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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.

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Testing God’s Patience – Part 2
Isaiah 7:1-8:8 (7:10 – 8:8)
April 30, 2023

Last Sunday night we began this new segment in Isaiah’s prophecy.
The segment runs from chapter 7 through chapter 12.

And I would tell you again that the main thrust of the segment is
That God will redeem His remnant and that remnant will rejoice.

You may remember that following Isaiah’s vision in the temple, God commissioned him into service.
• Isaiah would go and preach
• But from a salvation standpoint would not have much success.
• In fact, God revealed to him that 90% of the people he preached to would only become more hard-hearted as a result of his preaching.
• Yet there would be 10%, a remnant, who would be saved through the fire.

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.”

Chapters 7 through 12 tell that story.
We see what it takes to be a part of the remnant
And we see the ultimate rejoicing of the remnant.

And the segment started with sort of the setting of Isaiah’s day.

#1 THE DILEMMA
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.”

The dilemma of the day is that Aram and Israel had made and alliance
And were now threatening to come and conquer Judah.

• Each of those nations had attacked Judah separately.
• Neither of them had been able to conquer, but they did cause several casualties and carried off many captives.
• In fact, when Israel had attacked they killed 120,000 and carried of 200,000 women as captive.
• They had caused massive casualties but had not been able to totally conquer them.

But now Aram and Israel have allied
And the threat of facing their combined armies has Judah terrified.

And then we moved on to the second point.
#2 THE DECREE
Isaiah 7:3-9

God sent Isaiah out to meet Ahaz and to tell him, “Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands.”

The message to Ahaz was clear: “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

God promised that He was going to
Deal with both of the nations which threatened them.
BOTH OF THEM WOULD SOON FALL.

And then God gave Ahaz a word of strong advice.
(9b) “If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”

God had already made faithful promises to David
That his descendants would reign on the throne.
That deal had not expired.

JUDAH WOULD SURVIVE, REGARDLESS OF WHAT AHAZ DID.

But this message was for Ahaz
And incidentally it is for all of us as well.

The expectation and calling of God is that Ahaz trust God in his dilemma.

Indeed, this is a defining characteristic of the remnant;
THEY BELIEVE GOD.

SO YOU SEE HOW THE STORY BEGINS.
• God is calling His people to trust,
• Isaiah is offering hope
• We’re waiting to see if Judah is going to trust God or not.

The Dilemma, The Decree
#3 THE DEFIANCE
Isaiah 7:10-13

Here God goes even above and beyond to reveal Himself to Ahaz.
He does that which God commonly does not do.

Jesus even said:
Matthew 12:39 “An evil and adulterous generation craves for a sign…”
• Jesus wanted men to take Him at His word,
• Craving a sign was an indication of wickedness and a lack of faith
• And really an insult to His integrity.

But God here, in an effort of pure grace,
Actually submits Himself to the peculiar reality of offering a sign to Ahaz.

In fact, God gives him A BLANK CHECK.
(11) “Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”

How far is God willing to go to get Ahaz to believe?
That is a remarkable offer.

But then comes THE DEFIANCE.
(12) “But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD!”

• Now I know that sounds pious and faithful.
• But Ahaz is not refusing a sign, Ahaz is refusing to believe.
• He wants no part of trusting God.

And Ahaz’s response INFURIATES ISAIAH.

(13) “Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well?”

Based on Isaiah’s response
Ahaz must have dripped with scorn and sarcasm
Because Isaiah fires right back.

And notice the righteous indignation.
• In verse 11 Isaiah told him to ask a sign “from the LORD YOUR God”,
• But in verse 13 Isaiah chides him for trying “the patience of MY God”

Isaiah is totally offended that Judah’s king
Would so easily dismiss the Holy One of heaven.

AHAZ REFUSED TO TRUST.

Ahaz had his own plan.
2 Kings 16:7-9 “So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.” Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried the people of it away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin to death.”

• Ahaz didn’t want to trust God,
• Ahaz was determined to put his trust in the king of Assyria.

This is a foolish thing to do.
Jeremiah 17:5-8 “Thus says the LORD, “Cursed is the man who trusts in mankind And makes flesh his strength, And whose heart turns away from the LORD. “For he will be like a bush in the desert And will not see when prosperity comes, But will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, A land of salt without inhabitant. “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. “For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit.

Ahaz should’ve listened, Ahaz should have trusted God,
But instead he wanted to turn to the king of Assyria.

Instead of placing his fate in the hands of God,
He placed his fate in the hands of a ruthless pagan ruler.

One commentator wrote about the situation saying:
“the whole episode was like a mouse attacked by two rats, squeaking for the cat to come and save him.”
(Ortlund Jr. Raymond C. [Isaiah: God Saves Sinners; Preaching The Word Commentary series; Crossway; Wheaton, IL; 2005] pg. 91)

And although Assyria would come and plunder Aram and Israel,
They showed no loyalty to Judah and nearly destroyed them as well.

2 Chronicles 28:19-21 “For the LORD humbled Judah because of Ahaz king of Israel, for he had brought about a lack of restraint in Judah and was very unfaithful to the LORD. So Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came against him and afflicted him instead of strengthening him. Although Ahaz took a portion out of the house of the LORD and out of the palace of the king and of the princes, and gave it to the king of Assyria, it did not help him.”

IT WAS A STUPID MISTAKE.
Ahaz had tested the patience of God and that is a foolish thing to do.

GOD’S PATIENCE is a remarkable thing.

Romans 2:4 “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”

1 Peter 3:20 “who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water.”

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 patience of God is that attribute of His
Which allows Him to tolerate sinners instead of killing them
While He gives them time to repent and trust Him.

We are grateful that He is so long-suffering.

BUT IT IS A FOOL who hears God’s offer of salvation and says,
“You’re just going to have to keep on waiting.”

That is what Ahaz did and it infuriated Isaiah!

It was nothing but absolute defiance.
God extended massive grace to Ahaz and Ahaz threw it back in his face.

This is a foolish thing to do.

Hebrews 10:26-31 “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. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.” It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

God does not take it lightly when He pours out patience and grace upon a sinful individual only to have that individual throw it back in His face.

The writer of Hebrews says that a man who does such a thing
Only has one fate to look forward to.

He receives “a terrifying expectation of judgment”
For “it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

IN SHORT,
• If God offers you grace…
• If God shows you patience…
• If God offers you salvation…
TAKE IT!

It is a foolish thing to insult such a gracious offer.

So what would God do in response?

The Dilemma, The Decree, The Disobedience
#4 THE DECISION
Isaiah 7:14-25

Well for starters Ahaz IS getting a sign.

“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. He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.”

You are certainly familiar with the first part of that promise,
But first you must see that it had to be a promise which worked for Ahaz.

I know that Matthew will apply that verse to Jesus many years later,
But if it only referred to Jesus it was a pointless sign for Ahaz.

This was a time indicating sign.
There would be this child born
And before this child knew the difference between good and evil,
God had promised that Samaria and Aram would already be dealt with.

• God promised to preserve David’s line and even Ahaz couldn’t mess that up.
• God was going to deal with these two rogue nations which threatened Judah.

