spirit from me,” concerned that the Spirit would leave. And it was a good concern. But this Messiah, this Davidic king, he would be saturated with the Spirit of God. He would be completely covered with the Holy Spirit of God. It says in Isaiah 42:1, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will bring justice to the nations.”

“Seven - fold Spirit” – Revelation 1:4-5; 3:1; 4:5

Now, as we look at Isaiah 11:2, there is this picture of a sevenfold aspect of the Spirit of God, sevenfold. There are three couplets, three times two, and then the statement, “Spirit of the Lord.” So that adds up to seven. There is a sevenfold aspect or ministry of the Spirit of God here. It reminds me of the dedication of the book of Revelation. And in that dedication, dedicated to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and given from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, there is mentioned there the sevenfold or “the seven spirits before his throne” (Revelation 1:4). So we have a mention of him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and the sevenfold Spirit before his throne, and Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness. This is the trinitarian picture there in Revelation 1. I think this is an insight, perhaps, into what that means - the sevenfold Spirit or the complete Spirit of God. 

And so the complete Spirit of God is going to rest on the Messiah, the Spirit of the Lord, “the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (verse 2). All of this is endowment for reigning, for ruling well. 

You remember the story, of course, about young king Solomon, when the time came for him to take up the mantle of leadership of the people of God, from the greatest king they ever had, David, his father, how daunting that was. And how the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and said, “Ask whatever you wish and I'll give it to you.” And how Solomon, humbly, I think, asked for wisdom to be a wise king, that he would reign over God's people with wisdom. And God was clearly pleased with that request and gave him not only greater wisdom than any man had ever seen up to that point (so great, by the way, that people traveled long distances to just listen to his proverbs, and to talk about science and agriculture. Anything they wanted to talk to the king about, he seemed to have all the answers.), but not only that, God also blessed him with glory and honor and power and prestige, unlike any king there had ever been up to that point.

But do you remember what Jesus said about him? He said the Queen of the South “came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon's wisdom, and now one greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42). Jesus's wisdom is infinitely greater than that of King Solomon. He was the perfect God, and therefore perfectly endowed with wisdom, through the Spirit of God, to be a righteous king.

Now, look what it says, speaking first and foremost about the Spirit of the Lord, that he is endowed with the Spirit of God. This is the third person of the trinity, the Holy Spirit, and Christ was saturated with the Spirit of God. Especially Luke, I think, brings this out. Luke 4:1 says, “Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where… he was tempted by the devil.” And then at the end of that time of tempting, in Luke 4:14, it says that “Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit.”

By the way, I've often thought about that. The Alpha and the Omega of Jesus's time of testing is a full endowment with the Spirit of God. Oh, that I might always both enter and leave a time of testing filled with the Spirit of God! Both enter and leave that time of testing filled with the Spirit of God. Jesus did that always. He was completely covered with the Spirit of God. And after that it says he went to Nazareth, and as his custom was, he went to the synagogue. And the opportunity came for him to read the scripture. And he opened up to the place in Isaiah where it is written, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me” (Luke 4:18). “I am anointed with the Spirit of God.” He is claiming to be Messiah, because after that reading he says, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (Luke 4:21). He is claiming to be Messiah, the Anointed One, anointed by the Spirit of God. And so he was.

But it goes on beyond that, not just the Spirit of the Lord, but also the Spirit of wisdom and understanding. Wisdom means that he knows God's character. He knows God's purposes. He knows the right end and the right means to the end. He also shows good understanding. The implication there is more at a human level. He understands man's character and purposes. Jesus had a special perception, an ability to see into people's hearts, and know who they were, and what they wanted. It says in John 2:24,25 that “Jesus knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.” And in the chapter before that, in John 1:47, he sees Nathaniel coming toward him and says, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” In whom there is “no guile” (NASB). There is no trickery in his heart.

And Nathaniel is amazed. he said, "How do you know me?" he said, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you” (John 1:48). I just looked at you and I knew you. Now, that's Jesus. He is endowed with the Spirit of God, to just know people, to know their hearts. It also says he is filled with “the Spirit of counsel and of power” (Isaiah 11:2). His decisions show practical wisdom. He knows all the proverbs of Solomon and could add 1,000 besides. He knows how to live in this world. And there is also power in Christ. All of that wisdom would mean nothing, if he didn't have the power and the authority to make it happen, to make it stand, to deal with the wicked of the earth.

So Jesus has this perfect combination as a king, wise counsel and total power. And so Matthew 28:18 says, “All authority in heaven and in earth has been given to me.” Or it says in Ephesians 1:22 that “God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church.” 

And the final couplet is he is filled with “the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord” (Isaiah 11:2). “The fear of the Lord,” it says in Proverbs 1:7, “is the beginning of knowledge.”

Delighting in the Fear of the Lord

It's an amazing thing to meditate on Jesus, delighting in the fear of the Lord. And so he does. What an odd combination – “To delight in… fear” (Isaiah 11:3). He himself feared the Lord, and he always did what was right. It was the origin of his perfect wisdom as well, but he also delighted in it. He loved the fear of the Lord. It brought him great joy to walk in the counsel of the fear of the Lord.

And he loved bringing that about in other people. Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). He delighted in that. He loved that path. And the path was to take sinners like you and me, rebels whose hearts are hard, who are not in any way characterized by these couplets, and to take out our foolish and wayward hearts that do not fear the Lord in any way, and give us instead,a fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom, and the heart of flesh to submit to God's wise rule, to love it, and embrace it for ourselves. He delights in that. It brings him joy to do that to you and me. He delights in bringing fear of the Lord into my heart. He delights in it completely. That was his life's pleasure.

III. The Absolute Justice of Christ’s Rule (vs. 3-5)

So there, Jesus is described for us. He's characterized. He is fit to rule. Amen? He is going to be a good king for us. Look forward to him. Put your hopes on him, not on some candidate. I'm not saying, “Don't be involved in the political process.” I'm just saying, “Put your hope in Jesus,” because he is the only one endowed like this, to reign and to rule so wisely. And look at the justice of his rule. Isaiah 11:3-5: “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.”

Human Judgment: Fleshly and Sense-driven

Here, we see a very clear contrast between the rule and the judgment and justice of Jesus, and that of human judges and kings. Human judgment is fleshly and sense driven. There are fleshly motives, such as earthly gain, and power, and prestige, and personal prejudices. There are fleshly methods also. In contrast to Jesus, they do judge by what they see with their eyes, and they do decide by what they hear with their ears. What else can they do? What else can they do? For man looks at the outward appearance, but it's God alone who can look at the heart.

And then there is the fleshly manner in the way they carry themselves in authority. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 20:25, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.” It's just the way they carry themselves. Just like in Matthew 23 with the scribes and Pharisee. They love the flowing robes, and they love to be greeted in the marketplace, in the seat of honors, and all of that kind of thing. That's not Jesus' nature, the pomp and circumstance of it all. 

And perhaps, worst of all, throughout history are those fleshly miscarriages of justice. The innocent condemned, the guilty set free. It's happened again and again. I was reading some time ago of a case concerning this man, Tyrone Gamble, October 25th, 1997. He was arrested for a crime he didn't commit. He willingly gave a blood sample for a DNA test. The sample wasn't sent until 46 days later, waiting for a sample from the victim. Three months later, mid-March, the lab conclusively showed that Mr. Gamble was innocent of this crime. But the county police couldn't reach the state attorney general until a month after that. Finally, in mid-April, six months after the start, Gamble's case was thrown out. Gamble, who had been a poor man, sat in prison that whole time, unable to pay the bond to get out. Well, that's a small case. What about executions? What about other things that have happened again and again? The innocents condemned and the guilty set free. It's happened again and again. That will not happen with Jesus as the judge. It cannot happen.

Christ’s Judgment

Of course, the real danger for us is we are all guilty. We'll get to that in a moment, but the cross of Jesus Christ is the only answer to that one. But Jesus doesn't decide in a fleshly manner. There is justice to his reign, straight through. “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness, he will judge the needy, with justice, he will give decisions for the poor of the earth” (Isaiah 11:3,4). He is able to search the heart, just like he did with Nathaniel, to know whether there's guile and trickery or not. “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:13). And so he knows exactly what he is doing.

Even Jesus' own enemies acknowledged this. You remember, when his enemies came up trying to trick him, and they said to him, the question about taxation, “Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” (Mathew 22:17).  They wanted to kill him with that one, if they could. But they come with this fawning kind of introduction. “‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we know you are a man of integrity and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. You aren't swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are.’” (Matthew 22:16). That's it. Even his enemies could see that. He wasn't swayed by men, not intimidated. He is not fooled. He is not tricked. He judges by what he sees inside his heart. He judges by righteousness and perfect judgment, not by what he sees with his eyes. And so righteousness is the foundation of Christ's throne.

Righteousness: The foundation of Christ’s Throne

Verse 5, “Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness, the sash around his waist.” The righteous motive of the glory of God. Jesus said in John 5:30, “My judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.” So Jesus' motive, as we talked last week about the Assyrians' motive, Jesus' motive is the glory of God in judgment.

The second righteous motive here is the benefit of the poor and needy. “He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice, he will give decisions for the poor of the earth” (Isaiah 11:4). Now, Judah’s judges, at this point, wickedly oppressed the poor, and they used their positions of power to do it. In Isaiah 3, we've already seen this. Verses 13-15: “The Lord takes his place in court; he rises to judge the people. The Lord enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: ‘It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses. What do you mean by crushing my people and grinding the faces of the poor?’ declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.” Very concerned about this. But Jesus uses his position to benefit the true poor.

Now here, I believe we must look to the New Testament to interpret who the poor are. I don't believe this is speaking ultimately of a socioeconomic situation. Jesus began the Sermon on the Mount with these words: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3). Those are the ones that benefit from his reign and from his rule, the poor in spirit. The Greek word “poor” is “ptochos,” a beggar, a spiritual beggar. Now, that could be a rich man or it could be a poor man.

Now, we know from 1 Corinthians chapter one that not many are wise or influential, or of noble birth. Not many are the rich and wealthy of the world. James 2:5 says God has “chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith.” But the same thing obtains: rich in faith, spiritual beggars. These are the ones that Jesus defends, the ones who know that they have no hope before such a judge, no possibility of surviving judgment day, unless God Almighty moves on their behalf. Those that beg him for salvation, that plead with him by faith, that he would give it to them as a free gift, those are the ones whose judgment he will benefit. 

And look at the righteous power behind this judgment, the rod of his wrath, with which he will strike the earth. Jesus is the Word of God. He is the great I Am. And when he strikes the earth, it shakes. He has great power. Revelation 19:11-16 gives us a picture of the second coming of Christ in glory and power. 

“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.”  

That is the coming savior. That is the coming king, the one predicted here in Isaiah 11. With justice, he judges and makes war. And every single human being, every single person, man, woman, and child who is sitting in this sanctuary today, listening to me, every single one of us will appear before Jesus concerning our lives. Every last one of us.

Christ, Our Final Judge 

Let that sink in for a moment. Someday you will give an account to Jesus for your life. In John 5:22,23 Jesus said this: “Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.” Jesus said in Matthew 25:31-33, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.” And to the sheep, he will give them something none of them have deserved, and they know it: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).  And to the goats, he will give them what they truly deserve: “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41). It is Jesus who will do that. It is his judgment that decides.

And so we see in Revelation 20:11-12, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small.” That's all of us, friends. “I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.” What will you do on that day? How will you survive that perfect judgment? His eyes are like blazing fire. How will you survive when the books are open, and you have to give an account for every careless word that you have spoken? Your only hope is that your name is written in the book of life, that through simple faith in Christ, all of that guilt, which we readily acknowledge through the convicting work of the Spirit of God, all of that guilt could be lifted from us, and put on our substitute, on Jesus Christ, and he'd be crushed under the righteous weight of God's wrath and his judgment for our sins. 

This holy and righteous one, who never committed the least sin, that he would stand in our place, and take all of that wrath on himself. Someday you will stand before him and give an account for your life. Will he say to you, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father, blessed freely with a gift of forgiveness, because while you had time, when there was still an opportunity, when it was the day of salvation, you looked by faith to me, and you asked that I would save you, that I would give you my righteousness as a free gift, and I did. And you were confirmed in that with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and in that righteousness, you sought to walk the rest of your life. And therefore, I will cover all of your sins, all of them with my blood, and I will accept you into my kingdom.” Will that be you? Or will you hear those dreadful words, “Depart from me, you who are cursed” (Matthew 25:41). Will you receive what you truly deserve, justice meted out by God, based on his law in eternal punishment? 

I beg you, I plead with you, come to Christ. This is the day of salvation. We are still in it now. The sun came up this morning. We don't know that it will come up tomorrow. We don't know. God will teach us eschatology, friends. We don't know what he plans. We have ideas. We have indications from scripture, but he will come when he comes. Are you ready? Are you ready today, to face the judgment?

 IV. The Perfect Peace of Christ’s Rule (vs 6-9)

 Human Government – Constant Strife

Now, in verses 6-9, we come to the perfect peace of Christ's rule. Now, in human governments, we see constant strife, one government striving after another for world domination. Within each government, jealous officials striving, petty turf battles one after another, human sin and corruption rife, straight through. But there is also strife between the human race and nature itself. I went back to the cursing of the ground back in Genesis 3:17. God spoke to Adam and said, “Cursed is the ground because of you.” Can you imagine hearing that? “Cursed is the ground because of you.” What you did. “Through painful toil, you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you” (Genesis 3:17,18).

It says in Romans 8:22, “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth, right up to the present time.” It's groaning, waiting to “be liberated from its bondage to decay” (Romans 8:21). Death, cycle of death, and food chain. I saw a DVD set my mother gave me as a gift, the Discovery Channel on the planet earth. There are lots of jarring scenes in it. Lots of violence, and there was no warning talking about the violence. It was natural violence though. It was a pride of lions getting after a baby elephant. Thankfully, they cut it off before it got really gory. But it's really dangerous out there in the world. It's dangerous because of us, because we have sinned, because nature is not at peace with itself. There is corruption and there is a cycle of violence. Things are being destroyed.

