2017-10-1 Pastor Jim Timms ‘God’s Greatness’ Isaiah 40-48

THE GRASS WITHERS, THE FLOWER FADES,
BUT THE WORD OF OUR GOD STANDS FOREVER.
ISAIAH 40:8

HOW GREAT IS THE GOD WHO HAS GIVEN US HIS WORD?
IN ISAIAH 40-48 HE TELLS US OF HIS GREATNESS. HE TELLS US THROUGH…

• His Creation (40:12-17)
• His Comparison to False Gods (40:18-20; 41:4-13, 41:21-24, 29; 44-9:20)
• His Sending of His Son (42:1-9)
• His Future Restoration of Israel at Messiah’s Second Coming (43:5-13, 25; 44:6-8)
• His Use of Unbelievers to Accomplish His Purposes (45:1-7)
• His Righteous Judgments (46:8-47:11)
• His Final and Ultimate Redemption of Israel (48:9-17)

~ God’s Greatness Is Seen in His Creation ~

*Isaiah 40:12-17
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? (omnipotence)
13 Who has directed the Spirit of the LORD, or as His counselor has informed Him?
14 With whom did He consult and who gave Him understanding? And who taught Him in the path of justice and taught Him knowledge, and informed Him of the way of understanding? (omniscience)
15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are regarded as a speck of dust on the scales; behold, He lifts up the islands like fine dust.
16 Even Lebanon is not enough to burn, nor its beasts enough for a burnt offering.
17 All the nations are as nothing before Him, they are regarded by Him as less than nothing and meaningless. (and they will destroy Israel?)

~ God’s Greatness Is Seen in His Comparison to False Gods ~

*Isaiah 40:18-20
18 To whom then will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare with Him? (a man-made idol?)
19 As for the idol, a craftsman casts it, a goldsmith plates it with gold, and a silversmith fashions chains of silver.
20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering selects a tree that does not rot; he seeks out for himself a skillful craftsman to prepare an idol that will not
totter. (but…)
*Isaiah 41:4-13
4 “Who has performed and accomplished it, calling forth the generations from the beginning? ‘I, I the LORD, am the first, and with the last, I am He.’” (Jesus says this of Himself in Revelation 1:17)
5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid; the ends of the earth tremble; they have drawn near and have come. (coasts around the Mediterranean Sea)
6 Each one helps his neighbor, and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 So the craftsman encourages the smelter, and he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil, saying of the soldering, “It is good”; and he fastens it with nails, that it should not totter.
8 “But you, Israel, My servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, descendant of Abraham, My friend,
9 “You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its remotest parts, and said to you, ‘You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you. (therefore…)
10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
11 “Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored; those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.
12 “You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them, those who war with you will be as nothing, and non-existent.
13 “For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand, who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’” (With regard to those man-made idols, God says…)

*Isaiah 41:21-24, 29
21 “Present your case,” the LORD says, “Bring forward your strong arguments,” the king of Jacob says.
22 Let them (the idols) bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place, as for the former events, declare what they were, that we may consider them, and know their outcome; or announce to us what is coming.
23 Declare the things that are going to come afterward, (so) that we may know that you are gods; indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.
24 Behold, you are of no account, and your work amounts to nothing; he who chooses you is an abomination.”

41:29 “Behold, all of them (all idols and man-made gods) are false; their works are worth-less, their molten images are wind and emptiness.”

*Isaiah 44:9-20
9 Those who fashion a graven image are all of them futile, and their precious things are of no profit; even their own witnesses fail to see or know,
9 (cont.) so that they will be put to shame.
10 Who has fashioned a god or cast an idol to no profit?
11 Behold, all his companions will be put to shame, for the craftsmen themselves are mere men. Let them all assemble themselves, let them stand up, let them tremble, let them together be put to shame.
12 The man shapes iron into a cutting tool, and does his work over the coals, fashioning it with hammers, and working it with his strong arm. He also gets hungry and his strength fails; he drinks no water and becomes weary.
13 Another shapes wood, he extends a measuring line; he outlines it with red chalk. He works it with planes, and outlines it with a compass, and makes it like the form of a man, like the beauty of man, so that it may sit in a house.
14 Surely he cuts cedars for himself, and takes a cypress or an oak and raises it for himself among the trees of the forest. He plants a fir and the rain makes it grow.
15 Then it becomes something for a man to burn, so he takes one of them and warms himself; he also makes a fire to bake bread. He also makes a god and worships it; he makes it a graven image, and falls down before it.
16 Half of it he burns in the fire; over this half he eats meat as he roasts a roast, and is satisfied. He also warms himself and says, “Aha! I am warm, I have seen the fire.”
17 But the rest of it he makes into a god, his graven image. He falls down before it and worships; he also prays to it and says, “Deliver me, for you are my god.”
18 They do not know, nor do they understand, for he has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend.
19 And no one recalls, nor is their knowledge or understanding to say, “I have burned half of it in the fire, and also have baked bread over its coals. I roast meat and eat it. Then I make the rest of it into an abomination, I fall down before a block of wood!”
20 He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside, and he cannot deliver himself nor say, “Is there not a lie in my right hand?”

