"You Are Refined for God's Glory" Sermon: Isaiah 48:1-22 (video)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eagQjV0Lslo&feature=youtu.be

"You Are Refined for God's Glory" Sermon: Isaiah 48:1-22 (manuscript)

                                                     “You Are Refined for God’s Glory”

[Isaiah 48:1-22]

January 31, 2021 YouTube

In chapter 47 of Isaiah, we saw that God will bring judgement against Babylon after God’s people go through exile – and God will bring Babylon down.  She will be deposed from her throne, exposed, and humiliated for who she is and what she has done in her sin against God.

This morning, we look at chapter 48 of Isaiah and look at what is happening to Israel during the captivity.  God explains what He is doing and why and what will happen about one hundred and seventy years in the future from the original hearers of this message.

We see that God refines us for His Glory.

To think about this, let’s understand that one way that metal is refined – purified – is through melting it with extreme heat.  When metal is melted – when it has gone through the furnace – and all the garbage is burnt off, other substances with different melting points can be removed leaving a pure metal – a refined metal.

God begins by describing Israel:

“Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and who came from the waters of Judah, who swear by the name of the LORD and confess the God of Israel, but not in truth or right. For they call themselves after the holy city, and stay themselves on the God of Israel; the LORD of hosts is his name.”

God calls on Israel and Judah to listen to Him – to pay attention.  God understands that they call themselves Israel.  God understands that they are part of the landed people of Israel – she is biologically Israel.  And they say the right things – swearing in the Name of the Lord and confessing the God of Israel.  They call themselves holy.

But it’s like the person with perfect attendance in worship, who knows all the hymns, and can find all the books of the Bible, and is gracious and helpful and volunteers, and thanks the pastor, but doesn’t believe that Jesus is God the Savior.  They are doing what the Law requires and saying all the right things, but there is no heart-belief.

So, God tells them to listen up – to hear what God is saying to them.

“The former things I declared of old; they went out from my mouth, and I announced them; then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. Because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass, I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you, lest you should say, ‘My idol did them, my carved image and my metal image commanded them.’”

God says, “I am going to remind you – so, listen up.  I know you are obstinate – stubborn – and your head is like a block of cement, so I want you to listen carefully:  from the beginning of time, I spoke to you through the prophets and told you what would come to pass – and it did come to pass.  I told you what would happen so you would have no excuse to say, ‘Oh, my idol told me about this.’ No, I told you, because I am God.  I told you what was going to happen, and it came to pass.”

“You have heard; now see all this; and will you not declare it? From this time forth I announce to you new things, hidden things that you have not known. They are created now, not long ago; before today you have never heard of them, lest you should say, ‘Behold, I knew them.’ You have never heard, you have never known, from of old your ear has not been opened. For I knew that you would surely deal treacherously, and that from before birth you were called a rebel.”

“Now I am going to tell you new things – things that haven’t happened – things that will happen, because I am God and I say they will happen.  Since you hear Me tell you these things now, you will not later say, ‘Oh, well, I always knew that would happen.’ I have always known that you would be deaf to My Word and sin against Me in the most treacherous ways – denying Who I am and what I have done.”

Therefore:

“For my name’s sake I defer my anger; for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you, that I may not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have tried you in the furnace of affliction. For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.”

Despite all their sin against God, God says that for His Name’s sake, He will not bring His anger down on them.  For the sake of His praise, He will not cut them off.

What is God saying?

God is telling them that though they deserve all the worst that God can bring down on them for their sin, God will not do that.  He will not bring His Wrath down on them.  He will not cut them off from the Covenant.  So, others will look at God and see what He does for His people – how He forgives them and brings them back and keeps all of His promises – and they will praise God and even come to heart-belief in Him as their God and Savior.

And we might say, “Well, that’s pretty selfish of God, isn’t it?  To forgive His people just for His own sake?”

The truth is that God is never required to forgive anyone ever.  And it is inexcusable that any of God’s people do not acknowledge the extraordinary kindness of God.

In God’s mercy, He refines His people – He puts us through the fiery furnace in many ways to remove sin from us and to make us into the Image of His Son.  God sets us in the flames – Israel was sent into exile – to burn off the trash and to have the other metals skimmed off so we would be pure gold at the Second Coming.

Paul explains the judgment of believers on the last day with similar imagery:

“For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire” (I Corinthians 3:11-15, ESV).

Israel – and we – are told this for two reasons:  so, we understand that as we go through affliction, God is using it to purify us, and so we will turn to God in our affliction and seek Him and His forgiveness and His Mercy and His deliverance.