SO THE SIGN TO AHAZ WAS
That God would remove the threat of Samaria in less than two years.

Now I know that we read that verse and reference Christ.

RIGHTLY SO, for Matthew wrote about the birth of Jesus and said:
Matthew 1:22-23 “Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.”

When Matthew read through Isaiah,
• No doubt he read 7:14 and saw a picture of Jesus
• Who was born of a virgin
• Whose birth marked the near end of our two enemies “sin and death”
• And who was a definite picture of God being with us.

We talked about it last Sunday night,
This section is filled with prophecies that have sort of dual fulfillments.

On one hand it was a definite promise for Ahaz which he could see and learn to trust God.

But on the other hand it was also a far-reaching promise for us so that we could also see that God still desires a relationship with mankind.

The same patience and grace which God extended to Ahaz
HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO US.

We have a Savior!
We have a deliverer.
We have the promise that if we will believe then we will be saved.

And the same warning issued to Ahaz applies to us as well.
Isaiah 7:9b “If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”

God isn’t just speaking to Ahaz here, He’s speaking to you and me.

Only a fool would test the patience of God
By neglecting so great an offer of salvation.

GOD WILL DELIVER JUDAH FROM ARAM AND ISRAEL
BUT: Ahaz’s lack of faith will still cost him.

Because after Assyria takes care of Samaria, Judah is next.

(17-19) ““The LORD will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have never come since the day that Ephraim separated from Judah, the king of Assyria.” In that day the LORD will whistle for the fly that is in the remotest part of the rivers of Egypt and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. They will all come and settle on the steep ravines, on the ledges of the cliffs, on all the thorn bushes and on all the watering places.”

In short Ahaz, prepare to be invaded.
You wouldn’t trust Me, you chose to trust Assyria,
Well you’re about to get all that comes with him.

And that includes HUMILIATION
(20) “In that day the Lord will shave with a razor, hired from regions beyond the Euphrates (that is, with the king of Assyria), the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard.”

That was a picture of humiliation.
For a man to have his head, beard, and legs shaved was utter shame.

Do you remember this Old Testament story?
2 Samuel 10:1-5 “Now it happened afterwards that the king of the Ammonites died, and Hanun his son became king in his place. Then David said, “I will show kindness to Hanun the son of Nahash, just as his father showed kindness to me.” So David sent some of his servants to console him concerning his father. But when David’s servants came to the land of the Ammonites, the princes of the Ammonites said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think that David is honoring your father because he has sent consolers to you? Has David not sent his servants to you in order to search the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?” So Hanun took David’s servants and shaved off half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle as far as their hips, and sent them away. When they told it to David, he sent to meet them, for the men were greatly humiliated. And the king said, “Stay at Jericho until your beards grow, and then return.”

God speaks of the same type of humiliation here.
God was about to humiliate Ahaz and all of Judah for their lack of faith.

You do not get to ignore the only Savior
And expect that there are no consequences for it.

And then comes POVERTY
(21-22) “Now in that day a man may keep alive a heifer and a pair of sheep; and because of the abundance of the milk produced he will eat curds, for everyone that is left within the land will eat curds and honey.”

That sounds ok, when you read it, but it wasn’t.
• They had an abundance of milk because their heifer had no calf.
• There was also nothing else to eat.
• Assyria was going to ravish all their crops.

Your only meal would be what you could get from your milk cow
And if you could find some honey out in the pasture.

It was a steady diet of cottage cheese and honey.

You cannot fail to trust God and expect blessing.

And then comes DESOLATION
(23-25) “And it will come about in that day, that every place where there used to be a thousand vines, valued at a thousand shekels of silver, will become briars and thorns. People will come there with bows and arrows because all the land will be briars and thorns. As for all the hills which used to be cultivated with the hoe, you will not go there for fear of briars and thorns; but they will become a place for pasturing oxen and for sheep to trample.”

Your land is about to be stripped and ruined.

Remember what Isaiah said in that FIRST SERMON as he prophetically looked at what was coming?

Isaiah 1:5-9 “Where will you be stricken again, As you continue in your rebellion? The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing sound in it, Only bruises, welts and raw wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil. Your land is desolate, Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your presence; It is desolation, as overthrown by strangers. The daughter of Zion is left like a shelter in a vineyard, Like a watchman’s hut in a cucumber field, like a besieged city. Unless the LORD of hosts Had left us a few survivors, We would be like Sodom, We would be like Gomorrah.”

Well, their failure to trust God had brought it to pass.

Ahaz would be given the option to trust God and flourish,
He refused and he was severely disciplined.

• He tested the patience of God…
• He ignored the call of God…
• He refused to believe God…

AND IT IS NOT WORKING OUT WELL FOR HIM.

It is a simple yet sobering WARNING TO EACH OF US.

Certainly the NON-BELIEVER should heed this warning and understand that a failure to trust in Christ means a sure and certain eternity in hell.

You do not want to trample Christ underfoot
And fall into the hands of the living God.

But the picture here is NOT JUST for the stubborn non-believer.

The call here is also for God’s people.
Those whom He calls “Immanuel”
Those whom He is for.

The question of Isaiah is that
When you face life’s dilemmas (and you will) how do you handle them?
• Do you trust God?
• Do you believe God?
• Do you have faith in God?
• Or do you follow your own logic?

Do you run to the world’s saviors
Or do you obey and trust God to do what He says He’ll do?

WE TALKED ABOUT IT LAST WEEK,
But what did God want Ahaz to do here?
And the answer is: NOTHING.

Ahaz was simply asked to wait on God and do nothing.
God was going to deliver.

But instead of trusting God to come through as He said,
Ahaz took matters into his own hands, followed his own logic,
and sent word to Assyria for help.

He got help, but he also got more than he bargained for.

One thing God’s people must learn is that
Satan is the god of this world
And therefore the world is not for you.

They may help you…
They may momentarily bail you out…

But always remember the words of our Lord:
John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

The world’s saviors aren’t there to save you.
They are there ultimately to exploit you.

Ahaz would learn this the hard way,
As will so many of God’s people throughout this life.

FAITH IS WHAT GOD REQUIRES.
Trust Him!

So Ahaz has handled the situation wrong
And God promised discipline.

Let’s look at the fulfillment.
#5 THE DESTROYER
Isaiah 8:1-8

God promised a sign of a virgin having a child.
Here that sign is fulfilled.

(1-4) “Then the LORD said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in ordinary letters: Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey. “And I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz; for before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

So first Isaiah is told to get a large piece of posterboard and a sharpie and write “Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey.”

And God is even going to provide witnesses to what Isaiah wrote.

It indicates that someone is coming quickly
And they are going to quickly plunder their enemy.

And then comes the fulfillment of the sign:
• Isaiah approaches his wife and she has a son and Isaiah names him “Maher-shalal-hash-baz”
• Which incidentally literally means “swift is the booty, speedy is the prey”

And again the promise. “before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

That was the promise earlier in chapter 7.
• God is about to quickly plunder both Aram and Israel.
• He is about to remove the threat of their invasion from you.
• He said He would and He will.

