The God of Mercy

I would like you to turn in your Bibles this morning to Isaiah chapter 9 and at the outset

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

!

Format that's going to press it together into several central and critical themes.

As we begin our study of the Word of God, it goes without saying that the foundation of our study is the Word

and we are undeniably dependent upon prayer to make it effective that I speak as one who has been appointed by God to do so

and that your hearts are prepared to hear it and then to apply it practically.

Let me make this point clear at the very beginning.

The purpose of preaching is ultimately to put us on the spot of saying yes or no to God.

The Word is given to us and it is valuable for life and godliness.

And it's there for our instruction, for our edification, for our correction.

And I have no doubt that there are individuals here today that need to hear explicitly what God's Word has to say today.

I would appeal to you to be a good listener and to depend upon the enabling of the Holy Spirit to hear that Word

and to apply it to your life in practical terms that you may grow in godliness and grace.

Some of you are here and do not know the Lord Jesus Christ.

I'm not certain of all who is not here as a believer, but I look at the group that God has put here together

and I recognize that there are some today that need the Savior and they need to come to faith.

And so I would appeal that as you listen, you say,

Lord, I would rather hear it now than in eternity.

And I'd rather respond now than later.

I want us to begin by looking at this passage in broad terms and kind of summarize it this way.

As we look at Isaiah chapter 9 and move our way through the remainder of the text that we're going to look at this morning,

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

one of the things that I want you to start with is recognizing this,

that God is the judge of the whole earth and He can be trusted to deal with sin.

Have you ever found yourself kind of frustrated that God hasn't dealt with others a little more rapidly than He has, actually?

I mean, I'll give you an illustration that kind of resonates with me.

I'm one of those people that for the most part likes to follow the rules, particularly when you're driving.

And nothing irks me more than when I am stopped in traffic and somebody takes it upon themselves to use the berm to move on down the road

because they have to go somewhere much more important pace than me.

And so I'm hoping, you know I'm praying at that time?

I'm praying that they will run right into the back of a squad car that is parked in the berm and be stopped, smack,

and then get rid in a ticket and I can drive on by going, ha, ha, ha, ha, you know.

We'd like God to deal with sin, right?

Particularly with other people.

The fact of the matter is, is that God will deal with sin.

And as we look at this passage, what we are going to see is that God will deal with nations.

He will deal with individuals.

Sin will not go unpunished.

And we do well to allow God to be the one that takes revenge rather than to set ourselves up as the judge and jury instead of trusting Him.

For another thing, what we are going to see in this passage is that a loving God does keep His promises.

He does His work in those He calls.

And you may be sitting here this morning as someone who has actually come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,

but you have drifted away.

You have become indifferent to the blessing of your salvation.

And let me tell you something.

If you are a child of God, you will not stay comfortable in that disobedient place you are presently.

Here's what it says in Hebrews.

Whom the Lord loves, the Lord disciplines or chastens.

And His purpose in doing that is to bring you back to Him to display His love and to bring about godliness and holiness in your life.

And so in terms of the big picture, what we're going to be looking at this morning is that God does deal with sin.

And I've got to tell you this.

I would rather be the one that God is disciplining than be the one that God is using to do the discipline.

If it's to be thought of, I would rather actually be the one who learns from watching God deal with other people in discipline

rather than be the one that God has to discipline.

How many of you follow that?

Listen carefully.

A fool doesn't learn even from repeated strokes.

I remember dealing with an individual once in a car with me.

We were driving somewhere.

I'd pick the guy up.

I wouldn't volunteer that this is what you should do.

But I picked him up on the side of the road.

And I was taking him somewhere, just helping him out in the rain and all that kind of stuff.

And we got to talking.

He was talking about how messy his life was.

And so I asked him a question.

I said, do you need any more evidence of how hard your life is in the path that you are on?

That's a practical question, isn't it?

The individual said no.

I said, then what would keep you from making a change and repenting and turning towards Christ?

Later on, several days later, the individual called me and needed help.

And we were in the flow of things again.

And I said, hey, do you need any more experience to teach you that the path you're on is not a good one?

No.

Guess what I said next?