Now, Messiah's rule is going to bring perfect peace, vertical peace with God Almighty, and then horizontal peace with other created beings, and with nature itself. And that, I believe, is predicted here in this passage, a very famous passage. It says, “The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:6-9). 

Interpretation Difficulties… Is This the Millennial Kingdom of the Eternal State?

Now, this is a difficult passage to interpret, if what you're asking me is, “Is this the millennial reign?” Now, what do we mean by the millennial reign? The millennial reign is a 1,000-year period spoken of in Revelation chapter 20, after the second coming of Christ, when the devil is bound up and cast into a pit for 1,000 years. And some are, it seems, resurrected, and will reign with Christ for 1,000 years. It speaks of the 1,000 years six times in those verses.

 And in the flow of that book of Revelation, it's after the second coming of Christ, in that passage I just read, Revelation 19, before the new heaven and new earth of Revelation 21, before the great white throne judgment that we've already talked about this morning. There it is, this 1,000-year period. All different theories on it, my friends, all different theories. I'm not going to get into them this morning. But let me say this, in this passage itself, there is one indicator, I think, that this is referring to something short of the new heaven and the new earth, the final eternal state. But whether you accept that difference or not, it doesn't make a difference, because I believe that these things will literally be fulfilled at some point in the future, either in the millennial reign, or in the new heaven, and the new earth.

Therefore, I do not spiritualize the details here. I don't think we ought to do that. I think we ought to look at them and say this is precisely what Jesus is going to come do. And what a glorious picture of his power, isn't it? Now, what is that one verse? Well, the mention of infants, the mention of children. I don't really know how that fits with Jesus' statement, “At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like the angels in heaven” (Matthew 22:30). I have a hard time finding procreation in the eternal state. And so, therefore, there is an indication, in terms of the infant playing near the hole of the cobra, and the young child putting his hand into the viper's nest, this speaking of something short of the final eternal state. Even more difficult, friends, is Isaiah 65:17, which says, “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth.” And a few verses later, it's talking about people who don't live out their years, and if they die at 100, they'll be thought of as young men. I'm saying, “Wait a minute. I thought there would be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain in the new heavens and the new earth.” There it gets very complicated and difficult.

My View: This is Speaking of the Full Effects of Christ’s Reign… Including the Millennial Reign on Earth 

So, what do I make out of it? I think that there will be a millennial reign, a 1,000-year reign of Christ on earth. I respect those that don't see that. I respect them deeply, as long as they're faithful to the text and have biblical reasons for doing it. But I think there's a physical aspect to Christ's future reign. And I think that he is actually going to have the power to change the nature of animals so that they don't rip and tear anymore, and so the wolf can lie down or live with the lamb. Their essential nature can change. Does not Jesus have that kind of power? Aren't you counting on that? Do you want to go to heaven and spend eternity in your present state? I sure don't. I want my essential nature finished. I don't just want work-in-progress - “Please be patient with me. God isn't finished.” I want him to finish me. I want to be perfect as he is perfect. I want that transforming power. I want to yearn for righteousness and have it actually fulfilled. I want to eat a feast of righteousness for all eternity. Don't you?

And so, yes, he has this kind of power. He can change wolves. He can change lambs. He can get lions to eat straw like an ox if he wants to. He has that kind of power. And yes, a little child can lead them, and an infant can play near the hole of the cobra. Even the physical snake, hijacked, I think, by that ancient serpent Satan (Revelation 12), can be taken back by God. The snake hijacked for Satan’s wicked purposes, cursed as a result. Even he, the snake, the viper, can be reclaimed and no longer harmful on God's holy mountain. Jesus has that kind of power. And I'm counting on that, aren't you? I'm counting on him to change me and to change this world. And I'm looking forward to that. That's the kind of reign that he has.

V. The Universal Reach of Christ’s Rule (vs. 10-12)

Now, look at the universal reach of Christ's rule in Isaiah:10-16. I'm going to read verses 10-12: “In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of his people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea.” Look at Verse 12: “He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.” This is the assembly of the people of God, to spend eternity in the presence of this Messianic king, and they include both Jews and Gentiles from the ends of the earth.

Banner for the Nations, a Regathering of the Exiles of Israel

It's a powerful thing. First the Gentiles, that Root of Jesse. He is going to stand as a banner for the peoples and the nations will rally to him. These are Gentiles and they're coming to Jesus. That era is going on right now, the gathering of the Gentiles. And why? Because God said to him, God the Father said to God the Son in Isaiah 49:6, “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” And so the Gentiles are coming to faith in Christ. They're going to stand under the Messianic banner of Jesus, and you are going to say, “He's my king. He's my savior,” this Jewish king, this descendant of Jesse. “He is my king” Christ, the rallying point, lifted high and exalted, he will draw all nations to himself. This is all about missions, friends. It's about the advance of the gospel to the ends of the earth, from Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth. When the Spirit of God comes, he will gather the elect, the chosen people from all nations of the earth, and they will be people from every tribe and language and people and nation. They will stand around that throne. 

Glorious Rest!

And it says, “His place of rest will be glorious” (Isaiah 11:10). Oh, it's a place of rest. You are going to enter into God's rest, and there you will rest from all of your labors, just as God rested from his (Hebrews chapter 4). And yes, it's going to be glorious. Revelation 21:10,11: “He carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.” Oh, his place of rest is going to be glorious. It's going to be beautiful.

Jewish Restoration

But there is also a word here of Jewish restoration. It says, “The Lord will reach out his hand a second time” (Isaiah 11:11). Don't miss that detail. The first time was the physical regathering, I think, under the time of Ezra and Nehemiah, and the rebuilding of the temple at that point. That was the first time that the scattered people of the Jews were regathered. But there is going to be a second regathering.

You could spiritualize it and say that this second regathering is just the success of the gospel among the Jews. But frankly, Romans 9-11 says that most of the Jews aren't believing in Christ. There is just a small remnant that have come to faith in Christ, and that's somewhat of a regathering around Jesus. But I believe that there is a far more glorious regathering yet to come. He is going to reach out his hand a second time, at the end of time, while it's still time, and he is going to gather the Jews through faith in Christ. “They will look on… the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child,” Zechariah 12:10 tells us. And he is going to reclaim them, and bring them, it says, “From the four quarters of the earth” (Isaiah 11:12). “And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: ‘The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them, when I take away their sins’” (Romans 11:26,27). That is what Jesus is going to do to his own people. And he will take away that veil that covers their face. And they will see, at last, Christ in their own scriptures, and they will recognize who the Messiah is, and they will look to Jesus, and they will mourn, but it will be tears mingled with joy because, finally, at last, they have assurance that their sins are forgiven through the shed blood of Christ.

And Jesus will gather all of the Jews to himself, he who said, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together” (Matthew 23:37). That's his yearning. He wants to gather them, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, “But you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’” (Matthew 23: 37-39). But at the end, they will finally say to Jesus, this descendant of Jesse, “Blessed are you, the one who came in the name of the Lord, who died for me and for the Gentiles, and we all now stand under one banner, the banner of Christ.”

Verses 13-16 talk about the final effect of that transformation:

“Ephraim's jealousy will vanish, and Judah's enemies will be cut off; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile toward Ephraim. They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder the people to the east. They will lay hands on Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to them. The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind he will sweep his hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that men can cross over in sandals. There will be a highway for the remnant of his people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt.” 

The great power of God, even greater than happened during the time of the Exodus, that's the language here. Even greater than that, he is going to deliver his people from bondage to sin, and they are going to come to Christ, and they are going to believe in Christ. And the enemies of the people of God will be crushed and destroyed - I believe that's referring to the second coming - as he swoops down on the enemies of Israel and crushes them, finally, and they are gone forever.

Summary: All God’s Chosen People from both Gentiles and Jews to be Gathered into Messiah’s Kingdom

And so all of God's chosen people, from both the Gentiles and the Jews, will be gathered together into one kingdom, and there they will live forever and ever. That's our future.

 Why settle for politics? Why settle for a candidate? Look to Jesus for your true hope. That's where we are heading. We are heading toward a glorious kingdom with a king worth worshipping, who will not disappoint us in any way. Verse 12: “He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; he will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth.”

 VI. Review and Application

 What we have seen

Well, what have we seen? We've seen the humble beginnings of Messiah's rule like a shoot from a stump. We've seen the divine power of Messiah's rule, the sevenfold Spirit of God saturating Jesus. We've seen the absolute justice of Messiah's rule, not a fleshly justice, but righteous. We've seen the perfect peace of Messiah's rule, heart transformation resulting in eternal peace, even extending to nature itself, a transformation of nature that only God could do. And we've seen the universal reach of Messiah's rule, both Gentiles and Jews rallying, being regathered around this one banner. 

How should we then live?  

How then should we live? Well, first of all, don't judge God's work by external appearance. The shoot comes up from a sterile stump. It seems like nothing is going on. Learn not to judge a ministry, or a person, or a family by external appearance. Trust in the Lord. Do what is good and right, and let him produce the fruit. Plant good seeds, water them with your tears, and with prayer, and let him do the work. Don't judge it by external appearance. God is at work and he is bringing this kingdom about. Look forward to the perfect reign of Christ. And if God in his wisdom chooses first a millennial reign, short of the eternal state, and then second, eternity, in which these conditions will obtain, praise God. And if he decides to just skip the millennial reign, and go right into the eternal state, none of you who are there enjoying it will complain, I assure you. You'll be delighted and happy to be there. But look forward to it. Feed your minds with it. Put your hope on it. The future is gloriously bright. And allow the sevenfold Spirit of God to saturate your lives, as he saturated Christ's life.

John the Baptist said, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire” (Matthew 3:11). Allow Jesus to saturate your day with the sevenfold Spirit of God. And if you lack wisdom, go to Jesus and say, “Send forth now your Spirit of wisdom. I don't know what to do in this situation. I don't know what to do. My husband. My wife. I don't know what to do with my boss, with my employee. I don't know what to do with my financial situation. I don't know what to do with my child. I don't know what to do here, Lord.” Like Jehoshaphat said, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you, [O Lord]” (2 Chronicles 20:12). Look to him, and ask him to give you this kind of wisdom that we talked about today, and delight in the fear of the Lord. Fear him and obey his commands. Walk in his ways. Don't play loose with grace and think that because you're covered in grace you can live however you want. He still upholds his commands. Live in the fear of the Lord. Delight in the fear of the Lord and be blessed in that.

And finally, take part in that regathering. It's going on, praise God.  Pray for the missionaries that your church supports, for both their internal journey of sanctification and the external journey of the advance of the gospel.  And pray for others that you know, that aren't connected with your church, but you know they're doing good ministry of regathering both Jews and Gentiles brought into the Kingdom. Get involved in that.

Pastor Andy Davis preaches a verse-by-verse expository sermon on Isaiah 10:5-34. The main subject of the sermon is that God evaluates the motives of His creatures without difficulty.

- SERMON TRANSCRIPT -

Introduction

The Bible is a constant amazement to me. I’m constantly in awe of this book. To me, it’s like the ocean. I picture my little children sitting in their colorful bathing suits right at the edge of the ocean, splashing in its rippling, foamy water, making little sandcastles, and just kind of playing there at the edges, never imagining the depths there really are in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. They are just happy to be there and sit at its edges.  In the same way, the Bible speaks of simple truths that they can understand. There is a God. God is love. God loves you. God will take care of you. God will protect you. God sent His Son. Jesus died on the cross for you. Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. These simple things are right at the edge. And we can enjoy these things, and we can learn them right away, as soon as we become Christians. They never change. They are a source of eternal joy and security to us. But the Bible has a lot more to say than those kinds of things.

The Bible talks about milk doctrines that are really easy to understand. Then the Bible talks about meat, things that are more difficult to understand. This passage, Isaiah 10, brings us into deep waters today. I think about the depths of God’s counsel when the Apostle Paul was seeking to explain in Romans 9-11 about the difficult problem of why it was that the Jews were rejecting Christ, their own Messiah. He gives a multifaceted answer the depths of which would take us forever to plumb. It is very deep. He talks about eternal predestination. He talks about the Word of God going out to the ends of the earth and that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. He talks about a remnant chosen by grace and saved by faith. He talks about olive trees and branches grafted in. He gives us this mystery that all Israel will be saved. Then he makes this incredible statement, “God has bound all men over to disobedience so that He might have mercy on them all.”

After making all of these very deep statements, he says, “Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgment, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36) And so we come to a deep and difficult topic today. It has to do with this: how does the sovereignty of God overrule events in human history in such a way that God uses the wicked actions of evil people who do not know Him? He uses them to bring about gloriously good ends, then turns and judges those people for doing the very thing that He decreed that they would do. How is that fair? How is it just that God sovereignly overrules these kinds of actions? His decree is before the foundation of the world: the wicked actions will most certainly happen, and then He will judge them for doing it.

Think about the complicated case of Judas Iscariot. The night before Jesus was crucified, they were there at the Last Supper. Matthew 26: 21-25, “And while they were eating, he said, ‘I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.’ They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, ‘Surely not I, Lord?’ Jesus replied, ‘The one who has dipped his hand into the bowl with me will betray me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born!’ Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, ‘Surely not I, Rabbi?’ Jesus answered, ‘Yes, it is you.’ “

It’s astonishingly deep. Jesus said He would be betrayed by one of His disciples, and that it would happen just as it had been written. He pointed to the decree of God even before the foundation of the world. But then He goes on to say, “Woe to the man who does it.” Judgment is going to come down on the individual who does it. It would have been better for him if he had never been born. Well, how then was he born? Why was he born? Who knit Judas together in his mother’s womb? Who gave him breath? How do we understand these things? How is it just for God to judge Judas for doing the very thing that He decreed he would do? My answer to that is that I don’t fully now. I really don’t. It’s deeper than I can fathom. But I believe that Isaiah 10:7 gives us a glimpse of the truth of how God does it. Our passage today helps answer this difficult question. The key verse, I think, is verse 7. What does the evildoer intend in what he does? What are the purposes of his heart? What is he thinking when he does it? It is on these bases that God judges him. He is not judged based on what God intends nor what glorious principles can come out of the evil things that we do. What are our intentions? What are the purposes of our heart? That is what God is studying on Judgment Day.

