Thursday Night Study

Join us this evening at 7 PM as we plan, D.V., to finish our study of II Timothy.  Our studies will contiue in September.

"The Coming Glory" Sermon: Isaiah 30:18-33

“The Coming Glory”

[Isaiah 30:18-33]

June 23, 2019, Second Reformed Church

            Jerusalem sins against God by her pride in believing she is untouchable and by refusing to believe and obey the Word of God.  So God promises that Jerusalem will be disciplined:  the city and the Temple will be destroyed and the people will be killed and taken into captivity.

            So God sends the Assyrians against Jerusalem – though it is not they who will bring down the city and the Temple – and God says that because He will discipline Jerusalem to the fullest of His just judgment – therefore.

            First, the Lord rejoices in exalting Himself.

“Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.”

And we might think, “Wait a minute – if I put myself on a pedestal that would be sin.  How can we say that God exalting Himself is a good thing – since God can’t sin?”

The reason it would be sinful for me to believe that I am God’s gift to women, is that I am not God’s gift to women.  The reason it would be sinful for me to believe that I am the greatest preacher who ever lived, is that I am not the greatest preacher who ever lived.  The sin of pride involves self-deception.  But God is the greatest Being, so anything God says about Himself is true, because there is no greater being and He can’t lie.

So, God shows Himself in greater view – He exalts Himself – He rejoices in Himself – that Who He is will be seen with greater clarity, and because He does that, He waits to be gracious to Jerusalem.  He prepares a gift for them.  Because the purpose of discipline is not to destroy or get rid of but to restore and grow.  True discipline seeks to make us better people.

And God tells Jerusalem He is waiting for them – He is waiting for the right time – which we know is when the Medo-Persians and Cyrus come to power.  And when this happens, God will bring them back to the land and bless them and be gracious to them.

But even now – God is gracious – He does not allow the Assyrians to take Jerusalem and destroy the Temple.  And when the Babylonians come and complete God’s discipline of Jerusalem, God still shows them grace – preserving them and then bringing them back to the land.  And, ultimately, the Grace of God that is found in salvation – where we see the Glory of God most clearly – the fullness of this restoration – is seen in the Kingdom – in the Coming Glory.

“For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry. As soon as he hears it, he answers you. And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.”

God shows Himself to be glorious in bringing the remnant back from Babylon.  God shows Himself to be glorious in bringing the remnant into the Kingdom of His Son, Jesus Christ.  This is the God Who hears us and answers us.  He is our Teacher Who gave us His Word in the Garden, and on Mount Sinai, in the revelation that is the Gospel, and in the letters of the Apostles – but He had not been seen. 

Now He has been seen and He will be seen again and then for all of eternity.  What a day when we with John the Baptist cry out, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29b, ESV).

Can we imagine that day when we, with Paul, agree to the depths of our being, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18, ESV).

“God, You told us that You are Holy, Holy, Holy, and so You gave us Your Grace after You disciplined us, but now that I see Your Face – oh, the sufferings of the world were nothing!  And You are rightly exalted in glory beyond all comprehension, and so we will spend all of eternity thanking You and worshipping You.”

And so we begin with worship and thanksgiving even now as we have come to know our God and Savior, Jesus Christ, and believed on Him savingly.

“And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. Then you will defile your carved idols overlaid with silver and your gold-plated metal images. You will scatter them as unclean things. You will say to them, ‘Be gone!’”

Jerusalem was so thankful for God’s Grace on that day, and we are so thankful for the grace that brings us to that final day, that we show our love through obedience.  When God tells us this is how were are to live, we do it.  And when we do not, we quickly repent and cling to the merits of Jesus.  We will despise and put away all our idols – all those things we have enjoyed sinning in – they will disgust us, for we have seen the Glory of God and received His Grace – and we will rebuke the devil and he will flee.  Be gone!

            “And he will give rain for the seed with which you sow the ground, and bread, the produce of the ground, which will be rich and plenteous. In that day your livestock will graze in large pastures, and the oxen and the donkeys that work the ground will eat seasoned fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. And on every lofty mountain and every high hill there will be brooks running with water, in the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall.  Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the LORD binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.”

            Unlike the discipline of Jerusalem, where they lived on scant bread and water, in God’s Grace and forever in the Kingdom, there will be bread and water flowing throughout the land.  The cattle will grow large and strong – all the animals will be healthy and well fed.

            Rather than being in darkness in captivity, they will be in the light – it will be as though the moon is as bright as the sun and the sun is seven times brighter than it ever was.  But even this will not be as bright as the brightness of the Glory of God when we come to Jesus in the Kingdom:  “And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Revelation 21:23, ESV).

            The Lord rejoices in exalting Himself, and He gives grace to all those Who believe savingly in Him.  He is the most glorious, the most faithful, the most loving, the most just – the greatest Being – Who restores Jerusalem after discipline, as He also restores us, and prepares the Coming Glory of all those who will ever believe in Jesus for salvation.

            Second, the Justice of the Lord is music to His people’s ears.

            I have been asked on more than one occasion, how we can have everlasting joy in the Kingdom knowing that loved ones are receiving the Wrath of God for all of eternity in Hell?

            The answer is to distinguish between the two sides of the same coin:  the Wrath of God and the Justice of God.  Because we will have uninterrupted joy in the Kingdom.

            If we consider the Wrath of God, we see God giving out the appropriate punishment for never believing in Jesus savingly – which is the only reason someone goes to Hell.  We see them suffering to the greatest extent possible for the longest period possible.  And some of us might think it righteous to call out to them to taunt them, “Hey Satan, are you enjoying your suffering?  Hey Oprah, is it hot down there?  Burn, baby, burn – but never be consumed!”  And others would see their relatives in agony and be distressed by what they see.  But none of this will happen.