Well, would it be wise, knowing what you do about what sin produces in your life to change direction?

What we're looking at this morning is a very, very clear passage in which we see that God deals with sin.

And so I want you to look with me here, beginning in Isaiah chapter 9, verse 8.

Isaiah 9:8

And let me read a portion to you.

Have it locked into your mind.

And then we'll work our way through it.

The Lord has sent a word against Jacob, and it will fall on Israel, and all the people will know.

Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, who say in pride and arrogance of heart,

the bricks have fallen, but we will build with dressed stones.

The sycamores have been cut down, but we will put cedars in their place.

For the Lord has raised the adversaries of resin against him and stirred up his enemies.

The Syrians on the east and the Philistines on the west devour Israel with an open mouth.

What we're looking at here is sober warning to Israel.

And I want you to understand that this warning is different than the prophetic cautions

and the prophetic words of appeal that had come earlier.

When Isaiah speaks in this case, he is letting them know that God has come to the place

that he is not going to let Israel go any longer, and he is going to deal with them very, very firmly.

The fact that it says this is a word is different than, well, these are words.

This is God saying, I'm done.

I'm going to deal with you, and there's going to be no turning back.

And what we find here is that God is giving through the prophet a word of judgment

that is going to come on the nation.

And I want you to recognize that Isaiah, remember earlier when we were looking in Isaiah chapter 6,

Isaiah 6 · chapter mention

we understood that Isaiah was given this very sober responsibility of communicating the judgment of God

against a very hard-hearted people.

They didn't care in the least what God thought.

And here comes the prophet and says, let me tell you, God is going to deal with you.

So as you work your way through this passage with me,

I want you to recognize here in Isaiah chapter 9, beginning there in verse 8

Isaiah 9 · chapter mention

and carrying on down to Isaiah chapter 10, verse 2,

Isaiah 10:2

we're going to see four different indicators of what God was really troubled and offended by

in the nation of Israel and what he was going to deal with.

For one, Isaiah had this sinful self-reliance.

You look there in verse 9 and 10, and here is a people who say,

well, okay, you're going to knock down the bricks, but guess what we're going to do?

We're going to build up with cut stone.

And cut stone referred to stones that had been carefully manufactured and put together,

and they were much harder and larger.

And when you built with cut stone, it was something that would last much longer than bricks.

Furthermore, they made the statement, not only we're going to build with cut stone,

but okay, you're going to knock down the sycamore, but we're going to build with cedar.

And that was an incredibly expensive wood.

It's a little bit like in our day saying, okay, okay, we built this with pine,

but we're now going to build it with solid oak.

It's going to be so much stronger.

All right, so you knocked it down, but we're going to do it right,

and we're going to put it together.

And here are these people full of themselves saying, you know,

we're not the least bit bothered by the hardship you bring to us.

We'll straighten it out.

We'll do it our way.

We also see there in verse 14 and 15 a very sinful trust in flawed and frail leadership.

So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed.

In one day, the elder and honored man is the head,

and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail.

You know what one of the problems was in Israel?

They had people who were in positions of leadership, even in the priesthood,

that really had completely compromised the Word of God

and had no interest in making the Word clear.

They were interested only in appealing to the hearts of men

rather than being obedient to Christ, obedient to the Word.

And so here were people who, when they stood up to preach,

when they stood up to speak, when they gave direction,

they were primarily interested, and so what are people looking for?

I'll give that.

I'll give that.

And I want you to understand that here is God saying,

these dishonest individuals are going to be cut off.

And mark what it says here, verse 16,

for those who guide this people have been leading them astray,

and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.

Do you recognize what's happening?

God is letting the nation know that those who they had been listening to

in all of that falsehood that had been propagated in that day,

it was going to come to heartache and destruction

in the lives of those who were listening to them.

Like prophet, like the people, like the priest, like the people,

and this connection, flawed in its understanding,

frail in its disobedient heart was going to end up causing heartache in abundance.

As a side note, let me encourage you to know this,

that I would encourage you to never trust in the word of a pastor,

to never trust in the word of an evangelist,

to never trust in any word that is not directly connected to the word of God.

Does that make sense?

