https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mKBE49pNi4&feature=youtu.be
Sunday, May 17, 2020
"Consolation" Sermon: Isaiah 41:8-20 (manuscript)
“Consolation”
[Isaiah 41:8-20]
After
calling out the coastlands – the Gentiles – the unbelievers – God turns back to
Jerusalem and continues to comfort her in this morning’s text.
First,
we see that God chose His people and does not cast them off.
“But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob,
whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend; you whom I took from
the ends of the earth, and called from its farthest corners, saying to you, ‘You
are my servant, I have chosen you and not cast you off’;
God begins by telling Israel and
Jacob that they are His servants. They
have been given the glorious vocation of serving the One and Living God. They have been called into His service – the
service of the God Who created and sustains everything in all of existence.
And, He tells them that they are
servants. Their role – though special –
is a role of submission and humility. No
believer is to think himself better than God – above the Word of God in all
that God has said and required of us.
And this is true of every believer:
Paul writes, “If you put these things
before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained
in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed” (I
Timothy 4:6, ESV).
And John writes, “The revelation of
Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must
soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,” (Revelation
1:1, ESV).
All we believers are called servants
of our God and Savior. This is both a
high honor, and it shows who we are in distinction from God – which is
something we need to keep in mind in every aspect of our lives – God is God and
we are not. Our first thought in any
situation should be to consider what God’s role is and what our role is and to
humbly bow before Him and His Will.
Then God says they are His chosen and
the offspring of Abraham, His friend – literally, “the one who loved me.”
We will remember that Abraham was
called out of the land of Ur and out of pagan religion to be the father of the
nation of Israel and all those God has chosen to be His people.
As Peter writes, “But you are a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own
possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of
darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are
God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy”
(I Peter 2:9-10, ESV).
And 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” (Ephesians 1:3-4, ESV).
Just as God chose His people in
Israel, He chose all we who believe in Him from before the foundation of the
world to be His people – we are a people with Noah and Moses and Peter and
Paul, with Mary, and Deborah, and all the believers – all the chosen – from all
the corners of earth and in space and time – all those who have been chosen and
responded to their choosing by loving God.
And since God chose us and has chosen
us to be His servants – and the word “chosen” is given in the continuous sense
– that God has chosen us and will continue to choose us – His choice of us
never changes – God will never cast us away!
God will never get rid of us for our sin or His change of mind because
God chose us with all knowledge and His mind never changes. We are the sons and daughters of God now and
throughout eternity because He made us His servants and chose us and will never
cast us away.
Even as Jerusalem receives the word
of exile, God promises that they will remain His servants in captivity, they
will always be His chosen ones, and He will never cast them away. God has chosen a remnant and we are eternally
saved from before the foundations of the world, through the work of Jesus
Christ, and throughout all of eternity.
Be comforted in your exile. If you are God’s servant, if He has chosen
you, He will never cast you away – He is with you now and forever.
Second, God holds our hand and crushes
our enemies.
“’fear not, for I am with you; be not
dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will
uphold you with my righteous right hand.’
Fear
not, God is with you, chosen servants of God.
Be not dismayed, God Who chose you will never cast you aside. Rather, God will strengthen you in your captivity
– in your exile – in your quarantine. He will help you, and He will uphold you
with His power.
When
God speaks of His “righteous right hand,” He is not talking about the
righteousness of His people here, but of the power God has to hold on to His people
and never lose them, but bring them through their discipline and restore them
to where God would have them be.
As
Jesus prayed, “While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have
given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son
of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled” (John 17:12, ESV).
It
is impossible for anyone – even us – to take ourselves out of God’s Hand – to
break His grasp on us. God is the
Almighty, we are servants – we are weak, and He is strong.
As
we saw at the end of chapter 40:
“Have you not known? Have you not
heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He
does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power
to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths
shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait
for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like
eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (Isaiah
40:28-31, ESV).
Because God is our Almighty Father,
Who chose us to be His – even through periods of discipline – He will give us
the strength we need to be His each day.
You and I always have enough to be and to do what God wants from us
today. Even if we are suffering in a
foreign land or under the specter of a foreign virus.
“’Behold,
all who are incensed against you shall be put to shame and confounded; those
who strive against you shall be as nothing and shall perish. You shall seek
those who contend with you, but you shall not find them; those who war against
you shall be as nothing at all. For I, the LORD your God, hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you.’
Even
though God uses the Assyrians and Babylonians and Medo-Persians – and others –
to discipline Israel and Judah and all we who believe – eventually, God will
turn against the unbelievers – those who will never believe – and God will fill
them with shame. God will confound
them. God will make them as nothing, and
they shall perish. When we look to fight
against them, they will not be found.
Those who physically attack us because we are believers and speak
violence against us because we are believers, will be destroyed and suffer the
Wrath of God at the judgment – if not sooner.
So,
we are not to be afraid, God is holding our right hand. God gives us His strength and His power to be
His people in a world that hates us for believing savingly in Jesus the
Savior. So, we have nothing to fear –
God is our helper. God will bring us
through our trials one way or another.
