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He Is God – part 2
Isaiah 44:24 – 45:25 (45:8-14)
April 7, 2024

This morning we had to leave off in our discussion rather abruptly,
So I’m glad you’ve come back tonight to dive back into this with me.

We are looking at a passage of Scripture were
The overwhelming point is that God is God and there is no other.

God specifically says that 7 times in chapter 45 alone.

It is a call for men to acknowledge that He is God and we are not.

Now in order to make this point,
God has given a revelation of exactly how He has been at work in the world.

We started looking at the first point:
#1 GOD’S MYSTERIOUS WAYS
Isaiah 44:24 – 45:8

I won’t rehash it a lot, but you will remember that at the end of chapter 44 God revealed that He is sovereign over all events.

• If a man’s word stands it’s because God caused it to stand.
• If a man’s word fails it’s because God caused it to fail.

All events are orchestrated by Him.
He can do whatever He wants.

And we saw that He what He is planning to do is clear:
1) JUDAH WILL RETURN (26b)
2) A WILL BE REVEALED (27)
3) A PAGAN WILL RISE (28)

God is going to restore Israel to her land by supernatural means
And He is going to use a pagan king to do it.

That might have been shocking enough,
But what was even more shocking was the way God spoke about this pagan king.

In Isaiah 45:1 God called Cyrus “His anointed”
• It is the Hebrew word for messiah.
• It is the Greek word for christ.

God reveals that He is the One behind the conquest of Cyrus.

THIS IS SHOCKING to those who hear it because Cyrus is a pagan.

And that is when God dropped a shocking statement on us,
Which we want to get back to tonight.

(7) “The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.”

WE MENTIONED HOW

Men typically like to divide all events into two camps; good things and bad things.
• And they like to attribute everything they perceive as good to God
• And they like to attribute everything they perceive as bad to the devil.

And that seems like a good theology as it preserves God’s reputation from having anything bad assigned to Him.

The problem is it leaves us with no real answer for the existence of evil.

Many an atheist has liked to say that the presence of evil
Proves that God cannot be both good and all powerful.

When we run across a verse like Isaiah 45:7
Where God says He ordains light & darkness, well-being & calamity
One might think that the atheist had it right.

They would say, “Aha! See, He might be all powerful but He is not all good. A good God would never ordain darkness or calamity.”

That issue is the dilemma that we are currently wrestling with
As we strive to learn more about God.

First, let me reassure of the goodness of God.
Mark 10:18 “And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.”

Psalms 84:11 “For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD gives grace and glory; No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”

1 Timothy 4:4 “For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude;”

James 1:17 “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.”

Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

• God is the epitome of what is good.
• God is the example of what is good.
• God is the giver of what is good.
• God is the promiser of all that is good.

Matthew 7:11 “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!”

GOD IS GOOD.

BUT WHERE WE MAKE OUR MISTAKE
Is in assuming then that God has no part in the expression of bad things.

And yet here God says that He does.
He forms darkness, He causes calamity.

“I am the LORD who does all these.”

And so God now is taking ownership of the circumstances of the day.
• This would include Israel’s being conquered.
• This would include their slavery in Babylon.
• This would include the rise of Cyrus.
• This would include his conquering of nations and approaching Babylon.

And the simple point we are making is that
You cannot excuse God from any circumstance that occurs on earth.

You cannot act as though anything is happening independently of Him.

GOD IS NOT LIKE A MYTHICAL SUPER HERO
Who is just flying around trying to undo evil effects on the world,
But who can’t get to all of them
And so sometimes bad things still happen.

NO, GOD IS SOVEREIGN OVER ALL OF IT.

We marvel that God delivered Israel from Egypt,
But must remember it was God who sent them to Egypt to begin with.

He even told Abraham many years before:
Genesis 15:13 “God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years.”

We marvel that God delivered Israel from the hand of Babylon,
But we must remember it was God who sent them there as well.

And if you want to really ask questions that blow the mind,
“How did Satan even get into the garden?”

It is because God ordained it to be so.

As we said this morning, this DOES NOT MEAN
That God commits evil or causes evil or delights in evil. He does not.

But we do see that God ordains the existence of evil
And that God even uses it for His purposes and His glory.

Now, before we go any further down that trail,
It is also important for you to understand THE END which God has ordained.

For while God does currently cause calamity and use evil
We are NOT left in limbo regarding His will, His plan,
Or the end which He has ordained.

The end is made clear to us.
(8) “Drip down, O heavens, from above, And let the clouds pour down righteousness; Let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, And righteousness spring up with it. I, the LORD, have created it.”

We know where this is headed.
• Evil doesn’t win.
• Evil doesn’t exist forever.

• The end result is a righteous earth.
• The end result is a creation free from the presence of all evil.
• The end result is fruitful salvation.

God will ultimately bring this about.

But He currently ordains the evil and the good for His purposes.

So let’s stop and swallow that for a moment.

Does God have that right?
Can God do whatever He wants however He wants?

See if you stop and say, “That’s not right!” or “God shouldn’t do that!”

Then you have forgotten the first fundamental.
HE – IS – GOD

Take a lesson from Job
Who, in the midst of his affliction, began to question God’s will and decision making in allowing his affliction.
God then answered Job that he was way out of line and questioning things he ought not question.

Take a lesson from Elijah who ran to the mountain of God to basically tell God He had made a massive mistake.
God then answered Elijah that he was relieved of duty and his replacement would be taking over.

Take a lesson from Peter who pulled Jesus aside to tell him that his plan of the cross was reckless and foolish.
Jesus then answered him that he was doing the work of Satan and needed step back.

AND HERE IS THAT FIRST POINT:
GOD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS.

You will never understand why God does all that He does.
You will never understand how God does all that He does.

And He does not approach you to get your approval first.
• He brings good and He brings calamity.
• He raises up godly leaders and He raises up godless leaders.
• He brings light and He brings darkness.
• He heals and He afflicts.
• He raises up and He tears down.
• He honors one and humiliates another.
• He chooses to save one and He judges another.

And the worst problem of humanity
Is when we demand to understand why.

But He owes us no explanation.
• We are not deserving of a reason.

We just know that God is sovereign over everything
Whether we understand it or not.

Can you accept that?
Can you submit to that?
If you can’t you’re going to be in a world of hurt.

Drop the notions of fairness.
Drop your definitions of right and wrong.
Drop your expectations of what should happen.

You aren’t here in an advisory position,
You are here to submit to the One who is God.

Can you swallow that?
Can you submit to that?

God works in mysterious ways.
And that includes raising up a pagan man, calling him a messiah,
And using him to deliver His people.

Now let’s move to the second point tonight.
God’s Mysterious Ways

#2 GOD’S IMPORTANT WARNING
Isaiah 45:9-14

The timing of this verse is obvious.
• Humanity does not like to trust that which they don’t understand.
• We don’t like to submit to that which offends our sense or right and wrong.

We don’t like the thought that God can ordain whatever He wants
And that He can ordain calamity in my life without an explanation.

And mankind since the beginning has been prone to revolt.
• Mankind has been prone to “balk” and cry “Foul!”
• Or the ever famous, “That’s Not Fair!”

SO GOD HAS A WARNING.

(9-10) “Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker— An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth! Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’? “Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ Or to a woman, ‘To what are you giving birth?’”

Talk about a loaded passage!

“Woe to the one who quarrels with his Maker”
If that is all the verse said it would be enough.

We are familiar with Isaiah’s usage of the word “Woe” by now.
• We remember him calling down woe upon himself when he saw the Lord.

That same woe is here applied to anyone
Who quarrels with the One who made Him.

God asked Job:
Job 38:1-2 “Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, “Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge?”

Quarreling with your maker is vile insubordination.
• It is evidence that you have no humility.
• It is evidence that you don’t know your place.

But it gets even worse.
“An earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth!”

Do you understand that?
Who is this that comes arguing with Me?

DIRT!?!
• Would this lump of dirt really come and take issue with Me?
• Would this lump of dirt really come to correct Me?

“Will the clay say to the potter, ‘What are you doing?’ Or the thing you are making say, ‘He has no hands’?”

Whoever heard of such a thing?
Whoever heard of a clay pot on the potters wheel screaming out that the potter didn’t have a clue what he was doing?

Isaiah 29:15-16 “Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD, And whose deeds are done in a dark place, And they say, “Who sees us?” or “Who knows us?” You turn things around! Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay, That what is made would say to its maker, “He did not make me”; Or what is formed say to him who formed it, “He has no understanding”?”

It is just unthinkable arrogance and insubordination.

AND YOU’VE HEARD IT BEFORE.

Remember when Paul began to lay out for you the realities of election?

Romans 9:13-18 “Just as it is written, “JACOB I LOVED, BUT ESAU I HATED.” What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! For He says to Moses, “I WILL HAVE MERCY ON WHOM I HAVE MERCY, AND I WILL HAVE COMPASSION ON WHOM I HAVE COMPASSION.” So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.” So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”

Oh how men hate that passage.

They just hate to read the fact that God hated Esau.
• Poor old Esau, never did anything to God, and then God hated him.

Others go to great lengths to try and explain that this could not be what it means.
• It must mean something else.
• For it would be unjust for God to hate Esau for no reason.
(Well God had a reason, it was called the fall)

But none the less, men cry “foul!” and “that’s not fair!”

And Paul picks up on the argument.
He asks, “There is no injustice with God is there?”
• Are you really asking if God is unjust, just because you can’t understand why
He would do something?

Just because it offends your sense of justice,
That does not mean it is unjust.
Your “justometer” is way out of calibration.

But Paul answers that God is not unjust, and God does things like this all the time.

Take Pharaoh as an example.
• God raised him up and hardened his heart where he could not repent and then
crushed him for his lack of repentance.

And Paul says, “So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”

Do you see that?
“The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.”

GOD DOES THIS.

But how does man respond?
They quarrel.

Romans 9:19-21 “You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?” On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, “Why did you make me like this,” will it? Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?”

There you have it!
If God hardens a man then God does not have the right to judge him for being hard.

Really?
Who are you to tell God what He does and doesn’t have a right to do?

Do you see the issue?
It’s all about you knowing your place
And coming into submission under God’s authority.

Stop acting like God owes you an explanation.
Stop acting like God has to run His edicts past you for approval.
HE – IS – GOD

YOU KNOW MY DAD WAS A HORSE TRADER.
He was definitely not a horse whisperer.
But we trained hundreds of horses over the years.

And his training method was very simple – teach that horse submission.
• Some horses were gentle by nature.
• Some horses were rank by nature.
• Dad didn’t care.

Either way, at the end of a day he wanted a horse that was “broke”.

So the method was – find something the horse doesn’t want to do and make him do it. Then make him do it again.

And if that horse fights relentlessly and won’t do it, then you get in the loading shoot for a come to Jesus meeting where dad would say, “That horse needs his attention got.” And granted some of those methods could be a little unorthodox.

I saw him punch horses in the nose, kick them in the belly,
And even pull a pipe gate around to hit them in the nose.

And I know, any animal activist friends are cringing as they listen to this.
• “That’s not fair!”
• “That’s just wrong!”

And if my dad wasn’t already in heaven there might be some
That would like go after him for doing some of those things.

Now, since my dad was a man,
Another man has every right to question his methods.

But do you want to know who didn’t get to question his methods?
The horse.

Dad lived with a fundamental belief
• That he was sovereign over that horse.
• That horse was there to serve and submit and do what it was told,
• And even if his methods seemed unorthodox to the horse it didn’t matter.
• He was the man, the horse was the horse.

Now listen, this cuts to the heart of
The major problem plaguing so much of Christianity today.

We think God is somehow obligated
To operate by our standard of “should” and “shouldn’t”.

We want God to act in such a way
That we can logically defend Him to a skeptical world.

BUT GOD ISN’T TRYING TO PROVE HIMSELF TO A SKEPTICAL WORLD.
He is not trying to convince you.
He is commanding you to bow to Him.

HE – IS – GOD
And He owes you no explanation.

No potter ever has to argue with he clay regarding the purpose for which he will use it.