It is the word of God that is settled and lasts forever,

and at the end of the day, you should be able to track what I say back to the passage itself,

and that is something that will protect you in the days to come.

We live in a day and age where all kinds of people propose

that they have something to say of significance,

and it's legitimate to ask ourselves,

well, where does their significance come from?

Later in Isaiah, it makes it clear,

unto the law and to the testimonies,

if they speak not according to this,

it's because there's no light in them.

Trust the word, not the person.

I want you to also look, if you will,

at verses 18 through 21,

and we're going to find here that the nation had this sinful, selfish self-interest

that was causing great heartache.

Let me read the passage to you.

For wickedness burns like a fire and consumes briar and thorns.

It kindles the thickets of the forest,

and they roll upward in a column of smoke.

Through the wrath of the Lord of hosts,

the land is scorched,

and the people are like fuel for the fire.

No one spares another.

They slice meat on the right, but are still hungry.

They devour on the left, but are not satisfied.

Each devours the flesh of his own arm.

Isn't that an interesting picture?

Here is God describing what's happening in the nation of Israel,

and without question, what you see is this picture

of an incredibly selfish people

that in their selfishness end up robbing,

harming, lying, cheating one another,

and as a result, they are consuming each other

and actually consuming themselves.

Does that kind of sound a little bit like our day today?

Does that sound like the world we live in?

Everybody interested in their own self-interest

and interested primarily in what they're going to get for themselves.

The other day, I walked in to drop off a little bit of dry cleaning,

and I walked into the dry cleaning store over there on Broad Street,

and I saw this sign that says,

no longer accepting blue jeans over $100.

Now, guys, I do wear blue jeans.

I wash my own.

Well, my wife, my bride, 47 years, she washes them.

But if I can't get them on the Internet

or I can't get them over wherever,

it's like, I don't buy them.

And I looked at that sign.

It was the first time I'd ever crossed my mind

that there were actually blue jeans that cost $100.

I looked at that sign,

and I said to the lady who was writing on my ticket,

I said, are there jeans that cost $100?

She says, oh, yeah.

There are blue jeans that cost, are you waiting?

You're all seated.

I'm standing.

There are blue jeans that cost $1,200.

Hello?

I'll say that slowly so that you don't miss it.

There are blue jeans, denim, you know,

dyed with indigo or whatever else it is,

blue jeans that cost $1,200.

I looked at her.

My jaw dropped.

I said, you are kidding me.

Who buys those kinds of blue jeans?

You know what she said?

She said, the only people that can afford those

in this neighborhood, it's a west side,

are drug dealers.

And that's why we have that sign there.

We're not going to cater.

And we're not going to be cheated.

Because when you have a $1,200 pair of blue jeans

and you bring them in for dry cleaning

and you are a snake to begin with,

it's amazing how easy it is to find a spot

on your blue jeans that then have trashed

your $1,200 blue jeans and guess what happens?

I thought to myself,

the misery that drug dealers cause

in the lives of other people

for the sake of a $1,200 blue jean.

Here in the passage,

God is saying, let me tell you,

that sinful selfishness that is so characteristic

of the people during that day

ends up being a disease

that devours both the people around

and the people that are engaged in it.

And so here we end up seeing in this passage

that the wicked end up consuming one another

in their greed and their selfishness.

You know what?

Sin may get it over on somebody else,

but in the end,

the sinner is the one who's consumed

by their own sin.

They're harmed.

They're consumed.

And here as God speaks

to the nation of Israel,

He says, listen, let me tell you something.

I'm not going to put up with this spirit

that I see in you.

I'm going to deal with it.

We find one other thing

that Isaiah is talking about there

in Isaiah chapter 10, verse 1 and 2.

Isaiah 10:1

Let me read it.

A sinful government.

Woe to those who decree iniquitous decrees

and the writers who keep writing oppression

to turn aside the needy from justice

and to rob the poor of my people of their right

and the widows may be their spoil,

that they may make the fatherless their prey.

It is not Washington

that is the first place

that ungodly government and leadership

has been involved.

And as Isaiah was writing to the nation

or he was prophesying to the nation

there in Israel,

he was saying this,

listen, God's done.