Job
says, “Though he slay me, I will hope in him;” (Job 13:15a, ESV).
Jesus
says, “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather
fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold
for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your
Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore;
you are of more value than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:28-31, ESV).
Understand
what God is actually saying here: God
tells Jerusalem and us that He will be with us, He will hold our hand, He will
give us strength for this day, He will give us the power we need to be and to do
exactly all God wants for this day, and He will (eventually) destroy His and
our enemies. However, God does not
promise that we will not suffer or that we will survive our exile. So, we need to trust God and pray for faith
and obedience to trust Him for whatever He knows will be for our greatest good
as those who love Him – as those who are His friends.
“’Fear
not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I am the one who helps you, declares
the LORD; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I make of you a
threshing sledge, new, sharp, and having teeth; you shall thresh the mountains
and crush them, and you shall make the hills like chaff; you shall winnow them,
and the wind shall carry them away, and the tempest shall scatter them. And you
shall rejoice in the LORD; in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.’
God
wails that His people are worms due to their sin and need for discipline, but
God still holds them tight and tells them not to fear the great conquerors who
are coming to take them into seventy years of captivity. All we who believe have nothing to boast of –
we are mere worms, who are deserving of all suffering and more than we can
possibly comprehend given the sinfulness of our sin.
Yet,
this is the Redeemer, the Lord Who helps us!
He is the Holy One of Israel. We
are nothing against our enemy and against the just punishment for our sin. We are worms that could easily be crushed by
the warrior’s boot. But the Lord is our
Redeemer Who helps us! The Holy God of
Israel chose to save and keep a people for Himself – to make us holy for His
sake and to His Glory!
In
the end – symbolically – God will transform we worms into threshing sleds with
many sharp teeth. These were the
instruments that farmers would use to break up the soil for planting. But God says He will turn us into threshing
sleds that – by the power and help of God – will tear down the mountains and
reduce them to dust! We succeed – we
live – we recover – we progress – because God takes us by His power and causes
it to happen. Our salvation has nothing
to do with us and everything to do with God Who saves us.
We
look forward – rightly – to the last day, thinking of what Jesus says, “Jesus
said to them, ‘Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will
sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel’” (Matthew 19:28, ESV).
When
Jesus comes to judge the world – in some manner – He will judge the world
through all we who believe savingly in Him.
On that day, even the Creation – which is convulsing in the pains of
childbirth even now – will burst forth in recreation and restoration as the Eternal,
Holy Kingdom of God. And we will rejoice
in the Lord and give Him the glory!
Today,
and through our suffering for Jesus, and on the last day, God holds our hand
and will crush His and our enemies, pouring out His Wrath on them. And we, in thanksgiving, will rejoice and
give Him the glory.
Third,
God’s goal is self-revelation.
“When
the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched
with thirst, I the LORD will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake
them. I will open rivers on the bare heights, and fountains in the midst of the
valleys. I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs
of water.’
Gods
says that when the poor and needy seek water – when Jerusalem seeks water –
when you and I seek water – and we find none – when there is only desert, God
will provide water. God will cause
rivers to flow down the mountains, God will cause fountains to spring up in the
valleys. God will make the wilderness a pool.
God will make the deserts springs of water.
When
there is absolutely no way that we can get ourselves out of the difficulty we
are in – when we are exiled in a foreign land and not allowed to leave – when
we are locked down in our homes because there is a virus that we cannot cure –
this is the perfect time for God to display His Power and reveal Himself.
That
doesn’t mean God always will step in and reveal Himself and save us from every
ill – He told Jerusalem they will suffer for seventy years before God saves
them – we are told we will suffer and even die for Christ, but rejoice! No, the point is that when God does pull us
out of a place that we didn’t think it was possible to come back from, this is
God revealing Himself, and we ought not to be prideful about getting back or be
drawing attention to ourselves, but point to God and praise Him for what He has
done.
When
there is no way with humans, it is the perfect time for God to act. And He may or He may not. Here, God gives Jerusalem the promise that they
will be freed after seventy years, and it will be the righteous right Hand of
God that delivers them – just as it was when God delivered Israel out of the
land of Egypt.
God
tells Israel, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has
no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without
price” (Isaiah 55:1, ESV).
God
promises that He will provide for His people, and we will not give God anything
to earn what He freely gives us. So, God
cares for us and will care for us and reveals Who He is and His Character as He
does so.
“’I
will put in the wilderness the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive. I
will set in the desert the cypress, the plane and the pine together,’
Again,
we see that God Himself will cause trees to grow in the wilderness where it is
not fertile enough for them to grow. But
what we may not recognize is that the cedar, the acacia, the myrtle, the olive ,
the cyrpress, the plane, and the pine tree never grow together – they require
different environments and nutrients.
God performs another miraculous action in causing these trees to grow
together – drawing the attention to Him and Who He is!
Is
this not a picture of the radical salvation that God performs for His people,
as well? Here what John records:
“After
this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from
every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the
throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their
hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits
on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Revelation 7:9-10, ESV).