Peter writes to the Christians suffering persecution:

“In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (I Peter 1:6-7, ESV).

For example, for whatever other reasons there may be – and there can be multiple reasons that things happen – one reason that Covid exists is for our being refined to the Glory of God.  One reason – not the only reason – but surely one reason for Covid – is to refine we who believe – that we would turn from sin and acknowledge that there is One God and One Savior, and He is Sovereign over Covid – only He has the wisdom and the ability – which He can bestow on our scientists – to cure and prevent and do away with this disease.  One reason for Covid is to get us to turn from our sin in blaming others and getting into fights and giving up hope over all of the deaths – even if we should get sick or die, but rather to turn and rejoice in the Sovereign God of the Universe and bow before Him, praying for strength and deliverance through this time and from this disease, that we would be purified by this time and cause others to look at how we are responding and be led to glorify God.

Second, God saves His people.

God again tells Israel and Jacob to listen up:   

“Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he; I am the first, and I am the last. My hand laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand forth together.”

God tells Israel and Judah several things about Himself – which they should know very well:

God is the God of Moses – “I Am Who I Am.”  He is the Self-Existent One.  There is no god but the One God.

He is the God Who is the First and the Last.  Nothing existed before God and God is Sovereign over everything throughout all time.  Before everything was, God is, and God will forever be.

And He is God Who created everything in existence.  God created the land and the sky and everything else in all of creation, and God keeps it existing by His power.  This is not a metaphor – God, literally, created everything that is by Himself out of nothing and it only continues to exist because God keeps it existing. 

The Psalmist writes, “Your faithfulness endures to all generations; you have established the earth, and it stands fast. By your appointment they stand this day, for all things are your servants” (Psalm 119:90-91, ESV).

This is the God of Israel and Judah.

 “’Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him; he shall perform his purpose on Babylon, and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans. I, even I, have spoken and called him; I have brought him, and he will prosper in his way. Draw near to me, hear this: from the beginning I have not spoken in secret, from the time it came to be I have been there.’ And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit.”

God tells Israel that He is going to declare something now – something they have never heard before – something no one else could ever tell them – God loves someone and is sending him to accomplish God’s purpose for Babylon.  This person will fight against Babylon and Babylon shall fall.  God and God alone will call this one – who comes and does God’s will because God and God alone call him – God speaks of him and calls him and brings him and prospers his way.  This one will become great among humans because God will empower him and cause him to be great – a victorious conqueror.  We have seen him before – God’s servant, Cyrus, the king of the Medo-Persion empire.

God tells Israel multiple times that He is sending Cyrus to conquer Babylon – God tells them before Cyrus is even born!  God says to draw near to Him – to listen to God when He speaks – He is revealing things that were determined before the Creation took place – things that were always going to take place.  God is revealing them to Israel so she will be comforted in the years of her captivity.  God is going to deliver His people by His mighty right hand through the person of Cyrus.

            Yet, we must be careful in these latter chapters when we read about the servant of the Lord.  We see that sometimes God is referring to Cyrus, and sometimes He is referring to the Savior He will send – the Incarnate Son of God.  And we must distinguish between the two – even when they occur in the same passage.

            Certainly, God delivers His people from Babylon – just as God delivers His people from Egypt, but there is more. “And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit.”

This is not Cyrus in this part of the text – this is a further, Perfect Savior.  We know this because the text says that He is sent with the Spirit of God.  Hear what Luke records:

“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

“’The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’

“And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. And he began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’” (Luke 4:16-21, ESV).

God gives – through Isaiah, not only the promise of deliverance from Babylon, but the confirmation of a Savior beyond all saviors Who will save eternally to the Glory of God.

“Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: ‘I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you in the way you should go. Oh that you had paid attention to my commandments! Then your peace would have been like a river, and your righteousness like the waves of the sea; your offspring would have been like the sand, and your descendants like its grains; their name would never be cut off or destroyed from before me.’”

Despite this great hope of salvation, God wants them – and us – to understand that when we suffer for our sin, it is because we have not obeyed what God has clearly told us.  Suffering for our sin is our own fault – as it was the fault of Israel – her sin sent her into captivity.

As Peter writes, “For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God” (I Peter 2:20, ESV).

God taught them and He teaches us the things that we are to do – and if we are obedient, we will be blessed.  That does not mean we will never suffer, because this is a fallen world of sin that causes our suffering when we have not sinned, and we are born sinners who need to be refined and made into the Image of Jesus.  But we will have far fewer problems, and we will be more joyful in God if we are obedient.  And if they had obeyed, there would have been no need for captivity and the death of so many people.