But obviously there are SOME QUESTIONS to ask
Regarding the initial prophecy and the fulfillment of it.

For starters:
In chapter 7:14 God said that “a virgin will be with child” and yet here we see that Isaiah approached his wife and 7:3 tells us that Isaiah already had one son. Clearly Isaiah’s wife was not a virgin.

Secondly:
In chapter 7:14 God said that the child would be named “Immanuel” and here the child is named “Maher-shalal-hash-baz”

SO WHAT DO WE DO WITH THAT?

Let’s talk about the virgin problem first.
There are two Hebrew words that can be translated “virgin”

• The first is ALMA and it can be a virgin, or a young maiden, or even a newly
married or young married woman.
• The other is BETH-OO-LAW which only refers to an actual virgin.

In 7:14 the word Isaiah used was ALMA
He spoke of a maiden.

So regarding God’s promise to Ahaz, there is no problem.
A child was born to a maiden just as Isaiah said.

Then someone will ask: Then why do we see that as a prophecy of the virgin birth?
• If that word can just mean young married woman, why does say Isaiah
prophesied of a virgin?

That is because of Matthew.
When Matthew quotes that passage
He uses the Greek word PARTHENOS which only refers to a virgin.

It is one of those beautiful complexities of God’s word.
Isaiah uses a word that can mean either a virgin or a maiden
To give a prophecy which had a dual fulfillment.

In Isaiah’s case it was a maiden, in Matthew’s case it was a virgin
And Isaiah used the only Hebrew word that would allow for both.

But what about the other problem?
What about the fact that clearly Isaiah did not name his son “Immanuel”?

THAT IS SIMPLE: The child has two names.
• One name speaks to the REALITY Of The Day – God is with us.
• The other name speaks to the RESULT Of The Day – God will carry away
the booty of Aram and Israel.

What you actually have then in 7:14 is a unique prophecy
That perfectly fits both their day and ours.
It speaks to the wisdom of God and the perfection of His word.

So in Isaiah’s day, God has fulfilled His promise.
This child has been born, he is a sign for Ahaz.

And before this child is weaned Aram and Israel will no longer be a threat.
God will use Assyria to totally strip them.

WHY?

(5-7) “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.”

God is punishing Aram and Israel
Because they also have not trusted God.

God says that Israel (that northern kingdom)
• “rejected the gently flowing waters of Shiloah”
• To “rejoice in Rezin the son of Remaliah”

The “waters of Shiloah” refers to a well south east of Jerusalem.

It was an analogy that Israel rejected God.
• Remember, they defected from God,
• They split apart from Judah
• They went north to make their own altars.
• Jeroboam set up those golden calves as worship sites
• And Israel no longer came to Jerusalem to worship.

And now, even in their hardship and plight they didn’t trust God,
They cried out to Aram.

They rejected the living water for stagnant water
And now they are about to get hit with a tidal wave.

Jeremiah 2:11-13 “Has a nation changed gods When they were not gods? But My people have changed their glory For that which does not profit. “Be appalled, O heavens, at this, And shudder, be very desolate,” declares the LORD. “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters, To hew for themselves cisterns, Broken cisterns That can hold no water.

AGAIN, you don’t get to reject God as savior
And have everything work out well for you.
Israel and Aram will be plundered speedily for their refusal to trust God.

But as we said, Ahaz and Judah do not get off either.
(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.”

After Assyria finishes plundering Aram and Israel they will invade Judah.
• They were no savior.
• They didn’t care about Judah.
• They will sweep in to afflict them as well.

In fact, Isaiah says that this tidal wave will “reach even to the neck”

Judah is going to have to stand on it’s tip-toes to survive the flood.

It was a mistake to trust in Assyria.
It was a mistake to fail to trust God.

And yet, we find such comfort in the final word of this segment.

God says that Assyria will invade Judah and reach right to the throat,
But notice how God finishes the announcement.

“And the spread of its wings will fill the breadth of your land, O Immanuel.”

• Despite their rebellion…
• Despite their lack of faith…
• Despite them testing God’s patience…

Do you see what God still calls them?
He calls them “Immanuel”.

What is the message God is sending?
I AM STILL WITH YOU.
• You messed up for sure…
• You failed to trust Me and it cost you…
• You have been and will be disciplined for your lack of faith…
• BUT I HAVE NOT ABANDONED YOU.

I am still here and I am still calling for you to trust Me.

And so now I want you to stop and see
What you can learn from such an event in Israel’s history.

What is your dilemma?
What is your trial or hardship?
What is terrifying you?

God would have you trust Him.
For Ahaz that was waiting. (I’m sure his advisors scoffed at that)

• Waiting may be the call to you as well.
• Or perhaps it is to step out and obey God’s word.
• Perhaps it is to ignore the world’s saviors.

WHAT DOES FAITH LOOK LIKE IN YOUR SITUATION?

We have said it many times but Isaiah’s name is so crucial to our understanding of this book. His name means “The LORD is salvation”

That is the message.
Quit trusting in other things.

• He is our provision
• He is our healer
• He is our protector
• He is our joy
• He is our strength
• He is our hope
• He is our Deliverer
• He is our Redeemer

You cannot trust in others for those things, only Him.

And church this is where revival occurs,
When we learn to be the remnant.

When we learn to not be like the 90%
Who do everything the world does because it appears wise in the world.

The remnant in this story (as we will see tonight)
Are those who forsake the world and their backward thinking
And trust God.

THAT’S WHO WE WANT TO BE.
I want to encourage you this morning, whatever you are facing,
DON’T TRUST THE WORLD, TRUST GOD.

Obey Him, endure with Him, wait on Him
TRUST HIM.

 

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Testing God’s Patience – Part 1
Isaiah 7:1-8:8 (7:1-9)
April 23, 2023

Tonight we start a new segment in Isaiah’s prophet ministry.
The segment is Isaiah 7-12.

Now what I’m about to tell you is very important for you to grasp
• So that we can make sense of the passage
• So that we can also gain the message which we are intended to gain.

I’ve told you many times that when prophets saw the future
Sometimes they had difficulty distinguishing the exact timeline
Of how everything was going to shake out.

We’ve likened it to a mountain range.
• You can see all the peaks from a distance,
• But have difficulty interpreting how far apart they all are from one another.

Indeed Peter spoke of this struggle which the prophets faced.
1 Peter 1:10-12 “As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied of the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.”

In other words, these men knew they were seeing something
More than just that which pertained to their own day,
But they had difficulty nailing down exactly when it was coming.

They searched and inquired, but all they really ever gleaned was that
What they were seeing was for another generation in the future.

Peter said that we benefit from them
Having seen the fulfillment of much of what they predicted
Because we have had the gospel preached to us.

I point that out because Peter reveals that even Isaiah knew that
Not everything that he saw pertained to him and his current people.

In fact, look down to CHAPTER 8:16-18
“Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. And I will wait for the LORD who is hiding His face from the house of Jacob; I will even look eagerly for Him. 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.”

Isaiah is actually told to “bind up the testimony”.
• That is to say, he was told to put it in a rubbermaid container
• And lock it away for a future generation who would listen to what he had to say.