God
has chosen a people – a remnant – for Himself, and they are people from every tribe,
and nation and language – like that crop of tress that would not normally grow
together, we will be gathered together in the Kingdom – one people of God –
even though we come from everywhere in Creation.
“’that they may see and know, may
consider and understand together, that the hand of the LORD has done this, the
Holy One of Israel has created it.’”
And here is the explanation for all
that God does: God acts in such a way
that humans will see God, that humans will know God, that humans will consider
God, that humans will understand God – that we will be turned from our sin and
turned from our self-absorption and turn our eyes and hearts and minds and
souls to witness and carefully think through and to believe with our hearts and
minds that God is Who He has revealed Himself to be in Nature and in His Word –
and His Salvation – the salvation that God accomplishes for Jerusalem and every
believer – is something God does by Himself and for Himself in accordance with
His Character and promises.
Is this not a wonderful consolation
for Jerusalem as she prepares the generations for exile? Isn’t this wonderful news for us as we live
our lives and live through Covid and whatever else might come our way in which
we can witness the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the world?
God has chosen a people for Himself,
and He will never cast us away. We are
His forever, bought by Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
God holds our hand as we endure evil
for His Sake through this life, and, in the end, God will crush all of His
enemies and ours.
And God’s goal in all the wonderful
and miraculous things He has done – especially in choosing and saving a remnant
out of humanity to be His forever in the Kingdom – is His Own self-revelation. In everything that happens throughout all of
time and space, God is revealing Himself, so we would know that His Word is
True, and Jesus is God the Only Savior.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for the
witness of the impending exile of Jerusalem and how You comforted them and show
us that we should be comforted as well in whatever we endure for Your
Sake. Help us to trust You and hope in
You and not give up in times of persecution or extraordinary circumstances. God is not shaken by what we are going through,
and Jesus remains our Eternal Shepherd.
And we pray this in Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Monday, May 11, 2020
Review: "Artists in Crime" (manuscript)
As Inspector Alleyn finishes
a cruise, he meets a woman his mother thinks might be his match – an artist
who lives down the street from her and rents out portions of her house
to students she teaches to paint well.
Alleyn goes to visit his mother and is called down to the
artist’s home because the model, Sonia Gluck, who was portraying a woman who
had been tackled and stabbed in the heart through her back is murdered in just
this way.
Who did it?
Obviously the scroungy Garcia who is always hitting on girls and
borrowing money. Or did he?
Artists in Crime is number six in the Inspector Alleyn series, and the one I
have enjoyed the most thus far. On to
volume seven!
[This review appears on my blog, my
YouTube channel, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]
Sunday, May 10, 2020
Review: "Catastrophic Thinking" (manuscript)
Catastrophic Thinking
is the first collection of essays I have read by Ben Shapiro. I have read several of his books and listen
to his podcast. Now, I have picked up a
collection of essays – specifically his 2019 columns from Creators Publishing.
The essays are in chronological order – looking at
wokescolds, the number of genders, AOC’s pronouncement on facts versus
morality, Jussie Smollett, the push of Democrats towards socialism, open
boarders, anti-Semitism, freedom, Joe Biden, conspiracy theories, China,
Elizabeth Warren, catastrophic thinking without solutions, impeachment, and the
2020 election.
If you listen to Ben Shapiro, you wouldn’t find anything shockingly
new in these opinion pieces, but it was interesting to read through the major
stories of the year and consider what has lasted and what seems from another time
or yesterday.
However, I am happy to have this collection – both for
reference and for his arguments and to quote.
Ben Shapiro is a good thinker – though there are times I have disagreed
with him (especially with regards to Who the Messiah is)!
One example of why I greatly appreciate him is a quote
like this from the column, “Freedom From Consequences Isn’t Freedom”: “Nonetheless, the suggestion that freedom
lies in prosperity—not that freedom is the precondition for prosperity—still retains
draw. That’s mainly because the human
heart will always embrace the notion that our shortcomings spring not from
choice but from circumstance” (53).
Ben Shapiro understands that humans have a heart problem
that affects what we do. I hope he
continues to follow the logic of this truth and finds the Answer to it.
If you remember 2019, or if you don’t – go get a copy of
these essays.
[This review appears on my blog, my
YouTube channel, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]
Review: "Mastering DIabetes" (manuscript)
I have metabolic syndrome. To have metabolic syndrome, you must have at
least three of the following: high blood
pressure, high cholesterol, his triglycerides, high blood sugar, and excess
body fat around the waist. It is kind of
pre-pre-diabetes. So, it is something I
do not want.
I picked up Cyrus Khambatta and Robby Barbaro’s book, Mastering
Diabetes: The Revolutionary Method to
Reverse Insulin Resistance Permanently in Type 1, Type 1.5, Type 2, Prediabetes,
and Gestational Diabetes. With a
forward by Neal Barnard – who has written a book on reversing diabetes.
The first five chapters introduce the authors – who are
both diabetics, and they explain what insulin resistance is and what it is in
relation to the intwined diseases. They conclude
that animal produces are a major detrimental health factor in insulin
resistance.