God tells them that if they had obeyed, they would already have peace like a river and be covered with waves of righteousness.  Their growth is stilted and broken by their sin.  God refers to the promise to Abraham that his offspring would be like the stars of the sky and the grains of sand on the seashore, and God tells them that their sin has delayed this – and some – those who have not believed – have been cut off and destroyed.

What trouble will we avoid if we do not sin, but follow the Word of God?

God refines us for His Glory, and God saves His people.

How ought Israel respond to this knowledge?  How should we respond?

“Go out from Babylon, flee from Chaldea, declare this with a shout of joy, proclaim it, send it out to the end of the earth; say, ‘The LORD has redeemed his servant Jacob!’

As we will remember:

“And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV).

The right response to being refined and saved is to tell everyone!  To go from one end of the globe to the other – and throughout space and time – telling everyone that God is with us and has given His Only Son to be our Savior.  Joy should propel us to tell others that suffering is not in vain, and there is a Savior Who will bring us into a world without sin and suffering on the last day.

 

We are reminded of Who this is:

” They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split the rock and the water gushed out.”

When Israel wandered in the desert, God provided water for them from a rock.  And Paul explains: 

“For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ” (I Corinthians 10:1-4, ESV).

God refines us for His Glory.  God saves His people.  Let us go and tell everyone the hope we have now and until the day of Christ Jesus.

For:

“’There is no peace,’ says the LORD, ‘for the wicked.’”

Let us pray:

Almighty God, we hate to suffer and seek ways to escape from suffering, and we are right not to sin, but when we find ourselves suffering, help us to understand that You are refining us for Your Glory – You are making us more like Jesus – disciplining us that we would be fit for the Kingdom.  And let us look forward – no matter what is happening around us, knowing that the Savior has come and will come again to receive us into His Kingdom.  Open our mouths and cause us to spread this good news by the Power of the Holy Spirit.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.

Review: "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" (video)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNJPCuVDj4Q&feature=youtu.be

Review: "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" (manuscript)

             She is thinking about ending things with Jake. It just isn’t working for her.  Jake is clueless – or so it seems.

Someone calls her and tells her the question must be answered – whatever that means – over and over.

Perhaps some things have double meanings.

Iain Reid’s debut novel, I’m Thinking of Ending Things is a psychological thriller concerning a girl and her boyfriend and what happens.

The writing is very readable and the dialog flows.  The post-story pages between each chapter leave the reader wondering what really happens.  Until it is revealed at the end of the novel.  I think.

The novel ends with an interview of the author and a discussion guide for book clubs.  And it is advertised to soon be a Netflix movie. 

An enjoyable read.

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

"Babylon Falls" Sermon: Isaiah 47:1-15 (video)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn1KKcVzJY0&feature=youtu.be

"Babylon Falls" Sermon: Isaiah 47:1-15 (manuscript)

“Babylon Falls”

[Isaiah 47:1-15]

January 24, 2021 YouTube

            Last week we saw God confront idolaters again, and God argues that He is the Only God Who carries our burdens, and He is God Who providentially causes all things to happen according to His Plan.  There is no other.  All the gods – all the idols – cannot even bear themselves up, and they have no ability to cause the future to come to pass.

            This morning, we see God respond to the Babylonian captivity – even though it will not happen for one hundred years.  Since God is the God of Providence – since everything occurs according to the plan that God set forth before the Creation, God knows all things and can say how He is going to respond in the future.

            We see, first, God avenges His people.

“Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no more be called tender and delicate. Take the millstones and grind flour, put off your veil, strip off your robe, uncover your legs, pass through the rivers.”

Babylon considers herself the Queen of nations – she thinks herself the pinnacle of civilization – the land that will never fall.  But God tells her to sit in the dust – sit in the place of mourning.  She will no longer be called “virgin” – that is “tender and delicate” – this mighty empire with vast military force is considered fragile.  And God tells her she will be pulled down from her throne.

No longer will Babylon be the Queen of nations, she will fall from her throne, lose the fragility that made her different in a world of power, and she will be left to mourn that it is all over.  She is defeated.

Rather than being a queen, she is now a female slave handmaiden: no more veil, no more robe, her flesh exposed, as was common for female slaves of the day.  And rather than sitting on the throne, she will work in the mills and go to the rivers to collect water.

“Your nakedness shall be uncovered, and your disgrace shall be seen. I will take vengeance, and I will spare no one.”

God exposes Babylon and humbles her so she will be disgraced.  God is taking vengeance on Babylon for her sin against the people of God – and God’s vengeance will affect the entire nation – no one will be spared.  Babylon will be seen for who she really is.