God’s Surprising Messengers: The Assyrian Army

Assyria: On Mission from God?

Look at verse 7, “This is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind,” “He” being the Assyrian. “His purpose is to destroy.” Now in our passage, Isaiah calls Assyria “God’s rod of punishment for Israel.” He sends Assyria to punish Israel. Then He turns and punishes Assyria for doing it. How is this fair? How is this just? This is the meat of today’s sermon. This is what we’re going to take the rest of the morning to try to understand. God has these surprising messengers, the Assyrian army. Look at verses 5 and 6, “Woe to the Assyrian, the rod of my anger, in whose hands is the club of my wrath! I dispatch him against a people who anger me.” Assyria on a mission from God? Isaiah plainly addresses the Assyrian in the singular, representing the Assyrian king, I think, and through him, symbolically, the whole nation. He is portrayed, amazingly, as being on a mission from God. He is called “the rod of my anger,” of God’s anger. He wields “the club of God’s wrath.” Clearly, he is sent by God. Look at verse 6, “I send him. I dispatch him.” He is the sent one, sent by God himself. He is dispatched. The Hebrew word means “to command, to lay a charge or a commission upon.” So God has a work to do against his own people.

The Shocking Mission: Destroy Israel

Later in the same text, in verse 22, it says “Destruction has been decreed.” This is a very strong word. In verse 23, “The Lord, the Lord Almighty will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.” This is the decree of the Almighty God, this destruction. But it’s the Assyrian who is going to do it. The Assyrian is going to carry out this decreed destruction. Look at verse 12. God has a work to do against His own people. “When the Lord has finished all His work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem.” This is the work of the Lord, this work of judgment against Mount Zion and Jerusalem. It’s a shocking mission then, a mission to destroy Judah, to destroy Israel. Look at verse 6: “I send him against a godless nation. I dispatch him against a people who anger me, to seize loot and snatch plunder, and to trample them down like mud in the streets.” God has ordained the destruction of Israel and the devastation of the promised land. God dispatches these wicked, violent Assyrians to trample the Jews down like mud in the streets. Why? Because Israel has forsaken the covenant of God for centuries. God is slow to anger, but time is up for Judah, for Jerusalem, and for the people of God, for Israel. Even more shocking is the assessment of Israel as a godless nation, an atheistic nation.

The Even More Shocking Assessment of Israel: A Godless Nation

He calls his own people a godless nation. Why? Because they had turned their backs on their God to worship those who were no gods at all, who really didn’t exist. Isaiah 45:5 says, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; apart from me, there is no God.”  They just don’t exist, these gods. The Yahweh that they thought existed didn’t exist either. The one who’s happy to share Israel with other gods didn’t exist either. So they are a godless nation. They don’t worship the true God, therefore they worship no God. Israel had exchanged the true God for idols of gods who were no gods at all, who didn’t even exist. Therefore the horror of it was that Israel had become a godless nation.

God’s Even More Surprising Message: Woe to Assyria!

Judgment is coming for doing precisely what God sent them to do

The even more surprising message from God, in verse 5, is “woe to the Assyrian.” Judgment is coming on the Assyrian. Why? For doing precisely what God told them to do. This is exactly what God had sent them to do, and now He’s going to judge them for doing it. Look at the judgment declared in verse 12: “When the Lord has finished all his work against Mount Zion and Jerusalem, he will say ‘I will punish the King of Assyria for the willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.”

The Key Issue: “What He Intends”

One of the Most Important Principles of the Bible

God has sovereignly ordained, commanded, sent, and dispatched Assyria to do a certain thing: to destroy Israel for their godlessness, for their rejection of the Mosaic covenant. God then turns on Assyria and punishes them for doing the precise thing He sent them to do. How can He do this and be just? How is this the God of love and the God of justice and righteousness that we worship in the Bible? Look at verse 7. The key issue is what he, the Assyrian, intends. What is he thinking as he does it? Verse 7 says, “This is not what he intends, this is not what he has in mind; his purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations.” This is one of the most important principles in the Bible concerning judgment day. We need to internalize this principle. We need to understand what God is teaching us here. God is sovereign over the evil actions of godless people like the Assyrians. He uses them to do His will. Thank God for that! The world is not spinning out of control. God knows exactly what He’s doing. Nothing that any evil man or nation can do thwarts Him in any way. God actually uses their actions.

Central Issue: Why do you do what you do?

God orchestrates the flow of their evil actions and their evil intentions for His own sovereign purpose. God also weighs their hearts at every turn in the road. He’s staring at the human heart. And in these verses the issue is the motive of the Assyrian that God brings to judge Israel. So here we come to it, the central issue of motive. Why do you do what you do? What motivated you to come to church today? Why did you do it? Why did you get in the car and come? That took a great deal of effort and energy. For some more than for others, to get a family in the car is the big achievement of the week. It is a great deal of effort. Why did you do it? Why do you give someone a compliment? Is it genuinely to build them up, or is there flattery involved? Are you trying to get something back from them? Why do you do it?

Why did you choose the car you chose to drive? Now some of you may say, “I didn’t choose that car. That car chose me. And I’m stuck with it.” That may be. But still you have choices in the matter. Why do you spend your time the way you do? Every hour, every minute of the day, why do you do what you do? Why did you put an offering in the plate? Why did you not put one in? What’s going on in your heart? God studies this extremely carefully. It matters to Him immensely. In 2 Peter 2, it says, “With the Lord a single day is like a thousand years.” He carefully studies every tick of the clock, every inclination of the heart, every glance of the eye. He’s aware of everything you’re doing. God looks at motive.

God’s Motive: His Glory in Human Salvation

What are God’s motives? What is God’s motive in history? What is He about? Well, His motive is His own glory in the salvation of a multitude of sinners from all over the world. That’s what God is doing. He is glorifying Himself by saving sinners.

God is going to orchestrate history for His own purposes, according to His wise purposes for His own pleasure, so that He might be glorified in saving sinners. That is what He is doing. So God can bring an earthquake on a community and accomplish many different things at once. But they all tend toward the same: His glory and the salvation of sinners. The death of a stubborn rejector of the gospel in that earthquake may bring final judgment and wrath as well as a warning to those that still live. In the death of a Christian in that exact same earthquake, He may be bringing a Godly person to his eternal reward so that he doesn’t have to suffer any more pain in this wicked world. God escorts the Christian right through the earthquake and into His presence. In that same earthquake, a surviving non-Christian, seeing the devastation around him, may come to his sense and flee to the cross and Christ at last, finding forgiveness as he sees everything that he cared about fall apart.

A surviving Christian from that earthquake may be learning some lessons about idols that have been in his heart, or about the brevity of life, or the need to be more passionate about evangelism. God may be doing all of that through one earthquake. God is at work always to glorify Himself in everything He’s doing through the salvation of sinners. Isaiah 43: 6-7 says, “Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” Sons and daughters of glory from the ends of the earth, created for His glory, redeemed for his glory, and preserved for His glory, will be resurrected for His glory. We will live for His glory in all eternity. That’s what He is doing. That is His motive.

Assyria’s Motives Displayed

Vicious Cruelty

But what about the Assyrian? What’s going on in his heart? What are his motives? They are put on display here in the text. We can find out what he’s thinking about, and it’s not the glory of God. That’s not what he intends. That’s not what he has in mind. He’s not thinking about the glory of God and the salvation of people all over the world. That’s not it. He’s not concerned about the glory of God at all. He’s concerned about his own glory. He’s building an empire. Those motives are put on display. Verse 7 says, “His purpose is to destroy, to put an end to many nations.” The Assyrians simply enjoyed viciously crushing other people. They just enjoyed it. They were implacably cruel.

Arrogant Empire-Building

It says in Nahum 3, “Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims! The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses and jolting chariots! Charging cavalry, flashing swords and glittering spears! Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses.” That was Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian empire. Implacable cruelty, that’s what is in their hearts, as well as arrogant empire building. In verse 8 he says, “Are not my commanders all kings?” “My commanders are all kings compared to you. I am a king of kings. They’re all kings.” In verses 9 and 10, he talks about the countries he’s conquered, “Places I’ve been, people I’ve seen, people I’ve killed and murdered and trampled down like mud in the street.” Let’s recount them in verses 9 and 10, “Has not Calno fared like Carchemish? Is not Hamath like Arpad, and Samaria like Damascus? As my hand seized the kingdoms of the idols, kingdoms whose images excelled those of Jerusalem and Samaria.” You have your idols too; they’re just not very good. They’re low class idols. The better idols were in the countries I’ve already conquered. In verses 13 and 14, he says, “I removed the boundaries of nations, and like a mighty one I subdued their kings.” He’s talking like a god. Do you see that? You see the lust of power, the delight of domination, of being in charge, of extending the empire as far as it will go, as greedy as the grave. It was like taking candy from a baby, taking eggs from a nest. No problem. He could do it again in a heartbeat. He could do it any time.

Covetousness

There’s also covetousness here. Look at verse 13, “I plundered their treasures.” Ah yes, the gold and the silver, the costly stones, the brocades of silk, the works of art, and all of the stuff in each of these kingdoms; I got it. It’s in my treasure house now.

Pride of Heart, Self-Worship

And of course, above all, pride of heart and self-worship. “I can be a god,” at least for a little while. In verse 12 he speaks of the “willful pride of his heart and the haughty look in his eyes.”  In verse 13, he says, “By the strength of my hand, I have done this, and by my wisdom, because I have understanding.” I’ve got strength. I’ve got wisdom. I’ve got understanding. I can do anything. There’s arrogance here. The Assyrian is in love with his own wisdom, his own power, and his own understanding. He marvels at his self-achievement.

Missing Motive: God’s Glory

It never enters his mind that God enabled him to do it all. It never occurs to him to fall on his face and give God the glory for everything he’s achieved. “For in Him, we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) “You did not give honor to the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.” (Daniel 5:24) These thoughts never entered their minds, though there was ample evidence for the existence of God all around them every day in the physical glory of creation. So that’s the motive of Assyria’s heart. And God’s going to judge him for it. He’s going to judge him for his motive, for why he did it.

Assyria’s Judgment Described

Human Arrogance Over God is Insanity

Look at the judgment described in verses 15-19 and also 24-34. We see first this parity of human arrogance over deity. It’s insanity. It’s insane to boast against God. Look at verse 15, “Does the axe raise itself above him who swings it, or the saw boast against him who uses it? As if a rod were to wield him who lifts it up or a club brandish him who is not wood!” Which is greater, the club or the one who wields it? “You’re nothing. You’re a club. You’re a chunk of wood. I raised you up for a purpose,” He’s saying. “And you’re boasting against me!” God absolutely despises that kind of pride. Assyria is merely a tool in his hand. But at the very gates of Jerusalem, the Assyrians boasted directly against God himself.

Listen to one of the underlings of the King of Assyria. Remember when he said, “Are not all my commanders kings?” Well, they sure act like it. One of these underlings comes and arrogantly boasts in the hearing of Hezekiah and that tiny little remnant of Judeans that are left inside the walls of Jerusalem. This is what he says, “Do not let Hezekiah mislead you when he says, ‘the Lord will deliver us.’ Has the god of any nation ever delivered his land from the hands of the King of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they rescued Samaria from my hand? Who of all the gods of these countries has been able to save his land from me? How then can the Lord deliver Jerusalem from my hand.” (Is. 36: 18-20). Ooh.

I said this morning in Bible for Life that it was Hezekiah’s one little glimmer of hope when he heard those words. He said, “Did you hear what he said? Of course, God, you heard what he said. It may be that God will hear the words of the underling of the King of Assyria that he sent to despise the Almighty God and will judge him for it.” Well, that’s precisely what God does! The Lord gave a response through Isaiah the prophet. Speaking to the Assyrian, “Who is it you have insulted and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! By your messengers you have heaped insults on the Lord.” (Is 37: 23-24). And now you will die for it.

It’s actually insane! We’re created beings. Our very atoms are held together by the power of Almighty God. This is the God who holds our lives and all our ways in His hands. Death stands over all of our achievements to sweep them into dust. But God is enthroned above the heavens, ruling over all the nations. Isaiah 40: 12-15 says this, “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? Who has understood the mind of the Lord or instructed him as his counselor? Whom did the Lord consult to enlighten him, and who taught him the right way? Who was it that taught him knowledge or showed him the path of understanding? Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket; they are regarded as dust on the scales; he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.” That’s the One that the Assyrians boasted against.

Specific Judgment: Wasting Disease, Dead Soldiers, Single Day

So God’s going to send a specific judgment on the Assyrians. He tells them ahead of time what it’s going to be, right here in Isaiah 10. This is where you find out what happened that night. This chapter tells you how they died. It’s going to be a wasting disease. It’s going to be dead soldiers. It’s going to happened in a single day. He’s very plain about it. That’s what God does. He tells you ahead of time what He’s going to do, and then He does it to His own glory. Wasting disease, sturdy warriors, a single day. Keep that in mind. That is what He says He’s going to do.

Look at verse 16: “Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will send a wasting disease upon his sturdy warriors; under his pomp a fire will be kindled like a blazing flame.” When I read that I think of the fire of fever, like they’re burning up. “The light of Israel will become a fire, their Holy One a flame; in a single day it will burn and consume his thorns and his briers.” It’s a burning image there. Verse 18: “The splendor of his forests and his fertile fields it will completely destroy, as when a sick man wastes away.” He’s telling them what He’s going to do. They’re going to die from a wasting disease. Verse 19, ”And the remaining trees of his forest will be so few that a child could write them down.” He’s speaking of his army. It’s one of the most dramatic moments in the whole Bible, a striking moment. Arrogant Assyria, is right at the walls of Jerusalem, ready to conquer that city, and the Lord sends out the Angel of the Lord. THE Angel of the Lord.