He is going to judge what's going on

and he's had it with this spirit

that is interested in passing legislation

that harms other people

and benefits a certain class

or a certain group of people

and yet for the most part is destructive.

He says, let me tell you something.

The issue of seeking to pass legislation

that benefit those who are pushing

for the legislation and harm the poor,

it's not the way God wants it done.

Incidentally, why has God ordained government?

We find over there in Romans chapter 13,

Romans 13 · chapter mention

for one, it is to bring order,

it is to bring safety,

it is to bring benefit,

and we are to pray for those

who are in government

that those who are in government

would lead in an upright

and righteous way

and bring about peace and equity.

That didn't happen during Isaiah's day

and we find there

that God through his prophet

made it clear

and I am going to deal

with this problem.

I have to tell you

that as I read

through this four-fold indictment

of Israel,

I couldn't help but think

about where we are

here in the United States

of America today.

We are a country

that has a tremendous amount

of self-reliance

to the extreme

of confidence

in our own might

and our own power

and we'll do it ourselves.

We also trust

in flawed and frail leadership.

It was very interesting.

Yesterday,

it was my privilege

to preach

Roger McBrayer's funeral

and one of the things

that you as a congregation

know is that

I always have looked

at weddings and funerals

as a golden opportunity

to make,

guess what clear?

The gospel.

And I had a number

of individuals

come to me and say,

you know,

pastor,

I really appreciate the fact

and I could always tell,

you can tell when you're preaching,

you can tell who really likes

to hear what's being said

and those who really

would prefer being somewhere else.

And here's the difference.

You know,

it's like,

yeah,

and there you go.

So,

I had people say to me,

you know,

I gotta tell you,

the gospel was,

what should you preach

at a funeral?

Does anybody have an idea

besides that?

I mean,

the gospel should be clear.

And here we are,

we're in a day and age

where those who are

in positions of spiritual leadership

have gone out of their way

to accommodate

the passions

of self-centered people

and not bringing the hope

of the message

in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I gotta tell you,

when I think about

where we are as a nation

here in the United States,

history has never seen

a nation rise

to this level

of ascendancy

and blessing

faster.

And I'm afraid,

unless there is

genuine revival,

that history

will never record

a more precipitous,

rapid decline.

But that brings me

to another central piece

in this message

about God's judgment.

He is going to,

or he would punish

rebellious Israel,

but he was not going

to let those

that he used

get away

with being his instrument.

So let's look now,

if you will,

at Isaiah chapter 10

Isaiah 10 · chapter mention

and we're gonna kind of

step through a number

of different pieces

of text here.

And I'm going to rely

primarily on

dealing with

the very first one

that we find.

Before we actually

look at this

extended passage,

I want you to turn

back in your Bibles

for a moment

to a text in

Genesis chapter 12,

Genesis 12:3

verse 3.

Genesis chapter 12,

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

actually verse 1

through 3.

By the way,

so that you know

where I stand

on this issue,

I believe fully

that God

keeps his promises

and that he will

keep his promise

to the nation

of Israel.

The Abrahamic covenant

he has not abandoned.

And over in

Genesis chapter 12,

Genesis 12:1–3

verse 1 through 3,

now the Lord

said to Abram,

go from your country

and your kindred

and your father's house

to the land

that I will show you.

And I will make you

a great nation

and I will bless you

and make your name

great so that you

will be a blessing.

And I will bless

those who bless you

and him who dishonors you

I will curse

and in you

all the nations

of the earth

will be blessed.

God made a covenant

with Abraham

and his covenant

still stands.

Those who bless

the children of Abraham

will be blessed

and those who curse

the children of Abraham

will be cursed.

And history is full

of examples

of God dealing

with that fact

and making his promise

clear and true.

Our extended passage

going back to the passage

in Isaiah

covering from Isaiah

Isaiah 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10 to 34

and I want you to know

that next week

pastor's going to preach

the enthusiastic

hope filled message

of hey God does punish

but he also offers mercy.

Right pastor?

That's where we're going

next week.

So he's kind of slicing

in some pieces.

I'm the one.

Is that a bad cop

good cop kind of thing?

I'm the bad guy.