And it wouldn’t be odd for us to ask, “Wait a minute, why is God taking vengeance on Babylon?  Haven’t we seen that God sent Babylon to conquer Israel and Judah as their punishment for sinning against God?”

The first think we need to state is that God does not sin – God does not do evil.

So, is it wrong for God to send Israel and Judah into captivity for their sin?  No.

Did God force the Babylonians to conquer Israel and Judah?  No.

Did the Babylonians want to conquer Israel and Judah?  Yes.

            Is it a sin to conquer God’s people?  Yes.

So, Israel and Judah sinned, and God chose to punish them by not stopping the Babylonians from conquering them – the sin is entirely on the Babylonians.  Therefore, God takes vengeance against Babylon because all sin is against God.

As we continue, this is borne out:

“Our Redeemer—the LORD of hosts is his name—is the Holy One of Israel.”

God is Holy.  Therefore, He must punish sin.  Israel’s, Judah’s, and Babylon’s.

“Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no more be called the mistress of kingdoms. I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage; I gave them into your hand; you showed them no mercy; on the aged you made your yoke exceedingly heavy. You said, ‘I shall be mistress forever,’ so that you did not lay these things to heart or remember their end.”

God tells Babylon to sit in the darkness – to be ashamed for who she is.  She will be brought down by God.  God uses Babylon to discipline His people, but Babylon does not show them mercy in captivity but punishes them exceedingly.

And God rebukes them, saying that they claim to be an eternal empire, but it is all over.  No matter how much they claim they will never fall, their end is written in God’s providential plan.

God uses evil people who want to sin to discipline His people.  And two things can be true at once:  it is right and good for God to discipline His people, and it is a sin that must be avenged for Babylon to conquer Israel and Judah.

It is a good thing that Jesus died on the cross for our sin, but it is a sin for those involved to put Jesus to death on the cross. 

It is God’s plan to have Jesus die on the cross, but His being put to death will be avenged.

            “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:23, ESV).

“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen” (Revelation 1:7, ESV).

“Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:15-17, ESV).

The crucifixion of Jesus will be avenged, as will the murder of all those who believe in Jesus savingly:

“for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants” (Revelation 19:2, ESV).

Second, pride leads to a fall.

“Now therefore hear this, you lover of pleasures, who sit securely, who say in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me; I shall not sit as a widow or know the loss of children’: These two things shall come to you in a moment, in one day; the loss of children and widowhood shall come upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and the great power of your enchantments.“

Babylon has put herself in the place of God: “I am, and there is no one besides me.”

Last week we heard God say, “remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,” (Isaiah 46:9, ESV).

Babylon thinks too well of herself, to highly of herself – she believes herself to be far more important than she is – and in a face-off with God – that sin will be her fall.

The Pharisees come before Jesus believing that they do not need Him – they have kept the Law and are a shining example to all the people.  Their speech and judgment give God His good Name.

“And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners’” (Mark 2:17, ESV).

It is through humility and repentance alone that we can come to God to receive salvation.

But Babylon believes she has no need – she is up on her throne.  And she boasts that she will never be a widow or lose a child.  But God tells her that – for her pride – she will become both a widow and know the loss of a child on the same day.  Despite her use of witchcraft to sustain her power, she will fall before the power of God and those who believe she will protect them will be cast down.

“You felt secure in your wickedness; you said, ‘No one sees me’; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’ But evil shall come upon you, which you will not know how to charm away; disaster shall fall upon you, for which you will not be able to atone; and ruin shall come upon you suddenly, of which you know nothing.”

Babylon believes that no one will see her wickedness in the dark – no one has the power to stop her or take her down for her sin.  She is mighty and wise and thinks she cannot be defeated.  But God will bring her down as He plans.

Daniel is called before the King of Babylon to explain the writing that has appeared on the wall:  it is the destruction – the conquest – of Babylon:

“Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. And this is the writing that was inscribed: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, and PARSIN. This is the interpretation of the matter: MENE, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; TEKEL, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; PERES, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.

“Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

“That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old” (Daniel 5:24-31, ESV).

Jesus says, “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest someone more distinguished than you be invited by him, and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this person,’ and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 8-11, ESV).

Let us be humble in keeping with who we know we are, giving all glory to God, lest our pride cause us to fall like mighty Babylon.

Third, a false savior is no savior at all.

 Not only does Babylon believe she is greater than all and will never suffer or fall, but she also believes that should anything bad come her way, she will be able to defeat it – being her own savior.

“Stand fast in your enchantments and your many sorceries, with which you have labored from your youth; perhaps you may be able to succeed; perhaps you may inspire terror. You are wearied with your many counsels; let them stand forth and save you, those who divide the heavens, who gaze at the stars, who at the new moons make known what shall come upon you.”

