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The Assyrian Rod – Part 1
Isaiah 10:5-34 (5-19)
May 14, 2023

This morning
• We talked about the wrath of God and why He is just is not saving everyone.
• We also learned that no amount punishment could ultimately satisfy God’s
wrath.

They were an arrogant people who ignored the discipline of the LORD,
They were a corrupt people who excelled in wickedness
And they were a people who exploited the helpless.

And it hadn’t mattered how many times God had afflicted them,
They still refused to repent and humble themselves.

And so God promised a terrifying judgment.

Isaiah 10:4 “Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives Or fall among the slain. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”

God told them they had two options: Slaughter or Slavery.

Dark days were coming for both the northern and the southern kingdoms.
• The nation of Israel was soon to be destroyed.
• The nation of Judah almost is.

Well, TONIGHT I would simply tell you that
A lot has happened between verses 4 and 5.

By the time we get to verse 5
Assyria has already wiped out the northern kingdom of Israel.

You see this in verse 11 as Assyria reasons to herself:
(11) “Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?”

“Samaria” was the capital city of the northern kingdom.

What had Assyria done to her?

TURN TO: 2 KINGS 17:1-23

That is what has occurred between verses 4 & 5.
• Assyria has invaded and wiped out the northern kingdom and deported them.

AND NOW, having conquered the northern kingdom
The Assyrians have set their sights on invading the southern kingdom
And doing the same to them.

TURN TO: 2 KINGS 18:13-37

That is the backdrop to our text this evening.
• We have an Assyrian army which has already annihilated the nation of Israel and has now invaded Judah.
• They have already sacked many cities and now they have reached Jerusalem and are threatening it.

This is exactly what Isaiah said was coming.
Isaiah 8:5-8 “Again the LORD spoke to me further, saying, “Inasmuch as these people have rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah And rejoice in Rezin and the son of Remaliah; “Now therefore, behold, the Lord is about to bring on them the strong and abundant waters of the Euphrates, Even the king of Assyria and all his glory; And it will rise up over all its channels and go over all its banks. “Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, It will reach even to the neck; And the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”

• Assyria was compared to a title wave that would over take Israel
• And would reach to the neck of Judah.

THAT IS WHAT IS HAPPENING.

It is yet another one of those temporal judgments on sinners
Which is deserved but which still won’t fully satisfy God’s wrath.

BUT in the midst of this turmoil Isaiah has a message for the remnant…

The message is simple.
(24) “Therefore thus says the Lord GOD of hosts, “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did.”

That is the point of our text tonight.
Do not fear the Assyrian.

That all sounds well and good, but think about this situation.
The Assyrians were cruel and dangerous people.

One commentator referred to them as the Nazis of the ancient east.

You may remember discussing them when we studied the book of Jonah.

The MEMOIRS and chronicles of the Assyrian kings
Reveals common practices of cruelty against their enemies.

Things like:
• Commonly beheading their enemies and piling the heads outside their enemies’ gates.
• They are noted for skinning their enemies, sometimes alive, and draping their skin over their own city walls.
• They often times took pleasure in mutilating both the dead and the living and humiliating them.
• They burned multitudes in the fire.
• And all of this was bragged about by their kings in their memoirs.
(Walvoord & Zuck [The Bible Knowledge Commentary: Old Testament; Victor Publishing; Colorado Springs, CO; 1998] pg. 1494)

The book of Nahum describes Nineveh which was Assyria’s capitol.

Nahum 3:1-4 “Woe to the bloody city, completely full of lies and pillage; Her prey never departs. The noise of the whip, The noise of the rattling of the wheel, Galloping horses And bounding chariots! Horsemen charging, Swords flashing, spears gleaming, Many slain, a mass of corpses, And countless dead bodies— They stumble over the dead bodies! All because of the many harlotries of the harlot, The charming one, the mistress of sorceries, Who sells nations by her harlotries And families by her sorceries.”

The Assyrians were so cruel and wicked
That Jonah didn’t even think they were redeemable.

And these are the people who are standing outside the wall of Jerusalem.

• They’ve already sacked the northern kingdom.
• They’ve already sacked several cities in Judah.

But your message to us is: “Do not fear the Assyrian”

Because even though all men in the same nation
May experience the same temporal judgments
God uses them for totally different purposes
On the remnant than He does the rabble.

For the RABBLE it is clearly to judge.
It is for slavery or slaughter.

But for the REMNANT,
God uses those same horrible realities for good, “for God causes all things to work together for good to them who love God, who are called according to His purpose.”

God is sending Assyria to attack His people
But through this judgment, not only will He punish the wicked,
HE WILL ALSO REVEAL AND SATISFY HIS REMNANT.

THE WHOLE EVENT TEACHES US
To look differently at our trials and tribulations.

When God sends a judgment on the land,
Certainly for some it is meant only to destroy,
But for others that same judgment is meant to reveal.

While the RABBLE is called to “crouch among the captives or fall among the slain”
The REMNANT is called to “not fear the Assyrian”.

SO TONIGHT, after seeing God’s wrath on the nation this morning,
We start examining the process
Through which God revealed and called out and saved His remnant.

And incidentally, the process God used here is a process He will use again.

We’re going to break this down into two main points.
#1 THE REVELATION
Isaiah 10:5-23

Very simply, in this section God is going to reveal
His sovereign plan behind the Assyrian invasion.

Let’s begin with the simple word
Which Isaiah has grown accustomed to throwing out.
“Woe to Assyria”

From the start of the section Isaiah reveals to us which side of the judgment Assyria is on.
• Isaiah pronounces that same woe upon them.

And the immediate announcement must have been a cause for a cheer among the people of Israel.

But no sooner does Isaiah announce the woe
Then do we get a STARTLING PIECE OF INFORMATION.

I want to break this first point down a little further.
Let’s talk a little about Assyria.

1) HIS PRESENCE (5-6)

Where did Assyria come from and how did he come onto the scene?

The announcement of God here is a little shocking.

For God calls Assyria, “the rod of My anger And the staff in whose hands is My indignation.”

WAIT! WHAT?
• God brought the Assyrians to power?
• God is using the Assyrians?

They may not seem strange to you today
But what if in 1945 someone told you that God was using Hitler?

What if God called Germany “the rod of My anger”?

The insinuation would almost seem unthinkable.
These were godless pagans and yet God is using them?

There really must be some mistake.
• We like to think that God hated everything about what the Assyrians did
• And that He was opposed to them from the start
• And finally He has decided to rise up and stop them.

But that train of thought has all sorts of problems attached to it.

If God didn’t want the Assyrians doing what they did:
• Why did God wait so long?
• Why did God let it get so bad?
• If Assyria was this rogue nation outside of the will of God then could He just not
stop them?

Again think of Germany.
• Was Hitler just outsmarting God and it took Him a while to get His bearings on
how to stop him?

That would be a terrifying notion.

But here we find that Assyria wasn’t beyond the control of God,
God was using them.

He had selected them.
God had brought them to power.

Just as He had done with Pharaoh years before
Just as He would do with Babylon in a few more years.

Beyond that, we read in verse 6 that GOD SENT THEM.

And this statement would surely get Israel riled.
(6) “I send it against a godless nation And commission it against the people of My fury To capture booty and to seize plunder, And to trample them down like mud in the streets.”

I hope you notice the irony here.

God sent Assyria against Israel and Judah
Whom He called “a godless nation” and “the people of My fury”

THAT SEEMS BACKWARD.

Remember in a few years the prophet Habakkuk will complain to God about the immorality of his nation God will promise to deal with it.

God said:
Habakkuk 1:5-6 “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days— You would not believe if you were told. “For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, That fierce and impetuous people Who march throughout the earth To seize dwelling places which are not theirs.”

God was going to send the Babylonians to wipe out Judah.

This totally offended Habakkuk who said:
Habakkuk 1:12-17 “Are You not from everlasting, O LORD, my God, my Holy One? We will not die. You, O LORD, have appointed them to judge; And You, O Rock, have established them to correct. Your eyes are too pure to approve evil, And You can not look on wickedness with favor. Why do You look with favor On those who deal treacherously? Why are You silent when the wicked swallow up Those more righteous than they? Why have You made men like the fish of the sea, Like creeping things without a ruler over them? The Chaldeans bring all of them up with a hook, Drag them away with their net, And gather them together in their fishing net. Therefore they rejoice and are glad. Therefore they offer a sacrifice to their net and burn incense to their fishing net; Because through these things their catch is large, And their food is plentiful. Will they therefore empty their net And continually slay nations without sparing?”

To Habakkuk this made no sense.
Babylon is worse than we are, you can’t use them!

No doubt that would be the argument here.
• How can you call us “godless”
• And then use Assyria to beat us?

There’s a few things that need to be considered here.

1. God looks at the heart, so who’s to say that Assyria was worse than Israel?

A hypocrite may appear righteous on the outside
But inwardly be full of all lawlessness and self-indulgence.

Luke 13:1-5 “Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Just because we think someone is a worse sinner than someone else,
Doesn’t meant that this is God’s assessment.
(The Assyrians were indeed awful, but perhaps Israel was worse)

The Lord looks at the heart.

2. Those who have access to the truth are always judged more severely by God than those who do not.

Even if Assyria was more wicked than Israel,
God’s fury would still be aimed more at Israel for they knew better.

Luke 12:47-48 “And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”

So it could be that Israel was more righteous than Assyria,
But they were also more informed and this makes their judgment worse.

3. When God raises up a nation for the purpose of judgment, He uses nations suitable to the task.

What would be the benefit in getting a kind and thoughtful nation to come and carry out His judgment?

God wanted a ruthless nation for a ruthless task.
Assyria was the right nation for the job.

Israel had broken their covenant and offended God.
• He was furious with them
• And that fury is seen in His decision to raise up the Assyrians
• They would be “the rod” of His anger and the staff of His “indignation”.
• God sent them into Israel and then Judah for the purpose of looting them and trampling them down like mud in the streets.

Perhaps it is not as wrong as it first seems.
THIS IS THE SOVEREIGN PREROGATIVE OF GOD.

When we see evil come to power like Assyria or like Babylon
Or like Nazi Germany or like corrupt leaders in our day

WE MUST NOT ASSUME they are
Outside the scope of the sovereignty of God.

• They may be godless…
• They may be cruel…
• They may do vile and immoral and indecent things…
But they are not beyond the sovereign prerogative of God.

He uses even the wicked for His own purposes.

Of course the most remarkable incident of this was the cross.
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.”

It was an incident where God foreordained for wicked men to have their way and do their worst and yet He used it for the ultimate good.

This is what is on display here with Assyria.

God is taking wicked men and using their wickedness
To bring the necessary discipline and sanctification to His people.

THE PRESENCE OF ASSYRIA IS ALL GOD’S DOING.

But we also see that this DOES NOT MEAN that God is responsible for all their sinful actions.

2) HIS PLAN (7-11)

Clearly we see where the Assyrians went “off the reservation”.
They went rogue.

• God sent them to “capture booty”
• And to “trample them down like mud in the streets”

But Assyria, in their own sinful arrogance had different plans.
(7) “Yet it does not so intend, Nor does it plan so in its heart, But rather it is its purpose to destroy And to cut off many nations.”

This of course reminds us of Satan.
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

When Satan worked to have Jesus crucified,
• Satan wasn’t seeking to help God save sinners,
• He was seeking to kill the Savior and condemn sinners forever.

And the same is true for Assyria.
They were an agent of God by God’s sovereign providence,
But not by their own free will.

MAYBE THIS HELPS YOU UNDERSTAND
The balance in world governments today.

We read what Paul writes:
Romans 13:1-4 “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.”

So clearly when you see the existence of governmental control
• You know that is because God placed it there.
• And we don’t even have a problem saying that God placed certain men or
women in control in those governments.
• I don’t have a problem at all stating that Joe Biden or Vladimir Putin or any
other world ruler is in power because God put them there.
• Just like God raised up Pharaoh and just like God raised up Assyria.