So you see that Isaiah understood that he was preaching
Both to his contemporaries and to those in the future.

And that is helpful to grasp in a segment of Scripture like this
Because it almost blends the present and the future throughout.

For example, look at chapter 7:10-16
“Then the LORD spoke again to Ahaz, saying, “Ask a sign for yourself from the LORD your God; make it deep as Sheol or high as heaven.” But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the LORD!” Then he said, “Listen now, O house of David! Is it too slight a thing for you to try the patience of men, that you will try the patience of my God as well? “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. “He will eat curds and honey at the time He knows enough to refuse evil and choose good. “For before the boy will know enough to refuse evil and choose good, the land whose two kings you dread will be forsaken.”

Clearly this sign is for Ahaz.
• God has told him that this child will be born
• And before that child can distinguish between good and evil
• The land that is threatening Ahaz (Israel) will be forsaken.

So clearly that was a message meant for Ahaz.

But at the same time we recognize that passage “Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

Well Matthew says that that verse has its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus.
So that sign isn’t just for Ahaz, it is also for us.

You see it again in chapter 9 when Isaiah speaks of the coming day of deliverance for God’s remnant.

(9:6-7) “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.”

We recognize that part of that verse has been fulfilled.
• The child was born,
• But part of that prophecy is still yet to come.

Not only was Isaiah speaking to his contemporaries,
But also to us, and to those who may come after us.

Consider even chapter 11 that speaks of God’s Righteous Branch who will rule the world, and under His rule the world will know peace.

(11:6) “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.”

We haven’t seen that yet either, but we wait for it.

I just want you to understand that in the perfection of the word of God,
Isaiah is able to speak to his people, and us,
And even those who may come after us.

AND IT ALL FITS.

And understanding that will help you understand
What Isaiah is seeing and what you are supposed to do with it.

Now, as we begin to dive into these six chapters, WHAT IS THE POINT?

The overarching point is this:
THE REMNANT WILL RETURN AND REJOICE.

I would draw your attention one more time
Back to Isaiah’s commissioning in chapter 6.

We learned last Sunday night that
• Isaiah had been given a very difficult and borderline discouraging commission.
• He was to render men has hard hearted, deaf, and blind.
• And he was to do this until everyone was dead.

But there was a promise given to Isaiah.
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.”

You remember that even though most of the people
Would reject Isaiah’s words and be hardened by them,
He was promised that 10% would get it.

There would be a remnant.

Now that remnant would NOT NECESSARILY HAVE IT EASY.
• God told Isaiah that even they would “be subject to burning”
• But they were going to survive, they were going to return.

In many ways Isaiah 7-12 is their story.

It is certainly a segment of Scripture
That would call you to forsake the masses
That you might become part of God’s redeemed remnant.

That is a message that was true in Isaiah’s day.
That is a message that is true in our day.
That is a message that will be true in the future day.

It will do you no good to follow the crowd and be part of the masses
If the masses are headed to destruction.

Jesus said it:
Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

It does no good to be part of the crowd if the crowd is headed to hell.

The calling of God has always been to forsake the world and trust in Him
Even if you are in the minority for doing so.

For those who forsake the world and trust in Him
Are the ones who end up rejoicing in the end.

That is a simple message, but that is the overarching theme of Isaiah 7-12.

LET ME SHOW THAT REAL QUICK
With some unique points in this segment.

IT STARTS WITH Judah and Jerusalem in disarray because they are facing an attack from Aram and Israel.

So God sends Isaiah to meet Ahaz
And God specifically tells Isaiah to take his son with him.

(7:3) “Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field,”

That’s interesting, why take your son?
• You don’t see that happen all that often in the Bible.
• The reason is because the son is the message.
• The son is the sermon.

The son’s name is “Shear-jashub”
Does anyone want to take a stab at what his name means?
“a remnant shall return”

God does this doesn’t He?
Remember when Abraham messed up and went in to Hagar instead of trusting God to give him a son through Sarah?

• Do you remember what God told him to name that boy?
• Ishmael, which means “God hears”
• And then when Sarah sends Hagar away God appears to her and provides a well, and she names it “Beer-lahai-roi” (literally: God sees)
• And then God sends her back to Abraham with the boy.

Abraham is forced to hear the testimony of Hagar about how God saw her affliction and he is forced to live with the boy named “God hears”

And all this as a reproach to Abraham and Sarah
Who had assumed that God neither heard or saw them.

GOD DOES THIS.
Isaiah here takes a son who is named “A remnant shall return”.

It is a prophetic message to Ahaz to not think like the world,
But to be part of God’s righteous remnant.

Isaiah will say later:
Isaiah 10:21-22 “A remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God. For though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea, Only a remnant within them will return; A destruction is determined, overflowing with righteousness.”

This is a major part of the message of this segment.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL.
• When God calls Ahaz to trust him
• Ahaz refuses
• God gives him another sign.

(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.”

Now, I know you know what that name means.
“God with us”

It is yet another prophetic message through a child.
• Who is God with?
• He is with the remnant.

Isaiah 8:9-10 “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.”

So there you have two children, both with prophetic names
Meant to teach Judah and Jerusalem to trust God
And be a part of the believing remnant.

BUT STILL ISAIAH IS NOT DONE.

(8:1-4) “Then the LORD said to me, “Take for yourself a large tablet and write on it in ordinary letters: Swift is the booty, speedy is the prey. “And I will take to Myself faithful witnesses for testimony, Uriah the priest and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah.” So I approached the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. Then the LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz; for before the boy knows how to cry out ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the wealth of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria will be carried away before the king of Assyria.”

There we get another prophetically named child.
• This is Isaiah’s son whom he names “Maher-shalal-hash-baz”

What does that mean? “swift is booty, speedy is prey”
The exact same thing Isaiah was told to write on that tablet.

It was a reminder that all those who failed to trust in the Lord
Would swiftly be carried away as booty
And would speedily become prey at the hands of the enemy.

In short, those who are not part of the remnant will not last.

AND STILL ONE MORE
We come to chapter 9 we get yet another prophetically named child.

Isaiah 9:6 “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.”

• This is the One who will bring light and life to the remnant who have trusted
Him.
• He will lead them to rejoicing and satisfaction.

And the entire SEGMENT ENDS in chapters 11 & 12
With the remnant rejoicing in this righteous King who has delivered them.

Isaiah 12:5-6 “Praise the LORD in song, for He has done excellent things; Let this be known throughout the earth. Cry aloud and shout for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, For great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

That is what this segment is about.

The Holy One of Israel will redeem His righteous remnant
And they will return to dwell with Him in the land.

So don’t ignore Him, don’t reject Him, don’t turn away from Him.
Trust Him and see what He can do for you.

This is the point of chapters 7-12.
It was a message for them and it is a message for you.

So with that being said, let’s start our way through it.

Tonight we’ll look at Isaiah 7:1 – 8:8
Which is a story about how Ahaz tested God’s patience
And the ultimate futility and stupidity in doing that.