Each chapter has shaded boxes with further explanations,
charts and diagrams to help with understanding, anecdotal stories, and a
bullet-point “take-home messages” page with the link to what amount to
thousands of scientific papers referenced to back up their argument.
Beginning in chapter eight, they introduce their “Mastering
Diabetes Method,” and they introduce the concepts of green light, yellow light,
and red light foods – designating how much is allowed. The encourage the reader to write down
specific goals and to plan out weekly menus.
In the nineth chapter, they write about the need to be
monitored by a doctor and the tests that are most important to see how you are
progressing. The also explain how to use
a “decision tree” in making healthful decisions.
Chapter ten begins with a questionnaire about your weight
and eating habits, which determines which of two breakfast types you should
begin with. If you score low on the scale,
they start you off with a fruit bowl for breakfast. If you score in the top 75% of their questionnaire,
they start you with a high fiber breakfast for two to four weeks and then switch
you to the fruit bowl.
Lunches are vegetables, grains, and beans. They discuss calorie density and how that
works – and they illustrate several comparisons of this food versus this food
for calorie density. And they explain batch
prepping.
Dinners are salads with vegetables.
Chapter thirteen looks at the benefits of intermittent
fasting and offers several patterns, with 16:8 being the most frequently
adapted. (16 hours a day fasting.)
Fourteen looks at the benefits of exercising.
Chapter fifteen has suggested meal plans and sample
recipes.
Appendix A explains C-Peptide testing.
Appendix B lists the green, yellow, and red foods.
Appendix C looks at the use of decision tree.
The book ends with a lengthy index.
This is an excellent book for anyone looking to reduce
their insulin resistance and/or reverse any of these diseases. It is science-based – with thousands of
papers referenced. It is clear – with explanation,
charts, illustrations, summaries, and anecdotes. It is an extensive, useful, and helpful
guide.
Their meal plan reminds me of the first book I ever read
on what is now called Whole-Food, Plant-Based diet – that being the Diamond’s, Fit
for Life. Their reliance on scientific papers reminds me of Dr. Gregor’s
work.
I am continuing to tweak my diet and lifestyle with sarcoidosis
and prednisone, and this book with be a help in getting healthier.
Nearly 100% of Americans are overweight. Two-thirds of Americans are obese. Get this book. Care for your body and your life.
[This review appears on my blog, my
YouTube channel, Amazon.com, and Goodreads.com.]
"The Ruler of History" Sermon: Isaiah 41:1-7 (manuscript)
“The Ruler of History”
[Isaiah 41:1-7]
May 10, 2020 YouTube
In
chapter 40 of Isaiah, God comforts and gives hope to Judah and Jerusalem in
response to God telling them that they will be conquered and sent into
captivity for seventy years. God comforts
them, letting them know that they will suffer, but it will not be all they
deserve, and God will be with them and give them strength for each day that
they serve their discipline.
In
this morning’s text, God turns His eyes to the coastlands – to the nations
around the Mediterranean – to the Gentiles.
We
see that God calls the nations to come before Him to be judged in court.
“Listen to me in silence, O
coastlands; let the peoples renew their strength; let them approach, then let
them speak; let us together draw near for judgment.”
Paul writes, “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 17:30-31, ESV).
Just as God was preparing Jerusalem
– the Church – to be taken into captivity and discipline – some one hundred
years in the future – so God turns to the unbelievers and tells them that they
will have to answer before God in His courtroom.
God tells them to keep silence, to
gather their strength, and then, when they are ready, they can offer a defense
before God – they can speak and then hear the judgement of God on them.
And Paul says the same thing – the
day will come when everyone will be brought before God in His throne room and
judged. And we know this will happen
because God raised Jesus from the dead – evil has lost, the devil has been
defeated, the effects of sin will soon be swept away.
While we are “locked down” and
suffering not being together in worship, have we remembered those who do not
believe who are “locked down” – who are not merely at risk for their lives, but
their eternal lives and judgment before God?
Might this not be a good time to
talk with someone who doesn’t have the time to talk about religion or to read
something from the Bible or another good Christian book? If someone still doesn’t have time – no time
at all – tell then they need to make time, they need to be silent and pull
themselves together and confront something that is greater than Covid.
God tells the Gentiles – the
unbelievers – to get themselves together and come into the courtroom for
judgement.
Second, God tells them that He is
the Ruler of history.
“Who
stirred up one from the east whom victory meets at every step? He gives up
nations before him, so that he tramples kings underfoot; he makes them like
dust with his sword, like driven stubble with his bow. He pursues them and
passes on safely, by paths his feet have not trod.”
God
tells the Gentiles to listen, and He asks them Who it was that stirred up one
from the east and gave him victory at every step, trampling kings, wielding his
sword like it was going through butter, and he chases the nations away and
takes their land for his own?
So,
the question is, who is “one from the east”?
Who is this that God is referring to?
And
there are two major answers from the commentators:
The
first is Abraham.
Moses
records:
“Terah
took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law,
his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to
go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.