Jeremiah 18:1-6 “The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying, “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will announce My words to you.” Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something on the wheel. But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make. Then the word of the LORD came to me saying, “Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?” declares the LORD. “Behold, like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.”

DO YOU GET THE POINT?
Learn your place.

This is part of what God is teaching Israel
By revealing His usage of Cyrus.

He is doing something they don’t understand
Simply for the purpose of teaching them
That as God He can do whatever He wants.

God continues…
(10) “Woe to him who says to a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ Or to a woman, ‘To what are you giving birth?’”

Now we have
• An infant being born, and as soon as it comes out of the womb it looks at the father and says, “What were you thinking?”
• And then it looks to the mother and says, “You have no idea what you are doing!”

And do we not have people arrogantly ask God,
“Why did You make me like this?”

As though God made some kind of mistake
When he knit you together in your mother’s womb.

“Well, it’s not fair that I should be short, or fat, or slow, or shy, or bald, or black, or white, or Hispanic, or…” whatever.

And God would look at you and say,
• “Do you remember when I asked you what you wanted to look like?”
• “Do you remember when I asked when you wanted to be born?”
• “Do you remember when I asked if you wanted to be male or female?”

Exactly!
I didn’t!

God made you as it pleased Him to make.
He made you for His purposes and for His glory.

And in Romans 9 Paul says
That some were made for to glorify God through their salvation
And others were made to glorify God through their destruction.

And if you cry, “That’s not fair!”
THEN GO READ VERSES 9 AND 10 AGAIN.

HE – IS – GOD!

He defines what fair is.
He defines what good is.
He is not on trial before you and He never will be.

You had better learn your place.
• This is the very beginning of what it means to have a “fear of the LORD”
• This is the very beginning of humility

It is unthinkable that the dirt would argue with God.
It is unthinkable that the created would argue with the Creator.

So before you go to complaining
Let God just stop and give you a warning real quick…DON’T.

JUST ASK JOB.

SO WHAT DO WE DO?
HOW CAN WE RESPOND?

(11-12) “Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker: “Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons, And you shall commit to Me the work of My hands. “It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands And I ordained all their host.”

• You cannot quarrel with God.
• You cannot question God.
• You cannot argue with Him.

BUT WHAT CAN YOU DO?
“Ask Me about the things to come concerning My sons…”

Don’t question His authority or His motives,
BUT YOU CAN ASK HIM WHAT HE IS DOING.

Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know.”

God is not interesting in explaining His decision making process to you or why He uses the methods He is using,
But He will gladly reveal to you the plan He has for His sons.

SO ASK HIM.
Not “Why?”, but “What?”

God, what is Your will for Your children in this?
God, what would You have us do in this circumstance?

Feel free to ask, just maintain submissive reverence when you do.

“And you shall commit to Me the work of My hands.”

In other words, “You can ask Me, but acknowledge My work when you do.”
• Come to Me in reverence and humility.
• Come to Me in submission and faith.
• Acknowledge that I am at work
• That I am working according to My perfect wisdom,
• And then you can ask Me what I am doing.

And again we are reminded of our place and His place.
“It is I who made the earth, and created man upon it. I stretched out the heavens with My hands And I ordained their host.”

• Don’t get too big for your britches.
• Don’t forget who you are and who I am.
• You may approach Me but remember who I am.

And here God determines to go ahead and answer
The question that is on their mind.

The question is: WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH CYRUS?

And here is God’s answer:
(13) “I have aroused him in righteousness And I will make all his ways smooth; He will build My city and will let My exiles go free, Without any payment or reward,” says the LORD of hosts.”

God says that “I have aroused him in righteousness”

It DOES NOT mean that Cyrus was righteous
Or that he even had righteous motives.

It MEANS that all that God is doing through him is righteous.

God will cause him to send Israel home, rebuild their city,
And he will do it absolutely free of charge.

Are you serious?
• Nobody does anything free of charge.
• Nobody does something for nothing.
• Especially not a pagan.

Well he will.

(14) “Thus says the LORD, “The products of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush And the Sabeans, men of stature, Will come over to you and will be yours; They will walk behind you, they will come over in chains And will bow down to you; They will make supplication to you: ‘Surely, God is with you, and there is none else, No other God.’”

God says that it will basically be the Egyptians and the Ethiopians and the Sabeans who will pay for the city and the temple to be rebuilt.

Ezra 1:1-4 “Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying: “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. ‘Whoever there is among you of all His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and rebuild the house of the LORD, the God of Israel; He is the God who is in Jerusalem. ‘Every survivor, at whatever place he may live, let the men of that place support him with silver and gold, with goods and cattle, together with a freewill offering for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.’”

That is a great command, but who is going to pay for it?

Ezra 6:3 “In the first year of King Cyrus, Cyrus the king issued a decree: ‘Concerning the house of God at Jerusalem, let the temple, the place where sacrifices are offered, be rebuilt and let its foundations be retained, its height being 60 cubits and its width 60 cubits; with three layers of huge stones and one layer of timbers. And let the cost be paid from the royal treasury.”

Not only did Cyrus give them permission to go home and rebuild, he paid for it out of the royal treasury.

Do you know whose money was in that royal treasury?
It was the spoil of Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Sabeans.

What you have here is God revealing that
He is in total control of the situation.

AND THAT INCLUDES A LOOK TO THE FUTURE
When Egyptians and Ethiopians and Sabeans
Will all come to Israel to make supplication to them.

This is has not yet happened, but it will.
Zechariah 8:23 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘In those days ten men from all the nations will grasp the garment of a Jew, saying, “Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.”’”

SO WHAT IS GOD DOING?

The answer is, He is saving Israel
And He is doing it in such a way that all men will know
That He alone is God.

How else can you explain
• A pagan conqueror
• Giving up his slaves,
• Sending them home,
• Rebuilding their capitol and their temple,
• And paying for it?

You can’t.

And now we realize that if we ever did question what God was doing,
WE SHOULDN’T HAVE.

He knew exactly what He was doing.
He always does.

He has never asked us to understand what He is doing,
He has asked us to trust what He is doing.

It is that simple lesson that must be learned.
HE – IS – GOD and we are not.

AND HOW APPLICABLE THIS IS EVEN TO OUR WORLD RIGHT NOW.
It is crazy out there.

We are scheduled to have an election in November.
• We have a vile immoral man in office
• Running against a man who has proven to be a pagan his entire life.

• One makes no bones about opposing Christianity.
• The other gives lip service to Christianity but some of his decisions and
behavior make us very skeptical.

I told someone the other day that
“If everything I read on the internet about Donald Trump is true then he might be the anti-christ. And my other option is Joe Biden who is definitely anti Christ.”

But what if I told you that Joe Biden is president by God’s doing?
Regardless of what happens in November, that will be God’s doing too?

HOW DO I KNOW?
Because He is sovereign over all things.

SO HOW DO WE RESPOND?
We don’t argue with God, we don’t question God, we submit to God.

AND WE DO SO WITH THE CONFIDENCE
That God has already revealed that He will save His people.

We know where it is all headed.
We know how it ends.

But it just may be that THE LESSON of the day is that we learn.
HE – IS – GOD

I want to close tonight with a very fitting Psalm.
TURN TO: PSALMS 46

And there it is.
• You may not understand all the chaos.
• You may not understand the hardship.
• But rest assured God has not abandoned His people.

So, “Cease striving and know that I am God”

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He Is God – part 1
Isaiah 44:24-45:25 (44:24 – 45:7)
April 7, 2024

This morning we return to our study of the book of Isaiah.
As you know, we are in the second segment of the book
In which Isaiah is speaking prophetically to the refugees in Babylon.

He is speaking of a time around 100 years after his ministry,
But the truths revealed are remarkable.

To begin this text, I would start by calling your mind back to an issue that God already announced earlier through Isaiah.

Isaiah 41:1-4 “Coastlands, listen to Me in silence, And let the peoples gain new strength; Let them come forward, then let them speak; Let us come together for judgment. “Who has aroused one from the east Whom He calls in righteousness to His feet? He delivers up nations before him And subdues kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, As the wind-driven chaff with his bow. “He pursues them, passing on in safety, By a way he had not been traversing with his feet. “Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’”

I hope you remember that.
• We said it was sort of a “Town Hall Meeting” that God called with all the
nations who were fugitives in Babylon.
• Nebuchadnezzar’s conquest saw him capture more than just Jews.
• He took prisoners from many nations.

God called them all together
Because news was spreading of a new conqueror on the horizon.

Currently in the world was a new leader named Cyrus.
• He had conquered the Medes and his sites were set on Babylon.
• Certainly there was unrest and anxiety as people awaited his arrival.

God revealed in ch. 41 that the conquest of Cyrus was His doing.
God revealed that He was the One who had aroused Cyrus.
God revealed that He had delivered nations up before him.

And then followed several chapters from God
About how despite this Israel should not fear for He had redeemed them.

AND WE REJOICED IN ALL THAT TRUTH.

Well now, at the end of chapter 44
Isaiah is returning to this announcement of Cyrus.

And here, something remarkable happens as Isaiah calls him by name.
• (28) “It is I who says of Cyrus…”
• (45:1) “Thus says the LORD to Cyrus…”

Isaiah’s ministry ended in 681BC
• Cyrus wouldn’t conquer Babylon until 538BC (143 years later)
• Cyrus wasn’t even born until 600BC (81 years later)

You have Isaiah here naming this guy
At least 80 years before he was even born.
That in and of itself is remarkable.

But that is NOT what is the most shocking about the naming of Cyrus.

THE SHOCKING THING is the TERMINOLOGY God uses for him.
• (44:28) “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’”
•
• (45:1) “Thus says the LORD to Cyrus His anointed, Whom I have taken by the right hand…”
•
• (45:2) “I will go before you and make the rough places smooth…”

So in this segment we have God not only naming “Cyrus”,
• But calling him, “My shepherd”
• And “His anointed”
• And promising to “make the rough places smooth” before him.

Does any of that sound remotely familiar to you?
It should, that is MESSIANIC LANGUAGE.

Remember back in chapter 40?
Isaiah 40:3-4 “A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God. “Let every valley be lifted up, And every mountain and hill be made low; And let the rough ground become a plain, And the rugged terrain a broad valley;”

• Remember that is what John the Baptist did for Jesus.
• The King is coming so you clean up the road before He travels down it.

And then the names “My shepherd” and “His anointed”?

Do you know what the Hebrew word for “anointed” there is?
(MA-SHEE-AH)
• Remind you of a word? “Messiah”

In the Septuagint, which is the Greek Old Testament (the one the apostles read) that word for “anointed” is: KHRISTOS which is the word for “Christ”

So you’re telling me that God uses Messianic language to speak about this Cyrus who is coming?

That’s exactly what he does.
And that is BEYOND SHOCKING.

WHY?
Because Cyrus is a pagan.

Well didn’t he let Israel go home and pay to rebuild their temple?
Yes

So maybe he was a believer in God then?
Nope.
• Cyrus did that for every nation Babylon had captured.
• Cyrus did that for every religion represented in Babylon.
• He was trying to gain the favor of all the gods.

Beyond that God specifically says of Cyrus
In verse 45:4 and again in 45:5 “you have not known Me.”

SO LET’S GET THIS STRAIGHT.

We have God raising up a man named Cyrus.
A man who is a pagan pluralist who appeals to every would-be deity.
• God raised him up,
• Allowed him to conquer the world,
• And even calls him his messiah.
• GOD IS NOT JUST SENDING HIM, GOD SEEMS TO BE ENDORSING HIM.

And somewhere along the way the Jewish people have to be wondering:
WHAT IS GOD THINKING?

• This can’t be God’s will.
• This can’t be what God is doing.
• You can’t raise up a pagan and bring him to power.
• You certainly can’t treat him like a Messiah or a savior.
• That would be wrong, even blasphemous.

Can you see the dilemma it brings to the table?

LET ME ILLUSTRATE.
What if someone walked in this morning and spoke about Donald Trump being the “savior of America”?
• What if they called him “God’s anointed”?
• What if they used the term “Messiah” or “Christ” and applied it to him?

Would that shock and offend you?
IT SHOULD!