More Descriptions of Judgment

In many places in the Old Testament, it’s pretty evident that the Angel of the Lord is equal to God Himself. The pre-incarnate Christ does the work as He will in Revelation 19 with the sword coming out of His mouth. And so He comes. Listen to the account in Isaiah 37:36, “Then the Angel of the Lord went out and put to death one hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning there were all the dead bodies!” In a single day. “A single night.” Isaiah 10:17. Dead. 185,000 of them. And the remaining soldiers were so few that a child could write them down. I don’t know how many that is, but it’s not many. It’s just enough witnesses of what happened that night. That’s what happened. Isaiah 10 explains how it happened. He struck them with a wasting disease and they died quickly. More descriptions of the judgment are in verses 24-34. It’s very dramatic. He says in verse 25, “Very soon my anger against you will end and my wrath will be directed to their destruction.” You’ll see what will happen. It will be like the day he struck down Midian. Remember Gideon? In a single night they were dead. It will be like the Red Sea crossing, when the water crashed down on Pharaoh’s army and they were destroyed in a single night. Like that, the army will be wiped out.

Verse 28 describes their progress. They’re coming in now. They’re going to invade. The Assyrians are coming. This is like a travel log. This is a campaign, a military campaign. They enter Aiath. They pass through Migron. They store supplies in Michmash. They go over the pass and say, “We’ll camp overnight at Geba.” Ramah, then Gibeah, then Gallim, and Laishah, and Anathoth, and Madmenah, and Gebim. It’s city after city, falling, falling, falling, falling. The water of the Assyrian river is going to come right up to the neck, city after city. But then they’re going to halt at Nob. That’s within sight of Jerusalem. They’re going to get close, and they’re going to shake their fists at the mount of Jerusalem, at Mount Zion. Why? Because they couldn’t get in there because the Lord stopped them short. He cut them off.

Effects: Assyria Loses an Empire

In verses 33 and 34, “See, the Lord, the Lord Almighty, will lop off the boughs with great power. The lofty trees will be felled, the tall ones will be brought low. He will cut down the forest thickets with an axe.” Interesting. At the beginning of the chapter, Assyria was the axe in God’s hand. At the end, they’re the tree. God’s got another axe and He’s going to chop them down. Lebanon will fall before the Mighty One. What are the effects? Assyria loses an empire. That’s what happened. They lost an empire. Very soon Babylon, under Nebuchadnezzar’s father, would rise up, come up the Fertile Crescent, and topple Nineveh in fulfillment of Nahum’s prophecy. Then Assyria is gone from the pages of history. They lost their empire because God will it so. Because they refused to glorify God, they fell from the height of glory

Israel’s Future Foretold: A Remnant Will Return

Remnant Chosen by Grace

What about Israel’s future? It’s summed up in this one phrase, “A remnant will return.” Thanks be to God for the remnant, because the Jews should not imagine they were any better than the Assyrians. They weren’t. Neither are we. Remember, I’ve said again and again that the danger in the book of Isaiah is thinking, “I’m different from the sinner that’s being described by Isaiah. That’s not me. I’m not like him. I’m not like the Assyrian, shaking my fist at God. I’m nothing like that. I would never do anything like that. I’m one of the good ones. I’m King Hezekiah kneeling down and humbling myself. That’s what I am.” I’m saying it’s dangerous to read it that way. Instead, God speaks of a remnant chosen by grace. That’s who is going to return. Look at verse 20, “In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down, but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel.” Verse 21, “A remnant will return.”

A remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. “Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand by the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overwhelming and righteous. The Lord, the Lord Almighty, will carry out the destruction decreed upon the whole land.” Is 10:22-23. God’s going to bring an overwhelming destruction on Judah. Most of the people will die by the sword, famine, or plague. Most of them will die. Some of them will be exiled. And seventy years later a tiny remnant, 40,000 plus, will be allowed to come back and resettle. It’s the remnant chosen by grace. Isaiah has already mentioned this in Isaiah 1:9, “Unless the Lord Almighty had left us some survivors, we would have become like Sodom, we should have been like Gomorrah.” In other words, Isaiah is saying that we’re no different than Sodom and Gomorrah. We’re the same. We are sinners. We deserve the same wrath. Isaiah is going to mention this remnant again in Isaiah 37:31-32, “Once more a remnant of the house of Judah will take root below and bear fruit above. For out of Jerusalem will come a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.”

Key Characteristic: Trust in the Lord

Paul mentions the remnant of the Jews. In Romans 9 through 11, where he’s describing why the Jews have almost universally rejected Christ as their messiah, Paul says, “It’s not universal. I’m a Jew and there are Jewish Christians. There are Jewish believers in Christ.”  “So too, at the present time, there is a remnant chosen by grace.” (Rom 11:5) That is what he is dealing with here, a remnant. A key characteristic of that remnant is trust in the Lord. Look at Is 10:20, “In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of the house of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down.” That’s the Assyrian. Remember how Ahaz turned to Assyria for hep? He’s looking to Assyria for help, a bad idea. Isaiah says they are not going to rely on Assyria any more for help. They are not going to rely on Babylon or any gentile. They are going to rely on the Lord. They are going to truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. This is the heart of the matter: the faith of God’s people. They had many false trusts, many false hopes. They had been trusting in idols and the idols couldn’t save them. They trusted in Assyria and Assyria came to destroy them. But now at last, finally, they will have learned their lesson. They will trust in the Lord alone, for He alone can save.

In the same way we also have many false trusts and hopes. There are many things we turn to and think are going to deliver us and save us. We are constantly drifting back toward our own good works and achievements and the basic essential good nature of our hearts. We think we’re essentially good people until the scripture lays us bare, and life lays us bare, and we start to see who we really are. The Lord works in us the same thing He was working in His people: humility and trust in Him and in Him alone. We can trust in our righteousness. We can trust in our technology, in our medical community and all of their achievements and research. We can trust in our wealth. We can trust in our military prowess. We can trust in all kinds of things as a nation and as individuals. But this remnant trusts in the Lord alone, for He alone can save.

God’s Judgment: Overwhelming, Righteous, Restrained

So the judgment is coming: overwhelming and righteous, but restrained. It says in I Peter 4:17, “For it is time for judgment to begin with the family of God.” If it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the Gospel of God? It is a basic principal concerning judgment. The more you know of God’s will and His word and disobey anyway, the more deserving of punishment you are. But where does that put us as 21^st century American Christians? We have the Old Covenant. We have the New Covenant. We have Christ’s death on the cross as a matter of history. It’s already happened. We have his resurrection. We have the outpouring of the spirit. We have twenty centuries of church history and the fulfillment of all of Christ’s promises concerning the advance of the Gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. We have more knowledge of God’s word and redemptive history than any generation that has ever lived. Therefore, our sins are all the more severe. I Peter says, “It is time for judgment to begin with the family of God.” If it starts with us, what will be the outcome for those on the outside who don’t even know Christ?

This passage calls on me to repent. It calls on me to say, “What are the motives of my own heart?” God is bringing this judgment and it comes with surgical precision. It’s overwhelming. It sweeps across, but it stops right were it needs to. You’ve heard of the expression “collateral damage.” In World War II, there were bombing raids day and night. The bomb sites really weren’t that accurate. The bombs weren’t that accurate, and wind could blow them off course. Basically, they just laid cities low. London, Dresden, Tokyo, city after city, just laid low, completely wiped out. That’s what they call collateral damage. Nowadays, we pride ourselves in our advanced laser-guided smart bombs. You can watch, in the first Gulf War, a bomb go down an air intake in a modern skyscraper and say, “We can minimize collateral damage.” But there are still images of hospitals that are in rubble and that kind of thing. We can’t get rid of it.

Christ’s True Deliverance

Israel’s Experiences a Spiritual Lesson

There’s no collateral damage with God’s judgment. There is none. The wages of sin is death. The sinner deserves to die, every one of us. So this judgment that comes is overwhelming and righteous, but it’s also restrained. God saves a remnant. Do you find yourself there in the remnant that was saved by grace? This is the only deliverance there really is: Christ’s true deliverance.

True Oppression: Sin’s Crushing Yoke

It says in Is 10:27, “In that day their burden will be lifted from your shoulders, their yoke from your neck.” The real crushing burden, the real yoke, is sin and hell and judgment day. That’s the real burden on our shoulders. We can’t throw it off apart from Christ. Thanks be to God that Christ has come and that Jesus died on the cross to take our yoke on Himself! The yoke of wickedness, and evil, and sin, and the wrath that it deserves, He takes that judgment on Himself. He offers us a lighter yoke: His kingly rule.

Application

He says, ”Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30) That’s what He offers to you. It may be that you have never trusted in Christ and that God brought you sovereignly here today to hear the Gospel, to hear that God sent His son. He lived a sinless and perfect life. He died a bloody death on the cross as a substitute, not for His own sin, because He never committed any, but for our sins. All we need to do, as in the text, is trust in the Lord alone to save us from our sins. That is the Gospel.

If you’ve already come to Christ, then understand a few things from this passage. First of all, God uses the Godless to accomplish His purposes, and everything’s under control. He knows what He’s doing. It may seem unfair. It may seem like the tyrant has ascended for a while. Bu God is always watching and assessing their motives. Always. Even a tyrant, by the way, like Nebuchadnezzar, can repent and turn and believe in Christ. In 1 Timothy 2, Paul wants prayers to be offered for all kinds of men, including kings and those in authority, because God desires all men to be saved. So we can pray for kings and we can believe that God can actually turn their hearts. But He is watching the motives of their hearts at every moment. It is not unjust for God to use Satan and then judge him for it, for God to use Judas and judge him for it, for God to use the Assyrian and judge him for it. It’s not unjust because He is testing the motive of their hearts.

So, what about your heart? You’ve already come to faith in Christ. That’s fine. Is there any value to today, Sunday? Is there any value to tomorrow? Does God have any good works for you to do? Does He want you to live a certain way? Well guess what? He’s going to be searching your hearts and your motives as well. And on judgment day, you’re going to have to give an account based on your own motive, your heart motive. It says in Matthew 5:16, “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven.” That should be your motive. Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. That should be your motive. 1 Corinthians 4:5 says, “Judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.” Romans 14:23, “…Everything that does not come from faith is sin.” What’s your motive? What’s going on inside your heart for everything that you do?

If you give to the needy so that you can be noticed and praised, Jesus says, “you’ve already received your reward in full.” If you pray so that everyone will say, “Boy, your prayers are just awesome. I love it when you pray,” Jesus said, “You already have received your reward in full.” If you volunteer for Urban Ministry or come to HOPE For Durham so that you’ll be noticed by other people, so that you’ll be praised by them, or because you’re single and you’d like to meet someone, you ought to be aware that God is aware of why you do what you do. Say, “Test my heart oh God, and show me why I do what I do. I want to study myself. I want to know what my motives are.” Because that’s going to be the topic on judgment day. By the way, if you do some specific thing, and then you’re disappointed by people’s reactions to the thing you did, what was your motive? Pride is at the heart of it.

Now, I recognize that there’s a little selfishness and self-centeredness in everything we do. All of our gold and silver and costly stones will have to be refined by fire. Thanks be to God, He will do it. He sees the motive of the heart. It says in Revelation 2:23 (this is Jesus speaking), “I am He who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.” My final word of advice to you is this: be humble when God chooses to use you. Live for the glory of God and have this attitude: “What is Apollos? What is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed. Apollos watered, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who makes things grow.” (1 Cor 3:5-7) Close with me in prayer.

Pastor Andy Davis preaches a verse-by-verse expository sermon on Isaiah 9:8-10:4. The main subject of the sermon is learning to fear the righteous and holy wrath of God.

- SERMON TRANSCRIPT -

I. Introduction

One of the most sober responsibilities I have as a preacher of the word of God is to urge you to flee from the wrath to come because there is a wrath that is coming. One of the greatest joys of my ministry is to tell you that there is a place to flee to. The cross of Jesus Christ is a safe sanctuary from the wrath of God. One of the saddest thoughts in my mind now as I come up to preach is that there are some that are going to hear me today that will experience the wrath of God for all eternity. I don't know who they might be but I preach with that in mind today, that there may be some listening to me today that will experience the wrath of God for all eternity in hell. And a great joy that I have is to think that many who listen to me today are free from the wrath of God, and for them there is no condemnation and they will spend eternity in the presence of God and not suffer his wrath. And so it is a mixed ministry that I have today, because our text today speaks of the anger of God and of his wrath. And for me as a pastor, I have to think what words can I use to make that day, the day of reckoning, so vivid in your minds that you deal seriously with it. What words could I use?

 This was a problem for a pastor, a visiting pastor who was in a pulpit in Enfield, Connecticut in 1741 while revival fires were sweeping over New England, and really all over the American colonies. But not every community was experiencing the revival. It had passed by Enfield, Connecticut. As they came to church that day to hear a guest preacher, they were laughing, joking, lighthearted, with no sense of seriousness, no sense of the presence of God, just goofing off as they came into the sanctuary and sat down to hear Jonathan Edwards preach Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, one of the most famous sermons in all history. His text that day, Deuteronomy 32:35 (KJV) was, "Their foot shall slide in due time." In other words, just because you haven't seen the wrath of God or the judgment of God on sin yet doesn't mean it isn't coming. And his doctrine was this: there is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell but the mere pleasure of God, and the God who keeps you out of hell is angry with you for your sin. Speaking of the wicked, of unregenerate people, that was the doctrine.