The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran” (Genesis 11:31-32, ESV).
“Now
the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your
father's house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great
nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a
blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will
curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis
12:1-3, ESV).
Abraham
is from the east. He is chosen by God to
be the father of the people of Israel.
God sends him to a new land where he had never been. He goes and conquers and makes treaties and
becomes one of the wealthiest people who has ever lived.
So,
the question is, Who did this for the one from the east?
God
did. God is telling the Gentiles that
God is able to take one man who is faithful and obedient and empower him and
lead him to conquer the world and set up a nation for God. God chose Abraham and removed all the
obstacles he would face so he arrives exactly where God wants him to be and
promises him, he will be.
The
second possibility is Cyrus.
Cyrus
was born around 600 B.C. and ruled the Medo-Persian Empire from 559 B.C. to his
death in 530 B.C. Cyrus was born in the
east, and God raised him up to be the leader to the Medo-Persian Empire –
striking down the Babylonian Empire in 539 B.C., claiming an empire that ran
from Egypt and Turkey throughout all of the Middle East.
God
made Himself known to Cyrus, and we read:
“Now
in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth
of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of
Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom and also put
it in writing: ‘Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, “The LORD, the God of heaven,
has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him
a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his
people, may the LORD his God be with him. Let him go up”’” (II Chronicles
36:22-23, ESV).
Thus,
in 539 B.C., the release of Israel and Judah from the Babylonian captivity began,
and the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the whole nation.
Cyrus
is from the east, and he conquers much of the known world and frees God’s
people, and he tells all the neighboring nations to Israel, that they are going
to pay for the restoration of the nation – including building the wall around
Jerusalem.
So,
is it Abraham or Cyrus? Why not both?
The
point is not who is God referencing. The
point is that God is the Ruler of history, and God is able to choose anyone to
accomplish His Will and no nation, no people, no circumstance in all of the
world will be able to stop God from accomplishing His purposes through any man
or woman He chooses, because He is Sovereign.
His Hand is Providence.
God
says, “Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the
beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he.”
God
tells the Gentiles to understand, God called the generations into existence in
the first place, and God brings the generations to the place He would have them
be. God is before the beginning, is now,
and will forever be. God is the First
and the Last. He is the Almighty. He raises up unexpected people to accomplish
His Will and it comes to pass exactly as He planned without anything ever
diverting what He intended.
There
is a point where Jesus is before Pilate, and Pilate is trying to get Jesus to
take His trial seriously – to get Him to understand the facts of His
incarceration – that the only thing that would keep Jesus from being crucified
and dying would be the will of Pilate.
And
Jesus corrects him, “Jesus answered him, ‘You would have no authority over me
at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore, he who delivered me
over to you has the greater sin’” (John 19:11, ESV).
“Pilate,
God is the Ruler of history. You are
doing what must be done that Providence would come and the Will of God
satisfied. You have been given the
authority to do what God intends to have done, but I am not in your hands.”
God
brings the nations before Him and tells them that He is the Almighty, He is the
Sovereign, He is the Ruler of history – and he gives the example of the one
from the east – which was and is – from their time perspective – a big deal –
the rise of Abraham on the world stage and the rise of Cyrus on the world
stage. And God tells the Gentiles to
listen up because He is and was and will forever be.
We
have images in the Scripture of God being love and Jesus being the Shepherd of
the sheep – and those are true – but they do not make up a full picture of Who
God is. We need to know God in all of
His Attributes for our growth in faith and obedience.
It
is nice that God loves us and shepherds us, but something more is added if we
say He is the Sovereign, Providential Ruler of history Who knows and leads
individuals to accomplish His purposes, isn’t it? Isn’t it even more comforting to know that
God is both He Who suffered and died for us and physically rose again, and the
God Who empowers people who we unknown to be major players on the world stage
and for the progression of the Kingdom of God?
And
what might the Gentiles understand? How
might they react?
If
you are an unbeliever and you are told by the Almighty God Who moves history
according to His Will that you will have to answer before Him in His court,
wouldn’t you cry out like the crowd on the day of Pentecost, “What must we do
to be saved?”
The
world needs to hear the full picture of Who God is. It’s not enough to tell people that God is
love and loves His people. We must also
tell them that He is the Almighty God Who is Holy and Just and will require us
to answer before Him at the end of the age.
Still,
knowing that God is the Ruler of history will not move a heart of stone.
Third,
the Gentiles run to their idols.
“The coastlands have seen and are
afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they have drawn near and come. Everyone
helps his neighbor and says to his
brother, ‘Be strong!’ The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith, and he who
smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil, saying of the soldering, ‘It
is good’; and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved.”
The Gentiles – the unbelievers
understand the message that God has given – and they are terrified. The earth is trembling at the revelation of
God’s Almighty Sovereignty. The people
run and gather together in groups and tell each other, “Be strong – everything
will be fine. Don’t worry, be strong!”
How in the world can they hear the
message of impending doom and tell each other that all will be well? Their hearts and hard, and their minds are
deluded.