• Some would speak of his pagan past.
• Some would speak of his childish behavior.
• Some would say his religious claims are only to find favor with the Christian
community and gain their votes.

To call him a savior or a messiah or christ…
• We would rightly see that as blasphemous.
• We would rightly see that as sacrilegious.

And indeed, you cannot attribute titles like that to him.

DO YOU UNDERSTAND now why this was so shocking for God to say this about Cyrus?

Now look, DO NOT go reading this chapter and assume I’m talking about Trump being America’s Cyrus or anything like that.
• If you go home or get online and try to use Isaiah 45 as some sort of biblical
support for Trump being God’s savior of America you have abused the text
and missed the point.

I’m just trying to show you how shocking it is
That God would point to a man like Cyrus as a savior to Israel.

But here, Cyrus was a Messianic-Type
Here, Cyrus was a prophetic type of the coming Christ.

HOW?
Because Cyrus would set the captives free.
• He is not “The” Christ.
• He is not “The” Messiah.
• But he is a prophetic type of the Christ because God uses him to deliver his captive people out of their bondage into their promised home.

So what we see in Isaiah 44 & 45 then is a time in which we see
A pagan man, doing pagan things, conquering nations,
And God makes it perfectly clear that He is the One causing it.

AND YET SOME WOULD STILL BALK AT GOD DOING SUCH A THING.

And we are confronted with the overwhelming POINT OF THE CHAPTER.

Do you think God is wrong to use Cyrus?
Do you think God is wrong to anoint Cyrus?
Do you think God should not have done this?

If so, you have forgotten the very foundational bedrock of your theology
AND IT IS THIS:

HE – IS – GOD

• As God, He is sovereign over all things.
• As God, everything He does is right and good and true.
• As God, He is beyond our evaluation and judgments.

He is not presented before us for our evaluation.
• We are not called upon to measure the wisdom of His plans.
• We are called to submit to Him.

The reason God reveals that Cyrus is His chosen instrument
Is NOT so that anyone can give their opinion on the matter.
God reveals it to show that He alone is God
And He can do whatever He wants.

Take a quick walk through the chapter.
• 44:24 – “I, the LORD, and maker of all things…by Myself…all alone”
• 45:3 – “so that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.”
• 45:5 – “I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God.”
• 45:6 – “there is no one besides Me, I am the LORD, and there is no other.”
• 45:7 – “I am the LORD who does all these.”
• 45:12 – “It is I who made…I stretched…My hands…I ordained…”
• 45:14 – “Surely, God is with you, and there I none else, No other God.”
• 45:18 – “I am the LORD, and there is none else.”
• 45:21 – “And there is no other God besides Me, A righteous God and a Savior; There is none except Me.”
• 45:22 – “For I am God and there is no other.”
• 45:23 – “to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.”

DO YOU GET THE POINT OF THE CHAPTER YET?
GOD IS SAVING ISRAEL.
• He is doing it in a way no one would expect.
• He is doing it in a way perhaps no one would approve.

And the reason is so that at the end of the day
Everyone will acknowledge that He alone is God
And He does whatever He wants.

CAN YOU DRIVE THAT POINT INTO YOUR MIND THIS MORNING?

HE IS GOD.
• He’s not asking for your approval.
• He’s not asking for your advice.
• He’s not surveying you or feeling you out.
• He doesn’t need your help.
HE IS GOD.

And His call is for you to LEARN THAT FIRST.

Proverbs 9:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

THAT IS FIRST.
• You had better learn your place.
• You had better learn that He is God and you are not.
• He does whatever He wishes because He is God.

NOW, HERE IS THE GOOD NEWS.
As the God who can do whatever He wants…He wants to save His people.
He is not obligated to.
He is not required to.
He has chosen to.

The God who can do whatever He pleases, is pleased to save His people.
That is good news.

And He is pleased to save them in a way
That they would never have conceived on their own
So that He alone is glorified for saving.

His salvation is unlike any other salvation.
It does not follow the thought of man.

And certainly this points ultimately to the cross.
We learned last week:
Acts 2:23 “this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”

• God’s ultimate plan of salvation was the crucifixion of His own Son.
• No one would have conceived of such a plan.
• No one can after the fact take credit for it.

God saved in a peculiar way.
1 Corinthians 1:21-22a “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

God saved in a way that was foolish to the world.
And it only highlights the fact that He alone is the Savior.

And that is the same thing He is doing here in Isaiah 44 and 45.
He is revealing His plan to save.

It is such a peculiar plan that when it occurs
The only fitting conclusion is that God did this, alone,
Without any input or help from any other person or god.

HE ALONE IS GOD

That is THE POINT of the passage we begin studying here this morning.

We are going to break it down into 4 main points.
Each of these 4 points are something you need to know if you are to rightly respond to the only true God.

Each of these 4 points are designed to set your mind right and to, in effect, “put you in your place” before the only true God of the universe.

So let’s start looking at them this morning.

#1 GOD’S MYSTERIOUS WAYS
Isaiah 44:24-45:8

This segment begins with some basic reminders about God.

(24-26a) “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, and the one who formed you from the womb, “I, the LORD, am the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself And spreading out the earth all alone, Causing the omens of boasters to fail, Making fools out of diviners, Causing wise men to draw back And turning their knowledge into foolishness, Confirming the word of His servant And performing the purpose of His messengers.”

There are many titles and realities there to be remembered about God.

He is “the LORD” that is His covenantal name of Yahweh.
• He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
• He is the God who chose Israel and entered into a covenant with them.
• He is the God who gave them their land and promised to bring them home to it.

He is “your Redeemer” and we have studied that recently.
• He is the One who purchased Israel.
• He bought her from Egypt, she is His.

He is “the one who formed you from the womb”
• He made a nation out of them.
• He took them from one old man and one barren woman and made them as numerous as the sand of the sea.
• He is intimately acquainted with them in every way.

He is “the maker of all things, Stretching out the heavens by Myself and spreading out the earth all alone.”
• Obviously the Creator and One who needed no help doing it.
• He is alone at the beginning of all things with no one to advise Him, help Him, or correct Him.

All of that we are well-aware of regarding God.

BUT HE CONTINUES.

(25) “Causing the omens of boasters to fail, Making fools out of diviners, Causing wise men to draw back and Turning their knowledge into foolishness,”

That is an interesting reality about God.

Have you ever had someone make a prediction?
Have you ever heard them lay out the evidence of what was going to happen?
• Some do it scientifically…
• Some do it instinctively…
• Some claim to do it supernaturally…

Have you ever then heard their prediction be wrong?
ALL THE TIME.

Why is that?
• It is because God causes them to fail in their predictions.
• God makes them fools.
• God humiliates them in their prophecies.

God has set it that only He has the ability to predict and declare what is coming.
• He won’t let other men have that ability.
• He won’t let other deities have that ability.
• He holds that ability for Himself alone.

Isaiah 46:8-10 “Remember this, and be assured; Recall it to mind, you transgressors. “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;”

Only God is omniscient.
Only God is sovereign over the course of human history.

And God continually humiliates
The so-called wisdom of men and false deities.

AT THE SAME TIME:
(26a) “Conforming the word of His servant And performing the purpose of His messengers.”

Just as surely as God humiliates the predictions of men,
God upholds the message of His messengers.

Just as we see hoards of men who get their predictions wrong,
In Scripture we saw some who got it incredibly right.
• How did Isaiah know Cyrus?
• How did Isaiah know about a virgin birth or a substitutionary atonement?
• How did Jeremiah know about 70 years in Babylon?
• How did David know about the process of crucifixion or the resurrection?
• How did Ezekiel know about the pouring out of God’s Spirit?
• How did Daniel know about Greece or Rome or anti-Christ?

Those men were staggeringly accurate in their predictions, WHY?
Because God caused their predictions to succeed.
God told them what to say and then confirmed what they said.

And the simple point here is this:
GOD IS SOVEREIGN OVER ALL EVENTS

CAN YOU SEE THAT?
God causes to happen what He wants to happen.
And He tells who He wants about it before hand.
• Other men can make predictions…
• Other men can make plans…
• Other me can strive with great power…
• And God just stops them.

But God does what He wants, when He wants and He tells His servants about it ahead of time so that everyone will know that it is God who did it.

And so we know then that all of human history is God’s history.

All that has happened, is happening, and will happen,
Is by God’s sovereign decree and will.

EVERYTHING.

And you can just file that away in your theology bank.
That is what it means to be God.
• He is in control of all things.
• He determines the course of human history.
• He is sovereign.
• History will follow His plan

Well, that bring a question to the forefront of our minds:
WHAT IS HIS PLAN?

That is what we see in verses 26-28.

(26b-28) “It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited!’ And of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built.’ And I will raise up her ruins again. “It is I who says to the depth of the sea, ‘Be dried up!’ And I will make your rivers dry. “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”

3 times you see the same statement:
“It is I who says…”

God is here outlining His plan.
You see 3 parts to it.

1) JUDAH WILL RETURN

(26b) “It is I who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited!’ And of the cities of Judah, ‘The shall be built.’ And I will raise up her ruins again.”

Judah will be called to return to her home and rebuild her cities and Jerusalem and even the temple as you will see in verse 28.

And the reason this will happen is because God said it would happen.
• He determined to make it happen.
• He wants her to go home.
• He wants her to rebuild.
• So she will.

If any other deity wanted it, forget about it.
But the God of the universe wants it, so it will happen.

2) A WAY WILL BE REVEALED

(27) “It is I who says to the depth of the sea, ‘Be dried up! And I will make your rivers dry.”

I’m sure Judah was going home was an encouraging promise,
But the “realist” in the crowd would have likely had some questions.

“It’s good and all that God wants to send us home, but I’ve been going over the logistics of what that would require, and I just don’t think it’s possible.”
• How is a nation of slaves going to just walk out of Babylon?
• How is a nation of slaves going to travel safely back to Israel?
• How is a nation of slaves going to dispossess the people who now live there?
• How is a nation of slaves going to be able to afford to rebuild?

It’s a nice thought and all, but I just don’t see that it is a feasible plan.

And to that God reminds:
• How do you think the slaves left Egypt and settled this land to begin with?
• How do you think they crossed the Red Sea?
• How do you think they crossed the Jordan?
• How do you think they dispossessed the nations?
• How do you think they built it the first time?

I am not only the all-wise God who declares what will happen,
But I am the all-powerful God who fulfills what I declare.

If I have to dry up the sea to make it happen, I will.
If I have to stop up rivers to make it happen, I will.

Don’t forget who you are dealing with.
I am NOT some phony man-invented deity carved out of a tree.
• I am the God of the universe.
• I am the God who ordains all things.
• I am the God who sits sovereign over all things.

I said you are going home to rebuild and that is what you will do
Even if I have to move heaven and earth to bring it about.

Well that is certainly encouraging!

3) A PAGAN WILL RISE

(28) “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ And of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”

• I said you are going home.
• I said I will make it happen.

AND THE WAY I WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN
Is by raising up a man named Cyrus who will issue an edict for you to go home, rebuild your city, and rebuild your temple.

• This is God at work through pagan men.
• This is God at work, on behalf of His people, through pagan governments.

Now this may not be that shocking.
We have seen God work through pagan governments before,
(Although mostly in a negative sense.)

• We saw God harden Pharaoh so that he would resist the plagues and God would be able to demonstrate His power.

• We saw God raise up Assyria as “the rod of My anger” to afflict and discipline Judah.

• We saw God raise up Nebuchadnezzar to come and destroy Judah and to burn the temple and exile them because of their idolatry.

• We will see God use Herod and Pilate and whomever the anti-Christ will be…

We are accustomed to God raising up evil men
And using them for the purposes of judgment.

BUT WHERE THIS STORY IS PECULIAR
Is because here God is using a pagan for salvation.

And then comes the really shocking part.

(45:1-3a) “Thus says the LORD to Cyrus His anointed, Whom I have taken by the right hand, To subdue nations before him And to loose the loins of kings; To open doors before him so that gates will not be shut: “I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the doors of bronze and cut through their iron bars. “I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden wealth of secret places,”

As we said at the beginning.
God actually calls him “His anointed” (literally His messiah or His christ)
• God promises to hold his hand.
• God promises to “subdue nations before him”
• God promises to “open doors before him”
• God promises to “go before” him
• God promises to “make the rough places smooth”

And this is where, as we said, WE BALK A LITTLE.