It is a very famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, and it is a troublesome view of God to people in the 20th and 21st centuries. They fight against it. They deny that it's true, and they write little poems and they study it in high school literature classes as though it were some strange thing from a bygone era, like opening up some kind of time capsule with a strange aroma that wafts up out of the time capsule. How could it really be true? And so one clever poet wrote this about Edwards and Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. This is what she wrote:

And if they had been taught aright,

Small children carried bedwards

Would shudder lest they meet that night

The God of Mr. Edwards.

Abraham's God, the Wrathful One,

Intolerant of error -

Not God the Father or the Son

But God the Holy Terror.

Well, that's a clever ditty. But it fails to deal with the question: is the reality of the wrath of God that Edwards was preaching about true? Is it really going to happen? Is there in fact going to be a judgment day? Is there in fact going to be a hell where the reprobate will spend eternity suffering the torment of God? Is that true or not?

And if it were true, how could a preacher, like Edwards or like me, craft, if that's the right word, words to awaken his hearers to the seriousness of the issue. What kind of words would you use? But that sermon has taken hold in American imagination. Some years ago, we saw the Disney movie Pollyanna. I don't know if you remember that. Hayley Mills plays a little optimistic girl who goes through a trial and her optimism is tested. But earlier in the movie, she sits through a sermon by Reverend Ford, played by Karl Malden, and he used this phrase almost taken exactly from Sinners in the Hands of Angry God, and he makes the chandelier shake as he preaches. I don't think I could do that today.  I don't know how I would do that or to what effect, but he did it. And the people were just looking like they wanted to be ill and one man walks out and a horse neighs and he says, "Exactly" to the horse. Kind of mocking. So afterwards, Hayley Mills, Pollyanna, finds Reverend Ford out in the field as he is practicing yet another such sermon. And she says, "Do you know that my father," who is a missionary, "my father told me there are over eight hundred happy verses in the Bible. Why don't you preach one of those?" And he actually is transformed and then he says, "That's enough for sixteen years worth of preaching on the happy texts in the Bible."

Well, listen, I think it's marvelous to preach on a happy text of the Bible. I love one in particular. How about this one? Romans 8:1, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Is that a happy text in the Bible? But what does it mean if you don't know what condemnation is? What does it mean to be saved if you don't know what you're being saved from? And therefore paradoxically, some of the happiest people on the face of the earth are Christians who have stared down biblically into the doctrine of the wrath of God and found escape through faith in Christ and they are forever free and joy-filled and happy. There's a happy text for you.

But happy text or not, I want to know, is it true? And if it is true, how can a preacher awaken the consciences of his hearers to deal seriously with the doctrines there? Is this an archaic view of God, a mythological view of God that God is angry, passionately angry about sin and that he will act on that anger in acts of judgment? Is God angry with the human race? Is he angry with sinners? And if you look in the text, four times we see a reference to God's anger and wrath connected to Israel's sin: 

• Look at chapter 9 verse 12 - "Yet for all this,” it says, “his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised."
• Isaiah 9:17 - "Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised."
• Isaiah 9:21- "Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised."
• Chapter 10 verse 4 - "Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised."

It's as if Isaiah is saying, God's wrath is not so easily extinguished. Even after all of that judgment, there is still more to come. It is a relentless, terrifying force, inescapable were it not for the cross of Christ. Isaiah is saying to Israel, "Yes, God has struck you and he isn't finished yet. There is still more to come." That's what he is saying again and again.

Now for us as Christians, I believe you really can't have the true joy of the Lord without understanding the doctrine of the wrath of God and of hell. You will not rightly esteem what Jesus did for you if you don't stare down into this doctrine and understand it. You will not give him the glory that he deserves for taking your cross up that hill and dying under the wrath you deserve if you don't study this doctrine. And so, amazingly, great joy, happiness, and security come for the Christian in studying this.

But what of the non-Christian? You are on my mind. I don't know who you are. Your faces tell me nothing of your status before God. I don't know who you are, you who are lost, who have come here today for whatever reasons. I don't know who you are, but I warn you to flee the wrath to come because there is a wrath to come. And I tell you the good news, there is a place to flee to and it is the cross of Jesus Christ. That's the sermon.

II. The Wrath of God: Pure, Holy, and Perfect

Not the God of the Greeks: Emotionless and Detached

Now this is just a historical prophecy set in the midst of Israel's history, but it teaches a timeless transcendent lesson that God is passionate, he is angry about sin. And there is a place to flee to, and that is Christ. So we look at the wrath of God. It is pure. It is holy. It is perfect. He is not the god of the Greeks, the philosopher god. The stoics posited a god completely incapable of being moved to emotion. Emotions, passions, they thought, were derived from the animal nature and beneath pure deity. Aristotle spoke of the unmoved mover, a god who causes great passions in others but is himself never moved to passion - the unmoved mover. One scholar put it this way: the god of Aristotle is little involved in the world. It would have been a sign of inferiority and imperfection for him to be so. This is the reflective, typically Greek attitude: to be affected by something external to yourself is a sign of weakness. This, however, is not the God of the Bible. Our God is a passionate being. He is shown to be emotional all the time.

Let's start with the joy of God and the salvation of a single sinner. Start there. It says in Luke 15:10, "In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." You know, that is in a cycle of parables: the lost sheep, the lost coin, the lost son (what we know as the prodigal son). And in the midst of that, in all three of those parables, the one who has lost something and then who exerts effort to find what's lost is the one who does the celebrating. And he or she in the parables might invite neighbors to come and celebrate. But the one who is doing the celebrating is the one who lost something and then sought and found it again. Who is that, but God? And therefore, who is the one rejoicing in that verse, Luke 15:10? "There is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents." Well, that is God who is rejoicing. He is celebrating. And how often every day, every twenty-four hours, does he celebrate over a single sinner who repents and turns to Christ? Oh, he must be a joyful being constantly seeing therefore a single sinner who repents and comes to faith in Christ.

So there is joy. Zephaniah 3:17 pictures a very emotional God who rejoices over his people with singing. Zephaniah 3:17 says, "The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing." Oh, what a picture - God singing over you! Who am I that God should sing over me? Well, if I ask that question, I haven't understood the gospel of grace. It's not who I am. It's who he is that he would sing over people like us. Oh, the grace and the love of God! But he is an emotional being. There are many other emotions ascribed to God in the Bible. For example, compassion - the Lord is gracious and compassionate. That means he is moved by the feelings of others. Grief or sadness or distress is ascribed to God. Isaiah 63:10 speaks of the sin of the Jews and says, “… they rebelled and grieved his Holy Spirit.” So God is capable of grief. Or longing - Isaiah 30:18 says, "The Lord longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion." It is an emotional being we serve. And he has other emotions as well, but the issue here is the issue of anger or wrath.

God Involved and Passionate

 Therefore, God is involved in human history and he is passionate about his involvement. It means something to him. And that passion includes anger over sin. Listen to Psalm 18:7-13. “The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. Smoke rose from his nostrils; consuming fire came from his mouth, burning coals blazed out of it. He parted the heavens and came down; dark clouds were under his feet. He mounted the cherubim and flew; he soared on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him- the dark rain clouds of the sky. Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced, with hailstones and bolts of lightning. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded.”

Slow to Anger… But Overwhelming When It Comes

Now I think we have trouble with a picture of the wrath and the anger of God because of how easily we get angry. We get angry for prideful reasons, or when we are inconvenienced, or things like that. When we don't get a pleasure that we like, we get angry. God is nothing like that. God's anger is pure and holy. And the scripture reveals again and again that God is slow to anger, very slow to anger. But the anger, Isaiah 9 and 10, is overwhelming when it comes. There is nothing a human being can do to stop it when God pours out his wrath. Very powerful. And God is slow to anger. Exodus 34:6, “He passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, ‘The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.’” But once that anger comes, there is nothing we can do to stop it. He is the only one who can stop it.

I remember when I was working as an engineer and making a machine called an ion implanter. It had a big, heavy wheel that spun around really fast, and I needed to have a way to brake it to stop it quickly. So we set up a test with a big thousand pound steel wheel and a big motor, and this brake mechanism. I'll never forget the first test of the brake that was inadequate, watching the wheel start to turn slowly at first, a little more quickly, a little faster, faster, faster, really fast now. I mean, it was flying, a blur, this big thousand-pound steel wheel going so fast it was blurring. When they engaged the brake, the thing just exploded. We were behind a protective wall, thank goodness. But that was an inadequate brake. It just couldn't be stopped. That is nothing compared to the wrath of God. There is nothing we can do to stop it. When God wants to pour out his wrath, he will pour it out and nothing can stop it. It's terrifying.

Isaiah 9 and 10 depict four distinct judgments that come on Israel because of their sin. And each ends with this arresting phrase, "Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised."

III. Judgment #1: Stubborn Pride Results in Invasion (9:8-12)

 Israel’s Stubborn Pride: “We Will Rebuild It Even Better!!”

Look at the first judgment, verses 8 through 12. Stubborn pride results in invasion: “The Lord [verse 8] has sent a message against Jacob; it will fall on Israel. All the people will know it- Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria- who say with pride and arrogance of heart, ‘The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.’ But the Lord has strengthened Rezin's foes against them and has spurred their enemies on. Arameans from the east and Philistines from the west have devoured Israel with open mouth. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.” Do you see Israel's stubborn pride? Yes, we've been destroyed, but we are going to rebuild even better. There is an arrogance here, a defiant spirit here.

God had already brought some judgment on Israel. Some of the buildings had been destroyed. There had been some destruction on the land. But they responded this way: "Alright, the bricks are gone, but it is going to get even better. We'll replace it with dressed stone." That's a higher building material, a better quality. "In the end, it is better," they're saying. "Yes, you've taken down the fig trees, but they're just weak. Wait until we replace them with cedars!" What an arrogant attitude. After the Twin Towers fell on September 11, 2001, I said to someone, "If I know the tenor of our nation, there will soon be a great deal of talk to replace those towers with one even bigger." So it is. We've got that tower. It is going to be 1,776 feet tall. It's just the way America tends to respond.

What They Should Have Done: Humble Themselves Under God

Now I don't know, and I can't connect it to the judgment of God. God hasn't sent a prophet or anything to tell us specifically that it is so. But it will be best for us as a people to come to God humbly rather than say, "This has fallen down, but we are going to make something even better in its place." But here with Israel, this is clearly a judgment of God. Isaiah told them so. And look how they respond. What should they have done? Well, they should have humbled themselves under God's mighty hand and let him raise them up in due time. James 4:8-10 says, "Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will lift you up.

Result of Pride:  Invasion

The result of this arrogant response is invasion. God is going to send Gentile nations to come and devour them with open mouth. First it will be minor nations like the Philistines and the Arameans. But after that Rezin's foes are coming. That's the Assyrians, and they are going to devour Israel (the northern kingdom) completely. It will be gone. “Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.”

 IV. Judgment #2: Unrepentance Results in Leaders’ Removal (9:13-17)

 That brings us to judgment number two: unrepentance resulting in the removal of leaders. Look at verses 13 through 17. “But the people have not returned to him who struck them, nor have they sought the Lord Almighty. So the Lord will cut off from Israel both head and tail, both palm branch and reed in a single day; the elders and prominent men are the head, the prophets who teach lies are the tail. Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray. Therefore the Lord will take no pleasure in the young men, nor will he pity the fatherless and widows, for everyone is ungodly and wicked, every mouth speaks vileness. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.”

Israel’s Willful Independence

 We see, therefore, Israel's willful independence. They live an independent existence in their own minds. They have no thoughts for the God who made them and sustained their lives every day. And they have now been struck by God. There has been some kind of discipline, but they respond with arrogance.

What They Should Have Done: Repent and Return

They should have returned and repented. Look at verse 13 again. “But the people have not returned to him who struck them, nor have they sought the Lord Almighty.”

Can I just stop in the middle of this message and speak to you, just as a brother in Christ?  If you ever suffer some kind of painful stroke in your life, some medical catastrophe, some financial stress, some relational difficulty, any kind of adverse providence, anything, learn to come to God, quiet and humble and yielded to what he is doing. And say, "Lord, search me and know me and show me if there is any offensive way in me. Show me my sin." And humble yourself based on what he reveals. I do not say that every sickness or every adverse circumstance comes as a direct response to our particular sins. The book of Job refutes that. But it is safe for us spiritually to come with that kind of conception. Raymond Ortlund made a clear observation on this point. He said, "When God strikes you, the biggest mistake you can make is to turn away from him, instead of turning to him and inquiring of him."

When Jonathan Edward's wife learned the shocking news that her husband had died suddenly and unexpectedly from a smallpox vaccine while he was away at Princeton, her reaction is a classic illustration of a proper response to trials from the Lord. This is what she wrote to her daughter on hearing of the death of her great husband:

"What shall I say? A holy and good God has covered us with a dark cloud. Oh, that we may kiss the rod of discipline and lay our hands on our mouths. The Lord has done it. He has made me adore his goodness, that we had him so long. But my God lives and he has my heart. Oh what a legacy my husband, and your father has left with us! We are all given to God, and there I am, and love to be."

Now, that is the way to do it, friends. “God is my true husband, He is still here and he has my heart. I trust him.” Note what she says though, "Kiss the rod of discipline." Can you do that? That takes great faith. That's what this text is urging us to do.

Result of Unrepentance: Leaders Cut Off

Now what is the result of Israel's unrepentance? Well, their leaders are cut off. God decrees in effect the decapitation of the nation. Its leaders and officials are cut off. We already saw this earlier in Isaiah. He also removes the prophets who are supposed to speak God's words to the people. Now the wickedness of Israel's leaders, both head and tail, has led them into this grave sinful state.

Remember Israel's first king Rehoboam, and how he established a false religious system that continually led that northern kingdom of Israel into sin, generation after generation? They never turned away from Rehoboam's sin. He led them right away into idolatry and they never recovered. And so look at verse 16: "Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray.” As a result, wickedness is widespread. Every mouth speaks vileness all the time. There is no one righteous, not even one. And so the wrath of God is coming. “Yet for all this,” he says, “his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.”