They run to the craftsman and have
him made idols for them. He covers the
idols with gold and silver. They take
the idols home and nail them down so nothing can move them, and they tell
themselves, “It is good – all is well.
The nails are holing my god down, so there is no chance of the God of
Jerusalem coming against us!”
“No chance”? That’s exactly the point – there is no
chance! Chance is not a thing that
exists. God is the Ruler of history and
He moves every molecule to where He would have it bento accomplish His purpose,
and He disciplines and brings down His Wrath as He is pleased to.
They were eyewitness of the power
and work of God, and they were deeply convinced of it – as Calvin explains –
but they would not listen. They smiled
and closed their ears and hearts and took their trinkets home to protect them.
One of the last days of college, I
was sitting with a friend of mine, who is not a believer. And he looked at me and asked me what was
wrong. I told him that I was concerned
for him – that he did not believe in Jesus the Only God and Savior, and he
said, “Don’t worry; I’ll be fine.”
No, he won’t. Not unless he comes to faith and confesses
Jesus as God and Savior. No, he won’t be
fine if he dies in unbelief and has to face the Almighty God in His courtroom.
Paul tells us that the sufferings of
this world are nothing compared with the glory we will be brought into on the
last day. So, be comforted brothers and
sisters, as we endure Covid. Let us
strive after holiness with everything in us – enabled by the power of God the
Holy Spirit. Let us read our Bibles and
listen to biblical preaching and learn about Who God is. Let us know the God Who chose to save a
people – a remnant of humanity – for Himself – and bought us with His Blood.
But don’t comfort the
unbelievers. Don’t tell them that God
loves them just as they are. No, Jesus
died because of how we are. Tell them
that the Ruler of history has sent One Savior into the world for all people to
turn to and believe for forgiveness and eternal life. Tell them they won’t be all right if they put
their faith in their idols.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we rejoice that You
are Sovereign over history. We look to
You when we don’t understand the course of history, and we pray that You would
keep us acknowledging Your Sovereignty when days are bright. Help us to speak up, telling our friends that
there is One God and Savior Who controls all of history and will save all those
Who believe in their hearts and confess Him with their mouths. Send the Holy Spirit through us as we speak
to break hearts of stone and draw the remnant to Your Salvation. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Sunday, May 03, 2020
"The Creator" Sermon: Isaiah 40:12-31 (manuscript)
“The Creator”
[Isaiah 40:12-31]
May 5, 2020 YouTube
In the first half of Isaiah 40,
Isaiah tells the people of Jerusalem and Judah that the time is coming when the
Babylonians will conquer them and take them into captivity – and this is God’s
discipline of them. However, they need
to remember – they need to be reminded – they need to tell their children and
their children – that God will comfort them in captivity – in exile. The God Who sends them into captivity has
secured the salvation of all those who will ever believe, the Word of God – all
the promises God made to them still stand and will stand throughout their exile
– God’s Word is eternal. And the God Who
sends them into exile is also their shepherd.
God is disciplining them for their good.
It is through this discipline that they will come out a mature and holy
people.
What are you telling yourself during
our exile – of varying degrees? What do
you believe about God and His promises?
Are you thinking more about Who God is – what God’s character is – what
God is like?
God, through the prophet Isaiah,
answers the question of the generations hearing the prophecies of exile: how can you say that God cares if He is going
to exile us?
How can we say God cares for us when
people are dying, and it looks like we will never completely return to the “way
it was”?
The short answer we see is God
saying, “I am the Creator, you are My creation.”
First, God is the fount of all power
and wisdom.
God answers the unvoiced question,
not unlike Job’s shaking of his fist at God and asking, “Just give me one
reason…”
God says, “first off, I have measured
the earth and water – I know everything about everything.”
God says He can hold all of the
waters of the earth in His hand. He
marked off the dividing line between the earth and sky. And the mountains and hills of the earth are
like dust on His scales. God is the
Ultimate Power – all power is God’s.
And who counselled God and taught
Him? Many of the pagan idols required
humans to teach things to them. Not the
God of Judah! God measures out the
Spirit. God knows everything, God
understands justice – He has all knowledge and understanding. God does not need an advisor – God has all
wisdom and knowledge.
But couldn’t the nations get the
better of God if God allows them to take Judah into captivity? The nations are like a drop of water from a
bucket or dust on the scales. There is
no injustice with God and God will never slip up and lose control – He is
Sovereign over the nations.
And He is worthy of worship unlike
any idol. God is worthy of worship that
is beyond human ability – if all the trees of Lebanon were burn and all the
animals of the coastlands offered up to God in sacrifice, it would all be
nothing compared to what God deserves.
God is the One True and Holy God.
The God of Judah – our God – is more
powerful and more wise than we can possibly conceive – but He is also
Good. He is the God Who has chosen a
people for Himself, and even if we don’t understand all that happens or all that
God has said – He calls us to trust Him and believe Him and to stand on His
Word.
Judah is told – and we ought to
believe this and hold to it also:
“From of old no one has heard or
perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who
wait for him” (Isaiah 64:4, ESV).