But that does NOT mean that they are eager servants of God
Or that they please God in any aspect of their rule.

But God, in His providence, uses men who would go rogue and disregard His word to accomplish tasks that are bigger than we can comprehend.

Here He is using Assyria.
It is a nation that, if given free reign, would go much farther in their discipline than God intends.

All they want to do is “destroy”

And they are quite confident that they can do it.
(8-11) “For it says, “Are not my princes all kings? “Is not Calno like Carchemish, Or Hamath like Arpad, Or Samaria like Damascus? “As my hand has reached to the kingdoms of the idols, Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria, Shall I not do to Jerusalem and her images Just as I have done to Samaria and her idols?”

You not only find ARROGANCE there, but BLASPHEMY.

The king of Assyria equates the God of Israel
(and incidentally the sovereign God of all the universe)
To be no different than the pagan idols of the nations.

He is confident that he’ll have no problem defeating God
Just as he defeated all the others.

So we see that
• HIS PRESENCE is because of the sovereign prerogative of God,
• But HIS PLAN far exceeds what God intends.

3) HIS PRIDE (12-15)

FIRST we recognize that God is not going to allow
The king of Assyria to get away with anything.

God will use this wicked staff,
But DON’T THINK the wicked staff gets off without answering to God.

Let that give you comfort while also dwelling under wicked governments.

God has a purpose in the evil men who currently run our nation,
But they do not sit above the judgment of God.

(12) “So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the pomp of his haughtiness.”

HE IS A RUTHLESS LION,
But he is a ruthless lion ON A CHAIN
And he will answer for all that he does.

God used the evil men in Jesus’ day to nail Him to a cross just as God designed, but that DOES NOT MEAN that the men who did it get a pass on judgment.

God is using wicked men to work,
And when “the Lord has completed all His work”
Then he’ll deal with Assyria.

God is well aware of the pride of Assyria.

(13-14) “For he has said, “By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this, For I have understanding; And I removed the boundaries of the peoples And plundered their treasures, And like a mighty man I brought down their inhabitants, And my hand reached to the riches of the peoples like a nest, And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth; And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped.”

“my” – “my” – “I” – “I” – “I” – “I” – “my” – “I”

That’s pretty egotistical to say the least.

We’ve seen similar arrogance in the past.
Daniel 4:28-30 “All this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king. “Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. “The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’”

Of course Nebuchadnezzar then was afforded the opportunity to have earn a doctorate in bovine studies and to earn his wilderness merit badge.

Acts 12:21-23 “On an appointed day Herod, having put on his royal apparel, took his seat on the rostrum and began delivering an address to them. The people kept crying out, “The voice of a god and not of a man!” And immediately an angel of the Lord struck him because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and died.”

When the Bible says that God is opposed to the proud it means it.

God may tolerate the arrogant for a season
As He uses them to accomplish His purposes,
But the arrogant never stand before God.

Only those who are poor in spirit will inherit the kingdom of God.

Psalms 49:16-20 “Do not be afraid when a man becomes rich, When the glory of his house is increased; For when he dies he will carry nothing away; His glory will not descend after him. Though while he lives he congratulates himself— And though men praise you when you do well for yourself— He shall go to the generation of his fathers; They will never see the light. Man in his pomp, yet without understanding, Is like the beasts that perish.”

But you clearly see the pride of Assyria.
• “power of my hand”
• “my wisdom”
• “I did this”
• “I have understanding”
• “I removed boundaries”
• “I brought down their inhabitants”
• “My hand reached to the riches”
• “I gathered all the earth”

THOSE ARE 8 STATEMENTS
By which you can measure the arrogance in your own life.

• When you look at your tiny insignificant kingdom here on earth…
• When you examine the certificates and diplomas on your wall…
• When you go through your bank statements or look upon your treasures…
• When you think on your successes and accomplishments…

How were you able to get where you are?
• By your power?
• By your wisdom?
• Did you do this?
• Was it by your understanding?

Paul looked at the Corinthians and asked them a very interesting question:
1 Corinthians 4:7 “For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”

But the king of Assyria dripped with such pride.
God was using him, but that DOES NOT MEAN that God was pleased.

God even asks him a question to sort of put things in perspective.
(15) “Is the axe to boast itself over the one who chops with it? Is the saw to exalt itself over the one who wields it? That would be like a club wielding those who lift it, Or like a rod lifting him who is not wood.”

What a way to consider your accomplishments.
You and I are nothing more than tools in the hands of God.

This also explains why some of us accomplish different tasks.
2 Timothy 2:20-21 “Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.”

• Paul wrote in Romans 9 that God has vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy.
• Jeremiah taught us that God is the potter and no lump of clay has the right to reject the Potter who formed them.

God is the sovereign One.
We are tools in His hands.

If you accomplish great things in life
Or even great things in the kingdom of God
It is not because you are so great,
But because God chose to use you in that way.

And in this way we see EVEN THE EVIL MEN of the world.

God was specific about Pharoah.
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.”

God’s sovereign plan was to glorify Himself by demonstrating His great power through plagues.
• In order to fulfill that plan He would need a stubborn man who would not repent even under such judgment.
• For that, God used the stubborn man Pharaoh.

God did not approve of his stubbornness,
But God certainly used it to demonstrate His power.

SUCH IS TRUE OF ALL EVIL MEN.

GOD IS THE SOVEREIGN.
The only reason any of those nations fell before the king of Assyria
Is because God caused them to fall.

Later Isaiah will specifically answer the pomp of the Assyrian invader.
TURN TO: ISAIAH 37:21-29

It is foolish to walk in such pride before God and if you do, your time will come.

4) HIS PUNISHMENT (16-19)

At this point we must make a distinction in the message of Isaiah.
• We see the word “Therefore” used here
• Which certainly ties the judgment of Assyria to his pomp and arrogance.

There is also a shift in Isaiah’s preaching for the benefit of the remnant.
Isaiah is going to start elevating the person of God in his message.

We start now seeing God defined in powerful terms.

(16, 23, 24, 26, 33) “The LORD God of hosts”
Isaiah now begins speaking of the God of the armies of heaven.

(17, 20) “The Holy One”
Certainly a reference to the One Isaiah saw in the temple.

(21) “mighty God”
The same title given to the coming King – EL GIBHOR the warrior God.

(34) “Mighty One”
Or as some translate it “Majestic One”

There is a shift now occurring in the message
Where Isaiah is now communicating to the remnant
That perhaps Assyria is not as big and bad as you think.

Judah is standing before the giant of Assyria
But Isaiah begins to point out the God that stands with them.

IN SHORT,
We started this chapter
• With Assyria having all the power, respect, and fear.
By the time we end this chapter,
• Assyria will have been stripped of her magnificence and all glory will be given to God.

BUT HERE, as a result of Assyria’s pomp, God pronounces punishment.

(16-19) “Therefore the Lord, the GOD of hosts, will send a wasting disease among his stout warriors; And under his glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame. And the light of Israel will become a fire and his Holy One a flame, And it will burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day. And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body, And it will be as when a sick man wastes away. And the rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number That a child could write them down.”

We just read in Isaiah
How God was pronouncing judgment on Assyria’s pomp.

2 Kings 19:32-37 “‘Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the king of Assyria, “He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. “By the way that he came, by the same he will return, and he shall not come to this city,” ’ declares the LORD. ‘For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.’ ” Then it happened that night that the angel of the LORD went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead. So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home, and lived at Nineveh. It came about as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son became king in his place.”

CLEARY GOD WINS.
God would burn him to the ground with the light of His Holy One.

And not just kill him, but look at verse 18.
“And He will destroy the glory of his forest and of his fruitful garden, both soul and body.”

What do we learn of God?
Matthew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

He won’t just kill the king of Assyria,
He will destroy him for all eternity in hell.

Perhaps Assyria is not the threat you perceived him to be.
He is here, but he is here for a purpose,
And when God is finished with that purpose,
Assyria will be no more.

BUT WHAT IS THAT PURPOSE?
(20-21) “Now in that day the remnant of Israel, and those of the house of Jacob who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly rely on the LORD, the Holy One of Israel. A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.”

God is using Assyria not only to JUDGE THE RABBLE,
But also to SOLIDIFY THE REMNANT.

And we’ll talk about that next time.

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The Sin of the Rabble
Isaiah 9:8-10:4
May 14, 2023

As you know we are now in a segment of Isaiah’s book
Which is dealing with the salvation of the remnant.

It is a segment which contrasts the fate of that remnant
With the lack of faith of the rabble.

When God commissioned Isaiah
• He had told him that his ministry would be primarily one of blinding eyes and
hardening hearts.
• Isaiah had been told that 90% of the people he preached to would not listen.

Yet, there would be a remnant that would be saved.
Isaiah 6:13 “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”

• God promised that the majority of the nation would fall into judgment,
• But there would be “a tenth portion” which would remain and would enjoy the
salvation of the LORD.

Isaiah 7-12 tells the story of the salvation of the remnant
And at the same time the judgment of the rabble.

What we have said from the beginning is that it is clear in Scripture that GOD IS NOT SAVING EVERYONE.

Romans 9:27 “Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED;”

God is NOT saving everyone, He is only saving the remnant.

We understand the GRACE involved that God would save anyone.
• God owes salvation to no man.
• If He has saved you, it is by grace alone that He has done so.
• We bring no merit to the table whatsoever.

Yet, even though men recognize the grace of God in salvation,
Arrogant men still have enormous difficulty accepting the fact
That God will send some to hell.

Last Sunday morning we started the sermon by talking about the “Doctrine of Eternal Punishment”
• We talked about how universalism is not true,
• Neither is annihilationism,
• But rather that God will punish sinners for eternity in hell.

The reality we are forced to accept is that a sinner can suffer in hell
For all eternity and still NOT SATISFY the wrath of God.

And that is the reality that is the chief focus of Isaiah
Here as he talks about the sin of Israel.

In fact, Isaiah repeats the same phrase 4 times.

• (12b) “In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”

• (17b) “In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”

• (21b) “In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”

• (10:4b) “In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”

If Isaiah repeats the exact same phrase 4 times in just a few verses
I think it is clear to us what the main point is.

We are dealing here with UNSATISFIABLE WRATH

Israel, regardless of the degree of their suffering,
Is not able to suffer enough to satisfy God’s righteous anger.

The reality is that God is NOT saving everyone.

But for those who lift their fist to heaven and cry, “That’s not fair!”
Allow Isaiah to give you the facts of the matter.

THE REASON God is not saving all men is because not all men repent of their sin.
• Men go to hell because they refuse to repent.
• Men go to hell because they offend God and then reject His atonement found in
Christ.
• Men go to hell because they are sinners and they love their sin.

And just to make sure we don’t find some injustice with God,
Isaiah allows us a segment of Scripture
Were we are allowed to see the consequences of Israel’s sin.

Very simply put Israel has sinned
And has failed to satisfy God’s wrath on their sin.
And God’s anger remains.

Let’s take a look at some of the CARICATURES OF GOD’S ANGER.
For Isaiah describes God’s anger in quite a startling fashion.

(READ 8-12)

You see that this message is focused on the northern kingdom of Israel.

(8) “The Lord sends a message against Jacob, And it falls on Israel.”

And at this point we AREN’T even dealing with people
Who are surprised by the message of God’s displeasure.
THEY KNOW THEIR BEHAVIOR OFFENDS GOD.

(9) “And all the people know it, That is, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, Asserting in pride and in arrogance of heart:”

The message that God is displeased with their lifestyle is not.
They have been well-informed of God’s displeasure.

• They know…
• He hates idolatry
• He hates wickedness
• He hates worldliness
• He hates corruption

But they just arrogantly ignore the message that God is angry
And they turn an apathetic ear to it.

WE AREN’T DEALING WITH IGNORANT SINNERS HERE.
We are dealing with people who know God is displeased,
THEY JUST DON’T CARE.

What is more, they turn a blind eye to God’s discipline.
• It is apparent that God has sent discipline into their land in the form of some
sort of military attack
• Because it has torn down their brick walls and cut down all their sycamore
trees.