 V. Judgment #3: Growing Wickedness Results in Self-Destruction (9:18-21)

That brings us to judgment number three: growing wickedness results in self-destruction. Verses 18 through 21. “Surely wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns, it sets the forest thickets ablaze, so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke. By the wrath of the Lord Almighty the land will be scorched and the people will be fuel for the fire; no one will spare his brother. On the right they will devour, but still be hungry; on the left they will eat, but not be satisfied. Each will feed on the flesh of his own offspring: Manasseh will feed on Ephraim, and Ephraim on Manasseh; together they will turn against Judah. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.”

 Israel’s Wickedness:  Spreading Like a Wildfire

Here we see Israel's wickedness spreading, it says, "like a wildfire." One thing that history has shown us is the fact that sin does not stay put. It grows like a tumor. It metastasizes. It spreads like pollution. And it pollutes one well in one stream and one rivulet and river after another. It just spreads, and spreads, and spreads. It does not stay put. One chapter after Adam and Eve sin, we have the first murder. By the end of that chapter, Genesis 4, we have a man, Lamech, who marries two women, and who kills a man for insulting him and boasts over it.

By the time we get to Genesis 6:5 it says, “The Lord saw how great man's wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” So it spread quickly. It doesn't stay put. It's like a virus. It just multiplies and keeps growing. I think any of you who have been walking with the Lord for any length of time know exactly what I'm talking about. You just take a little sin into your life and pretty soon it is dominating, destroying whole days, destroying and polluting relationships. It does not stay put. The image here is of a wild fire spreading through the land. Verse 18, “Surely wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns, it sets the forest thickets ablaze, so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.”

Again and again in history, you've seen the devastation of huge fires that were started by just one little spark, just one little place. The great Chicago fire of October 1871 started in Mrs. O'Leary's barn. That whole thing about the cow kicking over the lantern was just an urban myth. But it did start in one place, just a spark on a pile of a hay, and pretty soon it spread and destroyed four square miles of that great midwestern city. Terrifying. The great London fire of 1666 started in the oven of a baker, a single baker, on Pudding Lane in the middle of the night while he was sleeping upstairs. It burned for four days and four nights destroying 13,000 homes. That was in 1666, one little place. Or in 2003, in October, Southern California saw the Cedar fire burn 280,000 acres and 22,000 homes. Started by a single man, a hunter who was lost and lit a signal fire. That is what sin is like. It starts in one place and pretty soon it spreads. It's devastating. It destroys. 

What They Should Have Done: Rescued their Brothers

Now what should these people have done? Well, they should have turned toward their brothers and rescued them from sin. They should have cared. Instead of sin spreading from one person to the next, they should have been salt and light to stop the spread of corruption. That's what we are supposed to be for each other. That is what the church is supposed to be, for each other. We are supposed to love one another in order to help each other with sin, to confront a brother or a sister for sin, deal with it directly and lovingly, to stop a brother, to take the plank out of your eye and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

Galatians 6:1, if you see somebody caught in a sin, “You who are spiritual should [go and] restore him gently. But watch yourself,” because pretty soon it is going to be you that will need it too. Be humble and know that the same sin that is in them is in you too. But do it with gentleness. It should have been love.

Result of Wickedness:  Brother Devours Brother

Instead, they were devouring one another, brother devouring brother, turning on each other. And it brought no satisfaction. Look at verse 20 and 21. “On the right they will devour, but still be hungry; on the left they will eat, but not be satisfied. Each will feed on the flesh of his own offspring.” It's disgusting. Five of the last six kings of the northern kingdom of Israel came to the throne by assassination. Some of them lasted only a month and then they would be assassinated in turn. They were feeding on each other, destroying each other viciously, very much like the warning that Paul gave the local church in Galatia. Galatians 5:15 - “If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.” Families can do the same - bickering, complaining, insulting, not loving. There is a biting and devouring that goes on, a feeding on each other's flesh instead of love. Matthew 22:39 says the second great commandment is “love your neighbor as yourself.” But they weren't doing it at all. They had thrown that off and so wrath is coming. And yet for all of this, it says, “His anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.”

VI. Judgment #4: Social Injustice Results in Conquest (10:1-4)

That brings us to the fourth judgment: social injustice results in conquest. Chapter 10:1-4, “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless. What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches? Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised.”

Israel’s Injustice:  Laws Against the Oppressed

Here we see Israel's injustice toward the poor. They are actually making laws to favor the rich and powerful over the oppressed and weak and needy. By the way, issues of social justice are huge in the book of Isaiah. They are huge. And I am convicted every time I get up to preach on the issues of poverty. We are a wealthy church. We have been blessed. Are we known for our lavish generosity to the poor? Not that it is important that we be known, but it is important that they know where to come. Are our consciences clear in how we are managing our money? Do we have a sacrificial pattern of service to the poor and needy around us? Does God care about the poor and needy? “Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him” (James 2:5)?

Israel's leaders were actually making unjust laws to oppress the weak. They were taking advantage of their position and power to dominate and to crush.

What They Should Have Done:  Protect the Weak

What they should have done was to have protected the weak. Social justice flows right from the character of God and it is established in the laws of Moses. God established many laws to protect the poor and needy. Landowners, for example, were not permitted to glean, to pick up the extra droppings after a harvest right to the edge of their harvest field. They were supposed to leave them for the poor. And so in the book of Ruth, we have Ruth walking behind the harvesters gleaning so that she and Naomi can have something to eat.

Every seven years, the farms were to be left fallow, completely left alone so the poor could have something to eat, and the land could be regenerated. Judges were especially commanded to be careful in their dealing with the poor. Exodus 23:6-9 says, “Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous. Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.”

The people were to be open handed and generous to the poor and needy. And it is very clear throughout the New Testament, particularly in I John, that a measure of saving faith is open generosity, material generosity to the poor and needy. Job, in his defense as he is summing up his plea for righteousness and his life, is very well aware of his behavior toward the poor in his life. Listen to what he said in Job 31:13-23 - 

“If I have denied justice to my menservants and maidservants when they had a grievance against me, what will I do when God confronts me? What will I answer when called to account? Did not he who made me in the womb make them? Did not the same one form us both within our mothers? If I have denied the desires of the poor or let the eyes of the widow grow weary, if I have kept my bread to myself, not sharing it with the fatherless - but from my youth I reared him as would a father, and from my birth I guided the widow - if I have seen anyone perishing for lack of clothing, or a needy man without a garment, and his heart did not bless me for warming him with the fleece from my sheep, if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, knowing that I had influence in court, then let my arm fall from the shoulder, let it be broken off at the joint. For I dreaded destruction from God, and for fear of his splendor I could not do such things.

Result of Injustice: Inescapable Justice

What is the result of this injustice, this social injustice? Inescapable justice from God. Look at verses 3 and 4 again: “What will you do on the day of reckoning, when disaster comes from afar? To whom will you run for help? Where will you leave your riches? Nothing will remain but to cringe among the captives or fall among the slain. Yet for all this, his anger has not turned away, his hand is still upraised.” 

So now we come to it, don't we? Is there a balm in Gilead? Is there a refuge to which we can flee? Well, I couldn't speak for two minutes at the beginning of the sermon without mentioning that refuge. Thanks be to God that there is a refuge, that we don't have to stand under the wrath of God and see all of his power concentrated down on our eternal destruction. What a terrifying thing that is. The smoke of their torment rises forever and ever in the presence of the holy angels and of the lamb. He doesn't turn away and watch his handiwork. He watches what he is doing in hell. He knows very well he is the one who is doing it. He is not squeamish about it. He will show no pity for the unregenerate sinner.

VII. The Only Refuge: The Cross of Christ

So look at verse 3 again, Isaiah 10:3 - "What will you do in the day of reckoning (that's judgment day) when disaster comes from afar (that's the coming of the judgment of God). To whom will you run for help?" Oh what is the answer? The answer is Jesus Christ. It is Jesus, the son of God, who shed his blood on the cross. That is our place of refuge. That's where we run.

The Two Greatest Displays of God’s Wrath

There are two great overwhelming displays of wrath in the Bible. The first is the cross of Christ, and the second is hell. And in the first, Jesus stood, as it were, under the lightning bolt of the wrath of God. There is a picture of a lightning bolt on the cover of the bulletin. Just look at it for a minute. Think about the power of God displayed in a lightning storm. Can you imagine knowing that the bolt of lightning was going to strike there and purposely going and standing there so that you might benefit someone else? What could it benefit? It can't, but just imagine the power concentrated down there.

Jesus is our lightning rod. Jesus is the one who absorbs the wrath of God. He knew full well what he was doing. He wasn't deceived. He wasn't tricked. God fully revealed to him in Gethsemane what it would be like to experience, to drink the cup of God's wrath. And there he is in Gethsemane, and he is down on the ground, and droplets of blood are coming from the pores of his face, and they are coagulating, dripping down like this, and he is praying with great intensity, "Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will" (Matthew 26:30). What cup? Could it not be the cup of the wrath of God poured full strength that he would drink it to its dregs? That is what is happening at the cross. 

And there is no movie that can depict that. Mel Gibson can't show that. No picture can show it. It is a spiritual reality. No man died like this. But Jesus is our propitiation. It says in Romans 3:23, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” That's all of us. If you're not convinced of it, then go to the law. Look at the Ten Commandments. Have you ever denied the Lord? Have you ever disowned him? Have you ever coveted? Have you ever committed adultery in your heart? Have you ever murdered through anger, as Jesus said it would be. You are in danger of the fire of hell if you did any of these things. But we have lived for years. We have done more than we can count. It's the wrath of God. And Jesus summed all of the law of God into two. “[You shall] love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. … [and you shall] love your neighbor as yourself (Mark 12:30,31). Have you done that? Have you obeyed it every moment of your life? If not, then apart from Christ you would deserve the wrath of God.

“Full Atonement, Can It Be?”

 And so Jesus came to be our propitiation. It says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith” (Romans 3:23-25 ESV). They tell us at preacher school you shouldn't use words like propitiation. People don't know what they mean. I tell you, I didn't know what it meant. I had to learn it. I had to learn a vocabulary word. I think you can learn a vocabulary word. It means the turning aside of the wrath of God by the giving of a sacrifice, a blood sacrifice. That's what it means.

And so the blood sacrifice has been given and God's wrath has turned away. He is our propitiation. “Therefore, there is now no condemnation (that's no hell, no wrath) for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). Hallelujah! Praise God. Hallelujah for all of you who have trusted in Christ, because it is a redemption that comes by grace through faith in Christ, by trusting in him. But if you have no faith in Christ the wrath of God remains on you.

I remember another job I worked at. It was called an e-beam reactor. It used a powerful magnetic field to bend an electron beam through a field down into a crucible. And I had to look through triple polarized glasses to watch that process happen. I had my finger on a button in case it messed up because it would destroy the machine and become incredibly dangerous. And it was just this concentrated beam of heat and bluish light melting this metal and depositing it on these wafers that spun around above it. 

That's nothing compared to the wrath of God. The creative, or I should say, destructive intelligence of God boring down on you for all eternity. Revelation 14:11, “And the smoke of their torment rises forever and ever.” There is a wrath to come. Flee from it. I don't know your names. You who are here today who are still under the wrath of God. I can't see. I don't know who you are, but flee to Christ because there is a coming wrath.

Applying These Lessons

 Now, if you have already fled, then consider two things. Consider your own condition, how grateful you ought to be that you will not have to suffer the wrath you deserve. You don't have to say it (but think it) when someone asks, "How are you doing?" Say, "Better than I deserve, infinitely better than I deserve." You don't have to say it every time. Maybe occasionally, once a week - "Better than I deserve". Be happy thereby, no matter what you are going through. You are not going to have to suffer wrath, 1 Thessalonians 5:9, “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation.”

Praise God for that. Secondly though, outwardly, you are living among a people in the land of the shadow of death. They are still under the wrath of God. John 3:36 says, "The wrath of God remains on them every day". They are not ready to die. And there is only one thing that can rescue them: the power of God for salvation, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. And when God brings some adverse circumstance in your life, kiss the rod of discipline. Thank him for it. Don't murmur against him. Don't turn away from God and be bitter. Turn to God and say, "What are you teaching me? Get me through this time that you have brought on me."

Thirdly, please pray for our nation. July 4th is coming up, the birthday of our country. God's nation is those who have repented and trusted in Christ. That's his nation. You understand that. “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers? … whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother” (Matthew 12:48,49). How much more then, who is Christ’s nation? It is not the United States of America, nor is it any other political entity on the face of the earth. Pray for this nation that we would repent. And when some adverse thing comes on the nation that we would have times of outpouring of prayer and seeking of the face of God--as happened, frankly, on September 12th in this nation.

Praise God for it. But all the more. It says in Jeremiah 18:7-8, "If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned" (from Jeremiah 18, like Jonah in Nineveh). Pray for our nation on July 4th.

And finally, and this is not the last time I will mention it, understand God's intense concern for the poor and needy. Use your wealth and your time wisely. I want our church well known for generosity to the poor. And I know we need wisdom to know how to do that. God wants us to come to him and say, "What should we do about this and that and the other situation?" We need wisdom to know what to do about them.

Pastor Andy Davis preaches a verse by verse expository sermon on Isaiah 8:1-22. The main subject of the sermon is the two paths to eternity. One leads to everlasting light and the other to everlasting darkness.

- SERMON TRANSCRIPT -

I. The Road Not Taken

In 1916, one of the premiere poets of the 20th century, Robert Frost, was walking in the woods with a friend of his. The two of them would go frequently walking in the woods. And the friend was constantly second-guessing choices he would make in his life, even to the point of coming to a fork in the road in the woods, not knowing which way to go, then choosing one, then thinking he should go back after going one hundred yards up the road, and wanting to come back to do it again and try the other one.