We know a thing or two about political leaders in our day,
And we have a tough time thinking
That God would honor any of them as a savior.

We might see them as agents of God’s judgment, but as agents of salvation?

WHY WOULD GO DO THIS?

In verse 3 He answers, “so that you [Cyrus] may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.”

God says, the reason I am using Cyrus and naming him long before it happens is because I am showing Him that He didn’t do it, I did it.

God is putting Himself on display as the Savior.
The Savior who saves in a way that no one would have expected.

And that is not all.
(4-5) “For the sake of Jacob My servant, And Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor Though you have not known Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me.”

I am also doing it for the benefit of My people so that they will know that it is Me.
• 140 years from now, when Cyrus tells My people they can go home, I don’t want them thinking it was Cyrus or some other phony god who did it.
• I want them to know that it was Me who did it.
• So I am announcing this long beforehand so that they will see it.

I am saving My people, by his hand, and I want them to know it is Me.

And not just them.
(6-7) “That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.”

And now we hit the mother load!
• It’s not just so that Cyrus will know I am God…
• It’s not just so that Israel will know I am their God…
• It is so that the whole world will know that I am God.

God is going to do the unthinkable and the impossible.
He is declaring it beforehand
So that the only possible glory to be handed out will be for Him.

Now, as we said, this seems a little DIFFICULT TO SWALLOW.

Why wouldn’t God raise up a righteous warrior inside of Israel to overpower the Babylonians and lead his people home?

I mean we saw Him do that plenty of times in the book of the Judges.
• We saw God raise up Gideon and Barak and Jephthah and Samson and
Samuel and others.
• He raised up men of faith, to call the people to repentance, and then
empowered those men to victory over overwhelming odds.

So why not give Daniel extraordinary power inside Babylon?
• Why not let him organize an army?
• Why not let him lead a revolt and lead Israel home with a mighty hand?

THAT WOULD MAKE SENSE.
• But instead God chose to raise up a pagan to deliver Israel.
• He chose to operate in a way that does not make sense.

DO YOU SEE WHY?
(6-7) “That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.”

NOW PAY ATTENTION HERE.

Often times in our lives we like to
Attribute earthly occurrences to different sources.

• Men like to say that everything good comes from God and everything bad
comes from the devil.
• And men like to see the two sort of pitted against one another in this cosmic
battle taking place.
• And sometimes good things happen and we say, “God wins! God is good!
God did good for me!”
• And then something bad or negative happens and we say, “That wasn’t God’s
will, Satan did that. God never intended for that to happen.”

And men say that because they’re trying to sort of save God’s reputation.
• We don’t want men to think that God causes bad things to happen.
• We don’t want men to think God would bring about pain and suffering.
• We want men to think God is good.

So everything we perceive as good we attribute to God
And everything we perceive as bad we try to ascribe to the devil.

We expect God to behave according to
Our logical assessment of right and wrong, good and evil.

The obvious flaw in such a theology
Is that if you’re paying attention to the world you’ll end up thinking Satan is more powerful than God because we see a lot of suffering in this world.

But what does God say about Himself here?

God says that He is “The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.”

• I cause the light and the dark.
• I cause the well-being and calamity.
• The happy and comfortable and things you call “good” – that was Me!
• The hard and sad and tragic things you call “bad” – that was Me too!

• Who caused the flood? God
• Who rained fire on Sodom and Gomorrah? God
• Who confused the men at the tower of Babel? God

You say, yes, but those were acts of judgment on evil men.

How about these?

When Moses complained that he couldn’t go to Pharaoh because he stutters.
Exodus 4:10-11 “Then Moses said to the LORD, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” The LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD?”

When the disciples saw the man born blind:
John 9:1-3 “As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

Or who allowed Job’s sons and daughters to be killed or his livestock to be stollen or his body to be afflicted with sores?

Who predetermined the cross by His own foreknowledge?

CERTAINLY GOD IS NOT EVIL, nor is God influenced or affected by evil.
Nor does God approve of evil.

But God uses evil and allows evil
And sovereignly ordains the existence of evil
To His glorious purposes.

EVEN USING A PAGAN RULER AS A DELIVERER OF HIS PEOPLE.

Now we are running out of time this morning, and part of me wishes I could go on and perhaps sooth your curiosity and concerns a little.
But part of me is also happy to stop here with a little bit of tension.

See, one thing you are going to have to learn in this life is that
• God is God whether you like it or not.
• God is God whether you agree or not.
• God is God whether you understand or not.

You don’t get to sit in judgment of what God does.
You don’t get to tell Him if He is right or wrong to do something.
He doesn’t operate by your definition of good or love or just or holy.

• He is good by His definition – which is the right one.
• He is love by His definition – which is the accurate one.
• He is holy by His definition – which is the true one.
• He is just by His definition – which is the appropriate one.

This morning, I think it is good to just stop
And let you wrestle with the reality of who is God and who is not.

We’ll end without having to make it all make sense.
• He created the light and the dark.
• He caused the well-being and the calamity.

Now, you honor Him as God
Who has every right to do that which is well-pleasing in His sight.

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But God Raised Him Up Again
Acts 2:22-36
March 31, 2024

This morning we gather as the church
To celebrate the high day on the Christian calendar.

• It is resurrection Sunday.
• It is the pinnacle day of Christianity.
• And for us, it is everything.

This morning we celebrate the fact that
After Jesus was crucified at the hands of evil men,
God raised Him from the dead.

And the resurrection matters so much to us primarily because
It is the ultimate validation that His work on the cross was effective.

Romans 4:25 “He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification.”

We know the crucifixion worked because God raised Him.

John MacArthur wrote:
“The resurrection is the crowning proof that God accepted the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Without it, His death becomes the heroic death of a noble martyr, the pathetic death of a madman, or the execution of a fraud.”
(MacArthur, John [The MacArthur New Testament Commentary: Acts 1-12; Moody Press, Chicago, IL; 1994] pg. 64)

BUT JESUS WAS NO FRAUD.
• He was the only righteous man who ever lived.
• He was crucified to pay for sins He did not commit.
• God verified this by raising Him from the dead.

We celebrate because those sins He paid for were ours.
It was my debt He paid.

THIS MORNING the church gathers to celebrate that reality
And to give all glory and honor and praise to Jesus Christ for what He did.

The way we are going to do that this morning
Is by studying this text from Acts 2.

You may immediately recognize that Acts 2 is not an “Easter sermon”.

The only recorded Easter sermons in Scripture are contained in the 4 gospels and most of them are preached by angels at the tomb.

For example:
Matthew 28:5-7 “The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. “He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. “Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

There is one recorded sermon by Jesus that was given on Easter found in John 20 when Jesus enters the upper room and encourages the disciples and offers them peace.

And there was one Easter sermon given by Jesus that was not recorded and I really wish it would have been:
Luke 24:25-27 “And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”

• We know one of those guys was named “Cleopus” and when I get to heaven I’m going to ask him why he didn’t take any notes.

But the sermon we look at this morning was not an Easter sermon.
It was a Pentecost Sermon.

Pentecost was a Jewish feast.
• Also known as “The Feast of Weeks”
• It occurred 50 days after the Passover
• It was one of 3 Jewish feasts that every Jewish man was required to attend.
• It’s the feast celebrated at the end of harvest when all the crops had come in.

And on this day we see that the harvest started coming.
By the end of the day there will be 3,000 new believers
And the church will be off and running.

The reason we are looking at this sermon this morning is because
• What Peter has to say to the Jews here is not only highly evangelistic,
• But is of great encouragement to the church.

And in our dark days,
I believe the church needs all the encouragement she can get.

Well first, let me give you THE CONTEXT.

• As noted it has been 7 weeks since Jesus was crucified.
• He has since risen from the dead and ascended to heaven.
• But for 7 weeks the church has been in hiding.

There is only about 120 people represented in the church
And they are sticking close together. It is a turbulent time for them.

But on this day Jesus will send them
The “power from on high” that He had promised.
He will send them the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:1-4 “When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.”

This WAS NOT the mindless, blasphemous, phony gibberish that is associated with tongues today.
• These believers were speaking actual known human languages.
• That becomes evident as you read on in the chapter.

It WAS miraculous because
• None of these people had ever learned the languages they were speaking.
• The Holy Spirit had caused this and they were “speaking of the mighty deeds of God”.

HOWEVER, the Jews in Jerusalem didn’t understand what they were saying and accused them of being “drunk”.

And Peter, now filled with power from the Holy Spirit,
Stood up to correct their faulty thinking.

Peter reveals that
• This is a fulfilled promise of God found in the book of Joel
• And that what they are witnessing is pouring out of God’s Spirit upon men.

So you have the backdrop of the day.
And then Peter takes the opportunity
To deliver the sermon we want to study this morning.

We want to break Peter’s sermon down into 4 points.
#1 JESUS’ IDENTITY WAS OBVIOUS BUT IGNORED
Acts 2:22

Peter starts his sermon with what they know.
And what they knew, whether they wanted to admit it or not is that
JESUS HAD WORKED A TON OF MIRACLES.

• He turned water into wine
• He healed the synagogue officials son
• Cast out thousands of demons (over 5,000 from one man)
• Healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever
• The miraculous catch of fish (twice)
• The cleansing of multiple lepers
• The paralytic lowered through the roof
• The cripple at the Bethesda pool
• The man with the withered hand
• The bleeding woman who touched His garment
• The Centurian’s servant
• The man born blind
• The man with dropsy
• The woman bent double for 18 years
• The two blind men on the Jericho road
• He raised Jairus’ daughter
• He raised the widow’s son
• He raised Lazarus
• He calmed the storm
• He fed 5,000 and then 4,000 miraculously
• He walked on water
• He healed the man whose ear Peter cut off

And of course following that we throw in the mention of John what wrote:
John 21:25 “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that would be written.”

Many of His miracles just say things like, “many sick arrived and He healed them all…”

BUT YOU GET THE IDEA.
Jesus had worked many miracles and demonstrated His power everywhere and this was common knowledge.

In fact Peter says, “just as you yourselves know”

When Nicodemus came to question Jesus, he said:
John 3:2 “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”

What Peter points out is that it was clear that
GOD WAS ATTESTING TO THE VALIDITY OF JESUS.

God was working miracles through Him to prove that He had sent Jesus.

Even the blind man could see that:
John 9:30-33 “The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. “We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. “Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.”

Jesus Himself said:
John 5:36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.”

IT WAS OBVIOUS.

“Jesus the Nazarene [was] a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know.”

The problem was not the obvious nature and source of His power;
The problem was the stubbornness of the Jews who ignored it.

For example:

Matthew 9:32-34 “As they were going out, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him. After the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel. But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

Matthew 12:22-24 “Then a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute was brought to Jesus, and He healed him, so that the mute man spoke and saw. All the crowds were amazed, and were saying, “This man cannot be the Son of David, can he?” But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.”

John 10:37-39 “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father.” Therefore they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.”

John 11:45-48, 53 “Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done. Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. “If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation…So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.”

This issue WAS NOT a failure on God’s part to attest to Jesus,
The issue WAS that the Jews didn’t want to see it.
They ignored the obvious fact that Jesus had been sent from God.

But make no mistake, God sent Him and it was obvious.
• Can you see that?
• Have you acknowledged that?

Are you willing to look at the life of Jesus and unequivocally state that “Yes, Jesus was sent by God”?

Jesus’ Identity was Obvious but Ignored
#2 JESUS’ DEATH WAS DETERMINED BUT DESPICABLE
Acts 2:23

All through Jesus’ ministry
We saw the stubbornness surrounding Him and a wholesale refusal on the part of the Jews to believe in Him.

But clearly that stubbornness and refusal hit a climax
When the Jews called for Jesus’ death
And coerced Pilate to crucify Him.

That is the next event Peter calls to their attention.
Another fact they were well-aware of.

What Peter does first however, is reveal to his audience that
Just as Jesus’ miracles were part of God’s plan, so was His death.