But Israel isn’t concerned, nor do they fear the wrath of God.
They take the discipline of the Lord
And see it as an opportunity to build back better.

(10) “The bricks have fallen down, But we will rebuild with smooth stones; The sycamores have been cut down, But we will replace them with cedars.”

It’s like God burning your house down and you saying, “So what, I didn’t like that house anyway. I’ll build a better one!”

You see their arrogant and apathetic response
To the will and judgment of God in their lives.

Isaiah 28:15 “Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, For we have made falsehood our refuge and we have concealed ourselves with deception.”

Isaiah 30:15-17 “For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, “In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.” But you were not willing, And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses,” Therefore you shall flee! “And we will ride on swift horses,” Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift. One thousand will flee at the threat of one man; You will flee at the threat of five, Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top And as a signal on a hill.”

THAT IS THE MINDSET OF SINFUL MEN.

Romans 1:32 “and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

So, IN RESPONSE to their arrogant persistence to sin
God would up the intensity of their punishment.

(11-12a) “Therefore the LORD raises against them adversaries from Rezin And spurs their enemies on, The Arameans on the east and the Philistines on the west; And they devour Israel with gaping jaws.”

So God’s response was to
• Take a nation in which He had already torn down their walls and cut down their sycamores
• And now he will send more enemies inside their borders to totally devour them.

The phrase He uses is “devour Israel with gaping jaws.”

He’ll use Aram, He’ll use Philistia, ultimately He’ll use Assyria,
BUT GOD IS GOING TO SWALLOW THEM ALIVE.

It’s a harsh picture of coming judgment.

(12b) “In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”

Even though God would inflict such heavy punishment,
That will not soothe His wrath.

And if you think that analogy of judgment is bad, look at THE NEXT ONE.

We find out in verse 13 that
Even though God greatly afflicted Israel they still would not repent.

(13) “Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them, Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts.”

No wonder God won’t relent.
They won’t repent.

(14) “So the LORD cuts off head and tail from Israel, Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day.”

The next picture Isaiah paints is that of decapitation and mutilation.

God “cuts off head and tail”

It is symbolic language certainly, but it is graphic on purpose.
He is about to decapitate Israel and then mutilate her too.

(15-17a) “The head is the elder and honorable man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail. For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion. Therefore the Lord does not take pleasure in their young men, Nor does He have pity on their orphans or their widows; For every one of them is godless and an evildoer, And every mouth is speaking foolishness.”

You find out the problem there.
God is fed up with the entire nation.

Verse 17 paints the grim picture when we find out that “the Lord does not take pleasure in their young men, Nor does He have pity on their orphans or their widows; for every one of them is godless and an evildoer, And every mouth is speaking foolishness.”

Look, when God is sick of the widows and orphans
You know He has come to the end of His patience.
But even the widows and orphans are part of the corruption.

But the reason they are so corrupt
• Is because Israel has had bad leadership.
• Bad kings, bad elders, bad leaders, bad prophets.

And those are the ones God is about to cut off from Israel.
They are the “head” and the “tail” God spoke of.

(15-16) “The head is the elder and honorable man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail. For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.”

So God is so angry at their wickedness and their wicked influence
That God is going to enact spiritual decapitation and mutilation.

He is going to kill off all the leaders in Israel.
IT IS A SEVERE PUNISHMENT.

And yet we still read:
(17b) “In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”

God’s fury endures even after such a harsh judgment.
So you’re telling me that
• God can afflict a nation
• And then devour them
• And then kill all their leaders

And God can still be angry with a nation even after all of that?
Yes

And that’s still not the worst picture Isaiah paints.

(READ 18-21)

There you actually get a picture of CANNIBALISM

(20-21a) “They slice off what is on the right hand but still are hungry, And they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied; Each of them eats the flesh of his own arm. Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, And together they are against Judah.”

What in the world is that?
It is a society that is eating itself; devouring itself.

Paul warned the Galatians against selfish living and said:
Galatians 5:14-15 “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.”

But that is what was now happening, by God’s design, in Israel.
He is removing all leadership and thus all restraint.

The people were free to just tear themselves apart
And that is what they were doing.

(18-19) “For wickedness burns like a fire; It consumes briars and thorns; It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame And they roll upward in a column of smoke. By the fury of the LORD of hosts the land is burned up, And the people are like fuel for the fire; No man spares his brother.”

Isaiah describes it as a fire from the Lord.
He just turns their sinful passions loose and lets them have at each other.

And they do exactly what unrestrained sinful men
Will do every time, they eat each other.

NO ONE SPARES ANYONE.
It is a horrible culture in which to dwell.

Incidentally, it is exactly that same type of culture which Paul describes in Romans 1 when he three times uses the phrase, “Therefore God gave them over to…”

• He has told them, they know, but they won’t listen.
• He has punished the leaders who led them into sin.
• Now He just pulls back the restraint and lets them have all the sin they want.

When you read the Revelation
• That is exactly what you see happening in the Great Tribulation.
• You see God pull back His restraint
• And when God lifts the restraint wickedness runs rampant in the streets.

And the people literally burn themselves down.

And we would be remiss if we did not stop
And see the parallels to God’s wrath on our own country.

Are we not a country that has been warned about our sin?
• Have we not heard over and over about the dangers of the love of money?
• Have we not heard over and over about the dangers of sexual immorality?
• Have we not heard over and over how God hates the shedding of innocent blood?
• Have we not heard over and over that homosexuality is an abomination?
• Have we not heard over and over that you can’t love God and the world?

And our nation, like Israel, routinely turns a deaf ear to the warnings.

And even when God sends a temporal judgment upon our land
We ignore it and determine just to build back better,
And return to our sin.

Has God not also judged our nation with the removal of qualified leadership?

Do we not have a nation that runs into sin and is willing to devour one another?

Romans 1:28-32 “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

DOES THAT NOT SOUND LIKE OUR NATION?
Could we not expect even more blows and hardships?

“In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”

• Our nation suffers under corrupt leaders and we wonder WHEN IT WILL BE ENOUGH?

• Our nation has begun to taste the bitterness of inflation and supply shortages and we wonder WHEN IT WILL BE ENOUGH?

• Our nation suffers various natural disasters like hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and drought and we wonder WHEN IT WILL BE ENOUGH?

And the answer is: NEVER

• Do you suppose that a decade of corrupt politicians will satisfy God’s wrath for millions of aborted babies?

• Do you suppose a couple of years of drought will appease God’s anger on a nation that parades sexual immorality?

• Do you suppose that a little inflation or rising prices or trade wars or a border crisis will cause God’s fury on our materialism to cease?

IT WILL NOT.

God has routinely called men to repentance
Until repentance occurs there will be no end to His chastisement.

It was true for Judah.
It was true for Israel.
John Calvin wrote about it 500 years ago and said it was true for England saying, “What then should we expect but to be bruised with heavier blows?”
(Calvin Commentary, pg. 319)

And it is true for us today.

GOD’S ANGER ON MAN’S SIN
Cannot be appeased through eternal suffering in hell,
Much less through a few temporal judgments on earth.

Now that is JUST THE INTRO to what Isaiah wants to say.
Those are nothing but MERE OBSERVATIONS on his part.

• All he did in those verses was tell you what he sees taking place.
• He just pointed out the sufferings of the people and attributed it to the
unsatisfiable wrath of God.

The first 4 verses of chapter 10 are the sermon.

And let me give you the 3 points to Isaiah’s sermon found in 10:1-4.
It is 3 words.

#1 WOE
Isaiah 10:1-2

We know the word by now.
• It is the word Isaiah first pronounced upon himself in the presence of the holy
• It is the word which he several times pronounced on Judah.

OY in the Hebrew and it is a declaration of intense grief and pain.

“Woe to those who enact evil statutes And to those who constantly record unjust decisions, So as to deprive the needy of justice and rob the poor of My people of their rights, So that widows may be their spoil And that they may plunder the orphans.”

He speaks again of the SOCIAL INJUSTICE that occurred in the land.

If you read the Kings
• They are consumed with the rise of idolatry and all the paganism in Israel.

But Isaiah
• Is always concerned about the lack of love for your neighbor.
• Isaiah loves to point out Israel’s love of the world as the reason for her judgment.

It is people who are only concerned about their own well-being
And not that of the poor.

It is EASILY APPLIED to political leaders who enact corrupt legislation
But it is not limited to them.
• We may not write laws for congress
• We may not make executive orders to govern the land,
• But you and record our own decisions every day.

Every day we decide what to do with our resources.
Every day we decide what to do with the world.

And the decisions that Israel was making
Were all together offensive to God.

They “deprive the needy of justice and rob the poor of My people of their rights, so that widows may be their spoil and that they may plunder the orphans.”

They deprived the needy in order to live in luxury.

And Isaiah’s message to the nation of Israel is that:
“I know you’ve been afflicted and oppressed and suffered at the hands of bad leaders, but you ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”

Isaiah pronounces “Woe” on them.

James obviously read Isaiah:
James 5:1-6 “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and put to death the righteous man; he does not resist you.”

James doesn’t use the word “Woe” but he does call upon the worldly to “weep and howl” for what they are about to face.

“You have lived this entire life for the pleasures of this world
And have ignored the commands of God
And you are not prepared for the miseries that are going to come upon you.”

The calling of Jesus has always been clear.
Matthew 16:24-27 “Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and WILL THEN REPAY EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS.”

It ought to be ever ringing in our ears,
The message that was preached by Abraham to the rich man in Hades.
Luke 16:25 “But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.”

God forbid that any of us live our best life now.

God had been seeking to get the attention of the nation of Israel
To TURN BACK from their worldly ways and THEY WOULD NOT.

So now Isaiah pronounces woe upon them for what is coming.

#2 WHAT?
Isaiah 10:3

There is actually 3 questions here:
What? – Whom? – Where?

As in “WHAT will you do in the day of punishment..?”
And “To WHOM will you flee for help..?”
And “WHERE will you leave your wealth..?”

Those are intense questions that every man of the world ought to answer.

As Jesus told the rich man who built those bigger barns:
Luke 12:20-21 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?’ “So is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

In the day that your soul is required of you, what will you do then?
• The rich man in Hades tried to get Abraham to send Lazarus to dip his finger in water and touch it to his tongue and even that request was denied.

In the day when God determines to judge worldliness,
What will we do on that day?

Hebrews 2:3a “how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?”

“To whom will you flee for help..?”

If you have forsaken the Lord in order to obtain the world,
Who are you planning on calling?

Hebrews 10:26-27 “For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES.”

Where are you going to go for help during the judgment?

We remember Jesus spoke of that unrighteous steward
• Who was going to lose his position because he was squandering his master’s
wealth.
• But when he found out he was going to lose his position he started using
wealth instead of hoarding it.

Luke 16:3-9 “The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. ‘I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ “And he summoned each one of his master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ “And he said, ‘A hundred measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ “Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred measures of wheat.’ He said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ “And his master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. “And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.”

Jesus praised that man because he used wealth for the sake of eternity.

“And where will you leave your wealth?”
• John reminded us that this world is passing away.
• Paul told Timothy that we enter this world with nothing and we go out the same way.

What is your plan for transferring your wealth from this life to the next?
Jesus told us not to store up treasure here, but to store it up in heaven.

Isaiah is simply looking at this nation
Who has forsaken the commands of God to enjoy the world
And he asks them to think about how this is all going to play out.

You need to look beyond to day and think about how this is going to end.

• “WHAT will you do in the day of punishment, And in the devastation which will come from afar?”

• “To WHOM will you flee for help?”

• “And WHERE will you leave your wealth?”

Those are good questions.

Woe, What
#3 WRATH
Isaiah 10:4

“Nothing remains but to crouch among the captives Or fall among the slain.”

Isaiah answers the question for them.

These people who have refused to repent
And have loved the world at the expense of the poor.

Isaiah tells them what is coming.
Slaughter or Slavery

Those are your only two options.
“Nothing remains…” but those two options.