Babylon believes her witchcraft and occult wisdom will save her from anything that comes against her.  She has astrologers to interpret the stars – and, admittedly, astrology and occult magic can scare people.  Look at the number of people in the United States who rely on fortunes and psychics and omens and horoscopes – who go to seances and have tarot readings done.  It may be terrifying – it may seem true.

Larry Norman sings:

“Forget your hexagram you'll soon feel fine, Stop looking at the stars, You don't live under the signs, Don't mess with gypsies, Or have your fortune read, Keep your table on the floor, And don't you listen to the dead” (“Forget Your Hexagram” https://genius.com/Larry-norman-forget-your-hexagram-lyrics).

Why?  God answers Babylon and us:

“Behold, they are like stubble; the fire consumes them; they cannot deliver themselves from the power of the flame. No coal for warming oneself is this, no fire to sit before! Such to you are those with whom you have labored, who have done business with you from your youth; they wander about, each in his own direction; there is no one to save you.”

“Your witchcraft and occult wisdom are little sticks that burn up in the fire – they cannot save you.  They cannot even save themselves from the fire.  The coals they give you will not warm – their heat is fake.  All those you consider you friends and colleagues – all those who owe you – they will wander around like fools and blind men – they will not be able to save you.  Nothing you are or have is a real savior.  Only the Savior is a savior.”

And so, Babylon falls.

She falls for sinning against God and the people of God – and God takes His vengeance.

She falls for her prideful belief that she is greater than God – eternal and unable to be hurt.

She falls for putting her hopes of salvation in things other than the Only Savior.

Let us take stock of ourselves:

Do we believe that we are sinners in need of a savior – the Only Savior?  Do we come before Him humbly knowing we can do nothing to save ourselves? Do we have a right view of ourselves as sons and daughters of God – through Jesus Alone?  Are we thankful and obedient?

Let us pray:

Almighty God and Father, we come to You humbly knowing that we have sinned against You, and we come to You boldly, for Jesus has opened the throne room for us and we are forgiven.  Help us to be Your people to the world, so You and Your salvation would be known.  Keep us from pride and help us to view ourselves rightly as humans and brothers and sisters of Jesus.  Cause the Holy Spirit to strengthen us and follow Jesus in thanksgiving and obedience – not being afraid of witchcraft and occult wisdom, because You are God Alone.  And we pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

"There Is No Other" Sermon: Isaiah 46:1-13 (video)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aq0Qrq8usfo&feature=youtu.be

"There Is No Other" Sermon: Isaiah 46:1-13 (manuscript)

 

“There Is No Other”

[Isaiah 46:1-13]

January 17, 2020 YouTube

            We return to our look at the book of Isaiah this morning.  We will remember that we have been introduced to Cyrus, the King of the Medo-Persian Empire, who will free Israel and Judah from the Babylonian captivity and send them back to their land with all the materials necessary to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple.

            Let’s remember that at this point, Isaiah is prophesying – he is telling the people what will happen in the future – he is not just preaching about Cyrus.  We know this because Isaiah is preaching around 700 B.C., the Babylonians take Judah into captivity in 597 B.C, and Cyrus conquers Babylon and sets the people free around 538 B.C.  So, Isaiah is telling the people about the punishment they will receive in about one hundred years, and how they will be freed some sixty years after that.

            In chapter forty-six, Isaiah turns back to the problem of idolatry – which is the major problem – our major problem as well.  Sin generally comes down to our putting something in God’s place – whether it be an object we want or hold in high esteem, or our belief that we know better about a subject than God, or a flat-out refusal to obey God because of whatever.  When we sin, we commit idolatry – it is not just something that was done in the past with statues.  John Calvin famously said that humans are idol factories.

            So, God again makes His case against idols and idolatry.

            First, idols cannot bear themselves up.          

“Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity.”

Judah is going to be taken into Babylon.  The chief gods of Babylon are Bel (also called Marduk) – the god of writing and wisdom – and his son, Nebo.  And God is warning Judah lest they start to think while they are in captivity that these so-called gods – these idols – are actually real powers who have defeated the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob – that they are not real – they can’t even hold themselves up.

Bel and Nebo fall over, they break when they fall to the ground.  They need to be carried around on animals – they cannot move on their own.  They are burdens on the backs of the animals and they are burdens on the backs of the people who worship them.  They cannot relieve anyone’s burden, for they themselves are in captivity.  They can’t do anything without someone else doing it for them.