~ God’s Greatness Is Seen in Sending His Son ~

*Isaiah 42:1-9
1 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My Soul de-lights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. (Here again is another picture of the Holy Trinity – My Servant speaks of Jesus. My soul is God’s own soul. My Spirit is the Holy Spirit.)
2 “He (Jesus) will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the street.
3 “A bruised reed He will not break, and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; (comfort for the weak) He will faithfully bring forth justice.
4 “He will not be disheartened or crushed, until He has established justice in the earth; (the second coming) and the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”
5 Thus says God the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it, and spirit to those who walk in it,
6 (Jesus speaking) “I am the LORD, I have called you in righteousness, I will also hold you by the hand and watch over you, and I will appoint you as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations,
7 to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon, and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.
8 “I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, nor My praise to graven images.
9 “Behold, the former things have come to pass, now I declare new things; before they spring forth I proclaim them to you.”

~ God’s Greatness Is Seen in His Future Restoration of Israel at Messiah’s Second Coming ~

*Isaiah 43:5-13
5 “Do not fear, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and gather you from the west. (Jesus confirms this regathering in Matthew 24:31.)
6 “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ And to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring My sons from afar, and My daughters from the ends of the earth,
7 everyone who is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, whom I have formed, even whom I have made.”
8 “Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes, and the deaf, even though they have ears.
9 All the nations have gathered together in order that the peoples may be assembled. Who among them can declare this and proclaim to us the former things? Let them present their witnesses that they may be justified, or let them hear and say, “It is true.”
10 “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, in order that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, and there will be none after Me.
11 “I, even I, am the LORD; and there is no Savior besides Me.
12 “It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, and there was no strange god among you; so you are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And I am God.
13 “Even from eternity I am He; and there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?”

43:25 “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
(John MacArthur calls this verse “…the high point of grace in the OT.”)
(Romans 11:26-27 is Paul’s confirmation of this great truth of Israel’s ultimate salvation.)

*Isaiah 44:6-8
6 “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and His Redeemer, (Jesus) the LORD of hosts; ‘I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.
7 ‘And who is like Me? Let him proclaim it and declare it; yes, let him recount it to Me in order, from the time that I established the ancient nation. And let them declare to them the things that are coming and the events that are going to take place.
8 ‘Do not tremble and do not be afraid; have I not long since announced it to you and declared it? And you are My witnesses. Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none.’”

~ God’s Greatness Is Seen in His Use of Unbelievers to Accomplish His Purposes ~

*Isaiah 45:1-7
1 Thus says the LORD to Cyrus His anointed (king of Persia), whom I have taken by the hand, to subdue nations before him, and to loose the loins of kings; to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut:
2 “I will go before you and make the rough places smooth; I will shatter the (Babylonian) doors of bronze, and cut through their iron bars.
3 “And I will give you the treasures of darkness, and hidden wealth of secret places, in order that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who calls you by your name.
4 “for the sake of Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name (Cyrus); I have given you a title of honor though you have not known Me.
5 “I am the LORD, and there is no other; besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me;
6 that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun (the whole earth) that there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other,
7 the One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.

~ God’s Greatness Is Seen in His Righteous Judgments ~

*Isaiah 46:8-47:11
8 “Remember this and be assured; recall it to mind you transgressors.
9 “Remember the former things long past, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me.
10 declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’:
11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, the man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.
12 “Listen to Me, you stubborn-minded, who are far from righteousness.
13 “I bring near My righteousness, it is not far off; and My salvation will not delay. And I will grant salvation in Zion, and My glory for Israel.