And then Isaiah DRIVES HOME HIS POINT one more time.

“In spite of all this, His anger does not turn away And His hand is still stretched out.”

DO YOU UNDERSTAND HIS POINT?

MAN WHO HAS SINNED CANNOT APPEASE GOD’S WRATH

It doesn’t matter how much suffering you endure on earth, eternity awaits and men will suffer there for eternity without ever having earned parole.

Sinful men cannot satisfy God’s wrath through their own suffering.
They will suffer for eternity and never see the end of it.

So first, take a warning about the dangers of sin.
• It is no laughing matter.
• The warnings of God about sin are not something to be scoffed at.

SIN IF OFFENSIVE TO GOD
On one hand it is the offense of behavior which is totally contrary to the nature of God.
• He is not greedy and so greed is offensive to Him.
• He is not immoral and so immorality is offensive to Him.
• He is not a liar and so lying is offensive to Him.
But even more than that all sin is offensive because it is an act of treason against the Sovereign Head and Creator of all things.
• Sin is doing that which God expressly told us not to do.
• And that invokes just punishment from Him as well.

This was the offense of Adam who transgressed the command of God.
He did that which He was specifically told not to do
And the effect of his sin is that all of his posterity are consigned to death.

WE CANNOT STATE ENOUGH THE FOLLY OF SIN.
And that is seen clearly in the fact that
Even sinners in hell cannot ever satisfy His righteous anger.

And so we understand also WHY GOD IS NOT SAVING ALL men.
• It is because they are sinners who love their sin
• And whatever minor punishments they endured on earth
• Have not even come close to satisfying the debt of their rebellion before God.

Do not suppose that your few hardships on earth
Have somehow atoned for offense of God.

Your offense is so great that no amount of suffering on your part
Will ever atone for your sin.

BUT…

Let’s talk about how God’s wrath can be satisfied.

There is a word in the New Testament that is so rich and wonderful.
It is the word “propitiation” (HILASTEREON)

In the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) it is the word used for the mercy seat.

It is a word that means “appeasement” or “satisfaction”

And it is never applied to the suffering of man.
It is never applied to the works of man at all.

It is only applied to One event.
THE CROSS

Romans 3:23-25 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed;”

• Christ’s blood was “a propitiation”
• Christ’s death before God satisfied God’s wrath.

1 John 2:1-2 “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.”

• Here we see again that Jesus Christ “is the propitiation for our sins”
• He is the One who satisfied God’s wrath.

It was Jesus on the cross saying, “It is finished!”

That means that if you have placed your faith in Christ
Then what you cannot accomplish by spending an eternity in hell
Jesus accomplished for you on the cross.

Isaiah is headed here eventually.
Isaiah 53:10-11 “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. As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.”

Did you see that?
“As a result of the anguish of [Christ’s] soul, [God] will see it and be satisfied.”

This is where we find forgiveness of sins.
This is where God’s wrath is satisfied.

Now, that DOES NOT MEAN that you now say,
• “Oh good, so I can keep in my sin as long as I have Jesus.”
• “So my worldliness is ok now since I have Jesus…”
• “So my sexual immorality is not a problem any more since I have Jesus…”

Not hardly, it does not work like that.
Romans 6:2 “May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”

Romans 6:8-11 “Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

We don’t use the sacrifice of Christ as a loop-hole to continue in sin.

But, if you repent of your sins and place your faith in Christ
Then you too can find God’s unsatisfiable wrath satisfied for you.

That is actually how you become part of the remnant.

But for the rabble who know the truth and reject it…
For the rabble who choose to stay in their sin…
For the rabble who choose to keep this world…
Their punishment will never reach its end.

Only Christ has the ability to satisfy God’s wrath.

download here

 

The Remnant or The Rabble – part 3
Isaiah 8:9-9:7 (8:21 – 9:7)
May 7, 2023

Tonight I want us to start by turning to: Revelation 13

• Chapter 13 of the Revelation is a unique chapter in which we look at the events of the tribulation from earth’s perspective.

In chapters 5-12 we get a spiritual view of the tribulation.
• We see the powers of the heavenlies.
• We see the wrath of God poured out from heaven.

But in chapters 13 & 14 we see the tribulation from an earthly perspective.
It is the famous chapter which speaks of the rise of the beast and the anti-christ and the requirement that everyone take that mark of the beast.

I want us to look first at VERSES 7-10
“It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. If anyone has an ear, let him hear. If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”

Pay special attention to the end of verse 10 and the phrase, “
Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.”

If someone where to ask you to preach on what saving faith looks like…
• If someone where to ask you to preach on what the perseverance of the saints
looks like…

You can take them to Revelation 13:7-10
And show them exactly what it looks like.

IT LOOKS LIKE
• People who trust God even when all hell breaks loose,
• And like people who keep trusting God even if their faith leads them into death.

Of course if you go on in the chapter we come down to VERSES 16-18
“And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.”

Now again down in verse 18
You get the statement that reveals to you THE POINT being made.

John says, “Here is wisdom.”
(earlier it was faith and perseverance)

“Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast…”

People have gone into all sorts of mathematical schemes
To try and figure out what the 666 represents.

They have manipulated the math to be everything
From Hitler to Kennedy to Obama and beyond.

But it is not a secret code to decipher.
The word “calculate” is the Greek word (say-FEED-zoe)
• It literally means “to count with pebbles”
• It can even mean “to decide by voting”

It is the same word used in Luke 14:28
Luke 14:28 “For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it?”

Clearly there the idea is not that there is some secret code to decipher,
But rather it is to “calculate the cost”.

The idea with the mark of the beast is not
That you have to do algebra to figure out what it represents.
The idea is that you have to count the cost
And cast your vote as to whether or not you will take it.

If you take it then you will live and you can buy food.
If you reject it then you are beheaded.

However, keep going.
Look on to Revelation 14:9-12
“Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.” Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.”

Now we look beyond the present to eternity.
At the moment taking the mark of the beast seems like the logical choice,
But when viewed in reference to eternity it is a MASSIVE MISTAKE.

Because all those who take the mark “drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger”

Big mistake!

But again we come across that familiar defining statement.
(12) “Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.”

Again we see what perseverance looks like.

In these two chapters you have John teaching you very important truths.
WHAT DOES FAITH LOOK LIKE?
• It looks like trusting God in the face of persecution.

WHAT DOES OBEDIENCE LOOK LIKE?
• It looks like obeying God even when it is hard.

WHAT DOES WISDOM LOOK LIKE?
• It looks like counting the cost and making the wise decision for eternity and not just for today.

WHAT DOES PERSEVERANCE LOOK LIKE?
• It looks like enduring even to death.

BUT FOR OUR PURPOSE TONIGHT
I want you to go back to chapter 13:8

And let’s see who it is
Who demonstrates this perseverance and faith and wisdom.

Verse 13:8, “All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.”

We see here again the sovereign election of God.
• The pressure coming from the anti-christ to worship him will be so great that
no one will resist it.
• The persecution and the threat will be so severe that no man by his own
strength will be able to endure.
• The decision will be so hard that no man will exercise wisdom for eternity.

EXCEPT for those who have been supernaturally chosen by God.
Only those whose names have been written down from the foundation of the world.

We call them: THE REMNANT
• They trust when others reject.
• They endure when others quit.

And the point we learn from the Revelation is that
Not only are the Remnant different from the Rabble
In their FAITH and their FEAR and their FOCUS,
But the Remnant also differ from the Rabble in their FATE.

IT DOES NOT END THE SAME FOR BOTH GROUPS.

And with that let’s RETURN AGAIN TO ISAIAH and see our final point.

We’ve seen the first 3 distinguishing marks between the Remnant and the Rabble.

#1 THEIR FAITH: The Remnant trusts God’s presence, the Rabble fears the enemy’s presence.
Isaiah 8:9-10

We saw how Israel was trembling,
But Isaiah was taunting because God is with us.

#2 THEIR FEAR: The Remnant fears God, the Rabble falls over Him.
Isaiah 8:11-15

We saw how Isaiah was commanded not to fear what the people fear,
But rather to regard God as holy.

And this morning:
#3 THEIR FOCUS: The Remnant consults God’s Law, the Rabble consults the world.
Isaiah 8:16-20

Whereas the Rabble runs to the world (even to the dead) for wisdom in their crisis, the Remnant runs to the Law and to the testimony.

TONIGHT, as we noted in the introduction, we look at the fourth distinction.
#4 THEIR FATE: The Remnant sees the light of salvation, the Rabble is driven into darkness.
Isaiah 8:21-9:7

In verses 19-20 Isaiah reminded us that
The Rabble have no genuine trust for the Law of God.

They may give lip service to it, but when push comes to shove
They follow the world’s wisdom every time.

Isaiah 8:19 “When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?”

Isaiah made a sweeping declaration about them.
Isaiah 8:20 “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.”

Isaiah called men to run to God’s Law for their guidance in life,
But certainly NOT ALL WILL.

To which Isaiah said:
“If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.”

That is to say, “They have no light!” or “They have no truth!”

This is the ultimate reality for all who reject or neglect the word of God.
God’s word is the only certified truth you will ever get your hands on.
If you reject it, you will have nothing you can bank on to guide you.

TURN TO: JEREMIAH 23:15-32

One of my favorite passages which passes judgment on the false prophets in Jeremiah’s day.

They boast of their dreams and they even steal the content of their dreams from one another.

But the LORD makes it very clear that these ministries are utterly worthless.

In fact He says in verse 32, “nor do they furnish the people the slightest benefit”

The wisdom of the world is not an alternative to God’s wisdom.
Worldly wisdom is not another option you might want to pursue.
There is no benefit at all to it.

1 Corinthians 3:20 “and again, “THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS.”

All they do is lead men into darkness.

We remember what Jesus said about the false spiritual leaders of His day:
Matthew 15:14 “Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

That is the fate of those who follow worldly wisdom.

And you see it here very clearly in the final verses of Isaiah 8.

(21-22) “They will pass through the land hard-pressed and famished, and it will turn out that when they are hungry, they will be enraged and curse their king and their God as they face upward. Then they will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish; and they will be driven away into darkness.”

TRIBULATION – “they will pass through the land hard-pressed and famished…”
APOSTASY – “they will be enraged and curse their king and their God…”
GLOOM – “They will look to the earth, and behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish…”
DESTRUCTION – “they will be driven away into darkness.”

That is the fate of those who won’t trust God, don’t fear God, and don’t listen to God.

“If a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”

There is but one fate for the rabble who don’t trust God.
They receive the darkness of destruction.

Romans 2:9 “There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek,”

It just doesn’t end well for the Rabble.
In Moses day
We see them killed by plagues.
We see them swallowed up by the ground.
We see them bitten by serpents and dying.
We see them forbidden to enter the Promised Land.

If you don’t have faith in God…
If you don’t fear God…
If you don’t focus on God’s word…

The fate is extremely gloomy.
There is no hope.

But there again is where we distinguish between the rabble and THE REMNANT.

Chapter 9:1 presents us yet again with that favorite 3-letter word, “But…”

(1) “But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles.”

While the rabble stumble along in darkness like blind men following blind men, the Remnant enjoy the promise of salvation!

I mean we talked this morning about the eternal fire which will be the fate of the rabble, but not the remnant.

1 Thessalonians 5:3-5 “While they are saying, “Peace and safety!” then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We are not of night nor of darkness;”

1 Thessalonians 5:9 “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

2 Thessalonians 1:9-10 “These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.”

The remnant and the rabble receive a completely different fate.
They are in “the gloom of anguish”.

“But there will be no more gloom for here who was in anguish” does not refer to the rabble who grope along in darkness at the end of chapter 8.

That promise is for the Remnant who have been forced to endure the same difficult circumstances as the rabble and who have been in anguish because of their wickedness.

You’ll remember that God promised Isaiah about the Remnant
Isaiah 6:14 “Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, And it will again be subject to burning, Like a terebinth or an oak Whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.”

God told Isaiah that He would preserve a remnant but that even they “will again be subject to burning”. Even they would walk through the same trials and hardships as the rabble.