Hey, don't mess with God.

You got that?

Say it to yourself

and you can kind of

pack out and leave.

Don't mess with God.

Next week pastor's going to

God is merciful.

God is merciful.

God is merciful.

Okay.

So here we are

and as we work

our way through

we are going to see

that God will deal

not only with Israel

for their sin against him

but he's also going

to deal with those

that he would use

to chase in Israel.

Assyria, Babylon,

Philistia, Moab,

Cush, Egypt, Tyre, Sidon.

Did you remember all those?

I'll give you a quiz.

No.

Every one of them

that ended up

causing Israel harm

God would punish.

Now let's look

at Isaiah chapter 10

Isaiah 10:5

verse 5.

Ah, Assyria,

the rod of my anger.

The staff in their hands

is my fury.

What follows

in verse 5

all the way

through 14

is a little window

into the thinking

of the Assyrians

as they saw themselves

in this position

of being the instrument

of God

and they took it to heart

and thought

they were really

full of themselves

and in supreme power.

You look down there

and it says

against a godless nation

verse 6

I send him

and against the people

of my wrath

I command him

to take spoil

and seize plunder

to tread them down

like the mire

of the streets.

but he does not

so intend

and his heart

does not so think

but it is in his heart

to destroy

and to cut off nations

not a few

for he says

here is Assyria

being used by God

to discipline

his own beloved people

and they were entirely blind

to the fact

that God was using them.

They didn't understand

what God was doing.

Furthermore

we understand

from verse 7

that actually

they were being driven

by their desire

for power

and to assert themselves

and they figured out

hey if I can take it

it's mine

and might makes right

and that's exactly

what they did.

In verse 13 and 14

what we find

is that Assyria

is persuaded

that they were able

to do what they were

to other nations

simply because

of their own power

and their own brilliance.

13

for he says

by the strength

of my hand

Isaiah chapter 10

Isaiah 10:13

verse 13

by the strength

of my hand

I have done it

and by my wisdom

I have understanding.

Have you ever

bumped into people

that were pretty

full of themselves

and thought

that the reason

they were in

the position

they were in

and asserting

the power

that they had

was really just

because they were

smarter than the rest

of everybody else

and they were

kind of full of themselves.

Here is Assyria

displaying that

kind of attitude

and it's very

interesting because

as you work

your way through

Isaiah chapter 10

Isaiah 10 · chapter mention

one of the things

that you're going

to see is two

different pictures

in what is going

on in the very

same time.

We can see

in this passage

the wicked hearts

of the Assyrians

and the wise

and sovereign heart

of God.

Now is that hard

to put together?

It is.

The wicked hearts

of the Assyrians

are thinking

I am powerful

and I can do

exactly what I want

and nobody's

going to stop me.

Disciplining the

nation of Israel.

And God at the

very same time

is saying

I am using you

but when I'm

finished using you

I am going

to discipline you

for your own

arrogance

and your own

hardness.

Kind of track

with me as we

work our way

through and see this.

In verse 5

God says

woe to Assyria

the rod

of my anger.

Hey

you think

you're in

your position

of authority

and you are

asserting it

for your own

pleasure

and your own

satisfaction

and your own

anger

and God says

hey

back up

I am using

you to accomplish

a purpose

and don't let it

go to your head.

Verse 12

when the Lord

has finished

all his work

on Mount Zion

and on Jerusalem

he will punish

the speech

of the arrogant

heart of the

king of Assyria

and the boastful

look in his eye.

You ever remind

yourself of what

happened in history

particularly to the

nation of Germany

and their hatred

of the Jews

back in the 40s?

God dealt with

that nation

in an unbelievably

harsh way

and I want you

to understand

that he has not

changed his hand

and his way

of dealing

even though

he is incredibly

patient in dealing

with disobedient

and hard-hearted

people

the day comes

when he will do it.

So ask yourself

the question

why is God

so patient

and long-suffering?

Two reasons.

Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes 8:11

chapter 8

verse 11

says this

listen

because sentence

for an evil

deed

is not

speedily executed

the heart of man

is fully set

in him

to do it.

What's it saying?