            Rather, we will see the Justice of God as part of the Glory revealed and exalted before us and in the person of Jesus Christ.  We won’t be looking at those in Hell, we will be in awe of God’s Justice that brought every human being before His throne and judged us – dividing us into two groups – those who believed savingly in Jesus and those who did not.  God declares those who did not believe as “guilty” and sends them off to receive their just desserts.  While all believers will be declared righteous for the sake of Jesus and welcomed into the Kingdom.  We will be focused on that great act of justice and grace.  And that will be music to our ears.

            So, when we see evil people and acts in this world, we are not to obsess about them and pray that they will suffer.  Instead, we are to turn our hearts and minds to God and ask Him to stop the evil and the suffering that is occurring.  The fate of any individual is God’s business, because we do not know who is of the elect and who is not.  God will show us His Justice and Mercy and Grace through Jesus Christ, but His Wrath is not something we should ask for or cheer on for any individual.

            “Behold, the name of the LORD comes from afar, burning with his anger, and in thick rising smoke; his lips are full of fury, and his tongue is like a devouring fire; his breath is like an overflowing stream that reaches up to the neck; to sift the nations with the sieve of destruction, and to place on the jaws of the peoples a bridle that leads astray.”

            The Justice of God rules against the Assyrians – and all those who never believe.  God bring His Wrath against them speaking fire and rivers that seek to drown.  The Wrath of God according to His Justice will fully satisfy His Justice.  And justice is beautiful.  When justice truly occurs – when it comes from the Hand of our God and Father – it is beautiful, and we rejoice and praise God for being just.

            “You shall have a song as in the night when a holy feast is kept, and gladness of heart, as when one sets out to the sound of the flute to go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.”

            The Assyrians will have a different perspective on what happens – as we look at God’s Justice and they see His Wrath:

            “And the LORD will cause his majestic voice to be heard and the descending blow of his arm to be seen, in furious anger and a flame of devouring fire, with a cloudburst and storm and hailstones. The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the LORD, when he strikes with his rod. And every stroke of the appointed staff that the LORD lays on them will be to the sound of tambourines and lyres. Battling with brandished arm, he will fight with them. For a burning place has long been prepared; indeed, for the king it is made ready, its pyre made deep and wide, with fire and wood in abundance; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of sulfur, kindles it.”

            The specific event in history of these words is likely one that is familiar to us now – as the Assyrians camped around the city of Jerusalem and night fell:

“And that night the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.  Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place” (2 Kings 19:35-37, ESV).

The Assyrians experienced the Wrath of God and the king, at least, suffered eternally for his sins.  But Jerusalem experienced the Justice of God, and they heard flutes and tambourines and lyres playing as a response to God acting with justice.

And so we look forward to the Coming Glory on the last day – not because we rejoice in the suffering of the damned, but because we rejoice in the Justice of God, Who exalts Himself far above all of His Creation – as He should – as He is worthy – and as His Justice passes, we rejoice and give thanks for what Jesus has done to save us, and we hear with our eyes the music of God’s Justice, and proclaim, how great is our God; He is Holy, Holy, Holy.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, exalt Yourself, rejoice in Yourself, show us Your Glory that we would humbly rejoice and thank You and obey You in love.  And keep us from desiring to see Your Wrath against unbelievers.  Help us to remember that we do not know whom You have chosen, and as long as a person is alive, salvation may occur.  Help us to focus on Your Justice, believing that it will come on the last day, and as justice passes, it will be as music to our ears.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

Review: "People to Be Loved"

Thank you to GA for sending me People to Be Loved:  Why Homosexuality is Not Just an Issue by Preston Sprinkle, along with a copy of The Great Lakes Catechism. 

Sprinkle’s book is not just a book that looks at “those” Scriptures and comes to a conclusion.  Though he does look at them – in the original languages and considers the words in extra-biblical writing – and he comes to various conclusions about them – for example, the sin of Sodom is not homosexuality – not is it being unhospitable – and the reason we know it is not is due to the fact that other Scriptures tell us what the sins of Sodom are.

The author looks at the varying interpretations of the hot-button texts from non-affirming and affirming positions and considers where the truth lies with each of them.  He does so with compassion and grace – acknowledging truth on both sides of the aisle as it is warranted.

He also looks at the meaning and import of the “otherness” of our first parents in the history of Creation, how homosexuality was viewed in Judaism and Roman culture, and Jesus’ view of sexuality.

And he explains that – biblically – if we are not condemning the sins that are included in the hot-button passages – such as lying in I Timothy 1:10 – with equal fervor – then we are hypocrites (cf. 126).

In the second half of the book, he considers the evidence for homosexuality being genetic and what that would mean with regards to these passages, where someone can be gay and Christian – along with the issue of marriage and celibacy, faithfulness, and being single in the church.

He turns to application and considers five things that ought to be done in light of his discussion – which is peppered with stories of real people.  As he looks at what the church much do, there is the nailing down of the fact that the biggest issue is not whether or not a person is same-sex attracted, but whether they have received Jesus as God as Savior and are seeking to live a holy life in response to His salvation of them.

In the appendix, he considers five affirming interpretations of Romans 1 and explains why he doesn’t believe they hold up.

People to Be Loved helps us to move from just checking the “sin” or “not sin” box and shoving people aside to learning to love like Jesus – not dismissing sin, but loving all people, as all people are created in the Image of God, and all people are in need of the Savior’s salvation.

If you’re not hardened on your position on homosexuality, this is a wonderful resource to take time to think through the Scripture, its interpretation, and what it means to be a Christian in the world.

[This review appears on my blog, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]