We’re going to break this segment up into 5 points.
#1 THE DILEMMA
Isaiah 7:1-2

You’ll notice now that we have fast-forwarded to “the days of Ahaz”
• Uzziah died in 739BC,
• Ahaz took the throne in 735BC

Where Uzziah and Jotham had been kings who did what was right in the sight of the LORD (barring their overlooking of the high places),
Ahaz DID NOT do what was pleasing to God.

During his reign, God would bring about the trial of Isaiah’s life,
And the struggle that would either make or break them as a nation.

God would bring about Assyria.

But it DOESN’T START with Assyria.

We read that “in the days of Ahaz…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.”

You remember that the nation of Israel was split after Solomon’s death.
• Ten tribes defected to the north and became known as Israel or the northern kingdom,
• Two tribes remained in the south and became known as Judah or the southern kingdom.

Ahaz rules in Judah, Pekah rules in Israel.
Just north of Israel is the nation of Aram (Syria) which is ruled by Rezin.

On separate occasions both those kings had attacked Judah.
Though they were unable to overthrow Jerusalem,
They did inflict great loss and defeat upon them.

2 Chronicles 28:5-8 “Wherefore, the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Aram; and they defeated him and carried away from him a great number of captives and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who inflicted him with heavy casualties. For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah 120,000 in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king’s son and Azrikam the ruler of the house and Elkanah the second to the king. The sons of Israel carried away captive of their brethren 200,000 women, sons and daughters; and they took also a great deal of spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria.”

• Rezin had invaded and carried away a great number of captives
• Then Pekah invaded and slew 120,000 and then carried away 200,000 women
as captives.

They had failed to totally conquer Judah
But they had gained massive victories in the land.

But on this day Judah received some frightening news.

(2) “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.”

Arameans camping in Israel is not a good thing.
• The two have made an alliance and certainly Judah felt helpless to stand against them.

Their PURPOSE and their INTENT is stated later in verses 5-6
“Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,”

In that region there was a new bully on the block.
• His name was Assyria and he was a threatening force to the region.
• Aram and Israel formed an alliance to oppose him and had tried to force Ahaz to join, but he had refused.
• Now the plan was to invade Judah, overthrow Ahaz, and put their own puppet on the throne.

They had so greatly afflicted Judah separately
That together the fear was total annihilation.

And Ahaz “and the hearts of his people shook as the trees of the forest shake with the wind.”

The people were terrified and so was the king.
That is the Dilemma.

#2 THE DECREE
Isaiah 7:3-9

God has a message for Ahaz.
• And bear in mind that Ahaz has been no friend of God.
• Ahaz is idolatrous and as pagan as they come.

2 Kings 16:1-4 “In the seventeenth year of Pekah the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah, became king. Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God, as his father David had done. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from before the sons of Israel. He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.”

Ahaz does not deserve any favor from the LORD,
But God is loyal to Judah because of David.

God has promised that David’s line will endure
And God is faithful to His promises.

So God sends Isaiah to Ahaz with a message.
(3-4) “Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field, 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.”

Ahaz is out checking the city water supply as he prepares for an invasion
And Isaiah goes to see him.

There you see the prophetically named son of Isaiah, “Shear-jashub”
Which again means “the remnant will return”

Isaiah’s son would be an object sermon for Ahaz
To remind him of the importance of trusting God.

And the message falls right in line.
“Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted”

The opposite of faith is fear
God tells Ahaz that he should have none of it.

Despite your past…
Despite your decisions…
Despite your paganism…
Despite your idolatry…
I’m coming to you today with a calling on your life.

It is time for you to stop running to idols and trusting in your own wisdom
And it is time for you place your faith in Me.

It is a simple call to salvation,
No different than God has extended to so many in life.

Would you leave your futile ways behind and start trusting Me?
Not just for salvation, but would you trust Me with your life?

You do realize that this is the call.

If you think you are only called to trust Christ to save you from hell,
But that you will handle the rest of it on your own
Then you do not realize what Christ has called you to.

Christ has called you to trust Him in all things, and that for His glory.

That is the call coming to Ahaz.
Don’t be afraid and give it all to Me.

“I know those two men (5-6) are planning to invade and assassinate you and replace you, but I’m telling you that IT WON’T HAPPEN.”

(7) “thus says the Lord GOD: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass.”

God will not let it happen.
• He has already decided and decreed it,
• And that is regardless of what Ahaz decides.

(8-9) “For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people), and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”’”

You have to love the difference between
How Judah looks at the situation VS how God looks at the situation.

• TO JUDAH, Rezin and Pekah are terrifying kings with unstoppable power.
• TO GOD, Rezin and Pekah are “two stubs of smoldering fire brands” or two burnt out cigarette butts.

They are both doomed to defeat and it won’t even be difficult for God.
He is going to overthrow them.
He has decreed it.

Yet there is a word of warning to Ahaz.

God will stop Pekah and Rezin regardless,
But to Ahaz God says, “If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”

The outcome of the battle does not rest on Ahaz’s faith,
But the outcome of his life does.

We can’t get through this entire first section in one sermon,
So here is a good place to stop and reflect.

THIS IS SO TRUE.
God is sovereign and His will…will be done.

He DOESN’T ask for your faith to allow for His plan to succeed.
His plan will succeed.

He asks for your faith so you can survive in the midst of it.

And no man can last without trusting God.
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 consider that entire chapter of faith in Hebrews 11.
• If Noah doesn’t build the boat is God’s plan thwarted?
• If Abram doesn’t leave Ur?
• If Moses doesn’t reject Pharaoh’s house?
• If Joshua doesn’t march around Jericho?

Is God’s plan just thwarted if those people don’t walk by faith?

OF COURSE NOT!
God will accomplish His purposes.

But those men would not have saved their own lives
If they had not believed and trusted God.

There is only one way to live this life and it is by faith.
If you won’t trust God, you’re simply not going to make it.

God is going to stop Pekah and Rezin regardless of what Ahaz does.
But if Ahaz wants to save his own life he’ll have to trust God.

The simple point is clear.
“If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”

Ray Ortlund said:
“We need to think this through again and again, because living by faith in God rather than by faith in ourselves takes time to catch on to, and we lose focus quickly. Conversion to Christ is only the beginning. And how do we learn but in our crisis? That’s when God takes the training wheels off our bikes and teaches us to ride like the big kids. God is saying, ‘In your crisis, when it counts for you, trust me. I will keep my every promise. But if you treat me as unreal, you will not connect with reality at all.’”
(ibid pg. 89-90)

And again he asks:
“Am I trusting God right now, where it counts for me? If we welcome God as our ally and yield to his way, his timing, his control, his glory, he will fight for us. And we will have no regrets. He never lets faith go unmet. But if we set our own terms, we will fight alone. Jesus said, “According to your faith be it unto you” (Matthew 9:29, KJV). Moment by moment, that is the key to life.”
(ibid pg. 91)

This is the point to be made here.
• God requires faith.
• Not just faith to escape hell, but faith to live life.

And if you won’t trust Him with the little things of life
Can it really be said that you are trusting Him for your soul?

John 3:16-19 “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. “For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. “He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.”

FAITH IS THE CALLING.