In fact, Jesus was “delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God”

“delivered over” is a Greek word used only here and it speaks of someone being “handed over to their enemies or even betrayed”.

And this is what happened with Jesus.
• It was God who devised the plan.
• It was God who enforced the plan.
• It was God who sovereignly saw it carried out.

Jesus made no bones about it,
That He was sent to this world that He might die on a cross
To redeem His people from their sins.

John 12:27-28 “Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. “Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.”

We even remember Jesus standing before Pilate.
• Pilate was amazed that Jesus wasn’t begging him for help.

John 19:10-11 “So Pilate said to Him, “You do not speak to me? Do You not know that I have authority to release You, and I have authority to crucify You?” Jesus answered, “You would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given you from above; for this reason he who delivered Me to you has the greater sin.”

And there are many other places we could look to demonstrate this,
But the greater look even comes from the Old Testament.

We could read Psalm 22 Which actually speaks of the actual crucifixion
• Where Jesus’ hands and feet would be pierced,
• Where He would be offered vinegar to drink,
• Where soldiers would gamble for His clothes.

We could read Psalm 118 Which speaks of that champion
• Who trusted God even amidst a corrupt trial
• And who was surrounded by His enemies like bees.

But without a doubt the most definitive chapter is Isaiah’s 53rd.
Isaiah 53:7-10 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke was due? His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.”

It was the plan of God to send His only begotten Son into the world.
• That Son would live a holy life and satisfy the righteous requirements of God.
• That Son would then offer His holy life to God as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of His people.

“The wages of sin is death”
And “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness”.

So Jesus Christ was sent by the Father to die for His people.
This was the plan of God.

As Isaiah said:
“the LORD was pleased to crush Him…If He would render Himself as a guilt offering…”

But just because it was God’s plan
DOES NOT ABSOLVE His murderers of the guilt they incurred.

It was a determined plan, but it was still A DESPICABLE MURDER.

In order to fulfill His plan of atonement God “delivered over” Jesus
Into the hands of these vile and sinful men
Who did exactly what they wanted to do to Jesus all along.

They secretly arrested Him.
They corruptly tried Him.
They openly mocked Him.
They unanimously conspired against Him.
And they used the Roman government to have Him cruelly and brutally murdered.

The list of Jewish laws that were broken in this corrupt trial is staggering. Things like:
• A trial could not be held at night.
• Nor could it be held in secret, it was a public affair
• Furthermore a trial could not be held during a feast
• A man could only be condemned upon the testimony of two credible witnesses.
• Furthermore if a man was condemned, the first person to strike the blow to the condemned had to be the person who first bore witness against him.
• Furthermore the accused could not be forced to testify against Himself. Even a detailed confession was not viewed as adequate evidence to condemn a man.
• 23 votes were cast in order determine a person’s fate.
• It took 13 votes to condemn, but only 11 to acquit
• And if all 23 voted to condemn, the man was automatically acquitted since it was viewed that mercy was lacking and the court was flawed.
• When the votes were cast they voted in order of youngest to oldest so that the vote of the older did not influence the vote of the younger
• If a man was condemned, the law required that he could not be sentenced until the morning of the third day.
• And even after sentencing as the man was going to his punishment, if on the way he or anyone else remembered evidence that might deliver him, immediately the execution was stayed and the trial was re-opened.
• And if a man was condemned his property could not be seized, it passed to his heirs, in order to keep a man from being condemned for his possessions.

Also shocking were the evil alliances that were made that day as well.
• Pharisees and Sadducees becoming friends for a common purpose.
• Pilate and Herod became friends that day.

Also shocking is the gross hypocrisy from a crowd
• That on Sunday sang “Hosannah” as He entered the city
• And then on Friday cried “crucify” and begged for His execution.

It all boiled down to the fact that they didn’t just ignore God’s Son,
They hated Him. They hated Him so much they murdered Him.

They ignored Him and then they brutally murdered Him.

It was blatant, godless, evil hatred against God and His Son.
• Sort of like a president who tries to name today as a vile day of remembrance for gross immorality.
• It is more than rejection, it is hatred.

BUT HOW ABOUT YOU?
• Are you eager to silence Christ’s influence in your life?
• Would you silence His reproof and stop Him from confronting your sin?

Well now Peter moves to the part of the sermon that they didn’t know, but needed to.

#3 JESUS’ RESURRECTION WAS PROMISED BUT MISUNDERSTOOD
Acts 2:24-32

This is the longest segment of Peter’s sermon.
But the point is concise in clear.

You murdered the obvious Son of God, “But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”

What a remarkable statement!
• “God raised Him up again”
• God didn’t allow Him to stay dead.

WHY?
“it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.”

Adam was very clearly told in the Garden of Eden that he should not transgress the command of God or else he would surely die.
• Adam did transgress God’s commands, and Adam died.
• And so did all of Adam’s descendants who inherited Adam’s sinful nature and then followed in Adam’s footsteps of sinful behavior.

And since Scripture is clear that “the wages of sin is death”,
All those who sin must die and subsequently stay dead.

But Jesus was the exception.
• Jesus never sinned.
• His death could only be seen as an unjust execution.
• He had no sin of His own and death was forced to release Him.

Death has no claim on a righteous man.

And Peter proves this point by quoting Psalm 16:8-11
(25-28) “For David says of Him, ‘I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE; FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN. ‘THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE; BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. ‘YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.’”

God could not and would not “allow [the] Holy One to undergo decay”
• He was Holy.
• Death had no right.
• Jesus must be delivered, and He was!

This was a promised resurrection and God fulfilled it.
• It was again and obvious piece of evidence that Jesus is in fact God’s Son.
• There is no doubt that Jesus is the Messiah.

But, so far the Jews had failed to ignore this fact as well.
They sort of dismissed the claims of His resurrection.

Remember how they formed a conspiracy to say that His disciples came and stole the body?

And when someone would say, “Well what about Psalm 16?”
The Jews would just answer, “That was about David.”

So Peter answers that misunderstanding.
(29-31) “Brethren, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. “And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY.”

If you think Psalm 16 is about David then we have a problem.
Namely David’s tomb and David’s occupancy inside of it.
• David is dead.
• His body is dead.
• His body is decaying.
• If Psalms 16 is about David then God is a liar and His Bible is not true.

No, Psalm 16 was NOT about David.
• David was a prophet.
• David wrote about Jesus.

And Peter says, (32) “This Jesus, God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.”

Again Peter is pointing out that Jesus is in fact the Son of God.
• Not only evidenced by His obvious power.
• But also evidenced by His prophetic atoning death.
• And evidenced by His vindicating resurrection.

Jesus is the Messiah, and thus far
You have been unwilling to recognize that or submit to it.

Now, at this point we stop for some of our own INTERNAL EVALUATION.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH JESUS?

Have you acknowledged that His power is real and that He most certainly must have been sent by God?

Have you acknowledged that His atoning death is the only means of salvation for sinners?

Have you acknowledged that God raised Him from the dead because He is the Holy One of God?

The evidence is overwhelming that Jesus is in fact God’s Messiah.

Or, have you turned a blind eye to His miracles,
Playing the part of a Pharisee and trying to offer logic or even demonic power as an excuse to explain away who He was?

Or have you joined the crowd and chosen to crucify Jesus to yourself?

Hebrews 6:4-6 “For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”

Is that you?
• Have you sought to crucify His authority over your life?
• Have you sought to push Him aside?

Psalms 2:1-3 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!”

Has that been you?

Have you failed to acknowledge that God did raise Jesus from the dead and has vindicated His saving work and testified that Jesus is God’s Son?

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH JESUS?
What are you doing with Jesus?

• Are seeking Him and loving Him and trusting Him and obeying Him?
• Or are you ignoring Him, overlooking Him, rejecting His commands, and simply
doing your own thing?

That is what this audience had done.
• They had ignored His miracles.
• They had participated in His death.
• They had rationalized His resurrection.

And they were feeling pretty good about it.

Well, to that crowd Peter has one more point to make.

#4 JESUS’ REIGN WAS REJECTED BUT FULFILLED
Acts 2:33-36

Everything the Jews had done regarding Jesus during His ministry all screamed the same point. WE DON’T WANT YOU TO REIGN OVER US.

In Luke 19 Jesus told a parable
• About a man who sent out his servants giving them money to do business.

Luke 19:14 “But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’

• When the master returned he took issue with those slaves who rejected his
reign.

Luke 19:27 “But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.”

Matthew 21 Jesus told a parable about the Jews.
• He spoke of a vineyard owner who tried to gather the fruit of the vineyard,
• But the tenants refused because they hated the thought of that vineyard owner
having control over them.

Matthew 21:38 “But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’

• Those vineyard tenants murdered the owners son and vengeance was exacted
on them.

BUT YOU GET THE IDEA.
• They did not want to submit their lives to God or His Son.
• They did not want Christ to reign over them.
• They did not want to do what Jesus said.
• They did not want to bow the knee.

So they ignored His miracles, refused His authority, murdered Him
And turned a blind eye to the reports of His resurrection.

BUT ON THIS DAY SOMETHING HAD HAPPENED.
On this day the Holy Spirit had been sent from heaven.

IT WAS OBVIOUS. IT WAS EMPHATIC.
These people who were filled with the Spirit
Were speaking languages they did not know and had not learned.

THIS WAS UNDENIABLE.
BUT WHAT DID IT MEAN?

(33-36) “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.” ’ “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

What it meant is that the Jesus who was crucified
And raised from the dead was now back with His Father.
And this Jesus had sent His Holy Spirit, just as He promised.

The presence of the Holy Spirit was now proof that
THE JESUS YOU REJECTED HAS BEEN EXALTED BY THE FATHER.

You may have sought to cast off His cords and prevent His rule,
BUT IT HAPPENED ANYWAY.

Psalm 2:1-6 “Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing? The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart And cast away their cords from us!” He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them. Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury, saying, “But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain.”

You may reject God’s King,
But there is something you should know before you do.

IT IS NOT AN ELECTION.
And God didn’t ask you.
• God selected His King.
• God selected His Messiah.
• And God selected Jesus.

Even David knew this was coming:
(34-35) “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.”

Here is what is interesting about Peter quoting that verse here.

You may remember that
• The week before Jesus was crucified, that He had entered Jerusalem on a donkey’s colt.
• When Jesus entered Jerusalem He entered the temple and drove out the money changers with whips.
• And for 3 days Jesus had control of the temple.
• And what you get are a constant barrage of debates between Jesus and the religious leaders who do not like Him acting like He owns the place.
• They grill Him about almost everything.

But let me show you the argument of Jesus that put an end to the debate.

Matthew 22:41-46 “Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question: “What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?” They said to Him, “The son of David.” He said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying, ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET” ’? “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?” No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.”

In Psalms 110:1 David spoke of two Lords.
“The LORD said to my Lord”

The first LORD is obviously Yahweh, God the Father.
But who is the second?
• Well it has to be the Messiah, the Christ.

And Jesus said, “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?”

And the answer of course is because the Christ is also the Son of God,
Is eternal and He existed long before David.

That was the riddle the Jews couldn’t solve and Peter comes right back to it here.

We have been looking for the Christ.
• The One whom God would send and somehow signal to us who He was.
• The One whom God would send to atone for our sin.
• The One whom God would send to conquer death.
• The son of David who is also the eternal Son of God

HAVE YOU SEEN ANYONE LIKE THAT?
I’m sure at this point you could hear a pin drop.

So Peter answers for them:
(36) “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”

What is the point?
• YOU HAVE REJECTED YOUR SAVIOR
• YOU HAVE REJECTED THE MESSIAH

But here is the deal.
• Your rejection meant nothing.
• He is King whether you like it or not.
• He will return to judge whether you like it or not.

It is not for you to vote for Him.
It is not for you to elect Him.
It is not for you to keep Him in office.
YOU DON’T MAKE HIM LORD.

God made Him Lord, it is your job to submit your life to Him.
For He is “both Lord and Christ.”

What a comforting thought for the church!
• In this world of absolute chaos and corruption.
• In this world of rejection and depravity.
• We live in a post-Christian culture.
• We live in an “out of season” culture.