The only difference is they walk through them with the hope of salvation.

They may have endured “contempt” but glory awaits.

And we see the promise:
(2) “The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, The light will shine on them.”

The promise is that these people who had to endure the same darkness as the rabble who rejected truth will “see a great light”.

Light is a picture of hope.
And that hope is given.

Of course we also saw the fulfilment of those first 2 verses.
Matthew pointed it out for us.

Matthew 4:12-16 “Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee; and leaving Nazareth, He came and settled in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “THE LAND OF ZEBULUN AND THE LAND OF NAPHTALI, BY THE WAY OF THE SEA, BEYOND THE JORDAN, GALILEE OF THE GENTILES— “THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED.”

When Matthew saw Jesus enter that region Isaiah 9 came screaming back to him.

This was the fulfillment.
This was salvation!
Jesus is the Light of the World!

He was the promise.

Even in Isaiah’s day there was a period of darkness and gloom that was promised, and it would only be broken with the arrival of this Savior who would shine the light of salvation.

Certainly all men did not look for it, but the remnant did!

Do you remember the remnant that show up at the time of His birth?
Luke 2:25-32 “And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, “Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation, Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel.”

Luke 2:36-38 “And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”

There are two representatives of that remnant who were waiting for His arrival.
And they saw the Light Isaiah spoke of.

The Remnant don’t share the same fate as the rabble.
While the rabble do off into darkness, the Remnant wait for the Light of Salvation.

But here’s the really important thing for you and I to see.
Of the entire passage that we read in Isaiah 9:1-7, only the first 2 verses have been fulfilled.

We have yet to see the fulfillment of verses 3-7, though we are confident in their fulfillment because we saw the first 2.

(3-5) “You shall multiply the nation, You shall increase their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.”

Isaiah spoke of a coming day of gladness.
He uses the word three times!

“You shall increase their gladness”
“They will be glad in Your presence”
“As with the gladness of harvest”

They are going to rejoice like they just had a bumper crop!
They are going to rejoice like they just won a huge battle and are now sifting through the spoils of war!

Because this Savior will come and “break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders”

He is going to put an end to their oppression like He put an end to the Midianites when Gideon and his 300 men screamed and broke those pots.

And men will take their army uniforms and their combat gear and burn it in the fire because they won’t need it anymore.

Isaiah speaks of a day when the tribulation is over.
Isaiah speaks of a day when wars will cease.
Isaiah speaks of a day when no more will oppression reign on the earth.

This is the day that the Remnant anticipate.

WHY?

(6-7) “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

You are familiar with the prophecy.

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;”

This is yet another child in Isaiah’s prophecy and in reality every child he has mentioned has been a picture of this one.

Shear-Jashub – “a remnant will return”
Immanuel – “God with us”
Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz – “Swift is the Booty, Speedy is the Prey”

All of those have been a picture of this child.
They are prophetic pictures.

The One who will come and gather God’s remnant.
The One who is in fact God with us.
The One who will conquer the enemy.

It is this child!

And what an indicator.
Isaiah doesn’t speak of a warrior coming. Isaiah speaks of a child coming.
A child who would be born of a virgin.
A son who is given.

And He won’t rest on the government as though anyone needs to prop Him up.
No, “the government will rest on His shoulders”

All the policies, all the laws, all the benefits will work because of Him.
His power and His might and His character is the backbone that will support the entire system.

Let me just fast forward for you a little.
Isaiah 11:1-5 “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.”

Many a world leader may come with good ideas, but they are far too weak or far too corrupt to ever see their ideas come to fruition.

Not this Ruler!
He operates on God’s power and his character supports the government.
He will rule in justice and it will work!

“And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

They call Him “Wonderful Counselor”

In the Hebrew that is PELE YA’ATES

PELE is actually an untranslatable term because it is a term God uses to describe Himself.

When Samson’s daddy was visited by the LORD and asked for His name:
Judges 13:18 “But the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?”

That is another way of saying it is incomprehensible.
It is too lofty for you.
It is beyond your comprehension.

YA’ATES means “to advise”

He is an unbelievable advisor.
He speaks with the wisdom of God.

How we love it when we read in the Sermon on the Mount, “You have heard, but I say…”

What wisdom and truth that Jesus presented that none could argue with Him or refute Him.

No man’s counsel and no man’s truth has ever compared to the incomprehensible level of wisdom which comes to us in the words of Jesus.

We will not have a foolish ruler.
We will not have a corrupt or ignorant advisor.

We will have the “Wonderful Counselor” the PELE YA’ATES

He will also be called “Mighty God”

In the Hebrew this is EL GHIBOR
“EL” speaks of God

Make no mistake that this child will not be a mere man, He will be God.
He is not referred to as “Mighty Human” or even “Mighty Man of Valor” like some of the other Old Testament characters.

This One who will be “born to us”…
This One who will be “given to us”…
Will be none other than God.

That is part of His name.

“GHIBOR” speaks of a mighty one, even a warrior.

Exodus 15:2-4 “The LORD is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation; This is my God, and I will praise Him; My father’s God, and I will extol Him. “The LORD is a warrior; The LORD is His name. “Pharaoh’s chariots and his army He has cast into the sea; And the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red Sea.”

Moses saw God as a mighty warrior.

But certainly we see this Jesus who will come and tread the winepress of the fierce wrath of God.

We this One who will completely destroy His enemies and cast the beast and the false prophet into the lake of fire and bind Satan for a 1,000 years.

Isaiah sees Him again later:
Isaiah 63:1-6 “Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? “It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.” Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? “I have trodden the wine trough alone, And from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My raiment. “For the day of vengeance was in My heart, And My year of redemption has come. “I looked, and there was no one to help, And I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; So My own arm brought salvation to Me, And My wrath upheld Me. “I trod down the peoples in My anger And made them drunk in My wrath, And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth.”

There will be no chance of a revolt.
There will be no chance of an insurrection.
There will be no chance of defeat.

Our coming King is EL GIBHOR, the “Mighty God”

He will also be called “Eternal Father”

That alone is an interesting title as well, for now not only do we recognize that the child will be God, but here we also learn that the Son is referred to as the “Father”.

That does not mean that the Son and the Father are the same person.
He is one God in three distinct persons.

The Son is not the Father and the Father is not the Son, but the Son is God and the Father is God.

And Jesus taught us that if you have seen Him then you have seen the Father.

Jesus is the exact representation.
Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.”

Hebrews 1:3 “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”

This is another announcement of His deity.
Jesus will say it:

John 10:30 “I and the Father are one.”

But it’s more than just an announcement of His deity.
He is called “Eternal Father”

In the Hebrew it is two short words “AD AB”
And it literally translates “Father Until”

But it gives no final date or time.
We are speaking of reign which has no end.

This God will reign and there is no indicator of when His reign will cease.
It is open ended…
It is not completed…

We get the wisest, most glorious, most powerful King and His reign will know no end.

He is Father Until.

And He is also referred to as “Prince of Peace”

In the Hebrew that is SAR SHALOM

It speaks to the effect of His reign.

In chapter 11 we read:
Isaiah 11:6-9 “And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea.”

And we know this is real for we have already seen the monumental effects of the peace of Jesus.

Romans 5:1 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

If you want to talk about the most remarkable peace treaty of all time then look no further.

This Jesus came on behalf of sinful humans who had totally offended God their entire lives and Jesus orchestrated the peace deal that saw the veil removed and access granted to the Father by us.

Hebrews 5:7-9 “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,”

Do you want to see a remarkable statement about the ministry of Jesus?

Here is the Man who has the task of representing the rest of humanity before God.

He is the One who will approach the Holy and seek to broker our peace deal with the Father.

And the tremendous statement of Hebrews 5?
“He was heard…”

God accepted this agent of Peace.
There’s never been another like Him!

The end or Ephesians 2 speaks of how Jesus brought peace even between Jew and Gentile and reconciled us both in one body to God.

He is truly the “Prince of Peace”

And so you take this “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace” and you ask what His government will look like?

(7) “There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.”

Words like “no end”
Words like “increase”
Words like “peace”
Words like “justice and righteousness”
Words like “forevermore”

This is the One who is coming.

And the point is that this is the FATE OF THE REMNANT.

While the rabble is driven away into darkness, the remnant will walk in glorious light for all eternity.

It is the light of their Savior.

You want to be part of the remnant!

Be a person who trusts the presence of God; be a person of faith.
Be a person who regards God as God; be a person who fears God.
Be a person who focuses on God’s word as your source of truth.

Because if you are, then you will be a person who one day will enjoy the eternal kingdom of the Christ.

We haven’t seen verses 3-7 fulfilled yet, but we will.
They are coming and the remnant get to enjoy it all!

download here

The Remnant or The Rabble? – Part 2
Isaiah 8:9-9:7 (8:16-20)
May 7, 2023

There are indeed many doctrines that we believe and study
Which are difficult for the world to accept
And which sinful men fight against.

But none is more offensive than “The Doctrine of Eternal Punishment”

It is very simply the biblical truth that
Those who have rejected Christ will one day rise from the dead
And receive a resurrected body
Which is created to suffer the agonies of hell for all eternity.

John 5:28-29 “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.”

• It is NOT a merely spiritual reality…
• It is NOT a momentary reality…

JUST AS believers in Christ receive a new and glorified body capable of experiencing the glories of heaven,

SO WILL unbelievers also receive a new and eternal body capable of suffering for eternity in hell.

SUCH A DOCTRINE IS HATED VEHEMENTLY TODAY.

IN FACT, those who oppose the doctrine of election don’t really hate election it is the doctrine of eternal punishment that they really hate.

No one would care if God elects whom He will save
If He didn’t punish eternally those who are not.

And certainly HERESIES HAVE ARISEN to seek to nullify this doctrine.

UNIVERSALISM is the current favorite which simply states that in the end God will just save everyone.

ANNIHILATIONISM is also popular, which states that God will just kill sinners and they will cease to exist, but not be punished forever.

And yet, neither of those is what the Bible teaches.
The Bible teaches that God will punish sinners forever in hell.

Matthew 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;”

• Jesus called hell “the eternal fire” – it lasts for all eternity.

Mark 9:42-48 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe to stumble, it would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he had been cast into the sea. “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into hell, into the unquenchable fire, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. “If your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into hell, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED. “If your eye causes you to stumble, throw it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into hell, where THEIR WORM DOES NOT DIE, AND THE FIRE IS NOT QUENCHED.”

• We see it there 3 times regarding hell, “where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched”. The torment never ends.

Revelation 14:9-11 “Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is mixed in full strength in the cup of His anger; and he will be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. “And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever; they have no rest day and night, those who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”

• There we learn that those in hell are not only tormented in the presence of Christ,
• But will be tormented “forever and ever”
• And that “they have no rest day and night”.

And so THIS MORNING I again REMIND YOU of the truth
We spoke of to open the sermon last Sunday night.

Namely that it is not God’s plan to save everyone.

If God willed to save everyone then everyone would be saved,
But as it is, that is not what He has willed.

Does that mean that God takes pleasure in the death of the wicked? No
Ezekiel 33:11 “Say to them, ‘As I live!’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways! Why then will you die, O house of Israel?’”

Does that mean that God has no desire for sinners to be saved? No
1 Timothy 2:3-4 “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

Does that mean that God wants men to go to hell? No
2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

The very presence of Jesus arriving on earth
Reminds us that God loves the world
And that He desires men to repent and be saved.

But what we know of men is that, if given the choice, NONE will ever repent or believe or be saved.

Paul laid it out for us clearly that there is “none who does good, not even one”.
He reminded that there is “none who seeks for God”.

We were taught in the book of Ephesians that all of humanity is “dead in sin” and only desires the sinful things of the world.

IN SHORT, if God remained passive toward humanity
• Then not one single human would ever be saved,
• We would all have continued in sin
• And been totally unconcerned about the righteousness of God.

BUT GOD HAS INTERVENED.
• By sovereign grace He has chosen to save some.
• By sovereign grace He has chosen to awaken some to eternal life.