47:1 “Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit on the ground without a throne, O daughter of the Chaldeans (another name for the Babylonians). For you shall no longer be called tender and delicate.
2 “Take the millstones and grind meal. Remove your veil, strip off the skirt, uncover the leg, cross the rivers.
3 Your nakedness will be uncovered, your shame also will be exposed; I will take vengeance and will not spare a man.”
4 Our Redeemer, (Jesus) the LORD of hosts is His name, the Holy One of Israel (the Messiah – the Christ).
5 “Sit silently, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for you will no more be called the queen of kingdoms.
6 “I was angry with My people, I profaned My heritage, and gave them into your hand. You did not show mercy to them, on the aged you made your yoke very heavy.
7 “Yet you said, ‘I shall be a queen forever.’ (But) These things you did not con-sider, nor remember the outcome of them.
8 “Now then, hear this, you sensual one, who dwells securely, who says in your heart, ‘I am and there is no one besides me. I shall not sit as a widow, nor shall I know the loss of children.’
9 “But these two things shall come on you suddenly in one day: Loss of children and widowhood. They shall come on you in full measure in spite of your many sorceries, in spite of the great power of your spells.
10 “And you felt secure in your wickedness and said, ‘No one sees me,’ your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you; for you have said in your heart, ‘I am, and there is no one besides me.’
11 “But evil will come upon you which you will not know how to charm away; and disaster will fall on you for which you cannot atone, and destruction about which you do not know will come on you suddenly.” (righteous judgment)

~ God’s Greatness Is Seen in His Final and Ultimate Redemption of Israel ~

*Isaiah 48:9-17
9 “For the sake of My name I delay My wrath, and for My praise I restrain it for you, in order not to cut you off.
10 “Behold, I have refined you, but not a silver;
10 (cont.) I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
11 “For My own sake, for My own sake, I will act; for how can My name be profaned? And My glory I will not give to another.
12 “Listen to Me. O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. (This is Jesus speaking as in Revelation 1:17)
13 “Surely My hand founded the earth, and My right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them, they stand together. (John 1; Colossians 1; Hebrews 1)
14 “Assemble, all of you, and listen! Who among them has declared these things? The LORD loves him (Cyrus); he (Cyrus) shall carry out His (God’s) good pleasure on Babylon, and His arm (God’s arm) shall be against the Chaldeans.
15 “I, even I, have spoken; indeed I have called him (Cyrus), I have brought him, and He (God) will make his (Cyrus’) ways successful.
16 “Come near to Me, listen to this: From the first I have not spoken in secret, from the time it took place I was there. And now the LORD GOD has sent Me, and His Spirit. (Here is yet one more picture of the Holy Trinity – The pre-incarnate Jesus speaks of it. (“LORD GOD” the Father. “Me” the Son. “His Spirit” the Holy Spirit.)
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.”

So again I ask, “How great is the God who has given us His Word?” In Isaiah 40-48 He has given us a glimpse of His greatness. We’ve seen it through…
• His Creation
• His Comparison to False Gods
• His Sending of His Son
• His Future Restoration of Israel at Messiah’s Second Coming
• His Use of Unbelievers to Accomplish His Purposes
• His Righteous Judgments
• His Final and Ultimate Redemption of Israel

And now this morning we are privileged to see another aspect of God’s greatness. It is the greatness of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

Throughout the gospels Jesus tells us that all who wish to be great in God’s sight must first humble themselves. John the Baptist demonstrated that humility when Jesus came on the scene. John knew that it meant the end of his ministry. But He humbled himself and said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease (John 3:30).” What did Jesus say about John?
Luke 7:27-28
27 “This is the one about whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You (Malachi 3:1).’
28 “I say to you, among those born of women, there is no one greater than John; yet he who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Do you remember how concerned the disciples were about who would be greatest in heaven?
*Matthew 18:1-4
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 And He called a child to Himself and set him before them,
3 and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Some time later, Jesus taught a parallel truth. He was speaking of the scribes and the Pharisees, who loved being served, honored, and respected by men, He said…
*Matthew 23:11-12
11 “But the greatest among you shall be your servant.
12 “And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”

As always, Jesus is our example. And there is no more powerful example of humility than what Jesus did when He emptied Himself and came to earth to lay down His life for us.
*Philippians 2:5-11
5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.
6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant (“dŏulŏs” – “slave”), and being made in the likeness of men.
8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
9 Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth,
11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

On the table to my left we are the symbols of the ultimate humility of Lord and Savior. They remind us of what it cost Him to give us eternal life. What more could we ask? What more could He do? Listen to the Apostle Paul…
*1 Corinthians 11:23-28
23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread;
24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it, and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.”
25 In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

Now is the time to ask the Holy Spirit to remind you of any unconfessed sin that you may be harboring in your heart. Refusing to do so and partaking of the elements anyway is what Paul is talking about when he speaks of taking Communion “…in an unworthy manner.”

So we’ll take the next few minutes to examine ourselves and confess whatever the Spirit might bring to mind just before we come to the table. We have this promise to cling to.
1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

“Lord, it is our sincere prayer that your Spirit does His work in us now…” (silence)
“…will you join me?”