We see a world that loves sin and depravity and vile immorality
We live under world rulers who do everything they can to promote it and cram it down our throats.

There is a global effort to dethrone Christ
And remove God’s authority from our lives.

GOOD LUCK!

Christian it may feel like we are losing, but it only feels that way.
• Jesus Christ is King!
• He is reigning at the right hand of God.
• He is Lord and Christ!
• He is coming again to destroy His enemies and to rule this world in
righteousness.

God declared that when He pulled Him out of the grave
God confirmed that when Jesus sent the Holy Spirit.
BE COMFORTED CHURCH!

And if you are currently in a state of rebellion against Jesus, just know that it will not end well.

HE IS KING WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT.

SO WHAT DO WE DO?
What if we have been in rebellion?
(Keep reading)

Acts 2:37-40 “Now when they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we do?” Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. “For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!”

Repent of your rebellion, your indifference, AND your sinfulness.
• Submit your life to Christ.
• Believe in Him as the only Savior.
• Publicly proclaim Him as Lord and BE SAVED.

Jesus Christ is King!

download here

Calling The Redeemed
Isaiah 44:6-23
March 24, 2024

Psalms 107:2 “Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the adversary”

That verse really grabs the point that is being made
Here in this segment of verses we look at tonight.

• Are you redeemed?
• Has God purchased from slavery?
• Is God currently redeeming you from every evil deed?
• Has God promised you a future redemption in glory?

THEN SAY SO!
THEN ACT LIKE IT!

We’ve spent 5 sermons outlining the God’s glorious redemption.
We’ve seen that it is:
• A Particular Redemption
• A Purposed Redemption
• A Promising Redemption
• A Persistent Redemption
• A Permanent Redemption

BEING THE REDEEMED OF GOD IS A GOOD THING.
Tonight Isaiah simply wants us
To respond to those realities accordingly.

In fact, the heart of the passage is found in verse 22
When God says, “Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”

This segment reads something like a salvation invitation,
But that is not really what it is.

The SALVATION CALL to the nations will come in Isaiah 45:22
Isaiah 45:22-23 “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other. “I have sworn by Myself, The word has gone forth from My mouth in righteousness And will not turn back, That to Me every knee will bow, every tongue will swear allegiance.”

This is a plea for God’s people, whom He has redeemed,
To act like those who have been redeemed.

The New Testament parallel passage would be something like:
1 Peter 1:17-21 “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth; knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you who through Him are believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.”

• Peter reminds the church that we have been redeemed.
• He reminds that God paid a very costly price to redeem us.
• Peter reminds that we have been purchased by God for Himself.

And so very simply Peter calls the church to “conduct yourselves in fear during your time of stay on earth”.

God wasn’t joking when He redeemed you,
He paid a very high price for you to be his.
So take your redemption seriously.

Being redeemed should change your life.
That is precisely the call here from God through Isaiah.

It is really the HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY side of the argument.

We have spent weeks outlining God’s work as the Redeemer,
But we always want to pay attention to the call of God
For how we are to respond to that redemption.

God has revealed what blessings are yours in your redemption,
Now you respond to Him.

So lets examine this revival call of God to those whom He has redeemed.

3 main points.
#1 THE REMINDER
Isaiah 44:6-8

If everything here sounds repetitive and familiar that is a good thing.
• It means you’ve been paying attention over the last couple of weeks.

There isn’t anything new in this segment.
• It is a summary.
• It is a reminder of what God has just revealed.

TWO MAIN THINGS GOD EXPECTED US TO LEARN
1. I AM GOD
2. YOU HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR

(6) “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God besides Me.”

That is familiar:
Isaiah 43:10-12 “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. “I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me. “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And I am God.”

That was a clear declaration by God.
• There are no other gods, there are no other saviors.
• I am the only one.

And we remember
How God challenged the validity of those false would-be gods.

Isaiah 41:21 “Present your case,” the LORD says. “Bring forward your strong arguments,” The King of Jacob says.”

Isaiah 41:26 “Who has declared this from the beginning, that we might know? Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”? Surely there was no one who declared, Surely there was no one who proclaimed, Surely there was no one who heard your words.”

God challenged them to reveal something they knew
If they knew anything at all.

Well here He does it again.
(7) “‘Who is like Me? Let him proclaim and declare it; Yes, let him recount it to Me in order, From the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming And the events that are going to take place.”

That’s the same message.
• Is there any other god who knows what I know or who does what I do?

And then the REMINDER again:
(8) “Do not tremble and do not be afraid;”

Isaiah 43:1 “But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!”

Isaiah 41:10 “‘Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’”

And why should they not fear?

(8b) “Have I not long since announced it to you and declared it?”

What is “it” there?
• It is redemption.

Have I not told you over and over
Not to fear because I have redeemed you?

God is just reiterating what He has already covered in great detail.

(8c) “And your are My witnesses”

Isaiah 43:10 “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.”

(8d) “Is there any God besides Me, Or is there any other Rock? I know of none.”

Isaiah 43:11-13 “I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me. “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And I am God. “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”

SO I THINK YOU GET THE POINT.

God, after outlining for us the glories of redemption
Now just sort of pulls together a summary to remind you.

I am God, and since I have redeemed you,
You don’t have anything to fear.

So pack that truth away again in your heart.
• He is God.
• The only God.
• There is no other Savior.
• But He is your Savior.
• And since He is God, you don’t have anything to fear.

And one more time we’d ask:
WHY?
Because, “I have redeemed you…you are Mine!”

So bring that back to the forefront of your heart.

The Reminder
#2 THE REALITY
Isaiah 44:9-20

Now, this section isn’t necessarily new either.
The points made here have been made before.

However this time the truth is given
In a more dramatic if not almost humorous way.

God is reminding the people He has redeemed
How foolish it is to try and trust in any other savior for deliverance.

Since there is no other god…
Since there is no other rock…
How foolish would it be to put your trust in another one?

So here God gives His redeemed people an example
Of the absolute stupidity of idolatry.

And as He reveals it, there are two main points to be gleaned here.

1) THE FUTILE SERVICE OF IDOLS (9-20)

The crux of the point that is being made here is found in verse 9.
“Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame.”

You see the key words of the passage.
“futile” – “no profit” – “shame”

Verses 10-20 tell a story to simply illustrate this statement.

Look at verses 10-12
“Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to no profit? Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them together be put to shame. The man shapes iron into a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary.”

Isaiah begins with a question…sort of a survey.
“Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to no profit?”

• THE ANSWER, incidentally, would be “everyone who has ever done it.”

For the result of making an idol and worshiping it are always the same.
“Behold, all his companions will be put to shame”
• It will always end in shame.
• It will always end in embarrassment.

I heard Steve Lawson one time say

That he had requested to have 8 Dallas Cowboy players be present at his funeral to serve as his pallbearers so that when he dies they could “let him down” one last time.

Anyone who has ever been a Cowboy fan knows about leaning on or trusting in something that always seems to end in shame and humiliation.

But the reality is, you have much better odds
Of being satisfied by the Cowboys than you do with an idol.

They will never come through.
They will never deliver.
They will never save.

WHY?
“for the craftsmen themselves are mere men.”

• They are created.
• They are man-made.
• They are not living.
• They are not real.
• They cannot save.

It’s going to end in utter shame and embarrassment.

“Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them together be put to shame.”

It is a call for all of them to be considered as to their merit.
Incidentally, of the 4 commands that God gives here, these idols will only be able to do 1 of them.
• They can’t “assemble”,
• They can’t “stand up”,
• They can’t “tremble”,
• But they can be “put to shame.”

It’s going to be bad, and trusting in them is stupid.

How stupid?
(12) “The man shapes iron into a cutting tool and does his work over the coals, fashioning it with hammers and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary.”

Here we simply see human labor.
We have the man doing a great amount of work just to make a cutting tool so that he can make a god for himself.

But the key phrase I want you to see is the end of the verse.
“He also gets hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary.”

When you serve a fake god, you do all the work.

Only the true God can offer you rest.
• A false god can’t do any of the pulling.
• A false god can’t do any of the saving.

I can’t help but think of:
1 Kings 18:25-29 “So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” Then they took the ox which was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, “O Baal, answer us.” But there was no voice and no one answered. And they leaped about the altar which they made. It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.” So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. When midday was past, they raved until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no one paid attention.”

That was a lot of effort for ZERO result.
• Baal didn’t help at all.
• Not even a spark or a puff of smoke.

Matthew 6:7 “And when you are praying, do not use meaningless repetition as the Gentiles do, for they suppose that they will be heard for their many words.”

And every prayer they offer to a false deity is totally worthless.

I think of Mormonism and all their legalistic requirements…
I think of Catholicism and all the work that is done to earn a pardon…

And the point is simple:
Serving false gods is futile.

There is no profit. It all ends in shame.

It is the futile service of idols.

2) THE FRUITLESS BENEFIT OF IDOLS (13-20)

Here we have a guy who works like crazy to make himself an idol,
But while he is doing that he does the strangest thing.

• He takes a tree
• Cuts it down
• Cuts a chunk out of it
• And takes that chunk and carves an idol

Now, the rest of that tree is just a tree to him.
• He uses it for what men have used wood for from the beginning.
• He burns it.
• He uses it to stay warm and to cook food.

But this select piece out of the middle,
He turns into a god that he worships.

How stupid!
(19) “No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!”

• It really is laughable.
• It is that ridiculous.

AND HERE IS THE POINT.
This mighty god that this man made to be his deliverer,
CAN ONLY DO TWO THINGS.

Did you catch them?
There are only two works this deity can accomplish.

At the end of verse 13, “so that it may sit in a house.”
So it is really good at sitting.

The other thing it can do is at the beginning of verse 15
“Then it becomes something for a man to burn,”
It’s also really good at burning.

So, if you need a god that is good at sitting or burning
Then I guess we could say that you are on the right track.

Imagine having a business and you needed to hire some employees
(and it doesn’t really matter the business).

And a young man or woman comes in to interview for the job and you ask them, “What skills do you have?”

And they say, “Well, if you have a chair I could sit in it.”
Or, “Um, I sunburn really easily.”

So if you need someone to sit outside in a chair and get sunburned
Then I guess you’ve got your guy.

Do you see the stupidity here?
You’re really going to trust in a god who has no more skills than that?

Is it any wonder that God gets offended by idolatry?

Exodus 20:1-6 “Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before Me. “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”

It is clear that God is pretty passionate about the issue of idolatry.
AND WHY WOULDN’T HE BE?

If your spouse told you tonight that they were leaving you to marry a manacan, would that offend you?

IT’S STUPID.
There are no benefits received from worshiping an idol.

But I will tell you this, there are definitely some dangers that come with it.
LIKE WHAT?

Well, if you worship idols, that idol won’t help you,
But you will succeed in infuriating the true God.

(18-20) “They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend. No one recalls, nor is there knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!” He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

Did you catch that?

At some point they decided to dabble in idolatry and to fall down and worship some hunk of wood.

But verse 18 doesn’t speak about why they started doing it.
Verse 18 explains why they continue doing it.

Why do men who started in idolatry stay in idolatry even though it is futile and fruitless and foolish?

“They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend.”

God removes from them the capacity to see how foolish their decision is.

REALLY?!?
Does God do really do that?

Romans 1:21-25 “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.”

You see that?
“Therefore God gave them over…”

2 Thessalonians 2:8-12 “Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.”

You see that?
“For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence…”

Someone recently, in a debate against election, ASKED:
If man is spiritually blind and deaf and dead and can’t come to God apart from God regenerating them and waking them up, then why would God have to “smear over their eyes”?

• Why would God have to “give them over”?
• Why would God have to “send upon them a deluding influence”?

And they use that to prove total depravity isn’t true.
They argue that obviously then man can see and is not dead
And this is why God was forced to blind them.

Well first of all,
1. He was not forced to blind them.
2. They are blind and they are spiritually dead and they aren’t coming.

Then why did God blind them, if He didn’t have to?

God takes men in a sinful state and keeps them in that sinful state
That He might use them for His glory later on in their destruction.