Certainly that is faith for your forgiveness and salvation.
• But faith is also required regarding your finances.
• Faith is required regarding your relationships.
• Faith is required regarding your parenting.
• Faith is required regarding your trials.
• Faith is required regarding your ministry.

You have to trust God in those things.

AND WHAT DOES TRUSTING GOD LOOK LIKE IN THOSE SITUATIONS?

Well for Ahaz faith requires him to do nothing.
• Don’t hatch a plan.
• Don’t come up with something to do.
• Don’t ask someone else.
• Just do nothing and let God deliver.

Sometimes faith is simply waiting on the Lord.

Other times it is OBEDIENCE.
• Noah, build the boat.
• Abram, leave Ur
• Abraham, sacrifice your son
• Do not worry…
• Wives submit to your husbands
• Husbands love your wives

Faith in some cases is simply obeying.

Certainly at times faith is ENDURING
• Isaiah, keep preaching even when they don’t listen

But in all things faith is required or you will not make it.

“If you will not believe, you surely shall not last”.

Isaiah’s name means “The LORD is Salvation”
And the entire theme of his ministry is to call his contemporaries
To stop trusting themselves and to start trusting God.

Unfortunately his message so often falls on deaf ears
You’ll see that it will with Ahaz.

HOW ABOUT YOU?
• Will you trust God?
• Do you trust God?
• Trust Him for salvation?
• Trust Him in your present trial?

If we won’t, we will not last.

And that is the message to Ahaz
As God promises to take care of his enemies.

 

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Reflecting On The Holy One
Isaiah 6:1-7
April 23, 2023

I realize this will be our 3rd week in a row dealing with this 6th chapter of Isaiah
And his vision of the Holy One,
I just wasn’t quite ready yet to leave this vision in the rear-view mirror.

Before we move on, I want us to consider this vision
In light of the fact that this Holy One that Isaiah saw
Was none other than Jesus Himself.

John 12:41 “These things Isaiah said because he saw His glory, and he spoke of Him.”

John there was of course referring to Jesus as the One whom Isaiah saw.

We have said many time and we say again this morning that
The vision which Isaiah saw CHANGED HIS LIFE.

He had been a hypocritical worshiper.
• He was self described as a man with “unclean lips”
• Who lived “among a people with unclean lips.”

Isaiah was making the confession that he was a liar.
His confession did not match his heart.

Isaiah would preach this message later to the congregation saying:
Isaiah 29:13 “Then the Lord said, “Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned by rote,”

Isaiah confessed that he was exactly that sort of man.
• Like a Pharisee he appeared righteous on the outside but inside was full of all
uncleanness.
• He would have been one of those bloody-handed sinners.
• He would have been one of those who brought useless sacrifices.
• He would have been one of those whose worship offended God.

He was going through the motions without any real love for God
And he knew it.

And he was totally content to live in such a state of hypocrisy
UNTIL he saw the Lord.

When he saw the Lord it changed everything for him.
• In a moment he felt the weight of the guilt of his sin.
• In a moment he realized that “the wages of sin is death”
• In a moment he understood that sin was no laughing matter and definitely not something to overlook.

He fell to his face and prepared to die at the hands of the Holy One.

BUT IT WAS THEN THAT ISAIAH RECEIVED MERCY
For the Holy One is merciful to those who are contrite in heart.

Isaiah was forgiven, his iniquity was removed
And he was commissioned into the service of the Holy One.

And if you read the book of Isaiah
It is not hard to see that HE NEVER GOT OVER the vision.

• 30 times in this book Isaiah speaks of “the Holy One”
• Nearly 60 times Isaiah speaks of God as “Holy”
• 7 times he speaks of Jerusalem as the “Holy Mountain”
• Twice he calls Jerusalem the “Holy city”
And that is only because the Holy One is there.

Isaiah entered the temple in a state of hypocrisy
With no real concern for what God thought about his sin.

He exited that temple totally captivated with “the Holy One”
And totally committed to proclaiming Him to his contemporaries.

If you zoom out and take a birds-eye view of Isaiah’s preaching
You can hear him making the same 3 points over and over again.

1) THE HOLY ONE IS YOUR REDEEMER AND DELIVERER

ISAIAH LEARNED THAT IN THE TEMPLE
When instead of killing him, the Holy One pardoned him.

Isaiah learned that this Holy One is the only chance you have a salvation
And he echoes this throughout his ministry.

When Assyria attacks, God makes this promise regarding Assyria.
Isaiah 10:17 “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.”

When Babylon threatens Israel, God promises again:
Isaiah 41:13-16 “For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’ “Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you,” declares the LORD, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. “Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges; You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them, And will make the hills like chaff. “You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away, And the storm will scatter them; But you will rejoice in the LORD, You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.”

Again to Babylon:
Isaiah 47:1-4 “Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; Sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans! For you shall no longer be called tender and delicate. “Take the millstones and grind meal. Remove your veil, strip off the skirt, Uncover the leg, cross the rivers. “Your nakedness will be uncovered, Your shame also will be exposed; I will take vengeance and will not spare a man.” Our Redeemer, the LORD of hosts is His name, The Holy One of Israel.”

Isaiah 48:17 “Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, “I am the LORD your God, who teaches you to profit, Who leads you in the way you should go.”

Isaiah 54:5 “For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the LORD of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth.”

Isaiah is constantly reminding Israel that they have but one savior.
They have but one deliverer; one redeemer
And it is the Holy One whom he saw back in the temple.

The clear implication is that
Israel should quit running to their neighbors and trusting in false gods,
But should run to their true Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.

It is a constant theme in the book.

Another constant theme
2) THE HOLY ONE IS THE ONE WHO WILL GLORIFY YOU

Isaiah 55:5 “Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, And a nation which knows you not will run to you, Because of the LORD your God, even the Holy One of Israel; For He has glorified you.”

Isaiah 60:9 “Surely the coastlands will wait for Me; And the ships of Tarshish will come first, To bring your sons from afar, Their silver and their gold with them, For the name of the LORD your God, And for the Holy One of Israel because He has glorified you.”

Isaiah 60:14 “The sons of those who afflicted you will come bowing to you, And all those who despised you will bow themselves at the soles of your feet; And they will call you the city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.”

Isaiah saw how the Holy One transformed him from sinner to saint.
How he was changed from a hypocrite to a prophet.

He knew that not only would this Holy One redeem you,
But He would also glorify you.

It was again the call to run to Him in submission and humility and worship
And to allow Him to fulfill His good pleasure in your life.

It is a reoccurring theme in Isaiah’s preaching.

But there is also one more tragic theme in Isaiah’s preaching.
3) BUT YOU ARE DESPISING AND REJECTING THIS HOLY ONE

Isaiah 1:4 “Alas, sinful nation, People weighed down with iniquity, Offspring of evildoers, Sons who act corruptly! They have abandoned the LORD, They have despised the Holy One of Israel, They have turned away from Him.”

They mock His sovereign plan:
Isaiah 5:19 “Who say, “Let Him make speed, let Him hasten His work, that we may see it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near And come to pass, that we may know it!”

Isaiah 5:24 “Therefore, as a tongue of fire consumes stubble And dry grass collapses into the flame, So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away as dust; For they have rejected the law of the LORD of hosts And despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.”