If God allows Jerusalem to be
destroyed and the people taken off into captivity – it is not because God did
not have enough power or lacks wisdom.
No, God knows what He is doing – and He is bringing it together for the
good of we who love Him – He acts on the behalf of those who love Him and who wait
on the promises He has made.
And Jesus promises that whether they
live or die – whether we live or die – whatever happens, nothing and no one can
ever separate us from God Who loves us and sent His Son, the Savior for us, “My
Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to
snatch them out of the Father's hand” (John 10:29, ESV).
So, in the midst of the destruction
of Jerusalem – in their being slaughtered and taken into exile for seventy
years – in losing the Temple and the Promised Land – in the midst of the
uncertainty of Covid – trust that God is all-wise and all-powerful and He is doing
exactly what should be done – the best thing that should be done right now – so
let us have hope as Abraham – and old man with a barren wife – had hope:
“In hope he believed against hope,
that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, ‘So
shall your offspring be’” (Romans 4:18, ESV).
God does care for Judah in exile and
He cares for each one of His people. He
knows everything and has all wisdom and can do exactly whatever He wills
whenever He wants.
Let us learn Who God is from His Word
and worship Him as we trust Him and have hope for the future.
Second, idolatry is worshipping the
inferior.
“To whom then will you liken God, or
what likeness compare with him? An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith
overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains. He who is too
impoverished for an offering chooses wood that will not rot; he seeks out a
skillful craftsman to set up an idol that will not move.”
Calvin said that humans are idol
factories. We tend to turn to things we
can control and make into our own image.
When we need or want something, we tend to avoid bowing before He Who is
all-powerful and all-wise, because we have no way to influence Him – He cannot
be bought off.
But we can have someone make a fancy
silver or gold statue that we can pray to.
Remember the golden calf. And if
we can’t afford that, we can have something made out of wood that we can pray
to until it gets rotten.
And we may think – no, it was those primitive
people in Bible times that bowed down to idols, we don’t do that anymore.
Actually, there are people and there
are religions where you bow to a statue and worship a statue.
But in America, it is more
subtle. We pray to the government to
solve our problems. We pray to our
analysts to solve our problems. We pray
to the lottery to solve our problems. We
pray to the stock market to solve our problems.
Anything can become an idol if we put it in the place of God.
God knows that Israel has turned to
idols in the past and will turn to idols in the future. And here, God briefly gives this shock to the
system as they prepare for exile by telling them Who He is and then –
incredulously saying, “I am the Creator of everything that is. I am the Almighty and All-wise. And you are going to pay someone I created to
take some metal or a piece of wood that I created to form into a god that has
no power and no wisdom for you to worship and bow down to – are you serious?”
Who or what are you looking to for
salvation and wisdom in Covid? Where do
you place your greatest trust? Who do
you think has the best chance of delivering you? Have you turned Dr. Fauci into an idol? Dr. Burx?
Nancy Pelosi? President
Trump? The Congress? Joel Osteen? Joe Biden?
It’s easy, isn’t it? “If we just gave all-power to so-and-so, we
would be delivered from this crisis.”
God has given us people and
governments to serve us and Him, but God is God. There is no comparison between God and
anything else. Making a god out of
someone or something God has created is going to an inferior power. Idolatry is worshipping the inferior.
As Judah prepares for exile, they
should be in the Word of God and in the Temple in worship, seeking to grow in
faith and obedience. That is the proper
way to be as something terrible comes and as we endure the terrible and as we
come out of the terrible, by the grace and the mercy of God.
Know God and don’t be tempted by an
idol.
Third, God is the Creator and
Sustainer of all.
“Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has
it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the
foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and
its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a
curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to
nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely
has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither,
and the tempest carries them off like stubble. To whom then will you compare
me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and
see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them
all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not
one is missing.”
Rather than worship an idol as things
go wrong and in the midst of exile, worship God, because God is your Creator
and God is the reason you continue to live and breathe.
God says, “Don’t you understand? I am from before the beginning. I am outside of time and space, and I created
time and space, and I came into time and space to be the God of My people. My home is outside of time and space. Humans are like grasshoppers to Me. I hung the sky like a curtain and spread out
the earth like a tent for you to live in.
“I am the One Who puts princes in
power and takes them out of power. I
build up kingdoms and take down kingdoms.
I cause the trees to grow from the seed, and I cause them to fall to the
ground and rot.
“Who will you compare Me to? Am I derivative of someone? Is there someone who needs to teach Me so I grow
into the great being than I am – the Holy One?
“Consider Who I am and what I
do. Look out at the night sky. Look at the stars. I created every one of
them. I put each one of them in their
place. I cause each one to come out
across the night sky. I call each one of
them by the name I have named them. By
My greatness and My power each one is and is not missing from the sky.
“If I am the Creator and Sustainer of
all of Creation, do you think I could forget you? Do you think I would forget My people? Do you
think that My disciplining you means that I have failed or will not keep My
promise to save the remnant? I am
intimately involved with all of My Creation, sustaining it and bringing it to
exactly where I have planned it to be.”