What do you mean?
Romans 9:17 “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, “FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH.”

• Go read Exodus and read how God hardened Pharaoh’s heart.
• God hardened him and God preserved him until God could use him to
demonstrate His own glory in his destruction.

And God does this with more than just Pharaoh.

Romans 9:22-24 “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles.”

Yes, but why did God have to harden them or blind them if they weren’t coming anyway?
He didn’t.

He chose to do it so that you might see that
Their blindness was not only a characteristic of their sinfulness
But was also a consequence of His judgment.

Their idolatry crossed a line of such offense to God
That He is determined to judge them.

The only reason it is not done immediately is so that
God might use their judgment to His benefit at a later date.

And with that truth we ask:
HOW ANGRY IS GOD AT IDOLATORS?
Very angry!

So do you see how foolish idolatry is?
Do you see how foolish it is to cry out to some other god to save you?

Not only can it not save you,
But what it can do is make God so angry
That you will never be saved by Him either.

The Reminder, The Reality
#3 THE REQUIREMENT
Isaiah 44:21-23

Now we come to the invitation.
Now we come to the call.
The first two points have really just been to remind us
What God has said about us trusting in other saviors.

Now God has His message for those whom He has redeemed.

It is a 3 part message.
1) REMEMBER (21-22a)

“Remember these things, O Jacob, And Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant, O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me. “I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud And your sins like a heavy mist.”

What is the chief thing to remember here?
• “you are My servant”
• “I have formed you, you are My servant, O Israel”

REMEMBER WHO YOU BELONG TO
• Those false gods have no claim on you, I do.
• Those false saviors have no claim on you, I do.
• You owe those false saviors nothing, but you do owe Me.

YOU ARE MINE.

1 Corinthians 6:20 “For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”

And even more in that letter to the Corinthians we see the dangers of idolatry.
1 Corinthians 8:4-6 “Therefore concerning the eating of things sacrificed to idols, we know that there is no such thing as an idol in the world, and that there is no God but one. For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him.”

What a great passage!
Why would you cry out to what is not real?

Or listen to later:
1 Corinthians 10:19-22 “What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, but I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God; and I do not want you to become sharers in demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than He, are we?”

Again, those false temples of those false gods aren’t real.
They are sacrificing to demons, not God.

WHAT IS THE DANGER?
That we might “provoke the Lord to jealousy”.

You don’t want to do that.
He bought us, we are His.
Do not trust in another.

We said that serving idols was FUTILE.
You’ll do all the work.

Don’t trust a false savior who only exhausts you and incites God’s wrath.
TRUST THE TRUE GOD WHO HAS REDEEMED YOU.

THE TRUE GOD DOES THE WORK FOR YOU.
• It is Jesus Christ who came and who fulfilled the Law.
• It is Jesus Christ who came and bore God’s wrath on the cross.
• It is Jesus Christ who took on death and conquered the grave.
• It is Jesus Christ who ascended to the Father where He now intercedes.

The benefits of serving false saviors aren’t even comparable
To the benefits of serving the true Redeemer.

We also said that serving idols was FRUITLESS.
They can’t do anything for you.

But what does Isaiah remind that God does for His servants?
(22a) “I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud And your sins like a heavy mist.”

Show me a false god that can remove your sin.

Psalms 32:1-2 “How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit!”

Don’t dabble in idolatry, there is no future in it.
Remember who you belong to.

2) RETURN (22b)

“Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”

Again, this is NOT a call for salvation.
These are those who have been redeemed.
This is a call for recommitment.
This is a call for revival.

This is a call to God’s people who have stumbled into idolatry.
• They have started looking to other saviors.
• They have started worshiping other things.

And God is here calling them to return to the God of their salvation.

AND THIS IS REAL CHURCH.

Have you started putting your hope in something other than God?
• Money?
• Political Leader?
• Your own ingenuity?
• Your doctor?

Any of those things would be foolish choices for none of them can save.

If you’ve been sucked in by the world
And started trusting in the wrong thing to save or satisfy you,
It is time to remember that none of those things purchased you.

Those things don’t own you.
Those things can’t save you.
It is time to repent and return to the One who has ever redeemed you.

3) REJOICE (23)

“Shout for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done it! Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth; Break forth into a shout of joy, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it; For the LORD has redeemed Jacob And in Israel He shows forth His glory.”

There is a millennial reference here since the return of Israel to God will usher in the millennial reign of Christ where the curse will be lifted and all creation will rejoice in that!

Romans 8:18-22 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.”

It will be good when Israel comes home.
Acts 3:19-21 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”

BUT THE CALL HERE IS SIMPLE.

IT IS TIME for God’s people, whom He has redeemed
• To remember that He alone has purchased them and redeemed them.

IT IS TIME for them
• To stop trusting in other would-be saviors for their deliverance and to trust in Him alone.

IT IS TIME for them
• To stop looking for satisfaction in the things of this world and its faulty promises and to rejoice once again in the salvation God has promised.

He has redeemed you.
He is redeeming you.
He will redeem you.

Rejoice in that!
1 Peter 1:3-9 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ; and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.”

Come back to Him!
Trust in Him!
You have been bought with a price, it’s time to start living like it.

Or would the world say that you belong to some other master?

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REDEEMED! – part 5
Isaiah 43:1-44:5 (44:1-5)
March 24, 2024

This morning we return one more time to take a look at God’s redemption.

And what a glorious look it has been!
It is nothing short of comfort and delight to the soul to understand
• What God has done
• What God is doing
• What God will do for those whom He has redeemed.

And just to quickly pull your mind back into the conversation.

God has been laying out the realities of redemption to His people Israel.

This is important because the people He is addressing
Are people who have failed Him miserably.

• They fell into idolatry…
• The shed very much innocent blood…
• Their sin was so offensive to God that His glory departed from the temple…
• Their sin was so offensive that God gave them into the hands of Babylon…
• And now, they have been in slavery there for nearly 70 years.

It is a legitimate question to wonder
If God had totally and permanently abandoned His people.

And to that God here responds with a resounding No!

If you think that God would turn His back on those He has redeemed
Then it is clear that you do not understand God’s redemption.

So we have been taking a closer look at this very thing.

#1 A PARTICULAR REDEMPTION
Isaiah 43:1-7

Namely that God DID NOT redeem all men,
(clearly God gave up Egypt to save Israel.)

But those He did redeem are totally and perfectly redeemed.
• It is not a potential redemption it is an actual redemption.
• It is not a possible redemption it is a powerful redemption.

Those whom He redeems are His…all of them.

Isaiah 43:1 “But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!”

#2 A PURPOSED REDEMPTION
Isaiah 43:8-13

God redeems His people for His glory.
• He saves the otherwise unsavable to reveal that He alone is the Savior.

Isaiah 43:10-11 “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, And there will be none after Me. “I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides Me.”

No other god can do what our God does.
• He actually saves.
• He actually redeems.
• And it is the redeemed who are His evidence.

#3 A PROMISING REDEMPTION
Isaiah 43:14-21

We saw this last Sunday morning, namely that
The past benefits of redemption are not all there is.

Even in the N.Y. the salvation of God is spoken of in various tenses.
• Sometimes Scripture says “you have been saved”
• Sometimes Scripture says “you are being saved”
• Sometimes Scripture says “you will be saved”

And they are all true.
• We have been saved from our sin – JUSTIFICATION
• We are being saved from our sin – SANCTIFICATION
• We will be saved from our sin – GLORIFICATION

Redemption accomplishes all of these.
Therefore God told Israel,
• Not to simply think about what God did in the past (Exodus)
• But to start thinking about what God is doing (sending Cyrus)
• And what God will do (bring them home).

Isaiah 43:18-19 “Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past. “Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.”

We as believers rejoice in what God has done.
We are grateful for what God is doing.
And we anticipate what He will yet do.
FOR US WHOM HE HAS REDEEMED

#4 A PERSISTENT REDEMPTION
Isaiah 43:22-28

THIS WAS LAST SUNDAY NIGHT
And for the first time we encountered a problem.

Jeremiah made it clear to us that one of the conditions of Israel returning from Babylon was their repentance and subsequent calling on the Lord.

Jeremiah 29:12-13 “Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ‘You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.”

So it is assumed by many that what God did in sending them to Babylon was simply to “dial up the pressure”.

• They weren’t seeking God,
• They weren’t calling on God in their own land
• So God threw them into Babylon until they learned to seek.

And many think this is how it works.
• Sinners just need to be coerced.
• And if you apply enough pressure then they will respond.

But as we found last Sunday night, IT WASN’T WORKING.

Isaiah 43:22 “Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob; But you have become weary of Me, O Israel.”

Israel wasn’t calling.
• If you keep reading you find out they weren’t sacrificing or seeking or
interested in God at all.

AND SO WE RAN INTO A PROBLEM.
• How does God redeem a people who don’t want to be redeemed?
• How does God rescue a people who don’t want to be rescued?
• How does God save a people who don’t want to be saved?

And the answer is what we saw SUNDAY NIGHT
And we will discuss even more this morning.

Namely that God transforms their heart
And changes their disposition to cause them to want Him.

Today we have a saying:
“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”

Theologically we would say:
“You can tell a sinner about God, but you can’t make him trust.”

WELL, GOD CAN.

See God made a promise to Israel.
Isaiah 43:25 “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.”

• God had already determined to redeem Israel.
• God had already determined to bring glory to His name by forgiving their sin.

If they don’t call, then God gets no glory as a Savior.
So God will act for the sake of His name.

We learned then Sunday night that God’s redemption is PERSISTENT.
In short, we are not saved because we so persistently pursue God,
But rather because He so persistently pursued us.

It is Jesus who sought for sinners not the other way around.

WELL THIS MORNING
We want to look at one more aspect of God’s redemption
In some ways it merely goes deeper into the reality we looked at Sunday night.

#5 A PERMANENT REDEMPTION
Isaiah 44:1-5

So we know that chapter 43 concluded
With a rather disconcerting announcement regarding Israel.

The people, whom God had redeemed, whom God promised to deliver,
Where still unwilling to call out to Him for salvation.

That had not changed God’s decision
To atone for their sin or to wipe out their transgressions,
But it is true that they were getting what they deserved.

In fact chapter 43 ended with this startling announcement.
Isaiah 43:28 “So I will pollute the princes of the sanctuary, And I will consign Jacob to the ban and Israel to revilement.”

It was a reference to the fact that Israel’s exile to Babylon was totally just.
• They were receiving what they deserved.

What they did not deserve was the mercy God was promising in verse 25.

Had God chosen to just walk away from Israel
• And leave them forever consigned to Babylon and slavery
• To abandon them and find someone else
• That God would have been just in making such a decision.

He was under no obligation to deliver them
Or to bring them back to the land of promise.

And if God were a man like you or I, that might have been what He did.
But thankfully, He is not.

As we have learned in the past couple of weeks,
HIS REDEMPTION IS WEIGHTY.
• It’s not a fickle redemption…
• It’s not a flimsy redemption…

We are talking about a people whom God purchased for Himself Nothing will keep Him from obtaining that which He purchased,
Not even their own stubbornness.

In short, we are talking about a PERMANENT REDEMPTION

Let’s look at that here in these 5 verses.
Let me break this down a little further as well.

1) UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION (1-2)

“But now listen, O Jacob, My servant, And Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus says the LORD who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you, ‘Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen.”

We have grown to love the word “But” in Scripture.
• It is that great transition word
• Which usually follows a discourse
• On how undeserving we are of salvation.

And that is exactly how it is used here.
• Israel deserved the exile.
• Israel deserved to stay in Babylon.
• Israel deserved to be abandoned by God.

“But…” That is NOT what is going to happen.

“But now listen, O Jacob, My servant, And Israel, whom I have chosen: Thus says the LORD who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you, ‘Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen.”

As God addresses this sinful people
(Who refuse to call and who don’t even seem to want deliverance)
God does not approach them with words of anger.

He speaks to them in terms of election.
• Twice He calls them “Jacob, My servant”
• Twice He says they are those “whom I have chosen”
• He reminds that He is the one who “made you And formed you from the womb”
• And He reminds again of His promise to “help you”

The entire feel of those two verses is simply that
God’s promise of redemption
Is not based upon the worth of the sinner who receives it.