Perhaps the most telling of all:
Isaiah 30:10-15 “Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”; And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right, Speak to us pleasant words, Prophesy illusions. “Get out of the way, turn aside from the path, Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.” Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel, “Since you have rejected this word And have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them, Therefore this iniquity will be to you Like a breach about to fall, A bulge in a high wall, Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant, Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter’s jar, So ruthlessly shattered That a sherd will not be found among its pieces To take fire from a hearth Or to scoop water from a cistern.” 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,”

This is the grief of Isaiah’s life.
• He has found the Holy One.
• He has found the One who will deliver, redeem, and glorify His people
• And yet the people are rejecting Him.

But Isaiah will spend his entire life proclaiming this Holy One
Whether they listen or not.

THE POINT?
Isaiah saw Jesus and it changed his life forever.
• It changed his behavior.
• It changed his priority.
• It changed his occupation.

I want us to take one more look at this vision of Jesus
In hope that it changes our lives as well.

For Isaiah, it is all about the Holy One.
He was captivated by the greatness and power and perfection of the One on the throne.

Isaiah 40:12 “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens by the span, And calculated the dust of the earth by the measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales?”

Isaiah 40:18 “To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him?”

Isaiah 40:25-26 “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.”

When Isaiah stepped into that temple
He saw One to whom he did not compare.

He saw One that was nothing like him and One that he was nothing like.

All Isaiah could do was fall as a dead man and cry, “I don’t belong here!”

He is higher and loftier and holier and wiser and more glorious
Than anything we could even have imagined.

There is none like Him and He is totally unapproachable.
Even the angels would not gaze directly upon Him.

• He is the One who put Isaiah and Ezekiel on their face.
• He caused guards to faint like dead men.
• He terrified the apostle John to the point of death.

He is more holy and exalted than we have ever considered.
He is Holy and totally unapproachable by sinful men.

WE HAVE DISCUSSED THAT FOR 3 WEEKS NOW.

But in my daily reading this week,
I read a verse that I’ve read many times and on this day it struck me even more in light of this vision of Jesus that Isaiah saw.

It occurred after Peter and John healed the cripple man at the gate of the temple and all the people approached them in awe of that miracle.

In response to that crowd Peter said this:
Acts 3:12-15 “But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk? “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. “But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.”

The phrase that struck me?
Peter said, “but you disowned the Holy and Righteous One”

Peter referenced the Holy One that Isaiah had seen
And charged the people with disowning Him
Just as Isaiah’s contemporaries had done.

And it struck me to ponder again
Exactly what happened to this Holy One that Isaiah had seen.
• This One that Isaiah couldn’t even look at…
• This One that Isaiah dared not approach…
• This One who caused Isaiah to pronounce woe upon himself…
• This One the angels wouldn’t even look at…
• This One the angels covered themselves from…
• This One who caused the very thresholds of the temple to shake…

WHAT BECAME OF HIM?

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT WE READ THE ANSWER.

Matthew 1:18 “Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.”

This Holy One who had terrified Isaiah
Would put on human flesh and dwell among us.

The Holy One who terrified Isaiah
Is the very One who was mocked and scorned and crucified.

The incarnation and the crucifixion
Took on a whole new light for me this week
When I viewed it through the lens of the vision that Isaiah saw.

THIS MORNING
I want us to consider the atoning work of Jesus through that lens.

I want to give you just three things to consider.
#1 THE METHOD OF SALVATION

As we said a couple of weeks ago
As we contemplated the resurrected Lord, and we saw how far from Him Isaiah was.

We said, “Isaiah couldn’t put on glory so the Holy One put on flesh.”

We see that in the gospel with the birth of Jesus.

We read really that astounding request made by the Father in Zechariah 11.

Zechariah 11:4-5 “Thus says the LORD my God, “Pasture the flock doomed to slaughter. “Those who buy them slay them and go unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be the LORD, for I have become rich!’ And their own shepherds have no pity on them.”

• That was a preincarnate conversation between the Father and the Son
• Where the Holy One was asked to put on human flesh
• And go shepherd the abused sheep of Israel.

What a humiliating task!
What an embarrassing request!

And yet the Holy One did it.
Philippians 2:5-8 “Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

We have said it before that never has anyone
Experienced more of a humiliation than Christ did.

No one ever started so high to descend so low as Him.

This was the Holy One whom Isaiah saw
Relinquishing His glory so that He might enter the womb
And be born as a baby and live among sinners.

He became a child who became a man who became a servant
Who was condemned and murdered.

Never has anyone ever experienced humiliation like He did.

AND IT CAUSES ME TO WONDER
When men today refuse to humble themselves before Him…

EXPLAIN TO ME how it is too much for God to ask you to humble yourself?

• Why is it too embarrassing to confess your sin?
• Why is it too humiliating to come to the front and cry out for a Savior?
• Why is it too much to ask to let everyone see that you have been a phony?

IT IS NOTHING BUT SHEER HUMAN PRIDE
That keeps sinners from confessing their sin and seeking a Savior.
They see the humiliation as too great a cost.

Do you suppose the Holy One will accept that as an excuse after having humbled Himself to such an extent to purchase your salvation?

FOR YOU TO BE SAVED IT REQUIRED
• That this all glorious, unapproachable, Holy One
• Humble Himself to a great extent than you ever will and become human
• And suffer our shame and reproach.

AND HE DID IT!

Perhaps you understand why He finds your pride repulsive.

The method of salvation was the humiliation of the Holy One
#2 THE MADNESS OF SALVATION

Here is the part that I really pondered this week that blew my mind again.

That in the gospel account we see that this Holy One
Actually subjected Himself to the shame and ridicule
Of proud and arrogant men.

TURN TO: JOHN 18:12

This of course was in the garden as Jesus prayed.

• And all of a sudden Judas arrives with an entire Roman Cohort.
• Of course the first thing He did was declare “I am He” and they all fell on their faces.

It was just a reminder of who it was they were approaching
And that a cohort was not going to be nearly enough men.

But in meekness and submission He allowed them to take Him.
AND WE READ that they “arrested Jesus and bound Him.”

THINK ABOUT THAT.
This is the very Holy One that Isaiah saw.

Could you imagine Isaiah leaving the temple, going out to gather a mob or even the Israeli army and saying,
“There’s a guy in this temple that greatly offended me. He made me feel
like a sinner. I say we go in there and bind Him with chains and drag Him
out of that place.”

Could you read Isaiah 6 and even imagine such a scene?
• Could you imagine Isaiah approaching that throne and trying to zip-tie the
hands of the Holy One on the throne?

The angels would have killed him before he even got close.

But yet, here in the garden, the Holy One kept the angels at bay
And submitted Himself to be arrested and bound by sinful men.

And of course we’re just getting started.
TURN TO: JOHN 18:19-24

Now Jesus has been taken to the house of the High Priest Caiaphas.
• However before Jesus can get inside the house He is intercepted by Caiaphas’ father-in-law Annas who was the real big-wig of Israel.
• Annas confronts Jesus in the courtyard to make sure Jesus knows who’s really in charge here.