Likewise, the nation that are embroiled in idolatry will eventually fall.  The nation whose essence – whose being – whose purpose is following after false gods – will fall just like their gods.  And it doesn’t matter whether the gods are Bel, Nebo, money, power, sex, food, pride – whatever – it cannot stand.

Our gods – our idolatry – our sin – will either crush us, or it will crush Jesus.  It will either leave us in pieces under its burden, or Jesus will take the burden and give us His light burden.

Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28_30, ESV).

Jesus frees us from the burden of gods who cannot bear themselves up.

Second, God bears up His people from conception to death.

“Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.”

God tells Jacob and Israel that – unlike the idols who can’t even hold themselves up – God has borne them up from the moment of their conception – He carries them through the womb, and even in old age, God will carry them.  God made them.  God bears them.  God will carry them.  God will save them.

David writes, “On you was I cast from my birth, and from my mother’s womb you have been my God” (Psalm 22:10, ESV).

And “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:13-16, ESV).

And for our salvation, God is the one who does it, as James tells us, “Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures” (James 1:18, ESV).

God bears up His people from conception to death – including saving Israel from physical captivity and all who believe from spiritual captivity.

Third, idols are created in man’s image.

“To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike? Those who lavish gold from the purse, and weigh out silver in the scales, hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god; then they fall down and worship! They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it, they set it in its place, and it stands there; it cannot move from its place. If one cries to it, it does not answer or save him from his trouble.”

You may have heard someone say that God is not real – He’s just a figment of our imagination – something we have created in our own image to explain things we don’t understand. That of course, is not true, but it is true that every god except for the True God is an invention of humanity.

God challenges Judah to compare God with the idols:  God is Self-existent, All-powerful, All-knowing, the Creator of all, Sovereign over all, and so forth.  God goes where He wills and does as He wills.

What about idols?

Well, to have a nice idol, one that really “works,” you would need a good amount of money.  You would want your idol to be gold after all – to show how able you are to bring a god into your home and to expect only the best from it.

So, you take your gold – to make into the idol, and your find a gold craftsman, tell him what you want, and pay him in silver, and he crafts the idol – the god of your dreams, and you pick it up and take it home, and it falls over – like every other idol.

 You still must pick it up and move it from place to place – no matter how much it cost.

And if you pray to it, it still does nothing – it cannot hear – it cannot act – it is utterly impotent.  

Paul rebukes the men at the Areopagus, “Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:29-31, ESV).

What have you made into an idol? Have you compared its ability and stability to God?

Are you impressed with your body and your health?  Are you sure you will never get sick?  At the very least, we should expect to die and keep that thought before us, so we do not put too much hope in ourselves and our physical selves.  Covid is out there.

What about our money?  Do you have a good savings? Is your account insured by the government?  I’ve said before that that promise is only as good as the government – if the government fails or falls, your money will be gone.  We are to be wise with our money, but to put our hopes in it is foolish – it can be gone in a moment.

Has your intellect got you this far and you will continue to rise up through the ranks because of your great mind? There are so many diseases that affect the mind – to put your hopes in it is foolish.

Nothing we have or are compares with God.  God is always greater in every way.  To put anything in God’s place is to invite failure and destruction.

Idols are created in man’s image – whether they are physical or non-physical – they fall and turn to dust, but God, the One True God, does not.

Finally, consider the Providence of God.

“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of my counsel from a far country. I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have purposed, and I will do it.”

The Providence of God is God’s plan and purpose.  And God takes Judah as a man and shakes him: “Remember this!  Stand firm! Recall this!  You sinners know very well what I am talking about – don’t pretend otherwise – remember your history – remember all you have been taught from the beginning until now!”  God shocks them to attention.

Think how we sit before our screens and let them wash over us.  We passively receive what they flash at us.  But are we listening with our minds?  Are we remembering what has happened in our past?  Are we remembering what has happened throughout all of history since the Creation?  Do we think about all the things that God has done?  All that has been recorded in the Bible for our good and instruction?

God says, “I am God.  There is no other god.  They are all idols – false gods. I am God.  There is none like Me.”

Gods says that before the Creation He determined everything that would happen from beginning to end.  This is His plan that is unfolding right now.  God has not been thwarted and He cannot be thwarted.

What God has said will happen.  What God has planned will come to pass.

This was a comfort to Judah, and it should be a comfort to us – God has planned everything out – there are no surprises for God – God doesn’t ever have to go to “Plan B.”  God has such knowledge and power that everything is coming to pass exactly as God determined it would before the Creation.

In fact, God tells Judah that it was His plan from before the Creation to call a bird from the east – Cyrus – thousands of years before he existed – to conquer Babylon and set the people of God free after they had served their exile.