Romans 8:29-30 “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.”

God looked upon the whole of sinful and rebellious humanity,
And from the masses God chose to save some.

He foreknows them, predestines them, calls them,
Justifies them, and glorifies them.

But God has NOT willed to do this for every single human.
NOT EVERYONE WILL BE SAVED.

Matthew 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.”

Luke 13:22-30 “And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. “Once the head of the house gets up and shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know where you are from.’ “Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; and He will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you are from; DEPART FROM ME, ALL YOU EVILDOERS.’ “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. “And they will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. “And behold, some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.”

Even John 3:16 teaches us that.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”

Even that beloved verse reminds us that
Salvation is limited to those who believe.

Not everyone is being saved.
GOD IS SAVING THE REMNANT

Romans 9:6 “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel;”

Even in the nation of Israel, God is only saving the remnant.

Romans 9:27 “Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, “THOUGH THE NUMBER OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL BE LIKE THE SAND OF THE SEA, IT IS THE REMNANT THAT WILL BE SAVED;”
(That is Isaiah 10:22)

Romans 9:29 “And just as Isaiah foretold, “UNLESS THE LORD OF SABAOTH HAD LEFT TO US A POSTERITY, WE WOULD HAVE BECOME LIKE SODOM, AND WOULD HAVE RESEMBLED GOMORRAH.”
(That is Isaiah 1:9)

Romans 11:1-5 “I say then, God has not rejected His people, has He? May it never be! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not rejected His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? “Lord, THEY HAVE KILLED YOUR PROPHETS, THEY HAVE TORN DOWN YOUR ALTARS, AND I ALONE AM LEFT, AND THEY ARE SEEKING MY LIFE.” But what is the divine response to him? “I HAVE KEPT for Myself SEVEN THOUSAND MEN WHO HAVE NOT BOWED THE KNEE TO BAAL.” In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice.”

God is only saving the remnant.
And that remnant is saved by His gracious choice.

ISAIAH 7-12 IS THEIR STORY.

7:1 – 8:8 TELLS THE STORY OF THE RABBLE (those who are not the remnant)

• We saw their fear of the alliance made between Aram and Israel.
• We saw their refusal to trust God; instead turning to Assyria.
• We saw how God will severely discipline them.

But beginning 8:9 and going through 9:7 we get the story of the Remnant.

And we see 4 distinctions that help us recognize
The difference between the Remnant and the Rabble.

And this is good information for us.
For none of us wishes to be a part of the rabble.

• What is the remnant?
• What do they look like?
• What sets them apart?
• How can I know if I am part of the remnant?
• And if I am not, how can I be?

Those are the things we are looking at here in our text this morning.

As we said, there are 4 distinctions made here between the remnant and the rabble.

We looked at the first two last Sunday night.

#1 THEIR FAITH: The Remnant trusts God’s presence, The Rabble trembles over the presence of the enemy.
Isaiah 8:9-10

• Very simply in verses 9-10 we saw ISAIAH’S TAUNT.
• It was a taunt directed at the nations of Aram and Israel.

And Isaiah was so bold because
He had believed the promise that Ahaz had rejected.

“For God is with us.”

Ahaz and the people of Judah had trembled at the news that Aram and Israel had made an alliance and planned to invade.

• God had sent Isaiah to tell Ahaz not to fear for God was them.
• The Rabbled refused to believe that message.

Isaiah and the Remnant did believe it.

And Isaiah was able to TAUNT those rogue nations.
(10) “Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; State a proposal, but it will not stand, For God is with us.”

Faith is a major difference between the Remnant and the Rabble.
• You can go throughout the Bible and see that distinction.
• Just read Hebrews 11 and see the faith of the remnant throughout the ages.

And we simply asked the question,
DO YOU TRUST GOD OR DO YOU FEAR THE WORLD?
• When the news is bad…
• When a pandemic emerges…
• When inflation rises…
• When enemies threaten…

DO YOU TRUST GOD OR DO YOU FALL INTO FEAR?
That is a distinguishing mark.

The encouragement is obvious.
If you have thus far failed to trust God, then start to trust Him.

#2 THEIR FEAR: The Remnant fears God, The Rabble falls over Him
Isaiah 8:11-15

In verses 11 & 12 Isaiah is told NOT to fear what the people fear.

What do they fear?
The “conspiracy” that has formed.

That is to say they fear that alliance between Aram and Israel.
And God tells Isaiah and the remnant, don’t fear what they fear.

Rather:
(13) “It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.”

If you want something to fear, then fear God.

Isaiah is told that “It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy.”

That is to say: TREAT GOD AS GOD

Our world is full of people
• Who give lip service to God’s greatness and power and provision and
goodness.
• They say God can do all sorts of things, but the second life gets tough they
refuse to trust Him.
• They call Him their provider, but when things get tight they refuse to trust
Him.
• That is not regarding God as God.

It has to be more than lip service.
There must be a real and tangible faith.

One of the things I love about the faith chapter in Hebrews 11 is that you can CLEARLY SEE THE FAITH of all of them.
• Noah built a boat…
• Abraham left Ur, remained in Canaan, sacrificed his son…
• Moses left Pharaoh’s house…
• The children of Israel walked through the Red Sea…

It wasn’t faith in theory, it was faith in action.

THAT IS WHAT THE REMNANT DOES.

And Isaiah promised that if you will fear God in such a way: (14) “Then He shall become a sanctuary;”

You want peace in the storm?
You want assurance in the battle?
Then trust God.

He is a hiding place, a refuge, a strong tower,
A sanctuary for those who trust Him.

But the wicked do not fear Him, they FALL over Him.
(15) “Many will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will even be snared and caught.”

• They stumble and fall and are broken.
• They are snared and caught.

To the wicked Jesus is not a rock of refuge,
He is a mill stone over which they trip and then are crushed.

It is THE DIFFERENCE between the remnant and the rabble.
• The Remnant truly regards God as God, they fear Him.
• The Rabble does not, they abandon Him and end up tripping over Him.

So be the remnant.
• Have faith in God and regard Him as God.
• Fear Him.

So those are two distinctions we have seen.
Their Faith and Their Fear

#3 THEIR FOCUS: The Remnant consults God’s Law, the Rabble consults the world.
Isaiah 8:16-20

We certainly remember back in Isaiah’s Commissioning
When God told Isaiah that his primary ministry would be that of rendering the people deaf, blind, and hard-hearted.

IN SHORT he was going to preach and preach and preach to people
Who would not listen to the word of God.

Only the remnant would listen.

And here Isaiah’s words reflect that reality,
It feels like a word of frustration.

He says, “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.”

It paints the picture of the Law of God being preached in public,
But no one is listening so Isaiah says,

“Fine, from now on, only give it to my disciples.”

• Close the book.
• Tie up the scroll.
• Put it in an envelope.
• Lock it in a box.
• Only give it to “my disciples”

They are the only ones who will listen to it.

It REMINDS again of when Jesus applied Isaiah’s ministry to His own.
• He gave that parable of the soils
• The disciples wanted to know why He spoke in parables
• Why didn’t He tell them plainly?

Matthew 13:11-13 “Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. “For whoever has, to him more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. “Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”

• That is the same thing Isaiah is doing.
• He’s binding up and hiding the Law from those who won’t listen to it.

And that is the problem with the rabble.
• They have no interest in hearing the words of God.
• They have no interest in the Law of God.

Look down at verses 19-20
“When they say to you, “Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,” should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.”

The people of Isaiah’s day where not interested in the Law of God.
They were more interested in the wisdom of the world.
• They turned to “mediums and spiritists”
• They were psychics and palm-readers
• They were modern day wise men

We see some of that in our world but in our day our culture is more prone to listen to “experts” and “professionals”.

If someone who has a doctorate speaks
Our culture will value that higher than the word of God every time.

• Psychologists have become the leading experts on marriage and parenting.
• Social media dictates our moral standards of right and wrong.
• Success in life is measured not by obedience but by money and fame.
• Movie stars and athletes are those most greatly followed by the masses.

WHAT IS MY POINT?
People aren’t running to the bible for answers to life’s problems,
They run to “experts” and “professionals”.

In Isaiah’s day it was “mediums and spiritists”
But I assure you there is little difference
For they all are influenced by the father of lies.

And this doesn’t just happen in the world, it happens even in the church.
• It is the business models of success which saturate church growth books.
• Church leaders are selected based on success not being spirit-filled.
• Church decisions are often made without prayer or a Bible being opened,
people just follow their own will and logic.

And Isaiah said, “Should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?”

THAT’S A GREAT QUESTION!
(Even in a spiritual sense.)

Would you really consult those who are spiritually dead to give you counsel and insight into life?

Are you really going to accept wisdom and guidance
From someone who doesn’t even recognize
God as the supreme authority over life?

Remember when the Corinthians were suing each other?
1 Corinthians 6:1-6 “Does any one of you, when he has a case against his neighbor, dare to go to law before the unrighteous and not before the saints? Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? If the world is judged by you, are you not competent to constitute the smallest law courts? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more matters of this life? So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church? I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren, but brother goes to law with brother, and that before unbelievers?”

But we know why.
The Corinthians were captivated by worldly education.

That is why Paul reminded them:
1 Corinthians 1:20-21 “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 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.”

Paul shamed the Corinthians there by reminding them
This worldly wisdom that they seek didn’t even know how to have a relationship with God, and yet you trust it over Biblical truth?

We might as well say, “9 or 10 doctors agree, they have no clue how to go to heaven.”

But the church increasingly lines up to follow their advice on everything.

• Do we really think that Dr. Fauci is the all-knowing guru about how to live during a pandemic?
• Does Edward Jones know more about how to handle your money than God?
• Does Dr. Phil know more about marriage than God does?
• Does Oprah have a better read on human goodness than God?
• Could Sam Walton or Bill Gates provide a better model on how to grow and govern the church than God?

It’s a shame that those who claim to be God’s people
So quickly allow the wisdom of the world
To take precedent over God’s wisdom.

Paul would go on to the Corinthians:
1 Corinthians 3:18-20 “Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS”; and again, “THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS.”

It was a tragedy how the Corinthians overlooked the word of God
In order to lean upon worldly wisdom.

• Why not lean upon those in their congregation who were filled with God’s Spirit?
• Why not lean upon those who know the word of God?

IT IS BECAUSE so many who claim to be God’s people
Have no regard for God’s word and would rather consult the world.

But Isaiah said: (20) “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn.”

That is to say if they don’t give you the wisdom of Scripture
Then they have no true valuable insight to offer you.

What does it say of those who claim to be God’s people but when they need advice they run to the world instead of to the Bible?

That is what was happening in Isaiah’s day.
They were consulting the dead on behalf of the living.

Isaiah told them to open a Bible!

They weren’t interested
So Isaiah said, “Fine, shut the Bible, live by your wisdom, and only me and my disciples will enjoy the wisdom of God.”

See what Isaiah said in verse 17, “And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him.”

• You can see your worldly experts, but I’m seeking God!
• You can run to the “experts” and “professionals” but I’m waiting on the LORD.

And it’s not just me.
(18) “Behold, I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.”

It’s not just me who will wait on and seek the LORD.
It is also “the children whom the LORD has given me”

Don’t miss that Isaiah understood the reality of sovereign election.
• He knew why those who believed actually believed.
• They believed because God appointed them to do so.

Though humanity has a whole ran as fast as they could
After the wisdom of the world, God had saved a remnant.

God had intervened and called back a few and given them to Isaiah.
Isaiah called them, “the children whom the LORD has given me”

And now Isaiah says that THEY “are for signs and wonders in Israel from the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.”

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
That this remnant is “for signs and wonders”?

• It means they are a spectacle.
• It means they are peculiar to the world.
• They are a novelty.
• They are a side-show attraction.

Paul said:
1 Corinthians 4:9-13 “For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are prudent in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.”

• Paul said we are “a spectacle to the world”.
• We just stick out as peculiar.
• We are certainly not the majority.
• We are considered backward and even ignorant and foolish.