And Jesus answers his questions by saying, (20-21) “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in the synagogue and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret. Why do you question Me? Question those who have heard what I spoke to them; they know what is said.”

But one of the guards was offended by Jesus’ answer:
(22) “When He had said this, one of the officers standing nearby struck Jesus, saying, “Is this the way You answer the high priest?”

DO YOU SEE THAT?
That guard punches Jesus and says, “Who do you think you are to talk to the high priest like that?”

In light of Isaiah’s vision can you imagine such a thing?
Can you imagine that angel coming
To touch Isaiah’s lips with that live coal to purge away his iniquity

And Isaiah grabbing that coal and chunking it at the Holy One and saying, “Who do you think You are to try and cleanse me, cleanse Yourself!”

Could you imagine such arrogance?
In Isaiah 6 it is absolutely unthinkable.

But here we are in John 18 and the Holy One is submitting to all of it.

And still that’s not all.
Jesus next enters the house of Caiaphas, still bound, and still a prisoner.

TURN TO: MATTHEW 26:59-68

Again, it’s unthinkable.
• They bring in their false witnesses and they just make up lies about Him.
• And when they ask Him who He is and He tells them, they call Him a blasphemer and start spitting on Him and punching Him with their fists.

COULD YOU IMAGINE
Isaiah gazing upon the Holy One and saying, “Who are you?”

And when the angels announce that He is “Holy, Holy, Holy”
That Isaiah would then walk up an spit on the Holy One on that throne?

That is unthinkable. It is absolute madness.
And yet Jesus is submitting to it.

TURN TO: JOHN 19:1-16

Here is Jesus before Pilate,
• You notice that Pilate is starting to catch a glimpse of the madness that is going on here.
• He’s terrified but he’s more terrified of the Jews.

But here they are again, mocking him with a crown of thorns,
Slapping Him, and abusing Him.

And then the crowd comes together and asks for Him to be crucified.

Isaiah’s Holy One crucified?
Isaiah’s Holy One mocked and slapped and beaten?

Of course it wasn’t just at the hands of Pilate.

Matthew 27:27-31 “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head. After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.”

Luke 23:8-11 “Now Herod was very glad when he saw Jesus; for he had wanted to see Him for a long time, because he had been hearing about Him and was hoping to see some sign performed by Him. And he questioned Him at some length; but He answered him nothing. And the chief priests and the scribes were standing there, accusing Him vehemently. And Herod with his soldiers, after treating Him with contempt and mocking Him, dressed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him back to Pilate.”

THIS IS JUST MADNESS!

It is unthinkable that Isaiah would have approached the Holy One
And even looked cross-eyed at Him,
Let alone slapped Him and spit on Him and mocked Him.

AND STILL IT ISN’T DONE.

TURN TO: LUKE 23:33-39

• They nailed Him to a cross and even the criminals hanging beside Him join in on the ridicule.
• The crowds gather around Him to watch the spectacle and hurl their abuse at Him.

Isaiah’s Holy One, hanging naked, abused, crucified,
A spectacle for all the world to see?

These arrogant sinful men have no idea what they are doing.
Jesus even said that, “they do not know what they are doing.”

BOY IS THAT AN UNDERSTATEMENT.
• What humility!
• What mercy!
• What restraint!

They arrogant men are despising the Holy One just as Isaiah said.

Acts 3:14-15 “But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.”

IT IS MADNESS!
AND YET, THERE ARE MANY WHO DO IT STILL TODAY.

There are many who totally disregard that He is the Holy One
And refuse to humble themselves and submit to Him.

• He calls and they tell Him “No”.
• They do what He forbids
• They rebel against His holy Law.

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

They hear the truth, they know the truth, but they reject the truth.

The writer of Hebrews says “they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”

What arrogance!
What madness!

And the only real question we can ask is:
WHY DID HE PERMIT THESE ARROGANT MEN TO DO SUCH THING TO HIM?

#3 THE MEANS OF SALVATION

Why did He allow it?

Isaiah 50:4-6 “The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. The Lord GOD has opened My ear; And I was not disobedient Nor did I turn back. I gave My back to those who strike Me, And My cheeks to those who pluck out the beard; I did not cover My face from humiliation and spitting.”

And of course Isaiah again gave us the answer.

TURN TO: ISAIAH 53

Whey did the Holy One take on flesh and subject Himself to the scorn and reproach of arrogant men?

Because it was the only way for sinners to be saved.

Someone had to pay the price for their sin.
• Isaiah couldn’t put on glory so the Holy One had to put on flesh.
• Isaiah couldn’t pay for his own sin, the Holy One had to pay it for him.

THIS UNAPPROACHABLE HOLY ONE
• Relinquished His glory that He might approach us.
• He bore our sin and our shame and our suffering that we might be justified and able to approach Him.
• He tore the veil from top to bottom and now through Him we do what Isaiah never even dreamed possible.

Hebrews 10:19-22 “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Isaiah saw the Holy One and feared for his life.
But this Holy One humbled Himself to save Isaiah’s life.

It is the only way salvation would work and He did it for us too.

I am struck by the Holy One who would humble Himself to save sinners.

And I am appalled by sinners who won’t humble themselves to repent of their sin.

This morning I invite you to humble yourself before Him
As He humbled Himself before you.

He received score and mocking and death,
Do you think yourself above the crushing of your pride and little embarrassment for admitting yourself to be a sinner?

I am calling you to repentance and faith in Christ.

And for those who are saved, this morning as we partake of the Lord’s Supper we worship Him with immense gratitude for what He has done.

We’re going to have a Time of Preparation.

IF YOU NEED SALVATION, if you need to openly and publicly confess Him as Lord, come forward and do that during this time.

FOR THOSE WHO ARE REDEEMED it is a time of confession and sanctification as we focus on this unapproachable Holy One who actually approached us.

And then we will partake of the Lord’s Supper

LORD’S SUPPER

• Deacons Come Forward

Matthew 27:27-31 “Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole Roman cohort around Him. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him. And after twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on His head, and a reed in His right hand; and they knelt down before Him and mocked Him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” They spat on Him, and took the reed and began to beat Him on the head. After they had mocked Him, they took the scarlet robe off Him and put His own garments back on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.”

• Give Bread to Deacons
• Deacon Prayer
• Deacons pass out Bread

Matthew 26:26 “While they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”

• Take Bread

John 19:1-7 “Pilate then took Jesus and scourged Him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on His head, and put a purple robe on Him; and they began to come up to Him and say, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and to give Him slaps in the face. Pilate came out again and said to them, “Behold, I am bringing Him out to you so that you may know that I find no guilt in Him.” Jesus then came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold, the Man!” So when the chief priests and the officers saw Him, they cried out saying, “Crucify, crucify!” Pilate said to them, “Take Him yourselves and crucify Him, for I find no guilt in Him.” The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and by that law He ought to die because He made Himself out to be the Son of God.”

• Give Juice to Deacons
• Deacon Prayer
• Deacons pass out Juice

Matthew 26:27-28 “And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.”

• Take Juice
• Prayer
• Parting Hymn