Here this truth in the preaching of Peter, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:22-23, ESV).

The devil thought he had won – but he had accomplished God’s plan.

Our text ends:

“Listen to me, you stubborn of heart, you who are far from righteousness: I bring near my righteousness; it is not far off, and my salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel my glory.”

God tells Judah that they are sinners and they have stubbornly acted against God, and that is why they will go into exile, but that obstacle is not great enough to keep God from doing exactly what He has always intended to do:  God will bring righteousness to His people, He will bring salvation to His people.  Salvation will come to Jerusalem and Israel will be the glory of God.

That’s our sure hope – it is hope because it hasn’t happened in all its fulness yet, but it is sure because it is the will and plan of God – not of us – not of idols.

Paul writes, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:3-6, ESV).

Paul continues telling us what the Only God is doing for us – and all who believe:

“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:14-19, ESV).

            Idols will always fail and fall.  But God – there is no other – the Only God – bears us up through our entire life and He guides all of His plans to their completion.  He saves us to His Glory through His Son, Jesus, and we are His forever – and one day we will be received into the fullness of His Kingdom, righteous and holy with Him forever.

            Let us pray:

            Almighty God forgive us for sinning against You.  Forgive us for the idols we turn to.  Strengthen us by the Holy Spirit that we would turn from temptation and refuse to sin.  Help us to look to You Alone, believing that You are bringing all things to pass exactly as You have ordained – including the eternal salvation of Your people.  And we ask this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

"Two Baptisms" Sermon: Mark 1:4-11 (video)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlzsHoMv6e4&feature=youtu.be

"Two Baptisms" Sermon: Mark 1:4-11 (manuscript)

 

“Two Baptisms”

[Mark 1:4-11]

January 10, 2021 YouTube

            The Gospel of Mark opens with an introduction to John the Baptist and the baptism of Jesus.  In this section of text, we read about two different baptisms – both of which continue to be a part of the Christian life.

            First, John baptized for the repentance and forgiveness of sins.

“John appeared, baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”

Baptism was a part of Jewish tradition for bringing Gentiles – non-Jews – into Judaism. Gentile converts would receive a ceremonial washing as part of their reception into the Jewish faith, and they would repent of their sins and be forgiven of their sins through the sacrificial system – and, of course, by God.

Christians – converts to Christianity – are also baptized in a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.  This is explained differently depending on whether the Christian tradition baptizes infants, but the point is the same:

Christians are baptized – symbolizing being washed in Jesus’ blood and buried and raised with Him.  So, the water of baptism does nothing in itself – it is a sign and a seal – first presenting the Gospel in a picture form – we must repent of our sins, be washed clean from our sins, be resurrected to newness of life, and live for and in belief of Christ and for Him by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Water baptism does not make a person right with God – no Jew or Gentile was washed with water and made right with God – it is symbolic of what God does in the person who believes in the Savior with a true heart-belief.

So, John’s baptism was a baptism of recognizing that you are a sinner – someone who has broken God’s Law and is at odds with God – in need of being reconciled to God. Modern baptism is the recognition that we are all sinners – we have broken God’s Law and must repent of it and become right with God to not suffer His Wrath.

Salvation – being made right with God – comes through belief in the Savior – in which forgiveness is granted. This can happen at any time in a person’s life – when God the Holy Spirt comes into a person and seals the symbol of baptism in the reality of salvation in them.

We will comment more on this in the second baptism.

But first we ought to recognize who John is and why what he is doing was scandalous.

“And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”

Who is John baptizing at the Jordan?  The implication is that there are Jews being baptized by John.  Baptism was for converts to Judaism – not for people who are already Jews.

So, what is Johns saying? Why are Jews coming to be baptized by John?

John’s baptism tells us that everyone is a sinner.  Everyone is at odds with God.  Everyone needs to be washed clean of their sins – be forgiven and made right with God.  Gentiles and Jews need more than the sacrificial system – the sacrificial system only offered forgiveness for the moment the sacrifice was made.  As you sin again – you are back to square one – worse than that – the sacrificial system never removed a person’s sin nature – so no matter how many sacrifices a person offered, he would still be a sinner, under the Wrath of God.  In coming for John’s baptism, Jews – and Gentiles – admitted that they needed something – Someone – more than the sacrificial system to make them right with God eternally.

Why did they come to John?

“Now John was clothed with camel’s hair and wore a leather belt around his waist and ate locusts and wild honey.”

John looked like a prophet and spoke like a prophet and ate like a prophet, so they received him as a prophet – which he was.  And he announces that Jesus and Jesus’ baptism are superior to his own:

Second, Jesus baptizes with God the Holy Spirit.