Peter wrote:
1 Peter 4:1-4 “Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries. In all this, they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same excesses of dissipation, and they malign you;”

The world doesn’t understand the remnant
Who don’t love what they love, think like they think, and do what they do.

And so to the rabble, the remnant is a peculiar spectacle.

BUT ISAIAH DOESN’T LAMENT that they are seemed as strange to the world, HE ACTUALLY EMBRACES IT.

Isaiah says “I and the children whom the LORD has given me are for signs and wonders in Israel FROM the LORD of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion.”

WE ARE FROM THE LORD OF HOSTS
• He is the One who makes us peculiar.
• He is the One who makes us strange.

Isn’t that what Paul said to the Corinthians in what we just read?
• “God has exhibited us…”
• “We are fools for Christ’s sake…”

• Do you understand that part of saving you and sanctifying you is to make you a light that shines against the darkness?
• Do you understand that part of saving you and sanctifying you is to make a spectacle?
• Do you understand that you are supposed to be different?

And the chief difference we exhibit is that
While the world follows it’s own wisdom,
We follow the word of God.

AND WE SO NEED TO LEARN THIS CHURCH.
We are repeatedly called to seek and trust the wisdom of God’s word.

Psalms 1:1-3 “How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.”

Or consider the wonderful 19th Psalm.
Psalms 19:7-11 “The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; The commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; The judgments of the LORD are true; they are righteous altogether. They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward.”

Or:
Psalms 119:105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

Peter seized upon that truth when he wrote:
2 Peter 1:19 “So we have the prophetic word made more sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.”

Why would a person trust in the false light of human expertise when we have at our disposal the very words of God?

Jeremiah reminded his congregation:
Jeremiah 23:28-29 “The prophet who has a dream may relate his dream, but let him who has My word speak My word in truth. What does straw have in common with grain?” Declares the LORD. “Is not My word like fire?” Declares the LORD, “and like a hammer which shatters a rock?”

We are not to be like the world!
We are not to think like the world!

The remnant is characterized by the fact that
Even though all the world may follow secular wisdom,
They will cling to the truth that is revealed in the Bible.

• It will dictate their finances…
• It will dictate their marriages…
• It will dictate their parenting…
• It will dictate their relationships…
• It will dictate their behavior…
• It will dictate their decisions, their plans, their goals, their future…

The remnant doesn’t listen to the world, they listen to God!

And this should be OBVIOUS to us.
John 10:3-6 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them.”

And again later:
John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;”

The remnant simply follows the word of God.

Psalms 119:97-104 “O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, For they are ever mine. I have more insight than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the aged, Because I have observed Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word. I have not turned aside from Your ordinances, For You Yourself have taught me. How sweet are Your words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth! From Your precepts I get understanding; Therefore I hate every false way.”

So we learn that the remnant are characterized
Not only by their FAITH, and not only by their FEAR of the LORD,
But also by their FOCUS on His word.

SO NOW WE GET TO SEARCH INWARDLY.
WHERE IS YOUR FOCUS?

Where do you go for counsel?

When you need advice about your marriage or your kids or your job or your finances or any other aspect of life…

• Where do you go to find the answer?
• Where do you look for counsel?

The RABBLE look to the world and their wisdom.
The REMNANT looks to the wisdom of God in His word.

And this is another way you can tell which group you are in.

Matthew 7:24-27 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.”

So first we must identify which camp I am in.
• Am I those who trust God or do I tremble over the world’s circumstances?
• Am I those who fear God or do I fail to regard Him as God and fall over Him?
• Am I those who focus on God’s word or do I consult the world for guidance?

And if you find this morning that you are IN THE WRONG CAMP,
Then praise God for making that known to you.

REPENT before Him, CONFESS to Him your sin,
And CALL upon Him for forgiveness.

TELL HIM you have been too long a part of the rabble,
But you want to be a part of His remnant.

ASK HIM to save you and change you and pull you out of the sin infested world and make Him a part of His people.

And the promise of Scripture is that He will.

It is true that God is not saving everyone.
He is only saving His remnant.

But He freely extends His hand and offers that
Any who desires to be part of that remnant is welcome to be.

John 6:37 “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”

Romans 10:13 “for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”

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The Remnant or The Rabble? – Part 1
Isaiah 8:9 – 9:7 (8:9-15)
April 30, 2023

I want us to start this morning by turning over to Romans 9.
TURN TO: ROMANS 9:14-33

Many of you are familiar with Romans 9 as that great chapter which lays bare the wonderful reality that God is sovereign even over salvation.
• We see the statements that Jacob I loved and Esau I hated.
• We see how God chose Jacob over Esau before they were ever born.
• We see how God raised up Pharaoh for the purpose of displaying His power in him.

And all of those realities are those which
Cause selfish and arrogant men to ask a very foolish question.

Paul actually states that question in verse 14.
“What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God is there? May it never be!”

When men learn that God, in His sovereign wisdom and prerogative,
Chose whom He would save they lash back with vehement fury
Loving to cry, “That’s not fair!”

But Paul sets out to correct such arrogant and foolish thinking.
(15-16) “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.”

We notice of course that it DOES NOT say, “I will have vengeance on whom I have vengeance.” Rather it speaks of God choosing to have mercy.

Men get angry when they learn that God is sovereign over salvation
• Because they think themselves worthy of salvation.
• Furthermore they think that it is up to man’s free will to choose whether or not he wants salvation.
• And they think that according to Romans 9 you have God telling men who want to be saved, “No, you can’t be saved because I haven’t chosen you.”

None of those realities are true.
The fact of the matter is that if God didn’t choose to save men,
None would be saved.

The only way any sinner ever gets saved is if God, by His excellent mercy,
Chooses that sinner and draws that sinner to Himself.

Salvation is only an act of mercy.

And in Romans 9 we learn that God even has the prerogative
To draw His chosen to Himself in any means He chooses.

For example in Egypt, in order to draw Israel (His chosen) to Himself and in order to reveal His great power and love for them, God raised up Pharaoh and then crushed him.

(READ: 17-18)
GOD DID NOTHING UNJUST TO PHARAOH.
• Pharaoh was a sinner who deserved every ounce of judgment he ever received from God, just as all condemned sinners do.

But God used Pharaoh to show Israel His love.
• He let Pharaoh come to power…
• He let Pharaoh live a long time…
• He actually hardened Pharaoh to use him in judgment.

And there again arrogant men cry foul!

So Paul answers them again.
(READ: 19-24)

God has every right to do whatever He wants with the clay He created.
• If He wants to crush it, He can crush it.
• If He wants to save it, He can save it.
• If He wants to crush one part to save another part, He can do that too.

HE IS GOD!

And what we find is that Pharoah and the Israelites is NOT THE ONLY instance of God doing this type of thing.

He has also done it in a much more drastic sense
With the redeemed and the unredeemed.

Paul said that God endures with much patience
Sinners who are destined for destruction,
Just like He endured Pharaoh for so many years.

And God does that so that He can use them to show His favor and glory
To those whom He has chosen to save.

And in Romans 9 we learn that those He has chosen to save
Is not just Jews, but ALSO GENTILES.

Which you see in verses 25-26, “As He says also in Hosea, “I WILL CALL THOSE WHO WERE NOT MY PEOPLE, ‘MY PEOPLE,’ AND HER WHO WAS NOT BELOVED, ‘BELOVED.’ ” “AND IT SHALL BE THAT IN THE PLACE WHERE IT WAS SAID TO THEM, ‘YOU ARE NOT MY PEOPLE,’ THERE THEY SHALL BE CALLED SONS OF THE LIVING GOD.”

But let’s keep going in Romans 9.

For Paul lets us in on another remarkable reality.
(READ: 27-29)

What we learn there is that God was never saving everyone.
But He has always been saving those whom Isaiah calls the “remnant”.

We saw that in Isaiah 6 didn’t we when God said that
The people would be hardened and deaf, but “a tenth” would remain.

GOD SAVES THE REMNANT.
And Paul even quotes there from Isaiah 1.

Isaiah 1:9 “Unless the LORD of hosts Had left us a few survivors, We would be like Sodom, We would be like Gomorrah.”

Those “survivors” are the remnant.

And what we want to know is:
HOW DOES ONE BECOME PART OF THE REMNANT?

What distinguishes those who are the remnant from those who are not?

(READ: 30-33)

What was the difference Paul outlined?
FAITH

So what Paul taught us in Romans 9 is that
Though all the world is sinful and pursuing sin,
God has had mercy on a remnant.

Instead of judging all men, which He was well within His right to do,
God chose to save a remnant from the people.

This remnant are those whom God instilled with faith.
• He revealed Himself to them.
• He even judged sinners in front of them for their benefit. (Pharaoh)
• He called them and gave them faith.

And this remnant (whom you know as the elect) are those who trust God.

And when you read passages like Romans 9
You realize that we have SEEN THE REMNANT EVERYWHERE.

• Abel was, but Cain wasn’t.
• Noah was, but the rest of the world wasn’t.
• Abram was…
• The children of Israel were, but Egypt wasn’t.

It was always the remnant.
And even among the multitude of the children of Israel
There was a remnant, for not even all of them were saved.

We see this throughout the wilderness wanderings don’t we?
• Those who grumbled…
• Those who rebelled…
• Those who made idols…
• Those who wouldn’t enter the land…

Not even all Israel was actually Israel,
Which is what Paul taught in Romans 9.
It was always only the remnant.

Consider:
Numbers 11:4-6 “The rabble who were among them had greedy desires; and also the sons of Israel wept again and said, “Who will give us meat to eat? “We remember the fish which we used to eat free in Egypt, the cucumbers and the melons and the leeks and the onions and the garlic, but now our appetite is gone. There is nothing at all to look at except this manna.”

As a contrast to the remnant,
Moses there introduces us to “the rabble”.

“The rabble” would be those who outwardly identified with God’s people but who actually did not believe or trust God.

At every turn, they chose wrong.
• They always followed the world and turned against God.
• And throughout the Old Testament when God would save His remnant, the rabble would be judged.

You see them in the New Testament as well.
• They are called “tares” among the wheat.
• They are called “goats” among the sheep.

Paul spoke about it to the Corinthians when they were fighting during the Lord’s Supper.
1 Corinthians 11:17-19 “But in giving this instruction, I do not praise you, because you come together not for the better but for the worse. For, in the first place, when you come together as a church, I hear that divisions exist among you; and in part I believe it. For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you.”

He also encouraged the Philippians regarding their opponents.
Philippians 1:27-28 “Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I will hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.”

Philippians 3:17-19 “Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things.”

And so you get the point.
God has never been about the business of saving everyone.
But He has always been saving a remnant.

The remnant are those who trust & obey God instead of the world.
And the rabble are the cause of much anguish to them.

But God uses the rabble to purify the remnant.
God uses the rabble to reveal the remnant.
God uses the rabble to build the faith of the remnant.

As Paul said in Romans 9
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.”

And I bring that up to you to begin with tonight because, as we have said,
THIS SEGMENT OF ISAIAH is all about God saving His remnant.

Isaiah 7-12 is the story of the remnant.

NOW, THUS FAR all we have studied has been chapter 7 and the first part of 8 and you really haven’t seen the remnant yet.

So far all Isaiah has really shown you is the rabble.
• All we’ve seen is Ahaz and faithless Israel refusing to trust God.

• Ahaz wouldn’t trust God, he called for Assyria whom God sent.
• Assyria would handle Aram and Israel,
• But they would also sweep into Judah and nearly completely drown them too.

Ahaz refused to trust God
And it brought only hardship into his life and kingdom.

So you’ve seen the rabble.

What we want to see now is the remnant.
• Who are they?
• What do they look like?
• How do you spot them?

• And more importantly, am I one of them?

Well, Isaiah 8:9 – 9:7 is a wonderful segment of Scripture
That will help us identify the distinguishing marks
Between the remnant and the rabble.