And so Robert Frost wrote his most famous poem "The Road Not Taken." This what it says:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Now Robert Frost called that a tricky poem because it seems to espouse independence, going the way that no one else goes. He actually says it's not that at all. But frankly, he doesn't say what difference it made. Could be good, it could be bad, we really don't know. What he is saying is, "You have to make a choice." 

Another poet, not so famous and not so schooled in his letters, Yogi Berra, put it this way, "When you arrive at a fork in the road, take it." Well, I don't think that's going to help us much. But Jesus spoke, I think far more poignantly, of two different roads, and of a choice we all must make. And those roads end up at eternal destinations, and it makes a huge difference which road you take. And somewhat like Robert Frost's poem, in eternity, in the future, you will look back on that decision. I really believe both those in heaven and those in hell will think much on what they did with Christ, and what road they took in the end.

II. Two Paths to Eternity

Christ’s Clarity: Two Different Roads, Two Different Eternities

He spoke of this very plainly in Matthew 7:13-14. He said, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Two different roads that you can be on, two different destinies, two different destinations, both of them eternal. One of them heaven and the other one hell.

So Also Isaiah: Two Ways Woven Together

And so also, here in Isaiah 8, I believe we see these two ways woven together in the text, side by side, running through the last two-thirds of this chapter. Look at verse eleven. He speaks of it there. "The Lord spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not follow the way of this people." He is really speaking there of a way he should not follow, and then one that he should. And this morning I want to unravel those two different ways - what I'm going to call the way of light and the way of darkness - and describe them to you. But they are woven together side by side in the text. And that is somewhat appropriate, isn't it? Because that's the way it is in our everyday life as well. The children of God and the children of the devil live their lives side by side, and in many ways their lives look very, very similar to each other.

In the parable of the wheat and the tares both grow up together, intermixed, their root systems seemingly competing for the same soil. If you pull up the wheat, you may root up the weeds with them. If you pull up the weeds, you may root up the wheat. They are just totally intertwined and only on judgment day can they be unraveled. But we must be clear now, in our minds, about what road we're on. We must know whether we are on the road of light or on the road of darkness, whether we're heading for heaven or hell. We must know. And God gives us many indications so that we can know.

In the end, we learn from scripture, there is really only one way to eternal life. Jesus doesn't merely point the way, teach the way, display the way. He is the way. John 14:6, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through me.”

 III. Terrifying Context: Assyria Invades the Region 

Now, what is the context here in Isaiah 8? Well, as always, there is something going on in history, and God is using those current events to bring these spiritual issues to the fore. How deceived are the people of this world who think current events are the real deal, that they are the issue of life? They aren't. What is going on in the hearts of men and women? That is the real deal, what they are doing with Christ. That's it.

Phase 1:  Assyria Comes to “Deliver” Judah

But there are historical issues going on, and so it has to do, again as we saw in chapter seven, with Assyria. Now the context, you remember from chapter seven, is that these two smaller kingdoms of Israel (the northern kingdom of Israel, the ten tribes), and Aram were allying themselves together against the small southern kingdom of Judah. And that was a big problem for a faithless king Ahaz and his people. They were afraid they were going to get wiped out. There was going to be a conspiracy between these two kings, and they were going to topple Ahaz and the Davidic king. And they were going to set up another puppet king and rule over Judah. That's what the plan was. That's the context.

 Now Isaiah, in chapter seven, had warned them not to fear, not to do anything stupid, not to do anything foolish, but to trust in the Lord and not be like a fluttering leaf. But Ahaz refused this, and he actually sent for the King of Assyria to come and help him. He sent envoys, and he sent money, and he asked for the king of Assyria to come help him. Remember the analogy we used, like a small mouse facing two larger mice or two rats? Afraid he is going to be devoured, he sends for the alley cat. "Please come and help me." And the alley cat is more than happy to come and devour the two rats. And then what? To turn on the mouse.

So phase one is Assyria comes to deliver Judah. And so Isaiah, the prophet, wants to give a message to Judah concerning these current events. And he gives them a mysterious message. It's given twice. First, it is written on a large scroll. And second, it is connected with a son that he and his wife (he calls her "The prophetess”), have. The first is written. Look at verse one. “The Lord said to me, 'Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen: Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz.'” The translation is, "Quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil." "Write those words out, so that everyone can read them. Just write that symbolic message out."

Then there is this baby boy with the same name, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz, born to Isaiah and his wife. And the boy is like that boy Immanuel. Maybe he is the same boy with two different symbolic names. He says later in this chapter, "Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols" (verse 18). There are, perhaps, two different children, and there is this symbolic name. But the same issue, both in chapter seven and in chapter eight, is of a ticking clock, a prophetic clock. And so he says in verse four, "Before the boy, [Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz,] knows how to say, ‘My father" or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the plunder of Samaria will be carried off by the king of Assyria.” So before the boy can say, literally in Hebrew, "abbi" or "immi." That is "My father, my mother." 

Not remembering child development like I should, I asked my wife, "Now, when does this happen?" She said, "You have five children." I can say this - she's not here. But she was, "Somewhere between the first and the second year, they begin saying things. Okay, you remember?" I didn't remember but I knew she would, so I asked her. And so within one or two years, these two kingdoms are going to be destroyed. And here comes phase one: Assyria comes to deliver Judah by destroying these two kingdoms.

Phase 2: Assyria Comes to Destroy Judah 

But then comes phase two. Now the ravenous cat turns on the little mouse, and Assyria comes to destroy Judah. And the reasons are given, but we'll get to what Assyria's reasons were in chapter ten. They had their reasons. But God has his reason for bringing Assyria, and the reasons are given right in this text: what they (Judah) rejected, and what they rejoiced in. That's why he is bringing Assyria. 

Now look what it says in verse six. "Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah." What does that refer to? Well, I believe that these gently flowing waters are being contrasted with the mighty flood waters of the king of Assyria, the River. This is “the king of Assyria with all of his pomp” and his power (verse seven). Ahaz and his people are easily overawed by Assyria. They are impressed by Assyria's power, by their military strength. They are impressed and they reject these gently flowing waters of Shiloah.

Now Shiloah was a little tributary stream coming from the Gihon river which carried, by a small aqueduct, the water for the city of Jerusalem. It gathered in a pool there, the Pool of Siloam. It is mentioned a number of other times. In the New Testament it is where the man born blind washed the mud off when Jesus healed him. And these people, therefore, are rejecting God's provision for them. God provides enough. He speaks quietly. You know, as in the still, small voice. It's not spectacular, but he is there sustaining, loving, comforting.

People didn't want it. They wanted something spectacular. They wanted deliverance by Assyria. They rejected God, really. What did they rejoice in? Well, they rejoiced over Rezin and the son of Remaliah. The Hebrew word implies great exaltation, a shout of elation and triumph. These are the two kings that are allied against them. Why are the people of Judah so excited? Why are they celebrating? Well, because these two kings are getting destroyed. They are getting judged by God.

I believe it refers to gloating sinfully over the demise of dreaded foes. There is a German word, 'schadenfreude,' which means delight in somebody else's misfortune. And the more I meditate on this theme, the bigger it seems to me to be in popular American culture. We swim in a sea of schadenfreude. We love it when other people have trouble. I don't know how YouTube would make it without it. Somebody makes a mistake, somebody says something they ought not to, somebody slips in a speech, somebody says something foolish in a beauty pageant, and for the next three months that person has to relive it. A million hits, one after the other. Or even a political figure, somebody that we don't want to see become president, or something like that. And there is some event that hinders greatly their candidacy, and there is a delight in it. I think the local news feeds on it. Something happens, and I don't know how Jay Leno and David Letterman would make it without this kind of stuff. Something happens, and pretty soon it is fodder for the evening comedy routine.

 But God hates it. Now, why does he hate it? Because it means we don't understand ourselves properly. We are not looking properly at ourselves. It is the exact opposite of, "There, but for the grace of God, go I." I deserve worse. We deserve that and worse. Jesus dealt very forthrightly with this issue, very forthrightly, that we should not gloat over the misfortune of an enemy. We should instead say, "I deserve this. I deserve it." Unless we repent, we will all likewise perish. More on that in a moment. But the book of Proverbs says this, Proverbs 24:17, "Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when he stumbles, do not let your heart rejoice." And Proverbs 17:5 says, "Whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished."

Job, in his defense of his own godly lifestyle, rejected schadenfreude, delight in an enemy's misfortune. He said this in Job 31:29: “If I have rejoiced at my enemy's misfortune or gloated over the trouble that came to him, [then…]” In effect, he said, "May I be cursed." It's especially evil when you realize the son of Remaliah was the last king of Israel, the northern ten tribes, and they are being evicted from the promised land because of idolatry. What is there to gloat about in that? The people of Judah should have been weeping. These were the sons and daughters of Abraham, and from the very beginning of that northern kingdom they turned away to idolatry. There should have been brokenness. There should have been sackcloth and ashes. There should have been weeping and sadness and repentance and a looking inward. 

Because of these things, what the people rejoiced in and what the people rejected, Assyria is coming to destroy Judah as well. Look at verses seven and eight. "Therefore, [because of this], the Lord is about to bring against them the mighty flood waters of the River - the king of Assyria, with all of his pomp. It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck. Its outspread wings will cover the breadth of your land, O Immanuel!" Here it the prophecy: Assyria is coming for you too, oh gloating Judah. Assyria is coming like a river that overflows its banks. This is very poignant, because the promised land was to the northern extent of the river. That's as far as the promised land went. Well, the Assyrians are coming over that river. They are coming down into the promised land. They are going to take it over.

And note also the accuracy of the prophecy. I love this. Verses 7 and 8, "It will overflow all its channels, run over all its banks and sweep on into Judah, swirling over it, passing through it and reaching up to the neck." You get the picture of a man whose legs are trapped. And he is in a flood. And the flood is getting higher and higher, and he can't get his legs out. He's stuck there, and the water just gets higher, and higher, and higher. It's like one of those submarine movies. Have you ever seen that? And I start to breathe. But the waters are getting higher and it goes right up to the neck. Almost dead, but not quite. The accuracy.

 Phase 3: Assyria comes to Be Destroyed in Judah

 Phase three: Assyria comes into Judah to be destroyed. We will get to this later in the book of Isaiah. But you know what happened, how godly Hezekiah spread out the letter from the king of Assyria, and how the Lord sent out one angel, and 185,000 Assyrian troops were dead, like that. So Assyria is going to be destroyed. Those are the three phases. That is the context. And why? Because God is with us, because of Immanuel. That's what he says. Look at verses nine and ten. "Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered! Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Prepare for battle, and be shattered! Devise your strategy, but it will be thwarted; propose your plan, but it will not stand, for God is with us." He is referring to Assyria here. So Assyria can make their plans. They can come in, but they cannot extinguish the people of God, because God is with them.

God With “Us”… But Who is “Us”?

Now in the rest of the chapter he is going to define what 'us' God is with. Who are the people God is saving? Clearly, he is sweeping away the northern ten tribes, with most of them dead. Many of the southern tribe of Judah are going to be killed as well by the Assyrian invasion. But God has his eye on the remnant and he has his eye on the future. He wants to define the people of God. He wants to describe what kind of life it is that he is giving. And so in the rest of the chapter we see these two ways intricately woven together, the way of light and the way of darkness, so that we may know what he works in a people whom he saves, so that we may know whether we are among them.

 IV. The Way of Light

 A Life In God’s Strong Grip

He describes it and he starts with this: it is a life in the strong grip of the sovereign God. Verse eleven, "The Lord spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people." So the way of life begins with the sense of the hand of almighty God plucking you as one rescued from the fire, a sense that God is with you, plucking you from the highway of hell. "His strong hand upon me." That is God's. He has taken hold of Isaiah as a prophet. But I believe that Isaiah also represents the elect, the people of God. And he takes hold of his elect and he will not let them go. They are secure in his grip, praise God. They will most certainly be saved, and not because of their own striving and effort, but because God is mighty, and he will not let us go.

John 10:27-30 says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one.” One in what? Well, one at least in this, in holding onto the sheep with the sovereign power of God. That is where it starts, with God taking hold of you. And he will not let you go. 

A Life Listening to God’s Word… and Warnings

Secondly, it is a life of listening to God's word and heeding his warnings. The people of God, those who are on that narrow road that leads to life, listen to God's word and heed his warnings. Look at verse eleven. “The Lord spoke to me, you see, with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said…,” etcetera. He's listening. He's listening. Now Isaiah is a prophet. He hears God speak to him. He hears God's promises. He takes seriously God's warnings. And this is the essence of the way of life. John 10:27 again, "My sheep listen to my voice… they follow me." It is a way of listening to Christ as he speaks.

A Life Apart from the Crowd

Number three, it is a life apart from the crowd, apart from that broad road that leads to destruction. Most people are traveling on it. This is a life apart from that. Look at verse eleven. "The Lord spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people." Don't go their way. It's a way that leads to destruction. At some point, a person says, "I'm not going to do that anymore." And they break with people who are going the wrong way. They break up those relationships. They don't do those things anymore. They stand up under ridicule. They just break off and go a separate way. God calls Isaiah and all of us away from a lifestyle of the crowd. Isaiah was not to look at the threat of Israel and Aram the same way that the lost people do. He is not to look at the invasion of Assyria the same way they do. He's to see everything differently. He's to see God behind all of it. It is a life of separation, a life apart from the crowd. “‘Therefore come out from them and be separate,’ says the Lord. ‘Touch no unclean thing and I will receive you.’” (2 Corinthians 6:17). 