“And he preached, saying, ‘After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.’”

            John – who the people are flocking to see, repenting, and crying out to God for deliverance – the first prophet in four hundred years – tells the people at the Jordan that Someone is coming Who is greater – Someone is coming Who is so great that he is unworthy to untie his filthy, animal waste spattered sandals.

            We will remember that people wore sandals or bare feet, so they would become filthy.  That is why foot washing was a custom of hospitality in those days.  If you were invited to someone’s home, someone would wash the guest’s feet as he entered the home.

            John, who was held in respect by the people, said that the One Who is coming is so much greater than he that it would be too high an honor for him to be allowed to untie His filthy sandals.

            One reason for this is that this One’s baptism is greater than John’s.  John’s baptism was for repentance for the forgiveness of sins – a washing with water – but the baptism that Jesus gives is the assurance of eternal forgiveness through the gifting of the indwelling of God.

            Jesus explains what this means:

            “But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.

            “I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you. But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

            “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:4-15, ESV).

            God the Father and God the Son sent God the Holy Spirit to indwell everyone who repents and believes in Jesus as God the Savior to guide us in all truth.  The Holy Spirit helps us to understand what is true and what is not – what the Scripture means – when we need to repent – because we continue to sin in this world – and He empowers us to do all the good that God has given us to do in this world.

            As God the Holy Spirit indwells us, He glorifies Jesus through us and declares – teaches – Christ – to us – and helps us to understand all that has been revealed about God and His salvation.

            The baptism of John is a conditional promise to all those who remain in the faith and have repented of all their sins.  The baptism of Jesus is the assurance of salvation and the gifting of guidance and power in this life from God Himself.

Why did Jesus go to John for baptism?

Jesus is sinless – He never had a sin nature – there was never any sin to forgive in Him.

            “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.”

            John knows this though Mark does not record it.

            Matthew tells us:

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’ But Jesus answered him, ‘Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.’ Then he consented” (Matthew 3:13-15, ESV).

John understands that Jesus has no need for his baptism, but John needs to be forgiven eternally by God – by the Savior – and indwelled by God the Holy Spirit for the assurance of being made right with God.

            Jesus explains to John that – for Him to be the Savior – He must experience everything humans experience – except for sin.  So, for the sake of His mission – for the sake of His being the Savior and sending God the Holy Spirit to indwell all those who believe – He must be baptized – and John submits to His request.

            John baptizes Jesus. “And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’”

            As Jesus leaves the Jordan, the sky tears open – and John – and some others – but not all the people – see the Spirit descending upon Jesus like a dove.

            Just as we who believe are indwelled with God the Holy Spirit – Jesus, in His humanity, was indwelled by God the Holy Spirit.  But Jesus is seen with the Holy Spirit hovering – and descending – over Him, and the Holy Spirit appears as a dove.  Why?

            Sinclair Ferguson points out the reasons for these symbols – these parallels in Jesus’ baptism. (Ligonier teaching video.)

            We wil remember what we read of Creation:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Genesis 1:1-2, ESV).

Just as the Holy Spirit hovered over the first Creation, so He hovers over the new creation in us.  The world as we know it came to be through the ministrations of God the Holy Spirit on it, and so we become a new creation as God the Holy Spirit changes out our hearts and makes us into the Image of Jesus.

We find the symbol of the dove after the universal flood:

“Then he sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters had subsided from the face of the ground. But the dove found no place to set her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were still on the face of the whole earth. So he put out his hand and took her and brought her into the ark with him. He waited another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark. And the dove came back to him in the evening, and behold, in her mouth was a freshly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had subsided from the earth. Then he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove, and she did not return to him anymore” (Genesis 8:8-12, ESV).

After the rain, in sending the dove from the Ark, the dove brings news of safety, news of assurance that the waters have receded and Noah and his family – all the people that God saved through the waters – and through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son – are assured salvation is provided.

In John’s baptism, we recognize that we are sinners and cannot save ourselves.  We repent of our sin and look to God for salvation.

In Jesus’ baptism, He becomes like us so He can be our Substitute and save us from the penalty due our sins.  He secures the promise of our salvation, and the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit that we would be purified and made into the Image of Jesus.

Let us glorify God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for His wisdom, salvation, and the assurance He gives us through the two baptisms that all those who have been saved by Jesus are eternally secure in Him – and have the guidance of the Holy Spirit now.

Let us pray:

Almighty God help us to be assured of our faith through baptism, Your work, and the work of the Holy Spirit.  Help us to understand the symbolism and rely on You Alone for our everlasting life.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.