Because God

is patient

he lets your

sin come

right out

in the open

where you can't

argue when he

nails you

and you can't

say well I

didn't really

mean it.

Reminds me

years ago

watching a

little class

where the

teacher stepped

out of the

room

and one of

the boys

who was

kind of

the class

clown

you know

every class

has one

this boy

took it upon

himself

while the

teacher

had stepped

out of the

room

to kind

of

give a

little

display

for the

audience

now the

teacher

knowing the

boy

had stepped

around the

corner

and she

immediately

took a

different

location

and she

watched

this boy

in full

display

as he

pranced

around

at the

front

of the

class

it's

like a

fifth grade

boy

you know

it's

like

full of

all kinds

of energy

and foolishness

and he

had his

back to

the door

wise

decision

and he

was putting

on a show

a little

dance

and move

and all

that kind

of stuff

and the

teacher

kind of

slowly

stepped

back

into the

door

and the

rest of

the class

realized

the teacher

was there

before the

boy

and suddenly

the class

that had

been laughing

at the

boy's

behavior

suddenly

got quiet

but the

boy didn't

read the

signals

because he

was quite

full of

his energy

and he

was taking

advantage

of the

moment

and he

was just

full bore

!

so when the

teacher

finally called

his name

and I

won't

mention

that this

morning

the name

he couldn't

say

I didn't

mean it

God

in his

patience

is letting

some

here today

fully display

the hardness

of their

heart

and when

he brings

judgment

you will

never be

able to

say to

God

you didn't

give me

a chance

in verse

15 of

Isaiah

Isaiah 10 · chapter mention

chapter 10

it says

this

shall the

axe

boast

over him

who

hews

with it

or the

saw

magnify

itself

against him

who wields

it

God's

point

was this

is that

I am

using

Assyria

as an

instrument

of punishment

in my

hand

against

people

that I

love

but need

to be

disciplined

and when

that

instrument

takes it

upon

themselves

to be

fully

invested

in their

own

attitudes

and their

own

arrogance

the day

of vengeance

is coming

so let me

say this

in practical

terms

when you

find yourself

in a place

of being

used by

God

to correct

and admonish

other people

let me

encourage you

to be very

very careful

that you

do so

with humility

you know

why

listen up

God

hates

pride

he also

hates

a vengeful

spirit

when

you

are

in

the

place

that

God

has

you

dealing

with

another

person

your

heart

should

be

broken

and

should

be

sympathetic

even

when you

exercise

the

responsibility

that he

has given

you

by the way

it's also

a dangerous

thing

to be

in a

place

where

you

decide

to be

one

who

gets

vengeance

in

place

of

God

passage

in

over

in

Romans

Romans 12 · chapter mention

chapter

12

says

this

vengeance

is

mine

I

will

repay

hand

it

over

to

God

let

him

deal

with

it

now

there's

a

larger

picture

that I

want

to come

to

here

as I

close

off

and

I

want

to

put

it

this

way

there's

another

point

that

follows

through

this

entire

passage

this

morning

and

we've

looked

primarily

at

Isaiah

Isaiah 10 · chapter mention

chapter

10

and

not

the

rest

of

the

other

chapters

between

10

and

34

and

mind

you

I

pointed

!