A Life of Fearlessness… and Fear

Fourthly, it is a life of fearlessness and fear. For me, theologically, I'll reverse them. First, one kind of fear, and then fearlessness. Let me say directly, fear the Lord and you need fear nothing else. If you don't fear the Lord, you must fear everything else, because God is sovereign, and everything is in his hands, and he can do anything he wants. If you fear the Lord, you need fear nothing else, for God is your loving Father. And he will care for you through some of the most horrendous trials. He will be with you and take you through, into his presence. You need fear nothing else. Look what he says here in verse twelve and thirteen. “Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread.” This is the focus here: do you fear God? Do you fear the one who sits high and lifted up on his throne, and the train of his robe fills the temple? And the seraphim are covering their faces before him, because they can't look at his full glory.  They are the ones who are calling out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty.” Do you fear him? Do you fear what he thinks, what he can do? Do you realize what omnipotence is? Do you fear God? Well, if so, you need fear nothing else. Nothing else. 

And don't worry about conspiracy theories. I know some people who spend a ton of time working on conspiracy theories. One world government… That actually freaked me out. I got onto a plane and there was this sign, “One World Airline,” or something like that. I was like, "I don't know. Should I get on the plane?" I just laughed. I said, "Well, I'm in the hand of God. I can get on a One World Alliance airplane. It's okay. It's not the antichrist airplane, not yet anyway." But let me tell you something. I believe there is an intelligent, malevolent conspiracy being formed to seek to take over the world. And I think Satan is running it, and I think he has been for two thousand years. And I believe with all my heart it will break into space and time, and the antichrist will reign. It is all going to happen. I'm not afraid of it. It's been predicted. It's going to come. And the One who will reign over the earth, the Lord Jesus Himself will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and slay with the sword coming out of his mouth, with the splendor of his glory. What do we need to fear? Fear Christ. Fear him and you need fear nothing else.

Don't worry about conspiracies and all that. There is one. It's coming in all kinds of kaleidoscopic aspects and it's happening. Don't sweat it. Focus instead on the kingdom of God. Jesus put it this way, very plainly in Matthew 10:28, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, [I'll tell you who to fear,] be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” That's God. You fear him, you need fear nothing else. I think too many Christians live in constant fear of people. Proverbs 29:25 says, “Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.” Many of you would be far more fruitful evangelistically if you feared people less and feared God more. I know the same is true of me. John Wesley put it this way: "Give me one hundred preachers who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or laymen. Such alone will shake the gates of hell and set up the kingdom of heaven on earth" - John Wesley.

A Life Resting in the True Sanctuary

Fifth, it's a life of resting in the true sanctuary. Verses thirteen and fourteen say, "The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary." That's a safe place, a place of security. "With salvation's walls surrounded, thou may’st smile at all thy foes," says the hymnist John Newton. Isn't that beautiful? Just stand there up on the sure and solid wall of salvation and you need fear nothing else. The Lord is your sanctuary.

Proverbs 18:10 says, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe." The New Testament version of that is Romans 10:13, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." We flee to Christ, to Christ crucified, to the one who shed his blood on the cross, and he is the sanctuary from wrath. He is the one that we come to and he will save us. He will protect us and nothing can touch us.

A Life in the Written Word

Number six: this life is a life in the written word. We do not for the most part, like a prophet, hear God speaking directly. We have the indwelling spirit, but there is a distinction there. What we have are the words of the prophets written down. "We have the word of the prophets made more secure certain," it says in 2 Peter 1:19. We have the written word, and we have access to it. And so verse one says, "The Lord said to me, 'Take a large scroll and write on it with an ordinary pen.' " He commanded his prophets to write it down so that it might be for future generations. Verse sixteen, "Bind up the testimony and seal up the law among my disciples." Do you see that? This is about the written word.

Verse twenty, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” So as long as this church remains, long after I'm gone, if the Lord tarries, you must get a man of God who will speak only according to this word. Because if they don't speak according to this word they have no light to give you. It is a life immersed in the written word of God. And the centerpiece of that word is Christ. 2 Timothy 3:15 says, "The holy Scriptures… are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." The scripture is always pointing to Christ, pointing to Christ. I can't preach a single chapter in Isaiah without mentioning Christ crucified. It's always pointing to Christ. He is the sanctuary.

A Life Inquiring of God

Seventh, it is a life inquiring of God. “When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God?” (verse 19). Now that's prayer. Go to God and ask. Seek his face. Ask him what to do. Ask God for advice. Say, "Lord, I don't know what to do." “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind” (James 1:5,6). And so we go and we ask. It is a life inquiring of God.

As I read this what comes in my mind is faithless King Saul who didn't inquire of the Lord at all. And at the end of his life he is going to a medium, the witch at Endor, and asking for something. We'll get back to him in a moment. But instead, we've got David, the man after God's own heart, and he is asking, "Should I do this?" And the Lord answers. "Should I do that?" And the Lord gives him insight, and he is inquiring of the Lord. It is a life of prayer, based on the word of God.

Ultimately:  A Life of Faith in the Lord

And then eighth, ultimately, it is a life of faith in the Lord. Verse seventeen, “I will wait for the Lord, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.” That is speaking of adverse circumstances, of trials. I don't know what he is doing. Like Habakkuk saying, "I don't know what you're doing, God, in my life. I don't know what you're doing in history, but I am going to wait for you. I am going to put my trust in you. And I believe, in the end, all things will be clear." It is a life, ultimately, of trust, of faith.

That is a description, not exhaustive, but from Isaiah 8, of the life that leads to eternal life. It is the life of light.

 V. The Way of Darkness  

A Life Spent Rejecting God’s Gentle Provision

What about the way of darkness? Well, first it is a life spent rejecting God's gentle provision. I already gave this to you in the context section, but these people didn't want the gently flowing waters of Shiloah. They are not interested in the still, small voice. They want something more spectacular, something more dramatic, and so they reject God. Jeremiah 2:13, “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.” And this rejection, friends, is no accident. They have no taste for God. They don't want that. It is a willful choice to hear the grace of God and turn away empty. They don't want it.

A Life of Rejoicing While Others Suffer Judgment

Secondly, the way of darkness is a way of rejoicing when others suffer judgment. We already talked about this - schadenfreude. “Because this people has rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah and rejoices over Rezin and the son of Remaliah" (verse 6). They enjoy seeing their enemies fall. This is a great sin. It's cold. It's loveless, delighting in somebody else's downfall. But worse than that, as I've already mentioned, it means you don't know yourself. You don't know who you are apart from Christ.

We see some criminal at Enron go down, and we justify ourselves, saying, "We wouldn't do that." Some athlete cheats and uses performance enhancing drugs. "We would never do something like that." Some governor gets caught with a high-priced prostitute. "We would never do anything like that. He deserves what he got." This self-righteousness is the enemy of your soul. We don't know who we are. And as I said, Jesus told us very plainly in Luke 13 what we should think when we see disaster come upon someone. Some were gloating over some Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifice. You remember that? And they said, "They must have been terrible sinners." And Jesus said, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans…? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish" (Luke 13:2,3).  And regarding the ones who died when the tower of Siloam fell down, we have the same word here in Isaiah 8, the same thing. A tower fell down and a bunch of people died in that urban tragedy. And he said the same thing, "I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish" (Luke 13:5). We all have to hear that. And I tell you, the way of light hears that and takes that seriously. But the way of darkness blows that off. We always think it is somebody else, the sinners out there.

A Life of Stumbling Over God… and Being Snared by Him

Number three, it is a life of stumbling over God and being snared by him. Verses fourteen and fifteen, “But for both houses of Israel he, [the Lord Almighty], will be a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare. Many of them will stumble; they will fall and be broken, they will be snared and captured.” Now God was meant to be a sanctuary. But if he will not be a sanctuary he will be a snare. If he will not be a rock on which you build your life, he will be a rock on which you stumble and that will crush you. He will be friend or he will be a foe. He will be savior or he will be judge. He is going to be something in your life. And so in the way of darkness he is a snare. He is a stumbling block. They especially stumble over Christ, as I will say at the end. Christ is especially offensive to those on the way of darkness.

A Life of False Spiritual Guidance

Fourthly, it is a life of false spiritual guidance. Verses nineteen and twenty, “When men tell you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.” People are desperate for spiritual guidance. They want a word from the supernatural realm. Why? Because they fear the future. They don't know the future, and so they want to know the future. So they go to mediums and spiritists. Does this happen now, even now in the 21^st century? Yes, it does. People want to know the future, even at the low level of horoscopes, up to just immersing themselves in the occult, in Ouija boards and all kinds of stuff. They want to know.

And those mediums and spiritists whisper and mutter, and gaze into crystal balls and make bizarre pronouncements, and channel spirits and conjure up ghosts of long dead relatives to give spiritual guidance. But no guidance comes. You know why? Because the wicked dead are too busy screaming in agony to give any advice. And there is a chasm that they can't cross, and they can't come over and say anything. And the righteous dead are in the presence of the Lord, gazing at his beauty, and knowing, as Abraham did in that story that Jesus told, that the word of God is enough. They don't need any more than that. Instead, it is the demons who are impersonating the dead, fooling and tricking people into that way of life.

 A Life of Spiritual Famine and Restless Roaming

Fifth, it is a life, therefore, of spiritual famine and restless roaming. Verse twenty-one, “Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged and, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.” Having rejected the gently flowing waters of Christ, they are thirsty with a raging thirst. Having rejected the living bread, which is Christ, they are famished. They are abused by demonic forces, harassed and helpless, totally at the mercy of demons who have no mercy. And they become demonic themselves, interestingly. 

Hungry for wisdom, hungry for guidance, hungry for a touch from God, hungry for love, hungry for purpose in life, they roam around through life looking for it, much as Jesus described demons, when they come out of a man. Matthew 12:43, “When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.” They are restless beings. They say, "Well, I'll go back to the house I left." So they go back. Or like Satan in Job 1:7, “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it.’” And it is so sad to see the roaming of lost people, who are on the road to destruction, hungry for something, feeding it with sex, and drugs, and entertainment, and success, and materialism. And they are feeding, and nothing satisfies. They are just so hungry. They are looking for something. And all of these excursions - it's like drinking salt water. It just leaves you with an even more raging thirst.

A Life of Rage and Cursing

And therefore it is a life, number six, of rage and cursing. Verse twenty-one, “Distressed and hungry, they will roam through the land; when they are famished, they will become enraged.” Do you see that? Famished, they are enraged. “And, looking upward, will curse their king and their God.” They are going to curse God because of their hunger. It is so strange how they think. If they would just accept God's gracious provision, they would find everything that they need in him. But instead they end up enraged and cursing God.

 And again, how like Satan are they? Think about Revelation 12:12, when it says, “Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.” And so it is with lost people. They know their time is short. It does not matter how big their mansion is. It does not matter how good the quality of their food, or clothing, or their position. They only have it for a little while, and then they lose it all, and it makes them angry, actually. And they are generally angry people. Do you see the rage in our land? It is an angry country we live in. But it is not just our country. It's all over, because people don't know God. They don't know his peace. They don't know his forgiveness, and so they are angry about it.

 Ultimately:  A Life of Darkness Now and Eternally

Ultimately, number seven, it is a life of darkness. Spiritual darkness now, real darkness eternally. And that is a terrifying thing. That is how this chapter ends. Verse twenty-two, "They will look toward the earth and see only distress and darkness and fearful gloom, and they will be thrust into utter darkness." This is the way of darkness, fleeing from the light. They live in darkness so that their deeds cannot be exposed. The ultimate punishment then is an eternity of darkness, away from God. You see God is light. They will spend eternity away from that light. And notice the strong word ‘thrust’. "Thrust into utter darkness." It bothers me when pastors or preachers say, “God doesn't send anyone to hell. People send themselves. God, in effect, says, ‘Have what you have always wanted.’” Well, let me tell you something, that is utterly false. On judgment day, when the lake of fire is obvious and some have already been thrown in, no one is going to send themselves to hell. They will be thrust there. That's the word.

Matthew 8:12, "But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." God sends people to hell because their sins were not forgiven. They never trusted in Christ. There was no forgiveness. The word 'thrust' is there. They are “thrust into utter darkness.” Matthew 25:41, “Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.'” That is the end of the way of darkness - complete darkness apart from God.

 VI. Christ (Immanuel) the Only Way

 Now Christ our Savior has come, and he can rescue people from the way of darkness, from the highway that leads to hell. He can rescue them and transfer them onto the narrow road that leads to life. He has that power. How? Because he is Immanuel. He is ‘God with us’. If God is with us, who can be against us? And how does he do it? He does it by entering life as a human being, as a baby, living a life, a physical life here on this earth. He did two thousand years ago. Tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he was without sin. He obeyed perfectly the law of God, obtaining a perfect righteousness, which he then gives us as a gift through simple faith. And all of this is taught in many, many places in the New Testament. He shed his blood on the cross so that the wrath of God might be averted, and we might not have to stand under the just punishment that we deserve. We know it. But we are free from it because Jesus drank it for us. Immanuel - God with us to save us, not to judge us.

And so the author of Hebrews, in Hebrews 2, quotes Isaiah 8 twice, and this is what he says. In Hebrews 2:11-15, “Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says, 'I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.' And again, 'I will put my trust in him.'” That is Isaiah 8. “And again he says, 'Here am I, and the children God has given me.'” That is Isaiah 8. Jesus speaks that. “Here I am.” Where? In heaven. "And here are my children, the ones God gave me. And I saved them all. I lost none of them, but they are all safe with me in heaven. Here am I and the children God has given me." “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death - that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”

 VII. Application

 Understand We Are All on One of Two Roads to Eternity

That is salvation. Oh, friends, do you know him? You have to look. What road are you on? Search yourself. Search your heart. Are you on the way of light? Do you have the sense of God's grip of grace on you? Are you listening to him speak? Do you embrace his gently flowing provision for you? Are you delighted in it? Do you walk in the newness of life that Christ alone can give? Do you have the testimony of the Spirit, as you look over this list, that “these things are true of me, by his grace. They are true of me. I'm on the way that leads to life.”? If so, then praise God and keep walking. You're not done yet. By faith in Christ keep going. But if you're not, if you are in the way of darkness, oh, I urge you to flee to Christ. Flee to him now. Trust in him for the forgiveness of your sins. Amen.