Jesus says, “Are not two sparrows
sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your
Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore;
you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me
before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but
whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in
heaven” (Matthew 10:29-33, ESV).
Just as God causes sparrows to be
born and live and die, so God cause us to be born and live and die. But we were created in the Image of God, and
we who believe savingly in Jesus are being conformed to His Image. So, we have nothing to fear – in prosperity,
in lack, in life, and in death, God is sustaining us and bringing us to exactly
where He would have us be.
God is the Creator and Sustainer of
all.
Fourth, God is the source of our
strength.
“Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak,
O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my
God’? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his
understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has
no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young
men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their
strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be
weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
In hearing about their captivity and
the length of it, some were depressed and thought that God didn’t really care
about them – that God had forgotten them – perhaps, even, that God had violated
their rights.
And God tells them, “Don’t you get
it? I am the Creator. I never get tired. I never run out of energy or power or
strength. I never forget what I am doing. I never fail to keep My promises. I am everlasting – and My health stays
perfect! My understanding is
unsearchable. When you don’t understand
why something is happening – I know exactly why it is happening. It may not be something I reveal to you, but
I know everything.
“In fact, I am the One Who gives
strength to the weary. I give power to
the faint. I give might and increase the
strength of the one who has none.”
Jesus told His disciples to pray for
their “daily bread.” That includes
strength. And God promises in this that
He will give each person everything he needs to be and do what God wants for that
day. Understand, God gives each of us
everything we need to be the person God wants us to be each day. God does not give us everything we want to be
who we want to be each day.
You may not want to be in exile or
sick or lonely or frustrated or bored – whatever that is – but God – Who loves
His people – is doing what is good and right and best for us to be His
people. We won’t always know what is happening
or why, but God does. God knew about
Covid even before the Chinese government.
And God knows the “why” behind it.
I certainly don’t – except to say that such things happen in a sinful
world, so let us know God and grow in faith and obedience in response to the
salvation we have been given in Jesus.
The final sentences of this chapter
are one of those “famous” sections of the Bible: “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and
young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew
their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and
not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”
I see this on plaques that are given
to fat high school graduates – I got one – and to people in nursing homes, but
we miss the point if we think this text is a talisman for getting good grades
or overcoming illness – that’s not what it says.
The words that are translated
“youths” and “young men” refer to choice men, men in their prime, those who are
most fit for the military, and Olympians.
So, we are told that the people who hold in highest regard for their
physical fitness get faint, weary, and fall down exhausted – they can’t go on
forever – the best of us physically have a breaking point. Even those of us who don’t have the body of
an Olympian get overwhelmed by our circumstances. Being told that the nation would go into
exile for seventy years is overwhelming.
The shut-down of our country and everything we don’t know about Covid
can be overwhelming.
But God!
Those
who seek the Lord. Those who look to
grow in faith and obedience. Those who
have hope in the promises of God. Those who
cry out to God and say, “I am totally overwhelmed, Lord. I don’t understand. I don’t know what to do. I don’t understand how we will come through
this. I find myself becoming depressed
and anxious at times. Lord, help me to
wait on You!”
God
will renew the strength of these people, because God is the source of our
strength. The only reason why you or I
can do anything – physically, mentally, spiritually, is because God enables
us. God gives us the strength to be who
God knows we are best to be today. And,
as God is pleased, He will strengthen us in ways such that it seems that we’re
flying, that we’re running, that we’re walking – whatever God would have for us
and enable us for this day.
Paul
writes, “which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I
have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what
has been entrusted to me” (II Timothy 1:12, ESV).
Judah,
Jerusalem, brothers and sisters, how can we say God cares when we are in exile?
God
is the fount of all power and wisdom.
This is all happening according to God’s plan – nothing has gone awry in
the plan of God.
Turn
away from worshipping any kind of creation.
Only God is God.
God
is the Creator and Sustainer of all. God
is not some absentee god. God is
intimately involved in everything that happens, and He is bringing all Creation
to the end for which it was created.
And
God is the source of our strength. From
day to day, God provides for us according to His bounty and what He knows we
need to be His people.
When
Paul writes Timothy, he tells him he is suffering for proclaiming the Gospel of
Jesus. And he tells Timothy that
whatever God has for him – life,
suffering, or death – he is certain that God Who created him and sustained him
thus far, will bring him to glory at the day of Christ Jesus.
Terrible
things will happen for various reasons – perhaps only truly known to God. Trust Him, know Him, worship Him, and wait on
Him.
Let
us pray:
Almighty
God, we thank You that You have made Yourself known to us as the Almighty,
All-wise God, the only One worthy of worship, the Creator, Sustainer, and
Source of all of our strength. Help us
to wait on You. Send the Holy Spirit with
power to us so we would not turn away or doubt or despair as we face difficult
times. Help us to trust that You are
Sovereign in every moment of life – even in our lives. Help us to look forward in hope, even when we
don’t understand, knowing that You will bring us to Glory, through Your Son,
Jesus. For it is in His Name we pray,
Amen.
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