In these verses we’ll see 4 distinguishing marks.
#1 THEIR FAITH The Remnant trusts God’s presence, the Rabble trembles at the enemy’s presence.
Isaiah 8:9-10

So let’s remember now the circumstances that have occurred.

Isaiah 7:1-2 “Now it came about in the days of Ahaz, the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin the king of Aram and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but could not conquer it. When it was reported to the house of David, saying, “The Arameans have camped in Ephraim,” his heart and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.”

And we remember that
• This new found alliance between Aram and Israel had caused Judah to be terrified.
• It was during this crisis that God sent Isaiah to Ahaz and specifically told him not to be afraid.

Isaiah 7:4 “and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah.”

We also remember that
• Isaiah took his son “Shear-jashub” with him as a sort of object sermon.
• That boys name means “The Remnant Will Return” and that was the point of Isaiah’s sermon.

Trust God, be part of the remnant, for the remnant will be saved.
Don’t fear the enemy, just believe in God.

And Isaiah would say:
Isaiah 7:9b “If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”’”

Isaiah then told Ahaz to ask for a sign and Ahaz wasn’t interested.

Isaiah then said, you’re getting a sign anyway.
Isaiah 7:14 “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

And we are told at the start that: GOD IS WITH US

But because of Ahaz’s lack of faith
God will send Assyria into Aram and Israel
But also into the southern kingdom and nearly destroy it.

Isaiah 8:8 “Then it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass through, It will reach even to the neck; And the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”

Assyria is coming, it will be really scary,
But again what does Isaiah call the land?

“Immanuel” – God with us.

It is Isaiah’s reminder that regardless of the struggle; regardless of the threat; regardless of the danger – God is with us!

And you are either going to believe that and trust God
Or you are going to reject that and try to figure it out for yourself.

Well we’ve seen what the rabble looks like.
• They were terrified.
• They wouldn’t trust God.
• They called on the world for help.

But now let’s take a look at the remnant.
• Let’s look at what faith looks like.

And we see: THE TAUNT OF ISAIAH

(9-10) ““Be broken, O peoples, and be shattered; And give ear, all remote places of the earth. Gird yourselves, yet be shattered; Gird yourselves, yet be shattered. “Devise a plan, but it will be thwarted; State a proposal, but it will not stand, For God is with us.”

That is Isaiah’s taunt and it is directed to the nations of Aram and Israel.
“Go ahead but it won’t work!”

That is how Ahaz should have answered.
That is the faith of the remnant.

The attitude of Isaiah is very reminiscent of another great story of faith in peril.

1 Samuel 17:10-11 “Again the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together.” When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.”

• Remember that giant?
• Remember how afraid all the soldiers in Israel were by that man’s mocking and blasphemy against God and against God’s army?

1 Samuel 17:24-26 “When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid. The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.” Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?”

• One man wasn’t afraid.
• One man had faith, and he ran to the battle line to confront the giant.

1 Samuel 17:45-47 “Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. “This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD’S and He will give you into our hands.”

That reminds us of the faith of Isaiah.

When Isaiah heard that “God is with us”
All the might and threat of the enemy faded away.

Romans 8:31 “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?”

IT IS A LEGITIMATE QUESTION.
If you really believe God is who He says He is and you really believe God is for you as He says He is, then what are you afraid of?

THE REMNANT HAS FAITH!
The remnant believes God is and that God does what He says.

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

And THE REMNANT throughout the bible WALKS BY THIS FAITH.
Hebrews 11 is an entire chapter about such men and women.
It is their faith that sets them apart.

Go to the New Testament.

Remember Paul on that slave ship that got caught in the violent storm and everyone knew they were going to die?
Acts 27:25 “Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told.”

Remember when Peter and John were first arrested and beaten and threatened to stop talking about Jesus?

Remember when they told the rest of the church how much trouble they were going to be in if they kept on preaching Jesus?

Remember how the church responded?
Acts 4:29-31 “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.”

Do you see the difference?

When the rabble was overcome with fear like they had no God,
It was the remnant who trusted God and continued on in faith.

AND SO WE LOOK INWARDLY AT OURSELVES.

When TERRORISTS arise and we hear stories of evil men who kill Christians,
• Do we disown Christ? Do we put our light under a basket?

Or how about when it isn’t terrorist, but just a COWORKER who will make fun of us or argue with us or get angry at our position?
• Do we forget that we are called to bear witness to the truth?

What about when a PANDEMIC spreads across the globe, do we retreat in fear?
• Do we neglect the rest of humanity and our duty to love and service? Do we neglect the assembly of the church out of fear of sickness?

What about when INFLATION rises and money gets tight,
• Do we fall into despair and worry and begin to only focus inwardly instead of obeying Christ to be generous and ready to share?

What happens when a rogue GOVERNMENT starts cracking down on preaching against sins like homosexuality or abortion?
• Do we change our position so as to avoid persecution?

I hope you understand that dilemmas like those
ARE DILEMMAS THAT GOD ALLOWS.

Why would God allow such hardships or persecutions or scary situations?
• Why would God even allow Aram and Israel to make an alliance and then
threaten Judah?

Because it is situations like that
Where the rabble and the remnant become obvious.

Part of the reason for such trials is to expose the rabble
And to elevate the remnant.

Matthew 13:26 “But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also.”

This is one of the things we look for.
• Am I a person who walks by faith?
• Am I a person who trusts God?

• Or do I let circumstances and threats and worries choke out my faith and run into hiding and neglect to trust God?

The difference is obvious.
• Make the determination that you are going to be the remnant.
• Make the determination that you are going to be one who trusts God, not one who fears the scary things of life.

You distinguish the remnant from the rabble by their faith.
#2 THEIR FEAR The Remnant fears God, the Rabble falls over Him
Isaiah 8:11-15

Here Isaiah once again explains his boldness.
“For thus the LORD spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying, “You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy!’ In regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, And you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.”

“conspiracy” there comes from a word that means “an unlawful alliance”

And the point here is that
THE PEOPLE IN ISAIAH’S DAY CAN SEE NOTHING ELSE.
• They are consumed with this new alliance between Aram and Israel.
• It dominates their conversations.
• It captivates their thoughts.
• It motivates their plans.
• It dictates their decisions.

They are simply ate up with it.

More than that, as we saw in (7:2) they are totally terrified by it.

Fear has a way of captivating us.
We tend to focus on what we fear.
And in many ways the thing that we fear becomes our chief concern.

You see it easily in our world the same way you saw it in theirs:
In the realm of politics.

If you turn on the national news (and it doesn’t matter if you’re an NBC type person or a FOX news type person) you get the exact same message every night.

It doesn’t matter if they are liberal or conservative
They are going to give you the same 2 points every night.

1) What you should be mad at.
2) What you should fear.

For they know that if they can get you offended or get you afraid
Then they can captivate your attention.

In Isaiah’s day the people were captivated by this alliance in the north.
They were consumed with it.

And God very clearly, and according to Isaiah, very powerfully told him “not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it.”

• Don’t be afraid of Aram and Israel.
• Don’t be afraid of Goliath.
• Don’t be afraid of the government in America.

That’s NOT TO SAY that those things might not be evil, and anti-Christ;
They might be.

But you should not fear them like the rest of the world does.

And this is just basic Christianity.
Think about Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6:31-33 “Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ “For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

You very clearly see the difference
Between the remnant and the rabble in that verse.

• THE REMNANT focuses on the kingdom and righteousness and trusts God for the temporal things of life.
• THE RABBLE is consumed with worry about the world’s stuff and how to obtain it.

Again, be different, don’t be like them.
Be people of faith, not fear.

Now, that is not to say that fear has no place in our lives.
It most certainly does.

(13) “It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.”

Isaiah tells the people to “regard [God] as holy.”
In other words – “Consider God to actually be God!”

What does it mean that He is God?
What does that say of His power and provision and perfection?
• Do we believe God is all-powerful or not?
• Do we believe God is sufficient in provision or not?
• Do we believe God loves His own or not?

Then treat Him like He is God!
“It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy.”

When you fear the government you’re acting they are the sovereign one.
When you fear men you act like men are God.
DON’T!

God “shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.”

You want something to captivate you thinking?
• You want something to consume you?
• You want something to dictate your decisions?
• You want something to motivate your thoughts?

Let it be God!

I had a conversation with a woman this week who was hesitant to go to church, even though she says she wants to, because she’s afraid it will upset a family member.

I certainly understand the desire for harmony in the family, but I asked her if that would be worth it on the day she stood before God.

THAT’S TREATING THE FAMILY MEMBER LIKE GOD.

Don’t treat men like they are God.
Don’t be more afraid of offending men than of offending God.

Jesus told His disciples that they would face intense persecution in this world and then He told them:
Matthew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

FIGHT FEAR WITH FEAR.
Treat God like He is God!

Quit dumbing Him down into some powerless heavenly grandpa.
Judah did that and it was the cause of their fear.

Look later at Isaiah 40 when Isaiah will ask Israel why they are so afraid.
Isaiah 40:27-31 “Why do you say, O Jacob, and assert, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, And the justice due me escapes the notice of my God”? Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth Does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable. He gives strength to the weary, And to him who lacks might He increases power. Though youths grow weary and tired, And vigorous young men stumble badly, Yet those who wait for the LORD Will gain new strength; They will mount up with wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary.”

Isaiah wants to know why they are in such despair?
It is because they have forgotten who God is.
They had failed to regard Him as God and they suffered for it.

Earlier in that same chapter Isaiah had said:
Isaiah 40:21-26 “Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been declared to you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble. “To whom then will you liken Me That I would be his equal?” says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.”

It was Isaiah’s attempt to restore their fear of God, and thus their hope.
And notice what happens when you start to regard God as God.
(14a) “Then He shall become a sanctuary.”

When you regard God as God and you fear Him for His greatness,
You then find One who can be trusted in dangerous times.

Do you see why Isaiah is so confident?
He had stood in the presence of the Holy One, and by comparison Aram and Israel were no threat.

How often do the Psalms paint the picture for us
Of the blessing of taking refuge in God?

Psalms 2:12 “How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”

Psalms 5:11-12 “But let all who take refuge in You be glad, Let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may exult in You. For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD, You surround him with favor as with a shield.”

Psalms 9:9 “The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble;”

Psalms 18:2-3 “The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised, And I am saved from my enemies.”

Psalms 32:6-7 “Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah.”

Psalms 59:16-17 “But as for me, I shall sing of Your strength; Yes, I shall joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the morning, For You have been my stronghold And a refuge in the day of my distress. O my strength, I will sing praises to You; For God is my stronghold, the God who shows me lovingkindness.”

Psalms 62:7-8 “On God my salvation and my glory rest; The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God. Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah.”

You see in the Psalms men who stand in awe of God
And so taking refuge in Him is so easy.

This is the very basis of the faith of the remnant.
We are so captivated with the effectiveness of the work of Christ that we also take refuge in Him.

The remnant isn’t captivated by the things that stir up the world,
They fix their gaze on God and are so in awe of Him
That they are at peace in this troublesome world.

Isaiah was not the least bit afraid of Aram and Israel because “God is with us”
But such is not true of the rabble.
(14b-15) “But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. “Many will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will even be snared and caught.”

The rabble don’t fear Him, they fall over Him.

Matthew 21:44 “And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”

Romans 9:32-33 “Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

1 Peter 2:7-8 “This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,” and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.”

The rabble overlook Christ and find themselves stumbling over Him.

Falling here represents judgment.
God doesn’t offer Himself as a refuge as an alternative should want it.

The rabble refuse Him, they ignore Him,
And even though they may give Him lip-service,
THEY NEVER TRUST HIM.

The request for faith is more than they will give
And the end up being judged.

THAT IS THE DIFFERENCE.
There are two more, which we’ll look at next week.

But you see here that there are distinct differences
Between the remnant and the rabble.

The remnant fear and trust God.
The rabble fear and trust the world and end up stumbling over God.

BE THE REMNANT.
• Be the one who trusts God.
• Be the one who focuses on Him.
• Be the One who obeys Him.

BE THE REMNANT.