God has chosen a people who didn’t choose Him.

And again WE ARE BLOWN AWAY
By this doctrine which we refer to as UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION.

That God chose people who didn’t deserve to be chosen.

We have already read recently the passage in Deuteronomy 7:7
• Where God revealed that He didn’t choose Israel because they were so great.

Many times we have read the passage in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31
• Reminding that there were not many wise, not many might, not many noble, but God chose us anyway.

We don’t have to revisit those texts this morning.

But consider a few other remarkable passages.

1 Timothy 1:12-16 “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.”

Paul reveals what he was at the time when Christ confronted him.
• “a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor.”
• In fact Paul says that he was “the foremost” of all sinners.

And our question is:
Should a persecutor and a blasphemer and a violent aggressor be chosen by God for salvation?

Of course not, but that is what God does.
HE CHOOSES THE UNWORTHY.

Think of this one:
Titus 3:3-7 “For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

And in like fashion we ask the question here:
Should a foolish and hateful person who lives only for the lusts of the flesh be chosen by God for salvation?

And again we say “No” but that’s what God does.
HE REACHES OUT AND SAVES THE UNWORTHY.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”

You are familiar with this famous list.
• It actually magnifies that passage in chapter 1 when Paul says that among the Corinthians there were not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble.

5 chapters later we find out that they were actually fornicators and idolators and adulterers and effeminate and homosexuals and thieves and covetous and drunkards and revilers and swindlers.

Notice the “such were some of you” part of that verse.

And again we ask:
Should God choose drunkards to be saved? Or homosexuals? Or thieves? Or the covetous?

And again the obvious answer is “NO” but that is what God does.
GOD CHOOSES TO SAVE SINNERS.

HIS ELECTION IS AN UNCONDITIONAL ELECTION.

So it is not surprising to us when we see here in Isaiah 44
• That God is still referring go Israel as His chosen
• Even though they are totally disinterested in being reconciled to Him.
• God never has chosen the worthy.

But here we are looking at more than just God’s initial choosing of Israel.

What we are looking at here is God’s faithfulness
TO CONTINUE TO CHOOSE THEM.

It is not just unconditional election,
It is UNCEASING COMMITMENT.

GOD DOESN’T GIVE UP.
• It is one thing to choose them when they were unworthy sinners.
• It is quite another thing to continue choosing them when they seem to never change.

But this is God too!

Remember this story?
John 21:15-17 “So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.”

Should someone who denies the Lord 3 times be allowed to continue being a disciple?
• Should that person be allowed to preach to others?
• Should that person be entrusted with preaching the sermon of Pentecost?

And we’d say, “Of course not!”
But God didn’t back up on His calling.

Israel doesn’t deserve it, but God’s election stands.
It is an unconditional election and it is an unceasing commitment.

Do you understand that about your redemption church?
• It is not fickle.
• You were unworthy when He chose you.
• You remain unworthy, but that does not change His decision.

But that is only part of the glory here.

2) SUPERNATURAL REGENERATION (3-4)

“For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants; And they will spring up among the grass Like poplars by streams of water.”

This is what we spoke of some on Sunday night.

THE QUESTION IS, how do you get people who don’t want to call to actually call?
• How do you get blasphemous violent drunkards and homosexuals and covetous to decide to leave that sin and call on God for salvation?

And the answer is: REGENERATION

The verses we have here are Isaiah’s version of the New Covenant.

Jeremiah’s statement is by far the most famous.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. “They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the LORD, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Jeremiah spoke of a day when God would
No longer make the blessings of the covenant dependent upon Israel.

God said, “I will put My law with them and on their heart I will write it”

We see God promising to do for sinners
What they could not and would not do for themselves.

Ezekiel spoke of this work of God as well:
Ezekiel 36:24-28 “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land. “Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. “Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances. “You will live in the land that I gave to your forefathers; so you will be My people, and I will be your God.”

Ezekiel actually gave us a little more information
In that he explained to us who the Agent would be that would cause us to love God and His word.

Ezekiel identified the Catalyst and that would be the Holy Spirit.
“I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes”

In the very next chapter
• God showed Ezekiel a living illustration in that valley of old dead dry bones
when God asked Ezekiel if it was possible for those old bones to live?

But that is precisely what God did.
He raised the dead to life through the power of His Spirit.

As you can see, that is PRECISELY WHAT ISAIAH SAW TOO.

He saw God pouring out “My Spirit on your offspring and My blessing on your descendants.”

Isaiah likened it to pouring “water on the thirsty land”

And that of course draws our minds to what Jesus said:
John 7:37-39 “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Do you see how they are all talking about the same thing?
They are talking about God doing something inside the heart of the man who cannot and will not do anything for himself.
• Man is stubborn and will not respond.
• Man is dead and cannot respond.
• Man is a valley of old dry bones.

You can tell those old bones to seek God all you want,
But it is beyond their ability to do so.

So what does God do?
HE DOES IT FOR THEM.

It is called: REGENERATION
• It makes dead sinners alive enough to be able to respond.
• It changes the disposition of the stubborn to make them want to call.
• It grants faith to the faithless so that they will believe.

Think of Lazarus in the tomb.
• He was dead.
• He could not respond.
• And his sisters couldn’t get through to him.
• The objective of the day was to get Lazarus to come out of that tomb.
• But until Lazarus was made alive he could not make that decision.

God must do that supernatural work before a response is even possible.

This is what God is revealing that He will do for the descendants of Israel.
• Yes you are stubborn.
• Yes you are incapable.
• But far be it from Me to give up on you.

• I redeemed you.
• I chose you.
• You are Mine.

So I will do a regenerating work, pour out My Spirit upon you
And cause you live and respond to Me.

And think about what we know of Israel in THE END TIMES.
(Certainly today they are in a state of obstinance)

But what does the Bible say is coming?
Zechariah 12:10 “I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son, and they will weep bitterly over Him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn.”

• Do you see that God does not give up on them?
• Do you see that God does whatever it takes to cause them to respond?
• He pours out His Spirit and causes them to look to and mourn over and cry out for Jesus.

IT IS HIS WORK OF REGENERATION.

I remind you that is precisely what God has done FOR US AS WELL.

Ephesians 2:1-7 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

• We were dead in spirit
• We desired sin
• We were doomed to suffer

We were in just as bad a state as Israel.
• Not calling and not wanting to.
• Not even interested in reconciliation.
• We were dead.

So God intervened.
• He “made us alive”
• He “raised us up with Him”
• He “seated us with Him in the heavenly places”

We didn’t do that, God did that.

And that is what He is taking about doing here
With the descendants of Israel.

God says, “I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring And My blessing on your descendants; And they will spring up among the grass like poplars by streams of water.”

In other words, “I’m going to do it and it will be no small work.”
• When I awaken My people to come back to Me they’re going to be everywhere!

It is the very ESSENCE OF REVIVAL
Which is always caused by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit.
God promises that He will do that.

But there is one more point to be made

3) EVIDENTIAL CONFESSION (5)

“This one will say, ‘I am the LORD’S’; And that one will call on the name of Jacob; And another will write on his hand, ‘Belonging to the LORD,’ And will name Israel’s name with honor.”

This is THE OUTCOME of the outpouring of God’s Spirit.

In chapter 43 we saw that they were totally unwilling to call.
• We saw that they would not sacrifice.
• We saw that they would not bring offerings.
• We saw that they basically had no interest in affiliation with God at all.

Well verse 5 is certainly a U-Turn.

Because all of a sudden we have a veritable competition.
They are all trying to outdo each other.

It reminds us of Corinth where one was saying, “I am of Paul” and another “I am of Apollos” and another “I am of Cephas” and another “I am Christ”.

Except here they are all after the same title,
Only to prove that they are the most devoted to it.

• They all want to be known as God’s people.
• They all want the banner on their forehead.
• They all want the T-shirt that says it.
• They all want the bumper sticker.
• And they all seem to want to out-do each other.

One commentator wrote,
“Notorious sinners become notorious believers.”

Peter wrote:
1 Peter 4:15-16 “Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or thief, or evildoer, or a troublesome meddler; but if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in this name.”

And you see that very thing here.
They are all shouting over the top of one another.

Right after Carrie and I moved here we went with the youth to a “Hot Hearts” conference at the Coliseum in Lubbock.

We hadn’t been there long before the stadium started a chant.
• One side would scream, “We love Jesus, yes we do, we love Jesus, how
about you?”
• And then the other side would respond.

Obviously, we’re a little skeptical of stuff like that at a youth rally
Because it’s popular and expected.

But here, they’re doing everywhere, not just at the youth camp.
• They go to basketball camp and start talking about how much they love Jesus.
• They go to a football game and start cheering for Jesus.
• They are in the supermarket and their conversations are all about Jesus.

And this, incidentally, is
One of the consequences of being filled with the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit has tunnel vision.
• He is consumed with the person and work of Jesus.
• That is all He wants to talk about.
• And when you are filled with Him, then your passions will match His.

And you see that here.
Everyone in this crowd is trying to be more devoted than the other.

And this is where God says it is all headed for Israel.

NOW LET’S STOP HERE AND RECOGNIZE THE OBVIOUS POINT

1) We have a people whom God says He redeemed.
• He called them His.
• Because He redeemed them He promised to bring them home back to Himself.

2) However, they weren’t interested, they loved their sin.

3) So God did in them what they would not do for themselves.
• God promised to send His Spirit and to cause them to want Him.
• And by the time the Spirit does His work that’s exactly what happens.

SO WHAT IS THE POINT?

There is no chance that God’s redemption will fail.
We call it a PERMANENT REDEMPTION.

No amount of obstinance…
No amount of unbelief…
No amount of resistance…
No circumstance too difficult…
Can stop the redemptive work of God.

When Jesus said it was easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into heaven,
The disciples asked, “Then who can be saved?”

Jesus said:
Matthew 19:26 “And looking at them Jesus said to them, “With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

And that is not only true for rich men, that is true for all men.
Salvation is impossible for all people, only God can do it.
DEAD MEN CAN’T SAVE THEMSELVES.

We think of Abraham when God promised that Isaac would be the heir.
Hebrews 11:17-19 “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, “IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED.” He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.”

Abraham knew that only God could accomplish such things
And that God could and certainly would do them.

AND THEN WE COME TO ISRAEL.
Stubborn and obstinate down to this very day.
They have rejected Christ and at the present only a remnant believe.

There would be some who say that it is all over for Israel.
• This belief fails to understand the heart of God.
• This belief fails to understand the work of redemption.
• This belief fails to understand the testimony of Scripture.

Romans 11:25-29 “For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in; and so all Israel will be saved; just as it is written, “THE DELIVERER WILL COME FROM ZION, HE WILL REMOVE UNGODLINESS FROM JACOB.” “THIS IS MY COVENANT WITH THEM, WHEN I TAKE AWAY THEIR SINS.” From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.”

That is about Israel,
But it is a priceless passage for the Gentile church as well.

WHY?
• Because it reminds us that the redemption of God is permanent.
• If it is permanent for Israel then it is permanent for us as well.
• If God was willing to pass them off, then what assurances do we have?

Well praise God His redemption is permanent!
• Those whom He redeems He will have.
• They are His and He will have them.
• And no one can undo that.

He will take His Spirit and turn the heart of even the vilest sinner
If that is what it takes to bring His redeemed home to Him.
He will change their disposition
He will not let them go.
HE WILL NOT GIVE THEM UP.

THOSE HE REDEEMS, HE PERMANENTLY REDEEMS.

2 Timothy 2:13 “If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.”

1 Thessalonians 5:24 “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”

Philippians 1:6 “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

These are the promises we rest upon.
• That those whom God has chosen to redeem, He will redeem.
• That those whom God has chosen to save, He will save.
• That those whom God has chosen to bring home to Him, He will bring home.

AND NOTHING CAN STOP THAT.
AND NOTHING CAN UNDO IT.
IT IS PERMANENT.

Our God will have those whom He has purchased.
If you have been redeemed, you always will be.