different

countries

there's

woe

woe

woe

woe

because

God

would

use

various

ones

to

deal

with

the

nation

of

Israel

the

thing

that

we

find

is

that

God

willingly

used

these

wicked

people

as

instruments

of

judgment

but

he

also

held

them

responsible

for

their

dealing

with

the

nation

of

Israel

so

that

kind

of

puts

us

on

the

spot

of

coming

to

grips

with

the

fact

that

God

is

sovereign

and

man

is

responsible

God

is

sovereign

and

man

is

responsible

so

how

do

you

put

those

two

truths

together

I'm

going

to

introduce

you

to

a

theological

term

that

you

can

use

on

each

other

in

the

car

home

okay

are

you

ready

antinomy

antinomy

I don't

know if

I had

that in

the

notes

or

not

but

it's

fact

an

antinomy

is

two

seemingly

opposing

laws

two

seemingly

opposing

facts

the

Bible

actually

has a

number

of

different

antinomies

that

are

hard

for

us

to

understand

and

so

let me

have

you

kind

of

connect

with

a

couple

of

them

that

you

probably

are

more

comfortable

with

than

the

idea

that

God

is

sovereign

and

that

man

is

responsible

here's

one

that

we

most

of

all

bought

into

that

is

the

fact

that

God

is

triune

what

does

that

mean

how

many

remember

singing

the

classical

little

piece

of

song

where

God

in

three

persons

what

blessed

trinity

we know

that's a

theological

fact

how easy

is that

to put

together

anybody

here

have it

down

no

well let's

try another

one that

actually took

the church

the early

church

about 450

years

to get

their head

around

do you

know

which

one

it

was

the

absolute

humanity

of

Christ

and

the

absolute

deity

of

Christ

do

those

two

pieces

fit

together

I

remember

at

one

point

in

the

first

ministry

that

I

was

in

one

of

the

senior

deacons

explained

to me

that

Jesus

was

50%

man

and

50%

God

and

I

was

at

that

point

like

about

34

years

old

and

I

had

the

wisdom

to

at

least

bite

my

afterwards

I

said

could

you

help

me

find

that

in

the

Bible

that's

always

a good

question

to ask

anybody

you know

so

where is

that

in

the

Bible

see

God

has

many

truths

that

are

hard

for

our

little

minds

to

get

our

hands

entirely

around

I

have

a

little

fluffy

white

dog

that

actually

thinks

She's

pretty

smart

you

know

and

I

we

left

the

house

Judith

is

away

quilting

today

and

and

Faith

I

said

honey

please

lock

your

door

Faith

is

visiting

from

Egypt

she's

on

her

anybody

here

interested

in being

a teacher

in

Egypt

just

let

Faith

know

she's

ready

to

and

and

my

dog

has

a

very

limited

vocabulary

come

here

that

means

go

you

know

it's

like

the

one

thing

she

understands

without

question

I

don't

know

how

she's

got

it

figured

out

but

when

the

refrigerator

door

opens

she

thinks

that's

dinner

and

so

you

know

just

go

open

it

and

shut

it

again

Phoebe's

brain

could be

matched up

in

comparison

and

it's

a poor

comparison

but

to my

brain

in

relationship

to

God

very

very

limited

in

my

compatibility

to figure

out

all

these

facts

but

here's

the

truth

the

Bible

says

here

in

this

passage

God

is

going

to

use

wicked

men

to

do

his

work

and

to

discipline

a

hard

hearted

nation

that

he

made

a

promise

to

and

he

is

going

to

punish

that

nation

for

being

the

instrument

that

he

chose

I

remind

you

of

what

we

find

over

in

the

book

of

Acts

remember

where

Peter

was

preaching

the

sermon

of

Pentecost

and

he

said

you

did

exactly

as

God

had

foreordained

and

knew

was

going

to

happen

when

you

crucified

the

Lord

of

glory

according

to

the

plan

when

did

the

plan

of

salvation

come

into

being

was

it

as

Jesus

was

walking

towards

the

cross

and

God

well

see

if

I

can

work

something

out

here

good

there

are

actually

theologians

that

propose

that

God

is

entirely

dependent

upon

us

working

it

out

in

such

a

fashion

and

well

he'll

no

God

is

sovereign

and

man

is

responsible

we

kind

of

look

through

this

passage

in

Isaiah

Isaiah 10 · chapter mention

chapter

10

in

particular

one

of the

things

that

I

want

you

to

understand

is

this

is

that

God

can

be

trusted

to keep

his

promises

promises

and

if

you're

sitting

here

and

you're

a

believer

who

has

trusted

in

the

Lord

Jesus

Christ

for

your

salvation

the

matter

is

settled

for

all

eternity

your

salvation

is

the

work

of

God

it's

not

you

interesting

opportunity

earlier

to talk

with an

individual

about

the

matter

of

salvation

I

said

how

did

you

come

to

faith

!

well

he

saved

me

well

the

fact

of the

matter

is

the

same

one

who

saved

you

is

also

the

one

who

keeps

you

God

can

be

trusted

to

keep

his

promises

that